Chapter Text
Simon rolled over, only to feel his head absolutely swimming—Eden above what had happened while he was… Right. He wasn't home. His once-relaxed posture stiffened; he could feel something soft beneath him, which was a start.
His hands wound in the surface underneath his back, as his arms moved, a horrible, agonizing pain shot through him. He clenched his teeth and tried to breathe slowly and evenly. The last thing he needed was to alert… That… Well, he didn't know what it was anymore.
He was so convinced he had been saved and offered salvation for his sins in his previous life… Yet now he couldn't bring himself to believe that after what he saw. The thing had bled. Humans bled, animals bled, Angels? They didn't bleed. They did not need to bleed.
They were made of pure light and synthesized to be better than humans' mortal forms. Why would an Angel need to bleed if it was already formed out of the holiest light?
For some reason, his mind also didn't want to believe it was a Devil either. It spoke much too softly and handled him with so much care until he was put under… Why was he put under again?
He could feel his ears growing hot at the memory, right… He fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion and curled against the creature's thumb, not his proudest moment. Yet, he felt as if he had woken up at some point in between then and now. The faintest of memories tickled the back of his mind— the memory of lying on something moving.
Whatever he was on top of now was not warm and moving. Which he didn't mind in all honesty, he ran his hands along what he could only assume to be a fabric. It was soft and gave way under his clawed fingertips; he could almost feel his sharp nails catching on it. Simon never got things this soft. They were usually saved for the Elites in the Consolidation. Simon could only ever dream of getting this in his past life.
Again, that horrible pain went up his spine; he couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath at the agony of it all. Whatever they had done to his back, it hurt. He waited a few beats for the pain to subside before trying to listen in for any noise.
If there wasn't any noise, he could risk opening his eyes…
…
..
Nothing. At least from what Simon could tell.
With a deep breath, he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, and he winced at the sheer brightness of the room he was in. Fuck, this room was bright! It had to be a different room from the lab; the lab had bright lights— but it wasn't as stinging as natural lighting.
He had to blink a few times to clear the blur; it cleared as it felt like something withdrew from over his pupil. Odd, but he didn't have time to dwell on it if he wanted to get a good look around. Who knew when the thing would be coming back to this room…
He doesn't remember being moved to a room with natural lighting… That was weird—
"Tiny Human awake, Question?"
His body jolted upright despite the agony that lit up in its wake; the sound came from behind him— Whipping his body around, he froze. That wasn't the thing. That was an entirely new thing.
He threw his body back with a horrible growl that rippled up his throat. He was going to need to get used to his new body now that he was more conscious. The creature before him was big, just like the other one, except it wasn't human at all.
It looked like a rock— One of its limbs was held up to try and reach for Simon. Absolutely not. He unclenched his fist and opened his hand to try and strike at it if it came closer. His fear bubbled from his brain into fighting instead of freezing.
When Simon raised his hand to bat at it, that seemed to get the thing's attention. It yanked its clawed hand back, "Apology apology apology! Little Human, big Scare! Understand." Where was that stupid thing's voice coming from!
He whipped his head to the side, not seeing anything for a good bit, until he saw what looked to be the laptop the ang— Thing had been using. He really needed to form a name for what these creatures were.
The creature's speech was even weirder to Simon; it spoke at first in that all too familiar singing. Only to be overshadowed by a mechanical voice that almost made Simon's ears ring at the volume of it. His instincts told him to listen for the music, but all he got was that grating voice.
The rock creature's clawed hand settled back underneath itself, if Simon didn't know any better. He'd say it looked a lot like those Earth animals called Felines he'd seen in the books of old.
It didn't seem to be reaching for him anymore… Which was a plus. He still couldn't bring his body to relax, but he flinched as his arm went down and made the nerves on his back light up again. That seemed to make the thing sit up more.
"Little Human in pain, Question? Rocky get Grace," The rock creature began to stand, and Simon felt that all too familiar white-hot panic shoot up his throat. That was the name, the name of the creature.
Simon tried to speak, but all that came out were those horrible gurgles. He coughed into his hand before stopping the creature just in time, "Stop!—" The rock froze at his voice. He had to cough into his hand a good few times to clear it.
