Chapter Text
Day 126, Time: 22:15
Simon’s life at this point feels like a dream.
Having lived through one of the worst childhoods imaginable, getting put in jail, and into a submarine on a one-way trip down to the bottom of a blood ocean with horrors beyond his comprehension, he's just glad to be alive.
However he gets to live with his savior, his ‘saving Grace’ if he may, who is one of the smartest, funniest, and genuinely caring people he has ever met, with his 300 year old alien best friend Rocky giving them a place to live on his home planet. It wasn’t easy to get to this point by any means, but in his mind, it was completely worth it.
Once they both arrived on Erid together, he needed something to keep him occupied: something helpful and possibly useful to them both. Using the information stored on Ryland’s laptop and with help from Rocky’s mate Adrian, he was able to develop a way to genetically modify and grow many different types of plants, specifically for them to eat.
The Eridian diet does not consist of anything humans can safely digest, so they had to get creative. He was able to conjure up some types of lettuce and berries to help them spruce up their diet and try new things. Living in a place like Eden, he wasn’t able to enjoy any of the food he had.
Hell, he was grateful for anything he could get his hands on, he was lucky to even have had one full meal a day.
He wanted meals to be an enjoyable experience for the both of them, especially for Grace. He saw firsthand the disenjoyment he had eating all of the weird rations stored aboard the Hail Mary, and the ridiculous ways he would avoid eating to push off having to taste any of that horrible sludge.
Simon didn’t mind it, the taste didn’t affect him, it kept him alive and moving at the very least. However, now he has time to experiment with food and see what it has to offer him, so he spends his days tending to his crops, with not a care in the world. Life is simple here, but that’s the way he likes it.
Grace, on the other hand, was tinkering away in the lab, making sure that he had more to teach the young Eridians each day, as they loved having him as their own alien teacher. He had a very important job on their new planet, though much less stressful than being in charge of saving humanity on both Earth and Erid, obviously.
The moment he landed on Rocky’s home turf, he felt the most relieved he had in years, relishing in the peaceful foggy atmosphere of his new home with Simon. Life was so much easier for him; getting to live with another human and seeing his closest acquaintances all of the time, and pursuing his passion of teaching. Still, he can get too enveloped in his own work, working into the wee hours of the night on new activities for his students to do. Simon hates seeing him lose sleep like this, but Grace enjoys being able to show them something new as often as he can, though it can thoroughly tire him out.
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Simon walks back towards their living quarters to call it for the night, rubbing his eyes and yawning as he shuffles down the hallway to get cleaned up. He is holding the latest batch of berries he has picked, which are significantly better than the last, sadly tasting mostly like water with a tinge of sweetness. Nonetheless he is proud with how far he has come with them. He can still hear Grace working away at his desk, so he peeks around the corner quietly to not startle or break his partner’s attention. The blonde man is hunched over a laptop of sorts, clicking away with his left hand and holding his head in his right. He’s been at it for a while, as can be seen by the array of coffee cups and small plates crowding his work station, and his glasses now resting on his forehead. Simon wonders if he even needs them to see anymore.
“Hard work or hardly working?” He speaks out to break the silence. Grace’s speaking mannerisms have definitely rubbed off on him.
“Mmm. Just trying to tidy up my lesson plans for the week.” Grace mumbles in response, twisting his head to look up at the darker haired man who had approached him from behind.
“You said that yesterday. And this morning.”
“I don’t recall-”
“Yes. You did.”
Simon was only stern with him when he was worried for Grace’s wellbeing. He could see him basically falling asleep at his desk, about to face-plant into his keyboard.
“Please come to bed, Ryland.”
He places a hand on his shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze.
“One more hour and I’ll be done, promise.”
He swings his body around to more easily meet Simon’s gaze, a smirk clawing up the side of his face, barely noticeable. Simon cocks an eyebrow back at him.
Oh how he can be so stubborn.
“Fine. One more hour or I will physically drag you out of this room.”
Grace knows that Simon is basically all bark and no bite at this point, but he can easily turn on him at any moment if it calls for it. Duly noted. He watches as Simon walks back out and towards their living quarters to head to bed.
Time: 23:22
Simon isn’t shocked his empty threat didn’t coerce Grace to bed, he has always been determined to get the job done under any circumstances. He has been sitting in bed with a book whilst snacking on his fresh berries to help the time pass, as he wasn’t as drowsy as he once suspected. Usually it helps him settle down for the night, but his subconscious knows that he’ll possibly have to go retrieve someone. He steps back out into the hall and quietly pads back over to the lab, just in his boxers and one of Grace’s old t-shirts with a corny science pun plastered on the front. He found the scientist just as he suspected.
Grace was more slumped over than before, his head laying over his desk with his computer in its sleep mode, emitting a soft glow of light over his figure. He was snoring as well, not too loud but enough to give himself away.
Simon shook his head at the sight, both in frustration and amusement. He slowly walks over and leans over him softly, softly kissing the top of his head. This causes Grace to stir awake, letting out a soft grumble and fiddling for his glasses with his free hand.
“It’s bedtime my love, let’s go.” Simon whispers into his ear softly, allowing him to slowly sit back upright.
“I need to finish this.. spreadsheet real fast, I’ll be down in a second.”
Simon swiftly shuts the laptop before he can turn it back on, closing with a sharp click.
“Nope. You’re done for the night. Dr. Grace is clocked out.”
“Fine, Fine.” Grace murmurs back, slowly standing up with a slight wobble, attempting to convince him he was awake and working that entire time.
“But I’ll need to get a.. head-start on it tomorrow.. So..”
He says, followed by a yawn. He stretches his arms over his head, his back sore from his poor desk posture.
“Sounds good, but you’ll need some good shut eye to do so.”
Simon says as he slings an arm around his waist as they walk back to their sleeping quarters for the night.
Grace is completely on autopilot at this point, not even worrying about changing, but rather just throwing his pants to the ground and falling onto their bed face down with a soft thump. Chuckling at the sight, Simon goes around to the other side and softly sits down, swinging his legs under the covers. A part of the blanket gets stuck under the weight of the other man’s tired body.
“Hey doofus, move.”
He tugs at the covers until Grace grumbles in acceptance, rolling over and tucking his legs under as well, swinging them over Simon’s in the process. He hisses.
“Si, your legs are so cold.”
Simon lets out a snort of amusement. They were polar opposites when it came to body temperature. Grace’s complaints only happen on these colder nights in the biodome, though it never discourages him from just splaying out across Simon’s body.
“They always are.”
He states so matter-of-factly.
“Well still.”
Grace wraps himself around the smaller man’s body, resting his head on his chest, listening to the steady thumping of his heartbeat.
“I’ll.. fix it.”
Simon would send back another silly remark in his direction, but his partner’s eyes were already closed when he looked back to respond, feeling his warm breath fluttering against the skin on his neck and the heaviness in his sprawled out limbs. He was completely out cold. He softly combed his fingers through Grace’s soft waves, his hand sliding down to his cheek to remove the glasses from his face. He gently puts them aside, turning back to plant a kiss atop of his golden hair. Grace stirs under Simon’s soft touch, nestling further into the crook of his neck, humming in contentment.
This was all he ever wanted. Just to be cuddled up in bed with his lover, playfully bickering until one or the other slowly drifts off to sleep. He didn't care that he was due for a shower or needed to wake up early the next morning to tend to his seedlings. All he could think about at that moment was reaching to turn the lamp off without disturbing the sleeping angel on his chest. So simple, yet so perfect.