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Rocky almost felt the ship lurch when he first had the thought.
Alone together, swirling around the cosmos, it’s almost comical that this is the extent of their codependency. Sleeping, eating, working together. Grace’s legs or arms or hands would always be on Rocky’s ball and, then, after, Rocky made his more carapace-tight xenonite suit, Grace would insist on the human custom of holding hands, of hugging. It was a comfort for both of them.
Rocky liked feeling Grace’s soft, smooth, cold skin as much as he could. He liked hearing his heartbeat so close that it would vibrate against the xenonite, against his body.
Grace liked Rocky’s warmth, the ridges of the xenonite that he would try and smooth out with his fingertips, the way all five of his limbs would wrap around him.
But this wasn’t friendship. No, this thought was something bordering on absolute immorality.
The thought, or something similar, had occurred to him before, with Adrian. They were so much bigger than Rocky, looming over him like an authority or a comfort (it was up to Adrian which it was on any given day). Stronger jade and harder carapace, they were beautiful.
Sometimes, Rocky would think about how it would be like if Adrian was more vulnerable, softer in temperament, submissive. This personality would not find them in the waking hours, but, perhaps, when they slept. When things were quiet in their home and Adrian could relax, then Rocky would please them, would take what he wanted from them, would make love without them waking.
It was a stray, abhorrent thought. Eridians slept and they needed protection and Rocky was happy to do it for Adrian. It would not be good to do that when any Eridian couldn’t say anything to defend themselves otherwise.
This wasn’t the case with Grace.
He was already soft, exposed, vulnerable all the time - he cried easily and was prone to emotional bouts of beautiful words when he talked about Rocky. A small, soft thing that needed to be protected.
But he woke up during sleep.
Rocky tested this - one night, he tapped against his xenonite ball to see if Grace would rouse and he did. He woke, eyes bleary, alarmed, looking around if anything was wrong with him or Mary. Once Rocky assured him nothing was the matter, he promptly went back to sleep, hand on the xenonite.
It wasn’t just limited to auditory stimulus, but also physical. Rocky once trailed his claw against Grace’s softsoftwonderful skin where it was exposed on his arm and he awoke. Beautiful, beautiful.
He questioned this once.
“Grace, you can wake up during sleep?” he asked. “Not like Eridian.”
“Yeah, we evolved to be able to wake up because of environmental factors, like checking for predators, temperature changes, all that,” he explained. “But there’s a few people that really don’t wake up from anything, they can sleep through the night like an Eridian.”
“Grace not like this?”
“Nah, don’t think so. I used to have really bad anxiety so I can wake up in the middle of the night thinking something went wrong. But not so much now, I got you watching me so I feel safe.”
Rocky could preen. He made his Grace feel safe.
But there was something else - a predatory, harsh being inside of him - that said, you could make him feel safe in his sleep, make him feel pleasure when he slumbers, take what you want, strip all the sleepsoft noises from his body, his mouth, if he felt true danger, he would wake, and you would still lovelovelove him.
This soft, alien, foreign creature - he wants to protect. This wanton, sinful, beautiful human - he wants to take.
The first time they make love (an Earth colloquialism he has been liking because it aptly describes how he feels when he’s with Grace) on Mary, Grace is loud.
Rocky loves it, of course, loves any and all sounds Grace makes, even the disgusting slurpy ones when he eats or sucks on those coma slurry packages. The past three years have done nothing but endear him towards this strange alien. And, now, it has an outlet. All the things he’s felt, all the love he has, he pours it into Grace.
Mercury slides, pre-ejaculate collects, moans and groans and little hitches of breath, and audible yells, “Yes, Rocky, please!” and, even better, “I love you, Iloveyou, please don’t stop.” As if Rocky could. As if there was a force stronger in the universe to counter the gravity between the two of them.
Once Grace finishes, he falls promptly asleep, his heartbeat slowly steadying.
Rocky (because he can now) strokes lovingly up and down Grace’s thigh.
“Bud,” Grace says. Wasn’t he asleep? “You’re gonna start something again if you keep doing that.”
“Does beloved Grace need to sleep?”
Grace laughs, full-bodied and amazing. “Yeah, kinda. Wish I could do both but you’re too nice to not cuddle right now.”
Huh.
Things happen, Grace gets sick, and there is a scramble to get him well. It takes about one Earth year for things to stabilize. In the meantime, Rocky spent his time in between Grace and Adrian, growing both relationships so they would one day meet and love each other as he knew they would.
