Apollo put his hand into his vest pocket as he walked down the sidewalk, not sure how to respond to what Athena was saying. He just watched the path ahead of him, the convenience store bag he carried in his other hand slightly swinging by his knees. When work started slowing down earlier that day, Athena started complaining how bored she was, just like she normally did when there wasn't a lot of work left to do. And, as usual, she ended up convincing him to go with her on one of their casual strolls, just long enough to unwind a little before they went back to the agency to finish their shift for the day. As they walked, the afternoon sun was beating down on them more than they were expecting, so they decided to stop at the convenience mart down the road for some refreshments on their way back. Sometime after they left the store, Athena somehow started talking about the movie they watched together the night before. In particular, how much the fake monsters must have cost. Apollo didn't know how to respond to that; they'd already made their bets on how much the props in the monster movie might have cost to make, just like they always did, so he wasn't sure why she was bringing it up again.
"I still don't think they cost that much," Apollo said, keeping his eyes on the path ahead of him. "They were too poorly made to cost more than a few thousand dollars."
"But they had mechanical mouths!" Athena said, and he looked at her. She was walking right next to him, carrying a bag of her own and looking at him with a determined frown. Whenever they tried to guess how much the movie production company spent in making the monsters, they never had a way to confirm who was closer in their guesses. He thought trying to guess how much the props cost was fun, but she took it a lot more seriously than he did. He could only guess that she wasn't happy with her guess from the night before, and that was why she felt the need to bring it up now. "The ones with mechanical parts have to cost more!"
"Not when that's the only moving part," Apollo said, still looking at Athena. "And the paint jobs were really bad, too. I'm not changing my guess."
"Well, I'm increasing my guess by four hundred dollars."
He looked at her with a confused frown, feeling a little surprised. "You think a mechanical mouth for a giant crocodile would only cost four hundred dollars?"
She looked thoughtful for a moment, like she was suddenly unsure of what she said. "Well, I don't know." She smiled at him. "But I can't guess too high or I'll go over the limit!"
He paused and just stared at her. "...Limit?"
"Yeah!" she said, flashing him a wide grin. "Like in a game show. If your guess goes over the limit, you lose. Isn't that how most of those game shows work?"
Apollo just looked at her like he had no idea what she was talking about. It felt like it didn't matter how well he knew her; there were still times where he had no idea what was going on in her head. "Uh… yeah, I guess. But-"
He didn't get to finish what he was about to say when he felt something slam into his right shoulder. He stumbled, feeling dazed as he tried to regain his balance. After he had a moment to clear his head, he realized he'd been half turned around by whatever had run into him. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look behind him. There was a man walking away from them at a casual pace. He was tall and of average build, both of his hands in his pockets. But the thing that stood out the most was how he was looking over his shoulder, sneering directly at Apollo with a toothy smile.
Apollo just narrowed his eyes as the guy walked away. He never understood why some people thought it was funny to purposefully shoulder check people as they walked by. He always minded his own business so he didn't understand why other people couldn't do the same.
"Hey! What was that for!?"
Apollo turned to look at Athena when he heard her speak. Her fist was clenched and she was staring after the guy as he continued to walk away, gritting her teeth with fire in her eyes.
Though Apollo appreciated that she was getting angry for his sake, he saw no reason to make a big deal out of it. Some people were jerks, and he was willing to forget about it. "It's fine, Athena. Just let it-" He didn't finish what he was saying when he felt her suddenly push something towards his chest. His eyes bugged out in surprise and his free hand involuntarily grabbed whatever it was. He looked down to see that he was now holding her bag after she'd shoved it into his hand. "Not a chance!" she said, still watching the guy with fire in her eyes. "I'm gonna make him apologize to you for being a jerk!" And before he could even try and stop her, she left her spot by his side and started marching towards the guy's retreating back.
Apollo watched her with wide eyes and a panic started rising in his chest. "No, Athena!" he started, taking a few steps forward as he tried to follow her. "It's fine! We can just let it go!" He stopped walking when he realized he wouldn't be able to catch up with her. And even if he did, he knew her well enough to know he wouldn't have been able to stop her. Even though he knew she was perfectly capable of defending herself, he didn't want her to get into a fight for any reason. She was an excellent fighter, something he was made aware of from the moment they met, but he still didn't want the possibility of her getting hurt over this, especially not over something that had to do with him. But none of that mattered. Now that she'd made up her mind to confront the guy, he couldn't do more than wait and hope it didn't turn out to be a disaster.
