Apollo doesn't actually see Miles as an enemy, I just thought the title was funny that way, but other people [in universe] would probably see it that way.
After that afternoon things went back to normal. Or at least, as normal as things would be at the Wright Anything Agency. The only new addition was Edgeworth being there more often than before, a sort of routine slowly settling in.
Wright seemed more at ease seeing him get used to his partner's presence around the office, his words from that day clearly not a lie (because they were not!). Still, Apollo couldn't help keeping a certain distance between them now anyway, knowing that he couldn't get over his feelings if he allowed these more close and open moments they had before.
And with prosecutor Edgeworth, it was… a work in progress he would say. Clearly, Wright wanted them to befriend each other (or at least, look at ease around each other). He couldn't yet be fully at ease with him, partly because he still romantically loved Wright and the man was quite literally The chief prosecutor. He needed some time to do that.
But he felt like it wasn't only him, clearly, Mr Edgeworth wasn't the most outgoing person out there ('contrary to another prosecutor I know of' he had thought to himself). The man wasn't closed off to chat with people, but there was something intimidating about him. Maybe it was all in his head, an impression he had from the man being older than him, with more experience in court and with a rather impressive title.
This is probably why he didn't immediately feel awkward and nervous at the idea of being in the elevator with the man yet again. He had come to the prosecutor's office to talk about something with Klavier for the incoming trial. Of course, he had yet again climbed into the elevator as it was going up instead of waiting for it to come back to his level, watching as the number kept going up, wondering who had their office on the tenth floor.
He was a bit surprised when he saw Edgeworth, waiting for the elevator as he was reading a file. "Mr Edgeworth, good afternoon" he greeted, pretty happy to see he didn't sound as tense as he did before.
The other man seemed a bit surprised too, looking up as he closed the file. A look of pleasant surprise slowly appeared on his face. "Good afternoon, Mr Justice, were you here to see me?".
Apollo laughed a little, rubbing the back of his neck. "I actually came to see prosecutor Gavin, we are already done talking, I just caught the elevator as it was going up" he explained. The man hummed a little at his words, taking place next to him.
Apollo noticed the man was stiff again, making him a bit confused and worried. They had spent a bit more time around each other in the past weeks (even if never really alone), he dared assume the man was at ease around him by now. But then he thought about a comment he believed he heard Ema say last time. ('He works on the tenth floor but rarely takes the elevator?' He then wondered).
He was about to ask if the man was alright, seeing just how hard he was holding his documents. He didn't have the time though, as instead, the elevator jolted suddenly before it stopped moving completely. It surprised him, but not as much as the sudden tight grip on his left arm, tight enough to rival his bracelet in court.
He quickly noticed the panicked look on the man's face, looking about to have a panic attack. He used his right hand to grab the prosecutor's hand more gently with his, "Mr Edgeworth" he called out to him calmly, unsure what to do to make the man snap out of his panic. He had not expected the man to be so uneasy with elevators.
Soon the elevator started going down again, as slow as it was before. The grip on him never left though, which was starting to hurt a little but he didn't dare point it out, only awkwardly holding his hand atop the larger one, hoping it could bring comfort.
Once they were on the ground floor, Edgeworth finally stepped out, dragging along with him the young man ('Oh god, some people are looking at us weirdly now' Apollo noticed nervously). Thankfully the man soon noticed, finally letting go of his arms, expression looking worried and ashamed when he saw the red marks on his arms.
"It's fine" Apollo quickly said as he rubbed his sore forearm, not leaving time for him to apologise, "I am not made of glass, I will be alright" he brushed off. He had seen worse before anyway and this was not on purpose.
"It is not alright" the man frowned a little, shaking his head "I caused you harm and this might even leave bruises behind". The man clearly looked displeased with himself, not looking at him anymore. "If only I could get over that…".
Apollo started feeling a bit nervous as people looked at them arguing over it here, trying instead to nudge the man towards the exit. "Are you scared of elevators?" He asked as they were walking out of the building.
"It is not something I am proud of," the man replied after taking a deep breath of fresh air, "it all happened so long ago, I should have gotten over it". Apollo was a bit surprised at how honest the man was with him, sure he didn't mention what this "all happened long ago" was, but he didn't quite expect him to tell it so easily to him.