He could talk now. It wasn't the prettiest sound in the world, not by a long shot— but it was his. Whatever they had done during his sleep, it made the pain and agony in his throat begin to subside. If only slightly.
After his coughing fit, he looked back up at the rock. He really wished he could tell which way it was facing; it was making it hard to tell if it was looking at him or the doorway. "Rocky not get Grace statement. Little Human's heartbeat too fast, need calm…" It almost sounded like it was muttering to itself at the end.
Much to Simon's relief, the creature did as he requested and sat back down on the chair a little bit away from him. Simon glanced around the room, more specifically at what he was sitting on.
It was most definitely a pillow, a very plush one at that. He even had a blanket that sat across his back, as he craned his neck, something felt wrong…
Hadn't he had a back fin…? He vividly remembers his spine fins catching on a blanket before; now, the blanket fell off smoothly and caught on nothing. That wasn't right.
Looking down at his chest as he sat up, he could see bandages covering his entire chest. Wrapping around his back and even down to his lower stomach.
What had they done to him while he slept?? His clawed hand reached for the bandages, and he went to rip them off, only to make that rock let out a pitchy cry of alarm. "Little Human, do not touch those, Statement! Body needs to heal heal heal!" He saw its clawed hand reaching for him again.
This time around, he hissed at it and swiped his clawed fingers at it. "En—genōg— ACK!" Another coughing fit wracked up his frame, okay. Maybe talking was going to be harder than he thought.
His fingertips made contact with something hard; his fingers buzzed from the force of the contact as he yanked his own hand back. Whatever was encasing the rock thing was incredibly strong; he sucked in a hiss as he looked at his hand.
Thankfully, none of his claws were chipped, and the rock seemed to take his moment of weakness and grab for him. Now gingerly holding almost his entire arm still by the elbow as it looked at him.
"Little Human hurt hand, Question?? Bad bad bad!— Xenonite hard! very very very hard!" Was that what the thing had encased around it?? He didn't get a moment to even try to reply as he was pulled forward. He felt his body being pulled forward, his tail wound in the blanket to try and stop it.
This was all too much; he hated the touch— He hated the noises. Why was there a singing undertone when this thing spoke? Why was it so comforting and alarming all at the same time??
He hung his head and let himself be held up by his arm, the fins on his body drooping pathetically as he felt all fight leave his body. It wasn't doing anything to him for now, but Simon knew better than to trust these things.
Not after what they did to him while he was sleeping. He still didn't know why his back fin was gone; he felt disgusted for missing it, but it was a part of him. It was his, and they took it.
A pitiful whistling cry came from Simon's throat gills; he gritted his teeth and pressed his chin to his neck. Trying to stifle his own crying as the creature continued to hold him. He wanted to go back to sleep— He wished he had never woken up to begin with. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop the tears.
Only as Simon's body began to shake did the creature let go of his arm. "Little human leaking… no no no— safe, little human very safe." He felt that cold surface move from his arm to his chest.
He didn't squirm or thrash as he felt one clawed hand touch his front, while another seemed to be grabbing his back. He felt himself being lifted from the pillow, but he still didn't open his eyes.
His cheek and right side pressed into the cold barrier around the creature's body; it felt nice against his all too hot skin. A low crooning reverberated around him as he felt its hands shifting. One moved underneath his rear to hold him steady, and the other held his front side as he leaned forward.
His chest shuddered as he struggled to get a deep breath of air; he felt so, so fucking pathetic for crying. For whatever reason, too, this thing was comforting him all the while.
That rumbling singing came back, this time louder than the laptop now that Simon wasn't as close to the speaker. ".~♬♪̀⊹!~" That… Was nice actually… He could feel his breathing slowly becoming less labored. Where had he heard this song before…?
"♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.. ~♬♪̀⊹ ~ - ‧₊˚♪ 𝄞₊˚⊹!~... ♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.. ~♬♪̀⊹.. " Simon could feel his crying turning into little sniffles; he rested his head firmly against the clear barrier. It was kinda warm now that Simon let himself rest against it…
His tail swished before curling around something more solid, one of the things' claws, maybe? He really didn't know, and he didn't want to crane his neck to check. The thing was clearly consoling him, and for whatever reason, it soothed the animal gnawing at the back of his mind for escape.
