Saturday 17 July 2021

Chapter 12 Party!



I expand Guy's little garden to the outside of the house. I don't know if it's cheating, but I locked the gate to everyone but Guy to avoid zombies eating his sprouts. This turned out to be a good decision because the other residents were constantly trying to enter and do something to the plants. 



I also read through the rules again and found out that inviting people over wasn't prohibited, so I decided to throw a costume party. Guy and Dove both autonomously chose the hotdog costume. 



In attendance are a bunch of strangers and Guy's co-workers. I know the girl in the wetsuit is named Cipriana, a thug in the local criminal warehouse. I'm not sure who the cow-plant boy is. 



He seems to be pretty good at piano. 



Most of the residents are eager to meet new faces. Jinenji greets Noel Perry, technically Guy's boss despite being in the athletic career, with an enthusiastic smile. 



To everyone's suprise, Tina actually participates. Being in the asylum for so long has made her desperate for contact with someone-anyone- who isn't one of the seven bumbling idiots she lives with. 



Tammi doesn't bother dressing up. "I'm fabulous enough," she says with a huff. 

"Dressing as yourself? Honey, you're not famous enough for that," Tina says with a mean smirk. 

Tammi throws her fork down into her salad and makes a show of stomping away. Tina laughs- Tammi really makes it too easy. 



Gregory looks down at Florence's burgeoning belly and gapes. "Whoa. Guy just can't win at life, can he?" 

Florence's wan smile turns into an icy glare. "It's my husband's, asshole." 

"Well, as a spooky-day certified doctor, I can say that that fact could be in dispute. Right, Jinenji?" 

Jinenji doesn't bother looking up from his book. "Hm." 

"Right!" Gregory says triumphantly. 


Meanwhile, Tina's accosted outside by a teenaged girl asking for candy. 

"I see they do this nonsense everywhere," Tina grumbles. She tosses in an old mint. "Happy?" 



Young Marta Almieri runs off, excited to tell her friends how she was so brave and went to the scary asylum allll by herself! 



Tina watches the girl run off with a pang of sadness. Tina's son would be about her age, wouldn't he? 



Back inside, the party is in full swing! 




I forgot that everyone's adult birthday is coming up soon, but at least Tammi can age up during an actual party. 


She feels exactly the same as before- fabulous, powerful, and ahead of everyone she knows. If only they would acknowledge it! 




Jinenji's turn. He's a bit sad- he had hoped to have finished his medical residency by now. 

Oh well. All he can do is try and look to the future. 



A sharp squeal from Tammi draws everyone's attention to her. 



Oh dear. Right when they had company over! 

"I...I'm..." she sprints to the bathroom. 



A few of the guests leave after that. Dove autonomously cleans the puddle and guy changes out of his restrictive hot dog costume. 



Two of his co-workers from the lab stick around though. The grand piano seems to be a big hit with the citizens of Montevista. 



Another interesting autonomous interaction- Florence announces her pregnancy to Ti. 




To her surprise, Ti congratulates her sincerely. "I'm sure you and Guy will make great parents!" 



Ti is oblivious to the flash of intense discomfort that crosses Florence's face. 



She feels her baby bump. 

"Wow, your baby's getting big in there. Doesn't that...freak you out?" 



Florence laughs. "No, not really. It's my fourth child." 

Ti nods, "Radical!" 

Florence laughs at the unexpected old slang. 



Though it's not long before she's back to her old tricks. 

Lincoln is much more direct than Gregory or Jinenji. "No way! Get out of my face!" 



He shakes his head as he watches her go. The nerve of some sims! 



Dove ventures outside cautiously. 



Those are some strange lights. 



Is this the ice-cream truck guy!? She knew he was casing the place! 



"I know who you are!" she hisses at the alien when he lets her go, "I'll make sure you never sell ice-cream again!" 



She starts to panic when the cold rain hits her skin. It's been a long time since she's been outdoors. 



She runs back inside, safe and sound but exhausted. 

***




More arguments and drama. Surprisingly, Tammi and Tina are able to have a civil conversation about how cold the temperatures are getting. 



