Chapter Text
Ryland Grace thought he’d seen it all. Contentment is a gift, and really, he couldn’t ask for more.
Living on Erid with you was peaceful. Domestic, even. During the trip home, you both knew that the chances of survival were low— nearly accepting the fact that as long as Rocky can go home, save his planet and reunite with his mate, both of you are content with dying.
Of course, Rocky (and the Eridians) did everything to not let that happen.
The soft glow of the morning seeped through the curtains as Grace pulled strands of your hair away from your face, tucking it behind your ear as he watched you stir in your sleep. Really, what more could he ask for? You both are here, alive, comfortable.
The Eridians used the Hail Mary’s digital archive of human knowledge to build a human-compatible biodome, even designing it to fit Grace’s preference. He loved waking up to see his favorite view. Hearing the crash of the waves reminded him that both of you are finally safe, away from any harm. The fog eases restless mornings where his mind was somewhere far away. The sand kept him grounded.
You both locked eyes with each other.
Grace knew that home was waking up next to you.
“Mmgh. Morning.” you mumbled, blinking your sleepiness away. Grace was staring at you, head propped against his knuckles and his loving expression was paired with a lazy smile. “Morning, pretty.” He greeted back, closing the distance to plant a kiss on your forehead. You soaked in the feeling of warmth and contentment.
The doctor pulled you closer, embracing you in his arms. He didn’t have classes today, so he knew the both of you were free to sleep in. You buried your face on the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent before planting soft kisses on his skin. God, your lips. Grace’s hand snakes down to your midsection, finding its way inside your shirt. The feeling of his large hand resting on the soft skin of your waist felt so safe.
You were touch starved, and Grace was more than happy to help.
You felt his leg move— nestling between yours. You pressed your body closer to him before pulling your head back to look at the man you were ready to spend eternity with.
Grace closed his eyes and pushed forward to kiss you.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
You both jolted in shock as the banging interrupted your moment. Okay, Grace knew that Rocky loved knocking loudly on his front door, but this was louder than usual. He groaned as he sat up, mentally cursing his so-honest rock friend for interrupting, his feet looking for his slippers before quickly leaving the room to answer the door.
Twisting the handle, he answered with a disapproving expression. “Hey buddy, it’s way too early to be banging on our door—“
Rocky sang musical notes in a panicked state, his claws frantically up in the air and Grace couldn’t keep up in translating it in his head. He immediately knew something was wrong. “Woah, woah, Rock calm down! I can’t understand you—“
His eyes widened as he registered his friend’s language in his head.
Behind him, you left the bedroom to see what the noise was all about. Stretching your arms and yawning, you were about to ask what was going on when you heard Rocky yell.
“Adrian and others arrive with new human! Alive!”
You and Grace stared at Rocky in shock. A new human, on Erid?
Both of you dashed out the door.
Grace couldn’t have predicted the next 11 hours even if he tried.
A team of Eridians left home to conduct a routine check around Erid’s orbit. He did not, forgive his language, fudging expect them to come home 2 months later with a heavily injured human covered in blood. ‘Heavily’ might be an understatement, the guy was missing an arm!
Adrian, who was a part of said mission, explained that they saw a foreign ship drifting a bit far in the planet’s orbit— they almost didn’t notice it. What’s surprising is that they caught the faint sound of a human heartbeat, meaning that whatever’s inside that radiated torture chamber was alive. They took extra careful measures to fish out the poor man inside the bloodied soup bowl before bringing him home.
There’s a handful of Eridians who perfected the study of human biology (which Grace labeled as cool-rock-human-doctors) who did everything they could to save this guy. Grace wanted to be in the room and watch them but he could not stomach seeing the man’s ripped flesh of losing an arm. You got a glimpse of it earlier and Rocky was with you when you were puking your guts out at the sight. You don’t do well with blood, and Grace knows he doesn’t either. Still, he trusted the doctors and patiently waited for them to finish their surgery. The hours passed achingly slow.
“Submarine, question?”
“So it’s like a space ship, but underwater. Like, for exploring deep oceans.” Grace explained to Adrian. “I.. I really don’t know how a submarine ended up in space— even the blood! Just, how?” He tiredly exclaimed. It just didn’t make sense. SM-13 clearly expressed human language and they’re like, 16 light-years away from Earth, not only that, there was nothing on that sub: no food, water— there’s this seed pendant wrapped around this man’s wrist, gripping it like a rosary, but that was it. It didn’t make sense. “Grace can ask new human when awake.” Adrian replied calmly.