Simon unwound his arms from around his chest to gently press one of them against the glass stuff. He felt bad for swiping at it; a low crooning rumble came from his vocal cords. He didn't recognize the sound, but he knew it came from him.
The things singing paused, if only for a moment. He could hear the laptop faintly now, allowing the thing's speech to be translated. "Little human, okay now, question?" He really needed to get it to say his name. He was getting tired of 'little human' very quickly, especially considering he most definitely was not human anymore.
He coughed and tried to speak again, this time pressing a hand to his throat to try and soothe it. "Y— yugh-.. Yeyus..?" Close, but not quite. He groaned and pressed his head back to the glass; he hoped the thing understood anyway.
It seemed like it did, because Simon could practically feel it bouncing in excitement. "āwe-! ack!— Quit!" He groaned as the motion felt like it was making him nauseous. He wouldn't mind being put down right about now.
He squirmed, using his tail to thwack against the thing's claws. "Apology apology apology! Rocky is new to little human mannerisms." Just like that, Simon felt his feet hitting the pillow again before seeing the claws pull away entirely.
…Strange. This thing was strange. It wasn't like Grace, first of all, it actually seemed to listen. Granted, Grace didn't seem to be in the best of moods earlier, and he was certain he didn't help. Yet, this rock was much more accommodating to him in these last few minutes than Grace had been.
He eyed it a few moments longer, the awkward silence making his shoulders tense before he broke the silence. "N-..nam— Name." He pointed to it, not really trusting his throat to be able to complete a full sentence.
Seriously, what was wrong with his throat?! He was starting to get frustrated; it wasn't as bad as before, at the very least. Before, if Simon had tried to speak English, it would feel like pins and needles ripping up his nerves before forcing his voice to shut down.
There wasn't as much pain, but there was certainly still discomfort and some resistance from his body to speak.
The rock raised itself up just slightly; it seemed excited, which made Simon flinch backward before steeling himself to his spot on the pillow. "˖ ݁♬⋆.˚𝄞 ! 𝄞⋆ ݁♪ . — ! " Simon cringed as it raised its two front arms together and hummed loudly.
The computer seemed to translate quickly after, "Rocky!" Huh. Oddly fitting, if not a little too on the nose. He felt his shoulders relaxing as Rocky settled back down. Its arms fell to its side once more before it gestured a claw Simons' way.
"Little human have preferred name, Question?" Was that a joke?… He knew it was most definitely in cahoots with the other thing in the house. They definitely already knew his name.
Either way, despite his frustration, he cleared his throat again. "Si— Simon." He saw the thing nod its front side, acknowledging him? He still didn't really know the things mannerisms— Rockys. He didn't know Rocky's mannerisms.
Wait a minute… Rocky. Rocky! He'd heard that name before! This was the thing Grace had been mimicking all that while ago! Eden above, he felt stupid for not realizing sooner, his first hint should have been the music!
He shuffled on the pillow, now settling himself back underneath the blanket. He was still unnerved by the way his back fin didn't catch on anything. It was… A conflicting feeling. "Nice to meet you, Friend Simon!" Rocky practically cheered as he stood again.
"Will get Friend Grace, will be many excited about being awake!-" Simon felt that age-old fear grappling up his throat, no no no— "No!—" He shouted, his fear taking hold of his heart again. His throat absolutely burned from yelling.
That seemed to get Rocky's attention, making him turn his flat side to face Simon again. "…Why no get Friend Grace, Question? Was told to watch sleep, now awake?" Think, Simon! Think of an excuse!
His breathing must have given it away, because Rocky settled back into the chair he had just risen from. "Will not get Friend Grace until ready, Statement. Friend Simon need to breathe." He almost laughed in the thing's face. The absurdity of the situation he'd found himself in was insane.
He still didn't know if he was alive or dead, for starters. He felt pretty alive, but this… This couldn't be real. None of it could. Things like this didn't just happen to Simon. Good things didn't happen to the Butcher.
