Seth
I sat on my bed in my boxers, staring at Lucifer's cross and wondering where to take things next with my sister. A part of me was concerned that if I tried to give her another belief to follow before she had fully accepted the private nudism thing, then it might mess something up.
Another was concerned with the question of what exactly I wanted to do with her. If things went as I hoped, she would soon be parading around the apartment naked, a prospect I found very exciting. But was I prepared to go any further?
Then there was issue of finding more people. Lucifer had made it clear that he wanted an entire cult to praise him, and while the angel hadn't laid out an exact deal or told me that there would be consequences to not doing that, I wasn't exactly looking to get on the bad side of a supernatural being.
And there was Daisy Jane, there was always Daisy Jane. I hadn't known that she was here, I hadn't even thought of her for more than a fleeting moment since she graduated from high school. But now that I'd run into her, learned that she had this connection with Grace, old feelings were returning.
Except back then, when I'd been a high school underclassman, it was just a little crush. I was a quiet kid, confused by those early puberty years. She was the pretty and popular older girl that every guy in class had an eye for. My feelings weren't anything in the end, she never knew about them and I was fully aware that I neither wouldn't nor couldn't act on them. Once she was gone from my life they slipped away from memory.
Now she was back, and suddenly there was a real link between us. More than that, the cross gave me power, I could make her mine, use it to get her. But how did I get her? Could I just approach her and do it? When and where would it happen anyway?
And where would it leave Grace?
***
Grace
I lifted the bottom of my workout shirt to my face, ostensibly to wipe the sweat that had formed on my forehead on the walk home from my morning workout, but really it was so that I could pull it off as soon I was inside my apartment.
I did just that, kicking the door shut behind me even as I was momentarily blinded by the shirt coming up over my eyes. That's just how much of hurry I was in. Seth was right, it just felt better to not have clothes on, less like I was carrying my sins with me. The less I was wearing, the freer I felt.
That's why I dropped my athletic shorts as soon as I was done with my shirt, kneeling down and picking them up off the floor as I walked. Soon I was standing in front of the Seth's open bedroom door, my shirt in one hand, shorts in the other, and only my sports bra, panties, and footwear preventing my brother from seeing my full innocence.
"Hey," I said, waving my clothing filled hands to try and get his attention. He was staring intently at that cross. Maybe it was what kick started his displays of wisdom? It certainly seemed important to him.
Seth looked up at me. "Oh, hey. You're back early." It wasn't even 10 in the morning yet.
"Yeah, I had an idea that I wanted to run by you," I replied. I felt a blush coming to me as I stood half-naked in my brother's doorway. An old part of me was doing it because of the 'naked' part, and a new one because of the 'half' part. But then I noticed that he was still wearing his boxers. Baby steps all around.
"What did you have in mind?" Seth asked.
"I thought I'd take you by my work," I answered. "It doesn't open until lunchtime, so I should be able to introduce you to my boss and maybe some of my co-workers while they're setting up for the day."
"Oh, that would be cool," Seth commented. "I've never been to a Greek restaurant before."
I smiled at my brother's excitement at the idea. "Great, it's just a short walk from here. Let me grab a quick shower and then we can head out."
***
Seth
I looked over my shoulder at Grace's apartment building, still visible a few blocks away. We had gone the opposite direction of the college campus, so I figured she must have chosen to live there because it was perfectly between her work and her school.
"Here we are," Grace said, coming to a stop and gesturing with both arms at the building in front of us.
It certainly had a Mediterranean feeling to it in a kind of stereotypical way. It didn't feel too far removed from some of the more casual Italian places that we used to go to back in our hometown. The walls had a stucco finish, painted in lighter colors like white and pale green. The corners of the building had Greek style columns that were clearly decoration only. The sign over the door had a picture of a goat bleating into the sky, or whatever sound a goat makes.
Grace knocked on the door, looking through the big glass window in it. She knocked a second time before waving at someone who must have just come into her view.
The door opened, revealing a young woman somewhere around Grace's age. She had tanned, olive toned skin and dark hair. Her features, while definitely European, didn't look quite like the mostly Anglo and Scots-Irish stock that me and most of the people I grew up with came from. There was something just ever so slightly exotic about her.
"Grace, did you forget last night?" the woman asked my sister.
"No, I didn't," Grace answered with a shake of her head. "I just thought that I'd show my brother around," she added, pointing over her shoulder at me. "I did tell you that he was in town, right?"
"Oh, you're Seth," the woman said, stepping out past Grace and offering me a handshake. "Hi, I'm Sophia, Grace's boss."
Now that she was bit closer and out in the sunlight, I realized that she was actually a bit younger than I had first thought. Probably between me and Grace in age.
