Chapter Text
Erid is incredible. So different, yet still the same. It’s still hard to believe I’m back, sometimes. We’ve officially been docked on the space elevator for two Earth months. We brought some Taumoeba to Threeworld first, then circled Erid until the space elevator was set up for us to land. There’s no gravity this high up, so it was a little choppy getting safely landed, but Erid had been long prepared to make it work. We barely had to do a thing.
The first month was lots of information sharing. Telling everyone about the mission, the success, the alien life I brought home with me that desperately needs our help to stay alive. Grace has less than two months of coma slurry left now to keep his vitamins stable, so we have a deadline to figure out everything he’ll need. I got to take part in my first thrum again, only a week into returning, and it was all about figuring out how best to help Grace survive.
Construction has started on a biodome for him. It’ll be near the largest science center we have, connected through tunnels, so he can visit and take part in all kinds of science. He’ll love it, but for now, he just has to believe me when I tell him so. Grace is stuck on the Hail Mary. He could leave in a xenonite EVA suit, technically, but it’s not like there’s much for him to see yet. We’re still working on creating lights for him.
I’ve kept my word, and I stay on the ship, except for when I’m needed for information. I could leave, but I choose not to. Grace has given up so much to bring me home, but I just can’t bring myself to experience too much of it without him.
Today is different. Today, I meet Adrian again.
Word of my return took time to spread across the planet; our original home is not near the space elevator. I asked the scientists working with me to make sure Adrian was told, and they returned with a confirmation that they are coming here. Adrian wants to see me.
I’m terrified. So much has happened, so much has changed. 50 years didn’t feel nearly as long when I experienced them here, but out there? Am I still the Rocky they fell in love with? Will they still want to be my mate?
“You’re being stupid.”
Grace floats by, swatting lightly at my arm. I bat him away, and he spins, giggling as he slows. “I’m not being stupid. I’m worried.” I pace, or as much as I can in zero gravity, which is basically not at all. I don’t bother with the magnet anymore, I know Grace will push me wherever I need to go if I can’t get the momentum to get there myself. “Everything has changed. I have changed. I don’t know anything about Adrian anymore.”
“Will it matter? Do you think there’s anything Adrian reasonably could’ve done in the time you were away that would make you stop loving them?”
“...No.”
“Exactly. And I bet Adrian feels the same. Who wouldn’t love you, Rock?”
There’s an awkward beat of time after that. We’ve been having more of these lately. I’m partly at fault, but can I be blamed for the surprise whenever someone as incredible as Grace says things like that about me?
Grace clears his throat and pushes off the side of the wall to propel himself towards the ladder. “Well, uh, I’m gonna go choke down some Taumoeba. Have fun down there, don’t stay out too late or you’ll turn into a pumpkin!”
“What, question?”
“Nothing, gotta go mark Cinderella down on our watch list. Go! Don’t make Adrian wait too long.”
“I’ll be back,” I say, even though I don’t really need to. He knows I will now. The first few times, he’d been surprised I kept my word to stay with him, but I’ve had to make enough trips down now that I think he expects me back. I rub down my arm, he rubs his, and I go.
There’s a tunnel that connects to the elevator. I take advantage of the long ride down to worry over everything again. There’s a place to leave my suit at the bottom. I leave it there after my slight struggle to get out of it. It’s more difficult than the ball, but it’s worth it. Hugs have never been better. It’s a short walk to the building where I’m meeting Adrian, and then the wait begins.
Even with my procrastinating, I’m there first. It feels torturous, waiting for them when I know just how close they must be. And finally, it’s time. The door opens, and there they are.
Adrian rushes in to greet me, and I lose myself in the noise of joy. I tackle them, despite all the self-restraint I’d been trying to keep, but Adrian steadies me and lets me cling despite the eccentricity of it all. Their beautiful voice harmonizes with mine as we sing our pain, our love, our joy to be together again.
I press our carapaces together, and Adrian laughs and goes along with it because, of course, they do. Grace was right. When it finally feels like my limbs are within my control again, I pull back and really take Adrian in. Still that beautiful middle-rough texture, still slightly taller than me. I take one of their hands in mine and inspect, sensing for new markings. I find none. They do the same with me, and our hands stay entwined even when they’re done.
“You’re not as different as I expected you might be,” they say with a lilting laugh.
“Neither are you,” I reply.
“I missed you.”
I missed you more than I’ll ever be able to put into words, so I just say, “I missed you, too.”
“I don’t know what’s off-limits, where to even begin asking you about your time away.”
