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Day 2: Investigations/Caretaking
Phoenix couldn't help but look around the office and wonder what was out of place.
Despite his "out there" nature, people tend to forget that he is quite observant. Observant to a fault actually. He could recall certain little things almost like a photographic memory, a trait that he had been compared to that of his ancestor, Ryunosuke Naruhodo.
Well… time to investigate!
First, Phoenix went over to the old, worn, red couches. He saw clearly that the couple of mismatched pillows were still there, the television remote was still on the coffee table next to a four-month-old issue of some sort of magazine Maya had picked up at a convenience store. This area was the same.
Phoenix then went by where he had his desk. His pens were still in an old mason jar that he had, his legal pads were askew as always with their random doodles, and a case file here and there was piled unorganized. The desk phone had a thin layer of dust, and the old dinosaur of a desktop computer was a nest of dust bunnies as Phoenix never really knew how to work it. That was the same.
"Damn it… something is different…" Phoenix murmured, rubbing his chin. "I just know it."
He observed the bookshelves, seeing the layers of just on Mia's old law books still neatly where she left them. His old case files and the ones Mia had done were still organized as well. Nothing was out of place…
Charlie was by the window as always, growing fuller by the day from the daily watering and the proper changing of the soil for nutrients. Phoenix looked at each leaf - no signs of browning or withering. Perfect - just the way Mia would've wanted her beloved plant.
"Nick, what are you doing…?" Maya's voice giggled from behind him.
"GAH!" Phoenix yelped as he nearly rammed his head into a nearby cabinet. "Maya! A little warning next time please? You scared me half to death!"
The Spirit Medium smiled mischievously at him. "It looks as though you're looking for something…" she cheekily said to him.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "What did you do…?" he lowly asked, crossing his arms.
"Me?" she drew out the word innocently. "Absolutely nothing…"
"There is something off about my office, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it!" the attorney declared.
"Act a little stuffier and you'd sound just like Mr. Edgeworth!" Maya giggled, putting a hand to her mouth.
"Can it."
Again, Phoenix made the rounds around the office. He looked over the lounge area again - it was the same. His desk - the pens were still meticulously in their same spots. Charlie was still green. The books needed to be dusted along with the shelves, the phone, and the computer.
Why… can't… I… FIGURE THIS OUT!?
"Do you want a hint, Nick?" Maya coyly asked, her leaning forward slightly.
"I've investigated dozens of murder crime scenes!" Phoenix insisted, throwing his objection finger into the air. "If I can find the most subtle of details during hard time crunches, I can do this!"
Another lap around the office. Then another. And then another… He did three more laps, his hands gripped into his hair as he looked at each thing again and again.
"What is OFF!?" Phoenix then shouted.
"Your tie," Maya laughed, unable to contain it anymore.
"… What…?"
"You've been focusing on the items in the office that you didn't focus on the other constant in the office - you."
"… Me!?" He was completely bewildered. He then glanced down to notice that he was wearing his blue suit like normal, but indeed he was not wearing his dark pink China tie. Instead, he glanced up at Maya, who was wearing it loosely around her own neck with a wide smile.
"That's why you need me on investigations!" Maya cheekily said, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Give me my tie," Phoenix grinned at her, holding out his hand.
Maya put her hand to her cheek. "Hmm… I think you have to get it from me first!" she teased. She promptly turned her back on him and started skipping away from him with a giggle.
"HOLD IT!"
"Nuh uh, Old Man!" laughed Maya, hearing him crash around behind her as he began to give chase.
The two were laughing around the office as she just barely made it out of his grasp once again. When she faltered for a moment to stick her tongue out at him, that was when he finally caught her, and she squealed with laughter.
"Well, I think all my evidence is here," Phoenix breathlessly said. "Now, can I have my tie?"
Maya slipped it from over her head and untied it. She then put it around Phoenix's neck and made sure it went under the collar of his white dress shirt and she delicately tied it into a near perfect Windsor's knot. Phoenix made no move to fix it - he liked it the way she did it.
"I still feel like something is off in the office though…" Phoenix sighed almost tiredly.
"I swapped the one sticky note on the phone with the one on the computer," Maya then finally admitted with a loud laugh, her eyes squinting slightly.
"Then why the running around with my tie!?" Phoenix demanded, clearly exasperated. "And why touch my sticky notes…!? You know I like my sticky notes…"
"A rouse!"
"You're ridiculous…"
"And you love me for it, Nick!"
"I… have no objections to that."
Maya then clapped her hands together. "Now that you're fully dressed and not running around half-naked-" Phoenix's face fell when she said that. "- Let's go investigate the burger joint!"
"Why…?"
Maya gave him a wink. "Because they have a new burger…! And I fully intend to investigate it fully with my mouth!"
Phoenix barked out a laugh as he put a hand to his forehead. "God, that sounded so gross!" he laughed hysterically.
Maya shrugged. "That burger is not being investigated with us standing here! Let's go!" She then proceeded to grab his hand and the two made their way out the door.
The sticky note the Maya stuck on the computer that was switched from the phone gently fell onto the desk as it had lost it stickiness. It was personally one of Phoenix's favorite notes that he randomly kept from her as it read: "You’re the Steel Samurai to my Pink Princess <3, Love you, Nick! Love, Maya."