The game had finally come to an end, he should be happy and he knows that. Yet, it was hard to take something that had replaced your life and suddenly just end it. Sprawled out across the floor, propped up on a multitude of pillows Simon stared up at the custom domed screen that replaced the walls and ceiling of his computer room. The screen was on, but no programs were running, in fact the dull crackling of static was the only sound at all filling the space. Silvery grey-blue eyes stared unseeing at the white fuzz, mind a million miles away wrestling with the thoughts stuck in his head. The fame still hadn't worn off, and Simon has never been so thankful for the obsessive populations need for information. It wasn't that he couldn't stand not having the attention, it was the distraction he desired, he had done the interviews with various stations, answered the same set of questions over and over again until he didn't even need to listen to the inquiry anymore. Once that had begun to subside there was nothing to keep his mind from wondering to the man he had shared months of his life with.
The Nanex program had been completely obliterated but, there was a lingering sensation, like part of him was missing. It was completely insane and he knew it but, when ever he slowed down and had time to think, there was this….numbness. As long as he kept his over active mind busy it was easy to ignore, problem was the end of Slayers and the downward spiraling hype and controversy over Castle games left him with little else to dwell on. His family was still preoccupied with anything and everything aside from him, both parents working long hours and soaking up the status that having a superstar son came with. They were the complete opposite from him, he had just wanted a new game to play, a new achievement to run after. While the attention had been nice, it got old and did little to fight off the thoughts now chasing each other around inside his head.
The fallowing months after Kable received his pardon, Simon had allowed himself to hope that maybe just maybe the man wanted to meet him. The idea passed with time and had become the lingering desire to simply run into him. A trip to the grocery store or the movies slowly morphed into a routine of unintentionally searching for the well-known face, features permanently pulled into a slight scowl, blue eyes flicking from person to person, noting all similar silhouettes. When it became borderline obsession, the teen had opted to stop going out at all, berating himself for being childish. So he sat in this room, the one that had been his connection to the outside world, to Kable and let his mind go blank rather than let the truth bother him.
No one would ever want him simply because he was him. People liked his fame, his money, his Icon. They liked his gamer persona but, no one really cared if they knew a skinny, pale seventeen year old kid who took no shame in living off Daddy's bank account and had no real interest outside of playing online games. The admission startled him from his unconsciousness, silver eyes blinked, once again taking in their surroundings. Rolling over he hoisted himself to his feet, stretching far enough that it was almost painful but, felt too good to stop. Bones popped and muscles pulled, taut from forced stillness. Exiting through the fake wall that led into the hall way, he made his way to the kitchen, mind set on the task of making a sandwich. Like every day one task at a time, no thinking about…Him. Damn it, and he had been doing so well today. Going to the fridge he forced his thoughts back to lunch and started searching for the almond butter he knew he had bought last time he had gone out, his hand was half way to the jar when it hit him. Why the hell shouldn't he get what he wanted? Growing up with his father had taught him that if you act like you deserve something then you get it. Slamming the refrigerator door shut the dark haired teen practically ran back to the room he had previously been occupying. With one quick motion a window popped open and he began to scroll through news dealing with his Icon. How hard could it be to find a man when the entire internet was literally at your finger tips? Not to mention he is his father's son, the world is yours when you have a few connections and a lot of money.
The fallowing Thursday night Simon was wandering around the not quite so nice part of town, fallowing the directions he had memorized to a particular bar that he was not old enough to be going to. That small piece of information was not about to stop him, especially if Kable was actually here tonight. To be honest, Simon never wanted anything else than to meet the man he had been forced to bond with. Like he had so naively commented during the in game session right after he had installed the Mod to talk to Kable, he was his psycho. When that mind set had begun, there was no clear distinction. The bar was not like most of the ones that occupied the city, the brick building was dark, soft music played from a juke box that held actual CD's to choose from. Most of the customers sitting at the bar where older, many well known regulars that didn't have to give their preferred drink to the waitress.
The building its self had not been too hard to find, the will to enter it though was still suspiciously missing and that alone was enough to keep him rooted to the sidewalk. This wasn't normal, not for Simon. Usually when he made up his mind, there was no second guessing, no questioning he would just do it. Self assurance had never been something he lacked. To be truthful, he was afraid that this would not go as planned in his head. Taking a deep breath he crossed the street, relaxing back into his old self. There was only one way to find out. The glass doors hit a bell announcing his entrance and a few heads, grey with age glanced his way to see who had entered. The bar tender shot him an annoyed look, no doubt not wanting to have to explain the obvious, that this was a bar and Simon could not pass for being of age.
