Chapter Text
“... and I think there might be an issue with one of the climate controlling fans so we will have to survey the area soon.”
“Mm.”
“Are you listening to me?”
“Mhm.”
“Right. Okay. By the way I'm going to blow the world up and also I am gravid with your eggs.”
“Great.”
“Adrian!”
Adrian makes an offended noise when something hits him in the back of the carapace. He whirls around, angry, as he grabs at the piece of quartz that was just thrown at him and gestures it towards Lucy while spitting out, “are you insane! I'm going to write you up for physically assaulting your supervisor!”
Lucy doesn't seem fazed by the insults, and instead leans against the counter they've been working on for the past hour. “Do I finally have your attention?”
“I have been listening the entire time,” Adrian lies shamelessly.
“Even about the part where I said I was pregnant with your spawn?” Lucy says drily.
Adrian makes a noise of disgust. “That is revolting, do not ever make a joke about that.”
“You are right, I am much more interested in carrying Savior Grace's eggs instead,” Lucy says rather dreamily, only to jump and curse when there's a large cracking sound from Adrian's end. “Good stars! What is the matter with you? This is the second piece of equipment you have broken this week!”
Adrian flicks his arm rather dumbly as he realizes that there are large cracks underneath his claws from where he’d pressed down too hard on the quartz and caused it to split. There’s dust in the air and he’s sure that at least some of it has settled into his freshly prepared samples, but he can’t even muster an atom of care as he says, “if you speak of Grace that way again, I will fire you.”
“I have heard that one before,” Lucy says rather nastily, though they move him rather gingerly to the side so that they can start brushing away any glittering quartz pieces that still litter the broken counter. “So did he like it?”
“Like what?” Adrian says stupidly.
“The algae,” Lucy says. Their voice is high-pitched with confusion. “Is that not what we were practically breaking our carapaces working on for the past few weeks? It took ages to figure out which phenotypes would generate the kind of light you were expecting. I slept for an entire day when we finally got it right.”
There is another cracking sound, and Lucy shouts again, but Adrian pays no mind.
Right.
The algae.
That.
He doesn’t know what to say. He’s not a very vocal being to begin with, but for once, he’s struck entirely speechless, and some part of him is rather appalled that Lucy of all beings is the one to reduce him into such a state, but it’s true.
The algae had been some of the most stressful work Adrian had put himself through. The species of algae native to their area are notorious for being resistant to breeding, as it’s hard to replicate their natural living habitat, so the first obstacle had been to make sure none of them would die from stress. Then the gene mapping, then the splicing, then the failures, which had resulted in so many different types of offspring that he started to run out of room to store them all.
And to try and develop a gene pool that would produce light was, well. It had completely baffled him. He couldn’t figure out on any level why Grace would find any of it beautiful, why he talked about his home and the shores of its beaches so fondly, when Erid was quite literally a world of music and ingenuity.
But when Adrian finally showed Grace everything he had been working on, Adrian realized that it didn’t matter.
So what if Adrian didn’t find any of it beautiful? It didn’t matter to him that he couldn’t understand. There was no other reason to find beauty in something other than the fact that Grace liked it, and Adrian’s hearts all leap at the same time when he recalls the stunned, wide-eyed way Grace had stared at him.
Like Adrian was unbelievable, or maybe as if he was unreal.
Adrian desperately wishes he could make Grace look at him that way again.
Why? Adrian, a logical being, an infallible Eridian, thinks to himself. Why does it matter so much to me that he liked the algae? I only made it so that he wouldn’t miss home so much, and so he would be more enticed to take Rocky as a mate.
This is stupid.
I’m stupid.
“By the way, I will need the day off tomorrow,” Lucy says nonchalantly, completely oblivious to the turmoil Adrian is going through. They’re putting the last of the quartz debris into the trash and they twirl on a leg, sounding disturbingly gleeful. “You’ll grant it to me, won’t you?”
“No,” Adrian says just on principle.
“I already asked Brightheart to cover me, so too bad,” Lucy says.
“Then why do you ask?” Adrian snaps.
“Well, I do actually observe courtesies from time to time,” Lucy says, ignoring the way Adrian snorts in disbelief. “This has been planned for a long time, so don’t ruin it for me.”
