Chapter Text
“So” Grace clapped loudly, startling both his crewmates at once, for what must have been the third time this week. He always apologized and said it was a teacher thing, a call to attention he was used to and that he would try to do it less. So far it has been proven to be an impossible fix.
“Let's play something to get to know each other” He says smiling “And since I’m the one that came up with the idea, I'm going to talk a bit about me”
Rocky flops his body dramatically to one side “Grace already known” which only receives a stare down from Grace.
“You know me, but Simon doesn't. So you get to hear about me again, you’re welcome, by the way” he lightly pokes Rocky’s xenonite with his foot.
A sustained note comes from the alien, something the translator picks up with delay as an elongated ‘no’.
“Okay.” the creature concedes “But Grace has to tell Simon the best things, good first impression. No dancing at him like did with Rocky”
Grace flushed up to his ears as the eridian snickered in warbled notes. The translator didn't pick those kind of noises, but Simon had gotten good enough at context clues to understand some Rocky noises relayed feelings more than words.
“I wasn't even going to tell him, you did it on purpose!” Grace fidgeted in place and moved his glasses to their correct position, as if composing himself.
“Anyways” He said batting at the air as a cue to move on from the topic.
Simon could see him physically repress the impulse to clap again. Thank the Tree, he was more prepared for the noise now, but he would never get used to it. It felt like an aggressive and loud call to attention and Simon didn't do well with those.
“I'm Ryland Grace, I was a middle school teacher before space happened, and I have a twin” emphasizing the last word, he looked at Simon, his expression friendly as if inviting any questions he might have.
Yes, Ryland, he knew what twins were. In fact, they had a specialized treatment in Eden.
Twins were always given the same chore, one usually related to the Garden. This happened because the Father thought they could communicate with each other better, giving way to a smoother cooperation.
He also thought they had more of an affinity towards the Tree, because they were regarded as one soul in two bodies, kinda like the bodies under the Tree’s soil would become the Tree.
That's another thing Simon didn't agree on, yet had to bite his tongue and nod at whenever it was mentioned.
It also meant that if Ryland and his twin had been born in Eden, they would have been delegated to the Tree's care, including the feeding of bodies to the soil.
Hypothetically, they would have met, since Simon's job was getting those bodies. For a while. It hadn't been his actual job at first.
Grace understood his silence and continued on.
“My twin brother is named Colt.” His smile softens at the name.
They must have been really close, in a different way Simon and his Brothers were close. Maybe it was a real way, one that he couldn't quite understand. Unconditional love because they came from the same place and shared the same blood. He tried to focus on Ryland's hands instead of his own feelings on the matter of brothers.
“The game consists on guessing who's me and who's Colt”
Rocky chimed in immediately “Game not very Rocky friendly, Rocky can see favoritism”
Grace rolled his eyes endearingly. “I thought we already stablished this was for Simon”
“Yeah, but rude to exclude Rocky”
Simon nodded at that, which seemed to be appreciated by Rocky, who turned the front face of his carapace towards him and bobbed up and down.
Grace could only sigh.
"Guys, I'm trying really hard for a smooth cohabitation here.” With both hands placed on his hips, he canted them to the right asking, “You want to play or not?” at the same time as he raised one eyebrow. It sounded like a rhetorical question to Simon’s ears.
Rocky nodded confidently despite his past complaints.
“Rocky will win anyways, like in Monopoly”
Simon didn't know what monopoly was and he didn't want to know. Ryland's efforts to make what could be a tense journey and an even worse introduction fun were appreciated, it created a neutral playground for introductions and sounded good meaning enough. He must have been very loved by his students.
This was the scientist’s olive branch, so Simon nodded as he twisted his body to see the laptop screen better.
“How hard can it be?”
Yet as soon as the words left his mouth he wanted to take them back, as Ryland's smile could only be described as evil. What had he agreed to?
Grace sat back down on one of the bolted down stools of the lab and began clicking something on the device, furrowing his brows in concentration.
After a while, the laptop was turned around showing the picture of a blonde haired kid, donning short pants and scratched up knees with a toy car in his hand. He was holding another person’s hand out of shot while he smiled towards the camera.
The kid wasn't wearing glasses and Simon didn't know at what age kids were allowed to get such aids on Earth. The child also looked roughed up and rowdy.
