This takes place at the end of the Titan's Curse.
Iris
Chapter 4
Late Night Confessions
"You look thoughtful?" A soft voice spoke next to her ear and making Percy jump slightly, before twirling to glare at the familiar face of the messenger god. He was smiling but it didn't seem to reach his eyes which were somber and sorrowed.
Her own glare softened and she gave him a nod, shaking herself out of her previous somber thoughts. Hermes shifted until he stood next to her against the wall, his hand brushing the small of her back through the dirty, worn T-shirt she had not had the opportunity to change from yet. "I spoke with my dad." She told him quietly, knowing he would not ask for elaboration she was not in the mood to give.
They were silent for a moment, observing the party from the sidelines, each lost in their own thoughts. "Want to go for a walk?" He asked finally, blue-gray eyes boring into her own.
The choice was easy for Percy and with a soft smile and a last glance towards the celebration she had no intention to partake in, she reached out allowing him to take her hand and lead her through the throng of partying demigods and immortals. Thankfully none noticed their retreat or the familiarity with which his hand held hers. She couldn't imagine the rumors that would have been born had anyone seen them.
She looked around curiously as Hermes pulled her along through the less populated side streets of Olympus. It was not long before the white marble beneath their feet shifted into lush green grass and the houses and temples bordering the streets into trees and flowers, blooming in all the colors she could imagine.
Percy let go of the god's hand as he slowed down and twirled around in wonder. It seemed as if they were in a completely different part of Olympus, where nature dominated over the huge stone monuments of the gods that inhabited the most of the main city.
"Where are we?" She asked quietly, glancing over Hermes who had been watching the awed expression on her face. He smiled at her, moving to sit on a nearby bench. Even the benches here were not as polished as what she was used to seeing on the Mount of the gods. Instead it was barely visible underneath the vines of the flowers which had climbed over it.
"This is Demeter's garden." Hermes told her as she sat next to him. "Well technically it's Demeter and Persephone's but during the winter Demeter makes sure that the flowers still bloom, awaiting their other mistress."
"Do you come here often?" Percy asked, while kicking her shoes off so she could bury her toes in the soft, lush grass. She could not hold back the contented sigh which escaped her.
"I do." The god confirmed softly, leaning back so he could look at the stars above. "This is where I come when I need to be alone and think." Something in his voice touched her deep inside and as if by its own will her hand searched out his on the bench, giving it a slight squeeze.
"I must admit I am surprised." She told him with a grin, hoping to lift his mood at least a little. She missed the mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "I thought that the guy who invented the interned would be into more modern, high tech stuff than this."
Hermes shot her a grateful smile, obviously knowing what she was trying to do, but in a second the somber look was back on his face. "Percy," He started, turning so he could look her in the eyes. One of his hands reached up to touch the newly acquired lock of white hair. "I am sorry for what Luke did to you." He admitted softly, his voice pained. "And I am sorry I could not help."
"Hermes-" The demigoddess started to object but he held a hand up to stop her.
"I saw what my son did to you, I saw the way he lured you into a trap." The god swallowed heavily. "I heard your prayers when you were struggling to hold up the weight of the sky. And I did nothing." He was growing more agitated as he spoke, shooting to his feet and pacing in front of the bench. "You are one of the few beings in this world that I could call friends and I had to stay back and let you suffer." Angry and anguished, he ran a hand through his hair, pulling viciously at the dark locks.
"Hey," Percy called gently, moving to stand in front of him. "It's alright, there was nothing you could do without breaking the laws."
"The laws are stupid." Hermes grumbled, some of his anger settling. "All they do is cause more trouble and keep us away from those we care for."
Percy hummed in acknowledgement, but didn't comment. Instead she walked over to the middle of the grassy meadow, lying down, almost disappearing among the high green stalks. The sound of movement to her left alerted her that Hermes had joined her.
For a long moment they just lay there under the cloudless skies, almost invisible in the grass.
"Tell me a secret." Percy asked suddenly, without turning to look at the god's direction. It was a bold request, she knew, and a possibly dangerous one. Had Hermes been any other god he would have turned her into a toad the second she spoke.
Gods lived millenniums. Most of them had enough secrets to fill a library and they guarded them fiercely. Not that she was asking for that sort of secrets, of course. Daughter of Poseidon or not, even Percy Jackson had enough tact not to demand for anyone's most guarded truths. No, she wanted something much more trivial, the little, embarrassing facts about you that only your closest friends knew.
A moment of silence followed and the girl chanced a peek at what she could see from Hermes' face from her angle. His silence made her think he was angry at her but his contemplating expression assured her worries, while he filtered through thousand years of history about something that would satisfy her curiosity.
"I passionately dislike jellyfish." The honest confession prompted a shocked laughter from the demigoddess and Hermes shot her a half hearted glare, though there was amusement in his eyes. "Don't laugh! They are slimy and disgusting." He shuddered at the thought making her laugh even harder.
It took a few minutes for her laughter to die down and for her to settle back on the ground. "I wanted to be an explorer as a kid." She admitted, still a little breathless. "I wanted to visit every single corner of the world, especially places where no one has been before. From the deepest point in the ocean to the highest star in the sky, I wanted to see them all." There was wistfulness in her voice, silent longing for more carefree days, when the scariest monster was nothing more than your imagination.
"Someday I can take you." Hermes whispered, giving her hand a slight squeeze. "Wherever you want to go, we could visit. Though we might need your father's assistance with the ocean."
"That sounds nice." Percy admitted, shifting on her side so she could look at him. "Tell me something else?"
"I love chocolate." He said, prompting a snort out of the girl.
"That's not a secret!" Percy complained jokingly, poking his side with her elbow. "Everybody loves chocolate!"
"Fine, fine. I hate yogurt."
"I've never been kissed."
"I've never been in love."
"I-" Percy started, before shooting up to be able to see Hermes better. "What?"
"I've never been in love."
"But – but you've lived thousands of years!" The demigoddess exclaimed. "You've had dozens of children! Even more lovers!"
Hermes shifted so his elbows supported the upper half of his body, uncomfortable look on his face when faced with Percy's own scandalized expression. The god bit his lips obviously struggling to explain whatever it was to the girl he had started viewing as a very close friend.
"Have you seen the way Hades looks at Persephone when they are alone?" Hermes questioned quietly. "Like she is the sun and the stars rolled into one. And despite how much they bicker and how much she longs to be back on earth, she looks at him the same way. That is love." The god sighed. "You are still young, Percy, it is hard for you to understand. But when one has lived as long as we have, well, it gets lonely. Sometime -" He swallowed heavily. "Sometimes you just need some form of closeness just to feel alive."
She could hear the anguish in his voice, millennia of longing transparent in the way he spoke. He was right – she couldn't understand. Hades, she couldn't even imagine it – spending eternity alone. But somehow instinctively, she felt his need for comfort, for contact, just friendly human contact with no obligation that had been denied to him for so long.
Without her command, before even the thought had crossed her mind, he body shifted closer, her head situating itself on his shoulder. For a moment she felt him tense beneath her, his breath hitching. But then he relaxed, melting against her as his arm moved from beneath her to pull her closer. There was nothing to the gesture, no agenda or purpose, just comfort and closeness as they lost themselves to their thoughts. And if the stars shone brighter for a moment, no one noticed.
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