Work Text:
1. Quality Time
Apollo Justice is indisputably dense. Nothing, not even his twelve years in law school or his latin honours in college can contest this fact. Apollo knows it, Trucy knows it, Mr. Wright knows it. Hell, even his building's super knows it when he accidentally uses someone else's bike's parking space. Things just float over his head so easily even when it might as well as hit him on the face. He's not very bright when it comes to pointing out things that are right in front of him.
"Friends?" Ema scoffed at him when they spotted each other at the ramen place near the courthouse. "You and Gavin? Seriously?"
"Sure we are," Apollo shrugged, blowing at his mini-ramen in the spoon.
"Not according to him," Ema said, "I mean, you barely hang out outside of work. And even then, you send him these, like, death stares from across the courtroom."
"If anyone's sending death stares to Gavin, it's you," he argued. Did he really look like that in court? Well, in his defense, he has astigmatism, and anything beyond three feet from him, he has to glare at to see properly, so. "And what do you mean not according to him? Gavin and I get along fine."
"Yes," she nodded, "You get along because you're both adults that know how to at least act civil. But so do I with the guy that I know has been stealing my stash of snackoo's from the evidence lockers. But are we friends? Definitely not."
"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to keep food in those."
"The point is," Ema ignored him, "If you are friends, then the fop definitely doesn't think it."
Apollo regarded this for a moment, frowning as he thought about the prosecutor. He definitely acted like he was friends with Apollo. "What, does he think I don't like him?"
"Bingo!" Ema exclaimed, "And here I thought I'd have to spell it out for you."
"But that doesn't make any sense," Apollo continued, "Why would he think that?"
At this point, Ema was getting bored of the conversation. Too much Gavin talk, probably. "I dunno. Maybe you've never done anything to prove otherwise. You know how Gavin goes, evidence is everything."
Apollo blinked. "That's the wrong Gavin."
"... Well, shit."
One awkward hurdle over, they continued the dinner in relative peace. But the thing Ema said about Klavier definitely stuck with Apollo even hours later he'd forgotten about Ema's hiccup. Which led to him grabbing his phone in the middle of the night and hovering over Klavier's contact number before ultimately choosing to text him.
Apollo [10:41 PM]: hey
Apollo [10:41 PM]: this might be completely out of the blue
Apollo [10:41 PM]: well i mean, it is but
Apollo [10:41 PM]: are you free anytime this week?
Klavier [10:45 PM]: oh thank gott, apollo, it's just you
Klavier [10:45 PM]: four consecutive notifs at 10pm, i thought it was mein manager bugging me about that talk show interview
Klavier [10:45 PM]: the answer is a resounding nein if you are wondering
Klavier [10:45 PM]: but ja, i possibly have some free time around the weekend, i'll have to double check with my calendar
Klavier [10:45 PM]: warum?
Apollo [10:46 PM]: oh nothing just thought, you know, we could hang out or something
Apollo [10:46 PM]: like, as friends
Klavier [10:46 PM]: hang out?
Klavier [10:46 PM]: did fraulein ema put you up to this
Apollo [10:46 PM]: no ema did not put me up to this
Apollo [10:46 PM]: and you know she doesn't like it when you call her that
Klavier [10:46 PM]: nein, but she isn't here, is she? ;)
Apollo [10:47 PM]: no she is not
Apollo [10:48 PM]: so like saturday? lunch-ish maybe? if that's cool with you
Apollo [10:51 PM]: Gavin?
Klavier [10:53 PM]: es tut mir leid, i had to take care of something
Klavier [10:53 PM]: but ja! that is cool with me
Klavier [10:53 PM]: i will let you know if something comes up otherwise
Apollo [10:53 PM]: alright
Apollo [10:53 PM]: see you then
Klavier [10:53 PM]: see you then :)
So, Apollo Justice, resident fool, makes plans to meet up with Klavier at this Thai place at around midday that week. He was so goddamn peeved about what Ema said that he'd even cleared out most of his schedule that day in case Klavier wanted to walk around town afterwards. If anything, he was very determined to prove Ema wrong and convince Klavier that they were, in fact, friends. And that there was no reason to think otherwise.
"I thought you'd hate me," Klavier confesses on the day as they walked to People Park. Ha, he was right, Klavier did want to walk around.
"Hate you?" Apollo spluttered, "That's a strong word."
"So they say," Klavier shrugs, "But if anything, I thought you wouldn't be too keen on hanging out with the guy whose blood brothers with a murderer."