“Apologies,” Adrian says sarcastically. “Though I highly doubt that anything you do in your spare time is worth missing work for, fine. Tell Brightheart to be here early to help me monitor the algae growth - “
“Algae this, algae that,” Lucy says in a bored tone. “You still haven’t made up a name for it, have you? Or submitted your paper to the board!”
“Don’t lecture me on work when you are the one who is missing it! And last minute, too! Who tells their supervisor the day before that they will not be here?” Adrian bristles in offense. “The paper is not important, and I haven’t thought up of a name because - “
“Not important he says,” Lucy says mockingly. “Of course it’s not important, it is simply a breakthrough in recent bioengineering, but what do I know? I am nothing but your slave! Your servant!”
Adrian grunts when Lucy dramatically flops over and he barely manages to catch them in time. He holds them up with one arm, and his voice is distinctly unimpressed as he says, “the algae is not meant to grant me success or recognition, Lucy. I would rather it simply never garner attention if I had it my way.”
“Huh,” Lucy says rather faintly. They look ridiculous with how they’re dangling limply from Adrian’s hold, but they don’t seem offended by it. In fact, they simply cross their arms and make a small, inquisitive sound as they say, “that’s new.”
“What is?”
“You not wanting attention,” Lucy says bluntly. Adrian growls and drops them, but Lucy simply lands on their legs and immediately starts to circle him, simply dodging when he tries to swat at them while demanding that they stop. “I have known you for a very long time now, Adrian - “
“Do not call me that - “
“And never once have you denied the opportunity to boost your own standing in our professional world,” Lucy says, completely glossing over Adrian’s low tone of irritation. Lucy stops right in front of him. “You have changed.”
Once again, Adrian struggles with what to say. Some part of him wants to deny it. He wants to defend himself and say that he’s never been that kind of being, that he does his work for the sake of it, but he knows that’s false, and lately, he’s been getting rather sick of the lies.
Because the truth is that Lucy is right.
Adrian has always been at the top of his field for so long because he has never lost his focus even once. He knows he’s ruthless when it comes to competition, and had thoroughly crushed anyone else who was prominent alongside him by simply being better and never missing an opportunity.
And this, the algae - it’s not as simple as groundbreaking as Lucy says, but rather world-changing. The ability to replicate Earth’s own plant and animal species is a boon that no one has cracked just yet, and with the incredible medicinal properties that could come from it, Adrian knows that he would be written in history as the one to plant that seed.
But he can’t bring himself to do it.
The algae remains nameless and the paper unfinished, and he knows why.
“There are some things more important than fame,” Adrian says.
His voice is plain and monotone, if only because he doesn’t dare to put any of his raging emotions into it.
He doesn’t want to admit that for once, he poured himself into his work because he wanted to make sure that Grace would not feel too homesick. He doesn’t want to say out loud that he doesn’t want Grace’s biodome, the only place of peace for the human, to become a crawling space of research and studying.
He doesn’t want to voice into existence that this, all of this, has been for Grace and Grace alone.
Adrian is - only doing this for Rocky. So that he can finally be with Grace and be happy, and nothing else matters except that, only that, because Adrian is -
“Knock knock.”
Adrian turns in time to see Rocky hovering by the doorway uncertainly, sounding rather confused but also tentatively pleased. Beside him is a being Adrian has never met before, a smaller Eridian who is made of opalite and who waves rather enthusiastically at Lucy.
“Lucy!” The unknown Eridian says happily.
“Hello,” Adrian says uncertainly.
“Rainfall,” Lucy says at the same time. They sound properly surprised as they swivel their carapace around Adrian towards the newcomers. “And… Savior Rocky. What are you both doing here?”
“Are we interrupting?” Rocky asks. He has an arm up and seems to be holding Rainfall back from simply walking into the room, and when she tries to duck under him to get in, he just gently pushes her back. “If we are, then - “
“No, of course it's alright,” Adrian blurts out.
“It is?” Lucy says skeptically. “Last time there was a visitor, I was sure I would have to call emergency services with how angry you were. I thought one of your hearts was going to give out.”
