i 100% believe that marcy was at simon's house when he came back and she was like. "where tf you been??" and simon starts to explain most of what happened leaving out a key detail-
and marceline's completely understanding about the whole thing (sometimes you just go through shit for like five days and then come back yknow) until simon turns around and there's a sticky note on his back that says "this MF tried to put on the crown again send his ass to THERAPY -betty"
prismo summons fionna and crew to hang and they're like "bring simon too!!!" and prismo goes "seriously? the sad sack? you guys really had some quality bonding during your trip through the multiverse huh" and she's like "yeah we did now bring him here i need to show him my new boyfriend!!!!" and then prismo pulls simon out of the shower again
I’m in love with Simon Petrikov and I need more content of him, so here’s a multi-part fic
Pairing: Simon Petrikov x Fem! OC
Warnings: implied sexual feelings?
Genre: Angst and Fluff?
Word Count: 2.8K
Link to Chapter 2
It took Simon an entire day to find the Enchiridion. He looked on his bookshelf, where it was supposed to be and all the books in that row were off-kilter and leaning, indicating that one was missing. The books were sorted alphabetically, and looking over them with his finger, upon reaching ‘E’, he found the spot where it was supposed to be, empty.
“What?”
He checks under his covers and under his pillow. Nothing. He checks under his bed. Nothing. In his desk, in his bag, on his coffee table, on his kitchen table, on his kitchen counter. Nothing. While checking the kitchen counter, he noticed that the cornish hen that he had bought from the grocery store yesterday was sitting there, unrefrigerated.
“I thought I put this in the freezer,” Simon mused to himself
He picked up the chicken while opening the freezer, and when placing the chicken inside, he glanced to the back of the freezer.
“You have got to be kidding me,” the Enchiridion sat at the back of the mostly empty freezer. Only a few bags of frozen vegetables to keep it company.
He places the chicken in the freezer, and leaves the door open. He returns with mittens and pulls as hard as he can. After a few moments, the book is free from the ice.
Ice.
Simon stares hauntedly at the open freezer before shutting it quickly. He stares at the frozen book before sighing in annoyance. How was this going to work? It’s not like he could put the book in the microwave or in the oven. And it could take days for it to thaw on its own.
He hands Sami the book the next day, still wearing his mittens. She is confused.
“Why…?” she points down at the book
He chuckles awkwardly in response “I don’t know,”
“How do you not know?”
“You know how it is, I like to keep things chill?” What?
She raises an eyebrow “Boo!” she gives a thumbs down
“Yeah, I’m sorry.” he blushes “I don’t know how to get it off-”
Sami throws the book on the ground with great force. Simon flinches. “Wait! What are you-?”
She kneels down to retrieve the book, once she does she looks back up at him, smirking “Breaking the ice.”
It took Simon an extra second to understand the pun.
“Oh,” he laughs a hearty laugh
“SHHHHHHHHHH!” Turtle Princess is heard from the front of the library
Simon and Sami stare back at each other, and laugh again, this time covering their mouths. Simon clears his throat “Enjoy the book. I hope you find it…enjoyable.” He grimaces at his awkwardness
“Wait, are you giving me this?”
“No! It’s a…it’s a loan. Return it in 7 days.” He smiles
“Is that a library pun?”
“Yes.”
“We loan our books out for three weeks” she smiles back
“Three weeks then…or I could come back tomorrow and-“
She stares into his eyes “Or you could read it with me now,”
He looks back “Okay. I like that idea better.” He sits down on the library carpet, and pats the spot next to him, she takes a seat, sitting cross legged. He cracks open the large book-which was free from the ice, but still felt cool in his hands- to the first page, and Sami leans over to read it with him.
For the next couple of weeks, Simon was at the library everyday. Not exactly surprising to anyone on the outside looking in. He did indeed love books. But what he loved more was discussing those books with other intelligent people. So for the next few weeks, his goal was not to find comfort in books, but to find comfort in Sami.
Every day he would come in and ask for help finding a new book, and when he ran out of books to ask about, he started asking for the same one. Over and over again. Every day he would come in, skip the main desk and walk up to Sami, asking for the same book as he had yesterday, and she would respond by giving a look that told him she knew exactly what he was up to. One time she said:
“Getting a little up there in age Dr. Petrikov?”
“To what exactly are you referring?”
“You seem to be having issues with your memory. Seeing as how I showed you exactly where that book was yesterday. The day before that, and the day before that, and…shall I continue?”
“I guess I’m just forgetful,” He shrugs playfully
“Because you’re old.”
