Chapter Text
Phoenix Wright began his day much like many others lately; by drinking at least two cups of coffee early on as an attempt to compensate for his unavoidable lack of sleep. It was a rather unfortunate development. A habit which had formed as a result of a few all-nighters for one major case, which had since been won. Naturally, he had crashed for the next few days, suffering a complete lack of energy, though it would seem to him that the damage to his sleep schedule would be irreversible for a long time coming. A rather dramatic conclusion to draw, though it should be no surprise coming from a man who currently cannot help tripping over himself in his own office now, and that of whom cannot keep his eyes open for more than 3 seconds.
He sat down his now-empty cup of coffee on his desk, before moving to look over some files, incorrectly believing he would be able to take in any information at all in this state. Phoenix found his way to his chair, slipping down onto it rather quickly while he ran his fingers along the edge of the manila file. Once it was unfolded, all time would escape him as he scanned the many documents inside in hopes of actually managing to make something productive of today. Somehow, he was able to ignore the impossible heaviness of his head, and the way his face felt oddly more numb with each passing second. It wasn’t until a loud knock sounded from the door that he was suddenly removed from the trance his work had put him under.
“Come in, Maya.”
The visitor behind the door hesitated, likely in mild confusion, before the door clicked open, then shut. Despite Phoenix’s assumption that Maya had been the one entering the office, as she often did, he refocused on his work, failing to notice the unusually heavy footsteps preceding a familiar silver-haired rival emerging from around the corner. Miles peered at Phoenix with just a hint of concern, before clearing his throat loudly as to receive the acknowledgment he awaited. When Phoenix hadn’t noticed for whatever reason, he planted a firm hand down on the man’s desk, causing him to jump a little.
“M- Edgeworth, Hi.” Phoenix sputtered out quickly, more taken aback now by the man standing in front of him than the sudden slam from moments prior.
“I take it you’ve got yourself wrapped up in yet another case, Wright?”
“Well… yeah, that’s the job. What are you doing here?”
“I meant that it’s awfully soon after the last case you took on.” Miles clicked his tongue, continuing to stare down at phoenix as he anticipated him moving on from the subject, but when he didn’t say a word, Miles was forced to respond to the latter question of his. “I just wanted to stop by and see how you were.”
This made Phoenix laugh, and understandably so. The relationship between him and Edgeworth was a rather strained one for a while, but things were on a far better track now, much thanks to the few efforts on both of their behalves. He let the papers and folders slip from his fingers as he stood up from his desk. Things were undeniably better, yet still he felt like he never got a break from chasing Miles. Ever since the day he decide to become a defense attorney, and even after he got to the bottom of things, and the so called ‘demon prosecutor’ was no more, it had seemed Miles’ desires were not aligned with Phoenix’s when it came to hanging out with one another, or even striking up small talk. With how reserved and uninterested Miles had been all this time, it had seemed more than just a little out of character for him to suddenly be concerned. His chest tightened when he couldn’t even laugh off the genuine doubt he had about Edgeworth actually caring one way or another for how he was doing.
“I’m fine? I don’t know why you’d be worried in the first place, I’ve been doing great! What are you really here for?”
“Clearly you’re not fine as you claim.” Miles folded his arms over his chest, a noticeable frown making its way onto his face. “You looked ill at the last trial, I assume lack of sleep can be thanked for that as your eye bags are still as prominent as ever. You shouldn’t keep doing this to yourself, Wright.”
“I told you I’m fine, I’m wide awake.”
This was a bold claim to make considering how Phoenix swayed wherever he stood, and managed to look incredibly disoriented for the majority of Edgeworth’s visit so far. Miles groaned, not having a moment of this nonsense while he quickly rushed over to his side to support the stumbling lawyer. Though Phoenix had the urge to continue denying help, there wasn’t much he could say while now putting his weight on the other for support. Miles put an arm around him -an action which made Phoenix’s heart skip a beat- before quickly leading him over to the couch and letting him down carefully. He stared up at Edgeworth while feeling like he had been sinking forever deeper into the comfortable sofa despite his realistically awkward, strewn about position. The way Edgeworth’s silver hair dangled messily around his eyes and over his pink tinted cheeks while he leaned over Phoenix was mesmerizing. The flutter in Phoenix’s stomach quickly turned bitter as he brought himself back to the present.
