Archive of Our Own

Uranus felt an energy brew under his skin. 

It was the giddy kind. The tickling in your stomach from anticipation kind. The kind that grabbed you by the neck and didn’t let go until you bent to its whims.

Okay, that last metaphor was a little bit darker than Uranus intended. Whatever, it’s true.

There was no telling when this energy would show itself. No sign for Uranus to look out for that would tell him exactly when inspiration would strike. It just did. And when it did, it felt like energy under his surface.

The urge to, just, create something! Anything! From scratch! Spurred on by an image or a smell or even a feeling in the air. Uranus loved it when inspiration struck. 

Sometimes, it was the only reason he got up at the start of a day, as… depressing as that was to admit. When inspiration struck, Uranus was helpless to its calls. It’s a powerful drug, sue him.

That was always something that set Uranus apart from his peers. 

Well, one among many, many things, actually. But this was one of the few differences that didn’t make him feel apart from others, at least not in a bad way. Sure, his name was funny, his tilt was weird, his accent was odd–but those were all things that anyone could have, weren’t they? 

For as long as he could remember, the familiar feeling of inspiration had been possessing him, driving him to create, to draw, to paint. Painting was his thing. And he was bloody good at it, too.

N-Not to be overly confident or anything. 

Painting just… worked for him. It clicked. It was a process, a language, and a comfort all in one. No matter what, he could fall back on painting.

It was such a shame that there was no amount of possessive inspiration or energy under his skin in the universe to drown out the–

“TITANIA! JULIET STOLE MY EARTHLING FOOD!!!”

–screams. The screams of his incredibly excitable, incredibly loud, surely well-meaning, moons.

“Juliet, please stop stealing from Cressida!” came his largest moon’s voice. 

Uranus glanced behind him to catch the tail end of Titania’s braid pass by the door to his studio, her voice getting quieter the further away she got. Uranus sighed as he turned back to the canvas in front of him, paintbrush in hand.

He’d been trying to work on this painting all day. Literally, he started on it as soon as he woke up. Something about the early morning quiet and the first light of dawn igniting that familiar spark of inspiration. The energy brewed under his human skin just the same as it did under his planetary surface. 

Earth had given them a house with a beautiful view, too, which meant he had plenty to paint. Uranus is pretty sure he was showing off in front of the moons, showing them “the beauty of life on Earth” to impress them, or something. 

It gave Uranus the opportunity to paint some truly gorgeous landscapes so he didn’t have a problem with it. He even managed to snag a room with a good view for that exact purpose. 

He was really looking forward to painting the aforementioned gorgeous landscapes, and he got a good start on it. Until Titania had dragged him out of his studio and made him help dish out breakfast, and he had to endure the chatter of seven (plus Umbriel) of his moons for a meal. 

It was… actually, more fun than Uranus thought it would be–his major moons can be enough on their own, having them in addition to three of his inner moons with him was just a teensy bit overwhelming. Breakfast with everyone was fun, though. He liked having people around. 

But even though Uranus enjoyed himself, he was still fidgety with the urge to return to his studio, and he’s sure he was, unfortunately, probably very obvious about it. Hopefully his moons didn’t get the wrong idea.

Now that he’d been here for a few hours, it was quickly becoming obvious that Uranus shouldn’t have been so quick to exit, because in the end it didn’t matter. 

Uranus needs peace and quiet to paint, and there was none of that to be found around here, at any time.

“Juliet!” Titania’s voice called down the hall. “Juliet, please, get back here!” A set of scampering tiny footsteps approached Uranus’s studio.

Uranus glanced at the door, waiting to see Juliet barrel by in the hallway. Instead, Juliet barreled into his studio and slammed the door behind her. Uranus blinked.

Okay, then.

Uranus awkwardly cleared his throat. “Uh, mate?” Juliet gasped and whirled around, apparently surprised to see him in his own studio. “Why are you running?” Uranus glanced at the shut door. “And hiding?”

Juliet stared at him, stereotypical ‘I just got caught with my hand in the cookie jar’ expression on. Uranus has no idea what he just caught Juliet doing, but the face was a little funny.

“I-uhhhhhhh,” Juliet started, her tiny voice pitching up at the end. “Well, I– Oohhh, what are you working on!?”

The moon forgot all about whatever ‘explanation’ she was going to give in favor of darting up to Uranus’s side. 

She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, eyes latched onto the canvas in front of him. “It’s the painting I’m working on,” Uranus replied, carefully eyeing the movement to make sure she didn’t trip into anything.

“Well, duh!” Juliet rolled her eyes in an impressive display of sass for a young moon. “But what’s the painting of?”

Uranus looked at the painting, and then at Juliet, and then back to the painting.

“You can’t tell?” He asked, definitely not pouting.

She stopped rocking. Juliet blinked wide glossy eyes at him. “No…? Should I?” The wobble in her voice was treacherous, and Uranus kind of wanted to hit himself for it.

Uranus quickly dropped down to her level. “No! No, no, no. You’re fine, J-Juliet, you don’t have to know what it is.” He reassured her as earnestly as he could manage. 

Juliet’s never been to Earth before, or to the surface of any terrestrial planet, for that matter. So how in the universe would she be able to know, Uranus!?

She sniffed loudly. “You sure…?”

Uranus nodded fervently. “I’m absolutely sure.”

Like a light switch flipped, Juliet’s eyes were dry and her smile was beaming. “Okay!”

Uhm. “What.” 

The door opened, cutting off further commenting.

“Juliet?” Titania poked her head in, eyes lighting up at the sight of the young moon. “Oh, good! You’re in here.” She opened the door wide and stepped to the side, revealing a pouty Cressida.

Juliet yelped and hid behind Uranus, who felt like he was suddenly in the middle of something he didn’t want to be a part of. He just wanted to paint, man. 

“Juliet,” Titania began, using that gentle but firm voice Uranus had always struggled to imitate, “Cressida, here, is missing something. Something that you took from her. Can you give it back, please?”

Uranus stood up, ignoring the creaks of protest his back gave. He reached around him and unlatched Juliet’s little hands from his sweater, much to her complaint.

“Well, mate? Go on.” He gestured with his head, lightly pushing Juliet in front of him.

He was about to turn back to the canvas when Juliet dug her heels into the floor. “But I don’t want to give it back!” Uranus pursed his lips, trying to figure out what to say.

“Well you HAVE to!” Cressida exclaimed. “It’s MINE!”

Uranus and Titania both winced at the volume. Yeesh, Uranus forgot Cressida could be loud.

“Keep it down, Cressida,” Titania chided.

“Yeah, Cressida, keep it down!” Juliet mocked.

“Juliet, I don’t need help, thank you.”

“Ugh, but Cressida’s so annoying!”

“HEY–!”

Oh boy. Should Uranus do something here? He should probably do something here.

“Cressida, Juliet!” Uranus interrupted. Both moons froze, looking at him with wide eyes. Oh wow, that actually worked. 

Uranus resisted the urge to shift on his feet from the attention. “Listen, do you think you two can resolve this outside? Or quietly? You’re too loud, mates.”

Both girls pouted, and Uranus felt faint amusement at how similar they looked despite the fighting. “Sorry, Uranus…” came the twin replies, significantly quieter.

“Thank the stars,” he muttered as they started towards the door. Now he can get back to painting, in peace and quiet–.

Titania crossed her arms. “Hold on.” Oh no. “Cressida, Juliet. What do we say to each other at the end of a disagreement?”

