Has anyone considered this -
Temporarily blinded Simon in a BloodyMary fic?
There's so much blood in his eyes- I fear bro may not be able to see at first.
Imagine all he has is his hearing at first: he wouldn't be able to trust ANYTHING. Oh you say your name is Grace and you're a friendly human? Bullshit! You're another trick from the eel! He hears Rocky's language and has NO IDEA how this music is happening, but it further convinces him that it's a trick. The eel trying to soothe him and break his spirit.
Grace trying to get a look at his eyes to understand why this guy can't see him- Rocky suggesting that the new human could Feel Grace instead of see, kind of like another someone on the Hail Mary... 😏
Grace offering to let him touch him to try and get him to believe, but Simon still doesn't trust that. The eel could fake the sensation of touch. I think the thing that finally gets through to him is his sense of smell.
All he had been able to smell for so long was the blood. But when Grace gives him his hand and Simon gets a whiff of the cleaning agent Grace uses on his clothes, he just- freezes. Like maybe it doesn't even smell GOOD, but it breaks through the thick metallic smell of the blood and it triggers some sort of response in him.
Maybe it reminds him of cleaning on Eden. maybe he hesitates but carefully pulls Grace's wrist closer to his nose and just... breathes him in. And he thinks, "That smells real. That smells... human." Like the eel would never be able to fake that smell. The undercurrent of sweat, the smell of the fabric of his sleeves, the smell of soap- just... too intricate for it to be anything but real.
That's what finally gets him to calm down. That hits somewhere in the hind-brain. It's a balm. It soothes. He's finally able to relax.
And then Grace promptly freaks out after looking at his eyes and finding them completely fucking gunked up with blood. No wonder this guy couldn't see shit!!