A shuffling of papers followed by a dull thump from the coffee table before Apollo's seat drew his attention away from the folder in his hands. He looked up to see a single magazine with an eye-catching cover, which had just been dropped onto the table.
... Was it that time already?
About to speak, Apollo was surprised as several more magazines dropped into place atop the first. Five, six, seven...
"Ho-ly-... Where'd you find all these...?" he asked, leaning forward to leaf through the stack. Behind the pile - nine magazines in total - stood the tall figure of Klavier Gavin, dressed just a touch more casually than normal.
"It's just a busy week, Herr Forehead." Klavier replied jovially, watching as he looked through the contents of the pile.
"You're tellin' me... Oh, wow, look at this one..."
Klavier leaned in to check the page Apollo had on display. Examining the grainy photo emblazoned across its centre, he found what he recognized to be a trip he'd made to pick up Trucy Wright from one of her recent magic shows, as a favour to her father when he'd been delayed in arriving.
"KLAVIER GAVIN LIKES THEM YOUNG?"
"Ach..." he muttered, spotting the cheerful grin on the teen magician's face, just visible in the photo. "A tactful headline, ja?"
"Speaking of Trucy, she's coming over, with Athena." Apollo said. "Should be here any minute."
"Hmm..." Klavier mumbled, still focused on the photograph.
"Hey," Apollo prodded, getting him to look up again, "That doesn't bother you, right?"
"Oh-... Nein, not at all." Klavier answered. "They won't want to miss this."
Trucy arrived within ten minutes, Athena in tow. The small house that Apollo and Klavier awaited them in was a place that Klavier owned, which he used when he wanted to lay low from the eye of the tabloids.
Recently, that was the majority of the time. He had no shortage of experience in dealing with the parasites of the lesser press, but Apollo wasn't so practiced. Given that he'd been dating the defence lawyer for nearly two months now, and had so far maintained a decent record of keeping him free of that hassle, the prosecutor and ex-rockstar had been spending quite a lot more of his time in this little house than he was used to. Of course, considering more recent events, he wondered whether there was any point to the effort any more.
"Hey, Polly!" Trucy said brightly, hugging the defence lawyer without delay once she was in the door. Athena watched, and ambushed Apollo once Trucy was done, outdoing her hug in intensity by at least a few points.
"Oww..." Apollo groaned when Athena released him, rubbing at a spot in his ribs. "Hi, Athena." he muttered while she smirked at him.
Apollo was the only one left in the room without a smirk or grin on his face, he realized as he turned around. Klavier and Trucy looked cheerfully eager for their upcoming activity.
This would be the third time that the group met up for their weekly evening of looking through the city's expansive library of trashy tabloid magazines for whatever "news" had been dredged up about the illusive Klavier Gavin during the week.
This time around, though, there was a particular photo that Klavier and Apollo fully expected to see which they were certain would be quite the surprise to their friends.
Klavier beckoned the group to the living room's wide couch, and they sat in a row, Apollo directly between his boyfriend and Trucy.
"OK, first on the board," he said, picking up the topmost magazine from the stack, "We've got... Damn, that's a flattering one."
Trucy giggled. Athena leaned past her to see for herself. The photo spread across the magazine's cover was a shot of Klavier descending the front steps of the courthouse, his head turned back a ways to respond to a comment from someone behind him. The angle had the effect of making his neck look rather strange. The cramped block of text next to the image said something suggesting an article about an apparent double chin developing on Klavier's face. This was, of course, just a trick of the photo's angle; something a child could have recognized.
"Guy must've been desperate for his pay on this one..." Athena remarked, grabbing the next magazine from the pile. "Oh, hey," she said, "Check this out."
The group turned. Athena flashed the magazine's cover. A candid photo of Klavier seated at a familiar bar was spread over the glossy cover.
"Wait, that's..." Apollo began, leaning in for a better look, "Oh, good, they tracked us to The Corner Pocket." He sighed. "Don't tell Ema, or she'll never want to go for drinks again."
Apollo himself was not clearly visible in the photo, though his jacket could be narrowly seen. Ema, however, was plainly visible next to him, her lab coat unmistakable.
The next few photos demonstrated that attempting to avoid the watchful eyes of tabloid photographers was really a losing battle. Similar further candid images of Klavier going about his day could be seen all around.
Apollo leaned toward the table and checked the next few, rather than just taking the immediate next off the stack.
"Oh-!" he uttered, slipping a magazine out of the pile and clutching it to his side and out of view.
"What?" Trucy asked curiously, looking down at the concealed cover.
"I've been waiting for this one." Apollo said, a little smile on his face.
Two days earlier, Apollo had been out for lunch with his boyfriend, Klavier keeping his identity mostly concealed with a blue hoodie covering everything but his face, and a heavy pair of sunglasses beneath his hood. The small coffee shop they'd stopped by had a group of tables out front, where they were seated.
The pair had been discussing the impact that their relationship might have on their respective careers, and the conversation was becoming frustrating for the defence attorney.
"Maybe I'm just being stupid, Klav, but sometimes it starts to feel like you're doing this more for yourself than anyone else." he said, indicating the heavy clothes the prosecutor had on to conceal himself.
Klavier frowned. "Believe me when I say, Herr Forehead, that you'll be much happier the longer I can keep those cameras away from you."
"Klav, I don't care about them." Apollo countered. "So what if they snap a few photos for their trashy magazines? I'm not a celebrity like you. They're only ever going to get on my trail if it relates to you somehow."
Klavier reclined in his chair a bit. "I think you're underestimating them, liebe."
Apollo reflexively twitched his hand in response to Klavier's last word. Out the corner of his eye, he could see a particular person he'd been keeping an eye on ever since they'd arrived. The man had exactly the kind of look Klavier had described to him when speaking of tabloid photographers out on the streets.
Looking the other way, he watched for their waitress. She was making her rounds, carrying several trays between the tables at the moment.
"Hey," Apollo said, "Stand up for a second, would you?"
Klavier gave him a curious look, but obeyed, getting to his feet. Apollo did the same, watching the photographer again.
He waited a few seconds, during which time Klavier just looked back at him in slight confusion. Then, he spotted his chance. Taking a sudden step forward, Apollo raised a hand and tossed Klavier's hood off his head, earning a stammer of surprise. The sunlight struck his long blond hair, tied into its signature spiraling curl, and Apollo lunged into him, claiming his lips in a kiss.
Klavier stumbled in surprise, unused to Apollo being this forward. He glanced around desperately, hoping no one of note would notice.
Still pressing his lips tightly to Klavier's, Apollo grinned against his mouth as he caught the sound of a camera's lens clicking several times over.
Trucy and Athena gave synchronized squeaks of surprise.
The magazine in Apollo's hands displayed a wide and clear image of him, dressed casually and out in the public streets. More interestingly, he was gripping tightly at the jacket of the tall figure in front of him, easily identified as Klavier himself.
There was no mistaking the lip-lock the two were engaged in. Klavier's sunglasses didn't conceal a thing.
"Ooh..." Trucy cooed at the sight.
"Damn, Apollo, I didn't know you had that in you." Athena remarked, sounding genuinely impressed.
"Ja," Klavier said with an amused sigh, "I think our Herr Forehead has ruined any chance of keeping himself out of the public view from now on."
Apollo shot him a smirk.
"INSIDE: KLAV GAV'S NEW BEAU", the cover promised.
I'm not a huge fan of Klapollo, mostly because I don't feel like the games have given the pair enough screen time to really flesh out a relationship, but it still makes my list of favoured Apollo pairings.
Next up, and it's an unconventional one, a universe with an Apollo looking into the older demographic for a roboticist from his past.