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"Edgeworth, wait!"
Case files in his hands, Edgeworth paused and turned around.
"Thanks for your help just now!" Phoenix said after running over. He leaned down, hands on his knees, as he tried to catch his breath. Apparently, it had been very important for him to catch up with Edgeworth to talk to him after their trial. Edgeworth tried not to flatter himself for that. It meant nothing. Phoenix was just that nice of a guy.
"Don't mention it, Wright." Edgeworth replied nonchalantly. "As soon as the witness admitted their lies and revised their testimony, it was unequivocal that the defendant was innocent. I should apologize for not realizing that before the trial."
Eyes wide, Phoenix stood up straight to shake his head. "No, no, no!" he declined, waving his hands in denial. "It's alright! You couldn't have known! I believed the witness as well until I noticed that first hidden contradiction."
Edgeworth felt himself smiling. "You're good at that."
"I— Huh?" Perplexed, Phoenix blinked. It was cute to watch how he needed a moment to realize the compliment for what it was. As soon as he did, though, he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "I just had a feeling that my client was innocent, so I had to spot something in your witness's testimony — anything." Taking a deep breath, Phoenix put his hand back down, his expression open and friendly as he smiled at Edgeworth. "But, really. Thank you, Edgeworth. Not every prosecutor would have cooperated the way you did, knowing it would lead to their loss."
"As long as the truth is uncovered, I count it as a win for justice — even if the prosecution loses."
"I'm glad you—"
"Mister Edgeworth!"
Mildly annoyed by the interruption, Edgeworth kept his poker face as he turned around. "Miss Intrestra."
"Good afternoon," prosecutor Intrestra greeted, tucking her shoulder-long brown hair behind her ear. "Do you have a moment to— Oh." Her bright green eyes widened as she spotted Phoenix standing behind him.
How could she not have noticed him before? Edgeworth was always aware of his presence when they were in the same room. But maybe that was because he kept thinking about Phoenix all the time anyway. Love did make people crazy like that.
"I'm so sorry!" Intrestra immediately apologized. "I didn't mean to interrupt! I'll wait until you've finished your conversation."
"Ah, don't worry!" Phoenix replied, friendly as always. "We just finish—"
"It's alright," Edgeworth interrupted, since apparently Phoenix intended to leave. "We'll continue our conversation once I've listened to your cause." When both stared at him with different levels of confusion on their faces, Edgeworth cleared his throat. Had he come across as too clingy? But he didn't want Phoenix to leave, and he sure as hell wouldn't take back his words now that he had spoken up. So his only option was to play along and keep the conversation going. "You appeared to be in a hurry, Miss Intrestra," he said to save himself. "So I assume this is about something important."
"Oh, uh—" Nervously, her eyes darted around, peeking at Phoenix more often than not. What was her problem?
"You may speak freely," Edgeworth said, in case she was holding back talking about prosecutorial topics because a defense attorney was present.
"Well, I—" Again, she paused, clearly uncomfortable by Phoenix's presence.
"I can leave if I—"
"Stay," Edgeworth ordered a bit too harshly while darting a glance at Phoenix. He was getting annoyed. Usually, he didn't dislike prosecutor Intrestra, but she was cutting his precious time with Phoenix short and almost had him scared away twice by now.
Phoenix and Intrestra exchanged another glance. It looked like they were silently communicating, but the topic of their conversation was lost on Edgeworth. He had never been good at reading the emotions on people's faces. Finally, Intrestra turned her attention back to Edgeworth.
"So, I, uh—" She cleared her throat, and Edgeworth frowned. What was going on here? Edgeworth had watched some of Intrestra's trials. Usually, she had no trouble speaking clearly, even when taken by surprise. "Mister Edgeworth!" she suddenly called out, her cheeks heating up. "Would you like to go out to dinner with me this Saturday?"
Caught by surprise, Edgeworth stared at her, his lips slightly parted. Did she want to discuss a case or was this something more serious?
"As a date?" he asked to clarify.
"Yes."
"Then no," he immediately declined.
"Ouch," Phoenix interrupted. "That was harsh, Edgeworth. I guess the rumors that you aren't interested in relationships are true, huh?"
"I'm not interested in women," Edgeworth corrected reflexively. He only realized the severeness of his confession when two wide pairs of eyes stared at him. But Phoenix had sounded so crestfallen when pointing out Edgeworth's alleged lack of interest that he couldn't help but rectify the false statement. Now that he had said it, he wouldn't back down. "My apologies," he told her with a straight face, hoping his voice sounded as sincere as he meant it to be. It wasn't like he enjoyed letting others down, but sometimes it was inevitable.
