Closed Their Own Royal Gathering PV AngelFyre McCubbin

21 April, 2023

Unlike the MidSpring Celebration of the year before, this year's Spring Court celebration was taking place on the evening of a school day. There was nothing wrong at all with that, but it did mean that there was considerably less time to get ready for the evening's events after classes ended at 4:00 p.m. It also meant that the girls' lavatories were abuzz and jam packed with excited females vying for precious mirror and counter space to get themselves ready for the big evening. Luckily for AngelFyre, she had her own little dorm room in Badger Bungalow with a full length mirror and desk space on which to lay out myriad cosmetics she was applying in peace and quiet.

She had not in the past often worn makeup except for possibly some lip gloss, but tonight would be different. While her plan was originally to channel Joan of Arc, a phenomenal warrior for the Lord, she was aware that probably the last thing on Joan's mind was how she looked. That had been AngelFyre's plan pretty much at the point in time when she thought she and Simon would be joining the school's sponsored dance. But they had both decided that attending another school sponsored dance so soon after the nearly murderous one in the Fall was not particularly to their liking.

Secretly, AngelFyre relished the memory that it was Simon who proposed they skip it. He looked uncomfortable while doing so, but her feeling on the matter was that his discomfort had nothing to do with her response to the suggestion, but more at the idea that attending would put her in any kind of harm's way. Anytime he got into his protective mode with her simply thrilled the girl down to her toes.

She had chosen a fabulous suit of armor with green ivy covering it and a large silver cross emblazoned on the breastplate which she had thought to wear as Joan. It was an impressive ensemble and quite feminine as armor went. When they had learned there was to be a Jousting Tournament, AngelFyre turned immediately to Simon and asked him whether his date attired in such an ensemble would bother him as jousting sounded like so much fun. He, of course, was happy to let AngelFyre be AngelFyre, so if she had chosen to show up in armor, her fellow would have been more than fine with it. In fact, if memory served... and well it did...he let her know repeatedly with an untold number of kisses that such would be fine with him.

She had ultimately decided, however, to go the more traditional route and found a beautiful, dark green, medieval-style dress to delight herself and, hopefully, her achingly handsome date. One knight in the family, so to speak, was probably enough anyway.

So, here she was, on the eve of becoming a teenager, and practicing with her makeup. Having spent too many of her tomboy days sitting in makeup artists' chairs at her mother's photo shoots, AngelFyre knew what she was doing and was confident she was not going to look like a clown. In fact, quite the opposite. She used to rebel inwardly and outwardly at the idea of makeup, but she had more and more come to like how she felt it enhanced her looks at times. She hoped Simon would feel the same.

That done, she put her beautiful unicorn necklace on and and wrapped the love locket chain around her wrist a number of times creating a metal charm bracelet of sorts. She had never been without it since the day he put it around her neck in the tea shoppe, and she never would be as long as there was breath in her.

Her final touch was to quickly braid a green and gold ribbon in a narrow fishtail braid which layerd beautifully upon her long, loosely curled tresses. She knew Simon preferred her hair down, so down it would be. And if he was not overly fond of the braid, a gentle tug or two would have that disappear easily enough as well. She would actually be surprised if it was still in upon her return to the Common Room later this evening. The boy did like to run his fingers through her locks.

Grabbing a hand mirror so that she could see how everything looked in the back, she smiled deeply and was finally ready to make her way to meet up with her real life, knight protector, Sir Simon Kincaid.

Ten minutes later, she was happily gliding past the entrance to the Enchanted Maze and headed straight for Simon. She had thought to bring her camera, but honestly, she knew Simon would most likely have his satchel with him and therefore his camera. She preferred to carry only a little wrapped box and nothing more. The only thing she wanted in her hands during the evening was Simon himself.

Smiling happily at him, she greeted him. "Good eve', Sir Knight," and when he turned towards her, he literally took her breath away as he always did. How anyone could look so impossibly handsome in his every day clothes, but especially in a suit of armor, was utterly mind boggling... but Simon managed it effortlessly.

Everything in her told her it was going to be a glorious night with her knight.

21 April, 2023

Her head was still spinning from their kiss. As he pulled back from her and allowed his hand to leisurely travel down her side before making his way to the gramophone, she lifted a finger to her bottom lip which was pulsing from the blood rushing to it after having been crushed sweetly against his during the kiss. Her eyes never left him. He was within mere feet of her, but it was still too far, and yes, it felt like a part of herself was missing until his return only seconds later. That was always true when he was nearby but out of reach.

