SIMONMETA
ATHOGWARTS
House: Ravenclaw
Wand: Chestnut wood with a unicorn hair core, 10" and unyielding flexibility
Chestnut: This is a most curious, multi-faceted wood, which varies greatly in its character depending on the wand core, and takes a great deal of colour from the personality that possesses it. The wand of chestnut is attracted to witches and wizards who are skilled tamers of magical beasts, those who possess great gifts in Herbology, and those who are natural fliers. However, when paired with dragon heartstring, it may find its best match among those who are overfond of luxury and material things, and less scrupulous than they should be about how they are obtained. Conversely, three successive heads of the Wizengamot have possessed chestnut and unicorn wands, for this combination shows a predilection for those concerned with all manner of justice.
Unicorn: Unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard. Minor disadvantages of unicorn hair are that they do not make the most powerful wands (although the wand wood may compensate) and that they are prone to melancholy if seriously mishandled, meaning that the hair may ‘die’ and need replacing.
Patronus: Dolphin
Those with this patronus are typically very social and intellectual.
If you have this patronus you’re smart and quick witted. With an excellent ability to understand other people and empathize.
Your fun loving nature can take many forms, be it the life and soul of a party or individual activities, fun is your department.
COLOGNESCENTS
Simon doesn’t wear colognes very often, it’s just not something he thinks about. But when he’s trying to impress someone, or feeling a little dull, he does have two small bottles.
Endymion is citrus and coffee and black pepper, fresh without being sweet. It’s the sort of smell that makes him feel like a little more confident (and goodness knows he needs it!)
In some ways, he prefers the Belgravia, with its fruity raspberry, pink peppercorn and rose. But it’s a softer, slightly more feminine scent, and while he loves it? He’s always just a bit afraid that people will think it makes him too girly. For that reason, the bottle is mostly full.
THETURNING
“I don’t know.. if you – probably not, but you didn’t really like me then–.. But, after Camille kidnapped me.. after she drank from me.. the first time. I knew something was wrong. I knew.” Simon’s smile was resigned, it was a pain he had made his peace with. "I also knew Clary was with you. And Alec, and.. people who knew what might be happening. I tried to call her, text her.. a lot. The sort of ‘a lot’ that happens when you think you’re dying. And hallucinating, and .. after a few days.. and no word.. not a thing?“ He shrugged slightly, "I went to get answers on my own.”
Jace felt decidedly bad for bringing this subject up– but Simon seemed perfectly willing to share, even if it still hurt. “I remember when you were kidnapped pretty well,” Jace said with a sigh. “I didn’t know that Camille was using you as her personal blood bank, though.” Jace lifted his hand and touched Simon’s cheek, but otherwise stayed still, “I’m sorry you went through that alone,” Jace said quietly, when Simon paused. “That must have been– terrifying.”
“It wasn’t great, no..” He didn’t mention that Clary’s silence, leaving him out to hang, when she could have so easily spared a minute? That was the hurt that endured. "So I went back. And.. she was waiting for me. I couldn’t run fast enough– mundane, right? And.. chomp. I don’t know if they tell you this? But.. pretty much all vamps remember what it feels like to die. Not everyone.. recovers from that.’
“Anyway, Camille is a bitch. And she made sure it.. wasn’t pleasant. Dying was almost a relief, honestly. Cause I thought..“ He paused a moment, tracing the blue and purple veins that ran along the inside of Jace’s arm, "I’d never be like her. Like them. I’d never be a monster. And if I was dead, it wouldn’t hurt anymore.”
MUSIC
Simon started playing the piano when he was five, after his mother realized that he was abjectly miserable playing soccer.
He took lessons until he was 16, learned how to read music, and finally told his mother that, while he loved music, he wasn’t interested in that sort of music.
She wasn’t impressed. And outside of his teachers, and immediate family, only Clary has heard him play.
He picked up the guitar at 12, because it was, he thought, way cooler than the piano. Through a mixture of youtube videos and thousands of hours of just strumming away, he taught himself to play.
