Requests Closed!

The teacher put on his red suit and prepared for take off by foot. He stationed himself on the edge of the launch bay and with one switch push that took almost no strength but all his courage, Grace floated through space towards the Eridian spacecraft. As the wire securing him stretched behind, Grace felt anxiety building up in his chest.

Something felt off. Just not quite right. As the ship was nearing closer and closer, its reflection in Grace’s helmet was dim. Not that Rocky’s ship has ever been shiny and bright, but it was dimmer than he remembered.

When he finally touched down and was able to crawl to an entrance tunnel, it was sealed off with durable xenonite panel through which his small headlight shined, revealing black and brown pipeline structure that used to habitat Rocky. But he wasn’t there.

Grace called out, but made no sound. There was no sound in space. All he could hear was his own heartbeat beating in his ears, raising by every passing second. Where is Rocky? Shouldn’t he be out by now? With his incredible hearing, he would’ve already known there’s someone trying to get in. But the ship remained lifeless. He shouted again, banged on the panel, adjusted his headlight and squinted his eyes to see as far ahead of the darkness as he could.

And suddenly… he saw something at the very end of the tunnel. It was so far it looked tiny. Pointy, uneven, as if it was upside down. It looked like… a dead spider laying on its back.

Wait… the double jointed legs… no…

“Rocky?! ROCKY, Is that you?!” Grace called, now panicking as realization washed over him.

Rocky was dead.

Ryland was too late. The Edirian ship run out of fuel and the radiation got to him.

Grace’s breathing and heart rate began to spike at uncomfortable speed as if his lungs and heart were in a dangerous race with each other. His vision has gotten blurry and his body gave up on him, muscles turned to mush, air was heavy and his head momentarily overflowed with fear so strong he could comprehend nothing. He felt like drowning in the sound of his own weeping, heart pounding in his ears. As distress signal was roaring in his head, he cried desperately out for Rocky to come back-

“GHA-!”

A sharp, choked up gasp filled the room as Grace sat straight up, panting so fast his chest could barely keep up. He looked around frantically as everything around him changed. A cold sweat run down his face, hands stiff from an iron grip on the blanket that covered him. He was not on a rescue mission for Rocky, not in his astronaut suit in space. He was on Hail Mary. In bed. Safe.

But again, he was alone.

“Oh crap…” a tired half-sigh-half-whisper escaped his mouth as his face landed in his hands and he slowly rubbed it. “It was a dream. Just a terrifying stupid nightmare! Right…?” Grace looked up at all the xenonite constructions Rocky has made above his head to watch him sleep. They lacked one crucial thing however. Rocky was nowhere to be found. Normally He’d have heard him whispering in his sleep and probably come running at that point, but it was quiet.

“No… no no no no, I-I-I saved Rocky, we… we returned to… or… did we? Oh my god…” Grace wasn’t sure if he was gaslighting himself or not. Did he actually save Rocky or not and his mind kept rejecting that reality? Why does it haunt him in his dreams? It felt like someone pulled out his brain, messed up the organized puzzle that once were his memories and put it back in.

Rocky and Grace would watch each other sleep. Because Eridians are completely paralyzed and helpless while asleep, it’s a deeply ingrained cultural necessity that friends take turns guarding, so… why wasn’t he there?

“Rocky?! Rocky, where are you?!”

Within split second, Grace’s body went into panic mode again. Breathing was obstructed once more, his muscles felt like disorganized pack of jellies and his vision wouldn’t focus. He jolted out of bed, from laying down to standing at attention, frantically calling and looking out for Rocky, not knowing how to handle the wave of uncontrollable panic that was clearly overwhelming him.

“ROOOOCKY!” wow dramatic much

“Grace! Why grace so loud?!”

Grace snapped his head towards the familiar voice and through his blurred vision he finally saw movement as a xenonite ball rolled into his line of sight.

“Rock! You’re…” he wanted to ask his friend why did he leave. He opened his mouth, but no more words came out. Instead the adrenaline wore off, no longer supporting his jelly legs and standing position. Multiplied by the rapid getup from the bed, like an iron deficiency diva that he is, Grace almost fainted. He very much needed this dose of relief, but when it finally hit and his mind would stop for a second, he didn’t expect it to be the only thing keeping him upright.

He fell to the floor, just barely managing to push his arms out and stop his face from plummeting to the ground with the rest of his body. Rocky chirped anxiously, straightening up in his ball and came running to his friend.

“GRACE, GRACE! Grace okay?! Grace died!? Grace sick?” As Rocky started bombarding him with questions, the teacher was still trying to ground himself from the panic attack. He was supporting himself on the elbows, regulating his breathing, his lower half lying on his side, legs curled. He no longer doubted Rocky was here, so why wouldn’t he stop pacing? Why don’t the boxing glove in his chest stop pounding on it from inside out?

He regained just enough strength to pull himself up and hug Rocky through the xenonite. Rocky was startled a bit, but quickly caught on and hugged back in his own way. Grace’s body could finally let down guard and suddenly a wave of sadness hit him, contorting his face unwillingly and tears poured.

He did save Rocky. After a million times that Rocky saved him, deep down he knew - he always knew he did. That freaking dream tricked him, made him doubt himself…

“Grace leaking from face. Why Grace upset?”

“Why did you leave?” He sobbed, face still glued to Rocky’s orb.

“Grace say things while asleep. Rocky try to wake up Grace, but Grace won’t. Rocky was worried, so Rocky go get Armando to check on Grace.” Rocky’s arm pushed through one of the walls of his container and placed it on Grace’s back in a comforting gesture. “Why humans talk why asleep, question?”

“We dream.” Grace kept sobbing, though slowly quieting down. “I’ve had a dream, where I… you…” damn, words are hard. His closed throat wasn’t helping either as it felt like the words were barely squeezing through it.

“What’s dream, question?” Rocky asked very directly like he wasn’t just holding falling-apart-Grace. However, at the request of explanation, his eyes sparked again. He was still shaking uncontrollably, yet wanted to share his knowledge with his friend. Every time Rocky asked a question, Grace would be more than happy to tell him. It reminded him of teaching students back on Earth.

“It’s our brains way of sorting out memories and integrating them with cortex when we sleep.” he started explaining while wiping his eyes with a sleeve. Sniffs and sobs were interrupting every second so much so his diaphragm was hurting, but he tried to push through, feeling Rocky’s embrace through the xenonite container.

“There’s a part called hippocampus that orchestrates it, but sometimes we regain consciousness partly during this process and witness hippocampus’s memory-sorting as a mare. Sometimes it feels like you’re really there even if it’s just in your head. This… is why I was talking in my sleep.” Grace tried to sit up and leaned his back against the wall. As his whole trunk finally relaxed in a more natural position, breathing started to be manageable again.

“So… why Grace scared? What Grace dream?“

“Rocky, can we not… do this right now? I’m still… not quite all there yet.”

“What Grace need? Rocky help.” Grace did not reply. He tilted his head back, so it could rest against the wall too, closed his eyes and kept breathing short, shallow huffs and puffs. Rocky stopped asking questions as he remembered from one of many Ryland’s rambles that humans tend to get overwhelmed with too much information or questions at once. In silence, he carefully approached Grace, emerging halfway through his ball and lying his center in his lap, careful to not pull his whole weight on it.

After a couple of minutes, Grace finally started to come back from the panic room. Rocky noticed early when his heartbeat slowed down and chirped happily upon hearing it.

“Thank you, buddy.” Grace put his hand on Rocky’s body, sticking out of the container, patting him gently with gratitude.

“Rocky happy Grace better. Now Grace tell Rocky about bad dreams, question?” Grace smiled in his heart and shook his head at how smoothly Rocky rerouted the conversation back to it. At least now he could speak without choking on his own breath.

“Not all dreams are scary. Hippocampus filters both good and bad memories and sometimes mixes them. It’s really a coin flip which moment you’ll get. When it’s a scary one, it’s called a nightmare.”

“Grace had nightmare, question?”

“Yes… I… I thought you died, Rocky.” Grace winced at the haunting image of Rocky as an upside down spider crossed his mind.

“I had a nightmare from when your ship was failing. I was so worried I was too late and that I messed up…” before Ryland managed to break down into tears again, Rocky cut in, which he almost never does.

“Rocky not died, statement. Grace did not mess up. Grace save Rocky.” He said with such calmness and cuteness that Grace’s heart overflowed with warmth in an instant. He teared up at those words. Rocky was too pure for this conversation.

“I know, bud. I’m sorry, it felt… too real.” Grace held back a whimper. A short pause on both sides occurred.

…

“Dream stupid, statement.”

“No, Rock, it’s fine, I- it’s my fault-I’m just a bit shaken-“

“Dream makes Grace sad. Dream make Grace think Rocky dead! I don’t like.” Rocky exclaimed as if it was the biggest insult he has ever heard. He might have also been frustrated that no matter what they did, Grace’s face kept leaking, but at least he wasn’t panicking anymore.

“It’s nightmares that are bad. And of course I know you’re not dead, I- I- just- hehehey now!” Grace tried to explain, but fumbled as he felt Rocky climbing on top of him with his full weight now and malicious intent. He slid off the wall and tried to crawl backwards to his bedroom, but he was already immobilized. It was like someone parked a car on top of him. He was not going anywhere.

“Rocky not believe. Grace stressing over stupid dreams!”

“Buddy, I’m- I'm fihihine.” Grace giggled in anticipation as Rocky’s hands extended from the xenonite container and his claws opened, wiggling slightly in the air. Grace knew where this was going and a dumbfounded smile slit his face.

“Rocky hear Grace heart and breathing. Grace still scared and sad. Rocky help!”

“Nohoho- Rocky, DOHOHON’T-“ before Grace could protest, he felt Rocky’s hands land on each side of his ribcage and vibrate violently. He immediately fell on his back, bringing his arms closer to his chest and started laughing loudly. Not giggling - straight up laughing from the belly. Rocky awed melodiously as Grace's warm laughter filled the room.

"Nightmares bad - tickles good!" Rocky teased and Grace cursed in his mind that he had ever taught his alien friend about the concept of tickling. Honestly he could've predicted that it would backfire at some point.

"Wahait- WAHAHAHAIT! Rohohocky, nohoho! I'm betteheheher- I swehehehear!" he squealed, frantically pushing at Rocky's ball pressing him into the floor as his claws moved to the sides of his abdomen. Grace’s body jolted, but xenonite held him in place. The inability to curl up or even shift sideways made the tickles ten times better worse.

"Great, Grace recovering! Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!"

"Rohohock, you're nohohot helpihihihing!"

"Rocky IS helping! Grace happy again! Why Grace so stubborn?" Rocky squished all around his belly sides and lower ribs. It was very sensitive area for Grace, but also like a melt spot. He loved when Rocky did that even though he couldn’t take it.

"Thahat's NOT hohohow you treat ahaha person afteheheHEHER they hahad a p-pahahanic attack!- *squeal* NO, NOHOHO GET AHAHAHAWAY FROHOHOM THEHEHHEHERE!” Grace practically screamed, when Rocky’s third arm snaked up and started squeezing the pudge of his lower belly, landing one claw in the navel and wiggling there stubbornly. Rocky completely ignored Grace’s plea and just kept making high frequency happy noises, very pleased with reactions he was causing.

“ROHOCKY PLEHEHEHEHEASE! I CAHAHAHAN’T MOHOHOHOVE!” Grace begged through his loud laughter. He trashed his head from side to side, his body wiggled helplessly under Rocky as he couldn’t get an inch away from this unbearable feeling. His legs kicked aimlessly and he was slamming his hands on Rocky’s ball, which caused the alien to flinch at how loud it echoed inside. But it didn’t stop him from tickling.

“Ouch! My hearing perception! Grace no slap Rocky’s container. It’s very loud.”

“I’M SAHAHAHAHARRY! STOHOHOP TIHIHIHICKLING MEHEHEHE!” Grace burst out shaking his head from side to side. A frantic mix of squeals and laughter pouring out of him, much to Rocky’s amusement. That man was the cutest (and only) human Rocky has ever seen. But he noticed his friend getting tired and decided to resolve the situation with an ultimatum.

“Will Grace stop having nightmares?”

“I CAHAHAHAN’T CONTROHOHOL IT!”

“Then Grace will find Rocky and not panic stupidly?”

“YEHEHEHEHES IHIHI WIHIHILL, ROHOHOCK, STAHAHAHAP PLEHEHEHEASE!” Grace begged through his now slightly hoarse voice, not entirely sure what he just agreed to.

Rocky finally let up. The second he let go of his waist and rolled off to the floor, Grace flopped on his side and curled up into a ball, leftover giggles still escaping his lips. The reassurance and encouragement before the tickling were enough to make him calm down, but with how touched starved Grace was (we’re social creatures after all), in the end he didn’t mind at all.

“Youhuhu are the little tihihickle monster, you know that?” said Grace, still panting and smiling like an idiot.

“Apology.” Rocky moved closer and hugged Grace still curled up on the floor, who flinched at the contact of Rocky’s claws with his side again.

“No mohohore! Rocky-“

“Grace no afraid, Rocky will tickle no more (today). Grace recover from nightmare?”

“Yes, never been better, pal.” He said, rolling his eyes as Rocky just gave him a reality check disguised as tickling the life out of him that he, in fact, is not dead.

“Grace remember this and don’t be stupid.” Rocky moved his center (where his face would be if he had one) in front of teacher’s face and placed his stretched claw on top of his head, which made Grace feel a bit like an immobilized cat grabbed by the nape.

“Grace saved Rocky, now Grace safe, Rocky make sure of that.” Grace just shook his head and embraced Rocky. He finally let his guard down completely and let his body relax here on the ground.

“I know, pal. I know.”

Whatever was left of panic still inside of him, has evaporated with all the laughter Rocky caused. Was it that it was actually quite enjoyable to laugh freely in the arms of a friend?

He patted Rocky through the container and smiled at his very much needed words of great encouragement. He knew he saved him deep down - they saved each other. It was possible he could have failed, but he didn’t.

“Come, it’ll be good for you,” you encouraged. 

You had started an exercise regimen (your idea) a week after waking up from coma. After the fishing incident, you and Grace were both severely injured and you had to recover, so you hadn’t started up again. And then, just when you were finishing up with saving Erid and Earth, Simon showed up, derailing your priorities. 

It was time to get back into shape. 

“Okay,” Simon said hesitantly. “I’ll come.”

You didn’t have weights on the ship, so all workouts had to be bodyweight. You’d designed routines all those months ago that focused on core, glutes, and chest/shoulders—the more important muscles for retaining longevity. 

There were differing amounts of pushups, sit ups, squats, lunges, planks, mountain climbers, bicycles…etc., for you and for Grace. As you cleared a space on the floor of the lab, you realized you would have to adapt the exercises for Simon’s one arm. 

Simon lowered himself to the floor. “What do I do first?”

“We usually start with push-ups,” Grace grunted, already on his first set of 12 push-ups. 

You got on my hands and toes and showed Simon the different kinds. “You can do it on your toes like this,” you huffed. “Or you can modify your arms so it’s a tricep push up.” 

“Will it work with one arm?”

“You’ll have to engage your core to keep your balance, and you’ll probably want to do it on your knees to help,” you explained, demonstrating. “Woof, this is harder than I remember. We must be out of shape.”

You watched Simon balance unsteadily across one arm and two knees planted into the floor. You used a gentle hand to correct his form. 

“Squeeze your core,” you murmured, your fingers passing over his stomach. “And try to keep your back flat,” you added, correcting the overarching in his lower back. 

When you felt confident that he had gotten it, you joined him for the rest of your set on your knees. Grace was finishing up with his second set and drinking some water. 

After he finished twelve, Simon collapsed down to the floor. “I can’t do any more,” he said, frustrated. 

“It’s okay,” Grace rushed to reassure. “You’re still getting used to have one arm. You’re really strong, it just takes time to get good at these things.”

“Yeah, and I don’t think I can do more than the first set today anyway,” you added. 

We moved on to a core workout, which Simon could get through much more easily. You and Grace took turns correcting his form so he didn’t hurt himself. By the time you finished, you were all sweaty and tired.

Grace grabbed water for the three of you. You wiped sweat from your brow. Simon was quieter than usual. 

“You okay?” Grace asked. 

“M’fine,” he said unconvincingly. 

“Are you frustrated because it was hard?” You asked. 

Simon shrugged. “It’s just annoying. I know I could’ve done this more easily before I lost my arm. I’m so much bigger than you both but you can do this shit better than I can.”

“That’s okay,” you comforted. “I’m not great at this either. Grace is much stronger than me. The point is just to keep ourselves moving and healthy on the way to Erid.”

Simon nodded reluctantly. He was still pouting, though. 

Grace scooted closer. He winked at you. “Hey Simon, I know a great core exercise you can do. No effort and you’re sure to be great at it.”

“What?” Simon grumbled, wary of Grace’s chipper demeanor. 

Grace moved quickly, sweeping a leg under Simon’s and pinning him to the floor. Simon let out a surprised grunt. “What the fuck—“

Grace pinned up Simon’s arm and clawed roughly at his tummy. “Laughter is a great workout!”

Simon let out a strangled yell, his face turning red. “Grace! Gehet offa me—“

Simon twisted his wrist out of Grace’s grip and went to shove him off, but he realized quickly that there was no way to get Grace off of him without hurting him. “DAHAMN IT- Let me gohoho!”

You chuckled at the sight. Grace’s hands were flying across Simon’s torso, expertly evading Simon’s hand. Grace poked and clawed and squeezed relentlessly, never staying in the same spot for more than 20 seconds. 

“Let you go? But you need the exercise! Did you know that you use up to 30 muscles when you laugh?”

Simon looked helplessly at you. “Dohohon’t just SIT thehere!”

You grinned at him and sat up. “Okay, I’ll help.”

Grace looked to you in mock betrayal as he kneaded his thumbs into Simon’s hips. The poor man shrieked. 

You crawled over and stilled Grace’s hands. Simon sighed in relief, huffing and puffing with residual giggles.

You tutted at Grace. “You’re doing it wrong,” you said with a cheeky grin. 

Simon looked horrified. “Wait, what—“

You quickly switched spots so you were straddling Simon’s hips. He tried to buck you off but you caught yourself on his chest. He was faced with the same problem as before—he couldn’t get you off without hurting you. 

Grace grabbed Simon’s wrist and pulled his arm up over his head. 

“Nonono, come on I thought you were done—“

You interrupted him. “See, Grace, the rough stuff gets him but he really can’t stand anything light,” you smirked. “Right, Simon?”

Simon’s face was fully red now. “M’not gonna answer thahat—“

“That’s okay, you don’t have to,” you said cheerfully. “I’ll demonstrate.”

You started to slowly wiggle my fingers up Simon’s ribcage, making a steady path up to his armpit. He huffed and squirmed from side to side, unable to shake the tickly feeling. 

“Nohoho- stop that, I’m fuckin’ seheherious!” He wheezed. 

Grace ignored Simon, pretended to be your very dedicated student. “Ahhh, I see,” he said. “So I should do… this?”

Grace used all five fingers on his free hand to tap lightly with his fingertips across the surface of Simon’s underarm. You continued to walk your fingers across his ribs, pausing to scribble at the spots that got louder reactions. 

Simon convulsed with laughter, his bicep flexing. “FUCK- fuhuhucking shit! Fuck! PLEHEHEASE!”

Grace kept going, but you slowed your fingers to give Simon a bit of a break. Simon’s giggles died down slightly. 

“Fuhuckin’… bastards, the both of you…”

“Well that’s rude,” you scolded playfully. “We’re helping you exercise and that’s how you repay us?”

“So ungrateful,” Grace chided in agreement. He was grinning. 

You rolled up Simon’s shirt to expose his tummy. As soon as it was exposed to the cool air, it quivered and sucked in as much as possible. Simon started to struggle again. “No- dohon’t, stay away from there…”

“Sorry, buddy, we gotta check that your core is activated,” you teased, starting to poke at his belly. You squeezed and prodded at the muscles. “All part of a good workout.”

Simon’s tummy flexed and bounced with giggles. He hid his face in his bicep and surrendered to laughter. 

Grace removed his hand from Simon’s underarm, sensing that he had had enough. You slowed down as well. You and Grace looked down on Simon adoringly. 

The two of you let him go. “See? An exercise you’re great at,” you ribbed.

Simon took a few steadying breaths. His eyes were closed. 

The magnet achieves the ability to pull on ferromagnetic materials such as nickel, cobalt, and iron. 

Iron, and other ferromagnetic materials, are permanently magnetic. It contains microscopic regions called magnetic domains where the atomic magnetic moments naturally align in the same direction. When a magnetic field is applied, these domains expand and align to create a powerful magnetic response. 

Grace curled sleepily against Simon’s side. “You’re warm,” he mumbled. 

“I know,” Simon replied. He felt his heart beating harder, faster, and yet somehow slowing down. His very directionality—biological, magnetic, structural—seemed to leap towards Grace.

When a ferromagnetic material is exposed to a magnetic field and the field is removed, its magnetization doesn’t immediately return to zero. This is called hysteresis. 

Simon felt his heart lurch and slowly settle down again when Grace eventually got out of bed to get some coffee for the both of them. 

If heated above a specific temperature (the Curie temperature), ferromagnetic materials lose their properties and become paramagnetic—only weakly attracted to magnetic fields.

Grace crawled back into bed with two mugs. Simon took a scalding sip. He didn’t know about magnetism, or ferromagnetic properties, or Curie temperatures. 

But he knew iron. Oh, he knew iron alright. And he knew the way Grace seemed to stick to him. 

Or was it the other way around?

Simon had a lot of faith in the Hail Mary’s temperature regulation system.

Grace evidently didn’t.

The blonde man cuddled closer, setting his empty coffee mug out of the way. He stuck his freezing hands under Simon’s borrowed t-shirt. Simon hissed and nearly spilled his coffee. 

“Fucking shit, Gracie.”

“Warm me up then.”

Simon set his mug aside and tugged his t-shirt off. 

Grace actually blushed. “Oh, well, that works too—“

“No, you idiot, I’m just giving you better skin-to-skin contact,” Simon muttered, pulling Grace across him. 

Simon pulled the blanket up so it covered Grace’s shoulders. Grace was lovingly trapped in a cocoon of warmth, between Simon’s radiator of a body and the softness of the blanket. 

Grace shuffled his head down to rest on Simon’s tummy—softened from time spent with Grace and enough food. As Grace traced a path between a mole on Simon’s left hip to one on his right, Simon flexed his abdomen on purpose. The muscles rippled under Grace’s hand.

“Show off.”

“I don’t know… you seemed to like them last night,” Simon muttered cheekily. Grace sputtered and hid his face in Simon’s tummy with an embarrassed groan.

Simon laughed from the ridiculousness and the vibrations. “Gehet your face outta there.”

Grace lifted his head. “Why? Does it tickle?”

Simon huffed. “Yes. Stop it.”

Grace started planting kisses around Simon’s bellybutton. 

“HA- Grahace that’s not what stopping looks lihike!”

Simon’s belly shook with giggles. “I did stop,” Grace mumbled between kisses. “I’m just— appreciating— my— Simon,” he added, punctuating each word with a kiss. 

“This dohohoesn’t feel so appreciative…” Simon complained. “I fuckin’ warmed you up!”

“Yes, I’m feeling very toasty,” Grace mumbled into Simon’s lower belly. 

“Ahahasshole…”

“What was that?” Grace murmured. He didn’t let Simon answer, though. Grace bent his head again and licked at Simon’s bellybutton. 

Simon shrieked. “AH- what the fuck?! Ew ew—GRAHAHACE!”

Simon pushed uselessly at Grace’s head, giggling himself silly. “Sohoho disgusting, stohohop…”

Grace grinned, looking very pleased with himself. Simon’s lower tummy was wet and Simon swiped a palm across himself to dry it off. “Fuckin’ gross.”

Grace rested his head on Simon again and then lifted it. “Ew, Simon, you’re getting my face wet,” he complained, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. 

“Your fault, idiot.”

Grace giggled. 

Magnetic flux is defined as the measurement of the total magnetic field that passes through a given surface area.  With Grace’s body across his, Simon felt electric. Every part of him keened towards Grace. If Grace was north, Simon was his south. If Grace was positive, Simon was his negative. 

Rocky’s high-pitched cackling rings out as I chase him down the corridor, through ‘The Don’t Go Crazy Room.' He veers into the lab, his claws clanging against the floor.

I jump forward, tackling him to the ground as we roll across the floor with momentum. I hear Grace yelp at the sudden noise and commotion, turning to look at us. We scramble in a heap, pushing, pulling, and hitting each other. 

I grab an arm and he lets me pin it to the floor as I push at his carapace. Suddenly two claws are hugging my middle and he flips me hard onto my stomach.

“Simon not win! Rocky too strong!” The alien smugly says from above me. He smashes a claw into my face, pushing and squishing my cheek. 

I hear Grace laugh at my expense in the background…but it's different. He laughs differently when he's actually amused. Normally it's loud and bright. Today it's quieter, like he's trying not to interrupt us. I don't know why I noticed that.

“Not fair! You have more arms!” I argue as I push my legs underneath myself, straining against his weight.

“Not Rocky fault human design poor.” He lets up, allowing me to try to turn the tables, as adrenaline-filled giggles spill from me. “Simon should not have ‘missed place’ other arm either.” There’s a teasiness to his chords.

“I did NOT fucking ‘misplace’ my other arm, you-oversized-paperweight!" Excitement comes from him in response. He thinks he soooo funny.

I grab a claw, lacing our digits together, and push against his arm. I try to plant my knees, but he easily slides me across the floor just by walking into me.

My smile grows, baring my sharp canines at Rocky, letting out a playful growl from my chest. He returns the noise, mimicking it with a low rumbling sound, making me feel a little silly. This all makes me feel silly. But in a good way.

"Oh, you're gonna get it for that!” It’s supposed to sound at least a little threatening, but the stupid smile stuck on my face and the way my hair is a mess and sticking out every which way make it seem anything but.

I rip my arm away from his and pull back. He raises three of his, following defensively. I find an opening and strike at his carapace with force. He freezes and dramatically falls to the floor, clawing at the air like he’s clawing at heaven above.

“Ow. Simon got Rocky. Dead.” He flops over, legs going rigid, letting out little fake pained trills. I cover my smile, snickering at his acting skills. He can be so silly sometimes.

I give Grace a brief glance, but he’s stopped laughing and is just staring. I force myself to pull my eyes away.

I dramatically collapse into Rocky. “Ugh, I think you got me too, Rock. Drawl?” I offer but his arms immediately curl around my middle and squeeze. 

“Rocky lie! Rocky win!” He shouts, flipping me over on my stomach again, pinning me down.

“Ah-shit! No fair!” I laugh, reaching back to grab him, but he just settles on my back, sitting on top and sprawling his legs out while carefully avoiding my wagging tail. He settles on his new seat with a satisfying hum.

“Simon very hyper today.” My cheeks go a little red at the comment as I succumb to Rocky’s weight. I lay, catching my breath, enjoying the cold floor of the ship on my face. I feel two claws start to rub at my upper back and shoulders, making me melt further into the cool surface.