"Why don't you just turn around and walk back out?" Silver eyes averted from their search of the room, rising to meet the tall and slightly balding man standing behind the bar.
"Actually I'm just looking for someone, I'll be gone a lot faster if you can offer me some help." He offered a self assured smile, the same kid he gave his father when he was about to ask for something really ridiculous, the kind that always got him what he wanted. Taking the initiation he moved forward across the dimly lit room.
"He's an older guy, late thirties just over six foot, scruffy beard, kind of a loner…brown hair, blue eyes goes by John?" Tilting his head to the side waiting for a response, pink lips parted just slightly, posture relaxed and casual.
"You just described half the people that come in here kid." Excusing himself, the bartender turned to pour a drink for a customer, leaving Simon to ponder his options. When he didn't leave immediately, the bartender sighed. This kind of job made profiling easy and it didn't take a genius to see this kid's type. He was spoiled; probably used to throwing money around to get what he wanted and that was not about to work now.
Wordlessly Simon dug a photo he had printed off line out of his jeans pocket and slid it over the counter. He didn't really want to start going into details about what Kable looked like, though if necessary he could; he knew pretty much every thing there was to know about the man, it had all been listed in his Slayers stats and being the dedicated gamer that he was Simon had committed them to memory the first week of the game. On top of that, he knew each and every scar that had been obtained in each weeks session or at least most of the major ones. How could he not? It was important to pay attention to your Icon's vitals and what injuries made doing what painful or impossible. At least that's what Simon had convinced himself of.
"I think he was here a couple weeks ago… hasn't been back though sorry kid." He handed the photo back and after demanding that the teen leave went back to drying shot glasses. The man was not a good liar; Kable had been there more than that, probably that very night. Not that Simon was a mind reader but, there where subtle hints that where obvious, the mans eyes had flickered to a table near the exit at his description and when he had claimed Kable had not been back he looked right at him the whole time as if daring him to call him out on the lie. Usually when people are thinking, their eyes glance upward possibly to the side, it was simply how the brain worked; psych 101. The best part of this whole excursion was that the man was sure to tell Kable that someone had been looking for him.
"Well if you see him, could you tell him that his player is looking for him?" The man's eyebrows rose at the odd statement. Probably drawing all the wrong conclusions, not that he cared what the man thought of him. Taking a pen that was sitting on the counter Simon scratched his name on the back of the photo he had brought and handed it to the man along with some cash for his time. After a quick thank you he headed back out, now all he needed to do was wait, if Kable wanted to talk to him he would make contact; if he didn't then Simon would go to plan B. Needless to say, the first option was the most appealing, the second was bound to be illegal and most likely would get him into a lot of trouble.
That night, Simon fell asleep on the couch, though he would never admit it he had been staying up just incase. It was childish but, he verified it by watching a movie and chatting with some of his online friends until his eyelids got too heavy to stay open and the squishy leather couch coaxed him to relaxation.
It took longer then he had initially thought it would for Kable to turn up, just about the time it was not always on his mind it happened. It had been almost a month since his visit to the bar, he had actually been out for the first time in weeks to pick up groceries. The moment he had entered his key code to unlock the door he knew something was up, he didn't need the sensor screen for him to notice the other person in the apartment, he could feel it, the extra heat signature just confirmed his uneasiness.
His heart skipped a beat, his slushy forgotten in one hand and the plastic bag with his groceries in the other as he stared into the darkness. It was crazy this feeling, the pulsing of his blood in his head the adrenaline rush of the unknown.
"Kabel?" He asked the darkness, afraid to switch on the light incase it chased him away. There wasn't an answer but Simon could easily sense the movement in the room and the sudden closeness of the figure.
"Are you him?" The voice alone settled it, gravelly and full of authority words slightly distorted by an accent. He took a step closer to Simon, the soft light from outside touching his features just enough to make them out. Dear God it was really him, really standing here.
"On." Simon managed to mutter, making the over head lights flicker on. Both men flinched at the sudden brightness. Instantly Simon's mind went into over drive, trying to identify and commit to memory every detail of the man before him.
"It's really you, fucking hell you came…" He couldn't help but laugh at the situation, Kable would show up at the most unexpected time, it was just like him.
"You're my player, you're Simon?" The older man eyed the chocolate haired teen in front of him. This was not what he had expected. A kid sure, but THIS kid did not fit the image in his head, a mousy haired computer geek, sure, not this.
-end of chapter 1-
So, i read and reread this to try and fix things that didnt make sense... any who I really liked Simon in the movie and wished they had given more background info about him, I know thats not what the movie was about but still... so i hope to add a lot of that. Guess we shall see what happens with it 3