Chapter Text
"Alright, you two, listen up!"
Phoenix and Trucy immediately stood next to one another and straightened their backs. Phoenix threw in a military salute, which was ignored. Miles looked like a commander, with his hands on his hips like that. His expression was gravely serious. It didn't match the frilly apron.
Why hasn't he gotten a less girly apron, anyway? Phoenix wondered. Miles ignored his perplexed expression and pressed on.
"Four days," he began. "We have four days in which to get everything ready for Christmas, and my sister arrives tomorrow. Which means that this house has to sparkle. No dust, no debris, no trash— spotless."
"But we just cleaned up yesterday—"
"SPOTLESS. It's not a negotiation—"
"You keep saying that," Phoenix interrupted. "I mean, it's not like she lives here. How much of a perfectionist can she poss—"
Miles' expression darkened so suddenly that Phoenix froze in shock. He looked like he was having traumatic war flashbacks or something.
"You have no idea," Miles said, his voice low and fearful. Phoenix decided not to ask for anything more than that— his terrified expression said more than enough.
Phoenix was already wondering if having her over was really such a good idea.
The plan had been somewhat last-minute. Franziska had announced that she'd be in the States for three days, all of which she graciously offered to spend at the Wright's. Phoenix quickly learned from reading her text messages over Miles' shoulder that she was...
...She was odd. He simply didn't know any other way to put it.
For one thing, she usually addressed people by their full names, and this included a man who was more or less her brother. The first of her long messages had begun with Miles Edgeworth! ...Exclamation point and all. Phoenix knew that she was odd, but he hadn't been able to determine if she was scary or not.
"I'll clean my room!" Trucy offered, and Miles patted her on the head.
"That's good. Make sure you clean everything, okay? And get all of your laundry together for me. Your clothes need to be cleaned and ironed."
"Okay!!"
The little magician trotted up the stairs, her arms full of smaller versions of the usual cleaning supplies. Phoenix watched her go, and then turned to Miles.
"Franziska's probably not going to see her room."
Miles sighed.
"I know that. But it's best that she be occupied elsewhere. I'm sure her cleaning skills aren't up to Franziska's standards..."
He trailed off, biting his lip and folding his arms nervously. Phoenix laughed softly and moved forward to wrap him in a gentle embrace. He felt Miles' stiff muscles relax somewhat as he rested his head against his shoulder.
"Alright— this sister of yours. What's got you so anxious about the visit? Is it just that you haven't seen her in a while?"
"...Mostly," Miles murmured. "She doesn't know much of anything about what I've been doing for the past few years, and we've yet to breach the subject of her father."
Phoenix rubbed Miles' back and squeezed him a little tighter.
"It'll be okay. You've both had time to heal, and he isn't around anymore. He can't hurt the two of you if you refuse to let him."
"...I suppose you're right."
Phoenix smiled and pulled back to look at Miles.
"I'm always Wright."
"Shut up." Miles tried to act mad, but his lip curled up at the corner, and Phoenix chuckled.
"Now... Is she really as scary as you're making her sound?"
Miles blinked for a moment, and then he pulled out his phone. He scrolled through several lengthy text messages until he found the one he was looking for, and then he handed it to Phoenix. Phoenix knew who had sent it the moment he saw the opening.
Miles Edgeworth! You will be pleased to learn that I have cleared a full three days in my very busy schedule to go and check on you and your well-being. I have decided that I shall stay with you and your current client, so you would do well to make sure that I have a proper place to sleep. (I WILL NOT be delegated to a couch, Miles Edgeworth!!!) As I am sure that you know, I will settle for no less than a queen-sized bed and must have a full set of clean and pressed linens for each day.
While I will stay with you for as long as possible, I DO have my own errands to which I must attend, as it is rare that I make it to the United States. I have secured transportation, and so to that end, you needn't worry. I will not answer questions about my business here, as that is no one's concern but my own.