"Well, I’m clearly not the only one.” I argue with a grin. We’ve been going at it for a good thirty minutes now and I’m not going to complain.

I flip my head over and look at Grace again. He seems to notice and forces a smile back onto his face.

“I would join but you guys would break me.” He lets out a low chuckle. It's true. After whatever the hell happened with me physically, I seem to have gotten a bit stronger. Unusually stronger, and I seem to have gotten a bit…tougher? Hits that would have normally hurt don't as much. This is what allows me and Rocky to play so rough. 

“Yes. Grace squishy.” Rocky adds and starts rubbing a claw through my hair as well, smoothing it back into place. I smirk at what Rocky said, but Grace’s smile seems to falter.

“I want a rematch," I huff, squirming from underneath Rocky.

“Oh. Simon want to loose again, question?” That cocky little alien! “Rocky give Simon…five human second head start.” He crawls off of me and helps me up. I swerve on my heels, not wasting any of my head start. 

Rocky lets me run. He started doing that awhile ago. At first I thought he was getting slower, maybe from the strain of space. Turns out he was giving me a head start. I never asked him to. I don't think he needed me to. He just knew I loved that part. Makes me feel light and airy, like I’m not stuck on a ship barreling through space.

I sprint to the dormitory, Rocky hot on my heels. I feel the air pushing through my light shirt and into my gills, filling my burning chest. My head feels scrambled but elated and my limbs are loose. It feels so nice. So different than what I used to feel.

“Human so slow! Need more legs!” He calls after me, making giddy anticipation flow through me. 

"I'll let our human manufacturer know!” I remark back. Who knew wrestling with a rock would be so fun. Who knew wrestling in general could be fun, actually?

It seemed so scary. The first time Rocky pinned me, I thought I was going to die. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was worried Rocky wouldn’t stop. That if it got to be too much, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. But when I frantically called out, he stilled and held me softly. Now I don't even think about it. Funny how that happens.

I make it into the room and spin to stare at Rocky, trapped with only one exit. My eyes frantically looking from him to the door.

“Simon in corner. Make Rocky victory easy!” 

“Oh yeah? Don’t get too ahead of yourself! I’m gonna throw you out the airlock!" He lets out pitchy laughter.

“Yes! Affectionate threat!” He laughs, not the polite trills he gives everyone else. It's a loud squeaky noise. The one that vibrates through him and into me. I didn't think he could sound like that when we first met. Turns out he can, usually because of me. He trills as I frown a bit at the failed threat. He slowly stalks toward me, claws raised. We rotate around each other, stupid giggles coming from both of us. 

I hear the door open and see Grace slip into the room with a laptop. I raise a brow. Rocky seems to have stilled at his sudden appearance as well. He settles in the bed and starts typing something, oddly quiet.

Hm.

I turn back to Rocky, running at him while he’s distracted. He jumps with a squeak and catches me in his arms, claws tightly gripping me.

“Simon! Carful! Simon balance not good!” He pulls me forward into his carapace. “Carless.”

"Well, I knew you would catch me.” He doesn’t deny it. Annoyed grumbles come from him as he, gently this time, throws me back to the floor. 

Gentle coos from Rocky make me look up at him. “Simon very cute when like this.” A claw comes up to trace around my face and squish at my cheek again. He brushes my hair out of my eyes, making a soft sound of amusement. I feel my face get warm at the compliment and grumble, my chest heaving in and out as I try and catch my breath.

I lie for a moment and notice how Grace is no longer typing. He is just looking off at us again. Nothing new seems to have been added to the screen of the laptop since I glanced over last, only to start back up again frantically.

“Simon looking at Grace a lot.” And to prove him right, I quickly look between Grace and Rocky to make sure he didn't hear him.

“Am not." I feel my face warm even more.

“Looking a lot, statement.” 

“Shut up.” I grumble as I scramble back to my feet and try to book it to the now unblocked exit. Rocky quickly and frantically grabs one of my legs, trying to keep me here with him, and I slip.

“OW—!!!” I fall face first, hard, like very hard, into the wall of the Hail Mary, bouncing off right back onto the floor. “Ugh…fuck…” My hand shoots to my face, checking to see if I broke my nose. 

A rather loud, alarmed noise comes from Rocky and he scrambles to my head, grabbing my face again. He turns it to face up at him, another small squeak coming from him; I'm assuming it's at the damage.

“Ah apology apology! Was accident!” He pulls me up and I feel my nose start to bleed. The warm liquid starts flowing down my face, the familiar taste of iron on my lips. I don't think it's broken; the pain isn't all that awful either but I have a feeling I'll have a killer headache in a few hours.

“One day, you guys are going to put a hole in the ship.” Grace retorts with a small smile from the bed, but Rocky seems to entirely ignore him. I see him frown and slouch when no response comes.

He anxiously pets at my head and even pinches off my nose for me as I let out a laugh, squeezing my eyes shut. He really must be sorry; it's not often he willingly touches our leaky human fluids on purpose. 

“Not funny! Simon hurt!” He taps his leg against the floor for emphasis, but I just laugh even more. I peek my eyes open and see that three of his claws are busy holding me, so he has to balance on the other two.

Feeling rather playful still, probably from all the adrenaline from being chased and then almost knocking myself out, I bring my legs up and push him out with my feet as hard as I can. The move manages to make him stumble back and I scramble to my feet, talking off once again.

I hear Rocky anxiously call after me, “Simon! Stop running! Hurt! No play!” But I just continue to giggle, making my way back to the lab. I bring my hand up to my nose, trying to stop bleeding all over the ship as I run, but my god, it’s hard to run with one arm when that arm is occupied with something else.

I feel my balance tilt, almost tripping over my feet and falling again as Rocky lets out a startled whistle in response.

“Simon will hurt himself again! Stop running now!” He might have been right about my balance after all. 

He corners me again, but I can tell he really is trying to block my exit this time. I shift from right to left, but he just moves closer.

“Simon…not playing.” He scolds, his vents hissing.

“I’m fine.” He angrily taps a claw against the floor.

“Not fine. Leaking important fluid.” He slowly advances. “No escape.”

“Very ominous.” I lower myself a little, trying to take back some space but Rocky holds his position. Another grin comes across my face and I hear Rocky let out an annoyed hum in response.

“Simon too hyper.” Mean…but fair.

But once again, Grace comes into the room. He looks awkward as we both freeze to look at him again. He opens some random cabinet, bringing his hand up to his chin as if thinking hard about what he’s looking for. Then he closes it, taking nothing. He lingers with our attention on him. Why is he still here? He clearly didn't find what he was looking for.

“Glad you guys are having fun.” I see his ears flush as he mutters an apology for interrupting. His ears always go red before the rest of his face. He settles at one of the tables in the lab, shuffling through random papers. There’s a small frown on his face and his eyebrows are knitted together. I’m surprised he didn’t go back to the dorm. He never brought the laptop back here with him.

Suddenly I’m tossed on my back to the floor again with a yelp.

“Simon stay.” Rocky says firmly. I smile at him again and a frustrated chirp rings out. “Rocky mean it.” He presses a claw into my chest, pushing hard. I wheeze as he forces the air out of my lungs.

“Okay okay. I’ll stay.” He huffs and skitters off but stops wearily for a moment to see if I’ll take off again before actually leaving.

I find Grace's eyes again, but he looks away once more. A frown fights its way into my happy features at his odd behavior.

My attention turns to Rocky as he returns holding some towels. He helps me sit up and places a towel on my face and starts scrubbing softly. 

“Thank you.” I sigh, and he pulls my head closer to him. He traces around my face with another claw, rubbing my forehead where it slammed against the wall. He’s so gentle. It’s weird to be treated so delicately after everything I’ve gone through.

“Apology.” He pushes into my beard and mustache, cleaning away the thick red liquid that stains the hair there.

“It’s okay, Rock. It was an accident.” I’m a little worried this one-off accident will stop our little fights in the future. I don’t know what I’ll do if he insists on this. It’s the most fun I’ve had in years.

“I guess you won again.” I reach up and glide a hand over his carapace. He pulls away from my face for a moment. I run my hand along his plates, along the cracks of his body. His vents flutter with a whistle.

“Simon can not hurt Rocky.” He purrs into my hand, enjoying the attention. He caught me.

“I know. Just a habit.” Just to make sure.

I look to Grace, who is staring again and he quickly looks away, fumbling with something on the lab table. Every time Rocky touches me, he looks and then immediately finds something incredibly interesting somewhere else. Once again, a frown crosses his features, but he doesn’t look angry. I quirk an eyebrow up at him as he tries to sneak a glance back at me. He stands up quickly and speed-walks out of the room. 

Weird.

“Why Grace unhappy, question?” Rocky asks. “Sound sad.” He pushes my face towards the sky, wiping down my chin and neck.

“He isn’t.” I squint in Rocky's direction, tilting my head down just for Rocky to push it back up again with a hum. I feel the blood in my nose start to run down the back of my throat.

“Grace watch us.”

“He always watches us.” I cringe and swallow at the feeling, tasting the liquid in my throat.

“No. Different watching. Not normal.” He trills. His carapace cocks to the side, vents shifting.

“…”

I sit, thinking back to his weird actions. The little comments he’s made over this hour of playing. I have a theory.

“Yeah. Maybe he is. A little.” 

“Why, question?” His trills are low and full of worry. 

“I think he may be a little jealous, Rock.” I smile while looking back down; it’s a little endearing. And a little childish.

“Of what, question?” 

“I think about how we can roughhouse together. Be close physically in ways he can’t…and he just has to sit there and watch.” I feel a pang of sadness thinking about how we unknowingly were leaving him out. It's something I should have noticed before.

He pushes the towel back to my face as more blood seems to dribble from my nose.

“Rocky Simon should include Grace in play. Need Grace happy.” I immediately picture Rocky throwing Grace down to the floor or through a wall and grimace. Rocky's and my idea of pretend wrestling is similar, but to Grace it was probably different. Gentle and light. I would be scared to hold such a delicate being like Grace the way I do with Rocky. So scared to break him.

“I need him happy too.” I mumble into the towel.

The thought of Grace feeling left out on his own ship worms deeper into my brain. I go quiet, pulling at a few locks of hair and shifting them between my fingers in thought. 

“I have another idea, Rock.” It comes out nasally and I close my eyes again, leaning into Rocky’s touch.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ִ🛸༄˖°.

Rocky and I are fooling around again. Nothing like the play fighting a few days ago, just wrestling in one spot. Pushing and pulling against each other while on one of the beds. Rocky works as an outlet for all the cooped-up energy flowing through me and I appreciate every second of it. Although I was in prison, and being stuck in a confined space is not new to me in the slightest, my new situation (or maybe my mutations) seems to have flipped some sort of switch in me. I get in these moods where I just can't sit still and I gotta move. 

A moment later Grace walks into the dormitory. We both turn toward him, and Grace freezes. 

"Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you guys were in here.” I see his eyes look over us, analyzing how Rocky has his claw in mine, pushing me against the mattress. The smile on my face and disheveled hair and clothes. Once again his face falls.

I frown and Rocky lets me up. I slide off the bed and stand, staring him down. Rocky shifts his carapace in Grace's direction, letting out a low rumble.

“W-what?” an anxious smile makes its way to his face. His glasses slip down his nose. He looks nervous, his hands suddenly fidgeting together. We stand in silence for a moment. I catch his eyes and stare deep into them.

“What Grace fastest running speed, question?” Amusement laces Rocky’s chords and Grace raises a brow, his worried smile falling ever so slightly.

“...why?” He takes a step back as Rocky climbs off the bed as well.

“No reason!~” I growl in response, Rocky and I creeping toward him. My tail flicks lightly as the anticipation builds between the three of us.

Everyone goes still for a moment. Silence settles around us. I see the gears turn in his head while a giddy smile makes its way to his face.

Grace makes the first move, fleeing as fast as he can. He climbs the ladder with shocking speed and sprints down the other way to the ship. I quickly follow, but the ladder slows me down. I’m kinda happy about that; the chase is one of the best parts in my opinion.

“Friend Grace! Come back!” Rocky chirps as we run after him, who is now anxiously giggling. Loud thumps echo through the ship as we make it to the lab. 

Me and Rocky have him cornered. Grace turns as his back presses against the wall, hands held up and open defensively. His face is warped between a worried and playful expression.

“W-wait! Guys—!” I close the distance and he lets out a squeak as I hoist him over my shoulder. He's surprisingly light, which only makes me think back to how breakable he is compared to me and Rocky. He squirms and kicks at me, already pleading frantically. God, he's so dramatic.

"I've captured the captain, Rock.” I smile as his squirming picks up more. I feel as he pulls at my shirt, clawing at my back.

“Good, good, good.” 

I bring him over to Rocky and gently place him on the floor. Rocky immediately grabs his arms and pulls them over his head as I settle on his waist. Grace looks scared, more than I thought he would.

“C-comon guys! Two on one isn't fair! A-and I’m not as strong—your gonna hurt—“

“Grace too fragile for wrestling, statement." Rocky trills out snickers and I watch Grace's face turn a little red. It hurts a little to think he would believe we would actually do something to hurt him.

“Hey!” he squeaks out. “I’m not ‘fragile’!”

“Grace space blob.”

“ROCKY.” The hue of his cheeks seems to deepen. 

"It's true," I agree, nodding my head. “Very blob-like. You barely have a structure…" I punctuate my sentence with a soft squeeze to the pudge on his stomach, making him squeak. “I mean, one hit from me or Rocky and you'd explode."

“I-im not that weak, okay. You're gravely exaggerating my dexterity!” I see as he pulls at his arms. “You have mutant strength; that's not fair! You'd be a blob like me without it!” I huff out a laugh in response.

“Oh yeah?” His eyes flick to mine, and he nods his head nervously. I furrow my brows at him and watch a hint of smugness make its way to his face in the form of a tiny grin.

“One safe combat option remaining.” Rocky says as Grace tries to throw me off. I place my fingers in his outstretched hollow, and he goes still. Anxious eyes find mine as a wobbly smile comes to his face. He starts to desperately squirm and twist before I even start.

“Noho. Simon. Rohocky...” He tries to sound stern but fails miserably. His cheeks are red and his eyes are frantically looking around my face.

I flutter my fingers and a small squeak comes from him. He twists his face into his arm and bites his lip. 

"Oh, playing hard to get, Angel?” I scratch at the fabric harder and hear his laughter sputter from his mouth. He frantically shakes his head, his glasses askew on his face. “Common, laugh for us. This is what you wanted, right?” I smirk, seeing my teasing make his face blush even more. 

NOHOhoho! I-I nehever shahid—AH!!” I pull his sleeve up over his shoulder and run my nails over his bare skin. His body arches up as he pulls desperately. Rocky shifts himself closer, placing one of his claws in the other underarm, clawing softly.

“WAHAHIT! ROHohcky AHA—DOHOHON’T—!!” His hair becomes disheveled as he jerks back and forth.

“Grace wanted to play.” I see him get more flustered at Rocky's comment. I slide down to his highest rib and dig in. He squeals out a plea while his legs frantically kick behind me. I feel around the bone, pushing my fingertips in between the spaces and vibrating before slowly dragging my nails back up to his hallows.

“EEEAHAHAhaha!! Nohoho I-I dihiHIDN’T *SNRK*—!!!" Squeaky laughter comes from him. He kicks out, pushing his feet into the floor, pushing himself into Rocky more.

“Don’t lie, Grace. You're too obvious.” I let my fingers go still, and I see Rocky do the same. “You looked left out.” All those frowns he had on his face flash into my mind.

"N-no, I dihidn't," he breathes, catching his breath while looking away, a wobbly smile on his face. 

“You watched us wrestle for close to an hour.” I take my finger and slowly draw circles into the outstretched skin of his armpit, making his body shiver and jump. “Following us room to room to watch.” I grumble accusingly.

“NO! Nohoho—AH!” I see the blush across his cheeks leak down to his neck at being called out. 

“Rock, take over for me, will you?” I slowly drag my nails down over his ribs, feeling each bump of his bones, until I make it to his side. I give a few squeezes as I watch Rocky place another claw in his other underarm, replacing mine. Goosebumps race across his skin at the light touch and he squeaks.

“ROHOHCKY! DON’TDONOnon’t tahahake o-OVER—STOHOHOP—!!” His head falls back against Rocky's carapace as he cackles, squeezing his eyes shut. His laughter makes me feel warm and I can't look away. 

“Yes. Grace sad. Want to play with Rocky Simon. Cheer Grace up with play!” Rocky happily chirps out, speeding up his tickling. He shakes his head in response, wiggling underneath us.

“Ya know, you could have just asked. We would have involved you.” I make my way to his hip and squeeze into the bone, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath my fingers. I smile as I see the blush deepen the tips of his ears and his eyes go wide. “You moped around, pouting the whole time when you could have just asked.”

“NAHAHAT THERERE—EEHIHIAHAhaha *snrk* NO—!!” I rub circles into the bone, his hips bucking up. “SIHIMOHOHON—!!!”

I reach behind myself, squeezing down his thigh, each pinch earning me a squeal with more laughter. I finally make my way to his knee and I latch on. I squeeze rapidly at the joint, his legs frantically kicking. Small tears wet his lashes as we continue.

“Grace embarrass about play, question?” I slow my touches and so does Rocky. Grace's chest heaves up and down. I lean forward and grab his glasses that have all but fallen off at this point.

“Nohot embarrassed…and I…I dohon’t pout…” He huffs out and I raise a brow at him. So he's a liar now. 

"That's what you got from this conversation?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. “Also yes, you do.” I smirk, reaching down to run a finger along the edge of his lips. "You're literally pouting right now.” He frowns, his blush deepening. I didn't know ones face could get that shade.

I reach down and grab at his stomach. He jerks hard and squeals. I lighten my touch to lightly trace my nails against the skin there.

"Ahahahehe *snrk* wahait!" He sucks in his stomach, light giggles coming from him. Back and forth I sweep my fingers from side to side, slowly watching the skin twitch and Grace squirm. 

“So why not ask?” I still move my fingers but keep them pressed into his flesh. He bites his lip, giggles coming to a stop. 

He sits in silence for a moment, like he's carefully picking his words.

“I just…didn't want to intrude on your guys' relationship and stuff. It's nice that you guys have something separate from me.” He looks away, a sad look coming to his face. "It's a good thing." He tries to reassure us, but the way he looks away lets me know how he really feels. 

"It's not like I could participate anyway.”

I roll my eyes with an annoyed groan. God, he can be so weird with this stuff. It's not like we've known each other for close to a year now, stuck on the same ship together. He's known Rocky for even longer! I don't know why—I can't understand why he wouldn't just come and ask. He's the one who's always been open with his feelings. 

I look back over to him, frowning. He meets my gaze with a worried look. Worried about me being upset. 

"Rocky, let’m go," I sigh and Rocky does. I pat the floor next to me and he scuttles up, facing Grace beside me. Grace curls up a little but ultimately sits up to face us, though he looks like he'd rather be doing anything else.

I grab his hand in mine and squeeze. “You can't just not tell us stuff like this, especially if it makes you upset. We could have been more gentle. We could've—can check in on you more when we wrestle. Make sure you're okay, not hurt.” His eyes avoid us, and his hand is tense in mine.

“Y-you shouldnt have to do that, it's ok—”

“I get it.” I cut him off and his eyes flick to me. “I feel the need for close intimacy. I'm clingy. You know this, I know this, and Rocky definitely knows this.” Rocky lets out an amused trill and I smile. “But guess what? I had to ask you and Rocky to do that stuff. It made me sad that we didn't, so I asked like you taught me…and that's what we need you to do too.” 

“Understand, question?” Rocky reaches out and grabs his other hand while placing a claw on my leg. 

“Yes. Okay. I understand.” The tone he uses makes me think otherwise.

“Ryland, we're going to be on this ship for a long time together. You're good at this.” I try to give the best reassuring smile.

“At what?”

“Keeping us moving. Keeping me moving.” I mumble, looking away. “I don't know how to explain it." He waits patiently, eyes wide.

“I think…” I take my hand from his and rub the back of my neck, "...things are easier when you're around. Being yourself and happy.”

Silence.

"Grace heartbeat quick—”

“YES. Thank you, Rocky." He squeezes his eyes shut and looks away too, his ears red again. They do that a lot.

“Now,” I start shifting to stand. “I think we're going to give you a…five-second head start.” I smile as his eyes go wide.

At first it came from a quiet day of parallel work. Both Grace and Rocky had been in the lab, the former doing calculations on how best to ration his meals for the trip to Erid, and the latter tinkering with some unknown Xenonite contraption. Then Rocky stopped his tinkering altogether. Which was a surprise, considering that even deep in thought he always seemed to be doing something with his claws. With five of them, Eridians were very good at multitasking.

“If Grace experience muscle weakness and fine motor skill failure from malnutrition on way to Erid, Grace no work Hail Mary when reach orbit and space elevator. Confirm, question?” He asked when he finally spoke.

Grace stopped what he was doing and chewed the tip of his pen. It had only been a few months since Grace had rescued Rocky from the Blip-A floating dead in space, they had a long, long time before they had to really start worrying about that, but Rocky had a great point.

“Uhh…shoot, yeah. You’re right.” He leaned back in his chair, stretching his spine with a few satisfying pops and looking up at the stark white ceiling. “I mean, we could probably reprogram the Hail Mary and mess around with her navigation to do it sort of on autopilot, but that might be a bit risky-”

“Rocky do it!”

Grace looked over at his friend. Rocky was on his feet now, tapping away with his two front claws as he always did when he was going through calculations in his head.

“Rocky I appreciate the thought, but you can’t pilot the Hail Mary from a ball. And the controls would fail in your atmosphere.”

“Rocky no need ball, I make suit. Suit from Xenonite mesh like panel on ball! Small small small panels for dexterity and maneuverability to properly work controls. And tend to Grace when Grace get sick. That part very important. Rocky want to help Grace. Rocky fix.”

Grace was following along pretty well until that last bit. Rocky had done his research on human malnutrition as soon as Grace mentioned rationing his food for the trip, and man, he was not at all happy about it. Grace assumed it was because with all the sleeping he’d end up doing once his body started running out of energy, it reminded him of his old crewmates, how he had watched them fall asleep one by one and never wake up again. Poor Rocky, alone in that massive ship with no one to watch him sleep…the thought always made Grace’s eyes well up.

Like they did right now.

“Rocky, you know we’ve got a while until that starts to become a concern, right? You don’t gotta worry about me just yet,” Grace said, blinking away the moisture in his eyes. Frankly he was touched that Rocky was looking out for him this far in advance. Who was he kidding, Rocky was always looking out for him.

“Yes, but if Rocky make suit now and suit have problem and things go bad bad bad during test, Rocky trust Grace to make sure Rocky safe to try again. Best to test while Grace is healthy.”

Well, he couldn’t argue with that logic.

“Alright, deal,” Grace smiled, putting his fist up to the Xenonite in front of Rocky, and Rocky returned the gesture with his claws making a thud on the clear material. “Just be careful, alright?“

“Rocky promise! Start right away!”

—————————————————————————

It had been a few days since that conversation. Rocky slaved away in his workshop every waking hour of the day. He worked on the suit when he watched Grace sleep, he worked on it as soon as he himself woke up, and every moment in between, only pausing to eat. He wouldn’t even take a break to rewatch Star Trek with Grace, which was one of his favorites! You had to hand it to the guy, he was committed.

And then, after a week of hard, tedious, claw-aching work, it was done. Though, Rocky would take a week of this over a week of chain any day.

Grace had taken a quick trip to the dormitory to retrieve his quilt—the lab got a little chilly sometimes and he was feeling snuggly—before he got an announcement from Mary’s intercom.

“Summons from crewmate Rocky.”

“I left for two seconds,” Grace chuckled to himself before folding the quilt under his arms and making his way back up to the lab.

“Summons from crewmate Rocky.”

“I’m coming, buddy, I’m coming!”

He opened the hatch to a series of excited chirps emanating from behind the Xenonite wall, so high pitched Grace wasn’t even sure if Rocky was actually saying words or if he was just squealing with glee.

And now Grace could see what had his friend so excited. On the other side of the barrier, Rocky was stomping happily inside of a near skin-tight Xenonite spacesuit. It was similar in concept to the one he had made Grace so the human could explore the Blip-A’s interior, but much more maneuverable. Heck, at first it took Grace a moment to notice he was wearing it at all!

Grace beamed as he trotted over, squatting down to get a good look. “Hey, you finished it!”

“Yes yes yes! Ran through many designs, none very comfortable, this design good good good. Is comfortable, and can move claws to work Hail Mary interface and controls. Very important.” Rocky demonstrated by raising his claws in a fist, then separating them and pressing his “palm” against the barrier. “Now just need testing in Grace atmosphere.”

“Well, then what are we waiting for?” Grace asked, grinning at Rocky’s excitement as well as his own. “Oh! Actually, me. Wait for me, I’ll be right back!”

“Where Grace going, question?”

“When you come into my space you’ll be too hot for me to touch, so I’m grabbing the EVA gloves.”

“Ohh make sense, hurry hurry!”

Grace shot Rocky a thumbs down in his departure, leaving at a swift trot as he made his way to the airlock where the EVA suit resided. It took a few minutes, Rocky stomping back and forth impatiently all the while, before Grace returned.

“Alright bud, I’m here, let’s do this.”

“Yes yes yes, let’s!”

Rocky squeezed his way into the little airlock box that the two of them used to pass items back and forth, similar to the one in the tunnel connecting their respective ships when they first met. It took a bit of maneuvering, but he eventually got all his legs to fit comfortably inside. The air inside hissed as it cycled from Rocky’s atmosphere to Grace’s. As soon as it stopped it slid over to Grace’s side of the wall, and Rocky cautiously stepped out.

Both human and Eridian stood silent and still, not unlike how they did as soon as they re-entered Adrian’s orbit before everything went sideways and spinning. Only this time, nothing went wrong. Rocky flexed his claws, stretched all of his limbs out and up one by one, testing each joint of his suit for weaknesses or leaks. Nothing.

“All good?” Grace asked, turning his head and looking cautiously at his friend from the side of his eyes.

Rocky did a few more test bounces up and down with his carapace, before he stomped happily back and forth. “All good! All good good good!”

“Haha! Yes!” Grace whooped, pumping his fists in the air and grinning from ear to ear. Rocky chirped in excitement, spinning in a circle and doing jazz hands. Then Rocky stopped to give an exasperated groan, sounding a bit like a squeaky car brake.

“Rocky want to hug Grace but still too hot,” he whined.

Grace threw his head back and laughed. He put on his EVA gloves and walked over to Rocky to rest his protected palms on the top of his body around his vents. To say the Xenonite was scalding hot would be an understatement, and Grace almost had to pull away from the heat that radiated into his forearms, but he got used to it.

“Here, how’s this for starters,” he asked, masking his grimace with a friendly smile.

Rocky chirped in surprise. “Oh! Can feel! Can feel Grace through suit!” he said.

Grace chuckled. “Yeahah?”

“Yes yes yes!” Rocky chittered, shimmying from side to side as if he could barely contain his excitement. “I like!”

Rocky’s reaction was enough to make the near-burning skin worthwhile a hundred times over.

