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“Hey Miles, do you know math?” was the first thing he heard after he picked up the phone that was ringing for about five minutes now.
“Well hello to you too, Phoenix,” Edgeworth said teasingly, imagining how his partner’s face has probably turned red and he scratched his neck sheepishly at the remark. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Ha-ha, sorry babe, I just…”
“It’s alright, I’m quite used to your lack of manners by now,” Miles grinned. “And what made you come to the conclusion that I was good at math?”
“Well, you helped me with math in grade school, didn’t ya? Plus you’re like, super smart, so I figured you would…”
Miles felt his cheeks heating up at the subtle compliment.
“Yeah, I remember when you showed up at my porch crying because your parents had told you that if you were to fail the upcoming math test, they wouldn’t take you on a summer vacation and would leave you with your grandparents instead.” Miles chuckled at the memories and heard a matching chuckle on the other side.
“Well, I was desperate, okay!” Phoenix laughed, trying to defend himself. “It was a trip to New York we’re talking about!”
“You’re right, how could I be so heartless,” Edgeworth rolled his eyes playfully, even though Wright wouldn’t even be able to see that. “Why would you need my knowledge in math anyway?”
“Well, you see…” there was a pause, hesitant. “You know, it’s okay, I’m probably distracting you from work, and I know it’s a pretty busy time of the year, sorry…”
“Don’t be a fool, Wright, I always have time for you. In fact, I was just headed to your apartment to visit you two.”
A pause again. Then Miles heard a dramatic theatrical sob on the other side.
“You left work early just to hang out with me and Truce? Oh, Miles, please marry me right now.”
“You are not too hard to please, are you?” Miles shook his head, smiling. The thought of Phoenix asking him to marry him, even as a joke, filled his heart with pure joy. “But in any case, could we please return to the point of this phone call?”
“So, what happened was– wait, are you talking on the phone while driving? Miles, I’ve told you a million times that–”
“ Wright .”
“Don’t last-name me, this is really important!”
“I haven’t gotten the chance to leave the office parking lot yet, that is why I picked up the phone in the first place. Can you please finally get to the point, dear?”
Phoenix offered him an apologetic chuckle and finally slowed down his rambling.
“Okay, okay, sorry. It’s just that Trucy has this math test tomorrow, and she got a zero on her homework the day before, so she’s really upset and scared and stressed about it, and it just… pains me to see her sad, y’know? Especially when I can’t really help her, since, well, I’m honestly probably worse at it than her.” he laughed, but there was a hint of sadness in his voice that made Miles’ heart unpleasantly squeeze.
“Oh,” he paused for a moment, thinking. “Well, I can’t promise to know higher mathematics or something of the sort, but I will gladly try my best to help Trucy out. I’ll be at your apartment in fifteen minutes.”
“Thank you, Miles,” Edgeworth could practically hear a fond smile in Phoenix’s words, and he felt the sudden urge to hold him in his arms and never let go. “You’re our hero!”
“You know it’s nothing, Phoenix,” Miles could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. “I’ll see you soon, then.”
“Yeah, drive safe! Love you.”
“I love you too.”
Miles hung up and put his phone in the pocket of his jacket, starting the car. Suddenly his heart was full of anticipation, and he felt the urge to drive a little faster than usual just to get to the Wright household as soon as possible.
***
Upon arrival, Miles was greeted by Phoenix; there was a soft smile on his face and a tired look in his eyes. The man had clearly been home from work for quite a while, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt that looked painfully familiar-
He was wearing a shirt that belonged to Miles. His favorite Steel Samurai Limited Edition shirt that he’s been searching for for the last two weeks.
Edgeworth wasn’t really sure when Wright had managed to take it from him, given that he only wore it at home, and usually when no one was around. But to be honest, that was the last thing he was thinking about right now. Seeing Phoenix in his clothes most certainly did things to him, and he could practically feel his face burning.
