grace and rocky would make constant love confessions hidden underneath their language barrier.
grace has the usefulness of english's ambiguity with regards to the meaning of 'love.' he can just say 'i love you' and tack a buddy or bro on the end and that makes it platonic. but he also has many, many pop culture references that rocky doesn't know about which he can use too. things like 'as you wish,' 'i'd be happy just doing laundry and taxes with you,' 'you had me at the tiny hail mary model.'
rocky obviously has the fact that he can fully speak in tones grace can't hear at all. and the fact that eridians can have multiple conversations simultaneously. so what he's saying About grace is essentially 'you are the miracle i longed for while all alone in the void. you have saved me and my people. whenever i think about how short your life will be my whole body aches' but what he's saying To grace is 'can you pass the wrench through the airlock thank.' plus eridian cultural norms like giving grace a tiny piece of his carapace that grace wears as a necklace. in front of other eridians, eventually. who are politely not mentioning it while simultaneously gossipping with EVERYONE at a frequency grace can't hear, while he's in the same room.
this status quo lasts for like ten human years.
