Archive of Our Own

Simon woke up to the feeling of lips pressed against his forehead. He inhaled sharply, letting out a few grumbles as he came into awareness. He felt the body in front of him let out a light chuckle.

“Morning, Si,” Simon felt Ryland shift slightly, hand reaching up to card fingers through his hair, and he melted into the touch.

Simon groaned and muttered. “S’not mornin’ yet. Go back t’sleep.”

Ryland laughed again, pulling Simon closer to press a few, repeated kisses to his forehead once more. Simon smiled into Ryland’s neck at the feeling. 

“I have class today, star.”

“Mphf.”

“Star.”

Simon just tightened his arm around Ryland relishing in the feeling of their bodies pressed close together.

“Simon.”

Simon rolled so that he was slightly on top of Ryland, his cheek pressed against his chest, and arm slung around his waist. 

“Simon Grace.”

At the sound of his full name and wasn’t that a thought, he had a full name, Simon finally relented, loosening his grip just enough so that Ryland could slip out from underneath his body. Eyes still closed, he felt his husband stand up from the bed, and start walking to the bathroom to get ready for his day. Simon couldn't help but hide a smile in the pillow beneath him. 

His husband. 

He never thought he would ever have anyone remotely similar to Ryland in his life. He’d thought he would die in prison, starved for food and affection, and later, that he would die in the Iron Lung, at the hands of the Eel. And yet, here he was. Safe, cared for, and loved for the first time in his life. 

Simon lay there, lost in his thoughts, before an amused voice broke through the haze. “What’s got you smiling?”

Simon peeked one eye open, to look up at Ryland. He was beautiful. Hair wildly messy and damp from his shower, towel slung low across his waist, with his glasses hanging off of one ear. He had his hands on his hips as he regarded Simon with a soft smile, head slightly tilted. Fuck, he was perfect. Simon rolled over onto his back, opening both eyes.

“Just thinking about you.” Ryland’s face went pink at that, and he scrubbed a hand over his face. “Oh my god, you’re so…”

“So what?”

Ryland glared at him in response, but his lips twitched upwards, betraying his amusement. Simon grinned, pushing himself up with his arm so that he was sitting, leaning back against the headboard. 

“Insufferable, maybe.” Even with those words, Ryland leaned down to press a quick kiss to his hair. Simon used the opportunity to grab his chin and gently tilt his face downwards, but before he could do anything else, he felt Ryland’s hand move up to cover his mouth.

“Brush your teeth first, and then I’ll think about it.” Simon gave him his best “puppy dog eyes”, as Ryland liked to call it, but to no avail. Ryland quickly smacked another kiss to the bridge of his nose, before turning around and rummaging through the drawer for clothes. 

Simon rolled his eyes but let out a soft huff of amusement, watching Ryland’s back as the man focused entirely on his wardrobe. He slid out of bed, the cool synthesized air hitting his bare chest. 

He padded over to the small bathroom, hands reaching for his toothbrush and paste, while his eyes caught his reflection in the xenonite slab that served as a mirror. The scars and mutations were still there. A set of sharp teeth across his left cheek, like a second mouth. His right eye, the sclera a blood-red color. His extra ribs, and the various bumps and ridges across his torso. His missing arm. Simon huffed at the sight. It had taken him years to be able to look at himself without immediately being hit with waves of self-loathing and disgust. But now, he looked in the mirror and saw himself. Someone who was desperate to live, and had succeeded.

After brushing and relieving himself, Simon walked back out into the bedroom just as Ryland was pulling a clean T-shirt over his head. He’d also managed to tame his hair somewhat, though his glasses were somehow still hanging off of his face.

"Teeth brushed," Simon announced, leaning against the doorframe. "Now, about that kiss."

Ryland looked up, a bright, easy grin breaking across his face. He didn't hesitate this time, stepping into Simon’s space and reaching both of his hands up to cup Simon’s face. He leaned down, pressing a firm kiss to Simon’s lips that tasted faintly of the minty toothpaste they shared. Simon’s arm found Ryland’s waist, pulling him flush against him, relishing in the warm, grounding pressure of Ryland's body against his, letting the solid, steady warmth of Ryland’s heartbeat ground him entirely. Simon felt Ryland slowly start to move back, and chased after him, bringing their mouths together again. Ryland started laughing into the kiss, moving his hands to press against Simon’s chest. 

