Work Text:
*600 million years ago . . . after Uranus received his rings . . . *
[URANUS POV:]
*He scribbled in his diary attentively, as if it were his greatest treasure, his handwriting an elegant cursive. 'Diary entry 3.2 billion and something: Dear Universe, today I found out something very exciting . . . I have RINGS!!! Finally! I'll be just like Saturn! I can't wait! But, I'm suddenly titled tilted??? I did feel some gravity something on my ba-'*
"HEY NEIGHBOURINO!" *Neptune exclaimed, suddenly appearing next to his cousin. Uranus practically jumped out of his orbit, slamming his diary shut and hiding it behind his back.*
"WOAH! Ugh . . . You scared me, mate." *He huffed, clutching his chest with his free hand as if he'd had a core attack.*
"Sorry cousin!" *He chirped gleefully, patting Uranus on the head.*
"I told you, don't call me cousin, mate." *Uranus grumbled in response, forcefully shoving Neptune's hand away with a grunt.*
*Neptune's face faltered for a split second, before he grinned once more.*
"Hey cousin, I was wondering, can you draw me? From your perspective!!" *He smirked, raising his eyebrows and giving Uranus 'puppy eyes'.*
*Stop calling me cousin. Uranus thought, eyes narrowing to the smaller giant who tilted his head curiously. He groaned, rolling his eyes and reluctantly agreeing, to which Neptune squealed excitedly, spinning around in a circle with his arms spread out.*
"Fine, let's do it, mate."
"EEEEE! YAAAYY!"
"BUT." *Uranus placed a hand on Neptune's shoulder.*
"Hehehehe, are you making a Uranus joke?" *Neptune giggled behind his hands, much to Neptune's annoyance.*
"Wha-? No! I- Look, I'm not doing it unless you do it too." *He crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. Neptune stuck his tongue out playfully.*
"YEAH!" *He yelled eagerly, eyes squinting.*
" . . . Oh, just like that??" *Uranus inquired curiously, to which Neptune winked, running off to retrieve a piece of paper presumably.*
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*Uranus pulled out one of his canvases, setting up his easel and perching it there.*
* . . . He wasn't sure where to start.*
*The white of the canvas looked intimidating, as if mocking him silently. Uranus grumbled, beginning to sketch Neptune's head before rubbing it out.*
*Too big.*
*Too small.*
*Too thin.*
*Too wide.*
*Uranus looked over to check on his icy neighbour. Neptune held a black crayon in his fist, only occasionally switching to a red crayon, seemingly discarding the other artistic appliances he was provided. His deep blue eyes narrowed, focusing keenly. Neptune stuck his tongue out thoughtfully, moving it to the side of his mouth.*
*Uranus sighed softly, returning to his canvas and picking his pencil back up.*
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30 (Earth) minutes later . . .
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*At long last, the contest was over. Uranus huffed, placing his pencil back into the glass cup that held his tools and moving back to look at his portrait. To him, it didn't look right. The eye was wrong. I mean, there was only one! The colours went out of the lines . . . He could go on! But, he shouldn't. Neptune told me not to. We worked on this.*
*He glanced up to his cousin who returned his crayons to their rightful boxes with an eager squeak. He drummed his fingers against the cardboard as he caught Uranus' gaze, looking at him expectantly.*
[NEPTUNE POV:]
"Okay . . . Three, two one, show!" *Uranus exclaimed, scooping his canvas up from the easel and timidly flipping it around so Neptune could see.*
*The page showed Neptune in his usual outfit, two long braids, grey gloves, a blue and white striped jumper (sweater to non-Europeans), dark grey joggers, his scarf with the cute hood attached, though he wasn't sure what animal was on the hood. It didn't look like any of the Earth's current creatures, maybe it's one from before the Neoproterozoic? Anyway. He was drawn with rings. Neptune liked that. The top of the page displayed the word 'Neptune', although it drifted down the side of the page as if his cousin had ran out of room while writing it. In the bottom right corner was a messy ink splotch, that Neptune didn't really care about. Slightly above that was the Uranus' signature, the fancy letter 'U' in his iconic cursive writing. How he did that? Neptune didn't have a clue.*
*Neptune gasped. Uranus flinched, as if preparing for the worst, but was instead met with his cousin marveling at the drawing.*
"OH. MY. SINGULARITY!" *He squealed, taking the portrait with both hands and hugging it close to his chest, slightly *
"Nah, it's not that great, mate. I could name like . . . a million things I don't like about it!" *The paler of the ice giants mumbled sheepishly, reaching out to take back the drawing.*
*Neptune was still staring at the picture, unmoving.*
