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

[...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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