Chapter Text
From then on it was like most of the base orbited around Simon. Stratt had signed off on the idea almost immediately. Not only did it help ensure the ship wouldn't crash out there but also helped with the much bigger issue of doing outside repairs should something happen.
DeBois entered the aquarium room. Simon swam over inquisitively. He wasn't planned on the schedule but he didn't think too much of it. The aquarium room for those who had clearance became a pretty unanimous break spot given the lack of overhead fluorescent lighting.
"Hey Debois," he greeted.
"Hello, Simon."
"Anything new?"
"I've been working with Dr. Shapiro more, learning about Ferrophage. She's…" His voice trailed off in fondness. "She's wonderful."
There it was again. Simon had worked with both of them more than anyone else, barring Grace, given they were the designated mission biologists. In between a lot of the official stuff there was time to talk. They both liked each other, that much was obvious, even if the other party was oblivious to it. Simon was going to, tip the scales so to speak.
"I think you should tell her." Simon said bluntly.
"This isn't science, how do I say it?"
"I think I could be a little like science. You guys are both biologists, you could talk about that. Like one of Grace's pun shirts."
"That is true, but what if—"
"Do you like her?"
"Huh?"
"Point blank, do you like her?"
"Yes."
"Well then I don't think those feelings should go unsaid."
"You're right, thank you Simon."
Next up was mechanical training with Ilyukhina. Simon thought it was cool since he got to practice something called a blow torch. It went by fast like it usually did, especially by his standards as humans are unfortunately not comfortable dealing with heavy machinery underwater for long periods of time.
"That went pretty well I think. You're a fast learner."
"Thanks. How are uh, things going around the facility if you know what I mean?"
"Oh have I got the tea for you."
It was their little tradition. Simon wanted to know everything and that included whatever gossip went around the facility.
Since their last lesson, Ilyukhina had managed to start an official betting pool, the watch party for the new OceanGate documentary had ended with the whole engineering department yelling at the screen, and to top it off, someone had started the rumor that Stratt and Dr. Lokken of all people had hooked up after a diplomatic meeting.
"Anyone you've been eyeing?" Simon asked.
Ilyukhina shrugged. "The girl from linguistics is kinda cute. Who knows, I think I might go for it."
"You should."
"Hannah's great. I talked to her about it and she thinks we might be able to get the dictionary project back off the ground."
"You mean the light suit?"
"Light suit and you're vocal language if you'd be up for it. So our second first encounter goes more Star Trek and less Alien."
"I think that would be really cool." Simon's eyes caught on her hair."Can I… shoot, I need a word."
"For?"
"To fix up your hair. Uh… to tie back."
"We have the word braid."
"Yeah, can I braid your hair?"
"Sure. Wait— how are we going to do this?"
"Step back for a second." Simon launched himself onto the platform.
"Oh. Are you sure you can breathe like that?"
"Yeah, as long as I'm partially in the water I'm fine."
"Where'd you learn it?"
Simon paused. "My mom taught me when I was younger."
"What was she like?"
"She was… kind. Showed me a lot of stuff actually. She…" Simon's voice trailed off. "She died a while back."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I was a mess when my dad died." There was a pause. "I think she'd be proud of you, Simon."
Simon smiled. "Thanks… and done!"
Ilyukhina sat up, pulling out her phone for a mirror.
"This looks great Simon, thanks."
"Hey, Ilyukhina," Grace said as he passed her in the hall. "Your hair looks nice."
"Thanks. Simon did it actually. He french braids pretty well for webbed fingers. Did you know he can get up to the platform on his own?"
"Really? I guess that explains all the water outside the tank. I'll have to ask him about it."
Ilyukhina smiled. "See you 'round Dr. Grace."
After so long of watching Grace scribble on his whiteboards, Simon demanded to have his own.
Simon spent most of his time drawing on them, whenever Grace asked about other life down there.