Cressida and Juliet exchanged a blank glance. Titania furrowed her brow, tilting her head in a prompting manner. “Apologize…?”

“WHAT!?” Cressida screeched. Everyone in the room cringed at the volume. “What do I have to apologize for?”

“For yelling at Juliet so much, Cressida,” Titania said pointedly.

“HAH! Yeah, stop yelling at me, Cressida!” Juliet… yelled.

“And you, Juliet, have to apologize for stealing from Cressida.” 

“Aw man! But-“

“No but’s!”

“C’mon, just give it back!” Cressida stamped her foot.

The two girls delved into more shouting, with Titania trying to quell the fire between them to pretty much no success. Uranus mourned the quiet that was just at his fingertips. He was so close to getting them out of his studio, but of course, Titania had to ruin his chances and remind them they were fighting at all.

…

That wasn’t fair. Titania handles literally everything to do with the moons, and here Uranus is complaining? Stars, get a grip, Uranus. Just let her deal with them, she doesn’t want your help, you just make things–

It’s fine. He took a deep breath to steady himself, air dragging strangely through his lungs. It’s fine. Uranus did his best to block out the argument between the two moons, turning back to the canvas. It’s fine.

Where was he? Oh, that’s right. The half-finished painting he’d been trying to work on all morning. The one he couldn’t work on because…

“I’m just sayin’, man, you shouldn’t have left it out.”

“Juliet, where did you learn to talk like that…?”

“Nevermind that, Titania, Juliet STOLE my EARTHLING FOOD!”

Uranus winced, his shoulders hiking up around his ears. Okay, Uranus really needed to talk to Cressida about the yelling. This was kinda ridiculous.

For now, he could make this work…! Just tune them out and keep painting, mate, you got this.

Uranus dipped the paintbrush he was using in some water, stirring it around to revive the paint. He took a strained breath and carefully added a few strokes to the canvas, the chatter persisting around him.

This wasn’t too bad. Okay, yeah. This works. Uranus can paint even with the noise–!

“Titania!!” That voice was new, but very recognizable.

Uranus sighed and turned around right as Ariel burst into the room, completely taking his attention away from the canvas. 

“Ariel?” Titania completely turned away from the two young moons who were still arguing. “Is something wrong?”

Ariel clutched Titania’s arm like her life depended on it. “I just need you to know–” she panted, voice periodically broken up, “-that whatever Oberon says, he’s lying.”

Oh, bloody hell, that wasn’t suspicious at all.

Titania’s brows lifted and Uranus knew she was thinking the same as him. Then, of course, there were footsteps quickly coming their way.

“Titania–!” Oberon was calling before he’d even stepped fully into the room, looking uncharacteristically desperate. “Ariel found something in the–!”

“No!” Ariel cut him off. “I didn’t find anything, I don’t know what he’s talking about ha-ha!”

“Ariel, please,” Titania admonished, “Let Oberon finish, at least.”

“But–”

Ariel began defending her case. Uranus would’ve paid more attention if he hadn’t been distracted by the sheer amount of noise in the room. Ariel chattering on with her defense, Oberon trying and failing to interject, and Cressida and Juliet were still arguing, stars, what could that even be about?

“Why don’t you just get your own?” Juliet scoffed, far too sassy for a young moon.

“Why don’t YOU get YOUR own!?” Cressida squawked, little face red with anger. (Should Uranus be concerned about that?)

What did Juliet even steal? Earthling food, they said. Uranus didn’t see anything in her hands, maybe it was hidden? 

Oh, what does Uranus care. He just wanted to paint. 

He glanced forlornly out the window, then to the half finished painting of the view. The energy under his skin urged him to pick up his paintbrush and keep painting regardless of the noise. 

…Hmmm.

Uranus lifted his paintbrush to the canvas, trying his best to concentrate solely on the–.

“Ariel found an Earthling in the garden and brought it inside!” Oberon blurted out. 

Uranus froze, and then slowly turned around.

“You what?” Uranus spoke with incredulity and a touch of fear. Ariel, Titania, and Oberon all looked at him. “What do you mean ‘earthling in the garden’? And what do you mean ‘inside’?”

Ariel and Oberon shared a look, and suddenly both of them were talking over each other to try and explain first.

He tried to follow along because, you know, there was apparently an Earthling in the house, but Oberon talked too quietly to be heard and Ariel talked too fast to be understood. Uranus, the amazingly well-socialized planet, holder of many, many people skills, stared blankly at them as the chatter went on.

He glanced at Titania to see her just as confused. To her credit, though, she seemed to be at least trying to keep up.

Ariel hit a particularly screechy note and Uranus decided that was enough. “Okay, okay!” He exclaimed. “I hear you, mates, but I can’t understand you when you talk over each other like that.”

Ariel and Oberon went quiet for a single moment. Until Oberon opened his mouth to talk and Ariel slapped a hand into his face, effectively silencing him before he could begin. 

“Okay, yes!” She admitted. “There was a thing in the garden but I didn’t bring it in, I swear.” 

Well, that was a relief. 

“It flew in on its own.” 

Uranus blanched. “It flies!?”

“Yeah, but I got it handled! Mir–” Ariel began to explain, but was cut off by a knock at the door. Uranus lifted his head to see Umbriel and Desdemona standing in the doorway, Umbriel with her fist raised being the one who knocked.

Once the duo had the attention of the room, Umbriel nodded approvingly and Desdemona quietly thanked her.

Desdemona spoke up in the newly befallen quiet. “Hey, guys,” the young moon said softly. “I was just wondering if anyone knew what happened to the last of the cookies?” Desdemona smiled sweetly.

The room was silent as they all processed the question. Until it wasn’t.

“MY COOKIE WAS THE LAST COOKIE!?” Cressida screeched. Then she turned on Juliet. “I COULDA’ HAD THE LAST COOKIE!?”

Oh, stars. When Juliet ran in here, looking like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar, you mean to tell Uranus that she actually had the last cookie? And she stole it?

Juliet looked mortified as all eyes turned to her. “Uhm… N-Now, listen,” she stammered, shrinking into herself. 

The room erupted into a cacophony of chatter and protests, the consequences of stealing the last cookie in the house. Even Titania had words to say about food stealing. Poor Juliet looked as overwhelmed as Uranus felt, which was very. Everyone was talking over each other, filling the room with nothing. But NOISE. And Uranus just wanted to PAINT!

“Oh my stars, enough is enough.” Uranus hissed. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, the sound loud and shrill, and he didn’t stop until one by one all the inhabitants of the room went quiet.

When he finally stopped he was met with a sea of eyes and total stunned silence.

Surprisingly, he didn’t feel anxious about the attention, too hung up on his annoyance. He did, however, have to come up with a solid reason for interrupting them all—because being too loud clearly wasn’t good enough. Okay, be quick and confident, Uranus. 

“This can’t go on,” He stated, spinning on his feet and dropping his paintbrush in the water cup. He took a brief look around, an idea forming. Uranus grabbed a new bottle of paint, twisting the cap off with his teeth and snatching a stray paintbrush from his supplies.

“This,” He sharply lifted the bottle up for all to see, “is magic paint. If this paint touches you, you have to go outside,” He declared, dipping the paintbrush into the bottle.

“But why?” Juliet scoffed.

Uranus turned to her. “Because you’re too bloody loud, mate.”

“And what if we DON’T go outside?” Cressida jeered, crossing her arms. She shrieked when Uranus painted a strip of blue down her forehead to the tip of her nose. “ACK, COLD!”

