fake-marriage!simon who treats it like a mission because simon doesn’t know how to do anything halfway. if he’s committing to something, even something fake, then he’s going to do it properly. thoroughly. completely.
fake-marriage!simon who sits you down at the beginning like he’s briefing you before an op. boundaries. expectations. contingency plans. “we keep it consistent,” he says evenly, arms crossed over his chest. “no contradictions. no mistakes. people ask questions, we already know the answers.”
fake-marriage!simon who memorizes everything about you with terrifying precision. your coffee order. how you answer personal questions. the stories you tell often enough to become useful details later. he files it all away automatically, treating information about you like something important to safeguard.
fake-marriage!simon who slips into the role so naturally it catches you off guard. his hand steady against your lower back in public. his body shifting instinctively closer in crowded rooms. the calm way he says “my spouse” like he’s been calling you that for years already.
fake-marriage!simon who never overdoes the affection. that would make it look fake. instead, he’s subtle in ways that feel far more convincing. quiet touches. small adjustments. constant awareness of where you are in relation to him.
fake-marriage!simon who keeps acting like your husband even when nobody’s watching. opening doors for you without thinking. guiding you through spaces with a hand hovering near your waist. positioning himself between you and strangers automatically. instinct more than performance.
fake-marriage!simon who genuinely doesn’t understand why you think there should be a difference between “pretending” and private moments. to him, consistency matters. “i’m not playin’ a character,” he says one night when you point it out. “just doin’ it properly.” and somehow that answer feels more intimate than if he’d admitted it was real.
fake-marriage!simon who gets under your skin because he treats this arrangement with the same seriousness he treats everything he refuses to lose. controlled. focused. unwavering. there’s nothing careless about the way he handles you.
fake-marriage!simon who starts lingering just a little too long in the quieter moments. thumb shifting softly against your back when nobody else would notice. voice lowering around you in ways reserved only for you. standing closer than necessary because somewhere along the line, distance stopped feeling natural to him.
fake-marriage!simon who hears people comment on how real the marriage looks and doesn’t correct them immediately. just keeps his hand resting against you while he says, quieter than expected, “that’s because it is.” not emotionally, maybe. not officially. but real enough that the line between pretending and wanting has started disappearing for him.
fake-marriage!simon who eventually admits, in the calmest voice imaginable, “everything i care about becomes a mission.” and the terrifying part is realizing he means protection when he says it. responsibility. permanence.
fake-marriage!simon who never intended to get attached. this was supposed to be practical. temporary. controlled. but somewhere between memorizing your routines and instinctively reaching for you in crowds, he stopped treating this like an assignment and started treating it like something he couldn’t afford to fail.
