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The idea of past lives or reincarnation was something that Mydeimos did not dwell much upon. He was the type to live in the present, and has been shaped to focus on his reality by his parents. However, his views on the notion of past lives changed when he met someone.
Mydei was just heading over to his usual cafe to order his go-to pomegranate milk, but was greeted by a new barista. Just as Mydei looked up to meet the other man’s eyes, he felt as though something struck him right on his chest.
There was something about the barista’s bright blue eyes that seemed to trigger memories that Mydei never experienced before in his twenty-one years of living.
Mydeimos saw flashes of memories— he saw himself, adorned in some sort of armor and most importantly, he saw the man smiling brightly at him, also wearing decorative armor.
Just when another vision almost hit him, the barista tapped his shoulder to snap Mydei out of it. “Hey, are you okay? Looks like you really need some coffee, huh?” The barista, a man who appeared to be Mydei’s age, was also as tall as him and had short blue hair.
Mydeimos took a glance at the other man’s name tag to learn his name— his name was ‘Phainon’. “Well, I actually never buy coffee here. But, what I do need is pomegranate milk. One large size of it, please.. Phainon.”
Phainon enthusiastically took the order, and charged him the usual total before starting to prepare the drink for Mydei. While waiting, Mydei couldn’t help but think of what just happened moments ago. He was certain he had never met this Phainon before, and why would Mydei ever wear such attire in this modern day? Yet, what he saw was too vivid to be a hallucination or a dream.
Once his drink was ready, Phainon called out for Mydei’s name. During the few seconds where Mydei reached out to grab the cup, his fingers brushed against Phainon’s and somehow that made him jolt. Now, Mydei was certain something wasn’t right and quickly left the cafe before he might experience something even weirder.
Fortunately, the rest of his day went by normally. Mydei managed to focus on his university classes, and could return to his dorm right after having dinner with his friends. Now, Mydei was lying in bed and staring at the ceiling. He tried hard to forget about what happened at the cafe, but it was hard to do so.
Mydeimos recalled the vision he had, trying to make sense of it to no avail. Eventually, he closed his eyes and fell asleep, hoping he’d be able to rest peacefully. But, of course, fate had other plans for Mydei.
That night, Mydei had a vivid dream. He saw himself wearing the armor once more— however, the details were more clearer now. It turned out Mydeimos was wearing what seemed to be half golden armor and half red fabric. As he looked down, he noticed that he was practically shirtless with red markings around his chest.
As Mydei blinked and looked around his surroundings this time, it was clear that the surroundings in the dream also did not seem modern at all. It’s as if Mydei was transported back in time to a place similar to ancient Greece. He continued watching ‘himself’ walk towards some sort of garden, and there was the barista- no, Phainon, waiting for him.
Phainon smiled at Mydeimos and waved excitedly at him, as Mydei felt himself approach the other man by instinct. It was as if he did not have full control of his body, and yet he did not feel fear but only confusion and a sense of familiarity. “Did the spar with your men go well?” Phainon asks while he places his arm around Mydei’s waist.
Somehow, Mydei felt himself nod and hum, “It’s a little too late for us to spar now, though.” He heard himself speak. Phainon chuckles and nods, “I agree, last time we sparred it took us days to finish up.. We must save our energy for the impending battle.”
Mydeimos then felt struck, a part of him understood what Phainon meant while the other was confused– “Battles? Spar? What is this about?” Just as he felt himself ask more and more questions, Mydeimos was hit with an onslaught of what appears to be memories.
There were flashes of scenes that replayed before him; He saw Phainon sparring with him, he saw himself leading an army to war– But, what jolted him awake was.. A memory of Mydei looking up at a distraught Phainon while Mydei felt a sharp pain on his back as he slowly closed his eyes.
Mydeimos quickly sat up and realized not only was he practically sweating, but he was surprisingly tearing up in his sleep. “What the fuck was that?” Mydei spoke to himself, trying to make sense of his dream. It felt too real, and Mydeimos had never had this kind of dream before. He may be a History major, but the most he’d ever dreamed of the past was everything that was still related to his studies.. Not whatever this is.
