Chapter Text
When Ryland Grace discovered he had been launched into space aboard the Hail Mary, he knew it had been for a very specific reason. Although he literally had to be dragged kicking and screaming and begging for anyone to halt the actions of the men pinning him to the cold, hard ground, he understood that there was no way out for him. He had been forced to understand the stakes and knew what had to be done in order to save Earth and the stars.
With all of the expectations thrown in his lap came a lot of things he considered unexpected. Meeting Rocky shortly after waking up had been one of the major things. Being able to communicate with an alien species through movement, non-complex English, and then a translator had not even been in his realm of possibilities. Yet, the more he thought back on it, the more real it felt each and every time.
This alien had given him a new understanding for life and the value of his own. He had gone from lying and saying he is comfortable in his inevitable fate, to turning Mary around the second he knew something would happen to Rocky. He had accepted it, then. He had accepted the idea of giving up his life to help this friend he had made along the way. For all he knew, Rocky could have been the last friend he ever made, and he did not want him to die before both of their suns were saved.
It had been a surprise to him to learn that Eridians had the technology to essentially mimic Earth. He knew he could not go home, at least not yet, so Rocky worked to create a dome for him. Equipped with fog, an ocean and beach, a home for him to stay in, a twenty-four hour day and night cycle, and even a classroom, he had been blown away by the amount of care that had been put in solely for him.
The Eridians had been so kind to him, albeit utterly enamored with him. Each one he met treated him kindly, as if they all had already known him and were already friends. He wondered if his companion had anything to do with their opinions of him, but there had not been a single part of him that minded. It meant less stress of proper introductions and fighting to ensure he made a good impression. It seemed one had already been made for him.
Rocky and a few scholars were ecstatic to learn that Grace was knowledgeable in things that his species was not, carrying with him the vastness of information related to his old home planet. They used that as the perfect example to give to others of their kind as to why he should have any access to their offsprings’ education. He found out later that the decision was unanimous: Grace would make a stellar teacher.
Learning the language was easier than he expected. Being around Rocky helped him form a good baseline. He had even learned enough from Adrian, who spoke directly to him in Eridian, as they did not seem as open to the translator. Something about Grace “taking the hard part out of language learning won’t make him learn it any faster. Or be better at it.” He struggled for nearly a month, but with their combined assistance, understanding language patterns and mannerisms became much easier.
Life on Erid was different. Not bad, but different. Grace had never been entirely satisfied with the end result of any drastic change, but there had never been anything for him to do other than accept how things played out. Something about the prospect of living his life here, however, warmed something within him.
He thought about Earth infrequently, he came to learn. He thought less often of the people. If Stratt had told him this is how the rest of his life would play out, he would have laughed directly in her stoic face. Heck, he wondered what she would even think if she knew he was still alive.
Although this new life was a huge change, Grace found himself more comfortable in this Eridian-built home than he did his own apartment back on Earth. Rocky and his people did as much as they physically could to make him feel at home. They manufactured every single bit of the life inside of the biodome to his liking. They made him food from the proteins in his own muscles, essentially curating a lab-grown meat for him to consume. As much as he did not like the idea, the satisfaction of eating something that was not ramen or space-sludge had been so very refreshing. He had even begun to gain weight.
With this change slowly came monotony. Time passed slower each day. A part of him had grown to appreciate that, loving the idea of his life dragging out as long as he could stretch it, even if it did get a little boring. If he was bored, then he was still alive.
There had been this feeling, though. This deep ache in his chest and an almost empty sensation in his body he recognized. The words it spoke to him were sour and ugly, but they were so very familiar. It resonated in him. It knew his name. He tried his best to ignore it.
Oh, how he tried.
The unexpecteds slowly died down once he arrived here. His routine became just that, and he did not mind. He grew to enjoy the mild repetitive nature of his days here. Rocky kept him busy enough, as did the occasional other Eridians who were eager to meet the human who lived in the dome on their planet. He felt a little bad at how he struggled so poorly with giving them names he would not so soon forget, as he did not see some of them as often as he did Rocky.
