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Apollo collapsed onto the air mattress laid out in Athena’s living room with a grateful sigh. Jet lag was nothing to laugh at, especially considering how long a non-stop flight from Khura’in to Los Angeles was—twenty one hours, to be exact. He’d been able to get some sleep on the plane, thanks to some of the herbal medicine Nahyuta had given him, but it had still been rough going. He felt tired and sore all over. And it certainly didn’t help that Apollo had been taken out to a ‘welcome back’ dinner party as soon as he’d stepped off his flight.
It still didn’t feel real, being back in Los Angeles. Almost two years had passed since he’d set up the Justice Law Offices in Khura’in. Somehow, simultaneously, it felt like a thousand years and only yesterday since he’d left to try and repair the law system in the country he’d spent most of his childhood in. The days had passed by quicker than he’d expected, every minute of his time taken up by working on cases and helping to train the next generation of Khura’in defense attorneys. And even with royal family on his side, there was still so much work that had to be done there...it could easily take another decade before the kingdom’s legal system was back on its feet.
But, loathed though he was to admit it at first, Apollo didn’t want to spend a decade or more in Khura’in.
When Datz had asked him to stay and help establish Justice Law Offices, Apollo had felt an obligation to stay and see his mission until the end. The memory of Dhurke, of his foster father’s dreams for the future of Khurai’n, had been the fire behind Apollo’s determination to see to the fruition of Dhurke’s vision himself.
But, in the end...it hadn’t been enough.
It had been years since he’d been a young child with Dhurke and Nahyuta in the mountains, and the Khura’in he’d known and the person he’d been were barely recognizable to him anymore. And though Nahyuta had been a comforting touchstone of familiarity, he had changed over the years as well. Not to mention...after the truth had been revealed and Nahyuta was finally able to properly reunite with Rayfa and Amara, Apollo couldn’t help but feel...like an unnecessary and ill-fitting piece of the puzzle.
The royal family did their best to include him of course, and they never purposely meant to make him feel out of place. But Apollo still felt like he didn’t truly belong, like he was being left behind. Again.
He was always being left behind.
Apollo missed his home. He missed his life in Los Angeles—the one he’d built up from scratch with his own two hands. Apollo had made a life for himself after being dumped back to America, after his mother, his father, and Dhurke had all left him behind (and wasn’t it funny, how it wasn’t really any of their faults? It would’ve been easier if Apollo could hate them, if he didn’t understand why things had turned out as they did. But he did, and somehow that made it all even worse).
Was it really so bad for Apollo to want to try and live his life for himself?
And so he had decided to move back to Los Angeles. He had felt sick with guilt when he’d announced his intentions to Datz and the royal family. But, to Apollo’s great relief, everyone had been nothing but supportive. Surprisingly, the people who’d been most resistant to the idea of him leaving Khura’in had been the fledgling defense attorneys he’d been training at Justice Law Offices, who hadn’t felt quite ready yet to take on clients by themselves. But Apollo had let them in on a secret he wished he’d known when he first started out: that you’ll never really feel ready, and the important thing was to do your best and believe in your client.
(Besides, it wasn’t like Apollo was never going back to Khura’in. He’d be back to check in on everyone once in a while, even if he wasn’t living there anymore).
And so, Apollo had packed up his things, took a few deep breaths, and made the long journey home.
And after seeing the tableau waiting to greet him at the LA airport—a larger group than he’d been expecting, made up of Athena, Trucy, Mr. Wright (all three holding up a home-made “Welcome Home” banner clearly masterminded by Trucy), Klavier, Ema, Simon, Mr. Edgeworth, Juniper, Pearl, and even Solomon—Apollo knew he’d made the right choice.
It’d been great catching up with everyone over dinner (which wasn’t Eldoon’s for once, thank goodness). But all the excitement and exhaustion from the journey over had caught up to him soon enough, and he was more than a little grateful when Athena finally let him crash at her apartment.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather stay with the Wrights?” Athena asked, hovering over his prone form on the air-filled mattress. “I know my place isn’t the biggest…”
“No, this is perfect.” Apollo sighed, lifting his face up from where it’d been scrunched flat against the mattress so his words wouldn’t come out all garbled. “Thanks again for letting me stay here, ‘Thena.”