—————————————————————————

Where Grace went, Rocky went, clunking his way through the halls of the Hail Mary on five legs rather than inside of his ball. Grace had to admit, it was pretty nice having his friend like this. He was a little worried at first that Rocky having full access to the ship would cause some personal space problems and get him a little peeved, but honestly all annoyance was gone.

“Is Rocky cool enough for hug now, question?”

Well, there was that. But Grace couldn’t even be mad, the fact that Rocky was so excited for his first real hug but careful to not hurt Grace was beyond heartwarming.

Grace chuckled and hovered his bare hand over the Xenonite, just like he did ten minutes ago. Man, this stuff took ages to cool down.

“Not yet buddy, almost there though.”

They continued their endeavors.

“Is Rocky cool enough for hug now, question?”

“Oh my god…”

It took another forty minutes for the xenonite to cool down to a degree where it wouldn’t be uncomfortable. Sure, Grace could’ve put his EVA suit on, but selfishly he didn’t want to. The suit was bulky and annoying to put on in 1.5g’s, and call him sappy but he wanted to feel Rocky as completely as he could when he held him close after all this time. It was his first hug, after all, it had to be special.

And then, after so much waiting—months of it now, really, ever since Grace hugged Rocky’s ball that first time—it happened. Grace figured it out on accident, simply walking by Rocky in the dormitory and giving his head a gentle pat as he passed, and Rocky leaned into his hand as if they had done it a hundred times.

Then they both paused.

Rocky raised his carapace, practically buzzing with excitement. “Grace?”

Grace looked at his unburned palm, then to Rocky, and smiled. “Rocky cool enough for hug now, statement,” he beamed.

Rocky squealed so high pitched Grace thought it would shatter the computer screens, stomping happily with all his legs and wiggling back and forth. Then, with his legs momentarily scuffing along the ground, he launched himself at Grace, his front two arms outstretched.

Grace didn’t have half a second to prepare, scrambling backwards to try and cushion the blow, before Rocky had collided with him and he was knocked flat on his back.

“Woah! Woahwoahwoah Rocky—ouf!”

The wind was briefly knocked out of him from the impact, but then he laughed. He laughed and laughed as he sat up the best he could and held Rocky close, squeezing the alien against his chest. He didn’t even care that his breath was a little restricted from the pressure of Rocky’s arms around his ribcage. Tears of pure joy began to fall from his eyes, which he squeezed closed to just feel Rocky in his arms.

Rocky was singing, the sound almost like a whimper but more joyful. He was trembling a little. The first time Grace had heard this sound from Rocky it was when the Eridian had stepped foot back on the Hail Mary for the first time after his rescue. Keening, he had called it. He had explained it as a behavior akin to human crying, a release of great emotion. Very common in pebbles, but every Eridian did it from time to time.

In short, in their own respects, Grace and Rocky were both crying from joy at just being able to hug the other.

“Rocky…like hug…” Rocky said through keens, his voice a little warbled from emotion.

“Me too,” Grace replied, pressing his cheek into the hard surface that gave him more comfort than he’d experienced since he first woke up from his coma. Wow, he didn’t realized how starved for affectionate touch he really was.

“Rocky love love love Grace.”

Grace sobbed a wet laugh, squeezing his best friend closer still. “I love love love you too, buddy,” he said through his tears. “God, I love you so much.”

—————————————————————————

If Rocky and Grace were attached at the hip before, they may as well be one organism now.

The fact that they could properly touch had done wonders to the both of them. Both species were incredibly social, and as such physical contact was important for bonding.

And boy, did the two of them utilize it.

Head pats in passing, brushing against legs, resting against shoulders, you name it. Given Rocky’s reaction to that first hug all that time ago, Grace was shocked to find he was actually a super touchy-feely guy. He was constantly near Grace, brushing a claw or leaning his carapace on Grace as he watched him work.

And the sleeping situation had improved exponentially! Rocky, god bless him, was a snuggler. Perfect for Grace because Grace was also a snuggler. That first night when Grace settled down for bed, Rocky leapt right up onto the cot like an overgrown cat and curled up perfectly in the crook of Grace’s side. When Grace huffed a small chuckle and slung his arm over Rocky’s carapace, it was as if he always belonged there.

Oh! And the science part of it! Oughhhhh the science part!! They could now study the body of the other, take notes, see what made them tick, better than ever!

They set it up in the Don’t Go Crazy room, since they didn’t need any lab equipment, just a pen and notepad for Grace. Besides, if they did anything with reflexes and one of them ended up kicking the spectrometer or something, it would be a very expensive whoops.

Even though Rocky was an engineer, being around so many scientists before they…you know…gave him a curiosity around the topic that he didn’t have on Erid. Not only that, but he definitely needed to know how Grace’s body worked if he was going to optimize his survival as he ran out of food. If Armando could keep Grace alive, at least Rocky could help keep him comfortable and not alone.

But enough of the melancholy, they had learning to do!

Grace offered to go first, given Rocky’s concern about his body being the topic that led to the invention of the new Xenonite suit. Rocky wiggled happily from side to side in said suit, evidently enjoying his newfound freedom and the offer of getting to explore the alien anatomy. He scuttled right next to Grace, making sure to be cautious of his claws lest he step on and possibly break Grace’s legs.

The Eridian made a move to reach out, curious as ever, before he hesitated. The claws within the xenonite glove tapped against one another in an anxious fidget. Grace furrowed his brow. Rocky didn’t have eyes to follow to what had made him stop, but the way the concave face of his carapace was angled at the multitude of burn scars on the flesh of his left arm and the neat little claw-print on his right let Grace know that that was what he was worried about.

He gave his friend a small, sad smile, dipping his head a little to look at him square. “Rocky…”

“Rocky not want to hurt Grace again.” Rocky crooned, curling in on himself a little. “Scarring bad bad bad. Know it was to save Grace, save Rocky, but still hurt.”

“It won’t hurt me bud,” Grace insisted. “You know as well as I do how insulated your Xenonite is, it’ll be comfortably warm at most. Besides, we’ve hugged a good couple of times, remember? And it’s all been fine then.”

“Rocky can’t forget, but mesh most fragmented and thin at claws. Best design for dexterity.” He flexed said claws as he spoke, clacking them together in his nervous tic. “What if mesh break, question?”

Grace snorted, rubbing the top of Rocky’s carapace with his knuckles. That was one of his favorite things about Rocky’s new suit, getting to give him an affectionate noogie every once in a while. Well, one of his favorite things besides the hugs. Rocky gave some really great hugs.

“With your engineering? Not likely. You’re overthinking. And if it does, I run to the EVA suit, get you back into your ball, and we figure it out from there. I won’t let anything bad happen, buddy.”

Rocky hesitated for a moment before raising his carapace towards his friend. “Promise, question?”

“Promise, statement.”

With Grace’s assurance, Rocky tentatively reached out a claw once more. Xenonite-covered armor found the skin of Grace’s side, just under where his ribcage ended, and simply rested there for a moment. Rocky was gentle, so much so that Grace almost urged him to use more pressure so he could better hear and feel the human body under his claw. This was a bit of a biology lesson, after all.

Then Rocky’s claws squeezed once, twice, three times in rapid succession as he gave a curious trill, cocking his carapace to the side and clicking to get a better view, and Grace discovered quickly he had something else to add to his “Who Am I?” board.

He, Doctor Captain Ryland Grace, the world’s leading authority in astrophage biology and one of the saviors of Erid and (hopefully) Earth, was ticklish.

Really, really ticklish.

The reaction was immediate. A bark of shocked laughter leapt from his throat without his permission, and he squirmed away with a wobbly smile.

Rocky, on the other hand, found this no laughing matter. He let out a series of sharp alarmed whistles and scrambled back. “Apology! Apology! Apology! Rocky hurt Grace! Suit malfunction! Apology! Bad bad bad!” he rambled in a panic, curling his legs under himself and pressing his two front limbs together, dipping his carapace behind them.

“Woah woah hey, easy there pal, you’re okay!” Grace rushed to assure him, reaching out a hand to usher him back. When Rocky stepped further away, Grace wasted no time in lifting up his shirt so Rocky could see where he had touched him. “Look! It’s not red, the skin isn’t irritated, you didn’t hurt me! You just tickled me, that’s all, no harm no foul. You’re okay. We’re okay.”

After several moments hesitation, Rocky crept closer, his body still low to the ground. The sight made Grace’s heart break a little bit. Man, their adventures in Tau Ceti’s system really messed the two of them up, didn’t they?

When Rocky was close enough, Grace put a hand on top of his carapace. Rocky leaned into it with low chitters. With his other hand he took Rocky’s claw, the one that Rocky believed had burned him. He shook it back and forth in a silly way to show his anxious alien friend how harmless it was.

“See? The suit doesn’t burn, and you were very gentle. You didn’t hurt me, bud,” Grace soothed, curling and relaxing his fingers to gently scratch at Rocky’s vents through his suit. Rocky seemed to like it, taking a step closer still while the tension in his body slowly subsided.

“Rocky not want to hurt Grace.” he finally said, his voice low. “Grace very important to Rocky. Rocky not forgive self if cause Grace pain like that again.”

Gosh darn it, Grace was not going to cry right now. He straight up refused.

“Oh, buddy, come here,” Grace sighed sadly, scooting close to Rocky and pulling him into his arms. Rocky pressed his carapace against the man’s chest and sang low and soft, wrapping two arms around Grace’s middle.

“You’re important to me, too. More than I’ll ever be able to put into words.” He pulled away slightly to look at Rocky square, dipping his head as if forcing the eyeless creature to meet his gaze. “There’s nothing, and I mean nothing, you could do to me that I wouldn’t be able to forgive you for. All these…?” He gestured at his burn scars, “were gotten out of love. You loved me enough to risk your life to drag me to safety,” he pointed to the raised claw-print, “and I loved you enough to risk my life bringing you to your own atmosphere so you could heal,” he ended by rubbing his fingertips up and down the gnarly skin.

“Don’t disservice the both of us by chalking all these up to just pain. We fought hard to keep each other alive, and these are marks of that. Okay?”

Rocky nodded his carapace, a human mannerism he had picked up from his friend. “If Rocky were human, would probably be leaking right now. Very very leaky.”

Grace laughed, giving Rocky one last squeeze for good measure. “Ready to try again?” he asked, tapping Rocky’s carapace twice with the question. An Eridian mannerism he had picked up from his friend.

“Yes yes yes, feel better now.”

“Good!”

Rocky put his claw right back where it was, then paused once more. “Can Grace explain new word before continue, question?”

“New word, new word…” he wracked his brain, but it came up empty.

“What Grace say Rocky do when Grace flinch away from touch. Scare Rocky.”

“Oh! Yes, got it. So that was something called tickling. I’m not sure if you guys have a word for it, but basically it’s my body’s response to unexpected external stimuli.” Grace began. “It’s hypothesized that knismesis, which is a lesser, more itchy sensation, was evolved to detect insects or small parasites on the skin, while gargalesis, which is what I just experienced, is a more extreme reaction that elicites laughter and is linked to the fight or flight response. Though, no one’s really sure why that bit of it evolved. Maybe for social bonding through play, maybe to protect vulnerable parts of the body in combat, there’s a bunch of theories that no one can really prove for sure,” he finished with a shrug.

Did he know all this from doing a deep dive on ticklishness after learning rats could be ticklish in one of his science classes?

Yes. Yes, he did.

“You squeezed my side, which is a common ticklish spot, so my body moved away from the stimuli, being your claw, and made me laugh. Does that make sense?”

Rocky hums in acknowledgment. “Yes, make sense. Eridians have similar response to stimuli. Speculated to detect parasites and social bonding, same as humans. All Eridians ticklish. All humans ticklish, question?”

Grace filed that information away for later before shaking his head. “Not all of us, but most are.”

“Understand. Back to anatomy study now, question?”

“Yeah, we got a little sidetracked,” Grace chuckled.

Grace leaned back on his hands, his legs criss-crossed in front of him as he let Rocky do his thing once more, though this time there was a bit of an anticipatory smile pulling at his lips. Instead of resting his claw on Grace’s side like before, Rocky had opted for the chest approach this time, and Grace could only assume he was hearing past his ribcage and into the organs inside.

“Internal muscle pulsing and two others expanding with Grace breath. Heart and lungs, question?”

Grace gave him a thumbs up. “Ding ding ding, we got a winner!” he grinned. “Our respiratory systems are completely different from each other, but my heart and circulatory system works similarly to yours, except my heart pumps iron-based blood while yours is mercury, and I only have one while you have five. Make sense?”

“Yes yes yes. What bones made of, question?” Rocky asked, his claw trailing down to the human’s ribcage. It was hard to the touch, but Rocky was still incredibly careful.

The anticipation was back again, but Grace couldn’t really pinpoint why. Rocky had barely touched him, he couldn’t be that ticklish, could he? Maybe it was a fluke, a kneejerk reaction to his body not being properly touched in so long—

Squeeze squeeze.

Nope, definitely ticklish.

“CaHAlcium!” Grace yelped, cut off mid-answer by a rather obnoxious cackle. He cleared his throat, giving Rocky’s carapace a reassuring pat with one hand and covering his mouth with the other. “Sorry, calcium.”

Rocky didn’t retract his claw in fear this time (progress!) but he did still all movement and cocked his carapace. “Tickle response, question?”

“Yeah, heh. Yeah.”

“Heart rate elevated,” Rocky stated.

Grace gave a small laugh. “Part of said tickle response,” he said. “Like I said, it’s connected to our fight or flight instinct, which makes our body pump out adrenaline, which then increases our heart rate. It’s really cool actually, sometimes humans can get this crazy rush of adrenaline in life or death situations and get this insane stre-hehaha hehey!”

He was interrupted by his own frantic stammering when Rocky squeezed at his ribs again. Then the little rascal laughed at him, his trilling chirps sneakily squeaking through his vents!

“Hey! Are you doing that on purpose?” Grace asked, knitting his brows together and waggling an accusing finger at his friend.

“Mmmm. No.” Squeeze squeeze squeeze.

“You ahahahare you so are!” Grace couldn’t help but succumb to his giggles, tilting his head back with a wide grin and swatting at the offending claw. At least it was only one, and it was gentle-

Oh fudge there’s another one. There’s another claw.

Rocky had reached across with a second arm and began squeezing at the same spot on his other side. He gave a series of high pitched giggling chirps as he stepped over Grace’s lap, effectively pinning him to his spot on the walkway of the Don’t Go Crazy room. And, given his bulk and Grace’s already suffering abs from laughing, it took very little time for Grace to lie back on the ground as Rocky took him apart.

“W-wahahahahait nohohoho! Rockyhehehehe!” He wriggled and shoved at his friend’s carapace, unable to stop the peals of laughter forced from him at Rocky’s touch.

Rocky ceased his tickle attack and sat back on three of his five legs. “Rocky cause discomfort, question?”

Grace pushed himself back to sitting, leaning back on one hand while rubbing at the ghost tickles on his ribs with the other. He shook his head with a smile. “Noho, bud yohou’re oka-“

“Then Rocky continue tickle Grace!”

“W-wait whahaHAHAHAT?!”

Grace considered himself lucky Rocky was conscious of his weight and balance. If he wasn’t using his other three legs to keep himself steady and his center of balance secure, Grace wasn’t sure if he could handle any more claws sneaking in to tickle him. Rocky was ruthless!

Wriggling claws found their way under his arms, making him clamp his elbows to his sides in a futile attempt to block the attack. One claw relinquished in favor of squeezing at an elbow, which gave Grace a small but appreciated break at least on that side of his body. Rocky must have noticed the lack of reaction and opted to squeeze and pinch at his hips and knees instead. He definitely got his reaction there, Grace shrieked and bucked his hips with such intensity that had Rocky not been so heavy it might’ve thrown him off.

The more logical part of his brain noted the assault focused mainly on his joints, which must be common tickle spots for Eridians. However, the rest of his brain was too focused on being tickled absolutely stupid to care about that little tidbit.

Grace was in absolute hysterics. His brain had all but turned to mush, his eyes squeezed shut and his mouth agape with boisterous laughter. He couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed this hard, if ever.

“Okahahahay okay! Rocky time ohohohout pahahahause plehehehease!” He pleaded, swatting Rocky’s claws in a pitiful attempt to fight the Eridian off. Rocky took mercy on him and complied with his request for a “time out” without hesitation. Grace pushed himself back up with heavy limbs, leaning back on his elbows and getting out the rest of his titters.

“Humans not have tickle spot like Eridian,” Rocky noted, pointing at Grace’s elbow. “Not ticklish, question? Is common Eridian spot.”

Grace looked at Rocky over his glasses with a raised brow, his head slightly bowed as he recovered from the playful attack. “Noho. No, because we have no vital organs there.”

“Then why is leg joint more ticklish than arm joint, question?”

Grace shrugged. “My guess is because humans are built for running, so our legs need more ‘training’ in avoiding injury.” He put the word “training” in air quotes. “That’s just my theory though. Everyone’s got areas that are more ticklish than others, like I said it’s up to a lot of speculation.”

Rocky hummed and wiggled his carapace as he digested the information. “Understand.” Then he went still, clicking and chirping away and tapping a claw against the ground. “So…humans commonly most ticklish where many vital organs are inside.”

“Correct.”

He pointed a claw at his friend’s stomach. “Rocky hear many organs here.”

Immediately Grace felt butterflies go absolutely ballistic in his belly. If that was any indication, he could piece two and two together that he was probably really ticklish there, even if he didn’t remember.

If he could, he would have shoved his foot so far in his big mouth it’d be seen where the sun doesn’t shine.

His body moved before his brain caught up, scooting back on his hands and his mouth forced into a giddy grin. Again, not a good sign. “R-Rockyhehehehe, c’mohon man-“

“Rocky learn human anatomy, must touch to hear beneath skin, Grace be still!” Rocky chirped, and Grace didn’t miss for a second the amused lilt that was ever present in his friend’s voice. The little bugger was having way too much fun at his expense.

Grace did not, in fact, be still. Grace had preferred to scramble to his feet and put said running legs to use. Well, he would have if Rocky hadn’t all but tackled him back to the ground. Grace was on his back again, staring wide eyed at his captor with a goofy smile on his face.

“Nohohoho wahait let’s talk we can talk about this Rocky plehehehease!”

Rocky said nothing. Granted, Grace wasn’t actually sure if he could speak through his squeaky giggles. He raised his claws in the air and scrunched them in and out. Oh god, that made it so much worse! And he had started to lower them to his stomach!

“NONONONO dohohon’t do it! Dohon’t doho ihihihit ROCKYHEHEHE-!”

Increasingly desperate pleas fell on impossibly deaf ears (jerk) as Rocky’s claws finally touched down. Well, crashed down was more accurate, for they had made contact on his stomach with such sudden ferocity that Grace honest to god screamed before trailing off into wheezes. Wheezes then turned into cackling belly laughter once he finally got a breath in.

“ROCKY!!! RohockyheHEHEHE NOHOT THEHEHEHERE!” Grace howled through his laughter, his flailing arms trying and failing to push Rocky off of him and defend his middle all at once.

He was very briefly reminded of the last time he was pinned to the ground in similar fashion, but instead of desperate sobs to spare his life, all that was driven from his mouth was giddy, carefree laughter as Rocky tickled him to pieces. It was honestly a little refreshing from the horrid memory.

Rocky was a little monster. He was trilling and giggling and whistling in a way that was reminiscent of cooing at something cute. Grace thought might actually die. From embarrassment or from being tickled to death, he wasn’t sure. Most likely a mix of the two.

“Grace! Be! Still!” Rocky reiterated, intensifying a squeeze with each whistling word. He was absolutely evil! His technique even more so! He squeezed and pinched and poked and skittered erratically with no rhyme or reason, swapping tactics in a way that drove his cackling victim up a wall.

The final nail in the coffin, though, was when Rocky had discovered the effectiveness of sticking his hands under Grace’s shirt and vibrating his curled claws rapidly back and forth. In all the months they’d known each other, the last and only time he’d heard Grace this loud was their first real meeting when Grace had shrieked with fear, wielding a wrench.

Now, under much sillier circumstances, Rocky was positively enamored with the joyful noise coming from his squishy companion under his claws. He could hear the surface of his smile, his nose wrinkled and scrunched, his brows furrowed and his eyes screwed shut with mirthful tears pricking at the corners, his glasses crooked on his face as he shook his head back and forth. And best of all, his laughter. Bright and happy and contagious even to a complete different species. Second only to his mate’s song, it was definitely Rocky’s favorite sound.

However, to both Rocky’s dismay and understanding, Grace could only take it for so long. In all seriousness, human adrenaline and stamina was something to be admired, but he was definitely reaching his limit.

“OHOHOHOH MY GOD OKAHAHAY!” he yelled, clutching his stomach and kicking his legs in the air as if trying to run from the ticklish touches. “ENOUGHENOUGHENOUGH UHUNCLE! UHUHUHUNCLE HAHAHAHAHA MEHEHERCYHEHEHEHE!!!”

Rocky scuttled off with incredibly fond giggles, perching by Grace’s head to fix his glasses and give him space to breathe. He carded his claws gently through the blond hair as Grace fought to regain his bearings. His chest heaved, his shoulders shaking with leftover breathless giggles.

“Yohohohou,” he huffed, pointing a floppy hand at the Eridian, “ahahare awfuhul!”

“And you are stuck on Hail Mary with Rocky for next four years,” Rocky quipped back through pleased chirrups.

“Bite me.”

“Rocky cannot bite, not have mouth.“

“Ihit’s a joke, bud.”

“Ah, understand.”

Jeez, he felt like he had just run a marathon. His abs hurt, his face was sore, his throat was hoarse. Rocky had really did a number on him. But despite all that, he couldn’t deny the pleasant buzz of dopamine in his brain from the physical exertion and all the laughter.

“God, I’m living with a flipping tickle monster,” he cleared his throat and groaned, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

“Grace okay, question?”

“Oh yeahaha, pal, I’m all good.” More than all good, actually. Thinking back on the past few days filled with meal prep and rationing math and dread, he needed that. A good tussle was exactly what the doctor ordered. Even if it was pretty one-sided.

Rocky nudged Grace with his carapace once the human finally got his breath back. “Rocky turn next, question?”

Grace sat up and looked at Rocky with a quirked brow and crooked smile. “Yohou want me to tickle you back?” he asked, a chuckle lacing his voice. In all honesty Grace was planning some thorough revenge anyways, but he wasn’t expecting Rocky to ask for it outright!

“Yes yes yes,” Rocky chirped, doing his little jazz hands in place. “Grace want to learn Eridian biology, and tickle is bonding between good good good friends! Play, silly, happy happy happy for Grace and Rocky.”

Grace smiled from ear to ear. Oh, this guy had no idea what he’d just unleashed upon himself.

If Ryland Grace was anything, he was competitive. He wouldn’t let that moron with a doctorate tell him water was always necessary for life to evolve, he wouldn’t back down when Lokkens tried her best to convince him Earth life and astrophage evolved from completely different root species, and now he definitely wasn’t letting Rocky get off the hook for tickling him within an inch of his life.

“Are you sure about this, Rock?” He sing-songed. “Because I’m not going easy on you.”

“Rocky tough, Rocky take it!” the Eridian beside him whistled, sticking out his carapace boldly.

Oohohoh, challenge accepted buddy.

He curled his fingers into wiggly claws and tried his best to make his smile look more predatory, but he knew he just looked like a dork. He could live with that, he was happy to be goofing around with his best friend, dang it. “Your funeral!”

Grace gave Rocky zero buildup. No test squeezes, no pokes or taps, no trying to hide his intentions, just immediately digging aggressively into Rocky’s joints.

The pitch at which Rocky squealed was almost painful to his ears, but Grace was too giddy to care. He grabbed onto one of Rocky’s flailing limbs and pulled himself closer, curling his legs criss-cross-applesauce around his giggling friend.

“So, you wanna tell me where Eridians are most ticklish?” He asked, as casually as if he was having a normal conversation. He had to raise his voice a little bit over Rocky’s laughter. “You already told me about riiiiiight here!” He grabbed two of Rocky’s elbow joints and squeezed rapidly through the Xenonite mesh. Rocky did his best to scuttle away through shrill cackles, but only ended up tipping himself backwards onto his side, his legs flopping and flailing and looking for all the world like a mix between a spider and a turtle stuck on its back.

“Ohoh no you don’t!” Grace growled, getting onto his knees and reaching forward to follow Rocky’s momentum. He stuck his hands flat on Rocky’s sideways carapace, looming over him and grinning. “Spill it! Where else?”

“Grace….find out….for yourself!” Rocky challenged through his squeaky tittering.

Grace’s grin got impossibly wider as he curled his fingers, making Rocky squeal and his legs scrunch in anticipation. “Ohhhhhkay, you’re asking for it now!”

Caution of getting his fingers pinched to the wind, he clawed at the joints where Rocky’s arms met his body, where his “armpit” would be, and Rocky went absolutely berserk. He squirmed and flailed and cackled. It sort of sounded as if someone was shriek-laughing into one of the recorders the Grover-Cleveland music room used to have. Grace used to hate hearing that squeaky sound through the halls when the kids first learned to play the instrument, but now this similar sounding song was music to his ears.

“Soooooo I’m guessing the elbows and leg joints because that’s where parasites can get in, right?” Grace asked as he continued to take his friend apart. Said friend couldn’t speak through his cackling. Or, maybe he could, but it was so intermingled with his laughter that Grace or the translator couldn’t pick it up.

So, he slowed down a bit, letting Rocky get a breather in. His vents were steaming a little bit from the exertion. All that movement and laughter must’ve been a little taxing on his body. Another similarity between humans and Eridians.

Grace huffed an affectionate laugh through his nose, scratching gently at the top of Rocky’s carapace in a soothing way rather than a tickly one. He didn’t want to overwhelm the poor guy. Or worse, send him into an unexpected slumber before he ate.

“Did you hear me, bud?” He asked, tapping twice. It was a normal behavior, but those two taps made Rocky squeak and giggle.

“Yes…Rocky hear…apology…need moment,” Rocky huffed, still tittering a little all the while.

“No worries, pal, take all the time you need,” Grace said, resorting from scratching to just rubbing the flat of his palm and pads of his fingers along the tip of the Xenonite suit. Rocky trilled, leaning as much as he could into it from his lopsided position.

“Alright buddy, on your feet,” Grace chuckled, bracing his feet against the floor and holding Rocky’s claws to pull him right-side up while Rocky pushed with his back legs. Rocky didn’t leave his position in Grace’s lap, though, he just curled his legs underneath him and settled right there.

“Okay, recover now,” Rocky announced. “Answer to Grace question is yes. Eridian joints much much much ticklish because easiest for parasites to enter body. Bad bad bad. But also limbs are place most touched by other Eridians. Sensory input from external stimuli aid in social interaction and bonding between individuals.”

Grace nodded along. “Gotcha. Not so different, are we pal?” He smiled fondly, tapping twice once more with his question on the top of Rocky’s carapace.

Once more came the giggling, making Grace smile in his endearment. “Whahat is going on, you’re never this giggly when I do that,” he asked, unable to help the laughter weaving in between his words.

