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“You want to what?” Apollo asked the grinning blonde before him. Klavier scoffed and flipped his bangs, silver rings glinting in the light of Apollo’s office lamp. The prosecutor had come with some documents that Apollo had “neglected” to sign. “ More like he ‘forgot’ to give them to me so he had an excuse to come bother me .” The defense attorney mentally grumbled. Apollo had been in the middle of signing the documents and scanning over the words when Klavier had asked him a question.
“Have a game night. It should be fun, ja?” Klavier grinned and leaned forward, one hand on the edge of Apollo’s desk. The attorney leaned back and pressed his left index finger to his forehead in thought. Klavier’s grin turned a little to a fond smile as he watched Apollo start to poke his head as he mulled over the prosecutor’s invitation.
“That does sound like fun.” Apollo concluded after a few moments putting his arms down onto the desk and smiling. Klavier straightened up and started snapping rhymically with his right hand.
“Wunderbar!” He proclaimed. Apollo rolled his eyes and looked back at the papers. “Friday good for you?” He asked.
“Sure, if anyone else can’t do Friday, I’m pretty much free the whole weekend.” Apollo offered. He was usually free most weekends, spending the time with his cat.
“Anyone else?” Klavier questioned, his hand stopped snapping. Apollo looked up sharply.
“Yes. I would assume you would be asking other people to join. You can’t play games with two people!”
“Sure you can!” Klavier shot back. “There are plenty of games that two people can play.”
“Ugh, get your mind out of the gutter, Gavin.” Apollo gritted.
“Where is your mind, Herr Forehead?” Klavier looked at Apollo with playful astonishment. “I was merely suggesting games like chess, or checkers, you know, made for two people, but you…that was very…bold of you to think,” Klavier teased, gleefully taking in the brightening red face as Apollo glared, his mouth pinched into a cute pout.
“I-Uh-That is-” Apollo sputtered when his brain caught up to just what Klavier was implying. Klavier laughed, the sound as bright as piano keys. Apollo looked away, crinkling his nose. “So you just want it to be the two of us?”
“Ja, I’ve never hung out with just you before. I want to get to know you better. And the best way to get to know a man is over a game.” Klavier reasoned. Apollo looked up at Klavier’s earnest and eager face.
“I guess…it wouldn’t hurt. You want me to bring anything?” Apollo asked as he handed over the folder, the papers all signed.
“Just your wonderful self, Forehead.” Klavier said smiling as he took the folder. Apollo nodded and Klavier sauntered out with an “auf Wiedersehen!” Apollo sighed. This was a bad idea.
Friday came in the blink of an eye and Apollo found himself standing in front of a large frosted glass door. “How is that practical?” Apollo grumbled as his finger hovered over the doorbell. Was he really going to go through with this? A whole evening with famous international rockstar Klavier Gavin. The man’s couch was probably more than the rent for his studio apartment. Which, he could probably just go back to, make up an excuse. Maybe he could say he was sick, or Mikeko was sick. That would probably work better. Yeah. He would just turn around and-
The door swung open with Klavier leaning against the door frame smirking, his normally tightly curled blonde hair draped loosely across his back but that was the only difference.
Apollo froze, his hand still reaching for the doorbell. “Uh, Prosecutor Gavin!” Apollo blurted.
“I was wondering how long you were going to stand out here,” Klavier commented dryly, wiggling his fingers at the defense attorney. Apollo let his hand come down and there must’ve been a confused look on his face because Klavier continued, “Vongole was pacing by the door. She knew you were there.”
Ah. “Well, yes I’m here, I was just…admiring the door.” Apollo explained, folding his arms across his chest. Klavier nodded but said nothing as the sound of clicking nails against the hardwood, and a flash of gold was the only thing Apollo saw when he felt himself fall backward.
“Vongole!” Klavier cried as the dog started licking Apollo’s face, the smaller man giggling and moving his face away from the enthusiastic tongue.
“Vongole. It’s good to see you too, girl!” Apollo said through his giggles, his hands petting the fur above him. “Okay, Vongole, aus !” Apollo commanded. The dog wriggled off of the man and sat tall and pretty.
“How did you do that? I command her, hell, I actually speak the language, and it takes three or four repeats for her to listen, and you do it in one.” Klavier pouted and folded his arms. Apollo sat up and patted Vongole on the head, a reward for listening to him.
