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Apollo was just getting ready to leave, when he heard a familiar voice coming from behind him. He spun around to face Klavier.
"Leaving already, Herr Forehead?"
"I'm done investigating here for now, so, yeah." Apollo straightened his jacket. He'd just been crouching down at the scene of a crime for a while. The case was annoyingly complicated, as always. Mr. Wright seemed to have a talent for picking out cases like that.
Klavier looked around. "Is the Fraülein not here with you today?"
"You mean Trucy? No, she's at school right now."
"Is something wrong?"
Apollo looked up at Klavier, who looked worried. "No, why?"
"You seem very distracted, and you're frowning more than usual."
Apollo sighed. "It's just- this whole case doesn't make any sense."
Klavier laughed softly. "Ach, don't worry so much, Süsser. It's not good for that forehead of yours."
Apollo groaned. "Not another one. What does that even mean?"
Klavier raised his eyebrows. "Another what?"
What do you mean 'another what'!? "Another nickname." Apollo rolled his eyes. "You called me… Well, I don't know what it means, but-"
He was interrupted by Klavier gasping. Apollo barely heard it, and Klavier tried to play it off, but he'd definitely gasped. "What is it, Prosecutor Gavin?"
"A-Ah, it was nothing, sorry." Klavier flashed his usual grin, though it was a little off. Not much, and usually Apollo wouldn't have thought much of it, but a tightening grip on his wrist alerted him of its significance.
Klavier was nervous .
But why? It was just a stupid nickname, wasn't it? Klavier had no problem calling him by any other nickname, so why was this one different...? "Uh, Prosecutor Gavin?"
Klavier smiled brightly at him again, having returned to his cool and calm exterior. "Ja?"
Apollo bit the inside of his lip. "What did it mean? The nickname?"
Klavier shrugged, as if it was no big deal. "Ach, nothing really. It's just a nickname, something you can call anyone-"
"You can't lie to me, Klavier."
Klavier raised his eyebrows. Apollo pointed at his bracelet. Klavier was good at keeping a calm composure, but Apollo noticed how Klavier had glanced away for a second, how he was fiddling with his rings. Klavier's face fell and he sighed.
"Ah, right…" He rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting Apollo's gaze. "I'm sorry, Apollo, I didn't mean to lie to you."
Apollo raised an eyebrow, then frowned. This wasn't like Klavier at all. Apollo's bracelet wasn't reacting to anything specific either. Klavier was being honest, but he still wasn't telling him anything.
"Can you at least tell me what it means?"
Klavier looked at Apollo with a pained expression. Apollo looked away this time, fumbling with his bracelet. "I mean, it's obviously not nothing."
Klavier seemed to hesitate. He still didn't want to say it, which made Apollo's stomach clench. Apollo breathed in and out deeply. "It's alright, Prosecutor Gavin, people have called me things before. It's more important to me that you're honest-"
"Ah, no! That's not…" Klavier sighed. "It's nothing bad or hurtful. I would never call you something bad, especially not in German."
Apollo was about to sigh too, accepting the painful truth that Klavier was not going to be honest about it, but he stopped when he realized the bracelet didn't react.
He looked back up at Klavier, who was looking away again. He looked almost in anguish.
"What…?"
"Just let it go, Apollo. It's not important, ja?" Klavier still looked nervous. Everything about the way he was acting was off, even though he was pretending it was fine.
"Anyway, I don't want to take up all your time. I'm sure you've got more important things to do." Klavier finally looked him in the eyes for a brief moment. "Good luck with your investigation." Then he left.
Apollo wanted to stop him, but he didn't. It wouldn't be a good idea, since Klavier clearly didn't want to talk about it. He sighed and made sure he had everything he needed before walking towards the exit. What could be so bad that Klavier doesn't want to talk about it, but not so bad that it's an insult?
"Hey, Apollo!"
He looked over to where the voice came from and saw Ema walking over from the direction Klavier had gone in. She looked puzzled.
"What happened to the fop? He ignored me completely!"
"Ah- Nothing, really," Apollo quickly said, unintentionally mirroring Klavier's words. "Why do you care, anyway? I thought you hated him?"
Ema rolled her eyes. "Yeah, obviously. I'm just wondering what's got him so quiet. I've never been able to get that glimmerous fop to ignore me. And trust me, I've tried."
Apollo looked off to the side. He felt almost guilty. "It's nothing important."