"Hey! Get back here!" Athena shouted as she continued to follow him at a quick pace. Because she'd started chasing after him so quickly, they weren't that far away from Apollo by the time she caught up to him. He showed no sign that he heard Athena shout at him, so she reached out her hand to grab his shoulder when she caught up to him.
Apollo's jaw dropped and a sinking feeling spiked his chest as the guy suddenly turned around, fist raised as he swung a punch directly towards Athena's head. She must have been prepared for it because she ducked, his fist flying just above her head. She grabbed at his shoulder and used her foot to make him lose his balance, forcing him to trip and tumble to the sidewalk. She quickly knelt down and pressed her hand against the back of his neck, her other hand grabbing his arm in order to pin it against his back.
Though Apollo continued to stare with wide, concerned eyes, he tried to be relieved that Athena had been able to take the guy down so quickly. Though he still thought it would have been best if they just took it in stride and walked away from the start, he was at least glad that it seemed they could get this over with fairly quickly. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, so he just stood there and watched as he waited to see what she was planning on doing now.
He could only assume that she sensed he was watching her, because she looked up and gave him a bright, reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, Apollo! I got it-"
It happened so fast that Apollo wasn't even sure how it happened. Maybe she lost her grip on him, or maybe he slipped out of her hand somehow. All Apollo could tell was that the guy managed to flip around and, before he or Athena could react at all, the guy's foot flew upwards and landed a kick right into the side of her face. And it wasn't a superficial hit either. It was hard enough to throw her backwards, sending her onto the sidewalk where she landed on her back.
"Athena!" Apollo shouted, the panic spiking in his chest. He dropped the bags and ran over to her, kneeling next to her as she lay on the sidewalk. She began to sit up, lifting herself into a sitting position with one hand while her other hand held the side of her face. "Are you okay!?" he asked as he placed his hands on her shoulders to help her stay steady. Her eyes were closed and she was gritting her teeth. And he couldn't do anything but wait for her to answer him.
Apollo saw movement out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to look, he saw the guy jump back up to his feet. Instead of turning around and running away, he faced them, spacing his feet apart and raising his hands, staring at them with a furrowed brow and a sneering grin. It was like he wanted to keep fighting instead of just leaving it at that. Apollo suddenly felt angry, frowning when he got a sudden urge to hit the guy for what he did to Athena. But if the guy had managed to get a surprise hit on even Athena, Apollo knew he didn't stand a chance.
"Now you're really gonna get it!" Apollo's anger disappeared as he turned his attention back to Athena when she started shouting again. Her eyes were open now and she was staring at the guy with fire in her eyes. She was gritting her teeth angrily, and she moved her hand away from her face to point at the guy as he stood there laughing at her. "I'm gonna make you pay for that!" she said as she started to stand up. Apollo grabbed her arm and helped her get to her feet, but he didn't let go once she was standing again. Since she was clearly planning on continuing the fight, he hoped she would change her mind if he refused to let her go.
"It's fine, Athena. We can just let it go." He knew what he was saying wouldn't stop her; when she got fired up like this, there was little he could do to change her mind. But since he believed this had already gone far enough and he didn't want her to get any more hurt than she already was, he was hoping against hope that this would be one of the rare times that she calmed down and walked away.
"Not gonna happen!' she said as she pulled her arm from his grasp. She cracked her knuckles, never taking her eyes off the guy as he stood there and was all but daring her to try again. "If this guy wants to fight, I'll give him a fight!" She started walking toward the guy, and Apollo reached out to her as if he somehow thought that would stop her. But in the end, all he could really do was clench his jaw nervously and watch with wide, unsure eyes.
They stared each other down and circled around each other for a few moments, and Apollo just watched, not realizing that he'd started holding his breath. His eyes widened and the panic in his chest rose again when the guy threw the first punch. Athena side stepped it, and the fight continued on like that for a minute, the guy still trying to land a hit while Athena sidestepped them all. Apollo wasn't sure how much time passed when the guy finally seemed to slip up. When Athena ducked away from his next swing, he stumbled sightly. That was when Athena stepped behind him and pushed against the back of his shoulder, pushing him to the ground and onto his stomach. She grabbed his wrist and pinned it against his back like last time. But this time, she pressed her knee into the small of his back and used her other hand to push the side of his face into the cement of the sidewalk. Without a doubt, he wouldn't be able to get away from her this time.
