Work Text:
Apollo is out investing with Trucy and Athena on one of the hottest days of the year and he feels as though he's about to die. You'd think he'd be used the heat since he's lived in California for so long, and he is...to a certain degree. He's definitely not used to being exposed to it for so long and definitely not while he's also wearing his binder for a few hours longer than he probably should be. He doesn't usually wear it on days like this but his dysphoria decided to kick his ass this morning and the tight undershirt he usually wore wasn't cutting it.
The sun's started to set but it doesn't seem to be getting any cooler. He'll be fine. He's lasted this long he can last an hour or so longer. He'd like to take off his binder now but it's a bit too late for that. Plus he'd just feel like shit after and he does not want Trucy to question him about it. So he just grins and bares it. If he just keeps repeating his mantra he'll be fine. He's Apollo Justice and he's fine.
Little did he know half an hour later he'd be eating his words. It hasn't cooled down at all, even if it has he can't tell, and his breathing is starting to feel a bit shallow. He's been running from crime scene to crime scene all day and if you add "wearing his binder for much longer than he should and it's feel likes it's crushing his ribs" to that he can imagine why. He wants to take a break much more than he'd like to admit but they've finally got a lead and he's not going to waste time.
By the time they reach where their lead's at he is fully out of breath and it is killing him to stand. And before he knows it he's falling to ground. Thankfully he's able to stop himself before he falls face first into the gravel below but he is definitely not standing anymore and his friends definitely noticed.
"Polly!?" Trucy yells out and her and Athena rush over to him.
Athena checks his pulse then presses the back off her hand to his forehead, "Apollo what happened?"
"I-I don-" He wants the explain the words aren't coming out and his breath is quickening by the second.
Athena and Trucy help him stand and his arm is slung over Athena's shoulders, "Excuse me, ma'am, can we come inside for a moment, I believe my friend is overheating."
Whoever Athena was talking to lets them inside and gets Apollo a cold bottle of water. He drinks it much faster than he thought he was and it burns going down. His lungs are on fire. He tries to take deep breaths but they're coming out more shallow and rough than he would like.
"Herr Forehead?"
Fantastic. Just the guy he wanted to see, not. He doesn't hate Klavier, far from it, they've actually been dating for a about 2 months now, but he does not want to see Klavier right now. He knows he'll get overly worried about Apollo, tell him to let his coworkers handle it, and send him home and does not want that right now. Not when he's this close to the lead he needs. One of the reasons he actually when through with his dumb plan this morning was because Klaiver wasn't on the case so they likely wouldn't see each other. But of course he shows up at the worst possible time.
"Apollo? Are you there?"
Shit had he been talking all this time? "Uh yeah, yeah I'm here. What were you saying?"
Worry is etched into Klavier's face, "I was asking you if you were alright? Frau Cykes said you nearly fell outside."
He silently curses Athena and tries to think of the best possible excuse, "I'm fine Gavin, I've just been running around all day and the heat got to me, that's all."
Klavier opens to mouth to say something then promptly closes it. He instead stands up from the crouching position he was in near Apollo and sits down in a seat across from him. "Regardless whether you're fine or not the frauleins have instructed me to keep an eye on you until they're done investigating so get comfortable, Justice."
It's gonna be a long night, he can already tell. He does as he's told and gets comfortable.
As soon he's home he takes of his binder and his body is in agony. He spends 15 minutes stretching before taking a shower. While he showers he seriously contemplates telling his friends that he's trans to avoid something akin to this again. He decides if he does tell them that Mr. Wright is first.
There's a light rapping against the door frame to Phoenix's office, "Hey uh-... Mr. Wright-"
Phoenix perks his head up from his case file and looks towards the door, "Apollo! Hey, what's up?"
"I just need to talk to you about something slightly important if that's okay" he says while he messes with his bracelet.
Phoenix's smile falters slightly and his eyebrows are loosely knit together, he can sense somethings up, "Oh yeah of course, come on in. Feel free to shut the door if you need this to be more private."
"Yeah, thank you." Apollo walks in, shutting the door behind him with a soft click. He sits in one of the chairs across from Phoenix's desk and he can feel the shakiness of his own breath.
"Hey are you okay? You look real nervous. Whatever it is you need to talk about, I'm here for you okay?"
