A/N: I seem to have a thing for writing dinner scenes. You'd think I'm always hungry or something. I've no clue.
Real note time. This was requested by a good friend of mine, who wanted Phoenix and Edgeworth both being too shy to start a relationship until one of them slips up, and she wanted a cheek kiss. So, that's what you get.
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Honestly, it isn't right for Edgeworth to get dragged out with Phoenix and Maya to get celebratory noodles after his own defeat in court. Not ten minutes ago he was standing across from Phoenix, battling it out in a war of words with another person's fate at stake. As seems to be the pattern, Edgeworth lost. After the first few defeats, it's not quite as humiliating as before. It doesn't exactly please him to admit he lost, but at least it's a weight off his conscience to know that the innocent man he was trying to convict won't be going to prison. Still, it's frustrating to lose to a man whose tactics in court are so roundabout and idiotic.
Even more frustrating is the fact that this man is currently walking at his side. Phoenix's enthusiastic apprentice is busy clinging to his arm and praising him for today's victory, and despite the man's attempted humble expression, he's very obviously proud of himself.
"Can we buy a new TV with the money you made today, Nick?" Maya asks, still hanging onto Phoenix's arm. "Pleeeease?"
Phoenix immediately shakes his head. "I didn't make that much. We have to pay bills. And besides, you already told Edgeworth I would pay for dinner!" he reminds her, and Maya's cheeks puff out in a pout.
How Phoenix can afford to take so few cases a year and still survive is beyond Edgeworth. It's sort of admirable, really. What's less admirable is how the defense attorney gets pulled into one of the most expensive noodle joints in town seconds later by a girl seven years his younger.
Left standing alone outside, Edgeworth briefly considers turning and heading home. There are plenty of taxis on the street; he could call one, get dropped off at his car, and drive home in less than half an hour. But as he starts to turn, Phoenix pops his head out.
"Hurry up! I don't—We don't want to eat without you!" he calls before ducking back in.
Edgeworth can feel his ears go red at Phoenix's slip. It was unintentional, he's sure, but it was still…
No. Edgeworth shoves all thoughts from his brain and heads inside to where the group is waiting for him.
It's awkward.
The dinner is incredibly awkward for Phoenix, seated between his assistant and his rival. He eats distractedly, unable to keep himself from glancing back at Edgeworth from time to time. The other man eats… well, gracefully is the only word he can think of to describe it. It doesn't surprise him that the man who has not just a single cravat but a triple one eats with such poise, but it's still strange to see, especially when Phoenix is used to being around Maya. Even now, the girl is slurping down noodles at twice the speed of everyone else.
"Do you need something?" Edgeworth asks when Phoenix gives him one glance too many.
"N-no, sorry," Phoenix stammers, and he returns his attention to the bowl of half-eaten noodles in front of him.
It's strange when he thinks about it, as he often does, that he came this far to save Edgeworth, and now he can hardly have a normal conversation with the other man, let alone confess his feelings.
Wait. Feelings? What feelings?
Looking at Edgeworth from the corner of his eye again, Phoenix can't help but notice how striking his features are in the light of the shop, eyes the color of the sky just before a storm. He's just… a very pretty man.
Oh right. Those feelings. Those sorts of feelings, when there's no way they can be reciprocated, are better left unsaid.
Despite Edgeworth's reluctance to join them, the ending to the meal comes far too soon. Few words are passed between him and Phoenix, both of them much more comfortable exchanging words in court than in a normal setting. Edgeworth doesn't really find the silence awkward, though by the way Phoenix keeps fidgeting, he does. Maya apparently doesn't find the silence uncomfortable in the least either, seeing as she keeps going through bowls of noodles so quickly Edgeworth half-wonders if Phoenix starves the poor girl.
Maya seems satisfied when the meal is over, but she also seems tired. "Do we have to walk back?" she asks.
"I don't have enough money left on me to get us home any other way," the man replies apologetically, and he hoists her out of her seat and sets her down. "It's not as if I want to walk either."
Edgeworth knows he probably shouldn't, but he does anyway. "I'll call a taxi, Wright. Just ride with me," he says, and he heads back outside before Phoenix has a chance to refuse. As he hails a taxi, he smacks himself mentally for offering to continue this outing that he had never intended to go on. Why he did such a stupid thing he doesn't know.
He motions to Phoenix and Maya as they walk out and slides into the car.
Edgeworth seems to be hellbent on dragging this night out as long as he can, Phoenix notes.
He joins the other man in the taxi and gives the driver his address, and Maya squeezes in next to him. When she shuts the door, the space between him and Edgeworth becomes nonexistent. He almost offers to move to the front seat, but as Maya leans against him with a drowsy sigh, he realizes moving now is impossible. He doesn't have the heart to push Maya off, especially since the girl is no doubt exhausted from the day's events. His suspicions prove true when she falls asleep seconds after they start to move, leaving Phoenix to spend the rest of the drive pushed up against Edgeworth with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.
"Sort of tight quarters, huh?" Phoenix comments in an attempt to make conversation. Edgeworth lifts an eyebrow at him silently. "I mean, I guess Maya should probably have sat in the middle," he continues. "I didn't think about it until now though."
"This is fine," Edgeworth replies quietly, effectively ending that conversation.
Undeterred, Phoenix tries again. "I'm sorry you had to come with us. I'm sure you're used to fancier places. Next time, I'll take you somewhere nicer." Sudden realization spikes through him that he appears to be asking the other man out on a date. Based on Edgeworth's slightly affronted expression, he caught it too. "No, sorry, I didn't mean—" Phoenix starts, and Edgeworth cocks his head.
"Didn't mean what?" he asks. Just then, the taxi shudders to a stop, leaving the two men gazing at each other.
"Looks like we're here!" Phoenix states obviously, and he prods Maya's shoulder. The girl wakes with a start and glances sleepily out the window for a few seconds before getting out and wandering toward the apartment. Phoenix starts to turn back toward Edgeworth when soft lips on his cheek make him freeze. He wants to take the other man's chin in his hand and kiss him properly, but he doesn't move for fear of making the moment end. It ends within two seconds anyway. Something so quick… it probably meant nothing at all.
"I'll hold you to your word, Wright," Edgeworth comments with quirked lips as Phoenix stares at him. The implications continue to hang in the air as Phoenix steps out of the car and quickly shuts the door. Even as the taxi drives off, the man is still wondering what he should do, even though the time for acting is gone.
Well. Maybe such a small kiss does mean something after all.