Work Text:
Slowly but surely, things are starting to change. It’s been three Earth months since Grace started back on vitamins, and the difference in him is gradual, but it’s there. No more teeth have had to be pulled, thankfully, though he had gotten worse again before getting better. The many B vitamins are still a struggle, but our scientists are doing their best to provide him with everything he needs.
Flavor has helped a lot, too. It seems like such a silly thing, but flavor is incredibly important to humans when it comes to being able to make themselves eat. Apparently, the food scientists have perfected the sucrose content and have started trying to make artificial flavoring, and with them being able to emulsify the Taumoeba into something more akin to a liquid to mix with the sweet vitamin slurry, Grace is much more willing to complete his daily food intake. It does mean I’m unfortunately back to being exposed to his disgusting eating habits thrice daily again, but it’s a small price to pay for my mate.
Mates. We’ve been mates for almost twice as long as Grace has been back on vitamins. Not much changed at the start, mainly because he was so unwell and I didn’t want him doing much besides resting. And now that he’s doing better, he is getting much busier. I expected as much, but it’s still a little frustrating.
Every single day, we have visitors to the Hail Mary. Often multiple times a day. I almost wish the space elevator hadn’t been upgraded so nicely before our return to Erid, if only because the prior 20-hour ride up and down would have given us lots of uninterrupted time. Though it would have also meant I would’ve spent 20 hours suffering over Grace’s health scare back when the ship's medical system first sedated him while I was planetside. So I guess I’ve got no choice but to be glad for its enhanced speed.
Still, it can be very hard to bond with your new mate when half of your conscious time together is constantly interrupted by someone new looking to learn about their mission, Earth, or Grace himself. The Entities seem to view privacy as a non-issue until Grace is settled in his dome. Until then, he’s basically got nothing else to do with his time, from their perspective. I disagree, as does Grace, but it’s hard to deny visitors when they’re already aboard.
Plus, Grace is fascinating. Who am I to deny that? I’ve gotten to spend years learning about him, and there is still constantly something new I’m finding out. To the rest of Erid, he is pretty much the most interesting thing around, outside of the planet being saved. Which also has to do a lot with him, so he’s very popular. He’s got scientists, engineers, linguists, even artists coming up to pick at his brain to learn the differences between humans and us.
Someone new has arrived today. They’ve got one of the newer designs for the EVA suits on, with small magnets built into each arm end to make traversing zero gravity up here easier. They are old, much much older than me, clear from the almost uncannily smooth carapace. We round out more with time, though some Eridians round faster depending on their activity levels. This Eridian is small, round, and old. A fixture from an era generations before me. They arrive with little fanfare, not bothering to knock before they walk into the airlock, then walk inside to stand before me and Grace, carapace high with pride.
“I am here for a cultural exchange with the alien,” they announce, and I am immediately unimpressed. Grace doesn’t seem to match my energy, but he cannot read most Eridians very well.
“That’s me!” He says with a laugh, offering a friendly wave. This Eridian doesn’t return it, and I find myself even more bothered.
“I was told she can communicate in our language. Was that incorrect?”
I hunch my carapace down in annoyance as Grace skitters off to find his communication organ. “The alien’s got a name,” I snip back. “Grace. Savior Grace, most Eridians are calling her.” I use he with Grace, but I don’t want to give this uppity newcomer even the slightest thought that they can do the same.
That seems to catch the old Eridian off guard, and they hunker down a little from their prideful stance. “Yes, of course. Savior Grace. Does she speak Eridian?”
“Yes, I do!” Grace plays with pride as he settles back down next to me, brandishing his organ. He’s made friends with a couple of the linguists who visit often, and they’ve crafted him a slightly better version of the translator thinking machine he’d been using. It’s all touch-based, though, so it takes him time to remember how to phrase things, and often he has to refer to a guide he’s made for himself for longer conversations. A better version will take up more room; he’ll get one eventually. “Only simple Eridian, still learning. Sorry.”
“Don’t need to apologize, Grace,” I chide softly, but he’s too pleased with being understood to really worry about it.
