Archive of Our Own

Ughhhhh. I really suck.

Earth had done nothing even remotely productive throughout the day, staying in his man-cave of a room and hibernating like some sort of wild animal. He didn’t really want to stay in bed, but it was really hard not to because for crying out loud—his skin was crawling non-stop and it was so overstimulating, and he had a headache that was actually starting to piss him off. 

And he was starting to get dizzy. The cherry on top, or whatever his Earthlings say. This sucks. Of course this is what happens when he goes down to his surface for the first time in… well. A couple of months, but nonetheless.

Earth really liked coming down to his surface. A little weird, sure, but it was always so worth it. 

He remembered when he did it for the first time—and how exhilarating it was to see his surface up close. It’s not like they had planet-sized mirrors (minus that time his moon had somehow figured out how to make one), so learning he could even do it was surprising and very against physics, in a nutshell.

It was… also a bit boring. Considering his surface at the time he first managed was… pretty barren.

He liked seeing his Earthlings close up—being able to view them and see their smiles felt so rewarding and it always filled Earth with affection. And it made Earth forget everything, even for just a moment. And sometimes, that’s all he needed.

Lately, he found himself enjoying his friends’ faces whenever they encountered funny looking animals. He found it amusing whenever Venus would try to hide his own expression—not that he was slick with it at all. Earth would catch himself grinning like an idiot at such baffled reactions that a creature could look so stupid. I probably shouldn't think about my Earthlings like that. Even though it’s true. 

It wasn’t too often that he decided to pop on his surface with his moon or other planets to check out his surface or to simply chill out and to take a break from… being celestial bodies and everything. Though, whenever he did come down, it was a bit painful. Less than when he was in his true celestial form, but still painful.

…Well, actually it’s been less painful. It was more like severe sporadic pain rather than chronic, mild yet inconvenient pain. Not that one was necessarily better than the other.

Though, currently dealing with number one was not fun.

As he lay in bed, motionless and useless, he stared up at the textured popcorn ceiling of his room that he has gotten comfortable with. He counted the aimless speckled dots he saw—or, tried to, and his stomach churned with a warmth that made him feel sick. It felt like he was supposed to shiver, or like he was supposed to throw up—but his body couldn’t quite do either.

Regardless, both sounded unappealing. He has dealt with both more than enough times and he really wasn’t looking forward to it again. He hoped he wasn’t getting nauseous, but that hope was dying along with his sanity. Earth scoffed to himself bitterly, which when he thought about doing just that, felt like some sort of idiot. I really hope Luna doesn’t think I’m dying or something.

…Well, I suppose it’s a bit late for that, considering I am basically dying every second. At this point I really should just get it over with. That’s what's expected of me after all, right?

There was a sudden, sharp stabbing pain in his temple. Earth’s breath hitched and he shut his eyes as he curled in on himself. He lightly groaned and he turned on his side, his arms wrapped around himself hugging his midsection. Thanks, Universe, for REALLY teaching me the book-definition of miserable.

And now at that moment, the only thing in his head was that he probably looked so pathetic. And, well, he was. So, that was expected. Earth tried to chuckle for self-deprecating purposes, but to his further annoyance it sounded a lot closer to a grunt. 

…Whatever. It wasn’t like there was anyone around to hear it, anyway.

Unfortunately, Earth’s poor attempt at laughing did little at making himself feel any better. The sharp, throbbing pain in his head was stupidly incessant, and it felt harder to ignore than before. It would be real nice if it went away already.

Then again, when you neglect your health, your body is going to protest. He had no one to blame but himself for the source of his discomfort. Or, my Earthlings, I guess. 

It was funny, really. Look how hard Earth cared for the life forms parasitizing him, and they did absolutely nothing but destroy the very planet they lived on! Then again, Earth almost—no, did cause a revolution in the Solar System because he wasn’t caring about those around him, so was he any better??

…

N…No. That was in the past. He shouldn’t think like that. He should stop.

…

…Which was harder than it sounded. Which was dumb. Geez. Earth, what are you, depressed and about to kill yourself? Suck it up.

…

That didn’t help either. A different approach might work? 

Oh. Dumbass. Think about something else. Pfft, Obviously!

