It was probably best that the conversation had turned more casual. It was previously on topics that didn't really need to be touched on in public, at an ice cream parlor in London at such a late hour. Still, Simon found it quite interesting to hear his father's outlook and he felt he was getting some insight into his nature and maybe his mind.

"Right then, my turn," Adrian said as he looked from the girl over to Simon, fixating his gaze onto him since that's where his questions would be directed. Simon was curious what he would ask. Would he continue this casualness or direct it to a more focused conversation? Would AngelFyre learn anything new about him from this interrogation?

"What is your favorite color?"
"I've got two, dark blue and gold."

"Name a person who inspires you."
"My Aunt Maggie."

"Rain or snow?"
"Snow."

"What is a weird quirk you have?"
"I tap my pen or hum often when I'm reading or studying or in thought."

"If you had to give one book to everyone you ever meet, which would it be?"
"The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry."

Finally one that he was quite sure that AngelFyre might have found a little interesting. He had never spoken of the book before and she new his fondness for authors such as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald but he did hold a fondness for the life lessons that such a book taught. It was full of important messages like how relationships made life worth living, that you shouldn't judge others by their words but rather their actions, to look after the planet, a problem can grow bigger if not taken care of from the start, see with the heart, our loved ones can never be replaced, explore, be open-minded, know yourself to understand others, maintain your dreams despite bad experiences, really get to know others, love is the most important thing, every problem has a solution, and more.

What subject do you find to be most fascinating?"
"Science and History."

Come on, he couldn't say Herbology and Potions. Still, science and history played into his current fondness of medicine, so he wasn't really lying.

"Would you rather be social or be alone?"
"Easy, social."

"What is something you plan to be doing in 10 years?"
"Loving her," he looked over to AngelFyre and flashed a smile.

"If you could create a utopian society, what would it include?"
"Peace."

"Yes or no, will you visit me over Christmas Break?"
"Yes."

Adrian reached for the spoon near his bowl of melted ice cream and took it into his slender hand before taking the bowl and rising from his seat. He left the table to go toss these things into the trash bin and Simon looked over to AngelFyre, realizing that he just made plans for Christmas without so much as even talking with her first and that made him feel bad. Not only did this mean he wouldn't spend Christmas break with her like the year previous, but he'd be spending it with someone she didn't want him spending much time with. "Sorry," he mouthed quietly to her.

And Just That Quickly It Happened, @ Simon Kincaid

28 August, 2023

The friendliness that Simon had tried to interject into the evening with his get-to-know-you-better game had done a little bit to lighten the mood, or so she thought, but it chilled once again, considerably, when Adrian picked up the gauntlet and quickly dismissed her with a quick, but unfaltering look to Simon as he asked him his series of rapid fire questions.

AngelFyre listened carefully while turning in her seat a little to watch her fellow as he answered. Their hands were brought back under the table once again as he quickly released hers to wipe his palm on his jeans. Three fast rubs and he snaked his back into hers in no time flat. She enjoyed watching him think and she thought it would be most interesting to see his expressions as he answered what Adrian wanted to know about him, at least what was safe to know of him in this particular setting. Much of it was old hat to her, but she perked up upon hearing that he would give a copy of the The Little Prince to everyone he met. After the Holy BIBLE and To Kill a Mockingbird, The Little Prince was her favorite book. Thank you, Daddy Hawthorne, and then her mind flashed red and black at that familial title.

Yeah. Whatever. That reaction was not new whenever she thought of him as Simon's father. But he was, and her not liking that fact did nothing to change that fact. Even more red and black.

When Simon answered that what he would be doing in 10 years would be loving her, and turned to her with his heart-melting smile, she knew she was smiling back just as enthusiastically and she squeezed his hands three times under the table.

And then the cagey fellow sitting across from them sent one more softball question about Utopia before tossing a monkey wrench into her very own little "Utopia". "Yes or no, will you visit me over Christmas Break?" "Yes," came Simon's immediate and eager answer, and just that quickly it happened; it was game, set, and match to Adrian Hawthorne.

Without a word, and mere seconds after getting his answer, Adrian Hawthorne was up and away from the table, tossing his untouched dessert into the trash. Simon, meanwhile, was quietly mouthing a "Sorry," to her. She felt like she had been kicked in the stomach. She was hurt and furious and retracted her hand from his and did as the Vampire amongst them had done. She hurried to gather her things and tried to cover some of her ire in the moment by stating, "It has been a long day, mo chridhe," (my heart) and then made her way quickly over to the "individual" he was so eager to spend time with, but not so eager to have near her. She tossed her things into the bin, with the exception of a napkin which she used to further wipe her fingers.

