The Melody of Logic

Michiyo Ichimaru

VI. Don't Look Down

Amusement parks were always labeled as being some great family getaway. So Apollo didn't find anything surprising about the magazine article Trucy was shoving in his face. "What's this all about?" he questioned, looking at the bright-eyed bouncing girl.

"See that?! 'Fun for the whole family!', it says, and it's brand new! Not to mention that the prices are only half of what you pay at those older parks!" Trucy ranted, ticking off all of her equally important points on her fingers.

Now he understood what she had in mind...

"You're saying that we should go check it out, right?" Apollo said, reluctantly. Spending a day at an amusement park checking out the strange little souvenir shops, doubling the healthy salt and sugar intake in pretzels, cotton candy and fried foods and getting all excited about man's latest creations in "fun" technology wasn't his idea of fun.

But he obviously understood what Trucy had in mind. And she was clearly ecstatic. "YES! You, me and daddy! Mr. Gavin too! We're like a family as it is!" she smiled sweetly, tugging at his arm. "Daddy doesn't usually do these kinds of things with me, but he said if you wanted to go to, we could go! You DO want to go with us, don't you?!" She pleaded.

It wasn't his idea of fun, but it didn't sound so bad. And if Trucy enjoyed it, at least he'd be able to enjoy getting outside a little and some fresh air.

"Sure, why not."

…

He told himself to expect crowds, but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. There was enough to do that there were never too many people in one place. They caught wind of a magic show later that Trucy told them they simply HAD to catch, with a happy gleam in her eye.

Nick took the pamphlet from Trucy before she could start rattling off a list of things they HAD to do. If she had been excited before, it was nothing compared to the way she was acting now that they were here, but Apollo thought it was cute. He was glad he agreed.

Klavier had been MORE than happy to join then, and huddled behind Nick, looking at the attractions. Then Apollo noticed that Mr. Wright had this wicked grin on his face. "Hey Trucy, you wanted to try something new, right?" He discreetly pointed something out to her on the map and whispered something in her ear. Her face lit up even brighter than before.

"Let's go, Polly!" She practically shouted, dragging him along behind her.

…

When they stopped, Apollo was thoroughly curious. It LOOKED like a mountain. What it really was, he hadn't figured out yet.

He didn't have time to argue before she had gotten them tangled in with the rest of the anxious mass waiting in front of the mountain. There were people in front of him, behind him and all around him. Subconsciously he tightened his hold on Trucy's hand.

"Stay close!" he shouted. Maybe it was unnecessary, but maybe it was. He didn't want to take chances. "What's all the fuss about, Trucy? There are a lot of people here to see this weird looking mountain..." he whispered. The crowd was now practically pushing them along with the flow.

Trucy blinked. "Wha? You didn't know?" Trucy smiled. "It's not REALLY a mountain." She giggled. "Daddy told me you'd never been on one, but that you'd love it! He also said it would probably make you feel better if you were with someone else who's never been on one. I'm really excited. The article talked about it, don't you remember!" she scolded.

He thought back to the article she so kindly shoved in his face that morning. All he remembered was the add boasting it's family-friendly atmosphere, never-ending fun possibilities... oh, and a section about a world record roller coaster that he skipped over like it was the plague...

'...wait...'

"Are you okay, Polly? You look a little pale?" Trucy said, feeling his forehead. Apollo frantically batted it away and looked at her desperately.

Because he WAS desperate. And this was ALL Mr. Wright's fault! "Trucy... please tell me that you're not telling me this is the 'World's Highest Rollercoaster' that it was bragging about..." he begged. Trucy smiled.

"You really DID read the whole thing! That's it!" Apollo felt feint. There were two things he truly hated and they were loud music, and heights. Lately it seemed he had a knack for being subjected to both...

And he could only wonder why it was always Trucy's fault that he ended up getting into these things. He wanted to find a way off, but Trucy was already dragging him inside, past the gate and past salvation. Now he could see part of the rollercoaster in action. It looked like part of it was indoors, but he also saw openings in the sides, up further.

It was all he could do not to vomit out of sheer panic.

"Don't worry!" Trucy chimed in, sensing his insecurity. "I'll be right there beside you!" Not that it was a really comforting thing in any way, but it was nice that she was trying. But he was too busy still looking for a back exit.

When it was their turn, Trucy literally had to pull him into the cart. If there had been something other than people around him to grab on to, he would have, just to resist her strong grip.

The harness that came down was meant to be a safety enforcer. Instead, it only made him more aware of the dangers of being as high up and going as fast as he was sure he was going to be going. Trucy was giggling as she poked at the soft cushioning on the harness. "Just one bit of advice." She said, smiling.

"Don't look down."

…

Apollo had never felt so many things at once until now. He needed to be practically carried out of the rollercoaster car by Trucy, who was sympathetic at first, but quickly started talking about how amazing it was.

Mr. Wright and Klavier were there, waiting for them at the exit. Klavier had a bottle of water and some headache pills. "Welcome back." he grinned. "How'd you like it Trucy?" he asked, even though the answer was fairly obvious. She practically glowed.

"It was AMAZING!" Trucy squealed. "But... Polly doesn't look so good. Why'd ya do that daddy?! You didn't know that he hated heights... did you?!" she scolded half-heartedly, still supporting a shaking Apollo. Nick chuckled.

"I'll admit that I did. To be honest, I didn't think he'd go through with it, reluctant or not. "Guess I was wrong." He shrugged. "Mr. Gavin here was the bright one who pointed it out." He said, grinning. Klavier scowled and kicked up a few rocks under his feet.

Apollo glared daggers up at both of them. "W-what!?" he looked at the prosecutor warily and groaned. "Ugh. I just want to sit down."

"Here." Klavier said, grabbing him by his shoulders and then sending Trucy and Wright off to wait for them at the nearest bench. After a few ambling steps, Klavier frowned. "You don't look so steady..." Before Apollo could protest, he wrapped one arm around his back and put the other under his knees, carrying him to the bench.

He shrugged. "After all... it was kinda my fault in the first place." Once Apollo was comfortably seated, he gave him the water and aspirin. "Here, this should help."

"How do you know? You're not afraid of heights, are you" Apollo muttered, but accepted it nonetheless, because he could already feel the headache coming on. He couldn't drink too much without feeling his stomach churn slightly.

Klavier grimaced. "No... the attorney in question in my case knew that I couldn't handle fast spinning motions and sent me on those dreaded tea-cups. In your defense, you handled it better than I did." he smiled, patting the boy on the back. "They only do it because they can't beat us in court, Justice. And Mr. Wright's just jealous." he laughed.

Apollo laughed and smiled feebly. "Thanks… Klavier. That makes me feel a lot better."

"Any time." he said. "Oh... and you might want to take a look at what the coaster did to your hair. I think I heard a camera flash earlier... you might want to get that back from Trucy before it ends up in Brushel's hands." he smirked.

"Guh. Right..." He didn't know about 'family fun', but... for a second, he had seen a side of Klavier he wasn't used to seeing. They had even... related on something. Apollo felt like maybe he was one step closer to understanding the rock star and… well, he liked talking to him this way. It felt… nice.

But the next time he wanted to spend some "quality time" with his "family", they'd be doing it at home or in the office.

A/N: I did this as a response on LJ for the kink meme, but then changed it to suit my normal love of this pairing. It was too cute not to. D