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"Alright everyone! Who can tell me what Newton's third law is, question?" Grace called to his class, the translator converting his English into Eridian for the pebbles to understand.
Immediately, cheers erupted from the group, all of the students wanting to be called on and prove themselves to their alien teacher.
"Golem!" Grace called out, pointing at the grey-ish student that had been bouncing up and down.
"Each force has an equal opposite force!" Golem screamed out, continuing to bounce and launch themselves off of their classmates, nearly falling over in the process.
"Yes! Correct!" Grace praised, clapping his hands with an equal amount of energy and enthusiasm as his students.
On Earth, Grace may have been told to tone himself down, to be more relaxed and chill with the kids - basically to be less like himself - but on Erid, it was encouraged. Eridian children were energetic, like they'd had 8 cups of coffee and a full night of sleep most days, so it was necessary for Grace to have the same amount of energy as them, if not more. It was a welcome change for the guy who couldn't sit still for too long without needing to move or fidget.
"Mr. Grace," Graveler yelled out from across the room, "have question."
"Yes, what is it, question?" Grace called back, gesturing for the class to quiet slightly so he could hear Graveler's soft humming tone.
"Can you tell us about Earth, your home planet, question?" They asked softly. "I want to know more about Earth culture."
"Oh…"
That hadn't been a question Grace was expecting, but he probably should have expected it sooner or later. He'd been teaching on Erid for nearly 3 years now, of course his kids would want to know more about his planet since he already knew so much about theirs.
"Does everyone want to know more about Earth, question?" He asked carefully.
The class immediately grew loud, all shouting questions about Earth and its culture, plant life, animals - all wanting to know more about where their dear teacher had come from. It was honestly endearing to Grace.
"Alright then," Grace accepted. "I'll see what I can do for you guys," he told them before ending class and going to meet with Rocky and Adrian - their usual routine at the end of their work days. If anyone could help him make this happen, it would be Rocky and Adrian.
~~~
"Grace want to what, question?"
"I want to get the students into my dome, safely of course, to teach them more about Earth life and culture," Grace repeated himself to Rocky and Adrian, both unbelieving of what they were hearing.
"Is Grace stupid now, question?" Rocky asked. "Grace need sleep, question?"
"No, I'm not stupid," he argued with his best friend. "The pebbles wanted to know more about where I came from and I figured the best way would be for them to get into the dome since we do have plant life in here and I can show them how I live," he explained while Adrian pondered the idea.
Within his first year of living in the dome, no longer suffering from deficiencies that could kill him, Rocky had taken it upon himself, with Adrian by his side, to plant the seeds that had been in the Hail Mary: trees, vegetables, fruits. The Mary had been packed with them for some reason, likely to increase the crew's food storage if needed, but now they were Grace's lifeline to not only eating what the Eridian scientists could synthesize for him.
"Is possible," Adrian interrupted, taking Rocky and Grace's attention away from each other. "We just need to make suits for them. Simple enough."
"Yes, simple," Rocky chirped in agreement to his mate. "But how will we convince their parents, question? It could be dangerous for them to be in here."
"The suits hold up well," Grace butted in, agreeing with Adrian and willing this to happen. "How many have we made?"
"96," Rocky responded.
"And how many have broken?"
"None," Rocky answered again, knowing where Grace was going with this.
"So the odds of one of them breaking is very low, right?"
"Yes."
"There we go," Adrian spoke up. "Low chance of danger, high chance of learning. Is good trade."
Rocky was silent for a moment, looking between his mate and best friend, both willing him to agree to their plan.
"Fine," he sighed out in acceptance. "I will ask them."
"Wonderful!" Adrian cheered as Grace let out a 'whoop' in celebration. "And you can help Grace during the tour too."
"What?!?"
~~~
A plan had been made quickly. Adrian and the other Eridian scientists would ensure that the suits would be stable for the pebbles before passing the plans off to the engineers. Rocky would go around to speak to the parents if they were unable to go to the dome to speak with Grace directly, helping to encourage them to accept the field trip to learn about Earth.
Most parents accepted it quickly, trusting the two saviors of Erid to keep their precious pebbles safe from harm, and within a few weeks, they were ready to enter into Grace's biodome.
"Okay everyone!" Grace called from beyond the wall, watching as Rocky helped the pebbles into their own little suits, bouncing on their legs in excitement, ready to see their teacher's planet. "Line up please and pay attention!"
