Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

She was surprised Klavier had managed to get Apollo to agree to come along. He’d been so grouchy lately with the way this current case was going that she’d been afraid to ask him herself. She was surprised to see Apollo relent a little when Klavier asked – surprised, and a little suspicious.

Klavier had found someone to reconstruct the guitar that was so badly damaged at the concert a few months ago. Trucy wasn’t sure how, but the new one was a damn near clone of the original. Even Apollo was impressed.

“So, did you just ask us here so you could show off your shiny new guitar?” he was smirking, but not cruelly. Trucy’s fingers nervously twined themselves around each other.

“Nein, Herr Forehead. If that was all I wanted, I could have just brought it into court tomorrow.”

Apollo groaned. “Please, for the love of god, do not even mention that case to me.”

Klavier was smug, eyebrows raised. “Oh, is your client being unhelpful?”

“You know damn well he is,” Apollo snapped. “And don’t give me that look. I’m not sharing with you what I found at the crime scene until you’re on the other side of the courtroom.”

Klavier sighed dramatically, shaking his head. “You wound me, Herr Forehead.” Apollo rolled his eyes.

“So, what are we here for?” Trucy kept up her usual inquisitive demeanor, trying to appear cheery as she bounced on her heels. Her stomach was all butterflies.

A genuine smile tugged at Klavier’s lips. “Haven’t I told you, Fraulein? You are here to make music with me.”

Trucy sat down on the bench next to him, batting her eyelashes. “Oh really, Prosecutor Gavin?”

“There is no need for formalities, Trucy.” Her breath caught in her throat, her chest fluttered at the sound of her name in his voice. “We have spent so much time together recently, ja? And we are not in a courtroom. You may call me Klavier.”

Apollo was…slightly uncomfortable, watching this. He knew it was in Klavier’s personality to flirt with everything that moved, but Trucy was still only sixteen and she’d been getting more precocious. He still hadn’t let go of her comment from a few weeks prior – Is everybody but me having sex?

She crossed her legs, using her knee to support her elbow and her elbow to support the hand that was holding her head up. “Alright, Klavier. What kind of music are we meant to be making here?”

He leaned in a little closer. He was surprised, just a little, by her perfume. Wasn’t she a little young? How old was she again? She shouldn’t smell so lovely. “Beautiful music,” he said. The words spoken almost directly into her ear, and she bit her lip unabashedly as the warmth spread in her body. He didn’t just look dreamy and sound dreamy, he smelled it too. She’d left her hat, gloves, and cape at the door, in an attempt to look as adult as she felt. She couldn’t be certain that it had worked, but she caught Klavier looking at her chest more often than was appropriate. She was glad – her breasts had been growing and she finally managed to talk her Daddy into buying her something that wasn’t a flat-chest-making sports bra or camisole.

She felt a little smug. “You mean you heard me and Apollo singing in the courthouse?”

Klavier had begun tuning his guitar and didn’t look up to reply. “Yes. You have the most startlingly beautiful voices – both of you.”

Apollo blushed and stammered, “What? You – you really think so?”

“Of course I do, Herr Forehead. I would not have said it if it were not true. But I’m sure I am not the first to tell you this.” He smirked, looking up at Apollo. There was something mischievous in his eyes – not flirtatious, as Trucy had been worrying. It was more like…he knew something that would make Apollo pass out cold if he knew that Klavier knew about.

Hm. Odd.

“I think you both will know this one, ja?” He’d finished tuning his guitar and passed sheet music over to Trucy, gesturing for Apollo to sit next to her. He did so, cautiously, still not trusting the look Klavier was giving him.

Trucy looked over the music, and smiled. This was one of her favorites, and it wouldn’t be the first time she and Apollo had sung it together. There were a few times last year when she really needed to hear it, and she’d been surprised when Apollo had started singing it to her – surprised not just that he knew the song, but at how smooth and melodic and practiced his voice was. She never would have thought…

“Mother cannot guide you,
Now you’re on your own
Only me beside you
Still you’re not alone.”

It was a little difficult, trying to sing the song without having warmed up. Her voice felt oddly constricted, but despite her embarrassment at the situation she forced herself to push through it.

“No one is alone, truly,
No one is alone.”

She had to smile to herself at that. When Apollo sang it to her, he’d changed the words from ‘truly’ to ‘Trucy.’ He was the best big brother she could have ever imagined, even if they weren’t related.

“Sometimes people leave you
Halfway through the wood
Others may deceive you,
You decide what’s good.”

She thought about what Prosecutor Gavin had been through over the past year – losing his brother, losing his friend and bandmate, losing his precious guitar, and losing his brother all over again. She couldn’t help but look up at him as she sang, as if singing to him. She was overcome when he suddenly turned his eyes to hers, gaze intense.

“You decide alone,
But no one is alone.”

The next part was an interlock between her lines and Apollo’s. He wasn’t looking at the sheet music anymore. Sure, his face was turned towards it, but she could tell from the way that his eyes looked that he wasn’t really focusing on it. His mind was elsewhere.

“Mother isn’t here now –“

“Wrong things, right things.”

“Who knows what she’d say?”

“Who can say what’s true?”

“Nothing’s quite so clear now.”

“Do things, fight things.”

“Feel you’ve lost your way?”

“You decide, but –“

“You are not alone.”

“Believe me,
No one is alone.”

“No one is alone,
Believe me.”

“Truly,”

“You move just a finger,
Say the slightest word
Some things bound to linger
Be heard.”

“No one acts alone,
Careful,
No one is alone.”

“People make mistakes.”

“Fathers.”

“Mothers.”

“People make mistakes,
Holding to their own
Thinking they’re alone.”

“Honor their mistakes,
Everybody makes,”

“Fight for their mistakes.”

“One another’s terrible mistakes.
Witches can be right, giants can be good.
You decide what’s right, you decide what’s good.”

“Just remember –“

“Just remember,”

“Someone is on your side,
Our side,
Someone else is not.
While we’re seeing our side,
Our side,
Maybe we forgot:
No one is alone.”

“Hard to see the light now –“

“Just don’t let it go.”

“Things will come out right now,
We can make it so.
Someone is on your side,
No one is alone.”

Klavier finished strumming, looking at Trucy with an expression she couldn’t decipher. She looked to Apollo, trying to smile at him. He was already smiling at her, softly. He looked like he was about to say something to her when his phone went off, making all three of them jump.

“Justice here,” he answered. Trucy rolled her eyes and Klavier covered his laugh with a polite cough. “Oh, hey Mr. Wright. Can I – what?” His cheeks were a little pink, and Klavier smirked to himself. I knew it. “Y-yeah, sure, I can come get you.” Trucy stood to leave, but he shook his head, holding a finger out. “Yeah, okay. I’ll be there soon.”

“Is something wrong?” Trucy asked, as soon as he’d hung up the phone.

Apollo shook his head. “No, I just don’t want to drag you away. I know how much you were looking forward to this –“ and now Trucy’s cheeks flared up, and she was hit with the desire to punch Apollo. “Besides, your dad and I have some stuff to talk about.” There was an awkward pause. “Bye,” he said, abruptly turning on his heel, cheeks still ridiculously pink.

Klavier rolled his eyes. “So now, Miss Trucy –“

“You don’t have to call me ‘Miss Trucy,’ you know,” Trucy was running a hand through her hair. She’d tried to style it a little like Lamiroir, but it was still a touch too short. “Just ‘Trucy’ is fine.”

“Ah. Okay, Trucy…” His voice was so deep. She shivered pleasantly. “What shall we sing now?”

Trucy already knew what she wanted to sing. It wasn’t nerves about her voice that were making her hesitate – it wasn’t even the fact that she was now alone with Klavier. She’d been alone with him several times before. At first it bothered Klavier and he asked her where her chaperone was. She informed him that she didn’t really need one – she could take care of herself! But if he was so worried, then he could be her chaperone. He’d smiled, running a hand through his bangs and looking off in a different direction. She might have just imagined it, but she thought he was blushing.

No, her anxiety was rooted in the plan she had created, of what she’d be doing if it worked. Of course she was anxious – anybody would be.

“How about this one?” She hadn’t realized he actually had the music – she was going to just go for it a capella, assuming he hadn’t actually heard it before. The plan wasn’t ruined entirely, she just needed to make adjustments to account for the difference.

Klavier nodded, and had no issue playing it. He didn’t even need the sheet music in front of him.

“Kiss me too fiercely,
Hold me too tight
I need help believing
You’re with me tonight”

Klavier gave himself a hard mental kick. What the hell was he doing, letting her sing this? Oh, sure, he had far more inappropriate songs in his repertoire, but not only was this song sexy and seductive but she sang it too well. He’d had enough of a moral crisis from the last time he heard her sing. Now, he was just torturing himself.

“My wildest dreamings
Could not foresee
Lying beside you
With you wanting me”

I do want you. That’s part of the problem. Klavier crossed his legs a little tighter, adjusting the guitar over his lap. He hoped he was able to cover up the movement as switching to a better playing position, but the only person here to pay attention to it was Trucy. He just hoped she was as dense in this area as Apollo was.

“And just for this moment,
As long as you’re mine
I’ve lost all resistance
And crossed some borderline”

“And if it turns out,
It’s over too fast –“

Oh, it won’t be, Fraulein. Klavier had to bite his tongue till the circulation ran out in order to keep himself from making the weird choking noise that came almost on reflex in reaction to the way his thoughts were going.

“I’ll make every last moment last,
As long as you’re mine.”

Her range was far too broad for someone her age. For someone her age. Jesus.

She’s not as young as you keep making her out to be in your head, Klavier.

Klavier picked up the part meant to be sung by the male counterpart, and he saw the surprise in Trucy’s face when he started singing. He enjoyed, maybe a bit too much, the way that her cheeks reddened and her eyes widened, pupils dilating slightly.

