Chapter Text
Foolishly, Grace had thought that his days of excitement rested firmly behind him. Not to say that spending the rest of his life teaching literal aliens about biology wasn’t an interesting endeavor, but maybe he’d just expected things to grow slightly less eventful after being kidnapped and launched into deep space.
Now he watched as several Eridian scientists cut open the torture chamber of a vessel in front of him, and tried mostly not to completely break down in front of beings he liked to think respected him.
A human. Rocky said there was a human in there.
The thought of ever laying eyes on another human again had become so strangely… well, alien to him that he wasn’t sure he’d completely processed the notion yet.
That morning, he’d been awoken abruptly by Rocky’s piercing cries as the creature flailed wildly against his front door. When Grace finally swung the door open to greet him, nose pinched tightly in between his fingers, Rocky didn’t let him get a single syllable in.
“Human! Human, Grace! There is a human!”
“Yeah, yeah, Grace human,” he mumbled, gesturing vaguely to himself. “I thought we established this a while ago, buddy.”
“No, no!” Rocky said, pushing his way inside and nearly pushing Grace out. “Scientists found human. Another one.”
“What?” Grace was far too tired to be able to piece together what his friend was saying and absorb all of it. He’d been on Erid long enough to be able to largely understand what Rocky was saying without his translator, but sometimes their quick phrases still tripped him up. And he didn’t think he’d ever be able to speak the language himself thanks to his “useless flesh body” as Rocky had so lovingly put it. Luckily Rocky could understand his English just fine, all the while complaining about how primitive human brains were.
Rocky made a sound equivalent to a groan. “Grace is stupid. Eridians found another human. Human like Grace.”
Finally, Grace felt the grogginess begin to lift from his brain. “What,” he repeated again, though this time his tone communicated to Rocky that he fully understood what he’d said. “Are you sure?”
Another human? What the hell were they doing out here? Earth was light years away, the only reason they would send another ship out was if— God. Dread pooled in Grace’s stomach.
If his mission failed. Did the probes not reach Earth? Or did the Taumoeba somehow escape again? Did they not work and the Sun was still slowly dying? Grace felt the sudden need to sit down.
Was Earth the hellscape Stratt had described to him by now? Covered in snow and war? Oh God, his students. How many were left? Grace felt sick.
Rocky wildly misinterprets his reaction. “Yes! Good, good news! New friend for Grace!” He jumped excitedly around the house, tracking sand from the beach outside onto his furniture.
Grace sank onto his couch. Rocky was spewing some more words of celebration but he didn’t have the brain capacity to translate any of it.
Upon actually seeing the ship that contained this other human, Grace wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or disgusted. Probably a bit of both.
It didn’t look like a vessel designed for a job like Hail Mary’s. It didn’t look like it was designed for space at all, really, so the chances of it being sent there for a goal similar to Grace’s was low. It resembled a submarine more than anything, though not something up to code by any means. The outside was coated in a thick red substance that stank of iron. Grace didn’t like thinking about the implications of that.
It was also welded shut, which surprised him more than anything. Rocky kept insisting that there was a heartbeat coming from the inside of the thing. Who would weld a person inside this death trap and then chuck it into space? Nothing about this discovery made any sense.
Now Grace stood outside his house alongside Rocky as the Eridians around them bustled about, trying to break the poor soul out of there. Something gently prodded at his knee, and he glanced down to see Rocky looking(?) up at him. If he had a face, Grace assumed his expression would have been something comforting. He hadn’t realized how much his leg had been bouncing until it was no longer able to. He quickly stilled his hands as he realized he was also popping his knuckles for about the tenth time in as half as many minutes. He smiled gratefully down at his friend and shoved his hands into his pockets.
The extraction had to be done within Grace’s dome if they wanted any chance at the human surviving, so Grace really didn’t have anywhere else to go to try and cool off.
“God, I hate the waiting.” he said without taking his eyes from the submarine. “I mean, I have no idea who’s even in there. What if they’re a serial killer? I mean, this doesn’t exactly look like the place you put someone you like.”
“How would someone kill cereal?” Rocky asked slowly.
”It’s a different thing. I mean, if we don’t get along…” Grace can only sigh for a moment. “I guess you guys can build another Earth dome thing for them.”
He hadn’t really considered until then that he might very well spend the rest of his life coexisting inside his little sphere with this other person, and that… was too big of a thought to unpack right then. He filed that away to be carefully examined at another time.
“Why would new human not like Grace?” Rocky asked. His voice had a judgemental tone to it, though for once it was not targeted at Grace.
Grace exhaled sharply, still a little too mentally exhausted to muster up a laugh. “Humans aren’t like you guys. People hate other people just for the sake of hating them.”
“That is stupid.” Rocky said plainly.
