worm

There is no way to know if all my work paid off, and that fact has lost me countless nights of sleep.

There is no way for me to know that those Beatles made it back to Earth intact, that the taumoebas survived the journey, let alone reentry, or that Earth wasn’t already empty by the time they got back.

It’s a possibility that I had convinced myself I needed to accept. Something I knew even Stratt considered a likely outcome. Utter failure.

Why else would she name the mission “Hail Mary”?

But I am terrified. I risked my life to make sure my planet had a fighting chance at survival.

What if it was all for nothing…

I gripped my arms tightly, nails digging into the skin, with something slick beneath my curled, clawed fingers I couldn’t see in the dark on my right arm.

Every drumming beat of my heart felt like rhythmic punches to my chest, making me wheeze and gasp.

Breathing was merely a motor function - not purposeful or productive. A machine instinct to keep air in my lungs, though no matter how hard my body pushed, hardly anything made it in.

Dizziness.

My extremities tingled as the blood in my body collected around my vitals, leaving my arms and legs feeling cold, heavy, and numb.

I know I have to breathe, but it hurts. Every breath feels like I’ve just come up from underwater.

I deserve nothing more.

“Everyone’s gone…”

I mutter to myself. My voice, if you could even call it that, was no more than a whining squeak.

“Everyone. Eva’s gone… Dimitri’s gone… Carl, your students- they’re gone. They’re doomed to freeze a-and starve, and die and it’s my fault. It’s my fault! it’s my fault-!”

My voice cracks, the harshest words I’ve ever spoken to myself are nothing but a whimper.

“I’m a coward. A coward. I wouldn’t have done ANY of this if Eva hadn’t forced me. What the hell makes me so special? What makes ME with being the lone survivor of the ice age I didn’t even want to help prevent…”

My grip tightens on my arms, a stinging, staticky pain on my right flared in rapid pulses, but I ignore it still.

“I’m not a hero…” I begin to cry. “I’m not a hero… I’m not a hero… I hope they don’t think I am…”

I hang my head, glasses tumbling off my face. Heavy, heaving sobs lurch from my chest as I sit in the tiny, dark bathroom.

It’s cold, it’s pitch black, and I couldn’t convince myself I deserved anything more at the time. My punishment. Death would be too merciful.

My body shakes, but not from the cold.

Breathing becomes difficult, shallow and erratic.

“Grace!”

There’s a voice… I can’t bring myself to look up.

“Grace!”

“Get away from me.” I wheeze, head still hung, knees to my chest.

“Are you- Grace what’s going on?”

I don’t reply, hoping he’ll leave.

“Ryland Grace, can you hear me?”

“Go AWAY.”

“No, look at me.” The voice is insistent.

I only sob in reply.

“Grace, it’s me, it’s Simon. What’s happening? Can you please look up at me?”

“NoooOOO! LEAVE ME ALONE!” I cry out, pressing my back to the wall as hard as I can.

I hear soft footsteps approach me, slowly, like you would a scared animal.

“Grace, you’re scaring me…”

“Simon… go away…”

“No! Stop telling me to leave, I’m not moving! You think I’m leaving you alone like this? You’re out of your fuckin’ mind! I could hear you crying from the observation deck!” I pick up the irritation in his voice, but he was making an effort not to shout at me.

I shake my head slowly, sniffling and breathing heavy.

There’s a quiet click as Simon turns on the bathroom light, casting the room in a dim, whiteish orange glow.

“Oh Jesus- fuck, Ryland!” Simon hisses, taking a shaky breath, before dropping down in front of me.

“You’re bleeding. Shit- damnit, Gracie, you’re bleeding, where is that coming from?!”

It sounds like there’s a lump in Simon’s throat. Oh- he’s afraid of blood…

I shoot up, staring at him with wide, puffy eyes.

“I-I’m sorry-! I didn’t know! I- I can’t feel…” my words are breathy and quiet, but urgent. “I— I’ll take care of it, go- go back upstairs!”

“NO. Give me your hands.” Simon demands.

He sits on the floor in front of me, extending both hands out to me.

“Now, Ryland, I’m serious.”

I hesitate for a long time, and Simon waits patiently.

Finally, I weakly put both my hands in Simon’s, and he pulls my arms out straight.

“There it is- Gracie, you’ve picked straight through Rocky’s paw print scar on your arm.”

The source was hard to see through blurred vision, but my forearm was painted red, along with the opposite hand’s fingers, and some of my, thankfully, red shirt.

“I- I didn’t… I didn’t realize…”

“I know, you do this when you’re anxious, you pick, and you pick, and you pick. Never like this though.” Simon sighs.

He looks around for a moment, I say nothing.

Quickly, he yanks a wad of toilet paper from the wall, and slips the headband he’s wearing off his head, fashioning a crude gauze and bandage around my arm, trying his best not to focus on the blood.

I wince as he pulls the knot tight.

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s not severe, but I have to make sure the bandage stays secure.”

“Y-your headband…”

“It can be washed. We have peroxide.”

Simon finishes his work, sighing as he releases my arm.

“I’m so sorry…”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Grace, stop.”

My voice begins to shake, and I can feel another wave of guilt, sending me to tears. Now I’ve involved Simon. I’ve worried him, scared him…

I shake my head, trying to will the words out that are stuck in the back of my throat, but all that comes out is a dry heave, and a sputtered sob.

Simon sighs, bringing himself closer to me. He waits a moment, before gently taking me by the shoulders, and pulling me into him.

I don’t protest, falling into Simon’s chest, arms wrapped tight around him, clutching his sweatshirt as though it were the only thing between me and oblivion, which for all I know could be true.

“It’s alright, you’re alright. You’re alive, you’re safe, and I’m here. You’re not alone.” Simon begins to rock from side to side, gently tracing a hand up and down my back as he tries to put me at ease.

I shake my head against Simon’s chest. “No… no… nonono…”

“No what, Gracie? Use your words.”

“Nonono, no! What if I messed it all up?!”

“Messed what up?”

“You haven’t messed anything up… and if you have, I’m sure we can fix it.”

“You don’t… know that. How do you k ow I’ve done everything right?”

Simon pulls back, looking down at me, brows furrowed in confusion. “What’re you talking about?”

“I- I went through the motions- I did what I had to…”

“Okay… for what?”

“But how could you possibly know it was all correct? W-what if something happened?! What if I did something wrong?!” I sob, almost pleading with Simon.

“What if I did something wrong with the probes- o-or the breeder tanks, and because of me, everyone is gonna die?!”

“Hey, hey-“

“What if it’s my fault humanity is gone?! Wh- what if I’m a murderer…? They said I’d be remembered as a hero, but that’s not- that’s not true!”

“Grace-!”

“I’M A MURDERER, SIMON. EVERYONE COULD BE GONE AND IT’S MY FAULT.” I shout, my entire body tensing as I use every ounce of strength to scream.”

“No., that isn’t true”

“I’m a murdererrRRR. Why should I get to survive when everyone else is on the green mile?!WHY AM I STILL HERE?!”

“HEY. Do not say that. That’s a horrible thing to say. You deserve to be here, and you’re not gonna say otherwise. I don’t fuckin like hearing you talk like that.”

“People have been condemned for far less…” I mutter.

“Enough. That’s enough, Gracie. You’re getting in your own head.” Simon gives me a sharp squeeze, bringing me back to focus.

“Listen to me. You have gone places, done things, experiences and survived things that no human ever has.” His voice is soft and quiet.

“Impossible odds, even more impossible decisions, and here you are, still alive, and still well. That counts for something. That means something.”

Simon brings a hand to my hair, brushing through it lazily.

“And neither of us are naive, or idiots. We know there’s always a nonzero chance of something happening, but what matters is that you have done everything and more in your power to make sure your planet survives. And that’s all anyone can reasonably ask of you. No one is gonna blame you personally on the off chance something goes wrong. You’ve done your part.”

I say nothing in reply.

“And don’t give me the bullshit of “I’m not a hero”, either. You realize you’re the lone savior of Earth, Erid, and me, right?”

Simon pushes me back just far enough to get a look at my face.

“Why else would I call you my angel, if not for the fact that you saved my life? You nearly crashed your ship taking a chance on a distress signal from a moon you didn’t even have charted on your system, all to potentially help something in need. and you brought me aboard, showed me patience through my distrust and anger, care for my injuries, and compassion towards my past, my mutations, and every bit of baggage I dragged in with me. You saved my life. If nothing else, then selfishly, you’re my hero.”

I let out a whining sob, collapsing back into Simon. He tightens his hold on me, resting his chin on the top of my head.

“I owe you my life, and I’ll spend every minute of the rest of it making sure you know just how much you’ve done and sacrificed for me, and the two planets you and Rocky saved.” I can feel the vibration of his words through my skull, and I nod slowly.

“Can you sit up and look at me, Angel?” Simon asks, coaxing me up again.

Reluctantly, I sit up, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, and looking up at Simon.

“You are humanity’s, Erid’s and my hero, Ryland Grace.”

I take a breath, still a little shaky, but nothing like before. I shift to sit on my knees in front of Simon, and pull him into a hug, arms wrapped tight around his neck. He doesn’t miss a beat, returning the hug with equal strength, the both of us holding each other as if we’d never see one another again.

“Thank you, Simon- I- I’m… I’m so happy I found you.”

He chuckles softly, nodding against my shoulder.

“I’m glad you found me too, I would t be here if-“

“I love you.”

The words are put before I even know it. Silence follows.

“I- I’m sorry, I don’t mean-“

Simon shakes his head.

“No, no. It’s alright… I love you too.” He chuckles, squeezing me tighter. He pulls back slightly, tipping my head down, and planting a quick kiss on the top of it. “I love you more than you know.”

The words aren’t as heavy and burdening as they’ve felt for me in the past. There was something different about how Simon said it.

The moment I loosen my grip, Simon Dows the same.

I sit up, my cheeks a bit red. I take a deep breath, sitting back against the wall.

“Do you feel better?”

“I think so.”

“You think so? Or you know so.”

“I’m… retry sure so.” I sniffle, shrugging.

“I’ll accept that answer.” Simon nods, sitting crisscross in front of me.

“What brought this on? Bad dream? Did you see something?”

“I dunno. I couldn’t sleep all night, and my mind just…”

“Started wandering.”

“Yeah.”

“So you’ve been up all night, then? That’s why you look so exhausted.”

I nod, thumbing the bandage on my arm with the opposite hand. Yeah…”

“Why didn’t you come up to the observation deck? I could have kept you company.”

“I- I didn’t want to wake you- I know you have trouble sleeping too…”

“Ohhh bullshit, you know you don’t have to worry about that.” He rolls his eyes.

“I know, but-“

“Anything my Saving Grace needs is within reach, if I can help it.” Simon says dramatically.

“Come on- don’t call me that.”

“I am ever at your service.”

“Ugh, stop that!” I scrunch my nose at Simon, cringing at the display, unable to help bit smile.

“Oh! Look at that, we got a smile!” Simon teases, flicking me on the nose.

“Simon!” I shove his hand away

“Fine, Fine, but I mean it, if you feel your mind starting t wander, please come find me. I’ve always got time.”

“I appreciate it. S-same to you, of course.” I try not to make it sound like an afterthought. It isn’t, it’s just hard to articulate at the moment.

Simon gives me a smile, before standing up with a groan. “C’mon. Grab your pillow and quilt.”

He nods towards the door of the tiny bathroom.

“What? Why?”

“You’re sleeping over at mine tonight.” He crosses his arms.

“In the observation deck?”

“Yeah, I cannot in good conscience leave you alone down here tonight, so you’re coming upstairs. Rocky’s sleeping up by the deck tonight too. He finally trusts me enough to sleep by me. I’ll be all of us.” He smiles.

I remain on the floor, staring up at him, trying to hide the smile on my face.

“You’re excited, I cannot see you smiling.”

“Whatever.”

“I’ve got eyes, Gracie- not good ones, but I can still see. Here, I’ll take up your stuff, you clean up, change into something that’s not covered in blood, sweat and tears, and meet me upstairs, ok?”

I look down at my shirt, sighing. It was in pretty rough shape.

“Alright.”

Simon nods.

“I’ll see you in a bit, then.”” Simon says, before rather discreetly taking the clippers from the shelf above the sink, and pocketing them as he leaves the bathroom.

I sigh. I know why he took them, and part of me hates myself for making him distrust me. The rest of me appreciates the concern.

-

I find a pair of shorts, like basketball shorts, but softer, and a sweatshirt that I rarely wore - black, with the NASA ‘worm’ style logo branded on the front in stark white. I roll the sleeves up over my forearms, deciding this was good enough as anything.

-

I ascended the ladder, crawling out of the dormitory. The observation deck was straight down the long hallway, and I could see the light of the stars from where I stood.

Since we converted the observation window to Simon’s “room”, it had taken on a life of its own. Rocky built a suspended platform for his mattress, with room on either side for personal items, like books from around the ship, rolled up charts, and notebooks. The rounded walls held a few shelves with more books, a small box Rocky built to hold Simon’s amulet if he ever took it off for any reason, and a crudely made origami plant that I made for him a few months back. He even kept it under a UV grow light.

I approach the platform, stepping up, and plopping down beside Simon. He had my quilt and pillow laid on the opposite side of the bed from where he typically sleeps.

“Looks a Lot more comfortable.” He gestures to my sweater.

“Yeah, it is.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen that one before.”

“I don’t wear it a whole lot- I’m still getting over the uh- the whole ‘wearing merch for the company that sent me out to die’ thing.” I shrug.

Simon chuckles. “That’s fair, I definitely wouldn’t wear a COI t-shirt.” We both snicker.

“Oh- you changed your bandages too.” Simon points down to my arm.

“Yeah, I had Armando wrap it up really quick. Linda tight, but that’s alright.” I lift my arm, looking down at the cleanly wrapped gauze. “Oh, and I promise, I promise I’ll wash your headband for you- I already hit it with some hydrogen peroxide.”

“Don’t sweat it, I’ll be fine.” Simon shakes his head.

I sigh, lying back on the bed.

…

“Can I ask you something?l Simon looks down at me, his voice sounding heavier than it had a moment ago.

“Sure.”

He takes a moment, arranging his sentence in his brain like scrabble tiles.

“You don’t… uhm… are you- okay?”

“Am I… okay?”

“I mean- I know you were in a tough spot earlier, but you were saying some really concerning things, Ryland…”

“No, no, Simon really, I’m alright. It was the panic talking.”

“That doesn’t just come from nowhere, though. I understand what you mean, but you don’t just say you don’t think you deserve to be here without having that idea cross your mind in the past.”

I’m quiet for a while. He’s absolutely right.

“I promise, it’s not something that I consider as often as it… probably seems… which is probably why it makes me panic- it scares me too- but I swear, I’m alright.”

“Please, utilize me. We’re the only humans around for lightyears - we’ll lose it if we don’t communicate. So please please tallk to me, and bring things like this up to me in the moment so I can help.”

“I will, I promise. I’m sorry.” I sit up on my elbows as I speak.

“I hope you mean it…”

…

“Thank you, by the way.” I say

“Hm?”

“For keeping me company- and making me feel like I’m not Earth’s biggest failure.”

“Anytime. I’m glad I got to you in time.”

I hum in reply. Im glad too.

A moment of silence passes.

“Oh- I have something for you.”

I turn my to face Simon.

“I was gonna wait to give it to you, but this is as good a time as any…”

He turns to the shelf on the wall, grabbing a roughly wrapped object, concealed in notebook paper with “Grace” written in marker on it. It was taped together hastily, like he was fighting with the dispenser in the process.

I chuckle, sitting up and taking the parcel from him, turning it over in my hand. It was about as big as my palm, and relatively light.

“I know, I’m terrible at wrapping things up, but…”

“N-Noho! No, it’s great, Si!” I chuckled, tugging at the twisted tape.

After a bit of struggle I get the thing open, and a thin, dark metal chain slides free onto the quilt beside me. I pick it up, letting it dangle in my hand.

It was a… a pendant… it looked quite similar to Simon’s amulet, a round frame with a clear center. Something was suspended in the clear, glassy center - small, ivory, sharp and curved.

“Wow- this is awesome! What is that? In the center?”

“Don’t freak out.”

“…okay..?”

“It’s a tooth.”

I gasp, staring at Simon for a moment before shouting.

“Simon!! This is your tooth?!”

“No! No, dummy it’s not my tooth, calm down. It’s a tooth that got stuck to my clothes before you rescued me - a fragment of one from the creature in the ocean. I cleaned it, and had Rocky make a pendant to keep it in.”

I sigh. “My god, lead with that.”

“Not as funny that way.”

I roll my eyes. “Whatever… this is really cool though, thank you.”

“Now you can wear a reminder of what you saved me from. Now you have no reason to doubt that you’re a hero.”

I’m silent for a long while, clutching the pendant in my hand, staring down at it, before a few tears roll down my face, dropping down into my hand.

“Oh shit, goddamnit, are you alright?!”

Simon puts a hand on my shoulder, concern in his voice all over Gaian.”

“I- I’m okay, I’m okay… sorry, just kinda emotional at the moment. I love it. I’ll never take it off.

“Good, good- I don’t think I can take another scare tonight. Here, give it here.”

Simon extends a hand, and I drop the pendant into it. He moves behind me, lowering the charm over my head and onto my chest, fastening the clasp behind me with a bit of struggle.

I shudder, letting out a stray huff of laughter as his knuckles brush against me.

