The Lovely Gift

Got to get the gift to her…. Got to get the gift to her… Got to get the gift to her…

As he flew fast into the palace of Mount Olympus and dashed through the hallways and corridors, Hermes was so very focused on the sole task on his mind. Breezing quickly past the different deities, leaving a gust of wind in his wake, all he could think about was getting the gift to her, and he wanted to get to her fast…

All of a sudden, when he turned sharply around a corner, Hermes collided head-first with someone who was walking in his way.

"HEY!" both Hermes and the unknown someone shouted out in shock as they both fell down from the impact of the collision. Hermes skidded slightly on the floor on his back, his arms wrapped protectively around the special silk-wrapped gift to avoid it from being crushed.

"So sorry…" he muttered quickly, getting back on his feet and wiping away invisible dust from his blue chiton as the wings on his headband and the back of his sandals fluttered lightly. "I did not see where I was going…"

As the other too started to get up and off the ground, an annoyed but familiar voice spoke up.

"I can really see that!" Apollo exclaimed in a huff of irritation. "Honestly! I had been busy composing a new song for Father in my mind, and you just had to crash into me at the best part! Thank goodness I am still able to remember it all! You could have made me forget my hard work, Hermes!"

Hermes looked at his older half-brother and best friend with a roll of his spring green eyes and a smirk playing on his lips. "Oh, hello there, Apollo," he greeted in mock sarcasm. "Lovely day we are having, huh?"

Apollo ran a hand through his short and wavy golden hair while his sky blue eyes looked at him with annoyance clear in his bright orbs. "Oh, lovely greeting after your collision, Hermes," he replied with sarcasm dripping in his voice. "What are you doing anyway? I don't think I have ever seen you look so hurried before. What is the special occasion?"

At that question, Hermes started becoming nervous. Apollo was the last person he wanted to let to know about his special delivery to…

"What's that in your hand?" Apollo suddenly asked, gesturing with his eyes to the silk-bound item in Hermes' arms. "A present to someone?"

"Umm… yes," Hermes replied slowly, his hold onto the gift tightening slightly more in anxiety.

Apollo's eyes perked up with a mischievous and curious glint as he asked, "Ooh… Who is it for? A special someone?"

Without replying, as he felt his throat had gone dry from anxiety, Hermes only nodded his head.

Apollo got more curious and started to press Hermes for answers. "Come on, Hermes. Tell me. I'm just so curious to know what the present is, and who is it for. Come on, now. You can tell me. I'm your brother and friend, after all."

That is the problem… Hermes thought to himself in dismay. But try as he may for a good excuse to give Apollo, a voice sounded from nearby, approaching where the two gods were talking to each other.

A voice that immediately made Hermes' heart race, for it was the one person who he had hurried off to see.

"What goes on here?" Artemis asked as she approached her younger brother and half-brother. Her midnight blue eyes darted from one to the other, looking for an answer as to what was going on.

Hermes could not help but gaze at the lovely face of his older half-sister, who he was secretly in love with. Oh, how he yearned to be able to love her affectionately, wanting to shower her in his love and give her happiness. But he restrained himself entirely out of respect for Artemis' title as a virgin goddess. It hurt him to know that he could never reveal the truth of his love for her, but he decided to live with it. Nonetheless, it does not cause him so much of an issue, and he was quite satisfied with the close friendship that he and Artemis had together.

"Hello, sister," Apollo greeted Artemis affectionately with a smile. "I was just asking Hermes who he planned to give the special present in his hands to."

That made Artemis curious as well, and she turned to look at the young blonde god with a curious expression. "A present?" she said. "For whom?"

Standing right in front of Artemis made Hermes all the more anxious and nervous, and impulsive thoughts of the whole thing being a bad idea started forming in his head. He told himself mentally that he could just lie and walk away now, to save himself face from embarrassment. However, he knew that he had gone too far to back down now; too much hard work would be wasted.

Clearing his throat and building up his confidence, Hermes replied with a weak smile, "For you, Artemis."

