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one
the first time daniel almost misses him. he’s used to looking down on humans praying to him, to listening to what they ask for, secretly appreciating their offerings. but he’s not one to get involved with them. not until him.
he notices the cracked amphora and candles first, being placed by careful, slender fingers on the altar. what gets him interested, though, is the folded paper that’s being almost hidden amongst the rest of the offerings. a poem. he rarely gets poems or music, and when he does it’s never memorable, but something tells him this time’s different. and then he takes a good look at the human.
his eyes move from long, slender fingers to strong and tanned arms, firm shoulders and a broad back covered by a not so clean tunic. he has to hold back a gasp when he finally gets to take a look at the boy’s (man’s) face. those blue eyes almost make him teleport himself to the middle of his very busy temple, just to get a closer look. he’s breathtaking and daniel feels his fingers itching to touch those dirty blond locks, to caress those sunkissed cheekbones. he hasn’t even read the poem the boy’s left him, he doesn’t even know his name, but he already knows he’s smitten. and he already knows he’ll be spending more time on earth from now on.
two
drew’s dragging his feet to apollo’s temple, again, a bag full of candles in one hand, and an amphora full of wine in the other. he didn’t go to apollo’s temple much, not until recently. his little brother was discovering the world and the god’s had given the boy a talent for getting hurt so now, on top of everything, drew had to make time almost every week to go ask for his wellbeing.
he usually just brings the usual offerings; the most decent wine he can find, a few candles or incense, and sometimes (if he’s had time to write and if he likes it enough) a poem. he’s not a writer, not really, but he lives in apollo’s birthplace and he’s grown up to all kinds of stories about the god, and sometimes while he rests by the ocean, he gets struck by a muse. it only makes sense to let the god read about what his home inspires in him.
drew’s almost done with his praying when he notices a set of eyes on him, and as much as he tries to get back to his task, he starts to get restless. when he finally looks up he sees a hawk staring right back at him, and now he’s restless and confused. and a little scared. what’s that bird even doing inside the temple? could it hurt him? it’s big enough, he thinks.
daniel notices how drew’s body tenses and immediately curses himself for disguising himself as a hawk. he takes a couple steps back, figuring he can stare at him just the same from a distance that doesn’t make his human look so stressed. he should’ve picked a more approachable animal, something fluffy, maybe a cat? and the god’s already taking notes for next time, because there’ll obviously be a next time.
three
daniel hasn’t seen drew by the sea many times, so when he notices the human sitting by the seashore, tunic folded next to him and the sun kissing every inch of his golden skin, he literally jumps into the water. the disguise of choice is a dolphin, friendly enough to approach his boy and get away with it. at least he hopes so.
the sun is warm enough drew knows he’ll get home looking a little red, but he’s finally managed to get out of the house for a bit, and his fingers have been itching to properly write for days. he’s been weirdly inspired lately, the ideas popping up so often he’s started carrying a piece of paper around just in case.
he’s frowning at a rhyme he’s not particularly proud of when a sound in the water makes him look up and, what? why is there a dolphin staring at him? he gets a flashback of the encounter he had with the hawk not too long ago, but he doesn’t make a connection between the two incidents, it’s obviously just coincidence. and since the animal doesn’t seem threatning, at least as long as he remains on land, he resumes his writing.
the god, however, can’t look away. daniel’s managed to get close enough to appreciate every curve and line and flex of his human’s muscles, and he almost considers turning into an animal drew’d want to keep around. to get closer to him, to be with him a little longer. but he knows he can’t, so he just stays there until drew’s finally happy with his writing, gets up and walks home.
four
it’s barely 6am but drew’s already walking out of the house. he plans on going to the temple later (his little brother broke a leg climbing a tree), but he needs to feed the sheep first, clean their shed, see if the chicken have laid any eggs. with his brother hurt and his father out fishing he’d been a lot busier with farm work.
drew’s wiping the sweat from his forehead when he sees a deer lounging by the well, looking at him. and he’s a little weirded out now because this is the third wild animal that’s quietly stared at him in a really short period of time, and he’s either going crazy or the animals are going crazy, but he knows for sure that’s not normal behavior. the animal is calm enough to appear harmless though, so he decides that going about his tasks is the best thing to do.
