A/N: Ok, I know I'm like nearly 6 months late, but I finally have the second chapter done!
Yeeeeeeah, I kinda took a very extended leave from FF in general for several months. Life was catching up to me and I had so little motivation to write. And I didn't wanna leave you guys with a sub-par story.
But, I'm back! I can't promise my updates will be frequent, but they will be happening!
So, without further ado, let's get on with the chapter!
Song used: Shine by Jeff and Casey Lee Williams
9:07 PM
March 25, 2028
Outside Paul E. Parmesan's
"Is the blindfold really necessary, Apollo? You know I have a thing about sensory deprivation."
Apollo simply shook his head as he led Athena along by hand. "And I keep telling you, that's a very specific thing to have a… Thing about. Look, just trust me. I got a surprise for you."
"You're kinda asking me to do the impossible there." The girl quipped, not being able to resist a chance to take a jab at her senior co-worker. Apollo had told the girl to wear something nice, but not overly formal. (Entirely aware he sounded as if he was telling her how to dress for a date.) So, she had opted for a sunny sleeveless minidress with a flared skirt and folded collar. It almost looked like her courtroom attire in dress form, minus the white undershirt and black leggings.
"Ha ha, you're a regular comedienne. Just relax, we're almost there."
The day of the party had finally arrived. And although he had no doubt in his mind that she knew there was a party being thrown, the venue was most definitely not known to her. After sealing the deal with Pam, Apollo had put Phoenix in charge of making sure everyone knew where to be while Apollo made sure everything at the pizza place was… Well, as close to perfect as you could get in a pizzeria primarily focused at screaming children.
And thankfully, through all of this Apollo had managed to keep his part-time job a secret. Pearl obviously knew, but to the best of his knowledge, no one else had put two and two together.
And thank GOD for that. If word got out that he'd been showcasing as a dancing parrot pirate for the last month, he'd probably change his name and jet halfway across the world. From what the lawyer had heard, Borginia was very nice this time of year.
For the party, since thankfully Apollo could be dressed in human clothes and not a suffocating parrot suit, the young man had gone casual and was wearing a mostly red polo shirt with a black back, not at all dissimilar from his usual attire. He was also sporting a pair of comfortable jeans that, at least in his mind, suited him quite well.
Paul E. Parmesan's finally came into view as the red and yellow duo rounded the corner and Apollo took in a breath. This was it. Either she'd love this, or laugh herself into an early grave, probably dragging Apollo down with her from embarrassment.
"Apollo, you ok? Your heart beat just spiked."
"Y-yeah. I'm fine. A-anyway, you can take the blindfold off in a second. We're here." Apollo pushed the doors of the pizzeria and finally released the girl's hand, quickly joining the crowd of people standing before him the moment he entered the establishment.
Welp, moment of truth.
"Alright, you can take off the blindfold now!"
The girl did as instructed, undoing the tie she'd been using as a makeshift blindfold and finally getting the chance to see what this big surprise of Apollo's was.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ATHENA!"
The entire party cried out as Athena's eyes finally took in the sight of them all standing in the restaurant entrance. All of her friends were there, everyone from Juniper to Simon to Phoenix and even Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth, who appeared to be the only one who'd missed the memo on the casual attire.
The girl seemed to be taking her sweet time looking over the restaurant, which had been decorated with banners proclaiming 'Happy Birthday, Athena!'
Athena's long pause since taking off the blindfold was making her senior co-worker nervous, afraid that at any moment, she would burst out laughing and make Apollo feel like a complete idiot for thinking this was a good idea.
Finally, the girl spoke up.
"Oh. My. GOD!" She screamed excitedly before rushing up to the crowd. "Guys, you seriously didn't need to do all this, but thank you thank you THANK YOU!"
Everyone began chattering excitedly as Athena started making her rounds and saying hello to everyone. First and foremost, she threw her arms around her legal partner.
"Apollo, did you put all this together?!" She asked, releasing the now blushing man.
