Anyway, Grace and Rocky would love Jack and Draycos.
The Essenay inexplicably pulls up beside the Hail Mary one day and when Grace opens the door expecting to see more aliens there is a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD CHILD standing there watching him curiously. Why is a MIDDLE SCHOOLER alone in space?!?
Jack comes aboard and is fascinated but not at all alarmed by Rocky (he's seen so many aliens and has a dragon that lives on his back). He lets Grace and Rocky on the Essenay and show them around a little and as soon as Grace finds out he has a food fabricator he's obsessed and stuck there for at least an hour making food and hauling it back to the Hail Mary. Rocky starts talking to/arguing with the ship's computer personality, Uncle Virge because I think it'd be hilarious.
Jack eventually gets Grace and Rocky to explain what they're doing out here on a ship that obviously has no lightspeed capabilities and when he hears their story he's like "oh. okay so you just decided to sacrifice yourself for an alien race because one of them became your best friend too, huh? That's not relatable at all."
And Grace kind of starts like "???? What you mean YOU'VE done that?!?" and Jack just sighs like "well I'm trying not to do the sacrificing part, but, uh, Draycos? I think we can trust these guys."
And then all of a sudden a WHOLE DRAGON jumps out of Jack's sleeve. Bright gold and the size of a panther, he nearly gives Grace a heart attack and Rocky is IMMEDIATELY trying to fight him.
Draycos just calmly greets them, "hello, don't be alarmed, I mean you no harm. I am Draycos, dragon-poet warrior of the K'da, Jack is my host."
Jack and Draycos then spend another few hours explaining THEIR story and Grace is VALIANTLY trying not to immediately convince them to let him run every test known to man on them. To his great surprise when he hesitantly asks to do some kind of small test like a blood sample Jack agrees and Draycos doesn't take THAT much convincing because they're both kinda worried about if humans can actually serve as long term hosts for K'da or if Draycos is just. gonna fall off Jack go 2D and die one day. They have no idea if Grace is gonna be able to figure anything out but he's successfully researched and figured out THREE alien organisms before so it's worth a shot right?
Anyway, I think it'd be hilarious if Rocky and Draycos are over there talking about what it's like to be deeply bonded with a human and how great their humans are despite their flaws and struggles and meanwhile Grace has gone FULL teacher mode now that there's a child around and Jack isn't sure if he should be offended or not (he quickly decides Grace is just Like That and accepts it tho).
Rocky: your human decide to help save you and your people too question?
Draycos: yes, Jack is very brave and resourceful for one so young, I could not ask for a better partner. Yours is the same?
Rocky: yes, Grace come back, save Rocky and Erid, very brave. Yours also get grumpy and stupid when not sleep, question?
Draycos: *trying not to laugh* he does sometimes, yes. Humans seem to struggle a great deal if they do not receive adequate sleep.
Rocky: Grace nearly killed taumeoba samples we both almost die to get because he stupid and not sleep.
Draycos: *still trying not to laugh* that sounds frustrating. Jack has done surprisingly well on that front so far.
*meanwhile on the Hail Mary*
Grace: so this is the basic layout of a human cell
Jack: uh-huh
Grace: and this is what I'm assuming are Draycos' cells
Jack: neat
Grace: aaaand here are your cells. Notice anything strange?
Jack: *squinting as he actually starts to pay attention* wait why do they look like that?? I'm not dying, am I? Do I have a disease or something, jeeze that'd be my luck-
Grace: no, I think???? Your and Draycos' cells are ??? Adapting to each other ?? Becoming more similar???*
Jack:.... Is that why we're starting to sense each other's thoughts
Grace: *vibrating with equal parts excitement and concern* you're doing what
Idk, I just think it'd be fun.
*this is all speculation I can't remember EXACTLY how this part worked out, it's been 16 years since I read the Dragonback books I only remember bits and pieces of them but this sounds like something that would happen.
Bonus: Grace and Jack get back and Rocky won't stop speaking in phrases from Draycos' poems because he has a perfect memory and Draycos is inordinately pleased and amused to find someone interested in his poems (Rocky wanted to learn them specifically to annoy Grace, Draycos respects this because he recites his poems every night to Uncle Virge the computer because Uncle Virge hates poetry and also dislikes Draycos and Draycos is Not above annoying him xD)
