This Rock We Call Home - Ryland Grace x Reader (Chapter 4)
Hello party people! This chapter is a little shorter than usual but I wanted to get it out. I've been travelling for the past week or so, so i haven't had much time to write. However, I didn't want to keep neglecting y'all. Also I possibly have a Holland March oneshot in the drafts so keep your eyes peeled for that.
The next week had gone by without a hitch. As always, there was never-ending work to be done but it was now balanced out a bit better by showing Ryland around The Stratt Vat, chatting, and introducing him to Dimitri. And if I thought Ryland and I got on good, he and Dimitri might as well get their vows written. Biology and climatology had a lot of overlap, so this resulted in endless back and forth questioning, as well as never-ending theory exchanges. As silly as it all felt sometimes, I was just glad to see them getting along.
Today wasn’t unlike the others we’d had over the last several days. Ryland and I sat in my office, still at the same desk, engrossed in our separate tasks. Stratt still swore that she was working on getting Ryland his own space but at this point, I was starting to doubt it.
I sat up and back from the screen of my laptop, letting out a yawn. The time in the corner of the screen read 20:43. Good lord, was it almost nine already? I glanced over at Ryland who was still hunched over a pile of papers. His glasses were barely hanging on to the tip of his nose, I’d come to learn that this was very common for him.
“Hey.” I said as I tapped his side of the desk.
Ryland looked up at me in an instant.
“Wanna come get some coffee with me?” I asked.
“Yeah, why not?” He answered, stretching out his previously hunched shoulders.
“Amazing.” I stood up.
I immediately started out of the office. Ryland wasted no time in following me. It was abundantly clear that both of us needed a break. And a break under the guise of caffeine? Even better.
“I heard Stratt wants you to come with her to meet this new scientist that’s been complaining about Mary’s design incessantly.” I said over my shoulder.
“Yeah, God knows why she wants me of all people.” Ryland replied.
I didn’t even have to see that man to know he was scratching his head right now. We hadn't known each other very long but this self-deprecation habit of his was becoming ever more apparent, and I was having no part of it. I spun on my heel to scold the microbiologist for being too modest, but before I could speak I fell backwards to the floor.
Ryland was following much closer than I’d thought, so the second I stopped walking and turned around we crashed into each other. Before I knew it the both of us hit the ground with a resounding thud. Luckily, it didn’t hurt that bad. Nothing was broken and it didn’t seem like anything was bruised. There was however, the slight issue of him landing on top of me and pinning my limbs to the linoleum.
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” Ryland’s eyes widened.
“I’m fine. You good?” I chuckled softly.
“Yeah, um… you kinda broke my fall.” He replied.
The scientist’s eyes softened. For a moment neither of us moved, it’s not like I could anyway being pinned down and all. But, I made no effort too and neither did he. Time seemed to stop as we gazed into each other's eyes.
“Oh, um, sorry.” Ryland broke the silence.
He gingerly lifted himself off me, careful not to squish me further. When he got to his feet, I sat up slowly. And before I knew it, Ryland’s hand was outstretched, a silent offer to help. I took it and he lifted me with ease. I couldn’t help but wonder what a middle school science teacher was so built.
The rest of the day went as usual. No more freak accidents. Of course, there was some light teasing about the incident, but every time that happened Ryland would apologize profusely and so I let him off the hook. Little did he know that I went to sleep, I replayed the events of the fall with my hand between my thighs.
This Rock We Call Home - Ryland Grace x Reader (Chapter 3)
"I'm gonna upload more consistently!!" She lied. LOOK I'M SORRY, OKAY?!
On another note, it has come to my attention that I have not been tagging things as well as I should have. My bad! I haven't really posted fics on tumblr before and thus did not know the proper etiquette. My roommate who has been posting fics on here for awhile is gonna teach me how to format better and make a master-list of all the chapters soon. Thank y'all for your patience <3.
The rest of the meeting went without a hiccup. Reviewing the mission for Dr. Ryland Grace, discussing strategies for Astrophage breeding, and a brief mention of some bureaucratic problems Stratt was having.
