Closed Chaotic Mornings

[Jupiter Ascot]

Jupiter Ascot was usually an early riser, which was surprising given how late he tried to stay up staring out of his window at the stars. But he didn't really need to sleep much and, as usual, was up pretty early in the morning. He had woken up, made his bed, gotten dressed, and bushed his teeth and now was looking around his room. He had been in the middle of drawing for his newest chapter for his comic book and wanted to do a little more work on it, but the problem was, he couldn't find it. He swore he had brought it upstairs with him the previous evening, but maybe he had left it downstairs?

Frowning as he left his room, Jupe padded down the stairs and headed straight for the kitchen table where he had been working. But there was no sign of his half-finished comic book. And then the living room, but no sign of it there, either. So, with no more ideas, he decided the best thing to do was ask someone else. "Has anyone seen my comic book?" He shouted, raising his voice to try and make sure someone actually heard him. He didn't care if people were still sleeping, this was important.

 

[Mercury Ascot]

Mercury usually wasn't up before everyone else. He loved to sleep but this morning he had woken up earlier than usual and he couldn't go back to sleep. Now that he was wide awake and was bored, he decided to make his way quietly down the stairs, hoping to do at least something before everyone else in the house woke up. He walked into the kitchen when he noticed his brother's unfinished comic book laying on the kitchen table. Mercury looked around to see if anyone else was around, before taking the comic book and rushing quietly up to his room to read it. He had always enjoyed his brother's comics.

Mercury had almost been finished with the recent chapter of the comic book when he had heard the familiar voice of Jupiter mentioning the comic book. His eyes widened, realising that he may be caught. So he scrambled quickly, trying his best to hide his brother's comic book in the stacks of books on his desk before walking outside of his bedroom, rubbing his eye pretending he had just woken up from his brother's yelling, standing at the bottom of the stairs. "No... Why are you yelling? It's too early" Mercury grumbled, trying his best to cover up his lie.

 

[Galileo Ascot]

Galileo often worked until the early hours of the morning. He had been promoted to lead astronomer for a project he and a bunch of other wizards from around the world were working on. The project was proving fruitful, however, it was very tiring at the same time. He often argued with the exiled centaurs that were accompanying the rest of the astronomers on their project. He knew that they were expert stargazers and was well aware of their abilities to watch the skies for evil or other changes marked within the stars. It wasn't that he didn't value their contribution to the project, he just wanted to be right too sometimes. Why give the lead job to him if he was going to be corrected constantly anyway? He tried not to dwell on it too much but instead focus on the task at hand. After another night of observing absolutely nothing in the skies, Galileo had gone home, tired and ready to get at least some sleep in before the children would all be up and about.

Unfortunately for him, some of them had woken up earlier than he would have liked. One of them was yelling about something but Galileo was still too sleepy to make out what they were yelling about. And then another voice could be heard, though it seemed to be coming from the landing outside of his bedroom. He groaned loudly and slowly got out of bed step by step. Why? he asked himself, rubbing his eyes. Why couldn't you have waited a little longer? He pulled his morning robe on and tied the middle part together before opening the door and stepping foot outside the bedroom. ''Boys, what's going on?'' he asked sleepily once he spotted both Mercury just outside his bedroom and Jupiter at the bottom of the stairs. ''Do you have any idea how early it is? Why are we yelling?'' He asked, looking down the stairs at one son and then towards the other.

 

[Jupiter Ascot]

The more he looked around and couldn't see his precious comic, the more anxious he was getting. He really didn't want to write the whole thing again because he couldn't find it. It had taken loads of work to do all the drawings and he didn't know if he could do it all again a second time just as well as the first. And, to be honest, he didn't remember some of the panels, drawing them in the heat of the moment when he had been working on it.

"Are you sure you haven't seen it?" He probed further as he looked at his brother for just a second, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he took another look around the room. But nope, definitely no pieces of paper laying around. Not even any sign that they had been there in the first place. And then their father arrived, and Jupiter did feel a little bad about shouting and waking everyone else up, but his was very important business and simply couldn't wait until a more reasonable hour. "My comic has gone missing," he explained, twiddling his thumbs, "The one I was working on last night. I was sure I left it somewhere, but now I can't find it."

 

[Mercury Ascot]

Mercury shook his head very quickly when his brother had asked again about his comic, trying to hide the fact that the comic was in his own room buried beneath all of his books. He wasn't the greatest liar, so he's surprised that he hasn't been caught yet. He feels bad for lying about it, but he doesn't want to get into trouble with his brother. His eyes go wide as he hears the voice of their dad, though he shrugs in response to their dad's question, not really in the mood to speak at the moment, trying to act that he had just woken up and continued to rub his eyes slightly.

