Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

This is it—the cure to all my problems. In a small little syringe that Grace will give to me by poking my shoulder with it. He has told me a few times that he’s tested it with a sample of my blood and it worked. My blood was cleansed of whatever sickness the blood ocean gave me. 

Permanently.

I get to eat.

“I’m excited! Are you excited?” Grace asks, practically vibrating in his seat. I almost roll my eyes at him and tell him to just do it so I can finally experience eating. 

Grace must have felt my slight glare because he didn’t waste any time cleaning my skin with cotton and finally inserting the needle into my shoulder. I watch it disappear inside my flesh, the substance entering my body. It gave a small spark of pain like a pinch, but it disappeared quickly as Grace leaned back.

“Does it work right away?” I ask.

“Not right away; it’ll take some time. But for now, let’s get you to bed. You’ll definitely feel the effects, and I know it won’t be pretty,” Grace said.

He told me as much, but I think I can handle it. Right?

Grace eventually ushered me to his room, where I’m forced to sit while he moves around. I try to discern if I’m feeling any aftereffects, but I don’t think I am. Or maybe it just takes time; it’s fine, I can wait.

Grace makes it sound so bad, though. Dizziness, nausea—everything on the list of aftereffects is apparently there because whatever is inside my blood was very deeply entrenched. So, it’s going to take some time and pain for it to fully eradicate. 

That seems fine; I’ve gone through worse.

“Feel anything yet?” Grace asks as he prepares dinner, this time with two bowls. I don’t know if I’m allowed to eat, but he seems to be preparing it anyway.

I lay on the bed for a while, expecting my vision to spin, but it isn’t so bad. It is spinning, but I got used to it midway and spent my time with my eyes closed, lying on my side while I listen to Grace moving around, talking to Armando, singing some songs I don’t recognize even though I’m pretty sure he’s played every earth song in this house.

“Dunno, dizzy,” I mutter. 

“That’s normal! It means it’s working; it’s fighting the stuff inside your blood. It’s working!” I hear Grace cheer, and I open my eyes to see him by the door, holding two bowls and placing them by the nightstand.

“I can eat already?” I ask. Grace sits down by my feet as I look over at him, watching him eat noodles. 

“Not yet, but I want to bring this for tomorrow. So when you wake up, you can eat,” Grace said.

So tomorrow then.

So tonight is full of pain.

I make myself comfortable while I watch Grace get cozy by my feet, grabbing his laptop from the side. Is he really just going to sit there?

I look at him as he busies himself with his dinner, eating in bed while he watches something on the screen. I shift a little to give him more space and settle in more comfortably. The smell of food makes me nauseous; it’s possible that it’s a side effect of the medicine.

I expected to feel a bit hungry at the smell of food, but I just feel much more dizzy.

I don’t want to tell Grace that. I know he’ll leave the room for my comfort, but I don’t really want him to leave now that I’m starting to slowly feel the effects of the medicine. 

Like how I suddenly feel hot all over, and I’m tempted to kick away the blanket over my waist. But I just accept my fate: I’m going to boil to death. Here I thought I liked the heat.

“Still doing okay?” Grace asks, looking at me over his glasses. I bury my face in the pillow, nodding silently. I hope he takes that as an answer and a sign that I can’t really talk right now; I’m trying to align every molecule in my being to not vomit.

I probably need to ask for a vomit box.

“Can you… get a bin or some box I can vomit into just in case?” I finally ask.

I watch, almost hilariously, as Grace’s eyes widen, and he nearly drops his bowl and laptop. He sets them aside and makes a quick run out of the room. He returns with a bin and places it beside the bed. 

Thank god.

I lay there after that, falling asleep intermittently. It was like flashes: first, Grace was by my feet, and the next, he was curled up in a plush chair he had dragged into the room, his blanket wrapped around him snugly. Meanwhile, my body ached all over, and my mouth felt dry, achy, and unbearably itchy.

I feel like I want to rake my nails all over my gums to relieve the itch beneath them. 

The room is lit by a faint yellow light, and it’s dark outside the window. I can’t move my head to check the time because my body hurts too much, and my stomach is churning between bits of hunger and nausea, along with the faint smell of copper stuck in my nose for no reason at all.

