Chapter Text
Grace's life in the biosphere isn't perfect, but it’s pretty darn close. And it sure beats the alternative of what was supposed to be his fate.
In the year since he and Rocky had arrived to Erid and officially saved the planet, his strength has mostly returned. Between the coma, his body experiencing nearly a decade in space, multiple concussions, and nearly dying from malnutrition, it had been a long road to recovery. The Eridians jumped into action the moment they got their hands (claws?) on Grace. Sure, they fast-tracked breeding the Taumoeba to save their people, but through the haze of barely conscious moments he remembered the trills and hums of Eridians working around the clock to keep him alive.
And they succeeded! Rocky had designed an adapter to transfer the information from Grace's laptop to Eridian systems before they even got to Erid, so scientists were quickly able to stabilize the new human with most of the necessary vitamins and minerals he was vastly deficient in. From there, they started working on what Grace considered “real food”, not just the vitamin shakes. The auto-cannibalism took him all of five minutes to get over once he could finally stomach more complex proteins. He didn't really have any other options and the moral implications didn't hit as hard when it was his own flesh just regrown in a lab. Don’t knock me-burgers ‘till you try them.
As Grace walks along the beach to get to class, some of the sand shifts, causing him to slip. He doesn't fall, but he definitely feels a twinge in his knee. He sighs, hobbling lightly forward for a few seconds before finally being able to put most of his weight on the leg again. He should've grabbed his cane before leaving the house, but had been in a rush, not wanting to be late. Some days he was fine without it. This was evidently turning out to not be one of those days.
The extra gravity on Erid wasn't completely counteracted by the biosphere. Between that and his… complex medical history, Grace had known shortly after settling on Erid that some sort of mobility aid would be necessary. Rocky had a lot of questions at the time he made the request, mostly out of concern for Grace's wellbeing, and had personally made the cane for his best friend. A treasured gift that’s currently leaning on his couch at home.
His pain subsides as he approaches the cave with the xenonite barrier that makes up his classroom. A few students are already there and sing happily in greeting as he approaches. He waves, walking over to the keyboard-like instrument sitting on his main desk.
"Hi guys," he says and plays at the same time, the cords layering with his voice. "I've got to set up the lesson for today, so if you need to finish up your assignments, now is the time." He adds levity to his voice that can't be replicated on the electric instrument, giving a crooked smile as he pointedly scans the room from over his glasses. A few of his students chirp in laughter at his teasing, going back to talking amongst themselves, a light thrum making up the background noise as he starts getting ready for class. All of his current students have full comprehension of the English language, but he likes to practice his Eridian when the opportunity arises.
He loved teaching the young Eridians. Kids were kids no matter what planet he was on and when he was asked to teach again he nearly broke down in tears. He had been working with scientists, helping to explain human technology to the Eridians and answering any questions they had as the default expert of all of human knowledge. And he was happy to do it! Rocky and all the Eridians had saved him just as much as he and Rocky had saved Erid, he was more than willing to help further their understanding of the universe. But eventually the questions died down and Grace was more idle in the lab. When Adrian approached him about designing a classroom for him to teach in again, something snapped in him that he hadn't realized was pulled so taught. And that was the first time Adrian got to experience the "leaky alien space blob" in full force as Rocky liked to call it.
So yeah, Grace really can't complain. Despite the fact the Eridians were actively working on fixing Mary, he really didn't know if he would return to Earth given the option. But that's not something he has to worry about today. All he has to worry about today is making sure he doesn't trip over the large model of his home star system in the middle of his instructional area. Once he confirms the joints are secure and everything is balanced, he gives the model a light tap, sending it into an intricate dance of planets. He spins around to face the class, grin on his face. The small auditorium is full, class having already technically started, and the kids await eagerly for him to begin.
"Alright. Who can tell me the first planet in Sol's star system from our last lesson?"
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Grace is straightening up after his last class of the day. He’s procrastinating, the assignments needing grading on his desk a looming shadow he isn't ready to face. When he learned homework wasn't really a thing on Erid, he was ecstatic. It made sense, really. Eridians having a near perfect memory made it an unnecessary step in the learning process. But when he had told his students about the human learning process in his Alien Studies class, they insisted on getting the "true human school experience". And who was he to say no to his kids.