“Laughing at a man struggling with a prosthetic?”

“Nohoho! No, I’m just- tahahake your time.” I say.

“You’d like that.” Simon mutters, scritching my neck with one finger, making my shoulders shoot up.

“Sihihimon!”

Sorry, sorry. I’ll stop.”

I look down at the necklace. “I don’t- I don’t mind…. You don’t… have to…” I mutter, as Simon moves back over beside me.

“You want me to?”

“W- well I mean…”

I can feel him smiling at me. I continue looking straight ahead.

“Would that make you feel better? If I ticke you? That’s what you’re dancing around asking?” He tilts his head.

“Maybe, I guess…”

“Maybe you guess?”

“C’mon, please don’t make me spell it out, it’s been a long night.” I huff.

“I won’t, I won’t. Just wanna make sure it’s what you want.”

“Yes.”

“Ok, I’ll go easy on you.”

I look over at Simon with an honestly pretty pathetic look.

“You don’t want me to go easy? Angel, I- I don’t want to overwhelm your system- you’ve only just come down from a panic attack, is laughing like a maniac really safe after crying so hard?”

He does raise a valid point, but I can’t find it in myself to care. I needed the pick-me-up.

Simon sighs after I greet him with the same expression..

“Fine, I’ll work up to it. Start slow.” He relents. “Are you gonna come to me, or am o gonna have for grab you myself.”

I smile at him, not moving an inch.

Right… fine, I’ll bite.” He shrugs, lurching at me, grabbing me by the shoulders, and pulling me down onto the quilt.

“Please let me know if you need a break.” Simon says rather sternly as he sidles up to me.

“I will. I’m okay.” I smile.

He nods. Two, uncharacteristically gentle hands find their place against my torso, lightly squeezing and kneading my stomach.

I snort,quietly giggling. “Sihihimon, you don’t have to treat me like I’m made of glahahass!”

“I know that, I’m just being careful.”

“I- I tohoOLD YOu, I’m okay. You’re nohohot gonna hurt me I’m a grown man.”

“Hmoh.”

“What’s thahat supposed to mean?!”

“Nothing.” He pokes me in the navel.

“AaAAH-haha-! If anything, it’ll just tire me out and I’ll finally be able to get some sleep.” I shrug, looking over at Simon.

He sighs. “If it’ll help you sleep…” Simon grumbles. He grabs me, dragging mw up into his lap. His metal arm held me up against his chest at an awkward angle, my arms suspended, and unable to drop. My sweatshirt had ridden up to my stomach in the process, which was precisely the target he struck.

“A-AHAHAHA-HAHAHAA!!” I shriek, feeling a strong hand strumming at my stomach like a guitar.

“Y-YOUR HAND IS SOHOHO COLD-!!”

“Low iron.”

“H-HOHOW IS TBAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!” Simon switches to roughly squeezing the center of my stomach, forcing the muscle to flex.

“It’s not, that was a lie. Wow- have you actually been using the fitness equipment?” Simon chuckles, giving my abdominal muscles a few strong pokes.

“A-AH! AHAHA! WHY IS THANAT SURPRISING, JERK?! OHOHOW!”

Simon stops a ruptly. “Whats wrong? Are you okay?!”

“YEHEhehes! Simon, I’m fihihine!”

“Why the hell did you say ‘ow’ then?!”

“I dunno! I just did!” I shrug as best I can in the suspended position I’m stuck in.

“You’re gonna give me a heart attack. Don’t say that unless you’re actually in pain, dumbass.”

“You’re so jumpy!”

“I’m worried about you! God forbid I’m worried!”

“AwwwwWWAAAAHAHAHA-!”

“Shut up!” Simon hisses, digging his knuckles into my ribs, dragging them up and down like a xylophone.

I throw my head back against Simon’s shoulder, cackling probably a bit too close to his ear.

I find myself sliding upward, pushing with my legs, instinctively to move away from Simon’s hand. He grumbles, clearly annoyed with me worming around.

“My god, hold still if you want me to do this!”

Simon takes me under the arms, lifting, and tossing me down into the bed, with enough push to one shoulder to land me on my back.

I land with a muffled thump, looking up at him with a lopsided smile on my face. Simon’s mild annoyance thaws when he looks down at me.

“You tired yet?”

“No, not really.”

He sighs, looking me over.

“The hell is with those socks?”

“What?! What’s wrong with them?!” I shrug.

The Hailart crew stocked my luggage with apparently, very strictly science themed items… shirts, sleepwear, and socks.

There’s no way this was all my wardrobe was back on earth…

This particular pair of socks, I quite liked. They were black, patterned with the line angle formulas of various chemicals. Dopamine, adrenaline, seraronin, and others of the sort.

“Are these constellations? Whats going on?”

“No- they- no they’re not constellations, are you blind?! What constellations look like that?!”

“How would I know?!”

“Oh- haha- r-right.”

“Jerk.”

“They’re skeletal structures of chemicals. They’re diagrams used in chemistry to show the bonds of molecules.”

“Huh…” Simon lifts my right foot up by the ankle. “What’s this one.” He jabs one of the images stitched into the bottom of the sock, and I yelp, jerking my knee back, unable to pry my ankle free.

“AH-! I- I dunno-! I cahahan’t see it!”

“Okay, does this help?” Simon shrugs, tracing a finger along the hexagons and lines of the chemical structure.

“A-ABAHAHA-! SIHIHIIMON-!”

“Do you know it or not? Pay attention.” He huffs, starting over.

Hexagon… two lines protruding from the left, going up left, and down left… GOD this sucks- then a line going up right from the hexagon… Oh!

“ADREHEHENALINE! IT… ITS ADEENALINE.” I shout, grabbing a corner of the quilt and covering my face with it, letting out a gravelly, muffled scream.

“That’s not what it says here. It’s got a bunch of letters and numbers.” Seriously?! The formula?!

Simon retraces the shape again as I struggle to think

“UHUHUJHH- DANGIT!! I- I DUNNOHOHO.”

“Yes you do, Think.”

“UUUURRBHHAHAHAHA OH-! OHOH ITS C- SUB 9, H SUB 13, N O SUB 3.”

“I need the elements, Gracie.” Simon shakes his head, suddenly raking his fingers up and down the bottom of my foot.

“AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA-! OKAHAHAHAY OKAY ALRIHIHIGHT-! PLEHEHEASE! STOP AND I’LL AMSWER- I CAN’T TAKE IT.” I howl, thrashing around like a fish out of water.

Simon stops immedietly, pulling his hand away. “Alright. Go.” He says.

I take a moment to catch my breath before answering.

“It- it’s (R)-1-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-2-(methylamino)ethanol…”

“…What..?”

“You asked!” I throw my hands up. “NO. Nohoho no more of that, that SUCKED.”

I yanked my leg away from Simon as he searched for another chemical to quiz me on.

“You’re done?”

“Just with that.”

Simon chuckles, patting my bent knee. “Okay, fine.” He says, shuffling up to my side. “One more, the. I think it should be lights out.”

“Deal.” I agree, admittedly feeling a bit groggy already.

Simon smiles with the wickedness of a man with a plan.

“Sit up.”

“Huh?”

“Up, Gracie.” He makes a rising motion with his hand.

I stare at him for a moment, a bit confused, but I do as I’m asked, sitting up with my knees still bent.

Simon opens out his arms, gesturing for a hug.

“What?”

“Would you just come here?” He chuckles. “So inquisitive.”

“I’m a-“

“Scientist, yes, so I’ve been told. Cmon.” He become me close with a rotation of the wrist.

Hesitantly, I move closer, accepting the suspicious hug, wrapping my arms around Simon’s neck as I do before, and he closes his arms around me.

“Perfect.” Simon purrs, before tightening his grip like a boa constrictor, both hands digging into the muscle of my back.

“A-AHAHAHAHA-! WHAHHAT?! WHAT THE HECK?!” I shout with stunned disbelief.

Simon chuckles darkly, the sound reverberating through my head as he began to knead and pinch and scratch, and jab all up and down the expanse of my back.

“AAHAHAHAHA-! AAAAAH-!! PLEHEHEASE THIS IS SO NOT FAIR!!”

“Yes it is, this is all at your request, Angel.”

He drives his knuckles into my low back, at the same time, blowing a sharp raspberry onto my neck. I thrash in his iron- or xenonite grip, until finally, I’ve had enough.

“ALRIIIIHIHIHIGHT ALRIGHT, UNCLE, PINEAPPLE, HAIL MARY, WHATEVER, STOHOHOP!”

And he does.

I fall limp, and Simon keeps me steady against him.

“That was cruel, y’know that?”

“Again, you asked me to do this. You said it’d make you feel better.”

“Uuurrerrghhj…”

Simon snorts, patting me on the back.

He peels me away from him, holding me at a short distance.

“Do you feel better?”

I nod, fatigue weighing heavy on my eyes. “Yeah, yes, thank you.”

“Anytime, Angel.” Simon nods, squeezing my shoulder gently.

He reaches up, combing a hand tgrough my hair, pushing it out of my face. He looks at me softly, not saying a word.

…What happens next can only be explained by a sleep deprivation induced lapse in judgment. I honestly to god don’t know what came over me in the moment, but in the stillness of the silence, I took a breath, and leaned forward…

I kissed Simon.

I… kissed Simon. I did.

And he kissed me back.

I figured- heck, I expected him to push me back, but he didn’t. Sure he was stunned for a second, but once the shock wore off, he slid a hand behind my neck, the metal one down to my back, and he kissed me back.

Not rough, not vicious or messy… equal, comfortable reciprocation.

I’d hardly ever done this before, and hadn’t the slightest clue what I was doing, but pulled back, with a sharp pain in my lip that I’m pretty sure was y standard for the experience.

Right, the teeth.

“Oh, sorry-“ Simon mutters, looking down at the red stain on my lip.

“No no, it’s alright. It’s fine.”

“It’s bleeding.”

“Yeah I can taste it. It stings…” My voice is quieter now. @Y- you’re not… venomous, are you?”

“I dunno, guess we’ll see.”

“What?!” I tense up.

“Joking, Joking. I’m not venomous. My teeth aren’t hollow like snake teeth.” Simon taps one of the long, sharp teeth with his finger.

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.” He smiles.

I nod, looking to the side.

“Gracie.” Simon tilts his head to catch my eye again. “That didn’t have to mean anything you don’t want it to. You’re drained, and your mind is probably still a little scrambled - don’t worry about it, okay?” He says softly.

Admittedly, a part of me is relieved. I’m really not a relationship guy, let alone a kisser, so I couldn’t begin to imagine the implications a spur of the moment kiss would have on any other person.

I sigh. “Thank you, I- I appreciate it. I don’t know where that came from… W-well it’s not that I didn’t- that I don’t want to… kiss you…”

“Oh? Okay-“ Simon chuckles.

“No! But- I don’t- I just-…” Simon puts a hand up, signaling me to shut up, and I do.

“You don’t need to explain yourself. Don’t hurt yourself, you don’t have to explain.”

“Right… sorry…”

Simon lets out a deep quiet laugh, shaking his head.

I yawn, rolling my eyes.

Simon tips my head down, planting a kiss on the top of my head, like he did earlier.

“Why don’t we stick to that for now? No obligation, Nonthreatening.” He smiles.

“Yeah… yeah okay that sounds good…” I murmur, fading in and out where I sat.

Simon points behind me to my rumpled quilt and pillow. “Lay down. You’re gonna pass out sitting up.”

I mutter something even I can’t remember now, and let myself drop back onto the bed, making the supports rattle with the impact. I had been craving this sleep for dozens of hours, and it was finally within reach.

I hear Simon shuffle over to his side of the mattress, enough room between us maybe for Rocky to fit without his hamster ball. The light on the shelf clicks off, and Simon lays back with a groan only a man thirty years his senior should make.

I short.

“Something funny, Grace?”

I giggle like a kid at a sleepover, whispering - “you sound like an old man.”

“You’re older than I am.”

“But I don’t sound like that when I move around.”

Simon sighs, no longer finding me amusing. I can’t blame him.

“Go to sleep.” He grumbles.

I sigh, rolling over, closing the distance between us.

“Seriously?”

“It’s cold…”

“You chose to wear shorts!” He hisses.

“Okay! And so I’m cold!”

“Will this help you go to sleep?”

“…yes.”

Simon sighs, slinging his arm up and over me, yanking me close, my head between his arm and chest.

“Goodnight.” Simon says, grumbling with exhaustion.

“H’night… love you.” I mutter, my body finally falling limp against Simon’s.

Ryland Grace floated around the Hail Mary with a straw in the corner of his mouth, leading to a bag of vodka. He hadn’t been drunk in a hot minute and needed something to feel a little less like himself. It was certainly a problem he had but at least some form of way to taste something nice and forget stuff for a bit. Be a little happier despite all that was going on around him. Making his way into the screening room where Rocky was staring at the screen surrounding him. What played was one of those videos you play for cats with ocean sounds in the background. All sorts of fish swim by, sharks, sea turtles. Something grace had taught the little Eridian not too long ago and seemed to have formed quite the likeness towards. Something so pure and majestic he could just watch for hours…almost seemed to have beat the tape measure. 

Anti-Gravity had now been turned off to Grace’s request by Mary as he slunk to the floor. Awkwardly landing on his feet, waltzing over to his friend and sitting down beside him. Leaning his right arm against the xenonite ball. A bit wobbly from the amount of alcohol consumption but still functioning smoothly. He never let himself go that bad…well…most of the time. 

“Hey Rock, what's got you watching this?” 

Said alien chirped in delight at the sound of Grace’s voice, reaching an arm of his out from the mesh of his ball to hold onto his friend’s arm. 

“Hello Grace! Rocky wanted to watch calm video. Rocky like fish.”

Grace smiled softly at his friend's words. Patting the top of the ball with his palm and setting down the bag of vodka. 

“Do you have a favorite bud? Mine’s the manatee but if we are talking about actual fish. Then I really like basking sharks…such interesting creatures.” 

“Grace has a dumb taste. Spider crab is an obvious choice.”

Grace snickered at that.

“Pfff, whahat? Why would you say that?”

The Erdian seemed to raise his claws up into the air. Letting go of grace and pinching his appendages in the air similar to how a crab would.

“Great big creature with many arm scary! Rocky look like this! Rocky very big. Very strong. Like spider crab.” 

Grace couldn’t help but chortle and shake his head at the thought. He remembered now that Rocky had taken an interest in all things with many appendages like him. The giant squid, octopus, all sorts of crabs, spiders and such…If only he could see and understand what color was. Then he would really have his little rock mind blown. 

“Whatever you say buddy.” 

“Yes Rocky say yes, Rocky smart yes yes.” As Rocky spoke his arms pushed through the mesh of his xenonite ball, briefly going to reach up and skitter against the side of Grace’s neck. Making the poor guy squeal and squish his shoulders up to his ears. Quickly glaring at his friend and playfully giving him a push. 

“Rohocky!”

The Eridian chirped and trilled at his friend. He loved the sweet sounds that came from his favorite human when he tickled him.

  It had been several days since the little Eridian had learned what exactly tickling was. It was such an interesting and endearing concept to him. Something so simple made his friend laugh and smile so brightly just by touching him…He couldn’t help but chirp at the thought. Rocky had turned it into a normal thing to now sneak in a tickle or two while the teacher worked or was bantering. Always seeming to jerk out a new reaction from the man that always seemed to make the tips of his ears glow a warm shade of red. That be a snort, a squeal, a shriek. Whatever it was, it was something that swelled the Eridian's heart. That is if he even had a heart….You get the point

However Rocky couldn’t help but start to wonder something about himself after the events with Grace…Was he ticklish? As in himself…Something he would begin to ponder about for a few days…He tried doing what he did to Grace to himself but it didn’t seem to work. Maybe leaky blob humans are just far more sensitive than any other species…who knew. The Eridan was never shy of an experiment, however. All he had to do was ask his friend! Right?

--------♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.‧₊ ♪˚⊹˖ ݁♬⋆.˚𝄞. ~☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★🛸~♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.‧₊ ♪˚⊹˖ ݁♬⋆.˚𝄞.-----------

A few days had passed before Rocky began to act on his thoughts. Finding Grace in the laboratory. His eyes fixated through a microscope, performing experiments on taumoeba. Adjusting the lenses as seen fit and squinting to try and notice any changes. The man hadn’t been seeming to sleep much at all recently. In the past three days Rocky had only watched him sleep one time…Grace was running himself dry. Nothing coffee couldn't fix. He eventually brought a pause to his work however as the Eridian rolled his way to be close to his friend. 

“Hey, buddy! I unfortunately haven’t made any progress on well…anything today. So if you’re looking for further information I don’t have any”-

He was cut off.

“Can Grace tickle Rocky question?” 

The rest of what Grace was going to stay immediately paused at the tip of his tongue. Processing what the Erdian just asked of him. First furrowing his eyebrows. Then leaning back in his chair. Eventually, a soft smile spread across his face.

“Wait wait wait. Whahat do you want?”

“Grace ask dumb question.” Rocky twittered and pointed at Grace. “Rocky ask Grace to tickle Rocky. Rocky want answer.” ‘

Now this was something that Grace didn’t necessarily expect the alien to ask of him. And yet he couldn’t help but hope he eventually was going to ask him. A small smirk spread across his lips. Pushing his glasses up upon his nose. 

“How can I say no to something like that? Comere big guy.” 

