Chapter Text
Apollo woke up to a crashing noise.
"Oh sorry, man! Dropped my shot put and knocked over the recycling bin," Clay whispered.
"Don't sweat it," Apollo said as he laid back down and yawned.
Clay put the plastic bottles and loose paper that fell out back into the bin and set it upright again. After looking at it for a bit, he picked it up, opening the door and awkwardly holding the bin, his water bottle, and his duffle bag. The sight that met him made him drop everything.
"Dude, what the hell?" Apollo muttered, shuffling to sit upright.
"Are you Apollo Justice? I was just about to knock," The man in the doorway asked Clay in a deep, raspy voice.
He had his black hair styled as a pompadour, with the tip being dyed white for some reason.
"Uh… Yes. I am Apollo Justice," Clay said.
"No you're not," he responded.
"No I'm not," Clay said, defeated, "Hey, Apollo, do you seriously know Daryan Crescend?!"
"Wait, what?!" Apollo said, leaping out of bed and scuttling over to the doorway.
"I'm assuming you're not ready to go?" Daryan said.
"I thought it was next week! I have finals this week!"
"Aw, that's nice. I have a tour, and someone who signed a contract. We have every right to seize back the money we gave you, money that you haven't earned yet, so I'll give you ten minutes to be ready or I'm gone and so is the cash."
"WHAT?!" Clay shouted.
"Ok, ok, I'll be ready," Apollo said, shutting the door.
"WHAT is going ON?! Why is the second guitarist of my favorite band at our door and WHY are you going on tour with him?!" Clay asked, "What instrument do you play?"
"I'm not a member of the Davinners, Clay. They paid me up front to assist them on their tour: first aid, being a chauffeur, bringing them food, carrying bags, whatever they need," Apollo said as he frantically packed for three months in ten minutes.
"It's the Gavinners!" Clay snarled, "How did you even get a gig like that?"
"Look, Clay, I'm really sorry. I was going to tell you but I wasn't sure how and I thought I was going to leave next week."
"So are we not going to hang out over the summer? What about your finals?" Clay asked.
"I'll be gone for three months, so no summer, and no finals either, apparently. It stings, but maybe I can use some of the money I get to retake a class if not taking the final fails me."
"This is weird."
"I know. I promise I'll call and text you all the time and give you all the juicy gossip and whatnot. Again, I'm really sorry," Apollo said.
"Don't sweat it, I'm used to weird stuff. Here, lemme help you pack, time's running out."
The two roommates scrambled around for the next few minutes, shoving socks into the tiny little pockets on Apollo's suitcase and jamming in all his jeans and dumping every pair of underwear he owned into it. They were sure they were forgetting something, or really a few things, but time had run out with Daryan's pounding on the door.
"Well, this is it," Apollo said.
"I love you so much, man!" Clay cried, pulling him into a bear hug instead of the usual bro hug.
"I love you too, Clay."
He opened up the door and waved goodbye. Clay waved back.
"Ready?" Daryan asked.
Apollo sighed, "Yep."
The two walked down the hallway while Apollo tried to figure out something to say, "What do you say to a rockstar from a band you don't care for who's sort of rude? Hey, your rudeness was kind of justified but not really? Say how I actually feel? 'Hey, I'm pissed off and I put on a brave face for Clay but I'm scared of missing all my finals?'"
Daryan pressed the button on the elevator. Apollo then heard the classic thumping footsteps of a desperate Clay Terran running late for something.
"Sorry to ruin our goodbye, but I still have to go to morning practice!"
"Yeah, it's kind of anticlimactic, but whatever," Apollo said as Clay dumped their recyclables into the big blue bin, "Hey, at least you took out the recyclables for us! Or I guess just you now that I'm leaving."
Clay chuckled before the elevator opened.
"Mind if I step in with you guys?" Clay asked.
Daryan sighed, "Sure."
