DISCLAIMER: I own none of the following Phoenix Wright characters, items, events, or locations.
By the way, if you want to further understand what's happening during this chapter, have your German-English translators ready! ~Geneth
Ema hated Intern Week.
Despite the fact that she was being paid double for participating, and she got a whole week of doing nothing but talking to the wide-eyed newbies who never questioned her authority, she hated the fact that she never got the good interns.
Always, always, always, Ema would be introduced to all of the interns and the good ones would talk with her, and then listen to her responses with admiring eyes. Always, always, always, ten minutes after a certain glimmerous fop assigned each group to each officer, Ema realized that he had given her all the horrible interns. Ema was commonly stuck with the snobby interns who refused to participate, the interns who poked and prodded at every little object, and the interns who drank too much coffee and ruined her whole morning by distracting her with their bubbly movements.
And now Ema was sick and tired of it. She was going to quit. She meant it this time.
The current Intern Week had started with Ema receiving the constantly hungry interns and the bored-no-mater-what-you-make-them-do interns. She had dealt with giving the bored interns harder tasks, and then asking them questions that didn't make sense ("Do tell me, Dominick, what versatile chemical exhibits chemiluminescence and gives off a blue color?") but the hungry interns had taken the cake. Literally.
For starters, within minutes of showing them the cafeteria and venting machines, Ema had discovered that the machines were bare and the cafeteria food mysteriously gone without a trace. And she had handled it with a sigh. When they started to ask her about when lunch was, she had easily silenced them by munching loudly on her bag of Snackoos. But then, watching her chomp loudly on the yummy snacks, one intern did something that she had never expected:
The tubby intern stuck his hand into her bag, pulled out a Snackoo, and then popped it into his mouth.
Ema watched him with an awestruck expression, and for a moment, no one moved. And then, the intern reached his hand into her bag again and pulled out another one. When she didn't respond again, he pulled out another. And another. And another.
Assuming that she didn't care about who took her snacks, the other chubby interns began helping themselves to her Snackoos.
And then Ema just exploded.
Screaming every possible word that she knew at them, she continued to yell at them until Detective Gumshoe rounded the corner with his own group of newfound "pals". It had taken Gumshoe and two other officers to calm her down, and now she sat, steaming with anger, by the chair near the glimmerous fop's office.
It was typical for Mr. Klavier Gavin to leave his office during Intern Week, especially since most of the interns joined the force only to try and get closer to the fop who had gotten her into this mess. Almost everyone in the station loved Klavier, the female population because of his good looks and the male population because of his easy manner. Ema, for one, did not. He was constantly annoying her, bothering her, calling her "Fräulein Skye", offering her rides home on his unstable bicycle.
And yet Lana had once teased her that maybe he was annoying her because he had a crush on her. Ema had yelped at the possibility, and had angrily stormed out of the house. The glimmerous fop, the death of her really, liking her? In her mind, it was more possible to believe that everyone had green blood and a little bazooka shot to the head wound never hurt anybody.
From her seat by the fop's office, Ema could see the front door of the station, the Blue Badger dancing feebly in salutations. She laid her head on the wall behind her, closing her eyes in concentration. Just how would she tell her glimmerous superior that she no longer wanted to participate in such a treacherous event?
Suddenly, Ema heard the loud choking noises of Klavier's bicycle pull up in front of the station. She flipped open her eyes and looked towards the door, ready to see him bombarded with crazed fan girls (which was usually the highlight of her day; watching him struggle to sign autographs while pushing people aside to enter). But, strangely, the fan girls stood a distance away, watching the motorcycle with curious expressions. Ema flipped on her special pink sunglasses, the kind that magnified her vision, and saw why the fan girls were silent.
Klavier Gavin was not alone.
The second figure wore a flowing white skirt and a black jean jacket, which was unbuttoned and revealed a salmon pink halter top. The figure took off her helmet, and Ema's pupils dilated. The second rider had long, wavy hair that was mahogany with the slightest tints of brown, and friendly indigo eyes. Her skin was cream touched with red from the drive, and her face was full of impossibly perfect features.
Ema felt something eating at her insides; an anger, a hatred towards this woman, despite the fact that she knew nothing about her. Her ill temper at the interns, which had finally brewed down to a steady steam, was now bubbling again, added with the new ingredients of the glimmerous fop and his newest accessory.
Klavier hopped off the motorcycle, his purple coat flapping in the breeze, and he turned to his passenger, offering her his hand. Playfully ignoring it, she instead grabbed his shoulders, and then swung herself off in a movement that belonged in a ballet. He leaned down, whispered something into her ear, and they both shared a laugh.
