Stratt, on one hour of sleep in the past three days and 37 cups of coffee: Okay thank you, I—one minute—where are we on the research grants?!—ok—you, have you contacted—hold on—no I’m not available right now—NASA where are we with the ship?—good—yes I need all of them here—no, redesign that—I cannot talk to the press right now—hand me those charts—why is the patrova line up 4%?!—and you do not have clearance—no time for that right now—the button is over there—do I look like I have two seconds—one minute everyone I’m getting another effing call—WHAT?!
Grace, on the other line: Carl and I made a baby :D
As funny as it is that rocky sees grace and complains about grace and humans in general as a terribly inefficient blob of water and fluids and teases constantly...
I REALLY think this should be a relatively rocky-exclusive perspective. He's watched this incredibly stressed human drip all kinds of tears and goos while they were floating around in space, and grace let down basically all of his guard around rocky personally, have discussed and understood eachother over life threatening missions. To Rocky, grace is Grace!
But grace does have some naturally combative push to him (see, the commentary that got him stonewalled in the scientific community in the first place, and being able to keep up with and handle Eva stratt) and further more, when an eridian is Not Rocky, i.e. not incredibly socially withdrawn and traumatized and maybe on their own spectrum of divergence before his ill fated mission and was very susceptible to latching onto a strange and unusual creature in just as much crisis as him...
That is to say. The eridians are going to meet grace with wildly different priorities and expectations. And what they're going to get is a human dangerously close to deaths door, and cornered and dying humans aren't always the most friendly or cooperative and friendly, even the Nicest Humans You Can Get.
So they get a dying human. And as tumblr loves to say, humans are terrifying to aliens, and fuck do they persist. Rocky's so-described "pathetic space blob" grace is terrifying to most eridians, especially the scientists studying him.
He drinks solvent and breaths combustion. Instead of simply dying when his body runs out of nutrients and calorie stores, it has begun to Digest Itself. His body is pumping chemicals they do not understand and every chemistry panel they run shows new levels of new chemicals and hormones. The human body replaces most of its cells constantly because even breathing, especially at a higher atmospheric pressure, is destroying their own lungs.
This thing "hears" things they cannot comprehend and he is unable to describe beyond "color" and "brightness" which are things you can not contextualize, and calls the strangest things beautiful. It has no entirely discernable traits you can understand ecologically as a predator- no armor, no weapons- and yet it eats meat and that is one of the many nutrients it needs to survive. You as a resident of erid do not have many creatures with "eyes" and so have no idea that the strongest mark of a predator is neither claw nor fang, but forward facing eyes, all the better to catch your prey, to meet a foe head on and fearless. You just know it "sees" and that it eats meat, and many other complicated things.
And in place of not receiving all those nutrients, it's body will litterally digest itself and keep going without them. Oh, this new chemical in it's latest blood panel allows it to ignore it's own pain to the point it won't realize it's injured. It can wake up from a dead sleep if you are too loud or too "brightness" around it. It speaks in an archaic graveling noise and is capable of imitating the strangest things, including a haunting near-vocalization of the eridani language of its own, which it calls "singing" and it does this at the strangest of times, when happy and when nervous. It is neither fast nor slow, but over time and observation, you realize this strange towering bipedal creature expends an entirely minimal amount of energy to walk, a process of controlled falling turned mobilization. You hypothesize that for lack of predatory weaponry like claws or sharp teeth, this thing simply evolved to follow you. To "see" you with it's forward facing eyes even in total stillness, total silence, and follow for as long as it takes: it won't spend much energy, and it won't starve waiting for you to exhaust. It'll start digesting *itself* while waiting for it's prey to lay down and have to sleep. It will "watch" you sleep with "eyes." You cannot wake up the way it can, and it will eventually catch up to you.
Also sometimes it cries excess amounts of saline rich solvent when you compliment it's latest research paper. Rocky calls him an idiot and the overseeing eridian scientists watch on with a sense of morbid eldrich horror. Right, right, just a "leaky space blob", sure.
They're kind of terrified of the future delegations with this planet. They litterally get to space by explosion. Not only are they scary- they're INSANE. And they're told the one they have is "a push over".
Imagine a newly-arrived-to-Erid Grace, sealed in a small oxygenated observation room, lying asleep on a cushioned platform. So far, Rocky has been the only Eridian bold enough to put on a xenonite suit and join Grace in the room; other Eridian scientists are gathered just outside, listening to the alien shifting about -- in its sleep!!! -- and occasionally mumbling.
A particularly pessimistic and irritating Eridian is pontificating to the others, insisting on the highest degree of caution when interacting with the alien in any way, even if that comes at the sacrifice of speed in treating the alien's ailments. Rocky is furious at the implication of "even if that comes at the sacrifice of the alien, period", but silent, unwilling to express his counterargument at full volume and risk waking Grace. Still, he is almost vibrating with anger where he sits on the makeshift 'human-style' bed beside his friend.