"It's alright, everyone has fears, not everyone surpasses them either, it is hard," he commented, walking towards the parking lot with the man. "I am scared of heights" he offered, so Edgeworth wasn't the only one to feel exposed about something like this.
"Never managed to get over it, nearly got me and my best friend stuck in a ladder because of it" he continued with a laugh when the man seemed interested, looking to slowly relax again. "Not very useful either when I have to do some investigation that needs me to go up somewhere, I can't possibly ask Trucy to do it every time when she's there, especially if it's dangerous, Wright would probably never forgive me if anything happened to her". 'And I would probably never forgive myself either if I ever caused that' he thought, feeling some unease at the idea.
"I suppose it does make your work harder at times too, or life in general if you need to go somewhere rather high," the man commented with a quiet laugh. Apollo was a bit surprised by the laugh, not that he had never heard it (he did, from afar when the man was with Wright), it just never happened with him. This made him smile a little.
When they reached the man's car Apollo suddenly got a bit awkward, having not realised he had basically walked him there when he himself was supposed to go the opposite way to the bus stop. But at least it had left him the chance to… bond with the man. 'If you could call it that…'. But he was also happy to see his talking had seemingly calmed down the man.
"Were you going back to the office?" Edgeworth asked, "This is where I am going, I can give you a ride so you do not need to take public transport" he suggested. Apollo looked at him for a moment, then at the car.
"If you offer, it would be nice" he smiled, climbing into the car when the prosecutor unlocked it. He was surprised at how at ease he felt this time, a good show of how much they had gone since their first rather bad meeting.
Even the silence in the car wasn't tense anymore, rather comfortable even. Yet again, he wouldn't exactly know what to talk about anyway, and continuing the subject of before didn't sound all that great. He didn't mind laying out something like this when he had just learned a similar thing, but it was not his favourite subject either.
"You were meeting with prosecutor Gavin about tomorrow's trial, how did it go?" The older man asked to break the silence. This made Apollo sigh deeply, passing a frustrated hand through his hair at the memory.
"I might as well have gone for just a friendly chat, I wasn't able to get anything out of him aside from blatant flirting" he complained, "All I have is that prosecution apparently has a decisive witness for tomorrow, and that's only because he bragged about winning because of it".
'But all your witnesses always end up lying and I throw it back at them' Apollo thought, already feeling a headache at the idea of dealing with that kind of witness. He turned to look at the man when he heard another quiet chuckle.
"Well, Gavin is the prosecutor for that case, he cannot discuss the case so freely with you" the man pointed out, "You remind me of someone" he added after a pause, sounding a bit amused.
"I bet Wright did try to get info from you" Apollo laughed, that sounded like something the man would have done. As an attorney, the man had seemed ready to go rather far for his clients. Trying to get info out of the prosecutor on the case was probably not the worst he had gone through.
"He sure did and I might have given more than I should sometimes" Edgeworth admitted with a small smile.
They continued talking about work, Apollo not missing the subtle glances the man was throwing at his arm every now and then. He wasn't sure what to do so the man would stop feeling bad about it. All he could do was place his arm against his stomach in an attempt to hide it.
"Do you want coffee?" Was suddenly suggested, Apollo looking a bit surprised at the sudden change of subject. He followed the man's gaze, seeing a café that was nearby. "As an apology for your arm," he offered with a guilty smile.
Apollo really didn't see the need for any more apologies, but he felt like he should accept if it could make the man happy and feel better about what had happened. "I thought the car ride was an apology" he joked first, "But I wouldn't say no to free coffee".
Edgeworth seemed happy and relieved that he accepted, pulling into the small parking lot of the café. "If we both go to the same place, I do not mind giving you a ride" the man pointed out as he stopped the engine. Apollo wasn't sure what to reply, feeling like he would never be able to ask for a ride of his own volition in fear that it would be a bother for the man.
They were lucky and the place was rather empty at this hour, allowing them to order quickly. He wasn't really surprised when he heard the man order himself some tea, following quickly after by giving his order for coffee. He did try to pay for himself (more out of habit than anything) only for the man to gently stop him. "It wouldn't be an apology coffee if I made you pay for it" he commented.
As they waited Apollo found himself interested in watching what kind of baked goods they had, his eyes falling on a blueberry cheesecake. "Could I have two slices of this blueberry cheesecake?" He asked, going to pay afterwards.
