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Athena Cykes woke up with a warm arm around her body, soft hair tickling her face, and soreness in places she didn’t want to think too much about. After blinking the drowsy blur out of her eyes, she looked at the contented face lying next to hers. She could hear a peaceful heartbeat coming from the imposing figure beside her. As he slept soundly in his post-coital bliss, his intimidating face looked almost angelic. Athena’s brain took a few seconds to wake up along with the rest of her body. When it finally did, Widget spoke up from its place on her bare chest.
“Shit.”
She was lying next to Simon Blackquill. Reluctantly, she crawled out of bed.
While she searched the room for her clothes, Athena recalled the events of the previous night. The prosecutors’ office was celebrating some sort of anniversary, and Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth had been swayed to hold a small office get-together for his employees and their friends. Naturally, the Wright Anything Agency was invited. They had all had a wonderful time socializing at the typical office party, which had ended promptly at 10:00 P.M. and served no alcohol whatsoever.
No, Athena reflected, the real damage was done at the Gatewater Hotel. Prosecutor Gavin seemed to miss his old rockstar lifestyle, as he insisted on booking the hotel for an afterparty that made the real party look like a funeral. That wild night would explain how Athena wound up sharing a bed with her childhood friend and rival prosecutor. Not that she was complaining. Judging by Simon’s exhausted and peaceful smile, as well as her own happy memories, they had both had a pretty good night.
Having collected her skirt, socks, shoes, and a shirt she was pretty sure wasn’t hers, Athena made her way towards the door. The sooner she got out of this room, the better. She certainly wasn’t ashamed of having a one-night stand with the tall, handsome Twisted Samurai himself, but she would prefer to avoid running into anyone on the way out of his room. People tend to talk, after all. On her way out the door, Athena debated leaving a note to tell Simon where she had gone, but decided that whatever she had to say would be better said in person. As she snuck down the empty hallway, every creak in the floorboards sounded like someone coming out to catch her, but she made it to the elevator uneventfully. As the shiny doors closed, Athena hoped she could make the long trip down from the 28th floor without anyone she knew getting in.
She hoped very, very hard.
Phoenix Wright woke up feeling great. The clock next to the bed told him it was a bright-and-early 5:45 A.M. He had slept well, no doubt thanks to the surprisingly warm and cuddly man still knocked out next to him. As he looked at Miles’ sleeping face, his refreshed energy started to fade and dread set in. Sure, this wasn’t the first time they’d had sex, but they were pretty on-and-off. Phoenix didn’t quite know where he and Miles stood, emotionally speaking. He certainly had some very strong feelings for Miles, and Miles... well, he wasn’t quick to talk about how he felt about anything, and he was even less forthcoming about his feelings involving Phoenix.
Last night had been a strange one for Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth. After the small office party started to wind down, Phoenix had brought Trucy home and prepared for a night of TV and much-needed rest. His plans were quickly changed, however, when he received a text from Prosecutor Gavin informing him of a raging afterparty at the Gatewater. Phoenix had declined at first, claiming to be a little too old for that kind of party. Gavin had responded by pointing out that if Phoenix didn’t come, the only old men there would be Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth and Winston Payne. An excellent point. Purely so Miles would have someone bearable to talk to, Phoenix said a quick goodnight to Trucy and headed back out. When he arrived, everyone else was already there. He approached his friend with a quick “hey, Edgeworth,” and as soon as he did, Miles dragged him away from the crowd. Whether it was the celebratory atmosphere of the party, the stress of spending his valuable time in a hotel with his co-workers, or (as Phoenix chose to believe) the blue-suited man’s dazzling good looks and charm, something had gotten to Miles, as it wasn’t very long before he had led Phoenix upstairs and gotten him into a bed. Phoenix’s assertions about being too old to party were quickly disproven as he and Miles had quite the party on their own until they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
Damn. If Miles woke up, Phoenix knew it would be a whole ordeal, and it was too early for all that, so he made up his mind to sneak out and deal with it later. It certainly wasn’t his most mature and responsible decision, but Phoenix wasn’t sure he was equipped to talk through the details and emotions of his and Miles’ strange relationship before 9:00. Phoenix slid stealthily out of the man’s arms and began to get dressed. Apparently last night’s affair had been a pretty frantic one, as Phoenix’s clothes were scattered across the room. Miles’ usual tidiness must have been overwhelmed by his desire to get Phoenix naked and in bed as soon as possible. He found the thought very flattering, even if Miles’ eagerness the previous night made things a little more difficult in the morning. He had managed to gather up most of his suit without waking up the sleeping beauty across the room, so he made his way over to the door. Thinking wistfully of the pleasant night he’d had, he turned around and took one more fond glance at Miles. As he did, he spotted his own brightly-colored tie on the pillow, peeking out from under a mess of gray hair. Dammit. He couldn’t just leave his tie, but getting it back would be a difficult task. He crept back to the bed and slowly, carefully pulled at the fabric. It took nearly a full minute to get it out from under Miles’ head without waking him up. There were a few alarming snores that sounded like waking up, but Miles remained blissfully unconscious. When his precious accessory was back in his hands, Phoenix breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Having accomplished his task, Phoenix looked down at Miles, still soundly asleep on the pillow. He never looked as severe when he slept. Phoenix noticed that he had gone to sleep still wearing his glasses. He chuckled at the slightly skewed way they rested on his nose. Hardly thinking, Phoenix brushed a piece of Miles’ gray hair away from his forehead. As he did, he heard a muffled mumble from the sleeping man.
