#justiquill

[gaylawyers]

:3

[whywontvulcanseatreplicatormeat]

[edgequill-moved]

@reaganwarren yeah who does that??? *camera pans over to nahyuta sadmadhi*

[kinoutau-blog]

@chuugii

“I already told you, I don’t NEED a flea collar!” He huffed, throwing the collar in the corner of the room. Shoo. No need to walk around like that.

[homeschooledangel]

A/N: It’s Gay Simon Blackquill Week!!!! Enjoy Simon and Apollo going on that date. Continuation of http://reaganwarren.tumblr.com/post/156105797260/an-this-doesnt-have-a-tag-or-a-title-outside-of. 

Simon rooted through his whole closet the day of the date, but he couldn’t seem to find anything he felt would be most appropriate. But he couldn’t just dress as he usually did, could he? 

He really hadn’t been on a date before. He wasn’t really . . . he hadn’t been particularly popular or anything in college, and then he had been in prison for seven years. Not exactly a hot dating spot. 

As a result, he had called Athena. Who was now sitting on the edge of his bed while he changed from outfit to outfit. 

“So are you going to tell me exactly who it is you’re going on a date with? That might help me a little to help you pick something out, if you’re this nervous about impressing him.” 

Simon hesitated. Apollo was her coworker, so it might cause . . . strain at work for them, especially if things didn’t go well.... He really wanted them to go well, but in the off chance it did not . . . he didn’t want Athena to be angry with Apollo. And he definitely did not want to be responsible for things at work being stressful for either of them. 

No, he couldn’t tell her. 

“He’s a lawyer,” Simon said. 

“Oh? A Mr. Wright kind of a lawyer or a Prosecutor Edgeworth kind of a lawyer?” 

“. . . A defense attorney or a prosecutor?” 

“No, I mean - personality wise?” 

“. . . Somewhere in the middle, I’d think.” 

“Hmmmm.... Well, in that case, let’s not go with too formal. That would probably scare him off. But definitely a little dressy, since Mr. Wright wouldn’t give two shits if you wore the same thing as you usually do.” 

“. . . .” 

If he ever dated Wright-dono, he would keep that in mind. But he certainly had no intention of doing so. 

“What theatre are you going to?” 

“The one smackdab in between the prosecutor’s office and Sunshine Coliseum.” 

“Ah, that one has pretty cool air conditioning, so you’ll definitely want a jacket, but probably not your usual one. Let’s see.... Oh, this one is really cool! I didn’t know you had this!” 

“. . . I haven’t seen it in seven years. We’ll have to see if it still fits.” 

It did. 

By the end of it, Simon looked an awful lot more like he was part of a biker gang than anything else, but the design and aesthetic still screamed “Japanese.” 

“You’re not gonna pick him up via bus, are you? I can drive you guys if you want.” 

“I am not having my little sister figure drive me and my date around,” Simon said, mostly just wanting to avoid Athena learning who his date was. But that’d be just about as embarrassing as it would be if it was Aura driving him around. Unfortunately, he still hadn’t passed the no-driving period of his trial run of his new seizure medication. So no car or bike for him. 

“Call me after so I know you made it home safe and tell me how it went!” Athena said after they both exited his apartment and Simon locked the door. 

“I will,” Simon said, flushing a little. He was still very, very nervous. 

Apollo in the end had chosen where they were going to eat - a little Mediterranian hole in the wall near his apartment - and Simon had selected the movie. Simon had thought hard about what he thought Apollo would like, and he hoped that an action-adventure historical piece would interest him as much as it did himself. 

He rode the bus down to the bus stop closest to Apollo’s apartment, then he climbed the stairs and knocked on Apollo’s apartment door. 

The door opened a lot more abruptly than Simon was expecting, Apollo slamming the door closed behind him. 

“Awww, c’mon! I want to meet him!” came the voice of another man from the other side of the door. 