Looking up to Adrian Hawthorne, she smiled broadly at him and told him that she was glad he participated in Simon's game as it was most enlightening. "I always love learning new things about your son," she said smoothly and with no hint of the bile that was rising in the back of her throat. "The Little Prince answer came from out of nowhere. What a wonderful surprise that was," and she reached out her hand to Simon, who had quickly made his way over to the two. Feigning an everything is absolutely okay smile his way, hoping Daddy was none the wiser, she grasped his hand with one of her own while holding the bin flap open with the napkin in her other as Simon tossed his trash as well.

ALL she was seeing was red and black, but she was smiling and controlling her breathing. Nice, even breaths coming in and going out. Steady, AF. Just keep it together for a little while longer.

She knew she had made Simon nervous with her questions and comments earlier, but there was a reason for all of it. She did not know, first of all, when, if ever, she would get another chance to speak with Adrian Hawthorne. It was now or never for all she knew, and the one thing she very clearly picked up from him, if little else, was that he was most assuredly interested in getting to know his son. No. It was more than that. What was the phrase he had used earlier in the evening? Something about Simon being further introduced into his family over the years. The word "into" the moment he uttered it made her skin crawl. And he was clearly thinking long game here. Years, he said.

Years.

It was not just a case of introducing Simon "to" his family. Oh, no. She felt his tendrils slowly reaching out for his own Little Prince... his very own crown prince.

And she was the only resistance in his pathway, which proved to be nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

------- ----------- -------

"Well, I shall not overstay my welcome and the road awaits me. Do send a letter from school one you are settled and may God be with you both." Adrian was watching his son when he first began these statements but by the end, his gaze had fallen and remained on AngelFyre, almost as if he was assessing her one last time.

He then gave a handshake, first to AngelFyre and then over to his son. There was some difference between the two if one would analyze it - the one with AngelFyre being very business-like and the handshake to Simon being a little longer and with eye contact and a hint of a smile.

Without another word he turned and left out the door of the ice cream parlor and into the streets of London where he'd disappear beyond view.

Simon watched him leave and then looked to AngelFyre, his face covered in immediate sadness. "We never discussed the upcoming Christmas holiday. I don't have to be at my father's for the entire duration," but he also knew that Aunt Maggie would want to see him and therefore he might be trying to spread himself too thin. "I'm sorry I said yes before we had a chance to talk about it."

He meant his apology. There was never a time in which Simon ever wanted to upset AngelFyre and they didn't even have to talk about it to know that he had done so. He knew the moment he had said yes to his father's request, whether it was just knowing her that well or somehow they were connected and intertwined deep within each other's souls.

"We should head back," he said softly, knowing that if Aunt Maggie woke up and knew they were both gone at this hour she'd be rather upset. That was a vast contrast from both of his guardians - Aunt Maggie wouldn't want him roaming the London city streets past midnight alone and Adrian Hawthorne would just up and leave two teenagers accompanied without hesitation.

As the two exited the store, Simon kept a keen eye out for anything that could potentially be dangerous, any vehicle with a distracted driver, any sort of unsavory person up to no good, and even looked for his father - as he knew from AngelFyre's visions as a seer that he had followed him once and therefore could follow him again.

"I think my favorite fireworks from earlier today were the ones that sort of branched out like palm trees but then ended up crackling in various small groups before burning out. I also liked the purple ones - as I think that's as close to blue as a firework can get." Yes, he was talking of mundane things in a way, but it was his way of trying to hint to his girl that they shouldn't bring up anything Hogwarts related right now AND he didn't want to fight with her.

It was an easy walk back to his townhome without any problems and once home he unlocked the door and led her inside. As they made their way through the hall, Simon glanced up to look at the photograph of his mother that his father had been staring at earlier. His father seemed shrouded in so much mystery and wasn't easy to figure out.

"Please don't be upset with me," he whispered, his eyes still on the photograph and his voice a little shaken. At one point in time, from the shared vision that AngelFyre had provided him on his Birthday, his parents seemed to be quite taken with one another and here, over a decade later, his father only had a photograph and memories to look back upon. He didn't want something like that to happen to the two of them. It wouldn't, would it? It couldn't. They had to be stronger than that. He felt it.