"Nice to meet you, Grace's boss," I said, shaking Sophia's hand.
"Technically she's the boss' kid," Grace offered.
"And due to...circumstances, I take care of the day to day running of the family business," Sophia responded, carrying herself in that way young people do when they're trying to show how mature they are.
I let go of the boss lady's hand. "Cool, cool," I said, not sure what I could offer the conversation.
"Can we go in?" Grace asked. "Doesn't look like anybody else has come."
"Yeah, go ahead," Sophia answered. "Still a little early for first shift to arrive, so we have the place to ourselves for a bit."
Grace walked into the restaurant, followed first by myself and then Sophia. The interior of the restaurant had the same white and pale green color scheme as the exterior, with paintings of olive trees, grape vines, and rolling hills on the walls.
Other than that it looked like every mid-scale restaurant I'd ever been to, even if the space was a little small. A dining area with some booths along the wall and some chairs and tables stuffed into whatever space wouldn't be used for walking.
"I know it doesn't look like much, but I promise the food is incredible," Grace said before I could offer my thoughts. "You already had some the night you arrived."
"You better believe it," Sophia backed Grace's claim. "The recipes all come from my Dad's family, so they're way more authentic than what you'd get at your typical Greek chain."
"There are Greek chains?" I asked.
"Um..." Sophia started, uncertain how to respond to my question.
"We don't have anything even close to this in our hometown," Grace explained. "He's never been to a Greek restaurant chain. Actually, neither have I."
"Is your Dad from Greece?" I asked Sophia.
"Yep, has some pretty amazing stories to tell too," she answered with a bright smile. "Just make sure I'm around to reign him in when he starts exaggerating too much," she added with a joking smirk.
At that moment a door at the back of the restaurant burst open and a man strutted out. He was short, bald and gaunt looking, so much so that it was hard to gauge his age beyond simply 'old.'
"You almost ready, Sophia?" he asked in a thick accent. He paused as he realized that there were other people present.
"Grace, you've come to visit me!" he exclaimed, approaching my sister. He put both hands on her shoulders, reaching up to make up for the nearly four inch height difference between them. He tried to disguise it as a simple friendly gesture, but it was easy to tell that he was leaning on her for support. I could see his legs shaking with exertion.
"Hey there, boss man!" Grace replied with a smile, putting her arm around his shoulder and guiding the elderly man to the nearest booth. "This is my brother," she said, pointing at me once the man was seated.
"Oh, you're the brother!" the man said, grinning. "I hope you're worthy of all the good things your sister has said about you over the past few years!"
"Oh, um, glad to hear it was good things," I replied, somewhat overwhelmed by the force of this man's personality, even in his clearly diminished state.
"Dad, what are you doing down here?" Sophia asked, putting both of her hands on the table. Now that the relationship between them had been pointed out, I saw the resemblance. The olive skin tone was similar, though his was a bit darker, and I could also see that Sophia's more exotic features came from him.
"What, I can't work at my own restaurant?" her father responded with a performative shrug.
"Dad, you are three weeks into chemo treatments that should of started six weeks ago!" Sophia said, borderline yelled. "The doctors said you should take things easy. Don't worry about the business, I got it."
"Bah, take things easy," her father said back with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You think I got where I am by taking things easy? Raising you and being a successful businessman took hard work every day! I will continue to work hard, it is the only thing I know!"
"Dad, please," Sophia begged, clear concern in her voice and on her face.
Her father stared at her, defiance etched onto his face. But it quickly became apparent that he couldn't sustain it. His hard expression cracked and he sighed. "Alright, sweetie. I'll go back upstairs and...watch TV, I guess."
"Thank you," Sophia replied, moving aside to give her father a walking path.
He started to pull himself up, but as soon as he put any weight on his arm he began shaking.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Grace exclaimed, catching the old man and supporting him. "Let me help you."
"Oh, you don't need to do that, Grace," the man replied, his pride wounded.
I took a step forward. "I'll help him," I offered.
"Yeah, Grace, you can help me set up," Sophia chimed in.
"Sure," my sister said, handing the elderly man to me.
We were a similar height, me maybe an inch taller, so it was easy for me to put my arms around him to support his weight as we walked.
"Which way are we going?" I asked him.
"This way," he answered, pointing towards the back of the restaurant. He led us to the kitchen area, then to a stairway. We went up to an apartment over the restaurant.
He opened the door at the top of the stairs once we reached it, revealing a modest living room with an easy chair, a small couch, and a thirty inch flatscreen TV.
"Would you like to sit in the chair, sir?" I asked.
"Please, call me Alexi," he said. He didn't object when i started leading him to the seat, so I assumed that his answer to my actual question was yes.
