Chapter Text
“You… you wanna try what?”
“I know, I know, it sounds…” Well, the answer to that was ‘crazy’. To a lot of people, actually, Grace’s request probably sat somewhere within the realm of ‘decently strange’ to ‘completely crazy’, and at this point, he didn’t quite care enough to slap a label on it. He was just a horny, curious guy!
Simon also looked rather curious, although there was a slight bit of wariness to his eyes. “Like, full form?”
“Or as much of it as you can reasonably do!” Grace said quickly, putting up his hands in a pacifying gesture. “Like, it’s totally up to you, but you can absolutely say no! I’m not gonna pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to, Simon.”
“Grace, you moron,” Simon muttered, grabbing him by the hips and pulling him in close. He buried his face in Grace’s shoulder, and he could basically feel the flush from his skin radiating off of him.
Grace leaned into him further, just enjoying the feeling of it. Simon pushed his hips a little closer with a short noise, and he quickly realized that he could feel him through his pants.
“I want to try it,” Simon muttered, burying his face in Grace’s shoulder sheepishly. “Only if you’re okay with it.”
“I’m curious how you work as a blood-siren! And I’m not scared of anything you could do.”
“Grace,” he groaned softly, directly in his ear. Grace couldn’t deny how ridiculously fast the sound did something for him. “You’re… you actually want me like this?”
“Of course!” Grace said, pulling him a little closer. “I don’t have a reason not to want you.”
“You know that I look weird-”
“Ah! No! Bad bad bad!” Grace said, pulling away from the close pressed hug to cup Simon’s face, and he pressed a soft kiss to the side of it. “You don’t look weird. You look like a blood-siren, and you look like Simon. You’re handsome as heck.”
Simon grabbed him by the chin and guided him into a proper kiss, and Grace hummed softly as he felt Simon gently nip at his bottom lip.
“How far can you shift without accidentally breaking any of my furniture?” Grace asked playfully. He genuinely wanted to know, mainly because he was curious about it, but also because replacing furniture would be painfully expensive.
“Depends on how much you think you can take,” Simon mumbled into his mouth, kissing him haphazardly and with little caution as a few of his sharper teeth emerged. Grace didn’t bother hiding the slight whine in his voice as he felt some of the needles brush cautiously against his mouth.
Much to his surprise, though, he heard Simon growl, actually growl, somewhere deep in his throat. The sound reverberated against Grace’s chest as Simon dragged him closer, using a hand on his hips to pull him flush with his chest.
“I dunno,” Grace whispered, taking the hand that had been cupping Simon’s face and dropping it down to his neck, where he knew Simon’s gills lay hidden. The second his fingers dragged across the skin there, Simon let out a shaky gasp, and he saw that half of his face had shifted halfway into its more monstrous form. “We’ll see, won’t we?”
“Dammit, Grace, you- mmh, you know what touching those does to me!” Simon moaned into his mouth. The mandible on the side of his face had fully emerged, teeth blooming from his mouth as Grace carefully started kissing around it. Simon basically pressed himself completely against Grace, and yep, he was already hard.
“Come on, let’s get the clothes off,” Grace said, even as Simon let out a protesting whine when he pulled away. “Hey, if you want it, we’re gonna need to not have clothes on.”
“I hate that you’re right,” Simon whispered, right next to his ear. Out of nowhere, Simon wrapped his arm around the back of his neck and dragged him unexpectedly toward the bed. Grace yelped as they both fell over into it, and he couldn’t help laughing as he landed basically face-first in Simon’s chest. He felt himself blush, both from landing directly on top of Simon’s lap, and from having his face basically buried in Simon’s tits.
“Grace, can… can you-” Simon’s words were cut off with a low, long whine as Grace pressed his hands back onto his gills. The sound of a siren song filled the air, much to his surprise. “-undress me, maybe?”
“You want me to what?” Grace asked, his eyes going wide, the flush in his face only burning further as he looked at Simon. His face had turned ruby red with how hard he was blushing.
“I forgot you could understand me when I sang…” Simon said, so obviously embarrassed that Grace’s brain factory reset. Holy crap, this man was somehow so handsome and so adorable at the same time. “You don’t have to do that.”
