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Life on Erid had turned out miraculously domestic for Simon and Grace.
They had come together in an event that they could only call happenstance. 'Just the right place at the right time.' Grace liked to think of it as. 'A literal fucking Hail Mary to save my ass.' Simon had once described it once, a little less eloquently. Regardless of what you call it, the two had drifted together and found each other amidst the vast cold of space and have been clinging close together ever since. First as human contact and as proof to another twin Earth system existing in the known universe, but then as something closer. Then closer, and closer until they had become so irreparably entangled in each other's orbit that they couldn't think to let go if they tried.
It was only a matter of time that they made it to Erid and built their life together. A house now comfortably cluttered and colorful with greenery, someone to stand at their side while they took thoughtful walks along the beach and leaving two sets of footprints instead of one. One golden ring, one silver to signify it all that would bump together each time their hands met. It was perfect bliss.
Today, Grace found himself in quite a predicament that he hadn't expected. He'd really thought after all this time- the therapies, the fact that his body had been in such bad shape that it wasn't giving attention to all faculties and he was in a better state of mind for it, the hormones he'd been on before he was sent away. He thought it'd be enough. But just about at the curve around a year into settling back on Erid when his body was fully beginning to recover, he was starting to menstruate again.
An absolutely horrible experience for him.
Pain, discomfort, and on top of it all a blazingly loud reminder that despite all the work he'd put in towards his identity and supporting it, biology did not seem to care for that. He had felt the first startings of a cramp when he was at his desk grading papers, and he passed it off as pressing his abdomen too hard into the desk. However, as the discomfort began to slowly ramp, he was quickly understanding what his body was warning him about. Despite the fact he wanted to push through and get his grading done for the day, he knew from his past experience in a life once lived that this was not something he could neglect without consequence. He never was able to seek the medical care to be diagnosed by a doctor, but utilizing some of the information aboard the Mary, he was able to connect the dots that he was likely suffering from untreated endometriosis most of his life. He likely knew this once upon a time, but it wasn't like this was something they noted about him anywhere. So he set himself up in bed with a set of dark clothes he didn't care about, a towel, and a heating pack the household usually used for joint pain.
Hunkering down for the day, it went just about as he'd expected. Reading a book for about an hour, and sudden, acute abdominal pain making his hands too shaky to keep the book readable. It always seemed like this sort of bounceback was the worst- like the body had buildup and was trying to make up for lost time in a very violent, unfriendly manner. Grace could never fully forget menstrual cramps, but these packed a punch he hadn't expected. For any semblance of relief he had to curl up into a ball, his hips tilted at an awkward angle and the heating pad pressed tightly against his stomach. It was the sort of pain that had such a far reach that he could feel the vestiges of it in his ribs.
He panted quietly against the pillow between grimaces, praying that the nausea doesn't take him out too. Which was just about when he heard the front door click open and a set of heavy boots enter. He shut his eyes tight. Maybe if he was quiet, Simon would pass him right by and not even notice he's home. That would be ideal. "Angel, I'm home!" Simon called out from landing as he sat to take off his outside clothes. He slung his jacket to one of the many hooks, but he felt concern prick his mind when he didn't hear anything in response. He'd stopped by the lecture hall in the hopes to catch Grace before he headed home and he wasn't there- so it was either he was here, or somehow outside the Bio-Dome...and he was pretty confident they hadn't gone through with the 'human hamster-ball' idea. He poked his head into the bedroom. "Angel?" He called out, softer this time.
Though Grace would really rather he just blip out of existence for the next week and a half where Simon and Noone else for that matter would be able to perceive him like this...he just hated leaving Simon in the dark. He always got this soft, confused look that broke him down to his core. So, he raised his hand out from the pillows. "Present." He muttered into the pillow.
"Oh- there you are." Simon stepped up closer, his feet padding softly on the wooden floor until he could sit on the edge of the bed. His concern began to level out once again when he saw for himself the position Grace was in. A bag of water and bottle of medication on the nightstand, the heating pad. He reached out with his right hand and wove his fingers gently into Grace's hair. "You don't look so hot. What happened?" Grace groaned slightly in the prospect of having to explain, which only fed the concerned look on Simon's half-scarred face. Even the milky white, blinded left eye somehow seemed to find a way to look at him with care. He drew a deep breath.
