that's why, darling, it's incredible

with clammy hands, he adjusts the collar of his shirt one last time. a grey shirt with a cardigan he borrowed — stole — from ryland, in the dullest colour available from his vibrant collection. the necklace with the ring is back on, worn against his chest, right above his heartbeat, since the day he received the call from the agency.

he still remembers it clear as day, how he stayed at his office desk for the longest time after the call, absolutely dumbfounded by the message delivered over the phone.

grace is coming home.

he’s spent weeks unpacking what he shelved into boxes in the storage room, trying to restore the shared space back to how ryland left it, or as best as he’s able to. it’s like the living room came back to life, rejoined by ryland’s trinkets — he swears he’d never call them useless ever again — and colourful decorations compared to nolan’s picks of boring neutrals.

everything he’s planned to say escapes him the moment he’s finally led into the medical bay — they said they’d be separated and see each other through a glass partition for now, a quarantine protocol so ryland can slowly re-acclimate to earth’s air and gravity. nolan stands right in front of it, pulled along by sunny's excited sprint.

“hey.” nolan smiles, his hand resting on the cold glass beneath his fingers as he looks at the man on the other side. sitting on a hospital bed, a fair bit skinnier than how nolan remembers him, and just like nolan himself, sporting more grey hair and wrinkles than when they last met. “look who’s back.” his eyes are glistening now that he’s overwhelmed by emotion, matched by the same dumbfounded grin on ryland’s beautiful face that tells him he’s just as moved by all of this.

maybe part of nolan has been more afraid than he’d cared to admit. not just about whether the ship would land safely or that ryland would be recovered back to earth soundly, but that ryland could have changed his mind. he could have forgotten about him — some kind of space-induced amnesia from time dilation or relativity or whatever excuse space offered — or he could’ve simply changed his mind. about nolan, about them, about the life that they’ve built together.

it’s not the wildest thought, right? people change their minds all the time, prolonged space separation involved or not.

sunny's loud, happy bark pierces through the stunned silence, and nolan cannot help but laugh as the sound echoes in the room — neither can the technicians watching them from behind the observation window, as more lighthearted laughter fills the air. nolan leans down to give the dog a pat on the head, sunny's wagging tail infecting the entire room with overflowing joy.

“yeah, daddy’s back.” nolan coos, ignoring the way the words nearly collapse in his throat before he can utter them. “isn’t that crazy?” turning back to fully face ryland now, he speaks again. “he rarely runs now, but he did just now — basically dragged me by the leash with his little sprint since he knew exactly where you were.” the recollection makes his eyes rim with red, but the smile on his face remains unbroken. “it’s like he always knew… that you’d make it back.”

* 𓅪  ───   #2BIRDS1SONG . duo blog of panem's most notorious birds, a MOCKINGJAY & A SONGBIRD. lucy gray BAIRD and katniss EVERDEEN. .. fandom, crossover, duplicate and oc friendly! multiple verses available!

his boyfriend’s stunned reaction at him properly dressed up for once makes him chuckle, as nolan finally realises ryland’s wide eyes are a reaction to seeing him in the suit rather than the result of any nerves he might be feeling toward being introduced to his colleagues. “i’m glad you think so.” nolan grins as his lover tucks him closer, his own hands reaching up to smoothen the fabric of the collars of ryland’s shirt. “you don’t look too bad yourself.” it’s quite a contrast from how they typically dress, and of course, ryland looks as handsome to him in a suit as he does in his cozy knits.

Ryland shook his head. "You look much better. This suit is so old." He gazed at Nolan with affection as he adjusted his collar, no doubt messed up when he was doing up his tie.

"I'm sure it'll be a nice wedding anyway." He didn't know too much about the married couple apart from the fact the bride was Nolan's colleague. He had met a couple of them when he had met up with him after work, but only very briefly. This wedding meant meeting almost everybody he worked with, and there was nervousness balling in his stomach, though he tried to ignore it as he followed his boyfriend out of his apartment and into his car. "How long did you say they've been together for?" He pulled down the mirror in the passenger seat and turned to the side to look at the one stubborn flick of hair at the back of his hair that refused to be tamed even with hair product. Pressing it down for a few seconds, it stayed for just a moment before flicking back up again. He sighed and sat back into the seat, watching Nolan drive in that lovely suit.