“Hi,” Wright murmured, a little sheepish, now realizing that he had been caught red-handed. His cheeks were as red as Miles’ own, and oh he wanted to kiss him so badly right now.
And he almost did, almost gave in to the temptation, but was interrupted by a certain someone almost knocking him off his feet with a hug. A little girl – actually, not so little anymore, when did she manage to grow that much? – wrapped her arms around his torso, squeezing him surprisingly hard for her age.
“Papa!” Trucy looked up and beamed at Miles, reminding him oh so much of her father. “You came to save me! Daddy’s no good at all, I probably know math better than he does!” she giggled, and Phoenix’s blush deepened at her words as he rubbed the back of his neck. Trucy started tugging Miles by the sleeve of his jacket, towards the living room. “Come on now, we’ve got math to do!”
She ended up running away by herself, leaving two heavily blushing men awkwardly standing in the hallway.
“Huh, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so eager about doing schoolwork before. She must like you more than me,” Phoenix’s smile shifted from flustered to a playful one as he bumped their shoulders together. Miles did not respond, still a little shaken by the girl’s words.
Trucy called him ‘Papa’.
Did that mean she viewed Miles as her second father? He and Phoenix have been dating for a little over a year now, but he wasn’t sure he had the right to claim her as his daughter. He really wanted to, though. He and Trucy got along really well, despite Miles usually being pretty awkward around children, and he’s been trying to be as present in her life as he could, putting his best efforts into their relationship.
Miles would give anything to become a second parent for Trucy, he really loved her dearly as if she was his own daughter. And raising her together with Phoenix, as their daughter… just thinking about it filled his heart with pure joy. Somewhere deep in his mind, he wished she would call him Papa all the time.
“Miles? Miles, are you okay?” Phoenix waved a hand in front of his face, forcing him to snap back to reality.
“Oh, yes, I apologize, I just got lost in thought,” this earned Edgeworth a chuckle from the other man, and Phoenix finally took Miles’ hand and led him towards the living room connected to the kitchen.
Trucy was already waiting for them there, several textbooks in hand and fully prepared.
“You guys take ages,” she rolled her eyes and started to lay all her supplies out on the floor, in front of the couch.
“Hey, how about we have dinner first? I bet Miles is tired and hungry after his long day at work,” Phoenix brushed a hand over the small of Edgeworth’s back, smiling at him. “Didn’t you really want him to try the cookies that we made with you earlier? We can only eat those after dinner.”
“Da-ad, I’m not ten anymore!” but the glare Phoenix gave her left no room for arguing. “Ugh, fine, let’s eat dinner first. But after that, you have to try them, Papa, I came up with the recipe myself!”
Oh, she called him that again. Miles couldn’t help but smile, and he noticed Phoenix’s expression shifting into something surprised but content as well. Ah, so he noticed, too, but didn’t say anything or correct her. That will definitely be something Edgeworth will be thinking about while laying in bed tonight.
He glanced at the table: it was already laid for three people. They were expecting him for dinner. Miles let himself imagine that happening every night: returning home(their shared home, the one that actually felt like home), being greeted by the Wrights, having dinner together, sharing how their day went, watching Trucy’s new tricks and maybe even cuddling Phoenix on the couch while watching some low-budget crime drama. That last thought made Miles blush terribly, and he decided to not let himself think any further. He definitely started picking up on some of Wright’s vocabulary, and he did not know how to feel about that.
It was all still so new to him. The concept of love, the concept of family . He didn’t get much of that growing up at Von Karma’s, or even during his youth after he had moved out. He had tried dating during college but without much success. He simply could not give his partners what they wanted from him: he never had much time on his hands, and due to Von Karma’s upbringing one could say he was pretty emotionally unavailable, which was definitely not a perfect combo for finding love or even friends.
That was until he met Wright, for the first time in fifteen years.