I started packing up my stuff and turned to Dimitri.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“Of?” He replied.
“Dr. Grace?” I said, slightly exasperated.
“He made an absolute fool of himself. But, he’s clearly no idiot.” He answered.
I only nodded in response. Dimitri was spot on so there wasn’t really anything else to say. We both silently finished gathering our things before heading out of the conference room.
I peered out the aircraft carrier’s windows as I walked back to the office. The conference room was open-air so I already saw that the sun was beginning to set. I didn’t need to be too weary of the time or anything, but I was understandably hyperfocused on the sun lately. With all my meetings done for the day I could go back to my office and work for as long as I pleased. There were intense security protocols on board The Stratt Vat but it’s not like the scientists were being babysat. As long as we met deadlines and showed up to meetings on time, we could do as we pleased.
I got back to my office, running completely on autopilot now. I almost didn’t notice the blonde man sitting at the corner of my desk. Keyword almost. When I finally clued in I nearly jumped, it took me a second to recognize this stranger as Dr. Ryland Grace.
I must have been visibly shocked because an earnest look spread across his face almost instantly. Dr. Grace stood up and approached me with his arms up in a surrender-like gesture. A timid smile slowly spread to his cheeks.
“Woah, hey. I, uh, I didn’t mean to startle. Stratt just told me to go here and, well you know how she is. She’s, she’s pretty impossible to say no to.” He chuckled softly.
“No, no you’re all good. I just didn’t know I’d be having company.”
I introduced myself, my doctor title sitting proudly before my name.
I outstretched my hand. A silent gesture to try and bridge this gap. Something to try and quell the awkward tension in the air.
“Dr. Ryland Grace, but please, just call me Ryland.” He shook my hand.
“Likewise. Or rather, just call me by my first name. There’s enough formalities on The Stratt Vat.” I said.
“The Stratt Vat?” Asked Ryland, a more comfortable smile crept its way onto his face.
I nodded. “That’s what the locals call it.”
“Good to know.” He responded.
I gazed past the scientist, checking out the corner of my desk that he’d taken over. That was all due to Stratt’s orders, no doubt. My office was a decent size, it wasn’t very pretty (no room on board an aircraft carrier was) aluminum walls enclosed the space on all sides only broken by a small window on the wall opposite the door. All that was really in here was my desk, work materials, and some miscellaneous boxes. If we got the boxes moved soon there should be plenty of room for the two of us; and for now, Ryland didn’t seem like a bad person to share a desk with.
“I’ll move some of my papers out of the way.” I said, gesturing to the now shared desk. “Did Stratt mention anything about you getting your own desk at some point?’
“Yeah she said I’d have one within a couple days. I’m sorry I had to commandeer some of yours.” Ryland replied, looking worried once again.
“Genuienly, don’t worry.” I said, trying my best to reassure him.
I moved across the room toward the desk. Only now was it apparent how many papers were strewn about everywhere. I wasted no time in picking them all up and shoving them into semi-matching folders.
“I just hope you don’t mind what a disaster I’ve left the place.” I continued.
“Hey, you’re talking to a bachelor about messes right now. In other words, you’re preaching to the choir.” He chuckled.
“Good to know.” I nodded as a slight smile crept up onto my face.
A beat of silence passed. It wasn't super awkward or anything, it was actually pretty comfortable considering we had only just met. However, I felt that I needed to fill it.
“What did you say your doctorate was in?” I asked.
“I have a PHD in molecular biology.” He said.
It was clear from his tone that he wasn’t trying to brag. Not that he’d get much luck with that behaviour on a ship that was practically all PHD or MD holders. However there was a certain weight to his tone that I couldn’t quite discern.
“Yourself?” He asked.
“Astronomy.” I answered.
“Impressive.” The blonde smiled.
The room fell into silence again. I was still moving around the office, trying to make some sense of the seemingly endless clutter. One would think that all of these papers would be digitized, but oh no. The Russians worked in physical media, and you didn’t argue with the Russians. Apparently, Stratt had found that out the hard way.
