Red's Chill Zone

General Rules

IF YOU ARE A MINOR OR UNDER THE AGE OF 18, PLEASE REMOVE YOURSELF FROM MY BLOG. I am looking out for the both of us when I say this; There’s no hard feelings here. I will do my best to tag my work appropriately so please keep up your end of the bargain. Every so often I will check my followers to look for any kind of age within their bio and if I do not see one or you are under 18, I will block you to protect not only myself but you as well.

If you are sending in any form of a request, please ensure you are specifying what character/fandom you would like and what you would like to be written. I write anything from fluff to angst and even smut on the occasion. If it happens to be something off a prompt list I shared, please send me the title of the list along with the prompt number so I’m aware of which you are requesting.

You may request something anonymously, I have no problem with that! I will reply to your request when the writing is ready and even leave a link to the request when it’s posted.

As stated above, I write just about everything but know I do have my limits for certain things. I will not go about listing everything here that I do and do not write, but I will give a short list of what I will certainly not write for: Anything vore related, any form of sexual assault/rape/incest, any kind of drug use, even if it’s recreational (Sorry, I just cant do it), and so on and so forth, you get the general idea.

Please be patient with me. It’s been quite some time since I’ve gotten back into writing. Currently it’s a hobby and not my life style, so as I balance work and personal life, be rest assured I will get everything out at some point one way or another.

If sending in just an ask to talk, please be mindful of what you say. Just a simple rule, nothing too crazy.

Fandom List

Listed below are a couple of the current fandoms I’m apart of and some of my favorite characters from said fandoms. Please note that if you see a character not listed, it doesn’t mean I won’t write for them! 

Witch Hat Atelier

Qifrey, Olruggio, Alaira, Easthies, Utowin, Lucluci

Iron Lung/In Space with Markiplier/Markiplier Egos

The Convict (Simon), Head Engineer!Mark, Actor!Mark, Darkiplier, Annus 

Honkai: Star Rail

Dan Heng/Imbibitor Lunae/Permansor Terrae, Trailblazer (Caelus/Stelle), Aventurine, Boothill, Sunday, Blade, Jing Yuan, Feixiao, Castorice, Phainon

Solo Leveling/Solo Leveling: Arise

Sung Jinwoo, Cha Hae-In, Woo Jinchul, Goto Ryuji, Choi Jong-In, Baek Yoonho, Min Byung-Gyo, Gina 

There’s more fandoms but that’s just a couple to list. Here is the link to my old masterlist which will contain all of my blogs older writings. When I get more pieces published I will go ahead and form a new masterlist to keep track of my current writings. 

You couldn't help the sigh that escaped you as you laid sprawled out on the bed within the bedroom you shared with both Simon and Grace, staring up at the ceiling with a bored look on your face. Today was one of those slow days, the kind of days where you have little to no energy to do anything productive yet when you began to rot away in bed, the time seemed to take forever to pass. With each time you looked towards the clock across the way, your face twisted in annoyance more and more as it only changed a couple minutes at a time.

Simon wasn't home today, having gone to the greenhouse to work with Adrian. Per his words, they were on the verge of a breakthrough for a new species of plant and while you considered going with him to see what happened, you decided it best to stay home and let him and Adrian enjoy their breakthrough together before coming home and telling you all about the breakthrough instead; It was cute that Simon began to go on little ramblings like Grace did, it was nice to see him coming out of his shell the longer you all lived on Erid. Grace wasn't home either as he was having class with the pebbles today and while you had considered popping in for the lesson, you just didn't think you could handle just how long the lesson would go on today; You already knew just how much those little Eridians loved him and his teachings so they would do everything in their power to keep him there for a few more extra minutes.

You let out another dramatic sigh as you rolled onto your side, now staring out the window that looked out into the biodome with a small frown on your face. As beautiful as the view was with the fog rolling off the water, your mind didn't let you linger on its beauty for long. Instead, it began to fill your mind with other concerns, like the fact that this was going to be your life from here on out.

Don't get it wrong, you enjoy your life with Simon, Grace, and the Eridians you practically called family now, but some days you just couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if you stayed on the Skeld, or if you had turned down the offer to stay with them and decided to return to Ziemia. Would your original thoughts happen upon your return to MIRA HQ? Would scientists, agents, and everyone in between question you, test you, evaluate your mental and physical state before deeming you fit enough to be shipped off on another mission to investigate the new-found alien parasite that killed your crew? Or would you have died in space because of some other unforeseen variable? Were you actually okay with staying on Erid for the remainder of your life? Would you stay after Grace and Simon had long since passed and left you on your lonesome?

The more and more you thought, the more and more your stomach began to twist in anxieties for things that had yet to come. You would begin to curl in on yourself, trying to get your mind out of such dark thoughts but thankfully before you could dive any deeper into them, you heard the front door open and the faint sounds of footsteps enter.

"Sunshine? You home?" Grace had called out upon entering the house, shutting the door behind him as he began to slip his shoes off. You perked up at his voice, listened to him call out for you once more as you uncurled yourself and rolled onto your stomach to look at the entrance to the bedroom.

"In the bedroom!" You called out to him, listening in as you heard the faint thudding of his footsteps against the flooring as he made his way into the bedroom, offering you a warm smile upon entering the room.

"Hey." He simply greeted as he made his way over, leaning over to gently press a kiss to your head. You smiled at his action, any worries from before simply melting away now that he had returned him. "I figured you would've gone with Simon today." He questioned you as you shook your head in response, watching as he carefully sat himself on the bed beside you.

"I thought about it but I figured it'd be a lot better if he were able to tell both of us what happened today so I decided to stay home and wait." You answered him, watching the way he gave a small nod and an 'ah' left his lips. You lifted your hands up to your face, resting your chin in them as your feet gently kicked behind you.

"How was class?" You asked him in return, head slightly tilted in interest. Grace couldn't help but laugh lightly at the thought of the brightly colored Eridians he now considered his students who, despite their small size, were still very much older then him.

"Ah, as crazy as ever. Berry wouldn't get off the topic of the ocean for several minutes and just when I thought I had successfully gotten them back on track, they would suddenly have another question that looped back to it! I can only explain so many times that we knew more about the moon then we did the ocean!" He explained, running a hand through his hair which caused you to laugh lightly. You had sat in on one of Grace's classes before and very much enjoyed watching him teach the pebbles but you knew just how crazy they could be when it came to topics about Earth and everything within it.

Grace would continue to inform you of his class and while you would chip in every once in awhile, a comfortable silence would eventually fall between you both which resulted in your gaze wandering around the room before it fell on the white bag that laid in the corner of the room. It was one of the many bags you all had taken off the Hail Mary but this specific bag belonged to Grace and while he may have occasionally gone through it to grab a shirt or something else out of it, he had yet to properly empty it out so it sat in the corner of the room, taking up space. With a low hum, you looked towards Grace and it was as if he already knew what you were gonna ask. With a small sigh, Grace shook his head and got to his feet.

"Alright, alright. I'll empty it today." He offered you a smile as he made his way over to it, hooking his fingers into one of the straps and dragged it over towards the bed. You gaze would shift from Grace towards the bag, head tilted curiously yet again as he kneeled down, unzipped the bag, and began to empty its contents out into neat piles around him as he went. Sure, most of it was random clothing he had yet to put away and a few other things from Earth that had been packed into it for him, but what really caught your attention were the photos that resided at the bottom of the bag. You were certain at one point they were neatly put together somewhere inside it but with the various events that happened on the Hail Mary, they were probably shaken around within the bag and eventually found their resting place at the bottom.

Grace would fish them out of the bag and after having looked up at you for a moment, he noticed your interest in the photos and moved himself to sit on the edge of the bed again so you could see them properly. You leaned in closer to him, your shoulder pressing into his side as you looked through them with him with wide, curious eyes; You were seeing a small glimpse into Grace's past, of his life back on Earth, and you were living for it even if there was only about six photos total; The first two were of him back in his classroom on Earth teaching his students, probably ones taken out of a yearbook or something similar while the other three were him working in labs while figuring out the whole astrophage issue with a couple other people within the photos.

Grace's breath hitched as a response to seeing the last photo and you couldn't help but look up at him in slight concern, frowning when you noticed how his once vibrant blue eyes suddenly glazed over with what you knew were tears. You looked back at the photo with confusion coursing through you; Why was he crying? It looked like him in the photo, so was he just upset over missing Earth? You could relate to him on that, sometimes missing your own home planet and those you once knew.

"Is that you?" You decided to question, trying to get a better understand of his current feelings. Grace would clear his throat, gently shaking his head in response.

"No that um… That's actually my twin brother, Colt." He replied though there was some shakiness to his voice and you immediately regretted asking your question, your stomach dropping and your heart aching for him. Twin brother? Why didn't he tell you about him sooner? Then again with the amnesia he suffered he might've only come to the realization recently.

"Colt." You repeated as you looked back at the photo, carefully moving yourself to now sit beside Grace as you gently took the photo from him to look it over; He looked exactly like Grace thus proving the whole twin part, but he seemed to have a very rough stubble going on and his hair was much messier. "He looks like trouble." You commented as you looked at Grace, smiling gently at the way he seemed to laugh at your remark.

"Trouble was his middle name." Grace began to recall, almost as if still piecing together his broken memory. "We were pretty close when we were kids and Colt was almost always getting us into some crazy and wild adventures, one of which resulted in me breaking my arm." He smiled bitter sweetly at the memory, feeling a phantom pain in said arm. "As we got older, he became a movie stuntman while I went down the biologist route and well, after the whole academia thing eventually became a teacher. His job was very dangerous and at one point he… he almost died." The bitter sweet smile began to fade into a saddened one, a pained look crossing his face. "I tried to help him after it happened, tried to be there for him but he uh… He suddenly disappeared with no contact."

Grace would look back at the photo, the tears starting to fall down his face without him realizing it and it began to break your heart all the more. "Before I was forced onto the Hail Mary, I tried to give him a call. Tried to talk to him and have him help me but he… He never answered and well, you know the rest of the story from there…" Grace finished, a small sniffle escaping him. You put the photo aside before pulling Grace into your arms, your hold on him tight as he buried his head into your neck, his arms wrapping just as tightly around you as he began to break down as the blurry memories of his brother began to flood his mind. You didn't rush him, didn't force him to stop his crying and instead just allowed him to live in the moment, allowed him to relish in the one relationship he had now lost and left light years away from him.

"What Red doing, question?" Rocky asked as he leaned over your hunched over form with interest. He could tell you were attempting to fix something but he wasn't quite sure just what it was you were trying to fix. You wouldn't answer Rocky right away, your tongue slightly poking out as you snapped the piece of the camera back into place.

"Finally!" You breathed as you straightened out your posture, taking hold of the camera as you looked to Rocky with a grin. It had been a couple days since Grace told you about Colt and just like that day, him and Simon were both out of the house so that left you alone to do as you pleased, it just so happened that Rocky had decided to stop by for a visit this particular day. "I'm fixing up my camera."

"Camera? What camera, question?" Rocky questioned as he moved in front of you now, looking over the camera in your hand as you held it out for him to look over.

"So, a camera is a device we use that captures light and creates a permanent image afterwards." You informed Rocky, letting him observe it a bit longer before you moved on to explain part of your plan to him. "I wanna do something for Grace." This would immediately catch the Eridians attention as he suddenly stood at attention before you.

"Rocky help! Rocky want to help Red do something for Grace! Statement!" Rocky bounced where he stood and you grinned at the Eridian as you raised the camera, looking it over once more to ensure everything was still in working order. You had originally taken it off the Skeld as it was used to take photos of the station on Polus so you would have physical proof of just what happened there, but why send it back to Mira HQ when you could use it for other things like what you currently had planned? They wouldn't miss it, after all; They probably had a million more to send off on future missions.

"Oh don't worry pal, you're gonna be involved. So is Simon, Adrian, Melon, and Canyon." You confirmed as you got to your feet and, after aiming the camera in a rather cinematic shot of the living room, pressed the button to take the picture. With a faint 'click' noise ringing out, the moment was captured within the camera and a few seconds later, the image was printed out the front of the camera in the form of a photo. You took the photo into your hand, looking it over to see if there was any imperfections and after not seeing any, broke out into a grin as you looked down at Rocky. "We're gonna make a photo album for Grace." You explained to Rocky who tilted his carapace in confusion once more.

"Photo album, question?" He asked, following after you as you began to make your way out of the house, holding the door open so he could go outside first before you shut the door behind you.

"Yeah, a photo album. So on Ziemia, and I'm gonna assume on Earth as well, we take these things called pictures to help us remember memories of happy times or just things we find pretty using a camera. You can print those pictures into a photo and keep them forever. So, we're gonna go around and take a bunch of pictures for Grace." You explained your plan, making your way down the steps as you began to walk towards the direction of the greenhouse. Rocky scurried behind you, occasionally slipping in the sand and letting out a noise that you could only assume was an Eridian curse word before catching up to you some seconds later. It always made you laugh whenever he stumbled in the sand but if he were to catch you laughing, well, you didn't want to relive the moment it first happened where he yelled at you for a solid five minutes and you could only understand every other word.

"Rocky think idea is interesting, statement. Will enjoy taking pictures with Red!" Rocky chirped beside you and it would cause you to smile.

"Trust me bud, we aren't stopping till the whole album is filled."

After you had taken all the pictures you wanted and believed everything would be perfect for the album, you would hide yourself away in your clinic to avoid being seen by Grace and ruining the surprise too early. Honestly, it would take you several days from that point to get everything exactly as you envisioned it and with the extra surprise you threw in at the end of the album, you began to wonder if perhaps you went overboard with it.

Regardless, you were going through with it anyway.

"Starlight, wasn't there something you wanted to do after diner?" Simon spoke as he got up from his seat, beginning to collect the dishes from the table as he looked towards you. Grace raised an eyebrow as he eyed Simon before looking at you with a curious expression; You had been rather quiet during dinner, your stomach twisting with some anxiety as you thought about Grace's reaction and just what would happen afterwards that you really hadn't engaged with either of the two men much during dinner.

"O-Oh, yeah um- Lemme go get it. Grace could you sit on the couch? Preferably in the middle?" You asked as you got to your feet, looking towards Grace as he eyed you suspiciously now but gave a nod anyway.

"Yeah, I can do that." He responded, getting up to help Simon finish clearing the table while you quickly left the main living area to gather whatever it was you needed. Once the table was clean and the dishes cleaned and put away, Simon and Grace made their way into the living room and sat on the couch in their respected areas per your request. Grace turned his gaze towards the hallway you ran down, noting it was taking you awhile to return before looking towards Simon.

"You know anything about this?" He questioned, giving Simon a skeptical look even as the man beside him put his hands up in a defensive manner.

"Hey whoa- Don't go accusing me of anything. I just know Red said they had somethin they wanted to give you. That's all." Simon lied through his teeth but luckily for him, Grace couldn't look too deep into it as you finally returned from wherever you had run off too. Grace would look towards you upon hearing your footsteps return, watching as you collapsed onto the couch beside him with your hands behind your back, very obviously hiding something which peaked his curiosity all over again.

"Okay so- Before I give you this, I just want you to know this took a lot of work and a lot of time, alright?" You stated before you held out what looked to be a simple hardcover book to him. Grace squinted, confusion laced in his eyes as he took the book from you.

"It's… A book?" He began which caused you to roll your eyes at his observation, shifting to get comfortable on the couch as you leaned against him.

"Open it." You urged him, the butterflies returning in your stomach as his hand reached out and opened the cover of the book just as you told him and what he saw made his heart stop; On the first page alone was a photo containing you, Simon, and your new Eridian family with the words 'Ryland Grace's Family Photos' written across the bottom. Grace would look at you with wide eyes as he began to realize just what this was he was holding and as you turned to meet his gaze, you motioned with your hand to the book. "Keep going."

With hesitation, Grace returned his gaze back to the book and began to flip through the pages. Each page contained a different set of pictures that you had taken with help from Simon. The pictures ranged from Rocky and Adrian or Melon and Canyon to you and Simon posed together with small, sappy captions written across the bottom like 'Love you Ry!' or 'Yours for Life <3' to just ones you had managed to snag of Grace doing whatever he was doing that moment in the background with you in the front in a selfie like pose. Grace could feel the tears welling in his eyes as he looked through each photo, stopping on one that you snagged while he was teaching the pebbles one day.

"So that's why they were so rowdy then. They saw you in the background and just went nuts." He laughed, moving a hand up to wipe away the tears from his eyes with the edge of his cardigan sleeve. You shot him a sly grin as you nodded in response.

"Yeah, I had to have Simon help me figure out just when you were teaching again because if I asked Rocky, he might've spoiled it all then and there by telling the pebbles I was stopping by." You informed him, looking towards Simon who was looking through the photos as well. You didn't let him see any of them despite him being in so many of them so this reveal was a first for him just as much as it was for Grace. He honestly seemed to be enjoying it just as much as Grace was in this moment.

The next couple of pages contained photos that just made Grace burst out into laughter, a small giggle of your own escaping you as Simon's deep chuckle rumbled through his chest; They contained rather blurry pictures taken by none other than Rocky and Melon themselves. The pages were titled as followed: 'Pictures by Rocky for Grace!' or 'Pictures by Melon for Savior Grace!'

"Red this is… I don't even know what to say." Grace spoke in awe as he continued to flip through the pages, there was a few blank pages towards the end that he could only assume was intentional; You probably wanted him to include his own photos sometime down the line but as he got to the last page, he stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes grew wide once more. You would nervously bite your lip, your gaze now locked on his face. The last page was what really took you the longest and was what really started it all in the first place; In the center of the page was the photo of Colt, surrounding it was other photos of him as well.

"How... How did…?" Grace began before it dawned on him; The laptops. The laptops from the Hail Mary were filled with literally everything that could possibly be on the Internet and you must've found a few old interviews from when Colt first began his career, or at the very least whatever was out there up until they downloaded and uploaded all the files to the laptops. He could feel the tears welling in his eyes again as he turned to look at you, completely speechless.

"You don't have to say anything. I added him so you wouldn't forget him anytime soon. Plus he's as much a member of our family as anyone else is." You smiled gently at him, moving your hands to cup his cheeks and gently wipe the tears away from his eyes. Grace sniffled in response, moving into your hands as he put the book aside before pulling you into his lap, hugging you tightly in response as a very quiet 'Thank you' left his mouth, afraid to speak any higher or else he'd begin to really cry. A small noise escaped you as you were pulled into his lap but you quickly wrapped your own arms around him in response. You glanced at Simon and even urged him to join in the hug with a small glare. He would simply roll his eyes, knowing your glare held no threat but would still move closer, wrapping his own arms around you both before pulling you two against him.

Grace could only sniffle once more as he moved into you both, engulfed in the warmth and love of his newfound family. He'd make sure to make plenty of new memories with the both of you and with each new one made, he'd be sure to snap a photo to add into the album.

"This is so stupid. Why the fuck do I keep doing this?" Colt would mutter to himself as he sat himself down on the tail flap of the pickup truck, running a hand through his hair in annoyance as he huffed and glared to the side at the now forgotten telescope. He didn't know why he kept coming out to this field in the dead of night every couple of days, drag that stupid telescope out with him, and attempt to look at the sky above him.

Did he know what he was looking for? No. He would tell himself that each and every time he looked through the telescope and into the sky above him, but deep down he knew what he was searching for; He was searching for Ryland. Did he do it out of guilt? Maybe. In the end he knew it was pointless, no cheap telescope he got would ever let him see that far out into space but he couldn't help but have a small sliver of hope that perhaps his brother was alive and out there exploring the stars.

