pretty eyed; pirate smile.

     AVIVA LET OUT a soft laugh in response, graciously taking his hand as he offered it to get down off the stool. “thank you.” it wouldn’t have been too unlikely for her to fall flat on her face if she wasn’t careful enough. “it is a really nice day out. i could definitely sit outside all day long when it is like this.” she wiped her forehead before putting the towel she was using in her back pocket. “hmm, depends. are you looking for a type of flower to help bring in spring?” she went towards the door to her shop, opening it as a way of inviting him in.

‘‘you look---- tense.’‘ to say the least. he knew he was the main reason why she was irritated, and frankly, he couldn’t give less of a damn. ‘‘I’ll see what I can do. What did you go for anyway?’‘ raising an eyebrow, he looked at her our of curiosity, leaning against the door frame realizing he never went to her place. ‘’

‘‘being alone draws too much attention on you? what kind of attention?’‘ he grinned to himself, but only because he imagined her being approached by too many people trying to flirt or simply mind her business. he accepted the offer with a small nod, pulling his chair before sitting down. ‘‘would you mind sharing some of your coffee, too?’‘ smirking, mainly to himself, he looked into her eyes fondly. ‘‘I’m afraid I haven’t had my healthy dose of uppers today, and it would be difficult to remain woke,’‘ he chuckled, grabbing half a croissant in a plate, for some reason he only needed or wanted half of ---- everything.

    “why, you’re hosting orgies at your place? you know what, don’t answer that. i don’t wanna know.” she raised an index finger at him, to shush him. then rolled her eyes, letting out a deep sigh. “but yes, they probably can. one out of twenty condo tenants ‘round here is a professional photographer or a wannabe filmmaker with a long-ranged, high-quality camera and a lot of free time in their hands. so tell me, adriano, in a scale of one to ‘i might take in account the possibility of some weirdo having tapes that’ll probably destroy my career and have me changing my name and persona all over again’, how screwed are you?”

she looked back at him, a flawlessly manicured eyebrow quirked as if appraising his intentions before scoffing offhandedly. “don’t get ahead of yourself. you couldn’t handle me.” she seemed smaller and almost human without her heels or her makeup, far too approachable for her own liking. her hair was slowly drying in swarthy ringlets at her collar. “temper temper. always so quick to anger adrian.” his name fell off her tongue like the punchline of a joke only she understood. “wouldn’t want to throw a tantrum, we all remember what happened last time..”

‘‘it would be a mouthful for people of this era,’‘ he commented with a smirk, nodding when the other said what his original name was. ‘‘what brought you here Florian?’‘ Zachary slightly rolled his neck before ending up with a normal posture, already looking as relaxed as a man could be. ‘’are you between two shifts?’’ the dinner was close to the hospital, and judging by the other male’s reputation he assumed that’s where he was spending most of his time... but he could be wrong.

‘‘I know how you’d be spending most of your night,’‘ he commented, rolling his eyes at her peep show comment, but it was most definitely something that crossed his mind. adrian moved his hand over his jaw, thoughtfully. ‘‘Might as well enjoy the body God gave us, huh?’‘ He smirked cockily, referring to his brand new human vessel he personally chose. He knew how good-looking he was, nothing to do with the one before... Strong, athletic, tall, he just hated the fact that he was Italian. A Greek thing. ‘’won’t give in, otherwise my place will look like a fucking movie theater,’’ walls windows weren’t meant for curtains.

‘‘it isn’t stupid,’‘ he simply added with a small smile, wondering if he used his powers against her, if it would be worth it... she looked tensed because of him, and he knew he could have the effect of a warm cup of tea on others... but he decided not to do it, out of respect. ‘‘It looks lovely, I wonder how terrible it would be if someone -- with good intentions -- decided that he was hungry for a single   grape ,’‘ he teased, extending an arm to pick a grape off her plate, before tossing it into his mouth. he flashed her an unashamed smiled, right after. he didn’t think it would change a thing to her aesthetic, but was still enough to tease her about her little pleasures.

her glare was arsenic personified; bitter and venomous. the ticking clock of her temper was erring on the side of exploding, each absent word a nudge towards disaster. faline emerged from her bathroom respectably clean and crossed her arms over her chest as if to say ‘so what now’ black silk clung to her torso, dress wilted from the downpour. “i’d be very careful how you finish that sentence if you don’t want your head displayed on my dinner table.” a lacquered nail rapped against the edge of the table in warning. “clean up in the bathroom and for the love of god don’t break anything you oaf.”

