Chapter Text
Fact #1: Ryland Grace wanted to help the eridians any way he could.
Fact #2: He was sick.
Well okay, no, the headache would absolutely go away once he got out of bed and ate food. He just… had to will his aching body to actually rise. After far too much bedrotting, his eyes fluttered closed just to slam open again. Nope, that was a very slippery slope into oversleeping, so he dragged the blanket off of his shivering frame and swung his legs over the edge.
His head was throbbing, but work or not, he needed to eat. One foot after the other, slightly stumbling over his lazily discarded laundry, he made it to his kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal.
Well- it was as close as cereal as the eridians could approximate. It was a little too crunchy and heavy on his tongue, but he swallowed it down all the same and prepared himself for work.
The lecture that day was mathematics. And with Grace enjoying some physical chemistry, he truly wasn't half bad at pure math!! He got through most of the lecture about the unit circle before he squinted at the board.
Weren't there supposed to be negatives on the left-hand side? Wait, was it the bottom half that got those? He stared at the board for a few moments, waddling through his hazy mind before his throat decided to let out a cough. He ignored the ache in his chest and chugged some more water. Sick or not, he needed to hydrate, so it was fine.
But to the class, he shook his head, "Well this is-" He cleared his throat, "The beginning of it. Your homework is uh…" he weakly shrugged at the board. "To fix the rest of that. It'll be extra credit."
The grayish blue eridian raised its limb.
"Yes?"
"What is extra credit, question?"
He rubbed his temple, trying to come up with an explanation. "Fuck, it's-" ah crap, he didn't typically curse in front of the little ones-
"Define word."
Grace shook his head, even if that shook around the pain like a pinball in an arcade machine. "Nono, it's um-" he waved his hand at the class, squinting at the mess of papers on his desk. "Next time," he settled on, because Future!Grace was obviously better equipped for that question, "But class is dismissed. Seeya later, alligators."
Back at the middle school, his students would've responded 'in a while, crocodile,' but he was glad that the eridians just left him be in the empty area, even if they had some confused chatter among themselves. As soon as the last one skittered away, he slumped, his head hitting the desk.
The cool desk, he noted, offered some relief. Just a bit of time to mentally charge up before revising the failed lesson plans and-
"Rocky here, greeting Grace statement!"
Grace's head launched from the desk, his head throbbing in retaliation as he squinted at the familiar eridian. "Hey, Rocky Road, what's up?"
"Grace look bad."
He sighed, straightening his achy back. "Thanks buddy-"
"Not compliment. Grace look not good. Very not good." He gave a stomp to emphasize that. "What change, question?"
"Nothing." He pushed himself up, holding onto the desk for longer than he'd like to admit.
"Grace wrong, not nothing."
"I just-" He wandered back to the board and started erasing the chalk, even if his shoulders hated being moved back and forth. "Didn't sleep too well."
"Did Grace die in his sleep, question?"
"What? No!" His voice was weak to object, not leaning into the typical dramatic flair he could have possessed. He lightly cleared his throat, "Also those are called nightmares, and you don't literally die during them."
"Ah. Yes, yes. Rocky will remember that."
Grace vaguely nodded his agreement and focused on cleaning the rest of the board. Once he put down the eraser, Rocky continued, "How to improve Grace sleep, question?"
"No, I'm…" he stared at the little eridian for a few moments, noticing some special markings and etches.
His eyes were focused on one particular divot when Rocky stated, "Grace not anything, question?"
"No, sorry," he rubbed his face, willing the exhaustion to fall off of him. "I'm fine, just losing my mind-" he automatically continued, "Not literally."
Grace dug through his bag for his scrappy to-do list.
-
Unit circle + trig quiz
Ah fudge, he forgot about that quiz. He held that self-resentment inside his cheek as he read the rest.
