Chapter Text
April 2nd,
It’d been a year since Trucy had earned the Wright household name, and in no less than a month of her adoption, she was already the light of his life. By now, there was friendly bickering, visits to uncle Larry, helping with homework days, movie nights, cuddling on the sofa, and many, many more days that he wanted to spend with his one and only daughter, Trucy Wright.
One thing Phoenix Wright especially loved to share with Trucy though, was his joy of painting. Evenings after dinner washed in fading oranges and a dip in energy thanks to a fulfilling meal by the windowsill, watching Trucy portray a landscape that almost always included them together (and Mr. Sun in the top right corner, as always) while his own hands painted landscapes of his own. That was one of his favorite things, especially when she would prance around the apartment waving the finished project up in the air triumphantly after receiving only the highest praise from her daddy.
However, the rest of the night always brought chills, no matter the weather, after tucking Trucy in with a goodnight kiss and sweet caress over the top of her head. It was always quiet.
He normally painted during the day, sometimes leaving the house while Trucy was attending school to fountains or pockets of nature or places bustling with people for references, (and to get out of the house a little) but painting at night always cast some sort of spell on him. A tiny, miniscule pool of loneliness would well up at nighttime. He had Trucy, he cursed himself every time - which was true. The little wonder had dug him out of a grave, spilling sunlight so brilliant into his life that he would always, always be grateful she’d shown up when she had. Even those thoughts brought a smile to his lips; but it was when Trucy was asleep that he’d started to wonder if he should at least try reaching out to Larry again, but… did he really want to do that?
This also wasn’t his only concern either.
Phoenix, who considered himself to be fairly humble, knew he was good at his job. He was a good artist! He made enough for the two of them to be safe, and secure - but that was all. Sometimes, he wished he had a little more spending room, just to get that lovely blue cape he watched Trucy eye carefully, only when she thought he was distracted. Just to have a little less take-out lying around the house than they had now, and maybe even to upgrade his own toolset that he’d had for years now. A little more spending room would be nice, he thought occasionally.
That is why he took up a second job.
``
April 5th, 9:45 pm
Trucy was asleep long before he was off to work, but he was still a little worried about leaving her alone for the night. He cut off that route of thinking quickly though, for peace of mind. He was a single parent, and this was going to help. There was no other way around it.
Two days prior, his interview went along and he landed the position with ease, seeing as it was a newer cafe and that nightstaff was a little more difficult to obtain, but more than necessary for a nighttime cafe.
There was a uniform, though nothing too showy or uncomfortable, just a simple button down and some black dress pants with a matching apron and shoes, but it was definitely not what he was used to. Still he could manage, and there was a plus in being able to appreciate his own reflection with a presentable appearance every night anyway, especially with the lack of a recurring stubble that he’d eventually warded away for the sake of professionalism.
In fact, there weren’t really that many downsides, besides being away from Trucy. From his first impression, he could tell this job suited him. First and foremost: It was quiet. Most occupants were on their own, hunched over a single cup of coffee or silently enjoying a late night meal, while occasionally pairs or even groups of people were scattered among the few customers. Even then, their conversations were held strictly inside their booth or their table. It was like an old and unvisited library, where conversations between bookshelves remained private and simple mumbling to anyone else inside. There were never any conversations above much of a whisper, and that could be because of some subconscious, unspoken rule, or a simple, unwavering aroma of sleep and exhaustion, especially in the hours past 12. Either way, it was like Phoenix was walking around underwater. Undisturbed, quiet, and tranquil. It seemed that most customers were too tired to haggle or cause much of a headache so far, but he knew that that probably wasn’t always the case.
Still though, if the job could just contain a majority of nights like his first day there, it couldn’t be that much of a hassle to come back to.
``
Trucy was still asleep when he unlocked his apartment door that morning as gently and silently as he could manage. He slipped through and crept all the way to her room, cursing his apartment’s cheap floorboards every time they croaked under his weight, but when he arrived at his destination, none of his efforts seemed to be wasted. Immediately upon finding his daughter sprawled out on her bed, half under the blankets half-exposed, he grinned and made an effort to tuck her back in without disturbing her too much. A sleep-induced grumble or two later, she was buried under her covers again, and Phoenix soon pressed a kiss right above her hairline with an overwhelming amount of love swelling in his heart.
As gracefully as he entered the room, he exited and made for his own bed.
Fully clothed and a little exhausted, he plopped back-first onto his mattress, the weight of this new tiredness sinking in.
His mind wandered aimlessly, accompanied by a vague sense of accomplishment. It felt good to be occupied for once, his daily nighttime overthinking replaced with busy hands and a busy mind. Was it so wrong for a man to feel a little proud of himself for earning a new position? Making a few extra bucks? Absolutely not! Not only that, but getting over his pity party routine, feeling just a bit less lonely working around and speaking casually with other people. His eyelids put up a good fight, but the oncoming crash of drowsiness was inevitable. Somewhere in his lost consciousness though, he could admit that part of him hoped that this job would maybe help him meet some new people or make some new friends. There was no one who was going to hear this out loud though.
April 12th, 10:00
A week had gone by, and fairly quickly at that.
