Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Ryland grace enjoyed his time on Erid. Sure, he didn't have the familiar sounds of Earth or the chatter of his students at school, but this was different. He was someone on Erid. Not just a middle school teacher. Not just an astronaut. Not just someone sent away to die. He was important to the Eridians. He saved their home. He taught all the pebbles, (As he liked to call them) all that he could about Earth and his science. He felt at peace.

No matter what he did, however, something was always…

Off.

He tried watching movies. Maybe that would cure what he was feeling. When it didn't, he turned to books. Okay, books! I mean, who doesn't love a good book, right? When a couple hundred books later didn't cure it, he tried music. Almost every genre. Nothing.

No matter what he had tried, he could never get that feeling to go away. It was a strange feeling, to say the least. So, what was he feeling that had him so worked up?

It was strange. That was a given. He wanted to talk to someone. Not just Rocky, but an actual person. There was no way in hell he'd be able to do something like that. At the same time, he didn't want to see anyone again. That was partly based on how he was deceived and thrown into this whole mess in the first place. The other part? He was tired of being judged. He didn't make a name for himself as he burned all those bridges when he called his boss a "staggering waste of carbon."

Yeah, not the kindest thing to say. That had him promptly fired. He couldn't turn to anyone. He had a girlfriend… at one point. Who needs relationships, anyways? He couldn't turn to his parents cause…

Let's just say, there was no contact. Well, there was the possibility of friends! Except when you're Ryland Grace, there are no friends. So, that was that. Grace had no family, friends or a significant other. He did have Rocky! Rocky was a friend, maybe brothers at this point. There was also Adrian, but they never really said much anyways. Rocky did the talking. Even a rock alien, light years away from Earth, somehow had a partner. Impressive, honestly.

To summarize:

• Grace wanted to talk with someone, not an Eridian.

• He didn't want to see a human ever again.

• He wanted someone to turn to, but had no one.

• But not really cause he had Rocky and Adrian.

Well, he was certainly feeling something. It's not like he could tell Rocky. Eridians were different. They were with each other for so long, that these feelings would work out and they'd go back to normal. There was no complicated psychology behind it. That was also a huge part in Eridian culture. Although the Eridians would live for quite some time, their culture was to tell the others how they felt and work it out. They never knew what could happen, especially after what happened with Rocky's crew aboard the Blip-A.

So many unspoken words and things that many Eridians regret not saying to their loved ones.

"And that all for class today!" Grace chimed, smiling at his students. The disappointed clicks and trills always made Grace sad, but he would see his students again tomorrow. "Make sure that you guys review the phases of mitosis! It will be on your test. Does anyone have any questions before we leave today?"

Claws went up immediately, exciting trills and chirps echoing off the walls of the classroom. Grace could feel his stomach all giddy seeing all the questions from the kids. "Riley?" He pointed toward a blue Eridian. She chittered, asking, "Is test tomorrow, question?"

Grace nodded, confirming. More excited chirps from the kids. "Peter?" He called to a earthy red and black stripped Eridian. The colors reminded him of Spider-Man. "What after test, question?"

Grace pushed his hair back, thinking. "I haven't really thought about that yet. We could go over genetics if you guys want?" The "screams" of excitement that came from the class made Grace smirk. These guys loved human science. "That's a yes! So genetics after the test!" He glanced over to another Eridian, who was patiently waiting. She was always so patient and super quiet. While every one else was trilling and chirping, discussing tomorrows content, she wouldn't say a word unless she had a question or what called on. Grace gave her the name Katniss. She reminded him of her way too much to not give her that name.

"Katniss?"A small trill from the brownish green Eridian came before her question kicked Grace in the stomach. "Is Grace lonely, question? No other humans for a long time."

Ouch. Right as Grace was struggling to properly label how he was feeling about being the only human on Erid. "Uhhh…" he let out a nervous chuckle. Katniss let out a worrying trill. "Apology, too personal," she meekly said.

"No, it's alright," he reassured, smiling at the young girl. "I think I'll be alright. I have you wonderful kids and the rest of you Eridians." The sweet chirps that came from the class brought tears to Graces eyes.

