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“Edgeworth! Edgeworth over here!”
Edgeworth cringed at the sound the sound of his name, rather, at the sound of the voice calling his name. He had already been spotted, there was no use in trying to hide at this point. It was just a short distance away that he saw the familiar figure standing next to the pond. As he got closer, he noticed that the man was holding something in his hand.
“Edgeworth,” the man said as he got closer. “What are you doing here?”
“Simply taking a stroll through the park, Wright,” Edgeworth replied, stating the obvious.
“Well, I mean… that’s not what I meant. I just figured you’d be in the office today, considering it’s two o’clock on a Tuesday.”
“I had no appointments this afternoon and I thought it would do me well to see the sun. I suppose I could ask you the same question.”
“I, uh, kinda gave myself the day off…” Phoenix said, looking away from Miles.
“Oh? It seems like there’s more to it than that,” Miles pressed out of sheer curiosity.
“Well, honestly it’s a little slow right now and I don’t have too much going on. Also Maya’s feeling sick today and it was too quiet at the firm. I came here to feed the ducks,” he said as he lifted the object in his hands. Now that he was up close, Miles could see that he held a paper bag filled with little brown pellets. Phoenix grabbed a handful and tossed the pellets in the direction of the pond. A few landed in the water and some on he ground, attracting the near by ducks. They dabbled their bills in the water until the pellets were gone before moving onto the land. Phoenix tossed another handful at them, this time making sure the pellets landed closer to him. The ducks moved forward eagerly and awkwardly in their greedy quest for the pellets.
As the birds came closer, Miles took a step back. They were wild animals after all. They were unpredictable and not to mention they were filthy, considering all the time they spent floating around in the pond and playing in the algae. Phoenix, oblivious to Miles’ discomfort around the animals, continued to draw them in until they were stepping on his feet and quacking loudly as they begged for more. By this point, Miles was a solid three feet behind Wright and away from the ducks.
Laughing, Phoenix turned and held the bag out to Miles. “Hey don’t you wanna feed them, too?” Miles politely held up a hand and shook his head.
“No thank you, Wright. I’ll leave that to you.”
“Aww, come on. They’re sweet.” Miles happened to look at the small flock gathered around Phoenix just as a duck nipped at another duck.
“Simply charming,” Miles said, his tone and expression totally betraying his discomfort. Once again, Wright dropped pellets on the ground. This time, they landed between Miles and himself. The ducks waddled forward quickly, eating up pellets as they went. Miles took a quick and obvious step backwards. Phoenix noticed and grinned.
“Edgeworth, are you,” he held back a laugh, “scared of the ducks?”
“I am not scared of them,” he shot back, indignantly. “They’re just… dirty and unpleasant.”
“Whaaat? No,” Phoenix said. He squatted down and held out a handful of pellets, letting the ducks eat out of his hand. “Totally sweet.”
“I think not, Wright. Quite frankly I can’t believe you’d let them eat out of your hands like that.”
“Why don’t you at least try to throw them some pellets?” Miles saw that Phoenix was holding the bag out towards him, waiting for him to take some.
“I don’t think so.” Wright stepped over to him and took some pellets out and dropped them on the ground. The ducks swarmed their feet and made an escape impossible for Miles.
“Wright! What do you think you’re doing!?”
“Come on! Just one handful. It’s fun.”
“Those pellets smell like cat food.”
“So? I let them eat out of my hand, I think you could at least drop them on the ground,” Phoenix said as he forced the pellets into Miles’ hand. As if it were a reflex to purge anything dirty from from his body, Miles’ arm shot out as he flung the pellets away from them. He watched as the ducks scurried away, feeling satisfied that he was finally free of the beasts.
“Aww, now why’d you do that?” Phoenix asked, looking disappointed. Edgeworth, though it was a kneejerk reaction, he immediately regretted it upon seeing Wright’s face.
“I told you I didn’t want them and you forced the creatures upon me,” he mumbled.
Phoenix sighed and scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah… I guess I did. Sorry about that, Miles.” Phoenix stepped away from him and back towards the ducks. “I’ll feed them over here.” There was an immediate change in his disposition. There was regret in his voice and his shoulders dropped.
Damn you, Wright. It was an unspoken rule that they never use their first names against each other. In court it was unprofessional, and since that was about the only time they saw each other, it stuck. It might have seemed odd to others, considering they were childhood friends, but that was the way it was between them. When a first name was spoken, it was serious. Damage had been dealt somewhere along the way.
Miles walked quietly over to Wright and, without a word, took the bag of pellets from Phoenix’s hand. He poured some out into his palm before dropping them at his feet, watching as the ducks waddled happily over to him. He cringed, he hated the thought of them touching him and getting him dirty. He felt a webbed foot step on his foot through the leather of his shoe and he fought back every instinct that screamed, “Kick the duck!”
Phoenix watched as Miles poured the last few pellets into his hand. Miles took a breath and began to crouch down into the sea of ducks. Phoenix grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back up. Phoenix was laughing and smiling, thrilled to bits that Edgeworth had actually fed them.
“See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Phoenix asked.
“You… You were bluffing!? Are you serious? I almost touched them!”
“You mean you didn’t catch my bluff? Don’t tell me you’re losing your edge,” Phoenix teased, laughing at his own joke.