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Rocky constantly talking about Adrian and then asking Grace if he has a mate or if he wants one- if he won't get lonely on Erid, and Grace explains that most humans would want a mate, that most humans would maybe get lonely, but that he's been without a mate for most of his life and it.. never really bothered him.

Rocky asking him if he's ♪♫♩♬ and Grace has no word for this- Rocky explaining that it's Eridians who do not want a mate. Eridians who just simply seek out different kinds of relationships, but not mates.

By comparison, book Eridians have huge taboos around eating. Possibly in part because they shit at the same time as they eat. Grace manages to talk Rocky into letting him watch him eat 'for science', but it's a hugely awkward experience. At the end of the book, it's mentioned that Rocky had to tell Grace to stop talking about food in 'polite company' when they got to Erid.

Until Grace slips out a sentence along the lines of "could you give me a little grace here" and Rocky immediately points out he used a word wrong so Grace has to explain that yeah, grace means elegance but it can also mean mercy sometimes too.

“Grace says he would like half of dome to be water.”

“Oh, is necessary for humans to have large amounts of water question?”

Small Eridian equivalent of a sigh. “No. Not needed for life. In fact Grace will die if he falls in water and does not get out.”

“Tell him we give him water in containers that won't kill him. Lots lots lots of water on Erid for Grace to drink.”

“No. Grace say he want water on ground. Also want it with excess sodium chloride compound so it will be unhealthy for drink.”

“Grace want this liquid for celebration.”

“Of course.” They scan it. “You have wrong liquid. This contain compounds which are poisonous for humans.”

“Yes yes yes. Grace say humans like feeling of being slightly poisoned.”

You're sick. You recognise the symptoms from your crew, you have radiation poisoning. The astrophages that were protecting you and powering the ship are gone. You couldn't find the leak in time to stop it. And now you're dying out here in space, alone.

The life support systems on the ship are shutting down. Everything is shutting down. Your planet will die– your entire star system will die. They'll never know how close you came to saving them.

You think about Grace. Is his ship dying too? Or is he on his way home, none the wiser to your fate?

Maybe you're fighting until the end, or maybe you've 'made peace' with it.

And then you hear knocking, on the outside of your ship. Furious, desperate banging on the window. Your friend, your lab partner, your first contact, has come back to save you.