Snatching the clothing, if it could be called that, from Klavier's hand, Apollo began to fiddle with it, more than reluctant to put it on. After nearly a minute of fiddling with it, the brunet was forced to admit defeat, glaring up at the prosecutor who had gotten him into this mess in the first place.
"How do you work this thing?" he demanded.
Klavier could not hold back a laugh as he stepped forward, plucking the shirt neatly out of Apollo's hands.
"Let me show you, ja?" Slinging the shirt over his shoulder, the blond's hands resumed their task of moments before, slipping each button out of its respective hole with neat, clean movements.
Blushing brightly, Apollo started to protest, although made no real move to push the other man away.
"I…I can take of my own shirt."
"Really? Isn't that what you said just a moment ago about being able to dress yourself, too?"
Flabbergasted, Apollo fell silent, trying his best not to think of the prosecutor's tanned hands creeping skillfully down his chest and stomach.
Especially not about what a huge turn-on it was.
As Klavier's hands made their way back up to his shoulders, Apollo let out a soft gasp at the feeling of those thick, tanned digits sliding over his bare skin, removing the white dress-shirt he was wearing. The brunet could not suppress a shudder as the shirtsleeves slid over his hands, leaving the white cloth free to flop to the floor behind him. The air was chilly on his exposed skin, yet all he could do was stand in stunned silence as Klavier slipped the awkward shirt over his head, skillfully doing up the buttons and buckles—wait, buckles? What kind of shirt had buckles?
This day just kept getting weirder and weirder.
"All done!"
Apollo was snapped back to reality by Klavier's words. It seemed that his torso, at least, was finally clothed.
"Go look, Herr Forehead!" Klavier encouraged, pointing at a large mirror.
Almost fearfully, Apollo moved over to the mirror. He was far from certain that he wanted to see this…
Upon looking in the mirror, Apollo found himself unable to form a coherent thought, never mind sentence. All he knew was that there was no way in Hell he was going anywhere looking like this. He was, embarrassingly enough, wearing a deep red shirt that contained so many layers of fabric that it appeared to have frills. Or were those really frills? Great, he could not even tell. Not to mention it appeared to have a built-in cape—cape!—on the back, that fell to his elbows. Plus it was sparkly. Just great. His dignity could never even hope to live this down.
"Uh…"
"It's great, ja?" Klavier chirped, coming up behind Apollo to put a hand on each of the boy's shoulders.
"Uh…"
Klavier grinned, quirking a brow.
"Now don't tell me you need help with the pants, too…" he stated, holding up the black, sparkly pants.
Apollo suddenly wished the ground would just open up and swallow him whole. Why him? Oh why, oh why him?
"L-look, Klavier…"
"So, you do need the help…?" Klavier asked, moving toward the young attorney.
"N-no! I can dress myself just fine, thank you very much!" Apollo suddenly barked, snatching the pants from the blond.
Klavier could have laughed, that was too easy. Apollo might beat him in court, but he certainly did not seem to be having too much trouble getting the brunet to do just as he wanted now.
"…do you mind?"
"Huh?"
"I'm going to be changing…"
"Herr Forehead…we're both men here, ja?"
"Out, Gavin!" Apollo snapped, Chords of Steel™ coming into play at full blast.
As the door slammed in his face, Klavier chuckled. "Keep up that energy on stage!" And the volume, too. This was going to be great! A moment later the door swung open again, revealing a rather hot-looking Apollo; if Klavier could say so himself.
"Looking good, Forehead. Ready to go?"
"I'm fine!"
Klavier just blinked. "Uh…that's great?"
Once again Apollo felt an overwhelming desire to be swallowed by the floor. He was acting like a rookie attorney on his first day of court. Again.
"Let's just go." The sooner they did it, the sooner it would be over and he could crawl into a dark hole for seventeen years, give or take a few.
Klavier just laughed and led the way back to the stage. He had a feeling that this was going to be interesting.
Apollo felt his stomach sink to his feet as the gaudy, black curtains of the stage came into view. Why was he doing this again? It was absolutely ridiculous! He as no singer! Or even a rock star, for that matter. So what right did he have to be up here, about to head on stage?
The answer was 'none,' of course. Or would be but for one person: Klavier. The same man who was currently fiddling with a microphone that attached to Apollo's shirt. What was it with Klavier and fiddling with his shirt, anyway? It was starting to get a bit ridiculous. He gladly accepted the earplugs that he was offered though. Those were going to be very welcome.
"All set?"
Apollo jumped at Klavier's unexpected words. He was getting way too nervous, that much was obvious. And he most certainly was not 'all set'! Unless being ready was equivalent to wanting to gouge out your own eyeballs with a spork, just so you could go to the hospital, consequently getting oneself out of such a situation. Then yes, he was completely prepared.
"Y-yeah," he muttered instead, damn Chords of Steel™ failing him now!
Draping an arm over Apollo's shoulders, Klavier proceeded to lead the shorter man onto the stage, whispering instructions to him as he did so.
"Now remember, the song is about a guy who murdered his boyfriend's girlfriend to get at him. You want to sing it with a jealous passion…" Instead of listening, Apollo simply tuned the blond out. He had heard the song a thousand times, he knew how to sing it, and he knew the words. He just did not want to put singing and stages together.
