[RL 9: 'Tis the Season to be Jolly - Edgeworth, Phoenix]

[samuraiprosecutor]

((OOC: Taking place Christmas Eve night.))

The apartment was mercifully quiet that late at night. If he listened carefully he could hear Sigi's soft breathing from his place on the floor (stretched out between the ottoman and the armchair, below the bridge of Miles' legs). The air was warm and suffused with patchouli, comfortable without being thick, and Ten Little Indians lay open in his left hand. The tableau should have been a relaxed one, and indeed on any other night it might have been.

Being that it was Christmas Eve, however, the book was held loosely, carelessly, his eyes moving across the pages only every once in a while. The half-empty cup of tea sitting on the table beside him had long ago cooled, forgotten in favor of the wine beside it (filled twice and also half-empty), and the patchouli was mingling with the smokey scent of a neighbor's wood-burning fireplace (yet another memory - sweet, sharp, and raw).

Sigi raised his head and stared at the door. Edgeworth ignored the reaction (just neighbors in the hall, returning from a holiday party) until Sigi shot to his feet, suddenly enough to bump Edgeworth's legs nearly off the ottoman. "Sigi, nein!" The dog quailed, his tail dropping and ears swiveling back, but he turned his attention to the door after glancing only briefly at his master.

Miles hadn't made it to his feet before the knock sounded through the room, and he crossed the foyer quickly. A frown tugged at his lips: it was well past the hours in which errant party guests might be expected to come knocking at the wrong doors. His brows furrowed in confusion as he swung open the door.

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[attorneyatlol]

It had taken one large glass of eggnog to consider the notion of taking a taxi to Edgeworth's apartment and another two to actually build up the nerve to do it. The crisp air against his face combined with the short jaunt from the sidewalk to the inner halls of the complex, however, left him feeling bizarrely sober, and his resolve crumbled with every nearing step.

Not unlike his first visit, Phoenix found himself staring at the door, the parcel cradled in his arm suddenly feeling like lead. He adjusted it into a more comfortable position while he considered what it was he had hoped to accomplish by being here when it was likely his presence wouldn't be welcome. But Phoenix, being the creature of impulse and instinct that he was, rarely thought things through to completion and this instance, he realized as no logical answer presented itself, was no different.

It was laughable. He shook his head, bemused by his own misgivings, and quickly knocked on the door before he could put anymore thought into it. Honestly, what was the worst that could happen? Edgeworth scowling at him? A snide remark? Having the door slammed in his face? While none of those were preferable outcomes, they certainly wouldn't be anything he hadn't been faced with before.

Besides, the head-on approach (or the 'stumbling blindly into things' approach, if you prefer... but now was not the time for semantics) seemed to be his specialty, and it tended to work out in most cases. With that thought, his expression settled into a reasonably comfortable smile.

When the door swung open, though, his mouth was suddenly incapable of working and he stared, rather stupidly, as if surprised to find Edgeworth in his own apartment. His smile faltered.

[samuraiprosecutor]

Phoenix Wright. Edgeworth suspected the man would never lose the ability to surprise him, to take the expected and the comfortable and fling it back in his face. He could upset Edgeworth's carefully constructed world with so little effort, had many times in the past, and why should tonight's interruption be any different?

He realized he was staring, Wright's uncertain gaze holding him, and his brows furrowed more deeply. "What are you doing here?"

[attorneyatlol]

That was a good question, Phoenix reflected, and one that he could only respond to with a sheepish look. He cleared his throat, making a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a whimper, and forced his smile to stay put while he chose his words carefully. "It's Christmas Eve," as though it explained everything. "I thought... I thought maybe you could use some company."

[samuraiprosecutor]

Coming from anyone else, Edgeworth would have seen only pity in the words (which would in turn prompt a lambasting followed by a swiftly slammed door). But he knew Wright to be a sentimental fool. The kind of person who would...

'Not now,' he chided himself.

"You thought wrong," he replied finally, his voice steady and gaze cool as he said it.

[attorneyatlol]

The response was, of course, expected, and though Phoenix found himself doubting its honesty, he had enough sense to know that now was not the time for pressing. The still open door counted as at least a partial victory, he supposed.

For a moment, his gaze fell to the floor as he contemplated a way to turn this around or approach it from a different angle. 'Think outside of the box,' he told himself, and couldn't help but smile. Mia truly was his mentor in life and law.

When he looked up again, his expression had softened. "Would it make a difference if I said I could use some company?" And it wasn't a lie. Not after she showed up, anyway.

