Chapter Text
Eridians were never meant to be alone. They were a highly social species, designed by evolution to require each other’s company. No other Eridian had ever been alone for as long as Rocky had. When the other people on the Blip-A started getting sick, it was a complete panic. There was nothing Rocky could do but watch as one by one they got weaker and weaker until they didn’t move anymore. One after the other, their numbers fell, until finally Rocky’s last companion chirped their last words and fell silent. Forever.
The first time Rocky had to sleep with no one watching was something he could never wish on his worst enemy. The silence was like a physical force, bearing down on him and rendering him immobile. Waking up to that lack of sound, in a haze of confusion and grief, Rocky felt nothing but overwhelming fear. He knew, logically, that nothing had happened while he slept, nothing had changed, but inside, his animal hindbrain was on fire. Every inch of him screamed with the feeling of “wrong”, of “bad”. Anything could have happened, regardless of whether or not it looked like it did, and that was enough for the overwhelming pit of anxiety he could feel, like a hollow space where his stomach should be.
After a hundred years, though, that feeling starts to become the new normal. Actually, it took only around 10 or 15 years for that blindingly terrified feeling to start to lessen. It never truly went away, of course, but Rocky had fallen unconscious and awoken to absolutely no change so many times now, he had almost gotten used to the idea that nothing would ever change again. He was trapped in purgatory, an endless, dayless, soundless loop of nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing.
Until one day, he was saved. After so many years of oppressive silence, Rocky had become attuned to even the slightest whisper of sound, and hearing on the Blip-A’s system that an object was approaching, was like his body had been dumped without warning into the coldest ocean on Erid. At first, Rocky had thought that this other craft had come from his planet, that his people had finally come to save him, but quickly he realized that, no, it was something infinitely more impossible. It was an alien who had come to his rescue.
The first few weeks of knowing Grace made Rocky feel like a completely new person, like the events of the last 46 years had never even happened. Or if they did, then it was a horrible tragedy that had befallen a completely different Eridian. Grace was nothing like Rocky’s species, at least not biologically. Where Eridians were covered in thick exoskeletons, humans had no protection whatsoever. Eridians had one opening for all purposes, humans seemed to be covered in them, one for every bodily process you could think of. And their lack of crust made even the internal structures visible to Rocky’s hearing. If he concentrated, Rocky could hear Grace’s (singular) heart beating, his lung inflating with oxygen, the creak of his bones under skin. It was so disgusting.
Rocky could almost think he was saved by some sort of monster, a creature Eridian parents might have invented to scare their young. But that wasn’t fair. As weird and gross Grace’s human body seemed to be, Rocky was quick to adapt. It was strange, after such a long period of silence, the universe had sent Rocky a being whose entire existence was made up of endless sounds. Soon, it even began to feel soothing to him, that constant background noise. The Hail Mary had no soundproofing, poor human hearing had no need for it, so no matter where he was on the ship, Rocky could hear Grace, could sense his constant presence. It had become a comfort Rocky imagined only baby Eridians could relate to, knowing that no matter what, someone was there for you.
Until they weren't.
Rocky was happy, ecstatic actually. There was hope for the people of Erid for the first time in over 46 years. Actually, he had gotten too used to converting to Earth measurements, that had to change before he could get home. After saying goodbye to Grace, all Rocky had to do was watch the taumoeba farms and wait for the Blip-A to return home.
Four years is a long time… But not as long as 46 years! And this time Rocky has something to keep him occupied, the human thinking machine! This technology was amazing, there was nothing like it on Erid, for obvious reasons. “Seeing” was still something kind of difficult for him to wrap his brain around. Rocky imagined Grace explaining colors to be like how it was for him to try and explain having 5 limbs. Grace had given Rocky a quick explanation for using the “laptop” (a cute human literal name), and Rocky had modified the machine with his texture monitor so he could see the screen without having to constantly point his “camera” at it.
There was so much to look through, so many things for him to learn, it would take ages to get through it all,but he had time. Rocky scrolled through the options quickly, but he knew deep down his excitement was forced. It was hard to focus on learning new things when Rocky could think of nothing but Grace. He tried his best to push the thoughts from his mind, the memory of saying goodbye. How Rocky’s tunnel detached from the Hail Mary and for the first time in months, he could no longer hear Grace.
At the time, Rocky had been hit with a feeling of dread, as if he was making a horrible mistake. But quickly, logical thought returned. Of course this had to happen, Rocky knew it all along. Grace would have to go back to save Earth, and Rocky would have to go back to save Erid. That was the whole reason they had ever even met in the first place, 2 lost souls destined to cross like ships in the night. Rocky couldn’t help but shudder in sadness at the thought. Even after such a short time, it was hard to think that he would never hear Grace again. At least, not in person. Grace, the wonderful, creative being that he was, had left one last gift for Rocky. Giving up on trying to distract himself, Rocky opened that gift, a video Grace had recorded and uploaded to the laptop just for him.
“Hi Rocky, it’s me, Grace!” His human’s voice sounded so small coming from the laptop’s speakers, but Rocky could recognize it anywhere. That tilt to his words that Rocky had learned meant he felt awkward or embarrassed. Rocky laughed softly, humans felt shame for seemingly every little thing, or at least Grace did. Rocky continued to watch the video, his body filling up with warm fondness with every word he heard. It was a nice message, nothing overly emotional, but words of friendship and gratitude. Grace must have recorded this on their way back to the Blip-A, when Rocky was asleep, because he didn’t remember hearing this little speech through the walls. Rocky heard himself making happy noises as the video came to a close, where Grace looked at the camera with a more serious expression.
“I’ll never forget you, buddy. I love you.” Humans had so many muscles in their weird faces, and how they moved around could mean so many different things. Eridians did not rely so much on body language as humans did, but Rocky had started to learn what each expression meant, and the frozen picture of Grace on the laptop screen had a small, shy smile, just for Rocky.
For the next few weeks, Rocky had fallen into a routine. On a loop, he went to check on his taumoeba (still going good), then he went to the laptop to consume as much human knowledge as possible, then when he finally felt the pull of sleep, he watched Grace’s video and fell into unconsciousness as the last few words played. Boredom was blessedly never a factor on this trip, like it was the last time Rocky had piloted the Blip-A. Grace’s laptop contained so much more than scientific papers and pictures of Earth landscapes. There were also endless amounts of human entertainment and media that Grace had, for some reason, only ever shown him some of.
It was very easy for Rocky to get lost in fun human shows and movies, and Rocky could easily justify it as learning in depth about human customs and mannerisms. It was also extremely comforting, as well as not being bored, as long as the laptop played, Rocky didn’t have to experience that horrible crushing silence any more. He had rejoiced at the realization that human voices still soothed that instinctual part of him that needed companionship, even with no one actually there. Of course, he was helped even more by that one special video, Grace’s cute human face smiling, telling Rocky how thankful he was to have met him, how hopeful he had made him.
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
Then one day Rocky woke up to silence.