“No, no, get over here,” Grace declared, kneeling over Simon and putting his hands on his chest with purpose. Simon immediately started squirming underneath him, a series of whines emerging as Grace slipped his hands up under his shirt.
“Okay, so, how much do you want me to undress you?” Grace asked curiously. “Because I'm pretty sure that if you’re gonna go full fish mode, there’s probably just things you have to take off immediately.”
At that, Simon’s shaky gasping turned to wheezes of laughter. “Don’t fucking call it ‘fish mode!’ No!”
“That’s literally what’s happening! You’re going into fish mode!”
“No! No! I get veto power over what we call it, and ‘fish mode’ is not it, you nerd!”
“Would you rather I call it ‘spookification?’” Grace suggested, and at that, Simon promptly grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked it over his head. “What- hey!”
“You deserve it.”
“Okay, how about fin drive?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Screw you,” Grace whispered, just pulling off his shirt all the way. It didn’t really matter if it stayed on at this point, considering he literally had Simon pinned to the bed underneath him. And, you know. The ‘about to have sex with a creature from an ocean of blood’ thing. That would probably result in shirts off for some people.
He grabbed Simon by the shoulders and pulled him to sit upright, still sitting smack dab in his lap as he casually pulled off Simon’s shirt. He did not miss the way the other man gasped in surprise when the air of the room reached skin, nor the way he leaned into Grace’s touch so needily that the second they were able to, their mouths were pressed together again even despite the teeth getting in the way.
“Dang, your teeth are sharp,” Grace whispered, and Simon nearly drew away. Grace refused to let him do that, instead weaving one hand into his hair and pulling him back toward him. A surprised sound turned to a delighted moan as Grace used his tongue to explore the more toothy side of Simon’s mouth, his curiosity piquing every time he found some gap between them that he could poke around in.
“Grace, you’re- mmh, fuck,” Simon groaned, much to his own personal delight. “Get off for a second.”
“Why?”
“I can… I can shift enough to be fully blood-siren,” Simon mumbled through Grace peppering kisses on his mandible, “and not break your bed. I think.”
“You’re sure?”
“Oh my- Grace, just get off for a second and take off your damn pants.”
At that, Grace giggled, before pressing himself purposely into Simon’s lap. He could feel him rather obviously, and Simon let out something between a whine and a hiss at the feeling.
“You gotta ask me nicely,” Grace insisted as Simon groaned into him, burying his face in his chest. “I know it’s not impossible.”
“Fuck you, Grace.”
“That’s not asking nicely, Simon.”
The whine that came out of his mouth almost mixed with the blood-siren word for “please,” and at that, Grace got off of him with a smile and a ‘thank you!’
He managed to get his pants off rather quickly, excitement mounting in him for a variety of reasons. One of which was obvious, and also, he’d get to see how blood-siren biology worked up close and personal - something that might only be a dream in the minds of the rest of the science team.
Maybe just not in the way one might expect to be up close and personal, sure, but damn him if he wasn’t curious to see what Simon would do.
Grace had just kicked his sweatpants and underwear across the room when he felt Simon’s hand slip around his waist, knees against his lower back as Simon started gently biting at Grace’s neck.
Now, to many people, having something with the dental plan of a deep sea anglerfish trying to bite you in the neck might sound absolutely terrifying. One wrong move, and that would be a rather unfortunate puncture and a very awkward explanation for the people in the medical center. And considering Grace’s own personal experience with having needle-like objects on his neck, he maybe should have felt a little more fear than he did.
Grace found himself, as Simon kept biting at the back of his neck, arching up into the tiny, needle pinpricks of the teeth on his skin. The little pricks of the tips against his skin were like little shocks, just little pokes that didn’t even go too deep. A whine slipped out of him as he tried to lean further into it, the feeling more arousing than he thought it would be.
“Simon,” Grace whined, and he felt the hand around his waist shift enough in size to nearly wrap around his hips. Oh, holy crap, Simon could literally wrap a hand around his hips.
“Ryland,” Simon murmured, his breath hot against the back of his neck, and heat instantly flared through his entire body at the sound. Dammit, Simon knew how to say his name, and he knew how to say it right.
