City Feral (Klavier x Apollo One Shot)

Final

Disclaimer: I do not own Ace Attorney or any of its characters. All copyright belongs to their rightful owners.

Written for Klapollo Week 2021 with prompts set by @klapollo-week on Tumblr.

Day 1: Firsts

I haven't done one of these in a while, and since I've finally gone through most of the games, I feel like I'm ready to have fun with Apollo and Klavier. So, I hope you guys like it. This first one will be starting with some good old modern fantasy aka in which Apollo is a werewolf ^^

Klavier found it ridiculous. The number of supplies that had accumulated inside the cart baffled him. Apollo had always been careful about things he put inside his body, but it felt like all of those standards had left the table now. One after another, junk food, sugary drinks, cheap instant noodles, microwave ravioli, canned beef stew, and topped off with the most expensive thing, some raw pork hocks. Apollo made it seem like a casual shopping trip, and Klavier supposed that it was, but it was beyond anything he had imagined.

The invitation had been rather sudden. They had done a double date, insisted by Phoenix to get a discount for a party of 4 at a local restaurant only two weeks prior. Together, Phoenix, Miles, Apollo, and Klavier had a pleasant time together. A small bit of conversation and eventual relaxation turned their night talk to a different topic, that of species differentiation and its peculiar quirks that they entailed. Naturally, their jobs drew them to many different people and cultural exposure. While Klavier was fully human, the others were not. Miles was a vampire, Apollo was a werewolf, and Phoenix, ironically or unironically, an actual phoenix (which explained many of his death-defying feats of the past). They laughed about many different lore and legends that stories dramatized over time. Much to Klavier's surprise, the transformations for each species were more complex than he thought.

Miles explained how vampires were fairly normal. Blood was more of a high-nutrient supplement that they indulged in. They didn't really need it. It was no different than drinking a triple serving of probiotic yogurt. Their lifespan was longer, but not immortal like most thought. The whole bat thing wasn't an exaggeration, but they could shapeshift into any animal for small periods of time. The smaller the animal, the less energy they exerted. So, things like bats were easy to manage.

Phoenix was on the other end of the spectrum. He explained that the transformation was high energy, and often, it was the cause behind why phoenixes had such shapeless bodies that were birdlike, and so not birdlike. They couldn't maintain their forms for long and it gave them this illusion of reincarnation. In truth, it was the degradation of form and reformation of body, a cycle that kept him alive. Over time, Phoenix had even learned to project it to only certain parts of his body so he could preserve his energy. It was the alternative explanation and not just the fact he was getting older. After all, there weren't many ways to really survive things like getting hit by a car and smashed into a pole.

Klavier was looking forward to Apollo's explanation, but instead, Apollo just shrugged.

"There isn't really anything special than what most people already know," he admitted. "It's a sacred transformation that happens once a month under the full moon. Not much more than that."

"But surely, it's more than that. Does it hurt or strain your body in any way? Detective Gumshoe finds the subject uncomfortable, so I never pushed on my curiosity," Miles stated. Apollo took a sip of his drink and knitted his brows together into a sharp peak.

"I'm afraid that I can't really tell you, really. With all due respect, there truly isn't much more than that," he declared. And that was it.

The conversation shifted and went pleasantly well for the rest of the night, but the topic lingered in Klavier's mind. When they split their way from the other couple, Klavier and Apollo made their way back to their shared apartment.