He hugged at his sides a little firmer. Funnily enough, the first thing that came to mind was to wonder about what his moon was doing, and what he's done while Earth has been laying in bed all day sulking about how horrible he felt—which, by the way, was very productive. 10/10 recommended.

…

…He really did feel like a load of crap today. More mentally so than physically so. The headache was not helping, though. No, no no. It made everything like five times worse than it needed to be.

…Actually, maybe it needed to be worse, and that’s what his body was telling him. …No. That’s… probably not right. He sighed.

…I wish I could have been of more help today, Earth thought to himself, but he internally paused and then smirked. Who am I kidding? Luna is capable of managing without me—more than capable. He’s freaking perfect. Plus, today was supposed to be a chillaxing day. I shouldn’t be worrying about this.

Earth hoped in the back of his mind that Luna didn’t think Earth had just been lazy all day… even though that is technically exactly what he had been doing. Nothing. But on second thought, his moon probably would have reamed him out already if he thought that. Luna was always so good at noticing when Earth felt lazy versus when he genuinely felt like a piece of trash. 

It was basically a bit of both though, wasn’t it? Just because Earth felt like garbage doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a responsibility! What’s wrong with Luna? He should have yelled at Earth already! He deserves it, too. 

He’ll just let himself get scolded. It was a good reminder to himself that Earth would never be good enough, and that he always needed to do better. Because he did always need to do better. There is always room for improvement, and Earth needed to take those types of chances whenever they presented themselves to him!  

Luna is such a saint. I wouldn’t have put up with myself for this long. And I didn’t! Haha! 

…

He sighed again. He tussled around in his bed, rolling over to lay on his other side, trying to find, at least, a mostly comfortable position to lay in. Every position laying down felt uncomfortable. 

…Well, maybe he should try sitting up.

…

He tried and immediately failed. Plan discarded. Earth will continue to lay down.

As some more time passed by, Earth’s mind began to wander again. His migraine was finally beginning to fade away, and for a moment Earth considered trying as hard as possible to bring it back just so he could have something physical to focus on rather than starting to brood again. 

…Why was it that whenever he actually started to feel physically okay, he started brooding, anyway? That was dumb. Can it not be either? He’d rather spend his time of physical comfort without his thoughts constantly reminding himself that he needed to try harder. 

Even though he should.

…

It surely must have annoyed the others that Earth was always in pain, right? 

He didn’t want to annoy anyone. Especially his moon. Luna was never annoying, no. 

He deserved the universe, especially after everything he has had to go through for the sake of his planet.

Although as of late, Earth has gotten much better at hiding his… body aches. At least, he thinks so. Luna is so observant—it’s kinda hard to hide things from him. But what else should Earth expect from his moon who he’s known his whole life?

 He didn’t want to worry his moon. Or Mars, or any of his friends—he has already been enough trouble for them all. I guess that’s what I’m best at, right? Making everyone’s life worse!

Truthfully, Earth had trouble understanding why they all had so much grace on him. Admittingly, Earth felt nervous whenever they were around—because—what if he doesn’t watch himself and he ends up messing up and something he wasn’t supposed to say slips out and he ruins everything again??

It wasn’t that long ago that he was a total jerk to everyone. He really was insufferable. It’s no excuse that he always has to think about his lifeforms and be super strict with his orbit and axial tilt and be overly vigilant to make sure a sixth extinction doesn’t happen because he looks away for half a millisecond. That’s no reason for Earth to snap at someone!

And what—he apologized like once and all of a sudden he gets a “We forgive you, Earth! We’re sorry, too!”? Just like that? They didn’t really forgive him that easily, right? 

And now Luna was getting super paranoid over Earth for literally no reason at all! No reason! His moon was literally constantly breathing down his neck just because Luna felt like Earth needed constant surveillance! He wasn’t a freaking baby! He didn’t need to be watched like he was gonna throw himself into the Sun at any given second or suddenly get hypnotized into getting planetary equivalent hypothermia! Earth could barely frown around Luna because apparently being slightly off for like ten seconds out of an entire day meant he was gonna have a severe mental breakdown! 

And even if he was—so what? It’s literally just crying, anyway! Crying’s good for the eyes—heck, he needed to cry more! When was the last time he cried, anyway??