I feel like my whole body is fighting something—which means the medicine is working then.

I can feel the heat behind my eyes. 

Fuck—my body really hurts, and my vision is spinning. I turned my head to bury my face into the warm pillow as I let out a shaky breath. 

This pretty much sucks. Grace warned me, but here I thought I could do it—well, I am doing it now. 

I blink blearily as I look at Grace—and for a moment, I’m not sure if it’s the mixture of every pain existing, but my mouth waters as I look at his face. My gums continue to itch, and I’m tempted to wake Grace up, but I can’t just wake a sleeping person. 

I fall asleep again after that. I didn’t have time to debate whether the sleep was good or not because the darkness engulfed me right away.

—

I woke up to light and a slightly cold hand touching my forehead. For once, I didn’t feel any more ache, nausea, or even a strong pain in each part of my body. The medicine must have finally done its work, and for once, I’m pretty grateful that the worst part is over. 

And as well, I can finally eat!

“This is it,” Grace said. 

“This is it,” I echoed as I looked down at a plate of steak (which is made out of Grace’s meat—I need to stop thinking that; I still have underlying nausea from last night).

Grace sat in front of me, and Armando whirred at the side. The robot watched me expectantly, and for a moment, I felt like I was on stage, about to perform something very embarrassing. 

I paused and looked at Grace, who was smiling at me. His glasses were knocked crooked on his face, but he didn’t do anything to fix them. “Go on,” Grace said, and I felt flushed as I took a bite. Slowly, I chewed. Grace had told me to eat slowly, just in case, since my body hadn’t been used to eating solids in a while. 

We both waited, baited breath, expecting me to hurl my guts out. Hell, Armando even had the vomit bin ready by the side, held by one of its other hands as I stared at my fork. 

After a few seconds, it turned into minutes. 

“Do you feel any different? Maybe sick?” Grace asked. I shook my head, and I could physically see Grace slump over in relief. I felt the same thing as Grace grinned at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back. 

I’m cured. 

I can finally eat now. 

“Thank you—” I started, but I was cut off when Grace stood up, walked around the table, and hugged me. “I’m glad you’re okay now,” Grace said, breathing out as his warm breath hit my ear. I let out a surprised noise, almost dropping the fork as I lowered it to pat his arm. 

I just smiled a bit, feeling warm. “Me too—still. Thank you a lot… I didn’t think you and the others would go so far as to find a way to fix whatever was wrong with me,” I murmured softly. 

Grace only leaned back. “Nothing was ever wrong with you, bud. You were just sick,” he said, giving me one of his small smiles. I smiled at him as well, feeling my chest warm at that. 

We didn’t speak for a few moments, both of us just looking at each other. Grace was looking down at me, and I was looking up at him and his very blue eyes. 

“Oh!” Grace exclaimed, finally realizing as he looked out at our plates. “Eat!” He said, gesturing at the table excitedly, almost jumping on his feet in excitement. He looked proud, really proud. 

And we ate breakfast. 

Grace finished first while I had my fourth plate. The taller male busied himself in the bathroom to prepare for the day. Meanwhile, I wondered if I should get a fifth before realizing I was getting too greedy. My stomach still rumbled, as if I hadn’t just eaten that much meat. 

Granted, it had been a while since I’d eaten, and God, I missed eating. Better yet, the food here wasn’t just a mashed combination of every disgusting food ever, unlike in the COI station where I had to eat goop with a taste I couldn’t even understand. 

I was still hungry, but I had to stop; I might vomit it back up if I ate too much. 

“Think I can join you for class today?” I asked Grace as I watched him slip on a colorful jacket. 

“What?” Grace startled as he spotted me sitting by the couch. He adjusted his glasses. “Can I come with?” I asked again. 

“Uhh.” Grace seemed to think about it. “You just came down from the medicine; I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He pointed out as he shuffled awkwardly. 

I felt fine, pretty fine. 

“I feel okay,” I said as Grace made a ‘hmph’ sound, as if he was actually debating it. He looked torn between saying yes and letting me go and saying no so I could rest more. 

I probably should be resting more. But I’d done nothing but rest for months. I hadn’t seen the sand in a while or even stepped on it. I wanted to walk, not just be inside four walls (Granted, we were still in a dome even outside, but the thought still counted, right?). 

