🥮 anon here— I’m back with part 2 of Grace’s less-than-ideal trip down to Erid in the space elevator! 🤭😉
…
Rocky makes a noise that the computer doesn’t translate, but that Grace knows to be one of dismay. “Grace can’t wait, question?” Rocky asks, trying to clarify.
Grace’s embarrassment ignites into anger for a half-second at being asked to repeat himself—as if the admission hadn’t been humiliating enough the first time— but the spark fizzles immediately. Rocky isn’t trying to make this worse for him. He’s trying to understand, trying to help, just like he always does whenever Grace needs anything. Except Grace doesn’t think there’s much that Rocky can do right now to help him out of this stupid, absolutely-avoidable, self-imposed nightmare of a situation.
Swallowing back another sob, Grace turns to Rocky. “I… I can’t wait that long,” Grace confirms, and the way his voice trembles just adds insult to injury. “I really, really have to pee.”
As if to drive the point home, an overwhelming wave of desperation rushes through him just then, and Grace can’t help the strained whimper that makes its way out from between his clenched teeth. He tightens every muscle in his body, desperate to stop the inevitable, but it isn’t enough. A few dribbles escape, and the warmth feels absolutely searing on Grace’s skin as it soaks into the fabric of his underwear. Humiliated tears burn in his eyes.
“I don’t— I don’t know what to do, Rocky,” he says, halfway to a sob. “I really can’t wait.”
Rocky makes another noise of concern, pressing close to the xenonite between them. “Grace in pain, question?” he asks, worry audible in the notes that underlie the robotic translation of his words.
“K-kind of, yeah,” Grace admits, not wanting to flat-out lie to Rocky. He rocks back and forth in place a little, trying to soothe the burning pressure within him. It doesn’t really help, but the movement is kind of comforting, so Grace keeps doing it.
“Why Grace not tell Rocky until now, question?” Rocky demands, the notes of his voice changing pitch in a way Grace knows indicates frustration.
The change in tone makes Grace flinch, and the flinch makes him leak. A quick spurt of warmth soaks into his underwear. Without thinking, Grace shoves a hand between his legs and grips himself hard. The feeling of the warm, wet fabric against his skin makes his need to go ten times worse. A few more dribbles leak out, even with the added pressure of his hand. Oh gosh. Oh gosh. He’s actually going to piss himself. He can’t hold it.
“Grace? Grace?” Rocky has been trying to get his attention. He’s tapping on the side of the ball, concern clear in his tone and his posture. Grace can hardly focus on him with the way his heart’s pounding and the blood’s rushing in his ears.
The urgency is blinding. No amount of external pressure is enough. Grace is holding himself with both hands now, but he can’t feel his muscles threatening to give out. Another spurt escapes. This time, it’s enough to leave a visible wet spot on the fabric of Grace’s flight suit. He’s wearing the mustard-colored one.
Fudge. Why did he have to choose to wear something light-colored today? He’d wanted to look nice, to make a good first impression. He figures he’s well and truly screwed that up at this point.
Another leak comes close on the heels of the previous one. It takes Grace several seconds to get this one to stop, and by the time he does, his whole inner thigh is soaked. Grace sobs, then forces himself to look over to where Rocky is still trying to get his attention.
“Rock,” he hiccups, tears dripping down his reddened face. “I— I can’t. ‘M gonna wet myself.”
The humiliation of admitting it is absolutely scalding. Grace spends a few seconds wondering if anyone has ever actually died from sheer embarrassment or if he’ll be the first, before he’s distracted by the calm trilling of Rocky’s voice.
“Is okay,” Rocky assures him, leaning right up against the xenonite, like he wants to be as close to him as possible, and Grace doesn’t understand, because Rocky should be grossed out by him— should be disgusted by this, but instead, Rocky is comforting him, and letting out soothing trills in that specific register that he knows calms Grace, and Grace doesn’t know what he ever did to deserve a friend that loves him this much despite his infinite flaws.
“No, i-its not, it’s—,” Grace starts, but cuts himself off with a sob, shivering now as a steady dribble that he’s powerless to stop begins to soak into his flight suit.