"If you also wanted cake you could have told me" Edgeworth smiled, only for Apollo to shake his head. "Not me, it's Trucy who mentioned it the other day and since she aced her test I thought it could be a little gift" he smiled. The other one was because he knew Wright would likely also like some.
"Then I am sure she will like it," the older man agreed. After that they went to the office, taking more time than expected. Still, this was a quicker way to come back than taking the bus, and a way more pleasant one too.
"Polly, did you get the information you wanted?" Trucy immediately asked upon them stepping inside. This made him groan, remembering how frustratingly stubborn and flirty the man had been. "I will take it our little Polly didn't get what he wanted" Wright laughed from where he was on the couch, turning towards them, "And Miles is here too! Did you two come back together?".
"Of course, since we were both coming back here" Edgeworth replied, going to join the father and daughter on one of the couches. It was an interesting contrast to the duo, where Edgeworth was sitting properly, Wright was nearly slouched on it as his partner sat next to him. On the other couch, Trucy was playing with some magic props, sitting crossed legged ('At least this is a better way of sitting than slouched down' Apollo thought).
Apollo went to join them, his coffee and the box catching the attention of his boss. "What'cha got there?" he asked, looking as the young man gave the box to Trucy as he went to sit down next to her. "Blueberry cheesecake, Trucy aced her test so I got it for her" he replied, immediately seeing the excitement in her eyes, "you also have a slice in the box".
"When did you get this? Not before going to Klavier's office right? Am sure he wouldn't have stopped asking you about it otherwise" Trucy asked, giggling at the end. Clearly, the idea of Klavier being anything but cooperative with him was really fun to her.
"No I bought it when Mr Edgeworth took me to get coffee" he replied instead, jumping at the sudden overdramatic gasp coming from Wright.
"Miles! Are you trying to steal our Polly away by bribing him with coffee!" Wright said, a smirk on his face despite the fake scandalised tone he used. This made Edgeworth roll his eyes (but Apollo did hear his chuckle), shaking his head "Can't I buy a coffee for someone without it being a scheme?".
After this, the conversation went a bit more back towards his meeting with Klavier (because it was apparently really entertaining to hear his struggles). Since the two older men seemed interested he and Trucy told them what they had for the trial tomorrow ('their inputs are really good' Apollo thought as he took mental note of their points).
"Polly, what's that on your arm? Did you get hit or something?" Trucy asked after looking over at him as he was gesticulating while making his point.
He instinctively hid his arm against himself, laughing awkwardly. "Oh, it's nothing I just hit myself on something" he lied, although from the squinting stare Trucy was giving him she knew he was lying. He stole a look towards Edgeworth, seeing how the man had tensed up a little, looking a bit guilty again about hurting him.
Apollo wasn't sure where to look now that he had the Wrights' full attention on him, not wanting to say it was Edgeworth's fault either. It had been an accident, he knew the man wouldn't have done it on purpose.
"Apollo you can tell me if you are in some kind of trouble," Wright said, to which Apollo simply shook his head, hand over his forearm as if it would somehow erase it. He jumped and tried to move away when the man was suddenly too close to him. He tensed when a hand grabbed his wrist, yet it didn't pull when he fought against it.
"Polly, if it's really nothing you wouldn't hide it" Trucy pointed out, which was a fair point. 'But it's really nothing' he thought to himself. He sighed as he allowed Wright to take a look at the four little bruises that had started to form on his skin.
Clearly, Wright didn't agree with his statement of this being nothing. "These kinds of bruises come from someone grabbing you, did someone attack you or something?" Wright had said, now looking worried. Of course, the man would know a thing or two about bruises.
"Mr Wright, this is really nothing," Apollo argued with a sigh as he took back his hand, not looking at him.
"It's my fault, Nick" Edgeworth finally said as Wright was clearly about to continue asking. This only caused the daughter and father duo to look absolutely stunned and confused. They were probably thinking it was impossible for him to have done something like this. The prosecutor offered him a sorry smile, having probably noticed he was covering up for him.
"It happened in the elevator!" Apollo quickly provided for context, assuming Wright knew about his fear of elevators. "It suddenly jolted and stopped, I was simply the nearest thing around for him to grab with his free hand" he finished. This seemed to reassure Wright immediately, as he sank back into his place on the couch, looking relieved that nothing bad had happened.