It'd been a while since he felt as nervous as he did. He hadn't explained that he was Trans to Simon because he thought it wouldn't matter. They already went over the fact that they more than likely wouldn't want to indulge in a sexual relationship with each other, so he'd thought he was in the clear. But now..
"It's not anything terrible, but...it's caused by something I haven't really explained to you-" Grace started, before he felt a pain in his spine from the angle and had to curl a little tighter. "I don't want you to see me any different if I told you."
"Sweetheart..." Simon softly said, his brow upturning in a mix of care and pity. From his position on the edge of the bed, he dimmed the tableside lamp and laid himself down beside Grace, lying above the covers so Grace could get the most of the coverage. He didn't try to position them face to face as he usually did, because he'd noted that at times Grace had trouble making eye contact with difficult subjects anyway. Like this, it gave him just that little bit of additional comfort he needed right now. "I might be pissed if you tell me you have, like, radiation poisoning, but there's nothing that could make me stop loving you. You know that."
"I do. That's why I want to tell you. You've always been good to me." Grace agreed, and for a few moments the two laid together in silence while Grace found the words. As he did, Simon's hand found his own and gently rubbed, showing his support in every way that wouldn't involve his gaze. Despite the fact he wanted so badly to see Grace's expression to get an idea what he could be thinking. He listened. He was good at that. Just quiet, patient, listening for as long as Grace would have him as audience. "Simon, I..." Grace's thumb caressed Simon's. "..haven't always been a man." He let the words fall from his lips. Despite the fact they hurt to admit. Despite how he was inexplicably expecting backlash.
Simon tilted his head, looking at the back of Grace's head. The air was tense between them for far too long, and Grace was about to start his rambling of excuses, explanations when Simon made a small noise of understanding. After which, Simon tapped Grace's shoulder. "Ryland, could I show you something real fast?" He asked. Grace was confused, and a little baffled with the possibility that Simon might have something to show that would apply to what he just said. However, as he carefully turned over with a wince, Simon gently took his hand and guided it under the hem of his dark sleeved shirt. Taking the hem upward, he placed Grace's focus onto a vertical scar just above his pants line on the lower abdomen. He had many scars, many that Grace had tended to himself after they did what they could to contain the partial mutation. This one however, he had somehow never noticed before.
"What..?" Grace asked, his gaze flicking from the scar to Simon's face and back down. Simon smiled, his hand holding Grace's there a few more moments.
"I had a um...surgery done when I was younger. Fifteen or so I think." Simon explained, and let his hand loosen around Grace's so that he could take a gentle feel of the skin. He breathed out softly as his fingertips found the healed skin. "They removed my uterus. From there it healed up nicely and I would take medications to help with my hormone balance. We didn't have too much up there, but it was enough to get me here. Plus, starting early it gave my body a kind of...suggestion on where to put the building blocks."
"Wait- waitwaitwait, so.." Grace's head suddenly snapped up, his eyes meeting Simon's. "You're also Trans. That's what you're telling me right now." Grace stated, a shocked smiled starting to slowly form on his face. His thumb traced the scar, feeling it and tethering it to reality. Simon gave him a slightly odd look.
"Trans.? Oh! Transsexual- Yeah. Yeah, that's what they called me." Simon agreed with a nod, blinking in surprise when Grace suddenly came forward with a tight hug. He looked down to Grace with his good eye and slowly smiled back. He softly laughed as his prosthetic arm enclosed carefully around his waist, and his hand came to hold Grace's head close where it was tucked under his chin. "Sorry that I didn't mention it sooner- I didn't realize it'd mean so much to you." Simon murmured into his hair, thought after a moment tipped his head a little as he corrected himself. "...not to say that this doesn't mean a decent amount to me."
"Simon..." Grace simply sighed, his head bearing deeper against his chest. He didn't have the words to explain how deeply this fact had resonated with him. He'd been convinced since they met that he would always be the outlier of their humanity in Tau Ceti. He wasn't. He never was- if anything, Simon understood him better than anyone else in the known galaxy could dream to. He wasn't just accepting, but understood on a fundamental level the struggle that he had to have dealt with the get to where he was without needing to explain a thing. He stayed there, holding him tight and feeling the fondness that poured out of Simon in waves, just by how gentle his fingers were playing in his hair. Then, as they held each other, Grace gasped and had to pull back with a small groan from another stab of pain hitting him.