"Well, I-I mighta paid for the party rental." Apollo stammered out, his cheeks still stained pink. "Mr. Wright's the one who sent out the invitations."
Hearing his name, Phoenix joined his two employees, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Hey, don't go giving me all the credit, Apollo. This was your idea." The older man said smiling.
Even Mr. Wright had foregone his usual get up and gone for a more comfortable look. Not too comfortable, thankfully, as his dreaded hobo gear was left at home. Instead, he was wearing a navy blue and black bowling shirt and jeans, the shirt's top buttons undone to give himself a relaxed look that greatly contrasted what Athena was used to seeing the man in.
"Well, either way, thank you both, so much!" Without warning, the girl pressed her lips to Apollo's cheek before standing on her tiptoes and doing the same to her boss, causing both men to turn as red as Apollo's shirt. "I'm gonna go say hi to everyone else now. Catch up with me later!" With a wave, Athena ran off, heading over and greeting Juniper Woods with a friendly hug.
"Bet that's a load of your mind, huh?" Phoenix said to his young employee, who still resembled a tomato.
"Yeah." Apollo replied, his hand unconsciously scratching the back of his head. "Was afraid she'd laugh at me till I dropped dead of embarrassment."
The older lawyer smiled, placing his hand in the pocket of his jeans. "I don't think there was ever any risk of that. Athena's a simple girl. Seems to me she'd like just about anything so long as there's thought put into it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, it's good knowing she's happy about the party. Means I can finally breathe and enjoy it myself."
The blue lawyer chuckled. "You did a good job, Apollo." With that, the older man patted his employee on the shoulder one more time and made his way to the nearby snack table, grabbing one of the several bottles of grape juice Apollo had made sure were provided. That had been his spike-haired boss's stipulation for handling the invites.
Apollo looked over the crowd that had managed to make it, rather pleased with himself that no one seemed to think this what too childish of a way to celebrate the girl's birthday. Heck, plenty of guests had already made their way to some of the arcade cabinets and game consoles strewn about the restaurant.
Maybe this won't be so bad.
Things were thankfully going off without a hitch. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves as they split off into groups and crowded around the various games. Apollo himself had gone to play a few rounds of Wyvern's Fortress.
However, there was one minor issue.
Nearly an hour had passed and he hadn't seen Athena at all.
The last he'd seen of her was just after arriving at the party, when she'd gone off to greet the other guests. Since then, he'd caught neither hide nor hair of the girl. He'd been hoping to spend some time with her himself, so he decided to go look for her.
After a few laps around the game room, his search had come up fruitless. He decided to ask around and see if anyone had seen the girl.
Luckily, Phoenix happened to be close by, lounging in one of the game chairs centered in front of a Zbox Two. It definitely threw Apollo off seeing his boss with a game controller in his hand, but he went up to him anyway.
"What?" Phoenix said, appearing to be speaking into a headset connected to the controller. "No Maya, I don't know what tanking is… Why do you keep calling me that!? I don't even know what a scrub is!"
"Uh, hey, Mr. Wright?" Apollo said quietly, worried he might be disrupting something.
The man glanced at him quickly and held up a finger signaling his employee to hold on a moment. "Maya… Maya! Hold that thought, Apollo wants to talk to me." He pulled the headset off and turned to face Apollo. "What's up, Apollo?"
"Uh, what's… What's going on here?" Apollo asked, genuinely curious about what he was witnessing.
"Huh? Oh, Maya, you know, my former assistant, she's trying to teach me how to play this game. Oversight, I think?" Apollo nodded, though he really only knew the game's name from it being displayed on the screen. "As soon as I told her the party was being held here, she made me buy a headset so I could play with her. She couldn't make it because she's still training in Khura'in."
"O-oh." Apollo was still shocked just seeing his boss in laid back clothes handling a controller. Nevermind actually managing to establish a voice chat with his friend on the other side of the globe. "Anyway, have you happened to see Athena lately? I've been looking for her."
"Hm… Oh yeah! I talked to her for a minute not too long ago. I think she said she going to go look at the prize counter."