It takes a while for the Eridian medical team to clear Grace and Rocky for any sexual relations as Grace’s heart was a bit wary for it. During those days, when Grace was healing, all Rocky wanted to do was be tender, be patient and give Grace the release he needed, he wanted and craved. Grace deserved good things in life, to be loved and safe and healthy.
Adrian would join sometimes, cradle Grace with coos and loving strokes, but their affection for Grace (for now) mostly extended to experiments in the lab and hushed conversations while Rocky slept, talking about the universe and the science that held it together. Rocky knew, though, there was a part of them that yearned to make this kind of pleasure with Grace. The day would come.
But this, this, Adrian took even more time to wrap their head around, and it was decided it would be Rocky and Grace alone, at least for the first time.
“I trust you,” Grace says.
“And I you, beloved.” Rocky extends a claw to stroke at his hair, fluffy and longer than it was on the Hail Mary. “I suppose what it comes down to is when you sleep, you trust me so much that I could do anything to you. And you’d let me.”
His claw tugs. Grace moans. Every heart in Rocky sings.
“Good,” Rocky says. “You’ll sleep now.”
Grace’s normal bedtime routine is nothing too fancy but tonight is different. The approximation of calming, lavender tea, soothing sounds, the room colder and the blanket warmer. Rocky would sing at a low vibration, calming him, lulling him. Already, today was exciting, a full day of adventuring through Erid with Grace’s suit and Rocky could see Grace’s eyes dropping off all throughout dinner. Even through all the excitement of tonight, his poor human was still human. And Rocky would see to every need he had.
Rocky is well-versed enough to know when Grace has started his sleep cycle. The absence of resistance, the way his body drops onto the bed with the weight of the day, his eyelashes brush against the wind, unmoving on their own.
It was the longest time before Rocky thought of Grace as beautiful. He was smart, yes, kind and brave and wonderful, and his best friend. But he thought there was too much going on inside his body. Gurgles and swishes and cracks. The Eridian mind reels from it all.
But this was a human who housed nothing but pure friendship and love for him. This was a human who, despite his physical and biological shortcomings, nuzzled next to him, who saved his life, who drew nonsensical patterns on his xenonite barrier.
His eyes, watery and dewy as they were, grew big with curiosity every time he would hear about Eridian landscape. His skin, though it didn't afford him as much protection as a carapace, was soft to touch and gave way whenever Rocky did. Everything he did - a crinkle on the side of his eyes, his smile, the way he'd entwine their hands - was adorable.
And some things he did - the arch in his back, the hair dotting his chest, the way his mouth opened, wordless in pleasure, blood rushing to his cheeks - were downright erotic.
What was he to do?
There was no other possibility other than falling in love. No other life he could've lived other than the one that led to this.
Sitting on his human’s chest, feeling it rise and fall. The suit he had on now had a gravity assist so he could not crush Grace with his full weight.
Rocky vibrates, excitement leaking out of him.
Poor, defenseless human.
Grace insisted on sleeping nude, afraid that the act of taking off his garments would wake him up too soon, and Rocky was, at once, spellbound at the amount of skin available to him.
He was skinnier than he was on the ship, his collarbones poke through. It just meant he would need to be fed and taken care of more. What a life Rocky leads.
He trails down, his claw scraping the skin. His human is impatient sometimes when it comes to sex. Fast and rough, like he's scared Rocky will leave. Stupid human. Where would he go that would not be marked by Grace's love?
So he takes it slow. Catalogues every micro reaction Grace gives. He has spots that elicit responses. His neck, the curve there. The jut of his hipbone. The inner flesh of his thigh. Rocky massages it and a moan punches out of Grace's throat but he's still asleep.
His claws move up and down his thighs, feeling the squishy skin there. Grace is getting excited, blood is collecting in his cock, making it harden.
He's an average size, he says, and according to the absolute collection of human pornography on Mary, Rocky can agree but to him, it's perfect. It grows towards Grace's stomach, as it hardens it stops near his belly button. There isn't much curve or bend to it, but thick and perfectly held in Rocky's claw.
For someone with a cock like this, it’s astounding how much time Grace spends on his knees, paying no attention to it until Rocky tells him to. He’d beg for Rocky’s ovipositor, in his mouth, in his hands, in his hole. He knows it’s because there’s no way for him to last if he fucks Rocky. The first time they did it, Grace achieved orgasm within seconds.