Over only a couple of days, he discovered that his coworkers were actually a little livelier than he ever thought nighttime cafe workers would be.
For one, he learned that his boss, the woman who originally opened the cafe, was actually a runaway, and so was her younger sister. The pair were actually Spirit Mediums, and no matter how many times Maya explained it to him, he wasn’t sure he would ever fully understand it. Mia, the elder sister, had a full-time job though, and was rarely ever at the cafe. Maya, at some point, had said something about being a lawyer, but he wondered why she would even bother opening a place when she had a well-paying job like that!
Another character, who might’ve been the explanation, was the boss’s boyfriend, A.K.A his manager. Diego Armando was, put simply, a coffee addict. Phoenix had heard from Mia once that he usually drank 13-17 cups in a few hours, especially when he was in court rooms beside her (Oh, and he’s apparently some kind of lawyer as well, but seems to care more about coffee and ordering innocent people around than that). After hearing that, he wasn’t sure if he was really surprised to see the man chugging a mug every time he saw him or if he was just concerned now. Either way, running a nighttime cafe did sort of make sense for a most-likely sleep deprived coffee addict.
Lastly, there was a boy named Apollo. Phoenix liked Apollo. Apollo was fairly quiet compared to the rest of his coworkers, and he didn’t seem like he really wanted to interact with anyone else, just doing his job to make some money. He was another barista, like Phoenix, but he was definitely a lot younger than him, probably still in highschool, which was a little concerning on its own as well. What did a highschooler need to work a night shift for? Granted, he only worked Friday through Sunday, but it was still a valid question he wanted to ask if they ever get a little friendlier.
According to Maya, who claimed to have messed with him enough to understand him, he was not actually a very quiet person, it was more like he just kept to himself. Apparently, he’s pretty grumpy a lot (which would make sense if she was bothering him every time he was here) and very, very loud. It was hard to picture it, but she would not budge even a little on her stance with that.
All in all, Maya was the most relatable one to all of his other coworkers. Mia was very kind, Diego was a bit intimidating and mysterious for no reason, while Apollo was still kind of standoffish to socializing so far. So, whenever he wanted to make a comment or joke about a customer, complain, anything, Maya was usually the one who was there to hear it and laugh.
In the end Phoenix decided that he was here to stay. Trucy, in the afternoons after school where she would listen and talk with him while he painted and she worked on homework or magic tricks, said that she was glad to hear her daddy finally figured out how to make some friends, and that eventually she wanted to meet his coworkers too.
“Maybe one weekend we’ll stay up late together and I’ll take you, Truce. I can definitely see you and Maya getting along, though I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to take the both of you bullying me at the same time,” He turned to Trucy and flashed a smirk, where he received an airy giggle in return.
“Now I can’t wait! Can we go this weekend, Daddy?”
Phoenix gave a quiet chuckle and grinned at her excitement before he gave a reluctant sigh. “Let’s wait a little while, Truce. I’ll have to make sure that it’s even okay if I bring you with me, even though I’m sure Mia wouldn’t mind at all. I just started though, so I want to show that I’m reliable. Don’t worry, I won’t forget. We’ll definitely go, okay?”
Her initial burst of energy died down but she was not disappointed. Trucy grinned and nodded violently, “Okay! Are you gonna surprise me? I can’t wait to meet Aunt Maya!”
He just laughed and continued to paint while Trucy went on. If she was happy with it, so was he, and if his playful complaints about Maya made it seem like he was finally getting out and being more sociable than he normally was on purpose, then so be it. He was now determined to become better friends with every single one of his coworkers, whether they liked it or not.
``
April 13th, 10:00
“Nick! Hi Nick!”
Maya waved him down the minute the bells above the double glass doors chimed with way more energy than what she should have for it being 10 o’clock at night. “Hey, Maya. Why’re you here so early? Is Mia here?”
“Nah, she just had a really big case today against some big shot prosecutor. Apparently he hasn’t lost in 20 whole years!” Maya pushed herself off the counter and threw her arms up for theatrics.
He raised his eyebrows slightly and stepped behind the counter, replying while he tore off his hoodie and reached for an apron. “Well? How’d she do?” Did she win?”
Maya winced, and a soft sorrow flickered over her expression for one fleeting moment before she adjusted it to look as if she were only slightly disappointed. “Ah. No. She’s really upset about it. Diego isn’t gonna come in either, since he’s with her right now.”
Phoenix just blinked for a minute when eventually, worry washed over him at once and he furrowed his eyebrows. “What? Why’d you come in today? You can go cheer her up too, you know!”
“Nick, that’s really sweet of you, but we shouldn’t leave a new hire on his own the whole night. Besides, she’s got her boyfriend with her. She’ll be okay.” She turned and faced the doors while Phoenix frowned at the sight of her back.
“Maya…”
“I won’t hear it Nick!” She exclaimed, suddenly appearing firmer and brimming with a false confidence that she willed to become real. “I’ll be fine, and so will she! So! Let’s get to work now, okay?”
At the end of her exclamation, she turned to him with her chin high, fists clenched, and a pleading look. Eventually he sighed into a gentle smile, adoring her whole personality. Somehow that bravery and tough smile reminded him of Trucy. “Okay, yeah. Let’s get to work.”
