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He feels it the minute Trucy strides into the office extra early.
Apollo ignores her because he's in the middle of building a case. His client's name was Avea Ree. His current evidence pile consists of an autopsy report Ema graciously gave to him, a fingerprint-less Swiss-army knife covered in the victim's blood, a whistle found just outside of the crime scene, and a diamond ring. So far, he's come up with jackshit. He sent Athena to the detention center to try and coax out a bit more from their client, but until then he's likely stumped.
That makes it all the more easy for Trucy to walk up to his desk with her hands behind her back, jumping up and down with the balls of her feet with an expression that screams, "I need something from you."
So, without even looking up, Apollo asks, "What do you want?"
"Well, hello to you too, Polly," she smiles.
"Hello," he echoes, "What do you want?"
"You busy?" she begins to fiddle with the Swiss-army knife.
"Yes," he replies, "Put that down, that's evidence."
"Hmm," she hums, sliding down the knives. "You've been hauled up in this office all day, haven't you?"
"Went out to the scene this morning and brought back the evidence to build a case. Now, c'mon, stop playing with that."
She ignores him. "How about ice cream?" she asks.
Apollo furrows his eyebrows. "No thank you?"
"Not for you," she shakes her head, "For Klavier."
Apollo splutters at the name. "W-What?"
"I owe him ice cream," Trucy explains, beginning to practise one of her pen tricks with the knife which is probably not safe for Apollo, not so much for Trucy, especially in this proximity. "I'm too busy to take him out so I told him you'd take him."
"You already told him?"
Trucy looks away. "You could use the break, Polly."
"I'm not taking Gavin out for ice cream!"
There are many reasons for Apollo's aversion. The first and most pressing one is probably his current case, still very much unsolved, with no solid defense built up whatsoever. The second is… well it was the last time he and Klavier saw each other. At his apartment, in his bed, with a ridiculous celibacy-pillow in between them that proved to be very ineffective as they started the night whispering to each other and ended it with kissing. He still can't really wrap his head around the fact that that actually happened, but what followed after is the real reason why he's pretty hesitant to see Klavier again.
The door closed with a soft thud as Trucy retreated back into the living room, leaving Klavier and Apollo to just… stare at each other again. It was hard to tell what the next right move was when both of them basically froze. It was a few minutes of looking into Klavier's blue eyes until the prosecutor finally spoke.
"It's late," he had said then, looking shy to still be whispering so close to him. Apollo could see the faint blush on his cheeks so clearly. "We should sleep."
The words barely even registered in Apollo's mind. He was still too busy watching Klavier's lips move instead of listening to them.
"Right," he said eventually, backing away slightly as he gathered the blankets up to his chest. "Good night, Gavin."
"Guten Nacht, Herr Forehead," Klavier said and turned around.
When morning came, he couldn't bring himself to look Klavier in his eyes.
"Look, I've been really nice holding back on all the questions I want to ask," Trucy says at the present, swinging the knives around, oh holy mother. "But I'm not just gonna pretend I didn't see anything that night!"
"Didn't ask you to, Trucy. And, please, put the knives down."
"I just don't get it!" Trucy ignores him, "If you're comfortable enough to share a bed with him, why can't you just tell him how you feel?"
Apollo leans away from her even as he tries to reach for the knives. "Trucy, please—"
"I'm presenting you with a very rare opportunity, mind you," she continues, "You know, I do enjoy spending time with Klavier and I'm still going to let you do this for me. Because I know you want to!"
"Trucy just—"
"It's simple, really! Tell him you like him! Share a sundae! Invite him over to sleep in your bed again, I don't know!"
"Truce, you gotta let me just—"
"You know, even Klavier was iffy about all of this. He's probably just as nervous as you are!"
"Trucy, please put the knife down!"
She unsheaths another knife. This time, something falls out with it; a folded up piece of paper. Trucy sets the knife down to retrieve and unravel it.
"It's a cheque," she says, "Three thousand, uncashed."
Apollo grabs the paper to examine it himself. Like Trucy said, it's a cheque; addressed to his client for three thousand dollars.
"Where'd you find the knife, Polly?"
"Next to the victim," he says, "Said to be the murder weapon but there were no prints."
"COD?"
"Stab wound through the head. Small but bled out enough to get him," Apollo recalls, trying to make a connection with the cheque in his hand.
Trucy walks over to his side of the table. "Think it could be important?"
"Maybe," Apollo tells her, "Mr. Ree said he was trying to get something that day. Something valuable but he wouldn't say. Figured he meant the ring but this… this has his name on it."
"Oh, Polly," Trucy gasps, "He's not guilty, is he?"
"He didn't kill that guy," Apollo states. "But this might get him to say something," he holds the cheque up.
Trucy claps. "Great, a breakthrough! I'll take the cheque to Athena on the way back to rehearsal and you take Klavier out for ice cream!"