"This creature moves about even when supposedly at rest! It's unnatural! Perhaps Rocky-hero only survived the journey here at all because he was safely on the other side of a barrier of xenonite and ammonia, out of this creature's reach. Who knows what violent urges and instincts are contained within that bizarre body?"
The collective attention of the gathered Eridians shifts to focus in on Grace's slumbering form.
As if on cue, Grace rolls onto his side, still snoozing away, and cuddles his whole body in a curve around Rocky's, in a shockingly-close mimicry of a parent [Eridian-cat-equivalent] curling around its [Eridian-kitten-equivalent].
Rocky is quite annoyed when the resulting chorus of [Eridian-"awww"-equivalent] IS enough to finally wake his human friend from his much-needed rest.
I also like to imagine a small subset of Eridians — maybe not bad people necessarily, but freaked out by a rapidly-and-suddenly-changing world and grasping for anything they can do to try and exert control over their circumstances? — jumping down Rocky’s figurative throat about him choosing to share so much potentially-sensitive information about Eridian anatomy and Erid’s culture, government, etc. with the first random sapient alien Rocky found floating out in space.
And then Rocky has to roll his figurative eyes and patiently (or not. Actually, definitely NOT patiently, that’s funnier) point out to those Eridians trying to scold him — the ‘random sapient alien’ freely chose to give ROCKY a massive data dump of information about the alien’s own race, including the precise location of the alien’s planet and instructions for how to build horrific weapons that could wipe out all life on that planet.
Fuck, I think tourists here on vacation should get free Healthcare too. We're a rich nation. We could afford it if we quit bombing little girls at school. Imagine being able to travel the world after a bad prognosis and know that when things go bad, you won't potentially put your loved ones in debt by going to see Yellowstone before you die.
k but imagine Rocky wanting to learn about how humans became the apex predators of their planet so he has Grace “hunt” him in the biodome as an experiment and during it he thinks Grace isn’t trying or taking it seriously which is bad bad bad because this is for research purposes
only for Rocky to get more and more tired as the experiment goes on just to realize that Grace isn’t which makes him panic so he puts as much distance as he can between them and finds a (hopefully) safe spot to sleep and when he wakes up the human is crouching over him like “got youuu” and Rocky has never shrieked so damn loud before in his life
I think I know why I love the idea of Simon on Erid first and bonding with Adrian before meeting Grace or Rocky.
Because then Adrian and Rocky can be that couple moving in together and desperately trying to get their cats to get along.
Rocky with his cuddly chatty orange cat who has so many brain cells they often negate each other, and is a maximum clinger. Currently recovering from scurvy.
And Adrian with their feral rescue, an unlucky black cat they found injured at the bottom of a metal dumpster. Who’s aloof and avoidant of everyone except Adrian, the Only One he loves and trust.
Rocky and Adrian are like those victims of the cat distribution system who have No Idea how to care for a cat, but they have been chosen so they gotta learn fast. 
Continuing the cat analogy, I'm reminded of a My Cat From Hell episode I saw years ago where a couple were trying to get their two cats to coexist peacefully. Here was the problem: one cat was deaf; the other's tail was paralyzed. The kitties couldn't communicate effectively with each other and didn't know how to deal with that because, y'know, they're cats and their brains are smaller than apples.
So imagine that the Eridians have made Simon a habitat with a more-or-less correct atmosphere, gravity, and temperature. Maybe they've collected enough of his tissue to figure out how to keep him hydrated and nourished.
But unlike Grace and Rocky, Adrian and company don't have thinking machines that can turn Eridian speech into something a human can understand. And as paranoid as Simon is, he's likely to be more combative than cooperative.
Also keep in mind that Simon's habitat is probably dark because the Eridians have little awareness of light.
So as far as Simon is concerned, he's been imprisoned by giant spiders.
Enter Grace and Rocky. They have the key to Eridian-Human communication. But not only is Grace missing critical context that would help him support Simon, but he's too feeble for those first few weeks to be of much help.
I need Simon to be feeling abducted by aliens and for the Eridians lack of knowledge of humans to cause their help to hurt him on occasion.
He does slowly grow to trust Adrian tho, that’s important! They see this extra leaky space blob alone in the universe and dedicate themselves to making him as comfortable, safe, and enriched as possible.
Also, Adrian POV: when your dead husband returns home in an alien ship (made by the SAME alien species of your adopted alien) with the answers to save your dying star AND the entirety of that alien species wealth of knowledge downloaded onto that alien ship.
