1.27 It really is magical

Another day, another dose of radiation.

Another show to a packed house.

Some things can still be unnerving once you know what to look for. She probably looks familiar because she's one of the elementary teachers at Jyo & Jet's school. He wonders if she's special in the same way he's seen before, or another way altogether. The glowy eyes are hard to miss. Dustin does his best to brush off the queasy feeling he gets about seeing her though.

Not that he's worried about a confrontation, so much as he needs a break of time in between brushes with death, or whatever. That and he's finally making more money with his act. He has a LOT of unfinished business in that regard.

But the woman doesn't linger, and Dustin is overcome with a sense of relief that she wasn't at his show for any serious reason.

And the snowy winter sky and cold air on his face is so welcome after the stuffy interior of the bar that he runs outside to practice a little a bit more.

The little matchgirl, this story ain't. But the boy's version of that story would totally be about a magician with flashstrips.

And he stops on the way home to visit more people that he cares about. The boys are out for the evening, something about a late return from a camping trip, and so only Eugene and Lize are home.

“I reported on your act the other day,” Eugene smirks proudly. “You're way better at bullshitting people than I thought you were. Great job.”

“Thank you?” Dustin is clearly confused by the statement.

“No seriously, honest people like you don't make good magicians, but since you managed to be so artsy with it all, nobody feels like they can see through you.”

The younger man mulls this over. “Seems ironic.”

“My favorite part. Anyways, it's chilly, so get in here already.”

Male bonding.

“Ziggy Zaggy Ziggy Zaggy Oy Oy Oy!” Because sports.

Say 'Ermuhgerdddddd'

Yesssssssssss.....!

(the writer gets the fiendishly delighted moodlet)

The cousins adopted a ginger cat too.

Meet Miura Sparrow. She is going to be all kinds of awesome.

There's kind of a b*tchin social set up upstairs. Which is odd as not many parties happen here, but Eugene likes to always have a set up for people who come by, as a jock it's his duty to always be ready just ion case.

“I thought you'd be hiding more books around here.” Dustin comments to his cousin's wife.

Lize shrugs. “I volunteer at the library on weekends.”

After a few rounds of pool in which nobody can remember how to play, the game breaks up.

Dustin pulls something out of thin air and set it up on their landing. It has thick walls and he raps his knuckles to illustrate how sound it is. Nobody asks how he was able to set it all up so quickly, but it'll bother them later in the middle of the night when they're trying to stay asleep. “Let me show you the newest part of my act. It'll be an exclusive.”

Pool was boring anyways. Eugene had to get up to go the bathroom again, and Lize realized that she did want to read a book after Dustin brought it up.

“Okay well I hope I'll still be here when you get back!” He yells to his cousin who's from behind the thick layers of glass. He can't restart the trick for them to see it from the beginning.

“Jya say something dear?” Lize calls out of the side of her mouth in between scanning pages and reading comic sound effects.

“No...”

“...”

He thinks she responded, but his vision's a bit blurry under all this water. It looks like her lips moved for a second there.

Eugene meant to come right back, but he sort of forgets how to get out of the bathroom, or what he was doing before he went in there in the first place. It's anybody's guess if he even remembers that he has company right now.

(SNAP) The book shuts crisply.

“What was it you were saying dear?” Lize calls again.

And by the time she gets back up she stops, startled. Water is running across the floor from somewhere. Until she finally turns. “Dustin! It's great to see you! When did you get here?”

Dustin just smiles and waves, cool water pouring in a deluge out of his wide-banded cuffs. He's too polite to point out the obvious. They haven't always been this forgetful. “Hey Lize, figured I'd stop by on the way home, great to see you too! Do you know where Eugene went?”

She shakes her head. “Oh I don't know if he's home yet or not.” She says uncertainly.

He waits until her back is to him again to be seriously worried about her. It's not like they live on their own, but still it's unnerving.

Lize with the sahara eye defaults. She's such a cute elder!

Eugene shows up again about fifteen minutes later. “Who let you in here?” He asks conspiratorially. Dustin's pretty sure he's being trolled right now.

“I climbed in a window.” He replies back coolly.

But the old man must be feeling a bit sentimental, because something honest comes out of his mouth next. “By the way I saw your show, congratulations on becoming a national sensation. People LOVE you out here. I wasn't sure you'd be able to make it, it's a difficult business being in the entertainment industry, but I'm proud of ya, kid. You're doing very well.”

