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It wasn’t normal to get snowstorms this intense. It wasn’t all that normal for them to come out of nowhere, either, but turns out today was an exception.
The day had started as normal. Phoenix saw his daughter off to school, went to the office, and greeted Apollo and Athena as they were about to leave. The two were heading out for a trial, confident they’d get their client acquitted. Their mood was in high spirits, so Phoenix met them with a smile as they left. He’d opted out of making his usual cup of coffee in favor of hot chocolate, as Athena had filled up the break room’s selection of drinks with some of her personal favorites. After that, it was all paperwork.
Around an hour or two into his work, Phoenix lifted his head, having been surprisingly focused the entire day, and looked out the window to be met with an image of almost pure white. The snow falling from the sky had taken to flying about roughly, more so than it had this morning. “The weather forecast didn’t say it would be this bad,” the lawyer mumbled to himself, frowning. Perhaps he ought to get back home before he was snowed in, telling the kids to take the day off once court ended.
Phoenix couldn’t tell you when he started thinking of Apollo and Athena as “the kids,” but found it in him it was incredibly hard to stop once he’d started. He couldn’t help it. He was their mentor, after all, and every time he used the nickname near the two, it was blatant that it was well received. Athena always lit up, perking up so she’d almost be standing on her toes until she realized what she was doing and attempted to “play it cool.” Apollo, on the other hand, was subtler, instead of prompting to scratch the back of his neck as a slight blush and soft smile overtook his features. It was adorable, really.
A knock on the door interrupted Phoenix’ apparent daydream, and he straightened in his chair as the door quietly opened up to reveal none other than Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth himself. Giving him a once-over, it was clear the man had been outside in the storm, seeing as his gray hair was dotted with a crown of white snowflakes. His glasses were fogged over from the change in temperature, and beneath the wet, brown coat, the defense attorney could see his friend’s signature look of a burgundy-magenta suit, paired up with a jabot. The sight made Phoenix chuckle slightly, if only because of the way his guest’s bangs drooped slightly. In the back of his mind, he could almost hear the lecture of “You Must Be Professional On The Job And That Includes Your Appearance,” but the raven-haired man said nothing of it, instead prompting to greet the other with a soft smile.
“Pardon my intrusion,” Miles mumbled as he closed the door, and met Phoenix’ eyes with a mischievous glint. “I would say ‘I hope I’m not disturbing,’ but knowing you, there isn’t really much to disturb, is there?”
Phoenix immediately grinned. After the Dark Age of The Law was resolved, his childhood friend had slowly but surely learned to be more comfortable in his own skin. It had taken ages, but it seemed the prosecutor was coming to terms with his past, with his regrets, and had at some point decided to live his life to the fullest. He smiled more often. He made jokes. Miles almost seemed… Softer. Approachable. Happy. And Phoenix couldn’t lie- He adored this version of Miles Edgeworth.
“Contrary to popular belief, Miles, I do actually do my job sometimes,” Phoenix responded with a cheeky grin and leaned forward in his chair, arms crossed on the desk. He couldn’t help but laugh when he heard a quiet snort in response, as the prosecutor took off his coat and folded it over the chair on the other side of Phoenix’ desk. Usually it was meant for clients, however, that didn’t stop Miles from seating himself on it, a soft smile on his face.
Gods, Miles was beautiful when he smiled.
“So, to what do I owe the pleasure of the highly esteemed Chief Prosecutor’s visit?”
Phoenix never stopped grinning. Both of them knew, after an endless amount of lunch breaks, café visits, and dinners together that they were too familiar with each other for Phoenix to even bother using the title. Judging by how Miles rolled his eyes, it seemed he agreed on the matter as well.
Of course, to Phoenix they still weren’t familiar enough. However, Miles didn’t need to know that. Miles was his dear friend. The defense attorney knew that said friend didn’t take well to attention. Or emotions, really. At least, he had been that way in the past. And he still was a little awkward with people he didn’t know well. Phoenix could recall countless encounters where Apollo and Miles had stuttered at each other while Phoenix was “just finishing this one paper before they go out for lunch”.