In the past, Edgeworth was not the type of person to appreciate the bittersweet moments of nostalgia and used to try to distance himself from his past as much as he could, so every time Phoenix tried to contact him over the years they had spent apart, he made sure that did not happen. As a child, he did read his letters at first, though never had the chance to respond. Once Von Karma found out about those though, he made sure he personally burned them in their fireplace in front of the boy before even opening them. Once he started college, Miles began to receive emails instead, but those were archived without even being opened. He didn’t have the heart to delete them completely, but reading them and reminding himself of something forever lost all those years ago surely would have caused unnecessary concerns. Edgeworth had believed they wouldn’t be able to ever reconnect and keep in touch, so he found burdening himself with false hopes rather useless.
But Phoenix never stopped trying. The letters were becoming less and less frequent over the years, but he had always received at least one for every holiday, including his birthday.
Avoiding Wright was convenient, as was sealing all his emotions somewhere deep inside him, but it could only last for so long.
He met Phoenix again, in court.
Miles should’ve been able to predict that, obviously, how could he have been foolish enough to think that he would get rid of the man so easily?
Phoenix broke into his life with a loud crash, fifteen years after they had parted, ruining his perfect winning streak as well as what he thought to be his peace of mind. The man was full of controversies, somehow winning trial after trial, though looking and behaving like the most unprofessional person in the industry. He quickly became someone Miles would dare to call his rival, but at the same time, treated Edgeworth as the dearest friend. Miles wasn’t sure he could recall anyone ever being as kind and friendly to him since grade school, and it felt… strange, to say the least, especially coming from someone who was supposed to be your opponent and nothing more.
Phoenix Wright offered him his friendship, the one that Miles never thought he could revive. Phoenix made him change his perspective on life, his job as a prosecutor, and even his past, after revealing the truth of the DL-6. Wright offered Edgeworth his heart, his helping hand, his support, his never dimming smile, and, eventually, his love.
It took Edgeworth a long time to finally accept it, to learn how to love and how to let himself be loved . Luckily, Phoenix was patient enough with him, waiting all those years and guiding him through all his troubles, all changes, and realizations.
At some point though, their roles switched, as both their lives took a drastic turn. Though this topic is sometimes harder for Miles to think about than his own dark times, there was a time when all the liveliness and that bright glint of hope and determination were erased from Phoenix’s eyes, along with all the passion for life he once had. That would be the time of Wright’s disbarment.
Those years had been hard, with Miles – who himself just started to heal – trying to help Phoenix, who became cynical, indifferent, and, well, jobless. On top of that, for the first couple of years, Wright did not want to be helped. He stuck to running away from Miles, avoiding him, pretty much how Miles himself had been avoiding Phoenix in the past. And seeing that similarity, recognizing his past self in Phoenix, hurt Miles deeply.
But now they were here. Phoenix had gotten his badge back, and Miles had moved back to LA permanently. They had finally accepted their feelings for each other, on the very day that Phoenix had gotten his badge back, and it’s been more than a year since.
They had to learn a lot about their new, still-developing relationship, and Miles was sure that they had yet to learn even more. But even now, looking back and acknowledging all their growth, all the work they've gone through, he could feel nothing less than pride.
Phoenix placed a hand on his shoulder, making him return to reality. There was a soft smile on his lips and a fond look in his eyes. Miles couldn’t help but smile back, following Wright to the kitchen.
***
“Well, let’s see what you’ve got here,” Edgeworth was now sitting next to Trucy at the dinner table, her books laid out as well as a plate of cookies, a glass of chocolate milk for her, and a cup of tea for Miles.
Phoenix was doing the dishes right behind them, filling the perfect silence with clinks, rattling and gentle humming of some melody that as far as Miles was aware, was from one of those musicals that Wright was obsessed with. It felt peaceful, somewhat domestic , and, most importantly, it felt right. Miles could definitely get used to that, could spend every evening just with the two.
That's when his mind drifted to the thought that he has been entertaining for a while now. He wanted to share a home with the Wrights.
