Chapter Text
So the past 5 days have been.
Horrific. To say the least.
The Man wasn't a Human. Not in the same sense Grace was, at least.
Humans don't have red eyes that glow nearly neon in the dark.
Humans cant growl, roar, hiss or bare insanely large teeth.
Humans don't get up repeatedly after being dosed with more and more anesthesia.
Humans don't have gills under their ribs.
Humans don't have claws that can scratch xenonite plastic.
Humans cant lift almost an entire ton and chuck it against a wall.
And Armando confirmed. Marking The Man as a "Unknown Entity, but muscle tissue similar enough to Human to assist." After a quick blood sample was taken and before he started his first surgery the same day he arrived.
Its been five days, with two major surgeries needed for The Man to stop trying to die, and then one massive construction project that had to be done while Grace held an oxygen mask over his tentatively unconscious face.
(Oh, humans also Burn inside of Eridian Atmosphere, The Man doesn't, by the way-)
Praying for Rocky, Coal, Jade and Nyra to work faster on the "flexible" dome. It was solid, the first day The Man came here, but he punched a hole through it trying to get at Wush; who was just trying to restock Armando's supplies.
(At this point, Grace had been notably uninjured. It took about 5 days from when The Man was first brought on to the Insta-Knockout from a few hours ago now)
And Grace was terrified. Each new day Armando would sound the alarm that the man was moving again, Grace, Rocky, Coal and the Medics would rush in, and The Man would pitch a fit worthy of a Bear or Lion trapped in a too small corner.
And then they'd try a different dose of something non-addictive (per Grace's insistence) and he'd eventually go down.
But today was different.
he spoke words today. Asked questions, made demands, (in this weird mix of English (maybe??) And Latin(?!?!) But He was finally acting Human enough for Grace's fear to die down enough to try and talk- communicate (maybe befriend?)
And then he was punched in the nose, and it knocked him out so embarrassingly fast he didn't even have time to process until he woke up 4 hours later.
Speaking of, Garmdenia had to re-stitch, like, everything Armando did while Grace was out.
Again.
And terrified of the Man waking up and killing him before Grace/help could arrive, gave the guy freaking OPIUM from llukhyna's old stash.
And Grace left them alone with the guy for a mere 4. hours.
And they gave the Hostile Alien one of the Hardest, most Addictive Drugs imaginable.
So now Grace is like, we'll past "freaking out" at this point.
He's horrified
He's terrified
He's.. He's Angry?
...Yeah.
Yeah he's well good and Angry.
And Grace is still analyzing why.
But he's been Angry for a good five days.
Since the found The Man,
Since he attacked the crew the first time, and the second and third, fourth, fifth-
Since he saw that even though he was horrifically unbalanced, just had another surgery and coming out from copious anesthesia and on heavy pain meds, The Man was still fighting.
The Man was so wired to fight. And it made Grace So. Angry. What life did he lead that made him this untrustworthy of his surroundings while he's half. Conscious!?
Ryland has BEEN angry. For days.
...Maybe since Grace found out he was Welded Shut into a crumbling submarine that was so fragile a single Eridian was able to pry it open like stubborn aluminum wrap.
..Yeah, he was Angry for this Man.
And Grace was only getting Angrier at the way Rocky kept insisting on treating him since he'd punched Grace in the nose.
" MAN BAD BAD BAD!!! "
"No." Grace was exhausted.( too busy running tissue, blood and hair samples and coming up "its just human enough to not see what exactly is up" to sleep) And now having to repeat this argument again with Rocky since The Man first came aboard. Walking with the beyond indignant Eridian on Grace's (now new routine) trip to the Medical Dome to check on The Man
"Grace, Listen! Man is Dangerous!" Rocky angrily honked by Grace's knees as they walked.
"No! He's-" Meanwhile as Grace Walked, he was trying to adjust his notes of The Man on his tablet, mostly trying to decipher the language he spoke, as a Science Student, he had to learn a little bit of Latin, and is quite peeved at himself for (like most science majors at the time) not taking the class seriously. He still didn't really know what the Man was saying when he spoke yesterday. Demanding something, Possible Freedom? The last word he said kinda sounded like freedom. But it was just different enough to 'Libertas' that he couldn't be sure.