Colt would look up towards the night sky, eyeing the stars quietly as he leaned back so he was resting on the palms of his hands, a small sigh escaping him in the process as he lowered his head for a moment to look at the ground with a hint of sadness. "Ryland, I hope wherever you are, you're livin' your best life out there without any regrets…" He spoke to no one but as he looked back up towards the sky one final time, his eyes seemed to light up a bit as he watched one meteor shoot past the sky, followed by two more after it. Colt couldn't help but grin in response as he gave a small nod, sliding off the bed of the truck to pack up the telescope and anything else he had brought with him.

When Melon had informed you that they, alongside Adrian, had a surprise for not only you but your boyfriends as well, you were quite interested. They had already done so much for the three of you and still had more to give? It blew your mind. Earlier that morning before you would go meet up with Melon and Adrian, the three of you would brainstorm as to what the surprise could possibly be and after coming up with a pretty decent and reasonable list, you left shortly after to make your way to the biodome that housed your clinic. With everything you all came up with, what was currently happening in front of you was certainly not on that list of ideas.

As you stood just outside your clinic with the turquoise colored Eridian beside you, you watched with curiosity as the four legged creature ran about in the grass that surrounded your clinic with Melon chasing after it. In a way, it kinda reminded you of one of the many types of pets you had seen on Ziemia from time to time while you were out and about; Those four legged companions were small with short, blue fur with little to no markings on their coat and only had one eye. Those specific pets, known as a 'doggy', gave you the creeps for the sole reason being that they only had the one eye and it was rather large compared to the rest of their body and overall just looked awkward. You shuddered at the memory of it which caused Adrian to look at you in concern but you quickly calmed their anxieties.

This creature, however, had a similar fur texture to a doggy, yet its body was mostly white except for what looked to be a two light brown patches on its back that you were able to make out from the harness that it wore that in some way matched not only your spacesuit, but Grace's as well. The harness itself though was adorned with various patches that you were unable to recognize or even figure out just what they were in general. Upon looking the creatures face over, you noted the streak of white that split the brown markings across its face and that its ears were of a darker brown color. Regardless of all that, it was refreshing to see a new face running around on Erid, though you were still very curious as to what it was and just how it got here.

"So uh… What is it…?" You questioned Adrian as you finally shifted your gaze away from the creature to look at the Eridian who hadn't so much as moved an inch away from you since your arrival.

"According to Grace's portable Earth thinking machine, it is known as a 'dog' on Earth." Adrian informed you, shifting their carapace to look at you; Rocky must've helped Adrian do some research before bringing this 'dog' over to the biodome for you all to see. You couldn't help but tilt your head a bit as you thought on the name; It was known as a dog on Earth yet a doggy on Ziemia. Perhaps in some weird scientific way they were descended from the same ancestor lifetimes ago.

"Huh… We have something similar on Ziemia known as a doggy but uh… Those are blue and have one eye and are pretty weird looking." You began to inform Adrian before you both suddenly turned your attention to the noises of distress that came from Melon.

"New friend slow down! Melon not fast like new friend! Statement!" Melon had shouted after the dog, though it didn't seem to understand Melon at all and continued to run around in the lush green grass, sometimes stopping to roll around within it. Occasionally though the dog would stop to look back at Melon to ensure they were still there and once Melon had gotten close enough, it would take off again as fast as those little legs could carry it. You couldn't help but laugh as Melon let out a series of noises that sounded very much like complaining before chasing after the dog for what would be the third time this evening ever since you showed up.

Eventually though the dog would turn its attention to you, running over and stopping in front of you with its tongue hanging out of its mouth and its tail wagging wildly behind it. You blinked before you slowly kneeled down to be at the same level as this creature, your head slightly tilted as your cautiously held your hand out to the dog; Despite how friendly this creature seemed to be, you still wanted to be cautious and not scare it.

"Hey there… You're kinda cute, you know that? Much better than the doggies on Ziemia." You complimented the dog, watching the way it leaned forward to sniff at your hand before its tail began to wag even faster behind it. Its head would move into your hand and your eyes would widen at just how soft its fur was.

"Holy shit-" You began, gently petting the dog before you carefully scooped it up into your arms with little to no issues at all. "You're so soft." You added on, watching the way the dog would shift around in your arms to get comfortable, beginning to sniff at your clothes. You couldn't help the giggle that escaped you as it seemed to all but bury it's snout into your clothing and inhale deeply, trying to extract every scent it could possibly find.

"IS THAT A FUDGING DOG?!" A voice shouted from nearby and you immediately recognized it as Grace's voice. You looked away from the dog in your arms to see Grace had stopped just a few feet away from where you and Adrian stood, Simon behind him as he stared with wide eyes at the creature you now held in your arms as though it was a baby. You couldn't help the laugh that escaped you at Grace's words of choice. It always made you laugh whenever he would use some random word to replace the curse word he so desperately wanted to say, something about being a good role model or something he had told you and Simon one day; The two of you had a bet going to see just how long it would take him before the first curse word fell from his lips.

"Yes. Is dog, statement." Adrian began as Melon dragged themselves over, their legs sprawling out around them as they collapsed due to exhaustion of the previous events.

"Melon look in space for fun. Melon spot weird object float beside Hail Mary! Informed Savior Rocky and Adrian!" Melon explained despite the exhaustion but honestly, you could tell Grace wasn't paying much attention to whatever was being said as his eyes never left the dog. He quickly crossed the distance from where he originally stood until he was right in front of you, reaching his hand out for the dog to sniff before his eyes widened in recognition.

"Laika?!" He shouted which caused the dog's ears to perk in response, head tilted curiously to what you could only assume was the name given to this creature. You raised an eyebrow as you looked to Grace, your own head tilted to match Laika.

"You know this dog?" You questioned, watching as Grace seemed to just loose his mind where he stood while you all watched him in worry; It was rare to see him so freaked out unless he was having some kind of scientific breakthrough on whatever he was working on.

"Know her? Who doesn't! I mean, you guys aren't from Earth so of course it makes sense that you wouldn't know who she is but like, logically she should be dead!" Grace informed you, staring at the dog as though she was a literal walking miracle as she moved her head against Grace's outstretched hand with her tail lightly thumping against you. Simon would eventually come over, curiosity swirling in those brown eyes of his as he gently reached out to pet her before giving Grace a bit of a side eye to his rant.

"What do you mean dead? She looks pretty alive to me…" Simon questioned, a small smile crossing his face as Laika sniffed at his hand now before gently licking at it, her attention no longer on Grace and on Simon now. You gave Simon a look at his question, sensing that another rant was about to come from Grace as his teacher instincts would take over and low and behold, you were in fact very much correct. Simon would offer you a sheepish grin as an apology as he continued to pet Laika, quietly cooing at the dog to keep her attention on him.

"Back on Earth like, long before I was even born, the Soviet Space Program had sent Laika into orbit around the Earth to prove that human space travel was possible but because the technology needed to re-enter the atmosphere hadn't been developed yet, there was no chance for her to return home." Grace spoke, continuing to stare at Laika as you had allowed Simon to gently take her from your arms. Seeing Simon act so soft was strange but seeing the way he eyed Laika with that sense of sadness, you knew that everyone here was beginning to relate to the poor pup in one way or another.

"So, a one way trip with no way home, huh?" Simon questioned as he kept Laika held above him, watching as she looked around the biodome from her new height advantage before looking back down at Simon, her tail wagging yet again. "Seems like a lot of us here were only meant for one way trips." He added on as he brought her down to his level, turning his face away as Laika began to lick away at his face.

"Hey- Come on now… I can't taste that goo- Red, don't answer that." Simon immediately shot at you as he gave you a look , catching the way you began to break out into a grin before it was turned into a pout, the teasing remark that you were about to hit him with dying on your tongue as a result of his scolding.

"I wasn't gonna do it…" Your pouting continued as Grace shook his head before he began to look over the patches on Laika's harness, his fingers running over a few of them; They were old designs but he was able to make out a few of them. He couldn't help the face he made as he began to think about Earth and everything that happened. Did the beetles ever arrive on Earth? Was there anyone left alive to retrieve them if they did?

He gently shook his head and decided to put his thoughts elsewhere, like trying to figure out just how it was scientifically possible for her to have survived this long let alone end up in this part of space. He was obviously failing to even comprehend any theories he may have thought of and you were quick to catch onto him as his face twisted into pure confusion, a light chuckle escaping you before Simon decided to change the subject so he didn't end up with a raging headache later.

"So, what do we do with her? Are we gonna keep her or what?" Simon questioned as he kneeled down to gently put Laika back onto the ground, scratching behind her ear one last time before he returned to his feet. Once on the ground, she immediately attached herself to Grace, sitting right beside him as she looked between the three of you expectantly.

"Well duh, it's not like we can send her back to Earth or anything, it would take too long and she really wouldn't stand a chance then." Grace answered a little too quickly to Simon's question, his hands moving to rest in the pockets of his cardigan as he looked down towards Laika with a fond smile on his face. You and Simon both knew that in some way, Grace didn't want to give Laika up because in a strange way, she became one of the only other things that kept him tied to his home planet of Earth and you did not want to be the ones to take that away from him after everything you all had been through.

"New friend stay on Erid then, question?" Melon asked as they carefully got to their feet, looking between everyone then at Laika with a newfound interest despite her running them ragged earlier. You smiled at Melon as you gave a nod to their question.

"Yeah, Laika is gonna stay. You'll have plenty of time to play with her whenever you want." You confirmed, watching as the Eridian let out a few happy notes before moving closer and, reaching out a clawed hand, gently patted Laika on the head. With a wag of her tail, Laika moved into the Eridians hand with nothing but pure excitement running through her body.

After some talk with Adrian to begin a new set of requests in likes of your new companion joining the group, you all began to head home. Upon crossing the tunnel and into the main biodome, you would laugh lightly as Laika all but darted out and ran across the sandy beach before stopping just short of the waves, her tail having gone still as well as her body as she seemed to be staring at the water with wide eyes. Grace was the one who had to pick her up before the currents decided to drag her into the water and you all would have a new issue on your hands. Once inside the house, you all began to unwind and follow your normal route for the night only with some slight changes to accommodate your new furry companion.

During dinner, Grace had gone ahead and taken on the role of making Laika a small bowl of food since in technicality, he was the only one who really knew what a dog could and couldn't eat; Sure you knew what a doggy could eat but again, Earth creatures and Ziemia creatures were still very much different despite some similarities here and there.

After that, you all usually did some light reading in the living room or worked on some other smaller project that would help you unwind, only tonight it seemed that Simon had taken on the role of keeping Laika entertained which you didn't mind, it gave you a show to watch in replacement to your own reading. Simon was very much enjoying himself as he had gotten down onto the floor to play with Laika; Riling up her up and gently shoving her in a playful manner as she would nip and paw at him before she ran around the living room to try and get the jump on him from a different angle only to bark at him before changing her course to try and new tactic. Grace had even put his book aside at some point to watch the interaction unfold, a warm smile crossing his features as he watched one of his lovers show a new and more inviting side. It was nice to see Simon in a new light, to see just how gentle and caring he could be when his past actions weren't haunting him.

When it came time to retire to bed, Laika had latched onto you last. With Grace's help, she was placed onto the bed and once you had gotten yourself comfortable in the middle, she carefully climbed up onto you and laid herself down on your chest. Her tail gently thumped against your stomach as she got herself comfortable before she very easily fell asleep, the actions of the day clearly exhausting her and lulling her into a gentle, peaceful slumber. You smiled as you gently rested a hand over her back, your fingers brushing through her soft fur as Grace and Simon joined you on the bed, one on each side of you before they shifted to get themselves comfortable. You took notice of the small pout on Grace's face, a light chuckle escaping you.

"Something wrong, Ry?" You questioned him to which he could only grumble, burying his head against your shoulder.

"She took my spot…" He pouted which had you laughing a little harder, but not enough to wake up Laika. Simon though let out a deep laugh as he rested his head on top of yours, grinning down at Grace with a cheeky grin.

"At least my spot is safe." He teased which caused Grace to shoot him a look, his eyes narrowing a bit before he'd huff and return himself to his previous position.

"Alright alright that's enough. We got a long day tomorrow so it's best we sleep now." You scolded them both, shifting to accommodate your new position with both men pressed against you. Your lovers would hum lowly in response before they themselves would slowly but surely fall asleep against you, leaving you the final one awake as you looked between everyone around you, a faint smile growing on your face as you allowed your eyes to finally shut and for sleep to whisk you away just as quickly it did the others.

Whenever arguments broke out within the Hail Mary, they were usually solved pretty quickly due to just how small the spacecraft was. You were never the one to start an argument, nor were you the one to finish one because of the sole fact you despised when arguments happened; You were the type to just calmly talk things out, to sit and have a proper discussion instead of accusing the other person of something and raising your voice several octaves just to get the last word in. Simon and Grace were completely different though; The two would, in the beginning, argue over the smallest of things and blow them up to such large proportions that it made you and Rocky give each other a side eye as a result before deciding to just leave and listen from a distance since, like stated before, the ship wasn't that large.

With this in mind, Grace and Simon would usually resolve their issues pretty quickly. There wasn't enough room within the Hail Mary to escape the argument and at one point or another, the two men would collide with each other after some time and apologize to one another before returning to whatever it was they were doing beforehand.

Once you three moved onto Erid though, that was now a completely different story. Though the arguments became far and few in between, they still happened and whenever they did, you couldn't help but leave before Simon and Grace raised their voices. Today was no different; As you sat at the dining room table and messed with the food on your plate, Simon and Grace were arguing just across from you in the living room.

"You're rarely around anymore!" Simon had barked at Grace, waving his arms to prove his point. "It's always 'Oh Rocky needs me' or 'Oh Adrian wants to talk about this' or something else entirely! When are you gonna spend time with me and Red again, huh?" He hissed out which caused Grace to scoff, his hands on his hips as he stared Simon down.

"Seriously? That's your excuse? I'm around a lot more than you are! You're always locked away in that greenhouse of yours tending to whatever it is you grow in there. Just ask Red, they'll agree with me!" Grace barked back to Simon, immediately turning his attention to you with Simon's own gaze following his to where you sat and suddenly you wished the ground would swallow you whole. "Isn't that right, Red?" Grace urged you to agree with him which caused you to swallow hard.

"I- Well I mean-" You began to answer but Simon was quick to cut you off.

"Oh come on Red, you aren't seriously about to agree with him, are you? You're more than welcome to speak your own mind you know." Simon informed you which caused yet another round of arguing to break out between Grace and Simon about how he didn't need to push you to make a decision that you could clearly make on your own.

What they both weren't realizing was how you were growing quieter, how you began to feel the tears well in your eyes and how your breathing seemed to be picking up; You were on the verge of a panic attack and neither of your two lovers realized it as their attention was clearly drawn to the argument at hand and not on you anymore. It was reminding you of your time back on the Skeld, back when the imposter was still running loose, and back when the crew you considered family began to blame you for everything.

When their voices somehow raised another octave, you finally had enough. You quickly stood from your chair which skidded back against the ground with a loud screech, your hands slamming onto the table which quickly quieted both men as they looked at you with wide eyes, any other words they were about to bark at the other died on their tongues. You didn't say anything to them and instead quickly left the room, slipping your boots on before you left the house, slamming the door shut behind you.

You didn't dare look back as you made your way down the steps onto the sandy beach below and began to make your way to the tunnel that connected the main biodome to your own. It just so happened that on this particular day the Eridians had it rain in the biodome; That's right, they had somehow figured out how to provide you three with a weather system. Some days you enjoyed the rain because it would force both Simon and Grace to stay home with you and spend some quality time with each other, but today it just decided to spout an argument. This time it was you that left the house first instead of Grace or Simon.

You raised your hand to wipe at the tears that fell down your face, sniffles escaping you as you attempted to calm yourself down from the rising anxiety that continued to fester inside of you as the rain continued to pour down from above, absolutely drenching you as you walked along the beach. By the time you had reached the tunnel, your clothing was soaked and you were shivering for reasons other than anxiety. You continued on your way though to your biodome and once there, you made your way into the clinic. Melon and Canyon had informed you that they were going to be busy over the next few days so you had the entire clinic to yourself but man did you wish they could be there with you now. Melon would probably say something along the lines of 'Red mates stupid stupid stupid. Stay with Canyon and Melon instead!' It brought a faint smile to your face but only for a few moments.

Upon entering the clinic you didn't dare turn on the lights to the waiting room and instead went straight to the lab. Once there, you would turn the lights on and shut the door behind you before making your way over to where your laptop rested on the counter. Sitting down on the chair, you would open the laptop and scroll through the various files there until you landed on the music folder. You decided to pick whatever title of song that first caught your eye and after it began to play, you would move away from the counter and hide yourself in a corner of the lab, pulling your knees up to your chest as your arms wrapped around them tightly before you'd bury your head within them and allowed yourself to finally break down.

"I'm telling you it's them!" Blue accused you, gloved finger pointing in your direction as you stared at him with wide eyes, mouth slightly agape at the accusation. The remaining six crewmates had gathered in the cafeteria for a meeting, one that would be vital to the survival of the remaining crew members on board the Skeld. There was obviously something going on now with Pink having passed from a mysterious illness while Green had been found just hours ago strangled to death in electrical with no clues left behind as to who had done it. White would raise an eyebrow as he stood at the head of the table, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down Blue.

"And where is this coming from? Do you have any proof that Red, our medic, is the reason behind these mysterious deaths?" White questioned the pilot who snorted in response to the captain's questions.

"Do I need a reason? Who else would get away with secretly killing Pink and it not appearing on the medical scans? Not to mention who would know just how much pressure to apply to someone's neck to ensure the strangulation works?" He hissed, glaring you down from where you sat. You would swallow hard, your gaze turned down to stare at the table before you. In what world would you ever want to kill your fellow crewmates? The people you had grown close to ever since you were picked for this mission? It didn't make sense and the longer the conversation went on, the more twisted your stomach became at realizing just how serious they were.

"I mean… Blue has some points here, Cap." Orange spoke from where she sat, eyeing you as she leaned forward against the table. "A medic would know a variety of ways to not only save a person, but to kill them as well." Her words would have you tense in your seat as your gaze turned away from the table and up to the crewmates who all seemed to have their eyes on you, none of which held friendly intent.

"I… I didn't kill them." You quietly spoke up, messing with your gloved fingers under the table to try and calm yourself down. "Why would I kill them? I don't gain anything from it." This seemed to shut Blue up as he huffed and looked aside, his arms crossed in annoyance. With a small sigh, White would run his hand through his hair, overlooking what crew he had left as he tried to come up with some sort of plan.

"Alright, that's enough. I believe Red. They weren't the one who caused the sudden death of both Pink and Green and if anything, they did their best to ensure their chances of survival were high with what treatment options they had available to them." White spoke, his commanding tone catching the attention of everyone at the table. While you relaxed ever so slightly, your anxiety just continued to spike as a result because you knew at the end of this, everyone would begin to look at you differently. Blue would roll his eyes as he looked away while Orange, Yellow, and Black would all glance at one another before looking at you. "From here on out, everyone travels in a pair. This meeting is dismissed."

Oh how quickly that 'travels in pair' order fell apart; Blue refused to walk around with anyone and while you were busy preparing the bodies in the medbay for proper transport once you arrived back in MIRA HQ, you heard the gunshot ring out down the hall and would be the first to find Blue shot in the pilots chair in the cockpit of the Skeld.

After that, all hell broke loose.

"It's Red! It's gotta be! They were in the room with Blue when I got there!" Black barked out, now accusing you as you shook in your spot at having found yet another one of your crewmates dead.

"Yeah! Captain we gotta eject Red! What if they kill me next? Or worse what about you!" Orange added on, her voice laced with venom as they all began to argue with White on just what to do with you. Meanwhile you were spiraling where you sat, your body still shaking as the tears fell from your eyes. You didn't know what to do, you were so lost and the arguing going on around you wasn't helping at all and any attempts you had to try and plead your case just fell flat.

"That's enough!" White shouted as he slammed his hands on the table causing everyone to fall silent and for you to look up at White, the tears still running down your face. White would glare down the three crewmates before he looked to you and his gaze seemed to soften.

