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It started with a cough.
Hermes cleared his throat as he paused in the middle of the empty sidewalk. He couldn’t be getting sick. Gods couldn’t get sick. Especially not Hermes. Not only because it was impossible, but because it would also be a gigantic hassle in the constant workload he had.
He didn’t have time to get ill. There was too much to do.
Finally, he concluded, it must have been some dust or something that stirred up in the air and irritated his throat. His lungs were built differently than the other Olympians– imitating ones of a bird. It was prone to being irritated every so often.
He concluded that must be it and kept on his merry way.
.
.
It wasn’t his lungs.
.
.
A few hours later Hermes felt flushed. Irritated. Itchy. There was a constant nagging pressure in the back of his head that urged him to fly home. And it took until that last factor for him to finally check his calendar.
Highlighted at the top was something that Hermes had been dreading.
Nesting season.
How could it have slipped his mind? He kept the reminder pinned on his calendar since the last time he nested. It only happened once every hundred years or so. He shouldn’t have forgotten. It was biological after all. Inevitable.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think of everything he needed to get done. Someone would need to take over his routes for the week. There were packages to reship. Letters that needed to be delivered. And hundreds of workers who would need to operate without him. It was going to be a logistical nightmare.
Then he was going to spend the week in an empty nest–
His heart dropped.
Right. His nest. The one that had no nestlings in it. Tucked away out of sight.
Where Hermes would be alone.
Thousands of years ago, Hermes would look forward to nesting season, as it was the one time he rounded up all of his children, grandchildren, and other flock members and spent a week in his mountain with them.
That was no longer the case.
The ancient laws were in place for a reason. Hermes knows that. He was there when they all agreed to pass those laws into existence. And for the most part he agreed with them.
It was for the best that he didn’t get too attached to any of his demigods.
(Look what had happened with Luke–)
Knowing that however, did not make nesting season any less awful. Last century, Hermes had planned ahead and had taken an article of clothing or a toy from each one of his nestlings and flock members. Ares’ cape. Apollo’s archery glove. Dionysius’ leopard pelt. Stuffed animals from his daughters. Hats and coats from his sons.
He had been surrounded by all the scents of his family. But it still hadn’t been enough. Hermes still barely survived it.
Of course, he hadn’t exactly told his family how miserable his nesting season was without anyone to share it with. He assumed that they thought he was simply grumpy during the time.
But it was more than that.
It always has been.
Hermes sighed again and already dreaded the week that he was going to spend alone. However, his feelings did not warrant him to procrastinate any further.
He stretched his back, shifted into a running stance and took off.
There was a lot of work to do.
.
.
Hermes stole as many reminders of his flock as he could.
He’s the god of thieves, so nobody should be surprised. They should know by now when his nesting season was.
Besides, if one of his family members got mad and came to his nest to take back what’s theirs…and then were forced to stay a while…why– that’s nobody’s business but Hermes’.
He gathered all of his stolen bounties and spread them out around the room. Fluffing blankets, pillows and other comfy things, he ceremoniously built his nest.
If it was big enough to fit his entire cabin…Again, that was Herme’s business.
He nestled down into his favorite quilts– colorful ones his grandchildren had made him long ago– until only his head and wings were poking out.
Then Hermes’ let out a single chirp.
No nestlings chirped back.
.
.
This was actually terrible.
.
.
An hour ticked by and Hermes couldn’t get comfortable. Everything felt hot yet too cold. No position felt right. The wings on his head ached to be preened. And he was lonely.
Even the familiar scents of his flock weren’t enough to keep his mind at bay.
Hermes needed more.
Finally, he sat up from his covers with a keening sound. His mind was beginning to drift. His thoughts were fuzzy. Where were his nestlings again? Had they hidden from him? Did they not like his nest? Was it not big enough?
‘I could make it better, I promise.’ He crooned out to the lonely cavern. The noises echoed around the cavernous room and back to him in a facsimile of what a nestling would sound like.
Was Hermes a bad protector? A bad father? Why hadn’t he taken his nestlings to his nest? He chided himself as he curled his hands around his knees.
A realization struck him.
