December 17th

2:32 PM

Criminal Affairs Department

Ema's fingers scraped the empty bottom of her latest Snackoo bag, and the detective let out a sigh. Crumpling the bag, she tossed it into the nearby garbage can and turned back to her desk. There had been a lull in the number of violent crimes in the area in recent times, and, while she was glad that nobody had been murdered as of late, it left her job rather uninteresting. As she scanned through the notices that peppered her computer screen, she found her thoughts drifting away from work.

It had been just over two months since the Misham trial, and the businesses of the city were in the thick of their Christmas rush. Plenty of petty thefts had been reported, but nothing had reached her office.

She had visited Mr. Wright the previous day to discuss recent times, and had been glad to hear that he was preparing to retake the bar exam and reclaim his Attorney's Badge. Trucy had been working hard to ensure that her holiday magic shows were top-of-the-line, but was somehow still finding time to assist Apollo is the rash of minor theft trials he had been involved in. Ema had briefly spoken to Apollo during her visit, as well. He was more relaxed than she had ever seen him, as for the first time in his fledgling career, he was dealing with the calm nature of said theft trials, rather than the heavy work involved in murder cases. Even so, he seemed to become humourously flustered as he spoke to her, nervously flattening his hair down as he so often did when embarrassed in court.

-The previous day-

Ema knocked on Apollo's office door, and a few moments later, it opened.

"Hey, Ema! Trucy said you were here." the attorney said, smiling. He was wearing significantly more casual clothing than usual, but still seemed to have chosen his attire to look professional. He held the door open, and Ema stepped in. She smiled as she looked around at the orderly state the room was in.

Of course Apollo's room would be this much neater than the rest of the Agency.

Apollo sat down at his desk and turned his chair to face Ema. He motioned to his bed, and she sat down as well. Ema looked curiously at the bed.

"You sleep here now, Apollo?" she asked. Apollo nodded.

"Yep. Mr. Wright thought that, since I spend nearly all my time here, I might as well leave my apartment and stay in the office. It's the same thing that he did when he first adopted Trucy, after all."

"So, how have the last couple of months gone?" Ema asked.

"They've been alright. Everything's calmed down since Vera's trial, so I've just been handling a few holiday season theft cases. It's definitely helped with funding, so we should be all set for a good Christmas." Ema popped open her ever-present bag of Snackoos as she listened, and began to munch away. As Apollo finished speaking, she stopped and responded.

"Well, that's good to hear. Everything's been calm down at the precinct as well. I've had literally nothing to deal with since that trial, myself. If you need help with anything, give me a call. I'm sure I could persuade old Gumshoe to let me take a break to investigate with you. Scientifically, of course." Apollo smirked at the last bit of her statement.

"It'd be nice to have you around for investigations." he said, "Trucy's been moping a fair bit, ever since the Gavinners split up. Haven't even really had opportunities to talk to Klavier outside of court, eith-"

-ka-tonk-

Apollo was cut off as a Snackoo struck his forehead.

"Did we not agree not to discuss him?" Ema asked, reaching back into the bag.

"Right, sorry." Apollo said, frowning. Ema glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Damn. I've gotta head back to the precinct and check in with Gumshoe." she said, standing up. She headed for the door as Apollo turned back to his desk, but stopped as she reached for the doorknob. She stepped over to Apollo and leaned over his desk.

"I'm serious, Apollo, it's gotten really boring down there recently." she leaned closer to his face. "Really boring." she stressed. Apollo's face reddened slightly, and he grinned nervously, flattening his hair down with one hand.

"I-I'll let you know as soon as something comes up." he muttered, leaning away a bit.

Ema straightened up and returned to the door.

"See you then, Apollo." she said, smiling. She opened the door and stepped out.

"Er, yeah. See you." she heard him stutter.