He stops in his tracks, if only to make Klavier actually listen. "Hey," Apollo says softly, "Don't think that. You're—listen, I admit I didn't have the easiest time getting to know you. And you know what, I still don't, but from what I've seen so far," he turns to him and half-smiles, "You're a pretty decent guy, Gavin."
That seems to please Klavier a bit, letting out his own closed-lip smile. "You think so?"
"Nice try," Apollo nudges him, "But you're not gonna get any more compliments from me. You get enough of that from your groupies, rockstar."
Klavier chuckles. "Fine, you got me," he says. "Danke, Herr Forehead. You don't know how much that means to me."
Apollo begins to walk again. "Well, you can thank me by not calling me that godforsaken nickname."
Then Klavier laughs, a deep-bellied laugh as he catches up to Apollo. "Not a chance."
They only leave once the streetlights turn on and the moon is far above their heads.
2. Acts of Service
Alright, so Apollo Justice is less of an idiot than he thought he was. Maybe.
He's definitely rethought quite a few things after his talk with Ema. Klavier, being the frontier, of course. He began to make much more of an effort in being friends and staying friends with the prosecutor even when said prosecutor eyes him quizzically at the seemingly sudden attention. But it's not like he could blame him. Apollo wasn't exactly the best at treating him like an honest-to-god buddy and more like a dreaded coworker, if what Ema said was even remotely true.
It especially made him feel guilty when Klavier mentioned his brother. And, hey, Apollo gets it. He's suffering from bad DNA. It's not like he can control that. Even Apollo must have some assholes up his family tree if he ever ends up finding them. What bugged him the most was that Klavier thought it would get in the way of them getting along. Like his blood was just contaminated by evil murder genes so he should be treated as such.
Look, Apollo's an idiot, but he's not that much of an idiot. He knows a victim when he sees one and Klavier's definitely a victim. In some sense, even Apollo is.
In truth, he thought it'd be Klavier being hesitant to befriend him. He did, after all, put his brother behind bars. A homicidal with maniacal laughter in the background kind of brother, but a brother nonetheless.
"You better have an astronomically good explanation as to why you're calling me at godawful hours, Justice," Ema says and Apollo can practically feel the glare through his phone.
"It's 6 A.M.," Apollo says matter-of-factly, which probably doesn't help his case, but it's always good to be confident. "I assumed you'd be well on your way to the precinct."
"Well you assumed wrong ," Ema scoffs, "Now what's so important that you didn't just leave me a text that I could ignore until after I had my second cup of coffee?"
Apollo stands awkwardly, gripping his bike as he looks around.
"Actually… I'm at your door."
"You what? "
Apollo scratches the back of his neck.
"Listen, I know Klavier's out doing PR stuff for his record label this morning, so I thought I'd, you know, do something for him."
"And it was to torment me in his place? Wow, Apollo, what I said really struck a chord in you, didn't it?"
"Actually, I was wondering if I could walk his dog," he ignores her, "I know you have a key because he told me sometimes you crash at his house when you've had too many of those pink-flavoured jello-shots at the bar near his street, so I thought I could borrow—"
"Apollo?"
He gulps. "Yeah?"
"Are you telling me the reason you woke me up a solid two hours before my alarm goes off was to ask for the fop's spare key?"
"... yeah."
The line gets cut off then and Apollo's convinced that Ema's tucked herself back into bed to get those sweet two hours of sleep left until the door opens in front of him to reveal a very displeased Ema, dangling in her hand a pair of golden keys.
"Don't ever let it be said that I've never done anything for Klavier Gavin," she says.
Apollo grabs the keys and nods without hesitation. "Understood."
Later on, when he's in the middle of his workday of filing and refiling the many documents of the Wright Anything Agency (none of which seem to be in the right place) his cue to take a break comes in the form of a ping from his phone.
Klavier [1:18 PM]: i hear vongole was a very happy girl this morning
Apollo [1:18 PM]: ah yes very happy, very excitable, and very, very hairy
Apollo [1:18 PM]: Mr. Wright doesn't have a workable lint roller at the agency so i've been peeling off hairs all day
Apollo [1:18 PM]: but yes, we had fun :)
Klavier [1:18 PM]: danke, forehead. you really didn't have to do that
Apollo [1:18 PM]: eh, i wanted to
Apollo [1:19 PM]: plus, i kinda miss coming over to feed vongole
Apollo [1:19 PM]: totally worth needing to spit out furballs like my cat
Klavier [1:19 PM]: you have a cat?
