#eridian!reader

Grace had been nice. Sickeningly so.

He had waited patiently to meet you and didn't even make a mention to the fact that he had waited months, well years, to meet you. He kept his distance and answered any questions you had asked even if you didn't understand him completely at first. You understood why Rocky and Adrian loved him: he was so patient and full of care even when you didn't know each other. He spoke so kind even you ignored him, didn't mind when you rambled on and on, and he even asked questions.

The sound of the biodome doors opening and the soft, but heavy, thuds that soon followed temporarily broke you out of your thoughts and alerted you that Adrian had entered and was making their way to the house.

Their steps had started to slow. Not considerably, but when you have been together for many years you notice when your mates steps start to slow and become more deliberate. You even noticed that Rocky's steps were shaky and quicker. Grace's were harder to place, but you could tell that he was moving slower than someone his age should (or at least that is what you could discern from "movies").

They were getting old. Sure you weren't young anymore either, but you were considerably younger when compared to your mates. Apparently Rocky was technically younger than you due to time relativity, but he certainly acted older still.

You didn't like to think about aging much. You celebrated each cycle — and birthday — excitedly, but it reminded you that they would be gone soon. Grace only had another 40 or so Earth years left (Human lives are ridiculously short and ineffective for a species growth); Rocky had showed so many signs of joint ache and slowness despite trying to hide it; and Adrian…well they were just the eldest as well as quite large for an Eridian, they had joint issues since they hatched, but it was becoming more evident every few cycles.

Maybe this distancing was a good idea. Protect yourself now before the pain hurts worse.

"Rock that is a stupid idea. We can't get make more jewelry for them." Grace shook his head as he sat on the couch handing his cane to Armando. Today had been a rough day for his knees, but he wasn't ready to admit that he needed to use his wheelchair soon.

"Can can can. They like jewelry. Jewelry make them happy." Rocky waved two of his limbs wildly as he climbed up next to him, insistent on his idea. Rocky's limbs had slight tremors as he moved, stumbling a bit.

Adrian had been listening to this bickering between Grace and Rocky for the last fifteen minutes. They knew nothing would come from it since they had definitely been at it since before they arrived home.

The issue at hand that they were struggling with was what to do about your withdrawal. It had been noticeable and not exactly taken well by the more energetic members of the group.

Adrian felt melancholic about the situation. The last time this behavior occurred was during the years that Rocky had been away. Neither of them had meant to drift away, but it was hard to be together when the main melody to your song was gone.

They left the pair to continue their argument before they traversed the biodome. They let you think for far too long that your cove was your little secret.

You perked up when you heard those soft thuds near. Adjusting your position you saw that Adrian was behind you within the cove. They silently sat behind you, laying two of their limbs on either side of you.

Only the screeches through the speaker and sound of waves lasted between you.

"My harmony, what troubles you?"

"Nothing, adagietto-"

Adrian let out a harsh puff of air at the dismissal, "Do not play me for a fool. You can Rocky. You can Grace. I not."

You stayed silent and shifted again before settling, messing with a larger rock in front of you.

"Grace will pass soon."

"No. Grace is still quite healthy for Human. Regular sleep. Exercise often. No illness on Erid. Some joint pain, but has cane, wheelchair. Scars healed."

"No. Life is short. Grace pass soon. Too soon." You hit a limb onto the sand in frustration. It wasn't fair that Grace, someone who so easily loved you and cared for you, would leave you so soon.

Adrian stayed silent before they leaned down closer, "Yes. That is fact-"

"And Rocky will die soon too. Space ruin him. He will die too soon-"

"My harmony-" Adrian tried to slow your thoughts.

"And then you will leave me too. You will die and I will be alone. All alone. Alone alone-"

"Enough!"

Adrian sang low and dug you out from the sand and pulled you closer, "I will not tolerate this speech further. It is terrible for you."

"But I am correct. When Rocky was gone we were broken. We were not in sync. You were not yourself. I can not make you whole." You thought back to when it was just you and Adrian after Rocky had gotten on the ship. How Adrian had been so stressed and molted so much that they grew tenfold their original size; but the moment Rocky was home and brought Grace they were happy and had a purpose. They were full of life again. Life that you did not give them even when you initially mated.

How were you supposed to make your mates happy when Grace did so easily? Rocky would be devastated without Grace, they were bonded through their mission of saving Earth and Erid as well as a true deep connection; Grace could connect with Adrian on a much higher level about science than you ever could. And the most important fact of Adrian and Rocky having been mated for a least a century before you came into their lives. You were just a textile worker who did pop-up shops and took commissions, how could you ever make them truly happy?

