Chapter Text
Okay, so Gabriel hadn't really intended to become one of Ancient Greece's many gods. Actually, the function that the Greeks assigned to him hardly seemed worthy of the title of "god" in the first place, but hey, he wasn't going to complain about it.
One day in the fifth, maybe fourth century before Christ - it was hard to keep track in those times - he had been flying over Athens to admire the impressive civilization that was blooming there. It was night, obscuring him from view for any humans who might still be awake. The light from the moon and hundreds of stars was enough to make out the shiny, marble temples that sprung up all over the city, though.
Apparently it was also enough for other flying immortals to see him, something that Gabriel hadn't taken in consideration because there weren't supposed to be any other flying immortals around in the first place. His family was in Heaven, and as far as he knew, the Greek gods didn't fly. (Well, except for when Zeus turned himself in an eagle or a cloud of golden rain maybe, but in those moments all his attention tended to be focused on some poor woman anyway. And Eros, but it was way past his bedtime.) So yes, Gabriel was surprised to see someone approach him in the sky, especially since that someone lacked angel wings.
The god introduced himself as Hermes, they got talking, and Gabriel quickly realized that he wasn't all that bad. With the both of them being the messengers of their respective religions and having a bit of an impulsive side on top of that, they had a lot in common. Plus, the guy had these really cool winged shoes.
It turned out that the Greek gods weren't exactly familiar with the concept of angels, and as much as Gabriel tried to explain it, Hermes remained utterly confused.
"So you're not a god?" he asked at one point in disbelief.
"Nope," Gabriel said. He wasn't going to bother with more than that anymore.
Hermes frowned. "But my dear friend, you should be a god! Look at you, even demigods pale in comparison."
Flattered, Gabriel smirked at him. "Well, thanks, Herm. Unfortunately, my people don't become gods."
"Well, that's nonsense," Hermes commented.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "It's not really up for debate."
For a moment, Hermes seemed to be considering something. "You know," he eventually said, "I've been meaning to find someone to look after my star."
"Your star?"
"Yes, my wandering star, Hermaon," he explained. "I already have so much on my plate, and Zeus has appointed someone to take care of his, so I don't see why I couldn't."
"And you want me?" Gabriel questioned. Starsitting wasn't exactly on his resume.
The god didn't seem to share his concerns. "Of course! It's not much work, since it does its wandering all by itself." He gestured at Gabriel's wings. "You spend your time in the sky already anyway. And since the two of us get along so well, I think you would be the perfect god for it."
Pouting his lips, Gabriel gave it some thought. Becoming a Greek god would be pretty neat. And if it really wasn't a big job and he still had plenty of time for his heavenly duties, Dad couldn't make a problem of it either.
"All right," he agreed. "I don't see why not."
Hermes grinned. "Perfect! This will be wonderful, you'll see. Remind me, your name is Gabrios, right?"
"Gabriel," the angel corrected him.
"Right." Hermes hummed in consideration. "It's not a Greek name... We can call you Stilbon instead."
Usually, Gabriel wouldn't appreciate some god just changing his name, but he had heard enough Greek to know that stilbein meant "to shine", so he decided to just take it as another compliment. "I can live with that."
"Brilliant," Hermes said, patting him on the shoulder. "Gabriel, my friend, you will make a magnificent god. I can feel it."
So that was how he became the god of Hermaon, or, as people would later call it, the planet Mercury. It was the best occupation Gabriel had ever had. He hung out with Hermes sometimes and got to meet a couple of other gods. Most of the Olympians barely acknowledged him, which was apparently how they always acted towards lesser gods, but that was fine. He was high up enough in his own religion, and he did manage to capture the attention of the Muses for a little while. Those were fun times.
However, his absolute favorite part of godship was the people. No one had discovered God and the angels yet at that point, so he had never received any human worship before. Of course he still wasn't the center of attention here, but people did tend to have a special sort of admiration for celestial bodies. The first time someone prayed to "Stilbon", he had marveled at the idea that that now included him. It was quite an amazing feeling to be so unconditionally appreciated, even if it was only one person a day who happened to look up at the night sky and think about him. He especially liked the ones who had picked Hermaon as their favorite and would seek it out on a regular basis.
Before, Gabriel never paid any heed to humans and what they were up to, but as one of their gods, he grew more and more fascinated by them. Became fond of them, even. It got to the point where he started to loathe the periods in which Hermaon wasn't visible in Greece. He would watch some of his most loyal followers go about their daily lives without sparing him a thought, and he had to admit that it stung a little. It didn't matter that he didn't even actually know them; he just missed the connection. Being loved. And if that made him a self-centered B-hole, then so be it.
Hermes understood all too well, and so Gabriel spent most of his downtime with him. During some big war, though, the Olympians all had their hands full, if not with granting favors, then with fighting about whose side was right. As a result, Gabriel was lonely. And bored.
He didn't really know how he got the idea. One day he was just staring down at the streets of Athens, which looked empty without the large part of citizens that had gone to the war. Hermaon was right in front of the sun and therefore invisible, so the people that were left didn't even seem to remember him. Maybe a reminder was in order. Not some ostentatious display of power to convert the whole city like the Olympians would occasionally do, but something small, something to attract the attention of a single human, just to feel that connection again. He might be one of the smallest gods in the whole pantheon, but he was still a god. Surely one human wasn't much to ask for.
