FIC; The Universe Encompasses and Swallows Me Up Like an Atom
title: the universe encompasses and swallows me up like an atom
author: mozarts-piano
pairings: louis/harry (mentions of liam/zayn, niall/ofc, matt cardle/aiden grimshaw)
word count: 5,000
rating: Mature
warnings: swearing, sexual activities (not too graphic), a very low knowledge of space and planets
summary: harry and louis go on an intergalactic road trip across the solar system (or the one where they look at diamond rain on saturn)
notes: based off this prompt on the kink meme. also heavily based off the little prince by the fabulous antione de saint exupéry. title taken from a blaise pascal quote (but the rest is mine, i swear!)
one day, on asteroid 5, 478 with the sun setting again and the dark milkyness of space still milky and dark, louis proposes that they go on a holiday.
"you've been moping far too long," he explains to harry when they eat their flowers and stardust for dinner, "and it's time we got away from all this hectic life."
of course there are things to be done when ever anyone suggests leaving a place for an extended period of time. harry has to trim the hedges and fix the volcanoes. louis goes around to the neighbouring asteroids and asks if anyone will pop in to make sure theirs doesn't go out of orbit.
when everything's set and good and ready and their bags are all packed harry holds louis' hand and squeezes tight.
"what if we get lost?" he asks with his eyes all big and wide and innocent.
"we won't get lost, silly," louis kisses him on his freckled nose (worn out from all the sunsets he watches) for good measure, "we love each other right?"
"always."
"so we'll never get lost," he smiles and harry smiles and they set off on their adventure.
mercury is, of course, first on their list. harry's always been a child of the sun, playing on its dark spots whenever their little planet passes close enough for a visit, and so he loves the constant pressure of it. he gets a wicked tan while louis hides out under the umbrella they packed, and they kiss in the sunset on the first afternoon, all quiet and peaceful and full of a passion that's never been calmed.
harry gets sun burnt on their third night there (i told you to wear sunscreen, louis cries out while harry whines and pouts) so they pack their bags and head off to venus instead - the planet of love.
even in their tiny world venus is still the place to be, with its heavy clouds and thick atmosphere. it's hot and humid and once harry's red skin turns dark brown they have fun, sharing their sweat.
the tiny motel the stay at is run by a very bitter vengran, all purple skin and hateful eyes. she glares at the when they pass to go into their room.
they never did get a proper honeymoon (what with harry's parents yelling that louis wasn't good enough and their planet in turmoil) but they're making up for it now.
the room is quiet but they aren't.
harry likes to lie under louis when they make love, holding on for dear life and clutching at whatever bit of skin he can. louis prefers to be on top, sinking up and down over harry in a rocking motion, noises wild and young and carefree, his touches sweet caresses in the coolness of the night.
it is at times like this that it hits both of them how much they love each other.
and how lucky they are - in this huge universe - to have found one another.
they stay on venus for three more days.
at night it's all them, all hot skin and deep kisses and moans and tangled, wet fingers and pulled hair. but during the day it's about making friends with the other pulsing couples around them.
they meet zayn and liam (two very nice neptuneites that share secret smiles) by the pool the second day and hit it off almost immediately. they hold hands the same way louis and harry do, like they're the only ones in the world. they talk about previous trips (it's zayn and liam's fourth time on venus and louis and harry take in the information with a jealous glint in their eyes) and where they live and how they live.
"i've never heard of asteroid 5, 478," liam tells harry from where they're sitting together at the bar, both watching zayn and louis from where they're playing cards with the man and woman from ios, "is it nice there?"
"it's lovely," harry smiles wide and liam blinks a little because harry can sometime forget that not everyone is used to bright smiles that light up the universe, "just me and lou and some purple flowers. we play football with the family from the planet next to us every week and go to the community meetings every other wednesday and it's just-" harry smiles wistfully, thinking of home, "i love it so much there."
liam smiles and tells harry how zayn and him are thinking of moving from neptune because the methane is starting to effect zayn's breathing, "we want to go to earth," says liam, and harry asks why they'd ever want to go there for.
"you always see big ships going away from earth," he reasons with liam, "everyone's trying to get away as fast as they can."
liam opens his mouth to explain but just then louis and zayn's card game ends and the two wander over. louis sits down in harry's lap and harry opens his legs so he can cross them in front of louis, and louis strokes his legs and tells him all about the game.
the sun sets quickly after that and they get up so they can go spend their last night on venus all tangled together, when liam stops them with a kind smile.
"before you go - zayn, tell harry about your sister that went to earth."
the darker skinned boy smiles at them, "she loved it. said the food there was amazing, nothing like anywhere else in the world," harry frowns a bit but louis looks open to the idea.
"we've got a few extra days, haz," he nudges harry with his hip and harry just wishes his hip was nudging something else, "we could pop 'round for a visit tomorrow and still get to our place at mars for dusk."
"alright fine," and louis kisses his jaw and makes him giggle.
they say their goodbyes to zayn and liam (and promise to keep in touch) and then their goodbyes to venus and the woman at the front of the motel and the thick atmosphere and everything that's made their holiday special so far.
and then louis makes harry come three times in a single night, and they fall asleep all shaky and breathless and in love.
true to their word they jet off to earth afterwards, a complimentary breakfast of stardust and moon juice still warm in their tummies, and find it rather easy to penetrate the thin atmosphere, sinking down in through the wet sky and down to the greens and blues and browns below.
harry steers them away from the grey blobs with the twinkling lights (probably just caves, he whispers in louis' small ear) and they land instead in the middle of green, on a hard road surrounded by fences and really high flowers that are a dull yellow in colour.
they have to walk for a bit before they meet any kind of earthlings, and when they do they immediately ask for some food. the woman they talk to gets this big smile on her face and points them to a building not too far away, where SADIE'S SUNSHINE DINER is written.
