Chapter Text
Ryland hadn’t gotten used to being small-
The world was still so disorienting and not to mention terrifying.
If you thought rocky was scary as a dog sized rock spider-
Try a Godzilla sized rock spider first-
Then you realize that normal rocky is much much better
Granted… it wasn’t Rocky who changed
Grace did-
And he swapped with Simon.
He could hardly believe this is what Simon experienced all this time-
Even harder to believe he chose to trust Ryland and Rocky in the end.
Everything was way too big and loud and terrible!!
Even now
Floating in Zero g all of it started to much for Ryland-
He curled into a ball, tucking head his between his knees and covering it with his arms-
He was spinning slowly through the air-
A tiny little ball of mass-
He was told to stay put on the table or near it at least so after Simon and Rocky were done collecting samples of the nearby radiation signals- they could start up the ship again and Ryland wouldn’t fall or anything-
But he was too overwhelmed-
His body trembled and he couldn’t move
He’s probably going to get hurt or-… or die… that would be embarrassing
C’mon Ryland just.. move damn it!!
Move!!!
Just-!
“Ry?” A low voice interrupted his thoughts
Grace peaked over his knees to see Simon hovering next to him-
Oh gosh he was so much bigger now! But… .. it also meant Ryland could make out so many more details now too-
Like how his dark curls looked really nice pulled back in a loose ponytail
Or- or how the mutation across his face had actually started to heal really nicely
Or the way his dark brown eyes got softer every time Ryland was struggling
Because…
Yeah… that had happened a lot.
“Little brother… what’s wrong?”
Ryland shuddered-
Not because of Simon, but just because of his overwhelm
“Ev’rything… it’s… .. a lot right…. Right now…”
Simon hummed. “Got thinking too hard again?”
Ryland nodded
“Is it okay to hold you?”
He was quite a moment..
Being help at this scale was… weird… but it was also…
Strangely comfortable-
It felt like he was being protected at all sides.
So he nodded once again and uncurled to reach out for Simon-
He felt like a child doing so- but he couldn’t find himself caring at that moment
Simon’s hand came out and cupped around Ryland, applying gently pressure to his chest with his thumb-
It was like a hug almost-
So grace hugged the giant digit back, bonking his forehead against in.
Simon hummed softly and brought his tiny brother to his chest where he could feel the vibrations and the steady rhythm of his heart.
Both of those inputs resonated through Ryland’s body and he found himself mimicking the song Simon was humming as his heart rate slowed to a more even pace.
Eventually with the combined effort of gently song and warmth from Si’s hand-
Ryland’s eyelids grew heavy- and he fell alseep-
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Meanwhile-
Simon actually came back down from
The control room to grab a tool but ehhh….
..
Now he was kinda stuck…
Hopefully Rocky heard all of that so he wasn’t wondering why Simon was taking so long-