His nestlings wouldn’t even know where to find his nest if they wanted to come.
How fucking awful. Tears welled up in his eyes. He wiped them away. He’s the god of messengers, he shouldn’t be crying. He’s older than that. More detached. He’s immortal. Whining about their missing flocks was for mortals.
Yet still– there was a hole in his chest.
A vast emptiness that flock and nestlings would have filled.
Hermes…couldn’t do this. Not again. Not after last nesting season. His murky mind kept replaying the time alone, and something within him snapped.
Last century was the last time he nested alone.
.
.
He’d only steal one of his children back.
It was only one nestling, Hermes decided, head still deep in his instincts. Surely, nobody would notice one nestling missing.
Zeus barely kept track of his own kids.
Surely, he wasn’t keeping track of Hermes.’
It was all too easy to teleport into Camp Half-Blood.
.
.
Conner had been sleeping soundly when he was aroused from his dreams. It wasn’t a noise that woke him. Or even someone touching him. No, he awoke to the strange feeling of being watched. It didn’t take him long to find out who was doing the watching though.
There was a figure standing at the edge of his bunk.
He jolted into a sitting position, his hand immediately shooting towards the knife kept under his pillow. Just as he grabbed the hilt and withdrew it however, he paused. He lowered the knife as he raised an eyebrow.
“Dad?”
Hermes stood looming over Conner, not saying a word.
For a second, Conner was worried that it wasn’t his father– but rather a monster imitating him, before he chided his own paranoia. Monsters couldn’t enter camp. It had to be Hermes.
He waited a few seconds for his father to say anything. But his dad didn’t mutter a single sound. Rather, he continued to stand there…just staring straight at Conner.
The young counselor swallowed. “Did you…need anything?”
Hermes took a step closer, his face entering a beam of moonlight from a nearby window. For the first time that night, Conner got a good look at him. The demigod paused.
Was it normal for eyes to be that dilated?
His father let out a low, echoing croon. It was a noise that Conner never heard before. Why–? Suddenly Hermes was in front of him, and his hands were picking the demigod up by his armpits.
“Hey-! Let go of me!” Conner exclaimed as he tried to wiggle his way out of his father’s hold. However, his dad just let out another one of those weird trilling sounds and held him up in the air.
All of Cabin 11 continued to sleep soundly.
How was none of Conner’s siblings waking up from him yelling? Was Hermes cancelling out Conner yelling? Could Hermes even do that? “Dad! Where are you–”
The young demigod didn’t get to finish his sentence.
Because within the next breath he vanished, tucked firmly into Hermes’ arms.
.
.
“I don’t know what’s happening.”
It took all of Conner’s collected patience to not freak out. Demigods are used to all sorts of situations. From monster attacks to rageful gods, they’re a resilient bunch. However, throughout all of his adventures, Conner can’t quite think of another time he’s seen his dad like this.
Another trill came from his father as he wrapped a blanket around Conner’s shoulders and pulled him closer under his arm.
What was Conner supposed to do with this?
Nestled into his father's side, Conner scanned his face. His pupils were dilated. His cheeks were a little red. His smile was growing by the minute. Was his dad drunk? On drugs maybe? Could gods become under the influence? He feels like he’s read a myth where that happened once.
Whatever.
Right now Conner just needed to find out what was going on.
“Dad, where are we?” Conner asked as taloned hands continued to tuck him into blankets.
“Home,” Is all Hermes slurred before he buried his nose into Conner’s hair, breathing in deeply.
Well that answered nothing.
It was getting stuffy and hot under this blanket. Not to mention, he was getting restless. Hermes was a bounding fountain of energy, a trait he passed down generously to his children.
It was hard for any demigod to stay still– but that was even more true for the children of the god of travellers.
Wedging an elbow between him and his dad’s chest, Conner tried to pry himself from the god’s grasp. This was apparently the wrong move.
Frantic distressed chirps spilled from Herme’s lips as he picked Conner up and cradled him to his lap, checking him urgently for injuries or signs of distress.
“Oh for the love of–”
When Hermes deemed him physically okay, the next thing he did was wave his hand. Suddenly a grape was pressed to his lips as his father tried to feed him.