Perhaps that was why Miles was such an enigma to him. When Miles felt comfortable, he was like a completely different man. And the people he felt comfortable with had earned his trust throughout many years.
There was Gumshoe, who Miles had pretty much spent his entire career with until the man had quit momentarily in pursuit of expanding his education. With monetary support from the police department (and Miles as well, though the detective didn’t need to know that), he could freely study to his heart’s content. Phoenix could recall several memories where the detective had said something funny, and Miles had let out a completely unguarded laugh, smile reaching his eyes. The two had a partnership bond stronger than most, and as the whole “Miles Edgeworth chooses death”-event had shown, there was no other he would open up to about difficult subjects sooner.
And Gumshoe wasn’t the only one either. There was Kay Faraday, a young girl who’d apparently known Edgeworth since his very first case (and used his jabot as a tissue to boot). She had that kind of personality where even if you didn’t want her around, she stuck with you until you did. Phoenix had only met her on a few occasions, and every time she’d managed to make both Edgeworth and him smile. Her chipper attitude offered a brighter outlook on life, and it was clear she had affected the prosecutor to appreciate the smaller things.
Then, there was Sebastian Debeste. A rookie prosecutor, who Phoenix himself had never heard of in the past, but Miles had explained how he’d taken on the role of his mentor after the arrest of Sebastian’s father. Apparently, he’d struggled a bit mentally after the fact, and no one but Miles could understand the young boy well enough, considering they’d both had corrupt father figures in their lives. Sometimes Phoenix would arrive at Miles’ office while the two of them were working through a case together, and the blond often invited Phoenix to join them in the discussion. They were normally fairly simple cases. Sebastian wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but when he got something right he’d light up like a Christmas tree as Miles offered him words of appropriate praise. Miles had explained the process as “baby steps,” as the rookie was more than aware of his weaknesses, yet worked hard to overcome them. And then, eventually, he’d realize how much of Edgeworth’s time he’d taken, thanked him properly, and Edgeworth would always see the boy off with a ruffle to his hair, Sebastian smiling all the same.
Last but not least, one could of course not forget about Franziska Von Karma. While growing up as rivals, the two had grown to acknowledge their sibling bond. Their rivalry was still there, of course, but when either of them needed a moment to talk about their fears, their thoughts, and their worries, few people understood them better than the other. They had both grown up with the same mindset of perfection taught to them by the elder Von Karma, and were both in the process of breaking it, however slowly it might be.
There were also some people Miles were slightly better at interacting with, such as co-workers from the prosecutor’s office, but normally those relationships were kept professional most of the time, as opposed to the openness he held himself with when he was comfortable.
Such as right now.
And Phoenix couldn’t believe he was so lucky as to be one of the select few Edgeworth felt comfortable with. The thought made his heart flutter, every time.
However, that was also why he refused to make a move on the prosecutor. One wrong move could make the man tense up around him again, keeping his emotions and thoughts hidden just as he’d done after their first meeting when Phoenix had just become a lawyer.
That companionship was simply too much to risk.
“Well, first of all, I’ve come to deliver these to you,” Miles began, pulling Phoenix out of his thoughts. A manila envelope filled with files was offered to the defense attorney, and Phoenix looked at it, confused. He himself wasn’t working on any cases right now…
“They’re for Mr. Justice. Apparently, Prosecutor Gavin took one look at the weather and immediately decided he refused to leave his office. He gave them to me as he assumed I would be stopping by, which I did, as you can see.”
Phoenix took the chance to look out the window, surprised at just how much snow had seemed to fall compared to the last time he’d taken a glance outside.
“Second. Wright, have you noticed it’s time for lunch?”
At that Phoenix’ eyes shot back to Miles, frown on his face. Was it really..? Yes, one glance at the clock did tell him that it was more than late enough for his usual lunch break. How had he not noticed? Had he been that absorbed in his work?