-
Idk lol, prepare smth for Calvin cycle lecture
…If past!Grace didn't know, then why would he?? Screw that bastard, putting this decision onto him-
-
Clean up around statues
Ah, right. Cleaning at least didn't require much thought so he'd be fine.
"Grace always fine. Why would Grace not be fine, question? Something wrong with Grace, question?"
He must've muttered it under his breath; he needed to stop being so open. "Stop worrying, bud." He knelt down and ignored his aching joints as he ruffled the top of Rocky's head.
"Incorrect. Not a bud."
"Oh, you're a bud." Grace smiled at him, showing some of his usual self again. "I'll be busy today though. Go hang out with Adrian or something."
Rocky wiggled with excitement. "Rocky hang out with Simon, question?"
Hm. He furrowed his brow, staring at nothing in particular. "If he's already outside, sure. But don't bother him if he's resting." That was what Grace did most of the time, but he still felt like he was doing everything wrong somehow. Maybe that confidence would come with time, so he allowed that worry to flow off his shoulders for the time being.
Rocky gave his upside-down thumbs up and went on his way. The clang of eridian movement grated against the pain waving in his head, but he was fine.
"Mwssupot."
Grace flinched, blinking at Simon. He didn't even hear the man approach. "Uh-" He looked hopelessly confused, "What?"
"You missed a spot," he slowly said, pointing with his eyes. "Right by the base."
Grace looked in that general direction for a few moments. Everything looked clean? He angled his head for a better view, just for Simon to suddenly kneel, grab the rag out of his hands, and give a good wipe to the area in question.
Ha, he was a few centimeters off. No wonder he couldn't find it. "Thanks," he admitted, but he realized how revolutionary this was! Simon was helping, and helping him!! "That's appreciated- by me, I mean. Thanks."
Simon squinted at him, remaining quiet. "You already said that."
"Oh." He almost followed it up with a question, but a weak cough bubbled out of his throat, one that strained his chest enough that he couldn't utter something else without a deeper sound emerging. He breathed tightly, willing the tingle to go away.
Especially within such close vicinity to Simon (who was still kneeling next to him), he truly didn't want to ruin their whole interaction. So when the man decided to stay silent, Grace didn't dare to disturb him. He decided to take his rag and rub it against a different region of grime that had accumulated.
It might've gone on like that for a minute, Grace's eyes unfocusing as he returned to the mind-numbing task before him. Simon glanced between him and the statue, almost like he was trying to assess if it was a threat. "How long have you been at this?"
"Not long." The cough had tucked itself away enough for the quiet response. It was still hoarse so he grabbed his bottle of water and tilted it to his lips- oh. Not a single drop came out; he emptied it a while ago, right. He put it back down and ignored the scratch in the deepest pocket of his throat.
Simon stood up, and just as their eyes connected, the man commanded, "Get up."
"What? I'm-" He failed to hold back a cough that time, the disgusting, rattling sound vibrating from his chest as he hacked into his arm. He hoped he aimed for his elbow, just for the sake of being somewhat hygienic- but even then, he couldn't think about the germs for long as he only wanted to catch his breath. One rasping sound then another, and he wiped the tears out from the corner of his eyes.
Soon after he could breathe, he looked up at Simon and saw the way the man's jaw tightened. "Get up."
"Look, Rocky checked on me earlier-"
"Did I ask?"
…No.
Jerk.
He turned back to his work, but Simon loudly cleared his throat. Grace narrowed his eyes and decided to give in to the man by quickly standing up. "See? I'm f-" His voice trailed away from him as quickly as his vision. His knees buckled and his body went slack, his body crashing towards the ground before Simon clumsily caught him and settled him on the flat land.
Grace never fully lost consciousness, but it took a moment for his vision to fade into just a few dots in his sight. "Hey…" His hair was stuck to his sweaty forehead. "Thanks."
Just as Grace leaned up, Simon smoothly dived in and tossed the man over his shoulder, his arm wrapping around Grace's back and securing him in place despite how much he was flailing.
