Why does everyone say Ryland Grace is the crybaby sibling đ yes bro cries but have you SEEN COLT?? Ryland cries thinking about his imminent death, Colt is crying to Taylor Swift over his situationship
AU where Simon is a part of the Project Hail Mary crew and he wakes up after Grace.
Eye movement detected.
The automated voice rings into the stagnant air of the ship. Thereâs a cough that quickly turns wet, and then the tell-tale sound of puke spattering onto the floor.Â
Ryland Grace blinks. His head rings, vision fuzzy around the edges and his chest is so, so warm. The pouch of vodka that he has been clutching falls to his side in his scramble to his feet. He wobbles, the world swimming, and uses the walls as a sort of crutch on his way to the room he woke up in.Â
What is 2 + 2?
He canât help but stare.
One of the other passengers, Fleischer, according to the name tag, groans. His eyes flutter, and his mouth opens around a silent sound.Â
The automated voice repeats the question,
What is 2 + 2?
âFuck,â Fleischer whispers, his voice raw. Some part of Ryland begs to step closer and to touch, anything to confirm that this person is actually breathing.
Incorrect.Â
The plastic glorified sleeping bag protests as Fleischer sits up, the rubbery sound akin to a raincoat. âFour,â He finally says, panting.Â
Correct. What is your name?
Thereâs a beat of silence where both Ryland and the man hold their breath. The wall is blissfully cold against his burning skin. It comes closer, closer, closer until his forehead is introduced with the shock of cold. He must let out some sort of sound because when he reopens his eyes, Fleischer is staring at him.Â
AU where Simon is a part of the Project Hail Mary crew and he wakes up after Grace.
Eye movement detected.
The automated voice rings into the stagnant air of the ship. Thereâs a cough that quickly turns wet, and then the tell-tale sound of puke spattering onto the floor.Â
Ryland Grace blinks. His head rings, vision fuzzy around the edges and his chest is so, so warm. The pouch of vodka that he has been clutching falls to his side in his scramble to his feet. He wobbles, the world swimming, and uses the walls as a sort of crutch on his way to the room he woke up in.Â
What is 2 + 2?
He canât help but stare.
One of the other passengers, Fleischer, according to the name tag, groans. His eyes flutter, and his mouth opens around a silent sound.Â
The automated voice repeats the question,
What is 2 + 2?
âFuck,â Fleischer whispers, his voice raw. Some part of Ryland begs to step closer and to touch, anything to confirm that this person is actually breathing.
Incorrect.Â
The plastic glorified sleeping bag protests as Fleischer sits up, the rubbery sound akin to a raincoat. âFour,â He finally says, panting.Â
Correct. What is your name?
Thereâs a beat of silence where both Ryland and the man hold their breath. The wall is blissfully cold against his burning skin. It comes closer, closer, closer until his forehead is introduced with the shock of cold. He must let out some sort of sound because when he reopens his eyes, Fleischer is staring at him.Â
so the project hail mary ground team probably had communication with the ship for a little bit before it traveled out of range, right?
iâm talking video feed, microphone, and remote access to the care robot.
stratt watched the ISS crew assist yao and ilyukhina and a sedated grace prepare for their induced coma. she heard ilyukhina make a joke about waking up the most well rested sheâs ever been in her life. she watched yao shake hands with the crew captain and thank them for their help. she watched the fate of humanity drift off to sleep, watched as the ISS crew wrote âgood luck!â on the sleep pods, watched the hail mary detach from the ISS.
stratt checked the feeds almost obsessively. she would pull up the cameras and tap into the microphone, even though she saw no movement and heard no sound. she scrolled through health reports that she couldnât understand. it became part of her routine. despite all her bravado, all her efforts to remain distant and detached, these people had become her friends.
and she had betrayed them all, in some way. grace most of all, yes, she had forced him on a mission he didnât want to go on, had signed his life away to the stars for the sake of a dying star and a suffering planet, but she had also betrayed yao and ilyukhina, sending them on a mission without knowing that grace had said no. a lie of omission, but a lie nonetheless.
once the ship had cleared the requisite distance from the ISS and any satellites, the astrophage engines kicked on. the speed increased and with it the distance, which eventually led to delays in communication with the ship. the reports began to slow, delayed by a few hours, then days, then weeks. the video feed became glitchy before going dark. the mic feedback was nothing but static.
the hail mary became a ghost â something that was there but could not be seen or reached.
but perhaps most haunting of all was the last report ground control was able to receive:
aka Bloodymary Drabble masquerading as something with plot
All of Simonâs life has been spent without the promise of a future.
He doesnât like to think about before the Hail Mary, about how he got into that submarine. Doesnât like to dwell on the deep, stinging pain that he only learned the name of later, through a voice so much more kind than the one dealing his sentence. Years in a cell, rotting until only an outline of himself was left, and then being pulled into another cell, only of a different name.
Meeting Ryland Grace was the promise of something more, something beyond survival.
Simon doesnât know how to express that. That doesnât mean he isnât trying.
He tries in the loud moments.
When Ryland and Rocky are bickering, and he is obviously trying to summon patience, he gets this tight look on his face. He has his hands on his hips as he looks at Rocky, eyebrows raised incredulously.
âYâknow, you invited yourself in.â He says, âif you need the reminder.â
âRocky does not care for specifics.â The translator drawls as Rocky scrambles around the ship, trampling over the loose clothes and things all along the shipâs floor. âGrace ship messy messy messy. Not good look for new human guest.â
Simon clears his throat, having listened in. âItâs not that bad.â
Ryland startles, before he makes a motion like heâs saying âsee!â. âSome guests have manners.â
âNew human guest lying.â Rocky says.
Simon canât do much more than snort. He gets up from where he was leaning against the Hail Maryâs wall and starts to pick up the components of the mess. âYou hear him. If you canât beat him,â he says lightly.
âThis is my ship!â
It always seems like too little, but he settles for being a witness to Rylandâs spark, rather than the cause.
___
He tries in the quiet moments, when the whole world weighs on Rylandâs shoulders. When Ryland stops and stares at the stars a little too long, hands still against his pants.
âRy,â Simon says, tentative. When he gets no reaction, he pulls the other man away from the window with a hand on his shoulder. âYou did your part already.â
The haunted look never truly goes away, only fading a bit. âWhat ifâŠâ his breath is sharp. âWhat if the beetles never arrive?â
Ryland continues, absent but tense. âWhat if Iâm dying for nothing?â
And Simon knows. He knows how the sinking doubt that comes with being expendable feels, sitting heavy on your chest. He knows how it can make everything so hopeless, tense and wary of even your own shadow.
That doesnât mean he knows what to say.
âLiving is always worth it.â
That makes Ryland look over, his gaze softening. He looks like he wants to say something, but chooses not to. âYeah.â
___
Ryland, eventually, notices.
âYou know,â he starts, hesitant. His eyes are on Simon in a way that makes him feel like heâs on fire, kind but pointed. âYou donât have to do anything here.â
âWhat?â He feels raw.
âYou arenât gonna let me down or make me change my mind.â
âI know that.â
Ryland runs his hands through his hair, scratching the back of his head. âOkay,â he agrees lightly. âIt just seemed worth repeating.â
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