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Being stuck in a small ship for four years with only an spider rock looking alien can only provide so much entertainment. I still find it wild to think he was alone in space for longer than I was alive, makes me think that there was a reason why the both of us met. We ended up talking about anything and everything, more so earth culture since Stratt had been oh so kind as to have the entirety of the internet.
And then we visited the topic of lifespans.
Rocky wasn't thrilled when he learned about human life spans. Compared to Eridians, our lives are short. Too short. Akin to dogs and cats we have as pets. And to Rocky, I am his equivalent of a pet.
Eridian lifespans look a lot like immortality. They can live well over six hundred years, maybe even longer. Rocky was older than the entire country of the United States! Like what!? And that's even after being converted into earth years.
As weird as that thought was, it was painfully true.
Rocky didn't like learning how old I was. Technically I would be reaching my seventies were I to stay on Earth but I wasn't, thanks Stratt. And thanks to the confusing concept of time dilation I am still in my thirties. Ultimately, I am still what Earth considered as young, not old enough to be considered as middle aged.
My favourite Eridian had refused to believe I would live a short life. I somewhat understood his denial after all we've gone through on our star saving mission filled with countless near death experiences – just the thought of the fishing incident makes me shiver – we both had developed a codependency with each other. He and Adrian have been together for over a hundred years and stated it wasn't enough. And let's not forget the forty-six years of isolation in an unfamiliar star system.
“I'll get to spend the rest of my life knowing you,” I had said to him.
“But I'll know you for short time “ Rocky replied, several octaves lower “,Rocky fix”
“Don't think it's something you can fix bud.”
I didn't know how to respond. Rocky seemed to latch onto some idea or plan after that. I didn't dare ask about it. Accepting my own death was necessary for what was a suicide mission that unexpectedly got extended via living on an alien planet.
It's been a few weeks since I've been shown my biodome. Recovering from malnourishment, scurvy and many other unpleasant things, I was ecstatic to finally live again – albeit with some side effects.
The side effects are that I have to eat what is practically my own flesh and use a cane. Judge all you want but you go try living on an alien planet 16 lightyears away from your homeworld that has 20x gravity with burns all over your arms. The burns make it very exciting to move. Note the sarcasm.
There were several things about the biodome that needed to be adjusted and I was finally lucid enough to assist in fine tuning it. Thankfully Rocky – who rarely left my side – had mentioned my love for the fog and beach. The size of the sand originally started out as the size of rocks since they couldn't tell they were supposed to be itty bitty. Thankfully since pointing that out, the team has adjusted the size to be somewhat more accurate to sand on Earth.
Additionally, there's water! A beach is not complete without its water. Unfortunately as of now it is boiling and as much as I yearn to swim, I do not wish to be boiled alive. I've had enough near death experiences in my lifetime thank you very much.
On a good note! I have my very own beach house. It's got everything you'd want in a house that would be sixteen lightyears away from any neighborhood. Littered with windows, big and small with beautiful organic framing. There's a whole living area decked out with chairs that'd fit me and Eridians — I am both scared and excited to teach Rocky how to play scrabble. I have a lovely bedroom and bathroom as well. The room that made me have my daily cry was a don't-go-crazy room. I can't tell if it's a full replica of the one on Mary or it's the original one but when Rocky showed me it I sat in there for a good solid hour listening to a forest settings.
Life on Erid is as good as it can get. It feels weird to not be waking up and seeing the white walls of the Hail Mary. Having so much more leg room to roam around and even run!
Rocky has finally reunited with Adrian after decades of separation. It took a while convincing him I would be fine if he left to spend some well deserved time with his mate and that I was no longer on death's door again — he didn’t need to know I was internally panicking from the thought of being separated from him but details are details.
I met Adrian whilst I was bed-ridden. They led the biodome team when it was in the process of being crafted. Adrian was easily 3 times the size of Rocky — leading me to discover that Eridians can come in drastically different shapes and sizes. Who knew Rocky was that whipped for his mate. And funnily enough, Adrian’s colours bear resemblance to the Planet Adrian. Equally as beautiful. It was very easy to see why they matched each other.
Despite my initial fears of Adrian hating me, they seemed quite excited to meet me although unsure of what to make off my species. Continuously thanking me for saving and bringing their mate back to them. I’ve received enough praises from them to last multiple lifetimes. And against my own judgment, Adrian spent a lot of time with me and Rocky — I worry that they are not spending enough time alone but they continuously reassured me they are.
Unfortunately — despite getting back to health — my body bears the weight of every experience I've gone through. My bones have recently started aching like they used to when I went through a growth spurt. This could just be simply my body finally processing Erids gravity, that I tell Rocky and Adrian but they still worry. It is probably nothing some sleep and rest can’t fix.
Immediately upon waking up I can tell that something is horribly wrong. Well I feel it more than anything. Every part of me aches like my bones were reorganized. My limbs are screaming at me, they felt like they were on fire — like they felt when I touched Rocky's atmosphere. I could barely think. It’s the most disorientated I've felt in my life and I have no clue on the cause. I dare say it’s more painful from when I got burned from carrying Rocky and his atmosphere.
Rocky! He was watching me sleep, something I've taken great comfort in after getting over the initial weirdness. Where is he?
“Roc..ky” I tried to call out to him, it felt like i hadn’t spoken for years. What is going on?
I tried to sit up, hoping it’d help but when I went to use my arms to push me upright — I felt myself tip over. What? I could tell I was still on my bed. It was how I knew that was the scary part. Colours were gone. Gone! Why are they gone?! Everything looked blurry, fuzzy. Everything was loud too. Every time I moved I could hear everything. Is this how Rocky feels? Wait.
I try to ‘feel’ my body. Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. When I tried to move my limbs, all I ended up was fumbling around in my quilt, at least I hope it was, and getting more stimulated by the continuous input from the movement. If I thought overstimulation I experienced back on Earth was bad, then that was nothing compared to what I was experiencing currently.
I have five limbs. What. The. Fuck. I am an eridian.
“Grace okay, question?” Rocky! He’s here!
I tried to respond but all I managed to get out were broken chords. Struggling to get out of the tangled mess I found myself in with my quilt. I could see Rocky on the bed with me. He was helping pull the quilt off me, setting me free. I end up sprayed out like a starfish
I couldn’t help but whimper. All that came out was sad trills.
Rocky didn’t speak again, not immediately. He chirps out a hum as he tapped one of my limbs three times. A comforting action we created during our early days of meeting. It quickly became something we did to assure each other is alive and ok. I successfully bring a claw to his and repeat the action. Doing so alerts me of his lack of xenonite suit.
“Grace different, statement. Don’t know why, but Grace Eridian like Rocky.”
I trill out a hum.
“Scared,” I say off key. Understanding an alien language was hard enough, and now it’ll be harder to speak it. Lucky me.
“Grace safe safe safe. Rocky watch Grace. Rocky help Grace, statement.”