I have procured a present for the child you have described at length, and another for this strangely lenient boss of yours. I would appreciate having permission to place them beneath the family's Christmas tree, but would understand if it was deemed inappropriate for the occasion. I am also bringing a bountiful supply of PROPER candy and sweets from a PROPER German Christmas Market, and not the absolutely rubbish imitations you Americans so frequently attempt.
Some final notes: You would do well to remember that I will address you in German when I wish for conversational privacy. Also, I should not have to remind you of this, but I will not stay in a filthy home. You are well aware of my standards. I pray that you find the time to clean house before my arrival, lest you come to know the stinging taste of leather.
Best Wishes— Franziska Von Karma
Phoenix stared at the message for several long seconds after he'd finish reading it. He could hardly believe that it was real. What human being actually talked like that, let alone texted like that?
"...What does she mean by leather?" He finally managed to ask. Miles shuddered.
"My hope is that no one finds out," he grumbled. It was clear he didn't intend to answer, and so Phoenix didn't press him on it any further.
The two men held a sort of huddle for a minute or two to discuss the plan of action for getting everything sufficiently clean, and they decided it would be fastest to tackle each room together. Miles did not admit that he also wanted an excuse to spend some time alone with Phoenix, something that was rare for the new couple. Miles sat and crawled along on the floor to carefully dust and scrub the bottoms of furniture while Phoenix stood on a stepladder (he insisted on calling it that) to get to the higher places. Above them, they both heard Trucy moving things about and bounding around her room.
"So... Trucy said you have a special dinner planned," Phoenix commented. Miles looked up at him, mildly startled out of his focused state, before responding.
"Um... Yes. Since Franziska's coming, I decided to make a traditional German dinner. The main focus of Christmas dinners tends to be roast goose."
"Huh. I've never had goose before."
"Well, there's a first time for everything. It's been a long while since I last made it, though, so I can't promise excellence."
Phoenix paused his movements to look down at Miles and grin.
"I'm sure if you're making it, it'll be delicious," Phoenix chirped. Miles rolled his eyes.
"Aren't you a bit biased?"
Phoenix shrugged, laughing softly.
"Probably."
By the time all of the furniture in the kitchen and dining area had been cleaned and scrubbed and Miles had moved on to mopping the floor while Phoenix washed all of the dishes, Miles had fallen silent for a while. He spoke up after a few minutes of quiet mopping.
"There's... Something you should know in advance. I, uh... She doesn't actually know that I'm gay, so we'll have to keep this under wraps, and Trucy will have to be told the same. I— I'm terribly sorry. It's just that I don't want to—"
Phoenix dropped his dishes to turn to Miles and wave his hand at him, urging him to stop.
"Hey, don't apologize. I get it. This is family, after all. You'll tell her when and how you're ready," he reassured him. Miles looked nervously at the floor.
"...I didn't want you to be disappointed. I know you want to go screaming from the rooftops, but it'll have to wait."
"And I don't mind waiting! I can reschedule my rooftop-screaming for the spring." Phoenix chuckled, and Miles managed a little smile. Finally, he nodded.
"Alright... Thank you."
Phoenix returned to the soapy water and changed the subject to something lighter.
"Y'know, this is the first Christmas season in a long time where I have proper Christmas-y plans, and thankfully Miss Fey's understanding and isn't making me work much. I have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. No classes, either. Got someone to take notes for me tomorrow."
"That's nice. What were you planning?"
"Well..." Phoenix looked out the window above the sink as he thought about the things he'd scheduled throughout the week. "When your sister gets here tomorrow, I'll barely have time to meet her before I have to go to work. But I told Trucy that I want her to help you guys get all the decorations set up. When I get back, we'll all decorate the tree together."
"I suppose I can try to finish wrapping all of the presents tonight," Miles thought aloud, mentally jotting everything down in a schedule.
"I got out of my evening classes tomorrow, so I thought we could all sit down for your dinner, and then we can make the Gingerbread houses I got."
Miles smiled to himself at that, something warm lighting up his eyes.
"She'll like that. She won't admit it, but she will. It was always one of her favorite parts of Christmas."
