peachandwillow



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  1. Public Bookmark *

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    "Hey...can I ask you something kind of weird?"

    "Shoot," Rocky says, his voice sounding amused. "But not actually shoot."

    Grace wants to laugh at the joke (he's been getting better at joking and sarcasm) but instead he swallows, his fingers tracing idle patterns on the blanket. The ache from earlier at the classroom, the beach, the constant invisible wall feels closer tonight.

    "What does it feel like... to touch you?" he asks. "I mean, if we could. Your carapace. Your claws. What would it feel like to me?"

    Rocky is quiet for a long beat. When he sings again, his melody is thoughtful and gentle.

    "Hard. Rocky, like name. Like...strong stone that is alive. My claws are sharp but careful. My body pulses a little when I am happy. Like singing Grace can feel instead of hear." He pauses, then adds with a soft, almost shy trill, "What does human skin feel like, question? To me, I wonder."

    He imagines it.

    In his mind, the xenonite shell vanishes.

    Or: Grace is touch starved and Rocky wants to make it better

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    20,422
    Chapters:
    5/?
    Comments:
    199
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    942
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    187
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    8,661

    08 Apr 2026

  2. Public Bookmark *

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    It had been a long and difficult 27 years since the Hail Mary had launched. Not as terrible as it could have been, but not easy. Humanity had survived and adapted, as it always did. There had been terrible wars. There had been incredible acts of kindness. There had been massive scientific breakthroughs. And now, there were two distant blips of Petrova-light, picked up by the Deep Space Network, hurtling home. Two probes, braking hard as they hurtled toward Earth holding the secrets to its salvation. They were late, or at least, not very early, but they were here.

    Grace may have made his peace with dying to save Rocky, but Rocky insists they return to Earth.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    25,260
    Chapters:
    20/?
    Collections:
    1
    Comments:
    440
    Kudos:
    2,022
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    450
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    08 Apr 2026

  3. Public Bookmark *

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    “I just think it’s kind of a messed-up thing to do to a baby,” I said.

     

    AKA: the one with time travel. When the opportunity arises, Rocky and Ryland can't turn down the chance to save Rocky's crew.

    It all kind of spirals from there.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    21,420
    Chapters:
    7/?
    Comments:
    463
    Kudos:
    1,285
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    366
    Hits:
    10,848

    08 Apr 2026

  4. Public Bookmark *

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    Ryland has a tattoo. So does Rocky. It's not the same thing, but it also really is.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    7,248
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    190
    Kudos:
    2,862
    Bookmarks:
    786
    Hits:
    9,714

    07 Apr 2026

  5. Public Bookmark *

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    Eva Stratt has never been a woman who hesitates.

    She’s made countless decisions after decisions throughout her life, often regardless of the consequences that may result. She’s not an idiot. She’s well aware that there will be consequences, and she’s equally sure that the consequences will be of little concern. The end justifies the means — her actions will be judged, but at least they will have happened.

    But here, alone in a Russian conference room, for once in her life Eva Stratt does not know what to do.

    OR; The beetles make it home.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    14,800
    Chapters:
    6/?
    Comments:
    701
    Kudos:
    2,282
    Bookmarks:
    609
    Hits:
    19,227

    07 Apr 2026