``
About two hours in of wiping down tables, taking orders, making drinks and mindless chatter with Maya, the girl stifles a gasp from his left side as a customer approaches Phoenix’s register for an order.
“Maya? You okay?” He whispered to her just before taking the order.
“Uh, yeah, I’ll tell you in a second.”
He quirked an eyebrow at her answer, but eventually pushed it out of his mind while he moved to fix a small cup of Earl Grey tea, as ordered. When he was done, he stepped out from behind the counter and found the seat where they had settled, a seat in the far back corner and next to a window, placing the plate and cup down in front of a typical, sleep deprived customer.
“If you need anything else, let me know, I’ll be happy to help,” He recited quietly, waving the man off with a small smile before finding his spot at the register next to Maya’s again.
“So? What was that? You just remember something?”
“Yeah. That customer that just ordered.”
Phoenix paused and waited for her to explain, and frowned upon realizing she was waiting for him to ask about the man. He sighed. “What about him? He looks real fancy for someone coming into a nighttime cafe at 12 in the morning all by himself. You know him?”
She turned to him leaning in and pretended like she was letting him in to some real big secret, regardless of omitting the whisper from her little act. “Yeah. Well, actually, not really. I just think he’s weird, you know?”
He pulled away from Maya with a steady stone expression. “Maya, you can’t just look at someone coming into a shop for the first time and call them weird. Is that what that whole gasp was about? I thought he was like your sister’s ex-boyfriend or something, jeez.”
“What?! Why the hell would you think that?”
He grinned and threw his hands up defensively. “I dunno! He looks too old for you to know him like that, so my immediate next thought was Mia!”
Maya tried and failed at holding back her smile and gave Phoenix a playful jab in his side.
“Hey, hey!” He laughed and then shot another glance at the silver-haired man. For a moment, his gaze stuck on him. There was another reason why Phoenix thought that he could be Mia’s ex though, one he wouldn’t say out loud. In all honesty… the man was definitely in the same ballpark as Mia when it came to...appearance(Not that he was looking at his boss like that!). They were both objectively beautiful people, he decided, people who’d made good studies for portrait paintings.
“Nick! Stop staring at him, he’s gonna look over here and know we’re talking about him!”
“Ah! Shit - sorry.” He blinked and turned to Maya praying he didn’t make it obvious and he whispered his apologies. “Sorry, sorry. Why do you think he’s weird? I mean, I kind of get it, but what did he do?”
Again, Maya leaned in, pretended to look around to see if anybody was listening and still did not whisper, “He’s been coming more often lately, and he’s always in the same suit. Always gets the same thing.”
Phoenix raised one eyebrow and tilted his head. “So? He’s becoming a regular? What’s so wrong about an Earl Grey every so often?”
“No, no, it’s because he just--” This time, she really does lower her voice just a little bit, shooting a glance at the man. ”--he just stares at it, Nick! He doesn’t even drink it! It’s a waste of money and tea at this point!”
Phoenix reels back a bit in surprise, then turns to the man’s table to see that Maya was indeed correct--he hadn’t even budged since Phoenix placed the cup on his table. He quickly turned back to Maya. “Wait, I don’t remember seeing him at all this past week--did you ring him up?”
“Yep. Like, twice. Both times he ended up just leaving his tea there when he left.”
“You didn’t go check on him?” Now he was hushing himself down to a whisper, forcing himself not to steal another glimpse of the guy.
“I did!... The first time. The second time… I mean, he said he was okay the first time so… I didn’t do anything. He said he was fine, okay! Don’t look at me like that!”
“Maya, do your job better.”
“Nick, mind your business.”
There was a short silence that grew between them while they both simmered in their thoughts and stared at the glass doors in front of them. “I guess I should go check on him then, right?” Phoenix asked eventually, still not moving his gaze from the door. Maya, however, shook her head and shrugged.
“Go ahead, do whatever. He’s just gonna tell you he’s okay and you’ll be all awkward and have to leave.”
“Pah. Sure. I think you doubt me and my charisma.”
“Yeah. I do. Plus, don’t ever say that again.”
Phoenix smirked and started to move away from the counter, “you can’t stop me.” Maya replied with a sigh, but still grinned as Phoenix started off to check on the few people scattered around the cafe that he’d seated that night until he came up on the man with the silver hair and fancy neck-tie type thing.
“Hello, just checking in, is everything okay over here?”
Upon closer inspection, sleep deprived was nowhere near the kind of tired this man was. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks, and/or had been crying before he got here. His eyes, from far away, seemed like they were trained on the cup of tea, but from where he was standing Phoenix could see that it didn’t really look like he was looking at anything specific at all. Strands of gray were thrown over his eyes vaguely parted somewhere in the middle, and Phoenix was able to see that his eyes were also a dull gray color. It really made him wonder about how the man looked normally when he still appeared reasonably pretty at what could possibly be his lowest point.
With all this in mind, he had forgotten that he’d come here and asked a question. And didn’t listen for the answer. And was now just standing over the poor guy awkwardly unsure of what to say. He could feel Maya’s knowing smirk pressed into the back of his head from the register.
