♡Review: You find out that your husband wasn't as faithful as you hoped him to be.
♡Content: Angst, cheating, indirect mentions of Circe, Apollo is the news bringer, hurt/no comfort, reader is a divine being.
♡ Author's note: I based this on the book Circe by Madeline Miller and the relationship between Circe and Hermes. 100 per cent recommend.
You hated him.
Any thought of him, any mention enraged you to no end.
Now you understand how Hera felt. You realised that everything she said about Zeus' bastard children was true.
You couldn't believe it when you heard it, but when Apollo came to you with such sentimental eyes, you didn't know what to expect.
"What did someone die?" You laughed upon seeing his distressed face.
Little did you know he would deliver the news that made you crumble.
He explained what had happened, and caution stirred in his words. Maybe to avoid saying something wrong, maybe it was to dim any erupting rage that could potentially cause chaos, but it didn't matter.
There he told you. Hermes had been sleeping with the exiled witch on the island of Aeaea - one of Helios' children. You had heard stories of her, about the dirt in her nails, the way her hair was always in a messy braid, and how she spoke to pigs and lions all day. Upon hearing all this, you never thought he would stoop so low as to cheat on you with her, all while you sat on Olympus waiting for him to come home.
It was baffling, absolutely outrageous, and here you are having to find out about this through his half-brother.
"How.... how long has this been going on?" You didn't look at God in front of you. You tried your best not to erupt in emotion.
"Quite some time now." He said slowly.
"Are you sure?" You answered back, hoping that maybe it was one of Hermes' pranks that he just so happened to drag Apollo into.
"Positive."
Everything in you shattered, the love of your life, gone. All because he wanted some quick fun. You were his wife. Could you not satisfy his needs? Were you too nagging? Did you lose your beauty over the centuries? You couldn't wrap your head around this, but then it clicked.
Like father like son.
Hot Tears ran down your cheeks, your whole body was trembling, and your fists clenched so hard you swore ichor had been drawn.
"Hey..." Apollo started but was soon cut off by the intensity of your voice.
"Leave." Hurt, betrayal, and anger overlapped your voice.
He did not hesitate. He left without saying another word.
Now that you were left alone, every emotion consumed you. You wept and wept for hours, You were lucky you weren't born a nymph; it would be a shame if you turned to stone in a state like this.
Soon interrupted from your thoughts and tears, you heard it. That voice. Oh, how you dreaded it so.
"Helloooo darling, another rough day of being the best messenger of the gods, but I manage." His cocky grin consuming his face.
He watched as you stayed still with your back turnt to him. It was odd, You had always greeted him with a big kiss and hug, rambling about how much you missed him.
Thinking of all you did for him made you cringe. You hated that you were oblivious to his infidelity. However, you hated more that he was such a pig to allow you to make a fool of yourself.
"Darling?" He stepped towards you cautiously
"Shut it." You snapped at him
"What -"
"Did you really think I wouldn't find out? That you were going around fucking exiled witches and making a fool out of me?"
Your words were uneven, your voice was cracking, but you didn't care; whatever it took to relay your thoughts was enough.
For once, the God of mischief was at a loss for words.
Your skin felt hot, and your tears stained your cheeks. Everything he had told you was a lie - how he said you were the only one for him, that you made his life interesting once more. What a lying bastard he was.
"My love.." He trailed off
"Love?!" You questioned. "You dare to look at me and call me your love?!"
You were so enraged that you could cause massacres just to be rid of that nasty island he bedded her on.
"I'm sorry...please forgive me, I never meant for this to happen." He pleaded, his voice was haggard, some would say even genuine.
But not you. You were not going to subject yourself to the same endless cycle that Hera did.
He tried to cup your cheek, but you slapped his hand away. Hard.
"Leave." Your voice is cold and brittle. "I wish to never speak to you again."
He swallowed hard, cold sweat visible on his skin.
"Please..." He pleads once more.
You didn't look him in the eyes, truth be told you would've folded right then and there if you did, running into his arms as if no wrong was done.
Instead, you stayed quiet.
He retracts from you, biting his lip in regret, before leaving you where you stood.
You finally broke down, wishing it had never happened. You regretted letting him go, but you knew better than to stay with him. He had made his bed, and now he must lie in it.