“Grace tickle Rocky within minutes of deep sleep! Still tickle! Vibrations from question tap tickle!” Rocky said indignantly, poking Grace in the stomach and making him yelp and squirm.

“Okahay! OkAHAhahay I gehet it! My bahahad!” He laughed, holding the offending claw with one hand and clutching at his stomach with the other.

Rocky ceased his attack, giggling and swinging Grace’s hand back and forth like Grace had done with him several minutes before while looking rather pleased with himself.

“One of these days I’ll have to introduce you to the long-standing earth tradition of tickle fights,” Grace said with a smile, tapping Rocky’s carapace a little more to make him squirm. “We’d have to do it in zero G, though, otherwise you’d win by a long shot.”

“Yes yes yes, Rocky win fight. Much stronger than leaky space blob!”

“Yeah? Well I’m faster,” Grace retorted. “I could run you down any day of the week. I gotta teach you about persistence hunting one of these days.” An idea was quickly coming to mind on how that’s go down, a smile already curling his lips at the prospect.

“Faster not help when Rocky have Grace like this!”

Grace shrieked as Rocky’s claws shoved at his shoulders and pinned him down again, descending upon his belly once more shortly after and immediately eliciting cries for surrender. “AAAHAHAHA OKAY OKAY YOU WIN!!! YOU WIHIHIN GET OHOHOFFA MEHEHEHEHEHE!”

Rocky took mercy on him quick, thankfully, backing off with smug giggles and helping Grace back up.

“Nohoho…noho more for today, alright? I’m beat,” Grace giggled, waving his hand back and forth and shaking his head with a smile still plastered on his face.

“Yes yes yes, Grace sleep, Rocky watch!” Rocky chirped happily. They gathered the translator and notebook (the pen had been kicked off of the walkway in the scuffle and was long gone), and made their way to the dormitory.

It was a routine that took very little time to fall into. Grace changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth with Rocky giving him his privacy as normal, Grace settling into bed and getting cozy under the covers as normal, and then lifting up the quilt so Rocky could hop up and settle down to watch, which was their new normal. Grace even kept the room a little cooler than the rest of the ship, so he wouldn’t overheat with Rocky snuggled up next to him.

Rocky curled three of five limbs comfortably underneath his carapace, the other two left free to wander and keep busy as Grace slept. One drifted up to run through Grace’s hair, while the other splayed across his chest.

“You know,” Grace said after a moment, a yawn following his voice, “I think this is one of your best ideas to date,” he smiled. Sure, the idea to eat the Taumoeba may end up saving his life, hopefully, but he was pretty sure this whole being able to touch thing saved his heart and soul. He couldn’t believe he and Rocky had gone so long without a proper hug.

Rocky chirped in amusement, his frequency rumbling deep into Grace’s chest. “Grace stupid from little sleep and too much tickles,” he said, and Grace could recognize his tone as incredibly fond. It made his chest feel fuzzy with affection. Still can’t take a compliment. One more thing they had in common. “Grace sleep, I watch.”

“Good night, Rocky.”

Small mercies.

Colt was the only one who could come. I remember it now.

All too well… his favorite song. I smiled to myself.

I toss the beanbag in my hands up towards Mary’s cockpit “ceiling.” It accelerates endlessly, infinitely, in zero gravity. The beanbag makes contact and spins back down to me. I’m not wearing glasses so it hits me square in the nose—a blur of green and blue yarn. 

***

I stared at the empty sky. Everyone else’s family had already arrived. I turned back to head to the science building alone, losing hope. Just as I took a few steps away from the landing pad, I heard the distant roar of jet engines.

Oh. He made it. 

Colt hopped out of the jet, cool as a cucumber. As if he did this every day. 

He probably did, to be honest. 

“Well if it isn’t Dr. Ryland Grace!” Colt called, striding confidently towards me. 

I had to actively frown to avoid having some weird reaction, like being happy to see him or something. Imagine. 

“You’re late,” I complained, meeting him halfway. “And would you keep it down?” I hissed.

“Why? Aren’t you a big shot around here?” 

“Well, I wouldn’t put it that way—“

“Come on, I want the grand tour,” Colt grinned, elbowing me in the side. 

After I gave him his “grand tour” (the trailers, the launchpad, the science building), I brought Colt around to a quiet clearing behind my trailer. 

“You’re not gonna invite me inside?” He needled.

“It’s cramped in there,” I said. It was true—they’d given me the closet-sized one. Not that I minded too much.

“Oh, so not as much of a big shot as I imagined, eh?”

I ignored him and sat down on the bench. Our breaths fogged in the chilly Baikonur air.

“What are you up to these days?” I asked him awkwardly. I felt a little guilty that I’d barely spoken to my twin brother in the past few years. 

“Filming more movies,” he said languidly. “Setting myself on fire. Throwing myself at walls. Getting beaten up. The usual.”

I nodded slowly. It had been too long since we last fought about his lifestyle choices and I wasn’t in the mood to rekindle that argument. “Are you still seeing that director?” 

His face lit up and I couldn’t help but smile. “Jody, yeah,” he said, staring off into the sky with a smile. “She kind of dumped me, but then we got back together. It’s been great.”

His joy was contagious. “I’m glad,” I murmured. 

I didn’t push for more—marriage, kids, etc. Speaking as a single middle-aged man, I knew those questions were annoying as fudge.

He looked over. “Hey, there we go.”

“What?” I asked.

“You’re smiling again,” Colt grinned.

“I- well, yes, but what’s your point?”

“You’ve been so serious today,” Colt complained. “For a second I thought saving the world had made you all stoic and boring.”

“I’m not saving the world,” I protested, eyes downcast. 

“You literally are.”

“No,” I said sadly. “Yao and Ilyukhina and Dubois are.”

Colt exhaled slowly, the breath whistling through his teeth. 

I blinked away tears.

“It’s super…” He searched for the right word, “…solemn out here, huh,” Colt mused. 

I nodded. 

“Listen, I’m… I’m glad you found something so meaningful to spend your time on,” Colt murmured genuinely. “Not that teaching wasn’t, but I don’t know… you seem like you have a community with these people. It seems like people appreciate you.”

I looked back up at him. It had been a long time since he’d been so sincere with me. 

I cleared my throat. “Thanks, Colt,” I said, my voice cracking. 

“Yao, Ilyukhina, Dubois,” Colt mumbled. “I heard about them on the news. Are you close with them?” ”I spent hours training Dubois on the science of astrophage,” I explained. “And I taught Yao and Ilyukhina some basics as well. And all three of us spent a lot of time in meetings together.”

He nodded. 

“I’m sure you did a great job, Ry,” Colt said. “They’ll be such experts that astrophage will come out of their ears or something.”

I let out a feeble laugh. 

“C’mon, bro, you can do better than that,” Colt chuckled. I yelped as he hooked an arm around my neck and pulled me in for a noogie. 

“Gosh, Colt, whahat’s up with you today—“

He messed up my hair even further and I tried to shove his hands away. “Can you give me something more than a dying man’s last breath as a laugh, dude?” 

“That’s not— Lemme go,” I whined. 

He only tightened his hook around my neck. “I learned all sorts of chokeholds for my last movie. Just saying.”

I pursed my lips and made a grumbly sound of annoyance. Neither of us did anything for a moment, and then he squeezed his bicep and forearm together to squish my neck even further. 

“Ack- Colt! You’re choking me, dang it—“

“C’mon, Ry, curse me out like a real man.”

“You’re asking for this, you jerk.” I scribbled my hand up Colt’s exposed side from his hip to his armpit like a spider. 

Colt flinched away from my hand, his hold on my neck loosening. He made a squealing noise that I hadn’t heard him make since we were just kids messing around. “Hehey, don’t!”

I snickered. “Now let me go.”

He growled. “No.” 

Colt shifted his arm so he was gripping the nape of my neck with his hand. He squeezed three times and I went berserk, sinking down in my seat and kicking out like a lunatic. I exploded with squeaky giggles and my cheeks burst into flames.

“COHOHOLT!”

Colt skittered his fingernails around the sensitive area. “Now that’s a real laugh,” he said smugly. “It’s kind of adorable that this still works on you.”

I batted weakly at his hands. “Gohosh daharn it— Stohop that!”

“Not happening,” he said. “Fuhget-about-it,” he added in that silly New York accent we both do.

Colt scratched gently behind my ear and I squealed. He chuckled along with me. 

I wasn’t going to take this lying down, dang it. I twisted my torso to face him, pressing my shoulder towards the side of my neck that he was tickling to protect it. Colt had an arm propped up on the back of the bench and snaked around my shoulders to reach my neck, leaving his armpit wide open. Bingo. 

I plunged my hand under his arm and wiggled my fingers desperately, trying to cover as much surface area as possible. Colt burst into giggles, his arm shooting down and releasing my neck to protect the sensitive spot. 

“Oh, not so smug now, huh?” I prodded. I squeezed and scratched at the hollow of his armpit.

“STOHOHOP- Get outta thehere!!” Colt leaned desperately away from me, sliding down the bench, but he was too weak from laughter to shove me off or run away.

“Does Jody know about this?” I teased relentlessly. “Does she know she can take down Mr. “Danger is my middle name” with just a few wiggling fingers?”

“SHUHUT UP!”

“Oh, man, your face is so red right now,” I grinned. 

“RY, STOHOP—CONVERSE!”

I stopped as soon as I heard it. That was our code word when we were kids, when one of us was in a situation we didn’t want to be in and needed out immediately. And yes, we sometimes used it when one of us was pinned to the floor and being tickled within an inch of our lives. Usually it was me. 

“You okay?” I asked. Yes, I was a smidge concerned. 

He caught his breath, huffing and puffing dramatically. “Motherfucker.”

Another time I’d have said “Language,” but today, I quipped, “Would be concerning if that was the case. Considering the twin situation.”

“Smartass,” he said, and then suddenly he was tackling me to the ground. I landed on my stomach, bracing my forearms against the dirt. 

“OWWW… Colt, seriously?” I whined.

I felt him straddle my hips and I grunted an “oof.”

“You’re such a baby,” he complained. “Anyway, did you think I was gonna let you have the last word—Uh, the last tickle?”

“Ugh, let me up,” I grumbled. “I laughed for you already, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, no, mission accomplished in that regard,” he chuckled. “You see, little bro, this is about my pride.”

“You’re only four minutes older— AH!”

He had started pinching up my ribs in the middle of my sentence, and I broke down into wheezy giggles. “Cohoholt- OKAHAY I’m sorry for tickling you!” 

“Compelling apology,” he said nonchalantly.

“So why aren’t you STOHOPPING?!” 

Colt began to torment my upper back, clawing and massaging at my shoulder blades—between them, around them, under them. He dipped into my armpits every so often. I screeched in ticklish agony. 

“Just doing it for the love of the game, bro,” Colt replied smugly.

“OKAHAY okay come OHOHON, tell me what you want and stop alreheheady!”

“Hmm…” Colt drew it out smugly. “I want you to…”

“JESUS CHRIST, JUHUST TELL ME!!”

He slowed his fingers to a gentle skitter across my back. I settled into soft, snorting giggles again. “Fine. I want you to call me more often,” he said. 

“Okahay, I will,” I promised.

He climbed off of me. “And I want you to be in my life more. And meet Jody.”

“I can do that,” I grunted, taking his offered hand and letting him pull me up. “Launch is in a month. After that, I’ll be much more available.”

He pulled me in for a hug. We hadn’t done that in a while. I found myself melting into it, wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my face in his shoulder. 

“Take care of yourself, okay?” Colt said. His voice was so fragile it could shatter.

“I will,” I mumbled. 

“I’m serious,” he said. “I don’t want to find you in the state I found you today.”

I pulled back and we started walking back to his jet. “What state is that?”

“Sleep-deprived. Stressed out. Sad.”

I made a punched-out noise. “Jeez.”

“It’s true.”

I shrugged. “It’s a demanding job.”

“So is stunt acting, but you don’t see me doing my stunts without safety gear.”

We reached his jet. He took my face in his hands. 

“What’s this?” I gestured at the weird embrace situation. 

“Just shut up and listen,” Colt rolled his eyes. “Be careful. Good luck with the launch.”

I nodded slightly. “Thanks.”

He patted my cheek lightly. “I love you,” he said, unexpectedly.

We both stood there a moment, surprised. 

I squeezed his hand three times in reply. I love you.

He started walking towards the jet. Before he got in to the passenger seat, he pointed a stern finger at me. “Eat your fucking carbs, man, your brain runs on glucose,” he shouted over the roar of the jets. 

I couldn’t help but laugh. 

There was a lump in my throat as his jet took off. I turned to walk back to my trailer. 

Thanks for that one, Stratt.

***

I caught the beanbag one more time and took a deep breath before getting up.

Space was a vast, unforgivable, beautiful thing. At times, you marveled at its beauty and other times you fought down the urge to scream. When you had the energy, you felt angry at the every passing star and galaxy for reminding you of the slow passage of time, suspended in the darkness with your small food supply dwindling away. 

Despite the vastness, you were never lonely. The three of you were, by all accounts, alone, but you felt closer to Ryland and Rocky than you ever had with anyone back on Earth. Still, small things began to disappear just as your supplies did. The jokes started to get fewer and farther in between, and the play fighting disappeared underneath your noses. The experiments that had been used to keep you busy on your long journey had come to a halt. The separation between the three sections on the Hail Mary started to become inconsequential, your bodies losing the energy to move between spaces. Ryland and you started to shrink, not quite withering away, but not all the way there either. Your skin started to turn a sickly shade and the muscles on Ryland’s arms faded over time, leaving weakness where strong bones had once been.

Rocky became your caretaker and, at times, you wondered if you’d have flashbacks of this moment when you were older and it really was the end. On your darker days, you wondered if you’d ever get to see that end.

Rocky fed the both of you the comma slurry and then eventually the Taumoeba every morning and evening. The three of you were always together, usually cozied up on one of the beds, curled around each other to preserve body heat. It was horribly sad if you thought about it for too long, you’re two mischievous quippy boys turning silent for sometimes hours at a time, if not nearly whole days. You didn’t think about it that much though. With your limited food, your body had started to work itself into its own type of coma. You and Ryland did little more than sleep, and when you were awake your brain felt bogged down by mush, like someone had tied rocks onto all of your thoughts and threw them in the ocean.

When your brain was lighter though, you missed the person you’d used to be. You missed the way a smile felt on your face, and the way you used to steal Ryland’s equipment to get a reaction out of him, you missed your intelligent mind and your quick reflexes and the way you used to pepper Rocky with questions about the cultures and psychology of the Eridian people. 

You lasted so long in the darkness, but there was a time near the end of your travels where you started to lose yourself entirely. You were only a few months from Erid, practically in the same solar system when it started to all feel pointless, where the gun that Yáo had left had started to seem enticing. At first you didn’t tell anyone about it, until one day Rocky started to have to spoon feed you your Taumoeba portion for the day and with trembling hands you told him that you didn’t know if you could make it. He listened to you as you cried, then sobbed, and then grew too tired to talk at all. He helped you change your clothes and brush your teeth, and gently scratched your scalp as he washed your hair for you.

“Promise Rocky you try to make it,” he insisted as he brushed out your hair for you.

Your eyes were stuck on the stark white of the metal hull. It all seemed so dull, so lifeless to you. “I don’t know if I can, Rock.”

Rocky gently untangled a knot that you’d left in your hair for days, but his voice was strong. “Promise Rocky you try. Rocky cannot watch another friend die.”

At this, you seemed to sober. You finally remembered Ryland in the room beside you two, fast asleep, and no idea that this conversation was happening. You were grateful for that small mercy at least, you didn’t think you could bear to tell him any of this. He would break against the news, like a boat against the tide. A thought occurred to you then, appearing between hazy visions of the end, that by leaving this world, you might make Ryland and Rocky’s worlds unlivable too.

Rocky placed one of his arms on top of your heart. “Rocky will save. You try? Question?”

You looked over at Rocky, the one who was single handedly keeping you and your human companion alive and found that you couldn’t say no. You didn’t know for certain that you would make it but for the time being you couldn’t stomach the thought of giving Rocky one more dead body to live with. You nodded and weakly replied in a horse voice that you would try. 

Promptly after, all items that could cause any harm to you were put out of sight. You weren’t sure if you just couldn’t find them or if Rocky had tossed them out the airlock, but either way, you knew the move was intentional. While Rocky couldn’t do much to improve most of your condition, he began to do additional things for you. He played with your hair so you could sleep peacefully. He placed Ryland on top of your body so that you could have some form of stimulation without either of you having to waste your energy. He gave you little puzzles, things that were really meant for children, but were a struggle to your malnourished mind. He said it was to keep your brain busy, but you guessed it was to fend off the darkness that was growing inside of you. 

You made good on your promise, and you tried despite how hard it was.

With a month left, you decided you were going to make it, using one last final push of your mental strength to make it to Erid. However, even after the Hail Mary was back on soil again, conditions didn’t improve all that much at first. The Eridians had to keep you inside the ship for quite some time, making sure that the environment that they were going to put you in was just right.

Ryland and you were still weak, your bodies just barely alive from the nutrition the Taumoeba provided you, but you helped with the experiments where you could, providing the scientists with your Earthly knowledge when you were alert enough to do so. With you and Ryland out of commission most of the time though, Rocky was the one who really managed the most. He visited with you and Ryland whenever he wasn’t eating or working. Despite the fact that he had a home, a mate at that, he only slept with the two of you watching over him.

Adrian came to see the three of you as often as they could. They were quiet, much less talkative than Rocky, and at first you had mistaken it for malcontent, but when they kept showing up you began to see it for what it was- caution. 

You couldn’t blame them, not with Rocky being gone for so many years and your presence keeping him mentally elsewhere now, but Adrian kept visiting you all the same. They never usually said much but their presence became a steady companion on the ship.

As time moved forward you began to become more at ease with their quiet, and they in turn, started to share more of their inner world with you.

The first day that you were out of the Hail Mary, you collapsed with relief onto the sand and rolled around until you were sure you would be dumping sand out of your pockets for days. You ran across the grassy area and screamed and then promptly had to lie back down, too out of breath to continue on. 

They implemented an ocean a week later and you and Ryland tested out the water. You held hands as you gradually stepped out into the ocean, and waited for the water to meet you on the shoreline. For a moment, it felt like it was just the two of you back on earth, aboard Stratt’s vat once more. Of course, you weren’t alone. A dozen scientists stood behind you, carefully watching you to make sure you didn’t have any sort of adverse effects to the water. 

Afterall, they had gone through a great deal trying to keep their two humans alive, so everything in the biodome was carefully monitored. At times, it was easy to feel like you were on an episode of the Truman show, but all of that was forgotten for a moment as you curled your toes into the wet sand.

When the ocean came in and placed a soft kiss across the top of your shin, it felt more real than anything had in a long while. You closed your eyes and listened to the peaceful wooshing sound of another wave coming back in. The scientists were still hard at work trying to figure out the optimal amount of sunlight for your dopamine production and circadian rhythms, but at that moment you felt okay. For the first time in a long time, you felt like you knew what you were fighting for, and it seemed like it was all worth it. 

As you and Ryland began to settle into your new home, the scientists were hard at work trying to improve your quality of life. The thrum had met and the best minds were all tasked with attempting to get the two of you to not only survive but to thrive on their planet. You were each given a team that you interacted with on a daily basis. You were given nutrition pills and daily routines, and though you resisted them at first, saying that there was no point, all Ryland had to do was to send you a pleading look and you caved. 

Despite the fact that you still hadn’t told him about the scary moment on the ship all of those months ago, he always seemed to know, so you begrudgingly took your pills and went on your walks. 

The Erids figured out the sun cycle, and found a way to plant you a garden. They brought you to it one day, and for the first time in years, you found yourself in front of a tree. It was small, shorter than you and for a moment you wondered if it was real, or if it was like the blue sky above you, only showing you what you wanted to see. 

You reached out and touched a leaf, and found the smooth crisp edge of a living plant. You felt each of the lines across the short green leaves and traced them with your fingertips. You barely managed to choke out a thank you before you fell into tears. 

After that moment, you took your medication, and went on your daily walks without comment. Rocky and Adrian were given suits like the ones that Rocky had used on the Hail Mary, and they visited you often, even setting up a house of their own on the beach. Though you were quiet for most days, you enjoyed their soothing company. 

Erid’s scientists had made new developments on your food, and Ryland had started to cook again. You noticed him humming to himself one evening, munching on some chips as he grilled burgers. After you had finished eating, you felt full, and your chest felt warmer. 

Time began to pass quicker, much faster than it had on the ship. You were given brighter clothes and you started to wear them occasionally. Rocky and Adrian established movie nights, and Ryland dragged you to each of them. 

One night, on one of your evening walks on the beach, the setting sun had aligned itself with the tiny buoys that the Erid’s had set up for ‘swim safety’. You looked at it for a moment, almost mistaking it for a ship because it was so far out. At that thought, you let out a loud laugh. It was a short note, just a little one, but the sound flowed through the beach, like a bird call. Your brows furrowed and you stared at the sun, realizing that your laughter was still inside of you. 

If you could still do that, then surely your joy was still there as well. 

The next week, Ryland didn’t have to drag you to movie night. 

He had started to meet with Rocky and the science team, and you had started to go with them. He was quickly pointed towards the school system, but you were given a special suit to enter the Eridian labs. 

Your work began to feel interesting once more, and you stopped dreading the feeling of waking up in the morning. You had started to enjoy your coworkers, gradually even learning a few Eridian words at a time. You traded your words like children exchanging candy, and then you and Ryland spoke about them late at night while he was prepping his lesson plans. 

One night, you caught yourself staring at him as he graded papers, transfixed by the way his muscles twitched as his hand scribbled across the pages. Suddenly, his muscles were back, and there was fat on his stomach, and you saw him smile at you multiple times a day. You knew it hadn’t really been sudden, but you felt as though you were truly taking him in for the first time in a long while. 

You looked in the mirror, the only one that you had in your house, and realized you were the same. Your muscles had grown back in, your skin was no longer sickly, and your ribcage wasn’t visible anymore. You looked healthy and you felt strong. 

For a moment, you caught Ryland’s eyes in the mirror and he quickly looked away, stifling his smile, and acting like he had been looking down at his notes the whole time. 

“You look better too,” you murmured, not quite having the nerve to turn around and face him. 

He looked at you through the mirror again. “I know, it’s just good to recognize your face again.”

You opened your mouth to respond but nothing came out, so you let the moment pass. 

Ryland’s cooking was the cause of most of it. No matter how bad of a mood you were in, you couldn’t resist his food, and you started to make a habit of keeping him company while he made you both dinner. You talked about work and your Earth memories, and the passing of the seasons, but you mostly talked about how the both of you were doing. 

One night he made pancakes, and as he babbled onto you about something that had happened at school, you got an idea. It burst into your mind with color and urgency and you sneakily grabbed the chocolate chips from the counter when his back had been turned. 

He spun around and frowned, picking up the container of flour to make sure that it hadn’t snuck under it somehow. 

You watched as he opened cabinets and pulled out drawers, and you grabbed a handful to snack on as you watched your show. Unfortunately, your bite was a little loud and Ryland immediately caught you in the act. 

He folded his arms across his chest. “I should’ve known it was you.”

You shrugged, but didn’t give it back just yet. “Its been awhile,” you said, and it came out softer than you’d meant it to. 

Ryland sighed and dropped his arms. “Too long, some might say,” he answered, as if you didn’t have to explain yourself at all. 

You had started to do things without someone having to drag it out of you, and your scientists seemed to watch you from a little further away. You started to dance in the living room of your small cottage, and only got caught by Ryland once. You tended to your garden and you loved your job and you always made time for Rocky and Adrian. 

As if on que, everyone around you had started to bloom, like they had just been waiting on you to catch up. Rocky and Ryland’s conversations grew more animated, and soon your house was covered with trinkets that the little Erids had given you, or as Ryland liked to call them, ‘his pebbles’.

One morning you woke up to find Ryland making bacon and eggs. You yawned and stretched in the doorway and he immediately noticed your presence. 

“Want some?” he asks, pointing to the pan with a spatula.

You nodded and stepped into the kitchen with a skip in your step. “Yes, please.”

You sat and watched him make it, taking in the careful way that he flipped the eggs so the yolk didn’t break.

He handed you a plate, and you sunk into one of the seats at the little island in the middle of your kitchen. “Did you like my gift?”

You frowned for a moment, looking over at him to find him wryly eyeing you from over the top of his glasses. 

“What?”

His eyes flicked down at your plate, and you followed his gaze towards the perfectly arranged smiley face that he’d made out of your two eggs and a piece of bacon. 

You snorted and rolled your eyes. “You are such a dork,” you murmured, grabbing a piece of toast to dig in your eggs. 

He narrowed his eyes at you, his gaze more intense. “Really? Cause I’m pretty sure I just got a laugh out of you.”

You shook your head, instead choosing to shovel your food into your mouth rather than face him. 

Ryland spun his chair around, fully placing all of his attention firmly on you. “Are you sure? I swear I heard a snort.”

Your eyes flitted towards him and even that millisecond nearly made you melt into the floor. The way he looked at you with such a caring look in his eyes but that little mischievous smirk made you feel both too loved and too preciously vulnerable. You felt your face heat up and you suddenly felt like you knew what was coming next. A prickling sense of foreshadowing threatened to swallow you whole, but you pushed the feeling away. “Nope. Just rolled my eyes.” 

“Right,” Ryland said, his voice rising in pitch, but only moving closer towards you.

Suddenly, your mind was filled with visions of a Ryland and you from long ago, ones where he would’ve picked you up and dug his fingers into your sides. Memories of raspberries blown on the sensitive skin of your neck and fingernails scratching across your stomach flooded your senses. It hit you like that first wave had a few months ago, and it made you want to crawl into the great depths of the cool beyond. The feeling had been gone for so long that you had nearly forgotten about it, but here you were, already a little breathless. Though Ryland was only looking at you, it almost felt like his hands were already there, climbing up your sides and the thought made shivers cascade down your spine and tingles crawl up your neck. You almost instinctively moved your arms to cover your stomach, but no one was there for you to defend against. A sense of want, perhaps even need filled you, and you realized that you missed the feeling. You wanted him closer, and your giggles to fill up the small cottage. 

“I didn’t laugh,” you forced out, barely managing to keep eye contact as you said it. It had been different on the Hail Mary, it was an unspoken thing that when you mouthed off or complained that you were bored, you got tickled. You had told him you didn't mind it at first, and then told him you liked it. You were on a suicide mission, so everything else seem inconsequential, embarrassment and dignity long forgotten. You had thought you were going to die, but here you were, alive and well, and that familiar feeling wrapping around you like a quilted blanket. 

Except now, you were alive, and Ryland was looking at you like you were one of his experiments that he didn’t quite have a hypothesis for yet. 

“Well, then I guess I’ll just have to find another way to make you laugh.”

He leaned back into his own chair and out of your personal space and you felt the loss of attention immediately. Fighting for anything, you reached out and poked his shoulder. 

“Good luck with that,” you remarked, hoping you sounded snarky instead of desperately hopeful. 