"Well, what's wrong with it?" *He inquired, still grinning from the quality of the artwork. Uranus looked down nervously before beginning to point out and nitpick at every mistake he made.*
"Well, I couldn't draw the other eye, I ran out of space writing Neptune, the stupid ink stain, the line art is messy, the colours aren't in the lines most the time!" *He rambled, listing on his fingers as he did so.*
"And . . . I don't know, mate. It just looks . . . wrong." *He mumbled, looking away from his artwork in shame. Neptune's features softened sympathetically.*
"Not to worry, neighbourino! I have just the thing to cheer you up!" *He stuck his tongue between his teeth as he grinned, conjuring three rubber balls that matched the colour of his surface and juggling them with an over-exaggerated expression.*
"Seriously mate, are you a planet or a superhero??" *Uranus mumbled, stifling a laugh behind his hand, before clearing his throat.*
*Neptune raised an eyebrow, smirking.* "Okaaay . . . If that didn't work, maybe my picture will do it!" *He exclaimed, scrambling to pick up his picture and almost slipping on it in the process.*
[URANUS POV:]
*Neptune grinned eagerly, turning around his creased piece of paper and presenting it to his cousin proudly.*
*The picture displayed two 'stick men', which were apparently supposed to be him and Neptune. In his cousin's hand was an . . . asteroid. Labelled Guillermo, to be specific. And in his hand was his diary. . . . How did Neptune know about that? Was he that obvious? His stickman equivalent had large rings, almost similar to Saturn's. Neptune had rings of his own, which surprised him. There was a red flower by his feet and the top of the crumpled page was labelled 'ME AND URUANUS'. He didn't get my name right, but at least he corrected himself. The page was stained with random crayon lines and accidental smudges.*
"I think I made one eye bigger than the other." *Neptune inspected his artwork carefully, his eyes narrowed.*
"Oh! UHM. It's . . . nice!" *Uranus smiled insincerely, offering Neptune a double thumbs up.*
*Neptune tilted his head at his cousin as his face fell.* "You hate it, don't you?!" *He pouted.*
"Wha? No! I-I swear! It's nice Ne-" *Uranus reassured frantically before Neptune interrupted.*
"Ah, thanks neighbourino!" *The colder giant's whining immediately stopped, a fresh smirk plastered on his face.*
"Hold on, why do you have rings too?" *Uranus inquired, tilting his head curiously.*
"I want ringsssss, like yoursss!" *He whined, elongating his words and reaching his arms out towards his cousin's rings before his hand was swatted away.*
"Plus, you also drew me with rings, no?" *Neptune asked rhetorically, cocking an eyebrow and smirking mischievously. Uranus smiled sheepishly, his face immediately flustering.*
"Yeah, you got a point, mate." *Uranus scratched the back of his head as his embarrassment gradually faded.
"Oh em gee! I need to introduce you to Guillermo!" *Neptune hummed, skidding towards the Kuiper Belt, giggling to himself as he went. However, he left behind the portrait he made.*
*He picked up Neptune's childish portrait, smiling at it fondly. Uranus didn't like to admit it, but he cared deeply for his cousin. He was his neighbour, the only one who he had a close bond with, his only cousin, the only one who looked up to him. And, he liked when people looked up to him. Like, for example, his moons. The only one he wanted to be around nowadays.*
*Uranus looked up, checking if Neptune is back. Still gone. He smiled at this, tucking Neptune's picture into his diary.*
*THE PRESENT DAY . . . *
"Hey, Uranus?" *Titania floated up to her planet, tapping them on the shoulder. Uranus turned to her curiously, placing a bookmark in their diary and closing it gently.*
"Yeah, Titania?" *They inquired, looking down to their eldest daughter.*
"I found this near your orbit." *She grinned, looking at the drawing about her size.*
"Oh geez, the paper's bigger than you!" *They exclaimed, taking it from her, though she didn't seem to be having trouble carrying it. They merely stated the obvious just so the picture didn't get ruined.*
"So, It's obvious that's you on there, but who drew it?" *Titania asked, examining the drawing once more.*
"Someone really special made it for me." *Uranus smiled softly, smoothing down the creased edge of the page, exactly as it was millions of years ago.*
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*'Diary entry 3.2 billion and whatever comes after something: Dear Universe, I kept this drawing Neptune made of me. I know it sounds silly, but just in case. In case one of us . . . I don't know, forgets? In case on of us forgets, so that the other can look back and smile. And I feel a little silly admitting that. But I like my cousin, ya know? See you tomorrow, Universe! You already know who I am, do I really need to sign off with my name?'*