Justice and BlackQuill //Starter for SecretSimonSays//

“Huh? Oh…”

Apollo most certainly hadn’t been expecting to be invited in - really, he’d been convinced the Prosecutor hated him - but maybe things weren’t the way he’d originally thought.

At least, not in terms of Prosecutor Blackquill - Taka, on the other hand, stared at him so intently that Apollo couldn’t help but stiffen, just a little it - how often had that bird threatened to pluck out his eyeballs, or even pickpocket his bracelet, like Mr. Finch?

“Uhh… thanks.”

The brunet’s footsteps were cautious as he made his way through into the office, eyes catching sight of the Shogi board just as it was mentioned - it sort of reminded him of the chess board in Prosecutor Edgeworth’s office…

“Uh.. no… I don’t really know that much about it; sorry.”

For a man who had studied under Metis it was not difficult to distinguish the uncomfortable tone in Apollo’s voice, Simon closed the door behind them both before Taka suddenly swooped down to perch on the prosecutor’s shoulder.

“I see. Well if you ever care to learn the art, the offer is there.” Though his expression remained one that could strike fear into the hearts of many Simon really meant no harm. His thinly pressed lips quirked up into a smirk. “It may serve you well to put some more knowledge behind that large forehead of yours.”

 Yes, he was particularly pleased with that quip.

“Anyway…”

Simon stepped over to his desk, picking up a piece of paper with a few names and code numbers on it for various cases taking place. He handed it to Apollo to glance at. It was a sensitive document, but it wasn’t as though he’d be letting Apollo leave with it.  “You wouldn’t happen to be working on any of these, would you?”

"Right, right." He rubbed his neck and looked away awkwardly. Smooth, Daniel. Smooth.

"Oh yeah, opening the window would be fine. Would he like a snack. I probably already asked that…" he sighed. "I’m sorry, big guys intimidate me a little bit." And by big guys he meant most people taller than him.

"We have raw meat and mice for the snake. Uh, don’t ask why we have a snake, it’s Trucy’s problem."

Big guys intimidate him? That was enough to make Simon turn his attention back to the attorney rather quickly, his already shadowed eyes narrowing. Sure looking intimidating had been quite useful in court, but truth be told it was actually painful to find out that people were afraid of you, Simon felt very much Pidgeon holed into a stereotype because of his appearance and what the press had to say following his release. Hearing Daniel say what everyone else was thinking wasn’t great, but then Simon didn’t help himself by glaring at the poor guy.

“Is that so? And what about bigger people is so ‘intimidating’ might I ask? A person is just a person, a bigger person might throw a more powerful punch, but that means nothing if they’re not the type inclined to do so. Personally I think the intangible qualities of a person are the ones you should be afraid of, their intelligence, their cunning, for example. Those as the things that will hurt you if you don’t watch out for them, and how can you watch out for something that’s invisible to the naked eye?”

Had Daniel not heard of David and Goliath? The big guys fell, and fell hard. Simon could be strong, Simon could master a blade, but all of that meant nothing if he could be brought to death by the cunning of a phantom.

“Just some food for thought…”

He picked up his tea again, taking a lukewarm sip before replying. “Anyway, speaking of food I’m sure Taka would enjoy a snack…if Trucy doesn’t mind of course.” He had to let a ghost of a smile cross his lips, that young Wright girl really was full of surprises.

Daniel blinked in surprise as Simon spoke to him. Seems he touched a nerve. He waited for the other to finish before clarifying.

"I didn’t mean in a bad way…" he coughed trying to think of a way to phrase it so he wouldn’t offend the prosecutor anymore. "I don’t find you scary. Just…" he couldn’t find the words he wanted, letting a sigh fall from his lips.

"I think maybe I find you intimidating because you’re handsome. A-and before you say anything, I know that’s probably crossing a line." He scurried off toward the kitchen to avoid Simon’s glare and pulled a mouse from it’s packaging.

