"Right… our relationship…"

Although he'd theoretically been preparing for this moment for weeks, now that he was sitting across from Edgeworth and staring down the prosecutor as though he were staring down his own demise, Phoenix was at a loss. Was it wiser to admit that he'd once had a "crush" on the other man? Deny that he'd felt anything at all? When Maya proposed this situation initially, he'd been prepared to claim no interest or involvement at ALL if Edgeworth seemed disturbed, but… he wondered if just telling the truth would be simpler.

As expected, Edgeworth didn't say anything. He offered no words of reassurance, no comforting smile… just the same serious glare that had intimidated more than a few witnesses into spilling the truth. Phoenix was compelled to confess all of his feelings as well, but he doubted that would go over well. He needed to use at least some sort of restraint.

"I… really don't know where to begin. Maya didn't tell me that much, other than that she thought you liked me…" He allowed his voice to trail off, staring down at his clasped hands and hoping for some sort of response. He wasn't disappointed.

"E-excuse me? That I liked YOU?" Phoenix looked up in time to see Edgeworth's livid expression. He hadn't expected such a strong reaction, and upon considering what he'd just said, felt his heart sink. So Edgeworth really didn't like him. And not only that, but he was insulted by the mere SUGGESTION that he might have had romantic feelings for the defense attorney.

"W-well, yeah… that's what started all of this… I know it's dumb, but…"

He looked down again guiltily, waiting for Edgeworth to berate him for allowing the issue to go as far as it had. When a few seconds passed and Edgeworth still hadn't spoken, he looked up to see the prosecutor staring at him with what appeared to be outrage.

"L-look, I'm sorry! I told her that it was a bad idea and that she should just leave you alone, but you know how she is… once Maya decides she's going to do something, she does it, and no amount of trying to reason with her works."

At this Edgeworth appeared to relax, although Phoenix noted that he still had his fist clenched with annoyance against the tabletop. He continued to glower and was about to speak when the waitress returned with their wine, interrupting the tense mood with a pleasant inquiry about whether or not they were ready to order.

"The ribeye. Medium rare. Two of them," Edgeworth snapped at the waitress, his mood apparently foul enough that he opted to eschew his typical professional politeness. She didn't tarry or even question him on his side choices, and Phoenix wasn't sure how to feel about Edgeworth's hurry to get her to leave. When she wrote the order down and returned to the kitchen, he decided to speak up.

"You didn't have to be so rude to HER, and anyway I was going to get the filet–"

"WRIGHT, just shut up. Tell me, what exactly made Ms. Fey conclude that I…" –he paused and exhaled sharply, as if fearing the word he was about to speak might burn his tongue – "liked you?"

Phoenix thought about it, trying to recall Maya's justifications. The conversation had taken place weeks ago and he didn't remember her argument being particularly compelling in the first place.

"I think she said something about how you respect me and no one else and act all flustered around me." He regretted his word choice immediately, and his regret deepened when he saw and heard Edgeworth's reaction.

"F-flustered around you? Just what on EARTH is that girl thinking? I have never been anything BUT professional to you, Wright, as I am to any other defense attorney. Just because we've worked together on a few cases does NOT mean that I have any desire to be... romantically involved. The very idea is… is just PREPOSTEROUS."

Phoenix winced at his outburst, and even though the restaurant was fairly deserted and they were sitting toward the back, a few diners looked toward their table. Wanting desperately to rectify the situation, Phoenix leaned forward, shushing the offended prosecutor.

"Shhh, calm down! I never claimed to believe any of that! Like I said, these are MAYA'S delusional fantasies. I told her how ridiculous it was!"

Edgeworth seemed embarrassed by his reaction, although the only visible signs of this involved the way he turned his head away and his shoulders slouched almost imperceptibly. He continued to stare off to the side when he spoke again, sounding more composed, although his words were very stilted and forced.

"I see. I apologize for overreacting. What I want to know, Wright, is why you even allowed her to entertain these ideas. When she approached me when I was leaving court, the girl seemed utterly convinced that you were just as in favor of her proposed…" he paused mid-sentence, reconsidering what he was going to say, "no, I don't even know WHAT she was proposing with what she told me, but in any case, she gave the very distinct impression that you approved of her actions."