"say, ya'll ain't from england, are you?"
louis, who has no idea where the planet england even is just shakes his head and pulls on harry's hand so they can start walking.
the diner is small and cozy and louis orders the first thing on the menu (which turns out to be pancakes with strawberries on the side) and harry asks for the special (bacon and eggs with freshly squeezed orange juice and cinnamon toast).
they have to wait awhile for their food, and louis entertains himself by looking through their photos from mercury while harry plays with louis' fingers, sliding his white ring (because when they got married they didn't want gold, it was far too blunt) up and down his third finger.
the waitress shoots them a weird look when she puts their food down (her eyes locked on where harry has twined his and louis' fingers together) but they hardly notice because they're too busy staring at the food.
zayn's sister is right. it is quite phenomenal.
a bunch of earthlings wander in while they eat and neither of them pay much attention, just quietly biting into their food and smiling at each other and talking about how lovely the other one looked (they liked to play that game a lot the "this is why you're beautiful game". harry almost always wins, and louis is left blushing).
just as they're about to leave though (strange earth money strewn across their table) they get stopped by two men with cruel faces.
"we know you boys aren't around these parts," they say all huskily, as they lead harry and louis out of the diner (louis' hand clenches tighter in harry's) "but we don't put up with your habits here."
"habits?" louis looks over to harry and wonders if there was any way that harry could have found time to snore on earth. he doesn't think so.
"all your faggy business," the other man sneers and both of the boys from asteroid 5, 478 have no idea what the word faggy means, but they nod their heads anyways.
probably just something wrong with their breathing or something.
harry holds louis' hand a bit harder as they blink up at the (still angry) earthmen around them.
"we've got children you know," the first one says, and his voice sounds like broken glass to harry's ears, "they don't need to see things like this."
"you're just lucky no one's trying to start a fight around here."
"ol' bill would have already knocked you flat, bunch of fairies."
louis' head perks up at the word fairies (he had met one a few years before, in a garden in the constellation of andromeda, but they'd since lost contact) and the men's faces turn red.
"get away from here, you fucking fags!" and he takes a step closer to them, frightening both of them.
"what are you-"
the second man slaps louis across the face and harry immediately steps in front of him, hooking his arms around louis' back to keep him safe. he growls at the men, angry and brash and confused because why would anyone ever want to hurt louis for?
"just get the hell out of here." and harry couldn't agree more.
louis doesn't cry, but his eye does swell up when they're on their way out of the atmosphere. he smiles apologetically at harry but tries to look on the bright side, like always.
"at least the food was good!" he grins and harry can't help but agree.
yes, the food was good. it's just the natives that weren't very nice.
they get to mars just before the sun sets, and get all comfy in their hotel bed so louis' eye could rest and harry could sleep off the jetlag. their hotel is under ground (a couple thousand feet below the surface) but the brochure in their kitchen just explains that recent probes from earth have made everyone increasingly nervous, and harry nods along with it, stroking louis' cheek and wishing that he had hit the mean man back.
violence isn't allowed on asteroid 5, 478 or any of its surrounding regions, but harry would do anything for louis, and that includes breaking any and all rules.
they hold each other tightly while they sleep and louis sings harry's favourite song (you are my sunshine, my only sunshine all whispered in his ear) and when they wake up in the morning the mess of earth is behind them and they only want to go explore.
at the front desk of the hotel they get a map of places to avoid (great big black Xs written over the spots where radars and probes and other things have been sighted). louis thanks the girl who gives it to them (her name is quinn and she's from mercury they find out, working at mars for the summer) before they set out on one of the buses.
they walk up and down the sweeping valleys and dark dunes of the planet. harry finds a sleek cave to eat their packed lunch in and so they do, kissing over their moon rock sandwiches and holding hands over the red red earth.
mars entertains them for three days longer than they thought it would and by the time they're leaving for good they've made good friends with the bus driver (a sturdy martian called paul) and harry's traded addresses with the hotel musician, a pluto man called ed.
"pluto is second last on our list," louis tells him one night at the bar, harry sleeping quietly on his shoulder, "are there any places we should check out?"
"there's a nice place to see the stars, about half a mile out from the main city," ed explains in that soft spoken way of his, "you can see past milky and into the next galaxy if you look hard enough."
when they set off the next morning for jupiter, harry makes sure to give ed a kiss on the forehead while he plays for the breakfast crowd. the ginger man just smiles at the both of them and tells them to send him a postcard from uranus, you hear?
it takes longer to get to jupiter but when they do it's so worth it. harry has a staring contest with the great red eye and only lets up when his eyes burn and louis laughs that loud laugh of his and suddenly harry's too busy kissing the smile off louis' face to bother with staring.
they arrive at the little cabin louis rented for them late, but the owner of them just brushes it off as young love and leaves them to it. louis wants to go and cloud gaze before the sun goes down but all harry wants to do is sink into the delicious heat of louis and never let go.
"but i want to go find goats in the sky," louis whines while harry strips his clothes off for him and pushes him down on the rickety bed, worshipping up and down his body with kisses, "this vacation isn't all about sex, you know."
"shh," harry moans and louis eventually prattles off long enough for harry to push his mouth against louis' pink lips.
their breath mingles together and harry is captivated by louis' eyes while his fingers move in and out of louis' tight body, loosening and relaxing him all at the same time.
