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It had only been a few days since first settling into his biodome that Grace finally had the energy and Adrian finally had the time for them to meet.
Grace knew it was gonna happen sooner or later, ever since Rocky first brought up the aspect of them meeting early on into his recovery. Adrian had wanted to meet Grace for some time, especially after they had, apparently, accompanied Rocky multiple times to help watch Grace when he was horribly sick from malnutrition. And now, with Grace more or less steady on his feet and Adrian done with most of their major work on the biodome, they could finally meet face to… rock face.
And, boy, did Grace wish he still had some vodka left.
Don’t get him wrong, he wanted to meet Adrian too. How couldn’t he, with them being his best friend’s partner and all the wonderful things Rocky had said about them during their trip to Erid? However, the thought of meeting Adrian (or any of Rocky’s friends and loved ones, for that matter) never failed to fill him with a familiar anxiety. With it came the sea of worst case scenarios regarding their first meeting and the numerous possibilities Grace could screw things up.
So that was how Grace found himself deflated on his new home’s living room chair, face buried in his hands and glasses held by Armando to his side. Rocky had left not too long ago to fetch his mate, leaving Grace with one last reassurance that it’ll go well, and that ”Grace only need to be Grace”. He tried to remind himself of Rocky’s words, considering he’d been with Adrian longer than even his grandparents had been around.
All too soon, a knock rang at the door, and Grace sucked in a slow breath. He pushed himself to sit more upright in the seat and took his glasses back from Armando. He tried to ignore the sweat on the back of his neck that couldn’t have been from the cool air of his home against his thin frame.
“Come in!” He called. Small mercies that his shakes weren’t in his voice. He heard the door open, and soon Rocky’s familiar form skittered into the living room. He could tell his friend was excited, given how he held his carapace up high in his xenonite suit. He offered the human a wave, who waved back.
“That was fast,” Grace commented while moving to stand from the seat.
“No no no, Grace stay,” Rocky quickly said, holding up a claw. “We come to you!”
Grace held back the sound that built in his throat. “You sure?”
“Yes yes yes,” Rocky dipped his carapace in a nod, then, offered a thumbs down. Grace was sure he (and his soon to be visitor) could hear his racing heart and how he was sweating from anxiety. Still, Rocky was excited, and Adrian had been waiting long enough. He offered a grin and thumbs down in return.
Rocky excitedly chittered and waved a hand to his side. Grace watched as another Eridian, easily twice the size of Rocky, joined him. They paused just behind Rocky, one viridian leg still held up mid step. He felt the clamminess of his hands as they tilted their carapace to the side.
“Grace,” Rocky started. He stepped back and stood just in front of the Eridian. He somehow stood even taller, leaning against them and wrapping a leg around the outstretched one. “Meet Adrian!”
Adrian responded with a trill that was easily a few octaves lower than Rocky’s. Rocky stepped back and gave Adrian space to properly ‘see’ Grace. They, in turn, moved further into the living room, enough that Grace could get a good view of the lopsided top of their carapace. One leg moved to tap the floor multiple times while they tilted their carapace again, this time towards Grace. No doubt trying to get a better image of the human.
Slowly, Grace raised a hand and offered a wave to the larger Eridian. They briefly stopped their tapping as he did so. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Adrian. Rocky’s told me all about you.”
Another quick set of low trills escaped Adrian. Based on what Grace had come to learn about Eridian mannerisms, it sounded like a laugh. Grace held onto his assumption with white knuckles and let it loosen the knot of anxiety in his chest slightly. That was a good sign, right?
“Rocky tell Adrian all about Grace,” a smooth and somewhat baritone voice replied. Its tune reminded Grace of a bass flute back on Earth. He also noted the simplified vocabulary they used, similar to how Rocky spoke when with Grace. He grinned and rubbed the back of his sweaty neck.
Then, ”Rocky right about Grace.”
His heart nearly stopped. “Why?”