“Very good,” the older Eridian says, shifting their gait slightly. “I am here to educate you on Eridian culture, and document your own. I will be visiting every 18th day for your lessons.”
“Oh! I didn’t know I getting lessons. Excite! I am teacher also. Was… Clarification needed. You mean Eridian days, question?”
“What else would I use?” The older Eridian says with a little shake of their carapace.
“I don’t think this is going to work,” I say very firmly, stepping between Grace and the uppity stranger.
“Rocky!” Grace huffs and bats at me lightly. “It’s fine! They’re not math-focused, of course, they wouldn’t know Earth units, I should’ve expected as much.”
“Not just that, Grace,” I grumble. “This Eridian is old old old. Culture they know is probably obsolete.”
“Pardon me, Savior Rocky,” The old Eridan starts, “I am quite well-versed in current culture as well, rest assured. I was assigned by the lesser Entities, to help bring… Savior Grace, to speed, as they worry she will be overwhelmed once planetside and making public appearances.”
“I’m doing what?” Grace looks at me, and I just stomp a little in annoyance.
“I have taught Grace plenty of Erid culture already.”
They lower their carapace. “Apologies, I do not mean to offend.” A little late for that. “I am only here on orders. You have been gone for over 400 years. I have culture I could teach that you have missed. Could teach you as well, if you wanted.”
It’s painful to think of how long I was gone in Eridian units. 46 Earth years doesn’t sound quite as bad, so I’ve kept thinking of it like that, but I can’t deny this. I’ve missed a lot myself. Maybe Grace could benefit from someone who’s been around to see all I’ve missed and more. I shift towards Grace, who reaches out a comforting hand and pets the top of my carapace.
“They are right. I am not best culture teacher.”
“You did your best,” Grace coos softly, and I lean into his touch. “I’d like to learn more, though, if it’s okay with you.”
“Mm…” I still don’t like this Eridian’s attitude, but maybe they were a little caught off from meeting Grace for the first time. There have been many different reactions to him so far. I should give them a better chance. “Okay. Fine. Good to learn.”
Grace smiles widely and picks up his organ again. “Ready for lessons!”
“Good good good,” The older Eridian says with a happy sway. Despite what they suggested, I don’t bother sitting in on the lesson today. They start far, far back in our culture, stuff Grace surely doesn’t need to know, but he loves to learn, so he doesn’t stop them. Eventually, I find something to busy myself with and mostly tune them out as I focus on continuing my research into human engineering studies with my thinking machine.
I’m only pulled back into reality at the sound of the airlock opening, spreading out my focus just in time to sense that haughty carapace passing over the threshold. Finally. Grace is already coming to me, smiling as he floats over and clings to my carapace, letting me pull him in with two free arms to cuddle.
“Did you have fun listening to ancient culture studies, question?” I tease, but Grace nods earnestly as he settles into my hold. I’m going to miss being his anchor once we’re down in Erid gravity all the time.
“It was interesting!” Grace does genuinely seem pleased, but really, I’m not all that surprised. He loves to learn, and I only knew enough about past Eridian culture to get by; it’s never been a topic of specialized interest for me. “Pearl said we’ll get into newer sections in time, but I found it pretty fascinating.”
“What name mean, question?”
“Pearl. Calcium carbonate in a crystalline form. It’s commonly round and white, so it suits their carapace a lot. Plus, we have this specific subset of them we call ‘cultured pearls’.” Grace grins widely, clearly pleased with his own naming pun.
“Fitting,” Is all I give him; he makes enough terrible jokes as it is. Grace is unhindered by my disinterest and squirms in my hold until he’s more comfortable, then he reaches a hand out and presses a button to make my thinking machine go to sleep. Brat.
“Want to know how pearls are formed?”
Clearly, he wants to tell me. “Go on.”
“They grow in these underwater invertebrates called mollusks. It’s a reaction to the mollusk getting an irritant in its mantle, and it coats it in the calcium carbonate until the irritant doesn’t bother them anymore.”
“Irritant! Even more fitting!” I laugh then, and he does too.
“Thought you’d get a kick out of that.”
