Chapter Text
Gavin is… a flirt. That has to be it right? An incorrigible flirt, and that's just, like, his form of communication. That's the conclusion Apollo comes to after nearly two months of being acquainted with the guy. He's had a few other cases against him after the Kitaki one, mostly minor offense and misdemeanors, and each time he finds that by the end they're practically working together to come to a satisfactory conclusion. Of course, it doesn't always go in Apollo's favor, but he can't deny that each one is a solid, factual, honest conclusion.
And he's always quick to track him down afterward, before he can leave the courtroom, even if it sometimes means abandoning his detectives, or the bailiff, or whatever official business be might have. Apollo once watched him leave the judge standing in the corridor while he made sure to catch up with Apollo.
He's never sure what to make of it. Admittedly, though, sometimes seeing that smile, the way his hair falls into his eyes slightly when he leans forward to speak with him… it's not… unpleasant. Klavier Gavin is an undeniably attractive man after all. But he's also the prosecutor.
So Apollo keeps a… professional distance. Even if Gavin makes it difficult. Apollo's pretty sure the case he just worked against him today Klavier set up so they could stand against each other. After all, when he spoke to him unexpectedly yesterday he oh so casually mentioned a poor man accused of robbery down in the detention center who no one would represent. The perfect kind of case for Apollo.
This one had been fairly open and shut, at least in that it was only a one day trial. The client had intent to steal, but chickened out at the last second and couldn’t go through with it. The actual culprit, as often is the case, was the prosecutions number one witness who claimed they saw him commit the crime. Apollo had enough evidence to prove the witness did more than witness.
As they exit the defendant's lobby, the client crying in his wife's arms and apologizing for his evil thoughts, he spots Klavier down the corridor in conversation with someone he doesn't immediately recognize. He also notices that he doesn't end the conversation to come see him like he might normally might. That's…. Fine. They are talking in close quarters, he notes, Gavin's hand on the man's arm
"Thank you again, Mr. Justice. My Berry would be lost without you. You really do live up to your name."
He glances back at her, offering a smile. "Of course, Mrs. Rourke."
"You'll find a job soon, Mr. Rourke, I'm sure of it!" Trucy adds.
"Ah! Herr Forehead!" He hears the annoying nickname from down the hall, and turns to see Gavin waggle his fingers at him in a wave. And to think he'd almost escaped this time. He hasn't left his companion to come see him though.
He tries not to feel subconscious about his forehead the way he does every time Gavin calls him that. The fact that Klavier hasn't sought him out, other than to wave means he could just keep going. Mr. Rourke has some paperwork to file with the court clerk, but otherwise should be good-to-go. Usually Apollo would go with them to file the paperwork, to make sure there aren't any hiccups or problems. Instead he finds himself, passing the file with the needed papers in it to Trucy and heading down to talk to Prosecutor Gavin.
The prosecutor's face almost seems to light up as he approaches. His smile grows at least. Light up might be a tad…. Dramatic? He brushes a strand of blonde hair away from his face. "Excellent job in there today. I think you actually caught me unawares with that little turnabout."
"Didn't you lose?" The guy next to him asks, scowling.
Klavier chuckles. "Ja, but can we really call it a loss when the real criminal is caught?"
The man scoffs. He's dressed in a black leather jacket, with hair styled in a rather impressive pompadour, though Apollo thinks it looks dumb. He notes the badge attached at his waste. This guy's on the force.
"So this is the little defense attorney you've been obsessed with, is it?"
Gavin makes a choked noise and gives his friend a wide-eyed look. Apollo can't help but raise an eyebrow. Quickly though, Gavin covers it up with a chuckle.
"He is but my bitter rival and my unbeatable partner in the courtroom. The only one who can go tet-a-tet against me and come out on top."
Apollo makes a face at the dramatic words. "Let's just stick with bitter rival maybe." He half mutters.
The man eyes Klavier, a look Apollo can't quite identify passing over his face. His bracelet twitches, but he doesn't think he has the context to figure this out.
Klavier leans forward to catch Apollo's eye, that flirtatious smile in place. The one that despite himself, makes his heart beat a tiny bit faster. "Bitter rivals it is, Herr Forehead." His voice is low, inviting. Apollo swallows.
