Apollo had almost finished going through the stack of paperwork from his latest trial when his phone began to ring. He checked the caller ID, which read "Klav". He raised a brow in confusion and answered the call.

"Hey, what's up? I thought you said you had an appointment ri—" He was quickly cut off by an almost hysterical-sounding Klavier on the other end of the line.

"Apollo, Schatzi, come quickly! Ich werde sterben," Klavier cried out, voice hoarse. He sounded panicked, Apollo realized. He suddenly felt an icy chill rake through his body, as though he'd just been plunged into cold water. Klavier was supposed to be at a doctor's appointment right now. What could have happened? Did he get bad news? Did something go wrong?

"Klavier? W-what happened? What's going on," Apollo half-shouted, springing up out of his chair to stand from his desk—just in case he needed to run. He barely registered Athena and Trucy now peering through the window at him in concern.

"Ach, it's really bad! My doctor, he—" Klavier's voice stuttered to a halt as he audibly swallowed, likely out of...fear? Nervousness?

"He what?"

"He... He's ordered a blood test! Without even telling me!"

Pause.

"You called me in such a panic because you have to have blood work done," Apollo groaned. He heard the German actually whimper in response, and Apollo dragged a hand down over his face in an attempt to calm himself down and to quell the migraine he could already feel stirring .

While Klavier Gavin, renowned prosecutor and former rockstar, was a normal person just like anybody else, it was a fact easy to forget when he always hid his weaknesses and insecurities behind a wink and a smile; when he hid his loneliness under the guise of flirting. It was because, Apollo could only imagine, he hated being vulnerable. The only person he allowed to see those sides of him... was Apollo.

Apollo recalled the first time he'd been asked by the blonde to accompany him to an appointment. It was fairly early in their relationship, and he felt like they were finally beginning to bridge the gap between one another. Klavier hadn't explained the reason why he had wanted Apollo to go along with him, but when he found himself standing in the middle of an exam room, Klavier practically crushing his hand in his own while a nurse administered his influenza vaccination, he finally understood. Although, at the time, with the way Klavier had been anxiously toying with his rings and pacing around the room before the nurse arrived, and the way his jaw clenched uncomfortably the moment the needle pierced the skin of his arm, Apollo had assumed he'd been overexaggerating (or, at the very least, he was working himself up way too much). He had thought so, at least until they stepped out into the hallway afterwards, Klavier on shaky legs, and he suddenly went pale before collapsing onto the floor. Apollo just barely managed to get his arms under Klavier's body before his head could hit the floor.

After that, Apollo did some research. He read through dozens and dozens of medical articles, many of which he barely understood, and came to one single conclusion: the only term that could describe what ailed Klavier was something called vasovagal syncope, a sort of stress-induced reaction, categorized by a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure, leading to fainting. The most common stress triggers tended to be strain, stress, long period of exposure to heat, and the sight of blood. In Klavier's case, his trigger was both blood and needles. So, it was probably safe to say that he had trypanophobia.

And so, it was with a heavy heart at the sight of the paperwork he'd have to leave behind that he finally responded to the other man, who had long since gone quiet.

"Okay, I'll be there soon."


"During your last visit, you told me about some odd symptoms you'd been experiencing for a while. I had a feeling they might have been linked to iron deficiency or some other form of anemia. That's something that is best discovered sooner rather than later, so I ordered a CBC test."

"But you didn't even tell me about it!"

"That's because, Mr. Gavin, I knew that if I told you, you would magically have 'other business' come up, and then you'd just never come in to have it done. So I'm afraid this was the only way."

Apollo awkwardly stood outside, waiting for the right moment to enter. He didn't want to interrupt Klavier's conversation with his doctor, but he also didn't want to be labelled an eavesdropper, but with the chatter inside tapering off anyways, he opened the door. The moment Klavier's eyes met his, the blonde immediately lit up. He hopped up from the examination table, where he'd previously been slouched over with his chin resting atop his folded hands, and ran up to the brunette to crush him in a hug.

"Apollo, Ich bin so froh, dass du jetzt hier bist," Klavier murmured, face buried in Apollo's hair. Flustered, the shorter man pushed him away.

"I-I'm only here because you wouldn't get this done otherwise! I'm sure the doctor has other patients to see today, so we need to hurry and get this done..." Apollo trailed off, looking away in hopes that the room's sickly pale lights would somehow mask the color creeping into his features. Klavier chuckled and leaned down to whisper in Apollo's ear.

"Only if you'll stop hiding your face from me. You look good in red, H?schen~" A shiver ran up and down Apollo's spine. He knew this was just Klavier's way of attempting to deflect the attention from himself, but sometimes he hated how damn sly the man was. He quickly spun around and stepped right back out into the hall with a grumble, the sounds of both Klavier and his doctor's amused laughter following him.