He knows Grace wants to pleasure him, wants to give Rocky the world, and being a ‘one-pump chump’ is embarrassing for both of them. Rocky told him he doesn’t see it that way.
Mercury drips down Rocky’s seam as it opens.
Grace shivers. Goosebumps appear on his arm. Still no sign of awakening, though.
Rocky starts off trailing his claws over Grace’s collarbone, up and down his neck, and pinching his left nipple. Grace lets out a punched-out moan, his teeth gritting. Rocky has no use for a human mouth, really, barely thinks of it other than its association with Grace. But sometimes he yearns to taste Grace’s skin, to leave marks on it in the shape of an open-mouthed kiss. As it is, he makes do with pinching, with rubbing until his skin is red and raw.
He spares a loving thought to Grace’s mate mark (or so now it is called) on his forearm and continues trailing down, to the plush belly, framed by baby hairs. They make the most pleasant sounds when he rubs against them, pets them.
Rocky’s seam is opening in earnest.
“My Grace,” he says. “Strange sweet creature. Adrian told me to tell them everything about this. Every breath, every moan, every time your heart races for me. They are of the opinion that dear Saviour Ryland Grace should not be treated in such a way to make him uncomfortable but they don’t yet know who you truly are. You want this, don’t you?”
Pretty thing.
“To do this to an Eridian is unlawful, incorrigible.” The thought of it makes Rocky shiver, let out a low, growling sound. There it is - that feeling that gets off on being such a being. That would take and take from both Grace and Adrian if they deemed him worthy. “But you are not an Eridian. You are my silly, wonderful human creature.”
He strokes Grace’s cock and his human moans out, his face turning the other side as if he’s trying to hide.
“Adrian would love to have you like this, don’t you think?” Pliant and smooth and gentle to the touch. A wrong move and he might break Grace. Although, he thinks Grace might beg for that.
His cock is a gentle weight in his claw, rising with blood and excitement. It’s different now. Normally Grace would be begging, thrashing about, pleading for Rocky. And while that is also enticing, there is something so so good about just taking.
He moves to Grace’s hand, takes hold of the wrist and drags his fingers inside his seam. Oh, that’s good. Grace’s sleeping face is unaware of one of his hands being used to finger open his mate.
It’s a featherlight touch inside of him, just opening him up, creating loud noises of mercury. He can almost pretend his fluid is running down Grace’s hand in rivulets, so he could wake up and wonder why his hand was covered in silver.
One day, Adrian assures them, through the magic of Eridian and human technology, they would be able to touch. Grace wouldn’t even be able to move then without being bent over, without being made to moan, beg and come.
He spends a few human minutes like this, his seam punctured by three of Grace’s unmoving fingers, the thought of it arousing him more than the action. There’s a comfort, too, he could lie here with his beloved’s limb inside of him for a good long while.
But he is hungry. He needs to be filled, he needs to reach completion, he needs to see Grace’s closed eyes and plush lips when he does.
Rocky arranges himself over Grace’s cock. His seam is open, steam is being let out of his vents, impatient and deeply, as Grace would say, horny.
He needs his mate.
It’s been a while so he takes it slow.
He uses one limb to steady himself and another to grab onto Grace’s cock to lower himself down onto. Ah. It feels like equilibrium, like being the exact right temperature all the time, like coming home.
Eridian reproduction doesn't require much motion from mates as it's not so conducive to the actual act of egg laying. Grace, however, needs the motion of in and out. Rocky has begun to crave that sensation as well, feeling the difference in sizes of Grace's cock.
But, like this, he can pretend Grace is going to breed him. They will stay locked like this, caressing each other until they need to deposit their eggs. Intimate.
He can pretend he needed to be full of his mate when he was sleeping, needed his eggs. And he could take as he wished.
Grace's cock throbs inside of his hole, a solid, undulating pressure.
Rocky spends countless moments like this, feeling their closeness. Making love as an Eridian would, making love as an Eridian never could.
He feels filthy. He feels just right.
Grace's slow, relaxed heartbeats drive him insane. He's so at peace.
Rocky sings a mating song, warbling and vibrating.
Oh, how I love thee. How fortunate I was to mate with such a beautiful unmoving force as yourself.