Ryland looked at you out of the corner of his eye, his lips momentarily twitching, but didn’t otherwise retaliate. You internally searched for a way to keep the moment going, but your mind was drawing blanks, and before you knew it, you were helping him clear the kitchen. 

Shortly after, he moved to the little love seat to grade papers, his usual Saturday morning routine, and you disappeared back into your bedroom, cursing yourself for your inaction. 

You shut the door behind yourself, and sunk to the floor against it, holding your face in your hands. You groaned and blushed, thinking of the way that he had looked at you and wondered what he’d been thinking. You didn’t know how much he’d thought of those playful moments on the Hail Mary, or if he’d care to repeat them either. You’d changed a lot since the ship had taken off, and he had too, he might not even want to tickle you anymore, and that thought scared you more than anything. You had come back from your darkness, but what if the two of you were too different now?

You debated this thought as you made your bed and opened your windows to let the sea breeze in. You couldn’t bear to sit with your own thoughts so you started to clean your room, which luckily wasn’t as bad as it had been a few months ago. You played music from your computer as you worked, distracting yourself from the storm that was brewing in your brain. 

A soft knock came from the door a few hours after you’d taken a break for lunch and you slipped your headphones down onto your neck to open it. 

Ryland stood there in his soft jacket that had the little foxes on it. “You want to head over to Rocky and Adrian’s? We’re watching The Barbie movie.”

You placed your headphones on the desk and shut off your computer. “Sure.”

“Wow, and I didn’t even have to drag you along,” Ryland teased. 

“You’ve never had to drag me,” you crossed your arms. “That’s a bit dramatic.”

Ryland held up a finger, a silly grin on his face. “No, but I could if I wanted to. 

You deadpanned. “You could not.”

He raised his brows and you felt the thing inside of you unfurling and beginning to take root. “Could so.”

“Could not.” 

In an instant, Ryland was reaching his hands out towards you and you jumped out of instinct. Unfortunately, your instincts were a little out of tune and he easily grabbed ahold of you, hoisting you up bridal style. 

You squeaked and immediately pictured the noise in a different context, one that had you in helpless giggles and pointless squirming.

“Ryland!” you yelled, your heart rate rising and the heat coming back to your face. 

Suddenly, you were back on the ground, your feet firmly planted on your stone floors. You looked over at him in confusion but he only shrugged. “Just had to prove a point.”

You tried to keep the disappointment off of your face, but you didn’t have much time to think about it before Rocky was barging into the cottage. “Friends taking forever, humans need Rocky to come get them for everything? Question?”

Ryland chortled. “Rock, we were literally just about to walk out the door.”

Rocky wiggled his carapace and it took you a second to realize he was imitating shaking his head. “Come, come, come, we go watch movie now.” 

Ryland and you half walked half ran across the beach to keep up with Rocky, kicking up sand as you went. You turned the corner and saw the familiar farm style house with a large red door.

It opened as if sensing your presence, revealing Adrian standing behind it. They moved out of the hallway to let all of you through, closing the door behind you since you were the last one in. “Did Rocky come get again?”

You opened your mouth but Rocky was faster. “Yes, Adrian. Was taking forever.”

Adrian quietly grumbled something in Eridian that you didn’t know the translation for and you couldn’t help but smile. After everything you’d gone through and all the other things that Ryland had put into that translator, he still hadn’t added curse words.

You heard Rocky and Ryland starting to already get into a very loud conversation so you and Adrian headed down the hall after them.

Their house was wide, open, and tall, but it was never cold. The hallway led to a series of entryways leading to their large staircase, the food storage room, and their living room, though it had a different name in Eridian that you couldn’t quite remember.

Rocky and Adrian were both very uncomfortable walking around on soft surfaces so the floor was mostly composed of stone, with the exception of the conversation pit in the middle of the room. There were no windows, though you could see one off of the entranceway to the room to the left of the tv. Luckily, the lack of light made it work excellently as a media room for your human eyes. 

Just under the tv was a color to texture machine that was set to match the above screen frame for frame, so there was no delay between what all of you were seeing through your different senses. Rocky and Ryland were by the fireplace, arguing over something with the connector between the computer and the tv. 

“I think it would just work better if you put it-”

“Grace not making sense. Statement.  Rocky can only-” he started but a curt buzz from Adrian shut him up. 

The boys separated and you and Adrian took your seats. You normally sat in front of them when you had movie nights, not because either of you had planned it that way but because Rocky needed to be behind Ryland so that the two of them could blubber on about the movie without having to lean over anyone else. 

You settled in on the right side of the pit, stretching your legs out and rubbing your feet together like a cricket as you cozied up. 

You looked over and saw Ryland grinning at you. “Comfortable now?”

You eyed him cautiously, waiting for him to make a joke but the punchline never came. Instead, he opened his arms to you, raising his brows. 

You held still for a second. It had been so long since you’d been held, since you’d even let anyone hug you that you were worried you might break upon contact. It hadn’t occurred to you to ask for those things when you were so deep in the darkness. However, your body had betrayed you before you even realized it, leaning in towards him without your permission. 

His arms curled around you and pulled you towards him, allowing you to rest your head on his shoulder, and moving you so that you were flush against his side, the soft material of his sweatpants brushing against your bare shins. 

Your heart immediately started hammering in your chest, and you went as stiff as a board. The movie started to play and you knew you should relax, but you couldn’t get yourself to calm down. You couldn’t remember how much of your weight you were supposed to lean on him or what you were supposed to do with your hands, and you were worried that your hair was getting caught in his beard or the zipper on his sweater. 

Ryland’s hand sat across your shoulder, firm and certain and you longed for the certainty behind his touch. You looked over at his hands, and then pictured them sneaking over to the side of your neck, then abruptly looked away. 

You heard murmuring beside your ear but you looked over at Ryland to find him staring at you. “What?”

“I asked if you were sore from your swim?”

You frowned, thinking of the way you had done more splashing around than actual swimming. You hadn’t even known that Ryland was home at the time and you had no idea why he would be asking about it. “Why?”

“You just seemed really tense, I was wondering if you were sore.”

“Oh,” you said, to give yourself time. If Ryland could tell you were tense then you could only imagine what Rocky and Adrian were thinking, and suddenly the way that Adrian had caught you at the door made more sense. You rolled your shoulders as if deciding but it did twinge a little bit. “I guess it does.” 

“Do you want me to give you a massage?”

“What?” you asked, though you actually had heard him that time, you just couldn’t process what your ears were taking in. 

Ryland seemed to bite back a smile at this, but at least saved you the embarrassment of teasing you. “Would you be alright with me giving you a massage?”

You tried to make your face neutral though you had the sense that you vaguely resembled a frightened alley cat. Ryland moved you forward a bit so that he could get to your shoulders, and as soon as his thumbs dug into the back of your shoulder blades you started to melt. 

With each press of his firm hands you became lighter and softer in his grip, your shoulders lowering to their normal height, and your body sagging with weight and heavily leaning into Ryland. 

To his credit, he made no comment on the movement, he just continued on his quest to rid you of all your pains as bright pink cars drove by on the tv screen. 

“Hey,” you said, a little hazy from how sleepy he was making you. “Doesn’t that guy kind of look like you?” 

Ryland looked from you to the screen. “I do not look like that guy at all.”

You gestured up to the character on the tv, doubling down on your argument now that he was disagreeing with you. “He looks like he could be your twin. We would just have to dress you in pink western gear.

Ryland snorted, giving you a very unimpressed look. “Okay, as much as I could pull that off, that man looks nothing like me.”

You sat up, pulling yourself out of Ryland’s arms out of indignation. “Your face is literally the same!”

He leveled a look at you from over his glasses. “I think your skill for human facial recognition has just grown weaker after your time away from Earth,” 

“You’ve been away from Earth the same amount of time as me!” you protested. 

“You know what?

“What?” you challenged, and then Ryland was on top of you. Your stomach did a somersault as you shrieked and tried to get away to no avail. 

“What are you dohoing?” you asked, already giggling as he reached towards your neck. Your shoulders curled up towards your ears, but Ryland only grabbed your head and roughly rubbed his knuckles against your hair, creating frizz and only making you giggle harder. 

“Owhoohohw!” you yelled, yet you were flush with the disappointment that he wasn’t doing what you thought he would. 

“Wait, am I actually hurting you?” Ryland asked, his hand still on your head, but unmoving now. 

You froze in indecision. While he wasn’t doing what you wanted, it at least offered you a little bit of physical contact. Then again, you did actually want to watch the movie and didn’t want to bother Rocky and Adrian with your wrestling.

“Rocky and Grace go and get popcorn for movie,” Adrian suggested, though they might as well have added the ‘statement’ at the end of it for the level of question that was left in their voice. They twisted around to look at Rocky and he warbled back and forth with them for a moment before coming to an abrupt stand.

“Yes, Rocky and Adrian forgot human food,” he announced, grabbing Grace with one of his legs and pulling him to his feet. “Go get now.”

You turned around to look at Adrian in confusion, but they beat you to it. 

Adrian leaned in closer towards you, like they were trying to get a better look. “What is human not telling Grace?”

You puffed a breath of air through your cheeks. “Nothing.”

Adrian rocked back. “Fine. Stubborn. Will get out of you anyways.” 

Before you could question what their words meant, you were getting pulled towards them, arms snaking around you and claws digging into your sides. 

You jolted so hard that you nearly threw yourself out of Adrian’s grip, but they had too many arms for your escape to come that easily. 

Their pincer-like hands gently squeezed and wiggled into your sides and dear god did it tickle. 

You were nearly vibrating on the spot from just a few prods, like your body had only needed a few months to forget how to deal with the sensation. You clasped a hand over your mouth to keep your laughter from exploding out of you. You were sure Rocky could already hear you, but you certainly didn’t need Ryland walking in on this and exposing you.

Adrian seemed to catch onto your ploy, and switched tactics, instead using one of their claws to pull your arm away from your side, another pincer reaching in to softly brush across your armpit, making you let out a squeak and a few stray giggles.

“Adrian!” you yelped, 

“Yes? Question?” Adrian said flatly.

You risked taking your hand off of your mouth another time to talk. “The bohohys will see!”

Adrian wiggled one of their unused arms. “If not want Ryland and Grace to see, then tell Adrian what is secret.”

They moved down to your hip and gave it an experimental squeeze, making your leg jolt out to the side.

“This!” you squealed, your dam finally breaking and your giggles starting to pour out.

At this, Adrian slowed, though they still rested a claw on your hip. 

“Human explain,” they said, very matter of factly. 

You groaned and covered your face, but you knew you only had a matter of minutes, if not seconds till Rocky and Ryland came back and you couldn’t risk Ryland walking in as you spoke. You forced yourself to take a big deep breath then push your words out. 

“I want Grace to tickle me but I don’t know if he wants to anymore?”

“What? Question?”

You groaned again, immediately regretting your decision to speak at all. You covered your face with your hands but you were only in the safety of darkness for a second before Adrian pulled your arms down to your sides.

“Not say words in judgement but not understand either.”

You sighed, your face burning, and resigned yourself to telling another person that you liked this odd thing. “Well tickling is-” 

“Know what tickling is. Know what tickling means to human. Is why Adrian just did it. Why human think Grace not want to tickle? Question?”

You decided to momentarily ignore the fact that Adrian somehow knew infinitely more than they should’ve. “It’s been a long time and we’ve both changed. What if that side of him isn’t there anymore?” 

“Adrian not see Rocky for a long time, still like Rocky.”

You frowned. “That’s not the same.”

“Friend must promise they tell Grace.”

Your jaw dropped. “What?” 

Adrian continued on like you weren’t looking at them with wide eyes. “Promise Adrian you will tell Grace tonight.”

You started to back up, as if putting distance between the two of you would put a barrier between yourself and that terrifying idea. “There’s no way. I can’t.”

Adrian seemed on the verge of saying something else, but then the boys walked back in. 

“Who’s ready for popcorn?” Ryland asked, carrying in a tub that was far too big for just the two of you. 

He plopped down next to you in the pit of pillows and blankets and offered you some. You didn’t particularly want any, but you took a handful in order to have something to do with your hands. 

Before the movie started back up Ryland stretched out, coincidentally putting his legs over top of yours, and suddenly your mouth felt very dry. You felt as though you had forgotten how to breathe or how much you were allowed to move. 

You looked over and saw Ryland looking over at you, an overly adoring look on his face. 

“What?” you questioned, almost defensively. 

“Nothing,” he laughed heartily. “I just thought that you look especially adorable right now.”

You rolled your eyes and without thinking, you plunked your head down on his shoulder. “You’re so obnoxiously sweet.”

“Oh, you love it,” he cooed, and then he was curling his arm around your shoulder, settling into where you had leaned against him. 

Rocky resumed the move from where you had been pre tussle, and you quickly fell into the bright hot pink world of barbieland. Rocky and Grace talked about the various music from the movie the whole time, and Adrian had to shush them several times. Even when you couldn’t hear the movie though, you at least could appreciate the bright costumes and set pieces in the fictional world. You couldn’t imagine how jarring it would be to go from bright beautiful barbieland to the complexity of the real world, which was both extraordinary and painful at times. 

While everyone else was still hooked on the movie you glanced around the room at the roaring fireplace and the plush red conversation pit and the wide doorways to accommodate your friends. It wasn’t all that colorful, afterall Eridians couldn’t see color, but it felt real and bold all the same. 

Everyone gave a laugh and you turned to the television right as mattel ceo started to be tickled to pieces by his workers. You felt yourself suppress the jolt just a second before you would’ve alerted the entire room to your nervous situation. 

Adrian’s arm curled around you firmly, and you felt the physical press of the stone with the same intensity of their request. 

You tried to settle back into Ryland, but you couldn’t see to focus for the tiny amount of the rest of the movie, your mind running too fast for you to keep up with it. 

Before you knew it, you went from crying about the acceptance of the pain and the beauty of the real world to being whipped into the upbeat credit songs. 

Ryland leaned towards you as he stretched out like a cat. “I still don’t think that guy looks like me.”

You stifled your smile with a yawn. “Agree to disagree.”

Rocky tip tapped his way over in front of the tv, turning the system off. “Humans like movie?” 

Ryland wiggled his hand back and forth. “It’s lacking a little on the intersectionality bit, but hopefully Earth has progressed by now.”

Rocky stilled, one of his arms halted halfway in the air. “Grace wonder about earth sometimes? Question?”

Ryland drew in a breath, and when you looked over at him you found that he was already staring at you.

You tilted your head and his eyes seemed to soften in recognition. You watched the way he looked at you and realized he wasn’t appraising you, he was looking for reassurance. Only the three of you could truly understand what you’d gone through, and the two of you were the only humans in this solar system. Since Ryland did much better than you on Erid it was easy to forget it, but he still needed your companionship. “Yeah,” he said hoarsely then cleared his throat.” You reached down and squeezed his hand. No one else could understand the love that you had for your strange blue little planet and still not entirely desire to go back. 

Ryland looked back up at Rocky, a new light in his eyes. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

Rocky’s arm snapped back down to his side. “Grace want to go back to earth? Question?”

At this, Ryland laughed and then pushed himself to a stand with a groan. “No buddy, I think you’re still stuck with me. I like it here with you three.”

Ryland offered you a hand up and you took it, starting to follow the boys out until Adrian caught you by the arm.

“What more evidence does human need? Question?”

You rolled your eyes, knowing it was nothing short of a death sentence to admit to Adrian that they had been right. “I can’t.”

Adrian gripped your wrist with only one of their claws. “Promise me you tell him.”

“Adrian-“ you started.

They pulled you back a little bit, making you stumble slightly. “Promise. Adrian need it

You raised a brow. Their voice sounded different than usual. “Why?”

Their grip loosened slightly. “To make sure is okay.” 

Your arms went limp at your sides as you looked up at them. Suddenly you remembered all of the times they’d invited you over for movies and your job in the lab and every single dark pit that your Eridian friends had tried to pull you out of. They’d worked so hard to meet you where you were at and the taste of guilt soured in your mouth.

You sighed, blowing the feeling away.

“Fine, I promise.”

Adrian rattled side to side, the most expression that you’d seen from them in a long while. “Good, tell Adrian about later.”

They pushed you towards the door, and you barely managed to stay on your feet as you half tripped on the threshold, Ryland managing to throw his arm out to stop you from toppling forward.

“Woah, you alright there?” 

You nodded, quickly leaning out of the firm press of his arm, but not before you imagined those strong arms pulling your hands above your head as his fingers wiggled above you, slowly descending towards your armpits until they finally touched down, making you kick out and scream. You wondered if he remembered the spot, if he still recalled how he would wiggle both of his hands into your armpits and raspberry your neck until your face was as warm as the sun and you admitted that you lost whatever silly argument the two of you had gotten into. 

“Bye, get home safe friends,” Rocky yelled, and you nearly jumped as you were abruptly pulled back into reality. You looked to your right and desperately tried not to think about the fact that the person who you had been daydreaming about tickling you was staring at you. 

Then you accidentally looked down at his hands and your skin broke out in goosebumps, and you seriously doubted whether you could actually manage to live through telling him. 

“Did you like the movie?” Ryland asked, staring out at the sea. 

You couldn’t look at him and stand still, so you started walking back to the cottage and hoped he followed. “Yeah,” you turned around to see that Ryland was only a step behind you. “I thought it was fun.”

“When was the last time you had fun?”

Your mind flashed back to taking his beaker on the Hail Mary, Rocky pinning your legs so Ryland could scribble around your tummy to his heart's content. He’d only let up until you admit that you just took it to get tickled, and though you had cursed and complained your whole way through it, happiness had flown through your veins like he had inserted it straight through an IV.

However, you knew you weren’t feeling brave enough yet to give him the real answer so you did what any scared person would do, you pivoted. 

“I had fun tonight with you guys.” You added a smile, one that would hopefully really sell it, but Ryland only grinned like he knew you were lying. 

“No.” He poked your hip with his elbow. “Like really had fun, like one of those memories where you think of it as you lay awake at night and it makes you smile as you drift off to sleep.” 

He turned to you and his brown eyes were too warm, so you looked out towards the sea instead, letting the salty breeze cool your warm cheeks. “I don’t know. Probably back on the Hail Mary.”

“Really? It was that long ago?” There was something in his voice, not judgement but concern and he had probably already spent too much time worrying about you.

“When was yours?”

A puff of air came out of Ryland’s nose. “When I saw you dancing in the kitchen the other day.”

You shoved at his shoulder and jogged up towards the cottage, really anywhere to get away from his teases. “I thought you weren’t going to bring that up!”

He grabbed your arm, pulling you back. 

“No, no I’m not making fun of you.”

You pulled away from him just a little bit. “Sure you aren’t. 

Ryland pulled out your housekey from his pocket. “I just thought it was sweet.”

You narrowed your eyes, opening the storm door for him. “I don’t believe you.” 

He turned the key but he didn’t open the door yet, instead, he only had eyes for you. “I hadn’t seen you dance in so long, I missed it.”

Your mouth opened but nothing came out, he opened the door and walked in, throwing his keys in the bowl. 

You watched him step into the kitchen and fill his waterbottle, a thing he normally did right before bed, and it spurred you into action. 

You shut the door behind you and shuffled in after him, grabbing the matching blue one that always sat next to his as the little ice cubes clunked into the bottom of his bottle. 

“Ryland-” you started, then lost your momentum. 

“Yes?” he said, setting it down and turning to look at you. That was the thing about Ryland Grace, if his attention was on you then all of his attention was on you. It was a blessing and a curse, and in your position it felt like the hot glow of a spotlight, making you unable to see into the crowd. 

You tried to remember the promise that you’d given Adrian. You didn’t break your word, certainly not with people who had saved your life, so you needed to find a way to ask. 

“Would you stay up with me for a little bit?”

Ryland cocked his head, the same thing that you’d watched him do time and time again when he couldn’t figure something out in the lab. When he got that way then it was only a matter of time till he figured it out. 

“Yeah, do you mind if I go change first?” he asked, still not having taken his eyes off of you. 

You cradled your arm with the other to give yourself some physical contact. “That’s fine.” 

“Okay, give me a few minutes.” He grabbed a hold of your shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “I’ll be right back out.” 

He finished up in the kitchen and shut the door to his room, leaving you with yourself and your flaming skin. You silently groaned, and forced yourself to do the same.

As you picked your pajamas you tried not to think about things that would give him easy access. You changed into a pair of soft shorts and a tank top, but threw a sweatshirt overtop of it. 

When you left your bedroom his door was still closed so you headed out to the deck on the side of the living room. 

The breeze was cool in the evening air and it felt nice against your overly warm body. You sat on the big couch that faced the ocean and looked up to see the full moon. The scientists had added one for the two of you, and even the lunar cycle. Even though it wasn’t really real, looking at it still calmed you. It always seemed to put you at peace, the knowledge that there were so many bigger things out there that would live on past you. The sun might witness your embarrassment, but it cared naught for it, because it was a star with much bigger things to do. 

You felt the same about the sea, which is why it had been added in, that and the fact that Ryland needed the white noise to sleep. 

As if sensing that you were thinking about him, he appeared in the doorway and letting out some of the light from the kitchen. “Hey,” he said softly.

“Hi,” you said, and instinctively curled your legs under yourself. 

“So,” he started, and then he was walking across the deck to meet you. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

He sat down next to you, leaving several feet of space on the couch behind him. 

“Nothing’s wrong.”

Ryland raised his brows but didn’t question you. Instead he just stared at you in the semi darkness, his eyes unmoving from yours. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” you blurted out, though not unkindly.

He cocked his head. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. It just feels very intense.” Your gaze went back to the ocean, trying to gather up courage from its depths. “Like you’re looking right through me.” 

You saw him shrug out of the corner of your eye. “I don’t mean to, it’s just the way I look at people.” 

You started to feel bad, not wanting to insult him because you were scared, but then he was doing the talking for you again. “Maybe that it’s just because you feel too seen right now. 

You kept your eyes on the horizon, forcing yourself to take deep breaths of the salty sea. 

“Your silence is speaking volumes,” he said, but his voice was starting to go high enough that it could’ve passed as teasing. Luckily he broke into a laugh before you could try to mutter something completely incoherent. “Talk to me.”

“There’s-” you started, then shifted so you were facing him. “There’s something I want to tell you, and I’ve told you it before, but I’m scared to do it again.” 

Ryland shifted on the couch, the metal frame creaking slightly in the silence. “Is there anything I can do to make it easier?”

The words ‘don’t tease’ were on your lips, but you didn’t want to say it and then have to explain that you didn’t really mean it. What you wanted to ask was if he was still a little of the same man that you’d come to know on the Hail Mary, if he still loved how you were obsessed with giggling and touch, if he treasured those happy moments like you did, if he liked the version of you that had healed, or if he had only accepted those things because the earlier times were so dire.

“I don’t think so.”

You settled into silence for a long moment, like Ryland knew you needed the space to work up the words. When they came to the surface though, you couldn’t quite bring yourself to say the full, real thing. “Do you remember when we used to play fight on the Hail Mary?”

Ryland smiled, the moon illuminating his bright eyes. “Of course”

Your words came faster this time. “Do you miss it?

“Do you?” Ryland asked immediately in return, and his stubbornness almost immediately made you forget what you were afraid of, your voice filled with determination instead.

“I asked first.”

“Yes.” You squinted in the darkness and realized Ryland was blushing. He seemed flustered, perhaps embarrassed and it made you push on.

“Do you remember the times you tackled me to the ground?”

Ryland shifted slightly. “And tickled you?”

Your breath got caught and you had to clear your throat. “That, yeah. What do you think about that now?”

Ryland held his hands up, fiddling with his fingernails. “I’m sorry let me just make sure we’re talking about the same thing, think about what exactly now?”

You knew this was when you were supposed to say the word tickle, but you couldn’t quite do it. “Those moments.”

Ryland rested his head on his hand. “The playfighting and the tickling?”

You bit your lip and nodded.

Ryland hunched over, like he was trying to make himself smaller. “I think they were sweet, they were fun. I think we both needed an escape and we used play to cope.”

You fiddled with a silver string that hung off of the bottom of your pajama shorts. “So those are things that only happened cause we were stuck on the ship?”

You briefly looked up to catch Ryland frowning. “Why would you think that?”

You went back to toying with your stray hem. “I don’t know, people do crazy things in the face of death, maybe those moments would be weird to you now.” 

Ryland readjusted himself. “Okay, now I’m lost again, are we talking about playfighting, or are we really talking about me tickling you?”

You closed your eyes. “The second thing.”

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh,” he said, and though you weren’t looking at him you could feel the knowingness in his voice. 

“Don’t say it like that,” you groaned, covering your face up. 

All I said was oh!” Ryland laughed, and somehow even that felt mean. 

“Do you know what I’m talking about now?” you asked, covering your face up with your hands. 

“You mean how you like being tickled?” 

“Oh my GOD. You cannot just say that!” You pushed his knee, and then rested your face on his legs.

“I’m sorry! I’m not even trying to tease you yet! I’m just making sure that we’re on the same page.”

“Yes, it’s tickles,” you sighed. “I wanted to ask you if it was something you still wanted to do. I’ve been thinking about it since breakfast.”

He began stroking the back of your head, sending shivers down your spine. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

You spoke softly, almost in a whisper. “I was scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“That you didn’t like it anymore, that you had lost interest, that you no longer cared to play games with this version of me, that you found it weird now that you have more people to interact with.”

Ryland’s brows furrowed. “Why would any of that be true?”

“I don’t know.” You threw your hands up. “I didn’t say it was rational, I just said I was scared.”

At this, he seemed to soften, he dropped your wrists and placed his hands on your knees. “Actually, I was in the same boat.”

“What?”

“You didn’t notice how I kept trying to initiate physical contact today?”

The day started to playback as you noticed how his hands were on your skin even now. “Why?”

“You’ve seemed more alive recently. It felt like you came back to me and I started to wonder if that old version of you was still in there, if you still wanted to cozy into me like how we watched movies on the Hail Mary when we were nutrient deprived and delirious. I don’t want those times back, but I wanted you back, and I was too scared to ask you for it just in case you weren’t ready. I didn’t want to rush along the process that you’re going through.”

You were at a loss of words for a moment, stuck between nearly laughing and the sudden striking urge that you needed to cry. “You missed tickling me?”

Ryland blushed deeper. “I missed tickling you.” 

He was starting to lean towards you, his hands starting to twitch toward your sides, but you knew you would only be brave for so long and you needed to hear it from him. “So you don’t think it’s weird now?” 

Ryland stilled. “I think to be human is to be weird and I love indulging you in your weirdness.” He tapped a finger to your collarbone. “And don’t you dare forget that.” 

His words made you feel gooey on the insides, so much so that you couldn't even say something snarky about it. “Awwwww.”

Ryland smiled and held his arms open. You accepted his offer without question and you wrapped your arms snuggly around his middle, tucking your face into his chest. His arms felt firm around your lower back as he curled you in towards him, tucking you in like he was making a cocoon just for you. 

He gave you an extra firm squeeze and you settled in further, sighing deeply as he wrapped his arms all the way around you, his hands pressed against your sides. 

