Archive of Our Own

Venus always hated the aftermath.

The chaos he could deal with. The fighting, the anger, the terror, the realization that nothing is going to be the same again—he was strong enough to power through it, easily handling the conflict and didn’t hesitate to deal out his own blows if he had to.

It was easy to understand. In that moment it was just good and evil, black and white, survival or death. Simple things that only took a split second to decide on.

He didn’t have to think. He just did, letting his fists do the decision making and trusted his instincts to lead him to victory.

But when the dust finally settled and the adrenaline faded away…

That’s when the true fight started.

This time, he couldn’t use his fists to solve the problems. This time, he couldn’t just throw punches and hope one landed. Now it required a far more…delicate approach to it. 

Which usually meant it involved lots of mushy feelings.

Eugh.

Sad feelings, happy feelings, scared feelings, all the emotions that were shoved down during the chaos bubbled back up in a big gooey mess of ugly tears and crushing hugs—two of which things Venus would much rather sit out on. 

He doesn’t cry, or do hugs for that matter, so the overflow of emotions erupting from all around him threw Venus into the most complicated escape room ever: avoid getting cried on and duck out of hugs as fast as he can while he races to find somewhere he couldn’t get mushy feelings all over him.

But now, with the entire Solar System wrapped up in the drama, it was a little hard to evade everyone when they all started crying at the most random times. The fighting was over! They were safe! Nobody died! So stop bursting into tears! It’s freaking him out—not that he was catching the emotion-showing-cooties.

Expressing your feelings was dumb. And overrated. Venus preferred the method of shoving it all down to the deepest, darkest parts of yourself and then covering up the hole with an angry mask. It’s perfect! There’s no way it can go wrong!

Feelings just got in the way, so it was only natural that Venus would have to put it in its—

“Ow!” Venus hissed, snapping out of his thoughts to swat away Mars’ hand poking his side, “Watch it!” Pain sparked up his ribs where Mars had been poking and prodding him like some sort of science experiment—and sure, maybe it hurt to breathe and maybe the skin held worryingly purple and green blotches to it, but that didn’t give Mars the right to jab him like that!

“Sorry dude,” Mars ducked his head in an apology, regret flashing through his eyes as he gave Venus a sheepish smile, “I didn’t mean for that to hurt.”

Venus scowled, crossing his arms over his chest (and wincing when another aching bolt struck through his side), “Well you’re not doing a very good job at it, are you?”

“Venus, come on man.”

Venus refused to meet Mars’ eyes, staring furiously at where his shirt lie strewn on the coffee table instead, pain and frustration mixing together to make him the most stubborn planet there was. If Mars wanted to help heal Venus or whatever, this was not the way to go about it. It’s just hurting him! That makes no sense! Healing is supposed to take away the hurt, not bring even more.

The couch dipped as Mars scooted closer to the other planet, and out of the corner of his eye Venus spotted the first aid kit Earth had given everyone when they first got down here. Venus had one too, but he’d immediately thrown it in the corner of his room because it was stupid and he didn’t need it.

But apparently—according to Jupiter’s reaction when Venus came out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist and revealing the angry bruises splattered across his chest—some people thought he did need it and were very upset with him for hiding his injuries.

But he didn’t hide anything; they just didn’t look hard enough.

“Yo Vee! Stop sulking and let Mars help you!”

Venus rolled his eyes, lifting his gaze from the coffee table to send a fiery glare to where Earth sat in his stupid little recliner with his stupid little grin. The angry wall built itself back up (he’d shown weakness for too long, he had to keep himself safe), stirring the fiery spark in his core and lacing his tongue with venom.

“How about you mind your own business, huh, Earth?” Venus snapped, ignoring Mars’ attempt to get him to calm down, “I thought being all Mr.-Keeps-Passing-Out had Saturn ban you from doing anything.”

“Hey! You know that’s—I didn’t know that would happen!” Earth exclaimed,  frustration and hurt flashing across his face. Good riddance. He’d had enough of Earth bossing them around—even stuck in bedrest he still found a way to be annoying. 

“Guys, please stop fighting.” The tell-tale sound of Mercury’s high-pitched, annoying voice cut through the staring contest the two biggest rockies had engaged in, disgust rising in the back of Venus’ throat. Ugh. Of course. Mercury always had to come along and ruin everything. 

“Venus,” Mars grumbled, poking his side again and obviously just trying to get his attention, but the combination of that and the sudden movement of Venus whipping around in just the wrong way—

—ignited his ribs on fire.

The air punched out of him in a breathless gasp, and he barely had time to hate the pathetic wheeze that came afterwards before the pain spiked and his vision flashed white, the ringing in his ears drowning out the surprised shouts overhead. He grimaced with a sharp hiss of pain, the ache in his chest swelling with every breath he struggled to take in.

“Venus! Hey, breathe dude,” Mars exclaimed, his voice trickling through Venus’ ears, muffled weirdly like it was underwater. Hands pressed into his shoulders, keeping the planet from keeling all the way over, and if Venus wasn’t writhing in pain he would’ve decked Mars by now. 

“I’m—trying!” Venus gritted out, voice catching on a pained hitch of his breath. Ugh! Stupid, flimsy human bodies. If they were up in space he wouldn’t be having this problem, but someone convinced everyone to go down to his surface and take on these weak forms.

