He knocked irritably on the door. He understood that sometimes, Mr. Wright woke up late and didn't unlock the door for him to come in. But at the very least, at least Trucy would wake up and unlock the door on time.

He sighed and pounded on the door, this time, calling out for his employer and daughter.

"Apollo?" finally!

"Yes, I've been out here for a while Mr. Wright." he heard the multiple deadlocks start to click open. There was a confused mutter on the other side of the door before it swung open. Mr. Wright stood on the other side of the door, a towel was hanging on his shoulder while he was wearing a rare pair of blue shorts and a matching swim shirt. He blinked in surprise when he realized that his boss was more fit than he initially thought, his arms filling out the sleeves nicely. Ok, Mr. Wright was a little scarier now that he knew that he could probably crush him if he wanted to.

"Ok, but why are you here? I gave. you the day off remember? The office is closed today." Apollo just stared at his boss, mentally berating himself for completely forgetting that Mr. Wright had indeed given him the day off. He smacked his forehead.

"...I see you forgot?" he quietly nodded his head. There was a hum of acknowledgment," ...well," he dragged out the word," me and Trucy are just about to go swimming, wanna come with us? I have an extra pair of swim shorts."

And that was how he found himself sitting on the pool ledge, his feet in the water as he watched Trucy do some laps in the nearly empty pool, Mr. Wright sitting next to him as they sipped at some soda.

Most of the time, Apollo would find the silence awkward, he didn't like the silence too much. But this time, it was pleasant. It was a peaceful silence, one that you often have with your friends, where you just enjoy each other's company. He let out a heavy sigh.

He had to admit, this was pretty nice.

Just relaxing after a few weeks of consistent hard work felt good. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, he took a glance and dismissed the movement when he realized that it was just Mr. Wright's hand moving.

Wait.

"...what happened there?"

"Huh?"

"That," he pointed at the dark scar that was poking out of Mr. Wrights's swim shirt sleeve. It was much darker compared to the rest of his skin and stood out," what happened there?"

"Oh," he pulled up the sleeve, revealing a scar that was much bigger and longer than he initially thought. It went from the top of his forearm, tapering off at the top of his wrist," they didn't search an opponent right before a match, let's say he wasn't too happy that he lost."

While it was very vague, Apollo already knew what happened, "I-you...you say that like its normal that it happened to you!"

"Shh!" he shushed Apollo, shoving the sleeve back down as he waved Trucy off," I never told Trucy how I got it so do me a favor and don't tell her?" he stared at his boss with a frown, his mouth hanging slightly open for a few seconds before saying.

"...how did she not notice you coming back from the hospital?" Mr. Wright stared at him.

Apollo stared back at him, he got a raised eyebrow.

"I...please tell me that I'm assuming the wrong thing and that you did go to the hospital." he just watched as Mr. Wright gave him that annoying smirk, that same smirk that managed to tell him that yes, what you are assuming is right, you're not going crazy Apollo. I didn't go to the hospital.

"...I don't know what's worse, the fact that you didn't go to a hospital or the fact that you dealt with it by yourself." Mr. Wright took a long sip of his soda as he maintained eye contact with his employee. He smacked his lips together before facing the pool.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." despite his words, there was a smile on his lips.

He had no idea how he was going to survive working with this man...

"stup-id frea-king thing!" he cursed quietly to himself as he stabbed at the stuck keyboard keys in between syllables. He had been planning to go to lunch over 20 minutes ago, but since he wanted to finish that page before he left, he was starting to get more and more frustrated as his hunger increased.

"TRUCY!" he blinked in surprise when he heard the surprised shout of his boss upstairs.

"AHHH I'M SOR-"

"WAIT DONT!" uh.

That was probably a sign he should go and check on them.

"GO GET APOLLO!" ok it was time for him to go up there. He met Trucy halfway up the stairs. Her face was a bright red and was extremely flustered. She didn't even try to give him an explanation, she just shoved a pair of sandals and a towel into his arms before dragging him into the apartment and shoving him in front of the bathroom.

Steam was still coming out of the bathroom and he could hear frustrated and annoyed mutters coming from the shower," uh...Mr. Wright?" a face popped out from behind the curtain.

"Ah," there was still soap in his hair, his eyes were scrunched closed as the soapy water dripped down into his face, "Pass me the towel." there was not a single note of patience in his voice, it was devoid of its usual kindness and was replaced with anger and annoyance.