“Hurry, before he insists on embarrassing me further,” Apollo said, grabbing Simon’s hand and pulling him along. 

“Who was that?” 

“My roommate,” Apollo said, not turning around to look Simon in the face when he said it. 

Simon had no reason to prod further, so he simply let Apollo drag him by the hand down to the Mediterranean place. 

Apollo was also not wearing his usual suit. Instead, he was wearing what looked like a soft red-and-white jacket with a hood and blue jeans. The man still preferred his sleeves to be rolled up. It was an interesting habit of his. (Why not just wear a short-sleeved shirt . . . ?) 

Simon had never had Mediterranean food before, so he wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but after a back-and-forth of what everything on the menu was exactly, they both ordered and sipped at their water awkwardly for a few moments before starting conversation. 

Apollo didn’t really give much information about himself; Simon made a note that the man was rather private, despite seeming to have no problems with sleeping around. But he had a lot of opinions on music and food, and they ended up having a rather energetic conversation about science and space. Simon knew enough about it thanks to Aura and Metis, and Simon remembered that one of the victims in the cases they did together was Apollo’s friend, Clay Terran. Now that he thought about it, Clay Terran was probably who had shouted from inside the apartment room. Simon actually hadn’t met Clay himself, but between Aura and the case itself (from which Clay thankfully managed to survive) he knew who he was. 

Talk of space ended up leading to telling other people’s embarrassing stories, first starting with Apollo telling a story about an embarrassing thing Clay did one day trying to show off at the space center and spiraling into other topics from there. Simon ended up learning a lot about what life was like working at the Wright Anything Agency. 

When the food arrived, it was pretty good, though spicier than initially expected. Conversation pattered down as they ate, but Simon watched Apollo as he enjoyed his meal. He felt his face heating up once more. 

He was really cute.... 

While he still couldn’t believe the gall his drunk self had had the night they had slept together, without so much as treating him to dinner beforehand, he certainly understood why it had happened. 

Apollo Justice was beautiful. He was interesting to talk to, and that party . . . it had really been the first time they had talked outside of the courtroom, and he was just . . . so interesting and had good things to talk about and intelligent thoughts and. . . . 

His mind wandered to what Apollo had done for him that night and immediately diverted his gaze to stare intensely at the falafel he had ordered. Face beet-red, he focused on eating and not making a fool of himself. 

“What’re you thinking about? You’re all red in the face,” Apollo said. 

“N-nothing much....” 

Apollo smirked a little. 

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, if you’re thinking about what I think you’re thinking about.” 

Simon blushed harder. 

“Th-this isn’t supposed to be about that, it’s supposed to be me making it up to you.” 

“And I keep telling you there’s nothing to make up. I had fun. And you had fun too. There doesn’t have to be anything more than that if you don’t want there to be.” 

Simon gave that some thought. Did he . . . want there to be more? It’s true that it didn’t sit right to . . . “tap it and leave” so to speak.... 

He’d think about that later. He’d repay Apollo for the . . . very good night they had shared in the meantime. 

“I thought we’d see the new Steel Samurai movie, but if that doesn’t sound good to you, I have a runner-up option,” Simon said, changing the topic entirely. 

“I can see a Steel Samurai movie,” Apollo said, still smirking. 

Simon paid for the entire meal, despite Apollo trying to grab the check from him, and then they went to the movie theatre. 

Either Apollo had been tired before coming, or he had been a bit bored by the movie. Either way, he ended up falling asleep during part of the movie. Apollo’s head ended up resting on Simon’s shoulder, making Simon tense at first and blush immensely. He felt like he couldn’t move, lest he disturb him. 

Simon ended up watching Apollo’s sleeping face for a while instead of the movie. 

He had a sneaking suspicion he might be falling in love. Maybe it was just nerves but . . . . 

The Steel Samurai said some line about his love for the Pink Princess, and Simon found himself relating. 