He then took to setting up a little place for the hawk by the window, placing out more water and the little snack. “Here you go, Taka. Enjoy.”

Simon couldn’t really think of how intimidating could be anything other than bad. If it were in court it would be very different, he could play into it, try to scare his opponent even more, but here, the workplace of his mentor’s greatest treasure – he didn’t want to be seen as a brute.

So naturally he was a little surprised when the word handsome slipped out, he tried to hide his shock under his fringe, simply saying nothing for a moment, could pale skin and the marks of tears really be described as such a thing? He hadn’t meant to glare but perhaps his expression hardening hadn’t helped ease Daniel’s concerns.

He watched the attorney scurry away from the corner of his eye, the slight tension easing from his shoulders when the younger got up to feed Taka, who gave a happy squawk before devouring the mouse. “I’ll be sure to pop by with some extra supplies for Trucy, I’d hate for her to be out of pocket by my account.” Simon said monotonously, simply wanting to change to topic of conversation.

Get Well Soon (Whether You Like It Or Not)

“Simon…”

His words  affected her quite a bit, and try as she did to hide that fact, Widget’s deep blue gave it away. She knew the feeling of being helpless to stop another’s pain all too well, though the story of the man who actually swallowed shards of glass was rather jarring, and the story about Taka’s mother was…particularly potent. So that meant not one, but two mothers of the beings he cared about dearly had fallen victim to needless violence…how awful. His voice was level enough, but she could hear the sadness in it loud and clear throughout. When he finally finished, she shook her head, and clung to him before looking up into his eyes and giving him a melancholy smile. 

”Don’t start apologizing for apologizing you dummy…” she chuckled sadly. “That’s even worse. And it’s not like you did nothing, you know. You raised Taka as your own, didn’t you? I bet that means the world to him. Though I…I understand how hard it is, when you can’t help someone you care about. When you can’t stop the suffering.” Her smile faded then, and Athena’s gaze shifted to the floor. “But at least…at least you tried your best, right? You never ran away…like I did.” Her last three words were uttered in barely a whisper, and her grip on him tightened. She seemed to have forgotten that keeping one’s distance from someone who is sick is usually a good idea. “I…I’m not going yell at you for apologizing though. I understand. But I just want to make sure YOU understand…how much it means to me…what you…what you did…and what you were going to do for me.”

Normally he would insist that she not get so close when he was in this ill state, but Simon made no attempt to push Athena away when she held him, he had no ‘tough guy’ act left in him and instead chose to return the gesture, her warm embrace was the most soothing cure for the cold chill down his spine as he told her everything he had to tell. He gave her a sad smile, apologising for apologising really was ridiculous, wasn’t it?

His gaze shifted to one side as she spoke, pondering on her words. Yes, he had tried to do the best he could, but would that ever be enough? He began to replay everything over in his head, and quickly got the feeling Athena was doing the same. His eyes widened when he picked up that hushed statement, despite his illness he suddenly felt the energy to hold her tightly and force her eyes to meet his.

“Athena, don’t ever say you ran away, because you didn’t. You weren’t running away…you were looking for help, for yourself …and for me, for 7 long years you fought for me and I’ll never forget that and I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

His expression, and the fingertips around her eventually softened when he realised he was perhaps holding on too tightly. Bringing one hand up Simon brushed a little hair away from her eyes. “And I would do it all again for you… I know I keep blaming myself and apologising, but I think that’s a crime we’re both guilty of. So how about a promise? A promise to not waste any more time blaming ourselves for things outside of our control.”

Simon knew it would be a promise he’d struggle with, but if Athena could do it then so could he, and then perhaps they could focus on making the most of that time, living their lives to the fullest in memory of those who couldn’t be with them now. Once he got over this fever, anyway.

"Right, right." He rubbed his neck and looked away awkwardly. Smooth, Daniel. Smooth.

