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He regretted leaving the motel for a breath of fresh air. These days, Phoenix Wright had no qualms over being out by himself at one in the morning in some country he couldn't understand the language of. Now he paid the price: a bloody nose and a stolen wallet. Luckily, it contained only a few coupons to an American pizzeria that were no good, one dollar as well as three euros, a condom that Larry gave him "just in case" that he knew was probably expired by now, and a $50 gift card to Target that Maya got him for his birthday recently. There was only $7 left on it, he thought. Not to mention, I'm not sure if this country even has Target...
He sat up. He had been lying on the ground for some time now, not quite unconscious, but in pain. "The fact that I remember the gift card is good," whispered Phoenix to himself. He liked talking to himself to clear up his racing thoughts and check for any amnesia. "So my memory's still there. I'm here to study judicial systems. Trucy is in Kurain with Maya, Pearl, and Iris. Trucy is my daughter. Maya is my friend. Pearl is my smaller friend. Iris is my friend and ex-girlfriend. Kurain is a village." He didn't know exactly where he was going with this but expected he'd find his way soon.
He blinked and looked down on the ground. "And I left the hotel because-" He frowned. He noticed a very small marker that was also in his wallet had fallen out. He usually used it to write reminders and small grocery lists on napkins while he was working at the Borscht Bowl Club. He picked it up and got to his feet. He took a breath through his nose and noticed it was runny and when he wiped his nose on his sleeve, he met a great streak of blood on his favorite sweater.
Phoenix was embarrassed that he let himself be so vulnerable when he knew he was walking in dangerous, unknown territory. He had hoped that by the end of today, he could relax in his room after having to observe and analyze a trial held in a language he didn't understand. He wasn't so comfortable having Edgeworth whispering in his ear trying to translate constantly. Not even the people of the trial's native tongue seemed to be able to keep up with what the acting lawyer were dishing out.
In fact, Edgeworth was the reason he left his room. They separated for lunch because the other man had errands to run. They met up again to talk about the case they watched in his room. Usually, Edgeworth got tired at about 5 or 6pm and went to his own room, but today they engaged in a long and convoluted discussion about how the judicial system in this country was slightly more efficient than in the last one they visited. It went on for hours.
"No, it is, Edgeworth, and I can prove it!" Phoenix said while smirking. Phoenix was sitting at the desk while Edgeworth sat at the foot of his bed while crossing and uncrossing his legs .
"Oh? You'll prove it?"
"Yes," he replied, opening his old laptop. "If I could just-"
"I hope you aren't planning on googling your evidence, Wright," Edgeworth snorted.
"Th-There's better databases I use, you know," he said, waiting for his computer to finish its long cycle of loading and erroring. He heard Edgeworth mutter something like "I hope it's not Bing" but ignored him. He opened document after document, not able to find the one he had read on the plane journey there. I'm just wasting his time. He's probably watching me and thinking I don't know what I'm talking about. ...and I can't even look at him right now. Edgeworth waited patiently it seemed, the room silent except for the whirring of his laptop's overworked fan and the rumble of the mini-fridge next to the desk.
Or at least, Phoenix thought Edgeworth was waiting patiently. While skipping through a page that seemed familiar to him, he heard a light snort and a faint moan. He turned and gaped in disbelief. The other man had fallen snugly asleep.
Phoenix was also shocked at how much they had lost track of the time. He was used to staying up late of course, much much past midnight, but his trips with Edgeworth were strictly professional and mostly 9 to 5. This was the first time Edgeworth decided to stay the night... possibly ever.
It'd be like a sleepover, he mused. With a personified prickly pear cactus. Fun.
Phoenix stopped suddenly and realized he couldn't bring himself to share the bed with his travelling partner. He dismissed the lingering and intrusive thoughts in his head and decided what he really needed was refreshing night air and a perhaps a small bottle of booze to help him relax... or at least distract him.
Yet right before he went out the door, Trucy came to mind. He tried not to think about the look on her face if he was drinking again. Yet again, he wasn't sure he had enough money for even a sip anyways.
Then, just a short walk outside the inn, it happened. He heard the footsteps behind him too late and his pockets were very quickly picked clean. His knees buckled after being swiftly kicked from behind and when he tried to catch a glimpse of his attackers face, his face was firmly pummeled. As fast as the wind, the mugger had made off with his belongings (sans the marker).