Before Apollo could do or say anything, Athena looked up at him with a determined frown creasing her brow. "Get over here, Apollo!" she shouted. His eyes widened and he did what she asked, walking over to them and stopping when he reached her side. Now that he was closer to her, he could see the redness on the side of her face where she'd been hit. He didn't have time to say anything about it when Athena suddenly turned her eyes down to the guy. She pressed his face further against the cement as she smiled at him. "Now, do you have something to say to my friend?"
The guy's face was pretty flattened out with the way it was being pressed tightly between the sidewalk and Athena's hand. His teeth were clenched and his eyes were wide as if he were in pain. Apollo couldn't believe she was actually doing this. When she said she was going to make him apologize for running into him, he thought she meant it rhetorically. Though he knew her well enough to know better by now, he still had no idea she was actually serious.
When the guy heard her speak, he furrowed his brow, glaring at her and remaining silent.
"I'm sorry..." Athena said, continuing to grin as she bent his arm further up his back. The guy's eyes widened and he grunted loudly, starting to struggle as he tried to escape her grasp. "… I don't think he heard you."
"Okay! Okay!" the guy said, his voice muffled slightly underneath Athena's hand. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Now let go! Please! You're breaking my arm!"
Apollo just stared in disbelief, his face heating up with embarrassment. 'I can't believe she really did that…' No matter how convoluted her methods were, no matter how awkward he felt right now, she'd actually gotten him to say he was sorry.
"That's better," Athena smiled, not releasing the death-grip she had on him.
As the guy started to struggle harder, Apollo was about to tell Athena that she really should let him go now, genuinely worried that she might actually consider breaking his arm. But he stopped when he noticed something falling from the guy's pocket. It was a folded leather wallet, and Apollo watched as it slipped from the guy's pocket and landed on its crease, tipped against the guy's leg. As the guy continued to struggle, he bumped it away, causing it to fall open onto the sidewalk, its contents open for all to see.
And Apollo's eyes widened in shock when he saw his own picture ID looking back at him. It was then that Apollo realized this guy hadn't just bumped into him for the sake of being rude; he was a pickpocket, and he'd stolen Apollo's wallet without him ever realizing it until now.
When he looked at Athena to tell her, he saw that she'd already noticed it. Her smile had faded and she was looking down at the wallet with a blank expression. She looked up at Apollo and they just stared at each other with the same disbelieving eyes, sharing a moment of equal surprise.
Athena continued to hold the guy down while Apollo called the police. Now that they knew the guy was a thief, they couldn't just walk away without reporting it. The guy kept complaining that he wanted her to let him go, but they both ignored him. They weren't going to trust him, not after his response to escaping the first time was to kick her, so Athena kept her grip on him till the police arrived.
The police officers took their statements, then arrested the thief. Apollo and Athena didn't even have to prove that the wallet was stolen because the thief confessed to it. He just stood there as they cuffed him, glaring at Athena out of the corner of his eye, gritting his teeth against the mark on the side of his face. He'd ended up with a good sized mark on the side of his face when Athena was pushing him against the sidewalk. She didn't seem bothered by his glare at all. She just stood by Apollo's side, watching the thief with a smile that said she couldn't be happier. Her goal from the start was to get revenge for Apollo, and that was exactly what she got. But then Apollo realized that, by getting a mark on the thief's face, no matter how unintentional, she ended up getting revenge for herself as well.
After the police drove away, Apollo and Athena continued their walk as they headed back to the agency. Apollo just stared at the path ahead of him, still confused by the whole ordeal. He just listened as Athena talked about what happened, going back to her previous behavior like it wasn't a big deal. He had no idea how she could just go back to normal after something like that. Right now, all he could think about was how he was supposed to tell her that she didn't need to go that far and that he thought she'd been too reckless. But he knew there was no point. If he did say that, she would insist that the guy deserved it because he shouldn't be allowed to get away with running into someone for no reason. Then she would have added that, if she didn't do what she did, Apollo wouldn't have gotten his wallet back. And she would have been right. But, even though he agreed with those things, he knew he was right when he thought that she was too reckless. Even if the outcome had been ultimately good and it had been the right thing to do, he still didn't like that she had to get into a fight in order to get there. So instead of saying anything, he just tried to internally figure out how he could be both right and wrong at the same time.
