Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/932444.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      No_Archive_Warnings_Apply, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Percy_Jackson_and_the_Olympians_-_Rick_Riordan
  Relationship:
      Hermes/Percy_Jackson, Past_Luke_Castellan/Percy_Jackson
  Character:
      Hermes, Percy_Jackson, Athena, Luke_Castellan
  Additional Tags:
      Coming_of_Age, Coming_Out, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional_Hurt/Comfort, Drunk
      Sex, Anal_Sex, Explicit_Sexual_Content, Implied_Relationships, Developing
      Relationship, Ambiguous_Relationships
  Stats:
      Published: 2013-08-19 Updated: 2017-06-29 Chapters: 11/? Words: 39947
****** Scattered Memories on the Floor ******
by eri_quin
Summary
     After Luke Castellan's death, two people take it especially hard.
     Percy Jackson and Hermes sleep together in a drunken haze, trying to
     find an even footing in a world where they lost Luke.
     Hermes deals with the aftermath and trying to learn to be a faithful
     lover, when he's used to being an unscrupulous god and lover where
     infidelity is normal.
     Percy doesn't know if he hates or loves Luke or sure where Hermes
     fits in, but he has to deal with conflicting feelings for both. Then
     there's Annabeth, who he thought he loved and currently can't stand
     him. And his sexuality, where he thought he was straight but realized
     that might not actually be the case. And then there's everything
     else.
     Angsty!Hercy, coming of age and out of the closet for Percy.
Notes
See the end of the work for notes
***** I'm a Little Drunk and I Need You Now *****
Luke is dead. He’s gone. His son was dead.
 
Everyone is celebrating, but he is far from being celebratory. He seeks to be
alone, and to mourn his son whose death helped to end this war. Instead, he
stumbles upon Percy Jackson sitting quietly by himself in one of the guest
rooms of Mount Olympus. He briefly recalls not seeing the boy at the party and
had wondered where he’d gone. Hermes supposes here was where Percy had been
hiding.
 
He looks tired. He’s just sitting on the bed against the headboard, a leg
stretched lazily while the other was bent haphazardly. Percy just simply seemed
out of it.
 
Hermes isn’t sure what to make of it.
 
“Bastard. Stole my first kiss, stole my first time, stole everything from me.
Now he’s dead. I didn’t even get to scream at him like I wanted,” Percy
mutters.
 
The implication is startling, obvious in a way, and yet no one had even had a
clue. Hermes feels like perhaps he had been more than harsh on Percy before,
and that his recent reconciliation with Percy needed to be redone. He hadn’t
understood Percy’s side, but had begged him to understand his.
 
But there had been more to it, he sees now, and perhaps he should make it up to
the boy.
 
“Are you alright?” he asks softly.
 
Percy blearily looks up and he sees the boy isn’t aware, and is actually very,
very drunk. Hermes hesitantly walks into the room and sits down by him. The bed
creaks a little under his weight, but then it’s quiet.
 
“You’ve been drinking,” he states quietly.
 
Percy gives the god a sloppy grin, “Come to lecture me?”
 
He shakes his head, “I’m not your father.”
 
“No, you aren’t. You’re Luke’s,” Percy drawls, but then he leans closer and
squints. “I mean you really look like Luke,” it comes out as a mumble. Then
uncomfortably, but then a part of him is actually okay with it, Percy is too
close and sniffs at his neck. “You even smell like him,” he says wistfully.
“Maybe it’s you and your kids.”
 
Hermes pushes him gently away and back to lean against the headboard.
 
“You’re right. I am Luke’s father. And you were right before. I did abandon
him. I may not have thought so and I may not have wanted to…but what mattered
was that that was what he’d thought. Luke thought I abandon him and that’s how
he’d felt in the end.”
 
Percy is silent, staring at him. Then the boy’s lips twist sardonically.
 
“Luke was…no matter what, he just was,” Percy murmurs. “Even after everything,
I don’t think I ever told anyone how much I still admired and liked him.”
 
“But most of you hated him,” Hermes answers back, staring intensely.
 
“Too true. I hated him just as much as I secretly liked him. And that was the
side I showed the most to everyone, and the only one I would admit to myself.
Annabeth, especially, couldn’t stand it. I always told her I didn’t see what
she saw in him, but the truth was that I did. He was charming, utterly
charming. And handsome. And a real smooth-talker,” and then Hermes realizes
that Percy is starting to enter his private memories and starting to forget
that Hermes is there.
 
The god feels like he’s invading a private moment and that he should leave, but
instead he sits and listens.
 
“And Luke was very gentle. So sweet,” Percy sighs, and Hermes knows for sure
the boy is lost in memories.
 
“Go on,” he encourages, hand automatically reaching over to softly caress the
bared skin of Percy’s stomach, shirt ridden up enticingly. He doesn’t know what
he’s doing and he’s pretty sure he’s not thinking right now.
 
“I’ve forgotten how sweet his kiss was,” Percy sighs again and so Hermes kisses
him. Percy’s eyes are blank and unseeing, and Hermes knows what he’s doing and
that he knows it’s wrong.
 
He isthinking now, after that first touch, and he realizes what he wants to do.
He wants to grieve with this boy who loved –loves –his son just as much as he
does, and who hurts just as much, who understands Hermes and the god’s pain.
 
He wants Percy.
 
So he pushes Percy onto the bed and starts unbuttoning the dazed and drunken
boy’s shirt, slips it off without a care, and reaches down to take off the
boy’s jeans. He slides it off Percy’s slim waist and lean legs, eying revealed
skin hungrily.
 
He dives in, licking at Percy’s navel, and then trails his tongue upwards,
earning a mewl from Percy. His tongue swirls around one of Percy’s nipples and
the demigod gasps, arching into his mouth.
 
Hermes reaches around and grabs the hem of Percy’s boxers, sliding them off in
one smooth motion. Without giving another warning, he takes Percy’s cock into
his hand and tugs, making Percy go from gasping to squeaking adorably at the
unfamiliar touch.
 
Percy instinctively tries to wiggle away, but instead Hermes gentles his touch
and Percy stills, unconsciously spreading his legs more for easier access to
the god. The boy’s breathing has gone back to getting heavier and so Hermes
speeds up his caressing, moving from twirling his fingers teasingly around the
head of Percy’s member to grasping it fully and sliding it down the entire
length.
 
“Luke!” Percy whimpers, and Hermes’ hand stills and the god tenses.
 
It’s his son’s name and it should be his son here with Percy, not him, and it
is not his right to touch this boy so intimately, to taste that which does not
belong to him, and to savor Percy in all rights he should not.
 
And at the same time, unguarded jealousy and unhappiness floods him, and it is
his son’s name Percy speaks when he wants it to be his.
 
Hermes realizes just how depraved he sounds and is.
 
But he makes the choice to continue and pulls his hand away, instead bending
down and wrapping his mouth around Percy’s completely hard by now cock, and
tastes salt and sweat on his tongue. It’s not a bad taste and he finds he
actually likes it.
 
Percy is his first male lover. There are not many of them who take to the same
sex, Zeus only once with Ganymedes and Apollo twice with Hyacinthus and
Cyprissus. But of the rest of the male Olympians, they stay with women who
catches their eye. But Hermes finds he does not really mind sleeping with
another male, and wonders if it’s because of who it was.
 
He pulls away from Percy’s cock with a slight pop and pushes his mouth against
Percy’s, pressing his tongue against the other’s so that they quickly started
to fight for dominance. He slides Percy farther onto the bed and moves more
onto him, lifting the boy’s legs up and over his shoulders as he bends over
Percy completely. While he kisses the boy artfully, he slides a calloused hand
down sweat-slicked skin to cup Percy’s arse, experimentally kneading it before
he was sure it was okay to move farther. Then he had a finger near Percy’s
hole, slowly wiggling in, and Percy alternately bucks up into his body in
surprise as well as violently throwing his head back with a harsh exhalation of
breath.
 
The god pauses, waiting for Percy to adjust to the new sensation, before he
begins to thrust his finger in and out of Percy. He adjusts his hold on Percy,
moving lean legs a little more secure onto his shoulders as he tries another
finger and pulls Percy up to bring him into another kiss. When he feels Percy
slowly rock against his hand and trying to get his fingers in more, he smirks
in triumph in the kiss and adds a third finger, speeding up the pace of his
finger thrusts.
 
His own cock is hard and aching, pre-cum already dripping in earnest. He wants
to reach down and tug on it, but he’d rather keep his focus on Percy for the
moment. He curls his fingers inside of Percy and Percy clenches tightly around
them and gives another wild buck as Hermes hits that spot. Then Hermes is
thrusting his fingers in and out lightning fast, becoming a little too much for
Percy, especially as the god hits that spot every time.
 
Hermes uses the hand keeping Percy up to wrap around the boy’s neglected cock,
moving in time with his fingers thrusts, and together they bring Percy into
orgasm, the demigod ejaculating into the air and some splashing onto Hermes’
chest and the front of his chiton. Letting Percy rest for the moment, he kicks
off his sandals and then slips off his chiton, becoming as naked as the boy on
the bed.
 
He climbs back onto the bed, hovering over Percy, before switching the boy onto
his front and pulling his arse into the air. Firmly planting Percy’s knees onto
the bed, he moves in behind him and guides his cock into Percy’s stretched
hole. He slides in and the muscles tense around his cock, and Percy is
whimpering slightly, so he goes even more slowly than he’d started. Buried up
to the hilt, Hermes stays inside of Percy for a moment before pulling back and
slamming back in, causing Percy to cry out.
 
Pausing, Hermes contemplates his next move. A male lover was different and he
wasn’t sure how to handle Percy. He wasn’t familiar with anal sex, and he
wasn’t sure how much it would hurt and how he could avoid causing Percy pain.
But then Percy shoves up against him and he thinks that maybe he should keep
going and figure out the works as he went.
 
So he started mimicking the earlier movements of his fingers, thrusting into
Percy before pulling out slightly, and then repeating the process. He curves
his front over Percy’s back, molding their bodies into a perfect fit, before
lifting Percy’s hips and angling himself. He hits Percy’s prostrate once more,
and he carefully maintains the position, controlling his pace between too much
and too fast to agonizingly and teasingly slow and then back.
 
They reach their climax at the same time, Hermes shooting his seed into Percy
and Percy splattering all over the bed, grinding down on the mattress at the
same time as Hermes plunges in and out a couple more times for both of them to
ride out their orgasms.
 
Tired out, Percy mumbles something before collapsing onto the bed and falling
asleep. Chuckling in amusement, Hermes moves Percy over a bit before lying down
himself, pulling the boy closer to him before falling asleep as well.
 
He’ll talk to Percy properly tomorrow when they woke up.
 
+
+
+
+
+
+
 
Percy is wide awake. He knows he’s even more tired than he was yesterday, he
knows his body has become even more sore than the day before, but now a
lingering bout of pleasure is running through his body and he knows he’s naked
and he knows there’s a warm body behind him and he knows there’s an arm wrapped
possessively around his waist –
 
He bites his lip to stop the ongoing thoughts milling through his head and
thinks about instead about what had happened.
 
He drank. And he had continued drinking. And he remembers things going hazy and
a vague conversation with someone before he remembers lips descending onto his
and his whole world becomes dazed pleasure and unclear memories.
 
Gathering his courage, he pries the arm off of him, which is surprisingly very
hard to do, and moves away to gaze at the person he’d gone and slept with.
Because that ache in his arse, his spent cock, and his exhausted body is
speaking volumes and there’s no way he didn’t have sex.
 
His face pales and he buries his face into his hands.
 
Of all people, he had to sleep with Hermes. Of all people, he slept with the
father of the boy he still likes and hates at the same time, and also the same
son he’d just killed.
 
What does that say about him?
 
He spots his clothing and gets off the bed to start putting them on; glad at
least they seem to be intact. He winces as he pulls his jeans over his arse,
but tries to keep his mind off the reason for the pain. Then he spots the shoes
he’d stumbled out of before he’d gotten on the bed yesterday, and pulls them on
and leaves without waiting for the god to wake up.
 
He stumbles into the hall and starts panicking about being caught there alone.
He quickly starts walking in any direction, luckily finding an exit into the
streets of Olympus. There are minor gods passed out here and about, as well as
some awake and joyfully chatting with one another. Some of them even spot
Percy, eagerly waving and smiling at him.
 
He plasters on a smile and keeps walking, hoping no one would come closer and
actually try to talk to him.
 
He feels like crap, even though his body feels wonderful, because inside his
emotions are everywhere and his body is still sore and tired.
 
“If you could spare a moment, Perseus?”
 
He doesn’t grit his teeth even though he wants to, but instead turns to face
Athena.
 
“How can I help you, Lady Athena?” his voice is quiet and he has no energy to
try and put a front up for the goddess.
 
She tilts her head curiously to the side and studies him, but doesn’t speak.
Then she takes a hold of his shoulder and starts directing him somewhere, and
he realizes they’re heading to her home.
 
“I would like to talk to you,” Athena tells him steadily, seating him at her
table.
 
He nods jerkily, avoiding looking at the goddess straight in the eyes.
 
“I do not approve of the relationship between yourself and my daughter.”
 
It’s blunt but honest. He shrugs.
 
“There isn’t a relationship.”
 
“Pardon?” There is genuine question in her voice, but there is something else
that says she knows something.
 
Percy’s lips twist sardonically.
 
“I don’t like Annabeth that way. I guess you could call it displacement. The
one I did like wasn’t available so my feelings transferred over to someone more
appropriate and whom I’d rather see myself with.”
 
“Love is an irrational concept. You should be talking to Aphrodite rather than
myself. It is her domain after all.”
 
Percy snorts and almost sneers, “I don’t think I’d be able to handle talking to
her. Besides which, she’s no help at all unless she can get something out of
the relationship.”
 
Athena nods at him in acknowledgement and a small inconceivable smirk.
 
“Aphrodite claims to be the goddess of love, but even with all the love in the
world, she will not care if it does not amuse or interest her in some way.”
 
“Also, I’m talking to you because you brought me here to talk about it first,”
he chances a cheeky grin and is rewarded with a smaller, amused one. “I’m
surprised you’re not angry I don’t return Annabeth’s feelings.”
 
Athena sighs in reluctance, “What can she do? She cannot force a gay man to
love her.”
 
He tilts his head in question, mimicking her earlier movement.
 
“I knew at the least that you didn’t return my daughter’s feelings, though you
didn’t know until yesterday or perhaps today. And I have a hint to whom you do
love…loved.”
 
He nods.
 
“I will not question exactly who it is and I will not speak of he to anyone,”
she goes over their conversation quickly in her head. “It is strange to cross
logic and love. Logic and love do not mix.”
 
“And yet sometimes they do,” Percy says quietly, and both of them are silent.
 
“Come, Perseus. I know you wish to leave Olympus, and quietly. If they see you
are with me, they will not bother you,” and she holds her arm out and he takes
it and doesn’t say he feels like a lady, even though the twitching of her lips
says she knows what he’s thinking. At least that’s what he’s thinking she’s
thinking.
 
They’re passing through the streets arm in arm, and Percy is suddenly aware of
others pointing and whispering at them.
 
“There will be rumors,” though he’s not sure what kind of rumors will come to
pass, he still recognizes the telltale signs of gossip mongering ready to be
founded and spread through the grapevine (as is the case in every society,
immortal and not). Perhaps they will be saying that Athena has finally given
her consent for Percy to date Annabeth. No doubt it would quickly reach
Aphrodite, who would be quite pleased at the “news.”
 
“Let the rumors come. They will not bother me.”
 
“Did you love Dr. Chase, Lady Athena?” he asks her quietly.
 
They’re still walking and it is only because he is walking so close to her that
he catches her slight falter as he asks his question.
 
“Yes,” she answers him sincerely, looking straight forward. “I am not sure why
I would be telling you this, and yet perhaps it is because you of all people
would understand and would not betray my confidences to anyone. I see him
now…Frederick is happy, but now I feel regret. Sometimes I wish I had not made
those vows to be physically chaste, that I could be with him even if only once.
Though it is too late now. I wish things could have been different, that I
could have made a different choice with him.”
 
“Vows don’t have to be kept,” he says nonchalantly. “You made those vows. You
can break those vows. It’s your choice and no one is forcing you to keep them,
only yourself. What right would the rest have in holding you to your vows? And
what right do they have in judging you anyway, if you don’t want to? Besides,
it’s not like their opinions matter. You should only care what you think.”
 
“Wise words coming from someone many don’t expect to be wise,” the tilt of her
lips makes him smirk slightly.
 
“Is that teasing coming from the Goddess of Wisdom I hear? Oh wow, I must be
hearing things.”
 
She rolls her eyes, “You must be.”
 
They reach the end of their destination and the doors to the elevator slide
open.
 
“I will not say anything of your infatuation to…him,” Athena reaffirms quietly.
 
Percy steps in, but before the door closes, his arm shoots out to stop them,
and he faces Athena one last time before his departure.
 
He takes one of her hands into both of his, holding it aloft strangely tenderly
and giving her an odd soft smile, visibly filled with sorrow.
 
“Next time you fall in love, and you know it’s true love, don’t hold back and
keep a hold of it with both hands and never let go. Don’t make that mistake. I
did, and I just let it slip right through my hands. I made that mistake and now
I have nothing to show for it. Don’t let love pass you by.”
 
He steps back and the doors close on him, hiding him from view and leaving
behind an astonished goddess.
 
He’s tired, but he has to keep going. He has to keep occupied, keep his mind
busy so that he doesn’t think on things. So he’s out of the building, hailing a
cab, and heading back to camp. Everyone is still asleep from the late night
partying, so he makes his way quickly to his cabin and starts packing his
stuff. There’s a knock on the door and he’s surprised anyone is up at all at
this hour to greet him.
 
He’s even more surprised to see Clarisse La Rue on the other side of the door.
 
“Can I come in?” she asks awkwardly, and he steps back to let her in.
 
She sits on his bed and glances around, noting the bag and opened drawers.
 
“You’re leaving?”
 
His head jerks in a nod and she nods back.
 
“Summer will be over and senior year is around the corner. I figure I should
head out and avoid the crowd,” the double meaning didn’t escape her. Percy
didn’t want to be crowded with praise or questions and whatnot.
 
Or his friends asking him if he was alright.
 
“Princess is going to be pissed off.”
 
Percy couldn’t help forming a wry grin.
 
“She’s going to have to be. I’m not ready to face her and I don’t know how I’m
going to explain…some things to her.”
 
“What –that you’re gay and there’s no way you can like her?”
 
He blinks, but inwardly shakes his head. Clarisse has the oddest thing about
having a keen eye for the strangest things.
 
“Something like that, yeah,” his grin turns a little more upbeat.
 
“See ya then, Kelp Head. Don’t forget to keep in touch,” she pushes herself off
the bed quickly and heads to the door, turning back to glance at him. “No one
will judge you for loving Luke, you know. And Annabeth…she’ll get over it.
Someday.”
 
“Thanks, Clarisse. Good luck with Chris,” he says sincerely and then the
Daughter of Ares is gone.
 
He returns to packing.
 
Started 5/5/10 –Completed 5/8/10
***** I Wonder If I Ever Crossed Your Mind *****
Hermes really wanted to wake up, but he was comfortable. But he felt cold.
There was a bit of warmth left from where a warm body was supposed to be next
to him, but it was quickly fading and –
 
The messenger god shot up in bed and looked at the empty spot on the bed next
to him in disbelief.
 
Never, absolutely never, had anyone ever left him. Alone. Especially in bed.
And he’d never done that to anyone, knowing how it would make the person feel,
and he always took that small bit of time to wait for the person to wake up
before he left. It was how he always was, always on the go, always leaving
people behind. So he took care to never do that after sleeping with a person,
at least for a little second.
 
Percy had up and left him behind and it hurt like hell.
 
Of course, if he were being rational and thought on it some more, it would be
understandable. Percy being drunk last night made things worse. So okay, yeah,
Hermes admitted he’d taken advantaged of Percy, drunk, emotionally vulnerable
and confused, and all. And only Zeus knows what was going on in Percy’s head
last night and this morning –
 
Dear Zeus, what was going on in Percy’s head?
 
Hermes shook his head. Percy had probably woken up confused and miserable,
found out he’d slept with Hermes (who he already had a rocky relationship with,
especially now after having slept with him), and there was still his issues
with Luke. And could he add that Percy probably wasn’t feeling very happy that
he’d slept with the father of said boy Percy was currently still having issues
about.
 
Who knows what else was going through Percy’s mind at that moment.
 
So Hermes understood Percy having just left the god to wake up alone, unable to
cope about the situation and everything that had passed.
 
But it still fucking hurt.
 
Hermes unhappily slid off the bed, found his chiton and waved it clean, putting
it on as he found his sandals. Sliding those on, he trudged out of the room
alone and headed out to the streets. There was more people up, but many were
still passed out or just milling around in small groups. He started in the
direction of his home when he caught wind of the early gossip that was going
around.
 
“Did you see Athena with the Son of Poseidon? They looked really cozy
together.”
 
“You don’t think…”
 
And he started hearing more, feeling oddly angered and upset. With his
discontent from being abandoned in the morning, this recent news just
compounded on his displeasure. Before he knew it, he was striding angrily
towards Athena’s home and had slipped inside to face the goddess.
 
“Hermes, I did not expect you to be here now. How are you feeling?” the goddess
asked kindly, and he knew immediately what she was referring about.
 
His lip curled and he narrowed his eyes at her, who was startled at the show of
hostility that came suddenly and as a surprise to her.
 
“Well. How about you? Cozying up to Percy? Thought you hated him as the Son of
Poseidon, and wanted him as far away from your daughter and consequently
yourself as possible. Now I’m hearing how you were walking the streets this
morning with each other, arm in arm fondly, and those nosy minor gods speaking
of how the two of you have gotten together. And something about how he’d
grabbed your hand before he left and spoke something ‘with such a tender look
on his face,’” he quoted the sugary remark he’d heard on the way to Athena’s
palace.
 
Athena looked surprised, “I had no idea those would be the kind of rumors going
around. We’d thought that everyone would be claiming I’d finally given Perseus
my consent to date my daughter.”
 
Hermes’ stomach lurched at hearing that. No way would heconsent to letting the
two of them date. Then he went back to sneering.
 
“So you’re not denying it. I didn’t think Percy was your type.”
 
Athena’s eyebrows furrowed and she looked at him in confusion.
 
“He’s not really. And I assure you, we are not dating. Are you…are you jealous,
Hermes?” it was her turn to narrow her eyes.
 
The messenger god didn’t fumble, raising an eyebrow at her.
 
“You weren’t friendly with him either. Why the sudden easiness with him?”
 
“Personal issues,” Athena answered stiffly, not elaborating. “I wasn’t going to
mention this, after Luke and all, but you smell like sex. And so did Percy
while we’re at it. And the two of you have each other’s smell clinging onto the
both of you heavily,” the accusation was implied.
 
Hermes huffed, though inwardly he was uneasy.
 
“I was around Percy quite a bit last night. We mourned my son’s death together.
Our scent must’ve clung to each other because of the amount of time we spent in
each other’s presence.”
 
“Did I mention both of you smelled like sex?” Athena clenched her jaw.
 
Hermes frowned, “And what of it? What would you care if I chose to indulge in
some carnal pleasures to distract me from my son’s passing? Or if Percy chose
to have a little fun after everything he’s been through? He would deserve it.”
 
Athena stood up tensely, “And would you perhaps have had sex with him? Shall we
say that Percy was your distraction last night, and Percy chose to indulge
himself with you?”
 
The male god faltered, knowing Athena wasn’t done and not really wanting to
admit to last night’s activities, especially with her.
 
“Hermes, I am neither blind nor stupid. The two of you had sex with each other
last night. Now I’m asking you…was it consensual?”
 
Hermes really wanted it to be consensual, but if he was being honest and didn’t
lie to himself, last night wasn’t consensual at all. Fuck, Percy was beyond
drunk and obviously saw Hermes as Luke. But he would never admit that readily
to Athena.
 
“Of course,” he lied tersely.
 
“Wrong answer again,” she spat out. “Percy didn’t just smell of you and sex, he
smelled of alcohol. He had clearly been drinking heavily. A drunk person cannot
give full consent. I know drunk sex happens, but I fully know that you were
nowhere near drunk or even anywhere close to any alcohol last night. You were
in complete control of your faculties, and you chose to take advantage of
Percy. You knew Percy was drunk and vulnerable and you still chose to seduce
him.”
 
“I didn’t choose to –,” damn it, his voice cracked. “I didn’t choose to seduce
him,” he finished lamely, not even able to look her in the eye.
 
“Didn’t you? You were the one completely aware of everything, and you knew of
Percy’s inebriated state. And yet you still took Percy, knowing he wasn’t
capable of making a decision.”
 
“You don’t understand!” he shouted. “Percy lost Luke. I lost Luke. We’re the
only ones who could understand each other. We share the same pain. I know he
needs me as much as I needed him, and gods Athena…I don’t regret last night at
all. And I still want him.”
 
Athena looked at him, gaze torn between sympathy and anger.
 
“And what if Percy regrets last night? What if he never wanted you? He was so
lost in thought this morning that he didn’t even notice his hangover. I healed
him of it before he could notice, but that he didn’t says a lot. There are too
many things on his mind for you to interfere and add more problems.”
 
“And leave him alone to deal with it all? No thanks, Athena. I’m not going to
just leave him to deal with his problems alone. I’ll be with him and do
everything I can to help him,” he said firmly.
 
“So touching him inappropriately, pawing at him like an animal will help?”
Athena had the beginnings of a sneer.
 
“Maybe it will,” he gritted out. “At least it’ll help distract him from his
troubles. And maybe it will make him feel better after all. Maybe then he can
hate me instead of hating Luke!”
 
