Chapter Text
Grace tried to acclimate Simon to life on Erid very slowly. He introduced him to Armando because he sort of had to—they lived together—but luckily Simon found the robot much more intriguing than unnerving. (A slightly different reaction than what Grace had all those years ago on the Hail Mary.)
He held off on showing him Rocky or any other Eridian because he feared that actual alien life might spook him a little too much.
It was hard to get a good read on Simon. He’d been quick to hostility when he’d first woken up, but Grace could hardly blame him for that, and he’d calmed down surprisingly quickly. Grace had only feared for his life for a couple of seconds, so he was counting that as a win.
He was very quiet, and let Grace talk him through his house without much interruption. Overall, Grace liked him, much to his chagrin—he’d barely known Simon an hour and he was already getting attached.
“How did you get here?” Simon asked suddenly. He looked like he'd been working up to a question for a while, but Grace hadn’t pressed him out of fear that it would push Simon deeper into his shell. “You just- you seem like the only human here.”
Grace paused his explanation of how his toilet worked and took off his glasses to fidget with them absently. How did he put this? “I led, um, Project Hail Mary.”
Simon did not respond.
Grace narrowed his eyes at him. “You don’t know what that is.” He wasn’t asking. Simon shook his head, so Grace raised his eyebrows. “They don’t talk about it back home?” It didn’t necessarily sting—in fact, he was glad that no one but Stratt and her team had seen some of the embarrassing endeavors he’d included in his video diaries—but the question of how the general population had received his mission had been eating away at him for years.
For some reason, Simon had to think about his answer, but Grace chalked it up to more confusion because of his coma.
“No,” he eventually said.
“Well, basically I collected a bunch of little dots to eat the other little dots that were eating the Sun, and botta bing, botta boom, I am here now.”
Simon snorted, the first indication he’d given Grace that suggested he had a humorous bone in his body. He couldn’t help but smile and chuckle as well; Simon’s happiness was infectious.
“So, uh, if you don’t mind me asking,” Grace moved out of the bathroom and toward the living room. “What are you doing all the way out here?” He turned back to Simon, who trailed behind him cautiously.
There was a long moment of silence as Simon chewed on his lip and focused his gaze on the floor, the reason not entirely clear to Grace.
“They sent me down into that ocean to get this sample of something… they never really told me what it was.”
“Ocean?” Grace asked. Had he been on another planet before making his way to the moon?
Simon narrowed his eyes, confused. “Yeah, the blood ocean on AT-5. It’s kind of hard to miss.”
“Blood ocean? Where was this?” Grace was now sure he looked equally confused.
“On that moon that you pulled me out of!” Simon was growing more frustrated by the second. “How did you get me out? The C.O.I couldn’t have even been bothered to.”
“So, lemme get this straight,” Grace mumbled, running a hand over his eyes. “The moon that we pulled you off of—AT-5 you called it?—has blood oceans, which you went down into with that… sub of yours?”
“Yes!” Simon said, exasperated.
Now Grace was chewing on his lip thoughtfully. “Simon, the moon we found you on was barren, something similar to Earth’s, there were no oceans on it.” Though, he had to admit, there wasn’t another readily available explanation as to why the ship had been covered in blood.
Simon opened and closed his mouth several times, anger deflating. “You’re sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
A furrow appeared between Simon’s brows as he seemed to work out a very difficult puzzle in his head. Grace could relate, as he was going through every possible explanation for how both of their stories could be true. He came up empty.
“Okay, is there any chance that someone else did lift you out? Maybe this C.O.I did rescue you.”
“I can’t… remember exactly.” Simon said, finally returning Grace’s gaze.
”It’s alright. That’s a lot of me to expect of you, you should be getting some rest.” Grace put a comforting hand on his shoulder and smiled warmly at the other man. It was only when Simon’s gaze started flickering anxiously between Grace’s hand and his face that he realized what he did. He pulled his hand away quickly and wiped it awkwardly on his pant leg before realizing that that was probably offensive. “Sorry! Do you want some, uh, water?” Grace didn’t wait for an answer before he hurried off to the kitchen.