“Well, I was Mr-your brother’s assistant.” Apollo started loudly but cut off at the mention of his former boss. Apollo hunched over and looked at his knees. “I had to take care of Vongole a couple of times so…he taught me how to give her commands.” Apollo explained. Klavier nodded.
“Well, now that you’re here, would you like to come in?” Klavier asked, his hand outstretched. Apollo looked up and smiled. He grabbed the offered hand and stood up. Klavier pulled him inside, Vongole trotting behind them, rubbing against Klavier’s leg as she passed him to go to the couch. Apollo quickly took his shoes at the door once Klavier released his hand and followed him inside.
“Welcome to my humble abode.” Klavier said as Apollo put down his bag on a chair by the coffee table. Apollo took one look at the couch and hummed.
“Yep, that looks about right.” He mumbled sliding off his jacket, putting it next to his bag. He had just come from the office himself, so thankfully he hadn’t felt anxious about what he wore. He bent to open his bag and grab the bottle of white wine he had bought. He turned to Klavier and handed him the bottle.
“Oh!” The prosecutor said, his eyes widened in shock. “I told you you didn’t have to bring anything, Herr Forehead!”
“I know you did, but it’s improper to go to someone’s house without bringing something for the host.” Apollo said, rubbing a hand to the back of his neck.
“Danke. This is better chilled, so I’ll go put it on ice for now. We can open it later.” Klavier said as he turned to go into the kitchen, allowing Apollo to take a glance around the living room. It was surprisingly not as disorganized as the man’s office was, but then again, the man probably spent more time at his office than in his house. “ Workaholic ,” Apollo thought, not bothering to point out the hypocrisy of his thought. Apollo walked a bit towards the fireplace and looked at the mantle. There were various tchotchkes displayed, probably from all the different places he traveled to as a rockstar. A faberge egg, snow globes, flowers in a fancy vase, a small glass oval with a pretty night scene in blue. Apollo’s eyes took in each of the items with a focused stare. At the far end of the mantle, there was a framed picture of Klavier and, of all people, Lamiroir seated at a table. It was a candid photo so Klavier wasn’t looking at the camera. He had a bright, open smile, as if he was caught in a laugh. It was refreshing to see him so unguarded. Apollo smiled.
“That was taken shortly after we finished composing “The Guitar’s Serenade,” Klavier explained coming up behind Apollo, who gasped and flailed as he spun around. Klavier chuckled, his eyes on the photo. “I think Sam took that photo. They were always good at capturing things quickly.” Klavier mused. He sighed and turned to Apollo.
“I’m sorry.” Apollo muttered, grabbing his bracelet and twisting it.
“Why?” Klavier asked, tilting his head.
“Talking about the band makes you sad. I just-” Apollo looked down at his bracelet.
“Stop, we’ve been over this, Apollo.” Klavier said, the rare use of the attorney’s name marked how serious he was being. Apollo looked back up at the blonde when he didn’t continue. His brown eyes met crystalline blue eyes. “You did your job.” Klavier said slowly looking into the passionate brown eyes. “Daryan made his choices, as did my brother. You helped bring their crimes to light, help bring the truth out, and as you should, for you have been aptly named.” Klavier smiled a small, teasing smile at the shorter man, bending over to look him better in the face. Apollo looked away and allowed a shy smile to cross his face. “I won’t say that I don’t get sad sometimes thinking about them, but I tend to be more self-deprecating than angry with you. The only person I am angry at is them, but more for getting away with it for so long. So Schatzi, no more of this beating yourself up over what happened, hmm?” Klavier finished. Apollo nodded. “Gut.” They continued to stare at each other for a moment and Apollo swore that Klavier inched just a bit closer. Apollo chuckled and pulled back, breaking eye contact.
“So what game should we start first?” Apollo said, clearing his throat and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Klavier stood straight up and walked over to a cupboard close to the large, floor to ceiling windows that matched the ones in his office. Apollo got nervous just looking at them and resolved to stay away from that side of the room. Klavier grabbed a few cartons and boxes and came over to the couch, sitting down. Volgole sat by his feet. Apollo walked around to the other side and sat down, folding his feet under him.
“We can start with…this!” Klavier said, holding out a fabric banana, the word Bananagrams written across it. Apollo nodded and they began their game.
