Settling In SOLO Completed

Simon was planning on taking a moment to observe his father, only Adrian must have either heard him approach or caught on in some way as to his presence because he looked up from his book almost immediately. "Ah, Simon! Prepared and ready for today's Father/Son Day, I see," he announced as he stepped over to a side table near the couch that rested across from an unlit fireplace. There he took a bookmark and marked the inside of the book to hold his place before setting it down upon the small tabletop. It seemed as if reading was a shared hobby for them both.

Simon was rather well-read himself. He tended to read a lot of books deemed as classics and was quite fond of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Joseph Conrad, and Oscar Wilde. He liked Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo and John Muir. He also ready up on factual books about the wizarding world - anywhere from dragons to magical medicine to vampires. In fact, he had most likely read every book on vampires within the Hogwarts' school library and had even ordered some through Flourish and Blotts. All the vampire texts seemed to hold such basic explanations on vampires that he was hoping these visits with his father and the other vampires his father lived with would provide him with a better understanding of them, and thus perhaps, a better understanding of himself. He was gaining some insight already, as nowhere in his books did it state that vampires enjoyed reading. At least one named Adrian Hawthorne did.

"Father/Son Day?" Simon repeated, and while he directed the statement to his father, he couldn't prevent himself from looking around the expansive room since it was more lit than the last time he was there. They weren't in this room previously and he only saw it passing by. Everything was still quite dark, but there was dim lighting here and there. "Are we going to go play a game of catch or go on a camping trip? Learn how to grill or go fishing?" A smile twitched at Simon's lips. He was a bit nervous being there but he made it a point awhile back ago to not show that nervousness to his father. Somehow it seemed he was more on an even playing field if he didn't.

"Simon, there is much to learn about our coven and castle. Our objective for today during our solitary time together is to learn about the castle and our next visit will focus on the coven. Perhaps, too, I can gain some insight into you. There is much to learn."

"Alright, then show me your.....castle," Simon commented, still slightly in disbelief that he, a boy from South Kensington, London, had a father that lived in a castle. It was one thing to go to school in a castle, but another entirely to live in one. Simon could do the learning about the castle part but he wasn't sure what insight his father was wanting on him. Maybe somethings were better left unsaid.

"Our castle," Adrian corrected him immediately. He told him about the room they were currently standing in, how it was known as the Entrance Lounge and was off the Gatehouse Entrance from which he had entered from. It was where those that lived there, the vampires, waited for guests to arrive since they could not always be outside to greet them depending on their time of arrival.

From there he was shown the Ballroom just across the way and in doing so, his father placed a hang at a switch that controlled the brightest of the chandeliers that hung above. They made quite the dramatic visual impact with their sparkling effervescence. "Made with clear crystals from Swarovski and finished in heirloom bronze. Only the best for our annual ball. You can dance; can you not?"

Dancing?

Interesting.

"Uhh....I'm not so sure my dancing is ball worthy," Simon declared as his eyes glazed over the lights and then admired the other decorative features of the room. It was absolutely stunning. "I can do a sick moonwalk," he smiled.

His father watched him with that stone-cold emotionless expression that he had seemed to perfected. "No matter, we can get you lessons."

He was shown more and was completely in awe. The castle was like some indoor city and was larger than any of the galleries, theaters, or museums in London. He noted the various acknowledgements of roses scattered around and guessed that they were most likely in remembrance for his mother. He had asked Adrian about whether or not he was a fan of the flower which he had responded: "Not particularly, but Arabella loved them so." Arabella was Simon's departed mother.

Simon was shown the main Dining Hall and the main Library and the main washrooms, to which he later understood because there were other versions of these rooms. There were other lounges as well and one seemingly dedicated to music with a piano just waiting for him to play.

He was shown various corridors that would lead off to other bedrooms and respectfully understood why he wasn't shown the bedrooms themselves. It did lend him to wonder though what those rooms might looked like - he imagined heavy velvety curtains that seemed to hang on every window of the castle, rich colors, and low intensity ambient lighting. Did they have a bed or that old classic muggle perception of a coffin that they used for rest instead? Maybe that was too cliche of a thought.

