Work Text:
The last week abroad was always the most anticipated for the chief prosecutor.
Edgeworth had always regularly taken trips abroad to Europe surrounding his job, in fact he did this multiple times a year. Sometimes it’d last only a few weeks, but there were times where he was required to stay for as long as several months. Despite this, everyone around him had really grown accustomed to it, which had made things a little easier for him. Everyone in the office was aware of his usual work trips and found ways to adapt to it. Having those working with him acknowledge his whereabouts and taking them into consideration was most likely a benefit to being chief prosecutor. He was glad the office had grown so fond of it.
Obviously, there were times where Edgeworth wished to be in California instead of Germany. Of course, he cherished his time in the European country every time he was there, but he couldn’t help but wish to have the same company he did in California. It hurt to admit it, but he always found himself missing everyone there, like they were some sort of family.
That’s why when his phone rang, he immediately picked it up after seeing Wright’s name display on his screen.
Despite his slight excitement, he thought it was strange. It was currently early afternoon for Edgeworth, meaning it was past midnight for Wright.
“Hello?” Edgeworth immediately spoke after picking up the call, to which he heard faint sounds of commotion ringing on the other side of the phone before Wright could answer.
“…Mmmiles?” He answered in such a slow and whiny tone.
“Yes, Wright? It’s fairly late for you right now, isn’t it?”
“Mhm…Kinda.”
“Are you alright? Why are you currently awake? Don’t tell me you’ve been arrested…” Edgeworth’s head ached at the thought of having to fly back to California just to bail Wright out, so he had hoped for anything but that.
“No…No.” That came as a relief, but brought a slight feeling of disappointment that Edgeworth couldn’t use it as an opportunity to fly back to California sooner.
“Okay… So, what is it then?”
“Umm… Do–D’you remember when we were still in elementary and I was like… a huge crybaby?”
“…I do. Where exactly are you going with this?”
Ignoring Edgeworth’s question, Wright continued. “–I was crying all the time for like, so many stupid and childish reasons. I know you were always judging me in your mind–I could tell.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“But even so, you still… you still hugged me every time I cried. Do you remember that, Miles?” Again, he ignored his question.
“Well… I suppose I do. You told me you felt better whenever I hugged you, it made sense that it became some sort of habit.”
“I still remember the way you did it. You’d put your hand behind my head and rest it on your shoulder, and then your other hand would be rubbing my back in slow circular motions.”
He couldn’t see it, but Edgeworth knew that Wright was probably demonstrating this with his own hands, pretending as if he was hugging someone the same way Edgeworth did.
“That’s… quite a vivid description. What of it?”
“It was sooo warm, Miles. The way you were embracing me. It felt so warm and safe. It’s always on the back of my mind, and I’ve been feeling so cold lately…”
“Have you?”
“Yeah. Very cold. I want you to hold me like that again. I want to feel your hand warmly comforting my back and I want my forehead on your shoulder again as you run your hand in my hair.”
Edgeworth put aside his slight feelings of flusteredness and listened to the way Wright spoke. It was slow and whiny, he had already established that. But it was also slurred and slightly incomprehensible. Putting it all together, it was blatantly obvious what was going on.
“Phoenix, are you drunk?”
An awkward chuckle, followed by, “Where’d you get that idea from?” Was heard on the other side of the phone.
Yup. He was for sure, wasted.
“Are you at a party, or a bar?”
“…Bar.”
“Care to explain why?”
“Larry invited me. But I don’t know where he is now.”
“What do you mean? Is he still in the bar or did he leave?”
“God, Miles, I don’t know. My head hurts.”
Edgeworth sighed before speaking again. “How much did you have to drink?”
“Like… A few glasses.”
“And how many are ‘a few’?”
“I don’t remember. Maybe, like… four or five?”
“My goodness–Order yourself a glass of water right now.”
“Okay.” He could hear the faint noise of Wright speaking to someone–most likely the bartender–and the sound of a glass sliding towards him.
At this rate, Edgeworth didn’t know what else to do. He wasn’t in California, so he couldn’t drive over to him and play babysitter. It was embarrassingly such a pity, because Edgeworth truly would’ve been by his side in an instant if he were there.
“Miles?” Wright spoke again.
“Yes, Phoenix?”
“I miss you.”
The three words echoed in his mind. Even though they were spoken with pure drunkenness, it still managed to make Edgeworth feel some sort of affection.
“I…I miss you too. But I’ll be back next week, so you don’t have to wait so long.”
“I don’t want to wait at all, Miles. I want you to be here and hold me like you did when we were kids. I want you to make me feel warm again.”
“…Don’t worry. The week will be over before you know it.”
