Chapter Text
“Human kill self with food, question?”
“What?” Grace says absentmindedly from his desk. He's been working on updating UNO cards with raised tape and signs so they can play. It's more time intensive than he thought.
“Human eat and die question?”
“Not really helping,” Grace says as he spins to see Rocky. “What are you- oh.”
Rocky is scrolling through a digital medical textbook, and has apparently hit the part about allergies.
“Uh, yeah. Some people's bodies attack themselves when they interact with different things. The body thinks the allergen is dangerous, so it protects itself. Peanuts is pretty common,” he explains. He's still fiddling with tape, but now he's just using it as a fidget.
“Grace die if eat taumoeba question?” Rocky asks, agitated.
“No, you know I'm fine,” Grace responds, confused.
“Grace maybe die if eat! Grace not know! Stupid stupid stupid,” Rocky exclaims, banging on his hamster ball to emphasize it.
Oh. Grace didn't really think about that. And, honestly, if anyone was going to be allergic to aliens it would have been him.
“I'm fine! Look! Not dead,” Grace says, attempting to deescalate. He waves his arms, gesturing to his functioning body.
“Grace die, Grace die, Grace, die die die,” Rocky yells.
It sounds like a threat without context, which is kind of funny.
“Woah, Rock, it's okay! I looked at its chemical makeup before eating it. It's okay.”
Rocky looks somewhat mollified. “Humans stupid, statement.”
Grace laughs. “Not gonna argue with you there, bud.”