Chapter Text
"I can go home, or I can save Rocky."
"It means I die."
When Grace had discovered the Taumeba leak on his own ship, he'd made a decision. A decision that he had been certain would lead to his death.
It was worth it. He truly felt that way. For as badly as he wanted to return to Earth, for as much as he wanted to tell Eva that he'd made it and suffer her smugness over being right… There was really only one option in his mind. Because there was no world in which he'd let Rocky die, let alone the rest of Erid.
So Grace had turned around. He'd done the math to figure out approximately where Rocky would be in the vast expanse of space, and he went back for him.
The journey to Erid had been long, but it had been worth it. For months now he'd lived within the bio dome Eridian engineers and scientists had created for him. They'd found a way to synthesize food for him to meet his nutritional intake needs, and after living off of Taumeba it tasted divine.
For the first month he lived in the bio dome, Rocky was there near constantly. Over their years long trip, they'd grown quite close. Some might call it codepandant, that was certainly a word Adrian had thrown around, but who could blame them? Grace certainly didn't mind.
Grace woke that morning to the furious knocking of his Eridian best friend at his door, which wasn't unusual. He was beginning to wonder if he really needed an alarm clock, or if he could just trust Rocky to come knocking when he took what he considered to be "too long."
"I'm here! Don't bust the door down." Grace greeted him with a soft chuckle as he swung the door open. He always thought Rocky looked adorable in his xenosuit, though he missed the ball.
No he'd never admit he missed the ball, it had definitely led to some bruises on his shins, but it had been kind of cute. Like a hamster exploring his ship clumsily. Though looking at Rocky, a crab might have been a better comparison.
♫⋆♪ ﾟGrace late late late.♫⋆♪ ﾟ Rocky scolded, as he always did. At least it was comforting, how certain things stayed the same.
"I'm sorry, did we have a date?" He couldn't help but joke. "I see you every day, bud."
♫⋆♪ ﾟGrace no want to see Rocky, question?♫⋆♪ ﾟ He replied, already knowing the answer but putting on his saddest, lowest musical tone possible.
While Grace had picked up a lot of Eridian while working with Rocky, and even more on the trip home, certain things he was still learning. Tone was one, but it seemed pretty similar to a humans tone. Low tones were typically somber, or sad, sometimes serious. Mid tones were, well, mid. They were the standard for regular conversation. High tones were for alarm or excitement.
It wasn't always that cut and dry. For instance, Grace had learned anger often switched in tones, which could make it a bit hard to follow. And he wasn't going to pretend to understand flirting and courtship, that was something he would let the Eridians have on their own.
"Of course I want to see you, I just don't think the extra ten seconds before I open the door are going to cause the bio dome to implode." He smiled and patted the top of Rocky's carapace before they began working their way down the stairs.
The bio dome was large and beautiful. More space than any one person could need, but considering how large Erid was and the fact this would be the home he was in for the rest of his life, he appreciated them going so all out. He also loved how customizable it was.
When they'd initially been working on the dome, he'd spoken to a few scientists about Earth's day and night cycle. Yes he could have gotten used to how Erid's night and day worked, but he kind of missed the cycle he knew.
The solution was an artificial sun of sorts that traveled over the bio dome ceiling slowly, working its way around in a twelve hour period, then it would restart the next day. It was like he had his own mini sun. It was pretty ingenious, and it made him very happy even though he preferred to keep the climate foggy.
♫⋆♪ ﾟGrace no teach Pebbles today, question?♫⋆♪ ﾟ Rocky asked as they walked down the sandy beach.
"Ah, no. Not today." He said, shaking his head. "I need to work on some new lesson plans. With human kids I could always do refreshers, go back to re-teach something we'd covered."
♫⋆♪ ﾟYes yes, human brain no retain information like Eridian brain.♫⋆♪ ﾟ Rocky agreed with a musical chime that was his equivalent of laughter.
Grace rolled his eyes and stuck his hands in his cardigan pockets. "Yeah yeah, humans are dumb and Eridians are so smart." He snorted, but he wasn't actually upset. The Eridian mind was truly a marvel. Honestly he got jealous of it if he thought about it for too long.
"Anyway I'm not sure what to teach them next. They're all so eager to learn, it's really fun." He added, smiling softly as he thought of his class.
Rocky chirped a bit. ♫⋆♪ ﾟShould teach how we saved star.♫⋆♪ ﾟ He suggested. ♫⋆♪ ﾟIs their history. Good to learn. Know Grace Rocky heroes.♫⋆♪ ﾟ
"That wouldn't… Scare them?" He asked hesitantly. "My kids back on Earth were scared when they learned about the Petrova line. I guess now that the threat is eliminated it wouldn't be as scary but…"
It was one of Grace's biggest fears still. The thought that their fix wouldn't work forever. It would most likely work for his short lifetime, but Eridians lived so much longer than that. What if Rocky was still alive when the Astrophage learned to fight off the Taumeba?
He shook his head as if he could clear it that way, like an etch-i-sketch. There was no point in worrying about it right this second. It just meant Rocky was right. It would be useful for the young Eridians to learn about it so they could work to correct any problems in the future if they arose.
