Chapter Text
It wasn’t so long after the end of Engarde’s final trial and Maya’s release that they had a feast, as per Maya’s request. Said feast, for all intents and purposes, was a great way for everyone to wind down after such a stressful experience. Phoenix had to agree on that front. But even as the feast came to an end and everything was cleaned up after, something still felt wrong.
Phoenix wasn’t quite sure what had come over him, but he was standing just outside the front door of the hotel with his phone in his hand and Edgeworth’s number typed out. He hadn’t confirmed it yet, so the number just glared up at him, taunting.
He swallowed thickly. Today... had been one of the most stressful days of his life. But now he could hear Maya and Pearl talking only just behind him, and Maya was both alive and more well than he could believe she truly was. Gumshoe was fine, somehow, even after his accident, and Edgeworth was back after a year’s disappearance.
It should have been all fine, really. But something was missing. He could still feel a deep-seated anger in the pit of his stomach, and he didn’t really know who it was he was angry at. Engarde had been declared guilty, Maya set free, the blackmail lifted. Everyone he cared for was safe. But here he was, his finger hovering over his phone screen with Miles Edgeworth’s personal phone number on display.
He flinched a little at the feeling of a large hand on his back. Gumshoe. “Oh, did I startle you, pal? I just wanted to let you know, I’ll be heading off to the precinct in a little bit, if you need me for anything.”
Phoenix blinked a little in surprise as he processed two things at once. Firstly, in his brief moment of startle, he had managed to press the call button on his phone, and secondly: “The precinct? Aren’t you...”
Gumshoe shrugged. “Mr. Edgeworth said I should stop by. Said something about helping me out a little in return for my efforts. See you later, pal!” And he was off, leaving Phoenix to ponder the yet-unanswered call he was currently making to Edgeworth’s phone.
Did Edgeworth have any reason to be checking his phone right now? For all Phoenix knew, he was driving, or maybe even taking a nap—though he somehow doubted it. Would he have it near him at all times, and even then, would he be inclined to answer Phoenix’s call? Why was Phoenix calling in the first place?
He could select ‘hang up’ and be done with it. Edgeworth might notice the missed call on his phone but if Phoenix never spoke of it, maybe he never would either. But he didn’t. He let it ring on for several moments longer, paralyzed as he stared down at the screen, unmoving and leaning against the outer wall of the hotel.
“Nick!” Maya called, cupping a hand next to her mouth as if she needed to make herself louder to be heard. She was holding Pearl’s hand next to her. “We should get going, I’m exhausted!” Her voice was cheery enough that he couldn’t hear this supposed exhaustion in her words, but he knew she felt more about this than she let on. “Plus, I’m completely stuffed from that feast. The food was really good, too. I still can’t believe you agreed to pay!”
It went to voicemail. Phoenix pocketed his phone. This had been stupid to start with. “Hey, I didn’t agree to pay!” She smiled at him, and he felt a little bad about it for a moment. He relented. “Yeah, let’s get going.”
It wasn’t long after they got back to Phoenix’s apartment that Maya and Pearl were both sound asleep in the guest room—or, Phoenix supposed, it must have been Maya’s room for a while now. There was no denying that her obsession with the Steel Samurai had completely invaded every normal aspect of the room, as well as little trinkets involving her spiritual abilities as a medium. He definitely would keep bringing up the possibility of her getting her own apartment, but it was never serious. It was nice having her around, he had to admit.
It was when Phoenix was changing for bed himself, freshly showered, that his phone rang. It was past midnight by then, so it really shouldn’t have come as much as a surprise when he saw Edgeworth’s name on his phone screen. His heart skipped a beat still, as if Edgeworth hadn’t been back for days now, as if he hadn’t tried to call him himself earlier.
The thought crossed his mind to ignore it, but he found himself answering anyway. “... Hello?”
Edgeworth’s voice rang clear from the other end. “You tried to call earlier.”
“... I did.”