“Star,” he said against his lips, “I’m gonna be late for work, I have that presentation today.”

Simon just hummed, moving slightly to pepper kisses across Ryland’s jaw, and downwards, gently scraping the junction between his neck and shoulder with his teeth. He felt Ryland shudder and start to relax under his ministrations, but before he could attempt taking it any further, they were interrupted by several sharp knocks at their front door, followed by the sound of it opening.

“Grace is going to be late statement. Simon is keeping Grace from work bad bad bad. Simon also has work, Simon is making Adrian wait.” Rocky’s annoyed chittering breached the soft haze they had fallen into, and reluctantly, Simon stopped his actions and just rested his forehead against Ryland’s shoulder.. 

“Rocky, it’s been almost eight years, how do you still not understand the concept of privacy?” Simon didn’t bother raising his voice, knowing that Rocky would be able to hear his annoyed grumbles anyway.

“Rocky understands, Rocky just thinks it’s stupid. If Rocky allows privacy, then Grace will never go to work and Simon will keep Grace forever and GraceSimon will do disgusting mouth touch and—”

“That’s not true!”

Ryland lightly shrugged. “It’s a little true.”

Simon raised his head up from where it was resting and glared at him. “Whose side are you on?”

“Rocky’s.”

“Yeah, don’t know what I expected.” Simon sighs fondly.

Ryland sighed, clutching his chest dramatically. “I mean, I love you star, but you just can't compete with mine and Rocky’s star-crossed love.”

“Ew, disgust.” Rocky’s voice was closer now, and Simon peered over Ryland’s shoulder to see him impatiently standing in the doorway.

Ryland whipped around at his statement.

“Hey!”

“Grace is too leaky squishy gross. Bad mate.”

“Hey! I’ve stopped crying so much, I’m not that leaky anymore!”

“You kinda are.”

Ryland whipped back around, hands still clutched to his chest, this time in mock betrayal.

“Whose side are you on?!”

“Also Rocky’s.”

“Yes yes yes Rocky wins stupid argument, GraceSimon shut up now.” He stomps his claw repeatedly for emphasis. “Grace is going to be late, too busy with gross human mating. Grace forgets that Rocky is also coming to class, Grace is making both GraceRocky late!”

That’s right. Ryland had been planning on starting his lesson on relativity today, and due to high amounts of interest, he’d decided to expand his usual audience, and invited Rocky and several other scientists engineers to sit in on his class, in addition to the pebbles. 

“Okay, okay, just let me grab some breakfast and get my shoes and— oh, fudge my papers and my laptop and my bag—“

“Grace is so disorganized, GraceRocky will be late late late late late—“

Simon decided to step in, placing a calming hand on Ryland’s shoulder, as he frantically looked around the room for all his lesson plans. 

“You’ll both be perfectly fine. Ry, just stay calm and gather all your things, I’ll go get a little bit of breakfast ready for you.”

Ryland took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, thank you. You’re the best.” He punctuated his words with a gentle kiss on Simon's toothy cheek and went back to searching, while Simon left the room in search of something quick to make. He laughed to himself at Ryland and Rocky’s continuing argument, and grabbed two pieces of erbread (Eridian bread. Ryland named it). He placed them in their superpowered toaster (courtesy of Rocky), and got out a glass of a nutrient shake that supposedly tasted something like oranges. Not that he’d ever had them. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Simon took out the toast and slathered them with Ryland’s favorite type of erjam (Eridian jam). He set the breakfast down on the dining table, and meandered back to the bedroom where he could still hear Ryland and Rocky’s voices.

“—swear, I kept them right here, where the heck did I— Rock, can’t you just echolocate them or something?”

“Grace has a million papers, Rocky does not know which one is—”

Simon looked to his right, where said papers sat innocuously on the table in plain sight, placed there by Simon himself last night, because he knew how stressed Ryland would be getting everything in order.

Simon knocked on the doorway, raising an eyebrow at Ryland’s pleading expression, laptop and bag clutched in his arms, and gestured to the right. Ryland’s face immediately turned red.

“Oh.”

“Grace fucking stupid.”

“Hey!”

Simon interrupted before they could get into it again. “Breakfast is ready, papers are all in order, and you two are gonna be late if you argue any longer.”

