(no subject)
“Edgeworth?”
Phoenix raised his eyebrows as the other man continued to steadfastly ignore him, perhaps hoping the defense attorney would think he had the wrong man. (Which was utter bull-because silver was a common hair color. …Right.)
“Edgeworth.”
Miles didn’t look up from the sheet of paper in front of him, brows furrowed in concentration as he tapped his pen against the sheet.
“Eeeeeedgewoooooorrrth.” Taking matters into his own hands, Phoenix reached out slowly, pulling the manila folder towards himself.
Well, at least he got some reaction; Edgeworth’s hand stilled and made a very aesthetically pleasing line right down the middle of a witness’s testimony, clunking down onto the table when everything was finally said and done. They both froze for a moment.
Then Edgeworth lifted the pen off the table and brought it down again, the clack of the ballpoint pen’s tip connecting with the glass of the coffee table.
“Oh, for crying out loud!” Phoenix shouted, exasperated, and plopped down right in front of Miles.
Finally those grey eyes met his own, blinking once candidly. “Did you say something, Wright?”
“Oh, you know, nothing important, just your name three times….”
“Mmm.” Edgeworth seemed to suddenly find the fingerprints on the glass fascinating. “Must’ve been absorbed with the fascinating reading material.”
“Please, please tell me that was sarcasm in your voice.” Dammit, this wasn’t working. Time for a change in tactics. “What’re you doing here, anyway?”
“I was on my way home and got thirsty,” Miles quipped back, not looking up from the table. “This was on the way.”
“Oh.” Phoenix blinked, once, twice. “That makes-”
…Wait a second.
“Wait a minute, Edgeworth, isn’t your home in the opposite direction from th-”
“Waitress,” Edgeworth called over his head, waving over one of the ladies. “Could I get another cup of tea, please? And a Spiced Vienna for him?”
“Edgeworth-” Great, this was the part where Edgeworth kindly thanked Phoenix for taking his bill and reality laughed cruelly before kicking him in the seat of his pants.
“Put them both on my tab, please.”
“….”
“Will you stop gaping at me like some sort of fish out of water, Wright? It’s rather embarrassing, even if this is a rather low-class establishment.”
“…Okaaaay,” Phoenix said after a moment of gathering the thoughts that seemed to flee his mind at that statement. “Um…why are you being so, um…uh…”
“Hush, Wright. I need to read this case file.”
“…Oh. Okay, well.” The waitress finally arrived; Phoenix turned to her and said “Actually, can I get this to go? There’s a Steel Samurai special on tonight that I promised a friend of mine I’d watch and-”
“Can I actually get mine to go too, please?” Edgeworth asked, not looking up even as Phoenix nearly sprayed him with a mouthful of chocolate, coffee and cinnamon.
“W-wha-”
“Like I said, I’m on my way home too. We can go together.”
“And like I said, this coffee shop is in the complete opposite direction of your house-”
“…..”
“Unless….”
The very thought was at once absurd and obvious, and Phoenix found himself blinking rapidly, staring dumbly at Edgeworth and trying to figure out what the hell the other man was getting at. Edgeworth didn’t just do things. Then again, if his little vanishing act two years before had taught Phoenix anything, it was that he shouldn’t press this too hard. It wasn’t worth it.
And honestly….
“Then again…” Phoenix murmured, leaning forward and pressing the tips of his fingers together, “we are both relatively famous lawyers with plenty of people who would have our heads in a heartbeat.” He gave Edgeworth a small, toothless smile as the other man looked up fast enough to get whiplash. “So it would probably be beneficial to both of us to stay together, yes? Safety in numbers and all that jazz?”
They stayed that way a moment, gray fixed on blue, the sound of underground jazz flowing around them.
“…Yes.” Edgeworth relaxed a bit, stuffing the papers neatly back into the folder and standing. “Yes. I’m surprised it took you so long to catch on, Wright.”
Phoenix rolled his eyes but smiled and followed Miles up to the counter to pay for his drink. He wasn’t quite sure where this was leading, but his curious nature would not allow him to sleep until he got to the bottom of this.
If nothing else, he thought, as he followed Edgeworth out of the shop and into the brisk autumn air, he at least got a free drink out of it.
Edgeworth took a sip of his tea and made a face, wrinkling his nose. “God, Wright, I don’t know how you stand it.”
“Some of us actually get coffee at coffee shops,” Phoenix replied cheerfully, knocking back another sip of the drink; as he brought it down from his mouth he cupped the container with both hands, letting the heat slowly warm fingers that began to feel a little cold. “You should have asked me what you wanted-I’ve had most of the stuff on their menu at least once.”
“Mmm.” Miles said, taking another long sip. …Actually, now that he was actually looking at Edgeworth, something was strange. Something about the way the other man’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he took long, deep drinks, how he paused only to breathe out and inhale deeply before tilting his head back again and drinking-
“Hey, hey! If you drink that too fast you’re going to get a cramp!”