"Your room provided a struggle. It is not as adorned but it was done in hopes that it caters to your liking and you will wish to spend your time here at the castle." Simon was trying to make out some of the subject matter of the paintings on the walls as they passed in the dim lights, noting that they did not move at all. Still beautiful, none the less.

Adrian opened up a door as they came to it and it was then that it set in. "Come again, my room?" And oh, what a room it was. Not as adorned as the others? It was incredible! It was at least FOUR TIMES the size of his room back in London and that was when he had the basement level to himself. There was a king-sized bed with large windows and that space spilled out into a sitting area that was lined with a sofa and long bookshelves built in. There were tables and lighting. Simon walked in, his pace much slower than in the other rooms, looking over each and every detail of the space. There was an alcove in the corner and there was a piano there next to more large windows.

His hand brushed over the white keys, a striking contrast to the black of the rest of the piano. Everything in this castle seemed so luxurious and almost as if it was something out of a fairy tale and yet this was circadian life for the people vampires that lived there.

It was Hogwarts - amplified.

"Tell me who Simon Kincaid is," Adrian said softly, breaking the silence in the room. It came out softly, as if maybe he was even wanting to ask it sooner; almost as some sort of plea. Simon glanced up to his father feeling rather uncertain how to answer this. He knew this sort of question would be coming and there was much he could tell - but also some very important information that was probably best kept hidden.

"Is there really much to know about a fourteen year-old boy?" Simon replied, hoping to appear casual. "Fourteen years I have been estranged from someone who is comprised half of me and half your precious mother. Come, you can share when we get to the Conservatory."

Was it the thought of his mother that was seeming to get his father a little annoyed or upset or was it how Simon was getting distracted by looking around his new bedroom? Had he caught on to the attempted avoidance of the question? Regardless, Simon followed him back through the corridors and to a room they had yet to see. Upon entering, it reminded him as if they stepped outside with a soft breeze and a definite change in temperature. It was as if they were outside - only - there was no sunlight. The area was softly lit enough to see but still be darkened and the large room, which seemed to spill into other smaller rooms as well, was full of plants and flowers that bloomed away. There were various lights, some twinkling and some majestically attempting to battle with the natural wonders o the plants around them in various colors and textures. It reminded Simon of the light display that he and his father went to see in London over Christmas Time the past year - only better.

Of course this Conservatory would be a sort of nocturnal one if residing in the home of vampires.

Simon looked over to his father, ready to compliment him on this space but knew that he was waiting for a reply to his answer. What would he tell him? What should he tell him? Most importantly, what shouldn't he say?

"I'm Simon," he began with his normal introduction. "Simon Ezra Kincaid. I was born on Valentine's Day, February 14th of 2009 in London and have resided there since. It was my mum and my Aunt Maggie and I until I was three years-old and then it was just Aunt Maggie and I." He didn't need to go into the part of his mother's passing, as Adrian was already aware of it. "I am a child of God and try my best to live a life that helps others. My passion is music and I play the piano, the guitar, sing, and like to compose my own works. I enjoy sports - hockey, raquetball, swimming, the occasional football game," he'd leave out broom racing, for obvious measures. It was best that Adrian didn't know about his magical side and anything about how he was a wizarding, studying at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "I also enjoy reading and photography and time with my friends."

Simon felt pretty assured with his answers that he didn't allude to anything other than 'normal teenage boy.'

"I barely recollect being fourteen," Adrian stated, his eyes looking out upon the Conservatory. "Anyone in particular you have grown highly fond toward?

Was he attempting to ask him if he had a girlfriend? Simon was not ready to share such information with his father and it also didn't seem wise to possibly state the truth and put AngelFyre's safety at risk. What if Adrian Hawthorne was as evil as she said? Who was he to give him ammunition against him? This was precisely why he was keeping his magical status hidden and this too shall be left unsaid.

"Why shackle down to one when you can play the field? I'm only fourteen, after all."

By the time late afternoon hit and it was time for Simon to catch his train home, he bid his farewell. He'd be back to visit in a couple week's time and would be meeting the coven next. As for his opinions of the castle, it was quite wonderful - but he wasn't so sure about those that inhabited it. His father didn't always seem so bad, but he would forever approach with caution because AngelFyre's visions were not to be ignored.