Uranus grinned. “If you don’t go outside within thirty seconds of the paint touching you,” he said gravely, “then you’ll explode.”

Stunned silence met his ears once again. It was beautiful.

Cressida shrieked and ran out of the room, forcing several people to dodge out of her path.

“Wha–Uranus! Is that really true?” Oberon squeaked, clasping his hands together. He looked so fearful, Uranus almost felt a little bad. Almost. 

Uranus struggled to keep his smile down as he looked out at the room and said, with full seriousness, “Yes.” Oberon gasped and covered his mouth. 

“Okay, no,” Titania griped, “There’s no such thing as ‘magic paint’.”

Uranus frowned. He sorrrta’ expected Titania to catch on and play along. “Ain’t there?” he challenged.

Titania met his eye. “No. I don’t think there is.”

Ugh, Titania, stop ruining his gold-star planeting. This is already hard enough.

Well, if she’s gonna be like that. If he can get everyone else to fall for it before Titania ruins the illusion, then she’ll have no choice but to play along. And Uranus knows just the moon to start with.

Uranus locked eyes with Juliet, his next victim. 

The girl shrieked (sounding all too similar to Cressida) and ducked out of the way of Uranus’s paintbrush, causing him to miss. Uranus blinked at the empty space where Juliet used to be. That was not part of the plan.

“Oh, this is war,” Uranus breathed out a laugh, turning towards Juliet again.

Uranus reached for her again and she yelped, ducking through the legs of the easel and very nearly causing Uranus to smear blue paint all over his morning’s hard work. “Hey–.” he grunted as he reached around the easel and vaguely swiped in her direction. “C’mere!”

“SCATTER!” Juliet called, ducking back through the legs of the easel and causing it to wobble dangerously. Uranus rushed to steady it and the canvas on top of it, the clammer of footsteps and the wayward yelp rapidly growing distant.

Perfect, just as he planned.

“That didn’t really solve the problem, you know.” Titania crossed her arms. 

Uranus straightened up. Everyone in the room had fled, except for Titania, who looked prettyyyy annoyed at that fact and was hiding it poorly. He stammered, feeling judged all of a sudden, “Oh, well I mean I wasn’t–” Titania squinted at him. “I mean–it worked didn’t it?”

“Mm-hmm,” Titania hummed, unconvinced. “You actually just told them to do the running and yelling somewhere else. Not ‘stop yelling, period’.”

Uranus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Believe me, I tried,” he muttered, scanning the floor around his feet. He swore it was just here…

“What was that?”

Found it! “Nothing. Why aren’t you running, too?” Uranus found the cap to the paint bottle and screwed it back on.

Titania barked a laugh, the way she did when she found something he said to be incredibly short-sighted. “You’re not actually gonna do anything. And ‘magic paint’? Seriously?”

Uranus side-eyed her. “Oh, believe me, mate, you don’t want to mess with the magic paint.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Unfortunately, no. He’s committed. No way back now. “You just wanted us all out of here so you could be alone.”

That… was true. But. That was a valid reason, wasn’t it? He did want to be alone and he did want quiet so he could paint. He’s not blaming his moons for being themselves (although there were a few behavioral issues quickly becoming obvious), he’s just trying to deal with the situation in a way that was… well, fun.

“Titania, it’s harmless fun that doubles as me getting some time alone to paint,” he insisted.

“You’re supposed to be spending time with them, not chasing them away,” she snapped. Uranus flinched, visibly if Titania’s flickering scowl was anything to go by. But Titania barreled on before he could respond. “And what if I want some alone time, huh? Why do you get to–”

“Do you want that?” Uranus interrupted her, eyebrows furrowing in thought. “‘Cuz, we can arrange that, I promise, if that’s what you want.”

Titania rolled her eyes. “No, of course not. I’m fine.”

Uranus bit his tongue. What does she want him to say here!? It’s like she wants to test him over and over again and watch him fail every time. Uranus can never do anything right, according to her. He took a slow deep breath. 

“Titania,” Uranus said calmly. She quirked an eyebrow, eyes hard. “Of course it’s not real.” Titania’s expression smoothed over a fraction, turning from a scowl to smug with a touch of something underneath. Relief, or just conceding, he couldn’t tell, but it did confirm his suspicions. 

Titania was not gullible, not in the slightest, but she did get very nervous when he made jokes that were even vaguely threatening, especially to do with the moons. That was fair. Uranus couldn’t pretend it didn’t hurt, and he wouldn’t pretend to not notice the reaction, but he could pretend that over time the hurt would lessen for the moon. Like how he pretended that jokes and name-calling didn’t hurt him anymore, even though, sometimes, it still did. 

Titania opened her mouth to reply.

“However, I am still going to paint you until you join in,” Uranus finished, raising his paintbrush threateningly. This was war, afterall. 

She shut her mouth with a click. “You’re serious?” Incredulity dripped from her voice.

“Yeah, mate. It’s just paint, I’m not hurting anyone,” Uranus assured. “Now come on, I’ve got moons to hunt down, I’m wasting time.”

Titania looked him up and down in scrutiny, denial and incredulity running wild behind her eyes. Finally, she deflated. “Fine, whatever. But I’m still not playing.” Then she walked calmly into the hall, leaving Uranus with his semi-empty threats.

Phew! That was a lot. 

He almost felt disappointed that that was where they left it, Uranus thought he was really getting through to her, but he mostly felt relief. It’d been a hot sec’ since Uranus pushed back like that, trying to stay on Titania’s good side these days. That went better than he expected it to, knowing his track record.

The resulting quiet was nothing like it was with Titania, this time it was still and empty now that everyone had gone, but Uranus didn’t feel relieved to finally be alone. Instead, he rolled up his sleeves and put the bottle in one of the pockets of his apron.

It’s go time.

Uranus dashed into the hall, looking left and right. He heard a small giggle and whipped his head around to see a head peeking around the corner of the end of the hall. The head gasped and ducked behind the corner. “Gotcha, mate.” 

“No, go away!” Ariel called behind her, like that would deter him.

Uranus slid around the corner to see Ariel and Desdemona huddled behind the kitchen island. Both screamed when he appeared. “Des’, run!!” Ariel wailed, ducking left as Desdemona ducked right.

Uranus tried to snatch up Desdemona as she passed but she squealed and wiggled out of his arms. Dagnabbit.

Uranus spun around and reached for Ariel, but she was too quick and Uranus accidentally slammed his hand into the cabinets she was just next to.

“Ow!” Uranus hissed, flapping his hand. Ariel made a triumphant noise, halting her escape to laugh at his pain. Fatal mistake.

Uranus shot out his noninjured hand. Ariel stopped laughing with a gasp and tried to make her escape, but it was too late. Uranus caught her arm and painted a solid streak of blue across it.

Ariel stumbled back from his hold and clutched her arm to her chest. “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” she cried, dramatically falling to the floor.

Uranus huffed and put his hands on his hips. “Mate, you’re not dead yet.”

Ariel lifted her head and looked at him with wide eyes. “I’m not?”

“No,” he shook his head. “You still have thirty seconds to get outside.”

Ariel gasped and shot to her feet, booking it in the direction of the back door. Uranus smirked. Two down.

He was about to continue back into the hall when his ears picked up on faint, frantic whispering. Uranus went very still, turning his head around to find where the whispering was coming from. His eyes landed on the kitchen island.

His moons may be good at hiding, but they never strayed too far away.