[samuraiprosecutor]

All the protests he had already formulated, every argument he might have made, crumbled at the expression on Wright's face. After all, he'd planned to tell Wright, in so many words, that he did not want company any more than he wanted charity. But Wright as the one in need? Edgeworth looked away, his hand tightening on the doorknob.

"Surely you can find better company."

[attorneyatlol]

Phoenix wasn't sure if he wanted to berate the man for his obvious self-deprecation or say something else entirely; whatever response was bubbling in his chest died before it reached his lips, emerging instead as a sigh. With the threat of awkward silence looming over them, his mind grasped at possible topics of interest, but everything seemed inappropriate and ridiculous, given the situation. His standing there at all was ridiculous.

Phoenix bit his lip. The paper bag made itself known by once more weighing his arm down, and in a last ditch effort to turn this impromptu and clearly unwanted visit into an appealing invitation, he grinned, hopeful. "I have booze," he offered, shifting the bag to draw attention to it.

[samuraiprosecutor]

A quiet jangling noise sounded behind Edgeworth; Sigi must be showing interest, though judging by his position directly behind his master he was probably still blocked from Wright's view.

A smirk crossed Edgeworth's lips as he met Wright's eyes again, determinedly ignoring the smile plastered so disarmingly on his face. "So you do. But I already have some of my own."

[attorneyatlol]

Though it wasn't anything resembling a genuine smile, Phoenix was encouraged by the display of emotion; it was familiar and it was comforting, enough so that he donned a smirk of his own.

"But I bet you've never had this kind before," he persuaded. "It's from, uh... Zelos' world," the name of which Phoenix's tongue still fumbled over. "It's good."

[samuraiprosecutor]

That prompted a curious glance at the bag. Coming from Wright 'good' became a relative term, especially in cases like these. Edgeworth wondered if the man had ever been able to afford anything other than well drinks. Eyebrow cocked he replied, "Really," his tone turning the word into a statement of skepticism instead of a question.

Though...the thought of sampling a drink no one else on their planet had ever tasted had him intrigued, in spite of himself.

[attorneyatlol]

Phoenix nodded, keenly aware of Edgeworth's momentary spark of interest. He removed the bottle from the bag and held it up for examination. "I had some the other day, at the party."

After a moment of deliberation, he offered the bottle to Edgeworth, aware that he was taking a risk. Upon acceptance, the chance of Edgeworth promptly sending him away was high, but holding the wine bottle hostage in the hall was ludicrous.

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth eyed the bottle critically, noting the deep, rich burgundy hue. He hesitated as Wright held it out to him, glancing uncertainly at the attorney, but curiosity finally won out. The bottle was warm in his hands: it would need to be chilled a bit for optimum taste, but he wouldn't be drinking it immediately anyway. He had a half-empty bottle to go back to...and a book that had already failed to distract him.

This time, he wasn't the only one who needed a distraction.

Decision made, he opened the door slowly, avoiding Wright's gaze. "You might as well make yourself useful. There's a bottle on the side table that needs to be finished."

[attorneyatlol]

While he'd hoped against outright dismissal, an open invitation was not something Phoenix had expected. His shoes suddenly felt glued to the carpet when he tried to move forward, and he fixed Edgeworth with an uncertain gaze as if the prosecutor would suddenly come to his senses and slam the door in his face.

[samuraiprosecutor]

Wright's expression was laughable. Edgeworth caught himself before he could react with anything less dignified than another smirk. Without any more encouragement for Wright he crossed to the liquor cabinet, leaving the door open behind him. The bottle he set on the counter; he opened the cabinet, drew out another large rounded wine glass and a clean cloth to wipe it with.

When he glanced at the door he noticed Sigi was still standing in front of it, staring intently (and perhaps tensely) at their unexpected visitor.

[attorneyatlol]

Phoenix followed Edgeworth's retreating form with his gaze, suddenly struck by how surreal the moment was. When was the last time they'd done anything together? Post-trial celebrations hardly counted, not with the amount of people who attended and how little time they actually spent together. And then it had occurred to Phoenix...

Seventeen years.

It wasn't the first time he'd thought about it (not by a long shot), but it was the first time he could recall it weighing so heavily on his mind, so much so that it almost made him dizzy. He shook his head.

Drawing a deep breath to cement his resolve, he took a few, tentative steps inside... coming to an abrupt halt just passed the entryway as a large, long-coated dog came into view.