"It's not Red, I stand by my statement from before. Why would our medic go around killing others? And for them to be first into the cockpit only makes sense because who else here would know what to do, hm?" White questioned his remaining crew before he moved to stand behind you, resting his hands on your shoulders and gently squeezing them as if to try and provide you with some comfort.

"I trust Red with my life and I suggest you all do the same and stop accusing them, am I understood?" He ordered, listening as the other crewmates grumbled a couple 'yes sirs' as you looked up to him.

White looked down at you, a smile crossing his features to try and help calm you even more and for a second, it really did work. If only you knew what tragedy was to follow just a few hours later.

Oh how you missed White right now. Maybe he would've been able to knock some sense into Simon and Grace, get them to stop arguing over something so stupid. As you recalled your captain in what few happy moments you had with him, you looked up with a small sniffle and shifted slightly as you heard the door to the clinic open and the lights in the waiting room turn on.

"Sunshine?" Grace gently called out as he looked around the room and upon not seeing you, made his way to the lab after noting that you weren't in the examination room either with Simon close behind him. Upon entering the lab, Grace immediately saw you shaking in the corner, still soaked from the rain from earlier and it caused him to frown.

"Oh sunshine…" Grace quietly cooed as he carefully made his way over to you, kneeling down in front of you as he held his hand out. "Come on, let's get you out from under there…"

You looked at his hand, sniffling as you reached out to gently take his hand and with his help got to your feet. You heard the light tap of your laptop being messed with and looked over to see Simon who had gone ahead and turned the music you had been listening too off before he made his way over to you both, a frown on his own face as he watched you shake like a leaf.

"Starlight you're drenched…" He commented with a sad look in his eyes. You would just shrug in response, taking your hand back from Grace as you hugged yourself. The two men would look at one another before looking at you with apologetic looks.

"Listen [Y/N], Simon and I are extremely sorry for the way we acted earlier. It… It wasn't right of us to start arguing like that and dragging you into our mess just made it all the more worse." Grace admitted, using your real name to show you just how serious he was on the matter. It was rare that they used your real name but when they did, you knew that the two truly meant whatever words were being said to you in that moment.

"From here on out, we promise to talk about our issues with one another instead of arguing about them and forcing you to pick a side." Simon added onto the apology that Grace started, his gaze kept on you as you looked between the two silently. They weren't expecting you to accept the apology right away because they knew better than to argue in front of you after what you had gone through in the past, yet they went ahead and did it anyway. You would shift in your spot, another sniffle escaping you as you raised a hand to rub at your eyes.

"It's… It's okay…" You began, letting your hands drop to your sides as you looked between them. "I just… I don't like it when you two argue. It scares me not just because you're raising your voices, but because I'm afraid you two are going to fall out and then I'll be left to pick a side or even worse, be alone." You admitted, feeling the tears well in the corner of your eyes once more. Both Simon and Grace would freeze, eyes going wide at your words.

"Sunshine no no no- Oh we would never." Grace began, his hands quickly reaching up to cup your face and wipe away at your tears before they'd fall from your eyes.

"Arguments are bound to happen between us but I doubt we would ever leave one another, starlight." Simon added, moving to your side to gently take hold of your hand in his and gently squeeze it. "Besides, I couldn't leave you all alone with Ryland, he might just drive you crazy with all his scientific talk." Simon teased, a grin beginning to cross his features at the way you gently laughed. Grace would give Simon a look, a small scoff escaping him as he removed his hands from your face.

"Oh please, they would be just as bored with all your plant talk!" Grace fired back though he kept his tone playful, kept his voice at an even level as to not scare you again. Simon would roll his eyes in response to Grace.

"I mean… I enjoy hearing both topics." You admitted, light laughter reaching your ears as Grace and Simon broke out into a laugh. A smile began to cross your features as the tension finally left your body, your shoulders sagging but the shaking didn't leave you because of the fact that you were still very much wet and very much cold. "Can um… Can I ask you both something?"

"Anything sunshine, lay it on us." Grace answered, watching the way you took his hand in your free hand so you were now holding both their hands in your own.

"Can we go home…? I want to take a hot bath and then maybe we could cuddle for the rest of the evening? Maybe talk about some science and plant stuff?" You asked them, looking between them with hesitation in your eyes. Simon would smile at your request, squeezing your hand right away as Grace gave you a warm smile of his own.

"Of course we can, anything you want we'll provide. Right Simon?" Grace asked as he looked to Simon who, in return, looked back at him. Simon would give a nod of his own as he looked at you before answering. "Right."

With that being said, your two lovers began to lead you out of your lab and back home after ensuring everything was turned off. Of course it was still raining in the main biodome so Simon and Grace quickly rushed you into the house to prevent you from catching a cold or something much worse. Once inside, Simon helped you get your boots off while Grace left to go start the bath that you requested; He knew exactly how you liked it, after all.

With the bath ready for you just moments later, Grace helped you disrobe before getting you anything else you needed before allowing you time alone to just soak and enjoy the warmth from the tub. Simon would stop in every once in awhile, mainly to drop off a towel for you along with your preferred choice of a sleep outfit. "Take your time, starlight. We're aren't goin anywhere." Simon had told you and you gladly took his words to heart, taking your time just enjoying the bath before properly getting yourself cleaned up.

By the time you had finished your bath, gotten dried and dressed, Simon and Grace were already in bed talking to one another about some random topic that you were catching the tail end of before their attentions were now turned to you. You looked much better than before; No longer shaking and looking much more relaxed.

"There you are. I'm not gonna lie, I know I told you to take your time but I was beginning to think you drowned." Simon joked which caused you to laugh as you crawled onto the bed and wiggled yourself between the two men.

"I mean if I did, would you preform CPR on me?" You questioned as you looked to Simon who was about to answer before Grace quickly cut in.

"I so would. You would be completely safe with me, sweetheart. You know I was CPR certified back on Earth." Grace teased, a grin crossing his features as Simon glared towards him. "It's best to trust a professional, you know."

"Uh, I believe that question was directed towards me, Ry, whether you're a professional or not." Simon huffed, his arms wrapping around you and pulling your back flush against his chest with a small noise escaping you in response. "But to answer your question, yes. I would preform CPR." He answered, resting his head on top of yours.

"Glad to know." You grinned, getting yourself comfortable against Simon as you reached your hands out to Grace, flexing your fingers in a grabbing motion. "C'mere. I wanna cuddle with you both." You stated. Grace would oblige with no hesitation, shifting himself closer to you both until there was barely any room between the three of you and would rest his forehead against your own. You let out a content hum as your eyes slowly fell shut, the warmth that was once provided in the bath now surrounded you in the form of your two lovers and you were absolutely thriving on it. Their scents swirling and mingling within one another had brought you a sense of peace that you never knew existed until the first night you all slept together like this.

"So, do we start with science facts first or plant facts?" Simon asked to which you chuckled lightly as you adjusted your position ever so slightly.

"Mm.. You guys decide. I'm okay with either." You admitted with a small yawn, your mind slowly beginning to pull you into the depths of sleep. Grace was quick to start talking about some random fact about science that in some way included plants so that way you could get both your facts in before sleep finally took hold of you. It was nice to listen to his voice and with the occasional cut in from Simon, you were falling asleep faster than you would've liked. When the two noticed the way your breathing was beginning to even out, Grace would kiss your forehead as he mumbled against it; A simple phrase that held so much meaning between the three of you and forever would so long as you all lived.

Ryland Grace was a lot of things; A middle school science teacher, the leading biologist in Astrophage, the sole survivor of the Hail Mary crew, and even a saviour to the universe. What he wasn't was a doctor and by the stars above how much he wished he suddenly was. Though that title fell to you in some way, you were unable to help him in this current situation because this current situation was about you. His leg bounced as he watched your unconscious form as you slept in the shared bed between you, him, and Simon. The moment he saw you collapsed to the ground, he was quick to rush you into the bedroom and had Armando do what that robot did best and treat you to the best of its abilities, but there wasn't much the robot could do besides inject an IV into your arm and monitor your heart rate for the time being until the diagnoses came through.

It had been only two weeks since he began his recovery after having fallen ill due to the lack of nutrition he had on the Hail Mary, but with your quick thinking and the work of the Eridians that gladly welcomed you all to Erid he was able to make a full recovery within the week. Sure he still felt a little off some days, but it really didn't bother him that much anymore and he owed it to you, Adrian, and the others that helped in the process. Regardless of that fact, you had continued to work alongside the Eridians to try and come up with another food source for the three of you, preferably something you could try to plant and grow. Meburgers only really seemed to be appetizing to Grace and with whatever mutations ran through Simon, it was best not to eat anything that came from any part of him.

You had done your best to explain what soil was to the Eridians and had even given Adrian one of the plants you yourself had brought off the Skeld, pointing to the small amount of soil the plant was buried in. Sure it was soil from Ziemia, but at the end of the day soil was soil and if they could get the base idea of just what components it was made up of, then what harm was there in using it? Simon had even joined you in this task and worked closely with Adrian to try and come up with something you all could use.

There was a lot of trial and error when it came to this stuff and when it reached the point of testing, you were hesitant. While you had some seeds from your time on the Skeld along with some plants, you were afraid to use any of them for the sole purpose of the soil killing them and ruining any chances you had at growing any kind of plant. So, Simon had decided to propagate a small bean bush plant you had and go from there and for the most part over the past few days, everything seemed to be going okay until recently.

Just moments ago you had been in the kitchen washing the dishes while Grace was at the table in the dining room, working on some random project he decided to busy himself with for the time being. One second you were perfectly fine, talking and joking with him from across the room and the next he heard the 'thud' as you suddenly collapsed in the kitchen, falling unconscious immediately. He could recall just how pale you looked in that moment, how labored your breathing had become as if it was now a chore instead of just something you did on command, and he could still feel just how warm your felt against him as he rushed you to the bedroom to have Armando begin taking care of you there.

Grace would make a face as he put his head into his hands to rub at his eyes, dragging his hands down his face before his eyes landed on you again with nothing but pain swirling in them; Even now as you slept he could see the sweat forming across your forehead as your body occasionally shivered in response to whatever reaction you were having. He had to do something to help you, but what could he do? Unlike you, he couldn't just pick out the symptoms you were experiencing and pin it down to a certain illness or reaction and it began to bother him all over again. His leg continued to bounce as he tried to think of just what you would do in this situation, how you would go about this entire thing. He must have fallen into such a deep through because he didn't even hear the sudden footsteps of Simon as he rushed into the house upon receiving word from Grace that something had happened to you.

"Ry, what happened?! Are they alright?!" Simon questioned, his gaze going from where Grace sat to your form resting in bed. Grace would turn his attention to Simon, suddenly ripped from the thoughts that clouded his mind.

"I don't- I don't know Si. One second they were in the kitchen and talking and were completely fine and then the next they just… They just collapsed! They're burning up, Si. I don't know what to do- I don't know where to begin. There's so many variables and just not enough time to consider each and every one of them." Grace admitted, getting to his feet to move to stand beside Simon; He couldn't sit anymore, he needed to move, his body itched to do something and nothing all at the same time.

Both men would watch you from where they stood in the doorway, worry etched into their features before Simon shook his head to try and shake off any depressing thoughts that would begin to form. They didn't have time to just stand around and stare at you; The more time they wasted just staring at you was less time they had to figure out what was wrong and how to get a solution going.

"This can't be some normal sickness… I mean, it's nothing like what you had, right?" Simon questioned Grace as he turned his attention to the blonde beside him. Grace shook his head in response, crossing his arms as he began to think long and hard about what could be happening.

"No, I didn't have any of these symptoms. I mean yeah I felt like death but I wasn't burning up like they are." Grace responded, his fingers tapping on his biceps as he thought. "I don't think it's a common cold or something similar given how quickly it came on. Those symptoms usually show over the course of several days." Grace added on as he looked at you for a second, his eyes squinting a bit behind his glasses. Simon nodded quietly, running a hand through his hair as he looked up towards the ceiling. Was there something different you had done in the past couple of days that they weren't aware of? You all woke up together, had breakfast together, and then split up to handle your corresponding tasks within the biodome each day so what was different?

"Perhaps Canyon or Melon would know… They're around Red just as much as we are." Simon offered as he looked back to Grace with an eyebrow raised at the suggestion. Grace looked at Simon, letting out a breath as he gave a nod.

"It's a start. Let's head to the clinic then."

"Red sick?! Question!?" Melon shouted as Grace informed Canyon and them what suddenly happened with you after him and Simon had arrived in the clinic; Usually there was all kinds of noises coming from your lab, whether it was you writing across the whiteboard with the expo marker, typing away on the keyboard to your laptop, or even working on some kind of lab with music playing in the background but today it was silent and it pained both Simon and Grace to hear it that way.

"In a way yes, we're trying to figure out what's wrong with them. Any information you guys might have would be helpful, even the smallest little detail. Do you know if they might've came into contact with something?" Grace asked the two Eridians who looked at each other as if thinking over the past couple of days. Canyon would let out a low toned musical note in response.

"Red been… Different." Canyon began to explain which caused Simon and Grace to perk up at their words; Different? Different how? What did the two Eridians know that him and Simon didn't? "Red had numbness in hands, said would be fine. Took lot of naps in clinic and while Canyon watch, would sleep long time, statement."

Okay, they were getting somewhere now. Perhaps in a way you were just sick, it was common for humans to sleep off whatever illness they were having but for it to still happen all at once wasn't sitting well with Grace. He had to remind himself that despite you looking human, you were still alien to him and Simon; Perhaps whatever illnesses that happened on Ziemia were different then the ones on Earth and it just hit harder than Earth illnesses.

While Grace and Canyon continued their conversation nearby, Simon would quietly wander around your lab with Melon scurrying along after him. Simon's eyes would look over the whiteboard you had covered with various medical terminology, some he could recognize while others remained a complete mystery to him. He could feel his heart ache in his chest, what he would do to have you guide them through whatever was happening to you right now, yet instead all they could do was try and connect the dots to find out what was wrong. Simon would look down upon feeling Melon tug on his pant leg, an eyebrow raised in the Eridians direction.

"What's wrong?" Simon questioned, watching as Melon raised a clawed hand and pointed to the counter nearby. He would move closer to the counter and look at just where Melon had been pointing, taking note of the small journal that laid buried under various papers and files you had begun to collect over the course of your time on Erid.

Lifting the journal, Simon would look it over with a slight tilt of his head; It wasn't anything too crazy, just a simple leather bound journal with a piece of string wrapped around it to keep it closed. Putting it back down, Simon would unwrap the journal before he'd flip through the pages inside. It felt wrong to look through your stuff without your permission, but if what was going on with you was hidden somewhere within these pages then he'd be sure to apologize to you later for it.

"Red write in there time to time. May have something that help, statement." Melon informed Simon as they kept a close non-existent eye on him. Simon would hum lowly in response as he continued to flip through the pages; There was some medical notes in here you had jotted down quickly alongside a few personal little notes or messages like to remind Grace to eat at a certain time or check in on Simon from time to time, but after a few more flips he found just what he was looking for.

"Ryland." Simon spoke up with urgency in his voice to get the blondes attention. Grace would look over, quickly making his way over to stand beside Simon and look down at the journal.

"What is it? Did you find something?" Grace questioned as he adjusted his glasses, his eyes skimming over the page Simon had fallen on; In your own messy handwriting was a journal entry dated with the day you and Simon began testing the Eridian soil.

'So today starts the testing of the first patch of Eridian made soil provided to us by Adrian and the others. It feels like dirt and in a way smells like it, but the color is… Odd, to say the least. In a way it reminds me of xenonite but in a more powdery form with clumps of brown mixed into it, kinda like dirt. Regardless, Adrian assured us that it would be alright to use so we're testing something small. Just a small, simple planter box with the start of a bush bean plant Simon had propagated for the test. Hopefully it'll take to the soil and give us somethin to work with.'

Simon and Grace would continue to skim through the pages, taking note of how you recorded each step in the progress; Simon recognized each step given he was beside you for just about every test done. He would feel his blood run cold upon reading the last entry you had written before falling ill.

'I don't know why, but recently I've been feeling cold which is weird given how warm the biodome can be. It's not like I can ask Melon or Canyon if they're cold, they're always running hot so I've begun to wear Grace's cardigan around the lab from time to time. Hopefully he doesn't mind it… I've also noted I've been feeling random bursts of nausea with the occasional numbness in my hands, sometimes even my feet. All of these symptoms come just days after Simon and I decided to eat one of the bush beans that had grown from the Eridian soil. Despite me feeling like absolute shit, he seems perfectly fine... I'm gonna continue to monitor my symptoms, ensure it isn't something serious and handle it from there.'

Grace's head immediately snapped over to Simon, his eyes wide. "You guys actually ate something from that soil?!" He shouted in alarm to which Simon flinched a bit.

"Well how else were we gonna know if everything was alright?!" Simon shot back which had Grace moving his hands to his face and rubbing at his eyes under his glasses as he mumbled quiet 'ohmygods' over and over. Grace should've gone with you both that day, run tests on whatever grew the scientific way before even allowing you both to consume whatever was grown. Maybe if he did, he could've prevented you from falling ill and that struck a cord in him, the guilt all but rising in response to the thought.

"Grace and Simon find out what cause Red sick, question?" Melon questioned as they tilted their carapace, eagerly awaiting the news as to what had caused their dear friend to grow ill. Grace would let his hands drop to his sides, giving a small nod to the Eridian as he took the journal and closed it, tying it off and placing it back where you had originally left it.

"In a way yes. We know the cause but that raises my next question…" Grace began, turning his attention back to Simon with his brows furrowed. "Why aren't you sick?"

Simon looked towards Grace, giving a small shrug of his shoulders as he began to wonder the same thing. Why wasn't he sick when you began to feel all these symptoms just a day or two after trying the bean? He should be experiencing the same things you are, if not perhaps worse.

"I'm not… I'm not sure." Simon spoke, confusion laced in his voice as he tried to think on the matter but Grace was quick to pull him from this thoughts.

"We'll worry about that later. Right now we gotta find Adrian and talk to them." Grace would look towards Canyon and Melon next. "You both are more than welcome to come with us or if you want we can drop you off with Red."

That would have Melon's full attention, their claws tapping against the ground. "Red! Stay with Red! Statement!" Melon shouted in their high toned musical notes.

"Canyon go with Grace and Simon. Speak with Adrian on matter, try to find solution." Canyon spoke their own decision. Grace would nod at the two Eridians before looking towards Simon, motioning them along as he began to make his way out of the clinic.

"Then let's get going. We gotta save Red."

Grace was the one who had taken Melon to the house in the main biodome while Simon informed him that he and Canyon would head to the greenhouse to find Adrian. Upon entering the house, Grace guided Melon into the bedroom where you still remained unconscious with Armando watching diligently over you. Melon would let out a saddened noise as they scurried over to the bed and, somehow, managed to climb up onto it to rest beside you.

"Red look weak, statement… Melon no like Red like this…" Melon spoke in a hushed tone, obviously worried about your current state.

"Me either, pal…" Grace spoke as he had followed Melon over, leaning over to gently move some hair away from your forehead. You were still running hot, he could feel it as he brushed the back of his hand against your forehead yet every so often your body would shiver with chills. Grace made a pained face in response before he leaned over a bit more to gently press a kiss to your forehead.

"We're gonna figure this out, sunshine… You'll be back on your feet before long. Melon is gonna watch after you while Simon and I are gone, alright?" Grace spoke quietly to you even though he knew you wouldn't answer him, his hand now gently cupping your cheek as he ran his thumb across it. He honestly hoped you would open your eyes, force some kind of smile onto your lips, or at least give him some kind of other sign you were alive besides just your labored breathing.

