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"This is your fault."
"My mistake," Adrian apologized. "Thought Grace would enjoy it."
To say that Rocky had reached his limit would be an understatement. That limit had been reached hours ago, but Rocky felt he had a duty to watch over his friend, no matter how much mental anguish it caused him, and it was causing him quite a bit.
"Rocky," Grace groaned, still holding the bag of vile liquid that turned him even stupider than usual as he hung over the side of the couch, making a grabbing action with his fleshy claws - hands, as Rocky had been told to call them - towards his friend. "C'mere."
If he had eyes, Rocky would have been rolling them, but relented nonetheless, moving closer to Grace and letting his friend wrap an arm around his carapace, ignoring Adrian's giggles coming from across the room where they were picking up. This had been the biggest mistake in Eridian history, Rocky was sure. There was no other contender in his opinion.
Originally, it was supposed to be a move in party for Grace to his new home, a biodome constructed by Adrian and the other Eridian scientists for Grace to live in safely. Everything had gone well, Grace loved the house Rocky had designed and built for him - much to Rocky's glee - and his friend had settled in well, exploring every squared inch of the place until the other Eridians had arrived: the welcoming squad led by Adrian.
Each brought a gift, a housewarming present for their new resident alien - apparently this was something that both Earthen and Eridian culture shared. Mostly it was small knickknacks and decorations, as well as the occasional Earthen gift that had been made from data on the Earth thinking machine, like blankets, pillows, or things that Grace would need for his house - cups, plates, and other cutlery were popular for some odd reason; Rocky didn't know why.
That was until Adrian decided to bestow Grace with their gift - a special Earth drink for celebrating called alcohol, specifically a kind of alcohol that had been synthesized to replicate whiskey, unaware of the consequences of their action.
The party went over well, Grace keeping Adrian's gift tucked away until later on in the night, long after everyone but Rocky and Adrian left. If nothing else, Rocky did have to admit that his friend didn't partake in drinking around the Eridians, acknowledging their cultural differences when it came to food and drink, instead choosing to wait to enjoy the gift until after the celebration.
All bets were off once everyone left though, Grace deciding to enjoy Adrian's gift while they watched a movie, choosing to pick up later in the evening or even the next day. Apparently, Adrian had increased the potency of the liquid without thinking to tell Grace or Rocky, leaving them in their current situation: forced to take care of a very drunk Grace, acting like a tipsy toddler with his lack of coordination further inebriated by the drink.
This was, undoubtedly, the biggest mistake in Eridian history.
"Rock? Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Grace asked, sliding off of the couch and onto the floor, half of his body slouched over Rocky's carapace. "'Cause I really love you, buddy. You're my best friend in the whole universe, honest. My last friends were… ugh," he commented, shaking his body in disgust, "but you! You're great!" Grace concluded, pressing his lips to the top of Rocky's carapace as tears began to roll down his cheeks.
"Yes, yes, yes," Rocky grumbled, willing Grace to go to sleep already and not wake until he was less stupid. "Said many times. Rocky know."
"Wait!" Grace yelled out, falling back off of Rocky's carapace, his back against the couch. "Does Adrian know how much I love them?" He asked. "I-I've never even really spent a lot of time with them before, but if they're anything like you, I love them. Even if they're not, they're so cool!" He rambled on, taking more sips from the bag as he continued. "Like, they built this whole dome and everything in it. Holy shit, that's awesome," he muttered to himself.
"Adrian!" Grace called over to them, peeking around the wall towards his friend's mate. "I love you so much. You're fuckin' amazing. So smart and cool and I love you and Rocky so much," Grace muttered out, not entirely coherent or aware. "I'm so lucky," he whispered to himself.
"Adrian love Grace too," Adrian called back, carefully making their way over to Grace. "May not know Grace very well yet, but Grace saved mate. Grace second most important to Adrian."
"I'm second most important?" Grace gasped out. "Really?"
"Yes," Adrian confirmed, nodding their carapace in agreement.
Grace's eyes immediately began to tear up again, gasping sobs leaving his mouth as he pushed his tears away, leaning towards his two friends.
"Thank you," he sobbed out. "I've never been second most important to anyone."
"Always second most important to Rocky and Adrian. Second only because of mate. Most important other than mate," Adrian clarified, bringing their claw up to ruffle Grace's hair, letting him lean into it as Rocky tried to gently pull the bag of whiskey from Grace's hand.
"I love you guys," Grace repeated again, leaning into Adrian's touch and pulling the bag away from Rocky, tucking it into his chest with the reverence of gentle care.
Damn it, Rocky swore internally, watching as Grace curled himself around the liquid. He'd been trying to get Grace to put it down for awhile now, but Grace had argued that it was a gift from Adrian - he wasn't going to get rid of it until he drank all of it.
Rocky was kind of hoping that Grace would just fall asleep soon so he could take it out of his friend's hands and no longer have to put up with his drunken escapades. Alas, his plan was doomed to fail in spite of Grace's need to stay awake at the worst of times - something that had been Rocky's biggest complaint on their trip together. Why not sleep when tired? He would never understand humans.
"Why Grace no sleep yet, question?" Rocky asked gently, placing himself beside Grace and hoping to coax his friend to sleep.