If you're still accepting requests would you be willing to do Hermes with fem!reader who has body image issues? Like not feeling like she's worthy of him or will hold his attention? I LOVED the way you wrote the last one of him stealing all of reader's stuff; no pressure tho if you don't want to do this subject. Thanks for your time! 💜🐝
☛ hermes x mortal! fem! reader with body image issues
☛ sfw; cw: body image issues, self deprecating thoughts, anxiety
It felt utterly unreal. The temples and palaces, shining in a golden hue, the impossibly delicious food and, most of all, the guests of the party. Was it a wise decision to have your first time on Olympus be visiting a divine festival? No. Were you utterly overwhelmed by everything here? Yes. Definitely.
A hand found yours and you turned around, startled, only to find Hermes smiling at you. His hair was uncharacteristically orderly, bronze curls framing his face carefully, not as disheveled as usual, after a day of work and flying around. "Hey sweetheart, enjoying yourself?" You nodded and hoped your smile didn't seem too forced. And it was beautiful here, just too much for your poor mortal eyes to comprehend.
It wasn't only gods attending the festival. When you looked over the crowd, you spotted centaurs, nymphs and satyrs as well, and even a few mortals like you, if you were seeing correctly. But the majority of the guests were major and minor gods and goddesses, though in their human form, still almost too beautiful to look at. Like Hermes in the beginning. But during the last months, you had seen him almost every day, and could at least look at him without having an an aneurysm- or a body image crisis.
Hermes squeezed your hand and you looked up at him. The excited grin he gave you had you a little worried. It was the grin of cream smeared in your face when eating cake and several items disappearing in strange correlation to his frequent visits. The god leaned down to your height - even in his human form, he was still a lot taller than you. "Wanna meet my family?"
No, gods, please, no.
"Uhm," you said, unconsciously fiddling with his fingers which always calmed you down. But he knew that, too. Hermes caught your restless fingers and brought them to his lips to press a light kiss onto them. "You don't have to. We can just stay here, if you want. All your call, baby."
Having lost the ability to fiddle with his fingers, you chewed on your bottom lip. When you looked back at him, your voice was thin and full of doubt. "I don't get- I mean, why would you want to introduce me to your family?"
The god's smile widened even further and he pecked the tip of your nose affectionately. "I want to show my amazing girlfriend off, obviously." You wanted to glare at him for messing with you, but he looked so earnest that you couldn't help but believe him. Instead, you let out a small and only slightly bitter laugh. "Show me off? Have you ever even looked at me, Hermes?"
"Plenty," he hummed, covering your cheeks and temple with kisses. "Why would I not look at my stunning girlfriend?" Embarrassingly, you realized that quite a few bystanders were giving you stares and whispers. Not him, he was a god. You. Probably wondering if the god's newest fling really was the ugliest girl at the party.
"'M not," you whispered, because you suspected some of these people had an excellent hearing beyond the limits of your mortal one. You put your hand over Hermes lips, but he only peppered your palm with kisses, moving up your arm to the ticklish spot and you giggled involuntarily. The triumphant smile he gave you was so utterly endearing you would have jumped him. If you weren't here.
"Please?" How were you supposed to say no to those eyes?
"Fine," you sighed, already regretting your decision. But Hermes was ecstatic, throwing an arm around you and guiding you through the crowd that made way for him wherever he walked. You tried to keep your head down and seem as invisible as possible, which, fortunately, wasn't that hard if you were standing next to a glowing diety.
"Brother!" someone called, someone the crowd made way for just as quickly, if not hastier, than Hermes. Your lover held you a bit more tightly but gave you a reassuring smile when a young man, decked out in gold that couldn't compare to the color of his shoulder-length locks, approached you. He ruffled Hermes' hair and then, his gaze wandered down to you. At first, he seemed surprised, no doubt because he was underwhelmed by your appearance, but the next second, he gave you a blinding smile. "And who do we have here?"
Hermes introduced you and then him as Apollo. The god huffed. "Do I really need an introduction? If so, I can give it for myself." You were a little unnerved by his smile, if was too bright, almost hurting your eyes. "I'm Apollo, god of all things beautiful and helpful to you mortals and thus, your favored diety."
"Spot's taken," Hermes said but he was grinning. With one look at your stressed glances, he leaned down to whisper: "he's harmless" You highly doubted that.
