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At first, Phoenix's new interest in his phone is almost alarming. It starts with the man texting him more often, and learning how to send pictures and emoji's. Miles couldn't begrude that it made their text conversations more interesting.
Perhaps endearing, even, if Miles was honest with himself, which he rarely is.
Then, Phoenix's fascination turns into learning seemingly all of his phone's features, some that even Miles had not been aware of. He hypothesizes that the young Ms. Fey was teaching him.
Miles learned how far Phoenix's fascination went when the man received a call from Detective Gumshoe when they were both in Phoenix's office. Instead of the default ringtone, a song started blaring through the speakers, and Miles watched Phoenix seemingly humming to himself for a moment before accepting the call, holding his phone to his ear.
After the call is ended, Phoenix explains that Detective Gumshoe had captured one of the suspects, who was now currently detained at the Detention Center. Phoenix grabbed some papers from his desk and prepared to leave, but Miles raised his hand, stopping him.
"What was that?" he asked. "The song."
Phoenix furrowed his eyebrows. Then, it seemed to click, and he brightened up. "I chose custom ringtones for everyone! Maya told me about it, and she made my ringtone to one of her favorite singer’s songs."
It became clear to Miles in this moment that the matter of choosing a song for a custom ringtone was very important. It took great deliberation, and he even believed that was true for the one Phoenix chose for Detective Gumshoe. It was a slightly silly song, but definitely demanded attention.
And, he first wonders what ringtone Phoenix Wright chose for him. It will give him insight into what Phoenix really feels about him. Would it be classical music to joke about his pretentiousness? Will it be another silly song, like Detective Gumshoe’s? Or, is it just a song that reminds him of Miles Edgeworth, an old childhood friend turned rival turned to friends again?
If Miles were dramatic, he believes the ringtone will answer the ultimate question: What are we?
The first step to figuring that out is learning more, and Phoenix had already given him a clue.
—
Maya Fey seems amused as he relays his question to her.
“You… want to know what he set as the ringtone for your contact?” Maya repeats.
Miles hesitantly nods as he sees Maya’s lips start to wobble, the first sign of incoming laughter. He sneers. “I didn’t ask you to be ridiculed.” He quickly turns, his hand reaching out to the doorknob.
“Wait!” Maya exclaims. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Just give me a second.”
Miles turns back to face her, and this is when she crumbles, laughing hard. He blankly observes this, until she finally straightens up, calming down.
“Truthfully,” Maya begins. “I can’t tell you exactly what it is, because he changes his ringtones a lot, and he may have changed yours again.”
Somehow, this makes it seem even more urgent to Miles. The changing of ringtones must mean that Phoenix puts a lot of thought into it, and his heart warms at the idea that it has taken Phoenix a while to find the perfect song to represent him.
So, therefore, even if it’s not the full answer, Miles is a little pleased.
“However!” Maya points a finger at him, smirking. “If it’s still the same one I remember… I think you’ll really like it.”
“I’ll like it?"
Maya evades eye-contact, which he takes note of. “It’s… very thoughtful,” she says, and her voice takes on a dubious quality, like she knows something really funny but it’s an inside joke where she may be the only member. “You might even begin to question how Nick has such complex feelings and how he’s able to express it so well.”
“This is shown all through a song?” Miles pulls a face. He is doubtful, especially with her description, but a part of him is still curious.
“Yes,” Maya says.
Miles thanks her for the information and leaves quickly, hoping she does not share the conversation with Phoenix. If she does, it may be a little hard to catch him off guard.
—
As it turns out, being in the right time and place for him to be close enough to hear the ringtone is nearly impossible. Why would he even need to call him if he’s right there? Any time he’s tried, Phoenix just raises an eyebrow and declines the call quickly, and he’s had to give up so as to not raise his friend’s suspicions.
He had even tried to ask Maya for a favor, asked her if she could just try to record it if she catches it, but she said no. “Ruins the mystery, doesn’t it?”