Ryland seemed scaredy and calm, so he had to guess this was his brother. There's no way Ryland would be willing to get hurt for fun. But for science... And maybe that WAS fun for him. Hmm…
“Colt” he guessed. Rocky seconded his answer with an enthusiastic thrill and a robotic “same, same”.
Simon knew the alien couldn't tell the difference, he was pointing an object towards the screen that translated the picture to shapes but it still looked like a humanoid blob.
Rocky was clearly cheating by copying Simon's answers. That didn't matter tho; since Simon was the first to answer, the point should go to him anyways, right?
Grace made a weird noise with his mouth, like a short imitation of an alarm noise, and said “Incorrect, that's me” at which Rocky complained loudly, arguing that he was cheating and “we can’t know if Grace lying if we don't know Colt”
Which. Fair. But Ryland had never lied so far, and a game was no reason to lie, so Simon decided to trust his word. His incorrect guess must mean Ryland was a really rough housing kind of kid and mellowed out during puberty or the likes.
“We just moved cities and it was our first time at the local park. I’ve always had anger management issues so I didn't take well to sharing toys, despite having a brother. I got into a small fight with another kid and won. This is my victory picture.”
The scientist sounded almost proud, while Simon stared in bafflement. Ryland hadn't struck him as that kind of kid, since he had shared everything he had with Simon from the moment they met.
In Eden, toys were communal, shared between all kids and kept in the play room. You were not allowed to keep them. Some creative kids would make toys out of scraps, but those needed to be hidden or otherwise they would be confiscated and forcefully donated to the communal playroom. There was no individuality in Eden, everyone was family so everyone shared.
“Big Grace still anger issues like small Grace” accused Rocky. “Shaped cute, small Grace”
“Aww Rocks” Grace cooed, reaching over the table to pat Rocky's ball “I will forgive your first offense because you called me cute, thanks buddy”
Simon didn't want to share his opinion. He felt a bit envious of Ryland's childhood and he had only heard a glimpse of it.
While Simon was forced to learn how to fight, sew his clothes and work for his food, Ryland was picking petty fights because he was spoiled.
“Next one”
Simon focused again, safe to say, his ego was a bit hurt at having failed his guess. It’s no biggie, only the first try, he would get it once he actually saw Colt and had a framework for comparison.
The screen showed what looked like the same kid as before, Ryland then, at the same age. But sitting on a table surrounded by bad drawings and boxes.
The kid seemed calm, completely clean and focused on his task.
If Ryland had been the fighty kid, then this chill one must have been Colt.
“This is Colt” And once again Rocky nodded alongside him.
Unfortunately, he saw Grace's smile get bigger and he already knew he had failed. Again.
“You again?” The merman asked dejectedly. The losing spree was starting to affect his mood. How difficult could this be? Truth be told, he hadn’t interacted with twins before so he didn’t really know if they really could be told apart or if Ryland was just pulling a prank on both of them.
“How we supposed to know who Colt is if no Colt in pictures?” Rocky complained loudly, at which Simon nodded his head in agreement. It could have been nice to have a starter picture featuring both of them to spot the differences.
“That's why it's a game, silly!” Ryland laughed softly. It wasn't a mean laugh but it still grated on Simon's nerves.
Rocky raised two of his limbs over his head and shook them in frustration. Technically, it was Simon’s fault they were both losing, but Rocky wasn't about to out himself as a cheater, he had a reputation.
“Next one, Ryland, I’m starting to understand” Simon asked, leaning more and more over the tub onto the table.
Instead of the demeanor of the kids, he would focus on their facial features. He was familiar with how Ryland looked now, so every picture that didn't look exactly like him would be his twin. He had this.
Grace pushed the laptop closer to Simon, worried the man would fall over in his eagerness to see better.
The next picture he showed featured an older kid in it, with darker hair on the roots and blonde on the top. He was posing on a bike, leaning back with one hand on the handle and the other forming an V with two fingers.
The picture was a bit blurry and it seemed to have been taken from a child’s point of view. There was a hand on the back of the bike, probably supporting it.
The blurriness of the picture ruined Simon's strategy. He couldn't see any details, the kid looked the same as the ones from before! He stared at Ryland, focusing on the shape of his eyes and nose, then back towards the picture.
He did this until the scientist started to blush and get antsy in place.
Deal with it, shouldn't have proposed a spot the differences game if he couldn't handle a bit of intense staring.
“Colt” Simon said surely. The kid had darker hair. That was his only giveaway, the only clue he was betting on.
