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Grace's life span, compared to Rocky's, was very short. Eridians live for over 600 earth years, and humans have the average life span of 85 years. Not nearly enough for Rocky. So, of course, he's been trying to find a way to expand Grace's life span. Rocky REFUSES to have Grace die before him. If it happens, Rocky is going to destroy Erid, go to Earth, destroy them, and then destroy himself. He will break every scientific wall to get Grace to live just as long as he does.
He asked Grace about it, and Grace accepted! Rocky was a little startled, but apparently Grace also wanted to live as long at Rocky. Yay!
Even if Grace said no, Rocky would have made him participate. But, thankfully he said yes, so forcing was out of the picture.
They were doing trial runs on a few ideas. Which is how they ended up here.
Grace was standing in front of him, significantly shorter and softer. His hair was much softer, skin softer, body squishier. His features weren't nearly as sharp. But, the biggest thing was that Grace was much, much shorter now. Grace, usually, stood at about 6ft tall or 182cm (human measurements, ughhh so inefficient) but now he was only 4ft or 121cm (again, human measurements' dumb dumb dumb). Which was considerably shorter.
In short, they have given Grace a mixture that was supposed to... kind of keep him the same age. It was just a beta test, not fully developed, but none of the chemicals were deadly to Grace so they decided to test it. Turns out, the human is now much, much younger. Probably around 8 years old in human years, which was still newborn for Eridians.
"Grace safe! Grace is okay!" Rocky tried to calm his currently sobbing human. Grace was curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, crying and screaming at the top of his lungs for help. Rocky could hear his frantic heartrate, the way his lungs strained as he screamed, the tears falling from his eyes... It was all making Rocky panic. Which certainly wasn't helping the situation. Grace currently had the mind and body of an 8 year old. Poor Grace didn't recognize him and poor Grace doesn't even understand where he is.
"Nooooo!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!" Grace screamed, squeezing his eyes shut and slamming his hands over his ears. The screaming was really messing up his ecolocation. Rocky stumbled back, moving his arms in front of him defensivly. Grace just continued screaming until the air in his lungs ran out, leaving him shaky and panting between sobs. Leaky, leaky, leaky.
But, at least Grace was quiet and now he had a chance to calm them, at least a little. Grace was going to pass out soon from adrenaline and panic soon. Which would only force them to restart this whole situation.
"Grace is okayyyy," Rocky trilled, letting out quiet, soothing vibrations similar to some melodies Grace had mentioned liking when he was younger. He just hopes it calms Grace a little. He gets met with a flinch and a choked sob. His throat probaly hurt from screaming. Poor, poor Grace. Poor sad leaky space blob. It hurt Rocky to hear the human like this.
"Name is... Rocky. Rocky friendly," He took a few steps closer. Grace flinched again, curling into a tighter ball. It was like approaching and scared cat. Rocky cooed before slowly lowering to the floor. He tucked his limbs under himself, continuing to let out soft melodies as he tried to think of other ways to calm down the small human.
Grace liked puppet shows... Right?
Rocky stood up, walking off before returning just a minute later. He was holding a two xenonite fingers. One of him, and one of Grace. He was glad Grace hadn't bolted while he was gone.
He sat in front of Grace, free arms tucked under him as he played with the figures.
Grace sat there and watched, sniffling and squirming in the corner. Finally, he reached out hesitantly, pausing half way before gently pointing at the humanoid xenonite figure.
"I-Is that me?" Grace asked, voice cracking. He retracted his hand, whipping at his tears with the sleeves of his oversized shirt. Which was currently the only thing he was wearing. The sudden... shrinking and de-aging has made Grace's clothes unbelievably oversized. All he was currently wearing was a yellow hoodie with some science joke on the front, his other clothes having fallen off after he ran in fear from Rocky.
"Yes! Is human, like Grace," Rocky held up the figure and wiggled it in front of Grace. "Am Grace! Grace very smart! Grace is human," Rocky wiggled the figure as he spoke, trying to mimic Grace. He relaxed when Grace let out a wet giggle, cutting himself of with a sob. Yes! Progress!