“Grace is leaky space blob,” Adrian said, to which Rocky laughed and Grace flustered. Still, those five words did wonders to chase away his anxiety. He felt the stiffness in his limbs melt away while Rocky tried to control his laughter.
Once both Grace and Rocky composed themselves, Adrian spoke once more, this time tone a bit lower and serious. “Grace is… healthier, question?”
Grace nodded, figured Adrian might not know what the movement meant, and quickly added “Feeling much better, especially compared to when we, ah, last met.” Adrian probably didn’t have much of an example of what a healthy human looked like, considering their only experience was when he was a barely living skeleton.
“Good good good,” they hummed while Grace leaned back into his chair. He pulled his cardigan closer to himself as he did so, wishing he had brought a blanket with him from his bedroom.
Adrian took a few more slow steps closer, now near his seat. “How is biodome, question?”
“It’s awesome, Adrian,” Grace said. “It’s better than anything I could’ve hoped for, thanks to you, Rocky, and the rest of the team.”
“Good good,” they said again, and tipped their carapace once more. “And climate good for Grace, question?”
“Oh, uh-“ Grace’s eyes flickered to Rocky, who was now sat on the floor with his two front legs crossed. “Yes, everything’s good for now.”
“Grace very convincing,” Rocky teased as Adrian huffed, obviously equally as unconvinced.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to offend or anything,” he quickly said, heart speeding up once more. “Just don’t wanna come off as fussy-“
“No fussy,” Adrian interrupted. They held their carapace higher, overtaking Grace as he remained seated in height. “Only the best for hero Grace. Adrian oversee climate; Adrian make sure biodome is comfortable. Is least Adrian can do.”
“Well,” Grace begun, shrinking back into his seat. He looked to the light blazing through the window next to him, even with the curtains drawn. “Light’s still a bit too sunny. Maybe knock it down a few levels?”
“Oh, yes yes. Adrian tell light team right away when Adrian leave.” They responded with a few taps of one of their legs. “Anything else, question?”
There were a few things Grace still had in mind, like how the water down by the beach was almost boiling hot, but he didn’t want their first meeting to just be a laundry list of complaints. So, he settled with “Maybe bring the general temperature up a little more? I still get cold pretty easily.”
Adrian brought two hands up to affirm his request. “Will do. Will help thermal team adjust.”
“Thanks again, Adrian,” Grace said in earnest. “I really do appreciate it.”
They hummed before moving towards their partner, following in sitting on the floor. Grace saw on one of their front legs a wedding marking, similar to Rocky’s, but brown. The couple leaned into one another. He softly smiled at the scene in front of him.
“So, you’re working on the biodome’s climate and atmosphere,” Grace said, which Adrian hummed an affirmative tone. “I assume you take a liking to environmental sciences? If so, can you walk me through how the biodome works?”
“Ohhh, yes yes yes!” Adrian excitedly chirped.
For a while, the trio discussed the science behind the biodome, which mainly consisted of Grace asking questions and Adrian answering with Rocky intermingling new translations or more in depth explanations of its engineering. However, it didn’t take long for the talk to move into a more broad topic surrounding the differences between Earth and Erid and their inhabitants. Rocky fell silent as Adrian and Grace conversed, looking more than content to just listen to his friend and partner discuss their interests.
They were talking about the differences between Eridian and human anatomy when Grace took a glance at his wristwatch. Nearly 2 1/2 hours had passed since Adrian first came by. He could’ve sworn it’d only been about a half hour, at most. Time flies when you’re having fun, he supposed.
“Grace look tired,” Rocky interjected when Grace held back a yawn. “Nearing time to wrap up visit, Rocky thinks.”
Adrian made a melancholic sounding trill. Grace couldn’t help but feel the same and tried to barter for some more time.
Rocky huffed and tapped the floor with one of his crossed legs. “Grace no push self, unless Grace want Rocky to get doctor Greg.”
