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Parsnip, ever triumphant, produced an oblong, floppy and leathery food item.
"Is similar to human food cucumber. Grows underwater." she stated.
The EFD had branched out from synthesized food cubes after discovering the sheer range of things humans were known to eat. Certain tough and rubbery plants were edible, but took Grace forever to digest. He couldn't tell if the specimen in front of him was animal, plant, or mineral.
Simon peered closer at it. "Hell no. Grace, you first." He stepped behind him, and Grace let out a laugh. Simon, after everything he had been through, was scared of this?
Grace took his xenonite utensils and sawed through the food, its skin splitting underneath the knife. It reminded him of pork, to some extent. Or maybe chicken? The memories of eating animal meat were foggy.
He brought a piece to his mouth, looking at the way the muscle came off in a stringy way. It didn't smell like fish, or vegetables. Grace put it in his mouth, and chewed, and chewed. He wrinkled his nose. Gross!
He made an X motion with his hands to indicate to the science team that this was not a viable food source. He bit into something that tasted awful, and spit it in the trash on the side of the lab table. Only then did he see the side of the creature and its tentacles. Ah. That's why Simon didn't want to eat it. Must look too much like his tormentor.
"Parsnip, how exactly is this a cucumber?" Grace asked, hoping that this made more sense in Eridian.
"Underwater cucumbers present in human thinking machine return as a 99.9% DNA match to Eridian organism."
"Underwater- Parsnip, did the Earth organism you matched this to read as a sea cucumber?" Grace brought his hand to his forehead and sighed, not sure if the burning hot feeling in his face was secondhand embarrassment or an allergic reaction.
"Shit, exclamation."
Grace realized, blinking out of consciousness, it must be unsafe for human consumption.
-
"Rocky will not let Simon be poison tester."
"If he dies we're both fucked. I'm at least a little more durable and expendable."
"Rocky not dealing with dead humans. Will simply make testing more foolproof. Will take longer but is risk Rocky must take. Humans have safe foods. No more eating Erid organisms without processing, bad bad bad!"
"Okay, fine. Is he awake yet?" Simon's footsteps came back into the med bay, and Grace stirred awake.
"Hey there." Grace's voice sounded shot. He only remembered sounding this bad twice in his life- once after an absolute rager of a party, and the other after waking up on the Hail Mary. It was really sweet of Simon to check up on him, he thought. Supposedly that's what partners did, but neither he nor Simon really understood what that term meant. Grace needed his time alone, and with other people, but none of them felt more special than the other. Rocky was his Rocky. Simon was his Simon. Adrian was… well, maybe not his Adrian, they had hundreds of years of marriage under their beautiful jangly belt. Grace could only hope Adrian deemed it an important use of their time to make time for him. They did, and often, but there was a barrier between them that Grace couldn't quite parse.
Was he in love with Adrian? No, that can't be how this works.
He had sex with Simon. He was incredibly aroused by his mutated body, and found a deep companionship with him after months of awkward dancing around each other. They cuddled, kissed, fucked when they felt like it. He didn't really feel like walking down the aisle with him, which made Grace feel bad. Wasn't that what love was?
And then there was Rocky. Grace would kill himself if anything ever happened to Rocky. The only reason they were both alive was because of each other. Grace would call them soulmates, save for the fact Rocky has a mate and it isn't Grace. Not that Grace wanted to marry Rocky. He was more like an extension of his life and soul than a romantic or sexual partner.
Well, fiddlesticks.
He at least knew he wanted Simon as a life partner. That much made sense. Simon had been sitting by his side, holding his hand this entire time.
"Did it taste that bad?" Simon chuckled.
"Sea cucumber is a toxic animal on Earth, named after a food. Must have been lost in translation." Grace explained, leaning in to hear him more.
"Rocky told me as much. He's mad. Heard him chirping up something fierce over in the lab. I think someone got fired from the science team." Simon couldn't hide the chuckle in his voice. "I'm just glad you're okay. I knew you'd make it, something about you just refuses to die." The smile on his face stretches over through his side teeth, and it's equal parts endearing and a little spooky. Grace likes it that way.
"If a stinky animal got me, I'd want you to drive it to extinction. No Astrophage or taumoeba or stupid space sea cucumber is gonna take me down." Grace laughed and sat up.