"You know…" Athena started when they reached the front door to the agency. Apollo opened the door and held it open for her, then followed her after she went inside. "…I think that's the first pickpocket I've ever stopped."
Apollo looked at her with a confused frown as they walked across the main office towards the kitchen. "As opposed to what?"
"Purse snatchers," Athena answered as they walked into the kitchen. "Those are usually the types of thieves I end up against."
Apollo stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. "How many times have you done this?"
Athena looked away thoughtfully, then looked back at him with a big smile. "I don't know. I lost count."
Apollo just stared at her with wide eyes. With the way Athena was, he knew it made sense that this wasn't the first time she'd done something like this. And yet, he was still having a hard time believing it was true.
"It's probably because purse snatchers cause a commotion," Athena continued as Apollo set the bags onto the counter. He turned and opened a drawer near the fridge and pulled out a hand towel. "Pickpockets are quiet and sneaky, so most people probably don't even notice their wallet is missing until they get home."
"Sounds about right," Apollo agreed as he opened the freezer. He pulled something from one of the shelves and wrapped the hand towel around it before he shut the freezer and turned to face her. She gave him a bright smile. "I guess that means you're lucky you got your wallet back at all!"
"Yeah," Apollo agreed, then he held the towel out to her. "Now use this."
She frowned and looked at it. "What is it?"
"An ice pack," he answered, thinking that much should be obvious. She was acting like everything was fine, but he'd been worried about her ever since they started walking back to the agency. After she'd been kicked, he was worried about how badly she'd been hurt. But when he saw nothing but a small red mark, he assumed it wasn't as bad as he first thought and she was actually just fine. But by the time they were done talking to the police, the red mark had grown and her cheek started to swell. It was even more noticeable now that he was standing there looking right at her. That side of her face was bright red and, though it wasn't significantly swollen just yet, one side of her face was noticeably bigger than the other.
"Oh, I don't need that."
He looked at her incredulously. He didn't know if she was just being stubborn or if she really didn't know that her face was starting to swell. "Yes you do. Your face is swelling."
She looked genuinely surprised. "It is?" She frowned. "But it doesn't hurt."
Honestly, he was having a hard time believing that she wasn't feeling any pain. Under normal circumstances, he would have thought she was just being stubborn and pretending she was fine. That was something she did fairly often, much to his frustration. But since his bracelet didn't react, he knew she was telling the truth. He didn't like having to rely on his bracelet to know if she was being honest with him, but she had a bad habit of acting like she was fine when she wasn't, so sometimes he had no other way to confirm his suspicions.
"Well, it's gonna start hurting later if you don't take care of it now," Apollo said, holding the towel out a little farther to try and get her to take it.
That was when he noticed that she was no longer looking at him. She was looking off to the side, frowning deeply, as if she was thinking about something that was making her angry. He blinked, suddenly feeling concerned by her sudden change in mood. "Athena?"
She blinked and looked back at him. She only hesitated for a moment before she gave him a bright smile, like nothing was wrong at all. She motioned at the towel with her hand, like she wanted him to put it away. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Don't worry about it."
He lowered the towel slightly, looking at her with a confused frown. He couldn't figure out why she was refusing to treat her injury. At first, she made it sound like she didn't want the ice pack because she didn't know she was hurt. But even after he told her that she was, she was still refusing to take it. It was true that she had a tendency to refuse to admit it when she was injured or in some kind of discomfort or pain but, once he would get her to admit it, she never refused treatment. This was the first time he could remember her refusing to take care of the problem once it was brought to her attention. In addition to that, he didn't know why she suddenly looked like she was upset about something, only to go back to acting like she was as happy as could be.
"Is something wrong?" he asked. Her behavior was confusing him and making him feel more concerned than he was before, so he decided to just ask her straight out.
"Why would there be anything wrong?" Athena said, still smiling like she was fine.
He narrowed his eyes at her, feeling even more confused. At this point, he could only guess what was bothering her. But if she didn't want to talk about it, there was really nothing he could do. Instead, he would just make sure she took care of her injury so it didn't get any worse. "Okay..." he started as he lifted the towel towards her. "Then just take this."
"I already said I don't need it," Athena said, suddenly frowning at him.