Phoenix swallowed. He was never a fan of big dogs. "Oh, hey. Sigi, right?"

[samuraiprosecutor]

Something twisted strangely in Edgeworth's stomach as Phoenix took his first tentative steps into the apartment, and his hand froze momentarily in the glass. He chided himself; it wasn't the first time he'd had someone in his apartment - wasn't even the first time Wright had been in his apartment - but he couldn't shake the slight feeling of unease. When Wright changed the subject it was a welcomed out.

"Yes. Short for Sieghard." Had he mentioned that in his journal? He frowned almost imperceptibly, covering with a sharp command. "Sigi, sitz." Sigi sat in front of Wright, still staring fixedly at him.

[attorneyatlol]

Phoenix blinked, unable to look away, and Sigi steadily held his gaze. It must have been Phoenix’s imagination (as the idea was utterly ridiculous in itself), but it felt like the dog was attempting to stare into his soul and not doing a bad job of it. He cleared his throat. “Um, I don’t… I don’t think he wants me to come in…”

[samuraiprosecutor]

'Scared of dogs? Or just of Sigi?' Edgeworth folded the cloth and replaced it in the drawer. With his back to Wright he allowed himself a brief, slightly predatory grin, smoothed out by the time he'd turned back to the door. "Nonsense. He seems quite...taken with you." His expression and tone were carefully neutral, but amusement glinted in his eyes.

[attorneyatlol]

“Taken with the idea of eating me, maybe,” Phoenix mumbled. Despite the tense atmosphere lingering between himself and Sigi (or, Phoenix considered, because of it), the overall unease blanketing the room thinned out, and he allowed himself a few more steps inside before gently closing the door behind him. Not once did his wary gaze wander from the intense eyes of the dog.

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth watched the scene from the corner of his eye as he carried the glass over to the armchair, his amusement growing with every second of Wright's trepidation. Fortunately Sigi was very well-trained and Wright was in no real danger...but Wright didn't have to know that just yet. "You should show him you're...friendly," he commented as he poured wine into Wright's glass then refilled his own. "Why don't you pet him?"

The smirk he gave Wright as he held up the glass for him was both a challenge and teasing.

[attorneyatlol]

One of Phoenix’s eyebrows shot up in suspicion and he chanced a quick glance in Edgeworth’s direction. Not surprisingly, the other man’s whole demeanor dripped with his issued challenge, and Phoenix’s brows furrowed as pride and impulse dictated his acceptance.

His gaze fell back to Sigi.

He wasn’t particularly enamored with the idea of losing a hand tonight, but surely Edgeworth wouldn’t have invited him into his home only to have him be mauled by his dog. This anxiety was ridiculous, of course, and, with a sigh, he forced himself into a determined stride. No less cautious, though, he closed the distance between himself and Sigi and reached out to pet him.

[samuraiprosecutor]

Leaning against the back of the armchair, right elbow cradled in his left hand and other hand holding Wright's glass, Edgeworth watched for any signs of aggression on Sigi's part. The dog was always a perfect gentleman when it came to meeting new people, but animals were still unpredictable. While Sigi seemed tense, he made no move towards Wright and gave no warning signs that would be cause for concern.

Absentmindedly Edgeworth swirled the wine around in Wright's glass, and wondered if Wright would even have known to aerate it. The man had always given the impression that most forms of higher culture were alien to him.

[attorneyatlol]

Two short pats on the head and Phoenix, unaware that he’d even been holding his breath, exhaled and pulled away, simultaneously taking a few steps backwards.

The dog stared at him.

Phoenix stared back, transfixed. “Uh,” he finally uttered, “Good boy,” and quickly rounded on his heel to make a beeline toward Edgeworth. He smiled slightly, putting forth a valiant effort to present an air of calm, and gestured at the glass in Edgeworth’s hand. “Is that mine?”

[samuraiprosecutor]

Edgeworth didn't reply, simply held the glass out and continued to smirk. Sigi had followed Wright; he slipped into place beside his master, sitting down on his other side and continuing to stare at the apparently unwanted guest. With his free hand Edgeworth petted the dog, running his fingers through his thick fur. "Braver hund, Sigi," he said quietly, glancing fondly down at him.

[attorneyatlol]

There was something about watching Edgeworth—cool, emotionally detached Edgeworth—fawning over his dog that warmed Phoenix, and he couldn’t stop his smile from broadening even as the dog bore a hole into his soul. He took the proffered glass. “You taught him in German?”