Chapter Text
Grace woke up feeling positively awful. His head hurt, he felt heavier in a way, and there was a strange taste in his mouth that he couldn't exactly place. Maybe something he ate the day before. Might as well check. He got up, unburying himself from the thick blanket as he stumbled to the bathroom. He checked himself in the mirror, noticing something on his teeth. Blood. And quite a bit of it too. He checked his hands, blood under his fingernails. How'd all of that get there?
Then the night before suddenly flashed in his mind. Waking up, hearing Simon's voice but not seeing him, being held, fighting, screaming, sobbing. ‘Oh my god,’ Grace thought. ‘I thought I was being taken again.’ He scrubbed his face with a hand, paying attention to not looking at the blood caked under his nails. He had to find Simon.
Following the soft sounds of a documentary, Grace came into the Don't Go Crazy room to see light wrappings on Simon's arm, edges slightly frayed due to being messed with out of boredom. “Hey,” Simon said, patting the floor next to him. Grace took the invitation, leaning into his partner's side. “What happened last night?” He asked, voice barely a monotone whisper.
Simon sighed through his nose, scratching at his arm. “Heard you fall out of your bunk, tried to get you back up, but you were having some sort of panic attack, and I tried to do what you do for me, but you ended up fighting me and giving me these,” he said, unwrapping the bandages to show Grace the bite marks. “I let you go after a while, then you fell asleep, so I took you back to bed.”
Grace blinked, sighing himself before taking Simon's hand. “I'm sorry,” he said. “I should've told you before, but-” “It was hard for you, I get it.” Simon said, interrupting Grace's spiral. “I should've asked before touching you, but normally you're okay with it.” They fell into silence, drinking in each other's company. “How about I sleep with you tonight? Maybe it'll help the dreams.” Simon proposed. Grace nods, hoping it would help.
That night, as they climbed into bed together, Grace felt safer than he had been ever since he'd woken up on the ship.