Chapter Text
My alarm blares at me. Ugh, I am not ready to be awake yet. I slowly sit up, rubbing my eyes.
"Computer, silence alarm please," I mumble sleepily.
The alarm turns off, and I stretch. We're currently in orbit around the planet Adrian, and everything has been smooth sailing. It's been actually kind of pleasant, ignoring how mine and Rocky's worlds are slowly ending of course.
"Good morning, Rocky," I say, tiredness still clinging to my voice.
I turn my head to Rocky's xenonite enclosure, obviously expecting him to be watching me while I sleep, but he's not there. What?!
"Rocky?" I ask, confused. He always watches when I sleep, that's the most important thing for someone to do in his culture. Something's wrong. I get a bad feeling
I look around the dorm, trying to see if he was just somewhere else in the dorm, when something catches my eye. Someone is lying in one of the beds. What?!
I stare. How is this possible?! I'm the only human on this ship! Yao and Ilyukhina died en-route, and there were only supposed to be three crewmembers. Maybe I'm finally starting to feel the effects of isolation set in.
"Computer, perform medical examination on new crewmember," if I'm crazy, then NannyBot wouldn't do anything.
The Nannybot reaches down its arms and starts an examination. After a few minutes, the arms return to their place in the ceiling.
“Med check complete. Patient stable," it says.
I slowly peek my head over the edge of the bed to examine the new… ‘patient.’ The person appears to be male, with dark brown skin and hair curled into locks. He’s around the same age as me, and NannyBot hooked him up to the medical equipment. If I was hallucinating, then there wouldn’t be any equipment or other devices on him. But the big question is, who is he?
It hits me, there’s only one possible answer to this but it’s scientifically impossible and there is no conceivable way for this to have happened, but it’s my only guess.
“Rocky…?!” I say in shock.
He twitches, I must've woken him up, and there’s a small groan before he speaks.
“G… Grace… question…?” His voice is hoarse.
Oh my God, it really is him.
“Rocky! It is you! How… how…” I’m so stunned I can’t even speak.
“Grace, where are you, question? I no can hear you,” he mumbles.
“Rocky… open your eyes…” I’m almost breathless, how is this possible?!
“Have no eyes, am Eridian.”
“You’re not gonna believe this… but… you’re a human.”
Rocky pauses, before he fails in the bed, breathing hard.
“How, question?! Impossible!” he almost shrieks.
"Hey, hey calm down, okay?" I put my hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him. "I've got you buddy, okay? I'm right here."
"No can be human! How possible?!"
He's freaking out bad. Oh gosh, I was not prepared for this. Okay, calm down Ryland. Rocky needs you. I think I know what to do.
"Rocky, Rocky! Hey! Just hold still for a sec okay? Listen to my voice," I try to keep my tone steady.
Rocky eventually stops moving, but he's still breathing pretty hard.
"There we go… that's it…" I say calmly. I wish I could do more to help him. For now I just stay as a grounding presence, or what I hope is a grounding presence. This is all so strange!
"Feel better?" I ask.
Rocky takes a shuddering breath, but still responds, "Yes, better. Thank for help."
"I've got ya, pal," I smile.
Rocky just lays in the bed and I stay with him, we may have work to do but for right now I have to help him through an interspecies crisis.
His face twitched, before his eyes shot open and then immediately closed tight.
“Painful!” He groans
Oh my gosh, I'm so stupid! He just gained a new sense! Of course this must be so strange for him!.
“Okay okay… try it slowly this time…”
Rocky slowly opens his eyes again, slightly squinting.
"Light sense strange… so much details," he groans.
"Oh right! A lot of flat things have displays and colors. Are you gonna be okay?" I feel like a mother hen, but it's not every day you somehow magically turn into a completely alien species!
"Will get used to it. Just many things."
"Guess it's a lot if you've never had vision before."
"Yes. Everything strange, me strange, so much," he starts to hyperventilate again.
Oh no! This is not going well at all! I think for a second as Rocky starts to panic again and then it comes to me. It's a very impulsive decision, but I pull him into a hug. His breathing immediately hitches, before he wraps his arm tightly around me. He's got a very strong grip.
"Woah!" I didn't expect such a strong grip from him. "Easy there pal, I got you."
Rocky buries his head into my shoulder and sniffles. I feel wet tears on my jumpsuit, but I don't mind it.
"Am leaking, like you," he chuckles sadly. "Will this happen often, question?"
I laugh, "You might as well get used to it now."
I hug him for a little longer, when it finally settles in for me. I am hugging Rocky. I am actually hugging Rocky! We don't need to be in separate environments, we can actually do things together! I have so much to do and show him! But for now, I'll just stay right here, holding my best friend.
After a while, Rocky's breathing slows, and the tears slowly stop but he doesn't move. I don't pull away. If this is helping him adjust, then I'll stay right here.
"Feeling better?" I ask.
Rocky takes a breath, and responds, "Yes… better… was a lot to take in."
"Honestly, for turning into a completely alien species, you handled it pretty well."
He laughs, and I smile.
"Grace, question?" Rocky asks.
"Yeah?" I responded.
"Will help me up, question? Body strange, weight strange."
Oh! I should've realized that he would need help getting around. He's in an unfamiliar body, and everything about him is different. Even the Hail Mary's gravity is heavier than he's used to. This is gonna take some getting used to.
"I've got ya," I said.
I grab his hand and Rocky's fingers clasp around mine squeezing tight. I slowly help him out of the bed and sling his arm around my shoulders. He's a little unsteady on his feet, and definitely leaning on me hard, but I don't mind. I am with my best friend in the universe right now.