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Rocky prayed for the first time in his life the day his crewmates got sick. He had never been one of the religious types. In fact, most Eridians weren’t. But this was something that he couldn’t fix. So, in desperation, he turned to something else. Something that, in theory, would help him fix his family. He begged the universe to spare them. To take him instead, but it didn’t. It had chosen to spare him. Instead, he had to slowly watch them all die painful deaths. One by one, their melodies faded, leaving him to thrum alone.
--
“His name is Ryland Grace.”
Grace opened his eyes for the very first time. The wail of a newborn baby blessed the room as the child was passed to the awaiting arms of his mother. Warm arms held him close, and soothing whispers lulled him to sleep.
Unbeknownst to them. A prayer was answered.
--
He prayed again the first night alone on the ship. All of his crewmates were dead. The pleading and begging to whatever was out there had not worked to save them. He had more questions than answers. How did they all die? Why wasn’t he sick? Why didn’t he die? But to him, it didn’t really matter anymore. Either way he was alone on this ship for the remainder of his journey. Dragging himself to his bed, he reluctantly got comfortable before feeling his body shut down for another terrifying sleep.
--
“What do you want to do when you grow up?”
Grace fidgeted, eyes drifting upwards towards the stars shining in the night sky. He couldn’t explain it, but he always felt a tug of purpose when he looked at them.
“I’m not sure. My favorite subject is science, so maybe something related to that?”
“Soo, like an astronaut?”
--
Rocky had made it! He had made it to Tau Ceti. But… Now what? He wasn’t a scientist. He was an engineer. How was he going to save the stars? Lowering his carapace in defeat, he sat in the hull of the ship alone. He had debated about it for weeks, but he finally caved and got rid of his friend’s bodies. He was more at risk of them spreading the unknown illness to him. To distract himself from his decision, he spent the days following trying to collect some type of useful information about the astrophase. He was unsuccessful. Sighing, he dragged himself towards his bed once again. Before he felt himself shut down, he sent out another quick prayer asking for help, hoping someone would answer his call.
--
“You have to understand why I am doing this to you. This isn’t an easy decision.”
“Not an easy decision!? No. No. No. You’re murdering me. You can’t do this!”
A sharp prick against his arm made him jolt. Cold realization as to what was happening sunk in and he couldn’t help the tears that streamed down his face.
“I am sorry, Dr. Grace.”
--
Life!
He had found another ship. His prayers must have been answered. It has been years since he has seen another lifeform. Skittering to the control room, he quickly responded to the movements of the other ship. Each change in direction, Rocky followed, hoping that maybe the life inside could help. I mean, why else would they be here of all places. It had to be a sign.
--
“Rocky?” Grace called out to him, a slight waver in his voice made him still.
“Yes, question?” He shifted his attention towards Grace, tapping against the ground. He didn’t see anything wrong. No injuries. No broken equipment. Just Grace standing there, shaking ever so slightly. His heart rate was higher than normal as well.
“Whatcha working on?” Grace stepped closer, before settling down in front of him. His knees were pulled close against his chest, while his chin rested on them. He was still shaking.
“Why Grace shake, question?”
“Hm? Oh, I’m just a little cold.”
“Grace heart beat fast fast fast. Why lie, question?”
“I am cold.” Grace snapped at him, before immediately wilting into himself. “I’m sorry. I just- I don’t know. I’m tired.”
A soft trill escaped him. “It’s okay. We figure out later. Grace sleep now. Rocky watch.”
“Okay…”
--
It had been an hour of laying in bed and Grace still wasn’t asleep. He was, at least for Rocky’s sake, pretending to sleep. His back was turned away from his friend, and trying to breathe as evenly as possible. It’s not like he wasn’t trying to sleep. He just couldn’t stop shivering. Another ten minutes of this finally had him turning to face Rocky who perked up immediately. An idea clicked into place. Hmm…
“Grace okay, question?”
“Rocky, can you come closer, please?”