Near the climax, Apollo awoke with a start and seemed to be trying to remember where he was, then he settled back down. Simon couldn’t quite remember how the film had reached this point, since his own attention had been elsewhere. 

He’d probably need to see the movie again in order to carry the inevitable conversation of “what did you think” with Edgeworth-dono. 

After the end of the movie, the two of them walked together in the direction of Apollo’s apartment, since it was much closer than Simon’s apartment at that moment. 

“I had a good time,” Apollo said as they stopped in front of Apollo’s apartment building. 

“I did as well....” 

Simon stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do next. 

“Well, I’ll see you at work, I suppose,” Apollo said. 

“Indeed we will.” 

They both stood there for a moment, neither seeming to really know what to do now. 

Eventually, Apollo turned and headed back up the stairs to his apartment room. Simon watched him ascend the stairs, then turned around to go to the bus stop. 

When he got home and called Athena, he mostly groaned into the audio receiver. 

“What? What happened? Simon? How’d it go?” 

All she got in return was more distressed moaning. Athena rolled her eyes. 

“Simon’s date not go well?” Trucy asked from her position of her head in Athena’s lap, Athena stroking her hair as she was on the phone. 

“I’ll hopefully find out when he stops being a baby about it,” Athena sighed. 

Trucy giggled. 

[homeschooledangel]

A/N: This doesn’t have a tag or a title outside of character tags and the justiquill ship tag, but this is a continuation of that one night stand story. Continuing for “Gay Simon Blackquill Week.” Posting it early because I can. First part here: http://reaganwarren.tumblr.com/post/153196672780/an-i-love-my, second part here: http://reaganwarren.tumblr.com/post/155134212480/an-thought-i-forgot-about-that-au-where-simon. I also reference a comic I really like because as a prosecutor who studied psychology, if he’s worth a damn at the psyche stuff, he’d have Inside-Out figurines to help children he may or may not be interviewing for cases to help them communicate their feelings better. I just . . . can’t remember the url of the comic artist because my memory is shit. 

A/N: EDIT: I FOUND THE COMIC! http://cprartsalot.tumblr.com/post/131546447070/blackquill-insists-that-they-are-merely here it is! @cprartsalot is the artist and I really liked the idea so yeah. pls support them and their art! 

Apollo stepped out of the elevator and walked up to where he had been told Simon’s office was. He took a deep breath, then reached out and knocked on the door. 

“Come in,” came Simon’s gruff tone. 

Apollo grabbed the doorknob and turned it. 

Simon looked up, his eyebrows subtly furrowed, then he saw who it was. His eyes widened, his brow un-knitted, and he otherwise sat frozen in his chair. Taka turned his little bird head so he could get a better look at Apollo. 

Apollo stood in silence, waiting for Simon to say something. But when he continued to not say anything, Apollo cleared his throat, hand tightening on the doorknob. 

“Hi,” Apollo said. 

“. . . Hello.” 

“Are you busy?” 

“N-no, not really. I’m not working on a case right now, at least.” 

“Can we . . . talk, then?” 

“Yes. Of course. Um, please, sit down,” Simon said, getting up and going to a smaller desk that was against the wall. 

Apollo closed the door behind him and looked around the office. Samurai swords hung on one of the walls, and a Steel Samurai poster was pinned on the other side. On Simon’s desk were a couple photos and some little figurines from that Disney movie about the personified emotions. In the photos, there was a recent one of Simon and Athena and a much older photo of Simon before his imprisonment with Aura and Metis. 

The table that Simon had gone over to held a traditional Japanese tea set with a much more modern water heater. Simon turned the water on to boil, then opened the tea leaf container. Apollo could smell it from where he sat. It did smell good.... 

But he didn’t think he’d be able to drink any of it. He was far too nervous. 

Simon then returned to the desk. Taka sat on his perch, watching them closely. That wasn’t helping Apollo’s nerves, either. 

