it's gone too far

It had been a decidedly bad day.

First, he accidentally smashed his alarm clock when it woke him up this morning. Then, Dee got so noisy during class that Simon had to excuse himself and do breathing exercises in the bathroom. And THEN, they ran out of burritos by the time he got back to the cafeteria. Okay, that third thing wasn't that bad, but it was one small annoyance piled on top of an already stressful day, and that magnified the crappiness of it amidst everything else.

So Simon decided to do what he always did when things got frustrating-- he went to the beach.

It was too chilly and breezy for most people to go on casual beach walks, but he'd bundled up in a hoodie and flannel and braved the cold (at least, cold by California-native standards) to relax by the sound of the waves. Simon had been sitting on the pier with his legs dangling over the edge for a few minutes when a second set of footsteps echoed along the knotted planks.

He glanced back to see who was coming, and spotted William a little ways down. Not someone he knew, but then again he didn't know many people around here yet. Simon gave him a little wave and smile.

"Not at all. No worries," Simon shrugged and pulled his legs up underneath him, sitting criss-cross on the edge of the pier.

He hadn't expected to see anyone else around, either, so at least they were on the same page in that regard. After the last warmth of summer passed the beach had gotten almost dead still-- he had watched the crowds abate small bonfire groups, and then those pass into a person here or there, and finally die down with the first brush of winter chill.

And yet, he'd never seem William before. Simon could see the tense lines of his face even from their distance. Wasn't his place to say anything, but he noticed the tight pull of stress in the way William walked, how he held himself.

"It's a public spot, so you have as much right to be here as I do, yeah?"

It took a moment for Simon to answer. He looked thoughtful, as though he had to check in with his nerve endings and decide whether or not he was, in fact, cold.

He shrugged, "Nah, I've got layers. It's not too bad, I run warm anyway."

It was true, he did run warm. Where William was cold to the touch, Simon's body temperature bordered closer to human furnace-- something to do with the demon's effects on his metabolism. He also ate like a ravenous tornado, but he could just attribute that to being a nineteen-year-old boy.

"How about you, dude? You're not chilly out here?"

William seemed pulled-in, somehow, as though he were tugging at his extremities and shrinking them towards his center. That usually just meant someone was cold, but something about the way William wore it seemed too habitual to just be caused by temperature.

"Sure, always down for a little company."

Simon scooted over to the side to make room for William. It was a nice little spot overlooking the long stretch of beach ahead, grey sand mirroring slate waves and a steel sky. He leaned forward to rest his chin on top of crossed forearms perched on the railing.

"Clearing your head, yeah?" Simon shifted to look at his new hangout-buddy, studying the drawn lines of concern etched into his face, "Something heavy on your mind?"

"Mmm."

Simon nodded and looked out over the horizon. Easy to see that William was hiding something, but since it was pretty nosy of himself to ask in the first place he couldn't really be disappointed with the lack of a real answer. Not everyone was so forthcoming about their personal life, and Simon would have to deal with it.

"Yeah dude, it gets pretty chilly. The pacific is a big ocean, and unless you're near the equator that just means a lot of frosty water cooling a small land mass, which means clouds and cold temperatures in the winter."

He let the explanation linger in the silence, and searched the quiet for another question to ask that wasn't too personal, so he wouldn't make his hangout buddy uncomfortable.

"Where d'you work, anyway?"