"So," the god drawled while looking you up and down. You were extremely uncomfortable. "You are the reason I've barely gotten a glance of my brother these last months." You were? Glancing at Hermes, you tried to think of the right answer. "Um... sorry"
"Where have you been hiding, Hermes?" a female voice called from behind and when you looked at the approaching you, your stomach dropped. It had to be Aphrodite, it had to be. Out of all the indescribably beautiful guests, she was the most striking and perfect. And the one you had dreaded seeing the most. You weren't stupid. You knew you were on the brink of spiraling into an abyss of body-hatred, and you were scared she would push you into it.
When she greeted Hermes, not even registering your presence, you suddenly remembered that they had had a kid together at some point, which only made your anxiety worse. You felt so utterly unworthy of Hermes in between all these gods that you wanted to carefully slip your hand out of his. Who were you to be holding a gods hand after all? But, realizing your intentions, Hermes only gripped it tighter. "Aphrodite, this is my girlfriend."
The way his voice was overflowing with boasting pride did warm your heart a little- until you saw the way Aphrodite looked at you. Surprised, at first, then undeniably sceptical. Her rose eyes looked you up and down and you started sweating under the weight of her gaze. Should you have worn something different? Was it ridiculous of you to be showing up in a dress this beautiful, attempting and failing miserably to be pretty? You were nothing but ugly and desperate and pathetic.
The goddess greeted you and you greeted back quietly, your flight instincts kicking in. "Hermes?" He turned to you, smiling brightly, but it faded a little when he saw the distress in your eyes. "I'm- I'm a little hungry, can I bring you something from the buffet?" Hungry. Great. Couldn't you think of a better way to get out of this situation? Not daring to look at the goddess, you kept your eyes fixated on Hermes who was searching your face for hints of what was wrong.
"Sure," he then said and leaned down to peck your cheek. "That cake looked fantastic." You were thinking more like drowning in misery.
Giving everyone a small smile and goodbye without looking at either of them, you slipped away as fast as possible. Getting to the buffet was way harder without Hermes, because the crowd got more and more dense, so you gave up and opted to break from it, finding a bench somewhere with less people. The buffet had never been your objective in the first place.
You couldn't cry. Not here. Not surrounded by the most beautiful women you had ever seen. Your gaze wandered over stunning nymphs and glowing goddesses with their perfect bodies and perfect smiles, looking so graceful in their flowing dresses. Why were you here? If you had been able to shed your skin right now, you would have. You would still be hideous, but not comparable to these women who you shrank next to.
Why were you here? How could Hermes endure your presence, knowing he could have so much more beautiful women instead, women who didn't get anxiety from parties and rudely ran away from him and his family. Women who laughed, and danced, and made other people laugh. Who were so much fun and so much more worthy than you. You were a nothing. A miserable, ugly nothing.
"Sweetheart?"
You didn't want to look at him. Instead, you opted to fix your gaze on a particularly stunning lady wearing blue. You felt longing well up inside of you. If you could only have her body, her face, her smile, her flowing hair. Maybe you could love yourself. Maybe Hermes could love you.
"The crowd by the buffet was to dense, I couldn't get through," you said quietly, not sure if he was still there. He was. Hermes sat down on the bench next to you and there you sat in silence for a few minutes. When you finally glanced over, you were surprised to find him fiddling with his fingers in his lap. Was he nervous? Did he want to break up with you?
"I'm sorry," you said. "Back with your family... that was so rude of me."
"What's wrong?" he asked and you were surprised at how worried he sounded. Finally, you looked at his face and his pleading eyes and your heart roared. Now you had made him worried. A great girlfriend you were. "Please," he said, getting a hold of your hands and leaning down to eye level. "Tell me. I want to help, but I'm not Apollo, I don't just look at someone and instantly know what they're feeling."
"It's nothing," you said quietly. "Just a bit nervous, I guess." He didn't say anything, and you realized he was waiting for you to elaborate. When you looked at him and saw the helpless look in his eyes, you felt yourself breaking and hid your face in your hands. "How can you even look at me?"
"What?" He sounded completely perplexed.
