Eventually the trinket in Simon's hand calmed down a bit, once it was proven Astral wasn't coming back. It was obviously terrified of the god, but why? Did Astral have a tendency to accidently break things? He had been kind to Simon, and this seemed to be the only thing in the house that was actually afraid of Astral, and it didn't even seem to be truly alive.
“Are you alive? Or were you?” He asked out of curiosity. Maybe he’d just misunderstood the whole situation. After all, Astral was a god, it was expected for him to have a few things that seemed odd to Simon.
I… I was… The trinket didn't seem to be looking at Simon at the moment. It stayed still in Simon's hands, and if it could have it would have just closed them entirely.
“What happened?” He asked softly. He knew this answer could change everything, but also could change nothing at all. Regardless of the answer, he wasn’t leaving.
I-I… there was hesitation in the voice. Was it safe to tell Simon? Astral was at least pretending to be nice to him for now. Would him knowing ruin that?
I died, the trinket finally said. Astral… took my soul and made me like this…
“Why?” He asked in confusion. “To keep you safe or something?” Was Astral really as terrible as he was in Simon’s nightmare?
I… I don't know. The trinket did, though, but they weren't going to let Simon know. Let him like in peaceful bliss.
He did it to all the others, too… That would explain the feeling of not being alone, then. That was a lot of souls…
“Oh…well I guess it doesn’t really matter, I don’t have anywhere else to go. No one will look for me, no matter how long I’m gone. Sometimes I feel like I don’t even exist.” He said, going back to humming softly.
To Astral, he still didn't. He was just a toy- he looked at Simon the same way Simon had at the decorations and trinkets before. The one in Simon's hand was slowly relaxing more, falling silent. They were all on the same boat, after all. Simon was left in silence again, the only sound being his own humming.
Simon just sat there by himself, continuing to hum softly. He didn’t really care what happened to him. If he met an early grave, maybe that’d be the best thing for him. He’d always thought he was never meant to live long.
Astral… would not be happy to hear that. He wanted to squeeze as much fun out of Simon as he could, and if Simon gave in so easily, then why would it be easy.
I… your dream last night…
“Hm?” He asked. “What about it?” He asked, though frankly he didn’t want to think about it, he didn’t want to remember.
Was it really one? The trinket had seen everything in the living room, after all. How Astral had smashed him against the wall, over and over.
That actually made him pause, his humming stopping. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He didn’t want it to be real. He wanted to stay in denial for just a little bit longer, make himself believe that for once he wasn’t going to get hurt.
The trinket fell silent a moment.
I'm sorry, it's a stupid idea… They trailed off, finally turning their gaze back to Simon. Let him have this time, when he thought everything was okay.
((Deadass about to cry during class whyyyyy))
Simon sighed, falling back on the bed, closing his eyes. He didn’t want to think about it anymore, it made his head hurt. Having nothing better to do, he figured he might as well try to get some rest. He kept the trinket in his hand, keeping it safe.
(oh god me tooo ;w;)
It had been a long time since the trinket had felt safe. It was nice, being held so gently. They didn't want it to end. Not another word was said, Simon and the trinket falling into silence.
(timeskip maybe?)
((Good with me, you want Simon to just wake up okay?))
(Yee, that would be good!)
Simon woke up a few hours later, managing to have made it through without any more nightmares. He looked at the trinket in his hands, making sure it was still okay.
The trinket was still securely in Simon's hands, thankfully. It looked up at him.
How are you feeling? it asked, voice soft. It was hard to tell whether it was masculine or feminine, and it's form was so vague one couldn't tell by that either.
“A little bit better than before.” He said quietly, rolling over onto his side. “What time is it? Do you know?” He asked.
The trinket looked around a bit.
I don't know, they admitted. But it doesn't feel like daytime anymore.
(I legit whispered 'oh no' in the middle of Spanish class)
((Literally got anxiety going to sleep last night because of this :’) ))
“Oh….well what should I do? I’m not tired anymore…” he didn’t really want to wander the house at night either, the living room was too creepy for him to be in during the day, let alone at night. “I guess I’ll just stay here..”
(oh noooo please no anxiety! Simon will maybe be okay in the end!)
Okay… It wasn't long before their were footsteps coming towards the door. Astral fully expected Simon to be asleep, coming to get him for the night's session.
However, Simon was the furthest thing from asleep, sitting up on the bed scrolling through stuff on his phone. He was surprised that he had service here. He wasn’t surprised from the amount of missed calls he had from the ex he’d been staying with.
The trinket, though, didn't have anything to preoccupy themselves with, and trembled a bit when they heard the footsteps.
He's coming! they said. Astral was at the door in a moment, the knob twisting.