Unmasked-- Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright (PxE)

[Hachimitsu Tea]

Why is there so little Ace Attorney material on the forum? ;A; I decided to make my own. Enjoy~

Title: Unmasked

Pairing: PhoenixxEdgeworth

Word count: 3,091

So this is Wright’s office building… It seemed odd that even over the course of the year and a half since he and Phoenix had rekindled their friendship that he’d never once found himself at Phoenix’s place of employment, but that was where things currently stood. Edgeworth put his flashy red sports car into park in front of the innocuous looking high-rise and cast a wary eye over it. The two flowering trees stationed on either side of the door mocked him. He could feel his eyes watering already, even though he still hadn’t opened his car door.

Briefly putting off the moment when he would have to step out into the pollen-filled spring air, Edgeworth reached into the pocket of his maroon suit and extracted the reason for his visit: a small gold tie clip. He’d given Phoenix a ride home after court last week and had noticed the tie clip on the floor of the car when he’d gotten home himself. It didn’t belong to him, and Edgeworth’s sharp eyes had noticed Phoenix wearing a similar one before, although he hadn’t examined it closely enough while it was in the man’s possession to be absolutely certain that the two were one and the same.

When did I become so quick to second guess myself? Edgeworth wondered irritably with a small sniffle. Even in the unlikely event that I’m mistaken about it belonging to him, it’s only a tie clip. It’s hardly the end of the world if the owner doesn’t get it back.

In any case, sitting out here wasn’t getting the matter handled any quicker. Edgeworth was a busy man; he hardly had time to dilly dally at an unimportant task like this. He swallowed hard, annoyed by how quickly his heart was beating for reasons he knew had very little to do with the thought of facing those cursed trees and more to do with the thought of having to face Phoenix. An image of Phoenix’s smiling face and friendly blue eyes lingering on his own gray ones flashed through Edgeworth’s imagination and he felt his cheeks go warm. Stubbornly pushing aside any thoughts about the meaning of such a reaction to thoughts of his friend, Edgeworth forced himself to step out of his car at last.

The pollen began to tease his nose almost immediately, in spite of the paper surgical mask he was wearing to combat the substance’s effects on his body. Edgeworth cleared his slightly itchy throat and strode briskly toward the doors of the office building, trying to draw as little breath as possible. Almost there, he told himself encouragingly as allergic tears gathered in his eyes and blurred his vision. Almost…

In Edgeworth’s haste and determination to reach the door, he failed to notice the crack in the concrete before him that was making the sidewalk uneven. The prosecutor stumbled slightly, not enough to actually fall, but enough to startle him and cause him to draw a small breath. He realized his error too late as the sweet scent of flowers filled his nose, bringing with it a tickling sensation. Even though the mask filtered out the worst of it, he still somehow managed to inhale enough pollen to be affected.

“Hut—shoo!” he sneezed softly. “Hut—choo!”

He resisted the urge to sniffle, knowing it would be better to wait until he was inside the building and away from the worst of the pollen. Edgeworth twitched his nose behind his mask as he reached for the door handle and yanked the door open urgently. He could feel his nose dripping, much to his disgust and embarrassment. His fingers brushed the handkerchief in his pocket as he made his way swiftly through the doors. Was the coast clear? Maybe it was silly, but Edgeworth couldn’t bring himself to blow his nose when there were other people around.

He let out a small sigh of relief when he found that the atrium appeared mostly empty. Desperate to rid himself of the unpleasant sensation of his nose dripping down his lip, Edgeworth whipped his handkerchief out of his pocket and began to reach up to remove his mask. The last thing he wanted was to be seen wearing the thing if there was any way he could avoid it. He was only willing to weather the embarrassment when it was unavoidable, such as when he had to be outside. Edgeworth had only managed to get his hand halfway up to his mask when a voice suddenly called out to him, and it was a voice that he recognized instantly as it had spent an embarrassing amount of time echoing in his head recently.

“…Edgeworth? What’re you doing here?”

Wright… Edgeworth felt as though his heart had stopped when his eyes flitted in the direction of Phoenix’s voice and locked onto his friend’s curious gaze. He opened his mouth to reply, but he was flustered and couldn’t find the words for a moment.

“Um… what’s with the mask?” Phoenix asked, raising an eyebrow.

For the second time in a matter of seconds, Edgeworth felt his heart stutter again, a moderate red flush rising in his cheeks. Of all the people to catch me wearing this hideous mask, why did it have to be him? Acting of its own accord, his hand darted up the rest of the way and snatched the mask off his face and he gave a deep, wet sniffle, the sort that would have made his skin crawl if he’d heard anyone else doing it, to rid himself of the dribble under his nose.