The pebbles didn't hear their teacher in their excitement, chirps and melodies bouncing around the room as they trilled happily. They were unable to be quiet, they had been looking forward to this for weeks on end and they couldn't wait.
"Guys," Grace called again, weakly this time, aware that he was losing control of the class.
"Shut it!" Rocky yelled out, quieting all of them quickly. "Go ahead, Grace."
"Oh, uh, thank you," Grace thanked Rocky, coughing slightly. "Okay everyone, I know you are excited, but I need you to be careful in here, okay, question? My atmosphere is very dangerous to you guys, ask Rocky if you want to know how dangerous. I don't want anyone getting hurt, so if we don't follow the rules, we will cut the tour short. Understand, question?"
The class remained quiet now, nodding and chirping in understanding. They didn't want to have the tour cut short. They would behave as best they could for Grace and Rocky.
"Okay then," Grace clapped his hand together, walking over to the entrance tunnel. "Come on in guys."
In small groups, the class of 25 pebbles slowly came into Grace's biodome, gently playing with the sand under their claws and exploring, never straying too far from their teacher.
"This is everyone," Rocky told Grace, ushering the last of the pebbles into the dome. "Ready when you are."
"Good! Where should we start?" He asked Rocky, not sure what would be best for the pebbles to see first.
"Start with water," Rocky told him. "Will be very interesting for them."
"Sounds good. Follow me everyone," Grace called, leading the pebbles down to the shore with Rocky trailing behind the class, keeping an eye out for any rogues.
Stepping into the water, Grace noticed how his pebbles hesitated to come close to the waves that ran up the shore, backing away from them.
"It's okay guys," he comforted them, kneeling down and letting his hands sit in the water. "It's a little cold for you, but you'll be okay."
Gingerly, one of the braver pebbles, Aron, inched closer to Grace, sticking a leg out for their trusted teacher to grab.
"It's okay," Grace repeated, taking their claw in his hand as they stepped into the water, shrieking as the waves lapped at them and they tried to climb into Grace's arms, latching onto him and refusing to let go. "Whoa! It's okay," he tried to comfort again, holding them tight as they trilled. "See, you're okay. It's just cold."
With care, Grace held them tight as he lowered them closer to the water, letting Aron dip a claw into it before they pulled it back out quickly, testing the waters in the most literal of ways.
Their claw descended back into the water, keeping it there as Grace praised them.
"Very good! It's just water," he praised.
Without a moment of hesitation, Aron fought against Grace's hold, forcing him to let go as they launched themselves into the water, splashing in the cold liquid with chirps of glee erupting from their carapace. They dove in and out of the water with their classmates watching, encouraging them to do the same.
Slowly, with some coaxing from Rocky and Grace, the pebbles all entered the water - some splashing while others just stood alone the shore, letting the waves come up to greet them.
"This is called the ocean," Grace explained, keeping a close eye on his kids as they explored. "Humans, like me, like the water for the most part. It is necessary to keep us alive. Places like this are called a beach," he continued, walking alongside his students as he spoke. "Humans like to go to the beach to walk or play in the water, like all of you are doing."
"Is very fun," Rocky added, shaking the water off of his xenonite suit as he came back up to the shore.
"Yes," Grace agreed with a small chuckle. "It is a lot of fun, but we do have a lot for us to explore in here, so let's get a move on."
Ensuring to count all of the pebbles as they exited the water, some more willing than others, Grace led the group back to his garden, dubbed Eden. Rocky didn't understand the name, but Grace found it fitting - this was his paradise, it was quite literally built for him.
"This is my garden," Grace continued, bringing the pebbles and Rocky into the little area behind his house. "Please be careful where you walk, I have plants here and I would really like them to not be crushed."
"Keep on the path," Rocky clarified. "Or else you are never coming back in here."
"Rocky!" Grace chastised. "He's just joking," Grace told the pebbles, hoping to put them at ease. "Just try to be careful."
Together, the group stepped into the center of Grace's Eden, a small circular area paved with stones, surrounded by his plants.
"Feel free to explore a bit guys," Grace told the pebbles, "Just stay where I can see you."
"No more than 20 feet," Rocky clarified. "And no going behind stuff. Human sight sucks."
Grace remained silent, taking Rocky's comment without issue. It's not like he was wrong, humans were very poorly designed as they had discussed many, many times during the 4 year trip here.
"What's this?" Luna, a small yellow-ish pebble, asked as they approached a tall tree: an oak.
