"I'm Apollo Justice and I am fine," the young man said with his Chords of Steel before leaving his apartment that morning. The weekend was over and he needed to get back to work. Hopefully, he would have an actual case to work on and not just some odd jobs given to them.
"I am Apollo Justice and I am fine" he muttered to himself as he waited at a red light, ignoring the odd look some old lady gave him while passing next to him. And even if there was nothing to do, he could always do some sorting and cleaning of his desk. He hadn't really taken care of keeping it tidy recently and he knew it would be hell finding back important papers in the close future if he didn't do it.
"I am Apollo Justice and I am fine" he whispered as he worked on locking his bike at the bike rack near the entrance to the building. He noted the now more than familiar red sports car parked in front of the building. Maybe if Edgeworth isn't too busy that morning he could have a nice chat with him about his latest trial. It was always interesting having the prosecutor's opinions.
'I am Apollo Justice and I am fine' he thought to himself while taking a deep breath, hand on the doorknob. Today was going to be a good day. He was going to keep acting like a normal employee who was totally not freaking out every time he was around the people he was totally-not-in-love-with.
'I am Apollo Justice and I–'
"Ah, Polly! You are here early today" Wright smiled from the kitchen, casually wearing only pyjama bottoms, ''Are you ready for a busy week? I already got some work for you". The man sounded strangely really happy and awake for his usual self. Apollo also noted that he did not mention a case.
"Phoenix" was sighed soon after, "He barely just came in, give Apollo at least the time to settle down and maybe have his coffee" Edgeworth scolded lightly. He appeared from behind the wall, his dress shirt not fully buttoned up.
'– am not fine!'
It was 8:35 and Apollo already didn't know how the day would go from there. How does he continue correctly when he was greeted by a surprisingly chipper half-naked Wright and a not fully dressed Edgeworth? He tried not to look too flustered at the display, going to his desk first, pointedly not looking towards the kitchen.
Over the past months, he had seen them in different attires. Although it wasn't the first time he saw his boss so casually not being fully dressed, Edgeworth had always been fully covered up. He had never really seen just how muscular the man actually was under all those layers.
"M-Mr Wright you should dress properly!" he stated, trying to hide his blush, "What are you going to do when you'll get your license back and get employees? You can't parade like this around the office". He was used to it by now since professionalism hadn't been very high on the list of values at the Wright Anything Agency, but he was pretty convinced it wouldn't be the same for others.
When he went to the kitchen to make himself some coffee, Edgeworth had thankfully finished dressing up, which only left his boss whom he was already used to seeing like this. He just needed to not ogle at him while his partner was right next to them.
"I didn't know you were so shy, Polly" Wright teased him, which only helped in making him a bit more flustered. He put more energy into making his coffee, not turning around.
"I've seen you doing worst and less professional than simply not wearing a shirt" Apollo replied, "Am just saying I won't be your attorney if someone misunderstands your laziness for something else". The man sure had gotten better at it, but when Apollo first started here, Wright's teasing had sometimes walked the line between appropriate and not appropriate. He had dealt with and learned to live with it, but not everyone would.
"Plus it would be nice seeing you dress up more professionally too" He admitted while turning around, "What are you gonna do when you pass the bar again? Surely you won't keep wearing hoodies and sweat pants" 'And that stupid hat'.
"I must agree with Apollo on this, you do need to start looking for some work clothes that make you look like a lawyer and not a shady man," Edgeworth said.
"Fine" Wright sighed as he got up, "I'll start looking for something, not for today though, I don't think my old suit fits me anymore, so you'll have to do with a clean t-shirt". With this he went to his room, seemingly to find something more proper to wear.
Then silence settled as Apollo finished making his coffee. "Are you going to work? I thought Wright said you had a day off today too" Apollo ends up asking as he looked over his shoulder, seeing the man wearing his usual fancy court suit.
This made the man sigh, a frown drawing itself on his face. "It was indeed supposed to be my day off today" the man admitted, "But problems arose at the office and I must take care of it". Apollo offered a sympathetic smile to the man, it didn't sound really easy and relax to be the Chief Prosecutor.
"I can assume your day will be filled too, Phoenix seemed happy to have something" Edgeworth commented as he took his teacup to finish his morning tea.