"we could have - ugh," louis lets off with a quick moan and pants his way through the rest of the sentence, "could have done this any old time."
harry just rest his head against louis' sweaty forehead and drives deeper into his lover's body, hiking louis' legs up around his waist, "will you let - oh god," harry groans but tries to finish, "let up? you can see the cloud to-to-tomorrow."
louis opens his mouth to protest but a particularly sharp thrust from harry makes him stutter and the other man laughs as louis' legs clench so tight around him it feels like harry's become permanently louis' and no one else's.
he's very okay with that.
the next morning louis shoots him a glare, but he's smiling brightly, so harry just snuggles deeper into him and sleeps a little while longer, fingers skimming up and down his husband's chest.
"i love you," louis doesn't say it nearly enough.
"i love you too," harry whispers back.
they meet a happy blond man, who introduces himself as niall with a grin and a happy accent, the next morning after breakfast. he takes them on his rocky old plane so they can see some of the famous hurricanes that have been plaguing the planet for years, and harry clenches onto louis' knee so tightly in hurts when they fly through their first, but he soon relaxes into the ride and even sings along with niall's radio a little afterwards.
niall invites them out for a drink when they get back to their hotel and they agree easily, picking up a few pints to share with the young lad. they tell him all about asteroid 5, 478 and he talks to them about the star he's from, regulus. star people are incredibly rare, and neither of them have met any, so they lean in while niall recites stories from his past.
"we used to get in quite a few wars, we did," he says sadly when he's on his third beer of the night, "sirius was always picking fight with our king, making us angry. that's why my parents sent me off here, to get away from it all. since then it's gotten a lot better, but they'll still be the odd treaty broken here or there."
harry and louis nod at each other and both secretly think about their own wars at home, in the community of asteroids 5,460-5,490. every once and awhile in their weekly football matches, someone would kick the ball a bit too hard and it'd be thrown into zero gravity. then sally (their usually rather sweet neighbour) would glare at whoever did it and they would keep up the staring contest until whoever kicked the ball went to go get it.
they wondered if niall's wars were anything like that.
they both hope not. those wars were all kinds of awful.
they leave niall at the bar to meet up with his girlfriend (allie, they had been told by a rather drunk, rather blushing niall, she's amazing) and harry has that glint in his eye again, and keeps pulling louis in for kisses while they watch mars vs. neptune in the last game of the solar system cup on the telly.
"stop it," louis protests, even though the smile on his face could blind several of those mean earth people, "i've got money on the game back home."
"mmm," harry likes to kiss louis' ribcage, hitting each bone as if they were piano keys before sliding down to his trim waist, "or you could forget about the game and just kiss me instead."
"harry."
"louis."
blue meets green and louis smiles, "i adore you, harry," he leans over to kiss him.
harry slips his tongue into louis' mouth and, "mmf," is the only reply he can come up with.
louis pulls away and pats him on the face, "now let me watch my goddamn footie game."
as soon as neptune's announced winner and louis' finished yelling at the ref, harry has him in his lap and squirming, biting at the soft skin behind his ears.
"cheeky bugger," louis smiles as he cups harry's face with two hands, pulling it up to look at. harry's fingers twirl around louis' wrists and they stay like that until louis shifts and then harry's pushing him down on the couch again, louis' delighted laughter echoing across the room.
they open an invitation for niall to visit them whenever he's in the area of their asteroid and he promises to do so, wishing them a happy life together. they pack their bags and set out to uranus, hands held tight while they admired the journey together in zero gravity.
they decided to leave saturn for last when they were planning the trip, firstly because by the time their planet would be in sync with the solar system, it would be right around saturn, so they could avoid a long trip home.
and second, because they heard that saturn was the most beautiful of all the planets.
when they finally get to uranus it's dark out (although that could just be because the sun's so far away now) and harry's shivering. their room is warm though and louis' still loose from the night before so they make love before falling asleep, all cuddled together under the thick blankets.
"it feel like this is our honeymoon," louis whispers into harry's curly locks, breathing in their sweet smell.
"it feels like we're invincible," harry grins back, and links their fingers together before pulling louis close so he can rest him head on the older man's chest and feel his heartbeat.
"that's cause we are, sunshine," louis tightens his arms around harry's slim torso.
there isn't much to do in uranus except go to gift shops and famous this and thats. harry finds a postcard that says WE LOVE URANUS in big red writing and immediately sends it off to ed on mars with a big winky sign on the back and a quick written run-down of jupiter.
louis and harry get pictures of themselves in front of the solar system's biggest statue of a goose made entirely of moon rocks, and in front of the first intergalactic house of star cakes. they meet a lonely traveler named cher who takes all their photos for them and coos whenever they hold hands or kiss.
she's from the moon (the moon moon) and is really disappointed when they talk about the rubbish time they had on earth.
"probably because you're two blokes, i guess," she shrugs when they look confused, "not everyone likes men marrying men down there, is all. some of them are good about it though, shame you didn't meet any of them."
harry looks at louis with a question in his eyes but louis shrugs, not understanding either.
"maybe they're like your mum," louis says when they pile back onto the tour bus to get back to their motel, "maybe they think that people from comets aren't meant to be marrying boys who were working for nothing on space cruises."
harry thinks that point over. his mother's face the first day he had introduced louis (their hands interlocked, a bright grin on his face, love in their eyes) had been similar to the men from earth. and the glare they'd gotten from his father when they went to get his blessing (after a proposal of stars and kisses and whispered god, yesyesyes) hurt just as much as the punch must have.
