closed, plotted starter — for @ap0ptotic !
something was wrong with rocky.
between the time the hail mary had landed on erid to now, the eridian spent most of his time assisting ryland grace in whatever manner he could. from aiding other eridians in building a livable environment and home for the scientist to just being there for the other as a force of familiarity, rocky was busy from the time he stepped off of the ship. he’d barely even returned home to adrian, and the distance was truly straining the bond he had with his mate.
ryland was improving more and more each day. he was getting stronger, adapting to his new home, and making a life for himself. but, rocky? rocky wasn’t feeling right and he was only getting worse, but he couldn’t figure out why.
maybe it was exhaustion finally catching up to rocky.
he gradually stopped coming around to see ryland as frequently. he started going home more often to rest, adrian watching over him as his body entered its paralytic state of slumber, but each day of rest seemed to drag on longer and longer. even though he was resting, he started waking up with less energy. breathing — which was more for heat regulation than gas exchange — became less effective over time, and his internal temperature started to rise. his carapace, comprised of various minerals, was even hotter to the touch than it normally was.
eventually, he stopped coming to visit ryland altogether. his condition was just too poor.
his condition reached a point where erid’s atmosphere, previously comfortable and easy for the eridian to live in, started to feel stiflingly hot. it was as though he was no longer compatible with his own environment, but that didn’t make sense. why would his own environment suddenly be incompatible with his biology? in his two centuries of living, he had never had an issue with it. so, why now? what had changed?
well, okay. a lot had changed. for one, rocky had gone into space to solve the astrophage crisis! for decades, before returning to erid with his new human friend in tow! but, nothing that happened would make him feel this way. did he contract some sort of illness from a bacteria in space? ...was that even possible?
but rocky wasn't prepared for what happened next. he had woken up abruptly from his state of sleep because everything burned and he couldn't breathe properly. he felt strange, but he couldn't see due to erid's perpetual darkness.
hold on... he couldn't see. couldn't sense anything around, and the ammonia in the air stung his eyes.
his limbs felt like they'd been rearranged in his sleep, and he swore he was missing an appendage. but through the pain and the suffocating air quality, he couldn't think straight. if it didn't feel so real, he might've thought he was imagining it.
with rocky's new and abrupt alterations, he'd been quickly ushered into the biodome with hope that he would adapt better to ryland's atmosphere. his arms and neck were red with burns from the eridian heat and pure ammonia in the air, and they were still aching as he entered the biodome. he was coughing, pulling in deep drags of the oxygen in the biodome in between each cough. his lungs — lungs, those were new — hurt, and he clutched his chest as though it would make it feel any better.
it wasn’t the sweet, melodic multi-tones of eridian that called out for ryland, but a panicked and ragged human voice. he squinted for ryland’s house in the distance, but he had to snap his eyes shut again. the artificial sunlight caused a dull ache to blossom through his skull, feeling as though his retinas had just been seared. for someone who has lived a life surrounded by darkness due to having no eyes, the world around him was suddenly very bright and disorienting.
the sand between his toes was a textural nightmare. his skin — fleshy and squishy and gross — was far more sensitive than his hardened carapace had been, his body now housing millions of touch receptors across his thin frame. despite how much he loathed the sensation, rocky started to blindly step in the direction of ryland's home with his eyes still closed, each step questioned and uncertain. he'd traveled this route sightlessly many times, but he no longer had passive sonar to guide him. worse, he couldn't even hear ryland's heartbeat from here.
dread consumed rocky for a fleeting moment, and he stopped calling for his friend. ryland wouldn't even recognize him, would he? he might even think this is a joke, that the eridians had just thrown a newfound human into his biodome to keep it safe. there were very few signs that pointed a wary finger towards who this mystery man was: his broken english, and strange tattoos of circles and jagged lines lining his arms and the sides of his neck. still, he could be anybody.
maybe rocky didn't even deserve his help after he'd stopped visiting without any warning.
rocky coughed again, and he attempted to force his eyes open to see if ryland was anywhere near approaching. on instinct, he closed them again. it was just too bright outside for his new eyes, so he hoped that ryland would make his presence known upon arrival.