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The first time Rocky noticed it was when he'd first moved all of his things onto the Hail Mary. They'd spent a long while just gawking at each other- well Grace gawked, eating hole wide open (Rocky still wasn't over that distasteful conversation) and sight organs widened with both confusion and that curiosity Rocky had come to be quite fond of. Eventually though, the two of them started to return to somewhat normalcy, if being official roommates with the only sentient alien at least 10 light years in any given direction was normal at all. Grace mumbled garbled strings of words Rocky had begun to understand rather quickly mixed with things he'd never even heard of before as they worked together to construct various xenonite tunnels and domes around the ship, the strange robot appendage Grace had explained to him was his doctor, named 'Armando' (the name's meaning was lost on Rocky) idling about awkwardly as the two of them bickered about angles and tunnel placements.
Eventually, though, things began to settle down in earnest, Grace curled up into a weird, gangly blob on one of the lab stools while Rocky was starting to situate himself in his new living spaces, xenonite crates in his claws as he sorted through tools and contraptions and organized them into his own mini 'lab'. The two of them had been chatting here and there as they did their own respective tasks, but it had been a while since either of them had said anything, Grace seemingly hunched further into his work in a way Rocky knew would hurt his squishy human body without even needing to know how it felt.
Then, he heard it. It was very quiet, so quiet even Rocky had trouble picking up on it through the layers of xenonite and apparently, the fabric of the cardigan Grace was wearing, as the man had apparently dozed off and slumped even further, precariously balanced on the back-less stool with his face smooshed awkwardly into the crook of his bent elbow. It sounded like a low hum, but as Rocky stopped tinkering with what he was doing and clambered through the tunnels to get closer to the biologist, the sound became clearer. Grace was.. purring? The humans can purr? That was the best word Rocky had for that sound. He'd been listening to Earth sounds a few days ago on Grace's thinking machine (laptop sounded stupid to Rocky. Clearly, Grace needed it to think, or else he was stupid too, so it's his thinking machine), and they'd come across a compilation of what Grace had described to him as 'funny cat videos'. Rocky didn't even know what a cat was, until Grace explained that they were soft, fuzzy creatures on Earth that humans bred smaller to keep as pets, and for awhile the two of them sat together, Rocky pointing his light-wave contraption at the screen to watch as various different cats made fools of themselves or got into trouble with their human owners. It had been a mostly uneventful day, but Rocky was glad he had the knowledge of 'purring' now, because that was exactly what Grace was doing. {"Grace! Rocky didn't know human purr like cat animal too! Why didn't Grace tell Rocky!"} He hadn't meant to come off so aggressive, and as the robotic translator blared through the silence in the lab Rocky couldn't help but feel a little bad as Grace jolted into awareness and almost fell backwards before he was able to clamp his hands down on the lip of the table.
"I'm up! Ok I'm up-" a yawn broke through his words, Rocky chirping something in anticipation as he skittered over to the closest point in the tunnels to Grace. When the man was done blearily rubbing at his face and slapping himself awake (Rocky was perturbed to say the least when Grace explained some humans harm themselves to wake up or refocus on a task), he finished his statement, "What's up bud, did you need something?"
{"Rocky heard Grace make purr sound like Earth cat. Why Grace not explain that human thing? Why Grace not do it before?"} The blonde took a second to stare at the Eridian with a gobsmacked look on his face before it dawned on him.
"Rocky- do you mean I snore?" The Eridian tilted his carapace slightly, a quirk he'd apparently picked up from Grace.
{"New word. Explain."}
"Yes, yes I was getting to that- some human's trachea, or the tube that connects their mouth and lungs and what they breathe with, can get partially blocked when they're sleeping, so when they breathe it makes noise and probably sounds pretty weird to you guys now that I'm thinking about it-" Grace couldn't help but look away, a small flush on his face as he shuffled awkwardly in his seat "Sorry Rocky, it's been nice sleeping in the tunnel with you and all, but my body hasn't gotten used to it, so I haven't been sleeping right. I'm probably just really tired."
{"Grace talking too much. Grace say tired, Grace sleep. Rocky watch."} Rocky scolded, the Eridian quickly skittering away to go collect his xenonite ball abandoned further down the tunnels before Grace could even argue.
