Simon had always wondered why people called him Snow. It was weird to him. His name was Simon. At least he thought it was. That's what they called him before Watford, in the world of the normals. Only certain people were christened as their surname back at 'home' and Simon didn't fit into the type of people that did. He also didn't feel comfortable calling people nicknames, unless they introduced themselves that way, of course.
He heard his name less and less these days, but never tired of hearing it from way Baz accentuated the sibilance in his name with such precision and calmness eased him when he was down and upset. The cool running together on s and s interrupted by sharp vowels and smooth consonants relaxed his body when he cried about magic. The thought of magic raised something inside him that was a mixture of fondness and ache. He remembered losing his magic so vividly as he sat there on the window ledge in a high necked woolly jumper and black jeans. Grey fluffy socks that Baz once bought as a joke were worn on his feet, raised over the cuffs of the jeans to ensure warmth.
He also remembered Baz as he sat there, too. The way that Baz spoke alternating between soft and harsh with a sense of comedy in practically every sentence ever. It's a shame the words he heard were never clear enough. He ought to message Baz, in fact. See how he was doing, he hadn't heard from him in a few days, he felt anxious, it was the same a while ago to, turned out it was a joke, a test even, whatever that meant. Anger rose inside him but was quickly shut down by guilt of thinking such a thought, no no no, Baz was probably busy, he had to be? Right? of course so. He jumped down off the window ledge and swiftly ran up the stairs two-at-a-time.
As he reached his room and pulled out his laptop (for better viewing, of course) he realised he didn't know exactly what he was actually going to say, or if he was going to say anything at all. Regardless, he quickly logged on and opened their chat. He faulted over the keyboard when he saw he had no new messages, but realised he was perhaps being too irrational, he relaxed as the thought of Baz being busy overrided the thought of Baz's disinterest. He decided to send a message first. It was too petty to call him.
NEW MESSAGE
TO: baddark
FROM: holyflake
17:54
Baz? Are you/we okay? We haven't spoke in a couple of days, that's totally okay, but if it's something I've done please let me know
He hit send and went back downstairs to stop himself obsessing over the event of a reply, hot chocolate would do it. Maybe with mint. Definitely with mint.
3 hours later he heard the soft ping of an incoming message.
Simon called Penny over a week prior and now it was time to have their at-least-once-a-month-i-promise meetup that they made the day they left Watford and went their separate ways. They had gone through so much with each other and therefore decided that they couldn't just 'lose touch' so they planned to have a sleepover at least once a month where they talked about life and all that cool stuff as well as going on walks and trips out.
This month it had turned winter and their get together was planned at Simon's apartment, Penny came over around 11am and they spent the day watching films that ranged from comedies to horrors, to soppy you-will-cry films. They curled up under a mountains of blankets inside a homemade fort consisting of settee cushions and pegs, with hot chocolate (mint of course) and listened as the rain hammered against the thin barrier separating them from the outdoors.
As their day grew to a close and they were getting sleepy they turned their last film off and Simon reached over to his phone on the table, quickly checking the time. The bright LED screen read 01:13AM. Not a message from Baz, hm. Yet again, he was being off. Oh well, he was with Penny now; live in the moment the mage had once told him, ew, the mage. Whatever. Penny. Right.
"Penny" he asked, whether he was scared or due to the stillness of the atmosphere he didn't know but his voice was simply a quiet squeak.
"yesss?"
"you know.."
"not really no"
"Baz"
"Oh yeah sure"
There was a couple seconds of silence between Penny's seemingly lively comment and Simons serious reply.
"He hasn't been speaking to me as often as he used to, I don't exactly know what to do"
"Is that it?"
Simon was taken aback, maybe he was making it too big of a deal, it was only an internet friend right? His face must have looked crestfallen because Penny continued.
" I thought you going to get serious there for a moment - I'm joking, Simon, but honestly though I don't think Baz is too much of an issue, maybe he just needs some space or something