Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Chapter 37: Strictly Business


"I want to do this alone," Delaney announces when she and Ian arrive at their destination.

"I'm sorry-what?" is Ian's rather perplexed response.

"I want to do this job by myself. I want to prove myself to you."


"Let me get this straight - this is my job, in a place I've been casing for months. I'm a professional, and you're barely experienced. And you want to do it alone?"

"I know, it sounds crazy," Delaney admits, "But I need to do this. And you've got nothing to lose. If I fuck up, set off an alarm or something, you can bug out and no one will know."

"Well, I'd lose a month's worth of planning and preparation..." Ian points out, but knows he's losing this argument, "All right, if this is what you've got to do. They get a shipment of new stones every Thursday, and they don't start setting them until Monday.  They'll be in crates in the back office. Don't bother with the the stuff in the store itself, just grab the unset stones from the office, understood?"

Delaney smiles, but doesn't let her relief show on her face. The potions her uncle gave her are her secret, her edge in this business, and it wouldn't do to have Ian see her use them. Not yet anyway, not until she's established herself.


She climbs over the wall onto the trash bins near the shop's employee entrance.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ian asks, not at all sure letting her do this is the right thing to do.



"Just wait for me here," Delaney says before she hops off the bin and heads for the door.


Ian hears the tinkling of breaking glass as he clambers up the wall after her, and mutters something but non-professionals. She's going to ruin this job, he realizes, and it's his own fault. But when he gets up onto the bin, he sees nothing but a hazy cloud of smoke. Delaney got in quick, he thinks, and whatever that sound was, it wasn't the sound of a window being busted. He looks around the scene and it's like no one was here at all, no broken windows, the door firmly shut.


"Sitting on a garbage bin in the fucking pouring rain, waiting on some chick," Ian mutters to himself. "At least I'll get my cut when she's done," he comforts himself. He doesn't usually let girls manipulate him this way, he thinks. "Get on the ball, Ian," he instructs himself, "Take charge, or you'll end up whipped like Pie Man."

 

They bring her haul back to his apartment for the night; in the morning he'll take it in to the boss.

"I admit, you did good," Ian says, "You were in and out of there like a ghost."


A flash of lightning brightens the sky, followed quickly by a tremendous crack of thunder. "It's really coming down now," Ian observes, looking out his window at the sodden street below his apartment, "Maybe you should chill here for awhile before you head back home." Delaney had rode in on her bike, and the drive home would be an uncomfortably wet one if she left now.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to get out of these wet clothes," she purrs behind him.


"I could stand to be a bit drier, myself," Ian answers, taking his clothes off she removes hers. Delaney gets down on the couch with him, straddling him. "Listen, sweetheart," he whispers, "You and me, we're strictly business, you understand? You're Horner's girl."

"Strictly business," Delaney agrees.


She's never been with anyone but Jack, and Delaney is surprised to discover how much it matters. She misses him, she realizes, his hands, the way he touches her, his voice and the sweet things he whispers n her ear when he makes love to her. With some effort, she puts Jack out of her mind so she can experience this moment, this man.


"So, you'll be introducing me to your boss, won't you?" Delaney purrs, rolling on top of him.

"Oh, sweetheart, you didn't sleep with me just to get me to introduce to King Cole, did you?" Ian laughs.

Delaney pouts, and denies his accusation. "I wanted to be with you," she protests.

Ian laughs again. "I've lied to plenty of girls in my time, I suppose I can handle being lied to by one. But I know whose girl you are. We're strictly business, remember?"

"You will introduce me to your boss, right?" Delaney insists.

"Hell, yes. You are my find, and you'll be playing on my team. You and me and Pie Man," Ian says. He turns his head to look out the window, "It's letting up. Best you head on out of here, now. I'll call you when the boss wants to see you."



"Shadow," Iola calls, turning to him as she gets into her nightgown.

"Mmm?" he murmurs, barely looking up from his book.


"It's our first night together," Iola says, patting the pillow before she rests against it.

"Our first night together after spending a day in bed with each other," Shadow laughs gently, putting his book aside.


"Still, it's something to celebrate, isn't it?" he adds.


