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Phoenix sighed softly as he leaned back in his chair. He never was able to afford much more than an apartment even when he was a defense attorney, but with his side jobs and his games at the club, he's at least able to give Trucy a good home life. She has a roof over her head, an allowance, good tuition, food on the table, and a nice comfortable room. It's the really fancy things that he can't afford, but sometimes it's brought by a certain Chief Prosecutor in the form of nice dinners, days out on the town, and right now a nice bottle of wine. While he usually prefers to have grape juice, it's nice to indulge Edgeworth and help him unwind from the day's cases as it was fairly recent that he was made chief prosecutor. Of course, he doesn't give out details that would cause a lawsuit in confidentiality, but more gripes about the defense, the Judge, witnesses, and even the defendant and culprits. Even with being out of it for so long, Phoenix smiles as he sees people haven't changed.
"... I mean really, you would think after all this time the Judge would become more firm in his decisions after all of the cases we've seen. But he's as flippant as ever, unfortunately." Edgeworth sighed as he took another sip of his wine, a mulled taste with a hint of orange. Usually, he keeps to orange flavors in teas, but it gives the wine a nice tang to it. He glanced over as he noticed Phoenix had stopped humming in agreement every few seconds and was now just focusing on Miles himself and he gave an amused huff, "Wright, are you even listening to me?" he asked.
Phoenix blinked a couple of times, being dragged out of memory lane of when they were in court together, yelling out objections and such, "Oh, sorry Edgeworth, I got lost watching your face. Despite all the years, you've certainly kept up a great skin routine," he told him with a soft chuckle, a hand moving up to gently caress Edgeworth's cheek. His smile turned a bit smug as he watched and felt Edgeworth's cheek warm up with a flush at the compliment though he leaned into the touch.
Edgeworth set the wine glass down, his hand moving over Phoenix's hand and he could easily tell the difference. Where Miles takes care of making appointments for haircuts, Phoenix hasn't been able to make one and most likely does his own at home. The prosecutor does keep up with a skin routine to make sure his skin doesn't break out from stress, the pianist's skin is rough and has a couple of spots but it doesn't take away from his handsomeness. Before he could look at the stubble that was on Phoenix's chin his eyes fell onto a tiny mark near his lip and he squinted at it. "Wright, if I didn't know better, I would have to say you have a scar, no, multiple scars around your mouth," he mentioned, now that he was focusing he could see smaller scars that were basically invisible but still there, "What happened?" he asked sternly, looking to his boyfriend's eyes to make sure he told the truth rather than try to lie his way out.
The ex-attorney paused, laughing lightly as he brought his free hand up to gently trace over the more noticeable scar he had on his lip, "Right, sorry, I usually cover them up, but I guess I forgot this morning," he murmured having forgotten all about them as he would automatically use a bit of concealer every morning so people didn't ask, it was basically second nature to him now, "I didn't tell you did I? A couple of years before I became a defense attorney, I was actually charged for a murder," he admitted softly as the memories started flowing back into his slightly muddled mind.
Edgeworth frowned at the news, "Charged for murder? Whose? And why? What does that have to do with these?" he asked, now concerned, both of their wine forgotten for the moment as Edgeworth gently took hold of Phoenix's hands, holding them to ground himself more than he was.
Phoenix laughed lightly at seeing Edgeworth giving him his trademark cold stare even though he knew the other man loved him just as he did, "Relax Miles like I said it was years ago at this point. I was in college and then I met this girl or girls? Either way, I had gone to the courthouse for something, I forget what it was right now. And that's where I met Dahlia Hawthorne, I thought we hit it off really well at first, she even gave me her necklace. Long story short, she played me for a fool, but I wanted to protect her and I ate that glass pendant, after the trial and everything was over, I was rushed off to have surgery for the glass, both in my mouth still and more," he explained, frowning as Edgeworth had instantly tensed at the mention of the glass pendant, his hands growing extremely cold as his face paled, "Miles...?"
Many emotions ran through Edgeworth at that moment, both past wounds opening to present where he was terrified, angry, and sad all over again. Terrified of the image of that man being replaced by Phoenix. Angry that that snake of a woman had taken two lives through manipulation, a third attempted. And sad, both for the man who gave up, and the younger Phoenix who was so betrayed by someone he had loved.