"Oh yeah, opening the window would be fine. Would he like a snack. I probably already asked that…" he sighed. "I’m sorry, big guys intimidate me a little bit." And by big guys he meant most people taller than him.

"We have raw meat and mice for the snake. Uh, don’t ask why we have a snake, it’s Trucy’s problem."

Big guys intimidate him? That was enough to make Simon turn his attention back to the attorney rather quickly, his already shadowed eyes narrowing. Sure looking intimidating had been quite useful in court, but truth be told it was actually painful to find out that people were afraid of you, Simon felt very much Pidgeon holed into a stereotype because of his appearance and what the press had to say following his release. Hearing Daniel say what everyone else was thinking wasn’t great, but then Simon didn’t help himself by glaring at the poor guy.

“Is that so? And what about bigger people is so ‘intimidating’ might I ask? A person is just a person, a bigger person might throw a more powerful punch, but that means nothing if they’re not the type inclined to do so. Personally I think the intangible qualities of a person are the ones you should be afraid of, their intelligence, their cunning, for example. Those as the things that will hurt you if you don’t watch out for them, and how can you watch out for something that’s invisible to the naked eye?”

Had Daniel not heard of David and Goliath? The big guys fell, and fell hard. Simon could be strong, Simon could master a blade, but all of that meant nothing if he could be brought to death by the cunning of a phantom.

“Just some food for thought…”

He picked up his tea again, taking a lukewarm sip before replying. “Anyway, speaking of food I'm sure Taka would enjoy a snack...if Trucy doesn't mind of course.” He had to let a ghost of a smile cross his lips, that young Wright girl really was full of surprises.

Justice and BlackQuill //Starter for SecretSimonSays//

Having the prosecutor loom over him was none less nor more intimidating than ever - especially with the way the sun from the window shone on his back, along with his fringe blocking out everything of the upper part of his face save for his eyes; making them look almost luminous in the doorway;

“I, uh…”

He supposed he didn’t really have a reason - his legs had just sort of led him here - perhaps it was because he’d never really gotten to talk to Blackquill alone; Athena was always with him - and a bit of closure was always good. … Besides, he wasn’t quite sure what to make of the Samurai - he didn’t seem to hate him, but inside the courtroom, you’d think looks could kill…

“I guess I just sort of… wandered here… But if you’re busy I can always leave-!”

He hadn’t meant to intrude - hadn’t really thought about whether the other was busy or not; Oh, boy - what a mess.

Simon let out a low, irate-sounding hum from his lips the more Apollo spoke, his legs just took him here? Didn’t Wright give him enough to do or did this man just spend his days aimlessly walking around the prosecutor’s office? “Is that so?” Simon asked, though it didn’t sound like the prosecutor was particularly interested either way. He was convinced there must have been some other reason Apollo just didn’t want to say though, he almost wondered if Athena had sent Apollo to check up on him (it wouldn’t surprise Simon), or perhaps the little attorney just wanted a gossip. Not really Blackquill’s thing but-

“Wait.” Simon stared down at the other male, idly chewing the feather in his mouth. “You’re here now, you might as well stay for a bit. I could do with a catch up with you in any case. Come in…” With that, he stepped aside, offering Apollo room to enter the office. Inside, Taka sat perched high on a bookshelf, striking gold eyes honed in on the attorney’s hair of all things.

Simon reasoned it might be good to see if Apollo was working on any of the same cases he had coming up, maybe ask how Athena was. But before that, some pleasantries.

“Are you familiar with Shogi, Justice-dono? It’s a little bit like chees if you’d like to humour me with a game..” Simon offered, and lo and behold there was of course a shogi board with its pieces ready to do battle in the office, just as Edgeworth has his chess and Klavier his guitar.

// tfw when my simon is too gay for the other simon

“......”

Send me a ❣ and I'll gauge my character's attraction to yours at this point in time

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ | Sexual Attraction ✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ | Romantic Attraction ✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ | Crushing ✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ | Squishing ✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ | Sensual Attraction ✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ | Aesthetic Attraction

Hover over the names for explanations.

