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“Hm…three hundred, three twenty…” Simon carefully slid his pointer finger across the map that was issued to him.
“Ah.” With a quick shove of his hand, he moved the SM-13 forward and was jostled a little from the sudden start.
Vrrr…Ker-chunk! That was the camera. Simon wasn’t there.
“What the-?“ As quickly as he moved he stopped, his hand going to his shoulder- right. They took it, didn’t they? Simon sat rigidly for a moment. Maybe it was nothing. So, he kept on going.
Vrrr…Ker-Chunk!
Maybe he wasn’t imagining things. Right as Simon made a sudden stop, he heard a voice speak up from behind him that made him jump out of his skin.
“Uuu…Hey mister, why’s the camera broken?” Simon whipped around quicker than he had ever did in his life and- holy fuck that’s a kid.
“Uh- Don’t…Don’t touch that.” Simon managed to say after a long time of staring, his hand still raised from when he jumped. The little kid seemed to oblige quickly.
“Okay! It was kinda boring anyway.” She stepped closer to him, smiling up at him with sharp teeth, raising her hand to shake his. “What’s your name mister? I’m Aqua!”
Simon just blinked a couple times before shaking her- Well, Aqua’s hand. “Simon.”
“Simon!? Wow, what a cool name! I wanna be Simon too! Hehe!” She began giggling and twirling around- How old is she? “Simon, Simon!” She sang. Simon stared at her, bewildered. She was real, that much he could find out, but she had to be from someplace else. It was as if he was dreaming.
As quickly as Aqua’s spinning started, it stopped. “Uuu…wait. Seth said that I can’t have other people’s names… Oh well!” She laughed to herself. Simon couldn’t help but be a little endeared. “Do you like playing, Simon?” Aqua asked abruptly. Simon sighed and shrugged, kneeling down to fix the bow in her hair.
“Dunno. I, um, didn’t have much time to play. If any.” Simon said, and Aqua put a hand to her mouth as if she were thinking really hard about what he had just said.
“That sounds bad. Can we play right now? I got knives!” She said proudly, holding one of the “knives” in both of her hands, though she was holding the blade and not the handle.
Simon’s eyes widened yet again- “Where the fu- I mean where did you get that?!” He didn’t hesitate when he took it out of her hands, but she took it right back.
“Are we playing lost n’ found? Yay!” So this was a game to her. Simon sighed to himself, a little annoyed and his patience waning a little. At the very least…
“You’re holding it wrong.” Simon snapped, and Aqua cocked her head. Carefully, Simon took the handle of the knife and gingerly took it from her hands, putting it right side up and giving it back to her.
For a few seconds, Aqua was unresponsive. Then a giant smile erupted from her face as she stared in awe.
“You know how to use a knife?! Show me! Show me!” Aqua recklessly swung the knife around and Simon carefully grabbed her arm.
“Uh, please don’t do that.” He stammered, his eyes scanning her quickly for any injury. Luckily for the both of them, he had stopped her quickly. Aqua pouted, her shoulders slumping slightly. “Uuu…okay…” Simon sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“You wanna know how to use this thing?” Simon asked after a long pause. Aqua immediately perked up. “Yeah! Yeah!” She started swinging the knife she had around but abruptly stopped, offering Simon a huge grin as she apologized. “Hehe! Sorry!” Simon couldn’t resist the sigh of amusement that left him.
“S’okay, kid. You got another knife?” Simon asked, and Aqua nodded vigorously before pulling another knife out of seemingly nowhere. Simon wanted to ask, but he had a hunch she didn’t really know where or how she did that either.
“Alright. Uhh…” Simon had to catalog through all of the lessons he had been taught in his mind before finally thinking of what the safest thing he could teach Aqua that wouldn’t get him in too much trouble. Of course though, teaching a kid how to use a knife felt viscerally wrong to him, but he didn’t want to just leave her with nothing. “First, your posture.”
He slowly changed his stance, though it really was second nature to him. Simon watched as Aqua tried mimicking him, though she still had some trouble. Simon stood up straight, before kneeling next to Aqua. “Hold still a sec…” Simon helped her keep her back straight instead of the slight slouch she had before. “There you go.” Simon stood back up with a grunt, getting into the same position. “Alright, now move after me, okay?”
The two settled into the rhythm of copycat, Aqua learning with a huge grin on her face the entire time. Simon seemed to forget where he was for a moment, letting himself smile fully for a moment. Though, the peace only lasted for so long.
“[OXYGEN.]”
The sudden interruption made the two freeze in place.
“Uuu…what does that mean?” Aqua spoke up first, turning her head to the side like a puppy. Simon can’t tell her. She’s just a kid.
“S’nothin.” Simon said, sitting down crisscross applesauce on the floor, sighing. What else was he supposed to say?
“Uuu…You look like you have a lot on your mind, mister Simon.” Aqua says, sitting in front of him with that smile of hers, though she seemed more confused than anything else. Simon let out another sigh, smiling slightly.
“Yeah…you could say that.”
The SM-13 was quiet for a moment, before Aqua spoke up again.
“Didja ever have a dream before?” Simon stills at the question.
“What do you mean?”
“Umm…Did you have anything you really, really wanted to do? Something special?” Aqua asked, fidgeting with her sleeve. “I think that's what having a dream is.”
Simon sat and thought a long time about it. Did he? “I guess…” Aqua perks up as Simon continues.
“I guess I’d just want to go home.” He couldn’t help the soft, bittersweet chuckle that left him.
“I think that’s a good dream!” Aqua says, and Simon sighs.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah!” She seemed proud of herself, standing up and waving her arms. Simon chuckled again, shaking his head. Aqua then reached to the top of her head, handing Simon her ribbon.
“Uh, what’s this for?” Simon took the ribbon tentatively, his hands shaking as his fingers brushed up against the red fabric.
“It’s to remember me! It's important.” Aqua said with a nod. Simon had to stop himself from getting too emotional, opening his arms slightly. Aqua paused for a second as if trying to figure out what he was doing, before moving to hug him briefly.
“Thank you…It’s, uh, really nice. That’s…really nice of you. T’give this to me.” Simon spoke earnestly, and Aqua smiled up at him again with those fangs of hers.
“Anytime mister Simon! I’ll be sure to watch your dreams too! I gotta go now!"
As soon as he blinked, she was gone. Yet, the ribbon stayed in his hand, a token of friendship that Simon was sure to keep close.
"Thanks for the company, Aqua."