Athena comes home early to find Apollo… preoccupied with his headphones. Lyrics are from the Bob Dylan song by the same title.

The Times They Are A-Changin

Athena heaved a sigh of relief as she unlocked the apartment door. She hadn't been expecting to be finished with her work this soon, but the mountain of paperwork from her latest trial ended up being less of a hassle than she'd anticipated. As a reward for getting such an annoying task out of the way, Mr. Wright told her to go ahead and leave early for the day. Apollo had been lucky enough to have the day off, so he would already be here. Athena grinned at the opportunity of getting to surprise him like this.

She paused in the living room. Apollo would usually be hanging out on the couch, reading either manga, books on law, or old court cases. Before Athena could think to call out to him, however, she heard sound coming from the bedroom. Curious, she went to investigate.

She was halfway down the hallway when her ears confirmed that the sound in question was, in fact, Apollo Justice himself.

"The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast

The slow one now

Will later be fast—"

He was… singing. His voice was so nice that Athena was stunned. She pressed a hand to her mouth, realizing her mouth was hanging open. She'd been dating Apollo for nearly six months, and been living with him for almost four. And she somehow had never heard him sing before.

Athena reached the doorway to the bedroom, where she was greeted with the sight of her boyfriend, with his back turned to her, moving to the beat of the music coming from his earbuds as he continued to sing. He had a soothing, melodious croon that suited the song rather well.

"As the present now

Will later be past

The order is rapidly fadin'

And the first one now will later be last

For the times they are a-changin'"

He finally turned, a smile playing on his face until he spotted Athena standing by the doorway. The color drained from his face, his eyes bulged, and he mouthed wordlessly like a fish. After a few seconds of staring in shock, he tugged the earbuds out of his ears. "Athena? Y-You're home early," he finally sputtered.

"Yeah, Mr. Wright told me to head on home since I managed to get all the paperwork done today," Athena replied sheepishly. "You… didn't have to stop, you know," she added with a smile.

Apollo sputtered, acted liked he hadn't heard her last comment, and quickly skedaddled past her in the doorway to retreat to the bathroom. Athena sighed. She debated going after him, but decided that as flustered as he was, it could wait. It wasn't like Apollo could escape her forever.

He could, however, be stubborn enough to hide in the bathroom for a solid ten minutes. Deciding enough was enough, Athena rolled her eyes and knocked on the door. "Apollo?" Her sensitive hearing was able to pick up Apollo's disgruntled groans from the other side. "Will you quit being dumb and just come out already? She heard him heave a deep sigh before opening the door with an annoyed expression.

"Was that really necessary?" Athena asked.

"…Maybe not," Apollo admitted. He still sounded embarrassed, but she could detect traces of regret in his voice. "I just… you, um, surprised me." He rubbed the back of his head, his face tinted pink.

"I kind of gathered that much," she replied. "Sorry for freaking you out—"

"No, no," he interjected, "It's fine. I really have no one to blame but myself."

"She wants to ask where you learned to sing like that!" piped up Widget.

"Widgeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!" scolded Athena as she poked the device on her neck.

Apollo flushed harder at the AI's statement. "I'm… a little self-conscious about singing in front of other people," he admitted, taking an interest in the floor. "That's kind of why I bailed so quickly."

"I regularly see you in the buff, Apollo. Yet you're more self-conscious about me hearing you sing?"

He gave an embarrassed chuckle. "I guess it sounds a bit silly when you put it like that," he conceded.

Athena shook her head. "No, maybe I shouldn't have said that. It isn't an uncommon thing to be anxious about."

"I don't know if 'anxious' is really the right word," said Apollo. "More like… 'not wanting other people to know I sound dumb.'" He paused. "Okay, maybe 'anxious' is the right word." He sighed.

"You don't though," she told him sincerely.

"Huh?"

"You don't sound dumb. At all."

He stared at her, then glanced at his left wrist. He clearly thought she was lying and was bewildered at the fact that his bracelet wasn't reacting. "You… really think that?" he asked, the surprise and confusion obvious in his voice.

Athena closed in and kissed his cheek. "I do. In fact I think you sound amazing."

His face flushed harder still. "Athena, please."

"I'm serious. You ought to collaborate with Prosecutor Gavin and put a record out."

"I would much rather not," moaned Apollo.

"Well, you wouldn't have to collaborate with Gavin, I guess. It'd just make it easier, knowing someone already in the business."

"I'm not making any records, with or without Prosecutor Gavin," he insisted.

Athena laughed. "I know. You're too boring to do something like that."

Apollo rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, O Loving Girlfriend Who Never Puts Me Down."

"I'm a lawyer; I was simply stating the truth, O Boring Boyfriend Whom I Love Regardless," she shot back at him with a grin. Before Apollo could do more than scowl, she continued, "I was just saying your voice was nice enough that you could make a record if you wanted."

"I'll take your word for it," said Apollo. "But…"

"But?" asked Athena, expecting him to put himself down some more.

Yet he gave a smile instead, which surprised her. "But," he continued, "If my voice makes you that happy, then maybe I should keep it private just for you?" Her jaw dropped as he kissed her cheek. "I was thinking about making stir-fry tonight, what do you think?" he asked as he began walking toward the kitchen.

"S-Sounds good to me," Athena replied, still a little stunned.

She was pretty sure that was another Bob Dylan song he was humming when he got to the kitchen.