Chapter Text
If Dionysus were to say something about Hermes and Tiresias, he would say that they form a contrast.
Hermes moves with a light, graceful step, weaving through scenes and crowds. Not the flawless perfection of Apollo, but something more fancy and playful—something that always gets people to spill their hearts willingly after a few lines of banter. Dionysus had seen his brother flattering mates during the first round of convo and very soon they'd be flattering him. A wolf in sheep's clothing. Still when Hermes plays, he never stays. That's a natural thing, like, even more natural considering Hermes was his brother. That Monday after Dionysus got home, he demonstrated that power by dealing with Athena in two minutes.
"Hermes, have you set up our debate team's requirements? "
Hermes spun a pen between his fingers, the blank sheet of paper in front of him untouched.
"Just starting to, darling. "
"I considered, and it'd be better if you just copy the new list, see here, I just collected it today. "
"But hey! I've been working on your routine requirements! It cost me my classes to figure out how to gather facilities! I even gave up going to the library to see Tirie..."
The pen clattered to the desk.
"What? "
"Nothing important darling! That 'nothing' includes my efforts. "
"Annoying. Fine, go with your old one. That Warrior of the Mind will have the answer. "
He winked at her and ran upstairs before she could change her mind, not forgetting to take the blank space.
Tiresias wasn't someone Dionysus very familiar with, most likely because he rarely showed up at parties.
Dionysus did remember seeing him once at a march he organized to protest their insanest middle - school headteachers who cancelled the homecoming. Tiresias was holding a small poster，having fun, though he didn't stay at the revived homecoming for even a single minute. And once when he volunteered at the animal center, he was there with another, taking care of the birds, and looked surprisingly good at it—though Dionysus himself never bothered going back after getting his credit.
And Dionysus met Tiresias for the third time at the winter formal of the high-school he 99% would study at a year later. They now played the role of a potential boyfriend of Hermes'-impressive! Though, Dionysus thought, it probably wouldn't work out since the relationship lacked interactions; how can you define or shape a relationship when you barely even know each other, when you haven't even shared that much ecstasy together? Hermes seldom spoke of Tiresias after the ball, partly because his family never asked. At the moment Dionysus remained neutral.
But things were starting to change.
Just the next day, while Tiresias was focusing on his workbooks, he vaguely saw Hermes walking through the library. Hermes was guiding someone to a shelf later that day, and then Tiresias recognized him while he hurried around them with a pile of book-it seemed way too familiar.
But that wasn't a one-time-thing. On Wednesday Hermes came again, and people around Tiresias started handing him their books one after another, their voices warm, their smiles bright. Hermes laughed and said he was carrying so many he nearly toppled over, then reminded everyone to keep their voices down. He didn't know if he was doing this to boost his reputation or for Tiresias—but seeing Tiresias smile softly made him feel inexplicably happy. That last reminder was for Hades, of course—and Tiresias seemed to relax a little too. Two birds with one stone. Hermes brushed the back of his hand accidentally, and Tiresias flinched. In that moment, he knew he'd have to take this slow. Cracking hearts costs time; but Hermes definitely had to make the other fall for him, (more than)lifting eyes for him. And it's just a matter of time. Anyways after the chirps, Hermes got to his own work that seperated him from the study area-nooo!
And they were wrong to think that the other was passing by. He kept passing by for the rest of the week. It felt strange at first, but not quite weird considering his behavior while they shared English. And the entire thing was starting to give him a sense of discomfort-he didn't suspect Hermes had bad intentions; he was simply not used to the attention.
Another week. Tiresias gradually calmed down as Hermes managed to make the companionship delightful. They used to thought they'd be carrying a heavy environment with them here they knew that it's true, because Hermes was so heart-lighting, and he's nothing like him. Still they knew it would take them a long period to get completely used to it; but Hermes seemed to notice it too, and the girls and boys surrounding him faded with time. Perhaps they would follow Hermes up elsewhere, rather than wasting precious energy on some nerdy situations and disturbing nerds. From time to time, when Hermes had time, he'd sit across from him, then gradually move to the seat beside him, flipping through posters, smiling and nodding, sometimes even resting his head on the table. Tiresias could only describe all of this as "cute"—and every time he thought about it at night, remembering how he'd stare wordlessly at Hermes's back as he left, with nothing to say, he'd feel unbearably embarrassed.
The other parts of Tiresias' school life changed overtime. Tiresias was still in the lunch group Polites' in, yet sometimes when Polites had to leave, Tiresias would be alone in the long table, sat at the side of the cafeteria table. The work added up, but considering how some teachers would unburden his load, and that he never stopped studying in the three-months span，his sight problems weren't as influencial as he had imagined. Circe was as good a friend as ever, and now an even better teammate. She made an effort to include Tiresias in those (boring) class discussions that didn't require presentations; she'd long realized Tiresias was the kind of person who was "more focused, more thoughtful," so she never pressured him with actions. All that drama with the "central group" had undoubtedly made him crave this sense of security even more, he had to admit. However the world was way too (un)kind to him here that protective people decided to find him at his reschool.
