I haven't touched love and deepspace in like a month or two and so much has happened while I was gone?? I am beyond confused. From what I understand, they cancelled the 6th love interest, but why??
I would love some more project hail mary stuff, if you're interested. Maybe a bit more about grace and how he feels about the situation? He clearly sees the reader as a kid like rocky, even though he seemed to be on their side at the beginning. I also just want to snuggle him so bad. Thats papa...
That's such a good question, anon!! I love it!! I totally feel that. He's got serious Ms. Honey from Matilda vibes. He's def Papa and I feel like he gives the warmest, safest feeling hugs ever! 🥰
Grace feels really bad for you, or at least, he did at first. Rocky informed him of his plan to keep you and Grace started to protest until he heard you referencing a meme to Adrian that his students used to make jokes about. He was fully brought back to the days where he would avoid talking about a subject to prevent his class from making those references and going wild with laughter. He looked at you, really looked, and couldn't help but see you like one of his students. He still can't help it. You were laughing and Adrian was confused but the joy on your face made you look that much more youthful. He put his face in his hands. He couldn't let a kid go to space. Still can't. It's too dangerous and he knows that it's selfish but he'd miss you too much. After a few deep breaths, he agreed to Rocky's plan.
Nowadays, you've become a lot less rebellious, much to Grace's relief. Adrian restored the beach once you started behaving again and Rocky set up a movie projector for you to watch shows on. Rocky warned him that you were likely biding your time but Grace didn't care. He loved how much easier it was to care for you. He loved taking care of you. He'd always wanted a kid and here you were, absolutely perfect for him.
You were originally bundled up on the opposite side of the couch from him but once you fell asleep, he took advantage of the opportunity and sat next to you. You were always like a heat seeking missile with the way that you would always snuggle up to him when you slept. Grace loved it. Rocky was sitting in the armchair, enjoying the movie as Grace wrapped his arms around you and cuddled you more fully.
He laid down fully on the couch and pulled you down with him, laying behind you as he held you. Rocky quietly got off of the armchair and silently scuttled onto the back of the couch. Grace smiled. He knew that Rocky loved watching you both sleep. He gently untangled your blankets from around you before spreading them over both of your forms. He enjoyed the way that your body heat seeped into him and vice versa. He loved being able to feel your steady heartbeat while you rested. It was soothing. He missed human touch before you came to Erid. Rocky and Adrian tried their best but they couldn't come close to how comforting you were. He curled around you, holding you like one of his childhood plushies.
"Baby finally sleeping." Rocky said quietly from where he sat sentinel over his two humans.
"Yeah. Baby finally sleeping." Grace agreed, pressing an affectionate kiss to the top of your head.
Reader telling Rocky, Simon, and Grace how they didn’t think they’d make it as far as they did.
Platonic!! Reader is 20, Ryland is early forties, Simon is late thirties, Rocky is an old ass rock. Platonic relationships with reader only.
TW: Suicidal ideation, expressing how one thought they wouldn’t make it past a certain age, suicidal thoughts, mental distress, mentions of non-sexual grooming.
Angst be upon ye
MDNI
Spoilers to Project Hail Mary and Iron Lung! Be aware!
Edit: Masterlist here!
—
The youngest member of the Hail Mary was absolutely spoilt, anyone could see that, even the densest of people.
You were treated as if you’d always been there, cared for, taught, loved. It was a stark contrast to how things were on Asora, where resources dwindled and teenagers were expected to hold together households and families with part-time jobs and whatever sketchy work they could find.
You’d absolutely been a victim of those circumstances, borderline groomed into the space program that promised all your needs and more, then launched into space in a dingy craft with strangers you barely knew.
Now, you were twenty years old, unsure of what to do now. You weren’t ever going home, an impossibility you weren’t keen on making a reality, but now you didn’t know what to do with yourself. You spent so long on Asora trying to figure out how to survive that you’d convinced yourself at a concerningly young age that you wouldn’t make it to adulthood.
Here you were. An adult.
“Hey kiddo.” A hand made itself home on your head, firm and grounding as it pulled your attention away from the view of the glittering stars in the vastness of space. Grace looked down at you with tired eyes, another night of no sleep in favor of working on his personal research, “it’s late, why aren’t you in bed? Rocky will get hysterical if he finds out you aren’t sleeping.”
“Jus’ wanted to look at the stars for a bit.” He nodded and settled himself down next to you, “I’ve got a feeling that’s not all?” You sighed, hating how well he could read you, like an open book he studied in grad school, “just..I’m just a little lost? I guess? I don’t know what to do with myself.”
“Oh?” Grace raised a brow, sipping at a mug of coffee that still steamed, “you..need more things to do? More options? I could see what books Mary has downloaded- or documentaries? There’s lots of those! Or-“
“Not like that.” Grace paused his incoming ramble, brow furrowing in confusion, “I’m..a little lost myself now, can you..elaborate for me?” Dammit. Why did you bring this up??
“It’s- ugh. It’s nothing. I’ll find something to do.” You pushed yourself to your feet and padded back to the sleeping quarters, leaving a confused Grace to stew over your words.
—
“[Name] okay, question?” You focused your eyes to see Rocky above you in his xenonite tunnels, “staring” down at you in a way you recognized as concern. You’d been lying on the cool floor of the Hail Mary’s kitchen for an undetermined amount of time, staring off into figurative space and turning your brain off.
“[Name]?” Rocky tried again, tapping the wall of his tunnel gently to regain your attention, “ah- sorry Rocky. Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Why on floor, question? Fall down?”
“Nah, just like the way the ground feels.” He tilted a little, confused, “ground is cold, [Name] should be in comfy bed! Not ground, statement!” A small smile made its way onto your face, “c’mon Rocky, when everything is gone and there’s nothing left the floor will always be there.”
A memory flashed behind your eyes, the fog closing in again as the sounds of arguing filtered in. Your crew-mates were volatile people, some a little older than you and others as old as your parents, demanding control and manipulating through sweet words and harsh truths. You’d spent many days on the ground of the most unused room, uncomfortable and lonely as you drowned out the arguing with the feeling of cold metal against your back and the sounds of machinery creaking and settling all around you.
Then there was silence, the fog rolled in, and you half-wished the arguing would come back.
“What that mean, question? Nothing is gone, [Name] safe on Hail Mary, statement.” You shuddered as the memory left you, refocusing again, “uh- nothing Rock. Don’t worry about me, just gonna lay here for a little longer.” Rocky let out a faint and weary whistle tone, reluctantly tapping away into a different room.
You shut your eyes and sighed, falling back into the fog.
—
“Hey.” You jumped, whipping around where you were sitting to look up at Simon, his eyebrows furrowed with that accusatory look you hated being subjected to, “uh- yeah?”
“You’ve been staring at that word search for ten minutes.”
“Can’t..find any of the words?” You hated how unsure you sounded, sighing in defeat when Simon quirked a brow at you, dumping the stupid booklet onto the coffee table in front of you. Simon circled around to sit beside you on the couch, opening his arm to let you curl up against his warm side, listening to his heart- uh- hearts beat.
“What’s up with you kid? You haven’t been yourself.” His calloused thumb rubbed up and down slowly, a comforting motion that made you melt- could knock you asleep if he did it long enough.
“Just thinking.” Simon snorted, “that’s dangerous.”
“Only when you’re Ryland Grace on zero sleep.” You both laughed, but Simon squeezing you closer slowly brought you back down, “seriously though, what’re you thinking about? Grace and Rocky are worried.” Guilt shot up your spine, “they’re worried??”
“I am too. You keep saying these concerning things and we don’t want you..spiraling.”
“I’m not going to-“ Simon nodded, interrupting you, “I believe you, but we can’t have you saying things or doing things that worry us and not talking through them. You’re young, your brain is still developing, you’ve been through a lot.” A lot was an understatement, “we’ve just gotta make sure you’re okay, we don’t want to lose you.”
“I’ll..I’ll get to it. Just let me get my thoughts together?”
“Of course, whenever you’re ready. Just don’t think for too long.” He stayed with you, picking the word search back up for you to actually complete.
—
It was a calm “night” on the Hail Mary when you finally decided to open up. It was calm, it was comfortable, it was selfish of you to bring it up now, wasn’t it?
“So- I didn’t think I’d make it to 18.” You had to just come out with it, tired of beating around the bush. Grace choked on his coffee, sputtering as he tried to cough out the liquid from his airway. Rocky jumped, standing in his closest tunnel, making a high-pitched sound of distress. Simon turned to you with a worried look etched into his hardened features, setting his tablet down and pausing his reading. None of them spoke, waiting for you to continue, “Asora wasn’t..good. It was all about survival as the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. I worked so many odd jobs and did so many terrible things just to bring money home. I was convinced young that I wouldn’t make it to see adulthood, but then that stupid space program opened a volunteer office in my town, looking for young people who wanted to “see the stars.” They promised money and resources for you and your family, then you never got to see them again.” You sighed, running your hands down your face, knees up to your chin, “I couldn’t catch a break, grew up too fast I think. I’m not used to not feeling like I have to- to fight to stay alive. I was alone for so long, emotionally or physically or both. I just wanted it to be over and I was so willing to make it end if it meant the pain would stop, but then you guys picked me up.” You didn’t cry, you didn’t feel like it, you’d already shed enough tears over these problems, “I’m finally in a place that treats me like a person, it’s so weird.”
The three around you shared worried looks, but Simon moved first, wrapping you up in his strong arm and pulling you close, resting his chin on your head, “I think we all understand better than you know.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. Eden was a lot like Asora, but..pretty sure I was raised in a cult if Ryland’s taught me anything.” Grace laughed dryly, shrugging, “I was forced into space and the two other people on my ship were dead by the time I woke up.” Rocky chimed sadly in his tunnel, tapping faintly as a fidget, “crew die on way to save stars, statement. Rocky could not fix.”
The tears fell fast.
You hiccuped, Simon holding you tighter to ground you to reality. They didn’t have to say much more- they understood.
Erid was arid. Hot, dry, and I was already sweating in my spacesuit as Rocky led me into the biodome. He was chirping and trilling, but I couldn’t understand a thing he was trying to convey.
Once inside the biodome, I stood face to face with Ryland Grace. He didn’t look too different; his hair was a bit longer and he was a bit taller, but that is where the differences ended.
He beamed at me. “Hey there! You can take your helmet off now, it’s safe in here. I’ve given Rocky a translator, by the way, so you can understand what he’s saying. It’s right here.”
He handed me what looked like two small laptops taped to each other. I took it, before slowly reaching up and detached the helmet from the suit.
He blinked in surprise. “Whoa! You look super young.” Dr. Grace exhaled heavily, eyes wide and hands on his hips. “Stratt, you menace.”
There was still the burning desire to tell him who I was. I mustered all my courage and asked, “Do I look familiar to you?”
He paused in confusion, but took a good look at me. “Now that you mention it, you do look familiar.”
“Dr. Grace, it’s me. Meghan Greene.”
“Meghan Greene?” He furrowed his brows, thinking hard. “Where have I heard that name? Meghan Greene, Meghan Greene-” He paused, cutting himself off with a loud gasp that sent Rocky three paces backwards. “You were my student!”
When I nodded, he gasped again. “Whoa! Would you look at that! You’ve grown a lot, Meghan, wow!”
“I go by Sparrow now,” I corrected, my throat already burning from speaking too much. I’d have to cut it short soon.
“What?” came a slightly robotic masculine voice accompanied by a trill from Rocky. “What is the excitement, question?”
“Rocky!” Dr. Grace exclaimed, “That’s my kid! Well, not my kid, but my kid!”
“Is kid? Pebble?” Rocky lowered himself in sudden distress. “What is pebble doing in space, question?”
Dr. Grace immediately realized his mistake, waving his hands. “No, no, not a pebble! She’s a grown adult!”
“They,” I corrected quietly, my voice barely audible.
Somehow, Dr. Grace still heard me. “They, sorry. They’re a grown adult!”
Rocky was not listening. He shook his carapace from side to side, agitated. “Grace said Sparrow looked young. Grace said Sparrow is kid. How old is Sparrow, question?”
“I’m twenty,” I said, raising my voice. I didn’t want this alien to think I was a little kid.
Rocky gave a distressed warble. “Pebble! Barely been alive!” He scuttled in a circle around me. “New friend Sparrow is just a pebble! I must tell Adrian!” And with that, he tripped over his five limbs. Once he righted himself, he scampered out of the biodome.
I watched him go, confused. I became even more confused at Dr. Grace’s groan. I tilted my head, silently asking, What was that?
Dr. Grace winced. “See… Eridians live a lot longer than humans. Rocky is currently around two hundred ninety-something years old.”
My jaw dropped.
“So, by comparison, we are… young,” Dr. Grace finished.
Why didn’t he call you a kid, then? I wondered.
I must have been making a face, because Dr. Grace chuckled. “I know that look. You’re wondering why Rocky doesn’t consider me a pebble?”
I nodded.
“It’s because Eridians mature after thirty to forty years. I’m right in that sweet spot, a young adult to Rocky. You’re still just a pebble to him.”
I hummed, nodding in understanding.
He clapped his hands. “You’re still all suited up. Let’s get you inside, get you situated and all that. You got your bag?”
I turned to show him I was wearing my bag like a backpack.
“Perfect. I’ll show you inside.”
I changed from my spacesuit to a comfy sweater and overalls, my default, before wandering back out of the house to find Dr. Grace. He was by the beach, gesturing frantically to Rocky and another, taller, greener Eridian.
“They’re not a pebble!” he was saying. “They don’t need constant supervision! You don’t need to watch them sleep!”
Both Eridians replied in overlapping, warbling cries, then paused when I came closer. I gripped the translator in my hands as I approached. I waved, and Rocky waved back.
“Hello, baby human. This is mate Adrian. Adrian and I bring gifts.”
