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Grace woke up sluggishly to his alarm chiming on his nightstand. He groaned and reached over to silence it, slapping his hand blindly over the table a few times before he found the button. He flopped over onto his back and allowed his eyes to stay closed for another few blissful seconds. He caught himself right before he drifted back off into unconsciousness and sat up slowly, yawning as he mentally took stock of his body. He had gotten a full night’s sleep but he still felt exhausted, a bone-deep tiredness that wrapped around his brain and pulled him down into his bed.
He sighed and forced himself to stand up, bracing his hand on the bed just in case. He had days like these sometimes, where the stress of Erid’s double gravity was too much for his body and it just gave up. Everything that wasn’t laying perfectly still in bed took tremendous effort, but he pushed himself through his usual morning routine anyway; dressing in his most comfortable clothes, brushing his teeth, trying to find his glasses, making a cup of what passed for coffee around here. On days like this, he really wished his team of Eridian doctors would let him have caffeine. He tried to explain to them that it wasn’t even really that much of a stimulant, but he got the feeling that Eridians had a much less tolerant culture around… mind-altering substances… than humans did. He really just drank the coffee substitute for the ritual at this point, the act of making a cup of something warm and bitter and sipping it slowly as he woke up.
He sat at his kitchen table staring off into space for a while, dimly registering that he needed to make breakfast. Just staying upright was kinda hard right now, and he slumped forward a little in his chair, forearms bracing against the edge of the table. He really wished he could lay down on his couch or something, but he knew that if he did that he wouldn’t get back up for at least a few hours, and he had things he actually needed to do today. His thoughts were moving sluggishly as he zoned out, and it took a minute or two for his awareness to claw its way back to the front of his mind.
He finished his coffee, and then pushed himself back up to drop his mug in the sink and look for something to eat. He wasn’t really hungry, but the longer his stomach stayed empty the less energy he would have, and he really needed more energy if he was going to be even remotely coherent in class today. God he missed caffeine. On Earth, he was always more of a coffee kind of guy, but right now he could really go for a RedBull, or something. His train of thought escaped him suddenly, and he stared blankly into his fridge for a while, before shaking himself back to awareness and grabbing a taumoeba-shake. He drank it down right where he stood and tossed the empty container into the sink next to his mug. He could do the dishes later, when he wasn't feeling so heavy.
He looked over at the clock. He had spent enough time staring off into space, he needed to get going. As he walked along his artificial beach, he started to feel himself wake up a little more. He still felt heavy, like his bones were made of lead or… tungsten, or something, but his mind felt more aware, more present in the current moment instead of floating off into that foggy void he often found himself in on days like these. He struggled to recall most of his lesson plan for the day as he walked, but he had the whole thing written down on his desk in the classroom. He set up all of his materials and then flopped down into his desk chair, scrubbing at his face and groaning quietly.
He checked the clock again. This is the only thing you have to do today, he reminded himself. Then you can go home and spend the rest of the day in bed. He really did love teaching the pebbles, but he barely had the energy to meet his own basic needs today, much less keep up with 30 Eridian children. He debated pillowing his head in his arms on his desk while he waited, but he forced himself to stand and pace around the classroom instead to keep himself present.
The class went by just fine. Once he got started, his exhaustion faded into the background and he was able to act only slightly lower energy than usual. If his students noticed him lose his train of thought more often and lean on his desk a little more, they didn’t say anything.
Rocky met him after class, like he always did. Grace didn’t even bother to clean up any of his teaching materials, and although he desperately wanted to take a break and sit down he forced himself to keep his momentum on his feet.
Good morning Grace! Rocky chirped, falling in step beside him as they trudged along the beach. He nudged a little closer, bumping up against his leg.
“Mornin’, Rock.” Grace reached a hand down to rest on the top of Rocky’s carapace, half for stability and half for affection.
Your heart rate is 5% slower than usual. Feeling okay?
Grace chuckled. Rocky’s echolocation and perfect memory allowed him to become intimately familiar with pretty much all of Grace’s bodily functions during their years together, to the point where he could usually tell something was off before Grace himself could. Grace thought that it must be irritating, hearing his heart pump blood and his stomach digest food all the time, but at some point during their long journey to Erid, Rocky had confided in him that he found it comforting. He said that after being alone for so long, it was nice to hear someone be so audibly alive. Once they had both settled in on Erid, Rocky had sheepishly admitted to Grace that he missed being able to hear his heartbeat all the time, echoing through the close quarters of the Hail Mary. That had made Grace cry, to which Rocky had jumped back with teasing warbles of Disgust disgust disgust! and So leaky, do not miss!
“I’m fine, buddy,” Grace replied, “Just tired, I guess. The gravity’s really doing a number on me today.”
Ahh, understand. This was far from the first time Grace had a day like this, where his body struggled under the weight of atmospheric pressure and his brain lost its fight with the encroaching fog of fatigue. Will take “chill medication”, spend the rest of the day in bed.
