Archive of Our Own ^beta

Simon’s phone nearly buzzed itself right off the edge of the desk. He caught it at practically the last second, not bothering to look at the caller. The phone had been face down on the desk, since Athena Cykes had taken it upon herself to send him text after text to alert him how annoyed she was that he couldn’t hang out with her that night.

He just remembered why he couldn’t.

He just realized who was calling.

Grimacing and preparing for quite the earful of admonishing and horrendous insults, Simon finally answered the call.

“Hello, Nahyuta.” He moved as quickly as he could without literally running through the office to exit the building.

“I would have liked to do this in person,” he hissed back, “like we agreed on, weeks ago, when you said you would come and get me, you putrid, pitiful excuse of a prosecutor.”

“Is that anyway to speak to your…boyfriend?”

Nahyuta clearly faltered. “Apologies. Are you coming to get me or not, Simon?”

“Yes. I am sorry. The airport is not far from the office – you have at most thirty minutes to wait.”

“And here I was planning on zero minutes of wait time. But I will make myself comfortable here, I suppose. Amara wishes to know when I am safely in your arms, after all.”

“I highly doubt she used that phrasing. And if you are to be calling her, perhaps I should delay leaving to get you. Your mother has a tendency to talk.”

“I can promise you she heard you make that comment, and you will be struck down by the Holy Mother within the next few moments.”

“Finally.”

“I’ll see you shortly.” Nahyuta hung up, and Simon got himself moving. So far, he had not been the best boyfriend. Granted, he had officially been a boyfriend for seven weeks, with six of them spent apart from each other. Yet things began with casual sex as friends with benefits, which had been the perfect relationship for the emotionally stunted and stubborn prosecutors. The attraction, Simon was blessed to find out after their first encounter, was very much mutual, so that was how they carried on for quite some time.

Regrettably, nasty little feelings formed. At least they manifested in the both of them, though Simon would also be sickly proud that he had held off for the longest, since it was Nahyuta finally losing his mind and spilling every little caring, loving feeling he felt for Simon that changed things. It was awkward between them over the next few days. Besides, Nahyuta was going back to Khura’in after the conclusion of his court case, so Simon did not want to force themselves to make a decision they might regret. Until Phoenix goddamn Wright just had to produce incredibly damning evidence against Nahyuta’s case, which forced him in the country for longer.

So some sort of discussion had to be had. It was held, and it ended up…somehow with an end once and for all to the casual, detached physical relationship they shared and the beginning of something considerably deeper. Nahyuta was busy with the case that week, but they were able to take the last day he was in the States to themselves and to be themselves.

So this explained their week of physically being…boyfriends and the remaining six weeks of separation. Simon could not say that he missed Nahyuta in any particular capacity. They called often enough during the weeks to make it seem they weren’t really apart, and it was honestly still incredibly difficult to get used to, if Simon was being entirely honest. He hadn’t had a significant other like this in literally ten years. He was sure he’d figure it out.

Perhaps he could start with actually following through when he said he’d pick up his filthy monk boyfriend from the airport.

Traffic could have been worse, but Simon was there just a few minutes over thirty. He waited by the car, with his arms folded, looking dark and foreboding. He spotted tall, lean, frustratingly gorgeous Nahyuta stride purposefully through the airport doors; the crowds practically parted around his feet to allow him passage.

He stopped merely an inch from Simon, who was desperately trying to fight a smile. He did really like Nahyuta, otherwise he would not have agreed to this ridiculous relationship. So it was nice to see him. Very nice.

“Kind of you to show up finally.”

No longer nice.

“I have apologized before, but would you like another one?”

Nahyuta stretched the last few inches between them to plant a kiss to his lips. “No, I am not terribly upset. Will you get my bag off the dirty ground, in exchange?”

Simon stooped and picked up the heavy luggage, weighed down with his belongings and also with the fact that its interior was partially gold-lined. He dumped it into the trunk and slipped into the driver’s side seat. Nahyuta had already made himself comfortable as the passenger.

It was silent, except for Simon’s excessive swearing at all the other stupid drivers out today. Nahyuta, at least, found it amusing. Though when he had navigated away from the crowded airport, things really were completely silent. He was unsure what to do – what small talk was there to make? They had never really done that. Hell, Simon had only come to get him from the airport once before, and that was only because the cab that Edgeworth had sent had just never shown up. Simon was beyond furious to have been demoted to chauffeur, but Nahyuta made it up to him later that night.

“How were the flights?” he asked tentatively. Getting from the Kingdom of Khura’in to Los Angeles took, on average, two very lengthy flights and one very lengthy layover, as well.

“The first was better than the second. A little girl next to me kept trying to unbraid my hair and rebraid it in pigtails on the second one.”

Simon burst out laughing, slapping the steering wheel as he did so. Nahyuta’s expression had soured, but the littlest smirk played at his lips, too. Nahyuta told Simon a little about the last few weeks in Khura’in on the drive back to the prosecutor’s office. Hilariously, the journey back was considerably quicker than the journey to the airport. Simon parked the car and helped Nahyuta lug his bags into the building.

“As truly good a superior Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth is, this entire ‘report to work immediately after an entire day of traveling’ is rather tiresome. My body cannot begin to comprehend what time zone I am in, and I feel like a plane.”

“The day is well over halfway complete,” Simon answered. “You have little time here, and then you may fall into bed and rest.”

“Shower first. Then rest. Then you.”

“If you insist.” He felt hot.

Nahyuta unfairly dumped his luggage in the corner of Simon’s office. He attempted to greet Taka sweetly and reach out to stroke at her head with two fingers, but she nipped at him, so he recoiled quickly. He moved onto Simon and kissed him a little deeper now that they weren’t in public and found themselves in Simon’s private office. Though it could not last long, as Nahyuta did have to see Edgeworth right away. Awful Nahyuta kept trying to force it to be longer by pressing Simon backwards and pinning him to his desk. He did eventually stop it and wish him a goodbye, finally leaving the office with a wink.