The conversation became less stilted and stiff after that. Apollo quickly asserted he was much better at word games than Klavier, completely wrecking him in Scrabble and Scattergories. Klavier grumbled that they were both bilingual and that it should have been a slightly even playing field, which caused Apollo to laugh. Klavier, however, was better at math games and coordination games, smashing the attorney in dominos and jenga. Klavier got up and opened the wine Apollo brought sometimes during the second round of dominos and the two quickly drank half the bottle which made playing Jenga all the more fun. Apollo pouted as the tower came crashing down during his turn, whining that both of them had been drinking and yet Klavier was still effortlessly taking each piece out with finesse and Apollo was fumbling. Klavier laughed and boasted he was German, he could hold his alcohol. Then he leaned forward, a flirty smile on his face.
“Also, I’m almost 6 foot, you’re teeny tiny, Hase,” He teased, flicking one of the spikes at the top of Apollo’s head, giggling as it bounced back and forth. Apollo leaned back and folded his arms with a pout.
“I can hold my alcohol.” He gritted, teeth clenched. Klavier laughed, pulling away and throwing his arm across the back of the couch.
“As it seems you are getting frustrated with Jenga, Schatzi, may I suggest another game?” Klavier asked as Apollo downed the rest of the wine in his glass before nodding. Klavier smiled. “Gut, how about…poker?”
Apollo sent him a look. “Um…you do realize you’d be playing against someone who literally can see nervous tells?” Apollo said, pouring another glass of wine, noting they were getting to the bottom of the bottle.
“True but you are shit at hiding your emotions as well, you’re practically an open book.” Klavier shot back, finishing his glass as well. “Hold on, I have more wine in my kitchen.” He got up and walked, as gracefully as ever, into the kitchen. Vongole’s head shot up, following the blonde’s movement with her head before putting her head down again on her paws, closing her eyes. Apollo smiled at the scene.
“When did you get Vongole?” Apollo asked. Klavier wandered back in holding an uncorked wine bottle. He poured a glass for himself and sat down again, folding one leg under him, the other bent as he draped his arm over his knee, musing.
“A little after Kristoph was imprisoned for the first time.” He answered. “It took me a bit to come back to America, had loose ends to deal with from canceling the tour, so she was in a puppy boarding center for a bit.” He took a quick drink before he noticed Apollo was twisting his bracelet, his button nose scrunched in discomfort. “Liebling?”
“You mentioned, when we first went head-to-head, during Wocky’s case, that you did that all to face me, ‘the boy who bested your brother,’” Apollo had done a pretty gravely but spot on imitation of Klavier’s accent, “You stayed after that.” Apollo noticed.
“Is there a question about the dog in here Forehead?” Klavier asked. Apollo tilted his head for a second before shaking it.
“No, I guess not.” He sighed but then giggled. “I can’t seem to remember what I was going to say.” The bracelet glinted as he twisted it.
“And you say you can hold your alcohol.” Klavier scoffed. “Back to the idea at hand, poker?”
“I guess if you don’t mind that I don’t have a lot of money right now, just paid rent.” Apollo said, looking off to the side, the tips of his ears turning pink.
“I have some poker chips. We can use that.” Klavier reasoned and Apollo’s body relaxed and he let go of his wrist. He helped Klavier put away the Jenga blocks, the usually quick task turning into a Jenga block fight when Apollo tossed a block, missing Klavier completely when the prosecutor made a joke about Apollo fumbling the blocks and hoping that he was much smoother handling more fragile material. Apollo quipped back, “Like your ego?” making Klavier throw a block at Apollo, which of course, it connected with his forehead. Apollo rubbed his forehead as he tossed another block, which hit Klavier in the shoulder. Vongole, thinking this a fun game, kept bringing back the Jenga block pieces and plopping them on the table, the two men continuing their fight and Vongole providing the ammo.
Finally, when a block almost hit Apollo in the eye, Klavier called the war off and finished putting the blocks away, despite Vongole protesting, whining.
“Ach that’s enough Clams!” Klavier gently admonished. Apollo cocked his head.
“Clams?” Apollo asked.
“Ja, the Italian word for clam is Vongole.” Klavier explained. Apollo fell back onto the couch giggling.
“What is it with Gavins naming things after inanimate objects?” Apollo asked.
“Ach! Excuse me?” Klavier scoffed, a dramatic hand gripping his chain.
“Yeah, Kristoph named the dog clams and your name means piano.” Apollo pointed out, still laughing. Klavier pouted. “You didn’t think I knew that? Ema pointed that out to me the first time I went out for drinks with her.”