His nose stung and his eyes prickled with tears. To some extent he was glad the thief hadn't stuck around to jeer. Adrenaline made his body shake and ache unpleasantly. He never noticed until now how cold it was outside.
He rolled over onto his back. The ground was filthy but he found it hard to mind.
This incident, he decided, he would not tell anyone about truthfully. He knew full well he'd lie and say he fought his attacker with all his might and bravely defended himself. I'm already enough of a mess as it is. If I can't defend myself, why should I be qualified to defend others? He grimaced at the thought.
When he could stand up again, he picked up the little marker and sighed. Phoenix had to begin scheming. He would sneak into his room so that Edgeworth wouldn't wake up... he would clean up his nose in the bathroom and if Edgeworth woke up then, he would say he was brushing his teeth. Then, Edgeworth would leave and he could sleep comfortably.
But what if he was awake when I got there? Phoenix thought, feeling a mild headache coming on (an after effect of the adrenaline, he assumed). He began walking slowly out of the skeevy alley towards the inn again. Ah! He'd tell him Trucy called him and he took it outside to avoid disturbing his sleep. He considered this for a moment.
No. He's too smart for that. I left my phone on my desk. And he'd wonder about my nose.
Just the thought of telling Edgeworth the truth made his guts wrench and his knees weaker. How could he explain that he went out so late just for a little alcohol and not feel like a complete jackass? He imagined the other man's face as he'd tell him this: glaring with disappointment and loathing. Phoenix couldn't stop imagining it.
Alright, alright, let's not mention the booze. But maybe why I wanted to leave the room? That was a lot harder to think about. He didn't want to share a bed with Edgeworth because he had... cooties. So he left. And somehow, he thought maybe a beer would help.
He walked over to the alley wall and looked around. If he couldn't say it aloud, he would write it down. No one had to know He took his marker and wrote tiny letters on the wall. "I am here because".
He stopped to admire how neat he made his writing look and to worry about what he was going to write next. His stomach lurched and he sighed. He wrote the next phrase very neatly below the first.
"I am here because - I love Miles Edgeworth," read the small patch of writing. He let out a quivering breath. It was perfect...
"Wright?"
And then it wasn't perfect. Phoenix suppressed the urge to run away, scream "ah shit!", or wet himself in that moment. He quickly spun around, hiding the pen and the declaration behind his back.
It was Edgeworth. His clothes were disheveled and his face was wrinkled from using his jacket sleeve as a pillow. Phoenix didn't anticipate the scenario where Edgeworth would come looking for him.
"What exactly are you doing?" said Edgeworth, completely nonplussed, his wide eyes searching him up and down.
"I, uh, fresh air?" said Phoenix quickly. "It's a beautiful night. Don't you agree?"
"Okay," said Edgeworth, glancing around the alley. "Your face is completely covered in blood, but okay."
Phoenix twitched.
"What's that in your hand?"
"Um... it's a-" he said followed by a mumble.
Edgeworth gave him a piercing glare. "Were you doing something I wouldn't approve of?"
"Absolutely not," said Phoenix, putting a hand on Edgeworth's back and trying to lead him towards the inn. "Now, uh, let's go back to bed, shall we? It's pretty, erm, late."
"Were you committing vandalism? What is that you wrote?" said Edgeworth, jerking away from the other man's hand.
"Nothing! Nothing important!" Phoenix quickly used his back to cover the message again. He uncapped his pen and crossed wildly with the marker, desperately trying to cross out the message, but he didn't have the ability to see if it was truly gone. And if he turned around to look... Edgeworth would pounce...
But he didn't. The bleary eyed man just stared at him like he had just declared he was giving up piano playing to become the world's best hurdy-gurdy repairman. "You... crossed it out," said Edgeworth, his voice unreadable.
"Oh, I did?" muttered Phoenix gladly, and he whipped his head around. He found himself being brutally pushed aside. He glanced over and saw Edgeworth had lied. His marker had run out of ink rather quickly. Phoenix looked on in horror as Edgeworth stared blatantly at the message. Phoenix put a hand to his mouth and Edgeworth crossed his arms.
"I-I can explain, really..."