“You’re so nice and warm,” you murmured. 

Ryland laid back pulling you against him like you were his personal blanket and you were almost ready to fall asleep like that until he flipped you around. 

You landed underneath him, pinned to the couch by his bodyweight. “Ryland, what are you-” 

“I’m sorry but you had to see this coming,” he said, and you could practically hear his grin as his fingers started wiggling into your sides. 

“NO!” you shrieked, but there was nowhere to go with his full weight on top of you. He had started out barely moving, as if he was testing the waters, but he quickly settled into a routine of raking his fingers down your sides before squeezing a few times to keep you on your toes. 

It tickled like hell and it was already so much worse than all of the times that he’d tickled you on the Hail Mary, and it made you severely wonder how you had survived his reign of torment. If it was possible, you’d only gotten more ticklish with time, every twitch of his fingers turning  into a laugh that threatened to consume you whole. 

“Rylahahahhand, wahahahahit!” you squealed, your eyes shut and wiggling side to side. 

“Oh no, no, no,” Ryland grumbled. “No more waiting. I’ve had enough waiting. In fact, I’ve decided we need to put you on a tickling regimen now.”

A shriek was ripped out of you, making you open your eyes. “WHAt?” 

“Mhmm, I’ll work on it after I get my lesson plans done. We need to reinstate weekly, no, daily tickling,” he smiled down at you and though his hands stilled, you were still giggling.

“That is NOT necessary.” 

Ryland pulled his arms out from underneath you and grabbed your hands as he sat up. You tried to pull out of his grip, but your hands were quickly pinned to your chest, leaving your stomach completely exposed. 

“Well we have to tickle you when you’re snarky and when you complain about work even though you love your job, and we have to tickle you anytime you look adorable-” he pauses just long enough to tweak your side and your squeak and flinch. “So that’s at least every day, if not a couple times a day at least.”

“I’m not even that snarky,” you say breathily.

“Oh, so you’re not gonna curse me out if I do this?” Ryland softly grabs a handful of your sweatshirt and top and slowly pulls it up, making you watch as he slowly exposes your tummy. 

You suck your stomach in and start kicking your feet out on instinct. “No, no, no, Ryland don’t you fucking dare.” 

“Too late.”

He bends down and you cringe away before the raspberry is even there, scrunching your face up and preparing for the onslaught of vibration against your nerves. He pauses for a moment, just long enough to make you wonder why you haven’t felt it yet and you chance a peak at him right as his head ducks down. 

The noise he makes is loud and you’re sure that Rocky and Adrian probably hear your consequent scream before you start squealing with laughter. The raspberry seems to last forever, longer than you thought was even possible as he nuzzles his stubble into your skin. You shake your head side to side just to give the energy somewhere to go. 

“I HATE you!” you screech as he starts scritching across your stomach, always too fast for you to even figure out where his hands are. 

Ryland only smiles down at you “Are the little tickles making you feel embarrassed?”

“Shut UP!”

“I would, but I know you don’t want me to.”

“Yes I DO!”

Ryland’s hands move down to your hips dusting across the bones with light traces that are far too ticklish for someone who is supposed to be one third of humanity's savior. 

“Get ohoohff of thehehehre!”

“Give me somewhere else to go then,” Ryland stated.

Your eyes fly open despite the laughter spasms that were exploding out of you. “WhAT?”

“If you want me to move, then give me somewhere else to go.” HIs fingers twirled around your hips, occasionally squeezing into the divot and making you feel like you were hallucinating under the touch of his fingertips.

“Yohohohou’re mahahahaking mehehehe phihihihick?”

Ryland raised a brow. “What? Am I flustering you or something?”

“NO!” you shrieked out as he pressed into your hips again, making you want to curl up into a ball. 

“Ohhhhh, I’m not?” he asked, and you knew this was your last chance to apologize and tell him that you were well beyond flustered, but you chose to keep going down the road to see where it went.

“NO!” you yelled through laughter, and then Ryland let up.

“Okay, let’s test that theory.”

He scooted forward, dropping one wrist in favor of grabbing the other and pinning it far above your head so that your arm was all the way stretched out, leaving your armpit fully on display and utterly helpless. 

“No, not this, please,” you murmured, closing your eyes and covering your face with your free arm. 

“Uh-uh.” He removed your arm from your face. “If you want it you have to watch it.”

You groaned and attempted to bury your head in the couch. “You’re so mean to me.”

Ryland softly brushed your hair out of your face. “You’re not getting tickled if you can’t watch.”

Your head whipped towards him. “That's unfair!”

“You can’t watch this?” he asked, then held his wiggling hand above your head, fingers in the shape of a claw playing the air like a piano. 

“Tickle, tickle, tickle,” he whispered, the hand getting closer and closer to your armpit.”

Just as he was about to touch the skin, you yelped and closed your eyes only to hear Ryland laughing at you. 

“Rude!”

He covered his mouth as if it made it better, as if you couldn’t see the mischief in his eyes. “I’m sorry, you just look so cute when you’re so embarrassed like this.”

“Shut up.”

His wiggling fingers appeared above your face once more and in spite of yourself, you gasped when he dipped down quickly only to pull away and start squeezing your hips again. 

You shrieked and chortled, weakly pushing at his hands since you were no longer being pinned down.

“I told you I wasn’t switching spots until you picked one,” he teased. 

“I CAN’T!” you yelled, your body twitching every time his devious fingers dug into the sensitive spot in the divot.

“I think you can,” he replied in a sing-song voice. 

“GRHAHACE PLHEHEHESE!” you begged, slapping at his hands as you descended further into your giggly drunkenness. 

“Oh, last name? You must be getting desperate.”

You nodded your head weakly, but he only smirked at you and it made you wonder that if your time away had made you more ticklish that in turn, it had made him more evil. “Where do you want to be tickled?” he repeated.

“NOWHERE!” you insisted though you could see the answer written so clearly in your memory.

Ryland only rolled his eyes and if you had the breath to say it then you would’ve made some smart remark about how he looked exactly like his previous students. His hands eventually stilled, though they still rested on your hips.

“You have to make a decision, it’s the only way you get out.” 

You sucked in a deep breath, once again refusing to look at him. “You deserve jail time for this. They need to make a prison for you here.”

“I actually wasn’t going to make you say the full sentence, but actually you’ve changed my mind.” 

You shot up, your eyes going wide. “Wait, no please, I take it-” 

Ryland shrugged and blew out a huff of air like he was actually disappointed. “No, too late. I think I’m gonna need a full sentence with the words ‘can you please’ and ‘tickle’ in there.” 

You let your head thunk back against the couch, and you closed your eyes. 

“With eye contact,” Ryland added, and you swore you were going to catch on fire. 

“You’re the worst,” you groaned as you forced your eyes open. 

You looked at him and were immediately hit with the full force of his attention and the way his eyes melted, like he was looking at you with all of the love and understanding in the world, like he saw right through your whole charade. The worst part was, he did.

“Can you please- can you,” You started, but couldn’t quite push the words out.

“Take your time,” he smiled and though it was genuine it only felt like a tease.

“Shut up.” 

You looked at him square in his eyes and drew in a deep breath. “Can you tickle my armpits please?”

“Put your arms up.” 

“I have to LET you?” you asked incredulously. 

Ryland nodded, crossing his arms, and somehow you knew he wasn’t kidding. You squeezed your arms together against your chest barely managing to bring them so that your elbows were above your shoulders. 

Ryland wordlessly flicked his fingers and you moved your arms so that they were just above your eyes, and you felt all of that uncovered skin shiver in the cool air. 

Ryland looked unimpressed and made the gesture again. “Come on, up.” 

Your jaw dropped from his sheer audacity. “They ARE up.”

“All the way,” he drawled, and you grimaced as you slowly stretched your arms high above your head and leaving all of you completely exposed. 

“See? Now was that so hard,” he cooed, and just as you were about to respond, his hands dug into your armpits like little spiders, crawling around with feathers. 

Your arms shot down, trapping his twitching fingers into your overly sensitive hollows. “YES!” you screeched, giggling and kicking your feet as your skin prickled with heat. 

“Awe, does someone have a case of the giggles?” Ryland cooed, his lips coming dangerously close to your neck.

You had something on the tip of your tongue, a glorious insult that would leave him shocked that you had come up with something so clever, but all of your words got swallowed up by your laughter. As his fingers continued wiggling into your armpits, you screeched and twitched and could do nothing more until Ryland pulled his fingers out, allowing you a great breath of air. 

“You. Are. Awful,” you heaved out, still squirming around in a desperate attempt to get rid of the phantom tickles. 

“Yes, so awful for giving you exactly what you wanted. Practically the worst.” 

You nodded. “I’m so glad you’re finally seeing reason.” 

“Don’t make me go back to your armpits,” he threatened, holding up a finger but you only giggled.

“Alright, have you had enough little tickle magnet?”

“Mhmm,” you nodded, looking back out at the ocean, another vision of him burrowing his stubble into your neck appearing to you in a haze.

Ryland gently took a hold of your chin, pointing you back towards him. “Why do I get the sense you’re getting bashful on me again. 

You covered you face with your hands. It should’ve been enough, you shouldn’t need more, but your brain was stuck on the image of his hands buried in your armpits and his head nuzzled into your neck. 

“What do you want?” Ryland prodded softly. 

“I can’t,” you groaned from beneath your hands. 

He pulled them away from your face with some effort. “Come on, we’re all weird here. You can ask.”

You closed your eyes to talk since he had taken away your wall of protection. “It’s too embarrassing."

Ryland grabbed a hold of your shoulders. “To be known is to be embarrassed, or something, come on, out with it.”

You shook your head but finally looked up at him. “I can’t.”

“Here, I’ll close my eyes, will that help?”

Somehow his offer only made you feel more squishy and you groaned as your face only got more hot. “Can you keep doing the thing you were just doing? “

“Tickling your armpits?” 

You nodded, and he started to grab ahold of your hands again but you held him off this time. “Wait, can you do the other thing too?”

“The what?” Ryland asked, leaning closer towards your face. 

You were fairly certain that speaking the words outloud might send you to an early grave, but you forced them out anyways. “Can you raspberry my neck too?”

“While I’m tickling your armpits?” he asked, raising a brow. 

You nodded, your words starting to fail you again.

“Wow, Erid made you brave, didn’t it?”

You were about to comment that it did, that the love of your friends had altered you as a human and your ways of communication, but you didn’t have the time cause Ryland was tilting your head to the side and taking in a deep breath.

You barely had enough time to take a breath of your own until he was burrowing into you and sending you into another peal of laughter. He shoved his fingers back into his armpits and you jolted with the shock of his fingernails curling against your skin. 

You were both fighting him and leaning into him, unable to pull yourself away from his stubble nuzzling into your neck, and simultaneously shaking your head to get rid of his horrible raspberries vibrating across your nerves. 

Your brain stopped making words, instead just falling down the slide of consciousness in a steady humming stream of it tickles, it tickles, it tickles. You screeched and wiggled around but it was all just a reaction, not an intentional thing you were doing. Your mind started to drift away on you, leaving you airy and pleasantly floaty. 

Pretty soon you realized you were still giggling but Ryland was no longer tickling you. 

“Had enough fun over there giggles?” he asked, peering down at you. 

“Yehehehes!” you said, too tired to remember that you didn’t usually admit that. 

Ryland lit up in a smile, a lack of snark in the way his lips twitched. 

He pulled you up, sitting you upright on the couch, and you let him manhandle you, allowing him to use the arms that he’d worked so hard to get back. 

He rose to get off the couch and you stared at his face, backlit by the moon. He took a step towards the door, and you grabbed ahold of his wrist.  

“Cahahahlm down, I’m just going to go get your water. I’ll be right back,” he squeezed your shoulder and left the door open as he went. You watched him as he traveled to the island and all the way back to you. 

“See, I promised, didn’t I?”

You remembered Adrian’s words from earlier and ruefully smiled to yourself. “A promise is how I got here.”

Ryland sat down next to you again. “How?” 

You took a long swig from your waterbottle. It was bad enough that you were going to have to tell this story later, but had already used up all of your embarrassment for the night so it would be tomorrow's problem. “Adrian made me promise that I’d tell you I wanted tickled.”

Ryland clucked his tongue. “Wow, you said the word again.” 

You lightly smacked him in the arm. “Because I’m still stupidly giggle drunk.”

Ryland smiled at you and cozied into the couch with a sigh. You leaned into his shoulder and he cradled the back of your neck. “Does that mean you can’t go to sleep yet?”

“Probably,” you glanced up at him from the corner of your eyes. “-but you’re welcome to go to bed.”

He shrugged you up. “No, I’ll stay up with you for a little bit.” 

“Just let me know when you want to go inside,” you murmured, stifling a yawn that was refusing to back down. You nuzzled into his sweater and stared out at the fake sea in front of you. 

You knew that above your little biodome was a galaxy of vast stars, and while the word was still unknowable and scary at times, you were glad that you had stuck around to see it all.

“RYYYYLAAAAA- oof- goddamnit…”

The door to my apartment jostles, and I hear the thunk of body weight against the outside of it.

I groan, dragging a hand down my face, and look at the time at the bottom right of my screen.

It’s 9:45 pm. What the hell is he doing here so late?

“Pull the handle up, not down, Colt.” I grumble through my hand.

I know the cacophonous ruckus of my twin brother anywhere. I didn’t even have to ask who was there…

“I knew that.”

“Evidently not.”

There’s some more fuss with the latch, and finally the door swings open.

“RYLAAAAAND GRAAAAACE!” Colt shouts, arms out like he’s awaiting applause and camera flashes.

He steps through, letting the door slam behind him.

“This is an apartment complex. You realize this, yes?” I don’t bother to look over at him.

“Uh… yes? Obviously?”

“Then why are you making the most noise physically possible- shoes. Shoes off before you step in my kitchen.”

Colt scoffs, kicking off his boots and nudging them to the door with his foot, hands raised in surrender.

“Sorry, mom, jeez.”

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Colton?”

“Government name? Both syllables, huh? Oh You’re pissed.”

“No, I’m busy. I’ve got a lot of work I’ve gotta finish up. And funny enough, no Colt is required for me to complete any of it… huh, imagine that…”

Colt hums, shrugging indifferently, shuffling into the kitchen.

“You chose to put yourself through discretionary, extra school, big guy. That’s on you.”

“Spell discretionary.” I sit back, folding my arms, watching as Colt opens the fridge I pay for, rummaging through it.

“Uhhhhh… d… e…”

“Forget it. Also I’m securing myself a career with this d-i-s-c-r-e-t-i-o-n-a-r-y, extra schoolwork.”

“I already have a career, space-face. That doesn’t work on me.”

“Space Face..?”

“Yeah- all the uh- acne you got goin’ on there… looks like-“

“Got it. Thanks.”

“Point still stands. I’m already employed.”

“Your career involves you getting thrown out of windows.”

“Yeah. And I get paid to do it. It’s awesome.”

“Tell that to your osteoarthritis in thirty years…”

Colt snickers, finally making a selection from my fridge, land popping the tab on a can of my Diet Coke.

“Ok, what’re you doing in my house.”

“Apartment, kiddo.”

“You’re twelve minutes older than me. Don’t call me that.”

“Twelve minutes wiser.” He takes an obscenely long drink of my Coke. “Can’t i just visit my brother? Jeeeez.”

“Typically, no. Usually comes with a caveat.”

I groan, hunching back over my laptop, leaving the room in silence for a few, blissful moments.

Colt, ever the fiend for attention, gets bored of my silence, and saunters his way over to me from the kitchen, standing behind my chair.

“What’ ha eorkin’ on?”

“Physics.”

“That’s a looot of letters where numbers should be.”

“They’re variables, Colt.”

“Why is that division problem so long…”

“One more time i will ask you why you’re here before i call Court.”

“Funny you should say that. He’s the one who told me to drop by.”

“Why in earth would he do that to me?” I hiss, clicking away at my keys.

“He said you’ve been avoiding his calls…”

“So? I avoid your calls too. And Holland’s.”

“Yeah, but that’s like, totally normal. You never ignore Court.”

He had a point. I’d been so swamped with grad school work that my phone had pretty much stayed on ‘do not disturb’ for the better part of two weeks now. Everyone who had attempted to contact me was left in radio silence. My brothers included. I guess Court finally got worried enough to send out a search party.

“He’s worried about you, man! You haven’t said a word to any of us in weeks! It’s like you’ve fallen off the grid! You’ve been so quiet even Holly’s concerned.”

“Oh so the whole family’s on my ass, awesome. You all know I’m in grad school, yes?”

“We know you’re in school dipshit, we just get worried when we don’t hear from you for forty days and nights.”

“Busy…”

“You probably haven’t slept in who knows how long.”

“I’ve been sleeping just fine.”

Colt huffs, a hand snakes around the side of my head, grabbing me by the cheeks, tilting it up and back. My brother stares down at me with a raised brow.

“So then all the darkness under your eyes is what, a stylistic choice then? Trying a new look?”

“Shut up.”

“I dunno! Maybe it’s Maybeline!” He chuckles, releasing my face. “C’mon. Just take a break for a little while.”

“Colt, I’m not joking I’ve got a lot of work to do, and it’s all gotta be done in two weeks!”

“That’s plenty of tiiime!”

“Every school project you’ve ever had, you waited until 6:30 the night before to do. Do not talk to me about time management.”

“And I aced them.”

“Barely passed, and aced, are two very different things.”

“Whatever, asshole. I’m just askin’ for one night off. One night! Come onnnn.” Colt walks around the side of my, leaning against my dining table. It shifts back a bit, and he stumbles like the ground’s been swept out under him, but recovers quickly.

“What the hell would we even do, anyway?! Theres nothinf to do!”

Colt opens his mouth to speak.

“If you say bar, club, or party, I’m gonna freak out.”

“…Order shitty food and watch garbage tv?”

Hard to say no to that…

“With whose money, exactly?”

Colt gives me a devious smile, reaching in his pocket, and producing a card I couldn’t recognize the branding of.

“With the studio’s money.”

-

“What the fuck is an enchirito..?” Colt wrinkles his nose at the container, passing it to me as I sit down on the couch with two soda cans.

“It’s exactly what you’re holding. An enchilada burrito.”

“Looks Like a box of swampass, but… alright.”

“Okahahay, says the guy with a Mexican pizza. What the hell is that?!”

“Hey! It’s fine Mexican cuisine!”

“Spell cuisine.”

“Q…”

“Unbelievable.” I chuckle. “At least mine’s a combination of two actual Mexican foods.”

“Concepts, of Mexican food.”

“An enchilada and a burrito? Real foods, bud.”

“None of this is real… I’m pretty sure you could leave this stuff out in the sun for 20 years, and it wouldn’t change.”

“You suggested this- would you shut up and sit down and turn the goddamn tv on, Colt?! Jesus…”

Colt makes a show of snatching up the remote up from the coffee table, switching the television on.

“Alright, what kind of sloop are we feelin’ tonight…”

“Any of your movies streaming anywhere?”

Colt gives me a cold side eye, I snicker.

“TLC?”

“Mmmm, nah, too exploitative.”

“Yeah, true…” Colt grumbles, taking a bite of his affront to Mexican food.

“Oh! There’s that obstacle course show you used to like! Y’know, with the water underneath?”

“Wipeout?”

“No, no… the actually athletic one.”

“Oh! American Ninja Warrior!” Colt beams.

“Yes! That one! Is it on anywhere?” I lean back on the couch, taking a bite of my food.

Colt hums to himself, opening the search bar, and slowly clicking through the letters.

I roll my eyes, snatching the remote. “I’m gonna show you something revolutionary, okay? Ready?” I press the very obvious voice command button on the center of the remote, and say- “American Ninja Warrior.”

The tv loads, and within a few seconds, the show is playing.

“Oooh bougie.”

“It’s a Roku, dummy. We’d be here for hours if it were up to you and your typing.”

“Shh, shut up, my shoes on.” Colt reaches over, waving a hand in my face to shut me up. I snort, slapping his arm away.

“OOOOOOOW.”

“Shhh! Colton! I have neighbors, you lunatic-! I didn’t even do anything!” I whisper-shout at him, pointing my fork at him. “Watch your show and be quiet!”

-

“I could have landed that.” Colt huffs, closing his box, and setting it on the table.

The show had been on for twenty minutes, and I’d honestly started to zone out.

“Landed what?” I focus back in.

“Watch the replay. Look”

“Oh Buuuuullshit! No you could not!” I scoff as the scene is replayed in slow motion.

“I’m trained to do that!”

“You are trained to get hit by cars, and set on fire. Not to swing around on monkey bars. That’s like a five gap!”

“I could do it.”

“Wrong. Look- watch the replay again- look at the size of that gap between him and the platform.” I point to the screen.

The particular part of the course that the contestant failed on was something of a trapeze jump from a round, unstable platform, across a wide open canyon, to the sturdy, blue dividing platform between obstacles. The contestant hadn’t built enough swinging momentum on the trapeze bar to carry him all the way across the expanse, and plummeted into the water.

“Psh. Lightwork.”

“You’re full of shit!”

“I’m not!”

I turn to Colt. “Then prove it.”

He looks over at me - not completely unwilling. “How? I’ll do it, but how?”

I hadn’t t gotten that far… I figured I would call his bluff, but of course he was completely willing.

“Do you still have that pull-up bar that I got you that you never use because you hate me and my gifts?”

“First of all, yes, it’s in the doorway to my room, drama queen. And second, you are not swinging off of that in my apartment.”

“Why?! THATS be perfect!”

“It’s not made for that much inertia! You’ll rip the wall down! And if really like to keep my deposit on this place!”

“Spell inertia.” Colt crosses his arms.

“I-n-e-r-t-i-a.” I say with a smug smile.

“Whatever. Well how am I gonna prove I can make the jump if I can’t use the bar?”

I think for a moment, taking a deep breath.

“Oh!”

“What?”

“There’s a playground out back of the building. There’s a set of monkey bars.” It wouldn’t be perfect, but it’ll do. All we needed was to settle a score.

“Is it open right now? It’s kinda late…”

“Like you care.” I scoff.

“…Yeah, you’re right.”

-

The metal gate clicks closed behind me, and Colt lands on the ground a few paces beside me, having opted to jump the fence instead.

“There was a gate right there.”

“What would I do without you, Mr Holmes?” Colt slides his hands in his pockets, shoving me with his shoulder.

The park was dark, lit only by ambient San Fran city light, and the nearly full, waxing moon.

It was the type of park playscape that would look like a sprawling kingdom to a little kid. I know I would have thought so.

There were four, tall spires, arranged in a square, with bridges connecting them all together. Each spire had a different attraction - slides, climbing nets, a rock wall, and the fourth boasted a sturdy platform that served as the launchpad for monkey bars. A set of eight swings stood off to the left, and a few of those centripetal spinning rides sat a few paces away.

In the daytime, the rubber padded park looked fresh, lively, and inviting, but in the dark, it looked more like a haunted house for kids.

“This park is loaded” Colt nods with a smile. “We woulda had the time of our lives here back in the day.”

“You say that like we’re ancient- we’re 24.” I chuckle.

“Still! It’s been a long time since we were the intended height for a playground.”

We make it to the monkey bars, and Colt climbs up onto the platform. He grabs hold of the first rung, letting his upper body hang, as he watches me scope out the dimensions of the set.

I pull a tape measure from my cardigan, and begin unraveling it.

“You keep that thang on ya, huh?” Colt chuckles.

“Don’t ever let me catch you saying ‘thang’ again.”

“I’ll be sure to say it more. How much distance do I have to clear again?”

I drop the tape, and walk back a few paces under the bars.

“From the bar you swung off from… you’ve gotta clear six.”

“Six?! I thought it was five!”

I smile. “It is, just making sure you’re posting attention. Four feet. I suggest swinging from this rung.” I pout up to the bar five away from him.

Colt stares at the bar, and at the four foot mark indicated by my tape measure.

“Yeah, that’s doable.”

“We’ll see. And please don’t hit your head, I’m tired of seeing your pathetic ass in the hospital.”

“I won’t, I won’t. Now move.”

Colt hoists himself back up onto the platform, taking a deep breath.

“Colt please be careful.”

“Awww you love me.”

“Don’t push it.” I step out of the way of the jump.

“Ready?” He nods to me.

“Mhm. Three… two… one… go!”

On my signal, Colt takes a three step running start off the platform.

He jumps low, steering his head clear of the bars, and catching the fifth rung with both hands.

He swings forward, letting go, and landing on the rubber floor with a grinding halt, letting himself fall the short distance down to the ground, sitting on his bottom.

I trot over to assess his landing.

“Oooh… just shirt… you landed at about 4.6…” I acted disappointed, but I was stoked to be correct in assuming he couldn’t make the jump.

“What?! Bullshit.”

“Look!” I sit down, and I point to the tape measure on the ground, a half a foot in front of him.

He scoffs, extending a leg out dramatically, landing beyond the tape.

“There. Made it.”

“Stop it, you were short six inches, I was right.” I nudge Colt’s leg back with my foot.

“Let me go again.”

“Hell no!”

“Why not?!”

“You get one chance at it!”

“What the hell?! We didn’t agree to that!”

“That’s how they do it in the show, Colt! One shot, and if you don’t make it, you’re out!”

“Does this look like American Ninja Warrior to you?”

“Worse, it looks like a closed playground at 11 at night with no safety pool, and plenty of things to crack your empty coconut head on when you slip and fall.”

“Oh whatever you just don’t wanna be proven wrong. You know I could make it…”

“Nohoho! I don’t care an out that! You tried, you missed, we’re done!” I shrug.

“Oh I’m going again.”

“No you’re not!”

Colt narrows his eyes at me for a moment, before attempting to break for the platform.

As he turns his body to stand, I hook my foot in front of his, and he stumbles back to the ground, falling flat like a bug.

I snort, doubling over, cackling shamelessly at my brother.

0ohhh yea, hilarious. Real funny.”

“I didn’t think you’d fahahall so hard! I- haha-!” I wheeze. “Did they teach you that ragdoll move in crash dummy school?” I snicker.

Colt slowly raises himself upright, glaring at me.

“Stohohop staring at me like you’re gonna rush me!”

“What if I am?”

“…”

“…”

I take off like a bat out of hell. The soles of my converse grind across the rubber padded ground as I struggle to find traction.

Once I get my footing I’m off like a jet, and I know Colt’s hot on my tail.

He had always been quicker than me, ever since we were little. I could never manage to beat him in a race… but in a game of chase, all I had to do was pivot, and I’d buy myself a few, precious seconds.

And that’s exactly what I do.

I run a couple more yards, before quickly rotating on my heel, hooking a sharp left, ducking into the center of the four-towered playscape. I hear Colt slide to a clumsy stop, disoriented, before finally taking off after me again.

“Haha-! All these years and that still works?!” I taunt.

“Oh shut up Ry, it’s the only trick you have.” Colt ducks into the courtyard as well, taking a few steps in, and pausing to take a breath.

“And it still works!” I chuckle through deep, ragged breaths. “I mean, you’ve already given up…”

“No I have not…”

“Yes you have! I’m looking right at you.”