There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds as Phoenix chewed on the inside of his cheek. What had he even wanted to say? He had so many thoughts right now, and none of them felt right to say to Edgeworth’s face. They needed to talk, for real this time, and alone. And he wouldn’t force himself to not be upset anymore, and Edgeworth wouldn’t pretend he’d done absolutely nothing wrong.
His mouth was numb. He didn’t say anything.
“... Wright?” Edgeworth’s tone had changed just a little, almost imperceptibly. “Are you alright?”
“What are you doing right now?” Phoenix managed to spit out, his voice more even than he would have expected.
It took Edgeworth a moment to respond. Phoenix heard a light clinking sound in the background—was he stirring tea? The thought was funnier than it should have been, but Phoenix didn’t laugh. “I just saw Franziska off to the airport, and then I dealt with some business over at the police department and stopped briefly by the prosecutor’s office. Now I’ve arrived home. Why do you ask?”
Home. What was Edgeworth’s home even like? Did he live in an apartment building, or perhaps a mansion? Phoenix had no idea. “Uhh... Well.” He racked his brain for a few moments, noticing absently that he was gripping the edge of the sink with much more force than was necessary. He continued to avoid eye contact with his own reflection, staring instead at his hand. “I don’t know.”
He thought he heard Edgeworth sigh faintly from the other end. “Is everything truly alright? How are Ms. Fey and her cousin?”
Phoenix detached his hand from its iron grip on the sink and walked toward the bathroom door. He turned off the bathroom light and didn’t bother to turn the light back on in the living room, even when he went to sit down on the couch. “They’re... alright. Well, I know Pearl is alright, although it was certainly a big scare for her. I’ll... I’ll need to have a talk with Maya tomorrow, though. If she’s up to it.” He was exhausted , he realized, but he really didn’t want to sleep. Something deep in his chest was weighing him down.
After Phoenix finished speaking, it took Edgeworth several moments more to say anything. Phoenix resented that he couldn’t see him face-to-face right now. Just to tell him what he really thought, with no boundaries, and to see his reaction authentically.
“That’s... good, Wright. How are you?”
Phoenix really could have said so much. He could have said tired, and it would have been the truth, but not all of it. He could’ve said he was angry, but that had worn down over the past few hours, and now it was something else entirely. He could’ve said ‘ I miss you,’ but he wasn’t sure it was even true. It once had been.
His mouth was dry when he spoke. “I’m... I’m good. Yeah.” Earlier he’d been so much better with words than he was now. But now he felt like he was back to square one emotionally. The relief of Maya being back had finally worn off.
“... Is there anything you need?”
Phoenix realized with sudden clarity that it was half past midnight in the middle of the week. Edgeworth certainly would need to be waking up much less than eight hours from now, which was less than ideal. And it was this call which was keeping him awake. Still, Phoenix’s mind seemed to lag behind his mouth. “Um. One thing.”
What ‘ one thing’ was he even talking about? He couldn’t remember ever actually coming up with a single thing to ask for. “Yes?” Edgeworth said, more patiently than Phoenix would have expected.
“There are... leftovers. From the feast. And since you had to leave early, you didn’t get to try any. Did you... want to have some of them? You know, uh...” Phoenix cringed, running a hand through his damp hair. This was not going according to plan, not at all. There had never really been a plan in the first place.
Phoenix was pretty sure he heard Edgeworth take a sip of tea from the other end before replying. “If I understood you correctly, Wright, you are offering that I... visit you, yes?”
“Ah,” Phoenix said dumbly, staring at the corner of the coffee table. “Yeah. I guess so.”
Edgeworth cleared his throat. “When?”
When. Not ‘why.’ It was a yes, almost. Almost. He’d received a yes on a plan he hadn’t even fully intended to make. “When are you free? I’m sure the food will last, um, a few days. At least.”
“I do know how food works, Wright,” Edgeworth replied. “Any day is fine, so long as it is after work hours and a large case doesn’t pop up.”
“That’s good.” Phoenix sank a little deeper into the couch, barely suppressing a sigh. “How’s... tomorrow?”
