The cab ride to the office was anything but normal. It felt a little awkward to Apollo, for more reasons than one. For one, sitting in between two people that loudly and excitedly talked back and forth made him feel like he was in the way. Their faces were level with his and, even though they were talking to each other, seeing them out of the corners of his eyes made him feel like they were talking to him. So he slowly slid down in his seat, just enough that they were talking over his head rather than making him feel like he was in the way. For another, he was having trouble controlling his heart rate, and he was pretty sure his face was flushed. All because he'd chosen to sit next to Athena. It was amazing what his feelings for her did to him. She was the only one who, just by being near him, could make him feel so comfortable and contented, while at the same time making him feel so awkward and afraid that he wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

He was grateful to leave the cab when they arrived at the office, if only to escape the awkward side of his emotions at the moment. Athena ran to the back of the cab and pulled her bags from the trunk, carrying them effortlessly. She threw a bright smile his way, but she didn't say anything. He couldn't tell if she was making fun of him for having so much trouble carrying them himself, or if she was just giving him a break. Or maybe it wasn't as complicated as that and she was just smiling because she was happy. Normally he could tell, but right now his thoughts were too busy to even bother guessing. Letting her carry her own bags wouldn't just spare him the embarrassment of stumbling around again as he tried to carry them himself, but it left his hands free to pull the office keys from his pocket so he could open the door.

He unlocked the door and entered the office, standing off to the side while he held the door open for Athena. When she walked into the main room, her eyes lit up when she saw the office for the first time. "Wow!" she said, setting her bags down near the door. "It looks great!" Apollo watched her as she took a few steps forward and looked around the office in amazement. Up until now, his mind was in such a daze that he was having a hard time believing that she was really here. Like it was his imagination, or a cruel dream he would soon wake up from. But now, seeing her walking across the same floor, standing in the same room, it made it all clear that she was really here.

She turned around to look at Apollo, flashing him a big smile. "It doesn't even look like the same place anymore!"

"Yeah," Apollo agreed. Before he ordered the remodel, he was worried that the building would be so run down that it couldn't be restored. But it took less effort than he'd anticipated, and before he knew it, the place went from looking like a run down shack to a usable building. "It actually looks like an office now."

Datz suddenly walked through the front door, looking Athena's way and giving her a thumbs up. "Glad you like the place, AC!" It reminded Apollo of the nickname Datz had decided on for Athena on the ride over, using the initials of her first and last name, just as he had for Apollo. Now that Apollo thought about it, he'd done the same with Mr. Wright, calling him PW during the time his old boss was here. He didn't understand his friend's preference for using initials as nicknames, but at least he was consistent with the patterns.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Apollo?" He turned to see that she was watching him expectantly. "Show me around!"

He wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of that in the first place. "Oh. Okay," he said as he pushed the front door closed. The office wasn't all that big so it wouldn't be much of a tour, but at the very least he should show her where she would be working.

He led her to the other side of the room, stopping next to the desk he'd set up the day before. It sat directly in front of the large office window, facing the inside of the office. It was set up so it was directly facing Apollo's desk, which sat on the other side of the room, near the small entryway that lead to the kitchen. Though the desks were facing each other, they were spaced far enough apart to leave a wide walking space in the middle of the main room, giving easy access to all sides of the office and a path to every room.

He turned around to face her and gestured to the desk with his hand. He hesitated, his mind on a bit of a high as he realized he was actually showing her the place she would be working from then on. He cleared his throat, just to be sure he wouldn't stutter when he spoke. "This is… your desk."

"Oh, wow! I even get my own desk?" she said as she walked around to the other side, running her fingers along the clean desktop.

"O-of course," Apollo said, clearing his throat to try yet again to remove the stutter that he couldn't seem to get rid of. 'Did you think we were gonna share the same desk or something?' And just like that, his face began to heat up as he realized the ridiculous implications of what he was thinking. Not only did he feel foolish for not realizing that she'd just been joking, but his imagination began to run wild as he thought about what it would be like if they actually did have to share a desk. One thing would be certain; he would never get any work done. Not only would having her near him all day long distract him so much that he wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else, but being in that close proximity would give her the reach she needed to tease him without ever giving him a break. No matter which way he looked at it, sharing a desk with her would be a disaster.

