Chapter Text
Phoenix was never a good cook, but today he was determined to make the absolute best dish he had ever made or would ever make in his life. Maya stood at attention beside him, having donned an apron and wielding a skimmer even though the dish to be cooked did not require one. Although the dish they'd chosen after collectively poring over lists of fancy-looking food and browsing through articles titled "Top Twelve Dishes to Cook for your Loved One on a Special Day!" — shrimp and gnocchi with garlic and Parmesan sauce — looked pretty simple, the task of actually preparing it seemed daunting.
Phoenix turned to Maya. "Okay, I know I agreed to let you help me, but—"
"No touching anything I don't need to touch. No breaking things. I know." Maya nodded, making her hair bob. "Honestly, Nick, do you think I'm five or something?"
"You act like you are." Phoenix commented, making Maya scowl and swat at his shoulder with the skimmer. Phoenix jumped back before it could make contact, almost bumping over the bottle of olive oil. Maya lurched forward and steadied it, scooting it back from the edge. "Okay, okay, Maya, jeez!"
"What?" Her scowl deepened. "You were the one who almost broke our only bottle of olive oil!"
"Yeah, and who made me do that?" Phoenix said, pushing all the ingredients back from the edge of the kitchen countertop to prevent any more accidents. "Okay, this is no time to argue. We need to finish this before Edgeworth gets here."
Maya stared at him for a few moments, then relented. "Alright. What first?"
As Phoenix brought out the bowl of fresh headless shrimp he'd bought just an hour or so ago, a thought struck him. "Do you think we should've done a practice dish first?"
Maya tapped the end of the skimmer against her chin. "Honestly, yeah." She admitted. "But there's no time for it now, Nick." She set a skillet on the stove with a flourish. "Go forth!"
Phoenix waited for it to warm somewhat, then poured around two tablespoons of olive oil into the pan while Maya neatly lined up all the ingredients on the countertop — shrimp, salt, pepper, butter, flour, garlic, and more — humming a tune as she went. Once the olive oil seemed hot enough, Phoenix upended the shrimp into it and hopped back as the oil leaped up, making Maya shake her head at him.
"Here, let me do it," said Maya, grabbing the spatula from him before he could refuse. She flipped the medium-sized pieces of shrimp over precisely and rather unnecessarily before sprinkling what she judged to be the correct amount of salt and pepper over it.
"No, Maya, no— too much pepper!" Phoenix grabbed hold of and jerked her hand back from the pan, getting a blast of pepper in the face while doing so and setting off a sneezing fit. Maya initially looked almost sorry, but then started laughing as Phoenix looked up with reddened eyes and a streaming nose.
"Ha-ha, very funny," he snapped as he headed for the sink. "Get the shrimp before it burns, will you?"
Maya jumped and scurried back to the stove to stir the shrimp once more. Phoenix hurried to get all the pepper off his face, yet his nose still itched after two minutes of scrubbing. Frowning, he dried his face with a towel, and returned to the kitchen to see Maya munching on a piece of shrimp.
"Maya!" Phoenix groaned, and Maya immediately stuffed the rest of it into her mouth. "What?" She said, eyes wide, still chewing. "I was just checking if it got cooked properly! And yeah, it's done," she added as Phoenix poked around the pieces with a spoon.
Phoenix looked like he was about to scold Maya, then sighed. "Just don't eat any more, okay? I want this to be perfect. I told you."
Maya looked like she felt guilty. "Okay, sorry. What's next?"
"The sauce." Phoenix reached for the butter on the counter, then seemed to change his mind. "Can you get the potato gnocchi for me? And don't eat any this time."
Maya stuck her tongue out and retrieved the bowl of store-bought gnocchi they'd boiled in slightly salted water before starting. Phoenix took out the chicken broth they'd allowed to rest overnight (and for half the day as well, since they made it much too early and didn't know what to do with it) in the fridge and skimmed the fat from it as best as he could before setting it aside. He recalled how it had tasted — not too bad, but better than they'd expected — and felt a slight twinge of pride.
