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The alarm screamed as it showed the time- seven a.m.- in red numbers. Rhyland, better known as Grace, jumped, slamming the clock with his fist. He took a moment, staring at the ceiling. The red numbers… the alarm sound… his mind snapped back to the Hail Mary. Rocky shifted at the base of his bed.
“ALARM! ALARM! ALARM!” He sang. He ran to Grace and laid a long limb on his chest. “Oh! Grace heart beating. Grace awake.”
“Yeah bud. I’m up. Can you…” He gestured to Rocky’s limb.
“Yes, can move. Let Grace stand and stretch. On Erid, we stretch like this,” He trilled, setting his body on the ground and raising his five legs around him, reaching upwards. Grace smiled and arched his back, which cracked a bit too loudly a bit too much. “Sound like Grace made of rocks like Rocky,” He warbled. Grace chuckled.
“Get dressed, I’m bringing you with me today.” Grace said, waving towards the corner where Rocky kept his supplies. Grace wasn’t sure exactly how Rocky wove xenon as a solid even though they were on Earth. He kept that quiet; if anyone found out xenon could exist as a solid on Earth, he’d never hear the end of it. Rocky diligently set to fashioning some spikes that he attached to the joints closest to his body. Rhyland pulled on one of his shirts, a black tee that simply read ‘macrobiome’ in white. He put on some pants and Rocky gently nudged his leg.
“Made this for you,” He said, “Good luck.” Rocky pressed a star-shaped piece of xenonite into Grace’s hand. He pocketed it and smiled.
It hit him again. Waking up alone, his crew dead. Forced into an impossible decision. Unfathomable distance from home. The metal felt cold against his leg. He shook his head and took a deep breath, then put on his glasses.
“Grace wait,” Rocky said, gesturing to a chair. Grace sat. “Rocky get bad memory too. Often.” He said. “Safe here. Grace and Rocky safe here.” Grace nodded. Rocky held out a fist. Grace bumped it with his own and with that, they headed out.
“Breakfast, question?” Rocky asked from the back seat of Grace’s car.
“Ah. I knew I was forgetting something… Ok. Don’t tell anyone. We’re going to Starbucks.”
“Star…bucks? Star money, question?”
Grace stopped to appreciate how much Rocky reminded him of his kids. Of course, they weren’t really his kids; but for the school day, they were. He didn’t answer and pulled into the drivethrough.
“Rock. What do you want?”
Rocky responded with a musical call, indicating a word they hadn’t translated yet. Grace sighed and got them both a muffin.
“Don’t get that all over my car,” Grace warned.
“Grace don’t remember, question? Eridians eat nicer than humans.” He promptly took the muffin and shoved it into his mouth hole, which unfortunately, happened to be on his underside. Grace wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to that.
“You done?” Grace joked.
“Mm. Flavour, question?”
“Blueberry, bud.” Grace replied, keeping his eyes on the road.
“Mm. Rocky enjoy. Rocky bring some to Erid when go home.”
“Hopefully that isn’t any time soon,” Rhyland said. It would take Rocky a very, very long time to get home, and a very long time to come back.
“No, not soon, statement.” Rocky said, contentedly settling down. Grace, distracted, took a wrong turn- he forgot he wasn’t going to the middle school anymore. No, this time he’d find his kids as adults, attending the local college. He buzzed half with excitement and half with nerves. Would they recognise him? It had been a while. He knew he would recognise them anywhere.
He parked in the staff parking lot and Rocky diligently covered himself with his blanket. Both of them wanted him to be a surprise- so Rocky went heavy and limp, unmoving. Grace struggled to pick him up, then ambled awkwardly to the lecture hall, finally placing him on the desk. Slowly, students trickled into the classroom, all confused as to why they’d been called together. They took their seats and-
They saw him.
They froze. For a moment, Grace worried he’d done something wrong. Then, they sprang up and rushed him.
“Dr. Grace! You’re alive!” They yelled.
“I guess I am,” He smiled. Slowly, teacher mode came back to him. Soon he found himself gently ordering everyone to take their seats.
He waited for the restless chatter to quiet and gestured to the blanketed orb on his desk. All eyes snapped to it, and everything faded into an anticipatory silence.
“So. You all know I had to…um. Take some time off for the last few years…” He scanned the crowd and a lump caught in his throat- they’d grown so much. “I wanted to show you a friend I made while I was gone.”
He pulled the blanket off Rocky.