Intrestra blinked. She looked at Phoenix first, then back at Edgeworth. "Oh my god," she suddenly whispered, her eyes growing wide as they once again went from one man to the other. "Oh my god!" she repeated, louder this time. "I'm so sorry!" She bowed. "I'll learn to read the room next time! Sorry!"
"Huh?" Phoenix frowned, and Intrestra looked shocked.
"Wait, you—" She looked at Edgeworth again, and it felt like she could read his every thought. It made him uncomfortable, and he subconsciously straightened his posture. "Oh," she mumbled in a weird knowing tone that some women tended to get when relying on their intuition. "I see." She took a deep breath. "Well, then. Good luck, Mister Edgeworth!" She already turned around on her heels. "And thank you for answering so straightforwardly," she called over her shoulder while quickly running off.
"Good luck?" Phoenix repeated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as they watched her retreating figure until she vanished around a corner. "Why would she wish you good luck?"
"I have no idea," Edgeworth lied. He just hoped she wouldn't spread any rumors. But knowing her, he could trust her with his secret. Finally, he turned back around to face Phoenix again. "She didn't look particularly disheartened after my rejection," he mentioned to change the subject.
"Maybe she expected that outcome but decided to give it a try anyway." Phoenix shrugged his shoulders. "That takes courage."
Edgeworth hummed in acknowledgement. She was braver than him.
"So," Phoenix drawled.
"So?" Edgeworth prompted, raising an eyebrow.
"The rumors weren't true, huh?"
Narrowing his eyes, Edgeworth tried to figure out what Phoenix intended to achieve with this question. But maybe he was just bluffing his way through the conversation until he suddenly had an epiphany like he so often did in court. "Why did you believe baseless rumors in the first place? You of all people should know that proof is everything."
"True, haha!" Phoenix laughed, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "But it's not like there's any proof of the opposite either."
"I beg your pardon?" Edgeworth had lost the thread of this conversation.
"I mean, it's not like there's any proof that you are interested in relationships," Phoenix clarified. "Or that you are currently in a relationship." His voice went up towards the end as if asking a question. He scratched his cheek as Edgeworth still tried to process what Phoenix was talking about. "Are you?" Phoenix added, his voice unusually high-pitched, his cheeks turning red.
Edgeworth inhaled sharply. Phoenix Wright was asking him about his relationship status.
"Sorry," Phoenix suddenly back-paddeled. "That's private. I should't have—"
"No!" Edgeworth exclaimed, and they both stared at each other with wide eyes. "I—" Clearing his throat, Edgeworth grabbed his arm. He knew it was a nervous gesture he adopted when talking about difficult emotional topics. "No, I'm not," he replied before adding in a whisper, "in a relationship."
Phoenix inhaled so loudly that Edgeworth heard it. Edgeworth's eyes were getting drawn to Phoenix lips, watching how his pink tongue swiped over them before he spoke up again. "Why not?"
Edgeworth blinked. But before he could even think about a proper reply, Phoenix had already spoken up again.
"You sure are attractive enough."
"What?!" Edgeworth blurted out ineloquently.
"No!" Phoenix exclaimed. "No, not no!" he immediately corrected, his cheeks bright red. "I mean— I just— That— Urg!" Groaning, Phoenix squeezed his eyes shut and buried his hands in his hair.
"Phoenix Wright!" Edgeworth called out harshly, his lips trembling more than he liked to admit.
"Yes!" Phoenix immediately perked up, standing up straight as he nervously stared at Edgeworth as if awaiting an inevitable guilty verdict.
"What are you intending to say?"
"That I'm attracted to you?" Phoenix asked, and they both stared at each other in disbelief. "I mean, no! No, that was what I said, but not what I intended to say!"
"Wright." Edgeworth was losing his patience. All that confused babbling made him feel like talking to Larry.
"I meant to say that I wanted to know why you're not in a relationship!" Phoenix finally explained.
"Why do you want to know that?"
"Because I'm attracted to you?"
"Why are you always phrasing it as a question?!" Edgeworth demanded to know as he finally lost his patience.
"Because I'm afraid of your reaction!"
Edgeworth pinched the bridge of his nose. They wouldn't get anywhere like this. He took a deep breath. "Since when are you even attracted to men?"
"I, uh— I don't really care about gender!"
That came as a surprise. Edgeworth had always thought that Phoenix was straight. After all, he had only seen him with girlfriends or getting flustered around women. "And you're attracted to me?" Edgeworth was surprised he had managed to ask that without getting a nervous breakdown.
"Well, that—"
"No more vague answers please."
"Sorry," Phoenix replied. "I—" He took a deep breath before he nodded, his expression serious. "Yes, I am."
Now that Edgeworth had his reply, he didn't know how to deal with it. He had dreamed about this for so many years that he couldn't believe it was happening in reality. Maybe this was just another one of his many dreams. Although they usually ended with Phoenix not being attracted to him. Edgeworth took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He shouldn't jump the gun. Of course it was flattering that Phoenix was physically attracted to him, but that neither meant he intended to act on it nor that he was also interested in him romantically.
