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Grace dies surrounded by loved ones. His life was protected and prolonged an impressive amount for all he went through and all he'd lost, but he still leaves behind a grieving Rocky and Adrian. All of Erid mourns alongside them.
His spirit, radiant with all he gave up, all he loved, all he learned, is welcomed and cheered by the souls of humans and Eridians alike. The realms of the afterlife all grant him safe passage to wherever he wants to go. He just meanders.
It's not uncommon for souls to wander the realms, often quiet or idly humming. One may liken it to dementia, but it's not nearly as fretful. Heaven would not allow it if anything did threaten to disturb Grace, nor would the Choir. All these souls need is their tether.
Weightless steps dance across the estuary, pausing as they touch brackish water: a typical behavior of Grace by this point. It's been a while, and still no tether. Usually, going this long without a tether happens to the longer-lived (and hence typically more patient) species. He's been lingering on things that remind him of home.
Rocky is next to follow. Despite time dilation meaning Adrian aged faster than Rocky while he traveled at near-light speed, the mission itself, his isolation, and radiation exposure more than made up for it. Rocky did not meander, however. Rocky searched.
His soul seems to remain a bit more lucid purely out of determination. Where Grace smiles at being addressed and returns to his wandering, Rocky asks about Grace, and takes in the information easily granted. Where Grace goes, Rocky follows.
A pleasant human shaped entity points to an estuary. There is no concern of atmosphere. Endless landscapes resembling Earth, Erid, and things neither world knows, free to traverse to Grace and Rocky alike. There is no threat Rocky brings to the Earthlike flora from his weight. He runs.
A figure stands in the flow of water, crouching down and absently running their fingers through the water. A mix of love, loss, learning, and a yearning emanates from them. It's all achingly familiar. Rocky doesn't need to listen any harder to know who it is. His own spirit seems to burst with joy, and he breaks for it.
"Grace!"
Wide eyes turn to look upon him with the unburdened lack of tension of someone with no enemies. They lock onto him, and the rest of him turns to face Rocky as well. That's someone he knows. He seems to burn with fervor, a zeal, a weeping gratitude, and a yearning Grace has felt digging into his chest before. He drops to his knees.
"Grace! Grace! My Grace!" Rocky cries. Many have said, called, sang, and cried his name, but this is different. This is someone Grace knows. This is someone. He reaches out his hands.
Rocky practically dives into Grace's arms, and weeps. Not with human tears. Grace is only used to his own tears. My love, Grace thinks. My life, he thinks.
"Missed you, missed you, missed you!" Rocky sings. His arms- his rough little arms! Wrapping around Grace. He embraces him in return, his tears dripping onto his stony carapace. When had he started crying?
"Missed you, missed you, missed you." The words seem to enter and flow through him and back out, repeating them as if he were made for it. He's done this a million times before. My everything.
"My Rocky."
There the waterworks really begin. It puts the river to shame, really.
"Oh, Rocky," Grace sobs, grasping at Rocky like his life depended on it. "My Rocky."
"My Grace," Rocky warbles in turn, holding his strange, horrifying, wonderful soft skin in his claws. It doesn't hurt. Nothing hurts, and nothing ever will hurt. It's about time, Rocky thinks, that Grace is free from pain, completely safe, in Rocky's arms.
"Together forever," Rocky sings, "And no hurt."
Grace chuckles wetly. "Yeah, Rock." He presses his forehead against Rocky's carapace. "I feel great, now that you're here."
The time passes by easier in some ways. They have each other, and they are lucid enough to enjoy their time together in many ways. Grace shows Rocky the Earthlike landscapes he enjoys. Trees are a little scary but also very cool. Rocky gets to walk with Grace through caves and around all sorts of places Grace's need for a frigid oxygen atmosphere and light prevented him from enjoying. Not needing to carry around a light source is also immensely convenient. Some parts of the realms even resemble the types of settlements their inhabitants enjoyed in life, and Grace and Rocky can visit them all.
The time passes by slower in other ways. Being lucid also means they're aware of every second that passes without Adrian. They'll be here soon, they remind each other an average of every 4 Eridian days. We'll show them our favorite places. We'll curl up in their arms together. They'll be so happy about not needing xenonite barriers to interact with Grace, and other humans! They'll love to meet other humans too!
Adrian's arrival is comparatively very peaceful.