There was a brief silence from the other end of the call. “I can do tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Silence, again. Phoenix was surprised the inside of his cheek wasn’t bleeding yet, what with how much he was gnawing on it. He stood, starting toward his room.
“Wright, are you going to sleep now?” Edgeworth asked suddenly.
Phoenix looked at his bed, and then at his hand. He was pulling the chair back at his desk already, as if he’d decided it for himself without thinking about it. He realized that maybe sleep wouldn’t come easy to him tonight. “No, I don’t suppose I intended to.”
“Hm.” Edgeworth’s pause made way for the sounds of a spoon clinking against the inner edges of what was probably the same mug of tea he’d been drinking from this whole time. “I wasn’t planning on it either.”
He couldn’t help but feel a little taken aback by this. With intent, he pushed his chair back into its usual position and sat down on the edge of his bed. “But you have to work tomorrow, don’t you?” Not to mention this wasn’t the sort of thing Edgeworth normally just said.
“ I was going to sleep eventually.” Edgeworth only sounded a little annoyed. “Just not right at this second.”
“And why did you ask me?”
He could practically feel Edgeworth’s cold stare through his phone. “This was a very... taxing case for all of us, I believe. I was merely trying to...”
“If you’re worried, there’s no need. Everything’s alright over here, promise.” Phoenix drew his legs up onto his bed, tucking his feet beneath the covers. It was getting a little cold. “Get some rest yourself. You need it.”
He sucked in a breath through his teeth, waiting for the negative reaction that didn’t come. “I will, Wright. Thank you for your concern. And... thank you for your offer. I’ll stop by tomorrow after work. I assume you’ll be there by then, correct?”
“Yeah. Probably.” Knowing his luck, he’d end up entangled in another murder investigation by then.
There was some rustling from the other end. Perhaps Edgeworth was finally preparing for bed himself? “Very well. Do try to get some rest eventually as well, Wright. Sleep deprivation can mess with your brain function, you know.”
He didn’t quite say ‘hypocrite,’ but it was a close battle. “I will.” He shifted back in his bed a little bit. Maybe he’d even go to bed now, not later, and maybe he’d actually fall asleep. The thought was nice.
“See you tomorrow, Wright.”
“You too, Edgeworth.”
He plugged his phone in and set it on his bedside table, sinking into his pillows and drawing his blanket up to his chin. He felt a little better than before. Just a little, and maybe enough to sleep.
Tomorrow, he’d finally talk with Edgeworth alone, with no escapes and no distractions.
Tomorrow came, and it was probably more quickly than Phoenix would have liked. Perhaps due in part to the fact that he awoke with only five minutes to spare before noon.
He definitely wasn’t going to be getting anything done today, especially considering Maya. He doubted she would be at all interested in starting another case today after how the last one had gone, despite how enthusiastic she always was one something came up. Today, they would rest, he decided. And tomorrow they could do something more.
So, after he made sure both Maya and Pearl were still in one piece, he set aside a minute to talk to Maya. Just after lunch, and before she could settle into the card game she was trying to teach Pearl.
“What is it, Nick?” Maya asked, looking at him with wide and curious eyes. “You look awfully serious right now. Was there a murder?” There was a mischievous glint in her eye. “I hope it’s not you getting framed this time, I don’t think I could take your place just like that…”
Phoenix gave a little laugh. Why was it that that was the first thing her mind had jumped to? Just how chaotic had it been for them since they’d met? “Nobody’s getting framed. I just wanted to ask how you were doing.”
Maya’s cheerful expression melted in less than a second. He knew it wouldn’t be difficult to get her to talk about what happened, but that wasn’t necessarily his goal; he wanted to make sure she was really being considerate to herself. “I’m alright, Nick. Really. A belly full of food and a warm bed to sleep in were such a relief to come back to…” He could see tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m fine now. I promise.”
Phoenix tried not to let his frown show on his face. He was certain there was more to it than that, but would it help at all to press her on it? “I don’t know everything that happened to you while you were there, Maya, but I…” She was wiping her tears away with her sleeve now. “You can talk to me about it if it gets too troubling.”