"I can melt the butter," Maya offered, and Phoenix leaned against the countertop to read over the recipe once more. Melt butter, add in all-purpose flour, stir, add in four cloves of garlic, stir for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
"Did you do it?" Phoenix looked into the pan, and the butter looked pretty much liquid. He practically shooed Maya from her place so that he could carefully add in the required two tablespoons of flour.
"Jeez, Nick, it's just butter," Maya said, then softened."But I get it. Edgeworth will love this, I'm sure."
"He did mention liking shrimp, so I..." Phoenix frowned slightly, stirring the flour to stop it from lumping together. "At least, I think he did. I don't know. I don't know much about what he actually likes or doesn't like, huh."
"You've only been together for, like, a month, Nick." Maya reminded him. "You can't blame yourself for not knowing."
Though he'd never voiced his insecurities out loud, Maya always managed to figure out what he was feeling.
"Yeah, well," Phoenix said, still stirring the flour, "I feel like it's something I have to do, you know? I know it's silly, but I feel like I need to learn exactly what he wants or doesn't want immediately."
Maya remained quiet until Phoenix added the garlic to the mixture. "No one can be expected to do that, Nick. And Edgeworth loves you for who you are, not what you can do for him."
Phoenix blushed slightly. His relationship still seemed unreal, and there had been many mornings when he'd woken up from a dream involving Edgeworth with the sharp pang of pining tugging at his heart until he remembered.
"I guess." He said casually. "Thanks, Maya."
They remained silent until the smell of frying garlic filled the air. "Mmm, is that done? I think we can add in the broth now." Maya said, looking over at the skillet.
"I'm gonna stir it a little more. It's only been a minute, I think, and the recipe says to mix for one to two."
Maya pulled the container of broth towards herself, removing any bits of fat that Phoenix missed before. "When is Edgeworth coming?"
Phoenix glanced at his watch. "In around...half an hour, I think. We have time. Can you give me the broth?"
Maya poured it in herself, then smiled. "You ever thought about how 'half an hour' sounds longer than 'thirty minutes'?"
Phoenix chuckled, pulling a whisk from a drawer. "Yeah. That's exactly why I said that instead."
"Sneaky attorney." Maya read over the recipe as well. "Wait, Nick, we were supposed to add the half-and-...whatever it's called... and Parmesan first!"
"Wait, what?" Phoenix dashed over to grab the phone from Maya's hands. "'Whisk in flour till lightly browned, gradually whisk in chicken broth, thyme, and...' Maya. It says chicken broth."
"Huh?" Maya pulled the phone back to look again. "Oh. Whoops. Sorry."
Phoenix went back to the stove to whisk the broth before it burned. "Really, Maya. You could try not to give me a heart attack every five minutes."
"Hey, I didn't do it on purpose!" She pouted. And then, maybe to distract him, she added, "Can I add in the thyme? And the basil?"
"No. Read the recipe for me."
"Why do I always get the boring work?" She whined, but read it out nonetheless. It said to whisk the broth and the herbs for 1-2 minutes, making Phoenix sigh internally — his arm was already cramping — then add in the half-and-half and the grated Parmesan, whisking again for 1-2 minutes till slightly thickened.
"Okay, I changed my mind. Maya, you can whisk this now."
Maya brightened, clearly not recognizing his ulterior motive, and hurried over to snatch the whisk from his hands, but stepped out again after around a minute because her "shoulder hurt". Phoenix looked over the concoction, judged it to be appropriately mixed (at least, he thought it was), and added in the next two ingredients. He didn't know whether he'd blended the right amounts of whole milk and cream for the half-and-half, but it looked alright, so he was fairly certain he did.
"I'm gonna go set the table," Maya announced, and hurried off to the small dining table in Phoenix's apartment. Phoenix looked after her unsurely, since he'd wanted to do it himself, but they'd never finish in time for Edgeworth to arrive if he were to haggle over every small thing.
