(no subject)

[miniworth]

Layton

Layton plants very "unnecessary feelings" within the heart of one young Miles Edgeworth. It's certainly different from what Phoenix Wright saddles the prosecutor with in their adult life, but it's strange and definitely out of place for a child as young as Miles to meet the eyes of an adult he respects and simultaneously feel admiration, affection, and fear - fear for the man's life, and fear that, like a great majority of the people Miles met when he first arrived in Johto (like Phoenix and Apollo and Iris and Kay), like Gregory Edgeworth had, Layton too would disappear from Miles' life.

Miles had lost everything on December 28, 2001. His revered father, defeated in court, murdered in an elevator without even one last goodbye, even forgotten by the world despite how much he did to help others. It was only through coming to Johto that he was saved from being doomed to fifteen years of nurturing the anger and hatred that was planted in him by the DL6 Incident, and of the many friends he'd made and found happiness through, Layton has had one of the most strongest influences.

The two of them met very shortly after Miles lost his father, before any of the dark emotions regarding that incident can really settle in. Since day one, Layton has always been kind and gentle, a warm fatherly person that slightly eased the pain from losing Gregory just a bit in the earliest stages of the child's grief.

Of course, they weren't so close at first. While Miles felt a great amount respect for this intelligent gentleman since the beginning and felt no reluctance to continue correspondence with him, it's impossible for a person like him to automatically become close friends with somebody without a few months of getting to know them (Ken is just such a huge exception to this, he might be a crazy glitch). It was over the months since they met, getting to know the professor, having him - an adult, an adult! - treat Miles with a kind of respect that adults Layton's age just don't have for children. It would be a lie to say that Miles felt drawn to him initially because of how much he overlapped with his dead father, but by this point in their relationship Miles sees Layton as... Layton.

It's a similar kind of love he feels for this kind man. The same desire to have him say "good job" and possibly pat him on the head, just like Gregory used to; the same desire to spend time with Layton that Miles felt with Gregory while he sat in his home in Los Angeles, waiting late into the night for his father to come home from work; the same kind of pride he felt whenever he heard something positive about these men. It's also the same kind of worry and fear when he sees Layton and his similarities with Gregory - even now, Miles clearly remembers the empty nothing he stared into during those five hours in the elevator before his father died, and it's difficult to see Layton and not worry that he might, just as his father had, be swallowed up by darkness and never come out. It was a fear that became much stronger when he saw Layton get locked in that elevator, triggering a moment of panic.

It was also that incident that brought Miles a little closer to him, as well. Before that day, Miles had never spoken about the exact circumstances of Gregory's death. There were people who already knew, such as Phoenix and Larry, but apart from that, not even Ken knows that before his death, Gregory Edgeworth and his son were locked in an elevator - that, as the oxygen around them grew fainter and fainter and breathing became so difficult, Miles had stared into the darkness and listened to the yelling voices of his father and Yanni Yogi, feeling desperation and fear and a desire to protect the person he loved more than anything in the world. To have thrown that pistol. To hear the gunshot and the terrible scream ringing in his ears as he lost consciousness. To wake up only to learn that, with the darkness, his father too had disappeared. Lost, stolen, forever by a culprit that was never caught and swallowed up by the great metal prison called an elevator.

It's a terrible, painful past that Miles would rather not speak about. It would take some time before he can openly talk about it even to Ken (although in this case, it's more a desire to keep the promise to be happy in this world, and not a lack of trust), and Miles viewed Layton as the closest thing to Gregory anybody could ever get while in this world. It's very rare that he would confess his true fears to anyone, and this.. though a sad way of showing it, is proof of how much he truly trusts Hershel Layton.

And he would do anything to protect his not!dad.

Souji

First impressions? "Wow, I hope he'll be okay with that Magikarp."

At that time he never would have thought that the grey-haired teenager he met in Violet would become his friend. But as it turned out, Souji was the older cousin of a girl Miles befriended (Nanako), and Miles found himself speaking to him more because of her. Souji was a little different from the other teenagers; compared to kids like Heather and Kaito and Kay, he was much more mellow and quiet.

Of course, when April first came around and he laughed when Miles was mistaken for a girl, Miles realized that Souji was actually quite similar to the others. But despite that Souji has been fairly easy to get along with, and they have a few things in common, hair color and birthdays being just a couple of examples. Nanako was still their greatest connection before she returned home, and after her disappearance both Souji and Ryotaro Dojima had been terribly quiet.

Miles can't say for sure if the feeling of losing a child or sibling is similar to the feeling of losing a parent. All he knows is that it hurts to lose someone dear to you, whether it be to death or distance or to this illogical mess known as Johto. It's partially out of a sense of duty to his close friend Nanako that he continues to approach them. But after getting to know and become better acquainted with the teenager, and after Souji dragged Miles onto a swing and introduced him to his Pokémon - after all these friend things - Miles thinks very highly of Souji and feels a personal connection with him, now. It's not just all about Nanako anymore.

Kisa

When he first heard the name, it was being uttered by one Ken Amada while they were traveling. It was a very quiet conversation Ken was having with the girl - a very quiet one, where Miles could barely hear her replies to the boy (not that he was eavesdropping) - and what Miles took notice of first and foremost was the faint smile that danced on Ken's face whenever he spoke to Kisa.

When he first spoke to her, she was just as he'd thought she would be: quiet, shy, very different from anyone Miles had met before, as people in Johto were often overflowing with confidence. Still she was greatly sincere, and very kind. A good person. He really enjoys spending time with her, and feels a strong sense of ease around her. With Ken there is warmth and joy; with Heather and Kaito there is fun; with Layton there is comfort. With Kisa, there is ease.

He's come to notice, after a certain conversation on the goodness of one another, that Kisa tends to deny it when people call her good, much like Ken does. Miles isn't close enough to her to feel it right to ask, feeling that it would only make her uncomfortable and upset. Not the most confident in his own goodness either - after all, even if his misfired pistol hadn't killed Gregory, he knows that he still harmed someone with that bullet - Miles can only smile at her, offer to spend time with her, and feel the same kind of protectiveness he feels for her that he feels for Ken, felt for Nanako, and for his sister in both Germany and Johto.

He also thinks that the color of her hair and eyes are absolutely beautiful.

Ciel

They aren't best friends. It's hard to say if they're especially close, either, but Miles knows that he likes talking to Ciel, and feels that at the very least, it's safe to say that they are friends.

Of course, neither of them have been completely open with the other. However, this is fine. Ciel doesn't need to talk about the Phantomhive murder, and Miles doesn't have to talk about the DL6 Incident, for them to respect each other and know each other well. Ciel doesn't have to tell Miles that he's going to take revenge; Miles doesn't have to tell Ciel anything about the prosecutor that he will one day become. They have in common their love for tea, the Growlithe brothers, and a mutual liking for the other's mature, intelligent acquaintance they cannot usually find in people their age back where they came from.

Miles would, though, like to get to know Ciel better. Miles has gotten along well with Elizabeth and Sebastian, learning little details about the young earl (such as his dislike of cats, his love of sweets), and it's because of this that he's reminded of just how much better he himself has gotten at this friendship thing. It's...a good feeling, to have friends. Even after everything he knew and loved and believed was ripped away from him, Miles had been able to rebuild the lost castle of his life through the friends he met there. It would be nice if he could share that with Ciel, because Ciel doesn't smile enough - much less than Miles does - and Johto has taught Miles the importance of that small upward tilt of one's lips.