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Miles Edgeworth aimlessly walked along the Gourd Lake Park path. The brisk air meant he could see his breath, and a chill crept up his fingers. If he was the type to celebrate the holiday spirit, he’d dare call it Jack Frost nipping at his nose. But whimsical sprites simply didn’t exist, and no platitude could change the scowl that adorned his face. He had left his office to take a walk… perhaps get some fresh air. Nobody was working, of course. It was Christmas, after all. Why he chose to clear his head in a place with such bitter memories, he couldn’t say. But each step he took around the dirt pathway reminded him of how much he disliked this time of year.
He heard bits of conversations in passing—couples sightseeing, tourists talking about vacation plans—it all blurred together into a generally cheery atmosphere he felt quite outside of. Not that it mattered. Christmas offered little comfort, even if the number of years since the… incident grew.
“…I know Gourdy’s not real, but it’s still way more fun to pretend so.”
It wasn’t like Miles to eavesdrop, but the particular faint voice stopped him in his tracks. He paused midstep, staring at his shoes as his focus trained on the rest of the conversation apparently coming from the lake.
“Whatever you say,” a man’s voice said, quipping back to the previous comment.
There was no doubt about it, those voices belonged to Maya Fey and Phoenix Wright, respectively. Miles balked. Should he leave pretending not to notice them? It would be relatively easy to find a different place to brood...
“Hey! Is that Mr. Edgeworth?”
He winced upon hearing his name. So much for a lack of acknowledgement. The next thing he knew, Wright was paddling towards where he was standing. Carefully, Miles approached the dock, trying to lessen the distance they had to row.
Sighing, he relented to greeting them. “Hello, Wright, Ms. Fey. Merry Christmas.” It was a formality, and he thoroughly hoped the interaction would be over soon.
“Merry Christmas, Edgeworth!” they both responded with smiles that chipped away at his steely glare, ever so slightly.
“Did you want to join us?” Wright asked. He seemed genuine. “You can hop in if you want. Maya and I have the family discount here.”
Miles squinted, scrutinizing the last thing Wright had said.
“Well, Keith and Meg have the family discount here.”
“The lake’s pretty calming,” Ms. Fey offered, her grin widening mischievously. “Especially since Nick does all the work with the oars.”
Unfortunately, the thought of sitting in one of those boats made him want to squirm. “No thank you,” he said curtly, already turning to get back to his walk.
“Aw,” Ms. Fey whined. She seemed a bit hurt.
Internally, Miles chided himself. Even if he had his reasons, they were trying to be welcoming, and he pushed them away.
“Nick, can we treat Mr. Edgeworth to a samurai dog at least?”
Wright nodded. “That’s a good idea.”
Just looking at his face, Miles could tell there was some number crunching going on in Wright’s mind. Trying to not impose, he interrupted. “I’ve already eaten, it’s quite alright.”
Against his expectations, Phoenix laughed. “At least wait for us to dock,” he instructed.
He could oblige that much. His icy resolve once again melted just a bit, watching the two stumble over each other, finally managing to hop out of the boat with as little grace as possible.
“Y’know, Larry runs the stand every Christmas,” Phoenix said.
“Really now?”
“They always have some cross promotion,” he added, shrugging. “Do you want my Samurai card? I think Maya’s got all of them at this point.”
“Yeah, we can have a Steel Samurai showdown!” Maya said excitedly.
…Miles did want the card.
Larry was always eager to talk to Wright and Ms. Fey, so that much wasn’t too surprising. But Larry was beyond ecstatic to see Miles, to his surprise.
“Edgey!” He yelled, hopping up and down. “You came all the way out here to see little ol’ me?”
“Uh, these two decided to bring me along.”
Wright whispered something in Larry’s ear, who nodded with a serious glint in his eye.
Larry handed Miles something light and metallic. Looking down, in his hand was a booster pack of trading cards. Beaming, Larry winked. “On the house!”
“They’re free to begin with…” Maya grumbled, unamused.
They had taken a seat at the nearby benches, talking lightly about whatever came to mind. Talking to anyone—being outside of his own head for a while—was already unlike any other Christmas.
“…Sorry I can’t join this merry gang,” Larry said, apparently having invited himself along for the ride. “Once my shift is over, Butz is heading to Partyville, USA tonight for Christmas!”
“New girlfriend?” Phoenix asked, unscrewing the lid on the drink he purchased. “Let me guess, she’s a model?”
