BlackHeart Biohazards

Lucifer Was an Angel As Well (8940 words) by thesavagesabretooth

Additional Tags: Ambiguous Relationships, Dubious Morality, Post-Canon, Inappropriate Behavior, vera has a crush on the man who almost killed her, not ship not not ship but a secret third thing, Extremely toxic

Summary: Miles Edgeworth has been looking out for Vera Misham since her father’s death, but he’s not the one she considers her guardian angel.

The letters had started almost immediately after the devil was locked away from the sunlight, and she keeps them hidden from everyone despite their influence on her.

Meanwhile in jail, Kristoph tries to weave another spell, and regain some measure of control. Will he be able to secure a deal that allows him his freedom, or anything like it? And what will happen if he does.

–

August 20, 2028– 2:05 pm

“I appreciate your assistance with this, Ms. Cykes,” Miles said as he led her through the bowels of the prison. “Your perspective has been invaluable lately.”

Athena walked alongside him, flushing with a grin as she tugged her long ponytail with her hands.

“Aww…Mr. Edgeworth, you know I’m doing my best.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “And you know I have a particular talent with exactly this sort of case.” 

She’d taken to wearing a kimono, like her mother once wore, ever since the Lovelace trial. She lowered her hands to adjust the pale yellow haori with a thoughtful smile.

It was true. The evaluation for rehabilitation of those most would write off as ‘hopeless’ or ‘evil’ was something she had intimate experience in, given her much deepened relationships with the former death row inmate Simon Blackquill and the detective once known as the Phantom.

“But would you mind refreshing me on the situation?” 

“Of course,” Edgeworth nodded as they walked down the sterile hallway. “The subject in question today is Kristoph Gavin. You may be familiar with the name, given your association with the Wright Anything Agency.”

Edgeworth smiled thinly at her, like he thought he was funny for referring to people they were both so entwined with in such a clinical way. From the pulse of amusement she got from him– he did think he was funny.

Athena covered her mouth with a quiet laugh, before she folded her arms with a nod. 

“I am…Kristoph Gavin was Apollo’s former mentor, right? And Mr. Wright’s friend who turned out not so friendly when he killed one ‘Shadi Smith’– and was implicated in the poisoning death of Drew Misham.” 

“So he was,” Edgeworth nodded. “And he was convicted for both killings. Though, admittedly, the details are… ambiguous in some ways. He hasn’t made any specific denials, but– hmm.." 

The chief prosecutor frowned for a moment and shook his head. "In any case, he was a popular man before his conviction, and that hasn’t entirely changed afterward. He’s expressed an interest in being ‘of use’ during his sentence, and people I trust have spoken for him. Though people I trust have spoken against him as well.”

The sideways glance and flutter of anxiety told Athena exactly who had spoken against him. Her own boss– Phoenix Wright. Athena hissed softly through her teeth. 

“Ah…that makes sense. So he’s divisive…but potentially a good candidate for the sort of work release program you’ve been running. And you want me to figure out which way the scales tip?”

Athena always cared about her boss, he was a good man and an impressive force in the courtroom– but they had clashed on multiple cases before, especially over things like this.

“I’m willing to give him a chance. I’ll give him a proper evaluation, Mr. Edgeworth.“

"I know that you will, Athena,” he said, nodding. They paused outside the final guard station before the special cell area, and Edgeworth quietly checked them in with the guard. “I’ll leave you to your work. I’m looking forward to your report.”

Athena gave him one last salute before she took a deep breath. “I promise it’ll be…enlightening, one way or the other.” 

Athena passed beyond the final gate by herself, and into the clinical hallway that led to Kristoph Gavin’s cell. She heard the security camera above orient to follow her.

So much security, constant observation– almost as much as there’d been when she’d visited Robert for the very first time in the ‘secret wing’ of the hospital.

It made her wonder just what sort of man this Kristoph Gavin was under the rumors and the masks.

