Chapter Text
“What the heck is this?” Ryland asked his brother with complete confusion, looking at the rectangle glass sheet in his hands.
Colt blinked, then chuckled. "That's a Smartphone,” he explained, “Thought you could use one now that you're back on Earth.”
“Thanks,” Ryland said, then, “How? This is just… I have no clue how to use this. All the tech I remember is outdated.”
“I'll show you,” Colt was about to reach out, when he noticed the slight quiver in his brother's lips. “Ry?”
A pair of eyes in the same blue shade as his looked up. “I'm not gonna be able to show Rocky any of the Earth tech once he comes down here… and all I know about Molecular Biology is probably long outdated… I don't even know if my PHD is still valid. Gosh, I feel stupid”
The sadness in his voice clutched Colt's heart in an iron fist. “Don't say that. It is not true… You literally steered a highly technical rocket ship through space with no prior experience. You were smart enough to save humanity, weren't you? And if I had gotten a degree at the same time as you, it would still be valid right now. It doesn't expire or anything.”
“Yes, but as of right now I am kind of legally dead. So the PHD is void too.” Ryland said it so quietly and almost dryly that Colt wasn't sure he had heard him right.
“What are you talking about? Ry, you're very much alive, how can you legally be dead?”
“I was legally declared dead, because it was a suicide mission. I wasn't supposed to return alive, so some paperwork was filed. It's not like I had a job or residency anymore or could file taxes.” Ryland explained, “and now that I've returned it's a complicated process to be declared alive again. Death is usually not reversible, so the filing systems aren't made for that.”
Colt was quiet for a moment before speaking again. “It might take a bit, but you'll get all your credentials and whatever you'll need back… I mean, you're the most famous person in the world right now.”
“I really wish I wasn't…”
“I know Ry, I know…”
Ryland stared at the ceiling of Colt's living room.
He had been staying in the guest room ever since returning to Earth a few weeks ago.
Being occupied with medical appointments and interviews had meant that he didn't exactly have time to go apartment hunting.
Neither of the twins minded. They both didn't say it, but they were glad to have that physical closeness right now.
Ryland then looked over. “I watched your movie last night by the way.”
Colt stilled. “The… your biopic?”
“Yes, that one.”
“What did you think?” Colt asked, heart suddenly beating faster, hands getting clammy. The two Oscars and all the praise from film critics did not matter at all to him right now. He just wanted his brother to like the film. He hadn't really thought about it, but he was terrified Ryland would hate it.
“Colt, breathe,” Ryland reminded him, “I loved the movie. You were amazing and it was very accurate. I am proud of you.”
Nodding, Colt exhaled. “I was scared you wouldn't like it.”
“Why would I not like it? Colt, I've liked all of the projects you've worked on. Even if I had to look at Ryder's stupid face most of the time to catch a glimpse of you.”
“Yeah, but that one… it was different.” Colt mumbled.
Ryland bit his lip. “I can imagine… I mean, things are pretty weird for me right now too.” He paused for a moment, before quietly adding, “I don't like all that spotlight.”
“You still getting interview requests?” Colt asked, even though it was a silly question. He had been back on Earth for barely 2 months, of course every media outlet wanted to talk to him and get the scoop.
Ryland had somewhat tried to avoid them, citing medical reasons in hope the hype would die down.
It didn't.
Ryland nodded. “Yes. Everyone wants to interview the man that saved the world… although, a bunch of them want to interview me together with Rocky once he lands…” he finally smiled a bit. “Gosh, I miss him. I'm excited to see Rocky again.”
“I'm really excited to meet him too,” Colt smiled, but something felt like a tiny pinch in his heart. Ryland and Rocky had been through unimaginable things together. Their friendship had bonded them for eternity. Meanwhile, Colt had been apart from his twin for longer than they had been together on Earth, and he wondered if that didn't do some irreparable damage to their twin bond.
He shook his head, shooing the thought away and cleared his throat. “I was wondering, there is this place down the road that opened recently. They apparently have pretty decent ramen. And I know they have a secret booth in the back so we wouldn't be bothered. I haven't been there before, I wanted to go check it out with you.”
Grinning, Ryland stood up. “You had me at Ramen.”
Ryland always got excited over food nowadays. After returning to Earth, he had his first real meal in years, since on the space station he only got packaged goop. Jody had cooked and Ryland had cried after the first bite, concerning her, before he explained that it was just too good and overwhelming for his taste buds.
Now he was on a mission to try as many different foods as possible.
Colt honestly loved to see his brother's eyes light up every time he rediscovered a flavor.
He watched Ryland from his peripheral vision as he drove. He was softly singing along to the music and Colt couldn't get over how young he looked.
Sure he was a grown middle aged man, but compared to him?
His hair was still blond and his skin only showing slight wrinkles. It felt like Colt was looking into his own past.
For half a moment, Colt thought about the fact that with almost 100% certainty, he would be the first of them to die, this time being the one who left, going where the other couldn't follow.
