Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Phoenix Wright feels electric on the other side of the court from Miles Edgeworth. His heart is pounding in his chest, his little crush clearly not deterred by time, or by the fact that the other has spent the entirety of their time trying to get Maya convicted of murder and looking down on him. It hurts, but he can’t keep himself from believing in Edgeworth. It’s not like it would be novel for him to fall in love with someone who will hurt him. Maybe he’s a hopeless idiot, doomed to crush on all the wrong people, but if that’s the lesson he’s supposed to learn, he’s not learning it today. Still reeling from the broken link with Mia, he manages to prolong the trial another day. It takes ages to get to have a proper conversation, or at least, as proper as one can be through the glass of the detention center, which Phoenix thinks is still better than inside court. It takes longer still, until after Edgeworth is freed on all charges, that Phoenix realizes that he’s already linked himself to the man.

________

Edgeworth keeps dreaming of phoenixes. It started sometime during State V. Will Powers and never really stopped. At first the phoenix couldn’t seem to get into the elevator, but strangely, alongside the phoenix he was pulled out of different spots, from nightmares into dreams. Usually he only ever dreamt of the elevator, somehow, that had changed. After becoming the defendant and finding out the truth of the elevator he found out that now the phoenix could save him from those nightmares too. Edgeworth was sitting in bed, wondering about it. On one hand, it could be some advanced level of embarrassing pining for the man. On the other hand, Phoenix was already involved with spirit channelers, and if he had magic powers Edgeworth had to concede that he would probably use them for some endeavor as useless as saving him from his nightmares. He thinks he’d rather believe in magic.

They continue even as he moves back to Europe. Noticeably, the phoenix seems upset, clinging to his side the whole dream. Edgeworth decides this phoenix is definitely Phoenix Wright doing some whimsical idiot magic. He doesn’t say anything. Eventually, Wright starts talking to him. He talks about vague and believable things that happened in his life, probably hoping Edgeworth still thinks he’s a figment of his own imagination. Edgeworth talks back occasionally, mostly to make fun of him. He is surprised to find one day, that instead of his own dream, or Phoenix’s usual flower field, he’s greeted with a cliff, a purple sky, and the judge towering over Phoenix. He looks terrified. The judge is saying something about how Phoenix has gone too far. Edgeworth doesn’t hesitate in grabbing the bird and attempting to exit. He doesn’t exactly know how Phoenix has been saving him from his nightmares, but if Wright can do it surely he can figure it out. Phoenix is looking at him with shiny multicolored eyes, and Edgeworth can feel warmth creeping up his face. The judge’s gavel falls, and he wakes up. His head hurts. It takes him longer than usual to get up and get his shit together, he wonders if Wright is somehow responsible for this. He spends far too long looking aimless in his own house, he’s got nothing to do today, except apparently wonder what happened to Phoenix. Eventually he gives up and calls the bird bastard.

“..Uh.. Phoenix Wright speaking, need an attorney?” Edgeworth thinks that’s an oddly informal greeting for a work phone.

“No, not really.” He says, waiting for Phoenix to recognize his voice, wondering if he’ll pretend to be surprised.

“Uhm. Real sorry, but my contacts got wiped, so uh, who is this exactly?” Phoenix stutters out. Surely Edgeworth hadn’t been too hasty in assuming that dream Phoenix was just real Phoenix? Eventually, as he gets lost in his thoughts, Wrights phone is stolen from him and the next voice he hears is Mayas.

“Hi! Sorry, Nick’s concussed. Who’s this?”

“Concussed?” He interrupts, failing to keep the worry out of his voice.

“Hi Mr. Edgeworth. So he had this evidence on him right? And the murderer-” Maya starts

“I think I get the picture. Did you get the murderer convicted?” Edgeworth responds.

“We got a not guilty for our client, because I’m the defense.” Wright says, voice full of humor.

“I know your strategy Wright. Don’t pretend you didn’t catch the murderer too.” He hears Maya laughing over the phone. “Do you want me to come over there?” He asks.

“Yes, of course” Wright responds immediately. It is then that he hears a quiet and rushed conversation between them.

“Do you even remember who he is?” Maya whispers.
“...No, but I like him.” is Phoenix’s response. How is he supposed to deal with that?

“You didn’t include amnesia in the conversation.” Edgeworth says.