“Okay… yeah, okay. Be back soon please, Miles…”
“I will. Pay your tab and call yourself a cab. Get home safely. I’ll… send you some money.”
“Awh you don’t need to do that, really.”
“No, Phoenix, don’t refuse. I know both you and Larry enough to know that he probably offered to pay and left the bar with a chick.”
A long groan was heard from the other side of the phone. “Hnghh… is that what he did? Geez, some friend…”
“Make him pay when he’s sober. For now, go home and get some rest.”
“Okay. Thank you, Miles.”
“Of course. Be safe.”
“Goodnight. I love you.”
Before Edgeworth could react or even make a response, the call ended.
God, he must've been out of his mind to think that those words meant anything. Wright was drunk, he obviously had no proper consciousness of his own words. It didn't mean anything.
Edgeworth kept repeating that to himself over and over. Why was it that it felt so painful to push the idea of Wright loving him away?
--
“Uncle Miles!” Trucy dashed towards the prosecutor so fast that her embrace almost toppled the both of them over. Luckily, Edgeworth caught himself before anything embarrassing could happen.
“Trucy! What did I tell you about jumping on me so suddenly!?” He scolded her before taking a moment to wrap his arms around the girl.
“I think what you mean, Miles, is; ‘I’ve missed you too, Trucy.’” Wright liberated an airy laugh as he watched his daughter and his best friend hold each other.
Letting out a reluctant sigh before smiling once more at the magician, he spoke, “I’ve missed you too, Trucy.”
She giggled, letting go of Edgeworth as she turned towards her father with a smirk.
“I’m sure Daddy over here has missed you the most!”
“Well, I can't say I’m surprised.”
Edgeworth watched as Wright’s face turned a bright shade of pink, almost the same shade as his own suit.
“T-Trucy! Don’t say such things like that! You know how much it’ll flatter his ego.”
“But it's true! You aren't as sneaky as you think you are, you know. Me, Polly, and Athena have seen those drawings in your fi–”
Wright then immediately nudged his daughter’s side, a slight wince coming out from her mouth.
“You know, Trucy had really been anticipating your arrival last night.” He stifled out an awkward chuckle. “She had trouble falling asleep because of how excited she was.”
“Is that so?” Edgeworth raised an eyebrow at the girl.
“…Daddy’s right!” She smiled widely at him despite the prior interaction between her and her father before giving him a quick side-eye.
Ruffling Trucy’s hair with the top of his hand, Wright took a step forward and gestured his opposite hand out to Edgeworth.
“Let me carry your bag. The trip must've been tiring considering how… you look.”
“Must you make a comment on it?”
“Hey, I’m trying my best to be vague about this before you resort to acting grouchy like usual.”
Edgeworth sighed before gently laughing. When Wright noticed the action, he laughed along with him. Taking his luggage into his hands, the three made their way out of the airport.
--
“Wright?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to talk about what happened last week?”
“Last week? What happened last week?”
“You called me.”
“I did? When?”
“You were at a bar.”
“…Oh.”
The two lawyers were sitting in Edgeworth’s office, sorting through some paperwork he had missed from when he was in Europe. The call from the bar had been lingering in Edgeworth’s mind for far too long to keep quiet.
He had previously been flipping through various papers, but his hand was frozen and the sound of pages flipping had stopped.
Wright was organizing a few files in Edgeworth’s bookshelf, but it was clear that his mind wasn't on his current task.
“Soo… I’m guessing I must've said something to you, huh.” Wright put a hand behind his neck, his tone nervous and his gaze far away from Edgeworth’s.
“You sure did. Do you have any memory of when you called me?”
“God, I wish. It’d make this conversation feel a little less scary.” He laughed awkwardly.
“It wasn't anything too bad, really. You were just… reminiscing… I suppose.”
Wright's gaze finally met Edgeworth’s, the two of them scanning each other’s eyes for any sign of discomfort.
“What did I say?”
“Well, tell me, Wright. Do you remember when we were in elementary? You were a very sensitive kid. I have various vivid memories of you crying a lot.”
“Ah, yeah. That’s not something anyone could easily forget.”
“There was one way I had figured out how to stop you from sobbing so much. Do you remember what it was?”
“Uh…” Wright’s gaze paced around the area, as if he could find any answer lying around the room. “You might want to enlighten me.” Again, he let out an awkward laugh.
Edgeworth stopped looking through his papers and crossed his arms, looking straight forward into the distance.
“You would always ask me for hugs.”
“Oh, right. I remember now.”
“After a while of doing this every time, you didn't need to ask anymore, and I didn’t need to be told.”
The prosecutor stood up and walked towards Wright, who slightly stiffened in response. “Yeah. God, yeah. I didn't know you remembered that too.”
