#irbmau

There was so much running through his head as he swam harder than he ever had before in his life. Was this a good idea? Was that really a human shape he saw? Was it really something wrong with the bio-dome like his student said? Should he be going out there? was it safe? Whatever it was how had it gotten here, in the dome? Had it gone through the dome? No, that was stupid, he chided himself, he'd be dead if had come through the dome, and he didn't want to think about the trauma that would've inflicted on his pebbles.

He did his best to stop thinking about it as he got near and he noticed the water was tinted slightly red and a definitely human body sinking slowly. He took in a breath of air and pushed himself under, quickly gaining on the person and finally getting a grip on it's shirt and yanking it up towards the surface, noting the lack of most of one arm. He started immediately back to the shore, if this definitely a human person was alive, he couldn't quite tell at the moment and wasn't wasting the time to check, he needed to get them there to help.

It took what felt like way too long, despite having been a quicker trip back, to get to the shore. He noticed Rocky's frantic tones coming from near the airlock as he dragged the body most of the way onto land and immediately threw himself into compressions even, though he was panting hard and could already feel his muscles beginning to ache. When he stopped to give air to the person he also checked his pulse to make sure he wasn't doing CPR on a dead man.

A pulse! Back into compressions he heard the sound of Rocky approaching quickly over the sand. "Grace! Is that another human? What happened?"

He gave the person another breath before responding, "Dunno, hold on." Rocky made some pretty upset noises but Grace had to make sure. Another few pumps finally found the persons head lolling to the side and violently ejecting pink foamy water onto the sand.

Coughing and spluttering the person seemed to come to, raising his head to look around. Their hair slid off one of his eyes and Grace had the chance to take in the fact that it was probably a man, given the facial hair. The man zeroed in on Grace and looked him up and down, pain giving way to a wash of confusion. Still coughing the man raised his only hand shakily towards Graces face and managed a weak "A-Angel?" before his hand fell back to the sand and his head lolled to the side.

The moment his head fell Grace scooped the man up and hoisted him into his arms bridal style and started a quick jog towards the house, Rocky right next to him. "Can help Grace? Adrien is already getting the medical team."

"Yeah, can you open the door when we get to the house?" Grace had been dropped by rocky one too many times to ask the Eridian to carry the man. "I don't know if he ingested water but he definitely inhaled it." Rocky and the team would know how to help after the incident of grace swimming far too long while he was still recovering. He'd made sure it never happened again but at least they had the experience, not that there was much to do besides make sure there's no more salt water still in him and give him medication for the pain he would surely be in.

Finally they made it the house, Rocky surging ahead and throwing open the door and barreling into the house. Grace saw the medical team and Adrien running over as he rushed into the house, heading straight for his bedroom where he knew Armando was waiting and Rocky was probably moving things out of his way. Entering he practically threw the man on the bed, before immediately getting out of the way for the team that entered behind him.

He took a few moments to watch them, taking in the details he could see of the stranger like the fact that his arm was a fairly recent heal as it looked raw and painful, and the equally fresh scar over his cheek and eye. He could feel the adrenaline ebbing and decided as the team started to cut away his clothes to leave the room. Ignoring a tug of familiarity at the strangers face, he decided to head to the porch, Rocky trailing behind him.

As the last of the adrenaline left him and the consequences of pushing himself nagged at his muscles he dropped himself onto the rocking chair, rocky settling down beside him. Rocky gave him a moment to breathe and steady himself before he spoke up, "Grace, okay?"

Taking a second to consider, scratching at Rockys xenonite suit, he took in the situation. "Yeah bud, I think I'm alright, just a bit spooked and worried. I mean, I hope he's alright but how did he get here? I only saw him hit the water, but he couldn't have come through the dome or I'd be dead, so only option is he appeared in the dome."

"Simply appeared? Don't understand how that's possible."

"Just in the air. Hmmm" Grace rocked foreword in the chair.

Grace considered it, and Rocky put voice to his thoughts. "Wormhole?"

"If he really appeared in the air then yeah, that's kind of the only option. Either way he's here and we can hope he's not hostile when he wakes up."

This seemed to remind both him and Rocky what the stranger had said for the moment he was conscious. "Grace, new word."