The sauce was smelling pretty good now. He put in the shrimp they'd cooked earlier and tossed it gently through the sauce like the recipe instructed, then turned the stove off. He chopped up some parsley for garnish and stepped back with a sense of accomplishing a huge feat. Apart from the pepper mishap, the entire episode went smoother than he expected it to.
He inspected the dish again. The sauce seemed a little thicker than was necessary, and there was bound to be too much pepper on the shrimp, but it smelled amazing and he hoped it tasted the same way too. He dusted his hands off, covered the skillet with a lid belonging to another pan and headed over to the dining table where Maya was setting out flowers and candles.
"Maya, don't you think those are too many flowers?" Phoenix asked.
"There is no such thing as too many flowers!" Maya exclaimed, placing a vase of roses too close to a candle and yelping as the petals started getting scorched. "Oh my god sorry I didn't mean to do that. Anyway—" she tossed the burnt flower into a wastebasket and examined the others for any burn marks— "flowers express the magnitude of your love for him, Nick! These aren't nearly enough flowers in that case, then, but yeah."
Maya seemed more eager about Edgeworth and Phoenix's relationship than Phoenix himself was. Well, he needed an ally, anyway.
Phoenix checked the time again, and moved to relocate some of the flowers on the table. He could feel his stomach start its nervous routine of turning in upon itself. "He'll be coming in around ten minutes. Should I change?"
Maya squinted at him. "Nah, you look great. Maybe wash your face again, though. Your nose still looks red. Is the shrimp done?"
"Yeah. Don't eat any!" Phoenix called as he headed into his bathroom.
He came back out a minute later to find Maya smiling sweetly at him. "Great news. The food is delicious."
Phoenix narrowed his eyes. "Maya, how many times—"
"I just tasted the sauce!" Maya hurried to explain. "I swear I didn't eat any of the shrimps. Or even the— okay, I did eat a bit of the gnocchi, but it was just one piece..."
Phoenix tried, and failed, to get mad. "Ugh. Whatever." He glanced up at his bedroom clock. "Wait, do you know if Edgeworth is allergic to any flowers?"
"Um, no? I don't think so." Maya thought for a while. "We did eat at a table with a whole bunch of flowers in the Gatewater Hotel way back when, and Edgeworth didn't start sneezing or anything."
Phoenix felt himself starting to sweat. "Oh god, Maya, what if he doesn't even like the food we made? What if he expected something much better than this?" The dish they'd chosen was nowhere near as fancy as Edgeworth was. "What if—"
"Hey, hey, Nick, stop worrying!" Maya rushed to reassure him. "It'll be fine. Edgeworth will love it. Really."
"But- but... won't he be accustomed to more expensive dinners on occasions? What if he doesn't want to spend the rest of his birthday with me? Maybe I'm just wasting his time." Phoenix sat down at the edge of his bed, his stomach really turning somersaults (and not the good kind) now.
"Little Nicky." Maya said in a fake cloying voice, and Phoenix had to smile. "I'm the one who watches the Steel Samurai with him almost every night, and you should hear him talking about you." She put on an English accent, making her voice deeper. "'Don't tell Wright I said this, but I consider him to be my greatest ally. Quite like how the Steel Samurai respects the Pink Princess.' 'That... sounded a lot like something he would say.' 'The Steel Samurai reminds me of him sometimes, really.' 'How I'd like to crush Phoenix Wright in court one day like the Steel Samurai crushes evildoers.'" Maya stopped and shook her head. "Honestly. That guy thinks the absolute world of you."
"That last one didn't sound very friendly," Phoenix said feebly, although his heart was the part of his body turning somersaults now. "Does he really talk that much about me?"
"What, you think I could make all that up off the top of my head? Come on, Nick. Stop doubting yourself so much." Maya laid a hand on his shoulder in a seemingly warm gesture but then grabbed his turtleneck and yanked. "Get up. He's gonna come here in five minutes."
"Okay. Okay." Phoenix took a deep breath. "Are you sure I don't need to change?"
