Do not let the title fool you. There is no "checkmate" in here whatsoever, but there is a chess game, albeit one that lasts two or so sentences since I'm not an avid chess player myself. So why did I write it? Because I squealed at that part in the game when one examines the chessboard in Edgeworth's office! (I did a quick scan to see if anyone wrote about this chess detail, but I didn't find any. I do think someone else could write this better than me.)

Also, I kill the mood. I'm warning you now. I found out that I can't seem to be able to write "that far", if you know what I mean. Man... D:

P.S. Please forgive my wording. I don't know how to express myself in storytelling.

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Checkmate

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It was a brilliant, sunny day. As always, the curtains of Miles Edgeworth's office window were open, illuminating the room with its many accessories, extravagant furniture, and the two people that were occupying it.

"Wright?"

"Yeah?"

"Go home."

The blue suited defense attorney immediately sat upright from his once relaxed position on the couch. "What! It's my day off. There's nothing to do anywhere else."

The lavender suited prosecutor leaned back on his desk chair, and peered at the other man with his ashen colored eyes. "Unlike you, I have work. Your presence disturbs me."

Rubbing his chin, Phoenix thought about it for a moment before a rather sly smile spread across his face. "Does it?"

For a very brief moment, Edgeworth became a little flustered. Honestly, he couldn't believe he shared the same age with such a person. He turned his head away from the obtrusive man to regain his composure. Though he found opposites between them in every way possible, he couldn't help but… find an attraction in every way possible.

What does this man do to him?

When he glanced at the brunette from the corner of his eye, he was met with a stare emitting the color of sapphire. Sighing, he responded, "Don't look at me like that, Wright."

The less professional lawyer of the two rose from the couch, and walked up to the front of the prosecutor's desk. "Why don't you take a break?"

Once again calm and collected, Miles Edgeworth asked, "And what do you propose I do?"

Looking straight ahead at the bookshelf, and then to a table on the right, Phoenix suggested, "How about we play chess?"

"You're a chess player?" An astonished tone was present.

"I know a few things." There was a short silence as Phoenix eagerly awaited Edgeworth's decision.

"I suppose. I have not played for quite some time, though I doubt you'd best me."

"We'll just see."

As Phoenix strolled over and examined the coordination of the pieces, he realized that it was still in the same configuration as when he first entered this office, a startling tidbit he had shared with Ema Skye.

Knights… with swords of sharp edges… surrounding a pawn with spiky hair…

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt Edgeworth's presence next to him. "What are you looking at?" he wondered.

"N-nothing. Let's just play." The defense attorney didn't notice the prosecutor's astute countenance before he rearranged the pieces.

At first, they were playing move for move, but as time progressed, Edgeworth's pieces captured more of Phoenix's, until he was just left with one pawn, and a couple of bishops to protect his king. Before he knew it, the chessboard was reconfigured to what it had just been before they played. All of Edgeworth's red knights were surrounding Phoenix's blue pawn. The one resembling his own pawn didn't catch on to the fact that he had been ogling at the arrangement for such a while that it captured the attention of the red knight's owner.

"Is this what captivated you?" he asked rather daintily.

Looking up, he saw Edgeworth's lips formed into a wry grin. Averting his gaze, he dismissed the prosecutor's question with a wave of his hand.

But still…

"… Why don't you capture my pawn already?"

"Where's the fun in such a quick capture? I want to beguile my interest, Wright."

"What…?"

Edgeworth walked towards his opponent's seat, and leaned over the defense attorney, almost making him tip off his chair. The tables had turned. Silver met sapphire with an unnerving gaze…

And then…

"Hey, Edgeworth! I heard you were still in the building!"

The prosecutor's head dropped down when he heard those doors open, and Phoenix could have laughed, but just kept a disarming smile. The new entrant Gumshoe took a gander at the two, then he looked to the left, and to right, and later looked down at the ground, occasionally looking up at the lavender oriented man. "… Was I interrupting something?"

Edgeworth didn't want to complain, yet retorted, "I guess you don't want a raise this month."

An expression of dismay sprung across Gumshoe's face. He bowed his head, and then slumped out of the room. The two lawyers kept their eyes on where the detective had just been, and then they looked at each other. None too soon, Edgeworth turned around, and placed a hand over his mouth as he coughed once, probably out of embarrassment. Phoenix smiled.

"We can try again next time."

Edgeworth turned back around. "Try what again?"

Phoenix just smiled once more and stroked his partner's face.

Oh, what a game they played.