Chapter Text
Captain Dr. Ryland Grace was alone in his home, hunched on a bar stool with one leg that was just a little too short. And he felt horrid.
What the hell was that? What was any of that? Simon and Grace had been in the kitchen and Grace had felt very strongly that he wanted to be close to Simon. Get closer to him than he had ever been with any other human being. And Simon had been looking at him and Ryland had looked back. And Simon had looked so beautiful and Ryland felt ridiculous.
He heard the door close behind Simon and flipped in his chair to the computer. God, he had to do something about this. He had to fix whatever he just did. So, vacation it is, I guess. Quality time alone, in a confined bubble, just the two of them in close proximity with no one to interrupt. All the time in the world to explain. But explain what???? What did Ryland really want? Did he even know?
Ryland glanced at the computer to his right. He shook his hands a few times near his shoulders and then let them fall over the key board. God– I’ve got to talk to Rocky. Typing madly and then slamming the enter button. There was static for a few painful seconds before it faded into the slightly irritated chirps of his closest friend and alien confidant.
~Grace have to be quick, Rocky and Adrian very busy-~
“I’m frenched!”
There was a pause.
~Rocky thought you were Californian, question? When did Grace become the French?~
Grace groaned into his palms.
“Rocky! I’M FUCKED! I’M RUINED!”
The static on the computer faded back in as the speakers tried to pick up the series of whistles that Rocky produced at the comment. Grace hit his head against the metal table twice before letting it rest next to the keyboard of his computer. Over the ringing in his ears (why did you have to smack your cranium into a metal surface, why?) Grace could hear Rocky clicking at Adrian, he heard Adrian respond and then he heard more static.
~Okay. Tell Rocky, Adrian what happened.~
Grace forced air back into his lungs and scooted away from his chair, standing and pacing around the room as he explained.
“K, so. Simon and I have been feeling super stressed out with everything happening right now and I came up with this idea to go on vacation. And so we went back to my house and we were going at the idea for hours and couldn’t find a safe way to make it work with Erid being the way it is and humans being the way we are. Until eventually Simon had the idea to make this Xenonite bubble hotel thing– we’ll need your help for that by the way– but then….”
Grace stopped pacing. He placed his hands on his hips and looked out the window, through the xenonite, at the stars of the biodome. The scientist sighed and rubbed his cheek with his hand, scraping over his stubble.
“I feel ridiculous saying all this jazz out loud– but just watching him work. Maybe it’s just seeing him focus. Or- or something, I don’t know– The point is… he’s really hot!”
Grace buried his head in his hands and practically wailed.
“And I just don’t know what to do with that!”
It was at this point that the blonde’s previous pacing came back in full swing and Grace found himself running circles around the lab.
“I know I like him, and I get the feeling he likes me! And we touch and we talk and we have the dynamics of a couple that has been married for over 50 years, just with less hearing aids. But tonight felt weird. Just looking at him, sitting in my kitchen with his hair tucked behind his ears and making this pouty focused face. I wanted to, like, RAVAGE him!”
Woah, slow down cowboy. Heat spread all along the back of Grace’s neck as he helplessly continued.
“Or just like, kiss him, I don't know, probably both.”
Grace was cut off from saying more by a shared series of clicking and whistling. It seemed like Adrian and Rocky were whispering to each other. The computer could barely pick up the chimes they were making but Grace could pick out some words mostly they were saying something like “Mate”, and, “Fumbling”, and Grace could swear he heard Adrian giggling.
~Rocky has questions for Grace, statement.~
Grace narrowed his eyes at the computer and raised an eyebrow.
“Hm? And what would they be?”
There were more quick sharp flute notes from the device as Adrian’s giggles increased in both volume and absurdity.
~Grace likes to talk to Simon, yes?~
“Yes. A lot.”
~Grace and Simon spend much time together, question?~
“Well, yeah. How could we not?”
~Grace knows what Rocky means. Next question, Grace and Simon have touched?~
The scientist bit the inside of his cheek and nodded before remembering that he was currently talking to Rocky through a call and thus his friend would not be able to see him moving his head up and down.
“Yeah. We have like hugged and cuddled and we hold hands– hand– all the time, but-”
~Have Grace and Simon kissed?~
Ryland Grace swallowed a growing lump in his throat and lamely mumbled a reply.
“No.”
~Grace and Simon, have never mated?~
Oh. Lord.
Grace sputtered and felt the warmth from his neck spreading down his back and crawling up his face. He made an X across his chest with his hands and shook his head desperately. Some part of him knew that the question would have to be asked eventually– being the only two humans on Erid and all, one would only assume that the two would engage with something like that– it was still jarring to hear it.
“NOOOOOO! No, Simon and I are just… Palsss.”
Ew, no. Pals? What is this? The fudging 50s?????
“I didn’t mean that. I just meant that we aren’t really like that–”
Grace’s tongue felt heavy with the word, “We aren’t mates…”
There was a collective musical groan emanating from the computer as both Adrian and Rocky expressed their disappointment. Grace kept talking over the chorus,
“That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be. I think I would love to. I’m comfortable around him, he’s funny, he’s beautiful, he laughs at me and it's wonderful, and when he touches me I feel like I’m gonna freaking explode. I just want to be with him all the time– But, I don’t know if he feels the same. I haven’t asked, that is just too scary.”
~Grace and Simon are 🎶🎵🎵 stupid and dumb, STATEMENT.~
It was at this point that Adrian decided to step into the conversation, still giggling. Grace could hear the emerald Eridian compose herself and take a breath before speaking to Grace. Her voice always reminded the scientist of a trombone, a little bassy with the ability to go from glossy to brash in seconds.
~What Adrian is hearing is that Simon and Grace need to talk and be open about feelings. If Grace really wants to mate Simon-~
“BE! I want to be mates with Simon. That sounds like I wanna… Whatever, continue.”
Ardian huffed at being interrupted but continued. ~Friend Grace needs to communicate with Simon. Can’t hold anything back, be brave.~
Rocky piped up at that, ~Grace friend is very brave. Can do it. Can tell Simon how Grace feel.~
Ryland felt his heart warm in his chest. Every once in a while after all of Rocky’s teasing, he would say something genuinely heart felt and beautifully sincere.
That feeling of warmth faded immediately when Rocky followed it up with ~And then Grace and Simon bang hard, statement.~
“Rock! Jesus!”
Grace could hear Rocky and Adrian burst out in laughter at the other end of the call. Ryland tried to ignore how hot his face was feeling. Adrian took the reins again and redirected the conversation.
~ Adrian has idea. Grace says that he and Simon go on vacation. Grace tells Simon then! Grace can think about how to say it while Adrian works with Simon and Rocky to build the new little bubble.~
Grace’s brow furrowed and his bit the inside of his cheek in thought. He sat back down in front of the computer and then turned a little to the left, staring down at the blue prints Simon made barely half an hour ago. He grabbed a pen from somewhere on his desk and tapped the tip of it on his chin while. Examining the blue prints before him while Rocky and Adrian whistled in the background.
“How long do you guys think it would take to build a xenonite prism big enough for two people to live comfortably for a couple days, complete with a full functioning kitchen and plumbing?”
Rocky chittered. ~Rocky and team could build in 345,600 seconds.~
“Plus furniture?”
Rocky clicked. ~432,000 seconds, statement.~
Okay. So Grace had five days to figure out how the heck he was going to tell Simon– beautiful, funny, quick witted, only other human being on this planet Simon– how he really felt about him.