I had grand intentions for this to be a one-shot involving Yuty and Panda playing and making snow angels. A little plot bunny came along and bit me and told me that this is so much more than just a one-shot. *Shakes Fist* Damn you plot bunnies!
Anyway, this will eventually take a nsfw turn, but probably not for a few chapters.
I hope you enjoy! Comments are love!
Also, I apologize for Simon, I think he's probably terribly out of character. This is my first time writing him.
PPS: Not Beta Read. All mistakes are my own.
Living in Los Angeles, Simon didn't have the opportunity to see snow. He'd seen it on the telly and he'd overheard Klavier talking about snowboarding and skiing in the mountains. But he had never seen or touched snow.
Until two weeks after landing in Khura'in, he found himself making snow angels with the one person he hated, but could never quite get out of his head – Prosecutor Nahyuta Sahdmadhi.
When Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth asked Simon to fly over to Khura'in to help Prosecutor Sahdmadhi with some extra paperwork in January, Simon hadn't even thought of what the weather conditions would be like. His only thought was of that damned purple braid and those beautiful jade eyes. Simon initially said no, stating that he already had a heavy workload and he didn't want to short staff Miles. Miles insisted, countering with the fact that Simon hadn't taken a vacation in two years and if he didn't go, he was going to force him to take a vacation of some sort. Not that this was a vacation, but if Simon wanted to take some extra time in Khura'in to see the sights after he was done helping, Miles would most certainly approve.
Simon packed appropriately knowing that January in most places meant cold and gray.
He also didn't account for the fact that this place had no major airport (only a tower), and what they considered a landing strip was just that, a concrete strip for landing a plane. Simon hardly ever got sick on planes, but the turbulence and bouncy landing made him feel very uneasy. He navigated his way through the small crowd with his carry-on and made his way out of the tiny building and almost directly into a Bazaar; the scent of cow feces and body odor was almost too much as Simon tried to hide his discomfort. He found a small area away from the crowd and turned on his phone, pleasantly surprised to find he had excellent service here. Ignoring the three missed calls from Athena, he opened the text from Apollo:
'Hey, Simon. Thank you for flying over and helping Nahyuta. He's in a lot deeper with this paper work than I realized, so I will be picking you up. Look for me, in red, of course. -A'
Simon smirked at his phone and pocketed it. He felt a chill in the air and pulled on a black trench coat he bought for this trip. He headed out into the throng of people and from his right, he heard his name being called. Looking over, he saw Apollo waving at him, wondering to himself how he had missed the red pea-coat. He waved back and moved in that direction.
"I'm glad you got my message. There was no real itinerary for your flight so I had to go on Miles' estimate. He was surprisingly only ten minutes off!" Apollo remarked after they had greeted each other.
Simon chuckled as they walked to the edge of the crowd. "This surprises you, Justice-dono?"
"Well, no, you're right, he is a very meticulous man, and very detailed oriented." Apollo stopped in front of a beat up VW Bug. "Here's our ride."
"What is this? An Uber from Germany?" Simon couldn't help but make a face. He also wondered how he was going to fold himself into this car.
"HA! That's a good one!" Apollo barked a laugh. "No the cabs are actually smaller than this and the alternate is...well..."
The red clad attorney nodded toward a cart with a large, lumbering ox guiding it through the street. Simon raised his brow and blinked at the sight.
"Okay, VW it is."
Apollo popped the trunk and grabbed Simon's carry-on. Simon nodded his thanks as Apollo slammed the trunk.
"Hey! I know she's old, but you don't have to slam that damned trunk." Ema stuck her head out of the drivers side window with a scowl. Her expression lightened when she saw Simon. "Hi Simon. You can sit in front there's more leg room."
Before Simon could answer, she pulled her head back into the car. Simon looked over at Apollo who was already over on the passenger side climbing into the backseat. He sighed loudly. It was going to be a long two weeks.
"So, I don't think we've been formally introduced," Ema said as she navigated the streets like a native driver. "I'm Ema Skye. I am a Forensic Detective and I used to work under Miles Edgeworth, but for n0w I am under Nahyuta's employ."
"Nice to finally meet you, Ema. I've heard great things about you."
"Really? Normally when people talk about me they say I'm moody and stubborn."
Simon chuckled. "Well, that came up in conversation as well."
Ema glanced over at Simon. "Conversation with Apollo?"
"Yes and one Klavier Gavin."
Ema faltered as she swerved sharply to dodge a small rickshaw cart.
"Sorry," she cleared her throat. "Stupid Fop. Can't stop running his mouth about me."
"I apologize, however, if it helps he has nothing but good things to say about you."
Ema snorted.
"I'm sure about how much he likes my behind, or how he likes to humiliate me in court."
"I don't know about your behind, miss, but it's nothing like that. He's always going on about how much of a brilliant detective you are and how much he misses you in the offices."
"Oh, well," Ema tried to hide the blush creeping up her neck to her cheeks, but failed miserably. "I guess...I accept your apology, Simon. I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"It's fine."
Simon nodded as exhaustion from jet lag started to creep over him. He thought about his conversations with the blond prosecutor, and he wondered if Klavier's love for Ema was one-sided. He truly hoped not. Klavier only spoke well of Ema; in fact his face lit up every time her name was mentioned. Unlike his own feelings about Nahyuta...
"Is that okay Simon?" Apollo broke into his reverie.
"Ah...yes...sure, I don't know, sorry I think the jet lag is getting to me."
"It's okay. I actually asked you if you wanted to go to your hotel room first to sleep off the lag, since that's where we are headed?"
"Oh, well, you didn't have to get me a hotel room-"
"It's actually not really a hotel room, but a kind of apartment building that Apollo rents rooms out of daily or weekly." Ema explained as she navigated around a large group of people. "Him and Datz and a bunch of volunteers helped clean up the building that the law office is attached to. Who'd have thought that Apollo was such an visionary!"
