#that man...

Meeting Them

Miles cleared his throat as he waited for that man to open the door. He fidgeted slightly with the box in his hand. Was it too much? Would the child not like it? He didn't even know her... Would Wright find it tacky? Would--

"Edgeworth..."

Miles nearly dropped the box when Wright opened the door. Nothing could have ever prepared him for... that...

Wright was not the same person as before. Stubble dotted his chin, his sharp blue suit and relatively good posture were replaced by a hoodie and a shrimp-like spine, and his lively eyes were dull and dead... Not to mention the stench of alcohol that radiated off of him. Miles' nose wrinkled involuntarily.

Wright scratched his head.

"Look, really, thank you for coming so late, and I'm sorry to bother you..."

Miles said nothing, his face carefully blank to avoid inconveniencing Phoenix further.

"Y-yeah, never mind, uhm... Come in. Trucy's washing her teeth right now, uh... Yeah, I should probably tell you the rules or something..."

"That would be best, yes..."

Miles saw how Wright seemingly startled at his voice, but made no comment on it and instead looked around the house. It was messy, full of random nick-knacks everywhere. After all, that child, Trucy, was the daughter of a magician...

"Ah... So... bedtime is at 8:30pm, no sweets after washing her teeth, and... Please try to listen to her if she starts rambling about her magic tricks. She's still... She still misses her dad, y'know?"

"Mhmm. Is it okay if I brought her a gift?"

Wright fully stopped at that, eyes wide as saucers.

"You what?"

"I bought her a gift," muttered Miles, very much embarrassed.

But he wasn't embarrassed for long. Because Wright suddenly laughed. Genuinely laughed. An actual chuckle of surprise with a small glint in his dulled eyes.

"Oh my god, Edgeworth, you didn't have to! You sap..."

His voice trailed off just as a very energetic blur darted from the bathroom.

"Papa! Papa! I washed my teeth real good, right? Look!"

A small girl was clinging to Wright's knees now, smiling widely. Wright's expression softened instantly, a myriad of emotions flashing through his eyes. It was almost beautiful to see...

Wright lowered himself to the girl's level and tucked some hair behind her ear.

"Yes... You're awesome, Trucy... Look, auntie Maya's not available to babysit you today..."

"Aweee...."

"I know, I know, sorry..... But.... Someone else came to help! Do you want to meet him?"

The little girl nodded and tucked herself right against Wright's side before looking up at Miles. Miles froze. That little girl was absolutely adorable, eyes wide as she looked up at him. And yet... Miles saw no fear in them, as he often saw with kids. In fact, she grinned!

"Papa! Papa, is that that Mister Edgey-worth you keep talking about?!"

Both Miles and Wright went beet red at those words. Wright cleared his throat and patted her on the head.

"Ahah... Truce, don't go out sharing your dad's deepest darkest secrets yeah? Ahem... But yes, that's Mr. Edgeworth, yeah."

"And he wants to babysit ME?!"

Goodness, Miles thought. What was Wright telling her about him for her to have such an exciting reaction? Most children usually feared him, but this girl was looking at him in pure wonder. Miles hesitantly nodded, and the girl squealed in glee. Wright smiled and gestured for her to walk up to Miles, who awkwardly held out the gift box.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Thank you! A deck of cards! Look, Papa! I have a new deck of cards!"

Wright grimaced.

"That, you do... It's only... you 34th deck..."

"Oh," whispered Miles. "My apologies, I didn't mean to buy something you already had-"

"Thank you!" Trucy had already thrown her little arms around Miles' knees. She looked just like Kay... Miles' expression softened and he picked her up in his arms.

Wright huffed at that.

"Well, she's got a new favourite uncle. She never lets Larry pick her up like that."

Miles blushed harshly and looked away.

"Either way, have fun... And thank you."

Wright patted Miles's shoulder, and his touch seemed to linger just a second too long.

I’ve seen so much content from this game, it looks amazing! It makes me so excited to see otome games reaching that level of quality. The only reason I haven’t played it yet is because I know I’d be consumed by it for days (I have no self-control), and that would definitely slow down my game development progress. We can't have that lol