Grace groaned inwardly and outwardly as he filled up a xenonite cup for Simon. Did he have to be so immediately clingy? Simon obviously still didn’t trust him, and here he was breaking all of his boundaries and acting like they were best friends. When he returned to the living room, Simon was standing in the exact place he’d left him.
“Here you go,” he said lightly, and handed Simon his cup. Simon stared at it suspiciously. “I know it looks weird, but I promise it’s safe to drink. At least I hope so, or else I’ll be dying here pretty soon.” Grace laughed and very quickly trailed off into an awkward exhale because Simon still did nothing.
“Uh, it’s getting pretty late, and I know you need your rest, so we should probably turn in for the night. I can, uh, take the couch, and-”
“What? No.” Simon interrupted. “Why would I get the bed?”
Grace chuckled. “Because you just woke up from a coma? Trust me, I’m kind of the resident expert on them, and I know that you need to get some good sleep.”
“It’s your house.”
“And therefore my rules.”
Simon sighed, and rolled his eyes ever so slightly. “You’re not changing your mind?”
“Uh-uh.”
Simon seemed to struggle for a moment before he said, “Thank you.”
The day after Simon arrived on Erid, he walked into Grace’s living room after an admittingly comfortable night of sleep, and found the other man on the couch reading a thick book. Grace seemed to notice his presence immediately because he put his book down and smiled softly up at him.
“Morning,” he said.
“Morning,” Simon replied.
“I was thinking about it last night, and I was wondering if you’d be interested in going down to the beach today?” Grace asked lightly, like he was offering a trip down to the store.
Grace was interesting. Things that Simon felt held a great gravity with them, Grace treated like they were no issue at all, but then he would turn around and get flustered by something trivial. He was funny, and brave, and kind, which was admirable even if it annoyed him sometimes. By all means he was the complete opposite of Simon, and yet he found himself oddly gravitated toward him.
“Yes,” he replied curtly.
Simon savored the first puff of fresh air that touched his face—the first he’d felt in days—and Grace waited patiently for him at the top of the stairs that led down to the waves. Simon bit back a smile at the show of kindness. Damn it.
They were quiet on the walk down, which Simon appreciated, because the smell of the salt in the air and the feeling of the wind on his cheeks were enough to process on their own. Simon liked to think that he was able to blame the slight redness of his eyes on those things.
When they reached the waves, Grace didn’t stop walking, and continued leading them down the shore. Simon followed quietly.
”Y’know,” Grace started, breaking the comfortable silence growing between them, “when I first got here—on Erid I mean—I had to live on the Hail Mary for a bit while they built this whole place for me.” Grace looked around the space with a great sense of admiration. “Obviously I was so, so grateful for it, but the whole time, all I could think about was how if the roles were reversed, and I had brought Rocky back to Earth, he wouldn’t have been met with the same kindness.”
Simon hummed and tried his best to feign indifference. Grace had made multiple references back to Earth, all under the assumption that Simon understood them perfectly, all the while he’d never even seen the place. Simon couldn’t make any sense of it. Grace talked like someone who was from Earth, but he knew that couldn’t have been possible. Unless he was over 300 years old, the chances of Grace being born on the planet were zero… right?
Simon was actively on a planet, though. Was it possible that the C.O.I had just… lied? Claimed that Earth and every other habitable planet had gone when really they still stood completely intact and unaware of Eden? He was surprised to find himself trusting Grace over them.
He agreed with Grace, nonetheless, because never been to Earth, but he could certainly understand the other man’s concerns. If the people there were anything like the people on Eden, he was sure that an alien wouldn’t have been welcomed with such open arms.
Grace came to a stop shortly after that, when they were about halfway down the beach, and sat. Simon stayed standing.
Nothing was said for several minutes, and they both stared out at the push and pull of the waves and the heavy blanket of fog obscuring their view of the boundary of the dome. The design was genius, Simon had to admit to himself. He was yet to meet one of these Eridians, but he could admire their intellect.
“So, uh.” Simon looked down to see Grace pouring sand lazily through his fingers, face unreadable and focused on the horizon. The orange-red of the rising sun cut through the fog and cast mesmerizing shadows across the other man’s face. Simon forced his gaze away.