The amusement didn't last too long once they actually got into the laboratory. Klavier slumped down into the seat the phlebotomist waiting for them motioned to. He shrugged off his jacket and handed it to Apollo with a weak smile.

"Danke, Apollo, seriously," the German said again, levelling a surprisingly sincere look towards the small defense attorney, taking him aback.

"Ah, um, no p-problem..."

The phlebotomist lowered the long padded arm and raised the seat to begin working, effectively trapping him in place. Klavier gulped. She pulled on a new pair of gloves and began preparing her equipment.

"Are you going to be okay? Do you need to... hold my hand or... something?" Klavier's eyes darted to his hands for a split moment at his offer, then looked back into his eyes again. He silently bit his lip, eyebrows furrowed. He seemed awfully troubled over such a small offer. Finally, he shook his head.

"No, I'll be fine," he responded, eyes closed. Apollo huffed, crossing his arms.

"It's fine, you know? I don't mind, really." Klavier laughed, covering his face.

"But you're doing enough already just by being here. I already feel bad having dragged you all the way here while you were working, but I have my pride, too." Apollo swore he could hear Klavier add, much quieter, "it's so pathetic."

Apollo sighed. He really hated how quickly Klavier was to spiral into his own self-deprecating thoughts, beating himself up over some of the smallest and pettiest of things. He partly blamed Kristoph for some of his self-esteem issues; Klavier had drunkenly admitted to him one night about how his and Kristoph's parents were killed in an accident when Klavier himself was nine, leaving the older Gavin brother to take care of him alone. Apollo took a moment, thinking back on the secrets they'd confided in one another...


It was a warm night, just after a particularly stressful case. Klavier had approached him and offered to take him out for drinks, and to both of their surprise, Apollo accepted. The next thing they knew, they were sitting across from one another at a private table at a smaller hole-in-the-wall bar downtown. Apollo was rather stiff at first, but one drink turned into two, and two into four, and with each drink they downed, the more they both began to loosen up. Soon enough, they were chattering away about anything and everything as though they were old friends simply catching up. Somehow or another, though, their conversation began to take an unusually serious turn. Klavier set down his glass, looking down at his hand pensively. Then he looked up at Apollo, and he began talking about his years overseas with his brother.

Kristoph had to take up multiple part-time jobs just to support the two of them after their parents' deaths, and over the years, he began to distance himself from Klavier. He told Apollo about a time he remembered when he woke up crying in the middle of the night from a nightmare he'd had, and Kristoph had come in to check on him when he'd heard the noise. He told him how Kristoph had reprimanded him, called him weak.

"I know I'm not dad or mom, but I'm doing my best, Klavier, so it's about time for you to grow up, as well. You know just as well as I that crying won't change anything. It won't bring them back." That was what he'd been told.

Soon after that, Klavier began distancing himself, too. He cut his hair short and pierced his ears, and he even started a band with Daryan and a couple of other high school friends. Most would have simply chalked it up to teenage rebellion, but he and Kristoph both knew the real reason for his sudden change; he wanted to become everything that Kristoph despised. He wanted to piss him off, because then he'd have no choice but to pay attention to him.

That was the story Klavier told him. In return, Apollo told him about Clay; how they'd both met when they were at their lowest. Apollo had just had his entire life uprooted by being sent to the States, leaving his adoptive father and older brother behind, and Clay had just lost his mother. Apollo saw him one evening crying by himself, and he decided to try and cheer him up.

Apollo admitted something to Klavier that night that he'd never told anyone else before, not even Clay (especially not Clay); the reason he approached him that night, the reason he stayed and comforted him, was because when he looked into his starlit eyes, he saw himself. Apollo, the little boy who had lashed out against the world, always getting into fights with his classmates, regularly skipping school, labelled a "problem child" by his teachers and simply placed in the resource room instead of being given proper guidance... He looked into the eyes of Clay Terran that night, a boy who had good grades and many friends, loved by both students and teachers alike, and saw himself; a lonely child who was just misunderstood. He and Clay quickly became best friends after that night—they were inseparable. They supported each other in ways that no one else had ever bothered to. So of course when Clay died, Apollo felt like he'd actually lost a part of himself, too. The only thing keeping him from breaking down was all of the people he'd met in the past couple of years who he'd come to care for, and who cared for him in turn. Especially Klavier.

Klavier reminded Apollo a lot of Clay. They both held the same levels of unparalleled drive and passion for their convictions, they were both strong and charismatic, and they both had ways of making people naturally gravitate towards them. But even more than that, when Apollo looked at Klavier, really looked at him, he saw the same loneliness he'd seen in Clay all those years ago. That was when he chose to close the gap between himself and the prosecutor. He'd lost not only his brother and his best friend, but half of his livelihood had been destroyed in the process. Because of that, he was alone just as well.

