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Apollo could quite comfortably say that it was too cold out to exist, and judging by the pink plush on Trucy’s cheeks, she would do nothing but agree. Even with thick, drawn up coats and scarfs wrapped carefully around their necks the cold found a way to seep in, caressing their skin and sinking down into their bones.
There was a light dusting of snow covering their shoulders, and it drifted down from the sky seemingly without end. There were only a few spare flakes, but it had been snowing for hours, and Apollo was beginning to wonder if it would ever stop. Trucy had seemed to like it at first- snow day, Apollo, she had beamed, delighted at the prospect of no school- but now she drew closer to him, trembling beneath all her layers. He took pity on her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He wouldn’t lie- the shared warmth helped him too.
There were Christmas songs all playing in the shops surrounding them, maddeningly repetitive, and Apollo was almost glad for the wind howling in his ears, drowning out the drone. If he heard It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas one more time, Apollo feared for the safety of everyone around him.
“Just a little more,” Apollo promised, squeezing Trucy’s gloved hand with his own. “I just need to grab a present for Ema.” He was going to take forever choosing because he had no clue what he was going to get her- something sciency was his only clue- but she didn’t need to know that.
She whined softly, but he brought her a hot chocolate from a nearby coffee shop, with what looked like more cream and marshmallows than actual liquid, and she would follow people to the ends of the earth for that.
He guided her around for another hour, hunting for the perfect gift and hoping if it was good enough he wouldn’t be pelted with Snackoo’s for a few more months. He considered just buying her a massive bag of them, but he wouldn’t give her weapons to maim him with, and he imagined everyone else in the world had already had that idea.
He was close to giving up, going home and cranking up the heat when it happened.
“Ach, Fraulein,” A familiar voice said from behind them. “You look cold.”
Caught off guard, Trucy and Apollo both turned, perfectly in sync, and found Klavier Gavin standing only two feet away, grinning away at them in that irritating way of his. He was wrapped up just as warmly as they were, in a long purple- of course- coat, and there was snow melting against his hair. He looked perfectly comfortable in the cold, but the man looked comfortable everywhere.
“Klavier!” Trucy squealed, delighted, and Apollo only had time to faintly wonder when she had stopped calling him Prosecutor Gavin before she was darting forward, and Klavier’s arms spread wide to catch her in a hug. She leapt at him, like they were the best of friends, and squeezed him tightly. He even lifted her off the floor a little.
Apollo looked around, as if to check that other people could see this happening, but the few people brave or stupid enough to chance the snowy streets were not interested. With their own intentions and hands full of bags, they bustled on past without a single glance.
“Am I missing something?” He asked them, as Klavier settled Trucy back on her feet, but he went ignored. They both grinned at each other, pleased.
“You’re warm,” She sounded relieved and looked unwilling to let go. She had her arms around his waist and his around her shoulders. “Warmer than Polly.”
“Well, he’s so little he must lose heat much quicker,” Klavier mused, and Apollo immediately squawked, outraged. He wasn’t that small, Klavier just happened to be a goddamn giant and that wasn’t fair at all-
Trucy laughed, long and loud, and Apollo simmered in silence. He knew he wouldn’t be listened to anyway, until, “I’m amazed Polly’s taller than me.”
He wasn’t going to let that slide. “I’m twenty two!”
“You’re a very cold looking child, then,” Klavier looked to him, and unwrapped one arm from Trucy. He held it out to Apollo, and the man looked at it, squinting like it was a bundle of tentacles. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Gavin was some kind of alien attempting to infiltrate human society, accidentally making a human too perfect to be normal. “Want me to warm you up?”
“Certainly not,” Apollo immediately said, fiercely, and Klavier pouted. Apollo could feel the flush burning on his cheeks. They were friends, sure, but he wasn’t going to hug the man. He would never hear the end of it.
“Suit yourself,” He said, returning his arm as Trucy snuggled in closer to his chest. “Your sister is kinder to me anyway.”
Apollo resisted the urge to flip him off. Sometimes, he thought he had the patience of a saint.
-
From across the crime scene, Ema was glowering at him, and Apollo was ignoring her even as the burning sensation on the side of his head was driving him insane.
He made a point of looking firmly down at the chalk outline, resisting the urge to smudge it just to spite her. He liked her well enough, but he wasn’t in the mood for her behaviour today.
Apollo breathed softly and slowly through his mouth, incredibly self-conscious of the slight noise, and hoped no one called him out on it. He sniffed now and again, hard, but his nose was too blocked to properly breathe.
He hated colds.
He spent most of the time at the crime scene feeling sorry for himself, wondering why the hell he had let Mr Wright push the case off to him instead of Athena, and this was what happened when he stayed out all morning to make snowmen and angels with Trucy, but he couldn’t say no to her. Few people could, and they probably weren’t human.
