You may need me there to carry all your weight/But you're no burden, I assure you

[pompous_today]

Characters: Simon pompous_today, Castle bloody_pens, and OPEN to visitors for both
Date/Time: September 27th onward (may be changed as dates for more endgame stuff is established)
Location: The Manwich House, section 4
Rating: PG
Summary: Simon is resting and recovering after his kidnapping. Castle is feeling a little shaken by the whole thing. Their friends and family

Comments

Paladin visiting Simon around 3ish?

[mythgravenblade]

Paladin had never been in Castle's home before. So, he was slightly awkward as he made his way to where Simon was resting, a small plate of cookies in his hands.

"Simon?" he asked, knocking gently at the door. "It's Paladin."

In truth, there was more to his desire to visit than a desire to share food. His comments on the journals...they rang familiar. It reminded him of him--he remembered that miserable place, and how he had needed others to pull him free. So, he would try with Simon. Perhaps he alone could not do it--but then, there were other friends of Simon, and other things too he would discuss with him.

<3

[pompous_today]

Simon had been amusing himself by watching Gabriel bat teasingly at Tribble when Paladin knocked. The little black cat was sneaking up behind the furry ball as he attempted to sleep, poking at him til Tribble awoke, and feigning innocence when the other creature gave a warning growl.

"Paladin. Come in," Simon said with a smile that wasn't entirely sincere. Instead of looking like his usual immaculate self, his hair was rumpled, he needed to shave, and he was dressed in his pajamas, his right leg propped up on several pillows and wrapped in bandages. "Oh, and try not to mind the animals."

Gabriel sniffed Paladin, meowed, and royally stalked out of the room. Tribble gave a small woof and settled back down to sleep.

[mythgravenblade]

He smiled in greeting too, though like Simon's it too was tinted by something insincere; in Paladin's case Simon's rumpled condition. Of course it was only natural, for a man injured and recovering, but as he had appeared the image of perfection usually, it was jarring.

"They're fine," Paladin said, stepping over them to hand the plate over to Simon. "How are you?"

Though he asked it casually, it was a loaded question--between Simon's leg and the journal entry, there was little that could be believably answered with "Fine," or the like.

[pompous_today]

Simon opened his mouth, let it hang for a while, then shut it. Any assurances that he was fine would be an obvious lie, considering his appearance... and he realized he didn't have it in him to lie. Didn't have it in himself to put on the brave face.

He pushed himself into a sitting position, briefly met Paladin's eyes, then looked away.

"Exhausted," he admitted. "Confused. Scared. As long as I'm being honest, I... I'm very angry with myself. I keep going over what happened and thinking of all the things I could have done differently, and all roads end with me blaming myself for Genius getting captured with me. And feeling like I didn't fight hard enough against passing out. Or hard enough to be able to escape."

Evening?

[wayofflowers]

Bellflower made a quick swing by the Bazaar after work - Simon seemed to be in slightly better spirits than Paladin had been, in that once instance, but he was obviously in need of some company. And tea and pastries went well with company.

Once those were acquired, she headed straight to the housing section. A familiar enough path, but it gave her a little quiet time to calm herself down, and put a smile on for Simon. They were all worn out by what had happened, but she knew a few days' rest would fix any of her problems - his situation wasn't the same.

Once she found the apartment, she gave the door a firm knock.

o7

[pompous_today]

Castle and Genius both appeared to be gone when Simon heard a knock on the door. He'd started to doze after Paladin's visit, but Tribble's barking at the noise woke him fully. Expecting it to be a friendly visitor, Simon yawned and got up, gingerly putting weight on his injured leg before limping toward the front door.

"Coming!" he called out, just to make sure whoever it was knew he was there. He opened in to find Bellflower, and his breath caught in his throat; still, he gave her a small smile and stepped aside. "I was expecting you. Come in, come in." Tribble took a look at Bellflower, barked a greeting, then rolled underneath the dining room table, clearly hoping for some dropped crumbs.

Simon hadn't yet bothered to change out of his pajamas, nor make his appearance any neater, all signs of how bad he still felt. Once Bellflower was inside, he limped toward the couch.

"Please, have a seat. I'm glad you seem well."

[wayofflowers]

Bellflower gave Simon a glance over when he opened the door. He looked awful - and he was still limping.