I Just Want to Go Home, @ Simon Kincaid

28 August, 2023

When Simon's hand took its place in her outstretched one at the trash bin, something deep within AngelFyre shifted, though she was not entirely aware of it in the immediate aftermath. Thoughts, feelings, warnings, and even perhaps distant voices began to simmer and bubble their way to the surface. Thankfully, the devil on her shoulder... and the tall lanky one in front of her... did not have to come face to face with her better angels. Those spiritual battles were real, of that she was certain, but all things in God's time. Not her own. And not tonight. She had been battling too hard and for too long recently.

She shook Adrian's hand and watched him shake Simon's after blessing them both and just leaving them there. She was stunned, quite honestly, but not at all unhappy about it. The moment he was enveloped by the shadows, AngelFyre slowly exhaled her relief and angst. Dialing her focus onto Simon's reflection in the storefront window, she could read a number of different emotions there, but sadness was the most prevalent.

She knew he regretted what had just happened, and whether he knew it or not, she also regretted her fast track to anger. No point in trying to explain to him it had less to do with not seeing him at Christmas break and everything in the world with feeling like she could lose him.

Like they could lose each other.

Still holding hands, he soulfuly apologized to her and she heard him but could do nothing but look at him. AngelFyre was not angry any longer, but there was no rush to sooth him or let him know all was forgiven. It was.... it truly was... and she wanted to be able to be his soft place to land right then, but she only felt a shell of herself. If she was being honest, she desperately yearned to be the one who was to be comforted right then.

As they walked home, uncharacteristically quiet for the two, she was not so far gone as to realize Simon was even more on alert than usual. If she had had to guess, she would think he was most curious as to whether Adrian was up to his stalking ways, but AngelFyre knew he had gotten everything, and then some, that he needed from the evening's interactions. Adrian had no need to follow them.

She smiled a tiny smile while looking ahead as Simon guided their thoughts to happier moments earlier in the evening. When he was speaking of his favorite fireworks, and why, she gently began to swing their hands in a little arc between them. "Mmm hmmm, I loved the purple ones, too, but I could swear I have seen blue ones."

Her voice was softer than usual. She was tired. She was beyond tired, so it was with great relief when they showed up in front of his townhome's mint colored door. She could not help but think about how happy he had made her just an hour earlier with all of his jubilant exclamations about what an amazing girlfriend he had and how he was going to have to start thinking about his own proposal to her.

How had everything gone so wrong so quickly? That answer was easy. His initials were A. H.

Once inside, Simon stopped to look at the photograph of his mother. When she heard his voice shake as he asked her not to be upset with him, a dam broke. Everything she had been trying to hold back, for weeks now, spilled out and over in a flood of tears.

"Si-..., Simon, I am not upset. No-... not... any longer. I -... I - ... I just want to go home," and she looked plaintively into his sad eyes and repeated again in a near whisper, "I just want to go home."

Now it was his turn to look like he had been kicked in the stomach.

"No," and she shook her head, causing her hair to plaster itself to the side of her wet cheek. Her sentences now sounded as if they were coming from a very congested head because, well, they were, so her breaths would catch in odd places. The effort to speak clearly was beginning to feel overwhelming so she resorted to just pointing at him.

"You are my home."

All she wanted to do was to fall into his arms in that moment, but what she needed to do was to sit down. She ambled into the main living area and plopped herself upon the sofa in front of the dark, unlit fireplace. She took a deep, rattling breath, and closed her eyes as she rested her head on the sofa's back.

"I love you. I love you more than you will ever know, but I feel like I could sleep for a hundred years right now."

------- ----------- -------

Disappointing her was the absolute worst feeling. Simon was pretty sure that someone could come and drive a knife through his side on that walk home and it would still be less pain than what he was feeling right now. He couldn't fix this - at least not now. Perhaps he could write a letter to his father and take back his words, stating that other plans had been made - but somehow he had a feeling that he was locked into it. If what AngelFyre felt from her visions about his father were true, than he wasn't someone that either of them wanted to cross. No sense awakening that when he had yet the opportunity to fully discover what they were up against.

When they got back inside, all the lights that were left on when they left were still on and all the lights that were out were still out - which indicated to him that Aunt Maggie was still upstairs sleeping away, blissfully happy with her proposal night and blissfully unaware at the visit from his father and the agony it was causing.

He asked that she please not be upset with him and she claimed she wasn't - any longer. But what was she? Disappointed? Disheartened? Frustrated? Was this all costing him? Would she eventually feel she had enough of this and see his longing to know his father as a lack of trust on her behalf? That's not what it was, but he didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize his relationship with her. He wanted that to keep going as far into time and space, into the earth and heavens, as it could possibly go. Forever and always. Forevermore.