He learned that one of his favorite things to do was to teach the youth about Earth and the life on it. Of course, he left out most of the details of what the dimming sun had most likely done to their environment, but the children did not seem to mind. He enjoyed teaching them about animals and different plant life. They all eventually had their favorites.
His actions became habitual. He had his routine. He was content. He was alive, and that was all he needed.
This nightly cycle Grace lived with day by day had been harshly interrupted one night. It had been around 2 AM when Rocky and two other Eridians knocked on his door frantically. He did not even have time to fumble with putting on a shirt, worried the rocks would burst through his front door before he had time to finish putting one on.
“A distress signal!” Rocky had told him. “Other Eridian’s received it in space.”
The two other friends he had brought along with him had been researchers. They worked heavily with all sorts of technology that centered around space and their solar system. A few scientists from his people had actually been off the planet gathering information on a separate planet with a similar atmosphere to Erid (in case Rocky’s mission had gone awry).
His mind had been foggy, then. Having been jolted awake, he did not understand most of the details as three tunes spoke to him all at the same time. Their voices overlapped in his mind as they explained. Grace could make out small bits and pieces as he lazily rubbed sleep from his eyes.
A distress signal. Not coming from a planet, but a moon. Signal discovered years ago, but the information was only now coming back to the planet. Rescue mission ensued. No other signs of life on the moon, even with docks and buildings there. Ocean made of organic material. A submarine. They pulled something from the submarine. Barely alive. Induced coma on their ship. Mimicked Earth atmosphere.
Supposedly, they had found another human out there.
Grace had been fully awake, then. His eyes shot open and he asked them to repeat the human part over probably a few dozen times.
Rocky explained better the following morning. He went in depth talking about how the distress signal had been discovered by these scientists around the time Grace would have woken up on his ship. With communication technology similar to Earth, the people on the ship had no way to reach the people of their home planet before deviating their course to attempt a rescue. When they arrived, it was clear they had not been expecting much.
With their exceptional sight, they were able to determine that there was in fact a person trapped in a vessel resting near the surface of an ocean of blood–which he had barely any time to even question before it was glossed over so casually. Dawning xenonite suits (ones that Rocky describes as “less efficient” than the one he had grown to wear), they descended into the hellscape and pulled a human being from the wreckage.
Thankfully, they also scavenged the place. They pulled information and kept a clean record of everything they discovered. Now, the team of eighteen scientists were closing in on their home planet. Sixty-four days. Ryland had to wait sixty-four days before seeing another human. He remembered trembling at the very thought.
In that time, an addition was made to the beach. A home similar to his own was planned to be built half way down the rocky path. On his recommendation, there had also been an add-on to his home as well. Another bedroom, large and on the opposite side of his home would be where this new human would stay until they would be able to wake from their coma.
Grace had also thought this to be a good time to teach lessons on humans to his students. The different social situations, different personalities, different races, different beliefs, languages, looks, voices, constructs, and values. It was amusing to see the children struggle to grasp certain human concepts. He himself could not even understand most of them.
In hindsight, he worried these lessons were unhelpful to the worried flurry he had been in ever since receiving the news. He knew better than to bombard his companion with questions on this new human, as he did not have any more answers for him. Instead, these questions would sit on his chest and stare at him. They would steal the breath from his lungs as he tried to sleep and linger around corners and his peripherals.
Of course, he had even gone as far as to convince himself that they had not found another human out in space. He rationalized his thinking with Rocky by continuously insisting that, aside from himself, it was impossible and extremely unlikely anything from Earth had been that far out.
The description of the place this person had been pulled from was extremely unorthodox, and did not sound like anything he could remember from any of the mission prep back on Earth. An ocean of blood sounded almost cartoonishly fake, so he knew to take each thing they said with a grain of salt. He even wondered how that was even possible. He had his doubts, but he did not want to just assume that the scientists were wrong about everything. Instead, he remained curious and tried to wait it out.
