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Mr. Edgeworth had asked him if he could pick Miles up from school and bring him to the office for him while he finished some things up on the investigation he was on. Of course Ray said yes, because while he did want to keep investigating so he could learn how to be a great defence attorney like Mr. Edgeworth, he also wanted to help him out.
The part that Ray hadn’t actually thought about, was the fact that he basically knew nothing about the kid.
He was at the office sometimes, but he was always glued to his father’s side and more interested in documents than anything. He was kinda like a little Mr. Edgeworth which was adorable most of the time.
But now that they were here, Ray wasn’t exactly sure what to do with him. Because he could easily be around Mr. Edgeworth, because he never had to keep him entertained or anything. Because he wasn’t in elementary, but Miles was. And there really wasn’t much fun to do in an office like this.
“Hey Miles, there’s a tv in here. I could put something on if you want.” It was officially for watching back things like security tapes, but it worked just like a regular tv. Some times Mr. Edgeworth let him take breaks and watch Piece of Cake on it while he was at work.
“That’s alright. There’s nothing of interest on right now anyways.” Miles stated.
“You don’t wanna check? I’m sure there’s something.” Please this was his only idea.
“I only watch the news, and I only watch it at six.”
Okay Ray, think. What are some other things that you can do with a kid? Something that’ll keep him entertained until Mr. Edgeworth gets back.
“I could show you how to play dots and boxes.” He’ll pull his notebook out and flip to an empty page. “It’s a really easy game, but it’s a lot of fun. You’re gonna love it.”
He could feel Miles’ eyes stare at him as he started drawing the grid of dots. It felt kinda like he was judging him. But Ray was an adult, he couldn’t let himself be dragged down by the judgement of an elementary student.
“Mr. Shields, might I ask of you a favour?” Miles asked, sounding a bit nervous.
“You can just call me Ray, you don’t need to be so formal.” Though Mr. Shields did make him feel more professional and cool. “And of course, what’cha need?”
“If it’s not too much trouble, would you be so kind as to teach me how to play chess?”
Chess? Ray knew how to play, mostly because he and Mr. Edgeworth played it a lot on slow days, but it wasn’t exactly something he’d expect a child to be into.
“Of course. I’m not as good as your dad, but I’ve won a few games.” They may have been a little bit due to luck, but if Mr. Edgeworth said he did a good job, then that meant they counted.
“Thank you. I greatly appreciate it.” Miles bowed.
Ray took the board off the shelf and brought it over to his desk. He’d wheel over Mr. Edgeworth’s chair for Miles to sit on. “So why chess if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Because I want to surprise Father by learning how to play. And you’ve beaten him a few times so I’ve deduced that you would be the best person to assist me in this venture, Mr. Ray.” Miles said, fidgeting slightly as he spoke.
Ray wasn’t sure which was cuter: Miles wanting to impress his dad, or him calling him Mr. Ray. It was all good. He was a good kid. He loved this kid.
“Well then you’ve come to the right place. It’s a little trickier than dots and boxes, but I’ll gladly teach you.” And now he got to teach him.
He’d give him the quick run down first. Tell him about all the pieces, and about which ones did what. It’d be a brief overview, but it’d be good enough for now.
“Okay, so what’d be the best one to move first: The bishop, the rook, or the queen?” It was a trick question, but it kept you on your toes. It made things more exciting.
Miles sat there as he thought it over carefully, his hand going to his chin just like Mr. Edgeworth’s did. He really was a tiny little Mr. Edgeworth and it was the cutest thing ever.
“The rook.” Miles nodded, confident in his answer.
“But the rook’s behind a pawn.” Ray wobbled the pawn in front of one of the rooks.
Miles’ brow furrowed as he reexamined the situation.
“But Mr. Ray, they’re all behind pawns. That would make it impossible for any of them to move.”
“Yep! All the answers were wrong. You’d have to move the pawns first, or you could move the knights.”
Miles jumped back a little in shock, before readjusting his bowtie in an attempt to make it seem like nothing happened.
“That hardly seems fair that you could mislead me like that. It’s unfair that you would present me a situation in which I could only be wrong.” He huffed and looked like he was doing his very best to remain very serious looking and not pout.
“It’s just a little bit of fun. It was a question to really make you think, and it did, right? Plus you learned from it.”
“I hardly think that was necessary. A simple explanation would have done just as well.”
“Okay okay, no more trick questions, I promise.” He snickered a little bit, because it was hard to not be amused by getting scolded by a child. “How about we play a round and I’ll help you through it. Sound good to you?”
“That sounds like an excellent idea, Mr. Ray. I would greatly appreciate it.”
Ray couldn’t wait to hear about this from Mr. Edgeworth. He was gonna be so excited about this.
