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This is nice, I thought to myself, sitting on the artificial beach under artificial sunlight.
I now knew why my lizard was so happy when I was kid - free food, warmth, a relaxing life. I was a glorified house pet at best and I was finding that I didn't mind that one bit.
I got to teach my classes, doing what I loved, and got to hang out with my best friends, Rocky and Adrian, every single day. Sure, I wasn't on Earth anymore, but I more than enjoyed this life and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It was my own little slice of paradise to me. It was home.
Today was a relaxing day for me, no classes and Rocky and Adrian both had to work, meaning that I wouldn't see them until after, which was fine. I warmed up my dome and threw on a pair of boxers, calling it close enough to swim trunks, and went down to the beach - a day of relaxing on the sand and swimming in the water was something I had been craving for a bit now.
Laying back, I shut my eyes, letting the feeling of the coarse sand dig into my skin overtake me as it clung to the sticky sunblock Rocky had made me after hearing that humans were particularity sensitive to ultraviolet rays despite needing them to make vitamin D. He'd just grumbled and called it poor design while planning how to make it safe for me.
I breathed in deeply, the salt from the fan-made breeze blowing onto me and helping to keep me cool in the warmth of the dome. I usually kept it on the cooler side with fog and minimal light, but sunny, warm weather just felt right for a beach day.
I didn't know how long I sat there on the beach for, just soaking in the Eridian-made rays of light, enjoying the life I'd been given here. It was more than I could have ever asked for, so I'd enjoy every moment of it.
"Brrr," I shivered lightly, the water rushing up a little further than expected as it hit my legs, a stark contrast to the warmth from the sun, but it give me a good idea as well.
I could go swimming. I could enjoy being in the water again. That idea was more than enough motivation to no longer just lay in the sand.
Ensuring that I had a towel with me - I didn't want to track water into my house - I made my way into the water, testing it as I slowly meandered deeper and deeper into it, further and further from the shore.
First my feet, then my ankles, then my knees, until I was up to my waist in chill water.
Rocky never liked me going deeper than that, even when he was with me. He always worried about me getting stuck in the water and something happening because he and Adrian couldn't come out to save me. Eridians were too dense for water, sinking immediately and drowning if they weren't careful.
His worries stuck in the back of my mind as I continued to push myself out deeper, bound and determined to actually go swimming and not just wade in the water. It had been years since I'd swam out far and today felt like a good day for it.
I was in an Eridian made dome, so as long as I didn't push myself out too far before I got tired, I'd be fine. It's not like I had to worry about any natural changes, like stronger waves than I was used to. It was always the same waves over and over, nothing ever changing. It was perfectly safe to swim in.
I was up to my neck by the time that I noticed something was wrong. The waves were getting stronger than usual, pulling me back into the depths as they moved and I couldn't fight it.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit, I rambled to myself, beginning to worry as the shore kept moving further and further away, my legs no longer able to touch the bottom of the ocean as the kicked uselessly in the water under me.
I was well and truly stuck treading water and I didn't know how long I could last.
"It's fine, Ry," I muttered to myself, spitting up water as I continued to get pulled further out, now 70 meters from the shore easily. "Just start swimming back to shore."
I fought against the waves with every bit of strength I had. I'd never been this far out in the water, even back on Earth, before - I didn't know what to do, but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to try my hardest.
I paddled roughly, spitting up water as I swam, the tides trying to tug me further out as I fought against them.
I was beginning to get tired, huffing as I tried my best to get my footing back. I could finally touch the bottom again, but the tide was too strong for me to walk up to the shore yet. I needed to be at least another 20 meters closer to the shore before I could stop, but I didn't know how much more I had in me.
"Grace!"
"Rock-" I tried to yell, but water filled my mouth too quickly, pushing me back into the depths as my head bobbed under the surface, my lungs crying out for air as my muscles prepared to go on strike, too tired to continue and ready to wave their white flag.
I didn't have much left in me.
"Grace! Hang on!" He screamed, stepping into the water without hesitation as I surfaced again.
"No! Don't!"