"Heard loud and clear. Drive any species against you to extinction." The sarcasm in Simon's voice hides an edge of deranged devotion. Grace knows what Simon is capable of, and he knows he's just as capable of horrible things deep down too. Being of human origin feels like a dirty secret kept between the two of them, on occassion. On Erid, they both run into cultural differences they're not used to, but the human culture shared between them isn't all that similar either. Grace is happy Simon exists and yet sometimes he feels guilty that he wishes they shared more.
"Hey, while you're here, I had a question to ask." Grace remembered, squeezing Simon's hand to get his attention again.
"Mmh? Go on."
"I found medical grade lube with Armando's medical supplies. I've been practicing."
"Practicing what?" Simon's gills flared, a visible sign of arousal, which meant this was working.
"Oh, you know. Testing the limits of human cavities." Grace teased, watching Simon blush and cough to try and hide the surge of dirty thoughts entering his mind.
"Grace. I told you it won't fit. I don't want to hurt you or tear you up down there. I can't guarantee I won't stretch you too far. I'm worried you'll be damaged forever." Simon stroked the side of Grace's face with his hand, seeing the other with a smile that only meant trouble.
"I measured it. I've been working up to it while you're out gardening and in the shop." Grace boasted, and he saw Simon's eyes widen.
"How did Rocky not hear all that?"
"He did, but he knows it's a gross human thing and left me alone."
"I don't believe you. That rock is a pervert. He asked me why my bathroom was sealed the other day and huffed at me when I said I need my space and privacy." Simon complained.
"He's just like that. Privacy isn't very common between Eridians who consider each other close. The first week I was in the biodome I couldn't stop him from being clingy." Grace laughed, and tried to forget about how weird their whole situation was. "It means he likes you."
"Everyone on this planet is a gross pervert, including you." Simon teased, helping Grace steady himself out of the medical bed.
"And this gross pervert is about to prove to you why you should let him take that beautiful sea creature cock as far as it will go."
"Grace, shut up, someone will hear you." Simon hissed, slapping a hand over his mouth. "We've had enough of those rocks watching us."
Simon dragged Grace back to his house up on the cliff near the beach, and Grace revealed his set of 'penis prototypes' he had trained with- rubbery, long and floppy.
"Why do you want this so bad?" Simon asked, bewildered.
"I think it's a kink. It's popular in porn from earth, to take a big appendage really far up there. There were a bunch of videos that gave me an estimate for how much lube I would need. Simon, this seems silly, but I really like you, and I really like how compatible we are like this. I know you're scared you'll hurt me, but I am enthusiastically consenting to that, and you always have the option to stop and carry me over to Armando." Grace had clearly thought about this for a long time.
"What if I plant some evil parasite in you with my seed?" Simon asked, only partly joking.
"Armando can just terminate the pregnancy. I don't know why Stratt programmed it in there."
"Chilling, but I suppose it has its uses. Probably less of a taboo in your world." Simon pretended not to be disturbed.
"I won't pressure you into it if you're really not okay with it. Simon, I want this. Do you want to try?" Grace asked, sending Simon his most woeful puppy eyes.
"Just to be clear, you want me to fuck you. Cum in your ass? And try and fit it all in there?"
"Jeez, you don't have to use such vulgar language! It's romantic, I think. This is a romantic thing people do, make love to each other." Grace couldn't hide how unsure he sounded.
"Grace. This is a science thing. I know what your science face looks like. It's okay if you're just curious. I don't really do romance either, but you're hot when you get obsessed with my body. I like having you around. I don't know shit about making love to someone, but I can do what I know you like. That sound good?"
"Yeah, Si, that sounds perfect. Thank you." Grace let out a relieved sigh, and moved in to hug Simon, burying his face in his chest.
"I like hearing you talk, but I also like it when you're touchy. You're like a cute little animal that wants cuddles and knows weird science things I don't. I read about animals in books and stuff. Apparently Earth used to keep them around as pets. Kind of like how Rocky and Adrian have us."
"We are not their pets." Grace protested, and realized belatedly Simon was petting his hair.
"You'd make a good one, if you were. Cute and fluffy. Loves to play." Simon pressed a kiss to his head.
"Hey! Don't encourage them." Grace said, snaking his arms around Simon's waist. He fiddled with the back of his pants, running his hands up to touch the gills on his back.