"yes," harry nods, "i think you must be right."
they leave uranus with cher's address in tow, and nearly bump into another couple on their way to neptune.
the couple is a small, smiling man named matt and a tall boy with funny hair named aiden. they're on their way back to saturn, and louis gets their address down so they can meet them when they get there. they wave each other off until all louis and harry can see is black again, and they're left to their own conversation.
zayn meets them at the main landing pad and takes them over to his and liam's house, all white bricks and yellow door and big backyard. harry finds their cat within seconds of getting inside and louis' never had much competition for harry's affections before but he feels it then.
"oi," louis snaps, with an amused smile on his face, "you leave mittens alone and say hello to liam."
"his name is salue, actually," zayn tells him, while sidling up the stairs with their bags, "do you want to see your room?"
"yes please," harry says as he picks up the little kitten and follows zayn up the stairs, smirking at louis.
they eat homegrown vegetables from liam's garden for dinner and louis and harry tell them all about their trip, about niall and ed and cher and aiden and matt and paul. liam and zayn, in turn, tell them all about the neptune/mars match that they went to see, and how much fun it was to cheer for the old blues.
harry just smirks at louis and he rolls his eyes with a smile.
liam takes them across town the next day while zayn goes to work as a painter. they see lots of tall buildings and skating rinks (neptune's so cold too, but the towns are all heated so as long as they don't go off anywhere they should be fine, or so liam says).
harry likes it here but is starting to get homesick for the small garden of home. he misses being able to watch 48 sunsets in one days and the neighbours and having louis all to himself.
they stay there for two more nights, playing this earth game called monopoly into the early hours of the night with zayn and liam and having a gay old time. louis tells them that if they're ever near saturn they should look up niall (because he thinks that he and zayn and liam would get along great) and they shuck back a couple more beers until harry's all curled up tight in louis' lap and their eyes are drooping.
liam's the only one home when they leave the next morning, but zayn's left a painting for them (it's harry and louis all tight together on that couch from that bar in venus) and they can't stop thanking the two of them enough.
"so christmas then?" louis confirms while harry says goodbye to mittens/salue one last time. liam nods and they hug again, eager to see each other for the wintery holiday.
pluto is small and friendly, with not too many people but a lot of heart. when harry mentions that they know ed, half the town grins at them and offers them all places to live. they end up with ed's mum (a strong woman with kind eyes and fiery hair) who heard of their coming from her son, and she sets them up in her attic with a warm blanket, a cup of tea, and a merry happy dreaming.
harry kisses louis under the blanket quietly and slowly and louis looks up at him through his eyelashes and whispers back, "we'll be home soon."
then, "i love you."
"love you too."
they're only on pluto for two nights, so after they take the walking trip of pluto's biggest city (and get a picture with pluto's mayor and everything) they start wandering around for ed's secret spot.
his mother gives them a map to get there and when they do louis almost stops breathing because holy moly ed was right. the stars seem to go on for ages, like glistening lights they were, whole and majestic and beautiful.
harry and louis stay there for nearly an hour, overwhelmed by the sight in front of them, and by themselves. they make love under the stars, on the dirty, knitted afghan they grabbed from ed's mother before they left the house. when louis comes he sees even more stars, something harry laughs at in that big, barking laugh of his that seems to echo across the universe, and louis' never known to be this in love before.
their last night in pluto is nice. the town holds a big farewell for them in the pub, and harry drinks a bit too much, cheeks all red and charm all out. they hold each other tight on their bed and leave with kisses from ed's mother all over their faces.
saturn.
it takes a day of traveling to get there, and when they finally do check into their hotel all harry wants to do is sleep. he really, really just wants to go home at this point, but louis seems to insist that saturn's worth it, because he sends harry off with their bags to the room, before conversing quietly with the woman at the front desk.
when he finds harry afterwards (all spread out over their bed naked and already half asleep) he crawls next to his ear and whispers, "there's a storm tomorrow!"
"fucking fantastic," harry grumbles into his pillow and turns away.
the next morning they set off early (something that displeases harry further) but louis' all grins, watching the storm clouds bubble overhead. he finds them a cave to sit in the lip of while they eat their sandwiches, and louis clutches harry's hand so tightly at the first sound of thunder.
he looks over, ready to reassure, and is surprised to see louis' face split with a huge grin, "it sounds like it's going to rain," harry informs.
"i know," louis offers back, leaning into harry's shoulder and looking out at the world in front of them.
their heads were covered by the cave and the view was pretty good, so harry just shrugs and settles in, interested to see what louis was so excited about.
and then the first raindrop fell.
harry's eyes widen immediately and he can't breathe for a second, so taken aback.
there were diamonds falling from the sky.
he's amazed and amused and dumbfounded and confused and louis' just grinning and saying something about the pressure and carbon molecules, but harry's not really listening because there's just so much to look at.
the diamonds reflect the little peaks of sunlight into the sky and make rainbows of colours immerge. they make a pretty sound when they hit the gassy earth, all tinkling and precious, like the chandelier in liam and zayn's house.
"thank you so much for taking me here," is all harry can say, and louis' smile seems to outshine the diamonds when he turns to him.
"thank you for being you," louis says and then they're kissing, with the glorious sound of falling crystal behind them.
eventually they separate and then louis' pulling this heavy umbrella from the bag he packed. he opens it, and harry sidles up next to him, their fingers blended together, and they step out into the rainfall, suddenly immersed in the beauty.
louis starts laughing and then harry is joining him and the noise of the rocks hitting their umbrellas turns calming and harry can't look away from louis' eyes.
they'd leave the cave and go back to their hotel for a quick rumble underneath the sheets before going to visit matt and aiden and their beautiful home in the valleys. then they'd start heading home, getting back to their asteroid and greeting their neighbours and weeding their gardens. they'd spend the rest of their lives on their happy little planet and be in love and be happy and just live
but for now they stand under an umbrella in the pouring diamonds and just breathe each other in.
author: mozarts-piano
pairings: louis/harry (mentions of liam/zayn, niall/ofc, matt cardle/aiden grimshaw)
word count: 5,000
rating: Mature
warnings: swearing, sexual activities (not too graphic), a very low knowledge of space and planets
summary: harry and louis go on an intergalactic road trip across the solar system (or the one where they look at diamond rain on saturn)
notes: based off this prompt on the kink meme. also heavily based off the little prince by the fabulous antione de saint exupéry. title taken from a blaise pascal quote (but the rest is mine, i swear!)
one day, on asteroid 5, 478 with the sun setting again and the dark milkyness of space still milky and dark, louis proposes that they go on a holiday.