"That's sweet. ...Now, you said Franziska has stuff to do in the morning on Christmas Eve, so Trucy found a caroling group that'll drop by to take her around town in the evening. It's chaperoned, and she'll get to spend some time with Pearl. In the meantime, we can use her absence to finish getting everything ready."
"How have you planned all of this without my knowledge?" Miles asked suddenly, his tone mildly annoyed. Phoenix snickered.
"I wanted to surprise you! I'm not totally incompetent!"
"Hmmph. I hope you didn't plan too much for Christmas Day. You know I'll have to spend most of it cooking," Miles reminded him.
"I wouldn't leave you out," Phoenix insisted. "Christmas Day is gonna be a family day, and you know that includes you. My parents should come by like last time, and you can cook while we hang out in the kitchen and living room decorating cookies for desert and watching movies and stuff. We typically don't open presents until the afternoon, which gives you time to get everything in the oven to come and join us."
"Ah. That sounds nice."
"And you have to promise you won't hang out in the background like last time."
Miles snorted and nudged Phoenix in the back with the handle of his mop.
"Things have changed a bit since then. You needn't worry."
Phoenix laughed, and then he focused his full attention on the dishes. He tried to, anyway. Miles could tell that he was hiding something, that he had planned some kind of surprise that he didn't plan on admitting to yet. Miles had never been crazy about surprises, as he was always worried he wouldn't react well enough, but he had a feeling that Phoenix knew him well enough to keep that in mind.
He smiled as he finished mopping the kitchen floor and announced that he was moving onto the hallway. This was already shaping up to become his best Christmas ever.
Phoenix knew, somehow, that things wouldn't go according to all of his carefully laid plans. His life had never worked out that way.
He was working when his phone rang. Normally, he glanced at the caller ID and ignored it with plans to call back later. This time, however, he saw that the call was from his father, a man who rarely made telephone calls.
"Mia!"
Mia Fey turned in her desk chair to face her assistant and smiled. She looked tired. Everyone planned on taking Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off to spend with their families, and they'd collectively agreed to get everything settled tonight and the following morning. It had been a long six hours of nothing but endless paperwork and phone calls. Phoenix, too, was feeling the weight of it on his upper back.
"What is it?" She asked calmly, not letting her fatigue show.
"I hate to ask, but do you mind if I take this call? I think it's important."
Mia laughed quietly and waved a hand, gesturing vaguely at the door to the hallway outside of her office.
"You're not a slacker, Phoenix. You're allowed to take calls."
Phoenix nodded shyly and slid out the door and into the hallway, his fingers already pressing the call button. He instantly spotted another one of the office's lawyers, one who enjoyed teasing him, and shot him a warning glare as he held his phone to his ear. The man laughed dryly as he sipped from a coffee cup that still appeared to be steaming. Diego Armando was never without a cup of coffee.
How haven't you dropped dead from the amount of caffeine you consume, anyway?
Before he could ask the question aloud, Phoenix heard a click, followed by his father's voice.
"That you, Nick?"
"Yeah— I'm sorry, but I'm at work, so I'll have to make this quick. What did you need?"
Phoenix heard his father sigh, and thought he heard his mother say something in the background.
"Well, I hate to tell you this, son, but it seems like your mother and I won't be able to make it down for Christmas."
Phoenix felt his expression fall. He hardly ever got to see his parents, as they'd moved to a smaller town shortly after he'd moved out. The holidays were usually his only guaranteed time to spend with them.
"Really? What happened?!"
"Again, I'm real sorry about it... Your mother broke her hip."
Phoenix covered his mouth with his hand. Her bones had been deteriorating as of late, even if it was somewhat early (his parents had had him later in life than most, but still). Even so, he hadn't expected something like this.
"Oh my god, what did she do?!"
Phoenix heard a bit of shuffling, and then a different voice, one heavy with guilt, but sweet nonetheless.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart— it was my fault. You know how stubborn I can be, and I just had to try and carry all of the groceries by myself."
"Mom! You have to let dad help you every once in a while!"
Phoenix could see Diego snickering at him as he eavesdropped on the conversation, and he didn't particularly care enough to throw a pen or a balled-up piece of paper at him like he usually would.
