Ship: Ryland Grace x female reader
Rating: Explicit (smut)
Tags: Minimal use of Y/N, Angst With a Happy Ending, Slow Burn, Idiots in Love, Yearning, Kid Fic (eventually), Dubious Science, Explicit Smut, Not Beta-Read, Will Be a Very Long Fic...
Description: You worked with Ryland Grace on the Project Hail Mary - you, having studied astrophysics, were trying to crack the code for superluminal speed (warp speed), and you needed Ryland's help with Astrophage. There was a growing relationship between the two of you, before Ryland was forcefully placed onto the Hail Mary, leaving behind more than just you and your potential relationship, but a daughter that had been a surprise. Could you figure out the superluminal speed drive to bring him home before any more time passed?
This will progress from his time on the Hail Mary and his past memory recollections, to his time on Erid (briefly), until eventually we get to his time back on Earth. (Very slow burn - the kid side of things won't be for a long while.)
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I've seen so many posts lately about how Grace wouldn't add swears to their translator but I 100% think he did.
He's not morally against swearing, he said holy fucking shit when he saw the Blip-A for the first time, the only reason he doesn't swear normally is because he trained himself out of it because he teaches middle schoolers. If I'm remembering right, he even calls one of the kids a smartass in his internal narration at one point. He's spent so long not swearing that he's not just going to fall out of the habit immediately.
We know that at some point, he learned Eridian swearing anyway because Rocky swears in the final chapter of the book. And I think he learned most of them when Rocky reamed him out after leaving the taumoeba collector out at room temp.
Plus, Rocky is an adult and Grace treats him like one, which includes adding swear words into their translator so that Rocky can express himself.
Ship: Holland March x female reader
Tags: Minimal Use of Y/N, Slow(ish) Burn, Idiots in Love, Yearning, Angst, Fluff, Eventual Smut, Mentions of Drinking/Smoking, Not Beta-Read
Description: You moved to LA in 1979 as a interior designer where you run into a private investigator in need of your services, apparently he's rebuilding his house. He's kind of a loser, but maybe there's more than meets the eye.
Chapter five, 2.4k words
Your head was already swimming with ideas on how to decorate your room. Though at this stage you'd have to tackle the pile of boxes first, again. It had only been a handful of months since you first moved to Los Angeles and already you had to unpack yet again. Still, you were grateful for Holland saving you from giving up on your career.
Though you couldn't help but be a little on edge about his motivations, he most certainly seemed well intentioned, but as far as friendships go this seemed like a huge ask. Maybe he was in a pinch with money too. That wasn't quite so convincing however, as he and Healy had been rather busy with their PI business.
Still, you would undeniably consider the two of you friends now, you'd hung out on many occasions at this point and whenever you did the two of you talked for hours. That was with the exception of a few hours ago. Once Holland stepped outside for a cigarette after asking you about fully electrical housing, he had become a bit more ashen and certainly less talkative. You couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with his late wife, though you knew better than to jump to conclusions like that. Still... you ached in an unfamiliar way to help him, though you didn't yet know how. Nor did you know if he would let you. Holland was very guarded, emotionally at least. He was hard to crack. But you'd been able to deduce he relied heavily on his cigarettes and more than likely alcohol too, though you hadn't seen him black out drunk. Moreso the cigarettes.
“We all have our vices,” you muttered under your breath as you rummaged around in a box for your clothing. Your last apartment had come with basic furniture like a bed and drawers and luckily Holland already had everything you'd need. It was just a matter of giving it your own flare. You would have to ask him if the landlord would let you paint the room.
There was a small knock at the door before you hear Holly's voice, “Dad says I need to ask you if you need help.”
Holland's muffled complaints echoed down the hallway, something about being a bratty teenager.
Still, that got a huff out of you as you opened to door to a smiling Holly. “Hey Holly, if you're not busy some help would be nice.”
She nodded eagerly, “Dad actually wanted to help but I said he shouldn't be going through a woman's things.”
You laughed genuinely at that, “Holly you know he helped me pack, right?” You eyed up your boxes of clothes. “Well, most of it.” Last thing you would want is anyone going through your under garments, Holly included. So, you shoved the box to the far side of the queen bed.
“Yeah, dad said you had a cool lava lamp – will you be putting it in here or the living room?”
