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After putting Trucy to bed, the day was done.
Phoenix let out his breath, pushing aside a stack of magician chromatrope slides to sink wearily into the one remaining office sofa. Maya disappeared into the kitchen and didn't return to join him until she had no less than four prepared PB&Js in hand. She sighed with her own tired hunger. “I'm famished.” And plopped upon the cushions on the opposite end. Only then did she spare him a glance, holding out her plate in offering, mouth full. “Wam sum?”
He shook his head, leaning back. “No, thank you. I'm still good for now.”
Maya observed him, chewing and swallowing carefully. “Not eating's not healthy, y'know. If you need some food money, I can lend you some.”
He did his best to quash his irritation. She's only concerned. “It's not that... I'm just not particularly hungry right now.”
Maya shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
It was best to change the topic. “Sorry for putting you to work when you only came to visit. Especially since this is the first time we've met up in a while.” And the first time since...
His disbarment and the end of his career? Ruining Chief's legacy? When the world as he knew it started to fall apart?
“Those aren't the right words, Nick.” Maya stuffed a last bite of bread and jelly in her mouth, licking her fingertips. She still had two sandwiches to go. “Try 'thank you'.”
He smiled a bit. “Thank you, really.”
“You're welcome. Honestly, I really wanted to help out, so I'm glad I could do something right away. Packing and cleaning are not that big of a deal. Trucy's a doll, by the way.”
His smile only grew. “Isn't she?”
“I'm not as surprised that you adopted her out of the blue as I thought I would be. Well, it was shocking initially, but when I think about it, it's just so... Nick.”
“Haha... I'm not really sure what that says about me.”
“That you're a giant sap. You're just oozing with it.”
I can't really argue there. Even now I ask myself, what are you doing?
The conversation fell to a natural lull of silence. He sank deeper into the couch, letting the comfortable quiet rock him to sleep. He didn't really want to nod off on Maya, but he was so tired....
“So,” came Maya's ever-fading voice, “When are you going to talk to Mr. Edgeworth about this?”
That lurched him wide awake. He gawked at her in horror.
“You're that against it? Come on, how different is it going to be than how it was with me this morning?”
“I didn't really want to be found by you so soon...” Phoenix muttered sullenly.
“Tough luck. You were hiding right here in the office!”
Well, that was true, but he only starting living here yesterday. Or rather, they only. He couldn't forget; he was forever a pair now. And besides...
He rubbed a rough hand over his face. “Alright, I know I can't ignore him forever, but I need time. This is Edgeworth we're talking about. I mean we were rivals, partners in court; we stood head and head and toe to toe. Heck, we were even each other's saviors. There's just so much expectation and hope and- and trust built up with that-- trust that took a painstaking amount of time to regain all these years! We're supposed to be there for each other; he's expecting that! But now I ruined it and..... He only sees me as a defense attorney; that's who I am to him. Yeah, friends, too, but I don't know, they're like one and the same thing when it comes to how we are now.” Realizing he had been gesturing aimlessly for some time, Phoenix awkwardly let his hands fall.
“You're speaking a lot of past tense when we're talking about now.”
That's because it's all over. He sighed, bringing up his knees to hold them. It was a flimsy protective barrier befitting a has-been who had so little control over his life. “Look, I just... He's going to have this crestfallen/disappointed look on his face when he sees me, and I just don't want to deal with that for a while.”
“Crestfallen?”
“Okay, maybe just disappointed. Really, really disappointed. I've really failed him.”
“Of course he'll be disappointed-- like I was!-- for not relying on us as your friends!”
“You know what I mean, Maya.”
Maya backed down, letting out a huff. “Okay, so, I won't lie, when I saw you, I was a bit disappointed. I pitied you too. Seeing you like that-- after how far you've come, how hard you worked with what Sis left behind, and all the good you've done-- of course I'd feel like that. It's only natural. I'm full of sorrow and regret. Edgeworth will be too... But the one who feels the most of those feelings, isn't it you?”
“...”
“Aren't you forcing some of those feelings onto us too? You're so deep in it, you can't see us in any other light. But we're not like that. We have room for other emotions.”
“Like what?”
“Compassion. And relief that you're okay. Not perfect, but okay. But most of all...” Maya took up a strong arm. “I'm determined to help you through this no matter what.”
He couldn't help but smile. “Thanks, Maya.” He glanced aside. “You're probably right, but....” He buried his head in his knees. “I don't know.”
“Well, you're about to find out. I secretly called Mr. Edgeworth not too long ago while I was in the bathroom.”
Wait, what?
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Phoenix looked between it and his best friend in mounting panic. Maya, you traitor! “I'm not mentally ready for this yet!” he hissed.
Maya only shrugged at him. “You'll never be mentally ready, admit it. I'm not going to let you put this off forever.” Over her shoulder, she called, “Come in!”