Trucy had been visibly disappointed when Apollo hadn’t taken the offer to stay with her. While he’d been in Khura’in, she and Mr. Wright had moved into Mr. Edgeworth’s place, and he knew Trucy had been looking forward to showing him around.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend time with Trucy—quite the opposite, really, especially considering how much closer they had gotten after she and Lamiroir had come to visit him in Khura’in, following the reveal of their shared parentage. Trucy had been just as upset as he had been when they’d found out how long Mr. Wright had known and hadn’t told them. And while Lamiroir—or Thalassa (and Apollo still wasn’t over the weirdness of finding out Lamiroir, the famous singer of all people, was his mom)—had explained that Mr. Wright had done it for her benefit, so that she could take some time after the sudden regaining of her memories before reaching out to them, both Apollo and Trucy couldn’t help but feel a bit betrayed. The two of them had spent a long time talking with each other about how the whole thing made them feel, as well as the weird mix of emotions which came with slowly learning more about the mother who had been absent for most of their lives. Apollo had loved Trucy like a little sister long before he ever found out she actually was his biological sibling, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit closer to her after the whole debacle. For once it wasn’t just Apollo who was left feeling lost and confused and not a little bit abandoned.
Apollo knew that Trucy had come to forgive her father for his part in the whole thing, and while Apollo was slowly getting there himself, it still felt too soon to stay in the house with them all. And that was without even considering the whole Mr. Edgeworth angle. Apollo was still a bit intimidated by the Chief Prosecutor (no matter how many time Trucy told him he “was a big softie, really”), and the mere idea of living in his house sort of made Apollo break out into a nervous sweat.
Thank goodness for Athena, Apollo thought gratefully. She had offered to let Apollo crash in her living room until he was able to find an apartment of his own, an offer Apollo had jumped on immediately. Athena was his friend as well as his co-worker. He genuinely enjoyed her company and, as an added plus, their relationship didn’t come with years of weird history and baggage.
“I promise I’ll get out of your hair soon enough.” Apollo said, sitting up on the mattress while fighting through a yawn.
Athena shook her head. “Don’t even worry about it!” She shot him a wide grin. “It’s nice to have some company, to be honest. Feel free to stay as long as you want!”
“If you say so…” Apollo mumbled, still determined to find a place of his own sooner rather than later. He was stuck by another yawn mid-sentence and could feel his eyes tear up in their fatigue.
“Here, this should help.” Athena walked over to her nearby couch, grabbing a small pillow and a blanket which she proceeded to throw at him. Apollo accepted the items with a thankful groan.
He waited for Athena to turn the lights off and return to her bedroom, already eager for the chance to sleep on a flat surface. But that didn’t happen. Instead, Apollo was startled by the strange sensation of Athena jumping down to join him on the mattress, the sudden change in pressure causing the mattress to buckle slightly and send Apollo a few centimeters into the air.
“...So!” Athena announced, looking at him expectantly from her seated spot on the mattress.
“Yes?” Apollo asked, wondering if there was a polite way to ask Athena to leave him alone and let him sleep. He was crashing at her house, so it was probably best that he wasn’t short with her. But he was also exhausted.
“So...Klavier huh?” Athena raised her eyebrows.
Weird conversation starter, Apollo thought. “What about Klavier?” He’d been a part of the initial welcoming party at the airport but unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to join everyone for dinner, as he was in the middle of working a case. Apollo had been a little disappointed when he’d heard that. They had been texting more often while he’d been in Khura’in, and Apollo had sort of been looking forward to talking to Klavier in person.
Apollo thought he’d done a pretty good job at hiding this disappointment, but Klavier must have noticed something, since he then promised that the two of them would go out to dinner the next time they were both free.
