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The whole shop is like an explosion of Edgeworth.
Phoenix looks through the shop window with something that might be hysteria, before he decides to be a man and step over the threshold. It's just a store, a very common place where one acquires...things. Things with lace, and painted china, and oh god.
He almost turns right around but reminds himself that he's on a mission.
More than the horrifying conglomeration of things that are undoubtedly far too expensive for him to accidentally break, the aroma of more kinds of tea than he ever knew existed almost bowls him over. He stares at the wall of tea, flanked by the kind of pretty, delicate teacups that Edgeworth favors, and wonders how the hell he's supposed to find what he's looking for.
"May I help you?" an elderly woman asks.
Phoenix rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm looking for some tea," he says, uncomfortably aware that his cheeks have already gone red.
And despite his recent bad experiences with old women in court, this one doesn't seem inclined to mock him. "What kind would that be?" she asks. Phoenix belatedly realizes she's making lace. Tatting, some part of his mind supplies.
"Something special. Expensive, probably," he says, knowing the taste of the person in question. "I don't…I don't know. I was kind of hoping I could just, you know. Smell a couple until I know which one it is?"
The woman doesn't seem to think this is particularly out of the ordinary, which is just as well for Phoenix's complexion. "You'll want to start here," she says kindly, and indicates a section of the shelf with tiny little tins and price tags that make his jaw drop.
The things he does, honestly.
***
Phoenix shows up at Edgeworth's office that night, late enough that most sane people have gone off in search of dinner. He knocks and waits, because he knows how much Edgeworth hates people just barging in, mostly because Edgeworth tells him how much he hates it every time Phoenix does it.
"Come in," Edgeworth calls.
Phoenix steps inside, his carefully wrapped purchase hidden behind his back.
"Wright, I told you, I'm far too busy for this kind of nonsense today," Edgeworth says, and it's true, he did tell Phoenix exactly that this morning. But there's a lot less bite behind his words now, probably because Edgeworth's been working steadily since then.
Phoenix refuses to get sidetracked. "Yeah, I know. I just thought you could use a break. Maybe some caffeine."
"Wright," Edgeworth says, and Phoenix really can hear exhaustion bleeding through Edgeworth's normally steady tone. "I really have no patience for April Fool's jokes, so if you could please desist and remove yourself from my office, it would be much appreciated."
"You're so suspicious. Can't I do something nice for you?"
"Beyond leaving me alone, you mean?"
Phoenix rolls his eyes and parks one hip up on Edgeworth's desk, holding out a pink bag.
Edgeworth eyes Phoenix's intrusion onto his furniture with visible annoyance before gingerly plucking the bag out of Phoenix's hand. He raises one eyebrow, and Phoenix doesn't do anything to suppress the sense of triumph he feels at being able to surprise Edgeworth.
But then Edgeworth opens it and removes the tiny tin of tea that Phoenix identified the second he had a whiff of it. His eyes widen for a moment as he takes in the scent, and then he slaps one hand down on his desk with all the vigor that he uses in court.
"Get. Out."
"You mean you don't like it?" Phoenix says innocently, already backing away.
Edgeworth snarls in answer and takes Phoenix by the elbow, guiding him not so gently to the door.
"You said you'd propose if someone tracked down more of that unlabeled tea I found in Mia's cupboard," Phoenix reminds him, well aware that he's risking bodily harm by doing so.
"Wright, did you manage to make it through law school without understanding hyperbole?"
Edgeworth shoves him out of the room and almost shuts the door in Phoenix's face, temporarily thwarted by Phoenix using his foot as a doorstop.
"So, I'll see you tomorrow night?" Phoenix says, because he's nothing if not persistent. "I'll bring you something to go with the tea."
Edgeworth actually hesitates for a second, and that's when Phoenix knows he has him. "Perhaps you were lucky with the tea, but it's inconceivable that you could actually pick out something to go with it."
Phoenix grins at him, and says, "Don't worry, I know what you like."
"Out," Edgeworth says, dislodging Phoenix's foot and slamming the door shut.
Even though he's been forcibly removed from Edgeworth's presence, Phoenix still smiles at the closed door, and smiles even wider when he hears the slight rattle of china and the hum of the electric kettle. It's true that he's been temporarily deprived of seeing Edgeworth go into carefully civilized raptures over that tea again, but he can wait. Edgeworth wouldn't have made that challenge if he hadn't been so sure that Phoenix would meet it, after all.
Phoenix sticks his hands in his pockets and wanders down the hallway, a definite spring in his step. Who said April was the cruelest month, anyway?