"So...menstruation then?" Simon asked as he let Grace take his space, pulling back ever so slightly so he could observe and try to figure out how to help as best he could. Grace wasn't delicate by any stretch of the imagination, but this was a time that was touch and go in his experience. He didn't want to assume and overstep while Grace was already clearly down and out of it. He'd handled a few times that they'd incidentally overwhelmed each other- but at this point, he wasn't even sure if Grace would be able to argue. It might just be misery if he did something wrong. Which, was a nightmare in of itself, but one that he would pray that patience could help.
"Yeah- yeah, no, I um...I thought the hormones had made it stop, but apparently it was just the fact my body decided it couldn't lose any more blood. Now that I'm building up muscle again, it decided to be stubborn about it." Grace replied, once again gasping quietly and trying to readjust. Simon reached out with his right hand.
"May I?" He asked, then watched as Grace nodded frantically. He'd been there before- desperate to get the pain to just stop for a second. When given his adequate permission, he readjusted and climbed over Grace so that he could get a proper angle without Grace needing to move from the center of the bed. His chest pressed to Grace's back, his real hand came around his hip with a steadying, deep pressure. He worked his fingers into the abdomen in a firm, soothing manner until he could move his hand in small circles near the bottom of Grace's belly. As he felt Grace's stomach tremble uncontrollably, he pressed a kiss to Grace's shoulder. "I know it's gotta hurt." He whispered, snuggling in tighter against him. Grace sighed deeply as his muscle started to give away its tension beneath Simon's fingers and that pain was starting to ease back to something manageable. "But you are the most competent.." A kiss against his shoulder as he rubbed upward. "..most wonderful.." another to the crook of his neck "most formidable man I know. This ain't gonna be what takes you out. Not on my watch."
Grace softly laughed, trying to keep it hushed for the sake of not moving all too much- but overall finding immense relief as soon as Simon found the right spot to work between his fingertips to have the muscle relax slowly by his hand. He smiled shyly. "You're too sweet- thank you, Si'." He said as he rested his own hand atop of Simon's and tried to reciprocate the affection through small caresses.
"Any time, Angel." Simon replied, his thumb ever so slightly stroking along the spattering of hair just below his navel. As he did, he leaned his head in and let it rest there quietly, keeping the repetitive motion consistent. He remembered that much from his own experience- consistency, pressure, warmth. Once Grace seemed to relax fully into his arms, he smiled and nuzzled his nape, letting his eye close. "They used to call me Simone, back then." Simon shared, pressing quiet kisses between his words as he talked. "Didn't feel right, but it didn't feel too wrong either. I liked its meaning, so.."
"-so you just cut off the 'E'...Smart! I like that." Grace replied, his own hands settling atop Simon's to hold them affectionately. "I um...honestly- Loved my parents very, very much, but my given name was...not for me."
"Well, obviously it wasn't for you. You're Ryland." Simon replied, his prosthetic moving up to Grace's cheek and giving a small, playful pinch. Grace snickered. It was just a small sound, but it made Simon feel like he was doing something right. His heart warmed as his fingers tightened around the back of his hand.
"But..ugh- okay, fine. For context's sake." Grace started, hyping himself up a little. "But know that it literally...ugh, it makes me cringe so bad- so you can't use this, even as a joke. 'Kay?" Grace looked back to Simon expecting some form of amusement in his despair over the name. But, when he looked back, Simon met him with as genuine a look as he had given. He nodded and kissed his temple.
"Wouldn't dream of it. You don't have to tell me, but if you want to, I promise I get that you don't want me to dig that shit up." Simon assured, and Grace sighed, one of his hands rubbing up and down his own cheek like it was sore. He was stuck there a few solid seconds in embarrassment thinking back to just how long he went along with it, but eventually he managed to spit it out.
"Haleigh...ending in I-G-H..." Grace admitted. Simon really didn't mean to pull a face, but it was difficult not to. Grace looked for his reaction, and for a few moments he bit back a response, trying to find the right words that wouldn't be offensive. Grace raised a hand in defense. "I know- It was awful."
"I-G-H?" Simon asked, baffled before Grace could not his confirmation. "Absolutely no offense to Mr. And Mrs. Grace but that is awful. That doesn't even.." He gestured vaguely to Grace with his prosthetic hand so he wouldn't let up on rubbing his stomach. "I could imagine Lily or like...Sam- Haleigh? Haleigh. You're serious."