"you've been moping far too long," he explains to harry when they eat their flowers and stardust for dinner, "and it's time we got away from all this hectic life."
of course there are things to be done when ever anyone suggests leaving a place for an extended period of time. harry has to trim the hedges and fix the volcanoes. louis goes around to the neighbouring asteroids and asks if anyone will pop in to make sure theirs doesn't go out of orbit.
when everything's set and good and ready and their bags are all packed harry holds louis' hand and squeezes tight.
"what if we get lost?" he asks with his eyes all big and wide and innocent.
"we won't get lost, silly," louis kisses him on his freckled nose (worn out from all the sunsets he watches) for good measure, "we love each other right?"
"always."
"so we'll never get lost," he smiles and harry smiles and they set off on their adventure.
mercury is, of course, first on their list. harry's always been a child of the sun, playing on its dark spots whenever their little planet passes close enough for a visit, and so he loves the constant pressure of it. he gets a wicked tan while louis hides out under the umbrella they packed, and they kiss in the sunset on the first afternoon, all quiet and peaceful and full of a passion that's never been calmed.
harry gets sun burnt on their third night there (i told you to wear sunscreen, louis cries out while harry whines and pouts) so they pack their bags and head off to venus instead - the planet of love.
even in their tiny world venus is still the place to be, with its heavy clouds and thick atmosphere. it's hot and humid and once harry's red skin turns dark brown they have fun, sharing their sweat.
the tiny motel the stay at is run by a very bitter vengran, all purple skin and hateful eyes. she glares at the when they pass to go into their room.
they never did get a proper honeymoon (what with harry's parents yelling that louis wasn't good enough and their planet in turmoil) but they're making up for it now.
the room is quiet but they aren't.
harry likes to lie under louis when they make love, holding on for dear life and clutching at whatever bit of skin he can. louis prefers to be on top, sinking up and down over harry in a rocking motion, noises wild and young and carefree, his touches sweet caresses in the coolness of the night.
it is at times like this that it hits both of them how much they love each other.
and how lucky they are - in this huge universe - to have found one another.
they stay on venus for three more days.
at night it's all them, all hot skin and deep kisses and moans and tangled, wet fingers and pulled hair. but during the day it's about making friends with the other pulsing couples around them.
they meet zayn and liam (two very nice neptuneites that share secret smiles) by the pool the second day and hit it off almost immediately. they hold hands the same way louis and harry do, like they're the only ones in the world. they talk about previous trips (it's zayn and liam's fourth time on venus and louis and harry take in the information with a jealous glint in their eyes) and where they live and how they live.
"i've never heard of asteroid 5, 478," liam tells harry from where they're sitting together at the bar, both watching zayn and louis from where they're playing cards with the man and woman from ios, "is it nice there?"
"it's lovely," harry smiles wide and liam blinks a little because harry can sometime forget that not everyone is used to bright smiles that light up the universe, "just me and lou and some purple flowers. we play football with the family from the planet next to us every week and go to the community meetings every other wednesday and it's just-" harry smiles wistfully, thinking of home, "i love it so much there."
liam smiles and tells harry how zayn and him are thinking of moving from neptune because the methane is starting to effect zayn's breathing, "we want to go to earth," says liam, and harry asks why they'd ever want to go there for.
"you always see big ships going away from earth," he reasons with liam, "everyone's trying to get away as fast as they can."
liam opens his mouth to explain but just then louis and zayn's card game ends and the two wander over. louis sits down in harry's lap and harry opens his legs so he can cross them in front of louis, and louis strokes his legs and tells him all about the game.
the sun sets quickly after that and they get up so they can go spend their last night on venus all tangled together, when liam stops them with a kind smile.
"before you go - zayn, tell harry about your sister that went to earth."
the darker skinned boy smiles at them, "she loved it. said the food there was amazing, nothing like anywhere else in the world," harry frowns a bit but louis looks open to the idea.
"we've got a few extra days, haz," he nudges harry with his hip and harry just wishes his hip was nudging something else, "we could pop 'round for a visit tomorrow and still get to our place at mars for dusk."
"alright fine," and louis kisses his jaw and makes him giggle.
they say their goodbyes to zayn and liam (and promise to keep in touch) and then their goodbyes to venus and the woman at the front of the motel and the thick atmosphere and everything that's made their holiday special so far.
and then louis makes harry come three times in a single night, and they fall asleep all shaky and breathless and in love.
true to their word they jet off to earth afterwards, a complimentary breakfast of stardust and moon juice still warm in their tummies, and find it rather easy to penetrate the thin atmosphere, sinking down in through the wet sky and down to the greens and blues and browns below.
harry steers them away from the grey blobs with the twinkling lights (probably just caves, he whispers in louis' small ear) and they land instead in the middle of green, on a hard road surrounded by fences and really high flowers that are a dull yellow in colour.
they have to walk for a bit before they meet any kind of earthlings, and when they do they immediately ask for some food. the woman they talk to gets this big smile on her face and points them to a building not too far away, where SADIE'S SUNSHINE DINER is written.
