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Out of Grace’s amnesiac moments, the worst and best was probably his discovery ( rediscovery?) that he was a merman.
It has been oh so convenient that he remembered AFTER armando spilled a pouch of water on him, causing him to release an unceremonious screech as he flopped onto the ground with a loud squelch.
The sudden weight and obvious texture change to his bottom half had frightened him to say the least. Lo and behold he wasn’t just stuck in space but also stuck as a fish. Humanity was doomed because there was no way he could do lab work much less anything without legs.
Luckily his good for nothing memory recalled that he would transform back into normal two legged Ryland Grace as soon as he dried off, which took a short yet agonizing five minutes.
Don’t get him wrong he was mourning his former crew mates and was in every sense very lonely. That being said, it still saved Grace the trouble of precariously avoiding his skin touching water. Grace had to have an unhealthy amount of optimism at this point to power through this mission.
He tried his best not to think about his ocean. Or lack thereof. Quite possibly forever. Something deep in his being sensed that missing piece even before he realized. He assumed it was the general homesickness and despair that comes with a suicide mission. Good to know it was also from a deeply intrinsic part of his biology too.
As a child he already deeply loved everything to do with the sea. Laughing at the harbor seals, finding shells to impress his parents with, sand castles with his brother, among other halcyon childhood memories.
His connection to the sea only strengthened after Colt and him had stumbled upon that mystical island on that fateful night. Colt the daredevil of a teen had been far too eager to try out their humble little rowboat and had gotten them stranded in the ocean. After a long winded discussion of who the brothers would eat first the brothers finally saw their savior: an uninhabited island that Ryland remembered was called Anacapa island.
After some hearty exploration and a genuinely impressive show of Colt’s Boy Scout skills they had stumbled upon a cave with a bubbling pool. At this point Ryland had remembered the island was volcanic which did induce some anxiety. Colt had no such worries and simply jumped in.
The water had felt like a balm to the sweaty, dirty teenagers but little did they know they had discovered a moon pool and had made a visit to the island at the exact time the moon was full.
In the end there was no cannibalism and they were rescued with a scolding and being grounded for a week by their parents. The real consequences came when Ryland took his next shower ( hey Déjà vu?) and had flopped onto the bathroom tiles.
Hearing the ruckus, Colt had walked in to check if he was okay, only to be met with a very despondent half fish of a brother. After a good laugh he had attempted to turn the shower off before he also met the cold, cruel fate of the bathroom floor. Ryland had gotten the last laugh.
For years the brothers enjoyed their deepened connection to the ocean along with the shenanigans that came with being fish people. For years they had successfully hidden that aspect of their lives with only a few hiccups. Thinking back he was really lucky Stratt hadn’t found out considering he had lived exclusively surrounded by water for months.
The thought gave a pang to his heart now, as it dawned on him that he would never swim with Colt again in the warm Californian waters together. He missed his brother. He missed the waves. He missed his home.
Oh. He was crying. Wiping the tears in vain as he got back onto his feet. This little detail had to be put aside for the mission for now. First save earth, then deal with impeding death.
-ꪶꫂ-
“ Rocky, do you want to know a cool secret?” Ryland grinned at his companion as they watched the waves lap in the biodome. It had taken months for the water to be at that just right temperature but the eridians with all their scientific prowess got it eventually! That perfect cool water that gave his spine a good shiver.
“ How dare Grace not share secret until now.” Rocky stomped impertinently into the sand.
“ Okay It sounds like you don’t really want to know then...”
“ No! Rocky want secret!” He chirped insistently. That gossipy little eridian.
“Alright bud,” he chuckled as he stood up, “ the only other person who knows about this is my brother Colt. I never really saw a reason to tell you because without water like this it’s more a liability than anything.”
“ is secret that grace cannot actually swim”
“Cmon show a little excitement I’m being really vulnerable here.” Grace smiled, it had been what years since he’s done this? There was some nervousness, and some of that old sorrow, but the excitement overshadowed all of his sadness in this moment. And besides that… he thought about Colt who would want him to be happy. It was hard sometimes to act on that wish, but Grace had to have faith because he wished the same for his own brother.
