Chapter Text
1:53. 1:54. 1:55.
That digital clock glowed red in the dim lighting of the apartment, each minute ticking by seeming like a taunt. The world was silent, not a soul moving outside as the moon hung high in the sky, the same place it had been for hours. No stars seemed to even twinkle, and the faint image of clouds could just about be seen around the glowing white rock floating out in the atmosphere. One could hear a dropped pencil with ease, or rather, no one would hear it since they were all asleep. Everyone, except Klavier Gavin, that is.
The prosecutor lay in his bed, the same place he’d been for hours, just staring up at the ceiling. It was like this every night, a frustrated boredom as he tried to slip away. He’d counted the small cracks and bumps on the seemingly smooth apartment ceiling several times over, tossed and turned, but just couldn’t lose himself into slumber. He absolutely hated it, since he knew he’d be exhausted in the morning, and he knew he had sleeping pills in his bathroom cabinet, but using those would just be admitting the fact he had a problem, so he just lay there, thinking. At these times of nights, alone, he couldn’t help but get lost in his own mind, thinking of everything and nothing all at once. Closing his eyes again, he felt himself drifting off, and readily embraced the long awaited rest.
He stood at the prosecutor’s bench, watching the red-wearing defense attorney across from him. The man whipped his arm towards the witness stand, the roaring “OBJECTION” making sensitive ears ring for moments afterwards. The attorney was scrambling, trying to fight back against the witness, but all the evidence was coming up short. The bar finally snapped when the judge denied the proclaimed ‘replica’ of a letter, saying that it just couldn’t be accepted into a court of law. The devil on the witness stand gave a wicked smile, finally feeling free of the pressure that had been bearing down on him.
Klavier watched as the witness spoke, speaking of the case being nothing without evidence to back it up. Of course such a devil believed that, for he only thought of himself and the law. However, as twisted as it was, that demonic man standing yards away was right. Evidence was everything… except for today. Realization clicking in the prosecutor’s brain, and his stomach filled with dread, he looked up as the man addressed him.
“...without direct proof, you have nothing. Isn’t that right, Klavier?” Hearing his name on the monster’s tongue felt like venom, threatening to break him then and there. But as he locked eyes with the hollow shell of the brother he once knew, it just became clear there was no way around it. This man was a murderer, and he was about to get him declared guilty.
“Unfortunately… yes, Kristoph. You’re right.” That smile coming from the demon almost felt like some twisted approval, stabbing him in the gut. For a moment, he just wanted to back down, leave it at that. Accept the empty approval the was being given to him, forget that the brother he thought he knew was just a facade coming from this insane convict, but he knew he couldn’t. Not when the defense attorney staring him down was probably feeling as helpless as him. ‘...that is, you would have been right until now.”
“...what?” The smile was gone, and the fake approval he had clung onto for years just cracked. He felt his words catch in his throat, unsure if he’d be able to finish this, but when he looked across the courtroom, he locked eyes with Apollo, that fierce defense attorney he’d come to know over the past few cases. The attorney had known this devil just as Klavier had, and yet that didn’t sway the shorter man from plunging full force at the manipulator’s tricks, shattering them away. That courage, that bravery, that determination, the prosecutor felt it as he returned the gaze, and he lifted his head to stare the demon in the eye.
“Did the news not reach your desk in solitary? The eyes of the nation are in this courtroom today. This is the trial case for a new judicial system.” The sick feeling in his stomach eased slightly as he saw the attorney’s eyes widen. The man had realized what was going on now, and that would make this much easier. Klavier focused on looking at the red-suited man, praying that focusing on him would give him enough strength to get through this.
“That’s right!” That loud voice made some flinch, but Klavier felt it encourage him as it met his ears, pushing back his doubts. “The Jurist System!”
“Jurists, you say…?” There it was, the corner of that monster’s mouth twitched ever so slightly. Finally a falter in that confident act. The witness turned to look over at the prosecution, but Klavier kept his eyes on the judge as the old man explained the currently-in-testing jurist system, trying to ignore the eyes bearing down on the side of his head.