"Fine.. I guess I should probably get some sleep." he reconnected with Rocky in the Dormitory, a few objects in one of his hands to presumably tinker with while Grace slept. He 'looked' up at Grace expectantly, a few claws tapping at the floor impatiently even though Grace just got here."I'm going I'm going! Geez, you're so bossy Rocky." It took a moment to get his body to actually follow through with the task he gave it, but once he was moving it was mostly muscle memory slipping out of his thick sweatshirt into something thinner to sleep in, socked feet shuffling towards his bed before he flopped his whole body onto the mattress with a quiet "oomf" as the air escaped his lungs. Out of the corner of his eye Grace saw Rocky briefly cease his crafting to focus his attention on the biologist, chirping curiously as the man starfished in his cot for a moment before finally peeling back the mound of blankets he kept on top (it's cold in space, besides it's not like my dead crewmates will need them) and crawling into the cocoon. Mindlessly his feet rubbed together under the covers (cricketing, his brain supplied groggily) while he settled into his own body heat, a bone-dead tired calling to him to close his eyes and give in. Grace only yawned, sleepy eyes lagging as he searched for Rocky.
"..Rock'.. could y'u- can you d' the th'ng" his voice was barely above a mumble, words slurring as he fought to stay awake. Rocky only hummed, two of his hands working with some xenonite scraps while a third held some kind of soldering tool. The other two were folded under his carapace, kind of like a cat. Cute.
{"Grace brain too noisy, question? Rocky do The Thing."} before he'd even finished responding, a few gentle, low chords started harmonizing from his other air bladders. The aimless, quiet song envelops Grace in a way he doesn't understand, he never does. It feels like it's vibrating his bones and suddenly all of his back pain is gone and man does that fee-..
Before everything finally slipped away into that syrupy goo of sleep, Grace was pretty sure he heard Rocky chirp out a quiet laugh.
________________________
The next several days had been back to repetitive normalcy, at least as far as Grace was aware. Rocky however, was making revolutionary discoveries about alien biology and no one– human or Eridian– would stop him in this quest for knowledge. To him, at least so far, anything his human companion did while asleep had seemed entirely dictated by pure chance, no matter how much Rocky skewed the data. And Grace was starting to get tired of it, Rocky could also tell. Apparently humans are not very fond of being rotated in their sleep in various angles, who figured. So Rocky took a step back, intending to give his friend a little space before he resumed his experiments.
But then it happened again.
This time, it was clearer. Rocky was in the Lab again and Grace had been doing his own thing, (Something something "I'm gonna go mess with some Spectrometer readings in the Screen Room") he admittedly had not really been paying attention to the man as he shuffled out of the Lab, blanket wrapped over his shoulders that made Rocky think he looked even more like a stupid squishy blob. The biologist did seem moderately sleepy, so Rocky supposed he probably should have followed along, if any of his friend's past habits said anything (it seemed like Grace was more fond of sleeping on the hard floor or on uncomfortable lab stools than in his actual bed, and he'd yet to figure out why the squishy human would prefer that uncomfortableness. He thought humans liked being in squishy soft nests of blankets?) But that was the past.
Now, it was time for science.
The Eridian made quick work of finishing up his current task of weaving scraps of xenonite from past projects into larger sheets, setting those aside so he could actually be quiet this time, since humans could still wake up after falling asleep (if Rocky could shudder he would very much be doing that right now) and noise was something they were sensitive too. Grace always switched between deep, Eridian-like sleep cycles and lighter ones, fraught with paranoia and bad dreams, so Rocky could never tell how well his friend was sleeping until it was too late.
Regardless, he tried to be quiet as he could be for a creature who relied on sound to move, chirps and trills low in a frequency he knew Grace wouldn't be able to hear as he made his way to the 'Don't Go Crazy Room' (Grace's preferred name, which is stupid). As Rocky approached it became easier to make out the shape of Grace's figure, slumped back on the only wall (Screen- the walls are all screens. Rocky just can't see them, which is also stupid) actually connected to the floor. The rest just dropped off into a gap below the flooring. For immersion apparently, Grace had explained at one point. The biologist had his thinking machine resting in his lap, likely about to tumble to the ground at any moment. His glasses aren't faring any better, hanging on just barely by only one of his ears. Rocky would have gently taken them off of his face and set them on the ground next to him if he wasn't trapped in a ball of transparent xenonite. So instead, the Eridian curled up nearby, cooing and trilling softly as his friend snoozed away next to him, snores now clearly rumbling through the oxygen and ammonia of both of their atmospheres.
