Another Grace/Rocky snippet:
We spend so much more time in the Don't-Go-Crazy room now. Grace is obsessed with whatever it is he sees on those large, flat panels that cover the walls. He's smart enough that he realized fairly early into our journey back to Erid that despite the aid of my texture pad, I can't follow along as well with the flat images he watches. So he started describing them to me instead – the landscapes, the objects, the people and animals, and most bafflingly, the colors that I will never see.
I'm pretending to listen, sometimes even repeating his words back to him, but the truth is I'm not that interested in what he's describing. All I can focus on is how he's describing it. The low, rough tones of his voice, made even deeper in his effort to speak quietly. The barely contained emotion – strained and breathless when a scene has him on the verge of tears – or speaking a little faster, his tone pitched a little higher when he's anticipating one of his favorite moments and encouraging me to 'watch.'
Truthfully, the majority of the time, I only focus on him. The way his muscles shift and tense when the ominous music has him on edge. The way a line of dialogue will suddenly put a stupid grin on his face.
"If I were Tom Hanks, you'd be like my Wilson, you know?"
I opt to make an untranslatable noise, hoping it sounds like vague interest or agreement. I have no idea what the ♩♯♪ he's talking about.
Grace seems happy, though, and continues describing the scenes to me. He makes sure that I get a good view of what a palm tree looks like, and the silhouette of the island mountains against the sky. Their shapes are indeed interesting, but not as interesting as the palm of Grace's hand, or the dozens of delicate bones comprising his fingers and wrist.
About 2,000 Earth seconds later, I learn that Grace was comparing me to a ♩♯♪♫ volleyball.
Devstating devlopments happening
