A/n: This is a very short Phoenix/Maya friendship story that has been floating around in my head for awhile and when I say awhile I mean for a couple of years.

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ace Attorney or any of its characters, specifically Phoenix Wright, Mia and Maya Fey, and the amazing Steel Samurai.

Tick Tick Tick

I sighed inwardly.

Every second that ticked by felt like minutes, and the minutes felt like hours, as if time itself was on holiday, causing the day to never end. How much longer must I put up with this? I cast my eyes toward the clock. I wasn't exactly sure how long I'd been here. Four hours maybe?

I spent the first two hours cleaning the office, dusting and vacuuming the little furniture we have, and organizing the messy contents of my desk drawers. I even watered Charley, a plant my former boss left behind, not that he really needed to be watered. Someone had overfilled his pot yesterday and the poor thing looked like it could use a break from all the love and attention it had been getting as of late. He was probably too silent for his own good. What a gentleman.

After I finished with all the cleaning, I moved to my desk and waited patiently for clients to call. Unfortunately, there hadn't been any clients, not today anyway, or the day before. It wasn't because I was a poor excuse for a defense attorney. No. I had been quite successful in the last few years, even solved a few difficult cases, but everything had slowed down and lately there weren't as many cases.

Rubbing my temples, I stared at the phone sitting quietly atop my desk. It didn't ring once since I got here. My eyes drifted to the door on my right. It didn't look like it would be swinging open anytime soon. Picking up my pen, my eyes returned to the papers strewn in front of me.

Tick Tick Tick

Something about today just seems so off. What could be missing? Aside from the furious scratching of pen on paper, the constant flipping of cleanly typed pages, and the obnoxious ticking coming from the small clock hanging on the far side of the room, the office was as silent as a tomb. Even though there hadn't been a single client, the office was unusually quiet. Perhaps it was because Maya wasn't here. Right of course. That had to be the reason for the unbearable silence. The office was never this quiet whenever Maya was around. It sure was weird with her absent. The office didn't quite feel the same without her.

I guess I'm just not used to the lack of noise. It's not that it's a bad thing really. I actually enjoy the silence, but right now it's just irritating.

Seeing as no one would be coming in anytime soon, I decided to move to the sofa where it was comfortable. It was only supposed to be for a few minutes, but it turned out to be much longer than that.

And so here I was, lying in the same position for nearly half an hour with my hands under my head and my feet hanging casually over the edges of the office sofa. Today had been such a waste. In the last thirty minutes, I'd done absolutely nothing but stare at the ceiling tiles. I groaned. This was turning out to be a slow week for sure. I closed my eyes for a brief moment.

I wonder how Mia was able to do so well when she ran things here.

Somehow, the office was always busy with her around. Just what was it that set her apart from me?

I took in a large breath of air as I lay lazily on the sofa. Within a few seconds, I found myself drifting to a comfortable sleep. It wasn't long before I woke up and noticed a few shades of pink and orange had entered the room. Taking note of the position of the sun, I realized that the day was nearly coming to an end.

I sat up, scratching my head as I took out my cell phone. No missed calls.

I wonder why she couldn't be here today.

Earlier this morning, Maya called and told me that she wouldn't be able to come in to work. She said she had something ultra important to do and that her life depended on it. When I asked her about it, she just giggled with a "Bye, Nick. I'll see you later, okay?" Then hung up.

What a silly girl. Just what is this ultra important thing you had to do, Maya?

Putting away my phone, I fell back onto the couch with a soft thud, running my fingers along my eyebrows as I thought about what I should do now. I blinked two or three times. The silence was torturous.

"Oh man, no one should be this bored," I said aloud.

My words echoed off the walls, and then the room fell silent again. Seconds ticked away and before I knew it my stomach demanded attention as it made a grumbling noise that was impossible for me to ignore.

"And now I'm hungry. Oh this is perfect." I sighed. "God, I could really go for some burgers."

Great, I'm turning into Maya.

A smile tugged at my lips as an idea came to me. Clearing my throat, I spoke again in a much higher voice.

"Hey, Nick. Are you finished with work, yet?"

I couldn't help but laugh at my poor imitation of my young assistant. I couldn't stop myself. The words continued to escape my lips.

"Cause I was hoping we could go out for some burgers right now. I'm really starving over here! You wouldn't let a girl starve now, would you?"

In my own voice, I continued, "Sorry Maya, but I still have all these paperwork that I need to fill out by tomorrow."

"Aw, you're no fun," I said, again in the same high pitch as before.

Suddenly I heard laughter coming from behind me. Startled, I sat up and turned around, surprised to see Maya standing in the doorway, and at that moment my cheeks felt like they were burning with embarrassment for acting so childish and unprofessional.

Maya was still laughing. "I'm so glad there aren't any clients around to see that. Boy, that was hilarious," she said as she closed the door behind her before adding, "and a little creepy."

I nodded in agreement. If a client walked in instead, they'd probably think I was insane and that would be the end of me. I'd never show my face in public ever again. Luckily, it was only Maya, but still...

I just know she's never going to let this go.

"Honestly, Nick, I didn't think you'd be this bored without me." Maya flashed me her usual smile before giggling again. "You're funny."

I stood up and regained my composure, clearing my throat before speaking.

"So, where have you been? Why couldn't you come to work today?"

"Ah you don't really need to know why."

"Actually I do, since I'm your boss and everything."

She pouted at me. "Hmm okay."

She skipped over to where I was standing, holding two plastic bags in her hands. Shoving one of the bags in my face, she told me to look inside.

"So, what do you think?" she said. "Pretty neat, huh?"

Reaching into the bag, I pulled out an unopened box set of DVDs.

"You ditched work just so could purchase a Steel Samurai DVD collection?"

"You should go out more, Nick. This is the Steel Samurai DVD collection Special Edition. It contains a behind-the-scenes feature, a tour of Neo Old Tokyo, deleted scenes, and the never before seen lost episode of 'The Steel Samurai: Return of the Evil Magistrate'. It just came out today. You should've seen how long the line was. I was lucky I bought one before they were sold out."

She reached into the bag and pulled out a CD and a small gadget that looked a little like a pocket calculator but with a larger screen.

Maya held the items up to me before saying, "Look! It even came with a complete soundtrack, and here, it's a mini hand-held video game based on the show. It's quite addicting. You should play it."

"Um, no thanks. So… what about that?" I pointed to the other bag in her hand. "Is it anything useful?"

"Oh! This is for you." She opened the bag and pulled out a box, handing it to me with a huge smile. "After a few hours of playing nonstop steel samurai action, I decided to head to the office. That was when I came across a cute little shop and thought, 'Hey, I should buy one of these for Nick.' Do you like it?"

I opened the lid and inside the box was a round chocolate cake with This is for Nick! written in blue icing. I stared at it for a few seconds and then at her.

"Maya, you do realize that my birthday isn't until next month, right?" I asked, hoping she wasn't that forgetful.

"I know. This isn't a birthday cake, it's a thanks for everything cake. So I guess I just want to say, thanks for everything, Nick!"

I smiled.

"Hey... um, Nick? Can we eat the cake right now?" she pleaded. "I'm really starving. You wouldn't let a girl starve now, would you?"

I laughed.

Spending the day with Maya is way more exciting than spending the day alone.

End

A/n: Thanks for reading. Review if you like.