With about a minute of overthinking and still no confirmation from the man himself, the customer’s eyes finally found his.
“Is there something else you need? I said I’m alright.”
An instant awkward smile perked up his face and one arm flew to rub the back of his spikes.
“Ah! Yeah! Uh, yeah, no. Sorry, I didn’t really…”
While he trailed off, he realized something. This was farther than what Maya got.
“Are you okay?”
The man just blinked. There was another long, drawn out silence, where Phoenix’s smile fell and a real, though slight, concern shone through his polite waiter persona. However, with no indication of wanting to speak again, he sighed.
“Sorry, that was a bit intrusive of me. If I happened to bother you, please don’t tell my boss,” he gave a forced chuckle and started to back away before the man sitting down cleared his throat and looked down at his tea once more.
“I need… something answered.”
Phoenix just blinked for a moment, then withdrew his steps away and came closer to the table.
“Um, well, that’s good. I can answer questions. What is it?”
The man sighed, looking forlornly at the teacup on its plate, then turned to Phoenix with a cloudy expression he couldn’t decipher. “Do you think murder could be forgiven?”
Instantly Phoenix felt his blood run cold. What was the possibility he decided to go out of his way to check on someone and they were actually a killer and Maya was right not to check on him in the first place?! Regardless, he had to calm himself down. His fear was probably evident, but he wanted to cover it up. How? What could he do right now to stay on this possibly dangerous stranger’s good side and also get away from the interaction:
Play along. Answer the question.
“Well,” Phoenix swallowed while the man watched him carefully. “I guess… it depends. It could have been an accident, right?”
At his response, he actually gets a reaction. The man inhales sharply at his answer and then stares down at the table. “...It could have been.”
With his reaction, Phoenix grows just slightly more hopeful. Maybe he’s not an active killer, maybe he just hit somebody with his car!
“What if,” The man started again, still not finding Phoenix’s eyes again. “What if a son killed his own father. What about that?”
Phoenix pushed down a tiny gasp and tried not to show anything on his face. This had to have been about the man himself, right? So, the reaction from killing someone by accident and the question about the son and father…He tried to hold back any horror from showing on his face.
“It could…” Again, Phoenix struggled for an answer. “Could be some type of family situation, you know? An unhappy house or something… it could possibly be justified...right?”
The man just looked glumly at his cup of tea, then to Phoenix after a short while.
“I’m a lawyer. A prosecutor, actually. I deal with cases like that all the time.”
Within a moment of registering his words, Phoenix felt all his tension fall from his shoulders.
He probably should have said that first!!
For the first time in this conversation, Phoenix felt relieved. It wasn’t about him! It was a case he was taking (which also isn’t great, but it’s better that Phoenix wasn’t standing in front of a possible murderer)! He sighed under the watch of the man and nodded.
“Ah, okay, I was a little worried there,” he chuckled a little and offered an awkward smile that the other man did not return. In fact, his eyes stared down at the table again and somehow looked more depressed than they did before. He picked his head up though and grimaced.
“Would you…” He glanced over at the register where Maya stood making various hand movements in front of a customer. “Would you be willing to hear this story I have?”
Phoenix shifted his weight onto one foot and leaned back out of the conversation for a second to ponder. Would Maya let him sit and chat for a bit? Probably right? Well, he hoped so, because the stranger had him hooked.
“Let me go talk to my coworker real quick. I’ll be right back.”
The man stared up at Phoenix like he was slightly surprised, though a lot of his exhaustion made it hard to see that through eye bags and weighted eyelids. Phoenix gave a polite smile in return and stepped away to talk to Maya.
The moment he was within range of her she bombarded him with questions. “What was that? It looked so awkward but you were there for so long! What did you guys talk about?”
Phoenix leaned on the counter from the opposite side of Maya and wore a reasonably dazed expression.
“Maya… I don’t even know. I asked if he was alright, and he said he needed something answered? So he asked me if murder could ever be forgiven—“
“WHAT?”
Phoenix held a finger up to his lips and shushed her aggressively. “He’s got to know I’m talking about him right now, don’t make him feel bad!”
“Phoenix, you don’t want to make a murderer feel bad?!”
“Listen! That was my same reaction and I was trying to get out of there and he basically asked ‘what about a son killing his dad’” Maya gasped and opened her mouth to exclaim something as loud as possible again when Phoenix cut her off with purpose. “And THEN he told me he was a lawyer! That this was a case he was taking!”
Maya faltered and her mouth snapped shut. “Oh. Why didn’t he start with that?”
“I don’t know! But now, he wants me to hear the rest of the story, so, I came over to ask if you can handle the register on your own for a little bit.”
“...Really?”
“Really. I’m curious, you know? I want to know what happened to the kid,” He shrugged.
Maya narrowed her eyes at him for a short while, then sighed. “Yeah, okay, sure. Just fill me in after, I kinda wanna know too.”
“Okay! Thanks, Maya,” he pushed himself off the counter with a small wave to Maya before he approached the man again with a genuine grin this time, and sat down across from him. The look on his face was quickly twisted into surprise.
