Work Text:
Sleeping in hotels due to travelling while investigating a case wasn't new to either of them, what was new was having to stay in the same hotel together.
The case was not a simple one, with the victim being a high-ranked prosecutor and one of the murder suspects being a man well-known for his contacts with politicians, it required the best of the best to investigate, and there were none better for it than Miles Edgeworth and Shi-Long Lang.
The issue wasn't with the hotel they were staying at, oh no, the hotel was not only very close to the murder scene (which allowed them to get to there faster), but it was also a rated 5 stars. One of the best in California, probably. The issue was with the amount of rooms booked. Miles had asked Gumshoe to book it for him, unaware of how the detective's clumsiness could mess up something as simple as booking two rooms in an hotel, for it turned out that the detective booked one sole room with one sole bed, and it was too late at night to be looking for a new hotel.
They were both in their pijamas already, Edgeworth's being a fully pink one with a nightcap, and Lang just a t-shirt and sweatpants.
Lang had to admit that Edgeworth looked particularly adorable in his outfit. Not that he would say it out loud, though.
"This must be some kind of misunderstanding, it was two rooms, not one." Lang could hear Edgeworth talk through the phone, while he flopped down onto the bed. "I don't care! Get another room free or at least a second bed, shouldn't be too hard, should it? I can pay more, even."
Lang rolled his eyes at the conversation unfolding before him. He was aware that his company wasn't one of the most pleasants to the prosecutor, but surely it couldn't be that bad?
"Cut it out, pretty boy, stop bothering the staff."
That got him a glare from Edgeworth, but it also got Edgeworth to just hang up the phone and sit down -much more elegantly than the agent- onto the couch near the window. He had a good view at least.
"I'm very sorry, I knew I shouldn't have let the job up to Gumshoe, I just got busy at the office and thought it wouldn't hurt to leave something so simple up to him for once."
"It's not that big of an issue, we can just look tomorrow in the morning for a new hotel, or check if they got any new rooms open. I know you're not the biggest fan of social stuff, but surely spending one night in the same room as someone else wouldn't hurt ya, right?"
"Yes, I suppose it is fine. I can still sleep on the couch-"
"I am absolutely not letting you sleep on the couch"
"What for? Wouldn't it be more comfortable for both of us?"
"You're gonna wake up with a sore neck, and a sore back, and then you're gonna complain the entire ride to the crime scene, and your whining won't let me concentrate, pretty boy. Let me take the couch, and you can sleep in your fancy bed." Lang got up and gestured to the bed with his hands, doing an awfully exaggerated reverence that gained him an eye roll from Edgeworth.
"It'd be rude for me to share a room with someone and let them sleep on a couch while I sleep very comfortably on a bed."
"Oh, so it'd be normal for me to be the rude one?"
"That's not what I'm saying and you know it" He pointed at him, similarly to how he does in a courtroom. "I'm just trying to be kind for once."
"Great! Then be kind by letting me sleep on the couch so I don't look like a bad host, letting his guest sleep on a couch."
"What? You're not even a host- we're at a hotel."
Lang shrugged.
"Same thing."
"It is absolutely not, I-" He put his fingers on his frown, as if he were thinking. "Why must you insist on this?"
"Same thing can be said about you!"
"Because I'm trying to be kind!"
"So am I!"
"This is going nowhere."
There was a pause for a moment, both seeming tired of arguing over who gets the couch, and then Lang spoke up again.
"Is it truly so bad to be somewhat close to me?" He said with a pout.
"What?" Edgeworth turned to look at him, confusion on his face.
"I mean, you got pretty upset a while ago over us having to share a room, and you'd rather sleep on the couch than on the same bed with me. I know I wasn't the kindest to you when we first met, but I thought we were over that hate at first sight era." Lang spoke with his arms crossed.
"I got upset because I thought that you'd be uncomfortable, and" He stopped in his train of thought, all of the sudden processing the entire thing that Lang had said. "What do you mean I'd rather sleep on the couch than on the same bed as you?"
"I mean, you immediately jumped to the couch instead of, I dunno, assuming we could sleep in the same bed and all. It's pretty big, actually."
"Why would I assume that you would be ok with that?"
"So I take it that you are not uncomfortable with us sleeping on the same bed, to be clear?"
"No I'm not- why would I be?"
"Great!" With his fake sad plan succeeding in getting Edgeworth to admit that he'd be fine with them sharing a bed, Lang grabbed him by arm and started pulling him. "Then we can sleep in the same bed, problem solved!"
"Agent Lang, wait-" Before Edgeworth could finish whatever he was going to say, he was fully pulled onto the bed with Lang, landing with a rather loud and embarrassing "Hmph!", which made Lang laugh a little. Right as he was opening his mouth again, Lang turned off the light of the lamp next to them, leaving the room in full darkness.
"Good night, pretty boy. Make sure you're well rested for tomorrow." And with that, the man closed his eyes and threw the covers over himself, as well as Edgeworth.
Edgeworth wasn't sure if he fell asleep terribly fast, or if he was just with his eyes closed and resting, but either way he dared not move an inch to not disturb him, and tried to fall asleep as well.
As usual, he failed.
He was used to having trouble sleeping; you get used to not sleeping much after living with nightmares every night, and eventually it got harder and harder for him to sleep. He never found this an issue. Normally he'd busy himself with extra work, rewatching Steel Samurai episodes, or even indulging in a few of his other hobbies to spend the time having some fun. But it was quite a bit of an issue when now he had a man sleeping next to him who he did not want to wake up, meaning he could not get up and do any of his routine on his sleepless nights.