Adrian huffed as they shook the sand off of your suit. They let out low note and you were silenced, a bit ashamed.

"You are a fool, a true honest fool, if you believe that I cannot be whole even if it is just you and I left. Yes, I was broken when Rocky left but that was because Rocky left us. I did not know how to be vibrant and loud for you, I felt inadequate. I missed my Rocky dearly, but I felt like I failed you more."

You moved to speak, but they caressed your carapace with care so similar to Grace.

"I know you are afraid and the fear is correct. You let it fester until it consumes your being and ruins our love. Please if not your sake than for ours, let it go. We are here now."

You circle the sand again, focusing on the ocean and the screeching again.

"Will you weave with me, question." The notes come out so softly Adrian would have missed it if they did not know this behavior.

"Always."

References for some things mentioned:

Cap Segments

Eridians burying headcanon

Eridians Molting/Adrian's Growth headcanon

. my leg twitches as i hear a long, unnerving jumble of words i dont recognize. they dont sound like eridian words.

. urgh, i grumble inwardly. i mean, i try to grumble outwardly, but no sound escapes my carapace. when i tell my brain to flex my gas bladders... nothing happens. my diaphragm expands and i take a breath, but otherwise nothing happens.

. i hear more of that god-awful sound and it distracts me before i let panic set in. i can almost pinpoint the location, but im still extremely disoriented by what feels like being forced out of a hundred-year sleep. which? isnt even possible? but this is what i imagine it would feel like, i guess.

. okay, now the panic sets in. where am i? why cant i think? why cant i get up? i can move my claws if i really focu- that SOUND. oh my god. its so irritating. i cant even tell what it is, its like nothing ive heard before. now i think i can accurately detect it. im waking up.

. i dont need to tap the floor to get an idea of my surroundings, as the irritating chattering (as well as ambient humming and what almost sounds like footsteps in the distance?) paint the picture well enough for me. im in a small and bleak room thats borderline utilitarian. theres stuff i dont recognize all over-- smooth rectangles jutting out of the wall, weirdly shaped clutter, and- oh my god is that an alien? what the fuck is that thing?

. whatever it is, its making that absolutely horrific yammering thats giving me a headache at this point. its tone is scratchy and its pitch is lacking. its got a weird, outstretched body with a lump on top that seems to be where the noises are coming out. theres four long limbs, two on each side that extrude symmetrically on the body. the bottom two are bent awkwardly, the first segment on said limbs coming towards me and up a bit, while the second segment juts backwards and back down. the third and final segment comes back forward, and rests on the ground. those two last segments support the creatures entire body weight! anyways, the top two limbs are nothing to get excited about. equally as unusual, but the joints are a bit different than the bottom limbs'.

. it calls out to something. i hear a short, excited progression in reply. an eridian! theyre further away, but i can make their features out clearly. im not sure how i didnt notice them. anyways, theyre a bit larger than me in height and diameter i think. their legs (which i can hear very clearly-- theyre wasting no time approaching the room that the creature and i are in) are thin and the top and bottom segments are equal length. they have a wedding band and a few carvings. one stands out to me. i have it too, its two stars roughly three claws apart that are connected by a line. the line has a small diamond shaped object on the top end of it, and both stars have a planet with a curved line that connects the two objects. the lines connecting star with planet taper out towards the planet, to where the diameter of the line is the diameter of the planet. the bottom star system has another planet, where the line connecting the stars start.

. why do we both have such a specific tattoo? it cant be coincidenta- i remember it now! a manned mission to tau ceti, to see why its not dimming. oh, yes, my star was dimming. it was being eaten by spacefaring microorganisms. astrophage, i think. every star we could observe was dimming, so why wasnt this one? no one knows. thats what the mission is about, dumbass. my second internal monologue cusses out my first one, much to its dismay.

. the eridian, which im beginning to recognize, skids to a halt after near-running towards me and the creature. i strain my gas bladders for any sort of sound, but nothing escapes. my plates must be stuck. UGH.

. "youre awake! i didnt think the transfer would work." they chirp happily, shaking their claws in celebration.

. ...transfer? my carapace tilts, and although i cant speak, the eridian understands the gesture as confusion.

. "my name is rocky. this is grace, they are a human." they gesture to creature that waves when it is named. "theyre here for the same reason as us, the human star is dimming too. anyways, you died on the blip a, so grace helped me revive you. remember, back on erid the doctors were experimenting with revival?"

. i dont recognize the word before "back on erid." must be a weird human word. im still left with so many questions, like who is this grace guy and what the hell do you mean revived. what.