Ryland, still a bit red on the face, coughed and played with the neckline of his t-shirt while he muttered a “correct”.
Simon’s fins flared up a bit, for the first time in a positive way. Finally he had gotten one right, he was proud of himself.
Rocky spun his body towards him.
“How did Simon know? Worst image of them all!” Fair, it probably looked a lot more like a blob than usual to Rocky.
But he wasn’t feeling compassionate at the moment. The merman smirked, one fang poking out while he leaned his head slightly to the right.
“You're confessing you can't tell your best friend and his brother apart?” he teased.
Rocky's vents smoked a bit at that, and he let out loud, deep toned chimes that bordered on growls. A lot of it went untranslated but Simon couldn't help but smile even wider, knowing he had made the eridian lose his temper.
There was a sick satisfaction in riling someone up and knowing you wouldn't get killed for it. He craved the feeling.
He liked seeing Rocky's animated reactions, always so expressive despite not having a face. It matched Ryland, who was now leaning over the table making wide movements with his hands towards them.
“Rocky can! Rocky can distinguish Grace in between million of humans! Simon has advantage in pictures because light receptors!”
The eridian pointed at him angrily.
“Rocky, he's teasing you” Grace tried to meddle in, although his smile was amused and he clearly wanted to join in too.
“SIMON BAD TEAMMATE”
“Since when are we a team?” He countered. He thought it was a 1 vs 1. After all, Rocky did know Ryland better, Simon thought he could guess more pictures by context than him.
“Since Grace Rocky pick Simon up from blood asteroid!”
That.
That was actually sweet.
It made Simon feel almost bad. Almost, because the little shit in him was stronger than usual.
“I’m sorry” he apologized anyways, despite not really feeling sorry this time, it had become second nature by now.
And Rocky always mellowed out at that. He mustn't be used to apologies, since Ryland rarely says plainly sorry without making excuses or over explaining himself.
“Simon forgiven” the eridian always made sure to answer his apologies, it soothed a guilty conscience in Simon, knowing at least one creature was awate and accepting of his redemption.
“Okay, I'll help you play” he sighed, reaching an agreement. He could see Ryland's wide lopsided smile from the side of his eye.
Rocky thrilled something happy and patted the tub.
Both nodded towards Grace.
“I'm going to take pity on you both” he said, as he turned the laptop back towards them.
This time the screen showed two blonde boys, now older, dressed in elegant fancy clothes.
Simon scowled at their hair color, fully blonde again, no brown roots to differentiate Colt by. Both boys wore the same clothes, a black jacket over a white buttoned shirt and a crooked accessory on their neck resembling a weirdly shaped scarf.
Their clothes looked big on their bodies, like hand me downs back in Eden used to look like.
Unlike the past pictures, neither of them looked happy this time. The one on the left had a scowl on his face and the one on the right looked like he was totally dissociated.
“Rocky, listen” Simon was going to win this game. The eridian nodded with an assertive noise. “They look the same, but the left one’s face is mad and the other looks like his mind has vacated his body” There really was nothing else to distinguish them by.
“Grace the mad one” Rocky answered, completely convinced.
Simon trusted his answer, the eridian should know Grace's temperament better. He nodded towards Grace.
The scientist just smiled wider. Had they failed again? It couldn't be, Grace was the rowdy one as a kid, so it made sense.
“Correct again, you're on a winning spree, guys”
“Simon Rocky win! Fist me!”
“Ew, no” Simon slapped his tail against the water to splash Rocky in retaliation for the disgusting mental image. The thing didn’t even have holes. Did it? Add that to the tally of things he didn’t want to know.
“Rocky, you know that's not how you say it” Grace scolded his alien friend while he looked for another photograph, completely ignoring Simon’s little wet attack that had claimed a corner of the table as collateral damage.
The alien snickered in his language. Clearly rejoicing in Simon’s disgust and Grace's riled up demeanor.
“This picture was taken at our high-school graduation. Neither of us wanted to go, tho I don’t remember why.” He pouted at the reminder of his amnesia when he tried to contextualize the picture.
Simon knew what graduation meant. It was a term used for when you finished your formation period, usually in tasks where you were assigned to learn under a master.
Simon had graduated thrice from different tasks.
He didn’t know what high-school was and definitely had never celebrated none of his graduations.
It didn't matter tho, they had finally cracked the game's code.