“Here—” Cold hands touched his bare back, sending an involuntary shiver down his spine, panic creeping up the back of his throat. He wheezed in another shaky inhale, biting hard on his lip to stop the sharp cry as hot, angry knives stabbed his side and his back and everywhere ached and twinged with pain.

The hands started rubbing circles on his back (pff, like that would ever work), but Venus was done. Done with the pain, done with the humiliation, done with everything.

“B-buzz off,” Venus spat out, shoving the hands off him and stumbling to his feet. His knees knocked against the coffee table, the world titling for a moment as Venus fought to regain his balance. Someone tried to stable him, but he just swatted them away, “Go away. Leave me alone! I’m fine!”

“Venus, wait, stop—”

“I said leave me alone!” Venus shouted, head clouding with too much pain to think clearly as he shoved past the anxious form of Mars and stomped away. His chest burned with every slight movement, sending spasms of pain up and down his body that Venus just grit his teeth and ignored, staggering into walls and tables as he stumbled his way to the stairs, half-blind from pain and too stubborn to ask for help.

He didn’t turn around to check if they did, indeed, leave him alone or not, the fiery planet too focused on placing one foot in front of the other and not falling down the stairs. Stumbling, every breath ripped through him like hot claws slashing across his chest, and Venus couldn’t tell if the rough, heaving breaths were from his injured ribs, or the icky, annoying emotions bubbling beneath the surface.

Venus stepped foot in the hallway and almost ran head-first into a moon (Triton, was it?) hurrying down the hallway, the smaller one skillfully side-stepping around the swaying planet and disappeared down the stairs.

Ugh. Rude.

Venus sent a glare behind him, and then swung his heavy head around and took a few more, swaying steps before he reached his room and shoved open the door. 

Finally. Safety.

He staggered through the doorway and slammed the door shut, not caring about the lecture he’d probably get from Saturn about being quiet and calm while everyone was recovering—because fuck that! Fuck everything! He didn’t care about being quiet when his side wouldn’t stop hurting.

Anger swirled throughout his mind as Venus stood there, leaning heavily against the door and panting in shallow gasps. That itch—the need for destruction—stirred beneath his skin, dulled by the pain but still there. It whispered in his ears, leading him away from the door and further into his room.

He eyed the bed and the shelves tucked in the corner, feet stepping on the ugly carpet Earth insisted on getting him to “lively up the place,” ignoring the full-length mirror to his right. He always ignored it. It was stupid and tacky and he already knew how he looked, he didn’t need a reminder of it every time he woke up. 

(He didn’t need to see everything he hates about himself. He doesn’t need to stare into the mirror and see the pathetic failure he’d become. 

He already knows. He knows and it hurts every day.)

But…

Something made him pause and stand there, leaning against the drawer behind him and taking in his mirrored form.

Two, twin dark brown eyes stared back at him, narrowing to a glare that, if looks could kill, would’ve shattered the mirror. He ignored the eye bags sinking into his rusty-colored skin, brushing a strand of fiery red hair out of his eyes, the white tips of the mohawk he’d somehow convinced Jupiter and Saturn he could keep falling into his eyes. 

The anger lessened, breaths steadying out as he stared himself in the mirror. He liked his hair. It was one of the few things he liked about himself. It was spiky and edgy and really felt like him. When he looked at himself—when he stared at just his face—Venus almost felt whole. Like who he was staring at was the real Venus, not just the facade he’s played for all his life.

His eyes dropped down further, past the lighter skin of his top surgery scars and the curves that he’d worked so hard to get rid of (stupid human bodies deciding to play a sick joke and give him a female body when he was obviously a male, and had been for billions of years! What, had he not suffered enough so the universe just had to go and hit him with the dysphoria all over again?), smugly grinning at the muscles flexing beneath his skin.

He raised his arm to flex in the mirror, but then winced when the movement pulled on his ribs, a spark of pain shooting through his side.

Ow.

Squinting past the momentary dizziness and the dots spotting his vision, Venus turned left and right, revealing more and more angry, red-purple-green bruises—practically the entire stars’ damned rainbow was painted on his side! Smaller blemishes appeared here and there, but nothing matching the molted skin around his ribs. 

A grimace cracked across his face, both from the pain and how bad it looked, but he kept his breaths quick and shallow, careful not to send himself careening down another cliff of dizzying pain with a wrong move. 

He tried to take a step towards the bed, but he couldn’t move. Or look away.

Something kept him trapped there, staring at the angry bruises as his expression twisted to a feeling he couldn’t recognize.

…

“Come out come out wherever you are~”

His heart tightened to a knot, making the already hard to breathe situation even worse, quick breaths sending pained twinges striking through his body. Venus balled his hands into fists, his chest aching and throbbing even as he tried to ignore it. Because he always ignored his problems and it always worked—why wasn’t it working now?!

“You can’t hide forever little planet. I will find you, and then you’ll be all mine for the taking.”

He was in the room still. He was on Earth’s surface. He was fine.