“Maybe I’m brainless,
Maybe I’m wise
But you’ve got me seeing
Through different eyes.”

Oh, too appropriate. Way to go, dummkopf. Brainless really does fit you, doesn’t it? You find yourself inappropriately attracted to this teenager, and instead of rebuffing all her flirtations you are flirting right back.

“Somehow I’ve fallen
Under your spell
And somehow I’m feeling
It’s up that I fell”

She was a little louder now – and was she leaning a little closer too? He had on his usual jacket, but he could still feel the heat from her skin seeping through it.

“Every moment,
As long as you’re mine
I’ll wake up my body
And make up for lost time.”

If he hadn’t been hard already, singing that line with her would have done it. He was going to completely lose it if he didn’t find a way to cool himself off.

But he couldn’t really do anything now. They’d started the song, and now he was going to have to finish it.

“Say there’s no future
For us as a pair…”

There isn’t. There really, really isn’t.

“And though I may know,
I don’t care”

Your father surely will.

“Just for this moment,
As long as you’re mine,
Come be how you want to
And see how bright we shine!”

“Borrow the moonlight
Until it is through…
And know I’ll be here
Holding you
As long as you’re mine –“

Klavier was cut off when Trucy leaned up and pressed their lips together. One of her hands was on the back of his neck, bringing him down closer to her face; the other was using his thigh, just above his knee, to prop herself up.

He should have told her no. He should have pushed her away, put his hands on her shoulders and told her that this was inappropriate. That she was too young for him.

But all he did was kiss her back. No, that wasn’t all he did. He pulled her into his lap, the guitar crashing to the floor when he failed to set it down gently. She might have been the one to slip her tongue in his mouth, but he allowed her to. He let his tongue play with hers, let his hands roam on her body; one taking firm hold of her backside and the other pushing her so close to his chest he could feel her nipples through his shirt –

And he didn’t stop her when she climbed off and got to her knees in front of him. He knew what she was going to do – there’s no way he couldn’t have known – but he sat back and watched her unbuckle his belt, unbutton and unzip his pants, and pull his erect cock out of his briefs.

“Trucy, we shouldn’t –“ We shouldn’t? You are the adult here! You should be more forceful with this! That wasn’t convincing at all!

“I’m not a little girl anymore, Mr. Gavin.” Her voice was deeper now, and from the sound of it and the way she looked up at him from under her lashes as she knelt down, spreading his legs and cupping his balls –

He had to agree. She wasn’t a child anymore.

He tried to maintain a tight grip on the piano bench he was sitting on. He had a feeling he was going to need it, and his knuckles were already so white he knew for a fact his hands were going to be sore if not permanently damaged. She licked up his shaft and put her mouth over his tip. It was a reflex, but his hand shot out to push the hair away from her face. It was ridiculous – he’d been with girls before twice her age who weren’t half as decent at this. He was a little concerned about where she was learning this from – she had to have had practice somewhere. He’d have a talk with Phoenix if the circumstances weren’t so awkward. How do you know my daughter’s had sex? Oh, because she was giving me a blow job and I thought she was a little too good at it.

Her free hand touched the base of his cock softly, wrapping her fingers around it as saliva ran down her chin and his dick and pooled where her hand was gripping him. She’d been going slow and not taking much in, but her tongue traced around him before she pulled off almost completely, bobbed back in, taking almost his entire length in. Christ, I told Herr Forehead how to do that. The image in his head was vivid, and he was suddenly struck with just how similar the two looked. If he was in a mood to be honest with himself, he’d say that the vision of Apollo sucking his cock was not nearly as appealing as the reality of Trucy doing it right now.

She tried to swallow around him (whether she managed or not he was too out of it to tell) and he closed his eyes, shouting and his hand in her hair tightening as he came.

When he came out of it and looked down, her face was covered in his semen. He was a little horrified, but not as much as when she smirked, still looking him in the eye, and used a finger to wipe it from her skin and lick it off.

He didn’t know what to expect from her next – but she’d done nothing but surprise him tonight, so he shouldn’t have been shocked when she laid herself across his couch, pulled the hem of her (far too short, how was Wright okay with that?!) dress up, and began to touch herself.

Klavier didn’t know what he was supposed to do with that. His brain had exploded. Trucy had sucked him off and was now laying on his couch moaning and arching her back with her fingers pressed inside her. If he thought he was done condemning himself, he was wrong. He made his way over to the couch and pulled her hands away, licking the fingers she’d just been using. She keened, the outline of her nipples under the dress even more prominent in her arousal. He spread her legs apart further, kissing the insides of her thighs. “Where are your panties?” he asked. He hadn’t intended to have his voice come out so low and so smooth, and the effect it had on her was obvious.

She bit her lip quickly before responding, “I didn’t wear any.”

He groaned, putting his head down into her and beginning to lick. Trucy whined but he held her hips in place, tongue licking and prodding and sucking at everything in front of him. Her hands grabbed a hold of his hair, pulling, and he was ashamed to admit to himself that he enjoyed the feeling. She was gasping now and writhing underneath him. His hands snaked up, grabbing and squeezing her breasts through the dress. She shouted, her legs wrapping around his head as she orgasmed and he licked the release as it soaked her thighs.

She was breathing heavily, and he realized that his hands were still on her breasts and his cock was still sticking out of his pants, steadily getting harder despite the taboo of what he’d just done. A phone rang from somewhere near the kitchen and Trucy extricated herself, trying not to wobble too much as she walked, trying not to let go of the feeling between her legs.

“Hello, Daddy? Yeah – right now? Okay. I’ll be home soon – yeah. Love you too.” She pressed the end button on her cell phone, cheeks appropriately flushed. She ran to find her boots and slip them on, collected her cape, hat and gloves and stopped in the hallway.

She walked slowly to where Klavier was still laying, trying to process the fact that he’d just had sex with the daughter of a man he’d gotten fired. Trucy used a finger and thumb to pull his chin up, kissing him sweetly but passionately before running out the door.

Klavier had to take another minute before sitting upright, frustrated with himself and with Trucy. He was frightened, in a way he didn’t think he’d ever been before. What he just did was wrong. It was so wrong. But Trucy started it, Trucy wanted it, so was it really all that wrong?

He’d had enough moral deliberation for one night. He stared at the traitorous erect penis that stemmed from his body and started pumping himself quickly. He didn’t care to make it last – he’d already come once and the fact that he was even capable of getting hard again so soon was disgusting. He rubbed the tip with his thumb and pumped once more before releasing, his cum splattering on his couch and leather pants.

He didn’t even want to bother going back into his bedroom. He growled at no one in particular and passed out on the couch.

It was nice to see Phoenix again. Too nice. Propriety be damned, Apollo ran straight to him and wrapped his arms around his partner. Phoenix didn’t seem to mind, squeezing him tightly. And then, as if they were totally normal people who weren’t paranoid about having their careers destroyed, Phoenix held the back of his head and kissed him fervently.

Apollo pulled away in embarrassment when somebody whistled at them. He felt dizzy. He couldn’t think of much to say, so he went with, “I hope nobody else saw that,” rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

Phoenix pulled him back into his arms, nuzzling him. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m getting my badge back.”

Apollo pushed him back again, this time to look at him properly. “You passed the test?!”

“Hey! I did it once, I can do it again, oh ye of little faith.” Phoenix was laughing though, cheeks tinted pink and smile wider than Apollo had ever seen it. “I did have a lot of help though. From you, and from Edgeworth.”

Apollo tensed. The movement was only slight, but enough for Phoenix to catch it. He tilted his head, searching Apollo. He was still smiling, but something was still off. “What’s wrong, Apollo?”

The shorter man shook his head and looked away, smile still covering up whatever insecurity he was hiding. “Nothing! Nothing. It’s great. That, um, your – your ex was willing to help you. Like that.”

The words had barely left Apollo’s mouth, but Phoenix snorted and started giggling uncontrollably. “Oh god, not you too, Apollo!”

“What?” His face was going unpleasantly red, like it always did when he felt he was being made fun of.

“Miles and I were never together,” he explained. “Everyone seems to think we were.”

The color had left Apollo’s face, replaced with shock. “You – You weren’t?”

Phoenix rolled his eyes. “I had a crush on him. Once. In the fourth grade. But he changed a lot – into an asshole. An asshole who’s still my best friend, mind you,” he ran a hand through his hair. “But Miles doesn’t have those types of feelings.”

“He doesn’t?” The look on Apollo’s face still read as complete and utter disbelief.

Phoenix shook his head. “He has very close friendships, with me, with his sister, with Detective Gumshoe. He loves his dogs, I think he might write Steel Samurai fanfiction, but he doesn’t actually experience attraction. Sexual or romantic.” Phoenix thought about it, tapping his chin. “I think he might be a little autistic too, but that’s a different story.”

Apollo blushed, looking away again. “Ugh. I feel like such an idiot.”

Phoenix grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together. “It’s fine, Apollo. Don’t worry about it. You’re not the first person to make that mistake.” He started walking Apollo to the car. “You probably won’t be the last.”

It felt weird, being able to hold hands in public and kiss like normal couples, and Apollo felt so overcome he had a hard time keeping the smile from his face.

But he had to, because they actually did have something to talk about. He hadn’t been lying to Trucy when he said that, but he couldn’t be totally honest either; the thing they had to talk about was her. “I think Trucy has a crush on Prosecutor Gavin.” He kept his eyes on the road for the most part, but couldn’t help flicking them over to his passenger, trying to gauge his reaction.

Phoenix was nonplussed. “I’m not surprised, she doesn’t exactly hide it well. Besides, a lot of girls her age do.”

Apollo shook his head. There was something about the intensity of his eyes that made Phoenix’s stomach sink. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what he had to say next.

