Chapter Text
"Trucy," Phoenix spoke, the apprehension showing in his voice, "you know about my new job, right?"
"Mhm!" Trucy nodded, smiling. It had been a few months since Phoenix took Trucy in, and Phoenix had been unemployed up until recently, leaving them to just be supported by government aid.
"Unfortunately, my job needs me to come in to work tonight." Phoenix explain, watching Trucy fidget with a bead she'd found in between the couch cushions.
"Okay!" Trucy smiled, liking the idea of being left alone for the night.
"And you're not old enough to be home by yourself," Trucy deflated slightly, her dreams of ice-cream-dinner being crushed, "so uncle Miles is gonna come watch you, okay?"
Trucy nodded, she'd heard a lot about uncle Miles from Phoenix, Maya, and Pearl, but had yet to meet the man. "Sounds good!"
Phoenix smiled, ruffling Trucy's hair, "Thanks for being flexible, Truce-Goose."
Trucy giggled, pushing at her dads hand, not wanting to mess up the braid she'd done such a good job putting in her hair.
"What time is he coming over, daddy?" Trucy asked, watching Phoenix wander into the kitchen, putting together his work bag.
"At about 6:30." He replied. It was 6:00 now, so that gave them about a half hour, "I'm having him come over early so I have time to show him the ropes before I have to head out."
Trucy nodded before going back to the drawing she was working on at the coffee table, loosing interest in speaking with her dad.
-----
Almost exactly a half hour later, at 6:30, a sharp knock was heard at the door of the apartment. Trucy immediately hopped up, running to the door, as she always did when they had guests. Trucy quickly unlocked the deadbolt, swinging the door open wildly, causing it to knock into the pile of shoes behind the door, as it always did when she would open the door.
"Ah," Edgeworth gasped slightly, surprised by how excitedly the door was opened, "Hello."
"Hi!" Trucy smiled brightly, "Come in! Daddy's in the living room!" She exclaimed, letting Edgeworth in before running down the small hall to the living room.
"He's here?" Phoenix questioned, watching Trucy, who was practically jump up and down, nod, "Mhm mhm!"
As Phoenix began to push himself off the couch, Edgeworth entered the space, taking in the room. It wasn't very large, there was a couch (clearly purchased years ago at IKEA), an old rocking chair (one of Mia's old possessions), a nice coffee table (having been a gift from Franziska), and an entertainment stand with an old TV on top of it. The rug was a nice soft blue, and the whole room was riddled with Trucy's magic equipment.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Miles." Phoenix spoke, having hauled himself off the couch and over to his friend.
"It's no trouble at all." He spoke, taking in the grey sweater Phoenix wore. It looked like it needed to be laundered.
"Do you want a tour?" Phoenix asked, causing Trucy to jump, wanting to show Edgeworth around.
"That would be appreciated." Edgeworth replied, "Would the little lady like to show me around?"
"Yes!" Trucy smiled, taking the initiative to show her uncle around.
Leading Edgeworth into through the apartment, Trucy explained each room. "This is the kitchen!" she spoke before opening up a door inside it, "This is my room and Daddy's office." Moving onto the other door in the kitchen revealed the bathroom, and a detour back to the living room and into a door in the corner got them to Phoenix's room.
"This is Daddy's room!" Trucy explained, "The door over there" Trucy pointed to a door by the bed. "is the closet, and the door there" Trucy pointed to a door by the book shelf, "is the attic! We can't go up to the attic."
"Thank you for showing me around, Trucy." Edgeworth thanked her, standing in the doorway.
After making their way back into the living room, Phoenix, who was getting his shoes on to leave, began to speak, "Okay, there's pasta in the pantry for dinner, the sauce is in the fridge, Trucy's bed time is 9:00 since it's not a school night, make sure teeth get brushed. I'll be home pretty late, so you can sleep in my bed if you want, Miles." He explained, pulling Trucy in for a quick hug and giving her a kiss on the forehead, "Trucy, be good for uncle Miles, he's doing me a big favor by watching you. I love you, I'll see you in the morning." He spoke, giving Edgeworth a nod, waving slightly as he made his way out the door, locking it behind himself.