This proved to be significantly more difficult than he had imagined.
The closer the date came, the more reluctant Grace felt sharing a home with the thing that was coming back on the Eridian ship. He felt himself growing uncomfortable at the idea of him even sharing a dome with it. How should he be expected to?
What if it was dangerous? What if the being was more animalistic and violent? What if it was sick? What if it got him sick? How will it react to a new planet? Can he really be trusted to take care of this thing? What if he doesn’t know how because it’s not human?
God, but what if it was human?
He had barely slept the week leading up to their arrival. After Adrian scolded him for falling asleep during a quiet part of his classes, he knew he could no longer allow himself another sleepless night. He fought with himself for rest, knowing that it would be for the best if he were to meet this thing-person in a good state of mind.
When the day finally came, Grace had skipped breakfast in fear of hurling it right back up again from nervousness. His sleep had been cut short, having only gotten around five hours that night after tossing and turning for hours. He threw on his cardigan and the only pair of denim he had with him, assuming that his pessimistic attitude may change if he dressed himself nicer. It was hard to tell if it worked.
There had been no classes that day, though Grace still found himself staring at an empty classroom when Rocky told him that the ship had finally arrived not too long ago and that preparations were already being made. He remembers hesitating, standing up only with the reassurance that he would not have to face this new thing-person alone.
The Eridians moved quicker than he would have liked. By the time he crossed the beach to get to his home, the researchers from the spacecraft had already made their way inside. Guided by other members of their race who knew the dome and were familiar with the layout, it was shocking how quickly they were able to get them off their ship and into his home.
Grace remembers walking into the room for the first time. All of his doubts and fears and confusion swelled in his chest, while simultaneously halting in the deepest pit of his gut. His body stood motionless in the doorway as his robot companion communicated with the Eridians on what to do.
“Now two humans on Erid,” he remembered Rocky’s native tongue cutting through his overwhelming thoughts. “Human male. Like Grace.”
“Yeah, bud,” he had replied, taking a few steps into the room. “Two humans.”
Grace stayed in that room that night. A part of him was afraid of what would happen if he left him alone. He was unsure of when he would wake up, nor was he aware of the mental state he would be in when he did.
He changed the man’s bandages for ones more suited for human skin, despite a vast majority of his injuries being completely healed. His hair was dark and long, facial hair grown out almost like his when he had woken up for the first time on the Hail Mary. Armando did not shave it clean, but trimmed his facial hair enough to make out if he had any injuries to his face.
It had been immediately obvious that this person had been missing his left arm, though that was arguably the least shocking thing about his body. On the left side of his face stretching from the corner of his mouth and up the side of his cheek had been a large array of slender teeth. The sight of them made him initially grimace, though he struggled to not find them fascinating.
Before the Eridian scientists left him to his own devices, they had given him a large box of things they had pulled from AT-5, the alleged blood moon. Inside it had been a plethora of information, most of it so cryptic he could barely understand a word on the documents. In his search, he was hoping to learn this person’s name. He would have loved to put a name to the surprisingly chiseled face sleeping in the room down the hall from his own. He wondered if it would have made him feel more comfortable. It would have reassured him that this was just another human.
He found nothing of a name. Instead, he found a record. The bottom of the document had been almost entirely illegible, covered in a browning stain that made his gloves sticky when he touched it.
Convict #13, the page read. Willing submission. Station uninhabitable–destroyed. Sixty-two dead.
Ryland sat by his bedside pensively and monitored him for the couple of days he had remained asleep. His hands gently touched the skin of the man in the bed before him, fingers just barely brushing against it in fear of waking him up. He was warm to the touch.
Another human being living here on Erid had to be the most unexpected thing to come of life on this new planet thus far.
What he had expected, however, was the disarray he would be in when he awoke.
The man finally came to peacefully, eyes cracking open and his heart rate steadily thumping faster. Grace had been reading a book at a desk in the corner when the sound of the female robotic voice chimed eye movement detected throughout the room. He had practically leaped from his chair to rush to his bedside, instantly trying to gauge how aware he had been of his surroundings with too many questions for his barely awake brain to function.
