Just a little fic I've wanted to write for a while.
"Alfred?" The voice was very crackly and robotic, but to be honest, Alfred thought that he was super lucky to be able to even talk to his boyfriend at all.
"Hey Arthur! How are things down there? Man! It's only been a few hours and I already miss you like crazy!" Alfred enthused as he bounced towards the window, watching the little blue marble spinning in the empty blackness.
He heard Arthur laugh rather breathily into the microphone and his heart swelled with affection.
"Don't think about me! You've always wanted to do this and it's amazing that you finally managed it!"
Alfred stared at the Earth, his face splitting with a huge grin.
"Yeah, I guess. I wish you were here though. It's beautiful." He heard a sigh in his headset and something rustling.
"I'm so glad that you managed to get up there safely though. We thought we were going to have issues with the take off but Francis managed to sort it out at the last minute."
"So you admit that Francis can be useful then?" Alfred teased.
"Francis may be a git," Arthur said, "But he definitely knows what he's doing."
"So how are we going to celebrate when we get back?"
"Well, I'm assuming that Feliciano will probably make some sort of pasta to celebrate and Gilbert will bring out the beer..."
"No, I meant, *we* as in you and me!" Alfred frowned as he attempted to do his daily stretches, feeling rather guilty that he'd completely neglected his training for the first few days, having been so over-enthusiastic about being launched into space. "I supposed you'll be so impatient to get us into bed that we won't have time to do much that evening."
There was no sound for a moment and Alfred (who'd been expecting some sort of embarrassed spluttering) was extremely put off. "Artie?" he asked, more than a little concerned. "Artie, I'm sorry, I'm -"
And then his headset was filled with laughter.
"Mon ami! Mon cher! I didn't realise that this is what you talk about... Ah! No! Don't hurt me! It was Elizaveta's idea! No!"
He could distinctly hear the creepy Russian guy chortling in the background and... was that Kiku laughing? Eventually, the noise faded and there was a faint rustling noise and then he could hear Arthur speaking to him.
"I'm terribly sorry, love. Someone on the team -" Alfred could only imagine the glare Arthur would be shooting at a certain Frenchman " - Thought it would be amusing to turn on the loudspeaker."
There was a brief scuffle before a very jovial voice rang through the headset.
"Bonjour, Alfred!"
"Oh, hey Francis!" Alfred replied, a little confused.
"I have to make it quick, mon petit lapin isn't particularly happy that I stole his headset. I just wanted to tell you that while big brother is delighted at the thought of your relationship, I am a little sceptical on your knowledge of the birds and bees - "
Alfred coloured. "Francis, man, it's OK! I don't need you to - " But the Frenchman carried on speaking as if nothing had happened.
"First of all, one must always use lubricant. You will never know what might happen and although I am pretty sure that rosbif is clean, one can never be too sure - "
There was a nasty sounding thump and the headset was once again back in Arthur's possession.
"I'm sorry, Alfred. Please excuse me as I take some time to dispose of some trash that has found its way into the room."
Given the circumstances, Alfred wasn't particularly sympathetic.
It was twelve days before Alfred was due to land back on the Earth before it happened.
"Alfred, there's something moving in your direction at three o'clock with a speed of approximately 27 kilometres per second."
The American had been about to drift off when his headset crackled to life. "Do you know how far away it is?" he asked, moving so that he was sitting neatly at the control desk.
"Hang on for two secs... Elizaveta's just running an analysis."
Alfred fiddled idly with a pen as he waited, hearing nothing but static. He wasn't particularly anxious; asteroids were not particularly uncommon after all. He glanced out of the window at the little blue and white marble turning slowly in the distance, his heart suddenly eclipsed with affection for his boyfriend who was working so hard to make the mission a success. And then his world was flipped upside down and jolted violently as something slammed into the spacecraft, ripping something apart with a metallic screech. And then all he could here was his own harsh breathing and he could see the rock tearing its way through the vacuum of space.
"Well," he laughed, a little breathily. "I guess that was the asteroid then?"
The headset crackled and he could hear the worry in Arthur's voice.
"It wasn't an asteroid, Alfred. You of all people should know that!"
Alfred rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever."
There was a small silence before Arthur spoke again, his voice laden with anxiety.
"Alfred, could you do a check on the tanks, please?"
"Sure thing, man! Let's see, the fuel's OK! The pressure seems to be OK too! And... oh... Arthur..."
He trailed off as he saw the little light flickering on the dashboard.
"I thought it was just a glitch in the software," Arthur said, so quiet, Alfred could barely hear him. "I seriously didn't want to think that... oh my god... Alfred. It hit the oxygen tank."
"It's OK, Artie! I'll be fine! We can get me back to Earth in a few hours maximum if we start using the fuel now, right?"
There was the sound of hysterical breathing before a new voice started to speak.
"Hey Alfred, this is Elizaveta. Sorry about that, we had to remove Arthur... he's not... he's not emotionally OK at the moment."
"Hey Liz! I understand, he does tend to overeact. Am I going to reenter today then or not?"
"Alfred, you have to listen to me. The meteor hit the oxygen tank, almost completely obliterating it. It only just missed the spacecraft for which I guess we can count our blessings. The good news is that you're still alive. The bad news is that in half an hour, there'll be no oxygen left."
"Ah." Alfred started fiddling again. "Can you put Arthur on please. I want to talk to him."
There was a crackle of static and a jolt of panic went through him.
"Alfred."
The voice instantly soothed him and calmed him down.
"Hey, Arthur. You OK?"
"I'm fine. But you're not. You're not coming back. And then I won't be OK. Because I don't even know how I'm going to be OK without you," the Englishman said, quietly and choked with sobs.
Alfred felt the words engrave themself into his heart and closed his eyes.
"Arthur. You remember what I said on my first day out here? How I really wanted you to be here with me?" He didn't wait for a reply before carrying on. "Well I'm really glad you're not. Because I don't think I could take it if I knew you were going to die with me."
"Idiot," the voice said, so obscured with tears that Alfred could barely hear what he was saying. But he knew that Arthur loved him and that was enough. So he smiled.
"And the Earth is still spinning you know? I can't see any stars apart from the Sun in the distance but we both know it's all about perspective. And it's all so beautiful but none of it could hold a candle to you." He pressed a hand against the glass of the window, like he did when he was a child who wished to be an astronaut, and a single tear rolled down his cheek. "And you know what, Arthur? Maybe I can become part of a supernova. If I float off into space, I can become part of a supernova and then I can finally feel that I am beautiful enough to stand by you."
"You idiot. You don't need to become a supernova to impress me."
"Arthur, I love you."
"And I love you too."
Arthur pulled off the headset. He felt numb and he ached, like someone had smashed his body with a sledgehammer. Francis placed a warm hand on his shoulder.
"Is he gone?" he murmured.
Arthur nodded, a jerky, terse movement.
"Dieu vous protège," he said and pulled his friend into a hug.