"I didn't murder anyone!" Liar. "At least not in a-- long. . long time. But that's beside the point." ". .Are you real?"

. . . "No."

"How did you--. . how did you get in here?" He completely ignores the question, the middle of his face partially covered in blood. The bottom of the sub is also slightly flooded. Doesn't look good.

. . . "Yeah, that'd definitely do it." Simon groans, before attempting to get up from the chair he was seated at. However, his ankle is once again handcuffed to the leg of the chair. "Don't-- dammit. Don't tell ANYONE-- hold on. ." He attempts to get the handcuffs off.

"Nono. . it's-- it's fine." He raises his head up, clearly he was trying to hide his embarrassed face. What is he embarrassed about? He won't tell. "I just don't-- I just don't know where these rumors CAME from!"

"You!" He slams his bandaged hands on the table separating the two. "There's this stupid rumor going around that I--. . like you?!" A groan escapes the convict as he lowers his head. Clearly trying to hide.

"Do I even like that officer?" "No, of course not. What a stupid question. ."

"Do you WANT the butcher or NOT?!"

"Yeah, yeah I fucking know. ." He grumbles something under his breath, bandaging up his arms slowly. ". .Wait, who the hell are you?"

( @eyes-for-disguise.bsky.social ) Chipping away at the bandages around his forearms, he clearly doesn't seem to like them staying on. "C'mon you little--. . C'MON!" He does this while sitting in his cell, no clue why the bandages are on to begin with.

. . . "He dropped limes. . really?"

"Fine, fine. ." Simon grumbles something under his breath.

"I'm surprised you don't know." Simon doesn't elaborate further. Good.

"No-- stop! Don't make me go!" He squirms, trying to run off, away from the hotel. "I just wanna go! I'm not supposed to BE HERE!" Your track record says otherwise, butcher.

"I don't. . I don't CARE about the blood right now! I want to go home!" He's clearly not listening to the other, his words are getting more and more slurred. Mostly because of how emotional he's becoming. "Please. ."

. . . "Am I gonna get asked anymore questions. .?"

"What-- what the fuck does that MEAN?!" Simon continues to stammer on his words, as he steps forward toward the other.

"I just-- I just wanna go home. . please. ." His eyes dart around, his breathing get louder and louder. Goodness, it feels like his head is going to explode. "I wanna-- I wanna LIVE!"

"Can I-- can I go back?" Simon-- Simon, you can't do that.

Simon glances down, yep. He was right, lots and lots of blood. Hell, Simon is covered in the red liquid. "I-- I don't remember any of it." "Last I really remember was. . being-- attached to the sub. .? My hand was really stuck-- and I couldn't get it out."

"I-- I shouldn't be DEAD. I should be alive-- albeit barely." Simon stammers on his words, his gaze still centered on the other in front of him. "How--. . how did I die?"

Simon turns his attention toward the other, a glint in his brown eyes as thoughts begin to race in his head. "You're-- you're lying! I must still be in that ocean, y'know what! I must be DREAMING! Yeah. ." He backs up from the other, clearly scared.

"Wha--. . what?" Glancing around, he's very confused.

"I just wanna live. . please."

He partially glances up, he doesn't move anymore. Simon's gaze is perfectly fixated on the other. "Who--. . no. ." Then, he shakes his head, wanting to back up more, but he simply can't. Due to the SM-13 being so small. "You're-- you're not real. ."

"Great, just GREAT! For all I know, they could be sending me down in some rusty submarine, in an ocean of blood, searching for who knows what!" . .Huh. "They probably just want me dead."

"Fuck, you're right. ." Simon groans, before giving a slight glance at the one-way mirror, before looking back at Esme. "I-- overheard they were. . 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 something for me. Do you know anything about that?"

"Thanks. ." Simon doesn't give a reason for wanting Esme to stay, although if you were to think about it, it'd probably be obvious as to why. The convict messes with his handcuffs yet again, trying to just. . rip them off.

"Well--. . can you stay here for a little bit longer?" Simon, I don't think the COI would let Esme just. . stay. "𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦?"

"Of course I'm not-- I'm innocent. I swear. ." "Can you-- at least get me out of these fucking handcuffs?" Simon huffs, attempting to get the handcuffs off himself. This obviously doesn't work.

"I wanna help as well. ." He gets up from his chair, but he can't exactly move due to his leg being chained to one of the legs of the table. "Mother-- fucker. ." After glancing down at his leg for a moment, he returns his attention to Esme.

"Well-- well there's gotta be something we can do. . please. ." His expression finally changes to a more emotional and distraught one. He's on the verge of tears. "Esme, is that so wrong. .?"

"But-- I mean, you have proof, right? If-- if we try hard enough, we can do it." Simon, please. "Hey-- at least you listen to me. ."

He shakes his head gently, now he leans back in his chair. "Maybe we could--. . convince them, 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳?" Simon manages to turn his gaze toward Esme, the light flickering above the two fully revealing his brown eyes.

Simon doesn't instantly respond, he mutters something under his breath, but it's hard to make out what exactly he's saying. That glint in his eyes remains, now he doesn't look as nervous as he was before. He seems happy, just a little bit.

Simon ponders for a moment, before thinking of something new. "What are your-- current thoughts on me?" He tilts his head, that glint in his eyes returning.

Simon looks as if he's about to say something, but he stops himself, bringing his head down slightly. "𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥." He didn't mean for that to sound. . threatening. At least, I hope not.

Simon gives a quick nod, fidgeting with his fingers yet again. "Makes 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦, I guess. ." Now, he appears to be getting more nervous. What for? No clue. ". .Did they-- tell you what I've 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦?"

"So. ." He leans forward even more, now the glint in his eyes are gone. "Why did you join these idiots?" Excellent choice of words there Simon, definitely going to make them lower your sentence!

"He was the nicest brother." Simon sighs, that glint still in his beautiful brown eyes. They aren't dull, not yet at least. "Should I be asking you questions now?" He still manages to let out a quiet chuckle.

"Pink's a nice color. One of my brothers liked that one a lot. But he tried to hide it from. . us." A warm smile appears on his face as he snickers quietly. ". .he was very bad at hiding it."

He glances up at Esme, despite his clear emotional state, he can't help but laugh quietly. He has a nice laugh. "What. .?" "It's Red."

He goes silent, his heavy breathing now very obvious to hear. "I wasn't with them. . when it happened. . so I can't say." Simon glances down at the table, trying to stop himself from breaking down.

Simon wipes away the tears forming in his eyes, as he exhales loudly. "We-- were supposed to go months after, but we were getting low on soldiers, so they sent us out much earlier. ." "Guess we weren't ready."

He actually didn't expect that one, so. . he takes a deep breath, and leans forward. "Me and my. . brothers were assigned a mission, tasked with simply stealing resources and. . that'd be it." "The thing is, we weren't supposed. . to go that day. ." He chokes on his words.

The convict almost seems to sigh with relief, at first his body seemed to tense up, now it appears to be a lot more relaxed. "What-- questions do you have for me. .?" A slight tilt of the head as he barely glances at Esme.

He seems. . oddly sad about Esme going away. Guess he just needs to talk to someone. ". .Promise me you'll be back, 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯." Hm, maybe. . don't leave?

Simon gives a slight nod, a very hidden, but warm smile on his face. It quickly vanishes however. "Who--. . who will you talk to?"

It takes him a moment, but he does whisper his name, just so that only Esme can hear it. "𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯. ." Simon shakily accepts Esme's hand. He does have a very nice name.