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Uranus stared after Neptune’s retreating back, his thoughts spinning around in his head so fast it almost hurt.
Revenge? This wasn’t revenge. Uranus just wanted things to be better for himself, and for….and for Neptune. Better for everyone. Sure, Saturn probably wouldn’t deal well with Neptune’s orbit, but… he’d eventually adjust. He had even more moons to talk to. And they weren’t childlike moons, not like Neptune’s! He could talk to them even with the distance of Neptune’s orbit. And… it wasn’t like Uranus wouldn’t visit him.
Yeah. Uranus frowned, hiking his shoulders up as he watched X’s progress. Saturn would be fine. This would only benefit them all. It… it wasn’t revenge.
But the thought nagged at him, making him unable to fully settle down even as he kept his eyes on X.
The tiny moon catching up only made him grit his teeth, and he threw a single glance towards the other planets to see them all celebrating, the sight only making the yawning void in his core grow larger.
How…? His wants really didn’t matter to any of them. His needs. They didn’t matter to any of them. Not to the rocky planets. Not to Saturn. Not to Neptune.
Neptune called it revenge.
It wasn’t revenge. It wasn’t! Neptune just… didn’t know him as well as he thought he had.
Apparently, his needs, his wants… apparently, they only mattered to X.
X, who was currently losing the first round of his competition with the moons.
Uranus frowned as he watched the moon win the race, and a harsh sigh pulled out of him as he crossed his arms over his chest, burying his fingers within the material of his jacket. It would be fine, he told himself. It was just a temporary setback. There were two more rounds for X to win.
Two more rounds, and then he got the chance of a lifetime. And everything would fall in line. Right?
He clenched his hands tighter within the material of his jacket, pulling it taut against his arms as he pressed his lips together. Two more rounds, and he would…
“You alright?” X’s voice pulled him out of his trance, and Uranus immediately jerked his head to look at him, lips twitching into a strained smile.
“I’m… just thinking, mate. Nothing important.”
His strained smile dissolved into a frown before he could stop it, and Uranus watched as X’s eyes narrowed.
“Did something happen?”
Uranus squeezed his eyes shut and then tore them open again. He ignored the lump in his throat. “Nothing. Neptune came over to speak to me. That’s all.” He wanted to say about what, but something kept the words locked in his throat, his eyes burning as he recalled them again.
Revenge.
That was what Neptune reduced it to?
Was Neptune right? Was that all it was? Panic crowded into his thoughts as his breath caught in his chest.
“Hey.” X was suddenly much closer, crowding in closer to him until he was all Uranus could focus on; and then X’s hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing lightly, and Uranus dropped his hands limp to his sides, releasing his grip on his jacket, his breath rushing out of him in a sharp exhale. “What happened?” X’s voice was searching—and Uranus couldn’t tell if it was just what he wanted to hear or if X actually meant it, but Uranus thought he almost sensed concern under his tone.
“Is this just revenge?” Uranus finally said, staring at X’s shoulder so as not to see his face. “Is that all this?”
“Revenge?” He startled when a cold hand tucked underneath his chin, tipping his head upwards. X had one eyebrow arched, his eyes impassive, almost completely blank. It… unnerved Uranus slightly, but he pushed past that, focusing on X’s words instead, closing his eyes as he leaned into the touch against his chin. “Why would you think that?”
Uranus dragged in a slow breath and stared at the darkness beyond his closed eyelids. X’s thumb stroked slowly along the line of his jaw, distracting him so completely it took him another second to drudge up the words. “Neptune said that the whole orbit change sounded like a bad deal for the others, and—”
X interrupted him, dragging a harder line against his jaw, tugging him closer. Uranus kept his eyes stubbornly shut. “A bad deal?” X laughed. “What have they ever done for you, to deserve a good deal?” Uranus opened and then closed his mouth. “You’ve been made fun of or ignored by most of them. After all…” X paused. “Open your eyes… Caelus.” The name took him by surprise, and Uranus ripped his eyes open, swallowing hard at how close X was—practically inches away from his face. But… he didn’t mind it. He wanted it.