After Phoenix left, the atmosphere became a bit tense, Trucy wasn't sure how to act around a new person without her dad's reassurance, and Edgeworth wasn't very good with kids as young as Trucy.
"Um," Trucy started, hands tucked behind her back, "Do you like steel samurai?"
Edgeworth lit up at this, though, he barely showed it on his face, "Oh, Trucy," he started, "I love steel samurai."
Trucy jumped, a smile returning to her face, "Really? Will you watch it with me?"
"Of course." Edgeworth replied.
And so, that is just what they did. Due to Trucy's influence, the two ended up watching steel samurai together until 7:30, when Edgeworth had to pause to make dinner, which ended up being spaghetti with red sauce.
"Trucy," he spoke, dishing the noodles out into bowls, "Where do you and Phoenix generally eat dinner?"
"We eat in the living room, usually." Trucy replied, accepting the bowl and fork from Edgeworth, "Daddy says the chairs at the table hurt his back." She explained, gesturing to the table in the kitchen, which was covered in books, a few empty soda cans, folders, a deck of cards, and a few long ribbons.
"Oh," Edgeworth sighed, realizing it was less about Phoenix's back, and more his avoidance of cleaning up the table, "I suppose we could eat at the coffee table, then."
Trucy nodded, making her way to the living room and sitting on the floor at the table, setting her bowl down as Edgeworth joined her, bringing a couch cushion down to sit on.
"Thank you for dinner, uncle Miles!" Trucy thanked him before digging into the meal, practically inhaling it (as Phoenix warned Miles she was likely to do).
"So, Trucy," Edgeworth spoke between bites, "How has school been?"
Trucy looked up from her bowl, red sauce gathered at the corners of her mouth, "Its okay." She replied, licking away the sauce, "I like my teacher."
"That's good." The older man nodded, "Do you enjoy living with Phoenix?"
"Mhm!" She nodded, smiling, "Daddy is great! He lets me sleep in and watch cartoons!"
Wow. Her bar is low. Edgeworth thought as Trucy continued, "But he does have other grown-ups over a lot."
"What do you mean by that?" He asked, a bit worried.
"Well, he has auntie Maya over a lot, but I like her." She began, looking up as she thought, "And he had Mr. Gumshoe over sometimes." she continued, the smile dropping from her face as she continued, "Oh. And there's him."
Edgeworth frowned slightly, "Who is 'him'?"
"Mr. Kristoph." Trucy spoke, "Daddy only has him over when he thinks I'm asleep. They play card games at the table in the kitchen. I don't like him."
Edgeworth knew vaguely of Kristoph Gavin, but had never met the man. It probably wasn't good that a nine year old disliked him, though. "Why not, Trucy?"
"Daddy always seems sad after he leaves." She said, fidgeting with a card she'd pulled out of god knows where, "And Mr. Kristoph gives him fancy juice."
Kristoph Gavin is coming over, playing cards, and giving Phoenix juice? "Do you mean wine" Edgeworth asked.
"Yeah..." Trucy nodded, frowning, "I don't like it. It smells like what grandpa would drink. The doctor said grandpa got sick cause he drank too much. I don't want Daddy to get sick like that."
Edgeworth nodded, understanding a bit more now, "I see." Trying to soothe Trucy's worries, he reassured her, "I'm sure Phoenix won't get sick like that. A drink now and then won't hurt."
Trucy nodded, looking up at Miles, "Could we watch some more steel samurai?"
"Of course." Miles stood, collecting dishes and bringing them to the kitchen, before returning to sit on the couch with Trucy to watch cartoons.