“Aha! I founddd you~”

Venus flinched like he’d been slapped, stumbling back from the invisible voice jeering in his ears—but the drawer behind him blocked the escape. His eyes widened, core pounding in his ears as he looked left and right and up and down but those blood-red eyes loomed over him, huge and blocking out the stars.

“You think you could run from me? Hah! How silly!”

Fear blinded the tiny planet, and he did the first thing he could think of.

He ran.

But he didn’t get far.

Huge claws appeared out of nowhere, scooping Venus off his feet and into their crushing hold. No—! He thrashed wildly, screeching and shrieking and scrabbling for any chance of escape. His fists hit their surface, punching and kicking and biting down hard—

But nothing worked.

“Oh how cute~” a voice crooned, Venus snapping his attention upwards to the red eyes and the sharp teeth flashing before his eyes, “You’re trying to escape?” The hold tightened, hands squeezing around his body tighter and tighter, Venus’ scream dying in his throat and his head lolled to the side, dizzying pain blinding the tiny planet. 

A wet sounding “crack!” rang in his ears, two more following—and all Venus managed was a hitching gasp, his lungs screaming for air and head pounded, vision swimming and darkening.

And through the dark, red eyes and a predatory grin spread wide.

“Hmm this was fun,” they leaned in, and it took all Venus had to muster up a snarl, writhing in their hold. “Ooh feisty little one! But I’m rather hungry so…” Their fist clenched, and an ugly, primal sound ripped through his throat, agony gripping his body just like the hand squeezing the life out of him.

This is it, Venus thought, the fight draining from his body as he sagged, going limp in the monster’s hold while his vision faded in and out. This is it and I’m going to die. I couldn’t even rescue one measly planet before it attacked me.

A single tear rolled down his cheeks, and his eyes fluttered shut—

—only to suddenly gasp, gulping in big, beautiful breaths of fresh air as empty space met his feet and the crushing gravity receded. A sound erupted from above him (—another planet?! A star? A rogue planet? Who the fuck cares, he’s getting out here!), and Venus wasted no time in scrambling to his feet and sprinting as fast as his wobbly legs could carry him.

Run, run, run!!! Move! Get out of there! 

Are they still behind him? Did he get away? What if they’re following him? Is he safe? Did he lose them? Oh no what if—

“Venus?”

The planet jolted, slapping a hand over his mouth to suppress the surprised yelp spilling from him. His chest heaved, fighting for breath against the panic constricting his heart tighter and the pain punching through his chest, throat raw and his mouth far too dry.

Venus blinked, vision blurry and swimming, but he…he was back to staring at himself in the mirror, chest rising and falling rapidly with the residues of panic and terror still flashing through his mind. But—but that’s impossible! It just—he was...

…what?

“Venus!” Said planet jumped at the more insistent shout of his name, neck snapping to where the voice was coming from—the door. The door. The door. Because he’s not in space. He’s on Earth...or rather Earth’s surface, with the other planets and the moons and the Sun after he rescued them and brought them back to the Solar System.

He’s okay. He’s safe. Everything is fine.

“Open up!” The voice said again, knocking on the door in three quick raps. It took a moment, but he finally recognized the voice as…ugh.

Mercury.

“Venus, please. I just want to talk!” 

“Go away!” Venus grumbled, cursing the slight waver to his voice. He doesn’t need anyone poking their noses into his business—especially not Mercury of all people. He turned his back to the door, willing his voice to sound normal enough to not raise suspicion, “I’m…busy!”

“Busy?” The incredulous reply scoffed, and Venus just barely restrained himself from punching the wall out of pure anger. “Venus, that’s a poor lie, even for you.”

Stars above, didn’t the pipsqueak know how to quit? Leave him alone! Venus gripped the side of the drawer so hard his knuckles turned white, gritting his teeth and trying his best to keep his voice level, “I’m fine. Just—go away.

“Venus come on—”

“Ugh!” He threw up his hands, the angry bubble swelling in his chest as he whipped around, “For stars’ sake I said leave me alone!” He stomped up to the door and threw it open, the door swinging wildly and slamming against the wall but he didn’t care about a stupid door or a stupid wall, all he paid attention to was the planet standing in the doorway.

“Finally,” Mercury huffed, rolling his eyes playfully and offering a warm smile that Venus quickly rejected with a scowl. “Took you long enough. I swore I was going to have to get Jupiter to break down your door.”

Venus steeled his gaze, hiding his still racing heart behind a deepening frown and a glare. “Go away, pipsqueak” he growled in a warning, voice low and raspy, “Before I make you.”

“Oh? Is that a threat?” Mercury cocked his head to the side, annoyingly calm in the face of someone who constantly hurt him, “Are you threatening me, Venus? I’m just trying to help.” 

Venus felt his eye twitch, barely held back anger seeping through the cracks. Stars above, did Mercury hit his head or something? This usually worked! Normally by now he’d had sent the pipsqueak crying back to his orbit—what was different about today?

Why was Mercury so…confident?

It freaked Venus out more than he’d liked to admit, the smaller planet undoubtedly trying to trick him into lowering his guard to play therapist for him. Well it wouldn’t work! He wouldn’t let it! Mercury could do it with Earth and Luna and Mars all he wanted, but Venus? The hot, fiery planet filled with so much anger and self-loathing he didn’t know what to do with himself…

Pfft. Good luck trying to get anything out of him.