“The Eridian scientists have been working on the Hail Mary to fix it up enough for another flight, and they’re, uh, pretty sure that it’s ready for a trip back to Earth, should someone want to take it.” He paused for a moment, gaze fixed on the sand between his fingers. “I’m not going to. Erid’s my home now and I don’t feel like changing that. But…” He looks up at Simon. “You could take it.”
The offer sat heavily between them, and the silence following Grace’s words quickly grew tense. Simon chewed on his lip while he thought.
He’d never really considered the possibility of ever going to Earth. He’d been born after the Quiet Rapture and raised under the knowledge that he’d live on a ship or a moon for his entire life. Sure, he’d imagined what Earth must have been like plenty of times, but he’d been content with his fantasy only being based on the stories of others and the few pictures saved from Before.
“You would do that?” He could hardly keep his voice from shaking.
“Of course. I’m not going to use it”
Simon shifted on his feet. “How long would it take?” he asked softly.
“Just over four years.” Grace replied immediately, like he’d been waiting for the question. “Or that’s what it would feel like, anyway.”
That wasn’t long at all, considering how far away they were. Simon could feel his heart rate start to pick up. Earth. How funny a thought it had been, and now was one well within his grasp. He wanted it so badly. The realization surprised him but he could feel it was true. He wanted to live somewhere where he wasn’t constantly fearing for his life, or waiting for another cosmic event to come along and wipe out everyone he’d ever known. He’d dreamed for so long of feeling soft grass beneath his feet and a warm Sun on his face.
“Okay,” he said.
“You’ll go?”
“Yes. I would like to.”
Grace got to his feet and smiled at Simon. He searched for that familiar warmth he’d grown somewhat accustomed to, but found it strangely absent. Grace stuck out a hand.
“You’ve got yourself a deal, Simon.”
Simon shook his hand.
When they got back home, Grace headed straight for the bathroom.
“I’ll be just a second.” he called without turning to see if Simon heard him.
As soon as the bathroom door closed, he leaned heavily forward onto the sink, suddenly feeling very tired.
Idiot. Trying to get Simon to stay had been bad enough, but he’d been so obvious about it that he wouldn’t have been surprised if Simon tried to escape on the ship that night.
He wasn’t sure why this upset him so much. He’d known Simon, what, just under a day? And already he was this torn up over the thought of him leaving. It seemed like Grace was just not able to hold up a relationship with another human.
Grace shook out his head and looked at himself in the mirror. He could get over this. He’d quite literally crossed the black void of space and saved all of humanity. He could say goodbye to one person.
The thought still made him queasy.
He would get over it.
“Hello, Grace! Rocky has come to check on Fleshy!”
Oh, crap.
Grace bolted out of the bathroom and straight to the front door, where Rocky now stood frozen in front of an equally frozen Simon.
“Rocky, hey! What are you doing here?” Grace moved between the two, grabbing the door as an extra barrier and trying his best to subtly push Rocky out.
“Grace left front door open—what is the point of door if Grace never uses it?—so Rocky thought it was okay to come inside. Why didn’t Grace tell Rocky that human was awake?”
Grace ignored the slight and turned back to Simon, who was still looking wide-eyed at the alien. His eyes flickered briefly to Grace who shrugged helplessly.
“Well, now’s not the best time, alright buddy? Maybe come back in a little bit.” Grace began ushering Rocky out the door.
“No, um, it’s okay.” Simon said hurriedly. “He can stay.”
Grace turned to look at him again, searching his gaze for any kind of uncertainty. There was a little fear present in Simon’s dark eyes, but it was overwhelmed by resolution. Grace could only hope that Rocky would remain on his best behavior. Cautiously, he opened the door, and stepped aside.
“Hello, Fleshy!” Rocky chirped, raising his arms in greeting.
Simon raised a tentative hand back. “What’s it, uh… what’s he saying?”
“Oh! Right.” It had been so long since Grace had been around other English speakers that he forgot that not everyone in the universe spoke Eridian. “I can translate. He said ‘Hello.’”
“Hello.” Simon replied.
“Grace did not finish Rocky’s sentence.”
“He said ‘Hello, Simon.’” Grace corrected himself.
“That is not what Rocky said.”
“Well, I’m not calling him that.”
“Grace is bad translator.”
“Rocky is bad friend!”