"Haleigh Grace. Nineteen years of my life." Grace confirmed, then met Simon's gesture from earlier. "You see...Ryland, right?" He asked meekly, beginning to doubt his own name choice with how passionate Simon had been about his dead name's quality. Simon scoffed.
"You have the most Ryland looking face I've ever seen in my life. Yes, Ryland fits you. I mean- c'mon. I didn't even realize this was something we had in common until you told me like fifteen minutes ago. Give yourself some credit." Simon assured. He opened his eye then to observe Grace, and when he sensed that there was still some inkling stress he tightened his arms and hugged him close. "Talk to me, Ry'...what's on your mind?"
"Just...frustrates me a lot. All of it." Grace admitted, even as he allowed himself to be held and caressed and cared for. "Hate that I still have this. Hate that I lost muscle mass. Just..." He cut himself off before he said something stupid with a deep sigh. "Tired. I'm tired of it. That's all."
It took Simon a few moments of contemplation, but he soon hummed against Grace's shoulder lowly and tipped his head up to speak. "I'll tell you what. You're feeling like shit for very valid reasons, but it's stuff that typically wouldn't bother you because your hormones are up. What do you say I call up Rocky and Adrian, and we can have a chill movie night? I'll make dinner, whatever you want, and...we can watch that one you've been meaning to show me. The um...shit, what was it..with the ah...the hot one in the coat."
"'Howl's Moving Castle?'" Grace asked, a little surprised by the description.
"Yeah- hot guy and his moving castle. We'll watch that tonight. And I'll make us..." Simon gave a small gesture for Grace to finish the sentence.
Grace hummed in thought. "Honestly just want something easy to eat. Cheesy rice would probably be easiest to make."
"Didn't ask you to choose the easiest for me- what do you want, love?" Simon insisted, unfortunately far too in tuned with Grace and able to tell when he was dimming his own idea for the other person's convenience. Though he wanted to argue, Grace was too tired to, and he ended up resting his cheek against Simon's bicep.
"A burrito. Beans, meat, cheese, pico...in a fried tortilla with sour cream..." Grace suddenly felt as though he was mourning the convenience of Earth fast food and the Mexican joint on the corner he'd get all those years ago all over again. He groaned.
"I'll make it happen." Simon agreed, but was met with Grace shaking his head gently with a sound that was dangerously close to an actual sob.
"No...we don't have dairy. We can't make sour cream- or Pico. It won't be the same-" Grace muttered, quickly descending into despair, knowing this craving would likely go neglected for several weeks until he forgot about it and latched onto something else. Then, Grace's face was tilted up to Simon, who was sitting up carefully.
"Ryland." Simon called his attention, and only continued once Grace opened his eyes and met his gaze. "I'm gonna make it happen. Don't doubt me. You know me." Simon assured in such a dead serious tone that it made Grace chuckle. He did know Simon's habit of making miracles happen where be thought it to be entirely impossible, just through sheer force of will and having a mind that could see past the technical while still acknowledging it. It was one of the many things he adored about how Simon's brain worked. Call it odd, but there was occasionally the idea he had to print up Simon's medical scans and frame them at his bedside just to remind himself of it. But instead he just shrugged.
"You make things happen." Grace agreed, though his body seemed to continue its waves of discomfort once Simon was fully up out of the bed to tend to other needs. He curled up with the pillow again. "But...maybe call up Rocky first, beforehand? I.." He hesitated with the idea, then let out a soft breath. Today was a day to be vulnerable. There's no getting around that. He didn't want to be tough today, tomorrow, the next- so he wasn't going to be. "...I don't want to have to be alone while you're making dinner."
Simon looked to him again with a softness only he seemed to be able to muster, and he leaned back down into the bed to brush aside Grace's hair from his eyes and press a kiss solidly to his forehead. "Of course, sweetheart. I'll call 'em up, and we can cuddle until he gets here. I'll make sure to take care of you nice, rub out the cramps and everything- and then we can do shift change once he gets here." Simon assured, laughing a little as he grabbed the communications device at the bedside. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he would be better at it than me. He's got a big temp difference on my human fingers."