"say, ya'll ain't from england, are you?"
louis, who has no idea where the planet england even is just shakes his head and pulls on harry's hand so they can start walking.
the diner is small and cozy and louis orders the first thing on the menu (which turns out to be pancakes with strawberries on the side) and harry asks for the special (bacon and eggs with freshly squeezed orange juice and cinnamon toast).
they have to wait awhile for their food, and louis entertains himself by looking through their photos from mercury while harry plays with louis' fingers, sliding his white ring (because when they got married they didn't want gold, it was far too blunt) up and down his third finger.
the waitress shoots them a weird look when she puts their food down (her eyes locked on where harry has twined his and louis' fingers together) but they hardly notice because they're too busy staring at the food.
zayn's sister is right. it is quite phenomenal.
a bunch of earthlings wander in while they eat and neither of them pay much attention, just quietly biting into their food and smiling at each other and talking about how lovely the other one looked (they liked to play that game a lot the "this is why you're beautiful game". harry almost always wins, and louis is left blushing).
just as they're about to leave though (strange earth money strewn across their table) they get stopped by two men with cruel faces.
"we know you boys aren't around these parts," they say all huskily, as they lead harry and louis out of the diner (louis' hand clenches tighter in harry's) "but we don't put up with your habits here."
"habits?" louis looks over to harry and wonders if there was any way that harry could have found time to snore on earth. he doesn't think so.
"all your faggy business," the other man sneers and both of the boys from asteroid 5, 478 have no idea what the word faggy means, but they nod their heads anyways.
probably just something wrong with their breathing or something.
harry holds louis' hand a bit harder as they blink up at the (still angry) earthmen around them.
"we've got children you know," the first one says, and his voice sounds like broken glass to harry's ears, "they don't need to see things like this."
"you're just lucky no one's trying to start a fight around here."
"ol' bill would have already knocked you flat, bunch of fairies."
louis' head perks up at the word fairies (he had met one a few years before, in a garden in the constellation of andromeda, but they'd since lost contact) and the men's faces turn red.
"get away from here, you fucking fags!" and he takes a step closer to them, frightening both of them.
"what are you-"
the second man slaps louis across the face and harry immediately steps in front of him, hooking his arms around louis' back to keep him safe. he growls at the men, angry and brash and confused because why would anyone ever want to hurt louis for?
"just get the hell out of here." and harry couldn't agree more.
louis doesn't cry, but his eye does swell up when they're on their way out of the atmosphere. he smiles apologetically at harry but tries to look on the bright side, like always.
"at least the food was good!" he grins and harry can't help but agree.
yes, the food was good. it's just the natives that weren't very nice.
they get to mars just before the sun sets, and get all comfy in their hotel bed so louis' eye could rest and harry could sleep off the jetlag. their hotel is under ground (a couple thousand feet below the surface) but the brochure in their kitchen just explains that recent probes from earth have made everyone increasingly nervous, and harry nods along with it, stroking louis' cheek and wishing that he had hit the mean man back.
violence isn't allowed on asteroid 5, 478 or any of its surrounding regions, but harry would do anything for louis, and that includes breaking any and all rules.
they hold each other tightly while they sleep and louis sings harry's favourite song (you are my sunshine, my only sunshine all whispered in his ear) and when they wake up in the morning the mess of earth is behind them and they only want to go explore.
at the front desk of the hotel they get a map of places to avoid (great big black Xs written over the spots where radars and probes and other things have been sighted). louis thanks the girl who gives it to them (her name is quinn and she's from mercury they find out, working at mars for the summer) before they set out on one of the buses.
they walk up and down the sweeping valleys and dark dunes of the planet. harry finds a sleek cave to eat their packed lunch in and so they do, kissing over their moon rock sandwiches and holding hands over the red red earth.
mars entertains them for three days longer than they thought it would and by the time they're leaving for good they've made good friends with the bus driver (a sturdy martian called paul) and harry's traded addresses with the hotel musician, a pluto man called ed.
"pluto is second last on our list," louis tells him one night at the bar, harry sleeping quietly on his shoulder, "are there any places we should check out?"
"there's a nice place to see the stars, about half a mile out from the main city," ed explains in that soft spoken way of his, "you can see past milky and into the next galaxy if you look hard enough."
when they set off the next morning for jupiter, harry makes sure to give ed a kiss on the forehead while he plays for the breakfast crowd. the ginger man just smiles at the both of them and tells them to send him a postcard from uranus, you hear?
it takes longer to get to jupiter but when they do it's so worth it. harry has a staring contest with the great red eye and only lets up when his eyes burn and louis laughs that loud laugh of his and suddenly harry's too busy kissing the smile off louis' face to bother with staring.
they arrive at the little cabin louis rented for them late, but the owner of them just brushes it off as young love and leaves them to it. louis wants to go and cloud gaze before the sun goes down but all harry wants to do is sink into the delicious heat of louis and never let go.
"but i want to go find goats in the sky," louis whines while harry strips his clothes off for him and pushes him down on the rickety bed, worshipping up and down his body with kisses, "this vacation isn't all about sex, you know."
"shh," harry moans and louis eventually prattles off long enough for harry to push his mouth against louis' pink lips.
their breath mingles together and harry is captivated by louis' eyes while his fingers move in and out of louis' tight body, loosening and relaxing him all at the same time.