“Phoenix...”
Phoenix looked back on all the times Miles had called him by his first name. A few of those times were during emotional situations, when Miles had needed Phoenix’s comfort the most. Phoenix relished his name then, hearing in it a kind of closeness and trust his friend didn’t often afford him. The majority of those times, however, were from the bedroom, when a simple Wright wasn’t seductive enough to keep him in bed. Phoenix didn’t delay his exit any more. As he snuck down the hallway to the elevator, his mind wandered to thoughts of Miles. He reached the elevator, pushed the button, and stepped through the doors on autopilot, until a tight, nervous voice pulled him out of his reverie.
“‘Morning, boss.”
Knowing his luck, Phoenix should not have been so surprised that his employee would catch him creeping out of someone’s hotel room after hooking up. What was truly surprising was seeing Athena sporting messy hair, a flushed face, and a shirt that was clearly several sizes too large. As he processed the information in front of him, Athena seemed to grow even more nervous. He easily could’ve pressed her about her own exploits the previous night, but he decided to let the poor girl be. Although he was certainly curious as to who, among the many lawyers at the hotel, had charmed his trusty employee, he figured it would be very inappropriate to ask her. The Wright Anything Agency was never a professional environment, but fewer words said about their sex lives would probably be better.
“‘Morning, Athena.”
Phoenix stepped into the elevator beside his employee, facing the door and avoiding all eye contact. At one point, Phoenix cleared his throat, making Athena nearly jump off the ground with nerves. They passed their ride in awkward silence.
Apollo Justice jolted up in bed. Next to him, a curly blonde head of hair rested on a fluffy pillow. The shimmering sunrise just barely trickled through the window, lighting Klavier Gavin in beautiful orange and gold. For a second, Apollo wanted nothing more than to lean down and kiss his soft, smiling lips, to fall back into the bed, and to hold Klavier in his arms for a few more hours at least.
After that second passed, Klavier gave a loud snore, reminding Apollo that he was lying in bed cuddled up close to a fully-nude rockstar prosecutor in an unfamiliar room, and that he should probably leave immediately to avoid being spotted and absolutely ridiculed by a friend, or worse, a co-worker. If Apollo was caught sneaking out of a one-night stand with Klavier, he would never hear the end of it.
One-night stand, huh?
Apollo pondered the events of the last night. It was a one-night stand in the sense that they had fucked without being in any sort of prior relationship, but Apollo felt a stinging sadness at the idea that this was the only time he’d be spending with Klavier. He suspected that Klavier did, too. Last night, they had spent most of the party apart. Apollo was caught in conversations with plenty of the people there, but Klavier always seemed to wander over and start some small conversation.
”Ah, Herr Forehead, enjoying yourself?”
”You really should eat something, the food here is wonderful.”
”I saw Fraülein Wright’s show the other night. She’s a talented performer, isn’t she?”
