Chapter Text
In every sense of the word, it was a miracle Dr. Ryland Grace lived past 50. Between a forceful medically induced coma, the incident above the planet Adrian, and the close call with starvation on the way to Erid, Grace by every right should not have made it. He chalked it up to being bad at most things, including dying, somehow. He rarely thought about those large scale threats to his life anymore, thankfully. Now? He really only thought about his mates, his students and his studies. Grace, Rocky and Adrian had all come together not long after he had fully recovered from emaciation when he first arrived. It was only natural, Rocky had loved him the moment he risked his life to save him and Erid, Adrian was close to follow after.
Now, despite the odds, Grace recently turned 78 years old. He always felt older, though, which was to be expected from the harsh gravity conditions of Erid. He wouldn’t have it any other way, he got to live over half of his life with the two beings who cared about him most. Rocky and Adrian settled into his life perfectly. Grace liked reminiscing often these days, after a bad fall left him bed ridden for the past few weeks.
Part of him expected to be more scared of this day, where the death he had been so narrowly avoiding came to him with a gentle, offered hand instead of a violent grasp.
Grace let out a tired sigh, his head slowly turning to press closer to the source of warmth by his cheek. Rocky was sitting on the bed right next to Grace’s head, two limbs underneath his pillow, while one hand played with the thin hair on his head. Adrian was nearby as well, resting near his hip with their legs neatly tucked under themselves.
”Grace comfortable, question?” Rocky hummed, obviously wanting to make sure Grace was as comfortable as possible.
”Yeah, love, I’m okay.” Grace’s voice was low, clearly exhausted just from being awake at all. He expected to panic, but instead he just felt.. happy. The other two in the room knew that today would be the last time they would be together. It took many incredibly difficult conversations before either of them came to terms with it. Grace’s life was short, in comparison to an Eridian. Unlike when he had lied to himself all those years ago, he’s made peace with it.
Adrian was about to ask something as well when Grace suddenly began laughing softly, a few stray happy tears sliding down his gaunt cheeks. Before either of the Eridians could question him he spoke,
”I just had so much fun.” He breathed out a few more chuckles, a tired smile stuck on his face. Truly, they had given him so much more than he could’ve ever hoped.
His vision wasn't great anymore-not that it was to begin with-but he couldn’t help but glance over at the table on the opposite side of the hospital room. The table was covered in various strange trinkets, poor recreations of Earth animals and numerous textile plates with letters to him. His students, most of whom had grown up enough to no longer need schooling, all had sent him gifts once they heard about his incident regarding his fall. The last class he taught before ‘retiring’ was about 10 years ago, he likely could thank that last class for the poor animal recreations. He felt more loved here, in this exact spot, than he ever had in his life.
Rocky let out a soft, bittersweet tone at Grace’s laughter, trying and failing to be positive in the moment. No matter how much convincing and reassuring his mates gave him, he wasn't ready for this moment. He would never be. Adrian reached a clawed hand over to grab Rocky’s empty one, helping the smaller Eridian focus on the present.
With a soft breath, Grace closed his eyes, a smile still on his face.
”I think I'm ready to sleep now. For once.. I think I'm okay sleeping without anyone watching.” He didn't want his mates to watch him go. If their last memory of him was him smiling and laughing, he’d be perfectly okay with that.
With a series of hushed admissions of love and soft kisses to both of his mates' carapaces, he finally let his head fall back and relax.
It took some gentle guidance from the larger Eridian but eventually Rocky and Adrian slowly made their way out of the room, allowing him a moment alone. Grace knew he didn't want to be in pain when he passed, and the fall he had suffered was not helping. He had borrowed an idea from a very old friend that would help with the process. Breathing in nitrogen would simply allow him to fall asleep peacefully.
A few minutes passed before another familiar ‘face’ came into the room. Grace’s primary doctor, whom he has affectionately named Gregory (like Dr. House, it was a guilty pleasure, sue him.), came in with a bag tucked under one of his arms. He had missed watching that silly show. He missed watching any show for that matter, the three laptops he had with him when he initially made it to Erid were long dead, there was nothing they could have done about it.
Grace said nothing as Gregory came over and calmly set up the devices required for the process. The Eridian doctor was not talkative, which Grace never minded. He always did his job, asked what he needed and nothing more. The only time he did anything extra was the single time he offered an experimental procedure to attempt to lengthen Grace’s life. It never made it past the offer stage, due to the risk of hurting Grace and the lack of research around it.
Grace cracked his eyes open enough to see Gregory gently place a breathing mask over his face, a steady stream of oxygen and nitrogen flowing in. The last thing he saw before his eyes fell shut was the flash of a needle.
Why did he need a needle for this?
Any semblance of panic was snuffed out immediately by the nitrogen.
Everything went dark.
——————————————————————————-
“How similar is this beach to the actual oceans here on Erid, you’d say?”
Grace was sitting on the coarse sand with Rocky, the Eridian close by while they watched the waves.
”Sort of similar. Lot hotter. Erid oceans boil, full of strange life. Why, question?” Rocky responded, his back leg tapping twice as he asked, his front claws dragging through the sand calmly.
”Eh, I was just wondering. Ocean biology was never my expertise but.. I always found it interesting. What sort of strange life? I know the animals here aren’t exactly the most complex or threatening.. You guys are the apex predators here after all.”
“Was not always apex. Similar to human, only became apex with minds. Eridians used to be hunted.”
”Really? What kind of animal would even eat you guys? I personally wouldn’t want to eat a rock, just saying.. For the record, if I had to eat an Eridian, I would choose you.” Grace chuckled, earning a teasing flick to his leg from his mate.
”Lots of things. Scariest was the ocean dwellers. Eridians can’t swim, can’t fight back.. Easy prey.”
Grace thought for a moment, eyes focused on the calm waves meeting the sand at his feet.
“Huh, I should ask Adrian about it. They seem pretty interested in animals..” Grace lays back on the sand, his arms moving behind his head so he doesn't get sand in his hair.
”Yes, yes. Adrian love talking about oceans. Adrian will visit later. For now..” Rocky gets up from his little sand pit he had made by sitting and crawls over top of Grace, resting a tiny bit of his weight on the human's chest.
”Erm, Rock, you’re blocking the sun. How am I supposed to get a tan?” He playfully complains, peaking an eye open at his mate.
”Grace can’t tan. Bio-dome illumination, not sun, silly.” Rocky wiggles back and forth sarcastically, earning an annoyed but affectionate sigh from the man under him.
”You’re impossible. We should go inside and clean up before Adrian gets here anyway, I know they hate messes.”
With an approving chirp Rocky climbs off of Grace and starts skittering towards the beach home he had helped build, his mate not far behind.