Hot Blooded (Ace Attorney, KlavierxApollo, sick Klavier)

[Hachimitsu Tea]

 

Klavier Gavin was a people person. It went with the territory. He supposed that it was probably possible to be a successful rock star even if one loathed people, but a performer lived or died on their fanbase. It seemed counterproductive to be hateful to those who had the power to determine the outcome of his career.

 

However, even a social butterfly like Klavier had his off days. His hectic schedule as a prosecutor often prevented him from being able to take days like this off, so when he felt A Mood coming on, he typically tried to barricade himself in his office, for everyone’s sake. Today’s Mood was brought on by a pounding headache, a drippy, tickly nose, and a sore throat. He’d been able to partially convince himself this morning when he got up that these things would fade once he was showered and had some coffee and breakfast in his system. However, as the day wore on, it became increasingly clear to him that these symptoms were not flukes caused by a need for caffeine or morning allergies.

 

The nearly constant tickle in Klavier’s sinuses blossomed sharply, so intense that it hurt. He scrabbled blindly around beside him in his massage chair for his rapidly depleting box of tissues. The beam of sunlight peeking through his blinds hit his watery blue eyes as he hitched helplessly and coaxed the sneezes out before he had a tissue ready.

 

“Haatschuu!” Spray danced in the slender sunbeam, but Klavier didn’t notice, already gearing up for his next sneeze. “Hueschuu! Aatchhh...uu…! Nnn… mm…”

 

He was lucky he was already sitting, because his head was spinning after those. At least he was blessed (pardon the pun) with sneezes that erred on the softer side. It might sound odd for one who was used to having his every move watched by fans and paparazzi, but he preferred that no one saw or heard him sneeze. He located a tissue at last and blew his nose balefully.

 

“Ach, schieße…”

 

He’d thoroughly sprayed the documents he’d been trying to read. The page he’d been reading was fresh off the printer and the ink hadn’t been totally dry, so it had bled a little. His mood souring even further, Klavier hazily attempted to dab away the spray. He wasn’t managing to make much of a difference when suddenly there was a knock on his office door. Klavier squeezed his burning eyes shut, reigning in the uncharacteristic desire to snap at whoever dared disturb him right now. Gathering the scraps of his tattered patience, he called.

 

“Dot dow, bitte, I’b busy!”

 

Raising his voice had turned out to be a bad move; he was sent ducking into his elbow with a coughing fit. To his dismay, the door to his office opened anyway. He cursed internally; he’d meant to lock that.

 

To his even greater dismay, a very familiar head poked in.

 

“Sorry to bother you,” Apollo Justice said, at least having the decency to look abashed at his poor manners, “but I brought the file you asked for after court yesterday. Our fax machine at the office is kind of… out of commission at the moment, so I came in person.”

 

Klavier sniffled as softly as he could, trying to ignore the complicated flip-flopping of his heart. Normally he would have been thrilled to see Apollo, but in his condition, Apollo was high on his list of people he least wanted to see. Well, rather, he didn’t want Apollo to see him looking like this. He’d done his best to groom himself this morning to his normal standards, and thought he’d at least done a fair job, but he was willing to bet that if nothing else, his nose was probably noticeably red.

 

“Dadke,” he said, his tone unusually brusque. He sniffled again. “Put it od the desk, if you would.”

 

Apollo shuffled inside to do as Klavier asked, but then hesitated, apparently confused. “Erm… which one is the desk?”

 

Klavier was so used to all the table-like surfaces in his office being massive speakers that sometimes he forgot that they didn’t look like proper office furniture to other people. Normally, he would have taken this opportunity to laugh and gently tease Apollo for not being able to figure it out, but today he didn’t have the energy.

 

“Take your best guess.” His words had come out sounding terser than he’d intended, but his head was pounding too hard for him to even notice.

 

Apollo frowned, a little offended by Klavier’s tone, but made to set the file on the stereo closest to the door.

 

Klavier squeezed one of his eyes shut. He felt like he needed to sneeze again, and he didn’t want Apollo here to witness it. Especially not Apollo. Though Klavier’s public image was important to him, there were few whose opinions of him mattered to him on a personal level. Apollo was number one on that list. As hard as he’d tried to let go of all the abusive, manipulative beliefs Kristoph had instilled in him growing up, some of the more personal ones, ones that fed on existing insecurities, were deeply ingrained in his psyche.

