Chapter Text
"Hey, Rock, I need the laptop now." I was getting to a point where I needed to digitally visualize my data, and there was simply too much math for my whiteboard. I loved it when that happened. It meant I was getting somewhere.
Even though we were on our way to Erid and the beetles were heading back to Earth, I couldn't not try to research things. I had several years until we'd get there.
Rocky picked up the laptop and scuttled backwards.
Unusual.
"Ha-ha, very funny," I rolled my eyes. Rocky had been using the laptop with his little seeing device pretty much nonstop for the last two days. I had asked him what he was doing, and he said, "studying human culture." I had decided to let him be, because it made him quiet instead of asking rapid-fire questions about everything under the sun.
Well. I guess it would be Tau Ceti. But everyone had their movie-binging moments.
Now that I think about it, though, it was suspicious.
"Rocky researching. Humans feel shame when mating. Rocky no want Grace feel shame."
My jaw fell open. "Wait, Rocky, are you saying--"
"No! Bad bad bad," Rocky said. "Grace no look. Humans say is private."
I raised my hands in surrender and stepped back, sitting down on the floor. "Okay, okay, buddy. If it's private for you, I won't say anything."
Rocky shook his carapace. "No no no. Is not private for Rocky. Rocky reproduce many times many Eridians. Is normal, statement. Private for Grace. Grace feel discomfort."
I rubbed my forehead in my hands, trying to process this new information. Rocky mated many times??? Sex wasn't personal on Erid?
The scientist in me was admittedly curious.
And, okay, there was more of me that was curious, too. When you're stuck with someone for several months, someone who feels the need to announce every bodily movement, (leaky Grace) (Grace appendage increase blood flow, question?) maybe I was getting a little stir crazy.
I would give Rocky the world, though, and the teacher in me would never say no to anything he wanted to learn. He'd asked me just about everything so far anyway.
I blew out a defeated sigh. "Rocky, humans don't always feel discomfort. Sometimes we feel other things."
Rocky tilted his carapace. "What things, question?"
Was he really going to do this? My face heated up. "Pleasure, mostly."
"Mating give pleasure? Mating make Grace pleasure happy happy happy?"
I laughed and buried my face in my hands. "Yeah, buddy. Not that I've had much of it, but most of the time it makes humans happy."
"Humans in videos make sounds of pain, statement."
"What videos are you watching, Rock?" I raised an eyebrow. Either he was watching something hardcore that I didn’t want to know about or he was hearing moans and thinking it was pain. I should probably help educate him. "Are you watching human porn?
"Need word," Rocky said avoidantly.
"Porn is....videos of human mating. Sex movie. Pretty sure it's in the website name, too. There's a whole spectrum of things in those videos and not all of it is...common."
"Was mating scene in movie last night--"
"No, no," I waved my hands at him. "That was a part of the plot. Porn is different from movie." How do I explain the intricacies of human TV? "Porn is for the purpose of pleasure. Movie is for entertainment."
"Rocky enjoy pleasure porn."
"Oh my--" I covered my face in my hands again. "Christmas. Rocky, that's a lot of information."
"Why, question?"
"Because that's private."
"Mating is not private on Erid. Cultural difference."
I sighed. He used our trump card against me. Bastard. "Fine. So is it research or are you getting off to it?"
"Need word--"
"Ughh, I know, I know, I'm sorry. Getting off means feeling pleasure."
"Pleasure ends in leaky," Rocky nodded his carapace. "Rocky leaky also. Rocky getting off."
"Oh no. What have I done." I leaned my head back against the wall and sighed. "I made you into a little alien porn addict."
"Addict means too much input, question?" He tapped the screen with his specially-gloved finger. His whole body was protected by a thin layer of xenonite, allowing him to type in a strange hunt-and-peck kind of way not unlike how some of my students back at home would type.
Nope, don't think about that.
"Yes," I said. I made a mental note to explain addiction in a more scientific way later. It would be interesting to know if Eridians could actually get addicted to things. Like porn.
Rocky chittered to himself. "Rocky see Grace appendage, question?"
Oh God. Why did that sound like he wanted me? He probably just wanted to know. He let me watch him eat, right?
"Okay, okay, will it make you happy?"
"Yes, yes!" Rocky scuttled over excitedly before sitting down (as best as an Eridian could) between my knees. "Rocky watch."
"Jeebus. Okay." Just the thought of anyone seeing my cock right now had me at a half-chub. But Rocky was different. Rocky was special. I'd do anything to make him happy or satisfy his curiosity. He wanted to know about humans just as much as I wanted to know about him. He understood.