She sat down and spun around in the swivel chair, raising her hands in the air like she was on a carnival ride. Then she suddenly became excited, like she'd just remembered something important. She jumped up, leaving the chair to slowly swivel on its own as she opened the large backpack she'd left by the door. She dug around for a few moments before she turned and ran back to him, carrying something in her hands.

She stopped before him and held one of the items out in front of her, offering him to take it. "Here! This is for you!" It was a small, brightly colored gift bag with a diamond shaped pattern. "It's from Trucy!"

"Oh. Okay," he said as he took the offered bag. He looked at it for a moment, then watched as Athena took the other item she was holding and placed it on her desk, turning it so it was facing the inside of the office. It was about the size of her hand, the smooth, rounded plastic giving it a soft, cute look. It stood up on its hind legs, front paws raised like it was trying to appear tough and scary, its tiny fangs sticking out of its little mouth that was opened wide in a roar. The sunlight coming in from the window shone off the bright orange plastic, making it easier to see the black stripes on its back.

"What's that?" Apollo asked as he watched the figure's head continue to bobble around even after Athena had moved her hand away.

"A tiger, silly!"

He looked at her with narrowed eyes, like he was insulted by the idea that he was too blind to see what it was. "… That's not what I meant."

"It's my going away gift from Trucy," Athena beamed as she tapped the figure's head to get it bobbling again. "She said she wanted to find something that would fit on my desk and that was really 'Athena'!"

From the very moment they met, Apollo was made aware of Athena's tough and energetic personality. As they worked together after that and gradually grew to be friends, he learned more about her as time went by. At one point after they'd known each other for a while, Athena got particularly fired up about something. The intense way that she was behaving and the way she looked like she was about to pounce made Apollo offhandedly call her a tiger. He'd only meant it as a one time remark but, after he got to know her better and realized how much it fit her, it somehow stuck. Without meaning to, he ended up giving her a little nickname. Because of this, he shouldn't have been surprised to see someone else come to the same realization he had; after all, he thought the comparison was so obvious that he was surprised when no one else seemed to notice it. And yet, as he looked at the small figure sitting on her desk, it made him see that he was more correct than he ever realized. A tiger, so tough and ferocious it could instill fear into anything that challenged it, charging through it all with strength and cunning. But at the same time, the bobble-head was small, adorable and harmless, unable to hurt a fly even if it wanted to. He was stunned all over again when he realized how accurate it was. 'That… really is 'Athena.''

"She said she felt bad that she never got you anything when you left," Athena added, bringing Apollo's attention back to her. "She tried but couldn't find anything that fit." She smiled and pointed to the bag. "But then she found something that was perfect for you! She says it's very 'Apollo,' and you have to keep it on your desk and think of her when you see it."

If Trucy had put that much thought into it, Apollo would certainly treasure it. And after seeing how accurate Athena's gift had been, he was suddenly very curious to see what was in the bag. He reached into the bag and felt a small, plastic item.

And when he pulled it from the bag and held it in his hand, he felt what remained of his already fragile ego slowly deflate away.

It was a bobble-head like Athena's, but it didn't inspire the same confidence that hers did. Its smooth, brown body was egg-shaped, it's wide, confused eyes staring at him over a bright yellow beak.

'… A chicken?'

"Aww, it's so cute!" Athena said, leaning over to get a closer look. She straightened up and flashed him a smile, raising two fingers toward him in the shape of a V. "And Trucy was right; it's very 'Apollo!'"

Apollo stared at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. First Trucy, now Athena? He knew he wasn't exactly the pinnacle of manliness, but… 'Oww. My aching pride…'

"Ha ha ha! It really captures your essence, AJ!" Apollo turned his glowering eyes to Datz, finding him pointing his way with tears of laughter in his eyes. Temporarily ignoring the idea that everyone he knew apparently saw him as a spineless bird, he wondered why Datz had been just standing by the door since they arrived. "Don't you have something you need to do?"

Datz suddenly stopped laughing and appeared shocked, like he'd just remembered something important. "Oh yeah! I actually do!" He opened the front door and ran out, slamming it shut behind him.