“Honestly, I had forgotten about it. I had forgotten about it until you brought it up to me.”
“Oh. Now I see how this connects.”
“You had quite a vivid recollection of it. You even told me how I hugged you.”
Edgeworth looked at Wright, who was now looking down at the floor, his hand still rubbing the back of his neck. He pondered on whether or not he should continue talking about this, but he was already deep in the topic now, and he couldn't let the opportunity go so easily!
“I’m not a cold-hearted jerk who doesn't feel any positive emotions, Wright. Being in a different place and a different environment without you… it upsets me most of the time.”
“Aww, did you really miss me that much?” Edgeworth’s last statement had prompted Wright back into speaking his snarky remarks, but it didn't agitate Edgeworth at all as it usually did.
“Yes. I did.”
And with that, his smirk fell.
“Oh.”
Wright’s gaze softened as his focus shifted on Edgeworth’s eyes once more. He was observing his expression to find any hint of sarcasm or humour. He didn’t find any.
Sighing, he opened his mouth again.
“I… I missed you too.” He let out a huff before continuing, his hand glued to the back of his neck. “You know, Trucy teases me a lot. She says I always seem like some loner whenever you aren’t here. I don’t exactly disagree.”
“I’m…afraid I feel the exact same way. It’s frustrating.”
“Frustrating?” Wright raised an eyebrow at Edgeworth. “How come?”
“Because, how could a man like you make me feel so vulnerable against my own will? Years ago, I pushed those feelings away thinking about how unnecessary they were, but now, I think I’ve finally come to an agreement with myself that I can't do anything but feel this way.”
“…Miles, why are you saying all of this all of a sudden? It isn’t really… like you.”
“You prompted it.”
“I did? Geez how much did I say on that phone call…”
“A lot, if it wasn't obvious. Do you wanna know what else you said?”
“…Does it get worse from here?”
“Before ending the call, you told me you loved me, Phoenix.”
“Oh God, it did.”
Wright covered his face in his hands and groaned. He gave an airy and muffled laugh before slightly raising his hands out of his face. “I must've gotten used to saying that after tucking Trucy in bed one too many times.”
“Is that so? I may not own one of those fancy rocks of yours, but I could tell just by the way you’re speaking to me that you aren’t telling me everything. Is it… so hard to be very honest with me about your feelings for even just a moment?”
It was silent between the both of them for a second. Wright shifted uncomfortably before looking Edgeworth in the eyes once again with a slight look of nervousness and a mix of cautiousness.
“My feelings huh…” He trailed off into a soft mumble to himself before letting his hand find the back of his neck once again. “Maybe a few years ago I’d have been more expressive about this but honestly… I don’t think it matters much anymore.”
“Why would it not matter?”
“Because your thoughts on this have been clear to me ever since you…”
Ever since you left that day. But Wright wasn’t going to say that. It’d be stubborn to admit that Edgeworth’s disappearance still left a big impact on him, especially after all they had been through. He had made up for it several times considering all the favours and help he had been to him throughout previous trials and during his time disbarred, so rightfully, it was better to stay quiet.
“Whatever. It just doesn’t, end of discussion.”
After that, Edgeworth didn’t say anything. It was quiet between the two of them as he clutched onto his shoulder and let his thoughts run. He wasn’t sure what Wright was being so vague about, but it did imply that he had done something to affect his perception of him, and the thought slightly scared him.
He sighed, before crossing his arms and letting his eyes find Wright’s. “I’m… not sure what I have done to demonstrate anything that’d cause you to hold some sort of internal resentment you seem to have towards me but I doubt you really know how I feel… based on what you’re saying.”
“Care to enlighten me then? God, you’ve always been so confusing, it’s almost aggravating.” Wright’s brows furrowed further as he focused on Edgeworth’s face.
“Aggravating, how?”
“Okay, firstly, you keep sending these like–signals–mixed signals at most! And then, when you decide you’re done with that, you just run off. Every time.”
“…Wright–”
“Obviously you’ve gotten a little better now but it… It scares me. It makes me feel so nervous…”
“Hey–”
“Did I do something? Am I doing something? Can’t you just tell me what’s going on between us so I know what to do instead of worrying that I'll jeopardise things again?”
It was at this moment where Edgeworth had realized what Wright was talking about. He hadn’t thought about that year in forever and simply thought everyone had too. It was clear that he was wrong.
“I didn’t… I didn’t know it still affected you.”
“Well, unfortunately, it does. I didn’t want to admit it but I… I still need proper closure, Miles.”
The prosecutor stiffened. “You’re right. Ignorance and assistance on a specific case isn’t expected to be favourable, let alone an invitation for forgiveness. I apologize. I was very stuck up about it then.”
