Accused

Natalie took a deep breath. Captain Hero was in the examining room with a bloody criminal. This had not been a part of her contract.

She clutched her clipboard. There was only one way to attack this problem. An examination needed to be done, and there was only one doctor in the city. Natalie would make it clear that she could take out a criminal with one shot of sedative. She would put up with no bull.



"Hold still and shut up please!" Natalie tried her best to stop herself from shaking. The criminal fidgeted before her, yelling curse words at her as she tried to put disinfectant on the cuts on her face.


"That shit hurts!" The criminal pulled away again. Natalie briefly contemplated giving her a shot of sedative.

Natalie ignored her as she cleaned and examined the cuts. "So," she asked Captain Hero, "You say that you found her like this in the morning when you went to check on her?"

He stood behind the prisoner with a surprisingly serious look on his face. (Yeah, she'd see those pictures in Legacy Living-- cringe worthy!) There was something about seeing him in person that Natalie didn't like but she couldn't exactly put her finger on it. "Yeah. I don't know how this happened. Orlando was watching her last night."

"He fucking beat me; that's what fucking happened." The criminal pulled away again. "OW, fuck!"

Natalie scoffed. "You're saying that Orlando Mellon beat you?" She glanced over at Captain Hero to see his reaction. He stood still which gave Natalie the impression that he might actually be taking this criminal's accusations seriously.

The cuts were pretty bad, and most were centered around her face. Natalie could see no purpose to a beating that only scratched her face and didn't seriously wound her. "Why did he beat you? And how do you know it was him? Didn't you say this happened after lights went out for the night?"


"Who the fuck else could have done this? And I don't know why."

Natalie rolled her eyes and picked up her clipboard again. "Well, you're fine. Only a few cuts, no stitches needed, and no extra brain damage. I'll talk to Richard."



"So it's true?" Richard seemed as surprised as Captain Hero should have been.


"Well, it's true she has scratches on her face. But it wasn't anything very serious. Honestly, I would believe she did it to herself before I'd believe that either of the Orlandos did this to her."

"Still, you must understand that there must be an investigation now." Richard sighed. "I'll have to suspend them until they are cleared."

"What? But what about those three murders?"*


Richard instinctually shushed her as he did everytime she asked him about that case. "We still have Captain Hero. And we can recruit other sims for the police force."

*************************

* For anyone just joining, the first murder occurs here, and the second and third murders are mentioned here. They're all rather suspicious due to lack of blood at the crime scene (and in the bodies), but they have no suspects as of yet.


So, no more bothering with a posting schedule. I don't have any posts ready to go ahead of time right now, so I'll just post when I play.

Otherwise, I am actually going through a phase where I just don't like what I've done. I started this blog with the idea that I would get better as I went along. So the important thing for me now is to push forward while trying new things. If I were just writing, I would probably put this down and just walk away. But since it's wrapped up in a game, it's much easier to return to it and work on it. (Even with the cats, I am still horribly attached to my Sims 2 sims in a way that I can't bond with my Sims 3 sims.)

So off I go, pushing forward against that looming self doubt and self criticisms that pop up. I'm flexing a muscle I probably haven't used in years (since high school or early college). Ow!

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Legacy Living-- A Hero's Life

By Genesis Mellon

Captain Hero serves me a cup of “joe” with a warm smile. “That’s what keeps us going around here,” he tells me in a low husky voice. “Here” is our local little police station which has lately had to deal with larger problems than one would face in such a small community.

“You rely on coffee? You’re a superhero aren’t you?”

“There is no ‘I’ in hero, ma'am. And I couldn't do it without those guys there." He motions towards the front office where Orlando Centowski sits working on the latest paperwork from the latest catch.

Roxanne Prema, a known player in the Boot Trade, was captured with the help of Captain Hero. When asked he is quick to add in that it "couldn't have been done without the Orlandos."

Prema is currently in a holding cell that was made to hold sims for offenses such as kicking over trash cans or littering. But the boot trade has necessitated a change in the way our small police force operates.