 

“The face you make when you sneeze is hideous and embarrassing,” he recalled his brother telling him on several occasions. “If you have any shame left at all, you’ll never let anyone else see it.”

 

Building his still budding relationship with Apollo had been a delicate and uncertain process. Many of the moves he used with confidence on others didn’t work on Apollo, and some even had the opposite of the intended effect. It had taken the younger attorney longer to warm up to him than it did most others. He’d managed to successfully talk Apollo into meeting him for lunch one day last week for the first time, an outing no one had referred to as a date but which Klavier secretly hoped had been. He’d noticed the way Apollo’s cheeks had warmed when he’d touched his hand across the table, and it had made him hopeful. He didn’t need Apollo to see him sneeze and think he was hideous and embarrassing. Therefore it was with some distress that Klavier noted that Apollo hadn’t left his office yet after setting down the file.

 

Apollo picked it up again.

 

“Oh, there was one part in here that I thought I should explain, first,” he said, flicking the folder open and paging through it. “This line here, as you can see, is--”

 

Klavier pressed his fist under his nose roughly. “Herr Forehead, wirklich, bitte, I’b idcredibly busy right dow. Surely you cad…” he cut off abruptly as the tickle in his nose worsened teasingly. He rubbed his knuckle insistently against his septum, trying to force the tickle away. “...se’d be ad ebail with whatever you wadted to tell be.”

 

Apollo looked annoyed. “It’s really easier if I just show you. It’ll only take a second.”

 

The tickle wasn’t going away. He could make it up to Apollo later, but right now, he just needed him gone. “I’b aski’g you as civilly as I kdow how,” Klavier said, his voice so cold that he knew he would hate himself later for using it on Apollo. “Please, get out.”

 

A series of emotions flashed across Apollo’s highly expressive face, and every one of them felt like a punch in the stomach. Color rose in Apollo’s cheeks and he settled at last on an expression of anger and disbelief. He snapped the file shut, spun on his heel, and tossed it roughly back on Klavier’s desk. “Fine. You’re welcome… jerk.”

 

He was halfway to the door when Klavier’s uncontrollable sneezing fit hit.

 

“Htkschh! Kischh! Krischh! Hupkschh! Ugh… Hepkischhh...uu! Hitschuu!”

 

Klavier’s face was hidden in a handful of tissues, the flush of humiliation spreading to the tips of his ears and the back of his neck, so he didn’t see Apollo turn around again at the sound of his sneezes. He strained his stuffed up ears, still half hoping to hear the angry slam of his office door which meant that Apollo didn’t care about his sneezing. The sound never came, but more sneezes did.

 

“...Hikschuu! Hikschh!”

 

“...B… bless you,” Apollo mumbled. He sounded...maybe like he didn’t want to be blessing him after the way Klavier had tried to throw him out? Or maybe he was just disgusted and embarrassed? Either way, it wasn’t a pleasant intonation.

 

“...Hatschuu! Aatschuu! Ktschh!” He hated this. Why could he never just sneeze once?

 

“Bless you.” This time, Apollo sounded a little more concerned. “Um… Are… you alright?”

 

Klavier desperately needed to blow his nose, but he knew that would only make his display more pathetic and humiliating. Instead he just dabbed at it with his tissues, willing it to stop streaming. “...J… ja, entschuldigu’g,” he stammered. If only he’d just held it back another two or three seconds, then Apollo never would have had to witness that. “Es tut bier leidt, that was disgusti’g…”

 

He didn’t dare try to see what kind of expression Apollo was wearing as he hesitated near the door. As silly as it was, Klavier was afraid to find out. After a moment, though, Apollo was crossing the office again to his side.

 

“Prosecutor Gavin…” Apollo’s tone was now gentler than Klavier knew he had any right for it to be considering how harsh he’d just been with Apollo. “Do you have a cold?”