Rocky seemed to freeze at the request. A mixture of emotions ran through him. First was surprise, then worry, and finally excitement! He could be closer to Grace! Originally, when he had first moved into the ship, he wanted to be as close as possible to Grace. However, after a lot of arguing about personal space, they had agreed on a respectable distance away from one another. Even when he had made himself the new xenonite suit, the distance was still respected. But this? This was new. Rocky hesitantly moved closer, and close, and closer. He was waiting until Grace told him to stop, but it never came.
“Rocky get on bed, question?”
“Get up here” Grace mumbled, shifting over, patting the space beside him.
Rocky crawled up next to him. He shifted nervously, shuffling side to side, clearly unsure on where to settle himself causing Grace to sigh. Reaching out, he took one of Rocky’s hands and a shiver of delight ran down him at the warmth that seeped into his palms. Dragging him closer, he readjusted until he was comfortably curled around his carapace, embracing him with a sigh. He could feel the warmth seep into his bones. Finally, the itch under his skin started to subside. A satisfying purr began to emanate from Rocky, who had been strangely quiet throughout the request. Strong arms held him close, almost protectively. One of Rocky’s claws started stroking through his hair. He felt his eyes closing against his will.
“G’night…” He mumbled, snuggling into the warmth, soft purring quickly lulling him to sleep.
--
Grace was soft. Scarily soft. Rocky hadn’t really pieced that together until now. A simple brush against something sharp could damage his skin so easily. Even with that risk, he had latched onto Rocky like a lifeline. He couldn’t help but hold him close. He gently ran one of his claws through his hair, and watched as Grace’s eyes fluttered closed. The request to come closer had shocked him. Actually, no. It scared him. Something had to be wrong. Grace, originally, was very determined to have his personal space. He specifically remembered him complaining about it on the camera that recorded their interactions for Earth. It was some cultural norm that he tried to keep on the ship. Therefore, Rocky tried to respect that. Yet, here they were.
His hair was also soft, not in the squishy way his skin was, but he could lay here for hours just running his hands through it. He brushed strands out of the way of his face, and paused when it started to get tangled with his glasses. Dumb dumb dumb. He forgot to take them off again. Rocky discarded them quickly to the side where they wouldn’t be crushed by either of them. He hesitated for a moment. He shouldn’t. He really shouldn’t. But, he really wanted to understand Grace. Tapping lightly, he gently started to run one of his claws down the side of his face. He trilled in delight when Grace seemed to lean into the light touch. He shivered at the softness, and how the squishy skin seemed to just accept the pressure given. He continued to map out Grace’s facial features, taking in any differences that he could maybe ask about later. He couldn’t help but giggle as Grace melted into the touch, pressing himself closer.
Grace seemed to have little blemishes here or there on his face. He believed they were called freckles …or moles? He wasn’t one hundred percent sure. He would confirm later with Grace. He moved onwards, hoping to have some more clarity on his friend. A chirp of confusion escaped him. The barrier was covering something forcing him to tap harder to see better. It was barely noticeable, especially with his clothes covering them, but along the top part of his arms were small similar marks on his skin. It reminded him of the scar on Grace’s arm, but more faded, as if they have had a longer time to heal. Did humans mark their skin like they did their carapace? No, this was different. Was it- did someone hurt his Grace? Uncomfortable with his thoughts he settled down, pulling Grace tighter against him. No one was going to hurt him again.
--
Grace slowly woke to the soft purring of Rocky, holding him protectively against his carapace. He hummed happily, nuzzling into the warmth of his friend. Rocky seemed to shiver at the action, purring louder as he held him a bit tighter.
“Grace awake, question?”
“Mhmm, yeah bud. I’m awake.”
“Good good good. Slept approximately 36000 seconds. Ten hours”
“Oh, sorry. Must have been more tired than I thought, bud.”
“No apologies. Rocky happy to watch.”