“ My little secret is a magic trick.” Grace imitated his twin’s classic confident showbiz voice. Rocky chirped expectantly.
With a hoot Grace dove headfirst into the water, a sputtering of clicks echoed from behind him.
The cool waves enveloped him and he felt his body SING as his tail freed itself in its natural habitat. Despite being light years away from the Californian beaches he could pretend for a second. It beat dying in space without ever having a proper swim ever again. Here the water enveloped him in its cool embrace.
Clambering a little awkwardly back onto the sand he was met with Rocky’s high pitched trills. He was speaking so fast Grace only caught a few things.
“ GRACE IS NOT HUMAN 🎶🎶🎶🎶 GRACE NOT GRACE 🎶🎶🎶🎶 WHAT IS THAT QUESTION 🎶🎶🎶🎶”
The eridian bounced around, inspecting every part of his “ new” friend, and Grace got a good laugh as he swatted at Rocky with his tail playfully causing the eridian to squeal.
“ Still me Rocky.” He chuckled good naturedly at the enthusiastic reaction. “ I’m what people call a mermaid er merman, which means I’m half fish and half person. Only when I touch water though.”
“ So Grace is not human?”
“ Well it’s complicated…” he responded thoughtfully as he slapped his tail a few times on the sand. “ My DNA when I’m in my human form isn’t any different… but if you take a scale off me then it’ll show some interesting mutations. I made to sure to do some experimentation.”
“ So Grace like Superman. Has special powers?”
“ I wish! Nope I’m just a fish sometimes.” Rolling away from the water with as much dignity as he could muster. He sighed as he felt the water begin to dry off.
“ And when im dry again” On cue the tail turned into foam revealing two completely normal human legs “ ta da! I’m back.”
“ Yes this is good secret! Amaze amaze amaze!” Rocky did jazz hands to show just how impressed he was, to which Grace returned the gesture. Rocky then hummed contemplatively.
“ is this secret for all erid?” His chirp more quiet this time.
That was a good question. If it was just erid it wouldn’t be a problem. But… in the future erid and earth would likely communicate. And Grace wasn’t sure if in these future interactions their little mermaid secret would slip through.
“ Well it’s kind of a secret for us mermaids, most people don’t even know we exist.”
Grace winced thinking back to the time Colt and him had met an actual POD. He had bombarded the poor pod with every question he could think of. They were equally fascinated and somewhat disapproving of Grace’s transition, though not for the reasons one might think. It was more so they couldn’t fathom that a mermaid would willingly become a merman. Though he had to say, introducing the idea of being trans to mermaids and sparking discussions on how they would deal with that had been interesting. So he’d probably get into both the merpeople and human history books. If the Beatles made it.
“ It’s been like this for so long and I don’t know how mermaids are dealing with the Astrophage situation. It’d be awkward if I ruined the whole gig after a hundred years. I guess the biodome people will know. But when the time comes for eridians to get into contact with Earth.” He bit his lip, omitting the fact he might not live to that point. “ let’s keep it on the down low.”
Rocky chirped in understanding. “ Okay. Eridians can do this for friend Grace.”
Then mischievously adding
“ and Rocky like watching Grace be floppy leaky space blob.”
Grace rolled his eyes as he splashed Rocky, proceeding to flounder Rocky with his tail as they chased each other through the warm waves.
-ꪶꫂ-
Simon was a strange character. Grace couldn’t wrap his head around the mysterious man. He had one: no clue where this guy was from, he had appeared quite literally out of the blue. Two: he was human but also not human in a lot of physical aspects. Grace could relate. Just a coincidence they were both on the fishy side. Three: wherever this guy came from was not good and it showed. Grace had been a patient a doctor ( of microbiology) as could be but Simon remained shut about anything regarding himself. Only murmuring something incoherently words Grace couldn’t piece together for the life of him. His constant suspicion and militaristic instincts were on at all times. Grace was a little fearful of what kind of world would raise someone to be this vigilant.