He turned around in the bed to see that Simon had shifted halfway into his blood-siren form already, with most of his upper body having already altered. Two gills lined each side of his torso below the ribs, fluttering carefully and almost in time with the ones on his neck. His pupils had morphed into a more slitted shape, and they widened as Ryland turned around to look at him. The left half of Simon’s face had fully slipped into its usual shape, teeth jutting from every part of his gums and from the unique mandible along the side of his face.
Absolutely, fascinatingly beautiful, in his personal, definitely biased opinion.
Simon pulled Ryland into a kiss basically the second he turned to look at him, a hunger in his eyes that set his entire body on fire.
“Still don’t think I look weird?” Simon asked, his voice trembling either from arousal or from worry. Ryland immediately started playing with his tongue in Simon’s sharper teeth, on purpose. Simon groaned into his mouth, a sound that turned to a high-pitched moan as Ryland brought his hands to his sides and started brushing them along his gills.
“Not at all,” Ryland admitted. “You’re kind of… okay, no, you’re actually pretty hot like this.”
“You’re sure?”
His question prompted Ryland to grab Simon around the torso and pull him down on top of him, Simon falling with a yelp of surprise. Ryland continued brushing along his gills as he kept kissing him, and Simon’s surprise turned to utter delight as he started moaning senselessly, shaking as his tail fully shifted out on the bed beside them.
Simon seemed so incredibly sensitive compared to usual - he jolted at every light brush of Ryland’s fingers on his skin, sloppily kissing him and almost dropping onto him a couple of times as he attempted to stabilize himself with one arm. Maybe it had something to do with being fully shifted out, but even right now, he knew that Simon was mostly holding back on the full form. Probably just for a smidge more safety than they actually had here, but nobody ever said that scientifically exploring your close friend who happened to be a sea monster was safe.
“Ryland,” Simon moaned into his mouth, and Ryland hummed with a grin on his face. “Fuck, why is it so much worse than usual?”
“Probably because you’re actually in your full blood-siren form,” Ryland pointed out, running one of his hands along Simon’s back to brush the fin that ran down his spine. Simon shuddered at the feeling, while Ryland mentally took note of it. The fin felt quite unique, with a regular fish-like fin texture, but a slightly ridged feeling to it well and truly helped solidify its alien nature to him.
“This is so cool,” Rylan muttered under his breath, playing with the fin absently as Simon kissed at his neck again. He shuddered under the touch of his lips, or at least, half of them. Teeth brushed along his other side, the edges of them dragging softly against skin.
“You’re a huge nerd,” Simon managed through the way he was writhing under his hands. Ryland couldn’t hold back a giggle at the sight, and Simon only started kissing a little more insistently.
“Uh-huh, and you find it hot,” he shot back. His curiosity overwhelmed all sense of rational thought - alongside the horniness, so that made for a thoroughly terrible combination for him.
Ryland’s gaze wandered down Simon’s chest, to where his left arm had started to shift out. The blood surrounding the stump of it morphed and twisted in a few odd ways, but Ryland could visibly recognize them as they formed properly - tendons, a somewhat functional skeletal structure, musculature, and finally, makeshift skin that didn’t even drip any blood onto the bed. A fully functional arm, shifted from his internal blood supply.
Simon propped himself up the right way, no longer lopsided due to the lack of arm. He used that other arm to immediately find Ryland’s hair, the webbed fingers tangling in his messy hair as he pulled him into a very sloppy, heated kiss.
Ryland returned it easily, intending to keep poking his tongue around in Simon’s mouth, but he was beaten to it when he felt Simon’s tongue slip into his own mouth. He let out a shaky whine at the feeling, one that grew in pitch as he realized just how freaking long Simon’s tongue actually was.
Simon played with him easily, and tremors coursed through Ryland as they continued to sloppily make out - kissing someone who had half of their mouth open into three segments was not the easiest feat, but they were managing it.
Jesus, the way he kept dragging around his tongue inside Ryland’s mouth, the soft moans slipping out of them both - it did more than enough for him, and at that moment, Ryland let his hands start running over Simon a little more freely than before.
He put more pressure onto Simon’s neck gills, to which Simon immediately started whining in delight. He rutted up against Ryland, which might have done something for him were it not for the fact that Simon nearly dropped down on top of him.
“Fuck!” he hissed, and Ryland immediately stopped moving.
