TWs: Brief injuries/pain, bitterness, sleep deprivation, self-blame/self-deprecation. Stay safe :)

"Nine~? Helloooo~" Neptune flew around, head turning a full 180 degrees as he searched for his brother. He frowned, "He should be here..."

"Ack-!" A yelp sounded in the distance, "Ugh, stupid fragile crystals...!"

Neptune raised an eyebrow, following the voice. Moving a few asteroids out of his way, he blinked upon seeing Nine hunching over himself, clutching his hand.

"Nine, are you okay-?" Neptune shifted forward, reaching out to touch him, yet Nine slapped it away.

"I'm fine. I can heal myself, you-" Nine looked up at Neptune, biting his tongue as he looked at the other who had a worried and anxious expression on his face. Nine huffed before looking away, "Dummy."

Neptune tilted his head, watching as Nine plucked out ice shards from his hand. He waited a few moments, feeling the extra NovaStar in his pocket weighing him down with every second that passed.

"What do you want?" Nine barely glanced at the other, "You know I don't like visitors showing up out of the blue."

"Well," Neptune smiled, "I~ have a present for you~"

"...Why?" Nine appeared genuinely confused.

"Because you're my bro, and I love you...?"

Nine blinked, a deadpan look on his face. Rolling his eyes, he turned to face the other, "Alright, fine. What is it?"

"Close your eyes~"

"Really?"

"Just do it!"

Nine scoffed, yet closed his eyes, "This is ridiculous..."

Neptune grinned, pulling out Pinwheel's NovaStar, "Gimme your hands."

The other scrunched his nose, lifting his hands hesitantly. Neptune brought Nine's hands to a cupping position before placing the NovaStar in the palms.

"And... open!" Neptune wrung his hands together.

Nine opened his eyes, casting his gaze toward his open palms. His eyes perked up with surprise, "You're giving me your NovaStar...?"

"Ah-ah-ah, that's not Messier's NovaStar- their name is Pinwheel."

"Hello, new friend!" Pinwheel exclaimed. Nine jolted, the Novae nearly slipping out of his grasp.

"Nine...?" Neptune furrowed his eyebrows, noticing the brief look of panic on the other's face, "Are you okay...?"

Nine grunted, "I'm fine, it's just- why would you give something so valuable to me, of all planets, after everything I did?"

"I meant what I said."

"What...?"

"You're my brother, and I love you." Neptune gave him a small smile.

Nine averted his gaze, uttering, "That's not a rational reason..."

"Well, I'm not a rational planet!" Neptune grinned, becoming fluid in his motions as he wiggled around.

Nine rolled his eyes at the other's antics, a smile toying at his lips.

« »

"Saturn...?" Jupiter eyed the ringed Celestial.

"What?" Saturn glowered, his pen never leaving the paper in the notepad.

"Are you okay? You seem... agitated." Jupiter spoke, voicing his concerns cautiously.

"Of course, I'm agitated, Jupiter!" Saturn threw his hands up in the atmosphere, "I can't with all these names and all the memorizing!"

"You do realize you can take breaks, right...? I'm sure your moons won't mind if you slip up a couple of times."

"It's more than a couple of times, Jupiter!" Saturn grabbed Jupiter by his shoulder, "I don't give my moons the time of day! Other than Titan, I don't even acknowledge them!"

Jupiter placed his hand where Saturn's was, "You haven't been acknowledging any of them these past few days- just look at them."

Saturn peered over his shoulder just in time for his major moons to avert their gazes, pretending to mind their business.

"Saturn, how much sleep have you gotten?" Jupiter asked.

"In total? Uh... maybe ten minutes?"

'That explains it...' Jupiter nodded. Saturn was always moody when he didn't get enough rest. Taking Saturn's hands in his, Jupiter guided the other to a specific spot in the zone, one of the only spots where the Sun emits enough light for warmth to travel to them, "This should be good... you should get some rest, Saturn."

Jupiter tried to separate their hands, only for Saturn to tighten his grip.

"Ow- uh, Saturn? Can you loosen up there, bud?"

"Don't tell me to loosen up." Saturn puffed his cheeks out, "I'm perfectly fine!"

"That's not..." Jupiter trailed off, eyes gazing down at their laced hands. He sighed, "Never mind- just get some sleep."

"I was going to do that before you showed up," Saturn grumbled, curling into himself. Jupiter didn't reply, knowing a response would make things worse for him.

"Man, is this what third wheeling is like?" Ganymede whispered while holding Europa close to him. Europa merely held onto his arm like a koala to a tree.

"You have no idea." Callisto deadpanned.

« »

Earth held himself close, his hands rubbing his arms as he gazed at the Sun with a fixed stare. To an outsider, it was hard to tell what he was thinking, but to Luna; the moon didn't have to guess to know what his parent planet was thinking. He just knew.

"Earth...?" Luna closed his book, setting it down as he shifted before the other, covering most of his view of the Sun, "Are you... okay?"

Earth blinked, coming to his senses as his eyes landed on Luna, "Huh...? Oh. I was doing it again, wasn't I?"

Luna slowly nodded, "Is it still hurting?"

"So much." Earth grimaced; the weight on his shoulders grew heavy, "I've been through worse... I should be able to handle this."

"You can't blame yourself, Earth." Luna spoke, "You had no idea what was going to happen- no one could've known."

"Right..." Earth grunted, feeling multiple aches across his body followed by subtle vibrations. It made him dizzy, his head shaking slightly. He raised a hand, clutching his head. The weight on his core was overbearing.

"Earth," Luna crouched down, his eyes and voice pleading, "Tell me what I can do to help-"

"You can't stop eight billion Earthlings at once, Luna," Earth spoke.

"No- I know I can't, but just help me help you." The moon looked around, "I'm sure we can find something to distract you for a while- that'll help take your mind off the pain."

"Th-There is one thing..." Earth muttered, feeling heavy with each breath he took; the crushing weight was holding him back from saying what he wanted to say. It was like a noose around his neck, squeezing until he finally choked.

"Earth?" Luna shifted closer, eyeing his parent warily as the other coughed, "Are you alright?"

Earth covered his mouth with a fist, coughing into it, "I will be..."

"You have friends to help you through this..." Theia's words resonated through his head, "You need to be more open about your feelings, and, after some time, you'll feel better."

"Once I tell the others everything." Earth finished.

"Everything will eventually get better."

A tear rolled down Earth's cheek, yet he was smiling.

"I promise."

« NOTE »

My mental health has taken a swan dive off a roof and into a black hole, never to be seen again.

Anyway, join my Discord, or else I'll add The Iris to this story. Links are on my bio/profile page.

Comments are appreciated 3