✦✧✦✧✦
Irritating Pearl comes again in three Earth days, 18 Erid ones, as promised. Grace is happy to see them, or happy enough, I suppose. Enough so that I don’t think twice about ignoring them once more as Pearl begins to drone on about long forgotten traditions and Grace taps away on his thinking machine as he takes notes.
By Pearl’s fourth visit, I’ve already warned Grace I’ll be heading planetside to join in a small thrum to discuss updates with the dome. It’ll be just him and Pearl, but he isn’t bothered by the thought at all. He’s feeling well enough now to not need constant supervision, so even if they finish before I do, I’m not as worried about leaving him to his own devices.
Pearl arrives with hardly a greeting before they begin to drone on, and I take my leave. The thrum goes well, the dome is nearing completion! I’m so excited to move Grace down there, I can’t wait for him to see all the hard work Adrian’s put into everything. Plus it’ll be nice to have some privacy, maybe we can set up a proper schedule then for visitors.
By the time I head back up the elevator, a full Eridian day has passed, so I know Pearl has taken their leave. They never stay more than a day, thank goodness. Grace isn’t in the main area when I come in, but I find him easily. He is wrapped in his quilt, sitting at his desk as he writes on his thinking machine, seatbelted to keep in place. He looks up from his work at the sound of my magnets shifting on the floor, and smiles at me.
“Hey! Welcome back! Thrum go well?”
I hurry to his side and he laughs as I climb up onto his desk. He shuts his thinking machine and moves it to the side to give me space. “Thrum went very well, biodome is almost ready! They are testing atmosphere consistency and stability. We will need to start work on xenonite suit for your travel downward soon. I will make.”
Grace’s smile widens as he pets the top of my carapace. “Think it’ll turn out better than the one you made to show me the Blip A?” He teases, and I let out a low tone of annoyance.
“It will be much better! More comfortable, easy to move. Xenonite technology has surpassed what I could do with supplies on ship, new suit will be like my suit! I will need to learn how to make for you, but I will start plans tonight.”
“I’m sure you’ll pick it up fast. I think it’s incredible you were able to make what you did considering I needed the Orlan suit in it and all!”
I lean into his petting, then climb down from the desk. “I want to start now, will go back on other side and use thinking machine. I want to look at information on your breathing machine inside suit.” I turn to leave, then realize I hadn’t asked about his time without me. “How was culture class? Pearl get into anything modern yet, question?”
Grace laughs. “We’re getting there. It’s going fine, it’s all interesting to me. They said we’ll be discussing ‘Eridian ideals’ soon, whatever that means.” He crooks two fingers on both hands as he speaks, used for emphasis on words. Eridian ideals, I don’t exactly know what that means either in this context.
“Ideal Eridian is too broad a category, waste of time,” I shake my carapace. “I will start on suit plans. Love you!”
“Love you too,” Grace repeats, his voice softer, and then he turns back to his own thinking machine and reopens it.
✦✧✦✧✦
“Hey, Rock?”
Grace is peeking in at me from the entrance of the room. He shifts as he clings to the entryway, nervous, he’s nervous. Why is he nervous? I put down my tools to shift my focus to him fully.
“Yes, Grace, question?”
I’m on the Eridian side, mid-toying with the new xenonite compounds I’ve been practicing with. It’s been a few days since I started working on the plans for his new xenonite suit, and I want to make sure I’m proficient with this thinner form of xenonite before I start on anything at a larger scale.
Grace floats in slowly, bracing on the xenonite barrier before pulling back to float mostly in place. “I was thinking… You know how you made that soundproof room around the toilet for me?”
It was one of the first major modifications I ever made to the Hail Mary. Grace’s request, though I was glad for it too. Excreting is very private for humans and Eridians both. “Yes, yes. What about it, question?”
“Well…” Grace squeezes one of his arms as he rotates slowly. “Maybe you could make another room for me for eating?”
What? I’m shocked at the suggestion, completely. Grace has never been private about his eating habits, even in the very early days of us meeting. It had disgusted me, watching him eat in the airlock so openly back then, but I’ve been slowly getting used to it with time. It’s different for our species, and I have to acknowledge that, even if I find it gross still. But Grace has never been bothered by the idea of me hearing him eat before.