“I'm not hungry!” Conner wiggled more.
Hermes makes another noise. It sounds high pitched like a chickadee call–
A chirp answered back.
Both paused.
Did he– Did Conner do that?
He hadn’t known he could even make that sound. It felt foreign in his throat. As if it were an animal making that noise rather than his own body. It had crawled out of him instinctually.
His father had stopped moving. He was almost afraid to look up and see what kind of expression was on Herme’s face. Was chirping a bad thing? Had Conner messed up…whatever was going on?
Slowly, his eyes trailed up.
He felt his stomach drop.
Awe filled his father's eyes. He looked at Conner as if he was the most precious jewel that he had gotten away with stealing. Hermes chirped back, reaching up and as he cradled Conner’s cheeks in his warm hands.
A faint buzzing sensation filled Conner’s head. The same feeling he got when he hotwired Chiron's SUV or lockpicked inside the camp store. An adrenaline pumping type feeling.
It was that moment that Conner realized he could ask his father for anything, and he would have it granted.
An idea occurred to him then.
The only thing better than having his dad melting like this?
Pranking his dad into making his siblings experience it too.
Conner immediately tucked his head into his father's palm. “I'm not hungry or upset. I just wish the rest of my siblings were here, you know?”
The iris of Hermes’ eyes practically disappeared as his pupils expanded comically wide. A pleased chirp rings past his lips. “Your siblings?”
Hook.
He nodded. “Especially Travis, since he's away at college, you know? I haven't seen him in so long.”
Line.
Had he not known Travis was going to be on break tomorrow he would've felt slightly bad for doing this. Only slightly. His brother had still hung up on him early when they spoke on the phone last night.
Hermes let out a thrilled bird song as he wrapped Conner tighter in a blanket on the floor and stood up.
Once he was sure his son was comfortable, he vanished in a flicker.
Sinker.
.
.
If they hadn't noticed when he stole one nestling. Surely they wouldn't notice two.
.
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Midterms had been awful.
Travis had finished his last exam only an hour before he arrived at his campus library.
He thankfully had no projects due over his week-long fall break, but he wanted to get a headstart on the readings due after holiday. He sluggishly walked towards a small wooden study desk in a secluded corner and sat down, throwing his backpack on the table in front of him.
It took all of his willpower not to use it as a pillow and fall asleep.
How much sleep had he had the past few weeks again? Not nearly enough. Midterms had taken a lot from him. He could have swore he felt his soul leave his body once his last exam was done.
He was really looking forward to leaving back to camp tomorrow. He needed some time to simply relax–
Taloned hands entered his vision.
A loud chirp filled the air.
“Want tha–” Before Travis can even blink he's vanished, leaving the library corner just as empty as before he arrived.
.
.
“This isn't funny!”
Travis tried to peel his father off of him, but it wasn't proving to be a fruitful endeavor. His dad's talons had a death grip on his shirt, dragging him closer until he could rub his cheek on top of Travis’ hair.
Was he…scenting him??
Conner’s laugh was what tipped Travis off that this wasn't a situation to reach for his knife. But it had been a close thing.
“It kind of is though! Better you than me!” Conner grinned as he leaned back lazily on a pile of blankets and quilts.
“Conner-!” Travis was cut off as his father dragged him into his lap and his taloned hands began to run through his hair, flattening it out. “What's wrong with him anyways?”
“Beats me,” Conner shrugged as he watched Travis squirm. “He was like this when he grabbed me. It's almost as if he's drunk.”
“I've heard about that before–” Travis ducked under Hermes hand as the man gave a stern click of his tongue, unimpressed with how much his son was squirming.
“It's…” Hermes' eyes narrowed into slits for a second as his hands rested on Travis’ shoulder keeping him still. “Nesting time.”
“Nesting time?” Travis blanched.
“Mmm-hmmm,” Hermes hummed, his words slurring as a grin spread across his warm cheeks. “Wanted to do this for a while. Should have brought all my nestlings here sooner. Why didn't I bring you all here before again? Laws? Forget laws.”