"Grace is leaky, leaky human. Grace do big science. Grace Rocky friends," Rocky continued. Grace sat silently, just watching. His heartbeat slowed down. That was good, but Grace's breathing was still uneven which wasn't good.
"R-Rocky...?" Grace spoke quietly. Rocky trilled quietly. "What... W-What are you?" He asked skeptically, narrowing his eyes and tilting his head to the side in confusion. Rocky assumed this question would com up, but he didn't know if he should tell the truth or lie. Grace would most likely panic if he told the truth, but he doesn't want to lie to his Grace! That's not right.
"Am an Eridian," Rocky said vaguely. Grace just stared at him, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his shirt. "O-Okay.... I've never heard of you're species" Rocky was tempted to tell him obviously but he didn't.
"Not a species on earth," He managed, only to be met with silence and then a loud gasp. Grace clamped his hands over his mouth, staring at Rocky with wide eyes. Shoot, his pulse was picking up. That wasn't good. He doesn't want Grace spiraling again.
"Holy crackers! An alien!" He squealed. Guess even as a kid Grace didn't swear.
"Yes yes. Rocky is alien," He chirped. Grace stared at Rocky with big eyes. Rocky could tell that Grace wanted to come closer, his fingers twitching with the urge to touch, but he was hesitant. Maybe even afraid.
"Rocky is friendly alien. Rocky Grace friends," Rocky tried too soothe, cooing at the small human. Grace swallowed nervously before slowly standing up. He shifted awkwardly on his feet, sending uncomfortable glances over at Rocky. So, of course, Rocky stepped forward. And this time Grace didn't flinch. Grace inched forward a little. Rocky held out his hand, making a grabby motion at Grace, who followed suit, pressing his hand against the thin xenonite barrier separating them.
Grace stared in awe before perking up, face lighting up in pure excitement.
"Oh my gosh! An actual alien!!" Grace squealed, bouncing on his feet. "And I'm touching it..." Grace added in a whisper, fidgeting with Rocky's claw, the same way a young pebble would.
Grace was pebble. Grace was young pebble, even in human years.
Awww... baby Graceeeee
"Sooo... uhm.... Where am I...?" Grace asked, glancing around. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of a beach outside of the window.
Cue another 30 minute comforting session.
_____________________________________
"What's this?" Grace tapped at the xenonite suit.
"Is xenonite," Rocky answered. Grace just stared at him with wide eyes before tilting his head to the side slightly, clearly confused. Rocky would sigh if not for the fact that Grace was practically a baby! And in Eridian years, Grace was just an infant!
"Xenonite is to protect Rocky. Like shield," Rocky explained in simple forms he assumed a child might understand.
"Why?" Grace asked.
"Rocky can't breathe oxygen like Grace. Atmosphere is different," Rocky silently hoped baby Grace knew what "atmosphere" meant. 8 year old on earth knew that kind of stuff right? Rocky doesn't know. Grace is the only human he's interacted with and he hasn't exactly asked about what 8 year olds do or what they know.
"Oh! Wait so then what do you breath?" Grace asked.
"Ammonia." Rocky responded. Grace, again, just stared at him. "Oh. I don't know what that is. But cool!" He giggled. Something Rocky had noticed is that Grace's voice was much higher pitched. The sound it emanated was so much softer and cuter. A higher pitch with occasionally voice cracks. It was adorable. Rocky liked it almost as much as he loved Grace's usual, adult voice.
It was quiet for a few seconds before Grace grabbed the top of his carapace and climbed up. Rocky immediately stilled, too scared that if he moved Grace would loss his grip and fall. Speaking of which, what on Erid is Grace even doing?
"What doing, question?" Grace just giggled as he climbed on top of Rocky, shifting so he was sitting on the top of his carapace, legs wrapping around Rocky and straddling him. Grace just continued giggling, clearly pleased with himself. Rocky repeated his question only to be met with a squeal from Grace, who had started kicking his legs back and forth.
"Wowww! You can carry me!" Grace cheered, wiggling on top of Rocky, who was currently as still as a rock (I know I'm absolutely hilarious thank you thank you).