Uranus kept his steps light, bending over slightly, to creep around the kitchen island. Movement at the entrance of the kitchen caught his eye. Oberon was crouched by the doorway waving his arm in a ‘come here’ gesture. Uranus followed where he was looking to see Desdemona, also crouched, on the other side of the kitchen island.

Uranus grinned and readjusted his position for better mobility, and then froze when there was a sharp gasp. His eyes shot over to Oberon and they made eye contact. 

They were locked in a staring contest for all of three seconds.

“Ha-ha, what’s up…?” he whispered awkwardly. 

Desdemona took off towards Oberon. 

“Darn it,” he said at normal volume. 

“Bye–sorry, Uranus!” Oberon and Desdemona took off, footsteps pounding, Desdemona letting out a string of (frankly adorable) giggles. 

Uranus groaned loudly, intentionally overdramatic. Then he stood up too fast and his back creaked painfully, making him groan for real. Maybe Saturn had a point about his terrible posture.

There was a yelp in the hallway, one that sounded like Oberon for some reason?

He rushed into the hall and then had to immediately come to a screeching stop to avoid toppling over Miranda running past him, her hands cupped into a ball in front of her. A glance over revealed Oberon and Desdemona pressed up against the wall, having avoided the same runaway moon.

Should he go after Miranda? Why was she running? No, Oberon and Desdemona are right there, get them first, Miranda later!

Uranus lunged at the duo on pure impulse, feeling not unlike one of those four legged fuzzy Earthlings humans kept as pets. 

The younger moon was in his sights when, in a twist of events that Uranus is going to be thinking about for a while, Oberon reacted just in time to curl protectively over Desdemona.

(That went straight to the heart, but Uranus will NOT be thinking about it more than that, not today, thank you.)

Oberon squeaked, shivering against the paintbrush pressed against his temple. “Oh, that's cold,” The remark was so honest compared to the action-packed events before them, Uranus chuckled.

Uranus removed the paint brush from Oberon’s temple, the moon squinting at him with a small giggle himself. Then he winced and Uranus zeroed in on the expression.

“Are you okay, mate?” Uranus asked, bringing his hands up to Oberon’s face before he could think too hard about it.

Oberon blinked rapidly, not really looking at anything. “Um, I-I think there’s something in my eye…?” he said unsurely.

In his eye? “Hold still,” Uranus instructed, holding his face with more intent. The paint had gotten a little bit close to his eye… maybe it was irritating it…? Human bodies were so sensitive. “Close your eyes.” Oberon complied.

Uranus lifted his apron to the corner of the moon’s eye, being as gentle as he could possibly be as he lightly wiped towards Oberon’s temple, smearing the paint away from his eye and hopefully clearing it from the sensitive skin. “Is that better, mate?” he asked, a touch of anxiety leaking into his voice.

Oberon blinked rapidly as Uranus released his face, and then smiled. “Yeah, that’s better. Thank you, Uranus!” Uranus mirrored his smile. 

Okay, phew! That was a close one. Uranus would be crushed if he accidentally hurt one of his moons, especially after only recently gaining their trust back.

“Oberon!” a tiny voice called, drawing both Uranus and Oberon’s attention to the end of the hallway back by the kitchen. “Oberon, quick, outside! Before you explode!” Desdemona shouted, all too worried about Oberon wasting time, and then ran away, giggling all the way.

Hey wait, when did–? And that’s when he realized Desdemona had snuck away while he was helping Oberon. Of course. For as loud as his moons could be sometimes, they could also be ridiculously quiet, always sneaking past him. (They sneak past him so easily because he’s never paying attention. Idiot.)

Oberon dashed around him and down the hall. A second later Uranus heard a door open and close, momentarily letting the sounds of chatter in from outside. Guess Oberon didn’t want to explode via magic paint. 

He couldn’t believe he completely forgot his mission for a second. Damn worry, getting in the way of his goals. Uranus shook his head. 

Well… with Oberon out now, that was three down. Now time to find the others… He swore Desdemona went in the direction of the stairs–.

There was giggling. Very familiar giggling.

Uranus snuck up on Desdemona surprisingly easily. She was back in the kitchen for some reason, concentrating on standing on her toes to reach the counter. The young moon squealed when he wrapped his arms around her. “Gotcha!”

“Agh, no!” She wiggled around in his grasp, but he didn’t let her slip through like last time.

“Shouldn’t have lingered in the same place so long,” Uranus told her. 

Desdemona stopped struggling. “Aw man, I just wanted to know if there were any cookies left,” the young moon pouted, bringing out the sad eyes and pulling on his heartstrings just so. Darn it. 

Uranus sighed, standing up with Desdemona in his arms to show her the empty counter. “There’s nothing up here at the moment,” Desdemona frowned. “But we’ll get more cookies before you have to leave.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Okayyyyy,” Desdemona drew out her acceptance in true childish fashion, masterfully adding a hint of disappointment.

“Well!” Uranus exclaimed, trying to get back on track. “Sorry, mate, now I have to–.”

“What if I take you to Juliet!?”

Uranus froze, going slack-jawed. “Mate,” he whispered, “You’d sell out Juliet? But that’s so unlike you guys, you lot are the most loyal bunch I know.”

“Well, that is truuuue, we are pretty loyal.” She nodded sagely. “But,” her tone gained an edge of grave seriousness, “Juliet stole the last cookie.”

Uranus shut his jaw with a click, completely thrown off. He didn’t expect his moons to have such a taste for revenge. This was unexpected, but then again, a lot of things to do with his moons were unexpected to him. “That… is actually totally fair,” he conceded finally. “Okay, take me to her.”

Uranus let Desdemona slide out of his arms and she immediately started towards the stairs, keeping a brisk pace but obviously trying not to run from him. Uranus tried not to laugh at how serious they were all taking this. 

Desdemona ran up the stairs surprisingly quickly for a small moon. Uranus took the stairs two at a time to keep up, slowing once he reached the second floor. It shouldn’t surprise Uranus that upstairs was decidedly not quiet. There were footsteps and low talking down the hall, coming from Miranda and Oberon’s room, and the creaking of floorboards in the opposite direction. 

Surprisingly, Desdemona turned in the opposite direction of the voices, heading towards… his room? What would Juliet be doing in there? He usually kept that door closed. “Uh, mate?” Desdemona opened the door and led him inside the dark room, skipping the lightswitch. “What are we doing in here?”

“You wanted to find Juliet? Well she’s definitely not in here,” Desdemona stopped in the middle of the room and faced him. She shot him a look and pointed to his bed. “In fact, she never comes in here, ever, so you know this isn’t at all where she would hide.” Subtle.

Uranus glanced at the bed, noting the disturbed pile of pillows at the headboard. “Thanks for the advice, mate. Now I know I should look everywhere but this room.” Uranus grinned and winked at Desdemona. 

Desdemona tried to wink back but struggled to do anything but scrunch her eyes at him. Uranus bit his cheek to not laugh.

“Well, we should probably go search somewhere else, dontcha’ think?” Uranus held the door open for Desdemona who passed him with poorly concealed giggles. Uranus pressed his finger to his lips and made a ‘stay put’ motion with his other hand. Desdemona nodded vigorously.

Uranus left the door cracked behind him, creeping up to the bed. As he approached, the suspicious mound of pillows began to shift. Gotcha.

Juliet gasped when Uranus lifted the top pillow. “Boo.”

Juliet shrieked, causing Uranus to drop the pillow and cover his ears. She tried to scramble past him but he snatched her up before she could get far. “Oh, no you don’t!” 