"Don't say that...You take such good care with me." Grace rebutted in a tone that made Simon realize his words were a little misconstrued for self-loathing. He hadn't really thought about the fact that Grace might be more sensitive at this juncture in a way he wasn't used to. But that didn't change a thing, it was just a simple adjustment of expectation. He smiled and let his thumb rub against Grace's forehead a few moments. Just long enough he could see the features relax before pulling back so he could type into the little screen.
"He's not 'better than me' like, 'ohh you two might as well run away together blah blah blah'. That's just jealousy- that's stupid. What I'm sayin' is that he's got me on that skill set. He's got me on engineering, hearing capability, agility...I think. Whatever. Point is: he has his moments, I have mine. That's what being a person is. I'm not upset about that." Simon explained, and soon after he went quiet to dial in Rocky, Grace pulled himself close and rested his head on Simon's lap. He hummed his agreement, but stayed quiet when he saw Simon put the phone to his ear. He was content watching Simon from that angle for the sake of it- but to his delight, Simon placed the prosthetic on his lower stomach and kneaded gently as well.
"Hey Rocky....No- no, it's okay, it's not an emergency." Simon glanced to Grace. "Ehh...urgent is a better description. Can you come over? Mhm....Mhm. Okay. Adrian's welcome too.....Oh. Hm, okay- that works. See you soon." Simon hummed once he got off the phone, placing it aside. "So, Rocky's in the workshop and he might be a little while- and Adrian got dragged into like a...bi-annual seminar that they need to be attending today. So they won't be able to come tonight. Sorry, love." Simon said, bringing his attention down to Grace. Now that he was off the phone he could bring his hand to stroke his cheek, making Grace hum contentedly.
"That'll be okay. The more the merrier, but I just need the company, honestly." Grace replied, then tipped his head to one side. "A little selfish, I know."
"You're in such crippling amounts of pain that you can't walk to the kitchen by yourself, Ryland." Simon pointed out, nodding to the prosthetic that was needing to press under his naval like his insides owed him money. "Be fucking selfish. Be mad at me, cry, be upset that you're in pain- it's all understandable. I'm not scoring you on how tough you take it. Just as long as you're not overdosing yourself on pain meds, do whatever makes you feel better, honey. Please. I don't like seeing you miserable." He insisted, then bent down to press a kiss to his forehead. "I'd rather you give me hard things to do for you than for you to wave it off and be completely upset the whole week." He said, though realizing once he did that perhaps he was laying it on a bit too intensely, he pressed a kiss to Grace's lips and used his thumb on his face to press his nose in a playful boop. "I'm here to take care of you. Don't feel bad bout it." He summed up. His heart warmed up even more when he saw Grace laugh softly and tilt into his hand to nuzzle it.
"Okay, okay...I get it. I'm in need." Grace replied, though he was far too focused then on Simon's hands on him. The warmth of his right and the cold of his left, giving him just the comfort and affection he was craving deep down. He leaned his head back further into Simon's lap to encourage it. Simon never really acknowledged it, but he really had learned just the right spots to scratch to make his head spin. It was a skill he'd never used against him, or made fun that he was so easy to make emotionally dizzy. He would just love him to the fullest and watch his descent to euphoria. Watch happily, even.
"So handsome." Simon commented somewhere in the middle, popping Grace out of his daze. He blinked up at Simon, then let a small breath of air out of his nose. He didn't take the hint, leaning further in and running his fingers down around to stroke through Grace's beard and hold his chin. "You know that?" Grace hummed, halfway displeased with being held in place and halfway satisfied in being held. But he replied anyhow.
"I thought you thought I was a 'pretty boy'." Grace replied, muffled by Simon's hold. That comment did make a small spike of guilt rise up in Simon, though he tried not to show it on his face. He took a moment to rub his thumb back and forth through the hairs on Grace's chin, watching his expression and taking in his features as he always seemed to do when contemplating what his words might do. He never used to think about it like this before, really. He'd learned initially to read people for safety, to be able to process aggression and get the hell out of dodge, but this...reading the potential hurt he might do wasn't something he calculated. He went by instinct on that one. But for Grace, he felt like he deserved it. So after a few moments, he spoke up gently.
"Well...you are everything to me." He began, then tipped his head to one side. "But, I will admit, I called you that when I was uninformed. And I can keep calling you that if that's what you want, but I figured...You'd probably prefer not. I dunno."