Taka quickly returned to the safely of Simon’s shoulder, having tried to shake his feathers to get rid of the water. Simon didn’t seem too bothered by the fact Taka was still damp either; he could hardly be mad at a bird.

“It’s fine, he could probably do with a bath having sullied his claws on one of the detectives this morning anyway.” Well, that was one way of saying Simon had commanded him to attack someone for being an imbecile. Right on cue the hawk began preening his wings.  

The prosecutor looked down to his hands where he was holding some papers. Once Daniel had finished trying to soak up any water from the sofa he handed them over. “Here, my apologies if there’s any water damage, hopefully even Wright-dono isn’t so ill prepared that he wouldn’t keep an electronic copy.”

"He really attacked someone?" Daniel looked up in shock, his eyes wide. Simon had to be kidding, but Daniel couldn’t tell with the man’s lack of expression.

He took the papers quietly. “Ah thank you… again I’m sorry. Are you sure you don’t need a towel? I would be more than happy to help you dry off. Erh, I mean I don’t want you to go around wet.”

“Attack is a strong word..” Strong, also accurate. Simon decided to elaborate “Taka was simply putting someone in their place by defending himself, someone had the audacity to think they could pet a bird of prey that was unfamiliar with them, and they thought wrong.”  Simon looked over to Taka with a small smile before giving him a little scratch under his beak, he'd had the bird for many years so was always safe, but with others the hawk could be less than hospitable.

“Another reason why it might not have been wise for you to try and dry him.”

The prosecutor simply looked at Daniel with a deadpan expression, contemplating before finally speaking again. “It's fine, my coat is thick enough to have kept my dry, and it seems to be a sunny day, so I'm sure Taka will dry off quickly once we leave. Perhaps I could open the window if its not too much trouble so he can perch there in the meantime.”

Justice and BlackQuill //Starter for SecretSimonSays//

secretsimonsays

It hadn’t been very long since Prosecutor Blackquill had been freed from his sentence and become a regular old prosecutor again - then again, it had been even less so since Apollo had last seen him.

Granted, every other time he’d come to visit him in the Prosecutors’ Office, it had been because Athena had dragged him over - not because he’d wanted to visit Klavier; pssh, no way- but even so this time, it was of his own volition. The Prosecutor’s Office itself was huge; it was almost impossible to find Blackquill’s room the first time he’d been there; Apollo clearly remember that. But, now, it was almost an instinct of it’s own, and his knuckles were rapping on the door before he could even really tell them to.

“Prosecutor Blackquill?”

His voice is uncertain, because he hadn’t really checked if the Samurai was even in his Office before coming here; his feet had sort of just… led him here,

“Are you in?”

If not, he could always turn on his heel and leave - luckily there was nobody else here to notice his little blunder, if the other wasn’t actually here.

Freedom was overwhelming sometimes, especially since Simon hadn't long acquired it – that in itself made having his own office a bit of a comfort, here he could concentrate on simply what needed to be done, and not the 'what ifs' and 'what have I missed' questions that often plagued him.

He had no meetings in the diary that day so hadn't been expecting the sound of knuckles rapping on the door, he turned to it- mildly inquisitive before a familiar voice filtered through the oak.

He let out a small breath before heavy footsteps paced over to the door to open it. The prosecutor now loomed over Apollo, his expression deadpan yet menacing – apparently he hadn't quite mastered friendly, normal greetings yet 

“Justice-dono... what brings you here?”

"Mn, I’ve heard Wright-dono mention the name.." Simon replied, taking a tentative sip of the tea. He idly tapped his foot, wondering just how long Athena was going to be…Perhaps he ought to come back another day.

Meanwhile Taka curled his talons around the side of the bowl to dip his beak in, his weight on one side making the bowl wobble slightly, unfortunately the prosecutor noticed this little accident waiting to happen too late. “Ta-“

Splash! Taka promptly flew back to Simon’s shoulder after screeching in surprise when the bowl of water toppled over, drenching a few papers underneath. Simon quickly moved over hoping to salvage the documents, grumbling to himself. 

