Betrayal
Taiyō stepped elegantly over empty bottles and broken porcelain, holding his robes high pinched between his fingers. A few celestial envoys bounded around his feet, leaping silently off the walls and bouncing carefree. The sun god followed one in particular, a harlequin rabbit with a bell at its collar that signified it was a more direct servant to Usagi.
He found the moon god right where he expected, singing some jaunty tune off-key while knocking back liquor on his throne. Usagi was down to one silk nightgown that parted to show off his body. Taiyō couldn't help but wrinkle his nose. As much as he loved his younger brother, his antics were often a little too... Pedestrian. The moon god didn't even shape his body to be slim and sleek or big and muscular; he had a soft belly and plush thighs and his eyes were always too narrow and upturned for Taiyō's taste.
"I drank... The reserve," Usagi slurred, scowling up at his brother. He threw the drinking gourd he'd been sipping from and it thudded across the floor, too empty to spill. "All those gifts from our stupid ugly family. Surprise, surprise, Hoshi's was the best. Smug prick. I should backhand her for such deliciousness."
"You're a terrible drunk, Usagi," Taiyō sighed. He pulled an object from his sleeve. "I brought ginseng--"
"Fuck off with your TUBER," Usagi barked in reply. He attempted to stand and staggered, leaning heavily on his pale throne to support his shaking legs. "It's STUPID, YOU'RE STUPID, get outta my fucking house, you traitor--"
"I'm not leaving until you're okay--"
"Well!" Usagi's resounding laugh was manic, his mismatched eyes wide and wild. "I guess you'll be here forever then!"
"Usagi--"
"Dooooon't you 'Usa~aagi' me, you cunt," The moon god staggered, waving a finger as threateningly as he could. "Do you know-- do you know I could fucking WIPE out humanity if I wanted? Just... POW! KaBOOM! Throw the whole fuckin' moon into the planet, KKAPSH! Mass extinction!"
Taiyō's soul ached. He hated when Usagi got like this. It hurt.
"You wouldn't," The sun god corrected gently. "You can't. You love them too much."
"Whatever," Usagi turned away and waved his hand before yelling for his servants. "One of you! Bring me more sake! I'm starting to feel sober."
"Please, Usagi. Take a nap, a hot shower, get something healthy in you," Taiyō frowned, daring to step closer. "You can't drink yourself to death but you can certainly make yourself miserable and I--"
"Oh, I'M making myself miserable?" Usagi laughed bitterly. An elegant bottle was brought to him between two soft paws. He flicked the cap off with his finger and chugged half the bottle. "I'm sorry-- I didn't realize that I decided the pecking order, that I enslaved myself to this fucking rock with no real strength, no real purpose, no real freedom. Sorry, I must've imagined the past few million years."
"You have a purpose!" Taiyō forced a smile to appear optimistic. "You're the lord of the night, the steward of the moon, the bringer of the tides! Humanity needs you as much as it needs me or Hoshi or Kūsho--"
"You think humanity needs the VOID equivalent to the MOON?" Usagi's jaw dropped and he nearly poured out his drink across the tile.
"Well. I--"
"You've always been a fucking coward, Sun," Usagi hissed. "Since before we even had names, you've been a tryhard, always eager for the scraps and ready to put your nose in shit for it."
"I only want to keep this family together," Taiyō replied cooly. "Unlike some of us who are intent on fighting all the time."
"Oh! Oho! There it is!" Usagi laughed and hurled the half-empty bottle into his scrying pool. The dark surface rippled and distorted, turning a sickly greenish color. "You ever think about how a solar eclipse only lasts a few minutes but a lunar one lasts hours?" Usagi drawled. "Of course you could say it's because the moon's shadow is too small to cover the sun but the Earth's is big enough for the moon but I dunno, other factors could be at play."
"I'll take my leave," Taiyō huffed, snapping his robes as he pulled them tight around himself. "It's clear I'm not welcome here."
"You're not!" Usagi waved him off with a drunken swagger, abruptly sitting on his rear beside the pool. "Fuck you very much!"
Taiyō stomped through the palace, knowing exactly what halls to march and which corners to turn. It wasn't until he was in the entrance courtyard that he took a deep shaking breath.
The Earth looked beautiful from here. He had to give Usagi credit for that one; the view was gorgeous. Unlike the sun, which was hot and blinding and terrible for hosting company, the moon was quiet and pleasant and cool. Taiyō often thought that the little body's temperament suited his younger brother.
"Here, could you give this to him when the moment feels right?" Taiyō handed the lump of ginseng to the same harlequin rabbit from before. "Not now, he's... Just... Take care of him? Please? He's... Really all I've got."
While the rabbits never spoke, their eyes were like infinite space, dark and deep and all-knowing. It snuffled before bounding back inside, leaving Taiyō to deliberate on the front steps before he vanished out of sight.
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