Apollo had no idea what Datz suddenly remembered that had lit a fire under him like that, but he wished he would at least refrain from slamming the door every time he used it. 'We're gonna need an entirely new door at this rate...'

Still glowering a bit from the stab to his ego, he placed the bobble-head on his desk and dropped the bag into the waste basket nearby. When he turned back around, he saw Athena pointing her phone at the room, a digital clicking sound emanating from the speaker.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking pictures!" She emphasized it by turning the camera his way and snapping a photo of him. He narrowed his eyes at her, not exactly happy with the idea of her having a candid picture of him on her phone. "Trucy wanted to see the office remodel, so I promised I'd take pictures and send them to her," she explained as she walked across the room.

"Oh. Okay," was all Apollo thought to say. He just stood there and watched her take pictures, feeling like he might get in the way if he tried to continue the tour right now. She seemed to be getting acquainted with the layout enough this way, peaking into the kitchen and opening the two doors that led to the bathroom and the utility room on the far side of the office. After she'd taken pictures of it all, she seemed satisfied and walked to the other side of the room towards the row of doors.

And when she walked to the door farthest to the left and reached for the door handle, a sinking feeling dropped in his stomach and a sudden panic rose in his chest.

"No, don't go in there!" With a sudden speed he didn't know he was capable of, he leapt toward her, but was too late to stop her from turning the handle and opening the door.

"Why?" she asked, seeming completely unfazed by his reaction as she half stepped into the room. When Apollo got to her, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, tugging on her arm to try and pull her away. "Because that's my room! Don't go in there!"

Athena stopped, but didn't back out of the room. Instead, she turned her head to look at him with narrowed eyes, one side of her mouth raised in a mischievous smirk. "Why? Got something to hide?"

"What? No!" He didn't have anything to hide at all, but the idea of Athena going into his bedroom for any reason was a thought he didn't even want to consider as a possibility. Even with nothing to hide, she would surely find something in there to tease him about. She already had enough ways to rattle him and he didn't want to give her any more ammo.

He looked down, suddenly remembering that his fingers were still wrapped tightly around her wrist. The physical contact made his face flush, so he quickly let go. Physical contact was normal for them by this point, but it was usually her that initiated it. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm not hiding anything, I just don't want you invading my personal space!"

"Alright, alright, don't have a heart attack," she said, still smirking at him as she stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her. She held her phone in one hand and put her other hand on her hip. "So should I stay away from these other rooms, too?" she asked, referring to the other rooms that were right next to his.

His eyes widened and he swallowed. Since one of the rooms had been set up for her and he had yet to tell her that the back-up plan was here at the office, he didn't think it was a good idea to let her see anything else. Not yet. "...Yeah. Don't go in any more rooms."

"You got it, boss!"

Apollo was so surprised that he thought he might have misheard her. "...Huh?"

"I said…" She raised her fingers in a V and flashed him a bright smile. "… You got it, boss!"

And then he remembered when she called him that at the airport. He'd been so taken aback by it that he hadn't known what to say. When he first agreed to the idea of her coming here to work with him, he naturally pictured it being the same way as it was before he left. And for the most part, it would be just like it was back then. But he could never seem to remember that their roles were slightly different. They weren't just coworkers anymore; he was her boss now. Even if they acted the same way they did at the old agency, it didn't change the fact that he was responsible for things he wasn't before, things that made it clear that he was in charge, like her work schedule and her paychecks. Even though he was fine with it, it felt so surreal that it hadn't really sunk in until just now.

But her calling him 'boss'? That was one thing he wasn't sure he could get used to.

"Uh… you don't need to call me that."

"Why not? You're my boss, so I should call you boss. Right, boss?"

No matter how much he tried to wrap his head around the idea, Apollo didn't think he wanted her to address him any differently than she always had. Even though he was her senior when they worked together at the old agency, she never called him by any special title. They were casual with each other, and always had been the entire time they'd known each other. No matter how different their roles might be now, they were still best friends, and he just didn't think he wanted her to treat him any differently than she ever had.

"… Being formal isn't necessary. You can just do the same thing you've always done."

"So, boss is too formal?" A pondering look appeared on her face as she looked away, absentmindedly tapping the crescent moon shaped earring she was wearing. An idea seemed to suddenly occur to her, and she put her hand back on her hip and smiled at him. "Then, how about Mr. Justice?"

