Chapter Text
Author's Note: The following is a collection or series of stories, initially inspired by a lovely couple whom I'm worked with for several years. They've been essentially married for twenty years now, but they've only recently been able to get legally married, now that marriages between two men are being recognized in their state of residence. I came up with the idea for this first story while attending their incredibly beautiful wedding reception.
I've never tried writing this pairing before, but I'm enthusiastic about giving it a go.
I certainly hope that you enjoy what you read as much as I enjoy writing it!
FIRST STORY:
AT LAST, MY TURNABOUT
by Ari Moriarty
Prologue: Everything I Do, I Do It For You
July 19 th , 2027
2;00 PM
The Gatewater Hotel Ballroom
The wedding ceremony was over, and the bride and groom had said their vows. The wedding guests, along with the already exhausted and slightly tipsy bridal party were all seated at their assigned tables behind their meager portions of grilled chicken, fancily prepared salad and chocolate dessert while the DJ played love songs, and the bride and groom prepared to dance their very first dance as a married couple.
"Ladies and gentlemen," announced the DJ. "May I present to you the new Mr. and Mrs. Richard and Maggey Gumshoe!"
The whole room applauded politely but enthusiastically as Gumshoe, his big, broad face suffused with pink embarrassment, led his slightly terrified-looking bride out onto the floor.
"Aw," whispered Trucy, beaming and squeezing her father's arm. "They're so cute!"
"Yeah," agreed Phoenix nodding. "They do look pretty perfect together, huh?"
Gumshoe's tuxedo jacket was at least three sizes too large and was already stained with about half the food from the wedding buffet. Even while gazing adoringly on her new husband, Maggey was standing to perfect attention.
Some things never change, thought Phoenix nostalgically, as the wedding song began to play and Gumshoe abruptly realized that he didn't know how to dance. Gumshoe balked for a moment, panicked, turned around to leave the floor, and then was abruptly grabbed by Maggey and hauled back out. She put her arms around him and began to drag him through the dance far faster than the tempo indicated. Gumshoe looked shocked for a moment, and then began grinning like a madman.
"Wow," mumbled Apollo, shaking his head. "These two are bad enough on their own. Can you imagine how much trouble they're going to cause together?"
Athena shushed him. "Can you please just try to have a little fun, Pollo? Who would have thought you were so unromantic?"
Look into my eyes, crooned the smooth-tongued singer of whatever romantic ballad was playing. You will see what you mean to me. Search your heart, search your soul, and when you find me there, you will search no more…
"Jeez." Apollo rolled his eyes. "What the heck is this song?"
"It's beautiful," sighed Athena. "That's what it is. It's the perfect expression of true, pure, heartfelt love."
Apollo raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? Have you ever been in love, Athena?"
Athena didn't miss a beat. "No, not really," she admitted, shaking her head, "but if I ever fall in love, I want it to feel just like I imagine it must feel when I listen to all the best love songs. I want love to be the kind of perfect feeling that makes you want to give up on everything else and just devote yourself to the happiness and health of one person for the rest of your life! I want love to mean that nothing else matters anymore, as long as you can be with the person you care about the most." Sighing dreamily, she tucked both hands under her chin and went back to gazing at the dancers. "Something like that, anyway."
"Oh, for the love of…" Apollo threw up his hands and shoved a bite of salad into his mouth. "You're gonna make me sick."
"Well, Daddy?" Trucy turned on her father. "Is that what it's really like to be in love? Is it just like all the songs?"
"Huh?" Phoenix turned away from the newly wed couple. "What do you mean? Why are you asking me?"
Trucy shrugged. "Well, if you've never fallen in love before, it might be time to start trying. I mean…I love you, Daddy, but you aren't getting any younger, and you're running out of time to find me a good Mommy. No pressure, of course, but…" She sighed dramatically. "I was kind of hoping to have a mommy before I turn thirty."
"Trucy," Athena reminded her, "you're only seventeen."
Trucy nodded. "I know. I'm giving Daddy a nice, long window of opportunity, just in case it takes him a while to find someone who'll put up with him. It's already been nine years, though. I'm starting to lose hope, just a little."
Suddenly, Phoenix wasn't sure that he wanted any more to do with this conversation "Uh…you know what," he muttered, getting hastily to his feet, "I, uh, think I'm gonna take another crack at the dessert table. Anyone else want anything? No? Okay, then. I'll…be right back."
Before anyone had a chance to argue, he slipped around back of the chairs and headed for the buffet.
