Outrun the Scythe: A Tale of Daemons and Immortals (Updated 8/3)

[Chubling]

Well, I had things I was going to say but all of that vanished instantly from my head and now it's all Tater all the time! What a sweet, perfect bean! My nugget is a bundle of fear as well. She still randomly banishes herself to the bedroom and we have to go remind her no one put her in there and she's free to leave.

Your pollinator/household choices were a lot of my B list/failed to get in some way, so I'm very excited to get to see what comes out of it. Though Helen is the biggest stab in my heart. Ugh. Beautiful Janet and her beautiful babies. MISTAKES WERE MADE T__T

[Nella]

I liked the chapter splinted between the two dynasties, seeing both in the same update. The last screenshot on Sheila's part of the update had me rolling, her face is just hilarious, and they are definitely robbers. 

Seeing Heathcliff in Bridgeport, It makes me realize that that city's and Twinbrook's genetics have a lot in common, mostly big eyes and big mouths. So beautiful unconventional sims.

[CeresIn]

Seeing Heathcliff in Bridgeport, It makes me realize that that city's and Twinbrook's genetics have a lot in common, mostly big eyes and big mouths. So beautiful unconventional sims.

I agree with @Nella on both the genetics and beautiful unconventional sims. I fell in love with Bridgeport's genetics after playing there a couple of generations in an unofficial save.

If you can make Devin Ashton a pollinator I'll thank you. Kidding, it's just he's my favorite sim in Bridgeport.

As for the chapter, I loved seeing the different scenes in each dynasty plus the Deamons and what is Barry up to?

[Trip]

Well, I had things I was going to say but all of that vanished instantly from my head and now it's all Tater all the time! What a sweet, perfect bean! My nugget is a bundle of fear as well. She still randomly banishes herself to the bedroom and we have to go remind her no one put her in there and she's free to leave.

Your pollinator/household choices were a lot of my B list/failed to get in some way, so I'm very excited to get to see what comes out of it. Though Helen is the biggest stab in my heart. Ugh. Beautiful Janet and her beautiful babies. MISTAKES WERE MADE T__T

@Chubling: Tater's safe spot is under my mum's desk or even better, under the couch. He fits when the other chihuahuas don't (or don't want to) even though he's also the biggest of them.

Impregnating Helen took away valuable painting time so clearly I had to make sacrifices too 😔 The "adult sims are harder to impregnate than young adult sims" line seems to be a myth but that particular adult took few tries.

I liked the chapter splinted between the two dynasties, seeing both in the same update. The last screenshot on Sheila's part of the update had me rolling, her face is just hilarious, and they are definitely robbers. 

Seeing Heathcliff in Bridgeport, It makes me realize that that city's and Twinbrook's genetics have a lot in common, mostly big eyes and big mouths. So beautiful unconventional sims.

@Nella: They're just the local homeless! (Well one of them legit is...or was) It'd be a stupid house to rob since Sheila had barely done any furnishing at that point. The scared pose was one of my favorites to make/use one of EA's fear or panicking animations as a base for.

I was gonna have some jokes about how Heathcliff has cousins in Bridgeport but they didn't make it to the final draft. I really did choose Bridgeport because Heathcliff would fit the aesthetic (among other reasons). My guess for his closest Bridgeport relative is Wayne Bumble, not for eyes or lips but because he has the same pinched-in cheeks that Harwood did.

I agree with Nella on both the genetics and beautiful unconventional sims. I fell in love with Bridgeport's genetics after playing there a couple of generations in an unofficial save.

If you can make Devin Ashton a pollinator I'll thank you. Kidding, it's just he's my favorite sim in Bridgeport.

As for the chapter, I loved seeing the different scenes in each dynasty plus the Deamons and what is Barry up to?

@CeresIn: can confirm you'll see a little bit of Devin, can't say for sure where his whereabouts are now...

Barry's up to "helping" his human immortal or just causing drunken mayhem. He can't stay away because he and his absolutely massive extended family can't stay away from the world at all.

[Trip]

(Forgive the wait, it wasn't even that bad of a year? Tater's more integrated into the house, I self-medicated correctly, everything is how it should be~)

[Trip]

🙠 1.1 🙢

A year into this, and not much changed about me and Tom. I want to focus on hair: I reached my limit of growing mine out. It started to split at the ends otherwise. As long as my bun didn’t get any smaller, I’d take the defeat. And I even stuck with the hair color that Pilona chose for me. Tom, meanwhile, said he was not going to ever go back to the afro he had in music school.

At least I didn’t feel any more rivalry with him. Sculpting was his new favorite hobby, but still a side job in between albums. The artform was my life now, and it was painfully surreal. Or was that just my foot aching? I still had to be careful with it. As I was learning, rejecting physical therapy wasn’t my smartest move…

...at least I kept everything professional, unlike him! Aria Trill worked with Tom a lot. If he wanted strings on his album, Aria got him the whole orchestra. And they got kicked out of Beckett Theatre a lot for doing nasty things backstage.

See, I was going to be classy. In a gym shower. With someone who wasn’t greying yet. Maybe I had to tell Buster the truth after all. But back to the subject of beautiful, youthful hair: I must have inspired something in Kate and Matty with my mane.

I’ll be humble now, I promise.

Kate grew out so much hair that it went into a high, dramatic ponytail. Or maybe that was to keep it out of the way in the kitchen. As a new human dishwasher, but it would be easy to move up. They had high turnover among line cooks but Kate's unlikely tenacity would keep her afloat. Not many people believed in her but I was proud to. To think I thought she’d never make anything of herself! But if Pilona was her spiritual uncle as much as he was my real one, then he must have had a talk with her about being an ambrosia chef. And a normal chef. He paid for lessons and I got some great omelets out of it.

Matty did not change anything about himself and I went days without seeing that strange little man. But one day he emerged with half his hair up in half a bun. I appreciated his length but he half-did the style! I would never. My man bun was a sacred pact between me and some ballerina from back home. Possibly Kyla, who was still her bubbly self whenever I video-called her and Tarik. I spared them a lot of the details of my crazy life though.

Of course, I couldn’t confront Matty about hair like I could with anyone else. Or anything. “Get out of my studio, I need concentration” was his repeated mantra.

“Well I didn’t want to be here anyways,” I said. “But you have to let the maid in, it’s gonna get dusty in here.”

He liked the maid more than he liked me.

But like Matty, I did not rest much. At least we were young. He had nothing to prove about his artistry but I did. At least, I made it a lot more public. Originally, I thought I was unfit for it and hoped that Pilona would understand if I did something different. Then I got good at it and my great-grandpa probably shed a tear from the heavens.

I also had to do things I liked too, like everyone else.

Saying good-bye to Buster was easy. We were meant to be friends until the end and always linked through Victor. I’d still see Buster busking at the Maloney Tower station sometimes, which meant that he was healthy, alive, and living his best life.

I liked having that final goodbye though. I’d miss his stanky onion breath in some way. And the gross things we’d do in his pickup truck.

So I was off, hitting the streets, doing my freaky mating dance and annoying bartenders. And I could swing around a stick and hit a bicurious guy at any time. The world put me up to bat a whole lot for a few weeks.

