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Comet loved his family very very much.
It was… kind of strange. He knew that. Everyone looked at them funny and his Father always warned him about strangers and how it wasn’t safe to talk to them ‘cause they might hurt him.
His parents were very important! And they could do a whole lot of things that other people wanted from them, so Dad and Papa and Father were always very careful to make sure he was never alone.
Comet loved it.
Father was kind of weird but in a nice way. His emotions were always these really pretty cool colors, blues and purples with sparkly swirls of silver. His anger was a deep, cold blue and his happiness was a pretty pinkish-purple. His big hands were covered with little thick patches of skin that he said were from his art projects.
His art projects! Comet loved Father’s art projects! He was super talented and his hands always worked so quickly! Comet got to watch him make clothes and paint and every time he wanted nothing more than to dip his own claws in and try it for himself. Papa said that some of Father’s art could hurt him, though, so he told Comet to wait until he was a little bit older and his fingers worked better.
One day, he would be just as good at it as Father. He’d study all the ways Father used thin little needles to sew scraps of cloth into functional clothing, and then he’d do it too and he’d be good at it and everyone would love it.
Father always gave him little things, too! The one time Father gave Comet something with a yucky texture, he took it away immediately and apologized, and he even let Comet touch some of the other cloths he had to get the yucky texture off.
Papa gave really good hugs. He was so warm and soft! Papa knew exactly where to put his arms and how to curl himself in such a way that Comet always felt so safe and protected. Papa liked to show his love like that! He liked to ruffle Comet’s hair and give him little kisses and repeat over and over about how much he loved Comet. It always made him so happy to hear Papa’s voice saying those things. And Papa was the Champion! He was one of the best at parkour and Comet loved to see him work! He was so graceful and he looked so pretty, perched up on the Command Blocks. When Papa wasn’t looking, Comet liked to scramble up onto them and pretend that he looked just as pretty, with his fur all puffed out and his tail swaying from side to side.
Papa also liked to make things! But not in the same way as Father. He liked using little trinkets and tools to make jewelry for Father and Dad, and he even let Comet pick out a couple pieces for some of his own!
Comet picked out a couple of shiny silver bands with tiny, glittery blue stones embedded in them. Papa even helped him clip them onto his tail when he was done!
Papa’s emotions were much shinier and more metallic than Father’s. His happiness was a bright gold, like the bracelets he wore to show how much he loved Father and Dad. It would turn paler and paler the closer that happiness got to excitement, before bursting into brilliant starbursts of shimmering oranges and pinks when he did something really fun or cool. When he got sad, those colors shifted to a dull silvery-blue.
Then, there were his siblings!
Nebby was his big sister. She was so much older than him! He couldn’t believe his eyes whenever he looked up at her and saw her soft lilac-red shaded contentment. Her tail was longer than Comet was tall! And he liked the way her wings got all poofy when that lilac veered closer into deep maroon, swirling and building from somewhere inside her chest and spilling out from her feathers. She was scary when she got mad, but she always dropped a lot of really pretty feathers when her wings did that.
She always looked at Comet with so much kindness. She smiled at him big and pulled him in for hugs and always said that she was happy to have him for a little brother. And her words were always so silver! Not a hint of an ugly acid green lie in sight.
He always hated it when he saw that color. Everyone’s shades were a little bit different but their lying was always so green. Such a gross color. It didn’t belong anywhere near his family! There was only one exception, but that was getting ahead of himself.
Celeste!! His big sibling!! They were also a whole lot older than him, but they weren’t all big and intimidating like Nebby was. He asked them one day why they liked to wear dresses and skirts if they weren’t a girl, and they didn’t get upset or anything. They ruffled his hair and told him that they liked it, and that they didn’t need to be a girl to like clothing like that. It was so exciting! Because he heard other kids saying that his skirt was girly and that he couldn’t wear it if he wasn’t a girl, but his big sibling said otherwise, and their words were all shiny and soft and silver so he knew they were true, because his siblings would never ever lie to him.
Cel was warm like Papa, not scary like Nebby. They also gave really good hugs and they always knew how to speak in a way that sounded so calm and gentle, even through their cyan sparks of excitement and the rippling ocean blue undertones of energy.
Starry was the closest to Comet in age, but he was still a whole lot bigger than him. Dad said that his siblings were all adults and that’s why they were so big, but Starry never acted like an adult. He was always so quick to get onto Comet’s level, without a single hint of lime green resentment or forest green boredom. And Comet thought it was so cool how he only talked with his hands! Comet wasn’t as good at that language as the rest of his family, but Starry was always so patient and willing to talk slowly so that Comet could keep up.
Starry was fun! He showed Comet all sorts of fun games and toys. He even knew how to make toys out of sticks and leaves and blades of grass! Starry was crafty like Father, but he much preferred to use it to play jokes on people or make these little, cheap toys for his younger brother. They were really fun to play with and he never had to worry about breaking them, because it was so easy to make more! And Starry always gave off little happy plumes of magenta and pink when he made the little toys, so Comet never felt bad about asking him.