He looks taken aback “I am not old,”
“Right, sorry Mr. Gray Streak- sorry Dr. Gray Streak,”
“Apology accepted…nerd,”
Sami stares around flabbergasted at his boldness. She found it endearing and amusing yes, but flabbergasted nonetheless.
“What?” she squinted
“You’re a nerd,” he spoke casually, as though they’d known each other for a while.
“I….don’t know what I’m supposed to say to that.”
“You can help me find the book then.”
She rolls her eyes “Come on then,” and led him there. “Here you go,” She hands it to him.
“Say..have you ever read this book?” He flipped through it absentmindedly
She shakes her head. He hands it to her. “You should. It’s a very good story.”
“Is this what you came here for? To give me recommendations?”
“No. But I came to have an intellectual conversation.”
“About this book?” She flips open the picture book “You strike me as more of a strictly ‘no pictures’ type of man.”
“I’m an all books kind of man,”
She shoves the book back into his arms “Then read it to me Dr.” in a deep, mysterious tone.
“Okay, take a seat nerd.”
She sits down and looks up at him as he begins to read. This was her first time realizing how tall he is. He looks down and notices her eyes wide as ever.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Am I boring you? I can give it to you to read.”
She stares back and shakes her head “No,” sounding mesmerized
“Alright,” he blushes from flattery and continues reading.
After a minute or two, an alarm on Simon’s phone blares. Sami snaps out of it.
“Turn that off!” She whispers yells as she gets up
“Sorry!” He reaches into his pocket and pulls his phone out, seeing an alarm EAT
NOW!!!!!!! He turns it off. Sami laughs a cute giggle. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s alright, I just don’t want Turtle Princess breathing down my neck. Remember she’s technically my boss.”
“SHHHHHHHHHHH!” went Turtle Princess “If you’re not going to be quiet then you can leave!”
“Who are you talking to?” Sami questioned
“Him!” she points to Simon
“Sorry,” he says again
She returns to manning her cart. Once she leaves, Simon looks back at Sami apologetically.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to be getting you in trouble.”
Samira appears amused “You’re not getting me in trouble, if anything you’re getting yourself in trouble.”
“Yeah, I suppose so.” he awkwardly stuffs the phone back into his pocket “Well, I guess I should get going. You know, to eat.” He hands her the book “Here, finish it on your own.”
“Aww, I need your impeccable reading to help me finish it.”
He blushes a little more “Well, I really have to go. And I think your voice is just as amazing.”
She accepts the book and holds it tight, “Um, bye” she waves at him.
“Bye,”
Back at his house, Simon hung up his blazer and removed his vest in silence. He entered his barren kitchen and opened his freezer. Donning his mittens again, he removed a tray of food from it. The tray had steak, mashed potatoes and corn each in separated squares. A sad tv dinner. As he peeled back the plastic of the tray and placed it into the microwave to cook, he thought about how long it would take for the night to be over.
The next day Sami was stacking books based on the Dewey decimal system of course and wondering what she would tell Dr. Petrikov of the book. Should she say that it was riveting? Horrifying? Or that she couldn’t really see the lesson that the author so obviously intended for the reader to take away? What exactly was she supposed to learn about two kids almost being eaten by a witch? Why would those kids even try to befriend the witch? Anyone can tell what a witch looks like and you can easily tell which ones are evil. These kids were a bit dense.
Stacking books was a bit difficult for her, she wasn’t exactly a giant. She’s been this height forever. She never hated being short, but things like this were clearly meant for tall people.
Dr. Petrikov could definitely put these books away with no sweat. She noticed that he towered over her in a way that wasn’t intimidating, but was comforting for a lack of words. The warmth she felt from being near him was unlike anything she’d known before. She loved when he read to her, his voice did magical things to the words in books, filled them with a passion and a love for stories, that made even the silliest of tales come alive.
He had left so quickly yesterday, and it was the middle of the day now, maybe he wasn’t coming. Sami glances at thee entrance of the library, and saw nothing and no one entering the door. All there were the regular elderly who just enjoyed the quiet, and the “quirky” teenagers who thought they were better than everyone else because they read books.
She had just one book left in her arms, and this one belonged on the 5th shelf, a shelf that was always notoriously just out of her reach. She never understood why Turtle Princess would give her these books to put away without giving her the mechanical arm to use as well. Sami’s toxic trait was thinking that she could reach things that she very obviously could not. If there was less than an inch of space between her fingers and the shelf, she would go for it. She jumped and jumped, grunting each time reaching and just barely missing the shelf. Each time the book would fall right back into her hands. She jumped one last time and the book did not land in her hands when it came back down. She was not aware of where it went, but then again she was not aware of anything in that moment, anything other than minty cool breath on the back of her head, and that comforting warmth on her back.
