Chapter Text
♩♫♭♭♫ joined the rest of the gathered thrum at the base of the elevator.
The docking process had gone smoothly enough, with the alien ship only slightly overshooting, but the docking equipment was nothing if not adjustable. No one had expected Rocky to manage it perfectly, since they hadn't been trained as a pilot, and who knew what kind of dreadful controls might be in place on a ship that contained fucking oxygen.
Rocky had declared that Grace would remain on the ship until there was a suitable place prepared for him on Erid, but they would come down to meet with the thrum. ♩♫♭♭♫ was disappointed that they'd have to wait to meet the hybrid pebble. But they couldn't argue the logic, even if leaving a pebble alone for an extended period was generally unadvisable.
But this wasn't a normal pebble. Rocky had given them a list of needs for Grace's survival, but nothing about what they sounded like. The aliens couldn't be horrible to hear, not if Rocky was inclined to mate with one. ♩♫♭♭♫ was a bit sad they wouldn't get to meet the alien that caught Rocky's echolocation.
It also raised the question of what happened to the pebble's other parent. As far as ♩♫♭♭♫ knew, no one had asked that question yet. It would be an insensitive topic to bring up in the pebble's hearing.
But even if they weren't asking, they were still speculating. ♩♫♭♭♫ had heard several ideas of what happened to the original alien life that owned the ship, but the one that uneased them came from some of the more... creative members of the biology thrum, who proposed the alien life might be similar to the disturbing ♩♩♫--a rare species of insect that consumed their progenitors after hatching. Just thinking about them made ♩♫♭♭♫ shiver.
♩♫♭♭♫ didn't like how easily the theory was twisted to explain the absence of the alien parent and the shortage of food for the pebble. They even went so far as to claim Rocky was only spared because of the atmospheric differences and that the heavy metals in Eridians would rule them out as food. As much as ♩♫♭♭♫ liked the idea of the hybrid pebble not viewing them as possible food, it didn't make the theory as a whole any more appealing.
If it proved true though, the scientists proposed that they might be able to use the pebble's own genetic tissue to create food for it. Disgust. ♩♫♭♭♫ wished they had not been in the area when that conversation happened. They were not a part of that or any thrum tasked with providing food for the pebble; they did not need to know such things.
Well, they would have answers soon enough; the elevator was almost here.
One of the thrum elders tapped a claw against the floor. "Must everyone be here?"
Not everyone. Some had to stay to monitor communication from the ship, and work couldn't stop on preparing for the pebble just to hear Rocky's arrival.
And Rocky's mate had still not arrived on site. It was possible they had thought the message was faked and had dismissed it. For Rocky's sake, ♩♫♭♭♫ hoped that was not it.
"It is a historic moment. Would you deprive them of witnessing it, ♪♪♭♩♮♩?" the secondary elder hummed.
"No, no, of course not."
♩♫♭♭♫ tried not to vibrate out of their carapace as the elevator reached the ground level. This was it. Their first hearing of the solo survivor of the mission to stop the star eater, the first point of contact with the sentient aliens, and the Eridian crazy enough to go where no Eridian had gone before.
The door opened.
Oh, no wonder Rocky had fucked an alien. He was a freak freak.
♩♫♭♭♫ , and everyone else, went sleep still. The constant background hum of equipment kept them from being deaf in the silence, but it left everything, thankfully, blurred.
Until elder ♪♪♭♩♮♩ broke it, bringing everything back into sharp focus. "Savoir Rocky," their song was stilted, "why are you naked?"
Rocky, still inside the elevator, seemed to shift their weight from one side to the other. "Grace ship small. Rocky bring only necessities."
"Clothes weren't a necessity?"
"Clothes for polite company. Grace not polite company."
Well, none of them could argue that, after all, most Eridians didn't bother covering themselves in the privacy of their own homes unless they were expecting visitors from outside their cluster. Though it did raise some questions about what they were teaching their pebble. What if Grace had no manners? They were still young enough to teach them, but even ♩♫♭♭♫ knew it was harder to instill good manners when they didn't start as soon as the pebbles were old enough to understand.
Or what if the aliens didn't wear clothing at all? As much as ♩♫♭♭♫ wanted to hear what the pebble sounded like in the carapace, they didn't want to hear everything, especially when it came to a non-cluster pebble. It would be inappropriate.
"You did not think to keep any for this event?"
"Rocky had more pressing concerns."
♪♪♭♩♮♩ trilled in disapproval as the secondary elder ordered someone to go find Rocky something to wear. "We should move this to a private room for your debriefing."
Rocky suddenly stretched to their full height, not that it was much. "No. Rocky come down to check preparations for Grace."
The secondary elder stepped in. "Do not worry, we have the best Eridians in their fields preparing things for your pebble."
"...What?"
♩♫♭♭♫ felt a pang of sympathy for Rocky. They had been gone a very long time, but was it really so long that they did not expect the best treatment? They were the one to bring back to fix for the star eater, but even without that, ♩♫♭♭♫ did not doubt that in Erid's joy at having a survivor return, they would've still given them and their pebble the best care.
Clearly, the secondary elder's mind was running along the same lines as they let out a small, caring coo. "We are prepared to give your sick pebble Grace all they need to be healthy and whole, Savoir Rocky. You saved our sun and Erid; we will not stand by while you lose a clustermember."
Rocky was still, before hesitantly bobbing his carapace in an odd motion. "Yes, yes, yes, Grace poor sick pebble. Need Erid's best care. Rocky oversee."