Then, of course, his favorite person in the whole wide world!
Dad was very different from the rest of his family. He was the Parkour God, so he was super special and important! Even though Comet had never seen Dad do any magic or special things, it didn’t change just how cool it was that his parents were so important.
Dad’s emotions were all flutters of green, from his green-blue sadness to his yellow-green joy. His smiles were all shamrock, his frowns a pale mint, and all of his other expressions went from pale pistachios to bright, vibrant chartreuse. On anyone else, the colors would’ve been so ugly, but on Dad it was just so perfect and that made it almost pretty.
Dad hugged him a whole lot. His arms were so soft and safe and warm, and Comet always felt like it was the safest place in the whole wide world. His breaths were warm, and his voice always made all the other loud noises fizzle to an acceptable volume in Comet’s sensitive ears. When he was scared, he always ran to Dad first. When he was happy, Dad was the first person he wanted to tell about it.
Dad was safe and perfect and made everything else feel better. He always wrapped up Comet’s scraped knees and achy feet after a long day of practicing his parkour. He would always place a little kiss on his sores, a soft smile on his face and a sweet promise to make it feel better.
Comet had quickly learned to hate green, but he could never hate it on his Dad. Dad was the only thing it looked okay on. Well… maybe Dad and things that came from him too. ‘Cause Papa and Father wore shiny emeralds on their jewelry and Comet was OK with those too. Father said it was how they showed their love for him and Comet thought it was really sweet. Like how Dad and Papa wore pretty amethysts to show how much they loved Father! And how Father and Dad wore gold to show their love for Papa!
Comet’s family loved each other so much and it made him really happy, because he was so small and so much different from them but they never seem to notice. His big siblings never left him out of things. His parents always told him how much they loved him.
There was another member of his family, too, but Comet never really got to meet him. His knowledge of Orion was small and limited, and he didn’t always like to ask ‘cause it made Dad really really sad, and all of his greens would get eaten up by those sad blues and while Comet normally would’ve loved that, he knew it meant sad things and he didn’t want to do that to him. Papa and Father got really sad too, but they hid it better. It wasn’t their fault that the little wisps of indigo and rosegold always betrayed those sad emotions.
So! Comet had to let them talk about Orion on their own time. Dad especially would start talking about him all the time, and he’d get all seafoam green when he did and even though Comet didn’t like him to be so sad, he still listened because it only made Dad sadder if he didn’t listen.
That’s really what it came down to. Comet hated it when Dad got sad. Papa and Father, they got sad too, but their sadness wasn’t the same kind of suffocating stillness as Dad’s. Dad would get quiet and empty and any little sparks of life left in his eyes would drain out, and then Comet wouldn’t get to hear him talk for days afterwards.
Comet found a painting that Father made of Dad, once. It was actually of the three of them together, painted with such love and warmth that the very canvas was drenched in Father’s happy pink-purple colors, invisible to all but Comet himself. It was a really nice painting, and Comet really liked how it utilized so many different colors but only used greens to depict Dad.
The painting made Comet sad, though, because he almost didn’t recognize Dad at all. His eyes were painted so delicately, like Father had spent days getting them just right. A soft sparkle, the full warmth of a life well lived. The painting gave Dad a soft, sweet smile that curled his lips ever-so-slightly, and a face so soft and loving that it made Comet’s chest ache. He could imagine Father leaning into it with a soft-bristled brush, blending shades of pink and tan and the slightest hints of golden undertones into the perfect color for Dad’s skin. The pink of his cheeks, flushed and reddened with the joy he was shown to express. The indistinguishable glimmer of gold around his eyes, a near-invisible mark of Dad’s godhood.
Comet wondered when Father painted it. Was it before or after Comet was born? What about his siblings? Was this how happy Dad was before any of them were born?
It didn’t make sense to him. Dad always said how much he loved Comet and his siblings and he never ever made Comet feel like he regretted having them, but how could he say that when this painting existed, and the paint had started to become dry and crumbly with age and it was hidden away like his parents didn’t like seeing it?
Father said that Dad was sad because of Orion. ‘Cause he really missed Orion and was sad that he wasn’t around anymore.
Comet wished he knew Orion.
Comet wished he knew who exactly Orion was, so that he might be able to act more like him and then maybe Dad wouldn’t be so sad anymore that he was gone. Did he wish Orion was still around instead of Comet?
Father’s words were laced with a faint undertone of that ugly acid green, despite being mostly silver, so Comet knew that there was something he wasn’t being told.
Naturally, when his parents didn’t want to tell him things, Comet went to Nebby, because Nebby always told the truth and never ever left things out.