“Is okay,” Rocky assures. “Grace is okay. Can clean later. Rocky not want Grace to be hurting. Wet is better than hurting, statement.”
Whether it’s a direct result of Rocky’s words or simply that a physical breaking point has been reached, Grace’s body chooses that exact moment to let go.
Heat rushes out of him, flooding his underwear and soaking the trousers of his flight suit within seconds. A puddle quickly begins to spread out around him on the xenonite floor. The relief is so intense that Grace feels dizzy. The feeling is so overwhelming it actually blots out the burning embarrassment for a few miraculous moments, and Grace tips his head back against the wall and closes his eyes, reveling in the feeling of that awful pressure and pain finally, finally seeping out of his body. He’s shaking with relief as the ache finally dissipates, leaving his body so much lighter that for a few seconds he doesn’t even care about the fact that he’s soaked, or the fact that he just wet himself in front of his best friend and two other Eridians he just met. It’s only when he’s finally, blissfully empty that he blinks back into reality and looks down at himself to see his soaked clothing and the large puddle that has spread to cover most of the floor of the mini-environment.
No wonder I couldn’t hold it, he thinks somewhat deliriously. Probably should’ve been a little less hydrated for this trip. Or just remembered to use the bathroom before leaving. That would’ve worked. Well, you know what they say about hindsight.
Then the relief starts to fade slightly and the humiliation worms its way back in, slowly but surely. Grace shifts, cringing at the way his wet clothes cling to his skin. God. He’d fudged this up so badly. This is the worst possible first impression anyone has ever made in the history of all first impressions, ever. He should apologize on behalf of all of humanity. What if the Eridians are disgusted by him now? What if they no longer think he’s worth the effort it takes to maintain the conditions that ensure his survival? What if—
Grace’s spiraling is cut short as he notices that one of the two Eridians is speaking to Rocky, who has moved a little away from Grace’s environment and a few steps closer to the other two Eridians.
His brain is still fuzzy with some strange combination of humiliation and relief, and he’s still not fully fluent in the Eridian language, but Grace is pretty sure he catches his name a few times, and the words “water”, “human,” “leak”, “health”, and “danger.” He also hears the grammatical indication for ‘question’ repeated in several instances.
He gets more out of Rocky’s side of the conversation. Rocky is speaking much faster than he would normally do if he were speaking with Grace, so the translator is only catching about every third word, but Grace knows enough Eridian that he’s able to get the gist of what Rocky is saying. From what he can gather, Rocky is explaining to the other two other Eridians that no, this leaking of liquid does not mean that Grace’s health is in any imminent danger, and that yes, this release of waste fluid is a normal biological process for the human body, though it is normally something that is done in private, similar to Eridian customs regarding eating, (Grace is pretty sure he sees the other two visibly shudder when Rocky makes this comparison) and that yes, this societal taboo is part of why Grace currently appears to be distressed.
There’s a moment of quiet after Rocky’s explanation finishes, punctuated only by the soft sounds of the sniffling that Grace can’t quite suppress. Then, Grace hears one of the Eridians ask something along the lines of ‘What caused this to happen?’
Grace feels himself tense as he waits to hear how Rocky will respond. Rocky hesitates for what must be barely a second, but it’s enough time for Grace to start to feel physically ill from the anxiety.
Some aspects of Grace’s body are not working properly, Rocky explains to the two. Deficiencies of necessary vitamins and nutrients can create many problems for humans— which is why synthesizing these nutrients for Grace was and still is an immediate priority. Rocky pauses, and when he speaks again, his voice is quieter, directed entirely to the two Eridians in front of him. Grace has been through much difficulty during our journey to Erid. It has sacrificed much, suffered much. Throughout, Grace gave me kindness and understanding, always. Grace needs that now from us— kindness and understanding.
Okay, so Grace is pretty sure that Rocky just kinda-sorta lied to the other two Eridians to cover for him. Technically, nothing he said was exactly untrue, but Grace knows (and moreover, Grace knows that Rocky very likely knows) that this unfortunate incident didn’t happen because of malnutrition or Grace’s questionable state of health. Well, that might’ve played a part in it, Grace allows, but the main culprit was definitely his own distracted and forgetful nature, helped along by his apparent inability to speak up for himself.
