Author's notes: Hi, I'm back with a holiday Phoenix Wright fic. Yay, fluff. So.. the pairing is Phoenix and Edgeworth. It has nothing to do with any of my other fics.
Summary: Edgeworth needs to learn how to enjoy the holidays, and Phoenix needs something to occupy him.
Disclaimer: I don't own Phoenix Wright/Gyakuten saiban. Obviously. If I did, then… well, stuff like this might happen.
A phone rang.
Phoenix Wright, not having expected it, jumped. It was cold out this morning, and quiet, thus magnifying the sound of the ring tone a hundredfold. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small blue phone, examining the number on the screen. He grinned to himself when he read the name of his friend and assistant. He quickly answered the call, greeting the spirit medium quickly and waiting for her to dive into the purpose of the call.
Maya wasted no time. "Nick, I finished last night, but it took a long time!" She exclaimed. "I do hope you'll be paying me somehow?"
Nick laughed. Same old Maya. "How about I take you out for some burgers later on? That sound like decent pay?" He could practically see the hungry cat-like grin Maya had on her face. "I think it is," She replied. "See ya later, Nick!" She said before hanging up.
--
Phoenix knocked on the door of Edgeworth's office. He heard a faint "come in" and pushed the door open, entering quietly so as not to disturb his friend in case he was working. Working so close to the holidays… doesn't this guy ever take a break? Nick wondered to himself as he walked up to the large desk. The fresh yet gentle scent of peppermint made its way to Phoenix, making the defense attorney reminisce on the happy memories of when he was a child. Christmas was one of the happiest times for Phoenix when he was younger.
Phoenix took this moment of subtle silence as his chance to take in all the decorations that had been put up around the prosecutor's office. He grinned. "Since when do you do all this holiday decorating?" He asked, finally breaking the quiet that had so easily settled over the two men.
Edgeworth merely glanced up from his work to answer Phoenix. Said lawyer noted that his friend had a sour look on his face… that was not good.
"I didn't put this up," the prosecutor answered coldly. "It was here when I arrived."
"Should've known," Nick said. "Edgeworth is too stuck-up to celebrate or even try to come away from his work."
Edgeworth scowled. "Yes, and speaking of which, you're distracting me considerably," he said. Phoenix raised a brow. "Oh, is that so?" He asked, leaning one elbow on the desk and resting his head in his palm. "So what can you do about it?"
"Nothing, I suppose," Edgeworth conceded, closing the book he had been writing in. Nick pulled back, considerably surprised. That was almost too easy.
He sighed and walked over to the couch, plopping down on it. "Looks nice in here," Phoenix said, "I can hardly tell that it's you that owns this office."
"And what do you mean by that, Wright?"
Phoenix rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Erm… Well, actually, you see… Eh…" Oh well, might as well come clean. "You never decorate your office... or even come out of your shell and be happy just for the holidays." Yeah, real smooth, Nick. Phoenix closed his eyes as if expecting something to last out and whip him. He opened one eye and was glad to see that nobody even made a move, so he relaxed.
"Wright… you know very well why I don't like celebrating this season." Edgeworth grabbed his arm and looked away, biting his lip just slightly enough that Phoenix could see.
"Oh…" the defense attorney murmured, the realization just hitting him at that moment. Of course. How could I be so stupid? Phoenix wondered. Edgeworth lost his father around this time and was taken in by the guy that killed him…
He gave Edgeworth an apologetic look. He hoped that would cut it… but knew better than that – Edgeworth was still looking away from Nick and clutching his arm. "Hey, c'mon Miles," Phoenix said, getting up and putting a hand on the prosecutor's shoulder to try and comfort him. Edgeworth tensed up upon the contact, thinking it kind of odd that Wright had used his first name. It was quite unlike him.
"Don't you remember what it was like before Christmas break that year?" Phoenix asked, giving a weak smile to the other man. Edgeworth shook his head, closing his eyes. Phoenix had expected as much; he figured Edgeworth tried to lock up as much as he could about that time, including while they were still in school. But Nick simply smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out a candy cane. Edgeworth looked at it strangely and Nick could have sworn that he saw something glint in Edgeworth's eyes. "It's from Larry," he said, holding it in front of Edgeworth's face.
Edgeworth closed his eyes and reopened them slowly, his lips slowly moving to form was could have been considered a smile to anyone who really knew him. It was so subtle that Nick had to grin himself; it felt good knowing that he had almost gotten Edgeworth - the cold, distant prosecutor - to smile. "Larry," said prosecutor muttered, looking away again. He nodded slowly and accepted the treat, taking it timidly from Phoenix's hand.
Nick pulled one out for himself and opened it, putting the sweet stick into his mouth. He saw Edgeworth do the same and knew the other man was also enjoying the candy.
"Do you remember now?" Phoenix asked, moving to sit back down. Edgeworth nodded. "Yes, Wright, I remember," he said.
--
"Nick! Miles!" A voice called out on the playground. Two boys were sitting under a tree, waiting for their friend. "Here comes Larry," the spiky-haired boy said. He smiled at the other one, who had started reading a book. "Miles, at least look like you're happy to see him," young Phoenix Wright said to his companion. Miles looked up and smiled. "I am happy to see him, but I want to read my book," he stated firmly.
"Well, wait!" Nick said.
A young Larry ran up to his two best friends, holding in his hands a box of candy canes. "Look, guys!" He said, showing them his treasure.