Edgeworth didn't look over to him as he said. "Read it out loud."
"W-What?"
"Read it."
"Okay..." said Phoenix, blushing from his ears to his toes. "Uhm, it says 'I am here because I-' uh..." He felt like he was going to be sick.
"Because you...?" said Edgeworth, his voice cracking slightly.
Phoenix gasped. "Wait a second."
Edgeworth glanced back at him quizzically.
"You can't read that," said Phoenix, his head aching so much he felt it was about to burst.
"No, I can read it perfectly fine," he said very quickly, closing his eyes and tapping his finger on his crossed arms.
"You've been using magnifying glasses without fail on all the papers I've given to you to read today... or perhaps yesterday. Your eyesight is failing!"
"I said I can read it!" said Edgeworth, his eyes wild and his cheeks blushing profusely.
"Then... do you object to it?"
"Um... I-I," stuttered Edgeworth, biting his lip. He looked again towards the wall. He really can't read it!
"Alright, old-man-eyes, then tell me what it says if you can read it!" said Phoenix, his eyes gleaming. "If you can't... you're just bluffing!"
Edgeworth refused to look at him as he said, "It says 'I am here because I love...' and then me. My name..."
There was a silence, broken only by a passing car humming down a street nearby. Edgeworth was looking at the ground between the wall and the other man. Phoenix choked. "Oh shit, you're right! It does... say that. Huh." He rubbed at the declaration with his sleeve, which did nothing. "Well, you just got a declaration of love from a wall. Can you believe that? Personally, I can't believe they're sentient-"
"No objections," choked Edgeworth. His face was as red as the hues of a sunrise, even though it was a few hours until one would occur.
"Huh?"
"Earlier you asked if I had any. I... I have no objections," said Edgeworth, who finally allowed himself to gaze at Phoenix. Suddenly, Edgeworth pulled out what looked like a handkerchief from his pocket and shoved it across Phoenix's face.
"W-What was that for? Are you trying to smother me with that?"
All the blood in Edgeworth's brain, it seemed, went directly to his cheeks when he said, "Your lips are covered in blood. I need to wipe your face before I kiss you."
He took another good swipe at his face with the handkerchief for good measure and then he cupped his hands around Phoenix's face and engulfed him into a long but chaste and clumsy kiss. Phoenix, petrified on the spot, felt Edgeworth's lip tremble before he pulled away for breath. Edgeworth anxiously ran a hand through his messy, frazzled hair and seemed not to believe what he had just done.
Phoenix held his hands to his lips, which tingled slightly. He stared at Edgeworth with a deer-in-headlights expression and felt a shiver run down his spine. Edgeworth looked stern and had a personality very much like a cactus... but his skin was soft like a foam pillow. He closed all distance between them and pressed Edgeworth against the wall, joining their lips again. Phoenix giggled against his mouth, circling his arms around his neck and plunging his fingers through his silky bed hair. Edgeworth rested his raised arm on his shoulder and the other on the small of his back.
When he pulled away, Phoenix beamed at him and let out a shaky laugh. Edgeworth smiled shyly.
"U-Uhm, we have to be up early. I should be getting to my own room now," Edgeworth said quietly, but then faster than he had hoped, Edgeworth returned to his snappy self. "On second thought, I actually do have objections to that statement, you know. You're here because your studying law. Not studying me!"
"Oh... that's right..."
"You have enough time for that at home." Then, he smiled and shoved the bloody handkerchief in Phoenix's hand. "Make sure to wash that. Goodnight, Phoenix." He kissed Phoenix on the nose, who winced. Edgeworth noticed. "What happened with your nose anyways?"
"Oh, I, erm," said Phoenix as they walked together towards the inn holding hands, leaving the graffiti alone after all. "I was walking to the store to get some water since the vending machine charges unbelievable prices and this huge guy shows up rivaling Gumshoe's size, and he says to me-"
"What did he say?"
"He said to hand over everything I had, even the clothes on my back!"
"How would he know you spoke English?"
"W-Well, he... he just did, okay?"
"Don't tell me you're bluffing?!"
Phoenix smiled. "You know, it's funny, Miles... you can see right through me, yet you never even noticed I was in love with you!"
Edgeworth didn't interrupt his story after that.