He shakily nods and licks his lips. Was his mouth this dry a minute ago? "It's just that I-I…" he takes a deep breath, "I'm trans, and I know I don't have to tell you this but it's not like it's a secret I just don't really...mention it I guess? I don't know, this was probably stupid-"
"Woah, woah, Apollo slow down, you're rambling."
He stops in his tracks and looks down at the floor, "Sorry, Mr. Wright it's just that…" the rest of the sentence falters to a mumble.
"It's okay just settle down, you already got the hard part out of the way, right? I obviously support you fully. And I kind of had a feeling already."
"What-"
"Y'know I'm also trans, Apollo. I had my suspicions."
Apollo stares at Phoenix wide eyed, "I'm sorry, you're what?"
"I thought you knew? Have you not noticed the trans flag in my pen cup or the little keychain Truce gave me?"
"...yeah of course I have-" Apollo had in fact not noticed the trans flag in said cup or said keychain.
"You're obviously bluffing."
"Has that flag always been there???"
"For the last 3 years, yeah."
"How did I-"
"Don't overthink it. But is that all you needed to tell me?"
"Oh, uh yeah-"
"Alright then, if you ever need advice or just need to talk about y'know whatever you can come to me."
"I will, thanks Mr. Wright."
"No problem at all, kid."
Trucy and Athena are busy having idle chatter in the main part of the office while Apollo sits at his desk contemplating whether or not he should tell them or just let them find out.
Trucy notices he's lost in thought and bounds over to bother him about it, "Polly? Whatcha thinking about?"
"Nothing really, just contemplating some stuff."
"Contemplating what kinda stuff?"
"Nothing that concerns you, Trucy."
She huffs, "You're no fun."
"You're also really bad at lying for someone so good at spotting them." Athena says with that cocky grin on her face that she gets when she knows a witness is on the ropes.
Apollo aimlessly swats at her, "Will you cut that out? And I'm not lying. It's not important and it's not really your business."
"Aww c'mon Polly just tell us."
Athena leans on Apollo using him like an armrest, "Yeah "Polly" tell us, if it's not that important then we should be allowed to know."
He groans and swats her away again, "If I tell you will you two leave me alone?"
Athena and Trucy looked at each other for a moment and spoke in unison, "Yes!"
He groans again and somehow sounds more annoyed, "Fine, consider yourselves lucky I was already contemplating telling you before you bugged me."
The girls wait, they almost look as if they'll die if he doesn't tell them right now.
Apollo scratches the back of neck. Their eyes on him is starting to make him nervous, "I'm trans... that's uh- that's about it-"
Athena deflates a little, "Oh... Apollo that's great and I'm proud of you but-"
His blood runs cold, "But what? What's wrong?"
Trucy looks at Apollo with an expression he can't quite pinpoint, "Polly you already told us that, remember?"
He freezes. "I did…?"
Athena taps her chin trying to recall the exact event, "A month or so back if I remember correctly. You didn't make a big deal out of it, you just kinda ended up offhandedly mentioning something about it."
"Yeah! You said something along the lines of, "It's so hot today I wish I could take off this binder" or something like that and then it went from there."
"Oh my god- I did. How did I forget that?"
"It's okay Polly! Do you at least feel better now that you officially came out?"
"I suppose so-"
Athena gives him two thumbs up "Either way we support you 110% Apollo!"
"I know you guys do but the reassurance is appreciated, thank you."
Apollo makes his way to the prosecutor's office and tells the lady at the front desk that he needs to see Klavier.
"Go on ahead Mister Justice, I'll let Prosecutor Gavin know you're on your way"
"Oh no, don't! It's just that uh-" think Apollo, think, "I'm...surprising him is all."
She looks a little confused at first but decides not to pry. She simply shrugs and returns her attention to her computer. Apollo takes that as his que to leave and heads to the elevator so it can take him up to Klavier's floor.
Once he reaches his desired floor he make a b-line to Klavier's office. He knocks on the door and waits for a response.
A German voice responds, "Wer ist es?"
Thank god, the one German phrase he knows. He opens door just enough to let his head through, "It's just me Klav."
Klavier looks up from his work, his expression a mix of shocked and confused, "Herr Forehead? What are you doing here? Come in, come in." He takes off his glasses and strides over towards the door, "I did not realize you were coming. Can I get you anything?"
Apollo steps into the office shutting the door behind him, "No, I'm fine. And I kinda told the front desk not to tell you-"
Apollo sees his eyebrows rise slightly, that caught his attention, "Oh. Can I ask why?"