"Why aren't you dating anyone?" Phoenix interrupted Edgeworth's train of thoughts.
Edgeworth raked his teeth over his bottom lip. It wasn't easy to talk about this, but he knew he had to be honest if he dared to hope for the impossible. "I tried to, but it never worked out."
"Do you know why?" Phoenix prompted softly.
Averting his gaze, Edgeworth grabbed his arm and squeezed it. The pressure helped him to focus. "I never managed to get over my first love."
"Oh," Phoenix mumbled, unknowing that Edgeworth was talking about him.
"I've tried dating a few times, but I never developed feelings for anyone," Edgeworth explained. "And being in a relationship with someone I don't love is not only unsatisfying for myself but also highly unfair towards my partner. We would just both be bound to be unhappy. So I always explained my predicament early on and broke off the relationship before anyone could get their hopes up too high." He peeked at Phoenix to watch his reaction.
"I see," Phoenix whispered, a sad shimmer reflected in his eyes. "It's amazing that you communicated so openly about that with everyone."
"There's nothing commendable about it," Edgeworth denied humbly as if it weren't difficult to talk about his feelings. "No relationship should be built on lies." He averted his gaze again and squeezed his arm harder, suddenly feeling too overwhelmed. "And especially in a romantic relationship both partners should be equally invested."
"I agree," Phoenix replied, but Edgeworth kept staring at the wall, not daring to look Phoenix into the eyes. "Everyone should be open and honest like that, but it's not easy! And I know that you especially often struggle to talk about emotions. So it's even more impressive that you managed to talk about it — with them, and now again by telling me."
Was that an insult or a compliment? Edgeworth knew he didn't handle feelings well. He huffed, smiling bittersweet. "Dating me wouldn't be pleasant anyway." He only noticed he had whispered those thoughts out loud when Phoenix spoke up softly.
"Objection."
That was the quietest yet somehow most emotional objection Edgeworth had ever heard. Surprised, he raised his gaze. Phoenix was smiling at him encouragingly, his cheeks still slightly rosy from blushing so strongly earlier.
"I'm convinced that the man you love and date would be the happiest person on earth!" Putting his hands on his hips, Phoenix defiantly angled his head.
But Edgeworth didn't even dare to object. "I wish to believe you're right," he whispered. "But—"
"I want to prove it!"
"What?" Perplexed, Edgeworth blinked.
"Will you let me try?" Phoenix asked softly.
"Wright, what are you—"
"Let me try being that man for you," Phoenix said, his voice filled with determination. "I may not be your first love, but—"
"But you are—" Edgeworth blurted out, and suddenly they were surrounded by silence. Whatever eloquent monologue Phoenix had prepared had died on his tongue as he stared at Edgeworth with parted lips. With every passing second, Edgeworth felt his face heating up until even the tips of his ears burnt. His dress shirt was clinging to his back as he couldn't stop sweating, his nerves close to breaking down, and his cravat had never felt tighter around his neck. Panicking, he shut his eyes and squeezed his arm hard enough to hurt, his fingers trembling. Why did he have to blurt that out without thinking first? Even if Phoenix had expressed his interest, Edgeworth didn't have to confront him with his yearslong unspoken feelings of love. It was too much — too much pressure, too many feelings, and too many expectations.
An indefinable sound reached Edgeworth's ears. He wasn't sure whether Phoenix was laughing or crying. Gathering his courage, Edgeworth raised his head and opened his eyes. Phoenix was smiling at him, tears at the corners of his eyes.
"I'm glad."
"Huh?"
Grinning, Phoenix rubbed his nose. "So, will you give me a chance?" Edgeworth didn't believe his ears. "We can start slow. Let's say, dinner on Saturday?"
"Yes," Edgeworth replied, still perplexed. "Yes," he repeated, feeling the corners of his mouth rising up. "I would like that."
"Great!" Phoenix grinned even wider. "I'm looking forward to it!"
"I hope you won't regret it," Edgeworth whispered, even though he couldn't stop smiling.
"Never. And I don't mind spending the rest of my life proving just that," Phoenix replied with so much conviction that Edgeworth couldn't help but huff.
"The rest of your life," he repeated, teasingly raising an eyebrow. "Already thinking about marriage, hm?" And here he had thought he had been coming on too strong.
Phoenix's eyes widened in realization. "Well, that wasn't what I intended to say, but—"
"But?" Edgeworth prompted, holding his breath in anticipation.
"I'm not going back on my word!" Phoenix promised, and then they both laughed.
Edgeworth couldn't know what the future would hold, but for the first time in forever, he was looking forward to finding out.