nex

“Rocky mad Rocky asleep! Rocky miss new human!”

“It’s okay, Rock, I’ll tell you everything that happened, and you’ll be here when he wakes up” If he wakes up, Grace’s brain added, paranoid.

“Good good good.” Rocky was still rolling around Grace’s room in his ball, energy getting him as close as an Eridian could get to ‘bouncing off the walls’.

“So, as I was saying, Adrian sent someone to get me as soon as they got back. But we pretty quickly decided that he needed Armando, so we got him on a transport cart and wheeled him over to Mary.”

“Rocky glad Eridians save ship! New human alive because Eridians repair Grace ship.”

“I’m glad too. I don’t know what we would have done without Armando up and running. There’s no way I could have fixed his arm.”

“Grace mention new human have only one arm. Why, question? New arm grow back, question?”

“I don’t know what happened to him, but it seems… severe.” Grace cringed as his mind brought back the human’s shredded arm. The blood covering his entire body. There was so much. “It won’t grow back. Once a human loses something, it’s gone for good. Except hair and nails, that is.”

“Human body bad bad bad. New human need new arm, statement.”

“Maybe, if that’s what he wants. Probably not right away.”

“Humans dumb. Rocky no understand.”

“Everyone is different. He’ll probably want to adjust to not having it, make his peace with it, before considering a prosthetic.”

“Rocky no like make peace. Grace make peace when Earth send Grace to die. Now new human make peace. Bad bad bad.”

“We’ll just have to be there for him.”

“What last word mean last sentence, question?”

Grace thought back, remembering he’d said ‘prosthetic’. “It’s what humans call fake limbs.”

Rocky had settled from rolling around, humming while he sorted the new word into his mind. “Pros-theh-tic” he sounded out.

“Yeah, prosthetic. But don’t bring it up until we talk about it again. Or if he brings it up first, okay?”

“Okay, Rocky wait.”

Grace sighed, relaxing back into the couch. “I hope he wakes up soon.”

. 　⁺ 　 . ◆ . 　⁺ 　 .

Simon woke up thirteen hours later, just after Grace had fallen asleep.

“Grace! Grace! Wake up! New human awake!” Rocky rolled his ball against Grace’s bed, trying to jostle him awake along with his cries.

Grace rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on anything in the room without his glasses. “Huh? Rocky? What’s wrong?”

“Grace!!! Up!!! New human awake!!!”

“Ahh! New human awake!” Grace repeated back, finally comprehending what Rocky was trying to tell him. “Where? What’s happening?”

But Rocky was already out the door, barreling where the Mary was positioned in Grace’s biodome. Grace was stumbling behind him, slippers and cardigan donned before he ran out after his friend.

Lights were blinking in the room where they’d put Simon, definitely making his panic worse.

“Mary, turn off the alarms” Grace commanded as he entered the room, straightening his glasses as he took in the situation. The new human was trying to stand up, “Fiddlesticks, stop!!” Grace shouted, but the man had ripped the IV from his arm and was charging directly towards Grace.

Grace was thankful he was one of the chosen staff members to receive de-escalation training back when he was on Earth. He’d only used it once, so he was banking on muscle memory to save him when Simon grabbed him by the shoulder and started shoving him back towards the wall.

In this moment, Grace’s brain processed two pieces of information. First, that the man only had one arm, which changed some of the crucial elements of safe restraint. And second, that he didn’t have a ton of room to wrangle him down.

“Stop!” Grace shouted, just once, giving the new human a chance to do this peacefully. He knew it wouldn’t be taken. Teeth snarled in his face, this guy was actually growling at him, but Grace took his wrist and elbow in his hands, pinning his pressure points so he lost his grip and tapping the spot on the elbow that loosened the arm almost entirely.

“Grace!!” Rocky’s song was high pitched and stressed.

If he had more time to think, he wouldn’t have kicked the man’s feet out from under him and pin him chest down to the floor. But that’s what he did.

The man froze under him, breaths heavy, eyes wild with what looked like fear and shock from being slammed to the floor.

“I-” Grace went to apologize, but remembered his training. He couldn’t give in just because he felt bad using this force on someone who had every right to be terrified. “Can you be calm, or do I have to keep you down like this?”

The man struggled to break free of Grace’s hold, but with only one arm and already extremely weak (at least according to the few labs Armando had run), he was no match for the hold Grace had on him. He grunted in frustration, but went limp after a few seconds.

“Fine.” The word was clipped, Grace could feel the hate radiating off this man. But he had to trust him. Even though his school training had gotten him this win, this was still a grown man. He had to respect him like one or they wouldn’t get anywhere.

“Okay, I’m going to get up then. You don’t have to put the IV back in now, but you’re extremely weak right now. You should conserve your strength.” Grace wasn’t expecting a response, and he didn’t get one. So, he slowly released his grip from the man’s arm, getting up but staying seated on the floor across from him.

“Grace! Grace okay? New human attack Grace!” Rocky finally broke in after watching his best friend be attacked by this stranger.