"we could have - ugh," louis lets off with a quick moan and pants his way through the rest of the sentence, "could have done this any old time."
harry just rest his head against louis' sweaty forehead and drives deeper into his lover's body, hiking louis' legs up around his waist, "will you let - oh god," harry groans but tries to finish, "let up? you can see the cloud to-to-tomorrow."
louis opens his mouth to protest but a particularly sharp thrust from harry makes him stutter and the other man laughs as louis' legs clench so tight around him it feels like harry's become permanently louis' and no one else's.
he's very okay with that.
the next morning louis shoots him a glare, but he's smiling brightly, so harry just snuggles deeper into him and sleeps a little while longer, fingers skimming up and down his husband's chest.
"i love you," louis doesn't say it nearly enough.
"i love you too," harry whispers back.
they meet a happy blond man, who introduces himself as niall with a grin and a happy accent, the next morning after breakfast. he takes them on his rocky old plane so they can see some of the famous hurricanes that have been plaguing the planet for years, and harry clenches onto louis' knee so tightly in hurts when they fly through their first, but he soon relaxes into the ride and even sings along with niall's radio a little afterwards.
niall invites them out for a drink when they get back to their hotel and they agree easily, picking up a few pints to share with the young lad. they tell him all about asteroid 5, 478 and he talks to them about the star he's from, regulus. star people are incredibly rare, and neither of them have met any, so they lean in while niall recites stories from his past.
"we used to get in quite a few wars, we did," he says sadly when he's on his third beer of the night, "sirius was always picking fight with our king, making us angry. that's why my parents sent me off here, to get away from it all. since then it's gotten a lot better, but they'll still be the odd treaty broken here or there."
harry and louis nod at each other and both secretly think about their own wars at home, in the community of asteroids 5,460-5,490. every once and awhile in their weekly football matches, someone would kick the ball a bit too hard and it'd be thrown into zero gravity. then sally (their usually rather sweet neighbour) would glare at whoever did it and they would keep up the staring contest until whoever kicked the ball went to go get it.
they wondered if niall's wars were anything like that.
they both hope not. those wars were all kinds of awful.
they leave niall at the bar to meet up with his girlfriend (allie, they had been told by a rather drunk, rather blushing niall, she's amazing) and harry has that glint in his eye again, and keeps pulling louis in for kisses while they watch mars vs. neptune in the last game of the solar system cup on the telly.
"stop it," louis protests, even though the smile on his face could blind several of those mean earth people, "i've got money on the game back home."
"mmm," harry likes to kiss louis' ribcage, hitting each bone as if they were piano keys before sliding down to his trim waist, "or you could forget about the game and just kiss me instead."
"harry."
"louis."
blue meets green and louis smiles, "i adore you, harry," he leans over to kiss him.
harry slips his tongue into louis' mouth and, "mmf," is the only reply he can come up with.
louis pulls away and pats him on the face, "now let me watch my goddamn footie game."
as soon as neptune's announced winner and louis' finished yelling at the ref, harry has him in his lap and squirming, biting at the soft skin behind his ears.
"cheeky bugger," louis smiles as he cups harry's face with two hands, pulling it up to look at. harry's fingers twirl around louis' wrists and they stay like that until louis shifts and then harry's pushing him down on the couch again, louis' delighted laughter echoing across the room.
they open an invitation for niall to visit them whenever he's in the area of their asteroid and he promises to do so, wishing them a happy life together. they pack their bags and set out to uranus, hands held tight while they admired the journey together in zero gravity.
they decided to leave saturn for last when they were planning the trip, firstly because by the time their planet would be in sync with the solar system, it would be right around saturn, so they could avoid a long trip home.
and second, because they heard that saturn was the most beautiful of all the planets.
when they finally get to uranus it's dark out (although that could just be because the sun's so far away now) and harry's shivering. their room is warm though and louis' still loose from the night before so they make love before falling asleep, all cuddled together under the thick blankets.
"it feel like this is our honeymoon," louis whispers into harry's curly locks, breathing in their sweet smell.
"it feels like we're invincible," harry grins back, and links their fingers together before pulling louis close so he can rest him head on the older man's chest and feel his heartbeat.
"that's cause we are, sunshine," louis tightens his arms around harry's slim torso.
there isn't much to do in uranus except go to gift shops and famous this and thats. harry finds a postcard that says WE LOVE URANUS in big red writing and immediately sends it off to ed on mars with a big winky sign on the back and a quick written run-down of jupiter.
louis and harry get pictures of themselves in front of the solar system's biggest statue of a goose made entirely of moon rocks, and in front of the first intergalactic house of star cakes. they meet a lonely traveler named cher who takes all their photos for them and coos whenever they hold hands or kiss.
she's from the moon (the moon moon) and is really disappointed when they talk about the rubbish time they had on earth.
"probably because you're two blokes, i guess," she shrugs when they look confused, "not everyone likes men marrying men down there, is all. some of them are good about it though, shame you didn't meet any of them."
harry looks at louis with a question in his eyes but louis shrugs, not understanding either.
"maybe they're like your mum," louis says when they pile back onto the tour bus to get back to their motel, "maybe they think that people from comets aren't meant to be marrying boys who were working for nothing on space cruises."
harry thinks that point over. his mother's face the first day he had introduced louis (their hands interlocked, a bright grin on his face, love in their eyes) had been similar to the men from earth. and the glare they'd gotten from his father when they went to get his blessing (after a proposal of stars and kisses and whispered god, yesyesyes) hurt just as much as the punch must have.
"yes," harry nods, "i think you must be right."
they leave uranus with cher's address in tow, and nearly bump into another couple on their way to neptune.
the couple is a small, smiling man named matt and a tall boy with funny hair named aiden. they're on their way back to saturn, and louis gets their address down so they can meet them when they get there. they wave each other off until all louis and harry can see is black again, and they're left to their own conversation.
zayn meets them at the main landing pad and takes them over to his and liam's house, all white bricks and yellow door and big backyard. harry finds their cat within seconds of getting inside and louis' never had much competition for harry's affections before but he feels it then.