“Why would you need that, question?”
Grace frowns, bites at his lower lip. Another nervous habit. “I dunno, I just thought it’d be the polite thing to do. Good practice to stop myself from eating in front of other Eridians too, if I have a designated place to eat.”
“Who complained about you eating, question?” Someone must’ve said something. He’s had so many visitors in the last couple of days. Who was it? Grace has never questioned this part of himself. Grace huffs at me.
“No one! I’m just trying to be polite! Eridians have special soundproof eating rooms, shouldn’t I?”
“You are not Eridian!”
He doesn’t need to meet our standards; he’s his own species! Some things he might need to change in his daily life to adapt to Erid life, but his food habits don’t need to be one of them. My words don’t comfort Grace like I thought they would. Grace shrinks into himself, and I wish I were on his side to hug him.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” He mumbles, and then it’s like the thought simply washes away as he returns to a smile and puffs out his chest. “How’s the prototype going?”
“Fine.” So-so, really, but it’s not important right now. “You changed the subject, tell me why you want to hide when eating!”
Grace groans and shakes his head. “I told you! I just thought it’d be more polite. Especially with so many visitors. I… I know you said you don’t mind, but other Eridians could.”
“Other Eridians can go crack their carapace,” I chitter in annoyance, and Grace furrows their brows at me. “I mean it! You are fine. Up here, especially, doesn’t matter. If a visitor doesn’t want to hear you eat, they will come at a different time.”
“You’re right, you’re right, okay fine,” Grace huffs and ruffles his hair. “My bad for trying to be more polite.”
“Grace never polite before, don’t need to change now.” I hope he reads the teasing in my tone, and the affronted ‘hey!’ I get after assures me he does. “Come sit with me, question?” I missed him even if it’s only been an hour since we’d last conversed. He smiles at me again, and I think he means it.
“Let me grab my laptop.”
✦✧✦✧✦
I don’t want to be too optimistic too soon, but every update I get on the dome’s progress is better than the last one! Every test is passing, every airlock perfectly secure. The temperature is still stabilizing, but it’s a complicated thing. They’re trying to mimic Earth and how it gets, somehow, even colder at nighttime and then warms up slightly as the day progresses. It’s a little too cold overall for Grace still, but it’s very close to being permanently corrected.
I’m so excited to tell him the news, I can’t even keep still on the elevator. When the door opens, I rush to leave, only to stop in my tracks as Pearl leaves the ship. They straighten up as they realize who they’ve run into. “Savior Rocky! A pleasure, we rarely seem to cross paths these days.” That’s on purpose.
“Hello Pearl,” I offer, and hope they can hear the disinterest in my voice, but the way they start droning on makes me sure they can’t.
“It would be wonderful if you could sit in on a class soon, I’m sure G- Savior Grace would enjoy it. You’d be a lovely example of Eridian idealism. She has much to learn on the topic still.”
I edge toward the ship, eager to escape this scenario. “I’m sure Grace is learning plenty. Doesn’t even need to learn anything, really. Smart smart smart even before meeting any Eridians.”
“Mm… yes,” Pearl hums, but I don’t think I believe their tone. “I will be back in 18 days.” They rub their arms together, and I hurriedly return it before the elevator doors finally shut, and I am tucked safely into the airlock. Finally.
Grace is nowhere inside. I tap the floors again; surely I mistook the response I got. Nothing. How? His EVA suit is still here, everything is here. “Grace!” I shout out for him, troubled, and then relief floods me as I realize. He must be in his toilet room. I hurry down to the dormitory, and sure enough, the door is closed. I want to wait for him in my suit to hug hello, but if Pearl just left, he must have just gotten in, and might be in there for some time.
I head into the airlock in the dormitory and busy myself with the plans for Grace’s suit. I’m making good progress on that too, though figuring out how to ensure his oxygen continues to be filtered like in his EVA suit is difficult. After a few minutes, the door opens, and Grace walks out. I drop my work immediately, excitedly tapping the floor as I rush to the barrier, only to pause. He sounds different.