“Please?” I added for good measure—and I knew Grace couldn’t say no when I said please (this also applied to Eridians that had learned how to use the word please). I could see Grace slump at that, nodding. “Yeah—yeah sure, the kids missed you. They’ve been asking about you, actually,” he said as I stood up to get closer to him. 

Are they? 

“Really?” I asked, and Grace nodded, wearing a small smile. 

“Yeah. They liked my assistant teacher,” he said, and I felt a bit warm at that comment for no reason. It shouldn’t matter that Eridian children liked me, but for some reason, it mattered a lot to me. 

“Well… I wasn’t really a good assistant.” I shrugged helplessly, but Grace just nudged me at that. “Kids like you; I’d say that’s one hell of a good assistant of mine,” he grinned at me.

I looked at him and couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Grace seemed proud as he winked at me before patting my shoulder. For a moment, his hand lingered, and his eyes stayed on my face as if he were trying to map everything out and remember it.

Then, I think it got awkward because his face pinched, and he walked past. “Okay, let’s go,” he cleared his throat as I hummed blankly behind him.

The walk to the cave was silent, aside from the loud waves from the ocean—God, I miss this; I’ve been asleep for so long.

“My house is finished,” I pointed out absently as I looked at a cottage beside Grace’s house. How I didn’t notice it coming out of Grace’s house is beyond me. I saw Grace stop and look. “Oh yep, I forgot to tell you about that,” he said, pushing his glasses up to his nose as we both looked at the cottage. 

It was… beautiful. And the fact that it’s all for me makes me feel warm inside.

“Ah—hm… are there any furniture pieces inside?” I asked as I walked closer behind Grace, who started to walk once more. “Yeah, the last thing we have to get there is Grabby himself,” Grace said.

I felt flustered that he actually went with that idea… That’s nice. 

“So, I guess I get my bedroom back,” Grace joked as he shot me a look I couldn’t read. “Yay,” I deadpanned.

I was a bit excited to live in a nice home made for me. The house isn’t large by any means, but Grace had mentioned that Eridians have this strange ability to make a house look smaller from the outside; the moment you get inside, it’s very spacious. Grace’s house is one of those examples.

“Also, what do you think about having a tree behind your house?” Grace asked as I fell into step beside him.

“That would be nice,” I replied as I stared forward. I could feel Grace inching close by my shoulder, our shoulders knocking together but not pushing.

I don’t know what he’s doing, but… it’s nice. 

I don’t think I’ve experienced this with any of my Eden brothers. Sure, we’ve tussled around like normal boys, but as I started growing up, I think they slowly began to see that I was a hundred miles different from all of them; that I wouldn’t bow and follow their beliefs.

I guess that’s the reason why none of them hesitated to blame me for Filament Station, huh?

“Still here? Just so you know, you’ve got to be focused today; can’t have the kids sitting on you and breaking your bones.” Grace nudged me, slipping his glasses off again and letting them hang on his ear as I glared at it (why does he even do that? What if it falls?).

“I’m here,” I said as Grace gave me an excited smile and rushed up the hill toward the cave. “Last one’s a rotten egg,” he said. 

I don’t know what that means.

The Eridian children are very… excited to see me. Grace was right about boundaries. I do need to establish them—I should start putting down boundaries.

They didn’t waste any time flocking around me and using me as their squishy pillow. Thankfully, Grace must have warned them or something beforehand because he was the one who got up the cave first, leaving them lighter as they were carrying their weight while also leaning on me.

I ended up sitting with the class while Grace taught, moving around the little circle of pebbles. 

He’s a good teacher.

—

My teeth hurt. My gums hurt. My whole mouth hurts.  

I think it’s because I haven’t brushed my teeth for months. I don’t think Grabby can do any of that. I gagged at the coppery taste as I continued to brush my teeth, the bristles hitting the aching gums around my canines as I leaned over the sink, gritting my teeth to at least alleviate the pain and the itch I was feeling at the moment.  

I eyed the mouthwash at the side of the sink. Grace had the Eridian scientist make me one when I mentioned that my gums had started bleeding, as well as floss. He taught me how to properly clean my teeth to avoid… Ginga—Gingivitis—I can’t remember.  

