Chapter Text
Simon was… less than prepared for how close he and Grace would become after that night. He fretted over everything for a week before the other human had to reassure him that he hadn’t caught him off guard that night. He was half-convinced he had scared the man off with his sudden outburst, but his angel was still kind to him regardless.
If anything, they grew closer; Grace began inviting him to check on the taumoeba farms with him, showing him how it all worked, and started coming up to the cockpit with him to see how he properly flew the ship. Ryland was chatty; Simon would almost say too chatty, but he knew that would be a lie; he could never get enough of his angel’s voice.
Rocky highlighted how grateful he was for Simon’s sudden appearance, emphasizing how bad a pilot Grace was, which made him laugh. They often shared stories over meals, with Rocky and Grace telling Simon about their journey so far.
Aside from Rocky, who couldn’t talk enough about his home and mate, they rarely spoke about their time before the Hail Mary. Whenever he asked Ryland, he gave a short, vague answer before quickly changing the subject.
Simon was similar, refusing to talk about his time as the Butcher and what happened in the Filament Station that led to him ending up on the submarine.
He briefly explained what happened on the SM-13 and how he got the mutations and lost his arm so Ryland could understand the teeth across his face and scarring up his arms from all the boils, but refused to talk about anything else. However, he did enjoy talking about his family, specifically his mother before she passed away.
The two grew closer than just talking; Grace often slinging an arm around Simon when they were side by side, or Simon would come up behind him while working and wrap his arm around him, resting his chin on his shoulder. Everything between them was unspoken; they kind of just… did what felt right.
They would cuddle at night, or Grace would press a soft kiss to the top of Simon’s head. Sometimes Grace would find himself tracing Simon’s features as they lay together, his calloused fingers trailing across his face. He always stopped right as he reached the mutations and scars, noticing how Simon would tense up. They never talked about any of what they did.
Rocky watched them… often, very closely. Simon would glance over to the Eridian and catch him facing them, and he knew the other didn’t have a face, but he could have sworn he was analyzing them.
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Grace was working on the taumoeba farms, explaining everything animatedly while Simon was draped across him from behind. He hardly knew what the angel was talking about; he was just content listening to the other human’s voice and feeling the vibrations through his back as he spoke.
After a few moments, Grace sits up straight, much to Simon’s disappointment, and stretches his arms up. He turns around, looking up at Simon before snorting and laughing softly.
It was the most beautiful sound Simon had ever heard. Of course, everything Grace did was beautiful, but his laughter and smile were what he held closest,
“You look like a cat.” Grace remarks.
Simon wrinkles his nose at this, looking away,
“The weasel thing?”
“Oh my gosh, I really need to start up our Earth lessons again,” he says, laughing harder.
Grace notices the scowl spreading across Simon’s face and opens up his arms to him, inviting him back. Without hesitation, the other human sits down in his lap, his legs falling on either side of him as he cuddles back into his angel. Grace brings a hand up to Simon’s hair, running his fingers through the dark curly locks.
The other man seemed to really love his hair, always offering to put it up for him and running his hands through it when they lay together. He never minded, of course, honored that his beloved wanted to touch him at all.
He shuddered as he felt Grace’s hand ghost over the gills on his neck, feeling him freeze up for a moment before continuing his motions. Simon all but preens into the movements, pressing his face closer as he feels Grace’s hand run over his cheek.
“You act like a cat too,” he muses quietly.
Simon’s eyes blink open, glossy and wide, and Grace feels his breath catch in his throat, his lips parting in surprise as he looks at the gorgeous man in his lap, glancing down at his lips for a split second.
Simon looks at Grace in awe, as if he couldn’t believe what he was looking at. The air suddenly feels thick around them as a dusty pink color paints his cheeks, and he purses his lips, almost nervously,
“Angel… I-“ he starts before being interrupted by loud clattering and chirping coming from down one of the halls.
The two jump almost a foot in the air in surprise, Grace quickly holding onto Simon. Rocky runs into the room quickly, bumping into several xenonite walls. As he nears the lab, the laptop begins picking up his quick talking, translating his speech,
“Grace! Simon! Mary almost to Erid! Read on computer, very few days away!” The Eridian taps his foot excitedly on the floor in time with his chirping.
“Wait, what?” Grace asks, carefully sliding Simon off his lap as he stands up, his attention immediately stolen. “I thought it was at least another few weeks; how are we already there? I mean… I guess Mary always just gives estimates; I just assumed it would take a longer time.”
Rocky trills excitedly,
“Grace think too much. Grace, Rocky, Simon almost to Erid! Amaze amaze amaze! Almost to mate! To Adrian!”
Grace basically runs down the hall to the cockpit, Rocky and Simon close on his heels. He sits down in the pilot seat, ignoring the automated voice sounding overhead. Scrolling through the computer with the dial, he can see the now-shortened line between the ship and the blue dot on the screen meant to represent Erid, and the text below reading ‘Seven Days Remaining.’
“Holy cow,” he breathes out.
“Yes, yes! All the important Earth creature!”
Simon blinks down at the monitor, his eyes flickering between the dot that represents their ship and Erid, recognizing the noticeably short distance between them now,
“So… does this mean we’re almost-”
“Home! Grace and Simon almost to Rocky home with Rocky mate!” the Eridian exclaims, waving his claws in the air.
Before he can think to say anything, he feels two strong arms wrap around his shoulders, hugging him tightly. Grace trembles against him, and he feels dampness on his shoulder he can only assume is tears. He frets over the man almost instantly, hating seeing his angel cry. He brings his arm up, wrapping around Grace as much as he can.
He feels the warm hardness of Rocky pressing against their legs to squeeze in between them, preening against the side of his ball as he attempts to hug back to the best of his ability. Grace plops down next to him, hugging the ball tight as he cries into the xenonite,
“Grace wet and leaky, statement, get human fluids on Rocky suit,” he points out, more as an observation rather than something he was actually annoyed about.
Grace pulls back after a moment, his expression more serious now despite the tears still damp on his face,
“Rock… this is very serious,” he starts, the other immediately straightening up, “We’ve finally made it after a whole lot of years, pal, you know what this calls fo-”
Before the human can finish, Rocky lights up and begins rolling out of the cockpit, bumping clumsily into both Grace and Simon as he does so,
“Party time! Rocky grab human body decorations for celebration!” he announces as he clatters out of the room. “Must make new for Simon! Amaze amaze amaze!”
Simon watches him roll out of the room until he feels Grace wrap around him again, burying his face deep into his shoulder. Simon breathes in sharply through his nose out of surprise before melting against the other man, curling his arm around the other man,
“We… really made it?” he asks, almost in disbelief.
Grace nods into his shoulder,
“Yeah, we’ll finally be on land, both of us.”