Adrian, the taller Eridian, held out what looked to be a puzzle block to me. I nodded in thanks, taking it from their claw.
“Puzzle to stimulate brain,” said Rocky, “and develop fine motor skills.”
“My motor skills are fine,” I mumbled, but nodded in thanks once again.
“I watch sleep.”
“What?” That was new and unwelcome.
Grace hissed through his teeth. “Yeah, I forgot to tell you. Eridians have this thing where, when they sleep, they’re completely defenseless, so they have someone watch over them while they sleep. It’s a comforting thing to them,” he said with a shrug. “Rocky, Sparrow doesn’t need anyone to watch their sleep. They’ll be fine.”
“What if something happens?” Rocky asked. “And nobody is around to protect? Bad bad bad Grace.”
“If something happens, Sparrow will just call out for me. Right, Sparrow?”
I nodded.
However, Rocky was not having it. He stamped one leg and balled two fists, tapping them together. “No no no, Rocky will watch pebble Sparrow sleep.”
Grace shot me a look. I shrugged. “Just one night, then?”
Rocky gave a hum. “More than one night.”
Adrian bumped into him. “One night, maybe more.” Take what we can get, they were practically screaming.
I yawned, and Rocky bounced around. “A yawn. Grace does this when tired and preparing for nighttime rituals. Is Sparrow ready for bedtime?”
Sparrow very much was ready for bedtime. I’d been across the galaxy, entered two different star systems, and landed on an alien planet, then reunited with my old science teacher while two aliens fawned over me, thinking I was a kid. I was more than ready to conk the fuck out.
I nodded, rubbing my eyes. Dr. Grace patted me on the back. “I’ll show you where you can sleep.”
“Rocky and I expand biodome starting tomorrow,” Adrian stated. “Will make more room for Sparrow.”
I followed Dr. Grace into the house, and Rocky and Adrian trailed behind me. Dr. Grace led me to the couch- “Sorry you get the couch for now,” he said sheepishly, “but you’ll have your own room soon enough!”- and gave me enough blankets to suffocate a full grown man with.
Awkward wouldn’t even begin to describe what I felt as I lay down on the couch and covered myself with the blankets. I couldn’t stop staring at Rocky, and Rocky stared back at me. Well, as best as he could with no eyes.
“Sleep,” he commanded.
“I can’t.”
“Why not, question?” he asked. “Too hot? Too cold? Tell me. I fix.”
“It’s just… awkward.”
“Awkward? What is?”
I wasn’t sure if I would offend him, but I tried explaining anyway. “You. Watching me.”
“What is awkward about watching sleep? I make sure no danger comes. You feel safe and comforted and not alone. Is win-win.”
I don’t feel very comforted, I thought to myself. No way I would say that aloud, though; I didn’t know how angry he could potentially get if offended.
I closed my eyes, but I could not fall asleep. I was hyperaware of the alien next to me. I lay there for fifteen minutes before sitting up.
“Why Sparrow not fall asleep yet, question?” he asked. “Is because of me?” Somehow, the translator made him sound so disheartened and pathetic that it made me feel bad.
“I’m just not comfortable,” I murmured. “I’ll fall asleep eventually.”
Rocky paused. “Would lullaby help?”
Lullaby? I made a noise. “You know lullabies?”
“Yes. Eridians sing lullabies to pebbles. Helps soothe. Very helpful.”
Again with the pebble thing, I sighed to myself. But I couldn’t say I wasn’t curious to hear an Eridian lullaby. “Sure.”
Rocky trilled happily, waving his arms. “Lay down. Let Rocky sing you lullaby.”
I did as told, covering myself with the blankets and closing my eyes. I waited patiently, with mild amusement, for the translator to attempt to sing, but that’s not what happened. The translator remained silent, and instead Rocky hummed a low, melodic tune. It seemed to vibrate from within him, the notes bleeding into each other and creating a beautiful sound. I was pleasantly surprised, finding the song to be lovely.
I felt my eyelids growing heavy, and I snuggled deeper into the blankets. I lay there, listening to the lullaby, until I slipped into a deep sleep.
Dottore looked around from the other side of the portal, the stars above him twinkling in irregular patterns that left his surveying eyes shining in awe. He gazed at the sky wondrously, making several passersby walking their dogs or having an evening jog stare at him weirdly.
He didn't care about this fact, choosing to ignore them and look at the stars as if he'd opened his eyes for the first time. He couldn't explain it, their irregularities, their minimalism... he'd never seen a sky quite like it. And that assessment didn't include the vast sky behind the twinkling miracles. It was simply astounding, he'd have to ask The Decider about it later.
Was this what the true sky in Teyvat was supposed to look like? He'd not seen it yet as he was forced to postpone his research for this mission. There's something in his soul that just makes him feel so seen when gazing out to the stars above him, it has to be something similar!
After breaking himself out of his mesmerised trance, The Doctor began to look around him beyond the sky above, finding himself in a park of sorts. He guessed it was a park from the path covered in benches. Not only that, but the public bins and street lights which vaguely resembled Fontaine were a dead giveaway.
The sense of normalcy was almost boring in a way... but at least the contrast with the sky above made it somewhat interesting. When this whole mission was incomplete, he simply had to return here and conduct more experiments.
The man looked behind him when he heard a warping sound, signalling the next person had walked through the portal. Upon turning around he saw Scaramouche ungracefully land on the other side, almost losing his footing and falling flat on his face. Luckily for his pride, he didn't. But oh, the blackmail Dottore would've had if he did.
"Don't," Scaramouche glared at Dottore with warning eyes, brushing his knees of invisible dust when regaining his balance. "Don't you dare say anything more." He glared further when Dottore let out a few low laughs under his breath.
"Sometimes silence is more fitting. Isn't it you who dislikes idle chatter most?"
He simply scoffed his head in reply, walking past the man and instead sitting on a bench close by to gaze at the sky with a youthful glow. An expression, Dottore noted, he hadn't expected. Not only was it so different from his scowl two seconds prior, but it also perfectly mirrored the sky above.
'Pretty privilege.' Dottore's eyes rolled behind his back at the thought.
Columbina was the next to appear through the portal, Capitano shortly following behind without much of a gap in between. The two looked around for a bit before quickly splitting up, Capitano choosing to sit next to The Balladeer (much to his expressed disgust), and Columbina nearby Dottore.
The Damsel turned to her coworker with a neutral expression, mouth open to ask her question before thinking. "Doctor, is our portal in a tree?" She coughed before continuing. "Please tell me I'm not seeing things."
"No," He shook his head, equally as confused as her. "You're not. It's camouflaged quite well, but the portal is indeed on the trunk of that tree."
"Does it... mean something?"
He paused to think about it for a moment, a few more Harbingers walking through the portal and looking at him strangely as they saw his frozen state. Eventually, he spoke up. "Perhaps. As we're currently at a location where we can speak freely, I believe I can reveal that one of the components of the portal was Leyline branches."
"Leyline branches." She repeated in disbelief, to which Dottore nodded. "So, you're suggesting that this tree is as powerful or something similar... Like, Irminsul?"
Scaramouche gave them a judgemental look, eyeing the tree up and down before speaking. "Just looks like a regular tree to me. You two must have hit your heads on the way here."
"It's the only explanation I can think of for now. So thank you, Balladeer, for your very 'insightful' view."
"Noooo problem." He snickered before looking away.
After a short while of waiting, at last the final Harbinger to walk through the portal was Sandrone. And just as Dottore had expected, the first words to leave her mechanical lips were nothing but complaints.
"Childe was right. That portal has a weird atmospheric point." She groaned to herself, caressing her forehead. "We better get this over with quickly, I can feel my head ready to split at any moment." She continued walking forwards, looking around and clicking her tongue when looking at the group of Harbingers watching her closely.
"Well?" Sandrone questioned with a tilted head and exasperated eyes, "Where are They? This place is so desolate, there isn't a soul in sight apart from us." She groaned at the end in frustration, watching Columbina approach her with a happy smile, not stopping moving forward no matter how many times she stepped back.
Dottore shrugged, being the last to walk away from the tree and instead towards the park bench to meet with the others. A few were sat, Scaramouche, Capitano, and Arlecchino. Meanwhile the others stood around it, a guarded posture or folded arms present on each Harbinger.
"There were a few people when I first arrived. But they all walked past minding their own business. I don't think we'll see many people in this area since it's late, which is good for us."
Pierro nodded at that, eyes unmoving from the sky and speaking out without moving an inch. "Yes, good for not attracting attention. The night will help cover our tracks also, we appear to be having good fortune."
"But how is it even possible to be night?" Childe questioned with narrow eyes. "We left Teyvat at noon."
Columbina raised her hand at that with a realisation reflected by her raised eyebrows, pointing towards the full moon shining down on the group. "There's a different lunar cycle here. The moon above us is making my power feel so light yet plentiful, it's almost an addictive feeling. Anyway, with one moon in the sky. I think there's a time difference."
"Let's hope it's only that," Capitano shook his head before pushing himself off of the parkbench, "we should move quickly. The sooner we retrieve them the sooner we can go home. Is the portal still open?"
Signora moved over to the tree, placing her hand on the trunk and finding her palm sink through it. "Yes." She confirmed vocally, turning back to the others. "We must hurry. I don't think it'll stay open for long."
The Harbingers began to walk through the desolate park, not finding people as the evening continued. They followed the path hesitantly, some shoulders hunched expecting attack while others strolled without visible care. Heads darted from left to right, monitoring their surroundings carefully before they reached a black gate, seemingly the exit, they noted.
Walking up to the gate, Capitano tried to open it. After a few heaves, each using more muscle than the last, he stopped.
"Locked, and reinforced like steel." Capitano turned to the others. "Does anyone who can lockpick recognise the lock used?"
Pantalone walked up to the lock, humming to himself in confusion when holding it closer to his face while hunched down to get a better look. "I don't think anyone will recognise it. I've never seen a lock like this before."
Pulcinella arrogantly rolled his eyes at those words, pushing the banker out of the way with his cane to get a better look at it himself. He held it gently, closing one eye and looking around it at different angles to assess its strength. After a short pause, he turned to the others with a nod.
"It's an old lock, one I sometimes see pass through rural towns. I can do it."
"Good." Pierro sighed in relief, stance confident and strong. "Whilst Rooster is working on that lock, Doctor, inform us of your plan to locate The Decider."
Dottore coughed into his hand when all attention was on him, a hand slipping into one of his coat pockets revealing a flat circular gadget. "This," He waved it around, "is what we'll use. It's a tracker of sorts, it allows us to see The Decider's location whenever we wish to see it. It was meant to be used as a backup, but since the portal didn't directly take us to Them, it now seems to be our next plan of action."
"That sounds awfully convenient..." Arlecchino's eyes narrowed, still staring at the device. "How does it work?"
"We simply press this button in the middle of it, and..." Dottore held it out far from his body, activating the device. It let out a loud electric noise, static polluting the air around them and corrupting their space. Emerging from the device was a line of light, the soft yellow colour brightening the whole park leaving some Harbingers half blind.
"Fuck, Dottore!" Sandrone complained with a hand over her face. "Give a warning next time."
When their eyes adjusted to the sudden flash, the emitted light began to swirl in the air, a trail following a path towards a specific direction.
Groaning in anticipation, Scaramouche swiped the device from Dottore's hands, looking closer at it much to the complaints of the creator himself. "The light's moving." He noted. "They must be running."
Signore let out an evil chuckle at that. "Well, we can't let them get away can we?"
"Certainly not." Childe agreed with a nod. "Ahh, I do love a good hunt." He breathily chuckled along, a sadistic grin stretched out on his face.
Sandrone and Arlecchino looked at the two in disgust, looking at each other before turning to the other two with disturbed eyes. "You two are disgraceful."
Capitano crossed his arms, looking at the mood and deciding to change topic. "You know, I've been wondering for a while," he started. "Why exactly are we bringing The Decider to Teyvat? I'm aware They're part of The Tsaritsa's grand plan against the heavens, yes, and I'm prepared to act upon any order given. But wouldn't it make more sense to bring our forces here to start anew? We're helping to brew a physical conflict which could be avoided."
"Insecurity, perhaps?" Pulcinella's questioning voice rang out as he continued to poke and twiddle the lock. "I'm no traitor, however the reason could be tied to her worsening mood as time goes on. It's no secret that Their existence being revealed beyond Snezhnaya and vision users has unsettled her."
Signora shrugged. "That, and possibly her will being to liberate Teyvat as a whole. She can't liberate a land she no longer has access to."
"I suppose so." Capitano nodded, walking up to Pulcinella fiddling with the lock to oversee his progress. "I feel that if she wants to liberate her followers and those close to her, she should take advantage of this world which has yet to fall to the Heavens."
Pierro scoffed at his words, looking at The Captain almost threateningly. "Il Capitano, I hope you aren't suggesting you're going rogue and turning to traitorism?"
"Of course not." He shook his head in reply, turning his back to the group to focus solely on the man fiddling with the lock. "Forget my suggestion, forget I said anything. After all, I myself wish to get back to Teyvat as soon as possible."
The Harbingers were silent after that, waiting around the gate exasperatedly with frustration evident in the air. Some lightly chatted with one another, some minded their own business stuck in thought, some simply stared intently at the old elf expecting it to make him work faster.
Before long, Pulcinella finally let out a relieved sigh. "It's done." He stated with the click sound ringing out after, the man taking off the padlock and chucking it to the floor hastily. "It was stiff due to rust, but I eventually got through it. Whoever funds this park will thank me later, that lock was incredibly faulty... and old. The rust is what prolonged my success."
"Yes, yes, well done." Sandrone said, clearly unimpressed. Her eyes were squinted closed with an angry frown present on her face, head scoffed to the side. She walked through the gate first, hands demurely clutching her skirt as she walked. "Now let's go. We've wasted enough–"
The family of three stationed outside the house watched a car swerve on the pavement ungracefully, braking suddenly causing it to jolt still. Two beeps echoed across the silent street, the driver's seat window rolling down to reveal a woman with sunglasses on and a smile wider than the space she'd created for herself.
