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Saturn knew he was considered the prettiest planet of the solar system.
Not just knew, he was aware. He had beautiful, golden eyes and an hour-glass figure to fit his name. His surface colors blended beautifully together and his rings were something else. Even if... recent discoveries had recently soured his mood, now leaving him unable to look at them.
But such beauty took work.
Resisting the urge to smash the mirror he was looking at, the ringed planet turned his back to it while grumbling, forcing himself to take a breath. It was true he had a temper, just like their star, and Saturn was aware of that too. His hands twitched, itching to shatter the concealer bottle in his hands- but he resisted. Enough is enough. Such behaviors did not belong to the prettiest planet of the solar system, after all.
He was beauty, and he was grace.
A source of gravity from behind him alerted the giant to someone approaching- not a moon, his precious darlings weren't that big. But not Jupiter either, it was too small for that. So... Uranus or Neptune.
Saturn smiled, his nerves calming a little. He could never tell those two apart.
"Uhh... mate?" Uranus it is!
Saturn turned around cheerfully, only to stop in his tracks when he saw the troubled expression on the other's face. Ugh. Couldn't anyone ever just. Visit? Just for once? "Hello, Uranus dear." He still politely waved, because Saturn was perfect, and was working on his flaws. "...You haven't come to investigate again, I hope?" He asked with a grimance... what? He was a little worried. He'd handled enough death for a lifetime.
"Huh-? Uh, no, mate." Uranus coughed into his hands, making sure to keep his head low. His ponytail he usually wore had been untied, bangs now covering his forehead... and not that it looked bad, not at all! But it wasn't exactly Uranus' style. "I... was wondering if you had an eyebrow pencil?"
"...Of course." Eyeing him suspiciously, Saturn made a show of slowly roumaging through his back. What could Uranus possibly need that for? He already had such a sweet face. "...How are you feeling, darling?"
Stars knew his precious never knew how to ask for help when he needed it.
But Uranus smiled shakily- or a bloody smile, as the ice giant had the habit of saying. "I feel like a million bucks, mate." He replied, unable to look him in the eyes.
Uranus. Was a horrible liar. A very, very horrible liar. But then again, he always had been, even as a proto planet.
Saturn was happy to know some things just never changed. "I see." He replied slowly, finally finding what he'd been looking for. But instead of handing it over, he curled his fingers around it. Glaring right at the ice giant. "Wanna try that again, dearest?"
Uranus winced. He shrunk in further, shoulders up to his ears and wings curled so tight around his body they must have hurt. "...I'm fine, honest." He tried- but more like whined unhappily. Saturn was not impressed.
"Ouranos."
Fluffed up feathers covered his face further, instinct making the smaller hide away. Saturn felt bad to get stern, truly he did- but he wasn't getting an honest reply otherwise. "Darling." He pressed, placing a gentle hand on those tense wings. He winced when he felt the restless twitching of the poor muscles beneath his fingers... oh, did he need to be preened perhaps? Saturn could certainly help him find Neptune. "What's wrong?"
"...Don't laugh." Uranus requested, his voice wobly. Waiting until Saturn promised before he lifted a shaky hand up, brushing away the bangs from his face-
Saturn stiffled a horrified gasp at how uneven his eyebrows looked. They'd been plucked clean, probably with the intend to make them look neat- but the hairs of one had been taken too much, causing one of his eyebrows to have an uneven curve. As if it couldn't be any worse, Uranus had clearly tried to get the other to match to solve it- but had somehow messed that one up even worse.
Oh, Saturn knew that struggle.
...
What? He may be the prettiest planet, but even he had started somewhere. The ringed giant was just glad it had been just him, Sun and Jupiter when he had. "...Ah." He winced, and Saturn tried to keep it neutral he did- but unfortunately for both of them, he was expressive.
Expressive enough that even Uranus picked up on the emotion beneath it, tears welling up in his eyes. "Just- forget it, I'm fine-"
"No no!" Saturn gripped his wrist before he could flee, a little stronger than he needed to. "Uranus, it's okay. It doesn't even look that bad!"
Uranus glared at him.
"...Okay, but-" Saturn, grumbling, tugged the ice giant along. "Sit."
"Not even you can fix this, mate." Uranus miserably mumbled. But despite his words, sat regardless. "...I didn't think I could look even worse."
Saturn tisked. He grabbed some eyebrow items, and sat down in front of him. "Nonsense."
"I can look worse?"
"Don't act smart." Saturn let go, letting his beauties float in his gravity, so his hands were free to gently take Uranus' chin. The ice giant let his face be tilted, eyes slipping shut. Ah... "...Unfortunately, you'll have to wait for them to grow out." And still, he let the eyebrow plucker drift into his hands. "I can make your eyebrows a little thiner so it isn't as obvious?"
"...Sure, mate." Uranus sadly sighed. Seeing this wasn't the time to comment on it, Saturn got to work.
He sketched a thin line on the smaller's face with an eyebrow pencil so he wouldn't take more than he had to, then swapped it for the plucker. Uranus didn't flinch much, thankfully, allowing Saturn to pluck the stray hairs more easily.
He worked in silence for a couple minutes- of course it didn't take long, Uranus had barely left anything. But this wasn't the moment to comment on it.
He was almost done by the time Uranus broke the silence. "...I just wanted to be pretty." He mumbled, oh so quietly, breaking his heart again. "Like you."
Like you.
Oh, how Saturn resented his beauty sometimes. "You are pretty, Uranus."
"I'm not." The ice giant hiccuped- and the bigger had to pull away when he started shaking, afraid of making it worse by plucking one too many hairs. "I-I'm just a bloody copy of you, m-mate. And an ugly one too."
"Don't say that." Saturn lovingly murmured. Letting go of his supplies to cup his baby's face again, and wipe away the tears that already dripped down. "You are beautiful, darling. Just a small mistake no one will notice. It happens."
The ice giant shook his head, shuddering, but thankfully didn't pull himself out of his loving touch. "You don't." He cried, reaching a shaky hand to brush his hair bacprettk over his face. "You don't."
You don't.
"Baby bird..." Saturn pulled the smaller into his lap, embracing him tight. Uranus shuddered into him, letting out a tiny purr when the bigger scratched, right where his wings met his back. "Shh,"
Saturn hated being pretty sometimes.
But, selfishly, could never make himself give it up, despite knowing how much other celestials were affected by his looks. Jupiter felt like he wasn't good enough of a husband for him. Uranus and his moons felt ugly in comparison. Not to mention, his rings.
And Saturn didn't want his beloveds hurt. So, he should be giving up his beauty.
He could never make himself, selfishly.
Saturn had nothing else going on for himself. "I promise you, it's not as bad as you think it is right now." He cooed at him instead, bedazzled and ringed fingers trailing a tender path through his feathers. Uranus shuddered again, burrowing more into his robes. "You can't even see it unless you're close."
"I j-just wanted to be pretty." His poor baby cried softly through distressed chirps, pushing his face into Saturn's robes. "I-I didn't mean to-"
"You are." Saturn softly breathed into his hair, despite knowing he wouldn't be believed. That's okay. He was more than happy to repeat as many times as his darling needed him to. "You already are."