Follow the Truth

“ ... Nick, do you think- ”

ooc;; sorry for the silence all

“ ... Yeah, I get that a lot. ” ( Something tells me I won’t get the chance to make a second impression, either. )

tagging: no i don’t do this i’m just leaving this for those that do

The office had been rather quiet that day, aside from the couple clearing of throats or sound of paper flipping, and only found itself to be even quieter as Phoenix slumped over, pausing in what was probably his thirtieth attempt to actually read any of Mia’s old law books to end up in the same place he always did: his face in a book with a headache banded around his skull and a sinking feeling of dread in his stomach.

The silence quickly made itself his worst enemy and his cycling thoughts’ best friend. ‘How did Mia even manage to read all of these? I can’t even make it through one,’ he’d think, only to have the thought either repeat itself obsessively or continue as a pondering on how he ever made it through to become a lawyer in the first place.

With Maya’s whining, he groaned after her, peeling a page from his face as he lifted himself up, the dawning realization of how close he was to falling asleep hitting him when he tried to put his focus on the much brighter than he expected room. He squinted and promptly gave up, shoving his face back into the seam of the book with a thud.

“If I had something, don’t you think I would have brought it up by now?” he asked, mumbling into the book. “Especially a case!” Phoenix sighed, set his exhaustion-wracked arms on either side of himself, and forced himself back up. “Do you really think I’d slack on a case if I had one?”

" Well, I dunno! Maybe you’re in a really lazy mood today! Not like I can read your mind! ... Most of the time. ” Maya was joking, ultimately - she knew better than anyone how seriously Phoenix would take any case offered to him.

Still, unless it was serious, when was she the sort to openly give him credit? He was too fun to tease! Still, even that was only a brief respite, Maya sighing as she settled back into her chair and the boredom set back into her system. This already wasn’t going anywhere.

i have to replay unwound future bc it’s been a few years but for what it counts i do have claire on my aa-extended universe multi !!

“ Hey - my eyes aren’t that big! ”

“ Are you sure you don’t have any secret boredom-destruction weapons on the backburner you’re not telling me about? A case you’re putting off? A big, secret trip to the burger shop you’re setting up just for me? Something? I feel like the boredom’s about to swallow me whole, Nick...! You wouldn’t let that happen to your beloved assistant, would you? ”

No one knew how to use those puppy dog eyes filled with crocodile tears the way Maya Fey did.

“ Alright, Nick - what’d you do this time? ”

“ Channel… Claire? ” Hershel grabbed the brim of his top hat, his look notably growing from his positive and curious self to looking… almost defensive, in a way.

“ … Nonsense. With all due respect intended for Ms. Fey’s profession, I could never resort to such illogical means simply to see her again. ” There clearly wasn’t too much conviction in his answer, and it’s noticeably an uncharacteristic dismissive in its tone, too. After all, to admit how scared he is of being able to see her again is quite equal to the risk of not seeing her in the end is more challenging than any puzzle he’s faced in his lifetime. As well, even assuming it’s all true - to give in to the selfish temptation of asking Maya to bring her back to life when she’s passed on now; to imagine trying to tell her everything he would want to say to her in what little time he would probably have to say it; to have her in front of him, only to let her go again...