Work Text:
NASA might have said they had the day off but emergencies were emergencies.
And in Gilbert’s professional opinion, this was certainly no fucking emergency .
It was already Christmas Day for the astronauts on the International Space Station but most of the other inhabitants on Earth generally didn’t abide by coordinated universal time. And those fuckers down at control just wanted to make sure the livestream was ready, Gilbert thought to himself darkly. Not like anyone would be watching.
Getting suited up was no mundane task. Their extravehicular mobility units or EMUs, needed to be prepared for each individual but they generally had some on standby for “just in case” scenarios. The inspection and preparation could take several hours but usually took a few days on top of all the other responsibilities each astronaut had to do. Not to mention all the pre-breathing required to avoid the bends.
The antenna needed to be in working condition and considering space debris was just waiting to fuck his day up at any given moment, Gilbert figured his luck needed to run out at some point.
But of all the days chosen, did it have to be fucking Christmas Day?
Gilbert’s eyes rolled towards his forehead — no sense of a true “up” as he hung around outside the station weightless.
Suddenly, he was moving faster and farther away from the target area before he was jerked to a halt by the tether around his waist. The force of had his nose smashing into the glass of his helmet and leaving a horrendously obnoxious nose-shaped mark on it.
“Pay attention and get the work done, Gilbert.”
“Ludwig, you piece of shit-!”
His fingers went up to the glass in an pathetic attempt to wipe away the mark before he resigned with a pitiful whine and pulled himself back to the antenna they were double checking.
At least Ludwig was here to keep him company.
As soon as Gilbert was back next to Ludwig, he gave him a hard shove in retaliation for earlier.
His younger brother was not happy but was quick to grab on to make sure he didn’t move too far as Gilbert had.
“I don’t want to be here just as much as you do Gilbert, but the faster we complete our tasks, the faster we can return inside,” he reasoned patiently.
Gilbert still gave him an ugly look and an aggravated huff. He wanted to be inside spending time with Ludwig and watching some movies - not outside and wearing that godforsaken diaper .
Begrudgingly, he returned to work, going over the checklist literally strapped to his arm. Though they both had the same mission, their work was exponentially different.
Thankfully, it seemed most of the space debris had kept its damage to a minimum with only some light repairs needed to the antenna needed to broadcast images and videos back to Earth.
With a sigh, Gilbert started up the blowtorch and began welding new metal onto the frame of the antenna to ensure it was sturdy enough.
They had only recently come up and though it wasn’t Gilbert’s first spacewalk nor first time in space, it was Ludwig’s first time outside of the space station. As his senior officer, Gilbert was expected to show Ludwig the ropes.
His eyes slide to where his brother floated next to him, unsurprised to see the wide-eyed wonder that kept Ludwig from focusing himself.
Hypocrite.
But Gilbert could make an exception — it was Ludwig’s first spacewalk, afterall.
All around them was this awe-inspiring beauty, something so large, so amazing that it could not compare to the nights they would spend on their backs in the meadow with Gilbert pointing out small constellations out of the mere thousands of stars back on their childhood farm.
At last, Gilbert saw Ludwig’s facade slip.
“Gilbert,” Ludwig choked out and he made a grab for Gilbert’s hand, searching the air as if drunk. He was unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of the hundreds of billions of stars surrounding them. The older took pity and took him by the wrist, squeezing it to offer some type of grounding for Ludwig.
“Breathe, Ludwig.”
Gilbert turned to his younger brother and froze, catching sight of the billions of bright pinpricks of light reflected in Ludwig’s baby blue eyes. While Ludwig was held up on the sight of the universe, Gilbert found himself struck by his brother’s beauty.
Neither spoke nor moved, taken aback by the beauty in front of them.
At long last, Ludwig tore his eyes away and focused on Gilbert to give himself a more solid center to be able to focus himself.
It was a mistake.
Gilbert’s expression, usually some variant of a resting bitch face, was open and surprisingly expressive. But it was the raw love-desire-affection that had Ludwig freezing up a second time.
And his eyes …
Neither moved to disturb the moment. Gilbert uncurled his hand from Ludwig’s wrist and let his fingers slide down the back of his brother’s fingers before going under and pushing the pads of their fingers up and together so their palms would touch. A perfect Tarzan -hand moment.
The touch felt muffled through the suit but was electrifying all at the same time. Ludwig couldn’t feel his heartbeat but felt the pulse of blood through his veins, hyperextending his senses.
Their hands already joined and Ludwig clasped Gilbert’s hand tightly.
There was a pressure building between them, within their chest but neither could move away. Gilbert looked breathtaking bathed in pure moonlight. His skin was pure and unmarred without his usual furrowed brows.
It was Gilbert who spoke first, breaking Ludwig out of his trance-like state.
“ Küss mich .”
Startled, Ludwig looked scandalized and irritated at a grinning Gilbert for speaking openly on the two-way communication mic still rigged so the others inside the station could hear. As usual, Gilbert was quick to shut him up with an excuse.
“Mistletoe.”
Even more confused than before, Ludwig tilted his head in the direction where Gilbert was pointing and to his great surprise found a paper folded into the shape of the damned plant floating above their helmets.
It was a risky move on Gilbert’s part. Their relationship had been kept quiet between the two of them — especially while on the ISS and Ludwig saw no need to broadcast that they were in a relationship. Ludwig didn’t even want to know when he had made the time to fold such a silly thing.
More than ready to chastise Gilbert, Ludwig turned back only to get lost in Gilbert’s eyes once more. He forgot his anger and was captivated once more by Gilbert’s passionate gaze.
Unable to resist, his eyes went to Gilbert’s lips, surprisingly fuller and redder than usual. His brother must have been biting them, Ludwig realized, and the desire to feel his lips against his own only grew as he watched Gilbert pull his bottom lip in and sink his teeth into soft and supple flesh.
Their breaths grew heavier, a near pant and Ludwig looked yearningly at Gilbert, leaning in slowly. Automatically, Gilbert mirrored him, eyes fluttering halfway shut and Ludwig was struck for a second by how prettily Gilbert batted his eyelashes. They were as pale as the moonlight framing Gilbert’s visage but looked as light and delicate as butterfly wings.
“Happy Christmas, Gilbert,” Ludwig whispered.
“Happy Christmas, Ludwig,” Gilbert breathed back.
There was a short pause, both brothers looking into each other’s eyes, finding the gentle love-want in them before they moved again, with great caution towards each other —
Cklink!
Both startled, eyes shooting wide open as they moved their heads away from each other. Realisation grew and Ludwig felt embarrassment creep up his neck and through his face hotly as he remembered their helmets were still on.
A quick glance at Gilbert gave Ludwig the impression he was not alone in his feelings. Before the elder could do or say anything, Ludwig cleared his throat and turned to the task at hand.
“We’re almost done. Let’s finish this up.”
For what felt like the umpteenth time, Gilbert’s eyes rolled towards his forehead. Goddamn spacewalk and “emergency” missions.