Phoenix very cautiously decided to ask for more information, fearing what he might learn. While he remembered, much to his horror, that Maya had told the other man that he'd had a crush on him, Phoenix had no idea just how damaging her words had been. He desperately hoped that Maya had put it delicately and hadn't implied anything he hadn't specifically told her. "What… did she tell you?"

"She must have told you. Why else would you have approached me for a private meeting about 'what Maya said'? Her words ARE what this is about, correct?"

He swallowed with difficulty, nodding his head and wishing that the food was here so he'd at least have some distraction from Edgeworth's interrogation.

"Um… j-just tell me what she told YOU, okay? I think Maya's been… manipulating both of us in order to enact her little scheme."

Edgeworth sighed again in his exasperated way, although from the quick glance he stole toward the prosecutor before staring down at his hands again, he noticed that the other man looked somewhat less concerned. Maybe if he just pretended that Maya had made all of this up (and really, she HAD done a lot of making stuff up), the issue would blow over and life would return to normal. That would mean abandoning hope of ever… being together with the prosecutor, but Phoenix realized with certainty now that the very idea of a relationship with him was vile to Edgeworth.

"What she told me was that you were 'obsessed with me for years'. I recall it all too well because, as you can imagine, I found this information quite disturbing, but she seemed certain of it. I believe she also mentioned that you wanted us to be 'more than friends' and that you had told her as much the day before."

A very long and very uncomfortable silence passed. Despite his best efforts to remain calm, Phoenix could feel his face growing warm with embarrassment. Maya… ugh, he knew that she'd probably said something stupid, but this was beyond just bad. When he at last found his voice, Phoenix couldn't force himself to look up, knowing that he'd be greeted with Edgeworth's cold, unsympathetic gray eyes. He couldn't stand to see them right now.

"E-Edgeworth, I… I NEVER said any of that to her. S-she made it up herself…" He felt as if a heavy weight had landed on his chest and was constricting his ability to breathe. Not only was this situation extremely humiliating because the prosecutor now thought he was some creepy stalker with a crush, but because there was the ever painful and frustrating sliver of truth in what had been said. Even IF he hadn't said any of that to Maya, he had had feelings for the other man for years and would have agreed to becoming 'more than friends' with him. Seeing the truth laid out so plainly for Edgeworth to scorn was nearly unbearable. He was surprised when Edgeworth spoke again, sounding flippant. This only served to further upset the defense attorney.

"If that's the truth, then I don't see what the problem is. Ms. Fey told you one thing, she told me another, and ultimately everything she said was a lie. Now, if that is solved, can we please put this issue behind us?"

"Y-yeah, that's… exactly what I wanted from all of this." Phoenix couldn't remember a time that he felt so dejected in recent memory and tried hide his hurt expression. Unfortunately, Edgeworth's keen ability to perceive moods in his opponents (or in this case, dining partner) meant that his bad attitude didn't go undetected.

"Is something the matter, Wright?"

Phoenix looked up for a moment, truly grasping at straws and hoping that perhaps Edgeworth might actually feel bad for so thoroughly (if hypothetically) turning him down. He was unable to respond, as at that moment the waitress returned with their food. Edgeworth thanked her curtly before turning his attention to his meal, beginning to slice into his steak and apparently forgetting all about Phoenix's hesitation. The defense attorney wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

He picked up his own set of silverware and cut into his steak, wincing when he saw how red it was inside. What appeared to be blood began to pool out around the incision he'd made.

"Is it supposed to be this… raw?"

"It's not raw. A steak cooked beyond medium rare has the texture of shoe leather and roughly the same taste. Honestly, Wright."

Phoenix longed for the familiarity and safety of a burger as he put a piece of the steak into his mouth. The taste was robust, the texture buttery, and all around the ribeye was juicy and delicious – but Phoenix couldn't get past the fact that it was swimming in blood, or at least, what looked like blood. In an attempt to wash it down, he took a sip of wine for the first time, but his face immediately screwed up at the unanticipated dryness. Couldn't Edgeworth just order wine that actually tasted like GRAPES?