"I— I'm—" His voice failed him; he was what? Scared? Absolutely. Was he scared to admit that to a creature that was most definitely friends with it? Even more so.
Regardless, he swallowed down something thick and kept speaking. "M'scared." He shuddered at the memory of those hands. All-encompassing and unwavering as they moved Simon in every which way. He hated it.
The rock creature just let out another low rumbling tune; the laptop didn't even pick it up until Rocky spoke louder. "Understand… Grace scared of Rocky when first meet…" Was he…?
How could someone like Grace be afraid of something as small as Rocky?… Had he been scared when picking up Simon, but decided to do it anyway? Now he was just more confused.
"He— He was?" Intentionally, he started to speak more softly; it helped his throat a bit. It didn't seem to be affecting Rocky much. The creature spoke up again. "Yes! Very, very, very afraid, Rocky scared too!" It let out a few chirping giggles.
"Grace big big big to Rocky, Grace big big bigger to Simon. Rocky understand." That worm of anxiety that worked around Simon's heart slowly began to uncurl… That was… At least a little comforting.
He fidgeted with the blanket he was given, messing with the edge of it as his claws got caught a few times. "That's… comfort— Ugh!" His throat spasmed as he tried to keep speaking. His clawed hand came up to grab it.
His back was hurting, his throat was hurting somehow worse, and he was talking to a literal talking Rock. Rocky gave out a low, distressed hum as Simon swallowed a few more times. Trying to clear up the flare-up of pain.
"Rocky need get Grace for more pain medicine… Little Simon need for radiation." Rocky seemed almost conflicted with how his body was now halfway off the chair, bouncing up and down as if debating with himself.
Simon had two options: let it get Grace and have to face that thing after what it did to his back… Or die.
He was being dramatic, and he knew that; he wasn't going to die. It just felt like it. He groaned, which honestly sounded more like a growl than anything, before nodding.
Rocky stilled; it unnerved Simon until it started speaking again. "…Little Simon agree? Rocky get Grace, yes yes yes?" If Rocky got Grace, maybe some of his questions could be answered…
Most importantly, he could get pain medicine. It sounded heavenly and all too unreal still how they seemed to have so many rations at their disposal. Yet, Simon wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
He slowly nodded again before wincing and forcing his throat to cooperate. "Onl—Only if." He held up a clawed hand and pointed to Rocky, "Yo—ugh… Yew promise m'safe."
Rocky again bounced up and down; it was almost like he was trying to recreate an exaggerated nod. "Yes yes yes! Rocky promise little Friend more than safe! " With that, Rocky didn't waste any more time bounding out of the room.
Simon could hear him scuttling into the other side of the house. He could only assume this was a house anyway; he glanced out the window nearby. He seemed to be in some sort of living room on a coffee table.
There was a couch nearby, and of course, the little chair Rocky had just been situated in moments ago. The couch had a pillow sitting askew on it, with a blanket… He idly wondered if… No, surely not.
He had been dreaming when he thought he was on something moving; he had to be. He cuddled up into its thumb, sure— but other than that, it had to be a dream.
Simons' back ached from sitting up, so he decided to ultimately lie back down. It would probably take a few moments for the thing to come back into the room, and he trusted Rocky for the time being.
He made a mental list as he lay on his back, so… He was certainly dead. Or at least in some form of limbo, that much was certain. The thing watching over him couldn't be an Angel, yet he had a hard time believing it was a Devil.
Devils were very gorgeous beings. By all rights, so was Grace— but it didn't fit for some reason. Why would a Devil nurse him back to health only to send him to Hell for his sins anyway?
Nothing about this made sense, and it was frustrating. His throat gurgled as he tried to groan, making his chest stutter and spasm. He coughed and heaved before rolling onto his side.
Were these the side effects of the radiation?? He heard the rock mentioning it— but he never…
Blood.
His eyes widened as he felt the horrible substance dribbling from his mouth onto the pillow. He couldn't even feel disgusted with himself before he saw it moving on the pillow.
This wasn't normal blood.