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The troubles of the previous days soon began to weigh down on Miles. His once confident demeanor, the one with his head held high and his shoulders pulled back, shortly slumped down once he entered his household. With a simple sigh, Miles decided to take some time off for himself with the remaining hours of the day he had left. When he usually arrived home from being successful in the courtroom, he would get started on the files that piled up in his home office. However, the failed case disappointed him and he didn’t want to bother himself with any more work.
Miles had constructed a plan of how he would spend his evening. He shrugged off his burgundy suit jacket and slung it upon the coat rack. Then, his jabot was unpinned from his neck and placed alongside his jacket, where they usually went. Now, he was left in his white, button-up dress shirt that was behind an unbuttoned black vest. It was a strange outfit to be considered comfortable. However, the prosecutor had worn the outfit and similar clothing styles for as long as he could remember that he soon considered it as his loungewear.
Miles directed himself towards the kitchen, with two things on his mind - the recent sessions in court and what he should make. One thing was decided quickly, though. He pulled out the ingredients for his favorite recipe and shortly began to cook. While he chopped up vegetables and boiled the water, he boggled the loss around in his mind.
It was the usual murder case for Prosecutor Edgeworth - the main goal being to prove the defendant was guilty. Which has usually been easy for Miles. So far, the man held a perfect slate of never losing a case. He always enjoyed his job and gave one hundred into his work. Yet, this week was different. He had done the procedures like usual but he didn’t come out winning this time.
He can remember the smug look on Phoenix Wright’s face when the judge ruled the defendant innocent. The image burned its way into the prosecutor’s brain and saved itself as a reminder. The thought of the man angered him. With each slice of the vegetable, it became more violent; the blow of the knife became harder and sliced through the food rougher than before. He reached the end of the vegetable while his mind raced with rage. Soon enough, Miles didn’t realize that the knife reached the endpoint and he lightly sliced the tip of his finger.
“Ow!” He yelped out in pain. He retracted his finger and wagged it vigorously. He threw the knife onto the counter, next to the chopped up vegetables. With his other hand, he applied pressure to his wounded finger and mumbled heated curse words underneath his breath.
Miles scrambled around his home and looked for something to temporarily cover his hand. The noodles were boiling and the vegetables were frying - the occasional “sizzle” and “pop” noises worried him and even spooked him at times. The foods that were on the stove constantly made him nervous as he anxiously searched. However, with no bandage replacement, he gave up and trudged upstairs to his restroom.
As angry as the man was, his feet made little pitter-patter as he rushed upstairs. Once he made it to the restroom, he searched drawers upon drawers to find a single band-aid. The search for the item was under intense pressure as he could still hear the food boiling and sizzling - however, the smoke alarm didn’t ring. So, he knew he was good.
As Miles walked back downstairs and into the kitchen, the remainder of blood on his finger was wiped off onto his clothes. He usually cared about how neat and tidy his clothes were but today was not one of those days. Although, he would still hate for someone to witness him in such a situation - to catch the normally calm and collected Miles Edgeworth under pressure. Once he reached his destination, he finished crafting up his meal. When the food was onto a plate, he then started to clean up his surroundings before he could sit down and relax. The counter was cleaned up, dirty dishes were put into the sink, and the remaining food was stored in the fridge.
“Finally.” Miles thought to himself as a slight smile appeared on his face. He basked in the serene atmosphere momentarily before he started on his food. Miles’ home had usually been considered a peaceful one. Most of the time, he finishes his work at his office and does not bring any home with him. That is, only if he is studying for a case. However, the past few days were hard on him. His opponent brought in new pieces of evidence several times which forced him to either stay late at the office or come home and work for what seemed like hours on end. So, now that he was able to relax in his own home made him feel better.
The aroma of the recently cooked meal floated around his home as he tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his hand. He plopped down onto his living room couch with the plate in his hand. He relaxed fully into the couch and turned on the television; to which he then switched to the channel of his favorite show. While the television played in the background, he ate his meal. His eyes were focused on the t.v set but his mind couldn’t comprehend what was playing. It kept going back to the court case from earlier -
RING!
Miles’ doorbell suddenly rang and it echoed throughout the household, disturbing what could have been a chance for peace. With an unsatisfied groan, he sat his plate of food back onto the table and pushed himself up from the comfortable couch. To which, he longed for instead of having to interact with whoever was at the other side of the door.
“Who could it even be?” He thought, “Gumshoe? That Fey girl?”
Miles made his way to the entrance of his house and opened his front door. Out of all of the people he expected to be there, Phoenix Wright was not one of them.
He was absolutely bewildered by the fact that his enemy in court was standing right at his doorstep. However, seeing him after so many years passed and under different circumstances had softened him a little bit in that moment.
Phoenix could tell the other man was shocked by his appearance, so he started to speak, “Hey, Miles. I brought you a little something.”
He cleared his throat and shuffled his weight between his feet. Phoenix held something behind his back with both of his hands and Miles tried very hard not to peek. Although this definitely sparked his interest - it couldn’t have been something to brag about referring to the recent case. From knowing Phoenix all those years ago, it couldn’t have been something bad. A kind heart is what supposedly inspired him to become a defense attorney (or so what he heard).
