Chapter Text
Knock knock knock
"One second, bud." Grace called from the dining room of his house, the sound of gentle rolling waves and the bite of salt on his tongue as he tied his shoe laces.
Knock knock knock
The knocks sounded again, louder this time, echoing off of spacious walls and comfortable clutter that Grace kept strewn around his home. Items from Earth, lovingly taken care of and maintained, his last connection to his home, blanketed every surface and wall. He was always a sentimental creature, keeping every note and piece of art his kids had made for him-
Knock knock knock!
"Alright, alright! Jeeze!" Grace called out as the knocks deepened, audibly graduating from the knock of an arm to something larger in mass- most likely Rocky's hard head. "Can't have a moment to be sentimental. I got it." He muttered under his breath fondly, recalling the adjustment period to Rocky's ball aboard the Mary with nostalgia.
"Rocky can hear." Came the musical hums from beyond Grace's front door, the translator laptop a thing long of the past once Grace had become fluent in Eridian. "Grace is dumb."
Grace shook his head with a low chuckle, more than used to his friend's antics after upwards of ten years living in an Eridian equivalent of a lovingly crafted fish bowl.
"Hey, Rock." Grace walked over to his front door and slid it open, leaning on the doorframe to look down at his friend with a wide smile. "What's the rush?"
"Is time for festival! Grace go now or Grace be late!" Rocky's hums dipped into a deeper register to portray his lighthearted urgency. The frequency thrummed deep, humming tangibly in Grace's bones like a touchless hug.
"What? What festival?" Grace asked, furrowing his brow as he scrubbed through his memories for what Rocky was talking about. No matter how hard he searched, he drew a blank.
"Is surprise!" Rocky chittered, holding his two forelegs up with a boisterous wiggle in what Grace liked to call 'Jazz Hands'. "Sun and stars in right position! Very special. Festival to celebrate!"
"Oh? Do I need to… uh do anything?" Grace asked awkwardly, scratching the back of his fluffy blonde head as he looked down at himself. Beloved fox cardigan, age-worn jeans and worn-in converse. Not exactly business casual.
"Is ok! Grace get jewellery at Festival!" Rocky chittered softly in a mix between reassurance and laughter. With Grace's unspoken agreement (not that he would deny the being that gave him everything anything), Rocky skittered his way behind grace and gently nudged him forward and out the house with little pokes to the back of his calves.
"Hahaha! Alright, alright!" Grace couldn't help but laugh, hopping his way down the steps like Rocky was a particularly playful dog nipping at his heels. "Let me get in my ball."
"Yes yes yes. Ball time for Grace. Rocky too." Rocky intoned, wiggling his carapace a little in a way that made the gossamer thin skin of the xenonite suit glint in the artificial sun in luminescent fractals. "Rocky drive. Grace too slow."
Grace shook his head fondly at the response. In all the years he had known Rocky, he had never changed. Still the most loveable sentient yet impatient rock Grace had ever met, though Adrian was equally as loveable but in a different way.
From there, with Rocky's insistent prodding and rolling over the pebbled sand nudging him faster and faster, Grace entered what he affectionately called his hamster ball.
The hamster ball was exactly what it sounded like. A clear, completely smooth xenonite ball with a comfortably padded chair mounted atop operational controls and a gyroscopic network of metal rings and beams to keep him upright as he rolled. A pair of frankly fiendishly bright lights were mounted to the front of his ball to let Grace see in the pitch black environment of Erid.
With a light huff of effort, Grace unsealed the entry to the ball and clambered in, long limbs still gangly with the manoeuvre even though he had climbed in and out of the thing more times than he could count.
"Grace clumsy." Rocky insulted, chittering with laughter even as he hovered behind Grace, legs outstretched to catch him should he slip. Softie.
Once Grace had gotten himself situated and buckled into his chair, Rocky scuttled into the ball with him.
"Buddy? You're coming in?" Grace questioned as Rocky plopped himself into Grace's lap. The tangible warmth of Rocky's carapace leaked through the xenonite, soaking pleasantly into Grace's legs as Rocky tucked his own legs underneath his abdomen. Loafing like a cat. Cute. "If you come in now, you won't be able to get back out until we get back."
"Rocky knows." Rocky said shortly, nestling further into the soft swell of Grace's thighs as if to plant himself further in place. The solid weight in Grace's lap was grounding, like a living weighted blanket- a fact that Rocky frequently took advantage of when Grace was in his feelings. Which was a lot. "Rocky want to touch Grace during Festival."
"O-Oh." Grace said smartly, words failing him as a hot flush heated his cheeks at the words. No matter how many times they were said, any show of affection- big or small, from Rocky or Adrian never failed to fluster him. "But what about Adrian? Don't you want to spend the Festival with your mate?"