The three crammed into the tiny elevator and stood in silence. Apollo knew there were infinite things they could talk about, especially with Clay's big fat mouth and his love for the Gavinners. It was only a matter of time until he would break the silence and speak. He only hoped his now ex-roomie wouldn't bring up an embarrassing story about him from middle school to his employer or point up to the hentai sticker someone slapped on the ceiling.
"Sooo, Mr. Daryan, sir, what's it like being a Gavinner?" Clay asked.
"Ok, pretty tame," Apollo thought.
"It's ok, I guess. It's sort of nice meeting fans when they aren't loud and annoying, or particularly passionate in any other obvious way," Daryan said.
"Great! Because I've been doing my best to dial down the loudness, annoyingness, AND passion just for you, sir!" Clay responded.
"You'd be surprised how low my tolerance is for loudness, annoyingness, and passion," Daryan said.
More silence. Curse whoever put them on the tenth floor.
"Didja see the hentai sticker on the ceiling?" Clay asked.
Apollo's eyes bugged out. Daryan looked up and smirked.
"Heh heh, at least she's hot," Daryan said.
"Right? I've been trying to figure out what show she's from," Clay said in earnest.
"You WHAT?!?!" Apollo screamed internally.
The doors opened and they stepped out.
"You could take a picture of her and use Google Lens, I guess. That would at least get you to pics of the the sticker," Daryan said.
"Awesome! I could buy her for myself and stick her on our fridge!" Clay said.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Apollo shouted, face heating up.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Apollo! I didn't mean to leave you out! We can totally get a hot hentai boy for you, the fridge is yours as much as it is mine," Clay said.
"IT'S NOT ABOUT THE GENDER!" Apollo shouted, practically boiling at this point, "Thank you for being a great friend and being supportive of my sexuality, but I don't want any nudity on our refrigerator, male or otherwise!"
"Ok, ok," Clay said, holding his hands up, "It's been an honor to meet you Mr. Daryan, sir, and I'll treasure this interaction for the rest of my life. Now I really need to get to practice, bye!"
Clay sprinted out of the building, likely going to tire himself out before he even started practicing. Daryan began leading Apollo to where he was parked.
"I like your friend. He's funny," Daryan said.
"Yeah, me too."
"Well duh, it would be dumb if you didn't like someone you called your friend."
"Ha! ha… ha?" Apollo laughed, unsure if he was joking or what.
When they got to Daryan's car Apollo stood on the passenger's side, waiting for it to be unlocked.
"What are you doing?" Daryan asked.
"Uh, aren't you going to unlock it?" Apollo asked.
"That's your job now," Daryan said, tossing his keys to him.
Apollo caught them a little awkwardly and unlocked the car. He put his suitcase in the back, then got into the driver's seat.
"Um, is it ok if I move the seat up?" he asked shyly.
Daryan snorted, "Be my guest."
He snickered quietly as Apollo figured out how to move the seat up. Starting the car, he noticed the keys were on a shark tooth keychain.
"That's sort of cool," Apollo guessed as he pulled out of the parking lot.
"I'm guessing you need me to tell you the way to the airport?" Daryan patronized.
"No," Apollo growled, "I'm good."
"Sorry for assuming. It's just you really haven't gotten off to a good start with me, so I thought I'd… cut you some slack."
"That's funny because you're definitely getting off on the wrong foot with me, too!"
"Hey, watch it. Like I said before, in your contract it says that we can seize back any money you haven't earned yet with good reason. I bet a pretty good reason would be you being a little shit who wasn't ready when I came for you and is giving attitude to me. It's in your best interests to be a good little boy and put on a nice little smile for everyone. I'm only helping you out, you know," Daryan said.
"Like hell you are, asshole!" Apollo thought.
Although his delivery was all wrong, he did have a fair point.
"You're right, I'm very sorry. I chose to do this, so I need to give it one-hundred percent. I'm nipping this in the bud right now, and I promise I'll be better from now on."