Sami turns around and sees him holding the book.
“You need some help?” a smile on his face
She nods with a hint of shock on her face
“Where does it go?” he asked with a genuine desire to help
“Uh, up there on that shelf, right where I was reaching.”
“Directly above you?”
She nods again, and he obliges.
When he reaches up to put the book back, his arm goes straight past her face, and she can smell him. A peach candy smell hit her nostrils with full force, and took over her entire being. And for the few seconds that he was pushing the book into its place, he leaned into her slightly, putting his weight onto her back and leaving her feeling-
“Is that okay?”
“Hmm?” she looks up at him, barely listening
“Is that okay? The book?” he repeated
She nods a third time “Oh yeah. Totally. Thank you.”
“No problem.” His smile drops a bit when he takes a good look at her face. “Are you alright?”
She rocks back and forth on her feet, “Yeah, definitely”
“So why do you look like that?”
“Like what?” Her head snaps up in concern
“No!” He catches himself before he accidentally began yelling. “You just have this look lik you’re upset. Not that you look bad or unattractive or anything,” He blushes a little and doesn’t meet her gaze
She smiles a little and looks down a bit “I just… didn’t think you were coming today. You weren’t here earlier, so I thought I’d be alone for the day.”
“I’m sorry, I just had to stop and talk to a lot of people on my way here.”
Sami looks back up with a smirk on her face “So what I’m hearing is that everyone wants a piece of Dr. Petrikov. I’d better get in line then,”
“Ha,” he rubs the back of his head, “I don’t think there’s much of a line. It might be just you.”
She smiles “Do you have any friends. Honest question, I’m not trying to be mean.”
He purses his lips and touches his face, “Ehhh. I have people that I talk to, I’m not sure if I would call them my friends. I always feel so much older than everyone that I talk to. I like them a lot, but I do feel a bit more awkward sometimes.” He sits down on the floor. She sits down next to him.
“Do you have a partner?” She queried
Simon opened his mouth to explain the specific intricacies of the situation that he was in regarding relationships. However he thought that that subject may have been a bit too much for someone that he had only met about a month and a half ago. So he decided to go with the simple answer. “No,” he responded flatly.
He didn’t know it, but his face betrayed how uncomfortable he was with the question. Sami saw it right away. They both played with the texture of the carpet on the library floor. However, Sami was just a bit too curious to leave subject alone.
“Why not?” She finally spoke up and broke the silence
Simon grimaced and fiddled with his jacket “The last time that I had one, a lot of….intense things happened that kept us apart.” He moved down to fiddling with his pants legs. “I’d really rather not talk about it.”
Sami looked away “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable” She looks back to him “I just think it’s a bit strange.”
“What is?”
“That you don’t really have anyone. It sounds like all you do is come here.”
Simon was beginning to feel slightly self conscious, was that all he did? “Oh, I didn’t realize you were getting sick of me.” He puts on a small smile with a hint of sadness.
“Oh God no.” She says “That’s not it at all. I very much enjoy your company. I just think that a peson like you would have tons of friends.”
“A person like me?”
She shrugs “You know, like smart and friendly I guess? Nevermind, I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”
Simon stopped playing with his pants legs and finally looked back at her. “No, I understand.” he said simply
“I don’t know, when you’re here you’re full of life and incredible insight. But when you have to leave it’s like ripping a kid away from a candy store. You seemm like you want to live here or something.”
“Huh,” Simon sits back in disbelief, he’d no idea that he was behaving that way. He now felt a bit embarrassed to look forward to coming here to the library everyday. Was it super obvious to everyone around him that while he was trying to work on himself, he didn’t really have anything going on?
“Just something I noticed.” She stares straight ahead at the bookshelf in front of her.
“Is that bad?”
She purses her lips. “Not bad per se, but I think-based off of what little I know about you, is that maybe you should do other things? Or at least allow other people to enter your life? Ugh, I sound like those psychology books in section 57. Whatever, it’s just my opinion. You don’t have to do anything that I say. Do what you like.”
He reaches out and places his hand on hers “Can you please say more, I think I need to hear this.”
When she looks back over at him, he is much closer to her face than he was before. She blushes from the warmth she feels.
“Um okay…You don’t have to move too fast, just reach out to people I guess?” Her voice gets quieter and a bit slower the longer she looks at him. “Maybe even, just one…person?”
She pauses and inhales deeply “It’s nice to be able to rely on people. When I learned that I was finally able to relax. We as humans need others to truly live.” she leans a little bit forward, getting closer to him “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”
At this moment the silence was enough for them both, as they for the first time, truly took each other in, and knew for sure, that they both simply enjoyed being in each other’s presence.