"Bad!!" And then he had this again on top of it. No sleep, and constant arguments with his best friend about whether or not to throw what might be another scientific discovery out of Grace's greatest dreams out the friggin' airlock.
"He's not Bad-!" But performing coherent scientific debate was kinda hard when you had the xenobiological equivalent of an angry parrot squawking in your ear.
"YES HE IS! Rocky is keeping him in the Medical Dome."
"HE IS NOT staying in the Medical Dome," Grace stops harshly in his tracks. And despite how Rocky couldn't see it, a fierce glare was aimed at his friend. The tablet held tight at his side now.
"YES!"
"Rocky-!!" Grace lowkey hated how he couldn't pinch the bridge of his nose in his suit. It made coping with arguments like these all the harder.
"Why Not, Question!?!?"
"Because he's not our prisoner!!! He has every right to the Human-" His arms shot into the air for emphasis.
"He isn't Human."
"Rocky-" they've been over this alot.
"ITS NOT HUMAN, STATEMENT."
"YES IT-" And Grace is tired of Arguing.
"Grace's Space Home is also not open to All Humans."
"It IS the Human Section of the Ship!" Tired of being-
"Denied, Statement."
"No," Angry.
"Yes."
"No!" Mad.
"GRACE ONLY!"
"Okay, Fine! If it's JUST FOR ME. Then I get to decide who comes and goes!!" Grace shoved the tablet into its designated pocket on his right thigh and kept walking. Starting to fear for its structural integrity the more he (and apparently Rocky) got closer to their wit's end.
"Bad bad BAD Idea!! BAD MAN PUNCHED GRACE, STATEMENT!!" before having to whip back around on Rocky
"He only punched me because HE WAS SCARED and I JUST TOLD HIM THAT I DRUGGED HIM!! That was a PRETTY REASONABLE Reaction!" Grace knows his voice is getting too loud, its starting to vibrate the strings of the harpsichord radio on the walls.
"Yes, and its also a Reasonable Reaction for Rocky to give BAD MAN Opium so he doesn't kill Garmdenia while he fix what BAD MAN Broke, AGAIN. STATEMENT." But he just cant help it.
"OH MY GOD YOU DID WHAT!? That's such a high dose!! And that's a WAY WORSE SEDATIVE than what I gave him! Christ he could be tripping right now! He won't be able to stand!!" He cant help but to yell.
"Sounds like a Skill Issue, Statement. BAD MAN stays in Dome. Statement."
"Rocky we cant just keep him in there!! He needs to eat! Sleep! Have access to a bathroom and water!!" Can't help but be So Angry on behalf of The Stranger.
"Rocky fix that, attach BAD MAN to-"
"YOU ARE NOT KEEPING HIM ASLEEP OR ATTACHING HIM TO ANYTHING!"
Rocky backs up at the sheer volume Grace's voice took. Seemingly wincing at the audio input.
And he knows.
"...Grace-"
He knows he's gone too far, but-
"You will not. His comfort takes just as much priority as mine. He's been through absolute hell. You won't take his Autonomy too, Rocky." It hurts, the way Rocky shifts back as Grace leaned over him a bit.
He's not normally like this. Not usually so-
"Augh! MOTHERTRUCKER-" Grace nearly toppled over with the sudden pinch in his thigh, moving to hold the sudden pain, and looking down to find Adrien giving Rocky and equally harsh pinch. The smaller Eridian flute-ing high in his vocal cords in similar cursing to Grace.
"Rocky and Grace both need to calm down, Yelling is scaring crewmates." Adrien stomped hard onto he floor of the ship, her tone is cutting. She's disappointed, in who? Grace wasn't fully sure yet.
Until she turns to loom over her mate First.
"Rocky bad bad bad timing to suggest putting Man in Coma, Grace is in Space. You know what he saw in Space. Who and Why he let out of the Airlock."