At that, both Apollo and Artemis were visibly taken aback by that piece of news. But while Apollo gaped his mouth open in shock, Artemis simply smiled in surprise.

"For me?" she said with amusement in her voice.

Hermes nodded his head, and extended his hands which held the silk-wrapped gift. His smile grew wider as Artemis gently took it in her own feminine hands and unwrapped the silk covering, and it grew wider when Artemis gasped at what she saw was the gift from him to her.

In her hands was a bouquet made up of many types of her favorite flowers; which consisted of amaranths, daisies, honeysuckles, ranunculus, thistle, anemones and flowering almonds. They were bright in various shades of pinks, whites, blues and purples, and were all emanating very sweet perfume that wafted into the air. But what was most enchanting of the bouquet was that the leaves and stalks of the flowers, instead of being green, were all silver in color, giving the bouquet a nice shining effect in the light.

As he watched Artemis gaze at the bouquet in her hands in amazement, Hermes explained, "Persephone grew them in one of her Eleusinian glades, and she had been able to turn the leaves and stalks from green to silver with a new skill. When I saw them, it reminded me of you. So I thought I could make you a nice gift. I do really hope that you love them."

Artemis looked up from the bouquet into his eyes and exclaimed with a smile, "Hermes, this is beautiful! Absolutely beautiful! Thank you so much for being thoughtful!"

Hermes felt himself blush in happiness and smiled at the fact that he was able to make her happy with her gift. But he was then distracted when Apollo commented with a huff, "Well, what about the pearl necklace I had gifted you recently, Artemis? Were they not beautiful?"

Cradling the bouquet gently in her arms, Artemis turned her head to Apollo and replied, "Oh, they were beautiful, dear brother. Beautiful like the rest of the extravagant gifts you have bestowed upon me. But even this bouquet of my favorite flowers with silver leaves is a gorgeous gift."

Artemis withdrew a white anemone flower from the bunch and tucked it into her thick and luscious dark blackish-brown hair. She then withdrew the flowers and took a whiff of their perfume, sighing at their sweet scent.

But just then, she looked to Hermes and smiled. He smiled back, but it was suddenly wiped away in shock when Artemis stepped forward and wrapped an arm around him in a one-armed hug. His shock only increased tenfold to the point where it felt like his heart had stopped beating when he felt Artemis place a chaste kiss on his cheek.

When she withdrew, Hermes could only stare at Artemis in a daze. Had she truly just gave him a kiss on his cheek? There was a tingling sensation on his skin there, on the area where her lips had touched. So he knew that it was true. But he could not believe that he had received that sort of blessing. He could feel his heart starting to beat once again, rapidly due to the sudden rush of blood that flowed to his face.

"Wha-Wha-What?" Apollo stammered, clearly not believing what he had just witnessed. His eyes were as wide as saucers, and he was running his fingers through his hair in utter confusion. "Sister… What… Why… Hermes…"

With a lovely smile, Artemis calmly replied, "Hermes deserves a reward for his gift, Apollo. Now be off. I will see you later in the evening."

She then turned away from Apollo and back to Hermes, and she locked an arm around his while the other cradled the bouquet gently. Looking up at Hermes' still-dazed spring green eyes, she asked, "Come and join me for a cup of nectar, Hermes. It's the least I could do to thank you."

Feeling reality set upon him again, Hermes smiled and nodded before walking away with Artemis to one of the lounges of the palace, leaving a confused and flabbergasted Apollo right behind to stare at them in disbelief.

As he walked away with lovely Artemis right next to her, Hermes felt relieved that he did not back down from giving her the lovely gift.

Author's Note:

Hello, hello! Random one-shot appears out of nowhere!

This was just something silly that I had dreamed about while I was taking a nap. I think my inner conscious is bringing out the small part of me that ships HermesXArtemis (or Hertemis or Armes, as most of you call their ship), and thus played me this little scene in my head. I knew I had to write it down, with the thought of a very confused Apollo in my head.

This is just a silly one-shot, holding no relation whatsoever to my other stories. I have to admit, this was kind of cute :)

Alright! See ya!

Muse of Fanfiction