Grace wakes with a start once Rocky can’t keep his sounds to himself. “Oh, fuudgee, crap, oh my god.” He can’t help thrusting up into the hot hot heat. Rocky knows he’s on this side of being slightly too hot being inside of but he also knows Grace likes that.
Rocky is so close. Grace’s bleary eyes, his croaky, sleepy voice. It’s wild, it’s maddening, it’s -
“Absolutely insane, this is so hot, I’m, I’m-” his breath catches. His hands come up and grab at Rocky’s carapace. “You couldn’t wait, you didn’t want to wait until I was awake, you wanted me so much you had to have me, you love me, you love me.”
Rocky did not think this would be so arousing to Grace and for a completely different reason. That Rocky would desire him so much to nearly violate him like this in his sleep. He does. But he trills from how happy his mate is, how loved he feels.
He is so very loved, even when he’s crying, begging, weeping for release. Perhaps especially so.
“Close your eyes, beloved,” he says.
“No, no, I want to see you.”
“Feel me instead. Like a dream.”
“Oh my god.” Grace closes his eyes. Obedient.
Grace’s cock is inside of him, cold and hard, thrusting up and down, being milked and squeezed by Rocky’s body, grinding against his dormant ovipositor inside. Grace’s face is wet, mouth open. He can hear every single beat of arousal.
“Oh, sweetheart, that’ssogoodthat’ssogood, what the fuck.” Head thrown back, hands gripping the sheets until it tore.
One of his claws fit in Grace’s mouth. His human opens his mouth for a nanosecond in surprise but quickly closes them. Grace groans around his claw, the vibrations travelling through Rocky so deliciously.
Two other limbs reach up to pinch Grace’s nipples. If Grace wasn’t awake already, he would be now. He loves having these nubs played with, toyed. Grace nearly screams. He’s close, Rocky can feel the immense effort he’s putting in to be a toy for Rocky. To be a cock his mate can squeeze, grind against.
Rocky’s orgasm comes in quickly. He lets out an animalistic groan, eggs and mercury swimming out of his ovipositor, crowding around Grace’s cock with nowhere else to go, squeezing him inside Rocky even tighter.
“Wake up and come, beloved Grace.”
Grace screams, muffled by Rocky’s claw. His eyes shoot open and his mouth drools. The orgasm looks almost painful, blood rushes all over.
Even through the xenonite, the come feels warm.
He drops the claw and Grace pants out. He almost immediately grabs the limb back but not to put it in his mouth. But to caress it, nuzzle, kiss the ridges. Sweet human, good boy. Rocky uses his other limbs to stroke at Grace’s skin, reveling at the cooling sweat on his body. His breath evens out slowly.
“Are you okay?” Rocky asks. Grace’s eyes are already drooping again. Rocky, too, feels exhausted.
“Yeah, yeah, sweetheart. That was amazing. Waking up to that was incredible. You were everywhere,” Grace says, awestruck. “How was it for you? Every bit as dirty and filthy as you imagined?”
“More so. I felt as though I was violating you but I was comforted by the fact that you wanted it. You sounded so beautiful, so sleepy and soft. So good for me.”
He feels Grace’s cock twitch inside of him. Ah.
“Adrian would like hearing you like this. Imagine ten limbs on you as you slept, dear Grace. All over.”
Grace’s cock fills with even more interest though his eyes drop. “Stop.”
“Are you sure? Are you not tired still? You can go back to sleep. You could wake up with eggs inside of you this time. There is still time to send Adrian here.”
Grace thrusts in again, in an uncomfortably tight hole, already filled with eggs, but he can’t help himself. His eyes are fully closed now.
Rocky grinds down. “Are you dreaming of me? Dreaming of my hole, of me pushing you down, of me taking you, of taking care of you? Do you dream of me, Grace?”
His voice is half-asleep when he answers, “I’ve dreamt of you for years.”
It doesn’t take very long. A few more thrusts, and a few more praising words. Grace comes again, beautifully sweet. Rocky can’t orgasm so quickly in succession but he feels warm and satisfied inside.
Grace falls properly asleep after that, gentle snores coming from him.
It’s messy and sweaty and full of liquids. Rocky will need to clean up after himself and his mate. Soon, he will send a message to Adrian to come and watch them sleep.
But, for now, he stays and counts Grace’s heartbeats, humming him to sleep, in a world where he’ll always be taken care of.