Grace got down onto the floor and sat upright on his knees. Arms open enough for Rocky to come towards him. Completely oblivious to what was about to happen.

“Not hurt right? Question…” 

Ryland shook his head giving the side of the xenonite ball a pat. 

“Noho no of course bro, buddy. Yknow hugging right?” 

“Long thing that goes too long that Grace also like? Question…” Rocky deadpanned. 

“Well- yes that. Think of it like that but added with a bit of extra. Just tell me to stop whenever you need me to, pal.” 

Rocky was a bit skeptical, but he trusted Grace. Allowing the man to bring his hands through the mesh of Rocky’s protective ball. The texture was something familiar to dish gloves for Grace. He hated doing the dishes. Especially when soggy food got under his fingernails. The thought was enough to make him gag. But his fingers simply rested on the from appendages of the Erdian. Rubbing his thumbs along the rough surface. It wasn’t enough to cut him however. The xenonite blocked anything that could actually hurt him. But it did make his palms a bit warm. It was almost nice. 

“You ready pal?” 

Rocky chirped a yes, giving Grace the go. “What Rocky supposed to do? Que”- 

Before Rocky could finish Graces fingers gently scratched experimentally at the top of Rocky’s back. Tracing his fingertips along the cracks and crevices. Rocky was genuinely so surprised he darted to the corner of his xenonite ball with a high pitched shrill. Almost sounding like a dolphin.. Not running away considering graces arms were still through the mesh. If he did so he was prone to hurting his friend. Grace couldn’t help but worry he scared his friend or started too quickly. 

“WHAT WAS THAT QUESTION?!?” 

“Thahats what tickling is buddy! I’m sorry did I scare you?” 

Rocky came out from the corner and back to his friend. His little claws gently holding onto An his friends wrists. Putting them back on the top of him. The act alone was enough to make a FAT grin draw across Grace‘s face. 

“No. Statement. Rocky does not get scared.”

“You sure about that, pal?” Grace chuckled softly. 

Continuing the little experiment with his alien buddy. Gently tracing the little bumps along Rocky’s topside. Little chirps and tweets coming from said Eridian that didn’t seem to be translated. This was certainly his form of laughter….

“Who would have thought that Erdians could be tihicklish…this is really cute buddy.” 

“Rocky not cute statement! ᯓ‎𝄞 ˎˊ˗ ♬⋆.˚!!” 

“Yeah you are, pal.”  

Grace traveled his tickling down the sides of his friend. Noticing, however, that Rocky’s assumed ‘laughter’ seemed to deminish…So Eridians have tickle spots like humans too.  

“Why not work question?” Rocky disappointingly drooped. 

“Well…As humans people have different places that are more…sensitive. Like I’ve told you, usually in protected places…maybe you’re similar…” Grace hummed.

“Grace ticklish everywhere statement.” 

The straight up thought made Grace look off to the side. “Y-Yeah wehell…T-that’s different…” 

“It is not.” Rocky twittered cheekily….was Rocky provoking the scientist? 

“Yohou little- alright pal you’re just asking for it now.” 

The Eridian chirped at the sudden fluttering of Grace’s fingers underneath his front two appendages. What would be considered his underarm, the joint of his body to his ball and socket would be. Not clamping his arms down however. Not wanting to pinch the man’s fingers. 

“Feel funny-‧₊˚♪𝄞࿐₊˚⊹ statement! ‧₊ ♪˚⊹” 

Rocky tapped one of his feet onto the ground, curling up like a cat and loafing around Grace’s hands. The man simply followed Rocky. Keeping his touches as feather light as he could. Not wanting to overwhelm his friend. Rocky was enjoying himself quite a bit. He wasn’t entirely sure about this concept before but it sure was interesting to him. Human culture is so interesting…

“Yeahhhh that’s how it is, bud! It’s completely harmless. Are you sure you're still okay with this?” He asked Rocky. 

“No worry Grace! ˖ ݁♬⋆.˚𝄞༄࿐༘⋆ Can keep going statement!”

His playful attributes travelling to trace the under sides of the alien. An even higher pitched noise coming from the Eridian. Swatting one of his paws at Grace and using another to hold onto the human’s wrist. Almost in a way acting like a puppy getting its belly scratched. It was so endearing to see… Especially for Grace. He himself was very much enjoying himself. Smile wide, biting his lower lip just enough. Glasses slightly off his ears. His heart swelled with affection for his dear friend. 

“I wonder if…” The teacher paused for just a moment. 

Giving Rocky a bit of time to recover before taking one of his paws in his hands. His arms are still inside the xenonite ball. Such a shame that such material had to separate the two…Really limited the tactics he could have used…He wished he could teach Rocky what a ‘raspberry’ was. (No not the actual fruit…You reader. Yes you. Know what I’m referring to. Ticklehead) But the two different types of environments they could be in really limited that. Grace gently began to poke and prod around the place Rocky's fingertips had a crevice to his palm. A slight and yet genuine twitter and tweet coming from the rock. 

“Nohow THIS is sweet. Your little paws are sensitive.” Rocky couldn’t resist closing his paws around Grace’s fingers. Holding his friend's hand and shaking up and down just a bit from all his chittering. The astro(not) adjusted his glasses on his face. Letting go of Rocky’s paw and pulling his arms from the xenonite ball’s mesh. Sitting criss-cross now from his friend.

“Glad you seemed to enjoy yourself pal.”

“I like ! Repay Grace statement.” Rocky rolled slowly towards his friend.

Grace's big smile shifted…his eyebrows changed his expression. One of now…nervous worry, Processing what Rocky said. Slowly standing up and backing away towards the door. Rocky followed close. 

“R-Rocky…dohon’t….”

The alien raised his claws up into the air quickly picking up the pace to match Grace’s backwards walking. 

“Rocky tickle Grace now! Thanking friend and run experiement!” 

Grace quickly turned around and began to bolt out of the laboratory for anywhere to hide. As fast as he could however…considering how exhausted he was. His body was finally starting to feel the effects. Crap. Rocky being close behind and quickly catching speed. The man nearly fell due to the fact he wasn’t wearing shoes and his socks made his friction on the floor being far less than with shoes. Catching himself on the wall sliding into a nearby room. He hadn’t really thought out this plan well..Rocky was incredibly fast and had intense hearing…He eventually was going to catch up and find him. Maybe secretly that's what he wanted. Rocky was so gentle with him all the time, and affectionate. He wouldn’t mind it in the slightest. After all, it made him and Rocky both happy. As he was lost in thought however, he didn’t notice his friend in the doorway to the room. Grace had practically trapped himself in his bedroom now with Rocky at the entrance. 

“Hey Grace!” He rolled closer to his friend.

“Uhhh…H-Hihi Rohocky…” He waved towards the Eridian, slumping to the floor in the middle of his room. Accepting his fate.

“Rocky want to help Grace relax. Rocky know how statement. And Rocky wants to try things!”

Grace began to curl his knees up to his chest. Hugging them as the Eridians sat right in front of him. 

“I-I don’t think that’s necessary pahal…” Rocky pushed his from appendages out of his protective hamster ball. Tapping at Grace's arms as a way to ask the man to let go of his legs and instead hold onto him. With a sigh, the man obliged. Holding onto the ball and wrapping his legs around it. His shoulders scrunched tight and up against his ears. 

“Just be soft alright bud?” 

“Rocky understands.”

Grace’s nose scrunched up as his expression turned into a wobbly smile. The slowness of Rocky's arms wrapping around his sides and resting on his back filled the anticipatory feeling inside his chest. Rocky remembered the first place Grace had tickled him. Imitating the same place now on Grace. His fingers gently began to trace and flitter across the teacher's back. Dragging up and down his spine as well. An almost immediate mouse-like squeak coming from him.

“EEE! R-Rohocky! Oho goodnehess!” 

Grace tried to wiggle and squirm from his friend arching his back just a little bit even though it did literally no good. Squealing as Rocky experimentally scratched underneath his shoulder blades. 

“GYEHahaha! *squeak* W-wahait nahat there R-Rohock!” 

“Grace so noisy statement” The alien chittered and gently stayed at that spot.

Grace tapped his feet on the floor and squirmed a bit against Rocky’s tickling. Pressing his forehead against the xenonite and letting his soft genuine laughs spill from his lips. 

“Ihi cahan’t help it buhud!” He hiccuped.

Rocky couldn’t help but think again…He learned that his sides weren’t ticklish and he already knew that Grace’s were so there was no need for experimenting there. He already had his answer there. He also knew just how ticklish the man's underarms and stomach were. But a little time in those spots wouldn’t be a waste in the slightest. With a few more pokes and prods against Grace’s back the tickling traveled down and across the human's belly. Sliding his paws underneath his shirt and pinching at the soft skin. Grace immediately bit down on his lip, squeezing his eyes tightly and holding in his laugh. His cheeks puffing out.

“Why Grace not laugh question?” 

Rocky was confused. Maybe human spots change over time? He instead changed his methods. Gently skittering his fingers against the lowermost part of the man’s belly. Causing Grace’s protest not to last very long as he erupted into adorable laughter. 

“PfffHYAHA! *snort* NahaAHAHA!” 

He sucked his belly in to try and protect himself from Rocky’s tickling fingertips. You would think he would have learned by now that it does literally nothing. But alas. 

“Rocky fix Grace laugh statement!” The alien enthusiastically trilled and dragged his curled paws up and down the sides of Grace’s belly. 

The man’s shoulders shook as he let go of the xenonite ball. Lightly pushing with little effort against Rocky. Being given the grace of a break however as rocky pulled his paws out from under the man’s shirt. Patting his sides. Before asking an interesting question. 

“Can Rocky see Grace hand question?”

After rubbing his cheek with a bit of confusion he agreed. Resting one hand on his tummy, rubbing out the butterflies that fluttered within. Giving the other to Rocky. 

“Why do you need my hand?”-

The Eridian gently held Grace’s wrist with one hand and used the other to gently circle a singular finger along the man’s palm. Tracing the creases and soft padding. 

“Gyeheh H-hehey buhuddy!” 

“Grace very ticklish statement.”

Grace curled up around himself the very best he could. Lots of giggles coming from the man as his hands were tickled oh so softly. He didn’t even know his hands were ticklish. He wasn’t surprised however. Like Rocky stated very clearly and despite how flustering it was. He was a very ticklish individual. 

Not too long after Rocky ceased his gentle and playful actions. Closing up graces fingers into a fist and giving his hand back. 

“Rocky done statement. Eridian and Humans share ticklish areas.”

Grace sighed as he hugged himself around his mid section. 

“Must you hahave to p-pohoint it out?”

“Yes.” 

Grace shook his head, catching his breath. Using Rocky’s ball to help push himself up and walk towards his bed. Rocky follows close behind to prepare to watch him sleep. 

“Ihi think…I really need to get some rest now.”

“Yes ! Grace finally sleep! Rocky watch Grace sleep yes yes.”

Rocky helped push Grace up into the bedding. Pulling the blanket across the man. His arm dangling off the side of it for Rocky to hold onto. Laying down next to the bed, loafing like a cat. 

“Thanks buddy…”

“Ill be here when you wake, Grace.” 

Since the day they met, Rocky had been fascinated by Ryland's body (- or more accurately, the human body). It was weirdly vertical, perhaps due to the lack of gravity compared to Erid, and had so many odd eccentricities that complicated it's shape.

One such oddity, was what Ryland called 'ears'.

Rocky had noticed them after Ryland had begun sitting and sleeping near the wall that separeted their ships, and once Rocky became mobile due to the ball he designed he was able to get an even closer look.

Seemingly random curves and hollows surrounded the epicentre, forming an overall lopsided conical shape with a small dangling circle at the base (that still confused Rocky to this day).

However, as often happens in science, one question quickly led to another discovery.

Ryland had been hunched over on the floor, scribbling in a notepad about their most recent attempt at solving the Astrophage problem, and Rocky had been crouched next to him tittering away about everything from their science mission to "Grace writing messy."

After a few moments of Ryland tuning Rocky out, the little rock creature had decided to turn his attention to the side of Ryland's head. Given they were so close, with Ryland practically lying against Rocky's ball, surely it wouldn't be difficult to Rocky to reach out and investigate his ear.

And reach out he did.

Rocky gently pushed his hand against the mesh of his ball towards Ryland, outstretching his claw and making sure his touch would be gentle as to not hurt Ryland. He got closer, and closer, and right as he made contact-

"HUH?!" Ryland flinched, ducking his head backwards into his shoulders and slapping at the air as if some extra-terrestrial mosquito had tried to take a bite out of him.

"Grace hurt?! Question?!" Rocky chirped, jumping back himself and retracting his claw.

Ryland rubbed his ear, a slight red tinge on his face. "No- no... You just... surprised me."

Rocky, relieved, settled back into his ball and let Ryland continue. Given his pressure wasn't enough to hurt Ryland, surely he could try again.

As Rocky's claw touched the shell of Ryland's ear a second time, Ryland stifled a giggle and slapped Rocky's arm away again.

"Rohock don't."

"Why Grace hit Rocky? Question?" Rocky wriggled, mildly disdained. "Grace said touch not hurt."

Ryland blushed further "I- uh- Well it didn't hurt, it's..."

"Rocky going to touch again. Statement." Rocky announced, reaching out through the mesh again.

"Rocky will not!" Grace yelped, swatting at Rocky's claw and dodging his head from side to side.

Rocky persisted. "Why Grace fight?! Question! Rocky want to touch ear! Why Grace not let Rocky touch?! Question! No surprise!"

After a moment of back and forth, Rocky widthdrew his arms and Ryland was able to settle back to his spot and pick up his notebook in peace.

At least, he thought so.

"Rocky touch again. Statement."

Without a moment to lose, Ryland scrambled to his feet. "No! No, Rock you can't!"

"Rocky touch Grace!" Rocky chirped, beginning to chase after Ryland. "Rocky learn about human ears! Rocky do science!"

Ryland giggled as his feet pounded through the Hail Mary. "Rohocky stop it!"

"Grace come back! Come back for science!" Rocky tumbled after him, clanging against the wall of every turn and surprisingly gaining on Ryland. "Rocky learn how to make humans make sounds!"

The hail mary had never been louder, footsteps pounding throughout the ship, metal clanging against metal, Ryland's nervous giggling echoing down the corridors, and Rocky's endless chirps chasing after him.

Ryland felt Rocky hot on his heels, increasing his giggling tenfold.

Rocky chirped in excitement and sped up. "Rocky not even have to touch grace! Rocky make grace make sound anyways!"

"Stohop chasing me then!" Ryland shouted back.

Rocky beeped. "No! Rocky want to find more sound! Rocky want to find why sound!"

With that, Rocky's ball smacked into Ryland from behind, sending the pair of them tumbling to the floor. Ryland, already in a fit of giggles, frantically tried to push Rocky off - but the little rock alien was far too determined in his pursuit of knowledge and rolled himself high onto Ryland's sternum.

"Rohocky Rohocky nonononoNONONO!" Ryland squealed as he watched his friend's claw extend out of the mesh again.

"Grace hurt? Question?" Rocky asked, pausing his attack.

"NOPE!" Ryland answered far too quickly. "Nope I'm fine just let me g-"

"Good! Rocky can continue science."

Ryland panicked, giggles bubbling out of his chest as Rocky reached out for his ear again. His sudden shift in movement made Rocky's ball slip, and Rocky grabbed out for anything to steady himself.

Unfortunately for Ryland, that happened to be his side.

"NONONO ROHOCKY!!!" Ryland squealed, legs curling up and kicking out in the air. 

"Oh! New sound! New sound!" Rocky beeped excitedly. "All humans make sounds when squished? Question?"

Ryland shot his hands up to cover his burning face with a giggly groan.

Rocky continued, poking and prodding his claw into the softest parts of Ryland's torso. "Why grace no answer questions? And why Grace face red? Question."

"SHUHUT UHUHUP ROCKY!" Ryland begged, feet drumming on the metal floor.  

Rocky decided to investigate further, adjusting his position so he could access Grace's neck. "Why Grace say bad words to Rocky? Rocky doing science! Grace like science! Statement!"

"THIHIHIS ISNT SCIEHEHEHENCE!" Ryland squeaked, shaking his head from side to side.

Rocky jumped up and down in his ball. "Is science! Is science! Rocky experiment with squishing Grace! Rocky find out why!"

Ryland slapped his hands against Rocky's ball in a futile attempt to free himself. "OKOKOK ITS CALLED TICKLING!"

Rocky paused. "New word? Question?"

"Uh..." Ryland stutterred, residual giggles still tmbling out of his mouth. "So, when humans are touched in particular spots, we tend to move away and... laugh."

Rocky seemed to ponder the thought a little. "Oh. Why tickling? Question?"

With another giggle, Ryland continued his explanation. "It's usually considered a social bonding activity, potentially for an evolutionary self defence-"

Seemingly out of nowhere, Rocky vibrated and bounced around excitedly. "TICKLING FOR FRIEND? QUESTION? ROCKY TICKLE GRACE GRACE BE FRIEND !"

Ryland shrieked as the vibrations rumbled through Rocky's ball and into his stomach. "ROHOCKY Rocky we're ahalready friends you don't have to tihihickle me!" 

"ROCKY BE MORE FRIEND WITH GRACE GRACE AND ROCKY FRIEND FOREVER ROCKY WANT TO TICKLING GRACE!" Rocky sang, intermitedly interrupted by happy beeps and chirps as he reached his claw out again.

