Bloodlust (Part 3)
This is a short part, because I wanted to separate the last gen/plot part from the next bit... which is unapologetically pornographic.
Title: Bloodlust
Pairing: Phoenix/Edgeworth, some Franziska/Adrian
Theme: Romance, Horror, Comedy, Action
Warnings: Spoilers for PW 1 & 2, vampires and blood, gay lawyers, violence... (and part 4 has SEX!)
Summary: Vampire!Phoenix and Miles are now a steady couple, but they just can't seem to get out of the habit of keeping secrets. An evil force lurks in the background, Shoe makes a cameo, and people get drunk. Enjoy!
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
Phoenix walked through the door with a sigh, ready to collapse. The combination of distracted and hung-over had resulted in his almost losing to Payne… Payne!
At least my headache’s gone… He thought as he removed his coat and dropped his briefcase on the floor. Wondering where Miles was, he raised his head and sniffed the air, following the trail of his scent into the other man’s personal study.
Miles sat at his desk, half hidden behind a huge pile of books and papers. He was staring intently, brow furrowed, at the laptop resting on his knees. Phoenix stood for a moment and just looked at him, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, looking so serious.
He looks so old, much older than twenty-six. Almost as though somebody stole his youth… Of course, the fact that he’s got gray hair isn’t helping at all. Well, not gray, really… sort of silver. It goes well with - ok are those designer jeans? Very tight designer jeans at that…
He shifted and Miles jerked his head up, reaching down beside him in one swift movement to grasp his sword. A moment later he released the weapon, recognizing Phoenix. However, his darkly suspicious expression didn’t change.
“Hello Phoenix.” His tone was cold and businesslike, the kind of voice Phoenix had heard Miles use only in their first few months of reacquaintance. Even though his first name was being used, the words felt like a slap.
“Hi, Miles. Um, whatcha doing?” He might not know, act casual…
“Research. I wanted to know why you were sneaking around, and I thought it might be some kind of vampire idiosyncrasy… but I didn’t find anything until I looked a little closer to home.” He turned the laptop so that Phoenix could read the screen and there it was: the criminal database used by the DA’s Office, with von Karma’s page showing.
Ok, headache’s back…
“It wouldn’t accept my security clearance, so I tried calling Gumshoe and you know what he told me?” Miles snapped the screen shut and set the computer precisely on the desk, looking up at Phoenix with ice-cold gray eyes.
“The police department, the DA’s office, even Mia and Larry knew that von Karma has been back in town for over a week… and I’m told that it was your idea to keep me in the dark! You’d think that, being one of the two people he’s specifically sworn to kill, being informed might be beneficial… but obviously you think differently, don’t you?!?”
Phoenix looked at his scuffed dress shoes. “We didn’t know much, I didn’t think-“
“Think what?” Miles stood up, white-knuckled hands gripping the edges of the desk. “You didn’t think I’d be able to handle it, perhaps? Maybe I’ve got more issues than TV Guide, but I do at least have the right to know that a psychopathological monster that wants us dead might show up at any moment! I could prepa-“
“How?” Phoenix’s voice was quiet for once, as he lifted his eyes to look at Miles. “You’ve been training with a sword every day, not to mention teaching me, and I don’t even own a weapon.”
God, Miles, stop looking at me like I’m something you scraped off the bottom of your shoe!
Even in his own head the words sounded hollow, shallow. The problem was that his real reason was just a little too close to Miles’s own suspicion…
He’s been hurt so much, he’s scarred in so many ways… is it wrong for me to want him to have some peace? To want to protect him?
He made one last stab at explaining. “It- It wasn’t even really my idea… Franziska thought it might be best not to tell you… I just- I just made the final decision. They- the others thought I knew you best.”
Miles got up and walked towards him, them past him. The prosecutor didn’t even glance at Phoenix as he placed his hand on the handle of the closed office door.
“I thought you did, too.” Miles had his back to Phoenix, but the vampire saw him shake his head, silver hair flapping. “Apparently I was wrong.”
