Work Text:
It was quiet. All eyes were on Phoenix as he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. He unfolded it slowly, glancing up at Miles. “I-I probably should’ve tried to memorize this,” he laughed, “But I wanted to make sure I didn’t leave any part out, because it’s all important.” Miles nodded reassuringly. He then glanced away from Phoenix, quickly scanning over the gathered friends and family. There weren’t many people there on his behalf, but Phoenix had drawn a bit of a crowd. “I wasn’t sure how to start this,” Phoenix started, “I spent so long thinking I’d never have to write vows that I just kinda, well, never tried to think of anything. So I decided to start with the first thing that came into my mind-sorry if this sounds rambly-” he laughed again, rubbing his neck nervously. His face was flushed as he continued, “I remember when you picked this venue, I commented about how close it was to an international airport. I told you it’d make it easy for a certain sister of yours to get here.” He looked towards Franziska, who was wearing a smirk, as usual. Not the reassuring smile he’d been looking for, but that was what her brother was for. He continued, “L-Looking back on that, I thought about how a while ago, that might’ve made me nervous. What if you deserted me? What if you left a note and decided you never wanted to see me again? But I realized that I trust you now. I know you won’t leave. And I know you love me. So, th-that’s why I vow to always trust you, and always make it that you can trust me as well. I also promise to make sure you always know that I love you, and to remind you that even if and when you leave the country, your home will always be here. There’s so much more I want to promise, but I threw this together so last minute, even though you deserve the best vows-” the paper crinkled in his hand as he turned it over, attempting to again decipher his own sloppy writing. “-Okay. Okay.” He tried to steady his breathing, looking up at Miles who was staring at him, a soft expression on his face. Were his eyes watering? Phoenix looked down, continuing, “I-I promise to make you happy. Because, because I knew I was in love the first time I saw your real smile, and everytime you laugh my heart swells because I just love you so much. I know you haven’t had an easy life, and that’s why you deserve to be as happy as you can be now . And I-I’m just so glad that I get to be the one, the one who gets to dr-draw that out of you.” He was getting choked up. “I even promise to keep watching that one anime with you.” Miles smirked, trying to casually wipe the tears from his eyes. He hadn’t imagined he’d get this emotional. It was almost overwhelming. “There’s so much more I want to say, but this is where my paper ends… So, I guess I promise to be more prepared from now on?” Miles cracked a smile. “My final vow is to always love you,” Phoenix decided, smiling sweetly.
“My turn?” Miles asked quietly, “Could you pass me my glasses?” Phoenix nodded, picking them off up of a nearby table before handing them over. Miles smiled, “Okay, I’m not going to pretend that this will be written like poetry, because you’re the art major. But, okay…” He unfolded it, taking an unsteady breath. “Phoenix. I-I owe you a lot. You’ve done so much for me, even at cost to yourself. And everyday that I wake up beside you, I realize how lucky I am. I want to promise you the world, because that’s what you deserve, a-and if I can’t do that, then I’ll promise instead to bring a smile to your face for every smile you’ve given me.” He paused, looking nervously to Phoenix, before continuing, “I promise to be there for you now, even if I haven’t been in the past.” He finished his sentence with a pained expression on his face, “I’ve done a lot of regrettable things in my life, but marrying you isn’t, and never will be, one of those things.” He felt a few tears roll down his face, and he had to blink the blur from his eyes. He smiled anxiously, continuing, “I-I love you more than words can describe, and I promise that no matter what happens, I’ll stick around. Since you came back into my life, 2016, everything in my life has been changing, for the better. Somehow you came back to me after all those years apart knowing me better than I knew me. You helped me turn my life around, and I’ll be forever in your debt. And I have all this other stuff written down, but… I liked the way you put it. My final vow, also, is to always love you. No matter what, I’ll be there like you’ve been there for me.” Phoenix wanted so bad to embrace him, but he’d have to wait; something about sticking to tradition and wait for the ceremony to be over. He could hardly wait for the, ‘You may kiss’. His heart was as warm as Miles’ flushing and tearstained face, which he knew was warm because he’d never felt this close to someone in his life and this would have to go down as the best kiss he’d ever been apart of.
“You look beautiful,” Phoenix whispered. Miles tried to hide the huge grin he had on his face, but it was to no avail.
“Hold these?” he asked, handing over his glasses as he accepted a tissue from Phoenix’s mother. “I didn’t mean to get so tear-y,” he laughed. Phoenix felt like his own heart had stopped on him. This was truly a rare sight to see, Miles laughing and crying all while in front of other people. “It’s like I said before,” Miles said, turning towards Phoenix, “Thanks to you, I am saddled with unnecessary feelings.” Somehow those words sounded different coming from a man with sparkling eyes and a bright smile on his face. Phoenix wanted to kiss him again, but instead decided to grab his hand. Their rings clicked against each other.
“I love you,” Phoenix said softly.
“I love you more,” Miles responded.
“I love you MOST!” Phoenix exclaimed.
“Objection! There appears to be a contradiction in your testimony, because I love you most,” Miles retorted. Phoenix smirked, kissing him on the cheek.
“I can’t wait to dance with you, dork” he commented, before checking out the guests, which he’d sorta forgot were there, “BUT! I think Trucy’s starting to gnaw on the table over there, so we should probably see if the catering people are ready.”
“Are you going to dismiss the tables then?” Miles said. Phoenix nodded.
After eating, Phoenix made sure to lead Miles towards the dance floor. “Don’t be nervous,” he said, “Stop looking so nervous.”
“Everyone’s watching,” Miles responded, “Why didn’t we practice this.”
“It’s not as hard as you think,” Phoenix promised, taking a comfortable position, “I’ll lead, since I know the steps.” Miles nodded. “In my first year of college, I was lucky to have a space in my schedule for an actual theatre class. We covered dancing for several weeks, because we were doing Cinderella.”
“And who were you in that play? The prince?”
Phoenix laughed, shaking his head, “I was just a background character. I was there for my drawing skills, not my singing.” Miles smiled, though he was still nervous. An easy tell was the way he watching his feet. “Up here ,” Phoenix whispered. Miles looked up, face flushing.
“R-Right, sorry.”
“You’re a natural,” Phoenix assured, “Do you like the song I chose?”
“Of course,” Miles smiled.
“Good,” Phoenix breathed, “I was listening to it when I spotted your name in the paper.” Miles’ eyes widened with realization.
“This song doesn’t exactly exclaim, ‘demon attorney’ though, does it?”
“That’s what I thought too,” Phoenix smirked, “Though it gave me the idea to send you a barrage of calls.”
When the song ended, and Miles’ was almost sad that his dance with Phoenix was over. (There’s something about being lead by someone who knows what they are doing). “Hey, don’t look disappointed, there’s plenty more dancing where that came from,” Phoenix remarked, “You’ll be a pro by the end of the night.”
“I’m sure,” Miles smiled. He didn’t care that he wasn’t perfect at dancing anyways. He had never been so content to be in someone’s arms. He’d never been so in love. “Hey, Phoenix, I thought of another vow” he said softly.
“Yeah?” Phoenix responded. Miles moved close, whispering in his ear,
“I promise to never let this moment fade.”