He thought about it so many times before, but was never quite sure if that was something that Phoenix himself wanted, so he stuffed the idea away with the rest of his similar wishes. Even though they have been dating for a pretty long time now, and spent more than half of the evenings and nights at each other’s places anyway, some annoying voice at the back of his head was still yelling at him for rushing things. Even though Phoenix wasn’t even afraid of moving too fast. It was Miles who they have been taking things slow for.
But today, somehow, felt different. It felt right. Today he suddenly gained the courage to finally drop the question, though he decided he would wait until Trucy was asleep. Yes, he will wait until Trucy goes to sleep and ask Phoenix if they would want to move into his apartment. The one that he definitely did not choose specifically to fit not just one person, but at least three. No, he had definitely not been considering the Wrights living with him when buying his penthouse.
So that was decided. For now, though, he had to focus on helping a ninth-grader with her math homework. It couldn’t be that hard, could it?
“Trigonometry,” Trucy sighed, apparently having already spent countless evenings trying to wrap her mind around it before. “I just don’t get it no matter how hard I try! It makes me feel so dumb…”
Now Miles definitely understood what Phoenix meant by saying it was painful to see her like that. It really was. Trucy, who was usually the most optimistic and confident girl, was about to give up, accepting her defeat.
“Nonsense, you are one of the brightest girls I had ever met, if not the most,” Edgeworth took a pen and a blank piece of paper and drew a circle. “Hmm, let’s look at it this way,” he started scribbling something and explaining what he’d written, his voice calm and quiet. Trucy was nodding every now and then, sometimes frowning a little in thought.
“Please tell me if you have a question, okay? Don’t feel like you have to pretend to understand when you don’t. I don’t mind repeating myself, and trigonometry is quite difficult to understand sometimes,” Trucy nodded again, averting her gaze somewhere to the floor. “If it makes you feel better, I struggled with it too when I was your age. In fact, it was the first test that I ever failed and had to retake.”
At that, not only Trucy, but even Phoenix turned around, and Miles could feel two sets of blue eyes piercing him, a silent question in them. Sometimes he really questionned them not being actually blood-related, because how could they be so similar otherwise?
“Miles Edgeworth, the god of math as well as all other school disciplines? The prodigy himself? Failed a math test?” Wright snickered as Miles’ face turned bright red. Now he regretted ever saying anything, but at least Trucy seemed to feel a little better. Oh yeah, she was totally beaming after her father’s comment.
“Yes, Wright, believe it or not, not everything came that easy to me.”
“Ri-ight, sometimes you had to actually read the explanation instead of skimming through it, huh?”
“Oh shut up, Phoenix,” there was a smug grin on Phoenix’s face, Miles knew that without even having to look at him.
“Yes, Daddy, stop distracting Papa!” Trucy rolled her eyes but was still grinning ear to ear. She took a math book in her hands. “Unless you want to explain how cosines work to me instead?”
Phoenix raised his arms in defense, retreating back to the sink.
The rest of the evening went peacefully, and Trucy looked less and less confused with every explanation, example, and practice exercise that Edgeworth was giving her. All the numbers started to finally make sense, and the girl seemed to gain her confidence back.
At some point though, her energy level suddenly dropped, and her yawns were becoming more and more frequent. Miles smiled and gently took the book from her hands.
“I think that’s enough math for today,” Miles nodded toward Phoenix, who, after finishing cleaning up, decided to join them at the table and was even listening to Miles and trying to understand at first, but was now sound asleep, his face leaned into a propped up hand.
Trucy giggled and started gathering all her stuff, definitely not opposed to the idea of being done.
“Hey, Papa?”
Ah, she did it again.
“Mm? What is it, sweetheart?”
“Do you think I’ll pass that test tomorrow?” Trucy bit her cheek, her gaze averted to the floor. She still looked a little nervous.
