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Luna watched, hands locked under his chin - the rocky planets were all playing their card game, and he was stuck watching, just like always. He let out a heavy sigh and stared into the distance, at the asteroid belt and all of the asteroids within. There was nothing interesting there, per say, it was just a lot easier to stare at than having to deal with the others and their card game. Beside him, Earth was unusually silent for once; every turn, one of the others had to remind him to play his turn, and Luna was starting to wonder what had him so occupied.
But still - before he could stop himself, Luna’s eyes jumped to Mercury, and he found himself staring at him, studying his movements as he shuffled his cards, his eyes lighting up in a specific way whenever he realized he had good cards- and then Luna realized he’d been staring for a just a little bit too long, and he tore his gaze away, looking back at the asteroid belt with a familiar warmth in his cheeks.
He zoned out again, his mind focusing on everything but Mercury, jumping between thoughts like he was playing a game of asteroid dodgeball all on his own. And then - “-let Luna play for Earth! It’s obvious he’s not in it today.” Luna’s head jerked up at the sound of his name, his eyes finding Mercury again. “I don’t really want to stop playing.”
“I’ll play!” Luna scrambled over and picked up Earth’s forgotten hand of cards. Before anyone else could say anything, Luna kept talking. “I’m ready, I promise. I’ll play.” He met Mercury’s eyes, and he shot him a short smile; Luna clutched the cards a little tighter in his hands as a thread of warmth flared into being in his core. Distantly, he could still hear Earth talking, but Luna kept his focus on the cards, shuffling them as he waited for the game to start again - across from him, Mercury was doing the same thing, his wings shifting behind his back.
His attention was drawn away from the cards when Mars nodded at him as he leaned back down and picked up the cards he’d thrown onto the pile; and then he spoke, and Luna realized he’d missed the back-and-forth between the planets. “You make weird faces when you’re thinking sometimes,” Mars said, looking directly at Earth.
“No I don’t!”
Luna had to weigh in, the memories of the many times he’d been forced to watch the rockies play their card games flowing through his mind. “You kinda do, Earth…” He kept his eyes on his cards, already knowing that Earth would be giving him a betrayed look right about then - but then Mercury spoke up, and Luna didn’t even hear what he said properly, his attention stuck on his wings as they shuffled in the air. One of them tapped Venus on the shoulder; he gave Mercury an annoyed look and shuffled away from him while Mercury made a sheepish face and pulled his wings in tight - Luna gave himself a second to mourn the ability to see the wings properly before he tuned into the game, ignoring Earth beside him as he continued to groan about something.
Luna got so distracted by the game and the excitement of actually being able to play that he physically jumped when the Sun’s voice rang out, loud and overbearing - “PLANETS! GATHER ROUND! AND BRING YOUR MOONS!” - and beside him, he heard Earth yelp in kind, surprise obvious in the way that he sat up with a hand on his chest. His slight concern for Earth melted away immediately when his surprise disappeared and was replaced by a smug grin, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Told you,” he gloated, and Luna rolled his eyes. “Something is going to happen today.”
Luna reached out and collected all of the cards from the middle as the others threw their decks down; finally, Mercury handed him his hand of cards with another smile while Mars floated off, probably to pick up Phobos and Deimos. Luna worried at his bottom lip before speaking, shuffling the deck between his hands. “Thanks for…” Luna wasn’t even sure what to say - technically, Mercury hadn’t let him play at all, he’d just made the suggestion and Luna had taken the chance while he had it. Still, Mercury seemed to understand what he meant, tossing Luna a wide smile with his head tipped to the side, the wings on the sides of his head flapping lightly.
“Of course, Luna. You should play more often! I’m sure if you asked the others would let you into the game. You know I would,” and then Mercury turned, heading towards the Sun like he hadn’t just said something to make Luna’s core skip a beat - Luna sucked in a breath through clenched teeth and rubbed at his forehead once before following, Venus and Earth still behind him.
Luna watched Earth return to his orbit, uncertainty building in his core. Were the Earthlings going to be okay with Titan as a moon?
…Would Earth somehow ignite another Moon Revolution by saying something rude on accident?
His attention was drawn away from Earth as Mercury moved at his side, sending Luna a bright smile. “I guess we’re going to be hanging out for a while!” Luna replied with a smile of his own, but the smile dropped a second later when he looked at Earth again - and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mercury’s own smile drop, his wings drooping.
“What’s wrong, Luna?”
“Just thinking about Earth.” He frowned, biting the inside of his cheek; then he shook his head and turned back to Mercury, forcing a smile back onto his face. “It’s fine. Everything will be fine.” Mercury studied him closely for another moment, the intensity of his eyes making a warm feeling build in Luna’s core; then he smiled again, a genuine smile that sent the warmth flaring high.
“You’re right, Luna. Everything will be fine.”
It was silent for a while after that; Luna fixed his clothing and hair - and after another moment he removed his hoodie, the oppressive heat this close to the Sun almost too much to handle. Mercury’s eyes jumped towards him at the movement, and then he looked away with a dusting of red on his face, which made Luna duck his own head before he tied his hoodie around his waist and shifted in place. “So… what do you usually do? When I’m with Earth I end up studying the Earthlings on his surface a lot, but…” He trailed off, the end of his sentence obvious. “I still have a couple of the Earthling books I had Earth make me!”