"Yeah, an angel is related to religion, I know we didn't talk too much about religion. It's related to that."

"Good or bad connotation?"

"Usually good." Grace looked out over the water. He hoped this wouldn't turn bad but he knew at least things were going to get interesting.

Adrien exited the house, followed by the medical team who passed them and headed out of the dome, giving Grace their goodbyes. "New-Human doing okay." Adrien told him. "Should remain stable. Adrien head home to look after pebbles. Rocky stay?" Rocky chirped an affirmative and nuzzled their mate. Adrien and Rocky shared a farewell hum before the larger headed off. They'd had pebbles nearly immediately after Grace was in the clear six years ago and they were already a rambunctious trio.

"Grace sleep. Will watch new-human and Grace sleep." Rocky nudged his leg and stood, going for the door. "Can practically hear Grace brain turning off."

Rocky was right, despite it being kind of early the adrenaline crash was finally dragging him down. "Yeah, that sounds good buddy. Lemme just check on him first." He headed into the bedroom and took stock. The team, or more likely Adrien, had switched out the pillows and sheets on his bed for fresh dry ones, and someone had put the stranger in graces clothes. The horseshoe auto club shirt peeked over the covers.

Seeing the shirt Grace was reminded of himself. Looking down at his own attire he found himself, for the first time in a long time, self-conscious of himself. He was wearing... well, a skirt. And besides the jewelry that had pretty much been the only thing he was wearing.

It had taken Grace two years to finally throw caution to the wind and decide that societal norms were pointless when he was never going to be apart of that specific society again. There were a handful of Eridians who had been helping him make more clothes, and when he threw caution to the wind they started making him much more Erid style clothing and even got in contact with some jewelers to spice things up. Rocky himself had been ecstatic to help change up Graces wardrobe.

Grace had since pretty much been wearing looser clothing. Skirts, loose shirts, silks and some odd wool like stuff. He'd really taken to the looser stuff, and honestly, with his sensory issues he'd been going shirtless more often than not. The Eridians certainly didn't care, and honestly it felt nice to be, well, going native sort of. His clothes from the Hail Mary were reserved for special occasions and comfort days now.

God, what would the stranger think of him? He would be freaky and weird compared to normal humans now, like those people on shows who were shipwrecked and when they got picked up they were seen as odd. He really didn't want to make a bad impression. He'd wear something normal. Something that doesn't make him look like a freak. Yeah. He'd do that. It'd be fine.

________

"Eye movement detected"

The absolute last thing Ryland had expected when he heard Armando rattle off his catchphrase and the man was awake was for him to throw himself out of bed and practically fall into his lap, all before Grace could even process enough to do anything besides get his laptop off his lap. In a matter of seconds the man had slotted himself between Rylands legs, had wrapped his arms around Graces chest, and had shoved his head into his stomach. For a moment Grace feared Rocky was right and he'd been stupid as all heck and he was about to die.

And then the other started practically sobbing, muffled voice the other noticed was slurring a little. "Angel. Angelllll. They told mee they killed youuu. She told mee it was an accident. She wannnnted you but they killllled you. sheee-she took me inssstead. Annngelll." He was slurring absolute nonsense. "Yourrrrre aliveeee"

Dang. Those pain meds must be doing a number on him. The Team had given the stranger the good stuff because of the missing limb and his lungs, but maybe this guy had never had any before now. All he could do was placate the man and not let them use the good stuff again unless they really needed to. "Hey, hey. I'm all right. I'm right here." It felt weird acting like he knew the man. "Can you stand up for me?"

There was a very slight shake of his head into Graces stomach. "Don't lllleave me pleeeasee." His pleading was so broken Graces heart hurt, but the shaking of the head had been incredibly uncomfortable and as much as he had thought human touch would be welcome the whole situation made his skin crawl.

Shifting forward on the seat, eliciting noises of protest from the other, he spoke, "Alright, I wont. But we need to get you back in bed. I'm going to help you up but you need to put your legs under you okay?