Subject #1: Apollo Bloom. He somehow lasted longer on Little Celebrity than Kate and Matty. They said it was rigged because audiences liked that he was a bit of an...airhead. But weren’t we all? I had a teacher call me a knucklehead and she was right. Good thing I only had to be immortal, not smart.

Our place: Mick’s Karaoke Palace, and the photo booth. Let’s say the venue was loud and the curtain covered enough to not raise suspicions. I later learned that everyone and their mum had an "encounter" in the photo booth. If anyone asked, they were simply trying out new camera poses and knocked their arms into the wall of the booth. Worked for us. Apollo was a former model after all. No, we would not pay to turn the camera on.

And we could play pool later. Or arcade games. That place was fun.

“Oh my god Apollo you turned the camera on!” I held a print out of something that felt a lot sexier when I didn’t have to look at it from another angle.

“Yeah, this’ll go viral,” he said.

I tore it up instead. He was a little airheaded, and as arrogant as he was sexy.

Subject #2: Kai Leiko. Supposedly the boyfriend of Lola Belle, pop star. Not the kind that becomes a gay idol, though. I didn't enjoy her music but she was Tom’s friend and other frequent collaborator. She flaunted Kai at every opportunity in front of the paparazzi. On the other hand, Kai tried to hide part of himself from the public eye, and co-parent Lola’s adopted son. He often worked out when I found myself practicing on the barre in another room.

Our place: AJV Wellness Center, and a shower in the men’s room. He worked hard to stay ripped. I wanted to pretend I still had the body I used to. It didn’t matter as much in a locker room.

“If I get caught, you’re dead,” he said to me afterwards, as steam billowed out of the room.

I had to laugh a little. “You’ll be eatin’ your words, Leiko. I already got them covered in cornmeal.”

Subject #3: Raphael Striker. Living in the shadow of his soccer star twin brother, Richie. In an actual relationship with a female vampire, but curious. As long as she didn’t bite my neck, I tried not to think about it. But I guess I would have more in common with her when I became a crusty old immortal.

Our place: Eugi’s bar, and its elevator. This was the least discreet I ever was with this. Everyone had to use the elevator. It was blocked for a few minutes, and there was a crowd on the ground floor that was mad at me.

“You’re gonna have to pay for dry cleaning,” he said. “That was filthy!”

“You’re tellin’ me.”

Subject #4: Devin Ashton, the recently-out actor. It was hard to ignore how much he wanted to be Matthew Hamming’s co-star in a steamy romantic drama. But I found him outside a film backlot and hoped to make him forget about Mr. Hamming.

Our place: I had it all planned out. Aquarius, and its rooftop hot tub.

We got kicked out. I never said I was slick all the time.

Our place: Tom’s old hot tub! He wanted to go to his old bodyguard’s 40th birthday and I somehow got invited too. and we snuck out to the deck. Yes I almost drowned. For a moment I forgot how to come up for air, Devin was super-gorgeous like that.

Now I told Uncle Pilona this after a lot of prodding. He reassured me that he had twice as many boyfriends as that in his life, and I think he was making up stories. And then he said that immortals with spouses do better in the long-term. He probably didn’t want me to be a single dad for the heir he’d bring up later.

But I was young and could not stop bringing it up, so my apologies, but hear me out first. I had to spend eternity as an old man so I could suffer with Pilona and Vega. Your priorities are shallow when you’re young, though. I was worried only about who Subject #5 would be. Or #6? With all apologies to Buster for forgetting him all the time. I swear that we stayed friends.

With a long, long life ahead of me, I wasn’t going to spend it feeling like I missed out on anyone. Or at least not missing out on some broad experience. Something in a hot air balloon? A hotel sauna? A bed? Don’t dream too big with that last one!

I knew the adventures would have to end. Just not immediately. Or in the foreseeable future.


So...Subject #6. Heathcliff Ironstar, a pretty good-looking chap from the Simislaus river delta.

Our place...my place? Waylon’s Haunt, where my friend Victor was a bartender. It was his 35th birthday, and he may have had to work but I was going to throw him a party anyways.

Victor got cake, beer, me singing “he’s a jolly good fellow”, and his great-grandma Mo. She and Cara picked up the slack in his life while his mum was reluctant, busy, or ignoring him for more gator wrestling with Samira. They had weird schedules in the underworld, though.

I figured that my gift to Victor would be the gift of extra tips. I tried to be generous to him but then my housemates said they needed food and electricity. So I used the power of advertising instead. I’d use my music contacts to get a good act in the bar, and with enough added drinks, Victor would be skipping all the way to the bank.

“Top it off, big boy,” I said, as Victor poured me another beer from a bottle. “And listen to the voice of an angel...and gimme your lighter because this song always pulls at my heartstrings.” I got the setlist ahead of time. Again, the power of contacts.

“Yeah, just make sure I can still take my smoke break,” he said.

Of course it was Tom. I called his band Tom and the Wordies and he would have punched me if I wasn’t so good at dodging. But between you and me, it’s what I billed them as to Victor and the guy who owned the bar. The idea was a smaller show full of songs and genres Tom would never play in public. He got to play his guitar more, at least.

I was starting to enjoy his music more. Getting out of ballet made me think about how stuffy it made me. Everyone in my class thought I was too loose with parties and beer and days off, so I did those things but then felt bad about it. Somehow it was easier to defend the intricacies of death metal to a bunch of ballet dancers than to say “yeah, I like a top 40 song too. Like this big, meathead rap-rock song to drink beer to.”

“Boys in Hell” was big when I was 14 or so. I never appreciated it correctly until then. Maybe things with Tom would go better if I did. But then again, I didn’t offer him anything to be a fan of about me either.

Oh well, call us oil and water. It didn’t sound like Vega got along with that many people either, though the old bat deserved that fate.

I leaned back into the bar. “Well Vic, you might say that I’m a pretty good gig manager.”

“What?” Okay, it was loud that night and the air was full of guitar feedback and pure bass.

“Hey, is Tom dating your blonde friend?” Victor asked.

“What?” And I actually heard him.

Nah, it’s just a stage kiss. I learned all about it in dance class and middle school theatre class. They kissed, they were on stage, and Kate would do all sorts of things for attention. I mean, she let me spray her with champagne on a show she was about to get kicked off of.

Sure, she described Tom as a hunk, but so did I, and I knew my limits.

I felt stabbed in the chest for some reason. Maybe it was a premature heart attack and Sheila was right all along about it running in the family. Or more likely, heartburn from the beer. So I followed Victor and Mo outside for fresh air. And by fresh air, it was Victor’s secondhand smoke. It was his only kind of break.

“It’s not like I wanted Tom of all people, don’t you know how fast we’d get on each other’s nerves?” I asked Victor. "So why do I feel like crap?"

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Mo said. “And Victor tells me everything.”

“Well ain’t you lucky? He won’t even talk about his salary. I swear, old man Waylon is a cheap one...”

I must have been being too obnoxious for once. Victor wasn’t saying much. He smoked and looked towards the sky, which I didn’t get. I didn’t need any help to enjoy the Bridgeport skyline and the cool ocean breeze and the smell of burning trash.

So I was nervous about a kiss. Hadn’t I already had a lot of those? Something wasn’t clicking inside of me for once. Usually I overflowed with manly confidence. It’s why I could seduce anyone I wanted to…

“Heathcliiiiiff! Oh my god I probably scared the whole bar with that kiss,” Kate said, jumping onto me with a hug. “So as you can tell, a lot of things happened between Tom and I.”