The frequency they made eye contact grew day by day, eventually reaching a level where those connections seemed to have replaced their original tasks. And the third Wednesday after that dance, they eventually had a dialogue.
“You’ve mismatched anticodon and codon bases on these translation drafts.”
Hermes blinked upward, caught off guard. “Really? I’ve spent ages tweaking it and got nowhere.”
“Start by matching each three-letter mRNA codon to its corresponding tRNA anticodon rule first,” Tiresias stared into the scratch paper Hermes had already spiritually torn apart, “the rest of your model will follow naturally once you fix that core error.”" Tiresias said, trying to make himself sound calm.
“Wait, no way!” Hermes clapped a palm over his mouth instantly to muffle his startled outburst, eyes popping wide with overstated astonishment. “I’ve spent forever banging my head against this problem! How on earth did you get it?”
Hermes didn't ask anything about why Tiresias had looked at his draft while focusing on his own work, which was disrespectful according to Tiresias himself, but the later thought the flush on his face certainly explained it.
That wasn't a one-time thing either. Next day, while Tiresias forced himself one more time on their Biology experiment, Hermes stopped by with a can of orange milk, then pulled out that chair opposite to him, "I asked Circe and she said you were on the same side!" He stood next to Tiresias, announcing with a sense of ecstasy in his tone. Tiresias wouldn't need to take a second look at Hermes to feel his smile.
*Hermes was charmingly irresistible in a state like this. Tiresias noted. He wondered if the other know he was acting so flirty but noted again to himself that he definitely knew he was flirting (or joking). "And guess what?", Hermes continued as Tiresias let out a small hum of acknowledgement," My group was also assigned with that today, and it's clooose to impossible! Circe said you did most of the operations. Sooo, tell me Tiresias, aren't you a prophet? !"
Tiresias sighed.
He should have told him to walk away. Should have just said "no".
Instead he took a breath.
"Who knows?" he said. "And that project wasn't that difficult, by the way."
It's such a fun time that somehow Tiresias couldn't stop smiling chattering with him-though he partly know that somehow must have something to do with Hermes acting out cute every second. It wasn't like he hadn't laughed about anything chating with his other friends, but that he had never felt so free of burden. Careless of him, sharing about all those nonsense and random words with Hermes, someone who he decided to treat as if all those past events didn't even happened. But he was helplessly warm by his side. It doesn't matter how much compliments Hermes need, Tiresias thought, I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love...No that was far.
It seemed their conversations "went viral" after that，and the themes stretched from those pain-staking bioworks to an extent of "I really think you would enjoy the strawberry milk. "Hermes ended up offering Tiresias that can he promised hadn't taken a sip from. Tiresias didn't know if it's a mischief, neither did he know if he himself wanted it to be a mischievous line. It's not only about having a little talkative birdie surrounding all the time, but also that Tiresias found themself rather enjoying it. Hermes would sneakily sat next to him and then that he would know it from the familiarity of senses and tha would be alright; then they would have some simple moments of pleasure together, which Tiresias thought Hermes would enjoy only because probably he had had much sense of ecstasy outside and need another source for fun.
The truth is, however, at least for Hermes, that his old friend Circe told him Tiresias likes strawberry milk, and Hermes bought the beverage from where he usually acquire his own orange favored.
"You were not at court. We went looping the student council rooms and couldn't find you. Where'd you been?"Circe asked, her tone flat and unamused, as ten frustrated volley-goers loomed behind her.
"That's a secret~" Hermes said mysteriously.
"I went to see Tiresias." Hermes said frankly, while they walked home that day.
"Weren't you seeing them all the time this semester?"
"Well, yes I have been seeing them, but I'm not seeing them." Back to his usual mischievous.
"Cut to the point. What do you want to say?"
Hermes lifted his hands in an unapologetic surrender. "He spoke to me this time! "
"Hum. Good for you."Circe laughed.
"He said something about H·RNA or whatever, but I don't seem to get it."
"It's alright. Me neither."
"Oh, wait! You are still his teammate in Biology, aren't you!"
"Sure."
"Biology must be easy for you."Hermes clicked his tongue.
"Just the experimental part. We are carrying out one tomorrow and they are taking on the set up of equipment, operation of the spectrophotometer and experimental data documents. And there's nothing left we can do." Circe said meanly in a pity voice，and sighed recognizing Hermes visually seeming to be taking notes.
"And there's nothing I can do about your happily ever after." Hermes said in an annoyed tone, deciding to act out drama.
"Says someone who sees them every day. Your setup’s dragged on forever man. You were not like that."Circe implied.
