Chapter Text
Grace and Rocky stare into the horizon, a rare moment of silence between the two. They’re either bickering or talking about their current research results, sometimes both.
It’s been 2 years since Grace arrived at Erid. The days of stress from having to save Earth, save his best friend, and recover from malnutrition are now just memories that haunt Grace when he sleeps.
Nowadays, he spends his mornings teaching a bunch of Eridian kids he’s lovingly named pebbles, and his afternoons are spent at the lab with Rocky. He has the Eridian equivalent of a weekend off, but normally spends it at the lab.
When Grace and Rocky first returned to Erid, celebrations had to be held off in exchange for keeping Grace alive and finding a reliable food source. Grace wasn’t supposed to live this long, scraping by on taumoeba soup and plain noodles, forcing down coma slurry when it got desperate. It barely got him to Erid.
Rocky brought together a science team purely focused on Grace’s monitoring and finding food. After a stressful couple of weeks, one had the idea to use Grace's DNA to replicate meat. It was strange, but it provided everything Grace needed, and recovery could begin. It was nice to actually bite into something.
Despite the exhaustion, he still managed to come up with a brilliant name, me-burgers. It led to a few squabbles about sounding stupid from Rocky, but he gave in easily. Hard to be mad at your best friend who almost died while bringing you home.
Since the me-burgers were a success, a few Eridians made their own team focused on creating human food. They have their own sector in the lab, and Grace provided them with their own device for researching food ideas.
They used the tiny amount of leftover noodles and managed to synthesise more. Once they got that down, experimenting began. They attempted to make bread, and it looked great!
Grace forgot that the Eridians can’t taste, too excited at the sight of ‘bread’, and bit into it without hesitation. Instant regret killed the excitement as the bread crumbled in his mouth, tasting like dirt and chemicals. The Eridians refused to give up, and after a few more trials, they had gotten it pretty accurate.
They continue trying to make new food, and once a month, one of the scientists brings him new food to try. Most of it was taste-testing and sending back… unfortunate results, but they managed to create different types of tea, which Grace was very thankful for. Things like that made life on Erid just that little bit better.
Once the stress of almost dying was gone, Grace asked Rocky if they could start working on getting more testosterone. He hated asking more from Rocky and the Eridians, but this meant a lot to him, and Rocky thankfully understood.
Stratt had packed quite an amount, enough for the trip to Erid if he rationed, but it wouldn't last for Grace's now increased life expectancy.
Back on Mary, remembering he needed testosterone was an ordeal. Grace didn't even remember that he’s trans when he first woke up from his coma.
Grace found a small bag in his luggage labelled ‘Grace’s Medications’, containing nothing but testosterone vials and a note telling him to get injected every two weeks by Armando. He was reasonably hesitant after his last experience with a needle.
He tried to question Armando, but he couldn’t provide a conclusive answer. He settled on the fact that he can’t produce his own testosterone and left the medicine bag with Armando. He didn't think of it much after that. There were bigger problems.
It all clicked into place when he and Rocky were recovering after going fishing and waiting for the nitrogen-surviving taumoeba to breed. Grace was reading while Rocky scrolled through his gifted laptop.
[Humans have weird ♪♫♪ organs.]
Grace looked up from his book and tilted his head. "What do you mean bud?"
He leaned over to see what Rocky was looking at. It took him a second to register the screen in front of him. It wasn't anything wild, just the typical human reproductive anatomy graphs. Grace choked on his spit.
"What- why are you looking at that?" Grace quickly said.
[Rocky curious! Rocky tell Grace about Eridian mating and now Rocky wants to learn about human mating!]
Can't argue with that. Grace was happy he didn't have to explain it himself.
[This one Grace, question?] Rocky chirped while pointing to the male anatomy graph.
Never mind.
Grace looked at the graph. That can't be right. Grace is a man, but his anatomy is apparently wrong.
Oh.
Ohhh.