For the most part Simon let Grace do all the talking. He seemed content to be on the listening end of Grace’s wild rambling, and whenever Grace asked him anything he was sure to word it so it could be answered as a yes or no. While he was happy to wait for the rest of their lives on Erid to see if the man would open up he decided the priority was to make sure he was comfortable. If he didn’t open up that was up to him but Grace didn’t want to force it. If this was his lifelong roommate he had to avoid blowing it up at all costs.
On the bright side they were making improvements. And it had only been a month since he was awake! He no longer flinched away from Grace when it was time to wrap fresh bandages( he refused to let Armando do it). In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken he swore he would relax at his touch. He took this victory with absolute grace, meaning as soon as he was out of earshot of Simon he did a very sophisticated happy dance.
Rocky had offered Simon to build a new room, house, anything but Simon seemed very reticent to ask for help from anyone. Other than in class times his roommate was always nearby, and didn’t seem to want to change that. Grace didn’t object. After years without human contact he was embarrassed to admit the constant presence of another was welcoming.
The man however seemed hellbent on making himself as small and unnoticeable as possible around the house. His ability to go undetected had resulted in a few haphazard scares when Ryland turned a corner too quick almost run into the burly guy, or when he turned around while making tea to walk smack into him. Usually he laughed it off to which Simon would look at him with a mix of amusement and bewilderment.
The third time this happened Simon had told him that despite what his name suggested, he was quite ungraceful. An almost joke. A joke that Grace laughed way too hard at and he concluded had to be because he hadn’t laughed at another human’s joke in years.
Yeah Simon probably thought he was a little off his rocker. But hey who wouldn’t be after years of exclusively talking to rock people?
As a man in his thirties (?) it was a little embarrassing to admit that he missed sleepovers an unhealthy amount. Okay he missed many minuscule things that he would cry over in between the bigger cries. A nice steak, his worn yellow raincoat, his succulents that were probably still kicking it even now because those plants were stubborn.
Having a twin meant a sleepover basically every night of childhood and that separation since they moved out never completely healed. An open wound that gouged itself open periodically. The memories still came back and provided a cocktail of relief and grief. Grace used to wish he could just remember. Careful what you wish for.
After seeing the brief look of panic Simon’s eyes revealed as they discussed sleeping separately Grace decides to just move the couch to the bedroom. The first week was on and off waking up in the middle of the night to each others night terrors that ended with them moving to the bed with each other. Grace decided to make it easy for Simon and just started slipping into the bed. Simon held him tighter that night.
Grace had his concerns about when he would tell Simon his secret. He knew he would eventually, it just mattered when he timed it.
It had been a few nights of warmth and safety sharing a bed. Grace carefully shuffled as to not wake Simon, who had just drifted back into a dreamless sleep in his lap. Unable to sleep, he absentmindedly brushed his fingers through the jet black curls.
Simon’s soft snores against the backdrop of waves filled his ears in a relaxing hymn but still Grace’s mind raced. What was most infuriating is that nothing in particular filled his mind. It just felt like molecules bouncing around wildly with no rhyme or reason in there. The insomnia felt not so different from the effects a full moon, making him feel like his skin was trying to jump out.
Sighing, he gingerly slid out of bed, careful to place Simon’s head gently on the pillow. Waiting to see if he would stir, but Simon’s chest rose and fell evenly, small whistles escaping his mouth. He did one last brush of Simon’s hair behind his ear- fins then quietly tiptoed out. Grace let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in as he clicked the front door closed.
Stumbling down the stairs, he relished as the sand hit his feet, breaking into a run towards the lapping waves. It wasn’t the Earth’s ocean which was its own living creature but the waters still teemed with its own oscillous, fluid energy.
Breathing in the salty air, he dove in, immediately kicking his tail as he felt it form. Ever since Simon landed on Erid Grace hadn’t gotten any swimming time for himself. He still wonders how he managed to go without it for years.
Bubbles streamed across his skin, making a faint feeling of tickling that invigorated him as he sped through the water. In the biodome, there weren’t any destinations but the water was deep enough to properly dive down. Even without life the water was filled with the artificial waves and various stony structures that made it feel less empty.