He would have to leave Ryland and there was nothing he could do about it.
Colt shook his head, banning the thought from his brain. He shouldn't think about that, instead spend the time he did have catching up with his twin.
Time spent together was now the most valuable thing they had.
Upon arriving, they were shown to the corner booth in the back that Colt had requested, not wanting to be bothered by paparazzi today.
Ryland felt the teenage server's eyes on him. She seemed to recognize him, but didn't say anything, bringing them their food.
It was amazing and Colt almost laughed when Ryland scraped his bowl, trying to get the rest of the food out.
“Don't laugh,” he huffed, “you'd do the same if you had ever had the displeasure of tasting Taumeoba.”
Colt just snorted, wondering if anyone had told Ryland about Mark Watney yet and his hatred for potatoes. He might have been the only human that somewhat understood what Ryland had experienced. He wondered if NASA could maybe organize a meet up.
The server approached with the bill shortly after, hesitating. “Are you… are you Dr. Grace?”
Ryland gave her a smile. “Yes, that would be me.”
The smile was genuine, Colt could tell. Ryland still had that soft spot for kids.
“Oh my gosh,” the girl squealed, “that is so cool! I can't believe I got to meet the savior of the sun!”
Ryland chuckled. “Well now, I'm not really the guy for compliments, but thank you.”
Her eyes fell to Colt, then back at him again. “It must've been nice that you got to reunite with your Dad.”
Colt's chest tightened and he suddenly felt ice cold. Rylands smile faltered.
“He, uh…” he cleared his throat. “He's actually my twin brother, but due to time dilation we are now twenty years apart, so…”
The girl turned pink, her voice squeaky. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!”
“It's fine,” Colt said, the words tasting like ash in his mouth, “relativity is confusing, I didn't fully get it at first either. But yeah, it was pretty great to see each other again.”
They left soon after, the drive home silent. The innocent words of the girl had hit both of them hard.
Neither of them really wanted to think about their age gap and what it meant about the time they had left together.
Colt had to ban his earlier thoughts with little success, then cleared his throat. “I should've left my hearing aids at home today, then I wouldn't have had to hear that.”
It was supposed to be a joke, but it fell flat, Ryland only now seeing the tiny, almost invisible devices behind his brother's ear.
His stomach churned as he looked at him a little longer.
The once blond hair was grey now, on the way to turn white. His face was etched with lines of age. Crow's feet and scars he didn't know the origin of, the eyelids drooping, partially hiding the blue of his eyes.
Ryland had to tear his eyes away, wrapping his own arms around his body as a lump formed in his throat.
He was going to outlive Colt by at least a decade, and he hated that thought. He had missed Colt's whole life, his wedding, the birth of his children, all of his ups and downs. He should have been there.
He wasn't at fault for that, but he still felt guilty.
Colt also felt guilty. He had just went on and lived his life, while Ryland was out in space, the weight of the world on his shoulders, all alone and basically on his way to die. And then Ryland had pack-bonded with a sentient alien rock and they had saved each other's lives on multiple occasions and Colt felt jealous of their bond, and he felt guilty about that too.
He should have been happy that his brother hadn't been all alone. The bigger part of him was. But that other tiny, nagging part in the back of his brain wondered if Rocky had replaced him for Ryland in a way.
Colt stopped the car in the driveway and for a moment they just sat there, staring ahead.
Rylands eyes fell to Colt's hands. He was fiddling with his wedding ring. Exhaling, he cleared his throat, breaking the silence. “You haven't told me about the wedding yet. And the proposal. I would really like to hear about that.”
With a smile that only halfway reached his eyes, Colt climbed out of the car. “Sure. I'll show you, come on.”
“What's wrong?,” Jody asked as Colt climbed into the bed, putting her book aside.
She always noticed when something was bothering him. She loved him so much and he loved her too. She had taught him how to open up, and while at first it had been hard, it now felt like the easiest thing in the world.
He licked his lips. “I showed Ryland our wedding video earlier today and I told him about the proposal, because he wanted to know… We both had kind of a crappy day because some waitress thought we were father and son and that hit both of us hard. I think he was trying to cheer me up, and he was excited he got to see it on video, but now I just feel even more sad that he wasn't there to witness it live.”
“I'm sorry,” Jody pulled him into her arms, burying her hands in his hair.
Colt closed his eyes, relaxing at her touch. Her heartbeat always soothed him.
“I have an idea,” she murmured then and he couldn't help but smile.
Ryland stood at the kitchen sink, just staring at the glass of water he had just filled, but not really drinking it.
It was 2:30 am, but he couldn't sleep. His thoughts kept him awake, churning inside of him again and again.
There was so much that he didn't know about Colt now… that wedding video had been beautiful. Colt and Jody had been so happy. But he only got to see it through a stranger's eyes and that hurt.
“Ry!” The almost choked whisper ripped him out of his thoughts, his eyes falling onto his brother standing behind him in the moonlit kitchen.