"It's the time of the month where we usually get more odd jobs than usual and reach the deadline for others," Apollo said, sounding a bit disappointed it was that time again, but also pretty used to it by now. "So I'll probably spend my day running all around town, and to say I had thought I could clean my desk" he laughed quietly to himself.
"I noticed you seem to do quite a lot of odd jobs alongside your cases" Edgeworth pointed out. From the look on his face, this was something that had been on his mind more than once.
"Well, we don't always have cases and when we do we sometimes help people who don't necessarily have the money to pay the full price, but we still take their cases because many other law firms wouldn't for that exact reason," Apollo said. Of course, they would have an attorney to defend them at the end of the day, but Apollo felt like he couldn't let that happen when he saw how sincere some of their client sounded when asked about their innocence.
"So money isn't exactly flowing in and the Wright Anything Agency isn't exactly wildly known as a law firm so we don't get as many clients as others do" he continued, "there's bills to pay so odd jobs it is" he added with a shrug.
"My pay isn't exactly great and there's a limit to the cleaning and sorting out you can do about legal stuff here, so I help out with the odd jobs". He had taken weeks to finish up that task and it had helped a lot when they were looking for something. But once it was done, it was done. "Trucy can't possibly be the only one bringing money in with her magic shows after all" and he was pretty sure Wright also thought the same.
It was pretty clear that money wasn't as easy for them as it was for the Chief prosecutor. Apollo wasn't one to complain about it, but he sure wasn't secretive about it either. Although he did notice the Wrights doing better now that Edgeworth was more officially part of their little family. Apollo simply didn't have the luxury of having a rich boyfriend ready to help out.
"Yet you never tried looking elsewhere so you could have a better salary for doing the job you studied for, why?" Edgeworth asked, surprising him a little with the bluntness of it. He was not the first to ask, but he was pretty used to people half dancing around the subject.
"It's complicated and there are many reasons I guess," Apollo said as he turned around, leaning against the counter while holding his cup of coffee. "For a start, and don't tell Mr Wright I said this, but I still admire him as a lawyer, despite everything and how that admiration was first crushed… he was the one I looked up to while studying law" he admitted.
"I learned the hard way that meeting your hero isn't a good idea, but I am still glad I got to work for and with him, he may not be the greatest mentor, but I did learn things with him," he added with a small smile, "granted many of these things are not law-related".
He was quiet for a moment afterwards, looking down at his coffee, fingers tracing over the bunnies on his mug. "I also know it wouldn't have been the smartest to refuse his offer, as angry and resentful as I was about what he had done, I knew it would have been hard for me to find a job elsewhere" he admitted, a bitter smile on his lips. He was sometimes still mad at what the man had done. Sure hadn't helped with trust at first.
"But even without hearing the whispers about me that had started going around at the time, something in me knew it would be hard to find a place somewhere that hadn't already reached out to me" he continued, frowning a little.
"My mentor had just been sentenced for a murder he had tried to pin on someone else, by association some wouldn't want me" he started. He found it stupid to assume a junior would be the same as his mentor when he hadn't been there for that long in the first place.
"Other wouldn't have wanted for a young attorney who on his first trial got his boss and mentor convicted for murder, I've somewhat lost faint in the idea that all attorneys are being honest, to tell the truth, I wouldn't be surprised if these people would have been scared of me finding their dirty secrets and doing the same I did with Mr Gavin". And it had probably been even worse after the test trial for the jurist system.
Clearly not every defence attorneys were as honest, proper and trustworthy as they may look. He had learned that the hard way. This sure hadn't helped his sense of trust in people.
"I also… feel at ease with Wright and Trucy" he admitted last. "Maybe I don't get paid as much as other places and do other odd jobs, but… I feel like here someone has my back, that I can trust them". His smile turned a bit sad as he didn't add something that scared him a little to really think about 'And if I leave who is to say they will still want to see ME when I'm gone and there's better around'.
He cleared his throat, pushing away that thought. It was too early to be self-deprecating like this. "These are some of the more important reasons" he finally stated, moving from his spot against the counter so he could start making his way back outside the kitchen. "I know I could do better in terms of money, but I ended up quite liking it here and don't intend on changing it unless necessary" he added with a small smile.
