Chapter Text
Maya Fey still felt buzzed.
It had only been three days since the party, and she’d never felt this alive before, especially when she hadn’t the faintest clue how anyone else was faring with watching reruns of tokusatsu peak fiction.
Her eyes were solely for Franziska. The whole night, they were almost shoulder to shoulder, isolated on their own little island of scandal and intrigue. It was a night of revelations. A night of consolidation. Bits and pieces of a vague impression structured into a shelter of promise. Franziska liked her. She couldn’t be more sure. Franziska liked her. It made her heart do backflips and frontflips and barrel rolls and those funky dance moves people do at raves. Feelings that felt just close enough to wanting to vomit without actually crossing the boundary, so she’s just left woozy and hot-cheeked.
It didn’t help that their talking felt so much flirtier now. Whatever happened inside Franziska’s head that night felt like a heel turn, because texting was proving to be just as dramatic. The worst part was the mirror selfies. Photos of Franziska clumsily holding up her phone with both hands, eyebrows furrowed and focused on the screen, her tongue held between her lips in concentration as she tried to snap the perfect angle of whatever thing she was wearing. All Maya could think was how absolutely adorable she looked in literally everything she put on. Even the glasses accompanied by a gauche moustache and bulbous nose that Franziska found in a novelty shop and apparently felt compelled to purchase. A picture of Franziska pouting at her camera awkwardly, half of her mouth concealed by a fake moustache and her piercing-yet-flummoxed eyes leering with mock embarrassment from beneath bushy faux eyebrows. A picture rather conspicuously pouting up from Maya’s Home screen.
Of course, it wasn’t all a one-way fashion show. Maya contributed too! She just had less to show off, and instead opted to take selfies with random things she found. One of Nick’s pencils he’d snapped in half by accident. One of Nick’s plumber’s crack peeking out from his pants as he was bent over cleaning the toilet. One of a taxidermy squirrel with both of its eyes too far forward on its head that she found in a second-hand store. It felt almost like they were developing a new language solely their own. Silly pictures from Maya replied with anything Franziska could find to match the energy. Inside jokes they both forgot hours after they were made.
The honeymoon phase of not-quite-dating-but-super-into-eachother. A high she could ride for weeks before getting antsy again.
The clock hit 3pm, and Maya sat up from her lounging seat on Nick’s office couch. When it wasn’t reserved for clients, it was hers to fashion into her bona fide slacker throne. There weren’t many clients, so she was never in a rush to tidy up her crinkled candy wrappers and unfinished comics. Her mind had a habit of wandering, but she was getting better at detecting when it was headed to a bad place. Never the worst place—not since that trial—but anxious places. This time, it was a pang of dejection. An ephemeral impression that their relationship in person just wasn’t the same as their one on their phones. Sure, they could banter, but a haze of social decorum felt like it creeped into everything they did together.
Well, it’s not like they did that much together.
Maybe that was the problem. Long periods of only texting, barely seeing each other face to face, so every time they did, it was like starting again from zero. What she needed was–
Knock knock knock.
Maya jumped up, an errant hand swiping her wrappers and borrowed comics off the table and onto the floor where she could nudge her foot to cram everything under the couch. “One second!” she called, the surprise barely concealed in her tone.
A cursory glance told her she did an adequate job hiding her mess, and she careened to the office door, her foot catching on the leg of the other couch before she could reach the handle.
Thud. Creeeak.
Faceplanted. Was it lucky or unlucky that she’d managed to yank the door handle before falling? Standing on the other side, staring down at her with concern, was Miles Edgeworth.
“Wh- Miles!?” she yelped, scrambling to her knees before she could clamber to her feet.
“Did I come at a bad time?” he asked, head askew, a tiny smirk on his lips.
Maya snorted, waving a hand dismissively, “Is it ever a good time?”
It was only then that she even registered who he was. She peeked under his arm to see behind him.
“Franziska isn’t here with me.”
“Huh? Wh- hey, I wa -sn’t looking for her! Why would I do that?” Maya’s voice cracked. Nailed it. “Uh, Nick’s not here right now. He ducked out to see a man about a plunger.”
One of his eyebrows raised inquisitively, before he shook his head. “No, I’m not here for Wright. I came to see you.”
“Right, so I’ll text you later-” Huh? “Me? Can’t you just text me?”
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” Miles raised the other brow to match its sibling, dodging the question.
“What are you, a vampire? Sure, whatevs, Herr Dracula. ” Maya stepped aside, letting him walk in. His usual suit looked freshly pressed, not like Maya’s frumpy acolyte attire.
“ Herr? ” he queried, the full intent of his question carried in the weight of a single word.
“That’s what Franzy says when she’s giving something a nickname. She thinks it’s funny.”
