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“MateGrace seems...forlorn.” They were cuddled up with each other, watching over the human from a distance.
“Yes...” It was true. Their human was trying his best to hide it, but the two Eridians were shrewd. They noticed everything. “Not sure why. Will try to ask..”
A trilling, followed by a soft sound, almost like a purr was the response. “Let me know how to help. I want to help.”
Rocky and Adrian had been together for almost 200 years (Earth years, always Earth years now). Even though they had been separated for about 50, the only thing that changed between them since Rocky’s return was the addition of Grace.
The human was a bit for Adrian to get used to at first, he was very a lot, after all. But once the initial hurdle had been gotten over, Adrian welcomed him in to their family with five open arms. Not only did he make Rocky happy, he was the final piece to their family that Adrian hadn’t even realized was missing.
And now he was sad. Very sad. Forlorn.
Adrian Rocky help Grace.
To his credit, Ryland Grace wasn’t trying to be sad. Though, most people weren’t ever really trying. Emotions didn’t work like that. Maybe it was better to say that he hadn’t been aware that he was acting so outwardly sad. More to say that, yes, he knew he was sad, but he didn’t realize that anyone else would know.
Truly, he didn’t think that anyone else was paying that close attention to him. That’s not to say that he thought Rocky and Adrian were...ignoring him, no, that wasn’t accurate. He knew his two beautiful Eridians loved him–they asked him to be their mate after all, which was incredibly sweet, and unexpected–he just sort of assumed that he stopped existing for them once they were off alone doing...whatever it was that they did when they were alone.
And truthfully, he knew he was sad, but the reason for it didn’t fully make sense even to him. So it wasn’t like he could very well go up to his beloveds and explain that he was sad because according to Mary’s calendar, it was June, and during June humans celebrated their different sexuality. Eridians didn’t even have sexualities. He’d already brought gender to a non-gendered species, he didn’t need to complicate things even further!
And why was he sad about Pride anyway? It wasn’t as if...well...maybe it was...
And that was the real crux of the issue wasn’t it? The underlying sadness. He didn’t really remember. He had recovered most of his memories since settling into Erid, but there was something in the back of his mind, something he felt like he was missing. And how could he know what he was missing if he didn’t remember he was missing it? He didn’t know.
Grace sat at the edge of the shore, his knees drawn up to his chest. If he stared long enough, thought hard enough, maybe it would come back to him. “But no...it doesn’t work like that..”
“What is Grace doing, question?”
The musical chirp behind him just about launched him to the top of the dome. For a 400 pound rock creature, Rocky really was quite light on his feet. Or perhaps Grace had just been that out of it. Probably both. “Oh. Hey, bud. I’m just...sitting.”
“Mind if Rocky sit with you?” He was already sitting, burying himself into the pebbly beach. Grace smiled and leaned against him, enjoying the warmth that he could feel through the exosuit.
“I never mind. Is everything okay? How’s Adrian?” The larger of his two mates didn’t come into the biodome as much as Rocky did. Though, to be fair no one came into the biodome as much as Rocky did.
“Everything is fine. Adrian is fine.” Rocky fidgeted with the rocks in front of him. Grace knew there was something on his mind, something he wasn’t saying. But there was no reason to pry. Rocky would get to it in his own time. “How is Grace?”
“Me? I’m great. Just enjoying my day.” He smiled real big.
Rocky huffed. Grace was a bad liar.
Grace scowled. “What’s with the huff?”
“Rocky, Adrian know that Grace is sad. May as well just explain why so we can help.”
Well there was no getting around that now, was there? He flopped back against the beach heaving his most dramatic sigh. “It’s stupid.”
“Most of what Grace says is stupid,” Rocky pointed out affectionately, at least Grace assumed it was affectionately. “Tell anyway, please.”
“You’re mean. But alright. On Earth, during June, we have a celebration. A month-long celebration for people with different sexualities than the norm. It’s called Pride, because we all want people to be proud of who they are. I can’t fully remember my sexuality. It’s back there somewhere, but I just can’t quite grab on to it. I know that I came into it late in life. I think I’m just...sad that I never really got time to be me, you know?”
Rocky didn’t really know. Grace knew that Rocky didn’t know. And that was okay, because he trilled an understanding. At least as much as his non-gendered, polygamous, Eridian mate could.
“So Grace is missing this celebration and also missing that you don’t fully remember what your sexuality is labelled back on Earth.”