Somehow going against his expectations, she managed to find something he disliked more than the idea of being called 'boss.' The idea of Athena calling him 'Mr. Justice' made him feel old. Or like he was her teacher. Two feelings he didn't want anywhere near him.

"...No," he said flatly, suddenly feeling tired. "Just stick with Apollo, okay?"

"You got it, boss!"

He narrowed his eyes at her. 'Is she even listening?'

The front door suddenly flew open, and Apollo was sure he would have an actual heart attack if everything kept startling him like this. He turned to see Datz entering the room, looking his way with thumbs raised and a big grin. "All set!"

Apollo watched him for a minute, waiting for him to elaborate. "With what?"

Datz went silent for a moment, then suddenly put his hands behind his head, looking away and whistling like he was minding his own business. "Oh, nothing, don't worry about it."

Based on the reaction, Apollo could only guess that Datz had broken something and was secretly trying to fix it in some hiding place where no one could see it. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"Oh, before I forget…" Athena started. She walked over to Datz and held out her phone for him to take. "Take this for a second, would you?"

"Sure," Datz said, accepting the phone.

Apollo's eyes widened when Athena turned and quickly approached him. She came to stand directly next to him, hooking her arm around his and leaning into him. Her sudden, close proximity made the heat rise in his face and his heart started thundering in his ears. It wasn't like she hadn't grabbed him like this before; but it was the closest she'd gotten to him since he left two months ago, and it was so sudden that he was in no way capable of controlling his emotions right now. He turned his widened eyes to look at her. "W-what are you doing?"

"Getting a picture for Trucy!" Athena said, stretching her arm forward with her fingers raised in a V as she smiled brightly towards the camera. "She wants a picture of us so she can see us whenever she wants!"

Even if it was for a group picture, he wanted to question why she felt the need to stand this close to him. And then he realized that notion was ridiculous; with Athena, he never would have expected any less.

"One, two, three, smile!" Datz called out.

Athena pulled Apollo closer as she posed for the camera, distracting him so much that he didn't smile or even look at the camera, instead continuing to stare at her with a flushed face. The sound of the picture being taken echoed in the room, and Athena let him go in order to get her phone. Even though she wasn't touching him anymore, his heart was still racing and he exhaled, not realizing until just then that he'd been holding his breath.

"We can take another one if you want," Apollo heard Datz say, pulling Apollo out of the cloud he was in. Datz handed the phone back to Athena, and she excitedly looked at the screen in order to see the picture. "AJ didn't smile, so we can give it another shot."

"Nope, this is perfect!" Athena said as she looked Apollo's way. "He couldn't look more like himself if he tried."

'...What does that even mean?'

"So, are you all settled in, AC?"

"Yep!" Athena said as she put her phone back into her pocket. "I think I got a good lay of the land."

"Great!" Datz said as he gave her a thumbs up. "We set up your room and it's all ready to go! I hope it suits your needs!"

That was when Apollo remembered. He'd been reminded of it just a minute ago when Athena was looking at the rooms, and he still hadn't said anything. He was so afraid to approach the idea that he put it off until the very last minute. She was standing right there in front of him and he had yet to tell her that the back-up plan was the office.

Athena's brow furrowed, making her appear as if she didn't understand. "My what?"

There was a silence, then Datz's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. He looked Apollo's way, looking like he'd just been stung by a bee. "AJ, you mean you still didn't ask her yet!?"

Athena turned to Apollo, still appearing confused. "Ask me what?"

Apollo slowly turned to look at Athena, his eyes widening as he started to feel like he was under a big, heated spotlight. He couldn't put it off anymore. He shouldn't have put it off this long in the first place. He tried to bring it up with her so many times, but he lost the courage every time before he could form the words. Not only had he still not come to terms with the idea of being roommates with her, but he was afraid she might only choose to say yes because she had no other choice. He didn't want her to feel trapped, but he'd talked to her about the apartment hunting long enough to know that she would have to stay here. She said she was fine with whatever his back-up plan was, saying that she trusted his judgment, but would she still feel that way when she found out the back-up plan was the office with him?