“Ah. And then she probably kept up her rant about mein wunderbar personality traits, ja?” Klavier said with an eye roll.
“Yep!” Apollo chirped, his smile widening on his face. Klavier was silent as he looked at Apollo, so unguarded, the alcohol loosening the normally tightly-wound attorney. Apollo’s smile fell a little when he noticed the silence. “You okay?” He asked.
Klavier shook his head with a small jerk before painting on a bright smile. “Ja. Let’s get this game started, huh?” Klavier said, looking away and separating their chips. Apollo nodded, though Klavier couldn’t see him.
As Klavier had guessed, Apollo was stupidly easy to read. When he had a good hand, his shoulders jerked up and when he had a bad hand and was going to bluff, his nose crinkled. Klavier ended up with almost all of Apollo’s chips when the attorney sighed and rolled his eyes causing Klavier to giggle.
“I would think, considering who your boss is, that you wouldn’t be shit at this game Forehead.” Klavier teased. Apollo folded his arms with a pout as Klavier shuffled the cards.
“Well, it doesn’t matter, now does it, because you’re about to win, so we can end my misery.” Apollo grumbled.
“Ach, where’s the fun in that?” Klavier said, glancing up at Apollo. “We could always…raise the stakes…ja?” Klavier put the cards down on his knee, drinking a little more wine. Apollo dropped his arms and blearily blinked at Klavier as his brain caught up with the conversation.
“What does the prosecution propose then?” Apollo asked. Klavier smirked.
“Strip poker.”
Apollo’s face flushed, whether from the wine or from embarrassment was unclear. “Ah…” Apollo’s hand came up behind his head.
“If you want. No pressure, but it gives you a chance to win back what’s yours and, well it's getting hot in here anyway,” Klavier flipped a hand through the air. The air was tense and tight as Apollo mulled over the proposition.
“Okay.” Apollo agreed. Klavier smiled and dealt the cards. The games continued, Klavier continuing to win overall against the attorney, whose tells were getting sloppier. After about 40 minutes this was how the two stood: Apollo had lost his tie, vest, both socks, and dress shirt, leaving the attorney in his pants, more than likely briefs underneath those, and undershirt. Klavier had shed his jacket and tried to explain how each of his accessories could be considered clothing, but he lost that argument and the rings on his right hand were shed as one “garment”, the rings on his left hand and his necklace counting each as their own garment, despite Apollo’s gold bracelet not counting as a garment, to even out the fact that he wore less layers than Apollo. He also lost one of his socks at some point.
“Well, two more games and you’re pretty much done, Forehead, and I’m basically still fully dressed.” Klavier gloated, the two already having agreed that underpants don’t count and that if a player got to them, the other was the winner, the limiter put in place mostly for Apollo’s comfort. He was not as confident in the presentation of his lower half than his upper half. Apollo was silent as Klavier dealt the cards again.
A few moments later, Apollo sighed and with as much fluidity as he could, which to say he got stuck a few times trying, he threw his undershirt on the floor for his loss, rolling his eyes as Klavier took a look at the attorney’s bare chest. Blue eyes lingered on the thin, white scars underneath Apollo’s pecs. Klavier nodded toward him with a smile, not saying anything. Apollo blushed and folded his arms, looking away with a shy smile.
“Just deal the next hand rockstar, let’s finish this.” Apollo mumbled. Klavier’s smile turned into a smirk. Finally, he would get a win against the attorney, granted it was a poker game that Apollo would probably threaten the prosecutor into silence about, but it was still a win that he could have. His smirk remained as he pulled his cards up and looked to see how Apollo was going to react, hoping to see a crinkled nose, but instead meeting a completely stone faced, emotionless Apollo. Klavier’s smirk fell as Apollo locked eyes with him and raised an eyebrow, his body language not betraying a single thing about the type of hand he had been dealt. Klavier blinked rapidly as he looked back at his cards, a feeling of dread settling in the pit of his stomach.
He was right, of course, to dread, as he lost his socks and rings. He was up against Apollo Justice, The Turnabout Magician, the man who somehow magically always figures the right culprit or argument out at just the right time. Apollo was the protege of the Coolest Defense Attorney in the West and the mentee of the Turnabout Terror. Apollo, the embodiment of truth and justice and light. How did Klavier think this would go any other way?