She nodded, sniffling. “Thanks, Nick. You know… the whole time, I never thought you would let me die. I knew it would be okay.”
He didn’t know why she trusted him so much. It had been close, so very close, so many times. It was only through Pearl’s channeling of Mia that he had even managed to make it far enough in the first place. Without her, he never could have proven something so fragile and specific. “I’m glad you’re safe, Maya.”
Phoenix realized at probably four thirty in the afternoon that he had yet to tell anyone that Edgeworth was stopping by. He was in the middle of trying and failing to read one of Mia’s recommended law books when this occurred to him.
He probably had at least around two hours until Edgeworth came over. He doubted he’d finish work before six, and after that, it was at least a fifteen-minute drive to Phoenix’s apartment if he remembered correctly.
This gave him plenty of time to stew in the emotions he still didn’t quite understand and maybe finally put a name to them. Because unlike Edgeworth, he wasn’t about to start naming his negative feelings ‘unnecessary’ instead of processing them. No, he was a grown man.
“Maya, Pearl, just so you know, I invited Edgeworth over for dinner tonight.”
“Edgeworth?” Maya looked contemplative. “Weren’t we just going to have leftovers tonight. Is that… you know… fancy enough for him?”
“Oh. Um… yeah. At least, he didn’t sound insulted when I suggested it.”
Pearl, who did not seem to have been paying attention to the conversation, placed a card down on top of Maya’s triumphantly. She cut through the room with the yell, “Uno!”
“Wrong game, Pearls,” Phoenix said, eyeing the cards. They were just normal playing cards. “You’re doing great, though.”
“Oh, thanks, Mr. Nick!” Pearl looked back at the single card in her hand, determination evident. “Mystic Maya, what do I…?”
Maya sat back down next to Pearl, resuming her task of teaching her the ways of card games. Phoenix was glad that Pearl was staying over for a few more days before heading home; it was probably a big help in Maya’s state to have more than one person around. Especially if the other option was that she would be alone with Phoenix. She deserved a chance to be around what family she had left.
With a sigh, Phoenix retreated to his room. Edgeworth would be stopping by in not too long.
At around seven, after about an hour of Phoenix routinely walking back and forth between his bedroom and the front door, his phone rang.
He picked it up in only a few moments without even checking who was calling. “Yes?” he said. “Hello?”
“Wright, you never told me your address.”
“Oh.”
At seven thirty, the doorbell rang.
Maya and Pearl, against Phoenix’s wishes, had left the house. Maya had claimed to be craving some good noodles, which Phoenix could honestly hardly blame her for after being deprived of food for several days. So, it hadn’t been hard to convince him to hand over a few bills to go out for a cheap meal. Even if it meant the task of finishing the leftovers was now being mostly left to him for the evening.
But there was the problem that Phoenix now had to eat with Edgeworth alone. He’d already planned on finding a moment to talk alone with him, but having the whole meal with nobody else to help him compensate for his inevitable blunders was a terrifying thought.
He answered the door faster than he probably should have, and there Edgeworth was. He had his bright red suit jacket hung over his arm but still wore his grey waistcoat. Despite him clearly having intended through the removal of his jacket to seem more casual, Phoenix felt profoundly underdressed in comparison. He was in only jeans and a hoodie.
Edgeworth looked him up and down, his expression unreadable. “Hello, Wright.”
“Edgeworth, hey.” Phoenix stepped to the side to let Edgeworth into his home. He was suddenly all too aware of every little imperfection in his furniture, every speck of dust on his shelves. Would it be up to Edgeworth’s likely impossibly high standards? “Thanks for coming. Uh... make yourself at home, I guess.”
Edgeworth looked around the room, taking everything in for only a few seconds before removing his shoes and turning away from Phoenix. Phoenix took this as his sign to take a step into the kitchen.
“How was work?” he asked, his tone light as he pulled the fridge open and started pulling out the various containers of leftovers. Which ones would be appropriate? He could remember Edgeworth being picky as a child, but that was something he’d likely at least mostly grown out of. Especially under von Karma’s care.
