8 Feb 2021, 15:37
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
singing @Simon Kincaid
Haley could have sat like that for hours. Under the clear starry sky with her head on Simon's shoulder and the rest of the world around her blanked out. She would have liked the chance to spend the evenings up here more often, but unfortunately this was not possible. It was all the more important to enjoy tonight.
Simon's words brought her back from her thoughts. And at his words, a big smile formed on her lips. Of course he could still remember that Queen was one of her favourite bands. She moved a little away from Simon again, so that she was now facing him again and he had the opportunity to play his guitar. She immediately missed being close to him, but she wouldn't miss him playing the guitar and singing for the world.
She noticed the looks on them again and the whispering but it didn't bother her. She quickly blanked them out again and concentrated only on the boy sitting opposite her. And this boy knew exactly how to create unforgettable moments and Haley was incredibly grateful to him for that. She was still smiling at him as she finally spoke now and didn't just look excited, "You're full of surprises Simon Kincaid."
She nodded at his guitar to signal him to start, "Show me what you got" She laughed and began to close her eyes on the first few bars and sway to the tune. She opened her eyes again and laughed back at Simon and began to sing with him.
"This thing called love, I just can't handle it
This thing called love, I must get round to it
I ain't ready
Crazy little thing called love"
Her smile never disappeared from her face and she swayed to the music and danced sitting up as best she could. She left the next part to Simon and took over the background vocals
"this thing. Called love. Lika baby. Woo woo. Woo.woo."
She clapped her thighs lightly to the beat, playing the imaginary drums now and then. Could she ever have imagined this evening better? No, because what was better than sitting here with him, ignoring the stares of the other students and singing together? Nothing.
When the song was over, there was still a big smile on Haley's face and she laughed. "You really do manage to create a special moment every time." Incredulous, she shook her head but looked gratefully into Simon's eyes, hoping he would understand her look.
"While I love Freddie, I have to admit that you were really very good. What else do you have in store?" she now asked as she poured herself some hot water into a cup on the side and picked out some tea. "Can I offer you something too, or just water?" She knew Simon didn't like sweet things but was unsure if he would drink tea anyway.
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
8 Feb 2021, 21:08
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
Guessing @Haley Rose's middle name
He was glad that she enjoyed it and when she asked what he'd like, he said just some water. She poured him some and he took a sip before setting it down to strum some on the guitar, no singing to accompany it though.
Haley made her tea and after she took a slow sip, careful that it wasn't too hot, he put down his guitar and came back over next to her. "Let me try it," he said. He wasn't a big fan of tea but he was curious as to how Haley liked hers to taste - just in case there were any meetings out in the cold courtyard like their one meeting. Perhaps he could bring some warm tea along for her.
He took a small sip so he wasn't taken by surprise by the taste of it. It was alright, but still nothing he preferred over water but it was good to know how she liked it.
That was what Simon liked best, learning all these small details about someone, especially someone like Haley. "Oh, just realized something," he said, as he thought about all those small intricacies of learning about someone. "What is Haley Rose's middle name?"
Before she could answer though he brought his hand up to stop her. "Wait, wait, let me guess...Jane? Diane? Uh....Mae?"
Why did he even try? There were over 7 billion people in the world and each and every one had a name, most having a middle name as well. For him to think he could guess her middle name was a rather far stretch. Still, it was one of those odd bits of information he liked knowing about someone and he was surprised he hadn't asked her before.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
9 Feb 2021, 09:06
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
Names and almost names @Simon Kincaid
Haley poured Simon some water and set it out for him before continuing with her tea. There was a wide choice and she wasn't quite sure. She didn't like tea that was too sweet so she opted for a classic black tea. She let the bag hang in her cup and waited for it to steep. Along the way, Simon played lightly on the guitar and even this unassuming moment was special in its own way.
After a few minutes, she carefully took a sip of her tea, trying not to burn her tongue, but only moderately succeeding, but she didn't let it show. She was surprised when Simon came to her and wanted to taste the tea, but held out her cup to him. "Careful, it's still quite hot." She warned him before he took a sip. She suspected he didn't like it because he stuck to his water afterwards and Haley had to grin slightly.
