The bell rang and students flooded out of classrooms to get home. There weren't any activities after school in the building so the place was cleared in just a few minutes. Apollo sat on a bench just outside the school, waiting for his mother to arrive. Ema had already left with Lana. They were supposedly going to go test out some forensics devices near the prosecutor's office.
Ten minutes had passed and Apollo was still on the bench. Nearly all the kids besides a few waiting for a late bus were gone. He finally checked his phone and saw a message about what was going on from his mom. "Sorry, sweetheart. I'm busy so Zak is picking you two up." The text was from 20 minutes ago. Trucy must've already been picked up herself. He started playing Minecraft to pass the time.
Thirty minutes passed. He didn't notice how much time had passed until he checked the clock on his phone. The student's parking lot was completely empty besides a single black car. Zak still hadn't shown up, and Apollo knew he wasn't getting picked up. He was about to start walking when someone he couldn't seem to escape came up to him.
"Do you need a ride, Herr Justice?" It was Klavier. Behind him was Kristoph. Both of them seemed genuinely concerned.
"I suppose I do..." Klavier immediately grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards the one car in the lot. Kristoph followed silently.
"Keys." Klavier reached into his pocket and handed a set of keys to Kristoph. "I assume you two will want the back," Kristoph said, unlocking the car. The other two quickly got into the car.
They just pulled out of the parking lot when Klavier decided to interrogate Apollo on what happened. "Why were you sitting there for so long? You could've asked for a ride."
"My ride didn't come. I also wasn't going to pester you to give me a ride the first day we met!"
"Who was supposed to be picking you up?"
"Just my step-dad."
"Is this a normal occurrence, Herr Forehead?"
"Wh- No! My mom usually gets me."
"Herr Forehead? Really, brother?" The man in the driver's seat spoke up. Apollo and Klavier ignored him though.
"I meant him not picking you up when he's supposed to." Apollo went silent at that. Klavier slowly rested his hand on Apollo's knee. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize."
"I'm fine."
Kristoph groaned in frustration. "Can one of you tell me where I'm supposed to be driving?"
"Oh, it's the one actual house house near Fey & Co. Law Offices," Apollo answered. Kristoph mumbled out a thank you and turned a quick corner. The ride was silent for a bit after that.
It wasn't long before Klavier began to lean on Apollo uncomfortably. "Why must you live so far from the school?" he grumbled. Klavier brought Apollo's hand to his hair and left it there. It seemed like he was trying to distract and comfort himself about something at the same time.
"Klavier, is something wrong?" Apollo wanted to pull his hand away, but he could tell something was up. Klavier seemed a lot tenser than before. He was in no way this uncomfortable or clingy earlier. The other still hadn't responded to him. "Klav?"
He only received a groan in response. Apollo moved his hand off of Klavier's hair and patted him on the shoulder. "Kristoph, do you know what's up with Klavier?" The older one sighed and glanced in the mirror.
"Motion sickness. Apparently he managed to forget about it when he climbed in the back. That or he ran out of Dramamine and didn't tell me like most of his problems. Just keep him distracted until we drop you off. Don't panic if he falls asleep either, it might be better for him to be asleep than awake depending on how bad the motion sickness wants to be," Kristoph explained. That made sense. Kristoph's attention was fully back on the road now.
Apollo nudged Klavier. "Hey do you want to talk about something? We could talk about something like... school, law, magic-" Klavier perked up at the word magic.
"I didn't know you cared for magic, Herr Justice."
Apollo laughed a bit. "There's a lot you don't know about me seeing as we literally just met today. But yeah I know a bit about magic. Couldn't say I learned about it willingly though."
"How so?" That got Klavier intrigued.
"Family of magicians. I couldn't escape them if I tried. Even my little sister is becoming a magician!" Both of them laughed as Apollo accidentally elbowed Klavier in the chest.
"Family of magicians you say? Are you planning on being a defense attorney warlock then?" he asked jokingly. Klavier was still leaning on Apollo, but he wasn't nearly as tense as before.
Apollo huffed. "You wish. You just don't want to be the only weirdo in the courtroom."
Klavier held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, you got me. You can't blame me for trying though, ja?" He smiled against the shorter. "Maybe I also thought it would be cute. Guess you'll never know now."
"Please. You're clearly not the subtle type. I don't even have to interrogate you to know you're fantasizing about it as we speak, you freak." The body next to him shuffled with a small chuckle.
"Interrogate? Didn't take you to be the type for that," Klavier said, sitting back up properly. Apollo spurt into a fit of offended breaths.
The man in the front seat sighed. "I'm reinstating the no flirting rule anytime we pick up Apollo. We're here." The car was completely stopped in the driveway of the Enigmar/Justice household. Apollo shuffled his way out of the car.
"Thank you for the ride, Kristoph," Apollo said standing beside the vehicle.
"It wasn't an issue. Klavier, what the hell are you doing?" Klavier was already next to Apollo.
"I'm going to walk him in. I needed to get out anyway, so why can't I be a gentleman as well?"
"You're insufferable," Kristoph muttered as the other two walked up to the door. At least he didn't have to close the other car doors since his brother had common decency for once.
Klavier stood by the front door looking rather relaxed, but if Apollo's bracelet was any indicator, he was stressed out of his mind. He was mostly just worried for his friend's safety. "Did you grab everything?"
Letting go of his bracelet, Apollo began to shuffle through his bag. "Looks like it. You didn't have to do this you know," he stated. Movement could be heard on the other side of the door.
"I would feel bad if I didn't. Quick question, will I get killed by whoever opens the door?"
"Only if it's Trucy." As Apollo said that the door burst open and a pair of arms wrapped around him.
"Polly! You're back! Where were you? Dad said you were walking." The young magician pulled back, confused.