Each of his words are punctuated by a trill. And the noises vibrated both Travis and Conner to the bone. Their heads became fuzzy…And the room became warmer.
Conner could feel his blinking become slower. Oh this felt–
He shivered as he curled up deeper into his blankets.
His father dragged him closer until both Travis and him were tucked under his arms. He carefully maneuvered them until they had several blankets on top of them. “My little snakelets. Oh how I wished I could give you more. If only those laws–”
A chirp came out from Travis’ throat and Hermes whipped his head towards him. His pupils dilated until his eyes were almost completely black.
The god trilled at the young man and then gave a low crooning song that immediately spread throughout the cavern.
As soon as the song was over both of the demigods were fast asleep.
.
.
Hermes’ head buzzed with nestling chirps.
This was wonderful.
It had been so long since he had flock to nest with, he had almost forgotten what it felt like. He eyed his two nestlings.
There was… a reason he hadn't brought the others here right…? It was hard to remember. Everything was fuzzy right now, his head buzzed with instincts, and his hands itched to hold all his children.
Why hadn't he grabbed his other nestlings?
Moreover, what was to stop him from getting them now?
.
.
He entered his cabin as a thief in the night. Bundling them all with magic. Letting them sleep with the softest and sweetest of dreams. He takes them one at a time. A perfect thief in the night.
Alice. Chris. Cecil. Julia.
He wrapped them all up in their blankets and in a snap of his fingers they disappeared back to his nest. He’s a step behind them before he paused.
Yellow bird like eyes glanced over to the unclaimed children in their beds.
They would…freak out if they woke up to have their cabin gone, right? Right. So, honestly, he’d be doing them a favor if he simply took them as well.
Yeah. That’s what he would do.
It’s only a few more nestlings.
.
.
In a sort of way, if he really thought about it, didn't all of Cabin 11 belong to him?
.
.
His nest was no longer empty.
“What’s going on with him?” Alice asked, looking up with young, wide eyes. “I’ve never seen him like this before.”
A few other kids were laughing in the background. Honestly, it’s been a while since most of the Hermes kids have seen their dad. He had gotten…distant, after Luke. Travis and Cecil play wrestled in the blankets as Conner shrugged.
“Must be a bird thing.” He simply said, still feeling the buzz from being dragged into instincts he didn’t even know he had. “He keeps doing that chirp thing. And he said it was nesting time. Usually birds like– fly around and build nests and stuff in the spring right? For their kids?”
“Yeah– in the Spring.” Alice drawled. “This is Autumn–”
“Hibernaculum!” An unclaimed kid named Horace piped up. All the kids turned and looked at him as he fidgeted with his hands. “Uh– you know a place where an animal will hibernate. Some species of snakes tend to hibernate with dozens to hundreds of other snakes of the same species.”
Travis let go of Cecil into a pile of blankets as they looked at their dad, who had just started braiding Alice’s long hair. His fingers smoothed the strands, unaware of the sudden attention on him from his children.
“So…is he a snake?...Or is he a bird?” Cecil asked as his head poked up from the blankets Travis dropped him in. His hair floofed up a bit from the fall, and feeling whatever instincts affected him earlier, Conner scooted over and started pressing it flat.
Julia grinned something sharp.
“Only one way to find out.”
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The day started already awful.
Dionysius woke up with a headache. (Which wasn’t even from alcohol, so it's doubly as unfortunate.) Then his coat was missing. Not one of the Hawaiian shirts he wore around camp.
No, that would have been too easy.
Instead it was his leopard pelt. His favorite one. The one he wore for centuries. His cult symbol.
He stared at the spot it usually rested on his chair and huffed. It was probably one of the campers pulling a prank. (Wouldn’t he have noticed–?)
He would find it eventually.
Stumbling down into the Big House, he got ready for yet another boring, terrible day at Camp Halfblood. There was not much for him to do as camp director, and entirely too much at the same time.
He cursed Zeus’s punishment under his breath as he walked towards the front door. A sensation made him slow his steps though.
A bad feeling grew in the pit of his stomach.
Something about today wasn’t right.
A part of Dionysius wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep the day away. It seemed like the easy thing to do– leave whatever storm was brewing to another person’s probably less capable hands.
