Chapter Text
Simon awoke with a start, eyes flashing against a bright white light. He sat up in a hurry, looking around the white, fluorescent room. He looked down at his legs, finding himself clean and surrounded in white blankets. Had heaven appeared before him? With the scent of faint laundry detergent and the feeling of actual warmth?
Simon hesitantly spun around, looking to see a man slumped down at a chair in the corner of the room. His face was relaxed, as soft snores blew from his lips. Simon felt another surge of memories flow back to him, remembering the man, Ryland, telling him how he arrived. He remembered feeling soft hands cradle his body then, and he heard the distant beep of his heartbeat on the screen.
He looked to his left and saw his only arm was connecting to the ECG covering his bare chest. His vitals looked well enough, though his heartbeat was albeit faster with waking up so suddenly.
He had no idea where he was, although he knew in a sick way he was safe. Safety wasn't apart of Simon's life, but looking back to the sleeping man beside him, he oddly thought it could be.
It didn't mean he could trust whatever was happening though, and he carefully and quietly slung the blankets off himself and placed his feet onto the cold, white sterile floor. He shivered at the contact, and took a step towards the far bay door. He stumbled and fell onto his knees, letting out a grunt of pain. He quickly glanced over to Ryland's sleeping form and let out a small sigh of relief.
He awkwardly stood up, knowing his legs weren't working the way they should. He quietly took off towards the door and snuck through, glancing into the long hallway of the ship.
"Mary." He reminded himself, before taking a firm left.
He walked for awhile, still stumbling a little, until he found a room at the far end of the ship. He pressed the button to the left and the doors slipped opened, before he walked in and felt a rush of something lush and bright enter his nostrils.
He gasped as tears began to fall against his cheeks, breathing in the fresh plants he found on the other side of the door. They sat upon tall shelves, their lush green leaves just aching to be touched. Simon fell again to his knees, covering his mouth in a wet gasp.
He barely registered the door opening behind him, as a hesitant hand pressed against his shoulder gently. Simon looked up to see Ryland standing over him, eyes soft and so caring it made Simon want to sob even more then he already was.
He felt like a fucking crybaby in that moment, but something told him that Ryland wouldn't mind.
"Its nice, right? We try to keep them watered and bright as possible. The room itself is made with the perfect amount of synthetic sunlight. It mimics real sunbeams of course, but thankfully these babies keep growing. Pretty impressive if you ask me, but I don't know much about plants at all. If you do, you should absolutely keep an eye on them for me and Rocky. Could help us a lot in the long run." Ryland smiled.
Simon nodded, blinking away more tears that formed. He took a knee and carefully stood, wobbling over while Ryland supported him. Ryland kept his soft smile as Simon awkwardly leaned into him, trying to make sense of everything that had happened.
"Why..did you save me?" Simon asked slowly, looking over to Ryland.
"Someone had to, I'm pretty happy it was me honestly. I know I'm not much of an astronaut, but I'm good at other stuff, like figuring out how to keep the ship flying and safe. Finding you was a bonus, though. I haven't seen another human in almost fifteen years, and being friends with a Rock that you can't hug can feel...sometimes sad. I guess." Ryland muttered.
Simon stared at Ryland's face then, eyes taking in every inch of it. Ryland looked over to meet his eyes and immediately turned pink, and audibly coughed into his hand.
Simon leaned forward and brushed a hair out of Rylands face, and pushed Rylands glasses up the bridge of his nose. Ryland's face turned into a darker shade of pink then, his mouth clamping shut.
"I wasn't worth whatever this is. I shouldn't be here looking at plants." Simon said after a moment, breaking the silence.
"You don't know that." Grace murmured, eyes glancing down at his shoes.
Simon huffed, and let out a sudden laugh, startling them both. Grace glanced up to meet Simon's dark eyes, the stitches on the side of his face red and deep. He drank in all of Simon's beautiful features, and felt a sudden urge to kiss all of the uncertainty out of him.
"I don't know how much help I can be, I don't know shit about space. I'm not anything special." Simon continued.
"Again, you don't know that, I feel like everyone is, in a way." Grace replied, shrugging.
"Not good at talking, either." Simon murmured.
"That's okay, I am. I can hold a conversation for the both of us." Grace said reassuringly.
"What if I fuck something up? With that alien thing or you?" Simon asked, reaching over to press his hand against Grace's cheek.
"I don't think you could, not really. Rocky and I, we've been through a lot. Everyone makes mistakes, you just get to learn how to fix them." Grace whispered nervously.
"I'm not good at talking." Simon murmured again, leaning forward towards Grace's face.
"That's okay, you don't have to be." Grace responded quietly, as Simon captured his lips with his own, feeling tears of relief rush down both of their faces.
-
Simon smiled at the memory, opening his eyes to face the waves again. He took another breath of fresh air and felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Grace's smile up from above him, the lighting of dome above them surrounded Grace's head like a bright halo.
Grace leaned down and pressed a kiss against Simon's head, before he settled down onto the sand and sat beside him. Simon sighed, feeling peace.
"Do you ever think about starting over?" Simon asked after a beat, as the two men watched over the waves.
"Starting over?" Grace asked, confused.
He glanced over to see Simon's contemplative expression.
"I mean, I guess on Earth. We could go back, you and I, and I guess...start over." Simon muttered.
"Oh sure, I think about it all the time." Grace shrugged.
"What do you think about?" Simon asked, curious.
"I think about having a nice house with the white picket fence, we get married at Nasa and maybe get a dog, I've always liked the name "Henry" for a dog." Grace continued, surprising Simon.
"Really?"
"Absolutely! Then you go work down at the dock and maybe find some pals to go fishing with. We could take trips to Niagara Falls and go star-gazing every night, even if it's cold. I'd buy us a trailer, because I'm assuming the Space Agency would make sure we wouldn't actually ever have to work again." Grace added on.
"Huh." Simon said to himself.
"Do you want to start over?" Grace asked.
"I don't..really know yet. I like it here. I like..being here with you." Simon sighed.
"Erid is a nice place, unfortunately I don't think we could take vacations here." Grace joked.
Simon chuckled, shaking his head at Grace's lame joke.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is...if we ever decided to begin again, and go home, I wouldn't be scared. I would just be living again, with you." Simon spoke in a low-voice.
"Yeah, but I'm in no rush yet, are you?" Grace asked, unsure.
"I'm in no rush. That place still hurt the fuck out of us." Simon muttered angrily.
"I know." Grace nodded, snuggling against Simon's side.
"We could...get married here, if you want. Rocky is basically our dog, anyway." Simon considered.
"Oohhhh don't say that around him, he would absolutely getcha." Grace laughed.
"Don't I know it." Simon replied, rolling his eyes.
They sat in silence for awhile, before Simon broke it once more.
"Will you?" Simon finally asked.
"Oh yes, you don't have to ask me twice." Grace answered, his smile widening as Simon turned towards him to kiss him lightly.
"Good."