"What? Why would I sleep when I have such good company right now?" Grace questioned, tears still fall from his eyes. "I got the best friends here with me and I still have a gift to finish, thank you very much," Grace sassed, holding up the bag before taking another sip from it, chewing on the line in-between gulps of the amber liquid.
"Wait!" Grace yelled out, pushing himself to sit up straight. "I just got the best idea," he told the two Eridians. "You're gonna love it. I'll be right back."
With the grace of a newborn giraffe, Grace stumbled to his feet, nearly knocking himself, Rocky, and Adrian over in the process as he tried to enter his bedroom, hitting his shoulder against the doorframe as he entered, followed by crashing sounds as he dug though the room.
"Should we be concerned, question?" Adrian whispered to their mate.
"Is Grace. Concern always needed."
More crashing came from the room and Rocky felt his worry increase. Grace was dangerous enough to himself on a normal day - drunk and still healing was a recipe for disaster.
He gingerly began to move towards the room before a loud sound interrupted him, emanating from the room as Grace appeared in the doorway, wearing a button up top, long white socks, his underwear, and nothing else with the bag of whiskey still in his hand.
The beat thumped as Grace slid on the floor, stopping in front of Rocky and Adrian, mouthing along to the lyrics and moving strangely as the two Eridians eyes the other, silently asking if this was normal and if they should be worried. The answer was no and yes respectively - this was odd behavior that required the upmost concern.
Taking sips of his drink as he moved, treating the spout like a microphone, Grace danced around the room as Rocky and Adrian watched their friend with worry, especially as he stepped on top of the coffee table in front of them.
"Grace!" Rocky squeaked nervously. "Very fun, but down now! Not safe, not safe, not safe."
"Yes, yes, yes," Adrian agreed, clicking their claws together as they fretted. "Not safe. Want Grace safe. Off table, please," they begged, skittering around Grace, ready to catch him if needed.
Grace didn't acknowledge them though, continuing to dance to the music, spinning on the table before he jumped off, landing on his feet and falling forward to his knees, landing face down on the floor with a harsh thump.
"Oh Grace!" Rocky shouted, circling his friend as he gently rolled Grace onto his back, met with a grin and a bloody nose.
"That was fuckin' sick," Grace chuckled softly, unaware of his injury and out of it. "I've always wanted to try that."
"Grace hurt," Adrian mumbled, joining Rocky in taking one of his hands as they led him over to Armando, forcing him to sit down and let the nannybot do what it needed to repair him.
"I'm fine," Grace argued half-heartedly, not fighting Armando as the arms gently tilted his head forward and place a piece of cotton in his nose, soaking up the blood that trickled to his mouth. "I didn't even feel it," he whined.
"Dr. Grace has a nosebleed, but no damage to facial structure," Armando informed Adrian and Rocky. "Mild pain is to be expected currently, but bleeding should not continue for more than 20 minutes."
"Thank Armando," Rocky sighed out, relieved that Grace wasn't injured.
He loved his friend very dearly, even when he was more stupid than usual under the influence of that hellish liquid. He didn't want any harm to come to Grace, especially ones that he could prevent.
"Why Grace do that, question?" Rocky asked, stomping his feet in frustration. "Grace hurt self, make Rocky Adrian worry."
"I-I'm sorry," Grace whispered softly, tears falling from his eyes. "I…I didn't mean to worry you guys," he sobbed out, kneeling on the floor in front of them. "I-I didn't mean to get hurt."
"Adrian Rocky know," Adrian comforted gently. "Just worry. Want Grace safe."
"You hate me don't you?" Grace sobbed out. "I'm such a mess. You don't have to put up with me like this," he told them, pulling his knees up to his chest again and planting his forehead against them, curling up and avoiding their gazes. "I wouldn't wanna deal with me either."
"Want deal with Grace," Rocky spoke gently, placing one of his claws over Grace's hand. "Always want deal with Grace."
"Really?" Grace sniffled, looking up at his friends.
"Yes," Adrian answered. "Rocky Adrian always want Grace. Rocky Adrian love Grace."
"I love you guys too," Grace sobbed again, pulling the two close to him, hugging them tightly. "Thank you for lovin' me, even when I'm a drunk mess."
"Is no problem," Rocky chirped softly, joining Adrian in humming a soft tune to relax Grace. "Let Grace sleep now."
"Okay," Grace accepted, yawning tiredly as Rocky and Adrian took his hands again.
Without a fight, Grace let the couple lead him to his room, take the bag of whiskey from him, and cover him up under a blanket, the warmth of both it and the knowledge that he was loved letting him fall asleep with ease.
"Night Rocky, Adrian," Grace whispered out, pulling the blanket up to his face as he shut his eyes. "Love you guys."
"Love Grace too," they responded in sync, shutting the door behind them to let Grace sleep while they picked up. They could still see him though the wall, so they'd watch him too - they'd always watch him. Sleeping alone wasn't safe.
The two breathed out a sigh of relief as they shut the door. Finally, Grace was asleep and could no longer possibly cause himself harm. A weight had been lifted and the worst mistake in Eridian history had passed.
"Adrian," Rocky began, his voice serious. "Never make liquid again."
"Agreed," Adrian spoke quickly. "Bad bad bad idea."