"Absolutely. This is a dinner date, not a business meeting."
"I thought you were supposed to dress formally to dates?" Phoenix mumbled, but Maya had already left the room.
Phoenix walked over to his bedside table and pulled out its lone drawer, revealing two boxes wrapped in gift paper. One contained a pocket watch with a chess knight engraved on it — that hadn't been very cheap — and the other hid a Steel Samurai onesie within it, which was kind of a joke. Honestly, knowing him, Edgeworth probably already had one of those, but Maya had pressed him to buy it because "pocket watches are boring, Nick!" Phoenix had eventually ended up buying both of them.
He took the boxes out, feeling his anxiety making a return. Edgeworth sounded like he'd probably already have a pocket watch, and he most likely had enough Steel Samurai merchandise to fill an entire room. Why did he never plan ahead? Why couldn't he just make up his mind for once? And suddenly the entire thing, despite Maya's reassurances, felt incredibly stupid; he had just called Edgeworth over to his tiny apartment to eat a badly-prepared dish of shrimp with him after receiving a fucking onesie as a birthday gift. There was no way Edgeworth would like any of this when he could've just stayed home and watched a movie or something.
The sound of the doorbell ringing pierced the silence, followed by a "Nick!" as Maya called for him. Phoenix jumped and sprang up from his bed, panicking. Oh god, did he have to arrive when his nerves were in a greater mess than usual? He quickly patted his hair down, grabbed the gifts and exited the room, trying to look calm.
Edgeworth stood in the doorway, chatting with Maya and looking as stunning as always. He held a bouquet of blue flowers, out of which he picked one and stuck into the bun on top of Maya's head, making her laugh. A slight smile appeared on his face, and he looked up to notice Phoenix standing awkwardly in the entrance to the living room. His face started to split into a much bigger smile, but he quickly changed it to a more controlled, yet still warm, one.
Maya looked around to see Phoenix. "Nick! Edgeworth is here," she added unnecessarily.
"Yeah, I can see." Phoenix was grinning now as he walked over to them. "Hey, Edgeworth."
"Wright." He held out the bouquet. "I brought you flowers."
"Okay, I don't want to be the third wheel now. I'll be going out for a while." Maya started to leave, pulling the flower out of her bun and sticking it behind her ear.
"Wait, you don't have to leave if you don't want to." Phoenix offered, but only half-heartedly. Maya waved him away.
"Nah, I know you don't want me to be here. I don't mean that in a bad way or anything. See you, Nick-and-Edgeworth! Save some of the food for me!" She left before any of them could say anything.
"Edgeworth, it's your birthday," Phoenix said after a while, referring to the flowers. He accepted them anyway, shifting both boxes to one hand.
"I don't recall any type of rule that states one should not give out gifts on their birthday," Edgeworth said, still smiling. He raised his head to sniff the air. "Something smells wonderful."
"Oh, haha. I thought I'd make dinner for us. I mean, it isn't much, but..." he glanced down at his hands. "Oh, wait. I wanted to give you these. Happy birthday." He extended the arm holding the two boxes out somewhat lamely.
Edgeworth took the boxes, looking as if he very badly wanted to rattle them to guess at what was inside. "Thank you. Should I open them now?"
"If you want to. Um, open the smaller box first." He moved back so that Edgeworth could step over the threshold.
Edgeworth moved the larger box to rest between his elbow and waist so that he could open the other more easily. He grinned when he saw the knight engraved into the top of the watch. "I've been meaning to buy one of these." Phoenix heaved a silent sigh of relief. Edgeworth ran his thumb over the designs cut into the metal, and flipped it open to admire the ivory-white of the watch dial and the ebony markings. "This is magnificent, Wright. Thank you."
"Yeah? I wonder how you'll like your second gift." Now that he'd seen Edgeworth react positively to the first one, he couldn't wait to see the look on his face as he discovered the onesie.
