Chapter Text
“Phoenix. Phoenix. Phoenix.”
Miles grunted as he drifted into consciousness, blinking a few times before furrowing his brow and fumbling for his phone.
“H’lo?”
“Hey, sweetheart. Happy birthday to you...”
Miles blinked, then rolled his eyes.
“Phoenix.”
“Happy birthday to you...”
“Phoenix...”
“Happy birthday, dear Miles...”
Miles sighed, despite being unable to keep the smile off his face.
“Happy birthday to you!”
Miles laughed, sitting up in bed and brushing some hair behind his ear.
“Can’t say anyone’s woken me up to sing happy birthday over the phone before.”
“That’s because you weren’t dating me before. How’s it feel to be twenty-five? You’re a whole quarter of a century old now!”
Miles chuckled, then yawned.
“I’m mostly just tired at the moment.”
“Aw, poor baby. Late night last night?”
Miles hummed as he stretched, sighing after a moment.
“Just a drug bust, nothing major. How was your night?”
“Ah, well, I mostly spent it helping Apollo with his homework. Or dreading getting back to all the paperwork I’ve been putting off while testifying at Von Karma’s trial.”
“I thought you were glad to be done with that.”
“I mean, yeah, cause I don’t really enjoy having everyone’s attention on me, but paperwork sucks.”
Miles laughed softly.
“I thought you wanted to be an actor when you were younger.”
“Yeah, but not like, a super-famous movie star or something. Just like, a recurring cast member on a CW show or something.”
Miles laughed again, shaking his head.
“But enough about me. What are you gonna do today? Y’know, before I meet you for dinner tonight?”
Miles hummed as he stretched, swinging his legs around in bed and standing up.
“My father and I are going to get lunch and start looking through the things I have stored from the old house.”
“Really?”
“Yes, there are some things in there that my father would like to have in his own apartment. Some photographs and things like that.”
“Are you both gonna be okay?”
Miles chuckled as he reached the door to his bedroom.
“We’ll be fine, Phoenix. Most of what’s in storage has been in there for well over a decade, we need to sort it out anyway.”
“Well... if you say so, but I’m here if you need to talk, okay?” He heard a buzz on the other end. “Ah, work’s calling, gotta go! See you later, I love you!”
“I love you too. See you at six.”
With a smile still on his face, Miles put his phone away and started getting ready for his day, going through his routine and spending some time with Pess before his father came to pick him up. They had lunch before heading over to the storage facility, getting through a few boxes of old cookware and books rather easily.
It took quite a while for realization to strike him. In fact, it wasn’t until he and his father were about to call it a day that it hit him.
“Oh, look at this,” his father mused as he pulled something out of the last box. “I was wondering where this went.”
“What? What is it?”
Instead of answering, his father got up, walking over to him and pressing something round and smooth into his hand. Miles blinked, furrowing his brow and opening his mouth to ask what he’d been given before the memories came rushing back.
“Mama’s necklace...” he murmured, running his thumb over the smooth, polished jade that he couldn’t quite picture the color of anymore before handing it back to his father. “She... she used to wear it all the time when I was little.”
“You used to put it in your mouth all the time when you were little,” his father remarked, the smile clear in his voice. “She thought it was cute. Course, she loved you so much that she probably would have thought anything you did was cute.”
Miles smiled, brushing a lock of his hair behind his ear.
“Ah, work’s calling, gotta go! See you later, I love you!”
“I love you too. See you at six.”
Miles froze, a red hot flush blooming in his cheeks and spreading all over his face.
“Whoa, hey, you alright, Ducky?”
“I... I think Phoenix told me he loves me this morning.”
“... uh... okay?”
“And I think I said it back.”
“... is this a bad thing?”
“We’d- we’d never said it before! And it was over the phone!”
“Ah, well, that’s a bit-!”
“I didn’t even think about it before I said it!”
That seemed to throw his father for a loop, a moment passing in silence before his father suddenly burst out laughing.
