Athena is checking her hair in the mirror of the ladies' room during the first recess of the day when two girls walk in behind her. They don't pay her any attention, but she recognizes them through the mirror as the law students from Ivy U currently interning for the prosecution's office. They're both watching today's trial from the gallery directly behind the prosecution's bench, quietly taking notes or whispering to each other every so often.
Athena had largely pretended not to see them as she and Phoenix focused on the case. He was the lead attorney again, she was simply there to assist and use her Mood Matrix when needed, but when she started to notice the two girls pointing to their side of the room, Athena couldn't help wondering what they were saying.
Now she makes a show of washing her hands slowly, then checks out her hair again, while the two girls who entered the bathroom stand by the door talking to each other. Athena can't help eavesdropping.
"Isn't he sort of scary?" the one girl, a blonde with short hair, says.
The other, a brunette with longer curly hair nods quickly. "He doesn't look scary, but I am not looking forward to the day I have to go up against him in court, if I ever do."
"Honestly, when some of the upperclassmen told us he was ruthless, I didn't believe them. I mean, half the time he looks like he's sweating buckets and has no idea what's going on, and his objections seem so ridiculous, until he somehow manages to prove his theories right. He hasn't been wrong once this whole trial…"
The brunette nods again. "I know! It's almost like magic! And did you see that glare he sent Prosecutor Payne that one time? Payne shut up real quick."
Athena raises her eyebrows at herself in the mirror. Are they talking about… Phoenix? Phoenix Wright, her boss, the most laid back guy she knows? They can't be.
She turns around and heads for the hand dryer, and the blonde girl's eyes widen. "Oops! You're Athena Cykes, aren't you? You're Mr. Wright's co-counsel today, right?"
Athena looks at her, pretending she hadn't been paying attention to anything they were saying. "Yeah, that's right. And you're the new interns at the prosecutor's office?"
The girl nods. "Hey, what's it like working for Mr. Wright? Isn't he scary? I can't even imagine having him as my boss."
Athena laughs. "You're talking about Phoenix Wright? Nah, he's fine. He's the chillest guy I know."
The brunette raises her eyebrows. "Really? But he seems so…"
"Intense?" the blonde says. "I'm surprised the defense's bench doesn't have cracks in it, sometimes he hits it so hard, it makes me jump every time. Prosecutor Payne is practically shaking in his boots."
Athena waves a hand and grins. "Nah, the Boss is a nice guy. Payne is like that against any semi-competent attorney. If there was a prosecutor like Simon Blackquill or Klavier Gavin on this case, Mr. Wright wouldn't seem nearly as scary."
"Huh. Really?"
"Yeah! He's really more of a friend than my boss, and he's a great mentor, too."
The two girls look at each other. "I guess it's just the impression he gives off in court."
"Oh, don't get me wrong," Athena says, not able to help messing with these prosecutor interns just a little. "Mr. Wright may seem a lot less scary against a more confident prosecutor, but he still wins all of his cases. He's only ever lost one case in his entire career, and that was for reasons beyond his control." She shrugs. "I'm just saying, he's a nice guy outside of the courtroom, but in the courtroom, he'll do anything outside of breaking the law to make sure the truth of the case is found and the right killer is convicted. If I were a prosecutor going up against Phoenix Wright, I'd probably just want to give up." Widget lights up then, flashing the time. Athena smiles sweetly at them. "Anyway, the trial's going to start again in five minutes, so if you need the bathroom you'd better go now if you want to get back in time to watch Payne lose his case."
She leaves the two girls alone in the bathroom, staring at her with wide eyes.
When they unsurprisingly win the trial and head back out into the courthouse lobby, Phoenix invites her out for a celebratory cup of coffee. Athena's not one to decline her often strapped for cash boss's rare generous offer, so she accepts willingly. On their way out, she catches sight of the two girls from the bathroom and waves at them. They wave back meekly, keeping their eyes trained solely on Phoenix. He takes no notice at all, and Athena again thinks how strange it is that other people see him as some sort of intimidating figure. To her he's nothing more than a friend, a mentor, and sometimes even a goofy sort of father figure.
"Did you know those girls?" Phoenix asks. "The ones on the prosecution's side?"
Athena shakes her head. "I just saw them in the bathroom earlier and talked with them a bit. They seem nice. They'll be good future adversaries!"
"I'm glad you're making friends," he teases.