“Alright,” Phoenix announced, settling into the seat and leaning forward on the table to look directly into the other man’s stoney gray eyes. “She said she’s okay with it. Lay it down for me.”
The man just blinked, “Oh. Alright, well.”
The case was called DL-6, which apparently happened a couple years back, and the silver-haired man winced every time he said the name of it out loud. He mapped out the situation of a young boy losing air in the court elevator after an earthquake hit, along with two other people; his father and another man. They were stuck there for hours, and apparently people on the outside could hear arguing coming from the inside. The man said that the boy had said that the other man and his father were arguing, and to him, all he could think was that he wanted it to stop. They were wasting air! So, sprawled out on the floor of the elevator in front of him was somebody's pistol - the boy wasn’t sure who's at the time - but he was certain that he needed to stop them somehow. The kid picked up the pistol that lay in front of him on the floor and, with his eyes shut and terrified, he chucked the weapon across the elevator to the wall. The little boy recalled a gunshot, an ear-grating screech, then blackness.
“What?” Phoenix reeled back into the cushion behind him in disbelief. “Were you prosecuting the poor kid?”
“Huh? No, no. This information was… part of the investigation.” The man across from Phoenix lowered his head for a moment, his bangs dangling just in front of his face that he could only really catch a glimpse of from his current angle. “This case… was the first one to use a spirit medium. Do you know what a spirit medium does?”
“Ah! Yeah!” He perked up at the now familiar sounding title. “I actually do! They can let souls use their body, can’t they?”
Silver bangs raised with an eyebrow, curious and simultaneously surprised at Phoenix’s knowledge on the subject. The man finally sat up again and faced Phoenix directly. “...Yes. Well, when they summoned the victim into their body, he went on to say that it was the other man in the elevator who killed him, not his son.”
“Oooh…” At Phoenix’s interest, the stranger furrowed his brow, which prompted Phoenix to elaborate. “I’m guessing you thought about this already, but it was probably the father covering for his son right? Did the other guy get found guilty?”
“No, he was proven innocent. He.. did not come out unscathed though.”
“Wow...really? That defense must’ve been really good, huh? What do you mean he didn’t come out unscathed?”
Again, his face darkened and fell while he gathered himself to answer. Something tugged at Phoenix, and that feeling of suspicion was beginning to creep up into his thoughts again, but he shook it off and just listened.
“I...er, his life was ruined thanks to.. that case. His wife, the public, no one could believe that anyone else did it. It couldn’t have been that boy, right? But...well, in my opinion… I think the boy not only killed his father, but went on to ruin the other man’s life as well.”
“What?!” Phoenix slammed his palms down on the table, rattling the little teacup and startling the man across from him into a state of wide eyed shock. Once he realized how inappropriate his outburst was for the setting, he glanced over and winced at a glare from Maya and other turned curious heads.
He settled down again and rubbed the back of his neck with a charmingly crooked grin. “Sorry, sorry! I-I’m a little more invested than I thought I was.”
The other man just looked absolutely stunned. “W-what was that for?”
“Oh!” Recalling his initial upset, Phoenix worked himself up again. “That’s right! I think it’s messed up to put all the blame on the kid! What the hell’s wrong with you?”
He just blinked. “Wh-what do you mean?”
“Listen, his dad said he didn’t do it right? The other guy either did it or didn’t, and either way, how could the kid control the public opinion? That’s not his fault even if the boy did actually shoot him! It’d be kind of unfair, but still not his fault.”
“But- earlier didn’t you say-“
“And even then! How can you be so sure no one else was there? That someone on the outside could have done the job while everyone was unconscious?! It’s possible, isn’t it? Through, I don’t know, a hole or something?”
The man grew stiff suddenly, like he might’ve just remembered something else, but he just stayed silent now looking down with no response. Immediately, Phoenix felt guilt weighing in on his rant and realized he must’ve over stepped a boundary at least a couple of times already.
“Ah...wow- er, I’m so sorry, sir. If I, uh, step out of line, please let me know,” with the apology, he went on rambling on about liking his job and hopefully getting good reviews until the other man cut him off halfway through his nervous rant.
“You know,” he started with his eyebrows furrowed and eyes trained on the teacup. “You could be right,” he said simply. Phoenix blinked and his brain failed to supply him a coherent response.
“I- what?”
“You could be right,”
They were both silent for a moment, and for a few seconds Phoenix questioned the word of this stranger. If he was the prosecutor of this case, shouldn’t he have taken that into consideration already?! What were the chances that gun actually shot somebody? What was this guy thinking? What did it matter now anyway?
“...But it would be a stretch,” the man finished finally, speaking to a shocked Phoenix. Once he was able to regain his speech though, he fought to try and understand.
“It really just sounds like you’re trying to pin the blame on the kid.” The other man’s eyes darted up at Phoenix’s while he spoke. “The case just seems unfinished to me, you know?”
“...You think I can’t do my job properly?” He asked quietly, though it didn’t sound like he was actually offended. Phoenix watched his shoulders slink down to his thighs and tension evaporate from his brow.
“No, no!” Phoenix raised his hands up in surrender immediately regardless. “Th-that’s not what I’m trying to say, I just - !”