Apollo [1:19 PM]: have i never mentioned this?
Apollo [1:19 PM]: [image267.jpg]
Klavier [1:19 PM]: adorable. please pet her for me
Apollo [1:20 PM]: will do when i get home o7
Apollo [1:20 PM]: hopefully by then, i'll be rid of all the dog hair
Apollo [1:20 PM]: mikeko tends to be possessive
Klavier [1:20 PM]: well if you'd like to remedy your dog fur situation, my office just so happens to have a workable lint roller
Klavier [1:20 PM]: you could meet me after work and i could lend it to you
Klavier [1:21 PM]: and i could also show you vongole baby pics
Apollo [1:22 PM]: that's really hard to say no to, Gavin
Klavier [1:22 PM]: then don't ;)
Apollo [1:22 PM]: … alright you win
Apollo [1:24 PM]: Gavin?
Klavier [1:24 PM]: ja?
Apollo [1:24 PM]: why am i not surprised that you have a lint roller at your office?
3. Receiving Gifts
Once Apollo starts noticing it, Klavier is a lot harder to catch than he thought. He’d known the prosecutor was a busy man, juggling two completely different careers and being great at them too. But every time he’d catch a glimpse of him somewhere, they’d only have time to say a quick hello before Klavier had to run off to his next destination, if Klavier even sees him at all.
He makes the effort to make him see him the next time Apollo catches the man at the shopping district, in his hand a plastic bag of groceries (most cup noodles) and an umbrella in case it rains.
“Gavin!” he exclaims, possibly too loudly as a few people in a five feet radius turn to look at him even though they were evidently not Klavier. He sheepishly hides his face before turning to the prosecutor.
“Hey,” he says, intentionally more quietly. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”
He stands there awkwardly, tucking himself further into his jacket, and it spreads to the way he speaks. Even though he had been making the conscious effort to make sure Klavier knew they were friends, acting and being actual friends with him was taking some getting used to. What’s the proper social etiquette in corresponding with the guy whose brother you sent to jail with anyway? There isn’t really a manual to clearly navigate through this.
“Herr Forehead!” Klavier gasps, seemingly out of breath for someone who was standing completely still. “ Es tut mir leid, did I forget to respond to any of your messages? Been a bit busy lately.”
Apollo shakes his head. “No. Just wanted to check up on you, is all. You in the middle of a case?”
“In a case, in a meeting, in everything, gott, I need to grab a cup of coffee before I head back to the office.”
“Well, don’t strain yourself,” Apollo tilts his head, looking at Klavier a bit closer. Not in any weird way, but in a way he can’t help it. It’s not exactly a secret that Apollo’s eyes see more than most people. That was something he needed to get used to as well.
But he doesn’t need to use perceive to notice the darker bags underneath Klavier’s eyes, or the way he isn’t carrying himself with the same type of bravado he usually did. Even his tan skin looks a little pale.
He’s too busy staring at Klavier to even notice the rain start to pour.
“Scheiße.”
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“The rain,” Klavier tells him, “I don’t have my coat.”
“You didn’t bring your car?”
“Thought a quick run to the store needed only my hog,” Klavier sighs and Apollo has stop himself from physically reacting to the word hog.
Then he looks down at himself and then his umbrella and then back at Klavier.
“Would my jacket work?” Apollo asks.
“Was?” Klavier says in disbelief.
“I mean, it’s a bit small but—,” he’s already taking it off, setting down his groceries and umbrella to hand it over. “It has a hood?”
Klavier just kind of… stares at him with the rain pouring in the background. Apollo thinks he may be thinking of a reason to say no and hitting a blank.
But Apollo’s having none of that sleek, celebrity politeness and just shoves his jacket over to Klavier.
“Take it,” he says, “I have an umbrella.”
He brings it up to show him just to egg him on further and he’s running out of excuses to say no.
“Danke,” he says in the end, putting on and wearing the hood over his head and it’s kind of hilarious how small it looks on his frame. Though it doesn’t look too different to the skin-tight clothes he wears to court, to be honest.
“I’ll see you soon!” he exclaims before he runs to find his hog (This time, Apollo does laugh) and Apollo just waves his hand as he watches his retreating figure disappear into the rain.
He forgets about needing the jacket back until his phone pings while he’s already in bed.
Klavier [11:23 PM]: someones enjoying herr forehead’s jacket
Klavier [11:23 PM]: [image2343.jpg]
Apollo [11:23 PM]: very cute
Apollo [11:23 PM]: tell vongole she can keep it
Klavier [11:23 PM]: really?