"Good," Daryan said.
Apollo made sure to remind himself to write down all his insults for Daryan on his phone to be read off as soon as his contract expired. The rest of the car ride was uneventful, though finding a parking spot at the airport was stressful, and the stress was being heightened even more so with a mean, guitar-playing shark breathing down his neck hoping he made a mistake. Like the dutiful tour assistant he was, he made sure to shlep Daryan's luggage as well as his own all the way to the entrance of the airport. Going through the TSA line was a little awkward and slightly dehumanizing, but they made it through all right.
"Daryan, over here!" a band member called while waving from a group of seats.
Daryan waved back and Apollo gave a small wave as well, not really sure whether he should've or not.
Seeing the way the other four Gavinners were dressed made it seem like Apollo was the odd one out as opposed to Daryan's out of place style among those at school.
"Well, Daryan? Aren't you going to introduce us?" A man who Apollo thought was Klavier asked.
"Gentlemen, Apollo Justice. Tour assistant or whatever," he said half heartedly.
A black, muscular man with lightly tinted glasses and a flat top grabbed his hand and shook it firmly, "Captain Clifford Kiehl, Keyboardist. My friends call me Cliff, and since this isn't the precinct or the courtroom you can as well. Looking forward to working with you, Apollo."
Without the accessories like the pins on his collar, the guitar-shaped tie clip, or the earrings, Apollo could definitely imagine him as a police captain, and he wouldn't be surprised if the pants, shirt, and tie were actually a part of his uniform. Except the knee-high platform boots which he definitely could not wear to work, though.
Cliff looked to the pale, lanky fellow who stood next to him. He wore a light green cropped sweater vest that had rips in it held together by lots of safety pins over a loose, flowy collared shirt, also cropped. How in any way that was practical, Apollo would never know.
"I'm Artie Fhrette, bassist and also a prison director," he said, taking his askew director's cap off of his head, causing some of his ginger hair to flow down as well as revealing two albino mice, "Bandit, Capo, come meet Apollo!"
He held his free hand up against his head and the mice scurried onto it.
"Capo's a little shy around new people, but would you like to hold Bandit? She's very polite and friendly. Just hold out your hands and she'll come to you," he offered.
"Ok, sure," Apollo said, holding out his hands, "Hi there, girl."
Bandit sniffed his hands, and then when she was on them completely, Artie took his hand away.
"Our prison's rehabilitation process has a key animal-therapy component, in which each inmate is assigned an animal partner that's a good fit for their personality. It helps them learn responsibility as well as just calm them down and increase their endorphins, as science has proven time and time again," he explained.
In the future, if Apollo ever lost a case he would just explain to his client the awesome-sounding prison they would be put in to them as consolation. His train of thought was interrupted by Bandit climbing up his arm and onto his head.
"Um-" Apollo started.
"That's amazing!" Artie said, "She only climbs people she really trusts."
"Wow! She chose me!" Apollo thought.
She began to chew on Apollo's prized horns.
"No! Not my horns, anything but those!" Apollo cried out.
Artie snatched her back off of Apollo's head, "Bandit, we've talked about this. No hair chewing, period. Now, say you're sorry."
He held her up to Apollo's eyeline.
"I'm sowwy, Apowo," Artie said, speaking for Bandit in a cutesy voice.
"Don't worry about it, and nice to meet you, Bandit, and you too, Capo."
Artie laughed, "Well, I think that's all you need to know about me."
"So are you two not going to tell him?" Klavier asked.
"Tell him what?" Artie responded.
"You know, that you're-"
"Oh yes, Arthur and I are in a relationship," Cliff said.
"Wait, you guys are dating?" Daryan asked.
"Yes, Daryan! We've been over this like five times!" Klavier shouted.
"You don't have to worry about them, they're the chillest couple you'll ever meet," a short, slightly chubby guy with red and black hair spoke up, "You will sooner perform on stage with us, be held hostage, and fly on a private jet then you'll be grossed out by Clartie."
