a smile so gentle hides sharp teeth

By their joint estimate, they are only a few weeks away from Erid. Ryland is low on food, but the endless breeding of Taumoeba has made a decent substitute, and Rocky has already voiced his concerns about being back with his mate after so many years apart by way of distracting himself from his concerns about Ryland collapsing from starvation before they make it.

“Yeah. You’ve been apart a long time. It makes sense that you’re nervous.” Ryland agrees. He pats the space on the floor next to him and Rocky rolls over immediately to occupy it, bumping gently to a stop against his shoulder. “I can’t say I have any real experience in that field, but you love each other enough that you named a planet after Adrian. I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”

Yes. Happy to see them too. Happy happy happy. And… need word. Thoughts all jumbled, shaky.

“Anxious, pal. You’re anxious.”

Yes. Rocky anxious about seeing Adrian again. What if they find someone new? What if they mad at Rocky to be away so long? What if—

“Hey. No spiralling. It’s just you and me right now, okay?” Ryland soothes, placing his hand on the side of Rocky’s ball. The Eridian leans into it, the corner of his carapace warm against the palm of Ryland’s hand despite the material between. “You know, there’s a story back on Earth about a man who is away from home on a voyage for a long time. Do you wanna hear it? Would that help?”

Rocky trills in the affirmative. Yes. Rocky like Earth stories. Is this true story or lying story?

“It’s a myth.” Ryland laughs. “Before humans had movies, before they even had books, they would sit around a campfire and tell each other stories. This is one of those.”

Old old story! Rocky love old story!

“Well, okay then. This one is about a man named Odysseus.”

And so Ryland recounts the tale of the soldier who went away to war and who did not come home for many, many years. How he was captured and tortured and tested and hunted, how he faced trial after trial, how he lost all of his crew. And he tells Rocky about his wife Penelope and their son Telemachus, waiting for all those years for Odysseus to come home despite the whole world saying that he never would.

And about how he came home because their love endured, because Penelope believed in Odysseus, and because Odysseus wanted nothing more than to be with his family again.

Once the story is finished, Rocky is quiet. He and Ryland lean against one another, Ryland taking a moment to catch his breath after recounting the Odyssey from start to finish to the best of his memory. Rocky hums and seems to gaze at something far away.

Adrian wait for Rocky, statement.

“Yeah?”

Yes. Adrian wait long time. But Rocky come home, with Grace. Rocky and Adrian and Grace live happy happy happy ever after.