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Knock knock knock.
Adrian had heard the visitors coming, although they pretended they hadn’t. They know the two Eridians at their door well: They’re with the space agency.
They’re part of the reason Adrian’s mate is gone.
That’s not completely fair.
Rocky had known the mission had a high chance of failure when he’d signed up for it. Adrian had often boasted that their mate was the world’s best engineer.
Which was exactly what their planet needed to avoid extinction, so Rocky had argued he had to go.
Adrian wishes they were selfish enough to stop him. But, with the survival of their species on mind, they did not argue back.
So Adrian had to hear their mate get on the first spaceship their species had ever built and depart for the empty void of space.
That was almost IVℓ years ago.
Something went wrong. No Eridian knows what, but something did. And, even if they’d known the odds, Adrian resents the agency for whatever they must’ve overlooked.
It might not be fair, but Adrian does.
What is completely fair to resent them for in Adrian’s clear opinion is that they’re trying to convince them of Rocky’s death.
Which is ridiculous. Rocky is alive. Adrian can feel feel feel feel it their exoskeleton.
Obviously, the space agency hasn’t actually told them that Rocky died. That’d mean officially giving up hope. They can’t do that, not with the future of eridanity at stake.
What they can do, and have done, is increasingly hinting to Adrian that they should find a therapist. That they should be realistic.
That Rocky wouldn’t mind if Adrian found a new mate in his absence.
Adrian already towers above other eridians. They’d made themself as tall as possible and rose over the eridian who’d suggested that last statement, standing close enough for the implication.
But Adrian is a respectable, professional scientist. They’d never attack anyone, let alone someone working to save Erid.
Yet the terrified quivers had been satisfying.
The sheer audacity to suggest that Adrian would ever leave Rocky, especially when their mate was busy saving their planet.
Worse, everyone around Adrian seems to share that opinion. Strangers to coworkers to friends and even family all seem to share the false belief that Rocky is gone for good. That Adrian should give up. Some are tactful in their suggestions. Others more direct. All are shut down immediately.
Knock knock knock.
Adrian gets up purposefully slow, one of their claws resting for a moment on the piece of Rocky’s old exoskeleton embedded into their own. Proof that they’re his, and Rocky is theirs. They have no interest in another, empty, status update. In more platitudes. Another suggestion that they should move on. The only reason they’ll answer the knocking is because of the chance that there is news.
Because there will be news.
Rocky will come back.
Any day now.
The two eridians are as stoic as always when Adrian comes to the door. Spitefully, Adrian does not open the door, instead faux-politely greeting them through the stone.
They seem to notice their unsubtle impatience, because instead of the customary greetings, one of the eridians sings: “The engines of the ship have been spotted.”
Adrian flings open the door.
Technically, they can’t be sure. But the frequency of the light that the equipment spotted was the right wavelength for astrophage, and has steadily been growing brighter over the last months (yes, months. They spotted this months ago and only told Adrian now. They’re lucky their fury was immediately extinguished by their delight).
At a slower rate than expected, but the ship had been gone a lot longer than anticipated, so it might be nothing.
Suddenly people stop talking like Rocky is dead. Instead, Adrian is getting praised for staying true by most. Some still, very tentatively, suggest that something clearly has happened. Adrian can’t know Rocky’s survival for sure.
Apparently, they should still prepare for the worst. Instead, Adrian reorganises the house. Makes sure everything is in top notch condition. They get a new animal for their aquarium, a specific species they know Rocky will love.
Most importantly, Adrian carefully places their presents they got for Rocky over the years. New technology that they’re sure their mate will love. In the middle of the workbench, they place a particular piece of their own exoskeleton Adrian preserved when it shedded ages ago. It’s satisfyingly smooth and sounds beautiful.
Just in case Rocky’s embedded stone got damaged or lost.
Because Adrian loves Rocky, no matter how long their mate has been gone. They want to prove time hasn’t changed that.
It takes years of the emitted light growing brighter on their finely attuned machinery before the ship enters the solar system.
Suspiciously, Adrian does not get a visit from the agency with updates. But they’ve learned from their previous mistake, so now they contacted a friend who works on the project. Soon enough they know anyway.
It’s not their spaceship.
Adrian politely thanked their friend and waited until they left the house before Adrian lets their carapace sink to the ground.