Apollo [11:23 PM]: yeah, really
Apollo [11:23 PM]: good night, Gavin
Klavier [11:23 PM]: guten nacht, forehead :)
He doesn’t notice it, but Apollo falls asleep with the smallest hint of smile on his face.
4. Physical Touch
Ema's revenge for interrupting her slumber comes in the form of a demand, nay, a threat.
Ema [4:48 PM]: you're going to the fop's house after work
Apollo [4:50 PM]: um, no?
Ema [4:50 PM]: that wasn't a question
Apollo [4:50 PM]: wow okay
Apollo [4:50 PM]: it's not like i had plans or anything
Ema [4:50 PM]: you're being sarcastic but you really had no plans, didn't you?
Apollo [4:50 PM]: i am not answering that
Ema [4:50 PM]: you're going to the fop's house after work
Apollo [4:51 PM]: alright fine
Apollo [4:51 PM]: why am i going?
Ema [4:51 PM]: you haven't heard from him?
Ema [4:51 PM]: well i guess that checks out considering he's been in bed dying
Apollo [4:51 PM]: dying ???
Ema [4:51 PM]: read: in bed with a cold
Ema [4:51 PM]: but with how dramatic he's been over the phone, he might as well be
Ema [4:52 PM]: anyway, come by the precinct to get his keys from me and swing by eldoon's to get his favourite soup that he pretends not to like because it has too many calories
Apollo [4:52 PM]: do i have a say in this?
Ema [4:52 PM]: alright fine
Ema [4:52 PM]: apollo, the fop's in his deathbed, please come over if you want to say your goodbyes
Apollo [4:52 PM]: do you always have to be so morbid?
Ema [4:52 PM]: when it comes to the fop? yes
He gets his work done a little bit earlier than usual, not because he wantedto leave early, or was in any rush to do anything (obviously), but because he didn't have much work to do at all.
He stops by the precinct, grabs Klavier's keys from a very smug-looking Ema who pushed him away immediately when he began to make small talk with Gumshoe who'd seen him walk in. A shame really, he'd wanted to meet the detective for a while now ever since Mr. Wright mentioned he used to work with him. Grabbing dinner from Eldoon's took the most time with the long line, but at least by the time he arrived at Klavier's house, the soup was still hot.
It took forty-five minutes for Apollo to get to Klavier's house and still no amount of time to prepare him for what awaited at the other side of the door.
"Forehead?" Klavier breathes, holding himself up by the doorframe looking a little worse for wear. His hair is down and he's wearing nothing but a robe (though Apollo hopes to god he's at least wearing underwear). He has bloodshot eyes and pale skin, even paler than he'd seen him last time. But his face is a bright red and there's sweat running down his forehead.
Now, Apollo never really understood the Gavinners hype. Well, maybe he did. A little. But it's a lot easier to see Klavier when he's not blinded by bright lights and drowning in noise. A lot easier to see that, yes, Klavier Gavin is, in fact, a very, very attractive man.
Holy mother, help him.
"Hi," he squeaks, subconsciously stepping back if only to make space between them because even the slightest bit of proximity feels like it could cause it's lungs to collapse. "I, um, soup."
Klavier looks at him quizzically, chest heaving and, oh, his chest is out. His very defined, slightly damp from his sweat chest.
"Was?" he asks.
"Oh, uh," words, words, please, Apollo, get a grip, "I got you dinner!"
He raises the plastic bag between them and smiles. As much as he can smile, anyway.
"Oh," Klavier looks down, "Danke. Did Ema put you up to this?"
"Why do you always ask that?" he responds.
He shrugs. "Well, did she?"
"… Yes. But will you please let me in? You look like you're about to faint and you and I both know I can't carry your five foot eleven ass."
"Six feet now!" Klavier exclaims, sounding the most energetic he's been ever since he opened the door, stepping aside to let Apollo in. He's gonna ignore the squeeze his bracelet does with that statement.
Apollo closes the door behind him and just trails behind Klavier an arm's length away, not sure if he's supposed to be following him all the way into his room.
His room, expectedly, is about as big as Apollo's apartment. He's afraid Klavier might drop to his knees before he gets back to his bed, but he gets there. Barely. He plops onto the bed head first and breathes in deep.
"Uh," Apollo says, blinking as Klavier just lies there. "Have you gotten out of bed, like, at all today?"
"Nein," his muffled voice says.
"Went out of bed just to let me in? Maybe I should feel flattered," he scoffs.
