Ash

She/Any , 19yrs @ hakuku / bnnyk00 (twitter)

[gracerockyadastra]

Far-Sighted vs. Near-Sighted

Ryland Grace x GN! Reader

“I can’t see, but I’ll follow you . . . Even if I die”

You and Ryland both wear glasses, but for drastically different reasons.

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You knew of “reading glasses”— everyone does, you’re sure. But it was one of those things you never really sat down and thought about, you know? They help people read, that’s all you cared to know.

Ryland was a bit of an eye opener for you. He had you funnily curious about something you probably should’ve already known about, or what should’ve been common sense.

Anytime you handed him something to read — a paper, something on your phone, etc. — if he didn’t have his glasses, he either squinted or held the object far from his face. It reminded you of all the old folks youngsters often make fun of, and admittedly, you chuckled at him for it. But then you really thought about it.

“You can’t read that?” You asked him earnestly once.

“Hm?” He perked up but didn’t seem offended, “Yes? No-? Sort of. Closer it is, the fuzzer. Where are my darn glasses…”

He patted around his desk in search of them, meanwhile you pointed to a poster at the back of his classroom.

“But you can read that?”

He glanced at what you pointed at, “Yes. ‘Atoms dance, molecules sing, and science unveils the harmony.’”

“Huh…” You hummed in thought, “Also that’s beyond cheesy.”

“I’m gonna choose to ignore your hateful comment,” Ryland huffed, right before he finally found his glasses, “Aha! Sneaky little bastards were hiding from me.”

“Wait— are you just now discovering far-sightedness?” He then asked.

“No, just only started really thinking about it,” You countered, “It’s interesting how you can see things from far away but not right in front of you. Seems odd.”

“The eyes are fascinating organs,” Ryland mused, leaning back in his chair, “They’re doing a lot of intricate tasks constantly. Same with our brain. Incredible they may be, it’s only fair there would be a margin of error every now and then.”

You could tell he was holding back a long, scientific spiel about ophthalmology, and usually you’d encourage him with a question or two, but you were more curious about something else at the moment.

“Can I try your glasses?” You asked, already removing yours.

“S’not good for your eyes,” Ryland warned, tilting his head downwards to look at you above his glasses.

“A few seconds won’t hurt.”

“You’d be surprised!”

“As if my vision isn’t already bad enough. Hand em’ over,” You held out your hand expectingly. 

Ryland shook his head but obliged you anyway, a bemused smile on his face as he passed off his trusty spectacles.

You’re not quite sure what you were expecting— probably nothing, honestly. Just a natural curiosity to experience it, even if you already knew the answer.

Everything — near and far — became much more blurry the moment you put on Ryland’s glasses. You knew that would happen, but it was still fun to compare how his glasses felt on the face in comparison to yours.

Ryland granted you maybe 15 seconds of fun before he reached over and snatched his glasses off your face.

“Allllright, that’s long enough,” He declared, folding his glasses and setting them neatly on the desk.

“I think you’re being a bit dramatic,” You mused, though you weren’t the least bit bothered.

“Better than sorry. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when the nurse says you failed your vision test!”

“I’d fail it either way, I already wear glasses,” You rolled your eyes, “Wanna try mine?”

Ryland grinned in amusement, “I just scolded you for wearing mine and you’re telling me now to wear yours?”

“Your visions not getting any better, Dr. Grace. Live a little,” You nudged your glasses towards him. You knew at school, Ryland was “Mr. Grace”, but “Dr. Grace” always rolled off the tongue better.

Ryland exhaled heavily through his nose and stared at your glasses for a moment.

“Okay, fine,” He gave into defeat, grabbing them while you grinned in triumph.

You two were basically the same age, but sometimes it felt like Ryland was several years older than you with the way he acted. You laughed when he recoiled the moment he put your glasses on his face, pulling them back off immediately.

“Yep. Alright. That hurts,” He mustered, rubbing his eyes.

“Okay, now you’re really being dramatic.”

“I think I feel a headache forming…”

“From just that??”

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Note: It’s silly, but I like the implication from the movie that Ryland is farsighted to be interesting. My mother is farsighted while I’m nearsighted in comparison, and I just think it’s intriguing how the eyes work like that.

[gracerockyadastra]

Ad Astra, Infinitum . . .

Ryland Grace x GN! Reader

“Why'd you have to chase the light / Somewhere I can't go?”

In which Ryland is sent aboard the Hail Mary and you have to say your final goodbye.

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Stratt is not heartless. She lets Ryland see you one last time before he’s sent off.