It was almost pathetic, if Rocky didn't also remember the many sleepless nights, mindlessly scribbling away at equations on whiteboards or choking through anguished sobs against his pillow, not even realizing Rocky was there until the Eridian warbled softly, clambering into the cot so Grace could curl his body around the xenonite ball and bawl his eyes out until he loses consciousness. Rocky hates when the latter happens, especially after Grace explained that humans don't actually get any real sleep when they black out, their brains just shut down because something was overwhelming its systems too much.
This was much better than either of those though, Rocky supposed. At some point Grace's head lost footing where it was awkwardly craned back to rest on the wall behind him, his upper half now slumping towards the Eridian. Rocky was quick to shuffle closer, as quiet as he could in a big glass ball, and let the blonde lean his weight against the warm material. Grace was apparently a huge fan, as he just settled further into sleep, mumbling something under his breath that Rocky barely understood (what are 'permission slips'? How had Grace forgotten to sign something in his sleep?) as he curled his body towards the comforting heat.
As gross as his leaky space blob was, Rocky just couldn't bring himself to be too annoyed at the biologist, his unfortunately noisy rumbly snores starting again as he probably gets his sticky gross disgusting drool all over his ball. Perhaps it was sheer exhaustion that caused the strange noises and movements? Rocky mused to himself as he leaned his carapace into Grace, more than used to the mindless twitches and shuffles from the human next to him rocking the ball slightly as he slept, even if it was still a little creepy to Rocky. He couldn't be too mad, at least Grace was sleeping for once.
________________________
The next time Rocky had any new data was.. quite awhile. As much as the Eridian was peeved, he couldn't help but let himself grow fonder and fonder of his leaky space blob. They had had a conversation a few days ago about how, to humans, Rocky would seem like one of their 'dogs'. Rocky wasn't too happy with that comparison until Grace had explained that it was because of how loyal the Eridian was, Grace seemingly only doubling down after Rocky had technically forked over another 6 years of his life to send Grace back home.
In exchange, Rocky had sing-songed that to him, Grace was like a big, gangly, clumsy pebble. The Eridian was pretty sure the man was going to have one of those 'heart attacks' from how fast his heart had begun to beat, he heard blood pool in the biologist's cheeks as he'd flushed from embarrassment, coughing out something along the lines of "Don't infantilize me!" before doubling over in hot shame, spindly fingers hiding his face as Rocky simply whistled with laughter.
Now, that mindset only intensified as the Eridian 'gazed' at the scene before him.
Once the two of them had recovered from what Grace had dubbed 'The Emotional Moment' that was Rocky's sacrifice of fuel, the two of them began to devise a plan to collect a sample of Astrophage from planet Adrian's Petrova Line. It was a pretty simple task, all things considered, so by the time Grace had analyzed the new samples and (thanks to Rocky and just Rocky) hypothesized there might be some kind of predator in Adrian's atmosphere that is keeping the population at a steady equilibrium, the Eridian was ready for some real hard work again. And 'hard work' they did (if it was Grace you were asking, that is).
They were making a chain. A really, really long chain. When the two had come up with the plan, Grace had compared it to 'fishing', which Rocky was totally down with once he actually knew what fishing was. So that's how they'd spent the last four days, chatting aimlessly while Rocky shaped and cut the links out, Grace working on soldering them together. Chains were everywhere. Chains were coiled around on the floors of the Lab. Chains were wrapped around the legs of the bedframes of the two cots not in use (well one- if you counted the mattress Rocky had one of his domes resting on), eventually bulging to a point where they couldn't wrap them anymore, and now chains were strewn about the Dorms. The only reason why there were no chains in the cockpit is because they might accidentally break the rolling track the pilot chair is resting in and be unable to pilot Mary properly, and Rocky was almost as sick of it as Grace was. That brings them to now. They had been on a particularly long Chain Binge, working the better part of 15 hours with surprisingly few breaks, and ultimately, far past Rocky's enforced bed time for Grace (the biologist had long gotten tired of complaining and just accepted it). In theory this was supposed to push them past the halfway point, but in practice, it just left Rocky with a very, very tired Grace. The Eridian had let his attention drift from the human for maybe ten minutes, engrossed in trying to use the scraps from prior chainlinks to make a new sheet of xenonite, when he heard (and also 'saw') the soft thud of the man's head gently hitting the table he'd been sitting at, cheek smooshed right into the freshly soldered chains like they were the comfiest pillow in the world. Rocky couldn't help but sit and watch for a few minutes, humming sweetly as Grace's grip relaxed on the tool he'd fallen asleep working with, the metal of the tool meeting the metal of the table with a shrill clink falling on entirely deaf human ears.