“Okay, if we put aside all that, Percy is still 16. He’s underage. All of us
gods had agreed to abide by the mortals’ laws. You still slept with a minor,
ignoring the alcohol part in all this which would make it rape.”
 
Hermes scoffed, “He’ll be 17 in a couple of days, and he’s a demigod. Normal
rules never really apply to demigods.”
 
“Meaning he was still underage when you slept with him. 16 is illegal and
statutory rape in the state of New York, and rules are still rules, Hermes. And
we had promised to try to listen to the mortals’ laws. Demigods aren’t exempt,
no matter how much they seem to be.”
 
He crossed his arms childishly, “Key words ‘try’ and ‘listen’.”
 
“Mom?” Annabeth’s voice drifted into the room, followed soon after by the girl
herself. Seeing Hermes in the room, the atmosphere actually turned even tenser
and also awkward. “Lord Hermes…”
 
He automatically scowled at her. He had made up with Percy, but he still was at
odds with her. Especially since it seemed that she was going to be a rival and
an obstacle to Percy’s affections.
 
Annabeth fumbled with the thin camisole she was wearing, pulling it down her
front more in embarrassment. He inwardly sneered. As if he was interested. He
was more interested in the boy Annabeth had a crush on.
 
“Annabeth, go back to your room. I’ll take you back to camp in a little while,
after I’m done talking to Hermes.”
 
“No need,” he announced loudly. “I was just leaving.”
 
He transported himself straight into Percy’s cabin without waiting for a reply,
seeing how empty the cabin was when he arrived. So Percy had gone here, packed,
and left. That left where he’d go straight to –his mother’s home.
 
He headed there and luck would have it, ended up in Percy’s room. Even better,
Percy was lying on his bed asleep, arm thrown over his face as the other lay on
his stomach.
 
Hermes had gone there mainly for the much needed talk the two of them needed to
have, but now his mind was racing with inappropriate thoughts and already his
body was heating up. His eyes roved all over Percy’s body and he unconsciously
licked his lips.
 
Then he shook his head to clear his thoughts and told himself to focus on his
goal. It was hard, especially when all he wanted to do was touch Percy, wake
him up and bend him over as he took him from behind. Or better yet, take him on
his back. Or maybe try sideways –
 
He berated himself inwardly and tried not to go out of control with his
thoughts again. But his eyes kept getting drawn back to that delectable body
lying languid before him, taste that was still fresh in his memory and that he
wanted to savor again.
 
Just a little touch…
 
His hand reached out hesitantly, fingers brushing lightly once against Percy’s
jean clad thigh. Then he pressed more firmly, massaging though the fabric. Soon
enough, he was fumbling with the button and zipper of the familiar jeans,
sliding them down and was once again faced with Percy’s boxers. Percy mumbled
something, shifting slightly, but then he stopped and was clearly still asleep.
Hermes paused but only for that moment, continuing to grasp Percy through his
boxers, thoroughly kneading the covered organ.
 
He could feel it hardening and stiffening under his touch, and soon enough
there was a tent made in Percy’s boxers. Satisfied he’d aroused Percy enough,
he’d hooked his index fingers under Percy’s boxers and pulled them down to
expose Percy’s erect member.
 
Okay, he hadn’t come there for this (not really true, he’d been hoping that he
and Percy would get to mess around a bit after their talk…), but he was
definitely not going to regret this.
 
Only the thought that Percy might regret it made him stop.
 
Well, it was a hell of a good way to wake up to though.
 
Hermes pushed onwards, taking Percy’s cock into his hands and guiding it
towards his mouth. He slipped the head inside his mouth, suckling, before
removing his mouth and instead licking the underside of the cock, practically
coating it with his saliva. One hand traveled a little lower, fingertips
brushing against Percy’s balls and tickling them.
 
As the god worked on Percy’s cock, his hand teasingly switched from ball to
ball and to the base of the cock, squeezing at random intervals. He teased the
head of the cock again, nibbling at the tip before his tongue slid out and
licked at the slit, slipping in briefly before he moved slightly away to blow
on it. The rewarding shiver and slender hands moving to grip his hair tightly
made him smirk, and then he had Percy’s entire cock back into his mouth.
 
Percy started mumbling in his sleep, steadily growing louder until Hermes could
hear him clearly.
 
“Luke, please don’t. Luke, Luke, Luke,” and Hermes had to grip tightly into
Percy’s waist to try to calm down, knowing that that would bruise the boy
later. He ignored the chanting of his son’s name and continued his
ministrations, one particular suck sending Percy over the edge and exploding
into Hermes’ mouth.
 
As he moved away, he looked up to see Percy’s eyes widening into awareness and
looking at shock at Hermes as the boy woke up.
 
+
+
+
+
+
+
 
“Percy, Percy,” someone was shaking him awake.
 
Percy blearily opened his eyes to see Luke hovering over him with a gentle
smile.
 
“Luke? What’s wrong?”
 
The blond shook his head.
 
“Nothing’s wrong, Percy. I just wanted to do something for you. Take off your
pants.”
 
Percy turned bright red, “What?!”
 
“Sh! You don’t want to wake up the others, do you?” Luke held a finger to his
lips. “Just do it. I promise you’ll like it. It’ll feel really good.”
 
Percy hesitated, but he decided that it would be okay. Luke was nice and he’d
taken care of Percy while he had been in the Hermes cabin. And that morning,
Luke had…
 
He turned bright red again at the reminder of that morning, but Luke had poked
his side and was smiling at him teasingly, his eyes questioning. Percy cleared
his throat and began sliding his pajama bottoms off his legs, but when Luke
gestured for him to take off his boxers too, he gaped at the elder boy and
fidgeted uncomfortably.
 
“M-my boxers too, Luke?” he asked shyly.
 
Luke’s smile, if possible, grew gentler.
 
“Yes, Percy. You trust me, right? You’ll like this.”
 
Percy swallowed nervously, but took off his boxers, aware that he was naked
from waist down in front of someone else. Then Luke was pushing him back onto
his sleeping bag, shocking Percy when the older boy wrapped his lips around
Percy’s member.
 
If any of the others in the Hermes cabin were to wake up right then, they would
have seen Percy on his sleeping bag, in his little corner of the room, his legs
spread and Luke in between them, enthusiastically moving his mouth up and down
the younger boy’s cock as he encouraged Percy to stay quiet so they wouldn’t
alert the others.
 
Percy threw his head back, sweat matting his hair to his forehead, as Luke
moved back slightly and blew cold air onto Percy’s cock. The younger boy
reached out blindly and gripped onto blond locks, Luke moving back to mouth his
cock again.
 
It was strange, this feeling. It felt so good, but it was too intense. He did
like it, but it just felt too much.
 
He started mumbling incoherently, not sure himself what he was saying.
 
“Luke, please don’t,” he blurted out, wanting to push Luke away. He wanted the
feeling to stop. He wanted Luke to stop. He wanted whatever he was feeling to
stop. It was too much! “ Luke, Luke, Luke,” he began to chant, feeling tears at
his eyes as the feeling grew even more and he felt like he was going to die.
 
He ejaculated and Luke milked every single last drop, not moving away until
he’d swallowed everything and Percy’s cock lay flaccid in his mouth.
 
Percy’s eyes fluttered open, widening as he realized that Hermes was right
there in front of him, moving away from his naked bottom half, and obviously
looking like he’d sucked Percy off, especially with the tiny trail of cum down
the corner of his mouth.
 
At first, the two of them just stared at each other, Hermes stoic and Percy
shocked. And then Percy averted his eyes, hands scrambling for his sheets,
wiping himself off and then covering himself with it.
 
“You, um, have…cum at the corner of your mouth,” he mumbled, still not looking
at the god.
 
“Percy.”
 
He flinched but looked up, watching in reluctant fascination as Hermes’ tongue
darted out and licked the trail of cum clean.
 
“I woke up alone. It kind of sucked,” Hermes said hollowly, and Percy shrugged
uncomfortably.
 
“I woke up next to you. Naked. It was kind of confusing,” he shot back.
 
This time the god shrugged uncomfortably.
 
“It really hurt,” Hermes mumbled. “Did I ever cross your mind when you left me
this morning? How I would feel? I didn’t expect it to hurt, though to be fair I
didn’t think you would be gone the next morning. But it just really hurt.”
 
“It hurt?!” Percy exploded, just feeling angry all of a sudden. “You feel hurt
when you wake up one morning next to a god who has more kids than you’ll ever
have in one lifetime, knowing you had sex with him and don’t remember a damn
thing! And then remember he’s the father of the boy who you’re not sure if you
hate or love, the same boy who took advantage of you all these years, tried to
kill you several times, and who made you believed he really liked you just to
betray you in the end! Luke took advantage of me, you took advantage of me,
what is it about me that screams take advantage of me?!”
 
Okay, maybe it wasn’t all that smart to be screaming angrily at a god, but at
that moment Percy didn’t care. He was angry, he was hurt, and he was confused.
He missed Luke, but he still hated him at the same time. He liked Annabeth, but
apparently not enough to mean anything. And he didn’t know where Hermes fit in
all the chaos that was his life.
 
“I don’t know, Lord Hermes. What do you want from me?” he murmured, cradling
his head in his hands.
 
The god sighed and pulled him closer, wrapping him in comforting strong arms.
 
“Percy, maybe you should stop thinking about it and just let things happen?
You’re so busy worrying and over thinking things that it’s building up in you
and you keep bottling it up.”
 
Percy pulled away angrily, speaking bitterly next.
 
“Did I ever cross your mind? How would I feel about all this? How I would feel
after finding out I slept with you?”
 
Hermes stiffened up.
 
“I guess that’s a no. Please, Lord Hermes. Just leave.”
 
Surprised, and not sure if he was happy or upset about it, Hermes actually did
as he asked, disappearing without another word.
 
He took a deep breath and buried his face into his pillow.
 
The next couple of days passed by quietly, and with each day that passed he
ignored the finger shaped bruises discoloring the skin around his waist. Since
he’d left camp early, his birthday was actually more than two days after camp
usually ended for him. Five days and then August 18 rolled around, and he
finally turned 17. He didn’t really expect anything, except for his mom to do
something for him, but he was happy when his dad managed to send him a birthday
cake (his dad told him he tried his hand at cooking and hoped Percy liked it)
and the trench coat Percy had given him as an offering during the whole Golden
Fleece Quest, along with new armor Tyson had made for him, and surprisingly
Triton had sent over a necklace with a trident bent into a circle and a pearl
wrest inside the circle as a pendant.
 
Then his mother threw him a surprise birthday party, with Grover with Juniper,
Clarisse with Chris, and the Stoll brothers actually in attendance (he didn't
even want to guess where Annabeth was). Of course, Paul was there and gave him
his first gift.
 
Awesomely, his soon-to-be-step dad had bought him a dark blue Maserati Spyder.
This was, without a doubt and shamelessly so, his favorite gift.
 
Grover and Juniper pitched in together to get him some special gardener
supplies from Olympus to help him with his moonlace garden, Clarisse had snuck
in with some Dionysus brand of wine she had taken from her dad’s personal
stash, Chris had nicely enough bought him some comfortable training clothes,
and lastly the Stoll brothers had brought two large boxes.
 
Travis and Connor smiled at him hesitantly.
 
“They’re, uh, full of his stuff,” Travis murmured for the both of them.
 
Percy’s grin faltered, and he didn’t know if he should be grateful or resentful
to the brothers for bringing the boxes to him.
 
Later that night, he shuffled into his room, lost in thought. The glowing of a
small object on his bed made him blink, and he cautiously went closer. When he
saw what it was, he gaped and his head swiveled around trying to look for the
god.
 
It was a small, silver sliver touchscreen cell phone, with a medium-sized
caduceus embossed on the back. He turned it on and saw why there wasn’t a card
or note left with the phone. Instead, there was a text already waiting for him.
 
Happy 17th birthday, Percy. Hope you enjoy your gift. Keep in touch, okay? Call
me anytime.
 
Percy was oddly very pleased with the gift.
 
Started 5/11/10 –Completed 5/15/10
***** In an Ordinary World *****
He didn’t want to admit it, but he kind of missed having Hermes around. Not
that he was around a lot back then, but remembering though made Percy miss the
god’s presence. Again, not that he would admit that.
 
He was too afraid of calling Hermes or even texting the god back, because
Hermes was at least texting him everyday.
 
Percy wouldn’t admit that he’d begun to look forward to those texts either.
 
A month of school had passed, and things were alright. He was struggling as
usual, but Paul was actually really helpful and had taken to tutoring and
helping him out after school, even though the man was bogged down with
schoolwork himself. He hadn’t even known that Paul had been trained to help
ADHD and dyslexic kids…he would’ve been a blast with the others at camp…
 
Then, one day, Hermes had missed texting him. He shouldn’t be freaked out about
it and it really shouldn’t be a big deal (Hermes was a god and a busy one at
that, especially as the Messenger of the Gods –it was surprising enough that
Hermes had managed to text him everyday so far), but that didn’t make Percy
feel better about it. He hadn’t noticed it, but he’d begun to crave those
texts.
 
So he finally text Hermes back.
 
Hey, missed a text from you today.
 
He flushed red and thought that sounded stupid and too familiar, but he sent it
anyway. He flopped his head against his pillow, annoyed with himself. Then his
phone vibrated and he saw he had a reply.
 
So you have been getting my texts.
 
Percy’s red face darkened even more, this time in embarrassment.
 
…Yeah. I didn’t…I wasn’t…comfortable…texting back.
 
Hermes’ reply was even quicker.
 
Sorry I didn’t text earlier. Rush packaging today. Invitations being sent
everywhere. Apollo’s holding a party.
 
Percy blinked and a part of him was relieved that Hermes had been too busy,
instead of being fed up with Percy. He couldn’t understand his feelings at that
moment, but he did know that was how he was feeling –for whatever odd reason.
Again, he wasn’t going to tell Hermes he’d been worried about why the god
hadn’t text him, or that one of the reasons why was because Percy didn’t want
Hermes to be tired of him. But he was glad that Hermes didn’t address Percy’s
reason for being silent.
 
His phone vibrated again and he looked down at it.
 
Anyways, how have you been?
 
Fine, he text back. Back to school and hoping to do well enough to make up for
the past years. I was hoping to get into NYU.
 
Ambitious. How’s that working out for you?
 
Okay. Paul is helping me.
 
There was a long pause from Hermes, making Percy worry again. Then Hermes
finally text back.
 
Paul?
 
Percy blinked in confusion.
 
Yeah. My soon to be step dad? He helped me get into this high school and he’s
been helping me keep up.
 
Oh. That’s great. It’s kind of him. What classes are you taking?
 
Percy blanched, thinking back to his classes.
 
American Government, English, PE, Pre-Cal, Home Ec, and Economy. I got on the
swim team too.
 
He was much more happy about the last part.
 
Good. Enjoying it, Son of Poseidon?
 
Percy pouted.
 
Is it really that unfair of an advantage?
 
No, I was just teasing. You were born with an affinity for water. You can’t
help it.
 
Thanks. At least I’m not going for the Olympics.
 
You should. I patron athletes and I’d completely root for you.
 
Percy unconsciously smiled happily at that, glancing at the clock before doing
a double take. He sighed.
 
Hey, I have to go to sleep. Got school tomorrow and I’m not supposed to stay up
or else I’ll end up sleeping in.
 
There was another pause from Hermes, but much shorter than the other time.
 
Alright. Sweet dreams, Percy.
 
Percy frowned to himself, unhappily getting ready for bed. But he was actually
tired, so he had no problem going to sleep quickly.
 
The next day, Percy speedily got ready, having got up just a tad later than he
should have, and then he was driving off in his new car. Government and English
passed by quickly, thank goodness, and then it was Brunch. He bought a sandwich
to snack on, from off campus nearby the school, then he got back just in time
for the first bell to ring. He went to go change, miserably spent the hour
dodging dodge balls (thank Zeus there weren’t any giant cannibals this time),
and then went through an hour mind numbingly torturing himself with formulas in
Pre-Cal. After Lunch, Home Ec was alright; he liked the class but he was
horrible at a lot of stuff. At least he’d managed to get a passing grade on
each of the stuff.
 
Then it was Economy, but strangely the teacher was absent. He sat in the back,
waiting for the teacher to come and silence the loud class angrily, but Mr.
Gowan never appeared. Instead, the principal did.
 
“Settle down, everyone!” when everyone slowly did, the principal continued.
“I’m sad to say Mr. Gowan won’t be continuing with us for the rest of the
school year. However, we’ve already found a replacement. Please welcome Mr.
Luke Castellan warmly!”
 
Percy perked up considerably and his heart nearly stopped as he craned his neck
to look at the door. He was expecting to see a sly grin on a scarred face,
blond hair disheveled and framing mischievous blue eyes.
 
Most of that was right, only the hair was black and slightly curly, and the
face was as smooth as a baby.
 
Instead of Luke, Hermes stood in the doorway, in a dark green dress shirt,
black slacks and shoes, and his dress jacket slung over his shoulder as he held
onto it with just two fingers.
 
While the females in the class swooned and the males glowered, Percy’s emotions
were split between disappointment and excitement.
 
Still, he found himself wishing the class would just be over with so he could
talk to the messenger god already. But as the time went by, his excitement
faded away while the disappointment lingered in the background, and instead
anger and confusion replaced them.
 
The bell rang, but instead of wanting to talk to Hermes like he originally
wanted to, he stuffed his things into his bag and angrily tried to stomp out.
 
“Mr. Jackson, you left your book behind,” the god said softly.
 
Percy stiffened up from the doorway, turning to see that he left his Economics
textbook on his desk. He could’ve sworn he’d put that into his bag…Looking up,
he saw Hermes’ blank face and he gritted his teeth. Stupid god.
 
He pushed back through the thinning crowd, getting his book, and hearing in the
new quiet the click of the door being shut. Then it was locked and Percy turned
around to face Hermes, who stood by the door, hands still poised against it and
on the doorknob.
 
“What’s wrong? Thought you’d be happy to see me,” Hermes questioned quietly,
not his normal cheerful self since he had recognized Percy’s angry disposition,
though he had a feeling beforehand that he was either going to make Percy upset
or happy by being there.
 
“Isn’t it obvious?” Percy frowned at him, narrowing his eyes.
 
Hermes strode over as Percy backed away, backing him into the wall. Once
Percy’s back had hit the wall, Hermes closed in and placed his hands on either
side of Percy’s head, leaning in close and his breath ghosting against Percy’s
lips.
 
“No, it’s not,” the god murmured.
 
Percy averted his face, feeling it heat up.
 
“You can’t just come in here like this. Why do you keep coming after me? Just
leave me alone. Go away. I thought I made that clear before. You just…you just
can’t come in here, steal your son’s name, and keep bothering me like this!”
Percy cringed when he realized there were tears in his eyes.
 
“Can’t I?” Hermes tilted his head back to face the god’s, whose eyes were
smoldering with a mix of emotion that Percy didn’t want to untangle and
decipher. “You want Luke. So I’ll give you Luke. In. Every. Way. Possible,”
Hermes punctuated each of his last words with a lingering kiss to the boy’s
neck.
 
Percy was so distracted by it, he hadn’t noticed Hermes’ flawless
transformation until the god had pulled away and Percy’s breath hitched as he
was looking at an exact replica of Luke, down to the scar on his face to the
sandy-blond hair.
 
His legs turned to jelly and he just stared.
 
“Isn’t this what you wanted?” Hermes as Luke muttered (and it was his voice),
the god leaning close again and the tips of his fingers dancing on the edge of
Percy’s jeans, sliding in briefly before slipping out and then expertly
unbuttoning the jeans and then pulling the zipper down.
 
Percy was still frozen, gazing at the ghost with wide and unblinking eyes.
 
Then Hermes slid his hand into Percy’s boxers, fondling his cock and stroking
it briefly as he also began tenderly lavishing attention on Percy’s neck, Percy
ending up staring forward blankly. When Percy finally blinked, he hadn’t
noticed the tear dropping until it landed on the blond head near his neck. And
then after the first drop, more and more came until he was silently sobbing and
beginning to shake with his sobs.
 
The god paused, feeling Percy’s body trembling and then as he’d licked upwards
on the skin, he’d tasted the familiar salt that came from tears. Pulling back,
he was surprised and upset to see Percy in the state that he was. Straightening
up, he was about to apologize when Percy interrupted him, arm cocked back and
then he’d decked Hermes in the jaw, the god flying back and landing on the
floor with his head thrown to the side.
 
Percy realized he’d just punched a god, but he was torn between not caring and
feeling like Hermes had deserved it.
 
“Don’t…don’t do that,” he rasped out. “Don’t ever do that again. Turn back.
You’re not him, you’re not him,” Percy slid to the floor, cradling his head as
he murmured the last line again and again.
 
Feeling a twinge of regret at his actions and resigned about the situation,
Hermes transformed back and crawled towards Percy, comfortingly pulling the boy
into his arms. Percy resisted at first, but then relented, letting himself be
held while he clutched onto the front of Hermes’ dress shirt.
 
“I’m sorry,” Hermes apologized. “I’m so sorry. For everything. For touching
you. For wanting you. For not feeling a real ounce of regret for I’ve done,”
for everything else, because he did regret what he did just now, especially
after seeing how affected Percy was by it, “And I’m sorry for not wanting to
stop myself with you, because I can’t stop wanting to be near you. Please,
Percy. I’m sorry. Just don’t push me away. I need you,” he confessed.
 
“It’s always about what you need,” Percy muttered into his shirt.
 
“I know. But I know something in you needs it too…needs me,” Hermes replied
softly. “At least that’s what I keep telling myself.”
 
Percy didn’t know how to reply to that so he kept quiet.
 
“Come with me,” Hermes breathed out. “Just come with me.”
 
“Where to?” Percy asked tiredly, pulling back slightly to look at him.
 
Hermes shook his head, “Just come.”
 
He pursed his lips, but reluctantly shrugged.
 
“I’d have to tell Paul. And I’m not sure how he’d take it. He and Mom would be
worried.”

”I’ll take care of it,” Hermes answered. “Go to your car and wait for me. I’ll
talk to your step dad.”
 
“Almost step dad,” Percy corrected, getting up on wobbly legs and using the
wall to help him.
 
Hermes nodded and let Percy go, and then headed to the staff room. He saw Paul
Blofis there, having met the man earlier when he was being introduced to the
staff, recognizing the name from Percy.
 
“Mr. Blofis, can I talk to you for a second?” he came near.
 
Paul looked up in confusion, nodding an okay though. Hermes led him away from
everyone, to a more secluded corner.
 
“You know about your step son, don’t you Paul? Can I call you Paul?”
 
Paul winced, “Yes, of course you can. And I do know Percy’s known to be a
troubled kid and things happen, but I swear it’s not his fault. He’s a good
kid, so please don’t be too harsh on him –”
 
Hermes smiled, “No, I meant you know about him being a demigod.”
 
Paul froze and looked at him in fear.
 
“H-how do you know that?”
 
“Don’t be afraid for him. It’s alright. I’m Hermes.”
 
The man equally paled in shock and still in fear.
 
“The, uh, god?” he asked hesitantly.
 
Hermes nodded, “I won’t hurt you…or Percy,” he added as a second thought,
knowing that Paul was still afraid about that. “I’d like to borrow Percy
though.”
 
Paul blinked and then frowned.
 
“I’m sorry, but I’d like to ask why.”
 
Hermes’ smile almost dropped. He hadn’t expected to be questioned, and no
mortal had ever really done so.
 
“There are things that he and I need to discuss…concerning recent events,”
which was half-true, as he had been debating whether or not he should bring it
up and start having that deep talk he and Percy needed to have, “You
understand, don’t you? It’s very important and I don’t think it can wait.”
 
Paul flinched, “Very well. I’ll tell his mother. Please take care of him and
try not to keep him out too late.”
 
“No guarantees on that last one, but I will definitely take great care with
him. The best,” Hermes’ smile gentled. The god hesitated, but plunged on.
“So…you really like Percy, huh?”
 
Paul grinned, “He’s a great kid. Troubled, but I guess he should be being a
demigod. Very sweet and hard working. I can see why Sally loves him so much. I
can only hope Percy doesn’t mind my presence in his life. I’d really like to
become part of his family.”
 
“So you see Percy like a son?” Hermes tentatively prodded.
 
“Oh, I’d hope our relationship would be like that. I would say it’s working
towards there,” Paul stated proudly, but the undertone of relief said that it
had been bothering and worrying him for quite awhile and that the progress
between he and Percy was making him very happy.
 
Hermes didn’t release the sigh of relief he’d been holding. He was content with
the knowledge that Paul Blofis was fine with and actually looking forward to
being Percy’s step dad. At first, he’d been jealous of this Paul Percy had
mentioned, not knowing who he was and why he was helping Percy so much. Then
Percy told him it was his soon to be stepfather and Hermes had calmed down.
That is, before he started thinking that maybe Paul didn’t want to be a step
dad and just maybe wanted something else, something more. Hearing the man now,
reassured Hermes that that wasn’t the case and he was relieved to find that
out. He had just wanted to make sure…
 
Now to find Percy.
 
Finding him in his new car, that he whistled at once he slid into the driver’s
seat and had successfully flustered Percy, he started driving them out of the
parking lot and went on without saying anything about their destination.
 
“Will you tell me where we’re going?”
 
Hermes shook his head.
 
“Why not?” Percy asked hotly, narrowing his eyes at him.
 
“Because it’s a secret.”
 
When Percy scowled, Hermes just shrugged unapologetically.
 
“Come on, Percy…Just trust me on this.”
 
By the deepening of Percy’s scowl, said that no, Percy didn’t trust him.
 
Hermes sighed in frustration, pulling over quickly and turning to the surprised
demigod. Grabbing hands smaller than his, he looked into Percy’s sea-green eyes
and tried to plead with his own.
 
“Please, Percy. Even if temporarily, give me your trust,” seeing the desperate
need for it in Hermes’ eyes, Percy gave an awkward half shrug and looked away
uncomfortably.
 