Grace wanted to kick himself. How could he forget that he’s trans? In his defence, his current task was more pressing than his own anatomy.
That’s why he has chest scars. He spent a while looking at them in the mirror when he first saw them, trying hard to remember where they came from. They seem professionally done, definitely by a trained surgeon. He didn’t linger on it much longer.
When Rocky saved his life, the ammonia hissing off him burned up his arm and hit part of his chest, slightly connecting to the scar. He looked down at the claw print that stuck out compared to the rest of the healing burns on his arm, deep in thought.
[Grace!]
Grace snapped back to the conversation. "Sorry Rock, just some memories."
[Good memories, question?]
Grace hummed. "Neutral I guess? It's explained a lot about myself."
Rocky chirped, then tapped impatiently at the graph. [Grace didn't answer Rocky's question.]
Grace sighed, not prepared to have a conversation about being transgender to a species which doesn't even have separate sexes. Rocky didn’t really understand the concept of gender, but he’s very good at understanding Grace and what’s important to him, and that’s good enough for Rocky.
After sparing some leftover testosterone for the scientists, they synthesised more. Grace started feeling a lot better after hearing that he has an endless supply of T.
Research was now focused on helping surrounding stars, tracking how they’re responding to the taumoeba they release. There isn’t anything of interest most of the time, but it keeps them busy until they find a new project.
Today was different.
While looking at a nearby solar system, a flash of bright white light blinded Grace.
[Grace okay, question!? Grace hurt!] Rocky ran up to him while Grace blinked rapidly, trying to get his vision back.
"Holy mackerel. Yeah, I'm alright. What was that?"
[Unsure. Readings from solar system have stopped.]
Grace hesitantly looked back into the telescope. There’s nothing there. The solar system is… gone?
He moved the telescope around in case he knocked it when he got blasted with light. Still nothing. He looked away, rubbed his eyes, repositioned towards the solar system, and looked again.
Nothing. Not even a star.
"What the fudge?" he whispered.
[What is it, question? Rocky want to see!] He ran over to the screen connected to the telescope and held his screen reader over it. He taps impatiently. [Nothing there, statement! Point telescope towards the solar system!]
"I am!" Grace remarks back.
Rocky stops tapping. Grace looked around the new void, trying to spot anything. He lands on a dark moon that doesn’t belong to the vanished solar system. Grace ran a hand through his hair to try calm himself down. This doesn’t make any sense.
First, an entire solar system just disappears. Then it gets replaced by a single moon in a void.
Grace nicknames the moon Acheron, just until they think of an actual name. The two of them spent the rest of the day setting up ways to get any information from the moon. Then it was waiting. Eventually, they got a sonification reading back.
It sounds like a heartbeat.
It’s been a couple of weeks since they discovered Acheron, life continuing as usual while they wait for samples to return. Grace sighs and stretches, joints cracking, earning a disgusted [eugh] from Rocky.
Grace chuckles and pats Rocky on the top of his suit, watching the sun set. A warm glow covers the beach.
"I should head back, got loads of papers to grade." Grace gets up, using Rocky to push himself up, which earns him a grumpy note.
[Rocky should go home too. See Adrian! Let it know of recent discoveries!] The simple mention of Adrian cheers Rocky up as he starts clicking his claws.
"How are they? We need to have a catch up soon."
[Very good! Been working on making rain for Grace biodome. Busy busy busy]. Grace smiles at the thought of rain. He doesn’t love it as much as fog, but he misses listening to the rain hitting the windows as he worked.
"How's it coming along?"
[Almost done. Need to figure out how to make rain fall in drops, not all at once] Rocky said while giggling.
Grace grins at the thought as Rocky finally gets up and skitters over to the sea, launching himself into it. Grace smiles and waits for him to finish messing about. Rocky jumps in the waves for a while, then runs back to Grace and bumps into his leg, leaving a damp spot on his trousers.
