Work Text:
So he's a bit of a fixer-upper
So he's got a few flaws
Like his peculiar brain, dear
His thing with the reindeer
That's a little outside of nature's laws
So he's a bit of a fixer-upper, but this we're certain of
You can fix this fixer-upper up with a little bit of love
"You are being stupidly self-depreciating." Rocky states, his carapace tilted in Grace's direction as he impatiently taps a leg on the floor. Grace always does this. You complement him, he pretends it's the most outrageous thing that's ever been said. Nevermind the fact that Rocky thinks that Grace is mate material. He's thoughtful and definitely deserves to feel the spark that ripples over all his limbs when Adrian sings his name. That's the only reason he agreed to this plan when Adrian proposed it. If Grace had the chance to have a human mate, Rocky would do his best to ensure that this courtship began. Even if it was Simon he wanted to mate with.
Above him, Grace stutters. "It's not self-depreciating! It's realistic! He's so…so grounding! I'm always a nervous wreck and he's patient with me and reassuring! He's hot as hell, I mean, have you seen the size of his arms? He's so good in so many different ways and I'm… well, I'm just Grace." Grace lets his head fwump! to the waiting table surface. Rocky echoes a few sharp disagreement notes.
He then takes Grace's arm with one set of claws and clicks the claws on the adjacent leg up and down the length of it. He knows this limb like the back of one of his own, but things have changed. He is, of course, done with Grace's traditional Eridian celebration-ware. He'd made it when they returned to Eridani on Ryland's ship, but he'd gained back some of his muscles since then and Rocky feared they wouldn't fit on such an important day. Rocky had also decided that xenonite celebration clothes would no longer suffice for such an important event, and had crafted Grace a new set out of the soft metal gold. No courtship is without it's kinks, right? Grace picks his head up off the table and finally notices that with his fourth leg, Rocky is making notes on a stone tablet.
"What are you recording?" he asks and Rocky chitters noncommittally. "Your measurements." he chords and Grace scoffs. "Well, duh. Why?" he asks and Rocky sits his carapace on the ground to use his final leg to point at his satchel. "For the secret in my satchel. Tell me more about why you think Simon does not deserve such a wonderful mate." he says, moving his things over to the other side of Grace to record his other arm. He could tell that Grace didn't like that he was redirected, but he continued anyway.
"He's also so sensitive and sweet when you pay attention! I know you don't pay attention so often but he's always putting my needs over his. He's a little abrasive sometimes but it's like a coping mechanism or something!" Rocky again makes a noncommittal chime. He does pay attention, but in his senses Simon spends all his time one mistake from blowing up. He does know that there are some Eridians who prefer that personality too. If he had his choice, though, his gentle Grace would have courted someone more stable.
Grace goes on and on about Simon and how they found him and how great he is while Rocky manipulates him into a stand so he can get updated measurements of his waist. Fabricator Nova had created a couple garments for Grace to wear, to cover his waist and flow sort of like human wedding garments do (a sarong, he remembers it's called) , but Rocky would have to mend those too to fit Grace's improved body. "Grace is done with your ramble about how greattttt Simon is?" he asks, trilling out a tease that Grace's heart rate has the decency to increase about. Rocky imagines his soft, cool face has changed textures, 'red' extending down his foreign neckline and rounding out around his chest. "Yes, Rocky. I'm…I'm done." he replies and Rocky chitters excitedly. "Great! Go into bathroom and primp and preen. We have a very important meeting to attend later today, Grace must look his best!" He feels bad for the way his best friend immediately becomes nervous, his pulse fluttering and his hands fidgeting. BUT! This was a very special circumstance. Everything hinged on Grace not being aware that he was attending his own courting ceremony.
Rocky can only imagine the freak out if he knew.
Rocky listens as Grace enters his ablution chamber, and waits to hear him begin to take his clothes off before opening his satchel and dumping all of Grace's celebration clothing onto the floor. The softer metal remakes were in individual carrying cases, so they clattered to Grace's floor— a sound that Rocky fully expected to have to explain away but Grace hadn't noticed.