“It’s not funny!” Miles insisted, cheeks somehow managing to get even hotter.
“Ah-ha, it’s- it’s a little bit, heh, it’s a little bit funny, Ducky.”
Miles levelled a look in his father’s general direction, folding his arms across his chest.
“It’s not funny, I-! What, what am I supposed to do here? We’re going out to dinner later, and- and I didn’t even mean to say it!”
His father chuckled, then cleared his throat, taking a few deep breaths.
“A... Alright, well, fir- first things first. You say you didn’t mean to say it, but did you not mean what you said? That is, do you not actually love Phoenix?”
“Of course I love him, that’s not the issue-!” Miles paused, then blushed, clearing his throat.
“Wow. Didn’t even hesitate.”
He blushed even more, clearing his throat again.
“Y-Yes, well, that... that may be part of- of why it came out so easily...”
His father chuckled, taking a step towards him.
“Alright then, so it’s not that you didn’t mean it. Is it that you’re just embarrassed about it?”
Miles huffed, brushing some hair behind his ear again.
“A... a little, but... well, what if he didn’t mean it? He- he just said it, like he didn’t even think about it. What if he just... said it without thinking about it?”
His father sighed, closing the distance between them and putting his hands on Miles’ shoulders.
“Ducky, look. You said it because you meant it- so much that you didn’t even have to think about it before you said it. Who’s to say that’s not true for Phoenix?”
Miles opened his mouth to answer, then paused when he realized that he didn’t actually have a good argument, slowly closing his mouth.
“I... I suppose I can’t really say for certain right now.”
“Exactly. All you can do right now is wait and talk to him when you see him later.” He could hear his father’s smile. “Though, personally? I really don’t think you have anything to worry about. That man is pretty obviously smitten with you.”
Miles blushed, but couldn’t help the tiny smile that spread over his lips.
I suppose he’s right, there’s really nothing else I can do... I just hope that Phoenix isn’t too worried about it. Maybe he didn’t notice...
Why. Why, why, why did I say that?!
Phoenix resisted the urge to beat his head against the side of the bathroom stall he was in, dimly grateful that about half the precinct was busy dealing with the aftermath of the Gigantic Von Karma Scandal™ and therefore almost nobody was around to bother him- the investigation had uncovered a frankly enormous (yet in Phoenix’s humble opinion, completely unsurprising) amount of corruption within the DA’s office, meaning that a good chunk of their resources were going into looking into the details of who did what, who knew what and when, and did they do it of their own free will or were they ordered to by a superior.
Given the sheer length and scope of Von Karma’s career, everyone knew it was going to take a while. Phoenix had even overheard Captain Skye discussing the possibility of the FBI getting in on the case.
But that wasn’t really what Phoenix was worried about right now.
Right now, he was a little more concerned about the fact that he’d told his boyfriend that he loved him that morning without meaning to, and even though it was the truth he hadn’t been planning on saying it for a while yet, but now Miles knew and oh god what if he thought he was some clingy weirdo for saying it so soon, and yeah Miles might have said it too but it was so easy to say that reflexively, there was no way he actually meant it, and now he was definitely going to get dumped, and he’d end up alone forever, and, and, and-
Phoenix forced himself to take a breath, biting his bottom lip and trying to blink back tears as he leaned against the stall.
“Goddammit, don’t- don’t start now,” he muttered, voice shaking with emotion. “You’re at work, for fuck’s sake, don’t be a... a...”
Don’t be such a crybaby.
He grimaced, trying once again to take a breath. His chest ached as the room spun at an erratic pace, heart pounding against his ribs. He swallowed, trying to force down the bile burning at the back of his throat.
Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry. You’re a detective, a parent, a friggin’ adult, you’re too old to be crying in public, especially at your fucking job. If someone catches you like this, you’re going to get in trouble.
His stomach clenched.
Stop crying, you have to stop crying before someone finds out, because if you don’t there’s no way you won’t get in trouble.
He swallowed again, blood running cold as spots started flashing before his eyes.