"I still hurt you" Edgeworth pointed out, to which Apollo groaned. "It didn't hurt," he said, bracelet purposely hiding away from the man ('does he even know about it?') "And bruises can easily heal, I think I will survive you grabbing onto me out of panic, it's not like you punched me or anything".
There was a silence in the room afterwards, holding each other's gaze, until Edgeworth sighed. "I suppose if you say this is alright, it is" he decided to give up, as he probably thought fighting over this with him was not worth it. Apollo knew the man didn't believe his own words, but he decided to ignore the slight tightening of his bracelet this time. They would forget about it soon enough anyway.
"Well, this is settled then," Wright said, passing an arm behind his lover's back to pull him closer to him, a grin spreading on his lips. "I am happy to see you two getting along so much, I was a bit scared that you wouldn't do so'' he admitted.
Apollo wasn't sure if it was because of his rather distant action lately, maybe it hadn't helped in giving the impression he wanted to be closer to the prosecutor. "There's no reason for me to dislike Mr Edgeworth" Apollo pointed out.
There was still some tension once the discussion was over, although Trucy talking about her latest show did help disperse it. Later that evening Wright did get back to him, giving him a balm to help with bruises. He made him promise to not hide anything from him if he ever get harmed, a worried touch to his tone that Apollo wouldn't trust them with that.
After that day, more opportunities for them to be alone presented themselves. It nearly always happened at the Wright Anything Agency, when Edgeworth came by but neither Trucy nor her dad were there or when the prosecutor was staying for the night.
He knew it was totally normal for someone to stay the night at their lover's place, but sometimes it still made something in him feel tight. 'You wish you could have that' something in him whispered before he would push away the thought.
Although something he didn't think he would get used to so easily was seeing the man in more casual attire. He was always well dressed, even on his day off, but more casual although never to the level of Wright with sweatpants and a hoodie. The simple turtleneck and pants were actually a nice change to his usual court outfit. Made him look a bit less intimidating in Apollo's opinion.
"Is there something on me?" Asked Edgeworth one morning as he ate his breakfast. Apollo was startled out of his observation, blushing when he realised he had been staring at the man while waiting for his morning coffee to be ready.
"N-no! I was just lost in my thought" he replied, looking away so he wouldn't start staring at him again. He had started by trying to see the little habits of the man, only for his thoughts to wander about how well this turtleneck hugged the man's body. 'Clay was right, you must have something for older men…' he thought to himself. He was also starting to believe it too.
"You look as good as usual, not anything amiss, this dark burgundy colour fits you well" he continued in his nervousness before he could stop himself, blushing harder when he realised what he said.
He dared take a look at him again, seeing surprise on the man's face. 'Great, I made things weird first thing in the morning' he cursed to himself. He quickly turned around to finish the coffee that had been ready for a while now, trying to calm his blushing.
"I'll take this as a compliment" the man ended up chuckling as he went back to drinking tea. "Your suit also looks as good as usual" he complimented back, only making Apollo even more flustered when he realised the man seemed to really think so.
"T-Thank you" he managed to push out, "I'll let you finish your breakfast and get back to work" he then said before running out of the kitchen, nearly spilling his coffee all over himself.
He felt like if someone were to tell him a year ago he would one day be sitting down sharing tea while chatting with the chief prosecutor, he wouldn't believe them. It still felt unreal sometimes. Well, he would also never have believed he'd work for The Phoenix Wright, yet here he was.
The more he was allowed to be around the man, be it for work-related reasons or not, the more he felt like he wasn't just "the employee-friend of a boyfriend" and was closer to friendship. He didn't dare assume the man saw him as a friend, although Apollo did start seeing him as such.
He ended up with these moments in the middle of the day where he was alone with the man, talking about life. It reminded him of these moments he had with Wright before he stopped allowing them. They sure had helped him get closer to Edgeworth, slowly dropping his defences around him and much more at ease to be more casual with the man.
Even simply sitting across from each other while he was working was rather nice. Just knowing someone was around was calming, especially since when he was not at work he was all alone. It allowed him to see people.