“But no– I have to actually go and attend things–” He huffed and walked towards the front of the Big House. A second after he opened the door to the porch, a hand almost hit him from a worried camper. They had the fist raised as if they were about to knock. Then they flinched and took a step back.
Mr. D scowled at them, and felt a sliver of satisfaction when the camper sheepishly apologized. The kid was around eleven and had sandy brown hair that probably indicated he was one of his more angry brother’s spawn.
Dionysius never could recall learning the kid’s name. Though he remembered when they stumbled into camp the first time. Eh. It didn’t matter.
“What’s got you in a hurry? Shouldn’t you be at breakfast? Along with the rest of the brats?” Dionysius asked, materializing a Diet Coke in his hand and trying to will away his headache as he took a sip.
“That’s just it sir!” The camper said, an expression of worry on their face. “The Hermes cabin. They- They-”
“Spit it out.”
“They didn’t show up for breakfast!” The boy finished quickly.
Dionysius rolled his eyes. “They probably overslept. Go knock loudly on their door, play the tuba, whatever, as long as I don’t have to do it.”
“Mr. D, we already checked their cabin. Their beds were empty.”
And it was that final fact that caused the god of wine to pause. Empty? An entire cabin?
Something was wrong here.
He should have just stayed in bed.
Dionysius could excuse it if his own cabin was empty. He had only one demigod. And Pollux could and had in the past easily ditch activities for that day and find a place to hide.
But his brother’s cabin was perhaps the largest at camp. Not only because of his own kids, but because it housed the unclaimed as well.
“They were all gone?” Dionysius asked with furrowed eyebrows. Seeing the camper nod, he teleported to the cabin, not caring that he left his brother's spawn behind. He approached the screen door.
He sneezed.
The air smelled of chamomile and static. It buzzed through his sinuses as he took a step into the cabin. Immediately his mind was on high alert.
Sleeping magic. He would have recognized the smell anywhere. It layered across all the surfaces of the room like a thick blanket of dust.
But who–?
Oh no.
There's a crunch of gravel behind him.
“Horsey boy, what year is it?” Dionysius asked Chiron, not even bothering to turn to see who it was. When the Activities Director said the year, he let out a loud string of curses both in modern English and Ancient Greek.
His coat. The bad feeling. Hermes cabin being gone. It all makes sense.
It's fucking nesting season.
.
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“Hermes, for Olympus’ sake, some of these aren't even yours!”
It's not too big of a hassle to teleport to Mount Cyllene. Dionysius sadly knew exactly where his brother was. This wasn't his first rodeo with nesting season. And it most certainly wouldn't be his last.
He grumbled as he enters the main cavern of the cave and–
Woah. His older brother has expanded this year, huh? The entire chamber was filled with laughing campers, blankets, pillows, and suncatchers that hung from the skylights. In the middle of the chaos was Hermes. He looked way too smug.
As soon as his foot crossed the threshold of the cavern, Hermes' head whipped around.
Oh.
Dionysius gulped. His brother's entire eye was dilated into wide saucers. Dionysius hadn't seen his brother like this in centuries. The last time had been a bad year where some of his kids had died on a quest around the fifteen-hundreds.
How deep in his instincts was he?
He'd have to tread carefully.
“Alright Hermes, you've gotten your hatchlings. But you have to let go of the ones who aren't yours. That's where I draw the line.”
Hermes tilted his head. A sharp smile slowly spread across his lips. A chirp rang out and his kids all looked between the two gods in confusion.
Welp. They can't say Dionysius hadn't tried. He'd see the kids in a week anyways when Hermes calmed down.
He rubbed the back of his neck and took a step backwards.“Actually, who cares if they're not your kids, right?”
Hermes rose.
Shit.
Faster than the speed of sound and yet quieter than a pin drop, Hermes was there in front of him, his two clawed hands reaching towards him.
Dionysus didn't even have time to scream.
.
.
“Well, this is going to go fantastically.” Dionysius grumbled, shifting down into the blankets and getting comfy.
.
.
