December 16th

6:22 PM

Wright Anything Agency

Apollo stammered a farewell to Ema as she left his room. He looked back at the laptop on his desk and tried to return his focus to his work. But, as he sat there, his thoughts returned to what had happened moments before her departure. When Ema had leaned forward over his desk to clarify her point about her boredom, her face had been mere inches away from his own. His attention had immediately been drawn to her brown eyes as she looked intently at him. As she spoke, her breath had, naturally, been heavily laced with the smell of chocolate from her endless supply of Snackoos. He had felt his face heating up profusely, and hardly registered what she had been saying, but still caught enough to agree to her offer.

This wasn't like him at all. He shook his head and stared at the computer screen, trying again to focus. A moment later, another knock sounded at the door. He got up, crossed the room, and reached for the handle, but as he did so, the door swung open. Trucy stood in the doorway, grinning at him.

"What is it, Trucy-" he began, breaking off as Trucy started to giggle. "What are you laughing at?" he inquired.

"Your face is all red, Polly." she responded, trying to stifle her laughter.

"N-no, it isn't." Apollo stammered, lowering his head. Trucy only giggled even more in response.

"Sure, it is." she said. "You were just talking to Ema, and now you're blushing so much that your face nearly matches your suit. It's not hard to notice, Polly."

Apollo began to breathe more steadily in an effort to relax, and Trucy continued, "Come on, Daddy says we're going to get some food." she grabbed onto Apollo's

sleeve and pulled him along toward the office door. Phoenix stood just outside the office, his hands tucked into his pockets.

"Hey, Apollo." he said, smiling. "I know you two have been working really hard on all these trials recently, so I figured I'd take you both out for some food." Apollo raised an eyebrow as he looked at Phoenix.

"That's oddly generous of you, Mr. Wright." he said. Phoenix just chuckled and began to walk down the hallway, toward the elevator. As Apollo and Trucy followed him, Trucy spoke up again.

"Y'know, Polly, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you've got a bit of a crush on Ema." Apollo's head jerked toward Trucy.

"No way, Trucy. Ema's just friendly, and-"

"Really pretty." Trucy cut in, smirking at him. "So, what did you two talk about?"

"Ema was just saying that she's been really bored at work, recently." Apollo said, hoping Trucy would give up in her questioning.

"C'mon, Polly. If that was all she said, she'd only have been in your room for ten seconds." Trucy responded, glaring slightly at him. Apollo sighed.

"She also offered to help out with some of our investigations in her free time." he said quickly. Trucy broke into giggles once again. "What are you laughing about now?" Apollo asked, his face reddening the tiniest bit.

"Completely clueless." Trucy said, shaking her head.

"I think it'd be good for you to spend some time around Ema, Apollo." Phoenix said, pressing the button to call the elevator. "You've read up on the case that she helped me out with way back, right?"

"Her older sister's trial, you mean?" Apollo asked.

"That's the one. Ema's a little overenthusiastic sometimes, but when it comes to science, she really knows her stuff." Phoenix responded, as the doors opened. Apollo thought for a moment. When he thought about Ema, 'enthusiastic' was not a word that came to mind. Phoenix laughed, seeing the confused look on Apollo's face.

"I know what you're thinking, but I'm serious. Ema used to be a really bubbly sort of girl, not too different from Trucy, really. Just switch out magic for science, and they're practically the same."

"Polly, you must have noticed by now. Ema's like a totally different person when you bring up her scientific investigation techniques." Trucy chimed in, still smiling.

"Yeah, but..." Apollo was getting thoroughly flustered by this point, and struggled to think of something to say to counter their points. He came up with nothing, however, and sighed again. "Alright, I'll give her a call tomorrow. We've got to look into those stolen deliveries from the department store, so we could get her help for it."

"That's the way." Phoenix said, his smile still holding fast.

-The following day-

Still musing over her thoughts, Ema glanced toward her cell phone. As if on cue, it suddenly began to ring. She half considered waiting a moment to hear the digitized Steel Samurai theme, but answered the phone regardless.

"Ema Skye here." she said.

"Hey, Ema. It's Apollo. You know that offer you made yesterday?" Ema smiled.

"Of course I do. You got anything you want to look into?" she responded.

"Yeah, me and Trucy are down at the department store right now. There were some boxes that vanished from a delivery truck, and the manager suspects the delivery guy of stealing them. You got some free time?"

"Definitely. I'll just let Gumshoe know, and then I'll be right there."

"Alright, we'll see you then."

"See you." Apollo's end of the call clicked off, and Ema tucked her phone into her lab coat pocket. She stood up and left her office. "Hey, Gumshoe!" she called.

"Ema, you heading off somewhere?" came the other detective's voice.

"Yeah. Give me a call if something comes up." Ema said, walking toward the front doors.

"Will do, pal!" Gumshoe called from his desk.