I like to think that naturally Eridians are not really tactile: they don't hug, they don't kiss, they don't hold hands; so when Grace hugs Rocky for the first time, Rocky is genuinely surprised. What is he supposed to do? What's the purpose of this?
Grace tells him that for humans physical contact is very important. That their bodies were made to hold and be held, one's chin hidden in the curve of a shoulder, one's heart completing the other's empty side of the ribcage, hands intertwining perfectly. Rocky says he's not a human. Grace says one doesn't have to be a human to love and be loved.
And so, Rocky learns to adore physical touch. It turns out to be addicting. They wake up, spend the day and fall asleep curled up around each other, limbs tangled, Grace's warm breath fogging Rocky's xenonite suit. (Rocky desperately wishes there was no suit between them, so he could really touch Grace, feel his soft skin, leave marks proving he was here, he touched Grace, he loved him.)
And then they finally arrive on Erid, and Adrian sings: my love, you came back, and Grace settles slowly into his new life in the biodome, tired but happy, and his love shines on everything and everyone like the Sun Rocky has never seen.
Now pebbles fist-bump, chirping, teacher Grace taught us!, and Adrian pecks Rocky on his carapace, and some Eridian hugs Grace after he helps them with something insignificant.
Ryland Grace comes into Erid's life and brings light, one they don't need eyes to see and feel.
Years and years later, Grace is gone. There's a memorial dedicated to him in the city centre. Grace sits with his legs crossed, a soft smile on his forever frozen face, his arms folded as if he was holding a baby. When the time comes, Rocky crawls into his lap and settles in the infinite embrace of his arms, limbs curling around the body that was once warm and thrumming with life and now is silent and unmoving. Rocky leans into Grace's chest and pretends he can still hear his heartbeat, steady and familiar, that envelopes him like a blanket.
Falling asleep, Rocky thinks he can hear Grace calling him. He doesn't have the energy to sing, I'm coming, my star, just wait for me.
He dies, becoming a part of the memorial.
But even though they're gone forever, their love remains, like the light of a star that shines even after its death. Eridians pass down the culture of embrace through generations. And even centuries later, there are still tales told about a Man and an Eridian whose love saved the Universe.
tangentwithtanner
dailybridgerton
areudirty
snowghoul