Near the end of the hallway, the solid wall ended and the bars began, and there was the cell proper. It was barren for a room, but lavish, perhaps, for a prison cell. There was a large bookshelf, and a small antique style table beside which there was a high backed chair. The little bed looked relatively comfortable, and there was a canvas painting hung above it

Sitting in the high backed chair with a book in his lap was the prisoner.

He looked more like a literature teacher– or perhaps, a defense attorney.

“Ms. Cykes, I presume.” His voice was smooth, cheerful and cultured, and he favored her with a smile on his angelic seeming face.

Athena bowed her head in greeting, folding her arms before herself with a bright and cheerful smile as she came to a stop in front of the bars.

“Mr. Kristoph Gavin. That’s right…my name’s Athena Cykes. I’m a defense attorney and licensed court psychologist for the state of California.” 

He snapped his book shut and set it on the table next to him, folding his hands in his lap. “It’s nice to meet you, Athena. I was told that you’d be coming. There’s a chair behind you– if you’d like to sit down.”

Athena looked behind her and tugged the chair a little closer to the bars before she took a seat.

“Thank you! I’m glad my visit’s not a surprise– Mr. Edgeworth tells me you’ve shown some interest in doing some good in the new age of the law.” 

Kristoph smiled wider still, and leaned on his hand. “That’s very true. I was telling my friend Lana Skye about my feelings, and she said she’d talk to Edgeworth. It seems word travels fast.”

“Miss Skye and Edgeworth are old friends. At least that’s what I’ve heard! It wouldn’t take her long to get his ear.” She leaned on her hands. “So…I’ve read all about your cases, you know.” 

“You have me at an advantage then,” he purred. “I’m afraid I don’t know very much about you, Athena.”

Athena flashed a bright smile “I’m fairly new to the legal scene…or at least, probably new to you, Mr. Gavin. I’ve started taking cases after studying psychology abroad…and was involved in the case of the Cosmos center murder and sabotage…and a handful of interpol cases.”

She tapped her nose with a grin. “Just in case you were thinking of underestimating me ‘cause I’m new!”

“I would never,” he purred. “I think it is important to get new blood into the legal system, rather than sticking with the old and entrenched.”

It was hard for her to get a read on his emotions. He was one of the more guarded people that she’d spoken to– outside of the so-called Phantom and his fellow espionage assets. But where their emotions had been pruned and repressed to almost nothing, here, Kristoph’s true emotions were hidden behind a calm and genteel mask. It would take effort to peel it away.

“I’d certainly say.” Athena said brightly as she folded her hands “I work with the Wright Anything Agency, and strive to bring my fresh perspective to everything I do!” 

She watched his reaction carefully to the boss’ name.

“Ah, one of Phoenix’s flock,” Kristoph chuckled. “You said you had been studying abroad. I imagine you met while he was galavanting around Europe, then?”

He cocked his head, a few strands of his hair falling across his face as he watched her.

“Wow! You’re pretty well informed! That’s right, we met while I was finishing up with my psychology degree and offered to hire me once I finished my law studies!” She clapped her hands together. “and it worked out just fine ever since! You and he were once pretty close, right?” 

“Guilty as charged,” he admitted, holding his hands up. “We had dinner together once a week for seven years– except on those times when he was gallivanting off in Europe, and I had to work. Come to think of it, he might have mentioned you once or twice…”

There was a flicker of something dark beyond the clear mask for just a moment, when talking about Phoenix. But whether it was anger, regret, or something else entirely, Athena couldn’t tell.

Athena quietly tugged on her AR glove with a smile. 

“Oh, he did? Only good things I hope!” Curiously, she peered into his eyes “Once a week for seven years is a consistent relationship…and yet..”

She tapped her finger on her chin. “You beat a man to death after one of those dinners, and tried to frame your dinner partner, yeah?” 