 

Klavier tensed a little at the question. He’d seen how Apollo worked in court frequently enough to know better than to think he could lie to him outright, but perhaps he could deflect? The prosecutor sniffled and flicked his bangs. “Perhaps you rebebber the codversatiod we were just havi’g, Herr Forehead? The ode where I asked you to leave? I have so buch to do right dow, a’d you’re just idterferi’g with by work.”

 

Apollo was silent for a long moment, but he didn’t make any move to leave. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Apollo’s thick fingers brush across the surface of his bracelet and he realized that he’d lied even though he’d resolved not to, and that Apollo had caught it. After another moment of silence, Klavier couldn’t take it anymore; he forced himself to look at Apollo and assess his expression. He looked like he was deep in thought, and not about a particularly pleasant topic. In fact, he looked a touch… sad, if anything.

 

“...Were you trying to get rid of me just now because you were embarrassed about me finding out you’re sick?” he asked, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

 

Klavier looked down at the documents in his lap and played absentmindedly with his hair. As far as he knew, whatever tricks Apollo’s bracelet was capable of, it didn’t include mind reading powers. How had Apollo figured him out so quickly? Was he really that transparent? He sniffled disconsolately.

 

“I’b… sorry I was short with you,” Klavier said, feeling ashamed of himself even as self-pity welled up inside of him. “...I’b afraid I’b dot feeli’g like byself today.”

 

Apollo was silent for a beat longer. A thick, gray cloud of unease and uncertainty swirled in Klavier’s chest and he forced himself to check Apollo’s expression again. He seemed to be trying to make up his mind about something. Normally the shy pink staining Apollo’s cheeks would have got Klavier’s heart thumping hopefully, but he felt like he was in a haze at the moment and couldn’t process what it might mean.

 

“Do you have a fever?” Apollo asked eventually. His voice sounded raspy, like it did when he was especially nervous. “Could… could I check?”

 

Klavier was surprised to find how uncomfortable this situation was making him. The idea of Apollo being concerned for him to the point where he actually wanted to check Klavier’s temperature himself was a little thrilling, but he felt far too vulnerable right now. If he hadn’t been so exhausted, he might have retreated behind his stage persona, but at the moment he didn’t have the strength to drag that out. The best he could do to hide his embarrassment was to make a half-hearted joke.

 

“If it bakes you happy, Herr Forehead… have your way with be.”

 

Klavier got minimal satisfaction out of the way Apollo blushed and rolled his eyes at his suggestive comment. Apollo’s hand trembled slightly as it pushed aside Klavier’s bangs and came to rest on his forehead. Klavier couldn’t help shivering a little. Apollo’s timid touch was so warm and intimate that he could hardly stand it. Apollo gulped audibly.

 

“You’re warm,” he announced somewhat breathlessly. “Hot, even.”

 

Klavier, who was feeling more vulnerable by the second, especially since Apollo was still touching him even though he’d already determined him to have a fever, tried another half-baked joke. “Sobehow this isd’t the way I thought I’d feel the first tibe I get to hear you adbit how hot I ab.”

 

“D-do you have to say things like that?!” Apollo demanded, flustered as he finally yanked his hand away. Klavier was so disappointed to feel Apollo’s gentle, reassuring touch disappear from his forehead that he almost made a noise of unhappiness. “Jeez… I don’t know why you always have to be so--”

 

“Hutschuu! H’pschuu!” Klavier snatched the last of his tissues from the box and clamped them over his mouth and nose. Those sneezes had completely snuck up on him, and he could feel his cheeks blazing. “Etschhuu! Epschuu! Ugh… ach…”

 

“Bless you!” Apollo said, sounding just as surprised about that little fit as Klavier had been. “You know… You probably shouldn’t even be out of bed, let alone at work with a fever like that. You’re not on a case right now, are you? Why didn’t you just stay home?”

 

Klavier couldn’t help it; he had to blow his nose at least a little. He did it as quietly as he could, his head spinning as his congestion shifted. “If I stay hobe,” Klavier croaked, “thed I’b alode with doh distractiods. Bei’g left alode with by thoughts rarely leaves be adywhere good these days.”