Desdemona opened the door, spilling light from the hallway onto Juliet trying to pry herself away from his arms. “Desdemona!? Betrayal! Betrayal from my own kind!” 

Desdemona snickered at the display, absolutely cold-hearted.

Those were Juliet’s last words as Uranus painted a line across one of her prying hands. Once her fate had been sealed Juliet stopped struggling, frowning at the blue. “Ugh, bummer. I lasted so long.”

“You were also one of the loudest in the group, so I’m also impressed.” Uranus reported, putting her down.

Juliet looked offended. “Nuh-uh! Cressida is way louder than I am!”

Uranus shooed the little moon out of his room. “You two should put that to the test, outside! Come on, you’re about to explode.” Juliet gasped at the reminder and booked it down the hall. “Careful on the stairs!” Uranus called after her.

Desdemona turned to him with a wide smile and clasped hands. “We did it!”

Uranus crouched down. “Yeah, I suppose ‘we did it’,” he held up his hand. “High five?”

Desdemona’s eyes positively lit up, stars in her eyes as she gasped in excitement. It faintly occurred to him that Uranus had never high-fived one of his moons before. A soft kind of joy warmed his chest. It was such a simple action, but meaningful nonetheless.

She high-fived him, giggling as Uranus intertwined their fingers. How unsuspecting. 

The giggling cut off as Uranus put a blue mark on her cheek, and he smiled apologetically. “Sorry, mate. We were a good team.”

Desdemona stood completely stunned, whispering, “Why?”

Uranus pressed his lips into a line and shook his head solemnly. “Snitches get stitches.”

Desdemona blinked at him. “What are stitches?”

“I don’t actually know, but the saying doesn’t have to make sense for it to have a point.”

Desdemona sighed, taking back her hand and nodding in defeat. “Alright…” Uranus gave her a pat on the back as she dragged her feet down the hall.

“Mate,” Uranus called, Desdemona stopping to raise an eyebrow at him, “Thirty seconds isn’t long enough to take your time getting outside.”

Desdemona’s eyes went wide. “ACK–!” she spurred into movement, Uranus laughing behind her. He caught a few giggles as she fled, and he stood up feeling accomplished.

That was four and five. And he already knows where the last ones were, assuming they didn’t move or get scared off by the commotion from Juliet.

He listened carefully for more signs of moons, passing the stairs to approach Miranda and Oberon’s room. Titania, and Miranda were huddled inside, judging by the voices, talking about something he had no context for. Huh.

“Miranda, I’m not saying it isn’t… special, I’m just saying maybe it belongs outside?” Titania said, the conversation beginning to reach him as he approached.

“But we don’t know where it came from. What if it doesn’t survive outside?” Miranda countered, reluctance clear in her voice.

Uranus came up to the doorframe, catching the tail end of Umbriel signing, ‘-from outside.’ 

Miranda huffed. “What even is the difference between inside and outside?”

‘Earth thing.’

“Well, I’m not putting it back.” Miranda insisted.

Putting what back? What are they talking about? “What are we talking about?”

Titania visibly jumped, turning around and stepping away from the cracked door. Uranus didn’t miss the way she instinctually pulled Miranda half-behind her. He tried not to feel bad about it. (Tried being the key word.) Umbriel didn’t seem surprised to see him, as she was always the most spatially aware of them all. 

“Oh! Hi, Uranus,” Miranda greeted, leaning around Titania’s legs.

Uranus stepped fully inside the room, noting Umbriel closing the door behind him. “Hi, mate. Haven’t seen you since breakfast,” Uranus commented, throwing in a half-hearted, “I’m surprised you weren’t crowding me like the others.”

“Was I supposed to?” Miranda raised an eyebrow, turning to Titania. “Did I miss something important?”

“Well, no…” How does he describe this? “But I did invoke the Magic Paint,” Uranus grinned, already giddy to keep the joke going. He was a little too proud of it. 

Miranda snorted. “Magic paint? What’s that?”

“Well, it started when–”

“It was nothing. A whole lot of bad jokes.” Titania cut him off, arms crossed. “Uranus is just being silly.”

Silly.

“Silly?” Uranus coughed, trying desperately to keep the irritation out of his voice. Miranda looked between the two of them, then shared a look with Umbriel, who frowned.

“Yeah, silly,” Titania restated, her voice deceptively innocent. His grin strained.

“What makes you say that, Titania?” Uranus questioned, trying to gauge the tone here. “I was just wondering what you lot were up to in here.”

Titania sighed. “Of course you forgot.” Forgot? Forgot what? Uranus doesn’t think there’s anything he’s forgotten. “Remember when Ariel and Oberon came running in—“

“Yes. Loudly,” he interjected.

“—telling us about the ‘garden Earthling’?” Titania made quotes with her fingers.

The realization hit him like an asteroid. Uranus should have answered her but instead he was paralyzed by hot, overwhelming embarrassment because how did he forget!? “Oh, stars.” He whispered, vaguely horrified. 

“Yeah,” Titania scoffed. “If those two had finished their story, they would’ve told us that Miranda here found and captured the Earthling.”

She did? “You did?” Uranus turned to Miranda, who nodded in confirmation. “Oh, that’s great!” He breathed a sigh of relief. At least they didn’t have a strange Earthling running loose. “Now, where and what is it? Please, don’t tell me it’s dead.” Earth would kill him if his moons accidentally killed one of his precious Earthlings. Uranus does not want to deal with that headache. 

“It’s not dead, no idea what it is, and it’s in this room.” Miranda listed off on her fingers, looking around after the last point.

“Okay, great! Where is it so we can take it back outside?” Uranus looked around too, hoping to see some sort of container or something.

Miranda frowned. “Does it really have to go outside?”

Titania put a hand on her shoulder. “Yes, Miranda. I know you don’t want to, but it really is our best option unless we can capture it.”

“Alright,” Miranda sighed out, clearly downtrodden but beginning to understand. Titania nodded approvingly. 

Uranus smiled and quirked an eyebrow. “Attatched?” he asked, amused.

Miranda looked up and her eyes lit up in a way Uranus wasn’t familiar with but welcomed all the same. “Well duh! It was so cool, I’ve never seen anything like it,” she gushed. Uranus chuckled, suddenly getting the urge to reach out and ruffle the moon’s hair or pat her shoulder or do something.

Instead, he just watched, figuring none of that would really be welcome. With his younger moons he could get away with it, pretending he’d always been present and affectionate enough to offer out gentle gestures like that. But with his major moons, he knew it wouldn’t be so easy to step back into their lives like that, no, he had to make it up to them before anything like that could come. 

He couldn’t help but admit that the sight warmed his heart, though. Uranus was a sentimental planet, that’s for sure, but he wasn’t really a sappy one. At least not… ahem, at least not outwardly. For his moons, however, he’s ready to admit anything.

Hold on. Wait a minute. 

“Hey, did you say ‘unless we capture it’?” Uranus questioned, hesitant in his memory. “Didn’t you already capture it…?”

Miranda’s eyes turned sheepish. “Oh, well you see…” she trailed off, biting her lip.

Uranus’s heart skipped a beat. “You said it was in this room.” He said.

Miranda nodded slowly. “It is, it is.”

“But it’s not contained…?”

“No… it got out.”

Uranus felt his mouth fall open, the warmth draining from his face. “It got out,” he repeated.

“Yeah, we were talking about what to do when we found it before you got here,” Miranda looked around the room, eyes scanning all the nooks and crannies in a way Uranus now recognized as searching.