Simon settled himself into his desk chair and pulled forward the work he had abandoned in his haste to go get Nahyuta. He worked quietly, but then noticed that it was almost too quiet, especially for a room with a Taka in it. She had maneuvered over to the corner where Nahyuta’s bags were situated, and she was busy pecking at the leather strap of one of his bags. Simon laughed and could not wait to see Nahyuta’s face when he came upon the sight.

Though…he regrettably remembered that being nice was perhaps something that boyfriends did? And perhaps remembered to pick up boyfriends at airports and not let hawks eat away at their expensive leather bag?

Simon felt strange and full of hatred for some reason as he whistled for Taka to come to him. She looked at him funny for a moment but finally left the bag to perch on his shoulder. With her like this, Nahyuta would not be tempted to get close and coax Simon into leaving early with wandering hands and whispered words and stupidly good arguments. Seeing how much Taka hated Nahyuta for virtually no reason was one of the funniest things in the world to Simon.

They were alone for some time more until Nahyuta barged back in. He was grinning, but it fell when he saw how close Taka was to Simon.  So he instead threw himself onto the velvet sofa in front of the man’s desk, making himself quite comfortable. He held some thick folders in his hands and slowly paged through them, not saying a word.

“I’m very tired,” he announced.

“A shame.”

“Will you let me sleep for some time after this?”

“I am not your warden, Nahyuta.”

He smirked yet turned back to his papers. Simon asked more about the case he’d been assigned. It was against Phoenix Wright, with very mysterious circumstances surrounding the victim’s death. Much of the evidence had already been collected in the days since the murder, though Nahyuta was a thorough prosecutor and had plans to visit the crime scene to investigate personally.

“Edgeworth informed me the officers were having trouble collecting relevant evidence,” Nahyuta grumbled. “If I had not already been planning on seeing the crime scene myself, I would be very cross.”

“Do you not have a strong case?”

“Oh, motive and circumstance are actually quite clear, though the murder weapon has yet to be found.”

“And do you have suspicions of where it might be?”

“Regrettably, the victim was murdered in some type of antique shop. I’ve asked the Chief Prosecutor to grant me access to the scene, as well as double the officers there to speed up the search for it. I will certainly not be searching through each dusty knick-knack in that place.”

“Certainly not,” Simon repeated, smirking. Nahyuta rolled his eyes and returned to scanning the pages in his folder. They worked in companionable silence for quite some time until there was a knock at Simon’s shut door. He called for them to enter.

The Chief Prosecutor looked slightly perturbed as he stepped over the threshold. “I should have looked here for you immediately, Prosecutor Sahdmadhi, instead of traipsing around this office in search.”

“Apologies, sir. I had wished to spend more time with Prosecutor Blackquill before my investigation begins tomorrow. Did you have something to tell me?”

“I spoke with the Chief of Police, and he has apparently had his officers combing the area for the murder weapon, yet I cannot imagine how they have not found it yet.”

“I am of the belief Gumshoe has selective blindness and misses the most obvious of clues.”

“It would explain much. If you have any trouble on the scene, do let me know, as you should have access to all resources and personnel.” Edgeworth nodded his head once and turned to leave, but he turned back a second later to add, “And there is a room available for you at the Gatewater, as usual.” He turned to leave again, but this time Nahyuta stopped him.

“Actually, sir,” he said, “I was not planning on staying there during my time here.”

Simon stopped what he was writing down and set his fountain pen down. What exactly did he mean by that? He couldn’t mean…

“I plan to burden Prosecutor Blackquill with my presence during this particular visit.” He smiled.

Yes, that was what he meant. Simon inhaled and fixed him with a look that he hoped conveyed the strange mix of fury and excitement he was feeling. They had never done that before. Sometimes Nahyuta would stay over for the night, but he always went home in the morning. The last time he was here, he did end up staying at Simon’s for the majority of the trip, especially when they just suddenly had to stop being casual. But they had not discussed this prior to Nahyuta’s announcement, and it caught both Blackquill and Edgeworth off guard.

“A-Ah, I see,” Edgeworth stuttered. “That is quite surprising, I must say. I was, eventually, made aware of your relationship, yet I did not know it was this serious.”

“Oh, not so serious,” Nahyuta explained. “Just serious enough that I am perfectly willing to put up with Blackquill for these few weeks.”

Simon snapped, “You put up with me? What about me needs to be put up with?” You’re the rude, disorganized being who dirties my apartment with a mere look at it.

Nahyuta barked a laugh and resituated himself on the couch. He seemed a fraction of a second away from a nasty remark, but he stopped himself and instead said, “I suppose that it is nothing unbearable. I do look forward to finding out about your excruciatingly annoying habits, however.”

Simon was prepared for the nasty remark, though, and the odd kindness from Nahyuta’s lips had startled him. How was he to respond now? He was a pain in the ass, and those he surrounded himself with actually had a lot to put up with. Looking at Edgeworth, he noticed he seemed just as uncomfortable.

“I see this appears to be working out…very well,” he eventually said. “I do not intend to pry or ask questions, but I do hope that your budding relationship does not interfere with your prosecutorial work.”

“I assure you, Edgeworth-dono, no such thing will happen.”

He nodded once and finally left.

“I believe I understand now why you asked if I would allow you to sleep after this, Nahyuta.”

He laughed again. “I wish I could have immortalized your face in that moment in a photograph. You were quite angry.”

“I do not appreciate these things abruptly brought up in conversation with my superior, no.”

“Yes, I do apologize. I only wished to do something as awful as that once, and anything else awful I might do is purely because I myself am awful, and it is not premeditated.”

Surely that will not be too difficult for you to accomplish, Sad Monk.

He stood and stretched and leaned over Simon’s desk. He reached to kiss him warmly.

“You’re not awful,” Simon mumbled. Was that really true though?

