He carefully tiptoed out of his bedroom, into the bathroom. Locked the door. Hesitated, then eased into the shower and slid the curtain closed, before taking out his phone.
"Phoenix Wright!" she answered sharply – and immediately. It made him flinch, then pause for way too long, because that hadn't even been one ring. Was she always this quick, or…?
"This is a phone call, you fool!" Franziska snapped. "You cannot just stand there making foolish faces and expect me to interpret your meaning!"
"Sorry," he whispered, abashed. "I mean – hi, Franziska."
"…Hello." Her voice was still stern but softer in some immeasurable way. Phoenix couldn't help a (probably very foolish) smile. "Why did you call me so late?"
"I – um." That was a very good question, actually. Franziska was nowhere near the top of his list for people to call in a situation like this. Granted, it wasn't a tremendously long list, but he was pretty sure she should be at the bottom.
"And why are you muttering?!"
"Don't shout," he hissed, peeking anxiously through the shower curtain. "You'll wake her up!"
"…Wake who?"
"Trucy," he blurted. "Zak's daughter, but he's gone and she's sleeping in my room right now, I'm hiding in the shower, I don't know what to do."
"Fool," Franziska scoffed. "Why are you hiding in the shower?"
"I don't know."
"Tell me exactly what is going on, you nincompoop," she ordered. Something in her voice sounded almost fond, and he found himself wishing he had one of those fancy phones that could do video calls. He had a feeling she might actually be smiling.
"I – look, I wanted to talk to her. I thought she might have some clues for me or, or something. But when she got here she looked so… I mean, I know her dad is gone, but apparently she doesn't have anyone else and she's been staying in this really awful home for the past two weeks, and I just –"
Franziska made a quiet, breathy sound - either a laugh or a scoff.
"-told her she could stay here and I'd help her look for her mother or someone, and then she started to cry and hugged me and I promised that I'd adopt her, I don't even have a second bedroom! It's why I'm in the shower!"
That was definitely a laugh.
"It's not funny," Phoenix hissed. "I destroyed her life."
"Shut your trap," She said, no longer amused. "You're nothing like Papa."
Phoenix fell silent, a cold feeling trickling into his gut. He hadn't even thought about it like that, but now he couldn't help imagining himself poisoning a vulnerable Trucy with his grudges. It was a horrifying image; he refused to ever be anything like that. He'd make sure Trucy was never affected by any of his bitter feelings relating to that trial. He'd – and now he was thinking of it as a foregone conclusion, that he actually would adopt her.
"I've seen you with Pearl Fey," Franziska told him, low and… reassuring, despite all odds. "You will make a passable father."
"Passable?" he asked, because all he'd heard was will and it was making his heart beat harder, his cheeks flush. She sounded so completely certain.
"An imbecile like you can never hope for perfect!" she lashed, a verbal version of her favored weapon. "If you expected me to reassure you of that, this was a wasted call!"
"N-no, I–" he gave up. "Thanks, Franziska. This… actually helped."
"Don't call me past nine again unless you have your badge back," she snipped, then hung up.
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