“I don’t need help,” Venus snapped, crossing his arms over his chest and widening his stance to block Mercury from stepping even a foot in his room, “Especially not from you. Now leave.” This was Venus’ room and he came here to be alone, thank you very much. 

Mercury shifted his weight, staring at Venus with that unwavering gaze, hazel eyes boring into his skull like he was searching for something. Well have fun with that, zVenus had nothing to hide—nothing that he would willingly tell anyone, that is. Mercury narrowed his eyes, and Venus just did the same, glaring fiery daggers at the smaller planet to ignore the way the searching gaze made him squirm.

“Uh…is this some kind of epic staring contest?” A new voice cut between the two, tearing Venus’ focus away from Mercury’s eyes to glare at Titan hovering in the hallway.

“Piss off, Titan,” Venus hissed, baring his teeth at the moon, who took a step back, hands raised in a placating gesture, “This is a planet business and Mercury was just leaving.”

“Ignore him,” Mercury interjected with his stupidly calm voice and stupidly neutral face. Venus huffed out a hot breath of angry air, strangling down the urge to tackle Mercury right then and there. He didn’t know why he stopped himself. It was a good idea. Mercury turned to Titan, offering a sheepish smile that pissed Venus off further, “He’s just a little cranky. You know how it is.”

Just a little—?!

“You—what? No! I’m not! How dare you!” Venus snarled, an angry, embarrassed flush reddening his cheeks as he stood there, seething in rage that his feeble mortal form failed to hold. He trembled with fury, hands clenched into tight fists, nails digging into his skin with sparks of pain. How dare Mercury think he could speak to him like that, how dare he make fun of him, how dare he—

“You gotta remember to breathe, Venus.” A finger poked his shoulder and Venus instantly recoiled from the touch, skin tingling where the hand lie. Don’t touch him! And you can’t tell him what to do! He does his own thing and he will choose to breathe when he wants to.

Frustratingly, his lungs did not like this decision, screaming for air as aching pressure built up around his head. He shoved away the hand that tried to help, squinting past his blurry vision to glare at Mercury. How many times does he have to say it before the idiot listens?! Leave. Him. Alone!

When it felt like his lungs were about to burst, Venus begrudgingly sucked in a sharp breath, teeth gritting together—both from the ache blooming in his chest and the anger rolling through his mind. His heart flip-flopped uncomfortably,  back twinging in, yet another spasm of pain that weakened his legs and left dots splattered across his vision.

Gah—ow. 

“Venus…” Mercury’s voice softened in a way that twisted his heart, raising the ugly feeling he’d fought so hard to keep down. One hand slid against his back, while the other pressed into his sternum to help straighten him up, the mortifying embarrassment enough to snap him out of the pain, “You’re obviously in pain, and all I want is to help you feel better. Please?”

“N-no!” Venus shook his head, pushing past the dizzying waves of pain to swat away Mercury’s hands, “I’m fine.” 

“No, you’re not!”

Ugh, just go away! Stop talking to him like that. He doesn’t need the pity or the love or whatever Mercury was doing. He turned, slamming the door (even if the other planet just shoved his way into the room anyways), stumbling towards the bed and ignoring the annoying, pestering form of Mercury hovering over him, “I can handle it by my—”

His foot caught on something, and out of the blue a bolt of hot, fiery pain struck through his side like lightning, turning his legs to jelly and tilting the world to the side, his vision fully whiting out before he could even let out a sound.

…

Ow…

Venus groaned, coming to quickly—and with it, his aching body flared up in pain.

“—nus! Venus!” Fingers tapped his cheeks, shrill voice raking down his ears and just bringing more, dizzying pain attacking his brain. Ow. Ow, ow, ow. Stars dammnit! 

The voice—Mercury, of course, because who else would it be—continued ranting frantically above him, “Oh stars, oh god, what do I—Venus? Venus can you hear me?”

“Ngh...yes,” Venus grunted, peeling open his eyes to glare at the fuzzy form of Mercury’s face hovering over him, “Now can you please shut up?”

“Venus!” Mercury’s face dipped into focus, wide, terrified eyes rimmed with tears—aha! He knew it was all an act! Take that Mercury, he successfully broke the therapist-character. His joy was short-lived, however, with another wave of pain crashing over him and stealing away his breath. 

“Fucking hell ow,” he choked out, fighting back the pressure behind his eyes. No. Nope. He’s not going to cry. His entire body may feel like he’d been chucked into the Sun, but Venus refused to show weakness. Especially in the company of Mercury.

“Can I—should I get Earth? Saturn?” Mercury’s nagging voice appeared again, his high-pitched voice somehow even higher and wrought with anxiety. Hah! Serves him right for—ow, ow, ow!

 "N-no,” Venus shook his head, sucking in short, shallow breaths that were more like how a dog panted than anything else, “Nobody else. Please.” If Earth or Saturn or anyone else saw him like this he’d never hear the end of this. He would be bedridden just like Earth, and unlike Venus, he had a life and would go crazy cooped up.

Mercury stared at him for a moment longer, chewing on his lip in thought, but after a beat he sagged with a deflating sigh, “Okay, fine—but I’m not leaving!”