“Rocky!” He calls out to me with delight, a hand rubbing down his smooth face. Smooth. The facial hair he normally keeps is fully gone, his lower face strangely smooth as I tap harder for a better view. “When did you get in?”
“Face is smooth,” I reply, because honestly, I’m a little shocked. Grace tenses slightly, and then he relaxes, mouth stretching wide into a smile. I can hear it all so well now, it’s kind of off-putting.
“Oh, you noticed?” He replies with a lilt in his voice, still rubbing at his own smooth face, clearly unused to it himself. “What do you think?”
“You asked me when you did this on trip to Erid. Told you then, unusual, but do not mind. Why face smooth again?”
“Thought maybe it’d sound nicer,” Grace mumbles, turning to look at his bathing station, where a reflective surface is at face level for him. “You don’t like it?” He turns back to me, and I fluster.
“Already asked! I like all Grace, I was just used to face hair. Don’t mind without or with, what do you like, question?”
“Well, we’re mates now, so I thought… I dunno. You don’t have any preference? You can hear me better like this, right?”
I’m so lost. What does my preference matter? It’s Grace’s face. “I can hear better, yes, but the difference is small. Do what Grace likes. I like Grace always. Grace beautiful always.”
“Jeez, you flirt,” Grace laughs and claps his hands over his cheeks. “Okay, I get it, you don’t care.” He turns back to his reflective surface. “I think I’ll stick with this for a little while. Sounds nicer.”
Sounds nicer. Not looks. Grace is making this choice not for himself. I grumble with frustration, but it’s not really enough for me to keep making a fuss over it. I want Grace to display himself however he wants. He’ll miss his facial hair in time and regrow it, and I will shower him in compliments when it’s back to reinforce his choice. I go back to work on the suit and leave Grace to his self-reflecting.
✦✧✦✧✦
Grace is being strange. Well, stranger than usual. It’s been two weeks since he first shaved his face, and he’s kept it smooth. That doesn’t matter so much, aside from being a change in his preferences I hadn’t expected. But it’s not just that. Grace seems withdrawn. He’s not as talkative, except with the translator organ. He says he’s just trying to master it so he’ll be ready once he gets planetside. I can accept this, but what’s really getting to me is that he’s not touching me enough.
I sound like a deviant, but maybe I am a bit of one. So what? I spent 46 years in space with nothing and no one, and now I’ve got a penchant for wanting to constantly hold my mate’s hand or hug them tightly. Is that so wrong? Grace never denies my affection if I start it, but his own initiation has dwindled to maybe a quarter of what it had been.
Am I doing something wrong? I’ve been busier than ever before, with the biodome so close to completion and my expertise on Grace being requested for all the little tweaks and alterations to ensure it’s as nice for him as possible. And when I’m not down on Erid participating in all that, I’m up in my side of the ship, working on his new EVA suit. Maybe I’m neglecting him. But he seems… happy. Enough. I’ve seen him sad, and that’s not quite what this is.
Maybe he’s going stir crazy again. He’s so close to the ‘freedom’ of his biodome, maybe he’s just anxious for that. I hope that’s the only issue, because it’s officially been cleared for human containment! I’d not been as focused as perhaps I should have been, but I didn’t miss the science team’s cheers as all their hard work finally has come to completion. Adrian actually twirls me around in their excitement, and all the strangeness of the last few weeks doesn’t matter.
Grace is coming home.
The realization of that has me buzzing with energy. My suit for him is done too; he’d tried it out the other night, and it handled his air cycling perfectly. It’s not quite as seamless as the newer suits I wear, but it’s much more flexible than the first one I’d made him all those years back. We’ll have to test it a few more times, but we’re almost there. I need to tell Grace the plan! He’s going to be so excited, and then maybe he will be able to feel a little more normal again. A little happier.
The meeting lets out much earlier than expected. It was more of a celebration than anything else. I give Adrian another hug before rushing off to the space elevator. I need to see Grace, need to tell him the good news. I climb into a suit as the elevator rises, and rush into the airlock as soon as I can.