“You know how she kept talking about the boy at school she had a crush on?” Phoenix nodded. “Well, I think that ‘boy at school’ is actually Klavier. And – I didn’t want to bother you, you were so busy –“

“I know,” Phoenix smirked. “I thought you were dead for a while there. I had to keep calling you.” He reached over to play with the hair at the nape of Apollo’s neck. Apollo heated up. “I was worried.”

“S-sorry, about that, Phoenix,” Apollo coughed. “B-but, the point is, she wanted my advice on something she couldn’t ask you about.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. She wanted sex advice. OUCH!” Phoenix was surprised, unintentionally jerking Apollo’s hair when he jolted.

His mouth gaped open like a fish for a moment or two, and when he found the words to speak he sounded appropriately alarmed. “And what did you tell her?”

“That she’s too young!” Apollo said defensively. He frowned, then sighed. “But I realize she’s going to do whatever the hell she wants to do, because that’s just what her personality is. So I told her that I wasn’t going to give her any tips, but that if she was going to do something to be safe about it.”

Phoenix was quiet, but he nodded. The drove in silence for what felt like hours until they reached the apartment. Apollo parked the car, but didn’t unbuckle his seat belt or get out. “So, what do you want to do?” he asked.

Phoenix sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. “Well, I was going to tell her about getting my badge back, about your relation to her, about us being together, but I think I’m going to have to have a different talk with her first.”

Apollo nodded. “Do you want me to be there?” Phoenix shook his head.

“If you’re there, she’ll know you told me something. And you’ll start fidgeting. For someone who detects lies for a living, you’re pretty bad at hiding your own.” Apollo slapped him on the shoulder playfully.

Apollo swallowed. He was sort of glad Phoenix didn’t want him to be there – he had a feeling Trucy wasn’t going to react well, and he didn’t want to be around for that fight. “I guess I’ll go back home, then. Tell Trucy I said –“ Phoenix pulled his head forward, kissing him deeply.

And Apollo still got dizzy, afterward. “Sorry,” Phoenix said, not looking sorry in the least. “I just had to do that.” Apollo nodded, too flustered to really say anything. Phoenix laughed, gathered his things, and kissed Apollo’s forehead. “Good night, Polly,” he whispered. “Drive safely.” Apollo nodded, putting the car into gear and backing out of the parking space. Before he could get too far, he heard Phoenix yell, “And call me to let me know you got home safe!”

Trucy didn’t particularly like lying to her Daddy, but she didn’t really have any other choice. Klavier would be in a lot of trouble if she told anyone, which she had no intention of doing. She’d had the talk once before, a few years ago, and that had been when Mystic Maya came over to check on how things were going. She’d been very serious, but ended the discussion with, “But it sure is fun!” and winking at her. Trucy didn’t really understand at the time, but Maya hadn’t been kidding.

She rolled her eyes at her Daddy and promised she wouldn’t do anything stupid. He didn’t actually seem to suspect anything – not yet, anyway. Secretly she broke her own rule stating that she’d never masturbate again. With the images in her head from that night, it was hard not to. All she had to do was remember the feeling of his tongue on her, pushing inside her, hands squeezing her breasts and she was soaked. She wondered if he ever thought about it too.

She’d been told before that you felt different after you lost your virginity, but she hadn’t really believed it. But something definitely felt different. It was probably just the knowledge that she was desirable, sexually, and that her first time had included a rock star groping her breasts and eating her out. She couldn’t tell anyone about it, of course, but if he’d been just some random stranger she had no personal connections with – well, the bragging rights would have been amazing. How many other girls at her school could say they’d had sex with Klavier Gavin?

(Alright, she wasn’t a total virgin before. She wanted to know what she was doing before she put her mouth on him – but she herself had remained untouched. Klavier was going to be the first man to pleasure her, sexually, and any offers boys gave her were swiftly and almost brutally rebuffed.)

It wasn’t enough, ridiculously. But now that she’d had it she wanted it again. She kept seeing him and talking to him and they both pretended everything was normal, but one day Apollo ran out on an urgent call from Ema and left Trucy and Klavier unattended and almost immediately she was in his lap.

She’d moved toward him – she would always be the one to make the first move – but he grabbed her and hauled her over to where he was sitting. She straddled him, up on her knees and holding his head to kiss him like he was the oxygen in the room. His hands slipped under her skirt, accidentally, but he used the opportunity to tug at the panties she was wearing; not taking them off, just playing with them. She whimpered into his mouth, reaching down and unclasping his pants and pulling his dick out. She didn’t need practice to know how to do this – hell, she didn’t even need walking in on Daddy or Apollo to know how to do this. She’d imagined him doing this before, leaking a little as she imagined his panting, the shift of his thighs, the quiet noises as his hand rubbed his shaft. All she had to do was imitate that, imitate her fantasies.

But she found herself stopping her movements, hand still gripping him firmly, when she felt his fingers press against her through the wet cloth of her underwear. He rubbed and she shuddered, hiding her face in his neck. “You’re so beautiful like this, Fraulein,” he whispered. And then he did roll her panties down, caressing her softly as she tried not to start demanding that he fuck her already.

She felt one finger enter, using a thumb to rub her outside. With the hand that wasn’t penetrating her he spread her legs apart, panties rolling further down. He lifted up the hem of her dress to kiss her stomach, and pushed a second finger in.

The hand that wasn’t gripping his cock firmly, she had been using to support herself on the couch. But she’d let go of that, grabbing on instead to his head and whimpering as he applied pressure, wriggling his fingers inside her and withdrawing them only to push them in again. She tensed up, squeezing his cock and pulling firmly, her thumb spreading precum around his tip. He groaned, tongue stick out to lick her belly and leave open-mouthed kisses.

She was breathing heavy now, biting into Klavier’s shoulder as he pressed a third finger in. It hurt, if only slightly. He could have put his whole hand in there and she’d be happy, skin growing warm and sweat forming on her arms as he pushed in and out of her, rubbing her clit and making her moan loudly.

But if he wanted her to stop, he didn’t say so. If anything he seemed to be encouraging the noise, kissing her bare skin whenever she whimpered or gasped or groaned in pleasure. Soon she could barely use her knees to prop herself up, the thrusting getting so fast that she took the hand from his dick and placed it on his shoulder, trying her hardest not to move herself on his fingers and aid along in her orgasm. She shrieked loudly, coming against his fingers and dripping down her thighs.

Klavier laid her down along the couch, slipping her panties the rest of the way off. “That simply won’t do,” he said, in a way that would be seductive if she wasn’t already seduced. But she was wet again, watching him toss her panties to a trash bin behind him. They missed completely, and somehow she found that even hotter. Signs of what they’d been doing, where anyone could see them.

He tsked at her. “You’ve gotten yourself all dirty, Fraulein.” He licked the spots of her thighs where her release had started to dry, cleaning her off on the outside before pressing his face to her stomach and kissing all the way down. His kisses were open-mouthed, wet, tongue pressing against her skin, slipping between her folds. He’d been so focused on pleasuring her that he’d forgotten about his own arousal, spiking drastically when she pulled on his hair. He reached down for a moment, touching himself, before using his hands to slide Trucy right into his mouth.

She was very vocal – he hadn’t noticed before, but she was practically singing as his tongue and his fingers worked on her, worked in her. He wanted to record those sounds she was making, save them for later.

The tongue and the fingers combined were too much and she found herself shouting again, pressing into his face as she rode out her orgasm on his tongue.

She hadn’t forgotten about him, erect as he was. It was something that was hard to ignore, his penis standing at attention for her body. It wasn’t just sexual pleasure – it was confidence. It was her turn to push him back, reclining, leaning over him as she played with him, pumping him and spreading the wetness around. Licking her hand when his shaft wasn’t wet enough. He groaned, leaning up, and pulled her dress down to expose her breasts. He nuzzled them before kissing them, sucking on her nipples with his teeth scraping gently against them.

He pulled her closer, one hand on her back and the other on her breast, squeezing and pinching her nipple until she could feel herself giving in again, unashamedly aroused and leaking. He switched his focus from one breast to the other, and she sped up as he pinched, nipped, licked her –

He shouted, head thrown back as he came, his cum splattering on his stomach. She licked at it, heard him groaning as she tucked him back into his trousers.

“I have some homework to do,” she whispered into his ear. She kissed him a few times and whispered that she’d call him later, before pulling up her dress to cover her exposed breasts and pulling her boots back on, cape, hat and glove in hand.

After the first time it had happened, Klavier hated himself and promised to never give in again. But she kept visiting, being so enticing and looking more and more adult each time he saw her. When they were alone, once again, he didn’t hesitate pulling her into his lap.

Hating himself was going to become exhausting if this wasn’t going to end, and he knew her well enough by now to say that Trucy was not the type to relent. She would continue pursuing him until she found someone else – a thought that made him just a tad jealous.

She hadn’t grabbed her panties on her way out, but he was fairly certain this was on purpose. It was her way of claiming him, of reminding him of her.

He was already cleaned off, thanks to Trucy’s tongue. All he needed to do was adjust his office a little – a few of the couch cushions had fallen to the floor and his coffee table had been kicked askew. He double-checked his appearance in a mirror before exiting.

He didn’t see his boss, Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth, watching him leave with a look of utmost suspicion on his face.

“Of course, I can’t say anything for certain; I have my suspicions, but that is all they are, Wright.” Edgeworth was holding his hands out, a gesture he normally only offered when feeling smug. Now, however, it was like a bizarre show of sympathy; the look on his face showed exactly how displeased he was.

Phoenix massaged his forehead with his fingers, sighing heavily. His back straightened, stiff with apprehension when he heard the door unlock – but he’d recognize those footsteps anywhere. “Hey, Apollo,” he called.

Apollo smiled as he came down the hallway, but the smile faded into a look of immense intimidation at the sight of the man before him. Edgeworth always had a way of frightening people, even when he didn’t mean to. Apollo’s mouth was slightly ajar as Edgeworth offered his hand for Apollo to shake. “Mr. Justice, I presume?”

