CHAPTER 66: INCIDENT IN THE CAFÉ

They had a nice lunch in the Café Con Flores. drinking some cortado and reading some poetry on the wall.

"I cultivate a white rose

in June and January

for the true friend

who gives me his sincere hand.

And for the cruel one who rips out

the heart with which I live,

I don’t cultivate the thistle or the nettle;

I cultivate the white rose."

Aphrodite read the poem out loud, and his eyes shone and even got a bit misty. "What beautiful prose."

Hermes couldn’t stop smiling. He could see hints of wonder and joy in Aphrodite’s expression everywhere he turned. He must have hit the jackpot by taking him here.

It was nice seeing Aphrodite in his element.

"This place is great, eh?" Hermes grinned. "I still have a lot of plans for our next dates though. This is just the start! We can go back to the apartment and pick up the dogs to take them out to the park, have a picnic, or go to the mall and watch a movie—"

But of course, misfortune strikes at the most appropriate moments.

"I’m so sorry!"

A waitress slipped and ended up spilling coffee on his date!

Aphrodite did not make any sound of shock or pain. He just sat there, eyes wide and blinking. "Oh."

The waitress immediately bowed her head, apologizing. "I’m so sorry, Sir! I didn’t mean to—"

Hermes sat up, and checked if Aphrodite got any burns. "Are you alright? Quick, we need to apply cold water to it!"

"I’m fine." Aphrodite said softly, looking at his drenched shirt.

He was wearing white with long sleeves and frills. The fabric was thin too so it became see-through. He hugged himself, and seemed more concerned about his decency than the burn.

Hermes couldn’t stand seeing him be ashamed even when he did nothing wrong.

He can feel the beast inside him brewing.

He turned to the waitress and said in a low, menacing tone. "Is your vision terrible or are you just not using your eyes properly? Because I can scoop them out if they won’t be of use to you."

The waitress’ knees shook from that threat.

Everyone in the cafe was also aghast, and soon they drew even more attention than before.

The manager of the cafe eventually stepped in. He seemed more like the business-minded type. "We apologize for the inconvenience, Sir. Please stay calm. We can settle this in a more civilized manner— Say a coupon? Or a free coffee for your next purchase?"

Hermes’ anger then turned to this man. "A coupon? A freebie? This is the first time that I went outside in a while, and this is what I get!? What if I take your head on a stick as a freebie instead—"

"Hermes."

He felt his anger die down when he heard that voice.

He had never heard that voice speak in such a tone before. Aphrodite sounded genuinely crossed with him. They never had a fight since they were young, and he knew Aphrodite wasn’t one for confrontation anyway.

That just means he really went too far.

"... I’m sorry." He bowed his head, truly feeling guilty. "I don’t know what came over... I guess I’ve just been so stressed out and isolated lately."

He finally noticed all the eyes staring, so he took Aphrodite’s hand and took him to the bathroom. "Excuse us..."

Hermes felt his heart pounding, feeling like he was the most despicable person in the world. What the heck was that!?

Now Aphrodite will think that he really was nothing but a no-good hot-tempered asshole—

"Hermes, look at me."

Hermes looked up. They were inside a stall, and he was breathing heavily. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize how awkward their position was, with him gripping Aphrodite’s shoulders tightly while panting.

"I... I’m really sorry..."

"I know." Aphrodite gently touched his face. "You were panicking. It was an unexpected situation, and you didn’t want to see me get hurt. So you took it out on others."

He then said: "But Hermes, I read that waitress’ mind. She was losing sleep because she didn’t know how to take care of her 5 children alone. And that manager? He had experienced being mugged on the streets by some aggressive men and so he responded with the first thing he could think of, which was to offer what he had."

Hermes felt even more mortified after hearing the stories of the people he lashed out to.

"I... I just..." Hermes started tearing up. "I wanted everything to be perfect... Because you’ve been working so hard to take care of me. And I can’t even take care of you for a day... I can’t even treat you nicely because... Because I’m broken..."

Hermes started sobbing against his shoulder.

Aphrodite sighed, patting his head. "You don’t have to return anything I do for you. I do it because I want to. Because I couldn’t stand seeing you so devastated..."

"I know... I wish I wasn’t such a burden..."

"You’re not."

They stayed there like that for a while. Hermes eventually let go, and sniffled.

"I... I can do one thing to fix things. But... It’s..." He looked at his hand, then on Aphrodite’s wet clothes.

Aphrodite shook his head. "No. You don’t have to do it if it brings you pain to remember."

"... I have to." Hermes insisted. "Your skin is so red. You must have first degree burns... And your shirt... I never told you how cute it was and how good you looked at it. It’s a shame to see it ruined."

He closed his eyes...

And use the power that once had him crash out because it reminded him of its user.

But why should he think that this power was bad just because Eirwyn was bad? It’s his now. His Rewind.

Though he does not know why or how he still got it, it was a useful skill to have to help others.

The golden clock appeared once again, reverting time to when Aphrodite’s clothes and skin were unmarred.

"... There. I fixed it."

Aphrodite looked up at him with an expression that was hard to read, as if sorrow and relief mixed into a bittersweet coffee. And then...

He kissed him!