‘‘Is narcolepsy a bad thing?’‘ Smiling to himself, he most definitely didn’t have any health issues. ‘‘I was just relaxing, the ambiance here is nearly perfect,’‘ tapping his left ear gently with his index finger, zachary looked up at the other male before pointing the booth across from his own. paying attention to his surrounding was almost melodius to the young man. ‘‘I’m terrible at guessing from borrowed faces, as lovely as yours might be,’‘ he added, slightly scrunching up his nose. ‘’Please join me,’’

wally rolled his eyes at his friend’s infectious smile. “now you have me feeling bad. i would wait a couple of seconds before drinking that..” he snapped his fingers once more, returning the drink to it’s original state. “don’t change yourself on me, it’s fun when you’re being stubborn and not listening.” wally leaned back against the bar, his attention being all over the place with the movement of other patron at the bar. “because it’s way more fun to let people complain about having more money than they need. i love making people believe they have power over me.” he was constantly being over-estimated and he loved being able to prove other people wrong. “and here i thought i was the morally chaotic one. do people keep going up against you because they want to be the first to beat you? that’s so cute.” he got another round of shots, the bartender was new and seemed to be impress at how much he’d ordered. “anyways, what are you doing after this? i’m thinking of moving this to the bar in my building. they have food there. i know how much you love free shit.”

He knew the other was giving him a taste of his own medicine when he took a large gulp of alcohol, only to find out the bitter taste was everything but enjoyable.  Toughin’ it up, and swallowing it instead of spraying the whole bar with the liquid, he slowly turned his head towards Dionysus. Keep a straight face through it all, he tried his best not to frown as he stared into the other God’s eyes and took what was left of the liquid in his glass, and poured it into his mouth like it was nothing. It was quite possibly the worst mix in history and recognizing the god awful taste of cinnamon through it all made him gag. ‘’Delicious.’’ If only the look on his face didn’t reflect the opposite.

‘‘Thank fuck,’‘ Ares simply said when Wally turned what was left of his drink into what it used to be. ‘‘I thought about letting one of them win, once, but there isn’t enough money in the world to buy my defeat!’‘ Noticing the look on the barman’s face when Dio asked for another round, he couldn’t help to chuckle to snort. ‘‘Let’s go now, before I have to carry you out of here over my shoulder,’‘ he suggested, tapping the edge of the bar before getting back on his feed. ‘‘Who doesn’t like free things? but we’re living in the same apartment complex, handsome. Whatever is free for you probably had been paid with our taxes or something,’‘ he shook his head at the thought of it. ‘‘Might as well take advantage of it! You comin’?’‘

‘‘I’m not falling asleep, I’m resting my eyes,’‘ he mocked himself, eyes closed. opening them to look at the other male, he couldn’t help to smile up at him. ‘‘coffee is delicious. a little bit strong, but nothing that could hurt you,’‘ looking at him from head to toes, he felt somewhat familiar. ‘‘do I know you?’‘ dark orbs almost scanning the other male’s facial features, realizing that is intuition might’ve been skin deep.

   “THAT’S RIGHT,” SHE said firmly with her hands on her hips in a playful manner. she was constantly moving during the working hours, and often times, she needed to learn how to relax. “and i’m just about done actually. the windows were my last task for the day,” aviva smiled at zachary warmly. “but i do appreciate your offer,” she added on, not wanting to come off as rude. “were you looking for flowers or just wanted to come by and give me company?” she asked with a teasing tone.

     AVIVA TRIED TO stifle her laugh, but his response was humorous, and not something she had expected ; it had caught her off guard. she nodded her head in understanding. “well, maybe no one is looking in, it just feels like it because it’s so open,” she suggested, though she had a feeling that adrian wouldn’t be too upset if someone was looking into his condo. she laughed once more, shaking her head at his idea. she looked up at him at his suggestion, considering it for a moment mentally before deciding she didn’t want to be rude. “yeah, that would be nice. i would get to see what it’s like living on the 30th floor.”

     SHE PEEKED OVER her shoulder to see him, although she already knew who it was based on the voice alone. she instantly smiled as she saw zachary, and with one quick swipe, she finished cleaning the window and hopped off the chair. “oh, i have a couple, but i like cleaning,” she said, wiping her brow with the heel of her hand. “makes me feel productive.”