Rocky shrinks back further like a dog being scolded.
"And You." It was Grace's turn to step back and attempt to avoid "eye" contact. "Do not use that much volume with my Mate again. Statement. Now both Apologize."
Grace went first with a heaving sigh, his shoulders slumping forward as he put pressure to his face through his suit with his gloved hands. "I'm sorry for yelling. But Adrien is right. That was a... really 'bad bad bad' time to suggest that, Rock."
"Rocky also Sorry for being insensitive, Statement..." Rocky hums a regretful tune.
But as Grace moves to accept the apology, his attention his caught by a Human sounding cough.
Apparently missing how he and Rocky had stopped just outside the door to the Medical Wing.
And Grace rushes inside. Leaving Rocky and Adrien outside while he checks on the effects Opium might have had on The Man.
Simon was a bit cold.
"No."
But he wasn't in any pain.
"No! He's-"
For the first time in.. since before he can remember.
"He's not Bad-!"
His vision was blurred, for quite a while after he opened his eyes. His head felt like it was stuffed full of hair. Each thought a long, complicated strand that he struggled to grab onto a single one.
"HE IS NOT STAYING in the Medical Dome, Rocky-!!"
It was peaceful, and also terrifying.
"Because he's not our prisoner!!! He has every right to the Human, Rocky, YES IT- It IS the Human Section of the Ship! No, No!"
He was absolutely drugged, with what had to be pretty heavy stuff, seeing as he was entirely comfortable on his side on the hard metal floor, slightly sheltered by the table he'd bent.
He knows he didn't fall down here. So he was moved.
But now he cant move. His limbs feeling like they weighed every ton, and his brain and eyes too fuzzy to coordinate himself- excluding the fresh lack of his left arm- to even try and sit up.
"Okay, Fine! If it's JUST FOR ME. Then I get to decide who comes and goes!!"
Why is this place so fuckin' noisy?
"He only punched me because HE WAS SCARED and I JUST TOLD HIM THAT I DRUGGED HIM!! That was a PRETTY REASONABLE Reaction!"
Man, that guy can talk. And those things make so much noise. Always humming and trilling and whateverthefuck at the Tall Traitor. He can hear them through the closed door, they're so loud.
"OH MY GOD YOU DID WHAT!? That's such a high dose!! And that's a WAY WORSE SEDATIVE than what I gave him! Christ he could be tripping right now! He won't be able to stand!!"
Panic tried to set in, Simon noticed. He's been panicking since he woke up, he thinks.
But he was so tired.
It was cool, and dark, and he was comfortable here on the floor under the shelter of the broken table. Able to see the door as a boost.
Panic couldn't fully reach him like this.
"Rocky we cant just keep him in there!! He needs to eat! Sleep! Have access to a bathroom and water!!"
...He could hardly understand the language The Traitor spoke, he could recognize some words... A Name, and what sounded like an argument.
...Would they give him all of those? Eat, Sleep, Bathroom and Water? He wondered. His mind wandering a bit since his body couldn't.
"YOU ARE NOTKEEPING HIM ASLEEP OR ATTACHING HIM TO ANYTHING!"
But then Simon flinched a bit at the sheer anger The Traitor's voice just took. Even though it wasn't even aimed at him. He could hear through the door how his voice went raw at the statement.
"You will not. His comfort takes just as much priority as mine. He's been through absolute hell. You won't take his Autonomy too, Rocky."
...He was genuinely fighting like this, all for Simon's comfort?
His Autonomy? ...what is that? Simon wasn't mechanical. But he feels like he knows that word, his brain is just too fuzzy to remind him.
Why would A Traitor ever do that for him? The more he kept talking, and the more Simon heard that he was arguing with this 'Rocky' in his favor... he felt more and more guilty for hitting him.
Maybe he wasn't a Traitor. But just a Stranger.
Strangers weren't always dangerous. He wasn't C.O.I, or from Eden. The Language he spoke a sure indication, and had apparently found life somewhere out in the empty space...