Klavier then quickly lost the lead he had built, having been divested of both his shirt and his necklace two rounds later and the two were both down to their pants. Apollo was still quite emotionless as he watched Klavier fluidly, no flumbled limbs here, take off the shirt over his head, which was not only unnecessary as it was only held together by two closed buttons, why couldn’t he just unbutton the damn shirt? But it was also unfair how cool it looked. Apollo’s nose twitched and his cheeks darkened as his eyes darted away from Klavier’s striptease. Klavier giggled when he saw the blush on Apollo’s face.
“Only fair, ja?” Klavier teased with a smirk, “You showed me yours, I show you mine right?”
“Last round.” Apollo commented, shuffling the cards.
“Ja, I suppose it is.” Klavier looked at the clock, well past midnight. “One last round.” He repeated. “Hm. Let’s make this count, then. One last high stake?” Klavier suggested. Apollo glanced up from the cards.
“What do you have in mind?” Apollo asked.
“The winner gets to ask the other any question and must be answered with complete honesty.”
Apollo hummed. “That’s dangerous.” He said and then smirked. “Let’s do it.” Apollo said as he dealt the cards. Klavier took his hand, a low two pair made up of a pair of 4s and 7s. It wasn’t the greatest but…He glanced at Apollo. There was no expression on Apollo’s face as he surveyed his cards, damn.
“What’ll it be, Schatzi?” Klavier asked, trying to hold onto his bravado as he was dying to ask a question that he had been holding onto for quite a while. Apollo’s eyebrow raised.
“Hmm. I’m in, if you are.” Apollo said quietly, not giving an inch. Klavier slowly took in a breath, Vongole pressed a little closer to the blonde. “Of course, I could totally be lying. I think you’d like that, if I was. You’d get to ask anything about me. Anything you want, and in wanting to keep my pride, I would have to answer completely honestly, for better or for worse.” Apollo said nonchalantly as he looked over his hand. “Although…I could just as badly be wanting to ask you a question as well, so I’m hoping you lose or fold.” He continued looking back at Klavier, a fire burning in his brown eyes. “I could be bluffing, my hand could be shit, or maybe I’m not, and I’ll win. It’s really up to chance isn’t it, Prosecutor Gavin?” Apollo asked with a smirk.
Klavier glanced at his hand again. Apollo really had the chance to beat him with anything, even another two pair hand could beat him. His eyes caught Apollo’s again, seeing the familiar spark of confidence when the attorney has him on the ropes. The difference is, this time there was no hidden evidence, no decisive witness to help him throw Apollo off his track, to distract him, to give Klavier time to formulate a counter. No, this was all he had and Apollo, somehow, knew that he had won.
Klavier sighed and put his hand face down between them. “I fold Forehead, you win.” He said bringing his hands to start to remove the chains on his hips to take off his pants. Apollo’s unoccupied hand shot out and grabbed Klavier’s hand.
“Leave them. Knowing that I won is enough.” Apollo grumbled, the blush on his cheeks deepening. Klavier couldn’t even tease the attorney at that moment and just nodded. He lifted their hands and twisted his under Apollo’s hold until he had Apollo’s in an awkward shake as Apollo had grabbed Klavier’s left hand with his right.
“Good game Forehead. So what did you have that beat me?” Klavier asked. The emotionless mask that Apollo adopted melted away and he had an embarrassed smile as he flipped the cards in his left hand over to face Klavier. Klavier’s mouth dropped open in shock as his alcohol-addled brain took a little more time to check the cards. “You only had a high card?!” Klavier exclaimed. “I would have won!”
Apollo put the cards down between them and put his left hand on the back of his head, scratching his scalp as he giggled. “Yeah, you would have. Guess I did a good job bluffing, huh?” The attorney had the audacity to rub in his victory.
Klavier pouted and folded his arms, slumping over. “That’s not fair.” He mumbled.
“It totally is!” Apollo argued. “That’s like the whole point of the game!” Klavier muttered something in German as Apollo laughed. “Oh you’re such a diva!” Apollo slumped back against the cushions as Vongole popped up and laid her head on Apollo’s lap. “There you are Vongole, who’s the best girl! Huh? You are! You helped me win.”
Klavier’s head popped up. “Huh?”
“She scooted next to you when I told you I was all in.” Apollo explained rubbing the goldie’s head. “You took in a short breath, something you must do enough when you’re nervous that she recognizes that you need comfort.” He smiled as she laid her head against the thin thigh.