“Yeah, sure. Whatever,” he mumbled, pulling away.
 
Hermes’ shoulders slumped in depression and sudden exhaustion. But he turned
back to the wheel and put the car back in drive. Percy didn’t comment.
 
For awhile, he just drove and Percy kept quiet, outwardly seeming to fulfill
his agreement to temporarily trust Hermes. Soon enough, Hermes stopped. Percy
didn’t recognize the area, but he waited for Hermes to explain instead of
bombarding the god with questions.
 
“Niagra Falls,” Hermes declared.
 
Percy looked at him in disbelief.
 
“Are you kidding me? How did we get all the way over there? Er, here?”
 
Hermes grinned at him, lightening up. “I amthe god of the roads. Traveling is
kind of my thing, Percy.”
 
Percy let himself crack a grin back, and for a second the tension eased a bit
between the two.
 
They both got out of the car and Hermes went around and stood next to Percy,
hesitating before putting an arm around Percy’s waist, who tensed before
forcing himself to relax into Hermes’ hold.
 
“Close your eyes,” Hermes murmured and Percy did so in confusion. Then he felt
the strangest sensation, like he was fading away before in a sudden instant his
whole being was like slammed back into existence. When he quickly opened his
eyes in shock from the jarring feeling, he saw that he was at the top of the
waterfall of the same namesake of the city.
 
“Woah,” Percy’s eyes widened.
 
A small smile played across the god’s lips.
 
“Glad you like teleporting. Helps with my job and better than the usual divine
transportation, and no hassles about accidentally disintegrating people. Care
to sit down?” Hermes waved his hand and a picnic blanket appeared near the
edge.
 
Percy hesitated, but then sat himself down on the huge blanket, settling down
as Hermes gently sat down next to him. He tensed a little when Hermes scooted
too close, but all the god did was sit and tentatively reach out to grab his
hand and hold it.
 
“It might be a little too early and too heavy to talk about…certain things. But
I do want to talk some with you. Is that alright, Percy?”
 
Percy nodded jerkily so Hermes continued.
 
“After your text last night…I decided to take a sabbatical from work. Just for
your school year though. I haven’t taken a break in centuries and I think it’s
a good time to do so now, especially if I want to take the time to get close to
you and…try to be there for you and not just myself.”
 
“But it is also for yourself,” Percy acknowledged, but he didn’t sound angry or
bitter so Hermes took it as a good sign and that Percy was also just stating it
as fact. Because by then it was.
 
“So…if you would allow me to…I would like to spend my sabbatical in your
presence, spending time with you.”
 
Percy squirmed a little, but sighed.
 
“Yeah. I guess that’ll be alright. Just don’t go all touchy feely with me. Or
grabby and stuff. I’m not gay. I like girls,” he mumbled.
 
Hermes rolled his eyes, purposely taking the hand he was holding and brushing
his thumb against Percy’s hand in small caresses. Seeing Percy slightly flush
red, Hermes smirked inwardly to himself. Suddenly, he pushed Percy gently onto
his back and hovered over him, straddling the boy’s waist and the tip of his
nose touching lightly against the tip of Percy’s.
 
Playfully grinning, Hermes spoke in a husky whisper.
 
“But you do like me touching you, don’t you?” Hermes trailed his fingertips
down Percy’s sides, making a shiver go through Percy. “You. Are. Gay. You like
girls, huh? I bet not as much as I do this,” the god bent down and nibbled
Percy’s earlobe before licking. Hearing Percy gasp, Hermes gave himself a
point.
 
“You’re persistent,” Percy gritted out, jerking his head away and staring
steadfastly over the cliff and glimpsing water down there. He ignored his
flushed state.
 
“Of course. I wouldn’t have to be, with the women usually giving in with just
the first look, but you’re being quite stubborn and I’m not willing to give up.
Normally I’m not persistent because I don’t have to be. You’re just being
difficult.”
 
Percy pouted.
 
“But admit it,” Hermes licked his ear again. “You do enjoy my attention.”
 
The demigod huffed, “No. Because it’s not true.”
 
Hermes sighed in his head, but wasn’t ready to back down. So he thrust down
against Percy, whose body stiffened at the action, even as a certain anatomy
down there started hardening in response.
 
“No?” Hermes raised an eyebrow.
 
Percy swallowed harshly, “…No.”
 
So Hermes started slowly grinding his lower half against Percy’s, hearing a
whimper escape the boy’s lips.
 
“No?” Hermes murmured seductively into his ear. He thrust harder than the other
times.
 
“Yes,” Percy hissed, bucking upwards.
 
The god grinned in triumph.
 
He kept grinding down in reward, Percy getting off first and then he kept at it
until he came. Lazily lying on top of Percy and not bothering to get off, he
felt Percy breathing hard and his hands entangle themselves into Hermes’ curly
hair.
 
“…I give up. You’re just going to do whatever you want, aren’t you? You gods
are just like that,” Percy sighed. “Fine, whatever. But if I say stop, you have
to stop, okay?”
 
“Mm’kay,” Hermes murmured, closing his eyes contentedly.
 
“I mean it,” Percy said seriously. “Promise me…Please?”
 
He blinked in surprise, looking up at Percy. Percy was looking at him solemnly,
with a hint of desperation, and Hermes had a thought that Luke might still be
involved with that.
 
“Yeah,” Hermes answered softly. “I promise, Percy. I swear if you really want
me to stop, I’ll stop.”
 
Percy sighing in relief told him things in volume without anything having to be
said.
 
“Thank you, Lord Hermes.”
 
Hermes frowned, “Why are you calling me Lord Hermes now? I noticed that before.
I mean, come on, Percy. You decked me in the jaw, we’ve had sex and multiple
sexual encounters, and you’ve never called me Lord Hermes before. You’ve always
been familiar with me, why are you being so formal now?”
 
Percy coughed awkwardly, “It’s just…after we had sex…I kind of…automatically
tried to distance myself from you…and…I was just…”
 
He really didn’t need to say much more, and between the two of them a lot of
things were being said without them needing to really say them.
 
“I get it. I understand completely,” Hermes mumbled unhappily.
 
Percy caught that and winced.
 
“Hermes,” Percy murmured.
 
Hermes shivered in pleasure, hearing his name coming out of Percy’s lips like
that.
 
So he leaned up and pressed his lips against Percy’s.
 
Started 5/19/10 –Completed 5/21/10
***** Quarter After One *****
“It’s getting late,” Percy noted.
 
Hermes sighed. “Yeah, it is…”
 
But neither made a move to get up from where they were.
 
“How are you able to get off your work, Hermes?” Percy asked out of nowhere. “I
mean, since you are the Messenger of the Gods, that means you’re really busy
all the time, right?”
 
The god made a face, “Yeah. But Iris said she’d take care of it. So, here I
am.”
 
Percy’s lips twitched upwards, and Hermes grinned.
 
“You should make it like an actual mail service,” Percy murmured. “Hire some
workers, get some sick days and vacation hours. Holidays…get paid. Have the
others pay to get things sent. Charon gets paid,” Percy pointed out.
 
Hermes looked thoughtful, “You know, those are some good ideas. I think I’ll
need to try some of those out when I go back to work.”
 
He reached over and cupped Percy’s face, moving him closer and lightly kissing
his lips. Percy blushed horribly, but Hermes just smirked.
 
“What are you thinking about after graduation?”
 
Percy blinked, “Huh?”
 
He rolled his eyes, “After graduation, you said you planned to go to NYU. What
else?”
 
“Oh…um, it’ll be kind of awkward staying with my mom after she’s married to
Paul, and I’m not sure there’s going to be space in our apartment for all of
us. Plus, I think she’s going to move into Paul’s house, which has a bigger
space. Obviously, I’m welcome and they kind of expect me to move in with them
too…but I think I should find a place to stay. Probably after high school
though.”
 
“Do you want to go apartment/house hopping soon then?”
 
Percy blushed, “It’s a little too early, isn’t it? I mean, especially since I’m
going to finish high school first, and we’re only in the first quarter.”
 
Hermes shrugged, “We could always just go open house hopping just because.
It’ll be fun. We get to see nice houses and goof around in them…and get free
food.”
 
The other sighed fondly, “Why do I get the feeling you want to mess around in
them?”
 
“…You know, I didn’t even think about that until you mentioned it. Ohh, what a
dirty mind you have, Percy!” Hermes chortled.
 
The younger of the two groaned and hid his face, “Oh gods, you’ve corrupted me.
What am I going to do?”
 
Hermes smiled mischievously, “Well, it’s a good idea. I’ll have to keep it in
mind when we go.”
 
Percy picked up a clump of grass and threw it at the god, huffing in mock-
irritation and semi-exasperation. Afterwards, he plopped back onto the ground,
lying on his back as he started to stare up at the stars.
 
“Hermes, you gotta take me home. Mom and Paul are going to be worried,” he
murmured.
 
The god pouted, “Can’t I keep you forever?”
 
Percy rolled his eyes, “Even if you did, I would still have to go home to them
at least.”
 
Sighing, Hermes nodded. But then his mischievous smile returned.
 
“Speaking about asking you things…can I take you on top of my desk?”
 
“No.”
 
“Aw, but you can call me Mister Hermes, and I’ll get to discipline you. In a
very winsome way,” Percy swore the grin on Hermes’ face couldn’t get any
bigger.
 
Rolling his eyes again, he answered back dryly.
 
“And have someone catch us? You’re delusional, much less that you actually
think I would ever agree to it.”
 
Percy was wrong. Hermes’ grin had just gotten even bigger.
 
“We’ll see about that,” Hermes purred. “By which, can I drop you off to school
tomorrow?” the god immediately changed subjects.
 
Percy was suspicious, but he shrugged it off.
 
“I guess,” he reluctantly conceded. “But we’ll have to park my car around the
block, and then walk the rest of the way to school so we can go our separate
ways before we reach it.”
“Oh alright,” Hermes said in disappointment. “So can we do it on my desk?”
 
Percy blinked at the abrupt change.
 
“Hey! I said no! Like you could confuse me and make me accidentally say yes,”
he huffed.
 
Hermes shrugged, “Worth a try. Are you sure though? You don’t want to do a
little role play?”
 
The perverted grin and the waggling of eyebrows wasn’t anywhere near
persuasive.
 
Percy twitched.
 
“No. Besides which, it isn’t really role play if we actually are teacher and
student.”
 
“It is if we add dirty talk.”
 
Percy felt the oncoming headache even before it slammed into his head.
 
“Hermes…have I told you that your mouth could get you into trouble one of these
days?”
 
Hermes’ renewed grin boded trouble.
 
“I haven’t heard you complaining about my mouth lately,” Hermes said
suggestively.
 
Percy hit his shoulder.
 
“Ouch! Okay, okay!” Hermes held up his hands in surrender. “Aw, come on. My
witty wittiness is my only true weapon, dearest. I don’t get a fancy sword like
everyone else,” he pouted.
 
The younger of the two grimaced, “One, don’t call me dearest. I’ll immediately
refuse to let you touch me again. Ever. Two, you’re a god. You get powers. And
you could probably use a sword if you wanted to.”
 
“But the only pointy thing I want to use is my –”
 
“Okay!” Percy cut him off, blushing a bright red. He had a feeling he knew what
Hermes was going to say next. “Back to the matter at hand. Home, Hermes. Now.
Before I get into trouble.”
 
Hermes pouted even more worse than he did earlier.
 
“Like really, Percy? Where’s all the fun in that?”
 
“It’s called being responsible,” Percy answered back dryly.
 
“Responsible, impossible. Come on, Percy,” the god prodded. “All work and no
play makes Percy a dull boy.”
 
“Maybe if I’m dull enough, you’ll leave me alone,” Percy said straight-faced.
 
“Never!” Hermes declared, draping himself loosely around Percy. “Oh, alright.
I’ll take you home now.”
 
“Finally,” Percy finally let out a small smile, exasperated but admittedly
enjoying the time.
 
“You sure you don’t want to just make out some more –?”
 
“Hermes!” Percy warned.
 
“Okay, okay! Let’s go.”
 
Soon enough, Hermes got Percy home and both realized it was midnight.
 
“Ugh, I’m going to get grounded because of you,” Percy muttered, making a face
at the clock on his dashboard.
 
Hermes winced, “Hey. I’m sorry. You’re right. I should’ve gotten you home
earlier –”
 
He was cut off when Percy threw himself towards him, landing an open-mouthed
kiss on his lips. Hermes grinned at that, placing his arms around Percy’s waist
before hefting him up and lifting him from the passenger seat to sit on his
lap. Percy’s own arms wound around his neck, one hand drifting down behind him
and grasping tightly at his shirt at the small of his back, while the other
moved to curl into Hermes’ hair.
 
Hermes tilted Percy’s head a bit, before lightly touching his tongue to Percy’s
upper lip, warning him that he was about to thrust his tongue inside so Percy
wouldn’t panic and close his teeth on it. Percy answered by thrusting his
tongue forwards, meeting Hermes tit for tat. The messenger god grinned into his
mouth, happily pushing closer and enjoying Percy taking charge for once. He
knew it wouldn’t last. But he could enjoy it for now.
 
When Percy leaned back and he pushed even closer, Percy accidentally touched
the horn and it honked loudly. Both of them winced, and Hermes conceded that
that meant the end to their little rendezvous.
 
“I have to go,” Percy murmured.
 
Hermes refrained from pouting, lightly taking Percy’s face and kissing him
several quick times, before he opened the driver’s door and slipped out. Percy
groaned and hit his head against the seat, straddling it now that Hermes was
gone from under him.
 
“Stupid, stupid,” Percy muttered to himself.
 
Frowning, he got out of his car and went up to the apartment, Hermes nowhere to
be seen.
 
He entered the apartment and was surprised to see Paul nodding off near the lit
fireplace.
 
“Paul? What are you doing up?”
 
The man shot up straight, blinking the sleep from his eyes.
 
“Oh! You’re back! Your mom said you’d be alright, but I was worried and didn’t
know if you’d be okay and –” Paul kept babbling and a small smile started
growing on Percy’s face.
 
“I’m alright, Paul. Thanks for worrying,” he assured his soon to be stepfather.
 
Paul turned bright red, “Sorry, Percy. It’s just…I’m new to the parenting stuff
and I don’t want to mess up.”
 
Percy’s smile grew bigger.
 
“Nah! You’re doing just fine. How about some hot chocolate before we go to
bed?”
 
He saw Paul visibly relax, hiding his sigh of relief from Percy, and grinned
back at the demigod with a burst of enthusiasm. They moved to the kitchen and
Percy helped show Paul how Sally made the hot chocolate.
 
“You’ll get the hang of it eventually,” Percy assured him.
 
“Thanks. Um, Percy, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” Paul
fidgeted slightly.
 
Percy became a little nervous, but nodded an okay.
 
Paul exhaled loudly before trembling putting his hands clasped in front of him
on the table.
 
“Um…okay. So, for the wedding, I was hoping you’d be my best man,” Paul
muttered, turning red again.
 
“Me?”
 
“Yeah,” Paul smiled in embarrassment. “I don’t really have anyone else to ask,
or care to ask. ‘Cept my brother and I hate him,” he confided.
 
“Oh. Can I ask why or is too personal?” Percy hesitantly asked.
 
Paul sighed, “I just don’t like talking about him. To anyone. He’s just a real
bastard.” By the dark look that crossed his almost stepdad’s face, Percy didn’t
have any trouble believing it. Especially since Paul was usually a really nice
and kind of laid-back kind of guy.
 
“Okay. That’s fine. And I think I know of a groomsman if you’re in need of
one,” Percy offered.
 
“Really? That’d be great!” Paul looked even more relieved at that.
 
They chatted a bit more about miscellaneous things, catching up on school, some
more on the wedding, and plans for a family picnic to Montauk soon. Then the
two of them went their separate ways to go to sleep, Percy immediately plopping
onto his bed. But as he closed his eyes, he found he couldn’t go to sleep. He
tossed and turned on his bed, trying to get comfortable and hoping his mind
would settle down and he’d go to sleep. Instead, he was just wide awake.
 
Frustrated, Percy turned again and faced his clock. It read 1:14. Sighing, he
stared at it and time just seemed to pass. He blinked and the next thing he
knew, it was 1:25. Biting his lip, he hesitantly reached for his cell phone.
 
Hey, you awake?
 
A reply immediately came back.
 
Yeah. Couldn’t sleep. You too?
 
Percy stared and wondered what could he say. Why was he having so much trouble
sleeping? Why…why was part of the reason because he couldn’t stop thinking
about Hermes?
 
Can you stay with me tonight?
 
He really hoped the god wouldn’t ask any questions and leave him alone about
it. Percy wasn’t ready yet to answer himself.
 
“All you had to do was ask,” Hermes’ voice murmured into his ear as the god
slipped in behind him and wound his arm around Percy’s waist, bringing the
smaller teen closer to his body. Percy had tensed briefly before relaxing into
his hold.
 
“I didn’t expect you to come so quickly,” Percy sighed.
 
“Disappointed?”
 
“…No.”
 
Hermes considered it a step forward, but didn’t push his luck in questioning
Percy about it. Instead, he just held onto Percy until the boy fell asleep in
his arms not too long after he’d gotten there.
 
It was like that in the coming nights. Around the same time, Percy would give
in and shyly ask for Hermes to stay with him. Soon enough, Hermes didn’t even
bother waiting for the text and came close enough to the time. It became a
regular routine that comforted the both of them.
 
+
+
+
+
+
+
 
“I forgot to ask you this awhile ago, but Paul needs a groomsman and I was
hoping you’d agree,” Percy brought up.
 
Hermes hmmed, “I guess it wouldn’t be a bad idea. What about you?”
 
Percy shrugged, “He asked me to be his best man.”
 
Hermes grinned, “Hey, we get to stand next to each other! Do you think your
stepdad would mind if I snuck in a grope here and there from you?”
 
“…” he stared at the god before shaking his head in disbelief. “One, almost
stepdad. Two, it’s his wedding, Hermes. Thirdly, I doubt he would be fine, much
less happy, with you groping his soon to be stepson. Especially on his
wedding.”
 
The messenger god snickered, “But it sure would be one hell of a memorable
wedding.”
 
“Memorable enough for me to want to forget.”
 
Hermes pouted.
 
“Oh, quit your pouting!” Percy smiled reluctantly, leaning forward and grazing
his lips against the man’s cheek. Hermes was a lot happier that Percy was
willing to show some affection every once in a while, though he would prefer if
it were more frequent. Even if chaste, frequency would be very welcomed. Though
he would love some more heavy make outs too. But he wouldn’t push that,
considering Percy was still skittish about the whole thing, particularly on
that front, so there was no way Hermes would jeopardize what little progress
they had.
 
“Hey, I was thinking… Paul, Mom and me are going to Montauk soon. You know,
family picnic…outing kind of thing. You wanna come with?” Percy asked
awkwardly.
 
Hermes blinked in surprise, “You want to take me?”
 
Percy nibbled his lower lip. “It’s just that we’re going to be there as family,
but it’ll be the first real family outing thing we do. It might be a little
easier for me to, um, have someone there. You know, for me. So it won’t be so
awkward. And, they’ll probably need some alone time too and I don’t want to be
alone and I’d much rather have you there to keep me company –” he started
babbling near the end.
 
“Just say you’re going to miss me,” Hermes cut in teasingly.
 
Percy rolled his eyes and hit his shoulder, “Forget it! I change my mind.”
 
“No, no, no! I take it back! Let me come with you,” the god started pouting
again, tugging at Percy’s shirt.
 
“Oh, if I must,” Percy sighed dramatically.
 
“Lunch is almost over,” Hermes noted with a frown. “Damn. I guess I have to
wait an hour to see you again.Two hours until I get to touch you again,” he
switched to a perverted grin, hand sneaking out to grope Percy’s arse.
 
“Bastard,” the teen griped after the grope, blushing as he darted away from
Hermes’ reach, watching the god to make sure he didn’t try anything else.
 
“It was just one touch,” Hermes whined. “And it was just my hand. To your arse.
Could’ve been my mouth on your –!”
 
Hermes ducked to avoid the empty lunch tray that sailed over his head,
chuckling as Percy stomped away from their little hideaway on the math
building’s roof to join the hustle and bustle of school life once more.
 
And he’d contentedly waited out that hour, thinking that things were going
perfect –and that it was going to stay that way.
 
That is until he met the new student Maria Estefan. She had beautiful doe brown
eyes, plump lips only covered by clear lip gloss, and trendy clothes that fit
her slim body perfectly.
 
And he hated her.
 
He didn’t think much of her when she first entered his class as a new student
transferring in, other than that she was pretty. He was only mildly disgruntled
to see Percy perk up in interest at the sight of her, but brushed it off as
interest in a new student like everyone else. Annoyed again that he’d had to
sit her in the only empty seat in the class next to Percy, but he was still
pretty calm.
 
That entire class was hell.
 
Hermes would rather spend a day in Tartarus than watch the two of them talk in
low tones to each other, ignoring the rest of the class as they held a private
conversation that took all of their attention and none on the lecture Hermes
was giving. Her mocha colored skin melded with the beautiful pale snowy tones
he’d come to love on Percy, her hand gently touching his. He hated seeing the
smile on Percy’s face as she said something, and he hated the shy return smile
she gave back. He was not happy at all, and he wanted to express that.
 
“Detention, Mr. Jackson,” Hermes snapped coldly, eyes narrowed at Percy, who
looked surprised and confused.
 
The rest of the class went on with an aggravated teacher, and no one was stupid
enough to act out or call attention to themselves.
 
“Detention? Really?” Percy grinned in exasperated amusement. “Because I’m still
not going to sleep with you on your desk.”
 
Hermes didn’t smile.
 
The grin slowly died on Percy’s lips.
 
“What’s wrong with you?” Percy questioned. “You were pissed off the entire
class, and everyone was basically on eggshells trying to please you.”
 
“You certainly weren’t. Busy talking up the new girl?”
 
Percy frowned, “One, Maria isn’t new. She’s been to this school since Freshman
year. She was just late in coming this year because she just came back from
overseas. Two…are you jealous?”
 
Hermes’ jaw visibly clenched, “She was hanging all over you.”
 
“You’re delusional,” Percy spat out.
 
“Am I?” a sneer formed on Hermes’ lips.
 
Percy’s blood was boiling and he felt so angry at Hermes right then.
 
“Why should it matter?” he hissed. “It’s not like you’re my boyfriend or
something!”
 
He tried, he really did. To keep his voice down. But it was so hard when all he
wanted to do was just yell and scream at the god.
 
Immediately, Hermes’ face became stoic and his lips formed a firm line, hiding
any emotion from Percy. Percy didn’t budge. At that point, it was a clear
stalemate.
 
Then Hermes exhaled noisily and looked at Percy angrily.
 
“Fine. Whatever. You can do whatever you want. You’re right. I’m not your
boyfriend so there’s nothing holding us together like that. You can go date her
for all I care.”
 
Percy glared back, feeling slightly hurt. But he didn’t show it and instead
pursed his lips just as angrily.
 
“Maybe I will. I told you I liked girls. Maria’s pretty. I think she’s pretty.
Maybe I just want a normal relationship with a normal person.”
 
They stared each other down.
 
Hermes snorted, “And you think I’m delusional.”
 
Percy stormed out. Hermes slammed the door after him before teleporting
somewhere else. Detention was left forgotten.
 
When he got home, he was glad that Paul was still at school and his mom was
still at work. That left him to pace in his room and wonder who could he talk
to. He really needed to talk to someone right then.
 
Annabeth was out. She didn’t know about him and Hermes, or even about Luke. Or
even if she could handle knowing the truth, especially since she had feelings
for him and Percy didn’t know if he could fit in that talk as well.
 
Clarisse was on vacation with Chris with her mom in Dubai, and while he didn’t
want to bother her…at the same time, they haven’t become that close just yet.
Not enough and too soon to be seeking each other out for intimate talks.
 
Grover was settling into his new duties as Lord of the Wild, and he didn’t want
to load even more problems and stress on his friend so he was out.
 
Tyson was a great brother, but he wouldn’t understand.
 
Poseidon was his dad. Enough said.
 
He could talk to either Paul or his mom, but they weren’t there and he wasn’t
sure they’d understand. They didn’t even know about Percy and Luke, much less
Hermes’ involvement in his life now.
 
Damn…even without any of those reasons, he couldn’t talk to any of his friends
or family.
 
It was because most of them didn’t even know about Luke.
 
The blond had been, still is, the root of all of Percy’s problems. It all
starts with Luke, and in a way ends with Luke. Besides which, how could he
explain Hermes without explaining Luke? And even if he saved Luke for another
time, how could he explain Hermes at all? No one knew about the god.
 
Except for…
 
He strode to his bathroom and filled the tub with water, locking the door
behind him as he sat on the edge of the tub and stared down on the water. He
fingered the drachma in his pocket, hesitating about his plan but deciding it
was worth trying. Glad he couldn’t get wet, he tossed in the drachma into the
filled tub and called on Iris so he could message someone.
 
The mahogany locks were pulled into a loose bun and intelligent gray eyes
stared at him in confusion, and yet the Goddess of Wisdom still managed to look
elegant.
 
“Perseus –”
 
“Percy,” he interrupted, before shaking his head. “Sorry, Lady Athena. Just
call me Percy. There was something I needed to talk about, but I don’t know who
I could talk to about it. I figure you’d be the perfect choice,” Percy
muttered.
 
“It depends on what it is,” Athena held back her cringe. “There are others who
can be more suited depending.”
 
Percy grimaced, “Y-you talked about Dr. Chase the other time…to me. I’m not
ready to talk about Luke…but I kind of need to talk about Hermes.”
 
The goddess was quiet before sighing and a chair appeared behind her, sitting
herself and getting comfortable for the talk.
 