Ugh. Of course.

Great. So now this meant he would have to deal with the company currently occupying his room...well just until the pain subsided and his body started cooperating. After that, he’d wrestle Mercury to the ground if that’s what it took to kick him out of his room.

“Ugh, fine, whatever,” Venus grumbled, feeling far too vulnerable and exposed lying down on the—the ground? Ugh, he’d tripped and fallen on the ground? How much more of a loser could he become? He propped his elbows underneath himself, scooting up as slowly as possible without angering his ribs (which was frustratingly slow) and leaned against the bed frame. Panting, he tried to stand, but found his path blocked by a hand pressing him back down.

“Stay—stay down, Venus. Don’t move,” Mercury said, and it took only a fraction of the pipsqueak’s power to render Venus’ escape attempt useless. Ugh, great! Awesome! Fantastic! Way to rub salt in the wound, universe. Thanks a lot. 

Mercury glanced back towards the door (which, thankfully, was now shut to avoid any nosy passerby spying on him), anxiously twisting his hands together in a way that made Venus wince. The smaller swung his gaze back to the planet in front of him, eyes landing on Venus’ chest, thin eyebrows knotted together in the same worried expression he’d seen painted across Mercury’s face a thousand times before. 

Venus had never thought he would be the one Mercury was worrying about, though.

(He didn’t deserve to be cared for. All he ever did was hurt those around him, taking and taking until nothing remained but an empty corpse. 

Just ask Theia.)

“Take a picture,” Venus grunted out, “It’ll last longer.” Even if he was stuck dealing with Mercury, the pipsqueak could at least make himself useful. Like giving him something for this stars-damned pain instead of just standing there all googly-eyed.

“O-oh! Yeah! Sorry!” Mercury hurriedly apologized, stumbling to his feet and darting to the corner where Venus knew the first aid kit lied amongst his dirty clothes. He reappeared just as quickly, cracking open the box and dumping the contents all over the rug.

Venus raised an eyebrow, watching as Mercury—who obviously did not know what he was doing—shuffled through the supplies. Bandaids, gauze, needles (Venus shivered and quickly looked away. What? You can’t blame him for hating needles! Everyone hates them!), icepacks, and a bunch of other stuff he couldn’t care less about sprawled out on the floor. Wow Earth really packed a lot in these things.

His chest ached, reminding Venus to stay on task, which was hard when the person who was supposed to be helping him was clearly an idiot.

“Oh yeah just take your time,” Venus drawled sarcastically with a roll of his eyes, taking advantage of the close proximity to send more jeers at Mercury.

If the pipsqueak couldn’t find the pain relief, this was his second best option.

Mercury sent Venus a look but ignored him, picking up bottles of pills and setting them back down. “Are you even reading what it says?” Venus scoffed, wincing when his ribs really didn’t like that. (Ow.) “Or—or can you not read? And that’s why you’re such a stars-damned idiot!”

“I can read, Venus,” Mercury sighed, pinching the spot between his eyes and running a hand through his messy, grey-ish blonde hair, “It’s just a little hard to focus when you’re taunting me.”

Pure, delicious satisfaction blossomed in his chest, sending a wide, sly grin across his face, “Oh, really? I’m being distracting? Am I…annoying you?”

“Jesus christ,” Mercury muttered, and Venus had no idea who that was and why they were suddenly a part of their conversation, but maybe they could get Mercury to focus and get the pain meds so Venus could get a stars-damned break. 

The pain slowly but surely surpassed his ability to distract himself by annoying Mercury, and it took all Venus had to strangle back the pained groans that begged to escape his lips. If he screamed—if he made any sound that would alert the others something was wrong—his cover would be blow and they would see him for what he truly was.

A coward.

“Aha!” Mercury exclaimed, holding up a bottle of what Venus assumed to be ibuprofen or some other pain relief medicine, “Found it!”

“Yay,” Venus said in the most monotone voice possible. Mercury shot him a deadpan look, but Venus could not care less about Mercury’s opinion of him, The more pain he’s in the less likeable and people friendly he gets—and he’s already miserable to be around on a normal day. 

Mercury dumped a couple circle-shaped pills in his palm, counting them (and then re-counting them, stars above, paranoid much?), before handing them over to Venus. “I don’t have water so you’ll have to swallow them—“

Venus threw back his head, shoving the pills down his throat before the nausea could make him throw them up. Still, he gagged, chest twinging with another stab of pain.

“—dry,” Mercury finished with a sigh, wiping his hands on his pants and closing the cap. Venus licked his lips, turning his focus inward to his body and waited. And waited. And waited some more.

Was it supposed to start working immediately? He wasn’t feeling anything change. His chest still ached like a rope was tied too tight around him, the pain spiking every time he took a breath. A spot on his temple throbbed (he probably hit it when his stupid body gave out underneath him), and all the other aches and pains and angry sensations gripped his body, bringing dizzying waves of pain that made Venus groan and hit his head against the bed frame.

Ugh, these pills don’t work!

“Pipsqueak,” Venus grumbled, glaring daggers at an unamused Mercury looking up from sorting through the rest of the materials, “Nothing’s happening. You fucked up and gave me, like, expired pills or something. They don’t work.”