Luna didn’t need to concern himself with Earth so much—Earth didn’t need nor want Luna to be so worrisome! Luna was too much of a worrywart over Earth and should know by now that Earth could handle himself.

…

…And, he doesn’t even deserve the attention anyway! He didn’t deserve that type of care.

Besides, Earth can’t expect everyone to run to his side and coddle him whenever he has a problem or is crying or feels “down”. The others probably—no, most definitely found it irritating! They probably thought Earth was being an attention-seeker. Again! Annoying and selfish.

And that’s all Earth was! An annoying, needy, selfish, nuisance of a planet who didn’t deserve anything—not care, not attention, let alone being forgiven! After what he’s done? 

It must all be a big joke. A big joke. It would be best for everyone to stop the act of  “Oh, everyone deserves second chances” and tell it straight to Earth’s face that he should just stop trying to be better because Earth was never going to get better, and everybody knew that. Especially Earth! He already knows that he doesn’t know when to shut up, that he never knows what to say, and he always just ends up making himself look like a freaking maniac because he doesn’t know when to stop!

He is always digging himself a hole and everyone could help Earth and themselves by helping Earth dig the hole faster by giving up on him so he could hide away in it forever—and then he would never be able to hurt anyone ever again because then he wouldn’t be around anyone.

Everyone would really just be better off, and it confused Earth why they try to act like they want him around! They clearly don’t! Why would anyone want to be around Earth? He wouldn’t bother anyone if he wasn’t around! Earth wouldn’t burden anyone by his presence or by talking about his feelings—he shouldn’t want to talk about his feelings anyway—how selfish! That’s just fishing for comfort. And why should he be comforted? For what? Being an asshole?  

No, all he deserves is scorn and to be spat on. Earth deserved to-

“Earth?”

Earth’s thought process immediately came to a halt as he heard the muffled voice of his moon from behind his room door. Luna?

“Y-Yes, Luna?”

Earth immediately cleared his throat, his voice coming out much shakier than he intended. He brought a fisted hand to his mouth to silence the sound of his rather loud harrumph, but his hand wouldn’t stay still. It was also shaky.

…Actually, his whole body was shaking.

“...Can I come in?” Luna's voice was that same gentle tone it always was in as he asked, and it made something like guilt sharply pang in Earth’s chest for a reason he wasn’t able to place. He debated in his head whether or not Luna could come in or not.

…No. It was selfish of Earth not to let his moon come in. C’mon, Earth. Stop being selfish.

“Uh, y-yes!” Earth sat up as quickly as he was able to, ignoring the acute wave of dizziness that came from doing such. He wiped at his eyes instinctively, and blinked away the stubborn and painful burn that tried to persist. “Come in!” Stars, can you sound any more pathetic?!

The handle of the door twisted as the door began to open—and Luna slowly popped out his head from behind the door while using a hand as a stable rest, pushing it against the doorframe. For some reason, he stared at Earth with wide eyes. 

“...Earth?” Luna repeated, his voice a little quieter than before as he walked further in the room, gently shutting the door behind him. His expression was, indeed, an expression. An expression Earth knew too well for his own liking. Nice going, Earth. Got Luna to worry about you again! 

His moon seemed to be expecting a response, but Earth couldn’t find it in him to say anything—all words caught in his throat.

He hoped for Luna to be the one to say something—anything—just something that would drown out the echo of worry in Luna’s voice that rang in Earth’s mind; something to make the static of endless, indecipherable beratement in his head shut the hell up. Even something simple—like “What’s wrong” or “What have you been doing all day, you lazy bum,” but no, Luna decided not to say anything. Nothing came. 

And for some reason, it hurt so much more than if Luna had yelled at him instead.

Instead, after a momentary scrutinization, Luna walked up to Earth in an almost mollifying manner. He sat next to Earth on his bed before waiting a few seconds, a-and t-then…

…Luna hugged him.

Earth flinched at the sensation of Luna's arms firmly embracing him, and his mind stopped any racing it had done at all. 

In fact, it was. Silent. 

Luna’s face pressed against Earth’s shoulder with a light but undeniable underlying insistence, and it was a sensation that was achingly grounding. Earth was frozen like a rock before realizing that hugging back would… be the best course of action. 