The other man reaches out then and tugs on Gavin's shoulder, pulling him out of Apollo's personal space. "Hey, speaking of partners, weren't you going to treat me to dinner?"
Gavin glances at his friend wincing, and looks actually apologetic. A rare genuine expression, he thinks. Throwing a long look back at Apollo, he sighs. "Daryan's right. Though it is still considered lunchtime, I did promise to treat him. Till next time, my bitter rival."
He grins and waggles his fingers once more.
Apollo makes a face. "You know actually, forget the bitter rivals thing. Just regular rivals is fine."
The grin on the prosecutor's face grows more delighted as he laughs, but his friend pulls him away before the banter can continue. Apollo's not sure why his stomach twists watching them go. All the better that Gavin can't sit here and flirt and make Apollo question things that really don't need to be questioned.
Still, he doesn't think he cares much for pompadour man.
"You didn't need to flirt so hard with the defense kid." Daryan complains as they slide into a private booth at their preferred club. It's before business hours, and they're only allowed in as special VIPs. Klavier figures since Daryan was being pushy anyway, they might as well get a head start on the partying tonight.
"Herr Forehead?" Klavier asks needlessly. They both know who the 'defense kid' is. "That wasn't any more flirtatious than usual, I'd say."
Daryan rolls his eyes up then back to him. "Oh so that's how you normally flirt with him, huh? Probably should have seen this coming with how you go on about him."
Klavier furrows his brow, but it takes him only a moment to realize why Daryan's pouting. Unlike some people, he isn't dense. He waves a hand at the detective. "Oh please, Daryan, don't be jealous."
Daryan huffs. "Don't be? Is that not what you were trying to do? It really felt like you were trying to make me jealous back there, man. Any idiot can tell you like him. Not that I can see why? He looks like a monkey."
Klavier drums his nails on the table. He does like Apollo. It hasn't gone unnoticed by him because again, not dense. But it's a silly courtroom crush. Nothing Daryan, his best friend of nearly ten years, second lead in the band, and current boyfriend needs to worry about.
Probably. He has been particularly flirty with Justice lately, and just seeing him sometimes can brighten his mood. An odd thing considering all the troubling things that surround the attorney. Having worked with his brother, being the one responsible for putting his brother away, not to mention his employer and assistant.
But Klavier adores Trucy, despite her paternal figure, and having met and faced Justice in court, he can say with absolute confidence that if Apollo was able to turn that trial around on Kristoph, then Kristoph must be guilty. Because Apollo is there to find the truth, just like he is.
And somehow Apollo came out the other end a stronger, better attorney, having to all but convict his mentor. Klavier's not sure if he could do the same in his place. He'd like to think so, but his feelings about Kristoph are already so complex.
There's a deep admiration and respect for him that Klavier hasn't felt since he first stepped into a courtroom with Phoenix Wright, and well…
He likes Justice a lot maybe. But that's not a road he should go down. Not to mention Justice's lack of enthusiastic response. He definitely finds Klavier attractive, but he tends to keep things professional. His overtures of friendship are often met with hesitance, or suspicion if they are during a case, even if Klavier would love nothing more than to work together sometimes.
"He does not look like a monkey," he replies, pulling his thoughts back to his boyfriend.
Justice is… cute, with the capacity to be devastatingly hot when he's not trying to be. Like when he smirks at him from across the courtroom after he's found the right contradiction.
"Tch. He doesn't need you to play white knight. He's the defense, right? Plus he's not even here."
Klavier rolls his eyes. "Fair. But my point stands. He doesn't look like a monkey."
"Sure Klav, whatever. Look, whether or not you were trying to make me jealous, it worked. Tonight, you won't have enough thoughts to spare for monkey boy. I'm gonna make sure I'm the only one you're thinking about."
A slow smile spreads across Klavier's face, as he bites his lip. Daryan always delivers on promises like that.
A week later and he's barely on speaking terms with Daryan. It's not the first fight they've had, and it won't be the last he's sure. It wouldn't even be the first break up, and he's not quite looking to go down that road yet. Not with the concert in a few days.
A concert Daryan has, for some reason, been an absolute pain in the ass about. He seems to want nothing to do with their Borginian guests, keeps blowing off Klavier's attempts to practice, and has been on a shorter fuse than usual. Combined with Klavier's stress levels before a big show and his need for everything to go. Absolutely. Perfectly. It's been constant fighting with no solutions.
