"Herr Forehead."
Apollo is doing his best to ignore the whine of not-quite-his-name from the blond over his shoulder. This task would be easier if Phoenix weren't biting his lip to keep from laughing on the other side of the table, and if Klavier's fingers weren't creeping up under his shirt to drag across his spine.
"You were saying?" Apollo's voice is strained and high; Phoenix makes a valiant effort, clears his throat and tries to pick back up the thread of his conversation. Apollo is grateful. It's been almost an hour since Edgeworth gave up on his end of the conversation; at this point Apollo would rather he keep his head tucked in against Phoenix's shoulder, because when he can see the prosector's expression it is a direct threat to his own composure.
Lips brush his ear. "Stop ignoring me, Herr Forehead." Klavier is talking quietly; Apollo's pretty sure Phoenix can't hear the words, but the other lawyer's eyebrows still go up in repressed laughter until Apollo has to look away or lose the last remnants of restraint he has.
"Klavier, stop." Apollo is trying to be stern, pulling out everything he's learned in his Chords of Steel courses, but it doesn't seem to have an effect. To add insult to injury, Edgeworth dissolves into what Apollo would call giggles if he weren't so distracted by the fingers working their way up his spine.
"I don't want to," Klavier purrs. His voice is husky, Apollo can hear the whine in his voice on top of the faint accent of the blond's words. "Do you know what I want to do?"
"Yes, I do," Apollo declares. His voice is going more desperate than he intended it to, but Phoenix is turning in towards Edgeworth so Apollo is free to twist around and face the prosecutor currently draping himself over his shoulder. It seems like a good idea when he's moving, but then he's moved, and Klavier's mouth is right there, and the blond's eyes are sparkling at him and Apollo very suddenly forgets all about the other people in the room.
Klavier leans in close - he doesn't go for a kiss, for which Apollo is grateful, he would have to stop the blond if he were trying for that - and breathes in warm and slow against the defense attorney's ear. "I'm bored, Apollo, take me home with you."
Apollo can't look away - it's not like he has anyone else to look at, Phoenix has turned in towards Edgeworth and the other prosecutor's shoulders are shaking with laughter - so he can see the alcohol-induced haze in Klavier's eyes, the languid smile curving over his mouth while his fingers crawl up against the defense attorney's spine.
"Klavier," he sighs, but Klavier is leaning in to kiss against the side of his neck and laugh faintly into Apollo's neck.
"You've given me too much wine, Herr Forehead, this is what you get for your lack of foresight."
There's a choke from Edgeworth. When Apollo looks up Phoenix is waving his hand, sweeping away any complaint the younger man might make, so Apollo doesn't bother trying to explain away his...well. Klavier's behavior. Phoenix has his arm around Edgeworth's shoulders and looks relatively distracted himself, and when Apollo turns Klavier is smiling against his mouth and he has had exactly not enough wine to properly avoid his boyfriend's lips. There's the brush of mouth against his, Klavier's tongue sliding against his lower lip, and when Apollo tries to pull back and blush scarlet at the same time the hand at his back comes sideways around his waist.
"Come back, come back." Klavier's free hand comes up around Apollo's shoulder, pulls him back around, and Apollo lacks the self-control to push the blond away. "I'll stop, you hate that name, right?" Klavier is wavering very slightly, wobbling even as he smiles bright at the other man. "You're just so cute when you're angry, it makes teasing you a real temptation." His fingers are up against Apollo's shoulderblades - how has he made it up so far with Apollo's shirt still on? - and now they're tracing out a pattern that Apollo can't quite follow but that is making the blond's smile go wider and brighter against the defense attorney's periphery.
"Apollo," he says again, and Apollo can't fight back the shiver of acknowledgment that ripples under his skin at his name. Klavier's purring voice is bad enough when it's offering up a teasing nickname; it's almost unbearable when it's his actual name. It's like Klavier is plugging into his emotions directly , pulling response from the other without any decision on Apollo's part. "Let's go home."
"It's not even your home," Apollo grumbles, because he doesn't really have any complaint at all beyond baseless protest right now. "It's my apartment that you are helping yourself to."
"Mm, we could fix that," Klavier smiles, and Apollo looks away fast before he can think too much about the implications of that particular suggestion. Of course, that means he's looking back at the pair on the other side of the table, and while he was turned away Edgeworth came back up so there's a pair of uncannily similar expressions facing him down.
"I think -" Phoenix starts just as Edgeworth lifts a hand and declares, "Check please," the faint catch of almost-accent turning the request into a regal demand.
"I like them," Klavier declares woozily into Apollo's shoulder. His fingers shift, his nails scrape in against Apollo's shoulders, and Apollo is certain that's going to leave a mark and is equally certain that was absolutely Klavier's intention. "Their priorities are straight. Unlike yours, Herr Forehead."
Edgeworth clears his throat. His eyes are tight at the corners with the strain of repressed laughter, but when he speaks his voice is impressively level, better than Phoenix has been managing. "Is that a title you reserve for the prosecution's use, then, or is it a pet name?"
"It is not a title," Apollo hisses, at exactly the same time Klavier says, "A pet name, jah."
"Well." Edgeworth's mouth is twisting into a smirk in the moment Apollo sees before he's turning to hiss wordless frustration at the blond. "I'm glad you can agree on something, at least."
Klavier ignores Apollo's protests - Apollo doesn't know what else he was expecting, really - and then his fingers shift, curl around Apollo's waist to pull him in close so the blond can nip gently at Apollo's ear. Even the attorney's best efforts at resistance dissolve into a shiver at that, and Klavier laughs softly against his hair just as Phoenix leans in to say something to Edgeworth. It's too soft for Apollo to catch, which is a shame, because from the way Edgeworth's cheeks flare red it's something really excellent.
"Yes well." The prosecutor straightens, clears his throat. "That's entirely different. We really should have our check by now, I'm going to see what the delay is."
"Me too," Phoenix says too quickly. If the speed of his response wasn't a giveaway the wink he throws to Apollo would be, but Klavier's fingers and mouth are finally wearing away Apollo's frustration into embarrassed pleasure, and the younger attorney can't find any response in him but a grateful nod.
It takes the two older men somewhat longer to obtain and pay the check than is at all reasonable, but Apollo isn't complaining. He turns to Klavier as soon as they're barely out of sight, grabs at the blond's clothes and covers those wandering lips with his own, and the sigh of satisfaction this earns doesn't even slow him down. By the time the other two come back Klavier's jacket is at least as disarrayed as Apollo's own shirt, and the blond is smiling satisfied and slow with anticipation, and Apollo can't restrain his grin, even flushing under Phoenix's too-knowing smile. It seems worth it, in the moment. It always does.