God, he was going to try and come to me. He couldn't swim. Eridians were too heavy for it, sinking immediately. He'd kill himself in the process if he tried to come out to me.
I couldn't let him do that. I wouldn't make him put himself on the line for me again.
Come on, stupid body, I begged, water surrounding me as was I pushed even further back. Just let me get up to the shore.
I don't know where that strength came from, but something in me snapped, excess energy flooding me as I managed to gain some ground on the tides, pushing myself up to the shore, finally able to stand without getting pushed back into the water.
I had made it. I had made it.
"Grace," Rocky chirped worriedly, coming as far into the water as he could, nearly submerging himself to meet me and tug my weak and tired body to the shore, dragging me as far from the water as he could. "Oh Grace," he continued, pulling me in close to him, warming me with his atmosphere as I shook and coughed, spitting up water with each forceful breath as I gasped for air I so desperately needed.
We sat like that for a while, him holding me close, wrapping my towel around me as I shivered and spit up water I'd swallowed. I didn't even know how I was still alive right now.
"What happened?" He asked, running a claw though my hair as I leaned on him, eyes shut as I willed back my tears.
"I… I…"
I couldn't even speak. Too tired and too weak and too scared still to respond properly.
"Take your time," he soothed. "It's okay. Rocky has you. Grace safe. Grace safe, promise."
"I went out a bit too far," I explained, my voice raspy and shaky, sore from the water I'd breathed in. "Then the tides grabbed me. I-I couldn't- I couldn't-"
"It's okay," he repeated, practically picking me up in a bridal hold as he began to trek back to my house, wrapping the towel tight around me like a blanket. I was too weak and shaky to walk and we both knew it. "You're okay, Grace. It's over. I'll take a look at what happened. I won't let it happen again."
"I'm sorry," I sobbed, tucking into his carapace as he walked gently, ensuring not to jostle me. "I'm so sorry, Rocky. I shouldn't have gone out that far, it's my fault. It's all my fault. I nearly got you hurt again. I nearly killed you again."
The guilt was dragging me down further than the tides had. How could I have done that to him? How could I have put him at risk again?
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Rocky murmured, nudging open the door to my house as Armando pulled it shut. "Accidents happen and we're both still here. I would have gone to help you regardless, Grace. You're too important for me not to."
"But-"
"No," he cut me off. "We're both okay, so you have nothing to apologize for. We just need to be safer in the future."
"I will," I promised him as he helped me get onto the medical table, my body still quivering like a leaf in the breeze.
"Let Armando check you over," he commanded, shaking off the water on his suit like a dog. "I will grab you dry clothes and blanket. We can just sit and relax. Adrian will be over later."
That struck me as odd, even with how out of it I was as Armando scanned me and moved me around. Adrian and Rocky always came together if they were both coming to visit.
"Why are you even here?" I found myself asking. "You weren't supposed to come over until later, right?"
"I got off of work early," Rocky hummed, passing me the dry clothes, my hands shaking from the cold now and not adrenaline. "So I came over to visit. I'm lucky I did."
"No kidding," I chuckled out lightly as I pulled my wet boxers off, pulling on the dry clothes as the full weight of the situation hit me.
I had nearly drowned. I probably wouldn't have made it to the shore without Rocky. Rocky wasn't supposed to be there. I could have died and nobody would have known for hours after the fact.
I was alive simply because Rocky had been efficient at work today and decided to come over and visit earlier than planned.
"Come," Rocky said gently, grabbing my hand as I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders, hoping to warm up. "We'll just sit and watch a movie. You can get some rest if you'd like too."
I nodded mutely, exhaustion hitting me like a freight train now that I was warming up and I was with Rocky, I was safe.
I let him pull me on to the couch, wrapping the blanket around both of us as I pressed myself into his side, drawing heat from his atmosphere as my shivering slowed and my eyes fluttered, fighting off sleep.
"Get some rest, Grace," Rocky purred, letting a hand come up to run through my hair as another wrapped around my back, pulling me close. "I'll watch."
"I'm sorry," I slurred out again, resting my head on the top of his carapace. "I love you, Rock."
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Rocky said, nuzzling against my body. "I love you too, Grace."