If you don’t stop crying, Miles dumping you won’t be the worst thing that happens. You’ll get fired, and then you’ll lose your apartment, and you won’t get to see your kids anymore because no matter how much Thalassa loves you, she won’t let her kids live with a homeless guy, and, and, and-!
Phoenix was suddenly very glad that he’d locked himself in a bathroom stall, and that he hadn’t had time to eat anything more than a couple pieces of toast that morning. He coughed and sputtered once his stomach was finally empty, eyes and throat burning for a whole new reason as he tried to swallow the sour taste on his tongue.
He managed to stagger back to his feet, clearing his throat as he wiped at his mouth. He sighed, flushing the toilet before taking a deep breath and opening the stall door just enough to peek out of it and check if anyone else had come in, thankfully finding that he was still alone before he trudged over to the sink.
Phoenix made a face at his own reflection as he washed his hands, noting with no small amount of frustration how red and puffy his eyes were, his nose flushed a similar shade.
Least I didn’t get any vomit on my suit...
He sighed again, then sniffed before grabbing a paper towel, wetting it a little before wiping his face with it. His face looked a little less like he’d been bawling like a toddler afterward, so at least he didn’t look as shitty as he felt. With another deep breath, he walked out of the bathroom, stopping at the water fountain to wash out the taste before heading back to his desk.
“You okay, kiddo?”
Phoenix bit back a sigh as he stopped in the hallway, throwing a wry look over his shoulder.
“I’m not that much younger than you, Detective Starr. And I’m fine, thanks.”
Starr looked unconvinced, brow furrowed in concern as she folded her arms across her chest.
“You sure? You’re looking a little green around the gills.”
Phoenix cleared his throat, adjusting his tie.
“Just... just a little tired, that’s all. It’s- it’s been a busy couple of months, y’know?”
Starr snorted.
“That’s putting it mildly. Still, you’re not looking so hot, maybe you should take a break?”
Phoenix shook his head, forcing a smile.
“I’m okay, really. And I really need to get back to work.”
“Wright-!”
“I’m fine,” Phoenix insisted, turning away and starting back towards his desk. “Thanks for the concern, though.”
Thankfully, Starr didn’t protest, though he did hear her sigh before walking away. He swallowed, then clenched his right fist before going back to his desk and sitting down with a heavy sigh. His throat still burned a little as he got back to his paperwork, but he ignored it, focusing instead on the purse snatching report he still hadn’t finished despite having resolved the case a week earlier. He had only gotten a little more than halfway through when someone tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to yelp and spin around in his chair.
“Easy, kid,” Badd instructed, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. “‘s just me.”
Phoenix laughed sheepishly, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.
“Ah-heh, s... sorry, I just... just feeling a little out of sorts today, I guess.”
“Yeah... you are looking a little pale there. Feeling alright?”
Phoenix flinched, swallowing and glancing away.
“I, uh, um. Just... I-I’m fine, I just- feeling a little queasy, heh. Must’ve eaten something that didn’t quite agree with me.”
Technically not a lie, as he doubted his breakfast was still in his stomach, but that was probably less the fault of the toast than the anxiety stewing around in his brain.
“Hm.” Badd reached into the pocket in his tattered trenchcoat that Phoenix had come to recognize as the “lollipop pocket,” pulling one out and holding it out towards him. “Here. Try this.”
Phoenix blinked, quirking an eyebrow.
“Uh, what?”
“‘s green apple. Helps with nausea.”
Phoenix hesitated, then shrugged, taking the sucker and unwrapping it before sticking it in his mouth. To his surprise, his stomach actually did settle after a moment.
“Huh. Wait, is that why you always have one of these in your mouth?”
Instead of answering, Badd took out his own lollipop stick and flicked it into the trash.
“Call came in. Something happened at the DA’s office.”
Phoenix blinked again.
“What? What hap- ugh.” He pulled the lollipop out of his mouth. “I don’t know how you talk around these things, but what happened at the DA’s office?”
Badd shrugged.