But it quickly turns into Tammi bitching about how everyone in the house is too focused on video games. 

"They have no appreciation for high culture," Tammi whines, "Like opera, or theatre, or singing."

"Ughhhh, stop," Tina's too tired for her usual creative insults. 



"I like video games. They might 'rot your brain', but if being all intellectual means being like you, I don't want it!" 

Tammi frowns. She really lives with barbarians. 



Meanwhile, Gregory has his adult birthday. Like Jinenji, he had hoped to be further along in his career plans by now.... 

But no matter! They have a science machine, that practically makes him a scientist! 

Or so he tells himself. 



Ti and Tammi find themselves in an awkward position, both of them here to ask Guy something. 

"So you're here because...?" 

Ti blushes, "I wanted to talk to him about this Florence thing...you?" 

Tammi shifts nervously. "Uh...same here... why does he have to spend all of his time hung up on some whacko married chick? She doesn't even appreciate my singing! There are other options for him right... options that are..." 

Ti blinks. "....closer to home?" 

Oh. 



"We cannot both have a crush on Guy," Ti says, horrified. 

"Who said anything about a crush!?" Tammi says defensively. She's so panicked that she doesn't notice Ti's confession about her own feelings. 



"Your face says it all," Ti sighs, "There are still some things I can notice." 

Tammi fidgets, not used to being in this position. Usually she's the one making accusations with no proof. "I...You know what, I'm hungry. Goodbye." 



Guy is sitting there in the kitchen, with his stupid face, his stupid...cute... 

AGH. Tammi runs to the bathroom. An hour of singing in the shower should help her clear her head! 



Guy rolls a wish to invite over his co-worker Dario DeLuca. 



Dario's a bit surprised when Guy sweeps him into a hug, but he returns it readily. 

"What's this for, buddy?" 

"It's so nice to have normal visitors," Guy sighs. "No one trying to flirt with half the house..." 

"What?" 

Guy pulls away. "It's really nothing." 



"So your green hair...?" 

"All natural. It's from my toy form." 



An IF? How interesting! "I've read the journal articles about imaginary friends...but I never thought...wow! I have so many questions!" Dario can't believe he's meeting an IF in the flesh. There haven't been any in Monte Vista yet. 

"When you turn into your toy form, do you still need to eat? How do you breathe? Do you breathe? Can you get injured?" 

Guy laughs and holds up a hand to stop Dario's questions. "No to the first and last questions...uh, breathing. Yes. I still do. I don't know how it works, though. I'm not a doctor." 


Guy wanders off to do some gardening, leaving Dario to the mercy of Guy's housemates. 

"Psh, you reek!" Tammi says loudly as she passes them by. 

"Pay her no mind. She has the attention-span of a goldfish," Lincoln says with an eyeroll. 



Ah, Tina. So close, yet so far. 







Poor Dario. No matter where he goes in this house, he's cornered by my attention-starved sims. 





Bah! Dario finally escapes by playing a video game and ignoring everyone. 



Tammi finds Guy, and finally decides to get her feelings off of her chest. 

"Look, Guy, why are you wasting your time with Florence? She's married, you're young! Whole life ahead of you..." 



"...like me," she feels heat creeping up her neck, "You catch my drift? We could be so glamorous, Guy! Me, a dazzling singer! You...making franken-fish behind the scenes. Glamorous!" 

Guy nods vacantly. "I'm sure you'll be a great singer once you get out of here, Tammi." 

Tammi pouts. Why is he making her be so direct? She's offering him the chance of a lifetime here! "What I mean, Guy is...we could...do that stuff together?" 

"There's nothing stopping you from signing up with a proprietor now," Guy says, not realising that when she says 'together', she doesn't just mean in the same place, at the same time in general, "Unless you want me to be singing with you! Trust me, you don't want that." He laughs heartily to himself. 

Tammi frowns. What am I doing? I don't need the embarrassment of an even more direct rejection. "Yeah, of course..." 



Everyone seems to be weighing in on Guy's love life. "That woman is garbage," Dove hisses, "She's pregnant and didn't even tell you! It could be your kid, Guy!" 

He shakes his head. "It's her husband's. She said she checked herself at the science lab." 

