( what you think, you become )

[perceive]

[ In the end, he supposes he did take Nahyuta's advice: he let go and moved on. He just didn't realize what exactly moving on entailed before he'd signed up for it — which isn't to say that he regrets the undertaking, but when he jolts awake at the sound of the door opening only to find himself sprawled on his desk with all the grace of baby Bambi attempting to walk for the first time and a stack of papers spilling onto the floor, he does regret specifically not putting a stop to Rayfa's well-intentioned advertisements before he'd already been signed up for a double workload for the week.

That said, it is moderately embarrassing being found nodding off (not for the first time in the two months he's been in Khura'in, but those are just small details) when he's well aware that Nahyuta is even busier than he is, acting both as a prosecutor and Ray'fa's regent. Even more embarrassing because it takes a few moments for his brain to catch up with his body with an incredibly banal thought route: Nahyuta is here → what is he here for → I invited him over → wow, I'm being a terrible host right now! ]

I'm up — I'm fine!

[ Now the thoughts are sliding back into place properly — he'd been looking for a few legal reference books from before the DC Act, as research into how trials used to be conducted before, Nahyuta had offered to see if the royal library might have them, Apollo had insisted Nahyuta accept his gratitude in the form of a quiet dinner in, and unless a strange miracle has occurred while Apollo was napping, he's pretty sure his refrigerator is sadly devoid of anything that could be described as "dinner for polite company".

It's not like he hasn't experienced this before, as a tired law student in college, but he feels more acutely aware of his embarrassment. Maybe it's because he knows Nahyuta will be serene and graceful about it, or maybe it's for other reasons he's going to choose to not think too hard about. ]

I feel like you have a knack for walking in on me sleeping at the desk... [ He swears he isn't giving defense attorneys a bad reputation for being abnormally fatigued when clients are around... as far as he knows, at least. ]