Some awkward maneuvering and having to practically pry the other mans arms off with a crowbar later, the man was back on the bed and under the covers. The only issue is that if Grace tried to leave his side for even a moment he whined and tried to follow, risking falling off the bed. So now Grace was bound to the bedside, barely having managed to pull the cot over before the fall risk had a chance to notice.

The man was only truly content if he was touching in some way, so instead of holding his wrist like the other had wanted, he settled for running a hand through his hair. The motions had significantly calmed the man, and It was nice hair. "Now that that's over with, can you remember your name for me?"

The response was surprisingly quick, "Simon." The man had closed his eyes when Grace started scratching at his scalp and he had half expected him to fall asleep. Heck yeah we had a name.

"Simon. That's a nice name. I'm Grace." Simons eyebrows scrunched lightly, but the noise he made sounded tired. He seemed to be falling asleep and Grace was thankful. He'd be able to get his laptop and maybe get a message out to Rocky and the science team. They'd set up a cross device messaging system when he'd recovered and there were far less people constantly present.

The softest of snores was let out by Simon and Grace immediately took the oportunity, slowing his brushing until it was gone. When Simon didn't panic or protest he quietly got up and grabbed his laptop, setting it down on the bed where it wasn't touching the other, and opened a new document. He was going to note everything about Simon and see if he could figure out what happened to the other man.

*His name is Simon.

*He called me Angel

*Appeared in air in Biodome over water. Wormhole most likely suspect. Different dimension?

*Thinks he knows me. Thought I was dead. Possibly a different me on other side of wormhole. Will not consider other option.

*"they" killed me. "She" told him and took him. Who?

*they wanted me but sent him instead. To do what?

*Maybe no more narcotics for now, or a much lower dose. Then again I don't want him to be in pain.

There wasn't much but it was a start, and hopefully more would reveal itself when he wasn't as out of it. For now Grace let his mind wander and consider most of the possibilities surrounding this baffling situation.

Oh and he had to message Rocky.

______

Simon is going to have a much worse time when he wakes up again.

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PS: Ryland is going to be showing some Autistic tendencies in each of these AU's, some more than others cause the environment breeds different masks/coping mechanisms. I will be throwing my own flavors of Autism in every now and then.

Rylands face softened, no not Ryland. He looked almost sorry. "No, at least, I'm not your Ryland."

Grace had calmed Simon, explained what he thought the situation was and what he had seen, where they were, and that yes, he was indeed Ryland, but Ryland Grace. Not his Ryland. No. His Ryland was dead. Somehow he wasn't. They had told him Ryland was dead. They had no real reason to lie.

Grace had sort of left him alone after that to think on everything after giving him some cold packs for his ribs. He was still in the house, and it was a fairly open plan house, so really he was a few rooms over and within loud talking distance.

Simon was alone. With someone who looks exactly like the man he lost. It was heartbreaking. Ryland was gone but he was also two rooms over. They sounded the same. God they sounded the fucking same. But he had to get over it. He'd known since Ava brought the proposition to him, telling him the scientist they had picked up with him had accidentally died before they could send him to do what she wanted him to do. He was their backup, and he'd get his freedom.

The least he could do for Ryland was go in his stead and earn his freedom for the both of them. Only for it to be a suicide mission he was never supposed to live through.

There were positives. Grace had told him the stars here were fine in this universe, and offered when he was feeling much better to show him. So was Earth and much to the others confusion when asked Mars. No Quiet Rapture. Theoretically there were plants, but there were none in this room, and Simon didn't want to move, both because of his ribs and the fact that right now he really didn't feel like doing much of anything.

Erid huh? A planet full of Rock aliens and Ryland. Nothing but a xenonite barrier between them and a death sudden enough they wouldn't even know it happened. The Eridians cared enough to build him a huge home and do many other things for him, and Earth had sent him away on a suicide mission. Like his Ryland was supposed to have been sent on. Like he had been sent on. Similar paths but Ryland was working for the survival of humanity, and Simon was only working for his freedom.

He wasn't going to think about this anymore.

Eventually the pain died down, and for all of half a second he had considered getting up to take a look around. And then his rib twinged and he threw that idea out the airlock. He sucked it up and called out, "Ryland?"