"Grace ball too small for Mate Adrian. Adrian will keep ball safe for Grace." Rocky said, the tone to his tune resolute in a way that brooked no arguments. "Adrian want to."
"...Alright, as long as you're sure." Grace said reluctantly, still feeling a little guilty at the concept of stealing Rocky away from his Mate during an event that sounded pretty darned important.
"Yes yes yes, we go now!" Rocky said in lieu of a response, reaching his clawed legs forward to grasp the controls of the hamster ball from his position on Grace's lap. "Rocky drive faster because Rocky can see!"
And with no further ado, Rocky pitched the ball forward in a swift roll, moving over the beach's sands fast enough to make Grace cling to his carapace with a very unflattering screech.
—
A short twenty minutes of Rocky rolling Grace through the city at stomach-clenching speeds saw them approaching their destination. Grace didn't have kids outside of his class both on Earth and Erid, but this is what he imagined teaching one of them to drive felt like.
…Just with the noticeable lack of panic handle mounted to the roof of his ball/car.
Rocky still sat loafing on Grace's lap as he drove, chittering in wordless excitement even as Grace clung to his carapace at the sharp turns Rocky took through the city. The streets rolled by so fast they were almost a blur, corded xenonite roads and buildings passing dizzily by, shrouded in the pitch shadow and barely illuminated by Grace's passing lights.
Grace was honestly surprised that they hadn't hit any other Eridians on the way there as the streets were usually packed-
Wait…
"Where is everyone?" Grace asked through terrified whimpers.
"Rocky already told Grace. Very important Festival! Every Eridian there!" Rocky replied, his musical tone lilting with teasing.
"Yeah- but what is the festival abou-gahh!" Grace squeaked, eyes screwing shut as the ball began to climb. He scrabbled his fingers uselessly against the thin layer of xenonite coating Rocky as the ground suddenly rose up against the front wall of the ball, Grace himself staying upright by the grace of the gyroscope.
"Apology apology apology." Rocky hummed soothingly, the vibrations helping to calm Grace's heart at the sudden scare. Rocky pressed his carapace back firmer into Grace's stomach, the firm warm weight helping to bring his heart rate down. "Rocky not mean to scare. But must hurry. Can't miss Festival! Very important that Grace there!"
And just as Rocky finished his sentence, the ball crested the incline (hill? Grace hadn't been in this direction before) and-
"Oh. Wow…" The sight before him had Grace's heart beating for a different reason. The ball's headlights illuminated what looked to be a flat-topped hill overlooking the dark sprawling city below. But what caught Grace's eye was the sheer amount of Eridians gathered together.
In his ten years of living on Erid, Grace had never seen a gathering of this magnitude. Thousands, if not tens of thousands of Eridians in all myriads of shapes, sizes and colours all clamoured together. Intricate woven jewellery clinked and swayed with excited movements. Voices twined and melted in and out of each other in pure expressions of excitement and joy.
Tall poles were planted into the ground at irregular intervals, braided cord strung between them and adorned with softly tinkling metal tubes. Clear, ringing tones echoed amongst the mesh of Eridian voices. Bells. Grace realised with a familiar jolt of wonder that came every time he came across something new. I've not seen bells here before.
"Mate Rocky. Friend Grace." Came a deep, crooning voice, cutting through the sea of voices like a minnow through the tide. A huge, familiar teal carapace wove through the crowd to approach the hamster ball. An Eridian with a sloping, pointed carapace came to a stop before them, resting a large, strong arm against the clear xenonite.
Adrian.
"Oh, hello Adrian!" Grace smiled, the laugh lines around his eyes crinkling with happiness- an emotion he felt deeply and often ever since he had arrived at Erid. "Rocky won't tell me what the Festival is about, could you-"
"Saviour Grace!"
"He is here!"
"Hello hello hello!"
"♩♩♫♪"
"Happy! Want to hear him!"
"Can touch? Want to touch!"
"♪♪" Adrian wordlessly intoned, raising and dipping their carapace in the Eridian universal sign for 'wait'. A sign that was thankfully heeded as the dizzying mix of words directed at him left Grace a little muddled with trying to mentally translate all of them. Through his muddlement, he couldn't help but feel a little flutter of happiness at so many wanting to interact and be so happy to see him.
Grace was fluent in Eridian, yes. But it was still difficult to pick out words when everyone was talking over each other.
Grace waved placatingly as the surrounded Eridians visibly drooped at being told to wait, feeling a deep sense of fondness for the people that had kindly taken him in. They all seemed to be so happy to see him.
Unlike his time on Earth.
Outside of his classroom, Grace felt like he didn't quite fit. An obsolete component. An analogue clock in a world of digital. He was shunned from the scientific community for defending his views. He was awkward in social situations. One brother dead in prison, the other not wanting anything to do with him after his fall-
"Grace OK? Question?" Came Rocky's familiar hum, the noise and the double tap of Rocky's leg on Grace's thigh jolting Grace out of his unprompted spiralling thoughts.