Well, one time had to be the first.
“I, uh…” Phoenix mumbled shyly, scratching his neck. “No? Not really?”
Edgeworth’s expression turned softer, a sigh escaping his nose as he shook his head.
“I can’t believe you, Wright.”
Miles’ tone was by no means sharp. In fact, Phoenix would almost say it was… fond.
“I told you to call me Phoenix, you know,” the defense attorney half-joked. It seemed it would take far too long for Miles to learn to get on a first-name basis, but Phoenix was patient. He knew it would come with time.
The prosecutor averted his gaze for a moment, biting on his lower lip. It was barely noticeable, but it was there. Phoenix was about to reassure the other that it was fine, reach out his hand to cover Miles’…
Until the entire office went black.
“What-“ Miles managed, looking around just as wildly as Phoenix did.
“I… guess there’s been a power outage?”
Grey eyes offered a weak glare in the dark.
“What? Oh, come on, it’s not that bad! The snow outside reflects light, you know!”
Edgeworth sighed. “I know that, Wright. I was just surprised.”
Alright, so maybe Miles was still a bit bad at expressing his negative emotions, such as annoyance and stress, but he was getting there, one step at a time.
Phoenix stood up, then, walked around the desk, and offered a hand to Miles. The prosecutor only gave him an odd look, until Phoenix realized what he was doing and attempted to clear things up.
“How about we get out of here and grab some lunch? I’m sure this power outage will be dealt with eventually. Either it’s an area-wide outage and we’ll just have to wait for the government to fix it, or it’s just this building, in which Athena can fix it in a heartbeat. She has a lot of hidden talents, you know?”
Miles hesitated, glancing at the hand before he sighed and accepted it. Phoenix tried to pretend the touch didn’t send a shiver of excitement along his arm.
“Alright, Wright. You lead the way.”
And Phoenix did just that, Miles picking up his coat and following the other wordlessly.
That is, until they reached the front door.
“I, uh… Can’t seem to get the door open.”
Once again Phoenix attempted to turn the doorknob, and his fingers met with an icy cold that almost hurt considering his body temperature. However, the knob refused to budge. The door wasn’t locked, Phoenix checked, but no matter how much force he used… the knob wouldn’t budge.
He turned back to see a frown on Edgeworth’s face and moved out of the way so his friend could attempt to open the door where he had failed. However, turns out Phoenix wasn’t the only one who failed that day.
“Yikes. I guess we’re… Stuck in here, then?”
Immediately Phoenix noticed Miles tense up, and the defense attorney mentally slapped himself. He knew how much the other still struggled after the events of his father’s death. He knew how elevators and tight spaces still made him nervous to this day. Hell, the agency wasn’t even that small, but he knew Miles would be more than uncomfortable in a situation where he couldn’t get out freely.
And Miles had anxiety attacks. Phoenix knew this. He’d seen so many of them throughout the years they’d just become a fact of life. To the point where Edgeworth wouldn’t even bother to attempt hiding them anymore. Phoenix knew, Edgeworth knew, Edgeworth knew that Phoenix knew- there was simply no reason to waste the energy.
Phoenix could hear the prosecutor taking deep breaths, no doubt feeling the tendrils of anxiety beginning to take hold of him. Still, it hadn’t set in yet, and Miles was making a formidable effort not to fall under its control. Still, Phoenix couldn’t help but feel guilty. He despised seeing his best friend like this.
“Come here, Edgeworth,” Phoenix said calmly, yet sternly. Almost as a father would to his child, though the situation was nothing like that. Phoenix was simply speaking in a tone of authority he knew the other appreciated when he was at a loss for what to do. They’d discussed it several times, what Phoenix could do to help quiet down the anxiety when it approached, and the answer had been relatively simple.
“Keep me distracted,” Edgeworth had said back then, and Phoenix had promised he would do his best to help the other out.
