#basilsmells

ryland grace btw (free me)

you cannot count on one person's hands the amount of times that ryland, in his life, has gone outside in the rain regardless of the kind of clothing he was wearing or his health and gotten sick/more sick, just because. he doesn't really care. he finds the delusions brought on by no sleep and cough syrup have given him some good hypotheses in the past.

mind too consumed with girlfriend to daydream buttt i saw a picture on pinterest that looked like ryland and imogen and it made me think about an au where ryland dies in the explosion and imogen gets forced to go on the mission.

ryland sort of comes to terms with the mission after remembering what stratt did, but when he tells malory, she is PISSED. she barely wants to finish the mission. she stops making recordings for earth with grace, she slows down her work, she's snappy and short-fused—she's kind of scary. no matter how many times ryland tries to tell her that he doesn't care(regardless of the level of truth to those words), she won't listen. she can't find it in herself to be logical or objective imagining the fear he must have felt and the stress he must have been under, especially right after the explosion. most of all, she feels guilty for not being able to stop it, even though she had no chance and her words couldn't have convinced stratt otherwise.

malory reveals her lack of swimming skills when they get to erid and grace decides to drop into the ocean and imogen just kind of. stands there. looking stupid. and he tries to coax her in, but when she can't feel the floor she flails about and kicks him in the stomach accidentally and he feels unwell for the rest of the day.