"Huh, that was basically the one place I hadn't looked. Guess I'll go take a look now. Thanks Mr. Wright!" Apollo rushed off to see if he could catch Athena before she disappeared again, just hearing Phoenix crying something about him not being a noob into his headset.
Luckily for the brunette lawyer, he did in fact manage to catch Athena as she seemed to be browsing the prizes, talking to Cole as she did so. He tried to make his way to her…
Only to be grabbed and his face buried into something large and soft.
"Oh, there you are, Pollywog!"
"Mmmmph! Mmph!" Apollo's muffled cries rang out as he began to suffocate, still not comprehending what exactly was going on, except that that particular voice had belonged to his part-time boss, Pam.
"Oh, I have been looking all over for you, my little Polly!" The older woman said as she buried his face in her ample bosom, cutting off his access to much needed oxygen.
"Mmph! Mmn't mmeathe! Mmn't mmmeathe!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Pam finally release the boy from her vice grip, allowing him to suck in air at last.
Air! Sweet, sweet, O2! Never leave me again, my friend!
"Really, it's good to see you, Apollo. I've missed you this week." Pam said to the man, who was just know becoming conscious enough from his oxygen deprivation to even realize she was there, turning his attention to her.
"Oh, Ms. Mesea-" Apollo caught the glaring look in his part-time boss's eyes. "Er, uh, P-Pam! I-it's uh, nice to see you too! Er, i-if you don't mind my asking, what, uh, exactly are you doing here?"
Having finally realized who had nearly killed him by suffocation, and how, Apollo turning redder and redder by the second. Especially now that he was getting a good look at his boss.
Apparently, Pam lived by the logic of 'less is more' when picking her attire. The more here being more revealing!
The brunette woman was wearing a black skirt that barely reach he knees, a pair of black stockings, and to top off the outfit, one of those infamous 'boob window' sweaters, showing off an exceptional amount of cleavage. A detail that made Apollo reach his 10th shade of red that night. He was expecting to reach 50 by the end of the night!
"Oh? You don't want me here?" The woman pouted, a skill she had apparently mastered in her life.
"I-I didn't say that!" The man could only laugh nervously as he protested her accusation, although, she was technically right on the money in her assumption. "I-I just didn't expect you to be here, that's all."
"What, you thought I was going to leave Chase and Cole to themselves? I turn my back for minute, I just know one of them will be drinking straight from the soda fountain. Besides," The woman teasingly pinched Apollo's cheek. "I couldn't wait another day to see you, sweetie. You really know how to keep a woman waiting."
"Uuuuuuuhhhh..." The red lawyer's brain had practically ceased functioning due to overheating at this point. He completely had no idea how to respond to that. Truth be told, he could just drop dead at this moment.
"Apollo?"
Scratch that, he could drop dead at this moment.
Both Apollo and Pam turn to face the new voice that had chimed in, and found themselves looking at Athena, who had apparently caught wind of their conversation.
"Oh, h-hey, Athena!" Apollo said, trying to act natural, but failing spectacularly. "Enjoying the party so far?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, I am." She smiled genuinely at her co-worker. "I still can't thank you enough for this."
"Oh, i-it was no problem, really!" Apollo stammered out, his Porky Pig impersonation improving by the minute.
"So..." Athena turned her attention to Pam. "Who's this?"
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Pam exclaimed, stepping forward and extending a hand forward. "You must be the birthday girl. I'm Pam, Apollo's-"
"Friend!" Apollo suddenly interjected, knowing he needed to stop this conversation dead in his tracks lest his secret identity as Paul E the Parrot be ousted. "Yep, j-just a real good friend of mine! Thought she might like to join in on the party, hahaha."
Athena quirked an eyebrow at the man. "Well, I guess I could see you two were... Very close." She said in a somewhat annoyed voice.
Apollo could swear he heard glass shattering in his head.
Oh God, she saw me suffocating in Pam's cleavage! Lord just just strike me down now!
"Oh, it had just been so long since I'd seen my little Politoed! I couldn't contain myself." Pam said out loud where everyone could hear her!