Mercury let out a long sigh (Venus only slightly envious of his ability to do so without wincing and immediately losing his breath again), dragging his hands down his face with a frustrated groan, “First of all, these pills are not expired, I checked the expiration date beforehand—and secondly, you have to wait, Venus! It’s not an instant reaction. It takes a bit for it to start working.”

“Oh,” Venus said simply, face reddening with an embarrassed flush. Ugh. Stupid Venus. Use your head for once! He chewed on his lip, looking away with a fake cough, “I—I knew that. I was just…testing you! To see if you knew what you were doing.”

“Sure, sure,” Mercury rolled his eyes, going back to sifting through the pile of medical supplies, leaving Venus to stew in his own misery. Stars above, get it together! What is up with you? A little pain messing with your head? Making you stupid and dumb just because you can’t handle it?

Pathetic.

He could take asteroids to the face and acid rain and crushing atmospheric pressure any day—but three broken ribs and suddenly he’s crying on the floor like a big baby? What has gotten into him!? He’s normally unstoppable!  

It must be the human forms’ fault—it had to be! There was no other answer. These weak bodies fell apart with even the slightest of pushes, let alone how the mushy brains overreacted at the smallest possible things.

Too much down here reminded him of her.

“Hey, Venus? Mercury to Venus?” Mercury’s voice snapped the fiery planet out of his thoughts, waving a hand in front of his eyes to grab his attention. Okay, so that’s just utterly patronizing—is the pipsqueak trying to make fun of him? Is he trying to bully Venus back? Kick him while he’s already down, huh? Take advantage of this—

“Venus, if you keep spacing out I’m going to get worried you hit your head too,” Mercury huffed, crossing his arms and arching an eyebrow when Venus just sent a fiery death glare in response. Shut up! Maybe he did hit his head, but wasn’t it Mercury’s job to figure that out? He shouldn’t have volunteered himself in the first place if he didn’t know what he was doing!

Or…maybe…

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you pipsqueak?” Venus growled, eyes narrowing to search Mercury’s infuriatingly neutral expression. He can’t stay calm forever. Venus’ll find a way to break him. He always does.

Venus bared his teeth, leaning forward despite the movement shooting fire through his ribs, “Is this fun for you? Seeing me in pain?” He glared at Mercury, fiery eyes boring into the calm, hazel ones across from him. Is this Mercury’s way at getting back at him? Is kicking Venus while he was already down a way of giving him a taste of his own medicine? 

Mercury didn’t back down (damn, did the pipsqueak finally gain a backbone?), meeting Venus’ gaze with an eerily composed face.  “No, Venus,” he sighed again, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes, “I don’t like seeing you in pain—I don’t like seeing anyone I care about in pain. I’m just trying to help you, okay?”

Venus still didn’t believe anything Mercury said (Mercury? Caring about Venus? Hah! That’s the fattest bunch of lies he’d ever heard. Maybe Mercury was the one who hit his head if he’s this delusional.), but he was getting sick and tired of the pain in his ribs, so this was the only way to fix it, then fine. He’ll play along—but he won’t enjoy it!

“…fine,” Venus mumbled, shooting another glare at Mercury, “But hurry up! What, are you taking your sweet time on purpose? One of the little moons could do better than you!”

Mercury ducked his head back to sifting through the laid out medical supplies, muttering something under his breath Venus couldn’t catch. Oh so now the loser thinks he’s better than Venus? He thinks he can disrespect him and get away with it? Anger boiled beneath his skin—the same old feeling he’d felt a million times before—itching to be released in a huge explosion of yelling and shouting 

He was just about to nag the pipsqueak again, when Mercury pulled out a long, black flexible pipe. One end had a drum-like metal bit attached to it, while the other end split in two and had little earbuds attached to each side. It looked so stupid Venus almost laughed. That thing couldn’t possibly do anything useful! 

Mercury shuffled closer to him, putting one earbud in each ear (ew, he didn’t even know where that had been! And he just put it in his ears without thinking? Disgusting.), tapping the drum-like edge a couple times before holding it out towards Venus. The planet stiffened, staring at the smooth edge with wide eyes…and he couldn’t help but think that it looked like a weapon. 

Was Mercury going to kill him?! The hysterical thought popped into his mind, freezing Venus in place. Is that why he cornered him in this room? To finally take him out once and for all?!

Venus swallowed past the lump in his throat, eyeing the contraption warily, “W-what is that for?”

“Oh, this?” Mercury smiled loosely, waving around the circular edge without a care in the world. “Earth said it was called a stethoscope. It helps me listen to your heart and lungs to make sure nothing’s wrong.” 

Venus stared at the metal edge, shivering involuntarily with a sense of dread settling in his chest. It listens to his heart? But…his heart is inside his body, and that thing is outside so…does that mean Mercury is going to cut him open?! His eyes widened, panic whipping up his frenzied thoughts, “No! What the fuck is wrong with you?! I’m not letting you play surgery and open me up!”

A confused expression flashed across Mercury’s face, eyebrows furrowing together as he frowned, “What? Venus I’m not—”

“Get away from me!” He shrieked with a sudden wave of crushing terror, scrambling backwards, but his back hit the bed and he was trapped. He was trapped and they were going to kill him. Wide, wild eyes darted back and forth, searching for an escape but failing to find one. 

