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"Blood moon," Grace finds himself scoffing. "A moon with a whole ocean of blood. Human blood. That suddenly appeared out of nothing." He shakes his head. "You know, rocky, I thought that you were the strangest thing I was ever going to experience, but this might just top it."
"Grace think human on moon worth risk, question?" Rocky asks, and Grace spins around to face him.
"I think so, buddy," He answers. "Because what if they need help? What if they're stranded down there?"
"Agree, Agree, Agree," Rocky says, bounding around the ship and getting ready for descent towards the moon. "Rocky Grace save new friend!"
"And if nothing else," Grace adds, "They'll probably be able to help us understand something about this mystery moon."
The moon in question, witch had suddenly appeared in Erid's solar system, two months ago. Like, literally appeared from nowhere, from nothing, in the middle of the night. One second, empty space, the next, a whole ass moon.
Adrian was team leave-it-the-fuck-alone, and they'd told both Rocky and Grace as much, in much more expressive language. Grace could respect that. But the crazy scientists just couldn't put it out of mind- sue them, okay, you can't just put a space puzzle in front of Rocky and Grace and expect them to leave it. It goes against their very nature.
To be fair, they didn't jump straight to "let's go on another space adventure". They were both reasonable, and Grace was personally fine with never returning to the Hail Mary, in all her glory.
They were reasonable, so of course, they sent a probe first.
The probe had brought back several samples, including one with human blood, one with rock consistent with Earth's moon, and one consisting of iron rust. It had also brought back a piece of said iron.
It looked like it had been torn off of something. Like a wild animal attack, claws and bone fragments. That's not the only thing that made this piece of iron interesting, though. It was the fact that it looked to be welded down the middle.
Meaning it was made by an intelligent creature. A civilization already advanced enough to know how to weld metals together.
The next thing they had done was send a probe with a camera. To figure out what kind of sentient life they were dealing with. And said camera came back with pictures- one of a human man. He was missing his left arm, and he looked severely malnourished. He was in a pool of blood that came up to his knees.
And he had seen the camera, seemingly got down on his hand and knees, and begged it for help.
The first time Grace had seen those photos, he got sick. He recognized that look; he'd had it on his face, when he realized exactly what Stratt had done to him. It was the look you got on your face when you want to live, and someone's sentenced you to die anyways.
Grace still can't quite look at- or even think about- the panicled expression on the man, without feeling like he might throw up again.
"Okay," Grace blows out a breath. "Let's hope for a safe landing, and very very little damage to Mary here, alright Rocky? She's our one-way ticket back to Erid, and I really don't want your mate to get pissed at me, witch they totally will if we need a rescue from our rescue mission."
"Hope, hope, hope! Great words of encouragement, Grace," Rocky said, then turning to the ship's computer. "Great words of encouragement, Mary!"
"Thank you, Rocky," The ship's computer had responded.
That startled a laugh out of Grace. "Thank you Rocky," He repeats, still laughing.
The landing had been a bit… rough and tumble, putting it lightly, because nothing was ever easy in space, but they made it with no major hull damage, and nothing internal that couldn't be fixed back on Erid. Grace had just finished getting his (very old, at this point) space suit on when he spots it out of one of Mary's windows-
The man, knelt in front of the Hail Mary, weeping tears of relief.
-x-
Simon had been on Erid for exactly 22 days, 3 hours, and 14 minutes the first time that Grace had manged to make him laugh.
Grace had understood his kind-of strange mood, so he didn't fault Simon when all of his jokes fell flat on their face, no laughter to be found. He even understood that Simon didn't come from Earth, or even the same universe as Grace (wild space puzzle, by the way, to prove that there are multiple universes-) so of course, some of Grace's references made no sense to Simon. Grace even understood that Simon didn't owe him his laughter, even if Simon was the first human Grace had seen in years.
But Grace was who he was, and he couldn't help but try. He tried for a month straight, and he finally cracked Simon.
When he wasn't even trying.
"Oh," He'd been rambling, furious at some eridian technology that wasn't working. "I might as well hurl this thing into the stratosphere, might as well go for a space walk with no rope, stupid piece of- Urgggh!"
And Simon, who'd been quietly sitting in the lab with him, had laughed.
Grace had whipped around, gaping at the sound coming out of the other man's mouth. He was beginning to wonder if Simon was even capable of laughing, wondering if whatever home life he'd come from (something about a cult, how alarming,) had allowed it.
And there it was. Simple and plain and- And beautiful.
"Sorry, Sorry," Simon says, waving his hand back and forth in front of his face, still chuckling. "Sorry, just- I've been there. I get it."
They locked eyes for a second, Simon's face still crinkled in amusement, and Grace feels his face heat up. It's a foreign emotion- not quite embarrassment, or humiliation, both of witch he's experienced many times over in his life, and thus, knows well.
"I would offer to help," Simon says after a second, pointing to the piece of technology. "But frankly, I've never been real smart with tech or science, so I'm sure I wouldn't know where to start with it."
"Right," Grace blurts, suddenly tongue-tied and wrong-footed. "Right, yeah, haha."