“Some kind of break-in. Skye wants us to check it out.”
Phoenix grimaced, glancing back at his computer.
“Can’t you take care of it? I still have a lot of work to do.”
“You always have a lot of work to do,” Badd replied as he unwrapped a new lollipop and stuck it in his mouth. “Sides, it’s not up to me... boss’ orders.”
Phoenix rolled his eyes, then sighed, getting out of his seat and grabbing his coat.
“Why do I get the feeling I’m still gonna be working on this report when I’m about to retire...”
Part of Phoenix had expected to find the DA’s office in disarray, but he’d kind of thought it would have been more of a metaphorical mess than an actual physical one. It looked as though a hurricane had swept through the place, scattering papers and files all over the floor and breaking a few computers. At least one door was hanging off the frame.
“Jeez... any idea what happened here, Prosecutor Faraday?” Phoenix asked as he stepped out of the way of one of the CSI team members.
“Afraid not. This is the first time in a week I’ve even been here.” Faraday smiled tiredly. “We’ve... been stretched pretty thin this past month.”
I’ll say, considering that half the office is under investigation by the state...
“Being DA’s... not all it’s cracked up to be, huh, Faraday?” Badd mused.
“Acting DA. It’s- it’s not permanent, just til the governor appoints a new one.” His smile became tighter. “Whenever that is... anyway, uh, there’s- pretty much all of the hard copies of our records are scattered all over the place, so if anything’s outright missing we might not know for a while yet.”
“How bad is it if something is missing?”
Faraday shrugged.
“Well, it’s not great, but we’ve managed to get most of our records up to 1973 digitized, so we’ve got back-ups on our servers. Those are managed offsite, so whoever did this probably couldn’t have gotten to them.”
“So basically, the biggest problem is getting all this paperwork cleaned up.”
Faraday sighed.
“Yeah, pretty much...”
“Hm... well, might as well take a look around while we’re here... seems like they’re done taking pictures, so... if nothin’ else, we could help with the clean-up...”
Part of Phoenix wanted to argue that crime scene clean-up wasn’t in his job description, but a little voice in his head reminded him that he had not, in fact, been raised in a barn and should at least help out. He bit back a sigh, taking off his coat and joining the others in picking papers up off the floor. Most of them were random parts of assorted reports, seemingly unrelated to the paper around them. Phoenix felt bad for whatever poor intern had to sort these out, especially as the stacks they all were putting them in climbed higher and higher, but his attention soon turned to an odd, rather literal paper trail going out of the main office and into the hallway.
Weird... why are these pages headed away from the rest of the mess...?
Picking one up revealed even more strangeness- it was an evidence list from a case that Von Karma had prosecuted in 1997. The next was an affidavit from a case in 2008, and the one after that was a page from a 1988 autopsy report. In fact, each piece of paper was somehow related to Von Karma’s career, almost as if...
Almost as if they came from Von Karma’s old case files.
Phoenix’s stomach churned, and he swallowed, picking up the pace as he followed the trail down the hall, until it suddenly stopped about halfway to the end, turning towards a closed door. A piece of paper peeked out from beneath it, and Phoenix frowned before grabbing the knob and turning it.
What he’d expected to be some kind of tiny supply closet turned out to be a much larger room, illuminated only by the light from the hallway outside. Phoenix took a step forward, only to find yet more papers on the ground. Pursing his lips, he took a step back, finding that this was actually a vacant office.
I doubt they’d have a door to the outside in some random office, which means...
Phoenix hesitated, then took a breath.
“Alright, whoever’s in here, come on out.”
Silence.
“C’mon, I know you’re in here. There’s nowhere else for you to go, unless you think you can sneak past me.”
Yet more silence, but only for a second this time, as a sudden loud creak quickly gave the game away. Phoenix sighed, taking a step into the darkness as he fished his phone out of his right pocket.
“Look, I’m gonna count to three before I turn the flashlight on my phone on. Either you come out of your own accord, or we’re gonna have to play hide-and-seek in this vacant office.”