“It only gets harder from here on” Grace took his glasses off, his right hand massaging the back of his ear while his left one chose a file.
And he was right, because the next photograph shown featured both boys, now even older, in a place full of people surrounded by a blue lighting. The boys, now young men, both had the beginnings of a beard showing. One was holding a can of something while he smiled in a playful way to the camera and the other had his arm around him. Their outfits, unlike the previous picture, couldn't be more different.
One was wearing what looked like a big leather jacket and a t-shirt with the neckline stretched out, and the other wasn't even wearing a shirt, but there was something colorful on his skin resembling paint.
None of them wore glasses, so Simon couldn't use that yet, he suspected Ryland was specifically choosing pictures of himself without the aids just to mislead them.
With the blue lightning of the picture he couldn't see the men's hair color, so he focused on their faces.
This time he only needed one look at Ryland over the laptop, finally catching a difference between the twins, now that they were most likely adults in the pictures.
The look in their eyes was different. And in this picture their bodies also looked slightly different, with the clashing outfits.
The shirtless one had to be Ryland. He probably showed the picture thinking Simon wouldn't assume him to be so showy.
But the way his eyes looked up at the photographer and his smile was identical at the way Ryland was looking at him right now. Only with a few more wrinkles and more beard, the unruly hair staying the same.
“Colt is the dressed one.” Grace raised one of his eyebrows and said nothing, giving Simon time to doubt himself. He wouldn't. He was sure this time. After a few seconds of silence, Grace finally relented.
“This usually works with students to make them doubt and rethink their answer, but I see you're convinced” he smiled again and nodded.
“Good, because you're correct. But I think this game is destroying my reputation.” The scientist bit his lip as he went back to search up the laptop, blatantly avoiding the staring.
It was. Simon had formed a lot of opinions about Ryland since he met him. None of them good at first, but after striking the deal and finally safe inside the Hail Mary, Simon’s opinion of him had changed from ‘dangerous soldier in psychosis’ to ‘just a bit of a freak or bad at human interaction’.
Now he learned it was a behavior developed later in life.
The Ryland shown in the pictures always had a boyish smile, seemed to be social and definitely wasn’t wary or scared of his surroundings. This Ryland he met wasn't really jumpy nor seemed scared, but there was a tightness to his shoulders in Simon’s presence. And he also noticed how Ryland was almost hesitant towards him sometimes, yet always covered it with extreme friendliness afterwards, as if afraid of offending Simon somehow. He probably didn't know it would take another Quiet Rapture to get Simon to let go of these new luxuries he was shown.
Did Ryland’s mission in space have something to do with his change in demeanor?
“How did you know this time?” His train of thought got interrupted suddenly after a few minutes in silence.
“You were making the same face as in the picture while you showed it” Simon tried to hold back a chuckle when Grace looked taken aback.
“Darn it” he cursed in his childish way, like a children’s play character. “This was at a college party. We used to go to a lot of those, both of us.” He hummed a bit as he searched eagerly for a new, possibly trickier picture.
“I’m embarrassed to admit I was pretty popular in the frat party scene”
Simon didn't know what half of those words meant. College and frat parties. He knew what a party was, just the frat word confused him. He wasn't going to ask anyways, he had learned by foul that the less information he knew, the better.
The next picture Ryland showed them featured one of the twins getting out of a body of water, surrounded by other people. Whichever one it was, he was reaching a hand towards the photographer with puppy eyes. He was fully clothed and drenched, yet still smiling softly. The wet hair was a distracting feature.
Simon focused on his eyes again. But without the other twin in the picture to compare, he found himself at a standstill. The pitiful yet happy look distracted him, the man pictured seemed soft and kind. He had a 50/50 chance.
“It's you?” he tried, this time completely unsure. He gave an apologetic look towards Rocky before Grace had even given his verdict.
The scientist just shook his head no. At least it was a sympathetic denial.
“Hadn't you cracked the code?”
Simon growled softly at him with no real anger in it, while Rocky visibly deflated. The game must have been getting boring for him, judging by his silence.
The next two pictures also featured the twins surrounded by people in flimsily lit places with colorful lighting. They had different outfits each time and sometimes they weren't even looking at the camera so Simon couldn't tell who it was at all, they had the same profile!
So far he had gathered that Colt had grown to be stockier than Grace, who in turn had grown to have a sleeper build, judging by the way the man had been able to carry Simon inside the Hail Mary.
