Asterion, of course, knew that he had been caught in his petulance, and he felt immediately bad but still wasn't sure how to react. What was he supposed to say, really? How was he supposed to act? The very concept....love...it frightened him desperately. Not becuase of a fear of commitment or anything really superficial. It hit far more deeply than that.
When Asterion loved, the object of his affections was not merely taken from him, they were destroyed. And if the monster couldn't find a way to kill Orpheus, he would certainly find a way to ruin him...to ruin them. When they pushed aside their various truths, when they lied to themselves and others, Asterion could ignore this, could pretend that whatever they were was far from anything that should be taken from him. Now, that was threatened, and he didn't know what to make of it, because it was threatened by Orpheus himself.
"It does matter," he replied, finally, rolling onto his stomach and burying his face in his pillow. "What happened? Why did....why did she think you lied?"