A Deal With the Devil
Summary
Phoenix gets an invitation to spend New Year’s Eve with Kristoph.
Notes
A part of the 2024 Ace Attorney Holiday Exchange.
This is first fanfiction I've published in a looooong time so I really want to thank the organizers of the exchange for facilitating a space which made it easier to "dip my toe" back into the world of fanfiction. I've been thinking about writing more but with college I've been real busy, but I feel much more comfortable and inspired write with Ace Attorney so expect more from me in the future.
I also want to thank my sister for helping me beta, she was really wonderful and helped me a lot.
to Akzeriyyuth: I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. I hope I fulfilled your prompt well. This is the first time I've written for KrisNix, but I really enjoy their relationship and I hope I did them Justice. <3
It had been almost three years since that day – the day which completely changed the course of his life. It was hard to be positive, with the new year approaching. It wasn’t a sign of new beginnings but rather another year of the same. It would be another year without a clear direction for his life having to work a shitty job at a seedy restaurant because nowhere else would hire him. Besides, it felt nice to be able to hide in his evening shifts and the relative anonymity he was provided at the Borscht Bowl Club.
The one thing which made the New Year enjoyable was the time off and celebration with family, who at this point purely consisted of his dear daughter and whoever of his incredibly talented friends had nothing better to do with their time than indulge him. Even Larry had been doing well for himself, getting a couple of his books published and getting some artwork in a few local galleries. He was extremely proud of his friends and would support them to the ends of the earth, but it was discouraging when everyone he cared about were all doing amazing, wonderful things with their lives, and he was at one of the lowest points in his life.
The one thing that was successful in his life, however, was Trucy. She was wonderful, clever, kind, immensely talented, and the light of his life. Even with all the issues with his life, he would never take it back if that’d mean he wouldn’t be able to be the young magician’s father. But, although being a father was the most important part of his life, Phoenix realized that he was becoming incredibly isolated outside of his daughter. This isolation was partially self-inflicted, but with his friends all being incredibly busy and/or currently halfway around the world, this isolation had become a sinking pit of quicksand.
Enter Kristoph Gavin.
Phoenix had not seen the man since right after his disbarment where they first met, but for some reason Gavin invited him to a New Years Eve party. Although Phoenix was grateful for the assistance the man gave him back then, he found the attorney to be a bit off putting. They didn’t really hit it off at first, but due to the self-interest of both parties, they began meeting every once in a while while Phoenix was at work. Their regular meetings always matched the feel of the restaurant – cold and uninviting. Phoenix suspected the attorney was ashamed to be seen with him in public, afraid to damage his reputation. So, this invitation to a large company party felt very much out of the blue.
On December 2nd, Phoenix woke up after a mid-morning nap and went to go check the mail. When returned to his apartment, he flipped through the mail and one pale periwinkle envelope stood out to him. It had no return address or stamp and simply had his name, Phoenix Wright, across the front in calligraphy. Inside was a very professional and formal invitation to a New Years Party. The invitation was extremely classy with embossed lettering on bespoke stationery. It read,
“Gavin & Co. formally invites you to the annual New Year's gala to be held in the Gatewater Hotel’s Formal Ballroom on December Thirty-First 2021 at 8:30 pm. RSVP by December 15th.”
This invitation, while intriguing, indicated that this party just wasn’t going to be his scene, and he promptly shoved it into the junk drawer.
Now, although he had been independently investigating the whole situation, he had no strong desire to personally contact nor fraternize with the man. Every time he was around him he felt a pit form in his stomach.
A week later, as the father and daughter duo sat down to eat their dinner, the invitation saw the light of day again. There was a knock on their door.
“Huh, I wasn’t expecting anyone.”
“Maybe someone needs help or wants to book a show!”
“Maybe, but I doubt it. How would they know where we live?”
Phoenix stood from the table and walked over to the door. When he looked through the peephole he didn't see anyone. Unlocking and opening the door there was once again no one there, even down the hall. It was like a ghost visited. The only notion that there was anyone there was a single envelope in front of their door – a blank periwinkle envelope just like the one from the previous invitation.
A serious expression appeared on Phoenix’s face, as he considered what the attorney could want from him.
“What was it Daddy?”