The moment I step into the ship, I hear noise. Lots of noise, far more than usual. No one else is scheduled to be up here, so it can only be from Grace. “Grace?” I call out as I tap the floor just in time to see Grace rushing into his soundproof room. His shape was strange. I head down to the dormitory, and go right up to the room, knocking on it. “Grace? It’s Rocky. I’m back!”
“Rocky?” Grace cracks the door, and I can hear him sigh in relief. “I didn’t think you’d be back so soon! I got scared it was someone else.”
“Grace okay, question? Sounded different when I came in.”
“Oh God, you could hear it from there?” Grace groans and shuts the door, and I hit it as my anxiety spikes.
“Grace! Grace, what’s wrong, question? Come out!”
A moment passes, and the door opens fully, and Grace floats out. I back up in my surprise, taking in the shocking amount of sound bouncing off of him. Grace is in his underclothes, much of his skin on display. More than usual for this time of day, this level of exposure tends to be right after washing, or sometimes for sleep.
He chimes with every shift of his body. He’s wearing jewelry, no, not just that. Ceremonial jewelry, celebration jewelry. Bracelets of jingly rocks, spikes of quartz curling around his shoulder cuffs, chains with differently cut gems draped over his bare chest. A choker of small gems shifts on his throat as he breathes in and curls around himself in shame.
Grace sounds absolutely beautiful. He looks absolutely miserable.
I can hear his discomfort just as plainly as the gems. His face is twisted into an unhappy expression, and he’s half-covering himself with an arm. I’m in shock. I don’t know where he’s gotten these from, but it certainly wasn’t from me. I know it wasn’t Adrian either, as they’ve been helping me with my bond gift for Grace, when would they have had the time to make all this, too?
“Uh… surprise?” Grace tries to give me a wide smile, but the discomfort is too much; I know he’s unhappy.
“What is this, question?”
“What? You know what it is! Celebration outfit! Though, uh, I hadn’t meant to show it to you before the big day. But it just got dropped off, so I thought I’d try it on, and then you came home early.”
“Who dropped off, question? Who made this for you, question?”
There’s a weird mix of emotions in me. Grace sounds gorgeous, but he’s not happy. I would never ask this of him if it made him unhappy, but clearly, whoever told him he needed to wear this did not care about his discomfort at all. Grace squirms and shifts as he slowly spins in the air, and I reach out a hand to steady him, latching onto his ankle.
“Grace,” I coo his name softly. “Tell me who made this for you. Who said you had to wear, question? It’s okay.”
He sighs and folds his arms over his chest. “I don’t know the names of who made it, but that doesn’t matter. They said it’d be a good first impression! Me assimilating as much as possible, you know? Enough jewelry, and maybe it’ll distract from my squishy, leaky body.” Grace laughs at himself, and I feel devastated at the sound.
Is that what this is about? His removing his facial hair to ‘sound better’, his focus on communicating with the translator organ, his lack of that wonderful touchiness that doesn’t come naturally to Eridians. Someone has been telling him he’s not good enough. Not Eridian enough.
I’d been so busy dealing with the last steps of everything, I hadn’t asked about his classes or his meetings. I have no clue who he’s talked to in probably a month’s time. But I’ve got a suspicion. “Grace. Did Pearl have jewelry made for you, question?”
He falters in my grasp, and that’s all the answer I need. I let Grace go and stomp and shout my frustrations, guilt, and anger swirling through me. Grace hesitates as he floats away, before pushing off the wall and floating back to me. “Rocky! Calm down, everything’s fine!”
“Not fine! Bad! Bad bad bad!” I can’t believe what a failure of a mate I’ve turned out to be. So distracted, I couldn’t see another trying to mold my precious human into something he’s not. “You are unhappy! This isn’t my Grace, this isn’t right!”
“Rocky, Rocky, calm down,” Grace tries to soothe me, his gentle hands petting over my arms, my vents, but I cannot be quelled. I need to find Pearl. I pull out of his grasp, much to Grace’s unhappiness, and head for the airlock. “Rocky, wait!” He calls after me, but all he can do is watch from behind as I leave the Hail Mary.