 

Apollo stared at him. Klavier glanced up and saw the surprise and pained sympathy on his face over the top of his tissues and realized he’d just told Apollo a very intimate truth. The regret that filled him was slow but terrible. Klavier clamped his eyes shut, wishing desperately that he could take back everything that had happened in the last 5 minutes. Except maybe the part where Apollo had felt his forehead. That had been nice, even if it had made him uncharacteristically nervous.

 

“Edtschuldigu’g…” Klavier said, feeling terribly dizzy and out of sorts. “I… hadd’t idtedded to be quite that hodest just dow…”

 

“N-no,” Apollo stammered. “I’m glad you were. I’m sorry… I didn’t even think… I guess I just assumed, you know, since you’re super famous, you could have company anytime you wanted…”

 

Klavier gave him a wry, tired smile. “Picture yourself id by positiod. Would you wadt the cobpady of just ady raddob fad?”

 

Apollo frowned. “Well, no, but… I just… I don’t know, you’re such a social person, and you’re charming and likeable. I figured you had people in your life besides just random fans…”

 

Klavier closed his eyes, feeling what little energy he had draining. He didn’t want to be having this conversation. Could he change the subject? But maybe telling Apollo the truth could be a catalyst for positive development in their relationship? Then again, how could he tell him without sounding pathetic? His head hurt. He just wanted a nap, and, if he was being honest, a hug, preferably from Apollo.

 

“I’b tired of betrayal,” he said, and his voice was fragile even to his own ears. “Tired of doubti’g. Dot all of us are hubad lie detectors, Herr Forehead.”

 

Apollo was quiet as he processed this. After a moment, he rested a subtly trembling hand on Klavier’s. The prosecutor forced his eyes open in surprise, and looked questioningly into Apollo’s eyes. Apollo’s cheeks were red, and he looked nervous and uncertain, but determined.

 

“Um… Y-you could always call me…” he said shyly, “if you want. I know I’m not… amazing company, but I know how it feels to be alone and not have anyone you can count on, so… At least there’s that?”

 

Klavier wasn’t used to this feeling of his heart skipping a beat but it was becoming a trend the more time he spent around Apollo. If the younger attorney didn’t stop being so warm and genuine, this crush Klavier had on him was going to turn into full-blown love. Klavier swallowed, ignoring his sore throat’s protest, and turned his hand over so that he could lace his fingers with Apollo’s.

 

“...You’d come… für mich?”

 

“Yeah, I… I mean, if you want me there, then…” Apollo puffed out his cheeks and shrugged awkwardly.

 

Klavier put his free hand over his heart, clutching it as dramatically as he could in his weakened, exhausted state. “Ach… whed did our little Herr Forehead get so cool? You’re goi’g to sweep be off by feet if you’re dot careful.”

 

Apollo shuffled nervously at Klavier’s words, but very conspicuously didn’t express any distaste over this possibility. It caused Klavier’s aching heart to leap hopefully, and the excitement of it all put another tickle in his nose. He released Apollo’s hand hurriedly and turned away from him as much as possible, holding his already used tissues to his chapped nose again.

 

“Htkschhhuu! Hkschhuu! Kischuu! Ugh… tschuu! Edtschuldigu’g… Krschuu! ...Es tut bier liedt… ach… Forgive be, that was disgusti’g.”

 

“Bless you!” Apollo said sympathetically. “Um…”

 

“Ja, sorry, I was tryi’g dot to do that id frodt of you, but it got away frob be,” Klavier rasped. He wanted to blow his nose again but didn’t dare. “Sorry you had to see that.”

 

“No, it’s ok, I mean… you’re sick, so…” Apollo frowned a little. “I was just wondering how come you always apologize so much after sneezing. Does it bother you when other people do it in front of you?”

 

Klavier dabbed at his nose and looked down at his lap. He didn’t want to have this conversation with Apollo, either. Why did Apollo seem to make it his personal mission to try to get all Klavier’s pointless little secrets out of him?

 

“It’s… dot that,” Klavier sighed. “It’s...  ach, does it really matter? Let a gorgeous, taledted rock star prosecutor keep sobe of his secrets, ja? Doesd’t that air of bystery bake be bore exciti’g?”

 

“I’d rather get to know the real you,” Apollo blurted. “Save the mysteries for the people who are in love with your stage persona.”