“Sorry Mr. Edgeworth, I forgot to tell you.” Wright responds, clearly a joking tone to his voice. It’s strange to hear Wright refer to him in the same way that Maya does. “I was actually expecting Maya to be responsible for it for once, my mistake.” He hears laughter on the other end.

After a moment of quiet, Wright speaks up again “You don’t have to fly here, it’s just one head injury.” He sounds absolutely reverent saying it. It appears he’s remembered who he’s talking to.

Miles hums “I hope you’ll forgive me, I’m not ready to go back yet.”

“I thought so, I don’t even know why you asked me.”

Chapter Text

~Tres Bien~ : Phoenix
Phoenix Wright sits across the table from Edgeworth. He’s not entirely sure why Miles has asked to meet, if he were a braver man he would think that Edgeworth was trying to take him on a date. He can feel Edgeworth looking judgingly at the restaurant he chose, maybe thats his fault for choosing the closest restaurant with a fancy sounding name. Eventually he stops looking at his surroundings and looks Phoenix straight in the eyes.

“We need to talk.” Miles says.

“Okay.” Wright says back, because what other choice does he have? The waiter comes up to their table to ask them for their orders.

“Oh, hi Maggey!” Phoenix greets her.

“Oh! Hi Mr. Wright!” Maggey Byrde responds. Edgeworth is looking at the two, eventually nodding.

“You’re the defendant from the case where he was concussed, yes?” Edgeworth says, and Phoenix looks back at him curiously, did he end up reading the court records?

“Oh, yeah. They fired me from the police anyway, but being a waiter is working out! Mostly!”

“Hm.” Edgeworth answers.

They order, with a bit more small talk, and then she leaves back to the kitchen. No one will save Wright now.

“You,” Edgeworth starts “are a magic, whimsical, sappy, fool.” Wright suddenly knows where this conversation is going, he can’t stop a blush from creeping up his face.

Maggey puts their order on the table and leaves again.

“I’m sorry?” Wright says, because he will admit nothing until Edgeworth drags it all out of him.
Edgeworth levels him with a not-quite glare.

“Why is the burden on me to explain? You know what you’re doing, I know you are doing it. Worst of all, you probably know how and why it’s happening.”

“Which part?” Phoenix asks, because he’s sure that Miles probably suffered a little bit from his own concussion, and a lot from the emotional distress of Mayas kidnapping.

“What do you mean ‘which part’. The dreams obviously.”

“Oh. Uhm, I guess that’s an invasion of priv-”

“I don’t care Wright. That’s not what this is about.” Miles interrupts

“No?”

“Why, and how exactly, are you endeavoring to rid me of my nightmares every night? Surely it’s tiresome.”

“Hey, my dreams are better with you in them too you know.” There’s a distinct pause where they both blush, Wright as usual having spoken faster than his brain was working.

After regaining himself Edgeworth says, “Assuming that is true, for now, how did you do it. You can’t keep avoiding that question.”

The thing is, Phoenix really doesn’t want to answer that question. At this point he’s fairly sure that Edgeworth will be much better than his previous links, but it’s a horrible invasion of privacy and Edgeworths whole being, even if it was by accident. He sips his coffee, managing to stall a bit longer by expressing his disgust with it. Edgeworth holds out a hand. Phoenix takes it.

“The magatama. Give it here.” Edgeworth demands, surprisingly reaching out a second hand rather than ripping his hand from Wrights grip.

“You won’t be able to just guess it, you’ll just hurt yourself.”

“Then I’m afraid you’ll just have to tell me.”

Wright looks up at the other, bringing his hand back to himself and wringing them together.

“I linked our souls by accident.”

“What does that mean?” Edgeworth asks after a pause where he takes a deep breath.

“Uhm. Well. I’m slightly magic, and a condition of that is being able to link souls? Except. I maybe, will not survive very long without being linked.” Phoenix chokes out, feeling his stomach turn and avoiding eye contact. There's another pause as Miles thinks.

“So. You had a link with Mia? And when she died, you had to find somebody else to link to. Except you said by accident?” Edgeworth says slowly. Phoenix nods.

“It’s more of a subconscious thing.”

“And what does this mean?”

“Well, our subconsciousness are kind of linked too, so, we um, share dreams, and sometimes feelings.”