Silly, ineffective human ears.
Rocky sorts through all thirteen cases quickly, finding the ones that needed adjusting and working quickly to break open the soft metal bases to turn them more into half-crescent shapes that could be clipped over Grace's limbs. It was a quick fix, one that allowed Rocky to continue on to the pigment part of his plan. Now that all the clothing was sorted, Rocky had the equally as important role of creating Grace's paint.
Of the two of them, Rocky and Adrian agreed that Grace was the most likely to be decorated in the traditional way. Not with the traditional materials, of course, and not with the carvings and carapace exchange, but they could do something else! Rocky crushes a couple of human-safe chalks together and mixes them with water to form a paste like consistency. Traditional celebration garments usually include decor— swirls and patterns meant to accentuate the body and do beautiful things to the senses. Together with Beacon and Nova, they'd come up with the idea of a pair of human shorts that would bear the customary swirls and then they'd paint the rest onto Grace.
Then, in a stroke of genius only a mate of Rocky's caliber could muster, Adrian suggested that they allow Simon to paint Grace as well. They'd spoken about it once in their den, how it was so strange that both Grace and Simon were human but they came from such different places that the ceremonies were so separate. Rocky had told his beloved mate about how Earth"weddings" worked and Adrian had responded in turn about Martian "grafting"ceremonies, and a part of it was painting intent onto the other human.
Rocky poked and prodded that Grace's favorite color was yellow, and Adrian found that Simon's was blue, which made Rocky's job a lot easier. Those were easy textures to re-create, especially coming from the chalk's texture. Rocky sets the bowl off to the side and ambles into Grace's bathroom to steal his clothes and sneak the pair of shorts in their place. As he's placing Grace's other clothes back in his storage bin, Grace's voice rings out in his den.
"Rocky! Where are my clothes?" Rocky can't help the amused chitter he voices out. "I provided you clothes! Come out!" he says back and Grace emerges with fresh, fluffy hair and a slightly elevated heart rate. "What's going on, Rock?" Grace asks and he comes back to his kitchen table. Rocky places all the celebration jewlery on the table, as well as the flowy garment Nova had made for him. "I told you, we have a very important meeting to go to. This is attire for Grace."
Grace stutters, trying to come up with something to say back to him and Rocky stomps a leg and motions for Grace to give him his limbs again. "Oh, man, Rock, did you remake my celebration stuff? This is so cool, is that gold?" he asks as Rocky slots a dangly bracelet over Grace's wrist and then the ring over his finger to hold down the thin chain with the even thinner metal chips on it. Another cuff goes around his upper arms— biceps— and then another at the shoulders. He stretches up the back of the chair to loop the necklace around his neck and gives Grace the two earrings, one from Rocky and one from Adrian that he graciously allows Grace to put in on his own. He opens the last two containers and places the cuffs around Grace's ankles before clicking his claws at him. Yes, very visible. "Stand up, Grace! Up, Up, Up!" Rocky demands and the soft clinking of all the jewelry pulls an excited trill of notes out of Rocky.
Wow.
Grace might have been an alien, one who leaks and has inferior senses and picks at his cuticles and a whole host of other things that Rocky thinks are stupid for a species that's apparently as advanced as his own but in this moment the only thing Grace was was beautiful. The last time Rocky was able to see Grace so clearly was when he rescued him back on the Hail Mary.
"Grace looks amazing." Rocky tells him sincerely, leaning onto two legs to click with all his claws. The form of Grace was so alien, all rounded features and big, about to leak 'eyes'. "Stand still, I'm going to paint you!"
Is it the way that he runs scared
Or that he's socially impaired
Are you holding back your fondness due to his unmanly blondness?
Or the way he covers up that he's the honest goods?
