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It had been a quiet day on the Hail Mary.
They were still several months out from Erid, but their trajectory was stable, the Taumoeba farms were doing just fine, and the ship's maintenance was all up to date. There really wasn't much else to do at the moment other than kill time.
Simon was still sleeping, so Grace and Rocky had moved to the lab to give him a bit of peace and quiet. The skittish man had come a long way from the blood-soaked, traumatized wreck that they'd pulled out of that submarine floating in the middle of open space, to the point that Grace no longer felt like he needed to keep an eye on him every waking moment.
Admittedly that was, in part, because Rocky could 'see' Simon anywhere on the ship at all times, so Grace didn't really need to stay with Simon, but Grace liked to think it was also because they were building some trust.
He and Rocky had started out as they usually did, chatting about various topics and comparing how they differed between humans and Eridians. Their conversation had meandered through several subjects before somehow landing on sanitation. Rocky had been particularly interested to hear about soap when Grace mentioned playing with the bubbles.
<need word> Rocky trilled, the translation software turned off at the moment. Grace hadn't needed it, so he'd left it down in the dormitory with Simon. <what word mean, question?>
"Bubbles?" Grace repeated.
<yes>
"Bubbles are...huh. How do I describe bubbles?" Grace pondered, scratching at his beard. He'd started off thinking of mentioning their clarity and iridescence, but that would have been meaningless to Rocky. "Well, they're...they're round. And they float. Uh...there's air inside."
Rocky's carapace tilted a little in judgment. <sounds boring>
"No, no, they're actually really fun!" Grace insisted. An idea came to him, and he lit up. "Actually, why don't I show you?"
Rocky perked up in interest. He’d never been one to pass up a demonstration. He scuttled forward, closer to the xenonite barrier separating his section of the ship from Grace’s. <yes, show show show>
"Hang on, let me get some stuff," Grace told him, holding up a finger. Regular cleaning supplies weren't exactly commonplace on a spaceship, but he could probably find something that would work like soap in the lab cupboards, right? He started digging around.
Ten minutes later, he was sitting on one of the stools in the lab, blowing bubbles through a metal wire he'd twisted into a loop. Rocky was chirping and giggling as the bubbles floated through the air to gently pop against the shell of his barrier, poking the spot where they'd landed with his clawtips.
<bubbles make a pleasing sound when bursting> he announced with delight.
"They're really fun to pop, yeah," Grace agreed, pausing briefly to pop one with his finger. He blew a few more, the air filling up with the drifting spheres that slowly made their way through the room.
That was the scene Simon walked into. Grace hadn't realized he was up yet — despite getting comfortable living on the Hail Mary, Simon still moved as silently as a cat through the halls, like he was trying to avoid detection — and he jumped a little when Simon appeared in the doorway. But his reaction was nothing compared to Simon's. The other man looked up, spotted a bubble floating towards his face, and jerked back like he was being attacked.
"What the fuck?" Simon spat, stumbling backwards until his back hit the wall of the corridor just outside the lab space. He stared at the bubbles in the air with apprehension. "The fuck is this?"
<bubbles!> Rocky declared proudly, as if he hadn't just encountered said bubbles for the first time only five minutes ago.
Simon stared at Rocky, and then at Grace in confusion, since the word hadn't been translated by the laptop hanging from his side. Grace made a mental note to update the software soon; there were actually a bunch of words he hadn’t gotten around to adding yet.
"He said they're bubbles," Grace quickly translated. And then, before he could stop himself, the question just slipped out. "What, you've never blown bubbles before?"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he winced. Shoot. The answer was most likely no. Simon hadn't exactly been the most forthcoming about the universe he'd come from, but from what little tidbits that Grace had managed to gather, he'd come to realize that it had likely been pretty awful. It sounded like humanity had been on the edge of extinction, and so every waking moment had been devoted to survival. There probably hadn't been time for frivolous things like blowing bubbles.
Thankfully Simon only looked bewildered instead of offended. "The fuck?"
"Here, let me show you," Grace offered, dipping his wire wand back into his homemade bubble mixture to collect more. He lifted it back up and gently blew through the ring, sending a string of bubbles flying. With a smile, he reached up and popped one that was floating just above his head, then turned to Simon and grinned. "See? Bubbles!"
Simon still looked wary, but he begrudgingly inched his way into the lab space. He watched the bubbles floating overhead with suspicion, ducking when one came too close. But then, ever so slowly, he tentatively reached up with a finger and poked one of them.
It burst, and he twitched in surprise.
