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It had been three months since Grace, Rocky, and Simon had landed on Erid. There was only one home that both he and Simon lived in together under the dome that the Eridians had created for their arrival. The Eridians hadn’t heard word of Simon, who wasn’t on Hail Mary when Rocky’s message transmitted out, so they had no time to build a home for him. Simon didn’t really want to be alone anyways, even if he’d never admit it. Neither did Grace.
Both of the humans had their own troubles, physically and mentally. Grace’s body was weaker now due to the starvation he had undergone in space, and with the onslaught of illnesses he had dealt with? He had to have some form of physical scars internally. Simon had his arm ripped off, not to mention the hallucinations he dealt with in that god awful ship. He had even starved just like Grace.
While Rocky did his best to understand the mental side of those problems, he was rather blunt with his attempted comfort.
‘Grace stupid! Not on earth, in space with Rocky! No need leak!’ Rocky would chirp.
Those days were harder than others, but Grace knew he tried his best.
Simon, a human born and raised on a planet called Eden, had been sent on a suicide mission, just like Grace. However, Simon was trapped in a blood ocean. He was soaked in an iron rich red when Rocky and Grace had found him, some of it his own. His arm had been torn brutally from his shoulder by force and there were these tendrils that had dug into Simon’s skin. The dark haired man was barely conscious, swaying from side to side, before collapsing in a heap on the ground. Grace had never seen anything like those things before, and had no idea how to treat the unconscious man on their ship.
Simon had been through absolute hell. Grace knew that. It took a very long time to convince the blood soaked man that he really was alive and on a different ship, one that was safe and that had others who genuinely cared for his well being.
Nightmares are a pain on both humans even now, despite them both having been safe for around a year now, first on the ship, now Erid. Simon’s nightmares consisted of drowning, eldritch horrors, and pain that Grace couldn’t imagine. It always took him a while to calm down, but Grace did his best, and his best often worked to some extent.
Grace had never experienced anything in comparison. He can’t complain. He shouldn’t complain. He didn’t have his arm ripped off. He never hallucinated. He was just shoved onto some stupid ship against his will, tackled to the ground by the people he trusted and drugged and-
…
He can’t complain.
In the evenings on Erid, he’d make dinner for him and Simon, since they both found out Simon couldn’t cook with one arm. Grace had a job with scientists and students (which he liked to call his ‘pebbles’) alike, but… Simon didn’t. Grace had tried to find something for him, a hobby of some sort, but stopped his attempts after the pancake disaster.
“I couldn’t cook with two,” Simon said bluntly to him with a shrug, as Rocky complained about the smoke filled room. He didn’t seem to care at all. Most of his time he spent admiring the sky and everything that was a part of this planet. On his rough days, he’d just stay on the couch.
Grace probably should have stayed out of his business. He shouldn’t be causing any more issues.
Nights were still difficult.
The Eridians had made their own form of sleeping pill, and while they worked on Simon for most nights, they almost never worked for Grace.
Grace was running.
He was running and running as fast as his legs would take him, screaming and begging mercy as the guards pinned him to the ground. He couldn’t breathe. His chest was pressed tight to the hard soil packed under grass. Eva walked towards as he wailed and stuck the needle in his arm with a ruthlessness Grace had never seen in another before. Carl watched from afar with this sort of solemn yet accepting expression.
He thought they were his friends. He thought they cared about his life. It was his fault! H-he had to have done something to make them do this! He knows the earth needs saving, but he doesn’t want to die!
His vision was fading.
Grace woke up with a soft gasp, his eyes wide open as he stared at the ceiling. He touched his cheek to feel dampness, his breathing coming out in rapid breaths. He tilted his head and looked to his right to see Simon’s back facing him. Grace sniffled, then looked back up, trying to choke back sobs building in his chest.
It didn’t work very well.
He pressed the bottoms of his palms against his eyes to try and halt the tears. He doesn’t want to wake Simon. He had already been through so much- Grace doesn’t want to be a burden, but he rolled on his side so he was facing the other man once again. He pulled him in carefully so he could feel his warmth.
Grace wasn’t alone.
Simon wouldn’t do that to him.
He reassured these things repeatedly in his mind to try and calm his heart.
Grace heard a groan from the man in his arms. Shoot- did he-
Before he had a chance to think it out, Simon promptly tensed, his eyes wide.
“What the fuck?!” he exclaimed, shooting upright to break free of whatever had its grasp on him. He rapidly swiveled around to see that it was just Grace.
This just sent the taller man spiraling.
“No- nonono-! D-don’t leave me Simon-! I-I’m sorry- I’m so sorry-! I’ll be better- I’ll- be better I swear-!“ Grace choked out in between frantic sobs, shrinking away from him like a fox facing a hound. It was like he thought he would hurt him. It was as if Simon pushing him away broke whatever was left of him.
Simon was silent for a long moment, staring down at the scientist, who had curled himself into a trembling mass on their mattress. He’d heard Grace ramble before. He’d seen him cry. This… felt different. He felt more aware, more present of the situation than he had in the past. Grace had Rocky then. Now, Grace only had Simon.