"Give me a second! I'm almost done, got something for you." Simons anxiety spiked. Reasonably if Ryland was going to pull something he would've when he was unconscious, but the statement still had him on edge. He waited nervously for a few minuets, soon hearing a "Coming" from a room over. Rounding into the bedroom from what looked like the kitchen. He had three items in his hands, and began handing them over.

The first was another cup with water in it, which he took gratefully. taking a few sips, careful not to chug it like he did earlier as it had made him nauseous. The second was a pouch, warm to the touch, with a written label that said 'Day 1, Meal 1.' "It's food, take this slowly. I've been saving the last two for a special occasion and today is certainly one."

Rylands words caused a twinge in Simon who immediately tried to give it back, "Don't waste this on me. Especially if you were saving it."

The look he got was stern, like one of Simons teachers when he was learning to be an engineer. He stopped trying to return it immediately. "Simon, this is most definitely a special occasion. It's not every day theoretical physics is proven real, and this will be easiest on your stomach. I'm not wasting anything. Try it."

Under Graces persistence he gave in, popping off the top. From experience he didn't bother taking a whiff and simply sucked a small mouthful.

Holy shit.

This was the best food he'd ever fucking tasted. He'd groaned, legit groaned. Immediately a flush of embarrassment washed over him, and he could feel his cheeks getting warm. He turned his face away from Ryland in effort to hide as best he could.

But Ryland laughed, something he'd heard few and far between. It was short and genuine and Simons head had whipped around so fast to watch the others face he swear he heard something crack, only to immediately meet Rylands eyes. He looked radiant, glowing with mirth, and Simon knew without being told he wasn't being laughed at. "Right? I reacted the exact same way when I woke up. It was so good. It's why I've been saving the other two. What better way to greet you than hands down the best meal I had on the Hail Mary."

Simon felt a pit begin to form in his chest -not his- but shoved it down trying to placate his guilt by offering Ryland the pouch again. He could see a protest beginning to form but spoke before Ryland could. "It's customary. You shared food, good food, we partake together." He didn't mention the implications of sharing food in a non-emergency situation.

Ryland silently took it, taking noticeably a smaller amount than Simon had. He closed his eyes and his shoulders relaxed, savoring the taste he had missed for over a decade. He whispered just barely audibly and possibly not even meaning to speak out loud, "Goodbye." Handing it back he moved to the side of the bed farthest from Simon, asking, "You mind if I sit?"

"It's your bed Ryland." And when Ryland continued to wait for an answer he simply nodded.

"So," He pulled out the third item he had been holding under his arm, "I've got something that will hopefully keep you from being bored on bedrest." Between passes of the food pouch, of which Simon was almost certain the other was now only pretending to eat, Grace had given Simon one of his spare laptops. Showing him where the games, books, and movies were, and also some other programs in case Simon wanted to mess around. Simon had tried yet again to deny the gift but Grace had pointed out it was going to get really boring really quick, he'd already been there but he wasn't going to mention it.

Then Grace had gotten up again, and Simon had almost missed his proximity. "One more thing for you." He slipped halfway into the kitchen, grabbing something he'd covered in a towel.

"Ryland no, this has already been too much."

That stern look had returned. "No. The water, food, and entertainment are meeting your basic human needs. This is more of a 'Hey you fell out of the sky, welcome to Erid against your will' present."

Simon raised an eyebrow in amused skepticism. "Is that the official title?"

"We can workshop it." He handed over the gift, and Simon felt raw ceramic against his hands. He was wary but more curious than anything else. Pulling off the towel he was suddenly struck. Not physically. Emotionally. "This is one of the newest ones we've been able to synthesize from the info we have from earth. It's brand new, but it'll be hardy and grow fast with the slight modifications the botany team made. It's an Orange tree, but soon we will have even- Oh Simon, are you okay? What's Wrong? Simon?"

Simon had bent over the tiny sapling protectively and sobbed.

_______

Yes, even starving Grace had saved the other two Day1 meals. He was going to eat them if he was certain he was going to die but thankfully it only ever came close. Plus he can use the remnants and give it to the food team to make more now that he finally cracked it open. Like a fine vintage, survival paste, not that the new ones will have as much weight to them. He's still going to save the other one.

Bonus points if you can figure out whose meal that was and why I chose them.