It took a while for him to be able to sleep again, and once he was woken up by his alarm the next morning, Mydeimos felt like he had not slept a wink. Thankfully, he had afternoon classes for the day which allowed him to take his time getting out of bed. After staring up at his ceiling for what felt like ages, Mydei decided that he must return to the cafe instead of directly going to the gym.
On his walk to the cafe, Mydei recalled his ‘dream’ once more, what stuck with him the most was the final moments that he saw. He is still in disbelief, but he could not shrug off the pain he actually felt in his back and chest after he saw the barista lookalike crying while he held Mydei. So, once he arrived, Mydeimos took a deep breath before walking into the cafe.
It was both fortunate and unfortunate that Phainon was indeed working the same shift today. Somehow, the sight of the barista’s smile alone made Mydeimos feel genuinely knocked back again. “Pomegranate milk to-go right for.. Mydei?” Phainon asks, clearly trying to be friendly while doing his job. Instead of simply saying yes, Mydeimos blurted out; “Do we know each other?”. His question clearly took Phainon by surprise, but then the barista slowly went from being wide eyed to smiling once more. “I don’t think so, but I’d love to get to know you more.”
His response somehow pissed Mydei off.. Well, sure, Mydei’s question could be interpreted as flirting but that wasn’t his intention. “I– whatever, pomegranate milk to-go. Large. Please.” Mydei sighs, as he quickly reaches for his wallet to pay for the drink.
Phainon chuckled as Mydei was clearly flustered, but quickly accepted his payment and prepared the drink for him. However, just as Phainon was handing the drink to Mydei, he gently moved his hand to grab Mydei’s wrist. “I meant what I said, Mydeimos.”
Mydei’s eyes widened, he was sure he did not mention his full name yet to Phainon but somehow the barista was aware of it. “Do I know you? No cheesy replies this time, please.” Mydei huffed as he asked Phainon once more. “Would you believe me if I said I’ve known you for some time now?”
Honestly, Mydei would love to reply with a snarky remark and denying Phainon’s claim right away but after what he experienced, he found himself nodding to the blue haired man’s words. “I dreamt of you. Of us. Of I don’t know whatever I saw but it was us.” Mydei found himself impulsively replying.
Phainon did not appear to be surprised, instead he seemed.. Relieved. “I’ve been dreaming of us for weeks now, Mydei. I thought I was crazy, but clearly it wasn’t just a dream after all.” Phainon says as he lets go of Mydei’s wrist, only to quickly fish out his phone from his pocket. “Rush hour’s going to start soon.. Can I please get your number?”
Mydeimos looked down at the phone, then back at Phainon before reaching out to grab it and actually putting his phone number into Phainon’s contacts. “Mydeimos. History major at the campus nearby. I never really believed in past lives.” Phainon grins as the blonde man handed his phone back.
“I’m Phainon and I’m a communications major at the same campus. I believe in past lives..” Phainon says while he opens up a messaging app, already eager to start texting Mydei. “And I know I can make you believe in it too, as long as you don’t ignore my texts.” Mydeimos chuckles softly as he rolls his eyes, “As long as you leave an entertaining opening text, I won’t.”
Phainon visibly paused, before typing out a message. Once Mydei’s phone vibrated, he opened the barista’s message and immediately held back a laugh. ‘Hi, I’m literally the man of your dreams and you’re literally the man of my dreams. So, let’s have our first date in this lifetime.’
“I said it had to be an entertaining text, not a cheesy one.” Mydeimos says, while trying to put up a cool front. “But it made you laugh, proving that it’s entertaining enough. Really, though.. Please don’t block me.” Phainon replies, which earns another eye roll from Mydei. “I make no promises, Phainon.” Mydei says as he locks his phone once again while he turns to walk to the door.
“I’ll see you later, though.” His reply was brief, but made Phainon grin like an idiot all over again– it was clear that Mydeimos was not running away, and that was more than enough. And as they both went on with their day, Mydei found himself smiling as he replied to Phainon’s text.
Somehow, they both felt content, there was no rush– no battles, no bloodshed, and no grieving this time. This time, they knew they had all the time in the world to spend this lifetime and more together.