Except that when Comet went to visit his big sister that day, he was surprised to see that she wasn’t alone! Cel and Starry were there, too, huddled together and speaking in low tones and small hand movements. Comet went still in the doorway and tilted his head at them.
There wasn’t any green, but he could recognize flutters of nervous purple and frustrated hints of deep orange, while Starry and Cel both rang cyan with hints of gold excitement.
Cel’s ear twitched in his direction, and they nudged Nebby to alert her. Immediately, Nebby straightened out and smiled at Comet, but not before he saw nervous bursts of royal purple.
“Comet!” She said. Her voice was light and happy, and still bright silver with truth. Still, he saw her nervousness in the colors that sparked from her, and in the way she glanced at Cel and Starry like they were hiding some big secret together. She was also wearing something that she didn’t wear often- a hoodie, like Dad’s but thankfully less green. It was big on her and looked very soft, and he wondered if Father made it for her. “Come over here. I think you should know, too.”
Purple popped from Cel, who glanced over at Nebby with a bewildered expression like they were surprised. Comet shuffled closer, his own ears twitching and tail flicking from rich golden excitement. Did they have some kind of secret? Was Comet gonna get to know something secret and special and something that nobody else knew?
Nebby crouched down, but she was so big compared to him that she still towered over him. Despite her internal nerves, Comet could see genuine happiness on her face and in her colors.
“Before I say anything,” Nebby started. “You have to absolutely promise that you won’t say anything to our parents.”
Comet’s heart rate spiked with alarm. “What?” He squeaked.
Nebby nodded firmly. “You can’t. They can’t know. Not yet, at least. And I want to be the one to tell them. Eventually. You just have to promise that you won’t say a word.”
Comet simply stared at her. He couldn’t believe what she was saying! Hiding things from their parents? That was awful!
Comet shook his head fiercely. Nebby bit her lip and glanced at their siblings. Starry shrugged.
‘No green,’ he said firmly. ‘For months.’
If his eyes could get any wider, then they would’ve. No green? For months? ‘How many?’ He hesitantly asked.
Starry glanced at Nebby.
“Two,” she said. “Two months. None of us will wear a speck of green for two months.”
Comet considered the offer. It almost felt grosser to be bribed, but it also clearly meant a lot to his siblings and it sounded really nice not to be haunted by that ugly color…
Then, Cel said the one thing that absolutely pulled Comet on board with this plan.
“Dad will be really upset if he finds out.”
Comet thought about all of the times he had seen Dad upset. Those dismal blues leaking into his greens, the only instance of the color that didn’t make him itch. He thought about how empty and dull Dad’s eyes were, compared to how bright and soft they had looked in Father’s painting of him.
He thought about anything that would make him sad, or angry, or upset, and it made him want to cry out of guilt.
Comet nodded. “Okay,” he said softly. He didn’t want Dad to be upset.
“You have to promise, Comet. He cannot find out about this until I’m ready to tell him.”
“Okay.”
Nebby sighed and ran a hand down her face. Gathering her words. Her happy colors were being rapidly eaten up by those royal purples. Did she think Comet couldn’t keep a secret from Dad? Or was she just nervous about the secret itself?
“I’m…” She paused, reconsidered her words. There was a spark of silver, then flickers of green. “I’m going to have a baby, Comet. And Dad can’t know about it. Not yet.”
Green. Comet’s ears twitched back. “You’re lying,” he said.
“I’m not- arghh,” Nebby groaned. “I’m not lying. It’s just… not the whole truth. But I don’t think I’m ready to share the whole truth yet. Okay?”
Silver. That was true.
“Why would Dad be upset? Aren’t you big enough to have your own babies now?”
Comet wasn’t really sure how it all worked, but he did know that his siblings were all adults and that his parents said that babies came from adults, so he couldn’t understand what was wrong. Was Dad going to be mad at her for it?
“It’s not that,” she argued weakly. She stood up fully, wings ruffling. More purple. “Dad is… anxious. After Orion…” She stopped herself. A string of blue. “I don’t want him to be scared for me. Us. And he absolutely will be scared when he finds out. So I only want to tell him when I’m sure that everything is okay and he doesn’t have anything to worry about. Okay?”
That made sense to Comet. He nodded, but he couldn’t hold back his own excitement. He wasn’t going to be the littlest anymore! Maybe he could be really good friends with Nebby’s baby when they came along.
“This is really important to her,” Cel said, their voice clear and stiffer than normal. “Okay, Comet? This is really important and you can’t tell anyone.”
Comet only nodded again. He understood! He would not say a single word to anyone at all, not even Dad. He was a good brother! If Nebby was so worried about Dad finding out then he would do everything he could not to let Dad find out.
By the time he went back home, Comet realized that he had entirely forgotten to ask his older siblings about the painting. It was okay. He could ask them later. And now he had a really cool secret to keep, that only he and his siblings knew! His big sister trusted him with this!
And Comet knew better than to let her down.