“Ahem… N-never mind that,” Edgeworth said brusquely, his eyes tearing themselves away from Phoenix’s and focusing on the man’s chest instead. He noticed with a hint of relief that the tie clip he had seen Phoenix wearing before was missing, strengthening his suspicion that it was the very one he currently held in his hand. “You left this in my car last week. I’m returning it.”

He thrust the clip out to Phoenix, still not looking at him.

“Oh hey, I wondered what’d happened to this!” the defense attorney said happily, accepting it from him. “Thanks!”

“Don’t mention it,” Edgeworth mumbled. One of his eyes was beginning to squeeze shut uncontrollably the way it did sometimes when a sneeze was creeping up on him. The thought of sneezing in front of Phoenix of all people was humiliating. He needed to get out of there before it became impossible to hold back. Hoping to hide his approaching sneeze, Edgeworth brought a hand to his eye, rubbing it gently. “W-weh--*sniff*--Well, I’d better get…geh-heh-het going…”

He whirled around, stifling the sneezes silently as they came out. Hopefully Phoenix couldn’t see the tremors wracking his body. He instantly regretted stifling; that always made the need to sneeze even more intense.

“W-wait, you don’t really have to run off right away, do you?” Phoenix said hurriedly. “I was just about to take a break from work and get some coffee… Why don’t you come with me? You don’t have to stay long if you’re busy, but surely you can spare a few minutes?”

Edgeworth was hardly listening; the tickle in his nose was so intense now that it was almost painful, and holding his sneezes in brought no relief. Holding his breath was starting to make him dizzy, and it was growing increasingly clear that he was going to have to let them out, whether Phoenix was watching or not. He brought his handkerchief up, holding it at the ready.

“Uh, Edgeworth…?” Phoenix said timidly, peering over his friend’s shoulder.

“Ehtish! Itkish! Heggkish!” Edgeworth did his best to muffle his rapid sneezes in his handkerchief, but with Phoenix as close as he was, there was no preventing him from hearing them altogether. He supposed he ought to at least be grateful that his sneezes were naturally soft, as much as he hated the wetness of them, and not like Phoenix’s bazooka blasts. “Hehesh! Heyesh! It—choo! …Hepchoo!”

“Jeez, bless you, bless you!” Phoenix said sympathetically, patting Edgeworth’s back. “Oh… I bet your allergies are bothering you, huh? Is that what the mask was for?”

Edgeworth could feel himself reddening to the tips of his ears as his breath continued to hitch helplessly. He needed to get away from the entryway; there was sunlight streaming in through the glass, and a small gap between the two doors was letting in more horrible pollen. “Ek—choo! Hehektchoo!”

“Bless you! You sound miserable!” Phoenix’s hand was still lingering on Edgeworth’s back, and even in the midst of his suffering, Phoenix’s touch still managed to get Edgeworth’s heart pounding. “Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe you should come up to my office and wash your face.”

“Huheshoo! F-fide… Hetchoo!” Edgeworth choked. God, how embarrassing. He was ready for this allergy attack to be over now. “Itish—shoo!”

“Bless you again!” Edgeworth wished Phoenix would stop saying that, it was making him even more humiliated. “Are you ok to take the stairs like this? I’m just on the fourth floor.”

Luckily Phoenix had remembered his aversion to elevators without having to be reminded. Edgeworth felt pathetic enough already. He nodded curtly, rubbing his itching, streaming nose through his handkerchief. Phoenix kept his hand hovering at Edgeworth’s back as if he expected him to fall over, and as embarrassing as it was, Edgeworth couldn’t bring himself to order Phoenix not to touch him.

“I should still have some Benadryl in my desk, I think,” Phoenix said as he let them into the office. “Do you want some?”

“Ekshoo! I suppose th-there’s dot—dot—Eptchoo! Dot buch choice at this poidt…Itkich—choo!” Edgeworth stammered.

He’d been hoping to avoid Benadryl as it tended to make him overwhelmingly sleepy, but he was so miserable now that he didn’t see any other way out of his suffering.

Phoenix hurried over to his desk and began rummaging through the drawers, searching for the medicine. Edgeworth took advantage of Phoenix’s distraction to slip into the bathroom, closing the door so that he could blow his nose without being heard. He cringed at the wet bubbling noise he produced. His whole face itched, and he did his best not to catch a glimpse of his own reflection in the mirror as he removed his cravat. Edgeworth was relieved to see that the bathroom appeared to have been freshly cleaned (the toilet in particular was gleaming proudly) as he filled his cupped hands with water from the sink.