Ryland leveled a deadpan look at him. “And who was it that kept me from getting ready this morning?”

“Rocky,” he lied.

He saw Rocky gearing up to start yelling at him, so he quickly turned on his heel and headed over to the kitchen, gesturing for the two of them to follow him. The two of them didn’t waste anymore time, Ryland rushing to shove all his papers and laptop into his bag, while Rocky pushed at his legs. Ryland quickly ran into the kitchen, spotting the breakfast all laid out for him. 

“Oh my god, you are a lifesaver, I love you so much.” Simon softly laughed, while Ryland quickly started chugging the shake down, grabbing the toast with his other hand to eat on the way. “I love you too, Ryland.” 

Ryland paused at that to softly smile at Simon, head tilted in the particular way that made the hair fall just right over his forehead, before Rocky once again interrupted.

“More time for sappy gross GraceSimon time later, Grace needs to move move move!”

“Okay, okay, I’m moving!” Ryland choked out, taking one last massive sip of the shake before letting Rocky physically propel him toward the front door. He scrambled to pull his pack over his shoulder with his free hand, looking, for all intents and purposes, like a hurricane, but his eyes never left Simon's.

"Have fun at the greenhouse today! Love you!” Ryland called out over his shoulder, his voice frantic but still ever so loving.

“I will, and I love you too!” Simon replied, leaning his hip against the kitchen counter as Rocky literally herds Ryland, who just barely manages to grab his cane, out the front door and across the beach towards his classroom. The door shuts behind them, and Simon is left to his own devices. He took a deep breath and headed back to the bathroom, calm and relaxed, to take his own shower, followed by a quick breakfast. He peered at the clock as he finished chewing. It was about the time that he said he’d meet Adrian at the greenhouse to take care of his sizable plant collection.

He gets up and reaches for his xenonite prosthetic arm (thank you Rocky), attaching it in one fluid movement. He grabbed his shoes, and started the small walk through the slowly growing maple trees, over to the greenhouse. With Simon’s arrival in Erid, the biodome had changed. Now, instead of just consisting of Ryland’s foggy beach (though Simon did adore it), there was also a section for greenery. Eridian scientists had managed to clone the tiny seed that had been preserved in Simon’s pendant, and slowly but surely, trees were sprouting. It was beautiful. Simon couldn’t wait to see what the fully grown trees would look like. 

Simon comes to a stop in front of the greenhouse and slowly pushes open the door. Adrian is already hard at work, inspecting the plants, and giving them the appropriate care. Simon stops again as the door swings shut behind him, closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath. The smell of dirt and leaves, once completely unknown, now so familiar, fills him with a sense of calm, though there is a tiny part of him that’s still giddy at the scent. He gets to have this! He opens his eyes to Adrian standing in front of him, patiently waiting for him to finish having his moment. 

“Is Simon ready to start, question?”

Simon smiled at who was probably his closest friend. When he had appeared on Erid, terrified, convinced he was dead and unable to accept anything that was happening, it was Adrian, in all of their infinite patience, who had helped him slowly acclimate to his surroundings and accept that he was finally free, and alive. 

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

Adrian's carapace tilted, slowly bobbing up and down. A nod, something both they and Rocky had picked up from hanging around Ryland and Simon so often.

“Adrian thinks Maple trees are doing well, no need for watering today. Adrian will continue with flowers.”

“I agree. I’ll start with the tomatoes?”

Adrian chitters in agreement, and they both move to their respective plants. 

Simon gets lost in the calming, repetitive actions. The actions of watering, pruning, and harvesting, if necessary, come easy to him. It’s a far cry from his previous, also very repetitive job of taking x-ray images.

He’s free now.

He and Adrian work for hours, carefully checking over each plant, before they meet in the middle, their work all done. Simon stands up and stretches, groaning as his back cracks.

Adrian shudders at the sound, and Simon pats their carapace in apology. 

“Simon is hungry yet, question?”

“Nah, not yet. Still pretty full from breakfast.”

Despite the agonizing pain that his mutations had caused him, both physical and mental, Simon and the Eridians had found that the mutations weren’t just random— instead, they were streamlined to maximize his survival. And one of these mutations was that he didn’t need to eat as much. Simon was perfectly full and healthy having one light meal for breakfast, and a heavier one for dinner. For several months after discovering this, Ryland was always stressed that Simon still wasn’t eating enough, constantly checking in to make sure he wasn’t hungry. Simon couldn’t say he blamed him, in those early months of living on Erid, he’d had a habit of keeping his wants and needs to himself. But, they’d grown past it. And here they were, married and completely fulfilled.