“You really are a magician.” Klavier breathed out, looking at the man in awe. Apollo glanced up at Klavier, his mouth slightly agape as he saw the look of admiration on Klavier’s face.
“No, just really perceptive.” Apollo corrected, then, after another moment of silent staring he cleared his throat. “Well, now I think I have a question to ask.”
“Ah yes. What do you wish to know about world-renowned international rockstar prosecutor Klavier Gavin?” Klavier said, adopting his interview swagger persona as he leaned back against the back of the couch, throwing an arm across the back and crossing his legs. “I’ll give the exclusive scoop, Forehead.” He winked.
Apollo rolled his eyes, of course the man could be so confident half-naked. Apollo’s hand twisted his bracelet as he mused over his question.
Klavier became anxious, “Any question is fine, Liebling, no worries. I promised I would be honest-
“What do you think about me? Really.” Apollo blurted, his famous Chords of Steel reverbing through the apartment. Klavier winced both from the volume and the content of the question.
“Ach…” He breathed and went to fiddle with one of his rings before belatedly remembering they had been shed during the game. Apollo waited with both hands clenched into fists in front of him, his gold bracelet glinting in the light with the small trembling movements of the attorney’s fists. “Honestly, ja?” Klavier muttered as he brought his arm back to his lap, folding his hands on top of his knee. Apollo simply stared, his eyes intensely staring right at Klavier. “At first, I really thought nothing of you. I was shocked my brother had been imprisoned and that his own student, co-worker, protege had been the one to send him there. He…mentioned you once or twice, but really in passing, nothing too concrete that stuck out at me, or maybe I didn’t care enough to pay attention.”
Klavier shrugged. “He had called me on the day of your first trial because it was my birthday. Daryan had broken the news to me of his imprisonment the next day, while I was hungover, no less. I was so angry, I will admit. I was angry that some greenhorn, no-named, attorney had taken down my older brother, Kristoph Gavin, the Coolest Defense Attorney in the West.” Klavier had waved his fingers in the air as he scoffed his brother’s nickname. Apollo was still staring, so still it seemed like he was holding his breath. “I resolved to meet you. That part was true. I wanted to meet you, test you, see that it wasn’t a fluke. I read the transcript and I wasn’t impressed. Wright did most of the heavy lifting for you. Kristoph…if you weren’t the lead attorney the trial would have ended much sooner, and Kristoph knew that, it was what led to his downfall.” Klavier looked away and started flicking at his bangs.
Apollo then looked away and put his hands on his lap. “I’m not done Schatzi, there’s still quite a ways to go.” Klavier continued. Apollo nodded but didn’t lift his eyes. “I didn’t have a high opinion of your abilities as an attorney and if they didn’t have a picture of you in the paper, I wouldn’t have even recognized you when you and Fräulein Trucy were trying to get into People Park. I admit, the whole ‘I’ve ever felt this way with a man’ line was, at the time, a complete joke and I did it for kicks and giggles but…” Klavier cut off, turning his head to look at Apollo and waited until the attorney looked up, “You were nothing like I expected when we got to court. I expected you to fumble, and you did. It was your second trial after all, I expected you to succumb to the pressure and fold under it all, but you didn’t.” Klavier’s tone turned fond. “You kept hitting back, kept hammering at it. Did you need a little help from Fräulein Trucy to buy you a little time?”
“I knew you knew that was bullshit.” Apollo muttered with a scoff. Klavier laughed.
“She fooled the judge and the galley which was all that mattered.” Klavier continued. “I still didn’t think much of your ability in court but you were interesting to me. That’s why I gave you-
“Made me pay for-” Apollo interrupted to clarify.
“The tickets to my concert.” Klavier continued over Apollo’s grumbling. “It was…my selfish way to try to make you see me…you were so unfazed by my stardom, something I have come to appreciate about you now, but at the time I was frustrated. You saw a look-a-like of my brother first, when we met at the park, before you saw me. Something that hadn’t happened for a long time. You saw me as a prosecutor, something I was running from, scared and ashamed of, that you brought back to me, whether I wanted it or not. I didn’t realize these feelings at the time and was adamant about pushing them down. You…have a terrible habit of dragging the truth to the surface, kicking and screaming, Schatzi.” Klavier pointed out, causing the attorney to blush.
