It was an accident. Just bad timing.
Simon had already been on edge that morning thanks to a particularly nasty nightmare the night before that had sent him leaping out of bed and screaming, convinced he was back in the SM-13 and about to be devoured by the Blood Eel. And then the Eridian scientist who had stopped by for a visit happened to walk up behind him, not realizing that they were approaching from his blind spot. That, combined with their particularly shrill chirp that happened to sound a bit too much like the creaking of the submarine walls collapsing under the Blood Eel’s jaws, had immediately triggered Simon’s PTSD in a way that had him lashing out blindly, desperately trying to defend himself from what he perceived as a threat.
The good news was that Grace was also there, and was able to intercept Simon before he attacked the poor Eridian. The bad news was that Grace was now pinned to the floor by a wild-eyed, completely-lost-in-the-throws-of-his-flashback former soldier of Eden who was holding Grace’s shirt in his one fist so tightly that the fabric of said shirt’s collar was actually starting to choke Grace a little bit.
Grace of course immediately started trying to calm Simon down, speaking as calmly and slowly as he could, offering reassurances and comfort despite the man hovering over him, so on edge he seemed ready to snap Grace’s neck if he so much as twitched wrong.
“It’s okay. You’re okay,” Grace said, over and over. “You’re safe. You’re okay.”
Simon’s grip just tightened. Grace was getting more nervous, but he continued to try to talk Simon through the panic.
“You’re fine. You’re safe, I promise, Simon. Nothing is going to hurt you,” he insisted. On autopilot, he also added, “And if anyone wants to try something, they’ll have to go through me, okay?”
Simon’s grip didn’t lessen, nor did any of the tension leave his shoulders. But for a second he just froze, as if struggling to comprehend what Grace was saying. Slowly, a little bit of the fear in his eyes faded, replaced by incredulous disbelief. He stared down at Grace sprawled out on the ground beneath him, pointedly glancing at his fuzzy cardigan, house slippers, and his glasses knocked askew.
Catching that look, Grace frowned in indignation. “What? Don’t look at me like that! I can be intimidating! I can fight!”
Simon only stared at him for a couple more seconds. And then he abruptly burst out laughing.
For a moment, Grace could only gape up at him, completely gobsmacked. Simon was laughing so hard that his face was starting to turn red, tears squeezing out of the corners of his eyes, his arm clutching at his stomach like it hurt him. Grace would have been offended, except he was too busy feeling like his heart was trying to do a barrel roll in his chest; he’d never seen Simon laugh this hard before, and it was leaving him kind of stunned and oddly flustered.
“Wow,” Grace murmured, aiming for miffed and missing by a mile. At least Simon was calm now, the moment diffused, and the Eridian scientist safely out of the room. “You can at least pretend to take me seriously.”
Simon just somehow laughed even harder.
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