And all my bonus points have officially gone down the drain. What ever made me think concealing something from a guy whose job it is to find people’s guilty secrets was a good plan? He remembered, belatedly, the rage and pain he himself had felt when he’d discovered Miles was hiding his anemia… how much worse, then, to find out that his partner was concealing the potential deadly proximity of his own personal nightmare?
“I- I’ll go pack my bags then.”
-----
Miles’s head snapped up and he glanced over one shoulder. Phoenix was standing there looking so dejected… Like a kicked puppy. Good lord, why does he have to look so pathetic?!
“Stop that, Phoenix. I’m not going to kick you out.” He sighed, wondering why he just couldn’t stay mad at the other man. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted the blue eyes grow round with surprise, followed by the typical goofy, toothy grin.
Oh no, you’re not getting off that easily. He turned so that he was leaning against the door, arms crossed across his chest in a businesslike manner.
“However, Phoenix, I’m afraid you’re going to have to do a little disclosure on your part. Just because I’m not throwing you out doesn’t mean I’ve completely forgiven you for lying to me.”
Phoenix raised his hands in a placating gesture. “I promise, no more secrets. I’m terrible at lying, anyway.”
“True…” Miles looked at the vampire, wondering exactly what to say. I think I’ll test him with what I already know… see if he keeps his promise. Then I can ask about what I really want to know.
“Von Karma, just what do you know, exactly?”
Phoenix shrugged. “Only that somebody forgot to freeze his German assets and he managed to transfer almost a half a million to a new American account and then take it out in cash from a bank in LA. The only reason we even found out is that that kind of huge withdrawal made the bankers suspicious. Still, he escaped the police with the cash, and there’s been nothing heard since.”
That all checks out with what Gumshoe told me… And since when did Phoenix manage to remember details so well?
“Do I get to ask a question now?”
“No.”
Phoenix made a face that clearly said ‘meanie’. Miles carefully kept his face neutral; Let’s see how he likes the high-handed overbearing attitude directed at him! Well… He’s not overbearing, per say- he just seems to think I need some kind of protection … which I most certainly do not!
“What made you so sure you needed to protect me?” The question came out as a snap, which Miles almost immediately regretted.
Phoenix looked at him, and Miles could almost say that the look on is face was one of nervousness.
“Miles I- You’re just so scared… and I don’t want you to have to feel that way.”
“Hold it! I am not scared!” God, am I that obvious?
“Miles, you scream in your sleep every night and every day we spend at least an hour training with weapons. I can barely distinguish your scent from the smell of fear anymore!”
Ok, I am that obvious…
Phoenix sighed and placed one hand on the door beside Miles’s head, leaning in so that his face was hovering beside the prosecutor’s left ear. A pleasant shiver ran down Miles’s spine at the other man’s proximity.
“Do I really scare you that much?” The whisper, more felt than heard on the side of his face, made Miles blink with confusion. Yes, he was scared… but of a psychotic German ex-prosecutor, not Phoenix Wright. Even as a vampire, I can think of few things that are less frightening. Very few.
“What are you talking about? Are you drunk again or something?”
Phoenix shook his head, causing his hair to brush against Miles’s forehead. A tingle ran through his body at the contact, and Phoenix pulled away.
“I was talking about that! Every time I touch you, your body gives off a fear response: increased heart rate, sweating, the works!” Phoenix raised one hand as though to brush Miles’s face, but he pulled it back, as though afraid to touch the other man. Instead, he stepped back and pointed at Miles in an almost accusing manner. “And you are not helping!”
“Fear response, what fear response? And how am I not helping?” Miles was completely confused.
“Those. Those jeans are an epic version of ‘not helping’!”
Miles shot an incredulous glance at Phoenix, and then another down at himself. “Why the hell are you changing the subject to my personal choice of casual clothes?”