Grace's grin only grew wider as he watched the cautious look on Simon's face shift into curiosity. Simon reached up and popped a few more, and with each burst bubble, the tension in his frame seeped away. Finally he seemed to come to the conclusion that the bubbles weren’t dangerous, because he relaxed, turning his attention away from the bubbles and back to Grace and Rocky.
"Huh. So...what do they do?" he asked.
"The bubbles? They pop," Grace explained, blowing a few more in Rocky's direction. Rocky bounced with excitement, waiting for the bubbles to reach him.
Simon stared at Grace expectantly. When Grace didn't say anything else, his eyebrows rose. "And?"
"And what?"
"And what else?" Simon prompted. "What purpose do they serve?"
"Nothing," Grace explained. "They're just for fun."
Simon blinked, glancing at one of the bubbles that had started drifting towards him. "Fun?"
<very fun!> Rocky agreed, tapping his barrier as each of the bubbles impacted, as if he was pretending to pop them himself.
Grace nodded. "Yeah, fun. I used to bring out bubbles for my kids as a reward after they'd done really well on a test, and they'd go nuts chasing after them and trying to pop them. It's like a game. There's just something really satisfying about popping a bunch of bubbles."
"Huh," Simon said again, head tilted in consideration.
Grace left him to his thoughts, turning his attention back to blowing more bubbles for Rocky. He'd probably have to stop soon — too many bubbles would leave a sticky residue behind which wouldn’t be good for the ship — but Rocky was obviously enjoying the bubbles, and it made Grace reluctant to stop. Especially when Simon tentatively reached out and popped another.
It snapped, and Grace watched Simon's lips twitch a little, like he was holding back the urge to smile.
The sight of that tiny hint of joy flickering across Simon's face made something warm and bright burst to life in Grace’s chest. Before he could stop himself, he found himself hopping off of his stool and approaching Simon.
"Here," he said, holding out the bubble mix and wand. "Wanna try it?"
Simon blinked at him, down at the bubble mix, and then back up at Grace. "Uh...I guess?"
"It's easy, I'll show you." Grace demonstrated dipping the wand, then bringing it up to his lips. "Then you just blow. But you gotta be gentle. Too hard, and the mix will just spray everywhere. Too little, and nothing will come out. It's a bit of trial and error to get it."
He dipped the wand in the mix for Simon, and then handed it over. Simon took it, studying it for a second with open curiosity, before he brought it up in front of his mouth, just like Grace had shown him. He hesitated for a second, but then carefully blew out some air.
A single, perfect bubble flew out through the lab.
"There, you did it!" Grace cheered, throwing up the hand that wasn't holding the bubble mix into the air in excitement.
Simon stared at the bubble he'd made in surprise, before looking back down at the wand. "Huh. That's...cool, I guess.”
"Wanna do some more?" Grace asked eagerly.
<yes, yes. Simon make more bubbles!> Rocky insisted, bouncing with excitement.
For a moment, Simon looked a bit uncertain, glancing between Grace and Rocky. But then he slowly dipped the wand back into the bubble mix, just like he’d watched Grace doing. Once the wand had a good coating, he brought it back up and tried again.
A good dozen bubbles burst through the air, and Grace let out a laugh of delight. He set the beaker of bubble mix down on one of the nearby lab benches, and chased after the bubbles. He danced around the lab, dodging stools and ducking under the tables to try to pop each of the bubbles before they could hit the ground. It was childish and silly, and he probably was making a bit of a fool of himself, but he found he really didn’t care. Since the moment he’d woken up on the Hail Mary, there had been constant danger and stress, and it was nice to just experience a moment of joy and whimsy for a change.
Eventually the bubbles were all popped, however, and Grace settled down on the floor with his back to Rocky’s chamber, laughing and a little bit winded.
“Geez, I don’t remember the last time I was the one chasing the bubbles,” he admitted. “I was always the one blowing them. That was fun!”
<Rocky like bubbles>
“Yeah, me too, bud,” Grace agreed, knocking his head back against the xenonite. He turned towards Simon, grinning with pure bliss. “What do you think of them, Simon?”
But when his eyes landed on Simon’s face, he found that Simon was now staring at him, his mouth hanging open a little and his eyes wide. There was something strange about his expression, something that Grace didn’t think he’d ever seen before, something he couldn’t identify. Maybe it was second-hand embarrassment? Simon’s cheeks did look a little pink, and Grace had been acting like an idiot a second ago.
Still, as the silence stretched, Grace’s brow furrowed a bit in concern. “Simon? You okay, man?”