Dustin chokes up a bit and doesn't respond. He just smiles.

Eugene smiles back.

And then listens politely as Dustin launches into a diatribe about how much better the act is going to be. He's taking things in a much more serious direction, but every show will still have a huge serving of humor in it. He's adding depth and removing the cheaper gags.

The new plans get the old man's approval.

Everet's here after all. Turns out he got home a bit ago, but his parents didn't remember. “They're not usually both like this,” He confesses by way of asking for advice. “Usually it's my mom forgetting things. Then my dad worries about her and throws himself into his work and winds up all sleep deprived and he becomes just as bad. He uses up all his energy filming his segments at work, and then comes home like this, with nothing left. Can you help me convince him to take a vacation or something?”

Dustin tries to break it to him gently. Everet's dad was never going to change. “I think having too much time off would stress him out, actually. Maybe if you could occasionally take over dinner or go out with them on the weekends and you all can connect more as a family it'll help him calm down. If he's worried about your mom, he's probably trying to make enough money so you don't have to worry if they both end up needing nurses or care later in life. They probably don't want to pass a burden on to you.”

“So what do you think I should do?” Everet asks earnestly. “I want dad to stop working, but part of our move out here was paid for by his network and they own the house, dad even gets lawncare paid for by work. I think it's too much. I mean, I love living here and all, but they shouldn't have to keep working like this...”

“Everet, your dad loves to work, so don't worry about that part too much, it helps him when he's feeling stressed. Also you should probably, you know, go get a job.”

Everet frowns. “It would have to be a really good one. I don't think minimum wage at the movie theater is going to cut it for this place.”

“Then make it a good one. I'll let you know if I see any ads out there.”

“Okay, and until then maybe I can start at the theater. But, no free tickets at my booth! I can't be losing money you know.”

Dustin laughs a bit. “Thanks for the warning.”

They talk a bit more, and Dustin starts to recognize a familiar feeling, one that he had for his cousin growing up. It seems like Evert admires him. He feels proud, and old and realizes that his act, and even his entire life has to be lived well, for Everet's and Jyoti and Jet's generation. He has to be a good example for them.

Meanwhile, Eugene with the eye defaults....

And Meghan...

This old man always looks so sly. He probably knows half the town's dirty secrets to be fair. He has every right to look this way.

It's like even the pool's got a secret and only he knows about it.

They play another game before Dustin heads home and we get to see this sassy pose.

Eugene: “Don't sass me boy.”

Dustin (unconcerned): “Phoo~o”

This time Eugene leave to go to bed in the middle of the game. Thanks, Eugene. It was great seeing you.

Dustin heads out too and Lize is left to finish the game up by herself, which she is determined to do.

More eyes....

Jyoti

Jet

I thought Dustin went home but apparently the snow-covered lawn chairs looked amazing, and it was already late, so he decided to hang out.

He missed the delivery of this device yesterday.

Meghan has been working tirelessly in her lab for nearly fifteen years already, sending samples and reports and collaborating with the efforts of local, and eventually national scientists.

After one of her articles paralleling genetically modified fish with their smaller, found-in-the-wild brothers which compiled years of data and cutting edge testing and analysis she was rewarded by the college sponsoring many of her studies with this machine, which requires it's own block of transformers to be dedicated to it at the nearby power station. The city permits required to run it are extensive, but Meghan wastes no time in applying for the right to use it. The local science center begins to teach classes about 'Freelance Science' and she is used as a successful example of that.

What most of the community doesn't know is how little money Meghan has actually made doing the research she loves. It's a thankless job where research is paid for on the basis of a desired outcome (such as, “try this weird new skin cream that is supposed to make you feel younger”) and not on the basis that an item requires further research or something should be explored further (“does this skin cream make people feel different at all?”). She gets emotional at the sight of a reward like this, most days she just feels like a fan of the scientific community no matter how careful she is. There will always be people with a string of acronyms after their name that look down on her and her way of studying. But that has never mattered so little.

She also was given some reward money for the national acclaim her work brought to her sponsoring university and the Starlight Shores hospital. Of course this means a bit of an expansion to the lab, and also an area for the kids to learn chemistry.

She sleeps soundly that night.

Snowcat.

A brave snowcat. Don't fall, Miura!

She tromps effortlessly over the bridge of deep, bone-chilling water.

And leads the humans back into the house. What is she, their denmother?

Dustin and Leon let her go in first.

Leon doesn't have to like it, but apparently she's in charge around here.