“Ooh! Runway or catalogue?” Ms. Fey chimed in.
“Naaaaah,” Larry laughed. He turned to Miles. “You got a guess, Edgey?”
“Perhaps one of the women who runs another stand here,” he obliged.
“Is there anyone hot working the same job as me?” Larry considered the answer for a moment. “Nevermind that, she’s a radio DJ. She sounds gorgeous, I swear. I’m meeting her tonight in the city.”
“Like the radio DJ?” Maya asked, raising an eyebrow. “‘Almost Christmas’ radio DJ?”
Wright snorted, nearly choking on his sip of grape juice.
Checking his watch, Miles looked up to make a face at Larry. “When do you expect to be at said party?”
“It’s a little far, so I should probably have the stand packed up by 6.”
“It’s 5:50 PM,” Miles continued. Larry immediately jolted upright, panicking.
“What?” Ms. Fey gasped, checking her phone for the time. “He’s right! And we didn’t even get any hot dogs,” she pouted.
“We can get some food on the way back to the office, Maya,” Wright offered. She seemed to perk up immediately.
“Actually, I should take my leave too,” Miles said, hoping this would be a good time to go home.
“Can we join you?” Ms. Fey asked timidly. “Just for a little longer.” He sighed and nodded, knowing he wouldn’t be able to turn down her request.
They walked in silence, once again returning to the Gourd Lake pathway.
“It’s just like Larry to find somewhere to be on Christmas, huh?” Wright said, probably in an effort to make small talk.
“You don’t have plans?” Miles asked, surprised they kept tagging along.
“Just heading back to the office. You should come with us. Er, uh… Unless you have somewhere else to be.”
Hearing this, Miles stopped walking, just like before. “I’m sorry, what do you mean?” He was trying to parse his intentions.
“We’re doing nothing tonight. Nick’s extending the invite!”
“Ah.”
“I know Christmas is hard without friends,” Ms. Fey said matter-of-factly. “Come back to the office with us and unwind for a while.”
“We just thought we’d check in on you,” Wright explained.
He nodded, going along with wherever they wanted to take him. The next thing he knew, they were on a subway train back to the Wright & Co. law office. The ride was silent, but comfortable. Miles was so surprised at the sudden kindness he didn’t notice the other two exchanging worried glances.
“We’re back~!” Ms. Fey called out to nobody in particular. Wright just laughed. He insisted on calling for delivery for the three of them, and he took a moment to order in the other room.
“Have you been here before?” she asked. “Did you want the grand tour of the two rooms? There’s a bunch to see…probably.”
Miles found himself chuckling a bit. “How about just the vital things?”
“Alrighty,” she shuffled him towards the corner. “Nick sits here,” she explained as she pointed at a desk. It wasn’t exactly tidy, but it seemed to work for him, at least.
“If you know the name of this movie, please let us know. Mia put it up and even she forgot.”
Miles nodded, eyes darting around the room quickly.
“And, da-da-daaa! Charley!” she said, adding a bit of fanfare. Ms. Fey was pointing to a potted plant of some sort. Its branches drooped due to a couple Christmas baubles they had placed on it.
“Your plant looks festive,” he noted.
“Burgers should be here in 10,” Wright said, having returned from his call. “And I think Charley looks great.”
Miles stared at again, wondering if this was what it was like to experience a “Charley” Brown Christmas.
“Why did you choose to have me over?” he asked carefully, still baffled at their intentions.
“Because we hadn’t heard from you, so we wanted to know if you’re okay.”
Again, Miles was silent for a moment. “Am… I okay?” he eventually asked. That, he wasn’t sure he knew the answer to.
He knew he was feeling quite sad, alone, and not much fun to be around. “I didn’t want to bother you, given my dour mood,” he finally responded. “You’re not exactly the broody types, are you?” The question was a halfhearted jab at their kindness.
Silently, Wright and Ms. Fey looked at each other and chose to sit down on either side of him. Each had a look in their eyes that was somewhat concerned—full of love. He looked at them in surprise.
“…What are you doing?”
“We’re your friends, Edgeworth,” Wright said quietly.
“Even if you’re feeling sad, or alone, or not much fun to be around...” Ms. Fey explained, “We don’t mind. The least we can do is be here for you.” She seemed to be speaking from experience. “So, here we are.”
“Oh.”
The three of them sat there on the client couch, and while Wright and Ms. Fey said nothing at all, somehow, almost imperceptibly, Miles started to feel a tiny bit better because they were there. No more; no less.