Love, huh? He frowned to himself, watching as Gumshoe and Maggey continued clumsily but enthusiastically trying to dance. I don't know. It's a nice theory, but is that really how it works? They say there's 'somebody out there for everybody,' but I guess most people never find that 'someone.' Even Maggey and Gumshoe had a hard time making the whole 'love' thing work. I mean, we had to keep her from being convicted of murder twice. What if that had happened? What if they'd locked her up? Would Gumshoe have just found someone else? It's not that easy. Maybe it's a waste of time waiting to feel just like those love songs say I should. Real 'love' takes work, I guess, and work takes time. Time's something I don't have, and I've got plenty of work as it is. Trucy might have to settle for being the only woman in my life until she's way older than thirty. That isn't really such a bad thing, is it?
Just as he was grabbing a plate and getting ready to load up on far more pastries than he was ever supposed to eat, Phoenix noticed a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye, seated all alone in the back of the room with his chair pushed as far away from the tables of chattering party guests as it could possibly be. The man in the chair had a bored, dour look on his face, and large, dark circles under his eyes.
Huh, thought Phoenix. So he showed up after all.
"Hey, Edgeworth!" Phoenix headed over in his direction. "Glad you made it. Wasn't sure you would. Have you tried these? I have no idea what they are, but they're filled with cream and they're amazing. Here, have one."
Edgeworth raised an eyebrow. "Wright," he muttered curtly. "Ah...no thank you. I do not have much of a sweet tooth."
Yeah, I figured as much, thought Phoenix, replacing the pastry on his plate. "That's probably for the best," he said. "Trucy says that I'm going to get fat if I keep eating this stuff."
"Hmm." Edgeworth eyed Phoenix's slim figure. "Very possibly. You should pay more attention to your daughter's good advice. Men over the age of thirty should be wary of decreasing metabolic rates, and of an increased risk of heart failure."
Phoenix eyed one particularly large cookie that he'd selected. "You sure know how to take all the fun out of life, don't you?"
Unexpectedly, Edgeworth gave Phoenix a wry little smile. "It has been said before, yes."
For a moment, they watched the dancers in companionable silence.
Eventually, Edgeworth made an exasperated little noise in the back of his throat. "This song," he mumbled, "is interminable."
"Yeah," agreed Phoenix. "Apollo doesn't like it much, either."
"No, it isn't that." Edgeworth shook his head. "I have no particular opinion about the quality of the music. It's just that I have already been here for four hours, and I fear that at the rate we are presently going, the wedding is going to stretch on until after dinner time. I will be forced to leave conspicuously in the middle, as I have an engagement this evening. That isn't exactly the most desirable option. I'm not honestly sure why I decided to attend this over-priced social fiasco in the first place."
"Yeah, well," remarked Phoenix, chewing thoughtfully on a cookie, "you're never gonna get another chance to see Gumshoe dance, right?"
"And that," sighed Edgeworth, "is something for which I am more eternally grateful by the second. The man has a remarkable lack of grace. He is so clumsy that it is almost a talent in itself."
Can't argue with that, thought Phoenix. Still, you showed up, and that' something. You can't fool me, Miles Edgeworth. Deep down, beneath that unfeeling and slightly scary maroon exterior you're actually a pretty nice guy...when you want to be.
"Lighten up," Phoenix suggested. "Have a cookie."
Edgeworth gave him a derisive little snort. "You seem to have rushed away from your table in quite a hurry," he remarked. "Apparently I'm not the only guest beginning to tire of this prolonged romantic farce."
"Uh, well," mumbled Phoenix, rubbing nervously at the back of his neck, "it's...always kind of awkward, at weddings. Trucy really likes them, you see."
Edgeworth said nothing, but he continued to watch Phoenix with a half-bored, half-expectant look on his face.
"Every time we show up at a wedding," continued Phoenix, "she starts in on me about how it's time I found her a mom, and about how she can't wait until she's dancing at my wedding, and all of that stuff. I used to think that was pretty cute, but…honestly, lately, I can't tell if she's joking or not. She gets this weird look in her eyes like maybe she's just a little serious, and that's awkward. I mean, what am I even supposed to say to that?"
"Say that you are not interested in getting married,." Edgeworth shrugged.
"Yeah, but…" Phoenix found himself starting to get flustered. "that's…not really it Not exactly, I mean…"
He trailed off, uncomfortably aware that he was getting into some very dangerous and emotional conversational territory with a man who had been referred to on several occasions as 'the heartless robot prosecutor."
