Coolest Defence In The West

There is only room for two in this courtroom

[coolestgavin]

"Justice. I'm certain this goes without saying after you defended our client so well today, but..."

"You're fired ♥︎"

[coolestgavin]

"This frigid culinary dungeon almost feels... comfortable."

Or rather, Kristoph might finally feel comfortable, once the corpse of the anonymous traveller now striding into the restaurant was safely cooling in the Borscht Bowl Club's basement, next to a bottle with his dear friend's fingerprints and during the shift of a conveniently-suspicious waitress.

"... Later then, Wright."

[klavierforte]

(from coolestgavin) 🍻+ "Do you love me?"

send 🍻 and a question for drunk klav to answer!

The 21 year old blinks a little slowly, tilting his head a little at his brother's question.

"Of course I love you, Kris." The German is a little slurred, but clear enough from his words that it's sincere.

It's the night of his birthday, meaning a quiet dinner just for the two of them to celebrate. Klavier had never been one for overly lavish birthday celebrations like most celebrities, or even other members of the Gavinners, and maybe it was still a bit childish to have the family dinner. But it was tradition for them both.

And, when you turn the legal age for drinking in the States and your elder brother invites you over for your favorites and some of his best wine, can you really say no?

The question strikes him as odd, though. Neither Gavin brother has really ever said the words as often as other siblings might, but to Klavier it had never really been in question.

"Even…" He squeezes his eyes shut as his brain sluggishly sorts through the best zingers to stammer out—he's had beer before while in Germany during law school, sure, but wine's a different beast. "Even when you nag and complain about the—the noise…" Klavier wobbles very faintly in his chair. "'s just music! An…an 'm good at it, so—ssssshhhhh, 'm gonna keep makin' it."

And then he waves a hand, shaking his head (which he will regret in ten minutes when he has a blistering headache). "Who d'snt love their…their big bro'r. Even when ya piss me off."

[coolestgavin]

"Good," Kristoph answered, satisfied, and his gaze relaxed as if the question had had no deep meaning behind it, and he hadn't just been intensely measuring the sincerity in Klavier's reaction. Never mind that he had waited like a coward until his little brother had overindulged in the wine to ask. He hadn't had nearly as much himself, and he held his liquor much better in any case, but he still would not have admitted if they were not both drinking: "I worry sometimes, that you might have out-grown me."

Things had been odd between them. In a way they always had been, with Kristoph being so much older and spending the last decade straddling the line between sibling and parent -- but he had sensed a distance slowly growing since Klavier had embraced adolescence, which had sharply accelerated after the Gramarye trial. That trial was supposed to have brought Klavier back under his wing, but Phoenix Wright and Zak Gramarye had robbed him of the chance to humble his brother in his courtroom debut, and then also sabotaged his contingency of handing Klavier the key to victory. It had ended with Klavier making enemies of Wright's acquaintances, without even a high-profile verdict to jump-start his legal career, and rather than feeling a renewed sense of Kristoph's superiority, he had reacted by finding solace in his band and moving farther out of reach.

So Kristoph couldn't help but feel relief, being allowed to continue this little home tradition for another year when Klavier's birthday came around, and hopefully keep him from drifting further. The dinner was a subtle reminder that the big brother would always provide for the little one, and the wine...

It wasn't that Kristoph had planned for this to happen, but he'd known from the start that Klavier would drink more than he could handle, and he had made only the most half-hearted attempts to discourage him from doing so. Just enough to be able to say 'I told you so' when the younger Gavin inevitably found himself too impaired to celebrate any more. The wine was a not-so-subtle reminder that the little brother would always need the big one to save him from his own mistakes.

Klavier's inarticulation, foreshadowing his return (if only temporary) to a state of dependence on the older and wiser between them, was a great source of comfort. Kristoph smiled in delight, nodding at the toothless grievances levied at him as he stood to clear their empty plates from the table and serve dessert. "Yes, well, nagging is my job as a big brother, isn't it? I'm glad you don't hold it against me."

His hand fell firmly onto Klavier's shoulder to hold the swaying young man steady as he placed a slice of cake with a single lit candle gingerly in front of him, and gave a little squeeze. "I love you, too, Klavier. Happy birthday."

[coolestgavin]

♠︎ Kristoph is trilingual, fluently communicating in German, French, and English. He was raised in Germany with both German and French, as those were his parents' languages, and he gradually picked up English over his youth through school and exposure to English-language media. By the time his family moved to Japanifornia when he was a teenager, his English was passable, but he had a strong accent and still mostly spoke in simple sentences.

♠︎ Disliking both standing out as a foreigner and not feeling taken seriously for his English, Kristoph devoted a lot of energy to becoming more eloquent than his peers and minimizing his accent. While his effort paid off and he was amazingly successful at this, he overcompensated, and as an adult there's a gulf in how cultured he sounds speaking English compared to his native languages. He basically abandoned studying German and French after he moved to focus on polishing his English. He finished high school and university in English, and read English literature almost exclusively for leisure, so while he delights in sounding intelligent and flexing his esoteric vocabulary in English, his vocabulary and reading level in his first two languages is stunted at the level of a middle-schooler. (A very bright middle-schooler, maybe, but still underwhelming for an adult lawyer.)