Grace's face suddenly felt much warmer than it did a few moments before. He wasn't flushed, but it was the type of flitty, joyful sensation that he had seldom felt before he'd found this life with Simon. And Simon was a truly miraculous man- because he found a way to trigger it often. He had to rub his hand up his own cheek to try to will it away before his cheeks could go completely rosy at the idea. "I think..." He hesitated, then tipped his head fully back once again to look up at Simon. "It's not necessarily that I like being called 'pretty'...but I like it when you call me that because I'm usually your 'pretty boy'. I like being yours, not being pretty." Grace explained, then laughed a bit. "Semantics, I guess- that might not make sense."
"No, no, I get it." Simon assured, nodding as his hand traveled gently to rub down the slope of Grace's neck. "I'm not your wife, I'm your husband. Sure, you can call that 'semantics', but it matters." Simon pointed out, and leaned in to kiss his forehead once again. "And you can just as easily be my handsome husband as you can be my pretty boy."
Grace's heart thumped a little harder at that one, and unfortunately no amount of will could stop his cheeks from getting a little red over the next few moments that time. A small, shy sort of sound escaped him. "Oho Yeah...I like that one a whole lot better." He murmured, indulging himself to pull at Simon's collar until they could meet in the middle for another kiss. Which happed to be a few seconds before they both heard a bump at the door. They pulled back to listen- because recently the patio has had some stubborn lattice that would thump against the house occasionally and Simon needed to see if it needed to be tended to- but soon they could hear the distant chirping and trills of Rocky.
"♪Simon! Simon-friend! Rocky arrives!" Rocky called out from the front door, causing both in the bedroom to share a small laugh between one another.
"Rocky- you can come in, bud! It's not locked!" Grace called out, though he was certain that he'd be able to hear him even if he'd said it as quietly as he could. With a few bumps against the narrow hallway to the bedroom, Rocky made his appearance as he carefully opened the door to the room.
"♪Are you okay? Simon says urgent urgent urgent issue." Rocky asked insistently as he scuttled up to the side of the bed, humming a soft, wordless song to get a good look at Grace.
"I did not, I only said urgent the once. And see? He's okay." Simon argued, and Rocky waved him off with one of his clawed hands before he climbed up onto the bed and nudged himself against one of Grace's sides.
"♪Grace's abdomen has inflammation. Bad bad bad." Rocky argued back, his claws moving and tapping slightly against Grace as he observed more of Grace's inner workings and clearly grew more and more worried. Grace took Simon's hand and gave it a quick kiss.
"You can get started on dinner, I'll fill him in." Grace assured.
"You sure? He's a handful." Simon teased, earning him a disgruntled, low squeak from the Eridian.
"Like you'd be any better in his shoes. If you didn't know better, you'd be thinking I was dying too- dont be a smart-aleck." Grace replied, making Simon raise his hands in defense as he carefully got up from the bed.
"Got it, no more jokes. Have fun kissing your Rock-husband- don't make me too jealous." Simon wished with a smile as he stepped out of the room towards the kitchen. Once he did, Grace turned carefully on his side to face Rocky, pulling a pillow down to rest his head.
"Hi, Rocky." Grace greeted finally, reaching out and stroking a hand gently along the thin xenonite that covered Rocky's sediment. "It's good to see you. Thanks for coming so quick on such short notice." Grace said, and without missing a beat Rocky huddled in and carefully nestled himself to loaf against Grace's chest. He chirped, pressing himself tight and close.
"♪Of course. I'd never leave you alone to deal with something if you wanted my company." Rocky replied. Though, his worry was still clear by how he still was tapping his claws gently against Grace's chest and monitoring the condition of his organs. Grace had half the mind to ask what it looked like exactly- but, maybe another day. Without Simon to alleviate the pain by massaging, his abdomen was close to cramping up again. It didn't hurt as badly now that the painkillers had kicked in, but when Rocky didn't know that this was better than it had been, his wince was only making him concern more. "♪Please explain- tell me how to help." Rocky added quickly.