Simon raised his brow and turned to look at Apollo.
"Oh, well," the attorney blushed and swept his horns back. "I have to give Dat'z most of the credit. He's the one that had been thinking of cleaning up the building. Speaking of..."
Simon looked around as they stopped in front of a stucco, brick-colored building. A small child with a hyper-active dog stood at the doorway.
"Ahlbi, what are you doing out here?" Ema asked as she got out of the Bug.
Simon unfolded himself out of the car and flipped the knob to push the seat forward for Apollo.
"I wanted to greet our visitor Miss Skye!" Ahlbi said as he picked up the dog.
"Aw, Ahlbi! How many times have I asked you to call me Ema?"
"Many times, miss."
"How many more times am I going to have to ask?"
"All of them, miss." Ahlbi said with a straight face as Ema chuckled.
In the meantime, Apollo popped the trunk for Simon to grab his carry-on. Simon watched as Apollo mouthed the same words to their conversation.
"Is it my understanding they have this conversation all the time?" The prosecutor asked Apollo. He answered and nodded in the affirmative as Apollo brought out his keys to unlock the door.
"Simon Blackquill meet Ahlbi Ur'gaid. Ahlbi, Simon." Apollo gestured between the two.
"Oh, it's nice to finally meet you Mr. Blackquill. I do hope you enjoy your stay."
"It's nice to meet you as well, Ahlbi Ur'gaid." Simon said as he shook the boys hand. "And I will enjoy my stay as long as I get to ruffle Sad Monk's feathers."
"Sad Monk?"
"It's Simon's term of affection for Prosecutor Sahdmadhi." Apollo clarified.
Ema put a hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle as Ahlbi looked confused.
"Term of affection? It doesn't sound very affectionate. Do you fancy the Prosecutor, Mr. Blackquill?"
"Ahlbi, get in the office before Simon says something he will regret." Apollo was doing a very bad job at hiding his own giggles as Simon gave them all dark looks. "Sorry, Simon. He doesn't get sarcasm or American idioms very well."
"I have refrained from saying anything since he is a small child. But to clarify, I absolutely do NOT fancy Sad Monk."
"Thank you, Simon. I was confused for a second." Ema ducked a wad of paper that was thrown her way.
"I hope that wasn't important, Justice-dono?"
"Heh, it's fine. I can see we are going to get along splendidly. I will take you to your rooms. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. I put black out curtains on your bedroom window so you can sleep for as long as you can. However, do you need a wake up call? Ema or I can wake you at a certain time?"
Simon yawned, reminding him how tired he was.
"Sorry. As long as I am up to be ready by eight tomorrow morning, that should be enough sleep."
Apollo showed Simon his tiny studio apartment he was going to stay in while he was there. There was a hotplate and a dorm sized fridge and a tiny sink. The toilet was in a closet off to the right and the showers were in a room a couple doors down. They had made separate showers so Ema or any other female visitors could have their privacy.
"Um, Simon, there is a couple things I forgot to mention." Apollo pushed his hair back again in an unconscious nervous gesture.
"Yes, Apollo?" Simon gave a heavy sigh as he placed his carry-on on the bed. He had the feeling he wasn't going to like this.
"Ah... yeah, um...Nahyuta may not have asked for help personally. I may have stepped in and asked Miles to send someone over."
Simon turned around slowly and fixed Apollo with flashing silver eyes.
"So, Sad Monk has no idea I'm here, let alone to help him?" Simon crossed his arms to contain his frustration.
"Er, no sir."
"Great, another reason for that purple-haired goon to hate me."
"Well, he doesn't hate you, although, he's not fond of you either..."
Simon drew in a deep breath.
"Apollo, I am going to sleep and when I wake up, he better know that I am here to help him. If he doesn't want my help, I will sight see for the rest of my trip. Miles Edgeworth be damned."
"Yes, Simon, and I apologize. I just...he's so stubborn he won't ask for help, and then he works himself until he's sick."
Simon pursed his lips. "Listen, I am tired, and jet lagged, which makes me irritable. After I sleep, I will look on this situation with a better perspective. Right now, I don't have one. That prosecutor tore my friend apart, and even though he apologized for it, he is still not a very good person in my eyes."
"I understand and thank you Simon." Apollo said before leaving the room.
Simon threw off his trench coat and overcoat and hung them in the tiny closet on the left-hand side of the room. He sat on the bed and rubbed his eyes. He knew he needed to get to sleep, but he also knew he would toss and turn until he let out some frustration.
Yoga was probably his best choice since he didn't have a punching bag handy. Sighing, he stood and rummaged through the two kitchen drawers and found what he was looking for – candles. A plethora of them. He wasn't going to ponder why there were candles randomly shoved in this particular drawer. He found matches in the next drawer along with candle sticks that looked like they had been used. He placed them strategically around the small flat and lit them. Then, finding a blanket, he rolled it out and proceeded to use it as a yoga mat.
As he stretched, visions of that damned purple braid kept popping into his head. He hated that when he was the most calm, or the most frustrated, or hungry, or...damn, who was he kidding. He thought of Nahyuta a lot. He had never met someone as different as Nahyuta, let alone as beautiful. He thought of how soft his hair would be if he could run his fingers through it.
Simon gave up on Yoga and collapsed on his back on the blanket. Now, not only was he exhausted and annoyed, he was frustrated, the evidence made itself shown physically. He had solutions to the first and third, the second would work itself out after the solutions to the first and third.
He stood and stretched, and put the blanket back where he found it and blew out the candles. He undressed to his boxers and laid on the bed, letting his mind – and hand – wander freely.