You and Rocky came back with Armando following behind. “Hey, we bought food.” You greeted them, waving at Adrian. They waved back. You looked a bit shaken up and Grace knew you were trying to hide it. “You feeling alright now?” “Mhm.”
“Armando help new human.” Rocky stated, guiding the robot to enter the surgical room. Grace wondered if he should follow inside, see if it went well or anything. Before he could decide, you walked up to him and handed him a wrapped sandwich. “Here, you haven’t eaten anything.”
“I.. don’t think I can stomach anything yet.” He sighed, but still grabbed the sandwich nonetheless. You both quickly straightened up when the Eridian doctors left the room with Rocky. Finally, news!
“Human stable. Now clean. Lots of stitches.” One of them explained. They confirmed that (thankfully) the blood he was drenched in was not his. They don’t know when he’ll wake up so they hooked him up to Armando for the time being. They decided that he could be taken home and transferred to their bedroom so he could wake up in a more comforting place, avoiding any shock.
Now all they had to do was.. wait.
Grace was a coward, sure. But he and his crew saved the stars! So he’s not really sure if the label fits him anymore.
“Where. The fuck am I.” His voice was deep, laced with poison.
Grace was a coward. You would be too when there’s a shirtless, intimidating, strong one-armed man pinning you on the ground with a tight grip on your throat.
Fortunately for you, you were out with Adrian and the others conducting research on whatever’s left in that rusty piece of metal called a sub.
Very unfortunate to Grace, though.
The teacher was home, typing away on his laptop and making lesson plans when he heard Armando’s voice from the other room saying: “Movement detected.”
He was alive! The guy slept like a rock for days. Grace may have gotten a little excited and he was ready to welcome Mr. Unknown, dark and handsome back to the land of living. Though, he wasn’t ready to get the air knocked out of him, get pushed to the ground by solid muscle and have a strong hand threaten to cut off his air flow as soon as he stepped in the room.
“Answer me.” He threatened in a low voice, grip tightening. “Y-You’re on Erid!” He gripped the angry man’s wrist, trying to pry him off. “My friends pulled you out of the sub and brought you home!” Grace replied in a panicked hurry.
That seemed to work as the man's grip loosened a bit.
“Erid?” He questioned, eyebrows furrowed. Grace shakily nodded. “Uh, planet Erid. It’s sixteen light-years away from Earth—“
“Earth doesn’t fucking exist. The stars are gone.” He cuts him off.
Grace was lost, he didn’t know what to do in this situation. What was this guy talking about? The stars are here. They saved them. “L-Listen, how about we calm down and talk? I promise you, I’m not a threat.” He assured the man, hoping he’ll get off of him and lay back down. He shouldn’t be exerting himself like this.
The man thought for a moment. Staring at him with his dark eyes, Grace felt small under his gaze. When he realized the poor blonde meant no harm, he pulled back.
Oh thank god, that was scary. Grace thought, sitting up and caressing his (probably bruised) throat as the man stood up and looked around his surroundings. His eyes scanned the area, noting the soft mess of unmade sheets and stray pillows, but his focus froze the moment his gaze landed outside the window. Seeing the waves crashing against the shore. “Where..” He questioned under his breath,
“Oh! Uh, Planet Erid. Sorry, we aren’t on Earth.” Grace repeated, standing up clumsily and dusting his pants for no reason. He was worried that maybe the man would assume they were on his home planet when really, they were light-years away from it.
The man turned to him, he looked so lost and confused. Grace felt a pang in his chest, knowing this man possibly went through something heavily traumatic. “How about we sit back down on the bed, yeah?”
“.. Who are you?”
“O-Oh! I didn’t introduce myself— I’m Grace. Ryland Grace. I’m a teacher and uh a molecular biologist.” Grace cringed at his own introduction. Should he hold out his hand?
When the man didn’t reply, the teacher took a hesitant step forward towars him. “What’s your name?” He questioned back.
… “Simon.”
Simon. The name suited him. Grace nodded, offering a awkward, but friendly smile. “Simon. Let’s sit back down on the bed, okay? We can ask and answer our questions later— for now, I’ll get you something to drink, alright?” His gentle teacher tone seeped out of him, he hoped that he sounded kind enough to make the man trust him. “My, uh, partner isn’t back yet— but she’ll be home in a couple hours! She’s just out with Adrian and the others, It’s just… us three humans here.”
“Only.. us three?” Simon repeated. Grace nodded. “Yeah, erm, I’ll explain more later! Let’s get you some water.”
Simon watched Grace turn around and trip on a random piece of clothing on the floor before leaving the room in a hurry.