It was on a quiet day like this, when Edgeworth had come to see Weight on his day off, that he accidentally started to show his "fanboy" side. ('Pollo you really sound like a fanboy' his best friend had laughed at him more than once).
Trucy had come back from school, asking about her father's whereabouts. "Phoenix is still at the courthouse" Edgeworth replied, "he called to say they needed him for longer about the jurist system".
The teenager had a worried frown on her face, looking unsure. "Isn't he there all the time lately?" She asked, flopping down on the couch next to the older man. "And when he's here he studies so he can retake the bar" she commented, "Daddy shouldn't put so much stress on his shoulder".
"I am sure Wright is doing fine" Apollo commented as he passed behind them with a file in hand, "He has been in more stressful situations when he was a lawyer". And he was pretty sure the past seven years might have also contained stressful event.
"Do you know about Daddy's trials that much Polly? Were they that stressful?" Trucy asked curiously.
"Of course, I know about all of his trials, I studied them closely!" Apollo replied as he got back to his desk to put down what he was holding, turning back towards them. He had a smile on his face, something in him happy and excited to talk about it.
"Only on his third trial he was up against Manfred Von Karma," he said, quickly cut by Trucy who asked excitedly who the man was. "He was considered the god of prosecution, in 40 years he had never lost once, I certainly would be anxious and stressed going against a man like him, especially since he was known to hide some evidence and rig witness testimonies".
"No way" Trucy gasped with a frown, only for Edgeworth to reply with a "he was indeed that way".
"But Wright still won against a man like this! Not only did he win a not guilty verdict for Mr Edgeworth, he also solved and found the real killer in a at the time 15 years old case, for which Von Karma was found guilty".
Trucy had turned in shock towards the older lawyer, Apollo noticing how the man had tensed at the mention of his name and of the old case. This immediately made him tone it down a bit, "I-I'm sorry for bringing this up, I didn't–"
"It's alright" Edgeworth assured him, "It's already been a long time, I am still grateful for what he did for me in this case," he admitted.
Apollo seemed a bit unsure, but it didn't take much to get him started again when Trucy asked for more. He wondered if Wright had ever talked a lot about his days as an attorney with his daughter.
"Then another one of his trials in his first year as a lawyer was him defending the chief prosecutor at the time when everything pointed towards her, yet again getting tangled up in old stories," he continued, now gesticulating a little, trying to keep his voice to a reasonable volume ('We'll get another noise complaint otherwise' he could hear Wright say). "It was impressive seeing recordings of him going against the Chief police of the time, that man looked intimidating if you want my opinion and his build doesn't quite help either, I don't know if I would have stayed that calm when I had someone so powerful threaten legal action against me as I accuse them of serious crimes".
Apollo needed to take a little break from all his talking, going over details of the case and of what had happened, only getting more hyped up by Trucy. "But I think one of the most stressful situations in court he must have been in was the Matt Engarde case" He stated, "His assistant got kidnapped by an assassin on the night of the murder and she was being held hostage so Wright would see his client not guilty".
The young lawyer couldn't imagine what this was like, he had heard that this lady was always with him at the time so he assumed they were good friends. The closest was imagining someone kidnapping Trucy and the idea alone made him pale. He always made sure nothing would happen to her, he felt like he couldn't forgive himself if he failed at that.
"But despite the threats hanging over his head, Wright still found his client guilty and his assistant was also saved without problems" he commented, "Watching these trials you can tell how worried and desperate he was to find that not guilty verdict at first".
"Why would daddy try to get a not guilty verdict if he knew he was actually guilty? Couldn't the police have helped?" Trucy asked.
"I believe Wright didn't know at first that he was indeed guilty, only the planted pieces of evidences were conveniently pointing towards his clients," Apollo replied, "But you can see a difference when he seemingly has found out about the truth".
Apollo had watched these videos so many times, he could see it in his mind right now, how tense the situation was when a life was in danger. Especially the life of someone close to you. "And Mr Edgeworth" Apollo then started, "You were also impressive, I can tell you were working with him to make that trial go for as long as possible, helping him until the police found her".
There was a silence as Apollo was taking a moment to breathe, calming himself down, knowing he had started to get a bit too excited. Talking about court trials was something he liked to do, but there was just something more when it came to Phoenix Wright.