The mention of fetching the physician who lived up to the nickname Grace gave him dried up any argument the human may have had. Adrian must’ve known who their partner was talking about, given the low trills they sang once more. Now Grace was certain they were laughs.
“Adrian come back soon,” they offered. “Want to know more about Grace and human science.”
“If you’re sure. I’d love to know more about you and Erid, too,” Grace said, to which Adrian replied with “Very sure!”
Rocky soon saw his partner out, promising to be home later, and rejoined the human in his living room. Grace deflated into his seat and rubbed his face again, this time partially in relief that the first meeting was out of the way and partly from how silly he felt working himself up so much over it.
“What did Rocky say?” The Eridian knowingly asked.
“That our meeting would go well,” Grace groaned.
“And how meeting go?”
“…it went well,” Grace admitted. He could almost feel the smugness radiating from the other.
——
Sure enough, Adrian continued to visit Grace when they could. Adjustments continued to be made to the biodome’s atmosphere as they did. Soon, the lighting was perfect, matching that of a foggy day in San Francisco. Work was still underway on tweaking the light cycle, but was nearing completion. Temperature was also still a bit of a problem, but Grace knew it’d get better once he’d recovered more and could actually hold a normal body temperature again.
It was nearing nighttime in the biodome. The overhead lights were dimming on time with his wristwatch. They were still just a bit too bright at night, but it wasn’t enough to be a bother, especially when he kept the curtains closed. Adrian, who was visiting for the evening, still insisted on perfecting it.
“Rocky still away at hatchmate’s nest,” Adrian explained while Grace concluded his evening ritual before bed. “Help watch hatchlings. Only Adrian for tonight.”
“No worries,” Grace replied. “You make great company, too.”
Adrian hummed a low, happy tune and followed Grace to his bedroom. They jumped up once Grace was settled and his glasses were tucked away on the nightstand as they had before when visiting with Rocky. The bed dipped even more under their weight, but held firm. Grace needed to talk to whoever made the bed so durable but soft and give them his thanks personally.
“Comfy over there?” He asked Adrian, who was sat near the foot of the bed. They trilled and Grace smiled. “So, what’d you wanna talk about tonight? I’ve been thinking about some more weather phenomena back on Earth we can discuss.”
“Mmmm…” Adrian hummed. They tapped their xenonite-wrapped claw gently on the bed in thought. “Want to talk about something else first.”
“Shoot,” Grace replied, then quickly corrected himself when Adrian tilted their carapace in confusion. “Ah-go ahead.”
“Just… Adrian never properly say thank to Grace.”
“Oh,” Grace said. “Don’t worry yourself about it. Your work on the biodome and your visits are plenty thanks. Plus, helping save Erid and Rocky were no brainers to me.”
“Still, want to thank Grace,” They insisted, sitting their carapace up. “Saved mate and brought him home, risked self for him and Erid. Wish language barrier not so stupid, cause thank not enough. Still, thank thank thank thank thank.”
It took Grace a moment to find a proper response. He settled on, “Of course. He also saved me, and I couldn’t let him and all of Erid die.”
“Much much much appreciate,” Adrian chimed. A set of claws gently held onto his leg near his ankle, and Adrian settled back onto the bed with a satisfied huff. After a few moments of silence between the two, they spoke up. “Grace mention Earth weather, question?”
“Ah, yeah,” Grace adjusted himself in bed, claws on his ankle moving enough to let him turn off the lamp and lay down. They rested on him once more. “So, where should we begin…?”
Their typical nighttime discussion didn’t last long, as Grace soon found himself drifting. He was in the middle of his rudimentary explanation of red sprites when his eyes drifted closed and he lost his train of thought. Adrian chirped a laugh at the cut off.
“S’rry,” he mumbled. “R’mind me t’m’rrow ‘bout red sprites.”
“Will do,” Adrian quietly laughed. One of the last things Grace felt before being pulled under was them tap his ankle where they still held his leg. “Grace sleep. Adrian watch.”