#simon hayes

[shadowtoons]

Listen guys, if you all aren’t aware-

I rp villains

Draw villains

And as well have made my own villains.

[denizenhardwick]

The Part Where You Missed It: Chapter 4

Read on AO3 | Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3

Denizen Hardwick knows who he is now; for the first time in his life, he has a family and a real home. But, of course, nothing is that simple. Vivian still won’t open up to him, and feelings are so often a painful burden to carry. As Denizen begins his new life of Knighthood, he finds challenge and triumph lurking around every turn--both in the world and in himself.

Takes place in the six months between Knights of the Borrowed Dark and The Forever Court; massive spoilers for book one.

Simon soaked up sunlight like a plant. Sometimes, while walking through Dublin, he would suddenly stop and stare up at the sky. It reminded Denizen of when people saw the aurora borealis–not that he had seen it, but he’d seen pictures of people seeing it–and looked up in absolute wonder.

It was winter, though, and nice, sunny days growing scarcer and scarcer.

One such lucky day, Abigail pointed out at breakfast that the weather was pleasant and gave Denizen a not-so-subtle wink indicating this was the day, as if he’d forgotten somehow. He had to get Simon out of the house for a few hours to give the girls prep time.

So he invited Simon on a little walk.

Simon grabbed his scarf, and they were out. It was a crisp day, made chillier by the breeze, and the sun kept dipping behind clouds, but running into various shops managed to keep the shivering to a minimum.

Denizen supposed he could draw on his power to keep himself warm… no. Absolutely not.

They ended up standing side-by-side, watching the faint winter sunlight play across Dublin Bay.

“So… tell me about Grey?” Simon gripped his scarf closer to himself and looked up innocently.

Denizen went cold in a way that had nothing to do with the weather. “What?”

The other boy shrugged. “I dunno. It's okay if you don't want to talk–I get that–but I didn't get to meet him, and, well, you don't really let people get close to you. So I was wondering. What was he like?”

“I…” Words failed, and he trailed off.

Gazing out over the water, Denizen tried to think of something to say. “I don't think I really knew him that well.” If at all.

“Hmm. That's okay.” When Denizen remained silent for another minute, Simon sighed. “I shouldn't have brought it up. Sorry.”

“Ugh, no. Don't apologize. You told me what happened with you, which was infinitely worse than my month, and I still haven’t shared what happened with me… it's not fair.”

“I got the basics. Shadow monsters, magic, saving the world, your aunt actually being your mother. All that. I'm just curious at this point.”

Denizen laughed.

“Dublin’s nice,” Simon said, changing the subject. “We should go exploring sometime.”

“Oh, no, don't worry, you'll get to see plenty of the city when Abigail takes you running.”

The boys finished their walk, interspersing light conversation as they moseyed along the waterfront, and started heading home. Outside of the embassy building, Denizen abruptly stopped.

“Grey was a really easy person to be around.” Denizen threw thoughts regarding the later bit of the month in a mental box, took a breath, and continued. “He was chatty, and he'd tell jokes, and sometimes he'd do these really kind things and try to pass them off as jokes or something casual, but…”

A lump was building in Denizen’s throat, making it hard to speak, to breathe, and anger rolled fitfully in his chest.

He cleared his throat. “Also,” he said, pointedly louder, “Abigail and Darcie are waiting in the dining hall for us. Well, more specifically, you.”

Simon frowned. “Huh?”

Grinning, Denizen took his arm and escorted him inside. “You nearly died on your birthday, remember? I wanted to give you something nicer.”

“Happy birthday!”

Simon spun slowly, face breaking into a smile as he took in the decorations. It wasn’t much, but Denizen was proud–there was a banner hanging from the ceiling, a pretty cloth draped over one of the tables, and, on top of that, the cake that Darcie had made, which was probably more edible glitter than actual cake.

“Here,” Denizen said, gesturing to a bench. “Sit.”

Simon complied. “I cannot believe this.”

“It was going to be a surprise party, but we didn’t think you’d like that,” said Darcie.

“Yeah. Thank you.” His voice was awed. “Oh, so this is what all the winking this morning was about! Ha.”

Denizen flushed. They’d been planning this for a month, and it was a miracle they'd managed to keep it a secret.

With flourish, Abigail presented Simon’s birthday present. His jaw dropped.

“Guys…”

“It’s mostly from Denizen,” she said, “but he wanted us to present it as a kind of joint gift.” She took a seat, then so did Denizen, and Darcie cut them all cake slices–Simon’s being the biggest, of course.

The party lasted most of the afternoon, and Denizen wasn’t sure he saw the smile ever leave Simon’s face. It was contagious. By the end, Denizen’s cheeks hurt, and they got busted by a very angry Vivian for making a mess of the dining hall again, but…

But it was the happiest he’d seen Simon for months.

[that-house]

You know what book series fucking slaps? Knights of the Borrowed Dark by Dave Rudden. That series was great, and it sadly has no online presence.

For those who know nothing of it (most people), it’s a YA urban fantasy trilogy about a secret order of magic knights beating up lovecraftian horrors. The descriptions are great, the humor is great, the characters are great, the magic system is great. It’s all great.

Plus the main character falls in love with the princess of the lovecraftian horrors, which is just delightful.

[iggyinuit]

Iggy dancing The Bend @ The Crom (1966). Read more at: http://atagong.com/iggy/archives/2008/08/bend-it.html and its many follow-up articles.

[xtrippingfairydustx]

Good job to everyone who voted and shared! This is great news and will help a lot with getting Zoey’s the second season it so rightfully deserves!

[denizenhardwick]

@colorfulwatcher Here’s Simon and Denizen!

[denizenhardwick]

I just realized--

In TEK, we find out that bending light is actually a Cant called the Starlight Caul. And back in book one, Grey said the Starlight Caul is one of the Higher Cants.

Are you telling me that Simon Hayes has been running around causally using an epithet for three books?

[denizenhardwick]

Abigail or Darcie, Simon vs Denizen, and Simon/Abigail :3

Abigail or Darcie--I love them both, so this was a hard choice, but I absolutely adore Abigail Falx, so I'm going with her. She's funny and determined and full of personality, and every scene with her is a joy.

Simon vs Denizen--They've both known how to fight for the same short amount of time, basically, but Denizen has the Cants and is a smol ball of anger. Although I can't see them ever fighting outside of sparring sessions...

Simon + Abigail--I ship them platonically. I loved their chemistry and interactions in FoCo to pieces. :)