He's just a bit of a fixer-upper, he's got a couple of bugs
His isolation is confirmation of his desperation for human hugs
So he's a bit of a fixer-upper, but we know what to do
The way to fix up this fixer-upper is to fix him up with you
Adrian is pulling its claws through Simon's hair and based on the exhales Simon's letting out and rumbling he does sometimes… it's appreciated. They'd been discussing Simon's latest hot topic: His now bloomed feelings for Grace, when Simon had needed to stop and recenter. It was something Adrian was good at. It saw a lot of similarities between this Simon and its Rocky. Split second tempers, strong senses of justice, the need to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. Yes, Adrian had declared a while ago, Simon would be a great match for the calm and gentle Grace. They would even each other out, making one harmonious pair. Just like Adrian and its Rocky.
"Sorry." Simon gruffed out and Adrian sang a low soothing melody with its smallest sound organ. "Nothing to apologize for, Simon. Believe it or not, Adrian was the same way about Rocky before." It hums and Simon shifts in its arms, turning to look at it's polished surface. "Really?" Adrian thought back to the first time it realized that Rocky was for sure who it wanted to court, who it wanted to spend the rest of its life with. "Yes. Adrian was a mess for almost an entire year. Eridian year. Rocky was a real… how do humans call it… catch. A smooth-talker, commanded respect, asserted opinions." Simon settled back into Adrian's arms and it continued to deftly weave the hair on Simon's head in and around itself. "Adrian thought, "Why would Rocky court someone like Adrian?". Adrian was not very graceful when it was younger. It's always had longer legs than carapace is tall, stumbled everywhere. Rocky was always so equal, never missed a step."
"That's not fair to you, though. You grew into it, grew with it." Simon says and Adrian trills. "Yes, Adrian supposes you have to give yourself a chance to bloom before you make such decisions about yourself." Simon pretends he doesn't understand Adrian, a harump! sort of sound emitting from it. It moves on.
"Adrian also thought, "Why would Rocky court someone like Adrian?" because Adrian and Rocky were such a different pair. Adrian strives for calm, while Rocky strives for correctness. In places where Adrian would be bashful, accept inconsistencies for the health of the thrum, Rocky would loudly protest until his point was heard, until everyone understood his point of view. Every time it happened, Adrian felt so…" Adrian struggled to find a word that Simon would know and settled for "impressed." before continuing, "How could Rocky ever court it if it was so different from him?" Right on cue (and as planned), Simon tells Adrian, "Well, you know what they say— opposites attract! If both of you were bashful then nothing would happen, and if both of you were aggressive then all you'd do is fight." Adrian lets Simon sit with that as it untangles the last section of hair it was working on.
"Are you trying to tell me something?" Simon asks and Adrian chitters out a laugh. "It is just telling you the story of how Adrian and Rocky came to be. Human saying is, "A hungry man will think of food." right?" It trills, setting the bowl off to the side. Simon tilted his head. "Adrian will tell you this." It starts, going into a satchel that was tied to one of its legs and producing the clothes from the last laundry cycle that were chosen for being the most together. "When Adrian think, "Why would Rocky ever court Adrian?", it was taking away Rocky's choice of if Adrian was worthy of his attention or not. Adrian could not make that decision for Rocky, it is one that he had to come to on his own." It gently raises Simon from it's legs and tugs at his 'bath towel'. With the other leg, it presents Simon with his clothes. "Put these on."
It waits until Simon is dressing to continue. "Thinking back on it with clarity, Adrian realizes that almost entire time it was thinking these thoughts, the whys and ifs and wasting time thinking of inadequacies, Rocky was already trying to prove he was a good mate. Someone Adrian should pay attention to. Rocky kept Adrian company on long study days, came to visit it often even though Adrian's family den was quite a distance from his own, met Adrian's family, offered to and did watch Adrian sleep after tense schooling ceremony. Flirting is different for Eridians, words are good but actions are better. Rocky acted. Rocky was so confident in his want for courting Adrian, he created our goodbye pattern after third time visiting den." Adrian takes a leg and plucks out the six taps against its farewell grooves. "Typically, this is reserved for already courting pairs."