Haley started laughing at Simon's jumbled name suggestions. Her middle name? Should she just tell him she didn't have one? No, that would be too easy. She played the game for a while longer. "None of them, try again." With every other name Simon mentioned, Haley shook her head and gave him another try. But she didn't want to be mean and after only a couple of names she leaned over to him and was even closer than they already were to each other, whispering softly in his ear as if she were telling him a secret. "Do you want me to tell you a secret?" she asked quietly now. She moved back a little again to be able to see Simon's reaction and when he nodded at her, she moved closer to his ear again and now whispered even more softly than before, "I don't have a middle name at all."
She now leaned back very quickly and raised her hands apologetically and started laughing. She didn't know what to expect now. Would Simon laugh with her, would he retaliate, or would they break out into a little fight like that time in the Courtyard? She put on the sweetest look she knew and blinked her big eyes often to appease Simon.
But the fact that he had asked her what her middle name was told her that he had one. "In fact, in my family there is no one who has a middle name. Really no one. At least I don't know any." She shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what else to say about it, when she suddenly remembered that she almost had one. "But now that we're talking about it, I remembered that my parents almost gave me one. My father wanted to give me an Irish middle name but in the end they decided against it, I can't tell you why." At this thought she felt a little ache in her heart.
Ireland. The country she was born in and the home she missed. There was no question that Haley loved it here and was glad to have met her family, but she missed Ireland so much. She missed her old friends, the mentality and traditions as well as the indescribably beautiful nature. She didn't want to let it show, it wasn't the right moment to be sad, but her gaze betrayed for a brief moment that something was going through her head that made her sad.
She quickly shook off the feeling and smiled back at Simon, "But since you assumed I had one, I'm going to make a hard assumption that you do. Will you tell me?" she asked him sweetly, eager to hear Simon's middle name.
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
13 Feb 2021, 15:31
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
Talking names with @Haley Rose
Haley had mentioned a time or two about missing Ireland and he hoped maybe she would get to go visit there soon. Knowing they were moving soon from the heart of London didn't help her homesickness for her birthplace either because that was only a bit away on the outskirts of the city, but perhaps it would feel more like home to her. He hoped so. He knew she was excited for her room and the garden and such.
"My middle name has got to be the coolest middle name that has ever been chosen to be a middle name," he began but smiled because he was just playing around. "Now most people go for traditional, right? James. Michael. Alexander. William. Joseph. Charles. But no, not any of those. My mom went with Ezra." Honestly he never knew anyone with that name, first or middle.
He wasn't aware of it but his mother had looked into the meaning of names when naming him. She looked into names that were Biblical, with both Simon and Ezra showing up. Simon was "to hear or to listen" and Ezra meant 'help/helper." Even without knowing this, he had grown into a good fit for both of his names. Now his last name, one that wasn't entirely chosen - Kincaid, his mother's name, that meant "battle leader" and would someday also play a role in his life. Simon was never given his father's last name, and never knew what that name was.
"So yep, Simon Ezra Kincaid. The one and only," he smiled. He though about hers. Haley Rose. It was a perfect name just as is without any middle name to accompany it.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
15 Feb 2021, 09:14
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
Fitting and less fitting meanings @Simon Kincaid
Haley looked intently at Simon as he began to speak and couldn't help laughing. "Of course you have the coolest one, I wouldn't have expected anything else." She replied with a laugh even before she learned what Simon's middle name was now. She combined Simon's names with the ones he gave as examples and in her opinion none of them fitted. Simon James - No. Simon William - hell no. But Ezra was different. Not only was it a name Haley hardly heard, but it had something special about it. And a special name suited a special person perfectly.
"Simon Ezra Kincaid" she repeated his name and smiled at him, "It just fits. Maybe I'll just call you by your full name now." She joked slightly and took another sip of her tea, which was now a comfortable temperature. She thought about his name and whether his mother had given it any thought. She had looked into the meaning of her name at some point years ago and was now curious about the meaning of Simon's and whether it matched in meaning.
