They remember

Mercury remembered. He remembered what Venus used to be like. Kinder, calmer, more... blue. There were sparks of sincere happiness and inspiration in her eyes, and she was bubbling with energy. She wanted to know this world, the vastness of the universe, everything and everything. Sharing love with others, making everyone smile, hugging and comforting. He didn't care how the planet treated him, she believed that everyone deserved everything good and understanding. Ah, and her beauty! Mercury could look at his appearance for a whole Venusian day, finding new details each time, which only emphasized the elegance and uniqueness of the second planet from Sun. The ease with which he adjusted his fluffy hair, which sparkled brilliantly on the starry canvas, made the core tremble and did not take his eyes off. His hands were both so strong and neat, and his gait was always smooth and proud. And then Venus would catch that attentive look and wink back, and Mercury could only blush and turn away, hearing a muffled giggle from that. Venus understood everything. It was obvious, which was why Mercury couldn't relax next to him - he was too embarrassed. But It seemed that reciprocate. Otherwise, how could one explain his whole good-natured, but playful smile, directed specifically at Mercury? How could one explain such gentle and warm hugs, from which one did not want to get out, but only to snuggle as much as possible against the body opposite and savor such a pleasantly fluttering feeling that was only growing somewhere in the stomach? How could one explain the undisguised infatuation in the half-closed blue eyes? How could that sudden short kiss on the cheek be explained? Mercury could not believe that it was true that the most beautiful planet in the Solar System had paid attention to him — the smallest, miniature planet, which looked more like a satellite, but not a full-fledged planet. And how nice it was when the blue planet stood up for Mercury in front of Proto-Earth, because it was he who considered the first weakling, giving the derogatory nickname "pipsqueak". He knew what to put pressure on, where the complexes were, he read like an open book, a born manipulator. Mercury couldn't do anything about his voice, despite the fact that he is the same age as most of the planets in the system, external changes took him a long time and dreary. Venus hid him behind her back and swore with Proto, and Mercury only had to hold his breath and remain silent, allowing the second from Sun to protect the honor of the first once again. And then turn around, squat down — oh, Mercury adored it, because it's at such moments that their faces are so close to each other — and ask about how they feel. That could only thank him for saving and give in forward, hugging his neck. Venus couldn't resist hugging him back and kissing his temple. Mercury hesitated to say it out loud, officially. He was afraid of something, it seemed to him that after the confession he would burden himself with something terrible and heavy that would press on his shoulders like a large asteroid. He told himself that he was just afraid of rejection, although somewhere deep in his subconscious he understood that there could be no refusal. He dragged his time like a comet's tail, continued these strange overfriendship. But just as the comet's tail will disappear, so will the tipping point come, replacing everything. At that moment, Mercury felt as if he was dropping something from his hands, as if something was running away from him, but he just stood there and looked at the once blue planet that was now sitting on his knees, writhing, crying. Roughly squeezing her hair to at least vent the pain somewhere, she whined long and shook her head. A couple of wisps of burnt hair had come off and were flying nearby, and with every second it became clearer what exactly had happened. A chill of fear ran down the back of the first one — the only cold he was able to feel. Dumbfounded, he looked at Venus, suffering from a sudden solar flare that hit her directly. Fluffy wavy blue hair turned into coarse, disheveled sour yellow and red in one moment. Even from here, from his orbit, Mercury could smell the burning, which made his stomach twist uncomfortably. He couldn't move, he didn't know what to do. It was very hard to see Venus crying, and even harder to come up and calm her down. But when Venus turned his head towards him, not intentionally showing tear-stained eyes and a disfigured face, Mercury seemed to be scalded by a solar flare too. And his feet led him away, leaving Venus all alone. Fear gripped his mind, he did not want to think about anything, but only to be away from the crying of the second, which, as it seemed, became longer. He blamed himself for this act, committed under the influence of emotions and fear of responsibility. After all, it was only after a long time that he digested this and realized that he was afraid of the responsibility that he could incur by entering into a relationship with Venus. He was afraid of responsibility for the words he might have uttered during that incident. And his stupid little head decided that the best solution would be inaction. He wanted to fall into a black hole, just to get rid of the oppressive feeling of conscience. Mercury, then and now, felt like a moral freak for the deed he had done. This picture in front of his eyes stayed with him forever, no matter how hard he tried to let go of the situation. The scar healed, the burnt yellow-red hair remained, and with them the character changed. Venus became like a second Proto-Earth, losing her bluish beauty and good-naturedness. Otherwise, how can such aggressive behavior towards Mercury be explained? How can explain the desire to shout and even beat him, as if pouring out a grudge? How can one explain the nickname "pipsqueak", adopted from the already dead Proto-Earth? How can one explain the abrupt loss of love in the eyes of Venus, instead of which there was bitterness? Mercury has come to terms with the missed opportunity to build a happy relationship with Venus. After all, now he has a completely different Venus in front of him. Did he stop loving him? No, he looked at every feature of her appearance with the same adoration, found something inexplicably beautiful in his new appearance: in his hair, in his eyes, in his behavior. The energy of confidence also radiated from Venus, he is still strong and unshakable. But now, when faced with his gaze, there is no flirtatious wink, but only a heavy gaze of vinous eyes, in which mute accusations and anger were read. And Mercury understood why this was so. After all, Venus remembered everything.