Derlik actually faltered a bit when Emile tensed.
"Don't tell me…" He looked at Astral. Well, it was more of a glare than anything. "Seriously?! You took the Simon kid?" Derlik made his way over, promptly smacking the ever-loving shit out of Astral.
((SOMEBODY GET THIS MAN AN AWARD))
((Even though it was probably only because he was planning on messing with Simon himself, we stan))
Well that had not been the reaction Emile had been expecting in the slightest. He sort of just stood there for a moment, his eyes wide with surprise. But was he internally cheering Derlik on, hell yes.
(Yaaaaaas lol)
(And genuinely? No, not at all aha)
Anyone trying this would have been dead in a moment, even another god, but Derlik? Unfortunately, Mother had put in fail-safes that certain gods would be stronger than the ones they were paired with, and Derlik was the one who was stronger than Astral. Astral worked his jaw some, surprised himself as the red mark came to his cheek.
"What's it to you?" He asked defensively.
"W- What's wrong?!" Derlik took it as a chance to smack Astral again. "What's wrong is I've seen that kid plenty of times, you should have been able to tell!! He was on my don't fucking touch list!!" Derlik smacked down on Astral's head for good measure, obviously pissed.
((Thank you Derlik we appreciate you ;w;))
Emile basically just stepped to the side, letting Derlik do his thing. Even he wasn’t exactly sure why Derlik was this upset over it. Why Derlik tried to make sure the other gods wouldn’t bother Simon was honestly beyond him. When it seemed like the god was finished, at least for the moment, he spoke. “Thank you.” He said simply, not wanting to say too much until he knew all of Derlik’s motives.
Astral sure as hell had no idea why Derlik reacted so viscerally either. He rubbed the back of his head, a handprint on each cheek clear as day.
Derlik just grunted in reply to Emile, looking over.
"If there's one thing having my son has taught me, it's that you don't fuck with someone's kid." Derlik looked back at Astral, getting one last solid smack in before looking like he was actually done.
"Asshat…" Astral blinked a few times after being knocked around, trying to get his eyes to focus.
Emile nodded mutely in agreement. While Alec and Derlik had had a lot of dumb fights over the millennia, they’d never gotten the kids involved, or at least never in any serious way. It was almost an unspoken rule. But how could Astral have known. Not like Emile was defending him, he most definitely wasn’t. But on paper, Simon had no one. There was no way of knowing that the man actually had two parents that loved him very much, even though they couldn’t see him often.
Derlik was still bristling, obviously not liking what had happened.
"How… is he doing?" Derlik looked to Emile, ignoring Astral. Right now, if Astral spoke, he'd probably get his ass handed to him.
"Any idea what Astral's done with him?" The god found himself looking around at the trinkets, and even at the leopard on Astral's lap.
“I-“ Emile shook his head sadly. “He’s…he’s not doing very well.” He had to pause a moment for the second question. He knew enough to know that demigod children were against the rules of their pantheon. “Exactly what you’d expect him to do.”
Derlik scowled, shaking his head. He looked at Astral, ready to murder him then and there. He knew exactly what the sun god liked to do with anyone he could.
"Where is he now?" He asked, looking at Astral as he directed the question at Emile. "He hasn't- done that yet, has he?"
“He’s resting right now.” He flinched some at Derlik’s next question, which probably gave him enough of an answer. “Y-yeah…he has.”
Derlik shook his head, this time looking like he was going to control himself. He didn't, though, landing a blow from his fist right on Astral's nose. The god was jerked back by the action, his golden blood dripping out. He didn't really know how to react to this. This… didn't happen.
Simon was glad someone could give Astral hell since he likely couldn’t. He crossed his arms across his chest, glaring slightly at Astral.
Astral's head rolled a bit before he managed to put it up again, blinking back tears from the blow. He rubbed at the blood flowing out, looking at Derlik like he was crazy but flinching back a bit when he saw the threatening look in his eyes.
Emile put a hand on Derlik’s arm gently, a silent thank you. Even if this had a chance of making things worse later, for now it made him feel a lot better.
Derlik nodded some, still keeping an eye on Astral.
"If he ever mistreats Simon again, let me know and I'll straighten this little shit up," Derlik assured. He wasn't above starting a war for this. If they made a big enough fuss, Mother might even get involved and get Simon out of here.
((Somebody. Get this man. AN AWARD))
Emile nodded. He hoped Derlik would actually be able to help. But it’d be a whole new issue altogether if Simon would refuse to leave if and when the time came.
(XD)
It would also be a very, very big issue if Simon refused to leave the child behind, and accidentally revealed them to Mother. It wouldn't be the kind of problem they would expect, but it would still be a very big one.
Astral was composing himself, still confused as to what had happened. He looked between the two, blinking some.
"How- how do you two even know each other??"
“Derlik’s had a long term feud with the guy who owns my soul.” Emile explained, of course leaving out who exactly Alec was because…well because he could.
"Mm…" Astral shook his head a bit, moving the leopard off his lap to go deal with his most likely broken nose. He had calmed, and didn't seem in much pain from it, but it was annoying. Derlik rolled his shoulder as Astral passed, sorely tempted to still beat the ever-living shit out of him.
"This is bullshit," the god mumbled under his breath, looking at Emile. "I'm so sorry this happened."
“Yeah…me too. Alec’s pissed over it, of course. But there’s really nothing we can do. I just came to check on Simon and now Astral’s not letting me leave.” He explained, glad he could actually have someone to rant to about all this.
Derlik made a disgusted face.
"It's like he forgets you're not tied to this pantheon. For the love of shit, this is a bloody mess…" Derlik shook his head, moving to sit on the couch where Astral had been.
“Yeah….it hasn’t been too much of a bother yet because at least I can keep more of an eye on Simon but besides that, everything’s pretty much terrible.” He let out a long sigh.
"Mm… Astral hasn't tried anything with you, has he? It's good to at least see you aren't stuck on a shelf somewhere." It seemed Derlik knew when to put a feud to the side. It was surprising, knowing how he acted.
“No, thankfully we have a deal right now that’s actually pretty reasonable so I should be okay. It’s just Simon that I’m worried about.” Emile was glad for it, he really needed someone to talk to about all this.
"Mm." Derlik let out a sigh. "Has Astral done anything to him recently that's bad? He hasn't been turned into a trinket, has he?" Derlik could never know with Astral.
“Nothing too bad super recently. And no he’s not a trinket. Astral claims that he doesn’t want to hurt him anymore and that he’s trying to fix himself but I really doubt it.”
"Mm…" Derlik shook his head. "I call bullshit too. That just doesn't happy- no god can just decide to change themselves, especially if the thing they want to change was put there by Mother. He's going to go back to his old ways, one way or another. Simon shouldn't be allowed to get his hopes up."
“Yeah I figured….I’m just hoping things might actually get better, for Simon’s sake. The poor kid is stuck here for the rest of eternity and he’s already miserable.” He was obviously upset that he couldn’t do anything to help.
((It would be so sad tho if Simon was actually able to get away from Astral but he had to leave the kid behind))
(ahahahahaha)
(Yes, so sad)
(Totally)
(Not already planned at all)
(aha)
"He's doing better than most," Derlik said softly, "But that doesn't mean jack shit here." He shook his head, pissed himself. He didn't like this, not one bit.
"I still can't believe Astral took him, I was sure I'd left enough of my Presence around to keep others away from him."