Kristoph smiled, and tucked his chin down into his neck as he crossed his arms. The glint of the light on his glasses obscured her view of his clear blue eyes.

“I suppose I may have done something like that. And it’s the rude sort of thing that means you don’t get invited back. Yes, our last supper ended in blood, as these things do sometimes.”

Athena chuckled.

“Dramatic. It’s also the sort of thing that means you don’t exactly have his vote of confidence that you’ll behave yourself if brought out of solitary and into the courtroom.” She leaned on her hand. “But I think there’s more to the story here, Mr. Gavin. I think there’s more to you than the mask you’ve put up. It’s my job to convince the others that what I see makes you a good fit for a second chance.” 

“Well, I’d certainly like to help you with that, Athena,” he said, pushing his glasses up again, and smiling. That much, at least, was completely sincere, she was sure. “If it helps, I promise never to club any future mysterious strangers over the head with wine bottles.”

Athena laughed. 

“I’d like to believe you on that, honestly. It’s not every day a shadow of the past comes up, right?” She folded her fingers “given the ‘mysterious stranger’ was actually Zak Gramarye, a man you’d met years before outside the court.”

“So it turned out to be, yes.” He was still guarded, heavily guarded, but she could see the tension in his posture. The slight stiffness at the edge of his gentle smile. “I imagine you, like others, conjecture that I knew this.”

Athena hit Widget, and the screen illuminated between them. 

“I don’t know if I’d call it conjecture, Mr. Gavin.” She said evenly, “as much as I think it’s a source of inner conflict. And my job is to help ease and soothe those spiritual wounds.” 

“Ease my spiritual wounds?” he cocked his head. “Well, it’s a pretty sentiment, miss Athena. Thank you.”

As the screen illuminated, Athena saw widget’s hidden power– the Mood Matrix, laid out before her. The technology amplified and clarified her own talent for understanding emotions, letting her see and process the feelings of her subject on the screen as data.

Kristoph Gavin’s emotional landscape was laid bare before her. For the moment, there was a genuine, persistent burble of happiness, or pleasure, and an insistent, slow and heavy pulse of anxiety.

“You’re welcome. It’s my job. And honestly, I’ve got a lot of sympathy for people in situations like yours. So I promise I’ll work extra hard!” She pumped her fist before looking up at his gentle smile “But what’s got you so anxious?” 

He cocked his head, and that very same anxiety flickered up. “Anxious? I’m not sure what you mean.”

Athena smiled and tapped near her ear. 

“…I was born a little different than most people, Mr. Gavin. I hear people’s emotions in their voices and unconscious actions…I can’t help it, I’m afraid…and I’m picking up a strong note of anxiety in you. One that reacted to me pointing it out.” 

He tucked his chin into his neck for a moment again, and brushed his fingers through the strands of his hair. “Very perceptive, Athena. I suppose I am anxious. Wouldn’t you be? My fate lies in the balance of this conversation.”

“I’d be terrified.” Athena smiled. “I was terrified when my, and my partner’s lives both hung in the balance of one trial.”

She tapped on the mood matrix “but let’s dig into that. Mr. Gavin. You’re anxious. iI it simply because you want to make a good impression on the court psychologist?” ” 

Kristoph leaned forward, with his elbows on his knees and smiled. “I suppose not just. Does talking about murder make you anxious, Athena? I’ll be happy to admit it makes me a little anxious. The last thing you asked me was about Zak Gramarye.”

“Sometimes…” Athena’s eyes flicked down to the matrix. “but that’s true– the man you claim to have killed as a ‘mysterious stranger’ on a whim. Right?” 

“I’ve maintained that, yes,” he nodded. “I doubt that it reflects well on me.”

He was still smiling, but it was little more than a hollow mask. The pulse of pleasure was gone, and the screen showed only the strong pulse of anxiety, and the faint, slow, steady beat of anger.

Athena highlighted the anger and anxiety “the memory makes you angry, Mr. Gavin.”
She flicked her eyes up to him. “that implies to me that there’s more to it than a whim.” 

