malicious innocence || apollo toast

apollo monarch

This little performance was as exhausting as it was necessary, Apollo could appreciate the war waging behind saccharine smiles. Two steps forward, one step back - he's made progress tonight but not as much as he'd like; cold crystal bites at his bottom lip as he pretends to take a sip of red wine. He hadn't drank in front of anyone since - well there was no point thinking of unpleasant things tonight. That would make this all a lot harder than it needed to be. Feigning smiles was like breathing, a constant weight upon his chest that he would surely die without.

His disadvantage only made the evening more thrilling. He so loved to feel like an underdog. Apollo is surrounded by big names and bigger personalities - from gamemakers to attention-starved sycophants. (Though, if you asked him, they were different in title alone.) Olympus Tech had been around for a few pitiful decades before Apollo assumed control, hawking luxury gadgets and selling overpriced medical equipment to the upper-middle class. Needless to say it wasn't hard to purchase a couple of convenient patents and weasel their way into arena medical technology. A niche but surprisingly fortuitous field these past few games.

It's only a shame the former CEO couldn't make it tonight, that little accident had really done a number on the old guy. Of course, Apollo assured him he would do all he could to carry on his legacy before. With that sentiment nowhere in mind, he clears his throat and stands. "Hello," He starts simple, tipping his glass toward the crowd and wearing his wolf's smile so that it looked like a lamb's. "I'm honored to stand alongside so many familiar faces this evening,"

A blush rises to his cheeks and he fans himself with a soft laugh, "I'm a little starstruck, just like I'm sure many of you are! Rest assured, I'm no different than you. That's what I offer." The crowd is stained by sweet wine and sweeter words - Apollo's pretty sure he could be speaking nonsense and they'd still nod along. They're so terrified of irrelevance.

"I'm a man of the people, a voice with our best interests at heart. I know of our wasted potential and I won't rest until we've reached it."

He's not sure if he means a damn word, but it's a nice enough sentiment. "Thank you, everyone."

It's physically painful to be this close to the throne, he can only hope his desperation is less than thinly veiled.