“So, um,” Apollo started, finding it easier to look at Simon’s face since Simon . . . seemed unable to make his eyes lift up from staring at the desk top. “You . . . were the one to send that bouquet to the Wright Anything Agency, right?” 

Simon nodded. 

“I was.... I would have delivered them in person, but I didn’t want to compromise your working relationship with Athena....” 

“No, no, you did good!” Apollo said, blanching at the idea of Athena learning about any of this. “I appreciate the discretion! Um - !” 

Apollo cleared his throat, trying to pull himself together. 

“So, um, did . . . did you ask the florist to make it however they wanted or . . . did you ask them to make it a specific way?” Apollo asked. 

Simon seemed to have enough control over his speech to avoid stuttering or pauses in his speech. When he spoke, it was in full sentences, with no unintentional breaks. 

“I know enough about flower arranging to know what types of flowers I needed to use to convey my apology....” 

“. . . Then, um, the . . . the white lilies. I, uh . . . was told by someone that they mean . . . that they mean . . . .” 

Simon turned a bright red. 

The water started to bubble significantly more than before, and Simon took it as an opportunity to get up and fix the tea. He poured the water into the pot, then picked the tea tray up and brought it over to the desk. He set it on one side of the desk, closed and removed the laptop he had on the other end of the desk, then put the laptop into a drawer. He busied himself with the tea cups, though the tea itself would still need to seep for a few minutes. 

“. . . You need not concern yourself with that. I mere want an opportunity to make it up to you.” 

“. . . Prosecutor Blackquill, you keep talking about apologizing and . . . I don’t get what you mean. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I mean . . . it’s one thing for me to go around having one-night stands. I haven’t been a virgin in a long time.” 

The word “virgin” made Simon seem all the smaller, which felt so . . . off and strange. He was used to the “Twisted Samurai” being a tall, menacing fixture in the courtroom. 

The man before him was hunching over an empty tea cup, not lifting his eyes to meet his own. 

“It’s a completely different situation for someone who hasn’t had sex ever to have a drunken one-night stand with their friend’s coworker. I mean, it could’ve been worse, but....” 

“Please do not concern yourself with that. That’s my responsibility and my responsibility alone,” Simon said. “It wasn’t like you had known. On the other hand, I do remember quite a bit of that night, and I know that I took an experience that I had not rightfully earned.... Please allow me to make it up to you.” 

“Um.... I’m not following.” Experience? Not rightfully earned? They were just drunk at a party and one thing led to another. What was he talking about? 

This was supposed to be Apollo apologizing for being partially responsible for Simon’s first time being a drunken one-night stand when . . . apparently the prosecutor hadn’t been quite prepared for it. Or else this wouldn’t be this big of a deal. 

It was just . . . so unnerving to watch Simon be so small in his own office. 

He didn’t like looking at him and knowing he felt bad for something he had done with Apollo.... Something that Apollo had very much enjoyed. 

“Will - will you go on a date with me?” Simon asked, finally lifting his head up. 

“H-huh????” 

Simon suddenly moved to pour the tea into the tea cups. Apollo just stared at him. 

“The - the way these things are supposed to work is that people go out on dates, then learn to feel comfortable with each other, then have a mature conversation about expectations of the other, then move on to the - the sexual aspects, and - at the very least, let me take you out on a date. Please.” 

Apollo stared at him, and Simon stared back. 

Apollo took a deep breath. Then he sighed heavily. 

“Just tell me one thing, okay?” 

“Y-yes?” 

“Did you . . . enjoy the night we had at least? This isn’t because it was terrible for you and you’re assuming it was terrible for me too?” 

“Wh-what? No, no, it’s nothing like that! You were wonderful!” 

Simon seemed to realize what he had said. He first moved to cover his face with his hands, then thought better of it, then didn’t know what to do with himself or his hands. He ended up grabbing the tea cup and taking a gulp of the hot liquid. He did not flinch, and when he set it down, he had an empty cup. 