Snow day back at home, so of course more tag is played.

Dustin gets home after his visit and jumps right on the chores, cleaning up the lab...

And flipping some omelets.

Once he's satisfied that the kids are eating and not running around trying to catch colds instead of each other, he instructs them to do their homework next. Jet whines at this, but Jyo shrugs, knowing she has to get over doing it before tomorrow anyways.

I guess gnomes can die? This game is so weird. And we have more of them. How many of these things are you conjuring when I'm not playing you, Dustin!? (Answer: something like six)

Jet lets his dad know ho much he hates his homework by interrupting his dad's nap and asking questions. Eventually Dustin tries to pass the questions onto Meghan, who claims she has a stomachache from eating those eggs, and Jyoti yells from the other room that her brother should “shut up and just do your stupid homework already”, at which point she gets yelled at for being impolite.

So, snow days are all about family bonding.

The kids forget they just yelled at each other, once homework is over and they can go back outside to play some more.

Which works out nicely for their parents, who really don't get to spend a lot of time together.

So Dustin pulls everyone into the (family) limo for a trip to the park.

Lorenzo is down for a daytrip.

First up, more photos for me to lose later! But we'll get to see them on the wall a bit.

Then everyone decides it'll be nice to get out for a bit. Looks like Dustin's peptalk to Everet had some impact after all.

And everyone splits up to go do the most fun looking thing.

Once Element's new “Magic is in the fAIR!” Ad campaign starts running (it'll be so lit!) Everyone will be out here, so the family gets exclusive access before the event is open to the general public.

And they take full advantage and try out everything.

Jet and Jyo decide to team up against their mom in snowball fighting.

But Meghan's no pushover and her daughter takes a ball of slush to solar plexus.

Which of course does nothing to curb Jet's enthusiasm.

'Old Man Weather' Eugene takes some B roll for his morning show here too.

And there's nothing like a game of softball to take the edge off of losing against mom. Gotta stretch out the tummy after a hit like that!

They go easy on each other for a bit.

Jet gets to skate and has the rink all to himself.

And Jyo is onto the next activity

Jet discovers the joys of buttwarming...

Dustin works on some B roll of his own, but Eugene's cameraman stops to stare for a while before filming. “How long do you think he can stay up there?” Eugene asks with a grin.

Dustin smirks right back and can't resist a little showboating. “I can do this all day, gentlemen.”

“But I don't work for free.”

He lands pointedly near the tipjar.

Jyoti's trying to figure out which creepy person made this snowman when she wasn't looking (hint: it was your brother).

“I mayyyyybe be able to tip you if I see that exact trick again.” The cameraman bargains.

They go back and forth, and a few bills make it into the jar.

Cameraman is pleased.

And the girls sit down for a snack instead of heading home starving. Meghan's hoping the kids make it long enough for some stargazing, so she cleverly begins to full them up with sugar.

And everyone joins in. Who would have thought to roast marshmallows over a firepit during winter?

But anyone who sits in front of the fire and feels the heat is going to have a hard time getting back up again for a while.

Dustin and Meghan walks back over together, hand in hand.

There aren't enough words to describe the feeling they have.

It really is magical, the fact that everyone is sitting down together, warming themselves, sharing stories of what's happening in their lives.

Everet has a business idea that might let him work with friends buying and selling on Fleabay. Jet is going to run a museum when he grows up because nobody knows how to choose great art (he got this idea into his head after a recent school trip to the gallery).

Smiling, laughing, rosy cheeks and energy expended, the group eventually falls into a companionable silence.

And Dustin and 'Drea' decide they need get in on this action.

And everyone has a lot of fun.