“Yeah, you’re acting like it!” I said.

“Well, we’re an item now! We’re taking bets on which tabloid will run it first.”

“I’ll have Pilona scare the photographers away.”

“Don’t worry, I told him first.” Katelyn sighed contently. “We work so well together. I’ve never felt so complete.”

“Yeah, me neither,” I said. Me neither. It wasn’t like I was in a worse place in Bridgeport. I feared my loneliness in Twinbrook the most and figured I’d be miserable or dead instead of vaguely empty. Wasn’t that preferable?

Have you ever had the fear of missing out? Apparently everyone felt it, and it tore me apart.

I wanted those double dates, okay?

[Trip]

And that’s how long it takes to do the Master Romancer LTW. I had a few practice runs with screenshots so there’s some stuff missing or confused between saves. Anyways Heathcliff’s heart was fully in that lifestyle until the moment his LTW completed and all he could tell me was “husband pls 🥺”, hopefully that yearning makes the next chapter make more sense…

I’ve been okay. Tater’s doing better with peeing in the right places, I’m apartment hunting, I made a ridiculous promise to finish this gen by November, and I changed a whole three sentences in 0.5 due to future implications…guess you’ll have to figure that one out yourself!

[CeresIn]

Good way to insert that LTW with the story. And the last part? Beautiful, I felt for Heathcliff.

Devin Ashton in any story is always good for me, no matter how small his part is.

[Trip]

@CeresIn: I'll see if there are Devin cameos to be had BUT I think he was one of the only townies to either move out or die early because I couldn't find him after a while. It's a fun LTW though after many attempts at it I also had enough

[Trip]

🙠 1.2 🙢

Fast-forward to my second Christmas in Bridgeport. I never celebrated it. In fact, I thought that was a taboo among all daemons until Katelyn chimed in. Her family had funerals and feasts about chaos and Eid (because they liked it), so I started to doubt the Ironstars.
 
Our first “Christmas” involved a lot of beer and watching horror movies. Yes, we invited Victor over. He didn’t celebrate Christmas because his family had to tend to Christmas car crashes. We were an inseparable trio with Tom and Matty simply along for the ride.
 

With Kate and Tom as an “item”, they spent Christmas at his old house with his old buddies. This included his ex-girlfriend, but she and Kate were still friends so I couldn’t say anything about it. We were all still neighbors so I couldn’t tell them not to meet there or anywhere else, really. It’s not like I had to keep everyone under house arrest.
 
I tried, but Matty and I didn’t get invited. He scoffed. He didn’t want to be there anyways.
 
So to set the scene: Bridgeport is lonely on Christmas. Most of the city retreats to the suburbs where their parents and grandparents live for their only quiet day of the year. And then there was Matty and myself, who were drinking beers on a children’s playground.

“...and that is why I didn’t go to my mum’s funeral,” he said. Everyone in his life was cold to him, I’m sad he didn’t want to be a better person instead. But I almost welcomed the break from Kate’s exuberance and Devin Ashton blowing up my phone. Yes, Matthew Hamming rejected him. Everyone could see that coming and he was oblivious and heartbroken. I toyed with the idea of being an upcoming celebrity’s new plaything. Being not a mere couple but an item, complete with awful ship names for us.
 
That wasn’t what I envied about Kate. I thought she deserved a normal guy who delivered mail or pizzas instead. But she still had her moments of being able to confide in Tom and relate to him on a deeper level.
 
Oh well, if there was a man for me in Bridgeport, it wasn’t on that day. He was probably giving gifts to his nieces and nephews and being pestered about when he would get married. Whoever he was. Better him than me, but I should have called my mother too.
 
There was a faint blare of police sirens in the distance. I wasn’t worried since we weren’t on a busy street.

“Put the beer away, you’re gonna get yelled at,” said Matty. We got off the swings and I stuffed the empty bottle into one of my pockets.
 
“Taken from experience?”
 
“I don’t need to tell you a story here.”

They must have been after someone else or feeling the holiday cheer. Good thing, because I wasn’t going to listen to Matty. I was a being above this Earth entirely, or so Uncle Pilona made me feel about it. He still needed to bring me back into space, though. Now that was a story that could reel another guy in. My stories about ballet and the art world were getting stale.
 
Now, the real reason we left Marina Park is that my butt went numb in the cold. And they expected kids to play at that park year-round? Matty laughed and then his did the same.

What I liked about Bridgeport went beyond those cold, grey skies. It was the ability to be loud and open with none of the “wrong” people remembering it. And on a day where the city stood still, I felt it down to my bones. It only amounted to dancing on the sidewalk, but I’d never do that in Twinbrook.

“See? I would have been a star if they let me land on my left foot all the time,” I said. I was glad I could even move at all. The last couple of years made me feel so flabby. And it was a feeling Matty would never--
 
“Yeah, you sure brim with confidence,” he said. “And it’s why none of your plans work.”
 
“Well, I’ve made more money than you.” My cheeks burned red. It sounded mean, but I was coming off the high of selling a big clay urn that month. “I’ve banged two of your old castmates too.”
 
“Wait, William?” I nodded. Ah, the vampire/cop/reality TV star. He wasn't a fan favorite but a lot of viewers had a crush on him, and he chose to spend a night with me! We saw a movie together and things got a little more intense. Which maybe was illegal but he didn’t use his power against me. He did not let me see his handcuffs though. “Being alone is better.”
 
“Easy for you to say, no one’s made you feel like you deserve to be alone forever,” I said.
 
“That implies I haven’t been.”
 
Well, I knew we were going to butt heads a lot. We’d retreat to our studios and whatever Matty did for fun. And it wasn’t like Matty was hostile. But I’d want another sculpting partner in him whenever Tom died, so I had to fix that between the two of us.

At least we agreed on something besides beer and bickering: Chinese takeout. It was cheap enough for Matty and a new freedom for me. It was a weird life not having to justify or exercise off whatever I ate. Sometimes the night could end with sesame chicken. But we got a side of pea shoots and garlic boy choy so it was totally healthy. And afterwards: dancing. The Grind didn’t have an entrance fee, so Matty couldn’t argue against it.

He was not a clubgoer. He sat down with a booklet he kept in his back pocket. It was a local magazine of short stories and poetry he sometimes got published in. I’d love to read it if I wasn’t a borderline illiterate meathead. And by that, I mean that I was easily bored.
 
I think that was a more fair assessment for my whole mind. I set my standards high in Bridgeport for everything, from the men to the public transit. Yes, I put in a complaint whenever a subway car smelled like pee, even if it was my own (there were some crazy nights). Yes, I thought The Grind needed new ownership so it could get spruced up. At least there were always interesting things that turned up there.
 
Or people that made my heart stop.

Where to begin? It must have been the idea of a man in a suit. Most of my partners had been as disheveled as I was. In my head I didn’t have a “type” of man I liked the most, but maybe there was a type forming. Dark, handsome, and yet completely unassuming. He could have grown up in any backwater town just like me.
 
All I had to do was pick a greeting. It was so hard to mess that one up. I got so many phone numbers in Bridgeport without any effort. I was unstoppable and not banned from any dating apps yet (yet!).
 
