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Phoenix likes to avoid certain things.
He avoids a certain brand of hair gel after a certain fiasco in high school that ended up with him getting called "disco head" for the rest of the year.
He avoids a restaurant two blocks away from his childhood home after spitting out a concoction and staining a seat with what Larry dared him to drink ( a mixture of some condiments and drinks on the table that he doesn't want to know of).
He definitely avoided a dark and gloomy area from his time at the Ivy University theatre. He swears that that corner of the backstage is haunted. It might also just be the old wooden flooring that creaked with age, but he is not willing to test that theory out.
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But then there are some things that Phoenix hates to avoid, and yet, he feels as if he has to.
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He avoids cold medicine, no matter the brand. Just the idea of Cold Killer X would make him anxious for the rest of the day. Unless a doctor forces him to drink cold medicine, he wouldn't do it. He knows it's not poisoned...
...or is it?
...he's not sure. But if he could, he would stay away from cold medicine, even if he has to suffer with a clogged nose, sneezing, and body pains for a bit longer. He doesn't want to die because of something that was supposed to cure him.
He's now in his mid-thirties, and his body isn't as strong as it was before, so colds are getting longer, harsher, and more painful. He stares at the bottle of cold medicine that Trucy uses. He shakily puts it back to its cabinet and boils tea for himself instead.
He hates that he can't just take his cold medicine like a normal person.
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He hates that he does it, but he avoids using yellow post its as much as possible. It's the most irrational thing, and it frustrates him because it's a piece of colored paper, Phoenix! It's not a big deal!
And yet he can't properly handle the idea of writing on one. He especially abhors the idea of receiving one. He knows it's not another note that says "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death"...
...Edgeworth wouldn't do that again, he's sure of it. They had a long, tiring talk about it a couple of years ago, but still. A single yellow post it note gave him more anger, guilt, and depression for a year than he had ever experienced at the time. The moment Detective Gumshoe gave him the note, he felt his world crack and crumble to pieces. Edgeworth coming back fixed it a bit, but the cracks are still there.
The possibility of another note like that on that very same paper from anyone he cares about... would break him.
It's irrational, but he bans yellow post its in the office, much to Athena's indignation. She did look at him with confusion and worry a short moment after, but he turns around, not willing for her to question him just yet, gripping a yellow post it that has a short list of information for their new case.
He'll have to transfer these notes to his notebook. He has crumpled the post it enough.
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It pains him, but he avoids nail polish. Kristoph used to place some on his nails. He'd do it every other month whenever Phoenix visits Kristophs office before going together with him to Borscht. They look pretty, and he enjoyed having them on a lot, despite the person who gave them. He liked the glossy midnight blue polish on his nails the most.
He learns about what happened to Vera Misham. He's glad he doesn't have a habit of biting nails.
Trucy was looking for some glitter makeup for her first ever show at a new local theater. Phoenix goes with her to help her out with choosing what's good. He was a theatre kid, so he knows a couple of good brands and cool tricks from that time.
As they walk towards the cosmetics section of the drug store, he notices something at the corner of his eye. Nail polish.
He scans the displays until he finds it. He stares at the midnight blue polish that had glitters mixed in them. He was curious as to how it would look like on his nails. It has been a while since he last had nail polish on him, and he does miss it. He wonders if he should buy it, but as he moves his hand to his mouth in thought, he stops.
Trucy turns around, realizing that he wasn't following. She sees her dad looking at the nail polish section. She was about to encourage him to take it, remembering the times he had them on, but then she looked at his face, and her eyes widened with realization.
She goes behind him and places her hands to his shoulders, maneuvering him out of that aisle. He's really grateful for that. He thinks he should let Trucy get another item in appreciation.
Trucy gets the metallic blue spray-on hair color she had been eyeing for some time now, and an extra serving of tonight's cake dessert.
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Phoenix Wright avoids many things. He wishes he could speak up. He doesn't know why he can't. He knows there's something wrong with avoiding things like this. He knows its not healthy.
But he busies himself with other things, such as cooking breakfast pancakes for Trucy, properly filing old case files with Athena, getting lunch with Miles, giving a second opinion to Apollo's case in Khurain, closing up the office early for the day, watching reruns of Steel Samurai at home as he waits for Trucy to get back from school, bringing Trucy to her show venue two hours early, chatting with Miles before the show starts, having dinner with Miles to celebrate Trucy's successful event, calling Maya for their weekly catching up, saying good night to Trucy before going back to his room, making small talk with Miles on the phone, anything... anything to stop him from thinking about things.
But he's alone now. There's nothing to do. He doesn't want to think...
...he thinks about the secrets he has to keep, the lies he has told before, and the pain that came along with it. He wonders when everything will come crashing down like an unstable jenga tower. He wonders if there was a way to stop avoiding the truth.
He avoids thinking about it as much as he can until he falls asleep.