He turned his attention dismally to the baked potato also on the plate, reflecting on their earlier conversation as he picked at it instead. Really, he figured he should be happy. Their talk had gone exactly the way he'd wanted it to go. Edgeworth didn't seem weird about it, the blame rested squarely on Maya, and their relationship would be normal again. Still, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that he'd just lost something monumentally important.

"You don't like it?"

"H-huh? No, it's… delicious."

"Then why aren't you eating? I know I said I'd pay, but this IS too expensive for me to comfortably let it go to waste."

"I'm… just used to my steaks being well-done. And with ketchup, not blood."

Edgeworth visibly winced. Phoenix assumed that this was the ultimate insult to fine-dining as far as steaks were concerned but he couldn't force himself to care right now. Although he still looked critical, in the next moment Edgeworth had summoned a server over and had the steak returned with the instruction to cook it to medium-well. Apparently the prosecutor was not going to budge on the well-done issue.

"That… really isn't necessary, Edgeworth. I've already caused you enough trouble for the day."

"Shut up, Wright. I've already told you I'm not letting a perfectly good steak go to waste."

Phoenix sighed and cut himself a piece of bread from the rustic loaf that had been placed on the table with their main course, chewing on that in the meantime. Edgeworth watched him coolly.

"You're acting strange again. If you have something to say, say it."

Phoenix was surprised that the issue was still being pressed and shrugged, taking an unfashionably large gulp of wine to swallow the chunk of bread in his mouth and practically gagged at the taste when he remembered how dry it was.

"No, I don't really have anything else to say. I guess I just… don't understand how you're so calm now. A-actually, no, that's not true. You're calm because this was all a big misunderstanding, but you were so upset earlier…"

Edgeworth didn't seem to catch on to where he was going with that statement. "I'm fine now. I told you, it was an overreaction."

"That isn't what I meant. I… I mean, the suggestion that you might like me… why did that make you so angry?"

For a moment Edgeworth was the one who seemed unable to articulate a response. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"I don't like people spreading rumors about me."

"Yeah, but… am I THAT bad?"

"Wright… I am NOT going to dignify that with an answer."

"Why not?"

"Stop being insolent. This conversation is over."

"No it's not! Why am I so horrible to you?"

"Your immaturity is truly impressive."

"I'm not immature!"

At that moment the server returned with Phoenix's re-cooked steak. The defense attorney grabbed the ketchup from the nearby condiment stand and slathered a disgusting amount on his plate. Edgeworth rolled his eyes in contempt for both the defense attorney's words and actions.

"The issue has nothing to do with you. I told you, I dislike people spreading rumors about me, particularly those related to my love life, or lack thereof."

"It wasn't people spreading rumors, it was JUST Maya telling me a lie."

"What are you getting so upset about? I'm beginning to suspect that perhaps Maya WASN'T lying with what she said about you."

Phoenix's face got noticeably redder, although he attempted to disguise his embarrassment with anger.

"That ISN'T true. I just… I just don't appreciate the insinuation that a relationship with me is the most awful thing in the world."

"I never insinuated that. The only thing I said was that our relationship is purely professional. It's no different from any other professional relationship."

"That's – how can you say that? I mean, from a purely platonic point of view, you have to at LEAST consider me a better friend than the other lawyers you know. I know my methods are kind of unreliable, but I'm good in the courtroom! You have to acknowledge that!"

"I never said you were a poor lawyer. Your methods and tactics are pathetic, certainly, but you're an innovative thinker. And I… suppose you're a closer friend to me than the others. Are you satisfied?"

"Sort of…" Phoenix felt marginally better and regretted his outburst. Edgeworth was right; he probably did look incredibly childish.

"Eat your food, Wright. I think they'll throw us out if that steak is reheated a third time."