“He hugged you.” Athena stated, still looking at Apollo as if she was expecting an explanation of some sort.
“Yeah.” Apollo admitted, trying not blush at the memory. It might have been the jet lag, but Apollo could almost swore he still smelled the subtle flowery cologne Klavier had been wearing when he’d pulled Apollo into a soft embrace. If he thought about it, Apollo could even remember the exact timbre of Klavier’s voice when he’d whispered, “Glad to have you back, Herr Forehead.”
“What about it?” Apollo asked, trying to shrug off the memory replaying in his mind. “Klavier’s a tactile person.” Klavier was just that type, someone who didn’t think anything of dropping a wink, or throwing out a flirty compliment, or-or hugging people. It was who Klavier was. It didn’t mean anything.
Apollo could already tell what road Athena was trying to go on, and he was resistant to following her. Putting too much meaning into gestures Klavier probably thought nothing off was dangerous, and bad for Apollo’s health.
“Besides, you and Trucy hugged me too.” Apollo pointed out.
“But that’s different!” Athena argued, folding her arms across her chest. “We’re like family.” Despite himself, Apollo couldn’t help the small feeling of warmth in his chest when Athena used the word ‘family’. “And…” Athena trailed off, clearly racking her brain for something else to say before her eyes suddenly lit up as if she had found the perfect piece of evidence, “and you were texting him during dinner!” She added, pointed an accusing finger at him.
“So?” Apollo argued, turning away from Athena’s inquisitive gaze. “We were setting up a time to meet up for dinner.” Apollo realized his mistake too late, as Athena wasted no time jumping onto this new piece of information.
“Dinner?” She asked, her eyes lighting up. “Okay, now you definitely need to tell me what’s going on. Since when do you guys text each other and go on dinner dates?”
“It’s not a date!” Apollo argued, knowing he was coming off as too defensive, but unable to help himself. “We’re not even going out anywhere—there was this new recipe he wanted to try out, so we’re just having dinner at his place. Which was what we were texting about, if you really have to know.”
Athena simply raised her eyebrows at him.
And okay. Maybe when he said it out loud, Klavier cooking dinner for just the two of them in his apartment sounded a little bit like a date. But eating together was something friends did, right?
But Apollo knew he wouldn’t have exactly categorized Klavier as that type of friend before he’d gone to Khura’in. And okay. So maybe Apollo could admit that his relationship with Klavier had changed a little bit. But it wasn’t what Athena was thinking!
It was only natural for them to be closer, now that they’d been texting more often. Though if someone had told him two years ago he’d be contacting Klavier on a nearly daily basis, Apollo wouldn’t have believed them.
They had sent each other the occasional text of course, ever since they’d exchanged phone numbers for a case several years ago. Back when he was in Los Angeles, the texts had all been work related. And then, once Apollo had moved to Khura’in, Klavier had sent him a few polite texts asking how he was settling in, nothing of real substance.
That had changed about four months into his stay in Khura’in. Things were still hectic back then, before he and Datz were able to recruit any defense-attorneys in-training, with Apollo trying to split his time helping as many clients as possible. He hadn’t even noticed what day it was until the late afternoon, his stomach dropping when he finally noticed the date.
It had been the one year anniversary since Kristoph’s execution.
At first Apollo had tried to put it out of his mind. Kristoph had been a cold-blooded murderer, a first-class manipulator who hadn’t cared about anyone other than himself. But...he had also been Apollo’s mentor. He’d taken Apollo in after the bar exam, when he was still a fresh lawyer with no real experience, and had patiently taught Apollo the basics. Apollo knew that Kristoph had done terrible things to be people, like Mr. Wright and the Mishams, but...he’d been pretty good to Apollo, all things considered, and hadn’t really seemed to want anything in return from him besides an assistant to help with the more tedious paperwork.
So, even despite everything, Apollo couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss. It didn’t help that he was now on his own for the first time, struggling to establish a law office—inspiring a sense of nostalgia in Apollo for the simpler days before his first trial, before his life had spiraled out into a pandemonium which was by turns wacky and tragic.