…And that it would also be the most pleasing. But it was about making Luna happy, not himself.

So, that was definitely the reason Earth reciprocated the gentle hug. His arms were gentle—and embarrassingly shaky as they wrapped around his moon. His hands pressed against Luna’s sides thanks to their size difference—which Earth would have joked about if the atmosphere wasn’t so tense. His fingers tightly gripped the fabric of Luna’s shirt—just something that helped in keeping him grounded. He didn’t even realise he had stopped breathing until he felt Luna’s own chest rise against his side. And as a silent form of communication, he let his own face nudge against his brother’s hair, inhaling the scent of Luna’s shampoo for a good, long moment.

…

And Earth let out a shaky, broken sob.

He eagerly hugged Luna tighter—which his moon gladly mirrored—and as the metaphorical wall he was hiding behind was ripped apart ravenously, his shoulders began to shake. It was accompanied with strangled noises which were thoroughly wetted by tears—tears that Earth desperately tried to hold back.

He also tried to cry quietly, but his attempts were rather futile—extremely so. He hid his face in Luna’s shoulder, and Earth could begin to feel the fabric of Luna’s poncho against his eyelids getting soaked.

Earth’s migraine was greatly exacerbated by his crying, it reintroducing itself as it throbbed with a painful fervor. But despite the fact his head was practically being gnawed at from the inside out, Earth was unable to stop crying, no matter how hard he tried. 

And he really, really tried to stop. This whole situation felt beyond humiliating—it was mortifying. And bawling his eyes out in front of someone was the last thing he wanted. 

…

…Earth really needed this.

He wasn’t sure for how long he cried for, but after some time, his sobbing eventually calmed down. Earth was now only letting out soft sniffles, and he occasionally shivered. His body felt tingly and weird from crying, overly sensitive—and he felt like he could cry again at any moment from the feeling alone.

Luna just hugged Earth the whole time, switching between a simple solid embrace and soothingly rubbing Earth’s back in soft, slow circular motions. It seemed they were both comfortable like that—silent, in each other’s presence. 

They even slightly swayed side to side where they sat. Earth felt like he was being rocked, and it did wonders for his anxiety.

He felt when Luna was sure that he was done crying, and his moon gently released himself from the hug. Luna stayed close, right by Earth’s side, and after a moment they exchanged a look with each other. Luna gave Earth a soft smile.

Luna’s hand lightly rubbed Earth’s shoulder as he spoke. “...I guess you weren’t feeling well today?” he probed softly.

For a moment, Earth floundered with how to reply. He almost wanted to answer with something overly complicated—to rant his heart out. But he immediately decided against it. 

He felt Luna’s stare. It took Earth a moment to respond, swallowing thickly to hopefully ease the release of his words.

“...Yeah,” Earth responded quietly, not quite able to meet Luna’s gaze. He had a feeling that eye contact wasn’t too necessary, though.

Luna let out a hum in response, his hand falling from his planet’s shoulder. They were both silent for a minute, and Luna looked down into his lap.

Annoyingly, it made Earth start to feel bad. He should be talking to Luna—confabulating. Shouldn’t he? Luna did just let him cry on his shoulder, for goodness’ sake.

Earth mumbled just loud enough to hear, “...I’ve had a headache all day.” He looked up to meet Luna’s gaze, and something felt like it clicked back into place when their eyes met again.

“Weak, too?” Luna asked for confirmation, his tone knowing. Smug freaking…

“Mhm. Very.” Earth spoke quietly.

“...Have you drunk any water the past few days?”

Earth paused. It probably wasn’t a good sign that he had to take time to think whether or not he was sure if he was hydrated. “Uhm…” he sighed.  “...No. Not much.”

Luna scoffed lightly before pausing. Earth internally backpedaled at Mach 50, praying he didn’t say something wrong.

“...Hey.” His moon’s voice was mercifully tender.

Earth couldn’t help but gulp, bracing himself anyway. “...What?”

“...You know I love you and forgive you for everything. Right?”

…

Earth broke eye contact to stare at nothing in particular. 