He slowed down as he reached the shore again, languidly floating back to the surface. Breaking through with a spray of water, he landed on his back and proceeded to just relax, closing his eyes as the waves lapped at him.
For a few minutes he drifted, letting the sounds of waves sloshing calm his mind. The beach never failed to take away his worries. Despite his thesis arguing against the stubborn molecules, he actually didn’t hate them. Days on the beach were his free therapist. Lucky the rest of his life was going to be spent in his own little therapy tank.
Grace relaxed as his mind calmed down, the constant buzz turning into a light hum. Then he heard a noise, a small noise albeit, but they were distinct.
Faint steps. HUMAN steps.
Okay time to go. Grace quickly balled his fist for some invisibility and scrabbled onto the dry sand, frantically moving water off himself.
The footsteps got closer. “ Grace?”. And of course it’s Simon there isn’t anyone else but still hearing him alerts a greater sense of panic.
Cmon faster. He willed himself to dry with extra fervor. The droplets fell into the sand in small shimmers.
“ Ryland are you there?” Simon was on the sand now, head swiveling and a panicked look in his eyes that broke Ryland’s heart. Curse him for losing his sense of time.
They were a little too close for comfort now. About ten meters.“ I can smell you you know. Your blood. You’re out here somewhere. You’re still here.” Then more softly. “ Please come back.”
Grace could see how Simon was walking just shy of the water, looking across the sandy expanse for him.
Whew finally, Grace felt his glasses clink back on top of his nose as he sprung up. Waiting for Simon to look the other way.
Aaaaaaand… now!
He quickly unclenched his fist and waved a hand to call out. “ Hey Simon!” A lopsided totally unsuspicious smile plastered on his face.
Simon turned as if lightning had struck behind him and broke into a run.
“ Woah there someone’s excited to- mph” Grace was muffled by the bear hug Simon tackled him in. He was sure he would’ve fallen to the floor if not for Simon’s inhumane strength.
For a while they just stood there. Entangled.
“ you’re real, right Ryland?” Simon finally said, barely audible. “ you’re here? This isn’t just some sick dream?”
Grace rubbed a reassuring circle on his companion’s back.
“ Yes, of course I am.” Then with a little more humor. “I don’t think your brain can conjure up all the bad jokes I’ve made so far.”
Simon made a small chuffing sound, akin to a laugh.
“ Besides I’m not going anywhere. You and Rocky are tied for the best things that ever happened to me.” He pulled back so his hands gently rested on Simon’s shoulders. “ And if you hope to stay here I would do everything in my power to make you happy here.” Shrugging as he added a quick “ but only if you want to.” But also I really want you to.
Simon was giving him an incredulous look, like he wanted so badly for Grace’s offer to be true.
“ But… I’m not useful.”
“ You existing is enough.” Simon raised an eyebrow at that, unbelieving.
“ Honestly, even if we didn’t do anything at all the Eridians are getting a wealth of knowledge from a free alien species in their backyard.”
Then more gently, “ And I want you here even if that wasn’t the case.”
The genuineness in his voice scared him a little. It has been less than a year but he was already unbelievably attached to this man. Sure he didn’t know about Simon’s past but what he did know was that Simon loved the stars as much he did, his favorite constellation was Pisces. He knew that Simon made him laugh with his dry and cutting wit. He knew that when he was having another nightmare Simon would curl around him tighter.
If one day he woke up and Simon wasn’t there… well he wouldn’t know what to do. A lot of crying and maybe a small case of major depression.
Simon heaved a sigh, looking down without meeting Grace’s eyes.
“ There’s a lot I haven’t told you about myself. Bad things. I’m not a good man Grace. I mean,” he gestures to himself “ I’m already a monster.” He laughed but there was no humor behind it. “ and that isn’t even the half of it.”
Brushing a strand of hair behind one of Simon’s fins, Grace lifted Simon’s face so they were eye to eye.
“ That makes two of us then. I haven’t been entirely honest with you about myself yet.” Gaze flickering to the side as he continued. “ And I promise I’ll tell you more. Eventually.” He took a breathe before analyzing Simon’s reaction.