"I'm hideous!" you sobbed, stubbornly hiding your face away because you felt your hands dampened by tears. "I'm ugly and unattractive and unworthy and even attempting to be anything but that is an insult to all the beautiful women here. And I don't get why you are here with me, why you are with me after all, I mean- why would you do this to yourself? I'm not worthy of you, I-" Your rambling was interrupted by a desperate and tearful gasp for air but you hid your face away stubbornly.
"What?" His voice sounded thin and utterly confused. Then, you felt his hands on your wrists, softly prying them away from your tear-dampened face. You didn't have it in you to fight them.
"Listen... You are... better at this than me," the god said with a nervous chuckle. "Remember the time I was so exhausted I fell out of the window? And you ran me a bath and you made me get in and you... listened to my endless tired ramblings and laughed at my stupid jokes so hard the soap slipped out of your hands and hit me in the face? And then, you... made me go to bed and tell you what was really stressing me out and you just knew what to say. Like, the exact words to make me feel better. And I still don't get how."
Hermes breathed in through his mouth, fidgety but hopeful at the fact that you hadn't interrupted him yet. "Do you remember that hiking trip? I was wearing you out, it was probably too much for you, but you were so determined to get to the top in time for the sunset. And we did and you were so full of wonder. And sure, the view was amazing, but I couldn't look away from you because- I just couldn't. And I had planned to throw you off the edge and catch you a few meters down but I couldn't bring myself to do anything because you were so in awe and so beautiful-"
"I'm not," you said. "Have you even looked at-"
"Sweetheart, my eyes are in perfect shape," Hermes interrupted you firmly. "Yours aren't, because, apparently, you can't see just how beautiful you are. And how good you feel. How fun it is with you. Do you know why I am always so out of breath when I knock at your window? Because every second of the day I want to spend with you, all the time I possibly can, because it feels so right to be with you. So I rush and I show up gasping and sweating at your door and it always feels like coming home."
You were stunned. Could you believe him? How could you not? Hermes seemed to sense your conflict and you felt him slump against you. "Do you have any idea how many times my father has scolded me in the past months for being late to my duties? I don't care if you think you aren't enough. You've always been enough for me. You're more than that. You are in all of my dreams, always on my mind when I'm away."
He caught his breath. This was hard, but he had to convince you of the honesty of his feelings towards you, and he had to get all that crap out of your head. "I'm a god, why would I be with you if I didn't want to be, if I thought I could do better?"
"You can!"
"No, I can't!" he pressed, almost shouting. "No one makes me feel the way you do. Don't you see? You hold me in the palm of your hand, I'm yours!"
With widened and tearful eyes, you stared at him and his gaze softened. "May I?" You nodded, unsure what he was asking exactly. Hermes pulled you into his arms and you couldn't help but feel so loved when he held you tight.
"Can we leave?" you asked quietly and felt him laugh shakily against your shoulder. "Yes, let's get out of here."
Reluctantly, he pulled away and made you look at him. "Would you please believe me that I love you? Because I don't know what else to do. Do you want my shoes? My gardens? My palace? All my temples? I'd give them all to you, if you would just believe me."
"I think I might need a little while to get it," you sniffled quietly and in full earnestness. "I'm a little stuck here." You managed a small laugh.
The god looked at you with such tenderness you felt yourself blushing under his gaze. "Then I'll remind you every day until you believe me how beautiful you are."
♡Review: Hermes confesses his love for you during a casual hookup
♡Content: Angst/no comfort, hook up culture, unrequited love, short fic
♡Author note: I should really be working on my requests, but the urge to write angst of Hermes is eating me out raw.
"I love you," He whispered, lips about to collide with yours before you pull back.
Your face was mixed with shock and discomfort. You retracted your hands from his neck and moved away from him slightly.
You stared at him for a moment, studying his features before speaking up.
"I...." Your voice was hesitant, trying to pick out the words cautiously." We agreed to keep this casual.."
Hermes' face flickered a look of disappointment and regret, quickly changing to a tight grin.
"Yeah, duh, I was just messing with you, darling." He tried to laugh it off, but you could see the broken look in his eyes.
Now you were both uncomfortable. You weren't interested in Hermes in that way; you just wanted to have fun, something to take your mind off your ex. You weren't ready for another relationship, and you agreed to keep things casual.
An awkward silence fell between the two of you, the tension in the air now thick as if it was getting harder to breathe.