Apollo raised his eyebrows in surprise, his mouth opening slightly. Was she really getting mad about this? It already made no sense for her to refuse treatment, but it was even more ridiculous for her to be angry just because he was trying to help. He had no idea what she was thinking or why she felt the need to act this way. But right now, it didn't matter. What did was that she needed to take care of herself before the small, painless injury turned into a big, painful injury. And if she was going to refuse to do it herself, he decided he would just do it for her.
"Fine," he said as he raised the towel towards her face. "Then if you won't do it, I will."
"Hey, what are you doing?" she said as she moved her head out of the way, her frown deepening.
He hesitated for a moment, suddenly not sure what to do. On one hand, he felt a little guilty that he was trying to make her use the ice pack when she was refusing. On the other hand, he knew she needed it and was compromising her health for some reason that he wasn't aware of. If he suspected that she had a real reason for refusing, he would back off. But he knew her by now and knew she was just being stubborn for a reason he had yet to learn. Still deciding that her health was more important than her stubbornness, he tried again. "I told you. I'm doing it because you won't do it for yourself."
She put her hand up to block the towel before it could touch her face. She narrowed her eyes at him, like she was daring him to try again. "And I told you, I'm not using it because I don't need it."
At this point, he honestly couldn't tell if she was angry at him or at something else. But he wasn't going to give up. He knew helping her was more important than whatever was causing her to be so suddenly stubborn, so he wasn't going to quit. With nothing but his concern for her driving him forward, he narrowed his eyes right back at her, ready to meet her stubbornness with his own. "You do need it," he said as he tried to move the towel around her hand. "You're just gonna complain how much it hurts later if you don't."
She moved her head out of the way, moving her hand towards his to push the towel away. "I already told you that it doesn't hurt!"
"And I already told you..." Apollo said as he grabbed her hand to move it out of the way. She moved her head when he tried to get the ice pack near her again. "...that it will if you don't take care of it now!"
And after that, with each side refusing to give in, it turned into a battle of wills. Their hands moved back and forth between them, arms nudged, hands pushed, wrists grabbed and a towel that moved all over the place as they both tried to win their side. And as their determination went up, so did their volume.
"If you don't reduce the swelling right now it's gonna get worse later!" Apollo argued when Athena grabbed his wrist.
"There's nothing to reduce because it's not swollen!" Athena said, grabbing Apollo's other wrist and pushing his arms back.
"Yes it is! I can see it!" Apollo pushed back against her with a strength he didn't know he had.
"If I can't feel anything then there's nothing wrong! So it's not swollen!" Athena shouted as their arms moved around in between them as each of them tried to overpower the other.
"That's just stupid!"
"Oh, now I'm stupid!?"
"I didn't say that!"
"Really!? It sure sounded like you said stupid to me!"
"Oh my God, Athena! Just take it!"
"No! I don't need it!"
"Yes you do!"
"No I don't!"
And then a sudden, loud and very pronounced clearing of the throat echoed in the kitchen. They both froze and went completely silent, turning their heads to find the source.
Standing in the kitchen entryway, staring at them like he had no idea what was going on, was their boss, Mr. Wright.
Apollo's eyes widened as panic slowly rose in his chest. Mr. Wright's eyebrows were raised and his wide, surprised eyes were moving back and forth between him and Athena. Apollo clenched his jaw nervously and remained still, not sure what he should say or do.
Mr. Wright was silent for a few moments, just watching them both with wide eyes. He cleared his throat again, much more quietly this time, then straightened up as he seemed to regain his composure. He raised his eyebrows again, but this time, he looked less surprised and more like he was confused by what he was seeing. "Is… there a problem?" he asked.
That was when Apollo finally realized how ridiculous they must look right now. He turned his eyes to look at Athena, finding that she was looking back at him with the same wide eyed look. Apollo's right arm was stretched out near his hip, the towel hanging from his fingers as he still gripped it tightly in his fist, Athena's fingers wrapped around his wrist as she held his arm away from her. His other arm was stretched above his head, Athena's other hand gripping that wrist as well as she held him in place to keep him from moving. He could barely tell what they were doing, so he could only imagine how this looked to Mr. Wright. Athena must have come to the same conclusion as him because they both quickly released their grip on each other at the same time.
Apollo froze after that, his face heating up with embarrassment. Since he didn't know what Mr. Wright was thinking, he wasn't sure how he should answer the question. He didn't want to lie to his boss, but he didn't really want to bother him with the details either. Even if he did think it was best to explain, he doubted his head was clear enough for that anyway.