“How kind of you to say.” He gathered his things and made his way to the door before turning and saying, “You’ll remember to find me after work? And not leave me stranded at the office?”

“Perhaps.” Nahyuta rolled his eyes, and he was out the office, shutting the door behind him. His bags were still in the corner. Simon scowled.

Sometime later, Simon Blackquill found that he needed quite a large amount of coffee. He still had a healthy amount of work to accomplish, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Nahyuta would either have just enough energy to drag him out tonight to do something and then collapse immediately to sleep or collapse immediately to sleep first thing and then keep him up all night with boredom and whiny needs to spend time with him. Nahyuta normally forced his trips here to start on the weekend, which ensured him enough time to sleep off the jet lag and having Simon for, if he so wished, 48 whole hours.

He strode through the hallways, hating the fact that he was going out of his way to check if Nahyuta was in his temporary office. No such luck, which really was a good thing, as he should not waste any more time spent with the ridiculous monk.

The good breakroom was located a few floors down. Regrettably, Klavier Gavin had already stolen the only non-squeaky chair in the whole room. They greeted each other kindly – well, Gavin was nice about it, yet Simon merely grunted in acknowledgement of his presence.

“I’ve seen your pretty prosecutor wandering about,” Gavin announced. Godot was eyeing Simon fix his coffee, clearly judging him for putting something in it to make it bearable. It seemed though, after Klavier made that statement, that he was far more interested in Simon’s answer than his poor coffee taste.

“He is not mine, and he is not pretty,” he eventually said, leaning against the counter and taking a sip. It was terrible, but he was not prepared to get into an argument with the nasty man about proper sugar volume.

“He’s…quite pretty.”

Simon sighed. “Yes, he is. Do you have other useless comments to make, or may I leave?”

“You must be disappointed Frau von Karma has not made her triumphant return to the office, nein? This makes things difficult on you.”

“What exactly are you getting at, Gavin-dono?”

Why would he care if Prosecutor von Karma was in the office or not? They did not get along well, to be honest. In fact, it was better she wasn’t there. She terrorized the office with her mere presence, which was Simon’s role on regular days. If anything, Klavier should be the disappointed one – they had a very close relationship and gossiped about their fellow prosecutors auf Deutsch.

“Meaning that Frau von Karma’s absence forces dein lieblings international prosecutor out of his kingdom and back here again.”

“Yes? And?”

Klavier faltered. “We, and you in particular, are stuck with Prosecutor Sahdmadhi while he works this case. What is enjoyable about that thought?”

Ah, that was the issue. Klavier had somehow been the first to find out about their encounters. The second was Apollo, and the third was Athena. Simon had hoped and prayed that she would remain blissfully unaware as this was not a topic he ever wished to discuss with her. Klavier often heard their legendary arguments and fights, but he had also been privy to soft scenes in this slightly-less dingy breakroom late at night when they believed everyone else had gone away.

He often commented on how much he loved their argumentative dynamic. It was very different from how his relationship with Apollo was, and it fascinated Klavier.

He must be attempting to pry a smart, nasty remark from Simon about Nahyuta. Secretly, Simon had to agree. Having Nahyuta here for a scheduled three weeks was daunting. He had no qualms with it earlier, but that was before he found out that Nahyuta had decided on his own he would make himself comfortable at Simon’s apartment. Three solid weeks with Nahyuta…someone he occasionally loathed? This would be very interesting. But still, they were attempting this odd “being boyfriends” business, which meant, apparently, they needed to be nice.

Which was bizarre.

So Simon answered him with, “I do not mind it so much as you might think. Having Nahyuta here for this long has the potential to turn out to be quite enjoyable. I find myself looking forward to it.”

“Was?”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“Well…ja.”

Simon scoffed. “As you have forced the words from me before, I am actually rather fond of him, though it might pain me to admit this.”

He could not resist adding that comment. Being so blatantly nice and kind towards Nahyuta was beginning to throw him off, honestly. It did not matter so much if he admitted his true feelings to himself or to Nahyuta. It was an entirely different idea to confess the feelings aloud to others, especially to Klavier Gavin and oddly-still-sexist Godot.

“Well, I’m glad to hear you are excited about this, Herr Blackquill.” He got up from the good chair and clapped his hand over Simon’s shoulder. He almost managed to avoid the touch, but Klavier was too fast. He pushed him from the room and into the elevator. He mashed the button for their floor, and then he rounded on Simon.

“Now tell me how you really feel about Herr Sahdmadhi.”

“What has you so concerned about it?”

“That was an obvious lie, Herr Samurai!”

“No, it was my genuine belief.”

Klavier faltered. “Ich glaube dich nicht.“

The elevator blessedly opened its doors to let Simon escape.

“I am truly astonished that you have not grasped the fact that I do not know German, Gavin-dono. Why do you insist on speaking to me in your ridiculous language?”

“I do not believe you,” he corrected. “You have yet to be nice to Nahyuta Sahdmadhi once in your life, Simon Blackquill.”

“What a nasty comment to make.”

“It is true! I should find your prosecutor to confirm.”

“He is not mine-” Klavier had already stopped in his tracks and turned around to go and find Nahyuta. Simon rolled his eyes and decided not to participate in that tomfoolery. He chose instead to return to his office. Texts from Athena awaited him. Great.

[FROM: Athena, 3:17 PM] I can’t believe you won’t hang out with me

[FROM: Simon, 3:29 PM] I cannot believe you have yet to drop this argument

A few minutes passed by, and then his phone buzzed. Sighing heavily, he answered it.

“Nahyuta’s probably going to fall asleep at like eight tonight! We can hang out after that!” Athena Cykes demanded. On these days, it was challenging to cherish his best friend as he usually did.

“No, you are too loud to come over after he’s passed out, and I refuse to just leave him there asleep. Why are you so dead set on this, Athena?”

“I’m so bored on Friday nights, and you’re my best friend! And Apollo told me a while ago he might come with Nahyuta this time, so I’m disappointed he didn’t make it. I miss him, still.”

