i rewatched the parent trap a few days ago for the first time in years because i suddenly started thinking about claire @tfwlawyers / @chocochipclaire's classic narumitsu au again and whoop de doop i did nonsenses. miscellaneous nonsenses below
i think in the original au miles was a defence attorney and i forgot what phoenix was but i just made them prosecutor/defence respectively for, reasons
nonsense 1: apollo as "trucy", trucy as "apollo". apollo has shadowed miles' cases before but never from the defence side + they usually aren't this exciting. trucy sometimes helps phoenix in court but usually just based on intuition, apollo has slightly more legal instincts and more targeted awareness. apollo and trucy have warned each other about the magatama / logic chess. why'd i invent this much bullshit lore for an au that already exists and has lore instead of just like, following it hey
"He's lying," Trucy says suddenly. "He keeps touching his nose and looking over at the gallery. I bet you anything she hit him."
Phoenix glances at her, surprised. "Okay," he says. "Bit of a leap there, kiddo."
"Trust me," she insists. "That witness from before hit him in the face. He's covering for her. It was her."
After the trial, Phoenix squints at Trucy. Her eyes are bright and excited. "You seem pretty happy."
"We won," Trucy exults. "I thought we were screwed! This feeling is amazing."
"Well, yeah," Phoenix says, laughing. "You're acting like this is the first time."
Trucy seems to catch herself. "I always believed in you, Daddy," she says formally.
"Ahuh. Thanks to your hot tip about the witness. Your really specific hot tip about the witness." He squints at her. "You gonna let me in on what all that was about? Normally your advice is more like this guy's fishier than a trout farm daddy kill him."
Trucy freezes. "Oh," she says. "Sorry. I just... I had a feeling! Magician's intuition! And stuff."
"Hmm," says Phoenix. "I like your bracelet, by the way. You sure your friend at camp doesn't need that back?"
"Oh, he said I can borrow it for a bit," Trucy says.
"Cool," says Phoenix, "because it honestly doesn't look like it can come off. Also, that was five locks, honey."
"You lost it?" Miles asks, brow furrowed. "You've never taken that thing off once and you lost it? How did you manage to lose something that's practically welded to your skin?"
Apollo shrugs, wildly unbothered at the loss of a keepsake he's had practically since birth. "Weird stuff happens at camp!" he chirps. "Checkmate, Papa!"
Miles looks down, distracted. "You've never played chess like that in all your life," he says. "Quite the chaotic approach, almost like you'd forgotten how the pieces move..." He shakes his head. "And yet somehow congratulations are in order, for victory is yours. Another technique you learned at camp, I take it?"
"Yep," Apollo says. He sweeps his pieces off the board and makes them dance between his fingers. "Say, Papa? You ever played poker before?"
Miles leans forward. "I was actually thinking," he says, narrowing his eyes, "we could play another round of chess... in a manner of speaking."
He makes no move to reset the board.
"Fuck," Apollo says cheerfully.
nonsense 2: reuniting at the gatewater, all acerbic and stuff.
"I thought you wanted to run a vineyard," Miles says finally.
Phoenix laughs. "Yeah. Turns out you have to know at least something about wine. And... have money."
"So you decided instead to become an attorney? That's quite the pivot."
"Yeah, I..." Phoenix smiles again, rubbing the back of his neck. "I dunno. I needed to be something, right? I had a kid to raise. And you talked about law so much it must have rubbed off on me."
Miles frowns. "Don't tell me it was my influence that led you here."
"Is that a surprise? I guess whenever I'm looking for a path, my compass points me back to you."
Miles looks away. Too raw a pronouncement for what they are now. Phoenix's smile has turned bitter.
"Thank your dad, I guess," he says lightly.
"He should perhaps thank you," Miles says stiffly. "You set off down what once would have been my path, where I have stepped away from it."
Phoenix shrugs. "Then it wasn't your path," he says. "Just his footprints. Prosecution, huh?"
"Yes," says Miles. "It... I find it suits me better."
"Funny," says Phoenix. "If you'd stayed home, we probably would've met in court by now."
"I thought Apollo would benefit from attending a European school," says Miles.
"Yeah," says Phoenix. "That must be why you left."
kaledo-art
yousharknotpass
turnnoffyourmind
jbbartram-illu
snowghoul
annaxmalina
ellievsbear
prguitarman