"Oh, I know. I do feel awful. You know how much I love spending time with my grandbaby."
"Well, if it's not too much trouble, I could try and arrange for her to spend some time with you on Christmas Eve... Would that be okay?"
Phoenix couldn't see his mother, but he felt like he heard her smile.
"That would be wonderful, if you could manage it. I do feel terrible about all of this."
"...Well, mom, I actually have something to tell you about that might make you feel a little better. It, uh, it was pretty recent, so I haven't found a chance to tell you guys about it yet, but..."
Phoenix paused to look up at Diego, who was still eying him over the rim of his mug. He gestured at him to go away, and he shook his head. Phoenix groaned and ran into the nearest bathroom.
"Is something wrong, sweetie?"
"No, no, a coworker was just trying to eavesdrop."
"So... What did you want to tell me about?"
Phoenix smiled as he thought of how he wanted to phrase the admission.
"You remember Miles, right?"
Phoenix's mother giggled.
"Of course I do— such a lovely man. Tell me again, why can't you settle down with someone like him?"
Phoenix did his best to suppress his laughter.
"Funny you should mention that, because, well, we're together. Miles and I. We've, uh, been a couple for a little over a week now. Which doesn't seem like a long time, but considering that we live together, every day is like three or four dates."
Phoenix only heard some kind of squealing sound for the next minute or so, followed by his mother eagerly relaying the information to his father. She had to repeat herself several times, as her words were too jumbled to be understood. Once he'd absorbed the information, Phoenix's father laughed and took the phone.
"Now, listen, I told your mother! I told her! I called it!"
"I'm sure you did, dad."
Phoenix's mother asked too many questions, and afterwards the trio decided that Trucy could get a ride down to the hospital to visit her grandma and grandpa. Phoenix was sure he could take her, or could get Miles to take her, while everyone else continued their Christmas preparations. It meant his plans would have to be changed, or at least rearranged, but he could accept that if it meant his parents still got to be involved.
"Trucy will show you how to set up Skype, okay? And that way you can still watch her open her presents. I love you guys, and I'll talk to you later."
He hung up the phone and left the restroom, still smiling at how lucky he was to have such supportive parents. Diego had left, probably bored with having no one around to pick on. Not that he was a bully by any means, but he enjoyed poking at and teasing people, particularly Phoenix.
"Everything alright?" Mia asked when he returned to the office. He jumped, startled by the fact that she'd been waiting.
"U-uh, it's kind of rough. My mom broke her hip."
"Oh, god, is she going to be okay?"
Phoenix sighed as he pulled his chair over to Mia's desk and plopped into it.
"Yeah, but they can't come down for Christmas... And after you worked so hard to get us those couple of days off, too."
Mia smiled and shook her head, checking her watch. She clicked her tongue at Phoenix as he moved to stand up.
"We've been at this for a while. Let's go get lunch, okay?"
"Wouldn't it be dinner by this point?"
Mia laughed, and Phoenix smiled. He was also lucky to have such a great boss.
It had started out as a paid internship. Mia occasionally taught classes or gave seminars at his school, and had noticed him for his work ethic. She'd offered him the opportunity to learn from the best by helping out around the offices, and he'd gladly quit his crummy retail job to take advantage of it.
Now, over a year later (he'd taken the internship shortly after hiring Miles), he was an actual employee of the offices despite not yet having his degree. It wasn't required to be an assistant, after all. And he was certain that by the time he had his badge, he'd have far more experience than any of his classmates and competitors.
Mia stood up and dusted herself off, and Phoenix fetched his blazer and held the door open for her. Her heels clicked against the hardwood of the hallway as she jogged over to the door across the hall and threw it open.
"Mr. Grossberg, Phoenix and I are going to get dinner, okay?"
Mr. Grossberg, huddled over his ostentatious hardwood desk, shot up to look at Mia, his mustache twitching in his surprise. Diego, who'd apparently been organizing the books, looked up to glare at Phoenix. Phoenix scoffed.
