strangetomato | Strangetown: Chapter Three

Warnings: language (just maybe)

Chapter Three

Loki was hardly the first sim in Strangetown to imply that the Curious family were a bunch of freaks. Plenty of sims did. They weren't exactly a typical family, at least not by the standards on Sim Earth, and not all of them even hailed from that planet.

He was right about Vidcund too. At least, he was right about the abduction.

It wasn't as big of a shock to them as Pascal's had been. Though not the first abduction in their family, Pascal had been the first Curious family abduction that any of the living members had been around to witness.

Vidcund's was obviously more predictable, if not any less exciting.

It was exciting enough to send Pascal running to witness it, even as pregnant as he was, and he took feverish mental notes, even as he tried to reassure his younger brother.

It wasn't like Vidcund hadn't wanted to get abducted, because he had, but things seem a lot more idealized in your mind.

Even Pascal had to marvel at it, and he'd been there himself, not that long ago.

Vidcund was back before sunrise, as was usually the case. The aliens were nothing if not efficient.

The sight of quiet, fussy Vidcund flailing through the air made Pascal laugh a little bit, but he was sure to wipe that silly grin off of his face before Vid could see it. This was no joke, afterall, and he wouldn't want to take away from Vidcund's moment in any way. This was important stuff.

Even Lazlo had managed to pull himself away from his videogame long enough to catch Vidcund's dismount from the spaceship. It was a big event, and they all wanted to share in it, so they would remember it forever.

And so, Vidcund became the second Curious sibling to meet the aliens on their home turf, and would no doubt be the third to give birth to a green baby.

Their older sister, Jenny, had been the first, though she hadn't needed to get abducted to do it. Leave it to Jenny to get the aliens to do it on her own terms. As an older sister, the brothers always did find her a little bit bossy.

They had three older sisters, in fact, so the brothers were well used to that. The other two were a little more laid back than Jenny, and a lot more green.

The eldest two were twins, Lola and Chloe, and they were half siblings to the rest of the family, but family nonetheless.

The girls weren't exactly welcomed with open arms by their non-biological mother, Kitty Curious, but their father was overjoyed to give birth to them. Like his sons, he was fascinated by the mechanics of alien biology and culture. He devoted his entire life to it.

Lola was the eldest, and the far more sensible twin. She was very serious in her demeanor, and was a nurturing type. She was a hard worker, and hoped to make a real name for herself one day. She knew that this would take time, and lots of hard work. Pascal and Vidcund were both very much like her.

Chloe was a different story altogether.

Chloe was all about having a good time. She was happy working as a lowly waitress, loved it in fact, since she flirted with all of the customers and received fabulous tips. Perhaps it could be blamed on her fiery red hair, but she was always on the prowl for some new fling. Lola was used to it, but it was sometimes aggravating when Chloe decided to entertain guests in the very bedroom they shared together. Chloe had absolutely no shame.

The next detail in the Curious family's history was where most sims decided that they were all a bit too much to take, if they hadn't already by that point. Pollination Technician No. 9, the alien responsible for the pollination of Glarn Curious, and the father of the Curious twins, was the very same P.T. that was currently married to their sister, Jenny.

It wasn't incest by any means, but the branches of their family tree were a lot more ensnarled than was typical in most families.

The Curious brothers kept to themselves in their home most of the time, since they were very focussed in their scholarly pursuits, or at least two of them were. Focus was not one of Lazlo's best qualities, and he usually just watched TV while Pascal was at work on the computer.

The birth of another child was always cause for celebration, even in a family as big as the Curious-Smith clan. It was especially exciting for the Curiouses, so Pascal's fast approaching due date brought with it several get-togethers.

The first was dinner with Lola and Chloe.

Though they were the eldest, both twins were still chronically single. Lola was preoccupied with work, and extremely picky about relationships. Chloe, of course, had very little intentions of ever settling down. She was having way too much fun. The twins, despite obvious differences, had always been close, so they had stuck together to this very day, and lived in a small house just down the hill from where their brothers lived. They also had a couple of other women living there as roommates.