Simon blinked to clear his head, and focused back on Adrian, who had started speaking again. “SimonAdrian go for a walk, question?”

Simon nodded, and they set off, walking for a few minutes in comfortable silence before settling down among the growing maple trees. The synthetic grass beneath them was soft, lightly tickling Simon’s feet as he kicked off his shoes and moved to lean on Adrian’s carapace. He felt Adrian shift slightly to accommodate him and lean back. He wiggled his toes around in the grass, feeling the soft, spongy dirt underneath. He’d seen a glimpse of what life could look like, when he gazed upon The Last Tree on Eden. But it could never compare to this. Simon let out a sigh of contentment, leaning more heavily onto Adrian, closing his eyes and letting the sensations of the nature surrounding him take over his senses.

For a long time, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the rustle of the leaves around them and Simon’s own breaths. As the comforting silence continued, Simon let his thoughts wander. First to Ryland, which automatically bought a smile to his face, then to Adrian, Rocky, and all the other Eridians who had been so kind to him. Then to the Iron Lung, and Eden, and Ava. 

Ava.

He hadn’t been angry at her for a long time. Not since he had made that promise to retrieve the black box. She was just another human. Another terrified, yet desperately hopeful human, clinging to the idea that humanity could be saved. He hoped she was at peace. But he has no way to know. 

He has no way to know what happened to Eden, or the Consolidation, or any of the humans in the universe he had come from. He could only hope that the black box had somehow made it, and that whatever the contents were, they had ensured humanity’s continued survival. The thoughts made Simon’s breath hitch slightly. He had long made peace with his life, and with never going back to his own universe, but sometimes he still felt like that terrified little boy, wondering where all the stars went. He hoped they found an answer.

Adrian’s carapace shifted, a subtle tilt that Simon recognized as an opening for conversation

“Simon is feeling okay, question?”

“Yeah, I’m okay Adrian. Why do you ask?”

Simon felt Adrian shift, still careful to make sure he wasn’t jostled from his resting place, and bring a claw up to gently wipe at his face. 

“Simon is leaking.”

Surprised, Simon bought his hands up to his face. Sure enough, his cheeks were wet, and silent tears where streaming from his eyes.

“Oh”, he said softly, “I didn’t even realize.”

“Simon is thinking about Simon’s universe, question? About Iron Lung?”

Simon didn't flinch at the question. Years ago, even a passing thought of the SM-13 or the blood ocean would have sent him spiraling into a breathless panic. Now, looking out at the greenery before him, and the beach beyond that, the memory felt distant, like a nightmare he’d had years ago.

"A little," Simon admitted honestly, his voice catching slightly. He felt Adrian move so that they were seated behind him, limbs encircling his body, keeping him safe. Simon leaned back onto their carapace, the thumb of his flesh hand idly tracing the smooth ridges of one of Adrian’s xenonite covered arms.

“Just… just thinking about how everyone over there is doing now. If there’s anyone left. I mean, I’m sure there must be, but… I have no idea if anything I did actually helped them.” They both remained quiet for a few more beats, Simon gathering his next thoughts. 

“I love it here. So fucking much. I wouldn’t change a single thing about my life right now. But sometimes I can’t stop thinking about my— the other universe. And, I mean, I don’t want to go back. Ever. But I don’t know, sometimes it just won’t leave my mind. I don’t know if I actually helped.”

Adrian doesn’t answer right away. They just tighten their limbs around him slightly, a firm, unwavering weight that anchors Simon to the present. Simon feels a low, steady vibration rumble through Adrian’s chest, a sequence of notes with the sole purpose of comforting Simon.

“Simon helped,” Adrian said, their voice speaking out over their constant thrumming. “Simon fought to get the black box. Simon fought the blood ocean, and Simon survived, just to give the other humans a chance to survive. Adrian has not met these other humans. Adrian only knows some of the stories Simon tells. But, if Simon came from that universe, it must mean that there are humans there like Simon, who are stubborn enough to fight and survive. If there are any humans like Simon there, then they survived. They are stubborn. Like you.”