"Yes? Grace very, very light to Rocky. Like pebble," Rocky confirmed. Grace swung his legs back and forth before standing up on Rocky's carapace, holding his arms out in a t-pose to balance himself. Grace tapped his feet a few times, moving from one to the other like some weird tap dance with absolutely no rhythm. Pebbles did something similar. It was normal for young pebbles to move their legs in a tap dance like pattern to hear better. Guess humans and pebbles aren't all that different.
"Wait, so how much do you weigh then?" Grace asked curiously, putting his hands on his hips and glancing down at Rocky. "Am 500 pounds in earth units,"
"WOWWW!" Grace squealed. He sat on his butt on top of Rocky, crossing his legs and holding onto his ankles as he rocked back and forth. "500 pounds?? That hugeeeee!!" He leaned back, stretching out the word as he spoke. "Are you sure you're 500 pounds? You're not that big," Grace commented with a slight pout. Rocky cooed.
"Yes yes. Rocky very dense. Eridian's weigh much more than humans. Much denser," Rocky explain. Grace hummed quietly in response. "That's sooo cool!" Grace chuckled, only to immediately fall silent as he heard a knock on the door. Rocky perked up, hesitating with Grace on top of him. He wiggled his carapace, silently signaling for the kid to get off of him. Grace just stared at the door with wide eyes, as if barely registering Rocky's movements.
"Grace get off of Rocky, now," Rocky stated, tapping his foot on the ground for emphasis. It seemed to snap Grace out of his daze, to which he quickly slid off of Rocky. Rocky scurried over to the door, Grace following and hiding behind him. Rocky reached up, grabbing the door handle and opening it. He was met with Adrian and the rest of the biodome team, huddled by the door and letting out concerned trills and coos.
Finally! When Grace first turned into this... baby version of himself, Rocky was too panicked with calming him down to bother dialing the biodome team. But now that Grace had calmed down, Rocky he finally gotten a chance to call them down here. As much as he adored baby Grace, he wanted to make sure he was okay first. Who knows, maybe the whole transformation hard harmed him in a way Rocky couldn't tell. He'd rather have his carapace peeled off than having Grace in pain and potentially dying earlier. His life span was already too short.
"Adrian! Yes, yes, hello!" Rocky trilled, feeling Grace squeeze one of his back legs. Rocky cooed, reaching back to gently ruffle Grace's hair. He sniffled. Wait what? Why is Grace crying again!?
"Grace okay, question!?" Rocky asked in a panicky tone. Grace just sniffled, staring past Rocky in fear. Oh. Right. Adrian was.... much bigger than Rocky. Adrian was bigger than Grace even when Grace was fully grown. Baby Grace scared. Rocky fix.
"Adrian come, come, come," Rocky snapped his claws a few times, motioning for Adrian to enter. "Others stay out. Grace sensitive," Rocky shut the door before they could complain or protest. Grace stays tensed and hidden behind Rocky, shrinking as Adrian stepped into the house.
"Rocky really wasn't lying... Grace is—"
"Shhhh! Grace scared," Rocky warned, only for Grace to scoff behind him.
"I'm not scared!" He protested. Rocky slowly turned to face him. Of well, he couldn't actually do it but it had the same effect as someone slowly turning their head. It was good enough.
"I-I'm not!" Grace repeated, glancing warily at Adrian. "But... You can... talk to him," he added, voice trailing off as he crouched behind Rocky. Rocky chirped a few times, finding his reaction amusing. Adrian stepped closer, tapping their foot on the ground to get a clear picture and asking for Rocky to elaborate about the situation.
"The test went wrong! Now Grace is pebble!" Rocky trilled in Eridian, electing a confused sound from Grace. Adrian cooed. "Yes yes, you said that in the message. Just didn't expect Grace so.... tiny." Adrian responded, the deep rumble causing Grace to jump and tuck themselves behind Rocky.
"Rocky worried. Don't know if something wrong with Grace. Was very scared when Rocky first found." He started. "Made an excuse. Told Grace Eridian's accidentally took him from earth during a supply run. Told Grace would return him soon. Calmed him enough," Rocky explained. Adrian chirped, understanding. Thankfully.