"W-well..." He paused to clear his throat, a warmth settling in his chest as his heart began to race. He straightened up, hoping that would help him to feel more confident and make it easier to get the words out. "So… about that back-up plan I mentioned… you know, if you couldn't find a place to stay."

"Yeah, I remember," she said, looking at him like she was worried about him. She must have heard something in his voice that had her concerned. In all honesty, he was worried too. He had no idea how she was going to react. "I mentioned yesterday that I would probably have to take it. I thought we were going there after this."

"Well…" He swallowed hard, and he was pretty sure his eyes were bugging out. "We… have an… extra room… here…"

She didn't say anything, not showing any signs that she understood what he meant, just continuing to look at him like she was worried he was about to faint or something. "...Huh?"

"We... set up one of the rooms here for you. As a back-up. You know… just in case. You can…" His heart began to thunder in his ears as he realized that he was really about to say it. "...stay here... if you want… but only if you want to..." And then his voice caught in his throat, making him unable to say anything else.

It was only a moment before she seemed to understand the meaning in his words. Her confused frown smoothed away and her face went blank. Apollo just watched her, his heart racing faster as he began to wonder what she was thinking.

Then, just like that, she smiled brightly at him.

"So, what do you gotta do to get a cab around here?"

He just stared, having no idea how to respond. Of all the reactions she could have had, that wasn't one of the ones that crossed his mind. "...Huh?"

"It's almost check-in time at the hotel," she said as she retrieved her phone from her pocket. "They might cancel my reservation if I'm late. So what number do I call to get a cab?"

He just stared at her, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. He knew he'd sprung this on her suddenly, and he was still kicking himself for waiting this long to bring it up. But the way she seemed to be avoiding the subject had him worried. He knew she would need time to think about it; there was no way she would be able to make a decision like this right away. But since her first reaction was to go check in to her hotel instead of talking about it first, he worried that he might have scared her away. Or maybe she was mad at him. Her face was smiling brightly at him, betraying the idea that she felt anything but happy.

"Hey, I can help ya out with that one!"

Apollo's attention was finally drawn away from Athena when Datz suddenly chimed in. He just watched while Datz told Athena the number. She called and asked for a cab, and he just stayed silent. He didn't know what he was supposed to do or say. He thought he should ask her if she wanted to talk about it, but if she'd already made up her mind to leave, should he really try to stop her? No, he knew he had no right to do that. After all, maybe staying at the hotel would give her the time she needed to think about it. Maybe that was why she got a sudden urge to leave, because she needed some space to think about it. He was already prepared to give her as much time as she needed to make a decision.

But the fact that she wasn't giving a single clue as to what she was thinking terrified him.

After Athena hung up the phone, she grabbed all of her bags and headed out the door, still smiling like nothing was wrong. Apollo just followed behind her, not sure what else to do. She waited by the side of the road for the cab to arrive, looking at something on her phone with her back turned to him. He just watched her, trying to see if he could find any hint to what she was thinking.

When the cab arrived, she loaded her stuff into the back, then turned to wave at them, but she said nothing. She just kept smiling.

And as she slid into the cab herself, Apollo noticed that Widget was yellow, looking at him with wide-mouthed surprise.

Apollo just watched as the cab drove away. He wanted to be glad that she at least wasn't afraid or angry. She was just surprised, which was what he expected her to be. But her sudden need to leave instead of talking about it made him feel even more guilty for springing this on her. She was surely already going through a lot as she came to terms with moving here, no matter how prepared she was. And he managed to make it harder on her. It didn't matter that it wasn't his intention to put any pressure on her; he managed to make this harder on her just because he never had the courage to tell her about the office.

'I really am a chicken.'

Athena sat on the bed in her hotel room, leaning against the pillows that she'd propped up against the wall. Her legs were stretched out before her with her ankles crossed, her folded hands laying on her waist. Because she arrived so early, she ended up having to wait over an hour before she could check-in. After having to wait in the hotel lobby for so long, it was nice to sit comfortably and just relax.

But that was her own fault. She wouldn't have had to wait at all if she hadn't overreacted to what Apollo said.