"Uh, here," he pushed the towel into the extended hand. Mr. Wright muttered out thanks and disappeared behind the curtain. He heard the sound of clinking glass and more mutters before the curtain was shoved open.

His usual, easy-going smile was gone and was replaced with a frown. Even the soap suds that were still in his hair didn't take away from his serious look. The towel he had given the man was wrapped around his waist, hiding the necessary parts of his body while revealing his toned and muscular limbs.

"Pass the sandals." he wordlessly passed the sandals, phoenix immediately put them on and stepped out of the shower, his face still showing his sour mood. Glancing at the shower, he frowned when he saw shattered glass on the shower floor.

"Uh, wh-"

"Trucy thought it was a great idea to throw ice water over me, she ended up dropping the glass up she used into the shower." ah.

Yeah, that was a good reason to be mad.

He couldn't even blame him, he would be just as upset if he was trying to take a shower, only for it to be interrupted because someone threw cold water over him and dropped glass into the shower...

Mr. Wright stomped out of the bathroom, water dripping behind him as the soap suds slowly disappeared from his hair. He just stood in the bathroom awkwardly as he heard Trucy try to apologize only for her father to tell her to be quiet and having the sound of a door closing with force right after.

Slowly walking out of the bathroom, he just stared at the door where he could hear furious whispers from his boss that were digging into Trucy. Granted, he wasn't able to hear what exactly was being said but he could tell that his boss was mad.

He decided to go back to the office when he heard a frustrated groan.

Only about five minutes had passed until a red and deflated Trucy walked into the office and sat on the couch dejectedly. She scratched at the back of her neck nervously before saying.

"...Daddy said to hurry up and go to lunch. He'll pay for it since you helped him out."

"Ah okay...are you okay?" she quietly nodded her head.

"Yeah, it was my fault, he was right to get mad at me. I can't even get mad at him since he was right. He'll probably apologize for getting so mad while you're gone." he hummed in agreement before getting ready to go. He didn't say anything until he was just about to leave.

"...Mr. Wright is pretty scary when he's mad huh?" Trucy puffed up her cheeks as she exhaled.

"You have no idea."

Alright

Note to self

Don't make Mr. Wright mad.

The sound of the fifth sniffle made him glance over at his boss. And he looked miserable.

His nose was bright red and raw, his eyes squinting through the reflex tears as he tried to work. He just cringed when his boss let out a nasty sounding, phlegm-filled cough.

"...you don't have to work Mr. Wright, you should go and rest."

"...no," his refusal was nasal," I'll be fine Apollo, go ahead and go to lunch." he was going to protest his departure, but when he got a look that was almost a glare, he agreed.

Walking down the street to his usual lunch place, the convenience store caught his eye. They should have some cold medicine right?

.

"I'm back," he shrugged off his jacket, walking further into the office as he put his bounty on his desk.

"Oh, hey Apollo," even he cringed at the way Mr. Wright sounded, looking over his shoulder he realized that he managed to get worse in the 20 minutes he was gone. He was slumped against his desk, his arms cushioning his head as there was an unhealthy flush to his skin. Without turning back to his desk, he took out the cold medicine and cough drops that he got and put them down on Mr. Wright's desk.

"Alright," he put his hand on Mr. Wright's forehead, not surprised that he had a low fever," you need to rest, take the medicine and go upstairs to sleep, I can handle it down here." Mr. Wright weakly shook his head, even as Apollo hauled him out of his chair and started to lead him to the couch.

"...I don't want you to be by yourself..." Mr. Wright sat down with a heavy sigh, his hands coming up to loosen his tie and to take off his vest.

"I'll be fine," Apollo shook the bottle before cracking open the seal. Reading the instructions, 60 MLS of the medicine should be enough to make him knock out. It's not like he could overdose anyway, he was a grown man. He poured the medicine into the little cup and held it out to him," Here, this will help." Mr. Wright looked at the cup tiredly and with a clammy hand, he gently took Apollo's wrist and pushed it away from him. Apollo blinked in surprise.

"...Mr. Wright?"

"...Sorry, I don't like taking medicine."

...what?

How old was he?

"I...It doesn't matter if you don't like it, you have to take it to get better." he shoved the small cup back into his face, " just drink it." Mr. Wright coughed again, turning his head away as he pushed the medicine back.

"The last time I took medicine, my girlfriend poisoned it to try and kill me, so-o," another cough made his chest rattle as he spoke,"...I'm good..." Apollo just stared.

Okay.