Apollo drops the cheque on his desk. "Trucy, I can't just—"
"C'mon, I already said you'd do it," she pouts and… well, that's just unfair. Apollo's clueless on how to deal with a pouting Trucy other than to let her have whatever she wants.
He breathes in.
"... Fine."
Trucy squeals, "Thank you!"
She grabs the cheque and heads for the door. But before she goes out, she turns back to Apollo and calls him, "Polly?"
He turns to the door. "What?"
She grins. "Don't chicken out."
She shuts the door and leaves Apollo there alone, barely ready to resign himself to fate.
╎╎╎
He feels it immediately as the door opens.
Apollo (begrudgingly) biked to the Criminal Affairs Department as soon as he tidied up his workspace. If Trucy were still there, she'd comment on how slowly he was placing back the files but, lucky for Apollo, she wasn't. The receptionist wasted no time in letting Apollo go up though he wouldn't have minded if she took her time. Next thing he knew, he was on the elevator, heading up to Klavier's floor.
He was about to knock when the door bursts open.
"Ah—Herr Forehead!" Klavier exclaims, stepping back, "Trucy just texted that you were coming, I wasn't sure if she was serious."
"H-Hey," Apollo replies, "Yeah. Don't know why she's making me run errands for her."
At that, Klavier chuckles. "Isn't that just business as usual?"
"Ha-ha, very funny, Gavin," Apollo deadpans, "If you still want your ice cream to be free, get your ass ready in five minutes."
"Achtung, I'll do it in two!"
It's three minutes after that they arrive at the first floor. Klavier says his goodbyes to the receptionist and guides them to the parking lot because, "There's no reason for you to use your bike when I have a perfectly usable car, Herr Forehead."
They hang the bike on the back and drive to the nearest ice cream parlour.
When they arrive it's immediately evident that they're out of place. There's streamers and balloons everywhere and definitely a lot more children than usual.
"Apologies for the noise, there's a birthday party being held. Anyway, what can I get for you?" the girl manning the parlour asks once they step up to check out the flavours.
"Hmm," Klavier hums, turning to Apollo. "What do you want?"
He examines them. "I usually get Cookies 'n Cream."
"How ordinarily you," Klavier muses with a smile.
He turns back, "What's that supposed to mean?"
He shakes his head. "Nothing. We'll have two medium-sized cups of that, bitte."
The attendant gets the ice cream ready and they pay. When they walk towards tables, they find that there's no place for them to sit.
"I don't suppose you allow food in your car?" Apollo asks.
"Usually, ja," Klavier replies, turning to him, "But for now, how about a walk, Herr Forehead?"
Apollo couldn't find any reason to say no.
He should'vefound a reason to say no.
Klavier guides them to People Park and it reminds him too much of the first time he went here even though Trucy had dragged there multiple times since then ("You have to get your exercise, Polly!"). He remembers that smug little grin Klavier wore on his face, approaching him with the confidence and charisma Apollo could only replicate a quarter of on a good day. He remembers him bending down to look him in the eyes and say, "This is the first time I've felt this way with a man."
Apollo can't really remember a lot else of what they talked about that day but that one line always stuck with him. What exactly did he mean by that anyway?
"Do you think the Kitakis are doing well these days?" Klavier asks him, clearly on the same page as Apollo.
He can sort of see what used to be the entrance of their estate. He can still remember the paint Mrs. Kitaki was busy trying to clean off. He still shudders at the sound of that sword.
"They're doing alright," Apollo tells him, "Wocky's in school now. Well, he's trying to. I catch him cutting all the time, but he's putting in the effort to pass somehow."
"You still keep in touch?" Klavier says, lips upturned.
"Yeah," Apollo turns to him, "What's that smile?"
"What smile?"
"That smile," Apollo gestures to him, "Like you're amused."
"I am amused," he chuckles. "I think it's nice that you keep in touch with your clients."
"Yeah, with how little there are, it's not very hard to do," Apollo shrugs, "Besides, their muffins are great. Trucy begs me to buy them all the time."
"Ah, ja. She's suggested we go there for lunch sometime."
That makes Apollo pause, feeling a sudden hit of unease. He keeps walking to try and mask it but Klavier sees the shift in his expression easily.
"Is something wrong?" Klavier asks him.
"Well, no," he tells him, "I don't think so but—"
The prosecutor waits until he responds, not even eating his ice cream.
Eventually, Apollo continues. "Don't you think it's a bad idea for Trucy to go on tour?"
The realisation hits Klavier immediately. "Ah."
"And I'm not saying I'm gonna stop her if she wants to do it! But I'm just… concerned," he explains, feeling dumb now that he's said it out loud and to Klavier no less.
"Nein, I understand," Klavier says, "I merely suggested it to the fraulein. Nothing concrete yet. Bitte, I don't even have an album."
"Right, right" Apollo nods and then shakes his head. "You're right. I'm thinking about this way too much."
Klavier shrugs. "Vielleicht. Though I think it's sweet you care so much about her."