He could busy himself thinking about what he knew about the new case so far and going over the facts again, of course, but there was an obstacle.
The obstacle was Shi-Long Lang himself.
He had been aware of his feelings towards the agent for some time now, and he couldn't keep telling himself that his nervousness and need to impress around the man were born out of platonic feelings only. He tried to be subtle, but he felt as if he got heart eyes every time he was in his eye sight. Having the man now next to him, looking oh-so peaceful and calm, was thwarting all his plans of overthinking himself to sleep.
He tried to make out a bit of the figure of the agent in the darkness. The rise and fall of his chest (which had caught his attention a fair amount of times during previous investigations, truth be told), his soft and rough features, and his spiky-looking hair that he was sure that would be soft to the touch. It's not like he'd know anyways, he hadn't touched it yet. In reality, he couldn't see all too much with how dark the room was, but it's not like he needed to. He had already memorized everything that he could see of Lang.
Maybe this could be a good chance to try and test his theory of spiky to the eye and soft to the touch hair, though. The agent looked soundly asleep and it's not like anyone would know.
With his heart beating twice as fast due to the closeness he brought his hand to Lang's hair, just for his hand to be caught by another one in the middle of touching it.
"What are you doing, pretty boy?" Asked Lang, still holding Edgeworth's wrist with his one hand and his eyes still closed.
"I thought there was something in your hair, that's all." Could have been a good excuse, but the words came out just a bit too rushed, just a bit too stumbling over. Unnoticeable by everyone else, but not to Lang.
"Yeah, sure, what could be in it?" He finally dropped the prosecutor's hand and opened his eyes, sitting up now. "You're not good at lying, you know that, right?"
"It wouldn't be good for a prosecutor to be good at lying." He crossed his arms and refused to look at Lang, knowing that it would make him feel some kind of way to have Lang looking down at him. After all, while Lang was sitting up he was still laying down on the bed. He didn't think that Lang would be able to see him properly due to the lack of light, but it wouldn't hurt to not take risks.
"You're still avoiding my question." He turned to turn on the light. "I can hear you thinking, y'know? Lang Zi says: The wolf must be well rested before the hunt. "
"That sounds like it makes sense."
"It does. And you should follow it. Why aren't you asleep by now? It's been-" He took a pause to take out his phone and check the hour. "Around 30 minutes since we arrived, and you spent a good 10 minutes arguing with the staff on the phone, so we've been laying down for a good time now. Were you just staring at me the whole time?"
Edgeworth could feel his cheeks heat up. He was sure it could be seen, as well.
"Don't be silly, I can't stare at you in the dark."
"Ah, so were you trying to get a good look at me?" Lang smirked at him. He was having fun, after all.
"Absolutely not. Not everyone can fall asleep fast, agent Lang. And neither can you it seems since you weren't awake either."
"What makes you think you weren't the one who woke me up?"
"I highly doubt I woke you up, considering how fast you reacted."
"You're right for once, pretty boy." He got more comfortable in the bed now, getting closer as well. "I was thinking."
"About what?" Edgeworth turned to look at him. "Is it the case?"
"Nah, not really." He took a short pause before continuing. "I was thinking about you."
"About- about- who- what?"
"Mr Prosecutor, tell me if I've been reading all the signs wrong, but I do believe you like me."
"I mean, we are work partners, of course I like you." He got a nervous chuckle out. He was aware that he wasn't exactly the most subtle in hiding his emotions, but surely they couldn't be that obvious, right?
"I mean, yes, but not like that exactly. You like me the same as one would want a romantic partner, don't you?"
"I think you're mistaken-"
"I'd like to know 'cause I feel the same way, Miles." He looked too serious all of the sudden. More serious than Edgeworth was accustomed to, and the use of his name was not helping it either. "If you feel any different, feel free to let me know and I'll drop the subject here, but if you don't, I'd like to, ah" He started to lose the tracks of what he was saying, seeming sheepish all of the sudden. "Maybe I chose the wrong time to talk about this, forget it."
It looked like he was turning to go back to sleep, so Edgeworth broke his trance to speak.
"No! I mean- Yes!" Said Edgeworth all too excited, breaking Lang from his nervous look. "I do like you! Like one would like a romantic partner, I mean."
Lang got the biggest smile on his face, and Edgeworth hoped to see that beautiful sight again, and again, and again.
"So, do you think we could try it?"
"Try what?"
"How dense must you be, pretty boy?" He shaked his head, although it was done in a very fond way." All this talk about our feelings and here you ask me what I mean with trying-" He took the prosecutor's hands between his, certainly making his heart skip a beat, but to be fair, the agent's heart had been skipping more than a beat every time he had the man with ridiculous fashion around him. It was only fair for Edgeworth to experience the same. "I mean, would you like to be my boyfriend?"
Edgeworth seemed struck by shock for a hot second, before he shook all thoughts out of his head and nodded.
"Yes! I mean, I'm not too experienced with this whole 'dating' thing" He said while making quotation marks with his fingers. "But I'd like to try. With you, precisely."
Lang did not reply to that, but instead grabbed him by the neck of pijama and pulled him up for a kiss. It took the prosecutor a total of 3 seconds before he responded by wrapping his hands around the agent's neck to support himself, and deepen the kiss as well.
"Will you be more comfortable sleeping next to me, now?"
"I think I will be." Replied contedly, letting himself lean against the agent. He immediately got attacked by a pair of arms grabbing him around his waist, pulling him in for snuggles.
This all felt quite fast for him, and very unusual on top of it all, but not unwelcome at all.
"Shi-Long Lang says: We must thank a certain detective for his lack of brain."