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Grace returned the favor a few hours later. Rocky was exhausted and tugged on his arm to pull the Earth-Born into bed. He dragged one of his laptops with him so he could work while his friend slept.
And so what if he used that moment to cling tightly to Rocky? He's supposed to be keeping him safe. It wasn't because he was still marveling over the ability to touch someone directly. Nope.
Thankfully, he's got plenty of limbs to hold on and also get some work done. He's solidifying their game plan. They needed to sample the astrophage that was arcing between Tau Ceti and the third planet. It wouldn't be smart to take both of their ships, so they'd go with the Hail Mary.
He would be able to use his hull robots to retrieve the sample, as was their design.
Grace would go over the plan when Rocky woke up. For now, he continued to do whatever he could without leaving. He could probably wander off and return before the Eridian came around, but…he likes this too much to miss out on it.
When Rocky stirred, Grace was leaning an arm against his carapace. Two of his claws preoccupied with his busy work. He can hear his friend's breathing change, trying to bolt upright. An apology already in the chamber.
For his part, Rocky hooked an arm around the crook of one of his elbows. "It's fine." He rumbled before Grace could say anything.
Hindsight would recognize this for the clear indication of interest that it was. But Grace doesn't do romance. He's not good at it. Human or otherwise. You can't blame him for missing such a subtle hint.
"I've been working on the plan." Grace changed the subject. He passed the textured pad over so he could show Rocky the screen. "Are you sure you want to stay here? If something goes wrong, it'd be smarter if you were back on your ship."
"Not going anywhere." Rocky studied the feed. "Better together. Smarter here."
"I can't argue with that." Grace chuckled. "We make a pretty good team."
They take a few more moments before getting out of his bed. Grace would need to get better at piloting the ship, but…he's got a job to do. Both of them, actually. Two Eridians operating a ship that was only partially designed for their species.
They had a planet to catch.
After a few days, they set course for the celestial body. Now that they had time, Rocky had a question.
"Why such hurry?" He wondered, checking over one of their readouts. "Not smart to rush."
"Earth has less than twenty six years. It'll take the probes four years to get back, and that's if they have no issue." Grace adjusted something. (Technically more. Hooray for dilation.)
"Probes and Hail Mary?" Rocky wondered.
"…No. Just the probes." He got out of his seat, trying to find a distraction.
His friend is on that in a split second, dropping everything to follow him. "Again?" (He means to repeat himself. He always dropped words when he was trying to get a point across quickly.)
Grace could feel the tremble in his legs. "Earth is too far. This was always the end of the road for me."
Rocky darted in front of him, pushing against the Earth-Born to halt his progress. "You didn't tell me! Why end of road? They think you endling! Why send you to die? Stupid, stupid!"
"Because I was the only one left!" Grace can hear how shrill his notes were. It's embarrassing how squeaky he got when he was upset. "Do you think I didn't try to stay? I have students that need me!"
Rocky full on shoved him, making Grace fall into a crouch. "Grace explain. Everything."
"Cripes, you're such a jerk!" He hissed, but he knows that he owed it to the Eridian. "I was the leading expert on astrophage. I didn't really plan on that, but I was. So she asked me to go."
"She?"
"Eva Stratt." Grace tried to relax, knowing this was a longer story. He needed to ease up on the tensing, or he'd wind up with joint pain all day. "She's the lead of the project."
Rocky hummed, settling beside his friend.
"I technically agreed…but when I realized she was serious, I secretly put in a tip with multiple environmental agencies. They took her to court over it. Probably millions of dollars." He fidgeted quietly. "You can't just send the last member of a sapient species to their death."
"They didn't win?"
"No, that's just the thing. They did." Grace sighed. "Or they made a deal. She could just over rule them, but she decided to compromise so they wouldn't try again. She agreed to have me train human replacements. Then I could stay. I could live."
He hates how it feels to see Rocky being so serious like this. He's supposed to be fun. Excited for the science ahead. But Grace just had to go and ruin it.