Not sure what else to do, he just picked the one that made the most sense in his rattled brain. "Yes…?" he said hesitantly, watching his boss with wide eyes.
At the exact same time Apollo answered, Athena did too. But her reaction was the opposite of his. "No!" she shouted. Apollo turned his widened eyes to look at her, clenching his jaw nervously. She was gritting her teeth angrily, her shoulders squared as she clenched her fists. There was no doubt their inability to agree on the answer just made this whole thing look worse, and he had no idea what to do.
Mr. Wright was only silent for a few moments before Apollo saw him turn his attention to Athena. He raised one eyebrow at her, like he was confused. "Is there… something on your face, Athena?"
Apollo turned his eyes back to Athena, and he saw that the angry look on her face was now gone. She just stared at nothing with wide, surprised eyes. Then she suddenly turned to Mr. Wright, placing her hands on her hips and smiling brightly. "Nope!"
Mr. Wright watched her for a few moments, his expression saying that he didn't really believe her. "Are you sure?"
"Yep!" Athena insisted, still smiling brightly. "Everything's fine!"
Apollo watched as Mr. Wright looked back and forth between him and Athena again. He remained quiet for a few moments, then seemed to relent, though the confused frown never left his face. "Well… figure it out quietly, if you would." He gave them one last glance and stepped out of the kitchen.
Apollo just stood there, his mind in a bit of a confused daze. Though he was feeling a little relieved now that they were no longer under Mr. Wright's disapproving stare, his head had cleared enough for him to realize how ridiculous this whole thing really was. It wasn't like this was the first time something like this had happened; when Athena was involved, situations like this were less of a rare instance and more of a regular occurrence. But this entire thing had escalated a little more than it normally did, even for her. And no matter how good his intentions had been from the start, he couldn't deny that he shared just as much blame as she did for letting it go this far. Her refusal to take care of herself had him so worried and her anger at something he still didn't understand had him so frustrated that he ended up letting it get the better of him.
And he was still no closer to understanding what was going on than he was before.
Still not sure where he should go from here, he turned to look at her. Since he still didn't know what was bothering her, he expected to see that she was still angry. But that was why his surprise, as well as his concerns, were instantly raised when anger wasn't what he saw. She was using her hand to hold her opposite arm, her eyes staring off to the side with a lost, almost sad expression on her face. Of all the moods he'd expected to see her in, that certainly wasn't one of them.
And as he watched her, not sure what to do, he suddenly started feeling guilty. No matter what the reason for her behavior, no matter which one of them was ultimately right in the end, he was still partially responsible for all of this. Even if whatever was going on turned out not to be as big of a deal as he thought it was, he still needed to apologize.
"Hey Athena…" he started, all the volume from earlier gone. "I'm sorry. I was just trying to help. I wasn't trying to make you-"
And then, happening so suddenly that it startled him, her mood shifted back to angry. She clenched her teeth and fists, staring at nothing with fiery eyes. "God! I'm so mad!" she shouted, stomping her foot once against the floor. "I can't believe I did something that stupid!"
His eyes widened and he stared at her. Now he was even more confused than he was before. So much had happened up to this point that he wasn't sure what she was referring to. "...Huh?"
She turned to face him, looking at him with fire still in her eyes. "I can't believe I got hit by such a cheap shot! There was no reason I shouldn't have seen that hit coming!"
He raised his eyebrows, surprised by what she said. Though it wasn't strange for her to be angry about the fight she had with the thief, something about what she said didn't make sense. If he was understanding this correctly, she wasn't mad that she'd gotten hurt in the fight; she was angry that she'd been unable to predict the kick that took her down.
"Uh…" he started, not sure what he should say. He didn't understand why that was such a big deal to her. She'd already mentioned that she'd taken down thieves before, so he assumed she would've been used to getting a little banged up over it by now. He still didn't like hearing that she'd been into these kinds of fights more than just this one time, but if she'd already done it multiple times before, he couldn't understand why she was being so hard on herself over it this time. "It's… not a big deal, is it?"
"Yes it is! That was the first time a thief ever got a hit on me!"
He never once questioned what a good fighter she was. But no matter how strong she was, there was no way she'd fought several thieves and never once took a hit. "You mean…" Apollo started, thinking maybe he misunderstood somehow. "...the first cheap shot?"
"No! The first hit at all!"
