The Cats of the Solar System

Chapter 31

"Do you all promise to be on your best behavior?" the Sun questioned. All of the family was gathered in the living room. Kids were on the couch or seated on the floor behind the couch. "We promise," everyone spoke in unison. Tilting his head to the side, the Sun muttered, "I mean it guys."

"Don't worry Dad, you can trust us," Uranus pointed out. Everyone immediately glared at him as Mercury pointed out, "You almost set the kitchen on fire one time." Nodding her head, Venus added, "And we know we can't leave food out because of you always being hungry." Wringing his paws nervously, Uranus mumbled, "I have a medical condition..."

"It's called you're a bottomless pit," Jupiter grumbled. The Sun gently cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention before he continued, "I am allowing you to invite friends over but don't have a lot over. I don't want anything broken or stolen. And don't leave Pluto unsupervised. There is to be no one in the house after midnight and I don't want to come back in the morning to find a huge mess." Shocked when she heard the last part, Earth asked, "In the morning? Where are you going?"

"Well, funny story but before the graduation ceremony I got a call from Vega-" the Sun began explaining when there was a knock on the door. The celebrity star cat immediately fluffed up in fright. Trotting over to the door, Mars opened it to reveal Vega standing there. "Why hello Miss Vega, you look amazing tonight," the terrestrial planet cat meowed. Laughing softly, Vega purred, "Thank you Mars. Is your father here?"

"I'm here, I'm here," the Sun wheezed, trying to regain some composure. Padding over, he murmured, "I must say, I'm honored you asked me earlier about hanging out. Do you think we should stop by and see how Sirius is doing?" Nodding her head, Vega commented, "I believe we should. The weird thing is he seemed fine this morning then hours after we planned to hangout he called saying he was sick. It's so strange how quickly it happened." Nearby and out of view, Mars and Mercury shared a fist bump. "Okay kiddos, have fun," the Sun called as he prepared to leave, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay Dad, you have fun too! Don't worry about us," Earth replied. Once the door was shut, she turned to the rest of her siblings and yowled, "Let's get this party started!"

———

"Yo this party is insane dudes," the zodiac cat Leo remarked. Craning his head back to look up at the larger feline, Mars laughed nervously and replied, "Yeah, glad you're having fun pal." He let out a huge sigh when the bigger feline moved on, he murmured, "Why do constellations have to be so intimidating?"

"And snotty and rude," Mercury grumbled as he finally broke through the crowd. His eyes widening when he saw his brother, Mars gasped, "Oh my Celestial, your fur!" Shaking his shaggy pelt, Mercury spat, "I know! Scorpio has been plucking me every time he passes by." He suddenly let out a yowl when the zodiac cat in question snuck by and snatched a clump of yellow fur with a nasty laugh. Groaning, Mercury flicked his tail angrily as he growled, "By the end of tonight I'll probably be bald!" Patting his younger brother on the shoulder, Mars mumbled, "I did say you might want to shave off the clumps before someone did the job for you."

"Where you going beautiful?" a young moon cat purred as he followed Venus and Earth. Neither of the sisters appreciated the attention they were getting from him. "Hey pal, back off," Venus growled, baring her teeth. The moon cat didn't listen and instead reached out, touching her shoulder. Bad mistake on his part. He immediately burned his paw on her fur. Hissing in pain, he retreated a few steps back. Looking up at the two females, he growled and stepped forward muttering, "Why you little-"

"Is there a problem?" Jupiter snarled, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. His face paled at the sight of the gas planet cat as the moon cat stuttered, "No... no, absolutely not..." His eyes narrowing as his claws unsheathed, Jupiter hissed, "Then get out." The moon cat didn't need another warning as he whirled around and fled, exiting the house as fast as he could. Sighing in relief, Venus mumbled, "Thanks Jupiter." The gas planet cat huffed in response and walked away. The two sisters continued to the kitchen.

"Jupiter..." Pluto's soft voice piped up. Stopping in his tracks, the gas planet cat looked down. There was Pluto, sitting on the floor looking sleepy. Rubbing his tired eyes, the small planet kitten mumbled, "Can you tuck me into bed please?" Flicking his torn ear, Jupiter looked around the area as he grumbled, "Why can't Neptune? And where is he? He was supposed to stay with you." Gesturing towards the stairs, Pluto yawned, "He's going to bed too, said something about needing alone time." Glancing over at the stairs, the gas planet cat saw a familiar blue tail disappear around the corner at the top. Neptune probably was trying to avoid everyone. Picking up Pluto and carrying him towards the Sun's bedroom, Jupiter murmured, "Alright, let's get you to bed."

"Uranus, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, I liked the fruit punch just as it was," Saturn spoke softly. Squirting as much green food coloring dye into the fruit punch bowl, Uranus stirred the liquid around with a spoon as he declared, "Don't worry, I'm just making it tasty. I have done this before, I know what I'm doing." Entering the kitchen in time to hear that, Mars muttered, "What?"

"Genius chef here thinks he's going to make the best drink ever," Venus stated from where she was standing with Earth. Sniffing the dark colored liquid, Mercury gagged and whined, "What's in it?" Blanking out for a second, Uranus turned to Saturn and mumbled, "I don't suppose you were keeping track?" Resting his chin on the countertop, Saturn whined, "I stopped paying attention after you added the mustard."

"Uranus!" all four of the terrestrial planets cried. Raising his paws up in defense, Uranus declared, "Now hang on! You haven't tried it yet!" Grabbing a handful of leaves, he tossed them into the bowl and mixed them around. Eyeing the remnants of the leaves, Venus asked, "Did you get those from outside?"

"Straight from Draco's garden too. They smelled so good," Uranus pointed out. His left eye was twitching slightly as he stirred the concoction feverishly. Biting her lip, Venus murmured, "Look, if you guys wanna drink his poison be my guest. I'm at least going to stay alive long enough to clean up the place after the party." Watching her leave, Mars mumbled, "She has a point, we shouldn't do this."

"It's ready! Who wants a cup?" Uranus announced. He was already in the middle of filling his red solo cup. Glancing over at Saturn, Mercury whispered hoarsely, "Your roommate is crazy." The gas planet kitten simply nodded his head in understanding. Grabbing a cup for herself before passing some more to the boys, Earth shrugged her shoulders sheepishly and meowed, "Oh come on guys, what's the worst that can happen? It'll be fun!"