Your Local Weirdo

The second to last chapter of The Long Haul is up on ao3!

This chapter is fluffy and sweet and hopefully makes up for all of the angst (and bricks) I've thrown at you guys over the last few weeks. It centers around Grace's new home and found family in Rocky and Adrian

Enjoy!

HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME! HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME FEEL FEELINGS! HOW DARE YOU MAKE MY BLORBOS SAD IN A REAL AND MEANINGFUL WAY! YOU AINT EVER THROWING BRICKS YOUR THROWING WHILE ASS MOUNTAIN RANGES. I HATE YOU! I love you. I HATE YOU!

This is the most I’ve cried in months. So much so I was worried I would short out my phone from all the tears. I haven’t felt such raw emotion from a piece of media in a loooooooooooooooong time. I. Love. Every. Bit. Of. This.

This is too good!!!! No more writing everyone! It’s been peeked! Nothing else will top this!

I can’t WAIT for the last chapter! No rush though, you take all the time on Earth and Erid.

⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

I'm so sorry I made you sob so much. If it makes you feel any better, I did too. I'm overjoyed that you were able to connect so deeply to this work - that means the world to me as an author, especially a smaller one within the giant fandom

Thank you thank you thank you for your kind words! I'm actually working on the final chapter right now, so expect that out sometime tonight lol

eehh it comes up eventually. Once all the emotions of like, finding out humanity's hero is alive, reuniting with their long dead favorite middle school teacher, dealing with the actual mission they were send to do, meeting with the welcoming Eridian delegation, once that settles down? Then- not long!

I think my brain was playing some word association game with this one but subnautica au anyone??

Grace is a scientist working with Alterra (unfortunately) and the only survivor of the Aurora crash, but finds Rocky who also crashed here while trying to investigate a distress call coming from the planet :)

He understands.

They arrive to Erid, and one of the first things Grace does is playing for Adrian a little speech he made in Eridian using his recordings of Rocky's voice. And it's just... instructions. Mostly.

"He has a lot of anxiety about people's health and will probably freak out about yours at some point, don't dismiss it and let him see that you are okay."

"He is terrified of being alone, please make sure someone is physically close to him at all times."

"He is scared of falling asleep and will delay it as long as he can, you need to pay attention to his sleep cycle or he'll be hurting himself."

"He downplays everything bad that is happening to him, mental and physical, please keep an eye on him or he'll be ignoring his health completely."

"He never gave up, but I might die very soon and I'm not sure how he will react to it. Please be with him, even when it's not easy. He loves you. He wanted to return to you so badly. Even though he probably has changed, this is still him. Please keep loving him. He needs it more than ever. He'll need it when I am gone."

...Adrian is very annoyed because a) the fuck do you mean by implying that I'll leave him, b) the fuck do you mean by implying you know him better than I do (Adrian does have to begrudgingly accept this one later: Grace is objectively more familiar with Rocky's trauma responses), and c) the fuck do you mean you're gonna die no one's letting you die shut up and get into the lab we have science to do. They become friends fast, bonding over worrying about Rocky together.

I love the detail of the border being the luck blanket he has (+ one rocky at the bottom) and the earth literally being in his hands, not to mention the foxes following the petrova line and the golden circle around his head like a halo - earth's savior and saving grace