 

[Galileo Ascot]

Galileo closed his eyes when he was told what this was about and rubbed the sleep away from them once more. He was aware of Jupiter's passion for comic books, had even encouraged him to go and make one of his own if he liked them so much, but was it really necessary to wake everyone else up for it, too? He didn't think so, especially since it was probably lying somewhere so oblivious that his son had completely overlooked it while searching for it. ''When did you last have it?'' Galileo asked his son, thinking, no, hoping that it would probably be somewhere in his bedroom. He then turned to his other son and asked, ''What about you? You wouldn't happen to have seen it lying about somewhere, would you?'' The sooner they would find it, the sooner he could return to his oh-so-comfortable bed.

 

[Jupiter Ascot]

Mercury didn't say anything, which either meant he hadn't seen it and didn't have anything to add, or he had seen it and just didn't want to say. But Jupiter didn't know why his younger brother might not want to tell him where it was. Instead, he turned his eyes back to their father, still twiddling his thumbs a little. "Well, I was working on it at the kitchen table last night. I thought I brought it back up to my room when I went to bed, but I looked all over my room and it's not there. And it's not on the table, either." He was quite sure that he had looked absolutely everywhere it might be and couldn't see any of the pages. Not even any traces that they had ever been there. "Thought maybe you might have moved it... or something..." But if their dad was asking, then it probably meant that he hadn't put it somewhere. Which then did raise the question of where it could have gone.

 

[Mercury Ascot]

Mercury was trying his best to keep the lie of having the comic book close. He really didn't want to get into trouble, but he also knew that lying was very bad. The youngest boy shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't seen it," Mercury says with a slight, casual shrug, a little too casual than usual, hoping that the lie was somewhat acceptable. As he continued to lie about it, he felt more and more guilty about the half-finished comic book being in his room. "M-maybe you must have misplaced it somewhere and you didn't realise," Mercury says, stuttering a little and trying to continue being casual about everything, as he then adverted his eyes anywhere but his brother and his dad, as he then began to fiddle with a loose thread that was at the hem of his pyjama shirt.

 

[Galileo Ascot]

Galileo found it odd that Jupiter had lost his comic book just like that when the boy was generally inseparable from the pieces of paper. How could he lose something he was working on on a daily basis? It just didn't add up and it almost seemed as if the other brother knew more about it what with how casual he was being about it. Galileo studied Mercury for a moment, trying to look into the boy's eyes as he answered his father's question. He noticed that his son started to fiddle with a loose thread of his pyjama shirt, which made him close his eyes again and shake his head a little. His children had all developed these little telltale signs that Galileo and his spouse often talked and joked about. These signs often showed when one of their children had done something they weren't supposed to do. And right now Mercury looked like he had done something that he perhaps shouldn't have done. Not wanting to cast the blame on anyone just yet in case it might end up badly, he just wanted to go back to bed as soon as possible anyway, Galileo turned his eyes back to Jupiter again. ''Why don't you to search the living room again while Mercury and I search upstairs?'' he told him, hoping that would get rid of him for at least a couple of minutes.

 

[Jupiter Ascot]

Jupiter liked to think that he knew his brother quite well, and he couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the younger boy slightly. Something was up. While he didn't know what, there was something. His words about not knowing where his comic book was didn't sound quite truthful like he did know exactly where it was and just didn't want to say it. But the gaze behind his glasses switched back to his father pretty quickly at the instructions to good and look around the living room again. "But I've already looked there like... a hundred times!" Maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but it sure felt as though he had scoured every inch of his room and downstairs and he couldn't find it anywhere. Silently he glanced back at Mercury again, pressing his lips together for just a moment before he huffed. "Fiiiiine," he gave in, glancing back at their dad before he turned and wandered off again. Though he was quite sure he wasn't going to find his comic book in the stupid living room.

 

[Mercury Ascot]

Mercury became nervous. His palms started to sweat like he was most likely caught. The way his dad was trying to divert his brother somewhere else and Jupiter narrowing his eyes at him started to scare him a little. The younger brother sent the older brother a nervous smile as he narrowed his eyes. He watched as Jupiter then reluctantly agreed to look at the living room again. And all Mercury could do was wipe the sweat that was forming in his palms, fiddle with the loose thread on the hem of his pyjama shirt and gulp nervously. Oh boy was he going to be in trouble.

 

[Galileo Ascot]

''We can do this one of two ways,'' Galileo said to Mercury in a hushed voice as soon as Jupiter had wandered off to the living room. ''Either you'll magically recover your brother's comic book - no questions asked - or we're going to have to get your mother involved. And you know how she can get, she'll definitely not appreciate the fact that a certain someone lied to his brother and father.'' It was a bit of a bluff but he reckoned that his son knew more about the disappearance of the comic book than he was leading on. And in all honesty, he just wanted to get this over with so that he could go back to bed and get in a few more hours of sleep before the rest of the household would wake up. So the sooner he convinced his son to return his brother's comic book, the better. Threatening to tell on him to his mother was therefore the go-to solution to get this whole thing done with as soon as possible.

