“Alright, alright” Hermes wipes away a tear when his mirth finally subsides. “I went too far with that line, we can agree there. But what else was I supposed to do, let her walk away?”

“Yes!” Phlegyas cries.

“After you returned her bracelet,” Charon says.

“Before stealing her bracelet in the first place.”

Hermes scratches his head. “Phlegyas, if I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were jealous.”

“No, don’t take it back! It was touching…in a confusing and unfamiliar way. Someone might think we’re friends.”

Phlegyas’ expression grows cold as he responds, “Perish the thought.”

“I think we're all friends here,” Charon says. “Listening to your banter reminds me of my younger days with my brother.” He finally turns away from the balcony to face his companions with a smile that softens his face, making him appear much younger than he undoubtedly is. Both men stare back at him with varying degrees of confusion. Hermes’ expression quickly shifts to a mischievous smile, while Phlegyas’ shoulders slump in resignation.

Hermes cheerfully slings a hand around Charon’s shoulders. The Ferryman stands a full head taller than Hermes, but the mischievous god doesn’t let that stop him. “We’re more than friends, Charon. I think of you as a brother.”

“Are you drunk?”

“No—not for lack of trying.”

“Are you about to ask me for a favor?”

“No?” Hermes answers, increasingly puzzled.

“Then the feeling’s mutual.” Charon grins and ruffles Hermes’ hair until he pulls away to salvage his curls.

“I’m glad you ‘brothers’ are getting along so well, but I have no interest in either joining or being a third wheel. If you’ll excuse me,” Phlegyas turns on his heel, heading for the doors to the banquet hall.

“Are you sure you want to go back in there?” Hermes calls out as Phlegyas’ hand lands on the doorknob. “They’re still talking about you.”

Phlegyas narrows his eyes with unmasked suspicion.

“Well, not you specifically—the new project you guys are working on.”

Phlegyas glances at Charon, who shrugs in response.

“Was it supposed to be a secret? ‘Cause half the ballroom’s heard about it by now.”

“Hermes, start from the beginning. What was the rumor?” Charon asks.

“You guys are going to start harvesting souls from the Styx, save the people who fell in. Something like that. I didn’t catch all the details, I was pretty preoccupied on the way out here. But I definitely heard Ëstis talking about it. Isn’t that why you came out here?”

Charon groans, and as the weight of the realization sets in he presses a thumb into his temple. He thought he had ended the conversation early enough, but it seems he was wrong.

“Charon.” Phlegyas presses him for an answer. When the answer doesn’t come, Phlegyas’ demeanor settles to something infinitely more controlled.

“You mentioned when you came out here that Ëstis was looking for me. I assume you spoke with her?”

Charon nods. “She asked about the ferriers, and about the accidents with people falling in.”

“So it was bait.”

“And the trap, all in one. She didn’t want a report, she wanted to force my hand.”

“Ok, now I feel kind of bad, being the messenger here,” Hermes says. “Want me to spread a rumor about her instead? I could even make it true.”

“How would that help?”

Hermes shrugs off Phlegyas’ question. “Beats doing nothing.”

“We didn’t make a deal,” Charon says. He doesn’t give the impression he heard Hermes’ suggestion on his exchange with Phlegyas. “So I’m not bound to whatever rumors are spreading. Besides, this kind of manipulation is too heavy-handed to work. She has to know that.”

“I thought she was smarter than this,” Phlegyas adds.

“Her motive was probably something else…but I also don’t care enough to dig. We don’t do her bidding, so we’ll continue with our plans and leave her to her politics.”

“But with all this additional attention on us, we can’t fail.”

“Why would we plan to fail?”

“You know what I mean, Charon. There are consequences for failure, and she’s put us on center stage now. Even you might feel the fallout from this.”

Phlegyas’ earnest concern makes its desired impact on Charon and he lapses into thought yet again. After a moment, he meets his partner’s eyes with determination.

“We won’t fail.”

“If you say so.” Phlegyas keeps his tone doubtful, but his shoulders relax a fraction.

“Oh, the party’s over?” Hermes’ question breaks the other two out of their work huddle and Charon follows his line of sight to the banquet hall. Quite a few people have already left and the rest file through the doors Charon entered only a few hours before.

“I guess we should head back inside,” Charon says. His voice carries an air of finality, but he’s the last to start moving. Hermes strides toward the door, preparing to grab the handle when Phlegyas stops him.

“Let’s not go back together. I’d hate for people to get the wrong idea here.”

“Don’t say it like that, you’ll hurt my feelings. Don’t you want people to know how well we get along, Phlegy?”

“You might actually get a positive response if you didn’t try so hard to rile him up,” Charon says.

“Maybe. But where’s the fun in that?” Hermes laughs over his shoulder as he swings the door open again.