Like a slow-mo horror film, the person he was dreading most of all opened the door and walked in. “Maya, is Wright really....”
Edgeworth stopped short, gaping first at him, then all about the cluttered interior of the room.
Ah, there it was. The look he had been expecting. Shock at his current appearance. Shock at the state of his current dwelling place. Residual disbelief. Failed hopes and expectations. Disappointment.
You really let him down.
“Thank God.” The words came out as a shaky exhale. Looking spent, the man dropped upon an upright trunk-- the only current available seat. He held his head, and somehow, it was like a world of tension had just left him.
Huh?
Maya's words came back to him. Compassion. Relief that you're okay. I wanted to help out. I'm glad I could do something right away.
However, as Phoenix was still processing the moment, it passed him by.
Edgeworth surged on him in open anger: “You idiot, what were you thinking?!” He was up again and began pacing. “No, this is you; I doubt you were thinking anything. You just act on your first immediate impulse-- whatever even remotely possible, ridiculous thought seizes you at the time, not giving a care for the consequences or those around you, just hoping it will somehow turn out alright in the end. Idiot, idiot, idiot! You should have known your luck with absurd miracles would run out sometime--!”
“I think his tsundere mode just activated,” Maya whispered mid-tirade, eyes wide.
“--Of all the ludicrous blunders to make...! Knowing you and your gullible shortsightedness; I can predict exactly how it occurred.” Edgeworth stopped suddenly, holding up a finger.” You received a suspicious something as a gift via someone seemingly unrelated, likely someone with a complete air of innocence who could only be innocent and uninvolved. You didn't even question what it was or where it came from simply because you didn't have the time--” Ugh. “--You were planning to save it for the first day of investigation. It was clearly a clue or some sort, which you were in desperate need of, as you always, always are. But lo and behold, during the very first court session, you were backed into a corner with no other leads, and as a last resort, you presented that suspicious something as a sham of valid evidence--” Guh. “--And as soon as the allegations were brought up, you helplessly realized you couldn't say a thing in your defense! Now look at you! Holed up in your office as though it were an acceptable dwelling space, having sloughed off your very identity to hide way and cower with your tail between your legs, vainly and stupidly refusing to ask for help or do anything about your situation. Are you really content to have this as your end? You, the Turnabout King, the bluffing buffoon who doesn't even have the capacity to understand his own limits, who will drag out the barest shred of hope if it's to the advantage of his client. You're the single-minded idiot who quite simply doesn't know how to accept defeat and give up, and yet here you are doing nothing--”
That was one 'idiot' too many. Suddenly, he was up and manhandling the front of Edgeworth's jacket. “Do you really think I've never considered all this before?!” He was yelling. “What do you think has been running through my head all this time?!”
Edgeworth smirked, dropping his gaze. “So you're not a spiritless shell of a human being, after all.” He brushed off the hands holding him, stepping back. “And to what you're saying, of course you thought through all the options available to you. Who wouldn't? However...” They met stares. Edgeworth's expression softened. It was then Phoenix knew he really hadn't been all that angry, if at all. “...Those were all plans where you were acting alone, weren't they? What will they mean when you have two staunch companions by your side whose greatest wish is to be of some service to you?”
Nothing, the bitter, despairing part of him wanted to say. But his heartstrings were tugging; the promise behind his friends' actions and the fact they were here for him now and not living up to the dreaded imaginings he had conjured during his lonely, pessimistic ruminations of the past few weeks were all the comfort he could ask for. Really, how could he be so lucky to have these people in his life?
“I've never seen you get that worked up before, Mr. Edgeworth,” said Maya with a knowing smile, “You were really worried about Nick, huh?”
Edgeworth flushed, quickly looking away. “That goes without saying.”
Tsundere. He's definitely a tsundere.
At that moment, Phoenix caught eye of a bit of pink and was alarmed to find a pajamaed Trucy in the interior doorway. She was rubbing one eye tiredly, probably still half-asleep. “What's going on, Daddy? Why are you all yelling?”
“Sorry, sorry, Trucy.” Maya rushed to her immediately. “Everything's fine. The big adults are just being inconsiderate. Let's go back to bed...” She led her off.
Thanks, Maya.
And then he noticed Edgeworth's expression. Lofty eyebrows, mouth held agape, a judging gaze. Oh, so that's Edgeworth's real look of disappointment and disgust.
“I don't know what atrocities you're imagining me having committed right now,” he began in explanation, “but it should be obvious from her age that she's adopted. Recently adopted.”
The look receded somewhat. “...Then she's really your daughter?”
“Yep. All the paperwork is signed and done. She's as authentic of a Wright as they come.”
Edgeworth sunk back down on the trunk. When he next held his head, he didn't appear to be looking or speaking to anyone in particular. “I should have known it would eventually come to this. It was only a matter of time before you brought one of the many girls-slash-teenagers that flock you home.”