Without Dionysius at camp, it would be irresponsible to leave the campers there without a director, right? No way Chiron could watch all those kids by himself.
And really, Hermes didn't let himself see his baby cousins enough.
.
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“You've got to be kidding me.”
Deft feet landed on soft grass. The sun flared as a blonde haired man looked across the empty field where kids once roamed.
Golden eyes blinked.
“Where are they?” Apollo asked, looking around for his kids. Or any demigod really. Except nobody was there.
This was Camp Halfblood right?
(It was. Apollo recognized the empty training grounds he's in.)
He was supposed to meet his kids for archery practice today. But when no flock of golden haired children ran out to meet him, he instantly knew something was wrong.
What was going on here?
Walking through camp towards the Big House, Apollo grew even more uncomfortable the more he saw.
The lake sat with empty boats floating in it. There were no children climbing the lava wall. The training fields were completely void of life. And the cabins–
Apollo’s heart stuttered as he flashed towards the cabins and took one step into his.
Nobody.
All the beds were made as if the kids were already up and had gotten ready for the day. Their belongings were neatly stashed away.
His foot accidentally kicked a stuffed crow. He vaguely recognized it as one that Kayla kept.
Bending on one knee, he reverently picked up the toy, holding the plush feathers between his fingers. He runs his palm over the soft material and brings it to his cheek.
A flare of anger flashed through his heart.
The sun grew hot outside.
He looked up as his eyes glowed a molten gold. Sunspots floated in his gaze.
Who dared take what was his?
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“Where the hell are all the demigods?” Apollo asked as he hurriedly swept through the doors of the Big House, stuffed crow still under his arm.
Chiron looked up from a newspaper, looking strangely unbothered for someone who was missing an entire camp full of kids.
He sat leisurely on a wide couch.
“Ah, Lord Apollo.” The centaur nodded respectfully as he readjusted his reading glasses. His hands folded the newspaper neatly. “I believe your brother has taken them for the weekend.”
“How dare-” Apollo cut off mid rant as his mind caught up with Chiron's words. “Wait- Who?”
.
.
“Hermes…What the fuck?”
“Dad used a bad word!” A child squealed with delight. It’s followed by a cacophony of laughter.
It looked as if Hermes had expanded this year. Apollo looked around the cavern, slightly impressed before he shook his head.
Right, that wasn’t why he was here.
“Hermes, those are my kids. You can't just take my kids!”
His brother sat unbothered in the center of clattering children. Each kid held up different animal books as if they were cross examining the feathers on his head.
His brother smiled as he saw Apollo and let out a happy chirp.
“Yes, yes, I see your nestlings.” The sun god drawled, eyes becoming half lidded in exasperation. “They are very cute.”
A high pitched noise erupted from his brother that Apollo took as him being happy. This was strange. Not totally out of the ordinary, but not common either. Honestly, he didn't remember a time his brother was this deep in his instincts.
Was Hermes okay?
“How long has he been like this?” Apollo gestured to the chirping messenger god.
One of Hermes' younger kids giggled with a childish, “I dunno!”
Well that answered nothing.
“Right.” Apollo had forgotten that this batch of kids probably never have even heard of nesting season before. Let alone what caused it.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. Then he leaned down and checked his brother’s temperature, placing the back of his hand to his forehead. Hermes apparently took this as permission for cuddles, grabbing his wrist and pulling him down. He landed in the cuddle pile as arms slithered around his waist.
And Apollo was deeply entrenched in Hermes’ nest.
The fact that it catches him by surprise is a fact that Apollo will take to his grave.
He grumbled but maneuvers his arms in such a way he can take his brother’s vitals.
Placing his fingers against his brother's carotid artery, Apollo’s eyes flashed gold as all the information he needed appeared in his head. His eyebrows scrunched together. No, that couldn’t be right.
Hermes would have told them, wouldn’t he?
If last season had hurt Hermes, then surely his brother wouldn’t have suffered in silence. The messenger god would have at least told Apollo right? Or he would’ve asked someone from the family to stay with him, even if he couldn’t have his kids…
But apparently he hadn’t.
“Oh Hermes, what have you done?” Apollo asked as he smoothed back his little brother’s hair and let the man press his face into his chest.
