If I may add my HOT TAKE...I can't condone people just charging into non-shipping spaces and getting their greasy little hands all over everything, that's just like. Real obnoxious. But I think with a ship like EdgeWright that is clearly Never Going To Happen, shippers like to take what they can get, even if it's just two characters next to each other. You might want to stand close to the people you're romantically interested in too, after all I am reliably informed that that's a thing! Ya know there will never canonically be anything more explicit, so they have to try and ferret out the undertones. And that comes off in a really pushy manner.
Like. Pretty much any interaction can be taken as romantic if you have your shipping goggles on and you're looking for it. You see it for almost every ship out there.
I like the ship because of the mutual respect and trust Pheonix and Edgeworh have for each other! I mean, yeah, it's totally meant in a friendship manner, but that's a perfect basis for a romantic relationship too! They clearly care a lot about each other, somehow or another, I just like to see it in a romantic way. Plus the character development from enemies to friends (To boyfriends) is like. Love that stuff.
The "out of context" lines are just icing on the cake lmao I don't see a need to use them as 'evidence.'