The demon spat, talking out against the ‘phony’ system. Klavier kept his eyes on the bench in front of him as his brother and Apollo went back and forth, not comprehending what was being said, only the sounds of fighting that were pounding into his skull. The angered voices surrounded him, drowning out the other thoughts in his head. Suddenly, a shrill, enraged sound broke through the wall of screaming, unmistakingly coming from the demon himself. When Klavier looked up, he saw but a shadow of the man he once loved, enveloped by anger and insanity-
The ex-rockstar sat up sharply from his formerly lying position, shaking and in a cold-sweat. It took a few breaths for him to realize where he was, and he reached up to touch his hand to his head as it throbbed from the sudden movement. Glancing over at the clock, he read 3:07am on the display. Groaning, he pushed himself out of the bed despite his body’s protests. If he couldn’t sleep, then he might as well start the day early.
He walked into the bathroom, opting to take a shower first to feel slightly less worse after having woken up in a sweat. Opening the cabinet above the sink to grab a new bar of soap, his eyes landed on the small bottle of sleeping pills that stood mockingly on the bottom shelf. His eyes lingering on them for a second, he shook his head and grabbed the soap box, closing the cabinet door with a sigh.
~
Klavier arrived at the prosecutor’s office a half an hour early, something that had become a habit of sorts in the past few weeks. He’d been taking on more cases recently, at the moment he had three stacked up on top of each other, and though his mind was drowsy from running on mainly coffee after an hour’s worth of sleep, he sat right down at his desk and began sorting through the case files.
There was something addicting that came from investing himself in his work, a feeling of importance, the knowledge that he was doing something that would make a small difference, and he relished in it. In the past month or so, he’d almost become addicted to throwing himself into the piles of papers stacked upon his desk, though he’d never admit it. With everything that had happened, being left alone with just his thoughts for long periods of time proved to be… unpleasant, so it wasn’t common to find the prosecutor taking much time for himself. Of course, that kind of behavior didn’t go unnoticed.
“Hey Gavin, drop what you’re doing for a second.” The man looked up to see a familiar detective pushing his door open, her lab-coat just barely not getting caught on the handle as she forced her way into the room. Ema Skye, a detective with a passion for forensic sciences, and a mild addiction to snackoos, which she always carried in a small, handheld bag. It was honestly impressive she hadn’t eaten through her supply of them already, judging by how many she consumed a day.
“Ah, anything for you, fraulein.” He placed his elbow on the desk and leaned into his hand, rockstar smile still as suave as ever despite having left the profession to become a full-time prosecutor. A snackoo promptly connected with his forehead, and he had to force a small chuckle, not really having the energy to actually laugh at the woman’s antics.
“Oh, cut the foppishness. You’re not doing anything for me.” Ema crossed her arms, rolling her eyes as the prosecutor picked up the snack that had hit him in the face and popped it in his mouth.
“Ach, your bluntness wounds me.” He half-heartedly put a hand to his chest, dramatically leaning backwards in his chair. Another bagged snack was launched at him, but he caught it between his teeth this time, an impressive feat when his hand-eye coordination was thrown off by drowsiness.
“Seriously, knock it off. The chief prosecutor wants to see you in his office, you won’t get anywhere with that attitude in his presence.” She smirked, munching on one of her snackoos herself. “That’s all I needed to tell you.” Mouth still full, she made her way back towards the door, not even bothering to voice a goodbye as the door opened and closed.
Klavier just sat there for a moment, blinking at where the detective had been standing a moment ago. Taking a moment to fully process what she’d said, he quickly got up, took a breath, opened his door, and started walking in the direction of the chief’s office. The german made sure to flash a smile at whoever he passed on his way there, appearances were still everything, even if he wasn’t a practicing celebrity anymore. This’ll probably just be the custom pre-trial advice speech, there wouldn’t be anything else the chief prosecutor would want me for.
It wasn’t long before he found himself in front of the closed door of his boss’ office, and he paused for a moment before knocking. The rhythmic sound of his hand meeting the wooden door rang out in the quiet hall, and after a moment he heard the man behind the door calmly reply.
“Come in.” He didn’t hesitate in turning the handle on the door, carefully opening it to reveal the inside of the office. Klavier had been in here enough to be familiar with its contents, rows of books lined one of the walls, and a small chess table stood in front of the looming shelves, red and blue pieces atop it. There was a small couch on the opposite wall, and in the middle of the two walls near the back of the room sat the chief prosecutor himself, a cup of tea in his hand. The gray-haired man didn’t look at all surprised to see Klavier walk in, as he gestured for the german to take a seat.