He didn’t really know what was wrong with him. Well, he knew what was wrong. But he didn’t know why he was feeling this way. He liked dancing with Samira, it made him feel…needed, in a way he hadn’t felt in a while. But he was confused on whether it was bad for him to want to feel that way, or if it was bad of him to feel happy about feeling that way, as if any of that made any sense.
Here he was again, lying in his bed feeling bad, when he could’ve been out having a new experience. Why do I always do this? What’s the point of realizing that you’re worthy of life if you don’t try to live?
He stares at his phone and Samira’s number in it. His chest felt tighter and tighter as his finger hovered over the button to call her. He quickly presses it and looks away.
“Please don’t answer, please don’t answer.” he mumbled to himself
“Hello?”
Ah voicemail. He ends the call, before realizing that was Samira’s voice he was hearing.
“Wait!” He fumbles and drops the phone, which starts ringing, with Samira’s name on the screen. He’s frozen in place for a moment before picking up the device, and pressing the answer call button.
“Hello?” He answers nervously
“Hello? What the hell? Why did you hang up on me?”
“I’m sorry, I thought it was your voicemail. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I was nervous. But..I’m so terribly sorry for how I acted this evening. I just have a lot of things going on in my mind at this point in time.”
“Okay….?”
“So, if you’ll allow me to, I’d like to come over and maybe explain? I think maybe it’s gone on a bit longer than I think you should be forced to tolerate. So I’ll explain, if that’s alright with you.”
There was a beat of silence as Simon waited with baited breath.
“Okay…I’ll let you come over and explain…if you put up this bookshelf for me.”
“You haven’t put it up yet?”
“Obviously not.”
Simon nods “Um, okay. Will do. I’ll bring my tools,” he spoke facetiously and he heard Samira giggle, but then return to a stern tone.
“Okay. Come at 12. Don’t be late.” she hangs up the phone
Simon holds the phone to his chest like a little schoolgirl, and lays back down on his back and breathes in. He had a second chance. Now he had to actually tell her.
Today he was out for a job, so he decided that the best outfit for the job would be another sweater and overalls that Marceline had gotten for him a while back that he had never worn, and a headband to keep the hair out of his face. The loose fit was something he would have to get used to. But he didn’t take long dawdling, as he had somewhere to be.
(I'm referring to the outfit furthest left. Amazing art! Not mine tho!)
He gets to her house and rings her bell, it took her a bit of time to come to the door. In that time, Simon touched up his hair, brushed off his sweater, and tightened his overalls. When Sami opens the door, she’s dressed casually; in a tank top, an open cardigan, and a pair of leggings and fuzzy slippers. Her hair is down and she’s wearing her glasses. A brush of wind that Simon was sure that only he could feel, hit his face and warmed up his cheeks upon seeing her. She had a blank look on her face, so he couldn’t tell what she was feeling. He wanted to know how she felt about him, but he was too afraid to ask.
“Hi,” Her voice was even. Not displaying any emotion at all.
“Hi,” His voice shook, betraying his anxiety.
She stepped out of the doorway to let him through and it took him a bit of a moment to register for him to enter, but when it did, he did.
She closed the door behind him and led him into her living room, where she had moved the bookshelf.
“Gosh! You moved this by yourself?”
“Yup” She walks over to the open box and gestures towards it “Here it is.” She speaks flatly and monotone, then walks over to the couch and plops down. “Go ahead.”
“Uh, right.” Simon approaches the box and looks over his shoulder and sees Samira scrolling on her phone. He takes the pieces out of the box and puts them to the side. Everything felt impossible, his hands felt awkward and uncoordinated as he kept glancing over at her on her phone. The silence was unbearable, he couldn’t concentrate on anything he was doing because all he could feel was her sitting and not speaking to him. Logically, he knew that they didn’t need to speak, but he had this deep down voice telling him he needed to say something, anything to make conversation happen. This isn’t right, the voice told him. You should never be silent around her. He glanced back towards her once more, as she put a strand of hair behind her ear, and he dropped everything as his inner voice exploded.
“Can we talk?!” He half screamed. She looked up from her phone as if he had simply tapped her on the shoulder. She puts her phone down next to her and gives him her full attention.
Her voice was deep and a little raspy as she spoke
“What do you want to talk about?”
This was it, this was the moment. He could tell her everything right now, and make it all better. He had to choose his words carefully to make sure he said the right thi-
“Your voice. Sounds a little hoarse. That’s a little concerning because you’re a singer.”
What?