"I think I'll have to leave you now, I have some things to sort through before starting today and I am sure whatever urgent matter at the prosecutor's office cannot wait anymore" he concluded. He didn't want to hold the man longer than needed when he was in need to go elsewhere. Nor did he really want to keep thinking about his own situation so early in the morning.
The man had looked a bit pensive after his rather long reply, offering him a smile too. "I will indeed need to get on my way" he replied, sighing afterwards. Clearly passing his day off at work wasn't on his to-do list for the day.
They were then finally joined back by Wright, who sent off his partner on his way, now that he was wearing something more proper. At least, as proper as he owned, which was a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. This allowed Apollo to actually start his day of work, hoping this time the odd jobs wouldn't actually have him running from one side of the city to the other.
Yet, despite starting his workday, he couldn't get his discussion with Edgeworth out of his mind. He knew all the reasons he had given were true, but there was a bigger one he couldn't exactly tell the man.
He was in love with the man and had decided to stick around because of that love. 'You even had some hope that your love would be returned' something in him mocked. 'What a wishful person you are Apollo'.
He sighed, drinking nearly all his coffee in one go, pushing away these thoughts.
"You doing good Apollo?" He suddenly heard next to him, making him jump. "That was a pretty heavy sigh you had there, not ready for a day of work?" Wright asked, his usual grin on his lips despite some concerns hiding in his eyes.
"I'm fine, everything's good, I had just hoped that someone had asked for our help in court" he half-lied with a little laugh, putting down his now empty mug. "But we can't help it I suppose" he commented, getting his notebook out, "Now, what's on our to-do list today?"
Thankfully all the jobs Wright gave him were enough to keep his mind occupied, keeping him away from thinking about his situation again.
After that day and once his list of odd jobs had all been done, he noticed that the work assigned to him was getting more and more only about law. Sure there were still odd jobs, but less than before.
Instead, he was asked to help review some older documents, help Wright study for the bar ("It's boring studying alone and I am to pass the bar again soon, so the help of someone who passed it more recently than I did is appreciated" his boss had said) or assigned cases even when they are smaller one. Wright had even started to give him weird and sudden quizzes about older and hypothetical court cases for him to answer and even do small research about.
He wasn't going to complain though, he really enjoyed the surge in actual law-related work, as odd as some seemed to be. He had truly not minded the odd jobs, but it was nice actually doing something that related to what he studied for.
Some would argue that being the messenger boy between the Wright Anything Agency and the prosecutor's office wasn't that related to his actual job, but he didn't mind. For one he also needed to go sometimes, but he also liked seeing Edgeworth and truly didn't mind bringing documents he might have forgotten at their office.
Exactly like what he was doing. Wright had forgotten some documents that were meant to be delivered to Edgeworth and the deadline was coming rather quickly. He didn't want the man to be mad because they didn't fill it on time. He already needed to drop by Klavier's office to see if he could pull some information for their current case out of him, might as well bring these papers.
The way to the prosecutor's office was familiar, so was the path to the elevator. He had made it often enough that he could probably help someone lost in the building.
"Ah! Herr Forehead!" came a familiar voice as Apollo was looking at the numbers going up, turning his gaze to the door to see the familiar prosecutor. He offered a smile to the man, watching as his hand stopped just before hitting the level he was also going to. "Going up to see Chief prosecutor Edgeworth?" he asked.
"Mr Wright went out and forgot about the paperwork he was supposed to bring to him," Apollo said, "Since I needed to come here I assume I could just bring it to him". Like this, his boss wouldn't need to do it later or get Edgeworth angry because they didn't bring paperwork on time.
"Can I dare assume you came to visit me~" the blond asked, grinning at him. "It always brightens my day than to have mein Schatz visit me here" he added, tone clearly flirtatious.
"I came here for work," Apollo said, feeling his face heat up a little. He might not be interested in Klavier that way, but he was not used to people openly flirting with him. Even less use what he assumed was an endearing way of naming him (at least, from what Edgeworth had translated to him once).
"You are breaking my heart" Klavier joked, faking being hurt by his words. "And to say I come to your office to see you for other things than work" he argued.
"I'd argue you either come to stop me from working or hang out with Trucy when she pities me and gets your attention" Apollo commented. He would lie if he said he hated his visits, it still felt weird for him to somewhat make friends with someone he never thought he'd do so. 'Not that you ever expect to make friends with anyone in the first place…'
"Then I should work on finding better times to come and visit you, so you do not feel like I am stopping you from working" the man smiled, offering him a wink. Apollo couldn't argue back as the elevator dinged before he did, the door opening on their floor.
