After Grace dies, Rocky recieves a small, preserved bone from his body, as per his will. Rocky is confused, but the note he is given explains that this is the hyoid bone, the only "floating" bone in the body due to it not being attached to any others + its main purpose being protecting the throat. Protecting the voice box. Thank you for helping me find my voice, the note ends with. The idea of a man who was chosen to go on a suicide mission because he "didn't have any connections" giving his best friend a symbol of both their connection and a way to say I'm still here, still singing, in my own, strange, human way.

Rocky is prevented from going to the biodome to see Grace and is given more time with Adrian ( which they think is wonderful! they love their mate and have truely needed to go see their old friends more!) but slowly devolves back to their time on the ship: thinking about their shipmates who died because Rocky couldn’t do anything; thinking about Grace who’s alone now, without them, no one to what him sleep or who walks on the beach, who Rocky depends on as the only other person who really understands what Rocky went through in those 40 years…

Grace is left in his biodome and told that he can’t see Rocky anymore because it’s for the best but Grace doesn’t see anyone outside of Rocky and Adrian, and Adrian’s time is being spent with Rocky now. The only eridians who come to see Grace are the scientists or biodome experts, and they talk to Grace but they don’t stay with him! They don’t watch movies with him, nor go for walks on the beach, nor sit and lay together despite the hard layer of xenonite keeping them apart, because they need to ensure each other is still alive because their the only ones each other have on the space ship. Grace is back on the ship alone with no one but two bodies of people he doesn’t even remember; only he does now and it doesn’t matter because their dead and Rocky is Gone. Grace deteriorates quickly: not leaving the house, watching movies, not eating, can’t sleep, getting irritatable and hostile; walking out to the beach and screaming at the biodome door that the eridians use: screaming how he’s sane, he’s fine, this isn’t fair, they can’t DO this to him again, he can’t do it again he can’t he can’t HE CANT

Grace cries and screams at the door till his voice is hoarse and he has to drag himself back to his house so he can curl up Alone and cry over the lose of another friend.

Grace wonders if Rocky wanted this. If maybe Grace was too much and now Rocky needed a break from him. He’s too important for earth and he’s not important enough for Erid. What a sad pathetic existence!

The scientists eventually see that both saviors might genuinely kill themselves if they are separated any longer and allow them to reunite! Rocky and Grace spending the next 24 hours physically attached because they need to make sure the other is alive/still cares about them and wants them around.

The eridians finally noticing that they need to see each other again before they both go crazy from separation

Eventually…

Laminated paper: WUBWUBWUBWUB

But it's always Grace having an established habitat (Hail Mary/Biodome) and Simon being added.

So what if the eridians find Simon BEFORE Grace and Rocky arrive at Erid?

Rocky finally comes home after half a century, anxious that Grace might die because he is deficient in ALL the nutrients or that the eridians might not like Grace or that Grace gets even more sick because Rocky isn't human and what if Grace needs other humans to survive, and, and, and...

Rocky, shaking like a leaf: Hello, this is alien Grace. He fixed the stars. Now we fix Grace. You help, question?

Adrian: Oh yeah, we have one of those.

Rocky: ???

Adrian: we found him in a leaky tin can. He is still very leaky but we decided to keep him anyway

Rocky: ?!?!????!!

hail mary, full of grace

Happy pride btw

Part 0 - Next

Names...

It's funny how some names survive when others don't.