Simon raises an eyebrow at him, confused as to why Grace was acting so strangely, and honestly, so was Grace. Why was he acting so strangely???
"Oh-kay," he murmurs, before going back to the laptop screen in front of him.
Grace turns back to the experiment he was supposed to be doing, shaking his head as if to try an disperse the weird feeling from his body. He tucks the emotion to the back of his mind, put away until a later date- preferably when he was alone- to study and categorize and understand better.
For now, he tries not to get distracted by the memory of Simon's laugh, and actually get some work done.
-x-
It was surprisingly easy to snuggle sentient rock. Easier than you think, really.
It only takes the tiniest bit of desperation- going so long without touch- and a little determination- loving rocky as much as he does- and voila! You find a way. You will find a way to snuggle your rock best friend, even through zenonite suits and even with an easily-bruised human skin sack, you figure out a comfortable way to cling to the only life form who's ever cared about you.
It was surprising difficult, then, to curl up next to another human, after so long.
Actually, maybe that's not true. He thinks that maybe if it were anyone else- his mother, his neighbor, hell, maybe even Stratt, honestly- He'd be able to curl up into a ball, putting his head in the crook of the stranger's neck and let them wrap their arms around him as he falls asleep.
It's difficult to curl up next to Simon.
Ryland doesn't know why he finds himself so flustered around Simon, so suddenly unable to act normal when Simon presses his knee into Ryland's. He doesn't know why he can't act normal, and he would blame being touch-starved, but it doesn't seem to be affecting Simon, who's had just as little touch, or for that point, Rocky who arguably had more years without it.
He's thinking about this, because he wants to curl up in Simon's arms. And Simon is sitting so close to him, and if he just had the guts Grace could just lean in, but he can't, and-
Simon huffs. "I can hear you overthinking this," He says, a small smile on his face. "Just- Come here."
Simon wraps his arm around Ryland's shoulders, leaning on him, and Ryland feels like his entire system spark and sputter and warm from his head to his toes. It's that feeling again, that not-embarrassment, like lava burning him up from the inside out.
"Comfortable?" Simon asks the still-silent Ryland. "Yes, No… ?"
"Yes," Ryland sputters. "Yes, this is great, thanks, uh-"
Simon chuckles, and Ryland feels himself panic as he can't put a name to the feeling that he's feeling. He tries to put it out of mind, focus on the movie instead of the rolling storm developing in his heart. But something is poking at him, white-hot in the back of his mind and between his ribs.
-x-
It's about 5 months, 12 days, 14 hours and 5 minutes of having Simon live with him in the biodome when Ryland has his oh moment.
And like any great prophecy, it comes to him in a dream of all things.
He doesn't even remember most of the contents of the dream by the time he's sluggishly awake, except for the imagined feeling of Simon's lips on his, the feeling of the stubble on Simon's jaw under his fingertips, the soft and tender way that dream Simon held him close.
Oh, Ryland thinks, seconds before he bursts into tears.
Ryland used to think he was a Romantic. He loved reading books and watching movies where Romance was the main focus. He loved the notebook. But he never needed romance in his own life, necessarily. He didn't crave it as much as he craved friendship. Eventually, he just focused on his uni work, then his fallout with the science community, then his students.
Once, he had joked with one of his friends that he wasn't ever going to get married. That friend had responded that he just needed to find the "right one."
Ryland had gone home and cried. The idea made him so uncomfortable, like bugs crawling under his skin, that he had curled up into a ball under the shower stream and hadn't stood up again until long after the water had gone cold.
Could it be true? After all of these years, feeling so wrong with every date and every failed relationship, that he simply had to find the right person? Could it be real, then, that he was simply always broken until right now? Right this moment, when his mind had conjured this dream?
And could it be true, he would have never been fixed, would have never found his person, had it not been for Stratt's insistence that he didn't even have a dog?
Ryland launches himself out of his bed, only just making it to the toilet before he vomits.
-x-
"Grace act weird towards Simon, Statement," Rocky observes. "Why, question?"
Ryland pauses, pulling back from the microscope.
"…You noticed," Grace says, scratching the back of his head.
"Rocky notice, Simon notice," Rocky lists off, not pausing whatever he's crafting with zenonite as he speaks. "Adrian notice, Grace. Everyone notice."
Grace puts his head in his hands. He knew that he was acting weird, but he didn't think he was acting so strangely that his eridian counterpart would be able to tell. It's just…
Well, now that he's aware of the feelings he's experiencing around Simon, he can't help it. He feels wrong-footed, unable to go a singular second without being flustered anymore. It's like an elephant in the room, or an elephant on his chest, making it harder for him to breathe.
And so he's be avoiding Simon all together. And he thought nobody had noticed.
"Grace mad that Simon want to be mates, question?" Rocky asks.
Ryland's brain stutters to a stop.
"Wha- what?" Grace finds himself saying, in surprise. "What do you mean?"
This time, Rocky does pause, taking a second to get to a stoping point on his project before he sets it aside entirely.