Before he could finish, his words fell quiet at the sight of a faint, yet existent smile from the man. It took a few seconds for Phoenix to register that he was joking with him.
With a long sigh, the smile just barely lingered while Phoenix was stunned into silence. “Sorry, I must have troubled you with something that I am paid to figure out myself. Though in all honesty…” in seconds though, the smile melted away and the exhausted gaze grew back, perhaps more stern than before. “I agree. I suppose I’ll have to revisit this case again.”
Phoenix was silent at the conclusion. Watching the smile disappear stirred some unnamed emotions in him, and he realized that the incident had something to do with the man personally. Watching his demeanor, clearly the concept of rereading old files weighed heavily on his conscience.
Even aside from how drained of any life at all he appeared to be, his behavior in the first place made it look like he’d been thinking about this case far longer than just this one night. It struck him then, with that thought, that the man still hadn’t touched his Earl Grey tea in 2 hours or more, but he also hadn't flat out fallen unconscious in the hours he spent alone. Clearly, something was keeping him up. A case as gruesome as this one would do the trick if it were recent but… it wasn’t. Why would something from a few years ago be keeping the winning prosecutor awake at night unless he had something of a guilty conscience?
“Whatever it is that’s holding you here…” he started, his eyes trailing up the table firmly into the man’s eyes. “Do all you can now.”
From across the table, the man only blinked. He seemed lost, but shaken at Phoenix’s unmoving gaze. Phoenix pressed on.
“I mean, well, leave whatever it is in the past, you know? Do what you can do now, but what’s done is done. You should… you can move on. I think you can, at least. You really look like you could use some sleep.”
Again, he looked unnerved by Phoenix’s very existence, and perhaps Phoenix’s little speech was a little unnecessary. In fact, he might’ve even sounded dismissive, uncaring. After all, what did he know? If it were him in that elevator, would he be able to simply ‘move on’ as some stranger in a fancy dress shirt and an apron instructed? Silently, he prayed he hadn’t sounded like that.
What he wanted to convey was assurance. There aren’t many in the world who can move past certain points in their life and the worst part is that sometimes, nobody pushes them to even try. That was what Phoenix was going for. To be the gentle push in the eventual step forward. Just a simple good deed to a distressed stranger.
His thoughts were abruptly cut short by the man finding it in him to respond finally, but only after clearing his throat and finding somewhere else to look rather than Phoenix.
“Your...your name… Phoenix, is it?” Before he could jump and gasp in surprise, he found the other man’s glance land above his own breast pocket for less than a second, right where his name tag was.
“A-ah, yes. That’s me,” he supplied, unsure of where this was going. Was he mad? Glad? What was he feeling? The stranger just furrowed his brow while he stared down at the table.
“What… exactly… Why would you think I should be one to let go? Why would you think I can… why am I one you believe should be moving on?”
“It-it’s not an insult or anything I swear! You just - you don’t just look tired. You look… frayed, destroyed. Like you’re only here because you don’t have a choice in whether you sleep or not. Like… you have a guilty conscience keeping you awake.” The man was silent at this, still looking down and shrouding his eyes with misty gray bangs. Phoenix added more on to his statement in the silence.
“A-and, well, it’s been a few years since that case, hasn’t it? You… something is wrong. You must think you did something wrong right? Well, whatever it is, you can move past it now. I think… you shouldn’t have to, er… atone. Instead, focus on what you can do now. How can you be better as a person now? There’s, um, nothing to be done about past you.”
What greets him after a few, deathly quiet seconds later, is not just the eyes of an exhausted tea drinker early in the morning. No, what meets his gaze is the satisfying stupor of validation. Eyes trained on him in wonder at how easy his solution came about. Mind moving in circles and doing a mental exercise in finding words to reply with.
Phoenix recognized the look instantly, but even with that, something about it made his heart stutter and his breath catch for just a moment. This… spot made him feel far more important to this situation than he thought he actually was. At the same time though, he was happy that it meant so much to the stranger that he could help just a little bit.
For now, there wasn’t anything else the man could say. He only drew back down from the clouds after a couple of seconds, muttering some apology for staring and then bowing his head again so Phoenix couldn’t catch his eyes anymore. Maybe… he went in too far. Stepped a little too deep into the muddy water. But he still wasn’t upset about anything. He’d definitely be able to tell the man the same thing in any other reality, if he needed to hear it. Phoenix felt himself hoping he’d be able to get past whatever it was about that case that held him down, but it was time for Phoenix to go. He’d spouted enough nonsense to shake the poor dead and sleep deprived man from his teacup induced trance, and that’s as much, if not more, than stepping over a few boundaries.
“Ah, er, well, I’ll, uh, make a break for it here,” Phoenix promptly stood up, then moved to rest one hand on the edge of the table. “Thank you for inviting me over to listen, sir. It was an interesting story for sure…”
Again, he only mumbled something in reply and nodded his head and… Phoenix found it difficult to excuse himself. There was something else, maybe, pricking his thoughts and keeping him over the table, over the stranger, but there really was no more rhyme or reason for his presence. Something about that felt… unfair.