“Y-yes, sir –“

“It’s nice to finally meet your paramour, Wright.”

If he’d been drinking something, he’d have done a spit-take. He managed to recover quickly, although not fast enough to keep the shock from his face. Edgeworth was smirking now. “I’m not sure ‘paramour’ is the right word – nobody’s married here, Miles.”

He shrugged, not bothered by the fact that Apollo was still shaking his hand in shock. “Beloved, then? Still, I was under the impression that you were attempting to keep your relationship a secret – due to your less than stellar reputation and the effect it might have on your protégé’s forthcoming career?”

Phoenix leaned back, glaring. Apollo could see him turning the Magatama over in his hand and wondered if he knew how obvious it was. “Your guess is correct, but not exactly necessary anymore – thanks to you, I might add.” He propped his feet up on the coffee table, attempting to give off an air of indifference. An act that absolutely no one in the room was buying. “Nonetheless, how did you know?”

Edgeworth managed to extricate his hand from Apollo’s, giving the younger man an odd look. Apollo blushed, and scurried to sit down in an untaken seat. Edgeworth remained standing, arms crossed. He still looked smug, but not quite as frightening as Apollo had first thought. “Please, Wright, you have always worn your emotions on your sleeve. The words might not have been there, but from the way you spoke about him it was obvious you were in love.”

Phoenix’s face reddened, embarrassed at having his feelings called out so clearly. Apollo’s heart ached for that – he hated seeing him so uncomfortable with that sort of vulnerability. He wished he’d sat closer so he could grab Phoenix’s hand. He knew where that fear came from. He’d felt it, personally, many times.

“Anyway,” Mr. Edgeworth continued, “I’m afraid I must be going now.” The fingers of his right hand had started to tap where they rested on the opposite arm. Apollo’s bracelet pinched a bit. He couldn’t exactly tell why, but Mr. Edgeworth was annoyed. “Detective Gumshoe is waiting for me down at the police station. I was supposed to meet him earlier but other…circumstances arose.”

Apollo firmly decided he didn’t want to know what those other circumstances were. And whoever Detective Gumshoe was, he felt bad for him; he had a feeling that being the cause for Prosecutor Edgeworth’s annoyance could be dangerous to one’s health. “It was nice meeting you, Mr. Edgeworth,” he said instead.

Edgeworth nodded formally from where he was standing. “And the same to you, Mr. Justice.” He glared at Phoenix, but the look somehow seemed lighthearted. “Do not allow this one to lead you astray. You seem to have far too much logic for that, but he has a habit of turning things around.”

Apollo covered his mouth as he snorted, Phoenix throwing his arms up in a defensive gesture. “Great, pick on the broke guy.”

Edgeworth gave him a withering look before turning to Apollo again. “Please make sure he showers and shaves before he arrives in court.”

Apollo smirked. “Trust me, I’ve been trying to get him to shave for weeks now. He keeps promising me he’ll do it, but as you can see –“ Apollo gestured with one hand. “I think he’s trying to grow a beard.”

“Please, Wright, don’t. You wouldn’t be able to pull it off.”

“What? Oh, come on –“ He almost seemed sincerely agitated now. “That’s no fair, teaming up with Apollo –“

“Why not? You won’t listen to either of us separately, apparently.” He waggled a finger in Phoenix’s direction. “You shave, or I am withholding your badge.”

“And what are you going to do with it, exactly?”

“Perhaps I will give it to your junior partner. Two badges is twice the power, correct? Then he will be your superior, and he can order you to shave.”

“That makes no logical sense, Edgeworth.”

“Neither does that…scruff you call facial hair.” He uncrossed his arms, smiling. “I really must be going now. The Detective will call me, worrying, if I am late.” He nodded, and finally left the building.

“I like him,” Apollo said with a smirk. He was expecting Phoenix to come back with some witty quip about the two of them ganging up on him or using the power of the color red to their evil advantage, but nothing came. He frowned, moving over to the couch where his boyfriend was sitting. “Nick?” he asked softly. He was still rubbing his temples. Apollo could feel a great pit in his stomach, like something was going wrong. “I thought…I thought you said it wouldn’t be a problem anymore? If people knew?”

“Huh?” he looked over. “Oh, no, it isn’t. That’s not –“ he sighed. “Edgeworth thinks he may have overheard Trucy and Klavier having sex.”

All the color drained from Apollo’s face, leaving him dizzy and lightheaded. “Oh. My god.”

Phoenix nodded. “Yeah. I just – I don’t know what I’m supposed to say now. Do I ask her outright? Do I wait until she comes to me to talk about it?” He looked to Apollo, genuinely asking for guidance.

But all Apollo could do was shrug. “I’m sorry, I…I have no idea. I didn’t have sex for the first time until I was twenty-one, and even if I’d had it earlier, who was I going to tell? I didn’t have parents.” Phoenix sighed heavily again, hiding his face in his hands. Apollo leaned over, kissing his cheek tenderly. “We’ll figure this out, Phoenix. Don’t worry.”

She knew how close they were to getting caught, and somehow that only made her more excited. She wasn’t about to schedule it so someone walked in on them – she wasn’t a masochist (not yet, at least) or a sadist (much more her style – but again, not yet). She wasn’t going to get herself and Klavier into trouble simply because the danger of the situation was so unbearably hot.

She couldn’t pretend like her father didn’t know, at least on some level. He was suspicious. She’d asked him outright what made him think she was having sex, and he’d replied bluntly. “Prosecutor Edgeworth heard a lot of inappropriate moaning and shouting. Before he could investigate further, he saw you leaving the room looking awfully pleased with yourself.”

“Hm. That’s weird. I don’t remember being at Prosecutor Gavin’s office today –“

He’d only ever looked so angry and mistrustful before back when he’d first met Apollo, suspicious and somewhat afraid of what Kristoph was going to do to him. If what Kristoph had managed to do to Vera was any indication, her Daddy was right to be worried for Apollo’s safety. And Trucy wasn’t altogether sure Klavier was guarded from his brother, either.

“Don’t lie to me, young lady,” he scolded. “I know you went there with Apollo earlier today.” He looked away, clearly uncomfortable. “I don’t know that Klavier was actually in his office or that he agreed to do anything, but I’m not willing to rule out the possibility that you’re letting your hormones run away with you.”

Trucy was heating up, but not in embarrassment; she was angry. Like she couldn’t control her own desires. “Exactly what are you saying, Daddy?” she snapped.

His eyes were cold and his tone forceful. “You are not to spend time alone with Klavier Gavin.”

“What? But Daddy –“

“Don’t argue with me,” he said coolly. “Gavin will have sex with anything that moves. It might seem like a good idea right now, when you’re sixteen and rebellious. But I don’t want him taking advantage of you.”

She bit her tongue to keep from hurling something like I hate you at him, because it wasn’t true; she loved him, but this still wasn’t fair. “Fine,” she huffed.

He was frowning at her. “I love you, Trucy. You know that, don’t you?”

She blushed, looking away from him. “Yeah, I know.”

“And I want to keep you safe.” He sighed. She’d been getting the impression lately that there was something else on his mind, but he’d been holding back on it until she got her act together. She didn’t want to wait for whatever information he was withholding from her, but she knew if she asked now he would lie. “I…don’t know what you might have done with him, so far. If you have done anything, that is. You can…tell me about it,” he was clearly very awkward, and some part of her wished it was Apollo saying this and not her. She wanted to talk about it desperately, but… “I won’t hold it against you. But promise me, please, that you won’t have sex – especially not with an adult – until you’re older.”

He was back to looking at her now. Her heart was beating faster, and she bit her lip. “I – I promise, Daddy.” He came forward and hugged her. She did what she could to hide her crossed fingers.

The only thing she really needed to add to the atmosphere was a glass of wine. Red, preferably – the darker the sexier. She’d never really had wine before, though, and tonight wouldn’t be the start because her Daddy simply didn’t keep it around the house. She wasn’t about to ask Apollo for it either – he could be such a tattletale. She’d already had to lie through her teeth to her dad once because of him (because like hell Prosecutor Edgeworth heard anything; Klavier told her the walls were soundproof and there’s no way she was loud enough to be heard through them). She’d get back at him later, though; she’d been getting the distinct impression that Apollo had a bit of a crush on someone, and blackmail was a bitch.

She made sure her door was locked before shimmying out of her dress. Normally she wore rather plain and demure underwear – who was going to be seeing it, anyway? But today was different. She knew she wasn’t going to be seeing Klavier, but she had a plan that didn’t exactly involve seeing him.

If her Daddy knew she owned these kinds of undergarments, he’d have a stroke. The lacy bra only barely covered up her breasts, the panties practically begged to be taken off. She bit her lip and positioned herself, careful to keep her head out of the way as she took the picture.

This would be, to date, the worst thing she’d done. She hesitated for a moment, looking at the picture of her body. Once she sent this, she’d be crossing a line she couldn’t retreat from. Getting and giving head were only barely breaking the rules. This – this was a new low. This was a deeper form of illegal. So before she could second-guess herself or delay any longer, Trucy typed a short message and sent it.

“Like my new underwear? ;)”

Klavier really shouldn’t have opened the text, but he wasn’t really paying attention. Sometimes he and Trucy had perfectly normal conversations over text, most of which consisted of her asking about his shows or complaining about how aggravating school had gotten now that she was so close to senior year. It was times like then that Klavier was reminded, startled, that Trucy was still in high school, remembered what they’d done together and felt ashamed of himself even though he’d promised himself he’d stop that. He could suffer plenty when he went to hell for all this, or at least when Edgeworth prosecuted him for his sins.