[See you later, Grace.]
"See you later, Rock."
Grace heads back to his cabin after watching Rocky leave, brushing off the sand and kicking off his shoes outside before entering. He only started doing this after Rocky's continued complaints about the sand inside.
He cooks a me-burger, then sits at the kitchen table, eating while grading. Acheron is on his mind the entire time, having to remind himself to focus.
It’s not that he didn't enjoy seeing what the pebbles have handed in, but he wants to go over the moon readings again. There's something about it that keeps his attention. The information available is just... odd.
It seems to be mainly ocean. The density shouldn't be possible, and the ocean is made up of a thick liquid. Grace was staring at nothing, deep in thought.
After finishing the burger, he moves to his cluttered desk. Then again, there isn’t a room in his cabin that isn’t cluttered.
Papers everywhere, binders of research that aren't labelled, numerous half-read books, a few abandoned crafts, stray clothes here and there. Grace understood where everything was despite its state, so has no will to organise.
Besides, there are no other humans here to judge him. Whenever Rocky comes to visit, Grace sometimes gets a [why room so messy, question?] but it wasn't judgmental. Just Rocky being Rocky.
Grace stays focused on grading for a couple hours, only snapping out of the zone when it gets too dark for him to read. He stretches, knowing he should go to bed, but instead turns on his lamp and continues.
‘Just a few more papers’ he thinks to himself. He continues long into the night, ignoring how heavy his eyes are as his notes start blurring into each other.
Someone is chasing him. He can hear their footsteps rapidly approaching as he runs away, praying he’s faster than them. Tears are streaming down his face as angry voices behind him tell him to stop.
He can’t stop. He doesn’t want to die.
His heart sinks as he sees he’s heading straight to a fence. It’s fine, he can climb it. He’s about to grab onto it, inches from reach, but is tackled to the ground, air forced out of his lungs. Someone is on his back, keeping him down as he repeats ‘no’ over and over.
He tries to shake them off, but he can’t. He’s completely powerless to stop what's coming.
"Please! You can't do this! I-I can't go." he pleads between sobs, others finally catching up and surrounding him. He catches a glimpse of a needle and starts squirming harder. He knows what’s about to happen. He can’t do this again.
"Don't do it! Don't do it, please! I'll sabotage the mission! You’re killing me!" He feels the needle go into his neck. A broken "no" forces itself out, unable to say anything else as he cries.
Grace opens his eyes to two figures standing above him. Eva and Carl look down at him with disappointment. They don't say anything to him, as if he doesn't deserve any reassurance.
His vision blurs, darkness creeping in as he uses the last of his energy to try fight back.
Grace wakes up to knocking on his door. He’s panting while looking around the
He's in his cabin.
He's on Erid.
He's okay.
He fell asleep at his desk, a common occurrence for Grace.
He looks out the window and sees the sun rising, realising he only slept for a couple of hours. Grace goes to rub the exhaustion out of his eyes, being met with tears.
Grace was crying in his sleep, yet another common occurrence. Almost every night it’s the same. He struggles to fall asleep, and when he finally does, he’s greeted by nightmares. They change, randomly picking a horrible moment from his past and elevating it.
When Rocky watched over him, he’d sleep easier, but he has Adrian to watch over now.
The knocking grows more impatient.
“I’m coming!” Exhaustion evident in his voice as he wipes away the tears and readjusts his glasses.
He stumbles to the door, tripping over some stray books. Just as he opens the door, Rocky goes to slam himself into it, tumbling into Grace’s legs and causing them both to fall over. Grace lands on his back and groans as Rocky scrambles up next to him.
[Grace lazy and slow! Needs to answer door faster, statement.] he makes a few grumpy trills in between words.
Grace just huffs, not awake enough for Rocky’s energy. "You woke me up! I told you it can take me a while to get up." he says while repositioning his glasses again.