Meghan gets a few more samples for her collection too of course.

~~~~~~~~~

Jet has the rebellious trait, if you've not guessed it already. But I still don't think that trait gives the reaper snowman? I added the firepits to the winter festival lot and was really happy with that result. They all just seemed to be enjoying themselves there, so finally a feel good update!!

Everet is a good bargainer (I forget the name of the trait offhand). When I moved Eugene and Lize's family into town I used the freerealestate cheat so they could have a nice house. That's why I'm playing it now like the house doesn't belong to them. I figure, if Eugene was recruited by a network in a hot market like this, there would be ample compensation for the move. :P

Let's all just ignore the fact that I am about 10,000 pictures behind on this blog (that's anywhere from 20-30 posts, I save a new folder every 1,000 pictures and make about three posts out of each, a lot happens and I don't expect I'll be skipping over any of it) . I want to write so badly but it takes so long!! (sorry I'm whining I'm actually very grateful I was able to update again so quickly this time. :3 Anyways I love you all and thanks for reading!

1.26 The Eater of Itself

It was such a strange feeling, like being a puppet on a string. Once the strings were cut, and the weight of the ground gripped his feet again, Dustin began to feel that adolescent pull of adventure. See the world, experience life through the lives of other sims, those who had built cities, shaped nations, and upheld custom and the spirit of the future.

As much as Starlight Shores catered to and even demanded that it's population worked hard until they 'made it', and after making it, that they kick back and do no further work again and coast on fame, he actually found that what this place gained in intensity it was lacking in authenticity.

For the briefest flash of seconds he had experienced something else, that bittersweet longing to live without the kite strings and fly free, and he had nearly chosen to drift away. Was there something in the sim spirit that would always embrace the cold and clammy swaddling of death?

In any case, there was no doubt about the next conclusion. He could never go back. These new tricks were going to be in every act from now on, so he'd better get them done right.

Hugs.

“Goodnight sweetie. Sorry Dad's late, I'll ask him to give you double hugs tomorrow when you get home from school.”

“'Kay.” Jet agrees. He didn't mind being the man of the house for a little while.

Still on a high from his most successful performance ever (and not about to admit to himself what he almost let happen to his family) Dustin stops at a nearby club to ace a quick audition. It stings a bit that dying on stage only earned him 3,700 simoleans, so the next goal for his career is to make the money worth risking his life, and then invest it. It has renewed his resolve to be the best.

Meghan takes an active role in child rearing for the evening and spends time with Jet. He loves all things bookish so she tries her best to get through one of these ridiculously simple books with him.

Jyoti had friends over for a sleepover that night, and last Meghan knew they were all off telling ghost stories somewhere. She probably should wrangle the kids and make sure they're all in the same place, or whatever parents do with other people's children, but it's kind of a passing thought.

That, and she spent an hour or two as Malcolm or Drea, and can't really remember the in-betweens of it.

But Jet gets his story, so it's all good. This one is about the sad cupcake who wanted to bake himself a family because he felt alone, or something. No wait, this was the cupcake book about societal pressures and acceptance, something about the flavor of the sprinkles. “And that's when Crimson the Cupcake discovered that it was better to be the only red velvet in a sea of vanilla than try to be a vanilla when he is not.”

And she closes the book. Meghan has no idea if this sort of story is good for children (or her children or whatever) she can't tell the preachy life-moral children's books from the ones that are actually only about talking food who accomplish nothing, she just knows that when she was a girl she often wanted somebody to read to her. So now she's reading to her kids.

Flash back to Jyoti, who is old enough to know this isn't a good idea, but wanted to look macho in front of her friends...

...What was Meghan supposed to be doing?

Eventually it's late enough that Dustin's driver is confused he wants to go home next. “Only two establishments?” The man protests in a heavy Lucky Palms accent.

“It's not a pub crawl, Lo'.” He tells the man. “I figured it was already this late and I was wired so I'd take advantage of it and book some larger shows while I was on top of my game.”

Lorenzo doesn't protest any further or mention Mr. Sparrow's criteria for being 'on top of his game'. He just does his job and accepts that he'll have more free time that he thought he would soon.

After being dropped off, and the limo has crawled across the horizon and back out of sight, Dustin still stands outside long enough for his nose to start freezing over.

He's ready to sleep right now, but is he ready to tell anyone about his day? It's not like him to hesitate, but he's having trouble coming to terms with how badly he'd messed up. It's one thing for him to risk his life, and another entirely for him to risk his family's well being.

(Un?)fortunately his wife is still awake and waiting up for him, so all hope of slipping into bed without having to explain himself is lost.

She can tell immediately that something's wrong, usually he comes home smiling like a goofball after a show, money happily in hand. Today, there's money in his hand, but he looks anxious and isn't making eye contact.

He merely stands there for much longer than necessary if he was trying to be dramatic, and pinches the bridge of his nose tightly in his fingers.