"Phoenix Wright... Did you have any idea what was inside that bottle...?" Miles asked, his voice low and shaking as Phoenix looked clueless, and Edgeworth sighed, letting his anger go, deciding to just give him the facts, "That bottle held a powerful poison, one that had almost instantly killed another man Hawthorne had manipulated while he was still in court. You're lucky enough to be alive from the glass alone, but no matter how much cleaning was done I doubt all traces of poison had been cleared. You are both the luckiest and yet clueless man I have ever met in my life," he told him with a slight growl, folding his arms after letting go of his hands, trying to calm himself down. As much as he was angry he couldn't change the past, and he knew it was pointless.
It was now Phoenix's turn to look at Miles, bewildered, "Wait, you mean you saw a man die in court...? Because of that bottle? And I did know that Dahlia hid poison in it... She had poisoned Diego Armando, who we later met as Prosecutor Godot, with it." he told him, frowning and moving to sit closer to Edgeworth, an arm wrapped around him holding him close to help him settle down, "I'm sorry you went through that... Dahlia really was a snake, attempting to drag down anyone and everyone who got close to her. Though I am kind of glad it wasn't her that I dated in college," he admitted with a soft laugh, trying to lighten the mood.
Edgeworth rolled his eyes at the attempt, his finger tapping his arm as he thought it all over for a minute, "... Did you ever think of getting back together with Iris after she was released?" he asked softly, curious as he knew Iris was Phoenix's first girlfriend as an adult even if she was acting as Dahlia at the time.
"Heh, don't get me wrong, I liked and at the time loved Iris enough, but uh... You passed by the precinct when I was being held there, you know?" he admitted softly, Edgeworth looking at him curiously, "Of course, we didn't talk. I was actually fiddling with the pendant a bit, thinking of her, when I heard your voice. I rushed to the cell bars and caught a glimpse of you. I had no time to call out since I was still processing that it was you that I saw. That's when I decided to fully go for the law course, to become a defense attorney. I had thought of breaking up with Dahlia after I was let out, but well the choice was pretty much made for me. It was also the time when I started to realize that... I've always been drawn to you, Miles. Sure we had Larry along with us, but it was you that made me feel happy and warm inside though, of course, I didn't realize it as a kid. But then just seeing that glimpse of you made all of those feelings rush back and I had to find out the truth," he told him softly, gently nuzzling into the side of Edgeworth's head and neck, "The truth of my own feelings, and what had happened to you," he murmured as he smiled lovingly up to him, "And it was all worth it." he sighed happily, glad that Edgeworth was now with him.
Miles could feel his cheeks flush more with warmth at the confession and sincerity of it, though smiled back to him, his arm wrapping around Phoenix now too, "When I was a kid, I wanted to become a defense attorney like my father... But after that incident, I changed my mind. Instead, I wanted to convict all of the criminals I could. So that they couldn't run from the law like I had thought Yanni Yogi had. I didn't want to protect criminals, I wanted to punish them," he said, leaning his head against Phoenix's, feeling his very soul calm at him being so near, "Now I see that things are not so simple. I know that a perfect win record does not matter, but rather finding the truth is. As long as I can, I will do as I can to continue going for the truth. I'm no hero, I'm no deity, I'm not of the supernatural. I am, like everyone else, just human. I can only strive to do as much as I can before it's time to leave it alone. Just as I know you will do, even though you are no longer an attorney," he hummed, knowing Phoenix was still searching for answers about his last case.
"Of course, we each have to do our part to make the world at least a little fairer," Phoenix smiled, "Right now though, it's late. Too late to drive back for you, and we did have a couple of glasses of wine, my bed has been lonely lately Chief Prosecutor~" Phoenix teased, giggling softly as Edgeworth sputtered a bit, flushing darker now for different reasons but not declining the offer as Phoenix kissed his cheek and got up to put things away so Trucy didn't see the glasses of wine in the morning. Edgeworth snapped himself out of it and helped him to clean, the sooner they did, the sooner they could put the thought of the thorns behind them and enjoy the night they had together.