He could just barely make out the sound of heavy, nervous breathing in the distance.
“One... two...”
The floor creaked as the breathing got closer, and Phoenix smiled gently.
“That’s it, it’s alright. Look, you didn’t take anything that can’t be replaced, and you didn’t get out of the building with it, so I’m sure that the DA will-!”
Suddenly, a hooded figure all but leaped out of the darkness, lunging towards him and grabbing his right forearm.
“What the-! Hey-!”
Phoenix blinked, eyes going wide as he took in the sight of his attacker- a girl that couldn’t be more than twelve years old, and if that wasn’t weird enough, her hair and eyes seemed to be glowing an odd silvery-blue color.
“What... what in the world are-?”
Crunch.
For a moment, the world seemed to go underwater, numbness washing over him as his vision went fuzzy before suddenly snapping into crystal clarity. Pain exploded in his forearm, burning like somehow had poured embers deep under his skin, yet at the same time his fingers and hand stung like he’d just thrust his arm into a bucket of ice water.
Phoenix heard a strangled scream as the girl let go of his arm, only realizing it had come from him a second later. She stumbled back, looking utterly horrified before clutching a bunch of messy files- Von Karma’s case files- to her chest and running out of the room. He heard the sound of glass breaking as he crumpled to the floor, followed by muffled shouting and hurried footsteps as his vision started to blur.
“What the hell’s-? Wright?!”
Phoenix gulped down a breath as Badd ran over to him, trying to force out a “she went that way” or “I think my arm’s broken” or even “ow” and only managing a pained, thin groan.
“Shit.” Badd twisted around towards the door. “You, call an ambulance!”
“R-Right, yessir...! Dispatch, this is Officer Faith, requesting an ambulance to...”
“Jesus Christ, kid...” Phoenix heard a ripping sound. “Okay, gonna need you to hold still for me. This might hurt...”
Phoenix opened his mouth to ask just what he meant by that, but found himself crying out when his arm was moved.
“I know, I know, but it’s gonna be a whole lot worse if it isn’t stabilized-! Hey, hey, stay with me here!”
Phoenix tried to speak again, but another wave of pain washed over him, the world going dark and fuzzy.
“Wright! Wright, come on-! Faith, where is that ambulance?!”
If Faith replied, Phoenix couldn’t quite make it out. His arm throbbed numbly, and he couldn’t quite keep his eyelids from drooping...
“Fuckin’-! Kid, come on, you gotta stay with me here! Wright! Phoenix!”
Miles bit his lip, drumming his fingers on the table before picking his phone up again.
“Minerva, what time is it?”
“The time is 6:21 PM.”
He sighed, leaning onto the table as footsteps came towards him. He sat up as something was placed in front of him, frowning at the sweet scent of peach pie.
“I didn’t order this.”
“It’s on the house, honey,” the waitress replied, voice gentle and comforting in a rather motherly way. Before Miles could argue, she turned away, walking back into the kitchen.
“That poor man,” he heard another waitress murmur.
“I know, right? Just what kind of jackass stands up a blind guy?”
Miles grit his teeth, cheeks flushing hot as he tried to swallow down an indignant retort about not needing pity, knowing it would be rude and anyway, it never worked.
Besides, they were wrong. Phoenix hadn’t stood him up.
He was just... just running late. He had to be.
Phoenix wouldn’t stand him up.
Right?
But what if he did? What if you finally managed to scare him off?
He swallowed again.
It’s almost impressive. You found the one man who could actually handle all your baggage, and you managed to ruin it by being too clingy instead of too weird. Well done.
Miles shook his head, running his hand through his hair.
No, no, no, don’t- don’t think like that. Phoenix cares about me, I know he does. He wouldn’t just... not come to a date or stop talking to me. There must be something else.
With that, Miles steeled his nerve, taking a deep breath before picking up his phone again.
“Minerva, call-!”
“Phoenix. Phoenix. Phoenix.”