Melon would let out a small chitter in response to Grace's actions, one of their claws now resting over your hand in comfort. Grace turned his attention to Melon upon hearing the noise and gave a small smile to the Eridian; Despite how crazy the little guy seemed to drive you, he knew deep down that you cared for both Melon and Canyon and they cared for you in the same weird affection.

"If something happens, come find us in the greenhouse, alright?" Grace questioned Melon before he turned to leave the room, stopping to look back at you and the Eridian in question.

"Melon will keep watch, inform Grace if Red wakes or changes, statement." Melon confirmed as Grace gave a nod and finally left the house, making his way down the steps before beginning to make his way towards the biodome that housed the greenhouse.

While on the walk there, he could already feel his mind wandering with possibly theories and solutions. They had narrowed it down to the soil which was a great point to be at; But if it affected you the way it had, why wasn't Simon affected in the same way? He ate the same vegetable you did, grown from the very same soil, so what was it that made him different? The realization struck Grace hard, his feet stopping just a few inches away from the tunnel that led to the next biodome, his eyes slightly widened.

'The mutations.' He thought. Suddenly everything made sense to him; Whatever the blood ocean did to Simon prevented him from falling ill or, at the very least, his immune system worked faster to destroy the problem before any symptoms would show. Grace made a mental note to get a blood sample from both you and Simon later then compare the data to confirm his theory. For now, he needed to get to Simon and see what they found out in his absents.

After crossing through the tunnel and into the greenhouse, he made his way over to where he spotted Simon standing in front of Adrian with Canyon beside him.

"Adrian deeply apologize! Adrian tested soil over and over and over for heavy metals. Adrian must have missed one during testing!" Adrian apologized to Simon, their carapace clearly shaking at the thought of their mistake having caused you to fall ill. The last thing any of the Eridians needed was one of you three dying and it being because they overlooked a simple matter; You three put your lives in their claws with hopes that they'd be able to provide you with a suitable home for however long you all may live and suddenly this happens? It upset Adrian to no end and would for the next couple of days if not weeks.

"Adrian it's okay, please don't blame yourself. These things happen and honestly it's on me and Red as well, we should've tested the soil again before eating anything that sprouted from it." Simon offered his own apology to Adrian before looking over towards Grace upon hearing him come closer. "Did you check on Red? How are they?"

"They're still holding on but the poisoning is getting worse." Grace sighed, rubbing the back of his head before he looked at Simon with a curious look. "Simon, I think the reason you didn't get ill alongside Red is because of your blood. Whatever mutations that ocean gave you perhaps enhanced your immune system to attack whatever infects you and kill it before any of the symptoms arise. Once we figure out a medication that we can give Red, I wanna take a look at a sample of your blood and compare it to mine and Reds if you're alright with that?" Grace questioned Simon who would blink at his rather odd request. His blood? Damn, the more Simon thought on it now the more it made sense. The blood ocean had taken his arm sure, but in return it mutated his body and cellular makeup in ways he didn't even understand himself. If what Grace had said was true and his immune system shot down whatever poisoning the soil had given you, he would need to apologize to you several times over for what happened as a result.

"Yeah that uh, we can work on that. Let's focus back on Red. We've come to the conclusion that they've ingested heavy metals due to the soil and it's begun to poison them as a result, so what happens next?" Simon questioned back, causing a silence to fall over the four of them. They had their cause now they just needed the solution.

"We test Red blood. See how bad poisoning is and work on medicine, statement." Canyon spoke, looking towards Grace and then Simon. "Canyon work closely with Red, know certain procedures that may help fix Red. Canyon lead research, statement." The Eridian added on, taking a firm stance in being the leading scientist in your recovery. Grace would smile towards Canyon, giving them a nod in response.

"Alright, we'll follow your lead then, Canyon." Grace began, looking towards Adrian as they moved closer to the group.

"Adrian assist as well. Must apologize to Red, statement." Adrian spoke, two of their clawed hands wringing against one another. The guilt was certainly eating away at them but perhaps if they helped with your recovery, you could forgive them. With the plan now set, the four of them sought out a medicine that would aid in your recovery.

It would take time, several days to be exact and a few sleepless nights, but Grace and Canyon were able to make a medication that would help bind the heavy metals in your system before safely excreting them through… Normal bodily functions. When you first woke after the medication was administered via the IV in your arm, you were a little dazed and confused on what had happened.

You were still resting in the bed with Melon vigilantly watching after you while Canyon and Adrian seemed to be asleep in the corner of the room. Beside them, Simon was leaned up against Adrian fast asleep while Grace was sat on the opposite side of the bed in a chair, slouched over with his arms resting against the bed and his head resting on his arms. Everyone seemed to be exhausted and as you carefully sat up inbed, Melon quickly jumped to their feet in alarm.

"Awake! Red awake!" Melon had shouted as they scooted themselves closer to you as if to get a better look at you. Grace jerked awake in seconds as he quickly looked around the room in alarm before his gaze finally landed on you. His eyes lit up upon seeing you awake and stood up from his spot beside the bed so quick that the chair skidded across the ground behind him.

"Red- Oh thank God you're awake-" Grace began, leaning over to properly look you over as he gently pushed Melon aside much to the Eridians displeasure. "How are you feeling? Dizzy, nauseous, any other symptoms we need to be aware of?" He would question you while Simon got up from his resting spot, suddenly wide awake as if he hadn't been sleeping just moments ago. You looked between everyone and gave a tired smile; Despite sleeping the entire time, you really felt like you hadn't slept at all.

"I uh… I'm okay. Mainly thirsty and a little nauseous but um, it should leave soon? Hopefully?" You questioned as you looked between the three of them, a little worried at the way they all stared at you as if you might just fall back into a state of continuousness. "What… What happened?" You finally asked. Grace would look to Simon then to you, carefully sitting himself back down as he took your hand in his, running his thumb along the back of it as Simon left the room to get you a glass of water to drink.

"You fell ill. Heavy metal poisoning, actually." Grace corrected, watching as your eyes widen and your mouth fell open. "The soil that you and Simon first used, despite Adrian's vast amount of tests, still held pretty significant levels of heavy metal in them. The reason Simon didn't have any of the symptoms you had was because the mutations in his blood seem to prevent him from falling ill. Heck, even the common cold wouldn't affect him in the way it would me and you." Grace laughed, causing a small chuckle to leave you as you looked at Simon with a bit of jealousy upon his return. Simon could only give a grin in response as he held the cup out to you. You would let go of Grace's hand for but a moment to take the glass and carefully began to drank the cool liquid inside it; As much as you wanted to guzzle it down, you knew you would just make yourself even sicker then you already were and you did not want to add vomiting to your list of symptoms.

"I'm so sorry this happened, Red. We should've thought the whole testing phase through before we did what we did." Simon apologized as you shook your head in response to him after putting the glass on the bedside table once you were satisfied with your water intake at the moment.

"No, don't you apologize now. What we did was a team effort so we both took the fall here. It's just that I took it a lot harder than you, that's all." You began before your attention was turned to Adrian as you saw them slowly wake from their slumber, their carapace perking up when they saw you were awake.

"Red awake! Adrian apologize deeply, Adrian didn't mean for Red to fall ill!" Adrian apologized now as they moved beside the bed, Simon scooting over so they could be closer to you. Melon remained where they were, having no intentions on leaving your side until you were back on your feet and healthy again but even then they would probably remain glued to your side. You gave Adrian a small smile in response, reaching your hand out to rest on top of their carapace.

"Adrian please, it's okay. I mean, it's not okay that I feel ill but look! I'm alive, somehow." You questioned yourself, shifting your gaze to Grace who gave you a cheeky grin as if to say 'I'll explain later' before you turned your gaze back to Adrian. "It just means we need to be more careful in the future and we'll triple if not quadruple check all our work before we move on to the next step. How does that sound?" You offered your solution to Adrian who seemed to slowly relax at your proposition. With a slight nod of their carapace, Adrian would agree to your suggestion.

"Adrian can work with that. Adrian will ensure future work is safe for not only Red, but Grace and Simon as well, statement." Adrian confirmed to which you would smile at.

"Good. I'm glad we can agree on that. Now," You turned your attention to Grace, your head slightly tilted. "you wanna fill me in on what you gave me before I have to find out myself?" You questioned your lovely boyfriend beside you, watching as he chuckled nervously.

"Right yeah! Okay so basically what we did was…" As Grace began to fill you in on all the science that him and Canyon had done to provide you with the medication you were currently on, Simon could feel himself slowly relax knowing you would be back on your feet within the next couple of days. He quickly promised himself that from here on out, he would ensure yours, along with Graces, safety and health were above his own; If the blood ocean gave him these mutations, he would ensure they were used to his advantage from this point on.

Back on the Hail Mary, movie nights were an almost everyday thing between you, Simon, Grace, and Rocky. With how long it was going to take to get to Erid, you really had all the time in the world and you could only do so many middle school science experiments with Grace and learn about so many plants with Simon before you grew bored. It was then that Grace suggested watching some movies from Earth and it immediately grabbed your attention; With the large amount of movies that were stored onto one of the many laptops Grace was sent with, you had quite the variety to pick from. Whoever had uploaded all those movies was even kind enough to sort them by genre which made it a lot easier to pick a movie based on whatever you all were in the mood for that particular evening. It first started as a anonymous decision between you all before it switched to one of you picking before the next night the next person would pick and so on and so forth until the cycle repeated itself. Rocky was always so eager to pick the movie you all would watch whenever it was his turn and it honestly made you giggle with how his carapace shook with excitement as Grace helped him make his decision.

When you all moved onto Erid, that tradition seemed to follow along. It wasn't an everyday thing anymore due to your new responsibilities within the biodomes but more-so an every weekend kinda thing as a way to unwind and relax from the weeks events and spend time with each other. It originally started with just you, Simon, and Grace while you were getting comfortable in your new home for the first couple of weeks but it eventually grew into Rocky coming over with Adrian then after you had met Melon and Canyon, they were invited as well. Before long the once spacious living room that was provided in your home suddenly felt a little smaller with the Eridians around; The little family you had found and made your own and you didn't mind it one bit.

Tonight was one of those movie nights and just like back on the Hail Mary, you all went in order of person or Eridian to pick the movie; Tonight just happened to be Melon's night. It took them awhile to pick something, wanting to watch everything at once but after some time they had settled on one movie in particular: Barbie. While Grace had to give some background as to just what a 'Barbie' was, it wasn't that hard to follow along with the movie itself afterwards. While you were able to grasp what was happening, there was something that kept having your mind wandering towards the man that sat to your left.

Your gaze would shift from the screen towards Grace who was curled up on his side of the couch, chin resting in his palm as his glasses hung off his face, his attention all but glued to the screen and completely unaware of the set of eyes that watched him. You weren't the only one whose mind kept wandering, Simon's gaze was on him as well before he looked towards you and dropped his voice to a whisper to ensure Grace didn't hear him.

"So like, it's not just me, right?" He asked you, glancing at the screen as Ken appeared before looking back at Grace. You gave a small nod as you leaned yourself closer to Simon, dropping your own voice to a whisper so Grace wouldn't overhear you both.

"Yeah no, I see it too." You responded but before you could even add onto your sentence, Rocky was quick to speak up from where he laid on the floor before you all.

"Ken look like Grace, statement!" He had shouted and this caused you and Simon to suddenly burst out laughing, Grace being pulled from the trance he was in as he suddenly looked at the Eridian with wide eyes.

"Wha- I do not!" Grace shouted back to Rocky, a faint blush on his face as he was compared to the character on screen.

"Grace do! If Grace fix hair and shave beard, Grace look like Ken! Face shape look same! Statement!" Melon added on, suddenly up on their feet as they turned to look back at Grace. You honestly just began to laugh harder at Melons addition to what Rocky had said and it was causing Grace to blush all the more as he gave you a look.

"Red! Come on, don't encourage them with your laughing! Simon you too!" He pleaded with you both but it was no use, this topic wasn't leaving anytime soon. With the movie now turning into background noise, both Rocky and Melon had begun to team up against Grace, insisting that he was Ken or was somehow some distant relative of the character or even the 'actor' himself. You and Simon on the other hand were struggling to calm yourselves down, having to look away from the three of them until you both had calmed down enough to talk again but even the smallest thought of the topic had you laughing again.

"Okay okay, come on guys knock it off. We should at least finish the movie first and then we can continue to make fun of Ryland." Simon said as he urged the Eridians to stop their team up for the time being. Grace gave Simon a look as if saying 'excuse me?!' but as Melon and Rocky looked towards Simon then at each other, they seemed to come to an agreement. A few low toned musical notes escaped them both as if grumbling a 'fine okay' before they returned to their original spots and continued to watch the movie via the translation tablet before them, the crystal aimed at the screen so it would capture every change that occurred on screen.

With a sigh and the sagging of his shoulders, Grace fell to the side so his head was now resting against your shoulder, a small pout on his face as he grumbled.

"I look nothing like him… My hair isn't even that blonde!" Grace quietly complained to you, your shoulders shaking a small bit as you gently laughed at his complaint. You moved a hand up, gently running your fingers through his messy hair as you hummed, watching the way he slowly seemed to relax at your touch. Grace deeply enjoyed whenever you played with his hair, it brought him peace and when you added your nails to gently scratch at his scalp? The man would melt under your touch every single time.

"Mmm… We could make it that blonde though." You teased, watching the way his head suddenly shot up to stare at you with wide eyes, completely shocked that you would even suggest doing something like that to his already perfect hair. Simon laughed lightly beside you, looking over at Grace as he leaned over to get a better look at his boyfriend.

"I don't know… I don't think he could pull it off that well. That fur jacket though? He might be able too." Simon added onto the teasing, watching the way Grace's face continued to flush red before he'd hide his face in your shoulder to try and escape the teasing you both were giving him.

"J-Just watch the freakin movie you dummies." Grace tried to scold you both, but with the way he was blushing it was very hard too. Grinning a bit, you leaned over to gently press a kiss to his head before shifting around to get comfortable as your movie night continued. The moment those credits began to roll at the end of the movie, Melon and Rocky were right back on their team up to annoy Grace with his similarities to Ken. The back and forth must've went on for a good half an hour as you, Simon, and Canyon cleaned up the living room before Canyon and Adrian had to scold their respective mates to get them to drop the subject and eventually go home. Grace would watch them go from the window, his arms crossed as he puffed out his cheeks in a pout.

"I'm nothing like Ken. If anything I'm waaay better than him!" Grace complained, looking back as Simon wrapped his arms around his waist and pressed a small kiss to his cheek.

"Whatever you say, Ry." Simon grinned at him before he'd pull him along towards the bedroom where you were currently waiting for them both in the doorway. "Now come on, you've got class in the morning and we really don't need you being grouchy around the pebbles so early in the morning."

Several days would pass since that night and you began to notice that whenever you were near Grace as he either graded his papers or was working on some other project, you could faintly hear him humming the 'I'm Just Ken' song from the movie. Whenever you heard him, it brought a grin to your face and you had to hold back your laughter each time; For someone who wasn't like Ken he sure could hit those notes pretty well. God forbid if Simon overheard it because the teasing that would follow afterwards would have Grace constantly flustered and annoyed with the two of you for the remainder of the day. No amount of scolding from him would ever get you two to stop but of course you knew when enough was enough.

Towards the end of your teasing on the subject, you and Simon had gone and done the unthinkable; Somehow, someway, Grace came into possession of the tie-dyed hoodie Ken wore with the words 'I am Kenough' embroidered onto the front of it. As to how you and Simon got your hands on it? You wouldn't tell; It was one of those agreements between you and Simon that would be taken to the grave. At first Grace almost refused to wear it but eventually it grew on him and every so often you would catch him curled up on the couch wearing said hoodie. Whenever you caught him wearing it, you couldn't help but smile.

With your new life on Erid kicking into full swing and the nutritional matter solved, you were now able to sit and work on the next problem on your list and it just so happened to involve your loving boyfriend Simon. As curious as you were about his biological makeup and just what mutations the blood ocean gave him, there was another matter you wanted to attend to first; His missing arm. Despite him saying he's grown used to not having one and that you really didn't need to make a fuss over it, you could tell he hated having to ask you and Grace for help on such simple things like putting his hair up or even getting dressed properly, not to mention he probably had to ask Adrian for help in the greenhouse from time to time if you and Grace weren't there with him.

So here you currently sat in the lab of your clinic, biting on the end of the expo markers cap as you stared at the whiteboard before you as you listened to the noise of an Eridian scuttering around your lab; You already knew it was Melon looking over all your instruments and medical equipment so you didn't pay them much attention. Ever since you had deemed them as your little assistant, they were beside you of every waking second the moment you stepped foot into the clinic. Some days you didn't mind it, other days you wished you had super strength so you could throw Melon out of your biodome so you could work in peace, though you supposed that's what Canyon was there for. At the end of the day though, you didn't mind if they looked at the equipment or even attempted to figure out how to properly use them so long as they didn't break them and put the equipment back in their proper place afterwards. Which was not all the time, but you've grown used to it.

Across the whiteboard were several notes jotted across it that you had pulled from Simon's file, the on you had constructed after his previous checkup with you. That's right, ever since you were on the Hail Mary you had insisted on checking both Grace and Simon every couple of weeks to ensure both of them remained healthy on the trip to Erid; If it wasn't for those checkups, you never would've seen the decline in Grace's health until it was too late to help him. Now that you were on Erid, you insisted you continue to these checkups until the end of your days to which both Simon and Grace were more than okay with.

Beside those neatly written notes were several rather roughly drawn sketches for various prosthetic designs that you could possibly use in hopes of helping Simon return to a somewhat normal life. Despite there being so many types of prosthetic both on Earth and on Ziemia, you were leaning towards a design based off of myoelectric one. It would allow Simon to use the electrical impulses generated by his muscles to trigger the device to do whatever he needed. The question was, how would you make it? You already had an idea as to how, but it was a matter of if the Eridians could do so. It took them awhile to figure out how to make a light bulb and that was with Grace's help.

"Hey Canyon?" You called as you lowered the expo marker from your mouth, turning your head to look at the large Eridian who was currently working in the opposite corner of your lab. With both of you working together so often, you decided it was only fair you shared a portion of your lab so Canyon could bring their own things with them and work on whatever they wanted for however long they wanted.

"Yes?" Canyon questioned in their low musical tone, their carapace tilted in your direction as they shifted around.

"Who do I gotta talk to to get this ball rolling?" You questioned as you slid yourself off the counter you had been sitting on, motioning with the marker towards the whiteboard.

"Ball? Where ball question?" Melon suddenly cut in, stopping in front of you with a pair of forceps in one clawed hand, a handful of cotton swabs in the other claw, and one of stethoscopes you occasionally used was lazily wrapped around the tip of their carapace as if attempting to wear it. You looked down to Melon, letting out a small laugh at how they looked before you began to unwrap the stethoscope from around them.

"It's only a phrase, there's no literal ball. It means to get something in motion, to start something." You explained as you placed the stethoscope on the counter beside you along with the marker that once resided in your hand. Melon would let out a small noise in response, something similar to an 'ooohhh' before they decided to return to whatever adventure they were having in your lab. At least someone was having fun.

Canyon on the other hand had stood up and made their way over to you, lifting the looking device Rocky had engineered for them to use to see just what you had on the whiteboard before looking down to the tablet in their hand.

"Idea could work. May take time but need engineer to design. Canyon not engineer, Melon not one either." Canyon informed you as they turned to look at you. You raised an eyebrow as you looked from the whiteboard to Canyon. You knew of one engineer so far and you were almost certain he'd be willing to help you if you had asked.

"Where's Rocky?"

"Red! Rocky here, statement!" Rocky's musical notes rang out as he made his way into your clinic, looking around the small waiting area to see if you were around. Not that he couldn't already see you through the walls due to his echolocation, but he liked to be a little courteous from time to time. You quickly made your way out of the lab and over to where the Eridian stood, a grin crossing your features upon seeing him.

