Work Text:
When Dr Captain Ryland Grace’s logs came back, there were many moments between the Eridian Rocky and him that made us smile. Here are five of our favourites!
*
Not So Sneaky
‘So, according to Mary we still have another seven days until we reach Tau Ceti E,’ Grace says to the camera, running a hand through his hair. He’s sitting under one of Rocky’s walk ways, head resting against it as he talks. The camera angle is such that it is clear how much of the ship’s space this habitat takes up, with not much space for Grace to be sitting anywhere else.
‘Which isn’t that long, really, but considering we’ve done everything we can do before we reach the planet, Rocky and I have officially run out of science to do.’
Rolling his eyes, Grace smiles. ‘Okay, not of science, but relevant science. We spent five hours yesterday talking through human versus Eridian respiration which, while extremely interesting, is not exactly going to solve our Astrophage problem. But who cares! We get to compare notes! And yes, I am writing everything down - It’s only science if you write it down guys!’
In the background of the video, Rocky walks into view inside his habitat. He is walking with visibly exaggerated steps, body low to the ground. Like a housecat stalking a mouse, he moves closer to Grace who continues to ramble about the differences between their species.
‘And Eridians are ambush predators!’ Grace says with a smile. ‘Aren’t they Rocky?’
He slams his hand into the xenonite barrier, exactly in line with the stalking Rocky. Who trips and flails, falling down for a moment before throwing himself at the barrier behind Grace.
Grace doesn’t flinch. Instead he laughs, looking over his shoulder at Rocky.
‘How Grace hear question? Rocky did not make noise!’
Grinning, Grace turns the camera around so that it is showing the EVA suit helmet sitting in front of him, with a decent reflection of both him and Rocky visible in it.
‘Saw you coming,’ he says from behind the camera.
‘Lie! Humans do not hear see behind them! Grace told Rocky!’
Turning the camera back towards him, Grace is still grinning. ‘Would you like to learn about reflections, Rocky?’
*
Playing ‘Basketball’
‘Alright Earth!’
Grace grins at the camera while holding a vaguely basketball looking ball in his hands. Barely visible behind him is Rocky, in his xenonite ball, who is bouncing on the spot.
‘We’ve been practicising,’ Grace continues, ‘and we are really to play the first interstellar championship game!’
‘Rocky going to crush Grace!’ Rocky rolls forward into the back of Grace’s knees.
‘Hey! Not literally I hope.’ Grace bounces the ball a couple of times. ‘Okay so the rules are simple and not really regulation for anything. I gotta get this into the EVA helmet.’
Grace points at the red thing just barely visible on the other side of the screen. ‘And Rocky has to stop me without breaking my fragile human body. Or our ship. If he keeps me away for the count of twenty, he wins the point.’
‘Rocky will not break.’
Stepping back from the camera, Grace takes up a position on the far side of the screen to the EVA helmet. Rocky rolls his ball into the middle of the space.
‘Count of three? One. Two. Thr-’
Rocky starts rolling forwards before Grace even finishes saying three but Grace is already moving, sidestepping the roll with an ease that speaks of a lot of practice. He throws the ball, barely missing the EVA helmet and darts after it, Rocky’s ball at his heels.
‘Don’t break me!’ Grace cries as Rocky manages to tap his ankle with the ball and he stumbles, only barely recovering.
‘Rocky win in ten count.’
Grace grins as he throws himself at the ball, landing on top of it with a loud ‘oomf’. Before Rocky can move, he has picked it up and thrown it right into the EVA helmet.
‘My point!’
‘Does not count if Grace breaks Grace!’ Rocky grumbles, rolling towards Grace who yelps and pulls up his legs just in time to avoid them being run over. ‘Grace not allowed to break Grace.’
‘I won’t break myself!’ Grace says standing, his face tight as he puts weight on his legs. ‘Bruises don’t count as breaking me.’
He moves towards the camera as Rocky starts to argue about what counts as “breaking Grace” while rolling his ball into the back of Grace’s legs.
‘Quit it!’ Grace cries with a laugh as he trips into the table the camera is on. He is still laughing when the video ends.