Colt also had a darker beard and hair in some of the photographs.
Even knowing that, Simon proceeded to fail at guessing 3 more pictures.
“This is bullshit”
Simon slapped his caudal fin against the water in frustration, splashing quite a bit of water outside the tub. Ryland only laughed harder, just short of wheezing.
It was so difficult! How many phases did these twins have? How many more pictures did Ryland own? A camera was a privilege, but even for someone like him this was an insane amount of keepsakes.
He brushed his hair back, now determined to get at least one right.
“Next one, I will get it”
“Rocky believes in Simon” the eridian cheered with zero to none enthusiasm. He had gotten bored long ago and had began working on Simon's prosthetic arm while the humans played.
Enrichment time and such, he said.
Then it happened. When Grace spun the laptop around towards Simon for what should be the 20th time in the last 3 hours, Simon knew who he was seeing.
The man was half drapped over a table in what looked like a fancy library, bright lights and empty food packets around him. He was holding onto a tall white cup with a logo and leaning his head on his own arm, on top of the table careening towards the right. He looked like he was falling off of it. His eye bags were very notorious and his hair was blonde. Despite that, Simon knew that wasn't Ryland.
The look he was giving the camera was very Colt. Don't ask him how he knew, but it felt like something finally clicked into his brain subconsciously.
“That's Colt!” He exclaimed triumphantly in recognition.
“Show me two more!” The merman didn't even wait for Grace to confirm, he was already convinced he was right.
Grace laughed loudly at his enthusiasm, happy to see Simon get excited over something so small, specially after his depressing losing streak.
He had honestly thought about forcefully ending the game, that's how much Simon was getting affected by his own wrong answers.
Grace was familiar with students getting upset and dejected after they failed to understand something. It was proven that pushing them past that point had a negative impact, but Simon seemed to thrive under constant repetition and didn’t give up.
Rocky raised up his body curiously, despite his main focus still being on his work.
The next picture Grace showed, featured himself in a stranger's sofa, he didn't remember whose, after a party.
Someone took a picture because he had fallen asleep (or maybe unconscious, he didn't remember) and had consequently suffered the consequences. His face had been scribbled over and his clothes had been tampered with. He wore a too small shirt and had been caught blinking up at the photographer mid wake-fullness, with a tired face and an arm reaching towards the offender.
“That's you!” Simon said happily. Or, as happy as Grace had ever heard him, with a small splash of his tail and slightly raised fins.
He nodded. Was it egoistical that he felt proud, like when his students finally understood a concept they had been struggling with after a while? Even if the concept in question was pattern recognition based off of himself and his twin.
“It is me. Tho I would rather it wasn't” he mumbled with a grimace while he looked for another, more difficult picture.
This one had a blonde man in a filming set, holding a script and looking out of frame, his head was half turned hiding half his features.
“Colt” Simon said instantly, which surprised Grace.
Deciding to test him a bit more, Grace nodded as he pulled the following picture.
It was a mugshot. Court's mugshot. It stung a bit to see, but it was the last picture they had gotten of him before he died and he looked exactly like the twins did at the age he was arrested.
In his amnesia, he had remembered Colt sooner than he remembered Court, the older memories taking more time to come back.
It was a bittersweet thing, to show this to Simon. He wanted to mention Court as what he was, his older brother, not a secret. He wanted to show him off despite the bad feeling the memories (or lack of them) gave him.
Foolishly, he thought he would mimic a sense of closeness to Court if he treated him like he treated Colt.
Simon instantly locked onto the picture, his soft smile vanishing. Grace wondered if the mugshot background was the same for convicts in Simon’s home.
“This is neither of you” the merman said.
Grace was taken aback at first. Turns out Simon had started to differentiate them so well that he could recognize a dissonant face.
Grace nodded.
“That's our big brother. How did you know?” He avoided talking about the picture’s context, and he knew Simon never asked questions. Probably a survival tactic drilled onto him, taking into account the whole ‘COI soldier‘ accusations he had thrown Grace’s way.
“He doesn't have the same look in his eyes”
At that, Grace tilted his head to the side, confusion overtaking the sour mood.
“What look?” He asked, trying not to make assumptions too soon.
“The puppy eyed look”
“Huh” add embarrassed to Grace’s cocktail of emotions now.
“Yeah, he looks more self assured” Simon declared, completely sure of whatever he had perceived from the picture. If he had recognized the type of picture it was, he didn't say anything, not even a tick of the brow or a thinning of his lips in a scowl.
