A Rift in Relations

Chapter Five

Aries was beside himself, he was meant to be meeting with his brother today. He was presented with two options, leave and not meet or suffer through and deal with it. The sun was shining on the outside table of the café he was sat at, this kind of meeting wasn't the kind Aries favored, he preferred more private and professional ones. He watched for Dionysus as he waited. A few times the waitress came over to ask if he was ready to order. "Not yet, my dear" was his usual response, drawing a light sigh from the younger woman.

One of the perks of his gift was that he had incredible hearing, allowing him to hear useful information to use against people at a later date. However what he was most interested in at the time, was what his little waitress was talking about. He overheard her talking about him to her coworker. "Do you see him? He's like, deadly hot."

"He looks like he's thirty, Lil, you're only eighteen. Don't do anything stupid."

"But look at him, he's built like a bad boy. That scar on his face? Oh my god." She swooned, Aries shot her a smirk and a side glance. He watched as she continued to jump around her coworker with joy, overwhelmed that he noticed her. Of course he would never act upon it but he always found amusement in toying with people like her. Just as he was about to continue to eavesdrop on her conversation, his brother sat down.

"So, you wanna order anything or just talk?" He asked, leaning back in his chair. He took a look around and surveyed the atmosphere. He was pleasantly surprised by the lack of people despite it being a Saturday morning. He looked over at the girl who was fawning over Aries and caused her to be taken aback by the man who had joined. He motioned for her to come over and she did a double take, looking around and then pointing to herself for confirmation. He nodded with a kind smile and she made her way over to him. "Hi sweetheart, do you think you're ready to take an order? Or do you need a minute?"

She fumbled around her apron and pulled out a pad and pen, waiting intently for him to give an order. He looked at the menu for a minute and decided, "I'll have an iced tea and he'll have-"

"Black coffee." Aries cut him off, handing his menu to the waitress. "That'll be all for now. I'll call you back if I need anything." She nodded and scampered off to get their drinks. The two men watched her idly as they waited for her to get out of earshot. "So-"

"That was rude."

"What?" He asked, partially unaware of what his brother was referring to.

"You shooed her away like she was beneath you or something." Dionysus said sternly, he had learned from his father that you should always respect people no matter how they were related to you. It was something he applied daily in life, sadly his brother didn't share the same sentiment. "Anyway, Amphitrite wanted me to check on you."

"And she couldn't have done it herself?" He asked condescendingly as he turned to see if the waitress was almost done with their order. Turning back to Dionysus, he was met with a disappointed look. "What? She's my therapist, not you."

"She wants me to make sure you're not doing anything self destructive. I see you more than she does."

"Isn't everything I do self destructive? At this point there isn't a damn thing I do that doesn't harm me in some way or another." His brother watched him cautiously, waiting for some form of outburst like he'd done at previous meetings the two had before. When nothing came he took that as a sign that he was okay to continue.

"And the smoking and drinking?"

"Yes, I've picked both habits back up, not so much the drinking though." The waitress who took their orders earlier was waiting next to them, holding their drinks. Aries looked at her and took his mug, making sure to brush his fingers across the back of her hand, watching her shiver lightly at the touch. "Thank you dear, I appreciate it."