Erin Beaker was one of them. When Pascal's jaw had hit the floor, Lola had said, "Yes, THAT Erin Beaker." Erin was, in fact, the younger sister of Loki Beaker, though she really didn't seem to have any of his more disturbing qualities, so Lola wasn't too worried about it. Erin certainly wasn't anyone to be afraid of, unless you were really afraid of awkward conversations where someone talked about themselves way too much.

Like Loki, Erin was convinced that her rightful place was at the very top of the sim heap. The Beakers had a long and proud lineage, afterall, and they considered themselves the equivalent of royalty in Strangetown. This really burned Chloe up, and Erin was no fan of Chloe either, but they somehow managed to co-exist, mostly for the sake of the rent.

Chloe's whoring around really offended Erin's lofty notions of what constituted proper sim decorum, and Chloe considered Erin just about as useless as tits on a bull. "Little Miss Strangetown royalty" just proved to her that genetics were bullshit. Prestigious family or not, she thought that Erin was just a lazy bitch who "princessed out on her fainting couch" all day, couldn't hold down a job to save her life, and was capable of burning food in a microwave.

Neither of the twins were a fan of those occasional visits from Loki, and they were relieved that Erin usually spoke with him outside. Chloe, of course, couldn't resist listening in on them.

"Of course I don't believe all of those rumours, Loki! We're Beakers. We should be used to it. People resent our family's history, our money, our genius..." Erin loved Loki, despite the facts of his personality. He encouraged her many whims, such as slumming it with this bunch of commoners, and her delusions about being a psychic.

"Yes, us Beakers are a proud and special breed." Loki agreed.

Behind the corner, Chloe stifled a giggle as she added, "Yeah, special in the retarded sense."

Loki usually went on to bad mouth Pascal for a bit. His hatred of Pascal was largely due to their shared status as scientists, and their closeness in age. That Erin could laugh along at the terrible things he said about alien impregnation, and then turn around and eat dinner with two half aliens, was something that really pissed Chloe off.

Chloe probably really should have found them frightening in addition to being offensive, but she usually just laughed her ass off at how delusional they both were...

... and she really did throw up a little bit in her mouth whenever she saw them kissing goodbye.

Their other roommate, Kristen Loste, was much more tolerable. She mostly kept to herself, and her athletic training, but she was friendly enough to even talk to other members of the Curious family when they were in the neighbourhood, even without the twins around. Kristen wasn't from Strangetown, so a lot of the local stories were new to her. She thought it was all very fascinating, if not a little disturbing at times.

The twins hadn't invited Jenny and her brood to the dinner. Their place really wasn't big enough to fit everyone. Chloe had said that it would be more fun without the "marrieds" around anyway. Lola didn't really know how to break it to her that their brothers were unlikely to turn the event into a wild party.

That's not to say that they didn't bond over their shared status as the single siblings.

"Oh my god!" Chloe huffed, "Jenny drives me insane with her smug married thing, and she's always asking me when I'm going to settle down with a man - Of course, I quickly point out that men aren't even my first choice."

"You'd take anything with a pulse, Chloe." Vidcund was quick to remind her.

"True enough. As long as they could get my pulse racing. That's what it's all about, folks! Why even bother living without it? Speaking of which, I hear that our little Lazlo has been seeing someone lately..."

Lazlo's smile clearly illustrated that it was true. "Her name's Crystal," he said, "and it seems to be going pretty well. I really like her."

"See? It's not like we're all striking out!" said Chloe, "I just don't see where Jenny gets off -"

"Jenny just wants everyone to be happy." Pascal interjected. "She means well. She always does. It's just that, for her, being married and having children is the key to happiness. It's hard for her to see how anyone would be any different."

"I just don't get the obsession with breeding! I mean, I know we need to preserve our race, and it's no joke, but god, who wants to settle down and breed, breed, breed?!" Chloe's eyes glimmered like the pieces of flare on her work uniform. "Well, the breeding part is great, just not the actual children."

"You'd be a born pollinator, Chloe." Lola said, "Perhaps it's something to look into."

"Well, there are ethics to consider too. Most sims don't do it that way, you know."

"Since when did you ever care about ethics?" They all laughed at her, but it was all in good fun.

"Abductions are different." said Vidcund, "They are very careful about selecting their targets. It's not like they ever abduct you on the first try. They've got a system set up for observation, so they are able pick the right sims."

