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Gods did not change. That was a fact Hermes knew all too well.
Gods may shift forms and pick up new domains but their core would always remain the same. That was just how it was and how it would always be. Gods were immortal, but they were also stuck as what they were created as. They could not break the habits they built up over millennia mortals minds couldn’t even comprehend, because gods were not mortals. The ability to change and choose who you wanted to become was one of the things exclusive to mortals and demigods, and it was one of things Hermes secretly envied.
Gods could not change and Hermes had to accept that as his existence, knowing he would repeat his same habits and mistakes in the past, as much as he hated it. It was just how it was. Trying to change would be like asking a snake to eat less rats and he knew from experience it did not go well.
Then Apollo came back from his latest stint as a mortal.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t been mortal for longer in the past. Two times, in fact! There wasn’t any reason that this time would be any different. Any difference in behavior was just Apollo adjusting to being back on Olympus. Especially after spending so much time with mortals; anyone would be thrown off.
Hermes knew that of all the gods who might try to change (they couldn’t), Apollo was one of the least likely. He was the sun. The sun always rose in the sky, no matter if it was stormy, the sun was always still there. It was a truth Hermes knew almost as well as the truth that gods did not change. The sun would rise again. After being around to see Apollo bounce back in the past from being mortal, Hermes never doubted that Apollo would be back to the way he was in a few weeks.
Weeks passed. Then months.
Hermes was used to juggling countless tasks at once. There was always a message to be delivered. A new prank he had been cooking up. Another interesting happening to hear about. More news to catch up on. Someone to meet up with. Information needing to passed on through several groups. A package to bring to someone. He could handle too many things to do.
What Hermes was not used to was being ignored.
As the god of messengers and communication, any sort of lost connection made Hermes antsy. He hadn’t suffered any lack of people needing his services. That was impossible with the constant stream of things that was to be brought somewhere or returned back to another somewhere. His work remained busy as ever.
No, it was that Apollo was ignoring him. Apollo.
Apollo was the one who always showed up to every event. Always made his presence known in some loud way. Always shining too bright whether Hermes liked it or not. Apollo and silence were two things that didn’t belong together. It was one of the reasons Apollo was so fun to prank. He wasn’t one of the gods that ignored it and forced Hermes into a long waiting game where he wasn’t sure if it worked and what was a simple prank dragged on forever until Hermes gave up. If Apollo was bothered by something, he would make sure everyone knew. His annoyance was always blazing and hot and immediate and his rage even more so.
If Apollo had been bothered by the betting pool, he would’ve complained about it in front of the whole council. Maybe it was because Father was still there and Apollo hadn’t wanted to gain his anger again (being reserved was something Hermes had never thought to associate with Apollo either) then he would’ve made sure later that Hermes knew well what exactly he’d gotten mad about that time. That wasn’t what happened either.
Instead, Apollo went radio silent, never spending more time on Olympus than what was necessary.
Apollo’s absence unnerved Hermes. His presence, while the haikus were annoying at times, was an interchangeable part of Olympus that Hermes couldn’t imagine missing. Even in the times Hermes did see Apollo, he was always quiet. It never took more than a few moments before Apollo vanished with an excuse. It was so unlike the Apollo he knew. Through thousands of years, the only times Apollo had been this quiet was after the death of his lovers but it had never lasted this long and he’d never avoided Olympus like this.
It was behavior Hermes never expected from Apollo. The worst part was he didn’t know what had changed.
Hermes had watched Apollo’s trials, the same as everyone else. If it was embarrassment that kept him away from Olympus, it still wouldn’t have made sense. In the rare chances Hermes had to see Apollo, he never mentioned the embarrassing moments and all the dirt he had gathered from watching his time as a mortal, as funny as it was. He had planned to, at the start, but in the end, he decided against it, since there were some scenes that he would rather not recall for the moment. Or maybe for the next century.
Apollo was the one that refused each of his subtle suggestions to go chariot racing or to do something to celebrate his return. Subtlety wasn’t what he would have ever imagined Apollo to respond to. It was just a growing list at this point.
Still, Apollo would have to go back to being the way he was. The whole mortal thing might have left some impression on him but it couldn’t have been that big. A measly six months couldn’t overcome a millennium of behaviors Apollo had had for as long as Hermes could remember.
Gods did not change.
Hermes knew that as well as he knew that Apollo would not change. Because he was Apollo. Apollo didn’t even change during the whole Greek-Roman situation, which affected almost everyone. Apollo didn’t change after even his most powerful rages. He always returned to the way he was before.
Gods couldn’t change. Olympus couldn’t change. It was a bitter truth Hermes had believed that for thousands of years. He may be the god of lies, but he couldn’t lie to himself about something like that.
Because if Apollo could change, then what would that mean for Hermes?