With a cocktail, I’d seem a lot cooler. He ordered a drink from the start, so it must have been a rough holiday for him. But there were some people who were too handsome to have any real problems.
 
I slid onto the table to wow him with my spontaneous attitude. But I really hated the chairs at The Grind.

“Uh, it was so quiet in here tonight,” he said.
 
“Yeah, I’d rather have my pick in the crowd.” Was that a slight against this man? That I wouldn’t notice him in a crowded club of other sweaty guys? That was untrue.

I took an awkward chug from my glass while thinking about it, forgetting about the straw. And he didn’t have anything to say back. The courage to say I’d let you climb all over me vanished. Make out with me against the grossest wall in the men’s bathroom, you know the one. No, still wouldn’t come out. And I’d feel worse if I let him slip through my fingers. Maybe I should have complimented his suit.
 
“You know, blue looks nice on you,” I said.

“Thanks, I actually just bought this on a whim. I thought the fit would be terrible but you know what they say about good tailors.”
 
“I...do.” I didn’t. I never went to one. Turns out I fit into things off the shelf like it was made for me. Oh my god, what if he could read my thoughts? Of course I liked to brag about myself, but that had to be rationed smartly.

It was not long before I found myself in the men’s room. Alone. Checking for text messages that never arrived. Mystery man seemed a lot happier without me.
 
“So what did I tell you?” Matty asked.
 
“How can this be about confidence? It all went away!” I was curled up on a gnarly bathroom floor, chewed gum and worse things sticking to my back pocket. And he washed his hands...no wonder I was such a loser that night. Somehow more lowly than Matty. “And for the guy who happens to be my type. I don’t even have a type!”
 
“I think you’re in love,” he said, sneering.
 
“I don’t think I’m meant for that.” I wanted to be meant for it, but it wasn’t like I was making any strides towards it. It must have been a thing I told myself so I’d feel better.
 
“He literally took your breath away.”

“Still is…”
 
“You know, I think he’s worked with William before,” said Matty. Was this guy a cop or an investigator? I could see firefighter too...
 
“You’re making this up.”
 
“Nah, he had to sign a release for the show once. His name was...” The pause took forever. “...I didn’t watch the final cut.”
 
“And you forgot him?” I asked.
 
“It’s a big cast and I don’t want to get laid with him. Not even if we cuddled afterwards.”
 
“Yeah, but you’re missing out.” I exhaled and wondered if I was in a better state of mind. But I was filthy. “I think I’ll stay in here.”
 
“I’d leave if I didn’t care about you,” Matty said. “That’s all I’m gonna say.”
 
After that moment, I was convinced that Matty worked his magic. It felt like an eternity and I wanted to hide, but it was me and mystery man. I still wish he remembered his name. It would have helped immensely.

“Don’t look at me,” I mumbled.
 
“You have the weirdest friends,” he said, shaking his head. “Are you alright? You look like you saw a corpse.”
 
“I mean, look at me? What else can I manage to get? Everyone normal forgets me when I’m done with them. And then I forget to ask people their names when I actually need them. And I sat on your table.”
 
He took my hand, gently helping up from the floor. The lighting in the bathroom wasn’t incredible, but I saw what mattered the most: his round, sparkling eyes and lovely smile.
 
“That was pretty bold of you...and it’s Romeo,” he said.
 
“Well come up to my balcony and slap me in the face,” I said. “Wasn’t Heathcliff some guy in a book too?”
 
“Or that song by Kate Bush.”
 
“Who?”

We ended up leaning on the wall and talking for a bit. I wouldn’t turn down the chance to talk with men I liked, and it was the only way I’d get to do what I wanted with them. But it was never so humble. I had been around a filthy city all day, and Romeo had no qualms about ruining his new suit.
 
Oh where to start with Romeo? He had a clear, booming voice. When he spoke, I didn’t feel like I was alone in a bathroom. Or at least it felt like listening to a nice audiobook. He said he worked as an investigator but was cagy about any of the details. It was the little secrets that made him sexy.

But to keep those in check, I made sure to feel his pockets for handcuffs or a gun when we kissed for the first time.

And did I lead him into a gross toilet stall? I don’t think he’d admit to it.

And was he a great club dancer? I was jealous, since it wasn’t really my trade. And burning from the inside out. I didn’t even want to dance. I wanted to cuddle in the backseat of his car with him. I wanted to find out where he lived or get his phone number and text him in the dead of night. It was all the things that would involve only the two of us at midnight.
 
Instead, I left the club at Matty’s behest and didn’t get his phone number. Not even a kiss goodbye. Dancing was fine, but Romeo was a little more wary of getting closer to me without a closed door in the way. I figured it was for his job, his real job. He didn’t sound so impressed with me being a sculptor, but then again, I forgot to drop the right names.

“You have to make this one up to me, Matty,” I said. I moped for our entire walk towards the subway station.
 
“It’s your own fault.”
 
“But couldn’t you make me feel better about it?”
 
Solace wouldn’t come from Matty, but from a familiar smell approaching. There was a time when I would light trash fires with Buster and Victor.

It was nice to burn garbage with friends to end that Christmas. They were a constant I could look forward to on any day of the year. I even got a hug from Buster after I told him about Romeo the dreamboat. He was the greatest ex I ever wished for.
 
I still think it was one of the best holidays I ever had. Even Matty had a good time, in the end. But Romeo was the one man I didn’t forget right afterwards. I thought about a life without resting my head on his shoulder again, or touching his chest, or kissing him all night. It made my skin itch. I’d let Romeo slip through my fingers and marry Apollo instead?
 
God, that would be a waste of my youth.

“Look Matty, we all need to take a leap of confidence sometimes,” I said to him while we walked around the city. “Please, I need Romeo’s number now if our good friend Will knows it. And you...uh...I guess you could read a book you’ve never read?”
 
“I already do that all day,” he said.
 
“Ask a girl out?”
 
“As if I need that.” He shuffled around in place and then his cheeks turned red. “But I do know someone who might need a Christmas gift. But I don’t know what to give her.”
 
“Well, I’m not one for reading,” I said. “And maybe she’s not. The last gift I gave was to my grandma, and that one went as well as you’d expect.”
 
Matty and William fought hard about that number. According to Will, it was a matter of security if I got the wrong one, but soon the blessed ten digits were texted to me. And I felt like I was going to pass out.

“Hey...uh...it’s Heathcliff. I just wanted to make sure you got home safely.”
 
“How did you find this number?” He asked.
 
“Shook down William for it, we have a past I guess,” I said. “So you’re home? Having a good holiday?”
 
“I’m home, and I did,” said Romeo. “It’s always one of the loneliest days. You see terrorism and mangled bodies on the road, and then you leave your shift and some guy wants you in a public bathroom.”
 
“No! I’m sorry, I thought you wanted--”
 
Romeo chuckled a little. “No, it was amazing! I wasn’t going to track you down but the thought that you’d never come back is--”
 
“...it kills ya, right?” I said. “Well, it was killing me, maybe we can see each other for the new year.”

And as for Matty, he came home that night after finding a book to give to a friend. I hoped that he made someone’s holiday a little better.