“What is it, Mr. Wright? To what do I owe this meeting?” Miles responded. He straightened his posture and mimicked it from before. His hand rested upon the edge of the door while the same side of his body slightly leaned into. He then flattened down his shirt with his other hand and kept it over the dirtied spot on his top. Of course, this had to be the day someone saw him in a relaxed manner.
“Well… It’s nothing, Miles - er, Edgeworth.” Phoenix replied. He cleared his throat once more, scratched the back of his neck, and dropped his head. From his actions, Miles could tell how nervous he was. Then, suddenly, he quickly removed the gift from behind his back and shoved it towards Miles’ chest, “This is like a… ‘pick me up’ gift. And to say how well you did in court today!”
Miles’ mouth slightly dropped open in shock. His hand went towards the middle of his chest, more so towards his heart, and he immediately felt the softness reoccur in his heart. No one had done anything this nice for him - not even his mentor or his secretary. He was even swooned by the action. His mouth shut and his lips formed into a smile. His smile showed his joyfulness along with the playful look that danced in his eyes.
Miles gratefully took the bundle of flowers out of Phoenix’s hands and brought them even closer to his chest. The man bowed his head towards the flowers and sniffed the beautiful aroma. Phoenix looked up in shock, he didn’t expect the other to take it with such ease; he expected Miles to shut the door on his face and lock him out. The man straightened his posture, now with a burst of confidence.
“I’m surprised you remembered, Wright.” Miles said after a moment of silence was shared between the pair. In return, Phoenix furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and slightly tilted his head to the side. From the other man’s reaction, Miles continued to talk, “These were the flowers I chose for my father’s funeral… He and I both shared a love for this flower.”
“Oh… I…” Phoenix replied, his eyes wide and mouth agape. In all honesty, the man did remember; the whole funeral left quite an impression on him at such a young age. The image of a young, crying Edgeworth holding a bundle of flowers and walking them towards his father’s casket must have stunned Phoenix. He later assumed that was why he was attracted to the flower in the store, “Of course I remembered, Miles.”
Miles looked up in shock, surprised by the answer the other had given. Unwanted memories and childhood trauma still surrounded him in his daily life. For numerous nights on end, he would wake up in a cold sweat. His nightmares would strangle him and deprive him of sleep. The night terrors kept him awake and forced him to think about the horrendous memories of his father’s last moments alive. With red, tear-stricken eyes, he was left in the early hours of the dark morning to think of the damaging wound left on his heart and mind.
However, as much as he wanted to get rid of all this pain, everything that related to his father felt like yesterday. He can reminisce about joyful times spent with his father that leave him wondering where did the time go? Whereas, he feels as if he cannot escape the feeling of dwelling onto the past and guilt himself into wondering where did the time go? Miles felt like he was the only one who truly remembered his father’s funeral. His family members brushed the incident off and rarely continued to talk to him. While the ones he and his father worked alongside didn’t share a glimpse at the boy whenever he walked into the office after that day. He couldn’t tell whether or not that was a good thing. Sure, he wanted to escape all of the emotions he was feeling and even the world he was living in; but he didn’t want to be the only one to have experienced it. So, hearing Phoenix say that he too remembered his father’s funeral brought an immense amount of relief to the man.
“I…” Miles nearly choked on his words. Tears formed in the corner of both of his eyes and threatened to pour. He lowered his head once more, cleared his throat, and quickly wiped away the beginning of the tears. He cleaned his hand off on his shirt, near the bloodied spot of his wounded finger. It felt as if a large weight was lifted off of his shoulders when he heard Phoenix’s response. He closed his eyes and let a small tear droplet escape his eyelid to then sprinkle upon the bud. It felt good to cry. So good that he even let out an airy chuckle as his lips continuously spread to eventually form a large smile.
Miles then soon looked up from being engulfed by the flowers. A smile that showed his teeth danced upon his face. His eyes were slightly red, and it indicated that he cried for a different reason. Phoenix’s eyebrows were raised in shock, he had never seen his old friend smile so big. As strange as the sight was to him, he returned the gesture in a matter of seconds. What Phoenix was not expecting was a small embrace from the other.
Miles quickly wrapped his arms around the slightly shorter male’s neck. The bundle of flowers tickled the back of the other’s neck. Before Miles could pull away, Phoenix brought him closer to his body by enclosing his arms around the man’s waist and burying him into an even deeper embrace. The warm feeling of their two bodies against each other sparked something in Miles - a yearning that he wished lasted forever. However, the other snaked his arms away from his waist and he repeated the action with his neck. Miles brought the flowers to his chest once more and stared into Phoenix’s coffee brown eyes. He bit his bottom lip roughly and a smirk danced upon them as he looked down at his feet. The other had never seen the confident lawyer nervous like this before, but he soon understands once he hears him speak.
“I have dinner ready. Would you like to join me?”