"You also needed to see Mr Edgeworth?" Apollo asked, following quickly next to him, not coming back to their previous subject. If he didn't, Klavier would probably find another way to tease him about his visits, or actually try to find a better time to come visit.
"Ja, Herr Edgeworth had me looking for missing paperwork" he replied before waving a stack of paper slightly. "I found them" he grinned.
The walk to the office wasn't too long, as familiar as the one to Klavier's office was actually. It was to wonder if Apollo wasn't coming here a bit too often actually when he wasn't a prosecutor himself.
Klavier was about to knock on the door, as one should do. Yet, Apollo didn't bother doing so, having already come into Edgeworth's office without knocking more than once (it had taken a while before doing so). Today though, he did wish he hadn't acted so familiar.
He wasn't fully through the doorway that he froze on his way in, caught off guard by the sight before him. He quickly retreated backwards while closing the door, back hitting Klavier's chest as he pushed him too. They would have fallen over were it not for the blond managing to catch him.
"Was that… herr Wright and herr Edgeworth making out" the man started, seemingly unsure of what they had seen. Apollo wasn't sure if he should indeed confirm the relationship or if the couple would prefer it stayed hidden (despite what they just witnessed). They weren't that secretive about their relationship either.
Even if Apollo wanted to do either, he was still recovering himself. Sure, he was starting to get used to the two men acting a bit intimate in front of him, but it was never full-on making out. As much as he tried to repress his own feeling for the pair, it still made something in his chest hurt at the sight, needing a quick moment to himself. 'You should be used to it by now…' he scolded himself, feeling pathetic for not being able to get rid of his feelings so easily.
"Herr Forehead, is everything alright?" he heard soon after, Klavier sounding concerned for a moment. Apollo then forced a smile on his lips, straightening his back again, looking away. "Of course! I am perfectly fine!" he said, hating how stiff it still sounded even to him, "I was just taken aback a little, it's not exactly something I see every day either, than to see my boss making out with the chief prosecutor".
The blond didn't look all that convinced by his words, but their attention was soon turned towards the door again, keeping him from asking any more questions. Instead, they watched as Edgeworth opened the door, clearing his throat with a small blush remaining on his cheeks. "Mr Gavin, Mr Justice, what can I do for you?" he asked.
From where they stood, they could see Wright sitting on the couch, trying to look as if nothing had happened (Apollo would bet he got scolded by his lover). "I got the paperwork Mr Wright forgot to bring since I was passing by anyway" Apollo quickly said, offering the papers. "Ja, I also needed to drop documents by… we didn't mean to interrupt".
Edgeworth only hummed a bit at the last comment, taking the documents that had been brought to him. "I see, Thank you for bringing me these" the man said with a small smile, "… and sorry for the unprofessionalism just now, I will make sure it doesn't happen again". That last part was said as he looked over his shoulder, a warning glance given to his partner. "I hope it can stay between us, I am not very fond of people gossiping about my love life" he then added.
The statement seemed less directed at Apollo who obviously knew about it for quite some time now. Klavier didn't exactly seem the type to gossip that much, but it was still a fair warning to give. 'If I were him, I too wouldn't want people gossiping and making assumptions about my love life' he thought.
"I do not see what Herr Edgeworth is talking about" the man smiled while looking down at him for a moment, clearly playing dumb to show he would act as if nothing happened. Apollo forced a smile on his lips, trying to play along "Nothing to see there" he added.
This seemed enough for the man, as Apollo did not miss the quiet sigh the man made, tension leaving his shoulder. "Thank you again for these documents," he said, "I have a business to go back to".
Apollo wanted to both roll his eyes and laugh when he heard a quiet "I am business" coming from farther in the room. This was nearly expected from Wright actually. It did earn an eye roll from Edgeworth, something Apollo could determine as something between exasperated and fondness.
The young attorney quickly bid farewell to the man, before pulling the prosecutor away with him, not wanting any more awkwardness to arise. He only stopped when they were at the elevator where they stood in silence.