"Beep beep bitches! Let's go!" She cheered accompanied by a cackle, disabling the childlock for the three to enter the car. "Sorry for being late, I–"
"--You got hung up with an old friend at the petrol station." Your mother finished her sentence for her, getting in the backseat of the car with a huff. "Yeah, we know. This happens every single time."
You got into the backseat next to her, your father taking the front seat gleefully. After clicking your seatbelts, the car quickly moved off with a growl from the engine. "Moving on," you coughed when the car had moved to the main road, "Auntie why are you wearing sunglasses? It's nighttime."
She simply chuckled in reply, a prideful aura in her tone. "I look cool, right? I just bought them today after getting my paycheck. I thought I owed myself a nice shopping trip after working at the office all day today."
"Well, they look lovely." Your father nodded along, fiddling with the radio to turn it to his favourite channel.
"Don't they?" She rhetorically asked.
Your aunt stopped at a red light, taking a sip of water from her obnoxiously pink water bottle before taking her glasses off and tossing them on your lap. You opened your mouth to ask her what she was doing, however she stopped you mid-breath.
"Could you hold onto them for me Y/N? I'll get them back from you when we're at the restaurant. They're designed by a friend, so I want someone I trust to take care of them for me. I'd continue to wear them but... ah, to tell you the truth I can't see."
Your fingers traced the expensive looking sunglasses, feeling the small indentations and patterns on the design. You saw the brand, not recognising it but shrugging it off as a new label. Must be a newer business on the field. You should ask your aunt to introduce you to the designer later, these sunglasses are really unique.
Your mum scoffed next to you, tilting her head in your direction to get a look at her sister's face. "You're a lunatic. You're telling me you've been driving hazardously this whole time!?"
"I beg your pardon?" She screeched, looking behind her. "I only put them on to show off when I first parked at your place. The only time I wore them while driving was when we moved off."
"Ah... I see..." Your mother nodded in fake understanding. "So you put this car and its passengers in danger after you picked us all up."
Your aunt paused at that, taking a deep breath to herself with her eyes closed before looking at your mother again. "Oh, you. I know you're only saying these things because you're hungry."
"She's always hungry," You shrugged, folding the sunglasses gently and putting them in your hoodie pocket. "So, on the topic of being hungry, where are we eating today?"
The car started to move again as your aunt hummed in thought to herself. "Hmm, I'm not quite sure. I was thinking something fancy this morning, but that was before I got myself these nice glasses. Well, okay, fine. I knew I was buying them as it was a custom order, but I didn't realise they'd be finished ahead of schedule."
"So we're not going to Wagamamas then?" You sighed sadly, slumping in your chair. "That's so sad."
Your aunt laughed to herself in reply, looking at your pout with intrigue through her rear-view mirror. "Get your head out of the gutter, Y/N. With inflation on the rise and it being my turn to pay, the best you're getting is a random fast food chain."
"And," your father prodded her, "have you gotten an idea as to which one we're going to?"
"Nah, of course not."
Your mother groaned into her hands, her palms clasped around her nose in a triangular shape as her eyes looked up as if she was praying to the heavens. "Save me please, I can't with this woman anymore."
"Not to worry though," She flicked her indicator on. "I have a plan. I'm going to drive around the city centre and then I'll pick the first one that looks nice."
"That's so lame." You deadpanned. "Talk about last minute planning. You're just making this up as you go."
Your mother's head whipped to you at that, enraged by your words. "Ohhh you of all people do not get to criticise last minute decisions!" She raised her voice at you. "All of your studies are practically last minute!"
Your jaw dropped in offence at her words, eyebrows scrunching in a defensive manner as you fell over your own words whilst thinking of comeback. "That's not true!" You eventually managed to argue back. "I work as hard as I can with the materials they give me."
"Right." Your mother rolled her eyes. "You're going to blame your teachers now. Whom, by the way, purposefully gives you more sheets so you can choose what works best for you. Y/N do you not realise how much they genuinely care about your success!?"
"'My success'?" You mimicked back with wide eyes. "They only care about me doing well so they can keep their stupid jobs. They don't actually care about me."
Your father looked behind him at the two of you, glancing at your aunt for a split second to see her purposefully ignoring the animalistic argument. With an exasperated sigh, he broke the two of you up with an outstretched arm to interrupt your train of thought.
"Please, you two. Don't spoil another Friday." He murmured quietly. "Y/N," he turned to you, "your teachers do care, you just need to put in a little more effort to realise that. "Darling," he turned to your mother, "please try to relax. We can have this conversation later if need be, but your child does try very hard. Life is harder for them compared to what it used to be for us."
Your mother grumbled to herself a bit, nodding imperceptively, yet your father caught it nonetheless and gave a nod back. He looked at you directly in the eyes with a warning, before turning back to look at the front.
You sighed to yourself in anger, deciding to look out the window rather than pay any more attention to your current surroundings. "Damn it." You whispered to yourself in anger, eyes following the passing trees and street lamps with a slight blur. Tracing a hand up to one of your eyes, you wiped a small tear threatening to spill down your cheek.
Eventually, your aunt pulled into the entrance of the city centre, the roads and streets busy with people ready for nightlife. You watched as you passed different streets, moving past them as fast as they came into view. What you enjoyed most during your aunt's driving every Friday was looking at the people you pass by.
Some were women in fancy dresses, others men in all black clothes where the only colour on them were rave bracelets or multicoloured glasses. Some even crossdressed as a joke within friendship groups. Occasionally, you even saw a few cosplayers! Those types of people were always your favourite, it was fun for you to recognise the characters.
The car eventually stopped, which left you confused. Upon glancing at your aunt, she pointed at the parking sign nearby. "We're walking to the fast food chain."
"Oh."
You got out of the car, stuffing your hands in your pockets to prevent your hands from shivering and your phone from falling onto the pavement. You don't know what you'd do if you broke your phone now of all times. If your mum saw it while she was this 'hangry', you think you'd be incinerated.
Shaking your head to yourself to forget about it, you closed the car door shut and walked around the vehicle to meet with the others who were waiting for you.
"STOP!"
A loud shouting voice caused you to pause, directing your attention towards the front of the central park across the road.
Your eyes widened at what you saw in front of you. There were eleven very familiar people, all huddled together as a man in a yellow hi vis vest scolded them, his torch directly pointed at their faces.
"I actually can't believe this, in all my time as a security guard, I've seen many break into places. But never in my life have I seen trespassers breaking out somewhere!" The man in the reflective vest laughed to himself angrily, looking at the group up and down.
'Fatui Harbingers.' You thought to yourself with your jaw dropped, blinking rapidly to see if you were hallucinating the intruder's appearances. When you realised it wasn't an illusion, you looked over to your family to see if they were seeing what you were seeing. Yup, they definitely were. They're eavesdropping and spying on them just like you are right now.
'Genshin cosplayers, actual Genshin cosplayers in the flesh! Oh my gosh oh my gosh, I don't think I've ever seen Genshin cosplayers in this city before! This is so exciting, and all of them are here? There isn't one missing? Are you in Heaven??'
"Heyyy...." Your aunt pointed directly at the group. "Aren't those kids dressing up as characters from that game you like?" She asked you with a raised brow.
You began to sweat, awkwardly laughing as you tried to push your family away from the situation. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Let's get some food, we're all oh-so hungry after all."
"No, they definitely are." Her eyes were squinted, tracing the outline of one of the young men. "I recognise the ginger one. Didn't I get you a bodypillow of him for your birthday?"
"No!" You screamed out in desperation. "No, no, no. You didn't." You got closer to her ear so she could hear you whisper. "I thought we agreed that we'd keep that quiet?" You hissed, eyes darting between the group of Harbingers and your parents.
'How dare she! She can't just reveal your sacred artefact to the world like that! We're in public, does she have any shame??' You were squealing in your head, avoiding locking eyes with your mother.
"What's a bodypillow?" Your mother asked, looking at your dad who shrugged with an exaggerated upside down smile.
"We're very sorry," you heard the Pierro cosplayer say, seeing him apologise with a bow. He stood in front of the group, his height towering over the security guard and the light shining on his face reflecting off of his starry eyed contacts. "We got lost and couldn't find our way out. We're not from around here."
"Oh yeah, I can tell." The man rolled his eyes. "Your clothing is weird. You look like you've come straight out of a video game."
Your dad watched on as you inched away from the group, pity clearly on his face. He looked at you, hand bracing your back to stop you from moving. "Don't you want to go say hello? You seem to recognise them, so you'll have a shared interest."
"No."
"But, it could do you some good! Such as more excuses to get out of the house. Or maybe even to be a good samaritan?"
"Dad," You lightly shoved his hand off of your back, "they're not fools. They'll be fine on their own. They won't get into serious trouble, they only missed the cut off time to leave the park before it closed by half an hour."
Your mother wasn't so sure, looking on in interest. "Are you sure? I can't remember the last time you brought over some friends to the house. If you made a few from that group, it would make us really happy."
"Don't force them, you two." Your aunt walked forwards and beckoned everyone to follow her. "I'm sure Y/N's old enough to decide who they do and don't want to interact with," she hummed. "Even though it would do them some good to get out their comfort zone every once in a while."
You scoffed at that, quickly shuffling to be side by side with the woman. "Never happening. I like my life right now, thank you very much." Your parents followed from behind. "Besides, do I look the type to talk to a massive friendship group like that? I can barely find one friend, let alone eleven."
The four of you eventually turned into a smaller street, moving further away from the Harbingers line of sight and towards a single building. Huh, it seems like your aunt already had a place in mind. Why'd she make such a big deal about choosing one in the car then?
Regardless, the four of you walked to the end of the square-shaped street surrounding the park, looking at the lit-up signs of different fast food places begging you to enter and give your money away. You glanced one final time at the group of Harbinger cosplayers, admiring their costuming one more time before walking away with a shaking head. Maybe next time. You should see if you can find their photoshoot online when you get the chance to sit down.
Scaramouche rolled his eyes and cursed the man in front of him under his breath, fiddling with the gadget he still had in his hands. The man in front of the group had been going on and on for longer than he viewed he needed to, frustrating him immensely. With a muted sigh, Scaramouche began to walk towards the man with his hands twitching, ready to strangle him violently to get him to shut up.
Before he could get any closer, Capitano put a harsh hand on his shoulder, locking him in place. Scaramouche looked back with pissed off eyes, their dullness heavier than the hand on his shoulder. Unaffected, Capitano shook his head lightly, understanding his intention.
"I would have been quick." Scaramouche muttered lowly, his words solely for the man holding him by one hand. "We're losing time."
"We'll lose more time if we create any problems." Capitano replied in the same volume, reluctantly letting go of the Harbinger. He instead walked closer behind the youthful boy, the boy holding his hat to tilt his head towards the captain in curiosity. "If you're going to solve it yourself, do it peacefully. I believe your... persuasion is most needed here. Pierro is struggling to keep up with the man."
Scaramouche groaned at that, turning his head away from Capitano to see Signora giving him a nod and Columbina a friendly thumbs up.
'Disgusting.' He thought to himself, blowing a raspberry at them and tracing a finger down his porcelain face below his eye to mimic crying. Shaking his head, he walked up to the man in front of the group with a friendly smile.
Standing side by side with Pierro, he gave a beaming smile with his eyes closed, exuding friendliness. "Hi, again, we're really sorry for breaking the lock. We lost track of time, and we didn't know what to do. We panicked and sincerely apologise for any trouble made."
The man shifted his balance from one foot to another, eyes lidded and not believing them for a second. "You panicked."
Scaramouche smiled wider, protesting innocence, teeth almost hurting from how hard he was gritting them. "Yes." He nodded.
"And you didn't think to use a phone?"
All the Harbingers looked at each other in confusion, not understanding his words. "A phone?" Childe's voice rang out from somewhere in the middle of the huddled group. "What's that?"
"You people can't be that out of town." He looked at them incredulously. "You know... you call people, send messages, doomscroll Facebook videos? Ah, some of you look young so maybe not Facebook. But you still get what I mean, right?"
Columbina tilted her head at his words, raising her hand to attract his attention. "I don't know what this 'Facebook' is but it sounds painful."
"Sounds humiliating." Arlecchino shook her head with crossed arms. "Why would you put your face in a book?"
"Some people like to read, Arlecchino. For someone who takes care of kids you're not very down with them." Childe rolled his eyes. "Tonia likes to read sometimes, unlike the Marionnette."
Sandrone gasped in outrage at that, pointing at Childe in rage. "How dare you!"
The man laughed at their back and forth deliriously, breaking their argument as he put his hands on his head. "I'm too sober for this... maybe this job isn't cut out for me." He chuckled to himself, sweating in bewilderment whilst bent down and looking up at the group as if they had two heads.
"Just get out of my sight before I have to fill out any more paperwork." He added, pointing towards the city. "If I have to hear any more arguing I'm reporting you all to the police."
"Thank you, and sorry again." Scaramouche gave a friendly wave before walking in the direction of his pointed finger, his smile immediately dropping into a brooding frown when his back was turned to the man.
"Come along now," he spoke still with his friendly tone, "we need to get moving. We've bothered this gentleman enough."
The Harbingers followed along silently, Scaramouche leading them further away from the gates and towards the vast road. He watched as fast machines crossed their path, suddenly stopping in an attempt to guess their pattern.
"Balladeer." Pierro growled at him with narrow eyes. "Don't you ever, and I mean never, take charge and disobey orders like that again. I told you to stay put and keep quiet, just like everyone else. Why are you always the only Harbinger who fails to follow instructions?"