at that point the god’s a little stressed, perceiving the distrust radiating off of his boy. he knows there’s just so much he can get away with, and that following his human around as various animals is bound to raise suspicion. he loves observing his boy so much, though. as he lays there, he thinks about his options, even considers asking his father about his escapades with mortals, but shakes his head at that last thought. no way. with one last glance at drew, who’s still feeding his chickens, daniel’s deer shaped form disappears into the forest.
five
drew's in the temple, again, begging apollo to take better care of his little brother, who’s still bedridden with a broken leg. his offerings are already on the altar (no poem this time, because if the god’s not healing his brother maybe he doesn’t deserve his writing), and he’s so focused on his prayer he doesn’t even notice someone’s been watching him the whole time.
the god’d been waiting for drew inside the temple, this time disguised as a common mortal. he’s been shamelessly observing him since he put a foot inside, watching his every move, worrying a little over his tired face and slow movements. he’s seen the boy worried and tired before, but he’s never seen his human look so defeated and sad. daniel frowns when he notices there’s no poem neatly folded by the candles or the amphora drew’s left, and that’s when he gets really concerned. he’d been getting his human’s poems so regularly lately, something must be wrong.
he doesn’t even have time to listen in on his human’s prayers before drew’s already up and dragging his feet to the exit. daniel’s unable to move, his mind telling to go after him and to leave the boy alone at the same time. he wants to know what’s preocupying his boy, he needs to, but he doesn’t know how he should approach him, so he let’s him go.
+ one
daniel’s reading one of drew’s first poems when artemis walks in with a smug smile on his face “your boy’s in my temple” is the first thing he says, and it takes daniel a couple of seconds to process the information before he’s sitting up, squinting at his brother “i don’t believe you” he says, but the lie is obvious. his brother laughs, and if he thought artemis was being mean before, he almost jumps at him when he adds “and he’s praying to me” with a sing song voice that makes daniel see red.
he finds himself in the middle of his brother’s temple before he can even think of an appropriate disguise, which explains the stunned expression on his human’s face. he approaches drew with confident steps, frowning and a little read in the face, he feels like he’s burning with jealousy.
drew’s too stunned to move, staring at the man with wide eyes. that’s apollo, he thinks, he’s seen enough of his statues to recognize him. “why are you here? why are you praying to my brother?” are the first words the god says to him, and he’s so confused he starts to wonder if he’s dreaming. his explanation is a whispered “my little brother’s hurt”, but it sounds like a question because he doesn’t really know what’s happening anymore.
the god runs a hand through his long hair and sighs, his heart beat slowing down as he finally realizes how distressed his boy is. “i apologize my dear, this outburst was uncalled for” he says, his voice getting softer, the look on his eyes gentler “but i couldn’t help myself, it seems i’ve grown a little too fond of you” he adds, this time with a sheepish smile. the wires in drew’s brain almost short circuit at that, “fond of me?” he asks meekly, but then his eyes widen as he finally realises what’s going on. that it wasn’t wild animals following him around but apollo himself.
he doesn’t get a chance to voice that he’s made the connection though, daniel’s already grabbed his hand, leading him out of the temple. drew walks next to him in a daze, just looking at the man (god) who seems to glow even brighter under the sun. it’s not until daniel squeezes his hand that drew realizes they’ve stopped walking, and he wonders if maybe the god’s teleported them here, to the spot by the seashore where he goes to write his poems.
“it was you the whole time” drew says finally, and he’s looking at daniel in awe, silently agreeing with everyone who’s ever regarded him as the most beautiful god. the older man smiles, letting his fingers brush a lock of dirty blond hair behind his human’s ear “i couldn’t help it my dear, i’m quite smitten” he admits bashfully, “you’re an incredibly enticing mortal” he adds, looking very much in awe himself.
the god urges drew to get comfortable, the sounds of the ocean distant as they both sit on the human’s favorite spot, talking. there isn’t much to say, daniel’s already shamelessly confessed his affections for the mortal, so it’s drew’s turn to explain how his little brother kept getting hurt and he felt so helpless he tried bringing offerings to artemis for a chance. “i’ll keep an eye on him for you, dearie” says daniel, placing a comforting hand on drew’s knee, to which the human smiles, relief evident in his features.
that’s how their unusual relationship begins, in a secluded spot by the seashore, the sound of the waves keeping anyone from eavesdroping on their conversation, their hushed words and promises, their secret smiles, something they’ll keep just to themselves.