"P-Politoed!? PAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Athena burst out laughing at Pam's unwanted nickname for Apollo, exactly the kind of thing he was trying to avoid happening!
But, it at least it was better than his secret second job being found out.
"Well, I suppose I should get back to helping Chase in the kitchen. Don't be a stranger, sweetie." With that, and a blown kiss Apollo actively attempted to dodge, Pam walked off, making sure to sway her hips in a way that made Apollo glad no children were present.
Meanwhile, Athena worked to catch her breath.
"You about done there, Tiger?" Apollo asked, growing annoyed.
"Heeeeee... Hehehehe. O-Ok. I-I, ehehehe, I think I'm done... Poli-"
"Don't say it."
Athena snickered. "Ok, sorry, sorry." Suddenly, Athena tone shifted to something much more serious. "So, how come you've never mentioned your girlfriend before?"
Aaaaaaand that was shade or red number 13.
"G-GIRLFRIEND!? No, nonononono! You've got it all wrong!" Apollo protested, waving his hands about in denial.
"Do I? I mean she greets you in... Interesting ways. And she's got pet names for you. That..." Apollo noticed the girl tense up and squeeze her arm. "Sure sounds like a girlfriend to me."
Why's she tensing up? Is she?... No, no way she would be jealous. I mean, she's got Pam beaten in age and beauty. About the only place Pam has the upper hand is in the che- Gah! Head out of the gutter, Justice!
"I-I'm serious, Athena. She's not my girlfriend. She... Well, she's actually the manager here." Apollo began to explain, making doubly sure to not reveal any information about his part-time job.
"She is? So, how do you know her?" Athena asked.
"Oh, uh, from an old job." It's not a total lie, after all."She's kinda the reason I was able to rent the place out. She gave me a good deal." Now a 'good deal' on the other hand... Apollo shuddered remembering he was back to his dancing parrot gig the next weekend.
"Oh, I get it. Well, she seems really nice, then. I'll have to thank her if I see her again!" Athena beamed a smile, apparently happy with Apollo's responses. "Now, onto more pressing matters."
"More... Pressing matters? Like what?"
"Like, what game do we play first!? I was about to start looking for you a second ago. You're the birthday girl's designated game partner!"
"Designated... Game partner?" Apollo wasn't even sure where to begin with that.
"Uh huh. You're gonna help me rack up tickets so we can take home an awesome prize!" the girl excited slammed a fist into her open palm. "I just scoped out the prize counter, and I've got my eye on a couple things. So we gotta get to playing if we're gonna get some tickets."
"O-Oh. I... Guess I get it. Well, what game sounds fun? Only the console games don't give out any tickets. For obvious reasons." Crap, what if she asks how I know that?!
"Ah, so you noticed too. I knew I picked a good partner." Athena stated, apparently oblivious to Apollo's mental freak out. "Hm... Oh! I know exactly what I wanna play first! C'mon!"
Without warning, the redhead grabbed her friend by the wrist and made a beeline for one of the many games. Apollo realized where she was heading after a moment when the one game on an elevated platform came into view: Guitar Protagonist.
"I heard they added a bunch of awesome songs to this game not too long ago, and I'm itching to check them out. First, we need two more players, though. To maximize our ticket output."
Athena seemed to speaking a mile a minute, legitimately seeming to care about the plight of earning tickets. Apollo couldn't help but find it cute.
"Oh, those two are perfect!" The girl finally said, her head shooting up as she caught sight of two apparent candidates to fill out their band. "Hey! Guys, over here!"
Apollo turned around to see who the girl was waving at.
And immediately regretted it.
"Ah, if it isn't das Geburtstagskind. And Herr Forehead!"
Walking toward him now was the odd couple of Klavier Gavin and Trucy. One of whom Apollo had dreaded running into.
Lord, why have you forsaken me?
Apollo shrank back as Athena went about explaining her plight to the two.
"Oh, you wish for us to join you on the stage? Achtung! I'm on board, baby!" Klavier exclaimed, much to Apollo's annoyance.