Curse his weak heartedness when it came to Athena. Simon could barely deny his pseudo niece/sister/daughter anything, and now that one of her best friends had gone off to Khura’in permanently, she had forced her friendship and company on Simon far more frequently than she had done in the past. Which was normally fine, as he adored her. Except in these cases, when she sounded pitiful and was whining about her best friend actually having some semblance of a life.

“What about Juniper?”

“She’s busy.”

“And why are you not bothering her day in and day out?”

“She’ll use her Judge Voice on me,” Athena responded quietly. “And you let me tear you down until you finally give in. Give me Nahyuta’s phone number so-”

“No.”

“So I can ask him if he wants to do anything, since you’re clearly not considering him in this evening’s plans.”

“We already have…plans.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Ah…”

“Exactly, you guys are boring, and I’m fairly certain that Nahyuta can stay awake through one of Trucy’s magic shows!”

The last time he’d let himself be dragged to one of those, Trucy had forced him to be the volunteer. Now that was another teenage girl he could not deny much of anything, both from her darling personality and relation to his boss. Surely, Edgeworth would not care, but Simon was still paranoid.

He did not enjoy being the trick’s volunteer, and Taka would not go near him for the strange dove smell on his surcoat until he had it cleaned.

He noted the time and swore under his breath. “Athena, allow me to get through the remainder of this work day before you continue to pester me with this non-issue. I will speak with Nahyuta when I next see him. Is this acceptable to you?”

“Just talk to him now.”

“You do realize the prosecutor’s office actually accomplishes their work in their work day, yes?”

“Hey! We do our work, too! But Trucy is practicing, and it’s Friday, so Mr. Wright said we could stop working on our case, because it’s not like your detectives would be helpful.”

“They are not our detectives – you may take your grievances with Gumshoe.”

“I can’t yell at that guy! You on the other hand…” She broke off into a snicker, growing louder when he scoffed into the phone. “But seriously, talk to Nahyuta about it! I haven’t seen him since he bruised Mr. Wright’s arm in court. And I, unlike you, actually like him.”

Simon hoped she could hear his eye roll.

They spoke for a few more minutes, but Simon really did need to go. There was actual work to be done. Some weekends he would come into the office when it was peaceful and quiet to complete some work, but he knew that would not be happening this weekend with Nahyuta here.

Speak of the ethereal devil, Nahyuta appeared in his office door a few hours later. “I thought I might find you to avoid being forgotten about.”

“When will you let that go?”

“I feel I deserve to laugh about it for at least another week, Simon, at minimum. It only just happened this afternoon, after all.”

He grumbled some choice words under his breath as he stood and gathered together his papers to make things slightly more organized for the return to work on Monday. If Nahyuta noticed the barely there talon marks on his bags when they left, he did not mention it. Taka complained loudly when she saw Nahyuta with them. The monk did not go through his usual whining about Taka still disliking him. He had told Simon that he thought by now that Taka could at least tolerate him, but the bird seemed determined to never warm up to Nahyuta. Simon was secretly proud of her unwavering hatred; he hoped it would never end.

Simon was going to make them walk back home tonight, despite having a perfectly drivable car here, but he noticed just how tired the sad monk looked, so he had mercy on him. His fondness for him won out against his hatred of driving in rush hour traffic in LA as he navigated back to his apartment.

True to his word, when they got home, Nahyuta dumped his belongings in the bedroom and immediately shut himself in the bathroom. The shower water turned on full blast. He better not wash his hair and use all of the shampoo in there.

Taka was clearly growing impatient for her dinner, so Simon gathered together some dead mice from his stock for her. Sometimes they would play “throw the mice in the air and see if Taka can catch it with her beak,” which everyone, save for Nahyuta, enjoyed. Simon fed her one mouse and waited for the man to emerge from the shower.

The door opened minutes later, and Nahyuta stopped dead in his tracks, eyes narrowing as he looked between the two.

“Give me strength, Holy Mother,” he deadpanned, grimacing when Simon’s mouth broke into a wide grin, and he tossed the mouse. Taka swooped to catch it mid-air. The hawk managed to swallow it whole, and Nahyuta grimaced.

“Hungry?” Simon asked, offering the last mouse.

“Don’t be disgusting,” he snapped.

“You need protein, Sad Monk.”

Nahyuta rolled his eyes yet huffed a laugh. “I would rather eat my hair than eat that, Panda. Besides, I’m more tired than anything, right now. Will you wake me if I’m not up in two hours?”

Simon nodded and threw the last mouse. Nahyuta ignored his loud laughter and shut himself in the bedroom, this time.

While Nahyuta had the power to survive on little sleep for hours at a time, he was also gravely aware of how grouchy he got if he was not able to sleep in what few opportunities he was given.

So Simon was near dead silent as he settled on the sofa with a volume of manga. Occasionally Taka would screech for attention, so he stroked down her feathers to placate her.

Though he was given the two hour limit, Nahyuta dragged himself from the bedroom a little over an hour later. Hopefully the hour of sleep would be able to last him for the rest of the evening. Simon almost voiced the thought to him, but Nahyuta was in his lap and kissing up his neck before he got the words out. His pleasantly heavy, warm weight somehow always relaxed Simon.

Nahyuta pulled away and ran his hands through Simon’s bangs. “Just as I said: first shower, then rest, then you.” He captured his lips in an incredibly deep kiss just as he slotted their hips together perfectly.

“You should not have bothered to leave the bedroom,” Simon growled into his ear, nipping at the lobe, which was missing its typical golden hoop. Nahyuta laughed breathily. He tilted his head backwards to expose his dark, unblemished neck for Simon, who happily took the bait. They stayed like this for quite a while, letting hands wander wherever they wished with no shame. Simon could sense Nahyuta’s hands traveling lower and lower.

His phone vibrated in his trouser pocket. Nahyuta jumped at the sensation, pulling off of one of Simon’s legs and choosing to just straddle the one.

