It had been a series of difficult days in the facility. For all her efforts, Mitzi couldn't understand the point of the therapy and assisted with. From the safety of the observation decks, she could only watch the reagents die – or if they didn't die, she'd be tending to their wounds and restarting their hearts. Was this God testing her? What would God think about Mitzi hoping they wouldn't wake again? Surely, it was more merciful to keep them in the catatonic ward as organ storage. For all they knew, they were peacefully dreaming. The Collier girl came to Mitzi's mind – She thought that girl always looked so peaceful. Perhaps that's why Easterman was always hovering over her like a shadow.
She was sat like a doll at her desk, gazing into her compact mirror as she carefully touched up the wash of pastel blue on her lids. Mitzi really needed to do something about how often her eyes were reddening and watering. It wasn't ladylike and was making her need more touch-ups than usual. At least the feeling of Simon running her comb through her hair felt soothing, and without realising, Mitzi was leaning into it.
"Ya such a sweetie. Thank ya, Simon." she glanced over her shoulder, smiling up at him. Her pupils were wider than usual; no doubt she'd been heavy handed with her helpers again. At least this was a rare occasion of gentleness, and there was no one to lecture her. Even rarer, Mitzi wasn't fussing at him over how she preferred her hair to be braided and pinned. Truly, she was blissed out.
- @undergroundnightingale
"Oh, do not mention it, Miss Mimi," he cooed, gently grabbing her head to turn it forward once more as he continued to comb through her hair.
Simon always liked whenever she was like this. When her big, sad puppy dog eyes were stress-free and unfocused, and her head was empty for once.
"It's so healthy... I'm almost tempted to steal your shampoo."
Chuckling under his breath, the ginger set the comb down and brushed his fingers through Mitzi's long hair, deftly playing with some individual strands. For a man who was elbow-deep in blood and gore on a daily basis, Simon seemed to very much enjoy himself.
Born to Frederick and Marion Holmes as the heir to a family fortune that was made through trade, real estate and investments into oil and weapons.
The Holmes family had their hands in all sorts of businesses, including politics.
Simon's parents were both physically and emotionally absent, since they both preferred to travel and mingle with other old money families instead of taking care of their son. The boy was raised in the confines of the family mansion by a revolving door of housekeepers and nannies who were changed frequently. Due to this, he developed attachment issues and a distorted view of others and himself. Everyone just seemed... replaceable.
Additionally, he was homeschooled and rarely met with children his own age. Because of this constant abandonment, Simon soon learned not to depend on others, seeing as he’s been let down and left behind constantly. This weariness and distrust of others stuck with him when he grew older.
When Simon was around seven, his parents returned from dinner and Frederick "accidentally" ran over Simon's beloved pet cat. This sparked an intense curiosity and fascination with anatomy within the young boy. Maybe if he understood living things better, he could fix them? Improve them?
The Holmes mansion has always been a rather cold environment, devoid of positive emotion and comfort and in an attempt to distract himself and keep himself busy, Simon turned to the books his parents provided him with and began his studies of basic human anatomy at a rather early age in an attempt to please his parents and get them to praise him. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t happen.
Frederick Holmes raised his son to be orderly, and put his work over anything else. Every personality trait would not be important as long as he manages to acquire enough fame and riches. His father was also the one trying to ‘make a man out of him’.
Meanwhile, Marion Holmes unwillingly taught Simon that being manipulative and charming more often than not did the trick to get what he wanted.
They tried to force him into the shape they wanted him to be and Simon, trying to make them happy, complied with that, putting his own personal growth and inner development aside. His own personality and habits were repressed and he allowed himself to stay hollow, quiet and compliant.
This changed, however, when he went to college to study medicine.
For the first time, he was surrounded by peers and discovered the joys of a free lifestyle and finally found his own personality again.
Away from home, he could indulge in his curiosities and soon, the classes he took weren't enough to satiate his thirst for knowledge.
Quietly, people began to go missing.
Simon chose those who wouldn't be looked for - homeless people, prostitutes and travelers without family.
Soon, he found out that while he was excellent at fixing the human body, breaking and modifying it was a lot more fun.
Things took a sudden turn when Simon's roommate suddenly went missing. (A case that to this day, he refuses to talk about whereas he boasts about every experiment before that event.)
Since his roommate was the son of a local politician, the police and eventually the CIA got involved and Simon, alongside his grisly "extracurricular activities" were found out.
Against expectations, this would be a good opportunity for both the CIA and Simon.
They had a smart kid, with a lack of morals and a family fortune on their hands.
Agreements were made, funding was promised and in the end, Simon found himself as a part of the R&D department at Sinyala.
There, he got tasked with the "maintenance" of the ex-pop, as well as the creation of anything the higher-ups could come up with.
✚ ⊰ Standing at 5’6’’, Simon is a little shorter than men his age, but he doesn’t think much of it anymore, rather using it as an advantage when he plays innocent. Due to his father’s Irish roots, his hair is bright red, almost shining like copper in the right light. He’s rather slim and lithe - physically weak and not really one to exercise much, his arrogant nature justifying this with: "I’m the brain. You do it for me."
✚ ⊰ He takes great care of his appearance, keeps his nails trimmed and his hair neat. The only exception is during his work, when he doesn't care if he's drenched in blood. He'll fix himself afterward, though.
✚ ⊰ His personal fashion sense is pretty expensive. At work, he mostly opts for a lab coat with a vest and dress shirt underneath. All of this is paired with dark pants and shiny dress shoes. Surprisingly enough, Simon doesn’t like to buy new things for his work attire that often, instead taking great care of his clothing items and tools.
PERSONALITY
✚ ⊰ Wrap some superficial charms, lust for blood and narcissism in pretty human flesh and you’ll have Simon! To work in this business, one has to be tough and despite his initially disarming appearance, this self-appointed doctor and surgeon would probably snuff out his lab rat’s life for a corn chip. Or half of it.
✚ ⊰ Despite this, Simon is a loyal friend and ally to the ones he trusts, being downright obsessed with the people in his life, especially his loved ones. Ambitious, sharp-tongued and ruthless, he rarely takes ‘no’ for an answer though in his quest to answer every unasked question in science. His god-complex, rudeness and general nastiness is just the price one has to pay in exchange for his precious company.