“I understand, Percy. I had no idea Hermes had told you about our
confrontation…it wasn’t very pleasant, but I don’t really think it was too bad
an incident. Can you tell me what he had told you about it?”
 
He cleared his throat uncomfortably, but forced himself to continue.
 
“He told me that he had gone to your house to visit you, not long after the
final battle,” he started.
 
She laughed lightly in dark amusement. He almost raised an eyebrow in question.
 
“Visit, indeed,” Athena actually had a small smirk briefly toying across her
lips. “More like an altercation. Go on, Percy. Continue.”
 
Confused and hesitant, Percy went on.
 
“Well…Hermes said he’d visited you…um, talked about some things, mostly about
Luke…he said he told you about us sleeping together and asked for some advice…”
he trailed off, seeing the incredulous look on her face.
 
“Slept together? Indeed again. Don’t sugarcoat it, Percy,” Athena actually
snorted. “I know what he did and I know what really happened. As for advice…”
Here, it looked like she didn’t know whether to laugh or scowl. “Of course
Hermes would want to paint himself in a better light. Us gods and appearances,”
she muttered, but he caught it anyway.
 
“Lady Athena?” Percy asked questioningly.
 
The goddess sighed, “He didn’t come ‘visit’ me just because. And it wasn’t some
time after the final battle. It was more like quickly after the final battle,
like the morning after he raped you –”
 
“He didn’t rape me,” Percy blurted out, unintentionally interrupting her.
 
Why was he defending him?
 
She looked sharply at him, watching him calculating…almost shrewdly. He didn’t
know what she was thinking, but he didn’t think he’d want to.
 
“As I was saying,” she continued softly. “He was feeling upset after you’d just
left him in bed, I could tell just for a few guesses. I think his mood became
worse as he walked out and heard some minor gods gossiping…about us,” Athena
had an uncharacteristic blush on her face, but he didn’t notice as he was still
busy running that last sentence through his head and was gaping badly about it.
 
“A-about us? Y-you mean like that?”
 
She winced, “Yes. I believe everyone was under the impression that the two of
us were together. The rumors aggravated Hermes to the point that he stormed
over to my house and accused me of having a relationship with you. Then I
proceeded to accuse him of his indiscretions concerning you, particularly of
what happened the night before. I asked honestly if the two of you had sex
since the smell of it and each other was heavily clinging to the both of you.
He tried to deny that as much as he could before giving in. Then I asked if it
was consensual.”
 
Percy swallowed harshly. The look she was giving him now was an unreadable but
serious look, and he realized that she wasn’t just recounting the events but
also grilling him in the same way she probably had Hermes.
 
“He tried to pass it off as it was, but I don’t think so. And I told him that,”
she continued, words seeming to just stab into Percy.
 
He wanted to deny the accusation again, but he bit his lip and stayed quiet.
 
“Alcohol and grief do not mix,” Athena said softly.
 
His mouth went dry and he averted his gaze away from the goddess.
 
“There are many reasons why what Hermes did was wrong,” she briefly pursed her
lips. “Your inebriated state…your age…the emotional turmoil you were in and
obviously still are. Percy, he took advantage of you and had no business being
with you in such an intimate manner –”
 
“We’re still sort of going out!” Percy, once again, blurted out. He could hit
himself for the outburst and for the stupid way he’d just revealed that. Not to
mention he’d interrupted Athena for the second time!
 
The goddess stopped short, eyes widening as she stared at him.
 
Percy licked his lips and nervously continued.
 
“That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” he mumbled, eyes darting everywhere but
at her. “We sort of…agreed to…um, I’m not really sure. We’re like together…but
not…”
 
‘Oh yeah, that made a lot of sense. That was just stupid. Idiot,’Percy
reprimanded himself in his head.
 
“Well, at least we were,” he grimaced.
 
“E-elaborate please, Percy,” Athena finally spoke up hesitantly, breaking from
her shock.
 
He took a deep breath, “Okay. So today, things were going well for the two of
us. Until his class, ‘cause he’s actually been the Economy teacher for awhile
now. Anyway, there’s this new girl who came into his class, and she and I got
along great and were talking the entire class time. Hermes was angry and
everyone noticed, and he actually gave me detention and was actually cold about
it. He was upset and I think…jealous of her. We got into a big fight about it,
I yelled at him that he wasn’t exactly my boyfriend, he basically told me he
didn’t care and said I could date her if I really wanted to, and then we kind
of stormed out on each other. It’s just a huge blowout and I don’t know why I
feel so lost. I’m sorry! You’re the only one I could think of that I could
really talk to about this and I don’t know what to do or who to talk to. I just
really had to talk to someone about this –”
 
“You can stop rambling, Percy,” Athena murmured. “It’s okay. Calm down. I
understand. Basically, Hermes overreacted and got jealous because you got along
with a girl…more precisely, you were showering someone other than him with
attention and he didn’t like that. You have to understand, Percy, that when you
get into something like this with a god…you need to know how we are. We tend to
be…very possessive, prideful to the point of conceitedness…and most of all
selfish.”
 
“Of course. You gods are all self-centered and domineering,” Percy grumbled
bitterly.
 
She smiled sadly at him, “It is something you will have to keep in mind…and put
up with if you wish to continue whatever it is you have with Hermes.”
 
He stayed quiet.
 
“Nevertheless, this is something I have to think more on to give you better
advice of it. I’m sorry I haven’t been much help, but I will try to get back to
you with more helpful words, Perseus –uh, Percy. But I will advise you to
seriously consider dating this girl you spoke of.”
 
He nodded reluctantly.
 
“I will speak to you soon,” she spoke quietly before cutting the connection.
 
Unhappily, he slowly moved out of the tub and walked moodily into his room,
closing his door and locking it behind him. Then he trudged over to his bed and
plopped down face forward onto it, burrowing his face into his pillow and tried
to block out the world. He tried to blank out his mind, but he was even less
successful with that.
 
Time passed by, but he didn’t notice. That’s why, when he looked at the clock,
he was surprised to see it was 1:10 in the morning already. He lay there,
curled up, breathing unevenly.
 
1:25
 
Percy felt really cold and lonely.
 
Started 5/19/10 –Completed 7/25/10
***** Another Shot of Whiskey *****
Luke was really nice. Ever since he’d come to Camp Half-Blood, and since he’d
gotten to the Hermes cabin, Luke had made sure he had felt at home. They’d hung
out a lot, Luke was always his main source of information on just about
everything, and most of all Luke had become a really close friend. Other than
Grover and sort of Annabeth, Luke had been the only one to make him feel
comfortable and happy in camp.
 
“Hey, Percy. Breakfast is soon. You wanna wake up early and just hang around me
until then?” Luke popped up beside his sleeping bag, the only one awake beside
him.
 
Percy pouted, “You don’t want to just lie down and go back to sleep?”
 
Luke snickered, “Not a morning person?”
 
“No. If I was a female, I bet I would be. But I’m not. So there.”
 
The blond rolled his eyes. “And I bet you want to stick your tongue out at me
right now, don’t you?”
 
Huffing, Percy did just that. Only to be surprised when Luke leaned forward and
casually took his tongue into his mouth and suckled, moving his tongue to touch
Percy’s a second later. Frozen and shocked, Percy just stayed still as Luke
languidly brushed his tongue against Percy’s several times, swiping gently at
times and more aggressively at others. Confused though he was, he couldn’t
muster up any energy or will to push Luke back or reciprocate. Instead, he just
let Luke take over, pushing Percy’s back against the wall.
 
Abruptly, Luke pulled back and frowned.
 
“Hm, perhaps I shouldn’t have been so forward. Our first kiss should have been
much more delicate,” Luke smiled fondly at him.
 
Percy just blinked at the other.
 
But then Luke leaned forward again, and properly pressed his lips to Percy’s,
softly at first and only becoming more firmly once Percy had shyly tilted his
lips in acquiescence. He didn’t open his mouth again and Percy was too shy and
new at it to do so either…but it was still as pleasant and as sweet as Luke
wanted for Percy.
 
That was the morning Percy received his two first kisses, right before the
night Luke touched him for the first time and gave him his first blowjob.
 
Percy groggily woke up, yawning and stretching. He felt unbearably cold and
like something was missing. He blinked and stared at his empty room. Bitterly,
he recalled yesterday and he resolved not to talk to Hermes. The god can be as
stubborn as he wanted; Percy wasn’t going to be the one who caved and
apologized first. It had been Hermes’ problem in the first place, and Percy
wasn’t going to allow the other to walk all over him just because he was a god.
 
Angrily storming all over his room and getting ready after a shower, he ignored
the tears building up in his eyes and went to school early. No one was
practically there, so Percy was confident he wasn’t going to run into anyone,
especially Hermes.
 
Finding the bleachers, he headed behind them instead of going to sit on them,
tossing his backpack to the floor and sitting on the ground next to it. He
curled his knees up and wrapped his arms around it, putting his chin on them as
he stared unhappily at the trees in front of him.
 
“Hey, stranger. Why the long face?” Maria’s voice drifted over to him.
 
Percy grimaced, “Long story.”
 
She smiled and plopped herself right next to him, stretching her legs in front
of her.
 
“Come on, Perce. Tell me about it.”
 
He still winced, so she didn’t push further. Instead, she scooted closer and
leaned her head on his shoulder, wrapping delicate hands around his arm. When
he didn’t say anything, she leaned up slightly and brushed her lips against his
neck. Looking down at her in surprise, he questioned her with his eyes and she
just smiled. Then she leaned up again and kissed the corner of his lips.
 
“But I will advise you to seriously consider dating this girl you spoke of.”
 
Licking his lips, he looked down at the girl on his arm cautiously.
 
“Maria, would you…would you be my girlfriend?”
 
Her smile just widened.
 
By the time school formally started, it was official. Percy Jackson and Maria
Estefan were dating, with no way to deny it as they walked hand in hand through
the halls. When lunch at last strolled through, someone finally was able to
release the steam that had been building since he’d found out.
 
Hermes grabbed one of the extra wooden chairs in his classroom and screamed in
frustration as he threw it angrily against the wall with the full force of both
hands, tie viciously swinging from the force of the throw. He collapsed into
his seat, cradling his head between his hands and ignoring the shattered
remains of the chair on the other side of the room.
 
“That was non-productive,” Athena’s voice said dryly.
 
“Fuck you,” he answered back crudely, not bothering to look up and face her.
 
“You were the one who suggested he date her in the first place.”
 
Hermes snarled, “And how would you know that?”
 
“Percy told me all about it yesterday,” she said calmly.
 
He laughed mockingly, “Did he? I suppose you know everything, don’t you?”
 
“I know enough,” she said steely. “What in Tartarus were you thinking, pursuing
him? Never the mind Poseidon coming after you and gutting you like a fish –have
you no shame? After everything Percy is going through and had already dealt
with, you are going to add more to his problems? Hermes, you idiot! Percy is
still in love with your son! Your dead son, may I remind you?”
 
“Will you shut up already?!” Hermes roared, standing up from his seat angrily.
“I know that! I know, and Fates do I love my son and I’m still grieving for him
–but I need Percy! I need him…” he trailed off weakly, fire dying out of him as
he went back to slumping in his chair.
 
“Why do you need him?” Athena narrowed her eyes at him.
 
Hermes chuckled bitterly, “Zeus if I know. I just…need him. I feel like I have
nothing left and Percy is the only reason why I care anymore. I’d probably pass
on like Pan if it weren’t for Percy.”
 
The messenger god was shocked when the palm of Athena’s hand smacked hard
against his cheek and his head snapped to the side.
 
“Don’t pin all your troubles on Percy when he has enough on his plate,” she
hissed.
 
“Percy, huh? And the last time we talked…when you kept accusing and arguing
with me then…you forgot to call him Perseus,” Hermes smirked cynically in a
lazy manner.
 
Athena sighed, exasperated. “Percy said I should call him by his name last we
talked, and so I shall.”
 
“And that time, when with our confrontation?”
 
Her hand snatched his tie, pulling him off of his chair and dangling him
slightly off of it, and he just let himself uncaringly hang there.
 
She had become a little more than frustrated.
 
“That was a mistake –”
 
“So the Goddess of Wisdom does make mistakes,” Hermes drawled.
 
She shook him, “Now you shut up! For gods’ sakes, out of all the others, you
were the one I got along with the most. What the hell happened?”
 
“My son died,” Hermes said blankly. “And now no one else matters but Percy.”
 
She threw him back violently into his chair.
 
“Then stop treating him like crap and like your past amours,” she sneered.
 
Hermes blinked slowly at that, staring at her with his mouth slightly ajar.
 
“Oh, and listen to this,” she tossed him one of his Olympus-made iPods called
oPods, and put on a song. He laughed hysterically as she left.
 
“I didn’t think you were girly enough to do something like this, Athena!”
 
Crazy Possessive by Kaci Battaglia blasted out of the speakers on the oPod.
 
“Crazy possessive, huh?” Hermes leaned back in his chair, staring up at the
cracked ceiling. “I suppose I am rather crazy possessive over Percy.”
 
He hmmed. There was an idea he had been toying over since Percy had stormed out
on him yesterday, but he had gone back and forth on it because he didn’t want
to upset Percy any further. He had to admit that yesterday had been most, if
not all, his fault. He had overreacted. He had started it. And most of all, he
had directed it all at Percy and didn’t hold back on anything. He knew he
hadn’t imagined the hurt look on Percy’s face after he’d said he didn’t care,
no matter how hard the other tried to hide it. And now he had pushed Percy to
date that dumb bitch.
 
Feeling a sneer curl on his lips, he didn’t regret at all the snap decision he
just made to go through with his idea. There was no way in Tartarus he was just
going to lie there and take this, and no way he was going to lose Percy to her.
 
He put on a charming smile and straightened out his suit, walking calmly out of
his classroom. He took a detour and waited for a couple minutes. And then he
found his prey sitting behind the bleachers in boredom, picking at her food.
 
“Miss Estefan, how lovely it is to see you,” Hermes purred, slipping in beside
her.
 
“O-oh, Mr. Castellan!” the telltale blush made him almost grin in triumph, but
he held back. It was too early. “How can I help you?”
 
“Oh, I just needed a quiet place to eat lunch. I’m hiding from someone, so I
can’t eat in my room. Everywhere else was noisy and too rowdy for me. Do you
mind?” he smiled at her mischievously, and her blush deepened.
 
“No, not all,” she began to quietly eat at her food, focusing on it to avoid
looking at him or paying him any special attention.
 
They didn’t talk, but just ate together in silence. He had made sure Percy had
been held back by his future stepdad, so as to have these precious moments with
Maria. They were absolutely crucial.
 
The bell rang and he waved behind him in goodbye, leaving Maria behind and
successfully setting up the first stages to his plan. First, befriending the
girl. And then it was on to the seduction of Maria Estefan, and exposing her as
a whore to Percy.
 
There was no way Hermes could fail at this. He couldn’t.
 
In class, he ignored the couple, forcing himself not to glare at them and
instead inwardly ranted to himself. Angrily keeping his thoughts inside, he
kept up a pleasant façade outside and smiled brightly every once and a while to
keep it up. After school, he managed to get Paul to stay behind and encouraged
him to keep Percy at lunch for extra tutoring outside of their time at home,
the added knowledge he’d let slipped about Percy’s aspiration to go to NYU a
big aspect in Paul agreeing.
 
Then that week, Hermes kept dangling the bait. With Percy always with Paul,
Maria was left alone behind bleachers. Hermes took advantage of that, always
appearing and sitting with her. He slowly started up the metaphorical ladder,
going from comfortable silence to making small talk. He took it a step further
the next week, asking about school life before venturing into home life. He
listened with half an ear, but he made sure to keep the information in mind if
she ever brought it up. Just because he was uninterested didn’t mean he could
slack off and ignore information that could potentially be important later on.
 
On the third, he let himself go just a little bit, only allowing casual touches
to the shoulder or something of the like. Even little “accidental” brushes. Her
heated face made him almost crow in content. Soon, of course. Soon.
 
The fourth week of his little plan, he decided that that was it. He didn’t want
to keep going, and he felt that things had gone onin  long enough. He had
gotten to the point he wanted perfectly. He just needed the little end that was
going to explode off fireworks.
 
On Friday, he invited Maria to stay after class and Percy reluctantly left them
with a suspicious look to Hermes.
 
“Mr. Castellan, is there something wrong?” she smiled at him.
 
‘Oh yeah, something’s wrong. Get your hands off my boy, and I won’t go ape shit
on you.’
 
He was done playing best friend. He was done watching her touch and be all over
Percy. Percy was his and there was no way he was going to let her touch what
belonged to him.
 
“Am I possessive just because I’m claiming what’s mine?”
 
Best. Line. Ever.
 
“Wrong? Not at all,” and then he went in for the kill.
 
Tugging her closer, he kissed her soundly, hoping to get this over with
quickly. Tartarus if he got her pregnant. Ruin her life just like she’d ruined
his, a life he was supposed to start sharing with Percy. Even if he got found
out and fired, it would be worth it. It had to be.
 
The other hand not holding onto her wrists snaked up her back and firmly
planted itself at her head. Then he aligned his body to hers, pressing up
against her and allowing their bodies to mold together. It wasn’t as great a
fit as he and Percy, but it would do. Instead of mocha skin, he pictured snowy
marble beneath him. Instead of brown doe eyes, he saw sea-green oceans.
Chocolate-colored hair was replaced with the inky black locks he had grown used
to brushing his hands through.
 
He wanted Percy, not her.
 
Hermes was about to go a little further when he actually found himself
stumbling back, realizing in shock that she had just pushed him away and was
staring at him just in much shock and some confusion.
 
“I, uh, I’m really sorry, Mr. Castellan,” she gasped, turning reluctant.
“You’re really handsome, but…I have a boyfriend and he’s sweet and kind and he
really wouldn’t deserve this…I’m so sorry!”
 
She ran, but Hermes just sighed and sat on one of the student desks in
frustration. She was completely right about Percy; he was all that and more.
But why did it have to be her that had the right to say such things about
Percy, to be able to defend him without suspicion?
 
And the funny thing is, the only time he’s ever been rejected (Percy doesn’t
count; no, not really), it was because of Percy. There was just something about
him, and he just makes the exception to nearly everything.
 
“Always Percy,” he murmured, laying his head on the desktop in defeat.
 
+
+
+
+
+
+
 
“He what?” Percy hissed, narrowing his eyes at her and his jaw clenching
sporadically in anger.
 
She tried to place a calming hand on his arm, but it did nothing to calm him
down.
 
“It really was nothing, Percy,” she murmured. “He kissed me, but it didn’t mean
anything. Not to me…and I have a feeling it meant even less to him. In fact,
I’m pretty sure for some reason, that it meant absolutely nothing to him.”
 
Percy frowned, grunting a grudging acceptance.
 
“Did you like it?” he muttered.
 
The blush blossoming on her face was very telling.
 
“It was very nice,” she understated, but was honest in how she felt.
 
Damn it, he needed to calm down. She was being honest with him, and she was
telling him about it in the first place because she had been worried he would
have found out later and freaked out. He just didn’t know who he was more upset
over –Maria or Hermes. Or if he was more upset over what Hermes had done. Or
that he was there listening to Maria talk about it. Or –
 
Stop, stop, stop!
 
“We’ve been dating awhile now, Percy, but why haven’t you kissed me yet?” she
asked him shyly.
 
He flushed red and gave her an uneasy smile, inwardly confused about himself as
well.
 
“Well, I guess I’m a little modest. I’m sorry, I think I’m just waiting for the
right moment,” he said without confidence.
 
She didn’t notice, instead smiling in reassurance and hugging his arm, cuddling
up to him.
 
“That’s okay. I’ll wait,” she answered, pecking his cheek quickly.
 
They started watching the movie, but while she was busy watching he was off
thinking and scowling to himself about Hermes’ behavior and of his recent
actions.
 
The next day, he blew off his future stepdad so that he could have lunch with
Maria, careful to keep an eye out for Hermes and make sure he didn’t come
anywhere near. Then in class, he sent heated looks (of the angry variety, thank
you very much) at Hermes throughout the entire time, clearly expressing his
displeasure with the god, who merely twitched and gave tired glances
occasionally back. When class ended, he stayed behind and he knew his messages
had gone through when Hermes knowingly close the door behind everyone else and
let it close with a decisive click that bore down omens on them both.
 
“You’re an idiot, you know that?” Percy insulted Hermes, slamming his bag onto
a desk nearby him furiously.
 
“Really?” Hermes drawled, leaning against his own desk casually. “That’s real
nice coming from you. You’re not exactly known for your intelligence either.”
 
The younger of the two bristled, glaring at the god and ignoring his mental
flinch and flash of hurt.
 
“What were you thinking, coming onto Maria like that?” Percy nearly let himself
yell out, but refrained in the end.
 
Hermes shrugged, looking stoic. “She looked like she could be fun, if you know
what I mean.”
 
Percy lunged at the messenger god, tackling him to the floor before Hermes
easily took back control and flipped them both over. He straddled Percy’s
waist, taking both of the boy’s wrists in one hand and forcing them above his
head.
 
“Get off of me!” Percy thrashed around, trying to buck Hermes off.
 
“No,” Hermes said unflinchingly.
 
“Stupid god! Stupid, selfish god! Just butt out of my life already!” Percy
struggled even more.
 
Hermes frowned, finally showing some emotion. Indifferently, he grabbed a
handful of Percy’s hair and yanked it roughly up, forcing Percy towards him. He
slammed his lips onto the other’s and Percy froze up in shock, unknowingly
almost similar to his girlfriend’s reaction to Hermes’ assault. But Hermes’
kiss turned less angry, though not yet to being gentle. He was firm and
unyielding against Percy’s mouth, eventually coaxing it open and managing a
moan to slip out from Percy.
 
“N-no, you can’t just kiss me,” Percy weakly shoved Hermes off, who
surprisingly let himself be pushed away.
 
He stared at the god in a disarray of emotions, before fleeing and not looking
back. Hermes sighed and thumped his head against the side of his desk, still
sprawled on the floor and feeling miserable. Exhausted and worn out mentally
and physically, he just put his face in his hands and sat there a while. His
emotions were a mess too, and he doesn’t remember the last time they were so
out of control, exempting after Luke’s death.
 
For the first time in a long while, he didn’t know what to do.
 
In the meanwhile, after Percy had fled, the son of the sea god had taken to
trying to blank out his mind in the parking lot, trying to compose himself
before meeting up with Maria again.
 
‘Gods, what if she found out? I can’t just tell her about Hermes kissing me
like she was able to tell me. Is there anything about me that can tell her
something had happened?’  He began worrying that he looked like he had just
been making out with their teacher, or that there was something in the look on
his face that would be telling. He was so busy panicking, he missed Maria
sneaking up on him.
 
“Hey, you!”
 
He flinched and turned around, giving her a weak smile.
 
“Maria, are you ready?”’
 
She squinted at him, studying him closely.
 
“Hey, hey. Is something wrong?”
 
‘Oh gods, she knows! She knows!’
 
“No, nothing’s wrong,” he tried his best to be convincing.
 
She didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t push further so he kissed his lucky
stars.
 
“Maria…I’m sorry about H –Luke. Mr. Castellan, I mean,” he berated himself at
the double slips.
 
She frowned at him, “Do you know him? I mean, you seemed like you were used to
saying his first name.”
 
Percy swallowed harshly, “Sort of. It’s a long story.”
 
She sighed, “I thought you were over it anyway.”
 
He paused, thinking. “No, not really. It’s just…what he did to you was sort of
because of me,” he reluctantly revealed.
 
She looked at him in confusion.
 
“I guess you can say he did it because he has a kind of personal vendetta
against me.”
 
Maria scowled, “Are you kidding me? Teachers shouldn’t be taking out grudges
against students! He should be reported!”
 
He winced. That was not what he was intending.
 
“No, it’s okay. Really,” he gave her a more confident smile.
 
She kept scowling, inwardly stewing. But then she turned her attention back on
him.
 
“So…you do know him? Outside of school? Not just sort of or whatever?”
 
He exhaled, “Yeah…yeah. I do know Mr. Castellan. I guess we have some history
with each other.”
 
She looked like she was on the verge of exploding with questions, so he tried
to head that off quickly.
 
“But you know. It’s old news, all in the past and whatnot,” he waved a hand
dismissively.
 
She pouted a little, nodding a reluctant acceptance. He gulped, but made a
choice.
 
Leaning over, he tilted her head up and kissed her, letting her melt into him
as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist.
 
Gods, he wanted to cry.
 
Percy felt absolutely nothing.
 
Started 8/12/10 –Completed 8/18/10
***** Wishing You'd Come Sweeping In *****
When Percy stared at his door, sometimes he could imagine Hermes bursting
through or sneaking in, like the god was prone to do. Sometimes, he’d even
imagine Hermes’ weight on his bed at night, his arms ghosting around his
middle. But then his eyes would open and he’d realized he’d pathetically
imagined it.
 
Maria was his girlfriend, but he honestly felt more for the god.
 
It wasn’t right and it wasn’t fair to her. Percy had to make it right one way
or the other. He couldn’t date her when he didn’t feel for her, even though he
had no idea what did he actually feel for Hermes. But though he was confused
about what he felt, that didn’t mean he didn’t feel anything for the possessive
god.
 
He just didn’t understand exactly what it was or how deep.
 
For the hundredth something time, he glanced over at his phone. This time he
just stared at it before he tentatively grabbed it and began typing three small
words that meant a great deal to him.
 
I miss you.
 
Percy swallowed harshly, staring at the words, his finger hovering over the
‘send’ button. Instead, he just pursed his lips and threw himself back on his
bed, smothering his face into his pillow as he clutched tightly onto his phone.
Unnoticing, he’d accidentally hit the button and sent the message. He fell
asleep like that, not knowing that Hermes appeared in his home, disgruntled as
he shuffled in unhappily.
 
