with eyes turned skyward

Did Mr Gavin do it? That was what he had argued in court, and it had felt like the only logical conclusion in the moment, but it still didn't feel real -- especially not now, knowing that the decisive evidence he had presented was fake.

"I... guess he did? He said something wrong about the details of the case during the trial, that was the same mistake the killer had made when he was rearranging the crime scene... and he knew something about the victim that only the killer would have known... and..." Repeating the reasoning helped it sink in a little, but the more it sank in that his boss (former boss) was almost certainly a murderer, the worse it was on his nerves. "... And he admitted it. He confessed, after I-- after Phoenix Wright-- anyway, and he was arrested. I watched them take him away. In handcuffs."

He sank to sit at the base of the stairs when he made it outside.

"I don't know what happens now. I don't have a job anymore. I ruined everything and found out my two favourite attorneys are scumbags in my very first trial! I thought I was doing the right thing, but--" But he had won his verdict illegally. He had abandoned his integrity right out of the gate. Whether the right person was indicted in the end or not, he didn't have a right to stand in court and fight for the truth anymore after presenting that ace -- if anyone would ever let him again.

The weak words came out in a rush, mumbled together and barely coherent. "Everything's wrong. I'm scared, Clay."

What could Clay even say? What on earth could he do to fix this? Well, it was dumb to think he could fix it all with just a wave of his hand, but how could he not consider it when this was his best friend in need? After all, he knew Apollo would be right there the way he had been since they met so many years ago, and always would be.

"I'm almost there—" He starts by saying, hoping that his firm but warm tone is reassuring. "—so it'll be alright. You'll be fine, I promise." It felt awful to say it in a situation where everything clearly wasn't fine, but it hadn't been their mantra for dark times for nothing. "We'll figure it out."

He pulls up to the front of the courthouse in record time (as record as it could be when not actually racing there) and practically leaps out once he's parked. Clay makes a beeline for Apollo, not even asking before tugging him into the crushing kind of hug that always worked to ground them both. He holds the embrace for a long moment, hoping the physical contact pulls Apollo from his spiralling thoughts.

His mouth was already full of snacks, but he still managed a half-whooping cheer when Clay revealed the more boring part of his week. "Woo, Team Paperwork!" He swallowed so he could laugh. "Sure, driving a rocket with Mr Starbuck is cool I guess--" (It was extremely cool, and Apollo was jealous.) "--but real pro astronauts know the waivers are where it's at. Was there any weird legalese in there about selling your soul to GYAXA? You know, you have a right to consult with a lawyer whenever you sign something that's legally-binding -- I could tell you all the loopholes and fix all the spelling mistakes."

Alas, this day was not for the celebration of documents, so Apollo dialled it back. "So? How did the training go? Did Mr Starbuck show you how to pull off the next HAT Miracle? When do you get to ride in the real rocket?"

Clay makes a point of rolling his eyes at Apollo's outburst, but he'd known it was coming (and was why he'd said everythign the way he had to begin with). "Well, listening to your chatter about law over the years helped me out already with what I signed—but maybe I'll shoot you the copy they're going to email to me later." It was mostly the standard safety guidelines and waivers, but he would appreciate the professional set of eyes on everything—once they were done having a day spent relaxing.

He gestures a little as he tries to finish chewing before answering the next questions, then says, "It went great! It's always nice when I get to hang out with Mr. Starbuck—oh. I…I guess I can call him Sol now?—well anyway, it went really great. It was just the basics this time—since he said that you have to know the basics inside and out if you pull off something like the HAT Miracle. But—we're getting there." He leans forward a bit. "It was a training sim, mostly, but…it was so damn cool. The windshields were replaced with monitors, and it looked like we were actually taking off…!"

"Yeah, the trial just ended," Apollo answered when the call came through, still a little hoarse from overdoing it on his Chords of Steel this morning. But Clay's voice had a way of grounding him, and he currently sounded much less flustered than his friend did. At least while he was still in the mires of shock before the panic truly set in. "Thanks, buddy."

"I got my verdict. The judge declared Phoenix Wright 'not guilty'." He got that out of the way first, to make it clear that his predicament wasn't due to a failure on his part to rise to the moment and do the task he had been entrusted. "And I tried running my defence just like Mr Gavin does -- y'know, dog the witness, prove they're lying.

"But. But then the judge called him to testify. Mr Gavin. And then Phoenix Wright was egging me on and, and..." It still felt painfully unreal as he spoke it into reality: "And then I accused Mr Gavin of murderrrrrrr."

Clay doesn't consider himself an unsafe driver, not given his family's history around cars, but he's pulling out of the parking lot of the space center in record time. He's thankful that at least the courthouse is closer than Apollo's office or his apartment, because it means he just plain gets there faster. And he needs to be there faster.

"Good, I'm glad you did." He can't help the relieved little sigh he lets out when Apollo says that at least he won the trial—Clay didn't think that Apollo's boss was the type to fire a guy for losing his first ever case, but he couldn't guarantee it hadn't happened. So at least that wasn't the problem.

…It was the rest of what Apollo said that was the problem. It's probably a good thing that he's at a stoplight when Apollo manages to get out the rest of the story, because Clay has to shake off a bit of a stupor.

He'd always thought Apollo's boss—the guy who Apollo had known since they'd been in high school, sort of—was at least a little intense. Welcoming enough, certainly, but there was always this slight chill that would run down Clay's spine anytime he came to see Apollo at the Gavin Law Offices (which was, of course, rarer as time went by). But—

Simon does not answer. He hasn't a clue.

But much like a miracle in disguise, PONCO and CLONCO race by like a pair of young siblings.

Have they gone mad? Malfunctioned? Knowing their makers—

Clay starts as the rogue bots go racing past, letting out a yelp as he hops further out of their way. He recovers quickly enough, peering around Simon to better see where PONCO and CLONCO were headed.

"Y-yeah, looks like it!" He winces. "Getting these two outta there might be impossible before long, let's hurry!"

"Alright, I'll bite. Once we sit down, you can tell me all about how rough it is commuting to your awesome Space Centre job and catch me up on what else has happened in the World of Clay this week."

"You know, now that you're a super-cool astronaut, work talk is still on-theme." And Apollo just liked excuses to hear about Clay's vocation. He would never be able to survive in that field himself, knowing how much he had struggled just in the undergraduate program, but it was still exciting to experience it vicariously through his best friend. "Moon Day is the one day a year your job gets to be cooler than mine!"

Clay was in the middle of setting a pair of plates loaded with snacks down on the coffee table when Apollo speaks up, and another bark of laughter is pulled from his throat. He settles into his couch, shimmying into a comfortable position and waiting for Apollo to join him before saying anything else.

1        watching tv/movies together

2        going to an event together  ( like a carnival, festival, etc. )

3        going on dates, like to the movies or shopping

4        sharing secrets

5        hugs

6        sharing drinks

7        having a phone call

8        touching noses

9        cuddling

10      having a philosophical discussion

11      hand holding

12      sharing jokes

13      sharing smiles

14      laying your head on someone’s shoulder

15      linking arms

"I'll see you in the future when we're older

And we are full of stories to be told.

Cross my heart and hope to die,

[Call me. Soon as you can] He texted. It took a minute to gather the courage to write the follow-up, but his trembling fingers eventually managed to send context:

[I fucked up, Im fired. Also i punched phoenixw right in the face. Please call]

His blood runs cold when Apollo's texts come in—specifically the second one, for obvious reasons. Suddenly Clay's heart is pounding in his ears, and before he knows it he's asking Mr. Cosmos to be excused due to an emergency and sending back, [ Shit—omw, call you in 2 ]