Edgeworth sighs. “..Alright. I’ve handled that so far. It doesn’t seem very affected by distance?"

Phoenix moves his hand down to his pocket to hold his magatama. “Uhm, no, not really. You’re handling this well.”

Edgeworth raises an eyebrow “Alright, so you’re lying, and we will come back to that. I have long since accepted the fact that you are somehow magical and sharing dreams with me.”

Phoenix looks away, feeling sick. “You- you don’t need to worry about it, anyway. The distance.”

“Wright, you may not realize it but I do feel inclined to extend you what you need, seeing as you have so far exclusively been using this ability of yours to save me from my nightmares.”

“T-thats not fair,” Wright pauses, trying to get a handle on himself. “...you’ve still had to deal with my pain and m-my nightmares too.”

“We can stop talking about it for now if you want?” Edgeworth’s voice sounds oddly concerned.

“No, sorry, it’s just..” Wright trails off, realizing exactly what is happening, what has already happened. He’s cold and dizzy and his stomach is turning.

“Sorry, I think I’m sick.” He manages to get out, turning to face Edgeworth again.

Edgeworth blinks. “What? Wright?”

Wright is slipping fast, he can feel the world get hazy around him, he can feel Miles hand suddenly but gently on his temple. He pulls himself as together as he can, he can’t have Miles thinking he’s dropping dead.

“Sorry, I-I can go home, we c-can talk later.” He can feel himself shivering horribly, but its a good sign he’s still cold, he needs to get out of here.

“Wright.” Miles says, firm as ever. “Have you been poisoned, or is this another magic thing?”

Wright pauses to think. It’s probably both, but Miles doesn’t need to know he’s been poisoned, so instead he says, “Magic thing.” He barely registers any time between that and being in Edgeworths car.

“Can I have the magatama now? Edgeworth asks.

“I’m just going to be sick for a while. I-It’s okay. You can just.. Drop me off.”

“No thanks. The magatama, if you would?” Edgeworth says, stubborn as ever. Wright hands it over, vaguely aware that he’s no longer cold, but still shivering.

“Are you going to die?” Edgeworth asks immediately.

“No.” Wright replies. “I can’t die, really.”

“Okay, putting a pin it that. I can trust you that this is just getting sick.”

“Basically.” Wright feels warm.

“And this was brought on how?” Wright shuts his mouth, aware of the way Miles eyes follow chains he can’t see. “Great. Okay. It’s not because you were stressed out is it?”

Wright can hear the second question Edgeworth is asking, did I cause it? As if he would blame Edgeworth for triggering something he never planned to inform him of.

“No.”

Edgeworth seems satisfied, he turns the key and starts driving. Wright almost immediately falls asleep on the seat. The only thing keeping him awake is a small “Ngghhkk” from Edgeworth.

“Hm?” Wright hums.

“I don’t get why you endeavor to not tell me anything when we are both in this together.” Edgeworth says, keeping his eyes on the road. Wright hums again, not quite able to figure out what he means, flicks his wings and falls asleep.

Chapter Text

Wright wakes up when Edgeworth is trying to pick him up out of his car. He still seems incredibly out of it, and shivery, despite all the heat coming off of him. Edgeworth somehow manages to get him on his feet, well aware of how much Wright is pressed into his side. Even when they reach the couch in Edgeworth's living room Wright has his arms and wings wrapped around Edgeworth. It’s stupidly warm and embarrassingly comfortable. He takes in Phoenix for a moment. His wings are a soft shade of light blue that fades to white further down. He looks incredibly flushed. He wishes he could get Phoenix to stop shivering, there’s no way he actually needs to be generating more heat right now. He puts on a random nature documentary, holding Phoenix close.

It takes longer than he thought it would for Edgeworth to need a moment. The heat and touch eventually becoming overstimulating. He untangles himself carefully from Wright's arms and wings, and moves over to the fridge. He’ll probably be here for a while, he can take a moment to get a meal. Miles ends up making a meal, tea, getting his laptop to try doing some work, and bringing Phoenix an ice pack. Predictably, Phoenix cuddles right into his side as soon as he sits down, but at least there's an ice pack somewhere in there, and Edgeworth feels much better off now.