Well- in someone else's words, he was fighting valiantly against his kidnapper. "What the hell are you-"
He was cut short by a rough cough, in which he vaguely heard Simon mutter under his breath, "Dumbass Ryland…"
But any objection was far from Grace's mind as he was thrown onto his bed. He managed to gain some control of his lungs and leaned up, just to get pushed back down by Simon's strong hand. "Enough. Stay."
It was said with enough conviction that Grace lay there and stared at the ceiling. Huh, was there always a fish in that design? Well there wasn't a design, but it looked like squiggles, ones that kept moving around the walls.
Simon eventually returned with a cup of ice water, which Grace took for just a few sips. The coldness was a relief upon his throat but he decided to pace himself into just drinking half the container. "Simon, I'm-"
"Nope." The glass was pressed back onto his lips, making Grace almost choke as he swallowed down the rest of it.
Slowly but surely, he drank all of it. His head still spinning from it all until Simon retreated and brought another glass. Just as Grace leaned away to defend himself from another hydraulic attack, Simon placed the cup on the side table.
With a small huff, the man's eyes scanned Grace's form. "Rest. Don't leave this place." He stepped away.
"Wait, I'm fine-!"
The door to his room was slammed.
…
…
…
Well. His arms easily propped himself up, waiting for something before he decided to start the day for the second time. He was slow to escape the bed. Look, it just felt better to finish a job, it'd give his future self some closure to actually cross it off the to-do list. (The one that was still in his bag near the statue.)
He walked through the home and out the front door. Grace didn't blink twice. "Hey, Simon."
He took two more steps before he stopped completely, freezing and slowly turning back to the man leaning against his house with an unamused expression.
Grace already started cringing, an awkward, hoarse laugh bubbling out of him, "Heyyy-"
Simon moved closer and Grace could only run for a delayed moment before he was caught by the arm and slung over the man's shoulder once more. His fists pounded against the black tank top. "How the hell are you so strong?! I eat the same stuff as you!"
He was thrown back on the bed, and Simon grabbed the water on the nightstand and held it out to him.
"Y'know, waterboarding is against the Geneva Conv-" Everything else was drowned out by the flow of water. Grace finished the cup before they went through the same routine once more, with Simon placing another glass on the nightstand.
Just like the previous time, Simon left, but it only came with a dragging sound and the man emerged with a chair that he settled into the corner.
(Sort of a cuck chair, Grace specifically noted.)
Simon squinted at him. "Just close your eyes already."
Grace huffed, trying to think of something creative, just for his head to throb at him. "You… close your eyes, Sime."
"…Sime?"
"Yeah," he pointed. "That's you. You've lost Simon privileges."
Grace showcased the meanness of a drunken toddler.
But as if he deeply offended Simon, he almost instantly offered, "Unless you're sad now? I can go back to the-"
"I don't care," he breathed. He looked at the sick man with a hint of disgust, "Just stop."
Grace sat there like a sitting man emoji.
So Simon sighed as he explained, "Lie down."
Grace already made a noise of protest.
"Ryland-"
"I heard you, I heard you." He reluctantly shuffled back down, even if it made a few coughs tumble out of his frail body.
Simon watched for a while before deciding to grab the pillow behind Grace's head. "Up."
"Jerk," he obeyed, "You just said-"
"Down."
Grace did so (only because his Everything was hurting) and he found that the pillow was propped up more. "Oh."
"Now." He leaned back in his chair. "Sleep."
"I can't."
Simon waited until he told Grace, as if it was so obvious the sick man was an idiot, "Close your eyes."
"No, I mean-" His chest was tight; he brushed it off to a hidden cough waiting to escape him. He squeezed his eyes shut for only a moment before he forced them open once more. "I can't."
While his head was turned away, he didn't expect the voice to get softer. "How long have you been without sleep?"
"Not long, no. I always get some."
