Chapter Text
The sound of soft beeps echo throughout the ship like a melody. A soft reminder that Mary is up and running, moving through the vast void that we call space. Grace leans back in his chair, a soft hum leaving his lips as he stares out through the exploration dome of the Hail Mary–A very cool new addition that Rocky suggested while fixing the ship back on Erid. It’s been about a week into their little checkup on planet Adrian.
After being in his biodome on Erid for almost four months, Grace brought up the idea of making routine checks on Adrian, to ensure everything was running smoothly. Occasionally picking up some more TauMoeba, just in case. But mainly, a big part of the decision was that Grace and Rocky missed being in space together. And with the new advancements the Eridians made to the Hail Mary, they could complete the full trip in less than a month. Why wouldn’t they take up that offer?
“What Grace doing, question?”
Rocky bumps into the leg of his chair, new suit giving him a much larger range of motion–along with the increased ability to annoy the hell out of Grace with his rolling and tapping.
“I’m just taking in the view, buddy. You don’t get to see this everyday.”
“But grace see view very much while traveling space, statement.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
Rocky moves, sitting right next to Grace, looking up and watching the endless colors that swirl around overhead.
“Grace right, no see this everyday, statement.”
That causes Grace to chuckle, gently patting Rocky on the head.
“Do Grace think planet Adrian okay, question?”
“Buddy, I’m sure Adrian is just fine. It’s only been a month since we checked up on it last.”
Rocky nods and they both fall into a soft comforting silence.
“Do Grace ever wish for companion?”
Grace can't stop a splash of confusion from taking over his features.
“I have a companion, Rocky. You.”
Rocky just shakes his head, slightly annoyed.
“No, Rocky mean human companion. Grace no have human friend here.”
Grace nods, biting his lip before crossing his arms over his chest.
“It would be nice, I guess.”
He lies, not wanting to cause Rocky to become upset. Rocky has been here with him for years now, he’s perfectly content with his life on Erid, and all the Eridian friends he’s made.
Even if there's a small tug at his heart when he thinks about Earth, and the possibility of another human to experience interaction with.
The two friends fall into another silence. Grace simply choosing not to speak, as a million thoughts now run through his head–mainly sadness, which he has somehow succeeded in hiding from Rocky.
Eventually Grace stands, walking over to the counter and fixing himself a drink. After arriving at Erid and completing the biodome, Rocky and the other Eridians made quick work of figuring out the food supply issue. They essentially created many different flavorings for the TaoMoeba, allowing Grace to get the required nutrients without suffering the unflavored hell of what it normally tastes like. They’re quite resourceful, always trying to make sure Grace is comfortable, which he appreciates immensely.
So, now sipping on his strawberry flavored TaoMoeba ‘milkshake’ he lets his mind wander once more. He thinks about Earth, what’s currently happening there, his students, and where life has taken them. He knows that by now, Earth should’ve received the information and packages they sent, saving both the sun, and Earth itself. That fact alone brings him some peace, a semblance of importance–knowing that he was capable of fixing such a drastic problem, one threatening life as he knew it.
He’s almost fully through his drink and slightly self-depracting inner monologue when a noise breaks the carefully soft silence.
-New blip detected. Captain required. Instruction necessary.-
“Grace Grace Grace!!! Pilot pilot hurry hurry hurry! Statement!!”
Upon hearing Mary’s announcement, and Rocky’s worried but curious screeching, Grace rushes to the Captains seat, looking up at the screen which provides a slightly pixeled image of the ‘new blip’
“What blip what blip, question?!”
“I don’t know buddy.”
Grace’s face contorts into a look mixed with concentration, hesitation, and curiosity. He begins to carefully maneuver the Hail Mary towards the blip, trying to get a closer look.
It’s only then when he realizes it's …..a Submarine??
“What the fuck.”
“Ooooo Grace swear, must be important, statement.”
“Not the time Rocky.”
Grace grumbles, closing his eyes as he tries to think about what they should do. That is, until Rocky practically shouts in his ear.
“HEARTBEAT, STATEMENT.”
Grace turns to him confused, watching him run frantically around the Captain’s bay.
“Rocky calm down, what are you saying?”
“In blip, Rocky hear heartbeat–blip is spaceship, is another human!!”
Grace’s eyes almost pop out of his head at that.
“Rocky, are you sure?”
“YES YES!!! Human human, statement!”
Rocky does little jazz hands, once again running around the room.
“Must prepare! Bring human on Mary, ensure safety!”
Grace lets out a sigh, eyes darting from the screen, to the window, watching as the weird submarine-blip-spaceship thingy slowly gets closer.
“Allright Rocky, let's do this.”
Both friends immediately move to the docking port, explaining to Rocky that they need a way to connect their ship to the blip, in order to get the person out and not expose them to the deathly atmosphere.
“Rocky can connect ships. All need is Grace to fly towards blip.”
Grace nods, taking a deep breath as he seats himself back in the Captain’s chair, grabbing hold of the steering control. Slowly, the Hail Mary begins carefully maneuvering towards the blip.
As they get closer and closer, Grace begins to make out the curves and grooves of the weird submarine-ship. The weirdest thing is that there's no visible door, and the small few windows that exist, are coated in a thick dried substance. They probably won’t know what that substance is until they dock it to their own ship, and have time to investigate.
“Forward Grace! Almost there almost there!! New human, new human!!”
Grace moves the ship forward just a tad bit more, turning so that their docking port will be lined up as best as possible with the submarine-spaceship. It hits against the side of the Hail Mary with a dull *thud* making Grace cringe softly inside.
Rocky’s legs tap against the ground as he rushes to the docking hole.
“Rocky need Grace help! Grace put on suit, open port so Rocky weld ships together Statement.”
Ah, so that's how they’ll do this.
Grace stands, moving to grab his space suit, pulling it on as quickly as possible. He zips everything up, making sure it’s on properly before making his way over to rocky. They can’t leave the docking port open for long, so they’ll both have to be extremely quick about this.
Grace grabs the handles on the docking port.
“Rocky, are you ready?”
“Yes yes! Rocky very ready, open door open door!! Statement.”