Klavier took a breath as he continued, “I think the moment you changed my view on you, when I started seeing you as a competent attorney, was when you stood up to me in my office during the investigation. You remember?” Klavier asked. Apollo rubbed the back of his head with his hand, face scrunched in thought. “I had teased you, thanked you for telling me about igniter, called you naïve. And you just looked at me straight in my…well you looked up at my eyes, folded your arms, smirked, and said, ‘I could say the same…to you Prosecutor Gavin’.” Klavier looked away and flicked his hair, chuckling. “It took me aback, I'll admit. Not many people put me in my place like you do. You…were so good in that trial. You took everyone of my challenges and arguments head on, and with such swagger and confidence. Never backed down and…you did what I couldn’t. You saw through Daryan’s bravado and proved the impossible.” Klavier smiled.
“No, I didn't prove it.” Apollo bit out, folding his arms across his chest. “That was the problem. That’s why we had to deal with the whole Jurist thing.”
“Because Phoenix Wright knew. That he wouldn’t be able to catch Kristoph with evidence alone. My brother was too crafty to be caught that way. He was careful, and meticulous. Despite the fact that Phoenix Wright had crafted the whole thing and pulled the two of us like puppets, you were a Godsend during that trial. I was…blinded by Kristoph. I wanted so badly to dismantle your case. I tried everything, if only to hide from the truth of it. I was drowning in the darkness, so far under that I couldn’t even speak. You, though, you kept needling, kept pressing, kept presenting. You kept fighting, against a man who, I will assume, you looked up to at some point. Your brightness, your light, I was drawn to it, and I grabbed it, used it to fight my way out of that darkness. You stood up to my brother, giving me the strength to stand up to him, too…We make a great team, Apollo…” Klavier smiled, a bright, genuine smile, dimples and all.
Apollo stared at the prosecutor as if seeing him for the first time. “That was a lot of information, Prosecutor, care to give a closing statement?” Apollo quipped but his voice was small and timid.
Klavier flicked his bangs, “The Prosecution’s argument stands as follows: Apollo Justice, at first you infuriated me, I wanted to hate you. But then I got to know you, as an attorney, as a person, and then as a friend. I think you are brilliant, passionate, strong, kind…I may have meant it as a joke when I said that meeting you was the first time I had ever felt this way with a man but now, I mean it. I…not many people get to see Klavier Gavin the way you do.” Klavier was rubbing his thumb against his middle finger. “The wine, it’s getting to me.” He said, looking away from Apollo.
They were silent for a while letting the words settle between them. Klavier sighed after a moment, “I think-” Klavier started to say before a movement came from the corner of his eye.
“Can I kiss you?” Apollo blurted leaning forward, his hands wringing in front of him. Klavier’s head whipped up to look at brown eyes. Klavier’s mouth dropped open. “Uh. That is-um…am I reading this wrong? I’m not the best at reading romantic situations…” Apollo muttered his eyes looking around Klavier’s body, like he was looking for something specific.
Klavier finally regained the function in his brain to the view of Apollo panicking. “Schatzi?” Klavier questioned, grabbing one of Apollo’s hands, forcing the defense attorney’s eyes to meet Klavier’s again. “Are you sure?” Klavier asked. “We’ve…drunk quite a bit…I…you…you’re under no obligation.”
“Shut up and just answer the question, Gavin.” Apollo commanded. Klavier took Apollo’s other hand and leaned forward.
“If you want an answer, then why don’t you use my name?” Klavier teased with a smirk. Apollo’s face flushed and scrunched in.
“Can you just answer the question…Klavier…” Apollo asked again.
Klavier looked up in thought. “Hmmm, I seem to have forgotten the question.” He said innocently. Apollo rolled his eyes.
“Can I kiss you, Klavier?” Apollo asked quietly, looking at the blue eyes of the prosecutor again. Klavier smiled.
“Yes.” He answered clearly and closed the gap between the two of them, pressing his lips firmly against the defense attorney’s.
One kiss turned into two, and two turned into many more, all the feelings they didn’t say, couldn’t say, being pressed between them. Klavier finally decided that they should turn in for the night, and reluctantly parted. The feeling must have been mutual if the pout on Apollo’s face was any indication. Klavier chuckled as he stood up, offering Apollo the guest room, as it was way too late for Apollo to go home and they had both been drinking, thus Klavier couldn’t take Apollo home by hog or car. Apollo nodded and Klavier set about getting the room ready while Apollo collected his clothes, sliding his undershirt on and laying his dress shirt and suit vest on the back of the chair next to his bag. Klavier came back into the room with a pile of folded clothes.