His phone vibrated with an alert and he glanced at it, taking a double take as
he saw the message was from Percy. He hesitantly opened it and saw the words he
so wanted to hear. He took a pause, wondering if he really should, but decided
that he’d already done it so why not now.
 
Maybe he was hesitating because Percy had said something to him. Such a simple
thing made so big a difference…
 
In Percy’s room, he stared at the sleeping boy and winced. Obviously, Percy had
gone to bed upset, if the way the boy had gone to sleep was any indication. And
it also indicated that message hadn’t been meant to be sent. Still, that it had
been made at all spoke how troubled Percy had been feeling all along. And since
he hadn’t been bugged by Athena for awhile, that meant that Percy hadn’t had
anyone to talk to.
 
He sighed, threading his fingers through Percy’s hair before leaning down and
kissing his temple.
 
“I’m sorry for giving you so much trouble,” he murmured. “But I really do care
about you.”
 
He wanted to stay. He wanted to make it up to Percy. But right then, he didn’t
know what to do, and his pride killed him at saying two simple words to Percy’s
face. At least on this issue. And still a part of him thought he’d been
justified in his reaction, knowing that Percy belonged to him and no one was
allowed to just casually be comfortable around him unless they were Hermes.
Then again, he knew that was the possessive and one-tracked mind of his –the
one that got him into this mess in the first place. Now he was being too
prideful to admit to it.
 
“Hey, if we ever get together again,” gods forbid that they didn’t, “I promise
I’ll take you to California. I know you’ve been wanting to go there.” Well,
especially because of Annabeth, but he knew that Percy had wanted to go
sightseeing there one of these days.
 
Hermes gazed longingly one more time before disappearing, and wishing that
things hadn’t gone as bad as it did. It probably could be resolved now if he
wasn’t so stupidly stubborn.
 
He left and Percy felt colder in his sleep.
 
The next morning, Percy woke up feeling like crap. The shower he took only made
him feel a little better, but not enough to completely soothe his aches and
pain. Most of which were also emotional and mental.
 
He had to at least be friends with Hermes again. Something inside of him had
become so used to Hermes being there; he had come to need the god as much as
Hermes proclaimed he needed him. He couldn’t seem to be without Hermes in his
life.
 
And the first thing he had to do to make the god happy was to break up with
Maria, like he’d been thinking about.
 
“You have to understand, Percy, that when you get into something like this with
a god…you need to know how we are. We tend to be…very possessive, prideful to
the point of conceitedness…and most of all selfish.
 
“It is something you will have to keep in mind…and put up with if you wish to
continue whatever it is you have with Hermes.”
 
Well, looks like he’ll have to be the pathetic mortal that makes excuses for
the god this time around. One of them has to be willing to make sacrifices to
keep what they have and make it work.
 
That’s why, as he looked into Maria’s eyes, he strangely didn’t feel as much
remorse and guilt as he thought he would. He was sorry, of course. He was sad
he had to hurt such a nice person as Maria, and that he had let her in as much
as he had, knowing that Hermes would (in some way, at the time) be more
important. But he didn’t love her, plain as fact.
 
Not that he loved Hermes, of course.
 
He forced his thoughts away from that line of thought and buried it deep,
refusing to consider or even skim the possibilities of the implications of that
statement.
 
“You look like someone killed your pet or something,” Maria joked, seeing Percy
looking serious and only nervous.
 
“Can we speak, Maria?”
 
That tone set her off, makingher nervous and confused. She swallowed anxiously,
nodding and following him.
 
Percy threaded his hand through his hair several times, obviously torn about
what he was about to say, but didn’t seem to be willing to back down from what
he needed to talk to her about.
 
“I don’t want to use the stupid ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ excuse,” she froze, he
grimaced, “But I’m sorry, Maria. I like you…but only as a friend. I don’t want
to lead you on; I had to tell you now before we became even more involved and
you would have become even more invested in this relationship than you are
now.”
 
She flinched, “You figured this out when you first kissed me.”
 
Percy bit his lip, “What –”
 
“Maybe I shouldn’t have asked you to. If kissing me had started this whole
thing, then maybe I should’ve put it off. At least…at least we could’ve been
together longer, if I had never asked you to.”
 
“I’m sorry,” Percy whispered again.
 
She shook her head, “Please, Percy. I can’t…I just need some time to myself. I
can’t be with you right now.”
 
Percy nodded reluctantly, letting her walk away from him. He sighed and looked
up at the sky mournfully.
 
“What am I getting myself into?”
 
By the time school started, it had already spread about the mysterious breakup.
Everyone was guessing to the reason why, or had started speculating about what
had happened, but neither Percy nor Maria was speaking to anyone about it.
 
When the last class of the day rolled around, Percy was equally nervous and
reluctantly excited. His stomach was churning and he felt like his chest was
being squeezed too tight, but he couldn’t deny that there was a part of him
that was really happy.
 
Unfortunately, his slight high crashed down on him.
 
Hermes avoided interacting with him the entire time. The god went on as
stoically and nonchalantly as he had been the past few weeks since their fight.
He didn’t even look at Percy. Whenever the god’s eyes would pass over him, he
would feel worse with each time.
 
‘Stupid, stupid bastard. What more do you want?’
 
Percy couldn’t help the urge to cry, but he refused to do so in class. He
couldn’t, not in front of Hermes.
 
‘Jerk. I’m already miserable and acting like an emotional idiot for you. I’m
giving up and all you do is stomp on my feelings more.’
 
“I’m putting up with your stupid attitude and demands. Why are you still
treating me like crap?” Percy whispered under his breath wretchedly. Unable to
help himself, he buried his face into his arms on the desk and his body lightly
shook with his crying.
 
He missed the slight tensing of Hermes’ body as he heard what Percy said, and
the god sitting heavily at his desk.
 
After school, Percy trudged to his soon to be stepdad’s classroom, waiting for
said man to finish up. They were going to their tuxedo fitting, for the
wedding. As he waited, he was surprised to see Hermes quietly trailing into the
room. Hermes looked up and their eyes caught for a second before both of them
looked away awkwardly.
 
“Okay. I. Am. Done,” Paul proclaimed before he noticed Hermes at the door. “Oh!
Lord Hermes, is something wrong?”
 
“No. Percy said you needed an extra groomsman. Do you still need one?” Hermes
smiled a friendly smile, speaking calmly.
 
Inwardly, he wanted to run away. He didn’t know Percy was having similar
thoughts.
 
“Thanks a lot, Lord Hermes! It’s very appreciated.”
 
Paul drove the odd group to the place, not noticing the tense atmosphere.
Hermes sat stiffly up front with Paul, while Percy slumped unhappily in the
back. The god focused on staring ahead and Percy was just darting his eyes
everywhere but at Hermes.
 
When they got there, the employees immediately got them set up and they were
each separated into their own dressing rooms to change. Percy was staring at
himself in the mirror, trying to tie his tie on right and getting frustrated
with it. Warm and calloused fingers gently nudged his hands away, and started
fixing it correctly, movements slow and steady. He could feel Hermes’ hot
breath against the back of his neck, and his own face flushing red.
 
Percy didn’t want to look at himself in the mirror, but he was stuck in front
of it and watching himself look too wanton for his liking. Hermes didn’t seem
to mind, even with a serious and blank of emotion face, moving closer and
sliding one hand down Percy’s front to brush his fingers teasingly on the
inside of his thigh, the other slowly moving up to grip Percy’s hair and
roughly use it to pull Percy’s head back and even baring his neck out to the
god.
 
 At any second, Hermes’ lips were about to descend onto his neck, at the same
time as his hand was going to touch Percy’s cock through his pants. He paused,
listening to Percy’s heavy breathing and the boy’s fast beating heart, closing
his eyes to hear it peacefully and gratifyingly. The sounds made him satisfied
and happy, and he missed this.
 
“I miss you too,” Hermes murmured, lips slightly brushing against Percy’s neck
as he spoke.
 
His eyes opened lazily and Percy could see the flash of want and need in the
god’s eyes. Percy quivered and bared his neck more in offering. Just as Hermes’
hands were about to reach their destinations, the sound of Paul approaching
broke through to them and Hermes threw himself across the room, straightening
up and leaning against the mirror on the opposite side of the room, looking
indifferent and like nothing had happened.
 
That left Percy to lean forward and hold himself on the mirror in front of him,
still flushed and eyes glazed. He was just starting to catch his breath when
Paul walked into the circular mirror room.
 
“Percy! Are you alright?” Paul rushed to his side. “You look sick. Are you
feeling okay?”
 
Percy’s face turned even redder in embarrassment.
 
“I’m okay. I’ve just…been feeling stressed out lately,” his eyes met Hermes at
that and the two stared at each other for a second, before Percy broke it off
to focused back on Paul.
 
“Let’s finish up here and then we can leave.”
 
+
+
+
+
+
+
 
The wedding was finally here, and Percy could tell Paul was extremely nervous.
He would’ve been with his mom, but Sally had insisted that he stay with Paul
and offer him support. Hermes was already there, idly looking passed the window
as Paul paced back and forth and Percy watched him in amusement.
 
“It’ll be fine,” Percy reassured him.
 
“Sally’s not going anywhere. It’s supposed to be one of the best days of your
life. Relax,” Hermes added.
 
“One of?” Paul blinked.
 
“There’s also the day of your future kids’ birth,” Hermes smirked.
 
Paul blanched and just started pacing faster. Percy sighed, but exchanged a
strained amused look with Hermes. Things were still tense between them, and
they still hadn’t talked since the incident in the dressing room, but at least
things were somewhat better.
 
“Knock, knock, dear brother,” a voice drawled and both Hermes and Percy saw
Paul grimace and flinch.
 
Everyone turned to the door, seeing someone looking slightly similar to Paul.
 
If Paul looked like a movie star, his brother looked like a model.
 
“Arthur,” Paul greeted stiffly.
 
“Is that anyway to greet your baby brother after not seeing one another for so
long?” Arthur grinned, though there was a noticeable mocking tint to the grin.
 
Arthur’s hazel eyes swept over the room, noting the others and catching Percy,
pausing for a moment at him before moving back to Paul.
 
“Why are you here?” Paul narrowed his eyes at his brother.
 
Arthur yawned, “It’s your wedding, isn’t it? Mom and Dad are here, and we’re
family. I don’t see why I shouldn’t be.”
 
Paul looked like he really wanted to protest that and start yelling at his
brother, but instead Paul twitched and forced a smile onto his face.
 
“Of course. I’d be happy for you to be here, Arthur,” Paul gritted out.
 
Arthur’s mouth twitched upwards, a glint of triumph in his eyes. His eyes
trailed back to Percy and Percy had the urge to fidget under such an intense
gaze. Suddenly, the man was in front of him, his long and quick strides
allowing him to close the distance in a matter of seconds.
 
“And who is this exquisite specimen?” Arthur purred, leaning over Percy as
Percy leaned back in dismay, face automatically turning red in embarrassment
and discomfort.
 
Alarmed, Paul scrambled closer, pulling Arthur away.
 
“Stop that!” Paul glared at him. “Leave him alone. He’s my stepson and should
be treated with respect. Let’s go. There are several things I wanted to talk to
you about.”
 
Arthur shrugged, glancing back at Percy.
 
“Dear brother, you have all the luck,” Arthur sighed. “Alright, alright. Let’s
go.”
 
But before he turned to leave with his brother, he quickly planted a firm kiss
against Percy’s unresponsive mouth, moving back and allowing Percy to catch a
glimpse of the calculating gaze the older man had. Paul made a strangled noise
before he upsettingly dragged his brother away.
 
Percy flinched, but then remembered Hermes. He hesitatingly stared at the god,
seeing the god frozen in shock before quickly turning to look furious. Percy
strangely didn’t seem frightened or dismayed at Hermes’ reaction. Instead, his
mind was racing and he continued watching, before tentatively walking over to
the god.
 
He had felt absolutely nothing.
 
Percy moved to the top of this toes, closing his eyes and pressing his lips
surely against Hermes’.
 
There was no doubting or mistaking the explosion of feelings he felt right
then.
 
Started 8/30/10 –Completed 9/8/10
***** If You're Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To) *****
The sublime explosion of emotions quickly crashed when mere moments later, Paul
had come grumbling back into the room and had caught them. Percy jerked away,
staring at his soon-to-be-stepdad-in-minutes with wide eyes and Hermes’ face
fluttered into a closed expression, not revealing anything.
 
Paul stared back with equally wide eyes, face frozen into shocked disbelief.
 
“Um…this isn’t what it looks like?” Really, that was like a super age-old
excuse and it never works.
 
It looked like it wasn’t going to work this time either.
 
“Y-you!” Paul twitched, pointing at Hermes. He looked ready to combust
actually… “Don’t think that just because you’re a god, doesn’t mean I won’t
threaten you with a restraining order! Arthur is really in hot water already,
but you can join him too, Lord Hermes,” he spat out.
 
Percy sweatdropped, “Um, I don’t think that’s necessary, Paul. I think your
brother just wants to get under everyone’s skin.”
 
Paul snorted, agreeing partially with that. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously
at Hermes.
 
“And what about him?”
 
Percy hesitated, fidgeting. “Well…we’re…sort of…together,” he finished lamely,
in a weak voice.
 
Hermes’ hand found his and squeezed tightly.
 
“We’re dating,” Hermes said bluntly, looking pointedly at Percy and raising an
eyebrow. Percy just responded by looking hesitantly questioningly at him.
Hermes responded with a frown. “I’m not toying with you, Percy,” he lightly
reprimanded. “I sincerely and honestly want to be with you.”
 
“So we’re actually…really together?” Percy scrunched up his eyebrows.
 
“Yes, I’m your boyfriend,” Hermes declared. Then he backtracked. “That is, if
you want me to be,” he added, looking uncertain about his words, as if he
wasn’t used to such a notion. Whether it was the notion of someone actually
having to think about dating him or the notion of actually having to ask and
make certain, Percy wasn’t sure. He definitely was sure he wouldn’t like it
either way.
 
Paul cleared his throat, interrupting them. He glowered at the god before
glancing uncertainly at Percy.
 
“We’ll talk about this later, alright Percy? And you…” he glared ominously at
Hermes. “I’m watching you.”
 
Hermes just gave him a winsome smile that he inwardly scoffed at.
 
‘I’m on to you now, trickster,’Paul thought, pursing his lips and placing
himself in between the two, pushing Percy in front of him as he kept watchful
glances at the seemingly innocent looking god behind him.
 
Percy just sighed, while Hermes hummed a tune.
 
The wedding was going smoothly, thankfully, but Paul couldn’t help glance at
Hermes suspiciously. The god just smiled innocently at him, even putting his
hands in front of him and wiggling his fingers.
 
‘I don’t trust you,’ he mouthed with a frown towards the messenger god.
 
Hermes’ innocent smile dropped and he sighed, giving a tiny shrug in response.
However, before Paul could start to show more of his displeasure, Sally came
out and took all of his attention. To take advantage of that, Hermes leaned to
his left, brushing intimately against Percy and while not obvious to anyone
else (but highly obvious to a blushing Percy), the god’s body rested slightly
against Percy’s own with the action.
 
The wedding finished off with no further complications, other than the fact
Hermes’ body never left his, and then it was the reception. Paul and Sally
greeted everyone and then left to mingle around. For that moment, Paul took the
chance to drag Hermes off for a private talk. That left Percy to wander around
in boredom, snagging appetizers every few seconds. The place they’d rented for
the occasion was expansive, so Percy didn’t have a problem preoccupying
himself. It was when he’d made it into a deserted, even if it was brightly lit,
hallway that things got a little sticky.
 
“Percy, right?”
 
He turned warily, finding Paul’s brother leaning against a wall at the end of
the hallway from where he’d just came from.
 
“Yeah, that’s me,” Percy reluctantly confirmed. “Arthur, right?”
 
The man’s hazel eyes narrowed at him, before a smirk graced his mouth as he
traveled closer to him.
 
“Your stepdad is always great fun to tease. He’s always given me the best
reactions whenever I provoke him, though he is the elder of us,” Arthur
drawled. “It’s been the same way growing up. He was the favorite, you know. The
one that was supposed to inherit the family business. But then he became a
teacher. I still don’t know what the hell he was thinking.”
 
Percy uncomfortably shrugged, though he was getting curious.
 
“Say, the other guy you were close to…you two aren’t attached, are you?” Arthur
questioned, cocking an eyebrow as he abruptly changed subjects.
 
Percy’s face colored. “U-uh, um…h-he’s my boyfriend,” he uncertainly said, not
used to saying it and still not quite believing it.
 
Arthur leaned in dangerously close, one hand firmly planting itself on his
waist and the other coyly toying with the lapels of Percy’s tuxedo.
 
“You don’t sound so sure of that,” Arthur purred, face leaning even closer than
his body was. “Is he really?”
 
Suddenly, Arthur was tossed off of him and he saw Hermes standing protectively
near him, coldly staring down Paul’s bitter brother. Because, listening to him,
Percy understood that a lot of his antagonism stemmed from all this bitterness
inside of him. It was a little hard to be angry at the guy, though Percy could
definitely say Arthur made him uncomfortable, especially when he tended to
invade Percy’s personal space and make advances towards him like that.
 
“Yes, I am. And I would appreciate you keeping your hands to yourself,” Hermes
hissed out, narrowing his eyes in warning.
 
“Apologies. I didn’t realize a dog had already pissed on him and claimed
territory,” Arthur said coolly, snidely insulting Hermes. He turned on his heel
and left the two behind, leaving a relieved Percy and a fuming Hermes.
 
“Must not kill mortal, must not kill mortal,” Hermes chanted to himself,
clenching his hands. “I don’t think I’ve ever gone so long with so many mortals
taking free passes at me. I swear to Zeus the next one pisses me off, I’m not
going to back down,” the god grumbled.
 
“You should be proud; you’re learning restraint,” Percy snarked, rolling his
eyes good-naturedly. “Besides, killing or harming Paul would upset me. Killing
or harming Arthur would aggravate Paul, even if the two brothers seem like
they’re at each other’s throats, and…upset me too. Don’t look at me like that.
I think he’s actually a really good guy. Issues, but a good guy. Plus, I don’t
want you to think you can just go off on anyone just because you’re a god,” he
shrugged. “And then there’s me. Well, I’m special, aren’t I?”
 
Hermes huffed, “I let you get away with decking me all those times. Even when I
deserve it, I let no one do that to me. You’re damn straight you’re special.”
 
Percy hmmed, “So what did Paul want with you?”
 
Hermes grimaced, “I had no idea your stepdad could be so creative with
threats…death threats to be specific.”
 
“Mm…he is an English teacher, you know. He reads a lot too. It’s no wonder,”
Percy said nonchalantly.
 
“Haha. Anyways, this weekend…do you want to go to California? I know you’ve
been wanting to visit there,” Hermes brought up.
 
He saw Percy hesitate, but then he smirked and shyly wrapped his arms around
one of Hermes’.
 
“Sure. I’ve even got my own personal tour guide.”
 
Hermes sighed dramatically, “Yes, yes, of course. I’ll be your personal tour
guide. But you owe me, Percy.”
 
His eyes glinted mischievously and Percy gulped.
 
Hermes leaned closer, nibbling a little on Percy’s neck. Percy’s breath hitched
and he moved his head a little out of the way for Hermes, his eyes fluttering
close.
 
“I’ll show you all the best places,” Hermes breathed into his ear, moist lips
brushing against it with each word, and he shivered from the sensations.
 
“Mmhm. Promise?” Percy licked his lips, biting back a moan as Hermes
practically plastered the length of his body against Percy’s.
 
Hermes flicked his tongue against Percy’s ear and then breathed on it.
 
“Of course.”
 
Unable to stand it, Percy grabbed onto Hermes’ hair and yanked the god’s head
down, slamming his mouth against Hermes’ and taking charge for once.
 
“Room over here,” was all he muttered before leading them backwards into a
door, fumbling with the doorknob until it was open.
 
Percy continued to lead them away from the door, letting Hermes kick it close,
and was completely distracted by the god’s roaming hands. They’d made it to the
bed before Percy was unceremoniously placed onto the top of it, where the teen
was sprawled inelegantly on cotton sheets. But the flushed cheeks, glazed eyes,
slightly mischievous smirk that was more along Hermes’ preference and yet
looked strangely at home on the boy, made it all worth it. The disheveled hair
just made Percy seem all the more adorable. And also, Percy’s sprawled form
held a certain charm to it –that not despite but because of Percy’s casual
draping all over the place, just ready for Hermes…it was just very,
veryappealing to him and held an allure that was unique and practically
matchless. But Percy always seemed to come up with things that matched previous
lovely attractions Hermes really loved about him…
 
Still, Hermes was going to really appreciate and savor this, especially with
Percy being so forward himself and that he was so readily accepting Hermes’ own
advances.
 
It was very rare and he had to make sure to make the most of it while he could.
 
It was also amusing to note that, despite the implied experiences Percy shared
with Luke, he was still very inexperienced and Hermes didn’t mind taking
advantage of that. Or teaching him either. And the first time they had full on
sex, and it was the only time, Percy was completely drunk.
 
But now he was sober and here and there was no confusion as to who was who.
 
Hermes was Hermes.
 
And he didn’t mind doing one of the things he did best. He even let Percy set
the pace, tentative touches down Hermes’ chest, and he could glean the
curiosity from the minute touches just as he could feel the hesitant but eager
brush of Percy’s lips against his neck. He groaned and nearly lost control,
wanting to just rip Percy’s clothes off of him and do away with his body in any
way he pleased, but instead he exercised restraint and let Percy keep control.
 
Even when Percy’s arousal rubbed against his, and with his new lover
instinctively widening his legs and opening up to him.
 
Control was never a god’s priority.
 
Being with Percy was like a whole other realm of a relationship, he understood.
And if he wanted to keep his boyfriend happy, he needed to learn virtues like a
man without water, have restraint like a priest, and be patient like a saint.
As a god, he was selfish and did whatever pleased him. As Percy’s boyfriend, he
needed to learn to change his thinking. He wasn’t just a god anymore.
 
He was Percy’s god.
 
And each moan and exhalation of breath, every “Oh god (fictional though he
is)”, and every “Hermes” was like a prayer on Percy’s lips. And every caress of
Hermes’ hands down Percy’s sides was just as much worshipful.
 
Percy’s lithe body arched into his and Hermes finally finished unbuttoning the
front of Percy’s tux. Percy’s trembling hands removed that last of the cloth on
Hermes’ torso, fingers brushing over toned shoulders as Percy’s hands pushed
his shirt off of them. The shy lick to Hermes’ collarbone nearly had the man
undone. He licked his lips eagerly in response and pulled Percy in closely,
sitting him onto his lap and pulling him into a nearly mind-numbing kiss,
ravishing his mouth thoroughly and wanting to practically meld with the boy.
 
He was so, so, so close. It was unusual for him, but he hadn’t been with Percy
in so long, and he had never needed anyone like he needed Percy. And never to
such lengths or extents of devotion he’d been exhibiting, never needing someone
so much.
 
What hold did this boy have over him?
 
His thoughts derailed as Percy actually mewled at a particular nuzzle. Hermes
admitted that Percy’s neck was a favorite spot of his, but that Percy really
was sensitive there and liked it made that little tidbit even better.
 
He had his hand wiggle into Percy’s pants and grasp Percy’s hardened cock when
probably the most horrifying thing so far in the time he’d been with Percy
happened. His hand inside Percy’s pants and apparent to what he was grasping,
shirtless and an obvious erection through his own pants paralleled the
debauched picture Percy made, jacket and shirt still on but completely
unbuttoned and nearly thrown off his body. Added with the fact he was
practically straddling Hermes on a bed and was painfully close to the god’s
erection, his face too flushed and panting heavily with an all too wanton look
as he clutched tightly onto Hermes’ shoulders –that was not an image Sally
Blofis nee Jackson and Paul Blofis needed to see. Especially on their wedding
day.
 
If it had been Poseidon, Hermes knew he’d probably been incinerated without
delay.
 
Paul bristled and started to stomp forward before Sally touched a hand to his
shoulder.
 
“Hold on, dear. I think we all should go back to the party. Percy, we’ll talk
about this later, alright? Paul, let’s just enjoy ourselves for now. Lord
Hermes, may I ask you to refrain from further molesting my son tonight?” Sally
raised a challenging eyebrow at Hermes, and he wasn’t sure if he was imagining
that faint mocking smirk.
 
“Of course, ma’am. I’ll try to keep my hands to myself tonight,” Hermes kept a
straight face on, not believing either his luck or her reaction.
 
She nodded and steered her new husband out the door, who was still sputtering
and confused and upset all at once.
 
Hermes let out the breath he’d been holding, and grinned. “I like your mom.” He
could see where Percy got a lot of his spunk and attitude from.
 
Percy winced, “Yeah, well…we’re, er you’re, not off the hook just yet. She’s
not unforgivably upset, but that’s because she understands the draw of a god
and all. You know –Dad. But I’m still her son so there’s still that.”
 
Hermes brought him back onto his lap, nipping lightly on Percy’s neck.
 
“Completely worth it…Now, can I take that to mean I’m irresistible?” Hermes
purred.
 
Percy snorted, “Stop trying to have your ego stroked.”
 
“There’s something else I need stroked.”
 
“Shut up. We need to go back out, if you didn’t catch my mom’s silent warning
and order,” Percy sighed in exasperation, slipping away from the god and
starting to fix himself up.
 
“Okay, okay,” Hermes acquiesced. “But if I see that Arthur guy near you again,
I’m going to incinerate him.”
 
“Behave.”
 
Hermes held up his hands, smirking. Fondly, Percy shook his head and hooked his
arms around one of his and led the way back out.
 