He couldn’t talk to Datz or Nahyuta about how he was feeling, unwilling to explain who Kristoph was and why he felt this strange mix of grief and guilt for a man who was objectively a monster. And he couldn’t talk to Trucy about it either, considering the terrible consequences Kristoph’s actions had on her and both her adoptive and biological fathers’ lives.
But there was one person who would understand what he was feeling, who’d have even more reason to have mixed feelings on the anniversary of Kristoph’s death. And if Apollo was having trouble today, he could only imagine how Klavier was feeling.
A small part of Apollo had wondered if he was being presumptuous. Even if Klavier could use someone to talk to, he was a celebrity. He probably had hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people he could turn to. People who could probably do a hell of a better job of comforting him than Apollo—who was socially awkward on the best of days—ever could.
But did any of those people know Kristoph? Another, louder, part of Apollo asked. Were any of them there to see it happen? Apollo doubted it.
And he could still remember the look Klavier had given him, back in that day in court when the last of Kristoph’s lies had unraveled: Klavier had stared at Apollo with such trust, like he was the only person in the entire world who could help him find the truth.
So Apollo made his decision and sent Klavier a text. Just a simple “How are you doing?”
At first he debated whether he should outright mention Kristoph or not, but decided against it. Klavier would know what he was referring to. It was unlikely that Klavier wouldn’t know what day it was. Especially since, unlike Apollo, he had actually attended the execution.
Klavier replied faster than he’d been expecting, only thirty minutes after Apollo had sent the text. Apollo had halfway expected Klavier to brush off his concern, to deflect with a joke or a flirtatious comment like he usually did. But he didn’t.
Klavier
As well as can be expected, I suppose.
Klavier
A few journalists have been in contact today. They’ve utterly spammed my email account trying to fish for stories from our childhood where Kristoph tortured small animals or something else obviously evil. It was never like that. Our childhood was relatively normal.
Klavier
There were small things. Sometimes Kristoph would tell me something in private, and then he would claim something else in front of our parents. Then if I confronted him, he would talk circles around me until it seemed as if I must have made it up, after all, and that I was at fault for questioning him.
Klavier
But no one wants to hear about such small things. People are only interested in the extreme.
Klavier
Ach, but you probably did not want to hear all this. Apologies, Herr Forehead. Thank you for the message, I hope you are doing well.
Apollo had stared at the messages, surprised at the genuineness in Klavier’s responses.
Apollo
No, it’s good to see you talk about it. I’m sorry the press is bothering you. But I guess you’re used to this type of thing, huh? It must have been pretty rough for you and the rest of the Gavinners after Daryan was arrested too.
Apollo
And don’t call me Herr Forehead.
There was an almost instantaneous reply.
Klavier
But Herr Forehead, how can I stop when your reactions continue to be so rewarding? ;)
Apollo scoffed, unsurprised that Klavier had returned back to his usual self. At least he had been honest about his feelings for a little while. And it was almost comforting, in a way. Apollo would never admit it, but he did kind of miss the old back and forth he had with the prosecutor.
Apollo
Haha very funny. Shows me right for being concerned about you.
Klavier
How sweet of you, Herr Forehead! It seems to me that I should be the one concerned about you—you haven’t been driven mad by Khura’in’s elevation and your great backlog of clients yet, have you?
After that they had started to text regularly. They mostly shared what was going on at work, Klavier telling him about all the weird characters working at the Prosecutor’s Office while Apollo in turn told him how the legal restructuring in Khura’in was going.
And it turned out that he and Klavier could relate on a lot of things, beyond the obvious such as their shared love of law. Apollo was surprised to find out that he wasn’t the only one who’d had to adjust to life in America at a young age—apparently all the German wasn’t fake, like Apollo had privately suspected when he was feeling less than generous. It turned out Klavier and Kristoph had been moved from Germany to America after their parents had died, in order to be looked after by some distant relatives in Los Angeles. Klavier had been ten at the time.