Normally, after a bit of pestering he could usually rouse the blonde enough to herd him to the Dorms, but Rocky could tell the poor guy was out, glasses sliding further down his face as a thin line of drool escaped the corner of his mouth and connected with the table. The Eridian even tried butting into his leg a few times with his ball and no dice. He supposed this wasn't the worst place Grace had fallen asleep (he never wanted to emergency stop the Mary because Grace dozed off in the pilot's chair again), and it's not like he could really do anything about the predicament, so Rocky simply resigned himself to watching Grace sleep, even if it would probably be for the next eleven and a half hours. Shuffling around a bit to avoid the chains messily thrown around the Lab, the Eridian squeezed himself under the table, settling down directly in front of the man to hopefully provide some meager warmth in lieu of a blanket. Rocky shouldn't have been surprised when the only thing he got in response was a loud sniffle from Grace, knees knocking against the xenonite ball as he readjusted himself and mumbled a few incoherent strings of equations that devolved into muffled snores. He couldn't help but chitter a gentle laugh at that, knowing the human was well into his cycle of dreaming that Grace had explained at some point as he folded his limbs under himself properly and began to quietly sing to his sleepy human.
And while Rocky fiddled quietly with a few small xenonite figurines, it was no one's business but his own if he chirped and cooed sweetly every time Grace slurred out his name, lost in dreams about exploring the surface of Adrian or traveling across the towns and cities of Erid, always with Rocky, always with his best friend at his side.
________________________
They had done it. Rocky could barely contain his excitement, and Grace was clearly not doing a very good job if the mess of snot and tears on his face was anything to go by as he crumpled to the ground to hug the Eridian {"Rocky Grace found Taumoeba! Rocky Grace saved stars!"} He heard the human laugh wetly, one of his hands bunching up the hem of his t-shirt to try and wipe up the mess of mucus and tears on his face. It was not working.
"You're right Rock' we did it.. I saved Earth.." That only seemed to strangle another choked sob out of the blonde, his form shaking as he sucked in sporadic breaths. If Rocky wasn't careful, this could quickly devolve into one of Grace's normal leaking sessions, his friend crying himself stupid over everything and nothing all at once. So Rocky changed the topic.
{"Celebration time! We work on Taumoeba later!"} Grace only had the time to let out a confused little noise before he was being pushed and shoved around, the Eridian clearly herding him to the Don't go Crazy Room to celebrate. Rocky was right though, if he let his thoughts drift too far down that rabbit hole he'd find himself lost in a sea of shame and regret. He deserved to have a little celebration after saving everyone's behinds right? Shooing Rocky away a bit, the man got himself properly onto his feet, brushing non-existent dust off his pants before he took a deep breath, threw on the brightest grin he could muster, and clapped his hands together suddenly.
"Ok Rocky, let's celebrate! Human celebrations typically have a selection of drinks to peruse so if you'll excuse me.." Grace turned to head off towards the Dorms, surprising himself with the pep in his step.
{"What kind of drink, question?"} Rocky didn't hesitate to follow, as always.
"The alcoholic kind!"