Simon heard more talking, but since he could only understand so little, decided to just put his head back down on the floor and ignore it a bit.
Also, wait- Water..? Simon's thirst finally decided to latch on to that word, lifting his head back up. He cant believe he almost forgot. His mind was so foggy, but he was used to being hungry, that was fine. Hunger was preferable.
But if they had water they were willing to give..?
Simon will never internally live down how his voice absolutely cracked when he first tried to call out. It was out of Dehydration and probably also the Drugs, absolutely. But still nonetheless embarrassing for a middle aged, 16 year old man. At least the small, frail noise had the decency to lead into coughing. Simon turned his head towards the floor.
The coughing got The Stranger's attention. The dark door quickly sliding open with a small hiss. The Tall Stranger in his weird, clear suit with a million little bobbles attached to him at seemingly random points along his torso. Rushed inside once the door opened.
Simon tensed up. Still laying down on the floor and in this weird thin gown, and now with company; feeling incredibly exposed, Simon was at least able to pull his heavy legs near his stomach, his surviving arm was underneath him, ready to try and lift him up at a moments notice.
And The Stranger also stopped dead in his tracks once he'd made eye contact.
"Ohhhh my Goooddd you are so Hiiighh..!!!" He drawled out in a high pitched whine. His hands moving to in front of his face as he stared at Simon's in extreme distress.
"I'm soooo sososososooo sorry!! I had no idea they would do that while I was out! But they wanted to make sure I would wake up first, and I did! And its fine, Im Fine, don't worry about hitting me, I really get it, I just-"
Simon stared up blankly at The Stranger. Who was talking a lightyear a minute in a language he didn't understand, about.. himself? Simon? Maybe trying to ask Simon questions?
The Stranger began looking Simon over with his eyes, before seemingly having a realization. His hands moving to the top of his helmet in dismay.
"Shoot, I meant to grab you some clothes before you woke up, hang on, let me-" The Stranger was already turning around, revealing those living.. Things still lurking behind him, just outside the door.
And Simon was not about to lose his chance, clearing his throat was thankfully enough to get the Stranger to pause and listen. Half turning around. (His eyes were big, and blue, Simon finally noticed.)
"Water." Simon hauled out of his poor throat.
"Oh? OH! Right! Yes absolutely! We'll get you some water and some clothes! And- if it's okay since you kinda broke my medic- I do need to check on your stitches once you're dressed, and we can do a whole introduction and everything!" The Stranger talked with his whole body. Pacing and arms waving and head moving as he spoke.
Simon won't really think about how as The Stranger got closer in his rambling, the more he hid behind what was left of the table's stem that was bolted into the floor.
It felt childish, but he was too injured and vulnerable to be prideful right now, and appreciated how his obvious apprehension and bared teeth caused The Stranger to stop approaching.
And He didn't want to hit him again, even though he really couldn't, but this..
The Stranger was human(?), These Meteorite/Spider Aliens were definitely not. Simon was their prisoner, and it seemed this Stranger was acting as his representative, of sorts.
So Simon didn't want to hit him again.
But clothes? Water? Medical care? So freely given to a 'Violent Criminal'?
..it was a little scary. It felt like Simon was caught in another trap.
They would want something from him to repay all this.
...But he really wanted water.
And eventually, once The Stranger was done talking, explaining things a bit too fast for Simon to keep up, he held up his hands in what might have been a placating motion. Speaking a bit softer with words Simon didn't even try to decipher.
And then he left. And the Meteorite Aliens followed him.
Leaving no guards by the door.
Which is fair, seeing as even Simon could tell that this little greenhouse structure he was in was probably all that was keeping him alive against whatever atmosphere those things breathed. Since The Stranger was clad in his own, portable version of the thing.
Even if he did get out. It would be a death sentence. And that felt like too much of a waste.
He survived an Ocean of Blood, What Lived in It, and somehow ended up here.
Simon just wanted to Live. And this was his chance gracefully gifted from a God he didn't know anymore to try.