“Guten morgen, Herr Edgeworth.” The ex-rockstar nodded to the man before taking a seat on the couch, his elbow resting on the side of it so he could lean his head against his fist. “I was told you wanted to see me, probably about tomorrow’s trial, ja? I’ll have you know, it’s fairly straightforward, though with Herr Forehead you never kn-“
“That’s quite enough, Prosecutor Gavin.” The tea now placed down on his desk, Edgeworth cut off the german’s small tangent, startling the prosecutor. “To answer your question, yes, I did call you here to discuss your upcoming trial, because I’ve transferred you off of it.” Of all the things he could have said, this was definitely not what Klavier had been expecting.
“Was? Did I do something wrong?” The confusion only rose as the magenta-clad man shook his head, looking the blonde in the eye.
“No, the exact opposite actually.” Well, if that was meant to explain it, it definitely hadn’t served its intended purpose. “Gavin, answer me this, how many cases are you on right now?”
“Ah, that’s a simple one. I’ve got-” The prosecutor actually had to stop and think for a moment, unsure. He’d gone through so many cases in the past month, at this point they were blurring together. Counting in his head, he answered. “-five. Or, I suppose only four since I’m off of this one.” His boss shook his head, sighing.
“And with that many cases, how much sleep are you getting?” This is where the prosecutor froze, an answer in itself, though he quickly tried to salvage it.
“I- well, enough.” The look on Edgeworth’s face told him that he wasn’t even considering that answer. The chief prosecutor was staring at him, a frown on his face, but the german found concern in his eyes when he met them. “Seriously, Herr Edgeworth, I’m fine-“
“I’ve reassigned all your cases for the next week and a half, Gavin.” If the earlier statement hadn’t shut him up, that definitely did. For one, that left him without any work to do, and for two, there were barely enough available prosecutors as it was. There was no way Edgeworth had managed to reassign them that easily. Before he could open his mouth to protest, however, he was cut off again. “You need a break,Gavin. You’ve been doing nothing but work ever since… the point is, you have the next week off.”
The boss didn’t have to finish that one sentence for Klavier to know what he was talking about, and it made him internally flinch. He hadn’t intentionally started taking more cases after that one, it had just happened sort of naturally. Sure, he’d volunteered to take some of the cases that others didn’t want, and his workload had definitely increased, but he wasn’t unhappy with it. If anything it saved the other prosecutors the bother of having to take on some of the simpler cases.
“Herr Edgeworth, that really isn’t necessary. I-“
“This isn’t a discussion, Gavin. You’re taking a break. If I see you in the office within the next week, I’ll just extend it.” Klavier visibly flinched this time, looking down at the floor. He really wasn’t going to be able to talk his way around this one, at least, not as he usually would. Taking a breath, he looked up at the man across from him, fighting back the instinct to just throw the facade back on.
“Can I at least finish tomorrow’s case?” It came out more desperate than he’d intended it to be, but it was nowhere near as desperate as it should have been at the same time. Even with that final plea, Edgeworth wasn’t budging, but he stood, walking around the desk to stand in front of the ex-rockstar, sighing.
“Klavier, listen.” Ah, his first name, that wasn’t a good sign. “I know the past month has been… difficult on you, but drowning yourself in work isn’t going to solve your problems.” Of course he knew, the chief prosecutor really wasn’t as emotionally distant as he let on. Klavier looked up at the man, locking eyes, and for a moment he considered what would happen if he just let down his defenses right there. If he just admitted that yes, he needed to step back and fix his life, yes he was a mess, but just as that thought came, it went. The shields were back up, the facade coming back to protect himself.
“I’ll take the days off, Herr Edgeworth, thank you.” He flashed a fake smile at his boss, not breaking eye contact once. He swore that his boss’ expression changed for a second, from a mild concern to a sad longing, but Klavier could have just imagined it. It did take a moment for the chief to step back, opening the door and gesturing for Klavier to go, but the german didn’t question it as he stood up and made to leave.
“Prosecutor.” Back to official titles now, Klavier supposed that was a good thing. He turned to face his boss in the doorway, tilting his head slightly as a sign that he was listening. He swore that Edgeworth hesitated for a moment before talking again. “My office is always open if you need anything.” It was a pretty common statement, one that he’d heard dozens of times, but something about the way the man had said it made Klavier relax a little, though he had no idea why.
“Of course, Herr Edgeworth. Auf wiedersehen.” And with that, he was back facing a closed door, and a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding was released. He forced himself to start walking away, but a pit started rising in his stomach for a reason he couldn’t pinpoint. All he could think about was that now, for the first time since that trial…
He had nothing else to focus on.