The moment the call ended, Ares let out a breath she felt like she'd been holding for an hour. She leaned back from her desk, the glow of her monitor the only light in the dimming evening of her shared apartment.
"Well, that sounded… pleasant."
The voice came from the doorway. Selene, Ares's older sister and roommate, leaned against the frame, arms crossed. At twenty-four, Selene was everything Ares sometimes wished she wasn't: effortlessly cool, perpetually relaxed, and blessed with a cynical wisdom that cut through Ares's carefully constructed composure. Where Ares was all sharp edges and focused intensity, Selene was soft curves and languid amusement. She wore oversized sweatpants and a faded band t-shirt, her dark hair piled into a messy bun, a stark contrast to Ares's neat, practical attire.
"It was a technical discussion," Ares said, her voice tighter than she intended.
Selene pushed off the doorframe and wandered into the room, picking up a stress ball from Ares's desk and tossing it idly. "Uh huh. I've heard technical discussions. That sounded like my last date. A lot of talking, no listening, ending with a resounding 'whatever'."
Ares sighed, deflating. She could never hide anything from Selene. "It was stupid. A data type error. He was getting strings instead of numbers for the map coordinates."
"And this is worth the icy tone because…?"
"Because he immediately assumed it was my fault!" The words burst out of her, frustration finding its outlet. "He didn't even consider that his own setup could be the issue. It was just 'you're sending it wrong.' I checked my code three times. I was sending numbers. I know I was."
Selene caught the stress ball and held it. "So the coding boy is stubborn. And maybe a little insecure."
"He's not—" Ares started to defend him, then stopped. Because maybe he was. The thought had occurred to her before. She'd seen the flicker of panic in his eyes during their first meetings, the way he sometimes downplayed his own ideas. She'd chalked it up to him being quiet. Now, she wondered if it was something else.
"He's been working non-stop," Ares said, the anger leaching away, replaced by a more complicated feeling. "I have too. This project… it feels different. Bigger. I want it to be perfect."
"And you're used to working alone," Selene stated, not asked.
Ares nodded slowly. She was. She was used to being the most prepared person in the room, the one with the answers. Teaming up with Kairos was supposed to be efficient. He had the technical chops she lacked in certain areas. She hadn't anticipated the emotional weight of it. The constant negotiation. The vulnerability of having someone else's work directly tied to her own.
"He's actually brilliant, you know," she found herself saying to her sister. "The way he thinks about architecture… it's messy sometimes, but it's creative. He sees solutions I don't. And when he explained the project to that maintenance worker… he got it. He understood the why in a way most people just don't."
Selene smiled a small, knowing smile. "So he's brilliant and he has a heart. And he's driving you crazy. Sounds about right."
"I just… I need him to trust me. I sent him that detailed plan not to show off, but because I was excited. I thought he would be too. And sometimes it feels like he's trying to prove something to me instead of just working with me."
"Have you told him that?" Selene asked, her voice gentle.
Ares was silent. Of course she hadn't.
"Look," Selene said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "You're Ares Peterson. You're terrifyingly competent. It's your brand. Most people either resent you for it or put you on a pedestal. Maybe this guy is just trying to stand next to you without feeling like he's in your shadow."
The insight was so sharp it stole Ares's breath. Was that it? Was his defensiveness not arrogance, but the exact opposite?
Her phone buzzed on the desk. Both sisters looked at it. It was a message from Kairos.
Ares's first instinct was to ignore it. To let him stew. But Selene raised an eyebrow, a silent challenge.
She picked up the phone.
Kairos: Hey. Kairos:I'm sorry. I was a jerk. Robin just dragged me out for food and gave me a lecture on not being an idiot. He was right. Kairos:The error was on my end. I found it. I had a piece of old middleware from a tutorial that was stringifying deep object properties. It was stupid. I ripped it out. Coordinates are coming through as numbers now. Kairos:You were right. I should have listened.
Ares read the message three times. The apology was blunt, honest, and completely devoid of ego. He'd not only apologized but diagnosed and fixed the problem, giving her the credit.
A warmth spread through her chest, melting the last of her frustration.
Ares: I shouldn't have gotten so sharp. I know you've been working hard. It's a stressful project. Kairos:It is. But it's a good one. And I'd rather be stressed doing this with you than bored doing anything else.
Ares's breath caught in her throat. She looked up at Selene, who was watching her with that infuriatingly perceptive expression.
"Well?" Selene asked.
"He apologized," Ares said, her voice soft. "He figured out the bug. It was on his end."
Selene's smile widened. "And?"
"And…" Ares felt a small smile touch her own lips. "And he said he'd rather be stressed doing the project with me than bored doing anything else."
Selene threw the stress ball at her. It bounced harmlessly off her shoulder. "Told you. He's a keeper. Now stop analyzing the data serialization of his apology and just accept it."
Ares shook her head, laughing softly. She typed back.
Ares: Apology accepted. And for the record… same. Ares:Get some rest. We can tackle the map again tomorrow. With fully typed numbers.
She put the phone down, feeling a equilibrium return. The fight, as stupid as it was, had somehow… cleared the air. They'd hit a snag, and they'd gotten through it. Not perfectly, but they'd gotten through it.
"He's lucky, you know," Selene said, standing up to leave. "Most people don't get a second chance after seeing the infamous Ares Peterson freeze-out."
"It's not a freeze-out," Ares protested.
"It's a glacier, little sister," Selene said with a wink from the doorway. "A very elegant, very precise, and very cold glacier. Now, are you done coding for the night? There's a terrible reality TV show with our names on it."
For the first time all week, Ares didn't think about code or schemas or APIs. She thought about Kairos's apology, and her sister's wisdom.
"Yeah," she said, closing her laptop. "I'm done." Some things were more important than perfectly typed numbers.