AUTHOR NOTE: I just want to write some Modern AU for Smite fandom, okay?! Lay down your pitchforks! Also, because I found Coffeeshop themed fanfic sounds pretty interesting. (I had to browse through Starbucks menu just to get any coffee preferences right for this fanfic -_-)
Also, it's an Ares X Nemesis fanfic. Again. (well, you know me *shrugs*)
'Love comes in unexpected places.'
"Bullcrap," Ares muttered, as he sits loungingly at the couch in their living room. "Tell me again, Sunny Boy, why are you making this stupid romance story again?"
Apollo looked up from his laptop, frowning. "I told you, I need to ace this test. If I don't get at least B minus for English Literature, say bye-bye to my oh-so wonderful bright future…"
"Yeah, whatever…" Ares grunted. "Romance is dead. At least to me…"
Apollo slowly gaze toward his brother, understanding at his bitterness. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Talk about what?"
"You know… you and Aphrodite? I know it's hard for you for breaking up with her, it's just that…"
"There's nothing to talk about," Ares said, deadpanned. "I'm not going to talk about that whore and this conversation is over." With that, he stood up from his seat and left the living room, grumbling. Apollo just sighed and returned to his main focus, his assignment. He was barely two paragraphs and Athena isn't home yet from her work, so he's completely hopeless for the rest of the night.
Yesterday was a disaster. It was supposed to be a housewarming party for Bellona, who had recently moved into their neighborhood. It's just happen that Athena and Artemis knew Bellona from their community college, and everyone were invited.
Ares, of course, being a good boyfriend and all, brought Aphrodite with him to the party.
And that's where everything gone wrong.
It turns out, Aphrodite had been a girlfriend for FOUR different men. And all four men were invited to that party too. Imagine the chaos where said four men and Ares immediately realized that all of them were cheated by Aphrodite.
To make it worse, Aphrodite was caught making out with Hercules in the closet. Much to Bellona's discomfort. And possibly everyone in the party too.
At the end of the party, Ares immediately broke up with Aphrodite and never speaks with her again.
"Such a shame. We all thought that Ares and Aphrodite makes a cute couple," Apollo thought as he kept typing stuff for his story. "It's too bad for me too, I was going to make them as an inspiration for my story…"
Ares then walked into the living room again, this time already dressed in his black biker jacket and jeans. "Apollo, if anyone wants to find me, tell them that I'll be at our usual hangout spot."
Apollo nodded. "Alright. I'll tell Athena when she's home."
As soon as Ares left the house, Apollo sighed. "I wish there's something interesting is going to happen…"
And then he could hear their coffee maker burst into flame.
"Anything but that!" He groaned.
Weaver Café was the popular coffee shop in their neighborhood. It was a small building, but somehow could manage to fit hundreds of people in there. The owner, Neith is pretty much an easy-going, cheerful person, unless if you angered her in some way. Trust me, you don't want to anger her.
"Neith? Are you really sure you want to employ them?" Loki, the senior barista—who also acted as Neith's assistant, motioned to their newest recruits. "I'm okay with this summer job program, but they're still too young. They probably— "
"They'll do great," Neith said. "Besides, three of them are the only ones applied for this job anyway."
Loki looked to Neith, then back to the three employees again. The first one is Freya, a girl with blonde hair and weird Norse tattoo on her side. The second one is a hyperactive looking guy with brown hair and bright blue eyes named Mercury—Loki swears that this guy must have drank ten coffees every day. And the last one is a dark-haired girl with pale skin and pale blue eyes named Nemesis, who seems to be very calm, quiet, and cold than her other peers, which is actually what worries him since the job that she currently applied to requires her to be friendly with the customers.
"I'll leave you with the new kids. Have fun!" Neith said, before she walked back to her office.
"Wait— "Too late, Neith already closed the door. When the door closed, no one, I mean no one should disturb her works—paperwork stacked into the ceiling. Loki groaned as he turned to three—two eagers and a deadpanned employee. "Alright, newbies. I'm Loki and I'm the senior barista here and will act as your teacher, means that whatever I tell you and teach you, should be listened and performed accordingly. Understand?"
