Chapter Text
Someone is knocking.. no pounding on the door. It is far too early for this. It sounds more frantic than normal though, so Grace supposes his morning to sleep in can wait.
As Grace stumbles half-asleep through his house he realizes something even more concerning. He’s not hearing anything other than the knocking. No whistles, no whines, not even a hum. That woke him right up.
“Rocky? Is that you? Talk to me bud, what’s-” he cuts himself off as he opens the door to.. a person.
A human person.
A very shaky, panicked, human being leaning against the doorframe like they haven’t quite figured out how to stand up and walk properly.
The human is staring at Grace very intensely, then let out a sort of whiny wheeze. It sounded painful.. and oddly familiar. Like they were trying to mimic something, but didn’t know how to make the sound. They let out the whine again, only this time the melody is a little clearer.
Oh. That’s... They’re trying to say Grace's name. They’re trying to say Grace’s name in eridian.
“Oh.. kay. Let’s get you sitting down, yeah? Then we can figure out… the rest.”
He hesitantly reached out to help stabilize the person since they were clearly going to struggle to get to the couch. The person hesitated a second before clinging to Grace’s arm with an iron grip.
Once they got to the couch, Grace began to try and make sense of the situation.
Key word; try.
“Okay. Mysterious stranger. On my couch. First time I’ve seen another human in years. This is fine.” Grace thinks aloud, pacing back and forth. The person on the couch tries to speak again but they seem to not know how to articulate words properly.
“Hm. Judging by your expression I got something wrong..?”
They open their mouth to speak again, but then settle for nodding instead.
“Alright. Process of elimination. You’re on my couch, you’re the only human I’ve seen since Earth, so the only one I could be wrong about is calling you a stranger right?”
They nod again, more enthusiastically.
“Okay! Progress! I can work with that! That just leaves the question of who you are and how I know you!”
They pause for a moment. They aren’t going to try to speak again. They look at themself and realize they have tattoos! They point to one on their right shoulder. It looks like…
“The Petrova line…? Were you also sent on a mission to fix the sun?”
Grace starts to worry. If another human was sent to fix the sun that means his plan didn’t work. Or maybe the beetles never got to earth. Or-
The person seems to have noticed Grace’s spiral and waves their hands around, shaking their head.
Then they see it. Grace’s scar! Of course!
They slowly reach out and wrap their hand around Grace’s forearm, right where the scar is. Right where Rocky had grabbed him to save his life. With their other hand they point to the scar, and then to themself.
And it clicks.
“… Rocky..?”
The person lights up almost immediately, nodding excitedly.
Now that Grace was thinking about it, it was obvious that this person was Rocky. The bulkier build, the xenonite accessories, the tattoos, the teal accents across the whole outfit…
But now he's just left with more questions. He sits down next to Rocky and they share a moment of bewildered silence.
“.. How exactly did you end up being… human??”
Rocky shrugs.
“Cool. Cool cool cool…”
The silence continued to stretch between them. Not uncomfortable by any means, but still just a bit awkward. There was so much they could talk about, yet Rocky couldn’t say a word. Speaking of Rocky, he had taken off one of his gloves and was very closely inspecting his squishy new hand. Grace watched as he curled and uncurled each of his fingers with a childlike curiosity.
Then without warning Rocky grabs Grace’s hand and begins studying it as well. Rocky’s hands are bigger than Grace’s, hardened with his years of work as a mechanic even though this human body hadn’t experienced any of it. Calloused fingertips drag across the lines in Grace’s palms, gently pressing into the softer skin. He seems absolutely enraptured by the differences in their hands. Grace’s are thin and long, better suited for fine detail work.
There was a small pause before Rocky seemed to have remembered something, and that something made him look absolutely giddy.
“What are you thinking, bud? I can tell you’re excited about something.” Grace muses as Rocky begins flapping his hands with joy and giggling.
(stimming!!! stimming!!!!! Rocky and his little stims are one of my favorite parts of the movie I had to)
Rocky throws his arms around Grace and squeezes. Grace’s brain short-circuits for a moment before he returns the hug with just as much- if not more -enthusiasm. It was almost unbelievable. He’s hugging Rocky. He’s hugging Rocky and Rocky’s hugging him back. He’s hugging Rocky and there isn’t anything separating them. He’s feeling the warmth of another human being and it’s Rocky.
Grace was laughing. And also crying. Just a bit. He’s honestly a little overwhelmed with how many feelings are happening all at once. Okay maybe he’s crying more than just a bit, but can you really blame him? He sniffles and buries his face into Rocky’s shoulder, still giggling like a child. Rocky starts running his fingers through Grace’s hair. Gosh it feels nice to be held.
Rocky nuzzles into the crook of Grace’s neck, laughing and making sounds similar to eridian chittering. Something wet hit Grace’s neck, but he didn’t comment on it.
Neither of them knew how long the tearful embrace lasted, but that didn’t really matter. Rocky eventually pulled away, face flushed and streaked with fresh tears. He sniffled and attempted to wipe his face clean with his wrist, grimacing as he was suddenly made aware of the wetness that came with strong emotions.
“Ehe- now you’re all leaky too!” Grace teased like he was faring any better. Man, if looks could kill the glare he’s receiving from Rocky would’ve bore a hole clean through his skull by now.