Ryland began sliding his feet on the floor, trying to gain some kind of traction to get away again. "Nonono Rohohcky please!"

But there was no deterring the Eridian, Rocky somehow wormed his claw up under Ryland's arm (evoking a quite embarrasingly high pitched squeal).

"ROHOHOCKY QUIHIHIT IHIHIT!" Ryland begged, clamping his arm over Rocky's claw.

"Grace not want to friend rocky?" Rocky asked as he tickled, moving his claw down Ryland's sides again. "Grace not like rocky anymore? Question?"

Ryland groaned through his laughter, covering his face again. "Nohoho Rocky I do I dohoho I swear, just plehehease let me gohoho!"

Rocky vibrated again. "Grace friends with Rocky! Rocky tickling grace forever!"

"Nohohoho!" Ryland tossed his head from side to side. "Whahahat happened to sahave Earth save Eheherid???"

I look in the mirror, turning my head from side to side.

“Hm..”

“What wrong, question?”

“Nothing’s wrong- my hair’s just getting a little long. I haven’t cut it in a while.”

“Hair not look different to me.”

I shrug.

“Yeah it’s not all that much longer. I just get annoyed when the back touches my neck. It’s itchy.”

“Itchy, question?”

“Yeah. Human hair can have different textures - soft and smooth, coarse and stiff, thick, thin… I happen to have pretty thick hair, which can be scratchy.”

“Hm, Grace have bad hair.”

“Wow- okay.”

I huff, taking the shears out of the cabinet and flicking them on. Rocky flinches at the sound.

“What that?! Weapon?!”

“No! No, not a weapon! They’re just clippers! They wouldn’t put a weapon on the spaceship, Rock. This is used to cut hair, see?”

I turn to the side, eyeballing a rough cut of the shaggy hair at my neck.

It wasn’t a perfect cut by any means- even worse with my eyesight, but the end goal was comfort, not style.

A few tufts of brownish blonde hair tumble down my back and onto the floor. Rocky seems horrified by the sight.

“Hurt?! Grace hurt?! Losing body part!!”

“Nooooo, Rocky, hair doesn’t feel pain when you cut it off. People cut their hair all the time! Especially when it gets long and unruly.”

“‘Scuse me.” Simon appears, bargimg into the small bathroom, startling Roxy and me both. He reaches past me, grabbing a shirt he had hung to dry on the zero-G stabilizer bars near the ceiling.

“Yeah, see? Long and unruly, like this.” I tease, picking up and gently tugging a lock of Simon’s dark, long, unkempt hair.

“Get offa me, Astroboy.” He hisses, elbowing me in the chest, knocking me a step back. I snort, shoving him in the back, pushing him out of the bathroom. “Careful! I’ve got clippers! And you got in my way, Iron Man!” I chuckle.

“That one isn’t even clever.”

“Yeah it is! Blood’s made of iron!”

“Whatever.”

“60-170 micrograms per deciliter, baby.”

Rocky chirps with quiet laughter.

“See?! He thinks it’s funny.

Simon groans from outside in the dorm.

“Hey, your first nicknames for me were ‘Savior’ and ‘Angel’, and you didn’t drop either for days, so I don’t wanna hear it.”

“I thought I was dead, and you were the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes on a bright white foreign ship. OF COURSE I thought you were an angel! had just woken up from a coma!” Simon shouts, standing in the doorway, shirt held tight in his hand.

“Ohhhh welcome to the Confused Coma Club, Iron Man. Nice to have a third member! At least you didn’t wake up to a robot claw in your face. Would you put your shirt on please?” I snicker.

“Your shirt.”

“Well you’ve stretched the heck outta the thing, so it’s yours now.” I snicker.

“Asshole.”

“Language, Moon Fish.Hey, when are you gonna let me fix your hair up? Lord knows you haven’t done much with it since you got here.”

“I don’t want a haircut.”

“At least let me brush out. Pull it out of your face a little?” I suggest.

“No.” Simon grumbles as he turns to leave. “And for the record, you definitely got a kick out of ‘Angel’.”

“…Get out of my sight.” I click the clippers on and off at him a couple times as he walks off.

I roll my eyes, crouching down to collect the tufts, putting them in the waste bin.

“Why Simon no have to cut hair, question?”

“Because he doesn’t really care about it. It’s not mandatory, some people like their hair long, some like it short.” I run a hand through my hair, pushing the fringe back off my face. “I don’t like hair touching my face or my neck, so I keep it short. Simon couldn’t care less if he tried, so he lets it grow. Simple as that.” I shrug.

“Tedious. Tedious. Humans too tedious about appearance. Inefficient, statement.”

“Yeah well.” I mutter.

“’m headed up to the lab. Join me if you want to.” I say, placing the clippers back where I found them.

“What Grace working on, question?”

I shrug. “Got some samples I’ve been looking at the last couple weeks that I wanna check on.”

“Ohhh Simon Rocket samples!! Blood and metal!” Rocky chirps.

I grimace, shaking my head.

“Shhh! Rocky! …Ok, yes, those samples, but don’t say it so loud!”

“Why question?!”

“I don’t…” I peek my head out of the bathroom to make sure the coast is clear. “I don’t want Simon to know that I harvested samples from the planet and vessel that almost killed him!” I hiss.

“But… alive now! And okay! Should not matter.”

“In a perfect universe it wouldn’t matter. But trauma can make things that can no longer hurt you feel just as painful. And besides- he doesn’t react well to blood… he said it agitates him. I don’t wanna trigger him.”

“Why Grace get samples then?!”

“I got them before he told me all this! Look. I only work with the samples when he’s asleep, to minimize risk of exposure. I already feel bad enough keeping the stuff on board.”

“Then eject samples. Statement.”

“Through the airlock that’s as loud as a star exploding? Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Bad bad idea.”

“Yeah, well I don’t know what else to do, Rock. I’m doing the best I can.”

-

It’s late.

And you’ll just have to take my word for it, since it always looks like night in space, but according to the clocks in the lab, it was well after midnight.

Simon had gone to sleep early, around 9:45, as opposed to his normal 11:00, so I spent that extra time in the lab this evening doing some work on the hull and ocean samples that I had - selfishly - retrieved from Simon’s ship during the rescue mission.

It was truthfully meant to be somethingto keep me busy during the rest of the flight to Erid. I wanted to learn about the blood ocean, the ship itself, what perhaps critical design flaws went overlooked, leading to the wrek, and maybe even figure out how Simon’s body was able to mutate in such a short time.

I could ask Simon all these things too, of course. But there was no use jostling trauma that was still trying to heal.

By the end of my session, the lab station was a wreck covered in specks of rust, drops and splatters of blood at varying dilutions that had escaped the pipettes I had been using to transport it from vials to dish to slide.

It looked like a bit of a crime scene. I chuckle, lifting my goggles over my head, setting them to the side.

In the last few weeks, I had come up with some pretty interesting results from the experiments and tests I had spent so long in secret running. I did wish I could share them with Simon, but the time didn’t feel right.

Who knows if he’d even want to know some of this stuff. Why did I want to know?

There was a bin in the lab specifically for biowaste, which is where I discarded my stained gloves. Although the blood from the ocean wasn’t technically from a human, it still counted as human blood. Finally, I wipe down the station, and begin packing up all my samples.

“What could you possibly be working on this late.”

“AAAH-! Cheez-itz! Where did you come from?! Why are you up?!”

I jolted, scrambling to shove the rusted metal, vials, and microscope into the nearby cubby at the back of the lab station.

“Nightmare. What’re you doing?” He remained unflinching, standing with my cardigan lazily draped over his shoulders.

“Nothing! Nothing important I- I was just… working on something for Rocky… that he uh… asked me to do.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm!”

“Something for Rocky.”

“Yes.”

Simon looked me up and down.

“How many times I gotta tell you you’re an obvious liar. Simon rolls his eyes, pushing past me with ease.

“Simon-‘ wait, hold on-“

“Rusty metal? The hell does Rocky need with rusty metal when he has xenonite?” He mutters, peering into the cubby, dragging the lab set back out.

I groan as he leans down, looking at thw small vials of red liquid, all in a row on their stand, each one a slightly diluted color than the last. The stacked Petri dishes, and wrapped microscope slides.

Simon scanned the table, then looked back at me.

“Is this blood-? Are these samples from my ship?!” He looked… very irritated.

I freeze, unsure of how to respond.

He caught on quick….

“I- uhm, yeah…?”

He gave me a searching look, taking a step back.

“How the fuck did you get these?”

“I- I salvaged them during the rescue operation-!”

“Why do you have pieces of my ship?” His voice dropped. Ice cold.

“I- I’m sorry! I didn’t think it would be that… big of a deal..?”

“Not that big of a deal.”

“Yeah! I just- I just wanted to do some research on y-your ship! And the composition of-“

“You could just ask me that yourself, Ryland.”

“I mean, I could, but that would just be unnecessary trauma exposure…”

“AND THIS ISN’T?!” He shouted, slamming his prosthetic fist into the table. I clambered backward into a neighboring table, slamming my back into the corner of it.

“I told you specifically, in trust and confidence, that I NEVER wanted to see that god forsaken moon, the ship that was almost my CASKET, OR THE BLOOD THAT TURNED ME INTO A FUCKING MONSTER. EVER. AGAIN.” Simon shouted, bearing his teeth at me.

I cowered away, shifting away from the table, only to misstep, and fall backward onto the floor.

“I- I know, I know I’m sorry.”

“AND AT NO POINT, DID YOU THINK IT WOULD BE WISE TO TELL ME YOU KEPT SOUVENIRS OF MY DEATH SENTENCE?”

“I- I thought I could do a better job! At keeping it hidden!”

“That’s what you’re taking from this.”

Simon stood over me, the dim, pale light of the lab backlighting his hulking silhouette.

“NO! I- I didn’t mean it like that!” My heart was pounding in my chest.

“I’m not sure I believe you. Seems spot on to me” I could hear every inhale and exhale from his lungs. 

“Please-! Please, you- just listen! I already had the samples before I knew a-anything you told me. I wanted to bring it up but I didn’t know how ithout upsetting you, I’m sorry-!”

Simon says nothing. I swear I could see his red eye flicker in the low light as he stood over me like a devil in the dark.

“I- I can get rid of it! I can put it all in the airlock and I can shoot it aaaall out into space.”

…

“Simon..?” I was paralyzed, firmly against the wall like I was trying to phase right through it.

Simon makes some kind of move towards me that I could only see a split second of before I flinched, shutting my eyes.

“No- NO-! ROCKYYY!” I shout on a broken cry, balling up on the ground and bracing for… something.

Nothing ever came.

I heave, still rigid in fear.

Enough time passes for me to be confident I was no longer in danger. I open my eyes.

He’s… gone.

-

I’m in trouble… boy don’t I know it…

know I’ve made a mistake. A ridiculous, moronic, dangerous mistake. And honestly, if he would have torn me into microscopic pieces for going behind his back like I did, I wouldn’t hold it against him.

So stupid! All of that, just to do some reaserch on a moon I’m never going back to, and a vessel that’s been pulverized.

I feel like a horrible friend.

It’s been three hours. Simon is probably in bed by the window, and I’ve sequestered myself in the dorm, frankly too scared to go up.

He wouldn’t have actually hurt me…

Even if something did happen, that’d be 100% on me.

Rocky didn’t hear me calling for him. He was asleep, here in the dorm.

I set Simon off, AND left Rocky to sleep alone. Great.

I sit up slowly, standing up off the bed, pacing around in a circle around Rocky, asleep in his ball.

At the very least, I can gather up all my samples of Simon’s ship, and toss it all in the airlock. I won’t cycle it, since it’s late, and the airlock is deafeningly loud, but hopefully it’ll put Simon a bit more at ease if I prove that I’m willing to get rid of everything.

I think to myself.

Yeah, that’s a good plan.

I make my way up the ladder, out of the dorm and into the main, long hallway. It’s pretty easy to sneak around the ship, since nothing really creaks or squeaks under foot.

There’s no light aside from the dim emergency lab bulbs a few yards down the hall, the light spilling up from the dormitory hatch behind me, and the hazy starlight at the end of the corridor.

I feel like I’m walking through a haunted house. It’s dark, I can hardly see as is, and I don’t have any idea where Simon is.

I don’t know if he’s asleep, awake, still mad, and stalking me…

One step at a time… my only objective is to collect the samples, and put them in the airlock. Easy!

I come upon the enterance to the lab. Staying close to the wall, I lean over, peeking in.

Simon’s in the lab…. Simon’s in the lab?! What’s he doing..?!

He’s at the station I left all the hull samples at. Craptastic. What does he want with them?! I thought he didn’t want to see them!

Maybe he’s getting rid of them himself. Thats okay too, I guess. He isn’t obligated to tell me. Those were pieces of his ship, after all-

~Creeeeeak~

I jolt- I had put too much of my weight on the open lab door, making the heavy metal creak as it slid forward.

I ducked away, my back to the wall I had been so desperately hugging. I closed my eyes tight, biting my lip, hoping, praying that Simon didn’t hear.

…

A moment passed. Nothing. Clear.

I open my eyes, turning back around the corner.

“Ryland.”

“AGH-! Simon! I’m so- SO sorry, I- I wasn’t spying on you! I was-“

He raises both his hand.

“Stop talking.”

“Okay.”

“What are you doing? Why are you creeping around the ship like it isn’t your ship?”

“…”

“You can speak now.”

I sigh. “I… I thought you’d be asleep by now… I was coming back to get rid of all the samples…”

“Right.”

“I’m serious!”

“You weren’t gonna just move them someplace else.”

“Simon.”

“You understand my hesitation to trust you right now, right? It was easy enough for you to lie to me before, why wouldn’t it be now?”

“I didn’t lie to you!”

“Lying by omission is still lying, Ryland.”

“Fine, yes, that’s… that’s fair, and I’m sorry! I don’t know how else to prove to you that I’m sorry!”

“…”

“…”

“Did you learn anything?”

“W-what-? I I mean yes, I’ve learned a lot from this- n-not to just go and do things behind-“

“From the samples.”

My face goes a little red. Oops. “Oh. Y-yes, I did, yeah.” I mutter.

Simon stares at me for a moment, piercing eyes scanning my face like a laser.

He grabs me by the wrist, turns, and drags me behind him into the lab.

“W-wait woah-! Woah woah, what’re we doing?!”

We reach the lab station, and Simon shoves me down onto the lab stool.

“Show me.”

“…Show you…”

“Show me what you’ve gleaned from your samples.”

“Are you sure? We don’t have to-“

“Show me.” Simon hisses.

“Alright! Alright… okay. Um…” I tap my fingers anxiously on my thigh as o think of what to show him.

“Okay, well for starters, I know why your hill breached.” I say, reaching down to a metal filing drawer, pulling out a thick notebook, edges worn, with various corners of stray parts and sticky notes poking out in all directions.

I set it on the table, flipping it open, scanning the page with my finger.

“You keep physical notes?”

“Well I didn’t wanna risk you stumbling across the notes on the ship’s cloud drive, so I opted for physical.”

Simon groans.

“I l ow… I’m just being honest. Here.” I point to a paragraph on the center of the page. Keeping my finger on the paper to hold my place, I reach into the cubby at the back of the desk, pulling out a sealed, clear container that I’m sure Simon missed.

I hand it to him.

“That’s a chunk of the outside layer of your hull.”

“I can see that.” Simon groans,poking at the chunk of metal inside. It was a good sized piec- maybe about theee or four inches, square.

“Turn it over.” Simon flips the container.

“See the caked on blood there? Under earth.”

“Everything was caked in blood, what’s this supposed to prove.”

I stand up, looking down at the sample, and tapping the plastic of the container.

“Yes, but look. The entire bottom side of the piece is covered in dried blood. The bottom shouldn’t look like that if it were functioning properly. The outer layer wasn’t secured to the body of the vessel, and it was allowing ocean blood in between the hull and the body of the ship.” I explain.

“In space, a breach like that would kill you in minutes.”

Simon stares at the sample intensely.

“Rush job.”

“Rush Job. They just needed it done and built to send you down. It was a design error.”

I sit back down.

Simon is quiet for a while.

“What else.” His tone has softened quite a bit. He sounds curious now, as opposed to angry, and holding himself back.

I swivel back around on my stool to my notebook, flipping through the pages.

“Right, uh… nothing, nothing, nothing… a lot of obvious observations… oh! Oh…” I land on a page titled ‘Mutation’, and I sigh.

“What?”

“I uhm… I think I found what may have mutated your body, Simon.” I say cautiously. He stares at me, and I can’t read his expression at all.

“Okay, come here, look at this.” I slide everything on the desk aside, and pull the microscope forward.

I switch it on, and reach for a pair of gloves.

I spend the next few minutes setting up a slide with a drop of diluted ocean blood, and a very small sample of the only other living cell I could safely work with. A drop of taomoeba.

I close, and load the slide onto the microscope, and move out of the way for Simon to take a look.

“There’s something in the ocean blood. A microbe of some kind, and it’s aggressive.” I say.

“What’s it doing?”

“You see it? The little red cells?”

“Yeah… those aren’t blood cells..?”

“Yes, and no. They’re similar. They have almost the same composition and shape, but they’re poonty.”

Simon adjusts the magnification on the slide, zooming in.

“Has it found a tapmoeba yet?”

“Yeah, it… it attacked it. It killed it.”

“Keep watching.” I fold my hands in my lap, turning to watch Simon.”

“It’s moving again. The taomoeba. But it’s moving around kinda frantic.”