…
They had partied hard. Well as hard as one man alone in space with his other lone Eridian companion could party, but Grace is sure this is the most fun he'd had at any kind of celebration ever. After burning through the first half of Ilyukhina's vodka stash when he'd woken up from his coma several months prior, he didn't have much alcohol left, but it's not like the man had ever needed much. He was a true-born lightweight afterall. They'd watched videos of all kinds of celebrations on Earth; college parties, weddings, holidays, sporting events, you name it. If people screamed and hopped around with any kind of joy, Grace was showing Rocky. By the time the biologist was too drunk to fiddle with the laptop hooked up to the screens, they had found a video of fireworks, which both of them seemed to be content to watch for a while. Grace had taken to laying down on his side, facing Rocky who had laid down right next to him. He knew the Eridian had no face, but he could tell Rocky had his full, undivided attention on him, like Grace was the only thing that mattered in his little Eridian brain (obviously it wasn't little, but you know what he means). It made something in his heart ache; not the kind when you see a really sad ad about animals in shelters during Christmas time, but the kind of ache when everything feels utterly, overwhelmingly correct and right about where you are right now and what you're doing. Like you could stay here, doing this forever. Grace was pretty sure he could stay here with Rocky forever, in this limbo of awareness and blackout-drunk haze.
{"Grace is very inebriated. Leaking all over the floor."} It took a considerable few moments for Grace to actually process what Rocky was saying, let alone what he meant. But when he did, he just giggled, cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he realized he was crying.
"Sor'y Rock'. Haven't been this drun' in awhile.." he hiccuped, blinking more of the salty liquid out of his vision until he could actually see the Eridian in front of him, "m' j's happy- r'lly happy." a wobbly grin broke through his expression as he couldn't help but reach one of his hands out to rest on the xenonite ball. It was warm, comforting in so many ways Grace couldn't explain, a safety blanket he'd never had, even on Earth. He couldn't imagine living his life without experiencing this warmth even once.
{"Grace has said that many many times in the last 3 Earth hours. Rocky doesn't understand why humans drink this 'alcohol'. Just makes humans stupid."} Grace chuckled, probably more than he should have for such a simple comment. He was drunk, and emotional, sue him.
"S'mtimes humans like being a little st'pid s'mtimes, Rock'" Grace slurred, trailing off towards the end as his face broke out in a yawn. He knew if he wasn't careful, he'd definitely end up passing out right here, so Grace resigned himself to slowly push himself onto his elbows, then his hands, before he could pull his feet under him and he was in somewhat of a sitting position. "Alright! M' sleepy, le's go bed-" he was cut off by another hiccup, but Rocky seemed to have gotten the jist as the Eridian was now helping push him onto his feet like he was a newborn fawn. It took a few minutes, Grace muttering his own PG profanities under his breath as he wobbled this way and that before somehow regaining some semblance of balance. Resisting the urge to puke his guts out until at the very least making it to the bathroom, the blonde grinned stupidly, bringing a very uncoordinated hand in front of him and pointing towards some random location in the ship (most definitely not the right one) "To the bathroom!"
{"Grace is pointing at Lab."}
"..Nuh' uh.."
…
Grace had thankfully waited until they had made it closer to Armando's jurisdiction until he called out for a vomit bag, throwing up most of what he had eaten earlier today and plenty of vodka before he brushed his teeth and fumbled around trying to get his clothes off as he shuffled towards the Dorms. Rocky was unused to this particular.. openness from Grace, but Grace had explained (earlier in their celebration, while drunk) that inebriated people tend to behave differently, so the Eridian didn't really comment on it, mainly focused on correcting the biologists balance as he swayed two and fro down the hall to the Dorms. When they actually made it Grace tossed the t-shirt he'd wiggled out of on the walk over into the void, resigning to shimmy out of his sweats and leave them in a crumpled heap at the foot of his cot and drunkenly clambered into bed.
Grace's head hit the pillow with a satisfied groan, stretching himself out as much as he could for a few moments before curling back up, patting the open space he left on the mattress. "R'ky cmere.." the Eridian didn't need to be asked twice, especially with how soft and sleepy the blonde looked, eyes barely managing to stay open as they were trained on him through the haze of alcohol and sleep. Jumping up onto the cot, Rocky took a few moments to settle down next to Grace, humming quietly as he leaned into the xenonite to be closer to the man. Grace just moved one of his hands closer to the barrier, knuckles brushing against warm xenonite as another, larger yawn ripped through him. "R'cky..? Can I ask y' sm'thing..?"
{"Grace ask Rocky anything, statement."} The man seemed to think for a moment, and Rocky was worried he'd fallen asleep before he finally responded.
"D'you r'gret leaving Erid?" Grace's voice is barely above a whisper, the type he designates solely for things he's anxious to think about, let alone say aloud.