Simon startled, and then shook himself. He glanced away from Grace, his eyes locking on the bubble mixture as his lips pulled down into a frown. “I’m fine,” he grunted.
“Are you sure?” Grace pressed against his better judgement. He knew that Simon tended to shut down when questioned, but he was worried.
Sure enough, Simon abruptly dropped the bubble wand into the beaker, and spun on his heel. “I gotta take a piss,” he announced gruffly, before stomping out of the lab and out of sight.
Grace wilted a little in dismay, but let out a tired sigh. He should have seen that coming. Begrudgingly he pushed himself back up to his feet and walked over to retrieve the bubble mix, a bit of his earlier joy fading at Simon’s sudden departure. “Guess we should probably stop, anyways. I don’t want to make too much of a mess.”
<aww> Rocky slumped in disappointment.
“It’s okay,” Grace quickly reassured him. “I’ll save the mix, and we can make more bubbles some other time. Maybe Simon will want to join us, or maybe we’ll save it for when he’s doing something else.”
<more bubbles, more bubbles! good good good>
Grace laughed. “At least one of you really liked them."
Rocky gave the Eridian equivalent to a nod, and then turned his body in the direction to where Simon must have gone. <Simon heart rate faster than usual> he announced.
Grace’s head whipped up in alarm, and he nearly spilled the bubble mix he’d been trying to pour into a bottle. “What? It is? Is he okay? Is something wrong?”
<Rocky not think so. Grace heart rate also go fast like that sometimes. it did just before>
“It does?” Grace blinked. “It did? When?”
<When Simon here> Rocky told him, almost knowingly.
It took a second for Grace to translate the tone in his head, but when he understood what Rocky was implying, he felt his face grow hot. “Oh. Oh no. No. No, no, no. I know what you’re thinking, Rocky, and it’s not that. There are lots of reasons a human’s heart rate might speed up, including surprise. Simon was startled by the bubbles, remember? That’s probably why his heart rate is up. And I was chasing them, so of course mine is faster.”
<heart rate went up when Simon first see bubbles, but then go back down> Rocky argued. <then go back up again. still surprise?>
“I mean…maybe?” Grace hedged.
Rocky didn’t have eyes or a face, but somehow Grace still felt like he was getting a judgmental stare.
“Just…let’s give Simon a bit of space for a bit,” Grace said as he finished cleaning up his makeshift bubble mixture and tucked it away. “We’ll come back to the bubbles thing later. Now, you mentioned something about Eridians doing acid baths? I wanna know more about that.”
Rocky continued to give Grace the equivalent of a knowing look for a moment longer, but thankfully allowed the change in subject. Grace gratefully took his seat back on the lab stool as he and Rocky resumed their earlier conversation about different sanitation methods that each of their species employed.
While the discussion was fascinating, Grace found himself growing distracted as he kept thinking back to that hint of a smile he’d seen on Simon’s face when he’d popped the bubbles. Even just thinking about it was enough to make his body feel a bit warm, and he could tell from the way Rocky paused mid-sentence that his Eridian friend had noticed that something was up.
“Sorry, Rocky, what were you saying?” Grace asked, flushing with embarrassment at being caught not paying attention.
<Grace heart rate faster again> Rocky declared. <looking where Simon left. want Simon?>
“I’m fine,” Grace insisted quickly. “Like I said, let’s give Simon his space.”
<sure. space>
Grace was getting very good at detecting Eridian sarcasm. He’d had plenty of experience lately.
“Just…leave it, please?” Grace begged, pulling off his glasses so he could rub at his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
<Rocky will leave it if Grace promises to blow more bubbles later>
“I promise,” Grace agreed.
<with Simon>
“Only if he wants to.”
<Simon wants> Rocky told him knowingly. <Grace wants, too>
Grace tried very hard to tell himself that Rocky was still talking about the bubbles.
“You were saying about the bathing chambers?” Grace prompted in a slightly strangled voice, trying to get their conversation back on track and away from whatever Rocky might think was going on between him and Simon. “Tell me more. What do they look like?”
Rocky giggled once more to himself, before finally letting the subject drop. They picked up where they’d left off, and this time Grace forced himself to focus. Simon’s smile could haunt him later, right now Grace was spending time with his best friend, and Rocky deserved his full attention.
Still, Grace couldn’t help but find he was kind of looking forward to keeping his promise and pulling out the bubble mixture again later.
He’d just discovered that bubbles had become one of his favourite things in the world, for some reason. Who could blame him, though, right?
Bubbles were fun.