Letters from the Empty

Nice to Meet You

[Cover is mine. I didn't know what to use so I just doodled Baz and took a picture.]

It was a Wednesday when Penny's father had his gall bladder removed. It wasn't necessarily an important organ, but removing it did require a surgeon and there weren't many Magical surgeons in the country. It also required the patient to be unconscious during surgery (obviously) and naturally, Penny wanted to be there for her dad when he woke up.

So Simon waited in the waiting room for them, certain that if he went in, he'd evoke the anger of Penny's mother somehow.

The upside to this was that way Simon wouldn't chance seeing anyone who was seriously ill or hurt (those kinds of things always made him anxious). The downside was that instead of seeing the people who were seriously ill, he saw their families, who weren't much better off.

One young woman who had to still be in school sat directly across from him and Simon struggled to keep from staring. She had a tall look to her, though she was shorter than Simon. She sat with her back straight and her legs crossed under her skirt. Her makeup was done regally, making her look older. Or it should have had the mascara been dripping down her cheeks.

It was difficult not to stare, and Simon found his eyes always falling back to her, then quickly looking away.

"I can cry if I want," she snapped and Simon jerked his eyes away again. "My brother is in a coma," she added icily.

"I-I'm sorry," Simon said, looking at his shoes.

He hoped that that would be the last they spoke to each other, but the girl kept staring at him. She wiped one of her eyes. "You're Simon Snow."

Simon blinked, but it wasn't unusual for people to recognize him. "And you're a mage," he said.

"Obviously," she replied, then, "are you really as powerful as they say you are?"

"I--um..." Simon considered his answer, then answered truthfully, "sometimes, when I can control it."

"I heard you were powerful enough to defeat the Humdrum."

Simon winced visibly. He didn't like thinking about that day. It had taken him months of therapy just to consider everything that had happened. The humdrum... The Mage... Thank Crowley Baz hadn't been there. He didn't think he could have taken any more stress.

It still ate at him sometimes, the fact that Baz was still around. Their fight, their destiny, whatever those eight years hating each other had been leading up to had never happened, and Simon couldn't help feeling like maybe it wasn't over, like someday Simon would be walking down a dark alley and Baz would be waiting at the end of it.

But he wasn't supposed to think like that.

Simon shrugged.

"I'm sorry," the girl said this time, noticing his discomfort.

He smiled forcefully. "No problem."

"Can I ask you a question?"

He shrugged again.

"It's just that," she cocked her head. "Everybody seems to have a different opinion of you. Some people absolutely hate you. Others think you're a hero... And others, well I don't really know. Maybe some people are just as confused as me."

Simon shrugged and her face went dull.

"Very helpful."

"Well, how should I know," Simon growled. "I don't go around asking people what they think of me and why. I'd be the last person to know."

"Don't get angry."

"I'm not!" Simon fumed.

The girl stared at him, eyebrows slightly furrowed in concentration.

Simon clenched his teeth together and felt a wave of relief as his phone buzzed. He leapt up, preparing to stalk away, but as he pulled out his phone and read the text he froze.

Penny: Taking longer than we thought for him to wake up. Might still be awhile.

Simon hissed slowly through his teeth.

"My apologies. I didn't mean to make you mad," the girl said. The way she said it sounded sincere even with the flourish to her words. He was starting to feel like he recognized her. She must have been a first year when he was an eighth year or something. Or maybe he'd just seen her when some of the families had come during one of the Leavers Balls. It could've been anywhere really.

Simon huffed and sat back down, twisting in his seat to look away from her.

"I just wanted to understand... I was just a little kid when everything with the Humdrum was going on."

"Why does it matter now? It's over, isn't it?"

She paused and when Simon looked over he saw that her eyes looked wet again.

"For some of us," she said.

Simon felt an ominous chill run up his spine.

"What do you..."

Bzzzzt, came Simon's phone. He reached into his pocket instinctively. He hadn't had a phone the first eighteen years of his life but now it seemed he couldn't live without it.

It was Penny again.

Would you mind bringing some lunch up to us? I'm sure my mom would appreciate the effort

Simon frowned. He was pretty sure buying lunch wouldn't get end Mrs. Bunce's hatred of him, but he supposed it was worth a shot.

He stood up and almost turned to go when he remembered he girl again. He turned back around.

"Um, my friend..."

"All right," she said smoothly, in a voice that was too mature for her age, too elegant. "It was nice meeting you, Simon Snow."

"Y-you too... Um..."

"Mordelia," she said. Her eyebrows raised slightly as if she expected him to recognize it.

"Mordelia," he repeated. Obviously it didn't ring a bell. "Nice to meet you."