âHey Jupiter!â Earth burst in, grinning wildly. âWhere are you? Some of my scientists got this theory about your moons and-â
âIâm over here.â The voice calls out from another room and Earth frowns. Why does Jupiter even have rooms? Hesitant, he walks into another room, to find Jupiter. The man is standing shirtless, which could be a little awkward, until he notices Jupiter standing slouched and the red, inflamed burn along his torso.
âJupiter?! What happened?!â Without a second thought he rushes forward, grabbing ice off a table and wrapping it in a towel, and pressing it to the burn. Jupiter jumps back, and Earth whacks his hand. âStay still! Trust me, I know what Iâm doing. We have actual medical professionals on my planet. We have actual people on my planet.â
ââŠHello, Earth.â Then Earth realises his position, kneeling in front of Jupiter and with his hands pressed to the other manâs chest. And he hasnât even said hello. He blushes.
Must defuse situation. âUh, hi!â he says awkwardly. âSorry about bursting in. You know me, always interfering with everything and thinking I know whatâs best for everyone, ha ha!â
Jupiter chuckles. âItâs fine.â Earth notices the ice is heating up so he takes it out of the towel, swaps it for more ice. Jupiter winces as Earth reapplies the bundle.
âSeriously though,â Earth says, âWhat happened?â
Jupiter sighs. âImpact event. Asteroid, comet,â he says.
Earth stops dead. Impact events. Heâs seen a few of those in his time, and theyâve always been so much worse for him than anyone else - the rest of his solar system is barren enough it doesnât count, but him, teeming with life and ideas and species. He still remembers when he lost the dinosaurs, in a haze of fire and ash and poison. Woke up centuries later, smaller and fragile. He loved them so much, and still remembers them. It terrifies him to think of such a thing happening again, even to his humans, with all theyâve done to the planet - he loves them too.
And⊠Jupiter. âIâm so sorry,â he says, blinking through the haze of emotion.
âItâs alright,â smiles Jupiter, and Earth wants to ask how can it possibly be alright? âItâs not exactly an uncommon occurrence. Largest planet in the solar system; I think my mass just attracts things.â
âWhat?â Earth leaps to his feet. âBut - thatâs not fair!â
Jupiter cocks his head to the side. âGreatest mass, greatest target. Laws of physics. How is that not fair?â
âBecause - because you havenât done anything wrong!â
Jupiter laughs again. âOh, right. You and all your lifeforms, and their concepts - fairness, morality, karma.â
âDonât mock me; they donât even all have those, anyway,â Earth huffs. âBut how can you⊠Look at that burn, man. And youâre telling me this is nothing?â
Jupiter briefly looks down at the oozing, crusting thing. âWell, what would happen if I wasnât here, huh?â he asks. âThe meteors - or comets, or asteroids, or whatever - would get past me, hit the smaller planets behind. Your best friend Mars⊠or Venus and Mercury, nuts as they are. Or you.â
Earth gulps. âYou shouldnât have to do this for us,â he says.
Jupiter smiles, before pulling Earth into his embrace. Um. Okay. âItâs alright, Earth. I donât mind. After all - Iâm a gas giant, emphasis on the giant. I can get by, pretty much no matter what happens. Other people are more important. People like you. Youâre⊠special.â
âIâm not,â says Earth. âIâm not special. Just⊠self-important.â
Jupiter chuckles again. âYouâre better than you think you are. Youâre alive, Earth, and thatâs the most important thing. You have people, ideas, emotions still to share. You have so much to find, so much to see, so much to explore. Youâre fragile, and I wouldnât let you get set back by just any old meteor. You are special, Earth; youâre gonna fly across the universe one day, and to me that is worth a thousand burns.â