"Hm, let's find out." Edgeworth handed the empty box to Phoenix, slipping the watch into his pocket. He meticulously freed the tape that bound the gift paper together instead of ripping it open like a normal person. The box was plain white, betraying no clues, and so Edgeworth didn't know what to expect as he pulled open its flap to slide its contents out.
As the onesie unfolded itself upon being held up, Edgeworth looked scandalized, but then burst into a belly laugh that Phoenix hadn't heard in forever. He turned away from Phoenix to clutch at the doorframe and dissolved into a fit of laughter that he kept trying to recover from but eventually lapsed into again every time he glimpsed the onesie. Phoenix stared at him, delighted at having elicited such a reaction from Edgeworth, especially when he hadn't heard him laugh so well in eighteen years.
"So, do you want to put it on?" Phoenix jokingly offered when Edgeworth's wheezing subsided into smaller chuckles, drawing a look from him that failed at being stern.
"Unless you want me to eat dinner in this, no." Edgeworth said and folded his present to place it inside the box once more. He smiled as he looked up, his usual air returning. "Really, thank you, Wright. This is...this is fantastic."
"I hope you'll say the same about dinner," Phoenix said, and told him to leave the boxes and the paper on the couch. "I'm sorry I couldn't do this earlier for you. Pearls didn't let me leave Kurain village until eleven this morning, and even then it took me a while to convince her. I keep meaning to tell her about us, but I don't want to see her being sad."
"You could've asked me to come along with you, Wright." Edgeworth said.
Phoenix scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, but I... I thought you wouldn't want to. Come with me, I mean. You're really busy nowadays."
"And you thought I wouldn't make time for my...my..." Edgeworth struggled to find the right word. "For you?"
Phoenix grinned. "You can call me your boyfriend, you know. It's okay." He paused to savor the flustered look on Edgeworth's face. "And I'm sorry. I'll ask you next time."
"You better." Edgeworth said quickly.
Phoenix wondered whether to heckle Edgeworth further, but decided against it. "We should probably eat dinner before it gets cold." He headed into the kitchen, stopping by the dining table on the way to put down the flowers; he noticed Maya had set out plates and even arranged the cutlery around them.
He returned with the skillet of shrimp and a serving spoon to find Edgeworth stroking the petals of some kind of flower whose name he forgot. "Oh yeah, sorry about all the flowers. Maya said they apparently represent my, um... affection... for you."
"Well, these are rather a lot of flowers." Edgeworth turned to look at Phoenix. "So, what have you made?"
Phoenix set the skillet down on the table and opened it to let the steam escape. "It's just— it's nothing fancy, yeah, but this is shrimp and gnocchi with garlic sauce. And Parmesan. Garlic and Parmesan sauce." Phoenix felt himself getting embarrassed. "Maya helped me make it, so I can't say I made it for you myself, and I know you probably won't like it. I'm sorry if—"
Edgeworth moved to put his arms around Phoenix's neck, effectively cutting off his words. Phoenix chuckled nervously, feeling his heart starting to beat faster. "Yeah, I'm just... yeah. Sorry."
"Wright, you have to stop doubting yourself so much." Edgeworth murmured, his steely grey eyes locked onto Phoenix's. "And stop apologizing."
"Sorry," Phoenix mumbled sheepishly.
Edgeworth shook his head, paused a second, and leaned in almost shyly. Phoenix's heart began to race faster; he put his arms around Edgeworth's waist timidly and met his lips halfway through. The world seemed to fall away from him like it did every time they kissed, and there was nothing except the feel of Edgeworth's lips pressed against his own, the warmth of Edgeworth's body, the silky texture of Edgeworth's hair brushing against his cheek, Edgeworth's calloused hands as they moved to stroke his face, nothing but Edgeworth. Phoenix didn't open his eyes as Edgeworth drew slightly back to catch his breath, listening to his barely audible gasps. He moved forward so that he could lean his forehead against his partner's, and they stayed that way for several minutes.
"So I get that you actually like all this?" Phoenix whispered after a while.
"Yes, Phoenix. Yes."