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Simon burrowed deeper into the blankets, staring at Grace's sleeping form, taking in every detail from the slight stubble that had grown on his chin to the way his bare chest rose and fell. Heh. Grace drooled when he slept. Simon slowly reached out to wipe away it away, fingers lingering as he felt Grace's breath on his skin. He'd heard stories of this man growing up. The Failure. Humanity's last hope who had vanished without a trace, along with all the stars.

A microbe... how absurd... Over the years, the reason for the quiet rapture had gotten muddled into outlandish theories and religious scriptures, folding into the greater population's mind into some twisted cosmic event, as what was left of humanity scrambled for any sort of meaning in the chaos and death. Simon had heard it all. Stories of gods deciding to kill the universe, monsters swallowing the stars. Even Ryland Grace, The Failure, had so many different versions of his story that he was basically a myth. But a fucking microbe. It was almost laughable. Simon rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling. His vision was... different... since the blood ocean. It was sharper. Probably because one of his eyes had changed so much. A slitted orange-red snake-like eye that complimented his half-grotesque, sharp-toothed mouth. A monster. I'm not human anymore.

His throat bobbed as he got out of bed and slid on some clothes before making his way outside. Simon squished his feet into the beach, enjoying the feel of sand between his toes. It was peaceful here, more peaceful than he'd ever felt in his life. Above him, the terrarium provided a view of the stars dotting the sky above Erid in thousands. No... probably millions. They illuminated the beach in a gentle glow. Rocky had given them a map of constellations and showed where Earth was among the sea of inky black. If Simon squinted, he could see Earth's star in the distance. Safe. Normal. Humans living on a world that they could call home. Where kids could see trees just by looking out their windows and breathe in fresh air that the planet gave them. Simon bit the inside of his cheek, tasting something that wasn't quite human blood. He crouched down to pick up a small light pink rock, turning it over in his human hand. His other one was misshapen and hard to use, the claws too long and sharp to properly maneuver objects.

He sensed Grace before he heard him, but then again, Grace wasn't exactly subtle. Simon was the one who always moved silently, always accidentally startling Grace. And then Rocky would laugh at Grace for not realizing that Simon had been right there.

"Hey, that's rose quartz."

Simon tilted his head curiously.

"Pretty," he murmured and inwardly cringed. God, his voice sounded so garbled. He hated it.

Grace grinned as he knelt next to the man. He adjusted his glasses, making Simon smirk. Ah... the glasses-adjust. He knew that meant Grace was going into 'science mode'.

"It is, isn't it? It's colored pink by trace amounts of impurities in the quartz crystal like manganese and titanium. The impurities replace some of the silicon atoms in the quartz crystal lattice, and so they absorb certain wavelengths of light while reflecting others."

Simon's lips twitched, flashing a fang that was as long as Grace's thumb.

"That book you gave me had a word to describe someone like you... A nerd," Simon garbled.

Grace stared at him for a moment and let out a laugh, eyes shining. Gorgeous eyes. Too beautiful to look at Simon with so much tenderness. After a moment, the smile turned into something more worried.

"Are you okay? I, um, I woke up and you weren't there."

Simon winced and averted his gaze. He touched his clawed hand to his chest, not caring when the action drew a few droplets of blood. His heart pounded uncomfortably loudly, brain debating. He'd held on to this ever since he found himself slipping into this universe two years ago. Simon knew this Grace was different. Was his own person. Hell, it probably wasn't fair to blame the Grace of his own universe for its downfall, but... His throat bobbed, mouth seeming to move without his mind.

"... You know, when I first met you, a part of me... hated you." Simon grit his teeth as his eyes misted, words coming out in a jumbled ramble. "A part of me blamed you for my universe's suffering. For the quiet rapture. For me becoming... this... Growing up, you were... The Failure. No one knew how you were trying to save the stars or what killed them, just that you and a small crew had left the Earth to do it... but all the stars still went out anyway. When I first met you, I thought I'd hate you, but now... Now I love you. I love this version of you but I hate the other and I know that's not fair to you or him, b-but I don't know what to do."

A harsh sob forced its way out of his throat. Simon's bottom lip quivered as he scratched his claws down his chest, relishing the sharp pain. This is what he deserved... to be carved up and bled. To be butchered. Grace listened intently, eyes wide. The man gasped softly at the seeing the oozing scratches and reached out, gently holding Simon's wrist.

"Hey. S-stop, please. Please, just... don't hurt yourself." Grace's own eyes misted as he searched Simon's face. "Simon, why didn't you tell me any of this?"

Simon gave a broken chuckle.

"A monster saying he hates someone is pretty ironic, isn't it?"

Grace's brow furrowed.

"Whoa, you're not a monster... You've never been one." 

"Heh... matter of opinion."

He didn't even realize he was trembling. Simon fell into a silence, eyes distant as his body kept rattling. 

Grace swallows thickly and reached forward, gently hugging him. Simon gasped softly before melting into the hug and burying his face into Grace's shoulder, inhaling the familiar scent. The trembling died down until Simon was just there, curled up against him, feeling his heartbeat go steady. Grace exhaled shakily, slowly pulling back to take the rose quartz. He hummed, holding it up to the starlight.

"It's not very scientific, but rose quartzes are also supposed to symbolize love and healing."

Grace glanced between the rock and Simon's face. He reached out to take Simon's mutated hand. Simon held his breath, being ever-so-careful not to accidentally hurt the other man. Grace lovingly pressed the rose quartz into Simon's palm.

"I love you too," Grace whispered. "I wish that other version of me had succeeded... That your universe was okay and safe... But you're here now and I promise I'll always be there for you. Okay?"

Simon stared at him through tears, eyes flickering. He slowly nodded and squeezed the rose quartz.

"Okay."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips against Grace's. Every time they kissed, a part of him expected the man to be disgusted by his half-mutated mouth. It'd make sense. But Grace simply returned the kiss, the man's eyes fluttering. Grace touched his temple against Simon's, their breaths mingling. 

"Come on, let's go back to bed." Grace brushed some hair behind Simon's ear. "We have class in the morning."

Simon huffed a small, teary laugh and nodded, looking around Grace's face.

"You know, being in love with the teacher should come with extra perks like not having to study."

Grace grinned.

"Oh, please. I can tell you love learning."

Well, he had him there. Simon had never had a real education. Nothing that didn't benefit Eden, at least. For the majority of his life, Simon had been okay with that. He was taught what he had to in order to benefit his people and curiosity beyond that was useless. Grace shook up that part of himself just as he'd shaken up everything else about Simon. It was hard not to become curious about the universe when the love of his life was so enthusiastic and passionate about it.

"Yeah. I do," Simon rumbled with a small smile. "But... let's stay out here for a bit longer. The stars are beautiful."

They intertwined their hands. Grace's gaze warmed as the two of them settled down, sitting in the sand and looking up at the universe.