“There was nothing especially interesting today. A few minor cases needed some organizing, but none of them were put into my care. Then there was some coordination work with the police. Not much happened, truly.” Edgeworth was now standing next to the door, his arms crossed, one finger tapping his elbow with what Phoenix thought might have been nerves.
“You can sit, if you want. On the couch.” Phoenix didn’t have a dining table. Another hit to his reputation in Edgeworth’s eyes, surely.
It was only a few minutes until Phoenix had successfully heated their food without burning his apartment down. He brought it steaming to the living room and set it on the coffee table, along with two plates and forks. “Need anything to drink?” he added as an afterthought, as if he had much to offer.
Edgeworth looked contemplative for a second, glancing at the kitchen as if looking for something. “No, I’m alright.” He regarded the food in front of him with what Phoenix had to call restrained curiosity.
Phoenix loaded his plate with everything he thought he could eat while still retaining an ounce of dignity and watched as Edgeworth picked at his own food politely, not seeming all that interested in it. This had been an awful excuse to get him to visit—none of the meals from the feast made for particularly good leftovers.
Still, it took a few minutes for Phoenix to collect his thoughts well enough to start speaking. “Edgeworth... we need to talk.”
Edgeworth put his fork down next to his plate and politely finished chewing before answering. “I thought we already had, Wright.”
“No... not really.” Phoenix was really beginning to regret even trying to start this. He had a feeling Edgeworth wasn’t exactly going to be receptive to this line of conversation. “Not enough.”
To Edgeworth’s credit, he only averted his eyes and didn’t even attempt to object to this. Phoenix took it as a sign to continue.
“You were gone for a year, Edgeworth.”
“I was.”
“We all thought you were dead.”
Edgeworth visibly clenched his teeth for a second. “But I wasn’t.”
“You left a suicide note in your office. And don’t tell me it wasn’t one, you wouldn’t do something so careless without that as your intention. Why did you lie?” Phoenix found his hand letting go of his fork without intending to. It clattered onto his plate, breaking the brief moment of silence between his words. “Why did you want us to believe you had killed yourself?” Something in Phoenix’s mind was screaming at him to stop talking, please, this can’t end well. But his previously suppressed emotions rose above rational thought.
Something dark flashed in Edgeworth’s eyes and he tilted his head forward a second later, his bangs now obscuring his face. Phoenix felt his own face heating up with what was probably anger, and maybe a little of something else he couldn’t quite pinpoint. “I apologize for the actions of my past self. I have grown tremendously since then, and... I’m sorry for the pain I seem to have caused you.”
“‘The pain you seem to have caused me?’” Phoenix echoed, clenching his fists at his sides on the armchair. “I thought you had given up, after all that I had done for you. I never wanted to see you again. The thought of you sickened me—”
“ Wright.” Edgeworth’s voice was shaking just a little. “None of this was—”
“Franziska knew you were alive. She called you a coward, Edgeworth. For running away.”
Edgeworth smiled faintly, but Phoenix could see his hands trembling in his lap. “She always did call me that. And she was right all along, I suppose.”
“You weren’t always a coward!” Phoenix slammed his hand down on the table, rattling the dishes along with it. “That wasn’t the Miles Edgeworth I knew. It wasn’t—”
“The Miles Edgeworth you knew died in an elevator at the age of nine.”
Phoenix inhaled sharply, bringing his now aching hand up and running it through his hair. “You aren’t Prosecutor von Karma.”
“I am not.”
“Then why?” Phoenix’s hands crashed into his knees now. He was getting too worked up. He needed to calm down. “Why aren’t you the same?”
“ We met when we were seven, Wright. Think about it for yourself. Every aspect of my current self is something I would have despised back then. Accusing those who may very well be innocent—I would never have forgiven myself.”
“And what about this truth you found?” Phoenix’s eyes were trained firmly on his plate in front of him now. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at Edgeworth, much less in the eye. “The truth about being a prosecutor.”