“Can I…” he started, the man’s eyes finding his, trying to work out a reason why he’d still be here. He swallowed a hard lump in his throat and pressed on, though the best he could come up with was nothing very helpful.
“Can I get you another cup, maybe?” He grinned easily, as if they had some sort of inside joke, but internally he shook his fist at some intangible being that kept him from asking to join the man even though Maya’s wrath would surely be much more terrifying than any gods’.
He looked confused, but a little thankful for something Phoenix wasn’t certain of. “Y-yes. Please. The, uh, same. Please.”
He tried to be as reassuring as possible, starting his task with a soft smile. “Of course. I’ll be right back with your tea.”
``
He simply held a finger out to Maya, who grew fiercer at the gesture meant to hold her off.
“Nick! What the fuck is going—!”
“Wait, wait, I gotta bring him a new cup of tea. I’ll explain after that, okay?”
Her glare certainly was one that could stop anyone’s heart in mere seconds, and not in the good way. Still, she eventually rolled her eyes. “Okay, hurry up and make his tea. He knows he has to pay for a refill, right?”
As he poured out the nearly frozen cup of Earl Grey tea and brewed up another, he kept his mouth shut and his hands moving.
“Phoenix? You told him that right?”
As he placed the new cup on a sleek white plate and made his way towards the table again with a slow and growing smile.
``
“Here you are,” he said kindly, placing the plate down carefully on the table and watching the man closely this time. Now, as opposed to when he was at this table earlier, the man seemed composed, structured, like he wanted to display his normal behavior for some reason. “If you need anything else…” he made a vague gesture to his name tag. “You know who and where to find me.”
That was it, then. The end of this interaction. Maya claimed to have seen this man on multiple occasions, recalling more precisely that he never touched even the handle of his teacup despite ordering the same thing on every entrance. Would he be that lucky?
Trucy was right. He did a really poor job at making friends with people. His coworkers were a different story, since they were eventually going to have to at least speak with him at some point, but when it’s solely in Phoenix’s ability, it was difficult to establish that ‘Hey! We should talk more! You seem cool! Let’s be friends!’
“I…yes. Thank you.” Even his voice sounded fixed, and purposeful. It didn’t even matter that he looked like he’d strained a bit to get that sentence out either.
Phoenix just nodded, finally giving up on himself and his inability to socialize properly and waving the stranger off as he started back towards the counter.
“Ph-Phoenix?”
The use of his first name in a stranger’s tongue nearly made him fall over himself before he could gather his bearings and turn around. He faced something desperate, falsely composed and very, very uncertain, but he waited patiently for him anyway.
“Ah. Thank you. I mean, for… well…”
He let himself chuckle a little quietly and shook his head in hopes of reassurance once more. “No problem, don’t worry about it, really.”
At that, he started off again, this time grinning to himself.
Maya stared him down like the security cameras hung in the crevices of the little shop, watching his every move as he approached her.
“Nick,” she warned, his grin barely faltering. “What the heck was that? You were over there for nearly an hour!”
He got himself situated behind his register again, Maya’s voice coming in through one ear and out the other until she was about ready to pop his eardrum.
“NICK!”
He jumped, glancing over at Maya, face eventually burning from the attention she drew to him with her voice. He faced and hushed her quickly.
“Maya! Sh! It’s almost 2 in the morning!”
“Nick! I’ve asked the same thing like 20 times already!”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry. Okay, listen, if you promise not to break my neck any time in the near future, I’ll tell you what happened.”
The girl, who appeared small and unimposing, practically snarled her reply. “I’m willing to go for it whether you tell me or not, so it’s probably in your best interest to sway me before it’s too late.”
His shoulders slumped and he sighed in response. “Okay, fine, don’t kill me please.” The girl shrugged and sprawled her arms out to lean on the counter waiting for him to elaborate.
Once he explained everything, their back and forth, his own personal touch, and the man’s eventual silence, Maya grew quiet.
“You think he was the one who was prosecuting that case?”
Phoenix shook his head. With the way he responded to his attempt at being helpful, Phoenix was certain. “No. I don’t know, I think it means a lot more than just a lost case.”
At that, Maya nodded and her voice grew quieter. “You think maybe it was his dad in the elevator? The one that got shot, I mean.”
“By another kid? I mean, I guess that would make it a younger brother who did it then. Man, I… I couldn’t imagine.”
“Yeah.”
They faced the entrance once more letting the idea soak in their thoughts.
“Did you ask his name?” Maya asked abruptly. Phoenix just blinked, then looked down at Maya. Like an idiot, of course he didn’t.
“Uh. No. I forgot.”
“Nick.”
“Sorry! He doesn’t seem like someone who’s trying to make friends right now! He’s venting his heart out about some case that happened a couple years back, I’m not gonna be like ‘Hey, so sorry about your dad, what’s your name by the way?’”
Maya groaned. “Yeah, but you’re the one who has to meet your daughter’s demands! Make some friends dammit!”
A sigh struggled out of him and he slumped over the register trying hard not to glance over at the man’s table.
A couple of minutes and another customer later though, with the whole incident still running its course in circles around his thoughts, Maya nudges his arm and abruptly wakes him from his subconscious.