. but i cant ask any questions. i cant SAY anything. i point to the top of my carapace, where the plates that keep my gas bladders closed are stuck together. thankfully, i dont suffocate as this happens, due to the radiator not getting squished by the plates too. but not being able to talk is a pain in the ass. hopefully rocky will get the idea.

. and they do! thank god, i sigh. most muscle movement has returned to my body as well, so i can tilt the top of my carapace by bending two of my legs and stretching the other three. they inspect the plates for a moment, before fiddling around with them. their own plates raise to let out a focused hum. and then, click. instant relief. the grace is watching intently. it is very loud when it tries to be quiet. anyways, i can speak now!

. "oh, thank you!" i tap my claws on the floor excitedly, my voice a pitch higher than normal. rocky mimics my energy, and so does their weird pet. they both dance around a bit before all three of us settle down. "anyways, what do you mean you revived me?"

. "oh, yes," rocky stims for a moment, and the human notices. it lets out a loud string of weird grunts in its harsh voice that shakes the air around it. rocky listens as they would listen to a fellow eridian speaking. i take note of this. understands alien language.

. "grace is explaining it to you now. they understand our language, so while you dont understand the human language i will be the translator." easy enough, i suppose. rocky translates the jumble of sound into a jumble of sound that i understand.

. "they are saying that we operated on you via removing your gas bladder plates, so thats why theyre probably a bit shuffled around. the operation itself was easy-- internal carapace access after the removal of the plates, transfer 30% of my worker cells into your carapace after stimulating the cells into mitosis which gives you 60% of total average worker cells." as crazy as it sounds, its plausible and definitely works because im alive right now. rocky continues translating. "the operation was two weeks ago. your transplanted worker cells have had time to go through more mitosis, so we estimate your total cell count to be at least 90% of average."

. "thats sick as fuck." i exclaim after they are done. the grace looks taken aback. "oh, sorry. no swears." the lump above the graces long smooth carapace contorts awkwardly. theres one vent that opens and closes, as well as another two right above it that are permanently open. the opening and closing vent moves to become an arch-like shape, the corners of the vent raised more than the center. its so... ugly. but i want to be nice, so i tilt my carapace towards rocky for social help.

. "oh, thats a good thing dont worry. it means theyre happy." rocky assures me, for which i am grateful. "and yeah, they dont like curse words. theyre a teacher, so i think its a filter thing. yknow, like around human pebbles." they gesture to the grace.

. "what is a teacher doing in space?" i think aloud. rocky laughs, and i think the grace does too but im not sure. it might just be dying. i can never tell with its weird noises. i awkwardly wait for one of them to tell me whats so funny.

. "when i met grace, i asked the same thing. like, exactly the same thing." ah, i see whats funny now. the grace makes a sound and rocky translates it for me. "and the answer is that they dont know." oh. anticlimactic, but whatever. at this point i can begin to recognize a few human grunts from what i assume is their sentences. theyre arranged weirdly. gramatically, i mean.

. a few moments of silence stretch on after i acknowledge the answer to my question before i pipe up again. "um.. thank you. for. yknow. raising me from the dead." i mention revival like its just another tuesday. do humans name their days like we do? its kind of weird now that i think about it.

. rocky and the grace both express happiness. rocky does it normally-- little claw shakes, some foot tapping, but the grace. oh, the sweet sweet grace. carapace lump contorts in the same way it did earlier but much more intense, a weird gesture where it bends its bottom claw backwards to point up, and an unusual sound to top it all off. cant have it all, i guess. thankfully, its erratic movements are short lived as we all calm down and slip into another silence.

. "..so like. im starving." i break said silence yet again. rocky perks up at the sudden task. they were bored.

. "we have food, come come come." they get to their claws and take off, climbing up the xenonite tunnel that me and them were huddled into. the grace follows rocky on its own side, gesturing back to me. the existence of seperated sides at all leads me to believe in a drastic atmospheric difference. i wonder what the grace needs to breathe.. hm. i make a mental note to ask rocky about this later as i follow them up the tunnel.

. the tunnel goes through a small round hatch that opens up to another room that i could conveniently already see (walls arent soundproof in here which is weird but whatever) so its not a surprise new environment to me. its another room of a similar size to the last one, but it is not only much more confusing, but much more loud. the ambient buzz in here was already annoying, but this is outrageous. rocky doesnt seem bothered in the slightest.

. theyre wrestling with a bag that refuses to open without a bit of trouble. when they do manage to get it open, they grab a pre-packaged meal kit and hand it to me. i hum softly, half in thanks and half in embarrassment. they didnt need to hand it to me, especially not in front of someone. whatever, it doesnt matter. im going to disintegrate if i dont eat something now.