“You okay?” he asked, trying to get a better look to make sure he hadn’t done anything wrong. First-time sex with someone who had completely alien genitalia meant that there were plenty of ways it could go wrong for either party.
The only thing he really saw down that way happened to be his own dick, pressed between his and Simon’s bodies - there didn’t look to be anything else that could indicate a problem. Actually, it seemed mostly flat down most of Simon’s body.
“M’fine, I’m…. I’m fine,” Simon panted, sounding distinctly not fine about it. “Just… fuck, didn’t think that would feel good.”
“What did?”
“I dunno,” he admitted. “I haven’t… I haven’t explored this body at all. Never thought I’d need to.”
Ryland nodded, noting the worried look on Simon’s face. “Hey, Simon, it’s fine. We can explore together, if you’re alright with that.”
“Please Ryland,” he whimpered, pressing himself down onto Ryland a little further. The pressure from it had him let out a shaky moan, to which Simon pressed himself nearly flat on top of him.
“S-Simon,” Ryland gasped, grabbing the back of Simon’s neck and pulling him a little closer. “It’ll… hah, shoot, it’ll be easier for me to figure things out if… if I can sit on top.”
An almost unhappy grumble escaped the blood-siren, but he obligingly got off to let Ryland sit up and take a closer look.
On the surface, it didn’t seem like there was anything there - unusual, considering that Simon did have his penis in a more human form. Ryland had seen it before. He continued trying to scope out what could have possibly made Simon react that way as the man laid down underneath him.
Ryland hopped up on top of him, settling just over his pelvis, and Simon suddenly started twitching and gasping in pleasure underneath him.
“Simon?”
“I’m okay,” he gasped out. “Oh, fuck, please don’t move, that feels… it feels good.”
“Maybe the tissue’s just moved?” Ryland mumbled to himself, scooting backwards a little bit onto Simon’s tail. He ran his hands along the surface, trying to find any irregularities, and Simon let out a little whine when it dragged over the same spot where he’d been sitting a second ago.
“Is it this spot?” Ryland asked.
“Yes,” Simon said, barely able to keep the shake out of his voice. He couldn’t help but grin at that, and he started purposely messing around with the area. Simon’s moaning kicked up a pitch, and he reached up to haul Ryland in closer with one hand on his back.
“I thought I told you not… not to move,” Simon growled softly. Ryland went utterly red in the face, trying hilariously hard to think of something to say in response to that.
Instead of replying, he just shifted his hand where it had been before. Simon had accidentally pinned one of them down, between both of their bodies, and Ryland started to move it around in protest.
Simon’s expression turned from stern to almost blissful in seconds, another groan tearing free from him as Ryland scooted his hand around. It didn’t help his own case, given the fact that he was still very much also pressed up against Simon right now, and he couldn’t keep down the little whine that escaped his throat.
“Can I have my hand back?” he asked, a little shakily. Simon grumbled out a reply, which were barely words, but he reluctantly let his hand slip sideways off of Ryland’s back.
He pulled his hand up from underneath himself, still not quite wanting to get off of Simon-
-and nearly bolted upright in alarm anyway when he felt it sink inside of something warm and incredibly wet.
Simon’s reaction was almost instant, his eyes going wide as a harsh groan escaped him and he secured his webbed claws back around Ryland’s entire torso.
“Ryland, I- fuck, fuck, don’t… don’t you dare move!” Simon moaned through his singing. Heat continued building in his own body at the sound, and Ryland moved his hand a little deeper. Simon’s sudden whine told him all he needed to know.
“What is that?” Ryland whispered, drawing himself up to try and get a better look. Simon could barely slip out the words to protest at this point, shaking so much that his grip on Ryland's back loosened as he sat up.
His hand had sunken into some kind of slit, opened just along the front of Simon’s pelvis where his cock normally sat. Curiosity and fascination drew Ryland to start probing around more, much to Simon’s delight as he twitched and groaned.
“It’s like a genital opening, it has to be,” Ryland muttered to himself. He reached his hand deeper, some sort of clear liquid coating it as he did, feeling the way the walls contracted around him and delighting in the feeling of Simon’s voice pitching up as he whined and begged. “Hey, you’re doing great, Simon. You’re doing good.”
