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Right now, it was a simpler moment - those special, private moments that Apollo enjoyed the most when it came to his fiancé. There was nothing particularly romantic or outwardly significant about moments like these, but he enjoyed them nonetheless. He could describe them as those cold fall mornings, that were just cold enough for a jacket, but not cold enough to make you want to go back inside; like when the sunset was just right, leaving that quiet shade of orange over the world as the sun prepared to rest.
For Apollo, though, his favorite moments were watching his fiancé pluck guitar strings absently in their living room as he stared at the TV droning on about recent events, to a love song that hadn’t yet been discovered. Sometimes, it was the way the other would glance at him briefly at business meetings or holiday parties from across the room, thinking Apollo hadn’t and wouldn’t have noticed. Other times, it could be the way ringed fingers brushed against his leg under the table at an arduous dinner meeting that neither particularly wanted to be at, a gentle greeting and a silent reassurance that he was still there, still by his side.
Perhaps for others these gestures did or did not mean something, and that these small gestures’ significance would wear off after the supposed “honeymoon” phase, but for Apollo, they continued to mean something far more. They continued to make his heart stutter and his smile shy; burning into his memory through the warmth they provided him.
He had, at one point, wondered if Klavier had noticed similar moments in him. It’s not until it comes in the form of a song, a song that had been hidden before the night of quiet confessions and of first dates, only to be released later in their well-developed romance, that he learned of these same cherished observations.
He doesn’t question the other’s lyrics when the song reaches the radio, and his ears, for the first time. It’s the soft voice of his beloved, strumming that same tune that had only been the absent plucking of a guitar the night Apollo had knocked on the prosecutor’s office all that time ago, the night a friendship had finally bloomed between the two attorneys. The lyrics, though, speak of the little moments between them - those missable moments. They sing of those small moments where Klavier would watch Apollo absently look out the window to watch passerbys, his eyes glistening in the sun as he watched others stroll along below them; the way Apollo looked when he smiled across the room at another’s conversation; the way the twitch of Apollo’s fingers in nervousness made the singer wish he could brush his own against soft skin to calm him.
And, the hopeful tune and ending that these small moments would one day, hopefully, be his to cherish.
Apollo had remembered the way fangirls had reacted to such a song, their hearts overwhelmed and their hopes soaring. Trucy had gushed over it, and for once, Apollo hadn’t made a face when the song was replayed over thirty times in the office with no break. In fact, Apollo found himself humming to the tune in his quieter moments when he made tea, or prepared his own motivational “chords of steel” maneuver, or even when it was just him making dinner for the night.
“Liebling.” Klavier’s voice was gentle the night of their engagement. Apollo can’t say he didn’t see it coming, not with the way Trucy would hold back an excited squeal when she looked at him or when Athena’s smile would widen with each passing day - leading up to this moment. Apollo had been dressed in his best, for an anniversary dinner date that he’d been looking forward to. Klavier had, as expected, met any expectations that Apollo, had he cared about anything apart from just being with the love of his life, would have if he were another. But he wasn’t, so every carefully placed rose, every lit candle and wonderfully prepared dish left Apollo happily surprised. And when Klavier had gone to one knee and the ring had been presented, Apollo found himself smiling before Klavier could ask the question that had long since been answered between them since Apollo had quietly confessed to the taller man in the prosecution office one calm night.
And these moments were significant to Apollo Justice, moments in time that were major moments of their relationship. But, Apollo also quite liked the way Klavier would stretch out on their couch, his hair in a bun and his laptop haphazardly rested on his stomach as he typed away at fans, interviews, emails, and anything in-between. It was the moments that he would hear Klavier’s soft snoring while on a call they shared every night when he was on a tour, in a hotel too far, leaving Apollo alone while he worked on case files to listen to the other’s gentle breathing. He also enjoyed those moments where Klavier would return home with a single rose, his eyebrows raising in that same flirtations, suggestive style that had caused the shorter man to stutter all those years ago before they were much of anything but friendly - now, said tactics earned a laugh and a kiss, after a well-earned eye roll. It was the simpler, smaller moments that assured Apollo that these were what romance really was - its definition infinite in those mere, almost missable memories.
He hadn’t been so lucky with romance in his past, but Klavier had, no doubt, been the lucky break he’d been missing all these years.
And even now, as Apollo lies in bed with Klavier’s arms wrapped loosely around his waist behind him, nuzzling sleepily into his shoulder, he feels nothing but gratefulness. He could never take such a moment for granted, the feeling of warmth from soft blankets around his legs and tender hands traveling over his stomach. He lifts his own hand to see the way a simple, silver band shines against the moonlight on his left hand, and he hums to himself when he feels the other pull him closer to snuggle against his back.
These smaller moments were what Apollo really, truly cherished. They weren’t grand gestures, as much as Apollo found he did secretly enjoy watching his beloved strumming a guitar on stage and singing so blatantly about him that no part of him could hide from his own blush. Love between them wasn’t always so obvious, or grand or dramatic, but smaller, seemingly-insignificant memories that made Apollo Justice love Klavier Gavin more and more every single day.
This must be what love really was.