The two sit in a not quite comfortable but not quite tension-filled silence and watch—or in Rocky’s case, listen to—the Eridians cut and saw through the cage.
“Rocky likes Grace.”
“Thanks, buddy. I like you too.”
The Eridians finished cutting through the door then, and it fell forward with a muted thud onto Grace’s artificial sand. There was a moment of uncharacteristic silence from the Eridians as everyone seemed to brace for something to explode out of the sub, and for a moment Grace was the only one able to see anything inside. It was dark, but still visible from the dim light of the sun through the fog behind them.
There was a slumped silhouette leaned up against the back wall, the supposed source of the heartbeat he’d heard so much about. They had shoulder-length black hair pulled half into a ponytail and tangled with sweat and grime. Their facial features were hard to distinguish because of Grace’s poor angle and the darkness obscuring them, but Grace could guess from their posture that they were unconscious.
He took a small step closer to get a better look, but the reverie was quickly broken by noise exploding around him as the Eridians got to work pulling the person out and settling them onto the sand. One group stayed with them while the other started to examine the inside of the sub. Grace found his gaze unable to move from the unconscious body in front of him.
They’re a man, he could see now, but Grace had never been one to assume. Eridians poked and prodded at him, but he never moved or even groaned. Grace had the sudden fear that he would die then, after surviving everything he clearly went through. Eridians hadn’t grown very knowledgeable on human anatomy yet, and Grace was no doctor. What if he died because no one knew what was wrong with him? Grace might never have forgiven himself.
“He is still alive.” Rocky said like he could read his thoughts. Grace was grateful for the reassurance because he did not see a man who should’ve been alive in front of him. The man’s face was pale and still pulled into an expression of pain, and there were faint smears of blood on his face and arms.
He just felt so utterly useless. He was the only person on the planet who could somewhat comprehend human biology and yet he stood there frozen, unable to look away from the man’s pained expression. He could barely make out the hurried phrases the Eridians were throwing at each other; as soon as he went through the proper translation for one, five more were being offered in response.
“Armando can help him.” he blurts out. The Eridians pause and tilt their heads at him, confused. Grace flounders in the attention. “My, uh- my robot. My robot arm. I have a robot arm… thing. He knows, uh, human biology better- or not better! Just more- he knows more. About humans.”
“Grace is idiot.”
The Eridians carry the man up to Armando.
Grace settled him onto his bed because, as the leading expert on waking up from comas, he really wished he’d woken up in a soft, warm bed with some dimmer lights, because Stratt’s method had not been the warmest welcome back into the land of the living.
Grace cleaned him of the blood and sweat coating his body while Armando ran some general diagnostics to see what was keeping him unconscious.
It became apparent that the blood did not belong to him, because the man did not seem to suffer from any surface injuries. (Grace wasn’t sure how to feel about this because now the man was covered in someone else’s blood when he’d been the only one inside his ship.) The inside of his body, however, was far worse off.
He had suffered a moderate concussion—probably from being thrown around that death trap that looked like it had next to no safety features—and severe rubbing alcohol poisoning. Grace was dumbfounded at the condition Armando displayed for him because the only way to achieve a level that high was to chug about half a bottle of rubbing alcohol or something similar, which Grace highly doubted the man did.
Fear pulsed through him. There wasn’t a known cure to rubbing alcohol poisoning, at least not at the time he’d left Earth, and he doubted the Eridians would know much better because it didn’t even exist on their planet. He didn’t even have any dialysis for if it was regular alcohol. Although maybe they should’ve packed some on the Hail Mary, because Ilyukhina brought a shit ton of vodka.
“Damn it!” He threw his head in his hands and carded his fingers through his hair, quickly going over every health class he’d ever taken. When he eventually reached all the way back to sophomore year of high school he decided the search was hopeless. The only option was to monitor him, keep him hydrated, and pray he didn’t die in his sleep.
Grace stood up and left his house. He needed the fresh air, and to just… get away from him. He hadn’t seen another human in so long. Actually getting to talk to one was too good to be true, he supposed.
He walked the entire length of the beach then sat in the damp sand and waited. He wasn’t sure what for, but he didn’t think he could bear going back home. The waves nearly reached his shoes, and the spray of the water tickled his face when they grew closer. He played absentmindedly with the sand and thought about everything and anything except the other side of the beach.
Eventually Rocky slumped down next to him.
“Grace is sad?” he asked.
Grace scoffed. “Yeah. Grace is a little sad.”
Rocky said nothing for a moment, almost seeming to assess Grace’s mood before he said, “Other human died?”