Triple bonus points if you can figure out what event he's specifically holding the next pouch for. *wink*

Also, please don't hesitate to ask or suggest things! For any of the AU's! I would love it and might even write a little something. I don't mind writing little blurbs that are time skips, I can just do my best to avoid big events I already have planned to write about. (I just really wanna talk about the Au's, don't mind me)

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It had been a couple weeks since Simon had arrived, and as much time as he had avoided Grace after he'd found the man laughing hysterically. He gave one word answers any time he was asked anything, resolutely refused to touch the plant he had been so happy to see, and the moment he felt well enough to walk he was gone. Oh, Grace knew where he was at all times, the bio-dome team and the medical team had conspired long ago to have a tracker for Rylands vitals that told them where he was in the dome if there was an emergency which they had given him access to as well, that now also tracked Simon independently. He was not going to force anything, but if Simon didn't want to be found he would leave well enough alone.

Grace had made sure that no Eridians, even Rocky, would be in the dome at any point until he was sure Simon was ready to meet aliens, deliveries being made directly into the house through a tunnel bore underground. He wasn't going to risk it but he also was not going to let them starve. Rocky had visited briefly, forcing his way to being one of those who delivered, and Grace had appreciated being able to see his best friend.

Life had become routined again, however shortly and oddly. He would leave food and water out on the porch for Simon, taking his morning run or a stroll around depending on the meal to let the other eat. He'd not had classes so mostly he stayed inside working, or went to one of the few conjoined domes, Simon currently had no access, to grab something. He had also started to take care of the sapling, hoping Simon would return at some point to do so himself or he might have to hand it back over to the fabrication team to take care of, as he kept forgetting to take care of the thing, even when he wasn't really doing anything.

Finishing a school year always left him feeling odd, even back on earth. He didn't know what to do with himself. He usually had his lab and maybe some smaller hobby projects, but he was paralyzed with indecision on what to do in his free time as he wouldn't leave the dome until he was certain Simon was okay. He wasn't interested in a book, movies, games. He didn't want to try his hand at weaving xenonite again quite yet, his last failure still grating at his nerves. None of the other hobbies he'd picked up seemed interesting right now. He was pretty sure he was too worried to sit still long enough, and his rough sleep of recent was not helping, no one was watching him sleep since he had a temporary hold on Eridians in the dome.

Scratching at the neck of his fox sweater Grace was really getting tired of this shitty routine. Simon wasn't going to out stubborn a teacher, but he might just have to leave the man alone in the dome soon and go to his lab to get out of this funk. He'd planned a lot of things he'd likely need to do with Simon when he was ready, but those plans had been thrown astray when the other had gone non-verbal. This was a lot and Grace was giving him his time but they had been doing so well, and then Grace had just had to go and give the other the sapling, which seemed to throw everything off.

Grace was pissed. He was pissed at himself. For fucking up somehow with the only human he'd seen in over a decade, for not being able to really do anything productive, for overcrowding a man that had clearly gone through hell, for hoping he'd have another friend, for putting any sort of expectations on a stranger, for being too much like always, for-

He had to get out of his head. Fuck it, midnight swim. He couldn't sleep anyway and maybe exerting himself and getting a nice heaviness to his limbs would help him go down. He loved swimming, and he'd done this his fair share in his years on Erid, but he'd refrained to not risk making Simon uncomfortable.

He peeled himself from his spot on the couch, heading to the closet, and grabbing the overly large towels he used for the beach. With a habitual check to see where Simon was, far left of his house, he headed out the door and down the path. It was a chilly night, He'd left plenty of warm clothing for Simon as well as a cot and bedding which had dissapeared when left with his food, and Grace knew the fake ocean would be perfectly freezing.

Getting to the rocky beach Grace began his ritual. He laid out the thicker of the two towels, as perfectly stretched out as he could get it. Stripping down to his boxers, usually he'd go nude but he had company, he neatly folded his clothing into a pile at the back right edge of the towel, finishing off by placing the towel he was going to use when he got back on top of them. There wasn't much wind right now, the wave machine on one of it's lowest settings overnights, but it was for when there was, and he wasn't going to change it.

