InsaneJournal

In the days between his talk with Armaan and the upcoming Alpha Pi Omnicrom Thanksgiving Bash, Avery wasted no time in trying to get himself on track. He wrote a great article for work, and even though his editor was giving him major stink-eye, she had to admit it was fit for publication. He was still on thin ice there, though. He knew that if this didn’t get fixed, his remaining time as a contributor to that magazine would be short.

The other thing he threw himself into was reading everything he could get his hands on about Apollo, god of apparently everything. He read about Daphne and Hyacinthus, and Asclepius and Midas, and Leto and Artemis and their conflict with Hera. He wondered if he could find a red cow to sacrifice and actually investigated this over one inebriated evening, but cows were too expensive and inconvenient to get in the city.

In the end, as he straightened his shirt in the mirror before he left for the party, Avery resolved himself to the conclusion that he would just have to throw himself upon Apollo’s mercy, and it would have to be sincere, thorough, and public. That was the part he was looking forward to the absolute least. He already knew that everyone in the frat thought he was a freak and a weirdo, so at least this wouldn’t be out of “character”, but still. So humiliating.

The party was well underway by the time Avery walked up the driveway towards the frat house. He tugged his sleeves down over his sweaty palms, glancing around but trying not to make eye contact with anyone. He hadn’t even told Topher he was coming tonight. He didn’t want to draw any attention before he had to.

It was cold, so a lot of people were crammed into the house tonight. Once inside the door, the heat was almost stifling. The air of that many people all drinking and laughing was oppressive. Avery made his way through the crowd towards the kitchen to try to find the punch and add to the vodka he’d had before arriving. He’d need the courage.

“Avery?” came Topher’s voice from the side, surprised but pleased. Avery looked around, and actually, it was nice to see a friendly face here after all.

“Hey man. Hope it’s cool I crashed the party.”

“Nah it’s awesome! Hey!” Topher came in for a hug, staggering slightly from the drink, and Avery laughed a little.

“Hey, ah, is Archer around?” he asked, shouting into Topher’s ear.

Topher gestured towards the living room. “Yeah, that way I think. Why?”

“I got a thing. Hey, I’ll catch you a bit later, okay?” Avery patted Topher on the shoulder, emptied his cup down his throat, and headed on through.

Apollo sat in state in the living room, his worshippers arranged around him. He reclined in a wing-back leather armchair, one leg hooked over the arm of the chair, people around him hanging on his every word. And into that, Avery had to walk, limbs stiff and anxious, until he was standing on the other side of the coffee table, hands balled into nervous fists.

He had to lick his lips quickly as his mouth went dry, and then clear his throat to stammer, “My-my lord-” and his face went red to his hairline at hearing himself. Fuck fuck fuuuuuhhhhhck…