He wondered if that happened on Earth, if someone else would be sacrificed like he had been in order to fix the problem.
♫⋆♪ ﾟNot scary now that we save stars.♫⋆♪ ﾟ Rocky agreed. ♫⋆♪ ﾟGrace thinking too much.♫⋆♪ ﾟ
Grace sighed and ran a hand down his face. "No need to call me out on it, but yeah. I think too much. I'm trying to stop."
They paused their walking, deciding their current spot was as suitable as any to sit for awhile and watch the waves. He leaned a bit against Rocky, enjoying the warmth that radiated off of him even through his suit.
"How's Adrian?" He asked.
♫⋆♪ ﾟGood good. Almost finished with latest probe.♫⋆♪ ﾟ Rocky trilled in a delighted way. That was one tone Grace always understood meant 'lovestruck', since Rocky only ever "spoke" that way when talking about his beloved mate.
He smiled. "That's awesome. How many planets have they saved?"
♫⋆♪ ﾟThis nine planet. Working on ten next.♫⋆♪ ﾟ
When Rocky and Grace had returned to Erid with their findings, one of the most important things that needed to happen was to breed enough Taumeba to introduce to Erid's sister planet's atmosphere to save it from dying.
Of course they had an entire science team, including Adrian, itching to get their hands- or rather their claws, on the findings and save Erid, even though Erid had more time to solve the issue as opposed to Earth thanks to the dense atmosphere.
Since then, they'd been regularly checking on their star to ensure it was not dimming. The last time they had checked, it seemed as though the star was glowing even brighter. It was healing itself now that the Astrophage was under control.
But Erid and Earth weren't the only solar system with stars in danger. Nearly every single star that had been recorded by humans or Eridians had been affected and was dimming.
Knowing that, the Eridian science teams had begun working on probes. They would set coordinates to launch them into an infected planet's orbit, where Taumeba would then be released into the atmosphere. The "opposite of go fishing", Rocky had said.
They programmed the probes to come back to Erid after, hoping to reuse them once they had enough, but some of them just hadn't come back. Likely the signal or directions got disrupted by space somehow. It meant saving the planets and their stars would take longer, as new probes needed to be built, but nearly ten planets in just a couple of months was pretty impressive.
♫⋆♪ ﾟAdrian want to talk to Grace about planet.♫⋆♪ ﾟ Rocky said. ♫⋆♪ ﾟVery very very important.♫⋆♪ ﾟ
Grace straightened. "Then why are we here? I should go talk to them!" He said as he got back to his feet. He wasn't going to admit that it did get him excited when he was needed. Eridians were smart, and sometimes it felt like since he'd taught them all he knew they didn't really need him anymore. Still, there was the odd occasion where he was called for his human perspective on something.
Rocky lowered his carapace sullenly. ♫⋆♪ ﾟRocky want Grace time.♫⋆♪ ﾟ
He paused, then he giggled. "Awww," He smiled. "I want time with you too. I promise after we talk to Adrian we can keep hanging out. Sound like a deal?" He offered his fist.
Rocky still seemed pouty despite not having a face, but he did bump their fists together. ♫⋆♪ ﾟDeal. Should not delay. Adrian no lie when say important.♫⋆♪ ﾟ
"If they ask why we're late, I'm telling them you kept me." Grace joked.
Him and Adrian had a good relationship. After all, Adrian had been beyond thrilled to learn their mate was alive thanks to the leaky space blob. They had been the lead on the bio dome construction, and in almost everything else human related.
"Did they mention what they needed me for anyway?" He asked as they started walking towards the joined science center.
♫⋆♪ ﾟProbe going to planet seven went to different planet.♫⋆♪ ﾟ Rocky explained. He was a very good mechanical engineer, but astrology science was still not his strong suit, so he was just repeating what his mate had told him. ♫⋆♪ ﾟNew planet not on map. New planet have noise.♫⋆♪ ﾟ
"Noise?" Grace echoed, eyebrows furrowing.
It wasn't unheard of for a planet to make sound, or rather make sound waves that could then be picked up. He assumed Eridians, and therefore the probes they made, likely were extra sensitive to sound too since it's how they saw.
♫⋆♪ ﾟYes yes. Rocky tell Adrian crazy. Need more sleep.♫⋆♪ ﾟ He chirped in a huff, similar to when he called Grace stupid and reckless for not sleeping. Of course he was always a lot nicer when talking to his mate.
"What made them crazy?" He chuckled. "I mean, planets do sometimes make noise or have a sound frequency. I guess it's weird it wasn't on your guys' map but…"
♫⋆♪ ﾟNot on Grace map either.♫⋆♪ ﾟ Rocky clarified. ♫⋆♪ ﾟAdrian say noise sound like Grace.♫⋆♪ ﾟ
Grace paused. "... What do you mean, like me?" He asked, heart dropping to his stomach with something akin to anxiety.
♫⋆♪ ﾟAdrian say noise sound human talking. Adrian crazy. Only human here is Grace.♫⋆♪ ﾟ
Grace felt lightheaded.
He took off running towards the science center, leaving Rocky chirping in confusion as he tried to scamble after him.