 

[Jupiter Ascot]

Jupiter didn't really mean to stomp his feet somewhat as he stalked off to the living room, but he really couldn't help it. This whole thing was just stupid and had put him in a bad mood. He was certain that his brother knew something and just didn't want to say it. And he was extra certain that his comic book wasn't just sitting in the living room. So, when he arrived he didn't bother doing a thorough search, already confident he knew what he was going to find. Nothing. Just as he had expected. His half-finished comic was not here and this whole thing was a waste of time. "It's not in here!" He made sure to yell, just to make sure his dad and brother actually heard him. He did want to add that he had known he wasn't going to find it in the living room, but decided to hold his tongue on that.

 

[Mercury Ascot]

Mercury quickly whipped his head around when his father spoke to him. His eyes widened at the mention of his mother. He could imagine the angry face she would have displayed if she found out about him lying or anything. Mercury frowned a little in thought, wondering what he should do. Does he keep lying for a while longer, or does he give in and finally give the uncompleted comic back to his older brother? After being deep in thought he looked at his dad again and sighed a little. "Fineeeeee" Mercury says dramatically as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom, where the comic book was placed before slowly but reluctantly making his way down the stairs to the living room where his brother stood. "Here," Mercury says quietly, as he handed the comic book to his brother, looking around anywhere around the room but his brother.

 

[Galileo Ascot]

Galileo was truly perplexed at the sight of a slight frown on his youngest son's face. The audacity of the boy to even question whether to return the comic book or not - was Galileo truly not that intimidating? Did his son want to involve his mother in all of this? He was mentally preparing himself for the scolding Mercury would surely soon be given by his mother when the boy gave in and walked back to his bedroom. He let out a sigh of relief and eventually followed his son down to the living room, though not before giving him a clout in the ear. ''Now what do we say?'' he said, glancing down at Mercury. He was hoping that an apology might smooth things over with his brother but Galileo wasn't really convinced that it would. Jupiter wasn't going to forget it any time soon.

 

[Jupiter Ascot]

This whole thing was stupid, at this point, Jupiter was absolutely convinced that Mercury had his comic somewhere and just didn't want to give it back. His little brother had just been acting far too suspiciously to not be involved in the 'misplacement'. And that was only confirmed when Mercury came down the stairs, Jupiter's lost comic in hand. "I knew it," he huffed, reaching out to quickly snatch his precious work back, quickly flicking through the pages to make sure everything was in place. Once he was satisfied that his brother hadn't lost any of the pages or damaged anything, Jupiter looked up again with a frown. "I was going to let you read it when it was done. You didn't have to steal it."

 

[Mercury Ascot]

Mercury continued to look everywhere but his brother, feeling guilty for taking the book. He eventually looked at his brother when his dad started to speak to him again. "I'm sorry," Mercury says quietly but genuinely. He did feel bad, but he was just too excited for the comic book. "I knowww... But I was get i-impatent" Mercury complained a little, slightly struggling to pronounce "impatient" and failing to pronounce the word. It was one of the new words he had learned recently when reading a book. "It's reallllyy cool though," Mercury says quietly as he fiddled with his fingers nervously.

 

[Galileo Ascot]

Galileo let out a tired sigh upon hearing that Mecury had been impatient and ran his hand through the boy's hair to mess it up a little. ''Just ask next time you want to read his comic book, alright?'' He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Jupiter had woken them up for this but thankfully they quickly managed to solve where the comic book had disappeared to. ''And if this does happen again,'' Galileo began, turning to Jupiter, ''Ask around first before you wake up half of the family, will you?'' They were lucky that it was him who got out of bed for this because Andromeda would not have been as patient with the boys this early in the morning as he had been. ''Now, please, unless you have something better to do at this hour, go back to bed.''

 

[Jupiter Ascot]

Only briefly his annoyance subsided as his comic was called 'cool'. "Of course it's cool," he responded with a nod, hugging the pages just a little tighter to his chest. One day he was going to be a famous comic book writer and national bestseller. "But if you aren't awake, who am I supposed to ask?" Came the innocent question as he glanced at his dad. He had made sure to look around before he had gone and started shouting. And besides, if he had asked his brother he didn't really think he would have willingly given the location of his comic up. "But I'm not tired," he went on with a nod, "I want to write more pages."

 

[Mercury Ascot]

Mercury nodded at his dad's statement. Sure we was gonna ask his brother before taking things, most of the time, but he knew that he was gonna end up taking something again without asking. However, that would be a future issue. The younger boy had been quiet for the rest of the time, only partly listening to the interaction between his brother and dad. At the mention of going back to bed, Mercury let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes, he definitely felt tired.

 

[Galileo Ascot]

''Well, then I guess you'll just have to wait until everyone is awake. If you lose something in the house, it'll likely still be in the house,'' Galileo told Jupiter, sounding a bit annoyed. ''Alright, you,'' he nodded at Mercury, ''To bed you go.'' He gave his son a gentle push in the back to get him moving towards the stairs. ''And you, try to keep the noise down, alright? Your mother will be down in an hour or two. I think there's still some cereal left if you're hungry.'' Galileo ruffled Jupiter's hair and then left the boy behind in the living room, making his way to his bedroom once more.