It’s a word about a gum problem with teeth, starting with G and ending with S, and I can’t seem to care because my teeth hurt and itch.  

I could hear Grabby whirring outside the bathroom, cleaning the table, with plates clanging left and right.  

Oh yeah. I’ve just had ten servings of breakfast—I don’t know if that’s normal. It’s been weeks since I last got my medicine, but I’m always so hungry.  

Adrian said it’s because I’ve been drinking water for so long that my body was just excited to eat normal human food. Grace has the same idea; it’s not a problem—but I feel strangely embarrassed and ashamed that I’m eating so much.  

I spat a few mouthfuls of toothpaste, swallowing a little when I saw red at the bottom of the sink.  

That somehow became normal—my gums get so inflamed that they bleed from time to time. Grace already had a look at it, and he said I just need to not only brush but also floss and use mouthwash with some medicine on it, according to the Eridian doctors, to heal the irritated gums.  

It’s probably all this eating that’s causing my teeth and gums to react this way.  

I’m not surprised, but… it feels a little too extreme. It’s not like I haven’t been eating for years; it’s not like my teeth weren’t used. Sure, I had no food to chew, but it’s just strange that this is the aftermath of eating too much.  

It makes me a little worried.  

I trust Grace and Adrian, as well as their Eridian doctors, but I feel something is different with this.  

I left the bathroom, wiping my mouth, blood leaving my lips as I saw Grabby whirring and turning to me, looking at the white towel splattered with blood.  

“Just my gums acting up,” I said, and Grabby made a motion of nodding and went back to cleaning the plates while I folded the towel and left it hanging by the dining chair before heading to the living room.  

I’m now living alone in my own house. Grace is probably in his house right now resting.  

The cottage is nice; in fact, the place is amazing. I love it. It’s spacious with just me and Grabby. I can decide if I want to sleep in my bed or on the couch.  

But it gets lonely because I don’t hear the familiar walking, humming, or even the loudness of Grace. And I know I’m being melodramatic—he’s just a few steps away in his own house outside. We’re sharing the same hill, after all.  

But…  

I don’t think I can just go there now that I have my own place to stay. I feel like I would be imposing.  

Grace doesn’t seem to mind that I’m not there anymore; I guess he did get tired of sleeping on the couch after all.  

I don’t miss him; I see him every day when he goes to class, and I drag myself out along with him because being an assistant teacher seems like the only job I can do here for the time being until Grace has an idea of what to do with the little old me.  

But I miss being watched while resting (that itself seems pretty surprising; I didn’t think I’d get used to it so fast).  

But then again, it’s not the same as it was last time anymore. I’m fixed now. I think my sleeping has improved. According to Grace, I now have brain activity while sleeping. Sure, I still sleep like a dead log, and I am still essentially like an Eridian when sleeping. But it’s marginally better now; I can respond to extreme stimuli.  

So if anyone decided to punch me, I’d definitely wake up and punch back.  

I don’t do much aside from watch TV, waiting for dinner to come, or, better yet, read a book while I lay on the couch.  

Grabby whirrs by the kitchen as I sigh, running my tongue over my teeth, feeling how itchy they are but painful at the same time. It makes me want to rake my nails against my gums to scratch the itch, but I know that it’ll definitely bleed again, and I’ll have to wash my mouth out again with the mouthwash.  

I lay there on the couch, dropping the face of the book on my chest as I stare at the ceiling. I have nothing to do. No one is making noise in the house for days; no one is talking my ear off.  

I think I miss being Grace’s roommate.  

That’s a bit scary; I have no idea why. Well, maybe the fact that I’ve gotten so used to his presence now, always being around even when unneeded.

I sighed and threw the crook of my elbow over my face. Maybe I should just sleep and finalize the fact that I am indeed a couch potato. I fell asleep soon after that.

I woke around 12 AM, disturbed by Grabby, who had apparently been trying to wake me up for a few hours for dinner. I had a pounding headache, and my stomach was churning with hunger so badly that I was shaking when I sat up. My hand trembled as I raised it in the air.

I was so incredibly hungry. I could smell food, but it was faint.