He also surprised me by yanking down my pants.
"Whoa, hey, come on. A little slower."
"Why slower, question?"
My cock stiffened in the cold air. A warm Eridian claw would feel really nice right about--
What was I thinking?
Rocky poked it gently with his claw and I jumped a little. "Many blood vessels. Can hear inside. Grace demonstrate, command."
I squeezed my eyes shut. There goes the last of my hesitation. "What do you want me to do?"
"Normal self-mate procedure," Rocky said, a little scientifically but still with an excited lilt to his voice. He was eager. My heart pounded. When was the last time anyone wanted me to be anything but a guinea pig or a sacrificial lamb? He wanted me. He wanted to watch me.
I'd do anything for him. I'd let him do open heart surgery on me, I'd established that fact in my mind a year ago. And he trusted me to tell me this?
"You want me," I breathed, wrapping a hand around my cock. Rocky leaned closer.
"Yes, yes. Want Grace be good and touch self for Rocky, Grace be good human, best human. Rocky want want want."
Tears sprang to my eyes. "Rocky, bud." I wiped the tears before they could fall. At least we had gravity right now. Crying in zero-G sucked. "I want you too."
And I did. It was weird, but I did. And somehow I was okay with it.
More than okay.
Rocky chirped and gave his customary jazz-hands. "Yes yes yes yes! Grace understand now. Rocky research for Grace. Rocky learn how to be better best for Grace. Grace learn how to be good human and let Rocky touch and look."
I gave a breathless laugh. "Oh yeah?" I teased. "You watched all that porn for me, huh? Such a chore. You're so considerate."
Rocky squealed, not catching the sarcasm. "Grace also considerate."
"T-thanks." I kept up my pace, precum smearing in my hand and helping add a little more slide.
"Grace make leaky, command."
"Fuu-fudge," I shut my eyes, just trying to do what I normally do. Rocky deserved to see the most accurate version, right? "It's called cum. When I leak at the end it's called an orgasm. Cumming."
"Eridian word is ♩♪♫♬♩♪♫♬. Cumming is verb, question? Cum is noun?"
"Y-yes, but that's not a very sexy way of thinking about it." Fuck, it felt good, I just needed--
"Rocky, please...Please touch me?"
"Different time. Rocky observe."
Fudge, different time??
"Grace doing so good. Good human leaky for Rocky. Amaze!"
"Rock, you-- you wanna see what happens at the end?"
"Yes yes yes! Grace cum for Rocky!" he made jazz hands, practically bouncing with excitement.
That did it. I spurted all over my hand, embarrassingly fast, but pretty damn good for being watched by an alien...
My alien, my brain supplied.
Rocky was thrilled. "Grace leaky leaky leaky. Disgust. Pretty. Disgust!"
Disgust, huh? Rude. Just to tick him off I just barely licked one of my fingertips. Just as I expected, he startled and backed up.
"Human eat mate cum?? No, no, no, bad, bad, disgust! Human stupid!"
I laughed. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry." It was a lie. If he told me to lick it up I probably would. Especially if he called me good again.
"Grace disgust," Rocky added..
I pointed at him. "Some humans are into eating it, though."
"Humans love mouths."
I laughed and wondered if I should put my clothes back on. "Yeah, we sure do. And hey, Grace not mean, I just gave you the best science experiment of all time. You got to watch an alien reproduce. Or, well. Something like it."
Rocky's vents fluttered. "Enjoy self-mate. Better than movie."
I really couldn't hide my blush anymore. It burned in my gut. I needed him. I needed him to keep saying these things. What the fuck was wrong with me? What do I even say to that?
"Are you gonna show me what your anatomy looks like?" I blurted. I couldn't help it. I wanted to see. I felt like a teenager at a sleepover saying you show me yours and I'll show you mine. I mean, that's what we were doing basically, right?
Space with Grocky was an infinite sleepover and I knew I’ll miss it when we get to Erid.
"Is same hole as eating," Rocky said. "Grace already see."
"Oh," I said. Why was I disappointed?
"Grace sad, question?"
"No, no, it's yours to show or not show, it's not my business."
"Grace no understand, Grace is mate now--"
"What?!"
Rocky hummed impatiently, as if I didn't get it. "if seeing ♩♪♫♬ makes Grace happy, Grace look."
"Right, no, I get that, but you're skipping past the part where you said I was a mate."