Miles yelped, nearly losing his grip on his phone before settling and pressing the accept call button.
“Phoenix?”
“Uh, hey, honey!”
Miles frowned, quirking an eyebrow.
“What’s wrong?”
“Wh- uh, um, why- why does something have to be wrong?”
“Well, for one, you’re nearly half an hour late, and two, I happen to know what your voice sounds like when you’re nervous.”
He could almost hear his boyfriend flinch on the other end.
“Er, well, uh...”
There was an odd, tinny voice on the other end, as if someone were speaking over an intercom. Miles’ frown deepened as he sat up in his seat.
“Phoenix, where are you?”
“ ... spital...”
Miles blinked.
“Come again?”
“I’m, um. I’m kind of... at the hospital.”
“The hospit-? Phoenix, why are you at a hospital?!”
“Well, I might sort of.... have a broken arm.”
Miles blinked again, jaw hanging open for a long moment.
“You what?!”
“I didn’t do it on purpose! It was just an accident- well, okay, no, it- it wasn’t really an accident, but it wasn’t like I...” Phoenix trailed off, sighing. “I... I’m... I’m really sorry, Miles. I would have called earlier, but it took them a while to get through all the exams and x-rays and... well, I don’t think I’m gonna be able to make it to dinner, that’s for sure. I’m sorry.”
“Phoenix...” Miles swallowed, then sighed. “It’s- it’s fine, forget about dinner, just... what hospital are you at, I’ll come get you.”
“Um, well, Thalassa is actually already here to take me home...”
“Alright, fine, then... can I meet you at your apartment? Please?”
He heard Phoenix inhale sharply.
“I, uh, yeah, that’s, that would be alright,” Phoenix replied, sounding a bit taken aback. “I- your, uh, your present is there anyway, so I’ll at least be able to give you that.”
Miles laughed softly despite himself, saying goodbye to his boyfriend before leaving some money on the table and leaving the restaurant.
The ride to Phoenix’s apartment seemed to take ages, not least because Gumshoe accidentally drove halfway to Phoenix’s old building instead of his current residence before realizing his mistake. By the time he’d been dropped off in front of Phoenix’s building he was only barely keeping back a tongue-lashing, one that died in his throat when he heard his boyfriend’s heartbeat.
“Phoenix.”
“H-Hey, Miles-! Oof!”
Miles couldn’t stop himself from crushing Phoenix in a hug, holding him as close as he could given that his arm was in a sling.
“M-Miles, Miles, ow, crushing the already-broken arm, ow-!”
He quickly let go, concern welling up in his gut.
“S-Sorry! Sorry, just, I-! A-Are you, are you alright?”
“Well, uh, my arm’s broken, but there was an orthopedic doctor with an opening so I’ve already gotten a cast...”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Phoenix let out a surprised laugh, and Miles was close enough to sense him shaking his head.
“Can’t get anything over on you, can I? I’m okay, though, really. I broke my right arm, so at least I can still write and stuff. It really could be worse.”
Relief spread through Miles, and he smiled gently.
“Good. I’m... I’m glad you’re alright.”
Neither of them moved for a moment, an odd tension hanging in the air. After a moment, Miles realized that normally, this was where they’d kiss, but with the phone call that morning...
Miles bit his lip, then took a deep breath.
“Phoenix, I-!”
“So do you want to-?”
They both paused, Miles swallowing as Phoenix loudly cleared his throat.
“Sorry, what were you going to say?” Phoenix prompted.
“No, you- you go first.”
“Uh, well, I was just- just wondering if you wanted to head upstairs? So- so I can give you your gift, I mean.”
Miles smiled, nodding and allowing his boyfriend to lead him over to the elevator. They stood in silence as the elevator moved, and after a moment’s hesitation Miles reached towards Phoenix’s hand, brushing his fingers with his own. Phoenix’s heartbeat stuttered, but after a moment he took Miles’ hand, squeezing it gently before intertwining their fingers.
He didn’t let go until they were in his apartment, and that was only to go retrieve Miles’ gift from his bedroom.
