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It happened fast. Faster than you could have ever expected.
Your job was to pilot- to keep the hail mary just out of reach of Adrian’s hostile atmosphere.
There was no time to think. Grace was still outside while time ran out, desperately clinging to the collector. The tension made you want to scream.
You did what you could. Held on until Grace made it safely inside, though disoriented.
The last thing you could remember was the feeling of your head meeting the control board in front of you, while Rocky’s translator chirped away beside you- words you couldn’t comprehend as the world around you went darker than the depths of space.
“Eye movement detected. Good morning, co-pilot Vale.”
Above you, a robotic arm waved, slowly bringing you back to consciousness.
“What is 2+2?”
Your first thoughts were a jumble of questions- words strung together in your head that only made sense to you, in your, assumably concussed, state.
…what exactly is a ‘2’ again?
“…2?”
“Incorrect. What is 1+2?”
You groaned, your hands, feeling heavier than usual, moving to rub against your temples- a dull pain pounded through your head, unrelenting.
“Enough of that- leave her be.”
A familiar voice came from your left.
You turned your head weakly- a mess of dirty blonde hair. Thin rimmed glasses hanging from one ear.
That shirt- the words were clearer now- ‘I wear this shirt periodically’.
You let out a soft chuckle- more like a huff.
“Good nap?” He said, voice low, conscious of your injury.
“Good nap,” you replied, reaching out weakly. “Though my head is killing me.”
He smiled, taking your hand- he was warm.
“I bet. You took a good hit to the head.”
You closed your eyes for a moment- despite the ache, you still tried to recall what had happened.
Adrian. Grace. Rocky.
Rocky.
Where was Rocky?
You opened your eyes again, searching around- no sign of the slightly nosy yet easily loveable space rock.
“Rocky?” You chirped, eyes meeting Grace’s- you noticed how his expression changed, even slightly.
“After you were injured, I..” he started, pausing for a while- he pulled a chair to sit beside your bed, staring at your hand as he swiped the pad of his thumb over your knuckles.
“You…?”
He looked back up- met your eyes- looked away again.
“I tried to get us out of Adrian’s atmosphere. The pressure, the motion..” he continued, sighing. “I passed out. Rocky left his ball to stabilise us.”
You shot up, elbows pushing your body from the bed, dizziness instantly hitting you- you didn’t get far before Grace hauled you back onto the pillows.
That didn’t stop you from fighting.
You slipped from your bed to the floor before he could catch you, only getting a few steps further than before- and then your legs betrayed you.
“Son of a bitch,” you hissed, letting out a frustrated grunt as you let your face meet the cold hard floor.
It wasn’t long before two firm hands flipped you back over, a slightly amused expression meeting your own.
“Rocky is resting, Vale. Resting.”
“Resting? He left his ball, Grace.”
“Resting,” he repeated, hand coming to rest on your forehead, stroking hair away gently, fingers running over the bandages there. “He’ll wake up.”
Silence followed, a pout resting on your lips, a small smile on his- you didn’t believe it, but it was hard to be mad at him.
“..now,” he spoke, sliding a hand. Under your head to keep you comfortable. “Can I help co-pilot Vale back into bed?”
You wrapped your arms around his neck- reluctantly.
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Your next few days were consumed by rest.
Grace wouldn’t let you move from what he dubbed ‘sick bay’, like he was your middle school nurse.
It had been ages- you felt fine. Maybe a bit dizzy every time you tried to sit up, but fine.
This time, you wouldn’t let him drag you back to bed.
He had been consumed in his research recently. The substance they had extracted, which he had dubbed ‘Taumoeba’, had him hunched over in the lab for hours at a time, mumbling to himself as he took notes.
You tiptoed from bed, glancing over at the entrance to the lab- Grace, asleep, glasses squished against his face.
You moved past, smiling at the sight- he had been visiting you at odd hours. Whenever he woke up.
As you headed towards the cockpit, you passed Rocky, curled up in his enclosure. Resting, Grace had said.
His favourite blanket lay in a pile right beside the glass.
Your mind fought with itself for a moment- Grace loved that thing. You couldn’t take it.
…but it wasn’t like you could get far on a spaceship.
And thats how you found yourself in the pilot’s seat, wrapped in his blanket, letting your muscle memory come to you as your fingers pushed and prodded the tiny huddles of glowing buttons.
“Mary, where exactly are we headed?”
“We are currently in a suspended state, ordered by Dr Grace,” the robotic voice responded.
“..suspended?” You mumbled- you both knew full well this was a suicide mission, but.. “…moving towards earth could benefit the speed at which the probes arrive, which would then launch restoration efforts sooner, and then…”
“Talking to yourself?”
You jumped, hard, eyes blown wide as you turned to look at Grace by your side- when the hell had he gotten in here?
“Grace..” you sighed, relaxing- but your heart was still pounding, for some odd reason. “Don’t scare me like that.”
“I see Ive found my blanket thief,” he replied, leaning against the back of your chair on his elbow, smirking. “Comfy, huh?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” you huffed. “Closest blanket I could find.”
“…not the one on your bed?”
You paused- what a stupid excuse. Both of you knew that you hadn’t took his blanket just because it was the nearest one.
“Shut up, Grace.” You mumbled, turning away, pink on your cheeks.
He hummed, pushing against your chair to spin you around to face him, eyes trailing along your face, landing on the fresh bandage against your temple.
“You’re still bleeding?” He mumbled, eyebrows furrowing as he reached out to brush the fabric.
“Just a precaution,” you replied. “Not bleeding, just healing.”
