“Lil' ol' ME?! I'd never break up
a family Christmas party with my inappropriate antics.
Never.”
Jyoti giggles, haven gotten into the
nog a little too early. “Who are you talking to? You must be
special, even among the faeries.”
“That's right, I'm your special fairy
and don't you forget it.”
“Simmer down there, grapey. I'm sure
you're not just special to me.”
“Did you just call me...?”
Being inappropriate, Kevin can be talked down to without becoming
completely offended at times.
“Grapey? Did I say that out loud? Did
you want to be compared to something that's not a food?”
“...for my wing's color? Is that
really all you think of it?”
“I don't really notice them
anymore...”
“You could just ask me if you want to
touch them, or whatever.”
Her face flushes a bit. “You're being
strange today.”
He's distracted by someone else walking into
the kitchen for a moment. “...am I?”
Howard, Jyoti's old friend from
highschool, attempts to induct the new kid into the ritual that is
gift-giving parties. “It is essential to open your present first,
or at least be among the first three sims there, then you'll have a
chance at opening more gifts than the people who slink home early
because they ate too much, or accidentally canceled the open gift
interaction. You'll be able to grab the most!”
Jiraya is not used to so much
enthusiasm from a complete stranger. Also, isn't this person a lot
older than him, why's he talking with such familiarity?
“Most of what?” He asks, before
regretting asking. Howard (who also is an adult, because he has also
had some nog a bit too early thank-you-Dustin, or should I say,
SUS-tin) launches into a full explanation of every horrible gift
giving gift he's ever been gifted. “Three bicycles in a row!” He
complains. “And who gives a flower lamp to a little boy for
Christmas?! I'm just saying, in my house-”
Jiraya tunes him out, but he has no
idea when he started to. At some point, it was all merely white
noise.
Sustin, dressed like the
giving tree, feels like he should be enjoying this day a bit more.
But, it feels sort of hollow with the knowledge of the things Jiraya has been
saying to Meg and him in private. He wants to believe in his son's
testimony, but it feels shameful to admit to himself that he doesn't
know the boy well enough to know if his stories are made up or not.
He just knows that he is racing to get to know him now.
Bro, already? Who would you all
make fun of at parties if Kevin didn't show up so faithfully?
Jiraya is a bit awestruck by Jet.
He's almost too cool to have as an older brother, and people tell
Jiraya that the work Jet's been doing is what may have forced the
Director to move her lab to this town, because of his body of work.
He has mixed feelings about the fact that he was born in a place far
away from here, and never has seen any part of it. But, Jet may be a
reason that he's sitting here right now, above ground, getting to
know his actual family. So what's he supposed to talk to him about?
The family gives him a nice camera,
to make new memories with. Any gift is appreciated, really, but he
has to swallow some of his emotions at the moment before he starts to
tear up.
He manages to muster up a whispered
'thank-you' to his mom and dad.
Jyo got another gag gift. This time
it's from Kevin.
He had given her 'the world'.
Trouble in paradise, you two? Just
let one another through the door, goodness. Noemi doesn't know why
her husband can't simply become a little twinkly light at times like
this and stop getting in the way.
.
You could look at her a bit more
softly though, dude. Look at Jet, right behind you. He's always happy
to hang out with his wifey. Take a page out of the author's book back
there. It's supposed to be a party.
Christian, however is just happy
for the lost child to come back to his family. Her snobbishness is
reserved for people that are outside of her immediate family, or it
must be. She has a mild nature and doesn't offend others at all.
“Where are you looking?” She
laughs to Jet.
“Am I not allowed to look?” He says
in what he remembers was once a suave voice that she liked.
Being a hopeless romantic, he has
tunnel vision for his lady and is not aware at all that he's making
an impression on the youngest of their generation.
Someone else is making an
impression tonight, too.
“If you're not feeling well, do
you want me to sit up with you a bit?”
Jet gives his sister the side eye
but leads Christian out the room. He was just up here to tease her
about her choice of décor, but this doesn't seem like a great time
for that.
“I'm just still a bit jetlagged.”
Jyo explains. “I'm tired from all the travel...”
Kevin knows well when she is lying to
him. He takes a step closer to her. “Is that all it is?”