With the party still going in full swing and crowded, their absence wasn’t
noted. Paul brought Percy, and reluctantly including Hermes, to meet his
parents. They were nice folks, Percy observed, but he could see glimpses of
what the problem was with Paul’s side of the family. His mother, Angeline
Blofis, was very sweet and motherly. But the father had a hard edge to him, and
while not completely arrogant and not at all snobby, it was obvious that Derek
Blofis held himself to high standards and probably expected that of everyone
and everything else. Probably even his own family.
 
Arthur was there as well, but he more really made himself part of the
background, swallowing glasses of wine one after the other as he leaned against
a stone column carelessly with a scowl and a dark countenance. Paul was
animatedly talking to his parents about Sally’s accomplishments proudly,
explain their own plans of what they were planning to do now, and other stuff
that Percy was only half listening to.
 
Glancing between Paul and Arthur, he could guess that as eldest Paul had
probably been the favorite and had been heir to the family fortune before he
chose to become a teacher instead. Arthur had probably been second choice for
everything.
 
“Paul tells me you’re planning on going to NYU after high school, Percy,”
Derek’s voice cut into his thoughts and brought him back into the conversation.
“Do you know what you plan on majoring in?”
 
Percy felt his face flush. He knew he wanted to go there, but he had no idea
what he was going to do with his life afterwards. But he didn’t really want to
say as much, not thinking that it would be acceptable an answer to a man like
Derek Blofis. He didn’t want to embarrass Paul because of it either.
 
“Not sure, eh?” Derek correctly guessed anyway. “Do you like the idea of
business? I’d always thought Paul would inherit the family business and all,
run it when he got older, but even now he’s still adamant on staying as a mere
teacher! But it’ll be good to bring in some fresh blood and you’re practically
family anyway…so how about it? You could intern during the summer after you
graduate, take a job as my other son’s secretary when school starts up, and
when you graduate university you’ll already be all set up with a job. Probably
help run the business actually!  The company needs someone as reliable and
innovative as you, as Paul tells me.”
 
Percy’s head was whirling with the information and the suggestions. But…he
actually, strangely enough, kind of liked the idea. He’d never really thought
of going into business before, but the idea intrigued him enough that he found
himself unconsciously nodding hesitantly.
 
“Brilliant! NYU’s Stern’s School of Business is one of the best and most
renowned in the country, and is very competitive. I’ll help you out getting
ready to apply and try to get in, and whatever else you might need. If I can’t
be there, I’m sure Arthur can substitute for me, right Arthur?” Derek looked at
his younger son unblinkingly, his friendly smile to Percy turning just a bit
stiff.
 
“Of course,” Arthur murmured, bowing his head slightly in agreement. Then he
went back to gazing out into the yard.
 
Percy gazed around hesitantly, pausing at Arthur. He really hoped Arthur wasn’t
too upset and didn’t think that Percy was trying to take the company away from
him or something. Though he really did like his new plans in his life…
 
+
+
+
+
+
+
 
“Lord Hermes, would you be so kind as to not visit Percy tonight?” the knowing
look and tone was all Hermes needed to hear from Sally.
 
Having asked Hermes to stay away for the night an hour ago after the reception
ended, Sally and Paul sat Percy on the couch and faced him.
 
“Hm, after all these years and every other trouble, I think I’ve been remiss in
having forgotten to give you ‘The Talk,’” Sally said thoughtfully. “Though we
might have to alter it a bit due to the…ahem,” she turned slightly pink,
“nature of your partner. And I don’t mean just about the god part in all this.”
 
Percy and Paul stared at her horrified.
 
Paul coughed, “Well, I’ll just leave you two to it. I’ll be in the kitchen –”
 
Just as he got up to pass her, Sally rolled her eyes and grabbed his sweater,
tugging him back down and sitting him roughly onto the couch.
 
“Not so fast, Paul. Think of this as your first real foray into parenting…Your
first real task as a parent,” Sally patted his back in cold comfort.
 
“Yeah,” Percy snarked, unable to help it. “Do your first job as a dad, Paul.”
 
Both of them grinned eerily in unison at the helpless man.
 
Paul pouted, “Aw, come on. This is a mom and son tag team. I can’t win.
Besides, my dad never gave me ‘The Talk.’” He shivered.
 
“Then how’d you learned about the birds and the bees, honey?” Sally smirked.
 
He twitched, “It was an awkward affair. He tried, but after the first couple of
times he opened and closed his mouth, and the other times where he spouted out
some weird explanation that made no sense, he just shoved a bunch of
pornographic magazines in a brown paper bag and shoved them at me before
disappearing.”
 
Mother and son couldn’t help bursting into laughter at his expense.
 
“Alright, Paul. You can just sit there and interject whenever you feel like.
But you have to stay. You know, for moral support,” Sally teased. Then she
turned to her son. “Well, there’s the birds and the bees, but since you’re
dating a man that would be a moot point. Though, just in case, we’ll throw that
in there just so you know about it and so you can be prepared in case you get a
girl pregnant.”
 
Both males twitched.
 
“The flower to flower thing is for females, and the snakes metaphor is a little
weird…so, let’s take the clinical route! Percy, when two men want to have
sexual intercourse, usually one man takes his penis and inserts it into the
other man’s anal hole –”
 
Percy started turning into an unnamed shade of red.
 
“–There are of course different positions to use, not just with man to man,
woman to woman, etc. etc. –”
 
He could swear his throat was closing up and horror was creeping up on him
again.
 
“–Like Slot A and Slot B as common venues, and we just talked about Slot C.
Though Slot A is more about females, so I guess for you it would be more like
Screw A –”
 
Oh gods, if there was any a time, he would gladly be happy if Zeus just fried
him right now.
 
After a painstaking hour, Percy walked into his room in a zombie-like state,
mind numb from all the information his mother had lectured into his mind. Did
he mention just how weird hearing all of that from his mother was? That Friday
night was the worse…
 
He plopped onto his bed and wiped his mind as much as he could, wishing he
could just forget that last hour from his mind. He’d lightly dozed off when 1:
25 hit and the bed dipped slightly. Warm muscular arms wrapped around his waist
comfortably, and a moist mouth kissed the back of his neck repeatedly.
 
“Right on time, hm?”
 
Percy refrained from turning around in the man’s arms and hitting him upside
the head.
 
“Didn’t my mom warn you off for the night?”
 
“Ah, but it is not night anymore, is it? It’s early morning. The next day. The
day after. A new day –” Hermes was cut off when Percy had enough and shut him
up, finally turning around and kissed him quiet.
 
“I’m really enjoying myself right now,” the god’s eyes were twinkling.
 
Percy echoed by rolling his. “Don’t get used to it.”
 
Hermes sighed in mock disappointment, “Ah well. It’ll be good while it lasts.
Anyways, how about California? Do you still want to go?”
 
“Sure,” Percy perked up. “I don’t know if they’ll let me, but if you can swing
it and persuade them, I’m still up for it.”
 
“Good, get packed. They’ll be fine with it, you’ll see,” Hermes nodded surely.
 
The demigod raised an eyebrow at him, “Last time I checked, they were pissed at
you. Very pissed.”
 
“Well, we’ll just have to be on our best behavior, won’t we?” Hermes winked.
“Take a shower, get packed, and by the time you’re done, everything will be
settled. I’ll take care of everything, so take as much time as you want.”
 
With an offer like that, how could Percy refuse?
 
So he got ready and when he got out, he was confused, shocked, and wary of the
scene he walked in on. Hermes was making pancakes, glancing nervously every
once in a while at Sally, who was smiling politely as she sat at the table with
a mug of coffee in front of her, while Paul sat next to her and was strangely
staring at her in awe.
 
“It’s very nice of you to be cooking for us, Lord Hermes. It’s not every day a
god cooks you breakfast,” Sally commented, her smile looking a little off now
that Percy looked closer.
 
Hermes smiled hesitantly, “Yes, well…It’s the least I could do. Thank you for
letting me take Percy for the weekend and all…”
 
“No problem,” Sally’s eyes closed and she tilted her head to the side as she
kept smiling at Hermes.
 
Was it him or did his mom actually look kind of creepy for a second?
 
Afterwards, Hermes practically dragged him out and helped him get his stuff
into the car quickly, taking his keys and slipping into the driver’s seat
without a word.
 
“You okay?” Percy asked as he slipped into the passenger seat.
 
Hermes shivered, “Paul’s got the mind, but there’s just something about your
mother that is just infinitely more scarier…”
 
He blinked, “Wait…she threatened you?”
 
“More or less,” Hermes grumbled. “I was making breakfast and all, as a peace
offering, and I asked her about taking you to California. Paul was quick to say
no, but she surprisingly said okay. And then she said that there was really
nothing she could do to stop me from having sex with you, being a god and all,
but she asked if I could at least try to sometimes refrain from my urges when
it came to you. Then she was saying that though there was nothing she could do
about us being intimate, immortal or not, she told me just exactly what she was
going to do to me if I ever hurt you in any way.”
 
Percy nearly gawked, “Paul was one thing, but I had no idea my mom had it in
her.”
 
“Zeus, your family may be a little more crazier than mine.”
 
The demigod snorted, “Yeah. Just wait until Poseidon and the others come into
the picture.”
 
Hermes froze, hand still reaching out to turn the key as he was still bent
nearly over the wheel.
 
“Hermes? Hermes! Are you okay?”
 
“…”
 
“Oh. Did I break you?”
 
Started 10/1/10 –Completed 10/26/10
***** Guess I'd Rather Hurt Than Feel Nothing *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
“What’s on the agenda, Mr. Tour Guide?” Percy grinned, feeling excited.
 
Hermes grinned back, feeling very pleased with himself and that Percy actually
wanted to spend time with him. Things were extremely great. He had Percy there,
they had finally made up, and Percy was happy and it was because of him. The
god was downright ecstatic at the way things were going so far.
 
“Today, I have a lot planned. There’s a lot to be done, and I know since San
Francisco has a lot to see, I narrowed it down to what you would most want to
see in these two days,” Hermes winked at him.
 
Percy beamed back, before a confused look crossed his face.
 
“What do you mean ‘today’? Or these two days?”
 
Hermes hmmed, “We have a whole weekend to ourselves here in the city. You, me,
and city lights and the nightlife. If that’s okay with you?”
 
Seeing the hesitant look on the god’s face made Percy smile.
 
“Yeah, I’m good. Don’t know how you got my mom to agree to it though.”
 
Hermes winced, “Well…she does know we’re…having sex. I told you she said she
can’t really stop us, and she’s right there wasn’t any way she can stop us…with
me being who I am…but I also told you that she was adamant on me taking care of
you or else, and I will take care of you no problem and would have done so
without the threats, but since I’ve reassured her she was a lot more accepting
of the matter and agreed to let me take you after one last threat to my
wellbeing.”
 
“Poor you.”
 
Hermes shrugged, “The death threats were worth it. I have you and she let me
take you to San Francisco with little fuss. I believe it’s a fair trade.”
 
“So what’s first?” Percy nudged him eagerly, wanting to know already.
 
“First, we check in to our hotel,” Hermes announced.
 
Not too long after, Percy was gaping at the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel. Hermes
had sat him down on one of the lavish couches before going off to check them
in, and the whole time Percy felt self-conscious about how he looked, what he
was wearing, and of where he was. It was even worse when he started feeling
weird about sitting on the couch and praying he didn’t dirty it or mess
anything up.
 
“Are you okay?” Hermes’ voice cut into his thoughts.
 
“I don’t know if I belong here. I’m like having a panic attack about just
sitting on this couch. Am I worthy of sitting on this couch?” Percy started
freaking out.
 
Hermes chuckled and ruffled his hair. “Grab your bag and let’s head to our
room.”
 
It wasn’t too long until Percy was echoing his reaction to the lobby at their
room.
 
“Wh-what kind of room is this?” he asked weakly.
 
Hermes rolled his eyes, “I rented the Penthouse Suite for us. I’m pampering you
this weekend.”
 
Shyly, Percy turned to him and hugged him tightly, eliciting a rare blush from
the god and a silly grin. Hermes wrapped his own arms around his younger lover,
before picking him up and carrying him to the master bedroom. Laying him on the
bed, Hermes joined him and lay alongside Percy languidly.
 
“There are three rooms in the suite,” Hermes said quietly, propping his head up
on his hand as he rested the attached elbow on the downy sheets. “You can have
your pick of any of them.”
 
Percy looked disappointed and confused.
 
“I thought we were going to share a room?” Percy would have been fine with a
small hotel or B&B if it meant that they were stuck together in one room, than
have all this.
 
Hermes gave him a small smile. “I would love to and had that planned, but I
thought that just in case you didn’t want to or feel comfortable with it yet,
there are other rooms for you. I didn’t want you feeling cornered into doing
anything you didn’t want to do, or feeling like you’re obligated and feel you
have to. You won’t be pushed into anything and I won’t back you into a corner,
okay?”
 
“Yeah…I’m okay though. I’d…like it if we stay together here,” Percy started
feeling embarrassed when he felt his face heat up at the admission.
 
“Okay then. I’m glad you’re opening up to me more,” Hermes’ small smile grew a
little.
 
Percy ducked his head, “I-I am trying.”
 
“I know.”
 
Percy licked his lips hesitantly, and the action brought his lips to Hermes’
attention. The god captured his lips with his own, pulling Percy into an
unhurried but strangely very intimate kiss. When he reluctantly pulled back,
Percy was underneath him with a deliciously flushed face and with both of them
breathing heavily.
 
“We still have a lot to do…unless you would rather just stay here and keep
making out?” Hermes asked hopefully.
 
Percy rolled his eyes. “Tempting, and I would say yes. But I do want to see the
city.”
 
“Alright then. We should get up before I decide to hold you hostage,” he
pouted. “But seriously, you don’t have to push yourself so hard, Percy. We can
keep things slow for awhile, whatever pace you’re comfortable with. I’m glad
you’re being so eager, but just remember that.”
 
“I will,” Percy promised, before he hopped out of the bed and eagerly led the
way.
 
“We’ll be ‘walking,’” Hermes told him once the god had caught up. “We won’t
need the car until we’re leaving back home. And it’ll be faster to travel to
our destinations if we went around my way,” he hinted.
 
Percy nodded to show he understood, agreeing that teleporting would get them
places faster. That entire morning was spent visiting the historical places in
San Francisco, with their last stop being the Presidio and the Lucas Arts
Headquarters nearby. They ate a quick lunch and then Hermes took him to Castro,
with Percy turning red the entire time.
 
“Let’s go to a theatre,” Hermes suggested. Percy spluttered, his red face
turning darker. “B-but –”
 
“We don’t have to, if you don’t want to. We can even go to a regular theatre,”
Hermes knew Percy had caught on to what the god had been thinking about.
 
Percy frowned, “No…I do want to. This is weird, Hermes. I want to, but I’m just
not…sure. Ah, you are talking about a, um, adult movie theatre, right?”
 
“I’m the more experienced one of us,” Hermes murmured, not answering that,
turning to him as he held his hands. “If you’d trust me to take care of you, to
teach you right, you know I will.”
 
The god gave him a questioning look and Percy slowly nodded.
 
“Okay. Let’s go.”
Hermes led him casually into the theatre, and Percy tightened his hand around
Hermes’, shyly moving closer to him.
 
“Hey, Hermes? I know you’re a god and all, but this isn’t legal, is it?” Percy
asked. “I mean, you obviously look older than me and I’m 17.”
 
“You mean California’s law regarding minors,” Hermes guessed, and they both
stayed quiet while he paid the prices of two tickets. Hermes led them in before
speaking again. “If I were mortal, I could get arrested for sneaking in a minor
into an adult theatre, not to mention planning on illicit sexual advances
towards said minor.”
 
The look on Hermes’ face didn’t look like he was having any regrets or qualms
about that. In fact, the small grin said otherwise.
 
They sat down in the back and Percy nervously sat in his chair, drawing his
knees up and holding onto them. Hermes leaned back and put his arms around the
top of the seats.
 
“In New York, we were okay,” Hermes said quietly. “But you need to be 18 here
to be considered an adult. Otherwise, under Title 9, Chapter 1 both a and c, I
am considered guilty on all accounts for a felony. The close-in-age rule is
blown out of the waters obviously, since I’m nowhere near your 17 or look it.
I’m neither your spouse, I’m over ‘21’, we are more than three years apart and
you are more than three years younger than I. Besides that, even with the
close-in-age rule and we were three years apart, I’m still getting a
misdemeanor.”
 
Percy cringed and tried to curl in on himself.
 
“Now that I’m done making you panic over my behalf, which is very endearing by
the way, let me ask you why we were able to get tickets and why hasn’t anyone
question me about your presence?”
 
Percy blinked in surprise at that, thinking back. They were able to get tickets
and he got in just fine. And no one said anything about him going in with an
older man or said anything to Hermes about going in with a teenager.
 
Hermes took the arm that was behind Percy and put it around the demigod,
pulling him closer.
 
“A little Mist,” he kissed him, “can do,” another kiss, “wonders.”
 
Hermes pulled him into a breathtaking longer kiss, making Percy’s head go all
woozy.
 
“Oh,” Percy said in embarrassment afterwards, though it was mostly to do with
his reaction to the kiss.
 
“Don’t worry, you don’t look 17 at all to them,” Hermes murmured and then the
movie started.
 
They watched at least five minutes before Percy felt Hermes’ hand idly brushing
against his neck before slipping in teasingly down his collar and touching in
between his shoulders with the tips of his fingers. He swallowed and glanced at
Hermes, whose eyes were seemingly glued to the screen. When the god licked his
lips, Percy shivered and could’ve sworn that was directed towards him.
 
Even though Hermes was watching the film, Percy couldn’t direct his attention
to it at all. The sounds of harsh pants and loud keening echoed in his ears,
but all he could notice was Hermes touching him. The two men onscreen were
touching each other and grunting as they jacked each other off, but Percy was
too busy minding the soft and subtle caresses of the god next to him, which was
much more potent than any lewd acts on the screen.
 
He wanted to reach over and ask Hermes for more. He wanted to be braver and
touch the god’s own straining cock, that he could see from where he sat was
bulging in Hermes’ pants. His face flushed red when he saw Hermes casually sit
back, hand nonchalantly moving downwards and unzipping his pants. He quietly
watched as Hermes took his cock out and began stroking it, never minding the
public place they were in, where any of the few there could glance over and see
the god masturbating.
 
Nibbling his lips nervously, he reached out and wrapped his hand around
Hermes’, their hands entwining to grasp the throbbing cock. Hermes moved his
hand and Percy determinedly followed, moving up and down Hermes’ shaft slowly
and almost torturously. But the god didn’t seem to show any sort of impatience
or blissful pain, keeping the same small grin and seemingly captivated look on
his face as he kept watching. Percy frowned and squeezed his hand, and he saw
Hermes’ hand stop underneath his and the god’s cock jumping in their joint
hands at the action.
 
Percy glanced at the movie, seeing the men now having moved to a bed and were
raucously groaning as one of them was on all fours and the other was ramming
into the man’s arse relentlessly.
 
‘I want you to pay attention to me.’
 
Percy slipped out of his seat and kneeled between Hermes’ legs, taking the hand
that had been wrapped around the still erect cock and placing it on the back of
his head, encouraging the god silently to grip his hair firmly.
 
“You don’t have to, Percy.”
 
He looked up and stared straight into Hermes’ eyes, which were for once focused
on him instead of the big screen. In answer, Percy flicked out his tongue and
licked the tip of the god’s cock.
 
“Cheeky brat,” Hermes groaned. He slightly thrust upwards in invitation and
Percy lowered his lips to encase first the head before practically swallowing
the cock into his mouth.
 
Percy hummed, sending vibrations around the god’s cock. He sucked and then let
his tongue rove around the shaft, his hands moving to grasp the balls beneath.
He cradled them gently and then he timidly moved his lips to downwards and
kissed each ball reverently. He licked them vigorously as he jerked off Hermes,
before moving his lips to sheath one ball into his mouth and using his tongue
to move it around in his mouth.
 
There was a tug on his hair and Percy moved up and released the ball with a
pop.
 
“C’mere,” Hermes’ voice was gruff.
 
Percy complied nervously, wondering what the god was up to. He found out soon,
when Hermes jerked him closer, gripping his hips tightly as he pushed Percy
onto his lap and had the boy’s knees kneel on either side of Hermes’ thighs.
Hermes’ hand fumbled to open Percy’s fly and he squeaked when the god reached
in and took out Percy’s cock, rubbing his own against it. Putting the two cocks
together, Hermes jutted against it and Percy clumsily copied.
 
In the background, sounds of moans, crude demands and cursing filtered through
vaguely, even as the soft panting of the two of them sounded louder to their
ears.
 
“Fuck, just like that.”
 
“Fuck,” Percy whimpered.
 
“You’re my fucking bitch!”
 
“Are you mine, Percy? Do I get to keep you?” Hermes murmured into his ear.
 
“Like that, don’t you? Like my dick rammed up your ass?”
 
“I really want to fuck you now,” the god did a particular hard thrust that
Percy nearly slammed down in response to, unable to help himself.
 
“I want you too,” Percy blurted out, before burying his face into the god’s
head and the two of them lost control, rutting wildly against each other. They
dry-humped until they both came against each other, cum splattering on their
pants and a little on their shirts.
 
“Sorry. I kinda got frustrated that you were actually into the movie. I was
kinda expecting us to do something,” Percy muttered.
 
“I wasn’t really watching the movie. I just pretended so I could watch you,”
Hermes confessed. “I wasn’t expecting you to do that though, not that I’m
complaining.”
 
Percy just held on tighter, smelling sandalwood, an earthy smell and a musk
that was all Hermes’ own.
 
“Let’s go do some shopping. I’m having a huge urge to spoil you rotten,” Hermes
gave him a silly grin.
 
Percy echoed it, “Are you supposed to be my sugar daddy now?”
 
The god snorted, “As if. Though, if you do want something, I won’t hesitate to
buy it for you.”
 
Percy grinned wildly at that, appreciative, though he said nothing out of
embarrassment. He dragged Hermes out, uncaring of any onlookers, and the older
man let himself, clearly amused. He was pleased to note that they went
unnoticed anyhow, and thanked the Mist silently in his head.
 
“Where to first, Percy?” he questioned.
 
His younger lover paused, before shyly looking at him.
 
“My, my, you’re all shy today. What’s wrong?” Hermes prodded.
 
“Nothing. I’m still getting used to all this and…c’mon Hermes. Other than
Annabeth, I haven’t had any experience with relationships. And you know just
how much experience with Annabeth I’ve had, which is practically nothing. I’m
really eager, but at the same time uncertain on what to do. So…this is nice and
I like it, but I’m not sure how to act,” Percy shrugged.
 
“Just act like how you feel like. Don’t act on what you think you’re supposed
to act like. Are you happy?”
 
Percy nodded.
 
“Then keep doing whatever makes you happy. Don’t be afraid to try new things,”
he squeezed Percy’s hand comfortingly.
 
“I’m still going to be shy,” Percy said firmly.
 
“Then I’ll be patient, though I’m sure I’ll be more amused and endeared about
it,” Hermes promised.
 
The demigod gave him a look.
 
“Gods do occasionally have patience,” Hermes replied sarcastically to that.
 
“Yeah, yeah. So, I was thinking…Apple’s?”
 
Hermes huffed, “Really? I’m taking you shopping and all you want to go to is
Apple’s?”
 
Percy rolled his eyes, “I’m not a girl. I’m not going to go wild over shopping
or whatever. Besides, I want to geek out at some of the stuff there. Why are
you so eager on buying things for me anyway?”
 
“I want you to wear some stuff that says I’m claiming you and you’re mine,”
Hermes said bluntly, not even blinking at his admission.
 
Percy stopped short and stared.
 
“Well…that was brutally honest.”
 
Hermes just grinned.
 
He sighed, “Okay, okay. After Apple’s, I’ll let you drag me to whatever places
you plan on showering me gifts with. Just don’t go overboard, please?”
 
“Hm, hm. What if I drop you off at the Apple store, while I go somewhere really
quickly to pick something up for you, and you make note of whatever you want
and I’ll get you the Olympus version of it? You’ll avoid monsters that way
anyways.”
 
“Ah, I didn’t think of that. Sounds good,” Percy agreed, though he wondered
what Hermes was going to get.
 
So, not too long after, Percy was gazing dreamily at a MacBook Air. Hermes
suddenly appeared, casually wrapping his arms around Percy’s neck and leaning
on him, looking over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. Chin resting
on Percy’s shoulder, Hermes snickered.
 
Percy blushed, “Ah, are you sure it’s a good idea to be so affectionate in
public?”
 
“With me being a god and the Mist? If I don’t want them to notice us, then they
won’t.”
 
“Oh. That’s good.”
 
“And very, very convenient,” Hermes kissed his cheek before holding out a bag.
“This is for you. Your first gift.”
 
Turning redder, he tried not to be too eager as he took the bag and looked in
to see a leather messenger bag.
 
“I thought, what with you planning on college and all, that you’d like a new
bag to use. I used a little godly power to make the inside more spacious and
all, though,” Hermes explained.
 
Percy beamed at him, though he glanced at the brand name and shook his head in
fond exasperation.
 
“Hermès?” he asked wryly.
 
The god looked unabashed. “I did wanted to brand you mine, didn’t I? I found a
much more obvious way without anyone having to catch on.”
 
“Where to next?” Percy tried to not roll his eyes.
 
“Hm, want a suit? We could take a stop at Armani,” he suggested.
 
“Actually, that’s a good idea,” Percy reluctantly conceded. “If I’m going to be
working with Paul’s dad, I don’t want to look like a bum or something.”
 
That was over quickly and then Hermes was taking Percy to another expensive
store, and he wondered how much everything he’d gotten so far was. It wasn’t
much, just a suit and a bag…but he was pretty damn sure both were expensive by
themselves and together, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the overall amount.
 
“Bulgari,” Hermes announced, leading him in. “Pick some stuff out and don’t
worry about it.”
 
Percy was already worrying about it, even as he stared around in awe.
 