Grace shook his head, suddenly growing teary. He stomped the feeling down and tried to focus on the feeling of the rough sand scraping his palms. “No, uh, he didn’t die, but he might.” Rocky tilted his body curiously. “He’s got pretty bad alcohol poisoning—something we have on Earth—and… I can’t fix it. There’s a solid chance he’ll survive, but I just-” Shit. Grace bit back more tears. “What if, you know?”
Rocky paused. “Like Rocky’s crew?” His voice grew distant. Grace knew he didn’t like talking about his shipmates.
“Yeah. Kind of like them.”
Rocky didn’t say anything else, but he leaned more firmly into Grace’s side. Grace smiled and wrapped his arm around him.
Grace tried to continue teaching for a few days after the man’s discovery, but he was distracted and clumsy. After he spilled his third cup of fake coffee on himself, his students started to notice something was wrong.
“Is Mr. Grace okay?” one of them asked. A few students looked poised to rush forward and help him clean up his mess, but the barrier between them didn’t allow them to get far.
“Yeah. Yes, I’m okay.” he said too quickly. They noticed, just like they noticed everything.
“Is this because of new human that came?”
Grace bites down a groan.
Several students piped up with questions along the lines of “What new human?”
“Second human came to Erid yesterday.”
Grace lost track of anything his students were saying because after that delightful comment, his ears were bombarded with questions from just about every person in the room. He didn’t get a lot of teaching in after that.
So he gets someone to cover for him and takes a few days off. Sure, he feels guilty about it, but he clearly wasn’t giving his students an A+ education with the state he was in.
To Grace’s delight, the man’s condition only improved. His body held up pretty well against the poisoning, and soon he was close to healthy. If he were in a hospital he could’ve been discharged. If not for the overbearing fact that he was still unconscious.
A few days later, the man still hadn’t woken up, which had Grace pacing restlessly in front of his bed for hours. He should’ve been awake by then. He’d made a full recovery from both the concussion and the poison, so why the hell was he still asleep?
He’d sent Armando back to the living room because, frankly, waking up to him had not been the most welcoming experience, and the robot had already largely served his purpose.
He got tired of pacing, so he moved a dining room chair next to the bed to monitor the man without burning a hole in the floor. By Earth’s standards, probably a little creepy, but Grace had been on Erid so long, he’d grown accustomed to their “watching others sleep” thing. And similar to them, there was a very real chance of the man never waking up.
There was a soft knock at the door, and Grace got up to open it. There could only really be one being on the other side.
“Hey, Rock.”
“Hello, Grace!” Rocky cried, although much quieter than he usually would. “Rocky has come to check on Fleshy!”
“Fleshy? No. What does that mean?”
Rocky tumbled inside and up to the bed, making it very clear just who Fleshy was. “Grace called Rocky Rocky because Rocky is made of rocks. Now Rocky is calling human Fleshy because he is made of flesh!”
“He’s going to have a real name, y’know.” Grace said while he retook his seat by the bed.
“Rocky will make Eridian translation Fleshy.”
“No- just- okay.”
Simon woke up slowly.
It was the strangest sensation; he felt like he'd been asleep for far longer than usual, but he also felt a sort of bone-deep exhaustion that he only got after being pulled abruptly from REM.
He pulled his eyelids open with great effort and found that it was dark enough that he could open his eyes without much discomfort.
He was in what looked like a bedroom, nothing close to his own, though. This one had pale yellow walls and enough personal trinkets piled up around him to make it feel cozy and lived in. Nothing like the rooms on Eden.
A migraine flashed through his head and he reached up to rub at his temple. Memories forcibly invaded his mind, and Simon bit down a gasp. SM-13. The Iron Lung. The eye. Everything. Jesus, how could he forget?
The same panic that he felt in that submarine rushed through him then. Where the fuck was he? He held back a scream as his breaths increased and he looked around frantically for any clue as to where he was.
How had he survived? The last thing he remembered, he’d gone into that blinding white light. There had been… an eye. And some overpowering voice, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember what it had said.
It was then that he noticed the absence of a weight on his wrist. Shit. The sapling. Where was it? His wrist was bare and perfectly clean.
“No.” he said out loud.
He was startled by a groan to his right, and he whipped his head around fast enough to give himself another headache.
There was a man sitting next to the bed he was in. He was slumped down onto it, head pillowed in his arms resting right next to Simon’s legs. He was sleeping as far as he could tell.
Simon flew to his feet and ran straight past the man to the door, limbs screaming in protest. He tried the handle, but to his horror, it barely moved at all. He tried again, much more aggressively this time. Shit. He rammed his shoulder into it only to reel back in pain and for the door to remain perfectly stable. His muscles were still weak from being asleep for God knows how long, otherwise he might’ve been able to force it open.
“I’m awake! I’m awake.” he heard from behind him, sleep still heavy in the man’s voice. Simon whirled around, abandoning his plan of escape for self defense. The movement sent another spike of pain through his skull but he ignored it.