After he had fiddled with his lesson board enough, he sighs deeply and turns to his desk, hands on hips. "Whelp. Looks like I'm out of distractions. Time for my homework." He runs a hand through his hair as he sits at his desk, lightly scratching his scalp as he mentally prepares for the task ahead. Student reports.
"Grace! Grace!" The door to his classroom on the Eridian atmosphere side slams open and Rocky tumbles in, his frantic energy causing the man to almost drop the first assignment he had just picked up.
Grace runs to the barrier, palms pressing against the xenonite wall. "Rock? You ok? Is Adrian ok?"
"Mate Adrian good. Rocky good," Rocky replies. Rocky stops in front of Grace on the other side of the wall, claws opening and closing rapidly in anticipation.
"What's going on then? You usually come in when you wanna visit." Grace's mind is going a mile a minute. Is something wrong? Had the Astrophage become stronger than the modified Taumoeba and Eridani was dying again? Would the same happen to Earth? Had they failed after all this time? Static starts to creep up from the depths of Grace's brain and his skin feels prickly. He grabs his arm, digging his blunt nails into the exposed skin to ground himself and actually hear what his friend had to say before jumping to conclusions.
"Message just received. Rocky tell Grace first. Signal from space. Eridians explore, find small ship, life inside. Do test, confirm human!!" Rocky is practically vibrating trying to get the information out, hopping around on three of his legs, the other two in the air waving in excitement.
Humans? Other humans? Here? Or at least close enough to Erid to make contact? How?
Grace's mouth hangs open, unable to speak. His legs give out and he lands on the coarse sand and pebbles that make up the floor of his classroom, unharmed but reeling. How is it possible humans are out here? Even if the beetles got to Earth safely and humanity decided to reach out to the alien race that helped save their planet, there's no way they would have already gotten close enough to have a signal reach Erid, much less for Eridian’s to go out to greet them and confirm they're human.
"Ah...I-" Grace is still in shock, unable to move or speak, the small noises coming out of his mouth barely a croak.
"Grace ok, question? Why fall, question? Grace hurt!" Rocky immediately starts pacing the barrier, as if trying to find the best place to punch through the wall to help Grace.
Hearing the concern in Rocky's song finally snaps Grace out of his stupor. He raises a hand to pacify Rocky while using his other to support himself as he stands back up. "Rocky, it's ok, I'm fine, just surprised." He scoffs incredulously, still unable to wrap his mind around humans within a lightyear of him. "I mean, where are they? How close? How did the Eridians find them? How many are there?" Now that he's found his voice again his mouth is catching up to his brain, rattling off question after question as his mind races.
"Eridians dock alien ship in Blip-A 2. Be home one week. Could not open ship but hear heartbeat. Eridian crew break ship, one human inside. Hurt bad bad bad," Rocky explains.
One. A human ship with a crew of one. There's no way. Grace's throat constricts and he has to fight back tears. There's another human. They'll be here in a week. He should feel excited, relieved. He's gonna see another human.
A tear falls and the news turns bitter in his mouth. One human. Who's been alone in space for who knows how long. Did Earth send a backup ship right after him? Something smaller and simpler just in case? It would make sense. They wouldn't know if the Hail Mary succeeded until it was almost too late, why not send intermittent redundancies. God, how many lives did Stratt have to ruin before she felt humanity was saved?
Grace wipes away the tears. No, that's not fair. He can't blame her for something his brain is making up. He won't know for sure until the human gets here.
"Grace leak! Grace no leak, be happy happy happy! New human!!" Rocky waves his claws again, trying to lift Grace's mood with his jazz hands.
"No, Rocky. I am happy." His voice is thin from fighting back tears. "I just-- it's a lot! I just can't believe..."
He trails off, looking up as if he can see through the top of the cave. Past his biosphere and through the blackness of Erid's atmosphere, all the way to where the Blip-A 2 is on its way home with something on board almost as precious as the oxygen he was breathing.
"I can't believe I'm gonna see another human."