"Yeah Rocks, sorry got distracted." Grace said sheepishly, rubbing a hand through the short hairs on the back of his neck out of nervous habit. "But still, what is happening?"
"Rocky not tell Grace?" Adrian chuffed, tapping their claw against the ball. "Mean."
Rocky for his part, merely chittered in laughter before reaching into the little bag strapped to his front. Held between his dextrous claws was a familiar string of corded metal. Little tinkling pendants and beads decorated the length as Rocky gently clambered up Grace's chest and wove it around his limbs and torso.
"The Festival is to connect." Adrian said simply, folding their limbs beneath them and resting their flat underside against the hill's ground. "Sun and stars swing close to Erid. close enough to hear. We sing. Harmonize."
"Oh, that's… beautiful." Grace said breathlessly, eyes wide behind his glasses. Grace became overwhelmed with emotions when he joined in a regular Thrum. The overlapping of all those voices, all those thoughts and wills, of life. It got him a little teary, OK? Really living up to 'leaky space blob' as Rocky liked to call him.
So this… It sounded like Grace needed some tissues, stat.
"Oh. It is beginning. Grace listen." Rocky hummed, putting the finishing touches on the decadent drape of jewellery on Grace's limbs. He settled back in Grace's lap and reached out an arm to lay his claws against the xenonite wall. An action mirror by Adrian as they laid their own against Rocky's through the barrier.
Around them, the Eridians began to sing.
Voices rose and twined, melting into one another until Grace didn't know where each individual began. It was… sheer blissful connection.
Grace's eyes fluttered shut as the sound soaked into him, resonating with his body in a way that he had never felt before, even in a Thrum. Melodies and harmonies unbound. Effervescent.
His body seemed to vibrate and move with the music, and he couldn't help but let out his own hum, feeling at utter peace as it was absorbed into the melody around him. Rocky and Adrian shivered- a fact that Grace felt more than saw through the enchanting melody. Their voices wrapped around his own, uplifting and supporting him. Guiding him into the melody.
The stars above seemed to resonate with their song, humming and thrumming in the sky above, peeking through wispy clouds.
Grace's mind conjured up a thought, speaking with his own voice, so natural and innate that he wasn't sure if it was his own thoughts or something communicating through song.
Are you happy?
And the answer was yes. He had no regrets. He had found his place and had saved everyone back on Earth. The Eridians wanted him here and they were so open and kind.
But even so. He felt one little niggle. One little regret amongst the contentment.
I… Want to see my brothers one last time.
And with that thought, the music swelled to a crescendo.
Grace's eyes rolled back behind closed eyelids as colours burst and danced across his vision. The padded cushions against his back and the humming weight of Rocky a grounding comfort until…
The light washed over him and he knew no more.
—
"Mggghhnnn…" Grace groaned through chapped lips, sleep crusting at the corners of his eyes as consciousness returned in drips and drabs. Gentle light warmed his skin and his pillows were soft under his head.
The gentle twitter of bird song sounded in the air, peaceful.
Huh… Rocky didn't tell me he was adding something new to the biodome. Grace thought sleepily to himself with a wide, lazy yawn. He reached down and curled his fingers in the soft down of his blankets, savouring the feel.
The gentle sound of rushing sounded just beyond his window, slightly more muffled than he was used to, and… just a little bit strange. Weird, they must have fiddled with some of the wave machines-
HONKKKKKK
"Gah!" Grace jolted as a harsh, loud sound blasted through the room, startling him enough to flinch back so hard that he rolled backwards out of his bed.
"Oof!" Grace groaned as the impact against carpeted floors drove the air from his lungs- wait. Carpet?!
Grace's eyes snapped open at the feel of fiber against his skin, unfamiliar after a decade of smooth hardwood floors- courtesy of the Eridians and- Christmas Eve, he knew that carpet.
Faded blue flecked with a distinct pattern of spilled energy drink by the bedside.
That… was his.
Grace lay there dumbly for two split seconds, eyes wide and unblinking at the impossible sight before him until-
"Oh no. no no nonononono-" Grace muttered, digging the heels into his eyes as if he could scrub the images of what could only be a very convincing hallucination away. Yet when he opened them and blinked away the coloured spots from the pressure, the carpet was still damningly there.
"Uh. Rocky? Bud? Where are you?" Grace called out, beginning to shake in place like a soaked dog. Anxiety and pure fear at being in an unfamiliar yet familiar place all alone without his emotional support rock taking its toll.
Hard.
"Oh no. Oh nooooo this can't be happening. I've gone crazy." Grace muttered to himself, limbs shaking like a newborn foal as he began to crawl blindly forward. Plush, worn carpet fiber squished between his fingers- too real to be a dream as he approached the worn desk nestled into the corner of his bedroom.