The man blinked his eyes open slowly and straightened his posture. When his gaze found Simon, however, he immediately seemed to wake up.
“Whoa, whoa, hey!” The man sobered and got to his feet as well, both hands held out placatingly. His glasses dangled haphazardly below his chin and an ugly cat sweater hung loosely off of his shoulders.
“Who the fuck are you?” Simon asked. His voice was rough with disuse.
The man seemed taken aback by his language for some reason. Simon almost scoffs. Who would wake up in a strange room with a strange man and not get a little hostile?
“My name is Ryland. Or, uh, Grace. Everyone calls me Grace. Which you don’t care about. It’s Grace.”
Simon ignored his ramblings. “Where am I?” The man hesitated so Simon repeated himself louder. “Where am I?”
The man sighed heavily. “You’re- you’re safe. We found you in that… thing.”
“We?”
He shook his head. “Uh, my friend. He found you and brought you to me so we could, uh, fix you up.”
Why wasn’t he answering him?
Simon grabbed a sharp sculpture of what looked like a spaceship on a shelf near him and brandished it like a weapon.
“Where… am I?” he repeated again, his tone growing more dangerous. Some of the intimidation was probably lost because of how out of breath he was. He planted his feet and squared his shoulders so he wouldn't collapse.
“Whoa, okay,” the man raised his hands higher and took a tentative step back. “Um, do you wanna sit down or something?”
“I’m fine where I am.”
“Okay. Uh… you’re on Erid. It’s a planet about… 16 light years away from Earth. My friend—his name’s Rocky—he’s an Eridian, one of the native population here. They’re the ones that found you.”
Simon couldn’t say anything for a moment. His arm suddenly felt very tired, and he was forced to lower it slightly so it didn't start shaking violently.
“We’re on a planet?” he said breathlessly.
The man furrowed his brows, his posture relaxing slightly. “Yes?” He chuckled softly.
“What about the Quiet Rapture?”
“The what?” The man’s hands now lowered almost completely, as did Simon’s weapon. The crease between his brows deepened as they only stared at each other for a moment.
“The Quiet Rapture. The planets and stars, they’re… they’re back?”
The man laughed breathlessly. “Were they ever gone?”
“Yes! They’re-“ Unless? He looked so genuinely confused, was- No, this man had to be lying, playing dumb, whatever. God, his head hurt.
Actually all of him hurt. His legs were beginning to shake and his shoulder was throbbing from being thrown into the door. Simon closed his eyes tightly and brought his free hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
Was it possible? Exactly how long had he been asleep? Long enough for the stars to return? It wasn’t the absolute craziest thing he’d heard. If it was plausible enough for them to suddenly disappear wasn’t just as plausible for them to reappear?
Suddenly, Simon remembers his bracelet. “My bracelet. Where is it?”
The man immediately understood what he was talking about. “The seed?” Simon nodded. “I took it. Whoa!” Simon took a dangerous step forward. “Wait! I’ll give it back, I promise. I took it because I was worried it would get damaged. Here, take it.” He turned to the shelf right next to the bed and grabbed the familiar circle of glass. Simon took it eagerly and slipped it back onto his wrist.
“Hey,” came the man’s- Grace’s. Grace’s voice, much softer now. “I wanna help you, okay? I promise. I just need us to trust each other, yeah?”
Simon’s grip on his weapon relaxed an infinitesimal amount as he met Grace’s gaze. He found only truth in his blue eyes, but he’d also never been the best judge of character.
“Show me.” he said.
“Show you what?” Grace tilted his head curiously. Simon found it a wonder that he seemed so completely comfortable around a man who, to his knowledge, would’ve been fine stabbing him mere seconds ago. Maybe was still fine with stabbing him.
“The um- the planet.” He felt suddenly sheepish, and averted his eyes to the floor.
He saw Grace smile from the corner of his eye. “Sure,” he said simply. Slowly, and without turning from Simon, he walked to the large window obscured by thick curtains. The only source of light in the room was the small amount that managed to slip through. Simon followed, tucking his weapon safely against his side, and keeping a safe distance away from the other man. Grace looked to him for some sort of permission, and when Simon said nothing he opened the curtains.
Simon narrowed his eyes at the sudden influx of light, but they quickly widened at the sight before him. Blue waves crashed against a long beach with orange-brown sand that stretched out and away from Grace’s house. Mountains of a similar color and streaked with greens and blues surrounded them, along with a lazy fog that went about as far as Simon could see.
“What’s your name?”
Simon was startled for a moment, and pulled his gaze back to Grace. His eyes were soft—not to say they weren’t before, but something had changed.
“Simon.”
Grace smiled. “Nice to meet you, Simon.”