“They can not help you,” She warned, voice even, “You know that. I can not stop you from telling them the truth. But you will be on that ship in the end.”

Ryland sat silently on the couch; head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees, glasses hanging off his face. They had moved him… somewhere. He wasn’t sure. A break room of sorts, maybe. Anywhere was better than a cell, he supposed.

He could’ve tried to run, but he knew it was useless.

Stratt continued despite his silence, “…I would advise you do not tell them. I’m sure the last thing you want is to cause them more distress than necessary.”

Ironic, Ryland thought bitterly. He’d have some snide remark for Stratt… but his head was too much a mess to think of anything.

Stratt left not long before you arrived. Seeing you broke something in Ryland.

You beelined for him, and he shot up to meet you half way.

You clung to him, hands gripping his thick cardigan desperately. Ryland held you so tightly it was almost suffocating, a hand on the back of your head.

It had been over a year since you two had last seen each other in person. Since Ryland was drafted for Project Hail Mary.

They never let you see him and never let him leave to see you. The only thing that kept you two going were the phone calls you could sneak in here and there, and the promise that Ryland would return home after Hail Mary’s launch.

A promise that could no longer be kept.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Your voice was shakey and weak. You had only been informed of Ryland’s departure a few hours ago, and it hadn’t even been from Ryland himself.

Ryland swallowed thickly, the words caught in his throat.

He could tell you. Nothing was stopping him.

Cowardly, he was scared. He didn’t want to leave.

Selfishly, he wanted comfort. A naïve cry that you could save him.

But Ryland knew better. His fate was already sealed.

He hated to admit it, but Stratt was right. If he told you the truth, it would only make things harder. Ryland may be a coward, but…

“‘Twas last minute decision…” He mustered out, the lie heavy on his tongue, followed by a broken, “I’m sorry.”

Tears gathered in your eyes, your hand cupping Ryland’s cheek, “Please, you can’t go.”

“I have to,” Ryland’s throat robbed, his own eyes watering as he placed his hand over yours.

“You promised me you’d come home,” Your voice trembled, words barely above a whisper.

“I’m sorry…”

You two were only given an hour. An hour. The first time you had seen each other in person in a year and the last time you would ever see each other again. Just one hour.

Ryland was a mess, but he tried to stay strong for you, who was broken in his arms. Every plea you made broke his heart more and more, and after a while, his fear of death was overshadowed by his guilt of leaving you.

He wrapped his cardigan around you, and you wept— the notion truly solidifying the reality of the situation.

“Don’t go, please…” You tried to beg one more time, and Ryland wanted nothing more than to adhere to your request. He only wished you could know.

Tears stained his cheeks as he placed a firm, shaky kiss to your temple. He couldn’t think of anything to say. For the first time, talk-to-much Ryland Grace was at a loss for words.

“I love you,” He murmured against your temple, voice low and strained.

You had to be dragged out of the room.

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Ryland stared at himself on the screen, stuck in a daze.

Beyond the screen, blurred in his peripheral vision, he could see the whiteboard full of arithmetic. He’d already made his decision— it was the saying it aloud part that hurt.

He cleared his throat, tapping his finger against the table as he looked down at his lap.

“I, uh, only have… the resources for one. I can’t do both,” He explained to the recording, “I can… go home. Or I can save Rocky.”

He paused, looking back to the whiteboard the camera couldn’t see, staring at the top left corner. A photo of you and him was held there like a magnet by Rocky’s mini model of the Hail Mary.

“…These past few months, since Rocky said he’d lend me the fuel… All I could think about was returning home to them. Sure, they’d be nearly three decades older, but—” He swallowed hard, “I’d be home.”

“But… I… If they’re even still…” He couldn’t finish the sentence, unable to even consider the possibility.

Ryland sat in silence for God knows how long— trying to hold back the tears. This was, by far, the hardest decision he had ever had to make.

“…If they knew, they’d understand. The beetles will be on their way to Earth— I already saved them… Now, I have to save Rocky.”

He signed off on the recording, his body now moving on autopilot.

In less than 12 hours, he had launched the Beatles and turned the Hail Mary around, heading in the direction of the Blip-A.

His chest was tight, his heart aching. He held onto the photo of you two tightly, tears streaming down his face.

He placed a gentle kiss over your face, uncaring of how pathetic he must have looked.

“I’m sorry…” Ryland said to you one last time.

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Note: This is longer than I intended and shorter than I would’ve liked. I couldn’t find the motivation to write this better and more in depth, but couldn’t let the idea go to waste. Made this blog just to share this. Not sure if anyone will even see this but oh well lol