Well, damn. 

“. . . Okay. I’ll go on a date with you. Dinner and a movie sound all right?” Apollo asked. 

“. . . That sounds perfect, Justice-dono.” 

“When I go out, I tend to pick one, and my date picks the other. Do you have a preference over picking the food or the movie?” 

“. . . I’ll let you pick whichever you’d like to pick,” Simon said. 

Well . . . that didn’t help much. 

Apollo sighed again. 

“Let me give it some thought and I’ll keep you posted... How does this Saturday evening look to you?” 

“It’s open,” Simon said. “I’ll . . . I’ll pick you up?” 

“Sure. I’ll give you my apartment address.” 

Apollo looked for a piece of paper and a pen, and Simon quickly produced it for him. Simon drank more tea while he watched Apollo write down his information. 

“I’ll see you Saturday then. I kinda have to get back, but . . . thanks for the tea, anyway,” Apollo said, standing up. 

Simon stood up as well. 

“Thank you . . . for coming by,” Simon said, meeting Apollo’s eyes once more. 

Apollo was the one to have a hard time meeting Simon’s this time. 

Apollo left quickly, starting out at a walk, but by the time he reached the elevator, he had broken into a run. He actually chose to take the stairs instead. 

His thoughts were moving too fast, and he was worried if his body didn’t go just as fast that he would start having a panic attack. 

He may have had two boyfriends, but he really didn’t do the whole dating thing. He didn’t . . . do the romance thing well. This just . . . didn’t feel like it was going to go well, and what if it didn’t make Simon feel better, what if this ruined what little positive relationship they had had beforehand? 

And all because Apollo’s idea of a good time was casual sex and going about his business as usual. 

But he did remember what Simon had said. ‘You were wonderful.’ 

Apollo blushed. Well . . . at least he had had fun. Even if the man wasn’t allowing himself to just . . . enjoy what it had been. 

[homeschooledangel]

A/N: Thought I forgot about that AU where Simon and Apollo have a one-night stand and Simon has lots of anxiety about it? Think again~! Have fun with the Claypollier side of it. Aromantic polyamorous (polysexual?) Apollo is fun to write. Got the flower meanings from here: http://thelanguageofflowers.com/

Apollo Justice walked into work one morning and found a bouquet of flowers on his desk.

He immediately froze in his tracks, remembering the last time this had happened.

Sighing heavily, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Klavier’s number. He picked up as Apollo collapsed himself into his desk chair.

“Guten morgen, Herr Forehead~” Klavier answered with more melody in his voice than usual. It made Apollo more certain about his assumption.

“What did we agree about grand romantic gestures?” Apollo asked.

“. . . That you’re uncomfortable with overt affection?”

“So you didn’t forget.”

“Of course . . . I . . . didn’t. . . . Why are you asking?”

“Well, who else would’ve sent me a bouquet?”

“. . . Apollo, I didn’t send you any bouquet. I swear. I learned my lesson the first time. Have you checked it for any notes?”

Apollo got back out of the chair and looked the bouquet over.

“There you are, Apollo!” said Athena, walking into the room with a stack of papers. “The flowers are really pretty! Who’re they from?”

“Trying to figure that out, Athena,” Apollo said. To Klavier, he said into the phone, “There’s absolutely no note. Not even a price tag.”

“Hmmmm. Describe the bouquet for me?”

“Well, it’s . . . a bunch of purple flowers with . . . white lilies and peach-colored roses surrounded by ivy.”

“Hmm... Send me a picture?”

“Okay, I’ll have to hang up to do that, but call me back when you have it.”

Apollo hung up, then snapped a photo and send it to Klavier.

Klavier called a few minutes later.

“All right, the purple flowers are hyacinths, the fact that the roses are pale peach is important, and ivy without white tendrils and ivy with white tendrils mean two different things.”