Uranus mirrored her in looking around, even if he didn’t know what he was looking for. “Well, what did you guys come up with?” he asked, barely keeping down the panic of being in the same room as an Earthling they didn’t know or understand at all. 

‘Cup and paper,’ Umbriel signed.

“A cup? Is it small?” Uranus raised an eyebrow.

Umbriel hesitated, struggling to find the right words. ‘Some small. A bit,’ Umbriel grabbed a cup off the shelf behind her and handed it to him.

Uranus took it hesitantly. “Gonna be honest, I don’t like the idea of a bit small. That just sounds like it's not small.”

“It’s nothing we can’t handle,” Titania said, sounding very un-reassuring for a phrase that would usually be reassuring. Or maybe Uranus was just unassured in general.

Uranus hummed noncommittally, putting the paintbrush–he forgot he was holding that, hopefully he didn’t get paint on anything important–in a pocket on his apron to hold the cup more confidently.

“Why are you carrying a paintbrush through the halls?” Miranda asked, drawing Uranus’s attention back to her.

“Magic paint,” he said simply, giving no more explanation.

Miranda smiled, “Yeah, you mentioned,” she snickered. “But what does that mean?”

Titania rolled her eyes. “Oh, it’s just a dumb game.” Miranda shot her a look. 

Umbriel started signing an explanation. ‘If the paint touches you, you have to go outside.’

Miranda raised an eyebrow. “But why?” Uranus snorted. Juliet said the same thing.

‘It was loud.’

Miranda giggled, “Is that it?” She turned to Uranus. “Couldn’t handle the little moons? But they’ve been so behaved so far.”

Uranus went wide eyed against his will. “This is them behaved?”

Miranda laughed and Umbriel and Titania shared a look, highly amused. “Well,” Miranda snickered, “I guess behaved isn’t the right word, but it could be worse.”

“Bloody hell,” Uranus shook his head. He could not imagine trying to pull off a harmless trick like ‘magic paint’ again. Coming up with that one was the best responsible planeting he’d done in a good while. Usually Uranus was well in over his head interacting with the moons. 

Miranda nodded in sympathy. “Believe me, I know that feeling. My go-to is usually–THERE IT IS!”

Miranda pointed vaguely in his direction and Uranus whipped around. “Where!?” he asked, definitely not shrieking like a minor moon. He scanned the desk and window above it desperately, but he couldn’t find anything that looked like the organic monstrosity he’d been picturing. He started to move away from that side of the room anyway.

Strangely, the three moons, now huddled together, moved away from him as he got closer. “Uh, mates?” Umbriel and Titania had a healthy amount of fear in their eyes, while Miranda looked incredibly focused. All three of them were staring at the same point. He followed their eyes.

There, crawling over the lip of the cup still in his hand, was an Earthling creature like nothing Uranus had ever seen. It was too small to be an animal, but bigger than most bugs he’d seen so far. It was shiny, dark, had six legs, and these two skinny protrusions that wiggled around from the smallest portion of its body. And it was so. Gross.

Cold terror flooded his core. He stood completely and utterly stock still, doing his very best to imitate his planet body back in orbit, frozen. “Mate,” he said to no one in particular, “Help me. Now. Please.”

From the corner of his eye he watched Miranda very, very slowly step forward, something he couldn’t make out in one of her hands. Her other hand was poised like she was approaching a scared being, and Uranus faintly wondered if that was for him or the bug. “Just, hold still…” she was muttering.

There was a strange sensation on his hand. His eyes snapped back to the bug. Its wiggly protrusions clambered over his fingers as it began to climb onto his hand, the sensitive human skin easily picking up the sensation of the pin-prick tiny limbs.

Uranus held his breath, his entire arm locking up.

Miranda was close enough to touch now. She had a piece of paper in hand, which she used to carefully slide half under the creature, blocking its course onto his hand.

Uranus let the breath he was holding go, a fraction of relief entering his locked up muscles.

And then the creature took flight.

Miranda and Uranus shrieked simultaneously, Uranus from fear and Miranda from surprise. He dropped the cup in his panic and scrambled back to Titania and Umbriel in the corner. The bug flew with no direction in mind for a few seconds and then landed on the windowsill.

Titania glanced at him with mirth in her eyes and a quirked lip, but Uranus couldn’t find it in him to be annoyed by the mocking look. Uranus could feel his Earthling heart beating in his chest, going absolutely wild from the scare, which just added another level of gross organic-ness to this whole experience.

“It’s okay, we’re okay,” Miranda said to no one in particular. She picked up the cup and began her slow approach again, and Uranus couldn’t help but hold his breath in anticipation, though his terror was lessened by the distance. Instead of starting with the paper, this time she led with the cup, slamming it onto the windowsill in a way that made him flinch. No one moved.

“Did you get it, mate?” he whispered into the quiet room.

Miranda leaned close to the cup and very carefully tilted it up–just slightly–to peak underneath. Then she nodded resolutely, pulling a sigh of relief out of everyone in the room.

“Good job, Miranda,” Titania breathed out. “Now, time to take it outside.”

Miranda stopped in her slow shimmying of the paper under the cup, glancing backward. “But we don’t even know what it is yet,” Her eyebrows pinched upward. “Don’t you want to at least look it up first?”

“No,” Titania and Uranus said at the same time. They shared a surprised look, Titania quickly looking away when they made eye contact. 

Miranda bit her lip, confliction clear on her face. She turned back to the trapped bug and finished shimmying the paper underneath the cup. When she turned around she wore the most pleading eyes, Uranus felt like caving before she’d even said anything. 

“Titania, girl, you know I agree with you on most things,” Oh no. “But think about the kind of opportunity this is.” Ohhh, that sneaky moon. Uranus thought Miranda was one of the more responsible moons, this is unfounded. (But he wouldn’t actually know that, now would he?)

Titania crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “There will be others,” she informed her, not caving like Uranus instantly would.

Miranda stepped forward, clasping her hands together, “C’mon, I don’t see the harm. Do you?” she said far too sweetly. Jeez, she was laying it on thick.

The worst of the worst happened then. Titania’s eyebrow twitched, very briefly breaking the stern look. Uranus felt horror flood his core. Titania was cracking. 

Quick, Uranus, think!

“Titania…” she urged, “Aren’t you and I a team–AGH, WHAT–!?” Miranda put a hand to her cheek, fingers coming back blue when she looked at them. She looked at the paintbrush in his hand and then to Uranus. “What was that for, man?” she gasped.

Uranus looked her in the eye. “You are not keeping that Earthling in here longer than it needs to be.” Miranda crossed her arms in a way that was so like Titania. “I promise you, mate, we will look it up and figure out what it is, but it’s gotta go outside first, okay?”

Miranda deflated, pressing her lips into a line. She glanced between Uranus and Titania and then to the cup behind her. “Alright,” she sighed, walking over to collect her cup demon. “Still don’t get the paint part, though." 

Uranus was about to reply when Titania of all people beat him to it. “Magic paint, remember? If it touches you, you have to go outside.”

Miranda walked back to them, one hand supporting the paper against the cup and the other hand on top to keep it steady. “Aaaaand what happens if you don’t?” she drawled.

Uranus and Titania shared a look. “You explode,” she said, Uranus nodding over her shoulder.

Miranda’s jaw dropped. Uranus bit his tongue to keep from laughing. “You’re kidding,” she deadpanned.