"I had expected it" Klavier ended up commenting, making Apollo look up to him with a raised eyebrow. "Some of us had a small bet about it" the blond admitted with a chuckle, "About whether or not the chief prosecutor had a special someone, I just knew there was something behind herr Wright coming so often to the office and herr Edgeworth to yours".
Apollo wasn't sure if it was truly alright for such a betting game to happen about one's superior. But before having his suspicions confirmed, he would probably have been one to silently bet on it too.
"They aren't exactly secretive about it either" He decided to point out.
"I believe herr forehead forgets an important point here" Klavier laughed as he got onto the elevator with him, hitting the button to his floor. "The prosecutor's office doesn't have the same atmosphere as the Wright Anything Agency" he pointed out, "We do not have the same kind of close relationship with chief prosecutor Edgeworth as you do with herr Wright".
Apollo supposed it was a fair point. Edgeworth didn't seem like the kind of man to just start talking about his personal life with just about anyone. Even with him, it had taken a while before the two of them were more familiar with each other. As for his boss, well the line between strict boss-employee and friend had been blurred a long time ago. He didn't feel actually confident in saying the man actually saw him as a friend, but he sometimes dare thinking he did.
"And I suppose the openness of our office does help, compared to a private office on a higher floor" Apollo pointed afterwards, to which Klavier hummed positively. "Ja, people don't usually just waltz into his office like that" the man then teased him, making him blush a little bit again. "I didn't think about it okay" Apollo muttered, which only made the prosecutor laugh again.
Of course, he was teased until they finally reached the man's office. Only then did Klavier seemingly decide he had enough of teasing him about it, instead offering what he could indeed offer to him. Of course, not without some more teasing about other things and some blatant flirting ("It's really funny seeing you get flustered~"). Although, Apollo did feel like the man had tried to probe about how he had reacted earlier, as if still not fully giving up on his lies.
He was scared his little secret had been uncovered at first, cursing himself for not being careful enough. Yet, Klavier never actually asked about it. He did try getting it out of him though.
In the following weeks, he noticed how the man seemed to suddenly be crossing his path more often when he happened to go to the prosecutor's office or the courthouse. He was even visiting them more frequently than he did before, making Apollo wonder if the man really had that much free time on his hands.
Wright never said anything about him being there, so Apollo didn't really see how he could object. The blond even helped out a couple of times when he needed to do something or when Trucy wanted to practice a trick but he was busy. He couldn't see why he would kick him out without a reason.
So he just dealt with Klavier being his usual flirty self, sometimes just sitting with him while he worked. When they were like this in silence it was a bit unnerving to have him just observe him. As if the man was trying to find what he was searching for only by looking at him.
Most of the time he would keep Trucy's company while Apollo was busy working (and her dad busy studying). But even in those moments, he felt like the man always had his eyes on him.
He was even embarrassed when he realised Klavier had caught him staring at either Wright or Edgeworth more than once. He'd end up watching his crush without noticing it, only to feel this impression of being watched coming to him. Apollo would then look around the room, only to catch the prosecutor's eyes on him, an expression he couldn't quite decipher on his face.
He'd usually try to (not so) smoothly go back to his work, as if he hadn't spent the past couple of minutes just silently observing either of their bosses. Sometimes he tries to hold his gaze, arching a brow and asking if he had something on his face. "Nein, I was just lost in the beauty of your forehead~" Klavier would tease, the look on his face changing for one Apollo was more used to.
What worried him most was that at times Klavier's action would also attract Trucy's attention to him. He could lie easily to the prosecutor, but he knew that Trucy would catch onto his lies immediately. He was nearly thankful the blond didn't seem to know about their power or else he would probably have asked her help.
All this being careful around the man didn't help him feel relaxed. Didn't really help either that he had been feeling through his bracelet how anxious Wright had been about passing the bar. Even Trucy and Edgeworth seemed nervous despite how confident they were in saying it would all go well.
After a long week of work and all this stress, Apollo wasn't fully in the mood to go drink that night. Especially after nearly just getting out of court that day. At least he had won that trial and wasn't feeling down.
"We have to celebrate daddy taking the bar!" Trucy had said even though they didn't get his result yet. She had argued it was for his courage in actually taking it again. They could always celebrate him passing it when they get that news.
'But going out might help a bit more than going back to an empty and lonely room' he thought to himself. 'You wouldn't miss celebrating that even if you were sick' something in him chimed in after. And it was true, he couldn't see himself fully missing out and not staying at least for a while.
