Work Text:
There was a sense of peace, hearing the keyboard typing and shuffling of paper on this regular Friday evening. It was just them together alone, Phoenix and Miles. Working minutes away in Phoenix’s living room.
At first, he felt embarrassed when Miles asked him to go to his place out of everything. Having a teenage daughter whose management skills were almost as bad as his and an office right out the door wasn’t the perfect recipe for a clean environment. Just before Phoenix could explain further, he responded with a small smile and a huff of air.
“Please, Wright. For goodness sake, we’re in a relationship. I’ve seen your living conditions many times before. I assure you this isn’t one of my concerns right now.” Phoenix blushes a deeper hue and nods dumbly.
The soft music lulling in the background brings him back to reality. Right. The two of them were sitting on the couch on a Friday night. Trucy’s currently sleeping over with Maya and Pearls. (Trucy rolls her eyes fondly as the two fuss over her at the train station, checking her bag and listing essentials off a list. She has known this song and dance ever since it was truly safe to go outside the house.
“Daddy, Uncle Miles, I’m going to be fine . I’m just going to Aunt Maya and Pearl’s place. I’ll give you a call when I get there, okay?”)
Phoenix sets down his papers, glancing over at Miles with his eyes softening. Miles sat a few feet away on the couch, fixated on the screen before him, face slightly scrunched as he picked apart the words and details. Gray curtain bangs draped around his face softly and the rest just below the shoulder, finger tapping the couch arm in a rhythmic tempo with occasional hums of affirmation. The red jewel of his earring shined softly in the warm light. The defense attorney's heart swells with adoration. This man, the love of his life, is in a relationship and love with him. How crazy is that? They can now simply be there for each other without the fear that the other person may not feel the same and will run away if they act too rashly.
He shakes his head, lips twisting into a shy, lovesick smile. His heart threatened to beat out his chest, and his face felt unnaturally warm. There was still a guilty twinge deep in his gut. Miles was never the type to openly show his affection, even when they were children. But now, he catches the small smiles, how the other man’s pinky ever so gently touches and interlocks with him when they go out to eat, sitting next to each other in the booths. Phoenix would fight hell and anyone who dares to assume he wasn’t so proud that Miles is slowly opening up and showing how lovely he is under all the layers he had built up to protect himself from the harsh world.
But even with feather-light touches and longing stares, Phoenix felt himself flinching away more often than not, only responding with a pitiful, grim smile when the other’s eyebrows raised in surprise. It’s killing him inside because he has been yearning for affection like this for who knows how long; on top of that, Miles would be doing this for nothing. He doesn’t understand why it’s taking him so long to get over something so small.
Will Miles be tired of waiting for him? He needs to get this act together.
So, his hand slowly crawls across the worn leather, inching closer and closer towards its destination. With each gruesome second that passed, the raven-haired man’s urge to stop just got stronger. But he isn’t a kid; he’s in his 30s, for goodness sake. Phoenix’s hand finally grazes the other’s before shakily setting it down on top of Miles’s. His breath hitches. Pinpricks and comforting warmth shoot from his hand to the rest of his body. It feels weird to be holding someone else’s other than Trucy.
This, of course, alerted the chief prosecutor as he stopped his scrolling, cool gray eyes flickering to his behind the glasses.
“Phoenix?”
“Hey.” He mumbles, lips quivering ever so slightly. Crap that came out more strained than he wanted it to. Miles’s eyebrows furrow and push the laptop to the side.
“Darling, is something wrong?”
“I…I don’t know, Miles.” Phoenix looks away, a million thoughts racing in his mind. Was that a bad move? It wasn’t like he asked him if he could hold his hand. Oh god, what if he scared Miles? With that thought, he quickly retreated his hand and plastered on a smile as he looked back at his boyfriend. “I’m fine, just wanted to see your reaction.” However, Miles didn’t seem to buy that flimsy lie, his lips turning into a frown.
“I think you know that both of us know that it isn’t true. Phoenix, let me ask again, are you okay?”
The man just bites his bottom lip, his mismatched eyes now finding his nails awfully interesting. Trucy had painted them blue earlier in the week and managed to drag Miles into it too. He refused at first but then found himself sitting on the floor with Trucy holding a red nail polish bottle- A shiver suddenly ran down his spine.
“Phoenix.” He snaps his head up. The gray-haired man is now standing in front of him, his expression makes it clear that he’s determined to get to the bottom of this. “I can tell you’re hiding something. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”
His throat grows dry. As much as he wants to ignore this conversation, he knows Miles is way too stubborn to let things like this fly.
“A..aren’t you tired of waiting for me?”
“Pardon?”
Phoenix licks his lips, feeling the roughness from his teeth and the thin scar running across them. “Don't you get sad that I always run away? I mean, you've been trying so hard and I just throw it all away-”
“For a person who's the Turnabout Terror, you are quite clueless at these things, Phoenix.” That certainly stopped his rambling.
“Huh?”
“Phoenix, if I left you because of something so minor I’ll never show my face again out of shame. May I remind you that you were the one who cared about me enough to wait for me for so long?” Miles’s tone was exasperated, but grounding and affirming. “However, if this is so important to you, let’s take it slow.” He hums, gesturing for the other man to stand up. Phoenix does so, albeit with a thumping heart. A few moments later, they almost met eye to eye.
“Can I touch you, or do you wish to go first?”
“I- uh…you can go first.” Phoenix blurted out, currently occupied with thoughts of ‘Oh okay we’re doing this now' and trying to calm his shaky hands. He feels himself freeze as his eyes train on the pale hand moving closer and closer to his cheek. And it touches his skin. The contact was light, ready to pull away at any time necessary, but to him, it burned like fire. Though he would be lying if he said it wasn’t nice at the same time.
“Darling? Are you okay?” Words failed him, so he settled on a silent nod. They stayed like that for a minute, before he slowly slid a hand up Miles’s shoulder, tucking a few fingers shy into the gray locks. A short sigh escapes his lips. Wow, they were soft. Miles seemed pleased, even soothed by the touch, smiling a bit. Oh, that expression might’ve made him fall in love all over again. A short burst of confidence seeped into his bones because the next thing he knew his other hand was on Miles’s shoulder. Gray eyes stare into brown and blue, then to Miles’s arm which hovered above his torso. A silent ask for permission. May I? To which Phoenix nods. Go ahead, Miles.
The familiar feeling of warmth leaves him feeling all jittery, though he can feel himself just relaxing and leaning for the touch. It’s wonderful, he can get used to this. (This time, without the feeling of potentially being backstabbed any second.)
For the next few minutes, they stand there, basking in each other’s touch, wrapped up by the soft jazz music and work discarded on the couch. Miles combs a finger through his hair, whispering.
“Thank you, love, for trusting me with this.” (For waiting for me even when I hurt you so much in the past.) Phoenix smiles.
“No, Miles, thank you. ” (For staying with me after all that happened.)