The cool liquid felt so good on his burning, stinging eyes as he lowered his face into his water-filled hands. Edgeworth hesitated a moment before sucking some water into his itchy nose, hoping it would rinse out some of the irritant. He groped blindly around on the wall, squeezing his eyes shut against the water’s burn in his nostrils, and managed to locate the paper towels. Snatching some hurriedly, he buried his face in them just in time to sneeze out the water he’d inhaled.

“Uktchoo! Edjish!”

He sighed wearily, drying his face. Although there was still a lingering tickle in his sinuses, he felt much better after having washed his face. Edgeworth grimaced as he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. He definitely looked like someone who had just suffered an allergy attack, his eyes watery and red-rimmed, his nose pink and slightly swollen. There wasn’t much he could do to improve his appearance, so he grudgingly settled for straightening his slightly disheveled hair before opening the bathroom door to face Phoenix again.

“Feeling any better?” Phoenix asked, his deep blue eyes brimming with concern. He approached Edgeworth, extending a bottle of water and the medicine.

“H-hdd… Th… thadks,” Edgeworth mumbled, accepting the items Phoenix was offering him. An apology for his disgusting display and neediness was bursting on his lips, but his pride had already taken such a battering that he couldn’t bring himself to voice it. He tossed back the Benadryl with a swallow of water.

Phoenix was still watching him concernedly, hovering over him in a way that Edgeworth found highly embarrassing, clearly wondering if there was anything else he could do to help.

“I wasd’t aware that you also suffered frob allergies, Wright,” Edgeworth blurted awkwardly, rattling the medicine bottle gently. Anything to fill what he deemed an awkward silence.

“Oh, they’re not mine,” Phoenix said quickly. “We found out the hard way that Pearls has sensitive skin. She tried some of Maya’s scented lotion and it gave her a little rash, so I bought her some of that.”

“…I see…” Edgeworth wasn’t sure what else to say.

Apparently Phoenix was feeling a touch awkward too, because he fidgeted slightly. “Um… would you like to sit down?” He gestured at the couch behind Edgeworth.

Edgeworth glanced at it, then back at Phoenix uncertainly. “I would hate to hold you up ady bore thad I already have…”

“Oh, no, it’s no trouble, really!” Phoenix insisted eagerly. “I was taking a break anyway, and I don’t have any cases at the moment. It feels too quiet without Maya, but she had to check in back with her village, so… yeah.”

“Well…” Edgeworth began hesitantly. Before he knew it, Phoenix’s hand was on his back again, ushering him onto the couch and sitting down next to him. Not sure what to do with himself, Edgeworth dabbed at his nose with his handkerchief again. The slight disturbance to his still sensitive nose caused the tickle to flare up again. “Hepshoo! Etkitch—choo!”

“God bless you,” Phoenix said softly, a small smile curling up the corners of his lips. Edgeworth was still aware of Phoenix’s lingering touch on his shoulder. Why had it seemed that Phoenix couldn’t keep his hands off of him recently? Was it his imagination? It made him feel nervous and giddy, yet he couldn’t say that he disliked it. Edgeworth shifted uncomfortably, attempting to rub his nose with his handkerchief again without provoking more sneezes.

“It’s really dot decessary to say that every tibe,” Edgeworth mumbled, looking down at his knees. “Heh… heh-eh… hit—choo!”

“Bless you,” Phoenix said again, his smile widening a hint more into something that was half apologetic, and half mischievous. Edgeworth glared at him, but Phoenix didn’t seem that perturbed by it. “I should’ve known you’d be the type to carry a handkerchief. That’s pretty—”

“I swear, Wright, if you say it’s fuddy, I’ll—” Edgeworth interrupted, his face heating up again.

“What? No, I wasn’t gonna say funny!” Phoenix sputtered hurriedly. The defense attorney’s cheeks were going pink now too, and Edgeworth wasn’t sure what to make of that. It looks like I was right about what he intended to say, Edgeworth thought sourly. “I was gonna say…” Phoenix reddened a shade more, “um, ch-charming…?”

Edgeworth scoffed. “I fail to see adythidg charbidg about ad allergy attack…” Damn, he could feel himself going even redder. What was with this awkward atmosphere between them? Edgeworth knew it wasn’t his imagination because Phoenix was just as red.

“I don’t see why you’re getting so embarrassed over it,” Phoenix said. “Plenty of people have allergies. Besides, your sneeze is really cute.”

Edgeworth had been avoiding Phoenix’s gaze until then, but that blunt compliment startled him so much that his head jerked up and he stared Phoenix right in the eye, his own eyes wide with shock. He was half convinced that he’d imagined Phoenix’s words.

