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“Apollo?” Athena had walked into the office, surprised to find him slumped on the couch, his head in his hands. “What’s wrong?”
Startled, Apollo immediately jumped to his feet to face her, pulling his features into an overly enthusiastic grin.
“I’M FINE!”
What would have been obnoxiously loud to anyone else was like a sonar blast to Athena. Her hands flew to her ears and she winced in obvious pain. Apollo scrambled to apologize.
“S-sorry! I meant… I’m fine ,” he said, bringing his voice down to a sotto tone. Recovering, she searched his face and stepped toward him. She could hear the dissonance.
“Are you sure ?” she asked softly.
Looking into her knowing eyes, he realized he just couldn’t keep it up. He hesitated, then all at once crumpled into her arms and began to sob, his voice muffled against her shoulder.
“No. No, I’m not fine,” was all he managed to say.