"Indeed you may," she responded and she tipped her head downward just the slightest as she curtsied before reaching her hand out to him. Simon locked his gaze to hers and pulled her close. At some point their gaze dissolved into closed eyelids as they folded themselves into each other. She nestled her face into the crook of his neck and knew if she were to open her eyes, her long lashes would brush against his slow-beating pulse point. She had spent hours contemplating his pulse point. She could happily spend hours more doing the same.

There were no fancy dance steps this night. There was just closeness and togetherness in each other's arms. She did not recognize the piece Simon had chosen to play, but it was absolutely beautiful. As she effortlessly mirrored his every step, she was aware of how well they fit together and not at all aware of the other royal celebration taking place in a land and time far, far away from them.

They were in their own little world, and she made every subtle, and not so subtle, effort she could to be as close to him as she could be. She brought her hand down from around his neck and brought it into the hand he had around her waist. Still moving in synch with him, she laced her fingers with his and brought their hands up to her lips and kissed the back of his before resting it against her heart.

They just danced liked that, in silence, for who knew how long. Her eyes had been closed for most of it, but when she opened them at one point, she caught a glimpse of the moon appear and disappear quickly behind a tree trunk as he gently guided her into a turn. "The moon winked," she whispered, and smiled at the memory of believing as a child there really existed a man in the moon who used to wink at her.

She lifted up her face to look once again into his eyes. "Simon, tell me a story about a very young, innocent, Simon and the things he believed in that children believe in. For instance, I used to believe that the moon would wink at me and that it would bring me luck. Do you have any such silly thing in your past?"

They continued to sway and she buried her face back into the crook of his neck, smiling, and closed her eyes in anticipation. "I imagine you were the the cutest thing ever."

21 April, 2023

She listened with rapt attention while they continued to dance and he told her of a Simon long, long ago. She had spent a good deal of time thinking about who he might have been as a 4 year old and then older. It had already been well established he was a young lad who fancied the fairer sex, so that aspect of a young Simon was not so hard for her to imagine as it was still so much of who he was now, and she smiled. It was lucky for AngelFyre, however, his romantic interests had narrowed down myopically to just one girl, that one girl being her, of course.

Still, she often wondered how smooth and successful... or not... his Casanova self had been amongst the girls in his peer group? Did he land more kisses on cheeks or shoves to the ground? And if she had known him then, what would she have thought of him? What would they have thought of each other? It was this last point that was endless fodder for her imagination.

Honestly, he probably would have gotten a shove if he had ever tried to land a kiss or hold her hand. Boys were well known to have cooties. She had been certain of that. As much as he had been into such relational dynamics is exactly how much she had not been. Funny though, how he... and He...managed to change that for her in a matter of mere minutes upon their second meeting.

She dialed back in to listen to him as he started off with mention of the now infamous Captain Spike Shadow. She chuckled imagining how adorable he must have been as a pirate. Knowing her boy's heart, he probably captained his crews to chase down ships so that they could "give" their gold doublooms away. Capt. Spike Shadow was probably more like the Robin Hood of the Seven Seas than he was like the Long John Silvers.

What really delighted her, however, was hearing about his belief for a while that the world was once upon a time devoid of color and existed in only black and white because that is what he had seen in photographs. Honest to God, Simon's mind and the way he saw the world absolutely fascinated AngelFyre sometimes. He truly was an out of the box thinker. She knew he hated being the kind of "different" he was, but he, more often than not, failed to appreciate that perhaps that difference offered him insights the rest of us mere mortals were not privy to know. Or maybe his dhampirism had little to nothing to do with his truly beautiful mind. Either way, the boy had literally just blown her mind and she loved him even more for it.

As he told her about what he thought the Underground's capabilities were, she thought back to learning about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. AngelFyre had been convinced that hundreds of slaves had made their escape to the North and to Canada on an underground steam train. Her confusion and annoyance took a physical toll on her as she could not understand for the life of her how most of the South had been unaware that such a major infrastructure project had been built right under their feet noses and none of them knew it. It all became clear once her father explained it to her and she remembered the relief she felt at no longer despairing over the lack of mankind's observational skills.

Her eyes had been closed throughout his reminiscing, but they flew open when he mentioned thinking his mother would be coming back at some point. She knew he had likely thought such a thing because he had had a child's understanding of the world and a heart still full of hope and innocence when his mother died. All his friends had their mums after all, so his logic was likely to have been that his mum would be along soon enough as well. The visions in her mind of a young Simon watching and waiting for Arabella Kincaid to come back to him, and suffering the slow crush of his hope as the heavy weight of reality set in, choked AngelFyre up.

