madimpossibledreamer

Main Points:
Ace Attorney AU
Chapter VI
Summary: Edgeworth, Maya, Wright, and Pearls head out to deal with the everyday of the new world.
Word Count: 2,135
Rating: K+

Notes on Dog Type: You have no idea how agonizing this decision was. Edgeworth seems a big-dog kind of guy, but he's also responsible. He wouldn't want to neglect a dog simply because of how much he works (and this is Edgeworth-he works a lot!) So finally I settled on a miniature breed of a larger one that required much less than most dogs in the way of exercise.

When morning came, Phoenix was exhausted. (I'm actually kind of glad all the concussions I've had to deal with have happened to me. Staying awake and waking up Edgeworth so often means that I've barely gotten to sleep myself. At least he complains less about it than Maya would. And even the glare gets softened by how tired he is. And kind of adorable, like he's a little kid again.) He looked up from staring at Edgeworth and found soulful brown eyes staring at him. (H-huh??) I-it was a dog. Looked like a small hound or something. Not like he knew anything about dogs, really.

It seemed Edgeworth was no more happy about the early morning than he was, surprisingly enough. He glanced at the refrigerator and cabinets and wandered over to the table, groaning and plopping his head into his crossed arms.

"No food?" Nick was surprised. (If he can afford a really nice place like this, I'm surprised he doesn't have any food. Or maybe it's just that he doesn't think it's food fit for his consumption?)

"Maya," the man, still in his rumpled clothes from yesterday, mumbled into his arms. Loud enough for Phoenix to hear and understand, at least.

"Ah." (Yep, that pretty much explains everything. How many stomachs did she say she has again? There's the one for burgers, and the one for steak, and the one for sweets, and the one for ice cream...has she mentioned any others? Agh, that's just...weird, but then again, I've seen how much she can eat, and it's Maya after all...)

"HEY!" the indignant yelp came from behind them, and they turned around as slowly as two yawning and half asleep people could turn, to see Maya puffing out her cheeks angrily.

"Provide evidence that you didn't eat over seventy-five percent of the food in this house since the last shopping trip, or concede defeat and be quiet." (It's kind of hilarious to see Edgey practically say 'prove me wrong or shut up', besides the fact that he's still mumbling into his elbow.)

Maya fell silent, except for a few grumbles and stomach rumbles. After a minute, she perked up. "I didn't eat Pess's food!" That just provoked a roll of the eyes from Miles.

The dog jumped up on Nick. (Oh, how cute.) He began to pet it. "I didn't know you had a dog." (Pess, huh? That's kind of a weird name. But I suppose I shouldn't expect anything else from Edgey.)

Miles glanced up and then down at Pess. He frowned and glared, which the dog noticed.

"M-Miles!" (What was he doing?) It didn't take long for Pess to get off and put his head and tail down. "Look, you've made him sad!"

His friend let out another long-suffering sigh. "He's not a human, Wright. One might expect your spikes to droop if you were sad, but the same does not go with dogs." He smiled at Pess, who wagged his tail in about as large sweeps as he could make it go before heading elsewhere into the house. "It just means he's being submissive. Which is good."

"Er..." (I'm not sure how to...what...what is he talking about...?)

"Pess was worried about the survival of his pack, because I, as the so-called Alpha, appeared to be weak. He was testing me through seeing how I would react to his attempting to assert dominance on a strange human. I merely demonstrated that I am still just as capable, which reassured him. And he's been taught that if I'm sleeping-and I appear to be doing just that with a brief interruption-it is perfectly acceptable for him to do so as well." He buried his head in his arms again.

(H-huh. Well, he sounds like he knows what he's talking about, and I can't even identify the breed. Just that it's cute. So...) "Mm." He began falling asleep too.

Finally Edgeworth glanced up again, glaring a bit from his attempts to actually see. He held out some keys-(where did he get those from??) "Miss Maya, I think you'll need to drive again. I still have a touch of a headache and am sleep deprived, so I don't think I'm fit to..."

And now Maya looked a bit sheepish and far more serious than Phoenix was used to. "Don't you remember yesterday?" Miles frowned slightly. "Y-your car was completely wrecked. I-I'm sorry about that..."

Now Edgeworth was definitely glaring at Maya. "It's not as if you could predict a superhero battle. It's not your fault, any more than it is mine, and if you apologize for that again I will hit you." (He just now remembered I'm here. Again.) "...Lightly." (Well, at least he doesn't have a whip. I don't think. Oh, God, Edgey, don't have a whip. Please.) Miles sighed and resumed staring moodily at the table.

Phoenix felt a slight tugging on a sleeve and glanced downward to find Pearls, looking extremely shy. "We always go on public transpo-bus, don't we, Mister Nick?" The face she made as she tried to sound out the words was adorable. She hid behind him almost immediately after finishing the sentence.

Nick chuckled. "Well, that's true. What do you think of Pearly's suggestion?"

"Ngh." (Very eloquent, Edgey.) "Well, I suppose it'll do for now. I'm not fond of crowds, but...food is more pressing, isn't it, Mystic Pearls?"

The slight smile on Edgeworth's face...the way he lowered his voice a little and softened his look so he wasn't half as intimidating...(Edgeworth is good with kids? I'm learning all sorts of things today.)

"Food is always good!" Pearly sing-songed, bouncing from her ability to contribute.

"Very true." Edgeworth yawned again. "I'll need to change into more acceptable clothes. Wri-Phoenix. Would you wish to stop by your apartment before heading to a restaurant? I'm rather hungry, and ordinarily I would think that food comes first, but this is a rather unusual situation." The questioning of the world that had ceased to meet expectations was implied.

