Chapter Text
Craig was looking out the window, down at the Earth below them. They were flying over America at the moment. The surface was starting to get out of Sun's range, right around where his home state of Colorado would be.
He wondered if Tweek was getting ready for bed right around now. Probably not, knowing him. Was it the usual ungodly caffeine levels today, or was it something heavier? Did he wonder what his husbsnd was doing right now, too? Was he anxious, sleeping without Craig, and refused to tell him in all these calls? Man, getting to call your family once a day did NOT compare to having them physically there.
"What are you up to, Tucker?" one of his crewmates, David Smith, asked, startling Craig.
The noiret flipped him off casually, before saying just "Thinking."
David rolled his eyes and grumbled "No shit. I meant more like, what about?"
Craig took a quick glance back down through the window - night already fell over the small mountain town, from what he could see - and shrugged, mumbling "Just wondering what my husband's doing."
"Ah, so being homesick," the other astronaut replied, getting just as weirdly quiet as Craig. "I get it, really. I miss my wife and son, too. He was just two when this started, so currently I'm, like, not there for a fifth of his life."
Craig was never good with expressing feelings, God knows his friends and family knew that, so he just replied "That sucks, man."
"Yeah," David replied and the two men fell into silence. Below them, America was slowly getting out of sight. Soon, they will be on the opposite side of the Earth from everyone they knew, further beyond even.
Thoughts like these usually did not bother Craig while he was working. In fact, during work time he was hyperfocused on, well, work - and it'd probably be dangerous if he was thinking about something else while tethered to the ship by a measly rope, trying to repair the outside of the spacecraft that was keeping all of them afloat in the sky. But like this, during down time? He would probably never admit it out loud, but he mostly thought about the prople back on Earth.
About his parents, who said they were so proud of him. So excited that their son would be one of the few people who got to be in space. Terrified, too, as his dad asked him in a roundabout way if he's sure he'll be safe. Craig almost didn't catch the underlying 'I'm worried about you', but when he did, well... He would lie if he said he wasn't stupidly emotional over that. His dad almost never expressed concern, not when he was little and getting into fights, not when he was adult and moving away to a different city with just his boyfriend. Seems literally leaving Earth finally crossed the line on how much emotions he can keep in. His mom, on the other hand, did not bottle up at all, and alternated between telling him stories about when he was 8 years old and would roleplay being an astronaut, and asking if the training program had him ready for everything 100%. All in all, the memories they left him with were surprisingly positive, and that just made him miss them more.
About his sister, who for once couldn't find either the words or the will to tease him when she heard the news. In fact, she gave him a congratulatory pat on the back and joked that she was wrong about him becoming the stay-at-home-dad in his relationship. She was, probably, the most encouraging person in his life throughout the two years training program, reminding him he can and should do it, in her own unique way. He even hugged her when he was leaving South Park for the last time before the mission. It must've cracked her tough mask, as he swore he could see glassy eyes on her as he turned around for the last time.
About his best friend Clyde, who probably had the biggest emotional rollercoaster out of everyone - surprising noone, honestly. He even insisted on throwing a goodbye party, where he left his two daughters with a babysitter while he, Bebe, Tolkien, Jimmy and Tweek went to a club bar. It was a fun night, of which he had cut film and doesn't remember how he hot home, but what he does remember is talking with Clyde one-on-one and him breaking down into tears. Craig assured it's just half a year, and that he will call home so he could probably ask Tweek to get on one of them, but he had to admit, he kinda missed the guy, even if in theory he saw him in person just a couple of times less than he usually would.
And, of course, he thought about Tweek. How Craig woke up every morning for the past half a year without his lovely blonde, and Tweek had to endure the same back on Earth, without getting to at least see the vast expanse of stars. He wondered if the man started twitching again, after being away from his husband for such a prolonged period of time. He believed that Tweek could handle himself on his own, of course, the guy was stronger than anyone ever gave him credit for, but still. He supposed he just missed him so bad, he had to imagine it being true the other way around as well. Not unsubstantiated, of course, Tweek would tell him he missed him every other call. He also didn't want to let him go when they parted, and wanted to be there as soon as possible.
"I wish Tweek was here," Craig said in his usual monotone, and yet the other man likely understood what emotion was meant behind it.
"I wish Betty was here, too," David said, just as simply. He then went silent for a moment longer, before asking "What's he like?"
Was it to distract himself or try to comfort him, Craig wasn't sure. But he did feel like responding, strangely, so he did. "We were together since elementary school. Some girls thought we would be cute as a couple, and it pissed us off at first, but then we kind of... realised they were right?" He shrugged. "We went from fake-dating to appease the town, to actually dating, in about a year. I think Tweek realised first that he's actually in love. No surprise, he was always the more emotionally intelligent of the two of us. To be honest, I'm not sure it was ever in question for him, although he refuses to talk about it, so I'll just keep guessing. Either way, I'd be blind not to notice the positives after some time. Tweek's sweet, often anxious about anything, from if something he said came out as rude, to new strain of the virus finally mutating to turn people into zombies. But don't think that means he's weak, no, he has the inner strength of a shonen anime protagonist. And when I see him have courage to spit in the face of his anxiety to do something that really matters to him? God, that's beautiful. And day-to-day, he runs a café, can bake the best sweets you've ever eaten, plays the pia o amazingly... He makes me sooo happy."
David chuckled. Craig flipped him the bird and he smiled apologetically, saying "Sorry, it's just- Betty's like that too. Kind but strong, balances being a wife and a mother with playing trumpbone in an orchestra and, well, makes me happy whenever I see her. I bet she and, what was it?, Tweek would have a lot in common to talk about."
Craig nodded, brushing his hair back for the sake of having something to do with his hands. Of course, it was futile, with zero gravity and all. He wondered how Tweek's already unruly hair would look like here.
"Cheer up, we're landing in 34 hours," David assured, and gave him a smile. Craig returned the expression, in a practiced sort of way - he's learned by now it'd come off as rude if he didn't.
"Yeah," Craig said, and as he thought about it, his smile turned sadder, yet more genuine. "We'll see them soon."