Then Klavier turns to him to smile. "Maybe you should."
Oh, his heart.
"Anyway, dinner?" Apollo sets the plastic bag on his night stand to take the bowls of soup out just to look away.
Klavier groans as a response, turning to bury his head back into his pillows.
"Es tut mir leid, Herr Forehead, but getting up from my position is the last thing I want to do right now."
Apollo turns to laugh. "Come on, Gavin, you can get up to eat dinner."
Klavier turns his head again. "I literally can't."
He blinks up to him looking as pitiful as he can and Apollo knows better than to fall for it. Klavier is all theatrics and flair, it's expected that he'll act like a baby when he's sick. But despite himself, he approaches Klavier and presses a hand against his forehead.
It's warm, as expected, warmer than normal. And Klavier closes his eyes to feel the coolness of Apollo's hand as opposed to his.
He stares at him for a while, waiting for something to happen. But then nothing does. The moment passes and Klavier opens his eyes again.
"Did you shower today?" he asks.
Klavier shakes his head.
"Did you at least drink meds?"
He shakes his head again.
Apollo takes his hand away slowly, stepping back to cross his arms and look down at Klavier.
"Alright, you baby," Apollo decides, "I guess I have to take care of you."
It's with an unusual sense of ease that Apollo gets Klavier to sit up straight, grab a warm towel from his bathroom and wash his body. He doesn't even hesitate to feed Klavier the soup, not when Klavier has no qualms about it. Then he rummages through his medicine cabinet for the pills, grabbing a glass of water from the kitchen, and guides Klavier's hands when he downs the meds.
It feels… good to be able to do this. To take care of Klavier when he can't do it himself. A week ago, maybe he'd dread the thought. A few days ago, maybe he would've hesitated. But right now, it felt like it just made sense.
"Okay," he says as he takes the glass from Klavier's grasp. "I'm gonna head home."
Then Klavier reaches over to grab his wrist, the faintest grip on his skin.
"Bitte," he says, "Stay. It's late."
Apollo knows his answer should be no. His place isn't that far from here. And it actually isn't too late, just a little over 8 P.M., but Klavier's hand feels warm where it touches Apollo's arm. He's looking at him with his tired eyes, asking, pleading him not to go anywhere.
So, really, does Apollo have much of a choice?
"Alright," he says, about to leave and find a space to stay in his obnoxiously oversized room, but Klavier doesn't let go.
"Apollo," he says, and the sound of his name from Klavier's mouth sends sensations down his spine he'd never felt before. "Stay here."
Then he moves, letting go of Apollo, if only to give him a choice. But Apollo's already decided.
He doesn't speak when he feels perfectly fine listening to the sound of Klavier's soft breathing. And he doesn't move when he feels Klavier's head fall into his side, burying his head in the space of neck. He just goes to sleep.
+1. Words of Affirmation
A week. It takes a full seven days for Apollo to realise something is different. That, maybe, there was something missing from the puzzle. That, maybe, he really was, well and truly denser than concrete.
"You're just getting this now?" Ema scoffs. "You know what? No. I am not dealing with this. I go through enough of the fop's theatrics during my workday and hours after that, I am not going to let you spill your Gavin-gushing guts all over me right in front of the thing I love!"
She gets up from crouching over the dead body, already angrily taking off her gloves and closing the cap on her bottle of fingerprint powder.
"What do you mean just getting this now?" Apollo asks, getting up himself. "And I still need that. There might be prints on that bag."
He points over the corpse towards a blood-stained suitcase near the body's hands. Maybe he should be more disturbed by this than he actually is.
"You've spent the last week trying to woo Gavin!"
"I was not trying to woo him! I was trying to be friends with him!"
Ema just looks at him without speaking. Like he wasn't worthy of another word. Like she was just completely over the entire conversation and moving on to the next.
"Why are you looking at me like that!?" he exclaims, beginning to feel embarrassed. Ema's stare was a lot more judgemental than she thought it was.
"Look," she says, "It's great that you're finally having this realisation. Truly, it's record-breaking. But am I really the person you wanna be telling this? Don't you wanna, you know, say it to him directly?"
Apollo immediately flushes. "I can't just tell him!"
"Tell who what?"
Oh, holy mother, has the world turned on him?
"Gavin," Ema smirks, "You're here. Finally."
Apollo turns to him slowly. Comically slowly. Like his neck was made of cement.
"Ja. I got stuck at the precinct. What are— Herr Forehead, it's nice to see you."
"H-Hi," he manages to get out.