"Assuming it's not an office supply store or something now, yeah, that'd be good." (Hopefully. I don't want to pay, but at the same time it is Edgeworth and I have no idea how much money he's got at this point. I mean, enough for a decent sized house in Los Angeles, but then again he's also trying to pay for Maya and I have no idea how many other people. I wonder if my card's even good anymore...)

"And Phoenix." He stopped at the landing, turned with a mischievous smile that Nick couldn't ever remember seeing before. "I would ask that you please stop monologuing in your head. It's quite exhausting even for me."

...

(And that set Maya off again. Great.)

When Edgeworth returned, Phoenix stared, caught off guard. (His neck looks so...vulnerable. Where are the ruffles?)

Apparently Edgey caught on fairly quickly. He stared off to the side, flushing-(even his neck blushes. But then again, that's probably because he doesn't look like he gets much sun.) "I-I don't always have to wear a cravat, you know! It's a day off, so I'm not wearing my court clothes!"

Only then did he realize that Edgeworth actually wasn't wearing much of his usual stuff, at all. Nice black jeans, expensive watch, purple button-up shirt. (I kind of feel silly for only noticing that second...)

"Let's go!" (Miles still sounds flustered.)

"To food! Miles, I need lots and lots of it!" Maya was suddenly all smiles again, joining Pearly in a dance of celebration. (H...hey, wait. Miles? Are they...dating or something? N-not like it's any of my business, it's just...)

It turned out that Edgeworth actually wasn't making things up when he said he wasn't good with crowds. He was uncomfortable sitting on the bus and kept fidgeting, staring out the window. Maya and Pearls, by the sound of it, were arguing about how many pancakes it was possible to eat in a single sitting. That meant Phoenix had to nudge Edgeworth, who he was sitting next to, and start a conversation, because it turned out that was actually the best way to distract Miles from his fears. (I don't recognize the way we're going. Apparently even this is different.) "Hey, are you sure we're on the right route?"

"Of course." Short, direct, a bit clipped even. (Come on, Edgey, give me some room here. I'm trying to make conversation.)

"...Are you sure?" The phrasing could be taken as a bit confrontational, but he couldn't think of any other way to put it.

With a short but not incredibly annoyed sigh, Miles turned to look at him. "Of course I am. I don't make a habit of using the public transportation system myself, but that doesn't mean I don't keep informed about it. It ended up being a vital piece of information for a previous case, and since then I've taken it upon myself to obtain a schedule when they issue a new one."

Phoenix was rewarded with a very clear mental picture of what had probably happened. (Witness: Y-yes, that's right. I took the yellow route... Edgeworth, pointing an accusing finger at the witness: OBJECTION! The yellow route does not stop at the mall, which is where you insisted you'd been that day! Where were you really?) He shook his head a little to shake it out. Interesting, yes, but distracting and a little weird, most definitely. Imagining Edgeworth as the defense actually seemed a lot easier than he'd have thought possible. "I suppose that makes sense. I've learned a bunch of facts about a lot weirder things, haha." (I'm smiling goofily again, aren't I?)

At least Edgeworth matched the smile, however wobbily. (I'd hug him, but...I don't know how well he'd take it. Now, anyway, when his brain is mostly working again.) He laced his fingers together and hung them between his knees, trying to be casual. And failing. (You know, I think you'd be less nervous if you actually admitted it. Then again, that's not how you work, is it?) "So you're a defense attorney, too."

Nick nodded, grinning. "Yeah, it's cool huh?" (Wait, now I'm sabotaging the long, important conversation of friends! I'm actually hurting my own efforts here...)

Fortunately Miles wasn't willing to give up just yet. He twitched a little at calling it 'cool', but didn't actually say anything against that. (He's actually biting his lip. I'm going to guess he's really nervous, and that's something Stuffy Edgeworth would have destroyed the minute he saw any hint of such bad habits. Not that this version isn't stuffy. Well, not 'not at all' anyway. But he's definitely not cardboard.) "I would assume, in that case, that that man didn't adopt you, then."

Phoenix took a minute to remember who Miles might be referring to. The second he realized, it felt like his spikes stuck even further up with the shock and alarm. "Von Karma?" he practically squeaked. He swore a couple times, feeling somewhat hysterical, something that made Miles stare at him with alarm. Though perhaps that was more from any previous experience with that jerk sharing his name and face. "...I am so so glad that the answer is no. Not that I'd wish it on anyone really. Franziska would probably have turned out a much saner person if the state had taken her away from that man years ago. Miles, I'm so sorry."

Eyelids closed over grey eyes, and the uneven, shuddery breath told him that Edgeworth was more affected than he was trying to appear. "You think, then, that such a prosecutor could twist anyone into some awful parody of themselves."

"You're so different from the other you. I mean, some similarities still exist. You're still you. But...I must've been horrible." Nick stifled an urge to bury his head in his hands and instead placed a cautious but comforting hand on Edgeworth's shoulder.

Miles shivered, then smiled, though the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "It...wasn't all bad. But then, I've always been more sentimental, perhaps, than I should be." He paused, then smiled again at Wright, slightly more convincingly. "Don't worry about it, Phoenix."

Nick wanted to say something. Unfortunately, they had reached their stop. His stop. "Y-you can go ahead if you want. I'll just catch up."

Edgeworth smiled and stood as well, hitting Maya as she wasn't standing up as well. As promised, he was fairly gentle, but it was still a little shocking. "Don't mind that. We'll wait for you."

Phoenix was about to argue, but then realized that if he delayed any longer, he would no longer be able to get off. They exited as a group, and then he turned to Miles with a smile. "Wait here."

"That was the intention." The smile was still a bit dampened, but still happy.