He tossed another look over at Earth and saw that Earth and Titan were talking to each other, and his small smile turned genuine before he turned to meet Mercury’s eyes again; he wore a small smile of his own, something unreadable in his eyes as he looked at Luna.
“Usually, I just end up playing around with a couple of asteroids,” Mercury said, shrugging. “It’s why I like playing cards. Gives me something else to do, yeah?” He tilted his head to the side, and then leaned forward with an enthusiastic light in his eyes, his wings puffing up behind him. “But I think it’d be fun to see your Earthling books!”
Luna put his hand up in mid-air between the two of them and waited for the book to materialize in his hand; Mercury waited patiently, the wings on the sides of his head shuffling in place and sending strands of his hair floating. Luna closed his hand on the spine of the book and held it out towards Mercury; he reached out and grabbed it, studying the cover with a considering expression.
“The Moon is a Harsh Mistress,” he read off, before looking at Luna with a tilted head and confused expression. “Is this about you?”
“Oh,” Luna let out a nervous laugh. “No. Well, kind of - but no. It’s an Earthling book about a lunar colony.”
Mercury nodded and turned the book over, reading over the back cover after another second; Luna just waited in tense silence, something in him wanting Mercury’s approval on the book. “It’s a pretty popular Earthling book,” he offered, scratching lightly at the nape of his neck. “Earth gave it to me a while back, even before… well, before everything. I’ve finished it already!”
“Cool!” Mercury nodded and held the book out to him. Luna’s smile slipped, and he pushed it back towards Mercury.
“If you want, you can read it! Then we can talk about it… but only if you want!” He looked away from Mercury’s eyes, at Earth in the distance - he was still talking to Titan, and a rush of relief ran through Luna’s core as he realized that things might actually be fine. In fact - he watched them a little more closely… more than fine. He couldn’t stop the short huff of laughter that followed that realization, and when he turned back to Mercury he was staring at Luna with a propped eyebrow, confusion apparent in his eyes.
“Sorry, I just… realized something,” Luna offered. “Did you want to read it?”
Mercury pulled the book closer to his chest. “Sure, I’ll read it-”
“Read what?!” Luna jumped at the voice that intruded into their conversation, turning to the side to see that the Sun had leaned over and was looking at both of them, his star-shaped pupils jumping between the two of them. Mercury clutched the book tighter to his chest, a nervous smile on his face.
“Oh, just a book Luna gave me,” he answered; and then he gave Luna a look and dematerialized the book. “Nothing important.”
“Hmmm,” The Sun gave them both a look, before smiling wide, his eyes glowing orange suddenly. “Okay! Do you want to hear a sun joke?” Mercury met Luna’s eyes and shrugged as if to say just go with it.
Luna blinked and forced a smile as he looked up at the Sun, the heat blaring down almost unbearable, making his hair stick to the sides of his face. “Uh, okay?”
“What type of flower grows on the surface on the sun?” He paused as if waiting for them to answer before his smile grew wider. “An ultra-violet!” He clapped his hands together, beaming smile somehow growing - Luna laughed a little bit, hand over his mouth, and that only seemed to encourage the Sun as he leaned in even closer to the two of them. Mercury’s wings flapped once, a gust of air rolling over Luna and providing a momentary break from the heat. He tossed Mercury a grateful look, but he only responded with a small smile and another flap of his wings.
His attention was drawn away when the Sun spoke again, “Why did the Sun go to the doctor?”
This time, Mercury was the one to respond, his arms clutched tight over his chest. “I, uh, I don’t know, Sun, why?”
“It felt a little light-headed!” The Sun laughed this time, throwing his head back in the air as Luna let out a short little laugh of his own; at his side, Mercury seemingly just watched him, an amused smile tugging at his lips. The Sun’s laughter suddenly cut out - Luna glanced up at him and saw his eyes were narrowed, blazing orange fire catching at the bottom of his hair.
“EARTH! Why are you leaving your orbit?”
Luna turned around, immediately realizing what had drawn the Sun’s attention - Earth was off in the distance about halfway to Mars’s orbit, Titan right behind him. Mercury floated next to him, his voice low. “I think Earth’s about to get solar-flared…”
“Me too,” Luna responded, rolling his eyes. “He probably got bored in his orbit and wanted to play cards with Mars.”
“Is Titan going to be okay?” Mercury sounded genuinely concerned. “Earth has his magnetic field, but I don’t know anything about Titan.”
“STAY IN YOUR ORBIT!” The Sun yelled above them; Luna closed his eyes and winced at the blaring heat above his head, soaring right towards Earth in the distance - when the heat disappeared, Luna peeked his eyes open to see that Mercury had thrown one wing above him and was looking at him with his brows knit, concern lighting his eyes up.