"Oh, this is called a tree," Grace explained, unaware of his class congregating behind him to see the plant. "It's called an oak. It's an Earth plant that gives a small seed called an acorn," he explained, carefully picking one up off the ground for them to look at. "These can be eaten by humans, usually after processing them into something easier to consume."
"Cool," Luna breathed out, leaning in closer to the seed.
"Um, Mr. Grace," Boldore began hesitantly. "What is Rocky doing, question?" They asked, pointing at the tree behind Grace.
"What the heck, Rocky?!?" Grace shouted out as he turned around, being met face to face with his friend sitting in the tree branches.
"Better vision for keeping track of pebbles," Rocky explained, adjusting himself in the tree. "Is comfy."
"I don't even know what I expect at this point," Grace sighed out to himself, rubbing his eyes from under his glasses. "Nobody else is allowed to climb on the trees, understand, question? I don't want you guys getting hurt."
"Not fair," the pebbles protested, but Rocky shut them down quickly.
"I'm an adult, I can climb. You are pebbles, you cannot. No argument," Rocky trailed off as he began to climb higher and higher up the tree.
"Rocky," Grace pleaded, watching Rocky scramble up the tree, the pebbles staying close to their teacher as they watched as well. "Please get out of the tree. Set a good example for the pebbles."
"No, I'm fine," Rocky argued. "I won't-"
Thud!
Looking down in front of him, Grace let out a small yell as Rocky landed on the ground in front of him, slowly standing back up on his cobble legs.
"Oh my god! Rocky!" Grace shouted, dropping to his knees and placing a gentle hand on Rocky's carapace. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He fretted.
"I'm fine," Rocky groaned, shaking himself slightly as he stood back up. "Don't tell Adrian."
"Don't make dumb decisions and I won't," Grace argued back. "You see, kids," Grace turned to address his class. "This is why we don't climb on the trees. So we don't look stupid and fall out of them."
"Quiet," Rocky snapped back. "Grace always stupid, Rocky only sometimes stupid."
"Keep telling yourself that, buddy," Grace chuckled. "You okay?"
"Yes," Rocky muttered out, embarrassed and wanting to move on. "Why don't we show the pebbles Grace's house now, question?" He offered, wanting to be done with the whole garden affair.
"It is getting late," Grace mused. "So, let's go visit my house and then we can get everyone home."
"Wait," Aron spoke up, "we're going to see where Mr. Grace lives, question?"
"Yeah," Grace told them, a smile on his face. "You guys are going to see how a human home looks."
"Cool," Boldore breathed out, skittering closer to Grace's legs and following close behind as they walked the short distance to Grace's house, a small rounded building.
"Here we are," Grace welcomed them in, opening his door. "Just don't mess with my stuff, okay, question?"
"Is clean," Rocky observed. "Shock."
"Hey! I keep it clean here," Grace argued with him.
"Only when Grace have company."
Once again, Grace didn't respond because Rocky was right. He did suck at keeping his space clean unless someone was coming over to visit, usually Rocky or Adrian, which is why they mainly spent their time outside of the house.
"What this, question?" Golem asked, pointing into Grace's bedroom at the bed.
"Oh, that's called a bed," Grace explained. "It's where I sleep at night."
"Every night, question?" Golem clarified, tilting their carapace in confusion.
"Yes, I sleep every night. Unlike you guys, humans have to sleep every day, roughly 28,800 seconds, 8 hours as humans would say," he explained. "Do you want to feel it, question?"
"Okay," Golem muttered out, letting Grace lift them up onto the soft material. "Feels weird."
"I'm sure it does."
"Is very cool," Golem complimented, pressing a claw into the soft material as they stepped around the bed.
"Thank you."
"Grace," Rocky called from the other room. "It's getting late. Pebbles need to get home."
This sentiment was met with sounds of protest and discontentment from the pebbles, all wanting to continue exploring their teacher's house and Earthen life.
"It's okay everyone. I'm sure we can try to do something like this again soon," Grace reassured them.
Sadly and with mild protest, all of the pebbles were ushered out of the dome and their suits, back into their parents' arms outside of the dome, leaving Grace and Rocky alone inside of the dome.
"Thanks for the help today, buddy," Grace thanked his friend, giving him a small fist bump in appreciation. "I would not have been able to handle all fo them without you."
"I know, that's why Rocky help."
"Oh yeah? Not just because Adrian forced you to?"
"Part of reason, not all," Rocky defended. "Please don't tell Adrian about the fall."
"You're secret's safe with me."
"Many thank. No want to look stupid to them."
"I think it might be a bit late for that, Rock."
"Shut up."