"What are you guys saying?" Grace suddenly whispered, peeking over the top of Rocky's carapace. "Explaining situation to Adrian," Rocky spoke up.
It took almost an hour to ease Grace into actually interacting with Adrian, despite the kids continuous protests that he "wasn't scared" (he was shaking and nearly cried three times, but whatever) and it took even long to get the kid to allow the biodome to treat him and take care of him. And, after a lot of tests and patience, it was obvious that Grace was healthy inside and outside. Which was very reliving. Rocky thought he was gonna have a heart attack with all five. And, even more reliving, Grace was only going to be stuck like this for the next 24 earth hours. Thank the stars its not permanent.
Though, it was about time they put Grace in some clothes that actually fit him. He's still wearing that dumb t-shirt with the science pun. They made some clothes for him. A pair of loose cargo shorts with an oversized red t-shirt. Nothing very special, but it was good enough and Grace seemed to like it.
"You're not like the aliens in the movies I've seen!" Grace suddenly spoke up from where he was rolling around in the sand, shaking his head and causing sand and rocks to fly out of his hair. "The one's I've seen on TV are all big and gross looking," Grace hummed, laying on his stomach and resting his chin on his forearms. Rocky gave a hum next to him before pausing.
"Why is bone missing?" Rocky suddenly asked, voice tainted in worry and panic. Had the team missed something? How could they miss something like that!? Grace needs—
"Huh? Oh! You mean my tooth," Grace pointed to the large gap in his front teeth. "I lost it last week! Isn't that cool!" Grace laughed. Rocky was panicking. Why was Grace laughing and acting like this wad normal? It wasn't. Grace needs all of his teeth, especially his front teeth. Why was pebble Grace missing a tooth?
"Come come. I call biodome team. They help," Rocky said, quickly standing up and already making his way over to the house. "Huh? Why?" Grace asked.
"O-Oh right you guys probably don't have teeth," he realized, shifting to sit up properly. He pointed to the gap in his teeth again. "We have two sets of teeth! For a while, we have these teeth, which are baby teeth, but as we get older they fall out and are replaced with stronger teeth that we keep for the rest of our life," Grace explained.
Oh. That didn't make any sense at all. Like, none.
"Why do they fall out, question?" He tapped his foot against the floor twice. Grace shrugged. "I dunno... They just kinda... fall out at some point," He said. Wow. What an absolutely wonderful explanation. He'll have to ask Grace about it when he's not... a pebble.
"But! When they fall out, if you keep your tooth and put it under your pillow while you sleep, the tooth fairy comes!" Grace squealed. Rocky was very confused. Grace had told him that fairies weren't real, just like dragons, or elves, or Santa. They had a whole, very long conversation about it while Grace was explaining to him what DND was and how to play. But, he also remembers Grace saying that some people do believe in such things. Culture stuff. Or, fun stories for kids. Erid had similar traditions. Maybe thats what this was? He'd ask Grace about it when he's not a pebble.
"Tooth fairy?" Grace frantically nodded, leaning back on his hands. "The tooth fairy takes the tooth from under your pillow and leaves either a gift or money!" He elaborated. Okay. Definitely just some made up thing for kids to have fun with. If something like that existed, Grace would have definitely told him. Right? Probably.
"Ahh. Understood, understood. Is loosing tooth painful, question?" Rocky asked, taking a few steps closer and loafing up next to the boy. Grace turned to lean against his carapace, letting out a clicking sound with his tongue. "Uhhh depends. Before your tooth falls out it gets loose, which can hurt sometimes. And if you rip out your tooth too early, then it hurts and there's blood everywhere. But—"
"Rip!? Thought tooth came out naturally!" Rocky squeaked in a panicked tone, making Grace laugh. Why was he laughing!?
"They do fall out naturally! Just... loose teeth are annoying and distracting sometimes. So most people just rip them out," He said between giggles. Rocky relaxed slightly. Thank the universe. If humas were just ripping out teeth for fun, Rocky would go to earth himself and just blow it up because clearly they weren't supposed to survive this long.
