Archive of Our Own

Hair was a fascinating concept to Rocky.

On Erid, all the animals were largely inorganic save for their vulnerable insides. When he had first shared this with Grace after being asked, the human was surprised. Until Rocky pointed out that there were no animals on Earth that were inorganic, so it wouldn't make much sense for animals on Erid to be organic.

Organic developments that happened on the outside were foreign to Rocky. Skin, scales, fur, feathers, all of it. Not hard concepts to understand or believe, but definitely curious to picture and... weird. Alien, in a very literal sense.

Rocky worried about how anything survived on Earth with how unprotected they were, but that was largely because he couldn't separate Earth animals from Erid animals in his head. He had to remind himself that they weren't facing threats from Erid so they didn't evolve to survive those.

Him and Grace had gone over what predators on their planets were like, and wondered what would happen if they had to face off each other. Partway through their discussion Grace had laughed and said they sounded like how his students would, only his students would be talking about characters from comic books and cartoons and not animals from alien planets--or, sometimes they would, but it was alien planets from said comic books and cartoons.

The point was: humans were weird. Not just behaviorally but biologically too. Though Rocky guessed it'd be weirder to meet aliens from a completely different solar system only to find out they were just like Eridians. If Rocky were human he'd shiver at the thought.

But hair wasn't weird. The practices around it were--humans barely had any outside defenses, but they liked to handicap themselves for aesthetic purposes?--but hair itself wasn't. Rocky found it more fascinating than weird. He found it intriguing every time Grace ran his hands through it, or blew it away when it got in his face, or trimmed it when it got too long. He questioned what it'd feel like, having hair, and wondered how it didn't hurt to have something grow out of you.

Rocky wanted to know what it'd feel like to touch hair. Xenonite was thin and flexible enough for him to get a feel of outside textures, but not the xenonite he had on hand. He had extra, but they were still a long ways away from Erid, and he didn't want to use it up making a new, thinner suit in case they needed it for some emergency.

"Grace?"

"Yeah, Rock?"

"What does hair feel like, question?"

Grace stopped the project he was working on to think.

"Uh... soft? I know you know what soft is but I don't know what kinds of soft things you have at home I can compare hair to. Silk, maybe? But that feels too flattering," Grace muttered the last part, a hand scratching at his chin.

"Erid no have word Grace just used."

Grace mentally facepalmed. Right, Erid doesn't have bugs--they do, just not Earth resembling ones. They have no animals that naturally produce silk. Which was unfortunate, given that's the only descriptor for hair he could give to Rocky.

Unless...

"Hold on, I'll be right back," Grace held up a finger despite them not needing it at this point and scurried off.

Rocky waited like he was told. From farther away on the ship he could hear the rustling of tools, the friction of two blades moving against each other, the sound of a strand of hair being tugged between two fingers, and a snip before it was cut off.

Oh, Grace was giving him a piece of his hair.

"Alright, where can I put this?" Grace asked when he returned.

Rocky picked up the tiny locket of hair Grace put in the deposit box attached to his xenonite dome in the dormitory. It wasn't a very big piece, but it was enough for Rocky who held it delicately in his claws.

Rocky's first impression of hair was that it was just one big thing. One big, flexible clump. But now in his hands he could feel how incredibly thin and delicate these dozens of strands were, and how they threatened to spread apart if he didn't hold the snippet in a way that kept them close.

He brought up his other hand to carefully separate one strand from the rest and examined it. Altogether hair was soft, but singular strands felt like some of the materials he's worked with. But it was probably closer to what textiles on Erid worked with.

"Did you know one strand can withstand 6.5 pounds of weight?" Grace said with a small grin as he watched Rocky.

Rocky let out a intrigued trill, "Amaze."

"Yup, and it's the second fastest growing tissue in human bodies. That's why we can cut it, 'cause it'll always grow back and fast."

Rocky ran a claw over the hair in his hand over and over again. It was an interesting sensation. It satisfied some of the need he had to feel human hair, but not completely. He wanted to feel more of it and at the source, but already knew that was something that'd have to wait.

He did the Eridian equivalent of a sigh, letting out a single low note that eased into quietness.