The robot had set up my dinner, which had gotten cold while I washed my mouth, which tasted like copper again, spewing out bloody water before eating dinner. 

“Thank you, Grabby,” I said as I watched Grabby hand me the utensils and flip the bowl cover it had placed over the plate.

I ate in silence, this time slowly, even though my hand wanted to just grab the food and shove it into my mouth. The meat was soft (still trying not to remember the fact that I was eating a piece of Grace at the moment; otherwise, I’d feel a bit sick at that thought). My teeth ached every time I bit down, but I was so hungry.

The headache persisted as I received my third plate from Grabby. “Hey, do you have painkillers? I’ve got a headache,” I said between bites. Grabby moved, one of its hands popping out and placing a singular pill by my plate. I muttered a small thank you, grabbed the glass of water, and drank before going back to eating.

I stopped at the fourth serving, mostly because the feeling of shame was slowly creeping in about how much food I was eating in just one day and how often the Eridians came and went to refill my refrigerator with every single item of food that Grace had placed here and told the Eridians to keep stocking.

In a week, the Eridians came two to three times if I got extremely hungry. 

With Grace, before I could eat regular food (and I was still his faithful roommate). Stocking happened every two to three weeks, sometimes four because Grace ate too little but drank too much coffee.

I didn’t get large nor even skinny, but I was always hungry. Because of that, my gums were bleeding. 

And I was pretty scared that I might lose a tooth if I continued this.

I watched Grabby clean the table while I spent an hour in the bath, submerged in hot, almost boiling water as I sat there, feeling at home.

—

“Sweet baby Jesus, it’s hot in here. Did you crank up the heater? You do know it gets hot outside in the morning, right? It’s only for nights.” Grace greets me by the door, stepping back and wincing at the heat inside my house. 

There was steam coming out, and somehow I just noticed now that it is hot, but it’s a comfortable heat for me.

I also note his clothes; I just woke up, and he’s already set for the day. I fell asleep on the couch earlier at midnight. The bed feels too large for me all of a sudden, and I don’t know why. It’s not like I’ve shared a bed with anyone in a long time. “It’s cold,” I said, but I cranked the heater down from the wall as Grace entered, sliding his jacket off and waving a hand at his face, looking sweaty right away as he scanned the room. “It’s hot, Si. Also, did you just wake up—wait, can I make coffee here? I don’t want to go back to my house,” Grace said. He didn’t wait for me to respond and rushed toward the kitchen. 

His house is literally twenty steps away from mine, but I don’t point it out. I hear a loud crash and someone yelping. Typical Grace. “Hey, why are all the blinds closed? It’s so dark in here!” I hear him scream; I don’t respond. It’s not dark; it’s decently lit up. The blinds are barely closed, just a little. Grabby must have done that for me and my headache earlier. 

I step over Grace, who somehow managed to slip on a rug on the floor, and go to my room to prepare for the day. I opt for a simple shirt and pants because I don’t think I have it in me to think about what to wear today; it’s not like Eridians care about our clothes and what we wear. 

I brush my teeth, noting how there is more blood today and how my gums look really red and inflamed, especially around my canines—both lower and upper. It’s probably because I usually chew around my molars and to my canines, but I’m an avid right-side eater. I don’t understand why both are looking a bit red. 

“Did you eat breakfast yet?” Grace asked, sitting by the dining table, eyeing the plate covered by a bowl as I leave the bathroom, wiping my mouth and hiding the bloody towel from Grace. I shook my head. It’s late; I’ll eat later. My stomach rumbles, though, and my body feels weak, but it’s not like I’m going to tell that to Grace. “You should eat first; the kids don’t mind if we’re late,” Grace smiles. I just shake my head again. “It’s fine; I’ll just eat after. It’s not like I do anything aside from sitting down and acting as their cushion,” I said blandly as Grace snorted at that, dangling his glasses over his ear once more. 

“Alright—you sure? You look a bit peckish, pale around the sides. I know how your appetite is,” Grace said offhandedly, and I felt myself warm at that comment, feeling ashamed. “I’m fine,” I said, feeling strangely annoyed at someone pointing out my eating habits. 

“Hey, it’s no problem; you haven’t eaten normal food in months,” Grace said softly as he stood up, finishing the last drops of his coffee and handing it to Grabby. I tried not to glare at him, but I think I failed. Grace winced a little as he walked past me. 