Moving past her you ripped the tape off of the box you knew the lava lamp would be in. “I was thinking living room, seems nicer in a bigger ambient space.” You could see her visibly light up – no pun intended – as you pulled the lava lamp out of its box, unwrapping it from the layers of protective bubble wrap. “Don't you think?”
“I know exactly what table to put that on!” She reached out to grab it before she stopped herself, “Can I?”
You simply nodded at her and handed it over, she ducked down the hallway before you could think twice about it. Holland's voice carried down the hallway again, questioning if Holly was being pushy or not.
It wasn't long before Holly came back and luckily in that time you'd managed to hide all of your intimate clothes. Which was just as well as Holly was interested in seeing what kind of clothes you had.
“You always wear such cool clothes, do you have any you don't want?” She asked as she was putting away your favourite Afghan coat.
You chewed your lip as you thought it over, “Truthfully I don't really have anything I don't wear. I culled most of the things I no longer wear before I moved to Los Angeles.” Holly's face fell, which tugged at your heart strings. “Though, I have been wanting to go shopping – I haven't had a proper look at the clothing stores since I moved here. Do you have any ideas where's good?”
The two of you came up with a plan to go shopping, just the two of you, on the weekend. Holly seemed very keen at the idea and it wasn't until you got to the last box of your belongings that you realised a few hours had passed. It had been nice to just talk to Holly, and not about rebuilding her old house, but just the usual things a teenager girl like herself was interested in. It very much reminded you of your teenage years, so it was nice to have a sense of girlhood again – even if it was with someone half your age. Holly of course, was also interested in the cases her dad worked on, much to Holland's dismay. But when she divulged into the time that she, Holland and Healy worked together to expose the head of the Department of Justice you could understand why Holland didn't want her involving herself. She'd been lucky not to have been shot, or worse.
Talk about child endangerment. You couldn't help but noticed how your heart seemed to have sunk when she talked about how drunk and unreliable Holland had been during that time. Careless, even. She certainly hadn't been painting her father in a flattering light. Was it disappointment you felt? He hadn't seemed so negligent in the time you had known him. Sure, your first impression of him with Holly had been with Holly driving his car, but she was of driving age, now. She wasn't two odd years ago.
Suddenly Holland was in your doorway, leaning on the frame with one forearm. “What do you ladies want for dinner? I was going to order either pizza or Chinese?”
Your heart was pounding in your chest as you looked at him, though he was looking at Holly expectantly. “Hmm... pizza?” She mused.
They both turned to you, awaiting your approval but you found you couldn't speak under his gaze, so you just nodded in agreement before busing yourself into more unpacking. Your heart was twisting in your chest in an ugly way.
There was a pause before Holland said anything and you could feel his gaze on you. “Alright, any preferences?”
Your ears were ringing now. “I'm easy,” you managed to squeak out, still not looking up from the box you were rummaging in. Not that there was much left to rummage for.
“Ugh no, dad, you messed up the order last time. Let me do it!” Holly said impatiently before pushing her father down the hallway.
You were grateful to put some distance between the two of you. Though you'd have to get your shit together, no doubt the three of you would be sharing dinner out in the living room together. Besides, what had you in such a tizzy anyway? From what Holland had told you it shouldn't exactly be a surprise he's a bit of a deadbeat. Yet you saw the way he loved and cherished his daughter, saw the way his eyes lit up when he spoke about her. Holland loved his daughter and that was a fact, he was just a bit of a mess of a human being. Nothing to lose your wits over.
✿✿✿✿
It wasn't until you were making yourself and Holly breakfast until you saw Holland again. Last night had been fine with the pizza, the three of you watched some show you can't remember before Holland retired to bed. Holly had said it was odd, he usually didn't go to bed that early. You, however had been grateful.
“What are you making?” Came Holland's tired voice as he rounded into the kitchen.
“Pancakes, want some?” You asked without looking up from the frying pan. You had yet to go grocery shopping but luckily Holland had all the ingredients for pancakes. Well, it was probably Holly's doing since she loved baking.
“Not really a breakfast person,” he said sheepishly.
Holly scoffed from the kitchen counter, “You know they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
You looked over at him now, he of course had an unlit cigarette between his lips. “Don't believe everything you hear sweetheart, that's probably some marketing gimmick.” He seemed a little amused, one corner of his mouth curling up into a smile.
“That's a shame, I make some pretty awesome pancakes,” you said absentmindedly.