"Okay, so-what's happening is..I'm actually biologically female for a human, which I think I told you about but never really got around to the whole explanation. Something female humans experience is this process where the body prepares for reproduction, and after a few months period of being inactive or not processing signs of gestation, it internally destroys the tissue that it had built to prepare for said reproduction to get ready for a new cycle with fresh tissue." Grace explained, although he did groan when he could feel a small uncomfortable shudder rush down his back. "But this process is very painful. Or, it can be very painful, and I got the short end of the stick. My body makes too much tissue, puts tissue where it shouldn't...and generally is awful at this. So, what I need from you is for you to press really close to my stomach-" before Grace could finish his sentence, Rocky had already pressed himself tight against Grace's shirt. He sighed in sudden relief as the immense warmth already started to help. He took a second, readjusted and tucked his legs against him so that he had most contact. Not entirely for relief- his thighs didn't really need the warmth, but he liked being able to feel his purring everywhere anyway. "Good, yeah. And.." Grace tugged his shirt up halfway and pointed to his lower stomach. "I need you to massage with your claws."
"....♪Massage the inflammation, question?" Rocky asked, clearly very skeptical. And it was fair, Grace had used many non-conventional medical practices that Rocky had to convince him to ween off of- taking too many pain killers, using cotton swabs in his ears, standing with his knees hyper-extended far too often. But he nodded anyway.
"Yeah, I know...it sounds bad, but it's like...you remember that time I got a calf cramp?" Grace asked, as of an Eridian ever forgot.
"♪Yes, Grace exclaimed great pain as his body betrayed him. Muscle fibers contract and do not release for very long time, then you got up like everything was fine." Rocky recalled, and Grace pointed in agreement.
"So that is happening in my abdomen. On a smaller scale. You can probably see it if you look- but, that's what the massaging is for. It's to try to stop those muscles from contracting as painfully or as much." Grace explained, and to that Rocky tapped his fingers in a small staccato, this time for a longer amount until he could observe the time that Grace winced. He hummed in agreement.
"♪Yes- Rocky does see. Many muscles are contracting to separate tissue from the inside. Looks very painful, if a singular muscle along your leg is any benchmark." Rocky agreed, and carefully he molded the flexible material of the suit around his claws. Gently he pressed into the soft flesh that rested above Grace's uterus. "♪Pressure is adequate, question?"
"Oh no, bud- you have to really press down. Like, you-feel-like-you-might-hurt-me type of hard." Grace corrected, but he could see that Rocky was clearly hesitating with that. He had a lot of power he could put behind his limbs, and he would hate to break anything internally. Grace knew that. So, he brought his hands to Rocky's joints and pressed to guide his claws to give more pressure. Then when it was just at the cusp of too much and not enough, they found just the spot that helped, and Grace let out a deep breath. "That hard."
"♪Oh, I see. This is very manageable for me." Rocky admitted, his claws starting a gentle kneading motion back and forth, alternating each hand so that there is always a hand pressing into Grace's stomach.
"That is frickin perfect, oh my god." Grace sighed, his hand coming down and affectionately running his nails down the xenonite suit to try and return the favor in some way. The two of them settled into that, Rocky's claws easily massaging Grace's stomach to dissuade any cramping, his natural body heat working to soothe the ache of the muscles within, and once Grace started to gently pet Rocky with both hands, his pleased purring as well helped with both. It was absolute heaven. "Thank you....thank you so much, Rock- I don't know how to describe how much you're helping me."
"♪Grace has helped Rocky many times. Many many many times. It doesn't need to be counted and repaid anymore, that's how much Grace help Rocky and Rocky help Grace." Rocky replied, snuggling even deeper against Grace and purring more intensely when he felt Grace's arms encapsulate around him in a pleasantly chilly embrace. "♪It is a thankless job to take care of my mate."
"Oh, you're so sweet when you wanna be.." Grace murmured, and began pressing kisses against the suit, along where Rocky's faces were most flat so that he would have more likelihood to feel it. Truth be told he did, because as he massaged he made soft squeaks back for each kiss like he was trying to mimic the sound that it made and reciprocate. "So so so good to me, Rock." He added, a little quieter. It was hard not to let his emotions get the better of him, but he couldn't help it- he was immensely comforted, loved, accepted, and he had a living heating pad that could rub at his overactive uterus and make the pain stop. He left the workshop- and admittedly Eridians were more forgiving when it came to availability and when someone has to leave for family emergencies, but Rocky was a perfectionist at heart, he would never let a project go unfinished if he could help it. But he rushed down to the Bio-Dome in maybe five minutes. He dropped everything just to be there for him.
Just to be there for him.