“Who’s Carl?” I asked, breaking the silence once again.
Ryland looked at me, brows furrowed. His expression conveyed a great degree of confusion and weariness before he finally clued in.
“He was a security guard back in San Francisco, where I’m from. I didn’t have much of a team when Stratt first recruited me, well I didn’t have a team at all actually. But Carl was a huge help.” Ryland explained.
I simply nodded. With every passing second it became even more clear how different our paths onto Project Hail Mary were. I tried not to dwell on that because if I did… Well, I’d just get bitter and snarky all over again. I opted to change subjects in an attempt to avoid that.
“I’ve read some of your dissertation. It wasn’t half bad.” I said.
The molecular biologists face flushed slightly. It was hard to tell if that reaction was rooted in pride or shame. He wrote a damn good essay, I saw no reason why he should be ashamed of it. But, academics were weird so who knows what trauma he had associated with that paper.
“Thank you, but I wrote that a long time ago. The man who published that is long gone.” He replied, his gaze fixated on the floor.
I had just finished clearing off my desk and was in the middle of setting a stack of binders on a nearby shelf. I stilled slightly at the change in Ryland’s tone, that definitely wasn’t the response I was expecting. Sure, him being modest or sweeping his accomplishments under the rug wouldn’t be entirely out of the ordinary. But dismissing what seemed to be a life's work outright? That was odd.
“I thought you made some excellent points. Biology isn’t my area of expertise at all but still, it was clearly well thought out.” I said.
Ryland sighed as he crossed the room toward his now clear side of the desk. He took a seat on the spare chair and I followed suit. Sitting down with him as I awaited his explanation. Over the next 45 odd minutes he explained his academic backstory as I did mine. He told me all about the UNESCO conference in Denmark, and how that paper was essentially meant as a final, ‘fuck you,’ to everyone in his department. He phrased it a lot nicer than that, though. Ryland seemed like the type to be too professional and/or paranoid to swear on the clock.
After swapping stories about university, our careers, and how we ended up here, I was starting to feel a lot better about sharing an office with this guy. To my pleasant surprise, we got on very well. I didn’t mind his tendency to ramble and he didn’t mind my near-constant (and I swear to god unintentional) interruptions. It seemed that we balanced each other out well.
This Rock We Call Home - Ryland Grace x Reader (Chapter 2)
Hey guys! Thank y'all so much for all the love on chapter 1. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to publish chapter 2, I am a D1 procrastinator. I will try my best to upload with a more consistent schedule from now on. Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoy and as always let me know your thoughts!!
Dimitri was right that I had been overly grumpy this morning. It’s not like me being argumentative was out of the ordinary, I was nothing if not stubborn. That was actually one of the biggest reasons I was here: my so-called spunk. However, today I overdid it. The combination of sleep deprivation, a ridiculous workload, change in my routine, and a headache I didn’t even know I had turned me into a real bitch.
The news of a new scientist on The Stratt Vat had stuck with me. Dimitri’s mention of a breakthrough discovery by said scientist, had also stuck with me. I was barely able to focus on my work all day because of how preoccupied my mind had become with this news.
The thing you had to understand about life on board a top-secret aircraft carrier, was everything was calculated. Nobody was late, ever. Everything was counted and then counted again, and everything had a very specific time and place. Hell, we might as well have had set times to go to the washroom.
All this to say, if that calculated routine was broken, it was for a damn good reason.
By lunchtime I got so curious about this new scientist I looked up his dissertation. An Analysis of Water Based Assumptions and Recalibrations of Expectations for Evolutionary Models By Dr. Ryland Grace. I stared down at the open PDF of the dissertation on my laptop. I now knew two more things about this guy: one, his name is Ryland Grace, and two, he knows how to write one hell of a title.
I spent the next hour reading Dr. Grace’s paper. Well, what I could get through in that hour, at least. I only had so much free time in a day and it’s not like I could take time off work. Most of what he had to say wasn’t completely insane. I could definitely see how one would come to the conclusion of the goldilocks zone being irrelevant through his writing. I guess ionic liquids had to have some purpose, right?