It hadn't taken her long to realize that something was bothering him. Ever since she arrived, the emotions in his voice had been constantly shifting, the peaks always changing and the strongest emotion never staying consistent. She didn't think much of it when she first arrived; not only had she been teasing him without pause as soon as she arrived, but she could only imagine how her arrival was affecting him. She already knew he had some concerns since he voiced them to her during their phone calls. But she'd managed to ease most of his concerns before she arrived, so she just chalked up his behavior as general nerves, similar to the ones she was dealing with herself.

But when they arrived at the office, the sound of fear and anxiety peaked above all of his other emotions, and remained that way the entire time she was there. It wasn't as if she blamed him for feeling that way; despite how much she'd come to terms with everything that was happening, she couldn't deny that she felt a little bit scared and anxious too. But, despite whatever concerns he might still have, she couldn't imagine why the peaks of those two emotions in his voice had been so high.

And then when he invited her to live in the office apartment with him, his highly anxious behavior suddenly made sense. She suddenly understood why he'd been acting that way.

Because it sent her into a bit of emotional turmoil of her own.

She'd been thinking about it without pause ever since she left the office. It was no wonder he'd been so on edge; no matter how professional the set up would be, it wouldn't change the fact that, if she accepted, they would be living together. It shouldn't have been that big of a deal; they were best friends. But it would certainly bring challenges that they'd never faced before, and he must have known that. It must have been why he was so nervous. She could only imagine the exact reasons for his anxiety, but she certainly had no trouble figuring out what it was making her feel.

More than any of the concerns this brought to her mind, the one that bothered her the most was how difficult it would be to hide her feelings for him. She always succeeded in hiding her feelings when they worked together at the agency. She was always having so much fun spending time with him, whether it was when they interacted at work or the countless times they spent time together on their days off, hiding her feelings for him was easy. But at the end of the day, they would go to their own homes and get on with their own lives. If she lived with him, no matter how professionally, they would be together most of the time, even more often than they were before. Not only would that give him more chances to notice her feelings for him, but it would also increase the chances that she would slip up somehow and he would find out accidentally. That idea was terrifying to her. She had too many reasons why she wasn't sure when she would ever be ready to tell him how she felt about him. But, if someday she managed to work past the many reasons she kept her feelings put away, she wanted to tell him herself. She couldn't bear the thought of him finding out by accident.

Then she realized that none of that mattered. She'd already vowed not to let her personal feelings interfere with her move here. She came here to be there for him, as a lawyer and a friend, and she wasn't going to let her fears keep her from not only doing what she wanted to do, but what she needed to do. She cared too much about him to do anything less. After all, they'd already been through challenges much bigger than this. The experiences they went through together in the past two years formed a bond of trust that couldn't be severed. It was that bond that was one of the many reasons they'd become best friends in the first place. And now that she was comparing the challenge of living with him to the challenges they'd already faced and conquered, it was paling in comparison and suddenly making her realize that she shouldn't have been so afraid in the first place.

Even if she couldn't predict every challenge they would face, she knew they would conquer them all in the same way they always had. Even if it took a little time, they would certainly fall back into a comfortable rhythm, just like they always had before.

But before she could start facing any of that, she had to fix the mess she'd made. She knew she overreacted when Apollo offered her to stay at the office. It had just taken her so off guard that she'd had no idea what to say. All she could think of was removing herself from the situation for a while so she could calm down and think about it rationally. And now that she did that, she realized it made Apollo worry. He looked like he was beside himself when she was leaving. He was already going through enough with everything that was happening, and she took off on him without explaining herself or at least letting him know that everything was okay and that she just needed a little time to think about it. For all he knew, she was changing her mind about the job and thinking of going back home. It wouldn't have been out of the question for him to assume that, what with the way she reacted. So now, the first step would be to make up for her behavior.

Despite her newfound determination, she wasn't feeling quite brave enough to call him. She was still embarrassed by her behavior and wasn't sure she would know exactly what to say. But she refused to make him wait to hear from her any longer, knowing she owed it to him to ease his fears after the way she'd made him feel before she left.

So she decided to text him, thinking of it as a nice middle ground. She was in no way running from the responsibility of her actions; she would certainly talk to him tomorrow and apologize to him personally. For now, she just wanted to let him know that everything was okay and that she was going to accept his offer.