“Besides, what would Neptune know about what’s good for you?”
“He…” Uranus’s voice trailed off as he watched the grin on X’s face grow, his futile defense dissolving immediately.
“Don’t you remember when he ignored your rings in favor of Saturn’s?” X lifted his hand, dragging a finger along the edge of the ring gleaming around his head before settling it right back along his jaw, the touch more soothing than Uranus thought it could be. “When he revealed your secret?” Uranus grit his teeth, shooting a hard glance at Neptune in the distance as his mind dredged up that memory. He was with all of the other planets, still celebrating with the moons; it seemed nobody was paying any attention to him and X.
As his mind dragged up the memories, the sheer embarrassment of that moment made his core constrict more, and Uranus only pulled his eyes back to X when he stroked a line along his jaw. “Of course he thinks it’s revenge. He doesn’t understand what’s good for you.”
Didn’t he? Neptune was supposed to…
“Not like I do.” X grinned, his smile tilted to one side, a veritable smirk in all respects. “After all, I’ve been watching you for a while, haven’t I? How do you think I know so much?” Uranus nodded, the movement rapid; he was unable to even think of a response, his thoughts scrambling around in response to X’s… everything. Before he could catch himself, he let his eyes flicker down to X’s lips; and immediately, X laughed.
His face flushed with a pure warmth (not because of the Sun behind them), and Uranus swallowed hard, trying to break the tenuous link between them—but X held fast to his jaw, stepping forward with him, keeping pace until he drew to a complete stop, sure that he was brighter than ever and warmer than the surface of the Sun behind them.
“Don’t worry,” X said, the words drawing out of him slowly, almost mesmerizing in their capacity. “Caelus.”
Uranus swallowed hard at the name, an irrepressible smile twitching at his lips.
X lifted his other hand, cradling both sides of his jaw. His head tilted at a slight angle, and then his eyes flicked downward, and Uranus just barely swallowed back a quiet sound. “Do you want me to kiss you?”
The question took him by such surprise that his lips parted, his eyes widening. “What?” he croaked out.
X grinned wider. “Do you want me to kiss you?”
Uranus spared a single thought for the fact that they were surely nearing the end of the break between rounds, and the fact that the other planets, the Sun, and all of the moons could surely see them if they only decided to glance over… and then he realized he didn’t care.
“Yes,” he choked out. “Please.”
X laughed, the sound low and quiet. “Just because you said please,” he said, just as low as his previous laugh—and then he closed the gap between them, sealing their lips together with a steady pressure that Uranus practically collapsed into, his core spinning faster than ever in his chest.
It only lasted for a few seconds, but Uranus let himself commit those few seconds to memory, his eyes sliding shut as he splayed his hands over X’s shoulders, pulling him even closer. X pressed their foreheads together when they separated, and Uranus was reminded of the moment that felt so long ago now, when X had first spoken to him, first asked him to join him… and Uranus could only think that he was somehow even more dedicated than before.
He suddenly scoffed, and Uranus pulled his eyes open to stare into the fathomless dark blue of X’s. “You know, I still can’t believe Neptune. Revenge. The only revenge that needed to occur was Jupiter being banished for what he did to me.” He separated them—but not far, only turned and tugged him closer, into his side. Uranus could only lean into the touch, not even aware of how much he needed it until he had it. “This isn’t revenge. This is simply us getting what we deserve.”
He shot him a look, tipping his head to one side. “Isn’t it?”
Uranus swallowed hard. “It is,” he replied, finally, his voice hardening on the last word.
“You know,” X said, abruptly. “I don’t even care that I didn’t win that last round.”
Uranus arched one eyebrow and shot a glance at the moons, and then at the Sun—he could tell that their break was almost over, and so he gave himself a shake and leaned further into X, leeching the comfort while he still could. “You don’t?”
“There’s still two more rounds to go,” X shrugged. “Besides. If I’d won, who knows if this would have happened, Caelus?” He whispered the name against his lips, stealing another kiss as Ura—
As Caelus leaned into it and dragged up the thought that this was all he needed. Nothing else. Nobody else.