Work Text:
Grace sighs as he looks out at Graceland, taking a sip from his mug of coffee as he lets himself just enjoy the sun. Since he has today off from teaching he had requested that Adrian make it a little warmer today, wanting to actually enjoy the artificial beach that was made just for him. While he usually just liked to enjoy the fog he does miss the warmer days where he'd get to enjoy the water, not that he can't enjoy the cool water now but it's not as fun. Rocky has really been the only one that's gotten to enjoy all of the water since he's constantly throwing himself into it but Grace wants his turn. This water isn't as dangerous as the actual beaches on San Francisco so he'll get to enjoy it without any worry.
He finishes his coffee and hands the mug off to Armando. "You be good."
He waves at Armando, and gets a wave in return, as he closes the door. He slowly makes his way down to the beach and drops his towel and glasses, for once he won't have to worry about anyone stealing his unattended items! Grace slowly walks into the water, letting out a soft sigh at the cooler water compared to the hot air around him. It's so nice. Sometimes it's easy to forget that this isn't actually Earth, that this beach is just something made specifically for him, because it reminds him so much of the real thing.
When he gets to the chest deep section of the water he dives head first, dunking himself into the water. It's been a long time since he swam and he's missed it. They got to Erid a year ago and food and his home was everyone's top priority for a long time. But now that his home is settled and he's no longer starving, and has gotten his weight back to a normal amount, he can do fun things like this. Plus, the swimming will definitely help his joints and body since he's on a planet with so much more gravity then he's used to.
He takes his time swimming around the Eridian-made ocean, enjoying the feeling of weightlessness that the water gives him. But it's a little weird to not have anything else in the water with him. He doesn't have any other people he has to watch out for and he can't hear any happy screams and squeals from little kids that are swimming and building sandcastles. Plus, there's no wildlife either. There's no fish getting scared of him and swimming away and there's no plants that touch his feet and make him think some animal touched him. The thought makes him wonder how Rocky would react to something touching him in the water.
But then again, he's not sure if Rocky can actually swim. Sure, Rocky will throw himself into the water when he gets here but it's only ever in a few inches of water to cool down his xenonite suit. Rocky never gets completely into the water and maybe it's because it's not safe for him. Rocky, just like the other fully grown Eridians, is very heavy. He remembers carrying Rocky when he was stuck outside of his tunnels on the Hail Mary and it was incredibly difficult. Maybe Rocky weights too much, though plenty of heavy land animals on Earth can swim perfectly fine. But with Eridians being made of inorganic materials like minerals it seems like it wouldn't be the same as animals on Earth. Rocky mentioned that Erid has it's own oceans but he bets the water is highly dense, maybe the dense water makes it easier for them to swim? Or maybe the water is too hot for them to swim in at all since the water must be extremely hot like the rest of the planet.
He stops swimming to float on top of the water, feeling the artificial wind and sun on his face. He didn't realise how much he missed mundane things like just enjoying sunlight hitting his skin or wind blowing on his face. When he'd ride his bike to Grover Cleveland Middle after his stop at the diner he would always enjoy just feeling the wind hitting him, especially right before summer break where the air would be warmer and he could smell all the flowers that had finally finished growing. He wishes that Erid had plant life like Earth did, it would be interesting to see how they looked or how they smelled. Though, Eridians don't have a sense of smell so maybe the plants wouldn't develop a scent at all.
He's so lost in his thoughts that hearing a sudden screech scares him enough that he starts flailing around in the water, water getting into his mouth and up his nose. "Grace ♪♫, question. Danger danger danger!"
He hears the sound of a splash and it takes him a moment to finally get himself stable in the water as he coughs up the salt water that went up his nose and into his mouth. He squints towards the beach and sees what seems to be Rocky splashing around at the edge of the ocean as he slowly tries to make his way into the water, the Eridian seems hesitant to go farther into the water but still continues to push himself into the water. "Rocky?"
"Grace! Grace ♪♫♪!"
Grace can't understand the words that Rocky is saying but he can tell that Rocky is scared, especially with the repeating of "danger", but he's not sure why. He quickly ducks into the water and starts swimming towards the shore. "I'm coming!"
By the time he gets to the beach Rocky is pacing back and forth along the edge of the water, sharp broken notes coming from him. He barely gets to stand up before Rocky is barreling towards him, shaking within his xenonite suit. "Grace!"
He barely stops himself from falling over. "Rocky! What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"What doing? Just laying in water like ♪♫♪. Danger danger danger!"
The fact that Rocky isn't saying question after his question shows that he's stressed and scared, he's only ever done it when he found out that Grace was going to die or when Grace was sick on the way to Erid. Grace hates when it happens but he doesn't know what he did to make Rocky this scared. "I was floating in the water?" He asks. "I don't know that last word before danger Rocky."
Rocky skitters around within his suit for a moment, his two front hands pressing together in the usual way they do when he's nervous. "When in water and can't breathe or get too hot and die."
It dawns on him suddenly what Rocky was so worried about, Rocky just saw him floating in the water and probably couldn't hear his heart or breathing over the waves since he was so far out. Rocky thought he had died out there and couldn't get out to him. "Word is drown. But Rocky, I'm okay. I can swim and float."
"No float, not in air."
Grace shakes his head. "No, not like on the ship. This one means that I can stay on top of the water, like floating in the ship but on the water rather than in the air."
"Float… No drown, question."
"Yes, I wasn't drowning. I was just enjoying the water."
Rocky seems to finally stop shaking, relaxing a bit at the assurance that Grace wasn't drowning. "Eridians… No float. Sink to bottom. Eridian oceans hot, too hot. Overheat us very quick and can not get out."
That means Grace was right, Eridians weigh too much to swim. They sink into the water and then get hot and can't get out. Seeing Grace out in the water without knowing that humans can float, and swim, must have made Rocky think Grace got swept away in the waves and couldn't get out. "Humans aren't like that Rocky. I can swim in the water and float and this water isn't as hot as Eridian oceans, as you know. Humans love enjoying the ocean, that's one of the reasons I wanted it. I'm sorry I scared you."
Rocky relaxes completely for a moment before turning angrily towards Grace. "Why not tell, question. Scare me to death!"
He laughs softly at Rocky's use of the idiom, it always kind of tickles him when Rocky uses them, especially when he says them wrong or in the wrong context. "I'm sorry Rocky, you throw yourself in the water so I figured you knew it wasn't as hot. But I didn't think that you would think I died."
Rocky lets out an unhappy tune, stomping his foot into the sand. "Grace worst! Hate Rocky and want Rocky to think dead. Want Rocky dead!"
He rolls his eyes at how dramatic the Eridian is being. "Rocky you know that's not true. I love you very much."
Rocky lets out a tune that Grace knows is the human equivalent of a huff of air from a human. "Fine. Rocky love Grace too… Even if Grace dumb leaky space blob."
"Hey!" He exclaims, watching Rocky run around him as he lets out a laughing tune.
"Now come Grace. Brought something fun for you from Adrian. Come come."
"I'm coming you big meanie," He huffs, grabbing his towel and following after Rocky.