When she said she just wanted to go home he felt his heart sink. An anchor had been tied to it and was dropped, pulling it down at full speed right toward the bottom of some dark abyss that ventured so far, the bottom couldn't be found.

Was it so terrible that she wanted to leave? Simon averted his gaze a bit and caught his reflection in a mirror that hung in from the foyer and if it weren't for lots of practice in the following year keeping his unsettling aura at bay, he would have shattered that reflected glass into a million pieces at in that moment. It was now his turn to see red but symbolically from anger like AngelFyre had experienced but from the true red color of his tears that were brimming in his eyes.

She quickly amended the moment, clarifying what she meant before resting on the sofa, stating how tired she was. He knew it was more than just the late night hour - she was probably tired from a long Summer, exhausted from losing Grandma Ruth after a long illness, consumed with her parents' feelings on the matter, drained from the loneliness she now felt from her absence, tired from a long day, and now fatigued with frustration from the visit.

Simon came to that sofa and enveloped her into his arms, pulling her close. He couldn't fix everything; in fact, he couldn't fix most of it - but he could be there for her. After all, Grandma Ruth was right in what she said to him the previous Christmas - AngelFyre was the single most important person in his whole life. Right now, she needed him - not to be there with her at Christmas, but to be there for her right now.

He held her close, as close as he could get and kissed the top of her head as his hand stroked down the length of her hair. "I love you," he whispered in return. He loved her more than he knew how to put into words.

As they lay there, he thought about how it might be more comfortable to take her up to her bed in the guestroom where her things were but that meant most likely parting ways from her for the night and neither of them needed that. He then thought about taking her downstairs to the lower level where his bedroom was but no, she was already so tired. Right now, he'd just make sure they were comfortable enough to both fit on that sofa where he could keep her in his arms and keep her close.

Silence had filled that townhome in South Kensington and he wasn't exactly sure if she had fallen asleep or not, but he continued to hold her, continued to caress her hair and when he did break the silence it was with a statement he felt needed to be said. ".....I hate him, too," he said very quietly, as it was difficult to admit. "I hate him for what he does to us."

AngelFyre knew by now that Simon couldn't stop a relationship with his father - it was something strong within him. He had to keep up with this journey of discovery in order to ever feel complete within his soul and he wouldn't find answers to his identity anywhere else.

In the Still of the Night, @Simon Kincaid

in the wee hours of 29 August, 2023

"Relief washed over her as she felt him take his place next to her on the sofa and draw her to him. It must have been more like grasping a rag doll in the moment as there was not only no resistance, but also no energy expended on her part to get to the place she most wanted to be... in Simon's arms. She did not wrap her arms around him as she normally would, but that was not because she was upset with him. It was because the energy to do so in that moment was simply not there. As her head rested against his chest, listening to his heart, both her fists were balled up under her chin. It struck her that it was a completely defensive, almost fetal-like posture. All she could do... all she wanted to do... was to keep her eyes closed and listen to the slow cadence of Simon's heart beats.

That would recharge her.

Each beat would be a step closer to banishing her demons. No more thoughts of overwhelming grief and sadness. No more doubts and probing conversations with God. No more busying her aching heart on schemes to ease the way for her mother that would entail separating AngelFyre from her own soul's mate. And most especially no more thoughts given over to that nightmare-in-the-flesh otherwise known as Adrian Hawthorne, who quite clearly had his own non-beating heart set on schemes to separate his son from his own soul's mate... or worse. Maybe from his very own soul.

She pressed her head into him when she heard Simon's soft, comforting 'I love you' as he stroked her hair and she was content to sit silently in the dark, wrapped in his arms. She truly expected that she would fall asleep there, and she was well on her way to doing just that when something he said sparked everything back to the all too familiar "red alert" mode she had been dealing with the last month.

"I hate him, too," he said. "I hate him for what he does to us."

Her eyes shot wide open and her heart felt as if it had been pierced by an ice shard. Her arms instinctively wrapped around Simon and she pressed even more forcefully into him. In an instant she felt like she had gone from the protected to the protector. His she wolf was on full alert now and worried for her dove... and their future.

Pressing her fingers into his back she whispered quietly back to him,"No, Simon. No. Pity him. Pray for him. Be wary and suspicious of him, but do not hate him. You are not built to hate. The moment you give in to that is the moment you and I both begin to lose the miracle of you. I do not want to ever hear you say such a thing again. Promise me. Hate what he does. Do not hate him."

