trace (vestiges)
"They suit you, you know."
Miles pouts, crossing his arms as he waits for the attendant to return. "This is highly unnecessary, Wright," he mumbles in frustration. He cannot believe he has been dragged here, even though they've already spent a few hours going through the process at this point.
Phoenix merely laughs, patting his shoulder genially. "Don't worry! There's no shame in it! If anything, all it says is that you should probably invest in more lamps- you always forget to turn on the main light when you're working at night!"
Miles groans, but the action is conflicted, although he does not know how to explain it to Phoenix's cheery, brilliant gaze. How is he possibly supposed to explain that this deficit, that this apparent weakness of his eyes, is nothing new? He hasn't ever truly noticed his struggles to read paperwork, for this is all he has ever known. Doesn't everyone struggle to read paperwork like this?
As the attendant moves to adjust the few frames which they've narrowed down for Miles' new pair of glasses, Phoenix murmurs, "I'm surprised though. How did you never notice? It's not a weak prescription- when's the last time you went to the optometrist?"
Miles gulps. He does not know how to say that he has never really gone- he faintly remembers telling von Karma once that he couldn't read his book, but he had just been told 'not to be weak', and so Miles had sucked it up and moved on, squinting all the while. How was he supposed to have known that there was actually an issue?
Phoenix's touch is comforting, and Miles hates the fact that they are in public in the middle of the day- that he cannot simply lean over, resting his forehead (and weary eyes) against a broad, reliable shoulder. "Either way, it's done," he mumbles. "…how did you know, anyways?"
The other man shrugs. "You squint so much whenever you're doing work, so I figured you had some kind of eye strain. I'm glad I noticed it!"
For a moment, those words are naught but simple conversation to Miles. And then, the meaning, the intention of them, sinks in, and he feels heat blossom across his cheeks and ears so brightly they burn; he covers his face with his hand, hunching over, clearing his throat as he tries to formulate any words to say in response.
You look so much that you can tell?
He does not know why this surprises him so. He is unused to this care, this kindness. It is distantly familiar, a far-off dream of which the fragments are barely connected- his father's care, Phoenix's mother's welcome, Phoenix's small, assured hand.
The clerk comes out, holding up a pair of reading glasses. "This should help ease the strain," she says, holding it up for Miles to wear.
Phoenix leans over, grinning wickedly as the clerk stands and returns to the back office to grab Miles' paperwork. "I'll admit, they're mostly for me," he whispers.
Miles stares at him blankly. "Um… how so?"
Phoenix winks. "You look good with those, you know… Mr. Prosecutor."
Explaining to the clerk why he is unable to form coherent thought is the most humiliating thing that day- that is, until Phoenix insists on him wearing them the moment he walks through the door of his home, the other man's eyes shining with a wanton desire that makes him want to simultaneously preen and hide away. At least he knows he looks good with glasses, and when he reads the billing afterwards, his eyes no longer ache from the strain.
It feels foreign to have them on, but he knows he'll get used to it eventually. He smiles at his reflection the next day when wearing them, his heart aching slightly as he examines his visage. They do suit him… just as they had suited Gregory Edgeworth, his father, before him. He is looking more and more similar to his late father by the day; with the addition of these spectacles, the resemblance is striking.
It's… oddly satisfying.
These feel uncomfortable, but… Better late than never, I suppose.
The fact that he silently promises to himself to only wear them away from Phoenix is one he shall keep to himself. He needs to get work done sometime, after all- it certainly won't ever happen with Phoenix around if he's wearing these new spectacles. He has no complaints about that, though.