"Mnngh- hmff." Simon let out a breath through his gills, and it tickled Grace's hands.
"Please. Bed?" Grace asked, and Simon carried him through the halls, dropping him down on the mattress before looming over him.
"You smell good." Simon said, nosing near Grace's neck. "Some of the sweat from your last practice session… mmnh." He licks at his neck, salty. "You taste good too."
"Jimminy Christmas, let me get these off, shoot." Grace cannot take his clothes off fast enough.
He gets interrupted by a kiss, a hungry kiss, like Grace was a food Simon needed to live. That wasn't far off from the truth, he thought. Simon had consumed his flesh in reconstructed molecular form. Why did that make him hard?
Grace gasped for air, barely making out "You just devour me, huh?" before Simon responded with a growl.
"You offered yourself to me. Don't get shocked when I take everything I can."
Simon put a hand in his hair and pulled his head back to expose his neck, grazing his sharp teeth over the skin. Grace loved how the pain stung and stretched him beyond what he thought his body could do.
"Fuck, Simon, you ruin me. I love it, I want it. I love how you change me." Grace was babbling on about anything now- he got like this when he passed a certain threshold. His hands scrabbled to take hold on Simon's back, and Simon pushed between his legs with his knee.
"Let me see that hole you've been training." A clawed hand gently pries open his ass, seeing a puckered wet ring beneath Grace's cock. Simon squinted. "Is this recent?"
Grace let out a laugh, colored with his own arousal. "At least once every day, so yeah."
"Every day? Fucking hell, you're insatiable." Simon pushed Grace's legs back, back further than Grace thought they could go, pushing his ankles up to his ears.
"Hold them there." Simon commanded, grabbing one of the bags of lube Grace had pinched from Armando. He looked down at his claws and then back at one of the prototypes. Best to use one of those instead of shredding Grace's insides.
"I'm gonna stretch you with one of the smaller ones, okay?" he said, squirting some lube approximately where he thought he would need it.
"Please, just touch me. I can't remember how many times I've fucked myself with that wishing it was you." Grace whined, causing Simon to flush red.
"Well, now you get it, so be good and relax for me, okay? If you're clenching this gets harder." Simon pushed the dildo in with an obscene squelching sound, and it slid in with ease he didn't expect. He was grateful the toy had a flared base, otherwise he might have lost it. "You're so loose, fuck. You did this all for me?" Simon asked.
"Yeah, you- it just made sense. You make my brain go quiet. Wasn't a huge fan of sex on earth, but it was missing a certain- oh god, yes, more- a certain fishy charm."
"Don't call me a fish when I'm fucking you." Simon rolled his eyes, and pumped the dildo faster, if only to jostle Grace from his current train of thought.
"Fuck, shit, Jesus, Si, more, please-" Grace's words were punched out of him with every thrust. Simon was getting jealous of the dildo, so he pulled it out, drawing a loud and upset moan from his partner.
"Why'd you stop?" he whined.
"Getting more lube." Simon squeezed out the rest of the bag onto his cock, slicking it over with his hand. They were going to need quite the clean up after this.
"You gonna put it in, finally?" Grace's voice managed to mix excitement with the cracks of strain.
"Be fucking patient, greedy boy." Simon snarled, which made Grace's cock twitch. "Of course you're into that. You'd be into whatever I did to you."
"Mhm! You can do anything to me." Grace's eyes were glazed over in a way that made that sentence not legally binding in Simon's eyes.
"I'm not gonna do anything besides what we agreed on. You're cock drunk right now and we'd be here for days if we let your slut brain decide what to do." Simon teased, swiping his hand across Grace's ass, leaving little claw marks where he slapped.
Grace yelped, and it was a beautiful sound, like a fox being caught by a hungry wolf.
Simon was going to eat him alive.
Pushing the head in, Grace's rim stretched and flexed, heavy panting as he tried to swallow more of Simon's cock. Simon could see his leg muscles twitching, trying to push him down further. Simon decided to help him and put his hand around Grace's hip, pulling him down.
"You can take it, just breathe. In and out. Relax your muscles." Simon cooed, watching his prey sink further onto his cock.
"It's so big, fuck. I'm trying." Grace whimpered, flexing his abdomen to try and push himself further down.
"Gentle, baby, gentle. You'll tear something if you go too fast." Simon cautioned, pulling him back up to push him down further, ripping another moan from Grace.