Then it's just silence. Dead air for Ema to tease him about later.
"Well," she says, clasping her hands, "I gotta go. But, I'll leave the powder so you can do the rest. Gavin, why don't you help him?" she turns to Apollo to whisper, "I guess you have no choice."
She hightails out of there it immediately, probably not wanting to witness whatever was going to happen next. Though Apollo knows what's gonna happen next: fumbling. Fumbling words. Fumbling hands. Fumbling everything.
"That was odd," Klavier comments.
Apollo braces himself. "Yeah… odd."
He mentally curses Ema for putting him in the exact situation he wanted to avoid.
Klavier puts his gloves on and begins investigating the body, easily sliding past Ema's unusual behaviour and getting into work. Oh, how easy it is for him.
"You have the powder?" Klavier turns to him suddenly, with his beautiful blue eyes that the sun rays are hitting just right.
"Yeah," he remembers to speak, "Just gotta dust it over that case there," he points and, well, he should get to work too.
"Apollo," Klavier calls him when he crouches beside him. "I should say danke for taking care of me a few days ago. I know I'm not the most agreeable when under the weather."
That actually makes Apollo laugh, that is until he remembers the events that happened that day, and now he has to look away to hide his blush.
"Yeah, no problem," he tells him, blowing over the dust. Hello there, possible culprit.
"Really, I appreciate it," Klavier says. "I… Well, I just thought it was really nice."
"Mhm."
"And, I—I was just wondering if—maybe—"
"It was really nothing."
"Ja but it meant a lot. To me. Um."
"Sure."
"So I thought—maybe I, we could—"
"What is it?"
"Oh, for gott's sake, Apollo, would you please look away from the dead body so I could ask you out on a proper date?"
The bottle of powder drops and immediately Apollo cringes. He can already hear the sound of Ema's angry voice, chastising him for wasting the tools of forensic science all because Klavier, seemingly out of nowhere, asked him out on a date.
Oh, holy mother, Klavier asked him out on a date.
"What?" he looks at him, just like he asked actually, feeling his cheeks go red at the sight of the man but also just the entire situation.
"Well, I—," Klavier fumbles and well, there's the fumbling he knew was gonna happen. "I haven't been exactly subtle about the fact that I'm interested in you."
"Interested in me!?"
He stands up in shock and Klavier follows suit.
"HerrForehead, please do not be mad."
"I'm not mad! I'm just—," he gestures at nothing in front of him. "Confused!"
"Confused?" he asks. "What do you mean?"
Apollo shakes his head in disbelief. "You like me?"
"Well… a more accurate statement would be I love you."
"Holy Mother, I don't have the strength for this," he turns away, clutching his chest, feeling the way his heart rapidly beats. Even his breathing's gone wonky.
"Apollo?" he calls, soft and slow now, "I didn't mean to shock you, it's just—please turn around."
He breathes in, bracing himself, licking his lips just to have something to do before he turns around to face Klavier again. And he actually looks apologetic.
"Look, I've liked you ever since that first trial we had together," he tells him and wow, that is a sentence he'll have to process later. "Even after the Kris' trial. I just—I saw you and saw what I wanted to be and eventually, I realised, who I wanted to be with."
He approaches him slowly, if only to give Apollo a chance to back away. He doesn't.
"And it might be crazy, because a week ago I didn't even think you thought of me as a friend. But it's killing me not telling you and you've been so nice to me, I figured I owed you the truth. The real truth."
It's then that Apollo realises that his bracelet has been still this entire time.
"So, ja, I love you. I have loved you. And I was wondering, maybe you'd like to go on a date?"
It's like the ground beneath him completely disappears and he has nowhere to keep his feet. They're both just suspended in the air, floating, maybe. But a part of him thinks this feels a lot like falling as well.
"I love you, too," he says out loud, like he'd been saying it in his head all the while, it was only a matter of time he'd speak the words.
This, Klavier doesn't seem to be prepared for. Like he'd been prepared for Apollo to say yes and no but not me too. It's kind of amusing.
"I mean it," Apollo says, "I mean, I've only just realised it actually. Well, maybe I knew something was up when I stayed over your place but—," he collects himself, "I love you. And, yeah, I'd love to go out on a date."
He smiles because he can't help it. And then Klavier smiles because he realises it. Then he walks up to him to take Apollo's hands, squeezing them tight.
"Really?" he asks.
Apollo laughs. "Really," he replies. And if he still doesn't believe him, well, there's plenty of time to convince him otherwise.