[Trip]

🙠 1.3 🙢

My instant, head-over-heels, senseless love for Romeo was hard for everyone to understand. I couldn’t stay away from him. I mean, it took me a while to invite him over our house, but before that I wouldn’t shut up about him at dinnertime.

I think the car won everyone over: a cherry-red Margaret Vaguester that he got washed that morning. He adored that car; it had a name (Bessie) and leather seats polished with oil every two weeks. Romeo did his work to have the lifestyle he wanted, and I had to do mine: well, get Katelyn to cook dinner. And then I’d know there was true love between us. We did this on a Wednesday so she’d be home and we’d get slow-roasted salmon.
 
Well, everyone around me was raving about it.

“Anyways, the real color of my car is properly known as rossa corsa,” Romeo said. There was some silence. He was hungry enough after work to eat half his plate without looking at me. And now he wanted to berate me about the car? It was still pretty sexy. “It’s not like it bothers me, but I always have to correct people on it.”
 
“I guess you love cars,” I said.
 
“You have to love something too. You get one car when you leave home and it spirals into an obsession and soon you’re left 40 and single.” Romeo wasn’t a guy who could really blush underneath his rich, dark skin, but he got that same blushing smile.
 
“Not complaining yet…”

But yeah, my sole mission in life was to make Romeo Rake not single. I couldn’t fix the 40 part without Pilona getting mad, so he’d have to accept whatever I gave him.

Let’s just say that I have fantastic gifts.

Morning came and my bed was empty again. It was hard to see our driveway from my room and Romeo’s favorite hunk of metal. But as far as I was concerned, Romeo was gone, and it was what I expected. Even what I wanted.
 
I’d call him after work or show up unannounced at his penthouse. He was pretty loaded from his job and not having children even in his 40’s. So that was gonna be worth mentioning, unless Pilona decided to groom another daemon child for the role. Was I getting ahead of myself? Suddenly everyone else looked so ugly next to Romeo.
 
And I couldn’t look ugly either. Or smell like it. If he wasn’t around, then at least I could be myself…

♫In the cool of the evening, when the fires start burning bright
Hear the twilight callin', as the flames burst into the night
It's creeping in your bloodstream... like a Metal disease...♫
 
♫It's a Pandemic--

“Romeo!” I backed up into him by mistake. And he had to hear my awful singing voice. Were we at that level of intimacy yet? It was worse than being caught naked since he had already seen that part of me with no issues. “Uh...no one ever stays over my house.”
 
“I fell asleep here,” he said. “You also slept on my arm and it was too numb to drive with. But you're cute when you snore.”
 
I batted my lashes. “Well, if you say so, old man.”

Romeo was the only guy who would let me hug him from behind and linger. Even before showering, he smelled great, like the last day’s cologne and my sheets. We used some amazing detergent after all. And the way we touched was so gentle. To think the rest of his life was about being tough on crime. He still would barely even tell me his work hours, though.
 
“You gotta get your pretty butt to work,” I said to him.
 
“Not for another hour,” he said. “I said I had a doctor’s appointment.”
 
“Oh, I know what you’re planning.”
 
Romeo rolled his eyes. “Of course I did.”

At least he didn’t have to worry about showering. I didn’t want Romeo to lose his job, but he asked me how I got such a nice house and seemed jealous that my uncle was funding everything. I guess he had to work hard to get to where he was and had only a car to show for it.
 
I lead him to the door, like a gentleman. And remembered that Pilona was coming to visit. He said it was about the plants but I always felt like I was going to be tricked into something.

“Sorry about the rush, there was some weird man watching us,” said Pilona, looking over his shoulder before closing the door. One of his companions was with him, cowering behind him. She was one of our groundskeepers and delivered clay and ice to Tom and I. We were having fun with the glassy medium until everything melted.
 
And who could he have been talking about? I didn’t want to have the daemon conversation with Romeo yet but maybe it had to happen.
 
“Yeah, I’d drop kick a paparazzo too,” I said.
 
“I know, it is a tragedy that someone has to tend to your plants and plumbing,” he said. “But we can save that for later. It has been a while. I have my claws in more of this city than you might imagine. I think we all deserve massages at a place I can trust.”
 
Somewhere downtown in Bridgeport was this piece of history: an old hammam-style bathhouse. It was there before there were even skyscrapers in the city. But history gutted it out a little. The ownership changed hands. It became popular. They stopped serving the free tea they used to. Worst of all, you also had to wear a towel or a swimsuit inside instead of baring it all.
 
Or so the story from Pilona went. I guess he always had a fondness for it.

Anyways: massages. He promised them, even for his nameless underling. She was situated the furthest from Pilona and dozed off on the table, mumbling in daemonic.

“Zhãmi! Savazheiapilona kolitafailate’tai ti lasavazha hamakila…”
 
“Let her bask in this,” said Pilona. The masseuse was gentle with him, but he was still a clueless human and I feared that he would break my uncle in half. Or maybe his bones were made of diamonds and I was too far diluted to have those. Meanwhile, my daemon masseuse ground his elbow into my sorest spots and it was amazing. And he was a lovely shade of gold like a big, living chandelier. Or like Pilona’s little pet daemon.

“I need an update, Heathcliff. Ever since you got that boyfriend, it's like you ceased to exist altogether. Think of it like me reporting to my investors,” said Pilona.  “And investors hardly care about your personal life.”
 
“How much?” I asked.
 
“Enough so that I know you are not wasting all your time. It is a waste, there are empires to be built after all. Am I not making you do this to make up for my own lost time? Does that even make sense to you?”
 
Well, didn’t I have to make a name for myself too? We got a commission from the state to do some ice sculptures for the governor’s ball. Tom and I loved sculpting in ice but it didn’t mean either of us were good at it. We threw a lot of blocks into the bay because we made a mistake.
 
“Can you get that girl to deliver some more ice? Like, a lot of ice, before it melts. The gov’s still not getting my vote after this, but...”
 
“Oh, it will not melt where I get it from,” he said. “They should be paying you extra for that, not just for your votes. What is he paying you?”
 
“Probably more if you paid your taxes, old man.”
 
“And you say that while the stars shine above you.” Pilona then relaxed. “You have to do some work on your own, unlike your great-grandfather. All people remember him for is what they told him to make. There are many daemons who believe in you, and if you fail them, then you fail me even worse. I will look like a scam artist.”
 
“Yeah, I love being known for being some guy’s great-grandchild, especially so people start being nicer to you. You sure look shady here on Earth.”
 

Silence from Pilona, the old grump.
 
I closed my eyes in defeat.  “Can’t y’all wait until I’m over the hill like he was?”
 
“I do, but that one is between me and the cops, and I always win against cops.” He motioned for the masseuse to keep working. “And waiting? It is difficult to be taken seriously among our kind these days. I do not have endless time. I have one human lifetime left to correct my health, and your kind is gone in an instant. You will understand that one soon enough if you can beat it.”
 
“So what happened to the guys who resurrected my gram?”
 
“Are you mad?”
 
“Isn’t this what it’s all about?”
 
“Oh, it is always more complicated than that,” he said. “Vega will find everything going back to normal for her. But we are just like any society. Old practices come into question, reputations fade, and laws are broken, and it happens to be that all of those are my whole life. Our world exists in a tangled web of bureaucracy and affairs too. I am sure even my woes will be eclipsed one day soon.”
 