“Just some mail, must have been sent to the wrong address.”
“Daddy, you know I can tell when you're hiding something. What actually is it?!”
Phoenix looked taken aback. He forgot. “Ahh it's just a letter, I think someone dropped it off personally.”
“Ohhh mysterious…” Trucy responded while fluttering her fingers. “Is it a letter from a secret admirer?” She questioned.
“Something like that…”
Phoenix then went to open the envelope and saw another copy of the invitation along with a short letter.
“I have anticipated that you would not RSVP without impetus, therefore I have set up special accommodations for you at this event. I expect you would like to avoid fraternizing with the other riff raff attending, therefore we will have a private suite in order to avoid any scandals or gossip. I anticipate your attendance.”
The letter was not signed but he knew exactly who it was from.
“Ooooo what is it? What is it?” Trucy excitedly says while bouncing up and down.
“It's an invitation to a party.”
“Are you going to go?”
“I’m not sure…”
“I think you should go! Parties are fun, and I think you need something like this. I always feel great when I spend time with my friends. I think you need more time with your friends, you seem lonely.”
“I talk to people…”
“Other than me?”
“I go to work…”
“I don’t think that counts.” Trucy puts her hands on her hips and pouts. “Your work doesn’t sound fun. I think you deserve some fun Daddy!”
“I guess I could at least check it out.”
Phoenix was also very curious and nervous for what the invitation meant, and, the closer he gets to Kristoph the easier it would be to investigate his involvement in that case.
On the night of December thirty-first, Phoenix showed up to the Gatewater begrudgingly in his best attire – his old blue suit. He made a mental note to look into acquiring a different suit.
As Phoenix walked into the lobby he immediately saw him, Kristoph Gavin. They immediately caught each others’ glances, as Kristoph walked away from the previous small talk he had with the “riff raff” as he would call them.
“Well that suit of yours certainly brings back memories. I haven’t seen you this put together in a long time, not since your little mistake in that courtroom a few years ago. Although… you were always a bit disheveled even when you still had a proper career.”
“Sure, sure, it's nice to see you too.” Phoenix remarked sarcastically. “Let’s cut to the chase, why did you want me here so desperately? I never took you for someone to beg, but the way you were acting certainly made it seem that way.”
“Why don’t we discuss this amongst ourselves in the private room.”
It turned out that Gavin had bought out a private hotel room along with the ballroom space for the evening. Once they arrived at the private suite, Kristoph motioned for them to sit down at the small breakfast table in the corner of the room. As they sat across from each other, they looked at each other like they had done with numerous others across a glass panel, but this was not a detention center and neither man was on trial, despite the tension of judgement in the air.
“I want to keep you close and I think you could agree. We are both exceptionally closed off especially when it comes to a certain type of intimacy, so I would like to propose a deal.”
“Alright… ” Phoenix responds with apprehension in his voice.
“I can tell there is some kind of tension between us and we should be able to work out this tension … without impacting our precious friendship .” Kristoph smoothly said, somewhere between seductive and mocking, as he moved closer and closer to the man across from him.
“So you want to be friends with benefits?” Phoenix’s posture remains stiff and serious, but a mask of a slight smirk appears showing his amusement.
Kristoph suddenly had a certain unspoken tension which betrayed his voice and expression, clearly hiding annoyance and anger. He expected him to play along.
“Not exactly, I don’t think we need a label.”
Phoenix pondered for a few moments, and maybe waited a little longer than needed to increase the dramatics of it all, but ultimately agreed. He's never really had a “normal” relationship so what’s one more to the pile? And, even if he was suspicious of the other man, what better way was there to investigate than to become more intimate with the man.
“Sure …why not? I haven’t had much luck in the relationships department recently, what do I have to lose.”
With a fakely sweet smile, Kristoph replies “then it's a deal.” and pulls out his hand for a handshake.
The two spend the evening in each other’s company, with full room service and a direct view of the festivities happening across the city. A series of cocktails and french wines follow them through the night. Despite the indulgences and intimacy, there was a veil of melancholy throughout the room.
At the strike of midnight, Phoenix decided then and there to take a chance he would much later regret. A kiss on the lips of the man who destroyed the other’s life.