Grace kept staring. You stared back.
“I’ll be fine, Grace.”
His hand cupped your jaw. Gently turned your face to check for any other injuries.
“Grace.”
His thumb moved over your lips- shut you up.
He cared for you. More than you thought he did. More than he knew he did, until you had gotten that hurt.
His eyes, deep and blue, bore into yours- not with intensity, but with comfort. Some sort of connection you had both been ignoring the entire time you had known each other.
You had met when he was recruited onto the project.
A school teacher- someone you hadn’t taken seriously at first. But of course, with his stupid charm, you had found yourself spending more time around him than you had realised.
He was so smart. So funny. So caring.
You hated it.
Because you knew you were never coming back. You knew that if you left too much of an impression on each other, it would be harder to leave.
So when you found him on the hail mary with you when you woke up, you thought you had died because, well- who sedates a middle school teacher and throws him on a suicide mission?
But he, again, was funny. Good company. Great company, even.
Smart. Optimistic. Maybe kind of slightly just a little bit handsome.
But you were in space. You don’t have time to sit around and crush on him like a teenager.
But, for now.. you could allow yourself a moment of weakness. Just a few more seconds to savour how his fingers felt against your face.
“….vale?”
You hadn’t even noticed- you had been daydreaming.
Your eyes snapped back to his, blinking in confusion.
“Grace? Did you say something?”
“Yeah, I…” he breathed, face closer to yours than you had realised. “May I..?”
“May you….?”
He blinked- you stared.
He inched closer. It clicked in your slow brain.
“Grace..” you whispered, tilting your head slightly to accommodate him, watching as his eyes focused on your lips.
“Friend Grace and friend Vale here, question?”
You both jumped, foreheads knocking as the familiar sound of Rocky’s translator called out.
“Friends Grace and Vale mating, question?”
He rolled himself into the cockpit, watching as you two scrambled away from each other, faces turning red.
“Rocky- mating!?” Grace called back, head snapping towards him.
“Friends close. Rocky assumed this is human mating ritual.”
“No, Rocky, humans….” You started, before the realisation hit you. “..Rocky?”
“Yes, question?”
you jumped from your seat, hugging up against his ball, much to his confusion- even more so when Grace joined in.
“You’re alright, Rocky!” You cooed, your hand squeezing around Grace’s without even noticing- he squeezed back.
“Why friend think Rocky not okay, question?”
“You were asleep for a while, bud,” Grace replied, smiling at him. “You made quite the sacrifice.”
“Friends hurt. Rocky helped.”
You let out a relieved sigh, pressing your free hand against the glass of his ball.
“Friends holding hands,” Rocky spoke again- truly, nothing got past him. “Rocky ask again. Friends mates?”
“No, Rocky..” you replied, hesitant. “Not mates. Humans have a different way of partnership.”
“Friends are partners, question?”
“Kind.. of…?” You replied- Rocky chirped with confusion.
With a sigh, you opened your mouth to try and explain again, head reeling- you paused when a hand landed against your shoulder.
“Perhaps it’s something to talk about later, Rocky,” Grace spoke up, turning to you, the kind of look in his eyes that told you that he had your back.
“Rocky understand. Grace share discovery now, question?”
“Sure, buddy,” Grace huffed, smiling fondly. “Sure.”
Rocky trilled happily, turning to roll away towards the lab, Grace following- but not before you took his hand again, stopping him.
“Vale?” He said, turning back to you, raising an eyebrow. “Do you need-“
What he didn’t expect was the quick peck you pressed against his lips.
“To make up for before,” you said, shuffling away, back to where you had been curled up with his blanket.
He stared for a long, long moment- before he broke out into his usual infectious smile, leaning over in the small cockpit to return the favour- with a bit more enthusiasm.
He held his lips against yours, messy, but genuine- before you had to physically push him away.
“Grace-“ you started, giggling as he held onto you like a barnacle, lips against your cheek. “Grace, Rocky is going to get impatient.”
“Sorry, sorry-“ he mumbled, willing himself to pull away. “Rocky’s okay. You’re okay. I’m just…”
“I know,” you replied, smiling. “I’m happy too.”
He nodded, smile still bright. He took just one more moment before letting go- then another. And another.
“Grace.”
“Hmm?”
“Dr Grace,” you cooed. “Ryland.”
“Vale.”
You cocked your head, staring at him curiously- he was like a puppy. Clingy.
“..five more minutes, Ryland. Five.”
He moved closer, pressing his forehead to yours, your hand buried in his birds nest of hair.
“How’s your head?” He spoke after a moment. “Don’t think I forgot that you aren’t supposed to be here.”
“Mm. Good,” you mumbled, reaching up to check that your bandage was still in place. “Just some headaches. Can’t do much more than drink some water.”
“Just headaches?” He replied, looking back at you. “You took quite the hit against the control panel. You should be resting.”
“I’ve had my rest. I promise,” you huffed. “We still have a job to do.”
Grace opened his mouth to retaliate, only to be silenced by your favourite space rock.
“Where Grace, question? Grace late. Bad bad bad.”
“Coming, Rock!” He called back, turning to you. “Pushy little thing.”
“Rocky can still hear Grace,” he called back- Grace sighed loudly.
“I’ll see you later, Grace,” you chuckled out, patting his shoulder. “It’s okay.”
“Later,” he replied to you. “Take it easy, gorgeous.”
“Grace late bad. Bad bad bad bad bad bad-“
“I’m coming, Rocky! Calm down!”
You bubbled with laughter, offering a small wave as Grace left- happier than they had ever been.
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