"It's becoming a big issue," Captain Hero says. "Right now it seems to only be a few who are using, but all we need is for it to spread to the children. Stuff like that can ruin a whole generation."

The Mayor and the police are scrambling to scrape together a judicial system for the worst offenders. "The most important thing," the mayor said recently at a speech at the City Center, "is that the public knows we are doing our best. The last thing we want is for an innocent sim to be locked up. So it is important that we are transparent so that the public may decide the guilt of the accused."

There is currently no trial date set for Prema. Until the new system is in place, Prema is being held in the standard lock up.


Roxanne Prema

*********

You'll have to humor me on the boot trade. I don't have it up and running yet, though I've been thinking about it. But the major player in the boot trade is still in school and can't own a community lot in the city. (He's supposed to be far away at college. Can't just drive in.) Does anyone know of a hack to own a community lot on Uni property?

So what is the boot trade? Well, you know those boots that sims fish out and can turn into juice? Yup. That's The Boot. Highly addictive since the effects last for such a short while. I'm sure it's easy to loose oneself to it. Much stronger than the bubble blower.

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New House

Last time we saw Amberle




"So wait... he bought you a house? Just what exactly did you do on that vacation?"

Amberle gulped as she thought it over carefully. It wasn't what she had done, but what Henry had put her through. "It's certainly not what you think."



Sam smiled wryly. "Well then, at least tell me what happened. What did he do? What'd he say? What'd you do?"


Was there any way to explain the trip so that it wouldn't sound as if Amberle were making the whole thing up? She could imagine Samantha's reaction when she heard that Henry was actually a vampire. Sam would scoff at Amberle's confession and say, "You just don't want to tell me the juicy details."

And of course if Amberle decided to head down that road, she might have to explain about the Elves, this land, and Leander.

"Well, it was kind of a weird trip. We were driving home when he stopped here. It was late, and I wasn't in the best of moods..."

****************************

"Where are we?" Those were the first words Amberle had spoken to him since they had left the mountains. The entire drive down, after he had attempted to speak to her at the beginning, had been a completely silent ride with only the music from the radio to fill the void between them.

Henry had barely glanced at her when he stepped out of the car and walked around it to open her car door for her.

Amberle stepped out onto the dark sidewalk to stand before the lighted house. In the dark, she couldn't tell much about it, but it seemed there were no strangers looking out the large living room window. She was at least glad for that; the last thing she wanted was to be embarrassed too. "So, it's a house. Can we go home now?"

"It's yours."

Amberle turned to glare at him. "What?" There were plenty of thoughts rolling around her head. Her house? How? And when did he do this?

He pushed himself off the car and handed her a silver key that shined in the light of the living room window. "Aren't you at least curious?"

"No." But she was, and so she walked into the house.


"There is a fireplace, but please do me a favor and wait until there is someone else here with you when you light it."



She peeked out the window in the upstairs study. There was a small backyard and plenty of forest. She hadn't been so close to the forest in a very long time.

"Your father would never visit you at the apartment. He would never enter a building."

"So you're saying he can stalk me now?"

"You will need to talk, don't you think?"


He followed her when she went to view the bedroom.

****************************

Sam looked around the little living dinning room. "Well, I will say he seems to have pegged your favorite color and obsession with potted plants." She picked up her wine glass and raised it in a mock toast. "So he had to have been doing this while you were with him in the mountains." Sam sighed, "Why does such a good man waste his time with you? Did you at least ‘thank' him properly?”

Amberle shifted uncomfortably in her seat and gently cleared her throat. “Well, I told him that this didn’t get him off the hook for what he did.”


Sam almost dropped her glass. She set it back down on the table. “You didn’t! Amberle Silverring you had better be joking. Tell me that you did forgive him. You must have, right? I mean, not everyone gifts their sweethearts with homes you know. If you had him leave while still angry with him, I won’t be able to forgive you.”


Amberle glanced away, heat suddenly rising to her face and turning the thin tips of her ears red.

Samantha laughed. “Oh my. Well, so long as you did thank him properly, I won’t hold the house against you.”