“Fuck, fuck, Ryl- ah, please, k-keep going, go- oh!”
His hand found something within the opening, and he managed to work his fingers underneath it. Simon bucked underneath him, his voice dissolving into nonsense song as Ryland worked to bring the thing up to the surface.
“Hey, Simon?” Ryland offered, to which he only got a couple of wordless whimpers in reply. “I think I found your dick.”
A brief moment of quiet settled, before Simon’s gasping turned into wheezes of laughter. Ryland blinked at him, a little confused.
“Why did… why did you have to say it like that!?” Simon gasped out, and after a quick mental revision-
OH.
Ryland started giggling as well, trying to contain his own laughter as he pulled the hand in Simon up a little more. Simon’s manic giggling completely broke at that, becoming a long, drawn out moan as Ryland pulled what he assumed to be Simon’s dick free from the slit.
The thing was absolutely drenched in a slick, clear fluid, presumably some kind of lubricant that Ryland’s biologist brain was itching to study closer. An iron scent filled his nose, but at this point, he could only chalk it up to blood-sirens kind of just smelling like blood all the time. Nothing unique there.
The actual dick in his hand, however, was of much greater interest to him, and a flare of heat rushed through him at the mere sight of it. Compared to a human, it was disproportionately large, at least two or three inches longer than what Ryland’s brain processed as an average value and definitely a lot thicker than he’d initially thought it might be. Larger veins showed themselves across its length, creating uneven, random ridges all across it that made him squirm even just thinking about what those could possibly feel like. The head itself actually looked surprisingly normal, save for the odd cross of two slits it had. How Ryland managed to catch that this time, he wasn’t entirely sure, considering how Simon was twitching and already slick with precum.
Overall, way more texture than on a regular human dick, and definitely a lot larger. Ryland would know - he happened to be the owner of one, which was equally as hard and dripping at the moment.
“Good God, Simon, you’re… that’s so cool,” Ryland whispered to himself. Heat pulsed through his legs and thighs, and he ground himself down on top of Simon. Simon groaned, the sound almost desperate with how delightfully needy they were. “You’re doing so good, Simon! Now, how does this work…?”
Simon’s needy tone almost turned to a squeak as Ryland brushed his hand over the tip of his cock, another short pulse of precum leaking out onto his hands. He ran his hands over it, his curious mind and his horny one overlapping as he mentally calculated how long it might be.
“Hey Simon?” he asked conversationally, feeling himself twitch as need burned through his body. “Do you mind if I try riding you?”
“Please!” Simon cried, bucking up sharply into his touch and only adding to Ryland’s own need. The expression on his face was nothing short of pure, desperate desire. “Ryland, Ryland, fuck- fuck me, please!”
“Alright, alright, just give me a second!” Ryland said, his giggling starting up again. “Uh, hm, what can I use as… oh, wait, never mind, you’ll work.”
“I’ll work for wh-aht! Hah, R-Ryland!”
He dipped his hand back into the slit, soaking it thoroughly in the slick that was basically pouring out of him. He methodically covered it in the lube, just to make sure.
He pushed himself up, off of Simon’s hips, before positioning himself over the tip. He took a deep breath, and carefully, carefully lowered himself down.
He didn’t drop too low, but the start of the stretch alone sent the fire in his body flaring high enough to disrupt any further thoughts that might have been running through his mind. Ryland groaned at the feeling, resisting the urge to slam himself down onto Simon’s cock immediately.
“Ryland Grace,” Simon moaned, looking up at him with a hunger he’d only seen a few times from him. His entire body shuddered with pleasure at the mere sound of how Simon said his name, and he pushed himself down further onto Simon. “Fuck, fuck, I need- I need you, Ryland, please-”
“Easy, easy, Simon,” Ryland gasped, despite stretching himself further on his dick as he kept sinking down. Fuck, that felt really, really good. “Just breathe, j-just- ah, that’s… mm, okay.”
His legs jolted as Simon rolled up into him, shoving himself into Ryland a little further than expected. He groaned his delight as he dropped a little further, feeling the warmth of Simon’s cock, the odd texture of the veins inside of him, and just the feeling of how much it filled him sending waves of hot pleasure roiling through him.
