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…Phoenix Wright was totally a responsible adult.
So what if he made a few mistakes every now and then? He was still reasonable! He could still do things that weren’t stupid if given the resources and the time management.
… But—
Okay. So you have to hear him out. He’s always been a fan of animals, that’s been a given— Of course, when they’re. Y’know. Not trying to kill him every second. Loves dogs, cats, parrots—Hey, he even cross examined one once for a case! And defended an orca!—he’s an animal guy! Hell, if you were to give him a snake that wouldn’t bite or poison him, he’d probably be chill with the animal!
…So sometimes he could be a little overzealous sometimes, sure, alright, but could he be blamed? After all, he was just… Y'know…
He could have a small break every now and then! Get a little treat for all the work he’s done. You know, he was a very hard worker, after all. He deserved a small little treat for his fruitful efforts, for his contributions to the Wright Anything Agency and to the Prosecutors offices! Especially for making his boyfriend the smartest prosecutor there.
So what if he—
“—You took in a cat from the streets. And her kittens?” Came an unamused and, quite frankly, a little upset voice.
“Well— Look, you gotta—” Phoenix tried to explain, fumbling with his own hands and looking everywhere else but his boyfriends’ face and where he stood. After all, he was glaring at him with the ‘I’m the Chief Prosecutor, you should really think twice before speaking’ glare. It was scary!
“You gotta hear me out!” Phoenix whined, trying desperately to get his boyfriend to at least partially calm down.
Miles Edgeworth—The Chief Prosecutor in question—just sighed at his own unbelievable partner. “What is there to hear? All I see is a box with ‘Take Me’ and about—” He had to look over to count, “—Five kittens and the mother there.”
“Okay, but look— Moss is starving, okay—”
“Moss? You named the mother Moss?” Miles inquired incredulously, brows furrowing together as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “You never cease to baffle and amuse me, Wright. Why in the Hells would you name them if you know you cannot keep them?”
“You don’t know that!” Phoenix argued back, pouting at his own boyfriend. He walked over to the table—The kitchen, where both of them were with this box. The said box was on the table, where Phoenix had been preparing some canned cat food he bought from a nearby store to feed to the mom and see if he had any of his old syringes to make into feeding tubes for the kittens—and gently started to pet the mother cat in question.
“I– I know how to take care of animals, I’ve done it before! I used to have a cat when I was younger, actually.” Phoenix huffed, stubbornness in his eyes and voice as he spoke.
Miles could only watch as Phoenix was gently soothing the mother cat in question. She was old— At least, from the looks of it and from what Miles vaguely knew about the animals. He was more of a dog person, after all— he knew more about those types. Not with little kittens and cats.
As if reading his mind, Phoenix chirped up, face beaming. “She looks like she’s about four or five years old. Actually kinda young for a cat, really. The kittens look young, though– Probably a month old?” He murmured, looking at the little bundles of joy in the box.
The prosecutor tentatively walked closer to the table, cautiously and carefully watching as Phoenix handled the kittens. The litter was about six kittens big, almost all of them looking eerily similar to the mother. Grey, striped, with fluffy bundles and tufts growing— The only differences seemed to be white boots or white caps on the tails or feet. Some had white dots freckling their face, with bright brown eyes.
And Miles would be lying if he said he didn’t melt a little seeing these little kittens mewing and trilling, rubbing up against and on Phoenixs’ hand.
But one small kitten stood out from the rest.
A black kitten with white boots and caps, who was just as fluffy as the others, and looked vastly different. Miles slowly came over, looking into the box with his partner as they both stood and looked at what was in the box.
Phoenix piped up, a grin on his face.
“Did you know, they used to think cats were unlucky? Specifically, black cats?”
“Really?” Miles asked, a little confused. He wasn’t quite familiar with the information about cats—He was more knowledgeable about dogs, after all—so this was… Interesting, to hear from his boyfriend.
“Yeah!” Phoenix smiled, looking back down at the black kitten and picking it up. It meowed, nuzzling and purring in his arms while nibbling on his fingers. It was quite frankly, the most adorable shit Miles had ever seen. Wright continued, however,
“They used to think cats worked for witches. Or, specifically, the black cats. A lot of people didn’t like black cats because they were a sign or omen of bad luck, and most of the time shelters to this day still have a bunch of unadopted or sheltered cats. Then again, they’re much better than mills.”
“Mills?” Miles questioned, furrowing his brow slightly.
“Yeah, like… Puppy or kitten mills. They’re mostly there to breed the animals. No real care, you know?” Phoenix frowned, sighing faintly. “They’re really inhumane. The most they care about is the money.”