Simon sounds better than he did before in clean clothes with little braids and baubles weaved into his hair. "Well, if that's your angle and you're trying to get me to confess to Ryland, you have it all mixed up. Ryland isn't courting me. We don't have any of that. He's sweet to me, when I don't deserve his time. He's so smart and he cares so much about everything." Adrian taps the floor between them. "Sit oriented with short limb towards Adrian." Simon does as told. "You are mistaken. Grace compliments Simon as Simon compliments Grace. It is like you said with Adrian and Rocky." It works quickly to unwrap Simon's bandages, clicking to hear how well the fragile human skin was holding up.
Simon makes a short noise, one that Adrian knows is recognition. He begins to mumble as Adrian prodded at the remainder of his limb. "That can't be. I'll corrupt him. If…if he reciprocates these feelings then I've already corrupted him. I can't tell him that I'm having these… feelings for him. I want to hold him every night! I want to keep cooking for him. I want him to confide in me when he has a hard day! I want… I want so much! It's not fair to him!" Adrian hums in disagreement but before it can as much as whistle Simon's talking again. "No, don't give me that! He has no idea what he's getting into, what…what I'm trying to save him from!" It's Simon was spiraling, Adrian recognized at once, readjusting its leg so that it could run the grooves of its farewell marks along Simon's spine. It sang something soft, something meant to soothe children, and it worked on Simon all the same.
"Does Grace not deserve the opportunity to decide for himself if Simon is corrupt? If Simon is…" There is a word here that Adrian can't translate into human sounds. "If Simon is the one who it will risk all for? It is unfair for Simon to take this choice away from Grace." Adrian tells its Simon, feeling vindicated in the way that it can feel Simon's heart increase beats.
"Besides, you are not a corruptor. You are not broken. You are not some evil poison that will harm Grace just by loving him. You are more than your trauma, and you are worth more than your perceived imperfections. You are worthy of loving and being loved in return. Adrian and Rocky and Grace and Erid, we hear this. Simon is unable to hear this because the doubt in your melody is baseline." Adrian returns to running its claws through Simon's hair, tying little decorative three-strand weaves. Simon begins to leak softly, his shoulders jolting with the weight of his emotion.
Adrian liked when it's Simon was happy and after today it would see it's Simon happy a lot more often. That made the secrecy worth it. "We have very important meeting today." Adrian tells the shaking form of its human. "Later. No garden work in these clothes. Adrian and Simon could watch a movie."
Simon picked the movie, and Adrian purred the whole time.
We're not saying you can change him, 'cause people don't really change
We're only saying that love's a force that's powerful and strange
People make bad choices if they're mad, or scared, or stressed
But throw a little love their way (throw a little love their way)
And you'll bring out their best
"I still don't understand why I can't wear my glasses." Grace tells his friend, who ignores him without fanfare and continues pulling him towards the airlock side of the biodome. "Grace, friend, it is a surprise! A fun one! Try to relax." Rocky tells him, mirth underlying his tones. "We had a lot of Eridian help us put it all together. Basically the entire human-thrum helped! Medical team, environment team, garden team, everyone came together to make today a reality! You will understand how big that is later!" Rocky tells him, which doesn't help his anxieties any, thank you very much.
What could they possibly be putting together that's so big? Grace tries to recount his morning. Adrian came and got Simon as soon as they were done with breakfast. Rocky came not too long after. Rocky measured him, made him bathe, and dressed him. He had not explained why, but he'd painted swirls up and down his arms and across his chest. Then, he'd taken him by the hand and dragged him out. It reminded Grace just a moment of his undergrad days, just with less red solo cups.
"Well, without my glasses I won't be able to see much of it, anyway." he complains and the sound Rocky makes reminds Grace of snickering. "You will see once we get there." the annoying creature tells him and Grace is resigned to walk with his seeing eye rock all the way to the airlock area. It did certainly get louder the closer they got to the airlock, and the usually plain area was indeed decorated!