****************

The house is this one from MTS. No CC, and it's cute and tiny without a lot of the stupid tricks that builders resort to that often make a home buggy. It really is perfect.

Also, kittens! I've been rather distracted lately in the evenings. When Trouble, our timid kitty who hides under the seats, crawls into my lap to kiss me and fall asleep, I don't argue. I'll sit still for as long as he wants.

Read more!

Home

Demi had spent as much time avoiding Kaylynn as possible. When Kaylynn was downstairs, Demi was upstairs playing with the girls. If Kaylynn went upstairs, Demi found reasons to go downstairs.

Until that glass of water. Demi had been warm from playing with Melanie (who spent most of the time telling Demi "That's not how Daddy does it"), so she went downstairs for a drink despite knowing that Kaylynn would be downstairs.




"You know you're only holding him back." Kaylynn, with dirty soap suds up to her elbow, barely glanced at Demi and yet her words hit deep to the core of Demi's being.

Demi gasped as she lifted the glass of water to her lips, hoping the cool water would wash away the flavor of the salty tears she could almost taste.

"It's true. He should be living on The Hill. He was the oldest brother."

Kaylynn's shoes scuffed along the linoleum as she stepped closer to Demi like a snake charmer to a snake. Demi could feel her presence; it was suffocating.

"I have to go." Demi placed the glass on the dining room table and turned in one swoop so that she was heading towards the kitchen door.


"I know somewhere you can go," Kaylynn said in a low voice. Demi's legs simply stopped so that she was shoulder to shoulder with Kaylynn. She heard herself whisper, "Where?" As soon as Kaylynn spoke the answer, Demi realized that it had been on the back of her mind for a long time. She had known the answer. It would be the place where she would finally find peace.




The cab pulled to a stop as the driver muttered, "We're here."

Demi paid the driver, then stepped out with her suitcase in hand. She stepped through the door to enter the first building on the left where they had agreed to meet.

His diamond colored eyes took in the entire sight of her and rested upon her large suitcase in her hand. His gentle smile warmed and comforted her twirling emotions. Finally, she felt at home.



*******************

For any new readers and as a refresher, find out more about Tristin and his cult-- I mean church here.

I've always had a soft spot for Kaylynn. She's always been in the background of my game, just doing her job, and once leading that rebellion at the Legacy Household.

In the old 'hood, I noticed she did a lot of standing around and fuming. Perhaps it's just a coincidence, but the new Kaylynn also does a lot of standing around fuming. I like to think that perhaps she does have a little life, and the clone remember the indignities of her former life cleaning the toilets of the other sims while not being considered an equal.

In the new 'hood, it's probably impossible for her to get a respectable job with one of the shops. And it doesn't help that she sill wanders around in her maid uniform. (She should really see Bonnie, but she probably doesn't want any pity.)

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Post delayed

I only have one more picture to get, but it's proving a little difficult.

See, on Thursday, we went and picked up two kittens from a vet who wanted to find them good homes. One is a big scaredy cat. The other thinks she's a dog. She loves to sit in laps, and I had to wonder what it would be like to play Sims with her around.

I figured since I'm not a cat person, she wouldn't have any interest in my lap. Well, I was wrong. She's taken a liking to me (most likely because she's mad at my boyfriend because he's been the one reprimanding her all day while I was working).


So I go to play sims. Three problems-- one I am not paying attention to her. And two there is a cursor on the screen that she thinks is a toy.

And three...




...there are frikking humans inside the screen!!!

Seriously, never gets old. XD I've just been letting the game go and watching her stare at the screen. Every so often she stops to bat at the cursor, the icons in the corner that appear when a sim does something, or even the sims them selves.

Now as I write this, she's sprawled in my lap, snoring. Who knew being a kitten was such hard work?

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Kaylynn

Water didn't realize what he had done. He wouldn't understand either, Demi was sure of it. It wasn't just the suspected affairs, it was everything.

Demi put her head against the cool glass of the taxi's window as she thought back to last fall.


Water had come home late as usual. His restaurant was only open for the evenings, and he often stayed out until two in the morning or later.