"Hi Rocky!" You eagerly greeted, kneeling down to give Rocky a fist bump the moment he held his closed fist to you; It had become your way of greeting one another. You weren't sure when it all started, perhaps back when you originally made the deal with him to have him help you figure out Simon and Grace's feelings about you, but it seemed to have stuck and you didn't mind it at all. "Thank you so much for coming."

"Rocky help Red whenever! Red help save Grace plus is Grace's mate!" Rocky spoke, following after you as you motioned him along to the lab where Canyon was already waiting, working on yet another sample of… Something while they waited. You honestly weren't sure what Canyon did in his time in the lab but you knew whatever it was must've been important. Rocky seemed to have stopped in the doorway upon seeing the other Eridian in the room.

"…What Melon do here, question?" Rocky questioned as Melon seemed to be buzzing with excitement beside Canyon at the thought of helping you with yet another project. You looked towards Rocky, blinking a bit as you looked towards Melon then back to him.

"Ah, Melon is my assistant so they're here to help with whatever we need whenever we need." You informed Rocky, watching at the way he seemed to reel back bit in shock.

"Melon has job?! Question?!" Rocky shouted to which Melon let out a noise in response, slamming one of their claws against the ground.

"Melon had job before Red assistant! Statement!" Melon shot back and before long both Rocky and Melon were getting into a full blown argument. While you were able to catch bits and pieces, they were just talking way too fast for your brain to catch up on and you could only sigh as a result, moving your head into your hand as you began to rub at your forehead. If you had known Rocky and Melon had some form of a history, you would've just sent Melon off to gather something while Rocky came over to discuss the topic at hand. Regardless, as bad as an idea as it may be for them to be in the same room together, you needed Rocky's help and whatever he and Melon had going on was going to have to be put to the side and dealt with later.

"Rocky, Melon-" You began, trying to get their attention but it wasn't working. You narrowed your eyes, attempting to get their attention once more before you huffed and immediately raised your hand. "Guys, my hand is up! Attention on me!" You raised your voice so it came out loud and clear, both Eridians stopping their argument to look at you now, even Canyon had turned to look at you. You blinked in response, amazed that it had actually worked. It was no wonder Grace used it so often when teaching with the pebbles whenever they got rowdy and out of hand, it worked wonders.

"Can we please put whatever… This is behind us? I want to help Simon and I know you'd both do anything to help me, right? So can we make a deal to stop the arguing and work together? Please?" You requested, keeping your hand raised to ensure both Melon and Rocky kept their attention on you. The two Eridians would look at one another as if silently having a conversation before looking at you, both nodding in your direction.

"Rocky put feelings for Melon aside, help Red work on project!" Rocky shouted, standing proudly where he stood as if he wasn't shouting what you could only assume were some Eridian cuss words towards Melon.

"Melon help too! Argue with Rocky later when Red not around!" Melon answered to which Canyon let out a noise that sounded very much like a sigh beside you, his carapace shuttering in response. A small laugh escaped you as you lowered your hand, resting it on top of Canyon as if patting their head.

"Thank you. Now Rocky, could you look over the plans and see if they're do-able?"

It took a lot longer than you hoped it would've and there was a lot of trial and error to be had, not to mention the countless late nights you had spent at home trying to come up with a design that would work without getting caught by Simon or Grace, but eventually the four of you were able to solidify a plan and put it into action. Over two weeks had passed since you began this crazy idea of yours and right now it was all coming to an end as the prosthetic was finally completed.

Rocky had placed the arm onto the counter within your lab before he turned his attention to you. You learned your lesson throughout the entire process that Rocky and Melon would almost always butt heads at some point, so you had already gone ahead and sent Melon to go gather Grace and Simon for you so you could talk with Rocky alone for before their arrival.

"Melon be back quick!" They had shouted to you before quickly scurrying out of the clinic and through the tunnel that led into the main biodome. You had roughly twenty minutes to talk with Rocky and ensure everything was ready before they'd return with Grace and Simon.

"What Red think? Question?" Rocky questioned as you leaned over the counter to look it over with wide eyes. If you didn't know any better or had any part in the design process, you would've assumed that Rocky had just taken a human arm and covered it in xenonite; It was that flawless of a design and you were feeling your excitement grow at the thought of showing it to Simon and seeing him use it.

"Rocky this is even better than the design I gave you! You did an amazing job!" You complimented the Eridian, watching as his carapace shook in delight at your comment.

"Thank! Rocky work hard. Rocky work through night to finish for Red. Adrian not very happy but Rocky will make up for it later." Rocky responded, watching as you carefully picked up the arm to look it over. It was surprisingly lightweight which is certainly something you wanted so Simon wouldn't grow tired while using it though you knew once he began to use it more and more, he'd build up the muscle needed to wear it everyday.

You took note that within the socket where Simon's bicep would sit that within it's lining were the small sensors that would pick up on the faint EMG signals whenever he flexed the muscles needed to make it work. With everything said and done, the last thing was to test it. If it worked from the get go, you'd have Simon get started with the therapy he would need within the following day or two. If things needed to be fixed, you and Rocky would make it happen before moving onto therapy.

"Melon back! Melon bring Grace and Simon like Red ask!" Melon's notes reached your ears as you placed the arm back onto the counter, leaning against it now as you turned your attention to the two males who followed after the small Eridian.

"What's going on? Melon said you wanted to see us?" Grace questioned first but upon seeing the prosthetic on the counter, immediately knew what was going on and shut his mouth before anything else could come from it. Instead, Grace quickly moved aside to stand somewhere where he wasn't in the way, mainly by the whiteboard in your lab as he began to busy himself with all your notes plastered against the board. Simon on the other hand froze in the doorway, his gaze lingering on the prosthetic arm before he shifted his gaze to you.

"Starlight what… I told you that you didn't…" He began but his words fell off his tongue as you offered him a small smile.

"I know you said not to worry about it but I worried about it anyway." You explained as you moved to stand straighter beside the counter. Simon turned his attention to Grace now, an eyebrow raised.

"Did you know about this?" He questioned, watching as Grace shook his head before looking back at Simon with a grin.

"No, actually, though I wish I did. Red all this work is seriously amazing. And you got Rocky involved too? Without telling me? I'm actually shocked." Grace complimented you, causing you to blush lightly before shaking your head in response as you waved him off.

"Ah, it wasn't much. It was really Canyon, Rocky, and Adrian that made it all happen. I just came up with the plan and informed them of how it should all work." You started before wincing upon feeling something hard collide with your leg. "A-And Melon too." You quickly added on, Melon now standing proudly beside you as they looked between Grace and Simon as if they didn't just ram themselves against your leg. Rocky was most certainly glaring down the other Eridian from where he stood, annoyed at the fact he most likely hurt you but they'd argue about that later on when you weren't around to hear them. Adrian and Canyon would probably have to be the ones to get them to stop anyway.

Simon crossed the remaining distance before coming to a stop beside the counter and looking the arm over with hesitation in his eyes, his hand reached out hesitantly to touch it before he retracted it. Every time you and Grace did something for him, he always told himself he didn't deserve to have either of you or the peace he was currently living in. He should've died in that ocean, yet he didn't. The things he had done in the past kept him up most nights, plagued his dreams and even his mind during the day as he tried to live a somewhat normal life, but the more and more time he spent with the both of you, the more and more he began to realize that you both were sent to him for a reason. He had served his penance in the blood ocean and as a result he was gifted you and Grace and a life worth living in. He could feel the tears pricking the corners of his eyes and he'd blink them away, moving his hand up to wipe at the tears before they fell.

You frowned upon seeing his tears despite his fast movements, moving closer to him to gently rest your hand against his bicep. "Hey hey hey… It's okay, Si. No need for tears." You comforted him, gently squeezing his bicep in a comforting way.

"Leaky, leaky blob." Rocky commented, moving closer to Simon himself to gently pat at his leg. "Simon deserve arm. Simon keep Grace and Red happy." Rocky added on to which Simon would roll his eyes, a small sniffle escaping him.

"Glad to know that's all I'm here for, to keep Grace and Red happy." Simon joked before he looked to you, letting out a breath as he leaned forward to press a kiss to your forehead; Honestly, he didn't mind if that was the only reason he was here for. He would gladly keep you and Grace happy for however long he'd live for. "Thank you, Starlight… I really appreciate all you've done for me."

You leaned into his kiss as a low hum escaped you. "You deserve all this and more, Simon. Really." You looked up at him, gently reaching your hand out to cup his face, preferably the side where the mutation grew. He flinched at first, the teeth clenching for a second before it relaxed against your hand. "Do you want to try it on? Or do you wanna wait?" You questioned him, head slightly tilted as you waited for his answer as your thumb gently stroked the side of his face. He thought about it for a good moment or two, his gaze lingering on the arm then back to you as he gave a small nod.

"I want to try it on. I mean, you went through all that effort to make it." He answered, a smile spreading across his face at the way your eyes all but lit up. "Go ahead and have a seat, we'll get you situated." You ordered, pointing to the seat nearby before you moved over to grab several items.

He followed your order, sitting himself down nearby and with Grace's help, untied the sleeve to his shirt. You made your way over to him, snapping on a pair of blue medical gloves before you'd wipe down his bicep with an alcohol wipe to ensure the area was clean before applying a thin layer of lubricant over it; You needed to ensure there was a small bit of suction once he placed it on to ensure it remained in place. Simon would shiver as the cool air hit his arm, a gentle laugh escaping you at his response.

"Sorry, sorry, I should've warned you that it would be cold. Grace, can you grab the arm for me?" You looked towards Grace who perked up, nodding quickly at the thought of being involved in some way before he moved away from his spot and over to the counter. With help from Rocky he picked up the arm and was a bit surprised at just how lightweight it felt in his hands before bringing it over you. You would take the prosthetic from him with a quiet 'thank you' leaving your lips before you would move closer to Simon's left side. Carefully you would slide the prosthetic over his bicep, your gaze locked onto his arm to ensure everything was positioned where it should be. Once it was in position, you turned your attention to Simon with an eyebrow raised and clinical look in your gaze.

"How does it feel? Too tight? Too loose? Anything feel off about it?" You questioned, wanting to make sure that everything felt comfortable to him. If even the smallest thing felt off, you would stop immediately and regroup with Rocky and them to find out a new plan. Simon would shake his head to your question, already trying to grow accustomed to the new feeling of something other than a bandage or his sleeve wrapped around the nub.

"No it uh, it actually feels like it fits pretty well. Which… Is surprising." He answered to which you nodded, ensuring it had a snug fit before locking it in place. After, you moved yourself to be in front of Simon and watched him closely. Simon could feel something stirring inside him with the way you were staring him down, that clinical gaze never leaving your eyes; No matter how many checkups you'd given him and Grace, the two men would always feel something fluttering in their stomachs. Perhaps it was the fact that seeing you do what you were good at turned them on, perhaps it was something else entirely, they could never tell the difference.

In all honesty, you felt the same whenever you watched Grace teach the pebbles or whenever you would watch Simon work in the greenhouse. At the end of the day, none of you would admit to feeling such things; That was a topic for another day and right now you had more important matters to attend too.

"Alright, this prosthetic will react to the the EMG signals your body will send out as if you had your arm there originally. We're gonna start small, alright? See if you can move the fingers. It doesn't have to be something crazy, just a small flex or even a wiggle will do." You instructed to which Simon gave a small nod and glanced at the prosthetic with a weary look. Grace, Rocky, and Melon however watched with bated breath behind you, Grace's lip was bit as he kept a close eye on Simon. Everything you, Rocky, Adrian, and Canyon (plus Melon) had worked on came down to this very moment.

You kept your expression as neutral as you could, your eyes locked on the prosthetic fingers. For a moment, there was no movement and you began to wonder if the sensors weren't placed correctly or if perhaps there was something else wrong within the arm itself but that was all thrown out the window the moment you saw the fingers slowly flex. Your eyes lit up, a grin spreading across your face. It worked, it was working!

"Like that?" Simon questioned as he looked at you before looking back down the arm, flexing the fingers a few more time in his own fascination. It was weird to see them move and know that in some weird, scientific way, he was moving them.

"Yes! Exactly like that. You're doing amazing. Why don't you try and move the wrist next whenever you feel ready?" You asked as you kept a close eye on Simon who, with a bit of concentration, did just that after another moment or two. With the movement of the fingers and wrist working, you decided to move on through a few more simple steps as you didn't want to push him into anything too over the top yet. You would work him through therapy over the next couple of days to get him up to speed before you'd allow him to do anything like heavy lifting but with the way he was mastering the simple movements now, you had a feeling he'd be using the arm to its full extent by the end of next week if not sooner.

While you worked with Simon through a few more motions with his new arm, Grace had ushered Rocky and Melon out of the room to allow you both time to work without the excited cheers of both Eridians. He would certainly question you with everything he had thought of as soon as you had gotten home because how dare you decide to work on something so ground breaking without him? He was a little hurt, to be honest, but he understood why you didn't tell him. He probably would've spoiled the whole thing one evening thinking Simon was still out in the greenhouse while talking it over with you on the couch only for him to come home early.

Eventually you would finish with Simon, helping him onto his feet to ensure he was able to keep his balance due to the change in his center of gravity.

"Thank you again, Red… This… This'll help so much." Simon spoke, looking over the arm as he closed the fingers into a fist before looking at you as he felt the tears well in his eyes again. You offered him a smile as you moved closer, wrapping your arms around his midsection in a hug as you rested your head against his chest.

"Like I said, you deserve this and so much more, Simon. Grace and I will do everything in our power to ensure you're happy and healthy here." You responded, feeling his arms wrap around you and a bigger smile spread as you felt the prosthetic move around you, his head moving to rest on top of yours as he pressed a couple kisses to the top of it. He was already doing such a good job at using it, you could only imagine everything he'd be able to do with it later.

"Come on, let's head home for the day. I don't wanna be around when Rocky and Melon start arguing." You sighed as you pulled away, ushering Simon along and out of the lab as you turned the lights off.

"They were arguing?" Simon questioned as he followed along, a curious look in his eyes.

"Oh you have no idea. They argued for just about everyday while working on this project. And no, you don't wanna be around to hear it. It can get loud sometimes." You informed him as you both made your way outside to catch up with Grace who was waiting just by the tunnel to the main biodome, a warm smile on his own face at seeing you both walking towards him. Rocky and Melon, though nowhere to be seen, could still be heard in the distance in yet another argument.

With the arrival of the Hail Mary to Erid, it took some time for Grace to figure out just how to get Rocky onto his home planet. Grace was almost certain that the Hail Mary may not make the entry into the planets atmosphere and he certainly wasn't willing to try and risk it. While Grace and Rocky worked on that part, you couldn't help but stare out the window towards the planet with wide eyes. It was a beautiful shade of blue with streaks of white crossing through it and the rings that surrounded it were just as beautiful. Honestly you could spend forever up here just staring at it, but you knew supplies were running low after such a long journey here.

It took some time, but eventually a plan was formed and Rocky was sent down to Erid to explain the situation, which now left you, Simon, and Grace aboard the Hail Mary. The three of you sat in silence in the lab, having turned on the centrifuge so you wouldn't be floating about in zero gravity since you knew it would be awhile before Rocky got back to you all about what would happen next. The silence that followed his departure was extremely awkward as your rather messy love confession from earlier began to resurface now that everyone had time to think back on it. You wouldn't look to either of them, suddenly finding the lab table much more interesting then the two good looking men before you.

"So… Um…" Grace broke the silence first, his fingers tapping against the edge of the counter as if it were a drum set as if to release some pent up anxiety he was feeling as his eyes were trained on you though they would shift to Simon every so often. "About what happened earlier…" He added on, watching at the way your face flushed red as you still continued to refuse to make eye contact with them. "What is uh… Ah fudge, what is everyone feeling right now?" Grace just blurted out which finally caused you to look up, making eye contact with Simon before looking at Grace.

"I mean, I think my feelings are pretty obvious." You answered, your face just as red as the spacesuit you wore before you decided to just lay your feelings out for them. "I like both you and Simon. Not only are you both extremely good looking, but Grace you're extremely smart in a dorky way and Simon you're incredibly caring and polite despite what you've gone through. You both are just… You're amazing people and I don't know if it's because I haven't been around anyone else in the past couple of years or it's actually me liking you both, but I… If you both are willing, I want to give it a try." You confessed, wording it much better than your previous admission. Grace adjusted his glasses before he looked to Simon who seemed to keep a rather neutral expression, though there was the faint flush of a pink on his face.

"You… Really think that of me?" Simon questioned you to which you scoffed, nodding quickly.

"Of course I do! Whatever you did in the past doesn't define you now, Simon." You explained to which Grace, to your surprise, nodded in agreement and even added in his own two sense to your statement.

"What Red said. Simon, whatever you once were doesn't matter to us right now. The only Simon we care about right now is the one standing before us. Red is right by what they said earlier, you're affectionate in your own way, not to mention assertive when you have to be. You have a good nature to you and you know when to be friendly versus when to get a little rough." Grace complimented Simon, his own cheeks beginning to burn as he continued to compliment the ex-convict beside him for what felt like several minutes, his blush darkening as he heard your laughter beside him as his rambling went on before he decided to come back to his original statement. "…I guess what I'm trying to say is that I, like Red, would um… Would like to give this a try. Between the three of us, that is."

Simon swallowed hard as he looked between you and Grace, the blush on his face darkening at Grace's words. You both were serious about what you said; He could see it in your eyes, in the way you both acted around him even now. Deep down, he wasn't sure he deserved something like this. What he had done in the past was horrible, though what happened at Filament Station was by no means all on him either. To have not one, but two people who thought of him not as the Butcher he was known for, but as someone worthy of love and affection? It was new to him and in some ways, it scared him and yet also excited him. If anything, he'd allow himself one nice thing in life and it would be this, it would be you and Grace. Simon would let out a shaky breath as he gave a small nod, hesitant to speak for a moment as he decided on his words.

"At one point, I really didn't think I'd deserve to have a partner to call my own, let alone two." He laughed awkwardly, moving a hand to rub the back of his head as his heart seemed to skipped a couple beats in his chest at the way you perked up in your seat, at the way Grace looked at him from over his glasses with interest swirling in those blue eyes of his. Damn, he really was whipped for the both of you, he just didn't realize that this was the feeling he was feeling back then. "If we're going to make this work, we'll need to set some ground rules, ensure boundaries are made apparent and followed." Simon instructed, easily slipping into that leadership role that seemed to somehow come so naturally to him. You nodded in agreement, as did Grace.

"I can agree with that." You smiled, leaning forward on the counter now as all embarrassment from earlier was wiped clean and replaced with nothing but relief.

"Then, it's settled." Grace confirmed with another nod, though he felt the butterflies fluttering around in the pit of his stomach at the realization that this was, in fact, happening and not some dream he was having. "From here on out, we're a throuple."

"We've got some time before Rocky returns, we might as well set those boundaries now." You informed them, wasting no time in getting up from your seat to grab your laptop from nearby to record everything that would be discussed just in case you happened to forget somewhere down the line. Simon nodded as he took a seat beside Grace, watching as you eventually returned and started the device up. Within seconds of the blank document being opened, you looked between Grace and Simon with a small smirk, your first question already decided on.

"How do we feel about pet names?"

In the time it was taking Rocky to receive some form of an answer on Erid, you began to notice a change within Grace, one that had you worrying for his well being. He was falling ill and with your medical training, you were able to diagnosis part of the problem; Despite eating what supplies you had brought over from the Skeld, you noticed that they lacked certain nutrients and vitamins that humans needed. Sure, your anatomy and biology was very similar to that of a human, but at the end of the day you were still alien. Your species thrived on different nutrients and vitamins that humans may not have required or even needed so it made sense that whatever was in the food you brought from the Skeld wasn't keeping him properly nourished.