Ryland hummed encouragingly as he heard Nolan's sweet sounds as he started pumping his length. The lustful fog was there from the moment he had told a total stranger he was his 'boyfriend'. It made such a difference from the Nolan who was even alarmed by the fact they parking in more than just casual sex together. This version of Nolan was his entirely and he wanted him to know just how grateful he was.

Had he forgotten to put up the Closed sign? He was fairly certain he had never removed it since Gabriel - Jim - had found his way into the bookshop yesteray, and so Aziraphale had not been paying particular attention to the noises reaching him in the backroom. Jim was dusting, and he had already caught him in conversation with himself more than once over the precious few hours he had had the pleasure of...hosting him.

But Jim only had the one voice, so when Aziraphale distinctly recognises a second one partaking in the conversation, he rushes through the door leading him into the store. Seeing it was only Grace sends a surge of relief through him, even if he wasn't particularly planning on introducing Jim to anyone for the time being.

"Ah, Mr. Ryland -"

Grace had been settling into London relatively well. Whilst he was still using a bike to get around, there were far fewer hills and he was grateful for that. He had a decently priced 'flat' in in Soho that was owned by a Mr. Fell who owned a quirky bookstore a few doors down and he couldn't complain. Compared to the rest of London the rent was decent and he was in the beating heart of it all.

He had left his apartment with the intention of getting some kind of sweet treat from 'Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death' when he saw the sign to A.Z. Fell and Co. was on 'Open' - a rare occurrence. He was on the lookout for a book published in 1889 that hadn't been archived online, and so it seemed as good an excuse as any to enter.

It was then he was greeted by another American. He was in an odd conversation with him when he asked where he was from and all he could say was 'here'. He was a little odd. And then he remembered a conversation he had with Nina about what had happened yesterday. The naked man in front of Mr. Fell's bookstore...it all clicked. His landlord was a dark horse.

"Oh, no, please just Ryland is fine." He batted the air before turning to Jim with a nod. "Cool, great. I don't ever see you open so I thought I'd come in. I'm actually looking for a book for my research, but Jim didn't seem to know, so I'm glad you're here!"

𝐭𝐡𝐞  𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫  𝐡𝐚𝐝  𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧  𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐰𝐚𝐲  𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡  gathering  up  the  torn  wrappers  and  shoving  them  back  into  the  first-aid  kit  when  grace  lurched  upright.  rocky's  head  snapped  up  immediately  —  reflex,  and  instinct,  that  wired-in  vigilance  that  they  still  hadn't  managed  to  shake  since  the  coma  months. 

then  grace  winced,  and  rocky  frowned. 

❝  careful  !  ❞  he  scolds,  brows  knitting  together  in  concern.  a  hand  comes  out  to  hover  near  the  scientist's  hip  should  he  need  steadying,  ready  to  catch  him  if  he  stumbled,  not  quite  touching,  but  close  enough  that  the  intention  is  obvious. but  grace  was  already  clapping,  deflecting,  moving  on,  doing  the  thing  where  he  tried  to  pretend  he  wasn't  in  pain  and  rocky  watched  with  a  look  that  was  half  fond  …  half  exasperated.

❝  oh,  we're  calling  it  ‘cooking’  now?  ❞  they  drawled,  leaning  back  on  both  hands  now  that  he  was  convinced  grace  wasn't  going  to  fall  over.  ❝  bold  of  you.  ❞ 

pushing  themselves  to  their  feet  with  a  quiet  hum  rocky  brushed  off  their  jumpsuit,  stepping  back  slightly  and  crossing  their  arms  over  their  chest.  they  raised  a  dark  brow,  teasing  smirk  tugging  at  the  corners  of  their  lips. 

❝  are  you  going  to  cook  the  noodles?  or  just  eat  them  raw  again  like  a  disgusting  heathen?  ❞ 

"It's the closest thing we've got." And truth be told his 'cooking' back home wasn't too different. It usually involved throwing something pre-made in an oven, a microwave or his beloved air fryer. He shuffled over to the food and drinks station, pulling out a drawer of dried provisions as Rocky ribbed his food-preferences.

"Don't yuck my yum. We have limited food rations here, god forbid I want some textural variation in my life up in space." Grace placed a hand on his hip in indignance as he carded through what they had. Just to make a point, he took out a packet, tore open the top of the pack and pushed out just enough for him to bite into the noodle brick with purpose.

"Do you want yours cooked, or would you care to join me on a culinary journey?"

Ryan Gosling as Dr. Ryland Grace