Gavin chuckled, and leaned his chin on his hand, watching her from behind his shiny spectacles. “You must be a very useful young woman to have in the office, Athena. Yes. It makes me angry. You’re quite right.”

Athena chuckled softly.

“I’m told that. Maybe you can tell Mr. Wright so I can get off toilet duty more often.” She smiled at her own joke, before she nodded “Let’s focus in on that anger. Was it at the situation? The man? The repercussions?” 

Kristoph thoughtfully rubbed his fingernails with the tips of his fingers, looking down at them. 

“I think the repercussions make me frustrated, more than angry.” He sighed and put his hands together. “You’re here to evaluate if I’m fit company for man or beast. So I won’t make you tease it out of me. I’ll tell you the secret I’ve kept from everyone else, Miss Athena Cykes– and hope that here and now it reflects better on me than the lie does.”

On the mood matrix his anxiety spiked, pinging and fluttering.

Athena leaned a little forward. “Thank you, Mr. Gavin…it’ll help me make a fair judgment…and I’ll confide that I would like you to get your second chance. So please be honest with me.” 

“I overheard the conversation that Phoenix Wright and Zak Gramarye had that night,” he said, his fingers tight together. “That much is known. Do you know, Athena, what they talked about?”

Athena shook her head. “Not very much, no. A little, what I was able to get out of the mason system files…it should be enough to verify that what you tell me’s the truth.” 

He sighed. “Alright. Well, you work with Mr. Wright. So you know that he has a daughter. Almost grown now. An adorable, bright little girl with a big smile. Zak Gramarye’s daughter.”

Athena nodded with a slight widening of her eyes “Trucy. I know her really well…she’s been a great friend to me since I’ve started working for her agency…” 

“I can imagine,” he said, with a little smile. A ping of sadness joined the anger on the screen. “I watched her grow up, you know. Being so close with Phoenix. I saw her often.”

Athena nodded slowly, brushing her hair away from her face to look at him in the eyes again

“That makes sense…he’d been raising her since that first trial, after all. It makes sense you’d see her grow…” She tilted her head. “you came to care about her, I imagine?” 

“I’d be some kind of monster, if I didn’t.” He chuckled, but there was no humor in it. The sadness on the mood matrix pinged instead. “She’s very charming. You know– on the day I spoke to Zak Gramarye with the hopes to represent him he said something to me. He said ‘today I am praying my daughter won’t grow up without her father’.”

“….” Athena’s fingers hovered over the screen. “He said that, huh? But in the end she still did, didn’t she?” 

“She did,” he said. HIs fingers were laced very, very tightly together. He smiled, brightly, almost like an angel, but now the anger was pinging higher, and higher. “And do you know what he said to Phoenix Wright in that fateful conversation, Miss Athena Cykes? He told him that he had always intended to disappear. That abandoning his daughter had always been the plan. And that he would do the same that night, without a word.”

Kristoph’s smiling lips had gone pale, and the mood matrix was pinging one of the highest outputs of anger that she’d seen it register. He put his hands on his knees.

“I consider it a personal moral failing of a dear friend that Mr. Phoenix Wright was going to just let him walk out of that room.”

August 21, 2028– 3:15 pm

Vera wasn’t sure who had come through for her, her manager Mr. Edgeworth, or the devil, Kristoph Gavin. But someone had, clearly. When she got the final paperwork for her entry into the academy, her roommate was listed as Pearl Fey. And soon after that, she’d gotten an excited text from her new roommate, wanting to meet up and discuss their new situation.

She had nearly crumpled the paper hugging it to her chest when she’d first read the words. She was getting better– socially speaking– but it didn’t make dealings with strangers any easier. With a fluttering joy in her chest she’d responded back that she’d meet with Pearl whenever she’d wanted to meet to talk and celebrate. 