He's not surprised to have fallen asleep, but definitely a little shocked to wake from Wright struggling with a nightmare he somehow hadn't seen. He's crying and mumbling something incoherent. He tries to find the psychic link himself, in hopes of being able to help the other without waking him, but finds a sort of cottony curtain feeling blocking him. Possibly a symptom of being sick, or perhaps an incredibly protective man trying to save Miles from whatever feelings the sickness entailed. It's possible he's just trying to hide from Edgeworth too, regardless, Edgeworth will have to wake him to help him. It's not too hard, a little bit of shaking manages to rouse the other man. His chest is rising and falling too fast, his wings are shivery.

“Alright Wright?” He wishes he knew better how to comfort the man. As he looks down he realizes Phoenix is crying. Edgeworth wipes his tears gently.
“It's okay, I've got you, I'm not going anywhere.”

Again he is surprised by Phoenix, who responds only with scared sounding birdsong. Miles manages to keep a straight face, especially as Wright sings on, clearly distressed. Miles endeavors to assume that Wright will always have the weirdest possible outcome of any given situation. Eventually, stroking Wright's face and wings manages to settle him, and he falls back asleep. Soon enough, he finds himself facing the morning light, and the sounds of the earlier birds outside. Miles manages to have half finished breakfast by the time Gumshoe calls him.

“Gumshoe, what's the occasion?” The occasion is, of course, a case for him. Very unfortunately, it is a poisoning case at the very same restaurant they had been at the day before. Edgeworth looks at Phoenix suspiciously, who is now rousing to the sound of him talking.

“Who’s the accused?” He hopes that it's open and shut. It's never open and shut.

“One Glen Elg.” Gumshoe says. “He was sitting at the same table as the victim. It looks like he owed the victim a lot of money and had hit the deadline."

Edgeworth hums, looking again at Wright. “I'll be there. Anything else?” His voice is carefully clipped, hoping that Gumshoe doesn't start yapping.

“Nothing that can't wait until you get here.” He says smartly.

“I will see you in an hour.” Edgeworth replies, hanging up before Gumshoe can respond. He turns his attention fully to Phoenix, and immediately groans at the look on his face. “No.”

“I'm practically healed, it's fine.”

“Why Wright?”

“Come on, please?”

“You,” he pokes Phoenix’s nose “Have possibly also been poisoned.”

“I'm fine aren't I?” Phoenix says, avoiding the question.

“You said it was magic!”

“Just because a case could be made that it was both doesn't mean poison was involved.” Edgeworth sighs, getting up to start getting ready to leave the house.

“If you drop me off at my office I'm just going to walk there.”

“If you are so determined to work while sick then get up and get ready to go.”

It's easy to see the determination on Wright's face as he manages to walk about. There's not much to be done about the clothes he had slept in, but he combs his hair and tucks away his wings. It feels wrong seeing him without them, like they had always been there, only suddenly now being gone. Edgeworth dresses and then asks Wright if he wants anything to eat or drink. He's already in the process of making tea.

“Uhm. I guess I'll have tea.” He says, voice tinged slightly with humor and slightly with nausea.

They get to Tres Bien without issue, right up until running into Maya outside.

“Nick! Where have you been?” She tackles him and Phoenix immediately holds her.

“Uh.” He says quietly, helplessly.

“Wright suffered a bit of sickness and I saw fit to watch over him.” Edgeworth says, incredibly aware of how all of this is going to be perceived, and probably where it's heading. Maya gives him a weird look

“Well okay, next time you want to stay over with him you can tell me huh?” She says, turning back to Nick, and apparently fully taking him in for the first time this conversation. “Oh, sorry Nick! I don't think I've ever seen you sick before.”

“Yeah, I uhm. I don't get sick very often, but it's always rough.” He laughs nervously “How long have you been waiting here?” it strikes him how quiet Wright is being compared to Maya, it has been more difficult to tell against his own voice, but he was definitely talking quieter.

“Not too long, why?”

“Because a murder has occurred here, unfortunately.” Edgeworth interrupts.

“Here? Wasn't this where you guys were eating?”

“Yes.. I'm surprised you know the location.”

“Nick was fretting over finding a restaurant you would like. It looks like he failed.”

Wright shivers. “It- it could've been worse, probably.”

“Anyway um, murder? You aren't investigating, are you Nick?”

“Unfortunately I do believe he is.”