When Delaney gets home, the house is still, everyone asleep. Or at least, in bed, she thinks wistfully, hearing the muffled groans and giggles coming from Shadow's room. They must have been at it all day. Another sound from the nursery tells her that Jace was awake, so she lets him out of his crib and plays with him. "I did my first job tonight," she tells him proudly, knowing he has no idea what she's talking about, "I did really good." But she feels really bad.



They haven't even had breakfast yet, and Iola's mother has already phoned. "She wants to get together with us to plan the wedding," Iola announces nervously.


Shadow embraces her, showing her she has nothing to worry about. No overbearing mother-in-law will put him off her. "Let's have coffee with them before the graduation ceremony," he suggests.



They meet her parents at the Happy Sunset cafe and go over Shadow's plans. Noelle is little surprised by the effort and planning Shadow has already put into this event, like he was the bride rather than the groom. All Iola has to say is how nervous she is about standing up in public like that.


After coffee the couple heads out to City Hall for graduation, where they met up with Delaney, who has Jace on her arm.

"Cassidy and Jesse are already inside," she tells them, "You know they got married last night?"



After the ceremony, Farrell spends some time with Aurora. She's doing well in her career, she assures him, and she's adopted a little ginger kitten named Kim. Though she's played down her witchitude to focus on science and medicine, she has to admit she likes having a feline familiar around.


Besides wedding planning, Shadow has been busy preparing a future for himself and his bride, and purchased the magic shop next to Le cirque Park.


Here, Shadow can mix and sell potions right on the spot. The non-hallucinogenic potions, anyway.


While Iola tells fortunes. It's not the best use of her gifts, perhaps, but peeking into the futures of the townspeople is good exercise for her mind. She bought a trick crystal ball like the one from the Spooky Day festival. It does nothing to help her gift, but the show os lights and effects does make people feel like they've gotten their money's worth. If she was doing more than making simple glimpses into the near future, it might be too distracting for Iola, but getting past the noise will help keep her sharp.


After graduation, Delaney and Cassidy spend some time at the Spring Festival together.

"I'm surprised you got married so quickly," Delaney says.

"There wasn't much point in waiting," Cassidy replies, "We were already getting very settled in together, so we decided to make it official. How long before Jack is out of jail? Have you heard?"


Delaney winces at the mention of Jack's name. "It should be soon. His lawyer checks in with me regularly."

"I should apologize to you," Cassidy says, "I was wrong about Jack. We all were. I think you'll be happy together."

Delaney's smile is wan as she accepts her sister's apology. "Jack has always been an angel to me." she says, knowing the same could not be said of her.

________________________________________

The Generation Roll is couple +1, 5 kids (gah! again!). Careers are Alchemist, Fortune Teller (Mystic), and Criminal(Thief). The Alchemist I took as an Expansion Gift, but Fortune Teller was a genuine roll.
Iola is employed at the gypsy caravan, but you'll never see that in a screenshot or hear mention of it. Telling fortunes on the crystal ball does actually improve her job performance a little. She hasn't even done a days work yet, but her progress got pushed up a little just from spending an afternoon in the shop telling fortunes to anyone that came in. It doesn't make any money for her.
Shadow has been selling potions since he was teen, and is already level 9 in the career. Though he has the set up to work at home, I liked the idea of them keeping a shop together. 
Delaney is also officially employed in the Criminal career, but still hasn't done a days work, with Love Day and then Graduation day giving her time off. Jack is in the criminal career, too, and is Delaney's boss. When she took the job, I go the pop up saying her boss was Jack Horner and it never hurts to have a good relationship with the boss. I guess sleeping with him doesn't hurt, either.

The goal is Social Bunny, and Misc Fun is Live Your Trait. As heir, Shadow will be handling both of those. The trait I'm using is Bookworm. Shadow reads every day, and talks about books to at least one person. As a child he used to get lots of book related wishes, but not so much lately. He's getting more alchemy related wishes, and romancing Iola wishes than anything else. I'm also using Bookworm in conjunction with the social bunny goal. Once a week, Shadow will host a book club meeting at the cafe. The wedding planning scene with the Hawksquills was a trial run using that venue and ani's 'Have Coffee with Me' mod. I'll need to work out a couple of routing issues, but it looks good to go as a venue for a weekly bookclub meeting. The club will consist of Sims he knows that have Bookworm or Genius traits, including Farrell, Ariel and Noelle, Aurora, Cassidy and Jesse.
The venue is Happy Sunset Pub by armiel. I changed it from a bar to a hangout, and got rid of the bar, dance floor and foosball to make it more of a coffee shop. I also added the pizza oven deal from MV in case I want to serve food.