With that in mind, you set out to figure out just what you could pair whatever food you had left with to try and get Grace the nourishment he needed until you could moved onto Erid. It took some time and a lot of trial and error but eventually you decided on the one thing that had a literal breeding farm for on the Hail Mary; The taumoeba itself. Pairing that with whatever 'coma-slop' resided in the tubes you had found managed to provide Grace with some protein. It would be enough to keep him alive until you figured out a long term solution.

With a temporary solution put together and Grace on bed rest for the remainder of your time in space, you had Simon checked as well in case he started to show the same symptoms. Despite him saying he felt perfectly fine and that there was no issues, it seemed the mutations from the blood ocean were keeping him relatively healthy and while it did give you some relief, you couldn't help but wonder just what those mutations provided him with. Once properly settled on Erid, you were going to figure out just what those mutations did to him and see if perhaps there was a way to reverse them, if he so wanted.

The next time you saw Rocky, you had informed him of Grace's sudden illness and the temporary solution you provided him with, but it certainly sped up your move in process on Erid. With some serious planning, the three of you successfully migrated to Erid and were moved into the biodome that the Eridians had been working on so you all had a place to stay; The Hail Mary on the other hand remained in Erid's orbit, it wasn't like the ship was going anywhere anyway and if you all really needed it, Rocky and the others would ensure your trip back to the ship was an easy transition.

The dome was made with Grace's ideal environment in mind; A beachfront with what looked to be actual waves brushing against the sandy shore, a light fog rolling in off the coast and a decently sized house sitting high up on a cliffside with what looked like an attempt at a tree beside it. You made a mental note to leave any of the planting to Simon, as much as you appreciated the Eridians attempt at recreating foliage, you wanted actual plants in the end if it was even possible.

"Rocky ensured house is large enough for Grace and mates! Is okay? Question?" Rocky asked one day as you and Simon moved certain things in from the Hail Mary into the house; You had continued to put Grace on bed rest and had Armando watching over him whenever you weren't around to do so much to Grace's displeasure but he wasn't one to disobey doctors orders after all. It took some time to figure out just how to move the robotic arm from the ship into the house, but once figured out he was placed into the home without another thought.

"It's perfect, Rocky. Thank you again and please pass our thanks along to the biodome team. They've done an amazing job with everything so far." You thanked him, watching as his carapace shook in delight.

After that, you began to meet a lot of other Eridians who would become staples in your lives. Of course Adrian was the first to meet you all, Rocky having dragged his mate along to help you figure out the nutrition problem for Grace given they were the main scientist who built the biodome and controlled most of the environmental properties surrounding it. Alongside Adrian, you had met another Eridian around who was roughly their height but was much wider with varying shades of orange, red, and brown coloring that ran across their body, a couple simple white lines separating the coloring in certain spots.

You nicknamed them Canyon because in a way, it reminded you of the canyons that Grace showed you back on Earth so you thought the name to be fitting for such an amazing Eridian. Unlike Rocky, Canyon didn't stand on their tiptoes, instead they laid them flat against the ground. You though that it must be a preference given the weight they carried to them, I mean their carapace was huge and couldn't be easy to carry around.

"Red, this is ♩♫♪♫♩, an Eridian biologist. They will assist you in finding solution for Savior Grace's health." Adrian informed you with their soothing musical notes. It was no wonder Rocky fell so hard for them; With a voice like that, you honestly would cave too. In a way you supposed Simon was your Adrian as his voice did wonders when putting you to sleep. Canyon would look towards you, or you assumed they were looking towards you, and gave a small nod with their carapace though it barely looked like they moved at all.

"Is nice to meet mate of Savior Grace. ♩♫♪♫♩ will help in any way possible to ensure Savior Grace's survival. Statement." Canyon's notes were somewhat deeper, but you were still able to understand bits and pieces here and there; Grace may have become more fluent in their language in the short time he had been here, but you still needed the translator from time to time. You would smile upon reading the translation, looking towards Canyon now.

"Ah, thank you. It's lovely to meet you as well and I can't wait to begin working with you." You returned the greeting and thanks.

From that moment on, you and Canyon worked closely together on several topics with the main one being the nutrition that would help Grace get back on his feet but also provide food for you and Simon as well. It took some time, with you residing in the clinic they had made for you in a smaller biodome connected to Grace's via a xenonite tunnel.

The clinic was small yet had enough room inside it for a small waiting area, an examination room, and a lab for you to conduct any tests you may have needed. Since Grace wasn't allowed to assist you in your work due to you still restricting him to bed rest, he had asked that you record anything and everything you did so he could at least watch it on the laptop whenever you uploaded the files to feel like he was there with you. You weren't one to tell him no, so since day one you had recorded everything you and Canyon had worked on together which included the ups and the downs.

Now, there was one thing Canyon had tried to warn you about time and time again and this little warning liked to show up in your biodome, in your clinic, completely unannounced. Canyon had a mate, one that was around Rocky's size and bared extreme similarities to that of a slice of watermelon, thus resulting in you nicknaming them Melon. Melon had an extreme obsession with space and everything that lied beyond, yet was not one of the few picked to go on the Blip-A to solve the astrophage problem (and thankfully so). So, when Melon had found out that their mate Canyon was working alongside one of the three aliens that now resided on Erid, why wouldn't they want to go with? Your first meeting was memorable, to say the least.

"Red, this is Canyon's mate, ♫♩♪♩♫." Canyon had introduced you after having brought Melon with to the clinic one day . You swiveled around in your seat, looking towards the smaller Eridian with somewhat wide eyes before you smiled.

"Ah- It's nice to meet you! I'm Red." You greeted, getting up from your seat before letting out a small noise of surprise as Melon quickly skittered across the ground and towards you, moving in circles around you to get a better look at you.

"Is nice to meet! First time seeing alien! Statement!" Melon began to observe, soon coming to stop in front of you as they practically shook in excitement. You watched Melon with an eyebrow raised, looking towards Canyon for help who seemed to sigh at the reaction of their mate.

"Canyon apologize for mate. Mate very excited to meet Red and Red's mates." Canyon apologized, though it didn't seem to stop Melon from asking a million more questions, each one having you chuckling nervously and rubbing the back of your head as concern seemed to well up inside you.

"Wow okay um, l-let's slow down a bit, yeah? That's… That's a lot to ask and I'm still new to your language so please bear with me here." You informed Melon, leaning over to look at the translator that sat nearby on your desk, scrolling through the long list of questions that seemed to stretch on forever on the screen before you. You would answer what you could as you scrolled along, but with each answer you gave, a million more sprang from the Eridian and you could just feel the embarrassment rolling off of Canyon in waves. That day was a very long session and very little work was done to fix the nutrition issue, but at least Melon went home satisfied while you returned home with a massive headache.

Canyon would do their best to sneak away from Melon to work with you, but there were some days that it just couldn't be helped and Melon would follow along anyway; At one point you had even decided to just deem Melon as your assistant whenever they came around, which after some thought was a really bad idea because they just refused to stop talking about it and basically freaked out over the fact that you had asked that of them.

Currently, you were recording one of the logs in the lab, the camera positioned nearby on the tripod as your rubbed at your face in what could only be described as defeat.

"We're so close to a breakthrough, I know we are, it's just hard to get any work done with a certain someone around the clinic." You informed the camera, lifting your face to look at the screen that was turned back at you so you could see yourself. It was during moments like this that you began to understand what Grace told you when Rocky moved onto the Hail Mary. "Just like you said Ry, privacy is a premium. It doesn't exist at al-"

"Who Red talking too, question?" You inhaled quietly, your eyes shut as you attempted to control the headache that suddenly appeared as the cause for it was now in the same room as you.

"I uh, I'm making a video log, Melon. It's for Grace since he can't be here with me to help solve the issue." You opened your eyes as you exhaled, looking towards Melon who perked up at your words and quickly scurried over, lifting their arms as if trying to climb up onto the table to get to the camera.

"Hi Savior Grace! It Melon! Melon say hi! Statement!" Melon shouted, waving their arms around as you grabbed the camera and adjusted it so whenever Grace watched this log back, he could see just who was causing the delay in your findings. Not even a few seconds later, the darkened arms of Canyon wrapped around Melon and began to drag them away.

"Canyon apologize to Red. Canyon take Melon home so Red can work." Canyon apologized even as Melon squirmed in their hold, complaining the entire time before promising to Canyon that they would behave. You had to bite back a laugh as you looked down at the camera, gently shaking your head before you decided to cut the log there.

It would take countless days and nights in the clinic, running through various tests and theories before a solution was found. With the labs you had done on Grace before your arrival to Erid and his own scientific journals, you and Canyon were able to synthesize the various vitamins Grace required which were then turned into vitamin smoothies for the time being. It helped Grace get back to his somewhat normal self and you could relax for awhile. That was until Canyon had taken your findings and pushed them a step further.

You still believed it to be cannibalism to a degree, but you supposed if it was made of your own muscle tissue, did it really count? Canyon, alongside several other Eridians, had come up with a way to grow muscle tissue from a sample of your own and effectively turn it into edible meat for you, Grace, and Simon. You had turned your nose up to it the day they had replicated your own muscle tissue, but Grace did not seem to give a care as his own muscle tissue was grown and turned into that edible meat. He was scarfing down what he began to call a 'meburger' just about every day and at one point, it really did concern you how much he ate the stuff but if it had him feeling better, who were you to stop him. Simon was iffy on the idea, unsure if eating whatever tissue came from his body was exactly a good idea given what the mutations from the blood ocean did to his body, so you told Canyon to discard whatever meat was made from Simon's muscle tissue alongside with the tissue just a precaution. Better safe than sorry after all.

As an alternative, you and Simon had gotten with Adrian and asked for another biodome be made on the eastern side of the main dome were you would be able to grow some form of plant life to have instead of just meburgers and vitamin shakes. It took a lot of trial and error to get the correct properties of dirt so the plants would thrive, but it was eventually done and Adrian had surprised Simon with the dome some time later.

The grass was the perfect shade of green as it expanding the entire floor of the dome, a large tree having grown in the center thanks to Simon's donation of the sapling pendant he wore around his wrist; After seeing it fully grown, Simon had broken down into tears after seeing just how healthy and beautiful it had grown. From that tree alone you were able to plant a few smaller ones surrounding the dome and even began a greenhouse after the success of the trees sprouting around you. You had donated whatever plants the Skeld had to Simon, knowing that he'd be able to figure out just what could become edible and what was purely just for looks. It was Simon's favorite place to be besides being with you and Grace in the comfort of your shared home. If you couldn't find him there or with Grace during class, then he was in the greenhouse tending to the wide variety of plants that began to grow beautifully under his care.

After all was said and done at the end of the day, your favorite part of living on Erid was returning home to Grace and Simon.

As you made your way up the steps, your gaze glanced over the water to see the reflection of the twinkling 'stars' that were scattered across the water; The Eridians had made the biodome a twenty-four hour day and night cycle so you were able to experience a proper set of cycles again to help regulate your bodies to a new and better schedule. You were honestly grateful that the Eridians had even took a step further and included all the little details that made up each cycle; From the constellations that you had mentioned to Adrian one day to the occasional cloudy day that would block the 'sun' of the biodome. You hummed lowly in content before you turned away from the view and pushed open the door to your shared home, the familiar scent of home immediately invading your senses and allowed your muscles to slowly relax.

"Sunshine! You're home!" Grace greeted as he turned to look at the door upon your entry, a warm smile on his face as he adjusted his glasses so they sat properly on the bridge of his nose. Grace was always the first to greet you even if he didn't see you enter the house with his own two eyes; You supposed your steps sounded different compared to Simon's so it was easy to pick out who was where. He got up from the couch, placing some papers aside on the coffee table before he quickly closed the distance between you as he planted a kiss to your forehead upon reaching you. You smiled at the action, shutting the door behind you as you moved into his touch a moment later.

"Hey Ry. How was class today?" You questioned after as you slipped your shoes off, placing them beside the door before you followed Grace as he guided you into the living room, his arm wrapped around your waist before a sigh escaped the man. 'Oh this is gonna be good.' You thought to yourself as you both rounded the corner of the couch.

"Those pebbles are so energetic! I'm all for the questions but sometimes they just keep going and going. We got so off topic today I didn't even know how to wrangle them back to the main topic! In the end I just gave up and decided to make it a 'Ask Dr. Grace whatever you want!' kinda day." Grace vented, plopping himself back down onto the couch before pulling you down to sit beside him. You laughed lightly as he recalled his day to you, snuggling up into his side as you rested your head against his shoulder.

"How about we switch for a day? You go into the clinic and work with Canyon while Melon asks a million questions a second while I go teach the pebbles for a day and get asked a million questions a second." You teased, watching the way Grace would pretend to give the suggestion some thought.

"Hmm… That's a tough choice, how about I get back to you on that later?" He questioned, wrapping his arm around you as he moved to rest his head against yours, pulling you as close as he physically could. You hummed in response, allowing your eyes to shut for a brief moment before you heard the door open yet again. Both you and Grace would turn your attention to the door, your face lighting up a bit to see Simon entering. His hair was tied back into a very messy ponytail, dirt smeared across his face, his forearm, and even his clothing as he passed through the door; A basket was balanced against his hip that seemed to be filled with varying types of vegetables he was able to grow from the plants he was provided with.

"Welcome home, Si!" You greeted him warmly, watching the way his gaze looked up to meet your own, a smile crossing his features at seeing both you and Grace for the first time since breakfast that morning.

"Well don't you two look comfortable. Don't worry, I'll handle all the dirty work you two just sit there and look pretty." Simon joked, managing to kick his boots off and scoot them with his foot so they resided beside your own pair of shoes before he'd make a pit stop into the kitchen to drop off the basket. A small laugh would escape you as Grace blushed, rolling his eyes at Simon's comment.

"He does know it's really hard to be this pretty, right?" Grace joked as he pretended to flip his hair aside in a dramatic action, one that had you laughing harder than it should've.

"It-It's very hard. He just wouldn't understand." You teased as you looked over hearing Simon's footsteps approaching. Simon leaned over the couch, an eyebrow raised before he pressed a quick kiss to your head along with Grace's.

"Are we having fun over here? It sure sounds like it." Simon questioned, straightening himself out as he looked between you and Grace with a questioning look.

"Oh so much fun. We're trying to decide which would be a better day; Answering a million questions from the pebbles or answering a million questions from Melon." You asked him, another laugh escaping you at the face Simon had made at the mention of the Eridian. Simon had met Melon once before and for an extremely small second, he wished he was in the SM-13 so he could escape the Eridian's onslaught of questions.

"The pebbles, easily. Melon is… Starlight, I don't know how you handle them." Simon sighed, shaking his head as he could already hear their musical notes ringing his ears and rattling around his head.

"I-I don't know either to be honest, I really wish I had tips for how I handle them. I suppose Canyon helps out a lot in that department, they ground Melon in a way I've never seen before." You responded, adjusting yourself against Grace as you thought about the Eridian pair; As much as Melon drove you crazy, they did help out in the lab from time to time when they had calmed down and actually locked in to whatever you and Canyon were working on. Sometimes they'd just sit nearby and watch you both work with what you could only assume were heart eyes from the little chitters they'd make every so often. The more you thought about it though, the more you began to question if Melon had somehow formed a crush on you. You would have to look into that later.

"You know, they kinda remind me of Rocky and Adrian in a way…" Grace commented, his head tilted as he thought about the set of Eridians and their similarities to one another. You quickly looked up to Grace, your eyes wide. "I thought so too! So it wasn't just me!" You exclaimed, causing Grace to laugh at the realization that you both had come to the same conclusion just at different times. Simon shook his head in response, moving away from the couch.

"Well, I'm going to shower then head to bed. I suggest you two are in bed before I finish." Simon said, walking towards the bathroom. You leaned your head back to watch him with curisoity swirling in your eyes, an eyebrow raised in his direction.

"And if we aren't?" You challenged, a shiver suddenly running down your spine at the way he looked over his shoulder at you, his eyes darkening at your challenge.

"Oh you don't want to find out, starlight." He growled his response before rounding the corner and into the bathroom, the door closing with a soft 'thud'. Grace bit his lip, shifting his gaze to you as you shifted your gaze to match his, no words needed to be shared in this moment. Quickly you both darted off the couch and towards the bedroom to get yourselves ready for bed; If there was one thing you both knew, it was to not test Simon in a game you knew you wouldn't win in the end even if you both somehow managed to cheat at it.

"Stratt!" You shouted as you stormed into the room she resided in, shoving past the set of men in black suits with a hiss of 'Get out of my way' as they attempted to prevent you from entering the office. Stratt stood in front of the window, her gaze never leaving the world outside though it was obvious her mind was elsewhere. She didn't turn to acknowledge you because of the fact she already knew why you were here.

"Where is he?" You demanded, having stopped a few feet away from her with both men now standing on either side of you just a few inches away in case you attempted to do something rash. She remained quiet as she continued to look outside though she was studying you through the reflection of the glass; You were upset, obviously, though that might've been an understatement, really. Deep down, she knew you were livid so that prompted her next question; Would she play dumb as to why you were upset? Or would she actually tell you what you wanted to know?

"I'm not sure what you're asking me." She decided on, speaking in a calm, neutral tone. It made your blood boil even hotter than it already was as you gritted your teeth, your hands turning to fists at your sides.

"Don't bullshit with me! You know what I'm asking you! Where is Ryland?!" You emphasized your previous statement, watching the way she exhaled before she slowly turned to look at you. The look on her face had your stomach twisting. It was a look of apology, of instant regret to her decision but it would leave just as quickly as it appeared on her face.

"I believe you already know." She informed you as she moved away from the window, moving to stand behind her desk as she kept her gaze on you. Your mouth went dry, your mind reeling as you very quickly began to put together the dots of her few words.

"You put him on the Hail Mary." You slowly spoke, Stratt nodding to your statement as she sat herself down. Suddenly your blood was boiling all over again, your rage sparking a new fire inside you. "Why?!"

"I needed an expert on Astrophage and was mission-ready." She explained, slightly jumping as you slammed your hands onto her desk now, your eyes narrowed as you felt the tears well in your eyes. The men would step forward to restrain you but Stratt gently waved them off in a subtle motion.

"Did you even give him a choice?! You could've had someone else trained instead of him!" You seethed, slowly beginning to shake.

"It would have taken too long. We would've been behind on schedule and Earth wouldn't stand a chance. He was the only option." Stratt shot back but it wasn't doing anything to calm you, if anything it caused so many more emotions to rise in you all at once. Before your arrival here, Grace had called you several times in a row; You had missed each and every one of those calls. Oh how you wished you took at least one of them now, you would've gotten here so much faster to prevent it all from happening, Earth be damned.

"Get me into space immediately. I'm going after him."

"[Y/N], I can't do tha-"

"Yes you can!" You shouted at her, the tears falling from your face freely now. "You shot my fiancé up into space without so much as a second thought! I'm almost positive he told you about me but clearly that didn't matter now did it?!" You continued to shout, your throat beginning to grow tight as you pictured Grace's face, at how scared he must've been at realizing he was going no matter what he told them. Did he tell them that he had you? Or did he keep it a secret so they wouldn't use you against him down the line if he refused to do something? You know he didn't go willingly, that much was for certain. He wouldn't leave you behind like that, so was that why he was calling you? Did they allow him to make a call to you before they shot him off into space as a last goodbye? It continued to break you inside the longer you thought about it, about him. Picturing how scared, afraid, and heartbroken he must've been. He wasn't the exactly the heroic type, after all.

"You can build another ship, a smaller one that doesn't have all the fancy tech and shit the Hail Mary does. Teach me how to become an astronaut and send me after them with some kind of tracker or something. I don't care if I have to die out there,, I'll do so willingly just so long as I'm with him in the end. Just… Please… I need to see him again. I need to be with him." You pleaded with her, your voice cracking as the rage began to fuel the desperation that coursed through you; If she didn't help you, then you'd find someone who would. It may take several years, but one way or another you were going to get to Grace in the end.