He could play nice, he could. And though he was loathe to admit it, the.. 'assisted calm' was helping with that. Slowing his body enough to be able to react with his brain. An honestly welcome change..
He just hoped it would wear off soon, so he could dress himself at the least.
(Rocky POV)
He doesn't understand.
At all.
He's pissed.
This New Man is a direct threat to the one goal Rocky has right now: Keep Everyone Alive.
It wouldn't have mattered if Man was the exact same as Grace, but he's not.
Talk of the Ship with the way this is now the second new Alien Rocky's found.
...Coal's right front claw was broken, and Jade and Nyra had to make him a prosthetic hand.
This Man can break Xenonite, and nearly fucking killed himself. They had to make the Dome malleable. To withstand his force.
...He only remembers Grace being that scared once.
How the rhythm of his heart when The Man was suffocating (but not Burning, like Grace does.) matched how it was when he thought Rocky was dying.
And that really pisses Rocky off.
Rocky is complaining to Adrien, he cant understand why Grace is acting so differently the past week, why he cares so much for an Imposter Alien that isn't even actually human, and why he's seemingly forgiven every transgression he's ever committed without even knowing his name-"
Adrien looks up from her tablet, and down at her Mate
"Because he's lonely." The words hummed quietly. And with such finality
"No he isn't!! He has us! We can give him everything he needs-" and Rocky wasn't hearing it.
"...Would you want to add him to our Bond?" The question felt like Adrien was uprooting the ground beneath him.
"wh- what?" Nearly silencing him.
"If he asked for Love, in all that meant for a Human. Would you be able to give it? Would you ask me to do the same?" Adrien sat her tablet down on tbe floor from where they're standing outside, watching out for Grace as he rambled on to the Man. The questions weren't an accusation, or even a rejection of the idea. Just calm, almost defeated curiosity.
"That's different. Grace is different, he doesn't need that! He TOLD ME he doesn't need that!!" Rocky was starting to understand.
"I believe you, and I believe Grace in that he wasn't lying in the moment he told you that. And while he might not need Love like the rest of his kind, or even us- What if he wanted to have someone to hold-"
"I-"
"That didn't run the risk to burn him?"
"i..." and he hated it.
"Grace is Kind, Grace is Brave, And stubborn and so, so intelligent. " Rocky didn't need to, but his carapace tilted to Grace's direction as his Mate spoke
"But he is also a rampant Liar."
"ADRIEN-!" Only to snap back to his Mate.
"Its The Truth, and you know it." Adrien took some steps forward, lifted her front legs to hold onto two of Rocky's claws. A silent support for the revelation she'd dunked Rocky into.
"I.. I don't understand.. Why him?" Rocky tilted upwards. Feeling safe with his Tall Mate closer to him.
"Because he's the first we found? The First that might be able to look at Grace for the Soul he is, not the Stars he's saved? I dont know. He's not my first choice for a Companion for Grace either..." Adrien tilted her carapace down, resting herself gently on top of Rocky's head.
"But Grace wants someone to hold, and he wants to try with this one. And we must let him, as safely as possible." The tune wormed its way through Rocky, soothing him to the core.
"...I still hate him." Rocky grumbled. Despite his calming Mate's music running through him.
"I don't like him much either, but I'm willing to try and befriend them for Grace's sake." Adrien laughed a bit at Rocky's stubbornness.
"...Im not there yet." Rocky straightened his legs to press back up into Adrien. Seeking comfort.
...Touch. And it hits Rocky with a high, fluttering grief that he'd been denying Grace this comfort this whole time. Without even realizing.
Adrien's hums were happier, knowing that he'd finally realized. "And I'm not asking you to be. Just telling you my own Plan around this."
Adrien hummed Rocky's favorite frequency, and Rocky reciprocated. Sounding like what Grace described as both "A Kiss" and "A Swamp at Night Sound"
Rocky reluctantly pulled back, and stopped humming. Turning to go into the room to see if Grace was punched again, hoping he stuck to the marker in the floor Rocky situated to keep them at a safe distance while they spoke.