"Sorry about that." Halm chuckled a little. "I tried soft boiling them. Well, now at least we know a way not to prepare them. Though, it is quite painful for them." Halm set the bowl aside, scooting up on the bed to rest his back against the headboard.
"Mm. That's good at least." Nix sighed and huddled up against Halm. "How else could we try to prepare them in the future? How do you think it might work?"
"Well," Halm said, wrapping an arm around Nix, "now that we know the memories can be prepared without disappearing, there are lot of things we could do. Hard boil, which will help with the slimyness, frying, baking them in the oven, and more. I'm also thinking we might want to try to use them as a seasoning for other things. That might possibly cause them to gain true consciousness again, and then they'll suffer even more." Halm, the one who once hated the idea of losing any memories, was talking about different ways to torture and destroy them.
"Mhmm." Nix yawned a bit and huddled closer to Halm, purring softly. "Are we doing this again tomorrow? Or are we going to wait a bit until next time?" He asked.
"I'm not sure it would be a good idea to leave Cas with Zachary again tomorrow," Halm admitted. He reached down, lightly scratching the top of Nix's head as he thought. "Probably the day after tomorrow."
"Mm…" Nix pushed his head up into Halm's hand. "Probably not. I'll let you talk to the fish and we'll determine whether or not he'll be allowed to guard him again."
Halm nodded.
"Right. Still, he's better than his sister." He sighed a bit, moving his hand to scratch behind Nix's ears.
"Why's that?" Nix asked, purring softly when Halm scratched behind his ears. He curled his tail up and closed his eyes contentedly.
"She's a lot more pushy," Halm said gently. "She wouldn't be able to handle any of Cas's breakdowns without hurting him." He lifted his other hand to pet Nix as well.
"Well, we definitely don't want that…" Nix sighed. "And there's not really anyone else around." He melted into Halm's touch, resting his head in the God's hands as he purred contentedly.
"Still. There will be rules to go over with Zachary." Halm smiled softly as Nix melted into him, his touch gentle as he pet Nix. He liked it when Nix was happy.
"Mhmm… what specific rules are you thinking of?" Nix asked, continuing to purr. He turned his ears back and smiled softly as he relaxed.
"Pretty much just enduring he doesn't do anything to Cas unless Cas wants it. Definitely no waking Cas up. No touching unless Cas does it first, and even then…" Halm shrugged a little.
"Just things to keep him from accidently hurting Cas." Halm settled down a bit more i in the bed, content with just sitting with Nix and petting him.
Nix nodded, crawling into Halm's lap to huddle up with him. He nuzzled up against the god, closing his eyes and yawning a bit. He was still tired. "Sounds good to me."
Halm put his arms back around Nix when Nix moved to his lap, hand going to Nix's head again.
"Why don't you get some sleep," Halm suggested. He rubbed Nix's head, slipping down to lay with Nix and Cas.
"Mmkay… you'll watch Cas? Are you tired?" Nix asked, yawning again as he huddled close to Halm.
"I can watch him," Halm said quietly. "I won't fall asleep." That didn't mean he wasn't tired, of course. But he could stay up as long as he needed to.
Nix nodded a bit and relaxed on Halm's chest, soon drifting off to sleep. Cas huddled up against the two of them with a soft sigh.
Halm stayed up most of the night, just laying there with Nix and Cas. Watching over both of them, keeping them safe. He fell asleep, however, around five in the morning. He was exhausted too, but he held out as long as he could.
Nix woke up shortly after Halm fell asleep and took over with the Cas guarding. He yawned a bit and huddled up against Halm, keeping his eyes on Cas and his ears towards the door.
Halm woke up not even two hours later. He groaned a little.
"'M sorry," he mumbled. "I said I wasn't going to fall asleep…" He lifted one hand to Nix head gently.
"It's okay… I know you're tired too, and Cas is fine." Nix leaned into Halm's hand, purring weakly. "He still hasn't woken up…"
Halm nodded, closing his eyes a moment before opening them again.
"He must be exhausted," he says with a sigh. He gently rubbed Nix's head, sitting up a little.
"Yeah…" Nix turned his ears back at the petting, relaxing further. "Do you think he'll be able to recover from this?" He asked.
Halm was quiet a moment.
"Maybe. But it'll take a long, long time. And… I'm not sure if he'll recover completely, even then." He let out a long sigh.
"He did die, after all. And the pain of being brought back on top of that…"
Nix sighed softly. "And I thought he was fucked up mentally on earth… I have a feeling he's not going to want his memories when he moves on to his next life."
Halm nodded.
"Probably not. But that means he'll get a chance at a new life, and he'll have us to raise him then. He'll be okay in the end." He looked down at Cas's sleeping form.
Nix nodded a bit. "What happens when I die? Is it the same scenario? I'll probably need my memories to properly protect him, though…"
"Well, there really are a lot of things that could happen. You could just have a new body made for you, one like this one, or you could get reborn like Cas. There thing is, there is an option where you keep your memories. They'd come back around the age of sixteen if you get born as a human. You could even just stay as a soul. Whatever you're most comfortable with in the end." Halm explained all of this calmly, wanting Nix to understand.
"So… either way, I don't get my memories back immediately?" Nix asked, confused. "I need them! If I don't remember what upsets Cas, how am I supposed to protect him from it?"