And! He befriended one of those aliens! An alien who sacrificed returning to its home planet to save your mate and star. Who’s barely hanging onto life and needs specialized medical care that You’ve Already Figured Out.
Adrian now deeply understands the human biological need to cry when experience extreme emotions. They are so full of joy and hope for their future they all now have together.
We've seen a lot of fics where Simon is paranoid and violent, threatening Grace. And I love it! However, imagine that once Adrian and Rocky move Grace's lamps into the biodome and Simon can see Grace, Simon internalizes how sick and weak the man on the other side of the xenonite divider really is.
Once the divider is lifted, Simon takes to aggressively guarding Grace and only allowing Adrian access.
Just like, "I've only had this stupid science bitch for what feels like a day and a half, but if any of you alien fucks get anywhere near him I will kill everything on this planet including myself."
I think I know why I love the idea of Simon on Erid first and bonding with Adrian before meeting Grace or Rocky.
Because then Adrian and Rocky can be that couple moving in together and desperately trying to get their cats to get along.
Rocky with his cuddly chatty orange cat who has so many brain cells they often negate each other, and is a maximum clinger. Currently recovering from scurvy.
And Adrian with their feral rescue, an unlucky black cat they found injured at the bottom of a metal dumpster. Who’s aloof and avoidant of everyone except Adrian, the Only One he loves and trust.
Rocky and Adrian are like those victims of the cat distribution system who have No Idea how to care for a cat, but they have been chosen so they gotta learn fast. 
Continuing the cat analogy, I'm reminded of a My Cat From Hell episode I saw years ago where a couple were trying to get their two cats to coexist peacefully. Here was the problem: one cat was deaf; the other's tail was paralyzed. The kitties couldn't communicate effectively with each other and didn't know how to deal with that because, y'know, they're cats and their brains are smaller than apples.
So imagine that the Eridians have made Simon a habitat with a more-or-less correct atmosphere, gravity, and temperature. Maybe they've collected enough of his tissue to figure out how to keep him hydrated and nourished.
But unlike Grace and Rocky, Adrian and company don't have thinking machines that can turn Eridian speech into something a human can understand. And as paranoid as Simon is, he's likely to be more combative than cooperative.
Also keep in mind that Simon's habitat is probably dark because the Eridians have little awareness of light.
So as far as Simon is concerned, he's been imprisoned by giant spiders.
Enter Grace and Rocky. They have the key to Eridian-Human communication. But not only is Grace missing critical context that would help him support Simon, but he's too feeble for those first few weeks to be of much help.
I like to imagine, in all the terrible and crazy ways Simon and Grace could meet, that in one of those moments... Grace is excited to finally see another human in space!
"Oh! A human!" :O
And then... Just a heart beat later, he thinks that he was taking too long and Earth sent someone ELSE on a death mission.
#ofc grace would find out that yes Simon was on a death mission#but not from his earth#so slightly more bearable#I just adhjffjklk the IMMEDIATE tone shift of not being alone to remembering WHY you were alone#ouch#any fics like this?
I love Carl's introduction. It's such a great establishing moment.
Ryland Grace has made it all the way to his bike with Eva Stratt at his heels, so her trusted security team has correctly assessed it's time to move in the cars, and Carl is approaching off-screen.
Grace comes out of the little "I don't know why that makes me such a nut!" rant, and there Carl is, stepping up into frame exactly next to Stratt. Tall, broad, unimpressed, unmistakably a force to be reckoned with, unmistakably a trusted professional.
But also a nameless goon at this point. An extension of the threat Stratt seems to represent to Grace. A depersonalized tool.
Grace clocks the cars, his presence, the unfolding situation, instantly and incredulously. And he does something clever, something he always does, which is to call attention to the absurdity of the unspoken threat by trying to force the situation into a normal mold.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
Turning Eva's nameless goon into a person with agency. Trying to force a relationship that hinders coercion.
Ideally, this would force them all to acknowledge how abnormal they are acting and retreat a little to keep up the appearance of normality. Or admit to what they are doing by refusing. Either way, the ball shifts out of Ryland's court into theirs.
Neither happens, though.
Carl sees exactly what he's trying to do with that and interrupts him mid-question. "Carl." And then keeps staring at him the same way as before. One word, and we already know so much about him.
He is not a nameless goon. He is an individual named Carl.
And he fully supports what is happening there. Because nothing is normal and it's stupid to pretend that what is happening isn't happening.
So yes, while he bonds with Grace over silliness and is the astrophage-coparent and instigator of Carl's Hypothesis... he is also entirely introduced to us as the man who will wish Grace the best of success on the mission while he's being sedated on the ground. Because Carl has a personal opinion about what is at stake.
dededos
kianamaiart
izzy806
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