Grace hummed in response, before reluctantly dragging himself out of Rocky’s hold. He stretched, letting out a groan when his back popped. Rocky shuddered in disgust at the noise, but otherwise said nothing. He squinted at the objects on his bed. Pillow, blanket, uh-
“Rocky, um, my glasses, do you-”
“Yes yes yes. Here. Stupid Grace forgot to remove before sleep. Rocky fix.”
“Thank you.”
“Welcome”
Grace slipped his glasses on, before glancing over at Rocky, who hadn’t moved from his place by his side. He seemed to have settled on the bed, content with staying close to him. He hoped he didn’t keep him from doing anything important. He brushed a hand against the top of Rocky’s carapace as he stood up from the bed.
“I’m going to go eat.”
“Gross gross gross. Go eat. Want to ask you question after.”
“Oh? I can wait to eat. Ask away.”
“It is important. Worried it could make you upset. Rather Grace take care of self first.”
“Okay, yeah. I can do that. I’ll be right back.”
---
Grace sat on the bed across from Rocky. He had finished his morning routine and was waiting patiently for Rocky to get settled. He was a ball of nervous energy, readjusting himself every few seconds. Grace couldn’t help but be concerned. Usually, Rocky wasn’t like this. He was the type to blurt out questions without fear of consequences. Was he that worried that he would be mad? Sighing, he gripped onto Rocky forcing him to stop moving.
“Rocky, I promise that I won’t be upset with what you ask, so please.”
“Grace promise, question?”
“Yes. I promise, statement.”
“Did someone hurt you, question?”
“W-what? Rocky, why would you-”
“Grace has marks on arms! Like scar on arm. Did someone hurt you, question!?”
Rocky was what Grace would call hysterical. He stomped against the bed repeatedly and was shaking violently, a discordant whine against every word. Grace moved without thinking, pretty much tackling Rocky into a hug. He pulled him close against his chest, and buried his face into his carapace. This was not the conversation he was expected to be having at ten in the morning.
“Bud, please, calm down. I’m okay now-”
“Now, question!? Someone did hurt you, question?”
“Rocky, no one hurt me. I hurt myself.”
The silence from Rocky was deafening. Strong arms pulled tighter against him. He could feel the tears rolling down his face already, causing him to snort. This is NOT the conversation to be having with your alien roommate at ten in the morning.
“Not funny. Grace hurt self, why?”
“It’s complicated… I wasn’t doing the best mentally, bud, so I… I took it out on myself.”
“No understand! Grace important. Always always always.”
A wet laugh escaped him as he absentmindedly rubbed soothing circles into Rocky’s carapace. “I know… I know that now, Love.”
Rocky was quiet, thrumming softly as he curled comfortably into Grace’s embrace. He could feel himself melting into the patterns that were traced onto him. The anger at himself for not being able to protect his Grace, even from himself, started to fade, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
“Do you believe in ♬♩𝇜♪♫, question?”
“What’s that last word mean, bud?”
“Need word… Like meant to be. It would happen before even knowing it would.”
“I think the word you’re looking for is fate. Another word for it could be destiny. It’s when certain events are written to happen. Some people think it's written by universal laws. Others believe it's the gods working in our favor. We don’t really know. And to answer your question. I don’t know what I believe. I’m not against the idea. I met you didn’t I?”
“When crewmates got sick for the first time, Rocky sent out… 𝅘𝅥𝅱𝇒𝇛♫ asking for help. 𝅘𝅥𝅱𝇒𝇛♫ three times. Rocky think… You were the answer to 𝅘𝅥𝅱𝇒𝇛♫.”
“Prayer…” Grace mumbled, “You think that I am the answer to your prayers.”
“No, don't think. Rocky knows.”
“Rocky, you are- you’re everything to me. I don’t think I could function properly without you. I love you. You know that right?”
“Rocky love love love Grace. Never leaving Grace. Keep safe always and forever.”
“Promise, question?”
“Promise, statement.”