Wright let out a sigh, almost audibly sounding of frustration before letting his mouth spit again. “No–Miles, I don’t need an apology. I need to know that you won’t ever leave me again. I need to know that this isn’t something that has leaked into the present. I was desperately anticipating for you to get better because I needed you. I wanted to be there to help you…”
"...Phoenix."
"“–And then you left.”
He was silent for a few moments, recollecting himself. Edgeworth didn’t speak. It was clear that Wright had more to say.
“I know you’re better now.” The lawyer’s tone indicated frustration but the way his gaze softened into Edgeworth’s eyes told him something else. “I can’t go on to tell you how happy I am to have seen you heal.”
“It was thanks to you, for the most part.”
“I understand it now more than I did then, why you did it.” Wright let his fists that were previously clenched, undo itself as he sighed. “But I’m still scared. You're not the easiest person to read. Sometimes I get the feeling that… You’re not… you know.”
“…Ready for commitment? Not capable of being in a–”
Edgeworth trailed off, but it was clear to both men what he was implying.
“Miles… Please.” Wright didn’t need to put his desperation into words because his tone had said it all for him. “I want to know that you feel the same way. I want you to show me.”
Staring at the blue-clad lawyer for a moment, his usual furrowed eyebrows unraveled for a second before he opened his mouth, slightly smiling.
“You’ve steered this conversation into something so vulnerable. It’s almost endearing.”
Wright didn’t say anything. Edgeworth observed him to his core and let his arms fall to his sides before sighing and looking off to the side.
“I really do love you, Phoenix. Some might say I'm indebted to you with no choice but I believe that you really are just a devoted man.” He lifted his head and met Wright’s eyes once again. “You’re full of desire to help anyone and everyone, that I find admirable.”
The prosecutor took a small step towards Wright, which the latter made no indication to move away. Taking advantage of the small distance between the both of them, Edgeworth leaned in before Wright decided to meet in the middle, their lips falling on top of each other’s and gently meeting as if it were always meant to be that way.
The first pair of hands landed on the opposing person’s jawline while the second pair of hands fell towards the other person’s hips. No matter who did what, the pair always seemed to guard each other whether it be physical or emotional. It all fell into place as if it had always been that way, because it had.
Wright was the first to step back. He gently opened his eyes and kept them on Edgeworth’s, watching his eyelids slowly open up as well. Laughing, he softly spoke.
“Was all that build-up speech really necessary?”
“Were you not the one asking me to demonstrate my feelings for you?”
“I dunno. You could’ve stopped it at, “I really do love you, Phoenix.” And I would’ve still gotten it.”
“Well then I take everything I said back.”
“I was joking, obviously.” The two men laughed, Wright’s arms rested on top of Edgeworth’s shoulders, wrapped around his neck, while Edgeworth’s hands stayed grounded onto Wright’s hips. “I still appreciate it. At least I won’t see myself as the most sentimental person out of us both.”
“Don’t get used to it. I don’t take any pride in being that mushy, so we can still hand that title onto you.”
“Oh fine, whatever. I know there’s more in there that you want to say to me, so you can hold it with that thought.”
The little huffs of air being released in their close proximity grazed each other’s cheeks with warmth that wasn’t exactly replicable. Forgetting that the heat wasn’t a part of Edgeworth’s office itself, they both shivered feeling the cold air surrounding their bodies contrast with their breaths.
Without another word, Edgeworth shifted his arms around Wright’s body, his right hand rubbing small circles on his back and his left hand finding the back of his head, settling it down onto his own shoulder.
Wright stiffened before feeling the familiarity of Edgeworth’s actions, his forehead gently nesting onto the prosecutor's shoulder. His arms were now enveloping Edgeworth’s body, his previous action of cupping his jawline now forgotten. He softened as he felt hands run down his hair in a consistent motion.
“You did say this warmed you up.” Edgeworth recalled the drunk call once again.
“I did, didn’t I?" Wright closed his eyes as he relaxed into his new position. “I guess I don't have to be sober to know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Your vulnerability does reveal a lot about you. Just don’t drink to let me know what you want.” There was obviously no malice in his tone, both men gently laughing and sharing the moment with the other.
The two lawyers stayed that way for a while, the sunlight creeping from out of the curtain pouring onto the figures of the two, highlighting where they were and gently kissing them with the way the sunlight landed on their faces. Putting aside the usual banter and whatnot, it was clear that there weren’t any other words needed to secure each other, visible security in place between the two who were once just childhood friends who needed a person to rely on, and the two who were once rivals looking for reassurance in the other.
There really was no difference, because in the end, all they needed was each other.