“Are you okay, Luna? I know you don’t deal with solar flares that often…”
“I’m-” Luna started to respond to Mercury - and then he saw the way that Earth was crouched above Titan, blocking him from the solar flare; and amusement raced through his veins. “I’m fine,” he finally finished, the edge of a laugh in his voice. Mercury followed his eyes, frowning - but the frown was replaced by an amused grin equal to Luna’s when he realized what he was looking at. Earth turned around and yelled something towards them, and Luna grinned wider, another laugh escaping.
“I think they’re getting along,” Luna pointed out, sometime later. They’d graduated from speaking to just sitting and watching the rest of the Solar System the best they could - Luna and Mercury were limited in what they could see, but the Sun wasn’t. The Sun looked down at him with a tilted head; Luna shrugged. “It looks like switching the moons around might have actually worked. Huh.”
“Of course it did!” The Sun waved one hand in the air and stood up - sensing that with his statement the end was near, Luna leaned in closer to Mercury and clenched his hands tight over his ears, already wincing in preparation for how loud the Sun’s voice would be. There was a short movement out of the corner of his eye, and Luna blinked and looked up, realizing after a second that Mercury had brought his wing out again to cover Luna from above.
“PLANETS! BRING YOURSELVES AND THE MOONS!”
Miraculously, the wing above his head seemed to dampen the sound of the Sun’s voice, and Luna blinked again as his lips parted in surprise. “Wow,” he muttered to himself; Mercury moved his wing back, closing them both tight behind his back as he sent Luna a giant smile.
“Did that help?”
“Yeah,” Luna answered, a smile of his own curling onto his lips. “It did. Thanks, Mercury.”
“Of course, Luna,” Mercury’s eyes closed with force of his beaming smile, and Luna looked away from him as more heat flared to life in his face, instead looking off into the distance at Earth and sending him a bright smile. When the Sun told them all to go back to their planets, Luna held back a frown and turned to Mercury instead, a smaller smile on his lips.
“Merc-” Luna was interrupted halfway through his words when Mercury surged forward and closed his arms around Luna in a tight hug, his wings rearing up behind and making shadows fall over them both. Luna froze for a second before relaxing into the hug, sure that he was probably bright red - still, he dug his chin into Mercury’s shoulder and memorized the feeling of Mercury’s arms around him, his core beating harder than ever. When Mercury pulled back from the hug, he had a huge smile on his face, the wings on the sides of his head flapping quickly like he couldn’t control them.
“I’ll read that book, Luna. Feel free to come to my orbit whenever! I know you have to deal with Earth’s axis…” Mercury’s smile fell, as if he wasn’t sure what to say next - Luna let a smile split his face as he ducked his head.
“Yeah, Mercury, I’ll come by soon again. Okay?” And then he turned around and fled, sure he wasn’t going to be able to spend another second in Mercury’s presence without blurting out his ever-present feelings. He was met with the sight of Earth hugging Titan in the distance, and another smile tugged at his lips. At least everything worked out with those two, Luna thought with a sigh of relief. No chance of Earth being attacked in another moon revolution in the future… probably.
Luna slid in next to Earth, his planet’s usual gravitation pull locking in - Luna relaxed at the feeling, something right flooding into his core. Despite the fact that it seemed to have worked… Luna really didn’t want to switch again. He was fine being Earth’s moon. Earth jumped suddenly, and Luna’s smile twitched as he realized Earth hadn’t noticed him coming up.
“Seriously? Couldn’t warn me, first?”
Luna arched one eyebrow and let his head fall to the side, propped against one hand. “Titan, huh?”
“…What do you mean?” Earth’s eyes narrowed, jumping to Titan far off in the distance before he looked at Luna again, his leg twitching.
“Oh, nothing, Earth.” He tilted his head. “Nothing.”
Luna let his eyes slide closed, the soothing feeling of being back in his normal orbit making him feel almost exhausted. He left his hoodie off, tied tight around his waist; he still felt a little warm from being so close to the Sun, the feeling almost bone-deep. His eyes opened again, and he let out a hard yawn - beside him, Earth was already asleep, his eyes tightly closed, his breathing even and deep. Luna’s eyes darted towards Mercury’s orbit again, the curiosity bubbling in his core too much to resist - and then his eyes widened, a choked sound falling out as he saw that Mercury was actually reading the book Luna had given him, curled over on his side with the book held in both hands.
He looked enthralled, concentrated - and Luna ducked his head, slamming his eyes closed again as all of the exhaustion he previously felt was replaced by an awed emotion, one he couldn’t catch a hold of. A smile twitched at his lips, and he dug his face into his arm, the memory of Mercury’s hug popping back into his head and making him squirm with abrupt joy.
“Luna? Is something up?” Earth’s sleepy voice suddenly came from beside him.
Luna froze and looked at Earth with a sheepish smile. “Nothing. Just had a… nice thought.” He shrunk back into himself. “You can go back to sleep.” Earth arched one eyebrow at him, but sleep still clouded his eyes; finally, he shrugged and closed his eyes again, and Luna let his own shoulders fall with the slight relief. He tossed one more look at Mercury in the distance as another smile crept onto his face - and then he laid his head on his arm and watched Mercury read, more joy curling like an Earthling cat in his core as the time passed.