They opt for walking down the street to the nearest cafe so they don't have to spend any money on a cab. They pass by a few booths of people inside as they make their way to the counter to order. Athena notices two men, maybe a few years older than her, staring at her as she passes them by. When she's finished ordering ahead of Phoenix, she heads back to the other end of the counter to wait for her drink while he pays. One of the men she'd walked by earlier leans out of his booth towards her.
"Hey baby, you doing anything later?"
Her fine tuned ears hear this loud and clear, but she keeps her eyes focused ahead of her on the baristas across the counter and pretends not to hear. At her silence, the other man leans out of the booth as well. Athena can just see him out of the corner of her eye. "My friend asked you a question," he says.
She turns slightly, eyebrows raised. "Oh, excuse me. I didn't hear him, I'm just waiting for my latte." She turns back around, intent on ignoring them, but the first man isn't taking the hint.
"You didn't answer my question. I asked if you were doing anything later."
"Yes, I'm busy," Athena answers, not even turning around.
He snorts. "I'm sure you are, bitch. What? Are you too good to talk to guys like us?"
There's a mounting feeling of dread in her stomach, as well as anger starting to bubble up. She's in a good mood today and she doesn't want these two guys to ruin it for her, so she ignores them again. The second man seems unhappy about this too.
"You shouldn't be wearing such a short skirt if you don't want men to take notice. And look at your top! Those big tits are practically hanging out."
Her face is reddening now, more in anger than embarrassment. With a tie, a long sleeved jacket, and tights under her skirt, her clothes are hardly revealing! Besides, even if they were revealing, these men have no right to judge her. She makes to turn around, meaning to give these two a piece of her mind, but Phoenix is finally approaching her again and she stops, hoping that the two men behind her will leave her alone now that she has company. Phoenix catches the look on her face and glances behind her at the them.
"Everything okay, Athena?" he asks.
She nods curtly. "Yeah. It's fine."
The first man behind them smirks. "Who's this guy? Your dad? Or maybe your boyfriend? You into older men or something? Is that why you don't want to talk to us?"
"Ignore them, Mr. Wright," she says quietly, looking down at her feet. Now she is embarrassed.
Phoenix does as she asks, turning his back to them and standing beside her while they wait for their drinks, which seem to be taking an awful long time. She's sure he heard the comment, but she's glad he doesn't make mention of it. A few minutes pass before Athena feels a cool breeze on the back of her thighs and realizes all at once that her skirt is being lifted from behind. She goes to spin around, ready to punch this guy in the face, but apparently Phoenix has been paying more attention than she thought, because before she even has the chance to do anything, Phoenix turns and grabs the man by the wrist, pushing him back into the booth and away from Athena. His movement is quick and smooth, so much so that none of the other patrons in the cafe even seem to notice that there's an altercation going on.
"I dare you to do that again," Phoenix growls. "I'll sue you for sexual harassment and assault. I'm sure the Chief Prosecutor, a close, personal friend of mine, would be happy to make sure you get a nice long prison sentence."
Athena stands back and watches as her boss leans over the table, casting the two men in his shadow. Phoenix isn't the tallest man she's ever known but he's not short either, and he's big. She's never really noticed before just how broad shouldered he is, and she wouldn't be surprised if he's relatively well muscled underneath that suit. She can only stare at the scene unfolding in front of her, surprised at her boss but also realizing suddenly why people who don't see or converse with him outside of the courtroom as often as she does would find him intimidating.
Phoenix still has the first man's wrist clamped in his hand, and he twists it in his grip. The man yelps, and his friend backs himself further into the booth, like he's afraid Phoenix may reach out to grab him too.
"Did you hear me?" Phoenix hisses.
The man nods quickly, and Phoenix lets go of his wrist. The man rubs it, and looks at his friend. "Let's get out of here. This guy is crazy."
They get up quickly and practically run out of the cafe, leaving their half finished cups of coffee behind. Phoenix turns back around. "Are you okay, Athena? Sorry, I know you can handle yourself but that… that just pissed me off."
Athena smiles. "I'm okay, Boss. Thank you. I was about to roundhouse kick him in the face, but I think I liked your approach more. You really scared them."
He shrugs. "No problem."
"I feel bad for any boy that breaks Trucy's heart," she says. He only smiles at her. The barista finally comes with their drinks, and they take over the booth the two men had been sitting in previously to sip their drinks in the breaks between their comfortable chatter.