Even though Gabriel didn't have many loyal followers on the best of days and a fair portion of them were gone already, he took care to pick the right person. He might not have known any of their names, but he did know them. He knew where they lived and where they worked, who their family and friends were, whether they were married and what secret wishes lay in their hearts. He knew a woman who was sick and tired of basically being locked up by her asshole husband, and he knew a man who simply wanted to be a good politician. And while Gabriel cared about most of them, he also knew that not all were fit for what he had in mind. Luckily, one that was had remained in Athens for the time being.
The young man was unmarried, smart and actually really cute. What Gabriel perhaps liked most about him was that he was mainly interested in Hermaon for what it was: a wandering star. While the others requested all kinds of protection and aid from Stilbon, this man could sit for hours just looking at the star, trying to uncover its astronomical secrets. His fascination had fascinated Gabriel from the very beginning, and his soft spot had developed from there.
In his human form, he decided to wait a few streets away from the man's home. It was getting late and there were even fewer people out than usual, but Gabriel knew the man's routine by heart. Just as expected, he rounded the corner in mere minutes.
"Hi," Gabriel greeted him.
Two honey-colored eyes turned towards him questioningly. "Hello."
"Can I borrow you for a minute?"
"Why?" the man asked, the skepticism in his voice tripled and a frown on his face to go with it.
"I have something important to talk to you about," Gabriel answered. "What's your name?"
"Sorry, but I don't have time for this," the guy said as he tried to pass him.
Gabriel grabbed his arm before he could get very far. "Yes, you do. You don't even want to go home."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm not a robber or anything," he said. "Just hear me out."
He could see that he had rattled the man. He was still frowning but also looked at Gabriel intently. Wondering. "My name is Deon."
"Can I call you Dean?"
"Why?"
"One less syllable," Gabriel shrugged. "It's a nickname."
Dean didn't seem to find a reason to object. "And you are?"
"Gabriel," he decided to answer. "Call me Gabriel."
"You're a foreigner?" Dean asked, clearly surprised. His Greek was flawless.
"Oh yeah. But I've been here for quite a while now," the angel said.
He started walking further along the street and was glad to see Dean follow.
"What could a foreigner possibly want to talk to me about?"
Gabriel smiled to himself. "I need your assistance with something, Dean."
The guard went back up. "I don't even know you."
"You do, actually," he said. "Kind of. And I definitely know you."
Coming to a stop, Dean stared at him distrustfully. "What are you talking about?"
"Come on," Gabriel told him with a nod in the right direction. "I'll tell you everything."
"This is how people end up murdered and dumped in the sea."
He sighed before taking on the most genuine tone he could. "I swear I do not wish to harm you in any way." Then he smirked at Dean. "But if you come with me, I promise to make it worth your while."
Immediately, realization dawned on the man's features and skepticism was replaced by surprise. "Wait... You want to take me on as your mentee?"
"Something like that," Gabriel shrugged.
"I'm an adult. Actually, are you even older than me?" Dean questioned.
He decided to leave that question unanswered for now. "Does it matter?"
Dean's eyes wandered over his body, measuring him up. But all he said was, "How can you know me? I don't remember ever seeing you before."
Gabriel looked around them. They were almost out of town, as had been the plan. Houses were far apart, close to no one was out anymore and it was getting darker with each passing second.
"We haven't technically met before," he explained, and then he held Dean's gaze. "But I know that your father is a pretty famous astronomer."
"Everyone knows that," Dean huffed.
"I also know that you share his passion, but that he doesn't believe you're worthy of following in his footsteps, no matter how hard you try," Gabriel continued. "I know that you're tired of living with him because of all the criticism. I know that he isn't even bothering with finding you a wife, which is enough to make it much harder for you to do it on your own. I know your only friends are your slaves, and I know it frustrates you that you can't set them free. I know you're lonely. I know you wander the streets of Athens every day and find small jobs here and there, but you could do so much more if people gave you a chance to show how smart you are. I know you like to sit on the roof from dusk till dawn just to look at the night sky, sometimes with measuring tools and a piece of papyrus to record what you see. Maybe most of all, I know that out of all those stars Hermaon is your favorite, that it's your anchoring point when you're struggling, that you wait for it and pray to it and that every time it's visible, you wish it would reveal its secrets to you."
With each word he spoke, Dean's eyes had grown larger. Disbelief slowly made place for confusion, shock and finally amazement. For what felt like hours, he just stared at Gabriel, until eventually he said, "You're Stilbon."
"Correct."
"By Zeus," Dean muttered. "But how... Why... You said your name was Gabriel."
"It is," he answered.
"How can it if you're truly the god of Hermaon?"
"Because I didn't used to be," Gabriel explained. "It wasn't until I met the god Hermes that I took charge of his star. He was the one who decided to call me Stilbon. I still prefer my old name, though."
Dean was still staring at him like Perseus might have stared at Pegasus when the creature was born from Medusa's blood and the foam of the wine-colored sea. "But what could you possibly want from me?"
"You're one of my most loyal followers, Dean," he said with a smile. "I don't have a lot in the first place and even fewer ones who care as much as you do. Now that so many Athenians are busy with the war and Hermaon isn't visible on top of that, I'm sure you can imagine I don't get much attention these days." He put a step towards the other man. "So I thought to myself, who worships me enough to help me out during these difficult times?"
He kept his eyes locked with Dean's until the man snapped out of it. "Right. Yes, of course I'll help. What can I do?"
Satisfied, Gabriel held out his hand. "Let me get us to a more suitable place for starters."
Dean didn't hesitate to take it, and the archangel knew he had picked the right man as he flew them away.