The thing is, for now, they’ve always mentioned that Ryland is seen as soft and "leaky/wet" by Rocky whenever other Eridians ask about him.
Plus, Ryland is openly clumsy, emotional, and seems to adore teaching and being gentle with children. Sure, they know he’s brave and terrifyingly intelligent—he didn’t achieve what he achieved for nothing.
But it’s when other Eridians ask about human evolution that they start to get a bit scared.
The fact that the human species developed ocular vision just to be able to navigate is quite something. Because, even if it's deficient by Eridian standards, apparently the environment and the human race needed something more than just sound and touch stimuli.
Whenever small rocks or pebbles found their way into the human habitat, Ryland seemed capable of "herding" them so they wouldn't wander too far. Also, on the rare occasions Ryland left his habitat in his suit to walk around Erid (a custom suit with special light generators so he could move and withstand the pressure), he seemed to move with a caution similar to that of a predator.
And another thing? His voice. Ugh.
His vocal cords were mediocre at best. But they could easily recognise the inflections of his emotions.
Ryland was incapable of speaking Eridian properly. He was highly limited. He always used his translator to avoid misunderstandings.
But bloody hell, they once saw him arguing with Rocky.
Rocky was practically cornered by the soft human. Ryland’s shouting and his sharp, biting tone only became more terrifying when they noticed how he was leaning over the other Eridian. And it was only because he’d been interrupted by the scientist that he noticed Ryland was practically in attack-and-hunt mode.
As if his body was instinctively ready to strike at the slightest right stimulus.
Only for him to completely relax and snap right back into that friendly tone the moment he noticed someone else’s presence.
And his reflexes? Terrifying. If his cup was about to fall? Or if one of his children had rushed too quickly up a mound?
Ryland would sprint at a terrifying speed to catch the object