He wasn’t sure why he was surprised—he knew in his subconscious that Luna was going to say something sappy like that. But nonetheless, it still hit him like an asteroid in the face. 

It didn’t help that the first response that came to his head was “I don’t deserve that.” That probably wasn’t the answer his moon would want to hear, no. Earth needed to respond smartly so that Luna would stop staring at him like he just said he didn’t deserve… wait. 

…Shit, he said that out loud.

“L-Luna, I-”

“You don’t understand.”

Earth floundered. “...I… What?”

Luna shook his head, his head tilted down as he spoke. “You don't understand, Earth. I forgive you. I forgive you. I’m not bullshitting you.”

Earth blinked a couple of times, and his brow furrowed. “...Luna-”

“No,” Luna responded sharply. “J-Just—listen to me. Okay??”

Earth swallowed. He did it again. He said something wrong and now his moon is angry again and-

“You—you’re just so freaking dense, Earth!” Luna turned his body to place both hands on either of Earth’s shoulders. “Honestly, tell me, Earth. Does it seem like I care whether you ‘deserve’ my forgiveness or not?”

Luna looked at Earth expectantly. Earth had no clue how to respond. 

“Because I don’t.” Luna didn’t bother giving Earth a chance to speak, anyway. “I—I was always going to forgive you. Earth, I forgave you before you even apologized to me!”

Earth felt wetness rush back to his eyes, and he exhaled shakily through his mouth. Luna sounded so angry. He had to be angry. “B-But after how I’ve treated you-”

“I’ve forgiven you every time!” Luna implored. He got right in his face to speak.

“Earth, you’re my planet. I know you,” the moon said softly, shaking the Earth a little as he spoke. “And I know you never meant to do or say anything with the intention of making me feel less.” 

He paused to firmly hold gazes with his planet. “Right?” Luna prompted.

Earth sniffed, and brought a hand up to wipe away a stray tear that fell. “...W-Well, at the time-”

“At the time you weren’t thinking straight.” Luna firmly interrupted. “That is out of the question, and we both know that.”

They did both know that. So, Earth was quiet. Out of shame, and that fact he didn’t want anymore of his tears to fall, he didn’t look at his moon.

After a moment, Earth spoke again. “...You’re right.”

“About?”

“About both of those things,” Earth’s eyes were shut as he agreed, his voice a shaky murmur. “I wasn’t thinking straight and… I said things I didn’t mean.”

“Right,” Luna nodded slowly, but he frowned a little. “...So why do you say things like that?”

“...Like what?”

“Oh my Stars,” the moon grumbled and stood up to emphasize his frustration.  “Saying things like ‘I don’t deserve it,’ or something along those lines!”

Earth was a bit surprised at Luna standing up so abruptly. But, listening to Luna and not wanting to leave his question unanswered, he was silent as he attempted to think of a response that could be given to his moon. Luna sounded completely logical even in his evident exasperation, and everything he said made perfect sense. 

…Unlike Earth. He couldn’t even find a reason to justify his actions. Not one that was sound enough to convince Luna, anyway.

“...I… I don’t know.” Earth ended up replying. Luna looked like he was trying his hardest not to be irritated.

“Yes you do,” the moon immediately accused, “you’re just not telling me for some reason.”

Earth felt helpless. He muttered a reply. “...It’s not that simple.”

“I’ll narrow it down for you, then,” Luna declared.

“W-What?”

Earth’s confusion went ignored. “Is it, like, an auto-response? Are you not able to accept the fact that we’ve moved on? Do you just not want to be forgiven? Are you too prideful to admit that you need forgiveness?”

Earth’s eyes widened—every word coming from Luna’s mouth stabbed Earth like an arrow. Luna, however, continued. “Or maybe you still think that we’re beneath you and that our forgiveness isn’t worth enough for you??”

“N-No! I-It’s not like that-!”

“I know it’s not like that!” Luna yelled. “You!—I-I just—” 

The moon growled in genuine frustration at his own stammering. “Don’t you see!? You are basing your value off of what you’ve done rather than what you’ve been doing to fix it! If forgiveness was based on whether or not someone deserved it then nobody would be forgiven nor forgive each other, because that would make forgiving at all impossible!”

Earth was silent.