"Nothing important? It sure didn't look like nothing." Ema then raised one eyebrow with a smirk. "You know, he was blushing when I passed him." She laughed, then walked off while fumbling with some investigation tools.
Blushing? What was that supposed to mean? "Ema-!" Apollo wanted to ask her, but she was already gone. Maybe she didn't see it right?
Apollo was sitting on the couch in the Wright Anything Agency. He'd somehow finished with what he needed to do today, despite some distractions, but decided to stick around for a while.
What had happened earlier was still stuck in his mind. The moment kept replaying in his head: the conversation, Klavier's denial, the nickname itself… Especially the nickname. It sounded nice, but Apollo had no idea what it meant. For all he knew it could be an awful word.
Maybe it really was nothing, like Klavier had told him.
But then again, Klavier had acted very different and was obviously hiding something from him.
His mind kept going back to his initial assumption. It wasn't anything bad, though. Klavier had been honest about that, at least. His bracelet didn't lie, did it?
But what could it be, then? If it was something silly or friendly, then why hide it? It simply made no sense.
There was one other possibility, but Apollo had refused it immediately. That was just… It was wishful thinking. He didn't allow himself to think about it.
The door to the side of him opened, jerking Apollo away from his thoughts. Athena walked out, probably done as well. She frowned when she saw Apollo, and opened her mouth to say something. Apollo jumped up from the couch, stopping her. "Athena! I need to ask you something."
Athena snorted. "Wow, it must be important if you waited for me this whole time."
"What? It hasn't been that long-"
"It's been an hour since you said you were done for the day." Athena raised an eyebrow.
Apollo was about to object, but then paused. Really?
Athena fell down on the couch. "So, what's up?"
Apollo sat down too, and breathed in deeply. "You know German, right?"
Athena frowned and sat up. "Yeah, a bit, why?" She paused, seemingly in thought. "Did you manage to get a German client somehow? I don't know if I'm fluent enough for that…"
"What? No! I just need you to translate something for me."
Athena nodded, and looked relieved. "Alright, I can do that. What is it?"
Apollo hesitated for a moment. He realized he didn't know what kind of word it was, either. Maybe it was something embarrassing? Or personal?
He doubted it, though. It was still just a nickname. Besides, Athena already had enough to embarrass him with, what's one more thing?
...One more thing would be a lot, actually.
Oh well, it was too late now.
"What does 'Süsser' mean?"
Athena's eyebrows shot up, and Apollo's stomach clenched. That wasn't good, was it?
She then smirked, raising one eyebrow. Much like Ema had. Why was everyone looking at him like that? What did it mean!?
"I'm guessing Prosecutor Gavin said this to you?"
Apollo recoiled. "What? How- I mean, why do you think that?"
She laughed. "Well, for one, he is the only other person I know, at least, who talks German, let alone uses German in his everyday speech."
"...Yeah okay, that's true." He thought for a second. "I could've read it somewhere, though!"
"You wouldn't know the proper pronunciation." Athena grinned. Apollo groaned.
"Also…" She trailed off, her smile dropping.
Apollo frowned. "Also…?"
"Well, the word 'Süsser' is used as a nickname for… Er, for people you care about. It comes from the word Süß, which means sweet."
Apollo's frown only deepened. Sweet? What...? She scratched the back of her neck.
"Basically, when someone calls you Süsser, they're calling you 'Sweetheart'."
For a few long seconds you could hear a needle drop in the room.
"What!?"
Athena winced. Phoenix scolded him from the other room for using his Chords of Steel.
"Uh, Apollo…?" Athena asked, carefully, "Are you… okay?"
Apollo barely processed what she said. His face felt like it was on fire.
Athena laughed softly. "You look pretty flustered."
"I… Are you sure?"
"One hundred percent."
Apollo looked at the floor.
Sweetheart.
"I'll give you a minute," Athena said as she stood up and left, hardly containing her smug smile.
Sweetheart.
Apollo walked quickly down the long hallway, his mind still spinning. He still could hardly believe Klavier called him that. Was Athena really sure it meant that? He reached the right door and knocked quickly.
What if it meant something else? A muffled "Come in!" could be heard from the other side. Apollo didn't hesitate for a second.
Klavier swivelled around in his chair to face him. Apollo didn't miss how Klavier's smile dropped for a moment before he regained his usual composure. "Ah, Herr Forehead! How nice of you to make a surprise visit."
