Work Text:
The sound of chatter filled the lobby as courtroom officials spilled into the room. Athena and Apollo stepped through the doors once the crowd started to dissipate, and were immediately approached by the relieved defendant and his teary-eyed husband.
Misters Aiden and Sidon Enduit were very pleasant people. They enthusiastically thanked both Athena and Apollo, and soon, another innocent client was safely on his way.
As they left, Trucy peeked through the doors of the defense lobby. Athena waved her over.
She ran up to them with Mr. Wright in tow. “That was great! You had everyone convinced before you even presented all the evidence! How did you think to look into the perfume?”
Athena laughed. “It’s ‘cause Apollo is allergic to Chamelle Gud perfume, too! He had to leave the crime scene before he sneezed all over the evidence. That’s when I started wondering why the victim needed to take the poisoned allergy medicine in the middle of winter.”
Apollo grimaced and sniffed. “I hate that flowery stuff. It feels like there’s bees in my nose.” Trucy giggled at the imagery..
Mr. Wright smiled at them and clapped a hand onto each of their shoulders. “Thank you for taking this case. You’re both turning out to be great lawyers.”
Athena gave him a thumbs up. “Aw, it was no problem, boss!”
“And thanks, Mr. Wri–hih–” Apollo interrupted himself with a sneeze. He sniffled as he straightened. “Ugh. Sorry.”
Mr. Wright tsked. “It looks like the allergy meds you took this morning are wearing off. You might want to go wash the perfume off your hands before it gets too bad. Here–” he fished a water bottle and a small bottle of pills out of his bag and handed them over to Apollo. “I brought these just in case.”
Apollo took them gratefully. They had all gotten used to Mr. Wright’s Dad Mode by now and had learned not to question it. “Thanks. I’ll be back in a minute.”
In the bathroom, the mirror above the sink brought his irritated nose and eyes to his attention. As he leaned over the sink to inspect them, his breath hitched and he buried his nose in his sleeve. Bad idea. The perfume had, evidently, gotten on his clothes, and it triggered an itchy sneezing fit that masked the sound of the door opening.
“Ach je, gesundheit!”
Apollo jumped. He opened bleary eyes to see Klavier standing in front of him, hand hovering near his shoulder as if to support him if he fell.
Apollo scrubbed at his nose. “Ugh. Excuse me.” He cringed at the congested quality to his tone.
Klavier produced a neatly folded handkerchief from his pocket and held it out to Apollo. Of course he’d have one. Pretentious fop. Apollo ignored him and snatched a paper towel from the dispenser instead.
Klavier shrugged and put his handkerchief away. “You’re going to hurt that cute face of yours, Herr Forehead, but suit yourself. Have you caught a cold?”
Apollo crumpled up the paper towel and threw it away, keeping his face out of Klavier’s view until he got it under control. “No. Just allergies. That perfume gets to me, too.”
“Isn’t that dangerous information to be handing out, considering the events that just took place?” Klavier mused. His concerned frown had faded into a gentle smirk.
“If you murder me, don’t expect Athena or Mr. Wright to defend you.”
Klavier slapped a hand over his heart with melodramatic flair. “You wound me! I could never hurt you, liebling.”
“Save it for your trial.” Apollo tried not to think too hard about the fact that his bracelet had remained still on his wrist. Taking ‘I don’t want to murder you’ as a sign that Klavier cared about him was setting the bar at the core of the Earth.
Apollo cupped his hands under the faucet and splashed the palmful of cool water onto his face. At the next mirror over, Klavier inspected his skin before pulling a small makeup kit out of his bag.
Klavier was the first to break the silence. “Forgive me if this is a rude question, but why didn’t Herr Wright take this case? I was expecting him to lead the defense.”
Apollo shrugged and rubbed his face dry with another paper towel. “He gets kind of weird around cases involving poison. Especially this one. I’m not really sure why.”
“Ah. It was kind of Fraulein Cykes and you to take over for him.” Apollo shrugged again in response. Klavier capped his mascara and moved onto a powder of some kind that Apollo couldn’t name. “How has work been for you, Herr Forehead? It’s been quite some time since our last case together.”
“It’s been fine. Our caseload was pretty spread out for a while, but it’s picking back up again. How about you?”
“I’ve been doing well, thank you,” Klavier replied with an easy smile.
Whatever he said next, Apollo didn’t register it. The sudden tightness around his wrist startled him, and even as he reached over to rub at his bracelet, he was already puzzling over what it could mean.
A lie? But all he said was… oh.