“Like that mysterious star sickness you want me to cure,” I said.
 
“Call it slow-acting. Perhaps you never needed this advice anyways. Get my beloved Kate to improve her cooking, even though breakfast was very nice. But enough about me, you certainly have had your brushes with death too…”

What a reminder, and one I needed. For the rest of it, I relaxed. The masseuse dug into muscles that had been abused for years, and it wasn’t like I was taking care of myself either. There was a lot of overzealous club dancing and not stretching every day. Or Romeo left me sore. Worth it.
 
“You know, I finally get the need for self care,” I said to Pilona. “Oh, can you help me with working around Romeo's job? He's hard to catch as a--”

“AGH! For Lyra’s sake, you broke me in half!” Pilona was bent out of shape by his masseuse. It would be healable if it wasn’t him. “Is this how the city treats the elderly now?”
 
“Oh god, not again,” my masseuse said. The female one to the side was deathly silent for the whole day, which was for the best but not in an emergency.
 
“Not for this daemon. Penama, take me home,” he grunted towards his assistant. “You too, Layton.”

His assistant and my masseuse rushed to his aid. Pilona was still in a lot of pain. Penama nervously whispered to Layton. He did it back.
 
“This is serious!” Pilona grunted. No one understood. “Take me home, ti kalotepelã.”

Penama was not her name, but a title you didn’t have to force out of her. She was a skinny little thing and almost like a child, but she carried Pilona over her shoulder like he was a sack of flour. Layton tried to help but was refused. I followed them as they didn’t leave the building, but went further into the hammam. Down an elevator.

To where an even stronger servant of Pilona’s waited at a portal, shining like a golden candelabra. Well, it seemed like a lot of daemons did.
 
They both carried him off through a swirling vortex of blue gas. No one explained it to me but the only daemon in the room who knew English was in immense pain.
 
“Have a nice night with your boyfriend,” Pilona coughed out, as he left to a place unknown. “But in the future, ask me for a match.”
 
“Oh no, don't tell me that you hate him!” I cried out.

I couldn’t help but peek into a world that was supposed to be a key part of my heritage. The travel was so smooth. As much as Pilona hyped it up: I felt like a normal guy. A really rich one, but that wasn’t uncommon here. I related more with Romeo than anyone that Pilona could approve of.
 
But his world was gorgeous...or ugly like the inside of a coal mine. A lush garden was protected by some harsh rocky landscape by a thick glass dome. The garden itself looked like a magical place that could heal any ailments. Or at worst, a great place for a date. I couldn’t convince Romeo of it...or Pilona...but it would be nice to pretend.
 
I dressed myself again and sheepishly walked to the front lobby.

“He’ll be fine,” I said to the scared masseuses. “I...I think you have a deal with him anyways. Did he pay yet?”
 
Yes.
 
“Do you guys have a favorite wine? I need to surprise a guy with some.”
 
It was a short subway ride to Romeo’s place. This was going to be a surprise. I didn’t even know if he was home, but then again, he didn’t seem to have much of a life outside of his job until I forced him to. After that he was an absolute madman. Chugging drinks, dancing, complaining about his ex-girlfriend, the usual stuff. I’m sure I drunkenly mentioned Tarik before. Maybe I needed to call the guy…

...but then you know why you keep forgetting.
 
“Thanks for the bottle, how did you know I liked pignolo?”
 
“Get into your mind and follow one of those wine flowcharts?” The store I bought it from had one. And I begged a clerk to let me impress my boyfriend somehow, since the masseuses were no help. Those were the moments of weakness that I refused to show Romeo. Plus, I didn’t want to make him jealous about my free massages.
 
“Sounds good. Don’t sleep on my arm again though, they might have to call me in to work in the middle of the night.”
 
“Busy crime season?” I asked him. We spent almost every day together, built around Romeo’s irregular work schedule. Sometimes it was just to grab coffee before he was pulled away to analyze evidence or do paperwork. But somehow what he did was more secretive than...singing in the shower and being naked. Wasn’t being an investigator cool and glamorous?
 
“No, just one large case, I’ll get in trouble if I say too much,” he said.
 
And not even alcohol could change that stubborn man!

Who knew that was all it took? Maybe Pilona was afraid of the easy to woo. But me? I had done enough work, and I was right where I needed to be.

[Trip]

Sorry for Heathcliff's shower singing getting too topical but I am not the master of my recommended music...

I HAVE NO CONSISTENCY WITH HEATHCLIFF’S NAIL POLISH I'M SORRY (this was something I took VERY SERIOUSLY during gameplay, what happened to me? Meanwhile I had to make outfits of “well they’re not gonna wear the same underwear two nights in a row, yuck”)

[Chubling]

Oh man, I missed so much but it was all so good!!! Heathcliff continues to be the best. Such a little trash fire of a man. I love that he's gotten all lovey with Romeo! Adorable! And I love when sims show personality like that. Got tired of all the meaningless woohoo and wanted to settle down.

You have such a wonderful writing style and I just love the world you are building. Everything feels very real and connected together.

[Trip]

🙠 1.4 🙢

It was the sort of night that left Romeo’s heart racing. That was every night with Heathcliff, and all the beautiful, young, rude things about him.

Heathcliff fell asleep quickly in his bed, drooling a little on the pillow while Romeo rested his head on his chest. It was almost hard to believe his past as a dancer. That involved having any amount of grace, but then again, it wasn’t what Romeo was looking for anyways. He could be happy with women and their grace and tender touch. The glimpses of goofiness and humanity that occasionally shone through their beauty. But he craved the raw feelings that came from men. The lack of inhibition. The body hair and big strong hands, of course. Every single trait that Heathcliff showed him.

The thoughts of his house disturbed him a little. It was easy to assume that Heathcliff came from money and would never have to work a day in his life. But there was a glint in his eye reminded him of the other side of his life. The big, darkening eclipse that kept everyone out. Bridgeport was never quiet, and it was never fully human either.

Well, it must have been a coincidence.

The phone call came from Li-Anne at the field office. She spent the whole day at the city's most famous bathhouse. Its fame kept it away from anything too salacious, except for one suspect setting up headquarters there anyways. Something suspicious was afoot, and the job ascended beyond that of the local police.

That was when Special Agent Romeo Krishnaverma Rake was assigned to Bridgeport three years prior. At first he was angry and unsure; he always wanted to work at the capital instead. And his ex-fiancee moved there for medical school. But soon that was all forgotten. He loved the bright lights and living near his cousin Rohan, who was a city cop himself. The cases also tended to be smaller and easier.

However, the case in his hands then was the hardest job he had yet. It was like everyone involved could disappear into a cloud of smoke.

But finally, the end was in sight after years of dirty runaways and missing people, dilapidated houses, and piles of money that slipped through their fingers. It was finally down to only a handful of suspects within arms’ reach. Of course, the suspects didn’t even seem to have names, but they got a location down. To everyone’s surprise, everything came out of the old hammam.

“Don’t wake up, I’ll be back by dawn,” he whispered to Heathcliff, as he threw on the first clothes he could find.

At least going to the station meant finally being able to put a picture of him and Heathcliff at his desk, which he stuffed in his bag. They took a great one together a few nights before to celebrate a normal date in the city. But it was the private moments with Heathcliff that electrified Romeo. Now he felt ready to explain his boyfriend to anyone who asked.

