Rising Uncertainty

The Note

Miles eventually fell asleep, curled up on the couch with the blanket wrapped tightly around him. He had fallen asleep while Phoenix was holding him so the other man decided to lay him down and let him rest.

"Goodnight, Miles..." he mumbled before he went into his room.

Phoenix sighed quietly as he got ready for bed. He couldn't stop thinking about the man on his couch. He was worried about him amongst other things. Was he sleeping well? Was it too hot? Too cold? Had he been too pushy earlier? Was he having nice dreams? What kind of dreams did he even have? His mind began to wander.

Phoenix chewed on the inside of his cheek lightly. Did the prosecutor think about him? He did show up to his place- he could have gone anywhere else. Except that Miles had explained that it was the closest he could think of.

'We ARE friends... he's bound to think of me sometimes- Wait, what am I even doing? Why does it matter?' He huffed angrily at himself. He just needed to stop and sleep.

He drifted off to sleep a while later, no longer thinking about a certain someone. Instead, he was dreaming and thinking about peaceful walks on the beach.

———

Phoenix slowly blinked his eyes open as his alarm blared next to him. He groaned as he rolled over and smacked it, effectively turning it off. He stretched and inhaled deeply and relaxed. He rubbed his eyes and yawned before he got up and wandered over to his closet. He looked at all of his suits before he decided to just get ready after he had his coffee and his breakfast.

That's when it hit him. Miles Edgeworth was sleeping on his couch.

How could he forget?

Phoenix rushed out of his room and immediately looked at the couch. It was empty. He looked around and sighed when he saw a small piece of paper folded on the folded blanket. He slowly picked it up and read it.

'Wright,

Thank you for allowing me to stay the night and for everything else. I appreciate it greatly. I am very thankful for your kindness and hospitality. I hope to repay you for it some day.
I left for my office with Gumshoe before you awoke and I did not want to wake you just to tell you I was leaving so I hope you slept well. Your clothes are folded atop your dryer. I apologize for not washing them like I had planned. I had woken up a little late so I had no time.
Have a lovely day and don't forget to take care of yourself.

Best regards,
Miles Edgeworth'

Phoenix couldn't help but smile while reading the letter. He felt somewhat happy that Miles had chosen to let him know where he was. He was also flattered that Miles seemed to care about his well being. He smiled a little more before checking the time.

"Guess I have to get ready now..." he mumbled quietly. He hadn't gotten to eat anything yet. He'd just eat something when he got there.

Phoenix left his apartment and locked it behind him. He got on his bike and headed to Wright and Co. Law Offices.

Maya and Pearl were returning from their trip today and he wanted to make sure everything looked good for their return. He was going to buy them all lunch later at a new restaurant that Maya had wanted to try out- after he got some work done of course. He wanted them to have a great return and wanted them both to be stress free, which is why he planned on making sure Maya didn't do any work. Not that she did much anyways, but he didn't mind.

"Maybe they'd like a cake or some cupcakes... maybe brownies... cookies...?" He was mumbling to himself as he opened the door to the office. "Huh... I'll have to figure it out before they return."

———

"Nick! We're herrreeee!" Maya shouted as she flung the door open.

"Mr. Nick! Mr. Nick!" Pearl ran in with a bunch of bags in her arms.

"Hey guys! How was your trip?" He asked with a giant smile.

"It was amazing!" Maya said excitedly. "And the ocean was so pretty!"

"Yeah! It was warm too!" Pearl said with a giant smile. "Mystic Maya and me made bracelets! We made you some!"

"I know! They sound great and I can't wait to wear mine-"

"IS THIS A COOKIE CAKE?!" Maya practically yelled from the other side of the office.

"Oh, yeah! I got a small thing to welcome you two back- I'm also taking you both out for lunch. I want to hear about everything you guys did-"

"Aww, Mr. Nick missed us!" Pearl clapped happily.

"Of course I did. Now, that cookie cake thing is for after work, got it?"

"Ah man, really? I was looking forwards to eating it right away," Maya pouted as she crossed her arms.

"Yes, really." He said with a light chuckle.

"So, what did Edgeworth want yesterday?" She asked, sitting down.

"Oh, he just needed some... paperwork. It took a while to get it done." Phoenix didn't want to lie but he also knew that Miles probably wouldn't want him to tell people what had happened.

"Boringgggg." She rolled her eyes and leaned back. "I was hoping for some juicy gossip."

"Even if there was something to gossip about, I wouldn't tell you." Phoenix chuckled again.

"Why not? I tell you everything!" She complained.

"It wouldn't be my place-"

"Mr. Nick, I've got your bracelets! We match with Mystic Maya!" Pearl interrupted happily. She thrusted three bracelets into his hands and beamed at him.

One read 'Nick' and the other two said 'bff' on them. He glanced at Maya and smiled, knowing she had taught Pearl that.

"Oh Pearl, they look amazing! Thank you! I'll make sure to wear them whenever I can," he repeated what he had said on the phone. It made her smile widely.

"Mystic Maya and I are already wearing ours! We were going to put shells on them but they wouldn't fit." She pouted slightly before laughing lightly and running back to Maya. She rolled up both of their sleeves to show him their bracelets. They were adorable.

"Well, they look great the way they are," he said with a giant smile.

"Where are we going for lunch? I'm starving!" Maya walked over to him and poked his shoulder as if that would get her point across better.

"That new place that opened that you wanted to try."

"Really?! Awesome! Pearly, we get to try that new pizza place!" She said excitedly.

"I thought you liked ramen and burgers." She said.

"Yeah, but I also like pizza!" Maya's explanation was all that Pearl needed. She laughed as the child began to rush around the office to hang up pictures she and Maya had drawn while they were away.

Phoenix beamed at the both of them. He had been getting a tad lonely without the two of them there to bother him or ask him constant questions. The office just felt empty without them hanging around. He tuned back into the two girls' conversation and smiled to hear them talking about how warm and sunny the beach had been the entire time.

"Oh! And there was this really nice man who offered to pay for our meals once... but Pearly punched him in the arm- and then there was that nice woman who was painting the ocean and let us watch her paint!" Maya continued to ramble.

"We also saw that lady with the whip... von Karma?" Pearl tilted her head.

"Wait- Franziska is in the country? Miles didn't mention that-"

"That's because he doesn't know silly. She looked at us all serious and said, "Don't you dare tell my little brother! He isn't to know I'm here yet!"" Maya put on her best German accent for the other woman but failed pretty badly. "She looked pretty serious, Nick. Maybe she's going to surprise him like you did us!"

"Some how I doubt that," he muttered. "It doesn't matter anyways. Let's go get some pizza!"

They all left the office to finally go eat lunch together for the first time in a week.