“Uh, thanks, Edgeworth. I’m sorry you had to see all this.” He gave an embarrassed chuckle as it settled in just how tired he was, and most certainly how tired he had looked too. It was now that he finally accepted that something was wrong, but whether he’d accept that his opponent wished to help him is another story. He turned away to rest his face against the couch sheepishly when he realized he was probably staring for an unusual amount of time.
“It’s quite alright, Wright. Do you have any blankets in here?” He glanced around, before turning to see the other give a quick shake if the head. It was rather cold in the office, and if Phoenix was going to sleep now, it best be a consistent, and uninterrupted one. Miles stood there in thought before sliding his jacket from his shoulders, and draping it over him wordlessly. “Do you need anything else?”
Phoenix’s face only grew darker when the mild scent of cologne Edgeworth had always seemed to wear had followed the jacket. It already felt rather intimate because of the action, but this too gave the illusion that they were close physically as well, a thought which now plagued the defense attorney’s mind.
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because.. I’m worried for you.”
“It doesn’t make sense for you to worry.” Phoenix responded curtly. These sort of responses visibly took Edgeworth aback, though he ignored the logical fallacies the best he could in consideration of Phoenix’s current state of mind.
“Am I not allowed to care for you, Wright?”
“It’s not that you’re not allowed, you just.. don’t.”
“… I can assure you with certainty that I do.” He sat down his briefcase carefully, and placed a hand against the man’s forehead, sighing in what seemed to be relief when Phoenix didn’t seem to be running particularly hot nor cold. “Well, you’re not sick. What has been keeping you awake?”
“Right now, you’re keeping me awake.” Phoenix laughed quietly. Though it was a joke, he was awfully close to succumbing to sleep already. The jacket of course helped, but even without it, he was already feeling quite warmed up himself, all thanks to this unusual caring display put on by Edgeworth. “I.. don’t really know. I think I just messed up my sleep schedule with the trial before. Now I’m tired all day and I can’t lay still at night.”
“Hm.. Well you’ve got to get back on track somehow. If you sleep through today, then it will only continue. You’d be best off napping for only a short time and hope you can get a better sleep later tonight.” He folded his arms and took note of how peaceful Phoenix had looked laying there, occasionally shutting his eyes and seeming to doze off before startling himself awake again. His hair was spiked back as it usually had been, however now, small strands and pieces stuck up or plastered themselves to the man’s forehead. No matter how sleep deprived or disorderly he was, Phoenix always kept that same charm which had made Miles nervous to even come over in the first place.
Phoenix shifted into a more comfortable lying down position finally, though his legs were still a bit cramped considering the small size of the sofa, but he managed to make it work.
“Well you’re helping me pretty well now, maybe you could help me get a better sleep later.” He laughed again quietly, though quickly grew embarrassed of his own comment when Edgeworth didn’t respond for a minute, looking rather taken aback once more. “I-It was a joke, I’ll be f-“
“Sure.”
“What?”
“My schedules rather free this evening, I can do my best to assist.” Miles said flatly, though by his expression, which Phoenix hadn’t picked up on, he was quite nervous himself. Making such a bold offer was far from something he had been used to, and it was made worse by the very few times the men had hung out since they had come to know each other again. He almost wanted to turn on a dime and walk away right then.
“O-okay! That sounds good.” Phoenix replied, sounding a little too enthusiastic for his own liking.
“Alright.” With a sigh, the tension in his throat had cleared, and he could relax, though his face hadn’t gotten any less warm with the other’s acceptance. “Set a timer so you do not sleep through the day. You can hold onto my jacket until tonight, just don’t get spill anything on it, please.”
“Thanks Miles.”
“… Of course, Phoenix.”