“…I was just getting close enough to you to do this…” Colt takes a long step forward, swiping his hand out, and slapping me on the shoulder before I could move away. “TAG!”

“Tag?! Wgahahat?!”

Colt cackles, taking off in the other direction.

“What the hell, Colt?!” I start after him with an exasperated huff. I duck through the playscape again, out to the open park, head on a swivel.

I’ve lost him already.

“Up here, blind bozo.”

I whirl around to see Colt standing on the elevated platform of one of the castle spires, smiling down at me in the moonlight.

“How in the hell…”

I shake my head, turning, and climbing the ladder up the tower, as Colt scampers away across the connecting bridge.

I hoist myself up, and by the time I get a visual of my brother, he’s on the opposite tower to me, staring back.

I make a move like I’m going left, he flinches to the right… I hate this game.

I stand there for a second, thinking through my next move.

He’s not an idiot, he’s gonna take off the opposite way I go… maybe if I false start and only go a couple paces, he’ll run the other way and be far enough along, so that when I pivot back, I’ve got him-

“Todaaaaay, Ryland.”

“Shut up.”

“Come make me!” He flips me off from across the castle.

I huff, deciding to put my plan to the test.

I lurch right, taking four or five steps.

Just as I expected, Colt vanishes to the left.

I turn again, going back the way I came.

“WOAH-! What the fuck?! Oof-!”

We meet on the connecting bridge, and I slam into him, the both of us tumbling down to the metal, wrestling for the upper hand.

“Did you teleport?! How the hell did you get to me?!” Colt growls, shoving at my arm with one hand, and my face with the other.

“No! I just- urgh-! I just predicted how you’d move, and as usual, I was right!” I move my head out of the way, managing to get a leg over Colt, swinging myself upright, holding him down to the platform with my body weight.

“I’m not that predictable.” Colt huffs, trying his hardest to push me off.

“Wrong.” I swat his arms away, snickering down at him. “I told myself if I fake you out, you’d take off running full speed the other way, and that’s what you did!”

“So that’s what you were doing standing there buffering?” Colt snorts.

“Shut up, I was thinking.” I shove a hand under one of his raised arms, jabbing him through his jacket.

Colt shoves my hands onto away with a gasp

“Ha! Are you seriously still ticklish, Colton Seavers?”

“I literally just moved your hand away.”

“Yeah, and you gasped!”

“So fuckin’ what?!”

I smile, reaching down and squeezing Colt’s sides with an obnoxious “tktktktk!” Sound.

His muscles tense, but he barely reacts.

“Oh come on you’re holding it in!”

“I’m not holding shit in!”

“Ok well- you just ate a Mexican pizza from Taco Bell, so I know that’s a lie…”

“Not what I mean, dumbass.” Colt rolls his eyes. “I’m trained to take hits and impacts.”

“Oh bullshit!”

“Try!”

I scowl at him, taking him up on the challenge.

I jab him in the side, ribs, chest, and stomach, and all I get is the occasional sharp exhale.

“See?” He smiles proudly.

“Ugh…”

“YOU on the other hand…” Colt shoots both hands to my hips, squeezing me firmly.

I shriek, teetering backwards, and Colt slowly sits up, our positions switching horrifyingly quick.

“You’ve never grown out of it, have you?” He swings a leg over me now, anchoring me to the playscape like I had done to him a moment ago, the moon behind his head casting him in ominous shadow.

“C-Colt-! CohOHOHOLROHON-! N-NOOOHOHAHAHA!!”

“Ha! You never lost it! Ohhh this is incredible!” Colt grins, dragging his hands up and down my ribs, fingers vibrating maddeningly fast against the bone. 

“COLT ATOHOHOP! I- IT’S LATE WE CAN’T MAKE THAT MUHUXH NOISE OUT HERE!”

“Then shut up. You don’t see me screaming bloody murder.” He snickers, bringing both hands up to my arms.

“Hey- you when we were little, and Holly was trying to position us for some dumb family photo, and you freaked the fuck out when he grabbed you by the arms?” Colt gripped my by the shoulders as he spoke.

“Cohoholt… c’mon…”

“You think that still works?” He tilts his head, suddenly grabbing me by my biceps, squeezing up and down my arms, shoulder to elbow.

I snort, thrashing around in place. Why does that even work on me?”

“AAAHAHA— STOOOHOHOP XOLT AAAHAHA-!”

“No way! Oh god I’ve gotta tell him about this later! You’re ticklish in the weirdest places, man.” He turns his wrist to skitter his fingers over my elbow, and I jerk like I’d been shocked.

“AaaAAAAH! DON’T!” I theash around under Colt’s weight, only managing to turn myself onto my stomach, and give an honest effort to pull myself away.

“Where the hell are you goin’ Ry?” He grabs me around the waist, digging his fingers into the bone of my hip.

“AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA-! STAHAHAP STOP STOPIT!!”

“My god, I’m just holding you- I’m not even tickling you, you’re moving against my hands.” He chuckles, moving his hands up to my back.

“Now this, you can laugh about.”

“SHIHIHIT- AHAHAHA-! AGH-! COLT KNOCK IT OHOHOFF!!” I cry out, pounding my fist uselessly on the platform.

Colt runs a knuckle up and down my spine with one hand, the other scratches shapes between my shoulder blades.

“COGOHOLT! YOU’RE GONNA KILL ME!” I twist my head to the side, rather disgustingly, on the platform floor.

I catch a glimpse of the door to the building opening from the inside… crap.

“WAHAHAIT! STOP-“

“What?! My god, I’m going easy on you!”

I jerk to the side, throwing Colt off balance, forcing him to pay attention.

“SHHH- Stohohop! I’m serious, quiet!” I push myself up onto my elbows, and signal for Colt to be quiet.

He scowls at me.

“What?!” He whispers.

“Would you open your eyes and observe?! The door! To the building! Look!” I point to the apartment building.

Colt crawls beside me, peering through the bars of the playscape bridge.

Light spills out from the hall inside, and a figure stands at the threshold.

“It’s security you idiot! I told you we couldn’t be loud.” I hiss.

“That was all you, bud.” Colt shrugs.

“You were making me laugh. Would you get down?!” I grab Colt by the front of the jacket, and yank him down beside me.

He bumps his forehead against the bars, eliciting a metallic, reverberating bang.

I snort, putting a hand behind Colt’s neck to keep him down.

“Asshole-!” He whispers.

“Shhh!”

Finally, after a few agonizing moments, the door closes again, and the figure is gone.

“What a shit security guard- he didn’t even come out and check…” I chuckle, looking over to Colt, who I’ve still got by the scruff like a cat.

He gives me a strained “mhm” in reply.

“What’s your deal?”

“Let goho of me.”

I furrow my brow.

“Why’re you so tense? Did you hit your head that hard?”

“Get your hand off my neck.”

“What-? Why?” I repositioned my hands slightly, barely brushing his skin, and he flinches.

I grin.

“Ohhhhh.”

“What?” He hisses.

“Oh don’t give me attitude! You are ticklish, you stupid fuckin’ liar!” I scratch a finger behind Colt’s ear, and he jerks his shoulder up like he heard a mosquito fly by.

“HA!”

“Fuck off!”

“Oh what, the University of Crash Bang Pow didn’t train you not to react to low impact tickling?”

“That doesn’t even make any goddamn sense, tickling is tickling.”

“Ohoh no it’s not. There’s two different types.”

“Oh for god’s saaaake of course your nerdy ass would know that.”

“There’s this, which is called knismesis…” I sit up and reach my hands over to squeeze roughly at Colt’s sides, to which he barely reacts, flinching, swatting my hands, and flipping himself up onto his side to glare at me.

“And then there’s this, garglesis.” I smile, reaching down to gently skitter over Colt’s stomach.

He jumps, rolling completely onto his back, with the most frantic, high pitched laughter I’d ever heard from him.

“H-hahAHAahAHA-! W-WhAT THE FUHUHUCK?!”

“It’s a much more instinctive kind of reaction- usually triggered by a bug landing on your skin, or a foreign object brushing by you… much deeper ingrained, and harder to just ‘teach yourself’ not to react to.”

I explain, bringing my other hand up to join the first, tracing abstract shapes all over Colt’s torso, scribbling my fingers all the while.

He seems almost paralyzed like this, unable to move or fight back, just lying back with hands bent in the air like a t-Rex, giggling and wheezing.

“A-AahaAHHA- OKAHAY THANK YOU PROFESSOR.” Somehow, even through his laughter, he managed to nail the snarky attitude.

“Hush. Clearly you’re enjouoyourself, or else you would have moved by now.”

“I- I CAHAHAN’T! AGH-! SHIHIT- AH-! AH-! NOT THERE! NOHOHO!”

“Where?”

“S-STOMAHAHACH!”

“That’s not your stomach, this is your epigastrium.” I draw a large circle with my finger on the area between Colt’s chest and stomach, marking the area.

“W-WELL GET AWAY FROM MY EHEHEPIC GAS STATION, BITCH!”

I chuckle. “Fine! Here!” I shrug, opting to scratch under Colt’s chin instead. I was having a blast.

“E-EHEHEheheEheHEHAHA- fuhUHUCK-!” Colt curls up on himself, kicking a leg out.

“What’re you a dog? Whats happening with that leg?!” I chuckle, finally letting go, Giving Colt a break.

“Ugh! Oh my GOD that sucked.”

“No it didn’t, you weren’t moving an inch.”

“I told you! I couldn’t! It was like I was stuck there!”

“There’s no way it was that bad.”

“You literally laughed so loud that security came putskde.” Colt sits up, pointing at me.

He got me there.

I grunt in reply.

“Speaking of, how are we gonna get back upstairs?”

“Through the door, and up the elevator? What’re you talking about?”

“No- ‘through ne noor!’ Obviously, dipshit, but clearly security’s been tipped about someone making noise out here. Won’t they get suspicious?”

“They’re gonna see that it was a building resident, and someone who looks a lot like him hanging out in the park, coming in for the night. It’s not a max security prison, Colt, I pay good money for the privilege of wandering around whenever I like.” I say, hoisting myself up with the painted metal bar as a support beam.

“You’re sure they won’t care?”

“Dude, where do they keep you between shoots, Alcatraz? No, they won’t give a shit.” I reach a hand down to Colt, and he takes it, yanking himself up with a grunt.

We both fall silent for a moment, before Colt sighs, looking over the edge of the playscape rail.

“Think I could land that jump?”

“Colton.”

“Yes or no.”

“No nets, no cushions, no harnass…”

“You don’t think I can?”

“You’ll land it. Gravity will make damn sure of that. I can’t promise what condition you’ll be in when you get there.”

Colt hops up onto the railing with surprising ease.

“COLT. Get the fuck down, you psycho- DUDE!!” My heart falls just as quickly as he jumps.

He freefalls down the six-ish foot drop, tucking and rolling on impact with the rubber floor. He stands up, turning around to look back at me.

“Parkour!”

“I’m gonna throw up. Don’t ever do that again.”

“Your turn!”

“Oh youre outta your mind.”

“C’mooon it’s not that far!”

“No, I think I’m gonna use the ladder that the park engineers so graciously provided, thanks.”

I swing myself around, descending the ladder, and hopping down onto the ground.

“Lame.”

“Safe.”

“No, you’re lame.”

“Well, I’ve broken significantly fewer bones than you have being lame, so I’m comfortable with that.” I pick up my tape measure on my way around to Colt.

“High risk, high reward.”

“What exactly is the reward of you risking your life doing reckless, clearly dangerous stunts, besides just saying you did them?”

“It looks cool, and it gets me work. And, if I break something, and show up to work in a cast, all the girls feel super bad for me and dote on me the whole time.”

“Wow. Compelling.”

“It is if you like girls… it anyone for that matter…”

“Yeah. Wrong guy.” I chuckle.

He throws an arm around my shoulders as we walk back to the building, thankfully opting to use the gate this time.

“Feel better after taking a break?”

I think for a moment. “Yeah, I do… I feel kinda behind on work though.”

“Ryland, I guarantee no one else has touched their work yet, if you’ve got two whole weeks to do it. You’ll be fine.”

I sigh. “I guess.”

“And even a rush job from you would be better than a week’s worth of work from anyone else.”

“You think I’m smart, huh?”

“Annoyingly so. Excruciatingly so.” Colt chuckles, jabbing me in the rib to drive the point home. I snort, leaning away.

“Okahahay! Okay… thank you, Colt.”

“Anytime.”

I step forward to enter the building code into the keypad, unlocking the door with a click, and holding it open for Colt.

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

“Can I stay over? Please please please please?”

I groan. “It’s like midnight, Colton…”

“Please?! I haven’t seen you in like a year!”

“Three weeks…”

“I’m in twin withdrawals…” Colt sighs, leaning his weight over me.

“Oh my god.”

“I’ll buy breakfast tomorrow! Please?! Wherever you want!”

“…Fine, Fine. Yes.fold the couch out.” I deadpan.

“YES!”

“shhh!”

Grace banged his fist on the table and Simon flinched. “Simon, if you would just listen for a second—“

“NO! I’m not gonna fucking listen! How many times have I told you I don’t want that fuckin’ bot near me?!”

“I know. Listen, I don’t like needles either, but we have to take your blood to check for—“

“You don’t hafta do anything!” Simon exclaimed. “Just shove me out the airlock and let me DIE already!”

I took a sharp inhale of breath. Simon hadn’t asked for us to let him die since the first few weeks he was with us. Something must be going on with him aside from this argument.

Grace didn’t seem to see that. He was getting angrier and angrier. “Are you serious? Do you hear yourself right now?” He took a breath, standing up from his chair and shoving it aside, hard. “If you would just stop interrupting me—“

“Why do you care so much about my mutations anyway? Do you think I’m a fuckin’ monster?” Simon snarled.

“ENOUGH!” Grace exploded. “I can’t do this anymore! I need to take your blood to make sure the mutations aren’t killing you. I don’t want you to fucking die, Simon!”

Simon seemed taken aback by the curse. I think it was the first time either of us had heard Grace curse. “Why?” he demanded.

“Because I love you!” Grace cried. 

There was a stunned silence. Even Grace seemed surprised at himself. 

I slipped silently out of the lab and went to hide in the cockpit. 

I hated it when they fought like that. It made so much noise, and this ship was tiny and impossible. I had been thinking lately about Stratt’s deliberations over whether to put the crew in a coma, and how all the research showed we would go crazy and kill each other. 

That was assuming they’d be dealing with me, Grace, Yao, and Ilyukhina—a mild-tempered crew—without knowing Simon and Rocky would eventually join us. That was assuming we’d die after a year or two of completing the mission. 

Simon’s arrival brought out a side of Grace I had never seen before. Grace became completely swept up in making sure Simon was okay, so much so that I faded quietly into the background. Simon provoked the anger issues that Grace had spent years, or so he told me, taming. I had begun to understand the type of person he was when he got kicked out of academia. 

I fiddled with the screens in the cockpit, mindlessly exploring the maps of stars and systems nearby on our course to Erid. 

I liked Simon. I really did. There had been a nearly perfect few weeks, after Simon got over the initial shock of living with us, and before he had started picking fights with Grace daily. The four of us spent most of our time in the don’t-go-crazy-room, exchanging stories of the worlds we grew up in. He was a good guy, and he clearly liked the both of us. We had enjoyed having new company. Grace and I allowed ourselves to behave like kids instead of the saviors of humanity.

It had been so complicated recently. The first few arguments, I had intervened. But then I realized we needed at least one emotionally regulated human around, so I let them yell at each other until they exhausted their voices. 

I listen carefully for noises in the main body of the ship. The yelling had stopped. I heard Rocky’s voice, too far away to be picked up by the translator on my laptop, but I could tell it was somewhat angry. I heard the murmured tones of reconciliation, and then the beeps of Armando instructing Grace on how to draw blood from Simon’s good arm. Then, there was silence. 

I turned back to my own tasks, opening up my laptop and working on some code to automate a systems check for the ship so we didn’t have to do it as often. I had been coding a lot recently. I had become used to being by myself. 

I was so focused I didn’t hear two pairs of footsteps approaching the cockpit. When Grace peeked his head inside, I startled. 

“Hey,” Grace said. 

“Hey,” I replied lamely. 

He navigated his body through the narrow space of the cockpit. Simon trailed after him. I glanced down and saw that they were holding hands. 

Oh. 

That must’ve been why the past few weeks were so tense—they had finally figured out their feelings. I wanted to feel happy for them, but the sight only managed to drive another pang of loneliness between my ribs. 

I chewed my lip as I watched them share a look. It was too quiet for my liking all of a sudden. 

“We’re sorry,” Grace said bluntly. 

“For what?” I asked tiredly.

“For fightin’ too much,” Simon said softly. 

I set my laptop aside and rubbed my eyes. “Okay,” I muttered. 

It was quiet again. Somehow, it didn’t feel resolved. 

“Are you okay?” Simon ventured.

“No,” I said quietly. “I don’t like yelling. I’m tired. And I’ve never seen you act the way you have been acting the past few weeks,” I said to Grace.

Grace winced. 

“And I’m lonely.”

They looked guilty. Grace dropped Simon’s hand. 

“No, don’t do that,” I sighed.

I picked up Simon’s hand and put it back in Grace’s. 

“Just get your act together, and I don’t want to hear more yelling on my ship,” I said firmly, as if that was the end of it.

*** 

Technically, no one was fighting anymore. Grace and Simon had evened out into a peaceful existence. They solved their disagreements without yelling. It was quiet again. 

I looked away when they cuddled. I left the room when they kissed. I stopped touching both of them and I kept my distance. They were a pair now, and I didn’t want to interrupt that.

Maybe that’s immature of me. Maybe I’m just punishing myself here. Maybe it’s unrealistic, given that those two are the only humans I’ll ever see again and I need them like I need oxygen. Maybe it’s unfair to them. Maybe they miss me.

I’m sure they don’t. Honeymoon phase, right? I don’t know. Their relationship is definitely atypical of what I was used to seeing on Earth. I had never asked Grace about his dating history, but I got the sense that he wasn’t interested in romance or sex or any of that. I guess that’s why it took me so long to figure out why they had been fighting so much.  

Rocky’s new favorite way to piss me off is to find me in the cockpit (my permanent hiding spot, it seems) and use his echolocation to narrate Simon and Grace’s more intimate activities wherever they are in the ship.

“What is purpose of using mouth, question?” Rocky needled. “Grace puts mouth all over Simon body. Very gross. Disgu~ust.” 

“Stop it, Rocky, I don’t wanna know,” I sighed. It’s bad enough that I can hear them going at it when I’m trying to sleep. 

Rocky did the Eridian equivalent of a chuckle. He paused for a few seconds, echolocating to another part of the ship. “Another question: why Grace not take clothes off?”

I turned to Rocky. “What?”

“Grace touch Simon intimately, but not other way around,” Rocky explained. 

“That’s… strange,” I murmured. I caught myself: “Wait—this is none of my business.”

Rocky chittered smugly.

***

So, I did some research. Shut up.

I don’t know a ton about Simon in comparison to the way I am extremely familiar with Dr. Ryland Grace. I could be right that Grace is somewhere on the asexuality spectrum. And that would probably translate to a slightly unique relationship between him and Simon. 

I don’t know why I care so much. It’s just boredom, I’m sure. I was just curious. I’m cooped up and I’ve gotten nosy. Nothing else.

***

I’m stuck in the same room as them. 

There was a hairline crack in Rocky’s tunnel that we hadn’t noticed and some ammonia leaked into the dormitory. Rocky ordered us to hang out in the lab until it’s fixed. 

“Hey, stranger,” Grace said lightly as I set my stuff down in the corner of the lab. 

“Hey,” I said, turning around and trying to bury myself in data.

“Whatcha working on?” Simon asked, wandering over. 

I perk up a little, always happy to talk about my work. “The Hail Mary has been collecting spectral data during our journey to Erid,” I explain. “I’ve been analyzing it as we go. Some cool stuff in here.”

Grace walked over to see, ‘ooh’ing and ‘ahh’ing as I flipped through photos the ship’s cameras had taken. It’s the first time they’ve paid attention to me in a while. My fingers trembled slightly on the keyboard. 

Simon put his hand over my shaky one. I froze. I realized they were both very close behind me and I felt two conflicting needs—for some air and for more, more, more. 

“Are you okay?” Grace asked. I had stopped talking mid-sentence. 

“I’m fine,” I said, turning back to my work. Simon stopped my spinny chair halfway, and then turned me around to face them. 

Simon’s hand was braced on the desk next to me and Grace was also hovering very close. I was pretty much speechless. I hadn’t been this physically close to a person in a long time. 

“Something’s wrong with you,” Simon said bluntly. “We didn’t fix it last time and m’tired of it. Spill.”

“I- I’m lonely,” I said, again. “But I’m trying to give you guys space to…be you. To be…a thing together.”

“We’re not anything without you,” Grace replied, his eyes bigger and wetter than usual. Damn, it’s going to be difficult to keep my distance if he keeps looking at me like that.  “You are,” I said. “You’re definitely something. I don’t… I don’t know what you guys are. But I’m trying not to interrupt.” 

“But you’re forcing yourself into solitary confinement,” Simon all but growled. 

I got the sense that he knew a thing or two about solitary confinement.

“And stop saying ‘interrupt,’ because you won’t,” Grace added. “We’re a crew. A team. And we need you.”

“Okay?” Simon probed.

“Okay,” I agreed. 

***

Rocky finished dealing with the ammonia leak. 

Grace and Simon had been gracious enough not to sit in each other’s laps and make eyes at each other in my presence, but I still scurried off to the cockpit as soon as possible. 

I almost forgot about the agreement I’d made with them, so used to my routine of hiding. Simon poked his head into the cockpit and cleared his throat. 

I startled.

“You’re doing it again,” he complained. Grace peered into the hatch behind him. 

“Sorry,” I said sheepishly. 

“That’s fine,” Grace said cheerfully. “We’ll come to you. As long as you need us to.” 

Simon sat himself down in the chair next to me and Grace floated around the small room, examining all the little objects and clutter I had accumulated in the past few weeks. A small model that I had used to teach Rocky yesterday about circuitry was disturbed by Grace’s movements and bonked me on the head. 

It was unusual to have them both in the tiny space I had claimed. 

It was much more crowded.

I yelped as Simon grabbed my waist and repositioned me. “What are you doing?” I asked, blushing furiously at the close proximity.

“M’braiding your hair. Stop moving,” he replied gruffly. 

I relaxed after a few minutes. I forgot how soothing it is to have someone touch your hair. Grace watched with a pleased smile as my eyelids fluttered to half-closed. I felt my heartbeat slow and the prickly feeling of emptiness in my skin, of a lack of sensation, subside.

I felt tears well up in my eyes when he tied off the braid with an elastic and patted my shoulder. Grace sat up in alarm. “Why are you crying?” he asked anxiously.

I wiped furiously at my eyes. “It just reminded me of my mom. She used to… braid my hair.”

I felt Simon’s strong arms—one flesh, and one prosthetic—close around my waist again and pull me in. He hugged me to his broad chest. I was smaller in comparison, a detail that felt strangely good. “It’s okay,” he murmured quietly. “Don’t cry.”

Grace pushed himself forward and hugged me from the front.

I took it in slowly. 

Visuals? Grace’s corny t-shirt. Smell? Simon’s shampoo, and the faint smell of sweat. Probably mine. Hearing? My crew’s steady breathing in my ears, and Rocky clanking away distantly in his tunnels. Touch? Strong arms surrounding me. Taste? The salt of my own tears.

I was still overwhelmed. 

“Guys…”

“Mm?” Grace murmured. 

“I can’t…”

“You can’t what?” Simon encouraged. 

“I can’t handle this much, but I need more,” I exhaled shakily. Simon tried to pull away. “No, don’t stop—“

I was crying again. 

Grace leaned back from the hug to look at my face. God, he was so close to me. 

“Fudge,” he whispered. He looked up at Simon. “Si, we messed up.”

“M’sorry,” Simon murmured into my hair. “We didn’t know it was this bad.” 

I struggled against his grip. “I can’t—I can’t be doing this…”

“Why?” Simon murmured, arms loosening. 

“I’m too needy, it’s too much, this isn’t normal—“

“S’not too much,” Simon interrupted.

“Your feelings are perfectly normal,” Grace chided in a gentle, teacherly voice. “This is what happens when people get lonely and isolated.” 

“But you guys are—“

“Just shut up and let us love you,” Simon interrupted. 

I stopped protesting. 

“Our lives aren’t normal anymore,” Grace muttered, stroking my cheek gently. “Why should the three of us try to be normal?”

“Okay,” I said. And it really was final this time. 

I went limp and compliant in Simon’s arms. He made a pleased noise and turned me around to face him. He pressed me closer and rubbed a hand up and down my back. I buried my face in his neck. 

It felt so good, I almost felt wrong enjoying it. 

Simon understood that, I think. It took him a while to get used to us touching him in the beginning. He was always saying something about Eden and being a sinner. 

Grace communicated something to Simon behind my back, and I heard Simon chuckle and then make an “mm” noise. 

“Hey,” Grace said. “Can we cheer you up?”

“What do you mean?” I mumbled, still too busy enjoying the hug.

“I wanna see a smile,” Simon said into my hair. 

“No, I’m too busy being pathetic right now,” I muttered. 

“Why couldn’t the astronaut book a room on the moon?” Grace said, already chuckling at the answer. 

“Why?” I grumbled into Simon’s shirt. 

“Because it was full,” Grace wheezed. 

“I’m not laughing at that bullshit,” I deadpanned. Simon chuckled at my reaction. 

I cracked a smile despite myself. 

“Theeere we go,” Grace grinned. 

Simon poked at my sides. “How about a laugh?”

“Sihimon, don’t—“

“Ooh, good idea,” Grace snickered. 

I tried to use my inertia to get away, but Grace was in the way. I pushed off of his chest to try to get to the door, but then Simon blocked me. 

“You’re not gonna escape if it’s both of us,” Simon chuckled. 

They grabbed me and I squirmed wildly, legs pinwheeling like a cartoon character in zero gravity. 

“C’mon guys, I’m not sad anymore, just hohold on—“

“Nope. Too late,” Grace replied. “You’ve been a sad sack for too long.”

“Sad sack?” Simon chuckled, busy wrangling my arms and pulling them over my head. 

“Yep,” Grace said cheerfully, wiggling his fingers towards my now-exposed torso. 

I squealed and squirmed around. “Grace! Don’t- Simon, let me go right now,” I demanded. 

“Sorry, you need this,” Simon justified. 

Grace buried his fingers under my arms and I shrieked. My body tensed up with the urgent need to pull my arms down. I struggled uselessly against Simon.

“Aww, is someone ticklish right here?” Grace teased, poking and digging one finger under each of my arms. 

Simon and I both cringed at the baby-talk. I was too busy laughing, but Simon groaned in embarrassment: “Grace….”

Grace laughed at us. “Simon, I’m not even tickling you right now, why are you embarrassed?”

I turned my head to look at Simon’s red cheeks. “You’re cuhute,” I giggled. 

“You’re not in a position to make fun,” Simon growled, pinching up my side to add on to Grace’s tickling.