Simon let out a wet, breathless laugh, using the back of his hand to wipe at his eyes. "Yeah. We are pretty stubborn."

“Adrian thinks about this often,” the Eridian continued, their carapace shifting gently as they settled deeper into the grass with him. “What would happen if Simon was not here. That Adrian would not understand any difference. But Grace would have no other human to hold him, and understand being human. Rocky would not have someone who understands being alone for so many years. Adrian would not have a best friend. And Simon would be…”

They trail off, unwilling to finish their sentence.

“Dead.” Simon whispers.

Adrian’s limbs tightened around him, before they continued.

“But Simon is here. And Simon loves and is loved. With Simon we have many trees and plants. Grace is terrible at taking care of plants. All would have died.”

Simon laughs at that, further relaxing back into Adrian’s comforting embrace.

“Because Simon is here, everyone is happier. Adrian believes that Simon helped everyone in Simon’s universe. But if not, Simon still helped everybody here. All eridians and Grave love Simon, statement.

Simon let out a long, shuddering sigh, the last bit of tension finally leaving his shoulders. Adrian’s right. 

“And I love everyone here too, statement. But especially you. I love you, Adrian. Thank you for… everything.”

“No need to thank. Adrian loves Simon too. Very very very much.”

 He closes his eyes again, completely melting back against Adrian’s solid, warm frame. They remained like that, until Simon heard the sound of laughter in the distance.

Ryland.

He opened his eyes and squinted to see the distant shapes of Ryland and Rocky, having their own talk on the beach.

Simon huffed. “Looks like they’re having their own chat, huh?”

“Simon wants to go to them, question?”

Simon briefly thought about it, then shook his head. “Nah, I’ll  let them have their time.”

Adrian hummed in agreement, and they fell into comfortable silence once more, occasionally broken when one of them had a thought they wanted to share. After around 30 minutes, Simon heard the sound of Ryland’s footsteps and Rocky’s faster skittering approaching them. He opened his eyes to the sight of Ryland quickly walking over, as fast as he could with his cane, Rocky right beside him, while the biodome around them slowly darkened.

“Simon! Star!” Ryland’s voice cut through the quiet peace of the maple grove as he came to a stop. He sounded breathless, and looked windswept, while Rocky looked like he was about to start vibrating out of his skin. “Adrian! It’s good to see you! We went by the greenhouse a few minutes ago, but didn’t see either of you, I was starting to get worried.”

“Grace is being dramatic, statement,” Rocky warbled, as he cozied up to Adrian, on Simon’s left, rubbing their carapace’s together. “Rocky knew AdrianSimon were in the maple grove. Simon body is loud and leaky.”

Simon lightly swatted Rocky, who let out an indignant shriek, before tilting his head to face Ryland, a loose, easy smile spreading across his face as he remained comfortably melted against Adrian’s front. He didn't move a muscle, entirely content to watch his husband ungracefully set all of his things down. Ryland was a beautiful, chaotic mess. His hair was sticking up in five different directions from where he’d clearly been running his hands through it during his lecture, his glasses were once again hanging crookedly off of his face, and the coat he was wearing was inside out.

"We were enjoying the quiet," Simon said, his voice a quiet contrast to Ryland's high-energy. "At least until you two decided to ruin it."

Ryland let out a bright laugh, stepping forwards again. The lingering manic energy from his lecture seemed to soften the second his eyes locked onto Simon. He set his cane down and slowly dropped to his knees right beside Simon’s free side, wincing at the action.

“Oh, so I’m ruining things now, am I?” Ryland teased, though there was nothing but pure tenderness in his expression. He reached out, his hand instinctively finding the scarred side of Simon’s jaw, his thumb smoothing over the rough skin and teeth gently. “And here I was, so excited to tell my husband about the chaos that happened during the lecture.” Simon’s smile grew, and he leaned into Ryland’s hand, careful not to cut anything on the sharp teeth there.

“Grace was the chaos!” Rocky interrupted, skittering closer and bumping his carapace affectionately against Simon. “Grace very bad at explanations for adult Eridians, can only teach pebbles. Kept using baby pebble metaphors, Rocky had to start helping the lesson.” 