(Still, Apollo had felt vindicated when Klavier had admitted one day that all the gratuitous German was done on purpose.
Klavier
I started it to annoy Kristoph, in all honesty. After we moved, it was like he wanted me to forget everything...like our lives before had never happened. I did not want to forget. So I would speak German and watch how his face would clench.)
It was...nice. Apollo genuinely liked talking with Klavier. Especially since Klavier seemed more willing to drop the flashy rock star-persona when they were texting. He’d even started to refer to him as plain old ‘Apollo’ sometimes. They were friends. Really good friends. And sure, Klavier would occasionally say things which came off as flirtatious, but it was only in good fun. Apollo shouldn’t read too much into it.
Apollo wanted to tell all of this to Athena, but he couldn’t help but feel like it would hurt his case.
“He wouldn’t...I mean...not with me, you know?” Apollo said, desperately hoping Athena would drop the subject. Because the truth was this: sometimes Apollo wished Klavier really did mean it when he flirted with him. And the longer he and Athena talked about this, the sooner she would find out. If she hadn’t figured it out already.
The expression Athena directed at him was mixed with pity and exasperation. “Why not you?”
Because he’s a literal rock star and I’m just a nerdy defense attorney. Apollo wanted to say back, but the words wouldn’t come out. Klavier was a celebrity, sure, but that wasn’t all he was. In fact, talking with Klavier over the past two years had made Apollo realize that Klavier was even more of a nerd than Apollo was. That sort of thing was hard to deny after the two of them had spent well over three hours excitedly exchanging facts about an obscure piece of legislation which hadn’t been enforced in almost a century, to list one example.
Because Klavier is gorgeous, on top of being one of the coolest people I’ve ever met, and he could literally have anyone he wants. Apollo debated saying, but he could already imagine Athena’s potential rebuttal: ‘And what does it say that the person he wants to spend his free time with is you?’
Klavier was incredibly busy, between his schedules prosecuting and preparing for the release of his first solo-album, and Apollo knew this because Klavier complained about how busy he was to him constantly. But Klavier hadn’t made any fuss about making time in his schedule to see Apollo, somehow mysteriously opening up a good four-hour gap to have dinner with Apollo in what had previously been an absolutely packed schedule.
And there were other things too...like how Klavier told him things he had apparently never told anybody, something the prosecutor had freely admitted more than once. And they texted each other every day single day at this point, with a good percentage of the messages just consisting of things they’d seen during the day that had reminded them of the other. And when Apollo had told Klavier he was planning on returning to Los Angeles on a semi-permanent basis, Klavier had sent him a shower of heart emojis.
“Oh god.” Apollo dropped his face into his hands as the realization hit him like a falling piano. “What if it is a date?” He asked, his voice involuntarily raising several octaves.
Apollo had spent all of his energy telling himself that Klavier couldn’t actually genuinely have feelings for him—had spent so much effort trying not to let his own crush on Klavier show—that the mere idea that Klavier might actually want a relationship with Apollo left him at a loss.
“Athena, what am I going to do?” Apollo looked at his friend imploringly, hoping she’d be able throw him a life raft now that he was swept up in a terrifying flood of new possibilities and what-ifs.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Athena stated, her eyes glistening in determination. “You’re going to sweep him off his feet!”
-
Athena had refused to clarify that night what exactly “sweeping Klavier off his feet” entailed, claiming he needed to get some rest. Which, to be fair, she was right about. Apollo was practically dead on his feet, even with the rush of adrenaline which had followed the revelation that Klavier might possibly like him. (He refused to believe it was a sure thing, no matter how often Athena insisted it was. So what if she heard emotions in people’s voices? That was hardly an exact science! Apollo knew better than most not to solely rely on bordering-supernatural abilities!)