"There was…an accident. Barely nine days before launch. Both of my replacements died." He remembered them well. DuBois and Dr. Shapiro were brilliant, far more than himself. They had no troubles with their role, in fact, they'd made the most of their potentially (inevitably) short lives. (Much to his chagrin.)
"Why not run? Fight?"
"…It's not like I could go anywhere, Rock'. Earth's lethal to us. I'm stuck in a bubble just like I am here." Grace explained. "I tried everything but…I wasn't given a choice."
"𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝♪♬. 𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝."
"Words?"
"Against your rights. Evil but cold."
"Injustice." He offered. "…Cruel."
They sit in that moment, unsure of what to do. The sounds of the ship the only thing keeping the tension from smothering the two of them.
"…Does Grace want to go home?"
"More than anything, yes. But-" He tried to brighten his notes. "Hey. I did so much. I met you. I've been providing vital research on our species that they could never have dreamed of. And I'll die knowing I'm not alone."
"Stupid." A low, bubbling sound that he recognized as how they cried. "Rocky hate Earth. Rocky hate Stratt. Don't deserve you."
"Hey, you can have an issue with the people that raised me, and even Stratt, but the vast majority of Earth has nothing to do with me. Don't hate them. They're trying to save billions of people." Grace refuted. "It's okay. I'm okay with it."
"…Sorry."
He sighed. "It's fine. I get it."
"So why can't go home?" Rocky got his voice under control.
"All out of astrophage. I can move around the system. I'll study as much as I can until they run dry. Then I'll send the probes. When I'm ready…I'll have Nanny help me pass peacefully." Grace can tell this distressed his friend. But he recovered quickly.
Then...an idea seemed to come to him.
"How much astrophage you need?" Rocky wondered softly.
"A little over two million kilograms."
"Rocky has." He sat up quickly, not fully standing, but ready at any moment. "I can give."
It's like the world narrowed around them. Silence like none he's ever known. "No…no, you have to get home too-"
"Shut up! Stupid Grace, let me help!" Rocky instantly snapped back. "I give!"
"I'm not going to risk your life, it's okay I promise!" Grace is startled when Rocky shoved him over, pinning him to the floor. He's irate.
"I have so much! No need, just go home slower!" His vents wheezed with anger. "Erid has time! You go back to dumb Earth and see kids! Be happy!"
Grace's breathing hitched, he's shaking like a leaf. "Are you seriously going to take that risk to save someone you barely know?!"
"Grace is worth it! Grace is worth saving! Worth caring about!" Worth risking his life? Erid's? Before he can fight more, Rocky's notes warbled. "Rocky couldn't save crew. Couldn't fix. If Grace has a chance? Rocky will fix. Please…let me."
They'd had a discussion at some point yesterday, finally getting down to it. Radiation. Eridians didn't know about it. This was one of the few times any of their crafts had made it out of orbit intentionally.
Which of course lead to the revelation of how he wound up on Earth. The Eridians that were on his ship were just meant to be going to another sector of Erid. Something went wrong and they'd been flung towards Earth. Their eggs had been laid out of desperation, and put into some sort of dormant state, in a specially made container. Almost every single one died before being discovered by Earth.
Both of them were here because of sheer dumb luck.
And Rocky would be damned before he let Grace die alone.
"…You're an incredible friend, Rocky…" Grace pulled him into a hug.
This wasn't something he'd expected, it would seem. The Eridian was beyond lost at this point. "What is happen?"
"Called a hug." He just tightened his grip. "Thank you. Thank you so much…you're the best. I don't deserve you."
Rocky mumbled, but he eventually leaned into the contact. He slotted beautifully against Grace's side, like he was always meant to be there. There's a weak part of him that just wants to say 'forget Earth. Take me home with you.' But he can't. Rocky had already offered, it was easier to just go along with it.
"You deserve more than I give." The Eridian hummed softly. "I send you home. You live."
"I live…" Grace hiccuped. He was going to live…what a brilliant world he was living in. "Thank you, Rocky."
His friend simply held him closer.