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Rocky knew Grace was getting old. He knew it in that same way he knew Grace was alive. Human bodies were squishy, leaky blobs– but they were also so full of sound in a way that Eridians just weren’t. Hearts. Lungs. Stomach. Blood. Joints. Every bit of Rocky’s human made sound, had always made sounds. But lately, his sounds were getting quieter. Slower. And Rocky knew.
He had had sixty joyous years with Grace. He had ‘seen’ the human slowly change. Skin became wrinkled, hair thinned. Joints became more frail. Grace went from using a cane to move around to needing a wheeled chair to leave his house in the biodome. Rocky gave Grace everything the human asked for. How could he not, when Grace meant so much to him, to Erid?
Then came the day that Rocky knew as the beginning of the end.
Grace had asked Rocky to meet him by the water. Not Erid water, but the fake ocean the science Eridians had made for him when he said he missed it on Earth. Rocky didn’t have to understand it to understand it was important to his human. So he sealed himself into his special environment suit and met Grace at the door of the human’s home.
“Grace is slow.”
“I know, Rock. I’m old now.” Grace smiled down at Rocky. Rocky knew that sad smile. It meant Grace was hurting.
“Get chair. Rocky push.” Rocky demanded, stamping a foot on the doorstep.
“I’ve got it right here, bud.” It took a couple of Earth-minutes, but Grace came out of the door seated in the special chair. “Happy?”
“Happy. Rocky push now.” Just because Grace could understand Eridian now didn’t mean Rocky had to use complex sentences.
True to his word, Rocky pushed Grace’s chair down the path to the edge of the water where the artificial waves barely lapped at the wheels of the chair. Both were silent for a bit: Grace listening to and watching the waves, and Rocky watching Grace.
“I have a favor to ask, Rocky.” Rocky did not like the solemn tone in Grace’s voice.
“Grace knows Grace just has to ask.” Rocky trilled back, pretending that he wasn’t affected at all.
“It’s a big deal to me. Have I told you about Earth burial customs?”
Rocky went very still, his carapace slumping below the top joints of his legs.
“Yes. Grace has said some about this.” He hummed slowly, voice an octave lower than normal. “Why ask?”
Grace sighed and looked down at his hands. The left arm didn’t work very well these days, a consequence of their adventures in space.
“I’m old, Rocky. I don’t have very long left.”
“Lie. Grace has much time.” Rocky interrupted.
“Rock… You know that isn’t true.”
The gentleness in Grace’s voice hurt. Rocky did not answer, sinking lower until his belly rested on the sand. Grace’s hand reached over to rest on the top of Rocky’s carapace.
“It’s been a long time, Rocky.”
“Not long enough,” Rocky mumbled. It wouldn’t ever be long enough with this precious part of his soul.
“This is important to me, Rocky. Will you listen?” Grace still spoke so softly. Rocky hated it.
He huffed and nodded, letting Grace know he was listening without speaking.
He listened carefully as Grace explained what he wanted. It was strange to him, wanting to be buried under the ground. But it was a cultural thing, and the two had long ago agreed that culture wasn’t an arguing point. So Rocky would do it, even if he didn’t fully understand. Grace was more than happy to answer his questions, not that Rocky had very many he felt like asking.
After their conversation, the two sat in silence for a while. Rocky needed the time to process what Grace had told him. He didn’t like the thought of losing Grace. He hated being away for long, even now. Especially now.
“I’m tired now. Will you take me home?”
Rocky hated the weakness in his human’s voice.
“Yes. Rocky help,” he said quietly. He carefully pushed Grace’s chair back to the house, waiting outside the door as he always did. “You sleep. Need sleep.”
“Yeah, Rock. See you tomorrow, yeah? Same time.”
“Same time.” Rocky agreed.
Rocky did not like the feeling that settled inside his carapace as he left the biodome that held Grace’s home.
Rocky went home to his nest with Adrian. His mate was resting, humming soft melodies as they waited for him to come home.
“Rocky. Come, rest. Tell me what Grace wanted.” Adrian encouraged gently, shifting their body to make a spot between their legs for Rocky to settle into.
With heavy steps, the smaller of the pair moved to his mate and nestled into the comforting shelter of their arms. For a few moments, he just lay there, basking in the warmth and soft sounds that told him his beloved was alive.