Grace speeded to the kitchen, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. He was sort of thankful that you weren’t around to see him look slightly pathetic under a scared but deadly man. Still, he let his thoughts wander around Simon. The man was ripped. Like he spent his entire life doing heavy labor. Scars and old wounds were scattered throughout his body, peeking through the bandaged areas. He wondered what the man went through to get such scars. The doctors borrowed one of Grace’s baggy sweatpants and dressed him, cleaning him thoroughly, not a single drop of blood in sight. Also, those biceps. Okay, focus Grace.
His face was Asian in structure but he had an American accent. His voice was slightly hoarse (probably from the feeding tube that was pulled out from his throat when he woke up) and it was alluringly deep. His eyes were dark, matching his long hair that reached past his shoulders. He had a growing beard that framed his face nicely and paled skin touched by a slight tan. Grace had a good look at him when he was asleep. Being honest, without the blood and all, the man looked intimidatingly attractive. Definitely Grace’s type in a man.
And he knew he shouldn’t be thinking about this when you’re out there doing your best to make sense of this situation.
Simon was sitting on the edge of the bed, his gaze was so far out the window before Grace entered. The blonde was holding a glass. “Here, have some water. Just take small sips, alright?”
Grace held out the glass, waiting for him to take it. Simon looked at it with distrust before meeting eyes with the blonde. “O-Oh, don’t worry! It’s drinkable water. Erm, look.” He took a small sip from the glass, hoping the scarred man wouldn't mind. “See? It's safe. Don’t worry, I mean— you don’t have to drink if you don’t want to! But it’s probably best to get some liquid down your throa—“
Simon grabbed the glass from his hand and drank half of it. Grace nodded approvingly. All is going well, alright! The teacher was thrilled that there was another human on this planet filled with friendly rock-aliens. But for now, Grace figured he needed answers. He had a feeling Simon needed them too.
“Do you wanna rest for a bit? We can talk later if you want.” Grace assured. Maybe it’s a good idea to wait for you to come home, plus, the guy did just woke up a few minutes ago.
“What do you mean only ‘us three’?”
Oh. This guy wanted to talk. “Uh. I’ll try my best to sum this all up. Almost a year ago, my partner and I woke up in space inside our ship named Hail Mary and our mission was to figure out why this thing called Astrophage is rapidly dimming our sun and infecting nearby stars and also finding a way to save Earth! And we also met an alien named Rocky which was pretty cool by the way—“
“All the stars are dead. Earth and all habitable planets no longer exist.”
Grace opened his mouth to argue but closed it again. Well, that didn’t make any sense. They were literally here, standing on a thriving planet called Erid.
“We.. found a way to save the stars nearly a year ago. We already sent back the probes to Earth containing the Taumoeba and all the necessary information to make sure our Sun survives.”
The look of permanent displacement was etched into Simon’s features; he looked utterly lost, as if the trauma he experienced carved a home in the hollows of his face. He shakes his head in denial. Cradling his forehead with his lone hand. “So, we’re not on.. Earth? But Earth exists and the stars are alive?”
Grace nodded.
“What’s Erid?”
“It’s the home planet of the alien we met during our mission. You don’t have to worry! They look like uh, rocks with spider legs— but I promise you they’ll never lay a hand on you! They don't bite and they’re very friendly. They gave us a home here, built to sustain a human environment. Their atmosphere is um, very toxic and deadly to us so..” he rambled, his hands were all over the air trying to keep up with his mouth explaining.
Simon was quiet. Trying to digest what Grace was saying. His head turned to the side of the room, gazing out the window once again.
“How.. am I alive?” This was the quietest question Grace ever heard, almost like Simon didn’t want to ask it in the first place.
The blonde wanted to ask the same thing, but he knew it probably wouldn’t help. He did his best to lay all the information gently on the dark haired man: how his friends found the sub floating near their orbit, how they heard his faint heartbeat and did everything they could to fish him out from the sub— bringing him home. They grabbed all the remaining supplies that they could save from the ship and there.. really wasn’t a lot. He explained that Eridian doctors were smart and stitched him up. So far, that’s all Grace knows at the moment.
Simon was quiet. But he was listening, taking in every word the man was saying. Simon doesn’t know where he is. He’s on a living planet, populated by rock aliens or something, and there’s a kind biologist with a bruised throat in front of him with eyes similar to the waves outside and another human who he has yet to meet.
Simon doesn’t know where he is.
And there’s no way in hell he’s going back to where he was before.
Simon tells his story.