Adrian smacks Lucy's carapace. “That is because the last visitor was some idiotic ditz you were stringing along and he almost ruined our entire week's worth of work!”
“Adrian, it is so wonderful to meet you,” Rainfall says, her voice practically bursting with excitement as she bounces in place behind Rocky's arm. “Your mate has told me so much about you, and I am honored to be in your presence!”
“Salutations,” Adrian says, still feeling rather confused by everything. “Are you a colleague of Rocky?”
“Oh, no.” Rainfall waves off. “I am his friend.”
“You are?” Adrian says.
“You're what?” Lucy cackles.
“Say what now?” Rocky says, taking a small step back from Rainfall. “I don't remember discussing that with you!”
“Oh, sorry,” Rainfall says, fiddling with her claws in a way that reminds Adrian of those little aquatic mammals that Grace called otters. Grace had been greatly enthused by the creatures and had insisted on showing Adrian videos of them, and soon Adrian is drifting away while thinking about the excitement in Grace's voice and his hair and his - “I just assumed, many apologies, Rocky.”
“Uh, it's fine,” Rocky says awkwardly, and that pulls Adrian back to the present.
He stares.
Did Rocky just say it's fine? He's okay with her calling them friends? Adrian thinks with about as much intelligence as a rock might would. A rock from Earth, to be specific, so not at all. I can't even recall the last time Rocky socialized… is this Rainfall being perhaps an angel in disguise? Is he finally making friends?
“No way,” Lucy says in disbelief. “How did this - “
They gesture between Rocky and Rainfall.
“Happen? You told me you were going to be working late last night, is this why?” Lucy says.
“What's that thing they say on Earth?” Rainfall asks Rocky.
“Thou shall say it not spray it?”
“No, no, the other one.”
“... I plead the fifth?”
“I plead the fifth,” Rainfall says enthusiastically.
“Do you even know what that means?” Both Adrian and Rocky say at the same time.
Lucy walks closer to Rainfall and they giggle together about something that Adrian can't be bothered to decipher, as all his attention is shifted to his mate instead, who reaches up tentatively to give Adrian a hug.
Adrian is surprised by the gesture, and he returns it slowly, making sure to wrap his arms around Rocky's warm carapace and feel the way his vents flutter with every breath as they press into each other.
“What are you doing here? Is everything alright?” Adrian whispers, feeling rather worried now that he's able to focus on Rocky. “Did something happen?”
“No, nothing like that,” Rocky says, his voice small but not upset as he burrows further into Adrian's hold. “I just… missed you.”
Adrian inhales sharply.
It occurs to him just then that it's strange.
All these years apart, they have missed each other and couldn't do anything about it. Adrian had been a stubborn being who refused to believe his mate was dead despite everyone telling him otherwise, and Rocky had barely clung to life while praying for divine intervention.
That prayer had resulted in Grace, who brought Rocky home, and yet somehow, someway, he and Adrian had still been missing each other. They were in the same orbit again, on the same damn planet and on the same grounds, and yet had been so far apart that Adrian had still been mourning for his mate all this time.
It hits him on the carapace how easy this could have been. If they missed each other, all they had to do was see each other, and Rocky had realized it first.
Adrian hugs Rocky tighter.
It's an entirely human notion to hug someone, Adrian knows. Humans are delicate and squishy and can mold themselves together comfortably so that their flesh can imprint on each other and leave the other red from rushed blood and intimacy.
Eridians are different. Their bodies are too hard and too rigid, and hugging like this can be uncomfortable. Sparks might fly from their carapaces scraping together, and there is no give for either of them, which means it can sound harsh and unforgiving as they try to force themselves to hold the other.
But to Adrian's continuous surprise, it's nice.
Hugs are nice, and they might be something humans do, but Adrian is starting to accept that there doesn't have to be a distinction between him and Rocky or him and Grace.
They're all alive.
“We'll leave you two alone,” Rainfall says gently, Adrian barely registering her voice as she starts to tug Lucy out of the room.
“I want to watch!” Lucy complains.
Rainfall shushes them.
Adrian stands there, hugging Rocky, and he almost feels complete.
“I wish Grace was here,” Rocky mumbles.
Adrian purrs.
“I do, too.”