After all, he was pretty hard to fire.

“You won’t effin’ believe it,” said Li-Anne. She was still dressed in the bathhouse’s white polo shirt and turned on only a few lights in the office. They were deep into one of the research rooms. “I was in the same room as him. He’s probably not even on this planet anymore, but we got ‘em on tape.”

“Alright, I’ll admit it, you might have been right about it being daemonic.” For a while, Romeo didn’t have to have to have an opinion on daemons, but it was being challenged in every direction. He figured he would keep this case a secret from Heathcliff, though. “Do you have the tapes?”

“Tapes, stills, and one juicy informant interview.”

He chuckled. “I knew I picked favorites for a reason.”

“So our main guy is the one being carried,” she said, circling him in red. “He got injured during a massage. I tried to get him to the hospital since we could do the arrest there, but you know, work with daemons and they’ll disappear into a wormhole.” The security footage wasn’t great, but he had two horns curling around his head like a ram’s.

His names--and there were many--were all over the bathhouse and Bridgeport itself. The lived in abandoned properties and shady companies selling rare earth metals. They signed the contracts of daemonic labor that was too cheap to be good. Byron Suns, Byron Pilo, Byron Ironstar, Pilona Ironstar. The first two were known to the police already, and the last two a secret between Li-Anne and the informant until that night.

Now, Heathcliff was not quiet about his last name. He said it made him look important, though Romeo felt like it went over his human head or even an exaggeration. At least he was honest, if oblivious. For a while, Romeo thought it was made-up or taken from a middle name, much like Rake was for him. And there was no point asking where Ironstar even came from. Wasn’t it a song? He swore that Stefania really liked it when they were kids...

Romeo froze seeing a young man in the corner of the footage knowing that.

“So who are the others?” He asked Li-Anne.

“Ignore our informant. The daemon kiddo was called Penama during our interview. I'm putting her under ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ after everything. She's a mighty accomplice, growing off this dude like a tumor.”

“Is the other man a simple patron, then?” Romeo was hoping for the best. Heathcliff: a young man who couldn't resist a free massage and ogling at bathing men. But it was already stressing him out, making him sweat under his coat on a cold night.

“Nope, they spoke like family. Heathcliff Ironstar, mostly human and really effin' stupid if Layton's right.”

“I'll take that.”

“We’re getting the warrants for the other two, Layton’s in the tank right now, and...I dunno about this guy. They don’t let anyone else into that room.”

“We’ll sit on that,” he said.

“Person of interest?”

“Whatever’s the easiest.”

Copies of what Layton said in an interview with Li-Anne were left on Romeo’s desk. His good reputation got him an office the moment he transferred to Bridgeport. It was a good place to pour over every other detail of a case, but it took him a while to put on his headphones and press play. Looking at the picture of Heathcliff that he took was much better.

“Uh, so first off, Penama is weird, it’s not really a name but more like a sentence for many daemons we employ. This one committed crimes in our world but of course, we turn a blind eye to what she does here…”

Layton was a very measured daemon, especially because he must have known about his imminent arrest. Penama, a name or not, liked stealing jewelry, watches, and energy drinks. Stuff below Romeo’s department for sure, and the more he could give to city police and forget about, the better. Especially if it was related to Heathcliff, but he wanted to doubt it for the rest of his career.

To no one’s shock, Pilona didn’t follow the nation’s labor laws or anyone’s. Common enough until attached to a criminal themselves. Even Layton was going to find himself prosecuted in two worlds, but wouldn’t divulge his crimes against daemons. It wasn’t like they could do anything about it, though.

Heathcliff was there, and he was Pilona’s nephew of some degree. It was a true biological relationship too. Heathcliff came from a daemonic lineage, and only shut up about it around Romeo. Pilona meanwhile was an ancient pain-in-the-butt for the human world.

“I think Heathcliff would play into Pilona’s game without even knowing it. There’s a lot of history with both sides of his family but that’s going into places you can’t touch…”

“Well to hell with it, that’s just speculation,” Romeo muttered, huddled up in his seat.

“So which sister does he belong to?” asked Romeo’s boss, Chief Special Agent Regina Calhoun. The woman that Romeo wanted to be. She always got to the headquarters early like him, especially for huge drops of evidence like Li-Anne’s newest.

It didn’t take long for someone to notice the new photo. Romeo took a deep breath. Legally, she couldn’t do anything about Romeo’s dating life, especially for someone who still wasn’t an official suspect. And especially not for what he was.

Weren’t daemons a protected class, after all?

“No, we’re...seeing each other. But let’s get this out of the way, he’s not as young as he looks,” said Romeo. “Firmly in his 20’s.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “I’ll be talking to Washington about your early retirement.”

Well she was the one who refused to retire before the feds forced her to. Regina would be forced into it within the next two years as she rapidly approached the magic age of fifty-seven. Romeo wasn’t a young man anymore, but that felt like an unfathomable journey.

He tried not to feel judged for his lonesome life. In fact, no serious partners and no ties to any one city was supposed to be an asset for the feds. He thought the real issue was finding things to love about Bridgeport. It didn’t have to be Heathcliff, but Heathcliff was becoming the best part.

Romeo's eyes narrowed as Regina left the room. “Just a kid in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he muttered.


Romeo's job sometimes involved the city police. Not recently, but he still would walk into their office at a dead hour, a box of doughnuts in hand. His cousin, the young and rising Rohan Verma, was working the late shift that night.

“Boston creme, as usual,” said Rohan, inspecting the box. “Truly the best use of our federal budget.”

“Tell that one to my car,” said Romeo. He was ready to go, as the bureau made him work late too. Special Agent sounded flashy, but on most days it meant more paperwork than most people could imagine. Especially because old lady Calhoun seemed to place more of it on his desk that week. Maybe she wanted to make a very early retirement for him more appealing after all.

But first, tea. Romeo had a travel mug, and the Bridgeport Police had a water cooler with a hot water spout.

“So, dating a person of interest?” It was William Fangmann, the officer who would never leave the force. Not even when he had his stint as a reality TV star. Him being a vampire didn't bother Romeo, but William was a big man of mind games, and somehow never got in trouble for doing that to suspects as well. It all came from his dark powers, but the city had a vampire hiring quota and couldn't do anything about it. The big vampire leaned on the cooler, almost tipping it over onto Romeo.

“No one could have told you, that's private info,” said Romeo. “And you know they won't replace another one of these.”

“Yes sir, no more vampire mind games, I get it. And no more glasses of wine with the special agent in charge either.”

Romeo blushed in red-hot embarrassment. Calhoun getting cozy with anyone? That was much wilder than anything Romeo could do with a person of interest. “Love is funny, and he’s not that kind of guy anyways. I think he’ll be cleared within a week, and then I can forget all about this.”

William squinted at him. “Heathcliff?” Loud enough for the whole office to hear, including Rohan. And soon it would be the rest of the Krishnaverma family.

“Can you cut that out? Some of us need private lives,” he said.

“I know that strange man, nothing too scandalous between us. He’s way more annoying than I can be.”

Romeo finally headed for the door once the water cooler was upright again. “I highly doubt that.”