"Getting to meet all of you guys has definitely been the biggest blessing I have ever received," He smiled, closing his laptop. "But that's all for today, so I will be seeing you guys tomorrow for the test, okay?" All the kids trilled, confirming they would be there before taking their leave. Katniss stuck around until everyone was gone.

"What's up, kiddo?" Grace asked, worried for the girl.

"Katniss sorry, statement. Did not mean to get personal," she spoke, bowing her carapace.

"Hey," Grace said, getting down on her level. "It's alright. No harm!"

"Do you mean what you said? You like teaching us?"

"Of course I meant it, kiddo. I love teaching you guys and seeing how excited you all get. It makes my day."

"Good, good, good!" Katniss trilled, happy with Graces reply. "See tomorrow, question?"

"See tomorrow, statement," he said, waving goodbye to the girl and she walked out. He turned around, sighing as he collected his things.

He loved all the pebbles and loved talking with the Eridian scientists, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. He finally came to terms with the fact that he was extremely lonely. He was never going to see another human face again and that irked him.

He was alone out here. Nothing he could do to change that fact.

Grace threw himself onto his bed, glasses slipping down his face. He was fine. This would be fine. He lay there for who knows how long, letting himself doze off to sleep. That's when the nightmare happened. Same dream. Every night since he started feeling this way.

Grace ran. He moved, desperate for a way out as he heard the guards behind him. The tears stung the corners of his eyes as he moved. The fence. It was in his view! Just a little further! He had hope. Until a guard leapt and tackled him to the ground. He squirmed, trying to hard to get away. He screamed for them to let him go. That he couldn't do it. The tears rolled down his face and the sting of a needle entered the nape of his neck.

He jolt awake, tears still crawling down his cheeks. His chest felt tight and heavy, clinging to whatever breath he could get. He didn't hear the sound of banging as he tried to catch his breath. When he finally did, it registered that it was knocking. Oh gingersnaps, that was probably Rocky! He hadn't called Rocky over for anything, making him wonder what the Eridian could possibly want.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Grace yelled out, scrambling to get out of bed. How could a centuries year old alien be so impatient? The knocking continued, now accompanied by Rocky trilling and chirping urgently.

Okay, maybe there was something wrong. Rocky was impatient, sure, but this sounded like there was some serious going on. When Grace finally opened the door, Rocky practically threw himself inside the house.

"Grace!" Rocky chirped!

Grace smiled softly at his friend. "Hey, Rocky! What's got you so riled up?"

"Urgent news, very very important!" Rocky trilled as he moved into the living room, "Eridian scientists discover signal."

Grace raised an eyebrow. "A signal? As in like a radio wave?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Rocky spun around with excitement. "Come from new moon! Moon was not there before then show up suddenly."

Okay, that was impossible. How the hell would a moon show up out of no where like that? Either the sleep deprivation had gotten to Grace, or Rocky wasn't using the correct terms.

"Okay, Rocky," Grace moved down to Rocky's level, "Are you sure you're describing that correctly? A new moon, that wasn't there before, is now there all of the sudden?"

Rocky trilled, confirming and re-explaining once more what he had said the first time. Alright. It wasn't the sleep deprivation.

"Also have more news," Rocky continued, "Message come through. Sounds like another human."

"Alright, now you're just playing with me," Grace rolled his eyes, moving towards Armando, who had started a cup of coffee for him. There was no way in hell that-

"I just wanna live… Is that so wrong?" A voice. Over the radio. Crackly and heavy with static, but it was a voice. Human. All these light years away, and Grace finally got to hear a human voice. Grace turned around to face Rocky, absolutely stunned at what he had just heard.

"No way…" Grace had said under his breath.

"Yes way. Eridian scientists go out to moon. They found a capsule, heart beat was inside," Rocky explained, twiddling his appendages, "Coming home now. Few minutes out."

Grace froze. There was no way that this was happening. There was no explanation for this. How was this even possible? It shouldn't be possible.

Grace found himself on the beach with Rocky and few other Eridian a couple minutes later, gather around as the scientists dragged in this capsule, soaked in…

Blood. Oh god, it was all blood.

The capsule was a submarine. A very poorly built one at that. It would be a miracle if it worked. There was one thing that Grace had immediately noticed, however. There was no door. No door to get out or in. Where the door should have been, was welded shut.