“Casual? OK, ignoring for the moment that ‘casual’ in your dictionary reads as ‘dressed to kill’ in my book… I’m specifically trying to keep- And you-”
All of a sudden, something clicked in Miles’s head and he couldn’t help smirking. He leaned back against the door, arms crossed, trying to keep from laughing. Honestly, he’s been given powers of superhuman perception, twice! And both times, he’s gotten it completely wrong.
“Hey, what’s so funny?” Phoenix was looking at him in confusion.
“Just… If I had to fall for an idiot, at least it was a sweet one.” He reached up to touch the vampire’s cool cheek with one finger.
Phoenix looked at him askance. “Was that supposed to be a compliment?”
Miles’s only reply was to pull Phoenix into a kiss. Arguments and explanations could wait, for now.
-----
"Come on, Phoenix. Use that mad genius of yours!" Miles was smirking, with the look he had expression he always had in court, when he knew something that Phoenix didn't. The face that says 'you have all the evidence, now figure it out'.
Sweating, not scared. Right signals, wrong interpretation. The kiss- It hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Ok, I'm an idiot."
"I just said that." Miles shook his head. "Of course, I'm not much better. I didn't even figure it out for myself until last night.."
“Figure what out? You keep talking about last night… what happened, exactly?”
Miles raised an eyebrow. “You don’t remember?”
“Not really.” Phoenix shook his head. “After the Chopin, it all turned into a blur. What happened, exactly?”
“You asked me to dance, and then… well, I believe the colloquialism is ‘felt me up’.” Miles was probably trying to glare at him disapprovingly, but Phoenix could see the corners of his mouth twitch.. "And then you gave me a rather incoherent telling-off about how I was 'driving you crazy', before passing out on top of me. Have you got any idea how heavy you are?"
And here was me thinking I'd lose weight on an all-liquid diet. Must be the protein. "I really don't scare you? Even though I'm a vampire?"
Miles reached up a hand to brush his cheek. "I honestly don't care what you are. I trust you and I want you and I love you."
"Oh Miles," He ran one hand through the other man's hair, then pulled him into a brief kiss. Even after their lips parted, he hovered so close that he could feel Miles's hot breath on his skin. "The feeling is so very mutual."
Title: Bloodlust
Pairing: Phoenix/Edgeworth, some Franziska/Adrian
Theme: Romance, Horror, Comedy, Action
Warnings: Spoilers for PW 1 & 2, vampires and blood, gay lawyers, violence... (and part 4 has SEX!)
Summary: Vampire!Phoenix and Miles are now a steady couple, but they just can't seem to get out of the habit of keeping secrets. An evil force lurks in the background, Shoe makes a cameo, and people get drunk. Enjoy!
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
Phoenix walked through the door with a sigh, ready to collapse. The combination of distracted and hung-over had resulted in his almost losing to Payne… Payne!
At least my headache’s gone… He thought as he removed his coat and dropped his briefcase on the floor. Wondering where Miles was, he raised his head and sniffed the air, following the trail of his scent into the other man’s personal study.
Miles sat at his desk, half hidden behind a huge pile of books and papers. He was staring intently, brow furrowed, at the laptop resting on his knees. Phoenix stood for a moment and just looked at him, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, looking so serious.
He looks so old, much older than twenty-six. Almost as though somebody stole his youth… Of course, the fact that he’s got gray hair isn’t helping at all. Well, not gray, really… sort of silver. It goes well with - ok are those designer jeans? Very tight designer jeans at that…
He shifted and Miles jerked his head up, reaching down beside him in one swift movement to grasp his sword. A moment later he released the weapon, recognizing Phoenix. However, his darkly suspicious expression didn’t change.
“Hello Phoenix.” His tone was cold and businesslike, the kind of voice Phoenix had heard Miles use only in their first few months of reacquaintance. Even though his first name was being used, the words felt like a slap.
“Hi, Miles. Um, whatcha doing?” He might not know, act casual…
“Research. I wanted to know why you were sneaking around, and I thought it might be some kind of vampire idiosyncrasy… but I didn’t find anything until I looked a little closer to home.” He turned the laptop so that Phoenix could read the screen and there it was: the criminal database used by the DA’s Office, with von Karma’s page showing.