“Um, yeah, I don't really understand, but I'm pretty sure I'm not liking the opinion you have of me here.”
“I know you still feel guilt from the ill-timed argument you had just before your late younger sister's passing and are only transposing those feelings onto others, but--”
“Hold it! Don't just make up traumatizing backstories for me. I never had a younger sister.”
Edgeworth looked up in surprise. “That's not how it was? Maya and I were so sure...”
He deadpanned.“Shouldn't you know this? Did you even care about me as a kid?”
“Objection! You never mention anything that has to do with your family! How is that possibly fair when you know the inside-and-out of the rest of ours?”
“Not happening. Do you even see how these games work? As soon as the existence of a blood parent is made known, they're either killed off or sent to jail. The only exceptions I can think of is Thalassa and Amara, but they don't really count because they ended up returning from the dead, sort of.”
“I think we're getting ahead of our timeline, but what of that legal assistant's father from--”
“Not localized.”
“Then what of a side character? Ernest Amano.”
“From your spin-offs? That's debatably canon. Doesn't count.”
“Stop being bitter. You had a couple cameos and a nice day trip both times.”
“They were nice days trips, I admit, but anyways, things are changing starting today because you do know my family.”
“Who?”
“Trucy.”
Edgeworth blinked. “Ah, yes. Trucy... your adopted daughter.”
He realized. “Oh! Crap, sorry, I totally forgot about your own situation, Edgeworth. This kind of thing must make you uncomfortable...”
“No, it's fine. Since it's you, I don't have a problem with it.” Edgeworth put a hand to his chin, becoming strangely introspective. “Actually, it's rather attractive, in a way. Now you're more like my single-parent defense attorney of a father than ever before.”
“Please stop the Freudian talk now; you're scaring me.”
“Seriously speaking, though, I trust you have a job lined up to provide for the both of you?”
He knew this question had been coming, but that didn't make it any easier to answer. He turned sheepish. “Uh, yeah, about that... You know those piano lessons I gave up on in middle school? Well, I guess you couldn't, but anyways, that's my current stable night job. On paper. It's really a front for my actual job of attracting customers through friendly poker competitions. We don't gamble anything, but it's still a legally gray area so they can't hire me outright for the position. The place is a bit famous, actually. It's known as a former hideout for criminals. I bet you might even know who some of the criminals are. Too flippin' cold, though. Trucy and I are always having to bundle up. I take her, sometimes, to help with the big games. She's a genius when it comes to reading subtle body language, you would never believe...” He trailed off with his rambling. Edgeworth had another look.
A look of pure abhorrence and censure. Okay, I was expecting that one.
“It's not actually illegal,” he mollified, “The restaurant is a respectable enough establishment, and like I said, it's a stable job. I feel bad that Trucy helps out so much, what with her magic shows and all, but she enjoys it more than anything and we won't let it interfere with her schooling. I only take her for the big games. It's a matter of eating or not eating, life or death, so what can you do?” He half-shrugged his shoulders. “Overall, I think we're doing pretty well for ourselves. We're making the most we can out of this crazy situation. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done without Trucy. I don't even want to think about it. I've come to depend on her so much, it feels like. She's the little bit of heaven I have now, and I selfishly can't give her up.”
Edgeworth had been deflating steadily with every sentence. “I-I see. I'm glad you have her, but...” He gave an unexpected sharp glare, clutching his heart. “There's a limit to how much shock a person can undergo in a given day. Is there anything else you have yet to reveal?!”
“That should be it...” he replied carefully, “I mean, there's Kristoph, but--”
“I'm back.” Maya was back. She went about the room, picking up the odds and ends she had come here with. Namely, her phone and cast-off haori. “It's pretty late, so I think I'll head out.” When she got to the door, she spared him a glance and smile. “Thanks for having me, Nick. Don't be a stranger! Again.”
“Wait, Maya, let me see you off--”
“--Then I suppose I should take my leave as well.”
They cut off upon seeing Maya's expression. She was giving her own piercing look of What's wrong with you two? Can't you see I'm going out of my way to give you guys space to talk things through?
“Or... not.” Phoenix retreated his steps and sat back down.
“It is alright.” Edgeworth remained standing. “I appreciate the consideration, Maya, but this only means I'll have to come again another time.” Their eyes met. “Do you hear me, Wright?”
He emitted a soft chuckle, giving up. “Yeah, I got it. Come anytime you want. Either of you. Trucy will be thrilled to have more guinea pigs to practice her magic on.”
“That's totally okay with me,” Maya said.
“I have no objections,” echoed Edgeworth.
And just like that, the Future was looking all the brighter. These two who he could call his closest friends; they were inseparably conjoined to it and would forever be a part of it. He now knew that without question. No, he should have always known.
“Then until next time.”