The only explanation was that Klavier, despite being a prodigy (not as much of Franziska von Karma, of course, it would be hard to beat her), was still not a very clever man. He just thanked whatever God above was listening that he managed to slap a hand over his mouth before any sound came out. Trucy’s slender body was splayed provocatively on a bed. All she was wearing was a lacy bra and panties, a very soft blue shade, that did nothing to hide her nipples or the fact that she clearly had shaved for a very specific purpose.

Klavier felt like an idiot and a pervert, but there wasn’t anyone he owed an explanation to. He’d been sitting in a coffee shop trying to work on his latest case, but he had not been accompanied and clearly the case would have to wait.

He felt paranoid, walking to his motorcycle, quickly tapping back a response.

“What do you think you are doing, Fraulein?”

Trucy’s heart had never beat so fast in her life. She didn’t have Apollo’s disposition or she’d think it was a panic attack; this was just anticipation, apprehension that Klavier very well could (and her father was right – probably should) rebuff her advances.

But his response didn’t exactly say stop, and until he made it clear that he didn’t want this she was going to continue pushing. She spread her knees apart, fingers of her free hand dipping just below crease of her underwear. She angled the camera down, hoping the picture wouldn’t be too blurry before she hit reply.

“What? Can’t a girl be proud of her underwear? Admit it…they’re cute. ;)”

Klavier shouldn’t have opened the text. He’d just manage to get home and calm his rapid breathing, and he knew when he felt the buzzing of his phone that it was Trucy, that she was sending him another damn inappropriate picture text.

And Klavier kept getting dumber somehow. He opened it and groaned immediately, his arousal spiking and cock hardening quickly. He thought going back to his bedroom was a bad idea, that one thing would only lead to another…

But his body was on auto-pilot. He could hardly take his eyes off the picture, the enticing perspective of her breasts blurry in the background, fingers dipping close down to her lovely, lovely folds and the bottom of the revealing panties she wore slightly damp.

“You should not be doing this, Trucy. This is illegal.”

Trucy was getting impatient. She knew that she’d have to wait unless she wanted to rush through this, but the image of Klavier in her head reacting to her bare stomach and smooth legs had her mind wandering places that made waiting an impossibility. She’d unhooked her bra by now, shamelessly pinching her nipples so they stood out as she took her next picture.

“Oh come on, Klavier. Girls just want to have fun… ;)”

He gripped himself tightly through his pants, the text alone running his imagination rabid and his heart almost beating in his throat. Holding out against her was hopeless. She’d closed her legs back over her privates, just barely, naked breasts exposed. He wanted to reach out and touch them, but the only thing he grabbed for was the dick in his pants, leaking in eagerness.

This has to stop. Doing it once was bad enough, but you did it twice and made it worse. You do this now, and this is a territory you can’t return from. Klaver swallowed hard, exiting out of the dirty text and opting to call its sender. He didn’t even wait for her to say his name, hoping to kill this thing before it could get any further, get either one of them in worse trouble. “I hope you understand just how dangerous what you are doing is. There is no return from this sort of offense. If you are found out, the consequences will be severe.”

There was a pause. “Are you planning on telling anyone?”

Klavier huffed. “No.”

“Then I don’t see what the problem is…” She was doing that deliberately, making her voice deeper and darker because she knew the effect that it had on him.

“The problem, Fraulein, is that you are what they call jailbait,” he said coolly. “And I must admit I do not understand what your possible intentions could be.”

“Intentions?” he could hear her rustling, moving around. Sweat broke out across his forehead, hoping against everything that he was wrong in his fear of what, exactly, she was doing or preparing to do. But as of yet, he hadn’t been so lucky. “Isn’t it obvious, Klavier? I want you.”

His jaw was set. He was not going to do this. This was wrong and he wasn’t going to fall any deeper into this than he had already gone. “Don’t pretend you don’t want this, Herr Gavin.”

He blushed. That tone of voice and using his preferred language against him – “What I want does not matter, Trucy. What matters is this is wrong –“

“Wirklich?” It was obvious she only knew a few words and that she’d attempted to learn it on her own. “Aber ich will dir, und du willst mir, ja?”

“Ja, Fraulein,” he was gritting his teeth, caught between frustrated and heady with lust. Dammit, dammit, dammit, no. “That is not the point –“

“Was ist?” It almost came out as a moan. Was she – was she masturbating while arguing with him? He grunted and squeezed himself hard, hoping the pain would help him snap out of it, but it didn’t hurt. All it did was feel good. “Ich will dich küssen, Herr Gavin.” This time it was definitely a moan, and he could imagine her just as clearly as he’d seen her almost a month ago, fingers pressing inside her, arching her back –

“Scheiße!” Klavier growled, bucking his hips up. He quickly undid the belt and slid his pants down enough to drag his cock from his briefs. The grip he had on himself was firm, pumping quickly and feeling his lower stomach tighten as he listened to her moan and whine.

Trucy had to stop for a moment to re-adjust her body, carefully setting her phone to the lowest setting for speakerphone. It was awkward to maneuver her fingers around the pillow, rubbing herself against the latter and penetrating herself with the former. But she was determined to make it work. “It f-feels so different, from when you do it – nng.”

She could hear him breathing heavily on the other end of the phone. She knew exactly what he was doing, imagining pretty easily what it looked like and licking her lips at the image in her head. “Was ist das, Fraulein?”

“Y-your fingers, inside me –“ she whimpered, the tingling feeling building up as she kept up the pace. “R-rubbing my cl-clit, p-pretending it’s your big, thick cock-“ She cried out, the fantasy getting to be too much. She imagined him licking her clean as she pushed through her orgasm, leaving a large wet stain on the pillow she’d been using. She was vaguely aware of Klavier shouting her name and felt a little smug, imagining him beating off in his bed at home with her in his mind.

Now that she had him relaxed and thoroughy wrecked, she had a question to ask him. “Klavier?’

“Hm?”

“Do you want to fuck me?”

There was a slight pause. Despite all she’d gotten him to do so far, there was a part of her still afraid he’d say no, a part of her still afraid he’d lie or that – god forbid – her Daddy was right and he was just using her. But when the sounds of his panting slowed down, he breathed, “Mein Gott, yes.”

She licked her lips, feeling giddy. This was the answer she’d been hoping for. She’d already prepared for it, and had a plan as to what to do if it fell through and she needed more time. “Next week. Same time… My place.”

There was a pause. “Your father –“

“Will be out of town,” she smiled. “And he thinks I’m going to be at a friend’s house.” If this were a wired phone, she’d be twirling the cord with her finger. “He doesn’t need to know the friend is actually coming over.”

It was a show, if to no one else but himself, of how much Klavier had given up that his only reply was to sigh softly and say “Okay, Fraulein. See you then.”

It was probably suspicious as hell, but Phoenix didn’t really care if Trucy figured out what he was up to. He hadn’t been able to be alone with Apollo in weeks, between settling his last few poker matches before heading back to the land of the law, and Apollo spending all of his waking hours working on the world’s most aggravating case. By the time Friday rolled around, he was more than happy to simply push Apollo into the walls of his apartment and kiss him until the walls fell down.

Or, more accurately, his knees. He didn’t know or care to know how long they’d been standing in that same position. Long story short, it wasn’t comfortable, so he carried Apollo bridal-style back into his bedroom.

Phoenix was curious about the case Apollo was working on and excited to tell him about all of the horribly boring paperwork finally getting him back to where he belonged, and he was giddy and frantic and wanted to start shouting I love you in a way that would rival even Apollo’s Chords of Steel, but he could do all of that later. Right now his fingers wanted to touch every part of Apollo’s body they couldn’t reach during the day, when Apollo was in court or Trucy was in the room. His mouth wanted to suck and bite and whisper deliciously filthy things into Apollo’s ears, making the younger attorney blush and writhe up against him pleasantly. He wanted to say everything with his body that his voice wasn’t quick enough to reveal. Sex with Apollo was always amazing, but there was something so different about forgoing the condoms and spilling inside of him. It was disgusting and wonderful to not have redo everything to push back inside of him all the way, Apollo pushing back into him and keening with is hands clenching the sheets so tightly, making him shout and scream and yell until the neighbors were banging their fists into the walls and pleading for him to quiet down. Apollo was embarrassed, blush lighting up his body, but he didn’t care when he could feel how much Phoenix was enjoying it, running his hands over Apollo’s chest and huffing against the side of his neck, his fingers digging into and bruising his hips until Apollo was shrieking and coming again and he could freely shout Apollo’s name over and over again without caring if anybody heard him.

Apollo always got tired after sex, but he’d never felt so relaxed before, knowing he could just fall asleep with his lover without any deadlines. Phoenix wrapped his arms around Apollo’s middle, holding him close and kissing his shoulder gently. “I’m sorry, about – uhm,” he blushed. He didn’t really know how to say ejaculating inside you without it sounding weird.

But Apollo obviously understood, humming. “S’ok. I liked it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. That ‘n bein’ loud, gettin’ kinda embarrassed,” Phoenix squeezed him, making notes in his head. “I c’n feel how much you like it, ‘nd I like knowin’ that I’m doin’ well.”

Phoenix snorted. “Go to sleep, Polly.”

Apollo yawned, arching his back. “Yessir.”

Klavier couldn’t come over that night. He’d sent Trucy a quick text seeing he’d come see her tomorrow morning – Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth wanted a word with him. She seemed genuinely worried when she texted him back “Are you in trouble because of me?”

He didn’t know what to tell her. The real answer was “If not now, then someday soon.” He was lucky, though; if Herr Edgeworth suspected anything, he opted not to voice those suspicions.

Klavier was nervous about the following morning, and it wasn’t just the possibility of getting caught doing something so taboo and highly illegal that had him worried. It was ridiculous for him to fret, but he knew Trucy had been building this up in her head. He didn’t want to flatter himself by assuming this would be her first time having…well…intercourse, but that was the impression that he’d gotten; she’d given head before but this – this was something new for her.