“Better get going, mate, you have thirty seconds,” Uranus said in lieu of responding.

Miranda shut her mouth. Without another word she held her new bug-friend close to her chest and jogged out of the room. 

Uranus grinned in triumph. The infamous flying ‘garden Earthling’ was officially out of the house and back where it belonged. Thank the Universe. And he’d also consider his magic paint mission done, what with all the chaotic players now outside where they can’t assault anyone’s ears. Titania and Umbriel were the quietest members of the Uranian system by far, Titania with her soft voice and Umbriel because, well, she literally doesn’t talk.

Uranus put the paintbrush back in its apron pocket, turning to the other inhabitants of the room. “So, what are you two up to for the rest of the day?” Titania opened her mouth to reply but no sound came out, hesitating for a reason Uranus couldn’t name. 

Umbriel perked up. ‘Music,’ she smiled, a rare bit of mischief in her eyes, ‘Without Ariel, I control what we play in our room.’

Uranus snorted. Of course. “Hey, go crazy, mate,” he stepped aside from the doorway, and made a grand sweeping gesture. “Enjoy your newfound music freedom.” Umbriel found the dramatics funny, in her own way, and passed him with a nod. Uranus gave her a smile.

It was just Titania and Uranus now, and he couldn’t deny tha† the longer she stayed quiet the more his anxiety mounted. He shuffled awkwardly, wondering if he should say anything more or give up forcing this interaction to go on longer than it had to. Uranus bit his lip and then cleared his throat, “So, what’d you say your plans were?”

Titania stared at him. He's pretty sure the look in her eyes wasn’t hostility but he's never really been the best at reading his moon’s expressions. No matter what Titania’s eyes held weight. He wished he knew exactly when that started, so he would know how to fix it, to rectify what weighed on her mind.

She sighed, “Don’t worry about it.” Uranus frowned, Titania passing by him without a glance back. 

Well. No one can say he didn’t try.

Uranus finally returned to his studio, the painting sitting exactly where he'd left it. He smiled, the spark greeting him warmly as the energy buzzed once again. The lighting out the window had changed significantly but otherwise it was practically waiting for him to pick up where he’d left off. 

Uranus settled in front of the easel with a sigh, putting the paint bottle and blue tipped paintbrush down on the table next to him. He found his original paints and replaced his paint water with a fresh cup. The silence was wonderful, washing over him in a pleasant calmness. Only his breathing and the very distant, inconsequential sounds of moons playing outside accompanied him in the room.

Now, without the piercing screams of moons in the background to distract him, he could finally work on–.

Rock music blared in his ears! Uranus flinched away from the painting and hunched his shoulders, watching in shock as dust fell from the ceiling.

You’re kidding.

Uranus looked up at the ceiling. The obscenely loud music came from the room directly above him, literally causing dust to fall. He looked at his watercup, at the soft ripples in the water.

His eye twitched. “You’re KIDDING!” Uranus shouted to no one. He put his hands to his ears, staring at nothing for a few solid seconds.

Uranus just wanted to paint. 

Sure, he agreed to the moons coming down here, and he was excited to be in such close proximity with them. He was excited to hang out with them and get to know them. Maybe actually act like friends. But he also just wanted to paint. Was that so much to ask for?

Uranus took a deep breath, releasing his ears. He grabbed his blue tipped paintbrush and paint bottle. His feet carried him into the hallway and up the stairs, his mission reigniting in a vengeful fire.

When he made it to Umbriel’s room, right above his studio, Titania was already at the door, standing half in the room, half in the hallway. The music was unapologetically loud so close to the source. When Uranus came up behind Titania he barely caught the words she was saying.

“-ease, jus–bit,” Titania put her fingers close together, in a ‘bit’ gesture. Her eyebrows were furrowed with stress but of course, Titania was approaching this civilly. First and foremost like she did with everything (everything that didn’t have to do with him) in a way that usually made him proud at what a diplomat Titania’s become over the years. Now, though, Uranus was not thankful for the slow approach. 

Umbriel sat on her bed, pressing the buttons on a speaker she and Ariel had somehow acquired in their time here on Earth. The music dropped in volume, barely. She pulled back and signed, ‘Is that better?’

No. Not at all.

Titania bit her lip, patience obviously growing thinner. As for Uranus, his patience was long gone.

Uranus gave Umbriel the benefit of the doubt, just one more time. He caught her eye across the room and began signing, ‘This is not what I meant earlier. Sound too loud, turn it down or turn it off.’

Umbriel frowned, reaching over to turn the music down again, but it was still too loud. Uranus hated to do this, especially to Umbriel. She’s usually so sweet and well behaved, even being one of his smarter and more critical moons. It was a shame it had come to this.

Uranus pushed past Titania, ignoring her surprise, and walked up to Umbriel. He drew his paintbrush and put a single dot on her forehead. He switched to their one handed sign language. ‘I’m sorry it had to come to this, mate,’ he pressed his lips together apologetically.

Umbriel wilted, but slid off the bed. She turned off the speaker, casting the room into dizzying silence. Titania sighed in relief, “Thank you, Umbriel,” she breathed.

‘Not like I have a choice,’ Umbriel pouted, but then she glanced at Uranus, squinting at him. Finally she nodded. ‘But he has good intentions.’

That made Uranus give a smile, just a small one. Titania frowned. Uranus followed Umbriel out of the room, Titania lagging behind them with a furrow in her brow. Uranus once again found himself wishing he knew how to make her relax more.

The second Umbriel made it to the back door, Ariel appeared on the other side like she had sensed her approach. Ariel tugged open the sliding door, gasping, “Umbriel! You too!?” Umbriel nodded, holding up the speaker as explanation. Ariel somehow understood instantly. “Aw, seriously? That’s nothing,” Ariel turned to Titania and Uranus. “You fun haters!”

Titania scoffed, not meanly, “You can’t be serious. Would you really have liked that stuff blasting your ears off?”

Ariel crossed her arms, raising her head defiantly. “Well, no, obviously not. But at least I don’t call it ‘stuff’. And it’s part of our agreement!”

“What agreement?” Uranus questioned.

“Me and Umbriel have an agreement!” Ariel gestured between them. “When Umbriel’s not in the room, I get to play the music I like. When I’m not in the room, Umbriel gets to play the music she likes!”

Uranus raised his eyebrows. “Wow, that’s actually, really impressive space sharing,” he couldn’t help but admit. Then again, Umbriel and Ariel always seemed to just get each other, like they communicate on a wavelength no one else does.

Ariel nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly! Which is whyyy Umbriel should get to do whatever she wants with our space when I’m not there.” Ah, there it is.

Uranus sighed. “Yeah, sorry, that’s not happening.”

Ariel gasped, completely affronted on Umbriel’s behalf. “How could you say that!?”

“Let me finish, mate,” Uranus held up a hand before the accusations could snowball. “Blasting music at full volume, no matter the genre, goes beyond the space of your bedroom. It actively disturbs the whole house.” Umbriel looked bashful now, looking at her feet.

Ariel scuffed her foot on the patio, sighing dramatically. “I guesssss. Whatever.” That’s as good a response as Uranus is gonna get. 

“I’m more interested in why you thought that was a good idea, Umbriel.” Uranus directed to the dark moon, clarifying, “You’re not in trouble, I just wanna know.”

Umbriel looked away, squinting as she thought about her answer. Then she lifted a hand, switching to their one handed sign language to keep a hold of the speaker with the other. ‘I like the volume high.’