"Wright's friend also got in some other trouble months later, when she was trapped on an isolated part of the mountain and then disappeared for a long part of the trials. I am not sure if I should say she was really unlucky at times… I wonder how she is doing today" he then wondered.
Aside from Edgeworth and Ema, Apollo had never met anyone that knew Phoenix Wright the attorney. He had heard mention here and there, assumed he was probably in contact with them, but that was it.
"How did you know about the hostage situation? I do not believe it went into the record" Edgeworth asked.
At the sudden question, Apollo couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed, passing a nervous hand through his hair. "I-I was organising the old case files and decided to take a peek at some of the bigger ones, some of them have personal notes about the events written by either Wright or a certain M. Fey," he explained.
He knew he shouldn't have looked into them without asking first, but it had been stronger than him. The files were right there! So he had decided to take a quick look, how could he pass this opportunity?
"It does make sense" Edgeworth nodded, "If it can help on that last wonder, from what I last heard, Maya Fey is doing very well today".
This did make the young lawyer relieved, even if he didn't know the lady himself. From what he had heard, seen on tapes and read about, she seemed to be quite the character. She was and probably still is a close friend to Wright, so it was nice to see the man didn't need to worry about the well being of his friend.
"Polly sure knows a lot about daddy" Trucy then commented with a smirk, Apollo immediately recognising the tone of teasing in her voice.
Only then did he realise just how excited he was and for how long he had been going on about these decade-old cases. He had talked about it as if it was last year's big trials. "W-Wright was an inspiration for me to become a lawyer" he admitted with a blush, "I closely studied all his cases, I was impressed with the way he seemed to be giving his all for the innocent people who needed it and how he would clip everything around to his advantage". It was also probably why his way of working in court was rather similar to his.
"I got a little carried away, not many people are ready to hear me talk about it like this," he admitted. He remembered in law school when people would either think of him in two ways. That he was stupid to look up at the fallen ace attorney like this ('look at them now, I was right after all, he didn't forge anything!'). Or that he was being too much when talking about it, even for some of his teachers.
"I am sure he would be surprised and happy to hear that" Edgeworth smiled at him when Apollo went to sit down with them. This only made Apollo feel even more flustered, the idea of acting like this in front of the person he admired so much was even more embarrassing. "And he would never stop teasing me about it," Apollo commented.
"Well, I would be pleasantly surprised and honoured if someone was so dedicated to my trials" Edgeworth admitted, "Although the early days of my career are not ones I am proud of anymore".
Apollo frowned at his words. He knew of the old rumours about the man and was vaguely aware he had studied prosecution from Manfred Von Karma. Apollo couldn't agree with getting a guilty verdict no matter what just to have a perfect record, but he could see the man was still dedicated to his work, even more after his first disappearance a decade ago.
"I believe you're work in court is also very admirable, even if we are on opposites sides of it" the young lawyer offered, "I never went back that far to see your first trials and only looked into a couple of your cases abroad when I heard mention of them" he admitted, "But I believe you are also dedicated to your work and I admire how you seem to be seeking the truth in every case".
Apollo felt a bit awkward when no one replied, suddenly anxious that he had said something wrong or sounded a bit pushy. But this was the truth, Edgeworth was also a good lawyer, this was undeniable. He even believed the man would make a great defence attorney if he hadn't been a prosecutor.
"It is surely surprising hearing a defence attorney praising me like this" the older man admitted, before a soft smile appeared on his lips, "Hopefully I can keep living up to your expectation of me". His word allowed Apollo to relax, happy to hear he hadn't fuck up this time around.
"Also, if you ever want someone to talk about Phoenix's previous cases, I would be happy to do so with you" Edgeworth offered, "For some reason, It seemed like we were nearly always against one another in court". And this was something Apollo had indeed noticed, the two men had indeed faced many times in court.
The suggestion made him feel warm in his chest, unable to stop the very likely goofy smile he had. It was probably the first time someone suggested hearing him talk so passionately about it ('Well, it is weird to be obsessed over one man' something in him would argue).
"Thank you for the offer, Edgeworth" he smiled, "I would be really happy if we did".
He decided to ignore the spreading warmth in his chest when the older man smiled back at him, before Trucy caught his attention again about her dad's past trials.
I know absolutely nothing about bruise formation, from the little research I did I think there is some form on the same day. If it doesn't work like this, how well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