Were it anyone else, with very few exceptions, Bragi might have been a bit judgmental in his reaction to the confirmation. As a happily married man, he had difficulty fathoming how a marriage could go so totally wrong that one of the pair would seek out someone else. How could a union, something so intimate and special that two people committed their very lives to it, derail so badly that it was worth cheating, yet not so terribly that remaining married was preferred?
On the other hand, as someone that understood love and human motivations, it was not incredibly hard to understand how an affair could happen. Passions burned bright and quick, and sometimes left little room for thought as they ignited. One touch, one look, was sometimes all it took to set things ablaze, and that sort of fire was very hard to quench or control once it took hold.
And sometimes people balanced on that fine edge, that knife's blade, between the two. Love and commitment should go together, but did not always. Bragi knew that Hedylogos was aware of this, for not only was he a wordsmith who understood for the same reasons the skald did, but he was also a love god. Hedy knew how thin and blurry the line could be, and usually, he avoided it. At least in all the years Bragi had known him, he'd done so.
So this woman had to be something extraordinary. She was someone that Hedylogos had loved a long time, and the feelings had never waned, if the gift analogy was applicable. And now, finally, an opportunity had presented, and his friend had been unable to resist the temptation.
If this were the usual sort of story, it would end in heartbreak. There were no other option available when there were three parties involved like this. Either the unfaithful one would stay with their spouse, and shatter the lover's heart. Or the cheater would leave the spouse, and break theirs. In this instance, though, there was a third option given that Hedylogos was immortal: he could have this dalliance for a few years, maybe a decade or two, before the woman would grow older, maybe wiser. It wasn't exactly equitable to the husband, but it might save a lot of pain.
"The heart is rarely logical, or fair," he commented. Then he blinked, struck by something he should have realized earlier. Hadn't Hedy said he'd wanted this particular thing for a very long time? Perhaps since he was young? Young for a god implied centuries of longing. "She is... not mortal. Is she?"