Rocky had been with him when finally woke up, but, unbeknownst to him at the time, that had been a very large mistake. The mysterious human being had barely spoken a word when something finally clicked in his brain. One look at Rocky must have sent him over the edge, literally, as he sat up and backed away from the two of them, falling off the other side of the bed in the process.
He was confused, shouting things at the two of them he could barely understand. Thankfully, it seemed they spoke the same language, but his voice was so hoarse and he stuttered every time he started to speak. His deep brown eyes were frantic as they looked between the two of them.
“Convict dangerous, question?” Rocky had asked as Grace rounded the bed. A large mistake had been made on both of their parts, just then, as he was unaware he had been unintentionally cornering this person.
He remembers his reactions being more related to that of a rabid dog than a scared man. He seemed angry with them, and the second he got something in his hands, he launched it directly at them. He spat harsh words at them, demanding they answer his questions and then not giving either of them a second to respond before he would hurl something else at them.
When he made the comment about not trusting “more alien freaks,” Grace knew Rocky had to leave immediately. Stepping away from the convict, it took a lot of convincing to ensure he would be safe in this room with him alone. He even promised he would step out in ten minutes to assure his friend he was okay. He knew it would be in all of their interests if he was able to speak to this person one on one.
It took time for the man to calm down. Lots of time. As he did, Grace had been able to answer more of his questions. He had plenty, and most of them had been answered lamely, as he had no idea what he was even asking.
Where am I? Who are you and what is that thing? How am I alive? No, I can’t be alive. Is this real? Fuck you, this isn’t real! Do you work for the COI? That thing knows I’m a criminal, so I know you do! What does the COI want with me? How am I here? What did you do to me?
Grace was patient with each question.
You’re on Erid. My name is Ryland Grace, and that is Rocky. He’s an Eridian and I’m human. I don’t know everything that happened to you, but you are definitely alive. I promise you that I’m very real. I almost want to ask you the same question. Woah! Strong language. What’s the COI? I don’t know what that is or if they want anything to do with you. You were rescued from a submarine by Eridian scientists years ago. You’ve been in a medically induced coma ever since so they would be able to monitor your health and injuries without… this happening.
More shouting ensued from the dark haired man. Refusal to believe everything he had just heard was not unexpected, but it was frustrating to constantly hear the language in which he used to convey it.
Eventually, he stepped out to meet back up with Rocky outside. Concerned but relieved he was unhurt, the Eridian insisted he be more careful. Grace had only nodded his head and hummed in agreement.
Later on in the day, Ryland came back to the room with a peace offering; food and water. It got him a few steps in the room, the man only allowing him to set it down on the table he had been sitting at when he awoke. The room had been in disarray when he re-entered, documents from the box he had been looking through strewn about the bed and table. Grace had not even gotten around to reading most of them, having been put off by the whole sixty-two dead thing.
It had been only then that he realized he had never even gotten his name. He had told him his own, but never even thought to ask him his. He had started with an apology on his companion’s part before awkwardly fumbling his way into just asking.
“And, uh, I’m just gonna go out on a limb and say your name isn’t ‘Convict?’ Is there something else you’d like us to call you?”
Ryland almost wished he had not even bothered. The heavy stare of the man weighed on his shoulders so much so that he worried the gravity in the dome was malfunctioning. He barely blinked through the question, as if he was on high alert and shutting his eyes for even a split second would be enough time for Grace to attack him.
“Simon,” he had answered. The blonde had been so in his own head that he nearly missed it.
He smiled a large toothy grin, then. “Simon. It’s nice to meet you. Sorry again about before.”
There was a pause between replies when Grace noticed his gaze fall only slightly. It had been as if he was being studied, unfamiliar eyes raking over his entire person and trying to be understood. He swallowed and mindlessly took a step back.
“Yeah,” was all Simon said in response.