And that was how Vera had ended up on the quiet hour long bus ride to the little apartment just on the other side of the famous and secluded Kurain village. Pearl, she knew, had lived most of her young life in the village proper. But apparently once she’d started high school she and her guardian had moved a little bit closer to civilization.

It had seemed like a quiet place to live, just like the quiet home in the woods her father had owned– one that , once upon a time, would have inspired her to paint the vistas and scenes much to her father’s quiet frustration with the time that could have been spent on another forgery.

But now she watched the mountainside town roll past the window with a quiet smile on her face and her notepad firmly folded on her lap. She wondered if Pearl liked the quiet, or if she was dying to get to the Academy set more firmly in the hustle and bustle of LA.

She wondered if her guardian would move there too. 

Pearl had a bright smile across her face when she met Vera at the bus stop, smiling and waving as she got off the bus, though Vera did a double take when she saw her.

The few times that Vera and Pearl had met in person before, the short girl had been ensconced in flowing and traditional robes, her hair tightly wound in a complicated, and elegant–if antiquated– hairstyle. But today, she looked completely different in a pair of black slacks, with a white button up shirt and a pea green vest. Her long, complicated coiffure was gone, her hair cut short in a fluffy style around her ears.

“Vera! You made it!”

“Pearl!” Vera put her hand to her lips with a smile, “you look great! You cut your hair? W-wow!”

Vera had thought she’d be the one to surprise the other with a change in look. She’d tied her blue-black hair in a braid, and finally put on one of her newer outfits– a pale lilac dress and jean jacket combo she’d bought on an outing with Mr. Edgeworth when he was encouraging her to break out of her shell. But her own hadn’t nearly been as drastic as Pearl’s.

Pearl blushed and covered her face with her hands, smiling widely. “Do you like it? I know it’s a big change! I love your dress!!”

“T-thank you.” Vera murmured with a subtle smile “I really do…I love how soft your hair looks, a-and that’s a very handsome vest. Honestly, it’s very ‘future detective’. So I’d say it’s an appropriate change!”

She laughed a little self-consciously and shrugged. “Well, you know what they say, right? Dress for the job you want? And I want detective, not medium!”

Pearl beckoned Vera with her as she headed from the bus stop across the street to a small apartment block.

Vera followed with her notebook clutched tight to her chest, shuffling as fast as her kitten heels could follow. 

“Ye-yeah, much better. Medium doesn’t really sound like t-th at fun of a job,” she murmured quietly “honestly…I’m kind of excited to be a detective too, Pearl.” 

Pearl walked shoulder to shoulder with her as they headed up the walkway to the stairs. “I’m really glad. I know you’re a great artist, Vera, but I bet you’ll make a fantastic detective.”

She paused and opened the door for Vera, giving a teasing little bow.

Vera flushed and gave Pearl a timid grin before bowing back. 

“Thanks Pearl…I…I’m going to do my best. We both are, right? That way we can work together..” She straightened up with a quiet laugh and stepped inside on Pearl’s lead “thank you, d-detective.” 

Pearl grinned and followed her in, and up the stairs. “You’re welcome, detective!”

Up the stairs, she opened another door and called inside. “Iris! Vera’s here!”

Vera peeked inside over Pearl’s shoulder just in time to see a woman exit the bedroom and turn towards them with a smile and a half wave.

Iris Fey was Pearl’s guardian, and had been for some time– longer than Vera had known Pearl, at the very least. From what she understood, she was a half sister, and the subject of one of the most infamous of Mr. Phoenix Wright’s cases. One that she’d studied along with the rest extensively during his disbarment.

California Vs. Iris Fey had been the case to legally prove the existence of ghosts and the legitimacy of spirit mediums in LA law, and its meek and soft spoken defendant had been sent to prison for evidence tampering and accessory to murder.

