Tourniquet

Apollo walked into the hospital.

The overbearing smell of cleaning materials nearly choked him and left him standing stupidly in the entrance coughing.

"What's wrong, Polly?" the young magician took hold of his arm and lead him through the waiting room and over to the reception desk. The receptionist was an elder woman who smiled kindly and gave them the room number.

His room was just about the farthest it could possibly be from the beginning of the hallway. Trucy bounced ahead of him as they neared his room. The door opened before she was even close enough to reach it.

"Good afternoon, Ema!" Trucy smiled at the frazzled detective.

"Hello, Trucy," Ema tried to smile, "You can go in and see him now." Trucy wasted no time. Apollo started to follow but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Something the matter, Ema?" the detective closed the door he held open.

"Burns." Ema glared at the floor.

"Come again?"

"He burned himself, his left arm," Ema fixed her glare on Apollo, "I'm sure he would've done his right as well, if he hadn't passed out from the pain. She glared again at the floor, "Stupid fop…!" Ema let out a string of curses, surprising the attorney.

"Is he okay?" Apollo was sincerely concerned.

"For now." Ema stopped glaring and looked straight at Apollo, "He's not in a stable state of mind, be careful."

Ema walked away leaving Apollo utterly confused. He opened the door and walked in.

"Good afternoon, Prosecutor Gavin," Apollo smiled warmly at the blonde in the hospital bed. He was holding a book in his lap and donned reading glasses. Klavier didn't reply.

"He's not talking, Polly," Trucy stood up and walked over to Apollo and leaned in close to whisper, "do you think I should do a trick for him?" Apollo peered around Trucy to see Klavier staring oddly at the two.

"Probably not," Apollo responded, "Actually, let me talk to him, okay?" Trucy looked suspicious but left them alone anyway. Apollo smiled at Klavier again and pulled one of the guest chairs over to the side of his bed.

"So, Prosecutor Gavin, how are you today?" Klavier looked away. This was going to be harder than he thought

"…Stupid." Apollo blinked.

"Come again?"

"That was kind of a stupid question, ja?" Klavier's reading glasses were crooked.

"…I didn't know you wore glasses," Apollo tried to resurrect what was left of the conversation.

"Do I look silly?" Klavier smirked.

"No! Actually, you look—" Apollo stopped himself.

Klavier's mood evaporated, and he focused on the door. They both knew what he was about to say.

'Just like your brother.'

The silence was long and uncomfortable. Klavier broke it.

"So, Herr Justice, what brings you to this exploited establishment?" Klavier flashed him a half-hearted smile, pretending like nothing happened.

"I could ask you the same thing," Apollo stared at the blonde prosecutor.

"Now, Herr Justice, isn't that a given?" he held up his burnt arm, wrapped in bandages to his elbow.

"So, am I supposed to assume you didn't do that?" Klavier flinched, "I know you did it, Gavin, I just don't know why."

"Prosecuting is a stressful job, Justice, and—"

"You're lying," Apollo's stare hardened. "Let's hear the truth, Gavin."

Klavier stared into Apollo's unwavering eyes, until, all at once, he seemed to break down. His unburnt hand reached up to cover his face.

"It seems I can't win. Ever. Not to you, and not to…my brother." Apollo knew somewhere that he would appear in this incident. He put a hand on the other man's shoulder.

"You can win, and you have." Apollo made sure to show confidence, one second of doubt would be like a bomb, "By just not being like him, you have already surpassed him, and you continue to, on so many levels."

Klavier laughed dryly. "Now it's your turn to tell the truth, Justice." Klavier lifted a hand to adjust his glasses, "can you honestly tell me, that I don't look like him?"

Apollo faltered. He hadn't been expecting that. He knew he had to respond anyway.

"Don't bother, Justice, you silence tells all," Klavier readjusted his glasses and opened his book. Apollo wasn't giving up.

"There is a simple answer to that." The young defense attorney smiled and Klavier looked utterly confused. Apollo took the prosecutor's blonde twirl in one hand and uncurled it a little with the other. He flipped it over the hospitalized prosecutor's shoulder.

"Nice, Herr Forehead, now can you tell me that I don't look like him?" his voice dripped with uncharacteristic sarcasm. Apollo shook his head.

"Hold on," Apollo reached up and carefully removed Klavier's reading glasses, "Yes, now I can say, that you do not look like him."

Klavier stared at the younger man. Apollo stared back.

"Can I help you, Prosecutor?" Apollo noticed that the staring had quickly become unnerving.

"You're…" Klavier brought his burnt hand to the defense attorney's cheek and brushed it gently with his fingertips. "You are the oddest person I have ever met."

Apollo smiled and cautiously held the prosecutors burnt hand. "Does it still hurt?" Apollo motioned to the prosecutor's burns.

"They've got me shot up with pain killers," Klavier laughed, "I doubt I could feel it even if I wanted to."

"That's good." The blonde prosecutor was about to question the younger man's path of conversation, when Apollo brought Klavier's burnt hand to his lips and softly kissed his wrist. "Get better, okay?" Apollo thought a little before adding, "oh, and don't do something like this again. You worried people."

Apollo stood up making to leave. Klavier was still in a great amount of shock. "Apollo! Wait!" The use of his first name was enough to make the defense attorney stop in his tracks.

"What is it, Prosecutor Gav—?"

"Klavier."

"—Klavier?" Apollo went and sat back down. He was confused by the blonde's sudden urge to be on a first-name basis, but he humored him, nonetheless.

Klavier cupped Apollo's cheek. "You are the oddest person I have ever met, yet you are also the most wonderful person I have ever met." Klavier pulled the attorney forward and gave him a quick chaste kiss. "You have…healed…me more than all of the doctors in this hospital could, put together. And I've only known you for less than a year.

"It's a bit awkward, ja?" Klavier pulled Apollo in to a hug, causing the flustered boy to put one hand on either side of the prosecutor in order to balance himself. "In a way, Herr Jus—"

"Apollo."

"—Apollo," Klavier smiled, "You are my savior."

Apollo settled next to the prosecutor on his hospital bed and shifted so that his arms could wrap around the other man's waist; his head resting at the base of his neck. "Being a bit cliché, are we? Fine, I'll be your savior, just don't go burning your self again." Apollo felt something wet on his cheek.

"Klavier? What's wrong?" The German prosecutor was crying.

"I won't have to bleed," he smiled as more crystal droplets spilled from his eyes, "for the nightmare of my past, because now, I have found my tourniquet."

End

Another one done for Devart. This fandom needs more Kyodoroki/ ApolloKlavier