The two days between Apollo’s arrival to LA and his upcoming dinner plans with Klavier were spent with Apollo sleeping, apartment hunting, eating out with Athena and Trucy, and trying desperately not to panic about his night out with Klavier. It did not help that Athena would try to bring the topic up whenever she could (Apollo had to desperately beg her not to tell Trucy about the whole thing, at least until he’d actually met up with Klavier, or else he’d have two energetic young girls meddling in his love life. His body couldn’t handle that kind of stress.)
And through it all, he’d still text Klavier occasionally, checking up on how his cases or the recording for his album was going. Athena had teased him relentlessly every time she caught him checking his phone, and had offered unhelpful comments whenever she caught a glimpse of their texts.
(“How many times a day does he send you the winking emoji?!” Athena had asked, her voice growing incredulous. “I swear that’s the second time in the past thirty minutes!”
“It’s his favorite emoji Athena!” Apollo had argued back. “I’ve seen him send it to other people, it’s not a big deal!”)
Athena finally revealed exactly what her plan entailed on the afternoon before the scheduled dinner.
“Flowers? Really?” Apollo asked, looking around at the flower shop Athena had practically dragged him into.
“It’s a classic!” Athena replied, already making a beeline for the rows of roses on display. Apollo followed her, a familiar sense of foreboding already settling into his stomach.
“How about these?” Athena asked, pointing to a robust bouquet of roses.
“Aren’t those a little obvious?” Apollo pointed out. “If I’m going to do this, I want to at least have the option to claim the flowers are a housewarming gift.” And I’d prefer something which won’t obliterate my wallet, Apollo thought to himself as he eyed the rose bouquet’s expensive price tag.
“Fine.” Athena sighed, a small frown settling on her face. “What about these then?” She said, pointing towards a display of red tulips. “They’re your color!”
Apollo looked at the tulips, which seemed non-offensive enough. “Okay, sure. Three should do, right?” He didn’t want to spend too much, especially since he was still unsure whether or not the dinner was a date.
“You’re supposed to get a big bouquet, Apollo! To show your love!” Athena insisted, though she had eventually backed down when Apollo mentioned that, if she was so insistent on getting a bouquet, then she could pay for the rest of the tulips. After that, Apollo paid for the three red tulips and they left the flower shop in peace.
They then spent the next two hours trying to decide what Apollo should wear for the dinner, before eventually deciding on going with something semi-casual: Apollo’s regular jeans and a simple button up. By the time they had settled on that, it was already time for Apollo to get going.
“Good luck, Romeo!” Athena shot him an encouraging grin, which Apollo tried to return with a nervous lopsided one of his own.
Don’t get your expectations up, don’t get your expectations up...Apollo chanted like a mantra in his head, doing his best to remain calm as he headed toward Klavier’s apartment. This would be the first time he’d ever been to Klavier’s place—hence the potential “I brought flowers as a housewarming gift” excuse should this turn out to not be a date after all—but Klavier had given him pretty solid directions, and he was able to find the place without any problems.
Klavier’s apartment was one of those guarded complexes with a high level of security, unsurprising given his celebrity status. But that meant Apollo had to spend ten minutes awkwardly avoiding eye contact with the security guard who had to buzz him in and accompany him in the elevator. Apollo thought he saw the guard throw a few glances at his tulips and had to struggle to control the blush growing on his face. He was sure his ears were a bright red by the time the guard left him at Klavier’s door.
It’s going to be fine. You’re Apollo Justice and you’re going to be fine. Apollo told himself, taking a few deep breaths before knocking on the door.
It took only a few moments for Klavier to open the door, the light from inside the apartment backlighting his figure in a soft halo.
“Justice!” Klavier grinned at the sight of him. His long hair was wrapped in a slightly messy upwards bun, and he was wearing a worn-out apron over his black dress pants and maroon top. “You have impeccable timing. I just finished setting up everything.”
“Hey!” Apollo said, his voice coming out more like a squeak than the suave-tone he’d been hoping for. Then, before his brain could catch up to his body, Apollo shoved the tulips towards Klavier’s general direction.