“Are you messing with me right now?” She finally asks after he couldn't answer the simple question 'How was your show?'

He stands straight for a moment and faces her, thinking about all that he's expected this job might be. The fame, the happiness, the hard work paying off, getting to make an entire room full of people laugh and enjoy themselves. He'd never imagined it would go this far, that his passion for it would blind him to what was important, keep him from the things that he needed to be doing. From being an active father, a better husband. He resists the urge to wring his hands together in frustration and settles instead on the more conventional option of grinding his teeth. He thought he'd know what to say to her about this. How can he ever explain himself?

Finally his wife inclines her head to get a better look at him from under her curtain of hair. “Dustin, what's wrong?”

And gets a response she was not expecting. He launches his lips at her and she freezes, not expecting the passion or the element of surprise.

It takes a long time for him to release her, it's as if he's pouring every feeling he has into the kiss because words were going to fail him.

When they finally break gently apart and take a few deep breaths, eyes clouded over with affection, he whispers it at her guiltily, in shame. 

“I died tonight.”

And- predictably she has nothing to say to this, so he's forced to give her more information about it. “The flower- it worked. I died on stage tonight. And the thing I saw...” 

She knew the way he shuddered then was real and not an act. “What? What do you mean, you died?”

He just shakes his head for a second, unable to speak. He stops meeting her gaze again and moves to sit quietly at the edge of the bed. He lets out a rough, deep breath and it's as if all of his nervous energy escapes him at once.

After several moments she sits down next to him, and rests her head on his shoulder. “Tell me everything.” She demands quietly.

So he tries.

And she listens. And in the end, she still can't tell him to stop being a magician, to soften his act. Nothing makes him as happy as this does. But, she asks for a few little things, that he research others who have performed similar tricks and increases his practice time exponentially, and that he waits to try it again until she can research the damn flower. It may very well be damned, and a foolish errand to find another one but she will have to try. And there is a new apothecary that opened up across town, maybe she'll try there?

It comes out too, that Moira visited again. She's not happy to hear that after their last discussion. But, what can she say? She's just happy he was able, against all odds and his own 'training', to come back home to her.

He decides to start a scrapbook of his 'life after death', so he can count the many things he's thankful for. This is the first picture in it.

They also decide to plan an awesome vacation, as soon as they can afford it. That still looks to be pretty far away, so at first the effort will be to spend more time together as a family.

To show his commitment to her and the kids in this, he immediately ignores a frantic phone call from his agent.

This baboon-looking creature shows up on their doorstep that night, hopefully it's not a hound from Hell or something.

This gnome keeps Malcom company during the sleepover.

And Jyoti's ruse for attention nearly pays off when Meghan stomps by the sleeping party on her way to the lab and yells that the kids shouldn't all be so 'underfoot'. It's like she doesn't care that they were all going to freeze to death or something.

Jyo was warm though, she was also in her Dino suit.

Meghan wastes no time comparing samples of plants that have unexplained restorative properties, is there a common location or a starting point to this search?

Jet heads off to school the next morning forgetting to eat breakfast and without much fanfair. He seems a bit grumpy about the lack of attention too, although he did get stories read to him last night, which is something.

Jyo rebels by talking to some kid from class instead of getting on the bus. Maybe she'll jog to school or something. Plus, she overheard her parents talking about a romantic trip just for them. It wasn't fair. She wants to have adventures, too!

Even though there are some protests, the kids indeed get a sitter for a week and Dustin and Meghan fly halfway across the loading screen and into another world entirely. Al Simhara is every bit as hot as they wished they could be in the short but horribly cold Starlight Shores winter.

Meghan wonders if the science center here got her email about her official request to the study their collection during this visit? But she tries to focus on her husband for a few seconds first. She's so easily distracted!

But a few moments later she sees something she's never encountered before and literally dives into the bushes to catch it.

Dustin shrugs and says he's going to go meet a bunch of locals.

The real question is, can he take his show on the road one day? If the tips are better here than at home, maybe a tour will be in order?

He quickly discovers that unless he starts kissing snakes, the locals won't care very much for his 'performance art'. He buys a snake charming basket and vows to practice every day (he will use it one time for the rest of his life).

Meanwhile, Meghan discovers that there are several unique species not in her collection, and decides to also get some work done on this trip.

All ideas of being romantic are forgotten for the day in excitement of the possibility of exploration and discovery.

Dustin can't find her anywhere after she jogs off.

He decides to buy a bunch of things he doesn't need from the shops, then ends up performing again. He just has to know what's popular out here!

But most of the locals are just confused. There's no sundial on that device, how can it tell time?

