J'men câlisse

she's platonic about it but in my opinion, stratt 100% treats grace as her dead wife. she keeps a tacky fox trinket in her coat pocket. there's a framed photo of him in her study . he's grinning goofily in it (bc he's a dork). new guy like: is that her husband? / no, dumbass, it's dr. ryland grace, 1/3 of the hail mary mission. / oh, fuck. were they... ? / yeah, it's unclear. black-and-white montages of grace messing around in high-level meetings play every time stratt contemplates committing more environmental crimes. she looks up at the night sky and vaguely wonders if he's enjoying his space ramen. that's her dead wife. she killed him.

thinking about how the Book!Hail Mary has about 15 meter+ sized holes cut in the hull. Grace plasmacut a man-sized hole in literally every single fuel tank. Rocky bust a hole in the side to connect his own tunnel to the Blip-A. Grace cut a chunk out so Rocky knew what his ship was made out of. If the Hail Mary ever made it home I genuinely think anyone left alive who was part of the construction would have an anyeurism.

#convinced the hail mary is held together with the equivalent of eridian flex seal#its literally two liquids in the book#to showcase the power of xenonite#i sawed this spaceship in half!

Ryland thinking Rocky is happy with being back on Erid vs Rocky putting on a brave face because he has to give 20+ eulogies and he's desperately trying to prevent one more by keeping Grace alive.

ky should be thrilled to be back home#but the horror of it all can finally hit him in the safety of his home#20+ eridian families waiting for them to return and all that's left is rocky#i think ryland and adrian both can tell that something deeply shifts in rocky after returning home#he's no longer running on fumes just trying to stay alive in space#people praise rocky as a hero. and he knows he's brave for going and doing it. doesnt change the fact he feels horrible.#rocky coming back from his fifteenth eulogy and seeing grace has barely moved cause he doesnt have the energy#and so hes trying not get anticipatory grief but its hard. thats why he works madly at finding a solution.#i love you rocky sorry buddy