About an hour later, cartoons had been turned off, Trucy's teeth had been brushed, she'd changed into her pajamas, and the pair had made their way to the room Trucy had told Miles was a combination of Phoenix's office and her bedroom. In the room was a desk, computer, chair, bookshelf, a dresser, a bean bag, and a fuzzy pink rug, but no bed.
"Trucy, where is your bed?" Miles asked, looking around the room.
"In here!" Trucy said, opening up the sliding door for the closet.
Edgeworth's brow furrowed, confused, and a bit concerned. "Your bed is in the closet?" He asked, making his way over to look in the closet. The interior was small, but big enough to fit Trucy's twin sized mattress perfectly. The mattress was directly on the floor and had blue floral sheets with a fluffy blanket, a pillow, and many stuffed animals. The walls were painted a soft purple and were lined with fairy lights with pictures hanging from them. The rod to hang things from had been left in the closet and a sky blue sheet had been draped across it and stuck to the walls with thumb-tacks, making it look like a tent.
"Mhm! Daddy made it nice and cozy for me!" She explained, climbing into the bed and tucking herself in.
"You chose to sleep in here?" Edgeworth questioned.
"Yeah! I was having a hard time with the big open room, so Daddy moved my bed in here!" She said, finding her plush of the steel samurai and putting it next to her in bed. "Would you turn out my lights?"
"Of course." Edgeworth smiled slightly, turning out the string lights, "Goodnight, Trucy."
"Goodnight, uncle Miles!" Trucy was heard as Miles closed the door, sighing slightly once it was fully closed. Phoenix had somehow managed to adopt a child that was just as strange as he was.
-----
Trucy woke with a start, sweating and shaking profusely. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence, unfortunately. Trucy had always had a lot of nightmares, but they only got worse after the events that caused her adoption, leaving her to wake up in a panic most nights.
Trucy hauled herself out of bed and opened up the closet door. Looking outside, it was still dark, and according to the clock on her dads desk, it was 1:34 AM. Trucy quietly left her closet, taking her plushy with her. Holding the plush tight, Trucy made her way through the office, kitchen, and living room, and all the way to her daddy's room.
Reaching up her hand, Trucy put a hand on the knob, pushing slightly, the carpeting in the room creating a bit of resistance, until the door was open far enough for her to slip inside the room. Trucy made her way to the edge of the bed closest to the door, the side her daddy usually slept on, a familiar lump could be seen in the sheets, almost immediately soothing her fears from the nightmare.
Trucy reached up, gently shaking her dad, speaking softly, "Daddy, I had a nightmare."
A sharp gasp from the man in the bed caused Trucy to jump back slightly. Her daddy never woke like this. The panic from the nightmare began to return, crawling up her gut.
The man, who Trucy identified as definitely not her Daddy, sat up in bed, looking over to see Trucy gripping her plushy tightly, shaking slightly.
"Trucy," the man spoke, "what's the matter?"
"Where's my Daddy?!" Trucy yelled, afraid that something had happened.
"Oh," The man spoke, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, "Trucy, don't you remember? Your dad has work tonight so I'm over to watch you."
"What...?" Trucy trailed off, the memory of the previous night returning to her, "Oh." Trucy was so embarrassed, and she was sure it showed on her face. "I'm sorry, uncle Miles, I forgot."
"That's alright." He spoke. His voice was calm, just like her daddy's, and calmed Trucy down, "You said you had a nightmare?"
Trucy nodded, looking down at her feet, contained in her dinosaur footies.
"Do you want to sleep in the big bed?" He asked, earning another nod from Trucy. Edgeworth pulled up the blanket, offering a place for Trucy to come curl up underneath, which is exactly what she did. Edgeworth pulled himself back into bed, deciding to stay up, as Phoenix would most likely be home soon. Edgeworth reached down, pulling his kindle and reading glasses out of his bag and starting to read his book.
After a minute, a small "Goodnight, uncle Miles." was heard from under the blanket, causing Edgeworth to respond with "Goodnight, Trucy." Though, it was pointless, as the small girl was already asleep.