Phoenix woke up.
In his groggy state, he threw a hand on to his rickety bedside table to turn off his sadist of a digital alarm clock, only to come to the realization that it had not actually gone off in the first place. His eyes, hazy with sleep, somehow focused on the glowing red numbers of his clock. Seven hours exactly. Huh. Usually he didn't wake up before something forced him to (that's why he got the loudest alarm he could when he moved out to go to university all those years ago), and even if he did, doing so right at the turning of an hour must be rare for everyone. Must be.
Finally, after deciding that he was taking this occurance, albeit a strange one, way too seriously, Phoenix sat up in bed, still hovering on a last hint of the idea before sending it away. It was a coincidence, he thought. And it was.
The short bike ride to the office was uneventful. Arriving at the office was uneventful. Trying to focus on paperwork for entirely too long was uneventful, save for a short and simple phone call. The only remotely exciting thing was at 11:27–three minutes before Phoenix would always ritualistically go to some sleazy, cheap fast food joint for lunch. The door flung open, which was weird in of itself because nobody had called anytime previous to schedule any kind of an appointment. The back of the doorknob slammed against the plain walls, probably making a dent, and Phoenix would have bristled at the sound if not for the person that was standing in the door was the one and only Maya Fey.
"Wh–Maya?!" Phoenix slammed his laptop closed (no, he was NOT playing online solitaire, thank you very much) and stood up. "I thought you were going to stay in Kurain after all that Hazakura stuff?"
"Yeah, well, the new head of the family needs some vacation time. And–hm-m-m...wait!" she paused.
"Nick!" Her cheeks puffed up, and her hands curled into fists by her sides.
"You didn't even call me once! Once!"
"I thought you were busy!" Phoenix protested.
"I wasn't."
"How was I supposed to know?"
"Maybe if you called me, you would!"
"Objection! How is that even possible? And why couldn't you have called me?"
"...Minor details, Nick. The point is, you didn't call me in four months!"
"It was only three in a half..."
"So you admit it!"
Phoenix sighed in defeat. "A-a-a-anyways. What brings you here?" Maya grinned a grin that kind of scared Phoenix, to be honest. "Isn't it obvious? Klavier Gavin, of course! Part musician, part prosecutor; you've gotta introduce me! You have met him, right?"
"Well, about that..." Phoenix rubbed the back of his spiky head sheepishly. "I've...uh-h, I've not actually met him yet." Maya frowned. "Why not?"
"Um..." Phoenix really didn't want to tell Maya that he had been taking even fewer cases than usual, so he was understandably relieved when an excuse popped into his brain. "I, uh, just took a case this morning! Maybe I'll see him in court tomorrow!"
"You've got a case tomorrow?! Why aren't you investigating?!"
"Because I've already got all the evidence I need. My case was first taken by another guy, but then the defendant changed to me or something. The investigation was a while ago, and now there's nothing to investigate."
"Uh-huh-h. Wait...YOU'll see him in court? YOUR case? What about me?"
"Oh. You. Right."
"How could you, Nick? First you don't call me for four months–"
("Three and a half!" Phoenix hissed under his breath)
"–and now you want to go to court without me, your fabulous assistant? I am absolutely hurt!"
"..."
"..."
"...Fine, you can come."
"That's the spirit! Let's do this!"
Maya threw her arms around Phoenix' shoulders with a smile that, Phoenix really had to admit, was absolutely beautiful.