"Athena, I'm not sure Mr. Wright would want any of this stuff for his birthday... I mean it's kinda..." Apollo trailed off as he looked around the store, it was full of knickknacks, novelties and gag gifts.

"Awesome?"

"No, I was thinking lame."

"Oh c'mon, Apollo don't be like that! I know my boss' tastes, I'm sure he'll absolutely love anything!"

"I highly doubt that..." he muttered under his breath as he followed the red head girl poking and prodding at anything that looked interesting. "How long are we gonna stay here anyway? I mean, I got places to be you know."

"Jeez someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today! I didn't bring you to be mister grumpy gills in public with me."

"..." Apollo just sorta glared at her, what a childish thing to say.

"And you can stop glaring at me," Athena said with a smile in her voice almost instantly even though her back was turned to him, "it's not nice."

!

She had to stop doing that, it was getting scarier every time she did it.

Apollo just sighed in defeat and started humoring her and browsing the store on his own for a while, while she was off in her own little world fantasizing about how her present would be so perfect Mr. Wright was sure to get her that puppy dog that is, in her own words, 'the utmost necessity to the agency!'

After almost half an hour of reading a really bad book "You don't gnome me personally" Apollo had given up on trying so desperately to kill time and was about to sit down before he caught something curious in the corner of his eye. He picked up a small black matte box and looked at it. "Huh..." he mused to himself and picked up the ring that was inside of it "what is this?" And almost as soon as he asked, he remembered and snorted. "Oh, it's a--"

"A MOOD RING! WHOA!"

"ACK!" The startled lawyer fumbled with the box but caught it and looked over his shoulder "Athena what the heck did you do that for!?"

"Oh, sorry about that! Didn't mean to startle you." Athena turned her attention back to the box, "I had one of these!! Back before I had widget..." she giggled, "they were all the rage! Hey... Apollo you should put it on!"

"What? No! I was just looking at it, that's all."

"Aww Apollo, you have to have a bit of fun sometime! Don't be such a wet towel, this place is great!"

"...I know how to have fun, thank you very much."

She laughed "right, right. But you should, it's just your size, even, it's totally destiny!"

"....Fine. But then we can leave?"

"Of course! I've been done for a while! I was just looking for you."

Somehow Apollo didn't buy that. But under the scrutiny of Athena's gaze, he did as she said and put the ring on. Not even a second after, he looked a bit annoyed and felt ridiculous "see, nothing. This is busted, let's go."

"No, no! Hold it, you gotta wait!" And just like that, the ring's color changed to a bright shade of purple. "See! Look! Oh man!" Athena was overjoyed at something so simple...It was kinda cute. But that look of cute turned into something a bit more devious "Ooohh...Hehe. Would you look at that?"

"H-huh? What? Look at what?"

"The ring says you're in love!!"

"WHAT? No! No way! Lemme see that!" He snatched the little paper out of her hand and looked over it.

Oh. No.

Apollo swallowed any bit of flusteredness he could, calming himself so he could look properly annoyed, "it’s just a toy, Athena. You can't seriously think this means anything do you?"

"Maybe."

He raised an eyebrow at her, hoping she wan't able to feel the bit of heat on his cheeks. He sighed and took the ring off, placing everything back in before setting the box down. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. We gotta get going or we're gonna be late."

"Soo, you're not gonna buy it?"

"Of course not! Why would I get something like that? I don't even wear jewelry!" Apollo's face fell at the realization of what he just said and covered his wrist. He could feel the smug look on Athena's face without looking at her "Don't. Say it."

Athena tried to muffle her snickering, "hey that wasn't my fault."

He groaned in response and shook it off, placing his hands behind his head to stretch. "Anyway, it's been a while since we've actually been out together like this huh? N-Not on a case I mean..."

"Mhmm...It's actually the first time I've been present shopping in a while!"

"Really?" Apollo glanced over, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah...I mean, I go window shopping all the time, but I don't like to buy much for myself. I like buying presents a lot more! Just haven't really had a reason to." The brown-haired guy nodded and then continued to look forward. "...What about you?"

"Well...I guess I'm sorta the same I guess. But I don't like to buy much at all...I've never been good with gifts. Ever since Clay..." He sighed and closed his eyes at the thought, looking visibly distraught.

Athena's face softened a little hearing him and seeing his demeanor change. "Apollo..."

"Don't worry about it. It's no big deal, honest." He grinned, trying to reassure her. "I'm fine."

"It's because you feel alone, isn't it? Like everyone's gone, even though you have family now with Boss and Trucy, and all your new friends..."

"Yeah. How did you--?"

Athena smiled a bit embarrassed, "I kinda read it...But I feel the same way."

"...We're all here for you too. I'm here for you."

She blinked, "...You?" They both stopped walking.

"..." Apollo rubbed the back of his neck and then faced her, "Yeah! Absolutely! Umm...Listen. I..."

She tilted her head a bit.

=Be strong, Apollo! You can do it! Now's your chance!= "I really...appreciate you! You can always count on me, okay?!"

Athena grinned, "Yeah! And you can count on me!"

"Partners?" Apollo held out his arm and Athena crossed it with hers so they made an X. "Partners!"

Apollo sighed, disappointed a bit by not being able to confess as he stood back up straight, but he was happy regardless. "We really gotta hurry or else they're gonna leave without us!"

"WHAT ARE WE WAITIN' FOR? LET'S BOOK IT!" Athena yanked his arm and ran at full speed back to the office.