“Hey, we can figure it out before court if you don't want me to do my job.”

“Only while sick, Wright. Let's see if we can clear things up.”

They head in. Edgeworth's suspicions are stacking quickly. The victim could be mistaken for Wright, with a noticeably similar- inexplicable- haircut. Maya and Nick both look over his shoulders as he reads over the autopsy report.

“Hey, Mr. Edgeworth, don't you think it's kind of weird how the guy looks a lot like Nick, and was poisoned?” Maya speaks up.

“Yes, I was wondering about that myself.”

“Nick, if you got poisoned and managed to get out only looking sick I'm going to lose my mind.”

Wright, wisely, doesn't say anything, only looking nauseous and curling into Edgeworth's side again.

“I think it's fair to hypothesize that that actually occurred.” Edgeworth says exasperatedly. Ignoring the locks appearing over the man next to him.

Maya shakes her head exasperatedly. “I swear he's immortal, I'm actually not even surprised he managed to survive getting poisoned.”

“Glen Elg.” Wright interrupts, and swallows, looking upset by the topic of conversation. “Why would he try to poison me? Wouldn't he know what the victim looked like?”

Edgeworth nods. “Only you, Phoenix.”

“Hmh?”

“Still thinking about the defendant.”

Phoenix frowns.

“Are you two dating?” Maya blurts out.

Edgeworth shrugs. He's pretty sure linked by the soul falls somewhere around there, but Wright wouldn't like him to say that. He still can’t keep himself from blushing. Phoenix is also blushing, given by the- somehow increasing- warmth where Wright has buried his head into Edgeworth's side. Maya gives them an unimpressed look. “We're talking about this later.”

“Of course. Shall we talk to the defendant?”

Phoenix steps forward once they reach the detention center, smile plastered on his face. He introduces himself as well as Edgeworth and Maya, says he's a defense attorney, and that he's here in case Glen needs a defense. Mr. Elg looks uncertain.

“Are you sick?”

“Well. Uh. Yes, but I've won cases while concussed before, so I can still defend you. I won't be offended if you have better options though.”

Glen Elg seems to turn it over in his mind, before looking up determinedly. “I had a way to pay him back.”

Phoenix nods.

“It's this disc, it says MC Bomber. It's a computer virus I developed and it would've been more than enough to pay him back on the black market. I know it sounds bad, but I would've chosen anything over murder.”

“I believe you.” Wright says. He makes it seem so easy.

Glen Elg sighs. “Alright, thank you. Maybe take some like, Cold killer X before you go to court?” Miles watches Wright shiver, freezing up.

“Thank you for your time and suggestions Mr. Elg.” Edgeworth says, exiting the room. Once he's taken Phoenix outside he crosses his arms. “Wright?” The other shakes his head.

“I’m fine.” Edgeworth visibly flinches at the chains and locks, he forgot he still had the magatama on him.

“Obviously not.” Edgeworth says.

“I can keep investigating, it's not a big deal.” Wright mumbles.

Edgeworth opens his arms, and Wright curls up into them. “You don't have to Wright. We aren't the only lawyers who will take this case. This is not your burden to bear.”

“Hypocrite.”

“Martyr.”

“You're still a hypocrite.” Wright says, face buried in his jabot.

“Uhm, so.” Maya interrupts. “What's the plan?”

“We are at least taking a break.” Edgeworth replies. “Do either of you have a preference where we go?”

-Maya-

Nick says nothing, still curled up against Edgeworth. Maya puts a finger to her chin. One one hand, Edgeworth is being really nice today and would probably get her burgers if she asked, on the other hand, Nick just got poisoned at a restaurant and she can't pretend that doesn't make her a little nervous. It's strange to see him so frazzled. Sure he was upset when Maya was accused of murder, multiple times, and he actually cried when he got Maya back from the kidnapper. Maybe she's never seen Nick sick before and this is the one hole in his armor that completely breaks him, but it's weird. Maya knew that Nick has a thing for Edgeworth, and she knew that he was always less infallible then he let on, but it's unnerving to see him so quiet and out of it. He’d actually looked better when he was concussed.

Between Nick's office and Edgeworth's there’s an easy winner, because Edgeworth's office may be fancy, but it doesn't feel right.