"Chill out, Armando. I'm taken, anyway."
Mia perked up at that and looked at Phoenix with curiosity in her eyes.
"Really? Since when?"
"Uh, about a week ago."
"Well, we'll have to talk about it over dinner. ...Diego."
She called the other man's name sternly, and he looked somewhat shyly at her. Phoenix tried not to laugh.
"Behave yourself."
"I'm always behaving myself!"
Mia didn't allow Diego any further time to argue, and she turned on her heels and briskly walked down the hall.
"Um, well, see you both later!" Phoenix shouted as he ran after her. He was sure he heard Mr. Grossberg laughing at Diego's jealous expression.
When he got home, Phoenix immediately relayed what had happened to his mother. Miles was much more upset than he'd expected him to be.
"...I don't have any parents," he admitted under his breath. "I was looking forward to pretending that I do."
Trucy made a soothing sound and hugged Miles from the side, and he ruffled her hair.
"Well, Trucy will still get to see them, and we'll talk to them over the computer. It's not the same, but it's better than nothing," Phoenix sighed. "Now, Trucy, it's late. You need to be in bed."
She protested, but Miles eventually convinced her to go to sleep. Phoenix yawned and stretched as he plopped down in the oversized armchair— the nice, new plush one that Miles had gotten him to replace his ratty old one. Phoenix still smiled every time he sat in it and marveled over the swiveling features and the cupholders and the slot for the remote control.
When he'd released all the air from his lungs and finished his stretch, Miles pushed him aside and squeezed into the seat. There wasn't quite enough room for him to sit beside Phoenix, which left him sitting about halfway on his leg. Phoenix didn't mind.
"I hope your mother feels better soon," Miles murmured sleepily, gently rubbing the back of Phoenix's neck to release the tension there. Phoenix hummed for a moment before responding.
"Yeah, me too. I should've known something would go wrong, though."
"We can make it work. As long as nothing else goes wrong—"
As if on cue, Phoenix's cell phone rang. He groaned loudly as he fished it from his pocket, faced with some difficulty due to being cramped into a chair meant for one person. Miles tried to look sympathetic, but it was clear he found it amusing.
"What is it, Larry?!" Phoenix half-shouted into the phone. Miles buried his face in his chest in a vain attempt to conceal his laughter.
"Dude, you'll never believe it! Cindy dumped me! Abandoned me for another man!"
"You cheated on her!"
"Still! I'm heartbroken, man! And now I ain't got nowhere to go for the holidays! Nowhere, Nick! I'm alone! I'm old man Scrooge, dude!"
Miles sounded like he was choking, now, and Phoenix gave him a warning shove.
"Don't tell me. Don't you dare—"
"You've got an open couch, at least, right?! Your couch turns into a bed! Have a heart, man!"
Phoenix sighed and rubbed the space between his eyes. He could already feel a migraine forming, but Larry knew full well that Phoenix couldn't turn away someone who asked to stay and had nowhere else to go.
"FINE, Larry. You can have the couch and spend Christmas with us—"
"Aww, thanks, dude—"
"BUT you can't come until Christmas Eve, specifically between the hours of seven AM and noon, GOT IT? And you'd better bring something for my daughter!"
"Oh... Because Franziska will be out," Miles whispered to himself. Larry had started to respond, but paused upon hearing the voice.
"Hey, hey, is that Miles? Lemme talk to him! Give him the phone!"
Before he could refuse, Miles seized the phone for himself and ignored Phoenix's protesting wine.
"Hello, Butz. What did you want?" He asked. Larry snickered under his breath.
"Hey, buddy! Listen, Nick said he finally grew a pair and asked you out. Is that true?"
"It is."
"So, tell me: have you two banged yet?"
"GOODBYE, BUTZ."
Miles scowled as he thrust the phone back into Phoenix's hand. Phoenix didn't waste any time hanging up. He sighed and shook his head.
"And there's another wrench in my plans. I mean, he'll probably go along with whatever else we're doing, but you'll have to plan to cook for one more person, right?"
Miles shrugged.