Either way, he had made his bed, and now he had to lie in it. He rubbed at his nose with the back of his hand, furiously, and prayed it would be gone before his court dates. He didn’t want to be sneezing all the way through the witness testimony, not after Klavier made fun of his ‘tiny kitten’ sneezes.
Speak of the devil.
“Herr Forehead,” A voice called out, and Apollo closed his eyes and exhaled, trying to suppress the wave of irritation that crashed through him.Why now, he thought, why me?
He suppressed the vague annoyance and turned to see the obvious, the only person who dared called him Herr Fucking Forehead because despite all the irritation, Klavier was the only one Apollo would never suplex straight to the floor for it. He smiled, seeing the prosecutor standing on the other side of the hall, and made his way on over.
“Guten tag, Apollo,” He greeted, stepping forward. He was clutching thick folders to his chest, no doubt details on this case. Apollo was positive Ema was still watching them, with her evil eyes, and she hadn’t seemed willing to share the information with him. “I didn’t know you were on this case.”
Apollo arched a brow. “I’ve been on almost every case you’ve been on for the past few months. Aren’t you sick of my face?”
Klavier temporarily faltered, hearing Apollo’s slightly throaty sick voice, but he must have thought he was imaging it. Apollo certainly wasn’t imagining the aching pain in his throat. Klavier shook his head, and continued, unperturbed. “I’d never be sick of your lovely face, especially that godly forehead.”
Godly, hah. Very funny, Klavier, I’ve never heard that one before.“Charmer,” Apollo said, sarcastically, the effect slightly ruined when his throat stumbled over the word- you had one job, throat- and Klavier’s eyes finally narrowed. He leant forward, hands firmly on his hips.
“Are you alright, Apollo?” He sounded concerned, much more than Mr Wright had been. “You don’t sound right. Too much Chords of Steel, perhaps?”
Apollo glowered at him, and Klavier couldn’t help but snort at his expression. “Back of the Chords of Steel,” He warned, but nodded. “I’m ill. None of that until I get better.”
Klavier frowned deeply. “If you’re sick, what are you doing here?”
Apollo pulled a face. “Working, investigating, the usual. Mr Wright’s busy with other stuff, so I have to take on the case. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy about it, but someone needs to defend, right?”
“You shouldn’t be working,” Klavier told him, one hand on his hip. “You sound terrible.”
“Thanks so much,” Apollo turned his nose up at him. “We can’t all have voices as lovely as yours.”
Apollo thought he knew Klavier fairly well. He thought Klavier would take the bait without hesitation- ach, Herr Forehead, you think my voice is lovely? How kind of you to finally admit it. Klavier was that kind of the man, the one who hated to be wrong and basked in compliments.
It went to show how barely Apollo knew him when Klavier did arch his brow, questioningly, but he let the sideways compliment slide. “You should go home and rest.” He dropped his gaze to the folders in his arms, frowning at them thoughtfully for a moment. “Here,” He eventually said, and he pulled one of the folders from his grip, and pressed it into Apollo’s chest. “This is some information on this terrible crime. Give it to your Fraulein, have her take the case.” Klavier looked at him, almost serious if it wasn’t for the visible playful shine in his eyes. “I can’t go up against you in court and have a fair victory if you’re not at your best, ja?”
“I can’t just-” Apollo began to protest the dismissal, but he accepted the folder willingly. He wouldn’t turn down preparation help, especially when he had so little.
“Apollo,” Klavier interrupted him, and Apollo’s jaw shut sharply with a click. Klavier had that rare authorities note in his voice, the kind he only used when dealing with particularly difficult witnesses. “Go home and get better, for me?”
Apollo couldn’t argue with that. He clutched the folder tightly to his chest, and stammered faintly, but, but. Klavier shuffled his own papers, moving them onto his hip and Apollo thought he was going to get pushed all the way to the door, guided off the premises and he opened his mouth to argue, he wasn’t going to get manhandled- but Klavier pulled him instead of pushing, closer than Apollo had ever been to the man, and hugged him tightly with one arm.
Apollo froze. That was not at all what he had been expecting- the very last thing he thought might happen. His arms were pulled up tight against Klavier’s chest, and oh god, he was so warm. Klavier held him close almost like he didn’t want to let go, ridiculous as that line of thought was, and Apollo could feel his chin tapping gently on the top of his head. The man was too damned tall, and too caring and god Trucy was right-
Oh god no, he thought, realising that the warmth was spreading to his chest and there was a boiling heat building up in his cheeks. He was painfully glad that Athena had taken Trucy off that afternoon, otherwise she would never ever let him hear the end of it. But maybe Klavier wouldn’t have hugged him then, maybe it was something just for them.
No. He was blowing it out of proportion, thinking about it too much. He had to be.