The trip down feels so much slower, even though I know it’s the same. All those Grace sayings are starting to ring true. I know it’s not right, but it feels like my blood is boiling, I finally get it. I can’t believe I didn’t put it together until now. I knew he’d been acting strange, but I’d written it off without even asking him. So stupid, so foolish. I’m a bad mate. I’ll make up for it somehow, if Grace lets me.
I don’t even bother getting out of my suit as I storm off the elevator, rushing for the nearest facility. I don’t know where Pearl is, but I will find them. Other Eridians are all around, but none small or round enough to be who I’m looking for. I rush past Adrian in my hunt, I can hear their call to me, and then the sound of them running after me. They know something’s wrong, they can always read me so well. If only I could read Grace that well.
Finally, I find Pearl in a discussion room, along with a few other Eridians I’ve never met. They turn at my entrance and perk up. “Oh, Savior Rocky! A pleasure to see you,” They trill. I stomp over to them, shaking with my unspent anger. I’ve never been an especially threatening figure, but they start to cower anyway. “Is something wrong?”
“What kind of nonsense are you teaching Grace?!”
“Grace?” Pearl suddenly relaxes, clicking their claws. “Oh no, did she break part of the outfit already? I told her not to put it on alone, I knew she’d break something.” Pearl clucks out a note of disapproval as Adrian enters behind me. “You know, for something named Grace, she does not live up to that name, does she?”
“What?” I reel back in my shock. So flippant in their talk of him, so dismissive. Have they been acting like this the whole time? Why didn’t I sit in on any of their stupid classes? Adrian chitters behind me, confused as they press to my side. Pearl hums and shifts.
“Not very graceful. Bipedal is quite a clumsy style of walking; her upper arms are of no use like that! Of course, she was just as bad using all four of them. I gave up on that idea quickly.” Pearl chimes with laughter, the four other Eridians split in their reactions. Two laughed along with them, while the other two stepped back.
“You made him walk on all fours?!”
I move closer, and Adrian follows. Pearl suddenly seems to realize I’m not happy and starts to back away. I keep going until they’re backed against the wall, their arms spread and tapping desperately to find an escape path.
“You are the worst teacher I have ever known. Worst Eridian, worst everything. You’re lucky I don’t rip off three of your arms right now and turn you into a bipedal.” My tones are loud, bouncing off the walls as Pearl cowers below me, sinking down to the floor. “You are sick. Sick sick sick. You will never teach again, never tout your dust-filled, archaic ideals to anyone again!”
“Rocky,” Adrian tries to soothe me, but I can’t stop yet. I stomp, feel the ground beneath me shudder at my efforts. Pearl hoots some wobbly tone that might’ve been words but I refuse to even parse them.
“He saved you! He saved everyone! Our entire planet! He was excited to learn about Erid from you, when’s the last time anyone’s been eager for your presence? I’m sure it’s been centuries. You have the savior of all our people happy to learn from you, and you teach him he’s not good enough for us? For Erid? You make him try to sound like us, to live like us, to hide as much of him as he can so he can simply blend into the crowd? He is enough!”
I can’t hold back as I punch the wall just above Pearl, a hole crumbling into existence around my hand. I guess I should be glad it wasn’t xenonite reinforced in here. Pearl is shrieking, covering their vents with their hands as dust settles on top of them. It’s not enough, but it’ll have to do. I’ll make my real revenge happen after I talk to the Entities about this, but even that can wait. I need to get back to Grace.
“Adrian, will you make sure they don’t run away? I’ll be back later.”
Adrian huffs and presses to my carapace, nuzzling against me. “My small warrior, my star saver,” They chime and wiggle, pleased at my display. “Of course. Expend that energy somewhere first, then go take care of our other star saver.” I trill at their words and run.
I end up bumping into someone on the teaching team and yell at them for a few minutes for not checking in on Grace’s twisted studies, go outside, and crunch some stones into gravel before getting back on the space elevator. I pace inside all the way up, and rush out the moment the doors reopen.