Normally, Demi would be sleeping by the time he came home, but she had recently woken to feed the baby, Shannen, and couldn't go back to sleep. She remembered the sight of Water, bathed half in light from the table lamp.


Water had crossed his arms in that serious way of his that usually reminded Demi of a parent reprimanding their child. "I think we need a maid," he had said.


"A maid?" Demi had been a service NPC. She had not liked the idea at all.


"There is nothing wrong with a sim doing his or her job." Water went into the walk in closet to put on his pjs. As he sat down on the bed, he didn't look at her. "Look, I'm too busy, and so are you. Extra hands would be nice. And it just so happens that Kaylynn Langerak came by today looking for a job, but I didn't have any positions open at the restaurant. How about I ask her?"

Such a terror gripped Demi that she couldn't speak more than, "Oh no, not her." Water was not aware that service NPCs (at least during the time Demi had been one) all knew of Kaylynn Langerak. She had tried to plan an uprising on more than one occasion in the old land. Unfortunately, planning an uprising with a group of sims who basically disappear once they are no longer needed proved to be a difficult feat though Kaylynn came close at least once. Most of the Family was unaware of this fact, and Demi was not going to tell Water this because she, like many other past service NPCs, feared Kaylynn.


"Sure, why not?" Water dipped under the covers completely unaware of Demi's thoughts or worries. "Listen, I'm tired. Let's discuss it in the morning."

But Demi knew that meant he had already decided and nothing she could say would change his mind.

*********

Kaylynn's infamous uprising, which petered out when most of the elderly repair men and women could find nothing to fix."

Actually, that was my very first legacy house. It was with only the base game installed, and I had the classic Stuck NPC bug. Since that was before sims had inventories, I had to move the family out and leave everything behind. All of their paintings, and a crystal glass from the wedding of the second heir (the original Richard Mellon) that I had managed to somehow grab completely by luck after a guest set it down.

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Goodbye

Water Melon (approximately 34), Demi Love (unknown age- previously a Service NPC policewoman)

One of the last times we heard or saw anything about Water Mellon, it was revealed that he's actually Gabe's biological father. With Gabe being approximately 17 in human years, that means Water was approximately 17 when Gabe was born. Water most likely has no clue that Gabe exists.



Time: Right before the Summer Festival




"Demi." Water stood in the door way before her with his arms crossed stubbornly as if he would not let her pass. She hadn't expected him to be home during the middle of the day. For the past few weeks, he had been skipping lunch at home. His excuse had been that he was working late at the studio, and then heading into the restaurant right after.

Demi dropped the suitcase on floor with a thud. She was thankful that the children were already gone at a safe place even though she had never known Water to be violent. If anything, his crimes were simply loving too much.


"What're you doing?" Water's voice was tense and high in his throat.

Demi could hear the words in her head as clear as if she had spoke them. "I'm leaving you," she wanted to say with a lift of her head and a false bravado that she knew would break in the taxi on her way out of town.

Instead, Demi brought her hand to her face and pressed her fingers to her lips. Her eyes remained dry as if she hadn't really begun to believe she was doing it. As if she were simply taking a vacation with the girls and would be right back.

Water smoothly glided to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Demi Demi," he whispered in her ear. "You can't do this. Don't you remember all the trouble I had finding you the first time?"

If Demi could laugh, she could cry. She stiffly allowed him to hug her.

"I had to call the police station until you showed up at my door. Do you know how much money I spent on fines? Even today, you know they won't come if I call..."

Demi stepped back while slipping her ring off her finger. It wasn't a real wedding band. They had never had a real wedding. Water hadn't even loved her enough to marry her. She put it into his hands and closed his fist around it.

With suitcase in hand, Demi walked around him as best she could. She almost didn't make it; she was ready to give in, but she reached a second wind that helped her push past Water and step out onto the lawn in front of the house.



Water followed her out to the front lawn, but he did not try to grab her again. "Demi, what about the girls? Where are they? Demi?"