He was so stupid to trust them, blinded by desperation and just willingly went alone with it, only for them to stab him in the back the moment he was turned away. 

Red eyes. Sharp, toothy grin. 

He’s not going to die. He can’t. He’ll fight back! He won’t give up! He—

“Venus!” The shout snapped the planet out of his panic, cold hands digging into his shoulders, gripping so hard it hurt, “Woah, hey, it’s okay. Breathe. I’m not going to hurt you.” Lies. All lies. They’re trying to trick him into lowering his guard. 

Ugly, haggard gasps slipped through his lips, Venus struggling to breathe past the panic clenching his heart. Where—they were—he was going to die! He had to get out of here. He willed his limbs to move, but the crushing fear had turned them to jelly, lying limp and useless at his sides.

“Venus, listen to me,” The voice said, closer and more insistent this time. The touch slipped away from his shoulders, tangling with his hands and squeezing gently. “Calm down. You’re safe. Breathe in—” they sucked in a breath as if demonstrating how to breathe—hey, he knew how to breathe! He wasn’t an idiot! “—and out. You can do it.”

Slowly, he copied the other’s breathing, his choppy inhales more like wheezes than anything else, but it did the job. “That’s it,” the voice hummed, bringing his hand up to their chest to feel it rise and fall, “Match my breathing. In, hold it for one, two, three, four—good, now out.” 

The overwhelming panic ebbed away, still gnawing at the edges of his mind but no longer controlling him, the ringing in ears quieting down to let him think. The planet sagged, arms dropping to his side and deflating like a balloon. He blinked past the blurriness of his vision, roughly wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and averted his gaze.

“Venus…” the voice murmured, but Venus refused to meet Mercury in the eyes. He stared at the carpet, glaring past the burning pressure behind his eyes as confusion and fear swirled throughout his mind. 

Stars above what hell was that? One moment he was listening to Mercury yap and the next he couldn’t breathe. What happened?! Why did he—was he really so stupid to think Mercury would try to kill him? Stars, there really was something wrong with his brain, wasn’t there?

“Hey, Venus, can you look at me? Please?” Mercury gently prodded, touch brushing against his hands—and he knew Mercury wasn’t going to hurt him, but he still flinched away. His cheeks reddened in embarrassment, feeling strangely exposed as he sat there, still fighting to get control of his breathing. It was like someone had stabbed him and thrown him to an ocean full of sharks, bleeding out as he could do nothing to stop the creatures from attacking him.

He knew it was a mistake to come down here.

“Venus—”

“Are we done here?” He gritted out, cringing at how raw his voice sounded. Great! Just great! Way to go, Venus. There’s no way you’re coming back from this one—especially with freaking out in front of Mercury. He clenched his hands into fists, ignoring his sore ribs and his aching eyes and the headache blooming around his head, “Can you go now?”

He felt Mercury’s intense gaze bore into his skull, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the concerned face wrought with worry. 

It made him sick.

“Venus…” Mercury began, using that same, gentle tone he used for whenever Earth got all sad and depressed. Eugh. Don’t pity him. He doesn’t need anyone’s pity. It wouldn’t fix what’s wrong with him. Mercury inched forward, hand slowly resting on Venus’ knee like he was some kind of wild animal that needed to be tamed, “I’m not leaving until you tell me what happened.

The skin tingled where Mercury’s hand lie, his heart flip-flopping and contorting within itself. He bit his lip so hard he tasted blood, the ugly feeling rising up his throat as he stared at the hand resting on his knee.

“…you’re stupid heart-listening device was going to cut me open. I responded like any sensible person would,” Venus muttered, bringing his knees closer to himself to escape Mercury’s hand. It hovered where his knees once lie, like he was considering chasing after Venus, but thought better of it.

A moment of silence passed where Venus’ shallow breathing was the only sound filling the room, before Mercury spoke up, voice quieter than it was before. 

“I’m sorry for not explaining that properly. It can hear your heartbeat just from pressing it against your chest. Think of it like a telephone letting me listen to your heart,  ” Mercury slowly explained, and Venus sagged in relief (both from the explanation and that Mercury took Venus’ flimsy excuse without another thought), only for the dread to come rushing back as the smaller planet continued, “But Venus, a panic attack like that doesn’t just appear for no reason. So please, tell me the truth.”

…

“No.”

“Venus, please—”

“I said no,” Venus snapped, rising his head to glare at Mercury, baring his teeth with a low, warning snarl. He’d carefully crafted this persona for billions of years, and now it was all on the line because Mercury couldn’t keep his nose out of Venus’ business! He was fine before and he’s fine now. So leave him alone, and everyone will be happier. 

Venus crossed his arms, gritting his teeth in a stubborn growl, “Earth may be fine with you poking around his brain, but I’m not. Drop it or I’ll make you wish you had a therapist.

Mercury held his own for a couple more seconds, meeting Venus’ gaze with those searching eyes, narrowing like if the pipsqueak squinted hard enough he could see right through him. Too bad Venus had built up walls and walls of protection around himself just for this purpose. In the end, Mercury fought valiantly, but it was no match for Venus’ stubbornness.