"Haley has some meanings that kind of fit me in a way but kind of don't." She began to narrate, trying to remember them all. "For one, we have the forest, the meadow, the clearing. Combined with Hay we come up with hay meadow, hay clearing but let's ignore that." She had to laugh aigan. Forest, meadow and clearing sounded a lot nicer to her than hay meadow. "And I think it suits me in a way. I like to be in nature and connect with it in a certain way." She shrugged briefly and looked down at her teacup. She was sure that sounded idiotic and she was getting a little embarrassed. But she wouldn't stop talking about it in the middle of a sentence now.
"Then there is the meaning the heroic, the clever, the heroine." She shook her head at these words. "To this I see rather no connection. I may be somewhat clever but I am certainly not a heroine." she now laughed again.
"But I would be interested to know what your name means. Do you know? If not I'll find out for you." She wasn't sure how often the name really suited a person and how often parents really thought about the meaning and how often they didn't, but she was interested to see if the meaning of Simon's name also suited him.
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
17 Feb 2021, 02:58
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
He thought it was amazing that Haley knew so much about her name. Did his name have that sort of thought put into it? Did it have meaning? He didn't know. "I don't know if my mum put that much thought into my name, personally. I mean, she was young...like 17ish." Did someone that young think about details? Arabella Kincaid did.Lots of questions with no answers with @Haley Rose
"The craziest part to me is also wondering what my other last name could have been," he said, his voice a little quieter than normal. It wasn't too often he talked about this - the father issue. Most times he tried to place trust in his mother that if she didn't want his father in his life than there must have been a good reason for it but that didn't mean that the questions weren't still there. It was hard to not know something so big in one's life.
"I don't know his name, first or last, and I don't even know if he was from England like my mum was. He could be German or Italian or Russian for all I know. That would open up any last name on the globe. I could have been Simon O'Reilly, Simon Müller, Simon Turgenev, Simon Dupont...I mean, the list goes on and on."
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
17 Feb 2021, 13:47
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
are you not curious? @Simon Kincaid
Simon didn't know anything about his name but that wasn't unusual, few people did and Haley was the exception. But she decided to find out more about it until their next meeting with Simon and tell him. That way they could find out if his personality had any similarities to the meaning of his name. Not that it mattered but Haley always found it interesting.
At first she was sorry that this conversation had turned out this way. She knew that Simon's mother had died young and she was sorry. But she also knew that Simon had been living with it for a long time and that it was not a new loss and that he had dealt with it accordingly. Even if one could probably never completely come to terms with the loss of one's mother, at least it seemed that Simon did not suffer an inner breakdown every time he talked about his mother. And that was a good thing, after all, one wanted to keep the person in good thoughts.
But the topic quickly turned to the unknown father. Haley was a very curious person and if she had been in his place, she probably would have tried to find out more about him earlier. But it was always hard to put herself in someone else's position. And she couldn't help but ask again, "So, are you so not curious at all? Wouldn't you like to know who your father is?"
She definitely didn't want to upset Simon but it was hard for her to understand how anyone wouldn't want to know. She totally believed him that his mother had had her reasons and it wasn't about building a relationship with this unknown man but still she would at least want to know who he was. What blood flowed through his veins. But just because Haley was like that and thought like that, it didn't mean that everyone else thought like that too. Nevertheless, she was curious to know what Simon thought.
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
20 Feb 2021, 05:26
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
That subject one again with @Haley Rose
The father thing. He got rather quiet when she brought it up and he glanced down, his hand brushing against the cup that held his water. This wasn't the first time he thought about it, or the first hundredth time. Possibly not the first thousandth time.
Everyone had parents. Everyone had a mother and a father and unfortunately he really didn't get the benefit of knowing either of his. A young Simon got the benefit of his mother, somewhat. She had gotten diagnosed shortly after he was born and so his aunt had stepped in quite a bit even at an early age.
And she passed away far too quickly, back when Simon was only three years old. With her passing she took away all that she knew of the wizarding world, all that she knew of her experiences there at Hogwarts, all that she knew of his father.