Samira scoffs and returns to her phone. “I know how to take care of my voice,” she said, louder than before.
Simon stands there in silence and self loathing, before he sits down on the couch, staring straight ahead. Samira glances up from her phone, perplexed, but doesn’t say anything. They stay in those positions for a good while before Simon speaks.
“Hi,” his voice is shaky again
“Hi,” her pitch has dropped
Simon taps his legs not knowing what to say next.
“Do you have something to say?” Samira questioned, lowering her phone. Simon nods “Then speak.”
He doesn’t for a moment, but then it all comes out at once “I’m so sorry for last night. And for how I’ve been acting in general. Like I said there’s been a lot on my mind. I know that’s what everyone says, but it’s true.”
“So what’s on your mind?” Her voice is gentle and understanding, which is not at all what he was expecting.
“I….” He wanted to say something, to tell her something but it was so hard to get the words out.
“Well..” She shifted in place to be facing him directly “We might as well talk about something, we have a while until you finish this.” She gestures toward the pieces of wood on the floor.
Simon starts breathing heavily and quickly, why was this so hard to say? It was in that moment that he realized that he had never had to tell anyone these things before. They had either lived it with him or figured it out themselves. But there was no way for Samira to know these ways. He would have to tell her.
“Hey,” she softened her voice and reached for his hand “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me anything that you don’t want to. But you can tell me anything that you do.”
She put her hand on his back to calm him down, and it worked. His breathing slowed to a normal pace and he was able to speak again.
“I need to tell you about Betty.”
And he did. He told her about his studies and how he got his PhD and studied to be an antiquarian, his intended search for magical artifacts. How he happened to give a lecture at one specific college and how that was one of the best decisions he’s ever made because that is where he met a young woman who already admired his work. And how she went on to change his life. How she went with him to search for a very important book-The Enchiridion- and how on the expedition, they fell in love. He told her how Betty was his fiancé, and through perhaps his own careless mistakes and lack of consideration for her, allowed her to constantly put her desires on the back burner for his own, which may or may not have led him to finding the crown that would turn him into the Ice King. Not only cursing him with immortality and insanity, but also driving away Betty, or so he thought. He told her how he eventually found out that Betty had jumped through a time portal that he had opened in the future and then dedicated her entire existence to freeing him from this curse. Losing not only her own sanity, but also her sense of self. He told her that Betty was obsessed with getting him back to himself, at any cost. And he told her how it did cost, how it cost Betty herself and her own existence. He told her how Betty had summoned Golb to return him to his former self, and while it did what she was hoping for, the only way to keep him safe and remove Golb from this world was for her to merge with him and remove herself from this plane of existence.
He also told her of his multiversal travel with Fionna and Cake, how he had come to believe that he was not worthy of his own life, unless he was sacrificing it for someone else, how he met GolBetty on her plane, and was able reconcile with her inside of her new form, and how he was finally able to accept that they were not meant to be together forever, and that he was meant to just appreciate the time they’d had, and that his life was worth something. He told her how he’d accepted her and himself, but moving on was the next step he hadn’t been able to do.
“Betty was the only one in my life for so long, I don’t really know what to do in terms of opening myself up to someone else. Everytime I try to I feel guilty, like I shouldn’t be because she would be upset with me. But logically I know that all she wanted was for me to live.” Simon takes the first deep breath in the whole time it took him to say all of that. He waited for something. Some kind of disgust, confusion, or pity at all that he had laid down on the table. He had known Samira for a bit, but he didn’t know what to expect from her next.
But nothing came.
He finally looked over at her and it turns out she wasn’t staring at him with disgust, pity or confusion. She wasn’t staring at him at all. She was sitting straight forward, with her hands on her knees, her eyes wide and still. Neither of them speak for a while. Simon started to regret this moment of large truth. He started regretting even coming here, and even getting into whatever this thing he was doing with Sami was, he regretted everything. This rejection from her would hurt more than just plain loneliness. He was about to get up and go when Sami spoke.
“Wow,” she nods slowly “That’s…a lot.”
He nods back
“So you lived a thousand years because of your curse?”
“Yes”
“Well, that’s kinda cool I guess.”
He whips toward her “What??”
She shakes her head “It’s not cool that you were insane for a thousand years. I’m just glad about it”
He stares at her with intense confusion
She jumps in her seat “No! I’m not glad you were cursed I just…” She sighs and smiles nervously, putting her hand on her forehead. “I’m just glad that you’re here for me to have met you. That’s all. I’m sorry.”
“Oh. Um..thank you.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry I phrased that so weird.”
“It’s okay.” He touches her hand, and she looks up at him.