"Ahh. Rocky understand." He shifted so Grace was more comfortable against him.
"Look, I have a loose tooth right now!" Grace leaned forward and opened his mouth wide, like he needed to. Rocky could see inside his mouth just fine. One finger reached to a side tooth, causing it to wiggle and make one of the weirdest noises Rocky has ever heard. It sent a shiver down his spine. Grace cackled at his reaction, voice cracking at the high pitch.
Rocky stared. Or... whatever, you know what he means.
Pebble Grace was so cute. Disgustingly cute. Rocky wanted to squeeze him. Squeeze until he pops.
Wait what?
Rocky shook the thought away. They sat on the beach and talked for a few more hours until the manual 24 hour lighting schedule started to darken the dome. Grace wanted to stay outside for a night swim, but after Rocky said Grace could ride him on the way home, the kid didn't protest.
Rocky came home with Grace sitting on top of him, holding onto a piece of xenonite of his suit. Adrian perked up from where they were in the kitchen. They didn't trust Grace in the kitchen anymore now that he's practically a baby. Neither Rocky or Adrian know how to cook human food, but Rocky couldn't even cook Eridian food so Adrian had taken over the kitchen.
"Wowww!! Cookies!" Grace cheered, jumping off of Rocky and scurrying over to Adrian. "Can I have one? Can I? Can I? Can I?" Grace stood on his tippy toes.
Adrian cooed at him before handing him a cookie and ushering him to the living room. Grace complied while nibbling on the dessert.
They spent the next few hours watching movies. Simple movies they'd assume would be child friendly. Unfortunately, they we're wrong. Apparently, the movie Alien isn't child friendly. Rocky and Adrian had to spend the next hour consoling the poor pebble before picking a different, less terrifying movie. Which was Coraline. Somehow, Grace found the movie fucking hilarious. Rocky and Adrian, in fact, did not. They let Grace watch the movie though. The least they could do after accidentally traumatizing the poor child.
They watched a few other movies. Lala land, Moana, Wall-e, and Coco. Grace aggressively gagged anytime Rocky and Adrian became too close, squirming between them and complaining that they were too "lovey-dovey"
It was fully dark outside, at least that's what they assumed considering Grace was almost passed out in the pillow fort they made, wrapped tightly in a quilted blanket.
"Grace sleep." Rocky reached out, gently rubbing his claws through Grace's hair. "Rocky Adrian watch." Adrian finished. Grace shifted, laying onto his side and leaning into Rocky's touch. His arm came to loosely wrap around Rocky, eyes half lidded, barely open.
"Hmmmmngh..." Grace grumbled, nuzzling his face into the pillow propped against Adrian. "Watch me? Huh?" Grace question, tired mind clearly confused. Right, its not a normal human custom to watch each other sleep. Especially considering a lot of humans were light sleepers so there was no real need to observe each other while unconscious.
"Is Eridian custom," Adrian spoke up, rubbing up and down Grace's back. "Eridian watch each other sleep for protection. Is normal for bonding," Adrian explained. Grace hummed quietly into the pillow he was nuzzling against.
"Ohhh... so like me and my brother," Grace giggled. Rocky paused his petting. He remember Grace saying that it was unordinary and odd for humans to watch one another sleep, which was why he was hesitant on the idea in the first place. Adrian knew this too. Rocky heard the confused melody they made in response to Grace's sleepy statement.
"What Grace mean, question?" Rocky gently poked Grace's forehead. Grace snorted and weakly swatted his claw away, curling into a ball on his side. He pulled the blanket higher, covering his body and grabbing onto the soft fabric.
"Me and my brother take turns during the night. One sleeps for a few hours while the other stayed awake to protect."
"Protect what?" Rocky asked hesitantly.
"From dad....." Grace added, trailing off with a yawn. "Dad gets mad sometimes. He lashes out and beats us over the dumbest things. We take turns keeping watch during the night just in case," Grace elaborated before pausing. "Colt's alone tonight...." Grace remembered, voice cracking as he felt his eyes water up at the thought. Colt was alone. Grace couldn't protect Colt. Couldn't warn him.
