Joy

And there was the Athena they all adored, the one who they all knew and loved, who had something snarky to say... He grinned and felt her fingers lightly dancing over his arm. The hairs on his arm stood up and he felt goosebumps rise, even in the warm summer air. She seemed as though she had calmed and relaxed, and he would not care to admit how much he liked the feeling of her leaning against him.

People- young males especially- were often intimidated by Athena, simply because she was beautiful, strong-willed, and independent. She also had a mischief about her- he had still not forgotten her rooting through his bottom drawer (he did hope she returned.. he wanted to see how long it would take for her to find his new hiding spot.)

But Kendall realized, as she sat enveloped in his arms, that while Athena acted like Superwoman, she was still a teenage girl, who got scared and was uncertain about a lot of things.She did not have it all figured out. She was human, and there was something reassuring about that fact. Kendall pulled her closer and that's when she asked if he was alright. He paused.

"I dunno. I'm acting different, but I'm not sure it's bad." Honestly he hated this feeling of not knowing what was going on in his own mind. But having Athena this close was something that made up for the uncertainty. He sighed. "Once I figure out what's wrong, you'll be the first to know." He smiled. "But enough about me, let's get home." He released her and stood, reaching her hands down to help her up.

Athena was infinitely glad she didn’t have to go back home. She didn’t want to have to deal with Apolline’s fretting. She could imagine the look on the blonde’s face. The woman would be like a House Elf with a Butterbeer addiction that had recently become clean. Athena didn’t want to have to live through that tirade of insanity ever. Well, ever again. She could try and deal with it tomorrow. Hopefully after Apolline her turn harassing Darius she’d cool down a bit. Athena suspected a few bottles of wine (and Firewhisky for her father) would follow and after a good night’s sleep and a hangover remedy in the morning, all would be well. Perhaps, if Athena was lucky, she might even forget. That was incredibly unlikely though. Athena was the closest thing to a daughter Apolline was ever going to get and she would do anything to ensure Athena’s longevity in whatever she chose to do.

In that case, poor Darius.

This time, Athena did not manage to stifle her yawn. She covered her mouth with her hand and her eyes flickered shut for a few moments before her lips came together once more. With that, her eyes reopened and darted about the scenery once more. She knew that coming to the Blood Traitor’s party was a bad idea and there would be words exchanged between herself and Pricilla once she finally got her bearings back. Until then though, sleeping on Kendall seemed like a fantastic idea and Athena was gearing herself up to do just that when her brain unhelpfully (or helpfully as the case may well have been) reminded her that she could sleep when they got to Kendall’s house. Mentally, Athena began to complain, protesting to her subconscious that she was perfectly happy where she was. But then of course her mind one-upped her and reminded her that she did not want to sleep on a Blood Traitor’s lawn, with Kendall or otherwise.

“Don’t think too much,” Athena smirked. “You might just hurt yourself.” She took Kendall’s hands and got to her feet, balancing fairly precariously on the stupid, stupid heels. Athena scowled down at the shoes and slid her feet out of them. The grass wasn’t wet so her feet weren’t going to get muddy. She leaned down and picked up the shoes before leaning over and grabbing her wand. She straightened up and poked the wand behind her ear before now having to look up at Kendall a fair distance. “Lead the way?”