“I wasn’t that bad, Rock, I just thought that since it was a completely new idea, it might be a good idea to stick to how I usually teach! It’s not my fault you guys are so smart.” Ryland shot back over his shoulder, though his attention immediately snapped right back down to Simon. His eyes crinkled behind his lenses, looking down at where Simon was still shoeless, his toes dug lightly into the spongy earth. "How was the greenhouse, star? Everything turning out okay?"

Before Simon could answer, Adrian shifted slightly behind him, their lower limbs adjusting to keep Simon perfectly braced as they pulsed a low, amused chord.

“All of the plants are safe and healthy. But Grace is still banned from the greenhouse. In fact, Grace should not be here either, the maple trees may start dropping dead”

Simon let out a genuine, breathless huff of laughter, at Ryland’s indignant look, his xenonite hand reaching up to rest over Ryland’s knuckles where they still cupped his face. He grabbed Ryland’s hand, cupping it in both of his, closing his eyes and pressing soft, fleeting kisses to his knuckles and fingertips. 

"The plants are fine, Ry," Simon murmured softly, opening his eyes to look at his messy, gorgeous husband. "Come here. Sit down properly before you vibrate right out of your skin."

Ryland didn't need to be told twice. With a soft, contented sigh, he collapsed the rest of the way onto the grass, tucking himself right into Simon's side, his head finding a perfect resting place against Simon's shoulder, completely unbothered by his scars and bumps. He felt Ryland press his lips to the seam where flesh met xenonite at his shoulder, and he returned the affection with a forehead kiss.

Ryland shifted to prop his chin up on Simon’s shoulder, gazing at his face with adoration. The adoration quickly turned to concern, however, as Ryland let go of Simon’s hands to gently cup his face again and run a thumb under his eye.

“Your eyes are a little red.” 

Simon raised an eyebrow, deliberately widening his blood-red right eye. Ryland rolled his own eyes.

“Not that eye, Simon. And your face is wet, are you feeling okay?

Once again, Simon was hit with a massive wave of love, for the man sitting beside him. There was a furrow in his brow, where he had scrunched his eyebrows together in concern, and he was slightly pouting. Fuck, he was so goddamn adorable. 

“Yeah Ryland, I’m fine.” At Ryland’s resulting skeptical look, Simon leaned in to press their foreheads together. “I talked everything over with Adrian, I promise that I’m okay, okay? I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.”

Grace nodded, seemingly satisfied, leaning in further to brush their noses together and give Simon a chaste kiss. With that, they both turned to face forwards, looking out at the grove, and the synthesized ocean beyond. Simon and Grace simultaneously felt something brush the tops of their heads, and looked up to see that Rocky had climbed on top of Adrian’s carapace and was gently playing with their hair.

They remained in silence for a few more beats, before the sound of Ryland’s stomach rumbling broke through. He buried his face in his hands as the rest of them laughed. “Yeah, yeah, curse my regular human metabolism.” 

Simon and Ryland started getting to their feet, brushing off the dirt from their clothes.

Simon stretched and turned around to face Adrian and Rocky. “You guys coming over?”

“Disgust disgust disgust, Rocky doesn’t want to watch you eat. Be respectful.” Ryland stuck his tongue out at Rocky in response, who shuddered at the sight of his “gross human mouth appendage”.

Simon fondly rolled his eyes at them, and turned to just face Adrian instead. “Bye Adrian. See you tomorrow?”

“Yes, will see Simon tomorrow. RockyAdrian need to go watch hatchmate pebbles sleep tonight.” 

“Okay, have fun.” Simon said with a soft smile. He turned to face Ryland, and was met with the sight of him staring at Rocky with a mischievous grin spreading across his face, while Rocky was wearily braced on top of Adrian.

“What is Grace doing, question?”

Ryland responded by darting forward to press a quick kiss to Rocky’s xenonite covered carapace, before quickly moving away, avoiding Rocky’s flailing arms as he squealed in disgust. Simon shook his head, exasperated at their antics. He knew Rocky didn’t actually mind, and just played up his reactions to Ryland’s affections because he found them funny. 

Simon just huffed at them, lightly jogging to follow Ryland, before turning around to drag his knuckles across his arm, in a quick Eridian goodbye. Satisfied, he quickly walked the rest of the way to catch up to Ryland, grabbing his hand as soon as he was within reach, and bumping their shoulders together.

Ryland turned his head to face him with a bright, warm grin. 

