Ares wondered what makes Apollo looked so happy about even though there's a storm out there. Yes, both of them are now stuck in the Weaver Café until the storm cease and not that Ares find it bad to be stuck in their favorite place, but it's almost 11 pm and their sister is probably already at home, worrying about them right now. To his confusion, Apollo took a seat on a table a little bit far from his, instead of joining him on his table.
"Probably needs more space to do his homework." Ares thought as he remembered how fussy Apollo is when he's doing something that really important.
But that still couldn't explain why Apollo is so cheery right now.
"Here."
Ares looked away from his brother to see someone had given him a napkin and a coffee. The exact coffee that he had ordered before.
"Sorry about… well, the incident…" the dark-haired barista said as she looked flushed. Ares noticed that Nemesis must have already changed her shirt, because he didn't see the coffee stains from her anymore.
"Uh, thanks?" Ares replied. He looked to the napkin, then back to her. "I don't think I need the napkin. The stains already dried off anyway." He motioned to the already dried stains on his shirt. It's good thing that he wore his biker jacket, the stains could easily fell off from its slick leather and its mostly cover his red shirt he'd wore inside his jacket.
"Oh," Nemesis seems to realize about what he wore right now, as her face reddened in embarrassment, for forgetting such detail. "Keep the napkin. Just in case…"
From the other table, Apollo vigorously typing something in his laptop, smirking ever so slightly as he eyed Ares with Nemesis.
Before Nemesis could return to her counter, Ares said, "You're Nemesis, right?"
Her eyes widened as she turned to him. "How do— "
"I read your name tag," Ares said, making her mentally face palmed at how she forgot about it as well. "By the way, thanks for the coffee."
She just smiled.
"I'm Ares."
"Huh?"
"It's my name," he said. "I'm Ares."
Nemesis just rolled her eyes. "Yes, I already know. I'm the one who made your order."
"I know. I just want to reintroduce myself to you better," he grinned.
"Why would you do that?" she asked.
"Because I'm the regular customer of this place," he explained. "I think it would be better if I could befriend the new employee like you for my future visits."
Nemesis almost want to scoff at how ridiculous is it, but she felt warm feeling stirring inside her heart for some unknown reason. Also, Loki said something about how better it would be if they could also be nice to the café's regulars.
"So, is Nemesis really your name or it's just a nickname you earned in your childhood?" he asked. "I mean, it sounded like your name came from Greek myths or something."
She raised her eyebrows at how ridiculous his statement is. "It is. Just like how ridiculous it is for you to be named after a Greek god of war."
"Blame my parents. They're maniac with Greek myths," Ares shrugged. "My dad was nicknamed 'Zeus' because he acted like the actual Zeus from myths, having lots of mistresses—you seen that guy typing on his laptop over there?" he pointed toward a busy-looking Apollo. "That's my half-brother. His name is Apollo. He has a twin sister named Artemis, who's currently stay in Canada for her studies."
Apollo overheard that his name was mentioned, looked up and waved a little toward Ares' table, before he went back to his story.
"What an interesting family you've got there," Nemesis said. "Meanwhile, my family is completely normal, the only thing that is abnormal is the fact my parents are also as crazy with Greek myths as yours."
"Crazy parents," He joked.
"Crazy parents." She nodded in agreement.
The storm still occurred outside, but everyone inside the building were safe and sound. The Weaver Café was supposed to close and hour ago, but since there's still people stuck in the coffeeshop due to the storm outside, Neith decided that the café will remain open until the storm is over. Also, because the employees and herself couldn't go back to their respective homes as well because of said harsh weather.
Rama was conversing with Loki and Neith, Freya was making herself some coffee in boredom, Mercury was chatting with some of their regular customers—who were amused at how energetic he is.
Apollo tried to discreetly eavesdrop of the conversation between Ares and Nemesis as he typed something that he deemed a little bit romantic on his story. He had managed to type three paragraphs now, and he felt excited at the prospect of having a great score after he give this to his teacher. Also, he was really happy that Ares could finally move on from Aphrodite.
"You're not from around here?" Ares asked.
Nemesis shook her head. "No. I'm recently moved here. I supposed that would make it the second time I move away."
"Second?"
"The first time is when I decided to move away from my parents' house. The second…" she trailed off. "that's not important. The important is, I'm moving into this neighborhood so I could get a fresh start for my life."
Ares looked curious. "What happened before she moved in here?" he thought.
"She already moved away twice?" Apollo mused when he heard of this. "Hmm… I wonder why…"
Suddenly, someone tapped on his shoulder. "Hey!"
"GAH!" Apollo yelped. He turned back to see the café's two newest baristas, Freya and Mercury.
"What are you typing about?" Freya asked as she tried to peek through Apollo's shoulder to see his works.
"Hey! Isn't it rude for the employee to disturb their customer?!" Apollo yelled as he tried to protect his laptop.
"Not unless said customer were stalking at one of our colleague." Freya scoffed. "What do you want with Nemesis?"
"Yeah!" Mercury piped up. "You've been spying on our friend and one of our customer ever since you've been here."
Apollo's eyes widened. "Dude, you've got that all wrong! That customer is my brother." He pointed toward Ares, who's still in conversation with Nemesis.
Freya rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. You don't even look related with him."
"That's because he is my half-brother," Apollo muttered. "Look, I have no ill-intention with your friend here. I just want to write some romance story for my assignment. And…"
He ended up explaining his matter with Freya and Mercury.
…
"It's strange how a single storm could bring everyone together." Rama said as he glanced at Freya and Mercury that were in a hushed conversation with Apollo, and Nemesis was talking with Ares.
"You always said that every time we're stuck during the storm." Neith muttered, while she was doing some taxes.
…
"and you want to hook up our friend with your brother, so you can have inspiration for your story," Freya said. "and helping your brother to move on from his ex-girlfriend?"
Apollo nodded.
"Dude, that's sounds so wrong," Mercury commented. "Isn't that sounds like you are using your brother's despair for your advantage?"
Apollo flinched at how cold that statement is. "N-not exactly," Both Freya and Mercury glared toward him. "Okay, maybe it's a little like that… but seriously, don't they really make a cute couple?" he motioned toward the still chatting Ares and Nemesis.
Freya sighed. "Well, they do. And I know Nemesis for a long time, so yeah, she really does make good couple with him. But I'm not sure if she could easily fall for him like that—ever since the last time…"
Apollo raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"Long story," she said. "Basically, she has trust issue toward any guy."
"Then, we better make her trust Ares," he said. "Trust is another path to love…"
"We?"
"Yes, that's what I said."
"What makes you think we want to help you?" Mercury asked.
"I thought you guys want in!"
Freya sighed. "It's okay, Merc," she then turned to Apollo. "Alright fine, we will help you because I think Nemesis needs to move on from her past as well. If something happens to her, I will personally break each bone in your body. And I'm serious."
"I never been on this super-secret plan before," Mercury mused. "this is so exciting!"
"And that's how me and my siblings found this place," Ares concluded his story. "This café has become our favorite hang-out place ever since."
"I still can't believe you found this place through stupid accident with apples…" Nemesis muttered.
Ares shrugged. "It's true, even though I still don't believe it myself."
Nemesis rolled her eyes.
