handsofink



Recent works

Recent bookmarks

  1. Public Bookmark *

    Tags
    Summary

    Ryland Grace wakes up in a small room alone, where the walls are wrong, his body is wrong, and there's a rock spider like nothing he's ever seen looming over him. He has no memory of how a middle school science teacher could've possibly ended up on an alien planet trillions of kilometers away from the nearest fellow human being- and yet these aliens seem determined to take good care of him.

    /

    The drug Grace was given to induce amnesia before going on the Hail Mary has unpredictable long-term side effects.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    31,475
    Chapters:
    8/8
    Comments:
    355
    Kudos:
    1,086
    Bookmarks:
    267
    Hits:
    11,490

    18 Jun 2026

  2. Public Bookmark *

    Tags
    Summary

    Within the tight quarters of the Hail Mary, misunderstandings, arguments, and accidents are bound to happen. It's especially unfortunate when all three happen at once.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    11,550
    Chapters:
    2/2
    Comments:
    152
    Kudos:
    1,400
    Bookmarks:
    390
    Hits:
    7,633

    17 Jun 2026

  3. Public Bookmark *

    Tags
    Summary

    "You know, I always thought I'd live somewhere with lots of people around," Olruggio tells him. The wine in his vessel is a rich pink colour. Qifrey made them olives and cheese with cabroccoli wrapped in ham for a late-night snack, but the pleasure was in the making, not in the eating. He sips his own vessel, listening. "But it's really nice out here, isn't it? Peaceful. Good for focussing."

    "I think you would be even more of a hermit, if you had the choice," Qifrey says. "Lost in your work for weeks on end."

    Olruggio looks sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "You're probably right. I never thought I'd be that kind of person, either… weird how much things change, isn't it?"

    "And how much they stay the same," Qifrey murmurs.

    A temporary fix-it.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    3,262
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    96
    Kudos:
    950
    Bookmarks:
    228
    Hits:
    6,050

    27 May 2026

  4. Public Bookmark *

    Tags
    Summary

    It's not jealousy. Adrian is adamant about that. They are actually insisting that it’s not any emotion at all. Not even dislike. They are simply completely uninterested in anything that concerns “the human”. 

    Rocky believes them. Adrian has always been the level-headed one out of the two of them. They are too logical to be jealous. They acknowledge that Grace and Rocky have a special bond after everything they went through together and also understand that none of that will ever pose a threat to their relationship. 

    Neither are they heartless or ungrateful. They know that Grace is the only reason that Rocky is back at all, the only reason their star has stopped dying. Adrian has told Rocky again and again that they are grateful and happy and wish the alien no ill will. They even helped with the construction of the biodome.

    And yet they have no desire to get to know Grace. 

    **************

    You know those videos where the dad is like "You may keep the cat but I will have nothing to do with it" and a few days later they are smothering the kitty with cuddles and love?

    Adrian never stood a chance.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    4,122
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    456
    Kudos:
    11,652
    Bookmarks:
    1,834
    Hits:
    45,094

    24 May 2026

  5. Public Bookmark *

    Tags
    Summary

    "Hey...can I ask you something kind of weird?"

    "Shoot," Rocky says, his voice sounding amused. "But not actually shoot."

    Grace wants to laugh at the joke (he's been getting better at joking and sarcasm) but instead he swallows, his fingers tracing idle patterns on the blanket. The ache from earlier at the classroom, the beach, the constant invisible wall feels closer tonight.

    "What does it feel like... to touch you?" he asks. "I mean, if we could. Your carapace. Your claws. What would it feel like to me?"

    Rocky is quiet for a long beat. When he sings again, his melody is thoughtful and gentle.

    "Hard. Rocky, like name. Like...strong stone that is alive. My claws are sharp but careful. My body pulses a little when I am happy. Like singing Grace can feel instead of hear." He pauses, then adds with a soft, almost shy trill, "What does human skin feel like, question? To me, I wonder."

    He imagines it.

    In his mind, the xenonite shell vanishes.

    Or: Grace is touch starved and Rocky wants to make it better

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    37,742
    Chapters:
    8/8
    Collections:
    2
    Comments:
    454
    Kudos:
    2,037
    Bookmarks:
    433
    Hits:
    25,512

    18 May 2026