Apollo knew it was too late, however, as he felt Klavier give him a light shove, and he stumbled out onto the stage. This was not going to end well, he realized as he gazed out over the screaming, exuberant fans.
Glancing over to his side, Apollo was relieved to see the Klavier was standing next to him, and that the blond had already captured the audience's attention.
"Hello again, everyone!" Klavier called out, and then stopped to wait until the screaming of his fans had died down. "You all ready for some more rock 'n' roll?" At his fans' enthused cheering, Klavier raised one arm, using it to gesture to Apollo. "That's good to hear, because this time I've got a guest singer to present my newest title! And he's not just any guest singer, he's my courtroom rival and the one and only son of Lamiroir! Apollo Justice!"
If the fans had been wild before, then they were absolutely rabid at this announcement, much to Apollo's chagrin. Why did Klavier seem so dead-set on embarrassing him today?
Before he even had a chance to think, however, the lights settled on them and the music hit an all-time high, at least to Apollo's ears. Even with the earplugs.
All too soon he heard Klavier's voice start the song, the blond prowling about the stage, blue eyes flittering over the audience. Apollo listened closely to Klavier's mournful dirge, crying out to the song's figurative girlfriend. He began counting down to the point in which he knew the song changed. It became a challenge to the murdering boyfriend toward his path of repentance and love.
All too soon the music sped up, and Klavier turned his attention to Apollo, practically gliding over to the brunet as he sang his part. And then Klavier's verse ended, and the lights switched to the defence attorney, waiting on his part.
Apollo froze.
Klavier, immediately realizing what was happening, laid a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder.
It might not have been much, but the gesture was enough to snap Apollo out of his trance—and just in time to pick up the lines smoothly.
Well, Apollo did not have a bad voice, Klavier had to give him that much at least, but he certainly was an amateur on stage. The blond watched cryptically for several moments before gliding over to mutter in Apollo's ear.
"Herr Forehead, try moving."
Shocked out of the trance that he had placed himself in, Apollo realized he was standing completely motionless, save his mouth. In fact, were he any more ridged he could pass for a tree.
Taking a tentative step, the brunet found that it was easier to act if he just did not think about it. Hesitantly, he followed Klavier's example, trying to make the improvised dance appear realistic. He hoped it was working.
Klavier's grin broadened. It seemed his little Forehead was starting to get the hang of things.
Moving to place himself in front of the attorney, the blond prosecutor mouthed a single word: "louder."
Apollo paused sharply at the cue. What on earth…? Why did Klavier want him go louder? It was already loud enough, in his opinion.
Catching a wink from the blond, Apollo nearly tripped over his next line in shock. What was this guy playing at?!
Steeling himself, Apollo forced himself to play along. If Klavier wanted to wink at him then fine. And if he wanted Apollo to sing louder…then louder he would get.
With that decided, the brunet sang louder. Much louder. Loud in such a way that only his Chords of Steel™ could handle.
The crowd was going wild. It was loud, the song was awesome, and, best of all, it was hot. The two young men were prowling dangerously around the stage, like leopards circling to attack, yet at the same time working in perfect harmony. They loved it.
Apollo was panting when the song finally ended. He had never sung quite so hard—or loud—in his life. He was pretty sure he could get used to this whole 'concert' thing though. It was great training, and nobody was complaining about him being too loud. The volume of the music, and audience, might take some getting used to, but people were adaptable, right?
Klavier could not help himself. Apollo just looked so damn cute over there. It was clear the brunet was pleased with himself, and Klavier really could not blame him. He had done well, considering that he had had no training, rehearsals, or anything else. None of this was helping him control himself though.
Deciding not to care anymore, Klavier stalked over to where Apollo was, grinning happily at him.
"Hey, Kla—" he began, but was cut off when the blond grabbed him and kissed him. Apollo's eyes widened and he tried weakly to pull away. This…was not quite right. Yet at the same time, he decided, it was not completely wrong, either...
Spontaneously wrapping his arms around Klavier's neck, he pulled them closer together. Who cared anyway? He had just sung in a concert!
Breathless, Klavier pulled back after a moment. He had not quite been expecting that. It seemed the even now his Forehead could catch him by surprise.
"Möchtest du das Band anschlieβen?"
"Huh?" came Apollo's confused reply.
"I said 'wanna join the band'," Klavier repeated, this time so Apollo could understand him.
"You're kidding, right?" Apollo asked, suddenly pulling back in shock.
"Depends. Want to?"
Apollo just stared at Klavier, dumbfounded, before finally laughing. "Maybe."
With that last word, Klavier kicked Apollo off the stage so he could get on with the show. Both of them knew full well that it was going to take a lot of work to get Apollo ready to perform professionally, but they were up to the challenge.
Lame ending is lame. I just didn't know how to end it. –sweat- I hope you don't hate me too much. Especially for taking seventeen years to finish it. I hope it's at least mostly worth it.
But yeah, that's it. It took me too long to finish this, but now it's done. I hope you enjoyed it, for what it's worth. And I'd love to hear your opinions on it in reviews…like that's a surprise. XD
For those of you who did review, and who will, a huge thank you. A huge thank you to my sister, too, for help with the German that Klavier speaks. Even if it was a pain for her to get it in the right form.
So yeah, thanks to you all for being awesome and tolerating my slowness of fail! –heart-