“How about a watch?” Hermes suggested. “You need a watch and it’ll help you
out. It’s more of a necessity than an accessory, so that’s fair, right?”
 
Percy once again reluctantly conceded, though his eyes were already glued to
the expensive but awesome-looking watches on display.
 
“How about I get you the Tony Stark watch?”
 
He blinked at Hermes. “Say what?”
 
“The Bulgari watch Iron Man wears in the first movie,” Hermes explained. “You
want to see that one?”
 
He nodded enthusiastically and Hermes hailed over a teller, asking for it.
 
“Good choice, sir,” the man was already giving a sell’s pitch. “Our Bulgari
Diagono Complication moonphase automatic watch. It comes with a 18kt pink gold
case, a black dial on front, and an alligator strap with 18kt pink gold two
blades folding buckle.”
 
Hermes told the man he’d take it, seeing the look on Percy’s face, though he
steered away from the price for Percy’s sake. They continued looking around and
Hermes convinced him to get a brown leather cord necklace with a steel clasp,
though the god avoided some of the other pendants Percy had been looking at,
solely since those had sun symbols on them and he complained that that was
Apollo’s mark and completely not appropriate to put on his lover.
 
“You should get a ring,” Hermes steered him towards the ring section.
 
“What? Why?” Percy scrunched up his nose. “Guys don’t generally wear rings
unless it’s a wedding ring. I don’t want to get all this jewelry and stuff.”
 
Hermes snorted, “Not true. Men wear rings, trust me on that. Besides, they
aren’t ‘girly’ rings if you’re worried. And look! You’ll be participating in
the SAVE THE CHILDREN campaign.”
 
Hearing that made the idea a little more appealing, so Percy began to look at
the rings with a little more interest, again conceding that they did look
rather nice and that he wouldn’t mind one. Seeing one he liked, he leaned a
little closer to peer at it, only to jump when the teller popped near him
again.
 
“Good choice, sir,” the man said again, making Percy sweatdrop. “A one band
ring in sterling silver with black ceramic.”
 
The Bulgari brand was emblazoned on the top and bottom of the ring, with the
SAVE THE CHILDREN logo imprinted on the inside. Hermes came up beside him and
took a look, nodding approvingly.
 
“I like it too. We’ll get that as well,” Hermes announced.
 
He paid for their purchases, encouraging Percy to wear them already. Percy
embarrassedly put the ring on his right index finger, strapped on his new
watch, and then wore the leather cord necklace.
 
“There. I promise you don’t look girly at all, and it isn’t at all girly to
have those stuff. In fact, you look quite stylish,” Hermes gave him a sly wink.
“Wear it with your suit and you’ll look like an up and coming business man.
Don’t worry so much.”
 
Percy shrugged, but he was grinning slightly.
 
“I like them. They look nice and they are nice stuff, so…thank you,” Percy
looked at him sincerely. “Why that store though?”
 
“Other than the name is written like Ancient Roman and the founder is Greek, so
it makes it really fitting for us to shop there? Their style looks good.”
 
Percy laughed and then Hermes was taking him to the Westfield San Francisco
Centre. They shopped around, mostly just looking, when they stopped in front of
the cinema and idly searched for a movie they could watch.
 
Hermes sniffed, “I’d rather go back to the adult –”
 
Percy hit his shoulder hard, without even looking at him.
 
“Ouch! Okay, okay. Sorry,” Hermes pouted.
 
He sighed and leant up on his toes, giving Hermes an apologetic kiss. They were
interrupted with a loud gasp, and Percy slowly turned around, his face draining
of all color.
 
Annabeth stood there in horror, holding her shopping bag tightly to her chest.
 
“An-Annabeth, I can explain,” Percy winced. “It’s just…you just assumed we were
together, and during the war and after, there just wasn’t a good time for me to
tell you the truth. In fact, you never even gave me a chance to. I don’t like
you like that.”
 
It was quiet and it seemed like the sound of the crowds around them had become
silent to their ears. Annabeth was no longer gaping in horror at them, but was
now staring stoically.
 
“You’re sick.”
 
The words made Percy freeze. It was like a punch to the gut and he felt like
throwing up.
 
“You disgust me,” she said coldly, lip curling in repulsion. “Gods, you’re
disgusting!”
 
She turned and ran away, leaving behind the unmoving couple to stare after her
fleeing form. Percy swayed unsteadily and a firm hand grasped his shoulder in
support. He glanced up slowly, seeing Hermes’ blank gaze, but he could see the
fury in the god’s eyes and the angry clenching of his jaw. He swallowed heavily
and turned towards him, grasping blindly at Hermes as tears thickened in his
eyes and he buried his face into the man’s chest. As he cried quietly, he felt
Hermes wrap his arms around him in comfort. Suddenly, he picked him up and had
him wrap his legs around the older man’s waist, starting to carry him.
 
“I think that’s enough for today. I’m taking you back to the hotel,” Hermes
murmured.
 
Soon enough, he was carrying Percy through the brightly lit lobby, with no one
even looking their way, even as Percy continued to clutch onto him and cry into
his neck. In their suite, he bypassed the beautiful San Francisco skyline and
bay view, opting straight for the master bedroom. He gently set Percy onto the
edge of the bed as he kneeled on the ground and in between Percy’s legs, taking
off their shoes, Percy’s new necklace and watch, and then pausing his hands on
the ring, for a moment imagining something else.
 
He sighed and took Percy’s face into his hands, directing the boy to look at
him.
 
“Am I worth it, Percy?” he asked quietly.
 
Percy blinked in confusion, slowly becoming slightly aware again.
 
“What? What are you –”
 
“Am I worth it?” he asked again more firmly. “Am I worth all this trouble and
pain?”
 
The younger of the two was quiet and Hermes started to silently despair.
 
“Yes, of course,” Percy frowned. “Why are you asking that?”
 
Hermes leaned up and kissed him softly.
 
“Because. Don’t listen to her, or to anyone else. Care only about what I say or
do. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says, because I’m here with you right
now.”
 
And then he put Percy’s finger into his mouth, using his lips to pull the ring
off of it before he put it aside. Then he nimbly started unbuttoning Percy’s
shirt and took it and his pants off unhurriedly. He banished his own clothes
off for convenience, but when Percy reached for him, he tenderly took his hands
and laid a delicate kiss on both of them.
 
“Tonight is about you, love. Please let me make you feel good,” he said
quietly, looking up with an imploring look.
 
Percy turned slightly red, nodding even with leftover tears glistening in his
eyes. Hermes warmly laid him back, moving above him as he started to kiss away
the last of his tears. He panted softly as the god put an arm under his neck to
help support him as the god moved to lay beside him, the other moving its
fingers to his lips. Hermes silently encouraged him to suck on each one, and he
sluggishly but forcefully did so. The god moved his hand away, with a trail of
saliva clinging to his fingers and still connected to Percy’s moist lips.
 
He moved the fingers downwards and wordlessly asked Percy to lift up his arse,
the boy noiselessly agreeing and following his command. One finger teasingly
rubbed the puckered hole, twirling around, before the tip of his finger dipped
in. It slowly inched itself in before becoming encased in the warm heat of
Percy’s body. Percy shifted a little and he waited, with Percy nodding and
giving him the okay. He moved his finger in and out in a steady pace, slow and
straight at first, before he started to move it in a circle, up and down, and
curling as he pushed in and out of Percy’s hole.
 
Even when Percy started lightly gasping and his hole became used to one finger,
Hermes didn’t add another one, focused instead on finding that one spot that
would make Percy forget what had happened. He knew he’d found it when Percy’s
body arched upwards and into his, mouth opened in a silent scream of bliss. He
kept to that single one and kept to his slow speed, letting Percy be driven
into a mindless haze of pleasure from the torturous movement that didn’t let up
on that spot but neither let him fully let go with the pace or purposely lack
of fullness of a single finger.
 
Percy writhed beside him, hands clutching at the downy sheets of the king-sized
bed. He was breathing heavily into Hermes’ neck, face tucked into it as the god
soothingly whispered sweet nothings and encouraging words. Feeling Percy at the
edge, Hermes surprisingly let himself emotionally come undone.
 
“I love you,” he said hoarsely, closing his eyes.
 
Started 12/25/10 –Completed 1/3/11
Chapter End Notes
     Before you start in on Annabeth, she’s just lashing out. She’s hurt
     and confused, and combined that with being caught off guard and all
     that, she’s not going to respond well. So don’t get all angry just
     yet.
     Also, just a note –the wedding canon-wise took place between The
     Battle of the Labyrinth and The Last Olympian, but for the purposes
     of this story I made it after. So Paul knows all about the whole
     shebang, if I didn’t make that clear enough. I also unwittingly
     changed Percy’s age, but I only know that now that I have a clearer
     timeline of canon events (which I’m still working on), but I know now
     that two of the books took place one after the after in time. If you
     want to know how I’d figured that out, I’ll post that small tidbit
     next chapter. There are some other changes probably, but you all also
     probably know.
     So…has anyone figured out this is also sort of a coming of age story?
     Along with a RL-building relationship with godly elements, so this
     story is most likely going to span Hercy’s relationship and every
     stepping stone, obstacle –the milestone journey kind of thing? And a
     hurt/comfort healing after Luke (main thing) thing? Yep, hurt your
     head.
***** I Can't Do Without You *****
Percy fell asleep soon after and Hermes held him closer, wrapping his younger
lover in a warm embrace. He blankly watched him, feeling his even breathing,
the steady rise and fall of his chest against Hermes.
 
He’d…said those words.
 
Hermes knew he’d said those words before, and he’d always been sincere about
them…but there was some strange closeness, a different kind of intimacy to it
this time. And it was very early in their relationship to be proclaiming such
things, and yet he couldn’t take it back and the words weren’t any less true.
 
He smiled in resignation and squeezed Percy tighter.
 
“What are you doing to me?” he wondered aloud. “What am I going to do with
you?”
 
But there was no answer and he didn’t expect one. So he closed his eyes and
fell asleep beside him. The next morning, he had business to do, so he gently
woke up Percy.
 
“Hey,” he kissed the boy softly and smiled when he saw Percy reluctantly wake
up. “Get up right now.”
 
He slowly slid out of the bed, straightening himself up in the meantime as
Percy got up. He was stared at hesitantly, but Hermes offered no explanation,
brusquely getting ready and frowning to himself.
 
“Go take a shower, Percy. I’ll be back in a little bit, I just have something
to do before we go out,” Hermes said shortly.
 
Percy fidgeted in bed, glancing at him warily.
 
“Are you…upset with me?”
 
Hermes blinked, not sure where Percy was getting that from. Then he realized
that right then he was acting curt with the wrong person. He gave a grimace and
sidled onto the bed, one leg hanging off while he bent and sat on the other
one, leaning close to Percy.
 
“Sorry,” he apologized. “It’s not you I’m upset with. I’m just still irritated
about yesterday. I’m sorry your day got ruined, and I promise today will be
better.”
 
He tugged Percy gently closer and kissed him, and after a moment Percy started
to kiss him back.
 
“Even…even after what happened, I still enjoyed yesterday. So don’t be too
upset about it, because I’m not,” Percy reassured him, though Hermes was sure
part of that wasn’t true.
 
What had happened had hurt Percy a lot and Hermes wouldn’t stand for it. Still,
he was glad that the day hadn’t been too ruined after all, and that Percy had
had a good time, despite the incident near the end of their day.
 
“I’m glad you aren’t too upset about yesterday. I promise I’ll be back quickly,
so go take the shower, huh?” Hermes ruffled his bed head.
 
Percy scowled at him, scrunching up his face in annoyance. Hermes laughed and
left before Percy could retaliate. His jovial face morphed into an angry one
once he was out of view, walking out of the suite and then teleporting away.
 
He said that the next time someone pissed him off, he wouldn’t back down.
 
Hermes gritted his teeth and slipped further into the dark lair, seeking out
the one person who would be perfect to help him out. Well, it wasn’t a person
per se…
 
“Arachne,” he called out stoically.
 
Movement in the darkness shimmered before a huge something crawled out of it. A
monstrous spider clicked its teeth at him, coming closer before coming to a
stop in front of him.
 
“What does a god want with me?” she laughed wickedly, all of her eyes zeroing
on him.
 
He smiled cruelly, “Well…I’m not exactly the god you hate, am I?’
 
She chittered rapidly, examining him.
 
“Athena,” she hissed. “Snake of a woman!”
 
“She’s more of an owl person,” he drawled. “Then again, she did turn Medusa
into a snake hybrid.”
 
“What is it?” Arachne came threateningly closer. “What do you want?”
 
Hermes closed his eyes and smiled innocently, tilting his head.
 
“I want one of her daughters to suffer.”
 
Arachne started chittering again, louder and faster this time.
 
“I can tell you where the little chit is and I want to make sure you torment
her for a long time,” Hermes coldly ordered.
 
It didn’t take much to convince her, especially since it was an Athena brat.
 
“With pleasure,” she purred.
 
Hermes shared a frigid smile with her.
 
“I want Annabeth Chase to pay, and I want her to regret even being born.”
 
And as Hermes was speaking with Arachne, Percy was finishing up his shower. He
got out, toweling himself dry, and then started getting dressed, noticing that
Hermes still wasn’t back. He spotted the stuff Hermes bought for him yesterday,
and he involuntarily blushed when he remembered last night. He tentatively
reached out and grabbed the ring and put it back on, more easily getting his
cord necklace and watch and wearing them afterwards. His thumb idly traced the
ring on his finger, remembering the way Hermes’ mouth had wrapped over it and
had drawn it off of his finger…
 
He turned bright red and shook his head.
 
And those words…Hermes probably thought he hadn’t been as coherent as he was,
but he’d heard Hermes say those words to him. It brought back another heated
flush and he wondered if Hermes meant it. Did he love the god back?
 
It was such a heavy question with a loaded answer. He wasn’t quite sure if he
could answer it right then, but he knew he didn’t want to. Maybe when he was
sure of the way things were, he’d be able to feel more comfortable thinking
about it and trying to answer it, but for now he would push it away and just
enjoy things as they were.
 
“Hey, you here?” Hermes’ voice rang out and he shouted back his location.
 
The god appeared next to him in no time, just as he looked at the time and his
eyes bugged out.
 
“Hermes! It’s only 5:15! In the morning! Why are we up so early?”
 
“I wanted you to sleep in, but the place we’re going to is best experienced at
high-tide –5:30 am. Sorry to wake you up so early,” the messenger god
apologized, leaning over and kissing his forehead.
 
In embarrassment and half-hearted irritation, Percy batted him away while
hiding his pout.
 
“Yeah, yeah. So where are we going?”
 
In the next instance, Hermes had teleported them straight to Wave Organ, picnic
basket suddenly in hand.
 
“You see those? Those are a system of PVC pipes that are suppose to harness the
power of the ocean to create music. We’re going to have breakfast here and just
enjoy the morning, alright?” and then Hermes was leading him to this unique
space at the end of a spit of land.
 
It turned out to be the best place to just sit and enjoy the sounds, and the
view he was getting was fantastic. Everything was just beautiful and he was
easily becoming relaxed, especially with the view and sounds of the sea
spotlighting the trip.
 
“I thought we’d take it easy today,” the god beside him murmured. “After such
a…eventful day yesterday, I thought something more slower and relaxing would
work for us. We could go visit Francisco again some other time, and visit all
the other places. What do you say?”
 
While Percy had wanted to sightsee a lot more and he also didn’t want Hermes to
still dwell about yesterday, he kind of agreed and wanted a slower pace for the
day. So he approved and asked about what they were going to do that day then.
 
“We could go visit the yacht clubs nearby, just to check them out,” Hermes
suggested, knowing that Percy had a fondness for all types of boats. “Then walk
around Fisherman’s Wharf for most of the day. We’ll visit Chinatown for a
little bit after, before we head back to the hotel.”
 
They had a peaceful breakfast and stayed there a little while, just enjoying
the peace and quiet along with the scenery. Soon enough, Percy had fallen back
to sleep and instead of waking him up, Hermes let him continue to sleep. It was
nearly eight when Hermes woke Percy up and then they gathered up their stuff, a
mere moment later disappearing.
 
The two of them went and saw the yacht clubs briefly, and Percy admitted he
preferred the plainer Golden Gate Yacht Club over the more upscale St. Francis
Yacht Club simply because it seemed a little homier.
 
After that, Hermes had headed them straight to Fisherman’s Wharf, where they
picked up two bread bowls of clam chowder to go, along with an assortment of
seafood they could snack on as they traversed Pier 39. Percy personally stuck
to the calamari for the most part, though most of his attention went to the
bread bowl that he consumed rapidly.
 
They finished the food as they observed the street performers, seeing a bunch
of different acts on display. There were comedians, jugglers, clowns, mimes,
and even some magicians showcasing themselves to many a crowd as entertainment.
He saw some painted people, a lot of them pretending to be statues before
moving and surprising the people around them by revealing they were real people
–vaguely amused and recalling his friend Rachel and a similar portrayal she had
done.
 
They then spent an hour or two at the Aquarium of the Bay, where Percy
delightedly got to act like a kid and enjoy the water-filled shows. He enjoyed
the ponds where they were allowed to touch live marine animals, but his
favorite had been the underwater tunnel where he’d gotten to walk through and
gaze at the fish swimming above and around him.
 
Hermes was very satisfied with the way the day was turning out and Percy’s
enjoyment.
 
They walked around for a little while, window shopping at the outside shops
around them, buying some trinkets every once and awhile, enjoying the live
entertainment that was being performed as they walked around, and had briefly
debated about watching something at the theater before deciding against it.
 
They decided to come back to Pier 39 for dinner later, choosing to keep walking
around. They’d ended up finding the Wax Museum, where they got to check out all
more than 270 wax portraits of entertainers, heroes, villains, and every other
famous or infamous character/person known.
 
The next stop was something similar, with the two going to the Ripley’s Believe
or Not! Museum. They took their time there, looking around at all the displays
and going to all the floors. Hermes had also wondered if he should take Percy
to Ghirardelli Square, but decided not to as he could probably bring Percy
there another time for something special.
 
As it was getting late, they headed back to Pier 39 and found a nice restaurant
to eat in, led to be seated on the top floor and next to the wide window that
showcased the Pier. At Bistro Boudin, Percy decided that he had to bring back
some of the sourdough bread back home for his mother to enjoy.
 
He quietly huddled closer to Hermes’ side, staring solemnly out of the window.
Then he just turned to the god and leaned on him, burying his face into the
man’s shoulder.
 
“Percy?”
 
The demigod winced and sat up, removing his arms from Hermes’, slightly
stiffening up in a silent response. Now that had the god question him in even
more worry than at first.
 
“Sorry. I probably shouldn’t be hanging all over you, especially in public,”
Percy muttered, turning away and looking back out the window with slightly dull
eyes.
 
Hermes winced, inwardly feeling that burning anger again. The incident with
Athena’s brat probably troubled Percy more than he’d let on, and he was
definitely not feeling any sorry for the deal he’d made with the arachnid
monster.
 
Her children could eat Annabeth alive for all he cared.
 
He glanced at Percy, resolving to keep that matter quiet though. Even if Percy
was hurt by the girl, he was sure his lover wouldn’t appreciate the tactic or
the cruelty of it. He would definitely be angry at Hermes for going to the
length he did, or at the least disappointed in the god.
 
“It’s fine, Percy. The Mist is covering us, and even if it didn’t, I wouldn’t
care. I’m happy with you and don’t care what anyone else would say. It wouldn’t
bother me at all if we’re seen together,” Hermes reassured him.
 
Still, he could see the doubt and indecision still in Percy’s eyes, but the
demigod merely nodded and hesitantly leaned closer again, seeking comfort
silently. He knew Percy agreed and felt the same way, but that didn’t stop him
from feeling the way he did at times, or stop himself from wondering what the
others would think. Especially his other friends and the other campers…
 
And that bothered Hermes more than anything –Percy being so troubled. He
couldn’t help cursing the blonde girl even more.
 
The dinner went through quickly and painfully quiet, and Hermes had half a mind
to skip Chinatown and just bring Percy back to the hotel and lay with him on
the bed, whispering whatever reassurances, quiet murmurings, and sweet comfort
he could.
 
He was glad he didn’t.
 
After an awkward start, Hermes continuously coaxed Percy out of his shell,
doing silly things like dorkily ́juggling the shumai they’d bought to snack on,
making stupid jokes every once in awhile that had Percy’s lips twitching at the
bad humor, and sneaking in quick kisses that brought on that lovable flush of
red on the younger male. The quiet that had been so oppressive before gradually
started to become the usual comfort that they enjoyed with each other, walking
the streets of San Francisco in the night with soft smiles, joined hands, and
the wind gently brushing through their hair as they occasionally brushed
against each other and leaned ever so much against the other’s pliant body.
 
It was a night not spent in comfort but quiet contentedness.
 
Tomorrow came and the two woke up in their suite in the early morning, sighing
at the inevitable return to civilization and having to spend time with other
people other than themselves. They checked out at six, after getting ready for
their day, and then Hermes teleported them back, landing in the alley right
next to a nice little coffee shop a block from school. Scrunching up his
eyebrows at the area and at the fact he’d had to leave Hermes so soon, Percy
leaned up and gave a quick peck to the god, rewarded with a beaming smile.
 
He left first and a moment later, Hermes followed. They took different
directions, ending up at school at the same time anyways and yet at the
opposite sides of the campus. Hermes dejectedly headed to the teacher’s lounge,
inwardly groaning at the sight of a frowning Paul –‘What’s he doing here early
anyway?’ –and Percy hurriedly heading to his locker, with doubts and worry
filling him again.
 
On the way to his locker, he kept imagining the others were staring at him,
whispering and talking to each other and somehow knowing he was gay –Wait, was
he? –that he was with Hermes, that he wasn’t normal –
 
“Hey there, partner. You look like you’re about to have a panic attack,” a
familiar and not yet sure if it was welcomed voice spoke.
 
He gulped and turned to face Maria fully, inwardly still wondering if they all
knew, if she knew –
 
“So, I was thinking…I know we’re not together and obviously you didn’t end up
liking me like that…but we were good friends, right? So…is it alright if we
remained friends?” Maria asked, voice hesitant.
 
Would Hermes mind? Would the god be bothered if he still was near Maria
sometimes? Because he really needed a friend right now, even if he wanted to
lie and pretend and not admit that–
 
He cut himself off once again, giving a strained smile to the girl.
 
“S-sure. I guess we can try to be friends, and just hope it’s not too awkward,
huh?” he tried to push away his worries and anxiety, forcing a more realistic
smile. He hoped it was at least.
 
She gave him a bright smile in return, not at all noticing his odd and stressed
behavior. She waited for him patiently as he gathered his books, and the two of
them quietly walked the hallway, somewhat unmindful of the stares and whispers
that followed them.
 
In class, Hermes froze as he saw them come in together. But he saw the slightly
tense figure of Percy and winced as he realized that the younger male had
probably been like that through the whole day, even if to the normal eye Percy
just seemed fine. His lover was becoming a little too good at lying to people…
 
He thanked Zeus though, that he could always see right through him. And right
now, Percy wasn’t just worried about his reaction to him being with Maria, but
he was still troubled about the words Annabeth had said, if not what had
happened itself. Percy’s eyes kept darting to people, as if trying to see
something he was looking for, his body would tense up even worse when it looked
like he found whatever it was, and then he would almost try to shuffle behind
Maria –as if to hide behind the small slip of a girl, before then realizing
what he was doing and stop. Only for the process to repeat itself.
 
When Percy looked up hesitantly at him, he gave a reassuring smile and was
rewarded with a warm smile in return. He could visibly see Percy relax
somewhat, but he was still more tense than the god would like. The class pass
by quickly, and the two teens seem to quietly work together to finish the work,
serious and focused. Even if he didn’t like her, Percy needed a friend right
now and he could deal with it. He wasn’t going to begrudge him a friend, but
that still didn’t mean he was going to go back to being buddy-buddy with the
girl. Still, Percy seemed to need Maria’s presence right now and he wasn’t
going to make him feel bad about it.
 
After class, Percy dallied and told Maria to go on ahead and Hermes waited
patiently for everyone to leave and for Percy to come to him. Once in front of
him, Hermes gave a roguish grin that had Percy’s lips twitching upwards in
amusement, and less anxious about whatever he seemed to be worrying over. So
Hermes took hold of his ‘student’s’ collar and teasingly tugged him forward,
kissing him soundly. The kissing immediately became heated and Percy quickly
forgot they were still in school, while Hermes just didn’t care.
 
Hermes led Percy to his desk, laying him down on it even as he grasped the
bottom of the boy’s shirt and thrust it over his head. He was pleased to note
Percy had unraveled his tie and was already working on the buttons on his
button-up shirt.
 
“Hey, Percy, I was wonder –”
 
Hermes twitched. Percy blushed (thankfully, not horrified like Hermes expected
his reaction to be because of late). And Maria squealed.
 
The god didn’t bother to find out if it was a happy squeal, embarrassed squeal,
or disgusted squeal. He subtly made a hand gesture and the door closed in her
face and locked by itself.
 
He, truthfully, hadn’t had actual sex with Percy since the first time, and that
hadn’t been such a good start to their relationship. After that, it was just
multiple sexual encounters and missed (read: interrupted) opportunities, and he
was getting just the slightest sick of it. He was sick of the interruptions and
he was sick of being cockblocked.
 
He hadn’t realized he hadn’t had sex with Percy for a long time now. Therefore,
he was so not going to stop now or let anyone interrupt them (after all, how
much more could he take of everyone interrupting every time they’re about to
have sex?).
 
There was the added bonus that he was finally going to do it with Percy on his
desk.
 
He smugly tugged off Percy’s pants and boxers quickly, settling him back onto
the desk as he resumed his activities.
 