Scaramouche turned to him in disinterest, tempted to blow another raspberry. "You needed me. You all always need me for things like this. If I'd have let you bumble on for any longer, you'd have wasted us time. Take the loss, Jester. I'm not interested in arguing right now."
"I will take punishment." Capitano stood up for the puppet. "I told him to interfere."
"Very well, I will act upon...-"
Dottore whistled, amused with the situation. "Actuallyyyy...~" he droned on with a smirk, swiping back his compass from the puppet. "Remind me again, who was put in charge of this mission by Her Majesty again? I believe the leader is the one who's in charge of punishment."
Pierro's head turned to Dottore's, miniscule shaking in anger being detected by the smug doctor. "Don't you start with your loopholes now," he warned the man. "This behaviour will be reported to The Tsaritsa once we return."
"And what are you going to tell her?" Dottore tilted his head mockingly. "The Balladeer nobly negotiated our way out of unnecessary trouble? How honourable, she'll lovingly give him her favour in a heartbeat."
Pantalone let out a whistle at that, his eyebrows raised in intrigue at their spat. "While I'm loving my source of entertainment, we are here on a job, where I can't make money." He shook his head disprovingly. "Instead of squabbling, how about we get back to the task at hand and track down The Decider? Dottore, your compass, if you would?"
Dottore nodded, pressing the button in the middle of it again. A worser static noise surrounded the group again, a flash of pale yellow light shooting out of the compass more violently than before. It spilled out from the side of the gadget, the trail emitted wider than the last time the Harbingers used the gadget.
"It's bigger?" Signora questioned, looking at the light with squinted eyes. "That's new."
Pulcinella waved his cane in the light, the light shining straight through it. "How odd," he commented with a sniff in the air. "Dottore, your gadget reminds me of a treasure compass."
"Oh really..." He trailed off, cringing. "That's funny." He stated, before turning to Signora. "If it's bigger that only means one thing. They're close."
Columbina clapped in excitement at that, a wide smile on her lips. "Amazing, They came to us instead of going to them." She nodded to herself the more she thought about it. "They must be expecting us, maybe they even used one of these metal container vehicles driving around."
"They definitely aren't for containment transport." Sandrone studied a few parked ones closely across the road. "They're too small for cargo. They must only be for transporting people."
"So a mix of a train and a tank...?" Arlecchino hummed to herself. "Interesting, but dangerous. We should be careful, we don't know how fast they can go." She mumbled further, before scoffing. "Sorry, off topic. Back to The Decider. Shall we go?"
Dottore nodded, gesturing to the cars speeding down the road faster than any of them could blink. They stared owlishly at the amount of vehicles and severity of danger in front of them, looking at each other after in slight fear.
"Since you're so keen, Arlecchino," Dottore lightly nudged her forward by the back of her shoulderblade, "why don't you show us how to cross safely first?"
Wooooo!
I'm so excited to publish the next view it's much more entertaining than the OG View 3. Also if everyone hasn't noticed until now, I'm trying to compile at least two OG views per 1 rewritten view alongside some new information/hints.
It's been hard, but also very fun to write! I hope it's helping everyone envision the plot a little bit more, one main reason why I'm rewriting this whole thing is because I felt like the sudden lore drop in View 13 was too sudden.
Like, yeah, it's supposed to be sudden... but not that sudden in terms of progression...
Quick Reminder Here! If you no longer want to be on the taglist that's completely fine; I take no offence whatsoever so please don't hesitate to tell me. ^^
Hii I'm kind of nervous about sending an ask haha, but would it be possible to get some more platonic yan hail mary? Like, what would happen if the reader tries to prove to the eridians they're not a baby? I love this series, like the other anon said it's like nearly impossible to find phm stuff that isnt centered around grace!! Don't work too hard :)
Of course!!!! Don't ever be nervous to send an ask! I promise I'm super friendly lol. I love the ideas that people send in and that includes this one!! Thank you so much for the compliments!! I'm always really happy when people like what I write!! 🥰🥰🥰
"Grace friend is baby. Baby must stay safe." Rocky said cheerfully.
You gave him a nasty look as you sat in front of your microscope.
"Could a baby study alien microorganisms?" You ask, still scowling.
"Yes. Is standard for teaching about Grace and you and Earth. Is good for baby mind." Rocky hummed.
You rolled your eyes as you swapped the slide you were looking at for a different one.
"Grace! Rocky's minimizing my accomplishments again!" You called out to the other human, pissed off from dealing with being called dumb for the eighth time that day.
The door was open to the house and Ryland peaked his head out to check on you.
"Rock, you know that they don't like it when you say things like that. Be nice." He scolded.
"Not my fault. Is simply thing for Eridian baby. Hard for human baby. Is too little." Rocky said in a chipper tone.
"I'm taller than you." You grumbled.
"Not what talking about. This why you baby." Rocky said smugly.
You went back to looking at Eridian microbes with a huff. You were pissed. Rocky had recommended that Adrian take away the water from the beach after your last stunt and you weren't thrilled to wake up to that. Grace didn't mind and just accompanied you on walks where the water used to be. You missed it and Rocky told you that the other scientists would put the water back when you started behaving again, which only pissed you off more.
"If we were on Earth, you'd probably get dissected by our scientists." You muttered under your breath, side eyeing Rocky.
"Is better we on Erid then. This why we take water on beach away. Baby not make good decisions and need help." Rocky replied, laughing as you jolted at the reminder of how good his hearing was.
A multitude of thoughts ran through my mind.
Firstly, alien life? Was I truly supposed to believe that? Then again, I had no reason not to. We were deep in the bowels of outer space. Why wouldn’t there be aliens out here?
Secondly, Dr. Ryland fucking Grace, my science teacher, is alive? I was sure he’d be dead, no offense to him or anything. But not only that, he became friends with the aliens?
ʏᴏᴜ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜰᴀʀ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴘʟᴜɴᴅᴇʀᴇᴅ ʜᴇʀᴇ (𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮- 𝘧𝘭𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘧)
The voice comes again, robotic and feminine. “What’s two plus two?”
I cough.
“Incorrect. What’s two plus two?”
I internally groan. Is it gonna keep repeating itself? I hoped not, not when I was groggy and aching.
I force myself into a seated position.
“Full body movement detected. For your safety, please remain on the medical platform. What’s two plus two?”
I try to groan, but it comes out as another cough. My throat is sore, another mysterious ache. “Fff-four,” I say slowly.
“Correct. What is your name?”
That one should have been easy, but it took a moment to come back to me. “Sparrow Greene.”
“Correct,” the robotic voice said.
I took a moment to glance around the room. There were no windows, the walls were white, and the floor was tiled. It smelled vaguely of antiseptic and… something else. There were bunks, and I was on the bottom.
Right. I was not on Earth.
The Final Hope, that was the name of the ship. It was Eva Stratt’s final hope, if you will, after Project Hail Mary failed. One decade of waiting, and nothing returned. No news, no anything. So a second ship was built, a faster one, and I, a medical student, volunteered to board it. They needed a doctor, and I would serve as one. I was terrified, but if my old science teacher could be brave and do it, then so could I.
I glanced around at the bunks again. My crewmates were still, stiff as a board. Not a good sign, I thought to myself, cautiously crawling out of the bottom bunk.
“Full body movement detected.”
I ignored the voice and peeled back the blanket, coming face to face with a corpse.
The skin was pulled taut over their face, a greyish blue. For the most part, they were perfectly preserved. “Akio Takahashi,” the voice announced. “Status: Deceased.”
I felt a pit in my stomach.
I crawled up the bunk, throwing the blanket off the second crew member. “Tristan Groves. Status: Deceased.”
The third and final crew member. I sucked in a breath and pulled back the blanket. “Yara Abadi. Status: Deceased.”
They were all dead.
I was alone.
“Irregular heart rate detected. Please take slow breaths and calm down.”
Slow breaths, my ass! I was alone in space with no clue what to do!
The panic rose in my chest, and I grit my teeth, flapping my hands in an attempt to self-soothe. It didn’t work. Tears sprung in my eyes, and a choked sob left me. I tapped my thumb to each fingertip. Still didn’t work.
All that was left to do was curl into a ball and sob.
I needed to get my shit together.
After digging through my bag and clothing myself, I explored the ship. Once in the control room, the ship announced, “One new alert.”
I waited. Nothing. Would I have to speak for this? I huffed a sigh. “What alert?” I asked, voice hoarse from disuse.
“Probe detected, precisely one lightyear ago.”
What the hell did that mean…? It took me a second.
No.
The probe. The thing Eva Stratt expected from the Hail Mary, the very thing that didn’t come, forcing her to launch Project Final Hope. It was detected one lightyear ago.
I was too late. This project was for nothing.
I was going to die alone in space for no fucking reason at all.
“Wh- where is the Hail Mary?” I asked, desperate for contact. If the crew hadn’t already killed themselves, I needed to get to them. I didn’t want to be alone for the rest of my life.
“Hail Mary detected five months away.”
Five months ahead of me? That’s not too bad, for space travel. “How long to send a message?”
“Approximately 23.40 hours.”
I sighed. I was impatient. “Send message now.”
“Record your message.”
My throat was killing me, each sound rough and scratchy, but I pushed through it. I needed to send this message.
“Hail Mary, this is the Final Hope. I was sent a decade after you, after the project seemingly failed. I passed your probe a lightyear ago. You’ve succeeded, and my mission is for nothing. If it’s okay, I’d like to request permission to board the Hail Mary. My crew is already dead. I don’t want to die alone out here.” My voice quivered. “Send message.”
“Message sent.”
A day later, I was notified of an enthusiastic reply.
“Final Hope, this is Dr. Ryland Grace. I, too, am the sole survivor of my crew. But! Get this- I met a friend! We aren’t alone out here. His name is Rocky, he’s an Eridian from the 40 Eridani star system. Eridians are super friendly, and they’ve welcomed me to their planet-!”
Musical notes could be heard faintly in the background of the recording.
“Okay, okay, I’ll tell them! Calm down!” Dr. Grace cleared his throat. “That was Rocky. He wants you to know you’re welcome on Erid. Mary says you’re about five months out? If you’d like, we can communicate like this until you’ve reached us.”
A multitude of thoughts ran through my mind.
Firstly, alien life? Was I truly supposed to believe that? Then again, I had no reason not to. We were deep in the bowels of outer space. Why wouldn’t there be aliens out here?
Secondly, Dr. Ryland fucking Grace, my science teacher, is alive? I was sure he’d be dead, no offense to him or anything. But not only that, he became friends with the aliens?
If anyone could do it, it would be him. I fondly recalled how friendly he was when he was my teacher, how he welcomed each student to class and made each student feel special in some way. How he made me feel special.
I was the quiet kid. I never spoke in school, not once. I communicated using a whiteboard and, when I was a bit younger, a communication board. I’d come a long way since then, speaking whenever I needed to hold a conversation, though I still did not enjoy it. Dr. Grace’s class was my first class when I transitioned out of special ed, and he welcomed me and made sure I didn’t feel ostracized in his class. I loved him. He was my favorite teacher.
And then he got shot up into space to save Earth from whatever was eating the sun, never to return.
I was overjoyed to find he was still alive. I wondered if he’d remember me. If he’d even recognize me. I’d changed my name since then- hell, I wasn’t even a girl anymore. So much has happened since I sat in that classroom.
“Final Hope, send message.”
Five months of communication, and I still had not told him who I was. A part of me was shy, insistent that he would not remember me so there was no use in telling him. Another part wanted it to be a surprise in case he did remember.
I learned a lot of things. For one, Dr. Grace was still teaching. He taught a class of Eridian children. Pebbles, he called them. He also told me about the biodome. Erid was filled with ammonia, and it was hot and dark. I would surely die if I stepped onto it unprotected. However, the locals constructed a biodome for Dr. Grace, and that is where I was instructed to land. Right next to the Hail Mary, which was connected to the biodome.
Upon landing, I eagerly looked out the window. It was dark, save for a literal dome of light. It was constructed of a cloudy glasslike material- xenonite, Dr. Grace had mentioned- and inside of it, I could see him.
He was racing toward my ship, and next to him was a creature scampering along the ground. It looked like a spider and a rock had a baby, with five limbs and a pentagonal body. If I were to guess, I would say that was Rocky. He exited the biodome while Dr. Grace stayed inside. The man watched his friend go, then caught my eye in the window and gave an excited wave. Slowly, I waved back.
There was a thud on the exit door of the ship. Rocky, I reminded myself. The agreement was that Rocky would lead me to the biodome, where I could safely remove my spacesuit and…
I’m dehydrated right now and imagining Rocky scolding me. Very stupid human. Leak all time and need replace water. Why no drink water if need water to live question? Then go out in sun many hours as if is smart. Bad bad, stupid dumb irresponsible. Go to corner and think about choices.
AHHH I loved sleepless nights!!! I absolutely adore father figure Grace he means so much to me 😭
Do you think you could make one based on that where Reader and Grace have met Rocky and he assumes they’re biologically father and child and they have to explain it’s more like an adoption situation? Sorry if my wording is strange I’m a little half asleep right now ‘^^
Thank you and have a lovely day!!!
Technical Problems
Ryland Grace & technician!younger!reader
✶⋆.˚ summary: in which you, during maintenance, get into an accident which leads to Rocky questioning your parental relationship with Ryland. mix of the request above with another 'reader gets hurt, hurt/comfort'
✶⋆.˚ yaps!: hi guys!!!! im SOO very sorry i havent been writing for a while, life got REALLY busy.. and with the fact my school soon starting is nawt helping 😭
You don't really know how you got into this situation, well, you do, but it was a blur of adrenaline and pure unadulterated panic.
You wiped a bead of sweat from your forehead with the back of your sleeve, sighing as you stared into the open maintenance panel of the secondary oxygen. The wiring looked like a nest of multicolored snakes, and none of them seemed to want to cooperate.