You'd lower your head so she couldn't see you cry, moving a hand to your face to wipe your sleeve against your eyes to try and stop the tears from even hitting her desk. Stratt kept her gaze on you, her own regrets being stirred around as she looked to the side in thought as to what she could possibly do. The sounds of your sniffles and sobs was the only noise that echoed in the room until she let out a quiet sigh and turned her attention back to you.

"Very well, we'll come up with something."

The school bell rang before Grace could finish his lesson, a small huff escaping him as he glared a bit in the direction of where the bell was located; His students had successfully distracted him, resulting in him being unable to finish yet another lesson for the second time this week.

"Alright, class dismissed but please remember that we are having a test tomorrow, no distractions will change my mind on that! I will not be putting any kind of an extra credit question on the test so please make sure to study!" Grace spoke as he moved to open the door out into the hallway, leaning back against it to keep the door open for his students as they filed out into the hall; He was lying, he'd sneak an extra credit question in there as he always did. Some of the children would say good-bye to him, others gave him high-fives and some giggled at the success of having distracted their teacher from the lesson yet again.

Grace kept an eye on the kids, ensuring everyone was out of his room before he'd look around the hall, his gaze immediately falling on you as you had opened your own door to allow your class out. You were the teacher that resided just across the hall from him and if he recalled right, you taught a STEM elective with the main focus being on space, though you dabbled in other subjects to ensure all your bases were covered. He's overheard a few of the students talk about how much fun your class was and how they always looked forward to the next lesson. You were saying your own goodbyes to the children, a warm smile on your face before you turned your attention towards Grace.

"Ah, good afternoon Mr. Grace." You greeted, that warm smile widening upon your face. Grace would return the smile, giving a small nod of his head toward you.

"Afternoon." He returned the greeting, watching as the students all but excitedly exited your class before looking at you once more. "I assume it was an exciting lesson?"

"Oh very! We've begun our mission to Mars." You informed him excitedly. Grace raised an eyebrow in response. Mars? Well that's certainly something, usually it was the moon first but perhaps you wanted to give the kids a more exciting place to visit.

"Mars huh? Sounds like they'll have a rough journey ahead of them but with you teaching the lesson I'm sure they'll have fun." He smiled at you, a faint blush appearing on his face; Did he seriously just compliment you like that? Get it together, Ryland.. "Well, I'll let you go, I've got homework to grade and all that jazz." He quickly added on, about to make his way back into his classroom.

"Ah- Ryland?" You called out, causing him to stop at the call of his first name. He looked back at you, watching at the way you swallowed hard, shifting your weight as you chose your next couple of words carefully.

"Would… Would you be interested in going out for coffee sometime? I know an amazing cafe just a couple blocks from the school that has the most amazing blend of coffee. I think you'd enjoy it." You shyly asked, your heart pounding in your chest. You had spoken to Grace several times before, whether in passing or in the teachers lounge. You found him to be an extremely interesting guy and the fact he was handsome was just a bonus to you. You hoped you weren't overstepping by asking him this, especially at the end of the school day with some students still lingering around. Meanwhile Grace looked shocked, completely taken back by what you just asked; Were you asking him out? Him, of all people? It wasn't like he would turn down the offer, oh no, he wouldn't dream of it. You had the looks, the amazing personality, not to mention you were fantastic with the kids yet it still shocked him that you were interested in little old him out of the hundreds of others that lived in the area.

"That… That sounds nice. I'd like that a lot." He smiled, giving you a nod. You would perk up at his agreement, your warm smile returning your face.

"Wonderful! Let me get my phone, we can exchange numbers so we can plan a time and date!" You spoke, quickly retreating into your classroom to gather your phone. Grace remained where he was, that familiar fluttering of butterflies beginning to grow in his stomach.

"What about you, Rock? What do you miss most about home?" Grace questioned as he stared up at the screens around him, his head leaning back against Rocky's xenonite ball. Rocky would let out a small noise as he moved one of his arms over the other to brush his fingers against the two small patches of colored gem on his left arm.

"My mate." Rocky answered, adjusting how he was standing as he looked towards Grace. Grace didn't think he ever moved that quick, turning himself to look back at the Eridian with eyes wide.

"Wait, what? You got a mate? I mean, that you- I mean-" He was stuttering, completely at a loss for words. Why was he that surprised over Rocky having a mate? Falling in love was normal for humans, it was only expected to be normal for others even if they're alien. "What's their name?"

"Name is ♩♫♪♩♫." Rocky responded, chittering in a musical response. Grace could only stare at Rocky as it went on for several seconds, unsure of whether to be impressed or not by just how long it was before he'd give a small nod once Rocky was finished.

"It's beautiful." He responded.

"Grace have mate, question?" Rocky asked as his carapace would tilt to the side in curiosity. That simple question had Grace's body going rigid, his heart suddenly aching for something he only remembered a couple pieces of.

"I uh… Yeah, I do." Grace began, leaning back a bit on the walkway as he recalled you from the shattered fragments of his mind. "I'm pretty sure we were engaged which is uh, something humans do before getting married. Takes awhile to get to that point, a lot of date nights and stuff like that so I'm sure we've been together for awhile." He added on, a small smile on his face as his brain allowed him another couple fragments of you and him together; Your first date together at the cafe you had mentioned, the many late nights of staying up and grading papers, the movie nights you'd share in his own apartment before he'd move in with you into your home.

He would frown as he looked away now as the memories began to become too much for him; Did you hate him for leaving? Were you and him even still a thing? It's been such a long time on Earth already, perhaps you had forgotten about him and just moved on. Whatever happened, he guessed it didn't matter now anyway, he was gonna die on this ship once the mission was completed.

"Enough about me. You have a mate." Grace pointed to Rocky, an eyebrow raised as he wanted the subject to no longer be on him and instead of the Eridian beside him. "How long you been together?"

"186.3 years." Rocky answered, watching Grace with what could only be described as pride.

"That's a long time." Grace responded, watching as Rocky ran his hand over the marking on his arm yet again. He had to guess that mark was like a wedding band for Eridians, similar to how humans have rings. Grace suddenly grew curious; If you and him were actually engaged like his memory recalled, was his ring somewhere in his pack of stuff in the dorm? He made a mental note to check later when Rocky was asleep.

"Is not enough." Rocky simply stated and Grace couldn't agree more. He'd do anything to have more time with you.

"Ryland, where are we going?" You questioned as you kept hold of his hand, walking up the hill with him to wherever he was taking you. He had been acting weird all night; First when he picked you up, he kept wiping his hands on his jacket and blamed it on the California heat despite it being a very cool and breezy evening. Second at dinner he rarely ate which was odd for him because you know he could pack away a dinner and not leave a single scrap behind. Third and not least, he seemed to refuse to look at you the entire drive here, even now he refused to look at you as he led you up the dirt path. Something was going on, you just couldn't figure out what it was.

"You trust me, don't you?" He returned the question as he finally looked back at you, offering you that charming smile of his that had your heart skipping beats; It was the kind of smile that would always calm you no matter what you were going through. It didn't help that he looked extremely handsome tonight. Honestly you would argue that he looked handsome every day, even in the early morning as he was just waking up and his hair was a total mess and he had drool on the side of his face. Tonight though he was dressed in a nice pair of slacks, a dress shirt on under the suit jacket he wore over it, his hair fluffed just right and his glasses sat properly on his face for the entire duration of the evening; You wondered daily if such a thing was possible and tonight proved that it was, in fact, possible.

"You know I do." You responded with a smile, moving to stand beside him once you both reached the top of the hill. He had taken you just outside the city, past the Golden Gate bridge and to a location that offered you an amazing view of the San Francisco skyline with the sun setting well past the horizon, the night sky becoming visible as what few stars you could see began to shine against the inky black sky. You gasped quietly, letting go of his hand for just a moment to cover your mouth in awe. It truly was a beautiful sight, one you could never remove from your mind, but it still had you questioning just why he brought you here.

"Ryland, this is-" You began to speak, but the words died on your tongue as you turned to look at Grace who was now kneeling beside you, a blush on his face as he held out a small black box towards you, a ring right in the center. A simple one, but one that was still stunning regardless. Suddenly everything that happened all evening made sense and you could feel your own blush beginning to creep onto your face; How did you not put this all together sooner?

"I… I don't even know where to begin," Grace laughed, his face growing an even darker shade of red as the embarrassment caught up to him, it even tinted his ears red. "I had a whole speech planned out to tell you but honestly, I can't even remember a single word right now. [Y/N], I fell in love with you for a million tiny reasons, and I want to spend a lifetime discovering more of them with you beside me. Will… Will you marry me?" Grace popped the question, his heart hammering in his chest as he awaited your answer.

As you continued to stare at him in shock, trying to put together your wording your gaze caught something flicker across the sky above. You lifted your head towards the sky, catching sight of another meteor shooting across the sky; Did Grace know there was a meteor shower tonight? What are you even saying, of course he probably knew! He probably planned the whole proposal around it and prayed for clear skies the entire evening.

Looking back at Grace, you could feel the happy tears begin to prick the corner of your eyes as a small laugh escaped you before you moved to be level with him, moving your hands to his face to gently cup his cheeks. "Ryland, there's nothing I'd love more than to spend the rest of my life with you and find a million more tiny reasons to fall deeper in love with you." You finally answered him, watching the way his face lit up and he broke out into a goofy grin, relief flooding his entire body.

Grace would get back onto his feet, helping you up in the process before he'd slip the ring onto your finger. You hummed lowly as you looked it over on your finger, a warm smile crossing your face as you felt a few tears fall before you looked up at him. You moved your hand to rest onto his chest, feeling the way his heart beat wildly in against his ribcage before leaning in to kiss him. Grace was quick to catch onto what you were suggesting and gladly leaned in to meet you halfway for the kiss, his eyes shutting as he moved one hand onto your waist to pull you flush against him while the other moved to rest on your cheek, wiping away a stray tear as it fell from your eye. Above you, a few more meteors continued to shoot across the sky, illuminating the two newly engaged couple.

The sounds of waves brushing against the shore kept Grace grounded, or at least that's what he told himself as he ran his thumb across the smooth metal band around his finger. He wasn't sure why he wore it, if you did happen to have moved on, the ring meant nothing important, but he supposed one of the reasons he wore it again was because it connected him to you again. He could've returned to Earth, could've found you and apologized and gave you all kinds of reasons to be with him again, but in the end he choose to save Rocky. The decision was anything but easy and it took Grace several days to come to a conclusion, but he figured perhaps if he helped Rocky out, the Eridians would be able to help him get home again.

Then again, was it worth going home? For all he knew, you could've died in some accident or an illness he wasn't aware of and he'd be returning to no one to greet him; Sure Stratt and everyone involved in the project would be there, but it wouldn't be the same. Perhaps you had moved on, thinking he abandoned you for the Hail Mary mission. Perhaps you thought, at the end of it all, he didn't love you anymore so you thought it best to leave him in the past and look towards the future. Grace grimaced at the thought, moving his head into his hands as he shook it gently to try and chase those thoughts out of his head. They were just his mind playing tricks on him, he knew the real you. You were loyal, you were supportive, you wouldn't think such things, and most of all you were so deeply in love with him he was positive nothing would break the bond you two shared, even if he was light years away from home.

"Grace!" Musical notes reached his ears and Grace lifted his head to look towards the right, watching as Rocky all but rushed over with a wave of his arm,his xenonite suit glinting under the artificial sun they had created just for him.

"Rocky? I thought you were with Adrian today?" Grace questioned, an eyebrow raised as Rocky barely came to a stop beside him and almost collided with Grace; It had happened once before and Grace was rocking a massive bruise for what felt like an entire month. Rocky learned after that to start being more careful around Grace. Rocky pointed towards the eastern side of the biodome with the way over one of his arms.

"Grace come with Rocky! Adrian and Rocky have secret for Grace!" Rocky explained as he started to run back towards the direction he came, not caring if Grace actually got up and began to follow him. Scratch that, he did care, but his excitement told him to just keep going and that Grace would at some point follow.

"Wha- Rocky hold on!" Grace shouted as he got to his feet as fast as he could, chasing after the Eridian as he sped along towards the edge of the biodome. As they grew closer, Grace felt his confusion rise at the sudden addition of what looked to be a tunnel leading to who knows where. Rocky seemed to know where it led as he continued to urge Grace along.

"Follow Rocky! Is safe! Statement!" Rocky's high pitched musical notes rang out as he rushed along the tunnel and into a newer, more greenier biodome. From what Grace could tell upon entering, it was a smaller sized dome, nowhere near as large as his but it was filled with what looked to be green grass and even a few trees sprouted here and there; How the Eridians managed to do it he wasn't sure, but damn they were an incredibly smart species and he'd be forever grateful to them for everything they've done for him.

Nearby was a small house which confused Grace because he already had a house in the other biodome, so why was this here? Adrian stood just outside it, ushering whoever was inside to come out. What Grace saw made his blood run cold, his body freezing in place. This had to be a dream, right? There was no way this was real.

"Adrian, where are we going?" Your voice rang out, your head slightly tilted as you followed them out into the biodome you had grow used to over the past couple of months.

"[Y/N], shut the door, please." Adrian chittered which caused you to gently roll your eyes, your arm reaching behind you to shut the door to your house.

"Okay, okay, it's shut. Can I know where we're going no-" You started, looking towards where you heard the sounds of footsteps before you yourself froze to the spot; There, across the grass stood Ryland Grace. He, despite the many years apart, didn't seem to change in the slightest. His glasses hung off his face, that cream colored fox cardigan you had gotten him as an anniversary gift wrapped tightly around him, and he still looked as dorky as ever.

"Ryland…?" You choked out, immediately feeling the tears well in your eyes as you stared at the man just feet away from you. Adrian and Rocky stood nearby as they looked between the both of you, eager to see what would happen next now that there was not one, but two humans on their planet. Grace swallowed hard, feeling his own tears begin to run down his face as he broke out into a sprint, crossing the clearing in record time before immediately pulling you into the tightest hug you had ever known to come from him. You didn't wait much longer either, wrapping your own arms tightly around him as you buried your face deep into his chest and breathed in his familiar scent. God how much you had missed this man, how much you missed the physical touch of another human. Of him specifically.

"Please don't let this be a dream- Please don't let this be a dream." Grace repeated over and over again, his hold on you tightening as you sniffled against him, your own emotions being thrown for a loop.

"It's not a dream, Ryland. I found you, I finally found you." You sobbed, your hand gripping his shirt as you continued to cry against him.

"Such leaky blobs…" Rocky would quietly chitter nearby, earning a small nudge by Adrian as they would chitter back. "Knock it off."

You and Grace remained like that for what felt like hours, completely oblivious to anything and everything around you as you both just enjoyed the feeling over being together again. In reality, it was really only a few short minutes before Grace would pull away gently, moving his hands to your face to cup your cheeks and have you look up at him. He'd run his thumbs across your cheeks, wiping away the tears that fell from your face; Just as you noted about him earlier, you didn't seem to change at all. Sure you looked a bit more exhausted then normal, but it was still you. You still had those bright eyes, that warm smile to your face, everything about you still lit up the room you were in. Well, the biodome you were in he supposed now.

"How did… How did you get here? Better yet, why were you in space?! Last I checked, you certainly weren't trained for space!" Grace began to question you, his tears slowly coming to a stop as questions upon questions began to pile up in his mind. He was grateful to see you again, he was beyond ecstatic actually, but just how did you get here? It wasn't like any normal spaceship could get here, so what happened on Earth that allowed you to travel through space?

"It's not like you had any training either so does it really matter how I got here?" You shot back, sniffling a bit as your own tears came to a stop, though you'd laugh lightly at the face Grace gave you in return to your question.

"Yes! It does matter!" He argued, moving his hands away from your face to rest them on your shoulders now, gently squeezing them in the process. "It took me and Rocky years to get here and you're just- You're just here!"

"It's a really long story but to make it short, I confronted Stratt after your calls and found out they sent you to space." You began to explain, watching as his face twisted with several emotions as he recalled the memories. "I demanded I be sent after you because there's no world I wanted to live in that wasn't with you around. We came to an agreement in the end; She'd build me a ship to trail after the Hail Mary so long as I ensured you completed the mission. Though, I suppose in the end I didn't do much on my end of the bargain now did I?" You thought as you looked up at him, watching as Grace went silent and stared at you in utter shock. "Regardless, I ended up crash landing here after my ship began to malfunction some months ago. To be honest, I don't know how I'm alive… Everything here is so much different than Earth."

"You…" Grace began, the questions just growing even higher now with each word you spoke. He honestly didn't even know where to begin; You made a deal with Stratt, the same Stratt that shot him into space without another option. Just what was wrong with you? "Wait- Did you have a crew with you? Were you by yourself?! You're not a pilot, or an engineer, or even a scientist! And you crashed onto Erid?! How are you alive right now?! Did you not realize how dangerous this all was?!" Grace began to scold you before quickly transitioning into a ramble about how he would've eventually come home if you had given him time and a bunch of other stuff that you were slowly loosing interest in.

As nice as it was to hear his voice again, to see him go on and on in a lecture with the wave of his hands, you were getting tired of it and he now had all the time in the world to scold and question you now that you were with him again. You moved without another thought, both your hands flying to grab at the edges of his cardigan before pulling him down into a heated kiss, one that silenced him and his rambling and was powered by years of pent up frustrations of being so far apart from one another. Grace's face would turn a bright red, his mind shutting down and ceasing its questions as it suddenly shifted gears to focus on you and you alone. His eyes would slowly fall shut, his lips would move against yours as he rested his hands against your hips now as he gently squeezed them to ensure you remained grounded here with him. He forgot how amazing your kisses were, how amazing it was to feel you against him again and if it was up to him, he wouldn't stop kissing you but sadly his lungs were screaming at him for air after several short minutes.

Grace would pull away to catch his breath, breathing heavily as he pressed his forehead against yours. You breathed heavily in return, your eyes slowly opening to meet his blue gaze that was filled with nothing but love and adoration. Grace would offer you a smile, shifting his gaze to your hand as you brought it up to rest it on his cheek before he'd take notice of the ring on your finger and his eyes would widen.

"You still have it?" Grace suddenly questioned, moving away to look at the ring on your hand after taking your hand into his own, turning your hand ever so gently in his hold to stare down at the metal band across your finger; It looked just as new as the day he bought it, were you taking care of it while you were trying to find him? You hummed lowly as you nodded, an eyebrow raised at him as if the very question he asked was common sense.

"Of course I do. We're still engaged after all." You teased him, taking your hand out of his hold to poke at the center of his chest, giving him a look as you spoke. "Which means you owe me a wedding, Ryland."

"Rocky and Adrian help plan wedding!" Rocky suddenly chirped nearby, waving his arms in the air as if to get the attention of both of you. Grace would blush darkly, looking towards Rocky and Adrian before looking at you. You turned your attention from Grace to the two Eridians, a small laugh escaping you as you now looked to Grace.

"Well? How about a wedding on another planet, huh? That sounds like fun." You asked, moving yourself closer to rest your head on his chest to listen to his heart beat, shutting your eyes as you felt his arms wrap around you and his chin now resting on the top of your head. Grace could already feel himself relaxing; You were with him by means currently still somewhat unknown to him, but honestly he was grateful you were alive and safe. He was grateful that you were still madly in love with him and still willing to marry him even after everything you both had gone through. He didn't know a damn thing about Eridian culture and how their weddings work, but he was sure the two of you could make something happen.

Being stuck in space was one thing, but being stuck in space with not one, but two extremely good looking men? That was another thing entirely. Over the course of the trip to Erid you had grown close with both Grace and Simon; You learned their likes and dislikes, some old hobbies they used to have before everything went to shit in their respective lives, and everything else that fit in the in-between. The topic of love lives fell within this in-between line one random evening when you had brought it up.

