Chapter Text
Hermes sat on the railing of the roof, back facing the locked doors entering inside the empire state building. His finger loosely held a cigarette. It was nearly burned away, but he was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice the heat on his pointer. It burned him. “ ah, shit.” He exclaimed softly, dropping the cigarette and shaking the loose ash off his hand. He sighed and cupped his face in his hands, groaning. He had to go back to work and now he couldn't even take a smoke break. He briefly considered simply not showing up to the council meeting tomorrow. He had fucked up severely and had bet on Apollo’s success in his quest, and as a result the blonde had been ignoring him. He was so caught up in his mind that he almost didn’t notice the soft, yet scorching breeze of Egyptian sand that gave away another’ arrival on the rooftop. Almost.
“ You dropped your death stick.” Thoth said with a smug indifference, pointing to the offending object that lay, still half smoking on the ground. He had tightly curled golden blond hair that was tied back into a ponytail. Thoth’s long wool trench coat was swirling with hieroglyphs that seemed to float off him. He had an olive green scarf around his neck. “ You're dressed for the weather.” Hermes noted. “ It's colder in Memphis.” Thoth respond, leaning on the railing next to Hermes. “ yeah but is it cold enough for a trench coat and scarf?” Hermes retorted. Thoth looked at him, up and down. “Please, you look like you just robbed a liquor store.” He scoffed. He wasn’t exactly wrong. Hermes had a worn black shirt that was advertising the mercury retrograde, pulled over that was a red flannel that Thoth was positive was Apollo's. Black skinny jeans were tucked into red high tops with wings carefully embroidered into the outer sides. Thoth took in his friend's outfit. Hermes had seen better days, as had that shirt. “ Nice shirt.” The blonde said. Hermes rolled his eyes and scooted away from the older god.
Thoth took a deep breath. Something was bothering his friend. He reached out to touch Hermes' hand, which was half hidden by the fabric of the stolen flannel. Hermes jerked away. Not in the slightest surprised, Thoth laid his hand on top of the Greeks. “ Hey,” he said softly, trying to get the Olympian to look at him. No response. Thoth sighed internally, this would be harder than he thought. “ Look at me.” He said. Hermes' head turned. Blue eyes met gold. While both men had bags under their eyes, one’s were from a different cause. “ You seem tired. Have you slept at all since I saw you last?” Thoth asked. Hermes ripped his eyes away. He scoffed a simple “ no.” before looking up at the winter sky. It had been months since he had gotten back to Olympus. He thought he would be fine by now, but the nightmares still linger. He still saw the golden chains with thick, hollow, wire that had been placed in his very veins. He still saw the sneer of the former roman emperor behind his eyes. He couldn't look at his body in the mirror without seeing the slashes and holes where his ichor had been drained. He thought he could handle it. He was a god after all. Immortal. But after being chained up for so long, driven to chaos and back with never ending pain. Well, the only thing he saw himself as now, was a scared little kid. His self-esteem was no more than a teenage boy’s . A soft hand gripped his chin, gently turning his face towards that of his companion. Thoth’s intelligent gold eyes shone behind his brownline glasses. His forehead was creased with worry. Hermes wondered if this was how he appeared to the magicians. A defeated sigh escaped him before he could stop it. Thoth lifted his head so that their eyes met again. “ I'm just really tired.” Hermes said, voice barely a whisper.
Thoth nodded, hearing the underlying pain in his friend’s words. He glanced up. “ It would be risky to stay here, with your family hating mine and all. We should go back to my office and talk there.” Hermes nodded and took Thoth’s outstretched arm. Within an instant they were in Memphis. Standing outside the old pyramid arena. Thoth was right, it was colder here. Hermes shivered and drew his flannel around him tighter. Thoth unlocked the door and they stepped inside. It was an odd place, with no shortage of space for the Ibis and baboons that moved about. They made their way to a more secluded corner of the large building. It was simple, compared to the rest of the interior. A twin bed and desk were pushed against one wall, while three electric guitars were propped against another. Four bean bags littered the floor next to a mini-fridge that Hermes guessed was full of redbull or monster or some other heart stopping energy drink. “ It ain't much-” Thoth said nervously, grabbing a rockstar from the fridge ( of course it was rockstar). Hermes sat down on the bed, which dipped a little under his weight. “ Can I have one?” Hermes asked. Thoth wheeled around from where he was making a makeshift mattress out of hot pink and neon green beanbags. “ Oh gods no, you are going to bed, right there,” he pointed to the twin bed Hermes was awkwardly sitting on. “ and getting 10 hours of sleep.” He punctuated his point by crushing the now empty can on his head.
"and if I don't?" Hermes threatened, the offer of sleep was enticing but not quite enough. “If you don't Apollo will be on your ass for not sleeping and you're gonna have to tell him that you're still having nightmares. And Hermes, because you're my friend and I love you, I'm not making you go through that if I can help it.” He finished. Hermes shifted. He mumbled something incoherent. “ what?” Thoth asked. Hermes mumbled again, a bit louder. “ Hermes, please speak up, my hearing has been declining with the Kanes constantly talking my ears off.” he sighed. “ Apollo’s not talking to me.” Hermes finally said loud enough for the wisdom god to hear. Thoth stopped. “Why?” he asked. Hermes was about to explain when it broke. He had refused to let himself feel anything around other people, So it had been months ago when Hermes had last been caught by the throes of guilt and pain. He pitched forward, tears streaming down his cheeks as he explained it to Thoth. How when he had gotten back he hardly spoke to anyone. How he was afraid of being seen as weak,so he hadn’t allowed himself time to grieve and process his captivity. How him internalizing everything had led him to making the bets and Apollo not talking to him. Until now, While he was basically having a full on meltdown in the Egyptian gods arms, Hermes hadn’t realized how much it affected him. He missed Apollo. Thoth helped him up onto the bed. Hermes sniffled, as his tiredness finally caught up to him. He laid down and Thoth laid down next to him, wrapping his arms in a comforting hold around Hermes. Hermes’ eyelids drooped, heavy like led. He allowed sleep to take him, and for the first time in a few weeks, he felt safe, and the nightmares didn’t come. Instead replaced with the comforting lull of darkness and the sound of his companions breathing.