So he made his way to the Wonder Bar, knowing he was a bit late compared to others (but he had some paperwork to finish first). Finding their little group of people in the also rather small crowd was pretty easy.
Trucy was the first one to spot him, dragging him more quickly towards where they were at the time. When he finally managed to join the little group he was stunned a little.
Klavier and Ema were around Wright, clearly commenting on his new suit. Even Edgeworth had a smile on his lips, seemingly telling his partner "I told you it would be good".
The blue reminded Apollo of Phoenix Wright, the Ace Attorney. The man he had been looking up to all this time. But this time the suit looked tailored for him, a waistcoat hugging him perfectly, coat looking made for him. No more baby blue beanie, his hair was clean and as spiky as ever.
Apollo had not expected the sight. A very pleasant one that had him staring him up and down, trying to take on every detail despite the dim lighting of the bar. It was too much for his love-filled heart, Wright was just too good looking in this suit, how come he never had that before?!
He looked perfect next to Edgeworth who looked as greatly put together and sophisticated as ever. They fitted quite well next to each other, like a pair that should be together. Quite better at least than Wright's usual sweatpants and hoodie. Apollo had started to wonder if he'd ever see the man in anything else but these items of clothing. Something in him couldn't get over how great the man looked in this. Tailored clothing, at least he assumed it was, truly helped make someone even more handsome.
'Unlike a certain someone' something in him murmured, making his mood sour a little. Like this, the couple looked even more untouchable for him. Kristoph had mentioned tailored clothing being better, but not everyone was rich or had the salary for that.
"I think our herr forehead cannot get over how good you are looking now, maybe he'll fall for you like this" Klavier laughed as he patted his back a little, bringing Apollo back to reality. It didn't help him feel better, tensing up at the words, but made sure to hide it ('It's supposed to be a fun night, don't ruin it for others').
"The bar wasn't very high to begin with, I am happy to finally see you wearing something good" he teased with a half-forced grin, his words missing the snarky ton it would normally have had. He moves to join them, taking a better look again, a small smile on his lips.
"Edgeworth has good eyes," he said, looking back up again to see the man about to argue, "No need to hide it, I just know he must have a better eye for that". He chuckled when he heard Edgeworth do it too, the man clearly agreeing with him.
Wright only pouted slightly, a grin coming to his lips soon after, "Polly doesn't have faint in my fashion skills?".
"Sorry, but after seeing what you decided to wear over the past year I do not" Apollo admitted. He knew his own casual clothes were not on the same level as Edgeworth's, but at least he wasn't wearing the same thing over and over again as if he owned these only two pieces of clothing.
Then some new conversation started again about it as some other people that knew Wright joined them. Apollo didn't know all of them, although he did recognise some people he saw at either the courthouse, the detention centre or the prosecutor's office. He did chat a bit, hearing about how taking the bar went this time.
Trucy didn't really have a show, but she did seem happy to entertain since the stage was free that night. At some point Apollo was allowed to slip away, ordering himself something to drink. He couldn't fully push away the thought he had earlier and staying with the couple that look so untouchable didn't help, as much as he usually liked being with them.
He did allow himself to be dragged on stage by Trucy once or twice. It was a little way to change his mind before he was back to being alone unless someone tried to strick a conversation with him while he was drinking.
He was looking at Wright and Edgeworth leaning into each other's space, seemingly talking a bit more quietly between themselves. That is, until someone blocked his view, startling him a little. "Herr Justice isn't looking too good," Klavier said, the usual touch of teasing missing from his voice.
"Pfff, am fine" Apollo replied, his smile twitching a little at the way his bracelet tightened around his wrist.
The man hummed, clearly not looking all that convinced about it. He instead sat down with him. "You seem to quite like looking at herr Wright tonight". This time it sounded a bit more teasing, which did make his tipsy self blush, looking away.
"Well, for once he doesn't look like a hobo, I might as well enjoy the sight until he changes back" Apollo replied, fingers tapping on his glass. Of course, he knew this was not a one time wear, it was likely meant to be worn at work. But he felt like Wright wouldn't give up the sweatpant and hoodie all that quickly. Especially as something to wear around the house.
