courtroom magician

My piece for the @aceassistantszine !!!! i love weird little girls so much,,,, dotter,,,, twoocy,,,,

So he listened closely to her explanation of who her date was and what his motives were and his behaviour that annoyed her, nodding and making mental notes. Sounded like a regular teenage boy, who had grown into an infatuation with the idea of going out before he had grown into being finely considerate of others' feelings. Not that Apollo had ever been that way as a teenager, obviously, but he was relieved that he'd made it through that stage with the perspective and clarity of hindsight to be squarely on Trucy's side when she complained about it.

Though, he couldn't help a laugh at what her most pressing grievances against Alejandro were. "You're right, being tall is a much bigger problem than him ignoring you when you said you're busy."

"You know I would've came if you asked me." Given that he had raced here no-questions-asked this time, he hoped that much was obvious, but if she had considered calling and decided against it before, then it bore the reminder. "I wouldn't be much of an assistant if I didn't help you disappear when you needed it, right?"

He strongly disagreed that literally every part of high school was as terrible as she believed, but this wasn't really the time to expound upon the merits of public education. She had chosen to confide her problems in him, and he chose to take that position seriously. "High school is not worth dying over, no matter how much it sucks. It'll be over with before you know it... and if you need out of any more bad dates in the meantime, I'm on-call." Despite the reassurance, he did cut her with a bit of an admonishing look. "It would save you the trouble to just turn him down next time, though. He doesn't sound like he's good at taking a hint, so at some point you've got to be honest with him that you're not interested."

Trucy had never seemed like someone who had a problem speaking up for herself, so Apollo found it a little surprising that she would agree to multiple dates when she claimed to like neither going out nor the boy who asked -- but he understood that being a teen and navigating relationships was a learning curve, and that process was better supported by listening sympathetically than by demanding an explanation for why kids made the illogical decisions they did. He gave her a soft pat on the shoulder, before turning to do up his seatbelt and gesturing for her to do the same. "So am I driving you straight home? Or do we need to make a detour for consolation milkshakes on the way?"

She felt foolish, really. Apollo was correct that Trucy Wright was not the kind of girl to let someone walk all over her like she'd let this boy do. But—while she wasn't necessarily unpopular, Trucy often didn't feel like she fit in with her classmates as well as she should. And yeah—she was trying to figure out the learning curve when it came to romance. All this venture had done, though, was convince her it mostly sucked.

She unclenches her hands and self-consciously smooths out her dress, face pinched as she thinks. "I'm definitely going to say no next time. It's just hard to do so and be polite." She had her stage smile on almost at all times, after all. "…Thank you, though. Don't know if it'll be bad dates ever again, but…you know I won't hesitate. To call you, I mean."

Trucy thinks for a long moment about his offer to get milkshakes—and truth be told, Alejandro was also the kind of bad date who didn't even offer to get even a glass of water which would've been free. Ugh.

"You're our guest, though, remember. So we'll leave it up to you: whatever tricks you wanna get old Datz to show ya, and whatever little trick you think I'll have the most fun with in return." He gave her a wink as he started driving out of their parking spot and towards the road home. "And if it turns out you're too busy for knife-throwing practice while you're here... you'll just have to come visit again!"

It didn't seem like it would be a hard sell, considering how pleased Trucy seemed to be here already, but for Apollo's sake, if he could give her any more reasons to make the long trip to Khura'in and light up his office for a while, he'd take what excuses he could.

Datz gave a hearty laugh at Trucy's story, with no indication at all that he might think a staged kidnapping was unorthodox or extreme outside of what Apollo's opinion must have been. "You're right, that kinda excitement in court sounds like just the kinda thing I wish I could'a seen! Bet the look on his face was worth gold, har har!" As glad as he was that Apollo was here now, it was a bit sad to think about all of the moments and milestones he -- and Dhurke -- had missed while the kid was growing up and starting his career abroad.

"So you've been haulin' his butt outta the fire since the start, eh, Trooper? Guess we owe you 'n' Hat a big thanks for lookin' out for 'im for us!" He briefly took a hand off the wheel to bump his gloved knuckles against her shoulder. "Things've been so busy since Apollo came home, he ain't said a whole lot about what kinda adventures he was off havin' in California. Or were they misadventures? Har har har!"