Demi's voice hardly sounded like her own. It rang clear and true in the clear afternoon. "I'll call you." She stepped into the waiting taxi refusing to look back.

********

I'm a little late posting this. I was sort of waffling about this or writing something on the spot, but since this is basically a prelude to Fall, I figured I should stick this in here. This is just part one. Two more parts to go.

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A Simmer's Survey

Just because I find this stuff fascinating! I'll be starting next week with the actual storyline for Fall (I think I've been in summer now for something like two months), but in the meantime, I'd like to get to hear more from other players about how they play either Sims 2 or 3.


How closely do you pay attention to the personality points in TS2?

What is your favorite way to play? (Curled up with a laptop on a weekend day? Sitting at a desk in the evening while watching TV?)

Do you like to keep records? (And my follow up would be what you keep track of.)

Do you still play "the game" or do you use it in other ways (like story telling or playing through stories rather than playing to ensure your sims get their LTW)?

How often do you play and for how long?

Do you read a lot of simming blogs?

Do you have anything you're curious about?

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Fine

Alberta didn't bother to invite Gabe into her house and Gabe didn't bother to ask. She simply held his hand as she ascended the stairs and opened her door with her free hand. They sat down on the couch together in front of the TV they also didn't bother to turn on.

Gabe wrapped an arm around her. "Thank you. Sometimes Kate goes too far."



His lanky hand gently squeezed her arm, drawing her close to his side. She couldn't help smiling widely though the blood under his hand rushed into her ears. They were alone, and he was so close. The urge to run her hand up his shirt and feel his chest was as impossible to ignore as it was to actually do. Frozen with indecision, she didn't stop him when he pulled her into his lap.

"How are you doing here, Alberta? Really. I worry that you wouldn't tell me if there was something wrong."


"I'm fine. Really." She tried her best to smile sweetly even as a part of her brain shouted, "I told you so!" The last thing she had wanted was for either of her friends to worry. It had been a secret worth keeping. She was in no trouble financial or otherwise.

But Gabe's words from the festival came back to her. "I can't keep secrets from you two," he had said with a glance in Alberta's direction. She could still remember his brown eyes glinting with concern as he said it as if he were trying to pass along a hint.

Gabe sighed even as he smiled at her. "But you promise you'll tell me if anything is wrong?" He pulled her close to hug her, one hand running down her side to press gently on her lower back.


Alberta burried her face in his shoulder and closed her eyes. His soft musky scent mixed with the salty smell of the sea that lingered on both their clothes. Under her fingers, she felt the smooth muscles of his back tightening as he gave her a small squeeze.

Her days were generally about silence, especially now when school was out of session. Alberta found that she often had to leave the house just to find some company. Gabe and Kate were generally both busy-- Gabe watching his little sister and Kate helping her father at the spa on the hill. Now that he was here, Alberta wanted to ask him to stay. She didn't care about the "game" that Ily had explained to her-- she would give him anything he wanted to have him stay the night with her so she wouldn't have to be alone.

Words seemed to sit on her tongue filling her mouth until she felt she couldn't breathe. She didn't know the words to say. The silence between them was already too long. Her hand gently ran over his chest. "I'm fine," she said softly watching her hand work its way towards the bottom of his shirt.

Gabe's hand on her waist gave her a soft squeeze as if to hold her at a distance. As her fingers lightly dipped under his shirt, his stomach muscles became tense. She wasn't sure what came over her then. Alberta leaned foreward despite his hand on her waist holding her back to delicately explore his lips with her own. He melted then, drawing her close and responding to her gentle exploration with ferrcious experience.

It seemed a while before either of them pulled away, and even then it was Gabe who pulled back first. He sat still for a moment as Alberta wondered what she had done wrong. Did she not compare to the other girls?

When he did speak, it seemed he was as much at a loss for words as her. "Alberta, I don't want you-- I mean we don't have to--" His hand tensed on her waist again; this time he was definitely holding her back. "Just promise you'll tell me if something is wrong."

She nodded, holding it together long enough to softly promise. "I will."