“These are the smallest things I have, you will probably have to roll up the pants…quite a bit…I think I was your height when I was in 6th grade, and all the clothes I wore then were given away a long time ago.” He smiled, presenting the pile of clothes to Apollo who glared up at him.
“Shut up…” Apollo muttered, taking the clothes and walking past the prosecutor towards the bathroom. Klavier chuckled and started to clean up the living room, to give himself something to do. He put the wine glasses in the sink, he’d get to them tomorrow, and put the open wine bottle in the refrigerator. Vongole trotted behind him and panted.
“Ach, Clams, I’m sorry. I didn’t take you out for a walk. Come on, at least you can go on the pad outside and we can go for an extra long walk tomorrow, ja?” He promised. Vongole just wagged her tail and panted happily, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Klavier smiled and walked to the terrace door, opening it and stepping outside. Vongole walked over to the little pad in the corner of the space, a patch of astroturf grass that Klavier had gotten for her to use to do her business during the day when he was at work. His hours had been a lot more than his brother’s were so in the early days, he would come home to an accident. It had actually been Ema who suggested getting the pad and special door installed. Vongole seemed much happier as a result, and Klavier often found her out on the enclosed terrace sleeping when he got home.
The sound of the door sliding open took him out of his thoughts and he turned to see Apollo standing at the door, dressed in Klavier’s clothes which Klavier had no problem admitting that he quite liked the sight of. The spikes that stood tall on top of his head were down, mostly, the part that was closest to the root stuck up a little bit, bringing the two pieces of hair slightly away from his face. Apollo noticed the staring and rubbed his, now, bare wrist. He must've taken off the bracelet when he changed.
“What, it’s just hair.” Apollo grumbled.
Klavier laughed, “Firstly, it’s like my hair, you rarely see it out of it’s style so it takes a moment to adjust, ja? Secondly, I’ve never seen you without your bracelet.” He pointed to the ring of lighter skin around Apollo’s left wrist which Apollo immediately grabbed and covered. “I didn’t think you ever took it off.”
“Well, now you know. I can’t take a shower with it on and…I’ve hit myself in my sleep so I take it off.” Apollo grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. Klavier laughed. Apollo walked so he was standing next to Klavier, staring straight out at the skyline. “It’s quiet.” He commented, keeping his voice low.
Klavier hummed. “Ja, it is. You’re okay out here?” Klavier asked, looking at Apollo, knowing about his fear of heights.
“Yeah, as long as I don’t get too close to the railings, I’m okay. Not the greatest, rather be inside, but not as bad.” Apollo explained.
“Well, then we will go inside.” Klavier said turning, Apollo following and Vongole following the both of them. Klavier let Apollo pass and closed the door. Vongole trotted down the hall towards the bedrooms. “Well, it looks like she made the decision for us to go to bed.”
Apollo chuckled, “I guess so, thanks again for letting me stay over.” Apollo said, rubbing his head as the two walked down the hall. They reached the doors to each bedroom and stood staring at each other in the hallway.
“No worries,” Klavier said, waving a hand in the air gracefully. “A man could get used to this, you know?” He leaned forward to peer into Apollo’s face at eye level with the other man.
Apollo giggled and blushed, a sight that Klavier never tired of seeing. Apollo smiled. “Yeah I guess I do.” He admitted.
“Can I kiss you, Liebling?” Klavier asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Apollo nodded.
“You can.” Apollo said, leaning forward pressing their lips together again. It was a short kiss this time, the two pulling back as Apollo began to yawn, covering his mouth.
“Sweet dreams, Sonnenschein.” Klavier said as he stood up straight.
“That’s a new one.” Apollo pointed out, putting his hand down. Klavier smirked.
“It is. One as bright as your name.” Klavier said. “Get some rest. I’ll make you breakfast in the…well when you wake up.”
“Okay, night…Klavier…” Apollo said with a quick giggle, turning into the room and closing the door. Klavier smiled and turned into his room quickly getting ready for bed himself.
That night, instead of the same nightmare of cold blue eyes, bright blue spots, and tight chains, he dreamed of sparkling brown eyes, a bright smile, and the sun.