Apollo stood in the door opening, stunned into silence. Klavier sounded so… casual . He wasn't sure what he was expecting to find, but he didn't think it would be so normal. As if nothing had happened between them. Nothing has happened yet, I guess. Not that anything is going to happen. ...Well, maybe-.
"Uh, Forehead?"
"Ah- Sorry!" Apollo quickly turned around and closed the door behind him. He was overthinking this.
Klavier laughed briefly as Apollo walked farther into the office. "So, what brings you here?"
Apollo faltered, and rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't sure of this at all. Maybe the word was used differently in Germany? It is a whole other culture. Or maybe Athena was fucking with him, though Apollo doubted it…
Klavier was still frowning. "This isn't about…" He trailed off. "About that nickname, is it?" He said it quietly, as if he was afraid of bringing it up.
Apollo looked down. "Er, well…" He felt guilty for bringing it up again. Klavier had made clear that he didn't want to talk about it. But then again, this was important, wasn't it?
Klavier groaned, covering his face with one hand. "I'm sorry, okay? It was a simple mistake, it really doesn't matter-"
"I asked Athena," Apollo exclaimed. "What it meant…"
Klavier looked back at Apollo, raising his eyebrows high enough that they nearly disappeared under his hair. He looked mortified. Apollo felt his heart pounding against his ribs. Should he really be doing this?
"It, uh…" Apollo paused. He had no idea what he was supposed to say, but he had to say something to break this tense silence he'd created. "It's sweet."
He'd said it without thinking, and only realized what he'd actually said when Klavier looked even more surprised. "Th-That's what it means, I mean! I, uh…"
Apollo breathed in, to try and calm down. When he looked back, Klavier looked pained. "Apollo, I-"
"Did you mean it?"
Klavier said nothing.
This was a mistake. It probably hadn't meant anything at all, just like Klavier had tried to tell him. Klavier had been borderline flirting with Apollo since they met , that's just how he was. He didn't mean it. Not like that. It was just wishful thinking.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have... Nevermind." Apollo turned around and started to walk out.
When he almost reached the door, he heard noise coming from behind him. "Wait!"
A warmth wrapped around his hand and pulled him back into the office, away from the door. Apollo turned back. "What-"
"I did."
Klavier, who had gotten out of the chair and was now standing in front of him, had grabbed Apollo's hand. He still looked unsure, but he didn't let go. Apollo frowned. "What? What do you mean?"
"The nickname. I hadn't intended to actually say it..." Klavier looked away for a moment, then took a small step forwards. "...but I did mean it."
He was standing close enough to Apollo that Apollo could faintly feel his breath. Apollo saw the uncertainty in Klavier's eyes, now that Klavier couldn't hide it any longer. It was almost like he'd become a different person.
Apollo smiled back. "Good. I was hoping you did."
Klavier's eyes still widened for a moment, but then he smiled. It was unlike any other smile Apollo had seen on his face. It was a genuine smile. It was a nice smile.
He leaned in closer. Apollo did too.
Without thinking, Apollo lifted himself up by standing on his tiptoes and closed what little distance had been between them.
It took a second for Klavier to react, but when he did he wrapped his arms around the small of Apollo's back to deepen the kiss. Apollo
put one hand on Klavier's back and one on his neck, pulling him closer.
A warm feeling spread in Apollo's chest. He could hardly believe this was happening. Klavier actually returned his feelings! He didn't think that would ever happen, though he hoped, and now he was kissing Klavier.
His heart was still pounding as if it were trying to break through his ribcage, and he wondered if Klavier's was, too. It was hard to focus on anything other than Klavier's lips, the pounding of his own heart, the warmth tingling in his fingertips.
They finally broke away for air. Klavier opened his eyes and smiled fondly. Apollo smiled back. He raised his arm so both hands were resting behind Klavier's neck.
He then started to feel his feet hurting, and shifted slightly.
Klavier's smile turned into his usual grin. "Sorry to have kept you on your toes."
Apollo huffed. "You could bend down next time, you know."
"But that's so bad for my back," Klavier teased. Apollo rolled his eyes, then smiled.
"It's a nice name, by the way."
"Hmm?"
"'Süsser' . It sounds nice."
Klavier smiled. "You think so?"
Apollo nodded. "It might be the only German word you've ever said that I could actually tolerate to hear all the time."
Apollo could both hear and feel Klavier laughing. "Well, in that case, I'll keep using it, Süsser."