The man seemed… doubtful? But not about his words. He looked at Grace like a wolf attempting to growl without fangs.
“ I highly doubt you’ve been anything but a fucking angel all your life.”
“Pbhttt well you’ll soon have that hypothesis be proven wrong.” Grace laughed at the irony.
Was now a good time? It seemed like one of those vulnerable moments that he had to latch onto, or lose forever. If he didn’t tell Simon now, each day he kept it to himself was another day he’d have an accident that would oust himself. And he really wanted to tell Simon on his own terms without being found face first on the living room floor.
Ryland gathered Simon’s hands gingerly in his own. His hands were still a little cool and gritty from the sand but Simon’s were comfortably warm.
“ While we’re here, how about I tell you something right now. I say something and you say something!” He cringed at the shakiness in his voice “ but yeah only if you want I can just tell you something you don’t have to say anything right now since-“
“ Okay. And stop saying that.”
“Y-yes. Stop saying what?”
“ Asking what I want. Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”
Grace scrunched his face sympathetically. It was things like this that Simon would say that worried him for when Simon would eventually tell him what had hapenned to him before Erid. It made Grave vow he would try harder to make Simon feel safe in their new home. Huh. Their new home.
“ Well, now that you’re here it’s our home and our rules. Soooo I can’t be the only one giving input here. Help a guy out won’t you?” He continued when Simon didn’t lend a response. “ Please Simon, I don’t care what hapenned before, and no matter what we’re here now. Take this as a second chance. I want you to be happy here. Can you try that? For me?”
Grace squeezed his hand reassuringly. Simon still had that melancholy look on his face but he managed a small squeeze back.
A little more awkwardly, Grace withdrew his hand and pointed to the water.
“ Uhhh I kind of have to be in the water to show you. It’s uhhh kind of hard to explain so I should just show you. I’m warning you though it might be a bit of a shocker.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
Simon watched him quizzically as he treaded into the water. He bounded a little deeper until the water reached his torso, looking back to give Simon a thumbs down.
“ Uhhh are you sure you want to get wet right now if we’re going back to bed after-HOLY SHIT RYLAND”
The veil of bubbles enveloped him as he felt his legs fuse together and layers of scales cover his bottom. He pulled the iridescent fins out of the water and waved the appendage at Simon.
Simon’s mouth was agape with his ear fins completely pulled up, from the back his fins also protruded through his I had potential shirt. Yeah the guy was probably a little shocked Grace surmised.
“W- well! Not quite an angel you know? More like a koi probably. You know I always liked your cool bits and pieces a little better. They’re just so much cooler you know because I feel like an overgrown goldfish. And don’t even mention how annoying it is to not be able to take a proper show-“
“ You’re… you’re.”
“ A mermaid. A merman to be more specific. But I mean same difference.” Grace padded a little closer to shore, seeing if Simon would react badly to the motion.
When he didn’t move he carefully controlled a small bubble underneath him so he could land sitting on the sand. He didn’t miss how Simon’s eyes widened at that.
Simon leaned down, a hand tentatively reaching to Grace’s face.
“ Are you… still Ryland?”
Grace took his hand and placed it on his face, forming a small smile.
“ In the flesh! And scales now too.”
Simon seemed to have recovered from his shock at the touch and sighed before sitting down next to Grace. For a minute he just stared at the sea’s expanse before turning back to Grace and laughing. The blonde ran a hand through Simon’s hair until his fit ended..
“ So uhhh how did you become uhhh… a fish? Shit sorry a merman. “
Grace smiled reassuringly “ no worries. Back on earth there’s this I guess subspecies of human you could call them. They’re humans like me but with tails. And they live like that all their life unless they do some kind of spell. “ Grace waved his hand to make two statues of mermaids with water, shimmering as he made them swim around. Simon nodded, entranced.” But my brother Colt and I were born human as can be. Until one day my dolt of a brother got us stranded on an island. Turns out! That island had a moon pool, which if you go in during a full moon gives you a nifty tail everytime you touch water!” He lifted his tail to demonstrate. “ And the rest is history.”
Simon’s eyebrows furrowed. “ At least you didn’t get turned into a complete freak of nature.”