"Mate bad? bad bad bad." Rocky curled in on himself. I wasn't sure if he was being a drama queen or if he was really upset. On the safe side, I pulled my pants up and knelt down to his level.
"Hey, no, you're not bad. Never bad. I think you're pretty too, and I like when you watch me. I don't think I know how to be a mate for you. I'm not your species, bud. We can't..." I made a frustrated gesture. "Y'know." And what about Adrian?”
"Rocky no mind. Adrian like grace. Being mate is not exclusive to reproducing. Mate is emotion bond."
My chest tightened and before I could think of what to do, I was hugging his carapace, tears in my eyes. "Fudge, Rock, I love you too."
"Rocky love love love! Rocky make Grace feel good, question?"
"Yes, yes, Rocky, you make me feel so happy. I'm so glad I found you." The thought of Rocky being alone in space was worse than the thought of me being alone in space. How sad was Rocky for all those years?
"Rocky make Grace feel good now, question?" Rocky insisted.
Oh. It wasn't that kind of question.
"Y-yeah, okay, I probably have another one in me, but then I'm done."
"Why done, question?"
"Because human bodies have to recover after."
"Injury, question?"
"No!" I said a little too loudly. "Not injury. Just tired."
"Grace sleep. Sleep more important. Rocky make Grace feel good next time. Grace need sleep so not stupid stupid. I watch you sleep. Grace move bed in here so Grace Rocky sleep as mates."
Dang. That didn't sound like too bad of a plan. I also had a feeling he demanded it because watching me sleep brought him such intense joy. I knew it was a protective thing. He wanted to take care of me.
I almost told Rocky I'd be right back when I grabbed the mattress from the sleeping quarters and dragged it into the mental health node, but Rocky could see me the whole time through the walls. He could see me anywhere I was in this ship. It had led to him asking about my excretions (“Grace body inefficient”) and why I brush my teeth and cut my fingernails, and how much more time until we needed to change the bandage on my arm, and why I was so squishy and soft like that, and why I held my breath sometimes when I was nervous.
There really wasn't any personal space to begin with. This was a natural extension of that. It was embarrassing, but it didn't feel scary.
Rocky understood me. Not in the calculating way that Stratt understood me, but in a deeper, more caring sense. Rocky might not understand fully why I have bones that can break so easily (frankly I don't get why they're so fragile either), or why humans get embarrassed when they're caught 'self mating' in the toilet (I thought Rocky was asleep and admittedly yelled at him), but he understood my humor and worried when I cried and tried his best to understand my culture. I wanted nothing more than to make him feel welcome.
Maybe we were mates.
"Humans say welcome a lot," Rocky had said once.
"You're welcome is different from just welcome," I had explained. But he had a point. One of the first things I told him when he moved into the Mary was Welcome to my humble abode. Make yourself at home.
I hope when we get to Erid that his people will feel the same way about me.
I shake off the memory and set up the bed in the screen-filled nook. Rocky is waiting, still wearing his flexible xenonite. It resembled a mottled gray kevlar, clear in some places and opaque in others. He sat in a loaf-like position, waiting patiently, but sprang up to help drag the bed into the middle.
"You sit like a cat, you know that?"
"Need word?"
"Yes, wait, hold on," I typed into the search terminal, and videos of cats popped up on the screens around us. Rocky backed up in alarm.
"Bad bad bad, predator."
I turned it off, stunned. "Okay. Scared of cats, noted."
"Watch porn pleasure movie on big screens now?" Rocky asked hopefully.
"Uhh," I thought about it. "Not sure I want to be immersed in it with the actors like that. Maybe another time." I curled up on the bed and Rocky tucked the quilt over me before retreating and sitting next to me.
"Hey, come back," I said. "Thought you wanted to cuddle."
Rocky made a series of pleased noises that I couldn't translate before climbing directly on top of me. I could tell he had no concept of how to cuddle a squishy human but he was trying and we’d figure it out together just like anything else. Thankfully, he had his legs under him on either side of me, because otherwise his several hundred pounds of Eridian would smush me. He seemed comfortable enough.
But he was warm. Even through the flexible xenonite, it was like sitting under a heating vent. I sighed happily, getting used to it. He used a fifth claw to card his three fingers through my hair, and I let out something between a moan and a hum.
"Grace so good good good," Rocky said in a smooth voice. He moved to get the quilt over us and settled back on my chest. The vibrations felt soothing and I couldn’t help but think about where I’d like him to vibrate on me tomorrow. But I was exhausted and I fell asleep with Rocky playing with my hair.