Here's a bonus pic of Shadow reading, with Mist sleeping next to him. I probably won't show a lot of Shadow living his trait very often, as it's just this, sitting and reading.


29 comments:

  1. Sitting and reading can be exciting. It's what I'm doing right now and look at what I've read! : D

    If Delaney gets pregnant, Jack will be utterly crushed. And breaking your boss's heart really can't be a good thing.

    The fortunetelling career is hard. : ( Usually I can get my sims up a level a day if I work them hard and have their needs high enough at the start. But not that one.

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    1. Well, reading is exciting for the reader. But for people watching the reader, probably not so much. ; )

      Delaney is not pregnant. That's really not where I want to take this story. However, there is still potential for Jack to be crushed. Just the fact that she slept with Ian would do that to him, should he find out. And it will at least be awkward that the three of them will be working together.

      Actually, I'm happy to hear that fortune telling is hard. Everything is too easy in this game, it will be nice to have a challenge for once. But I'm honestly more focused on what goes o in the shop than the actual career she's enrolled in.

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    2. I did the scam artist path of fortune teller in my last generation, and did manage to hit level 10. But it was hard, even with a workaholic sim using "work hard" the entire time. The problem is that the higher levels have such short work hours, and you only work 3 days/week. I unfortunately had toddlers at the time and couldn't take advantage of the "work at home" option, but I can see my sim not having hit level 10 until he was an elder if he hadn't been a workaholic.

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    3. Cool, I'm actually looking forward to short work hours. I don't care that much about reaching level 10, I just want the time to play in the shop.
      And the crystal ball does bring up the job performance, maybe not as much as work from home.

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  2. I love the little shop and the idea of them "working" together. That's really creative! Love the bookclub idea as well! And I will admit that Delaney surprised me a little. I wasn't at all sure she was the type to use herself, and Jack, like that.

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    1. Thanks! I really wanted a set up where Iola could use the crystal ball to tell fortunes, but didn't want her doing it at home. And I like the idea of Shadow selling his potions from his own shop, so I bought the shop and added the crystal ball.

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  3. "Oh, for Gods' sake, Delaney..." Was what I actually said. Out loud. I said this when she mounted him on the sofa, and my reaction involved stronger words when they actually took it further. She's so ridiculously confusing. Poor Jack.

    I love your idea of the shop for Iola and Shadow! You rolled good careers for them, they're in a similar line of work, and they fit their personalities perfectly.

    I can't wait for Shadow and Iola to have babies! Surely that entire day in bed started something...?

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    1. Delaney made probably the biggest mistake of her life there.

      Iola is not pregnant yet, but I did roll 5 kids so I'm sure they will be along shortly. I do want to have the wedding first, though.

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  4. I love the shop idea! Very cool.

    Delaney's betrayal was very well written. I kind of knew it was going to happen, from the moment we met Ian. Now I'm just anxious to see how it plays out from here.

    Thanks for linking to the coffee mod. That's neat.

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    1. Thank you, Becky!

      That coffee mod is awesome. There just aren't enough group activities in this game, and getting them to sit together to drink coffee is perfect for this book club idea. Especially since the bookworms will naturally talk about books and writing. Most of the pics I got for that scene, everyone had book related speech bubbles. I used the only one where someone was talking about a party because it was supposed to be a wedding planning session. But I at least know actual book club footage will have book talk.

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  5. The Delaney, Jack, Ian triangle is like a bad car accident--you can't help but look, lol. Somehow I doubt Jack will see Laney and Ian's relationship as purely business though. Poor guy, he's still sitting in jail unaware. Jace is a little cutie! :)

    It was neat to see a glimpse of Aurora and Cassidy's after graduating life. They both look happy!

    I love the idea of Shadow and Iola owning a magic shop together--they are too cute as a couple. :D

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    1. LOL, yeah, I don't think Jack would take this well at all. Betrayed by his girl and his partner. That just sucks.

      I was happy that SP married Cass and Jesse, they are a happy couple. Aurora's boyfriend is still a teen, so we'll see if she waits. She did adopt a cute kitten. =D

      I'm looking forward to playing in the magic shop.