"I wonder what he was saying." Though he had a clue. He was either bragging or telling his coworkers what chores he was out doing.

Daniel jumped up at the sound of water spilling. He rushed to the kitchenette to grab a towel or two. "I'm so sorry I should've put it on something else." He began to rub the cloth into the cushion of the couch, making sure all the papers were in Simon's hands.

"Did, Taka get wet? I can dry him off. If he'll let me that is." He offered meekly. Simon was probably steaming now.

Taka quickly returned to the safely of Simon's shoulder, having tried to shake his feathers to get rid of the water. Simon didn't seem too bothered by the fact Taka was still damp either; he could hardly be mad at a bird.

“It's fine, he could probably do with a bath having sullied his claws on one of the detectives this morning anyway.” Well, that was one way of saying Simon had commanded him to attack someone for being an imbecile. Right on cue the hawk began preening his wings.  

The prosecutor looked down to his hands where he was holding some papers. Once Daniel had finished trying to soak up any water from the sofa he handed them over. “Here, my apologies if there's any water damage, hopefully even Wright-dono isn't so ill prepared that he wouldn't keep an electronic copy.”

Get Well Soon (Whether You Like It Or Not)

At first she chuckled, not surprised he was still trying to deflect. He always had to be the strong guy….what a stubborn man! But when he spoke of things in their profession happening to ‘a familiar face’, she was glad he couldn’t see her face.  Those words made it fall into a concerned and almost pained frown, wondering just what his dream might have been about. Did she dare even ask? She had a bad feeling about this now…

Or at least, she did until he added that one final word of apology. That’s when she knew that it didn’t matter how unsettling it was, it didn’t matter if it bothered her; she HAD to prove to him that he could depend on her just as she had come to depend on him. Without letting go of him, she shifted a bit so she could look him straight in the eyes, giving him an incredibly serious stare to show she meant business.

"Simon…" she began, her tone still gentle, but far firmer than before. "Stop apologizing for things that aren’t your fault. If we keep holding things back just because we are concerned about the other person’s comfort, neither of us are ever going to be able to relax." 

He expression softened then.  ”Please….you took care of me for all those years…let me take care of you this one time.”

He was silenced by the sheer fact Athena had made a solid point that he couldn't object to – he didn't want to hold back anything from Athena, he wanted them to be close and break down any remaining walls that could potentially still be standing. Though he wasn't so sure about the taking care of Athena part – he hardly felt he'd contributed to that, nonetheless he didn't retort, only letting a silent breath slip as he examined her expression, making his soften ever so slightly.

“Alright...” He began, “But you know, you've already taken care of me. So please note I'm only telling you this to because as you say, we shouldn't have to hold back.”

He wiped his brow once more, before continuing.

“It was a dream about prison, but I think this fever just served to make it feel more real, as though I were still there. I saw many familiar faces in that dream, some of whom are no longer with us, a particular man had ended his life with a glass he'd managed to steal from the canteen, in his desperation he smashed it in his cell, put the pieces in tissue and consumed them. It was a slow and painful process...I know because my cell was opposite his, and I couldn't help but watch what he did, completely helpless to stop him. It was awful to know someone was so desperate to escape that they simply couldn't wait for their time and took the most painful way out I can imagine. He suffered greatly, I'm not sure if half way through he began to regret it – because I have never seen a fear or pain in a man's eyes quite like it. He seemed a kind man too despite whatever he may have done to end up in there, we swapped many stories...”

Though Simon spoke of this in such a monotonic voice with his head bowed, it was clear he didn't enjoy the memory haunting his dreams, but for now he kept his composure. “I had some happier memories, of finding Taka for instance, but Taka hadn't been alone when I found him. He had a mother, unfortunately shot by the guards when she was discovered in my cell – that was in the dream too. Then I woke up.”

