Work Text:
When the whole orbit swap thing first happened, Venus was elated. He thought that it was finally his chance to make something out of his pathetic existence. Oh, how he was wrong.
Things had started out great! Sure, nobody wanted anything to do with him after he ratted them all out to the Sun, but he didn't care about what they thought. He was finally going to have life! Just like he'd always wanted. Except, he never developed life. His temperatures cooled slightly and his atmosphere thinned, but it never got cool enough to sustain liquid water. And even if it ever did, he came to the belated realisation that he wouldn’t be able to keep said water on his surface. Unlike Earth, Venus didn’t have a natural magnetic field. Any oceans, lakes, or rivers he developed would be blown away. It didn’t matter how hard he tried. It didn’t matter if he mapped out the routes of every nearby asteroid. It didn’t matter if he managed to spin a bit quicker. He still failed.
Huh. This was why she chose Proto, wasn’t it? She was the smartest out of all of them. She must have seen how pathetic he was, even back then. Venus couldn’t help but linger on those thoughts. Maybe once he would have lashed out at Mercury, but Mars never let him get close. Venus didn’t bother leaving his orbit to talk to those two, anymore. He knew they hated him. But he was fine with that. He hated them too. He hated the way they would always hang out with and support each other. Back when this whole thing started, he would have taunted Mars for abandoning Earth or Earth for being ditched by his best friend, but now he just didn’t care anymore. In the distance, Mars picked up one of the few asteroids that made it into the inner Solar System and chucked it at Mercury. Mercury dodged, grabbing a few asteroids of his own to throw. Venus always hated that game. He hated how they could laugh like that as their surfaces were devastated. He hated their friendship. He hated that he couldn’t have it. He hated himself. He hated his atmosphere. He hated his slow rotation. He hated how he was alone. He hated how it was his fault. He hated everything in this stupid system. Maybe it would be better if he just–
“Hey, Venus!” Earth. Irritation bubbled within Venus’s core. Earth was the only one who willingly spoke to Venus anymore, for whatever asinine reason. In the beginning, Earth had become a ball of ice. But since then, he adapted to the cooler temperature. Tufts of green sprouted out from beneath the snow, small mammals scampered across the ice to forage those plants, and powerful birds swooped down to swipe them from their hiding places. Life was flourishing once again and Earth looked as green as the day Venus stole his orbit. Maybe that was why he was so friendly. Sure, a few things probably died, but ultimately, he won. Again. Why was it always him?
Oblivious to Venus’s thoughts, Earth floated closer to the hellish planet with an infuriating smile. “How’s it going, man?”
At least his biggest moon wasn’t with him this time. The glaring never stopped getting under his crust. Still, Venus wasn’t too interested in small talk, then or ever. He gestured to the smaller planets behind him. “Mars and Mercury are over there.”
“Oh! I know!” Said Earth, not even sparing a glance in their direction. “I just wanted to talk to you. We haven’t done that in a while, y’know?”
“I’m fine.” Now go away, was the part he didn’t say out loud.
The other planet arched an eyebrow at the word 'fine'. An awkward silence elapsed, which was a weird thing to experience with the Earth. Billions of years ago, Venus used to go to him just to fill the oppressive silence of space. He always had something to say, even if it was stupid.
After what felt like years, Earth spoke again. “So… see any cool asteroids?”
“You’re the one who orbits by the Asteroid Belt.”
“Yeah, but some interesting stuff comes over here too.” He glanced around, likely trying to find one of those ‘cool’ asteroids. One passing pebble was snatched up by the habitable planet’s gravity. “This is Eros! Named after the Eros of Greek mythology. He was known for shooting arrows that would make people fall in love.”
Earth tossed the asteroid around a bit, “This looks kind of like a bow, doesn’t it?”
Venus wasn’t entirely sure what a bow was, but if Earth said the asteroid looked like one, then he would take his word for it. He still didn’t get what he wanted, though. “Okay, what’s your angle? The Sun’s asleep. Why are you talking to me instead of your actual friends?”
The other frowned at the assertion but didn't comment on the 'real friends' bit. “Well… you were alone.”
“Have you ever considered that I like being alone?” He was usually alone. He enjoyed being alone. He deserved to be alone.
The larger planet tilted slightly, “I mean, sure? I guess? You were also spacing out pretty bad over here. I was kinda worried.”
So it was pity, then. Venus grit his teeth. “I’m fine. I don’t need your help, Earth.”
“Whatever you say, man.”
Once again, silence reigned with an iron fist. Venus felt like he was supposed to say something, but the words never formed. They sat like that for a while until Earth drifted off. Good riddance. Now Venus could hear himself think again. He could finally go back to thinking about his failures and how everyone would probably be better off without him. However, Unfortunately, before Venus could mope for much longer, Earth returned. He had a… Venus forgot what those things were called. It was a flat white square with a dash of red. He wracked his memory for a name but came up empty.
“It’s one of the poker cards! I haven't seen any of these in ages!” Earth beamed. Oh, right. Space Poker. That was Earth and Mars’s game, wasn’t it? Well, Venus had also played it a few times. And he was quite good at it from what he recalled. He never got the rules down pat, but that was probably okay. Earth and Mars seemingly made things up as they went along. He hadn’t noticed the cards ever went missing. That just goes to show how tunnel-visioned he was on life back in the beginning. Those cards were the spark of this whole mess too, if his memory served him. The Sun wasn't too fond of Mercury playing. Not like Venus was in any position to play the blame game, though. If it weren’t for him, things would have gone back to normal a long time ago.
Earth flipped the card over a few times, thoughtfully. “You think we could find the rest?”
Venus raised an eyebrow. If it took this long for one to show up, then it was barely worth considering the possibility that the others would be nearby. “I doubt it.”
“Yeah, it’s probably unlikely that we’ll find any more,” he admitted. Earth then turned to Venus with a mischievous expression. “Buuuuuuuuuut… if we do, then you’ll be able to prove that you’re the ultimate Space Poker champion!”
Normally, Venus would have snapped at him and said to keep his wild goose chases to himself, Neptune, and Uranus. However, this time, he only sighed. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do. And besides, it would be nice to win something for once. “Fine. Lead the way.”