minglingworlds | ain't no party like an ace attorney party ( various

[Walking in her mother's shoes...even now, seemed surreal to Maya. Seeing her had been as fleeting as a dream, and it was one she definitely didn't want to wake up from, especially since Pearly liked her so much, too. Now she could understand why. She'd only been a children's book author at the time, of course. She was a stranger.

Then everything went wrong, and...

Well. Now... she's here. Months later.

Practicing. Doing what needs to be done, upholding the Fey family name. Making her proud... hopefully. And Mia, too.]

[Her favorite part of the day though is after it's all over. When she isn't the Kurain Master anymore and she can just be herself. When all she has to worry about is which Steel Samurai videos to send Nick next, and what to write in her letter.

Questions to ask Nick when (if) she calls him--if he picks up, that is--and how to make him actually answer them.

The headline she read in particular, about Phoenix's forged evidence, his disbarment... which has to be a lie, right?

So why he's so insistent on not talking about it is beyond her.]

[She's had enough of it. Asking if he's got his badge back, after not knowing why or how he lost it in the first place. Being stiffed, cut out of his life, even though she vowed to work so hard to be both the Master and his assistant at the same time.

Which is why she's finally showing up at his law office, after a solid week or two of teasing her own visit. And of course... it looks different.

What's an Anything Agency?]

Niiick! Hey, Nick! [Knock, knock, knockin' at his door, familiar cheer in her voice.] Guess who!

[He almost calls Trucy to get the door, but then realizes she's in school at the moment. He puts his hand over his eyes for just a moment before sitting up from the couch--

--and then it registers whose voice that is. Sure, he'd only heard it in phone calls and things like that recently, but he would never miss it. Ever. After spending so much time with her...

He knows what she wants. He knows that he wouldn't always be able to hide what had happened from her. But call Phoenix old fashioned, but he would prefer to do this face-to-face. He just...wasn't sure that he was ready for it right this minute.

Still. He can't just ignore her. There was a part of him that needed her just as much as she needed him, after all, so he finally gets up and wanders over to the door. He hesitates, staring at the doorknob for a minute, which he thought was foolish. Since when was he ever nervous around Maya Fey, of all people...

...When he didn't have as much explaining to do he supposed.]

[But he finally grabs the knob, and opens the door. Sure enough, it was Maya. And she looks so...cheerful.]

...Ah. [Good going Phoenix, very eloquent. That's obviously the best way to treat one of the most important people to you. He tries again, clearing his throat and giving her a small smile.] I mean--hey, Maya.

[Still not the best greeting, but it's something. There's no reason to ask why she's here (she'd been planning it for a while), because that would've been a dumb question.]

It's been a while.

[He'll settle for that.]

[There he is...!

He looks older for sure. He's got stubble, and he definitely isn't wearing his usual suit, which is probably what stands out the most. But he's still the same old Nick, and after staring for a moment, she'll invite herself in as she always did.]

And whose fault is that, silly? [She's already starting to look around, grinning. Everything seems... different and unfamiliar, but she tries not to let that bother her. She turns to face him casually, picking up where they left off.] I told you I'd be coming eventually, so here I am.

[....staaaring some more, as she happens to catch a glance at the clock while noticing the tired, sleepy expression on his face.

The same one he'd get, sitting at his desk for too long.]

Don't tell me you've been sleeping!

[He moves aside as she walks inside and closes the door behind her. He follows as she wanders more into the office, rubbing the side of his face.]

"Eventually" isn't exactly the most concrete expression you could've used.

[But it's not like he could expect much from her -- not only the fact that this is Maya they were talking about, but she was busy too. Not like he was, these days.]

I haven't been sleeping. [Lies.] I've been resting my eyes.

[Better.]

Who needs concrete?

[... Maya pls.

And it's true, she had been busy perfecting a new technique, but still! Hadn't Mia taught him to always be prepared?!

He's been slacking.]

And I can tell you're lying, you know. You've got these dark circles under your eyes and everything, and I definitely didn't draw them this time.

Edited (BEACHES AND SHORES) 2014-06-30 13:22 (UTC)

[Yeah, Maya doesn't need concrete. But slacking is Phoenix's new middle name, to be honest.

...Sob. Having a friend like her had its disadvantages sometimes.]

I don't know, you could've come in and drawn them on while I was sleeping. How do I know you didn't?

[He is. Obviously pulling her leg.]

[Aha! SO HE ADMITS IT. That he's been sleeping the day away--

...Of course, now he's being accusatory, so she won't even have a chance to bask in her victory.]

No way! It takes hours for me just to get here. Or did you forget already?

[...]

Are you going senile? Maybe you're getting gray hairs. I bet that's why you're wearing that hat, right?

[BIG GRIN AS SHE REACHES FOR IT and pulls it off his head.]

[Neither of them win. Ever. This is how this friendship works.]

Well...you could've left earlier, how am I supposed to know?

[PFFFT but he'll just let it happen, knowing that his hair was probably a mess now that the hat was taken off. But, fortunately, there aren't any gray hairs.

...

Not that he looks for them or anything.]

I might be going senile in my old age, but I don't have any gray hair. [He's feeding off the energy of the perky girls to keep him eternally youthful.] The hat was a gift.

Edited (nitpicks word usage) 2014-06-30 18:47 (UTC)

[...Man. It already seems so much more difficult to get a reaction out of him than it used to be. DISAPPOINTING buut that's okay. Maya laughs anyway, trying on the beanie for herself.

Her top-knot makes it a bit difficult, though.]

A gift? Who from?

[INQUIRING MINDS... she thought she knew all his friends okok

More importantly:]

Does that mean I can't have it?

