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“Simooon! C’moooom! You agreed to come with me to Trucy’s magic show!” Athena cried as she knocked desperately on the apartment door of one Prosecutor Simon Blackquill. She was getting no response, but could hear the hawk Taka cawing noisily and the radio singing away in the background.
“I know you’re in Simon! I can hear Taka and you don’t go out without him!” Athena was beginning to get desperate, scrambling around her mind for any way to get the twisted samurai to converse with her.
“If you don’t talk to me I’ll- I’ll…” Athena trailed off, unconfident in what to say next
“… I’ll call Mr Edgeworth!” Athena blurted, before hiding her head in her hands out of embarrassment. From behind the door, the joyous cries of a hawk could be heard as heavy footsteps stomped closer. The door was swung open roughly, almost knocking Athena off of her feet as a tall man loomed over her. He had long shaggy black hair tied back in a rough ponytail, streaks of white swept to the side.
“Simon! You look…” Athena started, studying Blackquill’s face. His dark eyes were shadowed by deep bags, brutal and dug into the skin. The skin itself was a pasty pale colour and his expression was one of misery.
“… about the same? Worse?” Athena asked cautiously, watching as Blackquill’s shoulders drooped. He walked back through to the apartment, patting the hawk weakly as he went past. Athena stood at the open apartment door, stunned, until Blackquill turned back to face her
“You can come in. Shut the door behind you.” Blackquill grumbled, making Athena jump slightly as she slammed the door behind her with more force than she intended. She avoided the prosecutor’s furious gaze, focusing instead on his dusty brown hawk, its feather’s plucked and groomed with great pride.
“Wow Taka, you are looking gorgeous today. Really pulling off that stripy handkerchief.” Athena fawned, affectionately scratching the bird on the side of his face, which he leaned into and responded to with an affectionate coo.
“I assume you haven’t come just to pet my hawk?” Blackquill said, arms crossed
“Yes. As I know you heard, you promised to come with me to see Trucy’s magic show. She managed to secure us front row seats. You’re still coming, right?”
“You’re the psychic, figure it out yourself.” Blackquill said dismissively, waving his arm in Athena’s general direction
“P-psychic? Simes, what are you talking…” Athena started, watching as Blackquill tapped his own collarbone, implying she looks down at her own. As she did, Widget began to glow with life, beaming up at her
“Widget does not make me psychic and you know it.” Athena huffed
“You haven’t answered my question, are you coming or not?”
There was a heavy moment of silence, in which even Taka was moved to make no noise, before it was broken
“No.” Blackquill said, turning away from Athena
“Ok then, next question, why?” Silence fell between them again, Blackquill still facing away from Athena
“…I’m sick. I can’t go if I’m sick.” Blackquill spat bitterly
“Why didn’t you tell me? If you’re not well, I don’t mind asking Trucy to give us our tickets for another show later on-“ Athena said sympathetically, walking towards Blackquill and trying to stand in front of him to face him
“Because I don’t need some amateur attorney following me around and doting on me at every chance she gets!” Blackquill snapped, causing a ringing silence to follow. Taka meekly flew to his arm, nudging him with a sense of pity
“You’re a jerk when you’re sick, y’know.” Athena mumbled
“I’m a jerk when I’m well, just not to you Cykes-dono.” Blackquill thought aloud, scratching the top of Taka’s head, his face softened with an expression of fondness.
“…this isn’t about you being sick, is it? And you can’t lie to me. Why didn’t you tell me about any of this?” Athena asked, cautiously approaching the prosecutor and resting a hand on his shoulder
“I am actually sick so, keep your distance. But… since I was released you keep trying to do everything with me. You don’t need me around at everything you do.”
“Simon, I invite you to everything because you missed out on, like, half of your life! All because you were protecting me!” Athena was almost yelling, taking a step back and releasing Blackquill’s shoulder
“You don’t need to invite me out of a sense of obligation, Cykes-dono-“ Blackquill started, before being interrupted by Athena’s excessive shushing
“Oh, come on! I don’t invite you to stuff because I feel like I have to. I actually like spending time with you. Still doesn’t explain why you never told me you couldn’t come…” Athena thought, her ears pricking as she heard Blackquill mumble something under his breath
“Sorry? Didn’t catch that, Simon.” Blackquill sighed, looking away from Athena in embarrassment
“I said- I forgot to tell anyone and fell asleep on the couch. You coming to the door woke me up.” Blackquill grumbled, bowing his head in shame as Athena doubled over in uncontrollable laughter. Simon a crumpled his face into a scowl, trying to hide the small smirk creeping its way onto his lips.
“I’ll tell Trucy we can’t make it then.” Athena gasped slightly, wiping away tears
“Wait, we? You are still in good health and can attend the show.” Blackquill pointed out
“Yeah, but I’ve been to loads already and I only really wanted to go since you would be there. I want to catch up with you.” Athena beamed “And Taka of course” she added, receiving some happy bird noises in response
“Ok, but you cannot exactly stay here with me. I’m contagious, you should have realistically left a good while ago to prevent you from catching anything.”
“Exactly! I’ve already been here long enough to catch your illness, I might as well stay and keep you company.” Athena declared happily
“That’s not what I-“
“Besides, I bet you when I get sick from whatever you have, I won’t be as much of a wuss as you’re being now.” Athena grinned, causing Simon to raise an eyebrow
“Are you confident about that?”
***
“Cykes-dono! I know you’re in!” Blackquill yelled, knocking on the door with such force it was seconds away from coming flying off of its hinges. Taka began to caw loudly to try to be heard over the deafening knocking. Behind the door, the light shuffling of footsteps could be heard before the door swung open with enough force to make the hinges on the doorframe shake. Behind the door stood Athena, her usually tied-up orange hair ‘down’ as it stuck up unnaturally, her nose bright red as a tissue stuck out of one nostril
“…so I caught your cold” Athena said, inviting Simon and the bird in
“I didn’t wake you, did I?” Blackquill asked with a faux innocence
“You did. Oh, also, before I forget, I got Taka that bird stand in the corner, just in case he needs somewhere to perch.” Athena grumbled, her voice thick and unintelligible as she gestured vaguely to the corner of the room. Stood proudly to the side was a simple wooden structure made of poles, draped with soft felts and with toys hanging off of it. The hawk on Blackquill’s shoulder danced happily, before fluttering excitedly towards the new plaything, hanging on with his sharp talons and swinging around on the first toy he found, flapping gleefully.
“Mmm, neat. So, how rough is it then Cykes-dono?” Blackquill teased
“Meh meh meh meh meh, meh meh.” Athena spat, mimicking crocodile mouths with her hands
“You’re a jerk when you’re sick.” Blackquill chuckled, setting himself down on Athena’s couch
“I’m allowed to be. So, why the visit?” Athena asked, flopping down onto the couch next to Blackquill
“I got young Miss Wright to record a magic show for us to watch, if you wanted to make up for lost time?” Blackquill suggested, passing a small, plastic disk in a thin covering over to Athena
“Sure, it’s not quite the same as dragging you to be an unwitting volunteer, but I’ll take it.” Athena smiled, taking the disk off of Blackquill and examine it in her hands
“Wait, you were going to do what now?”