As the night came to a close, Apollo strayed towards where Klavier was standing, talking to a hotel employee who seemed to be a fan. As soon as Apollo approached, Klavier’s rockstar smirk turned into a bright, sweet, genuine grin that made Apollo’s chest feel a little warm. After some more conversation, Klavier had nervously suggested that they head up to a room. Apollo couldn’t help but agree. The second the door was closed, Klavier was all over him. Apollo assumed, with some disappointment, that Klavier was simply acting on impulsive attraction, looking for a good lay to finish his night with a grand finale. He tried not to let himself feel down about being another one of Klavier’s quick fucks. It was pretty easy to distract himself from his heartache when he was being cuffed down, tied up, and pleased within an inch of his life. And yet, for some reason, even when they had both been wholly satisfied, Klavier kissed Apollo gently on his temple and fell asleep with his arms around him. The fond memories of the night before almost convinced Apollo to wake Klavier up, ask him what it all really meant, but he remembered soon enough that he was in a four-star hotel bedroom with a world famous rockstar. He doubted it meant much at all. He got up and hurried to get dressed so he could leave the room as soon as possible, but as he stood and stretched his arms, he heard a metallic jingle and saw a glimmer from his wrist. A pair of handcuffs hung from his arm.
”Fuck.”
He certainly didn’t have the key to those. Apollo weighed his options. He could wake Klavier up and deal with an awkward morning-after with his friend and bitter rival; he could ransack Klavier’s room for a tiny key, one he probably wouldn’t recognize even if he saw it; or, risky as it may be, he could leave Klavier Gavin’s room with handcuffs on his wrists and pray to every religion he could think of that no one would see. He settled on the latter option and steeled himself for an explanation. Apollo dressed quickly, a blush over his face the whole time. He tried to stay quiet, but he couldn’t help muttering under his breath at his frustration. His clothes were scattered everywhere, having been absolutely torn off the previous night, and the handcuffs jangling on his arm certainly didn’t help. So much pleasure last night had led to so much inconvenience this morning. All his grumbling and crashing around must’ve woken Klavier, who turned over in bed and sighed happily as his eyes fluttered open.
”Guten morgen, Justice. Where are you going?”
Apollo couldn’t respond. He couldn’t stand to play along. As genuine as Klavier sounded, Apollo knew the man was a flirt. He wished he could turn around and look at Klavier, ask him if it meant anything, but he was terrified of hearing kind words while seeing a lie. As Apollo left the room, he heard a voice from the bed imploring,
”Apollo, wait.”
He shut the door and made his way to the elevator. Any guilt he might have felt at leaving Klavier alone like that was set aside to focus on sneaking as quietly as he could down the long hallway. When he finally made it to the elevator, he felt a sense of pride at having made it unseen. The elevator doors slid open.
Apollo looked in and uttered a truly defeated sigh.
Athena and Phoenix had both thought the other looked pretty disheveled at first glance, but neither of them held a candle to Apollo. He trudged into the elevator with his vest unbuttoned and his shirt collar loose, his hair mussed and his neck marked with hickeys, his face blushing furiously and... were those handcuffs? There was no question as to what he was doing last night, and Athena and Phoenix has a hunch they knew who he was doing as well. They both had to laugh at the poor man’s exhausted face. The awkward tension was still very present, but Phoenix and Athena’s poorly-suppressed giggles helped to lighten the mood. Apollo seemed to disagree.
”Neither of you say a word. I don’t want to hear it,” he muttered. This made Athena and Phoenix laugh even more, which made poor Apollo’s face even redder.
”Sure thing, Apollo,” Phoenix promised. Then, with mischief in his eyes, “I just have one question.”
Apollo sighed in acknowledgment.
”Is that a new bracelet?”
Athena burst into hysterics. Phoenix could no longer hold back laughter himself. Apollo rushed to hide his cuffed wrist, but the damage had been done. Just as he was on the verge of firing himself out of shame, Apollo’s sharp eyes noticed something that could turn the case around.
“Mr. Wright, I wouldn’t be talking if I were you. What’s that in your shirt pocket?”
Phoenix looked a little nervous at Apollo’s smug smirk. He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out Prosecutor Edgeworth’s distinctive ruffly cravat.
Athena’s laughter grew even louder, and as Phoenix scrambled to explain himself, Apollo began to laugh with her.
Through her laughter, Athena piped in her courtroom voice, “I think we can all guess who got those handcuffs on Apollo, but Mr. Wright, you brought definitive proof of who you were with last night!”
Phoenix snapped back.
”You know, Athena, I wouldn’t be so smug. We’ll figure you out as soon as we find out who that shirt belongs to, because it pretty clearly isn’t you.”
Athena’s laughter turned back into embarrassed giggles as Phoenix and Apollo took their turn to collapse in laughter at her response.
The awkwardness of sharing an elevator with one’s coworkers after a wild hookup is difficult to defuse, but the employees of the Wright Anything Agency had put in a valiant effort.
Immature, perhaps, but valiant.