So maybe he's feeling a bit stubborn and spiteful when he decides to wait for Herr Forehead outside the courthouse. He'd seen his name crop up in some documents Payne was submitting yesterday, and knew he had a trial today against the veteran prosecutor.
Much to his surprise, and perhaps his luck, when he does come out, his blue little tag-along is nowhere to be seen.
"Herr Forehead!" he calls, a smile spreading across his face. It's almost genuine, because watching the shorter man come out of the courthouse, running a hand over his styled hair makes him feel lighter already. The dark weight of his problems beginning to pull back.
"Gavin? What're you doing here?" Justice glances around as if looking for something or someone else. Klavier isn't sure what. He's not the one with a constant shadow.
"Waiting for you." He's leaning against his motorcycle .
The surprised look is clear on his face, and Klavier relishes in it. He's so adorable when he's clueless.
He flicks his eyes past Apollo, then back to him. "No Trucy today?"
Apollo shakes his head. "No, she and Mr. Wright had an appointment of some sort. Never realized how quiet it is being by myself in there."
"Yet I take it you still won your case against Herr Payne without the fraulein magician."
He nods. "Uhh yeah. How'd you know?"
Klavier waves his hand. "Court docket. Well, this bodes well for me then. As much as I will miss the fraulein's face, I'm more than happy for it to be just to the two of us." He leans forward, right into Justice's personal space, so he can watch him rear back, but not far enough to fully separate them.
Apollo does just that, leaning back. Klavier also sees him swallow, that tiny hint that his advances aren't entirely unwelcome. Unfortunately for the defense that is exactly what the prosecution is here to play on.
"The two of us for… what exactly?"
Pulling away, he reaches out and grabs the spare helmet for his hog and holds it out to Justice. "Take a ride with me, Herr Justice." He quirks a brow, and lets his smile fall into something a little lazier. Not as dazzling, maybe leaning a little bad boy. He wonders what Apollo's type is.
"W-what!? On your bike!?
That gets an actual grin out of him and for a moment he glances away. "No, on my moped. Of course on my bike. I'll treat you to coffee for your win."
"That's…" Apollo purses his lips and it sounds like he's going to decline.
So Klavier gestures with the helmet. "I insist, Herr Forehead. Even if we may be bitter rivals at work, it doesn't mean we can't be friends outside it." Really that's the very least Klavier wants.
Apart from the attraction, and the flirting, a part of Klavier he doesn't like to think about very often, thinks that the two of them must have a lot in common. That they could talk for hours, late into the night and not even realize it. He and Daryan used to have that, when they were teenagers, when they first started the band. Then between work and everything else it all just kind of… disappeared.
"I'm pretty sure it does," Justice mumbles under his breath, barely audible. Despite the words though, he takes the helmet. "I've, uh, never ridden a motorcycle before."
Klavier puts a hand to his chest. "Oh it's an experience." He then leans in, watching Justice pause just before putting the helmet over his head. "I'm glad I get to be your first."
He thinks he sees the flush of his face before the pulls the helmet down, successfully hiding it. Klavier hides his chuckle behind a grin, and straddles the hog. "Get behind me, arms around my waist, and hold on tight. We wouldn't want you falling off."
"And uh, just a thought, how likely is that," Comes Herr Foreheads muffled voice.
"Like I said, be sure to hold on real tight." He pulls his own helmet on.
There's a moment, and during it Klavier wonders if maybe Apollo's going to back out after all. But then it passes and he feels the other man's weight settle behind him. Hesitantly, Apollo's arms snake around his waist, and he laces his fingers against his stomach. Klavier feels it dip, feels his heart already starting to race before he even starts the engine.
Making sure his passenger is all set, he starts her up, closing his eyes at the loud purr she lets out. Behind him Apollo flinches, but it's momentary. Then he's peeling away from the courthouse, and the defense presses himself flush up against Klavier's back, arms around him tightening.
The logical part of his brain, which has taken a backseat today suddenly wonders if maybe this was a bad idea. He's done a remarkable job just keeping things mildly flirty between them, but this is a step up. And that, in a way, had been the goal. To push, to see how far he can push. To see what he can away with, and how the other man responds. But what then?
What then, Klavier?