"Well, no. I was planning on your parents being here. If I keep things the same, we should have more than enough. But we'll likely need to come up with another activity or two to keep him entertained."
Miles waited a moment as Phoenix groaned and wiggled his shoulders, and then he smiled somewhat mischievously. It made Phoenix pause.
"...What is it?"
"Well, Franziska will be here tomorrow. I hid away all of my things and prepared the guest room for her."
"...If she's in the guest room, where are you supposed to sleep?" Phoenix wasn't sure how that hadn't yet occurred to him. He'd assumed Miles would take the couch, but then, his parents were supposed to sleep there, weren't they? And now Larry had claimed it.
"I guess you'll just have to scoot over and make room for me," Miles replied, his smile widening slightly. After a quiet second, Phoenix realized what he meant, and then he grinned as he pulled the man close and squeezed him between his arms.
"I'm sure I'll live."
Phoenix was a bit too eager to get settled into bed. He threw on his pajamas without any concern for whether or not Miles had entered the room, and he threw himself onto the mattress and burrowed under the comforter the moment he was dressed. Miles tried not to laugh as he crawled in somewhat sheepishly.
Phoenix wiggled around until he was lying on his side, facing the other man, and took hold of the hand he had resting near his face.
"Hi!" Phoenix sang.
"...Hello," Miles replied through an embarrassed laugh. "You don't use a top sheet?"
"Nah, they're more trouble than they're worth."
As soon as there was a moment of quiet, Phoenix felt the fatigue begin to settle in. He wiggled around again, coaxing Miles to rest his head on his chest, in the crook of his arm.
"Hey— you keep that hand above the waist, mister. I have to get up early, remember?" Miles growled. Phoenix quickly raised his wandering hand.
"I wasn't gonna do anything!"
"Of course not."
Another long pause.
"...So sex is off limits."
"Until this is all over and done with, yes."
"Can we still smooch?"
"...That should be fine."
"What about cuddling?"
"What do you think we're doing right now?!" Miles retorted. Phoenix laughed and gave him a tight squeeze.
As soon as both men had adjusted to be completely comfortable and had had a moment to breathe, Phoenix asked the question that had been on his mind for a while.
"What was it like? Growing up with Franziska, I mean. What sort of a little sister is she?"
Miles didn't answer for a long moment. Phoenix worried, briefly, that he had already fallen asleep.
"...That's hard to explain. It would take too long."
"Well, alright— what was Christmas like?"
Miles paused again. Phoenix could just barely see his eyes, and he saw them flicker up to look at the headboard above him.
"...It was nice. ...Sometimes."
"Sometimes?"
Miles scoffed softly, a sound that was little more than a quick exhale of breath.
"In that sense I'm referring to her father, not to her. He had... difficulty allowing children to just be children. Everything had to be a competition, had to be about success and being the best at everything, so he didn't much like seeing us get along with one another. Or with other children, for that matter."
"He wouldn't let you have friends?"
"Not really, no."
Miles looked like he was gazing far away as he tried to recall the exact details of what he wanted to say, like he was picturing it in his mind.
"My first Christmas there..." Phoenix looked at him intently. He always liked listening to his stories— when he got into it, Miles really knew how to paint a picture. "I'll never forget it. Most of it was amazing. It was the first time I'd really been able to smile there, and it was when Fran started treating me like a brother."
Miles smiled softly as he reflected on his sister, and Phoenix hummed to show that he was still listening. He took note of his referring to her as Fran.
"We got one week off of school for winter break. That was when Fran first took me ice skating. She was so patient... Every time I fell down, I wanted to cry, because we were taught to hold ourselves to such high standards. But she kept telling me that it was okay, that I was doing just fine. We were out there for hours until I could finally do it on my own, and she gave me a hug, and while she was holding me she admitted that she hadn't had anyone else to go skating with. She was happy.
