Work Text:
Today is the day.
I have put myself through dozens of horrible earth eating pornography cooking shows in order to ensure I get this right. This meat is precious, it is Grace’s own tissue. It must be prepared in a way that he finds satisfactory. I heat it to the requisite temperature for the requisite time with a safe plant oil to keep it from sticking. I have a special thermometer devised for testing the temperature inside of it. It is sterile, grown in a lab, but I cook it to the temperatures which kill pathogens regardless. I want it to have a familiar texture. I hope the taste is adequate. I have no way to test it for him.
I hesitate over how to present it, and eventually decide on the simplest option. I leave it on a plate next to his bed so that he'll see it when he wakes up. His reaction will provide valuable feedback, even if he rejects it.
I hope hope hope he does not reject it. I miss my friend. I am sick of telling him my name. I am sick of seeing him confused and afraid. I want this to work. I need this to work. Even the drug-laced coma slurry will only last another week. And then we'll have to switch back to tauomoeba again, and his mouth will start bleeding again and his scars will open up and–I need this to work.
I barely have time to get back into the observation room before he wakes up. I hear him breathe in deeply, as if sensing for something. Smell. He has explained smell to me. Taste at a distance, through tiny particulate in the air. I did not realize that this, like light and sound, could wake a human. He opens his eyes, turns immediately towards the meat, and…
Wow.
Wow wow wow.
I have to focus hard not to make any noise that would startle him. I want to trill and scream in celebration. He doesn't hesitate for a moment. He picks up the meat and begins to eviscerate it with his mouth bones. He eats it like the predators in earth nature documentaries, ripping and tearing with abandon. He is panting with the effort. He eats the entire thing in less than a minute, and then licks the juices off his fingers, then licks the plate. He wants every drop of it. If I was a leaky space blob like him I would be leaking. As it stands I am vibrating violently.
He breathes until his breathing calms, and looks around at the room. His shoulders are relaxed. “Hello?” He calls.
“Hello Grace,” I say quietly, positioning the laptop so the speaker translates it loudly in his direction.
“Oh!” He is surprised to hear someone so close by that he cannot see. “Sorry about that.” He gestures to the plate, embarrassed. I don't understand. Humans don't care about modesty around eating. Did he remember something about Eridian customs? Or is something about this situation different?
“No apology. I am very relieved to see you eating so much,” I say. Something I thought I would never say, but right now it is true.
“I was really hungry,” he says, still embarrassed.
“Good good good. How was the meal? Was the taste acceptable?” I ask.
“Acceptable? It was great. Top notch. My compliments to the chef. I could house like two or three more of those if you’ve got extra.”
I haven't heard “house” used in this way before but I assume from context it means “eat”. He wants more! He wants to eat more of it!!! I could scream. He is actually eating, he wants to eat, I didn't have to talk and plead and beg to get him to eat, he was asking me to give him more.
Okay. Keep it together.
“Good good good. No extra right now. It is risky to introduce too much new food at once. But I am very happy you enjoyed it. You can have another in six hours.”
“Okay then. Something to look forward to…Where am I exactly?”
I tell him the truth without telling him the parts that upset him. “Medical center. You have been very sick. You spent extended time with no safe food to eat. Now that you have safe food you should start feeling much better soon. Also memory should start returning in next few days.”
“Oh, good.” He trusts and believes me immediately. I am shocked again. “Is there anything else I should know?”
How far can I safely push this? He is acting completely differently than he had before. He always woke up afraid. He always woke up feeling trapped, feeling suspicious. Had this all changed because of the food? Was it really that simple? One good meal and his entire demeanor turned around?
I had seen the difference between him after eating the Hail Mary’s rations and his unenthusiastic response to the taumoeba. I knew that eating satisfaction mattered. But his mood had dropped lower and lower and lower without real food and lower still without his memories. I had not thought that a single real meal could bring back this happy side of my friend. I had expected it to take weeks.
I want to enter the room. I want to be right next to him. Selfishly, I have to try. But I know better than to throw it at him unprepared. “You made first contact with intelligent alien life,” I tell him. “Became good friends. Please not be scared if a big spider comes to visit. He is your friend.”
“Big–I–what?” He fumbles his words. “Aliens. Aliens? Intelligent aliens? Friendly intelligent aliens that look like big spiders. How big are we talking about?”
Curiosity. Not fear. Not denial. I don't answer his question, I jump right to what I want to ask. “I come in you not freak out question. Request.”
“You’re the alien?”
“Yes. My name is Rocky. That is name you gave me. We are friends.” Please, please, let this be the last time I have to introduce myself to you. “I come in now question. We watch movie now maybe question. You like to watch movies with me.”
“Yeah, okay,” he says.
I enter the room hesitantly. I am still afraid of scaring him. But he leans forward with wide eyes and said, “Look at you!” like I am something to marvel at. I get closer. “Amazing. You’re like nothing I’ve ever seen…well, I guess I have seen you before, haven’t I? I just don’t remember it. Wow.”
I scurry up to him. I can't hold in my jubilation. “Amaze amaze amaze you are in a very good mood after eating real food. Times without food you are afraid of Rocky. I hate when you are afraid. We are friends.”
“Heck yeah,” he says, and holds out his hand to bump fists with me. I instantly oblige, and he gives a little gasp. A broad smile forms on his face.
I bounce up and down excitedly. This is going better than I could have hoped.
We settle in on the bed together. He selects Men In Black as the movie. I barely pay any attention to it. I am basking in the feeling of getting his trust without having to beg for it. I am listening to his digestive system work, the sweet disgusting sounds of the meat moving further into the body to provide him vital nutrients. I am full of hope. I am finally convinced that he is going to live.