Colt looked sweaty, breathing heavily, hair disheveled.
“Colt? Are you okay?”
He didn't answer, just stumbling towards him, pulling him into a trembling hug.
Ryland put his arms around him, stroking his hands over his brother's back in what he hoped was a soothing motion.
“Whats going on,” he murmured then, as Colt slowly calmed.
Eventually Colt pulled back, quickly wiping his eyes. “Nightmare. I wanted to check on you, and when you weren't in bed, I… I kinda panicked."
Ryland winced. “I'm sorry Colt, I couldn't sleep and needed to stretch my legs for a bit.”
Exhaling, Colt shook his head. “Not your fault, man.”
It was quiet for a moment, before Ryland spoke up again. “Does… does that happen a lot? The nightmares?”
“It comes and goes,” Colt said, solemnly, “I was hoping they'd stop once you were back but… I still have them. They're just different now… this one… I dreamt that something went wrong during re-entry and you never actually made it home…”
Ryland just nodded. “I get them too, you know… sometimes it's about space, and the things that went wrong but…” he had to pause for a moment, “some are about you too… I keep dreaming that I was too late… or that you hate me for missing every single important event in your life.”
A choked sound escaped Colt. “I could never hate you, Ry. Especially not for that. Yes, I wished I had you by my side for these moments, but I know that your mission was bigger than that.”
Sniffing, Ryland rubbed his eyes. “Gosh, we're both really ducking traumatized.”
Colt chuckled weakly. “Yeah, I guess so.” He fiddled with his fox bracelet for a moment before looking up again. “Jody and I talked earlier… and, we've come up with an idea and I wanted to know what you think about it.”
"Let's hear it.”
“Our 40th wedding anniversary is coming up. Jody had the idea to celebrate that with a vow reneval… and this time, I want you to be my best man.”
Ryland blinked into the darkness. “I really like that idea… Thank you for including me. It means a lot.”
“Of course we'll include you. I feel like it's even more of an event to have you there than an actual marriage thing. Jody and I both know that there is nothing that could part us. But we really, really want to have a moment to celebrate our family with you.”
“40 years, huh?” Ryland rubbed his chin. “Geez, you've been married for longer than I've spent time on Earth.”
“Don't remind me of that fact.”
The twins just stood there for a bit, the only audible sound being the hum from the fridge and the soft ticking of the clock.
It almost felt like they were 11 again, meeting in the kitchen on the first night after they had gotten their own rooms and neither of them had been able to sleep.
The familiarity of the situation almost hurt.
It was Ryland who then broke the silence. “I got an e-mail earlier today. The housing dome is done with testing. The Eridians are gonna arrive next week… Well, just Rocky at first because of the weight situation, and they want to make sure the space jets can handle that, but the others will come down in the days after.”
Colt had grabbed Rylands abandoned water glass, taking a sip. “That is pretty awesome. First diplomatic contact with an alien species on Earth.”
“Yeah… Do you want to come along? I mean, when he lands.” Ryland asked then.
“I… that would be pretty cool. Are you sure you want me there?” Colt sounded unsure and Ryland blinked.
“Of course I want you there. I really want the first human that I introduce Rocky to on Earth to be you. And since I kinda talked about you non-stop up there, Rocky would like to meet you first too.”
Colt scratched his head. “Isn't he gonna like, meet the president and whoever else first?”
Ryland laughed. That deep bubbly belly laugh that Colt had missed for so many years.
“Of course there is gonna be diplomatic stuff going on. But, a perk of being humanity's savior is that if I express the wish to do things a certain way, people will fulfill that… I haven't really used that to my advantage nor will I ever exploit it, but… for these special moments I do… kind of like how I didn't want all the media there when I landed.”
“Yeah,” Colt nodded. “That was for the best, really.”
No one had been told the exact landing time except Colt and his family.
There had been exactly one camera, by a trusted friend of Jody's, filming the return of Earth's hero, because it had to be documented somehow.
The footage of the twins meeting again, running towards each other, hugging and collapsing and crying on the tarmac had eventually been released.
Jody had made sure that they held all the rights to it and all profits went to the foundation they had started in Ryland’s honor.
The internet had exploded upon the release, multiple sites going down with server crashes.
Colt had avoided watching it. He wasn't sure he was ready for that.
His eyes fell to the clock. It was almost 3 am now.
“We should go to sleep,” they both said at the same time, snorting upon realizing.
“Twin telepathy is still there,” Ryland joked and Colt nodded, smiling.
Ryland cleared his throat. “You gonna be okay now?”
It took Colt a second until his tired brain caught up with the fact he meant the nightmare.
“Now that I've seen you in my kitchen with my own two eyes. I'll be fine.”
“Alright then… Goodnight, Colton.”
“Goodnight, Ryland.”
With that, they parted, trotting to their rooms, calmed now, knowing that they were only a room apart.
Just like when they were 11.