Looks like he wasn't going to take medicine.

He didn't need his bracelet to know that Mr. Wright was telling the truth. Honestly that would explain why he would just suffer through headaches instead of taking painkillers for it.

"Ok," he put the cup down on the table with the bottle, not missing the way Mr. Wright had a small sigh of relief," No medicine then, what about cough drops?" he a got a head shake in return. Looks like no cough drops either. "okay, I guess, lay down for now?" he heard a quiet ok before Mr. Wright laid down on the couch, his legs slightly hanging over the armrest.

Deciding that Mr. Wrights jacket was too damp from sweat to use, he used his own suit jacket, the fabric being just big enough to cover his upper body but thin enough where he wouldn't overheat. Mr. Wright didn't say anything until Apollos damp handkerchief was laid on his forehead.

"...thanks..." he blinked in surprise, he thought Mr. Wright had fallen asleep.

"Ah, its no big deal." he got a small chuckle at that.

"...You're a good kid."

"I-thanks...?" Apollo stared at Mr. Wright a little bit longer, expecting the older man to laugh or chuckle again. Instead, all he heard was the slow and steady breathing of a sleeping sick man. Shrugging off the words, he went back to work, occasionally changing the handkerchief and adjusting his jacket.

For a little bit, he was worried that he wasn't getting better, but it didn't take long for his fever to break. He just let Mr. Wright sleep until Trucy came home and took him to his room, thanking him for taking care of her father.

She noticed the cold medicine when she came back down to get his things," Ah, he didn't drink the medicine?" when he shook his head, she grumbled in return before going back upstairs.

Looks like Mr. Wright never told her why he didn't like cold medicine. Reason being that his former girlfriend tried to kill him by poisoning his cold medicine.

...Well, you learn something new every day.

Oh he wanted to die.

He wanted to curl up in the smallest hole possible and just wait until he dies out of embarrassment.

"the smaller one is really cute, do you think everything ab-" nope, nope, he wasn't going to listen to the rest of that. He shoved his hands over his ears, face burning a tomato red as he tried to ignore what he was hearing.

It was a simple errand, one that wasn't supposed to take long. All they were supposed to do was drop off Trucy's lunch at her school before going back to investigating. So, for now, they were stuck outside, waiting for Trucy to come out to the school gates to pick up her lunch.

It became evident very quickly that high school students are terrible at whispering. He heard the bass of someone's voice next to him and looked up to see the amused face of his employer, laughing at his misfortune.

"Come on Apollo," Mr. Wright looked back and gave the whispering girls a polite smile and a wave. He was able to hear the squeals through his hands," its not that bad."

"Not that bad!?" he squeaked out, "I don't see how this can get any worse!" he got a chuckle from that.

"Trust me," Mr. Wright shivered as he remembered something," it can get much worse." Apollo shivered in horror at that.

"Do I even want to know?"

"Ehhh," Mr. Wright averted his eyes as he tugged nervously at his collar," lets just say that sometimes, some people would come looking for a-" he cleared his throat," for a different type of service." Apollo just stared at him.

"I-please don't tell me you di-"

"Of course I didn't!" Mr. Wright shook his head frantically," I didn't have time to be messing around like that! Most of the people who wanted that for me were either way too old or way too young. Besides, I'm not interested in looking for a partner, haven't been interested since I was in college."

"Ah, is that because of...?"

"Yep." alright that was understandable."

"hey...do you think the one in red would give me his number?"

It just got worse.

"Are you sure it cant get any worse?"

"unless it's a couple trying to convince you to be their fourth, it can get worse."

Alright, maybe it wasn't that bad after all

"Ughhhhh," he groaned as he woke up to a throbbing headache. His head pounding with his heartbeat, he swore he could feel his eyeballs pounding with his head.

Wrapping the blankets around him, he burrowed into the blankets, find comfort in the warmth that they brought. Taking in a deep breath, he took in the flowery scent of the fabric softener. He sat up when he realized something.

His fabric softener didn't smell like that.

Blearily, he looked around the room, waking up more when he realized that he wasn't in his room. The room was a little bit messier than his, the closet was on the wrong side of the room and so was the bed. The sunlight was gently streaming through the window, letting him know that it was early morning. Smacking his lips together, cringing at the acidic taste in his mouth, he looked around the room. His shoes were next to the bed and his jacket and vest were on the bedpost.

His heart lept into his throat when he saw the blue suit jacket hanging on the door.

Why was he in his bosses room?