But Rocky had saved him the humiliation of the other two Eridians knowing the details. Instead, he’s given him an excuse— and then had even asked the other two to treat Grace with kindness. Grace feels a lump form in his throat, his eyes starting to sting anew.
Oh, come on, he thinks. Please. I was just starting to get it together.
Rocky, who easily could be— and probably should be— grossed out by Grace and his squishy, leaky, nutrient-deficient human body, but who never once was. Rocky has been there for him through everything, no matter how ugly, no matter how difficult. Grace doesn’t know what he ever did to deserve that kind of steady, patient, all-encompassing love, but he’s grateful for it in his every waking moment.
The soft thud of Rocky’s claws against the elevator’s floor catch Grace’s attention, and he looks over to see that Rocky has left the two other Eridians and has returned to his spot beside Grace’s environment. As Rocky settles himself beside the xenonite structure, he gives several soft taps against the ground.
“How Grace feeling now, question?” he asks after a moment, carapace resting against the xenonite wall. “Pain go away, question?”
Grace leans against his side of the wall, feeling the slight warmth that seeps through from Rocky’s side. He scrubs at his eyes. “Ah… better. No more pain.” He pauses, trying to choose his next words. “Thanks, Rocky,” he says finally, resting his forehead against the xenonite. “I mean, for— you didn’t have to… but, I appreciate that you— um, told them— ,” Grace gestures vaguely at the other two Eridians, unable to get the words out. “Um. That you explained it… the way you did,” he finally settles on.
Rocky tilts his carapace slightly. “No need thank. “Rocky only doing as [ unknown word ] do for one another. [ unknown word ] take care of each other, always.”
The translator misses two of the words. Grace has a feeling it’s the same word twice. “New word,” he says, managing a smile. “Wow. It’s been a while since that last happened. What’s it mean?”
Rocky thinks for a second, probably mentally coming up with the closest English translation. “Clustermate,” he says after a moment. “Lifetie. Family.”
“Oh,” Grace says, voice suddenly watery. “Oh. You mean…?”
“Grace-Rocky Clustermates, yes. Family, loved ones. Lifeties. Grace become part of Rocky family cluster. Only if Grace want.” Rocky taps nervously on the ground with a claw as he finishes speaking, carapace still pressed against the xenonite directly opposite where Grace sits on the other side.
Grace laughs wetly. He wishes that by some miracle he could reach through the xenonite and hug Rocky. Instead, he settles for tapping the gently against the xenonite with the fingers of one hand. Rocky mirrors the gesture with his claw. “Yeah, Rocky, I really do want that,” he says, grinning now despite the tears that have somehow managed to gather in his eyes despite the fact that he thinks his body should’ve run out of fluids by now.
“Good, good, good!” Rocky rejoices, two claws raised in a spirited ‘jazz hands’ gesture. “Good, good, good, good, good.”
“You sure you want a squishy, leaky space blob as a Clustermate?” Grace jokes, still feeling bit of self-consciousness lingering alongside his awareness of the wetness of his clothes.
“Most sure,” Rocky declares. “Rocky love Grace. All the time. Even when leaky. Always, always, always.”
“Oh, Rock— I… I love you so much, buddy,” Grace manages, and then promptly bursts into tears.
Leaky space blob indeed.
…
(I don’t know how this happened. It got so sappyyy at the end. Emotions? In my pissfic? It’s more likely than you think! — 🥮)
Part 1
AAAAAAA IMGKMGIOMM OMG HOLY S H I T you have bestowed A BLESSING TO US NONNY OGHIKH
Rocky telling Grace he'd rather Grace be wet than hurt😭 Telling the other eridians that was happening because of his malnutrition as an excuse so Grace wouldn't feel as embarrassed/bad about it (then making it known it's top priority that they help Grace AAA),,,,CLUSTERMATE LIFETIE CLUSTERMATE literally cryingggg when I first read that part AAAAAAA🥺😭💖💖💖💖💖
Thank you so SO much for gifting us this magnificent second part AAAAAAAA