"You shouldn't have gotten up - I can manage a door just fine." Her voice was a little chiding, but the smile didn't leave her face. Though she had to admit, it was typical of him to try to do more than he could manage.

[pompous_today]

"I didn't know if it was locked or not," Simon replied with a shrug. "Castle and Genius aren't home, so... but I'll try to be more careful." I spent 3 days walking on it untreated, anyway.

He sighed, knowing that her next question was likely to be asking how he was, and he wasn't sure of the answer- even though Paladin's visit had buoyed him a little. But he wasn't sure what else to say, and so he would let her speak.

[azhdarchidae]

Above strode through Section Four, ignoring the looks. They were more casual than they'd used to be - she'd been here nearly a year, after all - but she didn't come through the housing sections often, and without giant shapeshifting dragons around, she really was the biggest person here.

He was supposed to be... in this one. Above stooped her long head down, picked up a pebble in the tip of her beak, and used it to knock. Knocking with her beak itself tended to hurt a little.

[pompous_today]

Simon saw Above coming before she knocked- he'd been sitting in the living area when Gabriel spotted her, screeched with alarm, and dove under the couch. He heaved a small sigh; he was feeling a little more like himself after his first two visitors, but still not quite. He knew he was fortunate to have so many checking on him, though, even if he wasn't up to it.

Fixing a smile on his face, Simon limped to the door and opened it.

"Hello, Above. I'd invite you in, but... well, can you fit through the door?"

[azhdarchidae]

She tossed the pebble aside with a flick of her head, lowering it to look through the door with one big red eye. < Nope. I'm not here for long, anyway, > she said, keeping her tone light. She'd eaten about an hour before coming here, knowing that would keep her mood higher than otherwise. No one had to know how she felt. She could handle it.

It also had the effect she wasn't aware of, that of making her smell fairly strongly of fish.

[pompous_today]

Simon caught a whiff of fish and couldn't help but chuckle, despite how badly he still felt.

"You just had dinner, I take it. ... I'm glad that you are okay, too." He reached out and gently patted her beak. "Did any of those creatures hurt you?"

Kazahana visiting Simon

[snowburned]

Part of Kazahana didn't feel right even visiting Simon. She'd been no use in preventing his kidnapping or bringing him back-and maybe that was true for most of the sphere's residents, but it didn't make it easier to bear. The attack on the clinic felt nearly as personal as a home invasion.

But Simon was her friend, and that came before any selfish feelings of misplaced responsibility. So when she finished her shift, she went straight to his apartment, knocking softly in case he was resting and didn't wish to be disturbed. "Simon?" she called in a low tone. "It's me."

[pompous_today]

In response to Kazahana's knock, there was a door opening and a little black cat peering up at her. Gabriel meowed loudly at her, and Tribble, snoozing on a dog bed near the door, opened one eye, gave a half-hearted woof, and went back to sleep. Simon also peered around the door. While looking a little more cheerful after his first visitors, he wasn't quite himself yet, and it showed in the way his appearance was still messy. He'd bathed, but was still in his pajamas, his face unshaven, his hair combed but not meticulously in place.

"Kazahana. Come in," Simon said, giving her his politest smile, trying to cover up the sudden awkwardness- and urge to hug her- that he was feeling. "Pardon the mess- it seems my hosts aren't as meticulous about housekeeping as I am. Have a seat anywhere you'd like." He started toward the living area, still limping on his right leg- as he had plainly refused to let anybody heal it- and sat on the couch.

[snowburned]

Kazahana gave the cat a wan smile. Normally she'd have stooped down to scritch its ears, given it some extra attention-KC really had turned her into a cat person-but now wasn't the time.

"Forgive me if I'm intruding," she said, letting the door shut quietly behind her. "I can go if you need time to rest-but I wanted to see how you were."

She could have gotten the information secondhand, of course, but that no longer seemed good enough. Simon was a friend; no, family. If she couldn't prevent what had happened to him, she could at least make sure he was recovering and offer her help with anything he might need.

[pompous_today]

"Not at all," he replied as Gabriel nuzzled Kazahana's leg, mewed, then stalked royally off to lie down on a corner of Tribble's pillow. Tribble growled at the cat tail in his face and rolled over. "I was expecting a lot of visitors- and I've had several already."

He then shrugged before answering the second part, propping his leg up on a table.

"... It's been up and down. Mostly down, to tell you the truth. I've had... a lot of feelings to sort out."