“Sit down on the couch, okay Miles?” Phoenix said, and crouched down so he was on eye level with the prosecutor, who only nodded and followed the “order”. Those grey eyes were frantic, desperate for some sort of distraction, but when they saw Phoenix they stopped moving about, focusing intensely on keeping eye contact with the other.
“I want you to listen to me, alright? I want you to focus on two things. Your breathing, and my voice. And I’ll help you focus on both, alright Miles?”
A weak nod.
“Then take a deep breath… Breathe in… and breathe out…” Phoenix took hold of Miles’ hands, squeezed them softly, and offered a gentle smile. “Exactly like that, Miles. You’re doing great. Now do that again, okay?”
The pair sat there for quite a while, Phoenix murmuring reassurances and reminders to keep his breath steady to his friend, never losing eye contact. He couldn’t ignore the own fear growing within him, but he knew he was a master at bluffing. He could bluff so well he could trick his own feelings into calming down. And he had to be calm, to have control over the situation, if only for Miles. Phoenix refused to be the source of Miles’ distress.
Eventually, Miles’ eyes focused again, his hands squeezing Phoenix’ slightly. He was biting his lower lip again, Phoenix could tell, but it was only natural. Miles Edgeworth always got nervous about his anxiety attacks. He always got nervous about showing weakness. Yet at the same time, Phoenix knew that Miles appreciated his help. After all, Phoenix had gone to the moon and back for his friend, and he would do it again if need be.
That’s just what you do when you care for someone as deeply as Phoenix did Miles.
“Thank you, Phoenix.”
It was just barely above a whisper, voice cracking slightly from not being used, but Phoenix smiled all the same, being met with a similar expression from the prosecutor.
Instead of responding, Phoenix squeezed Miles’ hands again and stood up from his place where he had been crouching on the floor. Stretching his neck and back, he looked around the agency. They were in the main room now, where Trucy stored all of her magic equipment, but Phoenix knew there was a blanket around here somewhere.
Not a moment later, he found it and walked over to grab it.
Darn. He hadn’t realized the room was freezing. His breath was almost visible in the cold air, even. Wasn’t the office supposed to be warmer than this?
Oh, right. The power outage. It probably turned off all the heating in the building too.
Looking back at Edgeworth, he noticed the other was shivering slightly, and Phoenix sighed. Walking back to the couch, he sat down next to the prosecutor and held the blanket up as if to show him, smiling wryly.
“We’re gonna have to share the blanket, I hope that doesn’t bother you too much. However, the heating is down with the power outage, and I’d rather we manage to keep warm than to freeze to death.”
Edgeworth hesitated, then gave him a weak nod in response, taking the blanket from Phoenix and unfolding it over them both. It was a bit small, so the two of them had to sit extremely close, way closer than Phoenix was 100% comfortable with, but he supposed dealing with a racing heart due to close proximity was better than dealing with extreme cold.
He hoped to the gods that Miles wouldn’t notice how his chest was thumping, though.
They sat there in awkward silence for a while, not saying anything to the other, or even looking at each other. Both of them had a certain red color to their cheeks, clearly not used to having their personal space invaded like this, yet Phoenix couldn’t say he disliked it. It was just really intense, to be this close to someone you’ve had a crush on since you were nine.
And honestly, how could he not? Even back then, Edgeworth had been admirable. He may have had a cold demeanor at first, but once you got to know him, seeing how his eyes shone as he’d tell you about his newest fascination had inspired Phoenix even back then. In fact…
“This reminds me of when we were children, you know.”
At the disturbance in the silence, Edgeworth looked up, still biting his lower lip for a second.
“How so?”
Phoenix smiled, trying not to let it show that his body was going haywire at being so close to Miles’ face. They were WAY too close for comfort. In the past, when Miles had bit his lower lip like he was doing just now, Phoenix could at least hold himself back from the urge of really wanting to kiss him just because they were physically further apart. Now, however, that was… more of a struggle than the raven-haired defense attorney would like to admit. Swallowing, Phoenix continued.