{"No. Rocky never regret leaving Erid, because if Rocky never leave Erid, Rocky never meet Grace. Grace is Rocky's best friend, Rocky love Grace, even if mean Rocky is alone for long time. Even if mean Rocky never see mate again. Even if mean Rocky die to save Grace."} The Eridian is met with silence, and he begins trying to rephrase before he hears it. A very loud, drunken snore. It startles Rocky for a moment, before his vents whistle with the Eridian equivalent of a sigh, and he settles. {"Rocky mean what Rocky said, even if Grace did not hear."} He's only met with another noisy snore in response, but Rocky doesn't particularly mind.
Later that night, after Rocky moves to his dome, the Eridian irritably notes to himself on his note-keeping device, humming with exasperation as he struggles to hear his own thoughts over the noise:
'Do not give Grace too much alcoholic drink. Snores loud enough to rival Eridian thrum.'
________________________
Once all the celebration and the feels died down, all that was really left for them to do was work. And work they did. Rocky spent most of their days on the way back to the Blip-A messing around with his new Earth laptop (courtesy of Grace), and helping Grace with the Taumoeba farms, but by the time they actually made it to Rocky's ship it was mostly just waiting. Tension gripped the air, since both of them knew what reaching their destination meant.
They would be alone again.
That was what was screaming at Grace, in his subconscious, when he'd woken up to blaring alarms, sweat-damp hair and clothes sticking to his skin as he cleaned and scrubbed and scrubbed and cleaned some more, tears burning his eyes as he wrote out all of the calculations on his whiteboard in the Lab, double, triple checking every single number, every single calculation until he was sure he had it right.
He was going to go save Rocky, and then they would cease to be alone forever.
Once he'd actually followed through with it though, Grace realized he may have made a mistake. A small whoop in the grand scheme of things. Ok maybe it was more like a medium-big whoop. It was a whoop, let's leave it at that. Grace is starving, well not yet but soon, very incredibly uncomfortably soon. Considering this was meant to be a suicide mission Sratt obviously didn't pack enough food into this puppy for three crew members; let alone one, measly coward; to surivive more than eight to ten months tops, and that was including all the coma slurry, which really didnt provide all that much in terms of calories. So save to say, he may be doomed. He could ration all he wanted, but one day his body may just give out, and there was probably nothing Grace could do at that point.
The first few weeks of rationing had gone fine. He'd grown used to the constant nagging feeling of his stomach yelling at him for sustenance by the second month– before promptly breaking down realizing that was just two of the forty-six months he had left till they reached Erid.
And, by far, those were the worst forty-six months of his life.
It was like his brain was constantly wading through honey, thick and sticky, clinging to his thoughts and ripping them from his grasp before he could even fully conjure them. He'd long grown too tired to snap at Rocky, the Eridian knew it wasn't personal and it was just symptoms of his malnutrition but god did it feel like a punch to the gut replaying all those memories in his head, on loop, over and over and over and over again until the lights turned on or off and yet he still didn't move. Days, probably weeks passed like that, tube connected directly to his stomach feeding him on the pre-programmed schedule by Past Grace.
Present Grace hated Past Grace, he wanted to strangle himself from three and a half years ago if it meant he'd get just a little more food.
Some nights while he lay motionless in his cot, Rocky curled up on the floor asleep next to him, he wondered if he should have just given up at the very beginning, thrown himself out into space with Yao and Ilyukhina when he gave them a funeral. A funeral for a dead-man walking. How fitting for Grace, considering all he is now is a walking reflection of what he remembers from his own life. He picks up the pieces of the broken mirror that is his character, his personality, his being and tries to put them back together in all of the wrong places because he doesn't remember where they go anymore. It's horrifying. It's pathetic.
Grace is pulled out of his own thoughts when he hears the low buzz of an Eridian waking up from a well-deserved snooze. He almost rolls over, attempting to feign sleep, when he remembers Rocky would know either way. Man, it's really hard to hide anything from your alien best friend who can hear through walls. {"..Is Grace awake, question?"} They had long since turned off the translator, as Grace knew basic Eridian pretty well by now. Rocky still seemed to hold onto some of the quirks from the computer translation though.
"Yeah bud.. M' awake." He heard a few soft, cautious chirps as the bed creaked under the Eridian's weight, Rocky now climbing up to sit next to Grace's head. "..How long do we have left again?" Grace knew the answer, he'd always had that metaphorical clock ticking in the back of his mind.