“Yeah, I observed the same.” I say. “The ocean blood cell attacked it, killed it, and replaced what was lost withsome e of itself. It mutated the taomoeba.”

Simon Stands up straight.

“That’s what happened to you. The microbe got into your system through a wound, probably, killed off parts of your body, and managed to change your genetic code just enough to convince your body to self edit.” I sigh.

Simon nods slowly, his eyes fixed on the floor.

“I mean… it’s not all terrible, though. If you really think about it, if you weren’t mutated into something that could withstand the ocean… you may not have made it out. I may not have ever found you.”

I stand up, shoving my hands in my pockets.

“The mutation doesn’t seem to be spreading anymore, since you got here. Which is also a plus. You had enough healthy human cells to fight off the infection, with Armando’s help, so it’s not gonna get any worse. The ocean blood cells can’t survive without th right atmospheric conditions. Thats why I keep them in the vials- oh!”

Simon cuts me off, wrapping me in a tight hug. I stand there, frozen like a fool, unsure of what I’m supposed to do or say.

“Thank you.”

“For… what, exactly-?” I mutter.

He doesn’t reply for a while.

“Proving with your sneaky, annoying science that I’m not a monster.”

The words are quiet, muttered into my shoulder like something he was assuring himself of, and not telling me as a fact.

“What?! Of course you aren’t. You never were. You’re a survivor.” I finally bring my arms up, hugging him back for a long while.

With a deep breath, I take him by the shoulders, prying him off me, and holding him at arms length so I could look him in the eye.

“And look, I’ll still get rid of the samples if you want me to. I never should have hidden them from you, and if you want them gone, they’re gone.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No, it’s better if you keep them.”

“Are you certain that’s what you want?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll even let you cycle the airlock yourself.” I chuckle.

“Angel, I’m positive.” He smiles softly.

“Angel? Why am I Angel again Not Gracie, or Astroboy?”

“Would you prefer something else?”

“No, just wondering.” I shrug, letting go of Simon’s shoulders, and turning back to the lab table. I grab a small cup, and a small squeeze bottle that I had lying off to the side, filling the cup about a quarter inch.

“What’re you doing now?”

“Killing the mutated taomoeba. I don’t want these little guys running around the ship. Already had one leak, and that was plenty.” I remove the slide carefully from the microscope, and dunk it into the cup.

Simon leans down over the cup, his hair falling over his shoulder, into his face, dangling over the cup.

I gasp, quickly reaching over, gathering his hair and holding it back. The solution wasn’t volatile, just some lab grade isopropyl alcohol, but a rule o always had in my classroom was to keep hair, clothes, skin, and jewelry away from chemicals at all times.

“Careful-! Careful- my god! How many times do I need to tell you to watch your hair around the lab!” I scold, holding a bit too tight, as evidenced by whether grimace on Simon’s face.

“Sorry, my bad- here let me…” I step behind Simon, twirling his hair around two of my fingers, and fastening it onto a tight bun. He didn’t seemed thrilled, but he didn’t fight me.

“There. Perfect. It wouldn’t hurt to wear some goggles… too…” I trail off a bit, walking back around to the side, as Simon looks at me.

“What?”

“N-nothing! I’ve just never seen you without your hair in your face. Looks good!”

He rolls his eyes. He did honestly look a lot different. The usual shadow cast over his eyes was gone. They were a lot kinder in the light - and maybe a bit tired.

“It feels ridiculous.”

“It isn’t, you’re just not used to it.”

Simon groans walking to the other side of me, helping me clean up the lab station.

“Oh- no don’t worry about it, I got it.”

I shake my head, looking up at Simon. I catch a glimpse of something I hadn’t seen before just as he picks up some equipment, and pivots to go put it back in a cabinet a few paces away.

“Wait- hold up. Back up. Come here a second.”

Simon sighs. He knows exactly what I saw.

“No, you make too big of a deal out of everything.”

“Correct! Now come here! You’ve got another mutation you weren’t telling me about?”

“So you can keep secrets, but GOD FORBID I do…”

I jog over to him, ignoring his jab. “Hold on, let me see!”

Simon rolls his head back in annoyance, before relenting. “Oh my god, it’s not that interesting!”

“You’ve got a fin for an ear! That’s incredibly interesting!”

It’s true. On the same side as the rest of his mutation, Simon’s ear had become something like a multi-pointed fin around the shell. The points were sharp, three of them, jutting out about two inches from where the top curve of his ear used to be. A r rib of cartilage held each point up, like the bones of a duck’s webbed feet.

The extension of the ear faded in an even ombré from the paling tan of Simon’s slin, to a bright ruby red at the ends of each spoke.

“That’s incredible! This is what you were hiding under your hair this whole time?!”

Simon takes a seat on the low lab table, letting me do my thing.

“Yeah, it looks dumb.”

“No it doesn’t you look like a dragon! You’re so tough on yourself, Si, jeez.” I say, still glued to Simon’s fin.

“What could this mutation possibly have been useful for…?” I mutter to myself, running a finger along the back of the fin.

Simon’s head lulls to the side, into my hand just slightly. It seemed to happen against his will.

“Yeah?” I give Simon a sideways smile, repeating the motion again, scritching with a bit more pressure this time. He tilts his head again, looking at me like I’ve put some kind of spell on him.

“No way-!” I laugh.

“I’m not doing anything! I can’t contr-ol i-it!” I scratch behind Simon’s ear with purpose, and he drops his head completely into my hand. And his leg starts to bounce against the ground.

I smile wide, laughing more out of surprise than anything else.

“Oh my goodness! You’re like a puppy! A sea puppy!” Simon tries to scowl at me, but a smile fights his way onto his face.

“C-cuhut that out, Grace.”

“You’re laughing! Does that tickle? Ha!” I experimentally run a nail up one of the points, earning a snort from Simon. He shrugs his shoulder up in defense.

“Haha! How silly is that?!” I lift my other hand to his opposite ear, scratching behind it the same way. He laughs just as much as he did with the fin, but without any additional movement.

“Ohhh okay, so you’ve just got ticklish ears anyway. But this one-“ I give the back of his fin a sort of rough scratch.

He lets out a high piched cackle, dropping his head to the side again, his knee bouncing in place.

“This one’s the ticket right here!” I snicker.

“A-ahahAHAhaAHA-! G-GRAHAHACE!”

“Yeah? Whats up, bud?” I lower my hand on Simon’s undamagwd side to scritch along the curve of his jaw. He laughs through gritted teeth.

“S-stoHOHOP! I- I’m gonna kihihill you!”

“Noooo, you won’t. Earlier if you told me that I woulda believed you- but you wouldn’t be calling me ‘Grace’ if you were really upset. It’d be ‘Ryland’.” I say my own name with a deep, gravelly imitation of Simon’s voice.

Simon shakes his head back and forth, slowly sliding down off the table. I follow him down to the floor, a hand on the back of his head to make sure he didn’t smash it into the table on his descent.

“Ok, floor it is. Comfortable?” I sit on my knees towering over his slumped down form.

“Stay- a-away from me.”

“Why would I do that, Siren?”

“Siren-?”

“Yeah, the dish fin thing gives you a kinda mermais, siren kinda look. And it rhymes with Simon, so-“

“Laaaame.”

I scoff. “Askin’ for it!” I say, bringing my hands back to either side of Simon’s head, skittering randomly all over, behind his ear, behind his fin, along his jaw, under his chin, and down his neck, all while making the most annoying ’tchktchktchk’ sound through my teeth, just to tease him, really.

“A-AHAHAHA-HAHA!! GOHOHOHODDAMNIT-!!”

“I would have never known your face could turn so red with all that hair you kept in your face, man!”

“S-shuUHUT UP-!” Simon puts his arm across his face.

“Absolutely not, c’mon.” I tutted, shooting a hand down underneath the arm, pinching and prodding at his armpit. His arm comes crashing back down to his side, and he howls.

“AHAHAHAAAA-! FUHUHUCK!! GRACIE- GRACIE, PLEHEHEASE.”

“You can’t butter me up with a nice nickname, that doesn’t work as well as you think it does.” I drag my hands down, gently running my nails over Simon’s gills. I know it can be a bit much for him, so I take it easy.

“AGH!! YOHOHOU BASTARD-!”

“See? That’s why nice nicknames don’t work. And I’m not even being aggressive about it! I’m going nice and easy.” I say in a bit of a condescending tone. I’m having fun, sue me.

“DohoHON’T patronihihize me I could tAHAKE it.”

“Ohhh is that a challenge, Fishstick?” I grin, stilling my hands.

“Do it, Foxtrot.” Simon hisses.

I smile, staring down at him for a moment.

I extend a hand to him firmly.

“No fighting, hitting, or shoving me off. Gills, thirty seconds, or until you say “Hail Mary.” Deal?”

Simon mulls it over in his head for a moment.

He takes my hand and gives it a confident shake.

“Deal.”

“Alright, ready?” Simon nods.

I swing a leg over him, straddling him by the thighs to keep him down. “3… 2… 1!”

I latch onto Simon’s ribs, both hands velcroed to the middle gills on each side. With everything I have, I vibrate my fingers into the arches.

Holy moly his screaming could wake the dead.

“AAAAAAA AAHAHAHAHHAHA-!!! SHIT SHIT SHIHIHIT-!”

“Let’s find kinder words.”

“NOHOHO, SCREW YOHOHOUHAHAHAHAHA-!’ OH MY GOHOHOD-!”

“Could’ya say it a little louder? I couldn’t hear you too well, actually.”

I chuckle, and switch to raking my nails up and down Simon’s ribs with force I typically would never use. Not enough to leave any sort of mark, but probably pretty close to it.

By this point, Simon has completely slid onto his back on the floor. He had taken to gripping the locked drawer handle behind and above him to keep his arms out of the way. Man, he was serious about this.

“Fifteen seconds.” I announce. I speed my hands up, switching back to the vigorous kneading from before, making Simon’s entire body jolt.

“Huh, look at that- your other ear is just as red as your fin now.” I tease.

“HUHIHUSH.”

“So rude.” I huff, leaning down, and without slowing my hands down, blow hard against the side of Simon’s neck.

I had forgotten to shave earlier too. If this were any other situation, I’d apologize for the scruff.

“AAAHAHAHAHAHA-! FOUL! THAHAHAT’S A FOHOHOIL!”

“No it isn’t. I just said “gills”. I did t specify which gills. You signed off on it.” I say with a conniving smile.

I blow another, then another, the seconds ticking down. I switched quickly to the raking motion against his ribs again, and to my surprise…

“OKAHAHAHAY!! OKAY OKAY OKAY I GIVE!”

I slow down a bit, but don’t stop.

“What do you sayyyy,theeeen?” I I sing out.

“HAIL MAHAHARY! HAHAHAIL MAHAHARY-! PLEASE-! Please-! A-Angehehel-!” His voice quiets down as o stop at the very first word.

“You alright?”

Simon groans, letting his arms fall from the drawer handle.

“Yehehes. I’m fine. Did I make it.?”

“Three seconds short.”

“Bullshit.”

I snicker. “Toooold youuu- WOAH-!”

Simon takes me by the shoulders, pulls me down, and barrel rolls us both over, pushing up once he’s successfully swapped our positions.

“That was a cheap shot to the neck! I would have won!”

I laugh incredulously. “You ALWAYS say that! It was fair game! Get ohohoff me!” Simon gets one decent squeeze to my stomach before I catch his hand, wrestling it away.

Simon growls, pushing against my arms as I push back, the two of us wrestling like dogs on the lab floor.

I pull my legs free drum under Simon, moving them both to the right, and using them to push Simon over to the left, successfully knocking him off me.

“Oof-! Christ! Where the hell did you learn that?!”

Don’t worry about it! TRUCE! Truce! No more.” I yelp out through nervous laughter as Simon looks at me like he’s gonna jump at me again.

“Truce.” I say again.

“Fine, Fine, truce.” He nods, pushing his hair, that had long since jostled free of the bun, back behind both ears.

“Hey! You’re wearing it out of your face now!” I smile, crossing my arms.

The right, unscarred half of his face turns a little bit pink. I never knew it took so little to embarrass him- I’m learning a lot with a clearer view of Simon’s face.

He gives me a look. He knows I noticed.

He rolls his eyes, lift in himself off the ground.

“Oh shut up, Gracie, you’re just as bad.” He leans down as he walks past, grabbing my cheeks and giving my face a firm shake, before stepping over me on the floor. “At least I have the hair to cover it up.”

“You have the hair because you refuse to cut it.”

“I do t want it cut!”

“You’re just too lazy to cut it!”

“I am not too lazy, o simply do not feel like it.” Simon mutters, replacing all the tools and equipment on the lab table back in their respective homes.

“First of all, same thing, and I’ve offered to do it, no less than 700 times.”

“And magically, you think im gonna say yes on the 701st ask! You know what that is? Insanity.” He points a finger down at me. “And besides I don’t trust you. You’re scissorhappy.”

“Wrong!”

“Correct!”

“I cut my own hair just fine, and I can cut yours!”

Simon looks at my hair with a raised brow, then back down at me.

“Yeah, I’ll pass.”

“What?! I look great!”

“In the dark.”

“Fishbrain…”

“Dogboy.”

“Dog boy?!” I scoff

“Yeah, your whole thing is foxes. Foxes are dogs”

“Incorrect. They’re both in the Canidae family, but they’re completely different. Just like how a tabby cat isn’t the same as a tiger.”

“Ohhh whatever! You certainly yap like a fox.

I snort, standing up off the floor. “Yap yap yap yap!” I make “quiet coyote” hands, making them bark in Simon’s face.

“Get away from me, you stray.” He mutters.

“Don’t hate on foxes, you’re still wearing my cardigan!” I snicker, bumping into Simon on purpose as I walk past. He shoves me back, making me hop a step forward.

“Oh! You can keep that notebook, by the way.”

“Notebook?”

“Yeah, the one with all the stuff I wrote on your ship samples. There’s two whole pages about the composition of the ocean. Some weird stuff in there.”

Simon looks down at the still open notebook on the table.

“You sure? You don’t need it?”

“Nah, next time I work on the samples, you can help me out. I’ve got plenty more books- we can start another one.” I smile.

Simon nods slowly, closing the book carefully, keeping a hand on the cover.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.” I give Simon a thumbs down, which he returns with a quiet whir of his xenonite arm.

“I gotta get back to Rocky… I’ve let him sleep alone wayyyy too long.”

“Right, alright. G’night, Starman.”

“Ha’ I like that one!” I laugh on my way out of the lab. “There’s a staaaaaarMAAAAAAN waiting in the skyyyyy!”

It took the entire trip back to Erid before they finally found a base model prototype that functioned well enough, but it still needed tweaking. Plus, once Grace’s dome was built so he could live on Erid, Rocky’s new xenonite suit had to be tested under brand new, human conditions instead of a spaceship. 

They broke their tests down into three categories: dexterity (how efficient could Rocky move his limbs), speed (how fast Rocky could maneuver), and durability (how well Rocky’s suit could handle the test without sustaining damage like cracks or scratches). They also added a fourth category for comfort. It started off as how comfortable Rocky was in his suit, but it quickly transformed into how comfortable the suit is for Grace when Rocky gives him hugs or snuggles up to him. So far, it’s excelled in that category.

Grace sits on the floor of his Eridian-made house with his legs crossed. In his hands, he has a notepad and a pen.

“Okay, so we’ve already checked the suit against atmospheric pressures; activities like swimming and running; elements like water, sand, grass… doors,” Grace lets out a little chuckle at that last one.

The rock alien across from Grace pipes up, wearing the newest version of his tight, but comfortable xenonite suit. 

“Yes, Rocky learned that suit can handle door if Grace hits Rocky with it,” the alien’s computer voice from Grace’s laptop translates. Grace is starting to get a little bit of a grasp on the Eridian language, and Rocky his, but it's always nice to have the translator in the room.

“I didn’t hit you with the door! You ran into it while I was opening it!” Grace points the pen at his friend and smiles.

“How Rocky tested suit against door is irrelevant, statement,” Rocky waves his claw.

Grace huffs out another laugh. “So, what do you want to test next?”

Thinking it over, Rocky taps his rock face like where a chin would be located. “Rocky is not sure. What does Grace want to test next, question?”

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second,” Rocky responds like it’s a game.

“Hey, are you copying me?” Grace jokes, “What are you, a parrot?”

Grace thought Rocky would continue throwing quips at him, but instead, Rocky tilts his body to the side. If Rocky could blink in confusion, he would. “Do not understand Grace,” Rocky replies, “Grace say new word.”

“Oh. Did I never explain what a parrot is?” Grace is a little surprised himself. Out of all of their conversations, he’s surprised something humans usually learn in kindergarten never came up. He puts his pen and paper down and pushes to the side. “It’s an animal back on Earth. I mentioned to you what a bird is, right?”

“Yes, yes!” the alien perks up, “Rocky recognizes bird.”

“Well, a parrot is a type of bird. Some humans have them as pets. They’re able to mimic speech or sounds that a human teaches them, or that they pick up from their environment. They usually perch on a human’s shoulder as a companion,” Grace taps at his own shoulder.

Rocky seems intrigued at this, wiggling his body. “Rocky understand! Rocky repeated Grace, so Rocky sounded like parrot.”

“Exactly.”

The alien still has an exciting thought on his mind. “Can Rocky be Grace’s companion?”

“What do you mean? You already are, buddy,” Grace smiles.

