2.32 Broken Allegiances

“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 Shift, 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?”

“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.