"Hey, Ry?" you called out, your voice echoing slightly in the cramped corridor. "Did you re-route the primary bypass to the starboard grid, or am I looking at a ghost current here?"
From the lab area a few meters away, a head of messy, blonde hair popped out from behind a microscope. Ryland Grace blinked at you through his smudged goggles, his glasses in one hand and a half-eaten pack of sour skittles in the other.
"I didn't touch the starboard grid!" he called back, his tone carrying that characteristic blend of manic energy and mild exasperation that you had come to associate with him. "That was Rocky! He said the Eridian equivalent of 'if it ain't broke, make it shinier.' Don't touch the blue wire unless you want a face full of static!"
"Fascinating. Thanks for the warning after I almost grabbed it," you muttered, leaning a bit further into the access hatch.
You were the third wheel on this bizarre, suicidal, savior-of-the-galaxy unicycle. When the Hail Mary mission had been scrambled together by Eva Stratt, you had been shoved into the extra bunk as a jack-of-all-trades technician—someone to keep the ship from falling apart while the brilliant Dr. Grace did the actual science. You hadn't expected to wake up from amnesia alongside him, and you certainly hadn't expected to become best friends with a five-legged, rock-hard alien who spoke in musical chords.
But here you were.
You reached deeper into the panel, trying to snag a loose zip-tie that was dangling dangerously close to the main power terminal. Your fingers brushed the plastic. Just a little further...
Snap.
It didn't happen in slow motion. It happened in a fraction of a heartbeat. A heavy, spring-loaded titanium tension bar—one that hadn't been properly secured during the rush to launch—snapped out of its housing like a steel trap.
It struck the back of your right forearm with a sickening, heavy thud.
The force of the blow tore a sharp, choked gasp from your throat. Your arm violently jerked back, scraping against the sharp, raw edges of the metal hatch casing. The pain didn't hit immediately; there was just a terrifying, numb coldness, followed instantly by a white-hot, throbbing agony that made your vision go entirely black around the edges.
"Ah—! Shit! Shit! SHit!" Your voice cracking as you stumbled backward out of the corridor, your knees giving out beneath you. You hit the deck plates hard, clutching your right arm against your chest.
Within seconds, the heat arrived. A deep, agonizing throb pulsed through the bone of your forearm, and when you looked down, a jagged, angry tear in your jumpsuit was already blooming a dark, stark crimson. The metal hatch had sliced a deep line from your wrist halfway to your elbow, and the skin beneath was already swelling and turning an ugly, bruised purple from the impact of the bar.
"Hey! What happened? I heard a—"
Ryland’s voice cut off abruptly as he rounded the corner. The casual, exasperated scientist vanished in a fraction of a second, replaced by the ghost of the man who had survived a suicide mission by sheer force of will. His eyes went wide behind his glasses, staring at the blood pooling on the deck and the way you were curled into a ball, trembling.
"Oh, Jesus—[Name]!"
Grace dropped his glasses. It hit the floor with a loud clatter that echoed through the ship, but he was already moving, sliding on his knees across the metal deck to your side. His hands hovered over you, trembling slightly, before his training—or maybe just his frantic, protective instincts—kicked in.
"Don't move, don't move, let me see, let me see," he muttered, his voice climbing an octave into pure panic. He gently but firmly grabbed your shoulders, guiding you so you were leaning back against the bulkhead rather than slouching into your own wound. "Where hurts? Just the arm? Did you hit your head?"
"Just... the arm. God, Ryland, it exfuckingcruciating ," you wheezed, using a ridiculous amalgamation of words because your brain couldn't quite process English correctly through the haze of pain you were currently experiencing.
"Okay, okay, exfudgingcruciating isn't a word, you're shocky," Ryland babbled, his hands finally settling on your upper arm to stabilize it. He looked at the deep gash, his face paling. "Okay, that's a laceration. A deep one. And that swelling... man, that bar hit you hard. I think it might be fractured. Fudge. Okay. Breathe. Just breathe."
Before you could reply, a frantic tapping sound echoed from the Xenonite partition wall.
Clack, clack, clack-clack.
Through the thick, transparent barrier that divided the human atmosphere from the hot, high-pressure Eridian environment, a dark, rocky figure scrambled into view. Rocky’s five legs moved in a blur, his carapace clicking against the floor as he rushed to the window. His small, sensitive radar organ on top of his body was spinning frantically, scanning the scene.
A series of rapid, high-pitched musical notes erupted from his vocal organ. The translation software on Ryland’s computer lag-ly groaned to life a second later:
“What is noise? What is leaking, question? Friend is leaking! Grace! Why is friend leaking red?!”
"They snapped a tension bar, Rocky!" Ryland shouted toward the partition, not looking up as he frantically ripped open a nearby emergency medical kit. "The arm is broken! Or cracked! And cutting! There's a lot of blood!"
Rocky’s musical chords turned into a chaotic, discordant screech—the Eridian equivalent of a scream. “Bad! Bad! Friend is broken! Fix it, Grace! Apply glue! Apply pressure! Do not let friend empty!”
"I'm trying!" Ryland yelled back, his hands shaking as he pulled out a bottle of antiseptic and a roll of sterile gauze. He looked at you, his eyes softening with an immense, heartbreaking amount of worry. "Okay, [Name]. This is going to sting. Like, a lot. I'm so sorry."
"Just do it," you choked out, squeezing your eyes shut and bracing your head against the wall.
When the antiseptic hit the open cut, you couldn't stop the loud, pathetic sob that escaped your lips. Your whole body tensed, your good hand clawing at Ryland’s shoulder for an anchor. You hated crying, hated feeling vulnerable, but the pain was an absolute inferno.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry, you're doing great, just look at me," Ryland murmured frantically. He didn't pull away from your grip. Instead, he leaned closer, using his body to shield you from the sight of the wound, his voice dropping into a soft, soothing cadence that sounded distinctly like a teacher comforting a terrified child. "Look at me, [Name]. Focus on my voice. You're okay. The Hail Mary isn't crashing, the astrophage isn't exploding, you just had a fight with a piece of metal and you lost. It happens to the best of us."
Behind the glass, Rocky was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. His heavy, metallic claws scraped against the Xenonite wall.
“Grace! Give comfort! Press friend close! When pebbles break carapace, we hold them in the center! Why Grace not holding friend?!”
Ryland shot a wild look at the glass. "I'm trying to bandage the wound, Rocky! I need two hands for this!"
“Bad response!” Rocky chimed angrily, his chords buzzing with deep, resonant vibrations. “You are bad! Bad parent! The pebble is weeping! Hold the pebble!”
You let out a weak, watery laugh through your tears, the absurdity of the situation piercing through the pain. "Did... did he just call me your pebble?"
Ryland paused, a strip of medical tape held between his teeth, his eyes wide. "Uh. I think he did." He quickly finished wrapping the gauze, securing it tightly enough to stop the bleeding but loose enough not to aggravate the potential fracture. He then carefully lifted your arm, placing it gently into a soft sling against your chest.
Once the arm was secured, Ryland didn't step back. True to Rocky’s frantic demands—and honestly, probably driven by his own skyrocketing anxiety—Ryland shifted his position. He sat down flat on the deck plates right next to you, wrapping a heavy, protective arm around your uninjured shoulder and pulling you firmly against his side.
You didn't protest. You leaned your head against his shoulder, letting out a long, trembling breath as the initial shock began to fade into a dull, exhausted ache. Ryland’s chest rose and fell in a steady, exaggerated rhythm, giving you a pace to match your own ragged breathing.
"There," Ryland muttered, his hand gently patting your upper arm. "See? Not emptying. Contained. You're good."
Rocky finally stopped pacing, pressing his front two legs against the glass, his radar organ focused entirely on the two of you curled up together on the floor. A low, purring chord emanated from him—a sound of deep relief.
“Good,” the translator droned. “The stone protects the pebble, statement. The leakage is stopped. The small one is resting against the big one. Is correct biological behavior.”
Ryland sighed, rubbing his temple with his free hand. He looked at the partition. "Rocky, buddy. We need to clear something up. [Name] isn't my pebble."
The translation software paused for a moment before outputting a sharp, quizzical note. “Contradiction. You share small vessel. You possess greater age and mass. You protect. You provide nutrients. You scold when they touch the blue wire. They are your genetic continuation.”
You snorted, a little bit of blood-tinged adrenaline making you feel slightly giddy. "Yeah, Ryland. Why did you scold me? Bad dad."
"Oh, shut up, you," Ryland said affectionately, nudging your head with his cheek. He looked back at Rocky. "No, Rocky. Humans don't just travel with our children. [Name] is a grown, independent adult human. Well... mostly adult. Sometimes they eat dry cereal out of the box at three in the morning, but legally, an adult."
“An adult?” Rocky’s chords sounded profoundly confused. “But they are so small. Their skin is smooth. They do not have the grey fur on head like you. They make the high-pitched distress noises of a juvenile.”
"Hey!" you protested weakly from Ryland’s shoulder. "I'm [your age]!"
"And I have grey hair because of stress, Rocky, not just because I'm old!" Ryland defended himself, though he couldn't help but chuckle. "Look, in human biology, [Name] is not my child. We do not share DNA. My genetic code did not combine with another human to create them. We are completely unrelated."
There was a long silence from the Eridian side of the glass. Rocky stood perfectly still, his radar organ slowly tracking back and forth between you and Ryland. To an Eridian, who lived in a deeply communal, strictly biological caste and family structure, the concept of two unrelated individuals forming a tight, protective bond was completely foreign.
“Not genetic?” Rocky asked softly, his tones low. “Then... why do you care? If the small one breaks, your genetic line does not fail. Why does your heart beat fast? Why do you weep from eyes when they are hurt?”
Ryland’s arm tightened around your shoulder just a fraction. The playful banter died away, replaced by a profound, heavy warmth that filled the small corridor. He looked down at you, his eyes incredibly soft, full of a fierce, quiet devotion that didn't need a bloodline to justify itself.
"Because," Ryland said quietly, his voice carrying clearly through the intercom to Rocky’s side. "Humans have this thing. We don't just love the people we're born with. Sometimes, we find people in the middle of a dark, terrifying universe, and we look at them, and we decide 'You're mine now.' We adopt them into our hearts."
He looked back at the glass, smiling gently at the little rock alien.
"Think of it like an adoption, Rocky. [Name] isn't my biological child. But they are my family. I am responsible for them, and I care about them just as much as if they were my own blood. When they hurt, I hurt."
You felt a lump form in your throat, a sudden wave of emotion that had absolutely nothing to do with the physical pain in your arm. You squeezed Ryland’s waist with your good hand, burying your face into his shoulder for a brief second to hide the fresh tears prickling your eyes. Waking up on this ship with no memories had been terrifying, but finding Ryland—and Rocky—had given you a home in the middle of nowhere.
Rocky’s radar organ spun in a slow, beautiful circle. He didn't speak for a long time, processing the complex, beautiful concept of human chosen family. When he finally played a chord, it was a sequence of notes that sounded like a lullaby—warm, harmonious, and deeply respectful.
“Chosen offspring,” the translator read. “A beautiful concept. Eridians do not have this. We only love the hive-blood. Human mind is strange and soft. But good. Very good.”
Rocky then tapped the glass gently, right in front of where your head was resting against Ryland.
“I also choose,” Rocky stated firmly. “If Grace is the sire of choice, I am the uncle of choice. I am Uncle Rocky. I will make a hard carapace for the chosen offspring's arm so it does not break again.”
You couldn't help but burst into a genuine, bright laugh, the sound echoing happily down the corridor. "An uncle? Rocky, I would love to have you as an uncle. But please, no Xenonite armor on my arm, I still need to be able to lift things."
“We will discuss armor design later,” Rocky replied primly, his chords vibrating with amusement. “Now, Grace. Take the chosen offspring to the sleep-bunk. They require rest and hot liquid food. I will monitor the ship. I will not touch the blue wire.”
"Thanks, Rocky," Ryland said, a massive grin breaking across his face.
Carefully, with an immense amount of gentleness you weren't used too, Ryland helped you stand up. Your knees were still a bit shaky, but he kept a firm arm around your waist, bearing most of your weight as he guided you away from the maintenance panel and toward the living quarters.
As he tucked you into your bunk, pulling the thick blankets up to your chin and handing you a warm bulb of re-hydrated broth, Ryland hovered over you, checking your bandage one last time.
"You okay, kiddo?" he asked softly, a teasing smirk playing on his lips.
"I'm fine, 'Dad'," you smiled back, your eyes heavy with exhaustion. "Thanks for patching me up."
Ryland rolled his eyes, but the sheer, unadulterated affection in his face was impossible to hide. He gently patted your head, smoothing down your messy hair. "Anytime. Now get some sleep. Tomorrow, your Uncle Rock is probably going to try and teach you how to eat heavy metals, and I need you fully rested to say no."
As you drifted off to sleep, wrapped in the safety of the blanket and the rhythmic, now comforting hum of the ship, you realized that being lost in space wasn't so bad. Not when you had a father-figure to hold you when you leaked, and a rock alien uncle keeping watch in the dark.
In the heart of Snezhnaya, where the wind’s breeze blew its coldest temperatures, was the Zapolyarny Palace. There, sat on her icy throne in her magnificent establishment was the Tsaritsa, the Cryo Archon whose authority had no limit over her nation. In front of her, knelt 10 of her personally selected Harbingers. The missing being insultingly late to arrive.
The Archon looked less than pleased, eyes lidded as she knelt her chin on her clenched fist. “While we wait for The Doctor, who’s fashionably late as usual,” she glared at the door behind the kneeling Harbingers, “Notable worries on that little rumour running around Teyvat?”
“None that we know of, Your Majesty.” Pierro bowed his head further somehow. “Most nations are still wrapping their heads around the Revelational Truth.”
“Good.” She nodded to herself. “That means we’re still in the lead.”