"Ja, he does look better like that" Klavier replied with a smirk as he took another glance at the man they were referring to. "But I can't stop thinking that you look awfully… melancholic tonight," the blond added.
This made Apollo tense again, looking down at his drink instead of the prosecutor. He hadn't realised he was that obvious about it, although Klavier had been putting quite a lot of attention on him lately, it probably helped. 'Hopefully, no one else noticed…'
"Like I said, I'm fine" he replied again, focusing on swirling his drink around. "I just had a long week and finished a trial only a couple of hours ago" he stated, "You don't need to worry about me, it's just the stress and exhaustion catching up" he offered with a poor excuse of a reassuring smile.
His eyes then caught onto the couple that had been in his mind all night, watching them playfully dance together under what he could only assume to be Wright's guidance. His heart couldn't help but squeeze a little again, looking back down at his drink. 'That looks pretty nice to do' he thought to himself.
There was a silence between them afterwards, Apollo trying to ignore the rather insistent stare the man was giving him. He instead finished his fourth drink that night, closing his eyes.
"Could it be that you have unrequited–"
"No" Apollo quickly cut, not wanting for it to be voiced aloud by anyone else and make it somehow even more real. "It's nothing like that".
"Herr Justice, you may be good at picking people's lies, but you are not a very good liar, especially drunk," Klavier said, sounding concerned.
"I'm not drunk!" Apollo argued back, trying to control his voice. He really didn't have the energy nor the patience to play a game of interrogation right now, especially if he was the one being interrogated.
"Fine, you're not drunk, but you still don't look too good," Klavier said, clearly seeing he was getting agitated. "But whatever problem you might have, I am ready to help or at least listen if this is what mein Schatz needs".
"I said that I was FINE!" He barked back, flinching at how loud he sounded even inside the bar. He felt even worse when he saw people looking back at them. He quickly made sure he had all his things, before storming out the door. It was starting to feel too much now and he didn't feel like making a bigger fool out of himself. Plus he'd probably only ruin people's night if he caused a scene here.
He ignored his name being called out over the music of the bar, and did the same when he heard footsteps running after him once he was outside. He thought he could escape, but his short legs were apparently not enough (and his tipsiness also probably didn't help).
He felt a hand grab his wrist, pulling him back, making him collapse against a chest. He tried to get his wrist out of the grip, yet the prosecutor wouldn't budge.
"Herr Justice" the man called out, more softly this time.
"I'm fine" Apollo repeated again, hating how his voice cracked at the end, feeling his eyes water. He quickly used his free hand to wipe away any possible tears. "There's nothing to talk about" he finally said when he was sure his voice wouldn't fail him.
"You do not sound like it's nothing," Klavier said, only to stop when Apollo glared up at him. "You clearly look upset about a thing I shall not bring up" he continued, "I just don't think it is good for you to stay alone when you feel like this".
There was a silence as Apollo gave up trying to get his wrist free. Klavier was right, he knew it wasn't good to just go cry and get deeper into his thoughts by himself. But what was there to do instead?
"At least… let me drive you back home, so I'll know you went home safe" the man suggested. The prosecutor's grip on his wrist loosened up, fingers instead sliding down to grab his hand. "I can even take you on a drive around town if it can help change your mind" the blond suggested.
Apollo hesitated for a moment despite his gut telling him to refuse so he wouldn't be bothering the other man. Klavier seemed genuinely concerned about him (and Apollo would also be if he was in his shoes). And maybe the man was right, it would change his mind to get a drive like this.
"Apollo, is everything alright?" Suddenly came a voice from behind them, both turning towards the bar again. Coming their way was Wright and Edgeworth, although he was pretty sure he could see Trucy peeking from the door. This didn't quite help Apollo feel better, quickly took back his hand and wiped away any potential left-over tears. It was not time to make everything worst.
"Of course, everything's fine" Apollo replied, forcing a smile on his lips, hand clasped behind him so he could hide his bracelet better. "I am just tired after today's trial and drank a little too much, I was going home" he half lied, as it was partly true in a way. It was just missing the whole broken-heart part of things.
He didn't miss the unsure look the man gave toward Klavier, who was still standing near him. The strange look in his eyes probably came from how not so long ago the prosecutor was still holding his wrist tightly, keeping him from moving away.
"You scared us a little" Edgeworth admitted with a worried smile, "You seemed upset when you suddenly got out the door, we wanted to make sure you are alright".