Simon grimaced as he answered the phone. He was not doing particularly well about holding up promises to those he cared about today.

“Hello, Athena,” he ground out, hoping that Nahyuta would behave for once and get off of his thigh. Silly Simon – what was he thinking?

“Did you talk to Nahyuta?” she asked impatiently. His filthy monk boyfriend returned to straddling both of Simon’s legs and kissing at his neck. Unacceptable. Simon used his free hand to push his face away roughly.

“No, but he is right next to me.”

“More accurately, I am on top of you,” he murmured against the hand that was forcing him away. Simon hoped to god that his dear, darling, very young friend had not heard that comment.

It seemed she did not, as she demanded, “Well, ask him then!”

“What are you asking me?” His breath was hot against Simon’s ear.

“Miss Trucy Wright has a magic show tonight,” he explained, “and Athena wishes us both to accompany her.”

Nahyuta pulled away sharply. “Athena wants this? It is her idea?”

“She has been insistent all day.”

“Give me the phone.” Nahyuta held out his hand expectantly. Simon explained he was giving Nahyuta the mobile; he’d barely gotten the words out when Nahyuta wrenched the phone from his grasp. Simon assumed Nahyuta might finally get off of him at this point, but he remained firmly in place. He listened to the one side of the conversation he could hear and grew bored soon. Until he felt Nahyuta’s hands on his chest and working on his shirt buttons. He cradled the phone between his ear and shoulder, expertly conversing with Athena and undressing Simon at the same time.

Simon had no need to hear the other side of the conversation, as it seemed Nahyuta had already agreed to go for the both of them. The monk said goodbye to Simon’s best friend and tossed the phone behind him, returning to kiss Simon hard.

“What exactly is happening?” he asked.

“You could not discern from listening to me?”

“I understand I am to be dragged to a magic show this evening and surely subjected to many horrors by arguably one of the sweetest girls on this planet. Which begs the question as to why you are undressing me.”

“We still have some time before we must leave, and I would hate to waste it.”

So they didn’t.

Miraculously they made it to the venue before Athena. Simon scanned the area to keep an eye out for her short little self, yet he was still caught unaware until it was too late. She tugged on his hair to get him to turn around, and then she immediately locked him in a hug. Simon grunted with the force of it, but he could barely react properly before Athena was off of him and doing the same thing to Nahyuta. He seemed to mind the attack less, as he was actually smiling. Simon frowned – it was too damn endearing.

“How are you?” she asked, mainly to Nahyuta. He answered that he was very tired but beyond excited to be at the magic show for the evening. Simon knew he wasn’t a particular fan of magic shows, even if someone as darling as Trucy was performing. Why was he saying this?

Athena agreed enthusiastically and said, “I can’t wait to see her! She’s been working on this one trick for months.” She looked up at Simon mischievously. “You know, Simon, it needs a volunteer. Want to try again to be Trucy’s assistant?”

“No.”

In between Athena’s laughter, Nahyuta asked what happened last time. Athena explained the mishap with the doves hating Simon and flying away from him, as well as the disaster that was his surcoat getting caught in Trucy’s props. Nahyuta joined her in laughing, and Simon just had to stand there and take it for a while. Until Trucy Wright herself appeared next to them.

“Hi, Blackquill!” she greeted happily. No one missed the vaguely uncomfortable smile she sent Nahyuta’s way. The girl could forgive almost anything and anyone, except the person who tried to send her to a prison/hell hybrid that one time.

“Do you feel prepared for the performance, Trucy?” Simon asked. Nahyuta inched closer to him and rested his hand between his shoulder blades.

“Of course!” She bounced on her heels. “I’ve been practicing all day for it, but I heard Athena tell you that earlier. I can’t believe you got Prosecutor Sahdmadhi to come!”

Nahyuta, who had been looking out at the crowd waiting to go to their seats, snapped his head back to the conversation at hand after hearing his name. “I happily agreed to it, Miss Wright. I would not want to miss the opportunity to see your performance.”

Her sweet smile suddenly curled into something devious. “That’s good, Prosecutor Sahdmadhi. Did I hear Athena also tell you I need a super special volunteer for tonight?”

“Ah, well she didn’t grace it with such a title,” Nahyuta answered, growing vaguely uncomfortable. “We were laughing, before you arrived, at poor Simon’s experience with being your assistant. He has no plans to take on that role again.”

“What about you?” she shot back.

Nahyuta froze momentarily, yet he recovered quickly, settling into his emotionless, regal personality when he was having a conversation he did not wish to have. “I have no plans to, either – I apologize.”

“That’s a shame. I thought we could really bond up there on stage!” She frowned a very deep, pitiful, saddening frown. Simon was very pleased that just the few conversations he had with her about manipulation had already turned her into this demon. From Nahyuta’s reactions to Athena’s own desire to spend time with him, he seemed almost desperate to befriend the various teenage girls in Simon’s life.

Nahyuta did not fall for it, probably because he was used to these types of tricks from Simon.

“I will happily be your tortured volunteer during practice,” he offered. “Otherwise, I am afraid you will need to look outside this group for your guinea pig tonight.”

“I’ll hold you to that promise, Prosecutor Sahdmadhi! My Daddy was talking about his case he has against you, so when he wins it, you can come over to the office to celebrate and practice with me.”

His lip curled. “I would love nothing more.”

“Me too!” She was still smirking, until it broke, and the smile became more genuine. “Blackquill, what’s Prosecutor Sahdmadhi like the rest of the time?”

Simon felt all eyes on him in a second. Athena seemed to be gazing at him the most intensely, as she was always desperate to glean whatever information she could from their relationship.

I find myself wondering how I’ve ended up stuck with him as I have, Simon almost answered. He is frustrating and ridiculous, yet I cannot recall the last time I felt this joyful.

That was…fairly dramatic but fairly truthful anyway.

“He’s…rather lovely to be with,” was what he said out loud.