“…okay,” Mercury mumbled sadly, shoulders sagging as he backed off. Venus grinned triumphantly, relief slowing down his racing heart and uncoiling the tension in his body. Yes! Let’s go! Take that Mercury, you can’t use your therapist magic on him!

“But I still need to listen to your breathing,” Mercury added after a second of Venus internally celebrating. Venus paused, glancing to the contraption—the stethoscope—that had been strewn off to the side in the chaos. It looked innocent enough, and even if Mercury was frustrated with Venus, he wouldn’t lie to him if it actually did cut him open, or something. Plus, the sooner they’re done the sooner he can properly kick Mercury out of his room.

“Go ahead,” Venus shrugged, wincing when the movement pulled on his ribs the wrong way. At least the pain wasn’t as bad as before—hey, maybe those pain meds did work after all! “Just hurry up and—hey!”

In one swift movement, Mercury darted forward and pressed his head against Venus’ bare chest, wrapping his arms around the bigger planet and trapping him in his hold. 

Venus froze, surprise flashing through his mind as he stared down at the little planet pressed against him. Heat warmed his body, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as Venus’ skin prickling everywhere their bodies touched. Mercury’s hair tickled his skin, his cool touch sending a shiver down his back.

Oh you little—his cheeks reddened in an angry flush, and Venus ignored the way his heart pitter-pattered as Mercury continued to hug him. Was this—did he—gah! He knew it! The bastard tricked him into therapy-stuff! “Stars’ dammnit Mercury I swear to Sol—”

“Hmm,” Mercury hummed in thought, somehow ignoring Venus’ angry ranting—which only made him even angrier, “Your heart-rate is faster than it should be.” A finger tapped against Venus’ chest, matching the rapid tha-dump, tha-dump, tha-dump of his heartbeat.

“No shit dummy,” Venus snapped, wriggling under Mercury’s hold. His skin tingled, a violent sort of uncomfortableness settling beneath his skin. “Let me go!” 

Mercury did not do that, and instead pressed his ear further against his chest, “Can you breathe in deeply for me?”

“No!”

“Please?

“No!” Venus shouted, finally wiggling one arm free and shoving Mercury away with all his might. The smaller planet obviously didn’t expect the strength he still had, stumbling backwards and falling onto his butt, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. 

Pins and needles stabbed his skin, and even if Mercury wasn’t touching him anymore, it still felt like his body was pressed against him. Ew. Ew, ew, ew. The angry, furious bubble swelled underneath his chest, ready to burst and release the pent-up frustration.

“Leave. Me. Alone!” Venus hissed out, glaring angrily at Mercury and grinding his teeth together painfully, “Stop shoving your nose into my business and fuck off. Save your energy for someone who’s willing to put up with your bullshit.”

“I—” Mercury chewed on his lip, eyes glimmering with tears as his face twisted into a pained expression. “I was just trying to help—”

“Well you didn’t,” Venus snapped, his voice laced with malice and raising louder before he could push it down—and at this moment he didn’t care if he hurt Mercury’s feelings or said something he couldn’t take back. He was fine on his own and he didn’t need anyone’s so-called ‘help.’ He was done playing nice, if it took shoving that fact down Mercury’s throat to get it through, then that’s what he would do. “You meddling asshole shoved your way into my room and then pushed my boundaries. I’m done. Get out.”

“But—”

“Woah, dudes what’s happening here?”

Venus snapped his head towards the door, fiery, intense glare making Mars step back and throw up his hands. “What do you want, Mars?” He growled out, desperately hoping the other planet didn’t look too deeply into the medical supplies strewn about and get the wrong idea.

“Hey, man, don’t get mad at me,” Mars shrugged, eyes straying down to the first aid kit and eyebrows furrowing together. Great. So much for that. Mars ran a hand through his rusty red hair, jutting a thumb over his shoulder, “Earth wanted to know if you guys wanted to join us for a movie marathon? He chose—”

“I’ll join,” Venus said without thinking—he had to get out of this room before Mercury pulled another stunt and tried to…eugh, hug him. He stumbled to his feet, taking a second for his wobbly legs to regain their balance so he wouldn’t immediately face plant into the ground and embarrass himself further. 

Mars grinned, flashing him a thumbs up and a toothy smile, “Oh, okay! Great! Do you want to join too, Mercury?” 

Whatever Mercury’s answer was, Venus was out the door before he heard, shoving past Mars and flying down the stairs. He ignored the annoyed exclamation from a moon he didn’t remember the name of (it just took one glare from him and they shut up), stomping past Saturn and Uranus whispering to each other and ducked into the tv room the Rockies had claimed as their own.

He plopped down at the closest chair he could find, blocking out Earth’s sly comments and just stared at the screen. The words: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring splayed across the TV, and Venus vaguely remembered hearing Earth talk about it at one point. 

Venus ignored Mercury and Mars trickling in and sitting on the couch, keeping his steely gaze locked on the TV as Earth pressed start and the movie sprung into action.  

All the while, Venus felt Mercury’s eyes linger on him.

But he ignored it.

Just like he ignored everything else that upsets him.