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If there was one thing one could count on on Wednesdays, it was Professor Wright's seminar on evidence law starting at least five minutes late. This was usually caused by the man himself just having pretty bad timing, although sometimes other circumstances factored into the slight delay (as Professor Wright seemed quite prone to accidents of all kind).
"Gott sei Dank", Klavier exclaimed, letting himself fall into his seat next to Apollo's with a relieved sigh on this particular Wednesday. The clock showed 10:05 and Professor Wright was nowhere to be seen yet.
"Don't thank god", Apollo said. The duolingo lessons he'd started doing since being introduced Klavier's very own unique brand of confusing bilinguality had taught him at least something, it seemed. "Thank Professor Wright's usual impeccable timing." He threw a sidelong glance at Klavier.
"Why're you late, anyway? You got up earlier than me."
"Ah, na ja", Klavier said with a slight grimace, "Some kind of a hair emergency, you could say."
Apollo raised an eyebrow and contemplated enquiring further (it was a source of continued fascination to him how much maintenance Klavier's seemingly natural hairstyle required, while it took him less than five minutes to gel his hair up into their usual, very much not natural looking spikes), when the door flew open and Professor Wright rushed in.
"Sorry, sorry everyone. I got held up at home." Some of the students chuckled, as he quickly unpacked his things. It was a testament to Professor Wright's teaching style that most of the students saw this as an invitation to ask further.
"Is everything alright?", someone from the back called.
"Yes, yes", Professor Wright said. "It's just my husband. He caught a bad cold and he's so fussy when he's ill." It was almost tangible how the class perked up at that mention. Apollo almost chuckled at the glee in Klavier's eyes.
"Oh no", a girl in the third row said. "Will he be alright?"
"Oh yes", Professor Wright said, "He'll be fine. He's just terribly grumpy when he's sick. I had to station our daughter at his bed to make sure he didn't secretly head to work after all. It's a good thing school's out at the moment." Quite a few people laughed at that.
They loved hearing about Mr Wright's family. (Even Apollo. Although he tried not to let it show too much.)
"At least I don't need to worry about ensuring regular tea intake", Professor Wright joked, while leafing through the evidence law textbook, illiciting another laugh from the students. He had elaborated on his husband's particular fondness for tea more than once (most memorable: the story of how he'd had to fear for his life after making coffee in one of his husband's teapots once).
Professor Wright's enthusiasm in detailing his private life to his students - that was now a routine part of every seminar meeting - had taken most of the students aback at the beginning of the semester. But as it turned out, neither them nor Professor Wright held any particular fondness for the finer points of evidence law (which was what the seminar was about, he had apparently been roped into teaching it), so everyone had been eager to distract him with followup questions and Professor Wright had proven eager to be distracted.
In the course of this peculiar situation, they had learned quite a bit about this mystery man who had swept their professor off his feet. They were childhood friends, had a daughter, a dog and a nice house and had traveled Europe for their honeymoon. Their relationship sounded like a fairytale indeed, and their family life with their daughter seemed healthy and wholesome. Noone could be faulted for occasionally growing starry-eyed when hearing about it.
Apollo sometimes found himself wondering what it would be like to grow up like this. Loved and doted on by a pair of parents instead of being just another forgettable face in an orphanage crowd. He could barely picture it.
Klavier meanwhile was a very enthusiastic fan of Professor Wrights family anecdotes. But sometimes, when he thought Apollo wasn't looking, envy would shine in his eyes next to the happiness very clearly. Apollo had always known that Klavier was kind of a romantic - most of the songs he wrote and performed on his guitar between classes touched on love in one way or another after all. But the fact that Klavier loved the accounts of this couple's day to day life, bickering and everything, longed for a family like this, was something that Apollo liked about him. They were similar in that regard, it seemed, although Apollo didn't know much about what Klavier's family situation was like.
Right now, however, there was nothing but joy in Klavier's eyes, as he listened to Professor Wright's newest story of his daughter being put into detention for making everyone's homework disappear in the course of a magic trick.