Three heads nodded.
"Good. Let's start with— "
…
Loki couldn't believe it. Neith was right—well, she always right when it comes to trusting anyone. Three new employees had managed to serve their customers, professionally for the last two hours since they're open. Freya seemed to always attract male customers—much to her dismay. Mercury and Nemesis worked pretty good as well, so nothing to worry about.
"The kids did great, isn't it?" Rama asked, another senior barista that had worked with Loki since the day the coffeeshop opened. "Maybe we should do this summer job program more often. Who knows, maybe we could finally retire and leave this job to young generations."
Loki shrugged. "Nah, I'll still keep an eye on them. That Mercury kid works really fast, but he often breaks the mugs in the process."
Mercury always looked excited. He often run around the coffeeshop, talking with the customers, and clean up the tables way before the customers even leave the table.
"Did that kid drink ten coffees every morning or something?" Rama asked as he watched Mercury running back to the stand, almost forgetting the empty coffee mugs.
Loki shrugged again.
Ares entered the coffeeshop, feeling moodier than usual. Ever since he discovered that Aphrodite had been cheating on him and the break up, he's getting more and more depressed every day.
"I thought she loves me…" Ares thought, sadly. "She kept saying that she loved me. Had she been lying to me this whole time?"
When he looked up, he realized the Weaver Café had been more crowded than usual. "Um… what's happening? Are they having new drinks?"
"Dude, you should see their new barista!" Some random guy patted Ares on his shoulder. "That Freya chick is totally hot!"
"New barista?"
"Actually, they have three. That Mercury guy is way friendlier than the usual baristas. And two new girls."
"But that Nemesis girl is pretty too." A friend of the guy said.
"Meh, she's decent alright. But Freya? Man, she's could literally shine like a beacon among the storm!"
Ares decided to leave those two guys bickered by themselves. He doesn't want to get caught dead with those two morons anyway. Walking into the front seems difficult, due to the amount of people waiting in the line to get served. He could see their new baristas even from behind many crowds of overly eager males.
Ares concluded that the blonde barista must be Freya, since she was the only one who got overwhelmed with so many customers. He couldn't find her attractive though.
"Blonde hair… why does it kept reminded me with Aphrodite?" Ares thought, depressed. "Probably because she also had blonde hair too."
Ares realized that the guy that worked next to Freya was way too hyper on doing his job. "That guy must be secretly a monkey/bunny/human hybrid that had escaped from secret lab."
"Can I get you anything?"
"Huh?" He was immediately cut off from his musing and realized that he had already been standing in front of the counter.
The dark-haired barista sighed. "What is your order?"
Ares just stared, not sure whether to stare to the supposed menu hang above her or herself. He had to admit, she's actually looked pretty for a girl that doesn't try to look stand up. Unlike Freya, she has a short dark hair and her eyes are soft pale blues, which are really fit to her pale skin.
"Look," the girl asked again. "Are you here to order, or just gawking at the spot?"
Ares flushed as he snapped out from his musing again. "Oh, um… sorry. I'll just have the usual."
She raised her eyebrows, which made Ares mentally face palmed to himself. "Right, she's the new girl."
"I mean, Americano with double—make it triple shots." Ares said. "Also, I need a Cappuccino on the go, but decaf."
The girl looked up, unamused. "Let me guess, for your girlfriend?"
That statement stabbed Ares so hard, it makes him looked like he just got a stroke. "Shit! I already broke up with Aphrodite, why would I need to order another one?" "Um… on second thought, cancel the last one. Just give me my coffee…"
The barista raised her eyebrows again, but didn't ask further. "Alright, just give me minutes. I'll get you your coffee."
She turned back to do her job, leaving Ares stood still on his spot.
"And she must be Nemesis. Huh, what a pretty name…"
AUTHOR NOTE: As I said earlier, this is Modern AU where all the mentioned gods, monsters, heroes are mortals. Also, I'm the kind of person that can't drink caffeine (I have ulcer- wait, why am I telling you all this?)