He looks tired, but also appreciative, he gives her a warm smile, as though to thank her for listening, and she smiles back at him as if to say you’re welcome. Through their eyes and smiles they understood each other quite well.
“I suppose I should finally get to building that shelf.” Simon clears his throat “Sorry I didn’t start earlier, I just felt like you really deserved to know.” He stood up, rolling up his sleeves and cracking his knuckles
“It’s fine, I don’t mind it taking…a little…longer” She trails off watching him expose his arms and start building. She watched him and let her mind do whatever it pleased, although this did mean that it was silent for a while. Simon didn’t mind this though, now that he had finally told her and he knew that she understood, he was strangely comfortable in the silence. Not that he didn’t want to be speaking with her, just that he knew that with her he didn’t have to speak. Being in her company was enough. But he did want to speak so…
“So what about you? What’s on your mind?” He asked while leveling the shelf at the top.
Samira snapped back into attention “Oh! Well, nothing earth shattering like what you said,” she chuckles to herself “Just um…wondering how I should organize the books on these shelves?”
“Well, I personally like to order my books based off of which ones coincide with my personal moral and philsophical beliefs at the time. The ones that agree would be the closest to me. Whenever they change, I rearrange them.”
“Why do you have books that oppose your moral beliefs?”
He turns to her “You may not agree with the author, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good read!” He smiles a genuine smile. Samira is floored with adoration, looking at him smile. She couldn’t help but smile back.
“Well maybe I could order the book based on how they make me feel? Then when I want to feel a certain way, I can just read a book from that section?”
“That’s a great idea! Let me finish building this for you so you can implement that wonderful idea!”
He was so giddy about the books, he turned around and continued putting up the shelf with a huge grin on his face. It was just about the cutest thing that Samira had ever seen.
Two hours Samira sat and watched Simon put together that bookshelf. She watched as he turned, bent, lifted, inserted and screwed, and it made her want to do some screwing of her own. She played with the charm around her neck as she watched him.
“How is that?” He gestured to the completed shelf, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Samira watched as he wiped above his lips as well.
“It’s great! Surprised you don’t do this for a living Dr.” she gets up to feel the shelf and winks at him.
“Well, I am quite the Mr. Fix-It,” he smiles
“Yes, you are,” she grabs and squeezes his arm. “I might need you to come back and fix something else of mine.”
Simon’s face goes a little red “Ha, I’m at your service.”
“I’m glad,” she responds, voice deepening and grabbing his arm with both hands now.
Simon felt warm again. Kind of like when they were dancing. But he didn’t pull away this time, he let himself feel it. She gripped and groped his arm and slowly turned her head up to look at him. He looks down at her as her grip on him tightens.
“I’m…just a phone call away.” Her eyes brightened “I’ll be here anytime you need me.”
“Anytime?”
“Yes.” They continue to gaze at each other as they both grow warmer, and everything else begins to disappear.
It took him a moment to snap back to reality, but when he did, he said “Great…great! I should get going.” He gently removes her hands from his arm, brushing her skin lightly, feeling electricity between them. He clears his throat “Shelf looks great,”
She smiles as she feels his fingers “Yeah, you built it”
“Yeah, I’m gonna-“ he points toward the door “go”
He gathers his tools and heads towards the door. After only a few steps, he felt a tug on his other arm. He turned to see what she needed and was startled by her embrace. Full frontal, chest to chest embrace. He embraced her back and breathed her in. This was the first time they had…felt each other. She felt warm and comfortable. Soft. While she felt his hard chest against her, it made her feel safe. He slowly rubbed her lower back, and it felt ever so calming and left her tingling. He gives her body a quick squeeze, and pulls away slowly. His hands are still on her torso when she says
“Thank you,” in a hushed, almost whisper
“For what?”
“For being here with me,”
He smiles “Always happy to help,”
“Of course,” she pulls herself a few inches further than his grasp
Honestly, Simon never understood why Marceline had chosen to live in a cave. He always thought she was better than that. But who knows, maybe he only thought that because he hated all the climbing up and down he had to do just to get to the house. When he finally arrived and knocked on her door, he was eager to rest his bones.
“Simon!” Marcy shouted in the same tone she always did when seeing him.”What brings you here?”
“Um, just gettin’ some fresh air. Seeing if you’re up to something. Are you up to something?”
“Oh no, not at all. Come on in!” She opens the door wider and Simon steps through, once she closes it she continues “We’re just doing scales.”
“We?”
“Yeah, don’t worry she won’t mind,”
Simon sits down on her couch.
“Marceline!” a voice was heard from the kitchen
“Huh?” Marcy called back
“Do you only have a refrigerator full of gray apples?”
