Grace has an extreme case of separation anxiety because he had no human contact for so long that the idea of being temporarily separated from Simon and left alone again scares him to death. He was so touch-starved that it was painful when they found Simon and he still remembers losing Yao and Ilyukhina, so he can’t stand being separated from him. The first time he's told that Simon has to be quarantined for a week due to being sick, just to be careful, Grace goes through all the stages of grief. It’s not that bad; it's probably nothing serious. He can stay here. Can't you just take care of him here? We are both humans and I've been sick before; quarantine is not necessary. Please, Rocky, I can't. I need him here.
Long story short, he loses it. He only hits the acceptance stage once Simon is already gone and there's nothing he can do. He, however, is really mad even tho he knows he's being unreasonable. He's so anxious that he can't sleep. Out of desperation, he ends up sleeping with Simon's unwashed shirts because they smell like him and it calms him down. He's so wired he can barely concentrate on work and keeps pacing the whole time. He's insanely worried even tho he gets updates about Simon's condition all the time but he can't stop thinking about everything that could go wrong. He can barely eat because the stress is making him nauseous.
When Simon is finally back after a week, Grace tries to crawl inside his skin. He presses himself flat against him and touches every patch of naked skin he can. He runs his hands through his hair and buries his face in his neck to smell his skin. Simon crushes him in a hug and tries to soothe him. It's okay, Ryland, I'm here. I'm okay, you're okay, everything is fine. I'm sorry for leaving you. It won't happen again. I've missed you so much. It's not enough skin. The fabric of Simon's shirt feels upsetting under his hands. He doesn't want fabric; he wants to touch Simon's skin. He drags him to the bedroom, takes off both their shirts and lies down on top of him for maximum skin contact. It's still not enough. He takes off the rest of their clothes and Simon lets him do whatever he needs. He lies back down on him and Simon rolls them over so that he's trapped under him, hoping his weight will ground him. Grace wraps both his arms and legs around him to make sure he won't go anywhere. And finally, it's enough. He can finally relax and he goes boneless. You're here. You're here. You came back. Finally. I love you, please never leave again. They kiss him for hours, only taking breaks when they are breathless. Now he can finally sleep and properly rest.