The man in the photograph looked like a mix of both Ryland and Colt, it made sense for him to be the oldest brother.
And Simon knew what the picture meant. All prisons looked the same across planets, it seems. A different colored background, different measurement systems for the convict's height, same way of numbering them, no name needed.
The picture cut just before the man’s name, probably Ryland did it so it couldn't be a giveaway.
Whatever his brother had done, he had made peace with his decision. Simon didn't look half as confident in his own picture, a frown on his face and dissociating eyes that hadn't followed the camera, still shellshocked from hearing Filament Station’s death toll.
It shed a different light onto Ryland’s life. So far, all pictures featuring the twins were metaphorical sunshine and rainbows, while their brother was in prison. Simon wondered what had he done and why Ryland hadn't mentioned him at all until now. The third brother wasn't even part of the game, until he was.
Grace smiled at the picture mournfully, a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
“To be fair, the post-comma amnesia took away most of my memories of him” the scientist shrugged his shoulders and turned the laptop back around, giving away his eagerness to move on with the game.
As if it made any sense now that Simon had found the tactic to win.
Rocky let out a few soft notes, long and deep that sounded barely sad. Simon had almost forgotten about his presence there, the alien was so silent while he worked.
“You had amnesia from a coma?”
Grace looked back at him and straightened his back while his smile changed to something a bit happier, clearly seeing Simon’s offer of an out and taking it with a greed familiar to someone who has attachment fears.
It was easy to recognize when Simon himself had issues with trusting too much. Ryland seemed to be the contrary, always acting friendly but keeping himself at an arm’s length. The scientist had offered Simon plenty of comforts and smiles, yet he could notice the drawn in shoulders and furtive looks.
“Yeah, they used to call me Imperator Comatose after being the only coma survivor. I was clearly Earth’s best at sleeping AND waking up after. Which is the important part, you know.” he then makes the gesture of dusting off imaginary dust from his shoulders and kept on clicking something.
“Grace better at trauma jokes now, can joke without leaking” Rocky lightly kicked the table’s leg while still working on his… whatever he was doing. It looked like sewing but with a harder, sturdier material. Simon tried to get a look but the alien just hid it from him quite rudely.
“Yeah buddy, it’s called character development” Grace kicked the table’s leg back while doing one finger gun at the small alien. He then looked back towards Simon and tilted his head slightly. An opening for questioning. Suspicious.
“Why were you in a coma?” He bit the bait.
“Needed it to survive the space travel” It’s the only answer he was given. So Ryland clearly was not comfortable enough to dive into the ‘being good at waking up’ statement, a worrying one at best.
Comas were common for long trips in space, Simon knew that by ear, as he also knew ships didn't usually feature a crew of one and a half (despite how useful Rocky seemed to be). Something may have happened with the ship while he was in a coma, either waking him up too soon or not waking him up at all, leaving Ryland to wake up by himself.
It made no sense to dwell on it, as it looked like the scientist’s sharing spree had ended as soon as it had begun.
“Okay, last picture and I will give you the win if you guess this one right” Grace turned the laptop around and pushed it close to Simon so he didn't have to raise his torso over the side of the tub.
“I should get the win anyways, I won more than I lost”
The scientist moved his falling glasses back into his nose as he leaned on one of his arms, hand lightly squashing his cheek while his other hand pointed to the laptop.
“Technically you failed more than you guessed right, BUT-” he slightly raised his voice when he saw Simon’s face scrunching up, his mouth open about to protest. He had won this fair and square.
“You got all of the last ones correct, so I will act as if they count more than the 12 or so you failed before” Ryland sold it as a favor and Simon wasn't taking it.
“No. The last ones were more difficult so they have to be worth more points” Simon fought back, clicking one of his claws against the table’s surface.
“But you had time to get familiar with the differences before reaching the difficult ones, so it doesn't count, you learned and adapted”
“Learning and adapting was the point of the game”
“The point was breaking the ice and you getting to know me in a non invasive way” he had this scientific tone to him, as if everything was an irrefutable fact that slightly irritated Simon. They were getting along just fine until they began this stupid debate that none of them were willing to lose.
Ryland seemed to have an ego and either his teacher or scientist side needed to be always right. Shame on him, Simon was used to dealing with people that thought they had the whole bigger picture figured it out.