Everyone else is downstairs, filing
out of the party or getting more drinks.
She steps even closer, irritated that's
he's making fun of her. “Fine, Kevin. I'm tired of being
alone.
Is that what you wanted me to say?”
“Can't you help me do something
about it?” She takes his hand, trying to tease him. “Is
that
what you wanted me to say?”
Kevin shrugs out of her close
embrace but can't seem to stop his fingers from playing about her
neckline. He searches for something smart to say and it comes out as a
nervous laugh.
He pulls back, manages to reign
himself in. “Is now a good time to remind you about Noemi?” He
says uneasily.
“and- I'm not going to timeshare
you with Casimir's dad, you know.”
“Because I'd want you all to
myself. Jyoti Sparrow.”
“Meir.” She corrects automatically,
her stomach doing a flip. He sounds serious. He's always serious, she
realizes belatedly, when she brings up things like this. Even if she
tells herself that it started it as a joke.
“You could be Swift, and I mean
that.” His voice is soft. He's testing her, but he's also... not.
Jyo bites her lip. Kevin being so
serious about her is starting to sober her right up. She shrugs and
tries to change the subject.
“Caz' father- he's not in my life
that way... it's been years, you know. He's always going to be
welcome to visit Casimir... Wait, why is this your business?”
Kevin puts his hand on her waste
for a heartbeat. “I don't mean that- What I mean is, only look at
me, for once.”
She lets him embrace her, knowing
it may just tip him over the edge, that she should feel guilty for
what she could be doing to his marriage. But he was up
here,
now. He was making her feel things again. Things that were
frustrating and exciting and that she had given up on ever having
again. The cadence of his voice was something smooth and comfortable.
“Kevin, I can't... we can't be
doing this, but I don't want to stop it from happening, either...”
Kevin does the rest without even
thinking anymore. He grips her wrists a little harder than he
realizes.
“I'm not asking you to
stop.”
He grins, mischievously. “But I
wonder if you can keep up with me?”
She's competitive, and he's finally
able to take advantage of it.
Jyo gives in. She's not even sure
what kicked this all off, but it's several face-mashing minutes
before they come up for air.
She tries to playfully push him
away so her heart rate can slow the heck down. Are they really doing
this right now?
But he catches her face and
searches it. “You were always looking at everyone else, but me. No
matter what crazy thing I'd do to catch your attention, we were only
ever friends.”
Jyo ducks her head, shyly. “I
thought... I mean, that's what you wanted us to be.”
“That's what I was supposed to
want.” He corrects her. “I always repressed it, to be a good son.
Next time, I'll be good to you, first.”
If it's odd that he'd make these kinds
of promises to Jyo when he has a perfectly good wife who's gone ahead
home without him tonight, she can't think of it anymore. She's tipsy
and excited, and her want for him is written all over her face and in
her refusal to walk away, she knows he can see it. Of the other men
she'd known in her life, Kevin for sure would be the one who would
stay with her. All she had to do was to let this continue, and she
wouldn't be alone, anymore.
Despite best efforts, her eyes
become wet. This is kind of scary, how intense the feelings are.
Before she can move, he's wiping a few tears away. “Hey, it's
alright. I'm not going anywhere.” His voice is so soft, and she
wants him to mean it, to really mean it, even if it upends
everything. He's lightly kissing her tears off of her cheeks and
before she's had any time to think, he's drawing kisses from her lips
again.
“It feels like I've been waiting
a long time for this.” He murmurs in between caresses.
His wings feel cool to the touch
right now, even though they aren't a solid form that can
be
touched.
When he slides his hand under her
skirt and grabs her backside she knows she's crossing the line with
him. “You should probably get changed though, I'm really not sure I
can take this dress off of you
gently.” He whispers it, a wicked gleam in his
eyes.
She bites her lip again. A part of her
knows that this is why she's kept him at arm's length for so long.
That deep down, he was serious about her in a more than friendly way.
That there would be no going back.
Nice.
Isn't it great how I always have to
ruin these moments with my shoddy screenshot-work?
:D
I'm not even sorry.
Kevin smiles as he watches her fall
asleep.