[It's the grape juice. But he does laugh a little bit her issues with getting her top knot into the hat.]

That's a good look.

[Is he joking again? We just don't know. He won't confirm or deny it, either way.

He scratches the side of his face, wandering over to the couch and picking up a newly taken picture of Trucy with Mr. Hat.]

I took in a girl from one of the cases I was working on. [The last case he worked on...] Her father disappeared after the trial, so I've been taking care of her until he comes back.

[If he ever does, that is. But he wanders back over to Maya, handing her the picture.]

I've probably mentioned her -- her name's Trucy. She'll probably be thrilled to give you a hat too.

[Well if Phoenix can fit his ridiculous spikes into it, she's pretty sure her lonely topknot can't be that big of a problem. In the end, she does manage somehow and lets go, holding up her hands up like a kid who's just learned to ride a bike with no handlebars--as if to say, "there!" or "ta-da!"

At this point Phoenix has actually moved over to the couch, and when he holds up that picture, Maya peers in for a better look.]

Oh! I do seem to remember that name coming up in the many, many instances of you not answering my questions...

[She feigns thoughtfulness at this--though it's like, impossible to be mad at him.]

This is the first time you ever showed me her picture, though. She's... cute!

[Maya you are as ridiculous you have ever been. But he didn't really expect her to change much, and he didn't want her too either.

Sometimes it was good to have someone like that.]

Sometimes it's just easier to explain things in person.

[Or he could be making excuses. Either which.]

Yeah, she is. Full of energy, too -- she'll be excited to meet you after she comes back from school. I've told her a lot about our old cases.

[Yeaaaah, like she hasn't heard that one before. Well, they're in person now, so he won't have a way to dodge it all this time.

She seems fairly content with the topic at hand, though.

...For about...5 seconds.]

I bet you showed her your badge, too!

[...Then she falters remembers one of the reasons she came in the first place.]

...I mean... the way you used to. [On their old cases.]

[It should have hit her sooner, really. His casual clothing, the fact that he'd been sleeping, at this hour.

Is this really what things are like now?]

......You're not going to make me ask again, are you?

[There it is. He knew it was coming eventually, and that was an almost perfect lead-in to it, although unintentional. Phoenix's expression falters, and he puts the picture in his pocket.

No, he wasn't going to make her ask again, but the question was...how does he even start.]

Well, I know you know what the news says, at least. That I was disbarred. [He sighs, shifting his weight from one foot to another with some nervous energy.] They're true, which you've probably figured out by now. I presented forged evidence in court.

[...She doesn't care what the news says. She cares what he is saying, and he's only repeating them.

So far, at least. She'll fix that.

If that's how he's going to start...]

I don't believe you.

[It's almost expected, because Maya always wanted to believe the best in him. It doesn't make it any less hard, and possibly another reason why he avoided the subject with her.]

It's true. I was given a piece of evidence in the middle of a trial, conclusive evidence that would've made sure that my client got a "not guilty" verdict. [That day was The Worst.] I was overconfident. I jumped on it too quickly without thinking about why it suddenly appeared. So...I used it in court, and it was later found to be forged.

[DON'T MAKE THIS HARDER THAN IT NEEDS TO BE.]

[She listens. She understands. She's actually not as stupid as most would think, growing up around Mia... but it just doesn't process.]

But that's all wrong. Why does the investigation stop there? Why don't they figure out who forged it... and what about the person who gave it to you?

[Why didn't you call me...?]

[They were getting somewhere at least. He figured it was a kneejerk reaction anyway, because really. How many times had he immediately came to Maya's aid when accused with something.]

The person who forged it stepped forward, in a private meeting between the prosecutor in charge of the case, the judge, and myself. Turns out he was an artist whose expertise was forgeries. [He rubs the top of his head almost as if to mess with the hat, briefly forgetting that Maya was the one wearing it. Even though...she was standing right in front of him. Whoops.] His client was anonymous, or so he said, so that was a dead end. There was no evidence at the time to prove otherwise, or who his client really was.

[For now. He has a feeling about all of this, but he's not sure he wants to bring it to Maya just yet. It's not as if Gumshoe or someone else would be there to get his ass out of any dumb situations he got into so easily, anymore.]

Edited (im just gonna change my icon) 2014-07-03 00:02 (UTC)

[And the last question. Ohhhh boy.]

...It was actually Trucy who gave me the evidence, believe it or not. But she didn't know who gave it to her, and she didn't know the evidence was forged. But it's not her fault. Whoever set it up had planned this out carefully.

[Not that he thinks that Maya would get angry with Trucy, really, but he wanted to clarify before she could ask.]

[Trucy? Maya ends up looking at the picture again, eyes wide and surprised, though she'd never really blame Trucy for a second. Even just looking at the girl... and remembering how Nick talked about her...

She was... important to him.]

[None of this is fair. She's almost glad she stole the hat because--seeing him gesture towards it makes her do the same, and she ends up pulling it down over her forehead, almost to her eyes.]

Then...we'll just have to be more careful. It wasn't you who forged it, so... so we can definitely clear your name!

We can just treat it like an investigation, and get to the bottom of this. It'll be like you're your own client again!

[Phoenix sighs a little bit, putting his hands into the pockets of his jacket and looking away from Maya.]

It's not going to be so easy this time, Maya. I've even spent some time investigating it, when Trucy's at school.

[Okay, so maybe he hadn't completely been wasting the days.]

--As much as I can right now, anyway. This isn't like any case we've been on before. For...obvious reasons.

[He wasn't an attorney anymore, that is. That would've given him an excuse to stick his nose into everything before, but it's just another reason now to be more careful.]

ain't no party like an ace attorney party ( various | phoenix )

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