“Grace!” I’m calling his name the moment I get in, but I don’t need to. He’s in the main area connected to the airlock, looking up at my entry. The jewelry is gone, he’s in pants and his sweater, the belt of it tied tight around him.
“Hi,” he murmurs back, looking over as I enter. He’s sitting at one of the observation tables, feet hooked under the edge of the stool to keep him sitting. “I’m not getting anymore culture lessons, am I?” He cracks a smile but just the mention of that old boulder has me puffing my vents and stomping. “Hey, hey, come here.”
I rush over to him, pressing to his chest and hugging him as he curls around my carapace. “Please don’t change yourself anymore,” I hum softly. “Love Grace as you are, love my human mate human.”
“Aww, Rock,” Grace sniffles and rubs his face against me. “I know you do, I promise.”
“Then why change, question?”
Grace sighs. “Well, you learned to love me for all my gross leaky human stuff, but the rest of Erid doesn’t have the years to warm up to it like you did! I just thought… if any of it made the masses like me even a little more, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.”
“Stupid, so stupid for so smart,” I groan and clutch at his sweater. It’s soft, just like the rest of him. “All of Erid loves you, you saved them. Saved our planet. Anyone who doesn’t see that as enough to love doesn’t get to know you.”
“You can’t just kick out all my hate club,” Grace snorts and wipes his eyes. Little droplets cling to my suit.
“Can and will.” I pet his head, running his hair through my fingers. I press another hand to his face, petting over smooth skin. “….When will you grow back your facial hair?”
“Hah!” Grace reels back, pointing a finger at me accusingly. “I knew you had a preference!”
✦✧✦✧✦
It’s finally happening. I steady Grace as he steps out of the Hail Mary for the last time possibly ever, and help him into the elevator. It’s just him and me inside it, both staying in our EVA suits. I’ve perfected his new one, we tested it multiple times over the last two weeks to prepare. The filtering machine is built into the back, leaving Grace free to dress to his comfort inside the suit.
He’s got one of his science shirts on over his flight suit, shifting from one foot to another. He sounds like himself again, all over. His face hair is still a little shorter than usual, but it’s enough. My Grace, as he should be, finally getting to see all the hard work Adrian’s put into the biodome, getting to see what I expect will be throngs of Eridians waiting for us below.
“You remember how to turn muffling on, yes, question?”
Grace looks down at me. “For the fifth time, yes. I use the third button in the wrist panel and it’ll muffle everything but the radio you stole from the Orlan helmet.”
“Just making sure. It will be loud down there, much celebration, many many many Eridians.”
Grace takes a shaky breath as he rocks on his heels. “Right. Right. And there’s lights for me to see with already, right?”
I wiggle my hands. “Yes, big big lights gives lot of light from above without constant buzzing sound being heard. Checked light levels, good for your eyes.”
“Good good good…” Grace takes another long breath. “You sure they’re gonna like me?”
I reach up and take one of his hands in mine, feeling his large fingers curl over me. “They will love you. Promise.”
We don’t say anything more, and a few minutes later, we arrive at the bottom.
“Time go,” Grace murmurs under his breath as the doors open. I don’t let go of his hand. We walk out of the elevator to utter jubilation. Deafening cheers surround us, and I relish hearing the quiet click of Grace immediately muffling everyone but me. The streets are full of Eridians, big and small, young and old, all celebrating us.
Me, the lone Eridian survivor. Engineer to the cosmos, one half of two planets’ salvation.
Grace, the lone Human survivor. Scientist of the stars, the second half of two planets’ salvation.
The cheers are almost a thrum of their own with the like-mindedness I can hear.
Thank you. We’re so grateful.
Thank you, Savior Rocky. Thank you, Savior Grace.
Thank you. We love you. We love you both.
Welcome home.
“You’re missing out on their thanks,” I murmur as I gently squeeze Grace’s hand and pull him to start moving. Grace sniffles. With a tap, I can hear him leaking already, eyes full of tears that blink out and roll down his smiling face. He has never been more human, or more beautiful.
“Nah,” Grace replies, squeezing my hand back tightly. “I hear them loud and clear.”