The truth was that no matter how gentle he was going to be and no matter how often she’d fantasized about doing this, it was going to hurt, at least a little bit. He’d do his best to make sure she enjoyed it, but he couldn’t make any promises. He was making a game plan in his head now, that no matter how much she begged or insisted, he was going to take this slowly. It was a stupid notion for him to have, all things considered, but he wanted her first time to be special.

Trucy was dressed in her normal magician’s getup when he arrived that morning – wanting to be fully dressed, he supposed, in case it was someone else who greeted her. It wasn’t like that outfit was any less enticing – he’d pleasured her twice while wearing it. It was a little too form-fitting and if he were her father, he’d be uncomfortable letting his very attractive teenage daughter wear something so revealing.

Trucy smiled at him, one hand on her cocked hip as she let him in and locked the door behind him. She took him by the wrist leading him back to her bedroom. She closed that door, too.

It was weird, being in her bedroom. The rest of the apartment was kind of small and cluttered, but her bedroom was an exception. Whether it was always this way or she’d cleaned it up before he came over, he didn’t know or care. It was impressive. He slid his socks and shoes off, toes digging into the cheap carpet. He looked at the walls; there were posters of the troupe Gramarye, of Lamiroir, and of the Gavinners. There were a couple of playbills tacked above her desk.

His eyes focused back on Trucy herself, letting the blinds down and closing them. Her boots were already off, kicked into a corner. She sat the hat down gently on a dresser, slowly removed her gloves, and unclasped her cape, letting it slide to the floor.

Klavier took a few steps forward, untying the knot in the small scarf she wore around her neck. The skin where it had been rose into goosebumps, cold flesh warming up as he kissed her neck.

Trucy turned around to face him, her eyes piercing and perceptive. She slid the jacket from his shoulders, letting it fall to the ground before lifting his shirt up and running her hands over his chest. He shivered when the pads of her fingers caressed his nipples, for once not telling his body to calm down. He was getting hard, and he was going to let it happen. She unbuckled his belt and tugged it from the loops, winding her fingers around them. He declined his head, hands holding her shoulders, kissing her softly. It was, without a doubt, the most gentle and loving touched they’d shared since being together.

Trucy could feel her heart doing backflips, not just in excitement of what was to come. The way he kissed her was sweet, chaste, everything she wished her first kiss had been – instead of a cruel bet from a jackass in her class. His lips were soft and warm and she almost forgot what she was doing. Her hands faltered, letting go of the belt loops to unbutton and unzip the tight leather, revealing a sizeable bulge pushing against dark briefs.

Klavier sat on the bed, encouraging Trucy to recline with him. And she did, straddling him awkwardly with her dress riding up over her thighs. He lifted it, tugging it over her body and letting it drop to the floor. For the first time, Trucy felt…

Unsure. She knew she wanted to do this, but the insecurities about her body that she hadn’t given thought to since eighth grade started to resurface, making her question every inch of fat on her stomach or the muscle around her legs.

“If you do not wish to do this, Fraulein, we don’t have to do this.” The look on his face was…kind. Gentle. Not what she was used to seeing with the fierce precision he used in court or the cocky attitude he held with his rockstar persona.

She was feeling timid. She looked away slightly, saying, “N-no, I want to do this. It’s just –“

How could she possibly finish that sentence? The thought was embarrassing and the last thing she needed was for him to start seeing her like a child again.

“Adults are not always so confident of their figures either, Trucy,” he said softly. “It does not make you childish to be worried. But I assure you –“ his thumbs caressed her sides. “You have nothing to worry about, Liebling.”

She leaned down and kissed him, feeling better for what he said and yet still somewhat shy. His hands traced over her, tugging at the band to her panties. His hands rolled up again, fingers unlatching the back of her bra.

He’d seen her breasts before, but never really taken into account just how well her black dress hid them. It was still form-fitting, sure, but it gave no sign as to how big her breasts were. He cupped them, massaging them, pinching the nipples and humming when Trucy made a noise like a whimper and rubbed against him.

She pulled back, sitting on her knees by his feet, tugging his briefs. He elevated his hips so she could remove them completely, watching her eyes widen in hunger as she took the sight of him in. He pushed himself up, putting his fingers beneath the seam of her panties and pulling them down. She blushed has he muttered beautiful, kissing her stomach.

She laid back down beside him, not really sure what to do next. He kissed her again, waiting until her eyes closed to snake his hand down and press against her. She was getting wet, but not as much as she needed to be for him to do anything more than rub her clit with one finger. She whimpered again, pushing up into his mouth and attempting to pull her legs apart.

Klavier put a hand on her waist and maneuvered so that she was now laying where he had been, now hovering over her. Her nipples were erect and he had a hard time moving his eyes from them, trying to decide what he need to lick and kiss first to get her ready. He finally opted on bowing his head down, covering her right nipple with his tongue, tugging it lightly with his teeth and sucking. Her legs shifted and his hand moved between them, feeling the wetness spreading. He moved to the other nipple, coating it with saliva and enjoying the feeling of her enthusiasm seeping onto his fingers, his cock starting to drip.

He’d brought condoms with him, but when he reached for them Trucy stopped him. “I – I’m on the pill, and I – I kinda wanted to – t-to have my first time be without them.” She was blushing, the color spreading from her cheeks down her neck, trailing to her belly button. He didn’t think it was a good idea, but he nodded nonetheless.

He kissed her neck, her cheek, her lips. “Do you have any lubricant?” The blush got harder as she nodded, pointing at her bedside table. He was a little surprised – although he shouldn’t have been – to see a couple vibrators beneath silk underwear, the lubricant hiding in the back of the drawer. He chuckled and shook his head, smirking at her. “Hast du von mir denken?” He indicated the bottle in his hands, squeezing some of the cool substance onto his fingers and spreading it around. She watched, but didn’t respond. He pressed his fingers against her, rubbing, pushing one finger in. “Hast du von mir denken, Trucy?”

Her back arched and she huffed. “J-ja,” she admitted.

“Gut,” he said, still smirking. He pushed a second finger in, bending his knuckles. He didn’t want to give her too much, didn’t want to make her come before they’d really done anything. He poured more of the liquid out onto his hand, coating himself with it. Trucy was wriggling, biting her lip, watching him apply it, pump himself, swirl his thumb around the tip of his penis before letting go. He pushed her legs apart, positioning himself, counting off quietly in her ear before pushing in.

It didn’t hurt at first. She’d touched herself, worked with toys, but never really gone very deep. The first couple thrusts felt nice, but they were nothing compared to that fourth one that started to sting. She’d chewed on so much of her lip that it had started to bleed, chest heaving as she tried to get used to the pain.

Klavier was patient, not moving until she nodded for him to keep going. When he was fully inserted, her eyes could have rolled into the back of her head. It was surreal, feeling him in her and seeing their bodies touching like that. He kissed her neck softly, one hand on her hip and another cupping her breast. “Du bist so shön,” he praised, drawing back a little and pushing in.

Her nipples, which had started to flatten, perked back up against his thumb, breath catching in her throat. He withdrew, only to thrust back in again and something inside of her twinged like a spring. He wasn’t going very fast or being particularly forceful yet, but his dick was filling her up and she couldn’t breathe from anticipation and it was amazing. She pulled his head downward, kissing him passionately and smirking into his mouth when his hips stutter and he thrust in faster than he’d been meaning to. The feeling was greeted by a moan from her, wishing he’d do it again.

“Fühlt sich gut an, nicht wahr?” he asked, breathing against her neck. She nodded, arms wrapping around his back and nails digging in as he sped up minutely, still kissing her neck with maddening tenderness. He stuck to the place where her jaw met the back of her head, scraping his teeth against her skin.

She bucked against him. “F-fick mich schneller,” she begged.

He was so thrown off by the demand (Where is she learning this?!) and so overcome with lust at the words having been spoken like that, that he complied without really thinking twice. It wasn’t the fastest he could go (he could go fast enough to make her headboard slam against the wall, and to be honest he would if she asked him to, especially in that voice), but it was still faster than he’d initially intended on going with her on her first time. On her first time. Sounds like you’re planning on doing this again.

…Okay, who are we kidding? You are. It’s horrible and you should be ashamed, but you’re nuts about her and there’s nothing you’d like more than to hear her make those noises all night long –

Klavier groaned at his own internal monologue. She was whimpering loudly, and he must have been going slower without realizing it. “P-please! Klavier! Bitte hör nicht auf!”

He growled into her ear, the animal side he must have kept hidden coming out. “Ich möchte hören, wie Du darum bittest.”

“Please!” she shrieked. Her legs were all but wrapped around his waist, knees pushing in against him. “F-fuck me harder!” she shouted. “Please, please, please – Oh god –“

He couldn’t help but comply. He dug his teeth into her neck and pushed harder, faster, smirking in satisfaction as he heard the loud bang of her bed moving, colliding with the wall. She was squeezing around him, shouting, back arching as he drove into her, never having felt so pleased before with any lover as he did when he felt her pulsing around her, almost singing his name as she came. He groaned, thrusting through his own release, holding her body close to his.

He pulled out, laying on his side next to her and wondering how long it had been since he’d emptied into a partner, wondering if it made a difference. A little had seeped from her, staining the sheets under her.

She blushed, and he smirked. “Yes…Frau Trucy?”

“I-is it bad, that I want to do it again?”

He laughed softly. “Give a moment for my refractory period, and then we can do it as much as you like.”

Apollo was afraid he’d wake up and last night would have been a dream, because for the past three months all he wanted was to be able to wake up next to Phoenix and not pretend like they weren’t together. But Phoenix was still there holding him, mouth slightly ajar, hair tousled and shoulders covered in love bites Apollo had put there almost the minute the older man had walked through the door. He kissed his forehead softly, making sure he didn’t wake the other man up. He looked like he hadn’t slept very well in a while.