Ok, headache’s back…
“It wouldn’t accept my security clearance, so I tried calling Gumshoe and you know what he told me?” Miles snapped the screen shut and set the computer precisely on the desk, looking up at Phoenix with ice-cold gray eyes.
“The police department, the DA’s office, even Mia and Larry knew that von Karma has been back in town for over a week… and I’m told that it was your idea to keep me in the dark! You’d think that, being one of the two people he’s specifically sworn to kill, being informed might be beneficial… but obviously you think differently, don’t you?!?”
Phoenix looked at his scuffed dress shoes. “We didn’t know much, I didn’t think-“
“Think what?” Miles stood up, white-knuckled hands gripping the edges of the desk. “You didn’t think I’d be able to handle it, perhaps? Maybe I’ve got more issues than TV Guide, but I do at least have the right to know that a psychopathological monster that wants us dead might show up at any moment! I could prepa-“
“How?” Phoenix’s voice was quiet for once, as he lifted his eyes to look at Miles. “You’ve been training with a sword every day, not to mention teaching me, and I don’t even own a weapon.”
God, Miles, stop looking at me like I’m something you scraped off the bottom of your shoe!
Even in his own head the words sounded hollow, shallow. The problem was that his real reason was just a little too close to Miles’s own suspicion…
He’s been hurt so much, he’s scarred in so many ways… is it wrong for me to want him to have some peace? To want to protect him?
He made one last stab at explaining. “It- It wasn’t even really my idea… Franziska thought it might be best not to tell you… I just- I just made the final decision. They- the others thought I knew you best.”
Miles got up and walked towards him, them past him. The prosecutor didn’t even glance at Phoenix as he placed his hand on the handle of the closed office door.
“I thought you did, too.” Miles had his back to Phoenix, but the vampire saw him shake his head, silver hair flapping. “Apparently I was wrong.”
And all my bonus points have officially gone down the drain. What ever made me think concealing something from a guy whose job it is to find people’s guilty secrets was a good plan? He remembered, belatedly, the rage and pain he himself had felt when he’d discovered Miles was hiding his anemia… how much worse, then, to find out that his partner was concealing the potential deadly proximity of his own personal nightmare?
“I- I’ll go pack my bags then.”
-----
Miles’s head snapped up and he glanced over one shoulder. Phoenix was standing there looking so dejected… Like a kicked puppy. Good lord, why does he have to look so pathetic?!
“Stop that, Phoenix. I’m not going to kick you out.” He sighed, wondering why he just couldn’t stay mad at the other man. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted the blue eyes grow round with surprise, followed by the typical goofy, toothy grin.
Oh no, you’re not getting off that easily. He turned so that he was leaning against the door, arms crossed across his chest in a businesslike manner.
“However, Phoenix, I’m afraid you’re going to have to do a little disclosure on your part. Just because I’m not throwing you out doesn’t mean I’ve completely forgiven you for lying to me.”
Phoenix raised his hands in a placating gesture. “I promise, no more secrets. I’m terrible at lying, anyway.”
“True…” Miles looked at the vampire, wondering exactly what to say. I think I’ll test him with what I already know… see if he keeps his promise. Then I can ask about what I really want to know.
“Von Karma, just what do you know, exactly?”
Phoenix shrugged. “Only that somebody forgot to freeze his German assets and he managed to transfer almost a half a million to a new American account and then take it out in cash from a bank in LA. The only reason we even found out is that that kind of huge withdrawal made the bankers suspicious. Still, he escaped the police with the cash, and there’s been nothing heard since.”
That all checks out with what Gumshoe told me… And since when did Phoenix manage to remember details so well?
“Do I get to ask a question now?”
“No.”
Phoenix made a face that clearly said ‘meanie’. Miles carefully kept his face neutral; Let’s see how he likes the high-handed overbearing attitude directed at him! Well… He’s not overbearing, per say- he just seems to think I need some kind of protection … which I most certainly do not!