When he finally headed to the water, wet sand a cold promise of what was to come, he followed a wave out and waited for it to return and roll over his feet. "Frick," he gasped as the freezing water rolled up over his ankles, shooting a chill straight up his spine. He waded out until he was hip deep, shivering the whole way, and waited for another small wave, throwing himself over it in a dive straight into the water. The chill shook him to his core, but he had long mastered his body when it came to this, swimming out as far as he could before coming up to sputter and gasp and shake. Not for the first time he thinks he might've liked those Polar Plunges he'd read about on earth.

Not letting himself succumb to his shivering and adrenaline telling him to Get The Heck Out Of The Water, he started swimming, knowing he'd adjust soon. He went out as far as he typically did, in line with the two rocky jut outs, and faced roughly parallel to the beach. He started doing his laps, the cold keeping him mindless for quite some time, only being able to focus on one arm in front of the other and kicking as evenly as possible, and when his body automatically knew it was at its turn around point, pushing himself under and reorienting himself.

When he was almost to the point he'd usually stop, body having adjusting to be numb to the temperature and a familiar awareness of his muscles, his brain had decided to kick back in and decided he should stay out longer. He knew he was punishing himself, that he probably was being overly mean to himself and he should listen to the logical side of his brain telling him there was no point to punishing himself. He knew that, but it didn't matter. It was too easy to simply keep swimming, letting the excuse that he liked swimming cover the real reason like a safety blanket.

Typically he swam for an hour or so. He pushed and pushed himself into what was likely another 45 to an hour before he had to stop mid lap, flipping himself to float on his back, heaving for breath, chill seeping quickly into his ribs now that he had stopped. "Fuck" he whispered to himself, almost conspiratorially, glancing to his left at the classroom not too far off. His therapist was going to scold him if he told her about him punishing himself again. It was fifty fifty on if he would.

He gave himself some time to rest and then flipped himself up into a wading position. He was debating whether to go to shore here and walk back or swim back and then only have to walk the short distance back to his towels, when he noticed where he was. Almost exactly where Simon had touched down. What a coincidence.

He's not sure what compelled him, but he looked down through the clear water illuminated by the simulated full moon overhead. "He could've died there if I hadn't seen him fall." It had been incredibly lucky he had spotted Simon falling, that he had turned around right as it happened. And another stroke of luck as he saw something glint in the rocks at the bottom of the ocean.

He knew from experience he could reach the bottom, had used it as an indicator of progress on his strength and lung capacity while recovering, he was unsure why he had chose this arbitrary goal, but it had felt good when he could finally do it, Rocky had freaked out when he had shown him though. Eridians were not fond of their ocean in a recreational capacity.

Screw it. He pushed himself under and despite the drag of his muscles he pushed himself on to the bottom. Quick as he could he turned on the flashlight function of the watch rockys friend Turner had made at his request, and they had made it their passion project, adding more functions to it beyond timekeeping and currently they were working on connecting it to Rocky and Graces messaging system.

Sweeping the light around where he had seen the glint Grace had a creeping worry he might have to try this again, far too exhausted to stay down for long, when he saw it, a circular bit of glass, half sticking out of the gravel. Quickly he snatched it, pushing off from the bottom and swimming as quickly as he could to the surface, heaving for breath the moment he broke the surface. It hurt in an almost alleviating way, his lungs and limbs, a balm for the guilt he felt.

Without waiting, both to be sadistic and to get this excursion over with, he chose to swim back. He did his best to keep form with one of his hands in a death grip around the glass, but it made the swim take a little longer than he wanted. When he knew he was near his entry spot he started towards the beach, pushing himself under to keep his head chilled as much as possible until his hand hit stones, and he fully stood up. The relief of the slightly warmer air on his head was immediate, a relieved sigh escaping him.

Flipping his hair out of his eyes he scanned for his towel, finding it to his right, and immediately noticing the figure sitting near the edge of it.

______

Did I look up where things were in the brain and which side did what to be as accurate as possible with his migraine, a detail that is seemingly very innocuous? Yes.

Lungs And Limbs would be a great band name.

Am I giving Grace my own special breed of autism when it comes to being in the water? (not the pushing himself.) Yes.

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