The prosecutor frowned. He looked at the box before both of them, looking at the animals there. This new information— It got him a little worried, a little curious. He spoke up. “Are they—?”
“I doubt it.” Phoenix hummed, looking at the kitten with a seemingly permanent smile on his face. “They look like they were taken care of well by their old owner. I think what happened was that they didn’t have enough money to put ‘em in a shelter— So they just… Did the next best thing when you don’t have enough money to put ‘em in one.”
Miles huffed gently, looking back at the mother cat that was— Staring back at him. She held his eye contact for a while, both of them just… Looking. Staring at one another. After a little bit, the mother cat slowly blinked, and rested her head.
“I think she likes you,” The defense attorney giggled. “Slow blinking usually means a sign of affection.”
“R-Really?” Miles didn’t expect that, at least… Not in this context. After all, he was still very new when it came to understanding their personalities and how they even behaved to begin with— So, learning that the mother cat was liking him even when he barely had done anything… It did fuel him with a bit of hope.
Tentatively reaching down, he stroked her side. Her limbs stretched out, making Miles hesitate— before she trilled. Trilled!
And Phoenix watched as Miles petted the cat, eyes wide and sparkly, with silent awe and wonder. It was the dorkiest thing ever that his boyfriend had probably done, sure, but it was still adorable how cute he was and how happy he was about this small development.
“I’m guessing I can keep them?” Phoenix joked, a grin on his face.
“…Mayhaps,” Miles conceded, face flushing up gently at his realization that Phoenix— Like always, dorky, lovable Phoenix— was able to somehow convince him of something like always. “But we can’t keep all of them.”
“Oh, yeah, no.” Phoenix laughed. “Seven cats is a little too much. Though, I think Maya and Pearl won’t mind a couple of them!” He grinned.
“Hmm.” He wondered, thinking for a moment. “Defense Shields may like one. And maybe Ms. Kay…” He spoke aloud, rubbing his chin in thought.
Phoenix could only smirk. “Does the defense-impersonator have anything to say?” He teased, motioning to how Miles had rubbed his chin. The prosecutor scowled faintly—harmlessly, really—and swatted his partner's hand away.
“Oh, hush, you.”
“Can’t make me,” Wright stuck his tongue out jokingly, laughing at how flustered his boyfriend was. Miles hummed.
“I maybe have an idea that might work.”
“Oh? The defense requests the prosecution to show evidence,” Phoenix giggled more.
“That’s my line, you fiend.” Miles chastised jokingly, leaning over and kissing his partner lovingly. Both of them hummed while they shared a kiss, gently holding kittens in their hands and petting them while leaning their foreheads against one another.
“Yeah, it is, but it’s fun to do a lil’ bit of plagiarism.” He joked, giggling more.
“Oh, hush, you.” Miles muttered once more before kissing his darling once more. “On another hand… What are we going to do with these little kits?”
“Kits? Been a while since I’ve heard that name,” Phoenix laughed. “But like you said— Other’s will probably take ‘em happily. Can we keep one of them, though?” He pleaded, putting his best puppy-eyes as he could and raising the black kitten to his cheek.
Soon the puppy-eyes died, instead Wright started laughing as the animal licked his cheek and meowed at him. Edgeworth could only smile, laughing too at the insanity that was before him.
“Two,” Miles conceded. “You can keep two.”
Phoenix gasped, a grin spreading on his face as he kissed his boyfriend once more, immediately picking up the older and bigger cat with the black kitten he had held earlier. “Can we keep these two, then?” He grinned brightly.
A huff. “Sure, dove. Sure.”
The defense attorney flushed at the nickname, giggling while happily petting the two cats he had. Eventually, he had to set them down so they could start roaming—Phoenix humming in thought for what to name the kitten he was to keep.
Miles watched him think, before Wright turned to Edgeworth.
“You name ‘er.”
“Ah— What?” Miles cleared his throat.
“You can name the kitten! After all, I named the mom Moss. Makes sense if you were to name the lil’ one.”
Miles hummed in thought for a moment, thinking for a moment. After a little bit, he piped up. “Arthur.”
“Arthur?” Phoenix parroted, a smile slowly spreading on his face. “Seems good ‘nough to me.”
And the Chief Prosecutor could only smile with proudness, especially at seeing his partner crouch down to the ground and do the cutest ‘spspspsp’ to call for their attention, petting both Arthur and Moss, and knew that the first thing he would get—
Or, well… Besides cat food. But the first thing he would get would be collars for their two new editions to the home.