“Um,” Simon interrupted. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Grace replied easily. “Rocky’s just deciding on an Eridian translation for your name. Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll be super flattering.”
Rocky elected to drop the argument, though Grace was sure it would be brought up later. “Does Fleshy like dome Adrien made for humans?” Rocky asked, voice taking on the excited tone it usually did when Adrien was brought up.
Grace translated the question to Simon. “Adrien is Rocky’s mate,” he added. “They built the place.”
Simon raised his eyebrows. “Yes, it’s great. I’m sure Grace will be very happy here.” Grace smiled tightly and silently dreaded what was sure to be Rocky’s next question.
As predicted, Rocky looked confused. “And Fleshy will be happy here?” He looked to Grace who shook his head.
“Uh, no pal. Simon is gonna take ol’ Mary back to Earth as soon as it’s ready.”
“Oh.” Rocky deflated.
“So, uh, why don’t you head back home, yeah? I’m sure Simon’s still exhausted, and-”
“Yes, yes! Rocky will go tell Adrien that Fleshy is safe.” Rocky was already halfway out the door and drumming the familiar goodbye pattern on his arm. “Rocky will see Grace tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow, pal.”
When the door was closed, Grace sighed heavily and leaned his head against it, collecting his breaths. Slowly, he turned back to Simon. “Sorry about him, I know he’s a lot.”
“Not at all.” Simon said instantly. “I’m happy to meet any literal alien. I just doubled my count.”
“Really?” Without thinking, Grace crowded closer to the other man, eyes alight with curiosity. “You’ve met another alien? What was it like? Was it intelligent? Humanoid? Like any other animal on Earth?”
Simon didn’t say anything for several moments, and Grace realized that he was being far too intense. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“No. It’s alright.” Simon held up a hand. “You’re bound to be curious.” He inhaled shakily, and Grace instantly felt bad for making him possibly recall anything from his time in the SM-13. “It looked like some sort of fish, I guess. It lived in the blood ocean.”
Grace pressed his lips very tightly together. “So a water based lifeform.”
“Um… yes? Is that bad?”
“No. No, that’s totally fine, please continue.”
Simon struggled to find the words for a moment. “I’m not totally sure it was alien. It sounded like… like the crew members of another sub before me. The SM-8. I think somehow, it was them. Sorry, that sounds absolutely insane-“
Grace laughed, then at Simon’s confused face, covered his mouth with his hand. “Sorry, I’m just- have you seen where I live? Nothing’s too far-fetched anymore.”
Simon stared at him for a moment before a smile stretched across his face. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
It was the first time Grace had seen him smile, and he found it hard to look away. All of his features softened in the most unifying way that Grace could only think that this was what his face was designed to do. He made it his mission then to make Simon smile as many times as was physically possible before he left. And Grace’s last mission was a pretty well known success.
For the next few weeks, most of Grace and Simon’s time was devoted to preparing the latter for his trip home. Grace still had to train him on how to use everything in the Hail Mary, with the little expertise he had, and they had to save up enough food to last him the trip.
Simon couldn’t believe that Grace was doing all of it just for him. He hardly spent any time on his own anymore, and devoted all of his energy into helping Simon. He really was a marvel of a human being. Far more selfless and kind than Simon could ever hope to be.
Five days after Simon’s arrival, Grace gave him a more detailed tour of the cockpit. He pointed out important buttons, let Simon fiddle with them if it was safe, and then waited patiently while the man wrote everything down.
“Y’know, I’ll leave a detailed list of what everything does.” Grace chuckled.
“Writing things down helps me remember.” Simon dismissed him. He didn’t bring up the real reason that the manuel in the Iron Lung hadn’t been very informative at all and was painfully boring to read. He’d prefer to not kill Grace with any secret cancer beams on the ship.
He… trusted Grace now. He did. The man had done nothing but show him kindness and empathy. They actually might’ve been the only two people in the universe that understood each other, but… he could just never be too careful.
Grace hummed and moved on, but Simon was quickly distracted by a broken screen in front of him, the colors still glitching and flickering on and off.
“What’s this?” he asked, tracing the cracks with his finger.
Grace laughed humorlessly. “Uh, I broke my nose on that.” He pointed to a tiny scar over the bridge of his nose.