"She's practically my little sister at this point," he says and immediately recoils, "Don't tell her I said that."
"That would make Herr Wright your Papa," he chuckles.
"God," Apollo groans, "Now that just feels wrong."
Klavier continues to laugh at him to which Apollo pointedly ignores. He finishes up the rest of his ice cream and tosses it to a nearby trash can. They decide to take a little break before heading back to the car and sit down at a bench.
"There's bird poop everywhere," Apollo complains, "Don't lean on that, it's disgusting."
Klavier scooches closer to Apollo. "Would this be better?"
He flushes. "S-Sure."
He feels his heart lurch in his chest. All evening, he's pushed the memories of that night (morning?) to the back of his mind just to stay sane but being able to be this close to Klavier again, it's all rushing back. It's a miracle how easy conversation has been with how much they've left unsaid.
"Gavin—"
"Herr Forehead—"
They freeze.
Apollo pushes himself back to make space and, softly chuckling as he says, "It's funny how you can call Trucy by her first name and not me."
Klavier tilts his head. "Would you like that for us?"
Apollo looks up. "Huh?"
"I'll only call you Apollo if you call me Klavier," he says.
Apollo thinks about Klavier calling him by his name, with that sense of familiarity that comes with it. It seems strange, a little unsettling. For some reason, it feels like boundaries that aren't supposed to be crossed but still make complete sense.
"Okay," Apollo decides. "Let's do that."
That makes Klavier smile. "Okay… Apollo?"
Apollo can't help the unease in his chest, fluttering and loud. It's gonna take a while to get used to that.
"Yeah?" he asks.
"Why did you kiss me?"
His heart sinks further in his chest, could've even jumped out from his mouth. All his words get stuck in his throat.
"That night when I told you," Klavier continues, "You didn't… well, you didn't say anything back."
Apollo swallows the lump in his throat.
"I—"
He tries to look at Klavier but he's faced with a stare so direct, he feels his face blush furiously.
"God, why is this so hard?" Apollo groans in his hands.
"Was?" Klavier asks.
Apollo pulls his hands away from his face slowly. "N-Nothing."
"Apollo, bitte, listen," he calls, "If you don't feel the same way as me, that's fine. But what you did after what I said… I'm not sure if I'm supposed to believe your words or your actions."
"No!" Apollo exclaims, "No, I—I d-do. Feel the same way. I just—are you sure?"
Klavier furrows his eyebrows. "Wie bitte? You're asking me if I'm sure?"
He bites his lips and slowly nods. "Y-Yeah."
The prosecutor shakes his head. "And what makes you think I'm not?"
Apollo splutters, "W-Well, look at me! Then look at you! We're completely different! You're famous and successful and I'm barely scraping by. The entire courtroom watches in awe of how you work and I'm always just there badgering the witness until I find a weak spot. We're not exactly compatible from a third party perspective."
It's the reason why he was so hesitant to talk to Klavier again that morning. He was afraid Klavier would say it was a fluke. An honest mistake. An unfunny joke that he'd own up to and apologise like the kind person he is. He couldn't believe what he said was real but he also didn't want to believe it wasn't.
"Well, I am," Klavier tells him, moving closer now. "Apollo, look at you, you're amazing. You keep tabs on your old clients. You take care of Trucy like she's family. And all the things you said about me in the courtroom? Scheiße, they look at you the exact same way. You have no idea what you look like at the end of a trial, when we all think we've got everything unravelled and laid out, yet you still seem to find a way to turn everything around. It's wunderschön. You think I wouldn't like someone like that?"
Apollo can't look up at Klavier. He's too busy trying to calm his heart down, trying to stop his ears from going red, but all he can do is let the warmth spread from his chest to all around him. He's holding onto his knees just to keep himself sturdy but soon enough something is gonna pull the rug from under his feet and he's gonna fall.
"Apollo?" Klavier calls, "Bitte, look at me."
Apollo does and he wants to say something. He should say something after all the things Klavier said but the one thing that felt right to do was to let go entirely and lunge forward, kissing Klavier like he did that night again and again and again.
"Schatz," Klavier breathes, "Does that mean—"
"I like you," Apollo confesses, shaking his head against Klavier's, "God, I like you a lot."
Klavier chuckles and his lips are still close enough that they brush against Apollo's.
"I'm glad," Klavier says, "Because I didn't want my first kiss to mean nothing."
Apollo feels something brimming in his chest, making him clutch Klavier's back with his hands, burying his face in his neck before he can do something stupid.
"You are a work of art, Gavin," his words are muffled.
Klavier holds him by the back of his head. "I thought we were past calling each other by our last names?"
"You never called me Justice," he reminds him.
"Ja, but Herr Forehead was a fitting nickname, hm?"
Apollo smacks his arm, mind still reeling from euphoria. As a response, Klavier guffaws, catching Apollo's hand from retreating and wrapping it in his own. Slowly, Klavier finds his lips again, looking him in the eyes like he's asking for permission, and presses deep.