Pairing: Phoenix/Maya
Prompt: "Not everyone is going to think I'm pretty." "They're wrong." Based on a post from the incorrect-narumayo-quotes Tumblr!
Word Count: 779


"What do you think of this, Nick?"

Phoenix watched as Maya twirled in front of him, the dark blue dress she was wearing circling around her legs, long and flowing. A price tag still swung from beneath her arm, though he couldn't see the number on it. He wasn't sure he wanted to.

"It looks fine, Maya," he said.

Maya puffed her cheeks out. "You say that about everything I try on. Does it actually look good?" she said, turning to glance at herself in the mirror hanging on the wall behind her.

"Yeah, I suppose it's good enough. We're only going to Edgeworth's."

He felt a rather strong punch on his arm, and looked down with eyebrows furrowed at Pearl, sitting on the bench beside him. He'd almost forgotten she was with them, she was being so quiet.

She was frowning up at him. "Mr. Nick, you're supposed to tell your special someone that she looks absolutely beautiful!" Pearl said, looking over at Maya. She practically had stars in her eyes. "You do, Mystic Maya! You look like a princess!"

Maya smiled. "Thanks, Pearly."

There was some quiet laughter behind them, and Phoenix saw Maya look up and over his head at whoever was behind them. He heard a boy's voice, probably a teenager. "Isn't lying wrong though?" he said to his friend, not trying to lower his voice at all.

His friend simply snickered, and Phoenix watched as Maya's face fell. An embarrassed blush rose to her cheeks as she turned around. "I'll go change back," she murmured, heading back into the changing room stall.

Phoenix turned on the bench to look over at the two boys. They were still idling around the men's section, laughing to themselves. One of them glanced towards the changing rooms again, and seemed to notice Phoenix staring at him.

Pearl looked over at them as well, and then stood up on the bench. She pointed at the boys. "Hey! You two meanies!"

The boys looked their way again, eyebrows raised. Pearl rolled up her sleeve once she knew she had their attention. "You better come apologize to Mystic Maya!"

The boys looked at each other and laughed. They didn't even acknowledge her.

Phoenix smiled at Pearl. "It's alright, Pearls. Sit down. You know that people who say mean things about others are just self conscious themselves, right? I mean, I know when I was an early teen with a squeaky voice and the barely there hint of facial hair that just looked like dirt smudged on my face because my dad never taught me to shave properly, I was pretty self-conscious too."

Pearl was staring at him, not understanding most of what he was saying, but the boys across the room understood. The one with the squeaky voice mumbled something angrily, and Phoenix could've sworn he pitched his voice lower on purpose. The other rubbed at his face where the hint of a beard was starting to show.

"Let's go," the squeaky voiced one said. The other nodded, and together they trudged out of the store without another glance back.

Phoenix turned back in his seat to wait again for Maya. She was taking an awfully long time getting changed.

"You okay in there, Maya?" he called.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I'm coming out now," she said.

She opened the door and stepped out, and right away Phoenix could tell she'd been crying. She was dressed back in her Master's robes, the blue dress slung over an arm. Pearl started to get up to comfort her, but Phoenix was quicker.

He took the dress from her arms first. "You should buy this one. It was by far the nicest one you've tried today."

Maya smiled gratefully. "Those boys didn't seem to think so."

"Maya, they were just little jerks, probably not even in tenth grade yet. They don't know anything."

"It's okay, Nick. Not everyone is going to think I'm pretty. I just have to get used to that."

"Well… those people are wrong," he said. "You are pretty. Really pretty, actually. Anyone could see that."

Maya looked up at him, surprise evident on her face. Then she smiled, and this time the blush on her cheeks wasn't an embarrassed one. "Thanks, Nick."

Phoenix tried to ignore how Pearl was bouncing excitedly beside him, her hands over her face as she listened to him. Instead he took Maya by the hand, which he was sure would just make Pearl even more excited. "Let's go pay for this. You'll look great at Edgeworth's Christmas party."

"Okay," Maya said, her fingers tightening around his as she followed him to the cash registers.