“Yes, I have discovered my truth.” A pause. “But my truth is still shaped by what I experienced in the years after we parted ways, Wright.”
“But you’re still the same person. And you’re not a coward, and you never were, so why did you act like one? Why did you run away?”
Edgeworth shifted out of the corner of his eye, bringing a hand up to his face. Phoenix knew he was seriously overstepping some boundaries right now, but neither of them had made any move to end this conversation yet. So, it would continue. “I don’t know, Wright.”
“Don’t you? What were you trying to achieve, leaving for a year? Did you not think about what would happen when you came back?”
“I didn’t.”
“You didn’t what.”
“ I didn’t plan on coming back.” Edgeworth spit the words out like a poison he needed to rid himself of.
Something akin to rage tore through Phoenix’s heart. “Then why did you, Edgeworth? Why did you come back, when everyone had already accepted your death? When we were finally moving on?”
“I hadn’t moved on.”
Silence. Phoenix’s mouth felt glued shut and he dug his fingernails into his thighs, the pain the only thing keeping him present.
“I was selfish. I wanted to come back, so I did.”
And Phoenix didn’t say ‘You shouldn’t have,’ even though it was at the tip of his tongue, because it w asn’t true. It wasn’t true at all. “There was no funeral, you know. Since we couldn’t prove you were actually dead. You were just missing, but nobody looked for you, because everyone thought you’d just up and died. Just like that.”
It was Edgeworth’s turn to respond with silence.
“Suicide, Edgeworth. ‘Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death.’ You knew. You could have told us you were leaving; you could have told us anything!” Phoenix was raising his voice again now. “Why didn’t you?”
Edgeworth sighed, his hand finally falling from his face and back to his lap. He looked defeated, and sad, and not even a little bit as angry as Phoenix felt at this moment. “I did try, you know, Wright.”
“You... what?”
“I tried to kill myself.” Edgeworth’s flat expression flickered for just a moment and Phoenix thought he could see the beginnings of a storm flash in his eyes. “I didn’t intend to return.”
For a minute, the world around Phoenix went white. He could only hear his own heartbeat, erratic as it thumped in his ears, and the sound of his own shuddering breaths. “Miles...” The name tasted wrong in his mouth. Foreign. It felt like something he shouldn’t be speaking aloud, a foul word.
“I should go.” Edgeworth was standing up, now, walking toward the door, and Phoenix wanted to follow him, to apologize, but he couldn’t move. He was glued to his seat, and his mouth was sewn shut. He couldn’t.
“I’ll see you another time, Wright.” Wright.
The door shut with a click and what little composure Phoenix had had before crumbled.
It was around nine when Maya and Pearl arrived back. Phoenix’s mind was blissfully empty. He’d tired himself out by now, and he hadn’t moved from his seat in front of the coffee table yet.
“…Nick?”
“Hm?”
“You alright?” Maya dropped a few bills and a handful of coins in his hand. “Change,” she explained.
It took Phoenix a few moments to respond. “Uh, thanks. Yeah.” He closed his hand around the change, running his thumb over a coin. It was still warm from Maya’s hands.
She looked at him for a few seconds before shrugging and leaning over the coffee table. She closed the containers and sighed at the two half-full plates. Was this all it took for Maya to be helpful around the house? It was a little funny.
“Did something happen?”
Phoenix leaned back in his seat, draping a hand over his eyes. “You could say that.”
“He left?” Maya paused, setting the stack of containers back on the table.
“Mhm.” Phoenix squinted out the window. It was dark, now. Edgeworth would likely be at home. He wondered how he was doing. Had their meeting left him as upset as it had left Phoenix?
…This was stupid.
Before he could think any more, Phoenix stood abruptly, grabbing the two abandoned plates off of the coffee table. Maya looked at him oddly for a second and then shrugged.
After the food was appropriately dealt with, Phoenix heard the shower switch on. He indulged himself in a deep sigh now that Maya was out of the room.
Why was he so antsy?