Arlecchino looked at her stoically, an odd look hidden behind her dull eyes. “Our lead won’t last much longer. The children tell me the Hydro Archon has recently ascended.”
“Not possible. She must be planning something for such an obvious lie. If she truly had ascended, a golden star would’ve passed over the sky.”
The Harbinger shook her head dismissively. “I wouldn’t be so quick to judge it as that. We originally thought it to be a lie also, yet her public speech in the newspaper regarding their existence was too correct to deny.”
The Tsaritsa simply used the hand she wasn’t leaning on to click her fingers boredly, wordlessly demanding the newspaper to be given to her. Pierro grasped the newspaper from Arlecchino’s knees, walking up to her throne slowly. He gently placed the folded newspaper into her outstretched hand, bowing after and returning to his original place on the floor.
She opened it with a lazy flick, eyes skimming over it. After a few uncomfortable seconds, she flicked it closed, placing it behind her to save for later. “Nothing unknown to me. Focalors is being too vocal, she could attract the attention of the Heavenly Principles.”
Childe, after nervously gulping his excess of saliva stuck in his throat, raised his hand carefully, requesting permission to speak. After he met her eyes, he spoke, immediately looking down again once he’d been given consent.
“Would you let me have that newspaper?”
She sighed exasperatedly. “I don’t suppose you have a reason for this?”
Sandrone scoffed dramatically, rolling her eyes. “He doesn’t need a reason. He doesn’t deserve to have it, Your Majesty. Not after he screwed up our plan and spilled the secret of Their existence to almost the entire population of Teyvat!”
Childe groaned at her antics, rolling his eyes in return to rub salt in the wound, “Why do you always look like you want to murder me? Besides, I didn’t screw up your plan. Everybody knew anyway, if I truly screwed it up we all wouldn’t be here right now.”
“You… still did cause a big problem for us though.” Columbina spoke up gently, eyebrows scrunched as she came in defence for the Marionette. “We’re lucky the situation didn’t spiral any further than it did.”
“Well, it didn’t.”
“Careful now, Childe.” Signora warned him with a cocky smirk, her gloved hand purposefully hiding it terribly so he could see. “It’s your easy-going self that gets you in these situations. Haven’t you learned your lesson yet?”
The ginger Harbinger didn’t bother to reply to her, still brooding over events that happened in Liyue a few weeks prior.
“And you, Columbina! I can protect myself, I don’t need you putting words in my mouth and protecting me as if I’ll break like glass.” Sandrone turned to the moon goddess in disdain, a shining snarl present on her face.
Columbina merely smiled in response gently, her closed eyes radiating soft kindness that would melt at the touch around her innocent form. “You’re welcome, Sandrone.”
“I didn’t give any gratitude, why are you looking at me like that!? You’re a fool if you think–!”
The large double doors burst open, all the Harbingers turning around to see Dottore confidently strolling towards them as if he owned the world. “You know, if Sandrone hadn’t been screeching, I might have gotten the wrong room.”
The Queen on her throne looked down at him unimpressed. “Your sarcasm is unneeded Dottore, as is your tardiness.”
“Apologies, Apologies,” he shrugged with a toothy grin, his sharp teeth shining against the light reflecting from the ice walls around him. “My skill set, rather, is very much needed. Why else would you have invited me here?”
“Can we stop with the meaningless conversation?” Scaramouche groaned to himself. “If I have to spend any more time around these idiots, I’ll fry my own face off.”
Sandrone nodded along with him. “Agreed. I have much more important research to be developing in my lab compared to kneeling on this cold floor while listening to useless yawn-inducing chatter.”
“You can feel the cold?”
“Enough, Columbina.” Pulcinella gave her a hard look, moving his head to gesture at the very impatient Archon, who sat waiting for them all to finish their drama.
“Now that you’ve all ceased your bickering,” The Tsaritsa glared at the Harbingers at her feet, “we can finally discuss the purpose of your summoning.”
Pantalone nodded with a hum. “It would be most appreciated, yes. I mean no disrespect, Your Majesty, but we’ve been dancing around this issue for a while.” He shifted left, giving Dottore room to enter the kneeling line. The two nodded at each other before looking back at her. “Besides, the Northland Bank can only cover costs for your research so much. Your plan is draining our coffers dry.”
The Cryo Archon simply straightened her posture at his observation, leaning up from her fist to have her back bracing the back of her chair in a straight line. She gave a beat of time for the Harbingers to consider the Regrator’s words before answering of her own accord.
“Your concerns are heard, and I’m happy to announce that funding will no longer be needed.”
“Oh, so suddenly?” Pantalone tilted his head in confusion, a frown stretching on his face.
“Dear Sandrone and Dottore completed the project needed for our plan almost two weeks ago from now. The remaining time up until this point has been used for logistics and any information we could gather in preparation for your journey.”
Pantalone’s head snapped to Dottore beside him, the banker’s eyes open and glaring at the man in frustration. Dottore lightly sweats at the sudden shift of his colleague, his grin wobbling awkwardly.
“Dottore…” He hissed with his unfaltering glare. “You told me two weeks ago your funding was expected to remain for the next month at the very least.”
“‘Whoops, my mistake’, is that what you were expecting me to say?” Dottore retorted, quickly turning his grin into one of amusement to cover his slight nerve. “Don’t get your cigarette in a twist, the extra funds I received went towards our partnership.”
“Your confidence never fails to amuse me. Even when we’re both aware how I can recognise your ‘loads of lies’ you continue to spew.”
Childe deadpanned at the passing innuendos, groaning out loud to interrupt the strangely romantically sexual feel in the air. “Can you two get a room? I get that Snezhnaya is the nation of love, but this is really going beyond–”
“Quiet, Tartaglia,” Pantalone snapped his head towards the youngest member at the very end of the line, “you and I both know your visits on business to the Northland Bank branch in Liyue are solely to chat with your good buddy Morax.”
“You…! How can you say such a thing!?” Childe’s jaw dropped in shock. “I’ll have you know Mr Zhongli and I spar frequently and only.”
Pantalone chuckled lightly to himself cheekily, eyes faintly glowing purple. “Brawling on top of each other you mean. A little birdie tells me he frequently takes you for dinner, teaching you Liyue customs of many kinds.”
“Enough!”
The sound of The Tsaritsa's voice echoed throughout the room, her patience clearly snapped with the ice around her melting from the sheer rage radiating from her body. The icicles she created in the place of darts melted from the wall on her right, water dripping on the floor below before being frozen over once more by the air.
She breathed heavily as she looked at her Harbingers, eyes squinted in anger while her pupils dilated unnaturally.
“We have a mortal from another dimension on our hands with the power to observe and strengthen this world through a Descender without being caught in Irminsul’s snare. Not only this, but they’re able to conjure prophecies of the future with such precision not even the Hexenzirkel Witches of Mondstadt could dream of.”
She scoffed at her Harbinger’s incompetence before continuing. “You all fail to see the severity and promise of this fact. If we could take and harness this for ourselves, a new world could finally be in reach. Away from the Shades, away from the Heavenly Principles… Freedom in a new world is before our very eyes!”
The Harbingers simply nodded along, finding no room to agree or disagree vocally. Even if a few of them wished to disagree, they felt it unsafe to do so. After all, there was no doubt in their minds that The Tsaritsa had been behaving differently recently. She was more easily prone to anger, less likely to hide her thoughts and feelings behind her icy exterior now.
It was a dangerous change, so much so that they couldn’t recognise whether it would destroy them all or not.
“Now is our chance, my dear Harbingers. I can now reveal the mechanism I requested Dottore and Sandrone to complete for the confidential project was a portal. With thanks to The Decider already bestowing Their gift of attention and strength with a few members here, we were able to locate their exact location beyond Tevyat.”
‘Yeah right,’ Sandrone rolled her eyes in annoyance. ‘That fool of a Doctor kicked me out of the project unbeknownst to Her Majesty. He stole my schematics the second he could and took control of his own accord.’
“And so, you wish to send us to their location to retrieve them.” Capitano voiced his thoughts, his deep voice cutting through the tension.
The Archon nodded. “There are unknown dangers, therefore sending my top operatives allows the most security. I’m entrusting you all with retrieving them alive and captured, immobilised to prevent any future interference they may pose when physically here.”
Pierro was the first Harbinger to stand up, the others following after but continuing their bow towards the Queen. “We graciously accept this mission, Your Majesty. Ease your mind, we’ll effectively accomplish this task and bring them to your feet in due time.”
“Very well. Dismissed, the others will temporarily cover your positions to avoid arousing suspicion.”
All the Harbingers walked out of the room after, convening in front of Dottore’s lab with neutral feelings for a change. Sandrone sat on Pulonia’s hand, filing her nails under Rosalyne’s instruction while Columbina watched on.
Childe was speaking to Scaramouche and Pulcinella, chatting lively about the adventure they were about to experience. “You know, on the topic of it, I wonder what The Decider is like…”
“I’m not paid enough to care.” Scaramouche shrugged. “Caring could interfere with our job. Don’t wear your heart on your sleeve Childe.”
“I’m not, I’m not.” Childe waved a hand in front of him dismissively. “I just want to estimate their character to enjoy our fight more.”
All the Harbingers turned to him instantly when his words echoed into their ears, each deadpanning at his words and looking at each other to verify whether they all heard him correctly.
Childe looked around expectantly, not understanding the sudden shift and expecting someone to explain it for him. “What?”
Capitano was the one to break the silence, coughing in his hand to get the boy to look at him. “You are not fighting Them.”
“What!? Why not?”
“The Harbinger allocated to ensure The Decider’s capture is The Captain. Whether this involves bargaining, physical combat, or drugging depends on the situation provided when we get there.” Pulcinella explained with a grouchy tone. “You would know that if you bothered to attend the logistic meetings.”
Childe lazily shrugged at his explanations with an equally lazy grin. “I never came after the first one, as the secrecy involved regarding the operation made me feel like it was pointless… Why stick around planning a mystery?”
“Because it’s your duty as a Harbinger to attend these meetings funded by Her Majesty The Tsaritsa. It’s nobody’s fault but your own that you failed to stay focused on what matters.” Signora rolled her eyes without turning to look in his direction.
“For the record, I had valid reasoning for not going. I even sent a letter to Her Majesty to which she approved!” Childe argued in reply, his resentment oozing out his mouth with his emotionally-charged words.
Signora shook her head to herself, finally turning his way to grace him with her undivided attention. “Yes, as your letters claiming illness of yourself and family were entirely truthful and not at all exaggerated for the sake of skipping.” She combed through a strand of hair with her fingers. “I read it out for all to read. It was very entertaining.”
“Oh, fuck you, you burning witch!” He swore directly, Scaramouche’s jaw dropping next to him with an amused grin stretching widely. “You have no idea what I go through under Their influence. My abyssal flares are getting worse as I’m used by Them the most compared to anyone in Teyvat! Of course you wouldn’t understand as you haven’t been chosen at all.”
Everyone in the room glanced at each other uncomfortably, the exceptions of Scaramouche’s beaming face shining brighter as the seconds passed and Sandrone’s impatient foottapping displaying her impatience with the group.
“Childe,” Arlecchino glared at him with her usual cold eyes, “may I remind you that you aren’t the only Harbinger chosen by them? Even a few of my children have been chosen, your arrogance knows no bounds.” She gestured to herself and the other Harbingers around the two.
“May I also remind the three of you that we’re still in Her Majesty the Tsaritsa’s very delicate and thin walls?” Dottore grinned with a finger over his lips, signalling the group to be quiet as he unlocked the lab door by tracing an elemental pattern on the keypad. “It would be wise to mind your words, you don’t know who’s listening.”
Pulcinella nodded, watching from the back of the group that not a single person wanted to walk into Dottore’s lab of their own volition. “Agreed. We mustn’t argue when we have an extremely important mission on our hands, we should all remember this.”
“Moving on,” Sandrone glared at the group, “Dottore, I hope since stealing my schematics you’ve tested the portal.”
Dottore faked a gasp in shock “My, my, Sandrone. Whatever could you mean? Stealing your schematics? I do hope you aren’t swinging those false accusations around the palace.”
“You’re avoiding the question.” Scaramouche pointed out with an accusatory glance to Dottore after briefly locking eyes with the raging girl. “I refuse to use a machine that hasn’t even been tested yet.”
“Too bad…” Pantalone sighed while shaking his head sadly, his sarcasm only being hinted by the faint smirk on his lips, “you’re the one going in first.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Pantalone shrugged with a cocky smile, “it just makes the most sense. Are you really doubting the Doctor’s confidence?”
Sandrone couldn’t help but let out a loud guffaw at that, standing up from Pulonia’s hand and giving her nail file to his other outstretched one when both feet were on the ground.
“You can’t be serious right now. He hasn’t tested it yet, or even activated the portal! And we’re expected to just… be comfortable with that fact!? The best inventors always test their inventions before promoting them. If he were the true creator of the schematics, he’d know this.” She let out a ‘hmph’ sound with folded arms at the end.
Dottore groaned to himself dramatically after her speech. “Fine, fine. The schematics were yours. If I publicly admit this, will you stop with your incessant whining?”
“Incessant whining?” She mimicked back, outraged at his description. “Your etiquette is deplorable. The fact that you don’t see anything wrong with this situation is utterly risible!”
“Oh, shut it. You’re just salty you’re not allowed to bring your dearest Pulonia or other meaningless inventions with you. So, be a good little girl and just follow along. Otherwise, we might reconsider forcing Scaramouche to go in first.”
Sandrone looked ready to spit in Dottore’s face, stepping up to him with her eyes dark and arm swung behind her back. Before she could do anything more, her swinging hand moving towards his cheek was caught by Pierro behind her. The girl tilted her head back with a growl, yanking her wrist out of his grip with mutterings under her breath.
Pierro eyed her as she walked off into the lab, being followed by the floating steps of Columbina worriedly calling out to her with sympathetic eyes.