“Go with what you’re most curious about right now, then.”
“Well,” They hesitate, fingers clicking restlessly. “Why have you not fully returned? I hear you stay on the ship still. Surely you’ve been offered somewhere to stay. Or, were you waiting for me to welcome you home?”
Home. The thought makes me ache in ways I didn’t know were possible. I want to see it, I want to see all Adrian’s done with it, what they’ve kept from when we shared it. But home is at least an Earth week’s journey, and I’m not ready to leave Grace for so long.
“Am I welcome home?” I double-check, and Adrian laughs.
“Of course you are. Always.”
I delight in that for a moment before dealing with reality. “I don’t want to leave Grace until he’s officially settled on Erid. I’m the only one who can understand him fully. I’d be worried leaving him to handle a bunch of unknown Eridians alone. I don’t know how long it’ll be before I’m comfortable leaving his side for more than a couple of days. I’m sorry. Does that change things?”
Adrian takes a moment to think, and I’m sure it’s over. I move my hand, but they keep me in place. “Don’t be foolish,” they tease, fingers gliding over our bond mark fondly. “Your caring nature is one of the reasons I fell in love with you to begin with. I can’t even begin to imagine the connection you must’ve made with Grace, but I understand why you want to keep him safe.”
“He’s incredible,” I can’t help but gush, but Adrian has always been one to indulge me. “Not just because he’s an alien, of course. But he’s brilliant, and funny, and so clever, oh, Adrian, I think you’ll really like him. I’d love for you to meet him soon.”
“Do you think he’ll like me?” They ask shyly, and now it’s my turn to covet their bond mark. The gem inlaid matches my exterior just as Adrian matches mine. I bet Grace will find Adrian beautiful; they’ve always been dazzling to everyone around them.
“I know he will.”
Adrian hums happily, and for a while, all we do is drink in each other’s presence. I’d spent so long building this up in my mind, wondering how different it’d feel. I can’t believe how familiar it is instead. It’s like I never left.
We talk in bursts, sharing our separate stories bit by bit. Adrian didn’t stay alone the whole time. They tried to find another mate, at the pressuring of some now former companions, but nothing worked out. They still work in natural sciences, they’ll love to hear all about Earth. I wonder if I could get them onto the crew working on terraforming for Grace’s home. They’d be an incredible asset.
I tell them about my time alone, what I can bring myself to share. I talk about finding Grace, our first days together. I tell them about Adrian the planet, and they trill so loud I’m sure every Eridian around must be curious. “You named a planet for me! Rocky, you are so, so, so amazing!”
“Grace says the planet is beautiful. We found Taumoeba in its atmosphere. So, in a way, you helped save Erid, too.”
Adrian chitters and squawks, all sorts of sounds escape in their delight, and I relish them all. When they settle down, they press to my side again. “The day will be up soon… how much longer do I have you?”
“We have time. A single Earth day is almost five of ours.”
“Good. I want to hear more about your time with Grace.” I don’t need to be told twice. Time eludes me as I regale Adrian with our journey, our struggles, our triumphs. They listen intently, only interrupting to ask additional details. In the end, we only part when I start to worry about how long I’ve been rambling.
“I have to go back soon. He’ll need me to watch him sleep,” I explain, and immediately shudder at the realization that Adrian once needed me for that, too. “Have you had someone to watch you?” I ask, guilt suddenly eating away at me.
“Yes, don’t worry. I had different family living with me for most of the time you were away. It’s not the same, though.”
“No, it’s not.” I agree, though I can’t say I’m unhappy with Grace watching over me. I’ve grown fond of it in its own way. “Can I watch you sleep? When you are ready again?”
“Please,” Adrian rushes to answer, and I relax in my relief. “I am staying in the room they’re providing me here. They said I can stay as long as I need. Should I have someone come for you next time if we aren’t together then?”
“Please,” I echo back. “Will you come to meet Grace soon?”
“I’d love to. Do you think one Earth day’s time would be too soon?”
“No! Are you sure? I know some are scared of him.”
“After all you’ve told me, I can’t wait to meet him, Rocky. Promise.” Adrian wiggles happily, and I return it.
“I’ll return to Grace for now, then. I love you, I’ll see you again soon.”
“Yes, very soon,” Adrian agrees. “I love you too.”
I lean in and hug them. It’s stilted; hugs aren’t exactly part of Eridian culture, but they should be. They’re nice, comforting. I think Adrian thinks so, too, or they’re at least kind enough to placate me by returning the hug. We rub our arms, say goodbye, and once I’ve wriggled back into my xenonite suit, I begin the long journey back up to Grace.
