Warnings: reverse comfort, shower, mentions of injury, infection, and bugs. Cuddles, food, mentions of first aid, mention of minor character death, angst, slight ptsd for Chris
Summary: Whenever Chris comes home after a mission he has a checklist that the two of you follow
A/N: I’m so excited to start posting about Chris! I am so excited for Death Island!
You and Chris always had certain rituals for when he would leave for, and return from missions. When he left it was all about you. He would spend the few days before leaving taking you out on dates, pampering you, and running errands. As well he would pick up chores and odd jobs around the house in preparation for you taking over all of it when he was gone. He didn't always have prior warning to when he would be leaving, but he always spent whatever warning time he did have with you. When he returned, that time was for him.
The transition back to civilian life was always hard for him, it had been his entire career. Even back when he was in the air force coming back home was often more stressful than active service, but you made it easier. Much easier. Whenever possible, Chris would call you ahead of time to let you know that he was on his way. Sometimes you had days notice, other times you had just a few hours. However much time you had you always made sure that the house was clean, and usually had a meal prepared. To be honest Chris didn't really care either way about the state of the house, or the presence of a home cooked meal, but he did appreciate it greatly. It helped to free up space in his mind so that he could focus on comfort.
Once Chris was in the door you had a checklist. This was extremely important to help him with the transition. For him it was like a reset for his body and mind. That checklist went as thus:
1. A hug. Extremely important. He needed to know that you were there, that this was real, and that he was back home.
2. Food. If there is one state in which Chris can not function properly, it's hunger. Even though cold, wet, and injured he could still push through and focus on the task at hand, but if he was hungry then nothing else was going to happen until he got some food. Sometimes he would have had something on the way, but if not then you always had something ready. Eating with you also helped him ease back into a domestic mindset.
3. Shower. More than likely he had gone the entire mission without a proper scrub. There might have been running water and a bar of soap, but he had more than likely been far from the creature comforts of a hot shower, with a messaging nozzle, and moisturizing body wash with a good scrub from a luffa.
4. Body check. More often than not, you would join him in the shower for the body check, where you would meticulously search his entire body for anything. Cuts, scrapes, bruises, injuries, ticks, mites, lice, and or infections. Anything that needed to be addressed. Usually he would have been looked over by some kind of medic before he came home, so any major issues would have already been taken care of. But this was much more thorough. You were the only person he would ever let get this close. And the fact that you trailed little kisses around his body didn't hurt.
5. First aid. You had learned some first aid specifically for this. You learned to treat all sorts of minor issues. Dressing and redressing wounds, removing ticks and mites, treating infections, and you would dutifully care for any issue that arose from the body check.
6. Cuddles. It didn't matter if he came home in the middle of the day, or the middle of the night, this man is gonna need cuddles. Curl up on the couch or in bed, it doesn't matter. Depending on how the mission went and how Chris was feeling the cuddle position would change. If he was feeling more insecure and scared he would be the big spoon and hold you close, protecting you. If he was feeling more sad, and helpless he would lay on top of you, allowing you to rub his back and play with his hair. Cuddling was usually done in silence as he preferred to focus his attention on you and your breathing, but he wouldn't complain if you wanted to play some music or watch TV. The more physical contact the better.
7. Don't talk about work. During the transition back into civilian life, Chris would be very sensitive. He would be very quiet, hypervigilant, and skittish. It wasn't a good idea to talk about his mission during this time. So you two had agreed that you would wait one full day before talking about it. And you two had agreed that one full day was one wake up to the next. Which sometimes resulted in more than 24 hours before talking about his mission, but that was fine with the both of you. Even after one full day you never pressured him to talk if he didn't want to
8. Talk about work. This last step was not part of the original list. In Fact when the two of you first started doing this he hated talking about work. He would avoid talking about it at all cost, and even when he did he only gave sparse details. But as Chris has gotten older he's found that talking about work can actually be really cathartic. He now finds it important to talk to you about what happened during his time away. The good and the bad. He's gotten more emotional over the years as well. At first he tried to stop it, but you let him know that it's ok to be upset and angry, it's ok for him to cry and to shake. As he talks, you're there to guide him through his emotions, and then to bring him back to reality when he's done.
With the checklist complete you still keep a close eye on him for the next few days. He might have injuries that need to be treated, and emotional scars that need attention. You're always there helping him along his way. Eventually he settles back into normal life, and the two of you cohabitate once again.
This checklist has helped not just him but you as well many, many times. Especially after Jill's supposed death, her return, and Piers' death. But the list was put to the ultimate test after Chris returned from Romania.
for the first time in like 6 months i managed to go to bed without obsessively showering. yay!
(i showered that morning so i didn’t need one but my brain hates me sometimes and makes me feel like i do, i feel kinda gross but not nearly as exhausted /lh)
Listening to someone listening to Welcome to the Internet by Bo Burnham in the shower and they’re sining along but just back up aka I can hear them slapping their wet body in tune with the rhythm