Started 1/23/11 –Completed 7/26/11
***** State of Grace *****
“So…Mr. Castellan’s your boyfriend?” Maria asked hesitantly.
 
Percy bit his lip, but nodded.
 
“Huh. I guess that would answer why we didn’t work out,” she sighed, but
grinned ruefully at him.
 
Percy smiled, a bit relieved at her reaction.
 
“You’re not…freaked out?”
 
Maria snorted. “No way. I have an uncle and two older brothers who are gay, and
a little sister who’s a lesbian. I’m just destined to be surrounded by same-sex
couples.” She pouted. “Nah, not freaked out. Just disappointed that I’m
definitely not your type and that my ex-boyfriend turned out to be gay and
therefore not interested in me.”
 
Percy gave her a sheepish look that she waved her hand at.
 
“I wouldn’t mind some details later on, you know,” she said. “Like how you two
know each other in the first place, how you two even got together, etc. But
that can wait. Here’s my ride,” she pointed to the car waiting. “See you
tomorrow?”
 
“See you,” he gave her one last smile and she winked back at him as she
practically danced away to her car.
 
“I’m happy you managed to find someone who knows for sure about your
orientation, and accepts it,” Hermes said, suddenly appearing beside him.
 
Percy rolled his eyes, hand almost reaching out to grab the god’s arm, before
realizing they were in public. Hermes rolled his eyes this time, and pulled
Percy close to his side.
 
“Mist,” he said dryly, and Percy blushed slightly.
 
“Hey, let’s go home? This weekend should be the Montauk visit, and Mom and Paul
might want to make some plans. Plus, we still need to tell them you’d be coming
along, though since we’re now ‘out’ to them they might be a little more
resistant.”
 
“Your folks love me,” Hermes mockingly declared, dodging a hit from Percy.
“Okay, so they’re not stellar with me…but I’m pretty sure they’ll agree, even
if reluctantly.”
 
Percy nodded, thinking of what he could say to them to make it a little more
easier.
 
“But…about that, Percy,” Hermes interrupted anxiously.
 
Percy frowned, hearing the anxious note. “Are you changing your mind?”
 
“No, no…that’s not it,” Hermes tugged him closer and started walking. “Percy…we
should stay away from the waters when we get there. Any waters, if we can help
it.”
 
Percy blinked in surprise, having not expected that. “What? Why?”
 
He noticed they’d made it to the bleachers, and Hermes led the way to under
them, where they both sat on the ground side by side before the god began to
talk again.
 
“Poseidon might notice,” Hermes said quietly. “Honestly, the only reason I got
away with the beach in San Francisco, and why your father hasn’t been watching
over you closely, is because he’s been extremely busy with not just rebuilding
his underwater building, but has been in frequent and very secret meetings with
Zeus and Hades. He’s…he’s sort of taken a breather right now, from what I’ve
heard. I don’t know if he’ll check up on you, but he’ll definitely be able to
catch a glimpse if you come into contact with water.”
 
Percy winced and understood, at least somewhat.
 
“For all my joking aside earlier, when it came to calling your family
scary…Your father can be rather frightening, especially when it comes to you.
If he knew I was with you, he’d probably torture me. And I’m not exaggerating
about that, not this time,” Hermes said seriously, and Percy gulped.
 
The younger male slowly reached out to grab Hermes’ hand, and squeezed it
tightly in comfort and reassurance.
 
“Well, I’ll be more than displeased with him if he hurt my,” here, Percy’s
cheeks tinged red, “m-my boyfriend.”
 
Cheered up and feeling less apprehensive, Hermes leaned closer to him and
kissed him softly, before he pressed a little harder. He swiped his tongue
against Percy’s lower lip, and nipped it playfully as Percy’s lips opened up to
him. Eager to play some tonsil hockey, he thrust his tongue into Percy’s mouth
and swirled it around his younger lover’s tongue with a lazy drag that had
Percy moaning.
 
“No PDA in school,” Paul’s voice said thunderously.
 
They broke apart, with Percy extremely embarrassed and Hermes looking at Paul
with an innocent grin. Paul glared at the god before helping Percy up and
ushering him away, muttering about “protecting him from perverted gods.” Percy
inwardly laughed, while Hermes was sure that he’d have fun messing with Paul
that weekend.
 
However, as Hermes had to check in at Olympus, Percy was left to his own
devices at his home for a little bit. His mother was visiting with a friend she
made from college, if he remembered right, and Paul was getting groceries. He
had been able to make a crack at Paul about his “housewife tendencies.” Paul
responded with a cheeky grin and a “And damn proud of it.” Percy was left very
amused.
 
But now he was alone and bored. His thoughts trailed over to the boxes
innocently sitting in the corner of his room and where he’d left them ever
since getting them, and he scowled and pushed his thoughts in any direction but
that.
 
“What’s that unhappy frown for, Percy?” a graceful, soft voice greeted him.
 
He turned quickly on his bed and a wide smile broke out across his lips for
Athena, who smiled back softly at him.
 
“Lady Athena, what are you doing here?” Really, it was so strange to find that
he now enjoyed her presence and had come to look forward to her rare company.
 
“Ah, well, it’s unfortunately not for pleasure this time,” Athena remarked with
a sigh. “It’s…business in a way. On a personal note. And perhaps…you are the
closest thing I have to a real friend, I suppose.”
 
Percy sat up and looked at her attentively, looking concerned but touched at
her admission.
 
“Percy, Annabeth’s been plagued by spiders. And I don’t mean it as a joke
–she’s literally being stalked and hunted by them, sometimes even in large
armies,” Athena’s voice carried a lot of worry and stress, and he felt rather
odd but happy that the goddess was willing to reveal such things to him and
confide to him.
 
But on the other hand…
 
Percy winced. “I think I know who is responsible…”
 
Athena looked at him in confusion. “Truly? I don’t understand what could have
prompted this situation, and the only one who could control such a large
quantity of spiders would be Arachne.”
 
And so Percy proceeded to tell Athena about Hermes and his encounter with
Annabeth at the Californian mall, and pointblank and without emotion repeated
verbatim what she’d said. Afterwards, they were stuck in silence and Percy was
unable to even look at her.
 
“I-I see,” she’d forced out. “That is…I was not expecting that.”
 
“Yeah, so that’s what happened. And I’m pretty sure Hermes is behind the spider
attacks because of that,” Percy half-way muttered, still avoiding looking at
her. “I’ll talk to him.”
 
“Thank you…for telling me,” she said dazedly. “I apologize for Annabeth’s
words,” it seemed she was starting to pull herself together and become as
composed as she usually was. “I thank you again for offering to talk to Hermes,
despite the fact that it is my daughter at fault. I believe…I believe she
didn’t mean what she said, if it is any comfort to you.”
 
Percy didn’t answer that, but managed to at least give a sharp nod.
 
“If you don’t mind, I think I shall take my leave now. I don’t wish to impose
on you,” she said gently.
 
That made Percy snap out of it and his hand reflexively darted out and grabbed
hers. She stared at him, but he was finally looking at her.
 
“You…don’t…you don’t have to go, Lady Athena. I’m currently lacking friends
that are ‘in the know,’” he said plainly. “It would be nice if you stayed
awhile. Maybe –maybe you wanna go out for ice cream?”
 
“It’s ‘want to,’” she said, but a smile was playing on her lips. “And I don’t
eat mortal food,” Athena started grinning slightly. “I suppose I could always
just come and just watch you eat, though.”
 
“Excellent,” Percy clapped his hands, playfully exaggerating by rubbing them
together eagerly. “Come on then!”
 
And he was playfully tugging at her hand and leading her out. Though a part of
him felt like he’d lost Annabeth, he also felt as if he’d grown closer to
Athena.
 
Later, when he was on his way back home alone, he saw Hermes waiting at the
park that was on the way. The god gave a small grin and wave, and he rolled his
eyes and returned the god’s greeting.
 
“So, went off to a short jaunt with the all mighty wise goddess, did you?”
Hermes asked, but he was still smiling and his eyes were teasing.
 
Percy smirked. “Jealous?”
 
“Completely. I knew that woman was trying to move in and snatch you away,”
Hermes mock-proclaimed, slinging an arm around Percy’s waist at the same time.
“Athena always has a plan, after all –isn’t that what she and her brats always
say anyways?”
 
Percy laughed at the turn around of Athena and her kids’ favorite saying, even
more so at the wink the god sent him. However, his laughter died down and he
was left to a small, rather sorrowful smile on his face as he idly watched the
ground.
 
“Speaking of Athena’s brats,” Percy started quietly.
 
Hermes looked at him puzzled.
 
“You went and sent armies of spiders after Annabeth, didn’t you,” he stated,
and was not asking it.
 
Hermes looked up and watched the sky, his face not revealing anything. His hold
around Percy’s waist tightened and Percy waited patiently for the god to
finally answer him.
 
“Arachne sent the ‘armies of spiders’ actually. I just went to Arachne,” he
said nonchalantly.
 
Percy stayed quiet and the two of them just continued walking towards Percy’s
home in silence. But then Percy started to talk and Hermes looked at him
sharply, directing all of his attention on his younger lover.
 
“I see. I’m not angry, so don’t think or worry about that,” Percy said,
surprise visibly appearing on Hermes’ face. “I’m not angry. I’m
just…disappointed.”
 
Hermes flinched.
 
“I appreciate it, really I do,” he told the god sincerely, giving him a soft
smile. “It means a lot that you would get so defensive on my behalf, that you
would show that you care so much. But this isn’t what I want,” Percy said
firmly.
 
Hermes sighed and unenthusiastically said, “Fine. I’ll talk to Arachne and see
what I can do.”
 
Percy stopped and Hermes copied him. The shorter male leaned up and placed a
light kiss on the god’s lips, before leaning back and letting Hermes see how
grateful he was.
 
“I’m just really surprised you aren’t angry,” Hermes reluctantly said. “Though
disappointment seems…a lot worse in hindsight.”
 
“Just forget it,” Percy lightly slapped the god’s arm. “Let’s just go to my
house. Help me pack, you overgrown child.”
 
Although one could say Hermes got off lightly, inside he felt a terrible ache
and vowed not to do something as rash again (or at least try to, knowing his
and the other immortals’ ingrained nature). He didn’t like the idea of
disappointing Percy, and felt more horrible knowing that he did. Just knowing
Percy was disappointed in him (and at the same time, had already been able to
forgive so quickly the action and then managed to be so wise and grown-up to
rise above being angry) made him terribly depressed and completely miserable.
He hated the idea, feeling, and knowledge of Percy being disappointed.
 
He would try his damndest not to let it happen again in the future.
 
And yet, a part of him was amazed and proud at the display of gentility and
maturity Percy showed –and he really couldn’t help smiling tenderly to himself.
 
+
+
+
+
+
+
 
The ride wasn’t as bad as Percy feared it would be. He knew it was a long ride
to Montauk, and he was worried how Hermes would be received by his parents and
how he would act in the first place. But it seemed shorter than usual, and he
had a feeling (more so with Hermes’ so-called nonchalant face), that the god
was helping things along and allowing them to speed along to their destination.
God of Roads, Traveling, and resident speedster…
 
Why that sneaky god…
 
‘Which fit that bastard too,’ Percy thought fondly, mentally shaking his head.
 
“Well, that wasn’t too bad. We made good time!” Paul exclaimed with a grin, as
he got out of the car and gazed out towards the entrance of the beach and where
the cabins were.
 
Sally gave a sly look towards the couple, rolling her eyes at her son’s grin
and Hermes’ sheepish look.
 
“Come on, dear. Let me show you around. Those two can bring the luggage. Percy,
you know which cabin,” Sally took Paul’s arm and led him away, leaving the two
to snicker with each other.
 
“At least we get to be alone,” Hermes wagged his eyebrows.
 
“Hush. Just help me get these bags,” Percy headed over to the open trunk,
hauling out a few bags and either tossing one at the god or shoving it into his
chest.
 
He took some for his own and started leading the way, the god whistling some
happy tune as he followed.
 
“What do you want to do after?” Hermes asked curiously and Percy thought about
it.
 
“You know, I’m kind of hungry,” he glanced behind him at Hermes. “Why don’t we
cook something for dinner, while Paul and Mom are out spending time together?”
 
“Let’s do spaghetti,” Hermes said immediately and Percy agreed, missing the
glint in the god’s eyes.
 
Of course, nearly half an hour later, Percy figured it out. After all, a bunch
of noodles in your hair and stuck on his face and around his neck, it’s kind of
hard not to. The mischievous god, despite also being covered in noodles (Percy
definitely was proud of giving as good as he got), was grinning widely and
triumphantly.
 
This was what Sally and Paul came to the cabin to.
 
Sally raised an eyebrow. “Please stick to the otherkind of noodle war for you
two.”
 
“Sally!” Paul said scandalized.
 
She just smirked, while her son blushed bright red and Hermes echoed him, only
accompanied by chuckling and a wink towards her.
 
“Please tell me you at least managed to cook the sauce,” Paul said dryly,
rolling his eyes at their antics.
 
“Sauce cooked,” Hermes gestured to the sauce pan.
 
“I don’t know; I think those two prefer another type of sauce right now,” Sally
said innocently.
 
“Mom!”
 
Sally and Hermes grinned at each other, while Paul and Percy both face palmed
after trading exasperated looks.
 
Dinner that night was peaceful, if playful, and all of them went to sleep
relatively in a good mood. Sally and Paul went to one room, while Hermes and
Percy separated from them and went into another room together.
 
The next morning dawned bright and early, and Percy and Hermes were the first
to be up. As a treat, Percy felt like making his mom and his new stepdad
pancakes for breakfast and as he was working on making them, he had Hermes go
and make some buttered toast and set up the table.
 
“Don’t get high off the toast fumes,” Percy said sarcastically as he saw Hermes
standing above the toaster, sniffing deeply and eyes rolling.
 
Hermes just smirked at him. “But it smells so heavenly.”
 
They traded a few more good-natured barbs before he had Hermes get the blue
coloring, and started to mix it into the batter.
 
“Blue pancakes…sounds yummy,” Hermes commented. “This your and your mom’s blue
food thing?”
 
“Yeah. It’s tradition by now, I suppose,” Percy sounded thoughtful. “What do
you think? Something to pass on?”
 
“It would be nice,” Hermes agreed, keeping his voice neutral and unrevealing.
 
After all, if he delved more into the topic, Percy would have to ask who he
would plan on passing the tradition onto.
 
Percy was, for all intents, gay. An adopted child would have to become aware of
Percy’s demigod heritage and subsequent godly family (as well as Percy’s
relationship to a god –Fates willing they were still together by then). And if
it was one of Hermes’ kids that was adopted, it would have to mean one of two
things. Hermes had gotten someone else pregnant and Percy could then become the
adopted parent (but of course, Hermes would incur Percy’s wrath for the
infidelity and he knew that Percy wouldn’t stand for it and become all the more
angry about it). Or it was a kid he’d already had and would be near Percy’s age
or know him from the war ( in either case, things would just be odd and/or
there could be a case of hero worship).
 
Whatever it was, he knew it was much too early to be talking about kids in the
first place.
 
“Did you get the utensils out already?” he heard Percy ask him.
 
“Yep, everything’s set.”
 
“Good, because I’m starving,” an unexpected voice interrupted them, drawling
the words wryly.
 
They turned and faced the culprit, seeing someone they hadn’t expected at all.
 
It was neither Paul nor Sally, come to join them. It was, to Hermes’ horror and
Percy’s utter surprise, Percy’s immortal older brother.
 
 Prince Triton of the Sea Family had come to visit.
 
Started 1/8/13 – Completed 1/16/13
***** Chapter 11 *****
Chapter Notes
     Glad I managed to get this done in time for the end of LGBTQ month.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Hermes' jaw was clenching and unclenching. He wasn't happy that Percy had had
to go with Triton, but he was also worried as to what Triton wanted and what he
could be saying to Percy now. His sudden appearance boded ill will for things
and he was feeling uneasy.
There was also that the cat was finally out of the bag.
Outside of Athena, no one had actually known of his dalliance with Percy, so
now that Triton was here and could obviously tell their closeness and obvious
relationship, there was now someone else in the know…someone of the godly kind,
so Hermes doubted that he and Percy weren't going to be outed to the whole of
Olympus.
"Mm, smells good in here!" he heard Paul's voice and he and Sally walked into
the kitchen. Paul looked surprised at Hermes. "Oh! Lord Hermes, you're here.
Where's Percy? Still sleeping?"
Hermes' forced smile turned grimace said it all.
"What's wrong?" Sally asked, worry plain on her face.
"Percy's brother came and they're talking out there," Hermes frowned.
"Brother?" Paul asked in confusion, but Sally's surprised expression showed
she'd understood.
"Lord Triton is here?" Sally asked in trepidation. "Did he say why he was?"
Hermes sighed and shook his head. "No."
"You're worried," Paul noted, catching on that this was probably something
serious.
He nodded, giving them a disgruntled look.
"Percy and I have finally gotten to a stable point. Now Triton has appeared and
I don't want this to spin things into a loop and cause problems between us,"
Hermes bit out.
Sally came over and hugged him. "Oh, you poor dear."
Hermes blinked in her arms, thrown off by the show of affection and being
comforted like a…child? Or someone younger than her, but he admitted that it
was amusing and rather nice of her. Peeking over to Paul showed the man
grinning full out.
"Mom, don't suffocate him," Percy said from near them, voice sounding way too
entertained.
Sally laughed but pulled away from Hermes, allowing him to look over to Percy
and see him and Triton standing together. He felt his uneasiness grow again.
Triton cleared his throat, shifting a bit in place. "I apologize for the
intrusion," he said politely, smiling charmingly at Sally and then at Paul.
Hermes inwardly snorted.
Triton took a step further into the room. "I'll be quick, but I just wanted to
inform Perseus that our father was actually hoping to come visit soon, and have
dinner with everyone. He's finishing up last minute errands, but he is going to
be appearing tonight."
Everyone but Percy's eyes widened, with Hermes' uneasiness turning into full
blown dread.
"Oh Tartarus," Hermes muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Tonight?"
Triton nodded. "I overheard him say so."
But that sounded like…Hermes stared at him. "You came here without his
knowledge?"
Triton straightened up, frowning at Hermes. "I came here as a courtesy to my
brother. I wanted to give him a heads up before Father were to come unannounced
and hoping to surprise you all. I'm sure Father'll be surprised at your
presence, Lord Hermes," the younger god eyed Hermes speculatively.
"I'm sure he would," Hermes said, but it was more tired sounding than having
any bite to it.
"Actually, perhaps you and I can have a chat outside while Perseus further
explains to his mother and second father about the situation," and Hermes knew
there was even more to this than what had been said, increasing his dislike at
the news that had been delivered.
He stood up and gave a small smile to Sally and Paul, before he headed over to
Triton. He caught Percy's eye and tried to figure out what had been said from
his partner's face, but Percy only gave him a reserved look that didn't say
much. That didn't reassure him at all.
So it was with hidden trepidation and agitation that he followed Triton out of
the cabin, to where the other led them a little ways away. However, thankfully,
he didn't head to the water. Aside from not wanting to fear the water being
used against him in some kind of surprise attack, he didn't want Poseidon
somehow overhearing what this talk was.
"I can see from your expression that you're on edge," Triton said dryly,
watching him with the younger god's usual disdain. Hermes wasn't surprised
–Triton tended to show disdain to most everyone, minus his father and more
recently Percy. Even Amphitrite was subjected to it, though in a more subtle
vein than Triton's more obvious veneer.
"I don't know what's going on and I would like to, especially if it's
concerning Percy," Hermes said firmly, though honestly.
Triton's lips thinned. "How is that any of your concern?"
Hermes only raised an eyebrow, knowing that Triton had probably already figured
out the truth between him and Percy.
"Father wishes for Perseus to be more…ingrained into the Royal Sea Family. That
means that he would like it if Perseus and I were to get engaged," Triton
revealed, and Hermes was thrown off and suddenly felt like grabbing Triton and
throwing him into the sea (and far, far, far away from Percy as possible).
"Did you tell him that?" Hermes asked sharply, keeping a firm control of
himself and trying not to lose control.
"Perseus knows," Triton nodded. "I proposed to him before we came back into the
cabin. He has not given me an answer and revealed his relationship with you as
a reason why. I believe you two were to have a talk first before I'm to be
given an answer."
'What answer?' Hermes wanted to rant. 'It's obviously a no!'
"As I told Perseus, if he wishes it, the engagement and marriage can merely be
a front for your relationship and to appease Father. I have no qualms with just
playing husband, though I do wish he'd picked a more suitable partner," Triton
added in that last jab, sneering slightly at Hermes.
But hearing that, Hermes was torn between balking and actually considering it.
For one, Poseidon (even if he were to find out about Hermes and Percy) would be
content that at least Percy was married to Triton. But he hated that thought
and just thinking it put a bad taste in his mouth. Then there was that the two
of them could continue to stay together without interference and nosy opinions
and comments from the others.
"I'll talk to Percy," Hermes agreed sourly, but even then he doubted that he'd
want to go through with it.
Triton gave a long-suffering sigh that made Hermes twitch. "If that is all,
then I will say my goodbyes and then head back before I'm noticed missing.
Father will be here around 7."
As Triton went back into the cabin, Hermes stayed outside and found himself
brooding and feeling extremely unhappy at this turn of events.
Why now, of all times, did this have to happen? When he and Percy were finally
stable and on track?
It just wasn't fair.
===============================================================================
As Triton finished saying goodbye to everyone, Percy remembered his talk with
his brother. He didn't really know what to feel about the information he'd just
been told, but he felt dazed at the least. Confused too. That and slight panic
at the thought of Poseidon coming there and also of him finding out about
Hermes.
He didn't know what to do about this proposal thing. He knew that technically,
because of the whole demigod-DNA and godly genes, he and Triton weren't really
related. He also, now that he'd finally admitted that he was attracted to men,
wasn't bothered by Triton being male. And there was still Hermes, who he had to
talk to about all this and see what his opinion about all this was –
Speaking of the god, he hadn't come back in with Triton and he guessed that he
was probably still outside. Frowning, Percy stood up.
"Going to see Lord Hermes?" his mother asked knowingly. Percy blushed and
nodded. "I think that would be good."
Confused what she meant, he'd opened his mouth to ask, when Paul was the one to
answer before he even said anything.
"If he found out what you just told us Triton said, I'm pretty sure that he's
probably feeling a bit miserable and a lot upset right now," Paul told him
surely. "You should check on him, since I'm certain that being told your
boyfriend's being pushed to get engaged is a bit of a bummer to hear."
Percy blushed, but agreed. And hearing that, he thought that Hermes probably
was upset right now and that they should probably have that talk then rather
than later. Leaving the cabin, he was quick to find Hermes, who was scowling
heavily at the ocean from where he stood facing it.
"Hey," he said softly and Hermes' attention was quickly drawn to him. The god
forced a smile on his face and Percy shook his head. "Don't do that. I know
you're upset, so don't hide it and pretend."
Hermes sighed and gave him a wry smile that turned into a grimace.
"I take it Triton told you?" Percy asked, and at Hermes' nod, he sidled closer
to Hermes' side and leaned against him. "What do you think?"
"I hate it," Hermes said bluntly. But then he paused and his grimace fell into
an obvious upset look. "For a moment, I considered and thought that maybe it
was something that could work for us, especially in regards to Poseidon and not
earning his wrath and maybe even a semi-acceptance from him for us…but I
honestly can't stand the thought of you marrying Triton…marrying anyone
but me," he admitted, biting his lip as he looked at Percy hesitantly.
Percy sucked in a breath, looking at Hermes with wide eyes.
"That's a big step," he said, thinking about it.
"If you were going to be married anyway, I'd rather it'd be me than Triton,"
Hermes said miserably. "I'm not pushing you or anything, but I just thought…why
can't it be me instead?"
Percy's lips quirked up a little and he leaned back against Hermes again, this
time wrapping an arm around one of the god's.
"I think I'd like that. Not now of course…but later on. If we're still
together. You know?"
Hermes looked at him closely. "Yeah, I do," he said softly.
He then turned Percy towards him and kissed him long and hard, and Percy could
feel his hands slide from his shoulders to hold his waist and squeeze. He
leaned up and reached around Hermes' neck, pushing back against him and letting
his own tongue trace against Hermes' lips and then enter his mouth to engage
with the god's tongue in a battle that Percy didn't mind losing.
And when Hermes picked him up and carried him over to the sand and laid him
down, Percy made an agreeable noise and let Hermes wickedly run his hands all
over his body.
"Mine," Hermes purred against Percy's neck, before nipping at it lightly and
then smoothing it over with his tongue. He nuzzled Percy's ear. "I love you."
Hermes pulled back and looked into Percy's wide, surprised eyes, but the dark-
haired man's face was completely seriously.
Percy found himself smiling and not at all upset or alarmed by those words.
"I love you," he reciprocated quietly.
He let slip the talk with Triton and the proposal, and leaned up to kiss Hermes
again. Right now, all that mattered was that he was with someone he wanted to
be with…
Later, when Poseidon came, he could worry about what it meant for them.
Started 6/23/17 – Completed 6/28/17
Chapter End Notes
     Long time no see? Anyway, I'm hoping to finish this one soon (like I
     did for "Forgot to Say"), so I hope there's only another chapter left
     for this, or at least two more. Hope you guys liked this chapter and
     please remember to review!
End Notes
     I’m well aware of that myth with Hermes and Crocus. Unfortunately,
     the way I deal with Greek mythology is in two ways: the myth is
     corroborated by more than one source and many of those sources are
     the main and key contributors to Greek Myths as a whole (as well as
     its foundation) –it’s to deal with all the contradictions in GM
     somewhat at least. As far as I can remember, Crocus was one of the
     lesser known and not-fitting-that-criteria myths. Though, I’m not
     adverse to doing or adding any of those other myths into a fic if I
     can see a good plot device I can use.
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