grace rocky time

they don’t go back to mary for the first 5 years grace is planetside on erid, too busy with reviving him & making him healthy & synthesizing him food & building him a dome, and that first year in the dome grace IS happy. he’s so happy…he is…it’s so much better than living in a sad little single-room med bay. it’s beautiful, it’s so lovingly, painstakingly crafted just for him, and there’s fog and breeze and rocks to skip and a miraculously soft bed and a weird but deeply appreciated coffee substitute, and rocky is there so often. he’s there more than he reasonably should be; he is pretty obviously neglecting his entire life outside of grace, and so grace has a really hard time with the fact that sometimes it’s STILL not enough. it makes him feel so…selfish. again. and he promised he was done with selfishness, so for awhile he doesn’t tell rocky. he can’t tell rocky. because how would he get the words out? how would he say “hey bud, so here’s the thing, i know by all rights i should never have a complaint again for the rest of my short & hard-won existence, because all of my needs and more are accounted for here to an unfathomable degree, but actually i really miss starving to death in that tin can with you, where it was just us, and nothing and no one else mattered or even existed. and sometimes i kind of wish we were still up there, because i guess i’m kind of the worst?” so he just doesn’t say it. for another year.

“You’re positive I dropped my wrench over here?”

“Rocky positive, look harder.”

There are so many fantastic authors in this bonkers fandom, I absolutely love it. Here are my current favorite Grace/Rocky fics, in no particular order, organized by non-explicit/explicit.

Non-explicit

approach the asymptote (finished, rated T) by lizardhands (@szczyrkowa): The yearning is off the charts. Incredible Rocky POV. Love what this fic does with language and music (and kissing).

you weren't there that day for the Naming of Things (finished, rated T) by callmearcturus: Why is Rocky being so cagey about what he named Grace? Well… it’s embarrassing. But not in the way you think. Excellent ideas about Eridian language, featuring Grace getting adaptive hearing aids. The ending almost made me cry, which is HARD to do.

phenomenal nominal nothing (finished, rated M) by @grimark: Handfeeding meburgers to your human as a metaphor for love. Heartwrenching and fucked up Rocky POV. Nothing overtly sexual happens but somehow it’s still FILTHY.

i want us both to eat well (finished, rated G) by @peglarpapers: How much would Rocky be willing to sacrifice to keep Grace by his side? A hell of a lot. This fic also explores cultural differences vis a vis cannibalism. Incredible.

rocky holds it (finished, rated M) by @landsat9: Yep, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Had me wheezing with laughter.

better than your best (finished, rated T) by Goldmonger: Deeply affecting portrayal of the aftermath of Rocky’s trauma.

Teacher Grace’s Earth Human Romance (finished, rated G) by ketonebodies: Three of the Eridian kids in Grace’s class write an epic RPF together about their favorite teacher. Hints of worldbuilding and angst make the goofy humor even better.

Explicit

The Right Hand of Light (finished, rated E) by @doomedblade: Some of the best Eridian worldbuilding I’ve seen. Grace and Rocky love each other and are insane about it. Also probably the first ever use of the tag “Erotic carapace moulting” on Ao3. Groundbreaking.

Co-Valence (finished, rated M) by minimalistless: One of the best “Grace confesses to Rocky that he said ‘no’ to the mission” fics out there. Really interesting thoughts on Eridian conceptions of consent, as well as Eridian courtship. Only in the “explicit” category for a brief scene near the end.

It Is Imperative That The Cylinder Remains Unharmed (finished, rated E) by @startingatmidnight: When Grace’s “cylinder” gets into a predicament, his internal monologue predictably takes the form of Reddit posts. Hilarious.

i’m your man (finished, rated E) by spqr (@andthepeople) : How does one of the most tender, loving sex scenes in this fandom involve a belt sander?? Insane and amazing.

/r/HumanEridianRoleplay (ongoing, rated E) by @doomedblade: If Grace and Rocky hadn’t met on a high-stakes planet-saving space mission, they probably would have met through horrible erotic Reddit roleplay. They are both terrible in this and they’re perfect for each other. I’m obsessed.

Settled (ongoing, rated E) by gravidowl: Rocky does some culinary experimentation on Erid to help save Grace from starvation and malnutrition. Grace goes absolutely wild for the results and Rocky has Feelings about it.

Grace desperately wants somebody to take the burden off his shoulders, to make the choices for him and just get him to a place where he can feel good without his brain eating him alive, and he loves Rocky, has let him closer than anyone he can remember, and has been loved and held and taken care of in return. but if a command is said just a little too harshly, if Rocky presses just a little too hard in the wrong place, his walls are down and there's nothing between him and a rush of fear and pain and the awful feeling that he's going to be betrayed again and this time he gave himself up willingly, he trusted, and now-

Rocky: what do you mean things can go inside your penis.

I worked REALLY HARD not to make this too spicy for tumblr let’s see how it goes

Original: https://bsky.app/profile/buukkin.bsky.social/post/3mr2lcymfqk2t

believe me if grace and rocky could be in the same atmosphere theyd be all over eachother