He then told of how he figured he could fix himself... make himself normal... by staying out in the sun for a day, which of course only landed him in the hospital with burns. Her smiles had long given way to eyes brimful of tears as she wanted nothing more than to be able to scoop his 6 year old self up and just somehow reassure his hurting heart. That little boy had needed hugs... lots and lots of them. She prayed he had gotten them.

AngelFyre said nothing but let him go where he needed to go with all of this. She did, however, squeeze him tighter as he wandered into this darker territory, just to offer any physical reassurance to him that she could. She could not know for certain, but she had the feeling it was an instance of his unsettling aura rearing its head again. They had both learned over time that he recovered more quickly when he faced these moments head on as opposed to trying to suppress them, so she would listen but not judge. She would just love him through it all.

He then rallied and ended with a story about busking outside of Buckingham Palace. Of course he would donate his earnings. That was such a Simon thing to do, and she buried her face in his neck and just softly kissed it, admiring his heart for people even as a small child.

"I would love to have been able to hear a young Simon singing and playing. What are the chances Aunt Maggie has any video of your early performances?" she asked hopefully. "What a treasure trove that would be," she said dreamily as she closed her eyes once again, enjoying his soft kiss.

"I have no doubt you would have made a splendiferous knight," and she meant it. He had the heart of a modern day knight even now. "Simply by virtue of being a girl, my choices would be much more limited than yours, of course. There is all I would wish to do and that which I would be allowed to do... and then there is that which I would probably sneak off to do," and she grinned mischievously at him. When he arched an eyebrow at her, she smiled and said simply "Education," before stepping back and spinning full circle beneath his raised, knightly gauntlet. Moving back into his arms as they continued their dance, she elaborated further.

"That would be much harder to pull off if I was born to the peasant class, but not impossible. I rather have Yentyl scenes moving through my mind in this moment. I assume I would have the same parents and there is just no universe where I see my father not placing a high premium on education for any of his children. I would also be a woman of faith. Life is too hard without it, especially back then. I would have used all of it to my advantage I hope, possibly helping my husband with the family coffers with good advice or strategies if we rose to be part of the merchant class."

The music ended and Simon escorted her over to the table and pulled her chair out for her. "But if I were lucky enough to be born to the purple, I would hope the same things would be true. I cannot see me sitting and filling my head with nothing more than needlepoint and prettifying myself all day long. I would be learned and insert myself into the political affairs of the day. Who knows? I may have risen to be a strong, but benevolent, monarch. What I do know is that, like you, I would hope to have had a heart for those around me, whether they be 2-legged or
4-legged creatures."

"As usual, brevity is not my strong suit. Apologies, love," and her smile was there, but her cheeks were colored with a bit of embarrassment as her eyes dropped their connection with his. She cleared her throat and looked back to him as he took his seat. "Simon, something has been on my mind for a while and I am hoping you know the answer. It has to do with what you are," and anyone else might have missed it, but she definitely saw a flash of unvarnished fear streak across his eyes, even as his expression remained stoically unchanged.

"You are maybe going to think I am an idiot, but I truly do not know the answer," and she shrugged her shoulders. "This falls squarely into the category of my asking you if you had a heart," and they both laughed at the memory, but such questions and yearnings to know about him... to know everything she could know about him... led to one of their most memorable and tender nights together.

"We talk about where we will be in 10 years, a lot, but a nagging thought burrowed into my brain the night before your last birthday, and I cannot seem to shake it. I- ... uhmm... I know your fa- ... I know Adrian is pretty much an immortal, but ... but... you, Simon? What life span are you looking at, love? Somewhere in the middle between 80 years and forever?" and even though she told herself she would not cry, and she had not, her voice belied all the emotion and implications his answer could possibly bring to such a reality.

The night was not cold, but AngelFyre began to shiver uncontrollably.

21 April, 2023

She exhaled a heavy, quivering burden that had plagued her for too long. She should have known better than to waste time and energy on believing that Simon would think her mentally deficient for asking such a question, but one does not know what one does not know, and she truly had not known the answer to that about him.

And AngelFyre wanted to know everything about her Simon.