There wasn't much more to say. Gabe pressed his lips to hers, gently hugging her bottom lip with his soft lips. His kiss broke into little ones that ended with a last kiss on her forehead and made them both laugh. "But I do have to go," he said slightly apologetically.

"I know." Alberta stood up.


Gabe stood before her with one last glance before he reached out to run the back of his hand down her cheek. "Remember you've promised."

At his gentle touch, she almost didn't succeed holding back as well as she had moments before. She could only nod this time, and hope it would be enough.

It seemed to work, he smiled at her, then went to the door with a playfully protective, "Make sure you lock the door."

******************

I had one of those moments that I most recently remember Carla mentioning where my sims totally surprised me. I had Gabe selectable in the house, and I pretty much just let them do what they wanted for a while. They stripped down to their undies and cuddled on the couch for a second. Then with no help on my part, both changed back, stood up, and he reached over to caress her cheek.

These last two entries were actually from one play session that was supposed to be all about Alberta. I do think she's lonely; she shows up all the time on community lots and I usually see her getting talked to by Tristin Stratton. (Stay away from the cult, Alberta!) But it seems to be all in her head. She has two great friends who would do anything for her if she would only open up and be honest with them.

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Fireworks

Gabe and Kate had been playing a harsh game of Red Hands when Alberta got them a table. The set up for the Summer festival was much simpler this year. Just some good simple meals cooked by an actual chef, and fireworks along the beach. Alberta sighed quietly as Kate and Gabe continued to poke each other with verbal barbs casually tossed out like normal conversation topics.


Alberta didn't dare tell Gabe or Kate that she felt out of place. Although she had to admit that sitting at the table with the two of them bickering felt right. If she closed her eyes, she could almost believe she was one of them and deserving to come to their celebration.


Gabe casually glanced around. "Wow, they sure kept it low key this year." He glanced back at the make shift stove behind them and froze.

Even Kate looked concerned when he turned back around and tried to bury his face into his menu. "Uh, what's wrong?"

Gabe looked at Alberta while biting on his lip. "All right," he said much too quickly. "But only because I can't keep secrets from you two. Don't look, but the guy who's cooking-- he's my actual dad."

Alberta glanced over Gabe's shoulder at the man quickly cooking the food at his station. She couldn't see much of him at all besides his black hair and his pinstripe suit.


Kate turned around in her seat to look. "Water Mellon? Isn't he the guy on TV? Seriously?"

Both Gabe and Alberta hissed her name. She turned back to the two of them with a shrug, "What's the big deal? Does he know? You should say hi. Or send me and Alberta in, and we'll say hi."


"I don't really feel like meeting him right now."

"You'll never feel like meeting him." Kate waved a hand in the air as she turned to Alberta. "He's actually very shy despite being a natural jerk."

"Kate..."


It was time for Alberta to step in again. From time to time the bickering between Kate and Gabe became serious enough that Alberta would step between them. It required a loud voice, a heavy hand, and some quick thinking to have a suggestion ready to distract the two of them when they became serious like this. "HEY, the sun's about to set. We should head down to the beach. The fireworks are going to start soon."


It seemed to be enough to call a silent truce between the two. The three stood and walked down to the beach without glancing back at Water Mellon.

**********

Our Independence day just passed, and I didn't get to go see any fireworks. Usually, one of the local cities puts on a firework display, and since I live in a bay, you just go to the beach and you can see the show they're putting on across the way. But the one city that does the fireworks show couldn't afford it this year (a sign of the times).

So I had to do a summer festival. I really had Water buy the lot and place the fireworks before I realized that I was going to take Alberta and Gabe down to the beach. Woo for attention to details, but some good simple cooking sounded like fun.

Read more!

Be a little bad

Ily and Kate's older brother came to visit. He dropped by early in the morning after a call saying he was bringing a friend.

Everyone had hoped he was bringing his girlfriend, Ashley Stratton.


No such luck. In a cruel prank on his little sisters, he brought home the creepy mascot guy.

"Awww..." He said, his voice muffled by the huge llama mask. "You have some zits; you must really be stressed about goin' to college. Here, a hug will help. We're just one big family there."