“Hi.”

“Hi,” Simon responded softly. “What are you thinking for dinner?” Ryland leaned against him instead of his cane as they walked to relieve weight off of his legs. Simon adjusted without complaint. “Me-burgers and some of the vegetables from yesterday’s harvest?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

The rest of the short walk back to their house went similarly, the two quietly sharing details about their day. 

They reached the door, Ryland entering first, and both kicked off their shoes. Simon looked up and was met with the sight of Ryland standing right in front of him, slowly shuffling closer, his arms reaching out to grab into Simon’s shoulders, slowly pressing him back against the door.

Simon raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were hungry?”

“Oh, you bet I am.”

Simon leveled him with an unimpressed look. “Ry, that was the corniest shit—”

He was cut off by the feeling of Ryland’s lips pressing gently, but insistently against his own. Simon immediately melted into the feeling, hands coming up to grip Ryland’s hips and pull him impossibly closer. The kiss remained chaste for a few seconds, before Simon felt Ryland’s tongue, lightly prodding at the seam of his mouth, asking for entrance. Simon parted his lips, and Ryland deepened the kiss immediately, letting out a light moan as their tongues brushed and Simon bit at his lower lip. The moment, of course, was ruined by the sound of Ryland’s stomach grumbling again. Simon chuckled, gently pushing Ryland back and separating them. He took a moment to look at his husband, his eyes bright, hair wild, and lips wet.

“Dinner, and then we can continue.”

Ryland pouted, his lip sticking out in a way that had no right being as effective as it was on a grown man, but he ultimately let out a defeated sigh. “Fine. But I’m holding you to that, star.”

“I’d expect nothing less,” Simon teased, swatting at Ryland’s hip to get him moving toward the kitchen.

The domestic rhythm of their evening took over naturally. Ryland, despite his lack of culinary finesse, insisted on helping, which mostly amounted to him sitting on the counter, swinging his legs, and meticulously washing the vegetables Simon had harvested the day before. Simon watched him out of the corner of his eye while he prepped the me-burgers, a comfortable silence settling between them, save for the rhythmic sizzle of the pan.

As they finally sat down to eat, Ryland practically inhaled his first few bites, eliciting a soft, scolding huff from Simon.

“Slow down, Ry. The food isn’t going to run away.”

Ryland swallowed, offering an apologetic, slightly sheepish grin. “Sorry. I need the calories after using so much brainpower explaining relativity to a bunch of scientists who still can’t comprehend the idea, even though Rocky and I have literally proved it.”

Simon reached across the table with his flesh hand, intertwining his fingers with Ryland’s. “Did they give you a hard time?”

“I mean, a bit at first, but Rocky and I straightened them out real quick.”

“Well, I would have loved to see that.” Simon winked at him, tightening his grip on Ryland’s hand. 

“You should come sit in on the next class! The pebbles really miss you, you know. They keep asking me when ‘Grace-Mate is coming’.” Simon just smiled, and gave Ryland a look that said “maybe.”

“By the way, star, are you sure everything’s okay? I know you said you’d talk to me about it tomorrow, and I believe you, but you were also crying and I just want to make sure you know that you can always talk to me about anything, and–”

Simon cut him off with another squeeze to his hand. “Yes, I’m okay Ry, don’t worry about it. I had a good talk with Adrian, and they helped me work through a few things. I just need to sleep on it, I’ll tell you everything tomorrow. And the same goes for you. You can always talk to me.”

Ryland nodded at that, swallowing the last of his meal and calming down. “Okay, okay, good. And I will.”

Ryland stood up from the table, gathering both their plates, and placing them in the sink to wash tomorrow, before grabbing Simon’s hand again and dragging him to the bedroom. He fell back onto the bed, Simon following, landing on Ryland as he let out a whoosh of air at the pressure. Simon immediately pressed their lips together, deepening the kiss within seconds. He grabbed Ryland’s wrist, pressing them gently into the mattress beneath. After a minute or so, the fervent kisses slowed into something softer, until Simon resorted to just placing soft kisses on every inch of Ryland’s face, as he giggled beneath him. With a final peck to his nose, he drew back to peer at his husband, who was still laughing, face bright red.

“Beautiful,” he said, rolling off Ryland in favor of laying next to him and wrapping his arm around his waist. 

