"I'm glad you're not hurt, then," Mia said, moving to hug Simon for a moment before pulling away. The leopard leaned into Simon's hand, tilting his head up to lightly take Simon's hand in his mouth to get his attention before letting go and shaking his own head. No, no things weren't. At least he had his body though, right?
Simon nodded in agreement before looking down at the leopard, looking a bit confused. “Everything is back to normal, isn’t it?” Simon asked him.
The leopard shook his head again, vigorously. He lifted one paw, rubbing it over his head. He could still think clearly, like before, it was horrible. His tail and ears were low as he rubbed his head lightly against Simon's leg. He hated it.
Simon sighed softly. “So that’s a no then.” There wasn’t anything he could really do about it, at least not right now. He..he couldn’t handle seeing Astral any more today. “I’m sorry, you’re just gonna have to deal with it for a bit.”
The leopard nodded slightly, laying down. He folded his paws, placing his head there. He understood, despite him not wanting to, and he wouldn't push Simon.
Mia still didn't quite like the leopard, but she felt bad for the poor thing… He'd gone through a lot for him just today, hadn't he?
It was barely even mid-afternoon and already so much had happened. Simon was just…exhausted. He went to go lay down on the bed, trying not to think about how much it bothered him. He knew it’d be better for him to nap up here than on the floor. He let out a heavy sigh, covering up his face with his hands.
Mia moved with Simon over to the bed, the leopard staying laid down where he was. She moved to lay with him, gently putting her hand on top of his. She wanted to assure him, tell him they'd think of something, but… it felt too wrong, now.
“I’m so tired…” he said softly. He definitely sounded that way, just weak, and sad. It really had been a long day already.
That wasn't a good thing, seeing as Simon had slept most of the day away.
"I… I know…" Mia moved to gently hug Simon, rubbing his back.
“I just….” he looked up at Mia. “Why does he have to hurt us? What did we do to deserve all of this?”
"We didn't do anything," Mia said quickly. "He just… He doesn't care. We're not…" Alive, to him. Nothing but toys for him to enjoy, things to be forgotten.
He nodded in acknowledgment. The answer helped some but he still felt upset by this whole thing. How Astral had just started acting like this all of a sudden…he couldn’t understand how someone as cruel as he was being would want a child.
It could be for many reasons. He could want to have someone to carry his name, or perhaps someone to inherit his powers. A weapon. Or, perhaps, it was just because he wasn't allowed to.
Mia stayed quiet, resting her head on Simon's.
"I'm so sorry…"
Simon shook his head slightly, trying to shake away all the bad feelings and memories and the tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. He’d cried enough today. “I-it’s fine.” He still remembered from their visit at the temple, how longingly Astral had looked at that mother and her children. How sad he’d sounded when he’d told Simon about being unable to have one of his own. He’d felt bad for the god back then. But of course he hadn’t known that he’d be the one making that dream into a reality.
Mia gently pulled Simon closer to her, one hand starting to rub his back.
"I've got you…" She tucked Simon close, closing her own eyes. She couldn't make this better, she knew, but… she could try.
Simon buried his face into Mia’s side, trying to forget about all of it. All of the good times he’d had with Astral were probably fake. And he hated that. It meant he really wasn’t anything special, just something for the god to use and throw away once he was done with it.
The worst part had to be that not all of it had been. Astral had genuinely enjoyed much of their time together as just that- time together. That was over, though. He really would through Simon away when he was done. Though, sometimes, he might come back. Like a child cleaning out the closet and finding a favorite toy from long ago to love for a few more days.
Mia was quiet, hugging Simon a bit closer. She'd be there with him, of course, for as much as she could.
Simon mostly felt like shit for believing any of it. He’d really started believing that things would be different. It hurt to watch it all go down the drain so quickly like this. Simon hugged Mia a little bit tighter. At least he had her. At least right now.
"I'm not going anywhere…" The bed shifted some as the leopard came up to join them, laying by Simon's back and gently nudging him to try to support him too. The big cat tucked himself close, warm.
“Thank you…” he said softly, he really did appreciate all of her help. At feeling the leopard on his other side, he reached a hand over to pet them carefully.
"Of course, Simon… you're my friend, I'd do anything for you." The leopard leaned into Simon's hand, gently licking his wrist.
“You’re the best friend ever…” he whispered, as if he was afraid that Astral might somehow hear if he said it too loud. Simon giggled softly at feeling the leopard licking at his wrist.
Mia smiled, faintly, at this.
"Mm…" She gently patted Simon's back, tucking her head away again. "You're my best friend, too." The leopard took this as a good sign, lightly licking Simon again and nuzzling closer.
Simon smiled faintly, thankful that at least for this moment, he could be a little bit happy. But he was honestly a little bit afraid that Astral would mess something up again if he felt Simon getting too happy. So he just did his best not to mentally make too much of a big deal of this moment. He reached his hand over more to pet the leopard, humming softly.
Astral found it… cute. That Simon thought his goal was to keep Simon from being happy. It wasn't, even if it seemed like it in the moment. He just… liked seeing Simon's reactions. How to make him squirm.
The leopard pressed gently into the petting, rubbing his head against Simon's back. I guess this isn't too bad… I still get pets, at least.
((Ass you’re a bitch))
Simon just kept petting him, slowly relaxing. He let himself actually feel at ease for the second time today, hoping it would go better this time.
(Yeah pretty much–)
Things looked like they would be, for now. Astral was satisfied now that'd he'd finally gotten to kiss Simon's head again, so he'd let the man have a break for the time being. He'd need more than a kiss to placate him eventually, though.
Mia was letting herself relax some, resting with Simon on the bed. Things were okay, for now. They had to take advantage of that.
((Astral’s really like “I have received my physical affection quota for the day, so you can rest now uwu”))
Simon let out a soft sigh, letting himself relax fully now that it actually seemed like Astral would leave them alone for now. He hugged Mia tightly. “Thank you..”
(Yeahhh ;-;)
"Of course…" Mia hugged Simon back, tucking her head against him. "Friends stick together, yeah?"
“Mhm! You weren’t bothered too much by staying here, were you?” He asked, remembering that he hadn’t really checked in on how she was while he was gone.