The waitress chatted briefly with Phobos, asking how he was and where he'd been, before she wandered off to get their drinks. Beer would do for now even though he'd said he wanted to get wasted.
Still smiling, he turned his head and encountered his father's gaze. It made him a little self-conscious. What did Ares see? Was it the same his son saw every time he looked into a mirror - a congeries of flaws and disappointments, of everything he'd tried but failed to be?
When the blond had been on his own, the feeling of being inadequate had been less prominent. All the expectations and ideals he'd struggled to live up to were no longer there and consequently there was no reason to feel inferior to anyone or to worry about his actions all the time.
Then - BAM - everyone was back in each other's lives and he was back to being... what he'd always been.
"Something wrong?" Phobos asked, tilting his head. "I told her to get us a couple of beers, that okay for you?"