“I will get this picture right, and I will win this game and you will admit that your scoring is bullshit” He snarled at Grace, making the man flinch back a bit, not actually scared, only taken aback at the rudeness. Rocky made a background noise that translated to something like “humans need to relax”.
“I just explained the scoring” Grace straightened his posture and crossed his hands on top of the table defending himself.
“And it’s bullshit.” Simon said resolutely as he finally looked at the picture on screen.
It featured both twins again, this time at a table full of food. They were looking at the camera as if they had been caught doing something they shouldn’t. The twin on the left, which he knew was Ryland despite not wearing glasses, was grabbing onto Colt’s arm, while his twin held a fork pointed to a plate that wasn't his. Colt’s other hand was raised up as in surrender while Ryland’s right hand was pointing his own fork at his brother’s head as if it were a weapon. It was a scene of two grown ass men caught mid petty fighting. Whoever was behind the camera must have been someone they trusted because neither of them looked guilty, only embarrassed to have been caught.
“What was Colt trying to steal from you?” He asked, giving away his answer at the same time.
“My freaking bacon!” Grace slapped the table with one hand and pointed at the laptop’s back. Rocky laughed at the indignant words that came with a squawk. It clearly was a big deal to Ryland, maybe he hadn’t grown out of that pendant not to share, despite his own past words.
“I don’t know what that is, but it looks like food, so why couldn’t you share?” Simon tried to zoom in on the picture by pinching his fingers like he used to do back in Eden, but the laptop’s track pad wasn’t very claw friendly. Grace discreetly pushed an ancient looking mouse towards him.
“Because that troglodyte I have for a brother eats like a famished dog that’s never seen a piece of meat before in his life” Grace threw his hands up in frustration as if the event had happened two minutes ago and not possibly years ago.
The so-called bacon didn’t look that appetizing to Simon, to be honest. The sides were charred and it looked like a bit of wet and scrunched up slice of meat. Nothing worth fighting for, if you asked him, taking into account the array of other more appealing looking foods around the table.
“You had a table full of better looking food”
“Yeah!” Grace hits the table with his palm, making Simon jump in place and accidentally close the picture tab on reflex. “That’s what I said!” He exclaims overworked.
“Food sensitive topic for Grace” Rocky’s robotic voice manages to sound amused, noticing both human’s elevated heartbeat.
“Even Jody was on my side, but Colt kept saying that since we shared placentas we should also share food.” He gestured with his hands as his glasses slowly slipped off his face. He didn't seem to notice as he went on. “Which is bull crap since he has been stealing off my plate for decades”
“Okay. Couldn't you just tell him no?”
Suddenly Grace’s face turns serious and he looks at Simon with an icy stare.
“Telling him was not enough, I would need to cut off his hand to stop him” A dramatic pause “Also he’s stronger than me, so I never won any wrestling matches unless Jody told him to leave me alone” the scientist picks up his glasses again and leaves them on the table with little care and a pout.
Simon is close enough that Grace can still distinguish his features without them. He knows Simon wants to ask who Jody is, just like he knows he won’t ask because Simon never asks for what he thinks is intel. So he gives it to him for free, no deals and no favors.
“Jody was Colt’s girlfriend. Could have been more if he hadn’t decided to drop off the face of the Earth once he broke his back” Another shrug of the shoulders while he checks for Simon’s reaction.
The merman seems to be analyzing the new information, understanding that just like with Court, Ryland won’t elaborate more today. It felt like a closed door with no lock; you are free to try and look inside, but since someone closed it, it’s basic respect not to go in without permission.
Simon nodded, finally understanding Ryland’s ways a little more. The scientist was willing to give information and resources for free, so far as he didn’t feel cornered or too emotionally involved. He didn't know if the issue was Simon himself, or if Ryland was just like this in regards to any human.
“Colt get and lose mate before Ryland despite same age and face. Embarrassing. Grace lock in” Rocky taunted Grace playfully, his words hinting at an inside joke Simon was not privy to.
“Okay Rocky, that was low in front of new people” Grace tried to hit Rocky with his foot, almost falling off the stool when the alien moved an inch away from his attack with happy chirps.
“Anyways” The blonde straightened back up and picked his glasses again, this time speaking directly to Simon.
“How did you distinguish us this time?” He asked eagerly curious “I wasn’t wearing my glasses and our hair color was almost the same this time” Tapping his finger to his lips in thought as he awaited fro Simon’s answer.