It was genuinely hard to tear my concentration away from the dissertation. I’ll give it to Dr. Grace, he is a captivating writer. But, duty always seems to call on The Stratt Vat. So, without much of a choice, I went back to my office and continued working. That was until around 5:30 when I got called into a meeting.
I walked down the hall with a crossbody bag draped over me. It’s not like anywhere on the carrier was a far walk, but bags were easier than carrying a notebook, a laptop, a clipboard, a million pens, etc. I finally made it to the conference room, a large rectangular table with a hollow centre sat right in the middle. At the head of the table, a live feed of someone's computer was being projected onto a white screen. I had been in here once or twice before but we only really used this room when something important involving a lot of people was happening.
Luckily for me, I spotted Dimitri sitting on one of the sides, close to the head of the table with a few empty chairs next to him. I wasted no time in claiming one of said empty chairs and unpacking all my stuff. A big, short-notice meeting was no time for awkwardness or small talk, I had to be next to someone I trusted.
“Where’s Stratt?” I whispered to Dimitri.
“On her way with the new scientist.” The Russian replied, his voice also hushed.
“I started reading his dissertation on my lunch. He seems like he knows his stuff. Not that I know anything about molecular biology, but y’know.” I said.
“I’m glad you’re changing your tune.” Dimitri looked over at me with slightly raised brows.
I was just about to respond with a little quip when four security guards entered the room, followed by Stratt and a man who had clearly just stepped off a jet. The man (who I presumed was Dr. Grace) took one look at the full conference room before his eyes widened so much, it looked like he was on drugs. He whipped around towards Stratt and tried to get past her. The two of them mumbled to each other before Stratt basically had to shove him toward the head of the table.
“Everyone, this is Dr. Ryland Grace from the United States.” Stratt addressed the room. “Please, go here. Thank you.” She guided Dr. Grace back to the front of the room. “And he figured out how to breed astrophage.”
Stratt gestured for applause and everyone complied immediately. Dr. Grace gave an awkward wave to the room. There was barely a second wasted before the whole room erupted with questions. I stayed quiet but that was mostly because I was scrambling to open a new Google Doc. I looked up after I was fully sure I was prepared and noticed Dr. Grace turning sheet white.
“Um,” the scientist started with a shaky voice, “Carl and I made a mini Venus out of a plywood box, and as soon as the samples recognized the, uh, spectral signature of CO2 they were.” He took a deep breath as he waved his arms around slightly, clearly trying to steady himself. “They were like ‘Whoomp! There it is!’”
It was not easy to miss the collective cringe and worry that came from everyone at the conference table. Some sighed, some gave dubious glances toward Stratt, and some looked to the person next to them in pure shock. I, on the other hand (ever the professional) had to immediately cover my mouth to stifle a laugh. And even then a small snort still escaped. My reaction wasn’t really to do with the mildly funny humour, it was mostly to cope with the tidal wave of second-hand-embarassment that had just struck me.
Stratt wasted no time shutting this so-called speech from Dr. Grace down.
“Okay,” she said, grabbing his arm and ushering him out of the spotlight, “you can sit down.”
Dr. Grace immediately listened and they both took seats next to Dimitri and I. Dr. Grace sighed and shuddered a little. I don’t think I’d ever seen a grown man look this embarrassed before. I looked back to my laptop as the meeting started to get back on track and I made a mental note to ask who Carl was later.
This Rock We Call Home - Ryland Grace x Reader (Chapter 1)
hello guys!! i posted a sneak peak of this fic on my tiktok and it got some good reception so i'm uploading it here now. this will be a slow burn for sure but once we get going, we're not stopping. this fic will also probably be uploaded to ao3 soon!
content warnings: eventual smut, not beta read
this is my first work i've published in literal years so i'm very nervous getting back into it, but i hope y'all enjoy it. :)
Life on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean was not as cool as I had anticipated. Appropriately coined, The Stratt Vat, it was cold, enclosed, and there was a lot of pressure. But, you wanna know what the worst part of all this was? Not the 16 hour workdays, not the impending doom of potentially going extinct, not the cramped living quarters, no. It was the unending and miserable boredom.