“Earth, you can’t keep beating yourself up about something that everyone has already forgiven you for and something that you have genuinely improved on! You’re so focused on things that you’ve done that you don’t know what you're doing in the present! If you stopped dwelling on everything in the past so much then maybe you could get it through your dumb, thick freaking crust that we all care about you—that I care about you! Too much for you to say dumb garbage that you don’t realise you’re saying!”

Luna was panting lightly from saying everything in one breath, and his expression flickered with something Earth couldn’t pinpoint.

Now both of them were suddenly teary-eyed. They stared at each other, and Earth felt helplessly guilty. His eyes burned more than before, and his throat was closing up. Earth attempted to not burst into tears and tried to process how to respond to his moon who was now also beginning to cry, thanks to him.

His moon with an admirable swiftness calmed himself and let out a strangled sigh. Luna uselessly threw his arms in the air before taking a step closer to Earth, inhaling deeply.

Earth looked down as Luna approached, and he tried to apologize again.

…

…And he failed. No words came out. What should have been an “I’m sorry” was replaced by a choked, incoherent noise that sounded… really thick of mucus. 

So, it appears he had already burst into tears. And that he was borderline hyperventilating—and was simply astonishingly unaware. 

Despite that, Luna simply tilted Earth’s face up, and used his other hand to clench the edge of his own sleeve and gently dab beneath Earth’s eyes, soaking up the moistness that stuck to the planet’s slightly flushed face. 

His breath was slowing, and he could feel the taut muscles in his chest go more lax. Earth leaned into the feeling of his brother’s hands like some sort of puppy—inevitably, it only made his face redder.

…But. It did make him feel better. 

The moon sniffled a little. “...I didn’t know you could cry so much,” Luna mumbled. Earth ended up letting out a broken laugh, which successfully made both Earth and Luna smile—just slightly.

“...Me neither,” Earth muttered in return.

They were both quiet for Earth’s sake as his moon continued to dry up his tears. Only sniffs could be heard, and the clearing of Earth’s throat.

“...I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Luna said quietly. “...I didn’t need to. You’re just… you can be really exasperating, sometimes,” he admitted. Earth nodded almost imperceptibly.

“...I know,” the planet mumbled. Another moment of silence.

“And… I’m sorry,” Earth managed to get out before clarifying— “...for not being… aware. And for always worrying you.”

Something in Luna’s posture softened at the apology. Luna huffed lightly. “You better be,” he said with an undertone of lightheartedness, “you have no idea how unpredictable you’ve been lately.” 

Earth smiled sheepishly at that. Luna’s expression softened again and he lightly sighed.

“...I forgive you.” Luna reiterated. He pinched Earth’s cheek lightly. “....No more saying dumb crap. I’m gonna be keeping an eye on you, y’know.”

Earth showed appreciation on his face with a weak, but genuine smile, and he let out a huff of his own. “...No more saying dumb crap,” he agreed.

Luna seemed to be satisfied with Earth’s answer. “Good,” he said with a faux-smugness, and he booped Earth’s nose—which Earth scrunched his face at. “Because I won’t allow you to.” The moon’s hands returned to his sides. Earth has now been thoroughly… embarrassed. By his moon. 

Said moon inhaled deeply. “Now.” Luna stated, and pointed a finger at Earth. “You, mister, are going to stay put, right here.” The moon patted Earth’s shoulder a little harder than necessary for emphasis, and Earth happened to find himself grinning.

“And I,” Luna pointed at himself with his thumb, “am going to get you some water. ‘Cause you are definitely dehydrated. ‘Kay?”

Earth looked down again. “...’Kay.” With a childlike reluctance, he agreed.

Luna nodded again. “‘Kay,” the moon said again with a grin of his own. He gave his planet’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before turning around and walking towards Earth’s room door.

And as Earth watched his moon exit the room, he took a moment to buffer and concluded that he felt much better than before; matter of fact, the difference was like night and day.

…Well, he still had a bit of a headache. 

But! Luna was getting him water. So, that will also go away, in time. Just like that weird, constant undeserving feeling that Earth knew in the back of his mind was just a process of. Processing.