It shouldn't bother him. It wasn't bothering him much but it shouldn't have bothered him at all. Eridians lived a long time, he had no reason to be so impatient.

Annoying human behaviors rubbing off on him.

Grace's hair changed quite a bit when they finally reached Erid. It was thin and dry and dying slowly much like the rest of him. It scared Rocky along with all the other effects of starvation and malnourishment and beriberi and scurvy and every other condition humans could get in dire times.

But thankfully, thankfully Grace didn't stay that way for long. Erid was quick to try and help Grace despite how alien he was, how hard it'd be to help save a dying creature that was like nothing you'd ever seen before. But of course they helped, since he saved their planet.

Grace was surprised at how healthy his hair managed to get once he recovered. He thought that with his age that'd be the end for his hair, but seemed relieved to have skipped out on 'male pattern baldness', a term Rocky didn't understand.

Once things seemed to have settled, with Grace living as happily as one could despite the complications of living on an alien planet not suited to house you, Rocky remembered his plans for a new xenonite suit.

He hadn't forgot--Eridians don't forget--he just pushed it to the way back of his mind. But with Grace not at risk of keeling over he could finally get to it.

Rocky banged on the door of Grace's house. It was close to 'nighttime' inside the biodome, meaning Grace would be going to sleep in a few hours.

When they first arrived, Rocky watched him sleep for as long as he could. He couldn't do it always due to having his own duties to attend to--lots of stuff about the Taumoeba and Astrophage--but he did his best to be there. He hadn't realized how attached he'd gotten to Grace until Adrian pointed out how anxious he seemed when not near the human.

Of course once Grace started getting better he mellowed out. Some nights he left Grace alone in his biodome so he could catch up on the lost time with Adrian, and some nights he watched over Grace in his sleep like they used to on the ship. Adrian showed up to watch too, sometimes. Or to watch over them both.

After a few minutes of Rocky hearing Grace stumble around inside, the human opened the door.

"Rocky? Hey, wha-" Grace stopped and squinted at him.

Then he realized he didn't have on his glasses, so he swiveled his head around to look back inside his house before they flung off his face due to being hung on one of his ears the entire time. So he rushed back in to grab them, put them on his face, go back to Rocky, and squint at him again.

"Your... your suit is... really thin."

It was true. This suit wasn't like the ball, nor was it like the one he usually wore when in Grace's biodome. The best way it could be described (if Grace were to do the honors) was 'skin-tight', however appliable that could be to a rock. The point was: it was thin. So thin Grace almost thought he didn't have one on for a second before the light caught on the xenonite shapes.

"Yes. I made it so I can feel your hair better."

"...What?"

"I'm coming in now," Rocky said as he did just that.

Grace jumped out of the way so Rocky wouldn't step on his toes. Rocky knew how fragile humans were, and could never do such a thing by accident. Though he liked to trip up Grace and make him think he could.

"I- uh- you wanna touch my hair?" Grace asked like he heard him incorrectly.

"That's what I said. Now get in reach." Rocky pointed at him.

"So bossy..." Grace mumbled before looking around. He sat down on his bed with his legs crossed.

Rocky clambered up not soon after. He reached a claw up but found he was still too short to reach. He could stand on Grace's legs for reach, but only if he wanted to snap the bones underneath.

"Bring your head down." He made a grabbing motion with his claws.

Grace chuckled but did as Rocky said. Now he could reach.

Rocky hovered his hand over Grace's hair. Arm moving uncertainty in the air, like he was unsure of how to start, before surging forward and smacking Grace dead on top of his head.

Grace immediately pulled away. "Ow, what the heck!?"

"Apology. I used too much force."

"Rocky, my brain is in there. You can't do it that hard!" Grace tried rubbing the pain away.

"I said I was sorry! Now lean back down."

Grace was hesitant, but eventually did so with the roll of his eyes when Rocky started letting out petulant trills.

This time Rocky tried it again but much slower. And then once his hand was there it just sat there.

Textures were much better and easier to feel in his new thin suit. Not totally comparable to being able to feel it without, but close enough he felt no need to make any changes.