We go out. And God—I stopped by the door and groaned at the light above us. For a moment, I can hear my ears ringing, and my eyes get promptly blinded by the artificial sun above us. I feel tempted to move back and hide in the deepest, darkest part of the house. Grace paused in front of me. “Simon? What’s wrong?” he asks as I feel a pounding pain in my head again, coming back like a big punch as I lean against the doorframe, hiding slightly behind it as I press my forehead against the warm wall. 

“The light,” I said. “What’s wrong with the sun?” Simon asks. “Too bright,” I added as I hit my forehead against the wall a bit to try to clear my headache—it worked for a moment, but opening my eyes again made my body tremble, and the hairs on my body stood on end as I hid behind the frame again from the light. 

That’s when I finally noticed how dark the inner parts of the house were as I stayed there. I felt Grace place a hand on my elbow, where one of my hands was holding onto the frame as I leaned there. “Headache? Want to stay at home?” Grace asked. I didn’t reply right away. My head pounded a few more times before I stood up properly and shook my head. I’m going with him; I don’t want to keep myself stuck like this over a simple problem. It’s just a headache; I woke up late because of my messed-up sleep schedule, and it’s bothering my eyes. 

“Fine… Let’s go,” I said, and pushed Grace out of the way and out of the house as I closed the door. I tried not to grit my teeth as I felt the sun beaming down on us. “You sure?” he asks. Somehow, that made me feel a bit pissed. “I’m fine. Stop asking,” I said—this time with more force than normal.

Grace startles at that; even I did too. My stomach churns when Grace wears a face of hurt, stepping back. The hand that was about to touch my elbow moves back, pocketed in his own pants. 

I didn’t think I could sound like that. “I—I’m fine,” I said again, but I had already done the damage. Grace gives me a small frown before nodding and walking down the hill. I stand there, wiping a hand across my face. The sun shines down, and I feel a headache slowly traveling to the left side of my head. The ache in my mouth reminds me of how dry my lips are, on the verge of cracking and bleeding.

I follow after Grace. “Sorry,” I say as I fall into step beside him. Grace just shoots me a small smile. “It’s fine. Headaches are a pain; maybe we can finish class in just an hour—Joseph wants you back in the lab so he can check your gums and see what he can do about it.” Grace’s voice is soft, not loud. 

It’s like he doesn’t want to worsen my headache. I try not to let that get to me—my eyes burn a bit at that. 

“Okay,” I said. 

We walk in tense silence, or maybe it’s just me. Grace looks fine; he’s humming softly, a small tune, and skipping as he walks, spreading a bit of sand over my feet. But I don’t mind. I can’t help but forget my headache and the aching of my teeth and gums.

Class went well. Grace wasn’t kidding about shortening it. The kids were all sad for the class to end quickly, but Grace simply said I needed a check-up in the lab, and all of them agreed. 

“Bye, Simon,” I hear a sandy-colored Eridian chirp at me in Eridian—it’s Sandy, one of Grace’s best students. 

I’m getting closer to understanding the Eridian language (it’s a self-study; Rocky and Grace offered to teach me, but I’m scared they’ll find out I’m slow, so I turned them down). But all I really know is my name, Grace’s, their names, “bye,” “hello,” and “thank you,” along with a few commonly used sentences. 

“See you tomorrow, Sandy,” I say as Sandy lets out a happy trill, jumping excitedly while chirping a few Eridian words I can barely understand before running off with her friends.

“Usually we don’t have favorites in a class,” Grace comments behind me as he closes his laptop. 

I give him a look at that, and Grace grins at me. “Come on, let’s get your check-up. The lab practically misses your presence. We should get you a shirt that says ‘Someone who keeps getting sent to the lab,’ huh?” he jokes again as we walk down the hill.

I snort at that, unable to stop myself from rolling my eyes. 

I can’t help but agree, though. The sun is still a pain in the ass; in fact, every light feels like a pain in the ass. It sends my ears ringing every time I look at the sun in the bio-dome or the fluorescent lights in the lab as Grace and I walk.

