Go Ask the Wind, or Better Yet, Go Ask Herr Forehead

Chapter 16

ayy lmao here comes chap 16 are u ready

Klavier answered the door almost immediately.

"You actually came." He mumbled, staring at the ground. His hair was strewn across his back and face, tangled and unkempt. He stood slumped over, as though he was about to topple. Apollo thought he would have been surprised, but he seemed too... listless to give Apollo more than a glance.

"Wh-what?" Apollo tried to meet his eyes. He couldn't help but notice they were red and puffy. "Well- yeah, of course I did! Now let me in!"

"It's 3 am, schatz!" Klavier snapped, looking up at him. "You shouldn't have to deal with this now!"

"Klavier, I'm doing this because I have to! I'm doing this because- because-" Apollo tried to force the words out of his mouth, I love you, but they were sticking in his throat, he couldn't speak. Klavier was falling apart, he couldn't be pushing his feelings right now, "because I care about you. I came for a reason and I'm not leaving until it's done." He sounded far more confident than he felt. Thanks, Chords of Steel lessons.

Klavier sighed. "Schatz..." His hand combed through a fringe of hair.

"Come in." Klavier stepped out of the doorway, and Apollo followed him inside. They somehow ended up in Klavier's kitchen, where he continued. "Ach, I don't know what you were thinking, biking over here at 3 am. Can I get you anything?"

Apollo shook his head. "Klavier, I'm not here for me, I'm here for you." Klavier was sorely underestimating Apollo if he thought he'd be sidetracked like this. Apollo was expecting this, sure, he knew Klavier would sidestep his questions and focus on Apollo. That was just Klavier. Tonight he couldn't let that happen, though, tonight he was here for Klavier.

"I know," Klavier said quietly. "And that's why I didn't want you to come at all."

Apollo climbed up on a barstool, draping his jacket over it and hooking his feet into a rung. "Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

"Ach, just a nightmare." Klavier waved his hand, as though admonishing Apollo's worries. Apollo wasn't convinced.

"What about?" He tried to ask conversationally, as Klavier positioned himself across from him. Klavier leaned over the granite island, arms folded on top of it and blonde hair dusting it from above.

"It was more of a memory, really. Recalling painful things." Klavier looked down, sighing. Apollo nearly clenched his fists. Klavier was being as bad as some witnesses. Apollo knew that he didn't particularly want to talk, but he had to for Apollo to help him.

Klavier appeared to get the message, and he grudgingly continued. "You remember our conversation yesterday, ja?" Apollo nodded, although not knowing exactly which Klavier had in mind.

"It was about our 'He Who Must Not Be Named'." Klavier said quietly. Apollo's blood turned to ice. He'd been afraid of this.

"You can talk to me about that!" He said rather suddenly. Apollo couldn't tell if he was angry, desperate, something else, or all of the above. He almost couldn't believe this, it was so simple. He knew Kristoph, he could talk about this. "Klavier, I worked for him! He was my boss, he used me too, I can understand anything you want to tell me about-" Apollo stopped dead in his tracks. Was Klavier wiping his face? "Klavier?"

"I-I'm fine, schatz." He said quickly, though his voice was shuddering.

"Klavier..." Apollo's voice dropped. "He hurt me, too." He understood what Klavier was going through, he had these nightmares too, of that laugh, the glint in those glasses, the-