"I don't care if you tear me, you can ruin me and I'd be happy." Grace said, addled with lust.
"Well, I'm not trying to get thrown in rock alien jail for tearing your asshole. Let me be gentle with you, Ryland. You need it."
This seemed to shift something in his brain, and Grace relaxed his muscles, allowing him in even further.
"Good boy." Simon praised, and he saw Grace's cock twitch again. "Oh, you like that, huh?"
"Mhm," Grace nodded, making grabby hand motions for Simon's face, kissing him.
Simon leaned down to kiss him deeper, shifting the angle his cock hit, drawing a deep groan from Grace as Simon felt hands in his hair. He bucked his hips, hearing a keening noise in response. Good. He was ready.
Simon pulled his face back, brushing Grace's hair out of his eyes. "I'm gonna start fucking you, okay? Tell me to stop and I will." Grace nods eagerly, and Simon pushes back into him.
Simon heard new noises from Grace he had never heard from a human before. Somewhere between a scream, a moan, and a cry. If he wasn't so attuned to Grace's body language, he would stop for fear of hurting him, but three-quarters of the way in, Grace was certainly enjoying it. Maybe he could take it all.
"So good, baby, look at you, you can take it. My Grace, you look beautiful. So blissed out." Simon was enamored by how pliant and flexible Grace was, and it made him feel like more of a lover and less of a monster. He was initially wary of Grace's thing for inhuman body parts, but he learned through experience that it was out of genuine passion. Grace looked at him with so much adoration. He adored him right back.
"Simon, fuck, I want it, give me your cock." Grace had tears falling from his eyes, and Simon wiped them away with his thumb. "I need you in me, please, don't ever leave."
"I'm not going anywhere, don't worry. I want to stay with you- fuck- forever, okay?" Simon panted, feeling his own orgasm get close. He hoped with all the hope he had left in him that he did not get Grace alien pregnant.
"Fuck, I'm close. You ready?" Simon looked at Grace, who nodded again, holding onto Simon like it was the only thing keeping him grounded.
"Please, Si. Come in me. Make it take." Grace begged, and Simon was hit with a wave of arousal so hard it almost blacked him out.
He fell onto Grace, cock shoved deep into his ass, and realized he was cumming deep inside him, pumping loads into Grace. Fuck, he could cum this much? His thoughts were dazed, and he saw Grace's cock spill cum all over their bodies. Black spots danced around his vision, and his body slumped onto Grace's.
He doesn't remember when they both woke back up. Neither him nor Grace could tell how much time had passed. All he knows was that they were both sticky messes, and that he was still inside Grace.
"Morning." Simon joked, poking Grace's cheek. "I'm about to pull out."
"Noooooooooo," Grace whined. "Then I have to go shower and clean up your jizz. That's so much work."
"I'll help you, just let me change the sheets first. They're all gross." Simon peeled himself off Grace, and the pop that Grace let out when his hole was finally free of Simon's cock made them both stare bewildered.
"I think all of Erid heard that."
"Simon, gross!" Grace threw a pillow at him.
"Go get in the shower, I'll join you." Simon promised.
—
The water was warm, but not scalding hot. Simon liked the way Grace made hums of contentment when he massaged the shampoo into his hair.
"Thanks for… all of that." Grace said sheepishly, the bathroom echo making him sound heavenly.
"Grace, I wanted it too. I'm not good at saying it all the time, but I want you. I like you. You make me feel like I can rest. That's one of my favorite things to do here, is nap with you." Simon confessed.
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah. We watch over each other. I hate feeling alone. It sucks, because I don't like to trust people. You and the rocks are nice. I can let go of the fear a little." Simon pressed a wet kiss to Grace's shoulder, and then turned around so Grace could wash his back.
"Simon, you make me feel nice. You and Rocky and Adrian are like my special alien protectors. I feel important and loved. I want to keep this. Whatever this is." His hands pressed warm circles into Simon's shoulderblades.
"What do they call it on Erid? What are Adrian and Rocky?" Simon asked.
"Mates, I think."
"Then we can be mates." Simon chuckled.
"I like that." Grace leaned his wet body against his mate, and Simon leaned back in turn.
They did end up getting that much needed nap. Fresh sheets and all, thanks to their lovely rock overseers. They'd breach the voyeurism question another time, the mates needed their rest.