(hilarious joke is mildly amusing)

Eventually some minister of tourism discovers that The Element the Suspicious is visiting and forces him to travel around the dunes in style.

Which feels a bit less like a vacation, and more like a made-for TV Hallmark romance film, complete with the family drama where the husband and wife just wanted to simply reconnect on vacation and both of them end up working because they have no idea how to be alone together anymore.

This view would have been awesome to share with Meghan, who brought her sleeping bag and so could be anywhere. Do jackals hunt humans who camp under the stars at night? Because that totally seems like something she would be doing right now.

Eventually he leaves his driver behind too. There's got to be a limitation to useless celebrity, and the cool night air feels amazing on his face.

But he can't stay away for long, and determined to earn some money on this trip, he is happy to discover that the tourists pay about three times what the locals do in tips. He racks up a few hundred simoleans and starts to feel better about everything. Meghan didn't come back last night, but he trusts her. She hasn't had an episode that he knows of in a very long time, so she was probably off an adventure somewhere, and would come back to the tent tonight with a pile of samples clinking together in her knapsack.

Which isn't too far from the truth. She'd spent so much time at home in her lab since Dustin's near-death experience that she was starting to wake up standing at her machine. It was a thrilling thing to experience the full bearing of the high noon sun with no heavy equipment to slave herself to for once. Not that she regretted working so hard, but she didn't realize how much she needed some time to do nothing like this. She loves technology and her studies and her amazing lab she and her husband had financed, but this is the first time in a long time she's felt any kind of peaceful balance.

It was like the green grass and the gentle breeze and the sound of the sparkling brook were bypassing her conscious thought and speaking to her very soul. Refreshing was not a strong enough word. This was heavenly.

Dustin was having his own kind of spiritual experience.

According to the tourism bureau, he wouldn't be able to keep any of this, it was more of a publicity stunt where he agreed they'd pay some of his and Meghan's expenses while they were here in exchange for making a few 'discoveries' of ancient artifacts and cataloging them at the local museum after posing for pictures. They were hoping that an ad campaign would keep people from coming here just to rob tombs, and instead attract people who cared about preserving their culture.

The ads ran with some kind of catchy slogan that Dustin couldn't actually read. But the gist of it all was;

“Don't let our history

...disappear!”

Or something. But it was nice to have some compensation that he didn't have to stick his head in a basket full of bees or whatever to earn for once.

Either way the two of them do spend time together in the evenings after that, watching the sky full of stars swing over their heads like an upset pendulum, or doing what they liked in a new place, refreshing themselves and renewing their resolve to do things that make them happy too, not just for the sake of the family or each other, but also for themselves.

Dustin is glad he is alive to see this, to feel this. His magic communicates with people beyond the language barrier. Some girl from France raves about how he needs to go there someday, he'll make a lot she says.

Meghan enjoys the vastness of the space around her. Weird how she's spend so much of her life cooped up in small 'safe' places, and never let herself truly roam, unless it was for science. This is different, she roams because she wants, no, needs to and science can happen if she finds an opportunity to fit it in. It's a very liberating concept.

But the way home is a bit silent after that. They went somewhere to rediscover their romance (which hadn't been horrible honestly) and instead they each got to reconnect with themselves. Starlight Shores winter has only just begun, and the kids can't stay kids forever. It's a grueling reminder that time will eat away at anything one gives it, and they are going to give more carefully from now on.

Meghan did find something that the tourism department didn't need to know about however, and wastes no time in duplicating it. Moira was at her house when she wasn't aware of it, the flower worked, which means that something in that crazy woman's story was true. Even more troubling was that Meghan had never actually gotten to meet the woman, and now that they knew she had been on their side, it was far too late to accept her kindness with the way Dustin had chased her off!

Which actually doesn't bother Meghan all that much. What kind of mother would she be, what kind of wife, if she didn't make contingency plans?

Whatever Loki could be up to, and even if he still remembered them, he would never be able to do them harm. If he lives to be fourteen thousand years old, and Meghan has long since died, her children and their offspring would be safe from him.

She'll also have to make sure they never lose her notes about this thing.

Still, time, the eater of itself, would only be able to know how greatly this may be needed one day.

The dream of course is that it never has to be sought after again.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you all happy, huh?! I basically wrote a children's book series for you! I kind of want to write about sad cupcake now lol. I probably will too, since I told my husband about it and he seems to think we should have some sort of children's book-writing competition... like he could come up with something better than Crimson the cupcake! >:o

Dustin seriously went home and scowled for a while, thinking about his life time wish >_>; He looked pissed about the whole thing.