It'd be hard for a while, with Trucy finishing school and organizing for her next shows. And touring! Well, if she did end up touring (once she was famous enough), the first stop would have to be here. Like she'd miss the chance to have Apollo be her assistant visit, and also put on a show for the people here. But that was a ways off.

"Oh, it was. He was all teary and snotty and demanding to know what mafia guy had abducted me! Only to find out it was Mr. Hat!" To illustrate for her new best pal, Trucy puts on her saddest expression, batting her eyes and faking a teary waver in her best approximation of Apollo's voice. "There are some things you just don't do, Trucy! I'm pressing charges!"

Ah, the good old days. Trucy missed them.

Trucy beams proudly, nodding. "Doin' my best, yeah! You met my Daddy, so I know all his tricks. And I got to teach Apollo a few of my own to boot, back before Daddy really got back to being a lawyer."

She laughs as Datz does, the cab of the truck filling with sound. "Polly and I got up to loads of stuff!" She starts naming them off almost as if she wanted to fill Datz in, counting along with her hands as she does so. "There was that first trial with the noodle cart murder and the creepy guy who stole my Magic Panties, and then the concert with the spies and the smuggling, and then the special trial where Polly got to work with Daddy about his special mission, and then he got to visit my friend Jinxie's town and solve a murder about a bunch of yokai! And—"

Thankfully he did not have to finish his sentence as the show theme song started playing, with instrumentals reminding the lawyer of old school jazz, fitting for the heist theme.

"Of course, don't worry I will text you, I know I can count on you if needed. Thank you for caring, Truce~." He gave her a gentle smile, truly glad he had someone he could count on, and a warmer home to come to. In fact, it had been... a while since they truly sat down after a rather average week, between his studies in Europe, Trucy's show getting bigger and bigger, regaining his badge, and the major events around the agency... they were so different than the last time they sat down for the upcoming weekend. It caused the man to look fondly at his daughter while her eyes were on the tv screen.

She beams up at him and nods, glad that he seemed happy to let her assist with things at home.

"Well…" Sure, she'd like to go on a trip with her friends or maybe Maya and Pearly, or Athena, or Apollo the next time he was back in the States. But this one in particular… "I thought it might be nice, just the two of us. Next time maybe it'll be with friends." She's quiet for a moment as she thinks. "I didn't look very hard…but maybe we could take a train and go to a national park or something? And make sure we have extra comfy beds!"

Who doesn't like getting their fortune told?

Eustace remembers every school festival, there was this girl who's booth had the longest lines because her fortune-telling skills were top notch! She'd answer every question imaginable or gave you a quick forecast if you had nothing to ask at all.

She's graduated since then, but he knows she took over her grandmother's shop somewhere in Little Tokyo. Surprisingly not much foot traffic today, but he's not complaining!

As he leads Trucy by the hand, he carefully ushers her inside. The place is very atmospheric, dark, and magical, but not scary at all.

Trucy'll love this.

His fellow Themis alumna greets them very enthusiastically. And without putting pressure on a literal kid to ask a question, she spreads out three cards on the table.

The girl smiles, pointing at the Queen of Pentacles. "Looks like you found a new person in your life who nurtures and protects you to the fullest! You can definitely rely on them for anything. Good for you."

She moves onto the Knight of Cups. "And you, being the Knight of Cups, have been able to thrive under the Queen of Pentacle's amazing support! You get to be creative as much as you want without roadblocks! And when things do crash and burn, the Queen of Pentacles will give you that soft landing that you need."

Well, it was clear now why her father wasn't the one she had asked to take her home. Apollo hung back a polite distance as not to interrupt Trucy's obvious ploy to extricate herself -- though he had to suppress a full-body cringe as he watched the stranger try to go in for an unwanted good-bye kiss. Eugh, awkward teenagers.

Aware that the abandoned party was still wistfully watching Trucy as she hurried to his side and was not-very-discreetly hoping to eavesdrop, Apollo just nodded at her thank-you and said, "Let's talk more about the emergency in the car, okay, Boss?" Then, walking slightly behind her in order to keep himself between the two, he quickly steered her out the gate and around the corner to where he had parked.