He made a sound like a snorfing dog and sat on the couch, smoothing his blazer. Maya closed the door and flopped onto her usual spot.
“You talk to her pretty often, then?”
“All the time! She’s way more talkative than you’d think, honest! She sends me rants about work, sometimes she takes pictures of the pages of a book she’s reading to whinge or gush about a character. It’s so cute, she gets really heated about some of these romance books!” Maya’s eyes lit up, leaning forward, her hands drumming on her thighs, “Lately, she sends me all sorts of funny selfies trying on clothes! She thinks it’s funny to mismatch outfits, I think, I don’t totally get all the details, but she’ll say something like ‘a plunging neckline with a miniskirt? Is this what you Americans wear to prom?’ They all look good on her, so I just smile and nod and send a bunch of laughing emojis.”
Miles’ straight-lipped expression became somewhat weary.
Maya caught herself, closed her mouth, and turned fire-hydrant red. “I-I mean, yea, we totally chat now and then…”
“Well, my suspicions are confirmed. That makes things simpler.” The smugness on his face effortlessly ticks Maya off.
“What suspicions!?”
“Nothing important. Now, to answer your earlier question,” he slid something out of his pocket and held it out to Maya, “I can’t exactly text you a gift, Maya.”
“A gift…? Why? Did I do something?”
“Consider it payback for the figurine you gave me the other day.” Then, his expression turned a little dark, hung eyebrows betraying a shred of melancholy. “And… an investment in the happiness of someone important to me.”
Maya got the distinct impression that ‘someone important’ wasn’t her. They didn’t have that deep of a relationship. Friends, sure. Comrades in fandom, definitely. Suspicious, Maya accepts the proffered gift.
A slip of rather thick paper with embellishments of gold. “A ticket…?”
“To a gala this weekend. To celebrate the release of the latest season of Steel Samurai. The tickets were limited, but I stayed up all night to snag two of them.” He looked quite proud of himself.
Maya’s jaw slowly dropped, opting to cradle the ticket like it was a sacred artifact she had no right defiling with her mortal hands. “And you’re bringing me…!?”
“No, I don’t think so. I think I’ll try my hand at dragging Wright out of his cave.”
Maya deflated. “... Oh.”
Miles laughed a sort of pompous jackass laugh that had no real humor behind it. “It’s a plus-one event, Maya. You can bring someone with you. Two tickets, four people.”
“Oh!” Maya reinflated, “Wait, wait, a plus one? So I can invite whoever I want? Uh, crap… maybe Penny would wanna go… who am I kidding, she definitely got a ticket of her own… uhh… what about Pearly…” She chewed the inside of her cheek.
“Maya…” his tone betrayed his disappointment. “Aren’t you thinking too hard about this? I’m sure there’s someone you’d rather invite.”
She pursed her lips, laying the ticket on the table so she wouldn’t accidentally sully it. “What are you talking about?”
“Do I really need to spell it out?” he cocked his head up and frowned.
It took Maya a second to process. “What, Franziska? She’d hate to go to something like this; she barely pays attention to me when I tell her about Samurai stuff.”
Miles evidently noticed the forlorn expression flicker across Maya’s face. She was good at hiding her bouts of sadness, but apparently not good enough. “I don’t think that’s true. She’s been watching a few episodes with me lately. Why, just yesterday she asked me if I knew any trivia that would impress a diehard fan of the show. I wonder who she’s talking about.”
As someone who prides herself on her ability to yap, Maya was sure she could handle her prospective partner not being into one of the things she loves. One of her special interests. However, even when she’s crossed that bridge and come to terms that Franziska might never be into it, there’s a nagging angst that comes saddled with that adjustment. She loves Steel Samurai. She loves nerdy action shows with robots and sci-fi superheroes and cheesy plots and the power of love. She couldn’t give less of a shit that Nick doesn’t care for all that nonsense. But Franziska?
Franziska felt special to her. She wanted everything she loved to be one big mass of feel-good in her heart, and if Franziska couldn’t be a part of that… Well, it would suck.
“You can’t be serious, Maya.” Miles’ voice broke through Maya’s grieving over outcomes that haven’t come to pass.
“What? I am serious… I mean, she’s just… orbiting around it, she’s not really interested in any of it. She’s already this glamorous mature girl, what does she need kids shows for?”
“Who needs kids shows? Look,” Miles stood up, his hand flicking his hair out of his eye, “Believe me or don’t, it’s none of my business. I’m not going to argue in circles with you about whether Franziska does or doesn’t care about something. I do that enough in court. If you at all value my input, for all it’s worth… I think she would like the invite. I also think you would both have a good time.” With all that finality, he turned, waved over his shoulder, and left the office in that brisk, sweeping stride of someone who knows where they’re going—or wants people to think they know where they’re going.