"No, really, that's okay." Ily stepped back, but he continued after her until she shoved him away. Was he really the mascott of her college? Really? So now in addition to all the other challenges college students face, she will have to worry about this bozo too?


Ethan and his friend stick around for a while, louging around the house until after dinner when they head off to their hotel. And once Ily and Kate's parents go to sleep, Ily turns to Kate with a mischevious glint in her eye.


"Let's sneak out! These are my last days to be a kid."


"Are you serious? What if we get caught?"

"Hey, every teen deserves to be a little bad. Once you hit college, it's all about responsibilities. You're practically an adult!"

For a moment, Ily worries that Kate won't agree which would leave Ily all alone. Sneaking out on her own seems a boring proposition. She has no where she could go alone. And what if some creepy dude, like the Llama mascot, steals her or something?


Then Kate smiles, and the plan is made.


They start out their night at the little cafe in the slummy area of town. There's aren't too many sims visiting the cafe; most likely they're all at the bar down the street.

Still, there is a stage. "You should go up and sing." Ily shoves Kate towards the mic.

"No way. Right now? With no music?"

Ily sighs in faux exasperation. "Fine. If I get up and do something, will you go and sing?"

Kate laughs. "You're going to do what? Make up poetry on the spot?"

Ily does not back down from a challenge. And it's all for the good of her little sister who needs to take more chances in life. Ily doesn't like the way Kate silently sighs over her lost love. She's only 15, going on 16. She should go out and have some fun.

The poem is horrible. Running through Ily's head when she starts are the words, "There was a little butterfly..." and so she runs with it. Kate sits in a seat cringing and trying not to laugh.

But Kate does stand up before the mic and sings a song of her own creation. Her voice carries throughout the room drawing the attention of the few people who are sitting down with their expressos. A few even clap as Kate takes a bow.


Ily's will always be her sister's biggest fan. Even when there's a cute guy over at the cafe stand serving the coffees.

Eventually, Ily suggests they head over to the park. Ily never played on a play ground before. When she was little, they didn't have things like this. Not until they came to this new land.


But even then, Ily doesn't play so much as sit and think while Kate swings on the swingset.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ily watches the silent green house across the street. She feels slightly stalkerish sitting this close to his house, watching for movement from the windows.

It's already past 2:00am and the restaurant would be closed by now. He'd have already come home, kissed his daughters good night, and laid down in bed next to his girlfriend.

Ily knows she is still young, but there are other things she does know.

Like the way Water Mellon talks mostly of his daughters and never of his girlfriend. The way she watches him flirting with the ladies who visit the restaurant. And the way other ladies look at him when he's pretending not to notice.

It's just a crush, she reminds herself. She's worked for him for the past year as a hostess at the restaurant. But then who could really blame her?

Ily glances over at Kate. "Ready to go?" Kate relaxes on one of the swings, probably day dreaming to herself.

"Yeah, let's go."

There are things that Ily knows but without knowing. Like she can't be sure that Gabe Mellon really is Water Mellon's son. It could be a strange coincidence that he looks just like him. And does it really matter? It's not any of Ily's business if Water Mellon started his relations early and had a kid before he even made it to college. It's none of her business whether Gabe or Water know.

This is one situation that Ily would best stay away from.

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This was written on the fly and wraps up a few story ideas I had with Ily that I never could turn into an actual story.

After dinner at Gabe and Rich's house, Ily was following Gabe around. She even followed him into the bathroom at some point, and I was wondering what she was doing. She wasn't flirting with him, just following him to talk while Rich and Alberta were blissfully unaware in the game room.

I sort of forgot until just now while writing this that Ily works for Water, so I mentally made a note (a bad idea all around) that she's noticed that Gabe looks suspiciously a lot like Water. And Ily has a big ol' imaginary crush on Water. (Who wouldn't? He probably talks about "his girls" all the time while flirting the night away.)

There are other sims, one specifically that I can think of, who would also probably notice that Gabe looks familiar, even if they can't place why.

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