"That mansion was enormous, and it was beautiful, but it usually didn't feel like anyone lived there. Christmastime was different, because there was decor everywhere, and the constant smell of food, and guests bustling in and out at all times to drop off gifts and catch up with Von Karma. We kept an advent calendar, and we put lights on all the stair-rails and columns and hung wreaths on all the doors... There was this gigantic tree, a real tree, and Fran and I so got excited to see our respective piles of presents grow larger and larger.
"The whole week, we did Christmas activities and went ice skating and built snowmen. We watched Christmas movies, and we baked cookies and gingerbread houses— or, well, Fran's was more of a gingerbread castle. Sometimes we snuck away to have snowball fights with the neighborhood kids, and we stopped by every Christmas Market in the area, and every night of the week there was an amazing dinner. The feast we had on Christmas Day— it's actually traditional in Germany to eat a light meal the night before to make room for all of the food, and believe me, you need it."
Phoenix tried not to laugh as he watched Miles ramble. Miles didn't have as many happy childhood memories as other people did, so he had never taken them for granted. They meant more to him, perhaps.
"It sounds great," Phoenix replied when Miles paused.
"...It was great. Up until that evening, when we gathered around the tree to open our presents."
"What happened?"
Miles furrowed his brow.
"...All throughout the week the piles had gotten quite large, and I noticed right away that they were much smaller when it actually came time to open them. I wasn't about to complain about it, of course, but I did wonder what had happened to the other gifts. And then I looked at the tags, and..."
Miles trailed off, taking a moment to swallow down the lump in his throat.
"...Almost all of the gifts were for me. Altogether, there were about twenty presents. Fifteen for me, and five for her."
"That's... Really weird. Why would he give you more presents than his own daughter?"
"...They were earned. Franziska hadn't done as well on her recent exams as he had expected her to, and to him, that meant she hadn't earned as many presents as me. The fact that I was several years older didn't mean anything to him. As far as he was concerned, she had lost. And that didn't come without a punishment. ...None of her presents were even toys. Just practical things, like books and clothes.
"...I'll never forget the look on her face. Like she was sad, but also guilty. She honestly thought that she had failed, and that meant she deserved to be treated that way. And all for scoring an 83 on an exam meant for high schoolers."
Phoenix squinted in confusion at his ceiling, unable to process how a person could think that way. He'd never do something like that to Trucy. Some people really weren't meant to be parents.
"That is... That's really messed up."
"It is."
Miles took a moment to readjust himself, to more comfortably nuzzle his head into Phoenix's shoulder and stretch his legs. Phoenix felt his eyelids begin to droop, and quickly checked his phone to make sure he'd set his alarm for the right time.
"...Nick?" Miles' voice was quiet, now, and his eyes had fluttered closed. The word was barely audible, mumbled against his shirt like that. Phoenix leaned in to be sure he'd hear him.
"Hmm?"
Miles felt around for a moment until he found one of Phoenix's hands, and then he gently squeezed it.
"Can you promise me... Can you promise me that you'll keep that story in mind when you meet her tomorrow? ...All of it?"
Phoenix raised an eyebrow, but nodded gently nonetheless.
"Sure," he agreed. "I will."
"Thanks. ...Now go to sleep." Miles rolled off of Phoenix and curled into himself, facing the other direction. Phoenix felt a pang of momentary disappointment, but realized that it'd probably be hard to sleep with Miles on top of his arm. As much as he liked holding him, his arm would have fallen asleep quickly.
"Okay, but can I have a kiss first?"
Miles let out a frustrated-sounding groan and rolled over once more, using his elbow to hoist himself up to where his face was aligned with that of his boyfriend. Phoenix chuckled and cupped his face in between both of his hands. Miles brought their lips together slowly, gently, resting one hand on Phoenix's chest. Miles felt a stealthy prodding at his elbow, but didn't allow Phoenix to knock him down. If he did, Phoenix would surely roll over on top of him and steal as many kisses as he could.
"Don't think I don't know your tricks," Miles huffed when he returned to his previous spot. Phoenix feigned offense for a moment before laughing it off.
A couple of minutes later, Miles' breathing slowed and evened out, alerting Phoenix that he'd fallen asleep. Phoenix smiled at his back until he, too, drifted off.