He didn't cry, his voice didn't break. Simon was quite calm as he told the story to Athena, perhaps because he'd replayed it in his mind so many times before- it was almost difficult to know why this particular time has startled him so much, he did however have an inkling.

“Just as with that man, with Taka's mother, with you... I was helpless to stop any of you suffering. So I know you will scold me for apologising, but I truly am sorry.”

That little hum was enough to set off a wide smile, and the comment a laugh in the brunet. He’d begun to recognize some of Simon’s mannerisms, particularly catching onto those little, happy hums. “I did, too, when you weren’t about to thrash my case.” Or when he had Taka give Apollo a couple scratches, but the brunet had since decided to let go of his grudge against Taka.. just as he hoped Simon did not hold a grudge for Mikeko clawing the prosecutor through his pants that one time, Apollo hadn’t thought Simon would step on her tail and set Mikeko off.

The laughter helped soothe the nerves agitating Apollo’s stomach, too. He hated feeling so ill around Simon sometimes, all because he could never gauge when they would get some time alone and he just did not want this opportunity to fall apart.

Simon closing the distance between them also aided in soothing Apollo’s nerves, his free hand moving to Simon’s waist. Like this, Apollo could make himself push most worries from the forefront of his mind. He could relax.

"Great! That’ll work, and the sooner we leave the sooner we can get settled into the hotel." Apollo rose early anyhow; Chords of Steel training aside, excitement tended to do that.

The hand on Simon’s waist moved to the back of his head when he kissed Apollo. Keeping him from pulling far back, even after he spoke.

"Yeah," Apollo breathed. "I can’t wait for that."

He leaned up to steal his own kiss from Simon, hand slipping down to Simon’s chest as to not force him to stay there, for once not catching his nose like Apollo was so apt to do.

Pulling away, he rocked back onto his heels, aware it had to be getting on in the evening hours. Simon had, after all, spent time with Athena prior to getting here.. Naturally, since he would be gone all weekend. “What time is it? Do you want to turn in?”

Simon was not much of a cat person, but certainly an animal person at least – so he had grit his teeth and bared Mikeko sinking her claws into his groin on more than one occasion. Even when she did it soundlessly Apollo would always know by the slightest strain in Simon’s normally deep and composed voice, not to mention the shrill noises Taka would make in a bid to scare her off. For now at least the feline appeared to be letting Simon have some alone time with Apollo, a rare but nice change. He had to chuckle ever so slightly too.

 “Is that so? Surely being so close to being thrashed only made you victories sweeter – of course I won’t be going so easy on you in our next duel.”  

Simon couldn’t help but enjoy the little back and fourth he’d always had with Apollo in the courtroom, and now out of the courtroom too – the shorter man’s passion for what he did was catching. Blackquill could admit he’d possibly judged Apollo a little too quickly when they first met, mistook him for a rookie before being overly intrigued by him.

And now here they were, lips locked tenderly - in a way Simon didn’t think he was capable of. That was enough to ease Simon’s troubles too, even if he knew this state of calm were only temporary, he would savour it.  

At the question Simon pulled out a small pocket watch from his coat. “It’s 10.30. We can sleep if you like, I’d hate for you to be too tired to enjoy the trip.” And if he were totally honest it felt a bit like Christmas for Simon. The sooner you go to sleep the sooner you get to wake up to presents, but at the same time you’re slightly too excited for sleep. Not that he had plans of admitting something so childish. 

However, he did want to do at least one thing a little out of the ordinary, and so as soon as he got an answer from Apollo he quickly swept the smaller man up into his arms, carrying him bridal style without a single change in his expression or tone, as if it were normal. His voice came out monotonic.

“Very well then, let’s go.” And with that he began to carry poor Apollo to the bedroom.  

Please reblog this if you are an Ace Attorney fanblog or rp blog!

I am looking for more aa blogs to follow ^_^