Dustin stops short as he comes up
the stairs. He knows that Kevin stayed.
He can't recall raising his
daughter with so many self-destructive behaviors. Somebody is bound
to be hurt, sooner rather than later. There is no way she is going
to be serious about Kevin, and there are impressionable children that
sleep in a room up here, too. What is she doing right now?
He stands there for a while, trying
to figure out if this is the kind of thing he should say anything
about. He'd rather have Kevin here than Loki, really. But Kevin's not
been married all that long, even if he and his wife had a spat, this
isn't right. He says a quick goodnight to Casimir, who has no idea
about the situation, thankfully.
And Megan, always on the same page
with him, comes over to voice her concerns. “Do you think it's
true, that Malcolm's still out there somewhere? Should we do
something, she's going to break up Kevin's marriage, and if- what if
she breaks her life in a way that we can't solve for her, what are we
going to do, Dustin?”
The fae man in question saunters on
by during their conversation. “If it's true that Malcolm's alive,
and if she really knew it, she'd never be doing something like this.” Meghan
believes that she is whispering.
Dustin is disgusted, but it's mostly
because everything around him seems like it needs a thorough wash.
“Maybe we should tell him where the bathrooms are, again.” He
mutters when Kevin goes downstairs instead of off to take a bath. How
that man didn't run straight home after his wife left here angrily he
does not understand.
Kevin's had all night to hear the
rumors the kid's been spreading about the imaginary lab and the
people trapped underground there. Jiraya was telling anyone who would
listen. He has an overactive imagination. Kevin is not about to let a
phantom husband (or even his very much alive actual wife) stop him
from being with Jyoti. He should have done this years ago.
Dustin listens for a while to
Meghan's myriad of great points on the subject, to why she believes
that Jiraya is telling the truth about Malcolm being alive, about his
grandson being there with him. He's just not up for much more of
this. “Meg... do you ever feel like we're too old to keep up, now?”
She pauses. “What do you mean by
that?”
“I mean, a long time ago I
would've happily joined the police force, quit my job that I loved
and tried to find this woman myself. The Piper, the kids, anyone. To
make it all right. Loki may have helped bring Jiraya here, but he
never said anything about the possibility of Malcolm and our
grandson being alive." He takes a deep breath. "You don't think... that Loki's done something
more than he's telling us, do you?”
Meg taps her chin with one finger,
thoughtfully. “Hmm. I see what you mean. Loki's always got
something more he won't tell us. Are we trusting him too easily? But,
why help us find Jiraya? I think it's better to just be grateful to
him for now.”
“Do you think it's true, that the
woman who did all these things, is Loki's ex-wife?”
"It would have to be, but it just seems like we're missing out on most of the story."
“The truth will come out, Dustin.
I just hope we are around to see justice done right.” She soothes
him.
Jiraya wakes up with a weird
feeling. That man is still in the house.
Gabby just wants food, but Jyoti is
feeling horribly guilty in the morning.
“Don't judge me.” She tells the
elderly dog.
Not judging... just hungry...
...do all supernaturals have to
leer like this? It's just pancakes Kevin, you don't have to be so
happy about it.
...Kevin is clearly still in a euphoric
state. That inappropriate trait really ran over the good one like a
monster truck on a four wheeler made out of cheese.
Okay, pardon, it was dinner rolls
you were making...
Dustin spends the morning cleaning
up, and doesn't say anything to Kevin. He always liked Kevin, but
he realizes that he feels angry with him right now.
Jiraya is, too. But he can't blame
his sister for not believing his stories. He's wondering why the
adults aren't doing anything and just letting this guy do whatever he
likes.
So when Kevin decides to get some
work done from their home...
Jiraya decides it's the perfect
time to corner him.
“You're a moron.” He begins.
“Don't you have your own family to take care of? Why are you acting
like you can live here now? My sister's not going to keep being with
you, you know.”
“...what are you talking about?”
“I'm talking about how she won't
be able to be loyal to someone who'd leave their own family to come
over here instead. She's not giving up anything to have a little fun
with you, right? Why do you think she never asked uncle Loki to
stay?”
Kevin steps back, physically
irritated. “Uncle... who?” Then he realizes it. This young man is
comparing him to that creepy vampire.