"They're just adorable, nicht wahr?", Klavier said, throwing him a look out of the corner of his eyes.
"Yeah. Yeah, they are", Apollo agreed with a slight smile. Evidence law could wait for now.
If there was one thing one could count on on Mondays, it was Professor Edgeworth's seminar on courtroom procedure starting exactly on time.
"Why would anyone want to teach a seminar at 8 am. This is a form of torture. It should be prohibited", Apollo muttered drowsily, leaning on the desk and trying to keep his eyes open.
"Well", said Klavier, trying and failing to surpress a yawn. "We're taking it. So I guess the joke's on us."
Apollo just groaned in response. He'd stopped drinking energy drinks a few months ago and never regretted this very sensible decision as much as he did on Monday mornings.
As Professor Edgeworth arose to stand in front of the classroom all murmured conversation instantly ceased. Yes, he was that kind of college professor.
"I apologize for my absence last week. It was involuntary and I will do my best to keep it from happening again. If you would now please elaborate to me the different standards applied in the distribution of penalties in Byrde vs State as opposed to DeLite vs State? Mr. Debeste, if you would be so kind."
"It wouldn't kill him to just tell us he was sick", whispered Klavier to Apollo as Sebastian Debeste started to strugglingly recount the cases from last week's assigned reading.
The reason for Professor Edgeworth's absence was indeed pretty obvious. A thick scarf was bundled around his neck and he had already let out the occasional restrained cough.
"Yeah, but you know what he's like", Apollo whispered back.
Klavier grimaced. As a matter of fact he had firsthand experience to what Professor Edgeworth was like. Everyone still remembered the memorial occasion at which he had enquired after the meaning of the ring Professor Edgeworth always wore (wedding ring or family heirloom or just a statement of personal style). He had nearly bitten Klavier's head off right there and then and his resulting lecture about privacy and appropriate personal boundaries had taken up quite a chunk of the first seminar meeting.
Thoroughly dressed down, Klavier had since mostly avoided the professor.
He hadn't meant to be intrusive, Apollo knew that, and most of their professors wouldn't have batted an eyelash at the question.
It was, incidentally, exactly the kind of query that would have sent Professor Wright on an hour long tangent about his husband, primarily their wedding, and their honeymoon trip (although noone had actually ever had to ask him this particular question, he had proudly shown them his wedding ring ten mintues into the first seminar meeting, after mentioning his husband for the first time). Professor Edgeworth however operated... differently in this regard.
It was funny, really, how much the two professors contrasted, especially belonging to the small minority of law students that was taught by both. While they basically knew Professor Wright's life story by now (or at least most of the keypoints), Professor Edgeworth would have probably not allowed them to know his first name - were it not for the fact that it was listed on the official websites and forms. To his students he was indeed - in all but physical form and ability to teach a curriculum - a human brick wall.
Wednesday's evidence law seminar was cancelled to Klavier's (and, grudgingly, Apollo's) disappointment. After Professor Edgeworth and Professor Wright's husband, Professor Wright himself had apparently now succumbed to the bad cold that was sweeping through Ivy U and all of LA, according to an unhappy mail they received.
The following days saw Apollo and Klavier mostly in the library, brooding over the substitute assignments they had been given by Professor Wright and Professor Edgeworth.
Later, Apollo would argue that it had been Klavier's fault for belatedly remembering a presentation for his music class and keeping them in the library for so long that it started raining cats and dogs outside, while Klavier would insist that it had been Apollo's fault for checking out five books that had to be protected from the onslaught of water.
They ended up taking the longer way back to the dorms in any case, circling back through the building instead of just crossing through the yard, unaware as of now of what this would cause. Klavier was complaining about their criminal law lectures (their substitute teacher had thrown a cup of coffee at a student that had annoyed him), meanwhile Apollo was trying to balance his books in one arm, while digging through his bag in search of their evidence law assignment (he had forgotten the exact due date).
They rounded another corner and Klavier suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, causing Apollo and his five library books to slam into him.
