Astral watched Simon for a moment before lifting his hand up. He didn't like how scared Simon was, and he couldn't understand why it was directed at him. He put his hand on top of Simon's eyes, pushing them closed.
"Sleep…"
No, no, no! He didn’t want to sleep, he just wanted to be left alone. He desperately wanted to be able to make any sound of protest, but instead could only cry in frustration. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want any of this to happen.
Astral let his power slowly flow into Simon, ebbing him to sleep. It would help, the god thought. Simon would feel better with more rest. The god gently wiped Simon's tears away, letting up the power keeping Simon silent and still just as he was fully falling alseep.
Simon was asleep now but he most definitely wasn’t happy about it. His last waking thoughts spent worrying about what Astral would do to him. Whenever he was allowed to wake back up, he’d be back to the same state he’d been in when he first woke up that morning.
That wasn't good, because there was one thing Astral had left inside of Simon-
He wouldn't be able to hurt himself. Not even a single scratch, his body would stop him from being able to do anything.
The god stood, leaving. Simon would wake up when he'd had enough time to calm down.
Simon woke up a few hours later, just as terrified as when he’d gone to sleep. He didn’t necessarily feel any different physically from when he’d been put to sleep. But he also knew that didn’t mean anything. He sat right up in bed, looking around the room.
Mia had made it back into the room. She hadn't tried to lay down on the bed, resting her head against the side instead. She'd passed out herself, drying tear tracks on her cheeks. Astral was nowhere to be seen as least.
That didn’t help him get any other answers either, but at least she was there, that helped a bit. He was thankful that Astral wasn’t in here. He pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his head on top of them and starting to cry again. He did his best to stay quiet, not wanting to disturb Mia. He hated this…that he had to wake up not knowing if he was okay.
Mia shifted some, though. She wasn't very far into sleep, and she could hear what little of crying that she could. She sat up some, rubbing her eyes some.
"Simon..?" Mia trailed off, looking up. "Did… Did he..?" Did he do anything to Simon?
Simon didn’t look up, starting to cry harder at the question. “I-I don’t know!” He’d been hoping Mia would have some answers. “I don’t know anything!” He cried out. He hated that it even had to be a question. He hated more that he didn’t have an answer.
Mia shifted to stand, not sure what she should do. She hadn't been able to move until Astral had already made it back to the living room. He hadn't taken long, but… who knew, with him. He could have done whatever he wanted in that time.
"I'm so sorry…" She wished she could just tell Simon everything was okay, that he hadn't been hurt.
She didn't want to lie, though…
It only took another moment for Simon to break down into sobs. “I just want him to leave us a-alone!” He sobbed out, barely understandable. “H-hasn’t he done enough already?!”
"I… I know…" Mia trailed off for a moment. How could she comfort Simon? Give him false hope? Things were only going to get worse from here, it showed on her face.
Simon glanced up at her, definitely looking like a wreck. “I-if it’s okay with you, c-could I have a h-hug please?” He asked softly.
"Of course," Mia said softly. She moved onto the bed with Simon, wrapping her arms around him. "Of course, Simon, I'll never turn you down when you need one." Mia held Simon gently. She wanted to say she was protective, but… she had tried before, and it hadn't worked. She couldn't save him, and she hated herself for it.
“T-thank you.” He said, his voice hoarse from having been screaming most of the day. Simon really did appreciate her efforts to keep him safe. He didn’t care whether she actually succeeded or not, he knew she was trying her best. He rested his head on Mia’s shoulder, trying to relax.
Mia nodded some, holding Simon close. She fell silent, her head resting on top of Simon's. There wasn't much she could do, but she could be there for him. She would help him as much as she could.
A few tears still slid down his cheeks, but they were lessening a bit now. Not because he was calming down, but because he was just accepting the hopelessness of his situation. He knew with how he felt right now, he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight.
Mia hadn't really calmed down, either. She'd accepted her fate here long ago, but now..? She'd hoped so hard things would be different. She wouldn't accept this. They'd get away, they'd…
It would never happen, she knew.
They were trapped.
Forever.
She just wouldn't accept it.
Simon felt…tired was the best way to describe it. Mostly on an emotional level he was just..done. He felt like he’d already given everything he had trying to make things work. And it hadn’t done anything.
No, it hadn't, and now Simon might just get a taste of what was to come over the centuries. Nothing too bad would happen before the child was born, though. Nothing… extreme.
Mia guessed this, but she wouldn't say it out loud, for obvious reasons.
Simon didn’t even want to think about when the child would be born and what all would happen after that. But he couldn’t help but be aware of the baby bump that was growing slightly every day. That poor kid..he would be bringing them into such a terrible world.
This poor kid indeed… They would be brought into a world where Astral would have a heavy hand in raising them.
To be just like him.
Mia closed her eyes a moment at the thought. She couldn't bring herself to care for this child because of that.
Simon wouldn’t really have that choice unfortunately. And even if he did…well Mia had already seen how easily attached he got to people. He could only hope that this kid wouldn’t turn out the way Astral wanted them to, for everyone’s sake. He sighed softly. With the day their day was going so far, they’d probably end up staying in here for the rest of it.
Yes, they would. Mia wasn't going anywhere again where she could run into Astral. She chose to ignore how easily Astral was able to come in. She tucked her head more securely on top of Simon's, closing her eyes.