He’s waiting for me, though he’s doing his best to act like he wasn’t. It fills me with joy, and I float over to his side at once. “They still want to be mates!” I declare, and Grace cheers and hugs me tightly, letting my momentum send us both into a slow spiral.
“I told you they would! Who would turn you down? Aww, bud, that’s fantastic, I’m so happy for you!” Grace pets the top of my carapace, nuzzling his face against the side of it. I let him do as he pleases, thrilled with it all. “I wanna hear everything! Did they seem the same? Any big changes?”
“No, no, still same. Still my Adrian.” My Adrian. The thought delights me. I kick us off the wall we slowly bounce into, and we continue our floating hug in the middle of the ship. “Adrian wants to meet you! I said okay. It’s okay, question?”
“Me! They want to meet me?” Grace seems shocked, pulls away to look at me. It’s a habit long ingrained in him, even though I’ve got no features for him to read. “Really? Of course, it’s okay. When were you thinking?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?! Like Earth tomorrow?!”
“Always—”
“I know, I know, always Earth units, better to be Earth units in this case, actually, sorry, just… It’s still so soon! Oh gosh, this place is a mess! They’re coming up here? Rocky!” He splits apart from me and starts floating about in a panic, snatching up the random items he’s left floating around. “Hey! Help me clean! I need to make a good first impression.”
“Grace, Adrian will love you. Who wouldn’t love you, question?”
Grace freezes, or as much as one can, while in zero gravity. He knows I’m echoing his own sentiment from before. I wonder once again, just what he’s thinking. Grace laughs, rubs his face, and turns away from me. “Alright, alright. We’ll… we’ll clean in the morning. I should rest up first.” He turns back to me. “Watch me sleep?”
“Of course.”
It goes exactly as I expected. Adrian comes up in a xenonite suit, shy and sweet, stumbling in the lack of gravity. Grace is overly polite and nervous. I do most of the talking, but that’s to be expected. Grace can understand most of what Adrian says, but Adrian’s got no concept of Grace’s language. Still, we make it work.
“Gosh, they’re pretty, Rocky. That color is so unique! I don’t think I’ve seen any of the scientists with similar coloring. Is it rude to ask to look at their markings closer?”
“Grace wants to inspect you,” I tell Adrian, and Grace yells at me.
“Say it nicer! You make me sound like a creep!”
I laugh. “He wants to see markings,” I explain, and Adrian hums and steps forward. Grace is careful with them, gentle. They start to float, and he helps them back to one of the many handles temporarily attached to the ship's floor for ease of movement. His hands trail over the lines of their name, their ancestors, their birth home. I explain each part to him as he goes. When he reaches their bond mark, he gasps, gentle as he brushes over it.
“It matches your color,” He whispers, looking between the two of us. “That’s beautiful. It suits you both. Humans do similar things, sometimes. We correlate gems to the months of our calendar, and it becomes our birthstone. Sometimes, when being gifted jewelry, you’ll be given your own, or you might get your partner's, if it’s a gift from them. Or even simpler, human eyes come in many shades. I’ve heard of people getting gems that match their partner’s eyes.”
I relay it all to Adrian, who chirps and wiggles with pride at his praise. “My bond mark is the most special thing I have,” they say. “Rocky might say his bond mark is too, but I think his mission mark is most important.”
“I disagree,” I grumble, and both of them laugh at me. “Mission over, but bond still goes on.”
“Yes, it does,” Adrian trills, and I fluster, embarrassed to be so bold in front of Grace. “Do humans make marks like ours? Does Grace have meaningful decor as well?”
I am all but begging Grace mentally to not upset Adrian with the tree story right now, and somehow, he can tell. He laughs and rubs his arm. “Well, I do, but they’re not quite the same. Humans will put art into our skin so it leaves a picture, but the skin stays flat. I’ll show you some other time, no point dealing with the camera right now.”
Crisis averted.
“Oh! But, I guess you can sense this one.”
Crisis returned.
Grace pulls up his sleeve and shows Adrian the burn scar I left on him. They go still, shocked, I know without having to even ask, that they know exactly what they’re sensing. I’d left the moments right after getting the sampler out of my retelling yesterday. I didn’t know how to tell them I’d almost died in such a reckless way.
“Rocky saved me. Neither of us would be here, if he hadn’t. It means a lot to me.”
I don’t translate, still caught up in my own world thinking about how I’ll explain the hard parts, and Grace nudges me to bring me back. I relay his words, and Adrian reaches out and touches the mark. They trail over it just as Grace did their own.