Oh god why was he in Mr. Wrights bedroom?

He fumbled with the blankets, trying to get out of the room before something happened. Nearly falling out of the bed, he picked up his belongings in a hurry and was at the door in seconds.

At the door, he took a deep breath. Peaking his head out of the door, he looked up and down the hallway, letting out a sign of relief when he saw that the house was still quiet.

Creeping out of the bedroom, he slowly walked towards the entrance, stopping when he saw a note on the table.

"Dear drunk phoenix, don't forget to drink some water before going to sleep" the note was signed by 'sober phoenix' he rose his eyebrow when he saw another note from the same hand, just messier hand writing. " no, you're not the boss of me. Tell Polly that mixed drinks fuck him up. Left his bracelet in pocket so he could stop trying to throw it at people. " his jaw dropped when he saw HIS handwriting under drunk Mr. Wright's note. "I want my bracelet back :("

…Huh?

What the hell happened?

He reread the note, his eyes focusing on a particular phrase.

Did he seriously get black out drunk?

And with his boss no less?!

"…owwwww…" he tensed up when he heard the painted groan come from the living room. He started to internally freak out when he saw a hand grab onto the back of the sofa, "…what the fuck happened?" had it been any other time, he would have been shocked that Mr. Wright just cursed.

Mr. Wright slowly sat up, his hand cradling his bruised cheek as the piece of paper that was taped onto his forehead flapped down into his face. "…the fuck?" note to self, his boss cursed when he was hungover.

Not wanting to face his wrath, he got a cup of water for the both of them and a bag of frozen peas for the bruise

"uh," Mr. Wright jumped when he heard his voice," here, for your cheek." Mr. Wright hummed in response and took the bag to press it against his cheek. He let out a small sigh when he did.

Seeing the glass of water down onto the table, he sat on the opposite coach, draining his cup as he did.

"God," Mr. Wright took the paper off with a grimace, "what happened?" he merely leaned his head on the back of the sofa and sighed.

"I have no idea. I woke up in your bed of all places."

" what the fuck? Why we-" his confused voice stopped abruptly. Raising an eyebrow, he picked up his head and looked at his boss, who was staring at him with wide eyes," Apollo…please don't tell me that's a hickey on your neck?

…excuse me?

They stared at each other for a few seconds, horror mounting on their faces before they scrambled to their feet. He heard Mr. Wright fumbling with the paper that was taped onto his face while he slid into the bathroom.

Flicking the light on, he started to freak out when he saw his image.

The two points of his hair had drooped down into his face, his tie was long gone. Sure enough, there was a dark and obvious hickey on his neck, one that was surrounded by cream colored lip prints.

"what the fuck!"

"Shh!" he jumped when Mr. Wright poked his head into the bathroom, his bruise looked even worse up close, "Trucy is still asleep!"

He didn't even bother answering, he just pointed at the mirror with wide eyes and frantic movements. Flinching when he felt a pain in his ribs.

"I know I know, hang on, Larry left a note," he disappeared for a second before walking into the bathroom, closing the door behind him as he sat on the ledge of the bathtub, still holding the bag to his face, " alright, so if I'm reading this right…" he listened to him as he started to rinse off the lip marks.

"Larry invited me for drinks, and he dragged you with us, uh can't read that, ah, here we go. You were drunk by your third drink – ok, note to self, you suck at drinking- we were in our fifth round of shots – why Larry?- when we realized that a couple had cornered you and oh my god." Mr. Wright groaned loudly and put his head in his hands.

He was almost scared to ask, "…what happened?

"Well…" he cleared his throat awkwardly, " me and Larry started a fight when they tried to take you home with them-" even though he had a smile on his face, he was freaking out," after you hit the wrong guy, it turned into a brawl and we ended up coming home early…well that explains these." With a hiss, he pulled up his dress shirt, showing him a few nasty bruises.

"oh my God…I am so sorry Mr. Wright." He dropped his head into his hands. He stayed like that until he felt a hand ruffle his hair.

"help me wrap up these bruises and we'll call it even. I'll show you how to hide your hickey with some makeup. "

"I- do I even want to know why you know how to do that?"

"hickeys are just small, dark bruises, it's easy if you know what you're doing."

Oh, he wanted to cry.

"This job is going to be the end of me."

"You and me both buddy," he patted his back, wincing when he twisted the wrong way," hey, at least we can suffer together." He groaned even louder.

Like that was supposed to make him feel better.