She was scared and shocked to hear such a thing come from him. "You wanted to know about yourself by knowing him. Other than some physical architecture and a sharp intellect, I saw little of him in you. He is cold and aloof and calculating... all things you are not, thank God. Is that because that is who he was before he was turned or is that the result of hundreds of years of boredom and disappointment? Is he capable of joy? Was he ever? He wants you with him. You heard that, right? He does not want visits from you every now and again, Simon." At this point, AngelFyre raised herself off of his chest and sat up, looking at him in the dark. Or she tried to. Her eyes had adjusted, somewhat, but she knew Simon would definitely be able to see hers.

"He wants you with him... with them," she repeated and she hissed the last phrase out, hoping it would sink in with him. She waited a couple of beats before adding, "And in case it slipped past you, he most definitely wants you away from me. He effectively managed that for Christmas. He will only get better at it." She took a deep breath in and let out a long sigh before resting her head back on his chest.

"Can you please, please explain to me exactly what you think you still need to know from him? You clearly do not like or trust him. You are afraid for my safety in his presence, which by the way, I am always contending with when you are in his presence as well, so you got a little taste of that for the first time tonight. Petrifying, is it not?" She took another deep breath and bulldozed onward.

"Everything beautiful I see in you I see missing in him. You are so eager, Simon, to step into his world, but you want to go there with just him and my fear is that he will have too much sway over you and Aunt Maggie and I really will lose you before he even gets to the part where he physically harms you." Once again she got silent and then moved forward with something that had never crossed her mind before, but she knew it was a line in the sand she would not toe.

"He is dangerous. I know you know it. I know you feel it. I do not know what your mother knew, but she got herself away from him and got you away from him, too. I want you to really think on that more than I think you do because, my love, if all goes for us as we hope it will, I am telling you right now I do not want our children anywhere near him. Ever."

------- ----------- -------

Simon really took in what she said, maybe from her words alone or maybe because he seemed to understand the gravity in which she seemed to feel over the matter. He didn't need to think the way in which he had just described. No, it needed to definitely shift to more 'I hate what he does to us't han his original statement of 'I hate him for what he does to us.' The two statements were aligned but there was a solid differentiation if one really looked at them. One was hating the actions of a man (if one could call Adrian Hawthorne such) and the choices that he made and the other was hating a man. One shouldn't hate - it was nothing but a negative emotion and could quickly become infectious.

Simon was a lover, not a hater.

He brought his arms around her tighter and gave her an appreciative squeeze before kissing the top of her head. "You're right," he whispered. "I hate what he does to us," he corrected. Plus, if he really thought about it, if he hated Adrian Hawthorne then he probably would want nothing to do with him but he wanted to know him, to understand him.

"I don't exactly what I hope to gain with him but I won't lose myself. You won't let me lose myself and I'm so very grateful for that."

He let silence fall around them as he held her close and she held him close, the two wrapped up in one another's arms on that sofa. This is exactly is favorite place to be - anywhere with her. She needn't worry if he was near his father for an unexpected evening or if he went for an entire Christmas Break to visit him; AngelFyre would always take preference in his mind.

"Anytime I'm with him, I'll be sure to call you if I can and write to you if needed." Unfortunately he had already realized that cellphone usage in the area nearing and inside the castle was quite spotty and rarely worked with the exception of a luckily found access spot seldomly.

Writing would take awhile. There was that odd little postal looking office that seemed abandoned long ago that he passed on the horse and carriage and that got him back to wondering exactly what the town was named that his father lived. Did it really have no active postal office? It must. Even if the castle rested somewhere where no actual town existed, it had to be a part of a jurisdiction somewhere.

Simon then paused his thinking as he rested another gentle kiss on her forehead.

There was magic. There were owls.

"Maybe I'll get an owl."

Yes, the owl post was a wizarding system of sending messages using owls as the carriers and maybe that was an answer to their communication issue. No sooner as he had that though he realized that to get an owl, he would have to leave Rascal at home when at school as Hogwarts only allowed each student one pet.

Still though, with Summer coming to an end and the two were about to embark on a new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, maybe it was time to at least be open to some new changes.

Still, steadfast, he knew he'd have to remain true to himself and to the girl within his arms. Today, tomorrow, for always.

OOC Note: This can be the close out of this thread if you'd like. Let me know your thoughts!