“What made you so sure you needed to protect me?” The question came out as a snap, which Miles almost immediately regretted.
Phoenix looked at him, and Miles could almost say that the look on is face was one of nervousness.
“Miles I- You’re just so scared… and I don’t want you to have to feel that way.”
“Hold it! I am not scared!” God, am I that obvious?
“Miles, you scream in your sleep every night and every day we spend at least an hour training with weapons. I can barely distinguish your scent from the smell of fear anymore!”
Ok, I am that obvious…
Phoenix sighed and placed one hand on the door beside Miles’s head, leaning in so that his face was hovering beside the prosecutor’s left ear. A pleasant shiver ran down Miles’s spine at the other man’s proximity.
“Do I really scare you that much?” The whisper, more felt than heard on the side of his face, made Miles blink with confusion. Yes, he was scared… but of a psychotic German ex-prosecutor, not Phoenix Wright. Even as a vampire, I can think of few things that are less frightening. Very few.
“What are you talking about? Are you drunk again or something?”
Phoenix shook his head, causing his hair to brush against Miles’s forehead. A tingle ran through his body at the contact, and Phoenix pulled away.
“I was talking about that! Every time I touch you, your body gives off a fear response: increased heart rate, sweating, the works!” Phoenix raised one hand as though to brush Miles’s face, but he pulled it back, as though afraid to touch the other man. Instead, he stepped back and pointed at Miles in an almost accusing manner. “And you are not helping!”
“Fear response, what fear response? And how am I not helping?” Miles was completely confused.
“Those. Those jeans are an epic version of ‘not helping’!”
Miles shot an incredulous glance at Phoenix, and then another down at himself. “Why the hell are you changing the subject to my personal choice of casual clothes?”
“Casual? OK, ignoring for the moment that ‘casual’ in your dictionary reads as ‘dressed to kill’ in my book… I’m specifically trying to keep- And you-”
All of a sudden, something clicked in Miles’s head and he couldn’t help smirking. He leaned back against the door, arms crossed, trying to keep from laughing. Honestly, he’s been given powers of superhuman perception, twice! And both times, he’s gotten it completely wrong.
“Hey, what’s so funny?” Phoenix was looking at him in confusion.
“Just… If I had to fall for an idiot, at least it was a sweet one.” He reached up to touch the vampire’s cool cheek with one finger.
Phoenix looked at him askance. “Was that supposed to be a compliment?”
Miles’s only reply was to pull Phoenix into a kiss. Arguments and explanations could wait, for now.
-----
"Come on, Phoenix. Use that mad genius of yours!" Miles was smirking, with the look he had expression he always had in court, when he knew something that Phoenix didn't. The face that says 'you have all the evidence, now figure it out'.
Sweating, not scared. Right signals, wrong interpretation. The kiss- It hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Ok, I'm an idiot."
"I just said that." Miles shook his head. "Of course, I'm not much better. I didn't even figure it out for myself until last night.."
“Figure what out? You keep talking about last night… what happened, exactly?”
Miles raised an eyebrow. “You don’t remember?”
“Not really.” Phoenix shook his head. “After the Chopin, it all turned into a blur. What happened, exactly?”
“You asked me to dance, and then… well, I believe the colloquialism is ‘felt me up’.” Miles was probably trying to glare at him disapprovingly, but Phoenix could see the corners of his mouth twitch.. "And then you gave me a rather incoherent telling-off about how I was 'driving you crazy', before passing out on top of me. Have you got any idea how heavy you are?"
And here was me thinking I'd lose weight on an all-liquid diet. Must be the protein. "I really don't scare you? Even though I'm a vampire?"
Miles reached up a hand to brush his cheek. "I honestly don't care what you are. I trust you and I want you and I love you."
"Oh Miles," He ran one hand through the other man's hair, then pulled him into a brief kiss. Even after their lips parted, he hovered so close that he could feel Miles's hot breath on his skin. "The feeling is so very mutual."