"Surely I wasn't. He is different. Plus, it's fun, we were both having a good time so far. "
"Up to you." You know, it won't be quite a scene if you keep repeating it and over again."
"What?
"Do you know his favorite fruit?"
"What's happening now."
"Nothing. Just curious."
“Why shall I tell you? ”
"Because it would bother you if I keep talking all day? "
"Strawberry. "Circe said, "Now thank him for me."
"Nah…I suppose we'd torture you for a bit more time~"
~Hold On Darling~
Hermes also ran into Dionysus buying alcohol on one of these trips. The other was casually rummaging through another freezer, comparing red and green cans.
"Heyyy Hermes. Thought you only came here for that orange juice stuff." Hermes wondered if he was even sober. "What, chasing after your little boyfriend?"
...Truly a disciple of Apollo. He always knew exactly how to get under Hermes's skin.
"For the record, he has a boyfriend, you know."
"You're dreaming." Hermes grabbed a carton of milk from the shelf beside him.
"You're drunk and talking nonsense again."
"I am drunk."
"And you're spreading rumors about him."
"..."
"Are you still spreading rumors about him?"
"Good luck, bro," Dionysus clapped the short guy on the shoulder. "I don't mind a little competition."
"Wait, you explain yourself!!" Hermes chased after him, but Dionysus had already ridden off on Hermes's beeping lime bike, probably singing something like "I'm not the one who fought for you~"
Hermes chose not to believe a word of it, resolved to ask Tiresias himself the next morning, then rode off on Dionysus's electric scooter with gritted teeth.
Polites didn't have lunch with Tiresias for the fourth week they got back. He of course said sorry, and who could blame a Life Saver, but Tiresias still found himself alone in the crowd, adrift in the small group. No one would ever talk to him, unless they faced a variety of difficult STEM issues, so he got wise and moved to a window two-top that Tuesday.
Polites had become someone Tiresias relied on during lunch time, and they never regretted it for even once. It’s definitely worth it, considering how Tiresias might be left alone again—and being alone when everybody’s got pairs in this society is troublesome—but it comes with a price indeed.
Companionship is a poison only the willed or fools would fall for.
They wouldn’t categorize themselves under any of the two terms, yet it affects any individual. And it left Tiresias with withdrawal symptoms.
His fingers traced the edge of the table, leaving faint white marks. He glanced over at the central area, crowds of students came and went swiftly, and of course he knew where the tides would turn. Everybody knew where the eye of the storm was.
A question suddenly occurred to him.
Where does Hermes locate in this spectrum?
It first shocked him that he would ever come up with an idea like this. Then a sense of ignorance washed over him. He couldn’t define it. The trickster presented himself in such an edible form that he felt trapped. Targeted.
Or, hunted.
“Is it that hard for you to admit you miss me around?”
“Hermes.”How on earth…?
“Alright yeah we’re not in the same friend group is that what you mean?”
“Don’t you have any other way of entertaining yourself that doesn’t involve…”
“What? Torturing people?”
“…Interacting with some irrelevant person?”
“You mean Tiresias? Oh, he’s incapable of telling the truth that he missed Polites. Nor is he capable of speaking out his desire to connect with more fellows…”
“Like Hermes? Oh please, that guy is just nothing more than a hollow-hearted star that enjoys showing off all around and demonstrating his taste for the bizarre…That is why, perhaps, he’d choose to be a heart-cracker more than anything. I surely see that coming.”
Tiresias’s knuckles whitened around his water bottle.
Hermes smiled. “See? Not that hard to speak out feelingz isn’t it?”
“Another strategy to break hearts out, of course you’d brag about it."
"Perhaps. But why don't you like it?"
Tiresias bit his lips. "I'm not sharing with you."
"What about the milk?"
"I don't care!"
"Then at least take this. It will remind you of me, in case you want to look back at your high-school life when you wake up next to him, in the middle of the night…”
“Fine, stop. ”Tiresias reconsidered that sentence-didn't he enjoy all those bothering stuff? The answer of this question also seemed to complicate itself over his course with Hermes.
Tiresias looked back at the other kid, the latter judged the two cans and offered him the pink one.
Perhaps it's time to get a grip…？
Wednesday. Hermes naturally sat over. He smiled. Warmth covered his soul. Accepted. Freed. And somehow, he sensed a flicker of care from the depths of the other's soul—something that finally let his tightly strung heart relax completely.
"Seriously, don't you have some other things to deal with your… friends？I mean during lunch. ”
"Less important compared to you, darling~"
"Mmm. Lately I haven't been calling you 'darling' as frequent. That has to change."
"Hermes, I have been meaning to ask-are you flirting with me?" Tiresias said with a blush.
…Now the two of them were (evenly) blushing.
And Dionysus, who wounded up seeing Hermes buying strawberry milk two weeks in a row, knew the curtain hadn't started to fall yet.
Its small corner had just been raised.