After letting her in to the passenger side, he finally let out a relieved sigh as he dropped into the driver's seat. He turned to face her more fully and offered a sympathetic smile; he wasn't sure he had ever seen her looking so embarrassed before.

"You alright?" he asked, still unsure of the magnitude of the situation he was rescuing her from. Hopefully her date hadn't done anything worse to her than be cringy and awkward. "I don't expect you to pay me back for picking you up, but I do want to know what made you call me."

"I'll be fine. Someday." She runs a hand down her face lightly, sighing. "You may say I don't have to pay you back but it's happening whether you want it to or not. …Not to make it a threat but. Yaknow."

After another moment, she sighs heavily again, hoping her date got the hint and hadn't followed them so he wouldn't see her immediately dying of embarrassment. The thing was the guy wasn't that bad, not really. "That was Alejandro. He's in the year ahead of me at school, and he's in the same science class since I'm taking the advanced version for my year." She hated that class, and not just because of this guy. "He's been like. Circling isn't the right word, but he's kind of been doing that or like—dancing around flirting with me? Sort of? But—big junior/senior dance is soon, and I think he asked me out intending to ask me to go with him and his friends made him do it. He's generally fine but like. He wasn't really listening when I said I'm going to be busy, talking to that other magician guy about maybe doing a show together."

She shifts in her seat, quiet for a long moment before bursting out with, "And he's too tall! And really bad at kissing! I barely got away last time without him looming over me expecting tongue! I honestly thought about asking you or Athena on the first date too, but." She covers her face with her hands and groans loudly like other teenage girls stuck in her position. "THIS SUCKS."

"I don't even like going out on dates, I shoulda just told him no right off the bat!!" She pouts up at Apollo. "High school sucks so bad, Polly. Literally every part of it. I want to die."

Bowing at the applause, Eustace straightens himself back up at Trucy's question. "Uh-huh! Music's the best—"

Then he gasps, growing starry-eyed.

"I like Miss Quatlane's work, too! I-I really like classical music, opera, uhm, anything with an orchestra honestly! But I'll listen to anything, like modern stuff, 'specially if I can come up with cool piano version of a song I really like."

He realizes he's talking way too much and stops himself before he loses his head in overexcitement. Flashing Trucy a sheepish smile, he calms down, before giving her a fun offer.

"Oh, I'd love that! And—and maybe I can help you come up with a really cool entrance!! And—and maybe after we have noodles you can come back to the Agency with me. I have a CD player and we can listen to Miss Quatlane a little if you want, unless you want to do something else."

"You can let him know I'll be..." He wasn't ready to say 'fine' out loud, yet. "... Better." Maybe not all better, but comparatively. The important thing was that it wasn't a lie, even if he didn't know when or how he would stop sinking lower, yet. "By the time I'm back to work, at least."

Occupying himself with starting the coffee maker and searching his cupboards for a clean mug, he stayed facing away from Trucy while she rummaged through her tote bag. He made a noise of grateful, if bland, acknowledgement when she announced that she had gotten him breakfasts, only turning around when she mentioned that a familiar name had been missing him.

"You mean, the Kitakis...?" His eyes widened, catching the branding on the box. But before he could make a more coherent comment, Trucy was already drawing more containers from her bag and explaining Mr Eldoon's contribution to this care package.

Apollo's mouth started to pull tight with a feeling he couldn't quite put words to as he listened and took in the growing pile. His head had been so full and his heart had been so heavy and his body had been so sore that he hadn't spared a single thought to their neighbours for what felt like a long time. The reminder that people outside of that case, people who had nothing to do with the Space Centre or the bombing or the Phantom, still existed and could obliviously continue their lives as usual -- it stung a bit, in how unfair it was that their worlds hadn't stopped turning like Apollo's had when Clay was taken from it. But that pang of resentment was quickly forgotten beneath the sudden warmth taking root deep in his chest. The cold, empty hole in his heart where Clay had been, filling in just the tiniest bit with the evidence that he still had kind people cheering for him to move forward.

