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Adrian boarded The Hail Mary with hesitant curiosity. It was not their first time aboard since Grace and Rocky's arrival but it was their first time on board while Rocky was planet side.
Grace had specifically requested that Adrian come without their mate, which both worried and intrigued them.
"Grace?" They called, as they worked to locate the human amongst the constant mess that came with trying to fix the astrophage problem, Grace's health, and preparing a place for him on Erid all at the same time.
Rocky had always insisted that mess was an important part of invention and it seemed that Grace shared a similar philosophy.
"Over here!" Adrian found him curled up in the pilots chair, using several monitors to do…something. It was probably interesting or important, but Adrian couldn't see it either way.
"Grace request Adrian, question."
"Yes! I-I did request you come up." Adrian struggled to decipher if the human was more or less nervous than normal.
"What Grace need from Adrian. Why no Rocky, question?"
"Uh…Well, I needed to talk to you about something," Grace started fidgeting with his glasses. He was definitely more nervous than normal. Adrian just waited patiently for him to continue explaining. "I have some…information about humans and-"
"Why tell Adrian and no tell Rocky, question?" Grace turned away from Adrian to stare out the port hole. Adrian resisted the urge to ask about why humans avoided looking at others during uncomfortable interactions. Adrian was still here, and he hadn't stopped talking to her, so why was the looking important? But that could be a separate conversation.
"Rocky worries about me. A lot. Especially after how sick I got on the trip here." Even now, Adrian knew Grace was still recovering from the toll the journey took on his body. "I don't want him to freak out. I trust you to keep cool about it."
"Adrian never cool, Adrian atmosphere very warm."
Grace chuckled.
"Yes I know, it means you'll stay calm."
"Oh. Yes Adrian calm. Adrian like Palladium."
"Exactly…" Grace huffed, his breathing had weirded Adrian out a bit at first, with it's constant subtle rhythm, but had grown on them. It reminded them of the waves on earth beaches, which after researching so much for the biodome, they considered themselves a bit of an expert on.
"Grace tell Adrian. Adrian stay calm." They put a claw up to the xenonite barrier, which Grace reciprocated with a palm pressed against the same spot.
"How much do you know about human biology?"
"…"
"Right, right you're not a biologist. Sorry, my head is still foggy these days- yes that's another human expression. My brain is still recovering from not having enough nutrients and I talk to A LOT of different people everyday for all the projects we have going now."
"Grace brain hurt, question?"
"Uh, no no my brain is fine Adrian. I'm getting there."
"Get there now, statement."
"Okay, okay!" He chuckled, but quickly quieted, turning sombre. "So humans have a lot of needs."
"Yes, Biodome project very complex. Using talents of many." Another short lived chuckle.
"Yeah, very complex. One of the things humans need is socialization and physical contact-" "Rocky and Adrian provide, exclamation! Grace needs met. good good good." Adrian let out several notes that aren't translated but Grace seemed to understand are meant to emphasize just how enthusiastic and emphatic Adrian was being. His Eridian was still a work in progress.
"…from other humans. We need to socialize with and touch other humans."
Adrian stilled. That sounded bad. Very very bad. But there had to be some hope to it because Grace would not ask for the biodome if he would not live long enough to use it.
"What mean for Grace, question? Grace only human on Erid. Alone."
"Well it means uh…" He wiped at the water leaking out of his face. Gross. "It means that there's a chance, that you guys could meet all my base needs; food, water, shelter, air… and it might not be enough. We call it 'failure to thrive' on earth. Humans who are isolated too long just start to…shut down sometimes. You can't do anything to stop it."
Adrian wasn't sure how to respond, but they don't need to before Grace barrelled on.
"I want you to know, that even if this doesn't work. If we try everything and I don't make it, that it isn't your fault. That I'm incredibly grateful for everything Erid is doing to support my life here. I need you to let them know that, and in particular you need to take care of Rocky for me. He's gonna blame himself and it won't be his fault. I'm going to leave a video for him too but…" They both knew how Rocky was. Especially after what happened on the Blip-A. The video wouldn't be enough.
"Adrian will take care of Rocky. Will tell Scientists." Adrian shuffled in place, eager to get back to the biodome work. Erid could not provide other humans but she would make sure that Grace got the best of what they could give.
"Thank you. I know it's a lot to put on you Adrian but someone needed to know, and I don't trust anyone more than you to look out for Rocky."
"Adrian strong. Do not mind carrying burden for Grace." Grace smiled at that in a way Adrian was learning to recognize meant he was actually sad.