She’d come out of it a lot different than the photographs Vera once drew reproductions of scenes from. From shrine maiden’s robes to an army surplus uniform shirt and dark, secondhand jeans; from ornate and traditional hair to a short and messy bob–it seemed it wasn’t an uncommon thing for ex-mediums to change out of the robes at the soonest opportunity. The woman had even gotten a floral tattoo that crawled up over one arm and up her neck.

Vera couldn’t blame them one bit.

“Hey, long time, no see.” Iris bowed her head. “Need me to grab something out of the kitchen for you? I know it’s kind of a long bus ride.” 

“I was thinking we might have some tea, but I can put it on if you’re busy,” Pearl chirped as she slipped out of her shoes at the door.

Vera slipped out of her shoes and nudged them into an orderly line next to Pearl’s with a nod “tea actually sounds lovely…”

Iris saluted quietly before she gestured towards the kitchen. “You two settle in. I’ll put on the water, alright? Diego gave me the day off, so it’s not like I got anything to do.” 

“Aww, thanks, Iris! If you’re sure.” Pearl gave her a thumbs up, and headed over to the couch. She patted the cushions and gestured to the other comfortable looking chairs around the room, offering Vera her choice in place to sit. “Let’s get comfy since Iris has the tea covered.”

Vera looked around before she settled quietly on one end of the couch, folding her hands over her pad on her lap. “She’s looking well…is the practice with Mr. Armando going well?” she asked quietly.

“It is!” Pearl nodded, settling in on the opposite side of the couch. “Honestly it’s been really nice. Iris finally got to resign at the cafe. It’s a long drive to the prosecutor’s office though, so we’ve been talking about moving closer to the city… especially with me starting academy too.”

“I’d been wondering on the ride in if she was going to,” Vera brushed a stray lock of hair back over her ear. “between the long drive and the fact that you’ll be living in the barracks with me for a while…I wouldn’t be surprised if you guys moved into LA.. Honestly… I-I imagine, even at the base of them, that the mountain air gets kind of stale after a while.”

She chuckled softly into her hand, and Pearl laughed with her.

“Honestly,” she said, tucking her legs up under her on the couch. “It does get to be a little stale in a way. I’m excited to live in the smoggy city, but at the same time, Mystic Maya just got back from being abroad for two years, so it’ll be a shame to be away from her…”

Pearl looked thoughtful. Maybe a little far away for a moment, and then she shook it off. “What about you, though? How are you feeling about the move to the barracks? That’s gonna be a huge change for you too, right?”

Vera’s new apartment was, admittedly, already a big change from the isolated and mostly forgotten house in the forested outskirts of LA. Even the relatively quiet suburb was far more active than she’d ever been used to…but the barracks were in the heart of LA, and were full of hopefuls just like her and Pearl, all tightly packed in two-person rooms.

“Y-yeah.” she said with a shaky grin. “It’s gonna be kind of a big change. A-admittedly I’m a little nervous? I’ve been getting better…but I’m still not great with people, Pearl.” 

“Yeah, you’re really going into the deep end with me with this, huh?” Pearl mused. “You took some catch up classes right? I’m guessing the class sizes weren’t huge.”

Vera nervously tugged the escaped lock of her curling hair. 

“It was a combination of correspondence classes and a classroom, y-yeah. But it wasn’t that packed. It was mostly me and a couple of older men and women. The academy’s kind of like diving into the ocean, y-yeah? For you too, I’d bet.” 

“Well, not as much as you cause I did go to high school,” she mused, chewing on her thumb. “But it’s still going to be a huge difference. Like, the first time living on my own. You’ve got way more practice than me on that.”

Vera leaned on her hand, and opened her sketchpad with a thoughtful hum. She began sketching out the start of a doodle of Pearl as she nodded.

“I do, because when papa died it wasn’t like I had anyone to move in with,” She put her pencil to her lips. “Meaning I’ve got experience living alone, and you’ve got the experience of going to a r-real school. …if we put our skills together, we’ll almost be a complete trainee!” 