It was a relationship that she entered into quickly, that progressed quickly, that she departed from quickly. She left before she even knew she was pregnant and then chose not to tell the man that he had become a father.
"I don't even know where I'd start," he whispered. The statement in itself gave the answer in a round about way. Yes. He was curious. He wasn't sure he would want to meet the man but it would be nice to know some basic things like medical history. Perhaps it would also be beneficial to know his cultural background. What kind of a person was he and did Simon resemble him at all?
The answer told Haley that it was something that Simon had thought of but he didn't even know where to begin looking for answers. He had asked, briefly, for information from his aunt but even she didn't have a name for him.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
22 Feb 2021, 09:35
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
make a wish @Simon Kincaid
Haley felt bad that she had brought up the subject. Tonight was not the night for it and she could tell by Simon's reaction that it was bothering him. She wished she could turn back time and undo the moment and her question, but that was not possible.
It was quiet between them for a moment and Haley watched Simon and it looked like he was still thinking about Haleys question. It took a few moments but then Simon said something. It wasn't loud and Haley had barely understood it. She was sure that in some way he was curious and wanted to know more, but she could understand that it was hard, especially when you had no information about the person. She thought about his answer for a moment and took another sip of her tea.
She set the cup down and folded her hands in her lap. "Simon, I'm sorry for bringing this up. This isn't the right time, and I have no right." Haley started to apologise for her behaviour. But that wasn't all she wanted to say and so she continued, "However, I want you to know that I'm here to help you any time you want me to. If you make the decision to find something out and need some help, I'll be there. I know it's not easy and in this case it's especially hard but I'm always here for you. No matter what it is and if you need help you know where to find me." She gave him another small smile.
She was still sorry that she had brought up this subject this evening. She didn't want Simon to feel bad or think too much. She wanted to make him happy and not sad, but she couldn't undo it, so she tried not to think about it either. She would be there for Simon whenever he was ready and if he never wanted to find out, that would be okay too.
Her gaze slowly turned towards the sky. It was a beautiful night, no clouds and a clear view of the stars. Unconsciously she started to smile and suddenly she saw a shooting star flying. "Oh, there was a shooting star just now," Haley said enthusiastically. "With a little luck there'll be another one." And with that sentence she invited Simon to look up at the sky too.
On a summer night when she was camping with her family, Haley came to the realisation that it wasn't actually difficult to see a shooting star. You just had to have your eyes towards the sky and some time. Back then, when they were all lying in a meadow around a campfire, they all looked towards the sky and that night they had seen an incredible number of shooting stars. And today her theory was confirmed as well. After a few short minutes, another shooting star was visible in the sky. "Did you see it?" asked Haley excitedly, addressing Simon. "You can make a wish now." She added quickly. She was sure Simon knew that and didn't explain the wishing thing any further.
The only one who fear death are those with regrets
22 Feb 2021, 19:22
Haley Rose -- Simon Kincaid
Under the stars with @Haley Rose
His wish wasn't for learning about his family though. It had not a thing to do with his father. His wish was for Haley and that all would go well for her, that she would be strong through her years at Hogwarts and beyond and be happy. That's what he wanted most as he sat in that moment.
"Haley?" he looked over to her and smiled. "Just a quick disclaimer. It doesn't always have to be sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows for things to still be good." She hadn't ruined the night at all by bringing up his father and the questions that he had.
"Promise," he said and he held out his pinky to her for a pinky promise and smiled. He knew they only had a little bit of time left on their date night before the professors would be ready to pack it all up. By now most of the other couples or pairings had already left.
He would enjoy this last bit of time to just look at the stars and the two would now count how many shooting stars they saw in the night sky of the Scottish Highlands. Some were debatable and some might have been tricks of the eye, but they were now at the - more or less agreed upon - number of 17. Had there actually been 17? Probably not, but now it had turned into a competition of the one trying to convince the other enough to agree to add it to the collective amount. "Oh, over there by the lake! Just there! Saw one!"
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)