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Maya stared into the crystal ball, watching as Phoenix's form vanished down the sidewalk, his thoughts projected as subtitles beneath the picture. The real Phoenix hovered over her shoulder, concerned about her reaction. Obviously, he was... the mere idea of that case turning out like that made him feel sick to his stomach. That would've been horrible for everyone involved. He couldn't believe he'd actually come so close to such a dark possibility - one piece of evidence, just one.
"Maya?" Her shoulders had begun to tremble. She was probably imagining her kidnapping going on so much longer, no rescue ever coming. He knew it had been a terribly traumatic experience for her, even if they'd never really talked much about it. "Are... are you okay?"
Shoulders shaking harder, Maya hunched over to hide her face as she slowly shook her head. Phoenix's heart sank. She never admitted to feeling scared. It maybe wasn't healthy, but... that was a problem they both shared, so he understood. Anyway, he'd gotten pretty good at reading her - so he knew, that if Maya were ever to actually acknowledge being upset, then it was something that bothered her incredibly deeply. (And for good reason. Watching his faith in the system, and in himself, be broken like that... Knowing that version of him had been responsible for setting a murderer loose and sending an innocent woman to prison in his stead - it was like a nightmare come true in front of his eyes.)
Maya whimpered, dragging him out of his thoughts. Hesitantly, he placed a hand on her shoulder. This wasn't a time for him to get caught up in his own head - his friend obviously needed his support right now.
"Hey," he told her, rubbing her back soothingly. "It's okay. That never happened."
Maya mumbled something he couldn't make out, her voice thick with what must be tears.
"Sorry, I couldn't understand..."
"...never happen..." she muttered.
"Yeah," Phoenix said, relieved. "Yeah, thank god that never happened. I'm all the more grateful for that miracle-"
"No," Maya choked out, louder now. "Not 'it never happened.' Nick, 'the miracle never happen.'"
"....Come again?"
She spun around to face him, her eyes gleaming with tears - but maybe not the type he'd expected, given the gigantic grin on her face. Also the way, without her sleeves muffling the sounds, it was obvious her whimpering noises were giggles, not sobs.
"The miracle never happen, Nick!" She cackled. "It never happen!"
"Wh- I was concerned about you!" Phoenix yelled, but she didn't quit laughing. Obviously, this was better than her being all torn up about a reality that had never come to pass, but - he felt his face heating up. "Shut up!"
"You were being so dramatic," Maya snickered. "Walking all miserably in the wind - but you couldn't even say it right -"
"I don't control the weather, Maya, I'm sure it was just a coinci- and people misspeak, you know! Cut me some slack, my life had just been ruined!"
"You stole Gumshoe's coat and wandered the sidewalk like you didn't have a perfectly good apartment to wallow in -"
"Th- That could've been my coat! I have coats like that!" He wanted to defend the second accusation too, but... well, she kinda had a point with that one. Still, he probably had gone home eventually, right? Or at least, in some building somewhere, hopefully.
"You're so ridiculous, Nick," Maya laughed, and reached out to clutch at his arm. At first he thought it was just for balance, that she was so amused by his alternate self's dramatics that she was about to literally fall over... but then her grip tightened. "You couldn't even face me again for the rest of your life? That's crazy."
Her fingernails dug deep into his arm, and she tipped into him, forehead bumping into his chest. She repeated herself without pulling back: "It's crazy."
"...Yeah," Phoenix agreed. He wrapped his free arm around her back, pulling her more firmly into a hug. "Crazy. I don't know what I was thinking. I'd be lost without you."
"Obviously. I bet you always forgot to shave and only ever wore sweatpants and-"
"Hey. Hey, stop, we were stopping-"
"I bet that without me around you'd drink nothing but grape juice all day long, and everyone would think you were a murderer for once!"
"Okay, fine. I thought we were having a touching moment, but fine, whatever. I'll have you know grape juice is delicious. And everybody has thought I was a murderer, it's happened twice already, so. Take that."
"Psh! I've still got you beat."
Phoenix squeezed Maya closer, and ducked to rest his cheek on the top of her head. He looked at the crystal ball still sitting in its box, and thought that maybe he understood why it had been packed away in the Fey mansion attic for so long.
"Fine, you win," he told her. "Guess I'll have to keep you around instead of aimlessly wandering the sidewalks."
"Don't worry," she said. Her voice was muffled into his shirt, but the resolve in it was clear: "Even if all that stuff happens, I'm with you, Nick."
He smiled, closing his eyes and just - holding her close. He'd want nothing else.
"I mean, not all the time," Maya finally broke the moment, pulling out of his arms. He let her go, and busied himself putting the cover back over the crystal ball. If his shirt felt wet, well - it was pretty dusty up here. He had to wipe his own eyes on a sleeve, and he was sure they looked just as puffy and red as hers. Nothing worth mentioning.
"I do have duties as the Master now, you know," she went on. When he turned around, she was already busy with her clipboard, checking off the crystal ball on the list of priceless artifacts that had been languishing up here for decades now. She was using the red pen - the 'leave it up there a while longer' pen. "I've got a demanding schedule of my own now, it's not all about you anymore."
"I guess all I can hope for is that you take pity and visit me every now and then," Phoenix sighed playfully. "Rescue me from my inevitable languishing in self-pity."
She pointed the pen at him. "Exactly! Now, c'mon, there's supposed to be a magical feather boa somewhere up here."
"Okay, I know I've been saying this for everything, but that can't be real."