“No, no. Like bird!”

“What?” Grace chuckles.

“With new suit, Rocky can be Grace’s bird companion on shoulder!” Rocky skitters over to Grace, sliding behind his back before the human can respond. He drapes his stony arms over Grace’s shoulders like a backpack and tries to hop on top of the human.

Grace playfully tries to elbow him off, “What?! No way! You’ll crush me, you big boulder!”

“Grace will be fine. Rocky want to try! Grace, lower shoulder!” Rocky takes another attempt at climbing on Grace, his scrambling back claws grabbing and swiping across the sides of his torso to gain a foothold like a ladder.

The human continues to ‘fight’ off the curious alien. “Rocky–! AH! Wahahait wait! You’re tickling me!” the squishy human compacts his arms to himself and giggles.

Rocky stops his skittering, but keeps his arms over Grace’s shoulders. The alien learned about what tickling was back on the ship when Rocky had poked Grace’s fleshy side one day. Rocky tickled Grace all the time to pass the boring moments in space, and to mess with the human (Rocky thinks it’s a nice bonding experience too), but Rocky was slightly limited to the pokes and prods he could do through the mesh of his big, clunky ball. But now…

Rocky gets a smug idea. A low purr takes the place of a smirk. 

Grace recovers, still on the parrot thing, “I don’t think this is going to work, bud.” 

“Rocky knows what he wants to test next with the suit,” the alien pipes up from behind.

Grace glances over his shoulder. “Oh yeah? And what’s that?” Grace asks right before a yelp rockets out of his throat; without a moment to waste, Rocky skitters his claws into Grace’s sides.

“AH! Hehehehey!” bouts of laughter already spill out of the human.

“Rocky want to tickle Grace!” The alien chirps. “For science!”

Grace clamps his arms to his sides and squirms in place. “Yeheheah, I figured thahahat part out! Whoa-!” 

Rocky tackles Grace from the back like a big dog, sending the human belly-flopping to the floor as if he is a drawbridge. Grace stretches himself out like a cat flattening itself to the floor as Rocky stands above him experimenting with his claws on Grace’s torso.

“So! First test: dexterity!” Rocky announces. “With new suit, Rocky can flex claws much easier to scratch and squeeze at squishy flesh of Grace. Rocky will demonstrate.”

And the alien does, kneading at Grace’s side like dough and skittering his claws over the back of his ribs. Grace barks out a laugh on top of his other booming laughter and pulls his arms closer to his sides. Grace wiggles around, but Rocky holds one leg on Grace's back to weigh down the scientist so he stays lying on his belly.

The alien lets out a pleased chirp. “Surprised! New suit is working much more effectively for tickling already, statement. That, or Grace has become much more ticklish.”

Oh, now Rocky is just teasing him, huh? 

“Reheheheally? I think it’s the sahahame!” Grace uses sarcasm to try and keep a sliver of his pride, but Rocky squashes that immediately with a well-placed squeeze to his side that causes him to snort. Grace face-plants into the floor, his chest bouncing with uncontrollable giggles.

“Grace serious, question? Can Grace hear self? Grace is laughing so much more,” Rocky counters the scientist’s claim. Grace can feel the blush creeping under his glasses.

“New suit can also tickle harder to reach spots, like here,” Rocky slips his claws into Grace’s armpits, to which Grace folds his arms down even tighter to himself and shoots his head up with giggles. He kicks his legs behind him. Rocky sees this and knows he has to take advantage of it, naturally. The alien turns and catches one of the human’s kicking legs. “And back of knees,” Rocky punctuates with a scribble to the pocket of skin.

Grace completely dissolves into a giggly puddle. “I see-hehehehe-ee that–AHA! Rohohohocky!!!” Grace swipes at the air when Rocky sneaks in an extra third claw to test a few tickles at the foot beneath his sock. The human presses his face back into the floor, slamming his fist to the ground next to the side of his head.

Even past his own overflow of giggles, Grace can hear Rocky letting out a squeaky chuckle as he scratches at Grace’s toes. “Still shocked how human's walking appendages can be so ticklish.”

Grace lifts his face off the floor. “Rohohocky! Stahahay focused ohohon the experiment!” he shouts at his friend, knowing that Rocky deviated from the task at hand to mess around a little.

Rocky hums out chuckles and lets go of Grace’s leg, giving the scientist a short breather. “Okay, okay. Dexterity has been checked for efficiency. Rocky will test speed now.”

Before Grace can even get out a word, Rocky leaps back to Grace’s top-half, now changing tactics to quickly scribble and scratch at his friend’s torso like he was flipping a bunch of buttons on a control panel. 

Grace laughter returns in full force. “Rohohohocky!” Grace shifts so he can turn over on his side, and Rocky steps off of Grace’s back to allow the human to roll off his stomach. The scientist curls up and wiggles around on his side, trying to defend against Rocky’s swift claws attacking him from the front. 

“Speed in new suit appears effective for tickling as well, statement. Can keep up with the movement of squirmy human. Squirmy like Earth worm,” Rocky throws in. “Does Grace agree, question?”

“Whahahat do you thihihihink?” Grace sasses, only getting two claws digging into his belly in response. He yelps and flops onto his back with a wheezy cackle. Rocky hops over the human like a hurdle to his other side, positioning himself there to continue the tickles.

“Grace did not answer question,” Rocky hums, knowing fully well that he’s teasing his friend.

“Ohohohokay yes!” Grace covers his face, leans his head back, and kicks out his legs. “I agree! I agree!” he quickly amends his statement before throwing his arms back down to his torso and swatting at Rocky’s claws. 

Rocky’s suit certainly makes him faster, but Grace’s reflexes swinging around his middle like a shield is making it difficult.

Rocky almost lets out a little squawk of frustration. “Grace. Hands are in the way of experiment.” As soon as the alien says this, it clicks for Rocky that his new suit has the solution. He beams, “Rocky will move them!”

When Grace takes another swat at Rocky, the alien pauses his tickling to gently grab one of Grace’s wrists and hold his hand up by Grace’s head. The scientist appreciates the breather, but he also hasn’t fully processed his position. It isn’t until he sees Rocky’s claws preparing to come at him that he shoots back into a giggly frenzy.

“Wahahait! Wait, Rocky! Time out!” Grace waves his free hand, already turning his head into his shoulder with a smile and trying to lean away from Rocky’s hovering claw. 

The alien seems surprised at this. Rocky tilts his body again. “Why is Grace laughing already if Rocky is not touching yet, question?”

Grace sinks his head into his shoulders, realizing his slip up. He flushes under his glasses. “Because! Because it’s funny!” Grace replies.

“It is funny, but not the reason why Grace is laughing,” Rocky doesn’t buy Grace’s explanation in the slightest.

With one of Grace’s arms held up beside his head and Rocky’s claw dangerously close, the scientist wagers he’s better off explaining the truth. Though, that doesn’t prevent the butterflies fluttering in his belly at the concept of trying to teach Rocky the cause of his outburst while in a precarious position.

He takes a breather to get his frazzled thoughts in order. He adjusts his glasses. “Um… okay… So you know how you’re going to tickle me, r-right? Well, even if you’re not actually tickling me, my brain is expecting it, so the anticipation is already activating my ‘flight or fight’ response, which in this case is causing me to laugh already. It’s kind of like our brain is tricking us that we’re being tickled before it even happens.” After he finished his explanation, Grace thinks he’s about to short circuit from embarrassment, right then and there. 

There’s a moment of silence as the alien processes the new human quirk. Then, he responds, “That’s dumb.”

Grace lets out a flustered scoff, “Well excuse you!” 

“How can the human brain be so easily tricked, question?”

Grace counters, “Well, I seem to remember YOU being tricked when I pretended to throw you a ball and you went after it when I didn’t actually throw it.” Grace snickers at the memory of fooling around with Rocky while they were on the ship, like his alien friend was a dog playing fetch with his little stress ball of Earth.

Rocky does not seem as amused. “Oh, yes. Rocky remember. Made Rocky feel foolish.” Rocky pauses. He hums and shakes his body; if he could smirk, this would be his way of showing he’s doing just that.

“But now, with new suit, Rocky can now trick Grace,” the alien brings up two of his claws and wiggles them closer to the scientist, whose arm is still snugly in the Eridian’s grip.

Grace squeaks, already letting out giggles against his control. “Rohocky! That’s so mean!” 

“Take this! And that!” Rocky pretends to aim for spots across his torso where his claws can hover. The first few times get Grace to flinch and giggle, but Grace stops reacting as Rocky repeats his movements, like a cycle.

Grace blinks at the alien, “Well, it’s not going to work now since I know you’re just tricking me—HEHEY!” Grace is interrupted by one of Rocky’s teasing claws officially plunging itself into Grace’s outstretched armpit. Rocky’s second free claw joins in, scratching at his ribs, earning the happy sound of Grace’s loud laughter he was waiting for. 

Rocky squeaks out a snicker. “Rocky likes tricking Grace, statement. Rocky got an even bigger reaction. Did not think that was possible.”

Grace cackles, “NOHOHOT fair!!! Yohohohou hahahave five arms!” 

“Seems like a human problem,” Rocky shrugs.

“Ohohohokay! That’s it!” Grace declares. In a burst of instinctive playfulness, not even considering the possibility if this will work or not, Grace launches his free hand towards Rocky and squeezes his leg, wrapping his fingers into the back of his joint. Rocky squeals.

He instantly topples off of the human, hitting the floor backwards with a clunk like he was just shoved by an invisible force. Rocky scrambles to get back on his legs.

Grace quickly sits up, a slight pant leftover to his words. “Rocky! Are you okay! I’m sorry I was just playing! I didn’t mean to hurt you!” Grace says frantically.

Rocky waves his claws to reassure him. “Rocky okay. Rocky was not hurt. It was, however, a strange… funny feeling.”

At first, Grace is still worried, but the second he thinks about Rocky’s word choice, it hits him.

Grace starts to smile. “Wait a minute… a funny feeling you said? Rocky, you wouldn’t happen to be ticklish, now would you?” Grace’s grin grows wider.

Rocky stomps his foot. “N-No! It was just a funny feeling that made Rocky want to laugh!”

“Yeah, that’s called being ticklish, buddy. Ha! I can’t believe this!”

Rocky’s computer voice sputters. “No! No! Human tickling does not work on Rocky! Only Eridian tickling!” 

“Wait, hold on-” Oh, this just got even better. “There’s an Eridian version of tickling, and you never told me?” Grace points an accusing finger at his friend.

Rocky freezes, realizing the gravity of the information he just spilt. He turns around to face away from Grace and crosses his arms.

“Rocky thought it was unnecessary to tell. Rocky was also in xenonite ball, so Grace could not touch. Grace’s attempts to try would have been futile.”

As much as Grace wants to ask about Eridian tickling, that’ll have to wait. Right now, he’s interested in testing a theory about Rocky’s new suit.

“But you’re not in that ball anymore, are you?” Grace smirks at him. Rocky whips around to face Grace; his rock face doesn’t show it, but the way he’s standing stiff shows he’s mortified.

Grace revels in Rocky’s reaction. “I think I know how we can perform the durability test of your suit,” Grace wiggles his fingers in the air. 

With a squeak, Rocky tries to scatter, but Grace practically pounces towards him like a panther. The human lands on top of him and a well placed scratch to the side of the alien’s rock face makes Rocky squeal and his legs collapse from under him like a ton of bricks. The mesh of the xenonite suit under his fingers feels like the gel of an unfrozen ice pack, but he can also feel the hard surface of Rocky’s shell beneath. Grace quickly theorizes that his scribbling fingers are causing seismic-like waves to course through Rocky’s shell. In other words, it’s like Grace is creating a mini earthquake vibrating through the Eridian, resulting in the tickly feeling for Rocky, but he’ll have to confirm that theory later. First, revenge!

While his fingers skitter across Rocky, already earning sputters of high-pitched trills and gurgles from his friend, Grace swiftly sits back and drags Rocky into his lap like an extra heavy bowling ball, using his criss-crossed legs like a nest to hold the alien.

“Gr-Grahahahahace!” Rocky’s chirps become melodic, as if his laughter is performing a tune. He flails his limbs like he’s trying to regain his footing, but catching nothing but air. Grace knows Rocky is so much stronger than him, but the tickling seems to have the alien malfunctioning like a robot that just got a bucket of water thrown on them. Even his computer voice has trouble translating the increase of giggly garbles and squeaks that spew from the Eridian.

“Wow,” Grace has to giggle at the sight. “It looks like your suit is holding up so far. How about you, Rocky? You look really ticklish,” Grace emphasizes.

“Rohohocky is ticklish a nohohohormal amount!” Rocky tries to squeak with pride. “Human is mohohore ticklish! Abnormally so!”

“Oh no, I don’t think you’re in any position to be talking back to me, mister. I’m not going to take any sass from someone who looks like a jellyfish flopping out of water,” Grace smirks.

“Rohohocky does not know what that is! Buhuhut knows Grace is trying to fluster Rocky!” Rocky shoves at Grace’s legs to put up some kind of a fight, but the human knows that’s not the alien’s full strength. Rocky starts to heats up as if he is an electric blanket splayed out across Grace’s lap. Grace guesses this is the Eridian version of a blush when their surface becomes warmer.

“And it’s working, huh?” Grace observes, “Hey, does this work on you too?” Grace stills his fingers to give Rocky a quick breather. When the alien turns to face the human, he lets out a squeal and presses himself to the pocket of Grace’s criss-crossed leg as he notices Grace wiggling his fingers in his face. 

The alien already releases chirpy giggles while watching the wiggling appendages he’s trying to get far away from move closer.

“Grahahace!” Rocky squeaks, his computer voice frantic with anticipation.

“Ha! It does work!” The scientist rejoices and plunges his fingers back towards Rocky for real this time, not wasting a second. Rocky shrieks again, and bats gently at Grace’s hands that are exploring around the small pockets of holes at the front of his rock face. “Who’s brain is getting tricked now!” Grace throws in for good measure. 

“Shuhuhuhut your human face hole!” Rocky then shrieks when Grace grabs one of his legs and tickles around the center of his joint, very similar to when Rocky tickled the back of his knees.

“Excuse you! And it’s called a ‘mouth,’ Rocky. Did our anatomy lessons teach you nothing?”

“Rohohohocky knows human hahahave five fingers, ahahahand it is SO unfair fohohohor tickling!” Rocky states through his abundance of joyful chirps.

Grace scoffs, “Oh, well now you know how I feel!” 

The alien shouts, “Nohohohot the same!”

“Oh yeah?” Grace lets go of Rocky’s leg and utilizes all ten of his fingers to the fullest, one hand at Rocky’s side, scratching like he was giving a big dog belly rubs, while his other hand skitters up and down his carapace like a spider. Rocky practically squeals, nearly falling out of Grace’s legs and onto the floor again.

“What were you saying again, Rocky?” Grace grins.

“EEP! 𝅘𝅥𝅮♬♪♬ !” Rocky chirps out a harmony with how much he’s giggling, “Ohohokay! Okay! Grahahahace has made point! Nohoho more tickle! Plehehease!”

As soon as he hears this, Grace promptly lets go of Rocky. The alien takes a few deep breaths then flops over Grace’s legs to relax.

Grace softly chuckles. He starts to feel Rocky’s heat return to its normal, warm temperature.

“You good, Rocky?” the human gives the alien a gentle pat. Rocky jumps from the touch at first, but he leans into Grace’s hand, knowing his friend has had his fun with him for today.

“Rocky is okay.” After a few breaths, Rocky crawls off of Grace’s legs so he can face his friend.

The alien stomps his foot to the floor. “Grace was evil, statement,” Rocky says, jokingly.

“Me? You started it! And I didn’t see you trying to fight me," Grace points out with a smile.

The Eridian ignores that second half. “Rocky started it for science! Grace for fun.”

“Hey, if you were doing it for ‘science,’ then I was doing it for science too! I was testing my theory to see if human tickling works on Eridians. The answer is yes,” Grace answers smugly, but scientifically speaking, he is curious to explore more about his discovery, another day though. “Plus, your suit stayed in tack, didn’t it?”

Rocky grumbles. “Rocky suppose suit did stay strong while being tickled by Grace…”

“Yep! That means it passed the dexterity, speed, and durability test. So this is one more thing we can add to the list,” Grace grabs his pen and paper that was pushed to the side and writes down ‘tickling’ as another activity they tested.

“Maybe Rocky should make the suit tickle proof…” the alien mumbles.

“If you do, I’ll just find a way to get you through your suit,” Grace banters back at him with a grin. Rocky rattles his body, which Grace knows is like the human equivalent of rolling his eyes. 

A moment passes. Rocky speaks, “You know what Rocky just thought of?”

“What?”

Rocky steps forward. “When new suit is finalized, Rocky and Grace can use what was learned to make a suit for Grace.”

Grace’s focus shifts fully to the alien. “Really?” he asks, his heart touched simply by the offer. “A suit… for me?”

“Yes! So Grace can come visit Eridian home sometime!”

The scientist glows. “You would do that for me?”

“Yes, yes! Rocky is able to visit human home, so it’s only fair if Grace can visit Eridian home,” Rocky wiggles his body.

Grace’s big smile lights up all of his features. “Well, then we better start getting ahead on these tests then. We’ve got to make your suit the best it can be first,” Grace declares.

“Agree! Agree!” Rocky cheers. “So…what should be the next test, question?”

