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They took a lot of time between experiments to bond after that. Grace had brought Rocky into the enrichment room to show him some of his favorite movies. Human culture. Sure some stuff didn't translate, but they had a good time.
Rocky was particularly drawn to a very old film from 1999.
"Tarzan?" Grace wondered. "Yeah, it's animated. Moving drawings. I used to love it when I was little. I don't think I've seen it for fifty years…I think you'll like it though."
It had nice contrast and was highly textured, so it should pick up on their tactile pads well.
You'd think the Eridian had seen divinity. He's so enthralled by the way the backgrounds look. Repeatedly asking Grace to pause it so he can study them.
He's cute.
The thought struck him like electricity. Sudden and alarming. They're here to save planets. Grace can't be letting himself get distracted. This wasn't an issue on Earth. Grace didn't do relationships, for multiple reasons. He doesn't know how to handle this…but man.
He's definitely falling for Rocky a little...a lot. Dang it.
The moment that Jane appeared, that made his friend go silent. He watched with rapt attention. All the way through Strangers Like Me.
"She like 𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝♪♬𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅗𝅥."
Whoa that was a big ol' string of notes and gestures. Grace paused the movie. "What?"
"Lady like when 𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝♪♬𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅗𝅥 met Rocky."
It takes a second to break the sequence down, but it was something to the effect of 'Brilliant-Song-Of-Skies'.
"And who is 𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝♪♬𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅗𝅥?"
Rocky perked up. "Is my mate."
…Mate? Ah. Okay, of course. He's in the prime of his life, of course he had a mate. Grace ignored the nasty bloom of painful jealousy that spiked in him at that. He has no right to feel hurt, Rocky had a life and that was fine. If all went well, they wouldn't even see each other within a year or two. He doesn't have time to go through a heartbreak over a friend who didn't even know he was developing feelings. He couldn't lay that burden on him.
He distracts himself. "Let's go with Adrian for their Earth name."
Rocky seemed content with that.
"I didn't know you had a mate. How did you meet?" Grace hummed, enjoying the lovely warmth that crept into his friends song as he explained.
"Our families live side by side-"
"Neighbors." He provided.
"Thank. Families neighbors. They hatched a month before me. We together for one hundred eighty six years." He rumbled, gently placing his hand over a differently textured spot on his front left arm. Smooth, and his colour reader labeled it as jade-green. (He needed to modify Rocky's scope with one. His had been added because humans were so reliant on colour descriptions. It was useful.)
"Wow, you're in your golden years, huh?"
"No understand."
Grace expected that. "It's a joke. You've been together for a long time."
"Is not enough…" His voice softened.
They stay in silence for a fair while after that. Grace doesn't know what to do. He's out here trying to stamp out feelings for a taken man, all while trying to figure out how to comfort him. "Well…I bet they're gonna be so excited to see you again."
"Maybe...but maybe they move on." He sighed.
"I mean…maybe." Again, inter-personal stuff was not his strong suit. "But you won't know until we get there. There's lots of possibilities. We live-…uh-"
"Little less than seven hundred. Eight if really lucky."
Oh wow, he was somewhere in his thirties? (As best he can rationalize it to humans.) Huh… "What I'm trying to say is that we've got a lot of time ahead of us. And I'm sure Adrian is still waiting for you."
"…Thank you, Grace." Rocky leaned against him, sighing. "Good friend."
Man…he was going to miss this really bad, wasn't he?
When they got to Tau Ceti-E, Rocky had given him grief about the name. He wasn't very creative, sue him.
"Okay, well you were here first. Why don't you name it?" Grace is setting up his devices to capture samples. He puts the hull robots through their paces, confirming their functionality.
Rocky was confused for a moment before- "𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝♪♬𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅗𝅥….planet name is 𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝♪♬𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅝𝅗𝅥."
"Adrian…I like that." Grace watched as his friend returned to his typical stance. True Eridian was also gestural. (He's not sure what to call it, he's a micro-biologist, not a linguist.) Point being, some words required specific positions. Grace wasn't the best at these, often being teased gently over it.
