it’s turning 3 in the morning

The interior of the Hail Mary spacecraft was a bit of a mess at the moment. Eridian Rocky and Earth science teacher (slash newly become astronaut) Ryland Grace were sitting on the floor, working on creating xenonite models.

Not only were the models helpful for the two to use to communicate when language barriers occurred, but Grace thought it would be nice to show them to the science team back on Earth. It would make explaining his and Rocky’s plan easier, since recording his research on video diaries meant he couldn’t answer any live questions or clear up any discrepancies.

“Where is ♫♪♬, question?” Rocky asked.

Grace looked up at him from his place on the floor, unable to understand the last part of his sentence. “What?”

“Where is ♫♪♬ model, question? Rocky cannot find,” the Eridian elaborated. He rolled around in his ball, searching for the missing model piece.

“Can you be more specific, please? What does it look like?” Grace started searching around as well, lifting stuff up and looking underneath them in an attempt to help his alien buddy.

“Small,” Rocky replied.

The human shot him a blank look. “Great. Very helpful, thanks.”

Rocky paused. Wait, there it was. It was caught on the side of Grace’s jacket. “Rocky found,” the Eridian announced as he rolled over.

“Huh? Where?” Grace looked around, the model piece following him as he turned.

“On you,” the alien pointed.

Grace looked down at himself, his body twisting around like a dog chasing his tail. He somehow still didn’t find it. “On me? Where?”

Rocky rolled closer to him. He would just get it himself. He reached out towards the human, putting his claw through the meshy, flexible part of his portable enclosure. “There-” He tried to grab the model piece off of Grace, but with all the moving around the human was doing Rocky missed and ended up grabbing his side. It shouldn’t have been a big deal, but Grace just happened to have rather sensitive sides.

A tingly feeling shot through the science teacher’s nerves at the touch. “Gah!” He yelped and leaned away from the Eridian on instinct. A small smile crept onto his face.

Rocky’s head tilted in confusion. He had never heard him make a sound like that before. The alien cautiously backed away from him. “What happen, question? Did Rocky hurt Grace, question?” He asked nervously. His two front arms joined together as he waited anxiously for an answer.

Grace awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “Oh, no, no, sorry. I’m fine, uh, I’m just ticklish,” he admitted sheepishly.

There was a pause for a second. Then Rocky spoke up, “What is that?”

Oh goodness. How on earth was Grace going to explain something like this? He doubted a being from another planet would share the similar trait of being ticklish. “Um,” He put his hands on his sides as he tried to think, “Humans have certain areas on their bodies that when touched in a certain way, can trigger a self-defense response. It’s like… a tingly, uncomfortable feeling. But it’s also sort of fun in a way?” He seemed unsure of his own answer.

Even though he had no face, Rocky looked fascinated. He took a second to ingest all the new information given to him before asking another question, “Is this with all humans, question?”

“Uh, yeah, mostly. Not with everyone, but it’s with a lot. Some people are more ticklish than others,” Grace answered. He totally wasn’t thinking about himself as he said that last part. Nope. Not at all.

Rocky hummed in thought. He had a claw up to his mouth as he pondered. “Can you show Rocky?” He asked.

Grace squeezed his eyes shut and sighed quietly. He was hoping he wouldn’t ask that. “Uh, sure,” he agreed to it anyway, not wanting to let his alien pal down. It was for science! Now how should he do this? He slid off his jacket revealing a goofy science-related T-shirt underneath and set it off to the side. He slowly laid down on his back and spread out his arms. “Here, come closer,” he motioned. Rocky did as told.

“Uh, every human is different, but some common ticklish spots are the stomach, the sides, underneath the arms, and the bottoms of the feet. You can um, try it if you’d like,” Grace felt his face heating up as he explained. Holy moly, this was so embarrassing. He’s a scientist sent on a mission to save his planet yet here he is explaining tickling to an alien.

Rocky put an arm out. He retracted it in hesitation before slowly reaching back out again. He gently poked Grace’s side, trying to mimic how he did it before. Then he opened his claw and closed it, dragging his fingers down the human’s side. Grace tensed up as the fluttery feelings started to come back. He jerked away as a smile started to reappear on his face. Guess it was working.

“Y-Yeahah. Lihike that.” Wait, why was he encouraging him!? Rocky repeated the motion before adding another claw into the mix. This turned Grace’s light snickers into bubbly giggles.

Rocky paused. “What is funny, question?” He asked.

“Nohothing. Laughing is a reaction, remember?” The human answered, some residual laughter escaping him.

“Oh, okay. Rocky understands. Can Rocky try again, question?” He was so genuinely curious that it was endearing.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Go ahead, buddy,” Grace nodded reluctantly. Another new record to add to his mental collection: First Human to be Tickled by an Alien.