[No time for Grace whining. Rocky has news about Acheron! Needs to tell Grace now!] he’s jittering nervously in his exo-suit, beginning to push Grace upright.
His behaviour wakes Grace up, looking at Rocky once forced up. “Well, okay, I’m here now. What is it?”
[We got sample from moon... is blood.] Rocky gets quieter as he talks.
‘What?’
"What?" Grace was lost for words. How is that possible?
[Scientists compared moon blood to Grace's. Very very similar. Is safe to assume it is human blood.] Rocky is clicking his claws together nervously.
A shiver runs up Grace's spine. He doesn't know what to say.
"Wha- HOW?" Grace stammers "What!?"
[Eridians want to know more. Preparing a ship to Acheron to collect more data.]
“You’re telling me that this moon has an ocean made up of human blood!?”
[Yes.]
Grace runs a hand through his hair. Human blood.
He tries to think through this logically. It had to come from somewhere, or if something is synthesising it, it had to learn from someone. All logical steps point to the fact that there were humans here.
"What if we took Mary?" Grace blurts out. He didn’t mean to say that out loud.
Rocky pauses, deep in thought. Grace starts to regret suggesting they should go on a who knows how long trip to a terrifying moon with a human blood ocean and a heartbeat.
This would mean going back into space. He did kind of miss exploring with Rocky. Grace goes cold. He shouldn’t miss it.
Grace loves being on a safe planet where he has everything he needs. He loves teaching, spending time with Rocky, and staring out at the beach as the fog rolls in. So why does he want to go back?
He didn't even want to go into space when it actually mattered. That's what he hates most.
He already struggles with accepting that he refused to go into Space when the future of Earth depended on it, but now he’s being so selfish that he’s suggesting they go back just out of curiosity.
"Rock I-"
Musical notes interrupt him. [Rocky not against that idea.]
Even more guilt floods into Grace. This would force Rocky away from Adrian again. On the original trip, the closer they got to Erid, the more restless Rocky grew to see Adrian.
Their reunion was also delayed when they actually returned to Erid, with Rocky's focus on keeping Grace alive. Due to his frail state, visits from anyone but Rocky and the scientists were banned. Grace tried convincing Rocky that he’d be okay, to go see Adrian, but Rocky refused.
If Grace died while he was gone, he would never forgive himself. Adrian was more than understanding.
After Grace was stable, and after a lot of reassurance from him and the scientists, Rocky finally left to go see Adrian.
He was gone for a whole week, only leaving their home when a messenger gave him an update on Grace. Grace understood, not minding a bit of time alone in Mary to process, well, everything.
When Rocky returned, he was a lot happier, a significant weight off his shoulders. He greeted Grace with a strong hug, bouncing about and rambling about some ‘big plan’ Adrian has for Grace so he can live on Erid.
Adrian had the idea of a biodome for Grace and ended up in charge of the whole operation. It took them a while to settle on what scenery to replicate, picking Rocky’s brain for ideas, and they didn’t stop making changes until it was perfect. Grace has a lot of respect for Adrian, greatly appreciating everything they have done for him.
The day Grace met Adrian is when those two together made a lot of sense. Rocky is a complete rascal and (lovingly) quite dramatic, while Adrian is a lot calmer, still with their own sass, and most importantly, they’re both nerds.
"What about Adrian?" Worry is evident in Grace’s voice.
[Rocky will talk to Adrian and see how it feels. This trip won't be as long as previous, much much shorter. Rocky can cope.] Rocky warbles.
"How long is it?" Grace dreads to hear the answer.
[8 months total.]
That's not that bad. 4 months there, and 4 months back, leaving loads of time for experimenting.
"Can I think about it?" Grace sighs, chewing on his cheek nervously. Rocky pushes gently into Grace's arm to comfort him.
[Of course. Rocky will talk to Adrian while Grace thinks.] He bumps into Grace as a goodbye, then scampers out the door, looking back one more time. [Don't think too much.]