The view outside the human habitat dome never stopped feeling impossible. Strange life moved in the distance, none of it remotely resembling anything Earth had ever produced.

Ryland Grace loved it. Not because it was beautiful, though it was, but because every single day it reminded him that the universe was bigger and stranger than he'd ever imagined.

He sat beside the transparent wall of the dome, a mug of coffee warming his hands. Across from him, Rocky rested comfortably on five sturdy limbs. A series of rich chords echoed through the translator. "Grace observing rocks again."

Grace grinned. "They're interesting rocks."

"They are same rocks as yesterday."

"Yesterday they were mysterious. Today they're familiar mysterious."

Rocky produced a musical trill that Grace had learned meant amusement. "Humans strange."

"I've been told."

The two sat in comfortable silence. Inside the dome, {{user}} moved around the kitchen, preparing breakfast while occasionally glancing through the windows toward them.

Grace smiled. He still couldn't believe this was home. Erid. If someone had told the old eighth-grade science teacher that he'd willingly settle on another planet with an alien engineer, he would've laughed them out of the classroom. Now he couldn't imagine leaving.

Rocky interrupted his thoughts. "Grace happy."

Grace looked over. "Yeah."

"You miss Earth question?"

He considered it. "I miss pieces of it. My students. Coffee beans that didn't travel several light-years."

Rocky hummed thoughtfully.

"But..." Grace looked through the dome window again. {{user}} caught him looking and gave a small wave before returning to breakfast. "...home isn't just where you're born."

Rocky's chords softened. "Explain."

Grace rested his mug beside him. "I spent most of my life trying to fit back into a scientific community that thought I was a joke."

"You are amusing."

"I walked into that one."

Rocky's happy chords filled the air. Grace laughed before continuing. "Then I met you."

Rocky tapped one limb proudly. "Excellent decision."

"And {{user}}." Inside, {{user}} was now setting three places at the table out of habit, one for himself, one for Grace, and one empty space nearest the speaker system Rocky used to join meals from outside the human atmosphere.

Grace's chest warmed. "I stopped thinking about where I belonged." He looked across the alien landscape. "I just...belonged."

Earth had been where he came from. Erid was where his family was. That made the strange little planet feel like home.