*
You Can Dance (If You Want To)
‘We’re multitasking,’ Grace says into the camera, a wide smile on his face. Behind him, Rocky is in his ball while threading chains together. Grace has his own lot of chain links in front of him.
He also has a laptop. One that isn’t the terrible franken-laptop that he’s shown off as being their translator.
‘Grace show Rocky human Eridian speak,’ Rocky says, wriggling a little in his ball. ‘Today Rocky learn the list of play.’
Laughing, Grace drops his chains and turns the laptop so its screen is visible. ‘We’re working through the concept of playlists,’ he says. ‘Not sure whose though. The next one is “Songs that make you dance because you know the dance”-’
‘What word mean question?’
The laptop gets turned back around as Grace looks over his shoulder at Rocky. ‘Dance?’ he asks after a moment of thinking.
‘Yes.’
Settling back in his chair, Grace shrugs. ‘It’s a type of human movement. Nearly always done to music. It’s fun.’
‘Grace show.’
‘I trip over both my feet on a regular basis and you want me to try dancing?’ There’s a note of amusement in Grace’s voice, despite his words.
‘Grace show,’ Rocky repeats, putting down the chains. ‘Rocky want show.’
Laughing, Grace turns back to the laptop and pokes at the playlist laptop. ‘Fine, but I’m going to find a dance I remember from he- aha! Macarena! That’s an easy one.’
Clicking at the laptop, Grace gets up and into position for the start of the song. Rocky freezes as Grace goes through the motions of the dance, jumping when Grace claps and jumps, turning on the spot.
‘Alright Rock?’ Grace asks, pausing his dancing with both his arms held out.
‘Why clap question?’
‘It’s part of the dance,’ Grace says with a shrug, dropping his arms. ‘You want to learn?’
‘Is simple. Already know.’
Laughing, Grace gestures and takes a few steps back. ‘Go on then.’
Rocky copies the first movements with no issues, but is not at all on the beat like Grace had managed to be. And he keeps changing hands for each move, in a way that makes the dance look a little confused. Grace is visibly holding in laughter, one hand firmly over his mouth as Rocky dances.
But it is a recognisable Macarena dance that Rocky is dancing.
Right up until the clap and jump. He does the clap but not the jump and he does not bother to turn.
Grace takes two steps towards Rocky. ‘Oh no Rock, you gotta jump and also turn when you jump. That’s the dance.’
‘Why question?’
Grace shrugs. ‘It’s the dance. The turn is so you can do the dance in that direction next.’
‘Oh. Human inefficiency.’
Laughing, Grace turns the song off. ‘Something like that.’
‘Jump is stupid dance.’
Grace is still laughing as he reaches over to turn the camera off.
*
Hold This
Grace is grinning down the camera as it turns on, stepping away to show he has the franken-laptop in his hands.
‘Watch this,’ he mouths at the camera.
Then he turns and walks towards Rocky, who is in his ball and had been hidden from view by Grace. ‘Hold this for a sec will ya Rock?’ he says as he walks past, putting the laptop down on top of Rocky’s ball.
He does not stop moving, walking out of the lab and out of frame.
Rocky makes an untranslated noise. Then cries, ‘Cannot hold!’
He rolls an inch forward. The laptop slides in that direction.
Rocky freezes. After a long moment, the laptop does too.
‘Grace!’ Rocky calls, his actual voice almost drowning out the translator’s. ‘Grace!’
A long moment of silence.
‘Grace Rocky hear you!’
Another silence before Rocky starts to make a long whistling noise that goes untranslated by the laptop. A moment later Grace steps back into the lab, laughing as he takes the laptop off the top of Rocky’s ball.
The noise Rocky is making goes up an octave. It remains untranslated.
Grace puts the laptop down and covers his ears, still visibly amused. ‘You’d have done the same to me,’ he says to Rocky. The notes continue.
Making a face, Grace whistles only just loud enough to be caught on the camera. It is an echo of a note Rocky had just made at him.
Sudden silence.
Grace lowers his hands as Rocky remains perfectly still. After a moment, Grace whistles the note again.