"So... " Lola inquired, "Are you hinting at something, Vid?"

"Yes. They finally came for me."

Lola grinned form ear to ear.

"I'm so happy for you both." said Lola, "And I couldn't be prouder of you for following in the footsteps of our fathers. You do us a great kindness in supporting their goals, and the goals of our struggling species."

"Well, like you said, it's what Dad would have wanted." said Pascal, and Vidcund nodded in agreement. "What's more important than family?"

Certainly, none of the Curiouses could think of anything that was.

Pascal had always been Lola's favourite, and she made no secrets about it. She was simply overjoyed to see him pregnant.

"I'll bet she'll be just gorgeous. She'll have your cute little nose and our beautiful green skin."

"She?" Pascal smiled.

"Well, really I'm just guessing. You know how they say you carry them a certain way, or get certain cravings... well I hardly believe in that, but sometimes you just get a feeling. If I put any faith in luck, if I was a gambling sort, I'd put my money on a girl."

"You'd never waste your money on such a thing."

"How well you do know me, Paz."

The very next day, they all got together again, at the Smith's home. Like everything Jenny did, Jenny's party was bigger, greener, and more upbeat.

P.T. and Jenny had gone to great lengths to make a truly delicious meal. They were very skilled in the art of vegetarian cooking, having fed so many alien and half-alien mouths over the years, including two children who could be very picky eaters.

It was tight fit, but they all found a place to sit, even with Johnny's girlfriend in attendance. Of course, some of them were stuck at the "kid's table", yet again.

"I swear I will be an old, old man before I get to the big table." Said Lazlo.

"I think you have to push out some children to move yourself up," agreed Vidcund, "and I'm almost there. I can just taste it."

They all discussed the impending baby with great joy, and none could have been happier than P.T. As a retired pollination technician, he knew firsthand the struggles they faced to find appropriate sims for the pollinations. Jenny, as they predicted, was slightly concerned about Pascal's predicament as a single parent.

"It'd be lovely if you found someone to help you raise your child, Pascal." Jenny said. "Do you have any prospects?"

"Oh, give it a rest, Jen!" Chloe answered for him. "He has Vid and Lazlo! Granted, Lazlo's not much good for anything, but he has two brothers living there with him in the very same house, not to mention all of us. If you can't raise a child with two live-in uncles and a veritable village of a family, you're really not much of a parent, are you?"

"I'm not trying to be critical. I just want the best for my little brother, " Jenny continued, "Is that so wrong?"

"No, Jenny," Pascal assured her, "There's nothing wrong with that. I appreciate your concern."

"Marriage is very important." Said P.T., "It's the best way to raise a stable family, even in our culture."

"Yes, but aren't most pollinated sims single men?" Pressed Chloe, who was not afraid to question her father. "Doesn't that go against what you just said?"

"There are a whole different set of issues at that level of introduction. We seek out those sims that are most receptive to the idea of an alien culture, and unfortunately, that isn't usually the case when abducting one member of a married couple. There are some serious jealously issues involved."

"No kidding..." Chloe didn't mention names, since they all knew that they were really talking about Kitty.

"When you're talking about equals, sims who have the same goals and background, it's completely different." He said, "I was very lucky to find Jenny. It's not always that easy, and so the pollination process is usually the only method we have."

At the small table, Lola was giving Vidcund dietary advice, now that he was pregnant himself too. Lazlo was devouring cheesecake with a lack of regard for manners, as he often did.

"God, Laz, do you have to be such a pig?" It was a familiar refrain for Vidcund.

"Do you have to be such a whiny brat?" And so it had been since they were young boys.

The celebration moved on from the table to other activities. The Smiths had a number of wholesome family ways to pass the time.

They all had a great time, in their own way.

As was the case with most gatherings at the Smith household, this one ended up in the pool. The Smiths did well enough for themselves, and their pool was the prize of their home because it brought them all together as a family.

Under the vast and starry sky, the Curiouses and the Smiths enjoyed each other's company. They always did.

Pascal had absolutely no concerns about bringing another child into this family, even as a single parent. If other sims didn't get that, it was their loss.

(Continue to Chapter Four...)

Strangetown: Chapter Three

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