Earth looked down into his lap as he waited for Luna. The thought of his moon made Earth’s chest ache—except this time it was because he was… really, really, grateful. He smiled.

…Man. I have the best moon in the universe.

Earth wiped at his eyes to get rid of any extra salty-tear residue Luna had missed. He was gentle with rubbing at his eyes—his eyes were slightly puffy and inflamed a soft red with all the crying he had done. 

After a surprisingly short amount of time, the best moon in the universe returned to Earth’s room—with a glass of water now in his hand. The liquid wasn’t perfectly clear, though; it was slightly tinted with an opaque-ish off-yellow. 

“Here. Take it.” Luna handed the cup of water(?) to Earth, which the planet took rather begrudgingly. He eyed the glass of suspicious liquid.

“...Luna.” 

“Yes, planet of mine?”

Hmm. Suspicious. “...Why is the water not clear?”

Luna sat back down on the bed with a knowing smirk. “I put minerals and lemon juice in your water.”

“...Ugh.” Earth was slightly displeased at that information, but he had trouble keeping an amused look off his face. Luna in turn found his planet’s reaction amusing.

“Don’t ugh me,” the moon replied back sassily. “Just trust me. Take a sip and let me know how it tastes.”

Earth groaned again.

“Earth.”

“Okay, okay! I’m… taking a sip.” Earth took a sip of the mineralized, pH balanced water.

Luna gave Earth an expectant look and a childish smile. “Does it taste bad?”

Earth was quiet for a moment and clicked his tongue a couple times in his mouth to test the flavour. It tasted… strangely good. “...No…”

“Then you most definitely need it, because that stuff is disgusting.”

It was safe to say that Earth was amused, because the grin on his face gave him away. 

But obediently, he drank his water. Earth didn’t realise (which he seemed to be doing a lot today) how dry and sore his throat was until he started gulping down the water—even getting some dripping down his chin because of how greedily he chugged. 

Luna, of course, predicted this outcome. And he pulled a napkin out of somewhere and pressed the tissue against his planet’s chin and neck, absorbing the droplets as Earth finished his water in record time. It made sense, in a way, since he had tons of water on his surface. Maybe it correlated with hydration in this form?

“You know what we are gonna do for the rest of the day?” Luna spoke up suddenly.

Earth’s attention rose at the lilt in Luna’s voice. He sounded… like they were going to do something fun. “...What?”

“We,” Luna paused to dramatize his statement, “are going to go to the living room. And we are going to grab that one big fluffy blanket, sit on the couch, and we are going to watch TV until we fall asleep.”

There was another pause so Earth could take a moment to process what Luna said. “How does that sound?” the moon asked.

A slightly bashful but utterly appreciative grin rested on the planet’s face. “...Nice.” Earth said simply, before pausing again, resting the now empty glass on his leg.

Earth gathered the courage to speak up. “...Can we binge-watch Star Wars?”

“Heck yeah.” Luna’s response was immediate and slightly eager.

“Also nice.” Earth was now very much looking forward to the rest of the day. And as if the two were thinking in unison, they both stood up at the same time. Earth was a bit unbalanced, but Luna eyed him like a hawk until Earth was able to find his stability. “Can we also Uber take-out?”

“That’s asking for a bit much, Earth.”

“Aw, man.”

“I’m kidding!” Luna laughed a little. “We should totally get take-out.”

They both giggled like kids as they made their way to the living room, with a solid plan in mind.

And eventually, the rest of the day passed.

 It was late at night—and on nearby coffee tables there were some plastic containers with little food in them, and some containers full to the brim, unfinished, or not even started. Dirty silverware littered the surface, as well as used food napkins. The two of them didn’t care enough to clean any of it up.

Earth and Luna were reclined on the couch. Luna leaned heavily against his planet, his head resting on Earth’s shoulder as the moon dozed blissfully. Earth’s own eyes were half-lidded, and his head rested against Luna’s. 

The planet was very comfortable and very snuggly as the soft hum of the television played in the background. The sound was distant—at least, to both the planet and moon. Both of their breaths were slow, relaxed, and pretty much in a synchronized rhythm. 

…And for that moment, Earth couldn’t even remember how horrible he had felt just several hours ago.

Earth found himself forgetting everything—even for just a little bit.