“How about Nick's office?” Edgeworth nods. Nick has stopped talking, but at least leaves the building with them. “So, seriously, you just saw he was sick, took him home, and then you guys have been, like, cuddling the whole time?”

“I would phrase it differently, but yes.”

“He's just stuck to you, and you guys have no established relationship but this has just happened anyway?”

“We are friends Ms. Fey, from childhood. He was a similar way back then actually.”

“Really?” Maya scrunches her nose.

“He's always believed in everyone with his whole heart, but he used to be a bit more soft spoken and sensitive.”

“He was totally a cry baby wasn't he?” Maya jokes, and she can see the corner of Edgeworth's mouth twitch, which is basically confirmation. Edgeworth opens the back door of his car for Maya, before depositing Nick into the passenger side, and getting into the driver's seat.

“I can't believe how hard I am third wheeling you guys right now while Nick is barely conscious.”

Edgeworth hums, face flushing. “It appears he was in fact not basically over it.” He starts the car and drives out of the parking lot.

“What do you think it was? That upset him, I mean.”

“I don't have a clue. Maybe delirium just got to him?”

“I almost wish I had seen him sick before, like, I wish I knew more about him and how to help.”

Edgeworth nods. “I feel similarly.”

Maya's eyes flick over to Nick when she sees movement out of the corner of her eyes. It takes her a second to realize what it is she's seeing. “What the fuck.”

“Oh.” Edgeworth says, apparently entirely unphased by the fact that that Phoenix had suddenly sprouted wings. “Well, I think he's fallen asleep.”

“I'm going to steal Nick's magatama and interrogate the shit out of you.” Maya says, because why isn't she being told anything?

Edgeworth hums “My apologies, Wright didn't exactly choose to tell me either. It's technically not my secret to share.” It actually sounds like he's trying to be nice. Maya thinks she'll make fun of him later. “I was surprised to realize he hadn't told you actually, given your occupation.” Edgeworth pauses, before continuing. “So far, what he has explained to me is that he can link his souls with others, and he also claims to be immortal.”

Maya has a sinking feeling in her gut. “He um. He really did get poisoned then? He would've…” Maya can't bring herself to finish her question.

“He implied the sickness was more of a symptom of… Regenerating, rather than the poison. He also seemed to know what was happening, sans the delirium.”

Maya feels like she's losing her mind. She knew that Nick hid a certain amount of his personal life and background from him, but this is insane. “It sounds like he’s actually got a phoenix's spirit, alongside his own, somehow.” She says, because she's starting to understand why all of the lawyers in her life stick to facts when they're upset.

“I have never seen him sick before either.” Edgeworth admits. They've arrived at Nick's office, finally. Edgeworth doesn't seem to be having much luck trying to wake him, Maya can see the worry clearly on his face.

“Is he soul linked with you?” Maya asks, finally processing that part of the conversation.

“It appears he is, that was what we were talking about at the restaurant, actually.”

“How long?”

“I suspect since the Steel Samurai case.”

Maya shakes her head. “You two are hopeless and you should go on a date after this.” Maya walks in front of Edgeworth. “Nick!! Help me!” As she predicted, it wakes up Nick immediately, she somehow wasn't prepared for the fear not turning into annoyance after waking up.

“M’ya?!” Nick tries to push himself up, wings shivering and heart pounding.

She immediately puts a hand on his head. “Uhm, sorry, I'm okay, it's okay.” she watches him breathe, eyes hazy.

“Okay.” Nick says. Edgeworth takes the opportunity to help him on his feet and lead him into the office.
“He's too helpless not to try and comfort.” Edgeworth says, clearly noticing Maya's discomfort.

“I should've realized he'd be too out of it to just be annoyed like usual.”

Edgeworth hums.

“He looks like… like a bird after it's hit a window.” Maya frowns.

“That's an incredibly apt description.” Edgeworth lays Wright down on the couch. “He actually chirped at me last night.” Maya, in spite of herself, starts to laugh.

“He really is a bird brain huh?”

“It's probably a lot harder to hide, with how out of it he is. It's interesting to think he might also be using bird body language.” Edgeworth says, pulling out his phone, presumably to look up bird body language. He definitely loves Nick back. She lets him be gay and look up bird facts for a while before interrupting.

“Mr. Edgeworth, can you cook?” Edgeworth glances at her.

“Of course, what am I working with?”