With a cut off keen, breath coming faster, Grace crawled beneath the desk and folded himself into the tight, dark space beneath, feeling better with solid walls at his back and sides. And low and behold, there beyond the confines of his desk lay his old apartment bedroom.
Battered, faded printouts of the solar system bluetacked haphazardly on his cracked walls, thin white curtains fluttering in the gentle breeze of his cracked window, the rising sun casting a warm golden glow onto his rumpled bedsheets.
Exactly how he left it when Stratt collected him from the middle school.
OK yeah. That was a good time for a panic attack.
"Ohhhhhhhhhh my God. I've gone crazy. I've cracked." Grace said out loud to himself, voice thin and reedy as he pressed himself further into the space, folding into the cramped underdesk like he could escape his own mind. His breath began to come faster, heart pounding in his chest, sweat beading at his brow.
With panic rising within, all he could do was to grasp tightly at his head, digging his nails into his scalp as he rocked back and forth as he panted.
From there the world dissolved around him. Nothing felt real. Everything was too bright and too dark at the same time.
Grace wasn't sure how much time had passed, just that everything was wrong and where was Rocky-?!
Ring ring ring!
A familiar chime sounded through the air, breaking through the static in Grace's ears. Something buzzed in the pocket of his flannel pyjama pants. His phone.
With sweaty, shaking hands, Grace numbly drew out the phone and stared down at the screen. The word 'Work' surrounded by book and building emojis flashed over the screen, heralding an incoming call.
Wow… this really is an in depth hallucination. Grace thought numbly to himself, feeling as if he were watching himself through a movie screen.
With numb fingers, Grace hit 'accept' and held the phone to his ear.
"...Mr Grace? Are you there?" Came a voice he hadn't heard in over a decade. The very nice receptionist from his middle school, Abigail. "Are you alright? We didn't see you at the school."
"Uhh, Guh." Came the very intelligent response from Grace.
"You don't sound so good Mr Grace. Please, we'll get cover for your classes. Take the day off." Abigail said firmly at the sound of Grace's slurred fumbling. "You've not taken a single sick day since you've worked here. I'll check in tomorrow."
And with that, the call cut with a quick 'take care of yourself, Mr Grace', leaving Grace staring down at his phone and the wallpaper as the call dropped and that can't be right-
7th May 2021.
Five years before the Project.
Three years before the discovery of the Petrova Line.
Was this… real?
The past. Another chance. The chance to see his brother again. To see his kids again.
Grace's head swam with possibilities- threads of thought that tangled and snagged on each other as his brain scrabbled in the dark. With clumsy hands with numb fingers, he felt around the desk above him until he felt the familiar feel of paper and pen. His head began to clear, the realisation an anchor point amidst the whirlwind in his mind.
"Ok ok ok. Five years. What do I do?" Grace muttered to himself, staring down at the blank page. He was only slightly ashamed that his first thought was to shotgun a bag of sour skittles.
With shaky hands, he scribbled down three words across the page:
Astrophage.
Colt :((
Rocky <3
Those were his three goals. But how did he get himself in the position to help?
…
He had no idea. Not without getting sectioned or arrested.
Well. He had five years to figure it out. The world could wait a week while he sees his kids in class for the first time in a decade.
With a tangible goal in mind, and the concept of seeing his class again, Grace found purpose. And with that, strength, no matter how scared he was. With a wet sniffle, Grace carefully laid the paper on top of his desk and wiped away the fat tears soaking his cheeks.
With the grace of a wounded animal, he crawled out from underneath the desk. The first order of business? Raiding his own kitchen for any food that wasn't a me-burger or slurry.
—
Meanwhile, 11 light years across the galaxy, Erid as a whole awakened on the StarThrum cliff. As one, a chitter of confusion rippled across the gathered Eridians.
"The stars aren't humming anymore."
"That's strange, they were in position only a few seconds ago, Erid can't have shifted orbit so quickly?"
"Mate Rocky? Weren't you in ball with Friend Grace?"
"Yes yes yes. Rocky with Grace. Wait. WHERE IS GRACE."
Rocky's panicked screech echoed across the hilltop, drawing the attention of the surrounding Eridians. As one, the crowd turned their attention to their engineer as he scrabbled clumsily over the ground, limbs shaking and body quivering with pure panic.
Adrian reached out and gently caught Rocky by his underside, halting him before he took a tumble down the steep hillside. Adrian crooned soothingly at their borderline hysterical mate, but their song was slightly shrill with their own nervousness.
A tangible ripple echoed through the gathered Eridians as one by one they realised that one of their saviours- the kind and impossible alien that had taught them how to survive the invisible radiation sickness and saved their stars…
Was gone.