Apollo moved carefully out of the bed, picking up the first shirt he found on the floor and pulling it over his head. He hadn’t had a lot of Morning Afters, but the procedure wasn’t exactly difficult to memorize. They hadn’t been drunk on anything but each other, so coffee wasn’t as big a priority so much as food – had they remembered to even eat?

Phoenix stumbled out a couple minutes later, boxers pulled on and rubbing his eyes. He smiled warmly at his boyfriend, holding him from behind to kiss his cheek good morning. “Cute, smart, good with money and he can cook. I really scored the perfect man, didn’t I?”

Apollo blushed, shaking his head at Phoenix. “Don’t shake your head at me like that. It’s true and you know it.”

“Mm, I think I’m the one who got lucky,” Apollo commented, not taking his eyes off of the pancakes he was making.

Phoenix snorted. “Really? You must be seeing somebody else because there’s no way you’re talking about me.”

Apollo kicked Phoenix’s shin with his heel. “I love you, so I got lucky,” he retorted.

“Yeah, well,” Phoenix kissed his temple, swaying. “I love you too. So we’re even, at least.”

“I guess I can deal with that,” Apollo admitted. “Why don’t you go make coffee? You keep swinging me around like that and I’m gonna fall over.”

It was beyond wonderful to be able to eat, to talk, to complain about the morning news like every other couple got to do. The only thing that was really missing was Trucy making them like a bizarre sort of married couple in which Apollo was both the half-brother and the stepdad.

As much as they wanted to be able to stay in and spend all day kissing, Trucy would be home soon and today was the day they were going to tell her. Apollo was excited – and scared, at the same time. “What if she doesn’t take it well?” he asked. Phoenix shook his head and insisted on showering with him, to help him “relax.”

Well, okay, Apollo was relaxed afterword; relaxed and tired, having Phoenix go down on him every which way as he helped to clean Apollo up. Apollo only managed to get back at him once, Having Phoenix push against him as he jerked him off, splattering both their stomachs with his come.

Phoenix got dressed and then watched, fascinated, as Apollo did his hair in the same way as he normally did. Apollo blushed, not sure how to feel about being watched. “What?” he asked. “We don’t all have the privilege of having hair like Sonic the Hedgehog.” Phoenix laughed louder than was necessary, prompting Apollo to throw a bar of soap at him.

As they left the apartment, Apollo picked up a notice that had been taped to his door. As he read it, he looked like he might throw up. Phoenix plucked it from his hands, facing screwing his face up and starting to laugh as he read it out loud to further tease his lover.

“Dear Apollo, Congratulations on finally getting laid. But could you and Phoenix (is that really his name?) look into getting soundproofing equipment? My cats couldn’t sleep. Sincerely, Mrs. Smith in 2B.”

“Haha, Phoenix, very funny –“

“Look! There’s an addendum! ‘PS, are the two of you thinking of getting married? I made a bet with my friends that I would be the first of us to get invited to a same-sex wedding –“

“What? It doesn’t say that!” Apollo snapped, taking the note back and scanning it. “Wait, it…it really doesn’t say that? Why would you make something like that up?” Phoenix was blushing, looking away, shrugging awkwardly, looking really sheepish.

Apollo got an idea. It was probably ludicrous, but he was going to ask anyway. He’d already apparently entertained his neighbors by having loud sex, how could he possibly get more embarrassed. “Uhm, Phoenix, is that your idea of proposing to me?”

“W-well, you know, not if you don’t want to. I mean –“

Apollo snorted, dragging Phoenix toward him and kissing him. “Of course I want to, you idiot. That’s just the worst proposal I’ve ever seen.”

“You only say that because you’ve never met Larry,” Phoenix said, partly amused and partly nervous. “Do you-“

“Yes! Of course I meant it!” Apollo rolled his eyes, taking his hand.

“Oh! Good!” Mrs. Smith, the elderly woman living across the hall from Apollo, came out from behind her door, not the least bit ashamed that she’d been eavesdropping. “So, can I come to your wedding?”

“Uh,” Apollo looked up at Phoenix, then back to his neighbor. “Sure?”

“Oh, good! Mildred owes me a hundred dollars now,” she muttered, heading back inside her apartment.

No one currently seated in the Wright Anything Agency could say that this was their proudest moment. For the record, Apollo felt like an idiot for ever believing Trucy when she said she was going to a friend’s house. Of course she wasn’t. He was just too eager at the idea of finally having some much-needed alone time with his boyfriend – no, now, fiancé – to really care, to really think much into it. And now that he was watching the entire situation blow up, he was the one acting most inappropriately, because he was trying so hard not to laugh.

It hadn’t been funny when they’d first arrived home. There were only so many things those noises could mean, but the unnecessarily loud Oh God, yes, Klavier! Harder! kind of narrowed the options down even further.

And then there was seeing it, which was a whole new brand of awful. Trucy’s legs, wrapped around Klavier’s waist as he was driving into her with enough force to knock the bed against the wall. There was also the little fact he didn’t let Phoenix in on, at first anyway, that Klavier clearly wasn’t wearing any protection.

Phoenix was frozen at the door, unable to say or do anything with a look of pure horror on his face. Even once they were done, he didn’t say anything, just staring in front of him.

“Mm, was willst du, Frau Wright?” Klavier hummed. There were noises of them kissing before Trucy pulled away.

“I don’t know, I should probably straighten up a bit before Daddy and Polly get home –“

And now was Apollo’s time to break in. “Too late,” he offered. Phoenix still hadn’t moved from the front of the door, even when his daughter screamed and pushed herself away from the man on top of her.  Klavier fell off the bed in a slightly comical way. Apollo tried his best to keep his face unamused, but it was a little hard then.

Now, things were different. Phoenix simply didn’t get angry. Frustrated, sure; but the only time Apollo had seen him get even close to the fury he was expressing now was when he was talking to Kristoph.

“I can’t believe you would disobey me like that. Trucy, I asked you not to –“

Trucy had thrown a robe on, but it wasn’t covering up very much. Klavier had on his pants and an untucked shirt, watching the argument with rapt attention. He kept looking back and forth between Apollo and the argument, as if expecting the younger attorney to explain it to him.

Apollo just ignored it.

“Yeah?” Trucy snapped back. “That’s rich, judging me like that when I know you’ve been fucking the Chief Prosecutor!”

There wasn’t any time for Apollo or Klavier to react to what she’d said, his reply was so immediate. “I haven’t been fucking the Chief Prosecutor, I’ve been fucking your brother.”

Trucy’s mouth had been open, ready to bite back, but it closed. She was startled. It opened again, closed again. She shook her head one last time before murmuring, “I – I have a brother?”

Klavier looked directly at Apollo, which is probably what gave it away to Trucy. She looked at Apollo, hoping he’d do or say something to indicate one way or the other, but he was still sitting stone-faced at the table. She looked back at her Daddy, not sure how to react. “Apollo is my brother?”

Phoenix had his arms crossed over his chest, still glaring daggers at his daughter. “You –“ She looked at Apollo again, something like betrayal in her eyes. “You knew?”

Apollo shrugged. “I haven’t known for very long, and it wasn’t my place to tell –“

“No, it was Daddy’s,” she snapped. “And he –“

“Was asked by Lamiroir not to say anything,” Apollo continued. “She didn’t want us knowing we were related. I found out on accident.” He shifted, uncomfortable. “Your father was only doing what was asked of him.”

Trucy closed her eyes, licked her lips, and tilted her head to point any direction that was not the one she was currently facing. “So – so Lamiroir is our mother, Apollo is my half-brother, and my half-brother has been sleeping with my father?”

Apollo frowned. “When you put it that way, you make it sound like incest.”

Trucy turned to face…her brother. Weird. So weird. “Isn’t it? In a way?”

Apollo rolled his eyes. Some part of him knew that Trucy was going to make this difficult. “No, not really.” He stood up, approaching her. “He –“ Apollo pointed to Phoenix – “Is your adopted dad. There’s no DNA shared between the two of you, or between him and me, for that matter. And he is also not my father, adopted or otherwise.”

But Trucy had her jaw set and her arms crossed over her chest. “I fail to see how that makes things any less weird.”

Apollo rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t had nearly enough coffee to deal with this. “Would it have been any less weird not knowing we’re related?”

She thought about it, finger tapping her chin. “Honestly? No. It still would have been weird.”

“So how does us being vaguely related making things any different?”

“It just does!” she snapped. “Ugh. I’m going to get dressed,” she grumbled, storming off to her bedroom.

“You’re not done here, young lady,” Phoenix scolded. He sighed, covering his eyes with one hand. There was a reason he wanted to take time in telling her these things. He’d thought – or, he supposed, he hoped – that Trucy would take the news better than this. Of course she was going to be weirded out by the combination, but he thought she’d at least be happy for him, if not excited to know Apollo was her brother.

He turned to Klavier, glaring. The only thing keeping him from tearing the younger man apart was Apollo standing between them. Really, Apollo was the only reason things hadn’t somehow gotten worse. He was normally the more anxious and frustrated one in the group, but now he was the only sane man. “Exactly what did you think you were doing with my daughter?”

Klavier was quiet. He was surprised – he’d been expecting that cocky attitude he brought around in court, instead of this – whatever this was. All he did now was shrug. “I wasn’t thinking clearly –“

“Obviously,” Phoenix snapped.

“Nick –“ Apollo began.

“What?”

Apollo wasn’t afraid to look at him and match his stare. “I doubt this was all Klavier’s idea. Part of me doubts that any of this was his idea, you know what Trucy’s like. You can’t keep looking at her like she’s a helpless little girl –“

“She’s underage, Apollo –“

“I know how old she is!” He swallowed. He needed to keep himself from getting worked up. “M-my point is, if she’s going to insist on trying to act like an adult…I just think there’s only so much we can do,” he said helplessly.

