What is going on here? (I'm a little out of sorts)

11

Thump!

Earth reeled back, nearly falling down the steps as he bumped into someone. He yelped, managing to catch himself on the steel railing. He whipped his head around, about to snap at the person for being in his way before biting his tongue upon seeing it was a kid.

The boy was kneeling on the stairs, holding his limbs close to his chest as he curled into himself.

Upon further inspection, Earth noticed his knees were bleeding, possibly from scraping them against the stairs.

"H-Hey, you alright, kid?" Earth spoke, hands stretched out as he hovered over the child. The kid didn't respond, though, making Earth bite his lip as he glanced around, 'His parents must be around here somewhere...'

He spotted something at the edge of his vision. Looking down, he saw a toy spaceship at his feet.

Slowly picking it up, Earth stepped around the huddled figure so they were facing each other. Crouching down, Earth held the toy out, "I'm assuming this is yours?"

The raven-haired boy looked up shyly, trying to avoid the stranger's eyes before nodding slightly at the question.

Earth smiled gently, offering it to the kid, "Here."

The kid reached for it with his right hand, only to wince as it made a cracking sound. Tears rushed from his eyes as he held it to his chest.

Earth's eyes widened as he looked around wildly, 'That's not a natural sound... I have to find his parents.'

"Everything okay, Earth? That looked like it hurt." Luna spoke as he was the first to arrive at the scene.

"Where are the others?" Earth asked.

"Eh... still learning how walking works." Luna gestured behind him, making a pained face as Venus tripped up the stairs, prompting Mercury to laugh in response before Venus stretched his arm out and made the smaller one fall over.

"We need to find this kid's parents. He's hurt."

Luna appeared taken aback, not anticipating that Earth would show concern, given his rude behavior since their arrival.

"Hey, kid, do you know what your parents look like?"

The boy nodded, yet didn't say anything.

"...Can you tell me what they look like?"

With his left hand, the boy slowly signed something before gesturing to his mouth.

Oh... oh!

He was mute. That made a lot of sense.

'Although, this doesn't help me much if he can't speak...' Earth frowned.

The boy, sensing Earth's distress, rummaged through the pockets of his red shorts and retrieved a folded piece of paper.

Earth took it, unfolding it. It was a picture of, presumably, the kid's parents- his mom was wearing a pink shirt, gold earrings, and light pink lipstick while his father was wearing a suit and tie and his hair was scruffy-looking. It appeared to be a picture of a regular family, with no discernable features whatsoever. What stood out was the building they were poised in front of; a space agency by the name of ROTSAR. Earth knew of it, of course, he knew of every space agency established on his surface.

'I'm guessing one of them works there...' Earth thought. Analyzing the photo once more, he had a strong sense he knew the man in the tux from somewhere, but couldn't recall where.

Unbeknownst to him, Luna was peering over his shoulder, softly gasping upon seeing a recognizable face, 'That's-!'

"Well, you don't have to worry about a thing, little astronaut, I'm going to find them for you!" Earth returned the photo to the kid.

The kid shook his head before pointing at his mom in the photo.

Earth blinked, "Oh, so you were with your mom?"

The boy nodded.

"Well, I'll bring her back to you, so stay put. Luna, can you-?"

"Got it! I'll watch over him while you find his mom."

Earth choked on a laugh, "Actually, I was going to ask if you could get Sun to watch him. That was a good joke, though. You should think about becoming a comedian- someone who makes others laugh as their job."

"I kn-" Luna bit his tongue, holding back what he was about to say. He shook his head and took a breath, speaking through gritted teeth as he clenched his hands into fists, "Fine..."

As he walked away, he heard Earth ask, "Man, what's up with him? I didn't say anything wrong..."

Luna nearly whipped himself back around to give Earth a piece of his mind, yet forced himself to keep walking down the stairs, reminding himself for what felt like the millionth time since they've been here;

'It's the AetherStars' fault he's like this. He's been trying to redeem himself for half a year, he would never return to his old ways of being an asshole to everyone.'

Luna breathed in and out steadily, stopping on the stairwell to glance back, observing Earth as he spoke to the child, likely comforting him about finding his mother.

'He would never say or do anything to hurt me... not on purpose.'

He gripped the railing until his fingertips and knuckles paled, pursing his lips, "I promise... I will help you, Dad."

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Bet you weren't expecting Astroson to show up ;)

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