Simon’s own nose scrunched with pity. “How’d that happen?”
Grace looked between the screen and the other man for a moment. “When Rocky and I collected samples from Adrien—the planet, not the person—there was a…” He sighed heavily. “leak in one of our fuel tanks. Sent the ship spinning out of control, so I got thrown forward into… that.”
“Jesus,” Simon murmured.
“Oh, don’t worry. Nothing like that will happen to you, as long as you don’t take a detour crashing into an alien planet.”
“No, I don’t give a shit about me. You’re really amazing, Grace. For surviving all of that.”
Grace seemed taken aback, though Simon couldn’t begin to understand why. He’d stated an objective fact.
“Rocky did the actual impressive thing. He broke out of his protected area just to save me.” Grace pointed to where Simon was sitting. “He risked his life to drag me all the way to Armando. Gave me this, though.” He raised his right arm to show a rough, three pronged scar imprinted onto his skin. Simon noted the resemblance to the Eridian’s “hands.”
Simon didn’t miss how Grace deflected the complement, but decided to drop it for the time being. “Yeah, he’s brave too.”
“He sure is.” After a moment of silence, Grace continued, “Anyways, tomorrow I’m not gonna be able to show you around as much. I’ve gotta go back to work or I’m just about going to die of guilt.”
“What do you do?” Simon realized that Grace had yet to talk about what he did before Simon got there.
“I teach. Gotta say, though, my new students are a lot different than human eighth graders.”
“You taught on Earth too?” Simon furrowed his brow. “How did you get into space?”
“That’s… another long story,” he said slowly. Simon decided not to push. He clearly didn’t want to talk about it, so Simon would let Grace tell him when he was ready. Or maybe he never would, if he was leaving. The thought made an ugly emotion swirl in his gut, so he ignored it.
“You like teaching, though?”
“Oh yeah, that’s my real passion. My students were all I was thinking about while I was up there.” He thought for a moment. “God, they might be older than me, now.”
Simon narrowed his eyes at him. “How does that work?”
Grace lit up in the way he usually did when he talked about something that excited him. “Well, my ship was going near light-speed, so I was experiencing time differently than the people still on Earth. I can’t say for certain, but for me I think it’s been about twelve years since I left, but for them it's been around thirty.”
“Wow,” was all Simon could say. Grace had most likely been in space for the majority of those twelve years, even if he’d been asleep for some of them like he’d claimed. Still, Simon couldn’t imagine it. He’d only been in the Iron Lung for a few days, but Grace had been stuck up there for almost a decade.
“You’re amazing,” Simon found himself repeating.
Grace flushed and tucked his chin into his chest. “Anyone would have done it. Actually, I wouldn’t have done it. Stratt had to literally hold me down and force me to go, so…”
“You can say whatever you want, it won’t change my opinion.”
Grace opened his mouth like he was going to retort, but he suddenly deflated. The two locked eyes for a long time, but Simon couldn’t decipher what emotions were swirling through Grace’s.
Grace smiled. “Okay.”
Every evening, the two hiked down the steps to the beach and sat to watch the sunset. They never talked much, and whenever they did, it was Grace who started the conversation.
Simon enjoyed this part of their day very much. He never felt pressured by the other man to speak, and could spend hours just listening to the waves crashing against the shore. Adrien had explained the mechanism used to keep the waves moving, which only caused his admiration for the other being to grow. Really, living on a planet full of intelligent, advanced aliens and Ryland Grace made him feel rather stupid.
Ten days after Simon’s arrival, Simon spoke first, for once. “Grace?” he asked quietly. He looked to the other man, who had his eyes closed and head tilted back, hair blowing gently in the breeze. He hummed in acknowledgement. “You’re from Earth, right?”
Grace paused for a moment, then opened his eyes to squint at Simon. “Yes? Are you?” He chuckled lightly.
Simon did not respond, and only hoped that the look he gave the other man told him what he could not force himself to say.
Grace’s eyes widened, and he very quickly straightened so he was leaning toward Simon. “You’re not from Earth?”
Simon shook his head. “I thought… at least they told us that Earth was gone.”
“Who- who told you that Earth was gone?”
“The C.O.I—the government where I’m from.”