Not their spaceship. Any other day, they would’ve been ecstatic ecstatic ecstatic with the news of intelligent aliens existing. But now?
The chances of their love’s return suddenly plummeted.
They force themselves up. All hope is not lost. The ship came from the direction of Tau Ceti.
From the direction Rocky disappeared to.
Maybe Rocky is on board. The eridians have long known something went wrong with the mission, as the time elapsed has proven. Maybe something went wrong with their ship. Maybe they got these aliens' help?
Adrian has to believe. After all, hope is all they have.
They weren’t supposed to know when the spaceship arrived. Adrian enters the building protecting the entrance of the space elevator anyway.
They’re the mate of one of the 23, and a highly accomplished scientist in their own right who occasionally had to visit the place for their own job. They’re a known carapace.
While technically, they shouldn’t be allowed entrance, the security guard takes one look at them and shakes their carapace in exasperation.
Adrian waits while another retrieves a higher up. “Adrian-” they start, but they interrupt immediately. “If Rocky is on that ship, do you want to tell him that you’ve sent his mate away, question?”
The eridian hesitates, and then their carapace lowers a fraction in resignation.
Rocky risked his life to save their planet. He ventured into the enormous void called space which they know absolutely nothing about.
He’s a hero.
Who wants to deny a hero their mate?
Adrian is allowed to enter the waiting room, smugly folding four of their legs beneath them. With their fifth claw they rhythmically tap the floor to focus on the hallway, on anyone approaching.
Technically, it is not needed. Around the building are white noise makers placed strategically so anyone can hear their surroundings clearly. Still, the tapping soothes Adrian.
They immediately straighten when their friend appears at the edge of their soundrange. “Mission control at the top of the elevator radioed in.” They tell Adrian, their voice an entire octave higher. “They want you to go up. Rocky is there.”
They can’t help but excitedly pace the elevator as they rise. A stark contrast with the last time they’d been there: then they’d gone up to say goodbye.
“He’s the only surviving eridian.” Their friend had warned them. “He might be different.”
Adrian’s hearts broke when they heard that. How long had their mate been alone?
Those aliens had better been nice to their mate.
Finally, the top of the space elevator comes into hearing, machines and equipment, then the movement, eridians, then-
Rocky.
Adrian hoists their carapace up high.
More than IVℓ years yet it’s still so undeniably him.
He’s arguing about something with people Adrian could not care less about.
They’re out of the elevator before the doors have properly opened.
“Rocky!” They chime, completely ignoring anyone else, even pushing one unfortunate eridian out of the way.
“Rocky! RockyRockyRocky!”
Rocky stills, his words stopping mid-sentence. “Adrian, question?”
Adrian doesn’t waste time, putting two of their legs over Rocky’s in an oh-so familiar move, pressing their carapace against their love’s, needing to hear him as clear as possible.
There is a new crack in his carapace, but otherwise he’s just as they remember.
It’s still Rocky. They finally have Rocky back. They’ll be able to take him back to the surface, to watch him sleep again, to discuss their passions again, to laugh together again. They have their Rocky back.
“Adrian.” Rocky leans back against them. “You’re what I missed missed missed most.” His voice is several octaves higher.
“I waited for you. You took so long long long.”
“I’m here now.” Rocky stays impolitely in their embrace even as his voice turns serious. “But we need help. Adrian, meet Grace.”
Adrian hadn’t spent a single thought on the ship or the other occupants, but reluctantly they do now.
There is a dull thumping coming from the other side of the airlock, originating from a creature now awfully loud when they pay attention.
They’re tall, two of their limbs folded beneath them, leaning against the wall. There is no exoskeleton to be seen, instead their flesh is taut over harder pieces in their body. The dull thumping must be coming from their single heart. There is a softer wooshing sound as air moves from two small openings in the bulge on top of their centre. A fluid leaks from two smoother bulges above the openings.
Grace, Rocky called the alien. They open another hole beneath the two smaller ones, and a rough, flat sound comes out. “He’s excited to meet you.” Rocky translates. “He saved my life, Adrian. I couldn’t save Erid without him. But he’s starving, and he can’t survive in our atmosphere.”
Not letting go of Rocky, Adrian considers this alien, Grace. For a moment, they remind themself of the aquarium in their home.
“If he saved you, and saved our planet, we’ll save him.” Says Adrian, a highly respected environmental scientist. “Statement.”