Phoenix had calmed down, slightly. “Be that as it may –“ he looked back to Klavier. “You, Mr. Gavin, are an adult. You knew better, so why did you…give in, or whatever?

Klavier shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“What do you  mean, you don’t know?” He was getting testy again, and Apollo rubbed his shoulder, trying to get him to put his objection finger down.

Klavier sighed, head tilting back to hit the wall. “I did try, Herr Wright. I knew how wrong this was. And I don’t have an answer for you – I found her irresistible. Every time she kissed me – I knew I should have pushed her away. I kept trying, and I kept failing. I gave up because I wanted her, she wanted me, and I stopped seeing a reason not to give her what she wanted.”

“The fact that it was illegal –“

“Made me want to kill myself, at first,” Klavier admitted. His voice was lower, colder. “At first it seemed like she was happy and content with what she’d managed to get me to do – but the first time we were alone after that night, it just…happened. Again.” There was a long, awkward silence. “I know it doesn’t mean much, but I don’t know what else to tell you. I’m sorry. I should have shown better restraint.” Phoenix remained silent.

Apollo moved to stand in front of his lover, trying to break him of whatever mental block he was facing. “What do you want to do?” he asked softly.

Phoenix sighed, and looked over Apollo’s shoulder. “For now, Gavin, I want you to go home. And I don’t want you to come back here. I want you to switch your cases so that you’re not going up against Trucy and Apollo. I want you to block Trucy’s number and pray to God every night that I don’t decide to press charges against you.”

Klavier nodded, picking up his jacket and scurrying from the building in a shorter amount of time than Apollo had ever seen in his life.

Phoenix collapsed on the sofa, head between his hands. “Jesus, this is a fucking nightmare.”

Apollo wanted to sit next to him, but he had a bad feeling about something. “I’ll…be back in a few minutes.”

Phoenix raised his eyebrows. “Huh? Are you – are you okay?”

It was funny, how he could go from furious and kind of frightening to a nervous wreck. If this had been back at the beginning of his employment at the Wright Anything Agency, Apollo would have relished having that kind of power over the man he’d felt screwed him over.  Now it was just…kind of adorable. “Yes, I’m fine, but someone’s got to go chase Trucy down.”

Phoenix whipped his head around to where Trucy’s bedroom was located, and swore. “Damn magicians.”

Apollo was quiet as he approached her, but she could obviously still sense him coming. He was just thankful she didn’t give up and leave as he sat himself on the swing next to hers. “So,” he started, “How long have you and Klavier been having sex?”

She kicked a little with her feet. “Well, we haven’t exactly done a lot, but that first time was…I guess it was a month ago now? When you left to go pick up Daddy at the airport.”

Apollo nodded. “I kind of figured that was your first time.”

“Well, it wasn’t my first first time. I mean, like, I tried it on a couple of guys at school first to make sure I was doing it right –“

“I wasn’t aware there were ways to do it wrong.”

She blinked at him, then screwed up her face. “God, no, I don’t mean fucking. All I did was give him head. I sort of –“ Her face, neck, ears, chest, shoulders, back – everything exposed turned bright red. “Oh, god – I didn’t know who it was at the time, but I kinda –“ she hid her face in her hands. “I kinda watched you go down on Daddy, and took notes.”

Apollo blushed, crossing his legs, uncomfortable. “Took notes? O-on what, exactly?”

“On how to take it all in!” she squeaked.

Apollo’s face got redder. “Fuck.”

“What?”

He looked away. “I, uhm, I got advice on how to do that. F-from Klavier…”

She was appalled. “So – so he knew about you and Daddy –“

“No!” Apollo shouted. “I didn’t tell him anything. I think he might have, you know, suspected something, but the only person before you to know was Prosecutor Edgeworth.” He bowed his head, mumbling, “And that wasn’t on me at all.”

Trucy shook her head, staring out. Apollo took a minute before finding another question to ask. “So, was that your only time before – before this morning?”

Trucy shook her head. “He – he kind of, uhm, g-gave me head, that night,” she was beginning to run her fingers through her hand. She swallowed. “A-and he groped my breasts, and it felt so good, you know, to not have everyone look at you and think you’re five years younger than you really are –“

“I actually do know what that feels like.” He smiled to himself.

She sighed. “I thought I’d be okay, you know, with just that. But then the next time we were alone, I just sort of…I don’t know, I jumped on him. I wanted to be able to touch him. And he…surprised me. I wasn’t – I don’t think I ever expected him to reciprocate, but then his fingers were inside me and then his tongue was inside me and then I was jerking him off and he was squeezing my breasts –“

“You’re kind of going into too much detail here, Trucy.”

“Hey! It’s not like I have anyone else to talk to!” she snapped. “Besides, I walked in on you and Daddy often enough for you to just deal with it.” Apollo held his hands up in surrender. “Anyway. This… what we were doing, this morning…really, everything was my idea.” She swallowed. “I wanted to do it last night, but he got caught up in something else. I sort of…sexted him. About a week ago. And sexting turned into phone sex and turned into me asking him to come over. I wasn’t – I wasn’t actually expecting him to do it.”

Apollo was quiet. “Did you want him to?”

She nodded. “I did. I was nervous, but not in a bad way. And he was just so…gentle. About it. He kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to do this, if I wanted to stop, if I was okay. It actually felt nice. It felt special.”

“Well,” Apollo sighed, “I’m glad he was patient with you, at least. But you do know he wasn’t wearing protection, right?”

The blush came back and she spluttered. “Y-yes, I did know that! How did you?!”

Apollo rolled his eyes. “Contrary to popular belief, Trucy, I am a fully grown adult. I’ve had sex before. I know what condom wrappers look like, and that no one actually throws them in the trash. If you’d been using them, they’d be on the floor. I noticed you had lubricant, though. I didn’t know girls needed that.”

Trucy gave him an incredulous look. “Seriously, Apollo?”

“Trucy,” he said very seriously, “This might come as a shock to you, but I’m gay. I don’t exactly know much about what girls do and don’t use where sex is concerned. It’s never been a top priority and my knowledge honestly stops at tampons.”

Trucy snorted. “You’re such a nerd, Apollo.”

“Takes one to know one,” he shot back. “But seriously, why weren’t you using protection? Are you looking to get pregnant?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m on the pill. God, Apollo, get with the times. I just…I don’t know, I heard it feels different. Better.”

“It does,” he said simply.

She scrunched up her nose, hitting him on the arm. “Augh! Gross. I don’t even want to know how you know that.”

“Oh, what?” he said flatly. “You weren’t watching?”

“Stop it, Apollo!” she shouted. “That’s my Daddy you’re talking about!”

“But there’s nothing wrong with you telling me all the sordid details of your sex life with my court rival? Next time he’s pissing me off I’ll have two great images go through my head – one of him almost catching on fire and another of my little sister dominating him in bed. You really think I want that to go through my head?”

“Knock it off!” she swatted, him, but she was laughing. She smiled, rocking the swing gently and looking around before sighing to herself. “I guess I should go back soon. I just needed some time to myself to think, you know?”

Apollo nodded. He licked his lips, his heart palpitating so fast he thought he might go into cardiac arrest. “Are you… are you okay? With your dad and me, I mean.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Is it – is it just sex?”

Apollo shook his head. “No. We love each other very much, Trucy.”

She nodded, allowing another pause. “When did he tell you? The first time, I mean, I imagine he’s said it a lot.”

Apollo thought about it, blushing. “Uh, actually, the uhm. The first time you walked in on us. H-he didn’t really say it. He just kind of…whispered it against my skin.”

“How romantic.” She was staring at the ground, concentrating. “How do you know?”

“How do I know what?”

“When you’re in love? How do you know?”

He thought about it. Ema would have had a chemical equation, Klavier would have said something poetic about music. He couldn’t imagine Phoenix giving a straight answer, and to be honest, Apollo didn’t really know how to word it. “You just know.” She looked up at him. “I know, that’s really vague. But there isn’t really a solid way of knowing – you just do. You just realize it one day, and sometimes you feel ecstatic and giddy. Other times you just feel miserable, especially when it’s…someone you can’t ever have.” He swallowed. “I think, you know, it’s kind of obvious, how I used to feel.”

Trucy nodded, but she was frowning. “I think I’m in love with Klavier.”

Apollo sighed. “Yeah, I had a feeling something like that was coming.” He rubbed her shoulder, trying to be comforting and not knowing if it was working. “But sex can change you, too. You don’t have to know right now, but don’t – don’t do or say anything just yet. Get used to it, think about it. You’ll know when you’re ready to know.”

To his surprise, she was crying. “I’m just so scared of what Daddy’s going to do to him, that he’s going to get in trouble and lose his prosecutor’s badge and go to jail and that it’s all going to be my fault –“

“Woah, woah, calm down, Trucy,” She was hiding her face in her hands, shaking. “It won’t be all your fault – he is an adult, you know. He was capable of saying no, and whether you wanted it or not he should have.” He patted her on the back, rubbing circles like Clay had told him once his mother used to do when he was upset and couldn’t stop crying. “If it makes you feel any better, Trucy…we’re just playing things by ear.”

She sniffed, and looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“I managed to talk your father into letting things settle. If you wake up one day, and feel upset about it all, there’s no statute of limitations on rape – don’t give me that look. It’s statutory at the very least. But if that day never comes, if you turn eighteen and you want to pursue a relationship with him, then we’ll just let everything go.”

Trucy stared at him for a moment. He was getting uncomfortable now, under her gaze, waiting for her to say something. “Who’s ‘we,’ exactly? You’re not my mother, you know.”

Apollo ruffled her hair as he stood up. “Mother, brother – they rhyme, close enough. Besides,” he smirked, waiting for her to follow. “I’m going to be your step-parent soon enough, so –“

“Wait!” she shouted, jumping up. “You’re what?!”