"Yeah, I'd love to join! I can take the drums!" Trucy said happily.
"Great!" Athena said excitedly. "And I'll take vocals. Klavier, you can be on guitar. And Apollo- Huh? Hey, where's Apollo."
"It appears the Herr Forehead is using you as some sort of human shield, Fraulein."
Athena spun around on her heels and indeed found Apollo, using her to hide from Klavier's sight.
"Apollo! Quit goofing off! We're up next, and we need you on bass!"
True to the girl's word, the foursome looked at the arcade machine to see the current group of Juniper, Hugh O'Connor, and Robin Newman collecting their tickets and hopping off the platform.
"C'mon! Let's rock this place!" Athena announced, climbing onto the platform and snatching up the microphone as she produced a game token. Er, sorry, doubloon.
The rest of the group joined her quickly, collecting their instruments and handing their doubloons to Athena.
As Apollo took his spot next to Klavier, the makeshift base guitar strapped around him, his courtroom rival quietly leaned over spoke to him.
"You need to lighten up. It's a part after all, is it not, Herr Birdbrain?"
Herr Birdbrain? What on Earth does-
Apollo's thoughts were cut short as Athena apparently decided on a song.
"Oh, this one is perfect! Get ready you guys!"
And within the next few seconds, the song began to play.
Baby, it's time to make up your mind
I think that tonight is when our stars align
Honey, it's time to leave the doubt behind
Take my hand cause you and I are gonna shine
Apollo found himself stunned by Athena's apparent angelic singing voice. And her talent seemed to not go unnoticed by the other party goers as many others began to gather around the arcade machine.
I was cold in the dark
It was empty in my life;
From the outside it looked so bright
But nothing felt right... to me
Like a sky with no sun
Like a night that has no day
My heart was eclipsed by the dark
Then something changed
The red lawyer was normally no good at these rhythm games. But somehow, he found his fingers dancing across the buttons easily. Perhaps because he was so mesmerized by Athena's singing, he couldn't bring himself to mess up and ruin the song.
I saw a little ray of light come through
The tiniest of sparks came into view
And then
You made me hope again
Athena went quiet for a moment as the instruments took center stage for a short time, only for the lyrics to pick up again. And Apollo couldn't help but notice the girl wasn't looking at the screen, but appeared to look... At him.
I've been watching you, helping you
Wishing that you'd see
That the girl you've been waiting so long for could be me
Now - I've never been in love
But I think this is it;
It might seem like a school girl crush
But I have to admit
What... What's she keep looking at me for? C-Could she... No, don't start having day dreams, Justice.
I wanna take a chance and make you see
I think that you're the one who'll rescue me
This time
You're finally gonna see you should be mine
But baby, it's time to make up your mind
I think that tonight is when our stars align
Honey, it's time to leave the doubt behind
Take my hand cause you and I are gonna shine
Apollo didn't think he'd ever soon Athena look more beautiful as she turned away from the screen entirely, twirling around to face the growing crowd as she got more and more into the song, moving her body as if she were a natural born lead singer.
I won't need any dreams I know I've never felt like this before
It's all there if you're by my side
Every moment's enough
And you take me to paradise
When I needed a hero you knew it
And you were there
And I'm scared but I'll open my heart up
I'm ready to dare
I never really knew what love was for;
I dreamed
But never did believe
Casting one more sideways glance at Apollo, Athena belted out the final chorus of the song.
But baby, it's time to make up your mind
I think that tonight is when our stars align
Honey, it's now we leave the doubt behind
Take my hand cause you and I are gonna
Light the sky until it's dawn and
Baby you and I are gonna shine
Apollo turned to look at the girl as the song finished, ignoring the pain in his own fingers from suddenly gaining actual skill at a rhythm game. He was too mesmerized by Athena to care.
The girl basked in the shower of applause at her performance, smiling brightly as her friends cheered.
There was only one word for what Apollo was looking at, and he didn't need to say it, as the Guitar Protagonist machine said for him.
Perfect!