Work Text:
Time was a blur for Grace. After waking up and being reunited with his mates, it seemed like everyone wanted his attention. To be fair, he would be curious about a situation like his own as well.
But… He couldn’t handle it. Just walking around in public felt like a constant assault on his senses. Conversations with anyone but Adrian and Rocky (Who were already accustomed to talking softer and slower for him) felt like being in the middle of a loud arguing crowd.
So he hid.
In his defense, Rocky and Adrian were hiding with him. They had taken Grace to their home, and none of the trio had left in several cycles.
Then it came time for Adrian to sleep, and things fell apart.
“Will you watch me sleep, sunshine?” Adrian had asked him softly, voice already slurred as they fought the involuntary cycle.
“Yes, watch.” He was getting better, but controlling his new vocal cords was rough. He had five now, and they operated entirely differently. He could use basic words, but… communication was limited.
Adrian hummed and sank further into the plush nest, growing still. Grace settled down with a small puzzle-like fidget to occupy his hands and practice his new fine motor skills.
That was when everything went to shit.
Rocky, who had been working in his workshop the next room over, came barreling in, hyperventilating. Steam rose from his vents in pure terror.
Grace scrambled to his feet and over to his mate, making worried chirps. What had gotten into Rocky?
Rocky didn’t respond. Gone were the chatty days of the past; this Rocky was quiet and jumpy. He hurried to press himself against Adrian, making sad, keening noises.
Grace watched in confusion before it hit them. Perfect memory made him recognize patterns so much faster.
He moved over slowly and settled next to Rocky, pressing against the other and entwining a set of their claws.
“Adrian just sleep. Is ok. At home, safe safe safe. Grace watch, Rocky watch?” Without even thinking, he punctuated his sentence with the nonverbal two stomps for a question.
Rocky made a quieter, sadder sound, and pulled Grace closer.
Grace understood.
Rocky watched his crewmates sleep, only for them to never wake up. Then he had Grace, who was an obvious sleeper. Except the one night Rocky hadn’t stayed, Grace didn’t wake up.
Rocky was rightfully terrified of others dying in their sleep.
They were terrified of Adrian dying in their sleep.
So Grace pressed closer, a solid, warm weight, and sang. He knew he wasn’t making sense; he wasn’t trying to. He was just trying to keep Rocky grounded.
“Watch sleep?” Rocky whispered, voice incredibly small.
“Watch. Safe safe safe.” Grace immediately agreed.
Rocky settled down more and became quiet. He didn’t sleep, just kept vigil alongside Grace and stroked his mates’ limbs to self-soothe.
By the time Adrian woke again, Grace was growing restless. He couldn’t help it. He wasn’t used to this. But he didn’t leave.
“Grace… Rocky.” Adrian crooned softly, moving to wrap a limb around each of their precious mates.
Grace gave a happy hum, but Rocky keened, leaning into the touch as he trembled.
Adrian made a rumbling sound back, pressing their bodies together.
“I am awake and alive, my treasure. It is alright. You are home, you are safe. Our Grace is safe.”
Rocky shuddered and pressed closer to Adrian.
Grace listened to the interaction, his hearts aching in his core.
Oh, his beloved.
He shifted to hold Rocky from another side as the other shook and keened in their embrace.
It was times like these he wished they could cry.
The next issue arose when Grace needed to eat. In theory, He knew what he needed to do. He had seen Rocky eat before.
In practice, he had never done it himself. So he did what he was prone to do, and just… pushed it off.
A week had passed since Grace had woken up to Rocky trembling in front of his grave. Grace had been stubbornly ignoring his body’s increasingly desperate cues for as long as he could.
Then Adrian asked him to help move something. He rose from his spot in the nest where he had been ‘reading’ and promptly fell down again.
With a frustrated noise, he tried to stand once more, but his limbs were too shaky and sluggish. The whine of distress had barely left him before Adrian was by his side, fussing and questioning him.
“Sunshine? What is wrong?” They started, then went still. Too still. Grace felt his hearts drop a bit.
“You haven’t eaten since waking.” Their voice was quiet, shaky. “It has been a week in this body, and you have consumed nothing yet persistently helped Rocky and me around the den as much as you have been able.”
They were growing progressively panicked.
Even Grace’s slightly sluggish mind didn’t take long to put the pieces together.
Adrian had told him quietly of how Rocky had behaved after Grace had died. How the smaller Eridian wouldn’t eat or sleep, how they had essentially given up on themself.
Adrian thought Grace didn’t want to live.
“Why haven’t you eaten?” They asked, sounding significantly more panicked with a lack of response from Grace.
Rocky came bounding into the room just as Adrian began to panic more.
“Gem, is ok.” Rocky managed, reaching up to stroke Adrian’s limb.
“Grace is silly leaky flesh blob brain still. Forget eat, forget sleep. Dumb dumb dumb brain. Grace get away with longer; forget body needs to eat and sleep.” He was definitely scolding Grace, but also soothing Adrian.
Adrian hesitated. “Grace… is this truth?”
Grace managed a hum, shaking his claw back and forth in a so-so gesture.
“Not know how eat. Scared of sleep.” Last time he went to sleep, he.. Had died. Had missed a good chunk of his mates’ lives. Had hurt them.
He was scared.
Adrian wilted and just pulled Grace close.
“Much love, my sunshine… but dumb brain. I will feed you, and will watch you sleep.” They didn’t say a word about Rocky joining them, but by the way the smaller Eridian just pressed closer to their mates? It was almost a guarantee that they would stay as well.