"Hey, Truce. I was supposed to be picked up, but Zak forgot... again." The girl frowned.
"He needs to stop doing that...," Trucy mumbled to herself. She immediately perked up when she remembered the stranger at the door. "Who's this? Finally going to introduce your secret boyfriend to us?" Klavier looked away and chuckled.
Apollo's face reddened. "Trucy, I'm not gay!" He sighed. "This is Klavier, he's essentially a new student at school. His brother just dropped me off."
Trucy leaned over to Klavier and loudly whispered, "Don't worry. He's definitely gay, he just doesn't know it yet." Klavier smiled and shook his head.
"Hey, I heard that!" Apollo yelled at his sister, but the magician already disappeared back inside. "Sorry about her. I should... I should get inside. I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow, Herr Forehead." Klavier grinned to himself as he said that. He also ran back off towards the car before Apollo could yell at him for it.
The shorter sighed and stepped into the house. The entryway was surprisingly clean compared to the rest of the house, but what else are you to expect? The magicians have to store their bunker of props somewhere. No singing could be heard from the kitchen so he knew his mom was still at work. Judging by the lack of loud, ignorant laughing, Zak wasn't there either. It was very likely he just dropped off Trucy and returned to whatever he was doing that day, which was probably some kind of poker tournament.
Apollo wandered into the living room, and he got tackled into another hug from the short magician. "You never told me you met someone new today!"
"How was I supposed to tell you? They don't let you middle schoolers on your phones during the day." Trucy huffed.
"You could've emailed me, silly! Enough about that, what's your new 'friend' like?" Trucy pulled Apollo over to the couch and sat on the floor in front of it as if it were some sort of storytime for children. Apollo sighed and sat on the couch in front of her.
"What do you want to know about, Truce? I'm not telling you anything I wouldn't tell mom before you ask for too many details," Apollo explained.
Trucy sighed and crossed her arms. "Fine, but you have to tell me anything important that happens. I don't want my big brother getting hurt by some guy he thought was his friend."
"That's not going to happen, Trucy. I can take care of myself in the off chance it does though. Now are you going to ask your questions or can I go message Clay?"
"I just needed to give you time to prepare! That way it's more fun to notice if you're lying!"
Apollo jumped back. "Trucy! No! I am not doing this purely for your entertainment! This is why I don't tell you things."
Trucy pulled her hand to her chest in offense. "How could you, Polly? I'm your little sister. Your existence is always part of my entertainment." Apollo chuckled and patted the couch next to him.
"The least you could do before I tell you anything is sit next to me instead of acting like this is some sort of storytime." Trucy moved from the floor to next to him. "Well, what do you think you need to know about my social life?"
Trucy seemed to ponder for a second before answering. "What's your new friend like? All I know is that he isn't super stuck up," She responded with emphasis on the word "I".
Relief flowed through Apollo as he realized his sister wasn't going to pester him about the love part of his social life just yet. "He's been very... surprising to say the least. He kept showing up everywhere suddenly. Apparently he doesn't know not all conversations need to be heard by everyone in the room."
"Sounds kinda like you with your loud voice," Trucy suggested.
"H-hey! It's not that loud!"
Trucy crossed her arms. "Mom makes you go outside to do your chords of steel practice in the morning. You can't tell me it's not that loud." Apollo looked away in defeat.
"I'm going up to my room. You don't get to get more out of me after insulting my wonderful chords of steel." Trucy frowned. "Maybe I'll tell you more later, but I'm actually tired," Apollo added, getting up and heading to his bedroom.
Apollo laid down in his bed, checking his phone one last time. His eyes fell shut immediately after putting the phone away. He wasn't kidding when he said he was tired.
A few hours later he woke up to the sound of his phone ringing on the bedside table. Groaning, he answered it. "What?" Apollo groggily asked the other end.
"Not even an 'I'm sorry for passing out instead of meeting up with you, bestie'? I'm so betrayed."
Apollo shot up. "Clay?!"
His best friend laughed on the other side. "Hey, Apollo. Did you seriously forget we were meeting up tonight?"
"Sorry!" His chords made that louder than it needed to be. Apollo cleared his throat. "Sorry, Clay. Today was more hectic than I'd like," he apologized.
"Don't worry about it. I'm still downstairs waiting for you."
Apollo sighed. "Wait. How'd you get in?!"
"A magician never reveals their secrets. Good thing I'm not a magician. Your mom let me in when she got back. She even gave me your helping of dinner," Clay explained.
"Of course she did... I'll be down in a second," Apollo said, hanging up the phone and getting out of bed. He stretched a bit and went down to the kitchen. Clay and Thalassa were laughing at the table when he walked in.
Clay turned around, a grin on his face. "It's been over a second. What took you so long?" he asked teasingly.
Thalassa shook her head. "I'll leave you boys to it. Trucy asked me to help her with a new trick. You better not kiss any boys while you're gone."
"Mom, we're just going to the park!"
"You never know," she responded before heading up to her daughter's room. Apollo stood there annoyed at his mother's joking. His face perked up when a plate of food was shoved into his hands.
"Did you really think she wouldn't still save your food? I already ate before coming over. Now hurry up and eat! We don't have all night!" Apollo began to eat the small dinner forced into his hands while his friend began gushing about space like he usually tended to do when Apollo was too quiet.
It didn't take long for Apollo to finish his dinner and put the dish in the sink. The boys stood at the door, Clay holding a blanket under his arm. "Well, you ready to go?"
(A/N: I finally got this chapter done! Next one will just be these two nerds, and a Junithena centered chapter will come out sometime shortly after it. Hopefully. I'll try not to procrastinate finishing the next chapter as much. Also, I have no idea what's going on with the weird spacing between some paragraph, but it might just be a thing on my end.)