He cursed himself internally. He didn't know why he said that, now he was losing the person he loved so much.
He watched you as you shifted uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact like the plague. The silence was killing him, not knowing if he should say something or if he should stay quiet, his fingers were trembling, and his throat was closing by the minute.
He goes to say something before you cut him off.
"I think you should leave."
Your words shook him to the core, his blood ran cold, and his skin turned pale. Your voice was low and firm. It ate at him from the inside out. His mouth opened as if he was going to say something, but then it closed.
He knew better than to protest. What would he even say at a moment like this?
He got up slowly and flew out your window, leaving you there feeling guilty. You didn't know he felt that way.
You stayed frozen on your bed, pondering all that had happened. A hand found your hair, combing through it slightly. Your heart was pounding, and your breaths came unsteady. The guilt continued to eat at you. You knew you guys wouldn't talk again, or at least it wouldn't be the same.
Maybe it was for the best you just stayed friends... right?
Halluuu, may i request for a Hermes x f reader comfort where reader is just having a bad night and Hermes comforts her?
☛ hermes comforting mortal! fem! reader on a bad night
☛ sfw, tw: self-depricating thoughts and anxiety; my therapist would have a field day with this
Why did your thouhts have to torment you on a night like this? A night that was supposed to be perfect, with a light breeze, soft sheets and your ethereal lover's arm holding you lazily as his soft breaths filled the room. And yet, thoughts were running wild in your head and wouldn't grant you any rest. But you had to sleep, you had to stop, you had to enjoy this.
How many of these nights would be in your future, if any? What was stopping Hermes from getting up tomorrow and never returning again? You wouldn't be able to blame him. He was a god. Why would he settle for someone like you? Someone mortal, plain, who had nothing to give but mere kindness. Who wasn't divine, wasn't extraordinary, was so easily replacable.
Anxiety wrapped its unforgiving fingers around your heart and squeezed tightly. You loved Hermes, but how could he love you? What made him stay in the first place? You knew what his family and friends thought about you, you knew it yourself. You weren't enough for him. He was an olympian god, and what about you?
There was no way you could ever tell him what you felt. If you brought his attention to the fact the he could do so much better, he would leave you. It was selfish, and you despised yourself for trapping him with you. You didn't deserve him.
And there was something else. You didn't want to let him know. He always said you were like a ray of sunshine, you were so kind to him, always cheered him up when his work exhausted him, always looking out for him, always making him smile. It was your job to be happy, it was what made you a little valuable at least. What reason could he have for staying than you being fun to be around? And moping around surely didn't make you fun to be around. A sorry sack of misery wouldn't make him stay, now, would it?
You hadn't realized you were crying and scolded yourself, trying to choke down the sobs that threatened to leave your throat. but the hand on your mouth did anything but help when your felt your lungs tighten. A sudden panic shot through your veins. You couldn't breathe. Gasping for air, you felt your chest constrict and scrambled to get rid of your clothes, but you couldnt move your arms.
"Hey, hey!" With half a mind, you realized Hermes was calling your name and holding your hands. "Whoa," he breathed, "Calm down. I'm here, alright? Just- I'm here." He sat you up in the bed and the sound of his voice brought the air back into your loungs. His concerned face hovered over you as he brushed sweaty strands of hair out of your face.
"Ah, uhm, sorry for waking you." You cursed your shaky voice and tried to wipe the tears away as inconspicuously as possible. But your hands were shaking so hard you could hardly brush away the obvious wetness on your cheeks. His brows only furrowed deeper. "I'm fine, go back to sleep."
"No, you aren't," Hermes said with a seriousness you rarely got to see from him. A little awkwardly, he wrapped an arm around you and took your trembling hand. "You're shaking all over, baby. What's going on?"
Despite your best efforts, the smile you forced onto your face must have not been very convincing because he only frowned harder. In your best attempt at a cheery voice, you answered: "It's nothing, really, I'm sorry for waking you and being all-" At the worst possible moment, your voice broke off and you tried to overplay it with a cough, but new tears stung in your eyes. You smiled at him anyway. "You should go back to sleep."
"Absolutely not!" Hermes argued firmly, very unnerved by the new tears streaming down your cheeks that you tried to wipe away. "Please," his voice got that pleading tone that you could not resist. The one that always had you put down everything and fall into his arms. He took your hands from your face and kissed your fingertips lightly. They were glistening with your tears. "Tell me, I want to know."