“There should be red ones in there!” She shrugged her shoulders “Like one.”
“Ugh, where- found it, you really need to get rid of these gray ones,” the person appears from inside the kitchen. Samira is standing there with an apple in her hand. “Oh, hello.”
Simon, who catches himself staring at the voluptuous woman, clears his throat, “Um hi, you’re um Samira?”
“Yes,” she takes a bit out of the apple.
“I’m Simon, Simon Petrikov,” he goes up to her, putting his hand out to shake hers. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too..” she shakes his hand confused.
“I’m gonna go set up the keyboard, let me know when you’re ready,” Marceline leaves into the living room.
Samira gives her a thumbs up. For a few seconds it was silent, Simon looked at every inch and corner of the house; trying to look at anything but the person in front of him. “I saw you sing by the way”, he spoke. “Your voice is so amazing, you moved the whole room with your words; it was phenomenal.”
“Thank you,” Samira smiled, flattered.
“The pleasure is mine,” he smiled at her. He was starting to stare again until Marceline poked her head in.
“Yo let’s go girl! We got art to create”, she said. Samira throws the apple core into trash following Marceline, Simon follows behind them.
Samira stands next to Marceline at the keyboard, Simon sits on the couch but quickly groans in pain; he had forgotten that this couch wasn’t for sitting on.
“Okay, you ready?” Marceline looks at Samira.
“Whenever you are” Samira answered.
They begin singing consecutive ascending notes , Simon watches, staring at Samira as she hits each note. He couldn’t understand how a woman so small could have such a powerful voice, it felt as though he was in a trance. “What’s the name-“
“Simon! You threw us off!” Marceline exclaimed.
“Threw you off,” Samira pointed at her.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to donk up your thing.“ Simon blushed.
“It’s okay, we were doing scales,” Samira said. Simon is flustered.
“Whatever, I needed a break anyway; Simon you want anything?” Marceline offered.
“Just water if ya have it,” he said nervously.
“Do I not get a snack?” Samira crosses her arms.
“Didn’t you already have one?” Marceline raises an eyebrow.
“What is that supposed to mean-“
Marceline leaves the room.
“Hey!” Samira follows her into the kitchen. Simon sits alone in awkward silence.
Marceline is rummaging through cabinets, “Ugh I really need to get some more red”.
“And throw away the gray,” Samira leans against the kitchen counter.
Marceline rolls her eyes, “So, whaddya think?”
“Of..the fridge? I think you need more snack options,” Samira shrugged.
“Not the snacks, Simon, what do you think of him?” Marceline pulls out a pack of strawberries.
“Why? And you had strawberries?!” Samira gasps.
“Forget the strawberries! Simon!” Marceline throws a strawberry at her.
“What about him?” Samira asked.
“Is he cute? Is he ugly? Is he nice? Mean? Spill the beans!” Marceline crosses her arms.
“I mean he’s not mean, the man has barely said anything” Samira shrugs smirking. She knew this was eating at Marceline.
“What about looks?” Marceline leans into her, smiling and raising both eyebrows. Samira just shrugs, Marceline is annoyed, this was so like her. “You’re messin’ me up, and you know you are.”
“You deprived me of snacks, I deprived you of info,” Samira smirks. Marceline throws another strawberry at her Samira laughs and throws it back but misses, “How do you even know him?”
“He took care of me, he raised me,” Marceline smiled, reminiscing on her and Simon’s time together. “He was basically my dad.”
“Basically?” Samira raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you like, have a dad? Who’s literally a demon?”
“He could eat rocks for all I care,” Marceline says with disgust. “Simon was there with me through it all”
“Hm,” Samira looks at Simon who is still sitting looking around the living room, she smirks. “Well, tell daddy he’s cute.”
“Okay I definitely will,” Marceline goes into the living room with a glass of water.
“Wait, what?!” Samira looks at her shocked.
“Simon!” Marceline goes up to him, handing him the glass. “Here’s your water.”
“Thank you,” Simon starts to drink.
“I have something to tell you,” Marceline sits next to him. He looks at her still drinking, “Samira told me, and these are her words; ‘Tell daddy he’s cute’ .” Simon choked on the water, hacking, and coughing; Marceline laughed and Samira stood in the kitchen shocked, with a strawberry halfway into her mouth.
“What?!” Simon got out before coughing again.
“She said-“
“Don’t repeat it!”
Marceline continues laughing, she floats into the kitchen and pushes Samira out and into the living room putting her right in front of Simon, he looks up at her blushing. Samira is still in shock, “I’m gonna tell Bonnie about this! This was too good!” Marceline takes out a phone and leaves the room still laughing. Simon stares at Samira who clears her throat.