Everyone seemed to be wearing the same expression: pure shock and terror. Even Nahyuta looked at him like he was crazy.

“Wow, really?” Trucy asked.

“Overall, yes.” What had he said to cause such a reaction? At least he didn’t admit his first few thoughts.

“And what about Simon?” Athena probed.

“He is much the same. Very nice,” Nahyuta answered after a second of contemplation. He offered a little grin. Simon wondered briefly if Athena was to experience an aneurysm after hearing such a statement. He further wondered if she would insist on asking more questions after the show. There was hope she would forget about it, or that Nahyuta might fall asleep in the middle of the performance, forcing them out of there rapidly.

But for now, she just burst out laughing. “Yeah, okay,” she said sarcastically. “I could maybe believe that Nahyuta is nice, but Simon? I’ll believe it when Mr. Wright channels a spirit.”

Simon’s fists balled. “Don’t be a brat, Athena.”

“What! I’m just saying that it sounds absurd. And honestly, Simon, it’s your fault you won’t ever tell me any good details about you and Nahyuta.”

“Ah, yes, god forbid I keep some semblance of a private life from you.”

She eyed Nahyuta and said, “He’s mad because I told him stories about Juniper.”

Nahyuta’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. Thankfully, the conversation could not progress further, as Trucy insisted they find seats. Athena tore off, but she checked over her shoulder to see if they were still following her. She plopped down next to her boss, which meant that Nahyuta ended up between her and Simon.

Taking the moments that she was distracted with Mr. Wright, Nahyuta whispered into Simon’s ear, “I foolishly believed I could handle myself around teenagers, as Rayfa is nearly as terrible as they come.”

“Athena is an entirely different mess altogether, though Trucy is not so bad. You must simply earn her good graces back. ”

“Yes, but at what cost?” He crossed his legs to bump his foot against Simon’s. “You try to send a teenage girl to prison once…”

Simon perhaps laughed a little too loudly for such a crowded venue. He felt eyes on them, but the awkwardness practically melted away when he felt Nahyuta entwine their hands together.

“Do you truly mean what you said just earlier?”

The right words were slowly forming, yet Simon was not allowed to answer him, as Athena had suddenly claimed Nahyuta’s attention.

Simon believed he did. It was overall lovely to be with Nahyuta, save for the times when he was terrible. That was apparently how relationships worked, was it not? Still, it unnerved Simon to have admitted something like that. It had taken quite some time to become comfortable with the idea of even being in a relationship, because let us face it, they were dating far before they acknowledged it. Knowing that Nahyuta felt the same way as Simon did was a relief, yes, but many things were still lost on him.

He certainly did…feel very strongly towards Nahyuta, so it was so very strange that it was near impossible to get the words out to express how he felt, not only publicly but privately, as well. In private was easier, but speaking to others about it was bizarrely difficult.

He wondered if Nahyuta experienced the same issues. When Athena had asked him, though, he seemed very prepared and almost happy to be answering the question with such an announcement.

And what was Athena going on about Simon not being nice? He was plenty kind to those who deserved it. Did she not just listen to his conversation with dear Trucy Wright, who was no doubt the most adorable girl on this earth? He was kind to Athena, as well, do not forget that. Never mind this whole sacrificing business, but Simon always took time to be with her and talk with her and support her.

No matter, in the end. He would not dwell on it, as the inner workings of his relationship with Nahyuta were of no one’s concern but their own. 

The show began with Trucy materializing out of thin air. Nahyuta seemed intrigued for the majority of the show, though he became quite distracted with a loose thread on his clothing.  

Their weekend together was so strangely domestic and calming. For forty-eight hours, they were two unguarded people with barely a care in the world. It was nice. It was unexpected, but it was nice.

Nahyuta left early on Monday to arrive at the crime scene, and he promised not to give the Wright Anything Agency too much of a hard time. It was a terribly busy day for both of them, so they did not see much of each other. And even when they made the triumphant return home, Nahyuta asked if Simon would mind if he called Apollo for some time. Snarky Simon almost answered him by asking if he feared the kingdom had burned down yet.

He stopped himself, though, as Nahyuta had a slight paranoia of the kingdom falling into a wreck without him there, as well as the general combined fear of fire and his mother. So…perhaps it was best if he held his tongue.

When Nahyuta emerged from the bedroom and plugged his phone in to charge, Simon asked him how his younger brother was.

“Surviving without me. He told me Datz cut himself with his barbaric blade, so he has been nursing the child back to health. Rayfa is happy without me.”

“Very harsh of her to say.” He let Nahyuta settle close to him. “If this has all happened within the first few days of your absence, I do wonder what else Justice-dono must report on. A yak uprising? The butterflies swarm the palace in search of you? Something actually terrible?”

These comments earned him a sharp swipe at his arm. “Do not speak of such things, you mon-” He stopped abruptly, shutting his mouth.

“Yes, Sad Monk? What were you saying?”

“Nothing.” He waved his hand to apparently dissipate the topic into thin air.

“What is it you do not wish to share?”

“I believe I said it was nothing.” His voice was sharp. “Let it go.”

Simon studied him a moment. He opened his mouth to speak again, yet Nahyuta cut him off with a firm, almost commanding hiss of the Khura’inese pet name he’d chosen for Simon. The name had started off teasing, but Nahyuta had been using it more seriously recently. This particular use did not sound very endearing, however.

Simon contemplated egging him on further to draw out whatever insult he was about to hurl at Simon, yet he did eventually decide to drop it. Nahyuta murmured that endearing little pet name for him again (this time in a much kinder tone), and god, he hated how much he loved being called that.

He felt very well going into the next day, and he had even gotten over how ridiculous Athena had been over the weekend. They met for lunch every few days, and she had been insisting on seeing him again after the weekend, for some reason. Nahyuta was stuck in trial all day up against Phoenix Wright, and it seemed the Chief Prosecutor had also left the office to watch from the gallery.