"Klavier, what the-" Before Apollo could finish his sentence, Klavier had already clapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him back behind the corner.
"Oh mein Gott. I don't believe it." He peered around the corner once again. "Heilige Scheiße. Look!" Bewildered, Apollo followed him. And looked. His jaw fell open.
"Professor Wright and Professor... Edgeworth?!"
And them it was, undeniably. Right in the middle of the hallway they stood, without a care in the world it seemed. Their arms were leisurely draped around each other in a loose embrace and they were conversing in hushed tones. Professor Wright was smiling bashfully, his cheeks tinted a soft red.
Apollo took a moment to reorganize his thoughts. Embarrassment was creeping up his back.
"But- I mean, they aren't- or are they?"
"Looks like it", Klavier responded gravely.
"But- but what about Professor Wright's husband? I mean they're happy. Right?" Apollo peered up at Klavier, only to find the strangest expression on his face. A pleasant and neutral façade was plastered across his features, but underneath it, Apollo thought, he looked disappointed, heartbroken even. Apollo remembered how invested Klavier had been in Professor Wright's family life anecdotes.
"Apparently", he said now, "they aren't. And Professor Wright is better at playacting than I would've given him credit for."
"Hm." Something about this didn't seem right. On the other hand, rumour said that Professor Wright had bluffed himself through entire trials, back when he'd been a rookie lawyer, and even cross-examined a parrot once.
"I wouldn't have pegged Professor Edgeworth as a guy willing to condone cheating though", Apollo said.
Professor Edgeworth's face was obscured by shadows and his own bangs the way he was standing in the hall, but he had not moved away from Professor Wright yet and looked more relaxed than they had ever seen him. So he was going along with it it seemed.
"We didn't know them that well, it seems", Klavier said.
Suddenly Apollo thought of Professor Wright's daughter. Maybe she was still oblivious to how her family was breaking up around her. He felt sorry for her.
Apollo was just about to suggest a quiet retreat (they had been watching the two professors long enough already for it to be really really awkward), when three things happened.
1. Professor Edgeworth took Professor Wright's face into his hands and smashed their lips together.
2. Klavier let out a strangled gasp, a little on the squeaky side, not entirely unlike the sounds his electric guitar sometimes made at 2 am, when he tried to practice without waking his roommate (Apollo. Apollo was his roommate and he had invested in a good pair of earplugs. And now lived in constant fear that they would one day make him miss the beeping of his alarm).
3. Apollo dropped his library books and they clattered to the floor noisily.
Professor Wright and Professor Edgeworth jumped apart. Apollo was trying to pick up his scattered books, but Klavier grabbed his arm and tugged him away.
"Run", he said. And run they did.
But they had just made it a few doors down the hallway, when-
"Gavin! Justice! Wait!"
"Shit", Apollo muttered quietly. They had been identified. Maybe he should change his hairstyle to something less recognizable.
Klavier and him exchanged a look and then turned around to face the two professors and their fate.
"Well", Professor Wright said. "This is awkward."
He was rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Meanwhile, Professor Edgeworth's face had gone bright red. He was trying to cover as much of it as possible with one hand while fiddling with his glasses, it seemed. He was facing away from the students.
"Yeah", Apollo said weakly, when an awkward pause indicated that some kind of answer was expected from them. Klavier stayed silent.
"So", Professor Wright said. "I guess I should explain that - well... so there's no confusion..." He trailed off and threw Professor Edgeworth a hesitant look.
Professor Edgeworth let out a strangled groan. The red of his face had barely subsided, but with a final adjustment to his glasses he finally lowered his hand and let out a deep sigh.
"Just get to it, Phoenix", he said, sounding resigned.
"You see", said Professor Wright, "Miles - I mean, Professor Edgeworth, we're-"
"Save it, sir", an entirely flat voice said next to Apollo and he was surprised to find that it belonged to Klavier. It was accompanied by a pleasant, plastic smile.
"You're not accountable to us in anything you do. None of this is our business. How you conduct relations outside your marriage is entirely your own responsibility." Apollo innerly grimaced at his words.