♠︎ Kristoph is very aware of the consequences he's reaped for neglecting those languages, so these days, he usually only speaks German or French privately to family. Even when communicating with other professionals or clients who don't speak it natively, Kristoph will use English as much as he can get away with, to avoid sounding less educated than he is.

[coolestgavin]

Which saccharine pet name are you?

angel. you deeply ache to be beautiful. to be loved. you don’t always return people’s feelings; rather, you concentrate on whether they have a perception of you that you can control. you want love to feel safe.

tagged by: stole it from myself lol

tagging: who all wants to

[coolestgavin]

☃ : What is your muse’s favorite season? What about their least favorite season, if they have one?

Random headcanons [x]

♠︎ Kristoph's favourite season is autumn, for the weather and the fall colours. Since certain milestones in his life, like school years starting and his brother being born and killing Drew Misham, have happened in the fall, he also associates it personally with new beginnings and chances, and thinks of it as an auspicious time.

♠︎ He dislikes both summer and winter. He wilts in the heat and is always uncomfortable during the summer, and in addition to the winter drying out his hair and skin, if he gets sick at any time during the year, it's usually with whatever illness is circulating in the wintertime.

[coolestgavin]

📱 : Does your muse prefer calling or texting?

Random headcanons [x]

♠︎ Kristoph very much prefers phone calls to text messaging, mostly because it's what he's used to, but also because he can guarantee that he has the other person's attention, and (unless Phoenix Wright is recording him) there's no evidence left behind of what he's said. If he's using asynchronous written communication, it's more likely to be in an email or a letter than a text, and he's more likely to use texts to plan phone calls than to chat.

[coolestgavin]

♨ : Does your muse have good table manners? How do they feel about bad table manners?

Random headcanons [x]

♠︎ Kristoph has excellent manners, which he honed as part of his respectable image and fluidly adjusts to the situation. He always tries to be a small step more neat than is appropriate for the context, in order to look like the most refined person in the room without standing out or drawing accusations of overdoing it.

♠︎ He doesn't have particularly high standards of etiquette for anyone else dining with him, so long as they seem generally aware of what's appropriate and don't make enough of a mess to embarrass him. But there is a minimum of what he feels are considerate and respectful table manners, and though it's rare for anyone to be that bad, he will take it as an insult and openly shame anyone falling below it.

[coolestgavin]

☕ : Does your muse prefer coffee or tea?

Random headcanons [x]

♠︎ In general, Kristoph prefers drinking tea for the taste; he only drinks quality blends given the choice, but even cheap teas tend to score higher with him than coffee, which he's very particular about and needs cream and sugar to be palatable.

♠︎ However, he often ends up drinking coffee more for practical reasons, especially while he's working and needs the pick-me-up. Coffee is very tied to certain routines for him, and he gets irritable when he doesn't start his workday with a cup, or has to work late without it.

[rosy-rpmemes]

Random headcanon meme!

⍤ : What does your muse’s voice sound like? Is it light? High pitched? Scratchy? Deep? 

✍ : What is your muse’s handwriting like? Is it neat? Sloppy? Fancy?

☕ : Does your muse prefer coffee or tea?

⌚ : Is your muse good with keeping on schedule for meetings, appointments, or events, or are they always late? Or, are they always a bit early?

♿ : Has your muse had any injuries in the past?

☺ : What is your muse’s smile like? Do they smile often?

⚡ : How does your muse feel about storms? Are they afraid of them, or do they calm them?

⚠ : How does your muse react to possibly dangerous situations? Do they face them head-on, or do they plan out their actions first?

☃  : What is your muse’s favorite season? What about their least favorite season, if they have one? 

☂  : Does your muse like rain?

☼ : Does your muse like daytime or nighttime more?

🏨  : How well does your muse sleep?

❤ : What are your muse’s thoughts on love? If they are not in a relationship, do they believe that they will ever find a perfect someone for them?

☘ : Does your muse believe in luck? How about fate?

⚯ : Does your muse have good eyesight? If not, what is it like? Are they nearsighted or farsighted? Or both? Do they use glasses? Or do they prefer contacts?

👓 : If your muse wears glasses, what are their glasses frames like?

♨ : Does your muse have good table manners? How do they feel about bad table manners?

❀ : What is your muse’s opinion about flower crowns?

♬ : Does your muse sing well? Regardless of whether they sing well or not, do they enjoy singing?

📐 : Is your muse good at math? Do they like it, or do they hate it?

♞ : What is your muse’s favorite animal?

εїз : How does your muse feel about bugs and insects?

📱 : Does your muse prefer calling or texting?

