Hey all :3 First Justicykes story over here! I'm excited to join the fandom~ Anyway, enjoy!
Apollo Justice's work never seemed to be finished.
It had been a long day at the Wright Anything Agency. Stamping papers for filing, labeling folders, searching the computer for the latest news across the globe…it was a wonder that the red-clad lawyer knew how to keep up with it. The work seemed almost routine now, though; this and cleaning the toilets were about all he did when there were no cases to be investigated.
Apollo didn't mind working in the office alone. It added a certain rhythm to his work that he didn't have when the other members of the agency were around. It helped his work ethic – with Trucy at school and Phoenix out for the afternoon, he was able to clear all distractions from his mind.
Well, most distractions, that is.
He would sit idly in his office chair and his mind would wander to why Athena was taking so long. She was just his partner, he would have to remind himself. She could go wherever she wanted. It wasn't like she owed him anything.
It was fairly late in the afternoon when a certain redheaded lawyer decided to stumble through the door. Huffing and puffing, she tossed the stack of papers she had in her arms onto her desk, then wiping her brown and flopping down in her chair.
"I'm back! Sorry I'm late!" She said in a sing-song voice. Apollo furrowed his brow. She sounded awfully cheery for someone who had to go and pick up trial papers from the courthouse.
The brunette attorney turned about in his swivel chair, observing the scene at hand.
"Where have you been?" he asked, tapping a pen on his nose. "The courthouse is only twenty minutes away – you left three hours ago."
Athena looked back quizzically, as if surprised that he'd spoken. She then gave off a brilliant smile that made her co-worker almost flinch.
"Oh! You'll never guess who I ran into today!" She exclaimed, folding her hands together as her ponytail bobbed cutely about her face. Though this statement piqued Apollo's interest, he did his best to keep an unamused expression, simply raising an eyebrow to express the question in his face as he took a slow sip of coffee.
Athena took no time waiting for a verbal reply.
"Do you remember when we worked with Prosecutor Gavin on the case at Themis University? He stopped me in the hall today to chat!"
It took all of Apollo's strength not to spray the steaming hot beverage all over himself.
"You…you saw Klavier?!" he exclaimed incredulously, placing the mug down in order to prevent spilling it on himself. "What the heck did he want to talk to you for?"
"We really got to talking while we were there! He wanted to know how the case went, and all that kind of thing…"
Leave it to Klavier to be interested in what she had to say, he thought as a dark scowl spread across his face. That fop always seemed to stick his glimmerous nose where no one wanted.
"But you know, he offered me a cup of coffee and we went down the street to that little café on the corner. We got to talking about law for a while and how the European law system is so vastly different from the American law system…" she laughed a little bit before sitting down at her desk. "It really was a great time. I'm happy I saw him – we really have a lot in common."
Apollo's heart sank, as he turned around in his chair once more, sulking back to his course it was Klavier. And of course they had a lot in common.
"Oh," Apollo muttered, a dejected grimace plastered across his face. "Well, that's nice."
The office was quiet for a moment, the only sound being the delicate scratches of Athena's pen across the paper or a few seconds of typing from the keyboard at her desk. Then her cheery hums continued, piercing through the silence and slowly aggravating her co-worker.
It wasn't long before Apollo could no longer focus on his work. The defense attorney's pen began to draw angry doodles across his paperwork; caricatures of a certain prosecutor happening to meet his unfortunate end. Screw that scribbled over the doodles as he leaned his head on his hand. So what if they had a lot in common.
"He asked me out on a date." The redhead mentioned nonchalantly.
This woman was going to kill him. Apollo turned into a sputtering mess, having been caught off guard by the words come out of his partner's mouth. DATE?
"Apollo!" she rushed to his side, leaning over and placing a hand carefully on his shoulder. "Are you all right?"
"Date?" he questioned, his coughs dying down. "Klavier asked youout on a date?"
Athena huffed, standing up straight. Offended, the young lawyer pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest.
"Why is that so hard to believe?" she retorted, squinting her eyes. "I'm sure we would have had a great time together! He's a nice guy who shares a lot of the same interests with me and we would have made a good match."
Apollo's eyes widened. They…"would have"?
He gazed up at her, a waft of her sweet perfume lingering even from the good amount of distance between them.
"Then why did you say no?" he inquired, placing his pen on his desk.
He must have hit a nerve.
In that moment, all confidence drained out of his partner. Her gaze drifted to the ground and one of her hands desperately tried to hide her face, which had turned a pleasant shade of pink. He managed a small smirk. Gotcha.
"Well…" her voice matched her demeanor, small and meek. She carefully turned and slowly began dawdling back to her desk, trying desperately to hold on to her ever-crumbling facade. "Well, he's just not my type. Too flashy, living life in the fast lane, you know." She trailed off, attempting feebly to return to her work.
"NOT INTERESTED." Widget added.
Apollo's ears would have picked up on "type" even if he didn't want them to.
"So, if Klavier's not your 'type', then what is…?" he asked, awkwardly letting the question drift into the air.
Athena didn't look over, but remained still in her chair.
"Well, you know…" she piped up eventually, almost when she thought she wasn't going to respond at all. "I like guys that I can have fun with, but I can still trust to be serious with me. A guy that I can just casually watch a movie with, but in the same breath, share my deepest secrets with and have him not be bothered at all."
Apollo hung on every word. Intel, his brain conjured up the word without his consent, and he tried hard to stuff it down. She was just his couldn't possibly think that she would say something like–
"I like a guy who is kind and caring, but is fun to be around. A guy who's sweet, but won't be afraid to tell me what's on his mind. It's okay if he has baggage – I can help him with it – but he has to be just as willing to handle mine. We'd make time for each other." She stopped there. Apollo could hear her idly fiddle with the crescent moon-shaped earring dangling from her ear.
She drew in a deep breath and shifted slowly in her chair.
"We just need to be on the same wavelength. You know, look out for each other. Like companions. Like trusted friends or -"
Her voice caught airily, and she ended the sentence abruptly there. Heat rose to the brown-haired lawyer's cheeks instantaneously; the same word Athena had been holding in was now sitting on the tip of his tongue. His heart throbbed through his red suit jacket, threatening to tell her how well he'd fit that man she'd just described, but this small, singular word escaped into the open, before Apollo had a chance to think.
"…partners?" he asked quietly, almost inaudible despite the silence that drew far between them both.
He thought he heard a distinct gulp from Athena's side of the room.
"…yeah. Partners." She confirmed, her voice shaking a bit as she spoke.
The world seemed to stand still then for Apollo, his heart pounding wildly beneath his chest, every breath he took in slow and heavy and seemingly humid. A grin plastered itself across his face and refused to leave. Did she just say…?
"I have to go. I…I forgot something at the courthouse…"
But, in a moment's time, it was gone. Athena stood quietly and hastily left the room, closing the door with a sudden thud.
And then he was alone once more.
Apollo sat there a moment, taking it all in. A silly grin stretched across his cheeks, and he knew it was there to stay. The lawyer gazed over at the paperwork still ever-present at his desk, now ridden with drawings and doodles of his design. He leaned back in his chair – work could wait until she got back.
They were partners, after all.