The case moved on. Some local charges were dug up against Penama for her thefts, and any jail would keep that pesky imp in one place. And of course, nothing about Heathcliff was found.

Without many more questions about his boyfriend, Romeo tried to live like nothing happened. Though between his work and Heathcliff’s for the governor’s ball, it meant a lot of lonely nights. It would all be worth it for the ball, though. The governor liked to invite his favorite federal agents too. Romeo also hated Governor Cook, but it would be nice to take Heathcliff as a date there. That dirty old man somehow got the best music and canapes every year.

Even in the midst of the Ironstar case, the feds had a lot of other work. There was always some pesky warehouse near the harbor, and opportunities to work with the city police. Of course, it had to be William with them…

“And then you wouldn’t guess what crazy ol’ Calhoun said to us,” said Li-Anne.

“Something homophobic? That I’m not the next J. Edgar Hoover?” He was having his doubts about her intentions ever since William spilled the beans. There were plenty of different ways she wanted to stifle him personally. From “that car’s too flashy, can't you drive a Honda like everyone else?” to the very first “you know, Rake would be a better surname to use.” He agreed with the last one after all, but it still came out of nowhere.

“No, it’s not always about you,” she said. His phone started to ring.

“Oh god, it’s always about you!”

“Rohan, you animal, aren’t we supposed to have jobs?” Romeo asked his cousin.

“Crazy night out there,” said Rohan. “And do you know a Daemonic interpreter? I understood one word out of her mouth…blame William for that, I’m not judging but you know who will...”

It did not take long between handing Penama’s case to the city and her arrest. She was hardly a sneak, and could never blend into the city as she flitted around in a shimmering gold dress, babbling in a tongue no one understood. And almost every language had a home in Bridgeport.

The little daemon was spotted near a grocery store that night with a stolen watch on her wrist. She was addicted to petty theft and couldn’t even look over her shoulder towards Rohan. His dark uniform meant he blended into the night a little bit, but surely she knew what a police cruiser looked like.

Rohan caught her in the headlights, and yet, she didn't even run. Penama started to approach the cruiser like she had never seen one before. In fact, she might not have, if she was the scared daemon child flung out of space that everyone wanted to see go to jail.

“You're under arrest for crimes of theft. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you in court…”

"Ai'ha, atasi-tai lotetama’me?"

And then Rohan learned the value of an interpreter. That thing they had trouble procuring even on-site for Daemonic. But the warrant was out and she was frozen in the light.

“You have the right to talk to a lawyer…”

“Fila me olasavazheihelã?” She stopped to gather her thoughts. “Lotetama’me...Heath...cliff?”

At least she was easy to tackle to the ground.

“I knew that name sounded familiar! How’s the boyfriend doing anyways?” Rohan asked.

“We don’t have anything on him,” said Romeo. He stepped outside to look out to the vast Pacific Ocean and wished it would swallow him and his boyfriend too. “As long as you guys don’t either, I’m leaving it at that. And don’t tell the family yet.”

“Man, not even Giulia?” Sometimes the best sister to tell was the worst one. She was the only one of the sisters who wasn’t mad at him all the time, but her voice could be heard across three different continents.

And to think he was worrying about that first, instead of his boyfriend being in the middle of two cases. Oblivious or...devious? He certainly had the eyebrows for it. Big groomed arches not unlike the field shots of Pilona. Suddenly, he didn’t want to stay in his big house again.

“We can put you in contact with an interpreter if you haven;t found one yet,” said Romeo. “Oh, and tell Dipika I said hi.”

“C’mon Ro, you didn’t even have as much workplace drama dating me as you do with that moron.” Li-Anne had crept up behind him.

“Can we forget about all this? Please.”

Two shifts ended shortly after, when night turned to morning. Penama was a new jailbird and finding someone who spoke her mother tongue was someone else’s burden. Rohan wanted to meet for drinks later in the day instead, but Romeo wasn’t feeling it in his stomach. Drinking alone? Sure. He’d need the last of Heathcliff’s gifts to him.

Would it even be right to accept any more of them? His starving artist’s money couldn’t have bought his lifestyle either.

It was time to sleep. He thought that he told Heathcliff to visit but the apartment was empty like his tongue was. And what would he say to him the morning after? The next week? For however long that kid wanted to keep that relationship going?

Romeo couldn’t get up from the bed after that, as if Heathcliff was sitting on his chest.

After two hours of fitful rest, someone knocked on his door. Heathcliff had a key and Romeo must have asked him over for breakfast after all. There the young man was, carrying flowers or coffee or grapefruits for the two of them to enjoy. He was the only person who ever came over, after all. That young man feared nothing, and he could push Romeo around in all the right ways.

His life must have been nice. Funded and framed by crime of course, but also the dream of any bachelor. He had to be innocent in this. Otherwise, Romeo would have to give up the black-and-white thinking that kept him his job or give up the greatest relationship he ever had.

Terrible prospects, the both of them.

“Hey Ro, I got your favorite coffee, heard you had a long night,” said Heathcliff through the door. He could taste the iced coffee on his tongue already, complete with a little bit of hazelnut syrup, but couldn’t find the words. Usually those were easier. “Hey, I’ll just leave these by your door if you’re still drained. I’ll bug you later.”

“Yeah...that’d be nice. Thank you.”

[Trip]

First now just for you fine people: this chapter was supposed to be released yesterday but wasn't. You may know this already or guessed it but this story is cross posted to one of my own blogs, with this forum getting chapters a day early as a "perk". This will resume and you'll get 1.5 tomorrow! I apologize a lot, you truly signed up here for nothing. 🤪

Shall I sing an ode to the chapter from hell…the struggle started with what law enforcement department to place Romeo in (he starts out the game at Level 9 in the law enforcement career/special agent branch which should have been my first clue, but I mean, everyone works in the same rabbithole…) and this chapter got a total rewrite when city/state police wasn’t really making sense to me. In general it wasn’t jiving with me. Maybe still isn’t. It got some revisions an hour before release.

Somehow this became the chapter I had to make the most niche CAS content for at this point. Most of it was easy but I spent a whole two minutes inserting an actual picture of Heathcliff and Romeo that didn’t actually show up in the screenshots and for what reason now?



Well at least the FBI jackets weren’t pointless.

Next there was the city police station, which is actually just a room built near Bridgeport City Hall (which is the combined rabbithole for city hall, police, and the military). It was built above the FBI office set (inspired by the recreation of the J. Edgar Hoover building for TS4 by /u/Iridium_rd), and for whatever reason refused to be properly lit. It had overhead lights, windows, etc. but objects and sims would be in complete darkness. With some clever debug lights, I could make it almost passable.



While William looked great (there’s a whole deep dive about the skin overlay given to vampires, genies, and grey sims that should be saved for another day but that probably helped us here) and Romeo and Rohan looked almost alright, there was that nasty bloom on everything. And the sims would be shrouded in darkness again if I moved them (THAT THING YOU DO WHEN POSING). I still don’t know what went wrong.

Oh! And I love the water cooler poses. But they had to be completely redone because I could only get the water cooler to tilt in the opposite direction I originally posed in. It’s complicated stuff about how it’s technically coded as a coffee maker and counter appliance, it’s crazy setting it up as a normal object too, etc.

Sheila’s chapters have been much more forgiving. For next time!