“Oh, fuck,” Ryland moaned, his hands creeping up Simon’s torso and starting to brush his hands along his gills again as he sank further down. Almost the whole way down and he felt absolutely filled with him. “Fuck, Simon, you… ugh, you feel good, you feel so good-”
“Ryland!” Simon cried as he started to ride his dick, the slow, steady pace maddening for Ryland as he started to whine into the feeling. He noticed that Simon had tears in his eyes, the expression on his face blissed out enough for him to recognize it as being thanks to just how overpowering the blood-siren sensitivity actually was. “Oh, fu-uck, please, please, I- hah, need… need more, please-!”
“I’m trying to- hah, I’m trying to be gentle with you, I don’t… I don’t know how you work.”
Simon’s next round of begging turned to a series of desperate whimpers, his hand coming back up to take a firm hold on Ryland’s waist and guiding him as he dropped down, over and over again.
“You’re doing- ah!” Ryland’s praise was cut off as Simon’s cock hit his prostate, and his legs nearly turned to jelly from the rush of white hot pleasure that burned through him at the feeling. “Good god, Simon-”
“I can’t- dammit, Ry!” Simon’s hand grabbed him by the torso and suddenly flipped them both over, readjusting on the bed to make sure neither would fall off. The nickname sent the burning need for Simon, the curiosity, his entire body, suddenly screaming for more of him, and he practically tried to pull the blood-siren’s weight down on top of him.
Simon’s mouth sloppily connected with his own, kissing him with as much force as he could muster without hurting him. Ryland moaned into the kiss, grabbing him by the back of the hair as the mandible on Simon’s face opened just enough to help him nip at his face and lips.
Christ, Ryland was going to be covered in bite marks and bruises tomorrow morning, and like hell he’d mind it.
Simon started to rut into Ryland, panting heavily as moans and snarls dragged through the air and into his ears, his cock twitching as Simon slammed into his hips.
“Oh, fuck, Simon!” Ryland cried, his hands dropping to play with Simon’s gills along his neck as best he could. The sound Simon made was unlike any that he’d ever heard him make before, one that sent his mind into a dizzying spiral of heated need. “Hey, good- ah! You’re doing good, how are you-”
“Ryland, Ry, I-” Simon’s words completely cut off as Ryland clenched around him, the feeling of being so full now overwhelming as the rhythm of his thrusts became erratic, frantic. He broke the kiss with a bunch of nonsense song notes, instead starting to bite along Grace’s neck, and shoulders.
As gentle as Simon was obviously trying to be, Ryland swore colourfully as he felt the needle-like teeth settle deeply into his skin. Almost enough for skin to break, enough so that his brain nearly panicked, but instead, Ryland let himself start kissing at Simon’s neck, along the gills.
“Ry, Ry, can I- hah, shit, shit, shit,” Simon gasped between bites, and Ryland let out a desperate, needy cry as he felt Simon’s cock hit him where it felt so fucking good again and again.
“W-Words, Simon,” Ryland whined.
“Can I… fuck, inside, can I come inside?” Simon sang desperately. “Please, you- mm, you feel so good, so good, Ryland-”
“Yes, yes you can!” Ryland said, and Simon’s erratic thrusting only quickened. The texture of his cock alone could have sent Ryland absolutely spiralling, and as Simon pressed himself down further, the friction of the movement against his own dick became fully fledged. “Oh, Simon, more, please, plea- ah!”
Simon nearly doubled over, and he could feel him twitching harshly inside. Ryland barely had the ability to maintain himself as Simon’s nonsense song and moaning turned to something that sent the fire in him burning at a peak.
“Ryland, ah, I’m… oh, gonna come, please let me-”
“Simon, yes, you can-”
“Ry!”
Ryland felt him come before he really processed that it was actually happening, and he let out a delighted wail to the musical sound as Simon utterly filled him, to the point where he could feel some of it leaking back out his ass. The final few thrusts against his prostate completely broke him, and Ryland’s desperate sound was barely captured by Simon’s open mouth on his own as he spilled all over Simon's stomach and his own.
For a bit, they just stayed like that, Simon shaking harshly over top of him and Ryland trying to remember how to properly breathe. You know, the way most humans tended to breathe, with their diaphragm, and their lungs. His didn’t feel particularly like cooperating at the moment.