{"Four more Earth months left until we reach Erid. Rocky has been working on a probe to send ahead of us, so Eridian scientists can start working on a solution for Grace's malnutrition"} Despite that grim reminder hanging in his thoughts however, hearing it from Rocky, his best friend, made it feel like sunshine blooming over his cheeks for the first time in decades. Just four months, he'd already gone through the worst of it right? And he wasn't alone. He'd never be alone again. {"Why does Grace ask? Is everything ok?"} The concern was palpable in the soft chords breaking the silence, like windchimes blowing in a gentle breeze early in the morning.
"Everythings ok bud, I just wanted to hear you say it-" The biologist was too tired to lie, or hide his intentions between surface-level deflections. He cared about Rocky. Everything sucks right now, and Rocky is the only thing that could ever possibly make it better. "I'm sorry Rocky. I haven't been myself over the last- god three years- but I promise I never meant any of the mean things I said. I love you buddy-" his voice cracked a little as he tried to blink away the few tears that had managed to gather in his eyes, willing himself to not sound even more pathetic than he already did.
{"Rocky forgives you. Rocky has never been mad at you, Grace."} But it was like the dam had broken, weak sobs tearing their way out of Grace's chest before he could try and swallow them down. He cried, and cried more, and then some more. So much for trying to stay hydrated. Once he'd calmed down enough to mumble out shaky words in between hiccups and sniffles he asked Armando for some water, sipping off of the pouch lazily while he tried to focus on just breathing. Rocky was a comfortable warmth next to him, the Eridian having snuggled right up to him for Grace to hug like a stupidly large awkward Eridian teddy bear while he cried his heart out. It was silent for a few, droning minutes before Rocky finally spoke again, {"Does Grace feel better?"}
Grace sniffled. "..Yeah.. I do.."
Grace didn't last for even 30 minutes after they'd set up one of the laptops to rewatch The Big Bang Theory for the umpteenth time, slumped in a slightly awkward half sitting, half laying position against the headboard, but he seemed to be comfy leaned into Rocky, blankets pooling over his legs and laptop resting on top of his stretched out bony thighs. Despite the thin line of drool running down one of the panels of xenonite, Rocky quickly noticed that the only sounds he could hear from his friend were shallow, whistle-ly exhales through his slightly clogged nose.
Rocky would give anything right about now to hear one of those rumbly, obnoxious snores. He missed them. He missed Grace.
____________________________________________
Oh how dearly Rocky had missed this.
Coming home to Erid had been beyond chaotic, between situating Grace and thrums of all kinds shapes and sizes, as well as reuniting with his mate and raising his new absolutely adorable sweet darling amazing little pebbles, Rocky certainly had all five of his hands full, to say the least.
But as days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into one month and then two, things settled quite nicely. Grace had recovered enough to be up on his feet and exploring the biosphere, albeit under intense supervision by Rocky to make sure he doesn't hurt himself, and Adrian had even agreed to moving their nest closer to the dome to make visiting easier. This had also meant Grace got to meet all of the pebbles for the first time, and to say the biologist almost exploded from cuteness-aggression was a hefty underestimation;
…
"You're seriously letting me name all of them?!" The three sat in an awkward semi-circle, Grace seated criss cross in the middle while Rocky practically vibrated from excitement on his right. On his left, Adrian's shiny turquoise limbs stretched out to enclose what was in the center of the group.
{"Grace stupid, Rocky and Adrian have already named all the pebbles in Eridian. Grace needs to give them human names!"} Adrian made a low hum of agreement from next to Grace. He seemed to consider the statement for a moment, before looking down at the bundles of joy in front of him. Four, bouncy, awkward, absolutely tiny baby Eridians, tumbling over each other and chirping nonsensically while they tried to get a look at the strange alien in front of them. Grace had to blink more tears away as he cooed at the small creatures.
"Well I don't know- um.." studying the little ones again, Grace had to swallow a choked sound as a realization dawned on him.
