Warning: Spoilers for those that haven't played up to and finished Trials and tribulations. Really, important plot points for T&T are going to be mentioned casually.
Chapter 1
Metal crushed around him, pressing in on him but also keeping him in one piece. . .the car horn was blaring into his ear's with him held against it. . .
his spine bent as the car seat pressed even harder into his back . . .sharp pieces of metal were cutting into his sides. . .he couldn't breath. . .it felt like knifes were pushing into his chest. . .someone was calling his name. . .
it felt like his brain was covered in fog. . .where was he. . ?
Phe. . .n. . .ph. . .ix. . .
Hm?
. . .Pheon. . .x. . .
. . .Wher. . .is. . .th. . .
Pheonix. . .pheonix. . ! Pheonix!
. . .neck. . .la. . .ace
PHEONIX!
His eye's snapped open, his body jolting, before quickly shutting from the bright lights shining into his eye's, a groan leaving his lip's.
His chest ached as he sat up in bed, the bandages wrapped around it tightening along with his torn skin, before letting out a painful yawn.
Looking over at the wheelchair next to his bed, his eyebrow's pressed down stubbornly and swung his legs off of the bed, he picked up his crutches and struggled across his room to his kind of messy wardrobe, before sitting down in the chair next to it. Sighing, Phoenix tried to find something he could fit over his cast and wouldn't tangle around his feet.
Jeans. . .cotton pants. . .sweatpants? No, it would take way too much effort just to get them on his legs, not to mention they would irritate his wounds. . .
He picked up something white from his wardrobe and looked it over, a knee length skirt. His old room mate, Max, had given it to him as a Christmas present, he would have thought it was a joke if he hadn't seen the guy walking around in public in dresses that. . .he actually kind of looked good in. . .
Phoenix blushed awkwardly.
Deciding to try it out, he bent down as far as he could without his chest hurting too much and slipped it around his ankles and, holding on to it edges, Phoenix leaned back up. The skirt swayed with movement and he scooted around until it fit snugly around his waist, then sat back down.
Well, it was definitely comfortable, it didn't squeeze around his bruised legs and he could walk fine, the swinging motion was kind of fun.
He slipped on a long sleeved black shirt and looked at himself in the mirror.
Looking in the mirror, Phoenix blinked owlishly, he didn't look half-bad, the t-shirt complimented his admittedly narrow shoulders and made him feel a little less self-conscious about his height deficiency. And putting on his beloved necklace that symbolised his Dollie's love for him, it couldn't have looked better.
Phoenix blushed and smiled, maybe he would wear skirts more often.
Outside his room, Iris peered in through the crack of the opened door and blushed, her Pheenie looked even cuter than before. . .
-x-Line-Break-x-
Sitting in the detention centre, Phoenix's lip trembles under his medical mask. Although Dahlia had always encouraged his dressing style, and kept his self-esteem high, there were always those who would look down at him for dressing like he did.
Those attacks came in all forms, some slapping him on the ass and giving him vulgar gestures and some just using petty insults to try and get to him.
Usually, he would have one of his friend's, or his Dollie there to stand up for him when he couldn't, Larry and some of his dorm-mates usually just started fights that got them all in trouble with the school and Dollie using her ridiculously out of character stone cold stare that would leave his harassers trembling in their boot's.
But he didn't have them this time. And this wasn't just being harassed, he had been accused of murder. He could take the perverted actions and violent threats but this was just too much. . !
He shrank under the harsh stares and leers of the police-men and detectives surrounding him, drawing his navy blue cardigan tighter around his body and subconsciously crossing his legs, his white high heel dangling in the air and his knee length skirt shifting unintentionally to show a hint of Phoenix's milky thigh. He had grown out his hair and although he loved the way he looked with it, there was also the fact that he could hide himself away in it, although his Dollie's sky blue hair-pin's kept it mostly out of his face, his bangs still hung low over his eye's.
"Listen" The older detective standing next to him rested one of his hands against the back of the chair Phoenix was sitting in, in doing so pressing his muscled arm against Phoenix's soft shoulder blades.
"I understand, a young man," the man coughed funnily, "of your physical stature would obviously feel threatened around a man like Mr. Swallows. It's easy to see how you would be frightened in that kind of situation. In fact, some would say you were the actual victim in the case, a man like the victim threatening you like that." The detective shook his head and tutted like a pre-school teacher finding the milk money stolen.
"Now, say if we were to make a," The man's other hand pressed itself blatantly on Phoenix's thigh and he stiffened noticeably, "understanding, of sorts. We would of course be able to drop all charges against you and let you continue with your studies. What was it you were studying to become, again?" The detective massaged his hand against the younger boy's thigh and left it there.
"I'm. . .uh majoring in art but I. . .aspire to b-be a lawyer, sir." Phoenix stuttered out, intimidated by the man's forward actions but too afraid to protest.
"Yes, yes. We wouldn't want someone who may work with us in the future," The man's hand brushed higher up to Phoenix's hip, "to have his record blackened by such a serious accusation like murder, would we?" Phoenix was too scared at the moment to even mention that he wouldn't, in fact, be working with the police to prosecute possibly innocent people.
As the detective's hand fingered the hem of Phoenix's skirt, about to slip in, the loud opening of the interrogation room's door jolted the perverted man away from him.
Phoenix's head snapped over to the doorway and the person in it, his eye's pricked with tears and a heavy blush on his cheek's. The detective scowled as he backed away from the effeminate man.
"Excuse me, but I believe my client and I need some privacy to discuss a few things." A tall woman with waist length brown hair stared the men down coldly, and before long Phoenix and the woman were the only two in the room.
The brown haired woman huffed, looking back at the still open door and closing it before walking to the table in the middle of the room and sitting down in the chair opposite of Phoenix.
The woman cleared her voice before speaking, "Ahem, I, uh, apologise for my dramatic entrance, but I saw how those guys were harassing you. . ." She shifted in her chair before looking Phoenix in the eye, "My name is Mia Fey, I'm a defence attorney. I saw you on the news this morning and, if you want me to, I'm willing to represent you and your case." The woman's posture and eye's suggested that she was very confident.