Edgeworth slowly lowered the cup, a wry half-smile on his lips as he held up the now-drained styrafoam container. “Retrospective advice typically isn’t the best to give, Wright.”
“Asshole.” But the words lacked bite and vigor, and Phoenix had to look away and bite his lip to suppress the smile forming on his lips.
“Well, can’t be helped. I don’t want to walk around with this all day, Wright. Let’s go look for a garbage can.”
“Um, Miles, if you wait a little bit there’s a can right up-” Miles turned abruptly into an alley, cutting Phoenix off, “…there.”
“This one’s closer,” Miles quipped over his shoulder, hands in his pockets.
“Dammit,” Phoenix muttered, bowing his head and following the other man into the alley. For a guy who wants to avoid getting keelhauled in the streets by vengeful criminals he’s not terribly careful with himself. …What are you up to, Edgeworth…?
Two right turns and a left later they found a dumpster, Phoenix turning the corner just in time to see Miles stand on his tiptoes and dunk the cup up and into the garbage. The sight was oddly endearing, lingering beneath Phoenix’s eyelids even as he turned away. “That’s that, then? All right, now come on, the special is in fifteen minutes and-”
Something shoved him forward and into the wall and Phoenix let out a yelp as he banged his head against the brick, panting as he was whirled around, hands at the ready to push and shove away and-
Miles Edgeworth surged forward and nearly gave Phoenix a nosebleed as he crashed their faces-Phoenix kind of assumed he’d meant to get his lips-together.
And it was…
Um. Well.
Phoenix decided to just leave it at “He’s Obviously Pretty New At This.”
Miles’ lips were violent and harsh against Phoenix’s upper one; he bit with his teeth a little too hard, and the defense attorney was pretty sure that that tongue was supposed to be in his mouth, rather than trying to find its way up his nose.
Phoenix sighed and closed his eyes, trying to and failing to bite down the amused smile making its way onto his lips. This situation needed immediate rectifying.
Phoenix tilted his head up, lifting his upper lip up and out of Miles’ mouth as he did so; when Miles lunged at him again Phoenix tilted his head a little to the side so that their mouths met properly this time, full on the mouth and closed, at least to start out with. Miles froze for a moment before relaxing, tilting his head a little as well, bringing himself closer to the other lawyer.
So far, so good, Phoenix thought, and then Miles opened his mouth at the same time Phoenix did.
Phoenix nearly pulled away with a yelp as their teeth collided uncomfortably; as it was, all he did was move his head a little to get another breath of air before moving in again, just a little bit farther this time, so that their teeth wouldn’t knock together again and risk them both a trip to the dentist’s. When Miles insisted on pushing forward again Phoenix moved his arms, one to the back of other man’s head to latch firmly but gently into silver hair while the other moved up and down the other man’s back in nonverbal comfort.
You’re good. You’re doing fine. Just relax and let this happen.
It took a few more moments of moving lips and airy sighs before Phoenix realized what was missing-Edgeworth’s tongue, hesitant to move forward into his mouth.
Well. That had to be fixed. Curling his own tongue forward he caught Miles’, coaxing it back towards his own mouth and moving it past the gate of his teeth, nipping it softly, playfully as he did so. It was enough to finally get Edgeworth to thrust his tongue cautiously into Phoenix’s mouth, gaining confidence as the defense attorney moaned in response and pushed back with his own.
They were only connected like that for a few moments before Edgeworth pulled back, panting, face red, and hid in the crook of Phoenix’s neck and shoulder. Phoenix just hummed as he felt eyelashes on his skin and pulse, not moving his arms from where they petted and soothed Miles.
Surprisingly, Edgeworth was the first to speak. “Th…that was….”
“Not bad for a first timer,” Phoenix chuckled, and laughed a little louder at the huff of indignation. “You think I’m joking, don’t you. At least you didn’t give me a nosebleed like I gave Iris.”
“I don’t know how you managed it and I don’t want to,” Miles murmured, nuzzling the skin of Phoenix’s neck. “I…I’m sorry, it felt so good and I-”
“Your first kiss?” Phoenix chuckled, the hands soothing Miles’ scalp. “I understand. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Miles, considering your childhood.”
“…You didn’t enjoy it,” Miles retorted weakly, and something inside of Phoenix became gleeful as he noticed the petulant tone of pouting worming its way into Edgeworth’s voice.
“Objection. I enjoyed that very much.” Their cheeks bumped, and Phoenix pressed a kiss to Edgeworth’s jaw. “Though you could have been more direct about it. Then again, it’s not everyday that somebody goes out of their way to try and surprise me with a kiss.”
“Wri-”
“If we’re going to continue this, though,” Phoenix said, looking absolutely serious, “you’re going to need lessons. And I think I can do it for free…just this once.”
The only sign of shock that Miles gave was a blink of the eyelids before he shot back “Your place or mine?”
Author’s Endnotes: HAY GAIZ WHERE HAVE WE SEEN THIS PLOT BE--*shot* (Yeah, I probably look like Swiss cheese now.)
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