“Grace… brought up death today,” he trilled softly. He felt Adrian shift to press their carapaces together a bit more firmly. “Brought up human custom for bodies.”
“Burial, yes? Digging a hole and laying the body in it, then covering it with the dirt and marking the spot with a big rock?” Adrian mused, remembering the explanation from years ago. They used one claw to stroke Rocky’s leg in a soothing manner.
Rocky made a rumbling sound of affirmation, tucking himself further into Adrian’s embrace.
“Oh, beloved.” Adrian cooed, tightening the circle of their arms around their smaller partner.
“He… sounded so quiet today,” Rocky mumbled, his notes much quieter than normal. “I could almost hear the water over his heart.”
“You know humans don’t live as long as we do. He has told us so many times.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Rocky huffed. There was a sinking feeling in his core, like the feeling he got when his crew started going to sleep for the last time.
“No, but we can’t change it. He has lived longer with us than we estimated. Erid… is hard on his human body.” Adrian kept their volume quiet, knowing Rocky was feeling sensitive.
“Humans stupid. Grace should have gone home. Lived long.” Rocky sometimes wished Eridians were capable of what Grace called ‘crying’. It would be nice to have a physical outlet for the emotions threatening to bury him under their weight.
Adrian didn’t respond right away. They both knew Rocky didn’t mean what he had just said.
“...Not ready to say goodbye,” Rocky whispered.
That is what it came down to. Rocky had already lived through so much death, so much loss. A mournful sound, long and low, came from the small Eridian as he curled up more.
Adrian didn’t answer him. There was nothing left to say.
As the next day dawned (or, as it became morning as Grace would know it), Rocky hurried to the biodome from his nest. A heavy sense of foreboding sank deep into his core, and he scurried faster and faster, then tucked his legs in close and rolled quickly to the entrance. He rushed through putting his suit on and entering the enclosure, running as quickly as his five legs could carry him.
It was quiet. Too quiet.
Rocky knocked on the door to Grace’s house. Once. Twice. Thrice.
No answer.
He knocked again.
No answer.
Panic swirled in his core, hot and fierce and deafening.
Rocky shoved the door open and hurried inside, ignoring the fact that he usually waited outside.
He couldn't hear Grace.
He couldn’t hear Grace.
Rocky burst through the doorway to Grace’s sleep room, chittering soft calls to the human lying still in the bed.
But Grace didn’t move.
Someone made a wailing cry as Rocky staggered. It was him. The sound came from him. He carefully climbed up onto the bed, settling next to the body– next to Grace.
There was no sound but the soft electrical whir of the house.
No sound but the anguished wails of a lone Eridian mourning the only person they called friend.
It was Adrian who found them, later that day cycle. When Rocky never came home, they went looking for their mate.
Rocky tried to refuse to leave. He thrashed and flailed, crying out and wailing his refusal. He couldn’t leave! Grace needed him to watch him sleep!
“Beloved, he isn’t asleep,” Adrian crooned, lifting their mate with strong, capable arms and pulling him away from the bed despite the smaller’s struggles. “You know that. We have to do what he asked, now.”
Rocky knew that. Rocky didn’t want to know that.
The ceremony was a solemn thing. Adrian carried Grace out to the science section of the biodome. Together, they helped Rocky wrap the body in a similar suit to prevent it from malforming before they reached the burial grounds.
Together, they carried the body solemnly out to the Eridians gathering outside the dome.
Together, they carried part of their souls up the nearby mountain to the burial grounds.
Together, they told the gathered assembly Grace’s last wish.
Together, they dug the hole to lay Grace inside.
It was Rocky who unwrapped Grace alone, once he laid him in the hole.
Rocky, who covered Grace alone, refusing to let anyone else touch the body of the one who held part of his soul.
Rocky, who immediately found just the right boulder to place over the freshly disturbed earth.
Rocky, who insisted on dragging it over himself.
Rocky, who settled over the grave and refused to move.
Adrian watched their mate with a heavy core. They knew what this meant to Rocky. They knew this would be hard. But, for once, they didn’t know what to say. So they said nothing and settled next to the grave to keep watch over their beloved’s vigil.
Rocky stayed there for days, until biology forced him up. He was only mortal, in the end.
Adrian led their mate back down the mountain to their shared nest. Rocky hadn’t made a sound since Grace had been laid in the ground. And Rocky did not make a single sound for a very, very long time after.