"It wasn't exactly normal for those of us in Eden to have romantic relationships." Simon informed you and Grace one day after the topic arose, a distant look in his eyes at having to recall it. "The Father was the one who would decide if we were allowed such privileges and would pick whoever we were to get married too to ensure Eden would grow and prosper. Honestly, we were lucky to have the platonic relationships we formed."

"I had a girlfriend at some point." Grace told his story next, messing with the expo marker in his hand as he thought back to his life on Earth. "We were together about a good… Eight months I think it was before she left me for some guy named Mark." Rocky suddenly cut Grace off mid sentence with his quiet 'Rocky hate Mark' comment before Grace continued on. "She uh, she used to say I had my head in the clouds too much and wasn't grounded enough. Wonder what she would say if she saw me now." He questioned before shrugging it off, his attention along with Simon's now on you. You blinked in response before gently shrugging your shoulders.

"I don't have much to say in terms of my own love life. I never saw myself in any kind of relationship on Ziemia because I was so deep into my studies. After that it was mission after mission until the Polus mission." You stated simply. "No juicy gossip to report, sorry."

"Rocky have mate! Miss Adrian dearly... Rocky see Adrian soon!" Rocky shouted and you quickly whipped your head to look at him in shock while Grace simply laughed at your reaction. How did he have someone before any of you did? You supposed you'd never know.

After that, the topic was never really brought up again until recently when you began to notice your heart beating a bit faster around the two men in question. You noticed yourself staring at Simon a bit longer than normal, you caught yourself staying up later so you could listen to Grace rant on and on about his experiments and the outcomes of every single one. Overall, you caught yourself craving their presence and attention more and more with each passing second. In a way, it scared you; Were you actually falling for them, or was it just some side effect of being away from civilization for so long? Feelings were bound to arise, sure, but what if Simon and Grace didn't feel the way you did in return? You couldn't live with the embarrassment of rejection so you've just been bottling those feelings up and tossing them out of the metaphorical airlock in your mind.

Today, those feelings seemed to have flown right back and smacked into you at full speed because you found yourself sitting in the don't go crazy room, watching some sappy love story movie that you had found in the list of movies that were installed onto the laptop. The Notebook you think it was called? Honestly, you couldn't remember. You just found it and put it on to have as background noise while you tried to sort out just what you were going to do about these feelings.

"Red deep in thought. What is on mind, question?" Rocky spoke as he rolled his xenonite ball over to you, his carapace tilting slightly as he watched you curiously. It was rare for you and Rocky to have alone time with one another, but whenever it happened it was usually some deep meaning of life kinda talk. You never understood how you both would get onto the topics when there was already such a variety of topics to talk about, it just seemed to happen.

"Well um… If I tell you, you gotta keep it a secret, alright?" You turned yourself away from the screens, the movie long since forgotten as you adjusted yourself so you were now sitting cross legged on the walkway, leaning over to give Rocky a stern look. "This is like, a life or death kinda secret." You informed him, watching as he seemed to stand straighter at your words; This was a serious matter, so he was going to take it as such.

"Rocky keep Red secret! Rocky good at keeping secrets." Rocky spoke, though you were a little skeptical on if he could really keep what you were about to tell him a secret or not. With a small sigh and putting your trust in the Eridian, you leaned forward even further and dropped your voice to a hush whisper as if Simon or Grace could possibly hear you from where they were in the lab with the sounds of the movie playing behind you.

"I… I'm falling in love with Grace and Simon." You started, watching as the Eridian let out a small, high pitched noise before you quickly threw yourself over the ball as if to try and silence him. Jokes on you, because that did nothing to deafen the Eridian's pure excitement over your statement. You'd look up and down the hall, swallowing hard as you saw the familiar faces of Grace and Simon leaning out of the lab to look down the hallway at the two of you in a mix of confusion and concern.

Grace's hair was an absolute mess and his glasses were askew on his face meaning he was loosing his mind over some experiment he was working on, the top half of his spacesuit wrapped around his waist with one of his many science pun shirts on underneath it. Meanwhile Simon looked more composed then Grace, his hair was a little messy but it was that neat and clean kinda messy; He was probably the only person who could pull off such a look and have it work out in their favor. It didn't help that most of the shirts on the ship barely fit him so his muscles were more prominent, including the one he wore right now; A black shirt, most likely from Grace, with white words across the top that simply stated 'I had potential' with what looked to be the start of a curve on one side of the shirt before it dropped into a line with a ball resting on the end of it. The shirt paired well with the pants and boots he had originally arrived in though everything was thoroughly cleaned of any blood that came from that ocean.

You could feel your heart pounding in your chest, your face beginning to turn red as they continued to stare at the two of you as if waiting for you to explain just what was going on. 'Why did they both have to be so damn handsome? Why couldn't I have been rescued by some ugly aliens instead so I wouldn't have to suffer right now?' You cursed to yourself before forcing a smile to your face, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Everything okay down there?" Simon asked as he went to step out of the lab and into the hall.

"We're good! Just- Go back to whatever you were doing before! Don't mind us!" You shouted, waving your hands around as if to shoo Simon and Grace off as Rocky seemed to physically vibrate in the ball below you, obviously still not over your previous statement. Simon would glance at Grace who, in return, would give him the same look before they'd move back into the lab without another word. You could probably take a guess and say they were most likely going to talk about whatever just happened and come up with some theories about what you both were talking about. You exhaled once they were gone, relaxing for a moment before you slid yourself off the xenonite ball, glaring at Rocky once you were sitting back in your original spot though he clearly didn't seem to care about the look you were giving him.

"Red want mate! Red want mates! Statement!" Rocky corrected, his whole body continuing to shake in excitement; He was way too into this conversation and it made you realize you shouldn't have said anything and just quietly suffered like you had been. You blushed darkly regardless, putting your head into your hands as you quietly whined in response.

"Rocky please- Not so loud- I don't even know if they like me back." You admitted, running your hands up and through your hair in frustration before you allowed your hands to collapse down into your lap as you frowned, staring at the ceiling. There was only three of you on this spaceship, so like you put together before feelings were bound to arise, but it had you wondering if you were actually falling for them or if your mind just craved the connection because there was no other connection to be made. It made your stomach twist, it made your heart hurt, and it made you want to throw yourself out the airlock without another thought.

"Rocky find out! Rocky find out for Red!" Rocky offered, gently shaking the ball from side to side. You turned your attention from the ceiling to the Eridian, your brows furrowing.

"Rocky I just told you I don't want them to find out about this." You reminded him, watching as the Eridian stopped his movements. He let out a noise that was similar to a scoff, folding two of his arms over his carapace as if crossing his arms though it looked a little uncomfortable.

"Grace and Simon no find out. Rocky keep secret a secret. Red trust Rocky?" He questioned. You fell silent as you watched him, shifting your gaze to the side as you thought it over. If anyone was to help you find out, it was Rocky. Not because he was the only other person on the ship, but because he could see things you couldn't, hear things you couldn't. Grace confided in Rocky like he was his own personal diary sometimes, so he'd be able to figure out if Grace had a thing for you or not within the next day probably. Simon though, he was different. While Grace would ramble on and on about whatever he talked about and let things slip, Simon rarely opened up about his feelings unless he felt the timing was right.

You looked towards Rocky, exhaling before you sat up straight and nodded, your decision made. "I trust you, Rocky." You lifted your hand, turning it into a fist to gently press against one side of the ball as your way of shaking hands to an agreement.

Rocky let out another noise, excitement evident at the thought of you trusting him with something so serious before he'd press his own fist against the wall where your own resided. "Fist my bump!"

"That's still not right, Rock."

"Grace want mate, question?" Rocky suddenly sprung one evening, watching as Grace spit out the coffee he had been drinking not even three seconds prior to the question being sprung. It was currently just him and Rocky in the lab, you and Simon having left for the cockpit to ensure everything was still set on the correct path to arrive on Erid.

"R-Rocky what-" Grace coughed into his arm, attempting to dislodge whatever coffee had gone down his throat unexpectedly while looking around for something to clean up the counter with. After he found a rag nearby, he quickly wiped the counter off before looking to Rocky with wide eyes. "W-Where is this coming from?"

"Grace lonely. Grace need mate! Like Simon, or Red!" Rocky offered, bouncing in one of the xenonite tubes he had built in the lab. Grace continued to stare at Rocky in shock before a faint blush began to cross his face and he quickly shook his head.

"No. Rocky I don't need a mate-" Grace began but Rocky cut him off.

"Heartbeat says otherwise! Beat faster at mention of Simon! At mention of Red!" Rocky exclaimed. Grace could only blush harder now; Rocky had caught him, he knew he did, but he wouldn't admit it off the bat. You and Simon were the only others he had engaged with in a very long time, it was only common for feelings to develop but the more and more Grace thought on it, the more and more he realized it wasn't just because it was only the three of you, but because he actually felt something for you both. You both always seemed to engage with his ramblings, always supported his experiments and theories even if they were absolutely insane at times, and overall just allowed him to be him. You both didn't care if his head was so far into the clouds because you were right there with him. Despite this, he just couldn't admit to it right away.

"Rocky, humans do things different. We don't just suddenly jump to being 'mates.' We have to have time to bond-"

"Lots of time to bond since arrival! Grace already bonded with Simon and Red! Statement!" Rocky shouted, a small 'thump' being heard as he gently hit the wall of the xenonite tube; He was really into this whole mate topic and it caught Grace so off guard. He only brought up mates once before, back when they were still getting to know each other and it was only after Rocky admitted to having one himself, so why the sudden interest again? "Grace scared, question?" He added on.

Grace fell silent, sitting himself down on the stool as he watched his best friend as he thought the question over. Was he scared? Maybe a little, yeah. His past relationship didn't go so well and it was kinda the reason he never sought out anything more afterwards even if there were several single parents who approached him quite often during parent teacher conferences. If he went ahead and confessed and you you or Simon didn't feel the same way, well it would certainly be an extremely awkward ride to Erid and an even more awkward life knowing you two would still be with him given there wasn't exactly anywhere else you all could go. Grace sighed quietly, moving a hand up to rub at his face before running a hand through his hair, adjusting his glasses afterwards to look at Rocky as he rested his chin on his palm to think it over once more.

"Alright, yeah. I'm a little scared." Grace admitted, surprised when Rocky seemed to calm down and laid down in the tube.

"Rocky help Grace admit feelings, then Grace get mates!" Rocky offered, just as he did to you a day or two ago. Grace made a small face at the thought; Was it right to trust Rocky with such a serious and emotional task? Probably not. Then again, they were pretty much heroes to the galaxy after combining their efforts to handle the astrophage problem. Surely he could handle this, right?

"Rocky help me admit my feelings." Grace confirmed, watching as Rocky quickly stood in the tube, letting out happy musical notes.

"Grace get mates! Grace get mates!"

When it came to Simon, Rocky's relationship with him wasn't exactly the best. Simon didn't hate Rocky, and Rocky didn't hate Simon either, but when the only other alien you've met is a giant eel that has it out for you, Simon had every right to be skeptical of other aliens. So, Rocky had to force you to go with him to talk to Simon. You hated the idea, despised it actually, but went with regardless. He was withholding Grace's answer from you anyway and he swore to you that once you found out where Simon stood with his feelings, he'd tell you as soon as you both were alone again.

That brought you to your current predicament; You, Simon, and Rocky resided in the lab while Grace had left to take a nap to quickly recharge before his next round of experiments. You were working on your laptop, properly categorizing and labeling the various notes you had scattered around the counter on Eridian biology while Simon took care of what plants you had brought over from the Skeld for him to have. They were by no means normal plants, that was for sure, but it was fun to watch Simon try to figure out the proper way to take care of them and nurse them back to life since you hadn't really taken care of them since your crew died. You were a medic, sure, but you certainly didn't have a green thumb like Simon did. Rocky sat nearby in his ball working on whatever project he decided to fiddle with while remaining by your side.

You and Rocky had come up with a plan. one that may result in you getting hurt in the process, but hey, love hurts, right? After some time and a silent nod from you to Rocky, you'd get up from your seat with some of the papers you had scattered on the counter in your hand as you attempted to look interested in them.

"Hey Si, can you help me with thi-" You started as you took a step towards Simon before you yelped, the papers that were once in your hand now flying through the air as Rocky rolled his ball out to be in your way and effectively trip you; You would certainly suffer one hell of a bruise to the shin later from just how hard you hit that xenonite ball, but it was all in the name of science love. You quickly shut your eyes to mentally prepared yourself to collide with the ground of the lab, yet it never came. Instead, you fell right against Simon and into his arm, a soft grunt escaping him as he knelt down to properly rest your weight against him and hold you against his chest without the support of his other arm. Slowly you'd open your eyes upon realizing what happened, looking at the floor where your papers now remain scattered about before looking up at him with wide eyes, mouth agape; Your theory was right after all.

"If Red in danger, Simon help! Rocky trip Red, Simon catch Red! Simon heart beat fast if holding Red and Red know answer!" Rocky shouted earlier as he ran the idea past you and despite it sounding so cliche and stupid, you agreed to it anyway.

"Gotta be more careful there, Red. You could've seriously gotten hurt." Simon warned, though his tone was soft and lacked any form of scolding like it should've held, even if it was Rocky's fault you had tripped. His voice had pulled you away from your thoughts and you swallowed hard, one of your hands having fallen against his chest to brace yourself and wow, was he toned under that shirt of his. You could feel the blush rising to your cheeks, your hand remaining frozen against his chest before you'd feel it; Just how fast his heart was beating against your hand.

"R-Right- Um- T-Thank you, Simon. For catching me." You thanked him as you caught the way he looked at you; The softness in his eyes, the way he looked you over to ensure you weren't injured anywhere else before his brown eyes meet your gaze again. As he opened his mouth to speak, Rocky spoke in his place.

"Simon heart beat fast! Simon like Red! Simon want mate! Statement!" Rocky shouted, arms now raised and waving wildly in his ball. Simon, immediately taken back by the sudden outburst from Rocky, froze to the spot as his grip seemed to tighten on you. Like you? That was one hell of an understatement. Over the course of traveling with you and getting to properly know you, Simon had begun to fall madly in love with you. You treated him like another human and not the convict he actually was, treated him with nothing but kindness, and when when he was going through rough times, you never called him out on it and instead let him work it out himself with your supporting words and actions. Grace was the same way, helping Simon out in times you couldn't and despite being a total airhead at times, it made Simon laugh. Something he hadn't done in years. You both changed him from the man he was when he first arrived on the Hail Mary and he loved you both for it, but by god was he afraid to speak it.

"R-Rocky that's not-" You began, already putting together just how Simon felt for you but Simon was quick to clear his throat, helping you onto his feet as he stood.

"No it's um- I-it's alright. I uh, I need to go." Simon quickly spoke, looking you over one last time to ensure you were alright before he'd quickly leave to head to the dorm, leaving you and Rocky alone. Rocky would watch Simon leave before looking at you.

"Rocky think went well! Red have answer!" Rocky shouted, rather proud of himself.

You could only sigh in response as you shook your head, moving a hand to run it through your hair. You had your answer yes, but you also had a really bruised shin that needed treatment.

"Red, what's going on? You have been acting really weird the past couple of days, not to mention Rocky hasn't been any better. I think it's time to tell us what's going on." Grace confronted you, his arms crossed in front of his chest as he gave you a look. Simon stood beside him, hand on his hip as he also gave you a look. Despite having your answers on how both men felt about you, you just couldn't bring yourself to admit it to Grace and Simon, so instead you've just been avoiding them both for as long as you could. Grace came to the dorm? Suddenly you were in the lab busying yourself with something. Simon saw you and went to talk to you? Suddenly you were very tired and wanted to nap. It was very obvious now that both men had had enough and managed to corner you in the lab with no way out. You swallowed hard as you sat at the counter, messing with your fingers as you avoided looking at either of them; Rocky sat above you in his tube, watching to see what you would do and what you would say. Everything you two had done was leading up to this crucial moment, it was only a matter of if you would take the chance.

"Red… Please… If something serious is going on, I think it's only fair we know. Remember what we told you? You're not doing this alone. We're here to help you." Simon reminded you which caused you to tense up, cursing yourself quietly. Why was he always using your own words against you? You hated it and at the same time, you loved it. It let you know that your words actually stuck with him, that he took them to heart and applied them to his day to day life.

You would hesitate before you'd lift your head to look up and meet their gazes, but in doing so you'd feel your heart stop in the process; Grace was looking at you over the top of his glasses, concern swirling around in his blue eyes. Sure he spoke with a stern voice just moments ago, but you could see it in his stance, in the way he watched your every move; He was worried. He wanted to help you with whatever you were going through and if he had to start being stern with you to get you to open up, he'd do it. Simon was the same way. Despite his posture being firm and grounded, his expression was anything but; It was soft, concerned just like Grace's. These men were your everything and it was only fair you finally tell them what you were feeling.

"Aright, alright. Just… You may want to sit for this..." You offered, continuing to mess with your fingers, a nervous tick you had developed while on board the ship. Grace glanced at Simon to see if he would join him and after realizing Simon wouldn't sit, Grace would sit across from you before he gently reached out to take hold of one of your hands, Simon opting to remain standing behind him. It would take you a few seconds, attempting to find the proper wording as your brain short circuited at the feeling of Grace's touch.

"So, here's the thing right? I um… I had Rocky help me with a little experiment." You started which quickly caught Grace's attention.

"Experiment?" He questioned you but you quickly raised your hand, the one he had previously been holding, to silence him, wanting him to just listen and not question you just yet.

"Yes, an experiment. An experiment to find out if…" 'Here goes nothing.' "...if you both liked me in the same way that I liked you both."

Silence filled the room at your confession. Grace's eyes widened behind his glasses while Simon seemed to tense behind him ever so slightly. That's what this was all about? That's why Rocky was talking about mates so much recently? Because you had caught feelings for the two of them and just couldn't admit to them? It was wild, really, to request the help of Rocky of all people but in a way, Grace and Simon understood where you were coming from.

It caused Simon to lightly laugh at your admission as Grace remained shocked, his own cheeks turning red at the thought of you actually liking not just him, but Simon as well. You felt your cheeks burn at his laugh, immediately glaring in his direction.

"Hey! Why are you laughing?!" You barked, a mix of feelings starting to swell in your chest; A bit of rage, a large amount of embarrassment, and some others you honestly couldn't think of in this moment.

"Because it's funny, Red. You seriously allowed yourself to trip over Rocky just to find out if I had feelings for you?" Simon questioned you which shut you up almost immediately. Yeah, he had a point, it was a rather stupid plan when you really sat down to think about it.

"Wait, that's where that bruise came from?" Grace first asked before he suddenly switched gears to a new topic. "Rocky, you knew this entire time that Red liked us?!" Grace shouted at the Eridian, quickly turning the attention away from you and to the alien who let out a noise equivalent to a laugh.

"Rocky knew whole time! Rocky kept secret like Red asked! Grace not say to keep secret, so Red knows about Grace! Simon, Grace, and Red become mates! Statement!" He shouted back at Grace, waving his arms around as the three of you simply turned a dark shade of red the more and more the Eridian insisted you all become mates.

You hid your face in your hands, your cheeks burning with embarrassment and Grace just couldn't even look at you right now let alone Simon. Simon wasn't any better than either of you, having to look away and try to think of something to calm himself from just how flustered he had become, a sight that wasn't normal for him at all. This was turning into an absolute mess of a love confession and before anyone could say anything more, the voice of Mary broke through the rowdiness of the lab.

"Arrival to planet Erid in one hour."

Everyone froze at those words and suddenly you all were able to look at each other, any signs of embarrassment were clearly washed away as the reality of what was happening next set in. One hour from now, Rocky would be welcomed home. In one hour, he'd present the taumoeba that he and Grace had found and modified to solve the astrophage problem and they'd work on saving his planet and star. In one hour, you, Simon, and Grace would begin your new lives on a planet that none of you knew anything about despite what Rocky had explained beforehand.