Phoenix fell silent, taking another bite of the re-fired meat. To his relief the blood was gone and the taste seemed mostly the same. With the addition of ketchup, it was as good as anything he'd ever eaten. Edgeworth watched him with condemnation each time he dipped a piece of steak into the ketchup or ripped off a chunk of bread, undoubtedly taking issue with his vulgar dining skills. Still, Phoenix appreciated that he refrained from verbalizing his complaints.

"Um… sorry for freaking out. This whole issue has been sort of stressful and I feel bad for involving you."

Edgeworth looked surprisingly understanding.

"It's fine." He smirked lightly, taking a sip of wine before continuing. "You always were melodramatic. Even as a child you would work yourself up into a fit at the smallest provocation."

"What? That's not true!"

"Oh, yes it is. You'd always end up crying over the most insignificant issues. I see you haven't changed much."

Phoenix grinned reluctantly, although he forced the smile from his face to glare at the other man.

"I thought you liked to pretend you forgot all about us being friends in grade school."

"Unfortunately my repeated attempts to erase those memories have failed."

Phoenix didn't know whether that was a joke or not; it was always impossible to tell with Edgeworth's perpetually serious expression. He decided to be optimistic and assume that he was being friendly in his weirdly sardonic way.

"Wow, thanks. Those were some of the best times of my life."

"That reflects upon your current life very poorly, Wright."

"Shut up. I'm serious."

"I know you are."

Phoenix felt his mood improve slightly as the subject changed. Even if the possibility of a romantic relationship with Edgeworth was gone, at least their friendship might be preserved. He continued to eat his steak hastily, supplementing it with bites of baked potato and bread. Whatever green vegetable of indeterminate origin made up his other side dish went uneaten. He looked across the table and noted that Edgeworth seemed to be almost finished as well.

He ate what remained of his steak and put his silverware down with a clatter, eventually leaning back and stretching his arms up over his head to loosen his tense muscles.

"That was really good, Edgeworth. Thanks."

"Don't thank me."

"We should do this again sometime. Or maybe we could go somewhere more… my style."

Edgeworth didn't look amused by this, although his expression was harder to read than normal. Phoenix decided to press his luck.

"I owe you. I can't let you pay for an expensive meal like this. I'll treat you to something."

"I don't think I'd very much like the food at the sort of restaurants you frequent."

"Then I'll take you to a bar. When's the last time you relaxed and had fun?"

"I wouldn't be a prosecutor if relaxing and having fun were priorities."

"You're such a killjoy. One evening isn't unreasonable…"

"We'll see, Wright. You know how busy I am."

"Fine. I'll just keep asking until you agree."

Edgeworth rolled his eyes and didn't respond. Phoenix smirked, reveling in his victory. Soon the waitress returned, looking almost fearful when she handed Edgeworth the bill. The usually stoic man glanced at the total and slid three notes into the booklet, leaving Phoenix to wonder at both the cost of the meal and his friend's exorbitant wealth. After, they rose from their seats and headed back to Edgeworth's car. Despite the heavy meal, Phoenix felt lighter inside, as if some burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He didn't know if it was because they'd resolved their issues or because Edgeworth had agreed (whether he believed it or not) to another outing with him.

As they pulled away from the parking lot and he buckled his seatbelt, Phoenix resumed staring out the window, thinking about all that had been said and perhaps more importantly, what hadn't been said. He thought about what he'd tell Maya and how she'd react, and where their relationship would go from here. If Edgeworth really was willing to spend time with him, he decided that maybe this was good for their friendship after all. They didn't speak much on the drive home, Phoenix interrupting the silence only to complain about how slowly the other man drove. When Edgeworth dropped him off at his office, they parted with a simple "good bye" – Phoenix wasn't sure what he'd expected, but he had rather hoped that maybe the other man would be slightly friendlier toward him.

When he got back to the office he flung himself down in his chair behind the desk, sighing deeply. The meeting hadn't gone as poorly as he'd feared, but Edgeworth certainly left him with a lot of weird feelings to sort out. He resolved to talk to Maya about their dinner the following day, hoping that he wouldn't end up regretting that decision.