"As they say, a burden shared is a burden halved."
"Who say?"
"Yknow," He waved a hand around at nothing, "other humans."
"Other humans are wise."
"Yeah…They are."
A few months later, Adrian arrived at Grace's residence. The two had quickly bonded during the fine tuning of the biodome and now it was fairly common for them to spend time together with or without Rocky. Today Rocky was busy with a thrum regarding the next phase of the Taumeoba project so Adrian was here alone.
Their knocking however, went unanswered.
"Grace, question?" They called out, making their tune as loud as they could manage. Still nothing.
Luckily the xenonite suits had only gotten more flexible over time as both fashion and engineering teams worked on them, meaning Adrian had the capability to actually use the door. It did have a lock on it, but as far as Adrian knew it went entirely unused. Grace had explained that his species had predators on Earth, and while he understood logically his dome was safe, the lock made him feel safe. Adrian encouraged anything that Grace found to be beneficial to his well being, even if it was a lock he never used.
"Grace, question?" Adrian repeated after entering, a soft groan from the bedroom was the only response.
They skittered quickly toward the noise. Grace had also requested soundproofed walls for privacy and it had never bothered Adrian until now. The uncertainty of what was beyond Grace's bedroom door was stressful, and opening the door didn't make that feeling any better. If anything their worry only increased. Grace was curled up under the blankets on the bed and he sounded terrible. His breathing was different, using only his mouth and sounding wetter than normal. Gross. Alongside that he was regularly expelling large puffs of air in hoarse bursts.
Oh god. Grace had warned of this. This was obviously the early stages of his body completely failing!
"Grace! Grace dying, question?" Adrian rushed to the edge of his bed to give him their full attention. "Grace body shut down, fail to thrive, question?" Despite the panic they attempted to keep their voice soft, soothing.
They knew that if Grace was dying, they could not stop it. He had explained that very clearly. Failing to thrive was something they could do nothing about. While waiting for a response Adrian began searching for ways to make Grace more comfortable.
If he was going to die he would do so comfortably.
Before Adrian can move away to start collecting whatever might soothe Grace, a hand landed on top of her xenonite suit. It's weight was oddly soothing and made the sound of his heartbeat even easier to focus on. Perhaps this is why humans needed touch so badly.
"I'm not dying Adrian. I just have a cold I'll be okay."
"Grace not cold. Warmer than normal." Through the thin xenonite barrier, Adrian was also able to feel that Grace, while still much colder than them, was warmer than usual. Grace laughed hoarsely before making a truly horrible noise that Adrian flinched away from.
"Sorry. Just coughing." He reassured. Adrian did not inquire further knowing that the explanation would either be complicated or gross. Most likely it would be both. "I have a fever. It makes my body very warm but it makes me feel cold. It's made me warmer than my atmosphere."
"Can fix fever, question? Grace get better, question?"
"Yeah, I'll get better. It just takes time. Rest. There's also medicine that can make it go away faster but I obviously can't just go get some from the store." More laughing turned coughing.
"Eridians make medicine. Help Grace get better, statement." They stomp incessantly. Grace reminded her of Rocky like this. Always wanting to solve problems on their own rather than asking for help.
"Okay okay. The information will be on the laptop. Rocky will be able to find it. It'll be filed under all of the medical information."
"Good good good. Will go get Rocky. Make Grace medicine." They wiggle their carapace in that way Grace called nodding. He seemed to enjoy when they follow some of the more human aspects of socializing and Adrian always put the effort in. They hope it made it easier for Grace to thrive.
Adrian sat next to Rocky, limbs tucked close. They both watched the light to texture display as they looked through the laptops files together.
Rocky was currently the only Eridian with proficient English reading abilities and human computing experience as teaching such things had been sidelined in favour of dealing with the taumeoba and keeping Grace alive on Erid were prioritized. Thusly, whenever something was needed from Grace's very large information store of human knowledge, it currently fell to Rocky.
Even though Adrian couldn't really read any of the display, there were still some interesting images. Human medical workers. Chemical formulas. And anything particularly interesting in writing Rocky was happy to tell Adrian about anyways.
They had found lots on human medicine, and Rocky had already sent off a recipe for fever reducers to the synthesis team. But, as he tended to do, Rocky was now on a bit of a research binge. It was something Adrian admired about her mate, ever curious.
So on they went, looking through file after file of interesting information. Adrian finally learned what coughing was, and as expected it was interesting, horrifying, and disgusting in equal measure. It had been a lot of information honestly, Adrian was mostly focusing on the jewellery they were crafting rather than the display at this point. But then Grace's voice started to come out of the laptop.