"Go on," murmured Edgeworth. Phoenix couldn't tell if he was genuinely interested, or if he was just so bored at this point that he'd settle for any kind of distraction.
"Uh," continued Phoenix confusedly, "look, the truth is that I'm in my mid-thirties and I've finally got my career back on track, thanks partially to you."
Edgeworth inclined his head in acknowledgement.
"And I've got these three kids in my office that I have to supervise, if you count Trucy," Phoenix went on. "Even if I wanted to get back into the dating scene, it'd be kind of tricky at this point. They say 'love takes time' you know? Well, time isn't something I've got a lot of, no matter how much Apollo complains about not being busy enough in the office. You know what I mean?"
Again, Edgeworth didn't respond. In fact, Edgeworth wasn't even looking in his direction. He was idly watching the dancers, who had just finished up their wedding waltz, and were getting ready to leave the stage.
"Uh, nevermind," muttered Phoenix, feeling suddenly stupid. "This…I mean, this probably isn't anything you want to be talking about with me, anyway."
"The life of a man who devotes himself single-mindedly to one sole, all-encompassing cause is inevitably a lonely one," murmured Edgeworth thoughtfully.
Phoenix stared. "Wha...? Wait, huh?"
"You don't agree?" Frowning, Edgeworth turned back to face him. "I have always found that the unflagging pursuit of justice leaves me with little time or energy to waste on pursuing romantic entanglements. Isn't that what you were referring to just now?"
"Y-yeah, sounds about right," agreed Phoenix. "Actually, Edgeworth, now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure I've never heard about you dating anyone. Is that why? Being Chief Prosecutor just keeps you too busy?"
Again, Edgeworth said nothing for several long seconds. Eventually he took a long sip from his wine glass and replied quietly, "As I said before, Wright, we are, in some ways, quite similarly placed."
Well, thought Phoenix. I guess that makes sense. If there's anyone even more swamped with work than I am, it's probably Edgeworth. We've had our differences over the years, but honestly I can't think of a better man for the Chief Prosecutor job. I'm pretty sure he eats, sleeps, and breathes legal work. The closest thing he's ever had to a social life was when he used to show up at Trucy's magic shows just to complain that the tricks were too 'transparent.'
"Oh, well,' announced Phoenix, with a shrug and a smile. "I guess it could be worse. I mean, we're not exactly growing old and miserable alone. At least we know that we'll be old and miserable together, right?"
He smiled wryly, expecting Edgeworth to roll his eyes, to laugh, or even to ignore him entirely. Instead, Edgeworth nodded slowly.
"Yes," he murmured. "Yes, I suppose that is true. That's a comforting though in its own way."
Taken aback by the seriousness of the response, Phoenix was just about to ask Edgeworth if he was feeling all right when someone grabbed on to his arm.
"Nick!" Maya Fey pulled him around to face her. She was wearing a bright blue, frilly bridesmaid dress that looked about as out-of-character for her as wings would have looked on a giraffe, but somehow she was managing to make it work. As always she was full of energy, and the big, animated grin on her face was helping draw attention from the hideous dress.
She looks great, thought Phoenix proudly. I think they're actually on the right track when they say 'you're never fully dressed without a smile.'
"Nick!" Maya was now tugging insistently at Phoenix's sleeve. "Listen, the real party's just starting! The DJ's playing actual dance music!"
The DJ had, in fact, apparently given up on slow, romantic ballads. Peppy, upbeat pop-music was now blaring through the speakers, and the wedding guests were starting to abandon their tables and to head for the dance floor.
"Dance with me," begged Maya. "Please?"
"Uh, wait, Maya, I can't dance," Phoenix protested as Maya hauled him away.
She shrugged. "Who cares? I can't either. We'll figure it out. Come on, I want to have some fun, and you look like you could use a little fun!" Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed Edgeworth, beamed, and asked, "Oh, Mr. Edgeworth! Do you want to come dance with us, too?"
Edgeworth waved them away with a languid hand. "No thank you. I'm afraid a have far too many left feet. Please…enjoy yourselves."
Maya didn't have to be asked twice. As she and Phoenix headed onto the floor, Phoenix risked one last glance back at Edgeworth, who was now frowning thoughtfully into his wine glass, apparently oblivious, again, to the rest of the world.
Fin.
Author's Note: A quick question for any intrepid readers out there:
This story will feature a couple of weddings, and a couple of funerals. I would love to hear your recommendations for which characters should get married, and which characters should pass away.
I do not promise that I will accept all or any suggestions, but I would like to hear your thoughts.
Thanks!