“I know my sister's husband, he's
still alive. He's fighting to get back to her right now. Malcolm will
know how to deal with you.”
“You sound crazy kid!” Kevin
blurts out, stomping his foot. Fae don't have that long of a fuse.
“That man's ashes have been in the ground for
fifteen years.
Not that it is any of your business, but your sister, an adult, has
every right to try and be happy and not to cling to the dead, don't
you think?”
“Look at this guy! Has no idea
that her husband's coming back! Do you think she's going to be with
you
really? What a dumb@ss!”
“I don't need to hear that from a
brat like you!”
“Yes you do. Malcolm talked about
you once- he was sure that you were someone good, who loved his friends, he was happy
that my sister had good people around her when he couldn't be. And now here you are, with a wife at home, and you're
cheating on her. How could you do that?”
“You don't know me.” Kevin
says, calming down. This kid has no idea what he is rambling on
about. He's heard about the neuroticism, the terror of electronic devices and technology. Jyoti feels sorry for her younger brother,
and Kevin's not going to let his frustration out on the boy, so he
switches tactics.
“I make flowers grow, kid. And
your sister is a precious flower who's been left behind by everybody
who was meant to protect her, she's been left to wilt. Well I'm here
to help her blossom again, don't worry, I won't let her down. You can
count on me.”
“So my sister Jyo can count on
you, but your wife can't, you don't make any sense.” The boy
replies, disappointed. “I'm disappointed.”
“I am what you see.”
Kevin leaves, his wings fluttering
with irritation in Jiraya's face.
The dog has more personality than
that guy, Jiraya muses. I don't see a whole lot.
At least Jiraya was able to get
that stupid walk out of him.
Jyoti can't help but think that
she'd made a huge mistake. Trusting Kevin and being vulnerable with
him wasn't the worry she had, but he has a wife, and Jyo regrets what
happened. Even if she had been feeling lonely, and lost, it wasn't
his job to set her life back in order for her. How can she tell him
that he should not leave Noemi? That things had gone too far...
She spends the day in
self-reflection.
Jiraya sees her perform amazing feats
and somehow can feel her frustration with her life, the effort she
puts into things that are supposed to make a sim better.
Jiraya just wishes Malcolm and Emir had made it out with him. That
had been the plan.
Also his sister can do some
terrifying things. Once again, welcome to the family, Jiraya.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So Meghan cued up an interaction I've
never seen before which was 'Feel bad for Malcolm', and went to
complain about the affair to Dustin (She was several rooms away!). I
had to write that they had been hearing from Jiraya at that point,
instead of all being in the dark about him being alive. The initial
plan was to have them not know, unless someone met Malcolm or Emir
around town. Well now, at least Dustin and Meghan know some of it.
This means that Jyoti is either
willfully ignorant of the things her brother is saying (as in, not
wanting to face the possibility that by some miracle the people she
has been working over the loss of have actually been alive all this
time) or she simply doesn't believe that what Jiraya is saying is
true. My guess, knowing who she is, is that it's a little bit of
both, but more like she couldn't bear to believe something like that. She and Kevin started being all flirty when I wasn't watching so I don't know who started it, and I let them continue because I think she's had a lot of pent up feelings and worries that
she can't really share with anyone, and she's always been able to be
whatever kind of weird she actually is with Kevin as her longest
friend. I was also frustrated that in game we were waiting on a
Malcolm who never came to visit, never called, she never rolled a
wish to see him. I don't understand the game at times, as they have
been married but living apart all this time. So I sort of gave up on
the whole 'Malcolm comes back into her life' thing.
Kevin, that a-hole, should've gone home
when his wife did, as she was clearly angry at him. So maybe he's
escaping something here too.
I'm so proud of you, Jiraya!
Don't look at us like that.
You're the one whom ruins every single party for some reason! D:
Seriously, this moron. All you had to do was answer in the affirmative when you were a teenager and you'd be the person that Jyoti was running away from all these years. :D
You've might've even won against Loki, but NO~OoooOOoo...
I have now concluded that Kevin leads with his inappropriate trait.
I'm not even sorry is a blatant reference to this lovely blog.