“Right…” Grace leans his head in his hand. “That’s what we were trying to discuss,” Grace realizes they’re back to square one. “Hmm…”

Rocky taps one of his claws to the floor as he thinks. Suddenly, he straightens himself on his legs like an idea has been shocked into his system. “Oh! Oh! Maybe Adrian has idea! Rocky and Grace can ask them!”

“Hey, good idea Rocky!” Grace shares in the alien’s enthusiasm.

“Then what are Grace and Rocky waiting for! Go let’s!” Rocky chirps.

“Hey, Ryland, come take a look at this.”

I whirl around in my seat, a noodle hanging out of my mouth as I look toward the direction of Simon’s voice.

“Hm? Whats up?” I speak over the bite of ramen in my mouth.

“Cockpit. And would’yaswallow your food, please.” I snort, putting my bowl down, and hurry to the cockpit.

Simon is sitting in the pilot’s seat, his inked up, hand-drawn star chart open on his lap. He twirls his pen idly, squinting at the display in front of him.

“You need help with something?” I climb into the copilot seat, sliding it over on the track.

Without a word, Simon points his pen to a hazy smidge on the display.

“Am I going blind, or is there something there?” He asks, tapping the screen a couple times for plasma.

I tilt my head, leaning in for a look myself, before smiling with an “oh!”

“No your eyes are fine, that’s a galaxy.” I nod.

“Really..? Why’s it look like that?”

I tap the display, enlarging the image by about 400x, and the hazy shape begins to resemble our neighbor galaxy.

“It’s just the display resolution. See? It’s called Andromaeda. It’s the closest galaxy to ours, at about uhh, two and a half million light years away. Well- technically the closest falxiea are Canis Major and Sagittarius, but they’re both dwarf falxies. Much closer though. Between 25,000 and 70,000 light years away! Isn’t that crazy?!” I ramble on.

Simon doesn’t look at me, focused once again on his chart, denoting the galaxy with a small, fuzzy dot.

“Mhm, that is pretty cool. Thank you.” He replies, not breaking his focus.

Alright…

I sit awkwardly for a moment, before nodding, and standing up again.

“Right, well, I should probably go finish my lunch before it gets cold.” I say with a wave, climbing down out of the cockpit.

I had noticed in myself, a particular tendency to ramble on and on about whatever I’m trying to explain. It’s something I never really had an issue with in the classroom, with the curriculum structure and time constraints keeping me on track.

But outside of classroom academia, boy, I’m a chatterbox. Especially now that I had another human on board to talk to.

I can’t really help it, though, I get excited about the things I’m interested in, and if the opportunity presents itself, then dang it I’m gonna talk.

-

“-and they figured out that if the object in the image looks red, it means that the wavelength of the light is stretched out, do it’s moving away,” I lift my hands, moving them far apart to demonstrate the distance, rocking back and forth slightly as I went on. Simon nods along, though his focus is down on his notebook that he was scribbling in while he ate his food on the opposite side of the table.

“And if it’s blue, then that means it’s moving towards us - the wavelength is compressed. It’s called Radial velocity- kinda like the Doppler effect, where-“

“Where soundwaves stretch out as the object emitting them pass by, yeah.” Simon grumbled.

While he was correct, I couldn’t tell if he was showing me he understood the topic, or trying to signal me to wrap things up. I choose the latter.

“R-right, yeah.” I lower my hands, looking down at the table. I’d been talking so much my food had stopped steaming.

I take a bite of the burrito, sitting in silence for a while.

Simon, of course, finished his food before I did. Not surprising, considering he probably got three sentences out the entire time.

“I’m headed to the lab for a little while. Do you care if I use the fume hood?” He asks, standing up, and tossing his crumpled meal wrapper into the waste bin next to the table.

“Go for it.” I mutter, taking another bite of my meal.

Simon gives me a sideways glance, before nodding and walking off.

Once he’s out of the room, I sigh, resting my cheek on my hand.

I really need to get a grip.

I think to myself.

He’s the only human friend I’ve got for millions of miles… I can’t make him hate me because I can’t shut up…

I poke at the burrito.

I’ll just keep the talking to a minimum for a while… it’ll be good for both of us.

I nod in agreement with myself, standing up from my seat. I finish the last of my dinner with one last, grossly large bite, before setting off to dormitory to hang out for a while. It’ll be good to put some distance between Simon and me, I think, to give him a break from my noise-

“Oof-!”

I collide with Simon in the hall, and he looks just as frazzled.

“Sorry- wasn’t- looking Evette I was going.”

“It’s alright, I was looking for you anyway.”

“Why?” Tone it down. “Uhm- whyyyaat can I do? For you?” Swing and a miss.

Simon gives me a puzzled look, but ignores it. “I uh, need your help with something in the lab, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure.” I shrug, following Simon down the hall, into the lab, where the only light on is under the fume hood.

We approach the glass, and I peer in to see what he’s doing.

He’s got the soldering iron on, and a sheet of metal, aluminum, it appears, positioned upright, on an easel angle, with some sort of design on it.

Looks like a makeshift mission patch that he’s making out of metal. But not a Hail Mary patch. Whatever he’s making reads “The Iron Lung”

“I uh- I can’t really see what I’m doing too well at arms distance. Is there any way to raise the platform in here towards the viewing glass?”

I open my mouth to speak, to explain that he doesn’t need a fume hood to work with aluminum, since it doesn’t give off particularly toxic fumes, but I pause, editing the words before they come out.

“You don’t… need to use the hood for that.” I say.

“…What?”

“It’s just aluminum. It’s not that toxic. You can work on that out here on the table, as long as you pull your hair back and put goggles on.”

My voice is quiet, and I don’t look at Simon as I speak. My sentences are broken up into small chunks, giving me time to stop, think, edit, then proceed between each word set.

“Really? You’re sure? I don’t get it, doesn’t anything that gives off vapor have to go under the hood?”

“Not necessarily.” My words feel a little cold. I sound like Stratt.

“…uhm, alright.”

“There are some silicone mats hung up on the wall. Put one of those down and you should be good.” I nod, giving a thumbs up, and pivoting on my heel, making my way back to the hallway, jogging when I feel like I’m not getting there quick enough.

Simon doesn’t say anything more to me.

All that’s heard is the quiet squeak of my shoes asI round the corner, nearly tripping on my shoelace as I do. Idiot.

Did that work? Or did I just sound like a jerk? I don’t know, it’s hard for me to differentiate. I still feel awkward though.

I hurry off to the dorm, grabbing my laptop from its place beside my bed. Maybe a little bit of quiet time by the observation window cloud be good for me instead. Yeah!

I always found writing to be therapeutic, and I figured, if I write down all the things I want to talk Simon and Rocky’s war off about, maybe that’ll make it easier for me to stop… info-dumping, as my students back home call it.

I take a seat against the wall, opening my laptop, the ambient glow of space just to my right.

I let out a deep, quiet breath, slumping down, and opening a recebr document under ‘Science Journal. I had last been word vomiting about black holes, aparrently. There were several paragraphs already on the topic, as well as a few, crude, trackpad drawings of black holes, with arrows and red circles pointing back and forth from the images to the notes.

Perfect! Easy enough subject to lose myself in.

I hit the return key twice, starting a new section on ‘Event Horizons’.

——

“Ryland.”

I jolt, hearing a snap right by my ear. I look up to see Simon standing above me, an eyebrow raised.

“Y-yes, sorry. Hello.”

“Did you not hear me calling you?”

“No, sorry I was writing.” I shrug curtly.

“ Ok… well, I finished what I was working on.” Simon turns his prosthetic arm to show me the completed metal patch. It sported a pretty well carved image of a submersible capsule, with the bold cast letters above it reading “The Iron Lung”, like I’d seen before. It was pretty impressive.

“Oh, cool, that turned out great!” I smiled up at Simon, who smiled back at me.

“That’s what your vessel was called?”

“Yeah, it was a lot smaller and less… fancy than this thing.” He gestures to the Hail Mary.

I hum in reply. “Yeah, I remember. The fuel tank looked like it could only hold about-“

Watch it, Ryland…

“It uh- looked pretty tiny.” I nodded, focusing back on my laptop. I was too anxious in the moment to actually type anything of meaning. Just pressing random keys with a space bar click every once in a while to really sell it.

“…what’re you working on?” Simon puts his hand on his hips.

“Nothing interesting. Just- writing about black holes.” I mutter. Why is he still staring at me?

“Any… particular reason why?”

“No, not really.”

…

“What’s going on with you?”

‘Nothing is going on with me!”

“You’ve been short with me all evening.” Simon folds his arms, looking down at me.

“I’m not being short I’m just-“

“What?”

“In a bad mood! I dunno!”

“…you’re lying.”

I scoff. “I am not lying.”

“You are. Wanna know how I know? You aren’t looking me.”

“I never look people in the eye. I never look you in the eye. You know that.”

“Did I say eye? No, I said ‘at me’. You don’t like eye contact but you at least look at me. Face me.”

“I’m busy! Sorry I’m not looking straight at you!”

“You’re journaling! That’s not being busy!”

“WHY ARE YOU SCRUTINIZING ME?!”

“YOU AREN’T TELLING ME WHAT’S WRONG!”

I flinch, my hands balling into fists against my ears as Simon shouts.

“I’M TRYING NOT TO BORE AND ANNOY YOU BY TALKING LESS! PLEASE STOP SHOUTING AT ME!”

Simon pauses, confusion washing over his face.

“What?! What the hell does that even mean?!”

“Y-You’ve been shutting me down so much the last couple days! But- I- I know I ramble a lot, so I get it! I’m not saying it’s not annoying, but I usually can’t…ugh, see?! I’m talking too much! I just don’t wanna annoy you, or Rocky for that matter, but at least he talks just as much so- uuuUUGH.” The words spill out of me like water through a dam.

“I’ve been shutting you down?”

“Yes, when- …yes.” I cut myself off.

“No no, go ahead.”

Simon takes a seat beside me.

“When I talked about Andromeda, when I explained heat shields to you the other day, when I tried explaining Dopplershifting…”

“Oh…”

Silence.

“It’s alright, I get it, it’s probably way too much data all at once. So writing it all down is probably… smarter…”

“I didn’t realize I was being so harsh about it, I- I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t just shrug it off. If I hurt you, hold me to it.” Simon says.

“I didn’t mean to shut you down, for what it’s worth. I’m just used to quick responses to questions, if any response at all. I’m not used to people who have encyclopedic knowledge on damn near everything I could possibly w any to know about out here. It’s a lot for me to take in, especially when I’m working. It’s not annoying, it’s just-“ Simon gestures near his head, making a scrambling motion with both hands.

“Overwhelming.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

I pull my knees up, folding my arms over them.

“Right. Makes sense… guess I’m so used to over-explaining thins for Rocky…” I mutter.

“That, and I think you just get a kick out of talking about science.”

I nod softly.

A long silence passes.

Simon looks down at my open laptop.

“Event Horizons… what’s that?” He turns to me, I turn to the window.

“You don’t have to do that, Simon.”

“Do what? Ask my science teacher a science question?” I feel a strong arm around my shoulders, as I’m pulled in towards Simon.

“You can read it right there.” I fight the smile that’s desperately clawing its way on my face.

“Oh! Whats that?! Are you smiling?! You WANT to talk about it don’t you?” Simon chuckles, leaning down to get a look at my face.

“No, I doOHON’T! AH-AHAHA!” I jump, an electric jolt coursing through me as Simon reaches down, and pokes me roughly on the collarbone. I curl my shoulders up, legs kicking wildly as I sputter.

“AH-SNrkheheHEe- STOhohOP IT!!”

“There it is! Welcome back, Gracie. Good to see you smiling again.” Simon chuckles, keeping one hand on my collarbone, and drifting the other down to my stomach.

“Y’know, I’d still really like to hear about the black holes you were sitting about.”

“EheHEHA- iTS ON M-MYHYHY LAPTOP.” I protest.

“Sure, but I’m a little busy right now, and I’d prefer my information straight from the scholar, y’know?” Simon skitters his metal fingers up and down my front, and I yelp.

“AaAAH! OhoHOKAY, OKAY- WHADDYOU EANNA KNOHOHOW?!” My voice is pitchy and frantic… I sound like I’m trying to negotiate my way out of a stickup.

“Hmmm. What the closest black hole to your Earth?” He moves both his hands down to my sides. I feel the cold. Xenonite against my skin where my shirt had ridden up.

“UHM- H-HAHA-! G-GAIA- B-BH1! AhahAAA CHEESE AND RIHIHICE!! YOUR HAND IS COHOHOLD!!”

“Yeah sorry about that. Anyway, what about the black hole in the middle of the Milky Way? That’s not the closest?

I shake my head frantically. “NOHOHO- haHAHA!! S-SAGITTARIUS A IS 26,000- AHHAHAHA!!!”

I’m cut off when one of Simon’s prosthetic fingers drags over my belly button. Am I 5? That shouldn’t make me laugh as much as it evidently does.

I curl inwards, grabbing hold of Simon’s arm.

“STOHIHOP THAT I HATED THAHAHAT!!” I bark out, lying through my teeth.

Simon snickers at me. “Sure, I’ll move my hand when you tell me the unit. You only said 26,000. Is that miles? Fish? Foxes?”

“AHAHA- *snrk* A-AHAHA- L-LIGIHIGHTYEAHAHARS!! ITS OBVIOUSLY LIGHTYEARS!”

He pokes me again in the navel, and I sputter, a tiny spray of spit flying out as I bite my tongue.

“Do you say ‘obviously’ to your students back home when they ask a question like that? Seams a little rude, no?” Simon asks.

“I- IM SORRY, tHAT WAS MEHEHEAN-!”

My hands scramble around to grab Simon’s, to no avail. He grabs one of mine, lifting it up.

“Kinda was.” He raises my hand to his mouth, blowing an obnoxiously loud raspberry into my palm.

“AA-AHAHAAAAA!!! OW! WHAAAHAT WAS THAT?!” I shout, yanking my hand back.

“Oh, sorry I think my tooth poked you a little. It’s alright I’m not venomous. Anyway. Last question. Tell me about the event horizon?”

Simon moves his hands around to the back of my ribs, scratching gently enough just to keep me giggling. I guess to make it easier for me to speak.

Considerate. I guess.

“I- ehehe-! It’s the uhuhm the ‘point of no retUHURN. The point source ohohoff the immense gravity, where g-gravity is strong enough thahahat- not even light can escape. B-but it’s tiny- oHOHONLY a fraction of the mass of the object. You cahahan calculate it easily with uhm ‘Schwarzschild radius ihis equal to 2 grahahavity times mass over speed squared’” I stumble, but the words make it out.

“How on earth do you just know this stuff… and what happens if you fall in?” Simon asks, voice low and calm.

“T-to anyohohone watching, you freeze in p-plahahace. General relativity predicted that years ago. Any observer will see you falling infinitely towards the black hole, but you’d experience no difference. Time keeps moving. Eventually you reach the center, and then… who knows. Nothing can escape from that point, so we’ll never know.”

I’m able to speak without interruption by the end of my thought. Simon’s hands have stilled, resting on my chest in a polite, crossed position as I lie in his lap, my hands suspended in some kind of puppyish, t-Rex pose, not fully at rest from fending Simon off just a moment ago.

“Did I lose you?” I tilt my head up to look at him. He smiles down at me, shaking his head.

“No, just listening.”

“Oh.” My face goes a bit pink, I didn’t expect undivided attention.

“Um… any other questions..?” I ask a bit sheepishly.

“Yeah, I do actually have one more.”

I tilt my head.

“Do you feel better?”

“…yes, I do. Thank you.”

Simon smiles, giving me a pat on the chest. “Good, I’m glad. I’ll be sure to pick your brain more often.”

“W-well I mean you don’t have to listen to me talk all the time, don’t go out of yourmmph!”

Simon puts a hand over my mouth. “Don’t piss me off, Gracie.” He hissed, but there’s no real venom in his eyes.

“Right. Ok. Thanks. I appreciate it.” I mutter.

“Of course, Dr.” Simon grins,tousled my hair.

I squeeze my eyes shut, shaking my head in protest. He chuckles, and helps me up into a seated position, picking up my discarded laptop to hand to me.

He furrows his brow as the screen wakes up to my journal entry.

“Why is this whole paragraph gibberish..? Are you writing in code or something?”

love my students, I really, truly do. I'm grateful very day for the privilege to teach extraterrestrials about life on my home planet.

That said...

l've never been good with kids.

Kids of my own. Taking care of them outside of academia.

Not... my strongsuit.

So you can imagine my hesitation when my best friend in the whole wide universe asks me for a favor I couldn't be less qualified for.

"No."

"Why, Question? Grace is teacher. Grace is good with young, statement."

"I'm good with kids I, yes, when I have structures to follow, Rocky. Schedule, regimented routine. I'm not equipped for this. Why do you think I don't have my own kids?!"

"Because Grace has no mate, and no desire for one, statement."

"..You're real funny, you know that? Hysterical.”

The answer is no I'm not babysitting your friend's pebbles." I say with a tone of finality.

"Grace mean."

“What?!"

"Grace horrible, statement."

"How am I horrible for this?! I- l've got lessons to plan! l've got assignments to grade, l've got cleaning to do-"

"Only Grace live in house. Why messy, question?"

“Oh and your place is spotless?”

“Yes.”

“Doubtful. If it’s anything like how you kept your area in the ship, it’s a wreck. Goodbye Rocky.”

I slowly begin closing the door. Rocky puts his body in the way, and I groan.