The Eridian crawled back over. Hmm. Grace mentioned that human stomachs gave this reaction too, right? He reached further out, trying to replicate his poking and nudging motion but this time on Grace’s belly. His soft body felt so different from Rocky’s hard exterior. It was cute.

“Squishy. Squishy. Humans are so squishy,” he commented. He brought out another arm and tried spidering his claws into his stomach like it was dough. Grace’s reaction was instant, even stronger than anything Rocky tried in the previous spot. Grace sunk into the floor as his stomach retracted as much as possible, trying to escape the tickly sensation. Intrigued, Rocky did the motions again, but faster.

Grace squealed like a kid. His legs bent inwards as his body tried to protect itself. He tried to stay as still as possible in order to give Rocky the best demonstration he could muster, but holy cow was it difficult! How was Rocky so good at this!? Maybe there was a form of tickling on Erid. Or maybe Grace was just really ticklish. Or maybe it was both.

It had been a while since Grace had last been tickled, it wasn’t really something that came up often in his life. Heck, it had even been a while since he’s laughed this hard. It felt nice in a way, like nostalgic. Being the only human in your spaceship meant that you started to forget what physical affection felt like.

Grace continued to giggle and squirm on the Hail Mary floor as his alien friend prodded and squeezed at his ticklish spots. He let Rocky have his fun for a few more moments before deciding it was time to toss in the towel. “Ohohkay, Ohokay! Uhuhuncle! Rohocky, stohop plehehease!” He called out.

The alien stopped as soon as Grace said so and backed away. He still couldn’t understand completely what was happening, but it was fun. And it was nice hearing Grace laugh. He liked knowing his friend was happy. Human bodies felt so different than Eridians, they were so soft. It was interesting.

“Rocky like that. Grace laugh so much! Rocky never heard before. Rocky like ♪♪♬♬,” the Eridian chirped happily.

Grace assumed that was Rocky’s word for tickling. He would have to add that to the dictionary later. “Good, glad you do,” he grunted as he sat up on the floor. He felt like he had just run a marathon or something. He adjusted his glasses and ran a hand through his hair.

Rocky could hear the human’s increased breathing and started to feel concerned. “Is Grace okay, question?” He hoped he didn’t hurt him on accident.

“Yeah, I’m fine don’t worry. It just has been a while since I’ve last been tickled, I’m not used to it,” Grace replied.

Rocky was still curious about the subject. “Was Grace ♪♪♬♬ a lot on Earth, question?” He asked.

Grace tried not to laugh. It was funny imaging grown adults tickling each other on a daily basis. “Uh, no, not at all. It’s not really a common thing that occurs. Unless you’re a kid.”

“Why?”

“Um,” the human thought for a second, “It’s just kind of weird for adults to do unless they’re close. It’s too personal. It’s kind of embarrassing.” 

This just raised more questions for Rocky. “Embarrassing? How embarrassing, question? Rocky like it.”

Grace felt his cheeks heat up. “Uh, I don’t know. I guess I’m just kinda too old for it,” he responded. The truth was that he was a little insecure about being so ticklish. His ex-girlfriend used to tease him about it. She thought it was cute while he thought it was embarrassing. He’s a grown man, for Pete’s sake! He shouldn’t be giggling like a little kid! Thinking back about his past relationship made him feel a bit depressed. Stupid Mark. He probably wasn’t this embarrassingly ticklish.

Rocky could sense that he felt a bit down. Poor Grace, this shouldn’t be something he’s insecure about. Rocky tried to comfort him, “Grace should not be embarrassed. ♪♪♬♬ is fun! Is cute! Is normal for humans.”

Grace looked over at him. Perhaps Rocky was right. Grace was only human after all. “Thanks, buddy,” he smiled and leaned on Rocky’s bubble. Rocky leaned back, getting as close as he could to the human from inside his ball.

--------

“We had a lot of good findings recently, I feel like our project is rolling along smoothly,” Grace reported, looking up at the camera. He had decided to record another video diary for the team back on Earth. “Plus, we’re learning more about each other’s species and stuff, which is pretty cool.”

As if on cue, Rocky rolled into the room. He sat and listened, staying just out of sight. Oh, Grace was doing another one of those video things. Rocky got an idea. This would be funny. He snuck up behind the human then suddenly started poking his side in the middle of Grace’s sentence. “Tickle. Tickle. Tickle,” he teased playfully.

“Like for exampl- Ah! Rohohocky!” Grace jumped out of his seat, giggles escaping his mouth. Rocky couldn’t help but snicker along with him. Grace’s face heated up as he adjusted his hair and glasses, trying to play off what just happened. He cleared his throat, “Oh, and also, Rocky found out what tickling was.”

“Hi,” Rocky waved to the camera, “Is fun! Rocky like.”