That thought especially made moisture spring to Grace's eyes, and the shakiness of his breaths didn't go unnoticed. Rocky tipped himself up slightly to represent his attention going to Grace. "♪Are you okay, question?"
"Yeah, I'm...more than fine. I just love you, that's all." Grace admitted, shrugging a little as he pressed another firm kiss to him. "Love love love you."
"♪Mhrr...Very acceptable- Very enjoy. Rocky love love love you too." Rocky replied between purrs.
Into the night the three of them spent their time together in rotation to keep Grace comfortable, loved, and well taken care of- Simon returning to the bedroom once he had cooked up something he hoped to be not too dissimilar to what he had looked up as a recipe. It was a lot of guesswork and taste testing to make sure it wasn't something horrible he was serving up in good faith, but according to Grace it got frighteningly close to what he asked for. However, he only admitted that after he nearly broke down into tears again in the first few bites. Well fed, well loved, and snuggled up in a mountain of pillows and blankets, Simon stationed himself behind Grace to work as a back rest. That way Grace could have Rocky on top of him and halfway laid back- which they both would've argued was a bad position for Grace's back, but they both were very well aware that if this was the position that made Grace pain-free, it was a favor from God and they weren't going to take their chances finding another position. They watched through the film together, Simon's hand in Grace's hair and his prosthetic resting against his chest. Rocky with his small scorpion-like hind leg pointed up out of the blanket to translate the movie to his screen, which was rested just above Grace's stomach. Though Grace really did try his best to make it through to the end of the film, the peace of the moment and the amount of relaxation seeped into his bones, the fact his body used all its energy to make him cramp...it all added up until he eventually fell asleep, snuggled between two of his favorite people.
Once Rocky pointed it out quietly to Simon, Simon very carefully moved to turn the tableside lamp off and turned the speaker down so that they could finish the movie without disturbing him. They watched quietly together, sharing quiet moments of hushed laughter and hums while the scenes unfolded. It wasn't until Simon's hand eventually slipped to gently rest and rub Grace's shoulder when he felt a set of claws wrap gently around his pinky and ring finger, squeezing. He glanced down from the projected image on the wall to his own hand to see Rocky settled closer to the pair of them, at Simon's side more than Grace's in the moment. He tilted his head to one side curiously.
"♪Thank you, for calling me." Rocky quietly hummed, letting go of Simon's hand slowly in preference of bumping himself up against his side and snuggling into a lying position. "♪You took extremely good care of Grace. I appreciate it very much. Also impressed with flavor replication. We attempted with Taumoeba on first trip, it didn't go well. Very impressive feat to make flavors match memory."
"Yeah, well..you did a good job keeping him cozy." Simon whispered back, his prosthetic coming down and patting at the xenonite suit affectionately as he smiled. "Are you okay to stay up? I'll probably be up for a few hours, but definitely not long enough to watch you sleep the whole time." He asked, and to that Rocky chittered quietly.
"♪It is slightly different with humans, I've found out. It is a social comfort to be watched while falling asleep, but humans wake easily from sleeping. Simon-friend especially. If something was wrong, I trust that you would be the first to wake." Rocky explained, and to that Simon felt a fluttery, touched feeling make its way through his chest.
"You trust me with that? I didn't realize you had so much faith in me." He replied, then watched as Rocky fully hunkered down, clearly preparing himself for his sleep cycle right beside Simon and Grace.
"♪Rocky has had faith in Simon long time. Plenty belief in your capability. Very capable, very strong, very smart. I don't need to be a genius to know that, it's fact." Rocky replied, as though it were the most simple thing in the world. "♪You watch me sleep, question?"
Simon laid his prosthetic hand on Rocky to stay, his metal thumb rubbing up and down the front side of his carapace. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll watch you sleep, little guy. I'll take care of you two."
"♪Thank you..♩♩♩" was the last thing Rocky could hum before his body swiftly swept him into paralysis and a proper rest. Simon sighed, a hand fondly on each of them, holding them close to his body and keeping watch in the dark of their room. An hour or two after the movie had finished, he had turned off the projector and had settled his head against the pillow, he finally felt the vestiges of sleep starting to sting the backs of his eyes. He pressed a kiss to the top of Grace's head, stroking his chest for a moment more before whispering to him near silently.
"Goodnight, Sweetheart. Love you."
Before he let his eyes close and for sleep to pull him gradually under until dawn would break again.