"I don't know, sometimes their meaningful glances cause me to get all hot and bothered when we're trying to practice," Klavier joked.
"Smack cam!" Daryan shouted.
"I second," Cliff said.
"Three…two…one…" Daryan counted down as they all got out their phones, "Smack!"
The four bandmates slapped Klavier's face while each was recording. He yelped.
"Can we post the quote?" the unknown member asked.
"Yes," Artie and Cliff said simultaneously.
"Ja," Klavier said, still reeling from the pain.
A few seconds later everyone put their phones down.
"Our meaningful glances aren't meant to turn each other on, they're meant to inform, from anything like a waiter having poor hygiene to saying 'I love you,'" Cliff said.
"Precisely, Clifford, you tell him!" Artie cheered sweetly.
"Now, meaningful gazes, however…"
"Clifford!" Artie scolded.
"Oops, sorry."
"That whole smack cam ritual is a thing we do when someone says or does something super dumb. I'm Snare, by the way. Snare Grunger," Snare said, "I'm the drummer and also a forensic pathologist. I guess you could say people are dying to see me."
He did finger-guns to accompany the joke. Apollo fake-laughed politely.
"He practiced that for fifteen minutes," Artie said.
"No I didn't! The funniness comes from how bad the joke is, not the joke itself! Geez, Mousey Boy!" Snare said.
"Snare…" Artie said, lowering his tone.
"Alright, Mousey Man ."
"Thank you."
Snare wore a leather vest with a random Gavinners shirt and distressed jeans. The attention-grabbing parts of his outfit were his long red rubber gloves and black surgical mask pulled down to barely go over his chin.
"I'm sure you already know who I am, but I'll introduce myself personally anyway. Klavier Gavin: prosecutor, lead singer and guitarist of the Gavinners, and available. I'm looking forward to working with you, Apollo," Klavier said, bending forward a little and placing a gentle touch on Apollo's arm.
Like Cliff, Klavier could switch out his accessories and be ok for his job. Hopefully he switched them out and didn't wear that to prosecute a murder ever. Change out the belt, take off the stupid G necklace, add a tie. Of course he'd have to button up some more buttons because in that state he…
"Nope. Not going there. He seems ok, that's all. Slightly full of himself. Nothing more nothing less not sparking any weird meaningless feeling that'll fizzle out the first time he asks me to do something annoying for him. He just got slapped by four people," Apollo told himself.
"You already met me, so that's everyone," Daryan said.
"Now all that's left to do is wait for our flight to Boston," Cliff said.
"We decided to go from east to west so our last performance would be here at home in LA," Artie said.
"That's a pretty smart idea," Apollo said.
"It was all Clifford's," Artie said.
"Yes, but you were a big help in convincing the rest of the group, Arthur," Cliff said.
Fifteen minutes later their flight was announced to be boarding. As the group got up, Snare came over to Apollo.
"Business class seats are in groups of two. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't want to break up the lovebirds, you hate Dar Dar Binks, and you're intimidated by the Klavster."
Apollo snorted at Daryan's nickname, "Are you asking if we can sit next to each other?"
"Yep. I thought I'd do it on our way to avoid a bunch of awkward shuffling on your part, and save myself the second-hand embarrassment," Snare said.
"Thanks, Snare, I'd love to sit next to you," Apollo said.
"Cool. It's nice having even numbers."
Apollo sighed as he picked up his phone to text Clay:
[me]: Hey you can totally get a sticker of that girl or whatever and put it on the fridge. it's not like I'm living there anymore. But as soon as I come back she's gone.
[Clay]: Thankssssss and tell Daryan thanks and that Google Lens worked and I'm finna order her cuz I'm in love and I also found the show and so far I like it
[me]: Yes I will totally tell my boss and my least favorite Gavinner by a long shot that my friend is watching hentai rn