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Wash recognized this was a unique situation: he was exiting the quarantine chambers after 48 hours of detainment on his way to see Church. He didn’t consider it too extreme, just peculiar. 59 hours ago he was in the upper rungs of the atmosphere descending from outer space back to Earth and good God that was the most unbelievable sentence to ever cross his mind. To think he lived in space for a small amount of time was a wild idea, more of a fading memory now. Currently, he was back on Earth and ready to see his loved ones. He walked out of the building and stepped onto grass for the first time in six months and the surreal absurdity washed over him. The very planet he orbited above and saw from afar, the very green sprawling the surface lay beneath his feet once again. He dropped his luggage and took a moment to sink his shoes into soft earth and nope, not good enough. Church was walking up to greet him but Wash knew he wouldn’t mind waiting a few extra seconds.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” Wash responded as he undid his shoe laces.
“What’re you doing?”
Wash smiled with great affection up at him as he removed his socks, “You don’t realize how much you miss the little things until you’re back.”
Church chuckled in response, “Is that so?”
He nodded happily as he dug his bare feet into soil and grass, reveling in the cold damp feeling. Washington closed his eyes for a moment and drank the scene in. He wished he could say he enjoyed the feeling of warm sun on his face filtered in through the atmosphere but the weather didn’t want to cooperate with him today. It was cloudy, dead of winter, gloomy and any other person would’ve found it drab but Wash loved every moment of it. The only spot of color on his horizon arose from the grass peaking up between his toes, the other cars in the parking lot, and the burgundy of Church’s scarf. He leaned in, softly tugging on it and kissed him hello. “Missed you.”
Church smiled wider, “Missed you too. How’s it feel to be back?”
Wash lingered for a moment playing with the frayed edges of Church’s scarf, the corners of his lips tugging downward. “I don’t know. They quarantined me for the past two days to monitor my vitals and run some tests. Doesn’t feel like home to me yet.”
Church nodded in understanding, “It will soon. Though really, I bet nothing could ever live up to all the incredible views you’ve seen so far.”
Washington laughed as he pulled his socks and shoes back on, linking his arms with Church on the way back to their car. “Yeah, that’s putting it mildly. Wish you could’ve seen it with me.”
“I know. You wanna head home or grab a bite to eat? We can even go to your favorite restaurant, the one with the bisque?”
He shook his head as he buckled up, “I’m tired, I want to be in our bed. Don’t get me wrong, this is the nicest you’ve ever been to me and I want to take up your offer but I’m still tired. I don’t think jetlagged is the feeling I’m experiencing but that’s the closest I can get to describing it.”
Church rolled his eyes fondly, “Are you gonna lord this whole ‘I went to space’ thing over me forever? Cuz that’s gonna get old real quick. I don’t wanna be at a work party and my coworkers ask what you do and you’re all ‘I’m an astronaut’ and then fuck, man, there goes all their interest in me forever. I’m no longer the badass, you are, you’ve upstaged me.”
Wash rested his hand on Church’s thigh, looking at him knowingly. “Yeah right, you complain about those ‘dickweeds,’ as you call them might I remind you, all the time. You’d kill to have the focus off of you for a second.”
“Not like this and you know it! I still want them to think I’m cool as fuck!”
This was normal and this was what Wash wanted to get back to. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Church’s cheek, “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
It was a peaceful 48 minute drive back to their house and Wash loved every second of it. The scenery passing them by as they glided down the interstate, the hushed dulcet tones of Church filling him on what was new and different in the time he’d been gone, and knowing he could look to his left at any moment and Church was there was wonderful. He could feel him, hear him, and even smell a hint of his cologne which wasn’t a sensation he’d experienced in half a year now. Church was his home.
-*-
Getting used to being back on Earth proved more difficult than he initially thought. He’d read about how astronauts had a brief adjustment period but he never thought it’d hit him this hard. The first day or two back in their home he just slept. That was it. Just slept. Not exciting at all honestly. In space he slept standing up which wasn’t particularly odd due to the lack of gravity. Having to strap himself down was slightly unnerving but he didn’t mind it. It was nice to have a softer surface to sleep on though.
He woke up after his long slumber and attempted to change into his favorite trousers and they ended above his ankles. He recalled the scientists taking note of his medical history post landing saying it was normal for astronauts to have grown two inches in space. He couldn’t recall if they said it was a permanent growth spurt but he hoped not, he didn’t want to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe.
What got him the most was all the stuff he kept dropping and breaking. He’d finished his mug of coffee and simply let his fingers unfurl from around the mug above the sink and a loud crashing sound followed soon after and shattered ceramic flying everywhere. Wash stood in silence looking bewildered, unsure of what truly happened as Church curiously strolled into the kitchen.