“ That’s not true Simon. We’re both freaks of nature. But what is nature if not a little freaky.” Grace gave Simon a nudge.
Simon gave Grace a haunted look. “ Well you didn’t get turned into a monster by a freakish creature in a blood ocean.”
Grace choked on his spit at that. The Eridians had mentioned the… grotesque surroundings they found Simon in. A submarine covered every inch in human blood. Grace couldn’t even imagine the circumstances. The details left a lot up to imagination, and not good things.
“ And the worst part? I deserved it. I deserved to die down there.” Simon stared straight ahead, not meeting Grace’s eyes. Grace could still see the pain in his red pupils though, and he seemed far away as he spoke. “ I’m the butcher. I helped blow up filament station. Sixty two people less people in the universe. Because of me.”
Finally turning his gaze to Grace, burning with anger. “ And I still had the audacity to ask for my life. So I kept it, in exchange for being turned into this.”
Grace winced at the hatred in Simon’s voice.
“ I have a feeling you’re excluding some important details. Because the person I’ve lived with for the past few months is you Simon. Just you.”
Something in those glaring red eyes softened, before hardening again.
“ Details don’t matter. The fact is I helped kill sixty two people.”
“ Did you want to kill them?”
“… no.”
“ That’s not the sound of a killer then.”
Simon gave him an exasperated look.
“ You’re too nice, Grace. I honestly have no clue how you’re still alive.”
Grace shook his head, half mumbling “ you’re right, I’m not supposed to be alive.”
Now Simon’s eyes had worry in them.
Grace couldn’t meet his gaze as he wrapped his arms around himself. Even though it had been years the shame still held deep roots in him. “ That’s a… conversation for another night. Let’s just say we’re both patron saints of one way trips.”
“ Whatever it is, it cant be worse than what I’ve done. Besides, you’ve probably atoned for your sins by saving the whole fucking universe.” Simon’s voice was gentle despite his words, as a he placed a warm hand on Grace’s arm.
“ How about instead of atonement… we work on forgiveness.” He hesitated. “ of ourselves. It probably won’t be easy. But we have a lifetime ahead of us to work on it right?”
Red eyes met blue. A shared vulnerable look. A pain reflected in the other. A flicker of hope that dared to be nursed.
“ I- we can try that.” Simon replied softly, a wispy answer that almost blew into the breeze.
It was a tentative answer. The healing for the both of them would be slow and painful. But it would happen. Grace had faith.
“ How about a song?” Grace suddenly offered. “ Maybe something to lighten the mood before we head back in?”
“ You sing?” Simon perked up.
“ I’ve been told I can hold a tune.” Simon looked attentively at him as he cleared his voice.
In perfect timing, his tail retracted. Stretching his legs onto the sand, he beckoned Simon to lean on his (now dry) shoulder.
Hmmm now… which song? Grace loved a good power ballad. He had a guilty pleasure for white girl club music at this time of night. None of those seemed quite right now. Oh! It was a little melodramatic of a choice, but it just seemed to fit the scene. Closing his eyes, he recalled the melody. Please don't voice crack. It had been a long time since he had sung it for someone like this but the notes flowed like water, easy and natural.
“Dormi cara columbula” Simon stirred at the first note and turned so Grace could see his eyes twinkling in his lap, entranced.
“O columbula mea, Splendeat fenestra, Adsint somnia flora.”
“O cara filia lunae, Neve plumam pulvis foedet tuam, Nec iam complexum alma, Capias bona, somnias a luna”
“Dormi cara columbula, O columbula mea, Splendeat fenestra, Adsint somnia flora.”
“O cara filia lunae, Neve plumam pulvis foedet tuam, Nec iam complexum alma, Capias bona, somnias a luna.”
Letting go of the last note, Grace shyly looked to the side. Even for one person stage fright still got to him.
“ Wow. That was the most beautiful fucking thing I’ve heard in my life.” Simon said in absolute awe, lifting his head so they were eye level. His red eyes sparkled with an adoration that Grace made Grace want to turn into mush. “I… I really liked it. Made me feel…” His eyes wandered, searching for a word. “At peace. I think. At peace. I recognized some of the words. What’s the song about?”