☆ : Of the sun, stars, and the moon, which is your muse’s favorite?

ツ : Does your muse prefer lots of friends, or just a few close ones?

✝ : Is your muse religious?

[klavierforte]

Klavier can't help the way his brow furrows, purses his lips. "Short of asking. Which you know you always can. Nothing's stopping you."

"Well, you've always been an eye for talent, that's for certain. At least it means you have decent help over there when organizing case details. Unless she decides that she wants to actually take the bar."

[coolestgavin]

"Certainly... on the rare occasions we're in the same room anymore, asking after you is simple. But I do try to be considerate and avoid distracting you when you're on a tour ten time zones away and running on fumes; I know better than to risk throwing off your groove and incurring your wrath."

"While she's assured me that she has no such aspirations, sadly she's requested to move to part-time while she undertakes her protracted legal battle against ex-husband number three, so I'm still bereft of her help half the days of the week. It's put me in quite a bind."

««

[coolestgavin]

6. Did they feel rejection or affection as a child? (my face sending this one is just >:^)))) )

Character-solidifying asks [x]

♠︎ As a young child growing up, definitely affection. Kristoph was a relatively easy child to raise, agreeable and a little precocious in the ways adults appreciate, so he got lots of positive attention from his parents and other relatives. While his mother in particular was more strict and had higher expectations, he usually met those standards eagerly and was rewarded with her approval.

♠︎ Things changed for him when, after 8 years of being an only child, he suddenly got a baby brother and lost what felt like a massive amount of attention from the adults in his life. His parents' behaviour towards him didn't significantly change, but to little Kristoph, having to now compete for their time felt a lot like rejection. After Klavier was born, Kristoph worked a lot harder at seeming exceptional, to try to earn the attention he was used to back -- especially from their mother, whose high standards now made her regard even more covetted than before.

♠︎ But the affection Kristoph felt was denied by his parents was eventually amply bestowed on him by his little brother, so though Klavier was his rival for attention, he never thought of him as an enemy. Rather, having felt like his parents' love could be conditional, he was that much more intent on ensuring that Klavier would continue to admire him no matter what.

[coolestgavin]

13. Did they like school? Teachers? Schoolmates?

Character-solidifying asks [x]

♠︎ Kristoph was a bright student and academically-inclined, so he did quite well in school and was always liked by the staff, but it was more of an obligation that he accepted than a place he actively enjoyed going. He took pride in being the top of his class and impressing his teachers, but he didn't have much passion for his education outside of that.

♠︎ He wasn't much for socializing with his peers, either, but he made it more of a priority after moving to the US as a teenager, out of a desire to integrate. Introverted but not shy, he mostly reserved his company for kids in the grades above him, generally feeling that his same-age peers were not mature or intelligent enough for him. He nurtured few friendships, partially due to his own selectivity, but he did struggle a bit to fit in as a newcomer, as well.

[coolestgavin]

hc + ✂️ for a hair-themed headcanon

A hair-themed headcanon [x]

♠︎ Kristoph had shorter hair until his late teens, and only committed to growing it out when he started university. His hairstyle used to be more Sorin-Sprocket-y when it was short.

[coolestgavin]

hc + 🚶‍♂️ for a habit-themed headcanon

A habit-themed headcanon [x]

♠︎ Kristoph used to chew his fingernails, and badly. Both hands, all the way to the quick, bloody hangnails, torn cuticles, the works. His hands looked awful for most of his childhood and adolescence, and he was horribly self-conscious about them, often finding excuses to avoid showing his hands or just outright hiding them behind his back.

♠︎ He would go through better and worse phases, but he didn't finally succeed in curing himself of the habit for good until he started regularly painting his nails.

[klavierforte]

"Pfft. Bruder, what's in the tabloids is either entirely made up or really old news--of course her divorce is more interesting. ...Wait, her third? She must have the worst luck on Earth."

[coolestgavin]

"Well, those 'entirely-made-up' tabloids are the only way I can keep up with your life, anymore. And the tales they tell are more interesting, even if they aren't true."

"I'd dare say her ex-husbands are the ones with the bad luck... she may not be a lawyer, but I fear her comprehensive knowledge of how to get exactly what she wants in the separation could rival the best of us."

««

[coolestgavin]

hc + ✂️?

A hair-themed headcanon [x]

♠︎ Kristoph's very precious about his hair. He knows it makes a strong first impression, so he goes to exaggerated lengths to make sure it's healthy and beautiful. Only the finest hairdressers money can buy can be trusted to cut it.

♠︎ Even in prison, he's managed to arrange cuts with his favourite stylist, but those appointments are infrequent, and he doesn't have access to all of the same products and tools he did as a free man, so while he still has the more fabulous locks than the penitentiary has ever housed, they're sadly not as perfectly-maintained as they used to be -- a fact that causes him no small bit of distress, despite the fact that he's in solitary confinement and most people wouldn't notice anyway.