“Right. I didn’t think it was something that bothered me, and most days it isn’t. But for some reason, I dunno. Today it bothers me. Sorry for worrying you and Adrian.”
“Rocky Adrian love Grace. Will you explain the celebration?”
Grace spent the next hour explaining to Rocky the different aspects of Pride. How there were flags and rainbows–two things Eridians didn’t have–and parades–something they did actually have–and music and joy and just a space for people to be themselves. Rocky studied the pictures and the videos, humming thoughtfully.
“Understood. Pride is beautiful!” He was excited to report back to Adrian and to put his plan into motion.
It was going to be difficult, since Eridians didn’t see, they didn’t know colors. But Rocky had developed an instrument that read out the specific wavelength of different objects. He and Grace had been testing it, and it was working pretty well so far. That’s how he knew that he was something called brown, and that Adrian was teal.
He returned to his other mate, nuzzling up against them. He explained everything that he had learned about Pride and why Grace was sad. “And I have an idea.”
Though there was no way Grace could overhear, he still explained the idea in tones that his human would never be able to understand. Adrian hummed thoughtfully in response.
“MateGrace will absolutely love it! I will begin preparations at once.”
It took them three full Biodome Earth Day cycles to complete their plan. While they were hard at work, they still visited Grace, gave him as much love as he needed (which was a lot). And noted that while he still wasn’t happy, he seemed a little bit less sad than before. Perhaps talking about it with Rocky had helped a little bit.
When their preparations were finally complete, they both showed up at the dome. “Grace! Rocky Adrian have a surprise for you!” Grace came out of the house.
Confusion and joy were at war on his face. He was smiling at seeing his mates, but he was confused. “A surprise? What is it?”
“If we told you, MateGrace, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” Adrian chided him. He held up his hands defensively. Each of his mates took the opportunity to grab one of his hands and lead him down the beach.
“You two are being very suspicious.” Grace scowled. “It is nice to have you both here though. It feels like it’s been awhile since we’ve both been together and I really mis–”
“Grace is talking a bit too much,” Rocky hummed. “Is Grace nervous about surprise?”
“What?! No! Maybe...yeah maybe a little bit. I don’t know. I’m not good with surprises...”
“Well luckily for MateGrace, won’t have to wait much longer.”
They had led him to his teaching spot. The Xenonite window that allowed his students and sometimes Eridian Scientists to come and communicate with him.
“What are we–”
Rocky used one of his other legs to cover Grace’s mouth. He scowled, licking the xenonite covered appendage in retaliation.
“UGH! DISGUST!”
Grace grinned and stuck out his tongue as Rocky recoiled. He was about to continue taunting his mate when he noticed movement behind the wall. Turning to watch, he was confused. There was a group of Eridians walking past, but they were...Organized by color?
The colors of the rainbow??
And they weren’t just walking, they were waving, dancing, having fun as the entire group sang songs of joy and of love. It was the most beautifully confusing thing Grace had ever witnessed. He leaned forward, hand touching the Xenonite wall.
“What is...this...”
The group of green-hued Eridians waved at him, their song swelling loudly, so much that he could feel it in his bones. He blinked back a few tears.
“Happy Pride!” Rocky and Adrian both exclaimed, one on either side of him.
He tore his eyes away from the...parade, that’s what was going on. They were putting on a Pride Parade for him. This race of aliens who had no concept of any of this...Aliens who couldn’t even see, let alone see colors...they found a way to create a rainbow in order to celebrate a silly Earth custom.
Just for him.
His lip quivered, tears spilling down his cheeks.
“Does Grace like Eridian Pride, question?”
Grace didn’t trust himself to speak yet, so he merely nodded. “Yes I...I love it. You went through all this trouble for me. Thank you.”
“Was no trouble, MateGrace. You are loved.” Adrian purred, their long slender legs pulling him in for a hug. He held them tightly as Rocky wrapped himself around Grace’s back.
A Grace sandwich, his favorite way to be.
“Seriously though, thank you. This means more to me than you’ll ever know.” He kissed each of his mates, then sat back down to continue watching the parade.
“Rocky learned much about Pride from Portable Earth Thinking Machine. Lots of terms that Rocky had never heard of before. Will have to implement for next year’s Pride!”
“Oh...uh...hold on...maybe we can talk about this...”
“For example, what is ‘Leather Daddy’, question?”
“ROCKY!”