“Nick! Nick,” she kept her voice to an aggressive whisper and yanked Phoenix down to her level. “No way!”
He blinked rapidly while trying to balance himself with Maya tugging on his arm. “Wha-? Huh-? What’s going on? What is it?”
“Look, Nick! I’ve never seen him even look at his tea before!”
Maya stuck out her finger and Phoenix trailed to the end of it back to the table he visited last. A familiar red - er, pink-ish figure raised a hand—hesitating a good handful of times for whatever reason—and attempted, for the first time, a sip of the café’s Earl Grey tea.
The pair were stunned into wide-eyed silence, the victim of their shock completely unaware, and then their gazes fell back down to each other without any words exchanged.
Maya took the risk of another very obviously shaken glance, and Phoenix trained his eyes on the register in front of him with restraint. Maya nearly announced to the whole café who and what the subject of her stupefaction was while apparently attempting a whisper.
“Nick! You better ask his name. I swear I’ll fight you if you don’t - what the heck did you say to him?! How’d you get him to - “
“Maya, listen, calm down! It’s - it’s not that big of a deal, you’re reading into it too much. I just, um, I gave him a little push?”
“PHOENIX WRIGHT!”
His shoulders jumped to the bottom of his chin and his hands were flung in all directions frantically. “Sh! Okay! Alright! I’ll try -“
“You better,” she said with narrowed eyes and an unforgiving glare.
An exasperated sigh left him and his head hung low in yet another mental defeat against Maya Fey, and the looming thought of having to sound like a teenager again trying to get another guy’s attention. Just the idea of it inspired another groan into a sigh that Maya simply rolled her eyes at.
He really did just need more friends! This was the difference between him and younger Phoenix: he could be just friends with pretty people! Take Mia for example!
“...Why do you look so proud of yourself suddenly? It’s scary.”
An immediate frown replaced his unfortunate and unintentional smirk.
“You don’t want me to be happy, huh.”
“You’re a big boy Nick, you’re fine.”
He replied with a simple huff.
From then on, it was back to work. With a couple of glances spared carefully in the direction of the stranger, he held back as frequently as possible and tended to a few tables and/or customers here and there. By the time the subject of his attention for the night approached the counter, Phoenix was more or less about ready to go home himself even though he still had two hours left of his shift.
He gave him his total and discovered a gap in his thoughts where words should be, and his hands moving a little faster than he’d like.
“...How was the tea?”
From where the man’s head was hanging, eyes scanning over his wallet in the palm of his hands, there was a stutter, hesitation, before he was sure the words were directed at him. He just blinked, almost wide eyed at Phoenix, who was just as surprised to see how shaken up he’d gotten after an attempt over a little small talk.
“Ah, yes. It was… good. Thank you for refilling my cup so I could enjoy it warm.”
Phoenix scratched the back of his spikey tufts of hair and flashed a nervous, crooked grin.
“Ha, yeah, no problem.”
Silently, the stranger handed Phoenix his due cash and while his hands moved like they were supposed to, the gears turning in his head did not. At this point, Maya didn’t even attempt to hide her interest, leaning forwards, her head resting propped up in her hands on the counter and staring directly at the pair.
He refused to acknowledge her though, forcing himself to focus enough already. He returned the man his change, his jaw fastened shut, to Maya’s distaste, and rested his hands on the counter. Eventually, he forced a rigid smile.
“Have a, um, good rest of your night.”
“Yes, you as well.”
The stranger bowed his head politely and started in the other direction. At first, he thought it was simply because he could tell Maya was mad, but his brow creased with disappointment in himself for a moment too, so he pushed himself just a bit more.
“Uh, s-sir!”
It wasn’t too loud, as he hadn’t gotten very far, but he was definitely not expecting to be stopped. He turned to look Phoenix in the eye with both eyebrows raised.
“I-I--We hope to see you again soon!”
The man looked wildly confused, and Phoenix winced at his own inherent awkwardness, but regardless, he was rewarded.
“Yes, you as well,” he replied with a small sigh, and a tug on the corner of his lips. Then, he did not linger any longer, turning completely to the doors and fading out into chilly blackness out beyond their cozy corner of the world.
After a few seconds of simply watching, he turned swiftly to a blatantly disappointed Maya Fey.
“He said he hopes to see us again as well! That means he’ll come back again and I have plenty of time to get to know him!”
Slowly, dramatically as well, Maya blinked at him without saying a word, her frown clearly revealing how much restraint she invested into holding herself back from absolutely pummeling Phoenix currently. Phoenix caved in, his insecure grin flipping immediately into an exasperated sigh
“Ok, listen, I realized how awkward and weird it would be for me to ask his name after all that. I probably, uh, should’ve asked when I was at the table, huh.”
Like a broken record, Maya’s previous disappointment replayed itself through the same actions over again. This time though, she clenched a fish and looked away with a suspiciously crooked grin.
“I should just end your suffering now, huh.”
“WHAT? No, listen, I promise I’ll get it next time, and it’ll be so natural, okay? Don’t kill me yet, give me a chance!”
“Next time, then.” She practically growled, narrowing her eyes and looking straight forward.
Phoenix only sighed. “Next time.”