I really love Simarkus. I wouldn't be as obsessed with this game as I am if it weren't for their hug after Stratford, which I accidentally got because I wanted to explore the entirety of the downstairs before I went to the rooftop.
There's something so soft about them that I just can't fully explain. It's like a campfire, cosy and warm. Their love is slow yet comforting, it's intimate, a slow burn full of trust and longing. A spark may come out of bounds, but it's never enough to light into the full fire it wants to be.
The pining that's basically written all over Simon's face and body language, how he delivers his lines that reek of yearning and at times heartbreak, and how Markus shows the most care towards him (other than North, of course), during Stratford even if he decides to save himself, he wants to go back even for the slight chance that Simon isn't dead yet, It's honestly is just so sweet to me.
We know next to nothing about Simon, and that tells me he has issues with trust, seeing as he's been in Jericho for 2 years and no one knows how he ended up there. Yet he trusts Markus he's willing to do anything he says, to do whatever it takes to keep him from harm's way. He truly believes that this near stranger is the way to their freedom, not by being pacifist or violent but by trusting Markus.
Markus is shown to be fairly reserved as well, North makes a comment about not knowing much about him in the rooftop scene. So I think Markus also struggles with vulnerability, and that makes the Simarkus hug so special to me. He may not have been able to express his care for him, but he wanted to show it, he allowed himself to feel vulnerable and show just how relieved he was that Simon was alive.
I think if we did get a Simarkus romance, their story should've been about learning to trust again. Carl betrayed Markus when Leo began to assault him, and he decided to let him treat Markus as an object instead of letting him defend himself. We don't know what happened to Simon, it could be anything, but whatever happened left him not being able to be vulnerable with others. Personally I would've really loved to see them learning it was okay to open up, that they got each other's back, no matter what.
I wish we at least got to see Jericrew being friends and learning stuff about each other and having fun instead of being blank slates that have no motivation outside of setting their people free. QD knew they would be too powerful to be actual believable friends, that's why they cut all their personalities. At least I get to come up with fun scenarios of them doing stupid shit.