Grace's hair was much softer like this than it was as a piece cut off or a single strand. Rocky moved his claws through it, careful to keep the pressure light. The strands shifted under his ministrations easily. It was nice. Relaxing, even.

"Hair soft," Rocky said dumbly, too transfixed to speak regularly. He practically had to relearn his language because of how long he was used to speaking in a dumbed-down version of that, and in moments of high stress sometimes reverted back to it.

Grace chuckled, and Rocky felt him press his head closer into Rocky's hand. He let out a sigh as Rocky continued to essentially pet him.

"Do you like this?" Rocky asked, and had to stop himself before blurting out question afterwards. Though he still tapped one of his legs twice.

Rocky heard the blood rush up to Grace's face, which he learned was a telltale sign of human embarrassment.

"I mean... yeah, I guess. It's nice," Grace said, an edge of nervousness in his voice.

"You guess? If you only guess you like it I'll stop, then." Rocky ruffled Grace's hair before pulling away.

"Urgh, fine. I like it! Jerk..." Grace said almost playfully, and surged his head forward so Rocky's claws were in his hair again. Much like how he described Earth cats would do, Rocky noticed.

Rocky lifted his hand up and with more confidence than when he tried the first time, pat it back down onto Grace's head. The human didn't pull back or make any signs of pain, so Rocky tried it a few more times.

Grace hummed, and shut his eyes in content.

"Good dog," Rocky teased.

"Wh- shut up!" Grace sputtered.

"Fetch!"

"That's not how the command works, Rock. You have to throw something first."

"Give paw."

"I'm gonna pull away-" Grace threatened.

"No, I'm sorry! Let me continue?" Rocky wished he possessed something humans called 'puppy eyes', as he was told it would make pleading more effective. There was an Eridian equivalent, which was to let a few soft trills out afterwards, and so Rocky used it instead.

"Okay, I won't. But can I lie down? This hurts my back..."

"Yes, yes. Lie down, protect your weak spine."

"Psh. Whatever," Grace grumbled. He laid down on his side as Rocky situated himself near Grace's pillow.

Rocky got into a comfortable sitting position, one that apparently resembled a 'loafing' cat back on Earth. Whatever that meant. Once Grace seemed comfortable too he brought out two of his hands to continue playing with Grace's hair.

There weren't a lot of soft things on Erid. Most items, materials, things they interacted with on the daily were solid and hard. Smooth metals, jagged metals, fragile glass. Soft things of course existed, clothes being one example of such, but they weren't common.

A big part of what sensations resonated with Eridians had to do with the sound it made, since their exteriors were not as sensitive as humans' exteriors were. And soft things like fabric did not produce much sound.

So softness was rare on Erid. This didn't bother Rocky, because why would it? But this softness... it was nice. Different. Hair wasn't like anything on Erid. You could make some "close-enough" comparisons, but they wouldn't be the most accurate. Hair was a distinctly Grace thing, which made Rocky appreciate it all the more.

Grace's eyelids drooped, and he let out a contented hum that Rocky matched as he settled into his bed further.

"Are you falling asleep?" Rocky asked. He already knew the answer but he wanted to hear it anyways.

"Mm, yeah. This is... ah, really relaxing. Plus, it's..." Grace trailed off.

"It's what?" Rocky asked. He brushed a few loose strands out of Grace's eyes.

"Humans do this to each other sometimes. Usually in relationships. I haven't been in one since Linda and that plus how long it took to get here... I just haven't felt this in awhile."

"...Hm. I fix now. Don't be sad."  Rocky said before ruffling up Grace's hair.

Grace laughed as he tried to bat Rocky's claws away but to no avail. He only stopped after almost smacking Grace in his face.

"Ack! Rocky!"

"You sleep. I'll watch."

Grace smoothed out his hair before settling in again, this time tucking himself under the blanket.

Rocky's touch went back to slow and calming, and became less experimental and curious now that he had a feel for how human hair was. This time it was purposefully relaxing, and despite this being the first time he's touched hair (in this manner) he was quite good at it.

Sleep came easy to Grace that night as he drifted off to the feeling of Rocky's claws in his hair and Rocky's pleased trills.