There was an intense worry stirring in his gut. He didn’t know why. He had a reason to be disturbed, and upset, but Edgeworth was alive. He was alive and well, right now, and he’d come back clearly doing better. Phoenix had no reason to be as worried as he was.
His hand found his phone in his pocket. It wasn’t on. He didn’t switch it on, either.
He could call Edgeworth. There were no physical bounds stopping him from doing it. Nobody was going to come and tell him not to. And he wanted to. Because he was worried, and he now had words to put to these same worries he’d had ever since Edgeworth’s being framed over a year ago. Suicide. It was terrifying, and disgusting, and Edgeworth was not a coward. Phoenix wouldn’t let him be one. Ever.
But he knew that Edgeworth didn’t want to talk to him. Or he wouldn’t have left so abruptly, and he would have stayed. They would have spoken about what had happened more civilly, and in more depth, and they would have finished their meal.
So, Phoenix was standing in his bedroom, his finger poised over the call button, just as it had been yesterday.
Last time, he’d made it all worse.
… It was ringing.
Phoenix stared at the screen blankly. Yet again, he lacked a plan. This time, it was even more important that he handle this with care. What was he doing?
“Hello?” At the familiar sound of Edgeworth’s voice, Phoenix melted in relief.
“… Hey, it’s Phoenix.” That wasn’t how he normally started his calls. Off to a great start. “Uh, sorry about earlier.”
There was silence from the other end for a moment. Then Edgeworth spoke, his voice even and calm. “It’s no problem, Wright. We both got a little too worked up about it, but… I hope we can work past it.”
It sounded so rehearsed. Like Edgeworth had expected Phoenix to call him and had planned accordingly. Phoenix’s fingers tapped anxiously on the sides of his phone as he held it to his ear. “Yeah. Yeah, I hope so too.” He chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Are you… doing alright?” He let a hint of his concern steep into his voice.
“I’m quite alright. Are you doing well? It is you who called me, after all.” And he sounded genuine enough.
“... I was just worried, is all.” Phoenix sank into the edge of his bed. “We didn’t exactly leave off on a positive note.”
“We did not,” Edgeworth agreed. “But I do hope it hasn’t been bothering you too much. I... apologize.”
Phoenix blanked for a moment. Edgeworth was apologizing to him, but for once, Phoenix wasn’t directly upset at him for anything. He’d cried out all of his anger and frustration hours ago. “But you’re sure you’re alright?”
The tiny pause of unusual hesitation before Edgeworth’s reply was small enough that Phoenix wouldn’t have heard it if he hadn’t been listening for it. “I’m well, Wright.”
“You can tell me if you need anything...” Phoenix paused a bit, considering. Was it worth it to test the waters with first names? “Edgeworth.” He’d decided on no.
“Likewise, Wright.” There was no hesitation before referred to Phoenix with his surname, because that fit how he thought of him.
Phoenix stood, phone still pressed to his ear, and approached the window. It was now raining lightly outside—he hoped it wouldn’t be too rainy in the morning, too, or riding his bike would be a nuisance. He drew the curtains shut in one big motion. On the other end of the line, he heard not a single sound from Edgeworth. Not a breath.
“I must excuse myself; I have some work to catch up on,” Edgeworth mumbled out several moments later.
Phoenix was searching for a pair of sweatpants now to change into, his shoulder pressing his phone to his ear. He’d been waiting for Edgeworth to say something, having been much too cowardly himself. “Oh, alright,” he said dumbly, still sifting through his unsorted laundry. At least it was clean. “Have a good evening.”
“Farewell, Wright.” A beep. He’d hung up.
Phoenix snorted to himself, sliding his phone onto the floor next to him. ‘Farewell.’ How pretentious sounding. How very Edgeworth.
He felt better, he decided as he pulled his sweatpants on. Their failed attempt at a conversation earlier hadn’t had as awful effects as Phoenix had feared deep down.
And when he settled into bed that night, fully aware that Edgeworth was still probably working away in his home office, he felt like maybe everything was beginning to slide back into place.