"... Nnghh..." He groaned with tightly shut eyes, slowly bringing his trembling, bruised left arm up to his aching forehead and wincing as the feeling began to sluggishly crawl back to his previously numb fingertips. Since his eyes were still unopened he couldn't tell what scenery he was sitting in, however he could just about make out the faint muffle of footsteps and discreet voices above him. He shifted uncomfortably, wincing as he felt an unnerving ache spread across his limbs, and grimaced as he felt the cool, paved floor against his exposed flesh.

Phoenix finally mustered the strength to open his heavy eyelids, meekly cringing as his pupils tried to weakly adjust to the dimly lit expanse around him, and allowed his eyes to survey his surroundings. This was not what he'd expected. He'd expected to be in his office, perhaps collapsed on the floor beside his desk - certainly not here. Admittedly there wasn't much to look at, however the very sight of the eerily dark, damp, musty-aired place gave the defence attorney the shivers. Chapped, grimy white plaster lined the walls, accompanied by the bone-chillingly cool paved flooring and low, surprisingly wet wooden ceiling which eventually crept down the walls as you looked further along it. The mix of mouldy, musty smells made Phoenix feel overly nauseous. Clumps of dust lightly peppered the room, moving in packs as if to reach out for anything that was within its range of sight. A few tickled Phoenix's bruised, blood-smeared cheeks playfully. The defence attorney's half-lidded eyes - complete with a set of elegant, sweeping lashes which somehow still made him look masculine - scanned this very same place, darting back to his, half-naked, body once he realised that there was nothing of interest placed anywhere throughout the room.

It was only once he'd witnessed how he looked that it dawned on him that this was place was certainly not where he was supposed to be, and that he certainly did not look how he was supposed to look.
"M-My..." Phoenix's previously prettily glittering eyes widened all of a sudden, his pupils lightly stroking the tips of his scarred, baby-soft skin.
"My..." His heart began to pound rapidly and he swallowed a large lump in the back of his throat, reaching out and gingerly feeling one of the many long, grit-filled scabs lining his lower thigh and taking in a sharp, terrified breath as the pain blossomed and his hand suddenly jerked back upwards, glistening in the newly-lathered crimson liquid which was steadily dripping from it, and hissing between his teeth in agony. The marks were, evidently, fresh.
"H-How..." He whimpered, feeling his tense muscles and body begin to tremble unevenly as his heartbeat began to race. Why was he here? How did he get these injuries? He shook his head, shivering as the grogginess began to dissipate slowly. He felt like his throat was on fire, and he shyly reached out to feel his equally scarred cheeks, grimacing as he noticed how feverishly hot they were.

Whilst he was occupied with trying to put 2 and 2 together, the door beside the precariously balanced wooden stairs - which Phoenix had dismissed attempting to climb due to his throbbing aching and seemingly endless injuries - slammed open, and the defence attorney felt his teeth instinctively clench as his eyes struggled to follow the movement.
"Awake, are we?" A heavily built silhouette appeared at the door. Phoenix couldn't make out its face, or any defining features, due to the contrast of the bright yellow light in the background against the dark, damp room and the fact that the defence attorney still felt extremely groggy and his eyes couldn't quite figure out what was going on.

Drat. He knew he should've accepted Edgeworth's request for him to go and see the opticians for a checkup...

Phoenix remained silent, deciding it was best to see what this 'figure' was like before doing anything brash. The silhouette paused for a moment, as if waiting for a response, before shutting and locking the dark green door behind them and calmly striding down the stairs with an unprecedented elegance and confidence which reminded the defence attorney of someone - although he couldn't quite place his finger on who.
"Come on, Ukey-boy... Isn't it time to respond to your loving seme?" Phoenix instantly tensed as he heard the familiar nickname escape the shadowy character's lips.

No... It couldn't be... Could it?

Now that he examined the figure more closely, the defence attorney couldn't help but recognise how strikingly familiar the exotic hairstyle was.

No... It couldn't be him.

And yet, the defence attorney found himself allowing a small, weak smile to play on his lips. It had to be him.  The man finally arrived inches away from where Phoenix was lain, causing the defence attorney to part his, now dry and chapped, lips in order to speak. He never could quite get the words out, though, as...

Miles Edgeworth leant down and crushed their lips together.