“Beautiful.”
Grace is the one to fluster now, laughing nervously as he pulls away. “Well! Um, thank you. Let’s show you around the ship, maybe?”
The mood lightens again as we float and tumble around. I laugh when Adrian calls the screen room boring, just as I had when I first entered it. Grace promises to show them how incredible it can be next time. We talk, and laugh, and it is everything I hoped this meeting could be and more. Sadly, all good things must end eventually, and Adrian gives me a gentle nudge while Grace gets distracted looking for something.
“Rocky, I need to sleep soon. Will you come and watch?”
I’m sad to leave Grace for a while, but he’d already given me the okay yesterday when I told him all about my and Adrian’s meeting. “Yes, of course,” I assure. “Grace! Adrian must go soon. Come say goodbye.”
“What?!” Grace’s head shoots up, and he hurries over, a thinking machine in hand. “Aww, do you really have to go so soon?”
“Yes, they need to sleep.”
“Ahh, I see. Understand. Well, before you go, one more thing.”
I don’t realize what he’s doing until the machine begins to speak.
“Thank for visiting, A♭♪an.”
“Darn, I know I slipped on the name,” Grace grumbles, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a difficult name, even in natural Eridian, and he almost had it. I’m touched; he hadn’t asked me to help pronounce it. He must’ve been practicing while I was off doing things planetside. Adrian is shocked, fingers clacking as they wiggle.
“You said he didn’t speak Eridian!” They admonish me, and I laugh a little.
“Grace is learning to speak it with his thinking machine. Work in progress.”
“Incredible! Grace is so clever,” Adrian praises, and Grace beams at them before typing again.
“Thank! See again soon. Good night to both.”
“Good night, Grace,” I echo the words, and explain the meaning to Adrian. They say it too, we give the Eridian goodbye, and then we head back down to Erid together. We stay quiet as we remove our suits, walk to Adrian’s room, and settle inside. It’s a little thrilling to be able to watch them after so long.
The room they’ve been given is nice, spacious, and soundproof. A sparse but sturdy bedding area takes up half the space. We lie down together, I half-sprawl over Adrian’s longer form. Familiar in the best way.
“I like him,” Adrian says after a moment, and I hum in reply.
“Good. I hope you’ll both grow close.”
Adrian is quiet for a few moments more.
“You seem yourself around him.”
“Am I not myself with you?”
“You are,” They assure me, petting the nearest arm they can. “But you are with him, too. With other Eridians, not so much.”
I know what they mean. I’ve never been especially popular, not like Adrian is. I’ve got strong opinions, lots to say. Bossy. Stubborn. I don’t tend to make friends easily, though it doesn’t stop everyone. I had to make an effort, though, sometimes, to stay calmer to keep friends. I never have to watch how I act with Adrian, and I guess I don’t with Grace either.
“You’re right,” I reply, unsure what else to say.
Adrian hums softly, shifting a little in the bedding. “He’s important to you.”
“...Very important.”
“I understand,” they don’t sound upset, but maybe they’re too tired for it to fully come through. “He would be a good mate to you.” Oh. I hadn’t expected them to be so upfront about it so soon.
‘Maybe. We haven’t talked about it. What… do you think about it?”
“I think you have been through a lot together. I think maybe you need each other.”
“It could make things difficult. For you and me.”
Adrian laughs softly. “Only if we let it.”
“His dome will be so far from the home we made together.”
“Then we will make a new home by him.”
They say it like it’s just that easy. Maybe it can be. I haven’t let myself think too much on the idea, it felt foolish to dream of something so unbelievable. I can’t believe they would go along with this so easily.
“I can’t ask that of you, Adrian.”
“Then don’t. I will do it anyway.”
“Why?”
Adrian pulls me closer, and I let them. “I have lived long enough without you with me. All I want now is to be happy together. If Grace is part of what makes you happy, then I want that too.”
I want to bounce and shake and trill, but Adrian is tired, and I don’t want to keep them awake much longer. The joy instead shudders through me. I didn’t realize how much I’d been wanting this until it actually felt possible.
“I love you,” I murmur, because they must know.
“I love you too,” Adrian’s words start to slow. “When will you ask him? I can help you plan.”
“We have much to do before I can ask him. I want him to be comfortable on Erid first. There’s no rush. I have time.”
Adrian hums something unintelligible in reply, and then they go still. “Good night, Adrian,” I settle onto their carapace, and think about the future.