You see, humans can get used to just about anything. We don’t have enough expendable energy to have an active prolonged fear of something. This is why when you live in tragedy for long enough, it becomes part of the routine. Children still had to go to school during World War II (even with frequent bombs being dropped). And I still had to go to work (even with the threat of extinction or the carrier blowing sky high).
So there I was, in the cafeteria, at 6:00am, drinking shitty coffee, and trying not to fall asleep on my laptop. I rubbed my temples as I stared at the calculations on screen. None of it made any sense but I couldn’t tell if that was because I was still half asleep, or because the data actually didn’t make any sense. I threw my head back with my hands over my face and groaned.
“Tough morning?” A thick Russian accent appeared behind me.
I whipped my head around to see Dimitri Komorov. A fellow scientist on board The Stratt Vat, and one I actually liked. Maybe it was weird for a woman who wasn’t even 30 yet to be so close with a middle aged Russian man, but whatever. We got along well and ended up in a lot of the same meetings. All of this also meant he was a great gossiping partner.
“How did you know? I thought I was being so subtle.” I replied sarcastically.
I gestured to the seat across from me as I spoke. Dimitri smiled and sat down without another word. In front of him he sat down a breakfast tray with a smorgasbord of items from the buffet, along with enough bacon to feed a great white. Oh and, we cannot forget the latte that had a decent chance of being spiked.
Dimitri took a bite of his bacon before speaking up again.
“You know that American scientist Stratt has studying Astrophage?” He asked.
“The one who published the dissertation on the goldilocks zone being for idiots?” I responded, my attention going back to my laptop.
“That’s the one. Apparently he’s made some, ‘breakthrough discovery.’ So, Stratt’s kidnapping him today.” He said.
My focus on the calculations in front of me was broken for just a second. Someone new, that Eva Stratt was recruiting personally? I almost couldn’t believe it. The Stratt Vat was packed enough as it was, so only the absolute best of the best came on board, let alone stayed.
“Poor soul.” I said.
Dimitri let out a hearty laugh.
“Agreed. But this is good for the two of us, no?” He countered.
“How is this good for us? It just means less living space and more mouths to feed. I mean, it’s a good thing we’re making progress on figuring out Astrophage biology. But, don’t we already have a whole team for that on board?” I sighed. “I know I’m not in a place to be questioning Stratt’s judgement but, why bring on another hot-headed professor? Just set him up on land and have him phone-in his findings; I’m sure he can’t be that impressive.” I replied, my tiredness making me more negative than usual.
“Well, he’s actually not a professor. He’s a middle-school teacher.” Said the Russian, in between bites of food.
I finally looked up from my laptop. My jaw wasn’t completely on the floor but my mouth was definitely hanging open a little. I had a doctorate in astronomy with a minor in psychology. I was working for The University of Toronto’s astronomy department and had interned multiple times at NASA. All of that and I still had to fight tooth and nail to be here.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I scoffed.
Dimitri shook his head before taking a sip of his latte. He set the paper cup down on the table and gave me a tired look. It was the kind of look that told me I needed to shut up immediately.
“I know you have your grievances with Stratt, we all do. But you need to remind yourself that she’s the one in charge for a reason. I don’t know what’s got you acting so pissy and childish this morning, but you need to get over it.” He paused, taking a bite of his breakfast. “Now, this is good for us because he’s a potential friend. He’ll be in our circle, he’s obviously smart, and I know both of us need more people to connect with. Don’t ruin this before it starts.”
I paused for just a second, hemming and hawing on whether or not to fight back. Ultimately, I knew Dimitri was right. I knew I was being pissy and that accepting a potential friend was probably the right thing to do. It just took me a minute to get there.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” I replied quietly.
“Don’t worry, I understand. Now get back to work.” He gestured at my laptop with a small smile.
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