She looked to him with an incredibly grateful heart as a slow, soft smile spread across her face. Some might find it extremely odd that a girl who professed undying love for this boy would find enormous comfort in learning that, how had he phrased it, "...he was as fragile as other life here on Earth," but she did. They both knew this world they now lived in was not truly their home... that their LORD had gone to prepare a place before them... but the thought that Simon would have been stuck here without her, or any of the people he loved, terrified her more than any single thing she could think of quite honestly.

She had seen 'Highlander' and had gamed it out and thought it entirely possible that he would, in time... maybe in many different times... find other loves. While the thought of that selfishly made her stomach turn, she had honestly prayed daily for such a thing on his behalf if she had not received the answer she had. Simon was just not built to be alone. None of us are, really, but Simon would be especially lost in such a situation. That would have been his Hell on Earth. God just could not... would not...be that cruel to him, would he?

As devastating as it would have been for the two of them to be separated from one another, it would have been infinitely worse for him to be denied his place in Heaven with the God he loves and serves so well. So, what sounded like a dumb question on the surface was actually anything but, and AngelFyre blessed his soul for understanding immediately why she had asked.

She sniffled a bit as he had moved to soothe her and quickly lifted the back of her hand to her cheek as a few tears tracked down her cheek. She blinked hard and fast in a successful effort to stanch any further saline escapees. "Ugggghhhh. After just telling you I would not be a lady of medieval times who would spend her days "prettifying" herself, I confess that a good deal of time was put into such an effort today, and now I fear I may look like my eyes are churning out rivulets as dark as coal," but she suddenly just stopped all of her fussing to concentrate on him. Without thinking about it, she threw her arms around his neck and just held onto him for not nearly as long as she wanted to, but for probably longer than he expected her to. She did not think he would mind really.

When she finally released him, she spoke softly, but clearly. "I know you know, but just in case that hug cut off oxygen to your brain and you are suffering from some sort of amnesiac state, I love you to the winking moon and back again, far beyond that actually, which is to say that I love you a ridiculous amount, Simon Ezra Kincaid. I always will," and she reached for the little box she had set on the table upon her arrival. "So, here is to our Forevermore, love," and she presented the box to him.

"I was going to give it to you on the Hogwarts Express before we part for the summer, but I just could not wait. They likely will not work until we get away from Hogwarts, but I like the look of them and they can be simply decorative for now. If you press yours while you are in London or in, you know, some invisible village on the Eastern shores of England," and she rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner before nudging his shoulder playfully with her own, "mine will light up and I will know you were thinking of me right then. Same goes for mine to let you know when I am thinking of you."

He took his, the black one, out of the box and examined it, smiling all the while. "Here, how about I help you on with yours and you can then help me on with mine? Do not be surprised to find that once they start working, yours will likely be lit up 24/7."

"OWOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Colin couldn't help but shout and howl for joy as he and Clair ran from the spring ball! Who needed dancing and banquets when you had Clair Fernandez at your side? Colin reckoned that Clair and banquets and dancing might fit together somehow, but not tonight! Tonight was for freedom from puking potions and hag doll reprises and hungry shrubberies!

"Oof!" Colin, still holding Clair by the hand, hopped from one foot to the other as he kicked off his shoes. "Come on Clair! Let's go running in the moonlight!" It was sooooo good to finally feel proper grass under his feet again and his long braids and kilts bounced along with each bound of long skinny legs. "That was brilliant Clair! I think I was actually vibing with you! You ---" Colin stopped suddenly, and the pair twirled around each other. The boy's eyes widened in the light of the Moon. "Wait. You wanted to leave right? It's only, I felt uneasy back there. Well, I didn't before, but then I did, and now I don't again! And I know that sounds weird, but I really think I was all in tune with you!" He made a funny gesture with his hands, imitating waves going from her head to his.

And as suddenly as he stopped their run, Colin took Clair by both hands and whirled them around with a merry laugh! And that's when he saw some dim lights in the middle distance. "Oo, let's go over there and see what's going on!" So he took off again, at full speed! "CLLLAAAIIIRRR!!!! Look, lassie I think that's FyreAngel!" As he ran he breathed in the cool air. "Smells like FyreAngel anyway!" He poked Clair in the ribs. "And that means Simon must be there too!"

Colin didn't know Simon well, but AngelFyre was his best friend. He thought it very cool that the four of them shared in common not only love but friendship. He wondered if Simon would turn as friendly towards him as Clair made him out to be. Well, there was only one way to find out, and that was to charge pell mell right into this wee royal gathering!

@Clair Fernandez | @AngelFyre McCubbin | @Simon Kincaid