The sand felt like it was pulling on Grace’s feet as he walked, sucking him down as he worked to lift his knees and trudge down the beach. He was being uncharacteristically quiet, which he knew always worried Rocky, but he filled the silence easily with small talk about his work, Adrian, and other general goings-on outside of the biodome. Grace was paying as much attention as he could, but he knew the information wouldn’t stick in his fuzzy brain.
Grace kicked off his shoes and slumped down into the nearest chair as soon as they were through the door of his house. Rocky scuttled over in front of him, grabbing his arm and (gently) tugging on it.
Up! Up! Up! Bed will be more comfortable.
He was right, but Grace still dropped his head back and groaned petulantly. The walk across the living room, up a few steps, and down a short hallway seemed impossible now that he was sitting, even though he had just walked pretty much the entire length of his beach. Begrudgingly, he let Rocky’s next tug pull him to his feet, and once he was standing the distance didn’t seem as hard to cross.
Rocky kept his gentle grip on Grace’s wrist as he pulled him along to his bedroom, where he promptly flopped onto the bed facedown and rolled over onto his back, splaying his limbs out wide. He wiggled to the side a little to make some room for Rocky to curl up next to him.
Be right back, Rocky said, and Grace heard the tap-tap-tap of xenonite on the floor as he left.
Grace sank into the mattress, staring up at the ceiling as his mind drifted away from him again. He was exhausted. Not in the need-to-go-to-sleep way, but in the way where his body felt heavy and it took twice as much effort to move and think. He let himself go completely limp, eyes unfocusing as he slipped further into the fog of his mind.
He stayed like that for a while, thinking about nothing in particular, until he heard Rocky’s footsteps reenter the room. Grace turned his head to the side to look, but Rocky was just a little too short to be seen over the edge of the bed. Instead, he saw one little hand reach up to place a glass of water on the nightstand, and another toss Grace's laptop and Rocky’s screen reader onto the bed, Rocky climbing up after it.
Brought water and entertainment! Rocky chirped, helping Grace maneuver so he could see the laptop screen and then curling up in his negative space. Fondness wrapped around his heart and squeezed at how willing his friend was to drop everything and help him through his tougher days.
“You're so nice to meeeee,” Grace whined, curling around the xenonite barrier a little tighter.
Are friends usually mean to each other on Earth? Rocky asked teasingly, laughing his squeaky, chittering laugh. Want to watch more Babylon 5!
Rocky fiddled with the keyboard, pulling up the media player and propping up his light-sensing gun at a good angle. They had worked their way through the most iconic sci-fi movies and TV shows and were now onto some more deep cuts. Grace dimly remembered watching the show before, probably sometime in college, but it had been so long he didn't remember much of it.
They were somewhere in season 2, and this episode saw the station’s captain get abducted by aliens in a classic, trope-y way (which Grace found kinda funny, since aliens were a very normal thing on the show). He was tastefully beaten and bloodied, Captain Kirk-style, and Grace explained that this was the sort of stereotypical way that humans imagined first contact with aliens. Getting suddenly teleported onto their ship, being probed and studied, even down to the aliens’ big round heads and wide, glassy eyes. Rocky chittered with laughter at that.
So strange! Why do humans assume aliens will be cruel and dangerous?
“I dunno, bud,” Grace replied. He really didn’t have the brainpower for an existential conversation about the nature of humanity right now. “In the ‘60s, a few people said that something like that really happened to them, and their stories got pretty popular. That’s where most of it came from, I think.”
Did that really happen? Said our meeting was first contact!
“I mean, there hasn’t been any, like, evidence for it. Most people think the stories were fake, but there are some people that believe it.”
Have similar stories here, Rocky hummed. But, aliens were kind, benevolent. Appeared to help Eridians in times of need.
“That’s really interesting,” Grace replied. He would love to hear more, but his brain was still foggy and sluggish, and he was tired of thinking. He sank further into the bed, letting go of Rocky a little as his muscles relaxed.
They fell into a comfortable silence until the episode finished, and Rocky moved to pull up the next one.
“What do you think of the show so far?” Grace asked, curious.
Is good! Very easy to understand without knowing much Earth history.
“Who’s your favorite character?”
Hmmm… Rocky tapped his claws together as he thought. Franklin. Reminds me of you, He explained sheepishly. Smart, kind, will ignore rules and innovate to help others.
“Aww, Rocky!” Grace curled further around his friend again. “That’s so sweet, you’re gonna make me cry!”
Please do not leak! Was being honest, Rocky trilled, pulling a claw out of their tangle to pat Grace on the head.
“Y’know, there aren’t really any characters on the show like you,” Grace mused, the rusty gears in his head turning as he thought about his friend. “Innovative, an inventor. Good at building things on the fly. You always have such great ideas," he said, “You love to the point of invention.”
Rocky preened at the compliment. Is true! If I was on Babylon 5, there would be many many many fewer problems. He vibrated a little, shifting back and forth shyly. …thank you. Love love love Grace.
“I love love love you too, Rocky,” Grace replied. He yawned, all the conversation catching up to him even though his body had been resting. The mattress cradled him so gently, and Rocky was so warm against him. He sighed and sank a little further down. “Think I need a nap now,” he mumbled.
Will watch, Rocky hummed gently, and Grace barely registered it before the darkness of sleep took him.