"Simon told Rocky that he thought Grace mad," Rocky tells him. "Because Simon want mate with Grace, and Grace can tell." Rocky's carapace tilts in a silent confusion. "…Grace not know, question?"
"No," Grace responds, his jaw dropping. "I didn't- what."
"Oh," Rocky says. "Apologies. Not mean to intrude, statement."
"Yes, you did," Grace calls his friend out.
"Yes, yes, yes, Rocky intrude on purpose," Rocky agrees. "But… does Grace want to be mates with Simon, question?"
Ryland sits down on the floor and tries to contain the nervousness and the swirling conflicting emotions within him. The question really shouldn't be so anxiety inducing, but it is.
It takes a while to explain to Rocky. Almost a whole earth hour, to be exact.
"Rocky no understand," Rocky says. "You never want mate before. Not Important. Not matter."
"It does matter," Grace responds, frustrated. "It means that I was capable of it before, but I didn't date. It means that I could've- I feel like a liar."
"Grace not liar," Rocky hisses. "Grace stupid for thinking that."
"Gee thanks, Rock," Grace sarcastically responds. "That makes me feel so much better."
"Feelings not number. Feelings not exact," Rocky says. "Feelings change. Grace not lie, He just feel different than before. Not liar, Stupid stupid human."
When Rocky puts it like that… Well, he does feel a little stupid. Just because he has feeling for Simon now doesn't mean he was wrong for never feeling romantic attraction before now. And maybe… Maybe that's okay.
Grace feels himself tear up at the… radical acceptance he feels welling up inside of him.
"Leaky leaky space blob," Rocky says, but Ryland notes that there are no disgusted notes under it, as there once was. It's actually undertoned with little content chirps, like teasing a family member or a good friend.
"Yeah," Grace wetly laughs through tears. "Keep laughing, pal."
"But Grace does want to be Simon mate?"
Grace sighs.
"Yeah," he says, very softly. "Yeah, bud. I do."
Because he does. Because he want to hold and be held. Because he wants to kiss Simon, but deeper than that, he wants to know him, in every way, and he wants to be known.
"Amaze, Amaze, Amaze!" Rocky says, standing up from the floor quickly and moving to push Grace to do the same. "We go tell him now."
"Wh- no, you- hold on," Grace sputters.
"Simon Grace mates," Rocky says excitedly. "Like Rocky and Adrian. Simon Grace try have pebbles, question?"
"Woah," Grace shouts. "Slow down."
Rocky huffs, annoyed.
"Simon and I don't need you meddling in our relationship, no matter what our relationship is," Grace reiterates.
"Meddle…" Rocky stomps three times. "Not know word."
"Like…" Grace struggles to think of a definition. "Like being nosy and bossy at the same time. Being in someone else's business and trying to control their life."
Rocky huffs. "Well, Rocky no need meddle if Simon Grace talk. Simon Grace take too long. Simon Grace should already be mates."
"Like I said," Grace laughs. "Bossy."
-x-
Grace has kissed someone before.
He doesn't know why he's so anxious about it. He's kissed men and women before, even. He knows how it works- hell, he's even been told that he's good at kissing before. He knows the mechanics of how to, for goodness sake! He just…
He's nervous about kissing Simon.
They've been dating for a few days, now. After an enlightening conversation, pushed on them via Rocky shenanigans- witch he swears wasn't on purpose, though neither of them really believe him- They'd agreed to date. (And take things slow, rocky.) But they had been dating for a few days now, and Ryland…
Ryland can't stop thinking about it.
He hypothesizes that the reason he's so nervous to kiss Simon is that he actually really wants to kiss Simon. It's not like he didn't want to kiss the people in his past, but it was more like, he knew that they wanted to kiss him and he wanted to please them. And, it was pleasant, but he didn't need it. With Simon…
"I-really-want-to-kiss-you-right-now," Grace blurts out, totally accidently cutting Simon off in the middle of a sentence. Oops.
They were walking on the beach, a morning ritual that Grace had been doing since he landed on Erid, and something Simon had started to join him in around month three. Sometimes, they walked in silence, and that was nice too, but more often then that, they tended to talk about everything and nothing, things that mattered and things that didn't.
Simon had been talking this morning, about a book he was reading. And Ryland really was trying to pay attention, but he was having a thought spiral about kissing him instead of actually paying attention. And now he's blurted out I want to kiss you in the middle of a sentence.
How embarrassing.
Simon simply raised an eyebrow as he watched Ryland melt into a puddle of flustered mess- and oh my god, why is that hot, too?
"Really, Angel?" Simon laughs, tilting his head at Ryland's strange behavior. "Is that so?"
Ryland puts his head in hands and lets out a little guttural scream.
"Okay, okay," Simon laughs, moving to stand closer to Ryland, placing his hand on Ryland's shoulder. "I'm only teasing, Ry, come here."
Ryland lets himself be collected, pulled in close, and hands brushed away. He's sure he looks ridiculous, face blushing tomato-red and entirely too warm, but Simon doesn't seem to mind. He slots his hand onto Ryland's jaw, cupping in, leaning in and…
Home.