"Absolutely not."
"Fine, then I'll go alone."
"The fuck you will, Apollo! We both know you'll get your godly ass kicked if you waltz in there by yourself."
"Language, Elena! There are children here."
"Oh shut it, blondie. I guarantee they've heard worse."
"...you're probably right. For the sake of the quest at hand, will you please come in with me?"
"...I'm not holding your hand."
"Elena, for Zeus' sake, if we don't at least act the part, this whole mission will be blown. Just trust me on this."
"Trust you? After everything you've done? Yeah, no thanks."
"Look. I know you hate me. You have every right to hate me. But just for tonight, for this moment, just…pretend you don't. You can drink Lethe's water after."
"...fine. Give me a moment to change and then I'll be out. And no, you cannot join me," I said as I slammed the bathroom door, pulling out the dress and heels Aphrodite bought me. The dress was wine red and floor length, with a slit starting from the left hip, and the top half sleeveless with a v-neck. The white heels were four inches, which was way too high for my liking, but if Aphrodite saw me fit to wear them, it was better than nothing. Walking out a few minutes later with my bag slung over my shoulder, I looked around, Apollo was nowhere to be seen.
"Go to the Opera with the God of Music, they said. It'll be fun, they said. He won't wander around and critique every note like he's the fucking composer instead of doing the one thing he's actually supposed to be doing, they said," I whispered as I walked quickly through the halls. Spotting Apollo's curly mop of hair, I slowly made my way over to him, watching from a distance as he bought a bouquet of roses from a woman standing near the theatre entrance. He exchanged drachmae with her, flashing her his stereotypical grin, and she blushed.
I pushed down the wave of jealousy that arose until it was buried so far beneath the surface that not even Hades could unearth it.
"Here, These are for you," Apollo said as he handed me the flowers, and I took them, consciously avoiding his amber-eyed gaze as he watched me.
"...What's wrong?" he asked, and I shook my head.
"Nothing. Let's just get in there," I said, walking towards the theatre doors, but Apollo's grip was strong on my waist as he turned me around to face him. The tuxedo he was wearing fit him in all the right places because of course it did he's Apollo for Gods' sake, and the cologne he wore was the scent I picked out for him decades ago on a whim and I wanted him to kiss me but I also wanted to be nowhere near him and why did I still feel so much anger and pain towards him for something that happened thousands of years ago and-my jumbled thoughts halted as I felt another presence behind us.
"Elena. I thought I would never see you again; especially after you beheaded me and left me for dead in Tartarus all those years ago. I think it's time we had ourselves a nice talk, don't you?"
My blood froze as Apollo's grip tightened, and I turned to see Damocles walking towards me, his Oneiri at his heels.
Tonight would be memorable in more ways than one, it seemed.