“Wait, it’s a coded message?”

“Whoever sent it to you must have asked the florist what the best way to apologize to you must have been.”

“Apologi - what do the flowers mean!?”

“The purple hyacinths overwhelm the bouquet, and they literally mean ‘I’m sorry, please forgive me.’ They also imply great sorrow. With the white sprigs, the ivy means that they are anxious to please, perhaps because they have wronged you in some way. Could also mean that they feel some level of affection for you. I don’t quite get what the white lilies are doing there, but the pale peach rose means Modesty. Probably to indicate that their pride is not above doing what is necessary to receive forgiveness.”

“What about the white lilies?”

“Well, I’m not exactly an expert, I’m just looking at the definitions on the internet, but this website claims that they mean ‘Virginity.’ Alternatively, purity or majesty.”

“. . . Now I’m more confused than ever.”

“I’m sorry, Herr Forehead, but I believe only you can figure out who they might be from. Has anyone offended you lately?”

“No, everything’s been pretty normal. And anyone who has been mean to me hasn’t exactly been the type who would do something like this.”  

Something was niggling at the back of his mind. Something about why the white lilies might be there. But who would send him a bouquet in order to apologize?

“. . . Thanks for the help, anyway, Klavier. And you’re sure you’re not the one who sent them?”

“Positive.”

It was hard to tell over the phone due to no tics, but Klavier sounded honest.

“Well, I’ve gotta get back to work. I’ll see you later at Clay’s.”

“Auf Wiedershen,” Klavier said, and they hung up.

Apollo then called up Clay.

“S’up, hot stuff? Clay asked, having recognized Apollo’s number on his phone.

“Is this bouquet on my desk some kind of prank of yours? Please say yes.”

“. . . No???? You have another bouquet on your desk? I thought we talked to Piano Man about tha-”

“Yes, yes, we did, I called him first. They’re not from him.”

“. . . .”

Clay then let out a squeal that made Apollo tired.

“Do we have another boyfriend!?”

“No, Clay, I have no idea who they’re from!”

“Awww. Well, they’re not from me. Sorry to disappoint.”

Apollo groaned loudly. Phoenix popped his head into the office.

“Something the matter?” Phoenix asked.

Athena shrugged, then walked over to him to explain. Apollo ignored both of them as he tried to think about what he was going to do.

“Well, just think about it, Apollo,” Clay said. “Have you slept with anyone lately?”

“. . . .”

Apollo’s eyes widened.

“Oh shit.”

“Ah, so you did! Hey, wait, how come you didn’t tell me? We’re supposed to not keep that stuff a secret.”

“I - I wasn’t keeping it a secret, I just slipped my mind until now. Shit, shit, shit, shit - !”

“Hey, hey, calm down. It’ll be okay. Who was it? You’ll just have to talk to him.”

Apollo was remembering what Klavier said about the white lilies. And virginity.

His cursing increased and rose in volume. Putting his hand over his face and grabbing at his spiky hair in front, he leaned against the desk, sounding like he was in actual pain.

“Apollo?” Clay’s voice rang on the other end.

“He’s another prosecutor.... There’s no one else it could be.”

“Do you plan to sleep with the entire prosecutor’s office?”

“Shut up.”

“Anyway, you’re really overreacting, aren’t you? He’s just another dude, right? Klavier, Sebastian, and Franziska are the youngest prosecutors, aren’t they? Wouldn’t that mean everyone else is older than you over in that office?”

“Yes, it’s just - never mind, it’s none of your business.”

“Hey-”

“I’ll explain everything later, okay? I’ve gotta go,” Apollo said, hanging up before Clay could say anything else.

Apollo groaned some more. Phoenix and Athena just watched, perplexed.

At the Space Center, Clay dialed Klavier’s number.

“Hey, Apollo called me,” Clay started.

“Same here,” Klavier said.

“Yeah, he said, and I have two things to say.”