Klavier stared down at the three tulips, and Apollo suddenly wished he had listened to Athena and gone for a full bouquet. Right now the flowers looked sad and small, cradled as they were in Klavier’s hands.
“Flowers?” Klavier asked, still staring at the tulips.
“They’re for you.” Apollo said. He was debating whether he should go with his housewarming excuse, but the words died in his throat when Klavier looked up at him with a soft smile.
“Thank you, Apollo.” Klavier said, and Apollo wasn’t sure if it was just the lightning or not, but he thought he could see the beginnings of a blush on the other man’s cheeks. “Come in, and I’ll go get a vase to put these flowers in.” Klavier said, turning around and walking into his apartment.
Apollo followed, taking the opportunity to look around the inside of Klavier’s apartment. It was pretty much what he’d been expecting, especially the framed guitars on the walls. But it was also cleaner than Apollo had expected, used to seeing the papers strewn all over Klavier’s office at work. Had he cleaned up for Apollo? No, he’s probably just keeps his place tidier than his office.
Apollo’s eyes were inevitably drawn to the dining table, where Klavier had already set up the cutlery for their meal.
“It’s my first time making risotto in the oven, so I hope it turned out alright.” Klavier spoke as he rummaged through his kitchen cabinets, eventually pulling out a purple vase. After filling it with water, Klavier placed the the tulips inside, walking over to the dining table and placing it on the opposite side of where the cultry had been positioned.
“Thank you again for the flowers.” Klavier smiled at him as he walked past, heading back into the kitchen. “I’ll get our dishes ready, so feel free to sit down.”
Apollo did as he was told, watching the back of Klavier’s figure as he grabbed two bowls from the cabinet and began heading towards a pot on the stove, talking all the while.
“You don’t mind enoki mushrooms, do you? I was originally just going to only use the skiitake, but there was a special today at the market, and I just couldn’t help myself…”
“Enoki mushrooms are fine.” Apollo answered, a bit distracted.
There was a candle on the dining table between the two spots on the table, the wick already ignited with a bright orange flame. It provided a nice amount of light, which made it easier for Apollo spot how the lighting around the dining table was noticeably dimmer compared to the brightness of the kitchen.
The scene was almost identical to ones he’d seen a thousand times in romantic comedies, and the restraint Apollo had been desperately trying to hold onto snapped.
“Is this a date?” Apollo asked, his voice coming out much louder than he’d intended.
Klavier froze where he was, the risotto falling out of the spoon he held and into the bowl positioned directly below it with a wet ‘plop’. His back was still turned towards Apollo.
Oh god, you’ve done it now, Apollo internally berated himself, the awkwardness in the room quickly becoming stifling, you’ve misread this whole thing and now you’re in this mess! Quick! Say something to fix this!
“I just mean—you put out a candle, and I brought you flowers, and you keep sending me hearts and winky emojis when we text—” Apollo continued, stuttering slightly as he began to dig himself into a bigger hole. “And okay, that sounds kind of childish when I say it like that, but you know...I can’t tell if you keep flirting with me to be funny or something, or if you actually, uh, mean it that way, or if that’s just your personality—”
As he continued to babble, Apollo watched Klavier, hoping the other man would give him a sign or something so he could stop rambling. But Klavier hadn’t moved an inch, his face and whatever expression he was wearing currently out of Apollo’s sight. So, unsure of what else to do, Apollo continued on.
“But this whole setup kind of feels romantic, a little bit? And I’d really appreciate it if you could tell me either way, because I really like you and I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to figure out if you like me back and…” Apollo trailed off, his brain catching up to what he’d just admitted, and then had to immediately suppress the urge to run over to Klavier’s kitchen sink so could drown himself in it.
Instead, Apollo closed his eyes and pressed his face into his hands, the mortification and embarrassment threatening to swallow him whole. “Can we just forget everything I’ve said these past two minutes?” He asked weakly, already knowing the futility in such a request.
Apollo could hear the sound of a bowl being placed on the counter, followed by the sounds of footsteps heading towards him. Apollo clutched his face tighter in anticipation. There was no getting out of this situation with his dignity intact.