 

It took all Klavier’s self control to not allow his jaw to drop at Apollo’s unexpected statement. As it was, he was definitely staring. What was he supposed to do in the face of such a direct appeal from the man he so deeply cared for? Apparently his staring was starting to make Apollo uncomfortable, because he blushed and fiddled with his spikes, grinning foolishly.

 

“Uh… um… N-not that you have to tell me if you don’t want to!” He amended quickly. “I just… you know… I feel like we could get along really well if you’d just let me get to know you beyond your rock star persona. When you let that persona down… I…” he shrugged stiffly, no longer able to meet his gaze. “I kinda like the guy on the other side better.”

 

Apollo’s comment landed a critical hit on Klavier’s heart. He could feel his already fever flushed face going even redder. No one he knew had really bothered to separate his stage persona from his so-called real self. Why would they? He worked hard to see that the image he projected on stage was ideal in every possible way: always perfectly put together, always friendly but a little mischievous, always funny, and flirting, but most importantly, always smiling. Clearly that was what people liked, or else his image wouldn’t have taken off like it had. So why did Apollo seem so turned off by his stage persona, but respond so well to his bland, disappointing real self?

 

“You’re…” His voice came out strangled and hoarse, so Klavier coughed and tried again. “You’re quite a bystery yourself, Herr Forehead. There are few who care for the bad behi’d the curtaid.”

 

He hadn’t intended for those words to come out sounding quite so desperately lonely, but he supposed they must have, judging by the way Apollo was squeezing his hand all of a sudden. It was the grip of someone trying to pull a drowning man back up for oxygen, warm, solid, steady… truly caring. Klavier felt the beginnings of a lump forming in his throat against his will. He coughed again in an attempt to clear it away and tried to focus on the firm, reassuring pressure of Apollo’s hand on his.

 

“Maybe you’d be surprised,” Apollo said, without his usual volume and bluster.

 

It took Klavier a moment to realize that he was squeezing Apollo’s hand back just as hard. It had taken Apollo’s gentle words and firm grip to make him realize that he’d been feeling like he was drowning for a long time, and god, was he ever glad to have someone reaching out to him at last. Suddenly his nose was running a lot worse, and it wasn’t because of his cold. Klavier sniffled wetly, his breath catching a little, and took hold of Apollo’s hand with his other one as well. He didn’t want to let go. He needed this.

 

Apollo seemed uncertain for a moment as to what he should do to help this very awkward situation, but then he rested his free hand on top of Klavier’s head. It was an unassuming, soothing gesture unlike anything Klavier had had in a long time. He hadn’t realized how starved he was for innocent intimate touch. Sniffling wetly again, Klavier let his throbbing head rest almost timidly against Apollo’s stomach. Apollo stroked his hair tremulously. Klavier could tell Apollo was trying not to mess it up in the process, and though he appreciated the consideration, he wished Apollo would run his fingers through his hair.

 

Klavier dozed lightly as Apollo stood at his side and fussed him silently.

 

“P… Prosecutor?” Apollo said hesitantly after a long while.

 

Klavier gasped softly as he started awake. He felt so dazed and groggy. Where was he? What had he been doing? It took him a moment to remember. Klavier lifted his heavy, pounding head and looked up at Apollo.

 

Apollo’s cheeks were pink and his face fell into a conflicted expression when Klavier met his gaze. The prosecutor didn’t understand the reason for his expression until Apollo’s knuckle brushed gently under his eye and came away wet. Klavier’s fevered cheeks reddened a tad further and he swiped his wrist across his eyes and sniffled stuffily. Apollo’s conflicted expression didn’t fade as he rubbed his fingers together as if testing the wetness of Klavier’s tears.

 

“Ach…” Klavier said thickly, his head swimming. “If… you could dot bedtiod this to adyode, I’d very buch appreciate it, Herr Forehead…”

 

“Y-yeah, of course!” Apollo said quickly, his voice just a little too loud. “My lips are sealed, don’t worry! Uh… I was just going to say… if you’re tired, maybe you should go home. I’m sure Mr. Edgeworth wouldn’t mind, considering how sick you are.”