Maya slumped, glaring daggers at the ceiling to spite it for keeping the rain from pouring over her. Is this what they call a mood swing? Hormonal? She envied Pearly, getting to know how sheltered she is before it’s too late.
Absent-mindedly, she picked up her phone. Two unread messages.
A selfie of Franziska, pointing her phone at a mirror, wearing a brown bear onesie. The hand not awkwardly holding her phone is raised up like a claw, and she’s doing her best attempt at a scary face, but it looks more like a model who can’t help but look photogenic no matter what face she makes.
💙 Franzy 💙
It is “bear”y comfortable but I do not think it suits me very well. What are your thoughts? I purchased it today on an impulse, because it reminded me of something I had when I was a little girl. I may return it. I am undecided. Help?
She’s nauseatingly cute… Maya took a deep breath, saved the photo, and updated her Home screen with it. I think I would die for this woman.
SAKJKHFAHFAF dat is soOOO freakn cute!!! im gonna lose my mind!?!??!?!/1!?
if u nevr take that off i think the world will be a better place
Ha ha ha ha L.O.L. Would I then be Franziska von Kuma?
If you got one too, what animal would it be?
i already hav a onesie!! its a pink princess onesie!
nick got it for me cuz im bROKE LOL
Maybe you can show it to me? It would be cute if we matched. If not, then I will keep it in mind for your birthday. I was already planning on something but maybe I can get both.
I must return to work. I hope your day is going well. It is always a shame when you are not at the courthouse.
U WENT TO WORK IN THE ONESIE??????????????
No. I took my paperwork home. I thought it would be comfier to do my work in this. I might keep it. T.Y.T.L.
B4 u go, can i call u rq?
real quick?
Very well.
Maya’s breath hitched. She looked at her phone, at the little symbol at the top. For all their texting, they’ve never actually called each other, it’s almost alien… but she already bit the bullet. I can do this… just think about Franziska von Kuma…
That only made it harder. That agonizingly cute picture was going to live rent-free in her head for the next century and then some. Just as she was having second thoughts, her thumb lowering to the input box to type a quick ‘nvm!’, her screen lit up. Franziska was calling her.
She picked up without thinking, and put it on speaker. Her face was so hot she worried she’d get the screen all sweaty.
“Hello, Maya Fey? You wanted to call and then said nothing.” She sounded so cutely concerned.
“Oh yea, hahahaha, sorry! The, uh, office cleaner came in and I had to shoo her away!”
“Phoenix Wright can afford an office cleaner?”
“Uhh-” Shit. Of course they didn’t have an office cleaner, the office cleaner is Nick whenever they don’t have a client! “It’s uh, the cleaner for the building! Super old system, don’t worry about it!”
There’s a silence, then a shuffle. “Alright then. What did you want to talk about?”
Maya grit her teeth, closed her eyes, and doubled over, trying to muster all of her motivation and courage into one big, climactic burst…
“Maya Fey?”
“Soo, uhh, there’s this uh, big event going on! You know, you were there, for the, uh, premiere n’ stuff, for uh, the newest Samurai series. You know. The party. Uh, so, that’s not, like, the event I’m talking about? It’s a different one, uh, this weekend, uh, Saturday at 7pm, and I have a ticket and I was thinking that maybe you might wanna maybe be my plus-one to it? To the, uh, g-gala dinner press event thingie, uh, it’s got some actors, I think! And a live event, and some giveaways…”
Silence.
“ N-nevermind! It’s, uh, totally not interesting for you, it’s uh, super silly Samurai stuff, for kids y’know, um, forget I a-”
“Sure.”
“Huh?” Maya had to blink out a distressed tear as about a gallon of panic evaporated in her stomach.
“I said sure. Is it a formal event?”
Maya, a little dumbfounded, picked up the ticket and gave it a once-over. “The, uhh, ticket says ‘half-dress’?”
“So it is a formal event. I probably have something to wear. Though, I cannot imagine you have a wardrobe fit for that.”
“What? Of course I do, I’ve got loads of formal dresses! Like, corsets n’ stuff, super adult-y.”
There’s a brief pause. “Right. I believe you.” Her voice sounds sarcastic. “Well, I am only going because you sought to invite me. I would hate for you to be lonely at your foolish Samurai events.”
“R-right, yeah! For sure!” That stung a little, but she smiled through it.
Another pause, then, in a quieter voice. “... I’m looking forward to it. See you then?”
Maya softened, exhaling gently. “Yeah. Me too. See you then.”
Franziska hung up, and Maya laid back on the couch, once again cursing the ceiling for existing.
What in the world is she supposed to wear.