The day was windy, which meant very bad things for two people like them with waves and waves of hair, so they chose to eat inside. This also meant that Simon did not want to allow Taka out, so she hopped around his office, angry at not getting scraps from him. Athena kept trying to sneak her little bites, but Simon managed to catch it most times.

“At least have the decency to use chop sticks,” he sighed.

She made a very dramatic show of shoving her take out onto her plastic fork. Little bits of food fell on the floor.

“If I get any sort of bug infestation thanks to your immature behavior, I will ensure a very swift punishment.”

“Yeah, I’ll buy you some ant traps – it’ll be fine. Did you have a good weekend?” The topic change was very abrupt, and he was instantly suspicious.

“It was very uneventful. What information are you searching for?”

“I’m not looking for anything! Can’t two best friends just talk?” She chewed and swallowed another bite before quietly saying, “But actually, I do have something else to ask.”

“I could tell even without your infuriating hearing.”

“Are…you and Nahyuta all right?”

The question caught him spectacularly off guard. “What has led you to ask this?”

She set her food down to the side and started playing at her earring. “Well, Apollo called me this morning. He complained to me that Nahyuta told him a lot about you that he…never wanted to know about. Polly thought about calling you to talk about it and to tell you to get Nahyuta off his back about that stuff, but he thought it would be better coming from me.”

“This is, in fact, substantially worse that it is coming from you.” He felt his lip curling, with his fists balling up. The brief, beautiful image of crushing Nahyuta’s windpipe with that fist flitted through his mind.

“It wasn’t all gross or anything! Apollo just feels weird, especially because Nahyuta kept asking him what he and Klavier are like as a couple. He doesn’t get if he’s trying to emulate their relationship or what, but it won’t work, because you two have zero in common with Klavier and Apollo.”

He resented that comment, but he would let it go for the time being. “And you are concerned for the wellbeing of my relationship with that stuffy, moro – with Nahyuta.”

She was trying not smile. “Yeah, because I’m your friend! And it seems like you guys aren’t meshing very well together.” She was suddenly tapping at Widget.

“Put that back!” he commanded.

She sheepishly lowered her hand. “Fine, we’ll do this the old fashioned way. So…are things not great between you two?”

“No, they are excellent.”

“I just love when you try to lie to me, Simon.”

He practically growled. “Fine, to be truthful, I have not been this disgustingly happy in quite some time. However, it is difficult to gauge proper behavior with him, so early in the stages of an ‘official’ relationship. If things appear bizarre to you, an outsider, then perhaps you are merely not grasping the intricacies of them. Do you understand?”

“Just say you have no idea what you are doing and let me help. I don’t think there are any ‘intricacies’ to grasp, since it’s just really obvious you feel incredibly uncomfortable around him right now.”

“That is entirely false,” he snapped. “I do not appreciate or enjoy these baseless claims you are making against me.”

“They’re not against you, Simon! Maybe you should just consider what is making you so uncomfortable, okay? Because it’s so obvious – even Trucy, who doesn’t know either of you well, picked up on it.”

“Why was I not first approached with this concern?” Simon growled, mostly to himself.

“Maybe Nahyuta feels just as uncomfortable as you. I picked up on some discord in his heart the other day, so maybe you can have a lengthy talk about that.”

“I would rather not.” He gathered another bite onto his chopsticks.

She scoffed and put her boots up on his desk. “Fine, be uncomfortable and awkward in your dumb relationship with him.” Widget flashed red. But she sighed and continued, “I know I gave you a hard time the other night, but it really was very weird to see you two acting so nice? You bicker with each other – it reminds me of the Boss and the Big Boss.”

“The marriage between our respective superiors is its own very interesting dynamic, and you will not…disrespect them with comparisons such as that.”

She burst out laughing. “That’s the silliest thing you’ve ever said.”

Her phone buzzed with a text, and she read it aloud, looking grim, “Nahyuta accidentally pelted Trucy instead of the Boss with his rosary.”

Simon almost answered, but his own phone rattled noisily in its drawer. Nahyuta was calling him. He was so distracted with the phone that Taka darted forward to nip a bite to eat.

“Trucy is going to murder me in my sleep,” Nahyuta whispered when he finally answered. “I’ve honestly never seen someone so small so upset with me. My days are numbered.”

“Did you seriously injure the girl?”

“She is fine, of course. She moved out of the way, so it did not make contact. I was obviously aiming for her detestable father, yet he also dodged my rosary.”

“The Wrights are tricky. Surely, at least at this point, Trucy cannot feel any worse about you than she currently does.”

“She’s going to kill me in a botched magic trick like I accused her of killing that poor puppet. When you find me run through with a sword, it actually will be Trucy Wright this time. It truly has been a lovely time with you, Simon, yet I suppose my time has come to enter the Twilight Realm.”

“You are being dramatic, Sad Monk. Trucy will not kill you.”

Athena, from across the way, sucked in a breath. “She probably could, if she wanted.”

“Silence.”

“What?” Nahyuta asked.

“Apologies, I was speaking with Athena. She refuses to leave me be.”

“Ah, well…if you are with her, I will leave you be. Perhaps I will live to see another day and not perish at Trucy’s tiny hands.” Nahyuta hung up before Simon had a chance to stop him. How infuriating! Simon was more than prepared to offer support and calming words for once in his life, but that stupid, silly, dramatic monk hadn’t even given him the chance.

Athena must have noticed his sour expression, as she thanked him for lunch by leaving him her own fortune cookie and practically ran from the room.

Simon was sour over many things, the main item being that he had been struggling with the proper relationship balance for what felt like an eternity, and Nahyuta did not have the decency to bring up this own concerns to Simon himself? Ignore the fact that Simon had done the exact same thing – he was feeling strange knowing that someone else was privy to their unexpected complications.

He would bring this issue up to Nahyuta as soon as possible.