Not every soul needs to find their tether. It's a wide variety of factors which contribute to the state a soul is in when they first reach the afterlife. For how well Adrian seems to understand so soon after arrival, one may be tempted to think they weren't as deeply bonded to, or devoted to, or intertwined with Rocky and Grace. In reality, their sense of self was just a bit better established, and it was a very stubborn trait in that it refused to be dislodged in death.
"And where are my dear Rocky and Grace?" The impatient pace of their question-marking taps betray their disquietude. Not that the guardians exactly need to observe mannerisms to observe emotions. It points them in the right direction.
Marveling at the structures which are inspired by the Earth city Istanbul, if the signage is any indication, Adrian approaches. Seemingly infinite souls (mostly) of human shape amble throughout it. They'll have to ask for further directions, they suppose.
"Uhm, excuse me." Adrian gets the attention of the nearest person, hoping not to startle them. "Could you tell me where Grace and Rocky are...?" The second-nearest human's eyes go wide.
"Oh! Are you Adrian perhaps?" They ask, grinning.
Soon, the humans all start catching on, giddily moving like each were water particles flowing around Adrian, but if the water were gently pushing them in the right way instead of being pushed out of the way. It seems the locals know a decent amount about the three of them.
At a fountain Grace particularly likes, he and Rocky are chatting with a longtime resident about an old board game neither of them quite get when rocky suddenly stands high on his seat, and starts vigorously clicking and tapping.
"What is it, Roc-"
"Adrian is here," Rocky answers in short, clipped notes.
"Oh, wait really?" Grace can barely register what he's hearing before Rocky hops down. Grace turns to apologize or say a proper goodbye but the woman just smiles. "Go meet them, you two."
And with that, Rocky cuts through the crowd with Grace trailing closely behind. They're going to see Adrian again! Like right now! The people make way for them easily, seeing the joy emanating from them. As it often does when particularly joyful spirits frolic and dance, joy resonates through the ground with every step.
Soon, Grace can sense a ringing sort of energy. A heavy third part to their harmony that soothes the nerves. Then the parting of the crowd stops just revealing more people, and Grace can finally spot Adrian. Standing as tall as ever, Grace finds, they cannot contain their excitement.
"Beloved partners!" Adrian sings, "My Rocky, my Grace!"
Rocky squeals as he nearly tackles Adrian and Grace gives up on "nearly" and wraps his arms around them as if there weren't a crowd of people. It doesn't really matter who sees them. Adrian doesn't seem to mind his tears getting on them without a xenonite barrier between them. They're finally together again.
Adrian hums a short, gentle tune, and Rocky and Grace join in. A little song made of the three of them, one only slightly more intimate than is generally considered acceptable to do in public on Erid.
"Not that this place isn't nice, but," Adrian starts, a claw patting Grace's head, "But it is a bit crowded..." To this Rocky chirps in firm agreement.
"Of course!" Rocky gently nudges them, very unlike your typical Eridian. It's a good thing none of them are typical. "Let's take you home, love," He coos softly and Grace's lips turn up into a lopsided smile. Adrian chitters.
What charming utter doofuses, Adrian muses. My doofuses.
Without the need to house nearly all the enrichment Grace would need in one sealed dome, Grace insisted he didn't need a whole biodome-sized private dwelling. He wanted to feel more connected and integrated. Hence, the home he and Rocky bring Adrian to turns out to be a house just large enough for the three of them to hole up in and engage in their hobbies when they don't feel like going outside. The neighborhood is made up of people from all sorts of worlds and realms looking for the more diverse spaces.
They enter in the door and the sound dampening walls, which are definitely way better than humans would normally need, shut the world out just enough.
"Our house!" Rocky chirps, wiggling contentedly.
"So," Grace chuckles, "You like it? We can always change something if-"
"It's wonderful, Grace," Adrian coos, tilting their carapace. The silly human will probably worry himself to a second death if they let him, they figure. They reach a claw up to Grace's hair, gently running through it, feeling all the little fibers. It really is quite soft.
"Oooh," Rocky whistles, "Barrierless cuddle session?"
Adrian can hear it very clearly now, the blushing Grace does so often.
"Sure, yeah," He quavers, his voice rough as it often is when gets a little flustered. Adrian hums contentedly and the three of them clamber into the conveniently proportioned conversation pit.
For the first time in far too long, Grace, Rocky, and Adrian sat together, holding each other in their arms. For the first time ever, there was no separation between them at all. And for the rest of all time, there was no concern for how much time was left. Maybe this time it might be enough. No guarantees, though.