“And where’s that?”
Simon inhaled deeply. “It’s called Eden. It’s a big space station people have been living on since the Quiet Rapture. You’ve seriously never heard of this?”
Grace shook his head. “When you mentioned it before, I wasn’t sure what to say… You said that every planet disappeared?” Simon nodded. “Okay, well, what does ‘disappear’ mean? Disappear like…” Grace made a noise similar to an explosion while demonstrating one with his hands.
“No, they just… disappeared. Were gone one day. Our scientists still haven’t figured it out.”
“Huh. When did it happen? Was it recent?”
“Um, 378 years ago.”
“That was specific.”
“It’s how we keep track of time now. It’s 378 EIC.”
Grace seemed utterly delighted. “Wow,” he said, almost in awe. At Simon’s slightly appalled look, he quickly backtracked. “No, I’m sorry, I just…” Grace looked at Simon with narrowed eyes. “Do you know what the Petrova line is? Or Astrophage? Little black dots that are eating the Sun?”
Simon shook his head, slightly exasperated. “The Sun doesn’t exist as far as I know.”
Grace smiled of all things. “When you were on that ship, did you see or feel anything weird? A skip in time or a weird light, or anything like that?”
Simon was caught off guard by how accurate Grace’s question was, and struggled to form his next sentence. “Yeah, there was this bright light. I ran into it and… that’s the last thing I remember.”
Grace clapped his hands once, startling Simon. “I don’t think you’re from here, Simon.”
“Obviously.”
“No, I don’t think you’re even from this universe.” When Simon didn’t respond, Grace seemed to take it as permission to keep going. “I mean, what other explanation is there? I’ve never heard of this Quiet Rapture—I’ve certainly been on a habitable planet in the last 300 years, and you’ve never heard of Project Hail Mary or anything similar to the Petrova line, so… do you have any other ideas?”
Simon’s gaze darted to and from Grace’s delighted expression, unsure exactly how to react to this information.
Every habitable star and planet in the universe were suddenly struck from existence. Was a multiverse the absolute craziest thing he’d heard?
“How’s- how is that possible?” he breathed.
“I’m not entirely sure either.” Grace admitted. “I mean, a multiverse has been theorized for years, but no one’s ever found enough proof.”
“I could be lying.” Simon pointed out. Grace had absolutely no reason to believe him; in their very first meeting, Simon had tried to kill him. By all means, Grace should’ve stopped talking to him right then, and yet there he was, sitting lazily on the beach with the other man like they’d been friends for years. It all truly fascinated Simon.
“I trust you.” Grace said, and it was as simple as that.
“It’s that easy for you.” Simon stated. “You can just believe me when I tell you that the Earth disappeared.” Grace nodded earnestly.
“You haven’t given me a reason to think you’re lying.”
Simon barked out a laugh. Though he tried his best to shove it away, he could feel himself growing teary. “I can think of a few.”
Grace hummed and stared at Simon for a while. Simon stared back. The only sound around them was that of the waves pulling gently at the shore.
Simon quickly got lost in Grace’s eyes. They were the same blue as the sky around them, but endlessly deep, and thoughtful. Simon had never seen the real ocean back on Earth, but he figured that it was all wrapped up pretty neatly in front of him.
Grace’s glasses clung very loosely to his face, and fell just about as far down his nose as was physically possible. With a smile, Simon pushed them up to where they were actually designed to rest.
“You never wear them right.”
Grace looked a little star struck. “I don’t?”
“No.” Simon earnestly laughed at Grace’s clueless expression. “Half the time you’re chewing on them.”
Grace laughed too. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
They laughed a little longer before they fell into silence once more. Simon was smiling wider than he had in perhaps years, and Grace mimicked his expression.
Grace’s brows furrowed.
“Ah, we should, um, get ready for bed. Rocky gets on my case about not getting enough sleep,” Grace said, like he was genuinely sorry to be going.
Simon nodded. “Yeah, I guess we should.”
Grace stood slowly and offered Simon a hand, just like he did every day. Simon took it, just like he did every day, and allowed Grace to help him to his feet. Slowly, they made their way back to Grace’s house, and Simon felt lighter than he had in a long time.
He sighed heavily. This man would be the death of him.