Great. Reason #3480268 as to why Rocky hates earth. What do you mean Grace's father was beating him? HUH!?
"Colt's alone. He's probably worried about me." Grace bit his lower lip, blocking the sob that wanted to escape. "What if dad gets mad again? Colt's all alone. What if he get's hurt? What if dad hits him? What if he left the house to try and find me?" Grace's mind went a million miles a minute, paranoid about all the potential possibilities of what could happen to Colt. His poor twin must be so worried right now.
"I miss Colt." Grace turned, tears falling as he cried into his pillow. Adrian and Rocky huddled closer, trying to calm him down and comfort him. They gained little success.
"I don't wanna go home," Grace blurted. Rocky and Adrian glanced at each other before back at Grace. "I just want Colt back. I wish Colt was here," Grace sobbed. Rocky cooed at him, rubbing his arm while Adrian hummed a quiet yet comforting melody. Grace sniffled, pulling his blanket up to cover his face. Rocky let out a sad, almost pathetic sound. It hurt. It hurt to see Grace like this. He didn't like it. Sure, Grace was.... fairly emotional, but Roky doesn't think he'd ever get used to hearing Grace's eyes well up, hearing the tears of sadness dragging down his cheeks as they fell.
"Rocky Adrian bring Colt to Erid with Grace. Promise." The words seemed to calm Grace, if only a little. Rocky and his mate waited as Grace hiccupped and calmed down, eyes puffy from tears.
"You guys are so nice to me," Grace managed, voice cracking. His eyes watered up again before Grace quickly wiped the tears away, swallowing the lump in his throat.
"Today was really fun," He said, deciding to chance the subject. His eye lids drooped, feeling heavier after the emotional crying session. "It's nice here... I dont wanna go back to earth," Grace stated. Rocky hummed quietly. "Grace doesn't have to. Grace doesn't ever have to go back again. Can stay here on Erid with Rocky and Adrian. We keep safe," Adrian said as they gently tugged down the blanket from Grace's face. Grace gave a shaky nod.
"You promise?" He asked hesitantly. Adrian tilted their carapace up and down in a nod.
It was quiet for a few minutes, the only noise being the TV playing quietly in the background.
Before they knew it, Grace was sound asleep, letting out soft snores against the pillow propped against Adrian's leg. Adrian's claw continued to gently rub his back through his sleep, a silent comfort. Rocky perked up and turned to face Adrian.
"We must find a way to get to earth as quickly as possible," Rocky spoke in Eridian, voice low as to not wake up Grace. He's learned that Grace wasn't the deepest sleeper. It took a while for Rocky to believe that Grace could actually still hear in his sleep, but since he's learned, he's tried to stay quiet while Grace slept. Grace didn't sleep enough as is, Rocky didn't want to wake him up.
"Why?" Adrian asked with a few confused notes at the end.
"So Grace can see brother," Rocky responded.
It was quiet for a few moments. Adrian's ecolocation
"And so Rocky can attack a few humans. Get revenge for being mean to Grace," Rocky admitted.
"Adrian not surprised," They let out a tired coo, an Eridian's version of a sigh. They gave a slight nod. "Understand. Will ask biodome team about it. See what can do. Adrian also want to berate stupid humans," Adrian admitted.
Good. There are a few human Rocky think deserve a stern talking to. And a few that desevre to catch these claws.
Until then, he'll sit and watch Grace sleep. Listening to his heart beaing and his lungs expanding. All reassureing Rocky that Grace would be fine. That Grace was still alive. Alive, alive, alive.
He reached forward, gently caressing the side of Graces face. Grace leaned into it, wrapping an arm around Rocky's limp and pressing it against his chest like a stuffed animal. Cute. Baby Grace is so cute. So, so, so cute. Rocky can't handle it.
Ahhh, now he remembers. Cuteness aggression. It's not the first time hes felt if for Grace, but pebble Grace was somehow cuter.
He doesn't hunderstand why any human would hurt Grace. Not that it matters.
As long as Rocky's here, Grace will always be safe. Safe and happy.