Someone had welded this guy inside.

Who in their right mind would send someone in a submarine, let alone one built like a tin can, then weld the door shut? Looking closely at the vessel, it was obliviously thrown together last minute. Grace was no expert with it, but the welds looked very rushed and the metal was rusted, welded together in weird shapes and pieces. So, the vessel, capsule, whatever this thing was, was welded in scraps and had…

Teeth marks. There were giant scratches and holes that covered almost every side of the submarine. That's when Grace had noticed the top. Not only was it welded in place, there was something sticking out. At first glance, probably due to the unholy amount of blood, it could be mistaken for maybe a pole or some type of antenna. The closer you can get to it, the more you start to realize that it's actually a tooth. A big one at that.

It was mangled. Mutated would more accurately describe the tooth. At the top, there was some flesh from whatever it came from, dangling in the air and blood dripped down from it and onto the sand. Whoever or whatever was in this tacky science project must have been scared half to death.

If they were even still alive.

Grace could feel his stomach drop as the Eridians cut the top off. Ryland took charge, moving past the Eridians to look inside the submarine. He shined the light within and nearly gagged. It was all blood. Completely filled with blood. Through this sea of red, however, Grace could vaguely see what looked like a face sticking out. Without thinking, Grace moved in. The trill and cries of the Eridians didn't phase him. He just kept moving. The blood soaked his clothes as he pushed forward, reaching out to find a hand.

When Grace found said hand, it had finally clicked that he was chest deep in a pool of thick, hot blood. Oh god, was it really human? Instantly, Grace hauled ASS. He swore he had never moved faster in his life. "Fudge, GET ME OUT OF HERE!" He yelled, reaching for the Eridians that were at the entrance. The appendages of several Eridians reached inside the capsule, clinging onto Grace and pulling with all their might. Some Eridians were yelling at Grace to let go of whatever he had, one even claiming that Graces life was more valuable.

"I am NOT letting this person go!" Grace yelled back, using all his might to pull himself and the other human out. In all the years he had been gone, this could be the one time he finally connect with someone. Maybe, just maybe, he'd be lucky. The combined strength of Grace and the Eridians was enough to pull him and the other person out a little too well as Grace flipped forward and out of the submarine, covered in blood. Ryland shot up, immediately turning to the side to puke. The sight of blood, let alone this much, made him sick to his stomach. He could hear Rocky's concerned trills coming up from behind.

"Grace okay, question?" Rocky asked.

"Grace okay, statement," He replied, spitting to the side. He turned around to see several of the Eridians rolling the person over. It was a human, covered in mutated flesh and blood. His left arm was gone. There was maybe half of his upper arm still attached to his shoulder. The wound looked extremely fresh. Or maybe that was the blood.

The person had thick, dark hair, soaked in blood of course. Grace stepped up to analyze. It was a guy, as far as he could tell. The left side of his face look burned. Grace couldn't make it out with the amount of blood. What he could make out was the sudden jolt and eye opening of the guy. Immediately, he sat up, frantically looking around and coughing. He turned to the side, spitting up blood.

"Whoa, are you alright?" Grace asked, getting close to the man. That was his mistake to be fair. The sound of Graces voice must've spooked the poor guy as Grace was met with a bloody fist straight to the nose. Ryland stumbled back in pain, crying out as he clutched his nose.

"What the fuck?!" He yelled, feeling the rush of blood in his hand. Instantly, twenty something Eridians rushed the man, trilled and chirping at him furiously. Some even swat at him. That must've been enough to get the man moving because Grace had never seen a human move faster. He scrambled back, desperately trying to get up and away from the Eridians.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" he yelled, finally getting up and standing. Grace looked up and had seen the Eridians crowded the poor guy, who was scared to no end. "Hey! Leave him alone!" He called out. Everyone stopped and looked at Grace before a, "What the hell?" came out of the man. Before Grace could say anything else, the man's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed.

"Oh shit!" Grace muttered under his breathing, moving towards the man. Grace and the other Eridians looking down at the man, wondering where he came from.

"Grace has new friend, statement!" Rocky cheered.

Yeah. Grace has a potential new friend. He could only hope that the guy wouldn't try and kill him.