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It was a slow day. It was nice to be back in the office after the time he spent overseas, but sitting here with nothing much to do just gave him more time than he’d like to reflect. If someone was going to look for him, he’d know they’d call him. So he could go off and do as he pleased.
maybe he could stop by the courthouse and check some old cases. There were some trials that he wanted to look into involving a certain attorney that he’d been hearing about since he got back. If there wasn’t much else to do, he’d love to take a better look into some of his cases.
Or at least that was the plan until there was a knock at the door. Which was weird because if he needed to he had a private room in which he could take clients to discuss cases, so it was fine to just walk in the main part. You didn’t need to knock.
Opening the door he saw the Boy Blunder himself, jumping as if he hadn’t expected the door he knocked on to open.
“Mornin Sebastian. To what do I owe the pleasure? Don’t tell me you’ve gotten in trouble.” He probably didn’t, but knowing the kid, it wasn’t out of the question.
“I’m not in trouble!” He squeaked, hands trying to bend a baton he hadn’t drawn yet.
“So you came all the way just to give your Uncle Ray a hug? That’s so nice of you.” He grinned, holding his arms out, knowing full well that wasn’t why he was here.
“No!! I came here because I needed help!”
“But you just said you weren’t in trouble. Are you telling fibs?” He’d step aside so Sebstian could get into the office.
He probably shouldn’t poke the poor kid too much. But he was so fun to poke at. Like Miles once you knew the right things to say.
“I’m not telling fibs! I need your help as someone who knows stuff!! Not as a defense attorney!!”
How tempting it was to ask if it was girl troubles, but the kid already looked like he might cry from that little bit of teasing, so Ray’d leave it alone.
“So what kind of help do you need?” He asks, as someone who knows stuff.
“I was wondering if you could teach me to play chess.” Sebastian asked, looking more like he was talking to the stack of documents than Ray.
“That’s a weird thing to come and ask a defense attorney to help you with. You do know Miles is a lot better at chess than me, right?” He hadn’t actually checked, but it’s been years since he played, and Miles had one proudly displayed in his office when he visited last. Maybe he'd play him a game or two next time he was over.
“I already told you I’m ask you as someone who knows stuff not a defense attorney! I don’t wanna ask Mr. Edgeworth because I wanna make it a surprise.”
Ray couldn’t help but feel a slight twinge of nostalgia. Wanting to surprise someone by knowing how to play chess? Now where had he heard that one before.
“And how do you know I even know how to play chess?” He asked, going over to the bookshelf where that old chess board sat.
“Wait you don’t? I thought that since you worked at the Edgeworth Law offices that you’d know for sure.”
Ray blew the dust off it and carried it over to the desk. He started placing out all the pieces.
“Nah I do, just curious as to how you thought I knew.” It’s a little funny that Sebastian knew his office better for chess than he did for defense. But he was a funny kid, so Ray couldn’t really fault him for that.
Sebastian blinked at the chess board, as he’d obviously gotten lost while Rays was teasing him. But he still pulled up a chair and sat on it.
Before Ray started explaining, Sebastian drew his baton. He started waving it around, furrowed his brow, and changed the way he was moving it. Ray couldn’t tell you what the big difference was, but Sebastian seemed to be pleased by it, so he wasn’t going to say anything.
Sebastian continued to wave it around as Ray explained the basics of the pieces. What they were called, how they moved, all that fun stuff.
“Okay, so which should you move first: The rook, the bishop, or the queen?” He’d asked this question before and got yelled at for it. But this was a new audience and he was curious as to how he’d answer.
Sebastian mulled the question over, chewing on his top lip as he did so.
“Trick question! I move none of them and I wait for my turn.” He beamed confidently.
Ray couldn’t help but snicker a little bit at his answer. He’d give him partial credit because that was the right answer, but wrong reason.
“Nope, it’s definitely your turn. You just can’t move them because there’s pawns there.” He’d reach over and wiggle one of the pawns. “You can only move your pawns and your knights right now.”
The little hair on the top of Sebastian’s head straightened out as he blinked. “Oh! I see.” The hair curled back and he resumed waving that baton around. “So I can move any pawn and any horse?”
Wow, he took that pretty well. He would’ve expected him to say that it’s not fair that there was no right answer. Maybe he just didn’t realize it yet, he’d see how long it’d take.
“Yeah, the knight can pass through other pieces.” He’d move his own to show him, before putting it back into its starting position.
“Okay… I think I wanna try playing it. I think i can do it.” Sebastian grinned confidently, before it faltered. “You don’t mind, right Uncle Shields?”
Uncle Shields… It was close enough he supposed. It was a step up from Mr. Shields he supposed.
“Sure, I don’t mind.” He couldn’t help but smile a little.
It was amazing how as much as things changed, they stayed the same.
He caught a glimpse of the photo on his desk as he made his first move.
Hopefully Gregory got as much of a kick out of this as he did.