"oi," louis snaps, with an amused smile on his face, "you leave mittens alone and say hello to liam."
"his name is salue, actually," zayn tells him, while sidling up the stairs with their bags, "do you want to see your room?"
"yes please," harry says as he picks up the little kitten and follows zayn up the stairs, smirking at louis.
they eat homegrown vegetables from liam's garden for dinner and louis and harry tell them all about their trip, about niall and ed and cher and aiden and matt and paul. liam and zayn, in turn, tell them all about the neptune/mars match that they went to see, and how much fun it was to cheer for the old blues.
harry just smirks at louis and he rolls his eyes with a smile.
liam takes them across town the next day while zayn goes to work as a painter. they see lots of tall buildings and skating rinks (neptune's so cold too, but the towns are all heated so as long as they don't go off anywhere they should be fine, or so liam says).
harry likes it here but is starting to get homesick for the small garden of home. he misses being able to watch 48 sunsets in one days and the neighbours and having louis all to himself.
they stay there for two more nights, playing this earth game called monopoly into the early hours of the night with zayn and liam and having a gay old time. louis tells them that if they're ever near saturn they should look up niall (because he thinks that he and zayn and liam would get along great) and they shuck back a couple more beers until harry's all curled up tight in louis' lap and their eyes are drooping.
liam's the only one home when they leave the next morning, but zayn's left a painting for them (it's harry and louis all tight together on that couch from that bar in venus) and they can't stop thanking the two of them enough.
"so christmas then?" louis confirms while harry says goodbye to mittens/salue one last time. liam nods and they hug again, eager to see each other for the wintery holiday.
pluto is small and friendly, with not too many people but a lot of heart. when harry mentions that they know ed, half the town grins at them and offers them all places to live. they end up with ed's mum (a strong woman with kind eyes and fiery hair) who heard of their coming from her son, and she sets them up in her attic with a warm blanket, a cup of tea, and a merry happy dreaming.
harry kisses louis under the blanket quietly and slowly and louis looks up at him through his eyelashes and whispers back, "we'll be home soon."
then, "i love you."
"love you too."
they're only on pluto for two nights, so after they take the walking trip of pluto's biggest city (and get a picture with pluto's mayor and everything) they start wandering around for ed's secret spot.
his mother gives them a map to get there and when they do louis almost stops breathing because holy moly ed was right. the stars seem to go on for ages, like glistening lights they were, whole and majestic and beautiful.
harry and louis stay there for nearly an hour, overwhelmed by the sight in front of them, and by themselves. they make love under the stars, on the dirty, knitted afghan they grabbed from ed's mother before they left the house. when louis comes he sees even more stars, something harry laughs at in that big, barking laugh of his that seems to echo across the universe, and louis' never known to be this in love before.
their last night in pluto is nice. the town holds a big farewell for them in the pub, and harry drinks a bit too much, cheeks all red and charm all out. they hold each other tight on their bed and leave with kisses from ed's mother all over their faces.
saturn.
it takes a day of traveling to get there, and when they finally do check into their hotel all harry wants to do is sleep. he really, really just wants to go home at this point, but louis seems to insist that saturn's worth it, because he sends harry off with their bags to the room, before conversing quietly with the woman at the front desk.
when he finds harry afterwards (all spread out over their bed naked and already half asleep) he crawls next to his ear and whispers, "there's a storm tomorrow!"
"fucking fantastic," harry grumbles into his pillow and turns away.
the next morning they set off early (something that displeases harry further) but louis' all grins, watching the storm clouds bubble overhead. he finds them a cave to sit in the lip of while they eat their sandwiches, and louis clutches harry's hand so tightly at the first sound of thunder.
he looks over, ready to reassure, and is surprised to see louis' face split with a huge grin, "it sounds like it's going to rain," harry informs.
"i know," louis offers back, leaning into harry's shoulder and looking out at the world in front of them.
their heads were covered by the cave and the view was pretty good, so harry just shrugs and settles in, interested to see what louis was so excited about.
and then the first raindrop fell.
harry's eyes widen immediately and he can't breathe for a second, so taken aback.
there were diamonds falling from the sky.
he's amazed and amused and dumbfounded and confused and louis' just grinning and saying something about the pressure and carbon molecules, but harry's not really listening because there's just so much to look at.
the diamonds reflect the little peaks of sunlight into the sky and make rainbows of colours immerge. they make a pretty sound when they hit the gassy earth, all tinkling and precious, like the chandelier in liam and zayn's house.
"thank you so much for taking me here," is all harry can say, and louis' smile seems to outshine the diamonds when he turns to him.
"thank you for being you," louis says and then they're kissing, with the glorious sound of falling crystal behind them.
eventually they separate and then louis' pulling this heavy umbrella from the bag he packed. he opens it, and harry sidles up next to him, their fingers blended together, and they step out into the rainfall, suddenly immersed in the beauty.
louis starts laughing and then harry is joining him and the noise of the rocks hitting their umbrellas turns calming and harry can't look away from louis' eyes.
they'd leave the cave and go back to their hotel for a quick rumble underneath the sheets before going to visit matt and aiden and their beautiful home in the valleys. then they'd start heading home, getting back to their asteroid and greeting their neighbours and weeding their gardens. they'd spend the rest of their lives on their happy little planet and be in love and be happy and just live
but for now they stand under an umbrella in the pouring diamonds and just breathe each other in.