Ryland let his eyes drift closed, and Simon hummed something softly.
“What was that?” he asked. Oh, holy, his voice was broken. No way would he be doing too much talking tomorrow. Unfortunate, considering he had work in the lab tomorrow.
Eugh, boy. That was… a problem, maybe.
“Hi,” Simon mumbled, slowly pulling out to try laying down next to him. Ryland groaned sharply, still feeling it quite intensely.
Even so, he smiled as Simon readjusted himself on the bed, positioning himself in a way that wrapped his long tail back up around behind Ryland’s head. The leaf-like, gelatinous tail fin almost covered his head as Simon pulled him in with his one arm - the other one must have shifted away at some point. When, he wasn’t sure, but he certainly didn’t have the left arm anymore.
“How are you feeling?” Ryland whispered as he buried his face into the top of Simon’s chest.
“I’m good,” Simon hummed, drawing out the last word in an almost musical tone. Not in the siren song, but his actual voice. Hearing the sing-song, cheery voice from him had Ryland giggling a little bit.
“You sound good,” Ryland murmured, comfortably nestling himself in Simon’s grasp. “You’re all happy about it.”
“Mhm~.”
Simon started giggling, and Ryland followed shortly after, his infectious laughter sending them both into hysterical fits of laughter for a while. Ryland found himself settling easily under the warmth of Simon, not even needing the blanket.
Okay, well, he didn’t necessarily need the blanket given how warm Simon was. He’d still like to have one, though.
“Can you scoot your tail?”
“Hm? But why?”
Ryland had to resist the urge to shake Simon’s shoulders to see what had gotten into him. He was making the most adorable sad puppy eyes he’d ever seen in his entire life, and they were coming from a man who’d threatened to beat someone over the head with a steel chair not even two days ago.
“I want a blanket,” Ryland mumbled.
“M’kay.”
Simon shifted around, and Ryland managed to grab some of the blankets that he’d been laying on top of and scoot underneath them. The moment that he’d settled, Simon had wrapped himself back around him, his tail lightly tapping the pillow behind Ryland’s head.
Oh my God, he’s basically wagging his tail, Ryland realized, unable to keep the delighted grin off of his face. He nestled himself deeper into Simon’s warmth, and the tapping sped up.
“You’re amazing,” Ryland mumbled into his chest. “And warm. You’re not allowed to move.”
“Didn’t wanna move.”
Well, perfectly fine by him. Ryland settled in under the covers, content as he fell asleep in Simon’s arms.
-=+=-
Dr. Stacy was pretty used to seeing strange things in her lab by now. She was head of the xenobiology team - she’d had to get used to weird things happening.
But today had gone weird for a multitude of reasons, all of which were thanks to a particular scientist on her team.
For one, Dr. Grace wasn’t one to be late. He was almost routinely early, always by about 20 minutes. He said it gave him time to get ready for work in the mornings, something he’d used to do on Earth.
For two, Grace rarely found himself distracted by anything, even by any of the friendly Eridians who came through, namely Rocky. Especially Rocky, actually - she noticed that Grace actually tended to work better when he was around.
And for three, Grace almost never wore too many layers in the lab. He had a designated set of ‘work clothes,’ which were stained with blood, just as her own work clothes were.
Today, that all had been different.
Dr. Grace had been almost half an hour late, apologizing profusely as he walked inside. She and Drayson hadn’t minded - they hadn’t been planning anything big for today anyway, just a lot of diagnostics reports. He’d been incredibly distracted from his work for most of the day, even when Rocky and Adrian stopped by to talk to him.
And the most major thing, especially to her, had to be the fact that Grace was wearing Simon Fisher’s scarf. He had the Butcher’s scarf on, and Stacy had no idea how he could have possibly managed to wrangle that thing off of him - Simon would have torn her arm off if she’d even asked for it nicely.
It didn’t really click to her for most of the day - at least, not until she noticed the faint hint of a bruise on his right cheek and creeping up from underneath, in a very familiar pattern, that she almost felt a little stupid for not recognizing.
Stacy had had those very same patterns enough times that the next time she noticed Grace’s new accessory…
Well, she certainly wouldn’t be the one to tell.