“Yes, Star Child?”

Clay grinned despite himself.

“One: he says they’re from another prosecutor. Two: how come I don’t get a bouquet? I like romantic gestures.”

Klavier burst out laughing.

“Would you like it to be a surprise as to what they are, or did you have a request?”

“Well, I don’t know much about flowers, but they are pretty, and now I’m jealous.”

“Surprise it is. And I won’t tell you when you’re getting them, either.”

“Awww, fine. You’re still coming over tonight, right?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Clay made kissing noises over the speaker, and Klavier laughed.

Apollo was great, but Clay was really happy Klavier was now a part of their little outfit.

He hoped things went well with that other prosecutor. And that if he was a new boyfriend, that he got along well with him and Klavier too.

[homeschooledangel]

A/N: I love my Simon-has-seizures-post-Dual-Destinies headcanon a WHOLE lot, so it’s in here too, but it’s going to be the only headcanon explicitly in here that is in common with my “throw all the headcanons into this continuity” thing I’m doing with “Nerds Being Nerds” and all the fics in that collection. So yeah.

Content warnings: sexual content, premarital sex, miscommunications of what’s expected or what their relationship even is. The ship is Justiquill with some other Apollo ships hinted at or on the side. Mostly Klapollo and sorta-kinda Claypollo. Kinda the opposite of Nerds Being Nerds.

At first, all Simon was aware of was the horrible hangover headache he had. He groaned and rolled over onto his other side.

He was regretting drinking that much at the prosecutor office’s staff party.

Since he had only just woken up, he didn’t really remember last night all that well, but he hadn’t opened his eyes yet, so he didn’t feel the need to right then.

Then he heard another groan, and it certainly wasn’t coming from him.

With the instincts of a warrior, Simon bolted out of bed, headache be damned, and took in his surroundings while grasping for the weapon he had taken to sleeping with under his pillow (and not finding it).

He found the source of the other groan.

His stomach turned into an icy lump in his gut as he recognized the other person as Apollo Justice, Athena’s coworker.

This also wasn’t Simon’s apartment.

He didn’t recognize the posters on the walls, and that certainly was not the view Simon had out his apartment window. This was not his bed.

The only thing that was his were his clothes strewn across Justice-dono’s bedroom floor.

Oh God.

No. This couldn’t be happening. This was a bad dream. No, no, no no no no no!

Justice-dono groaned again.

Simon could see that Justice-dono’s red suit vest had been carelessly thrown over a lamp near the man’s head as he sat up.

“Ugh, my head.... Last time I let Detective Skye give me tequila....”

His hair was decisively disheveled, and he wore no shirt. From the looks of things, Justice-dono was completely nude under the covers.

Simon was too embarrassed and afraid to check himself.

“Oh, hey, Prosecutor Blackquill.... Ohhhhhh.”

They were both remembering what had happened.

Simon remembered laughing uproariously with the defense attorney at the party. The Wright Anything Agency was there as both Chief Prosecutor’s guests and the night’s entertainment. He did remember Detective Skye’s round of tequila shots, but he had drunk plenty of sake that night as well. He had learned Justice-dono had a strong preference for alcohol of the Khura’inese variety.

He remembered walking out of the main party room with Justice-dono, and he remembered taking what had been a long walk, partly because they had kept stopping and at one point forgotten where they were going. He even vaguely remembered a question about if he should really be drinking when he was supposed to be on a new seizure medication, but both of them had been too drunk to take the question seriously.

He couldn’t remember how it had happened, but he did remember kissing Justice-dono and being kissed and . . . .

Shit.

Justice-dono started laughing.

“Oh man, Athena’s never gonna let me live this down,” Justice-dono said.

He was grinning, though. Like this wasn’t something horrible.

Simon hadn’t even asked him out, he didn’t think! How could he have - ? Even when drunk, that shouldn’t have happened!