Across the room, Dionysius raised a worried eyebrow asking a silent question. He didn’t raise a finger though. It wasn’t lost to Apollo how the man had Pollux leaning against his side, looking very much like a panther cub cuddling up to it’s bored parent. Nor was it lost on Apollo how Dionysius didn’t stop his kid from getting closer.
The man’s bejeweled fingers curled around his son’s neck protectively. Covering his vital spots.
(Castor’s death had affected his other younger brother more than he could say.)
Apollo sighed and pressed his cheek on top of Hermes’ head, lightly scenting him. Well, there was no way he was leaving now. Not only because he literally couldn’t. (Hermes’ grip on his was tighter than a vice, letting him know he wasn’t going anywhere.) But because according to Apollo’s analytics, Hermes wasn’t even satisfied yet.
Repressing instincts was hard. But Hermes had caused some serious harm to his by completely rejecting them last century. It wasn’t good for his social bonds, and in turn, it wasn’t good for his health either. Apollo only wished he had known so he could’ve helped.
He scratched the back of the messenger god’s head.
The sun god couldn’t repair the damage caused by last nesting season. But, he could help alleviate this one. An idea formed in his head and a mischievous yet gentle smile grew across his lips.
“Oh Hermes,” He prodded at his brother’s cheek with his finger. “You know who’s missing? We’re down a brother.”
Hermes went deathly still under his finger before looking up at him with comically wide eyes. As if the thought hadn’t occurred to him until just now. A little warble came from his throat.
Apollo nodded his permission as Hermes vanished in a blink of an eye, causing the sun god to roar in laughter as he leaned back on the pillows and blankets and then scanned the nest for his nestlings. They wouldn’t have archery practice today. But, Apollo wasn’t never against spending more quieter quality time with his kids.
.
.
“You’re so wrong,” Dionysius grumbled towards Apollo as Kayla drew on his arm with a ballpoint pen. He smiled with a knowing look.
“Eh, it’s good for the both of them.”
.
.
Ares felt a chill go down his spine.
He looked up from where he was sharpening his weapon and looked between his lovers. “Did you feel that?”
Hesphestus stopped banging on his anvil from across the forge with a raised eyebrow. “Feel what?”
Aphrodite, who was lounging on a couch and reading a romantic fantasy novel, merely grinned. Both looked towards her with a frown.
“You know something,” Ares said. It wasn’t a question, but rather a very confident statement. His lover nodded at his words with a graceful smile.
“Have you checked the calender recently?” Aphrodite asked as she flipped a page. The war god rolled his eye and materialized their shared calender, spreading it across his work table and placing a sharpening stone on one of the edges so it wouldn’t roll up.
What year were they in again? His finger trailed across the dates and he frowned.
“No, why would I– Oh fuck.”
Immediately Ares started taking off all his armor. It clinked and clanged as the pieces hit the floor one by one and Hephestus raised an eyebrow at the sudden frantic behavior. “You never face a battle without armor.”
“It’s only going to slow me down–! Oi, woman, don’t just sit there laughing. If you have time to laugh you have time to help me with this!” His words reached deaf ears as his lover merely continued to grin and shake her head.
Did she not realize what time of the century it was?
They needed to act fast!
Time was the enemy.
“This isn’t my problem. He’s your brother.”
“I thought he wasn’t doing this anymore!” Ares said in frustration before nodding thankfully at Hephestus who limped over and began helping him with his shoulder pieces as he untied his grieves.
“Oh, I think we all know he wasn’t going to be able to stop for long.” The love goddess materialized a small bowl that was filled with popcorn, setting it off to her side and lazily picking at it. She still hadn’t looked up from her book.
That damn woman.
“You know, the fact that you felt him before he found you meant he wanted you to run.”
“You’re not helping.” Finally, his last piece of armor is off and Ares grabbed his smaller pistol and flashed away, leaving an amused Aphrodite and a very confused Hephestus behind.
.
.
“I don’t understand. Why is he running?”
The love goddess’ smile sharpened. “It’s nesting season.”
.
.
“Shit, shit, shit–”
Ares ran as fast as his legs could take him through the Amazon rainforest, ducking under vines and tromping through the mud. Behind him a crooning sound filled the air, rattling him to his bones. He turned around and fired a few shots. They all missed.
He didn’t have time for this!
He especially didn’t have time to sit in a nest for an entire week. It was always small and cramped. And Hermes’ spawn was even more annoying than his own. Which was saying a lot.
But against Hermes his odds were looking slim.
Staying still and hiding never worked against his younger brother. Because of his domain as the god of travellers and messengers, Hermes always knew where everyone was at all times. Which made him great for delivering letters, but also great at times like these.
The only tactic that gained Ares time was staying on the move.
Which was an issue.
Not only did Hermes have an internal GPS that could lead him to anyone in the family, but he was also fast. Faster than even Ares, though it pained him to admit.
Ares had hoped the thick foliage and vegetation of the rainforest would slow him down. Yet with every step he took, he could hear his brother behind him. Almost as if he were being played with.
Like a cat with a mouse.
“Fuck off!” Ares yelled loudly as he barely missed Hermes swooping through a narrow gap to capture him. A hawk screech followed quickly after. Frustration crawled up his throat and he felt himself flush from both the adrenaline and his pride being targeted.
Ares had to pivot to the left to dodge his brother’s next grabbing attempt, only to step into an empty field.
Shit. Hermes was herding him to open ground. How had he not realized–
No time to think, he had to keep running. His boots thudded against the ground as he broke off in a frantic sprint across the cleared fields.
A shadow blocked out the sun.
Ares made the mistake of looking up.
Hermes smaller form was a spec of dark against the sunlight. His wings flapped downwards. His body began a descent. A hand shot out towards him.
He screamed.
.
.
“He got you too huh?” Apollo asked, looking smug as he was covered in pen-created doodles from head to toe.
“Shut up! He got you first!”
.
.
“Hermes, you can’t just take your brothers.”
A booming voice filled the cavern. Hermes hands paused from where they were preening twigs and rainforest foliage out of Ares hair. The messenger god grew quiet.
Ares vaguely recognized that his brother’s hands were trembling. A pang of worry filled him at the sight of his little brother shaking.
Shit, was Zeus going to make him empty his nest? Their father couldn’t do that when Hermes like this, was he?
“Lord father I–” Apollo stood up only to be silenced as Zeus raised his hand to silence him. His thunderstorm eyes scanned across the gathering amount of gods and demigods in th nest. Their father pinched the bridge of his nose.
“It is unseemly for a god to be this far into their instincts. You are better than this. You must exercise control. What will people think if the gods cannot even contain themselves?” His words were loud and spoken with a hint of frustration.
From where he sat Hermes hands shook more.
All three of his brothers looked at him in pity.
It hadn’t seemed fair to lecture Hermes in this state. Not when his emotions were volatile and were subject to being more sensitive. He was a bundle of instincts and feelings at this point. Logic had exited the building a long time ago.
Hermes clawed hands clenched into fists as he shook.
Ares swallowed. Was the younger god going to give in? Or was he going to melt down? Either way, it wasn’t something that Ares wanted to see. He goes to turn his head but then pauses.
That’s…that’s not fear in his eyes.
Hermes looked up at Zeus, his eyes growing larger by the second.
Ares recognized that look anywhere. He wore it multiple times himself.
That was a look of accepting a challenge.
Hermes looked Zeus up and down as if determining how to best fit him in his nest. A gleam entered the man’s eyes as he stood up on shaking– from excitement– feet.
Zeus apparently seemed to realize exactly what Ares had. He shook his head and held out a finger to Hermes’.
“Now you listen here–”
A screech filled the air as hands reached out towards the god of thunder.
.
.
“Well, it’s not bad being around here with all my sons.” Zeus nodded, one hand reaching out to idly scratch Apollo’s scalp. His son leaned into his hand. Something he hadn’t done in a while. Especially with the all the animosity between them lately.
In fact, maybe this is what Zeus needed.
He nodded. “Hermes, my boy.” He called out and in an instant his son was there. He grinned. “Go get your sisters will you?”