"Larry, where did you get those?" Phoenix asked, eyes wide with amazement. Candy canes were a real treat to him, even then. His parents didn't like to give him sugary snacks because they thought it would slow him down, make him lazy; heknew for a fact that Larry's parents thought the same way. "You didn't steal them, did you?"
Miles's attention immediately was drawn away from his book as he looked at his friend with wide, surprised eyes.
"Of course I did," Larry said. "My dad was going to give them to me for Christmas, but I found them so I decided to bring them to school and share them."
"Larry…!" Young Miles said. He had always had the strongest sense of justice among the three, his dad being a lawyer.
"And you got away with it?" Nick asked. He was impressed. Normally Larry would never have made it to school with the stolen item, let alone keep it long enough to share. Larry rubbed the back of his neck. "Erm… actually, dad caught me," he admitted. "But he said that he thought it was good that I was sharing for a change, so I got to keep them. I guess I was lucky, huh?"
"For once," Miles said, rolling his eyes and going back to his book.
Larry frowned angrily. "Then maybe I'll just share these with Nick."
Little Phoenix shook his head. "No way! Miles has to have some, too."
Larry opened the box begrudgingly, distributing the candies equally. They each got four.
"Let's have one now!" Larry yelled. Miles immediately began to wonder how long he'd wanted to eat them and how much self-control it had taken for him not to rip the box open and scarf them down.
--
So that was how the Candy cane story went, Miles reminisced. He blinked and looked over at Phoenix, whom he noticed was giving him a strange look. It was kind of a sloppy smile, his eyes glowing with something unfamiliar to Miles. He wondered what it could possibly be that made his friend look at him like that.
"Miles, sit down. You look tired," Phoenix said, sliding over on the couch to allow the prosecutor some room. Edgeworth hadn't even noticed Wright move to sit down. Was he really that deep in thought?
No matter. He gave his friend another weak sort of half-smile and moved to sit next to him. He sighed, closing his eyes momentarily to adjust to his current position. He felt something slide around his waist and opened his eyes to look at Phoenix. The defense attorney smiled, cheeks tinged in the slightest shade of pink. Edgeworth looked away, feeling his own face begin to warm. He moved his arm to reach and grasp the other one, giving off a telltale body signal that he was feeling awkward. Phoenix almost let out a small chuckle. So I've got him like that, huh? He thought. Something came to his mind and he thought it was incredibly stupid to try it, but sometimes common sense was just stomped out by curiosity.
Phoenix put his other hand under Edgeworth's chin and gently coaxed his friend into facing him. Nick kept that hopelessly optimistic smile on his face as he leaned in and gave Edgeworth a quick kiss. It hadn't even been a second before the defense attorney brought himself away from Edgeworth.
"Wright," Edgeworth started. He had a troubled look on his face.
"Yeah, Miles?" Phoenix asked. Edgeworth couldn't shake the feeling of increasing unease when Wright used his first name. Something about it was so… informal. Yet…
"Why did you do that?" He asked. Not that the prosecutor really minded; on the contrary, he'd wanted to do that to Phoenix for a while, but always just assumed he'd be pushed away.
Phoenix grinned and pointed above their heads. Edgeworth looked up and smirked, coming to the sudden realization. "I see," he said, eyes till on the mistletoe above them.
"Yup. Maya's a lot better than I…" Phoenix trailed off, eyes widening before he stood up suddenly. He hoped Edgeworth hadn't noticed his slip-up… but, being the demon prosecutor he was, he wouldn't miss something like that.
"Maya…?" Edgeworth asked, raising a borw in interest. "So your… assistant did all this?"
Edgeworth smirked, stepping closer to Phoenix, who had tensed up rather quickly. "And perhaps you had something to do with it… hmm?" He put his hand on Phoenix's shoulder and turned him around so they were facing each other. The defense attorney grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Erm… I might have?" His attempts at protesting the prosecutor's claims were weak and Nick knew it.
So did Edgeworth.
"Why don't you just tell me?" Said prosecutor asked, coming up close to Phoenix. Their faces were inches apart and Edgeworths fingers were under Nick's chin, holding him in place. The defense attorney blushed, trying so hard to look away from those dark grey eyes…
"I asked Maya to come in and spruce this place up for Christmas. You just seemed so depressed lately, I thought it would cheer you up," Phoenix admitted. If Edgeworth hadn't hushed him by pressing their lisp together, Phoenix would have admitted his most deep, dark, intimate secrets.
Phoenix closed his eyes slowly, relishing in the gentle sweetness of the kiss – it was simple, chaste and clean; yet for some reason, Phoenix could detect something deeper through the simple action. He smiled as he pulled away slowly to look into the prosecutor's dark eyes. "Miles… you're lonely, aren't you?"
Edgeworth stepped back slightly, once again adopting that sense of vulnerability and momentary weakness – it was then that Phoenix realized he was right.
"Come here," he said, once again moving to take Edgeworth in a gentle embrace. The prosecutor relented and allowed Phoenix to hold him, enjoying the warmth of another body against his.
"Thank you," Edgeworth whispered to Phoenix, lips just inches away from said man's ear. "Thank you…"
"For what?" Nick asked, smiling. "I haven't really done anything."
But it was silent when Nick received the answer he was looking for. He sighed and stepped away from Edgeworth slightly, just giving himself enough room to lean in and kiss his long-time friend once more.
Maybe Christmas isn't so bad, Egdeworth thought.
A/N: Okay, I had to stop there or else all your teeth might have fallen out. Dx
Hope you enjoyed it anyways! Please review!