“With flying colors, dear,” Miles reassured her, gently ruffling her hair, which made the girl giggle. “I am actually very impressed with your ability to learn so quickly, especially such complicated topics as this one. I am most certain that you will have no trouble passing that test tomorrow.”
“Aww, you’re just saying this to make me feel better!”
“You know it’s not true,” Edgeworth met her eyes, offering a gentle smile. “You can tell when people lie, especially people you know well, can’t you?”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Trucy smiled and gave Miles another tight hug, almost as strong as the one she gave him when he first came in. “Thank you for helping me, Papa. You’re a great teacher.”
“You know it’s my pleasure,” Edgeworth gave her a tight squeeze before letting go. “Now go get some sleep, making sure you are well-rested is one of the most important steps in preparing for an exam.”
“Well, if I’m hearing this from the pro himself, it must be true,” Trucy laughed and gave Miles a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing all her stuff and heading toward her room. “Goodnight, Papa. And please wake Daddy up and make him go to bed, or his back will kill him in the morning!”
“Don’t worry, I will. Goodnight, Trucy.”
When the girl was out of sight, Miles sighed fondly and turned around, just to see Phoenix staring at him with a lovesick grin.
“So-o… Papa , huh?” he rose up from the chair and came up towards Miles, sliding his hands around his waist. “She adores you, you know that?”
Miles blushed heavily at that, looking anywhere but at Phoenix, though still leaning into his touch.
“Hey, if it makes you uncomfortable, I can totally go talk to her about it, but... I think she really does see you as her second father. Especially now since we’re, er… dating and everything.”
Oh, at least Miles wasn’t the only one to be so flustered about it. Phoenix was totally blushing too, but there was something so proud and warm and affectionate in his eyes, his smile, and his words… Miles was sure he was about to die from his heart exploding and he would definitely die a happy man.
“Well, if Trucy really feels that way, then I would… love to be a second parent for her. I love her dearly, and, well,” he finally found the courage to look up and meet Phoenix’s eyes, his smile matching the one of his partner’s. “I do see her as my daughter, though I never thought I would ever have one.”
“Aww, Miles–” Phoenix didn’t find enough words to describe what he was feeling, so he leaned in and met Miles’ lips with his own instead.
“Thank you for coming tonight,” Phoenix whispered, their lips still brushing against each other. There was a gentle smile on his lips. “I know it probably wasn’t a perfect way to spend your evening after work, and you just wanted to rest, and–”
He never finished because Edgeworth leaned forward and kissed him again, this time with a little more force, but still gently. He found out after they started dating, that it was an efficient way to shut Wright up, and has definitely been using it maybe a little too often. Not that Phoenix minded.
Miles bit Wright’s lip lightly before pulling away.
“Someone's mad,” Phoenix noted, smiling teasingly.
“Well, you can’t just say stupid things like that and expect me to not be annoyed with you,” Miles poked Wright’s chest with his finger, frowning a little. “You know I love spending time with you and Trucy, no matter what we are doing. And, well,” he looked away, suddenly feeling sheepish. “I would much rather spend every evening like this than go back to a cold, empty apartment and spend my evenings there in complete silence.”
He bit his lip as if he confessed something very bad or embarrassing, and Phoenix’s expression shifted into something he couldn’t quite read. Before Edgeworth could overthink the meaning behind it though, Wright pulled him into a hug and rested his forehead on Miles’ shoulder.
“You’re always welcome here, you know that? And I’m so, so glad that that’s really something you want, something you… enjoy doing. Spending time with us, I mean,” there was something so raw, so genuine in his words, and Miles felt like it was the right moment. This was it.
He leaned back slightly, just enough to look Phoenix in the eyes. But as soon as he opened his mouth, the words got stuck in his throat, and suddenly all the confidence he ever had vanished. He closed it shut again, just staring at his partner.
“What is it, love?” Phoenix brushed some of Miles’ bangs behind his ear, slightly frowning in concern. “Something’s on your mind.”