You broke. It just all broke out of you as heaving sobs shook your body and tears streamed down your cheeks. His arms closed tightly around you and you could only cry into his chest as he held your shaking body with the utmost tenderness.
"I don't deserve you," you sobbed. "Why would you ever stay with me? You're a god, and I'm just-" Your voice broke and you had to start again. "'M so so sorry, I want to be happy with you and I only want you to see my bright sides but I can't-" Only chocked sounds left your lips and you wet his chest with salty tears.
"Shh," he hummed and cradled you in his arms. "Calm down, baby." His chest rumbled as he spoke and you found solace in the sound, burying your head even further into the heat of his body.
After a few minutes, you managed to shakily wipe the tears away and look up at him. You imagined you were a very pathetic sight to behold right now, but the smile Hermes gave you was so tender and gentle your heart swelled with overwhelming affection. The same affection was laced into his voice as he spoke.
"How could you ever think that I would leave you?" Hermes whispered and ran a hand through your hair. "Baby, your obliviousness is admirable. And I- I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that you couldn't trust me with your baggage." When you shook your head violently and opened your mouth to protest, he shushed you. "But I want you to give me a chance to love all of you. The bright and dark sides, the good and bad days. 'Cause I love you. All of you."
Shakily, you nodded, and he leaned down to press a kiss onto your lips. It tasted of salt and tears, but the way he cradled your face, angled it just right made up for it. A long sigh left your mouth and he swallowed it up, pulling you impossibly closer and caressing your face as he kissed away your worries- for now.
When you were out of breath, you parted from him and managed to let out a small laugh. Small, broken, but real. "I don't think there will be any sleeping tonight, I'm afraid."
At your words, you could see an idea forming in his head, and a smile on his face. You knew that smile. The god leaned down to your ear and you felt his hot breath on your neck. "How would you like a little walk?"
"Uh, sure," you said, completely dumbfounded by his proximity, as always. He grinned down at you triumphantly and booped your nose. You frowned at him and he laughed lightly. "You just stay right there, baby, while I get my shoes."
"Your shoes?" You froze as he hopped off the bed and searched the darkness for his winged shoes. "Your- what- but- You don't want to-" He did, you saw it in the smirk he flashed you as he put them on and held his arms open for you to throw yourself into them. "May I invite you on a romantic nighttime fly, m'lady?"
Clumsily and very skeptically, you crawled towards him to the foot of your bed and put your arms around his neck. A mix of excitement and panic twirled around in your stomach that made you forget all about your worries and fears. His arms came up to lock around your waist securely and with you in his arms, he approached the open window. "Hermes, I swear, if you drop me I will kill you, and no immortality will be able to save you," you said, alarmed.
You only got a small laugh and a peck on the cheek in return, the next moment he had launched the both of you out of the window. It felt like you were falling, but upwards, which didn't make any sense. The speed with which he catapulted the two of you towards the stars had you scream and hide away in his tunic. Your hands were for sure drawing ichor with how they were digging into his shoulders. The wind howled in your ears, so loud you would have almost missed the ecstatic laugh coming from your lover. This was his turf.
A few breathless seconds of noise and speed and then it all stopped. You looked up carefully to see you were floating mid air, far above the ground under a sea of stars. Your stomach made a violent jolt when you made the mistake of looking down, so you looked up at the formations. "That's Ursa Major," you said, proud of yourself for remembering. "And Orion." Your eyes followed the Milky Way and you exclaimed in wonder.
"You like it?" Hermes asked and you looked back at him to nod. The stars reflected in his eyes, they held such affection and adoration that you suddenly felt stupid for not believing him when he said- "I love you," he breathed and you smiled giddily.
"You do!"
"Yes, I do," he laughed and whirled you around in a truly adventurous fashion. His hair tickled your throat when he buried his face in the crook of your neck. "Gods, I adore you so much, baby. Don't you ever doubt that."
You could only nod, because the moment was too magical to be disrupted by words. His lips on your neck, his confession lingering in the cool air and the contrasting warmth in your heart that was doing backflips of joy. There you were, entangled under the watchful stars, and in that moment you could only feel happiness, happiness and love.
