Simon found Grace in the kitchen of their little beach home.

Grace was humming absently as he put dishes away, some new tune that the Eridian orchestra came up with the other week.

Simon came up behind the other man to wrap his arm around Grace’s middle, resting his chin on his shoulder. “Hey. How exactly did the astrophage pose such a threat to an entire star?”

He loved hearing Grace talk science. The man’s whole face lit up when he got to explain something to Simon.

Now, though, Simon had a tiny bit of an ulterior motive. He wanted to see how far he could go before Grace got too flustered to speak…just out of his own curiosity.

…And maybe boredom too. It had had been a slow day lately.

“Hm…fascinating.” Simon hummed against Grace’s back when there was a pause in the other man’s rambling. His fingers slipped under the bottom of Grace’s shirt, teasing, slow. “Keep talking.”