“Alright, here we go...” He started as he joined Miles on his couch, pressing a nicely-wrapped gift into Miles’ hands. “Go ahead, open it.”
Miles smiled, finding an edge before carefully peeling away the wrapping paper. He was surprised to find a smooth, plastic cover, and even more surprised to find that the book’s spine was on the right.
“What... what is this?”
“Well, you remember how you told me that there was a Steel Samurai manga that came out when you were eleven?”
Miles blinked, then quirked an eyebrow.
“Yes, but I also remember telling you that I had been upset because I couldn’t read it, since manga and comic books generally aren’t printed in braille.”
“I know, and that’s why that isn’t your gift.”
Miles blinked again as Phoenix grabbed his laptop.
“I... don’t understand.”
“Just- just gimme a minute, it’s a little harder to do this with only one arm... okay, here we go, put these on!”
Miles furrowed his brow as Phoenix thrust a pair of headphones at him, but obliged him, slipping them on as his boyfriend pressed a button on his computer.
“Chapter One: The Dark Messenger’s Odyssey. We open on a small Japanese farming village...”
Miles’ eyes went wide, lips parting as he realized what Phoenix’s gift was. His boyfriend’s heartbeat was fast as he pressed pause on the recording.
“Lala, um, had a microphone she got for her birthday a few years ago that she let me borrow. She actually recorded lines for some of the, the female characters, since- well, I’m not exactly a voice actor or anything, and I figured it would be better to mmph!”
Miles loved Phoenix’s voice, he did, but right at that moment he found he needed to kiss his ridiculous, sweet, wonderful boyfriend or else he might very well just die on the spot from just how much he loved this man.
And, well. The cat was already out of the bag, so...
Well, there wasn’t any harm in saying it aloud, was there?
“I love you,” he whispered against Phoenix’s lips. His boyfriend inhaled sharply, heartbeat skyrocketing. “I love you Phoenix, I love you so, so much, I-! You’re crying.”
Phoenix flinched, immediately pulling away and sniffing as he moved his good arm to his face- wiping his face on his sleeve.
“I-I, sorry, I just...”
“Did... did I do something wrong? I-I thought-!”
“No!” Phoenix said quickly, voice rough and quivering. “N-No, you, you didn’t... god, Miles, I love you too, I just... shit, I’m really sorry, I just... I’ve had a really bad day.”
Miles smiled gently.
“Well, yes, I do think having your arm broken would make most days pretty bad.”
Phoenix laughed wetly, then sniffed again before shaking his head.
“Not- not just that, I... I love you, Miles, I have for a while, but I-I didn’t actually mean to... to say it this morning...”
Miles laughed quietly, brushing some hair back.
“Well, neither did I, to be fair, though I did mean it. I had a feeling it was an accident, Phoenix.”
Phoenix sniffed again, clearing his throat.
“Y-Yeah, I-I guess, I guess that was kinda obvious in hindsight, but... god, it’s- it’s kind of embarrassing now, but I kinda... I might have freaked out about it? A little?” He paused. “Or... um. Maybe a lot?”
Miles paused, scooting a bit closer and brushing his knee against his boyfriend’s.
“When you say you freaked out, that means...?”
“... I, um. I... might have had an anxiety attack in the men’s room at the precinct.”
Miles’ heart sank.
“Phoenix-!”
“And there might have been some... anxiety-fueled vomiting involved.” Phoenix swallowed. “I’m- I’m fine now, just- I mean, I’m kind of embarrassed now, but it’s fine-!”
“It’s not fine,” Miles insisted, reaching over and taking Phoenix’s good hand in his. “Phoenix, why didn’t you call me if you were so worried?”
“I- well, it’s- I didn’t...”
He trailed off, and Miles squeezed his hand.
“You didn’t what?”
“... didn’t want to bother you with it.”
Miles would be lying if he said his heart didn’t break a little at that.
“Phoenix-!”