I shrieked with laughter. “AHAHAHA- wait, I’m sohorry- Simon, Grahahace, I’m sorry—“

Grace’s hands migrated down to my stomach. He yanked up my shirt to untuck it from my tied-off jumpsuit. “Maybe now you’ll laugh at my jokes,” he commented, clawing rapidly at my bare tummy. 

“YOUR JOHOKES SUCK AHAHASS—“ 

Simon sucked his teeth. “I think you’ll regret saying that…”

“What do you call two dinosaurs who got into a car crash?” Grace asked. 

“I dohon’t knohohow—“

“Tyrannosaurus wrecks!” Grace giggled. 

“Not- FUHUNNY!!” My protest turned into a scream of laughter as he nuzzled his stubbly face into my belly. 

Simon’s thumb massaged into my hip and I shrieked. “I don’t know, you seem to be laughin’ a lot, angel,” he murmured in my ear. My face burned hotter at the pet name—I’d only ever heard him use it for Grace. 

Grace pouted. “You stole my line.”

“I have a better joke for you,” Simon said conspiratorially into my ear. “He’s right in front of you.”

Grace sputtered in indignation as I laughed from genuine humor. “Wha- Hey! Not cool!”

Grace squeezed rapidly up my thighs. “What are you laughing at, huh?”

I descending into snorting giggles. “S’NOHOHOT MY FAULT! It was SIMON!!”

“Oh yeah?” Simon teased in my ear. “You laughed, though, sweetheart.” 

He pinched up my ribs and kneaded into each pressure point with terrifying accuracy. 

“You laugh, you lose,” Simon added in a tone that sent shivers down my spine. 

I let my head fall weakly onto Simon’s shoulder, kicking desperately. My laughter turned breathy. Their fingers slowed down. 

“You feeling better?” Grace asked. 

“Noho, I’m feeling like I’ve been tohortured,” I fired back. One reprimanding squeeze from Simon set me straight. 

“Good,” Grace said with a dopey smile. He leaned up and pressed a scratchy kiss under my jaw. 

I froze. What did that mean? It must have showed on my face, because I felt a laugh rumble through Simon’s chest. 

~~~

Simon could hear Rocky coming a mile away. The loud thunking wasn't exactly stealthy.

"Simon!" he exclaimed, announcing his presence. Said man looked over, arching a brow quizzically.

"Rocky..." he answered, unsure what the alien wanted. They rarely interacted one on one, mostly due to Simon's own hesitance.

"Rocky need favor, statement," he said, cutting to the chase. Simon tried not to appear as tense as he felt.

"... Well, that depends. What's the favor?"

Rocky rolled his ball further into the room, moving closer to Simon, but still keeping a small distance between them.

"Need new words," Rocky admitted, carapace lowered in something akin to disappointment or frustration.

Simon snorted. "Do I look like a fuckin' dictionary? Go ask Grace," he dismissed, but Rocky wasn't having it.

"No!" he stomped to assert his point. "Grace not share human bad words! Those are words Rocky need!"

Simon was hiding a smile behind his hand, holding back amused laughter. "Is that so?"

Rocky went still, his voice monotonous. "Simon laugh at Rocky."

Great, now he felt bad.

"No I'm not!" Simon denied, but Rocky continued to stare. "I was… laughing at Grace," he insisted. Rocky took a few steps closer.

"Why, question?"

"Because he's a such a nerdy goody two shoes," he said, a playful smirk tugging at his lips. "I mean, who gatekeeps curse words from an alien?"

"Hm. Don't understand," Rocky said, hoping for clarification.

"What, gatekeep? It's slang for withholding information," he explained.

Rocky hopped up and down, stomping his feet with excitement. "Yes! Grace gatekeep!"

"Well that's just not fair," Simon agreed, allowing his infectious energy to rub off on him. He walked over to grab the nearby laptop and translator, placing it in his lap as he sat back down. "So, how 'bout we start with the worst ones and work our way down from there."

~~~

"With insults, they're more or less interchangeable, but it depends on the situation."

"Hm. Need example."

Simon shifted, leaning his left side against Rocky's ball for support. "Okay... so say we're both walking down the street and I bump into you without saying excuse me. I'm being an asshole. But if I see you walking and go out of my way to run into you, then I'm being a dick."

"Dick worse than asshole, question?"

The phrasing was so unexpected, Simon couldn't help but burst into laughter, nodding, "Yeah, you got it bud! But really, it's a matter of what feels right in the moment."

"Rocky need more examples." He didn't really, but this was the most he'd heard the new human speak, and as it turns out, he was rather funny.

"Ohokay, okay, here's one. So if you tell me to do something and I refuse for a stupid reason, I'm being a whiny little bitch. Got that?"

"Whiny little bitch," Rocky repeated, beaming with pride at his expanded vocabulary.

"You think you got it, or you want me to keep going?"

"Rocky understands now."

"Glad I could help," Simon said, patting the glass of his ball as Rocky rolled by.

Before he left, Rocky paused in the doorway. "Simon, question?"

"Yeah?" he cocked his head, glancing over at him.

"Why Simon not leave room, question?"

Simon sighed. He figured it wouldn't be long until one of them asked that question. He rarely left the onboard greenhouse ever since he'd first laid eyes on it.

"I just really like this room," he shrugged.

"Bullshit, statement."

Simon's lips quirked into a tight smile. "Already putting those words to good use I see," he said, hoping to deflect. When Rocky didn't respond, he continued, "Where I came from, we only had one tree left. And when it finally died, that was it. So seeing so many plants- alive and in space, thriving... I don't know. It just feels comforting, I guess."

Rocky thought for a moment before speaking. "Is same reason Simon leak when see stars, question?"

Simon's breath hitched in his throat. He wasn't expecting the conversation to take such a turn after their crash course in Swearing 101. He nodded, voice barely above a whisper, "Yeah..."

He flinched when he felt something touch his leg, looking up to see Rocky reaching through the mesh panel to rest a comforting claw on his knee.

"Grace, Rocky save stars! Save plants!" he explained.

"Yeah, you did..." Simon trailed off, a sad smile on his face as he fought back tears.

He stood abruptly, startling Rocky as he stretched and groaned loudly. "Now if you don't mind, I think I'm gonna go look at those stars," he said, walking off towards one of the large windows.

"Okay. Rocky go share new words with Grace!"

"Go easy on him, tiger," Simon teased from over his shoulder, unsure if Rocky even knew what a tiger was.

Rocky gave a small nod and went in the opposite direction, shouting down the hall as he went, "What the fuck Grace doing, question?"

From further down the hall, another, more confused voice, "What?"

~~~

It hadn't even been an hour before Rocky came back, barreling towards Simon with Grace not far behind.

"Bad, bad bad. Rocky piss off Grace," he said, rolling around Simon to hide behind him.

"Well that was fast," Simon mused, almost impressed. He quickly schooled his features when he noticed Grace standing before him, hands on his hips. His jaw was clenched, foot tapping in annoyance as he awaited an explanation.

"Oh, hey Grace. Sooo... to what do I owe the pleas-"

"You taught him how to swear?" It sounded less like a question, and more of an accusation. Simon didn't see any reason in denying it.

"He asked," he said with a shrug, turning to look out the window to hide his growing smirk.

"Of course he did! But that doesn't mean you give him a whole arsenal!"

"He asked nicely?" Simon tried again, turning back around only to be met with an icy glare. Simon stared down at their companion, brows furrowed, "Jesus, what all did you say?"

Grace didn't give Rocky a chance to answer, "Oh he said plenty."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" he asked, biting back a chuckle.

"Like, "what the fuck are you doing Grace!" "No dumbass!" "Stop being such a whiny little bitch!" "Why Grace so fucking stupid!"" he listed them off one by one, growing more exasperated as both of their amusement became apparent. Simon's shoulders shook with suppressed laughter, having to lean against the wall for support as Rocky let out a few giggly trills.

"Oh, I suppose you two think this is funny," he said, cocking his hip as he shifted his weight.

"Yes!" Rocky cheared before Simon shushed him, reigning in his own reactions. He cleared his throat, donning a serious expression.

"No, you're right. It's not funny," he admitted, waiting until Grace's tense posture slackened from the apology. "It's fuckin' hilarious."

He didn't bother holding back anymore, bursting into loud hysterics.

It was the first time he'd heard Simon really laugh, and it was an infectious, carefree sound. He just didn't like the fact that he was the butt of the joke.

Having no other options to turn to in order to make them shut up, Grace resorted to what he knew best.

"Okay, I'm gonna need you to catch a bubble," he said in his stern "teacher voice."

"What?" Simon wheezed, looking between Grace and Rocky, doubling over. "What does that even mean?"

Grace could feel the heat rising to his cheeks as they continued to mock him, but despite his growing embarrassment, he found it increasingly difficult not to smile.

"Means Simon shut the fuck up, statement," Rocky explained.

"Well that's not very nice," Simon mused, a smug grin tugging at his lips.

"That's why I said catch a freaking bubble!" He had to take a deep breath to calm himself back down. He loved Rocky, and Simon was really growing on him, but gosh darn it did they get on his nerves sometimes.

"Careful there, you almost said a bad word," Simon snickered, fist bumping Rocky through the mesh material of his ball.

"Alright, that's it!" Grace clapped loudly to grab their attention. "Apologize. Both of you," he demanded, pointing sternly at the perpetrators.

"Wha- me?" Simon sputtered, caught off guard by the unexpected request.

"Yes you!" Grace insisted, not backing down from his stance. Simon looked him up and down, relaxing with a smirk.

"Why? What're you gonna do about it?" he taunted, relishing in the way his mouth hung open in shock. "Probably nothing."

"Oh I'm gonna do... something," he threatened weakly.

"Yeah, I'm really shaking in my boots," he drawled, sitting back down on the windowsill.

Grace huffed indignantly. "You're a piece of work, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

Grace rubbed his face from under his glasses, knocking them askew. He hated that Simon was right; he probably would do nothing. It's not like there was much he could do in way of punishment- wait.

A sly smile graced his features, standing up straighter with newfound confidence.

Rocky noticed the shift in demeanor, knowing it could only spell trouble.

"Y'know what? Fine, whatever. Water under the bridge," Grace said, slowly walking closer to his target. Simon only gave a noncommittal hum in response. "Mind if I sit here?" he asked, not waiting for an answer before sitting a bit too close to Simon.

"Simon should run now, statement," Rocky tried to warn, only to be brushed off.

"Nah, don't listen to him. We're good!" As if to prove his point, Grace slung an arm around his shoulders, pulling him even closer.

Simon arched a brow quizzically, leaning back to study the other man's face. Grace caught his eye, flashing an innocent smile.

"Run! Simon! Simon, run!" Rocky tapped against his ball, and maybe he should actually listen to him.

"Uh, yeah, I'm just gonna-" Simon made to stand, only for Grace to pull him back down.

"Hey, where're you goin'? Just relaaaax," he reassured, giving his shoulders a friendly shake.

"Um, okay..." Simon trailed off, trying to scoot away to put some distance between them, but Grace's grip was surprisingly strong. "Are you sure you're not still mad? 'Cause-"

"What? Nooo, no no. If I was mad, would I do this?" he asked, squeezing up and down his side.

Simon flinched beneath the touch, barking out a surprised laugh before slapping his hand over his mouth.

"Why so shy all of a sudden? I thought you wanted to laugh! Or did you only want to do it at my expense?" he teased.

"Noho, that's not- shihihit don't do thahahat!" Simon snorted as he pinched down his side, squeezing his hip.

"Do what?" Grace asked innocently, continuing to knead around his hip. "Oh, this? Or do you mean this?" As he spoke, his hand jumped up to scratch in his armpit, careful not to get too close to the remaining stump. It had fully healed over months ago, but Grace still wanted to be careful.

"GAHAHAH!" Simon let out a giggly scream, jerking away from the touch and further into Grace's embrace. "You bahahastard!"

"Well now, that's uncalled for," Grace said, tweaking his ribs in retaliation. Simon sputtered through his laughter, trying to twist and reach with his right hand to fight him off.

"Ihihit's justified!" he argued, legs kicking and scrambling against the floor for leverage. Grace adjusted his grip, trapping him in a hug from behind and pulling him into his lap.

"Agree to disagree," he said, raking over his ribs with clawed hands. Simon snorted again, louder this time, and immediately tugged his shirt up to hide his growing blush.

Unfortunately, this made his shirt hike up to expose his lower stomach. Well, unfortunate for Simon. For Grace, it was just the opportunity he was looking for.

"AUGH! MOHOHOTHERFUHUHUCKER!" he cackled as a hand slipped beneath his shirt, kneading and scratching at bare skin.

"I wouldn't dream of touching your mother like that!" Grace gasped, giggling at his own joke as Simon growled through his laughter. His face turned a shade darker, but Grace couldn't tell if it was out of embarrassment, or frustration.

"Wihihill you just shut uhuhup?"

Or both.

"No, I don't think I will," he taunted, a smile evident in his tone.

"Nohohow I know why you're a teacher," he began, and Grace paused his movements to let him catch his breath and speak, curious where he was going.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, because you're a smart AHAHAHASS!" His words were cut off by deep, frantic laughter as Grace dug into both pits.

Simon leaned on him for support, conflicted between pressing his arm down, and reaching around to protect his left side. Grace smirked, vibrating a clawed hand into his stomach while the other played his ribs like a piano. Specifically, the left side of his ribs.

Simon threw his head back, mouth open wide as the sound of his mirth echoed throughout the small ship. He twisted back and forth in Grace's arms, unable to dislodge the probing hands as they wandered his torso.

"Grace only tickling Simon's left side," Rocky noted, startling them both at the reminder of his presence.

"Yeah, and?" Grace prompted, continuing to knead and pinch around his ribs.

"Simon only have one arm! Cannot properly defend himself, statement."

How was it that the living rock was the only one looking out for him?

"Yeah, and?" Grace repeated, smug sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Is mean!" Rocky exclaimed, stomping his foot for emphasis.

Grace barked out a laugh of his own, glasses falling askew as he cocked his head towards him.

"Nah, I'm being super nice, right Si?" he asked, rubbing his knuckles up and down his ribcage to prompt an answer. His fingers brushed against the edge of his gills, and Simon snorted loudly, desperately trying to shove him away.

"NOHOHO! Thihis ihihis cruel ahand unusual punishmehehent!" he cried out defiantly.

"I think I prefer the term funishment!" Grace quipped, tracing along the gill slits ever so gently.

"Ohoho brohohother," he groaned, trying his best to sound annoyed, despite the fact that this was the most he's laughed in years, maybe ever. Deep chuckles gave way to pitchy giggles and breathless snorts as Grace continued tracing his gills. Simon abandoned the idea of fighting him off and chose instead to bury his face in his hand, too embarrassed for Grace or Rocky to look at him directly.

C'mohohon, nohohot there!" he all but begged.

"Okay, then where?" Grace asked smugly, catching a glimpse of the blush rapidly spreading across Simon's face from behind his hand.

"Nohohowhere!"

"Sorry, but that answer's invalid."

"YOU'RE invahahalid!" he argued.

Grace can't help but chuckle, rolling his eyes as Rocky chirped in amusement. "Real mature, guys." Still, he supposed that justice had been served by now, finally deciding to grant him mercy...

Right after this.

"So, how do you feel about raspberries?" he asked casually, slowing his hands to a stop, but still trapping him in a hug.

"What, like the fruit?" Simon asked, confused and panting for breath. "Dunno, never had them. Why?"

"Then I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you've never had this kind either." He didn't give him a chance to ask any follow up questions, burying his face in the crook of Simon's neck, blowing a raspberry over the set of gills there.

The scream Simon let out was loud enough it made Rocky jump, backing away a few steps.

"Simon very loud, statement."

Maybe he was delusional from all the tickling, but Simon swore the bastard was teasing him. 

"GRACE, WHAHAT THEHEHE FUCK?"

"Language!" Grace gasped, feigning shock. He pulled Simon's hair off to the side, allowing easy access to the other side of his neck. "Just for that..." he trailed off, letting the audibly large breath he took speak for itself.

"No wait- dohohon't!" anticapatory giggles fall past his lips as he tries one last time to make a break for it.

If Grace didn't know any better, he'd say he wasn't trying very hard to escape. Interesting.

His lips connected with the other side of his neck, blowing against his gills. Another shrill screech fills the air, dissolving into frantic, bubbly giggles as he tries to scrunch his neck.

"Thihihis ihihisn't FAHAHAIR!" Simon whines, finally managing to shove his face away and knocking his glasses off in the process.

Rocky scrambles to catch them, holding them out for Grace to take as his own amused chuckles die off.

"Thanks bud," he reaches for them, only for Rocky to yank them back at the last second. Grace rolls his eyes and tries again, only to fall for the same trick.

"Serves you right," Simon mutters as he catches his breath, a bright smile still lingering.

Grace still had a proud smirk plastered across his face, shrugging sheepishly. "You okay? I didn't go overboard, did I?" he asked, wanting to make sure he didn't push him too far. Simon huffed out a laugh, waving him off.

"Nah, I've dealt with worse. But you are horrible."

Grace snorted out a laugh, "Oh yeah?"

"Yes! I mean, you attacked a poor, defenseless amputee for no reason!" he said, sarcastic amusement evident in his voice. 

"Well if you ask me, the amputee had it coming," he taunted. "Besides, you're hardly what I'd call defenseless." 

"Whatever. That shit was excessive and you know it."

"You could've asked me to stop at any time," he noted smugly.

"I did!" Simon argued. Didn't he? Surely.

"Mmm, Simon say many things. Did not say stop," Rocky spoke up, earning a playful glare.

"Oh yeah? What do you know."

"Rocky know Simon very ticklish!" He was definitely teasing him now.

Simon let out an embarrassed groan, hiding behind his hand. "I'm never gonna live this down."

Rocky reached through the mesh on his ball to pat his leg comfortingly. "Is okay. Grace still most ticklish human."

"Okay, that's it!" Grace growled playfully. Rocky let out a string of giddy, nervous chirps before rolling down the hall.

Grace jumped up to give chase, but paused in the doorway, looking back at Simon. "So uh, we cool?"

He shook his head fondly, a soft smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Yeah, we're cool."

Grace smiled in relief, turning to chase after Rocky, but Simon's voice calling out stopped him in his tracks. "But that doesn't mean you're off the hook."

I'm really confused.

The Hail Mary is not a big ship. It took me less than 20 minutes to explore every room after I first woke up - and that's with having forgotten to walk after not moving a muscle in over four years. Just 20 minutes.

I've been looking for Rocky for over two hours now.

"Rocky?" I call out into the dormitory that I've already checked three times.

I frown with my hands on my hips.

We both have our days when we really need our own space. For the most part, we'll usually respect it and leave the other be as well as we can, but in living quarters this small and with a roommate who can hear through walls, me-time is always more of a we-time. Surprisingly, it hasn't been too bad. We both know what the alternative is like, and I think that's given us enough perspective to not just be tolerant of each other's constant presence, but straight up clingy for it. Even this late in the game. So I'm beginning to feel small-to-medium amounts of disturbed. I might not be able to see through walls, but I've never had trouble finding him before-

"What the-!"

I snap my head around, eyes bouncing from spot to spot. I feel the hairs of my neck stand and the flesh of my arm pimple with goosebumps.

There's nothing there. Nobody there. No Rocky there. Rocky is the only person who could be on the ship. Heh.

"Okay, buddy. If you're trying to mess with me because of what I said, I'm sorry! It's not gonna work!" I call out, trying my best to keep my voice from betraying the unease I feel in my gut. I feel like I'm being watched.

Before his sudden disappearance, Rocky and I had a bit of a discussion over who, in our scenario, would be the horrific monster alien that poses an extinction threat to the other's species, and who would be the chum. We've tallied up the points so far and learned the terrifying histories of each other's evolution and special adaptations. It got more and more heated as we tied in counter with each other over and over. I'd win the balancing on one foot contest, he'd win the 'has five legs and has no need for stupid balance' contest. So on and so forth.

After a few hours of this, my blood was up. I (cockily) suggested performing a live demonstration of a perfect monster for him when we touch down on Erid. I may have said something about getting the entire Eridian race under my squishy and opposable thumb. Starting with Rocky's mother.

So now Rocky's missing. For the first hour, I worried I took it a step too far. Maybe your mom jokes are a line you just don't cross in Eridian culture, and I offended him so badly he took his new EVA suit out through the airlock because of how much space he needed from me. But now, I'm pretty sure he's messing with me. Because I've felt him watching me for a while. I just don't know where from.

It's really quiet on the ship. I've never known Rocky to be light-footed, and it's starting to get unbearable not being able to hear him. I'm about to ask Mary to start singing for me when-

All of the lights suddenly turn off, with Mary's voice piercing through the silent darkness. "Automatic lighting disabled."

Mm no. I hate this. "Uh, no no no. Lights back on, please?"

"Automatic lighting disabled. Manual override required." Her voice is so much louder in the dark.

"Manual-" I huff. "How am I supposed to manually override if I can't see anything?"

"The manual override is located in control-"

"Yes, Mary, I know." My voice wobbles in steadily growing terror. I slowly feel my way across the dormitory before I stop suddenly in the doorway - the long, black corridor in front of me.

Rocky is in the control room. That's how he did all this fudgery with the lights. My heart picks up speed, and my nerves assure me that something (Rocky! Rocky is the only other person on this ship!) will attack if I go up there. Gulp.

I back up a bit from the doorway, turning over my options in my head - which is working in significant overtime. I feel sweaty looking down the corridor, but I refuse to take my eyes off it.

Rocky is currently in the control room, but he switched the lights off like this on purpose. He knows how useless I am in the dark. And he can see through walls, so he knows exactly where I am right now and there would be no purpose in hiding. He's probably on his way to me right now, and I'm defenseless. Unless he's already at the end of the corridor just staring at me.

I squint down the corridor. Do I see his figure at the end of it? Well, whatever I'm seeing, it looks nothing like him. Too big, too wrong.

My thoughts are starting to drift into stupid territory and my mind is playing tricks on me. I try to shake it off, wiping my sweaty palms on my pants and taking deep breaths. I know he's trying to scare me, so it's stupid that it's actually working. Rocky is my best friend. He's not a monster. He'd never really hurt me-

I hear the rapid sound of footsteps charging towards me from the end of the corridor. I scream, scrambling backwards as fast as I can. It's not fast enough. A shrieking invisible thing tackles me and I brace for-

A pillow softens the blow to my head from the ground. Once all my scream putters out, I wheeze from where Rocky is squeezing me tightly.

"Wh-whhhyy.." I gasp pathetically.

"Grace get too cocky. Needed to teach a lesson," Rocky's cheery, friendly voice chirps. It does good for soothing the terror bells still ringing through my head and body. So does the squeezing. "You were sooo scared. Did not know heart can get that fast!" he sings in joy.

"Ugh, whatever! I wasn't that scared," I grunt, trying to wriggle my arms free from the death hug. I can't help the small smile that forms in my relief. "I was more afraid that you were actually mad at me."

He titters at me. "You're lying. You're scared even now. Your body-nerve-system still think I will eat you," he shimmies his carapace onto my stomach, and I grunt and tense at the nuzzling. "Maybe will. Show who is the better monster."

"Ew!" I start to laugh stupidly - the energy built up from all the terror needing to be released somehow. "No, please! At least kill me first. Or start your process over there. Away from me."

My body-nerve-system has taken over and is wiggling uncontrollably, trying to avoid his consistent nuzzling. "Pf- stop it!" I snort.

"Why, question? Thought Grace not scared." He wiggles more emphatically.

"Ah- I'm not!" My knees knock against Rocky's back as my body tries and fails to curl in, my stomach feeling more sensitive the more he moves. "I'm worried your biology is going to take over and unload on accident, thinking it's dinner time. Okay- Rhhoc- hehehe- quuuit it!" I whine, embarrassed about not being able to hold back my giggling. He's doing this on purpose.

He trills a noise of offense. "You are disgusting. That could never happen. Eridians too dignified. Ripping apart prey must always come first." He moves my arms away from my body just enough to tickle my sides and, despite expecting it, I explode.

"AGH- No! hAhahaha!!" I can never really talk when he does this. What I'm trying to say is, no! hey! get off! but unfortunately all I can manage to get out is convulsive giggling. My arms snap in over and over to protect my sides, but they're blocked by his rock hands. I only succeed in bruising myself a little.

"Don't laugh," he says while laughing himself. "encourages hungry-feeling!"

Ugh. I never win this challenge. I hold my breath, clench everything, and put every ounce of willpower I have to try and contain my giggles. Surprisingly - still squirming and with my eyes squeezed shut - I almost manage it! Until Rocky moves further up into my ribs. I whimper and fall back into hysterics.

I try to flop around to deter his hands (too many hands!!! too many hands!!) but my torso can't move at all under his FAT body. My legs are free to kick in and out as much as they want at least, but it doesn't do anything to stop him either. I can't stop it.

I continue to strain, but my head falls back in resignation as I laugh. I regret it immediately. The position turns a desperate intake of breath into the loudest snort ever. Rocky stops then, but I hardly feel relief from it - he only stopped because he's laughing at me so hard that now he can barely breathe.

"G-gett offff..." I gasp through giggles. His laughter is making him shake over my stomach again, and I'm so hypersensitive that I can't stand it. I squirm to no avail.

"♫♪what♫noise♪♫♪~~!!" He dissolves back into his amusement without finishing his sentence. I burst out into full belly laughter again despite the heat in my cheeks. His giggles are so contagious. And his vibrations are still tickling me down to the bones. I think I might die. Atleast I'm taking Rocky down with me.

Mercifully, Rocky climbs off me after a minute. His legs are weakening from laughter and he doesn't want to crush me for real. I curl up the second I'm able to in a way-too-late reaction to preserve my vital organs from tickle torture.

"I see now," he giggles. "Sensitivity is good defense. You become so funny, nothing can eat you. Predators too busy laughing."

"Please be quiet," I groan. I take a steadying breath. "Alright, I admit it. You're scarier out of the two of us. You ticked all the boxes that scare humans the most. Silence, darkness, surprise attacks. You'd definitely be able to take over humanity before I can take over Erid. Your mom would destroy me."

"No," he sighs through his vents, and I frown in confusion. Rocky's not one to reject a win. "Grace scary too. Stealth is part of Eridian nature. Know how to stay silent. Not detectable," he shudders. "You detect anyway. Almost catch me many times with crazy light detectors. Scary."

I smile incredulously. Fascinating! "So, all that just for us to tie again?"

"Grace winning for now, actually. We move ticklish from weakness to strength," I gape at him, but he cuts me off. "Serious about good defense. Funny, funny, funny."

"What- that's not- it's.." I stutter helplessly. "You're ticklish too! You know what, I'm hunting you next time."

"Grace not stealthy. Cannot ever surprise Rocky."

"Humans don't hunt our prey like that anyway. We just keep following them until they get too tired to keep running," I lean in as Rocky shies away. "We get them in their sleep, you know. When they're the most vulnerable. You might hear me coming, but you won't be able to stop me."

"♫♪!" he shakes his carapace like he's snapping himself out of it, then rushes me to start poking my sides and stomach.

"He-hey!!!" I giggle and push at him.