“Um, I’m sorry-“
Simon stands up, “No you’re-“ his forehead hits hers on his way up. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry! Are you hurt?!”
“Kind of,” Samira puts her hand on her forehead. “That’s a really strong head ya got there.”
Simon laughs nervously, “I suppose so.” He clears his throat, “As I was saying, you don’t need to apologize; I was just shocked.”
“I totally get that, it was uncalled for and inappropriate.”
“I was shocked because I’ve never been called that.”
“You’ve never been called cute?” Samira asked in disbelief.
“Daddy,” Simon looks down at her, his glasses sliding down. Samira blushes, not knowing what to say next. What could you say to that?
“And…how do you feel about it?” Samira looks up at him staring. Simon opens his mouth, but Marceline returns.
“Yo! Yo!- oh,” she smirks smugly. “Did I interrupt something?” Simon and Samira stepped back from one another looking at her, Samira looks at him.
“Did she, Simon?” She pushes his glasses up on his face.
“I.. don’t believe so,” Simon smiles.
“Ugh! Guys come on!” Marceline groans.
Simon makes his way to the door, “I should get going.”
“Simon!!” Marceline yells.
“Bye Simon”, Samira waves flirtatiously. Simon waves at her and then leaves. When the door closed he exhaled a big breath, he didn’t know what that was or what it meant, but he liked it.
The next day Simon needed someone to talk to, he had to explain to someone what he had experienced the day before. He went to the only person who he could talk to all day, and she’d let him. Sami is sitting at a table in the library flipping through a book, it had just opened so she had a little time before any other patrons came in.
“Hey!” A loud voice slams their hands on the table she’s sitting at. Sami jumps looking up, a smiling Simon is standing across from her. “Good morning.” He sits in the chair across from her.
“Hi? Someone’s happy this morning,” Sami closes her book.
“I wanna talk to you,” Simon said, sounding like an eager child. “I met someone.”
“Oh?” She raised her eyebrow, for some reason she loathed the thought of him meeting someone. Sure they were just friends but the idea of having to split her time with him, really had her chafed.
“So I decided to do what you told me and open up to someone,” Simon continued. Great, was this her fault?
“So you were honest and vulnerable?” Sami asked, trying not to sound jealous.
“No, but I did go over to Marceline’s house, do you know who that is?”
“Yes..”
“So I went over there and she was with this very…I don’t know how to describe her, but she was pretty immaculate.”
“I’m sorry, who are we talking about?” Sami raised an eyebrow again.
“I’m sorry, I should get to it,” Simon cleared his throat. “Her name is Samira, she was scaling or something with Marceline-”
“Doing scales” Sami interjected under her breath
“And let me tell you, her voice is something beyond this world,” Simon continued, not acknowledging what she had said. “She was amazing, her clothes are amazing.”
“Really?” Sami smiled, leaning forward.
“Honestly if I could, I’d listen to her sing all day,” Simon made a face that Sami had never seen before, he was red in the face and wore a smile that looked as though he was daydreaming about more than just her voice. Sami wanted to say right then and there who she was, but she wanted to see more of this side. “I’m sorry,” Simon interrupted her thought, “I’ve been talking about me this whole time, how’s your morning?”
“Well it’s-“
“Oh! One more thing,” he interrupted. “Samira is gonna be performing at the Candy Tavern tomorrow tonight, I want you to come with me; to show you what I mean.”
“I can’t, I have a previous engagement.” she leans back and smirks
“Awe boo, who do you have an engagement with, your books?”
Sami scoffs “Do you think so little of me? And what if I do?” Sami dramatically gasped.
“Fine nerd,” Simon poked her on the nose.
“Okay, fine then.” Sami laughed a little.
“Another time then?” Simon smiled at her.
“I don’t know I’ll have to check with my books,” she joked.
“Ha ha,” Simon rolled his eyes. “But seriously, I’d love to spend time with you outside of here someday.”
“Oh, I have a feeling our paths will cross soon.” She taps her glasses in amusement.
“You mean more crossed than they already are?”
“Yes.” she spoke slowly and dragged out the ‘s’.
“In that case, can you show me where a certain book is? I can describe it to you if you
need me to,” he stands up, smirking at her.
“And what book would that be, Simon?”
“You know what? I think I might know, but just in case,” Simon invites her to loop their arms together. She puts her arm through his, and they stroll to the shelves of books towards the back. Sami continued listening to him talk, she couldn’t get over the fact that he thought she was immaculate and that he wanted to be around her. This was the best she had felt in a long time.