The smallest of the babies, barely the size of the palm of his hand, was this sandy beige on their limbs, trailing up and up until it met a blueish-green not too dissimilar from Adrian. Towards the top of their thorax were swirls of darker blues and greens, mixed with the faintest wisps of a ghostly white. "..This one is beautiful.. It-.. It reminds me of home.." Rocky and Adrian seemed to pay more attention to him now, the smaller Eridian ceasing his constant chirping and trilling at the babies to instead 'look' at Grace
{"🎶🎶🎶🎶 look like Earth, question? We can name them after it."} If Grace wasn't crying before he certainly was now, full on ugly sobs racking his body as Adrian shifted to bring one of their large limbs to rest behind his back.
"I'd- I'd love that.. How about Terra?"
…
Ever since things had been entirely smooth sailing, Rocky working on new engineering projects now that he was home, Adrian continuing their previous studies plus the new workload that is keeping probably the largest terrarium ever up and running for their mate's human mate (they're attached to the hip almost more now that they were on Erid, so to Adrian it just seemed like Rocky broadened their open relationship to less conventional partners.. not that Adrian minded.), and Grace doing.. whatever Grace does. But something had felt slightly out of place since they got here, and Rocky had no clue what. His mate was healthy and happy, his pebbles were quick learners and proving to be full of unique, quirky personalities that both Eridian parents adored, and Grace was recovering- quite frankly better than any of the Eridian doctors and scientists who had taken up the responsibility of tending to the human had thought he would. Life's good, so what's the problem?
Rocky mulled over those thoughts the entire walk across the beach, up the steps to Grace's home. When he tapped his feet against the rock he could 'see' that his mate was here, but it was hard to make out anything since it was uncharacteristically silent in the home. Nerves spiking, Rocky made quick work of opening the biologist's door and scurrying deeper into the home where his mate was.
And then, like always, like the very first time Rocky and Grace met,
Rocky hears it.
Adrian is laid out in what's supposed to be Grace's bedroom, limbs curled loosely towards them to support what was cradled in their arms. Rocky could tell they were awake, since the moment the Eridian pushed the front door open he'd heard a soft coo from his mate. What they were admiring endearingly however had Rocky warble a gentle, sweet note.
Cradled in Adrian's arms was a snoozing Grace, head pillowed against Adrian's limbs and carapace, knees bent to hang over one of his mate's other limbs. One of the blonde's arms was resting on his stomach, cradling something of his own; the little pebbles, piled up on top of each other in a warm little mound, all cozy and sleepy against the man's chest. It looked as though they had been there for a while, imprints of the creases in the xenonite plastered all over Grace's cheek accompanied by his normal rumbly snores.
{"Are humans always this noisy while sleeping? Grace dozed off several Earth hours ago and has been… humming..? Purring..? Most of the time."} His mate's notes were like honey, sweet and calming and gentle in a way that made Rocky want to curl up next to them and sleep for years, because he knew they would protect them the whole time.
{"No, not all humans. The word Grace used for it was 'snoring'. Humans will make noise in their sleep when the tube they use to breathe is blocked by other internal tissue."} Adrian made a noise of understanding, seemingly orienting their attention back to the cuddle puddle in their 'lap'. Grace shifted slightly, jostling the mound of baby Eridian against him as he sucked in a sharp breath. Adrian seemed to go unnaturally still as the blonde garbled some string of intelligible word vomit before promptly settling back into softer snores, a miniscule twitch of his leg being the only other indicator of some dream he was having.
{"...Are all humans this leaky when sleeping, then?"} Rocky whistled a quiet laugh, now settled in front of Grace, sandwiching the man between two comfortably warm xenonite exosuits.
{"Sometimes.. But not usually. Grace is just leaky space blob."} It was Adrian's turn to laugh, the melodic notes making Grace hum and shift closer to the soothing vibrations of their carapace. {"Rocky thinks it's cute.. Like pebble but with more leakiness."} the two of them giggled quietly at the sentiment, comfortable and relaxed and surrounding all of the things they love most.
…
Later that night, when Adrian had succumbed to sleep trapped under the 'immense' weight of Grace and the pebbles, Rocky had pulled out his note-taker and had taken to typing quietly, curled up on top of one of Adrian's limbs so he could rest one of his own limbs gently atop Grace's head, claws outstretched to very, very cautiously muse with the wavy strands. Grace seemed to enjoy it, if the slight tilt of his head towards Rocky's claws a few moments prior meant anything.
'Final Observation: Subject sleeps the soundest when surrounded by individuals he cares about.'