“You’re having nightmares again,” the dark haired man finally broke the quiet. He got no reply apart from a whimper.
A moment more passes before Simon sighed and shifted closer. He placed the only hand he had left against the thinner man’s back, brushing against his spine in slow strokes.
“… I’m not leaving, Grace,” Simon said with a sort of gruffness he always held. It was soft though, softer than Grace had ever heard from him before.
Grace only shook his head in response.
“You should leave. You have a right to leave. They always leave-!”
“I’m *not*,” Simon emphasized firmly, sitting even closer now, “leaving. Where would I even go, dumbass? Earth? Fuck no.”
This doesn’t particularly make Grace feel better, but it doesn’t make him feel worse either. He sobbed again.
Simon sighed again. He wasn’t… the best at this sort of thing if that wasn’t obvious. Eden had taught him to be cold and ruthless in order to survive but now… now he could be whoever he wanted.
And right now… Grace needed someone softer.
“Look,” he says, “Grace, you are a great scientist and an even better person. Those assholes who shot you into space lost out on what I now have. What these aliens now have. I’m not going to shoot you into space and I doubt they will too. I’ve met a lot of people in my life and none of them compare to you, alright? So just… try to take a deep breath… ok? I’m not going anywhere.”
…
Grace slowly sat up and looked at Simon, wet beads still on his lashes, the smallest, uncontrollable pout on his face. He was hiccuping and sniffling, but he what Simon had said clearly helped a lot.
“You- you really won’t go?”
The faintest blush rose on Simon’s cheeks.
Dammit. It wasn’t fair. Why did he always look so pretty, even when he was a fucking mess?
“I won’t.”
Simon moved his hand up and cupped Grace’s cheek with a calloused palm, swiping slowly at the marks on his face. He looked at Grace with a kind of tenderness he only held for him. The blonde leaned into the touch with a weak shudder. The blush grew at that.
“… thanks.”
“It’s nothing,” Simon replies, turning his head to look at the time. Was it really because he wanted to know what time it was? No. Obviously. It was more the fact he could feel his heart race the longer he looked at the man in front of him. Someone gentler and kinder than Simon had ever known.
“It’s getting late. You ready to lay back down?”
“Yeah. Yeah I-I think so.”
The two laid on the soft mattress, but this time facing each other instead of away, limbs entangled with a quilt over their shoulders. Brown met blue in the quietness of midnight. Grace’s eyes were weary and red around the rims after so much crying. His hand moved through Simon’s hair, gently playing with soft, black strands.
For once, Simon doesn’t pull back.
“Your hair is really pretty.”
He didn’t know how to reply to that, so he remained silent. No one had ever complimented him before.
“Simon?”
“… yeah?”
“Are you mad?”
“Why would I be mad?”
Grace paused, before shrugging weakly. “It’s just that… you’ve been through so much more than I have. It honestly feels so stupid that I get nightmares like these when you literally had your arm ripped from your body. I feel so awful that I woke you up.”
“Well, I was having a really good nap,” Simon concedes jokingly.
It didn’t land well.
“… No, Grace. I’m not mad. Of course I’m not mad. Just because I’ve been through hell doesn’t make your hell any less… hellish.”
Wow. Smooth, Simon, but hey, it got Grace to laugh this time at least, even if it was quiet and sad.
“I don’t know. I just feel pathetic.”
There was a pause.
“I don’t think you’re pathetic.”
“… thanks Simon… that means more than you know.”
“No problem.”
The room felt silent once again. Grace’s hand never stopped in Simon’s hair.
“Simon?” Grace spoke up again.
“Yeah?”
“Can-… can I kiss you?” Grace asked timidly.
Simon’s heart jumped in his throat at that. He hadn’t even realized how close they were until that moment. How intimate this position was, one of pure affection and comfort aaaaand Grace had already begun rambling anxiously. Of course he had.
“I-I mean you don’t have to obviously! If you want too, I’m down for it- b-but you don’t have to say yes! That was very forward of me and I didn’t mean to ruin this-! Ooooh gosh I-“
“… yeah…”
“What?”
“I mean… yeah I- yeah, you can kiss me.”
Grace paused in brief disbelief until he nodded with a stammered ‘ok’.
In moments, their lips slowly met with the careful passion of two that had to relearn love through the other, and gods, it felt as though the stars had aligned. When they pulled back, the two simply stared with Grace having turned a bright shade of red.
“Jeepers…”
…
“Jeepers?” Simon couldn’t hide the amusement in his voice.
“I-I just-… I never thought I’d get to do that. I never thought you’d-… feel the same,” Grace admits with a nervous chuckle, fiddling anxiously with his hands. Was it hot in there? Why did he feel so warm?
“Yeah… I-… I know how you feel,” Simon nodded with a small smile, hesitating, before moving closer, and beginning to softly kiss away his tears.
The blonde froze with a sharp inhale, his face turning impossibly redder… before he slowly melted with a lovesick smile.
And the late night, one that was often filled with the horrors both men had experienced, was now filled with more love than either of them had ever felt before.