And lo, like it was a frilly magic prop and not an ordinary shopping bag, Trucy was still pulling things out. Things from the kindest and warmest of them all -- herself. It must have been a lot of effort on her part, preparing the fixings of the soup so he wouldn't have to tax himself cooking in the state he was in.

To think that if he and Aura Blackquill hadn't been thwarted by Mr Wright in that courtroom... maybe he would have been robbed of this kindness, too.

Luckily Trucy had already turned around to stash things away when the thought occurred, because imagining losing her -- being responsible for losing her -- while she was here trying so hard to cheer him up sparked tears. He quickly wiped his eyes and shook his head when she started to sound almost apologetic for bringing him so many reasons to smile when he needed it. "This is wonderful, Trucy. Really." He wouldn't tell her 'You shouldn't have' when it sounded like she was already doubting it herself, but... "I don't deserve someone so good looking out for me."

He stepped up behind her as she closed the last of the things behind the fridge door and cautiously -- like his cursed touch alone might hurt her -- put a hand on her shoulder to invite her to turn and perceive that his gratitude was genuine. Which may have been a mistake, because seeing her face while those frightening thoughts were swirling forced the words out of him that he hadn't managed to say when she was first reunited with the Agency at the end of that trial.

"Trucy... I'm so glad you're okay," was the last complete sentence that made it out clearly before his throat started to close and the tears resumed flowing. Hopefully Trucy had come here prepared to see him cry, because while he was recovering from recent events, he didn't have the strength to try to hold it in once it started. "I swear I never... never want to hurt you. If anything happened-- I-if I lost you both--"

Her heart breaks when he does, her brows knitting together and her voice sticking in her throat when she just wants to do everything she can to reassure him. Apollo was not someone who really had a poker face and she'd seen him cry ages ago…but her chest seizes up as the sobs come, as he tries to get out strings of words between shuddering breaths. She sets her hand over his on her shoulder, squeezing just enough to try to ground him, to try and reassure him.

Off come her gloves, next, and she reaches up to take his face in her hands. She doesn't try to stop his tears, and in the end she maybe doesn't do much better than managing to smear his tears across more of his cheeks, but she hopes her touch is soothing in a way.

"Apollo…" She whispers, her own eyes threatening to well over with tears. Trucy has always been a sympathy crier, moved to it by those around her. She swallows around the frog in her throat, and pulls Apollo closer—gently, so gently, careful of his injuries but still desparate to hold him close and remind him that she was there.

Her hold on him feels too light in Trucy's mind, but she knows that anything tighter will only hurt him, make his pain worse. She tries to hide her grimace, pressing her face into the spot just below his shoulder and hoping that he would believe her when she spoke.

"You really think I couldn't Houdini my way out of there?" She says, and while normally it might have been said with a confident air, the way her voice is tight with emotion hopefully makes it clear that she isn't making light of his worry, of his fear and grief and pain. After a long moment, she adds, "You didn't hurt me. I promise you didn't. You could never."

Trucy had only met Clay Terran a couple of times—once at one of her shows, and then very briefly when her father was out on his secret mission and Clay had stopped by to see his friend. She had been able to tell in an instant how close he and Apollo were, even in those fleeting interactions. It was a window into another part of Apollo's life that she barely knew, and now it was shut permanently. She can barely begin to imagine how devastated Apollo has been feeling since news of the bombing broke.

With fresh tears threatening to spill, Trucy is careful to grip only the back of Apollo's shirt as she reaffirms, "I'm here—I'm here."

When Apollo arrives, it's apparent what is happening at a glance. Trucy blends in for once with her simple sundress, nodding along politely to a curly-haired boy standing at least a foot taller than her who's talking animatedly.

But she stays polite as she glances over her shoulder--and her nerves settle the instant she spots Apollo. "Well, Alejandro--" She says, turning back, "--Thank you for taking me out again! And for understanding about the emergency, the Agency is in a rough spot right now and my dad and everyone else need me there."

She manages to turn her head at the right time when her date leans down for a kiss, his lips instead landing on her cheek, and after an awkward moment and wave they parted--with Trucy making a beeline for Apollo, her face turning brighter red with every moment.