We have to stop because Grace is speaking with a few Eridian scientists about something. Grace wears a small face of apprehension, giving me a look before he nods and says some words I can’t hear from where I stand. Eventually, we go our merry way to Joseph’s office. 

The lab has two sectors: the part where Grace and I can walk and where Eridians have to wear their xenonite suits, and the part where Eridians can walk around freely without them. The air is filled with ammonia, and Grace and I can’t go there, but it’s divided by see-through xenonite glass that is reinforced to ensure nothing from our air gets through and inadvertently kills them.

It’s in a specific level of the lab since most of the space is human-proof. This part is mostly just… I don’t know. Machines? Other things? It’s hard to say; science stuff still happens here, apparently, because I see a few familiar Eridian scientists walking inside their xenonite chambers. 

I guess this level is just for the comfort and space of the Eridians since it’s probably hard for them to keep wearing their suits. I mean, I hated wearing xenonite suits. But then again, the last time I did, I vomited inside it. Who wouldn’t hate that?

“Hey, Seph. Got Simon here for you. His gums are still bleeding. Hey, Simon, tell him about it,” Grace says as I nod. 

I watch Joseph, a ruby-colored Eridian who is a bit taller and larger than the others, fit into his suit, clicking and chirping as I hear the voice box open. He leaves the xenonite chamber, walking through the doors and coming up to us. 

“Simon feeling good. Question?” Joseph greets me as he motions for me to follow him to the metal table, where he grabs the rolling rails and climbs up. I sit by the table as I watch Grace leave the room, talking to a few scientists who hand him some kind of tablet to look at. 

I watch him until Joseph appears in my field of vision, opening and closing his claws to get my attention. “Simon, here. Question?” Joseph asks, and I flush. “Sorry. Yeah. Uhm, my gums are still bleeding. The mouthwash works; it stops the itching and aching for a while. Flossing hurts a lot, especially around my canines and at the back. Brushing makes my gums bleed a lot too,” I try to explain as Joseph clicks and hums, picking up a xenonite stick and telling me to open my mouth.

He has his camera at the side and a screen where I can see my own mouth as he points it inside. The screen moves like sand, showing the insides. It doesn’t look weird—in fact it looks quite interesting. 

The camera hums as Joseph clicks, making a few low notes that the translator can’t interpret. 

“Joseph sees bleeding, especially around the back of the mouth. Very bad, but not bad, bad, bad, bad. Can fix; Joseph knows how to help with pain. Use a less hard brush, water flossing, and a better mouthwash. Also, eat less hard human food to lessen the ache and pain,” Joseph says as he moves back. 

I massage my jaw a little. “So I can’t eat too much hard stuff, like...?” I ask. 

“Meat. Simon should start eating soup with very, very, very soft meat. Boil it for a long time so it doesn’t irritate the gums. Joseph will ask Julia to grab a water flosser for Simon, is a new creation by Eridian mechanics for Simon. Joseph foresaw this happening.” Joseph says as I nod silently. 

I watch him climb down the handrails, moving around and ordering some of the Eridian nurses who came out of the xenonite chamber to prepare the water flosser for me. 

“Julia will teach Simon how to use the water flosser later. Now, are there any more problems that Joseph needs to know about?” Joseph asks, climbing the handrail again as I shrug. 

“Is it normal for me to continue feeling hungry even after it’s been weeks since I got the medicine?” I ask. 

Joseph doesn’t reply to that right away, just a series of humming, clicking, and crooning. 

“Joseph doesn’t know yet. Must read more about human health from the thinking machine. But Joseph believes Simon’s body is still getting used to normal food,” he says. 

That’s the same thing Grace said. I believe them. 

“After a few weeks?” I ask again. 

“Very normal. Some Eridians are the same as Simon. Very, very hungry always after being forced to not eat normally,” Joseph says as I sigh, nodding. 

“Anything else?” Joseph asks. 

I shake my head. I have a lot more to ask, but they seem like stupid questions. I feel like I’m making a big deal out of everything anyway. 

“All good,” I say, giving him a thumbs up. Joseph copies me, but his is a thumbs down. 

“Julia will come up now to teach Simon about the water flosser. See you soon, Simon. Joseph hopes Simon is good when he comes back.” Joseph makes a move with his arm, tapping his claw on it as I do the same. 

