Warm in Your Embrace

Summary: An explosion at the courthouse leaves Klavier in need of some care. But when he wakes up at midnight as a result of his treatment, Ema knows that it's going to take more than another painkiller to sort this out. Oneshot. Klavier/Ema

Rating: K plus

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Romance

Disclaimer: Pre-romance ahoy! Read at your own risk.

[A/N:] Fanfiction was not how I planned to spend this evening. Oh well. Maybe my muse will settle down now.

Sometimes Ema wondered how she got herself into these things. In this case it was probably bad timing. She had been at the police station when they had gotten a call of an explosion at the courthouse. They had been fortunate; no one had been seriously hurt.

But the lack of serious injuries did not mean there was a lack of injuries altogether.

Klavier Gavin was sitting in the hallway in her apartment, knees drawn to his chest, back against the wall, and face almost pale enough to make him look like part of the wall. She noticed this, and went for the bottle of prescription painkillers sitting on the counter. The ones they had given him at the hospital must have worn off. Ema double checked the clock. Sure enough, it was time for his next dose.

Klavier had been close enough to the courtroom when the explosion happened to hurt by it. The force of the blast had sent him and a spectator, both of whom were passing by the courtroom at the time, flying into the wall. She hadn't heard what the spectator's injuries were, but Klavier had broken several ribs. Most of the shrapnel that had been flung out in the explosion had been stopped by his leather jacket, but some pieces had still cut him up.

He had been taken to the hospital, where his chest was x-rayed, shrapnel removed, and tetanus shot given before being released. The hospital had wanted to know if there was anyone he could stay with, as if the bruises on his chest started to spread it would mean potential internal bleeding and he'd have to come back.

Once upon a time that would have meant Klavier being released to Kristoph's care. But those days were over.

She had wanted him to go home with Apollo. Apollo had bowed out on the basis that his apartment lease had lapsed, again, so he was sleeping on the couch in Phoenix's living room, again.

Ema was of the opinion that Apollo was just trying to get them together. He's on Gavin's side, the sneak!

But there was no help for it. Who would be there if Klavier went home and something happened to him?

Besides, her apartment was closer to downtown anyway, closer to the hospital. Klavier's home was outside the city.

Ema filled a glass with water at the kitchen sink, and took the glass and two of the painkillers to Klavier, who was still sitting on the floor.

"Danke, Fraulien." He said, downing the pills quickly.

It was hard not to feel bad for him, as pale as he was and as miserable as he seemed. Ema bit back any remarks about him being a fop and took the glass when he handed it back to her. "You should get some rest."

For a moment he looked ready to make some witty comeback, then he nodded and pushed himself up

It was a one bedroom apartment. She had made herself a bed on the couch in her living room, figuring that as much as she hated the thought of Klavier in her room, it wouldn't do him any good to try and sleep and the couch with his broken ribs.

She helped him the rest of the way down the hall – a short distance to be sure – and into the bedroom. "You should get into bed. We're having soup for dinner. I'll wake you when it's ready."

Klavier nodded, but then tightened his grip on her as she turned to walk. "Ah, Frualien Ema, I will need some help getting my shirt off." He said.

"What?!" Ema screeched. "Are you kidding? I'll bring you some scissors."

"It's a seventy dollar shirt." Klavier protested.

"Seventy dollars for a black t-shirt? Are you kidding me?"

"Please?" He asked, giving her an earnest and somewhat sad look.

Next time he goes home with you, Apollo. Ema thought, but sighed as she gave in and helped him get the shirt off. They had been to his house long enough for him to pack a bag, or, as he was still moving stiffly at the time, for her to back a bag for him while he gave instructions on what to put in it, so he had pajamas to wear. They buttoned up the front, as did his other shirts in the bag.

Ema left him in the bedroom and went to the kitchen to make the soup, and tried not to think that he was really fit under that shirt.

~xXx~

Later that evening found Ema in her favorite pajamas, lounging on the couch, blankets pushed to one end of it. She had dragged the coffee table over to the couch until she could set the file she had brought home from the police station on it. She was tapping on the couch with the eraser end of her pencil, and noting questions in the file about things she wanted to ask the witnesses and evidence she wanted to investigate.

Ema was a night owl, and the beauty of living so close to downtown was that she was also close to the police station, so she did not have to be up early to be there on time. On nice days, she could and had walked to the station before. It was a fifteen minute walk.

She yawned and looked at the mantle clock on the top of the entertainment center. It read 11:25.

A little later then when she usually called it a night, but not by much. She closed the file and after some shoving, got the coffee table back to the middle of the room, then went to brush her teeth and put her hair up for the evening.

As she was leaving the bathroom, she heard a moan.

Klavier! What if the bleeding had spread, like the doctors at the hospital had worried about? She went to the bedroom door and tapped on it. "Klavier?"

The door wasn't closed all the way. After a moment's hesitation she pushed it open. "Klavier? Are you alright?"

The prosecutor was sitting up in bed, the blankets wrapped around him. Even in the dim light, he looked miserable. "I can't get warm."

Ema winced, remembering herself years ago, when she'd been on a school field trip and cut herself on a piece of rusty metal. She had been sick the whole night after Lana had made her get a tetanus shot, and she had spent most of the night in tears.

After a moment's hesitation, she came into the room. "Lay back down," She said, wishing she had a heated blanket. Maybe she would get one tomorrow. But tonight was another issue.

Klavier complied, looking no less miserable then he'd been a moment before. Ema crawled under the covers and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him as close as she thought she could without hurting him more. "I'll keep you warm tonight." She said quietly. "We'll figure out something for tomorrow."

"Danke, Ema." He whispered, still shivering. After awhile, his shivering stopped, and they both slept.

[A/N:] Oh, people, it has been too long of a day. I had to get a flu shot today, which for some reason, brought me to recall my experiences with a tetanus shot. And that was how we got this. Yeah. I hope the narration wasn't distracting, and that the romance wasn't too poorly done. The story isn't exactly set in Dual Destinies, but if you want to read it that way that's fine by me. Just know that in that case, Ema didn't even ask Apollo because he was in the hospital too.

Anyway, please review and let me know what you think. I love hearing from readers!