The two of them, now beginning to sober up after spilling their hearts out, made a promise to one another; they were both weak on their own, so they would become stronger together. If one fell, the other would be there to catch them. If one cried, the other would be there to wipe their tears. They would become each other's strength, so that neither of them would have to be alone anymore.


Apollo took a deep breath as he came back to himself.

Right now, he needed to ease Klavier's mind, and the only way to do that was to initiate it himself. The examiner was already wrapping the tourniquet around the blonde's arm, making him squirm. She turned his arm over and began poking around, feeling for the vein. He was already starting to look pale, and was that sweat beading at his forehead? She swiped a small patch of his skin with an alcohol wipe.

Apollo sighed again. He was probably going to regret this later, especially with how much he hated showing his moments of quiet intimacy with Klavier to prying eyes, but right now, he needed him. So, he swallowed down his hesitation and grabbed Klavier's free hand before he could talk himself out of it. Klavier flinched and looked up at the brunette with widened eyes, thoroughly caught off-guard. Apollo gave the prosecutor a smile.

"It'll be fine," Apollo said, voice an uncharacteristic near-whisper. Klavier continued gaping at him for several heartbeats before a wide, unsteady grin spread across his face. The phlebotomist announced she was all set to begin, and are you ready, Mr. Gavin?

Klavier swallowed thickly and nodded, and Apollo wrapped his other hand around the back of Klavier's head and pulled him in to lean against his chest so he wouldn't be tempted to focus on the needle the phlebotomist was now holding in her hand. He didn't even attempt to fight back. He simply let himself lean in and be tucked against the smaller man's body. He took in a shuddering breath at the warmth and safety radiating from him. The two men closed their eyes to weather against the barrage of emotions crashing against them both at once.

"Alright, you're going to feel a small pinch," she stated, and then the tip of the needle finally pierced skin. Klavier stiffened in his arms and squeezed his hand tight, and Apollo knew the German liked having his hair played with, so he began running his other hand through golden strands in a soothing motion. He glanced at the needle and the tiny tube attached to it, which now had dark red blood flowing through it, slowly filling several small vials one by one.

"You're doing great, Klav," Apollo whispered into the top of his boyfriend's head, "you're almost done." As far as he was concerned, they were the only two people in the world at that very moment.

All in all, it probably didn't even last three minutes, but it still felt like eons that he'd been standing there, holding Klavier against him. It was the examiner's voice that finally snapped them both from the dreamy state they were lingering in and brought them back down to reality.

"Okay, you're all done!"

Apollo reluctantly pulled away, feeling his earlier blush begin to return to his cheeks with a vengeance as he realized just how close they had been just then, and then he felt thankful that only one person had seen their private moment. He watched Klavier's eyes slowly flutter open. The phlebotomist, having already removed the needle, finished off the procedure by taping a piece of gauze sponge to the small wound. She smiled cheerily at the two.

"There you go! You did very well this time, sir! You're free to go whenever you're ready." She clapped her hands together, cleaned up her supplies, and left the two to themselves. Klavier sat back and flipped his hair over his shoulder, laughing awkwardly.

"Well, that was embarrassing, ja?"

Apollo struggled to find the right words to respond. He was always better at showing how he felt through actions rather than words. He instead chose to stay silent, rubbing his wrist on impulse.

"Ach, well, maybe I'll get better with these things soon. Then I won't have to bother you with these impromptu visits anymore."

'Stop it,' Apollo thought to himself, "stop saying things like that." It was only when he noticed Klavier staring at him with a raised brow that he realized he'd said that last part aloud. 'Fuck it, I might as well roll with it.'

"Stop saying things like that you're 'bothering' me," Apollo started, arms crossed. "Caring about you and being here for you isn't a bother. It's... what I want to do. Besides, isn't that what we promised each other?" Klavier seemed surprised at the mention of their promise.

"...You're right, Schatzi."

Apollo helped the blonde to his feet, keeping a hand on his lower back to ensure he didn't fall, before handing his jacket back to him.

"I said I'd be here for you, and I meant it. So... you don't have to shoulder all of these burdens yourself," Apollo quickly leaned up and pressed a chaste kiss to Klavier's lips before whirling around to hide his reddened face, even though the prosecutor could see the color painting the tips of his ears. Klavier thought it cute, but supposed it was best not to say anything lest he ruin the tender moment they were sharing. It wasn't something that his boyfriend normally initiated, after all. Instead, he timidly reached forward and took Apollo's hand in his once more. To Klavier's surprise, he didn't pull away. No, after a moment, he tentatively squeezed back. They left the clinic then, hand in hand, and for once, Apollo didn't complain about Klavier's show of affection.

They both knew that with the other's hand in theirs, as long as they had one another, they would be fine.

They would be alright.