“Well, I,” ah, how did Wright read him so well? There was no point in lying or trying to hide anything, but actually saying those words out loud felt like the hardest thing in the world. “Can we sit down?”
Maybe that will help. At least sitting down feels a little safer, and it’ll be easier to escape Phoenix’s gaze in case something goes wrong.
“Of course,” Phoenix let go of Miles and took his hand in his, leading him into the living room. Edgeworth could feel how nervous his partner was getting, and he hated it, hated stressing Phoenix out without any reason, just because he was struggling to vocalize his thoughts.
They sat down on a very worn out, but still incredibly comfortable couch, — Miles always felt like he was sinking when sitting down on it, — and Edgeworth made himself refrain from keeping the distance between them, though he wanted to, because it was easier to escape Phoenix’s eyes that way. It was his defense mechanism, after all, running away rather than facing directly.
“Did something happen?” Wright finally spoke after a few beats of thick silence between them. He was fidgeting with his hands and bouncing his leg slightly, a sign that he was really getting nervous.
“No, no, it’s nothing bad, I promise. Quite the opposite, actually.”
Or at least I hope so, he thought to himself.
Miles put his hand on Phoenix’s knee to ground him, and perhaps to ground himself, too. It seemed to ease up the tension in Wright’s body a little, which was a good sign.
“Okay,” Phoenix smiled and looked at Miles warmly, patiently waiting for him to speak.
Wright was always so patient, so understanding with him. He never pushed too hard, never made Miles do anything or rushed him. And Miles was so, so grateful for that, he always felt so safe around Phoenix, the safest he’s ever felt.
And just thinking about it warmed his heart, and finally gave him the courage needed. It was Phoenix, after all, his best friend, his boyfriend, the kindest and most understanding person Miles knew. He would never do anything to hurt Miles on purpose.
“Well, what I want to discuss is, er” Edgeworth felt a hand placed on top of his own that was still resting on Phoenix’s knee. “We’ve been seeing each other for some time now, and, as I have previously mentioned, I really enjoy spending evenings with you and Trucy, and… I don’t really like how empty my apartment is. And I have a lot of free space there, and several guest bedrooms, which is quite a lot for just one person, and you stay over all the time anyway, and so I thought you and Trucy could…”
“Are you offering us to move in with you?” Miles wasn’t looking at Phoenix, but he didn’t necessarily hear judgment in his voice.
“Well… yes, if you want to put it that way.”
“Aww, babe, I would love to! And I bet that Trucy would be thrilled, too,” Phoenix leaned forward and made his partner meet his eyes by placing a hand on his cheek, and Miles was met with the softest look he could imagine. His heart squeezed. “But… are you sure? You know we can be… a little extra sometimes.”
“You know I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Edgeworth finally relaxed and smiled fondly, all his fears vanishing and feeling so unreasonable.
They sat like this for a few seconds, just looking at each other and smiling, probably looking so lovesick it was disgusting, but they didn’t really care. There was something warm and happy in the air, and Miles’ heart was full of affection.
Finally, Phoenix broke the silence, chuckling lightly.
“C’mere,” he put his arms around Edgeworth’s neck and pulled him forward, pressing their lips together.
Miles’ hands found their place on Wright’s waist, almost immediately sliding up and under his shirt. Phoenix hummed contentedly in his mouth at the touch and palmed Edgeworth’s face, angling it so that he could deepen the kiss.
Eventually, somehow, Phoenix ended up on Miles’ lap, panting breathlessly in his mouth. They were both smiling, their eyes half-lidded and their hearts pounding like crazy.
“Oh, by the way,” he started, stopping to take a breath after each word, “Is that what you bought that huge penthouse for? Was that your plan all along?”
There was a shit-eating grin on his face and a spark in his eyes, and Miles was trying so, so hard not to blush, because that would mean an instant defeat.
“Oh, shut up, Phoenix,” he chuckled fondly, pulling Wright in for another kiss.