Melpomene's eyes were on him, boring into him, and as he stared back he found himself wondering again, What do you want?
Not an audience. An argument. The more Clio responded with calm, the more Melpomene ratcheted up the provocation. First Clio couldn't help. Then she didn't care. Then she was an unfeeling robot, and now—
A muscle jumped in Will's jaw. He couldn't accept that his Muse loved Apollo because Alan hadn't, was that it? 'Course, that had never been the thing at issue. But that didn't matter to Melpomene. She was lashing out, same as she had before. She was hurt, so she'd had to make Alan hurt, too. Her Merry Man had rejected her, and now here she was trying provoke Will into rejecting Clio.
Anger coiled in his gut, but anger was what she wanted from him. Without saying a word, and without breaking eye contact with Melpomene, Will reached for Clio's hand and clasped it in his own.