Examining Klavier’s face more closely revealed the exhaustion lining his eyes. The dark circles under them were disappearing as he began applying a fresh layer of makeup, but what he couldn't cover up was how his shoulders were drooping as if weighed down by exhaustion. The tell that had alerted Apollo’s bracelet became evident as his eyes traveled down to the hand resting on the sink’s edge.
“Uh. Prosecutor Gavin?”
“Yes?”
“You fidget with your rings when you lie.”
Klavier paused. His hand abruptly went still. “...Ah. I see.”
An uncomfortable silence fell over them. Neither of them looked at the other.
“S-sorry if this is a weird question to ask you, but is everything alright?”
Klavier’s reassuring smile wasn’t quite as steady as it normally was. “Ja, I’m fine. Danke, Herr Forehead.”
This time, Apollo wasn’t surprised when his wrist was squeezed. “Are you sure? You were kind of spacey in court today.”
“I’m sure. I apologize for my inattentiveness during today’s trial. You had the case under control and I’m afraid my mind took the opportunity to wander.”
His wrist was squeezed a third time, though weaker. “Gotcha,” he muttered with a weak huff of laughter. Klavier was pointedly not looking at him anymore. Apollo sighed. “Sorry. I don’t mean to pry.”
Klavier took a deep breath and released it slowly. “No, not at all. Life has not been… ideal, as of late. It’s simply a slight rough patch. I’m managing.”
Apollo was not quite convinced, but he didn’t want to push him to talk if he wasn’t comfortable. “Right. Uh, hold on. One second.” After wiping his hands dry on the sides of his pants, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and created a new contact. He thrust his phone at Klavier. “Here. Put your phone number in.”
Klavier flashed him a bright grin, his rockstar persona returning in an instant. “Asking for my number? I never expected you to be so direct, Herr Forehead.”
“Do you have to be like that?” Apollo grumbled. “I mean, it’s fine if you don’t want to. I just… I’ve been through rough patches before. If you ever want to talk, o-or anything, I’m here.” Daring to look up at his face, Apollo saw that Klavier was regarding him with a curious mix of emotions. “You probably have lots of friends, and I might be the last person you want to talk to, but––” Klavier cut off his rambling by accepting the phone.
“That’s… much appreciated, Herr Justice. Danke.”
Apollo took the opportunity to shake out a pill from the bottle and swallow it dry. As Klavier handed him his phone, there was a knock at the bathroom door.
“Apollo? Is everything ok?” Mr. Wright’s voice was muffled, but the underlying concern was still clear.
“Yeah, I’m fine!” Apollo called. He turned back to Klavier. “I should probably go before Mr. Wright thinks there’s been another murder.”
Klavier snapped his makeup case shut. “Ja, that would be best. Vielen Dank, Herr Forehead. I’ll see you around.”
“Same to you.” Apollo waved and opened the door to leave. As he stepped out, he sneezed sharply one more time.
“Gesundheit!”
Mr. Wright was waiting for him outside the bathroom. He tilted his head towards the door. “Was that Prosecutor Gavin?”
“Yeah. Are we heading back to the office now?”
Phoenix nodded. “We have mountains of follow-up work to do.” He winked. Apollo rolled his eyes. Mr. Wright thought it was hilarious to exaggerate how much post-trial paperwork needed to be done, then give them the rest of the afternoon to unwind and watch TV back at the office. It was a pleasant surprise the first time, but at this point, Apollo had no idea what he got out of it.
Athena and Trucy had been waiting just outside the courthouse.
“Hi Polly! You sure took a long time. Daddy was starting to worry that you’d died or something,” Trucy said.
Mr. Wright’s face took on the almost-smile he got whenever he was about to be a gremlin. That was never good news for Apollo. “Looks like there was no reason to worry. He was talking to Prosecutor Gavin.”
Both girls erupted into “oooooooooh!”s and laughter as Apollo glared at his boss. “Thanks,” he grumbled. “I really needed that.”
Mr. Wright grinned at him. “You know I’m always there for you, champ. Now, how does Eldoon’s sound?”
Apollo sighed. “I’ll call ahead. Does everyone want their usual?” Everyone nodded, and they began the familiar walk to the noodle stand.
The second his phone unlocked, Apollo squeaked and nearly dropped it. He fumbled with it for a moment before he pinned it against his leg.
Athena burst out laughing. “What was that, Apollo?”
Apollo could only hope his face wasn’t as red as it felt. “N-Nothing! My phone just slipped out of my hands.”
“Right. Sure.”
Apollo ignored her. He had a more pressing concern to deal with.
How had Klavier changed his contact name from “Prosecutor Gavin” to “Klavier ;) <3” without him noticing?