Work Text:
Sometimes Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth really wished that he had the ability to make everyone in the state disappear temporarily, except for him and a certain someone, specifically in the last two weeks of December.
Because he knew that people getting murdered nearing the holiday seasons was so not funny, especially for people working in the public safety and law sector like him, where there was going to be so much work to follow up with after that, eating away any possible free time he could have used to spend time with his loved one, especially during the holiday season.
But alas, the cruel nature of humans just refused to give him that right; a high-profile murder case just decided to drop on his desk right on the late morning of Christmas.
And Edgeworth almost screamed in frustration when he was handed the case file.
Don’t get him wrong; Edgeworth did not hate his job. In fact, he usually welcomed it, accepting new cases from the precinct without any complaints any day including the holidays, looking through every single one of them himself before he quickly assigned the next available prosecutor to investigate and reveal the truth behind without fail.
However, this year was different.
For it was the first time in many years that he had looked forward to spending some time with a certain someone on Christmas, with plans already made to meet up in the early evening to enjoy the rest of the Christmas night after Edgeworth made a stop to his office to tie up some loose ends in his paperwork. He definitely did not expect a case file to be hurriedly handed over to him by one of his trusted detectives, panting heavily while explaining the urgent situation to him with panic and guilt.
“I’m really so sorry, Mr. Edgeworth! I know you have plans already but my boss requested that your office is to look into this immediately!”
And Edgeworth could only pinch his nose and sighed very heavily as he accepted the case file, ordering the detective to leave his office as soon as he could with a threat on his next salary review before he leaned back on his office chair, trying to breathe and calm his annoyance before he picked up his phone and made a call.
“…my apologies, Phoenix. I’m afraid I’ll have to cancel tonight’s plans with you. An important case had just arrived on my desk and it’s paramount that I look through it right now.”
“…oh…”
“I’m really sorry.”
“Ah, no! It’s alright! What time do you think you’ll be finished with work? I can wait actually!”
“…I’m afraid that’s an unknown even to me. Please, do not wait for me.”
“…alright…”
“Again, I am sorry. I promise I’ll make it up to you another day.”
“No it’s really okay, Mr. Edgeworth. I’ll see you another day then. All the best for work!”
With that, the call ended, and Edgeworth sighed once more, trying to push aside the pang of disappointment he could hear from his lover’s voice before refilling his cup of tea and continuing to work.
The end of humanity was even more tempting right now, as Edgeworth almost threw his vintage tea set onto the floor in the pantry in annoyance, the sign on top indicating that the hot water dispenser was currently unusable, and its replacement was only scheduled to arrive in the new year.
Urgh…this is ridiculous. I should have gone ahead with our date if I had known this, damnit.
Due to the lack of staff, the heater in the prosecutor’s building was also set to the minimum to save electricity, with the Chief Prosecutor’s office getting colder and colder as minutes and hours passed into the evening. Therefore Edgeworth had decided to warm himself up with a nice hot cup of his relaxing mint tea in order to keep himself mentally motivated to keep working on the urgent case.
But it seemed like the whole universe had decided to mercilessly turn against him today, and Edgeworth knew he had to keep working despite all the unfortunate events. So he could only begrudgingly sigh as he walked back to his office, intending to continue looking through the urgent case in his cold, lonely office with just the water left in the pantry.
Only to feel that something’s different.
…What is this…sweet smell?
He didn’t feel any sense of danger and intimidation, only that he was suspiciously not alone in his office right now. Almost all of his subordinates had already informed him that they would not be back in the office to review the case with him, with Edgeworth opting to study the case himself before assigning the case either to Gavin or Debeste tomorrow, depending on who would be kind enough to volunteer themselves first. So all in all, no one should be in the office at this time, other than himself.
Hence no one could blame him when he had his guard up as he looked around, observing that there was no one else in the office before he slowly approached his desk. He then placed his tray of tea set on his desk and had refused to sit on his chair first, panning his eyes carefully around his whole office again, making sure he did not miss out any minor detail of differences before he left his office and after he came back.
And that was when he spotted it. The one thing that he was sure it wasn’t there before he left for the pantry. The chief prosecutor then began to stroll towards the couch in his office, frowning as the mug on the coffee table became more obvious as he got closer. He began to study the mug with his eyes first when he reached the table, before he moved his hands to touch the mug, being careful not to get scalded by the still steaming hot liquid inside.