‘BAD BAD BAD!’ Rocky cries and starts making the noises again.
His ears covered, Grace stumbles towards the camera. ‘That hurts buddy!’ he says.
The high pitched notes stop instantly. ‘Bad bad!’ Rocky cries as Grace finally gets to the camera. ‘Not funny joke.’
‘Very funny joke,’ Grace says and the camera goes off.
*
What Time Is It? Floor Time!
The camera is on the floor when it starts recording, pointing directly at Grace who is lying on the floor beside it. He doesn’t seem to know it is on, instead lying on his back staring at the ceiling.
A few minutes pass. Grace continues to lie there, only occasionally shifting his back and rolling his shoulders. He keeps his bandaged left arm off the ground and hisses whenever he doesn’t manage to do so.
Then, from off camera, the sounds of something heavy rolling closer.
‘Why Grace on floor question?’
‘Floor time,’ Grace states, closing his eyes. ‘Gotta get it in sometimes.’
Rocky rolls closer, so he is in frame beside Grace’s head. ‘Floor time needed for humans, question?’
Grace does open his eyes at this, looking backwards as much as he can at Rocky. ‘Not all humans, but it does help some people think.’
‘Grace need much help with think,’ Rocky states, as he puts his body on the bottom of his ball by Grace’s head.
‘Hey!’
‘Grace not sleep. Grace not eat. Grace on floor for think time. Grace need help.’
Reaching out his right hand, Grace runs it down Rocky’s ball. ‘Thanks so much bud.’
‘Grace has Rocky. Rocky help.’
A smile from Grace. ‘I do have you, don’t I?’
‘Rocky said. Grace stupid no sleep.’
Dropping his hand, Grace groans. ‘I hate when you’re right.’
‘Hate all times. Rocky always right.’
Laughing, Grace rolls to his right, then turns back so he can grab the camera.
‘Oh huh,’ he says as he examines it. ‘This has been recording. Must’ve turned it on a while back.’
The camera turns off.
*
And One Moment That Isn’t Theirs
When I sent the beetles back, I included hundreds of hours of logs. Very few of them were from before I met Rocky - I hadn’t had much interesting to say then - but the amount from after was close to what someone (Stratt) might label as excessive. Some days we had recorded multiple logs, especially towards the end.
That had definitely been excessive.
But I had had a reason.
Every single log we’d made had ‘humanised’ Rocky.
I’d shown him being tricked. I’d shown him playing games. He had learnt a human dance and been upset when I played a joke on him. And he had comforted me.
That log had been a bit of a set up.
But now, well.
Now I am glad the beetles are gone. I don’t have to log everything we do anymore in the hopes some of it might convince the people back on Earth that Rocky, and Eridians in general, are actually people. I get to keep some things for myself.
Hell, even if the beetles were on the ship, I wouldn't be recording this for them. This is not something anyone else gets to have.
We’re in the bedroom, curled up on the floor. I moved my bedding down here weeks ago, into a newly made xenonite cubby-hole, so Rocky can sit above or beside me while I sleep. If he’s in his habitat.
He’s not. He’s in his new ball, rolled up on the edge of my bed. It’s much smaller than the first one. Not quite skin tight but a lot closer; a step along the path Rocky is already making plans to take.
I move my quilt, so he can move a little closer. Rocky trills and I whistle back.
By the end I wasn't really updating the translator properly. Humanity could figure it out, I gave them a head start. But even if I was, I wouldn't be translating the soft noises Rocky starts to make now.
They're not words really, closer to a lullaby than anything else. A wordless call for safety, for protection, of closeness. The song you sing while guarding your family's sleep.
I whistle the notes back at Rocky. We harmonise for a moment before he rolls his ball gently into my stomach.
‘Grace sleep. Rocky watch.’
‘Grace sleep. Rocky watch,’ I agree and curl my body around his ball, tucking the quilt around us both. He plants himself as close to the xenonite barrier as he can and I tighten my grip.
I am secure in my sleep with him here. And anything coming for him will have to go through me first.
Safe.