Then Apollo's eyes widened and he just stared at her. Though he knew there was no reason for him to suspect that she was lying about this, he was still in shock when his bracelet didn't react. "Well…" Apollo started, thinking there might still be some way that he was misunderstanding. "...is this the first time any of them fought back?" That would explain why she'd never had to worry about an injury before. She wouldn't be able to get hurt if the thieves didn't try to fight back.
He wasn't sure what happened, but the anger on her face suddenly disappeared. Her muscles relaxed and she let out a sigh, folding her arms over her waist as she leaned her back against the counter behind her. There was still a slight frown creasing her brow, but other than that, she seemed like she'd calmed down. "Most of them do fight back," she answered, her volume going back to normal. "They usually put up a pretty mean fight, too." She paused. "But I still never messed up before."
That was when he suddenly understood. Her behavior up to this point that he'd been unable to understand finally made sense. One of the first things he learned about Athena after they met was how competitive she was. With this competitive nature came a constant need to prove herself, to push herself to be the best she could be. But that also meant, whenever she felt that she'd failed, she took it a lot harder than most people did. Even though he knew this about her, it took him until now to realize it because this was the first time he'd seen her this upset over a failure. It had confused him at first and made him think she was mad about something else. The fact that she'd been able to take down every thief she faced without taking a hit must have been important to her. Now, for the first time, she'd been taken down by an attack she wasn't able to predict, and she was mad at herself for it. She must have thought of it as a long time record that had been broken. To most people, this probably wouldn't be that big of a big deal. But to her, this meant that she messed up. That must have been why she was refusing to treat her injury; she was trying to pretend she didn't need it because she was mad at herself for failing.
Though it upset Apollo to see her feeling so down, he knew she would eventually let it go. She was always bummed for a while after she felt that she failed at something, but she always got through it. The only thing he could really do in the mean time was try to help her understand that she didn't need to be so hard on herself.
He looked at her with a calm, apologetic look to try and make her feel better. "Whether you really think you messed up or not..." he started. She turned her eyes to look at him, but she didn't stop frowning. "...doesn't mean you need to punish yourself over it."
She pursed her lips and her frown deepened. "I'm not punishing myself."
Apollo's bracelet reacted, confirming that he was right when he assumed she'd just been mad at herself all along. And the fact that she was still trying to deny it proved that she was still stubbornly refusing to admit it. She must have known that, if she admitted to him that she'd just been punishing herself, that would mean she'd also have to admit that she needed the ice pack. And in her competitive mind, that would also mean that she'd ultimately lost to Apollo. Her need to win was so strong that she was still, even now, trying to win against him even when she knew she'd lost.
And as he watched her standing there, looking at him with a frown that was still daring him to try and win against her even after she knew it was feudal... he couldn't help but smile. No matter how much trouble she got herself in, no matter how difficult it could be to reign her in… he would never have her any other way.
As he stood there smiling at her, feeling more content than he had all day, she frowned suspiciously at him. "What are you smiling about?"
Apollo knew that, no matter how much she was trying to pretend the opposite, Athena was well aware that she didn't have a choice now. He gave her a knowing smile, lifting the ice pack and waving it around in front of her face. "You sure you're not punishing yourself?" he teased. He knew that she was fully aware of what he was talking about. She knew by now that she couldn't lie to him; his bracelet reacted to what she said, and she knew it. She had to accept defeat this time, no matter how much she was trying to pretend that wasn't the case.
She continued to glare at him for a few moments, then she suddenly grabbed the ice pack from his hand and pressed it against her cheek. She kept frowning at him, a slight pout on her face as she knew this meant she'd lost. "Happy?"
She was asking if he was happy that he won. But he didn't care about that. All he cared about was being here with her. Whether it was during her best times or her worst, when she was angry at something or was as happy as she could be, she was still his best friend. Nothing that ever happened to them in the time they'd known each other had ever been able to change that. And he'd finally gotten her to take care of herself, which was more important to him than anything else they were doing right now.
As he watched her frown at him, he knew she was never really mad at him in the first place. She was just feeling down about the whole situation and would be back to her happy, energetic self before she knew it. She always did, no matter what was bothering her. A warm, content feeling washed over him and he watched her with a warm, genuine smile. Though he wasn't answering her question in the way she thought, his answer was still nothing but the truth. "Yeah. I am."
Story Song – 'Wouldn't Change a Thing' – Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas