twenty-two ── the gala
𝕿he invitation in his hand was a stark reminder of what tonight was.
Hermes sat in his temple, flipping the invitation over and over again in his hand as he thought of what to do. Did he go to the gala and subject himself to standing in Eden's intoxicating presence all night, surrounded by annoying people who would try to converse with him, or did he not go, and possibly risk disappointing both Eden and Luke, who might have both gotten their hopes up that he would be there?
He didn't know which would be worse. It had been a long time since his emotions had played a part in his decision making, and he didn't know what to do with it. Nor did it help that all his brain could focus on was that moment that Eden kissed him, on her porch on Christmas Eve. It had been so sudden, and he had been laughing about something, and he had looked down at Eden, who looked just as beautiful as she normally did, and thought about kissing her, and then she had stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. She had kissed him!
Hermes was a god who had kissed many people in his lifetime, but he had never known euphoria such as being kissed by Eden Jones.
She had kissed him in the snow, and then pulled away and stared at him for a moment, and time seemed to freeze, before she had slammed a door in his face and brought him back down to reality. Hermes had stood outside of her door for a good few minutes, staring at the spot where she had once been, before disappearing back to Olympus, thoughts running around his head a mile a minute.
He had not been able to get it off his mind ever since, even after telling Eden that he would not pursue her romantically.
Hermes sighed once more, before staring back down at the invitation and making his decision. Placing it down, he found one of his suits that had just been dry cleaned, pulling it on and looking for a pocket square. He had no clue what his son, or Eden were wearing, but he decided on the gold one. It felt right.
The god took a mere few minutes to style his hair and spray on his cologne, patting his pockets to make sure he had his phone and a watch, before tying his shoes. The last thing to grab was the envelope, and then Hermes was hurrying away from his temple and down to the elevator so that he could leave for the gala.
The elevator seemed to take an increasingly longer amount of time, and Hermes was anxiously tapping his foot, hoping that he wasn't late as he checked the time periodically.
"Sir..." He brushed past the person at the desk, opening the door and stepping into the waiting car. It sped off as soon as the door closed, and Hermes continued to tap his foot, his anxiety growing. Had he made the right choice? Would Eden truly be happy to see him at the gala? Would Luke be happy to see him there? Were there going to be lots of people?
Hermes took a deep breath, trying to ground himself, as the car came to a stop in front of a large building. People were still going up the stairs to the entrance and Hermes was quick to follow them, dodging the camera flashes as best he could. Zeus would kill him in Hermes was named and seen in a big newspaper.
"Invitation, sir." The security on the door called, as Hermes handed the invitation open. "Have a good night."
Hermes entered into the opulent room, that was filled with people. Everyone was in black tie attire, with long sweeping gowns, tuxedos and glinting jewellery. Waiters hurried past carrying champagne and canapes, and Hermes was left in awe at the sight of it all.
In truth, he also felt a little underdressed, only in a suit and not a tux.
Turning, Hermes searched the crowd for a familiar face, and it took him a moment, before he spotted Luke. The teenager looked bored, pulling at the bow tie around his neck, and Hermes chuckled as he brushed through the crowd to find his son.
"You look very dapper." Hermes called, as his son came within earshot, and the teenager spun on his heel to stare up at the man.
"You actually decided to turn up."
"You're surprised by that?"
"You've not exactly been the best at turning up to things." Luke shrugged, still pulling at the bow tie as Hermes smacked the boy's hands away. "Hey!"
"You're going to strangle yourself." Hermes chided, undoing the bow tie and carefully redoing it again. Luke scowled, and Hermes fought a grin. The boy was exactly like he was, and Hermes found it very sweet. "There, see. Better?"
"Yeah, I guess." Luke was a little begrudging, but accepted Hermes' help all the same. The god settled beside his son, who was looking around the crowd with narrowed eyes. "Have you send hello to ma yet?"
"I saw you first. Couldn't find your mother."
"She's over there, with grandma, in that big crowd of people. Everyone wanted to say hello to her." Luke muttered, pointing to the centre of the crowd.
"You didn't go with her?"
"I don't want to talk to people." Luke was most definitely his son, if there ever was any doubt. Hermes bit his lip, and fought a chuckle, accepting the glass of champagne from the waiter that hovered next to him. "Why aren't you going to say hello to ma?"
"Cause I also don't want to talk to people."
"You're antisocial."
"I could say the same thing about you." Hermes joked, as his son scowled and glared at him. "What? Too soon."
Luke muttered something under his breath, as Hermes laughed and looked back at the crowd. It had parted now, and Hermes' laughter turned choked as he stared at Eden. She looked beautiful, dressed in an all black gown, with metallic golden embellishments all over it. In fact, Hermes was sure that if anyone was to see the pair together, they would assume she was the immortal one, for she seemed to glow as she strode over to them.
Eden turned away from the person she was talking to, looking over towards Luke and catching eyes with Hermes instead, as both just stared at each other in shock. Hermes' heart was beating a hundred miles a minute as she approached them, unsure of how one person could be so beautiful.
She put the stars to shame.
"Hermes. You came?" Eden sounded surprised, as Hermes managed to nod his head. If he opened his mouth, he would start talking of how beautiful she was, and that would not go well. Especially since he was the one who didn't want there to be any romantic relations until Luke and he were on good terms again.
"Yeah. I was free." Hermes nodded dumbly. "Uh...this is amazing, Eden. It looks like it all came together. It looks beautiful."
"Well, don't say that until it's over, otherwise you might jinx something." Eden's eyes went wide at the thought, before she turned to Luke. "You're looking very handsome, Luke."
"Thanks, ma." Luke grinned. "We're all matching though."
Hermes realised he had the golden pocket square, which matched Eden's dress and Luke's own pocket square.
"This is all really posh though." Luke muttered, causing both adults to laugh. "What? Why are you laughing, dad? Don't you normally rob places like this?"
"Why'd you have to say things like that?" Hermes responded.
"Aren't you the god of thievery or something?" Luke shot back. "Go steal the silverware."
"You're my son. I'll let you lead the way." Hermes motioned, as Eden rolled her eyes.
"Neither of you are going to be stealing anything." Luke and Hermes turned to face her. "Remember, charity gala."
Eden hummed, before turning as someone else came to talk to her. Hermes looked down at Luke, who was smirking.
"What did you take?" He questioned his son, who pulled a watch from his pocket. "That better not be mine, Luke."
"It's not."
"Great, then go give it back."
"What?"
"Give it back!" Hermes caught his son before the boy could run off, turning him around and giving him a gentle shove towards the crowd as he motioned for the boy to hand it back. Luke scowled, glaring at Hermes, before turning and plastering a smile onto his face as he began to talk to an older gentleman.
"What did he steal?" Eden appeared next to him.
"Nothing. Luke's just socialising." Hermes covered quickly, not wanting to get the boy in trouble.
"I'm not stupid, I know he took something."
"He's giving it back." Hermes promised quickly. "Old habits die hard, I think. Luke's been on the streets for a while and..."
"I'm not upset with him." Eden placed a hand on his arm, stopping his little rant. "Luke has a stash hidden upstairs under his bed filled with things he deems precious. He has one of my rugs, a gift that Jasper got him, a couple of other little things that he took from my office, and a Lego spaceship. He's used to moving around and having to steal things and also keeping a close eye on things he treasures. I know this, don't worry. I'm not upset with him."
"I-"
"He's not going to be in trouble with me." Eden smiled gently, and Hermes relaxed. "I'm just glad he gave it back. He's got one of my earrings that I need to wrestle out of his hands. They're really nice earrings."
Hermes chuckled, shaking his head as Luke came padding back over.
"Thank you." Eden patted his curly hair, causing the boy to grin, as Hermes wished his own parents had been this relaxed and understanding with him when he stole things.
"Did dad tell you?"
"Nope." Eden squeezed Luke's hand, as Hermes hovered nervously by their side, before Macy appeared, a photographer following her. "Mom!"
"Eden, there you are. We need a photo." Eden nodded, smoothing her dress as Luke retreated to stand with Hermes. The god rolled his eyes, and gave his son a nudge to stand with his mother, as Luke winced and scowled. Hermes chuckled, watching as Eden pulled her son into her side, smoothing his curls so that they could take the picture together.
The flash almost blinded him for a moment, before a push on his back sent the god towards the pair. He panicked, turning to stare at Macy, who was smiling in an encouraging sort of manner. Eden's arm grabbed his, pulling him to join them, as Hermes panicked internally.
Plastering a smile onto his face, Hermes tried to relax as he hovered his hand over Eden's back, Luke standing on her other side.
"Okay, and big smiles." The photographer called, and all Hermes could think of was how gorgeous Eden was, and she smelt amazing as well, which was a weird thing to think. In all of his years of being alive, Hermes had never truly felt like this.
Hermes' eyes shifted, finding his son, and his grin turned softer. He was so proud of his boy, who had learnt so much and was looking so much healthier and better. Hermes couldn't have been happier for the teen.
The camera flashed, and despite knowing that Zeus was going to be in a horrible mood because of that photo, Hermes couldn't bring himself to care.
"Lovely!" The photographer called, as Luke hurried over to join Macy's side, leaving Eden alone with Hermes. The god turned, mustering all of his courage, before smiling gently down at her.
"I forgot to mention, you look truly beautiful tonight, Eden."
☾☼☽
Hiya,
So, Hermes is a whole new level of whipped, and this man only thinks of Eden and how proud he is of Luke, which is just adorable. Also, he's so anxious, and him and Luke being antisocial is incredibly funny to me for some strange reason.
Let me know what you think,
Love Li xx