It’s their ‘see you soon,’ and I suppose I like that they don’t really say goodbye. Kind of. They have a ‘see you soon,’ which I now dub as goodbye. 

“See you soon, Joseph. Thank you,” I say, and Joseph chirps happily as Julia switches with him. 

“Simon ready to learn?” she asks. 

“Hit me,” I say.

—

“Checkup went well?” Grace asks as we walk back home.

“A bit. Joseph said I should eat softer meats and foods and avoid irritating my gums. That’s why they keep bleeding. And it doesn’t help that I eat too much,” I replied.

Grace hums at that. “That’s fine. You know—back when I first got here, Mary didn’t have enough food for the trip to Erid, so I basically had to eat Taumoeba,” he said.

I made a face at that. “The thing that solved the astrophage problem?” I asked.

Yes, I remember the word now; it’s the same thing that basically saved my ass.

“Eeeeyep. Trust me, not my best moment. But I developed scurvy after a few years in space on the way to Erid. My hair started to fall out, and my lips and mouth kept bleeding. Look, I even lost a tooth at the back,” Grace said, opening his mouth and leaning towards me so I could see.

I couldn’t help but laugh and move back. Grace grinned at that as he dropped his hand and leaned away.

We continued to walk.

“That must have been tough,” I said after a beat.

“It was,” Grace looked at me, giving me a painful smile. “But I had Rocky. He took care of me. I couldn’t even move or walk; I was bedbound for so long.” Grace let out a small sigh. “I thought I was going to die. You know, I had this feeling like, ‘Oh, I’m going to die because of scurvy, the same sickness that on Earth is pretty much rare now. And I can’t believe I’ll die from that.’ It’s a pretty funny thought process because back then, pirates used to get it.”

“I guess you can start calling me a space pirate,” Grace joked.

“After you got here, you got better, right?” I asked. Grace hummed and shrugged.

“Not right away; healing isn’t like magic, you know. It took me a whole year to get back on my feet. I was still stuck in Mary while they focused on making the biodome for me and food that had enough nutrients. They lacked everything a human needs on Erid,” Grace said.

So I guess in a way, Grace is the first test subject, and I get to reap the rewards since now they know about humans more than I do, probably.

“But Rocky was there with me the whole time. Even when we reached Erid, I still had the feeling that I might genuinely die… but you know Rocky. He did everything he could. Adrian too,” Grace smiled softly at that.

I didn’t reply.

Grace is a strong man; it doesn’t take someone with good eyes to see it.

“You’re a brave and strong man, Grace,” I said after a moment, and Grace turned red at that.

“I’m not!” he exclaimed, flushed.

I just snorted and shook my head. He’s bad at accepting compliments from time to time.

“Anyways, back to the point. You’ve got us. You’ve already gotten through the virus you got from the moon you came from. Teeth problems are much easier now, and it doesn’t hurt to accept help too. We’re all here. Me, Rocky, Adrian, Chia, hell, even the kids,” Grace said.

“I’m not saying you have scurvy… just wanted to give a small speech for you and stuff,” Grace added as I snorted at him, unable to stop rolling my eyes, causing Grace to pout as he knocked our shoulders together.

He stumbled at that, and I grabbed his elbow in time.

We both stopped at that. He looked over before he laughed.

My head continued to pound, but his laugh sounded nice, so I didn’t think I minded getting a headache over as I cracked a small smile. “Alright, save your speech for a better one. I get your point,” I said with a small shrug as Grace pushed me towards the ocean. 

I fell into the water with a loud yelp; it was cold—but not uninviting (it felt a bit better for my headache).

Grace was hunched over, laughing at me, and I didn't have time to choose to think about whether what I was doing was right or wrong because I pulled his leg, and he fell over me, forcing him to dive into the water as he screamed much louder than I’d ever heard him scream.

“Gosh dang it!” Grace shouted, his glasses knocked to the side, his whole body wet and his hair flattened down as I grinned at him.

A wave crashed down on us, causing us to slide back, Grace falling over my leg as he grunted, annoyed that I one-upped him. 

What a sore loser.

Grace slapped his hand on the water, throwing it straight at my face and sending salty cold water straight into my mouth.

I choked at that and did the same.