There was a huge banner, signs, something akin to streamers, and a bunch of Eridians! He was myopic and a lot of the decorations were strung from the top of the dome, so that big banner, while cute, was entirely illegible for him. He recognized the shape of a lot of them paired with their colors and he waved to those he could. As they see him, they all begin grouping together and scuttling towards where ever it is Rocky is leading him. The Eridians nearly form a thrum on accident with the overwhelming sounds of,
"They're here!"
"Already?"
"I'm not done with the decorations yet!"
"It's time!"
"Where is Adrian and human-Simon?"
"Human-Grace sounds so clear!"
"To the platform!"
Grace doesn't know what to do with all the overlapping voices so he lets himself ride the wave and be pulled. Eventually, Rocky leads him to a pergola that's been decorated with different sheer fabrics and plates of what he can only assume are metal that are in the shapes of hearts. There are chains of beads draped from corner to corner and there's a perfect circle drawn in the sand. "Rocky, this is-"
"What the hell is this?" Simon's voice cuts through and settles the crowd of maybe 30 Eridian around them. Adrian and Rocky appear to harmonize something that Grace misses and suddenly he's pushed into the circle and into the chest of Simon, who catches him with ease. "Oh! Simon, I'm sorry, I really don't know what's gotten into them-" he starts, eyes catching Simon's. He doesn't expect the look of awe.
Simon's eyes are making a slow circuit down Grace's body, eyes catching at each piece of his celebration gear. He can almost feel it, the heavy weight of his gaze as each gleam of gold reflects in the deep brown of Simon's irises. Grace watches as his jaw slackens and his breath catches around his arms. Rocky had swirled some of the yellow chalky paint around his arms and as Grace watches Simon's pupils expand and go up and down his sides he immediately understands that it's something to do with this whole set up. Simon's eyes are stuck at his waist for a while and he feels a deep blush simmering and spreading from his cheeks down his face.
Grace shifts his weight from side to side as Simon finally sets his sights on his anklets, softly chiming from the movement. Simon's eyes snap back to his face, seemingly broken out of his reverie. The scientist scratches the back of his neck. "What a, um, what a pretty day it is today, right?"
If this was a test… well, sap preserve him, he was failing. He was failing heavily. Ryland looked down at him with those huge blue eyes and it was like the entire planet of Erid became quiet at once. Simon already knew Ryland was beautiful. It was an established fact, something that even Rocky could see and the being didn't have eyes. He'd watched quietly all this time, let the illegal feelings in his chest root through his body and tried to pretend they weren't there. Dutifully, he'd assisted his savior with everything asked of him.
"Allow the little red Eridian to care for you, Simon."
"Carry this box, Simon. "
"Care for this plant, Simon. "
He thought he knew what was happening. In return for his safe keeping, he would work— probably for the rest of his life. He was okay with that. It was much better than prison here anyway. But then somewhere it had become…confusing.
"Would you like to have dinner with me, Simon?"
"Do you want to sleep in the bed, Simon?"
"May I brush your hair, Simon?"
When did wardens start making requests? When did obeying become a choice? The lines began to blur, and Simon found himself waiting on baited breath for the next time he was spoken to. He wanted Ryland to tell him to do something, and sometimes he found that when Ryland didn't give him express instructions he was left longing. Ryland had asked him once, in that soft melodic voice, "Can I help you with something, Simon?" and Simon realized that he'd been following his warden around their dome, staying just out of sight but in earshot in case he was needed.
In case he was needed.
He'd shaken his head and made himself scarce after that. He'd taken himself to sit in the apiary, finding comfort in the trees. He wanted Ryland to need him. He wanted Ryland to ask him for help. He liked when Ryland was around. Ryland had rejected his presence, basically told him to go away. It had… hurt. He sounded almost… almost…
He thought to the station, of the childish feelings they'd had for one another because of a gap in the teeth or unearned kindness. Is that what he was experiencing? The infatuation of new beginnings, maybe?
Then, Simon had watched. He'd made more of a noticeable effort to catch himself orbiting near Ryland, waiting for a command, waiting to be helpful. He consciously spent more time with the Eridians— with Adrian. He spent time at night meditating on how it made him feel to be away. It was science, he figured, a better way to spend his time.
