Twist of Fate

Chapter 9: Beginning of the End

Apollo woke up groggily, but much less sore than he was the previous day. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, terror seized his heart when he realized that he was not in his own bed. That terror subsided when he remembered whose home he was in and why. He smelled something cooking and carefully crept towards its source. He found Trucy and Mr. Wright in the kitchen, conversing quietly as bacon grease crackled in a pan.

"You really think he's ready for it, Daddy?" Trucy asked.

"I don't know, that's not my decision to make," Phoenix responded, sliding the bacon onto a separate plate to cool. Apollo had the sinking feeling they were talking about him and the steadily approaching trial against Mr. Gavin.

"But if he doesn't do it, then...!" Trucy's sentence went unfinished and Mr. Wright patted her head affectionately.

"If he chooses not to defend, then I know a couple of people that I can coach to do so." Apollo's ears perked up at this. He didn't feel ready to face Mr. Gavin, but he was always ready to provide defense for an innocent person.

"Go wake him up, carefully," Mr. Wright told Trucy. She nodded, turned around, and shrieked in shock. Apollo yelped loudly in response and Mr. Wright nearly dropped his frying pan.

"Nevermind then!" Mr. Wright said, laughing. "I guess he's awake!"

"Polly!" Trucy cried in mock indignance, "You should've said something! You scared me!" Apollo couldn't help but smile at the two's antics.

"Sorry, I'll remember that for next time," he joked. Trucy poked his forehead lightly in revenge and Apollo laughed, though he was surprised that he didn't feel the need to flinch away.

It had only been a few days since Apollo agreed to testify against Mr. Gavin and a lot of things had changed. One of the first things he noticed was that it was easy to open up now about what had been going on behind the office's closed doors. Mr. Wright had been angry about it, feeling like he was at fault for it getting this bad. At one point, Apollo was shocked to find that the spiky-haired man had clenched his hands so hard that his nails cut into his skin, making him bleed. At least Apollo now knew why Trucy was worried about Mr. Wright hurting himself when angry.

Another thing was that the entire, strange, family(?) made sure that Apollo had access to steady medication and that he took it. Taking it was hard at first, Mr. Gavin's words sounding in his mind about it being poison, but Trucy suggested that they could hide it in his food until Apollo felt comfortable taking it normally again. It had helped a lot and he had already been considering trying to take his medication normally.

Klavier had also been coming around after work to check up on Apollo. Apollo was surprised the first time, but now it was weird not to see the prosecutor at the Edgeworth household. They quietly talked about a variety of subjects while Trucy showcased her magic tricks, including how Mikeko was doing. The rockstar offered to take care of Mikeko at his own home while she was injured, at least until she was healed. Apollo missed his cat a lot during these few days they had been separated, but Klavier assured him that she was doing just fine, even asserting her dominance over the blond multiple times.

More than once, Apollo caught himself looking at Klavier or even thinking about him. He couldn't help it. Apollo felt drawn to the man for some reason. Not just because of how safe and relaxed he felt around Klavier, but also by how... normal he was. Apollo had first thought that Klavier was just pretending to care to get in his pants, but he knew now that wasn't the case. Klavier cared for him just as much- maybe more- than Trucy or Mr. Wright. Klavier cared about his safety and mental state, made sure he was happy by making jokes or even playing his guitar, and whenever Apollo felt like he was going to have a breakdown Klavier was there to hold him and comfort him through it. Being around Klavier always made Apollo feel safe and... it made Apollo realize that he liked the blond more than he wanted to say.