“Attention all,” Pierro called out, all of the Harbingers around him meeting his eyes “I’m aware we’re all a little on edge as never in history the Harbingers of Snezhnaya have all been summoned for the same mission. But, for the sake of peace, please can we try to avoid squabbling amongst ourselves?”
Scaramouche gave a breathy cackle to his words. “Begging is unbecoming of a leader, Jester.”
“So is jealousy, Balladeer. Would you prefer spending more time battling in the Abyss for territory?”
“...” He grimaced at that, arrogantly rolling his eyes before grasping onto his hat and swiftly turning his head. “We best get moving. Any further time wasted here would be an insult to Her Majesty.”
You leaned back in your black desk chair covered in stickers with a frustrated sigh, the red tinted screen from your monitor lighting up your bedroom surroundings and slouched form in an unflattering manner.
“I can't deal with this anymore.” You breathed out, your scowl turning further downwards when you missed the respawn button, purposefully dragging your mouse slowly towards the button a second time and slamming down the right click to prove a point to yourself.
This was the third time you’ve tried to beat Floor 12 without Childe in either Team slots, each time failing more abysmally than the last with one character after the next falling to the boss. You couldn’t understand why you were dying so much, you’ve never had this much trouble! You’ve tried analysing the boss’ attacks and status effects in the overworld, to which you clear it easily, so why in Spiral Abyss are you suffering so much?
You thought it was your builds, so you switched them up. But no, you’re having an equal lack of success. Then you thought maybe it’s your arsenal, that you’re just not used to using these characters since you always default to Childe. But no, that wasn’t it either.
It was simply too hard, and the more you try it the more frustrated you’re getting.
Perhaps you should just get some revision done… You are in your last year of college after all. Last year was incredibly unproductive, with your teachers ratting you out to your parents. They got mad at you, of course, but what else were you supposed to do? The workload is too much with little to no time for yourself! Your parents call you irresponsible, but you think you’re just being practical.
Look, you agree with them somewhat. After all, your college results will help you with your future a lot. However, it’s just too much for you. You can see yourself stressing over it if you dive too deep into it. So why should you start it at all?
You peered behind your shoulder to see your folders laid out on your bed, pages open which showed you’d somewhat attempted to get started but failed. The untouched papers inside looked lonely, their curled corners weeping out to be turned over and read.
Nah. You’ll start it tomorrow morning. It’s Friday after all, you’ve just come back from that nightmare. The least you could do is give yourself a break after such a long and difficult day, especially after their consistent nagging where they expect you of all people to do better. They don’t know you, they don’t know your circumstances or priorities, so why say such horrible things? If they did know, they’d understand and maybe give you less work and more trust to work in your own time. It’s not your fault the work they send you to do isn’t good revision material.
Turning back to your screen, you went back to the character menu and looked through your character builds once more. You groaned in frustration, spinning the bubbles as fast as you could by dragging your mouse to avoid actually scrutinizing the substats yet again.
You wish you could use Childe right now to avoid this whole situation. But alas, he’s currently a buggy mess. Yes, you’re not an idiot, you already tried using Childe the first time to complete Spiral Abyss like you always do. But unfortunately, recently no matter how hard you try to use him, he glitches out.
It wasn’t too bad in the beginning, the glitches only occurring in open world exploration. Sure, it sucked not using Mr. Worldwide in new areas, but it wasn’t the end of the world as he was still usable in end game content. That changed after a week though, end game content soon being affected also and thus creating your frustration.
You clicked on Childe’s icon at the top of your screen, his face unusually tinted in a deep starry blue unlike the other icons beside his. The second your screen loaded it instantly started making static buzzes, the screen shaking slightly which made your eyes water at the sight. After rubbing your eyes painfully, you saw static around him as one of his idle animations played out.
Before you could click off as the vibrating screen became flashing, your whole PC went black.
Ah. It seems your PC crashed, again…
Just what could be causing this issue with your Childe unit? He’s the only character that causes your computer to crash like this! You’ve looked on Reddit, Hoyolab, Youtube, …everywhere! Yet you’ve never found someone with the same issue as you.
You’ve tried appealing to Hoyoverse through email, screen recording the incidents of crashing and other weird instances, attaching them to your email. But, whenever you and they replay the footage, it always plays out like usual with no glitching at all, only turning black when your PC’s crashed as the recording was forced to close.
Like, hello!? How fucking freaky is that!? Not only does it make your skin crawl, but it also means that there’s clearly nothing wrong with your computer like those automatic replies are claiming! You were originally with them, thinking the problem was your graphics card, but after all you’ve seen? There’s something wrong with the game, not you. So, until you can somehow find a way to successfully record Childe’s glitchy behaviour, you’re screwed.
You powered off your PC completely, holding your tower’s power button, deciding not to boot up the game with an exasperated huff. Sitting up from your chair, you grabbed your folder and threw it across the room, the contents splayed across the floor and hitting the floor harshly.
They thought you were crazy. When you managed to get in contact with a human on the other side of the screen, and you explained your situation to them, they thought you were talking nonsense. That you were one of those sweaty-crazed fans trying to get their attention in a way they’d not seen before.
You were so desperate to get them to listen to you, but no! They stuck their heads up their own arses and left you on read, eventually sending a bot to reply to each of your emails to avoid you. Ugh, it’s their loss. When they hear others having the same problem, they’ll come crawling back to you for evidence.
Still though, it’s kind of strange you’ve not heard of anybody else having this problem. Are all your Childe main brethren dead now? Or perhaps nobody uses him anymore because he’s an old character with an older model. You still think he’s sexy though.
Maybe they’re right, the people from Hoyoverse. Maybe you are a bit crazy, or possibly going crazy. On top of your studies increasing in importance, you’re also a complete loner at college. A lack of interaction, sunlight, and change in environment really does wonders for your sanity. It makes you think that, although you hate the thought, they’re right. Are you really seeing things?
You’d ask your parents to watch you play, but you don’t want to bother or worry them. They’ve known for a long time you’ve struggled with your mental health, if you start telling them about potential hallucinations they’ll take you to a doctor immediately! Besides, the amount of pocket money you’ve spent on Genshin alone since you’ve started playing… You don’t think they want to know anything about the game.
“Y/N, honey?” You heard your mother’s voice from downstairs, her footsteps growing nearer to your bedroom. “I heard a loud noise. Is everything okay? You didn’t hit your head, did you?”
You rushed for the folder and its contents on the floor, quickly laying them out on your bed as neatly as you could before she opened the door, turning back to see her standing there with her arms folded and a concerned look on her face.
“What are you hiding from me?”
“Nothing..!” You forced an awkward laugh, stepping to the side so she could see your papers. You let her look at the mess for a moment while giving yourself a short pause to come up with a lie. When you found one, you spoke again. “I was just laying on my bed studying, but accidentally rolled off the bed. I’m fine, my back’s just a little sore.”
She looked at you with a raised eyebrow, not believing your words. Walking up to your computer, she looked at it judgementally for a moment before putting her hand over the fan.
Shit.
“Oh really? Then care to explain why your computer’s warm?”
You flinched dramatically, a soft cringe on your lips. “I may or may not have gotten distracted. I was still working though, I promise!”
“Uh-huh.” She nodded slowly, watching you closely. Your mother narrowed her eyes as she continued to look at you, trying to break you. Unfortunately for her, however, you weren’t going to give her this one. If you have to go through another lecture you might cut your own ears off.
Eventually, she sighed, nodding to herself as she realised she’d never find out whether you were telling the truth of not. “Fine,” she walked through your open door, beckoning you to follow, “I hope you’re not lying to me.”
“I would never.” You crossed your fingers hidden in your pockets, grabbing your tote bag with your phone and headphones in it and following her out of your bedroom after. “Where are we going?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already,” Your mother scoffed playfully, “it’s restaurant day.”
‘Ah. The family curse where we can’t cook for shit. Therefore, to prevent us from going ill, every Friday we go to a restaurant together to catch up on nutrients and also with each other.’ You thought to yourself jokingly, rolling your eyes when reaching the bottom of the stairs.
“Hey. Ready to go?” Your father patted you on the head softly with a charming smile. “Hope you got a few hours of studying before leaving.”
“Uhh– yeah! Yes. I did.” You nodded way too convincingly to come off as truthful.
“Great.” He winked at you, handing over your mother’s phone he was previously messaging someone on. “Darling, your sister’s still messing around. Reminds me of someone.”
“Rude.” You gave him a side-eye. “Is Aunt-No-Show late yet again?”
Your mother’s hands were shaking in rage as she tapped her phone screen harshly, her nails creating loud sounds in the room. “Indeed. It appears she lied when she claimed she was outside the house 10 minutes ago. According to the map, she’s still on the motorway.”
“Yikes.” You couldn’t help but puff up in pride at your Aunt’s jest, making a dissatisfied noise only to keep your mother calm somewhat. “Let’s hope she’s not speeding just to get here on time.”
“That’s the thing,” she sadistically chuckled, “rather than focusing on driving, she’s sending me shit emojis.”
“Oh, quite literally? As in, the poop emojis?”
She seethed. “Yes, quite literally. I don’t see what other literal sense it could be.”
“Ah.” Your father cowered behind you at the tone of her voice. “Darling, calm down. She’ll be here soon…”
“No! She does this every single fucking friday! Why do we continue to invite her and let her drive us around in her car if she’s not even going to come on time!? This is the last time I’m letting her control the evening like this.”
“Think of the petrol prices, it’s for the money.”
“Fuck the money, she’s wasting our time!”
“Mama, Mum, Mummy, Mother,” You chanted to catch her attention and stop her from angrily muttering to herself. “You sound like a witch casting a curse. Relax, we won’t be so late that the restaurant will be closed. If we are, we can just go get a meal deal or something like that one time a few months ago. It was actually pretty fun.”
Her head whipped around to yours, causing your father and yourself to fall into each other in fear. She growled like a dinosaur, eyes practically glowing in anger. “No. It wasn’t ‘fun’. That’s what we usually eat.”
“Ohhhh my goshhhh mum. Just take this Granola bar and wait patiently like dad and I.” You handed her a raisin flavoured one from your hoodie’s front pocket. “You’re not you when you’re hungry after all.”
“I don’t see how this’ll help.” She eyes you suspiciously, snatching it from your hand and wolfing it down quickly. “We’re going for dinner anyway.” Her voice was clearly calmer, lacking its strained edge from before.
The portal in front of the Harbingers roared to life, the energy exuding from it leaving uncomfortable goosebumps on their arms. Its blue abyssal-like colour swirled in circular patterns, glimmering stars faintly peering through from behind the aqua shine showing their destination.
Childe stopped in his tracks at the familiar sight, almost zoning out completely with his eyes swirling and rippling in a similar manner. If it weren’t for the dim light of Dottore’s lab, he feared he might have fallen to the view immediately.
He quickly turned his head sideways while shutting his eyes to avoid looking at it for longer than necessary, after looking around to see if his fellow comrades had a similar reaction. When noting they hadn’t had a single trace of something akin to his, he sighed frustratingly.
“Dottore, Sandrone, how did you make this portal?” He asked, resisting the compulsion settled in his bones to gaze back at it.
“Does it really matter?” Dottore raised an eyebrow, turning to him and stopping when noticing his current condition. “Ah, I see.” He activated his elemental vision, humming interestingly when seeing the Abyssal energy growing stronger within his body.
“I believe it does matter,” Scaramouche scoffed, “as it looks extremely similar to the Spiral Abyss I was exploring before being summoned by Her Majesty. Care to explain?”
Sandrone let out an audible exaggerated groan to attract attention to her, a serious frown on her face with eyes lidded in unmistakable warning. “If we tell you to drop it, you drop it. Understand? I could care less about the safety of everyone here, but the Tsaritsa herself values each and every one of us. Or so she claims… anyway!” She coughed to get herself back on track. “The qualities of this invention, they are something we can never admit aloud.”
“...What did you two do?”Capitano faced the two head-on, stepping forwards threateningly.
Pulcinella grabbed the back of the Captain’s cloak gently, pausing his intense stare. When he looked back to meet the smaller gentleman’s eyes, the old elf simply shook his head. “Relax, Captain. I doubt the Tsaritsa would personally approve of the project moving forwards if it involved a massacre of any kind.”
“I don’t know about that,” Pantalone hummed to himself, fiddling with one of the trinkets he gifted Dottore a while back laid out on a table nearby. “Her Majesty’s temperament has been rather unpredictable as of late.”
Arlecchino subtly dematerialised her scythe that was hidden behind her back upon hearing these words, letting out an unaudible relieved sigh of her own. “All we can do is pray The Decider satiates her rage. I still believe questioning its origin is important, however.”
“As Dottore is untrustworthy in all respects of common sense,” Sandrone glared at the man on her left darkly, “I ask you to trust me on this matter. The less you know regarding its materials and origins, the safer you will be. Words cannot describe the danger you’ll put yourselves in if you know.”
All the Harbingers besides the two creators of the portal looked at each other with uncertainty, before nodding along to each other and dropping it for now.
“If it’s what the Tsaritsa commands, I shall obey.” Pierro bowed his head in understanding, before turning to the activated portal with slight apprehension at the Abyssal swirls rippling in the air. “I’ll go first instead of The Balladeer.”
Dottore tsked, walking up to the Harbinger and lightly shoving him with his palm to his shoulder. With a simple shaking of his head, he eyed the others behind him before continuing. “No. I deserve to go first.”
‘I deserve to see them first. Only me.’ He longingly stared at the portal. ‘And maybe Tartaglia. His connection to Them would make a wonderful experiment.’ He rolled his eyes from under his mask at his admission.
All the Harbingers watched on as Dottore took a deep breath in, walking up to the portal with his nose almost kissing its colourful exterior. After exhaling, he placed his first foot in, finding it passing through normally. With a final push, his whole body passed through to the other side, the Harbingers behind him watching on in wonder at his success.