 

Klavier rubbed his sore nose, cringing at the wet squelching sound it made when disturbed. “...Would… would you thigk be terribly selfish if I said I’d prefer dot to be alode?”

 

“Prosecutor Gavin…” Apollo said sympathetically. “Of course it’s not selfish. I already said you could call me if you wanted, right?”

 

What had he done to deserve Apollo Justice? Klavier was afraid that the answer was nothing and that he didn’t deserve him, but Apollo had accepted, so he would get to bask in his warmth a bit longer whether he’d earned it or not.

 

“Thadk you, Mr. Justice,” Klavier breathed, in English this time, because he wanted to believe that Apollo had been telling the truth when he said he wanted to know the real him. “You’re a far better bad thad I deserve.”

 

Apollo rubbed the back of his neck shyly, his cheeks coloring again. “Just… Apollo, is fine. And I’m really not anything special.”

 

“The pouddi’g of by heart suggests otherwise,” Klavier argued tiredly. Maybe it was a cheesy line, but it was true and he was too tired to care right now.

 

Apollo looked down at his shuffling feet, puffing out his cheeks again in a show of awkward embarrassment. “I-I’ll call a taxi to come get us. If there’s anything you need to bring home with you, then this is a good time to get it. And you should probably tell Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth that you’re leaving.”

 

Apollo made a show of calling the taxi company in a failed attempt to hide how flustered he was. Klavier smiled weakly as he heaved himself out of his chair and began to gather his things. He dialed Edgeworth’s extension from his office phone, his head full of hazy fantasies of Apollo feeding him soup or lying down to nap with him. Being himself would take some getting used to. He was far more accustomed to needing to whip out his rock star facade in order to attract romantic company. But the more time he spent with Apollo, the more certain he was that it would be worth the effort to try.

[starpollen]

I don’t know the fandom, but this is very sweet

[Guest]

Oh gosh! OH GOSH!  This is so beautiful! I love it so much, I don't know how to put it into words, so I'll use this emoji: 

 The fact that Klavier doesn't want Apollo to see him sneeze already melted my heart, but the rest of the story made me smile so much ❤️

 And I love that Apollo prefers the real Klavier Gavin rather than the rock superstar that's always smiling, this is so precious! And Apollo wanting to be with Klavier and take care of him is one of the best parts of this story. I love you for writing this! It's pretty well done and every fan of Apollo Justice in this forum should read it  

Edited July 23, 2018 by EvaBloom

[SpookyBoi]

I love this it's beautiful!! Apollo so adorably thoughtful, while also being really dense. It really fits his personality.

I would really like to see a follow up of this fic where Apollo catches Klavier's cold and is desperately trying to keep it from him because he doesn't want Klavier to feel bad.

Keep up the good work, I hope to see more writing in the future.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Bisexualien1996 said:

I love this it's beautiful!! Apollo so adorably thoughtful, while also being really dense. It really fits his personality.

I would really like to see a follow up of this fic where Apollo catches Klavier's cold and is desperately trying to keep it from him because he doesn't want Klavier to feel bad.

Keep up the good work, I hope to see more writing in the future.

Ooh, that would be great!

[Dye]

gooooooooooooOOOOOOOOD EVENING FOLKS I ADORE THIS

 

KLAVIER IS SUCH A DAMN PRECIOUS MAN AND APOLLO CARES ABOUT HIM SO MUCH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH

I LOVE THIS I LOVE THIS I LOVE YOUUUUUU

[Hachimitsu Tea]

On 7/26/2018 at 12:52 AM, Bisexualien1996 said:

I love this it's beautiful!! Apollo so adorably thoughtful, while also being really dense. It really fits his personality.

I would really like to see a follow up of this fic where Apollo catches Klavier's cold and is desperately trying to keep it from him because he doesn't want Klavier to feel bad.

Keep up the good work, I hope to see more writing in the future.

I could get behind something like that >w> I'll see if I can come up with something.

[LeapYearKisses]

I'm so late to this fic~  But I'm back on my legal bullshit again and I fricking LOVE Klavier whump.  This was so sweet  I really loved the emotional depth and they interplay of the characters!  I also really appreciate Klavier having softer and fittish sneezes. <3333