"So how long have you not had much?" The question was apathetic, bordering on patronizing.
So it was just salt in the wound that Grace never truly felt like he slept well. On Earth, he stayed up too late, his mind consumed by a relentless stream of thoughts but his schedule consumed by work.
And, granted, Erid was far more flexible for work, but now he… kept thinking. His thoughts at night were manageable with practice, it didn't stop the ones while he was asleep.
The subconscious was a messy thing, one that kept showing him the mangled body of Simon and how Grace was just a moment too late to stop it. The man was always just out of reach until he was finally slumped over with death in his black eyes.
And now Simon was sitting in the chair, barely away from Grace. The man in the bed slowly breathed, regulating his lungs.
"Ryland."
"I'm fine."
"If you keep pushing, you'll break."
Better him than Simon. The man's already been through enough, Grace hasn't even-
"Hey." Simon's face was cold. "Stop looking like that."
Genuine but tired, "Like what?"
The man looked around for a few seconds, just to settle on a shrug. "Just don't."
Like a smart aleck, Grace crossed his arms. "Can't stop what I don't know."
"Like I'm saying you're in trouble." There was a beat of silence before Simon continued, "You haven't fucked up, so stop acting like you have."
Grace ignored the discomfort that statement caused him in favor of tapping on his bed. "You might as well let me do things during the daylight hours." He explained it as if it had any chance to convince Simon, "To maintain a proper day-night sleep cycle."
"You don't have one of those."
Just as Grace was about to object, a cough pushed through him once more. When he finally got his chest stabilized, he ignored the weird crackling sound his breaths were making.
Either Simon didn't notice or he decided not to comment on it. "If you can't sleep, then just close your eyes."
Grace sat there. Eyes quite open, but cast away from the man.
Simon shrugged and relaxed in the chair, closing his eyes and tilting his head towards the ceiling. Grace remained in his thoughts for a few moments, even taking another sip of water before he finally started, "Simon-" He glanced over to see the man snoring, out cold. Jeez, it must've only been a few minutes?
However, Grace only did what was natural and took his blanket off the bed and put it on Simon. The man tried to shrug it off, but it still landed on his lap at least. Grace deemed the job good enough and lethargically left the room, weakly determined to get back to everything he needed to.
His hand was on the doorknob when he was swooped onto Simon's shoulder.
"Oh c'mon!" Grace gave a solid wiggle before going limp. "You were asleep."
Simon grunted, a sound that Grace could translate into, 'Yes and no. Haha, screw you.' ← Okay, maybe not word for word, but it was "suck it" said in some serious/deadpan variation.
When Grace was thrown onto the bed, he decided to turn onto his side (away from the chair) and pout. "If I get bruises from your manhandling, then-"
"You'll thank me when you feel better."
While Grace expected some classic forced hydration, he found that a weight settled on the spot next to him. He turned, just to be face to face with Simon. He scooted away, "You shouldn't be-"
"I'll do whatever the hell I want."
"I'm sick, you-"
"So you admit it now?" A dark eyebrow had only been raised by a centimeter.
Grace rolled his eyes. "I'm not getting you sick too."
Simon, instead of logically pushing himself away, decided to roll Grace over and sling his arm over the man, crossing over his torso and holding the skin just above his hip. "Stay still and rest."
"Simon-"
"Ryland."
"…Do you promise you'll stay?" Grace let himself barely dissolve into the bed. "Just until I wake up?"
It was quiet for a moment.
Simon was probably uncomfortable; it was obviously weird to ask. "Nevermind, I'm sor-"
"Yeah."
Grace blinked. "You will?"
"Yeah, just shut your mouth and go the fuck to sleep," Simon murmured into his ear.
He exhaled as he closed his eyes. "Sounds like someone needs a nap."
"Night, Ryland."
"It's afternoon."
Simon made an annoyed grumble, one that made Grace finally give up the conversation and allow himself some rest.