Stratt entered the aquarium."It's a brave thing you're offering to do for us."
Simon scrunched his face. "Just making sure we're even."
"And the drawings?"
"There's more out there than you know about."
There was a reason sirens stayed in groups. A large, coordinated, group was really the only chance against some of the bigger predictors.
"Would you recommend any adjustments to prepare the Hail Mary?"
"…Yeah."
"You okay?"
Simon shrugged. "Missing home I guess."
"What's it like?"
"It's nice. Quiet. It's a lot darker than up here but it's home. The whales were a sight.
"Whales?"
"One of the few times I was actually full. They'd fall and we'd make it stretch as long as we could… but there weren't as many. Some thought it was a punishment; others, they started swimming up instead of scrounging for scraps."
"I was a pretty good hunter. Too good I guess. I was sent with my brothers to try taking back some territory but…" He could still feel the heat on his skin. "It didn't end well."
"If I may, what's your group structure like?"
"Well usually there's someone at the top, organizes the hunts. It's usually a mated pair. The higher up you are, you get first pick of food."
Simon paused. "Do you have a mate Grace?"
"I— no, it's just me."
"Oh. That's cool too. I never really felt interested in that stuff either." Simon had his pack, he just didn't feel the need for a partner. It also didn't feel right bringing life into a world that was starving
"I think we make a pretty good team. A boat team!"
"Boat team?"
"Best of all time."
Simon did, in fact, turn out to be right. Turns out Sirens also took in oxygen though their skin like salamanders. He loved this because it meant he could be closer to Grace. If you asked the scientist, he did not almost fall into the tank when Simon managed to pop out of the water and hand onto the edge of the feeding platform thank you very much. It did make conversations and teaching easier without the wall of glass between them. As long as Grace set a timer for water breaks (for both of them) it was all fine and dandy.
"Wait Grace don't go yet."
"Is everything alright?"
Simon groaned. "Can you… um stay while I sleep? I— you know how when we watch movies sometimes I do that like half sleep trance thing?"
Grace nodded.
"I've been feeling tired lately. More than I'm supposed to. Like— like I have to full sleep. It's— fuck, I'm not explaining this well am I?"
"It's alright. Take your time."
Simon took a breath. "Back home if someone is well sick and they have to do a full sleep, there are others too… keep an eye out, you know? I know there's nothing that can happing in this tank but…"
It felt like giving up and letting death creep up on him.
"A cultural thing."
"Yeah."
Silence hung in the air.
"I could watch over you. Maybe not all the time in person but we could do like a video call. If I did that would you be more comfortable?"
"Yeah that would help."
There was a pause.
"You'd do that for me?"
"Of course. The rest'll help you bounce back faster."
Simon blinked. Waited on bated breath for him to take it back. Grace had only known him for what, a few weeks and was already willing to do this for him?
"Thank you, Grace."
Simon burrowed almost completely under the sand, leaving only the angler fish bobble and frills above the surface. For the first time in months, he fell into a comfortable sleep.
A good amount of the team was in the break room. It was busy work saving the world but even the greatest minds of the generation needed a breather sometimes.
"We've started on the tracker harness and getting him to sample some of the dried food. It shouldn't be too much of an issue since he'd be able to hunt on his own down there but it's good to be prepared." Illysna smirked. "It's kinda like laika,"
Grace blinked. "The space dog?"
"Our patron saint of one way trips. He's lucky as hell that he made it all the way to the surface. Now he's here guiding us back down." The end of the sentence came out sad.
Grace looked over. "Hey. You guys are going to do great on the mission. Then you can come back and you'll be heroes. Might even name a bar after you," he joked.
"It's a nice thought. But there's a reason we people don't go that far down. I don't know I'm just… trying to make peace with the possibility, I guess."
"I think your crew will be a bit more like Felice, you know?
"The space cat?"
"Yeah. He made it home."
She cracked a smile. "Cheers to that."