But surprisingly, the mug itself didn’t feel too hot for his touch when his fingers brushed along the ceramic mug. In fact, the temperature was just right enough for his hands that were beginning to grow cold, which Edgeworth then moved both of his hands to wrap around the mug seeking the heat, appreciating the comfortable warmth on his hands as he raised the crockery nearer to his face, hovering his nose along the steam coming out from the mug in order to identify the drink. And it was rather easy to do so.
…did someone come by and leave their hot chocolate behind?
It was the first conclusion the chief prosecutor was able to make as he placed down the mug, looking around his office one more time and once again observed that there was definitely no one in his office, before he headed towards the door, thinking that he should check with the security if there had been any visitors that had come by.
Only that it was not necessary any longer; all confusion dissipated when Edgeworth opened the door and a man was revealed at the other side trying to open the same door, the prosecutor immediately recognising the other party in astonishment.
“Phoenix?” the chief prosecutor had to keep staring to make sure that the boy in front of him was not a hallucination caused by his longing for his lover.
“Ah, Mr. Edgeworth!” and the immediate reply from the man cleared all of Edgeworth’s doubts that the person in front of him was indeed his younger lover Phoenix Wright, here with him at his cold office, seemingly sighing in relief when he finally saw the older man. “I was right; you are still working in your office.”
“Phoenix,” the chief prosecutor asked as he pulled his younger lover into his office and led him towards the couch, letting his guard down now that he knew that it was no one suspicious and dangerous that was lurking around in the building. “Why are you here?”
“I came to deliver some presents and snacks!” and the younger man cheerfully replied as he held up a translucent bag, with Edgeworth spotting a container and a flask bottle inside. “I brought you some cookies and hot chocolate, because detective Gumshoe was just mentioning to me that your office might be cold today and the boiler in your pantry is not working so I thought you might need this?”
“…You mean,” Edgeworth had to blink a few times before he managed to take in Phoenix’s words, turning towards the mug he had found minutes ago on the table before staring at it, heart beginning to warm in awe. “This hot chocolate is for me?”
“Yep,” Phoenix replied as he placed down the bag of container and flask on the coffee table. “I didn’t see you in your office so I thought that you had left until I see your briefcase still in here. So I had thought it might be a good idea for me to prepare one cup of the drink to cool down first before you return, while I went to the twelfth floor to leave my presents for Mr. Gavin and others with the security guard. And then I came back and finally saw you. Thank goodness, I needed to see you.”
“You needed to see me?”
“Yeah,” that was where the younger man moved closer towards the prosecutor, holding both of his cold hands with his surprisingly warm ones as he looked up to Edgeworth with a jubilant smile on his face. “Merry Christmas, Mr. Edgeworth!”
And Edgeworth had to hold his breath while he heard those words.
“And thank you, for everything this year.”
Ah, that’s right. This year’s Christmas was meant to be different than his usual workaholic days. It was actually meant for him to spend time with his younger lover, who had confessed his love to the chief prosecutor this year during Valentine Day and Edgeworth had finally returned those feelings after harbouring them for months, leading them to the most enjoyable relationship he ever had despite all the obstacles they had to overcome along the way. This year was the year where he knew his life had started with someone holding his hand and staying by his side, a life he most probably would have to get used to it, hopefully for the rest of his life.
And he wouldn’t mind at all.
“Phoenix…” Edgeworth breathed out for his lover as he returned the hold on his hands, his heart warming even further in happiness at Phoenix’s words and presence as he gently placed his forehead against the other before whispering his utmost gratitude. “Thank you.”
And the younger man couldn’t help but close his eyes and smile even wider as he gave a hum of approval, the older man then quietly moved his face even closer, surprising his younger lover as lips touched lips, his hands adjusting so that both of their fingers are threaded with each other, refusing to let go as the kiss lingered with neither willing to pull apart yet.
“…would you like to stay, Phoenix?” Edgeworth asked as they finally and reluctantly separated their lips. “You can rest on the couch with one of my spare blankets while waiting for me if you want.”
“Will I be in the way?”
“No you will not,” but the older man was not willing to be apart from his lover’s heart-warming presence. “Your company is more than welcomed anywhere, anytime.”
And an intimate rub on their noses initiated by Phoenix was sufficient for Edgeworth to understand that the other man had felt the same way, a comfortable warmth growing inside him even in his cold office as Phoenix answered.
“Okay.”