“Hey you know some latin then! That’s pretty scholarly of you.”
Simon scoffed. “If by scholarly you mean I sat through hours of sermon every day by Father then I guess.”
Grace was getting the sneaking suspicion Simon’s trauma wasn’t just from being sent on a death mission. Which was crazy because how was this man as mentally stable as he was now? Simon had some crazy willpower to help him survive, albeit with innumerous scars. The only consolation he could give right now was a soft hand to comb through his hair. All in due time. Grace promised.
“ Pretty impressive you got latin from something as stuffy as a sermon though.”
“ Not any of the interesting ones though.”
“ If you learn any latin curse words I’ll know.”
“More reason to learn.”
Grace cracked a smile. Simon returned an upward quiver of his mouth.
“So tell me where that song is from again? I’ve heard music before. But it’s never made me feel like that. It’s never sounded like that.”
“Well, it’s a mermaid song. A pretty ancient one. I remember there’s a story that goes along with it. You up for a little tale tonight?” Simon gave a sound of interest, so Grace continued.
“So a long while back, I’m talking thousands of years ago, the first merpeople were born, and when they were they were all born knowing this song. Which is weird because you’re supposed to be a blank slate when you pop out. But here you are with a full song. Most merpeople’s first view is of the night sky and the moon based off their life cycle and how they hatch. Now when all of this adds up merpeople came to the conclusion that it’s a song from… can you guess? The moon hecking herself! It’s a cool story and an even cooler song.”
Simon’s eyes went a little glassy through his explanation. “Huh. Don’t know if that song would be a cruel irony then.” He rubbed his palms on his eyes, sighing. “ A moon that takes care of it’s children huh?”
“ Well, technically, you’re a child of the Earth’s moon too aren’t you?” Grace hummed. “ Even if I don’t really know if the fairytale is real, I can appreciate somehow finding another human so far from home. From under the same moon.”
Simon opened his mouth as if to retort, but paused to mull over Grace’s words.
“I never thought of it like that.”
Grace shot him a meaningful smile, hoping it was saying the million assurances he wanted to say. Then, yawning as he leaned back on Simon, he rested his head on top of Simon’s black curls.
“ I miss singing for other people.” He sighed, the pleasant buzz the song still in his throat. “ I used to do it all the time with my brother. He’d be on guitar, I’d do vocals. Don’t get me wrong… I sang a lot to Rocky on the Hail Mary. But it got a little awkward when I uhhhh accidentally said some pretty derogatory things in eridian.”
Grace felt Simon vibrate underneath him as he laughed. “ Oh I would pay to see that. The Ryland Grace actually saying fuck.”
“ Aaand that’s why I can’t do karaoke with Rocky anymore.” Grace chuckled before doing a full yawn that cracked his jaw.
“ Alright that’s the sign for bedtime.” Simon hoisted a very ill prepared Grace into his arms who let out a surprised yelp.
“ Holy moly Simon I can walk I have my legs now.” Grace protested, even though he was in fact very comfortable and warm in Simon’s burly arms.
“ Nope you look like shit.” Simon said matter of factedly, adjusting his hold on Grace whose cheeks definitely weren’t heating up.
After curling up in each other on the sheets, Grace found he couldn’t stay up another wink. In seconds he clocked out, the last thing he felt being Simon’s warm arms curled around him.
-ꪶꫂ-
Grace was supremely jealous of Simon. Not only could the man freely control his tail transformation, but he also had the coolest tail Grace had ever seen. An iridescent red a single large black fin run down the back like a sail matching a huge black finned tail.
It put Grace’s simple orange tail to shame he thought. Ironically, Simon thought everything about Grace’s tail was beautiful, and he always felt Simon staring in admiration whenever he transformed. Guess the grass was always greener. He had to explain that one to both Rocky and Grace. What it meant to be “greener” ( it’s a figure of speech bud- that doesn’t make any sense- said Simon and Rocky in unison).
