You're Human to Me (An IronMary Fic)
Here's Chapter 9 of my IronMary, Grace x Simon fic! I thought since it was taking off a bit on AO3, you guys may be interested here! Hope you enjoy! Link down below.
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚ ₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shinin' above you
Let me hear you sing once more as you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita ₊˚♬ ﾟ.
“Simon, this is your second time watching Mamma Mia this week. It’s only Tuesday, I think…” I groan, finding Simon sitting in the projection room, comfortable as can be. He’s absolutely mesmerized by the messages of friendship and empowerment, even though conceptually, some of them are lost on him. I mean, I love Meryl Streep as much as the next guy, but sometimes you get sick of hearing her sweet, sultry voice. Who am I kidding? I could listen to her for years nonstop and never grow tired. She can do anything.
“It’s good,” Simon says simply. His voice is still quiet but definitely more pronounced than it was a few days ago. The gravel has not yet left his tone, though, which I don’t mind. It kind of fits his gruff exterior. That’s another thing– you’d expect Simon, based on his bleak perspective of things and physical looks, to enjoy action-packed movies, but he’s quite the opposite. So far, his favorites have been:
Mamma Mia (of course.)
The Princess Bride
School of Rock
When Harry Met Sally (Rocky’s request.)
Little Miss Sunshine
“Yeah, but there are other movies, you know. I think we have access to just about every movie released up until– like, ten or so years ago?” I try reasoning with him. His eyes stayed glued to the screen as the women danced and sang about being there for one another. Simon finds these kinds of movies so interesting because he’s never had connections like that, from what I theorize. That’s when I found my new objective, other than getting us to Erid safely: grow closer to Simon. It’ll be much easier now that he’s gotten better at speaking without causing himself physical pain.
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita ♫⋆｡♪
“Let’s at least do something productive while you watch!” I say, trying to get his excitement to the level of mine, “I want to get to know you better, and I’m sure you want the same from me.” I sit down next to him, scooting next to him ever so slightly.
“We should try to find five things we have in common!” The idea made Simon groan and turn down the movie's volume. I hate how quickly he learned how to work the computer here, because it took me way longer than I’d like to admit.
“Well, we both like Meryl Streep–”
“Donna,” He interrupts.
“Yeah, Donna, if you’d like,” I say, almost apologetically, “That’s one. We both like those freeze-dried strawberries they packed for us.” Simon nods, still distracted by the screens around him. He is really easily entertained, isn’t he? I try to get him to play along.
“Can you think of another?”
“We were both… abandoned…,” He says, dryly. His reply made my heart drop. I stuttered, unable to piece together what I wanted to say without lashing out.
“I wasn’t… We weren’t– I wasn’t abandoned by them. I knew I’d be left alone,” I told him, sternly. Simon glared at me like I was in the wrong. I took off my glasses and began cleaning them obsessively to give myself something to do, rather than holding his gaze.
“You said… it was against your will. Forced. That’s our third… thing in common,” He continued, through breaths. I suppose he was somehow right. When they put me in that coma, they were practically abandoning me in deep space with the hope of me somehow finding a solution to the Petrova line, the stars dimming… everything.
“I guess so,” I finally admitted, feeling my shoulders relax, “When you say you were forced… what do you mean by that?” For the first time in about a week, Simon paused the movie screening.
“They told me I would get to go home at the end, finally be free.” That’s our fourth thing in common, but I don’t say it out loud. Sure, Eva stated I wouldn’t be able to return to Earth under any circumstances, but… the entire situation with Rocky gave me a false sense of hope. But there was no way in my right mind that I would ever leave Rocky alone to suffer such a lonely, painful death. The thought of someone doing that to Simon– leaving him in such a state– makes my skin crawl.
“Well,” I start, “I don’t know much about Erid, apart from what Rocky tells me. But I think you’ll find freedom there is pretty easy to come by. Rock’s promised me once we land, I’ll be living on the shoreline. Like Mamma Mia.” There’s a silence between us, before I suggest.
“You could be there, too,” I said, “Yeah. Waking up every morning to the sea at your front step, the fog cooling down the sand justttt right. A never-ending vacation!”
“Vacation?” He asked.
“Yeah, it’s what people go on to relax, you know. Rejuvenate after hard, stressful work?” I explained, and he nodded, now knowingly. He sighed wistfully.
“That’s what you and I need after our journey. A vacation. I promise I’ll make sure you get one,” I say, sincerely. I hold up my pinky finger to Simon. He looks at me, confused once more. I gently grab his prosthetic arm, pull up the pinky finger, and wrap my own around it.
“It’s a deal. Can’t break this one.”
Simon smiles, and I feel my heart skip a beat. I think I’m in trouble.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/83489351/chapters/219950261