It was so interesting. He'd love to study the various cultures of his people. How many languages did Erid have? How did they produce textiles? What were the different biomes like?
"Grace?"
"Sorry. Got distracted." He got up into the pilots seat made for him.
It was an awkward thing. Yes, at first they planned on sending him. But his actual attendance had been very last minute. So while some of the modifications set for him were fully planned, others were not. The hull robots were considered a very useful addition, and this implemented early on. But they realized they needed one just in case he had to pilot the ship in an emergency. It was much faster than giving him a full separate array of controls.
The little robot arm here was far less well designed. It often bugged out, but it was all he had. Well, that or breaking into the chamber and dying of oxygen toxicity. But thankfully, he had a joystick on his side. The arm was just for the buttons, like turning on the centrifuge.
They'd left the Blip-A for this mission. Too bulky. But it was time to dip into the local Petrova line.
Grace had brushed up on his skills, but man…it was nerve wracking. Rocky is right there, ready in case the worst happened. They bring the Hail Mary into orbit, preparing to set off the sampler.
It's the worst feeling in the world. Grace can hear it opening. It's hazy, but he can see it. They leave it open for exactly how long they planned, but ugh all the waiting, it just feels horrid. He's never had much in the way of patience. When it snapped shut he's already in motion. Using the hull arms to bring it into the airlock.
He pulled the ship back to a safe distance. With one of the cockpit arms, he engaged the centrifuge, ready to do some science. The robot hitched in a way that he'd have to try and figure out later. It's time for his favorite part.
There's only enough PPE for one of them. Grace has Rocky stand further back, just to be safe. Sure it wasn't as secure as he'd like…but it is what it is.
And what it was, was unexpected. Both Sun and Adrian seekers were balanced. They shouldn't be…
"You count wrong?"
He hadn't but he tried again just to satisfy his companion. "No. They're equal…hang on."
Grace picked up the sample. He carried it over to the microscope on a hunch. Well, not so much a hunch. More like habit. He's a micro-biologist, it was pure instinct for him. As the slide came into focus, Grace was startled by what he saw in the tactile map.
Life…there was a lot of life in Adrian's atmosphere. "Oh my gosh, there's life! Rocky look at it, here-" Grace started pointing to the different wriggling specimens.
"This is astrophage, but there's at least five different species I can see in this slide alone!" How many times was he going to discover alien life? Does he have a record at this point?
"Amaze! Amaze amaze amaze!" Rocky spun in place. He stared at the pad, humming thoughtfully.
Grace is trying to figure it out as well, and admittedly is tuning his friend out. Because he suddenly started to chatter loudly and rapidly. A little too fast for him to catch. He's mumbling to himself until Rocky grabbed him.
"Grace!! Life. Is. Reason!"
"…Huh?" He doesn't think he's seen the Eridian this excited since they first met.
"Life is reason for discrepancy! Whatever life down there, something eating astrophage!" Rocky shook him, trying to drill it into the Earth-Born. "That how population balanced! Explains everything!"
As it sunk in, Grace nearly dropped his tactile pad. "…There's a predator. Oh my god, Rocky there's a predator! That's why Tau Ceti isn't dying!"
Adrian must have been the home world for astrophage. This was the source, so it only made sense that it would have a predator.
"So if we manage to find it-"
"Then we take home!" Rocky squealed, wriggling in delight. "We find, make breed, they eat astrophage. We save Sol and 40 Eridani!"
"Heck yeah!" Grace could feel himself trembling. "Fist-bump!"
As he held up his hand, Rocky seemed…confused. "…What?"
He would roll his eyes if he had them. He grabbed one of Rocky's claws and held it aloft. "Here, do what I do."
Their rough knuckles met with a gentle tap. "Humans do it to celebrate."
"We celebrate?"
"Yeah! I mean, we will once we figure out which of these is eating the astrophage." Grace shrugged. He's so giddy he could burst. "But we're absolutely gonna party once we get it. I promise."
"Will have to get party clothes." Rocky hummed.
"Yeah!" Grace chimed brightly as he turned back to his equipment. "…Wait, what?"