She retrieved her phone from the table next to her and opened a chat with him. She couldn't think of a better way to let him know everything was okay than to send him the same playful texts she always had, so that was exactly what she did.

'We never discussed rent.'

She didn't even have to wait a minute before the little dots bounced around on the screen, indicating his incoming response.

'Huh?'

She grinned to herself as she pictured the face he was surely making right now.

'Rent, silly! You never told me how much I'm going to be paying in rent! :P'

The screen was still for about a minute, and she waited patiently for his response.

'No rent. You can just stay.'

She hesitated for a moment, not sure if she was comfortable with that. She'd already decided that she was going to stay with him no matter what, but the last thing she ever planned on doing was being a freeloader.

'Awww, come on! That would just be wrong. I can't stay if I'm not paying my fair share!'

'Don't worry about it. Consider it a thank you for agreeing to come here and work with me.'

She smiled, and a warmth filled her chest. She didn't like the idea of not paying her own way, but this must have been his way of coming to terms with everything that was ahead of them. She would convince him to let her put in her share eventually, but for now, she would let him do whatever he felt he needed to do.

'You got it, boss!'

Phoenix pushed the pile of papers to the far side of his desk, feeling exhausted. The amount of papers he successfully filed paled in comparison to what was still left, but he'd taken as much as he could for the day. He rationalized that he would have had more energy for the paperwork if he wasn't so worn out from helping Trucy with magic trick practice. She promised she would hire an assistant as soon as she could, but until then, he was once again the stand in.

And with how much his muscles were aching, he confirmed he was getting too old for this.

"Daddy!" Trucy called as she walked through the open office door. He was happy to see her but he had a momentary, subconscious worry that she was about to spring a magic trick on him. Which was why he was so relieved when she instead came around his desk with her phone in her hand.

"Look at these!" she said as she handed him the phone. He accepted it and noticed that a picture was opened up on the screen. The place in the picture looked like an office, but it didn't look familiar to him. He began wondering why she was showing this to him.

"They're pictures of Polly's new office! Athena just sent them a little bit ago."

"Oh, I see," he said as he began swiping through the pictures. He could hardly believe it. This was the same building he'd visited last time he was in Khura'in, the one that appeared so run down that it almost seemed ready for demolition. But here it was, looking clean and new, like it wasn't the same building at all. He was proud of what Apollo had already accomplished in the short time he'd been in charge of his own office.

Then he stopped on one of the pictures, one that put a warm smile on his face.

"That one's my favorite!" Trucy said as she leaned down to look at it with him. She straightened back up and waved her hand, two pieces of paper suddenly appearing between her fingers. She fanned them out like cards and put them in front of his face. It was then that he realized that they were actually two printed copies of the picture he was looking at on her phone right now. "I printed that one out. One for you and one for me!" She placed them on the desk, smiling like she'd never felt happier. "I'm going to the store down the street to get frames for these," she said as she held her hand out for her phone.

Phoenix smiled at her and handed it back. "Be careful."

"I will! Be right back," she said as she quickly left the office.

After Phoenix watched her go, he picked up one of the pictures from his desk, continuing to smile as he looked at it. Athena was holding two fingers up to the camera, smiling as bright as ever. She had her arm hooked around Apollo's, who stood up straight with squared shoulders, looking at Athena with bugged out eyes and a flushed face, looking like he had no idea what to do. Seeing the two of them like this, already getting along and acting the same as they always had eased the few doubts he still had about Athena moving away. Though everyone involved had made their own decisions, the idea was his in the first place, so he knew he would be at least partially responsible for anything that came of it. And he felt relieved to see that everything already seemed to be going just as well as it ever had.

And when he saw the way Apollo was watching Athena with stiff shoulders and a blush on his face, it raised the suspicions he'd had in the back of his mind for a while. There was never anything clear to confirm it; it was just something he noticed as Apollo and Athena interacted with each other over time, but never had any real proof to back it up. Now, this picture made him feel like he'd been handed a decisive piece of evidence, one that explained their behaviors and all but confirmed his suspicions.

"Hang in there, Apollo. When it comes to matters of the heart, you're gonna need all the luck you can get."

Chapter Song - 'Troublemaker' – Olly Murs feat. Flo Rider