A year had passed since Grace had revealed his secret, and he could see a clear difference in Simon since then. He joked more, and his mouth would twitch upwards every so often. It has taken a few months to tell each other their full stories but the more they revealed, the easier it got as they realized how similar they were.
And somehow, Grace felt a lightness in himself too, despite the 4gs of gravity. The last time he had felt this contentment was a month into his teaching job at Grover Cleveland. That feeling of expecting the run to rise the next day. That the sun would bring a new day, a better day.
Yes the healing process was still a rough journey. The worst nights were spent on the beach with hazy lullabies and half delirious whispers but even those were decreasing in frequency. Some pains might never fully heal over. Grace was okay with that, as long as he had someone to hold at night.
After all he was maybe the happiest he had been since… well ever! He was once again back to doing his dream job, he had another human/ companion/friend(?) to share the biodome with, and Rocky was still Rocky. It was the perfect hero’s ending that happened only in fairytales, and he imagined for Simon this life must be actual heaven.
Today, they were enjoying a day on the beach. Simon had made it his goal to swim with Grace as soon as he learned to control his tail.
When Grace first learned of Simon’s whole ordeal he had cried. Then Simon had hurriedly gathered him in his arms to toss him in the ocean which ended in him laugh crying as he explained that bodily fluids didn’t trigger the transformation. That day had been a whirlwind of emotions for the two of them.
Grace watched as Simon’s head bobbed above the water, face in deep concentration. To his credit he had made fast progress in overcoming his fear the ocean considering what he had been through.
With extra carefulness, Grace moved a Rocky sized blob of water above Simon’s head.
“ Ready?”
“ Get on with it Ry.”
“ You got it boss”
Grace scrunched his face as he concentrated, letting the water gradually lower before he dropped it about an inch above his head.
Simon growled as the water fell on him with a cold splash.
“ Feeling okay Si?”
“ Cold.” Simon said drily, gurgling out some water.
“ Wellll if you put your whole body in all at once it gets warm quicker. That’s just how the ocean is. You gotta take a leap of faith.”
“ Easy for you to say, all you have to do is jump in.” Simon grumbled.
Grace shrugged and started to form another water bubble.
“ Well here we go again Si. Tell me when you want to stop.”
Simon directed a forlorn look at Grace but nodded.
Once again Grace maneuvered over the blobulous liquid over Simon’s head and counted down. Before he could countdown, a jet of water splashes his face, and the giant water drop went down with a SPLOOSH.
When he looked up Simon was gone, but then he felt a hand- TWO hands grab his waist and hoisting him up.
“GAHHHH” he screamed at a frequency humans probably couldn’t hear.
He surfaced to hear Simon laughing. It was a chuffed almost cough with some wheezing in between but Grace loved the train like noises.
“ oh haha.” Grace said sarcastically, but he couldn’t stop the smile that grew on his face.
“ Wait a minute…” Grace practically leaped out of the water. “ You did it you went under!” He grabbed Simon’s hands and spun him around, laughing very much NOT like a man in his forties. Give him a break though he kind of did save the universe.
Simon’s look was a little shy at Grace’s enthusiasm, his gills fanning at the praise.
“ It was about fucking time wasn’t it. Thought I’d make it a little more memorable.”
“ I’ll forgive it.” Grace laughed. “ Anytime when you figured it out would a good time.”
Now Simon was smiling. The corner of his mouth quivered up as his eyes smoothed into crescents so that the reds of his eyes shimmered. His heart quivered at the sight. Oh yeah, Grace was so SO normal about Simon’s smile.
He quickly ducked underwater to hopefully hide the blush that was growing fast on his cheeks. Nope nope nope one thing that didn’t change since middle school was the procrastination. Not about to change that in his forties.
Resurfacing with hopefully some more decorum, he grabbed Simon’s hand and squeezed gently, motioning if it was okay to dive.
Simon blinked nervously, but squeezed his hand back and nodded.
“ Three!”
“Two…”
“One!”
And as they dove in unison into the clear eridian waters, even with the coolness of the water, there was the unmistakable warmth of a hand in his own. As impossible as it felt a year ago, the waters beat with two warm and steady hearts.