“Hey, you okay?”
“Y-yeah. Just forgot about gravity. Aboard the ISS, we would constantly let things float off and never worry about it. It didn’t occur to me until this moment: if I let something go, it falls. And if it’s hard, it breaks.”
Church smiled at him mirthfully.
“Seriously, you’d think I remember. I wasn’t gone for that long.”
“Doesn’t take long to adapt, you know. In space or back on Earth.”
Wash shook his head, “I dropped the toothpaste yesterday and didn’t think anything of it, figured I’d be past it soon enough. I hate this, it’s such a weird feeling. Do you know how accomplished I am? I have more medals than any person should have and yet, I have a worse grasp than newborn babies. I’m a full-grown adult! I used to fight with knives.”
Church couldn’t hold his laughter back anymore, not after how ridiculous Washington’s last sentence sounded amidst the crisis he was having. “I know. Come on, we’ll clean it up later.”
Washington followed him to the living room, sinking down onto the sofa, burrowing his head into Church’s lap. “This is ridiculous, I just want to feel normal again.”
Church smiled down at him as he carded his fingers through his hair, “You will soon enough.”
“I know but it’s weird. I’ve seen the world in a way only few people have and it puts things into perspective for you. Carl Sagan’s said it before but it never hit me until I was up there looking down. Literally everyone who has ever existed, everyone I know personally or not, every single person ever lives on this planet. Nowhere else. That’s crazy.”
Church kissed the top of his head, deciding it was for the best to let Wash keep going. “It is.”
Wash sat up, his eyes intense. “I wish you could’ve seen it Church, it was so beautiful. I couldn’t believe it. I saw 15 sunrises and sunsets every day, every time over a different region. I saw the Northern Lights dancing above the earth but trapped below the atmosphere. I saw hurricanes form and engulf everything around them. I know they were wreaking havoc on the land and people beneath them but from up above… They’re quiet. They look peaceful. It’s surreal knowing what they’re doing to the earth but you don’t get any of that from up there! You know what I didn’t see? Wars, I didn’t see people kill each other. I saw the scars of the Grand Canyon and the Rift Valley and I saw rivers like veins but I didn’t see any bloodshed or warfare. It was nice to escape for a little bit.”
Church nodded, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against Wash’s. “I wish I could’ve seen it too. It sounds great.”
Wash exhaled slowly, delicately kissing Church. “It’s hard to talk about all this without getting emotional. I want to run out on the street and scream at people about everything but they might react poorly.”
The corner of Church’s lips perked up, “Probably. It’s a good thing you’re an astronaut who works for an agency who’s all about space advocacy and outreach, huh?”
Wash laughed, pulling away and sinking into the sofa. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ve got plenty of lectures in my future. I’m gonna get a ton of questions about how we peed or if we ate astronaut ice cream.”
Church shrugged, his small smile growing while he leisurely rubbed his thumb in circular motions against the other man’s thigh. “Yeah but you know those science geeks are gonna be milling around waiting to ask you a question about hydraulics or some shit which is bound to make you excited like the fucking nerd you are.”
Wash nodded in appeasement, a serene and comfortable silence settling over them. A few minutes later he spoke up again, soft and inquisitive. “Would you ever let me accept the mission to Mars?”
Without missing a beat, Church responded with fervor. “Fuck no. Colonizing Mars is practically a suicide mission. Either you take me with you or you don’t go. These past six months were hard enough without you, I’m not living the rest of my life without you if I have to either.”
“Are you admitting you like having me around?”
Church grumbled, “Don’t ruin the moment.”
Wash smiled, pulling him in close and kissing the top of his head. “Right. It’s too bad intergalactic travel’ll never be perfected in our lifetime. Think of all the mushy stuff we could do. Think of all the moments we could have. We could hold hands while we sail by the Heart and Soul Nebula.”
“You’re ruining it.”
“We could kiss as we see a snapshot of two galaxies intertwined in a cosmic dance as they become one.”
“Stop this right now.”
Wash moved closer, pressing his lips against the shell of Church’s ear, his words a quiet murmur. “We could hold each other as we pass by a planet where it rains metal.”
“I just wanted to have a nice quiet night with you.”
Wash laughed, kissing his cheek. “We could travel the universe together and you’d love every fucking minute of it because I’d be there with you.”
Church pushed him off gently, a small smile gracing his lips, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, go on, inflate your ego some more why don't you.”
Washington dramatically grasped his hand before Church could escape him. “Leonard Church, will you travel the universe with me?”
“Only if you promise not to be so annoying the entire time.”
Wash grinned and nodded. Being back on Earth didn’t feel so weird anymore. He didn’t feel out of place. Not when Church was there to ground him.