It wasn't long before Astral silently opened the door to the bedroom. He was going to speak up, but when he saw Simon supposedly asleep he fell quiet with a soft smile. He stepped in, standing by the bed a moment. The human just looked so… sweet. Calm. Relaxed… He reached out, pulling the blankets up just a bit more around Simon.
"Good night…" the god said softly. He ran his hand over Simon's head, and in that moment he genuinely felt adoration for the man laying on the bed.
((I will cry on you, don’t mess with my feels like that :’) ))
Simon had heard the god come in, but had been too tired to speak up. He was a little surprised by what had happened next, the gentle, caring way Astral was treating him. Which is exactly why he didn’t speak up then either. Because he didn’t want to ruin this. He was afraid that if he acknowledged it, the kindness would stop, and he’d just get hurt again.
(Mmmmmmmmmm no you signed up for this XD)
Astral left his hand on Simon's hand a moment longer, finally pulling away. By now Mia herself was actually asleep, so it really was just Simon and Astral. The god could have done anything, anything at all, and he still chose to kind. He himself was so confused by this, by these feelings. So, in a moment, he turned, leaving the room and closing the door with a soft click.
Simon would stay perfectly still the entire time, not wanting to risk giving himself away. But as soon as Astral left, he instantly found himself wanting to call him back. But he wouldn’t. He stayed curled up in bed, trying to remember the feeling of Astral’s hand on top of his head. He sighed quietly, closing his eyes again. He knew he couldn’t afford to be vulnerable in this situation. But he wanted to. And he wanted it to actually work out for once. But it’d probably end up just like all the other times, with him getting hurt. With thoughts of the past still fresh on his mind, he drifted off to sleep. So really, he shouldn’t have been surprised when the nightmare hit. And it hit hard. I mean, while Simon has had nightmares while staying with Astral, he’d never ever begun to just scream.
Astral had settled down for the night in the living room, sleeping soundly soon enough. He'd known Simon had experienced nightmares before- he'd been the cause of at least two, after all, but his eyes shot open when he heard the man scream. He got up quickly, hitting his leg on the coffee table and knocking over a few figurines as he rushed to the bedroom. He opened the door, hurrying inside. Mia had been awoken as well, curled up with her hands covering her ears as Simon screamed. It was too loud for her, she was right by his head and it hurt.
"Simon," Astral said, hurrying over and shaking the man in an attempt to wake him up.
"Simon, Simon wake up."
Astral shaking him only seemed to make the man more upset. “No..no!!” He was actively fighting back against Astral, the adrenaline making him a bit stronger than normal. He hadn’t woken up as he tried to push Astral or someone away. “Stop!!”
Astral quickly took his hands off of Simon, moving them instead to cup around the man's head. This nightmare was bad, he could already see it. He needed to get Simon awake, or at the very least out of the dream and into a better one.
"Wake up," He said, the command soft and gentle. "You're not in any danger, Simon… You're safe here."
It would take a moment for the command to actually set in. He relaxed a bit, not flailing around as much as before, and he’d stopped screaming, so that was good. But he was still experiencing the nightmare. He whimpered softly.
Astral, once Simon had stopped fighting him, carefully wrapped his arms around the man, pulling him up. Astral sat on the bed, bringing Simon to his lap. He wanted to help the man, help him out of this.
"Wake up," He said again, more firmly now. It was safer for him to work Simon up to it than just having jolted him out of the worst of the nightmare.
That seemed to do the trick. Simon let out a loud gasp as his eyes shot open, wide with fear. It’d take him a second to realize where he was, and what was happening. In that frame of time, he’d pushed Astral away from him.
Astral let Simon push away from him, careful to make sure he didn't fall off the bed.
"Hey, you're okay," Astral said, voice soft. "No one here is gonna hurt you. Simon, you're safe…" Astral looked at the man with concern, arms still open from Simon pushing himself out of Astral's hold.
Simon looked over at Astral, trembling quite a bit. After another second he threw himself into Astral’s arms, beginning to sob softly into his chest. “I’m s-sorry.” He managed to stammer out.
Astral wrapped his arms around Simon, on hand on his back and the other on his head.
"It's okay," Astral said softly. "You didn't do anything wrong. I've got you, Simon…" The god held Simon close to himself, his voice soft.
He knew he shouldn’t be doing this but he just needed comfort. So he let himself stay tucked away in Astral’s arms. He felt safe here, at least for now. He hadn’t had a full on night terror like that in awhile, and the experience had him shaken up. The way he’d fought Astral off while in his sleep…that was how he’d used to be. When he still somewhat believed he should be happy, and shouldn’t be treated like human garbage.
Astral ran his fingers through Simon's hair, falling silent. Why hadn't Simon fought like that before, when Astral had been hurting him? He had tried, but not like that. Just how much had he already been hurt..? Astral knew it was going to be impossible once Simon realized what had happened, but… he wanted the man to be happy. He wanted Simon to heal, to be like he had when they were with the otters, just a sweet man enjoying life.
Simon kept his face pressed into Astral’s chest, still crying. The nightmare had unearthed painful memories that he’d thought he’d recovered from. He tried to remind himself that he couldn’t get hurt anymore, and that did help a little bit. After all, he was safe here with Astral, wasn’t he? Astral would take care of him…right?
"You're safe here," Astral said after a moment. He continued to run his fingers through Simon's hair, keeping his touch gentle. He wanted to help Simon feel better, but he wasn't very good at it. He'd never really done it before, not genuinely.
“Thank you….” he said softly. He appreciated everything Astral had done for him. Despite Astral’s lack of experience, he was doing a good job calming Simon down. After a few more minutes, he’d finally stopped crying.
((Mmmmm I thought about Simon too much and started crying XD))
((I’m so sorry I know this is annoying but…bump?))
(Nu it's okay! I've just been busy with school oof-)
Astral looked down when Simon stopped crying, still holding the man tucked away in his arms. He moved his hand to cup the back of Simon's head now, letting out a quiet breath.
"How are you doing now?" he asked softly.
((oof, school is gross))
He shrugged, making no move to sit back up or otherwise leave Astral’s arms. He didn’t speak yet, not sure if he’d be able to do so without breaking into tears. There wasn’t anything he really needed to say just yet either.
((Okay but like imagine if Simon didn’t actually get gregnant somehow and he’s just having depressive mood swings and Astral’s like “sir wtf” XD))
(Okay first off both I and Astral would cry–)
Astral fell silent when Simon didn't speak. Was something still wrong? Of course it was, Simon had just had a horrible nightmare. The god turned back to running his fingers through Simon's hair, the man close to his chest.