But fuck was all Apollo could think when Klavier finally released him. The cold came rushing back like icy waves, and Klavier took a swift step back, the distance between them not much, it suddenly it felt like they were on opposite ends of a dark, empty ravine. Apollo had no idea where these feelings had leapt out from, but they had caught him off guard, beat him around the head and were now holding him hostage.
Klavier looked faintly apologetic, but he didn’t voice it. Instead, he reached up and brushed his hair back, avoiding his eyes. “It’s for the best, Herr Forehead.” He sounded carefully distant. “I don’t want you getting any worse.”
“Right,” Apollo was too stunned to say anything else. He watched as Klavier looked around to see if anyone was watching- it was only Ema, and Apollo couldn’t bear to look at her face- before smiling at Apollo with a thin mouth. “I should, uh-“
“Yes, you should,” Klavier rolled with that, instead of leading with uncertainty. “I have other things to do- preparing for the case, for example. Do give that to your Fraulein, and give Fraulein Magician my best, ja?” He lifted his hand, gesturing towards him as if to clap his hand against Apollo’s shoulder like he sometimes did upon parting- but he stopped dead, as if catching himself, and dropped his hand again. He looked a touch regretfully. “I will see you another time, perhaps.”
“Right,” Apollo said, sounding uncomfortably like a stuck record, and Klavier turned away without another word. He crossed the room in long strides that lacked the confidence he usually moved with.
Apollo watched him go, eyes wide, still clutching the folder to his chest. He didn’t even register the sound of footsteps coming up behind him.
“I can’t believe you hugged the fop,” Ema sounded disgusted, and Apollo sighed.
-
There was a warm arm slung across his hips, and as the cold reach of winter sunk slowly into Apollo’s apartment and bones, he found himself grateful for it.
He whined softly into the pillow, intelligibly, and from behind him Klavier shuffled up closer, pressing his bare chest up against Apollo’s back. He was hot, so hot, and he chased away the cold.
“I have no idea how you’re sleeping in just boxers,” Apollo murmured, still sleepy. The morning was too cold for any of that nonsense, and Apollo had padded himself out in sweat pants and an admittedly flimsy shirt. Klavier had tried to coax him out of it, but had backed down when Apollo refused, point blank.
“I’m used to it,” Klavier replied, his head tucked into the space between Apollo’s throat and shoulder. His breath was burning against the sensitive skin, and Apollo sighed softly. “I toured in Russia for a while. You don’t know cold, American.”
Apollo groaned softly rather than reply, and he could feel Klavier’s laugh more than he heard it. The man pulled him closer yet, hand curling protective around his waist, and he slipped the other underneath Apollo, tilting him until Klavier was practically cradled him. Apollo tried his best not to melt into the warmth, but Klavier pressed tiny kisses along his shoulder, and that was it, he was gone, thank you and goodbye, that’s all she wrote.
Trucy had told him years ago that Klavier’s hugs were out of this world, some of the most comforting she had ever felt. They were warm and caring and they made you feel safe, like in that moment there was not a single thing in the world that could hurt you. She hugged him in greeting and hugged him in farewell, and she always beamed at him. Apollo hadn’t believed her, until the crime scene.
He felt the safest he ever had in his life, just caught up in Klavier’s octopus arms.
“You’re a cuddle monster,” He said, voice slurred because he was tired and warm and content, for the first time in a very long while. His hands slipped down to curl around Klavier’s, the thumb rubbing against the bottom of his ribs stilling at the touch. Every inch of his skin was hot and burnt into his memory, and Apollo would know him blind.
Klavier laughed again, rumbling, but he didn’t say a word.
They lay there in the quiet, both thinking.
“I did know you were on that case,” Apollo remembered Klavier saying almost a year ago now, eyes sad and his lips pink and kiss swollen, only moments after he murmured ich liebe dich and changed Apollo’s entire world, for the better. “I lied. I asked Herr Cravat to give me your cases.”
“Really,” Apollo said, still capable of being wry even when his eyes were owlish and his lips tingled. “I had no idea. Of course I knew, gillipollas,you were there every damn time I turned around.”
Klavier frowned, probably wondering what the hell gillipollas meant, but Apollo caught his chin with his fingers and drew his down for another kiss, this one longer, and more enthusiastic- not filled with surprise. Klavier was still for a moment longer, almost reluctant, but then his arms laced around Apollo and the man could taste his smile. The warmth had come rushing back, the exact kind Apollo could feel right now, curled up in bed, and it hadn’t left since.
“I’m going to google that, you know,” Klavier said when they finally pulled away, apparently completely unable of basking in the warmth in silence that Apollo preferred, and Apollo patted at his face, pawing at his cheek.
“You do that,” He said, already looking forward to his affronted expression.