"And you believe her!? She has no issue lying to her husband," Tina says in disbelief. 



"He is a criminal. She probably has good reason to lie about him," Lincoln says dismissively, "But it's not...a great sign either, Guy." 

Guy's face flushes and he holds the book closer to his face. He knows the baby could be his... but if Florence is so insistent that it's not his, what is he supposed to do? 

"I'm not going to see her anymore," he mumbles. It's just too much for him. The way Florence never sees him outside of work, or the wardrobe... what would he have done if the child were his? 

On top of that, she's never said she loves him... 



It's the weekend and it's winter. Everyone's cooped up inside. I realise at this point that Guy is just acquaintances with everyone. I have him chat up Dove here in an effort to give him a friend.  



Well, that's one way to make friends... 

"Death," Dova guesses confidently, "I see death." 



Guy pulls out another ink-blot test. 

"You can't trick me! It's death again!" Dove declares. 




Guy is sure this will reveal much about Dove's psychology. Yes, yes. 



"I started filling out an application for the science lab," Gregory announces to Guy, "They need two references though. How did you get hired?" 

"Oh...Dr. Tavares told them about...the thing. They made an exception for me, since it's a part of my therapy." 

"Ah. Hm. Well. I guess I'll have to show up and just tell them how unbalanced I am and they'll just hire me, is that it!?" 

"You could just talk to Dr. Tavares..." 

Gregory has already tuned him out. He'll just have to master their science machine! Yes! Then he'll be so skilled that they'll just have to accept him! 




AH! 

Damn pranks. 

Guy can't help but smile, though. Whoever set the trap really got him good, huh? 




Ti tries her hand at the science machine. She mostly just pushes random buttons, though. Getting to the level where she could actually, say, make clones, do gene splicing are waaaaay above her knowledge of genetics. 




Dove ages into adult with a stylish haircut. I didn't know that hair was available to female sims, but I think she looks nice. 




Ti enters adulthood with pigtails and her own stylish outfit. 

Tina jeers at her, telling her she looks like a Bridgeport hooker, but Ti laughs along with her, ruining her fun. 




Guy's turn! He doesn't get any fun outfit, though. 






Guy and Lincoln are reading in companionable silence. Their quiet morning is shattered by Tammi angrily demanding that Tina clean up the "gargantuan mess" she made in the bathroom. 



Tina scowls, but she does start cleaning up the kitchen. 



Since the spooky day party, Gregory has been quite the hit with the ladies. He gets called "just to chat" or to ask if he'd like to go out for coffee sometime at least once a day. 


I left out a pumpkin for Guy to carve later, only for Dove to swoop in and carve it herself. 




I put the other pumpkins out in the foyer...living area? hoping the other residents would also carve autonomously, but sadly only Dove took the bait. 


Guy gets his turn eventually. 



Between the two of them, him and Dove have carved some cute jack-o-lanterns. 



"WAAAAH! I'm old age!" Guy's noticed Gregory's pissiness about his recent birthday. 




He doesn't expect Gregory to start crying. 

"Hey, Greg..." 

Greg speeds away. 


Guy's gotten pretty good at not letting everyone's emotional outbursts get to him. He does feel a bit bad for hurting Gregory's feelings, but after an intense workout he's too tired to really give it mind. 





Lincoln is the last member of the asylum to have his birthday.



Dove, her hair inexplicably longer, is the only person who cheers him on. 




"Ugh, you're filling the house with more of these tacky things?" Tina growls. 

"I think they look festive-" Guy starts. 





Tina doesn't let him continue. She smashes the pumpkin to smithereens. 




Dove is aghast as Tina crosses the room and smashes another pumpkin. 


She starts working out immediately. She'll protect her remaining pumpkins! 



Luckily for Dove, Guy has spare pumpkins, just in case. 

-------
AN: 

Sorry for the random photos and captions. I took so many photos that writing a coherent narrative became less and less important as I went through them. Guy at this point was around level 8 in his career- not much more to go! 

Also, Florence's pregnancy really is from her husband. She and Guy never tried for baby or used risky woohoo. I did check with MC just to be sure. 

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