"Hey, Uh… Oh god this is a weirdly hard video to make. If you're watching this then it means I'm dead."
Oh no. Grace had mentioned he had stored a message for Rocky on the laptop just in case.
"Or wait…You'd already know that if you're looking for this. Shoot. Whatever. I'm dead. It wasn't your fault. I know Rocky is watching this and I know you'll blame yourself. But it wasn't your fault. It's a condition humans call failure to thrive. I explained everything best I could to Adrian all ready so, they'll fill you in. If you want extra details it's also on here. All the current human knowledge on why I died, if you're curious… Humans are very complex- and yes, some may say fragile, creatures. You and all of Erid have taken really good care of me. More than I could ask for really. But some stuff you just can't get on Erid. I want you all to know I'm very thankful for everything you've done. I hope none of this feels like a waste. I hope you get to talk to or even meet other humans one day.
And Rock…It's okay. I'm okay I mean I'm dead but… It's fine. I've lived so much longer than I ever expected to once I woke up on Mary. All because of you. You gave me years of life. Good years. Full of so much joy. We saved two whole solar systems! I got to be the first human on Erid. I got to do so much stuff because of you. With you. I didn't mean it when I said I made peace last time. But I think this time I have."
The video ended rather abruptly, leaving Rocky and Adrian to sit in silence.
"What Grace mean, question?" Rocky said, it was quiet, quieter than Adrian had ever heard him talk.
"Elaborate." Adrian tried to make their voice as soothing as they can manage. Even they were feeling a bit raw after that video and Grace wasn't even dead!
"Grace say told Adrian why Grace die. Grace dying, question? Adrian know and not tell Rocky, question?" His stomping got harder and shorter each time. "Grace ask Adrian to keep secret. Humans need other humans. Talking. Touching. Grace say some humans okay alone. Grace also say some humans not okay. Some humans die. Cannot fix. Grace ask Adrian to keep secret so Rocky not worry."
Rocky stood and left without another word. Adrian followed shortly after, Rocky had a head start but they should see if they could still get ahead. Grace probably needed a warning for what's coming.
Adrian did not make it to the biodome before Rocky. He was surprisingly fast when he was determined to be.
By the time Adrian arrived to Grace's house the door was hanging open and they could just barely hear the shouting from inside. They headed toward the office and found both of them gesticulating wildly as they both yelled. It was honestly a bit hard to tell why they were even fighting. They tended to talk a bit strangely with one another. Grace adopting Eridian habits from Rocky and Rocky doing the inverse. By the end it was a sort of confusing middle ground for any onlookers, but finally Grace's voice, harsh and loud breaks through the overall din of the fight.
"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you!" That shut Rocky up rather quickly.
"Tell Adrian. Grace trust Adrian but not Rocky."
Grace let out a sigh that seemed to not only deflate his lungs but his whole body as he slumped down to the floor to Rocky's height.
"Rock, I trust you more than anything. I just didn't want to worry you."
"Always worry about Grace. Many many things hurt Grace. Make Grace Sick. Make Grace Die."
"Yeah yeah humans are fragile."
"Yes stupid bad design. Bad bad bad. Rocky always worry. Always care."
"I never thought you didn't care Rocky. I just…" Adrian watched Grace finally notice her presence. They were surprised it took him this long honestly. For all Rocky complained about the human body, they were very perceptive creatures. "Adrian, help me out here."
"Rocky. Grace tell Adrian…" What was that thing he had said? Oh yes, "Grace share burden. Knowledge burden. Grace and Rocky experience much on Mary. Do much. Accomplish much. Suffer much. Grace share with Adrian so Rocky carry less."
Grace responded with a small smile.
"Exactly. After the fishing trip. After the trip here. You've been worried more than enough about if I'm going to die. I only worried about you once, and it was the worst experience of my life. I thought I was sparing you. I thought it was something me and Adrian could carry so I didn't add another weight to your shoulders."
"No have shoulders." Rocky chides, clearly their little spat was over. Rocky tended to forgive just as easily as he was hurt. Adrian had always loved it about him, his soft center. "Grace put no weight on Rocky. Grace never burden on Rocky. Rocky love Grace. Love include worry. Grace, Adrian hide worry from Rocky. Make hard to love."
"Okay. I'm sorry. I won't keep secrets from you anymore. And I won't ask Adrian to either." He gave them a meaningful look. Rocky 'nods', seeming satisfied with that.
"Grace thriving, question?"
"Yeah Rock, I'm thriving."