He beat the monk home, as the trial lasted incredibly long today, and Nahyuta still had work to accomplish at the office before he could return back to Simon’s apartment. And even when he did, he said little after slamming the door shut with too great of a force. He did, however, kiss Simon as a greeting and immediately duck into the shower.

When he emerged, Nahyuta settled up against Simon, comfortably warm and soft from the shower he’d just taken. It really must have been a draining day on Nahyuta, as the man was coiling his legs all around Simon’s own – normally he never got this intense. His head rested comfortably in the crook of Simon’s neck, and it was so peaceful.

The monk’s phone pinged with a text. He opened it and immediately shoved the device in Simon’s face. He saw Apollo’s sweet cat sitting on something silky and green, licking at her leg.

“Apollo apologizes for the awkward position, but he found this too hilarious to not send me a picture. He says this is exactly my punishment for leaving a sweater at his office, so I suppose I deserve her cat hair clinging to me for some time, then.” He zoomed in on the photo and sighed, “I actually do adore cats and wish I had one of my own.”

Simon scoffed.

“What is it?”

“I would argue birds are superior pets.”

“You would argue birds are superior politicians, Simon. Your opinion is irrelevant.”

“Excuse me?”

Nahyuta extracted himself from a now angered Simon. What about his opinion did not matter?

“You are so firmly stuck in your beliefs that there is no point in hearing your opinion, since you would not even consider others.”

“I am stuck in my beliefs? Says the man who prays for useless guidance from a long dead woman any time he is barely inconvenienced.”

Nahyuta practically threw himself from the sofa. His rosary was in his hands suddenly; Simon did not think he was even wearing it. The beads were already stretching, and he was beyond furious. Simon shouldn’t have said that, oh god, he’d gone past the point of return without even realizing it.

“I at least have some sort of spiritual guidance, instead of righteous self-sacrificial, delusional beliefs!”

Simon stood, now, fingers itching to slice a few lilac strands from his stupid head. “You really must bring that up?”

The monk suddenly relaxed his beads and instead clutched them close to his chest. “I will not fight with you over…whatever it is we are leading up to. It sounds like it will be a colossal waste of time.”

“No!” Simon snapped. “You will not escape having said something so awful by claiming such a flimsy excuse.”

Nahyuta faltered. “I am sorry,” he eventually murmured. “I let this escalate too quickly. Birds are perfectly fine pets, even though I hold no great fondness for them. It was a dreadful day, Simon, which explains my terrible behavior yet does not excuse it.” He sighed.

“You are very correct.” He whistled for Taka to join him on his shoulder, and he left Nahyuta to wander into his tiny kitchen. He sensed Nahyuta following him, even though the monk barely made any noise. “Are you hungry?”

It was silent, until Nahyuta said quietly, “I really am very sorry.”

“Yes, I understand you are. You are forgiven.”

He approached Simon and touched his inked palm to Simon’s face. “I…do really care for you, Simon. You’re very good to me, and I understand this has been an adjusting period for us both, but I believe we will improve and settle in nicely to this relationship.”

Simon swallowed. “No, I can’t.”

Nahyuta’s hand fell limply. “You…can’t?”

“I cannot do this.”

The man in front of him suddenly looked considerably smaller and positively terrified. The gorgeous green eyes were shimmering with something that Simon hoped were not tears.

He should probably rephrase that statement.

“Let me explain more clearly: this adjusting period, as you called it, has proved to me that I cannot make the changes you expect of me. I am sorry.”

Nahyuta remained silent.

“You should know I have absolutely never been happier than with you, yet-”

“Why end this, then?” Nahyuta finally spoke.

See, this was merely another obvious reason that Simon made an atrocious significant other: his communication was poor, and he truly had zero idea what he was doing.

“Allow me to be explicit in my words, Nahyuta. This very official ‘boyfriend’ title I have taken does not suit me. I cannot get behind the idea of being some doting, kind, compassionate partner for you or anyone, to be truthful.”

The words were leaving his mouth before he really realized what was going on. Hopefully Nahyuta would understand, and things could potentially end at least amicably between them.

“Simon, are you standing there informing me that you simply are incapable of being nice to me?”

“It sounds cruel when put in those words. And dramatic.”

“But that is your basic meaning?”

“…Yes.”

Taka grew annoyed with just standing here and no food being presented, so she flew from Simon’s shoulder to land somewhere on the dirty kitchen table. She was mostly ignored for the conversation at hand.

“So you wish to see me still? Yet be rude and insensitive?”

“That is not my intention. You know I am fully capable of acting kindly, as you have firsthand experience. I merely feel that…affectionate aggression suits myself and us far better than sickly sweet love confessions.” Nahyuta took a moment to process the thought, so Simon continued to say, “I spoke with Athena just today, and she claims to have detected noticeable discomfort between us and individually. I believe our false, overly kind personas were causing some of the issue. She also informed me of what you and your brother spoke about, as Justice-dono called to complain.”

Nahyuta reacted instantly. “I swore him to secrecy,” he snarled.

“Athena has a very dastardly way of pulling information from people.”

“So I have regrettably noticed.” He sighed once more. “But you do not wish to break things off?”

“No, of course not, Sad Monk.”

“Oh, well forgive me for fearing that was what ‘I cannot do this’ meant!” he suddenly said, raising his voice. “I cannot fathom what else such a statement could mean, especially coming from someone so daft and uncouth as you!”

Simon recoiled. He almost spat back a response, yet he caught a glimpse of Nahyuta’s little smile.

“You are right. That feels much more natural,” the monk admitted.

“Of course I am right. Now, are you hungry?”

“Not if you’ll be making some tasteless, British mush that you attempt to pass off as food.”

“As if the volcanically spicy messes you call Khura’inese food is at all better,” he snapped. Nahyuta broke out into what was practically a fit of giggles. The sound was so alarmingly adorable that Simon reacted in a second by pulling him into a tight embrace.

He felt relieved. Even if Nahyuta immediately started complaining about how Simon’s hair was suffocating him.