Now he writes his own music, and even when his compositions are awful, and his lyrics are the worst, it makes him happy.
MUSIC
You know that place between sleep and awake, the place where you can still remember dreaming?
If you catch Simon in the small moment between awake and asleep, freed of the insecurities and anxieties that plague him during the day? Well, he’s a very different fellow.
Soft limbed and snuggly, he tends to gravitate towards the nearest source of warmth, his glasses often askew and sliding to the end of his nose.
If he feels safe, Simon can be counted on to answer any questions put to him– no promises that the answers will make sense!
But without his armor, he’s easily hurt. And even though he doesn’t tend to remember things come morning (save for a few very hazy recollections) nasty and unkind comments leave him feeling deeply insecure the next day.
FOOD
Pens… lollipops… ice cubes…
Simon catches his lower lip against his top teeth, and tongues the sharp points of his fangs. The smooth-and-sharp edges of the Star of David he wears around his neck has been dragged across his lips, or tapped against his teeth, too many times to count.
He can unroll licorice wheels against his tongue, and fidgets with the edges of blood packets. Springy, rubbery gummy candies satisfy the need to bite down. And plastic drinking straws have such interesting edges.
Basically, if you catch Simon when he’s distracted or under stress, he will usually have something in his mouth. It’s something that’s been pointed out to him (usually by a laughing Clary, or a wide-eyed Maureen!) and he’s tried to stop, without luck.
Being turned into a vampire hasn’t made this any easier.
Because lollipops have almost no substance, and turn entirely to sugar, they are one of the only ‘foods’ that Simon can eat.
And he does. Frequently.
There’s something comforting about it, he thinks. Something normal. And at any given time, he usually has at least one hanging around.
He has no preference on flavour, (anything but lemon is fine with him!) but when he can, he tends to gravitate towards the weird and interesting, just to try them.
FIRSTTIME
“My first time? Do you really have to know about this?’
“Um… so I was 16? And there was this big battle of the bands, and it was epically awesome. There were a ton of other musicians just hanging out after, and Maureen had bailed with this guy with a bunch of tattoos? And I was sort of at a loose end, just loading stuff into the van because someone had to get the amps and shit back home. Anyway, so I was super hyped up because it didn’t even matter that we didn’t place.. And one of the drummers from the other band was old enough to buy liquor– or he had a fake ID?– I don’t really remember that part.. so there was like, ten or fifteen of us hanging out in this old lot.’
“She called herself Ember, and she was the lead guitar for this awesome punk, riot grrrl band. And I don’t even know why she looked twice at me, but we’d both had a bit to drink, and Simon at 16 was super aware of how pathetic he was, and Clary had spent the whole night flirting with this other guy… Anyway, so we end up making out in the back of my van, trying to make something like a comfortable spot between the amps and the keyboard, and she’s got this tongue ring that neither of us knew what to do with.’
“And I didn’t have a clue what to do, cause I’d never done anything. Well, a few kisses, but that was Truth or Dare, and totally doesn’t count– and suddenly there’s this girl sitting in my lap and pulling off her shirt, and.. I kinda remember feeling like this was obviously someone else’s life. And that she had a super sketchy tattoo of a tiger on her thigh. Weird stuff, right? Random?’
“We didn’t have enough room to actually take off all our clothes, and we could hear everyone outside– which, ok, in retrospect is serious embarrassing!– but she seemed to be pretty confident. I actually remembered that I had a condom in my wallet, cause even drunk Simon didn’t want that kind of morning after… And then it was basically done. Really anticlimactic. I was sitting against the side of the van, and she was in my lap, and I hope it was alright for her.. but lets face it, it was pretty clumsy and uncomfortable for both of us.’
“Anyway, it turned out she was rebounding off some singer name Chad, and pretty much right after? Ended up drunk crying in my arms about how much she missed him. And how I was such a nice guy– does any guy ever want to be nice? So I got her home safe and pretty much sobered up, and that was it. I know it could have been a lot worse! But it wasn’t a great night.”