He made it. He actually made it. The portal works!
Scaramouche clicked his tongue in annoyance at the sight, not helping the words that escaped his lips next. “For fucks sake, I was praying he wouldn’t make it.”
“You were praying?” Columbina questioned him with a tilted head, a light chuckle escaping her lips at his words. “I didn’t know you were the religious type.”
“I’m not. And that’s what makes it even sadder.”
We're back in business people RAAAAAH!!!
I'm going to attempt weekly updates to finally finish this fuckass series because I love it don't get me wrong but I really want to publish and work on other non-genshin things....
Yes you read that correctly, weekly. Let's see how long it takes to break this streak lol.
Quick Reminder Here! If you no longer want to be on the taglist that's completely fine; I take no offence whatsoever so please don't hesitate to tell me. ^^
Platonic Yandere! Rocky x GN! Astronaut! Reader x Platonic Yandere! Grace
Wordcount: 2.5k
AN: I'm kinda losing it right now. Things are extremely not good at the moment. I dyed the ends of my hair magenta though so that's sick. I’ve watched Project Hail Mary three times this week and I cried after watching it the first time. I’m aroace and the representation was insanely nice to see!
TW: Yandere behaviors, death, somewhat realism, mentions of the horrors of grad school, infantilization, kidnapping, the author’s headcannons about Eridian biology being treated as fact, reader being super lonely, nothing too much worse than what happened in the book/movie
♡♡♡
Well, it was better than starving. That's what you kept telling yourself. At least this way, you'd be able to live longer and die with a full belly, unlike on Earth. Being a grad student is rough at the best of times but it tends to be more complicated when the sun is dying. Everything tends to be. You're the sole surviving crew member on the Final Gamble, a ship built after realizing that the Hail Mary had life support defects. Apparently, the kinks hadn't been worked out. You found out after finding your captain and all four coworkers all dead after waking up.
You woke up in the Tau Ceti system with alerts that probes had been detected five light-years behind you on their way to Earth. You have to sit down after that. You sacrificed your life for a mission that's already been completed. You take a few deep breaths and remind yourself that you would've just starved on Earth. After a tearful funeral for your fallen friends, you decide to figure out your options. First of all, you decide that some detective work is in order. The Hail Mary wasn’t in the system but you could track it. The astrophage left an ion trail that you could easily pick up. That was the easy part. The hard part was figuring out what to do with the information. You could tell that the Hail Mary had returned to the area from its path to Earth but it was impossible to tell why until you found another astrophage trail. You had to sit down after that one too. There was someone else here with the other team.
You don’t hesitate. You charted a course and follow the trail. You ran tests, calculated fuel usage, and barely noticed the major turn that the course took until the Final Gamble was alongside an alien ship. You scanned it and then decided that based on your microbiology training, there’s probably a reason that it’s empty. You’re an expert in microbes, not in exploring alien cultures. The likelihood of it being a plague ship was way too high for your comfort so you continued following the path of the Hail Mary.
Your fuel tanks had a higher capacity and your system allowed faster travel than the Hail Mary so it isn’t a surprise when the trip takes under a year. You were led to an unfamiliar planet where, after careful measurements, you find out that the sun in the system isn’t dimming. You knew that the other team had found the solution to the problem but you didn’t expect the solution to be used by another planet. You were so caught off guard that when you send a spoken message to the Hail Mary, you ended up messing up your wording.
“Hail Mary, this is the Final Gamble. I– We were sent after you to find the reason why Tau Ceti wasn’t dimming. We were sent to make sure that the mission was completed. We have tracked you to this planet after finding that the probes from your ship were sent back to Earth. Are you okay? Please respond.”
You waited for hours as your ship fights the orbit of the planet in order to stay above the tracking beacon of the other ship. You broadcasted the recording over and over, just hoping that there will be someone else there. You’d been alone for so long that the prospect of a single conversation with another person was tantalizing. You shot up in your chair when the radio crackles to life for the very first time.
“Final Gamble, this is Dr. Ryland Grace of the Hail Mary. I am the sole survivor of the mission. The locals of this planet have taken me in. They’re very friendly. Would it be okay if I and a member of the local population came aboard?”
“Dr. Grace, I’m so happy to hear from you! I studied all of your work and procedures! Please feel free to board. We have lots of room for you and your associate. You’re both very welcome here.”
You’re not as concerned as you probably should be when only a day later, a strange shuttle is sent from the surface of the planet to the Final Gamble. You wait patiently for them to dock and open the hatch for them to enter once the pressure in the airlock stabilizes. You barely have time to introduce yourself to Dr. Grace before what looks like an alien crab made of rock and covered in crystal barrels past you and into your ship.
“Make yourself at home…?” You offered quietly as you escort the other human into the main living and working area, offering him some apple juice in a packet.
“Sorry about that. He’s excited to see your ship and another human. He means well.” Grace said sheepishly as he takes the packet.
“Other human much cleaner than Grace when Rocky first see Grace ship. Grace very dirty until Rocky stay with Grace! Very nice! I like!” Rocky interrupted through the translator.
“Uh… Thanks…? It’s standard procedure on Earth.” You reply, still in shock as you watched Rocky skitter around, literally bouncing off of the walls in the lack of gravity. You just watched as he looks through the entirety of the first floor.
“Welcome! Final Gamble much bigger and nicer than Hail Mary! Earth must like you much better than Grace!” Rocky said happily.
“Oh, um… It was just made after the Hail Mary was. It was also designed to hold more people so it had to be bigger.” You said awkwardly.
Grace took the time to start looking at all of the decorations on the ship.
“Where other human, question. Rocky want meet! More friend for Grace! More friend for Rocky!” Rocky exclaimed.
“They… They all died. There were five others on board but there was a glitch that wasn’t fixed from the Hail Mary so I was the only one that survived.” You responded much more sullenly.
Grace whiped around from where he’s fiddling with a bobblehead.
“Wait, so that was a glitch?” Grace asked.
“Unfortunately. We found out after you were a light year away that the feeding pumps for the top bunk stops working after a few years and then the middle one gives later. I was told that it was fixed but apparently, it wasn’t. I’m assuming that you were on the bottom bunk as well.” You said more quietly.
“Yeah. I was. I’m… I’m so sorry for your loss.” Grace responded.
“I’m sorry for yours too.” You said.
“Twenty-three of Rocky crewmate die. Rocky all alone until find Grace. You not alone now too. You find Grace and Rocky. Better now. Always better when not alone.” Rocky said after a few moments.
Rocky was right. It did make things a little better. You liked talking with both of them. They told you all about their meeting and how they ended up saving each other. You properly introduced yourself to them and were able to find out how Grace’s life support system on Erid worked. After some debating, you agreed to go down to Erid to see what it was like. It sounded nice enough and you were very interested in not being alone anymore.
You explored Grace’s biodome and met Adrian, Rocky’s mate. They were very nice, though significantly taller than even Grace. You found them to be very intimidating at first but were much more comfortable around them after conversing with them. They were very interested in your biology and how you liked the biosphere. You guest taught in Grace’s class and did a lesson on the basics of school systems on Earth and on Earth bacteria. All of the Eridian children enjoyed hearing your stories and seemed to enjoy your jokes.
Eventually, it was decided that you, Grace, and Rocky would attend a conference with scientists and journalists. Rocky would ask you questions based on the ones that the scientists and journalists gave to him while they observed and broadcasted the interview, as well as the translation of your words. Grace agreed to answer most of the questions for you as he understood their customs better and would be less likely to cause offense. As you sat between Grace and Rocky in front of the clear crystal that separated you from the rest of the Eridians, you began regretting agreeing to do the interview.
“How old Grace friend, question.” Rocky asks.
“Oh, um, they’re in their twenties. We haven’t figured out how the coma on the ride over impacts biological aging for us humans and whether or not to include the duration of the coma. It’s a bit complicated.” Grace says warmly.
“Earth send baby to do job, question.” Rocky asked, visibly agitated.
You were a bit taken aback. You weren’t expecting to be called a child and were feeling more than a little insulted. Sure, you were young but that didn’t take away from your accomplishments!
“No, they’re not a baby! They’re an adult! They made the decision to come here and they were fully capable of consenting to do so. They wanted to save our world and they were braver than me.” Grace tried to soothe.
It didn’t work. An entire chorus of “BAD, BAD, BAD” and “IS BABY, IS VERY MUCH BABY” rang out from the both formerly docile council and reporting crew. One translator screeched “BABY ALONE FOR YEARS WITH NO ONE WATCH SLEEP!” and it started up a whole other wave of incensed and horrified speech that the translators didn’t understand. You’d noticed that Grace didn’t usually cuss and that Rocky’s translator didn’t work on too many curse words so you could only imagine how intense whatever they’re saying is. Their distressed chirps and calls were starting to make you feel even more nervous though.
“What’s going on…? Why are they so upset…?” You whispered to Grace, eyes wide as you watched the aliens practically begin to riot.
“So, um, funny story, Eridians are technically infants until they’re like thirty? Some take longer than that to grow so sometimes forty? I’m not really sure about all of the details but Rocky told me about it a while ago. Their culture is super focused on kids so the fact that you were sent out so young is kind of a really big deal to them. I’m sure that they’ll get over it soon.” He whispered back.
“What Grace friend do on Earth, question.” Rocky said loudly, trying to drown out the high pitched sounds from the council with a seemingly less charged question.
“I was a microbiology student. I was working to get my doctorate when I was asked to join the mission. I’m an astronaut now.” You respond.
This time, it’s Rocky’s turn to freak out.
“Earth send baby not yet out school! BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD!” Rocky’s translator shouts as his arms start flailing.
The meeting had to be cut short after the council’s table was flipped by a scientist whose eggs had recently hatched. You sat in Grace’s living room, drinking a mug of hot chocolate that had been replicated by Eridian scientists to be as close as possible to the stuff on your ship. Grace also had a mug. He seemed much happier with the food that you brought compared to what the Eridians were feeding him before you showed up. You took one look at it early on in your visit to Erid and decided not to ask.
“That was intense.” You said after a moment.
“You’re telling me. I’ve never seen them that worked up before.” Grace said after a sip from his mug.
Your conversation is interrupted by pounding on the front door. Grace got the door before Rocky barged in while pulling something similar to a wagon filled with assorted trinkets and doodads.
“Rocky bring gift from many parents and children who listen to interview. Much, much concern! All want you feel better.” He says to you, seeming particularly satisfied with himself.
“Do I take some…?” You ask as you gesture to the wagon.
“All for you! All for human baby to play with!” He exclaims.
“I’m not a baby but I really appreciate the thought.” You say diplomatically, trying your best to be professional.
You end up being particularly fond of a plush that looks like an alien creature and a puzzle that reminds you of a combination of a Rubik's cube and Chinese puzzle box. You spend hours trying to figure it out after dinner, much to Rocky’s delight. You found out from Grace’s class the next morning that they were both toys for children meant to develop their fine motor skills and logical thinking abilities. You keep being brought more and more toys and games as time goes by. You’ve been crashing on Grace’s couch and now the pile of your things in the corner has grown to be taller than you. You kept apologizing for taking up so much of his space but Grace insisted that it was fine and that he was just happy to be around another person.
The size of the pile only grew when Rocky found out that you liked the Xenonite figures that he made for Grace. He would sit in the classroom during Grace’s classes to keep an “eye” on you while you helped teach a unit on Earth microbiology while he worked on making more little figures for you. He made one of you, Grace, Adrian, and him. He would insist that you use puppet shows to tell him what you wanted, saying that he didn’t understand you. You understood when he was laughing and he usually did when you did the puppet shows.
After staying for about a week, you wanted to go back to your ship to retrieve some equipment to run some tests and do some research of your own on Erid. You were messing around with one of the plushies that was given to you when you realized that the shuttle that you used to get to the biodome was gone. You decided to ask about it.
“So when do I get to go back to my ship…? I need to get some things for my research.” You said hesitantly.
“You not go to Final Gamble. You stay on Erid. We take care you. Happy, happy.” Rocky said lightly as he continues building the little Xenonite figures that you like.
“No, not happy…! I want to go back to my ship…!” You responded anxiously.
“Earth not want little baby. Erid want little baby. You stay. We take care. Grace help, even though Grace bad at many things. Grace give hug when Rocky not able. Adrian help make more thing for you. Make nursery. Help make more comfortable in house. You happy one day. Hope happy soon.” Rocky replied.
You sat back, eyes wide as your hands begin to shake. You stared down at the plushie of the unfamiliar animal on your lap.
“Where’s my ship, Rocky?” You ask more firmly this time.
“Grace need other human. Grace like you. Grace happy. You good for Grace. Grace talk more when you here. Grace not scared of presenting information now. Ship in many pieces. Never put together again. You, Grace, Rocky, Adrian all happy together. Very good. Happy, happy.” He responded in that light tone again.
You took some deep breaths. You had to remind yourself that this was better than starving.
my head is killlling me so i cant writet his right now but
getting fussy with sylus when the two of you get back from a long outing and you're exhausted. you complain and whine about being so tired and how everything hurts and you can't possibly fall asleep, and sylus nods and hums and coos at you accordingly while coaxing you into comfier clothes, getting you some pain medication, and guiding you into bed (you're so drained that you barely even notice he's doing this through all your complaining).
before you know it, you're laying curled up in his lap in a dim room, his fingers gently scratching your scalp. you melt into him as your brain stalls, causing you to trail off in the middle of your sentence. you look up to meet his eyes, gazing up at the incredibly soft expression on his face. you almost question him, but your eyes start to droop, so you ultimately decide to give in.
you quickly doze off in his arms, despite how much you insisted you wouldn't be able to. you're his kitty, always folding so easy for him. and he wouldn't have it any other way.
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass
pixelskylines
annaxmalina
vaporwave
