I don't need no light to see you SHINE

44

TWs: Ominousness, implied one-sided attraction/unrequited feelings, amnesia/forgetfulness, brief crying, exposing secrets, and conflicted feelings. Stay safe :)

"Are you sure you can sense something?" Neptune asked, eyes darting everywhere as he tried to look for anything out of the ordinary.

"I'm sure of it, Neptune. I would never lie to you about this." The Novae spoke, "Head towards the asteroid belt."

"If you say so..." Neptune uttered, "I don't want to drop in on anything accidentally."

Messier was silent as Neptune took off towards the asteroid belt. He moved a few pieces of debris out of the way, head moving up, down, and sideways as he looked around.

"Neptune," Messier spoke.

"Yes?" Neptune grinned.

Messier took a deep breath, whispering out a question, "Have you... ever been in love?"

Neptune was caught off-guard, nearly crashing into a few asteroids. He pulled himself out of the way just in time, causing the asteroids to impact each other, "Love...? Uhm, no, I don't think I have... have you, Messier?"

Messier half-smiled, a soft glint in his eyes, "Yes... loads of times before, although, they never seem to last..."

"Well, I don't see why anyone wouldn't want to be with you! I think you're amazing!" Neptune grinned.

Messier's eyes widened, freezing for a few seconds as a flush appeared on his face. With a small smile, he responded, "...Thank you."

"Anytime, Mes!"

As he got to the middle of the asteroid belt, he stopped upon hearing talking in the distance. He hummed, following the sound, "I wonder who that could be..."

"It has to be Mars given that he's closest to the asteroid belt, aside from Jupiter," Messier replied.

Poking his head out from the side of the debris belt, Neptune spotted Mars fumbling with something, hands shaking from making the same motion over and over again.

"Oh, hey, you were right, Messier!" Neptune grinned, "Let's see if he's seen anything."

Mars huffed, grunting in pain as he jabbed himself in the hand again, "Ow! Ugh... what's the point anymore?"

He tossed the asteroid chunk away and Neptune realized there was a pile of debris floating around, all carved crudely with different sayings on them;

I love you.

I l̶o̶v̶e̶ like you.

I like you.

I ♥ you.

Neptune blinked lizardly at all the confessions, brow raised as he wondered what they were about.

Mars placed his head in his hands, "I can't do this... why can't I be straightforward with him? Just tell him I like him! Hey, Earth, I like you- as more than a friend! See? That wasn't so hard... then again, he isn't here."

"Hello, Mars!" Neptune yelled, scaring Mars out of his core.

"AGH! Neptune!?" Mars exclaimed, pulling himself into a fetal position, "D-Don't scare me like that!"

Neptune smiled sheepishly, "Oops, sorry about that..."

Mars sighed, "As long as you're not Ceres, it's fine. So, what can I do for you?"

"Have you seen anything unusual around?" Neptune asked, "Like maybe glowing crystals or shadowy figures?"

Mars looked at the other incredulously, "No...? Should I have?"