#I’m trying to incorporate this dynamic but I need to scream into the void first lmao

[thus-it-is-proclaimed]

God but think about the whiplash Phoenix experiences between Miles and Dahlia.

When it’s said and done, and whenever they do finally cut the shit and get together, him being in the midst of feelings and it makes him scared.

Why wouldn’t it? To our knowledge he never has another serious partner (though Dahlia wasn’t exactly a serious one, it can be argued Phoenix in his Young Dumb Obsessiveness absolutely felt like it was) between her and the idea he does get together with Miles. (Kristoph we will put aside for terms of discussion.)

But to imagine an older, more jaded Phoenix who is looking at Miles Edgeworth and feeling that old swell of absurdly strong feelings. The echo of his tendency for reckless devotion, for putting the people around him on a pedestal, the all encompassing love he has inside his heart. Imagining that he feels that swooping sensation before the plummet into immersion and it. Scares the SHIT out of him.

Because realistically? He has almost only ever been hurt by this pattern. He must know it’s unhealthy and dangerous, even on a subconscious level. And despite all he has been through, it’s still there. He can still feel it.

Phoenix Wright, loving Miles so much it hurts, being for once absolutely terrified that it will all come to crash down on him again. He was almost killed, framed, and injured by Dahlia while she was alive. She came back to literally haunt him and cause havoc on his life, threatening those he loves, resulting in the situation that sent him falling through a burning bridge in effort to save his family. Because his ability to LOVE. His willingness to sacrifice everything to protect the people he clings to around him.

Just thinking of this realization, and how Miles can meet it not as a savior or a saint, but proof that even those who have hurt Phoenix at some points could still be eventually trusted with his heart. Miles, who goes through such an arc of growth and maturity, at a point he can promise Phoenix to take care with his feelings. To be able to be trusted, and trust in turn. That though they may argue, may hurt one another, at the end of the day Miles is not another devastating chapter in Phoenix’s list of reasons to never allow himself to show his full heart to another.

He is proof that Phoenix can trust someone who knows of this tendency. Who won’t use it to manipulate or gut him. Who doesn’t secretly despise every breath he takes. Maya and Pearl and Trucy and Apollo and Athena are all people in Phoenix’s growing family, who stick around and support.

But Miles Edgeworth has seen Phoenix through hell, tribulation, and devastating lows on both sides. He knows Phoenix has such intense depth of feeling. And if they come together into a relationship, Miles taking this onboard and loving Phoenix for it. His passion and kindness and selflessness and drive.