actually, you know what would be fucked up? bloodymary who meets before Simon goes in the sub. one of those scenarios where a character keeps on getting dragged back and forth between universes
Simon who shows up in the Hail Mary after Filament Station, who is still fresh from being abandoned by his brother, who is still bleeding guilt and regret and confusion. and then he keeps on being pulled back to the COI
Grace who doesn't understand what is going on, how it's possible, what to even do about it. but Simon keeps on showing up, and he's not a hallucination, he's there, and Grace has no idea what to do about him except try and make friends
and it just gets more and more miserable, with both of them getting worse (Simon from being imprisoned, Grace from slowly starving to death) and then one day, Simon just. doesn't show up
and Grace is heartbroken and even more miserable and he'd never take Rocky for granted, not ever, but Simon was- is- human, and that's different, it was, Grace wasn't alone
and it makes settling on Erid even harder, makes the recovery process longer, makes him sadder and more melancholic, and on his worst days, he wonders if it was even worth it, going back for Rocky
(it was. the answer is always it was)
Rocky does the best he can, but the fact that he can't do what Simon could- that he can't touch Grace, that he can't hug him, that he can't ever understand all the little details of being human- it makes it worse
it feels like Grace is never going to get over this. that instead of dying of starvation, he'll die of grief, of loss, of having something be had already given up, and then having it taken away once more
and then, one day, like nothing's changed at all- Simon washes up on the beach