Uranus sighed while Ariel gigged at his dismay in the background. Really, was that it? He couldn’t help but facepalm, narrowly avoiding poking his eye out with the paintbrush still in his hand. That was such a lackluster reply. 

“Okay, whatever, sure. Just be more mindful next time, mate,” he told the girls, expecting them to run off without a second thought. Instead, Ariel grabbed onto Umbriel’s arm, gasping and staring at him. Uranus furrowed his brow. Did he say something wrong? “What?”

There was a stifled laugh and Uranus looked over to find Titania covering her mouth, eyes crinkled. “What is it??” he demanded, a bit hysterical at the fact that Titania was laughing around him. Now he really has to know what he did.

“You’re face!” Ariel burst out laughing, pointing unabashedly at him. “You’ve fallen in your own trap!”

What. Uranus put a hand to his face, feeling around until he touched something cold and sticky. When he pulled back, his fingers were tipped in blue. His mouth fell open, his eyes surely full of horror. No. No.

His own game. He’d lost his own game. No. He couldn’t believe it.

Something tapped his shoulder, breaking him from his trance. Titania was full on grinning as she said, “You know what that means,”

“Uranus, quick!” Ariel darted inside to grab at his apron and begin pulling him towards the door, Umbriel close behind her.

Titania laced her hands in front of her, polite in a way that did not match her impish grin one bit. “Yeah, Uranus you better be quick.”

Uranus finally remembered to close his mouth, stammering instead, “Wha–what about you!?”

Titania batted her eyelashes. “What about me?” Oh that little–.

Uranus grit his teeth. “Nuh uh, you're going down with me!” He dug his heels into the ground right as Ariel was about to pull him onto the patio. “C’mere, right now!” He reached out wildly with the paintbrush, Titania gasping and jumping out of the way. He groaned in frustration, Ariel and Umbriel still pulling on him while he reached in the opposite direction.

In a bid of desperation he’ll never forget for the rest of his existence, Uranus reached out further, pulling his weight away from the two girls and way too far over his feet. What a rude lesson in gravity, he thinks as he falls flat on his face.

There was a thud and a wet crack. All three girls gasped, a shocked silence following. 

Uranus had his eyes slammed shut, breathing through the pain radiating from his chin, chest, and knees. After a moment, he found the strength to get his arms under him, blinking one eye open as he did so. He pushed himself up enough to reveal the massacre of blue paint under him. The paint bottle he’d fallen on top of had a clean crack in the side of it, spilling the substance everywhere.

Uranus sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day, deep and tired. At least it wasn’t on any rugs or hard to clean surfaces.

Uranus held his breath and screwed his eyes shut, tensing as much as this human body would allow him to. Cold water seared his skin, the hose pressure ridiculously high in a way that made him think its operator surely did that on purpose… 

He couldn’t hold his breath any longer, releasing it only to get a mouthful of hose water, which left him sputtering in his stupidity.

When the hose finally stopped, Uranus was gasping and panting, water dripping from every bit of his outstretched arms and hanging head. He blinked rapidly, vision slightly blurry, and carefully reached up to pull his soaking wet hair out of his face. Ugh, he wasn’t even rid of all the blue, the remains soaking into his clothes.

Titania chuckled lowly, gathering the hose into her arms as he stood there like a wet fuzzy-Earthling-pet. Uranus sent her an unimpressed stare, eyes half lidded. Titania set the hose back where it belonged, then gave him a parting salute before disappearing into the house. Uranus stared after her, only dropping the expression when she was out of sight.

He blew air out of his mouth, just to feel the way water clung stubbornly to his lips. Ew. 

Uranus was in the middle of peeling his waterlogged apron off when the hoard of moons he’d exiled to the backyard approached him. A familiar minor moon pushed to the front of the group. “HAH! You got GOT!!” Cressida mocked, ever the gentle soul.

Juliet quickly slid in beside her. “That fall was AMAZING, Uranus, can you do that again!?” Uranus wasn’t going to deign that with a response.

Oberon shuffled his feet. “It was very daring,” he agreed, but added on, “And painful looking,” He looked at Uranus more directly. “Was that painful?”

Uranus rubbed his chin, noting the tingling in his knees. Yes. “Nah,” he shrugged, “I’m fine.” He absolutely did not wince in pain when Desdemona barreled into his legs, hugging the soaked fabric, ew. Uranus reached down to pat her on the head. “Hello, mate.”

Desdemona didn’t respond. “Uh, mate?” he prodded nervously.

She finally turned her head up to him, only to whisper, “Karma…”

Uranus blinked at her. Yeah, he’s not in the mood to hear ‘I told you so’ from a minor moon (no offense to minor moons). He carefully pried her off of his legs and set her gently to the side, between Cressdia and Juliet, both of whom barely took a second glance at her.

Miranda stepped forward, hands cupped into a ball. “Fancy seeing you here, Uranus,” she greeted, amusement undeniable. 

Uranus drew out a sigh. “Yeah, funny thing about that.”

“Say no more, happens to the best of us.” Miranda nodded, always the reassuring type. 

Uranus smiled awkwardly. “Um, speaking of,” he glanced behind him. “Is Titania gonna be okay?” Remembering how his oldest expressed wanting to be alone earlier only to immediately say she didn’t want alone time. He’s not gonna lie, he got a little confused in that conversation.

Miranda looked between him and the house, laughing. “Of course, she’ll be okay! That girl never gets time to herself, so I think she’ll be more than happy.”

For some reason Uranus couldn’t place, he felt a bit disappointed with that response. “You sure she won’t get, like, bored, or something?” he asked to double check, a traitorous bit of hope leaking into his voice.

Miranda smiled like she could see right through him. Damn it. “I don’t know if she’ll come outside, but if she does, I’m sure she’ll be happy to spend time with us all.” Uranus coughed, ignoring the stress on that last word. Then Miranda added on, “And we’ll be sure to introduce her.”

“Introduce…?” Uranus drawled hesitantly.  

Miranda lifted her balled hands, opening them just enough to reveal what was inside. He flinched when the ‘garden Earthling’ from earlier flapped its wings, too fast for his eyes to keep up with. Of course Miranda kept it. “Her name is Macbeth,” Miranda introduced.

“And she’s the coolest Earthling ever!” Juliet jumped in, tugging excitedly on Miranda’s arms. “Why couldn’t we be like those things!?” His face scrunched up. Eugh, Uranus couldn’t imagine being one of those things. If Earth invited them down to his surface only to turn them all into bugs, he’d never come back.

But Macbeth, huh? How… fitting? No, that’s not right, he couldn’t come up with the proper word. Uranus shook his head, he didn’t know what to think, but at least the bug was outside and in (hopefully) good hands. “Well,” he huffed, “Glad you’re making friends.”

“Uranus!” Juliet shouted even though he was literally right in front of her. She tugged on his soaked sweater, ew. “Next time, can you paint her? Can you paint Macbeth? Please, please, please!”

Uranus paused. Oh, that’s right. The painting he’d been trying to work on all day. He's not finishing that today afterall, is he? His clever trick to get some peace and quiet turned into a whole distraction and then was eventually his downfall. Man, he fumbled that one.

But. Juliet’s gleaming eyes stared up at him, smile so wide it looked like it hurt. That view he was painting will be there tomorrow. “Sounds like a plan, mate,” he said, far too much warmth in his voice for an ice giant. Guess he has a new painting to work on. Later. 

For now he had a bunch of incredibly excitable, incredibly loud, very well-meaning moons to hang out with.