His conclusion was staring him in the face as he comes back to his body. He watches Rocky push Ryland towards him, as with a muted whump! the man of his affection crashes into him and Simon easily tightens his arm around the back of him to steady him. He hears nothing. He sees everything.
Ryland looks hallowed. He stands before Simon covered in gold that catches the light with every subtle move. He chimes softly as he backs away and Simon has to make the conscious decision to let him go. They've decorated him as well as the environment and Simon takes the time to ogle to his heart's content. He's seen Ryland's arms before, they're usually out but they're covered in … in grafting marks. His heart drops to his stomach, then beats its way back into his chest. Swirls cover him, weaving in and out of the golden jewlry he's decorated with. They're on his shorts, down his legs. They encompass the right side of his chest, leaving room for Simon's marks on the left, over his heart.
He swallows hard.
Finally, his eyes flicker back up to Ryland's face. He's red, blushing like Simon's done something right. …Does he know? Simon wants this, he wants it so badly he feels like he's digging his nails into the palm of his hand. He wants this but not if Ryland doesn't know what he's offering.
Simon opens his mouth but Ryland speaks first.
"He's also so sensitive and sweet! He's always putting my needs over his. He's so…so grounding! I'm always a nervous wreck and he's patient with me and reassuring! He's hot as hell, I mean, have you seen the size of his arms? He's so good in so many different ways!"
Before him, Ryland goes impossibly more red and his mouth hangs as his voice rings out, clear, strong, and to Simon's absolute delight, interested. Beside them Rocky places one of Ryland's thinking machines on the sand. There's no video but the audio is clearly Ryland. Then, to Simon's horror, Adrian approaches with their own laptop, placing it in the sand next to the one Rocky placed.
"I'm having these… feelings for him. He's sweet to me. He's so smart and he cares so much about everything. I want to hold him every night! I want to keep cooking for him. I want him to confide in me when he has a hard day! I want so much!"
Ryland looks at him, eyes wide and Simon feels as though he's returning the look.
"You-"
"Ryland,"
They speak over each other, then both are silent in the same moment. Ryland quirks an eyebrow at him and nods his head. "Did you mean it?" he asks quietly, and Ryland keeps the eye contact and his shoulders square. "I did. All of it." Simon feels as though the second rapture could come right now in the moment and it couldn't move him. Ryland reaches for his hand with both of his. "Did you mean it?" he asks and Simon scoffs. "Have I ever said anything I didn't mean?"
Ryland giggles, a hearty laugh that sends his chest, ears and shoulders jingling in its wake. When he straightens back up he has tears in his eyes. His sweet, soft Ryland. "No, no you haven't. You're so honest it's incredible." Simon brings both of Rylands hands up to his mouth and fixes his eyes on the scientists'.
"Will you have me, Ryland Grace?" he asks, and watches as his beautiful savior spills tears. "Yes, Simon, yes, I'll have you. I'll have you forever." Ryland nods, tinkling quietly as he does. "Then I am yours." he responds, kissing the knuckles of both hands.
Around them, the Eridians are suddenly back and they're singing so loudly, celebrating. Little pieces of paper flutter around the two of them, landing gently in their hairs. Rocky comes into the circle bearing a bowl of blue paint for Simon. Simon releases Ryland's hands and takes the bowl offering it to his husband to hold.
With two fingers, he dips into the bowl and first paints loops and valleys over Ryland's cheeks. "May my voice be the wind in your leaves," Then he trails more of that blue paint over Ryland's heart, "May my heart take root in yours," and finally he circles over the strong (shaking) abdomen of Ryland Grace. "May what nourishes me first belong to you." Simon leans back, admiring his work, then dips back into the bowl, and takes the remaining paint and fills spaces he's always wanted to touch. His fingers trace the left and right sides of Ryland's hips, draws a line straight down the middle of his abdomen and finally ends up under Ryland's chin where he grabs and pulls Ryland into a soft, chaste kiss.
"I am yours."