He’s frustrated for a moment before Maya offers an explanation.
“He changed mine to Barbie Girl ,” she says. “You know, that song that’s like ‘I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie wor–”
“I know the song,” Miles interrupts, gritting his teeth.
He can’t really interpret why the hell Phoenix would change the ringtone to that, and he’s starting to believe that the ringtone is not that serious anymore.
“The point is,” Maya says. “It’s a mystery! And I can promise you, you’ll really love this surprise.”
Her insistence on it is becoming less and less persuasive. Miles tries to argue more, but she leaves again.
The point is, it’s been weeks and Miles Edgeworth is desperate. He probably wouldn’t admit it, but it’s the truth. He’s considered just giving up and not trying to keep his ears open, or to even expect anything at all.
But, well, Maya was correct that it was a mystery, and it was an alluring one at that.
Miles tries an option that he believes is his last hope, but one that will perhaps be widely unsuccessful.
Beneath the podium, he pulls out his phone from his pocket. He turns the screen on and heads to his contacts, trying to also pay attention to the witness at the same time, who’s being cross-examined by Phoenix.
He can’t say this is exactly professional, but if he’s lucky, it should only take a few seconds.
Miles’ finger navigates all the way down to Phoenix’s contact in his phone, a memorized location.
“I said what I said!” the witness exclaims, glaring at Phoenix. Truthfully, Miles doesn’t know what she’s so upset about, but most witnesses are like that anyway. He’s sure he can catch up after this.
He presses down on the call button.
To his astonishment, Phoenix’s phone is not off, and the ringer is not silenced. In a way, he deserves this for not following the rules of the court.
The ringtone for Miles goes off, and he sees Phoenix’s eyes widen in panic as the pop beat, seemingly a remix between two songs, begins to play. Miles strains his ears to catch the lyrics, but it’s not needed; the music is loud and clear in the silence of the courtroom.
“ You can catch me in Vegas, catch me in Tokyo, catch me on a dick trying to ride like a rodeo, YEEHA–”
He also watches as Phoenix stumbles, pulling out his phone and rejecting the call. For a moment, Miles swears everything is silent, like the world has stopped moving, with the revelation that the song that apparently reminds Phoenix of Miles is about riding a dick like a rodeo.
“Mr. Wright,” the judge speaks up, “it is a common rule for phones to be silenced during a trial. I expect better from you.”
“Of course,” Phoenix nods. His face is beet red, but he seems to take a moment to compose himself before turning back to the witness. The witness stutters before returning to her testimony.
Miles finds his composure impressive, because he is sure that if something like that happened to him in a courtroom, he would consider killing himself. Though, many could argue that it would not take something that embarrassing to get Miles to contemplate that.
Still, as the trial continues, the lyrics to the song continue through his mind. Now he understands why Maya was so insistent on keeping it a surprise, and a quick glance over to her proves that she is still holding back laughter minutes later.
The trial concludes, and Miles decides he needs to conduct further investigation.
“Wright,” he says, catching him outside the courtroom. Maya is by his side, and she grins as she sees him. He ignores her for the moment.
“...What?” Phoenix hesitantly asks, and meets his gaze.
It is always a struggle to meet his eyes, but now, it’s even worse. “Yeehaw,” Miles says without thinking, then blanches.
Maya bursts into laughter, and Phoenix goes red yet again. “I do not believe we need to discuss this further,” Phoenix hurriedly says, and he pulls on Maya’s sleeve.
Miles places a hand up. This seems to stop the both of them. “I need to know,” Miles says, “if it is a serious… offer.”
He is surprised at his own boldness.
Maya takes the opportunity to leave.
Phoenix pauses, taking a long glance at his expression before smiling. “Maybe… we do need to discuss this further.”
Hours later, when Miles Edgeworth is trying to sleep, a warm body in the bed next to him, he reflects on the ringtone. It turns out that ringtones really do turn out to be sentimental, and he finds he really does agree with the sentiment that came from the ringtone Phoenix set for him.