“...Justice?” Klavier gently pulled Apollo’s hands away from his face, resulting in the two of them making direct eye contact.
Klavier was kneeling down besides Apollo’s chair, his eyes wide and his face unmistakably flushed. Apollo stared at him, speechless, as Klavier placed a hand on the side of his face. And then Klavier’s face was moving towards him and Apollo felt the sudden sensation of lips pressing against his cheek, before Klavier quickly pulled away.
If this were a cartoon, Apollo was sure there would be steam coming out of his ears.
“You scared me, earlier.” Klavier said, his lips pulled upright in a small nervous smile. “I thought you were finally going to tell me to back off.”
“Um,” Apollo said, still trying to adjust to the fact that Klavier had just kissed him on the cheek, “Does this mean this is a date?”
Klavier’s smile grew, the motion causing his eyes to crinkle softly. “If you’d like it to be.” He said, gently brushing a thumb across Apollo’s cheekbone.
Apollo didn’t really trust his words at the moment, so he answered the question by pulling Klavier into an actual kiss, his heart jumping with how easily Klavier followed him.
“I’ve been so worried.” Klavier whispered to him after they pulled apart for air. “I didn’t know if you were only humoring me, or if you really were oblivious to how I felt—”
“I’m always oblivious.” Apollo answered, his voice a tad breathless. “You should know this by now.”
Klavier laughed, the sound loud and welcoming. “Of course, Herr Forehead. It was foolish of me to think otherwise.”
“If we’re going to be dating,” Apollo nudged Klavier playfully, trying to frown but finding himself unable to do so, “then I’m making an official rule that you can’t call me ‘Herr Forehead’ anymore.”
“Oh, you drive a hard bargain.” Klavier sighed dramatically. “But I suppose I will comply if I must. I’ll simply have to come up with a better pet name, then.”
“You’d better.” Apollo said, and the two of them smiled at each other in a silent and shared giddiness.
“We should probably eat the risotto before it gets cold.” Apollo finally mentioned. “I wouldn’t want all of your hard work to go to waste.”
Klavier smiled at him, standing up and gracing Apollo with a bow. “As you wish.”
The risotto was still warm by the time they managed to eat it, thankfully. Though it was hard for Apollo to focus on anything else besides Klavier, who spent the entire meal trying to find a pet name that Apollo would approve of. Most of them were even worse than ‘Herr Forehead’, though Apollo suspected that Klavier was just trying to wear him down until he accepted one of the more cheesy German pet names he’d suggest now and then.
It was a nice dinner, though the risotto could have been inedible and Apollo would have still had a wonderful time. It was hard not to be happy, when Klavier kept glancing at him with such an unabashedly warm look.
Time passed by quicker than Apollo would have liked, the clock steadily heading towards midnight. Apollo knew that Klavier had to get up early tomorrow, but the prosecutor seemed hesitant to send him away, comfortable as they were cuddled up together and watching one of the movies Apollo had missed while he was away in Khura’in.
In the end, Apollo decided to be the responsible one. “I think I should head back home.” Athena will probably to interrogate me as soon as I get back, judging by all the texts she’s been sending me. Apollo had been ignoring them for now, not wanting to burst the comfortable bubble he and Klavier had made for themselves.
“If you must.” Klavier frowned, though the motion didn’t reach his eyes. They both knew they would be seeing each other again, and soon.
Klavier followed Apollo as he gathered his things and headed for the door.
“I’ll see you later, then.” Apollo said, trying to soften the goodbye with a kiss to Klavier’s cheek.
“I’ll text you.” Klavier agreed, moving the scant few inches he needed to in order to bring their lips together. “Welcome home, Apollo.” Klavier whispered to him as they pulled apart, his voice soft and earnest. “I’m so very glad you’re back.”
“So am I.” Apollo said, the truth of the words and the smile with which he said them reverberating throughout his entire being. “So am I.”