"Grace please, question? Pebbles' guardian visit parent today. Very very sick. Need someone to watch pebbles for today. Just today."

I soften a little, hearing why the pebbles were in need of a caregiver ... though pity wasn't quite enough to talk myself into childcare.

“And you can't watch them? Adrian?"

"Rocky and Adrian much busy today. Biodome maintenance." I groan, closing my eyes for a moment.

"And you've exhausted every other possible option.

"Yes yes yes."

I sigh dramatically, leaning my head back on the doorframe. "My goooooodddddd-"

-

I stood awkwardly in the doorway, looking down at the three pebbles in front of me

They looked up at me, standing politely on my doorstep.

There is no way… I agreed to this.

“Why Grace look scared, question?” One pebble asked. They were orange, brown, and tan. The colors were separated in neat layers like the belts and zones of Jupiter, which is the English name i had given them.

“I do not look scared. Grace is not scared.” I say, shrugging, ushering the pebbles into the house, stepping aside as they all trotted in.

“Mmm Mister Hrace look scared, statement.” Rosie whined, jumping up onto the chair in my living room as I shut the door behind us all. This particular pebble had some kind of a pink-ish quartzite thing going on around the top of their carapace, which sort of looked like a raw crystal tiara, and a few speckles on the tips of their claws. Naturally, the name Rosie was an easy choice.

“Guys, I’m not afraid! I promise. Just anxious-”they don’t need to know that, Ryland. “I’m alright. Look, what do you guys feel like doing?” I asked, leaning against the wall as the pebbles roamed the room, getting a feel for the place.

“Grace teach!”

“Yes yes!!”

I smile, shaking my head.

“Guys, we’re not in class! We don’t have to do class work if you don’t want to.”I shrug.

“Nooo Grace teach!” Rosie protests, standing up and bouncing in place on the chair.

I shake my head.

“Alright, okay. We can do some rapid fire questions then as an icebreaker. How’s that?”

All three pebbles chirp and stamp their feet excitedly.

I chuckle, taking a seat on the floor, pointing to Jupiter.

“Ok! Yes, Jupiter?”

“How much human on earth, question?”

“Uhhh, when I left there were just over eight billion.”

“WOA!! Much human!!” Jupiter chimes back.

“I know! There’s a lot of us! Way too many… uhh, yes! Rosie!” I clap, turning, and pointing to the crystalline Weidian on the chair.

“All human look like grade, question?”

“No- well- kinda? Just like you guys we all have the same parts- head, body, arms, and legs. But we xome in all different shapes, sizes, shades, and have other little things that make us individual. Good question!”

I point to the third pebble, who quietly raised a paw to ask their question. I called them Lichen. They seemed a little more shy than the others. A thinner, taller dark green and grey pebble with lighter splotches all over.

“Yes!” I smile at them.

“Um… if human no eat Eridian food, then what Grace eat, question?”

Ohhhhh, that’s not something I’m gonna explain to them right now.

“That… is a great question, buddy! But unfortunately I think it’ll take a little too long to explain. Let’s put a pin in that for another time, ok?” I smile awkwardly.

Silence…

“Y’know what? Let’s play a card game!” I decided, desperate to fill the silence.

“No understand. What that, question?” Rosie tilts their carapace.

“C’mon let’s play one. I’ll teach you guys.” I smile, sitting down on my floor, reaching for a battered deck of cards I had in my Hail Mary carryon- my Hail Mary-On, if you will- that now lived on my television stand.

I taught Rocky how to play a few card games on the journey to Erid. Solitaire, Tunk, even poker. We had to use skittles as chips… point is, I had outfitted all 52 cards with distressed numbers and text with some hot glue so that Rocky could “see” the cards. They were already Eridian approved.

“Alright, everyone sit in a circle. We’re gonna learn ‘go fish’.”

-

These kids were quick learners. It only took a round and a half for all three of them to get the hang of the game, and before long, we were on a steady flow of the game.

One thing I didn’t expect, was how competitive they all were. I mean, I should have seen it coming, they’re all siblings. But they were ruthless.

“Lie!! Does have six. Can see it!” Jupiter shouted, dropping their cards and stamping their two front legs on the ground in apparent frustration.

“Hey, hey- what did we say about looking at each other’s decks? I know you guys can echolocate, but you can’t-“

“No lie, no lie!! I no have six!” Rosie shouted back, a little frazzled and confused.

“Lie! Can see ! There! Why no give six, question?!”

“Rosie not have. Jupiter cheat!”

“Guys-“ I try to intervene, seeing that the siblings’ shouting was starting to scare Lichen, who had huddled themself next to me, clutching their cards close to their carapace.

“I NOT CHEAT!! ROSIE BAD BAD BAD AT GAME!” Jupiter yells. Loud, pitchy tones eminatinf from them as they hoist themself up on their back legs like a dog about to attack, and strikes down on Rosie, their xenonite suits colliding with a loud clink.

Rosie shrieks, curling in on themself, whimpering beside their dropped cards.

I spring up from the floor, fearing that the impact may have damaged one of, if not both of their suits.

“Hey, HEY! SEPARATE. JUPITER, BACK OFF.” I bark out, a lot sharper than I intended.

Immedietly I put a hand up, signaling silence, as I listened for the sound of any potential air leaks from the pebbles’ suits. When nothing follows but silence, I take a breath.

“Jupiter, we do not hit and jump at each other, that’s dangerous, and it’s mean. Do you realize how much danger you could have put Rosie in if you broke their suit?! My atmospheric conditions are toxic for your bodies. You could seriously hurt each other.” My voice was sharp. Honestly I was pretty peeved.

“Suit not break. Made of xenonite. Very strong”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ve seen it broken before, it can happen. Point is, we can’t put each other in reckless danger over a game.” I say.

I reach over to pick up Rosie’s discarded cards, looking for the supposed six that Jupiter swore they had. It was a nine. They read the number upside down.

“Look, bud. You mistook Rosie’s 9 card for a 6. You shouldn’t have been looking anyway, but even so, you read it wrong.” I say, sliding the 9 of hearts over, next to Jupiter’s 6 of hearts.

“I think you owe Rosie an apology. That wasn’t very nice.” I tilted my head down, looking straight at Jupiter over the rim of my glasses. A particularly “scary” look, according to my students back on earth.

Jupiter didn’t budge, turning around, and plopping down with their back to me.

“Fine. We’ll revisit this in a little bit. You’re still gonna have to apologize though. Why don’t you three go hang out in Rocky’s dome and cool down while take a look at your suits.”

I got a disappointed warble from all three of the pebbles.

“Me too Mister Grace?” Lichen trilled quietly at my side, still a little bit shaken from the fuss.

“Yes, buddy- you too. I need you all in one safe place while I work.” I said with a slow nod, standing and leading the siblings to Rocky’s dome, which sat comfortably in the corner of the living room.

One by one, the pebbles filed into the dome, shedding their xenonite suits, and nudging them into the airlock for me to retrieve.

“Thank you guys. I’ll only be a few minutes, alright? Let’s all take a breather and regroup. I’ll even turn on the tv for you.” I grab the suits from the airlock, standing up and turning towards the television mounter to the opposite wall.

“What’s on… hmmm…” I scroll through the endless, preloaded media, settling on an animated show I vaguely recognize. Something about twins on summer break? I dunno.

Probably not the best representation of earth, it I just needed them distracted, not educated.

-

Thankfully, the suits sustained no damage.

I figured they wouldn’t- xenonite is incredibly strong. But if Rocky could punch out of his habitat in a few strikes in several atmospheres of pressure, clearly it isn’t indestructible. I say back, lifting my overhead light away from the suits and taking a deep breath.

I still had two more hours left with the pebbles before Rocky was scheduled to pick them up and take them home, and I was already fresh out of ideas. Card games didn’t go very well, they weren’t hungry…

“NO NO-!”

I perk up, hearing Rosie’s voice from a few rooms over. What the heck?

“JUPITER BAD BAD!!”

Oh boy.

I spring up from my swiveling chair, tearing down the hallway to the living room. It had only been Doreen minutes! Are they seriously fighting again?!

Oh…

I stop in the doorway, chest heaving as I rush to put eyes on the pebbles.

They’re… fine.

Rosie was shouting, yes, but it looked like they were just playing with Jupiter. Roughhousing.

“What’re you guys doing-?” I shuffled over to the demonize some, crouching down. Neither Jupiter nor Rosie respond to me, so I turn to Lichen.

“What’s happening? Should I be concerned?” I feel the puzzled look on my face.

“Jupiter apologize to Rosie. Bad apology. Rosie no talk to Jupiter. Mad mad mad. Jupiter make Rosie laugh and feel better!” They explain.

“Huh…” I look look at the pair again, and wouldn’t you know it, Rosie was laughing.

Laughing in the Eridian sense, that is. Soft, high-pitched, bird like chirps. I’ve heard it from Rocky plenty of times.

I crane my neck to see why exactly they were giggling so much.

They had rolled onto their side, kicking all five legs wildly about, And Jupiter was standing on their hind three legs again, like they were before, but this time, they were gently poking and tapping at Rosie’s carapace with their two front legs. Kinda like a cat kneading, I suppose.

“What’re they doing… exactly?” I lean over to Lichen, still observing the other two pebbles through the dome wall.

“Jupiter tapping on Rosie. Make big fast sound waves that Eridians can feel. Feels funny!”

I nod slowly. “Oh so- they’re tickling Rosie.”

Lichen chirps in confusion.

“Yeah humans have something like that too. Not soundwaves though. Just physical touch. If it hits us a certain way, we laugh. I thought I explained that to you guys… maybe that was my B group… That’s interesting that you guys have it too.” I smile fondly at the pebbles tumbling around on the dome.

“So it’s just soundwaves bouncing off your shells- all over?” Lichen trills, nodding. They hop up, front feet against the dome, tapping profusely.

It startles me for a moment, I flinch back.

Oh, they’re tapping in the mesh screen.

“You want me to try?”

“Yes yes! I show Grace!”

I scoot closer to the dome, sitting crisscross, and gently pass my hand through the xenonite mesh. It melds to the shape of my hand, reaching its limit at the middle of my forearm.

Lichen hops down from the wall, meeting my hand as it enters the dome, like an animal encouraging you to pet it.

I smile, giving Lichen a pat on the top of the carapace, before gently tapping my fingers one at a time.

I can feel their body tremble for a moment, before a bunch of melodic chirps emit from the pebble.

“Ha, it works! That’s so interesting!” I laugh to myself.

I try tapping just a little bit harder, not cruelly so - just testing the reaction.

Lichen shrieks and falls over on their side like a stunned cow.

“Oh! Sorry bud, too much?” I reach my other hand in through the mesh, assisting the pebble back into an upright position.

They trill, lifting a leg and tapping my xenonite covered hand.

“Sorry, I can’t feel anything with the xenonite. Good try though!” I give them another pat on the top of their carapace, and bring my attention back to Rosie and Jupiter. The latter of the two had come over to see what I was up to.

“What Grace doing, question?”

“Lichen was teaching me about the game you were playing with Rosie. Did you apologize to them?”

“Yes! Apology apology! Then make Rosie laugh because Rosie still mad mad mad.”

“I see that! Seems like it worked.” I smile.

“Yes! Rosie all better now. Can we come into our now?” Jupiter asks, nudging my hand back through the mesh.

I chuckle, pulling my hands back out.

“Yeah, ok sure. Let me go get your suits.

I stand up, jogging back to my office to retrieve the xenonite suits, bringing them back, and placing them in the airlock.

The pebbles wriggle into their suits, stretching their legs into them like we would with a pair of pants. Once I was sure they were safely encased, I cycled the airlock, and opened the door.

Immedietly, I’m bowled over.

“Oof-! Jupiter!” The pebble bounded at me, knocking me backward onto the ground, standing on my chest triumphantly.

“I see Grace!!” They shout, stamping their feet a few times.

“Ehehe-hehe-! I see you too bud!” I chuckle, nodding up to the pebble.

These guys were only about a third Rocky’s size, and a fifth his weight each, but 60lbs of concentrated weight was nothing to sneeze at.

“Would you mind getting down, Jupiter?”

“Grace not still mad at Jupiter, question?”

I furrow my brow.

“What? No, why would I-” Oh, he wants to make sure I’m not still upset with his little stunt against Rosie. I see. “No kiddo, I wasn’t mad at you, I was just a little disappointed, that’s all.”

“Is worse!!” Jupiter whines, stamping their foot again. I recoil, curling up on myself a little.

“Ahahah! Ohohow! It’s not worse! Stop poking me!”

“Hurt?!”

“Grace hurt?!”

The other two pebbles piped up, clearly worried by my reaction.

“No no, not hihuhurt. Don’t worryhyhehe! Okay, Enohohough!”

“Jupiter make Grace laugh! Make him feel better. No more mad, happy happy! Work on Rosie!”

Oh dear.

“No! No, that’s not-HAHA-!” Jupiter cuts me off as they stand up on my middle, losing balance, and slipping, dragging a leg down my side.

“Ohohokay, time to get off.” I gently lift the pebble, shifting them off me, and placing them beside me.

They warble at me in protest. “Angle no good, but okay.” They say, hoisting up on their back legs once again.

“NoO-! No noHOHO! JUHUHUPITER!!”

Before I can roll away, they begin tapping and prodding my torso, in nearly the same way they had to Rosie a little while ago.

“Knock ihihit ohOHOFF, that tigihickles!!” I curl up, rolling onto my side, my back to Jupiter as I realize the other two pebbles are just.. watching!! Unbelievable!

“GuhuHUYS!! Hehelp!” I call out to the other pebbles, who slowly approach me.

“Help, question?” Lichen chirps.

“Okay!! Help Grace!” Rosie pounces at me, joining in with Jupiter, poking sharp little paws into my back.

“nOHOHAHAHA!! I- I DONT MEAN LIKE THAT.”

“Grace laugh loud loud loud. Can feel soundwaves too, question?” Lichen asks softly. They sat a distance away, not wanting to be involved.

“HA-HAHA-! N-NO, I TOLD TOU, AHAHA- ITS- ITS JUST THE TOUCH!” I fold my arms over my torso, hugging my knees up to my chest.

I can’t believe I’m writhing on the floor, bested by three children. This is a new low…

“Grace still mad at Jupiter, question?” The question was punctuated with two rapid jabs to the middle of my back.

“AH-! AHAHA-! NO, KIHIHIDDO, I ALREADY SAID NO!” I attempted to push at the pebbles, unable to move their weight at my awkward angle.

“Grace weak, statement.” Rosie giggles.

“I’M NOHOHOT. YOU GUYS ARE HEHEHEAVY!”

In a futile, last reach for freedom, I reach out both arms to both assailing Eridians, tapping my fingers firmly against the xenonite of their suits.

Both Jupiter and Rosie shriek, taking a surprised step back. Lichen giggles.

“Hahaa! Payback!” I sit up, relishing my newfound freedom. I reach out, grabbing both pebbles, and bringing them close with a grunt of effort.

Once I have them, I begin drumming my fingers across both Jupiter and Rosie’s carapaces, just as Lichen taught me.

A symphony of high-pitched chirps fly out from the siblings, ten little legs wiggling and kicking.

I coo softly at the display., listening to the musical laughter. “Oh you guys are adorable!” I grin.

“Feels funny!!” Rosie yips, falling over on their side.

“I know! That’s the whole point!”

I alternate between tapping against the broad surfaces of their carapaces, to along their legs, near their joints, and gently around the tops of their carapaces.

I couldn’t really tell if anything work better or worse than any other spot, they giggled all the same.

Now, I’m no pianist, but I found myself tapping the notes of ‘Carol of the Bells’ on Bothe the pebbles at once.

Tap, tap tap, tap. Tap, tap tap tap.

I was kinda impressed with myself for keeping the rhythm steady for as long as I had.

“Mihihister Grace!!” Jupiter chirped

“Ugh! You messed up my song! Now I’ve gotta start over. “ I sigh dramatically.

“BONOHO!”

“GRAHACE!”

I begin to whistle the song as I tap along. Rosie and Jupiter wobble around, giggling and churping for a good long while, until finally,

“NO MORE NO MOGOHORE!” Jupiter yips.

With that, I lift my hands away, chuckling.

“Alright! Alright. No more.” I say, lying back down on the carpet.

“You guys alright?”

Rosie and Jupiter trill happily in reply.

“Good. Is that enough proof that I’m not upset either you anymore, Jupiter?”

“Yes yes, understand now.” Jupiter stands slowly, crawling over to my side.

I fear for a moment that they plan to pounce on me again, but they don’t.

They plop down right next to me, tucking their legs in like a cat. Rosie follows suit on my other side, nestling themself beneath my arm.

“Whahahat’re you guys doing?” I chuckle a bit unsurely, as finally Lichen joins the pile, taking a seat by my shoulder.

“Pebbles sleepy now.” Lichen says. I look up at them.

“They’re tired out? Huh… but why on top of me?”

“Young Eridians like to sleep in pile! Safety and warmth.”

I smile softly, nodding.

“Got it. Young stick together because they’re still small and vulnerable. Makes sense.” I say with a yawn. I’d gotten pretty tired myself.

“Grace sleepy too, question?” Lichen tilts down to look at me.

“Yeah.. a little bit…” I gently wrap my arms around the drowsy pebbles.

“Is okay. Grace and siblings sleep. I watch.”

I nod softly.

“Mkay… thanks, bud…”