“Yeah, um. There was that one time, where we had a sleepover at my place. You’d just read an astronomy book, and as such, you insisted we stay up late enough to watch the stars. You said you wanted to tell me about all the constellations you’d read about.”
Phoenix smiled.
“Of course, Larry had fallen asleep way earlier, apparently not very interested in stargazing. But we let him sleep, and my mom stayed up with us. She made us hot chocolate, and when the stars came out we sat in my backyard, huddled together under a blanket like this, and I listened as you told me about constellations like Ursa minor, Aquarius, and Orion.”
Miles was smiling too, recalling the memory.
“I remember your mother went to bed before us because she was too sleepy to stay up. I wanted to tell you about everything I knew, back then, so we never came back inside like she’d hoped we would.”
Phoenix chuckled. “Yeah, we were too encompassed in our own world to care about what time it was. We stayed out there in the backyard all the way until sunrise.”
A silence enveloped the two, this time comfortable as they allowed themselves to bask in the memory. Phoenix could even swear he felt Miles lean on him a little bit, but he couldn’t be sure.
“…That is one of my fondest memories from my childhood,” Edgeworth eventually confessed, eyes distant as he recalled it. “I… We both know I’ve never taken well to Larry’s brashness, so I was glad I could just… Share with you this topic that fascinated me, without being interrupted because Larry couldn’t care less.”
A hand grabbed Phoenix’ hand lightly, and Phoenix looked up only to look straight into Miles’ gray eyes.
“Even back then… You truly meant a lot to me.”
Phoenix swallowed again, unable to look away for even a moment. His heart was thumping like never before, both at the close distance and the intensity and intimacy of what they were discussing. And their hands touching didn’t fail to remind him that Edgeworth had grabbed his hand, unprompted, and it felt like his head was spinning, being this close to Miles. He’d always, always wanted it, but right now he wasn’t sure if this was a dream, or real. It was all just so overwhelming, the way Miles studied his face, expression fond, open, vulnerable.
“Phoenix, I-“
He didn’t get to say more, as the opening theme to The Steel Samurai suddenly exploded from out of his pocket, and Phoenix jumped, suddenly remembering there was more to the world than just Chief Prosecutor and Lifelong crush, Miles Edgeworth. Swearing under his breath, Phoenix felt his embarrassment catch up to him in form of an intense blush as he accepted the call, bringing his outdated Nokia phone to his ear.
“Hello, you’re speaking with Phoenix Wright.”
“Hi, Boss! It’s me, Athena! I’m- uh. Are you alright, Mr. Wright? You sound very…”
Phoenix looked back to Edgeworth, praying the other man couldn’t hear Athena’s words. After all, they all knew how good she was at reading emotions, with her sensitive ears and analytical psychology and whatnot.
“I’m fine, Athena! Just, um, a bit cold?” At this point the defense attorney wasn’t even sure if he believed himself, but he had to push through. “There was a power outage at the office, and I think the front door is frozen shut. I can’t get the knob to budge. Edgeworth and I are stuck in here until someone can get us out.”
Athena seemed to perk up at that. “Oh, Mr. Edgeworth is there? I see…” Apparently, that explained the discord she was hearing. “Oh, and I guess being trapped in the office isn’t a good thing either, I’ll, um, call someone to get help?”
Phoenix sighed, leaning back in the couch.
“That would be great, Athena. Thanks.”
Athena chuckled. “No problem, boss! Oh, and I called to let you know we won our trial! I would put Apollo on the phone right now if he didn’t disappear the moment he saw how the weather was to pick up Trucy from school. You know how he gets.”
Phoenix nodded, only to realize Athena couldn’t see him. Miles was offering him an amused look.
“Yeah, remind me to thank Polly next time I see him. I would have done it myself if I wasn’t, you know, stuck.”
“Right! Anyway, I’ll hang up now and see if Simon knows anything about how to get you out. Try not to freeze to death while you wait for me, boss!”