“I-I’m sorry, I have no idea where that came from!” Phoenix stammered. “I wasn’t even thinking it! I mean, not that they’re not cute, I just—Th-that’s not…! I… I wasn’t…!”

Before Edgeworth was fully aware of what he was doing, he found himself leaning toward Phoenix minutely, his heart feeling like it might beat its way right out of his chest. Phoenix swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing, as he leaned forward as well. In Edgeworth’s panic over the way the situation was progressing, he found the random wondering that had just drifted across his frazzled mind being voiced before he could even stop to consider that this might not be the moment for such an unrelated question.

“I thought you were goidg to get coffee,” Edgeworth breathed as Phoenix’s lips drew even closer to his own.

If Edgeworth’s eyes hadn’t been fluttering closed, he would have seen Phoenix’s embarrassed smile. “It can wait.”

Their mouths met tentatively, tenderly. Edgeworth felt as though his heart was expanding rapidly. Time seemed to slow down, and suddenly nothing felt real. Phoenix hummed softly into Edgeworth’s mouth, so softly that he didn’t hear it but only felt the vibration. Edgeworth’s tongue ran lightly over Phoenix’s lip. It felt so, so right. Why had it taken them so long to try this?

Phoenix shifted, breaking the kiss and then reinstating it again. In the process, his nose bumped Edgeworth’s. The effect came so suddenly that Edgeworth didn’t have time to do anything but try to hold his breath.

“Ddktcht! Hdtcht!” A third sneeze was teasing at his sinuses as he finally jerked away and pitched into his handkerchief desperately. “Het—choo! Etchiew! Hehetchiew!”

“Bless you,” Phoenix murmured, nuzzling Edgeworth’s neck shyly. “Sorry, was that my fault?”

“Edtirely,” Edgeworth said breathlessly, though it sounded far less irritated than he’d intended. Then he yawned. “Hbb, excuse be.”

“Looks like the medicine’s kicking in,” Phoenix hummed fondly. He put gentle pressure on Edgeworth’s shoulder, inviting him to lean against him.

“This is precisely…” Edgeworth broke off, yawning again, “why I didd’t take ady before leavi’g hobe.”

“Sorry, maybe I should’ve gone and bought you something non-drowsy,” Phoenix mused.

Edgeworth shook his head. “I’b perfectly capable of buyi’g by owd bedicatiod. Id fact, I had, but this dew bra’d doesd’t appear to be effective.”

Phoenix smiled softly as Edgeworth’s head nodded timidly onto his shoulder. “You look like you could use a nap.”

“I… shouldd’t,” Edgeworth mumbled even as his eyelids fluttered drowsily.

“I won’t let you sleep too long,” Phoenix promised. “What about just a twenty minute power nap?”

“Mmb…” Edgeworth grunted. His eyes were already closed.

Phoenix could feel the weight of Edgeworth against him growing as the other man relaxed against him more. The defense attorney blushed but curled his arms around his friend’s broad shoulders.

“G’ night,” Phoenix breathed.

The only reply he received was a sleepy mumble, but it still brought a smile to Phoenix’s lips. He touched a kiss to the top of Edgeworth’s head and let him sleep.

Edited December 29, 2014 by Hachimitsu Tea

[Flufferdust]

Absolutely amazing! I definitely agree that there should be more Ace Attorney on the forum, and I hope that I can join you once I finish all of the games! *q* I adore how embarrassed Edgeworth got every time Phoenix blessed him! (And can I just say Phoenix blessing him each time is such a wonderful thought, I'm gonna have to take it as a headcanon now!) And lovely, sleepy Edgeworth~~~ Oh my goodness this was perfect beyond words!

[Dye]

Holy goodness, yes! There definitely needs to be more Ace Attorney here but I haven't played all the games, it's hard to find the first one for a decent price... I've played the others, though.

hnnnnghghhh edgeworth

he's my faaaave

this fic is so beautiful

[Arty]

THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE OF THESE BABES!!!!

[Emily]

*SCREAMS*

ACE ATTORNEY OMGOMGOMG

This just coincides with all my headcanons and it's fantastic. I feel inspired.

[Kushami Suki Da!]

My fandommmmmm YEAH!!! I have written a bunch of stuff about these guys but I haven't typed them up yet. You have inspired me to now!

[LeapYearKisses]

*internal screaming* Edgeworth having fits! Phoenix's hand in the small of his back! Amazing attention to detail for both characterization and setting! You are awesome and I enjoyed this thoroughly. :'D

[Bisc]

Edgeworthhhhh <3 <3 <3 baby <3 i love him