“One has more of a puppy look than the other” The merman refuses to clarify which twin he’s referring to.
“Huh?”
Grace looks surprised by the admission, his eyes wide open making the blue a nice contrast against his slowly reddening face. Whatever answer he had been imagining from Simon, it wasn’t even close to the real one.
Jody did mention once or twice that Colt sometimes reminded her of a cute dog, but Grace himself had never gotten a similar comment directed at him before.
Even less so considering such observation came from a guy he barely just met and had spent the best part of an evening looking at pictures of Grace through all the stages of his life. If he thought too hard about it he might combust in flames.
But he needed to know. Simon’s correct answer spree had been proof enough that his method (even if it was classifying which twin looked more stray-dog-kind-of-pathetic) clearly worked.
Something inside him, probably a natural instinctual sibling thing, needed to make sure that he wasn't the lamest twin.
“C’mon, which one of us are you talking about? The one with more of a dog face?”
Simon just waited in silence with a small smile, rejoicing in Grace’s spiraling tendencies. It was fun to see him trip over himself for an answer.
“Wait, Simon I need to know” Grace was close to begging now. He needed to be the less pathetic twin or he would never live it up. He’s only lucky Colt is not here to laugh at him.
“Scientists die when they don’t know!” He tried to dramatically appeal to Simon’s humor.
“That must be why my home doesn’t have many of those left, then.” Simon shrugged his shoulders as he leaned back into the tub while Grace groaned loudly.
“Simon…” He said with a pout.
“You’re looking at me like that and still asking who has the worst puppy dog eyes?” Simon huffed from his position, halfheartedly pointing up and down Grace’s whole self.
“OH” Grace exclaimed. “So it’s me, I’m the most pathetic twin” He deflated on the table dramatically enough to jostle it, drawing little circles on it’s surface with his finger as he sulked.
“Cheer up, man, I didn’t call you pathetic. Technically” Simon tries to console him.
“Technically” Grace repeats as he hides his face on his arms. Rocky comes around to pat him in the thigh emphatically, this time with no teasing words.
Simon stays silent for a bit, analyzing the situation. At first, by Ryland’s movements, he was sure the man was being dramatic for the fun of the theatrics, but now, after the act has dragged on for a few minutes, he wasn't so sure anymore. Had he managed to actually upset Ryland? He really didn’t call him pathetic, the blond had soft pleading eyes in the pictures, that looked like those puppy eyes someone makes at you when they want something.
“Are you actually upset?” Asked the merman. He wouldn't stand for misunderstandings, not when he still wasn't totally safe. “I didn't think you look pathetic, in fact, it’s kind of cute, the look, that is.” He tried to sound casual and not worried, yet his words came out wrong and easy to misinterpret. He only wished Ryland would use his scientist brain to understand him.
The blonde raised his head instantly, glasses almost falling off his beet red face with the movement and looking more stricken than before.
“Oh no, I’m not actually upset” He said in a fast slurred speech making a cross with both his arms as he nodded his head no, all at the same time. “I was being dramatic, y’know… Rocky and I love the dramatics, I didn't think how it would look to you, my bad…” he scratched the back of his head, the red of his cheeks still unreceeding.
Simon nodded, glad to have avoided a misunderstanding. He was in the safe for now.
“I don’t mind… what you said… I’m okay with it, since I know you mean well” Grace took a deep breath “It’s just a bit embarrassing, you know? Since all I’ve done today is basically tell you about my stupid moments while I made you play spot the differences…” he was throwing furtive glances at Simon, not really meeting his eye.
“You didn’t make me do shit, I agreed to play. And I won, by the way” Simon smiled showing fangs, finally the frustration he felt at the beginning of the game completely forgotten and replaced by satisfaction on a job well done. Even if the job was ridiculous. He liked winning, whatever it was.
Grace only sighed, the blush finally slowly leaving and freeing him from the awkwardness he was feeling at Simon’s words and overall attitude. He didn't know how to deal with him.
“Yeah, you won” he agrees with a smile.
Rocky comes around and extends one of his limbs towards Simon in that fist bump gesture from before. This time, the alien doesn't say the horrible sentence and Simon feels nice enough to reward him for it by lightly pushing his hand up in a fist against the ball.
A trip to a new planet in a new universe doesn't sound that daunting to Simon right now, in the lab playing stupid games with no repercussions.