. i crawl back down to the bottom floor, feeling a bit self concious. the walls are so soundproof.. its fine, save the embarrassment for later. i unpack the meal kit. inside is a small plate with a lip, a bowl, and a pack of food. i unseal the pack of food and place it in the bowl. its some sort of meat. i begin picking the tougher outer skin from the chunks of softer, vitamin-rich flesh. i put the hard bits on the plate.

. before i eat, i break my ventral seal open. it hurts, but the pain subsides. theres no "last meal remains" for me to deposit onto the plate along with the rest of the waste. my body probably absorbed the whole thing in hopes that as much nutrients as possible would stop me from dying. it, in fact, did not.

. what will stop me from dying twice, though, is sweet sweet sustenance. i hurriedly crush the soft food bits into a paste that i rub along one of my arms and insert into my ventral opening. the sensation itself isnt the most pleasant, but i can already feel my mood lifting. i can also feel my body shutting down, as it does after a meal.

. i finish the nutrient slurry relatively quick so i dont fall asleep mid-meal. i pack the kit away and reseal my vent. theres a bit of mercury on the arm i ate with, so i rub it off before my food-induced coma. my mind lingers on rocky and the grace for just a moment. and then im out.

credits to rmstitanics for the lovely space dividers, and @hildabun for the eridian revival idea. :3

-On several occasions, you get cornered by jealous Eridians who can’t fathom how you managed to pull your two mates and press you relentlessly on how you did it. You’re small and smooth! Hard to see! How did they notice someone like you? You don’t have answers for them, because you don’t know yourself. You sink closer and closer to the ground as they loom over you before you’re able to find an opportunity to flee.

-Once, when you’re cornered again on your daily walk, you were so distressed you didn’t even hear your huge mate approach until they were standing over you, protecting your trembling body from view. Adrian let the bullies have it and you were never cornered again.

-Nothing pleases you more then watching over your mates when they sleep, feeling so honored that they trust you to do so. Since Adrian is so big, you usually settle yourself down on top of them in a perfect, you-sized dent in their carapace until they wake up. Rocky is more your size, so you usually tuck into his side while he sleeps.

-In turn, they love watching you sleep. Adrian keeps you encircled in their front arms, tucked close to their carapace and keeping you warm like you would an egg. Rocky also keeps you within the protection of some of his arms while his others tinker with some gadget to keep himself busy.

-When Rocky is recruited for the space mission to find a solution to the dying sun, you’re in shambles. It couldn’t have been a safe mission, no one had ever traveled through space before, so who knew if he would come back. Adrian is even worse, and when Rocky does finally leave, they enter an immense depressive state for a while.

-They won’t eat, they won’t sleep, they don’t go to work. You watch over them, offering songs of comfort. It came to a point where you had to threaten to feed them yourself if they didn’t. It takes a couple of years before they’re able to pick themselves up and get back to a somewhat normal life. When Rocky doesn’t come home within the projected time estimate, your shared hope gets lower and lower and you start to come to terms with the fact that your mated group now only consisted of two members instead of three. 

-You don’t believe the officials that come to your home on day to frantically tell you and Adrian that an alien ship had showed up in orbit and your mate was on board. It was too good to be true. But they hadn’t been lying. And suddenly your life changes in ways you'd never pictured. Your mates are never home, working tirelessly to construct a habitable living area for the dying alien Rocky had with him.

-It made you nervous, this alien. Was it dangerous? Rocky didn’t seem to think so. In fact, he was treating this creature like another mate and was so worried about it he actually got sick. 

-Yours and Adrian’s reunion with Rocky wasn’t quite the reunion you’d hoped for- rushed and distracted. You didn’t fault Rocky for that, it was obvious this alien meant a lot to him. Given how long he was gone, he’d probably had a lot of time to form a bond. But it still hurt.

-Once the alien was settled, healthy and thriving, the three of you were able to properly enjoy each other’s company again for the first time in nearly a century.  You were showered with apologies and trills and gifts. Rocky gave you a little round thing from earth he said the alien had gifted him. It was squishy and made of a threaded material you'd never seen. You loved it.

-Rocky and Adrian eventually begged you to come meet the alien but you refused. You were nervous to meet this being that Rocky held so near and dear. You were extremely intrigued by it, but it scared you. Adrian warmed up to the alien pretty quick too, telling you how nice it was and how it had helped save your planet.

-You politely refused until you couldn’t handle their begging anymore and relent to their pleas. They’re so excited to bring you into the alien habitat. You tell them not to get their hopes up and that this was probably just going to be a one-time deal. 

-Jokes on you because you’re immediately charmed by the tall, skinny thing from another planet. It’s all downhill from there.