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  6. No, Delaney! Why did you do that to Jack?!!! Gah! Now I have more confliction.

    Although that just shows what a great writer you are that I'm so involved with their characters ;)

    I also love the shop set up. Is that the crystal ball from the store? I'm thinking of purchasing it with the points I have left over from buying Monte Vista. I won't say when but I have a fortune teller in a future roll for my generation and seeing your pictures makes me want to get it and use it even more.

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    1. There's a crystal ball object that came with supernatural, I've never used it though. I think it's in the entertainment->hobbies section?

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    2. Thanks, Tsuki!

      I feel bad about Jack, too. What Delaney did will hurt him really bad if he finds out.
      That crystal ball is from the store. I think the one from SN is just deco. But I'd have to look into that more. But I do know I've had the crystal ball from before SN. It does give a job boost to fortune tellers, a small one so not enough to be cheaty. But it's a nice addition to the career.

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  7. Oh Delaney! After everything Jack has done and been through for her and she turns around and betrays him like that!

    I love Shadow & Iola's magic shop! Such a gorgeous idea to combine the two careers!

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    1. I know, Jack has done so much for Delaney, covered for her, got expelled for her, and she turns around and sleeps with is partner while he's sitting jail. He deserves better.
      Thanks, Ali! I'm pretty in love with this shop idea right now. Even without OFB, I can have fun with an owned business.

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  8. Still loving the storyline. I KNEW she'd sleep with Ian, lol.

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    1. Thanks, Margaret!
      Yeah, I did figure people would see that coming. =D

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  9. Bad bad bad move Delaney :(
    I hope there is no baby from that little act, and I hope they both can keep this from Jack.
    Shadow and Iola are almost just too perfect. That scares me. What will the future really hold for them?
    I love their little shop, such a perfect setting for both of them. Perhaps they are just the lovey-dovey couple that they should be. Everyone else is too stressed. haha

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    1. Thanks., Zhip!
      Delaney is the queen of bad moves. But no, there's no baby from this. I feel really bad for Jack, findinmg out the truth will be just as bad as having it kept from him.
      Shadow and Iola are the happy couple for this generation. =D

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  10. I agree that your shop idea is a great one! So is the book club. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out.

    I don't envy your roll, not one bit. Good luck!

    Now I really feel bad for Pie Man. Delaney doesn't really deserve him, in my opinion. Oh well. I hope he does get out of jail at some point.

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    1. I'm hoping both the shop and the book club work as I hope. The book club especially, as Sim outings are so unpredictable.
      It's going to be difficult to manage all these Sims in the house, so I'm planning on at least spacing the children out.

      I think you are right, Delaney doesn't deserve Jack.

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  11. Delaney has way too much of her mom in her - even without Shelly's physical influence. Bleh. I really feel bad for Jack. Although, if he had applied himself more to non-criminal pursuits, they probably wouldn't be in this conundrum.

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    1. That is very true, Delaney did inherit a lot of Shelly's personality, though it manifests in a different direction. And poor Jack, like Elliot, he'll have to learn how hard it is to love someone like that. And it's true he's not totally an innocent victim, he was making trouble and being a bit of a delinquent before she was. But he's ready to move past it, but being held back by his youthful misadventures and by his love for a girl who isn't ready to give up on her teenage lifestyle.

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  12. Delaney! ARGH!

    On another note: I love Shadow and Iola. The idea of the alchemy shop is really sweet, I like the fact that they will be close to each other all the time there. The book club is a neat idea too.

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    1. LOL, I know, Delaney, Delaney, what have you done?

      I wish the alchemy shop were more interesting to play. But most of the time they just end up doing stuff they can do at home. Iola has a laptop to refine her writing skills, and Shadow reads or mixes potions. And any customers that do com in get pounced on by both of them.

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  13. ouch.
    I purposefully avoid sims with family oriented traits for that five kid mark...
    it's so hard and frustrating to turn carefully made and beloved sims into baby making machines. :(

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    1. I prefer two or maybe 3 kids at most, but in this legacy I keep rolling for 4 or 5. If I do roll for a lot of kids, I go for family oriented so I'll at least I'll feel like they wanted all those kids, lol.

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