This, finally, got Professor Edgeworth's eyes to snap up from where they had been awkwardly trailed on the ground and onto Klavier.
"Marriage?", he echoed surprised and a cold ball of lead dropped into Apollo's stomach.
"You- you mean, he doesn't know?" His hand flew to his mouth against his own volition.
"Scheiße", said Klavier and even his look of false politeness was starting to crumble.
Professor Wright, oddly enough, looked about to lose it. His shoulders were shaking and he had grabbed onto Professor Edgeworth's shoulder to steady him. It took him a moment to reign in his quiet laughter.
"Guys", he said. "Guys, calm down." He let go of Professor Edgeworth's shoulder and patted it awkwardly at receiving an exasperated glare.
"Seriously. Let me explain." He slung an arm around Professor Edgeworth's side and gestured at him.
"Mr. Justice, Mr. Gavin, please let me introduce to you: Miles Edgeworth. My husband."
"What", said Apollo. Klavier let out another strangled squeaky sound.
"Phoenix", Professor Edgeworth said, fixating the other man with a glare. "Would you please explain to me what on earth is going on here?"
"Ah", said Professor Wright, his smile now slightly strained, "You see-"
"Wait", Apollo said. "So it was YOU? You defended him from the other students when you were kids? At the class trial?"
"And you proposed on the riverbank with roses and a rendition of a love poem you wrote when you were nine?", Klavier added, sounding a little doubtful, but nevertheless intrigued.
"Phoenix", Professor Edgeworth said through clenched teeth. "What on earth did you tell them?"
"Well", Professor Wright said. "About that-"
"I thought, you agreed to keep our public and private lives separate. And- and why would you tell them about this?" Professor Edgeworth stuttered, his blush very obviously deepening again.
"I did", Professor Wright argued. "I never said it was you. But I must be allowed to gush about my lovely husband from time to time", he pouted.
Professor Edgeworth groaned, hiding his face in the palm of his hand again. Klavier and Apollo still both saw that his cheeks were bright red once again. Maybe they had fallen into some kind of parallel universe, Apollo thought. That would certainly explain a lot.
"So...", Apollo said, no longer being able to stand the resulting awkward silence, "Congrats? I guess? On... your marriage?"
"Yeah", Klavier added after a heartbeat. "Congratulations. Belated congratulations. ...on marrying. Being married. Herzlichen Glückwunsch."
"Thank you. I'm lucky to have him", said Professor Wright cheerfully, still smiling brightly. Professor Edgeworth grumbled something that sounded like a similar sentiment. Either that or he was telling Professor Wright off for sharing details of their relationship again. Possibly both.
"We... should probably get going then", Klavier said. It took Apollo a few seconds and a sharp jab in the ribs to register that this included him. He awkwardly collected his books from where they were still lying on the floor.
"Bye then", Professor Wright said, with a wave. "See you on Wednesday!"
"Bye", they mumbled.
"Say hi to your daughter", Apollo added. Professor Edgeworth threw Professor Wright another glare. Oops.
Apollo and Klavier didn't dare utter a single word until they were well away from that particular part of the building. It was only well after they had passed into their dorm building that they finally exchanged a look. Apollo wasn't quite ready to see the humour of the situation they had just been in, but Klavier's face held the broadest grin, he'd ever seen on him.
"Oh my god", Klavier said slowly.
Professor Edgeworth called both of them to his office the next day. He asked them to keep quiet about everything they had seen and more importantly now knew. Klavier and Apollo nodded quietly.
It was a testament to how little Professor Edgeworth interacted with his students that he didn't question their mumbled words of assent and the way they wouldn't quite meet his eyes.Professor Wright would have grown suspicious immediately - and knowing him, he would have probably deduced on the spot that Klavier had screamed about the identity of Professor Wright's mystery husband on both seminar groupchats 0.5 seconds after they had arrived back at their dorm room.
Well. The next seminar meetings were bound to be interesting at least.