“I’m okay, Rock. Just-”

“What the fuck is that thing!? And what the fuck is that thing?!” The man interrupted, gesturing towards Rocky, then Armando, who still loitering in the corner, waiting to step back in when the scan of the room was clear.

“This, is Rocky. He’s an alien. But he’s nice, his species are kind, and his mate saved your life. So you’re going to at least be nice to him.” Grace channeled his teacher voice, “And that is Armando. He’s a robot. But a medicine robot, and he also saved your life.”

The man’s eyes flicked back and forth between Rocky and Armando, then back to Grace. He watched as a bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face, and he dabbed it away with the sleeve of his cardigan.

“I know this is a lot to take in,” Grace started, “but you are safe here. Whatever questions you have, I promise I’ll answer honestly.”

The man glared at Grace, “And why would you do that?”

Grace’s eyebrows knit together, feeling genuine confusion before remembering that his life on Erid was unusually privileged. Eridians were honest, kind beings. Grace hadn’t been told a lie since the day he was… the day he was sent to space.

His eyes softened, “Because I have no reason to lie to you. Because I want you to be able to trust the care you receive here without fear there will be a cost. Because you’re a human, too, and that’s… well that’s basic compassion that all humans deserve.”

The man’s eyes seemed to well with tears, but he shoved his head between his knees before Grace could be sure. They were both still on the floor, Grace sitting criss cross applesauce, Simon’s knees pulled to his chest, his one arm wrapped around them, holding them to his chest.

Grace didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what he had said that set the man off. Maybe it has something to do with how he lost his arm. The brutality of wherever he came from.

“What new human name, question?”

The man’s head snapped up, and he looked between Rocky and Armando again. “Which one of them said that?”

“Rocky did,” Grace responded, gesturing his head towards Rocky. Rocky took a few small steps towards them. Simon flinched back, but didn’t scoot away.

“My name is Simon.”

“Simon,” Grace repeated back, liking the way his name sounded. He’d never met anyone named Simon before. “Well Simon, I’m Grace. Ryland Grace, but I haven’t been called Ryland in years now.”

“Grace doctor! And teacher! Grace smart smart smart.”

Simon’s eyes seemed to fix on Grace, examining each article of his clothing, his glasses, all the parts of him that did not scream doctor or teacher in the traditional aspects. 

Grace noticed this. “I was sleeping when you woke up, that’s why I’m…” he gestured towards his attire, and ran a hand through his hair, hoping to shimmy it into some sort of presentability.

“Oh,” Simon answered, voice gentler now.

Silence sat between them again. Grace not wanting to push, Simon still taking everything in.

“Rocky have many question. When Rocky ask new human Simon question, question?”

“Just Simon, Rock, we don’t have to call him new human anymore,” Grace corrected, giving Simon a small smile while he spoke. “Let’s wait until tomorrow, if that’s okay with you, Simon? Armando can give you something to help you sleep, or you can just… get to it, I guess. And I’ll come back tomorrow afternoon once you’ve had time to rest.”

A sheet of panic washed over Simon’s face. His eyes darted to Rocky and Armando again, and that’s when Grace realized. “I can-”

“Can you stay?”

Grace blushed, biting his lip as to not smile too wide and freak Simon out. Simon hid his blush looking away.

“Yeah, I can stay. Armando, can you grab some blankets from storage?” The robot whirred away, and Grace turned to Rocky. “I’m going to stay, Rock, but you can go. I’ll be alright.”

“Grace sure? What if new human attack Grace?” Rocky tried to be quiet with his question, but they both knew Simon could hear.

“He won’t, he gave me his word. And either way, I can handle it. Trust me.”

Rocky chittered to himself, nervous about the potential disasters that could happen. “Okay. Rocky come back after human sleep cycle. Make sure Grace okay.”

“Okay, sounds good Rocky. See you in the morning.”

Rocky skittered off, probably going to find Adrian and report everything that had just happened. Armando had already dropped the blankets off, as well as a few pillows, for which Grace was extremely thankful.

“I’ll just be right here, okay?” Grace walked to the only chair in the room and spread the first blanket across it. “I used to sleep in here sometimes when I would stay up late working. Even though where I should have slept isn’t far, sometimes I couldn’t make the distance.” He talked on, filling the silence while Simon watched him set up. “It’s actually really comfortable. Though after two or three nights it really does a number on my back.”

Silence, again. Grace was a talker, especially when anxious, but he was used to Rocky matching that and more. He’d finished setting his makeshift bed, though, so he left his slippers at the foot of the chair and slipped into the blankets. Before settling in, he took off his cardigan and put it on top of the blankets, a final comfort.

“Do you need anything before we sleep? I can get it,” he offered, wanting Simon to feel able to ask for things without worrying that the robot would be involved. Or the alien, for that effect.

“No,” Simon responded. Then adding, “But thanks.”

“Of course,” Grace’s positivity shone even in the dark. “Goodnight, Simon.”

“Night.”

--