"Oh, look, it's Mr Wright!"
"Oh yes, and who's that rather sinister-looking fellow with him?" As the defence attorney obediently trotted about from person-to-person, greeting each and every one of them as warmly as he would with a member of his own family, another thing became apparent to Edgeworth. Judging by the idle chit-chat that he could overhear, the guests seemed to find his appearance rather alarming; in all his years of being a prosecutor, the silvery-haired man couldn't recall an event where his stony expressions had felt so attacked by alienating glares and indiscreet comments. This was ridiculous. Edgeworth wasn't that scary, surely. Even Phoenix wasn't intimidated by him anymore, and Phoenix was scared of a plethora of idiotic things - such as rabbits, for example (the poor defence attorney had never quite gotten over the prosecutor's fond memory of being chased down a stark hill surrounded by lush green pools of countryside, half-nude, by one of the furry critters).
"This is Mr Edgeworth, everyone," Beamed the spiky-haired man as he hurriedly ushered the prosecutor to the forefront of the spectacle;
"He's the head prosecutor at the offices. I'm sure you must have heard of him?"
"Hello." The silvery-haired man forced a simple greeting out of his tight lips with a pained expression on his face as he inwardly cursed. Why was he accepting this? Edgeworth knew full-well he could just leave and sod the lot of them.

But his addiction to that useless fool would never let him, would it? Of course it would keep him chained down like a dog, especially in a hopelessly embarrassing situation like this.

Damn it.

Damn this.

Edgeworth could only hold out his hope that this would all be worthwhile and he would be able see his crush up-close for a couple of hours - a rare treat outside of the courtroom.

"Good-afternoon, Mr Edgeworth." Came a dozen replies.
"Are you both friends?" A question pointed at Phoenix rather than him. Good.
"Well I-er," The defence attorney flushed red ever so slightly before quickly adding;
"Y-Yes, I guess you could say that," A tiny, bashful, chuckle accompanied the sentence with a subtle rub of the back of the spiky-haired man's neck. The prosecutor winced.

What was with that pause?

The silvery-haired man's blood ran cold.

Had Edgeworth's status finally stooped so low that he was no longer even a friend to Phoenix?

"That's nice. Shall we go in? I'm simply dying to hear what you've been up to as of late, Mr Wright," An older woman wearing a lilac-coloured, flamboyantly extending, hat and matching cardigan spoke up, elegantly gesturing to the grand, wooden, doors of the entrance to the gorgeous venue looming above them like gigantic statues.

The interior of the venue was just as scandalously gorgeous as the exterior had been, the prosecutor decided as he laid his sleek, grey, eyes upon the vast array of wooden embroidery scattered across the grand, polished, hall; however, despite however stunning the scenery he was in may have been, Edgeworth couldn't help but find his gaze being magnetically attracted to a far more beautiful subject: one Phoenix Wright, whom seemed more interested in chatting to the other guests than conversing with the silvery-haired man - much to the prosecutor's dismay.
"So, how has your office been doing lately? Have you had many clients?" Vera Gressenheller of the infamous law-firm rival 'Atmey's Law' eagerly inquired, leering dangerously close to the oblivious, spiky-haired man as she did so. Edgeworth twitched.
"Ah, it's been good so far! Can't stop those pesky journalists from making articles about my misfortunes, though... Although I'm sure you must get that a lot, too, since you're part of a widely renowned law firm," Phoenix chuckled light-heartedly, nervously clutching the back of his neck.
"Oh, I don't know.. We get our articles, too, of course, but you must be the most famous law firm in the country by now! Everyone knows about the 'Wright & Co Law Offices'!"
"Fame isn't everything," Much to the silvery-haired man's shock, his crush's previously jovial, rich, timbre suddenly fell short, taking on a lower and more serious tone.
"I suppose there is some truth to that." The woman's voice expressed utter sincerity and deep understanding.. Which was also clearly displayed through her sudden hastiness in leaving the conversation as she sensed Phoenix's uneasiness.

Edgeworth took his chance like a hawk pouncing on its prey.

"Hey, Wright."
"O-Oh!" The shorter man's gorgeously gorgeous blue eyes bulged in shock for a brief moment as he felt a slight, unanticipated, pressure on his right-hand shoulder, hastily turning to glare at his silvery-haired assailant;
"No fair! You can't just creep up on me when I'm defenceless like that-"
"Shut up." Edgeworth self-righteously smirked, a humongous wave of pride and satisfaction washing over him as he let himself be enamoured by the scene before his sleek grey eyes once again: one beautiful, kind, and, most of all, unguarded Phoenix Wright, with his carefully-combed back, feathery, jet-black hair already rebelling against its confinements, wafting about in the air with minuscule strands of itself sticking out. The misplaced strands excitedly danced as the defence attorney resignedly shook his head.
"What's up? Have you made any new friends?" Phoenix smugly grinned at the last question, clearly proud of his pathetic attempt at patronising another person.
"No."
"Any enemies?"
"No."
"Okay." The shorter man trailed off as he actually, for only the third time ever in his entire life, ran out of things to say. Edgeworth was met with a blank, unresponsive, screen which, after what seemed to be a millennia, finally picked up the conversation again after all hope of the prosecutor doing so faded away; that was no surprise though, really, since all the silvery-haired man had been doing was 'checking his best friend out', looking Phoenix up and down, his eyes particularly lingering on the spiky-haired man's unintentionally exposed, stark, collarbone and curvy hips.

What was wrong with him? Never mind, the list of what was wrong with him was too long.

How about what was right with him?

Actually, wait.
No.

No, that question was far too tenacious to answer for fear of Edgeworth hearing himself admit the truth aloud.

There was nothing right with him.

Wright wasn't with him.