CHAPTER 10
Upon returning to his office, Miles poured himself a cup of tea with a touch of pride. It had taken him a lot of gall to confess his affections for his adopted little sister, especially in that fashion. Of course, when he made those arrangements with the Corner Bistro, he didn't give them that piece of information. He'd always cared for her; but during her last two visits to America, he began caring for her in another way; a way that was incapable for him to feel towards her when she was younger. He took a sip of his tea as he gazed into the bright sun out of the large window in his office. I'm happy with what I did today. He heard a knock on his office door and granted entrance.
He turned to see Franziska walking into his office, whip in hand, with the sun through the window shining on a promiscuous smile on her face. He set his tea down so he could put his arms around her, and she returned the favor once she felt his touch. "Hello, Franziska."
"Hello, Miles Edgeworth." Edgeworth looked into the contrast of the oceanic blue in her eyes with the ghost-white skin surrounding them, which was only exacerbated by the sun shining through the large window behind him. She spoke up, breaking his train of thought. "...as you may well know, I am..." He could see her forehead crinkling as she struggled to find the right words. "...unaccustomed to the formalities to a relationship like this..." He knew her father had set her up with men he felt could bear the von Karma name (he likely planned on forcing them to do so), but she never was serious about them and just spent most of the time yelling at them and hitting them with their whip to scare them off. "...but don't couples..live...together?" Miles knew instantly she wanted him at the manor with her. "...I'm sorry, Franziska. I'm not going to live in one of your father's mansions again. There's just too many...bad memories." Franziska looked shocked, and spoke up before she could have possibly had time to think. "But! I can come live with you and Pesos!" Miles let out a rare laugh; "Pesu." he corrected her, smiling. She blushed in embarrassment; "...O-of course, Pesu." Miles pondered over this for a second.
We did just start dating 30 minutes ago...but we've spent most of our lives together, too. It'd be more of an adjustment for her than me. "...If you want to come live with me and Pesu, you're more than welcome to do so." Franziska looked away for a second, but then looked back up. "Ok, Miles Edgeworth. I'll come live with you and Pesu."
With that, Miles planted a kiss atop her forehead and held her head against his chest. "I'll help you pack your things when we're done here." She looked up at him before pulling away; "Ok. I'll see you when we get off work," and quickly walked out of his office. He had been hoping for a kiss on the cheek at least before she left, but he knew she didn't understand relationships very well just yet, so he let it go.
After they were dismissed from work at 4 o'clock, Miles stopped by Franziska office to find her in there with a certain clumsy detective. CRACK! "You..." CRACK! "Are..." CRACK! "To..." CRACK! "Move..." CRACK! "My..." CRACK! "Things Tonight!" CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Edgeworth warmly smiled as Gumshoe let out a small whimper along with a nod of compliance, seemingly too scared to say no, or even to sound out his pain from being lashed with Franziska's whip. He smirked; "Come now, Franziska, don't kill the poor detective with that thing." She blushed as she noticed Edgeworth's prescence; "O-oh. Yes. I'm sorry, detective." Gumshoe looked up, very noticably not knowing what to do with this apology. "U-um...ok?" CRACK!
After that rendevous in Franziska's office, Edgeworth paid for Gumshoe's gas fare out to the von Karma manor and held hands with Franziska as they walked out to his car. He could feel how tense she was as he opened the passenger side door to his car for her, and he thought it was kind of cute. She looked out the window up at the sky for the entire ride out to her old house.
They met Gumshoe out at the manor, with the detective bringing his large white truck out there to help transport the belongings. After he and Gumshoe had loaded everything up, Miles couldn't find Franziska anywhere. He looked around the mansion, calling her name, but found nothing.
Finally, as he entered Manfred von Karma's study, he found her sitting on the floor with a shattered picture frame of her father laying in front of her, tears in her eyes. He put his hand on her shoulder and helped her back up. He began to lead her out of the dark study, but she pulled him back and they shared a deep, passionate kiss in the near-black room.
"Do you feel better now?"
Miles saw Franziska give him a smirk; "Yes, I do."