Justice-dono, however, just rolled out of bed.

“You drink coffee?” Justice-dono asked.

“. . . .”

“I’m gonna put a pot on,” Justice-dono said, deciding not to wait for an answer.

Simon averted his eyes as Justice-dono walked around, picked some fresh underwear from a drawer, then slipped it on and headed for his kitchenette area. Simon listened to the sounds of his bare feet against the linoleum floor, eyes glued to the wrinkled sheets in front of himself.

This had never happened to him before. He had literally never, ever had a one-night stand before. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do now. This was terrible.

He slowly got out of the bed, blushing heavily as he confirmed he was indeed just as nude as Justice-dono had been. He searched around for his clothes, then slowly started to redress.

He did not leave the bedroom until he was fully dressed, coat and tie included. The only thing not properly tied and on was his hair tie, which was around his wrist.

Hesitantly, Simon entered the kitchenette, face still red and hair taking up quite a bit of space.

Apollo Justice was standing in the middle of his kitchenette wearing nothing but his boxers.

Simon’s regrets had nothing to do with what Justice-dono looked like mostly naked. He could see some pouches of fat, but Simon wouldn’t have called him overweight. He merely looked like a man who ate what he could and didn’t take advantage of opportunities to exercise much. And he was adorable.

“I take mine black, but there is sugar and milk if you want it,” Justice-dono said.

“I’m fine,” Simon said, not having the heart to admit he didn’t drink coffee and was lactose-intolerant. Simon had a hard of enough time getting to sleep without the aide of something, be it booze or calming teas or straight-up sleeping pills. Caffeine was the last thing he needed, even when he was tired and needed to be awake.

“You want anything to eat? I dunno what your plans were for the day, but I can whip something up before I have to go into the office for work, if you want.”

“Y-you don’t need to do that on my behalf. I wouldn’t want to make you late for work,” Simon said. 

“Nah, it’s fine. I mean, I’ve gotta eat, too, right?”

“R-right.... Justice-dono?”

“Yeah?”

“Doesn’t . . . this feel awkward to you?”

“Huh? Oh, you mean the whole one-night stand thing?”

“. . . Yes.”

Justice-dono smiled a little as he rummaged around for a pan.

“Not for me! I’m old hat at this.”

“. . . I . . . see. . . .”

Simon was a bit surprised by what Justice-dono ended up making for breakfast. It was an egg dish that also had whole wheat flour in it, and Justice-dono had added some peppers as well. Simon ate it quietly, not sure what else to do.

“But don’t worry about it,” Justice-dono said, referring to the fact that they had slept together. “I won’t tell anybody if you don’t want anybody to know, and I know how to stay professional. This won’t affect work at all.”

“That’s . . . good to hear. . . .”

The shame curtain wouldn’t lift, however. From Simon’s perspective, he had taken something that he had not earned, and the guilt was eating him alive. And he had only been awake for about two hours. What a great start.

After eating, Justice-dono went back to his room to get dressed.

“Feel free to hang around or do whatever makes you comfortable. If you leave, just be sure to lock the door for me, okay?” Justice-dono said.

“I will,” Simon said, still feeling uncomfortable in Justice-dono’s apartment.

“I’ll see you around, Prosecutor Blackquill!” Apollo said after he finished getting ready for work.

“. . . Bye.” Simon said, still blushing.

A cat startled him with a small meow. Simon looked down and saw the creature wrapping itself around his leg.

Before leaving, Simon figured out where some cat treats were after seeing that her food bowl still had food in it. He gave the kitty some treats, then left the apartment, locking it as Justice-dono had asked.

He stood awkwardly in front of the door, though, for a few more moments.

He had to make it up to him, even if it didn’t bother Justice-dono. It was . . . disrespectful to just . . . hit it and not do anything.

Simon Blackquill didn’t know it yet, but “making it up to Justice-dono” was going to complicate things a lot more than they were already.