Phoenix rolled his eyes. “We’ll try, Athena. Can’t promise anything.”
“Alright, talk to you later, boss!”
A click was heard, and the call was over. Phoenix couldn’t help but shake his head and smile fondly. Those kids were going to be the death of him, one day. That is if Miles wasn’t going to kill him first as he cleared his throat, reminding the defense attorney just how close they were sitting.
“So, Ms. Cykes and Mr. Justice won their trial?”
Phoenix nodded, flush returning to his cheeks.
“Er, yeah. Seems like it. I can’t for the life of me remember what it was about, though. Still, the kids seemed confident this morning when they left.”
Miles nodded, moving his free hand up to fix his glasses. “That’s good.”
…Wait.
They were still holding hands.
Miles was still holding Phoenix’ hand.
Phoenix looked up at Miles again, confused. He was about to speak, but was interrupted before he had the chance.
“As I was saying before we were interrupted, I, um.”
Edgeworth stopped, weighing his every word carefully before he let his voice form them.
“Wright, I… No. Phoenix.”
The defense attorney could only stare as he found himself drawn in by that same magnetic gaze again, swallowing hard.
Every word uttered became more and more quiet, until they were barely whispers.
“I… I care for you deeply, Phoenix. Perhaps more than just a friend should.”
The world was spinning again. This couldn’t be real. There was no way.
“What I mean to say, is… I love you.”
The world seemed to freeze at that moment, and the ball was tossed to Phoenix. Everything was frozen in time and would STAY frozen until he reacted. The way he acted now could make or break the situation.
It was then that Phoenix noticed a lot of things. How Miles had gone back to chewing his own lower lip as he waited for a response, tense, as if bracing himself for the worst. Yet despite this, his hand was open, loose. So that Phoenix could remove his if he wanted. Heck, Edgeworth had even moved away a little bit, so that if Phoenix wanted to stand, perhaps run off in disgust, he could do that without any issues whatsoever.
But… Phoenix didn’t want any of that.
Apparently, Phoenix’ silence had lasted for too long, because Miles moved to remove his hand from the defense attorney’s, soon beginning to speak again.
“Of course, this doesn’t have to mean anything, I just-“
Phoenix silenced him by squeezing Miles’ hand again, and leaning over just the tiniest bit until their foreheads touched.
Could have been a little bit more comfortable without the glasses, but oh well. Phoenix wasn’t going to complain.
Because in the next moment their lips met, and while it was clear that neither of them had any idea what they were doing, it felt… right. At first, it was just their lips meeting. Then, a few moments later, a tongue prodded the other’s mouth open, slowly. Their teeth even clashed together for a moment, but neither seemed to care, because… well, they were kissing.
And Phoenix wasn’t completely sure, but he was confident that very few feelings could beat that of finally being able to kiss someone you’ve loved for a really long time.
Despite this, the two men didn’t increase the intensity of their lip-lock. They took it slow, communicating quietly through glances and soft caresses. Phoenix’ hand eventually ended up on Miles’ jaw, steadying them both, whilst Miles’ free hand ended up leaning on Phoenix’s chest. Their hands were still linked between them, and they continued like that for a long time. Hearts beating, lips moving slowly. It was gentle. Testing the waters. Insecure. Yet also safe. Because if nothing else, the relationship between Phoenix and Miles had always been one that took a long time to get a move on. And sometimes Phoenix was impatient whilst Miles wasn’t ready to move along, but they always remained at each other's side.
Leaning back so they could breathe, Phoenix couldn’t stop himself from smiling, peace coming over his entire being.
“I love you too, Miles.”
He couldn’t deny how his heart fluttered as Miles’ eyes lit up, unable to keep a smile from his face.
Later, when Athena, Apollo, Simon, and Trucy finally managed to open the front door to the agency, they found Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth sleeping together on the couch, Edgeworth’s glasses on the table, head leaned on Wright’s shoulders, and hands still locked together in their laps.