Tulsa: People don't go around saying what they feel, whenever they feel it. They have guards, and-and shields and other metaphors.
Gardner Elliot: Why?
Tulsa: Because we're all messed up and scared and trying to be something that we're not and-and if we all went around just declaring our innermost desires to the exact people we felt them for, we all end up happy or something.
Gardner Elliot: What is your favorite thing about Earth?
Nathaniel Shepherd: Rain. My turn. What is your favorite thing to do on Mars?
Gardner Elliot: To pretend it's Earth.
Gardner Elliot: What was she like? My mother.
Nathaniel Shepherd: She was fearless She was kind And she just... seemed so invincible. And she'd make me wanna give up living when she died.
Gardner Elliot: You act like you hate the world so much, Tulsa.
Tulsa: Save your strength.
Gardner Elliot: It's all an act. The beautiful music you make gives you away.
Nathaniel Shepherd: But it's like the malignancy of any secret. It just kept getting worse. Every time I go over it, what I did, the choices I made, I couldn't have done anything else. But that's, that's not the point. I dealt with the problem. I just had no idea what the solution would do to me. It killed me, and I say, it's still killing me.
Sarah Elliot: Courage is just fear that has said its prayers.
Answer: Any answer would be speculation at best, although it does seem likely that being on Earth would cause various pains. But it also depends on his conditioning while on Mars (for example, soldiers in the military often train with heavy packs on). The reason astronauts experience pain upon return to Earth after long stints in space is mainly due to muscle atrophy, similar to someone being bed-ridden for months. Additionally, being weightless in space with 0-g's (not zero gravity), their spine elongates and then back on Earth, it compresses back to normal, which can be painful. Gardner may not experience pain since his muscles aren't atrophied, and he may not experience spinal compression.
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