Ryland turned on his side to face him, reaching a hand up to push Simon’s hair out of his face, and shifting closer so that they were sharing a pillow. “I don’t have class tomorrow, do you have anything to do in the morning?”

Simon closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of Ryland’s hand carding through his hair. “No, I was just going to meet up with Adrian at some point in the evening.”

“Do you want to watch a movie?”

“Wall-E?”

“You always want to watch Wall-E.”

Simon gave him his puppy dog eyes, which worked this time, as Ryland put on a big show of sighing. “Fineee, we can watch Wall-E. Lemme go grab the laptop.”

He left the bed with a kiss to Simon’s temple, in search of the laptop that was somewhere by their doorway.

He returned a moment later, triumphant, clutching the laptop under his arm. Ryland scrambled back into bed, the mattress shifting beneath him as he opened the screen and brought the archive with all the films that Stratt had managed to download. He settled back against the pillows, slightly propped up, with Wall-E on the screen, leaving a space open for Simon on his right side.

Simon slid over, resting his head comfortably into the crook of Ryland’s neck, wrapping his left arm around Ryland's right, and snuggling into the sheets.

As the opening music of Wall-E began to play, casting a soft glow across the darkened bedroom, a peaceful silence settled over them. Simon watched the desolate, trash-filled ruins of an abandoned Earth fill the screen. It was a vastly different landscape from the blood-soaked SM-13, but the visual still struck a familiar chord deep in his chest. His heart clenched as his eyes tracked the lonely little robot rolling through the dust.

But then, Wall-E found a plant. A single, fragile, tiny green sprout.

Simon felt his posture stiffen ever so slightly, his chest tightening, and he instinctively reached a hand up to brush over the extra teeth embedded in his cheek, before he pushed himself deeper into Ryland’s embrace. Instantly, Ryland’s arm came up to wrap around his shoulders, the fingers of his other hand sliding between Simon's and squeezing with an unwavering, solid pressure. 

Simon let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, squeezing back. He looked from the little green sapling on the screen to Ryland’s profile, feeling a smile come to his face. Ryland clearly noticed that Simon wasn’t looking at the screen anymore, and turned his head to look back at him. He leaned in slightly to gently bump their foreheads together. It was all the reassurance Simon needed, and he turned again to keep watching the movie.

They watched in silence as the movie progressed. Simon watched the humans on the Axiom. They were lazy and entirely disconnected from their original home. It was a stark contrast to the brutal conditions that Simon had grown up in on Eden, and the life he’d lead in prison. But as the film reached its climax and one of those same humans stood up on his own two feet, fighting for humanity and that little plant, Simon felt a deep sense of peace wash over him.

Stubborn. Humans were just so incredibly stubborn. Adrian was right. If his universe had humans like him in it, they were still fighting. They were surviving.

By the time the credits rolled, showing a vibrant, flourishing Earth covered in trees, Ryland was already losing his battle with sleep. His head was heavy where it rested atop Simon’s, his breathing slowing, though his hand remained stubbornly tangled with Simon’s.

Simon smiled softly. He reached out with his xenonite arm to gently close the laptop and set it on the nightstand, plunging the room into near-darkness, only illuminated by the tiny amount of light still coming through the curtains. He gently shook Ryland to wake him, knowing how much he’d hate it if he didn’t at least brush his teeth before bed.

He managed to eventually get a sleepy Ryland to the bathroom to clean up before bed, even convincing him to take a quick shower together, before drying him off and dressing both of them in just boxers. He led Ryland to bed, removed his glasses, from where they were for once on the bridge of his nose, and pushed him to lie down on the left side.

Simon crawled over him to the right, sat up to quickly remove his prosthetic, and applied a soothing salve to his amputation site, before pulling the covers up over them both and tucking Ryland securely against his side.

Leaning down, Simon pressed a long, tender kiss to Ryland’s forehead, right between his eyebrows.

“Goodnight, Ry,” he whispered into the dark. “I love you.”

He doesn’t get a response, but he doesn’t need one. He knows how loved he is.

Tomorrow, he would fulfill his promise. He’d talk about his silent tears in the maple grove, and the heavy uncertainty of the universe he left behind. But tonight, listening to his husband’s steady breathing and the faint sound of waves crashing against the shore, Simon closed his eyes, completely at home.