"Did he do anything to you?" Wright asked.
This made the blond frown, clearly not appreciating the accusation. Apollo did the same, also not enjoying the rather baseless accusation. Sure Klavier was flirty, but never had he pushed it somewhere he was uncomfortable with (and had he asked to stop, he was pretty sure the man would have done so). But something felt also somewhat annoyed that Wright was suddenly acting like he couldn't deal with it himself. It was as if the an wanted to play dad with him and he honestly didn't need that either.
"Of course not" he replied, his frown not leaving his face. "I just had a long week and drank a bit too much, my patience was shorter and he probed a little too much about something I didn't want to talk about" he stated, "Nothing bad happened".
He held the older man's gaze as he looked at him as if trying to see if he was lying or too drunk to be trusted. Right now Apollo wanted nothing more than to go home and avoid a dispute, knowing himself he would say things he didn't mean to say. Deeper discussions were better left to sober Apollo.
"If you need to I can drive you home" Edgeworth suggested, which only made Apollo feel a bit tense. He didn't want to be in a closed space with either of the men right now. Not when he wasn't as sober as he'd like to be, neither when he felt so messy inside right now too.
"There's no need to bother with that" Apollo said with a small smile, "You shouldn't interrupt your celebration for me, I can go home by myself without problems".
"I was going to drive him back" Klavier smiled afterwards, saving him from having either man insist more on having Edgeworth drive him. Apollo looked back up at him, quickly thinking about it, before making his decision. "Yeah, Klavier is already giving me a ride home" he replied.
Wright didn't look convinced but probably understood that insisting anymore would only make him even less interested in listening. "Be careful then, call if anything happens" the older man smiled.
"I will" Apollo replied, a bit exasperated. He wasn't a teenager going out partying for the first time either. "Good night to you two" he added afterwards. "Ja, Gute Nacht" Klavier also greeted (or at least, Apollo assumed it was also that). Edgeworth was the first to do the same, taking Wright's hand to take him back inside when he also greeted them for the night.
The young attorney then dragged the blond towards the parking lot, finding rather easily his motorcycle. There was a silence, Klavier simply standing in front of him, seemingly waiting for a real answer, not one made as a probable lie.
"You don't have to ride with me if you don't want to" Klavier assured him when Apollo said nothing.
All he did was look at the bike, thinking. He wanted to keep his secret, but as much as he wanted to convince himself of the opposite, he knew Klavier had figured him out. And after so long of keeping it all inside, he felt like he wanted someone to just be there with him for a moment, who knows what's going on. If he allows it, maybe cry on a shoulder who would accept to listen to him. Maybe he could help him find a way to stop these feelings. Maybe letting it out like this would help slowly moving on.
"I actually would like a ride home," he admitted with a small smile, grabbing at his own wrist awkwardly. "If it's not a bother of course" he added, just so the man wouldn't feel obligated to give him a ride.
He was a bit surprised when the man seemed relieved that he accepted, offering him a smile too. "Never a bother to help a friend" Klavier replied. He quickly got him a helmet while giving him some instructions for him to follow while he was sitting behind. Then he was surprised again when he felt something land on his shoulders, only to realise the man was passing him his jacket. "It's getting cold" he smiled.
Apollo had a small smile with a little bit of blushing, thanking him for the extra layer of clothing. Once he was all settled they made their way to his small apartment. He suspected the man took a longer route to do so, but the ride did help him change his mind so he wouldn't complain. It was actually pretty exciting too, since he had never rode on a motorcycle before.
He was actually nearly sad when the ride was over, despite how tired he was starting to be. Apollo hesitated a little bit once he was off the bike, hugging the jacket closer to himself. "I… I don't want to be alone tonight" he admitted, something in him feeling selfish to ask this.
But he really felt like the moment he would be alone everything would come crashing back down on him and make him feel even worst. 'Maybe I should just say it's actually gonna be fine, I shouldn't force him to deal wi–'
"Then I can stay with you" Klavier replied before he could actually do any of that, offering him a reassuring smile. This lifted a weight from his shoulder, making Apollo smile a little again.
"Thank you" he whispered as he grabbed his hand gently, guiding him to his apartment. The night might not get more joyous and he might still cry, but not being alone for once somehow sounded reassuring.