He's suddenly feeling very nervous, "I just- I don't know...I wanted to surprise you.."
Klavier's face softens slightly at that, "Ach, Herr Forehead while I appreciate the sentiment I feel like there's something you're not telling me..."
Apollo's mind has gone completely blank and he keeps his eyes glued to the floor.
"Apollo..." He closes the distance between them and cups Apollo's cheek to gently raise his face, "Look at me schatzi... Whatever it is you can talk to about it I promise."
He nods and swallows dryly, "o-kay...just uh- give me a minute to uh compose myself I guess?"
He sounds very uncertain like he's almost asking it to himself but Klavier understood, it always seemed like he did.
He stokes Apollo's cheek, "Of course liebling, take your time. We're in no rush"
God for some reason this is so much harder with Klavier than the others. No, it's okay. Deep breaths. You're Apollo Justice and you're fine. You're Apollo Justice and you're fine. "Okay-" he looks Klaiver in the eyes, "... I'm trans. I thought you deserved to know since we're dating and since I'm still in the process of transitioning so I didn't want it to be and unwelcome surprise at any point y'know? I hope this doesn't change anything between us..."
Klavier's silent for a moment and Apollo scans his face for any sign of disgust or disapproval only to find a neutral expression.
"K-klav....say something, anything...please-" But he doesn't. He merely pulls Apollo into a tight embrace and presses light kisses across the top of his head.
And that's what broke Apollo. He's sobbing into Klavier's shoulder and clinging to material of his jacket like a small child.
"Schatzi," he coos, "I'm so sorry... I was unsure of what to say but I support you wholeheartedly, mein liebe. I swear to you I do."
A weight feels as though it's been lifted of off Apollo's shoulder and he relaxes into Klavier more as the tears continue to flow.
Klavier's rubbing circles into the small of Apollo's back, "I honestly I couldn't be happier liebling."
Apollo moves back slightly and sniffles, "What do you mean?
"Ach, well it's just that this takes bravery you know?"
His bracelet tightens and his stomach drops. "Klav...-"
"I just mean that I'm happy for you, Apollo."
The gold band doesn't loosen, "Klavier, you're not telling me the whole truth."
He sighs," Ja... I should've know not to hide the whole truth from you. Look, I want to tell you truly I do. Now that I know that you're trans I'm...a little less afraid but I've never told anyone...and that scares me.. Just a little bit."
"You can tell me Klav...it doesn't have to be today but whenever you're ready you can tell me."
"I know and thank you schatz but I think it'd be best to tell you today. I just need to put my fears aside."
He brushes Klavier's out fringe of his eyes and kisses his cheek, "Then whenever you're ready. I'm listening."
Klavier melts into his boyfriend's touch and the small gestures make his worries almost fade away. He knows he has nothing to be scared about, Apollo loves him and will obviously accept him, all he needs to do is rip off the band-aid. "I believe that I am non-binary, or to be more specific genderfluid."
Apollo kisses him (them? He'll ask questions later) square on the lips. It's soft but also fierce. "I'm so proud of you."
Klavier kisses Apollo back with the same intensity. "Thank you liebling, thank you." Now it's Klavier's turn to get teary eyed.
He wipes away his lover's tears and cradles their face in his hands, "Of course.. but uh- questions! What pronouns do you want me to use? Do you have a different name? Or is everything the same?"
Klavier chuckles slightly and presses a kiss to Apollo's forehead. "Klavier is still what I use name wise, but as for pronouns I'm not quite sure... Well 'he' is obviously still fine but I haven't really experimented with any others. I have some in mind though."
"Like what?"
Klavier takes a moment to search for the words, "Well- like 'they' and maybe a set or two of neopronouns...like 'star'- I know it's dumb but Fräulein magician told me she was experimenting with some and they sounded... interesting so I looked into them a bit."
Apollo grabs Klavier's face again, "Hey no, it's not dumb at all, I don't use neos myself but they're great and if you want to use them then go ahead. Is there anything you don't want me too use though, or at least not around anyone else?"
They lean into the touch, "I'm still very iffy on 'she' so I'd prefer that to not be used unless I say otherwise. As for using around other people just use them around people you and I are close with until I come out publicly ja? Well... if I ever come out publicly."
"Okay. I can absolutely do that. With that out of the way, you wanna experiment with those pronouns?"
Klavier smiles at him and rest their foreheads together, "I would like that very much, thank you liebe"
"Of course."