The laugh awoke the dazed fans, and they started to reform around the couple, screaming and shouting as usual. Klavier shrugged to the woman, and they started to make their way towards the front door. Of course, the fan girls tried to block their path, demanding autographs, but the glimmerous fop actually denied them today. Instead, he pulled the woman closer to him as he flashed smiles and shook hands while reaching the door.
Ema threw her shades back to the top of her head, watching the couple squeeze through the door, laughing breathlessly. The woman shook her hair out, letting it settle back on her shoulders, and Klavier murmured something to her again, causing her to burst into laughter again.
The entire department had stopped what they were doing to stare rudely towards them, yet they didn't seem to notice. Klavier grabbed her by her hand, and lead her towards his office, grinning mischievously. The woman followed him, looking more like she was skipping than walking normally.
A new philosophy appeared in Ema's head. If I talk to him now, he'll be distracted and have to answer me. If I can keep him busy for a half hour, I can stall him long enough before the dismissing of the interns, which takes another hour. His girlfriend will probably get bored by then and go home! She won't be around him anymore! Ema jumped up from her seat, newfound eagerness filling her.
Klavier spotted her as he was opening his office door. He paused, then turned and smiled warmly towards Ema. "Fräulein Skye! Don't you have a group of interns to be watching?" he asked.
"Das ist Ihre neue Liebe, Fräulein Skye? Sie ist sehr gut aussehend, Klavier." the woman said in a melodic voice, speaking in the unfamiliar language otherwise known as German. Ema stared with disbelief, listening to her name being associated with the string of words. Was this stranger insulting her?
"Ist nicht sie? Sie ist auch sehr klug." Klavier smiled in response.
Ema's anger was now threatening to spill over. Now she was sure that they were insulting her. Why else would Klavier respond in German if it was anything good? She opened her mouth to exclaim something in English, the proper language of Americans, when Klavier spoke again.
"Fräulein Skye, this is Kianna Ziemlich." He said her name like a sigh, absentmindedly squeezing Kianna's hand as he spoke.
"It is such a pleasure to meet you, Fräulein Skye. I am looking forward to working with you in your department." Kianna spoke with a light and gentle accent, hardly noticeable next to Klavier's slightly obvious voice.
"Working in my department?" Ema repeated, bewildered.
"Kianna has recently been transferred from Germany to work here temporarily. I think she will be a great addition to our team, Fräulein Skye…don't you think?" Klavier said, urging her with his eyes to respond properly.
But Ema was still in shock. "Working in my department…On our team…With me?" Ema repeated slowly, blinking several times in order to make sure it wasn't a dream.
"Sie scheint sehr klug nicht..." Kianna giggled in a teasing tone.
Ema flushed red, unsure of her words.
"Nein, wirklich! Sie ist sehr klug, wenn es zur Gerichtsmedizin kommt." Klavier exclaimed. Ema wondered if he was defending her. Probably not.
"Anyways, Fräulein Skye, Kianna will be your temporary partner for the short two months. I was hoping you could show her the ways…?"
Ema understood now. He wanted her to take care of his girlfriend while he was away doing other things. He was asking her to baby-sit for him!
"Of course, I will triple your salary in order to ensure that there is no trouble. This one tends to be a bit…foxy." To this, Klavier grinned impishly and Kianna giggled lightly.
Ema felt the sudden urge to gag, but she instead tried to get her plan into action. She decided on killing two birds with one stone. "I wouldn't mind that at all, Mr. Gavin," she responded carefully, "but I do need to talk to you about something else, concerning Intern Week. Do you mind if I speak to you in your office?"
"Of course, Fr…"
Kianna interrupted him, tugging somewhat childishly on his jacket. He leaned down, and she whispered something in German into his ear. Klavier's eyes lit up again, and he nodded.
"Perhaps another time, Fräulein Skye. I have a…appointment to attend too." Taking Kianna's hand again, he hurried into the office and slammed the door in Ema's face.
Ema stared at the door in disbelief, her brain registering what had just happened. The glimmerous fop was going to say yes –that was obvious above all– but then Kianna said something that convinced him to tell her no. Some appointment. He was probably making out with his new girlfriend.
Fuming, Ema stalked back to her desk and buried her hand into her hands. Suddenly exhausted, Ema drifted off into a deep sleep, dreaming of nothing but the glimmerous fop and his controlling fopet.