He turned to look at you, that half smile still plastered on his face. It was making you blush so you turned back to the fry pan. “Hey I'm trying to be a good boy. Gonna take my smoke outside first,” he said, voice thick with sleep and amusement.
Holly was smiling at him, “Lord knows you need a cigarette before coffee. You'll be grumpy otherwise.”
“Hey don't rat me out like that!” He said as he passed her by, ruffling her hair. You heard the door click closed, at least he was sticking to the smoking outside rule, for now.
“How long do you think he'll last only smoking outside?” Holly asked, as if she was reading your mind.
You exhaled out a laugh of sorts through your nose as you flipped over a pancake. “Do you think a month is too optimistic?”
Quickly you plated up a few pancakes for Holly, scooping out plenty of the frozen berry coulis you had made. She perked up when you slid it over the kitchen counter to where she was sitting on a bar stool, thanking you automatically as you did so. She took a couple of bites before she answered your initial question, “If you asked me that two years ago I would say you're dreaming. But dad's managed to drink less than he used to... well, mostly. Maybe this will be the same.” She was very nonchalant about it, more focused on the food in front of her, so you let the conversation end. As you sat next to her you asked her about her upcoming school day, you know the normal teenage shit.
Holly apologies for not helping you with the dishes, but she's running late for school. You told her you didn't mind, you get it anyway. As she rushes out the door you hear Holland say goodbye to her.
You scrub the dishes with more force than necessary as you hear Holland enter the kitchen. “Thanks for making her breakfast, you didn't have to do that.”
“No need to thank me, I enjoy it anyway,” you replied deftly.
An awkward moment passed between you two before he spoke up, “So are you going to close on that office space today?”
You looked up at him, giving him an unconvincing smile. His eyebrows were creased upwards in the middle, almost like he was... worried? “Oh yeah, I will. I need to head over to the real estate office once I'm done here.” Wiping your hands on your pants you went to grab a dish towel to dry the dishes you'd just washed, but Holland stepped forward and grabbed the towel out of your hand. You could feel your heart stutter at the close proximity.
“Hey, let me,” he said softly, his blue eyes boring into your soul. It made something in your chest pang with anguish. He looked utterly exhausted. “But I need to ask... are you doing alright? You seem a little skittish?”
His voice hitched on the last word which made you want to cry. “Yeah, I'm just a little tired. Moving again has been taxing.” You hoped he believed your words, they were partly true anyhow.
“Okay,” he said nodding his head. “Just let me know if I can do anything to help you adjust. I know this must be weird,” his voice was trying to be humorous but there was sincerity there too. Man, he really did care and he cared deeply for people, you knew that much.
You tried again to smile at him, hopefully not as shaky as the last. “Thank you, Holland. For quite literally everything. You're really saving my ass out here.”
He grabbed a plate, causing him to break eye contact with you as he did so. “I don't know about that,” he huffed as he opened a drawer to stack the plate in. “But you're welcome. For what it's worth, I'm glad we're friends.” He stood upright, because he was taller than you it meant you got a good look at his necklace. It was definitely a wedding ring, presumably his late wife's engagement ring if the diamonds were anything to go off. He was far too young to be a widower already, it sent a wave of sadness over you.
You yearned to reach out to him, to wrap him into a tight hug. But you stood firmly in place, fingers flexing at your sides uselessly. “You and Healy working on a case today?”
Usually when he was on a case he donned on a suit, but today he was in his usual summery attire. He grabbed another dish to dry as he answered, “Uh no, Healy and I are going to meet up at his favourite Mexican joint. Today would have been the wedding anniversary for him and his wife.”
You scrunched up your nose, guessing there was an unpleasant story there. “Do I want to know?” You joked, trying to keep it light.
Holland sighed and rolled his eyes at nothing in particular, “Oh his wife slept with his father. Gross, right?”
“Ugh. Poor Healy,” you replied with disgust. What an ordeal that must have been. “His own father?!”
“Yeah, so he wants to drink away his sorrows as you can understand.”
You looked up at Holland now, your face now painted with worry. “Please be careful. If you guys get too drunk call home and I'll come get you.” Holland went to interject but you stopped him. “Please, Holland?”
He closed his mouth, looking at you earnestly as his eyes searched your face. “Sure, sunshine. That's mighty kind of you.”
That made you roll your eyes and you playfully shoved him on the shoulder, “Hey, I'm just looking out for Holly!” You joked.
“Oh, don't pretend you wouldn't miss me too!” You would miss him more than you would care to admit.