“No, it’s- look, I’ve- I’ve had anxiety attacks before, it just happens sometimes. I can handle it myself.”
“I’m sure you can, but I don’t want you to have to go through them alone.” He pulled on Phoenix’s arm gently until he turned towards him, pulling his hand towards his chest and coaxing him into splaying his palm against it. “Phoenix, I love you, and I want you to feel like you can come to me with things like this. I want to be able to help you, even if it’s just listening or staying with you when you need me.”
“Miles...”
Miles smiled, then pulled his knuckles up to his lips and kissed them gently.
“You’ve comforted me when I needed it, Phoenix. Please let me do the same for you.”
Miles heard his boyfriend take a shallow, shuddering breath, then suddenly found himself being hugged, though one arm was still stuck between them. Miles blinked, then smiled again, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend and squeezing lightly.
“You... you sure do have a way with words, Mr. Edgeworth,” Phoenix teased a moment later, voice still wavering a bit. Miles laughed, cupping his cheeks and brushing away the tears he felt on them.
“What can I say? You bring out a poetic side of me, detective.”
Phoenix snorted, then leaned in, kissing him chastely at first, then deeper, moving his good hand to the small of Miles’ back and rubbing the exact spot that made his knees go weak.
“Y’know, it’s still your birthday for a few more hours... think we can fit in one more gift?”
Miles blinked, furrowing his brow.
“Another gift? I thought you only bought me one-!” Miles’ ears started to burn as the realization hit him. “... oh.”
Phoenix snickered, burying his face in Miles’ shoulder as he shook with barely concealed laughter.
“It’s not that funny!” Miles snapped, feeling more than a little indignant, though he was admittedly a little amused himself.
“N-No, it’s- it’s not, but god you’re cute sometimes!”
Miles huffed, then pushed Phoenix off of him and onto his back, moving to straddle his lap.
“I’ll show you cute, Detective Wright.”
Despite his interest in the proceedings being quite clear, Miles was close enough to sense how Phoenix’s lips spread into a grin.
“See, I know that’s supposed to be seductive, and it is, but you’re also kinda proving my point mmmph.”
She couldn’t believe she’d done that.
It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. She should have been able to get out of there with no problem. It hadn’t been hard to get in, but then-
Then these stupid... powers had...
“Fool,” she muttered to herself as she climbed up the trellis. It was a little harder to do one-handed-!
She winced. That poor detective... he didn’t deserve that, she had just meant to pull him out of the way, not...
The memory of that awful crunch made her stomach turn as she lifted her bedroom window enough to climb in, tossing the files in before getting in herself.
That... that couldn’t happen again. Not if she wanted this to work.
Not if she wanted to figure out how to fix his wrongs.
She sighed, glancing over at the mirror above her dresser.
Then she froze.
“Oh no...” she whispered, rushing over to it and grabbing a fistful of what was once raven hair, but now appear to be- well, glowing a luminescent shade of silvery-blue. “No, no, no, this is bad, how am I supposed to explain this?!”
She pulled on it, willing it to go back to black, begging whatever freak accident of biology that did this to her to just-!
The glow faded, her hair going back to normal.
She blinked.
“What the...?”
On a hunch, she furrowed her brow, willing the glow to come back, which it did after a second, leaving just as soon as she willed it away.
“Is... is that how it works...?” She pursed her lips as a new idea came to her.
I wonder...
She screwed her eyes shut, focusing as hard as she could on the image in her mind. Her body tingled for just a second, but when she opened her eyes, she was...
Well, she was older. She looked a lot like her older sister, but someone who knew her well enough might recognize her. With a bit of focus, a white domino mask appeared on her face, followed by a white costume that looked like something out of the X-Men.
“This... this could work.” She closed her eyes, willing herself back to normal and staring at herself in the mirror.
She swallowed.
Remember this always.
Her father’s voice was still so clear in her head.
You must remember this always, my daughter. You are a Von Karma. Do you know what that means?
Franziska clenched her fists at her side.
“It means I will be perfect.”