Grace hadn't been in good condition when both he and Rocky made it to Erid. He'd been whisked away by Eridian scientists as soon as they had a stable environment to keep him in, and Rocky took charge of teaching about the simplistics of human biology and what Grace would need to survive.

Well he tried to, at least. It seemed that there was a little something he'd missed while they were gone, and it took form as another space blob, this one not so leaky as his own. Simon, an oddly gruff and standoffish human that accompanied his mate, Adrian.

The reunion of Rocky and his other mate, Adrian, had been wholly emotional. Their carapaces had nearly cracked from the force of their collision and embrace, and the melody of their chatter was loud enough to shake the dirt beneath them. Rocky had been preparing to explain everything, as well as introduce Adrian to their new mate when the other beat him to it.

It seemed they were a perfect match after all, as each had found their own humans to mate.

Rocky was thrilled! New mates and he was soothed by the thought that Adrian had a companion of his own throughout some of the time he'd been gone.

Unfortunately, they both realized there may be complications. When Eridians have more than one mate, they become a group, not separate "relationships" as humans liked to call them. This might be a problem with the culture difference of how humans court other humans.

Turned out Rocky and Adrian didn't need to worry, because leaving Grace alone with Simon to heal was enough time for both to bond and even go as far as to court each other, despite both being mates by proxy.

"What are you doing?" Grace's voice rings out hollow on the walls of the small laundry room he'd found Simon in. His hands go to his hips with a soft tilt of his head.

Simon can only sit there looking like a child caught with their arm elbow deep into a cookie jar.

"I'm uh.. taking apart the washing machine?" His words came out as more of a question rather than a statement, eyes downturned while he fiddled with the wrench in his hand.

"Why?"

"..."

"Simon."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not mad."

The dark haired man visibly relaxed, looking up with a sigh.

"You were complaining that it was rattling while washing clothes so.. I'm fixing it." He stated this like it was obvious, gesturing to the panel he'd ripped off the side of the machine.

"I could've gotten Rocky to do that yknow.."

"No I've got it."

"I don't doubt you do." Grace pinched the bridge of his nose, glasses hanging below his chin. This wasn't the first time he'd found Simon taking things apart, but this time it seemed to be for something useful. The ex-convict seemed to have a habit of pulling things apart just to see how they worked, and then piecing them back together like nothing happened.

"You think I could help Rocky with the building of our appliances?"

"I'll talk to him."

"Thank you."

<Puppet show! Puppet show! Puppet show!>

Rocky's excited taps against the floor echo dully in the space of the blonde scientist's lab.

"No, no puppet show right now." Grace's voice was firm as he rubbed his temples. Those weren't anywhere near being necessary anymore, and Rocky knew that.

"Aww why not? Isn't teaching your.. thing?" Simon gestured with his hand before he crossed his arm across his chest, resting his hand on his opposite shoulder. The dark haired man grinned at the scientist, eyes twinkling with a plea that Grace couldn't ever seem to dismiss or say no to.

Simon had always been a visual learner, and honestly these 'puppet shows' were always somewhat entertaining with how much the man fumbled through them.

<See, Simon get the memo.>

Rocky shifts again, tapping on the floor once.

"Where did you even learn what that means?"

<Simon give good vocabulary updates. Better than Grace at slang.>

"Hah, yeah the Rock has a point."

<I stand by claim that English have not enough curse words, statement.>

"You got that right."

Grace gave Simon a withering glare, and the man put his hand up with that same grin, wiggling his fingers in which Rocky copied.

"You're both insufferable. I regret giving you free access to Rocky's translator." The blonde rubbed a hand down his face, turning back to his microscope where he'd been observing new strands of bacteria pulled from Erid's soil. "I need to revoke your guy's conversational access or something..."

"I was wondering if you would allow me to, uh.. observe your mutations."

The question earns a low growl from Simon, clicking between the sharp teeth that folded neatly into the section of skin missing on his cheek. He'd been busying himself with cleaning, making himself useful as always. Simon had never been the type to like to sit still.

He stopped after a moment, casting a glance at Ryland who was bouncing on the balls of his feet, glasses hanging off his nose and bouncing with him. Something Simon had observed was that the scientist was always fidgeting, always moving. He could understand that restlessness.

Another growl, this time sounding more curious rather than defensive.

"And how do you plan on 'observing' these mutations?" Simon mutters, voice ragged through half damaged vocal chords while he turned back to his task of. He wiped his hand on his pants when he finished up, having been putting dishes and such away. Those tended to pile up after a while.

"Oh, well hands on is always best for studying. I was hoping you'd let me get a feel for them, maybe run a couple regular tests just to check for reflexes, or perhaps even a skin sample. You've yet to let me examine any DNA of yours."

Grace's rambling fell short when he felt Simon staring at him, and he pushed his glasses up on his nose with a thick swallow. His ears felt hot.

That sort of thing tended to happen whenever he talked to Simon, the man just made him feel all sorts of flustered.

"Or- or not." The blonde seemed a bit regretful for asking in the first place, pouting a bit and sticking his hands into the worn wool pockets of his cardigan.

...

"... Fine." Simon huffed, shuffling forward and peering at Ryland expectantly. His right hand—which was his only hand—gestured as if to give extra permission.

Grace is ecstatic, of course he is, he gets something new to study! His hands reach for Simon, feeling gently along the scarring that marrs most of the left side of his face and the teeth that extend from the left corner of the man's mouth.