She smiled over at Pearl as she continued to sketch.

“It’s true! Honestly that’s why I’m super glad we lucked out and got put together. We can help each other out with this stuff.”

“Me too.” Vera nodded. “I mean, a-aside from you being a great friend, Pearl. I think having someone who can help us through is going to do wonders…Mr. Edgeworth seemed to think so, at least.”

She blew away the graphite and took a look before turning the picture of Pearl…in her new haircut…towards her with a smile. “I’ve got your back, Pearl Fey. I kn-know I’m a little weak, but I’m not going to give up until you and I get that badge in hand in hand…my guardian angel’s watching over us, a-after all.” 

Pearl put her hand over her mouth, looking at the picture with surprise and delight. “Oh, you drew that so fast! I love it so much!!” She swooned there, fawning over the picture for a moment, before she leaned toward Vera. “Guardian angel, huh?”

“You can k-keep it if you want.” Vera started to pull it out of her notebook. She felt her face heat up, as she realized just what she’d said out loud. “Uhm. Y-yes. Guardian angel. Does the Kurain technique have anything l-like that?” 

Pearl chewed on her thumb. “Like, the spirits of our ancestors, I guess. We have great great grandma Ami watching out for us.”

“T-that makes a lot of sense. Miss Ami watches over you…” Vera began to sketch again as she worked to divert the subject, the lines forming fingers on the page as she glanced at Pearl. “a guardian angel is someone who watches over you and p-protects you…gives you advice, after all. Mine isn’t…related. To me, I mean.” 

“Oh?” Pearl cocked her head, and her new short, fluffy hair covered her eyes briefly before she pushed it away. “Can I ask?”

Vera hesitated in her sketching to look at Pearl with a tenuous smile “It’s not something I tell a lot of people, Pearl…but it’s someone I met a long time ago…It’s…”

“Tea time.” Iris Fey’s quiet voice called from the kitchen. “Sorry to interrupt.” 

Pearl’s eyes widened, and she smiled in apparent understanding of some kind, putting her finger to her lips and nodding. “Thanks, Iris!” she said aloud, hopping up. “I’ll be right back with the tea, Vera. Milk and sugar?”

Vera nodded, watching Pearl with her deer-in-the-headlight eyes. “Y-yes please!” 

Pearl hustled away with a rather cute little trot, disappearing into the kitchen and leaving Vera alone in the unfamiliar room for a moment.

She looked back down to her sketch pad, the rough sketch of an idle hand study laid out on the page. She closed it, tucking the pencil away and leaned back on the couch to think.

Pearl looked great. She’d changed so much since Vera had met her, but she seemed happier all the same– even if she was still just as nervous and excited about the wider world as Vera herself. She’d come so far, and Vera couldn’t help but be impressed.

She liked Pearl, trusted her even, which was one of the reasons she and Trucy were the first people Vera told about her new aspirations. So surely she could trust Pearl with the identity of her guardian angel?

She was trusting her to have her back in the terrifying ‘deep end’ of the Police Academy, after all. 

Pearl bustled back into the room with a pair of mugs on a tray and slid it onto the table by the couch. There was a box of cookies on the tray as well.

“There! Now we can talk about the future and snack at the same time.” She clapped her hands together. “Multitasking!”

Vera smiled and crooked her arm to make a muscle.
“Multitasking! It’ll be an important skill in the academy for sure.” She leaned over to delicately pick up one of the mugs. “Thank you, and…” with difficulty she raised her voice “Thank you for the tea, Miss Iris!”

“No problem, Vera!” Iris called over from inside the kitchen as the sound of the microwave started up. 

“Now,” Pearl said with a sly, rather teasing grin. “I think we were talking about our new living arrangements, right? We should probably talk about what we need to bring.”

They talked about many things. Preparations. How to live together. Pearl never brought up Vera’s guardian angel again– but Vera could tell as they chatted that she hadn’t forgotten.