Chapter 2 APOLLO

"Look, you really came!" The girl was surprised to see the blonde coming "I thought faithfully that you would say you just forgot."

"And why would I do that?" The golden-eyed man questioned "I like painting pictures, helping with them is just an extension of that" his tone at that moment was upbeat, gentle.

"You know, big city people don't always live up to their word" the girl spoke as she took her materials out of her bag.

"Well, I guess you're right" the blond man began to set up the easels "commitments here are always taken too lightly."

And he was the person who could confirm this the most, especially when it came to his old friends or even his old muses. But maybe he couldn't blame either of them, since usually people only did that because they wanted to close a subject or have no future insistences.

Anyway, when they had both finished packing their things, they finally started.

The brush strokes of the woman with beautiful eyes were precise as if she were the true reincarnation of some famous artist or something.

Envy and admiration.

Those were the two feelings that surged in the chest of that poor man named after a Greek god.

"Do you know the myth of Arachne?" Apollo questioned her.

"The myth where Athena destroys a poor girl's life because of pride?" the brunette scoffed "Yes, I have heard of it."

"Then I believe I don't have to explain to you that I understand how Athena felt" he laughed "but unlike her, I already know that my defeat is imminent."

"How can you be so sure of that?" The amazonite's eyes questioned, "there's no way you can know something like that right off the bat."

"Well, maybe not" the blond shrugged "but if we go by my judgment - which is rarely wrong - you would win the contest."

"Well then paint!" the brunette challenged him "paint and we'll see who has the best picture at the end, okay?"

"Yes ma'am!" the blond just said in the purest automatic "I'll start right now!"

And just like an obedient little dog, he just did as he was told.

And then, he began to paint that beautiful being next to him.

Ah, right... another important detail about our young Apollo: he could not paint something if it did not hold his interest, much less draw inspiration from places where there was nothing much.

So when his golden eyes finally found their target, he started; he started and simply didn't care anymore about the rest, didn't listen to anything else around him.

He was too focused, focused on the also focused face of the young woman next to him.

"Not bad for someone who despises himself so much" the woman said with a sarcastic tone "are you sure I would be Arachne?"

"Absolutely" his attention turned to her "I make my living out of it, and yet... I can still be envious of your precise brush strokes."

"If you make your living out of it, you must have managed to have brushstrokes as precise as mine by now, no?" The woman genuinely questioned.

"You have no idea how much I wish that were true" the man let out "now, get back to your present," he said as he returned to his work, his focus.

The conversations were fun he should admit, painting the pictures with someone by his side then... so much more.

He never had this experience, not when all the people around him did not like the same things he did, the same activities he did.

Maybe, just maybe a good friendship could come out of it, something that would be fun to build, especially with paintings, various random subjects, full of laughter, and most important lightness.

"No one has ever painted with me before, you know?" she spoke as if she was reading Apollo's mind "And I admit, I´m having fun..."

She... thought the same...