strangetomato | Strangetown: Chapter Seventeen

Warnings: language, sexual situations, drug use

Chapter Seventeen

Part One

All was quiet in the apartment that the three friends shared while attending college at La Fiesta Tech.

Johnny Smith's bedroom was empty. He had been asked to keep Ophelia Nigmos warm, and it was a task that he was only too happy to take on.

Ripp Grunt slept by himself, and he was dreaming again.

This time, the dream was a lot more pleasant.

He was standing in a room with those twins from his favourite soap opera. It was even harder to decide which of them was hotter when they were standing right in front of him.

And why would he even want to choose between the good girl and the bad girl when he could have both?

Maybe it was wrong, so very, very wrong, but who could really blame him? He wasn't about to apologize for the workings of his unconscious mind.

He woke up feeling slightly exhausted, but quite refreshed.

And Johnny had tried to tell him that nothing good would come from watching so much television.

With renewed vigor, Ripp went to the bathroom to take a piss and clean up.

He briefly considered taking a shower, but settled on washing up at the sink instead. He'd probably take a bath in the afternoon anyway, while he was waiting for his soaps to come on.

Ripp also briefly considered shaving, since they would be eating dinner with the Smiths that evening, but decided against that too. What was the point? He had shaved the previous morning, and it would only grow back again by then anyway.

Why would he want to be all freshly shaven like Tank anyway? That dumbass probably shaved three times a day, and what did he gain from it? Nothing. Chicks liked a little stubble. Ripp thought he looked pretty fucking good as-is. Maybe he'd even grow a full beard. Then he'd never have to shave at all.

He surveyed the damage to his nose. Was it actually bigger? Was that even possible? He thought of Buck, and decided that, yes, it was very possible. Well, maybe it was a little crooked, but whatever. He could live with that.

He fussed around with his hair for a minute, and then sauntered his way down the stairs.

"Good morning, Sunshine!" Johnny heard Ripp before he saw him.

"Well, look who's up at a decent hour for a change." Johnny smiled, as Ripp descended into the living room. He gestured to the plate in his hand. "I made banana pancakes. Want some?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't think - I know." Johnny laughed. "Help yourself. I made lots." He began laying down plates of pancakes.

"Oh, only if you insist, John." Ripp planted himself into a chair and immediately stuffed an entire pancake into his mouth.

"Well, you seem chipper and well-rested." Johnny remarked, after he had completed his routine daily assessment of his friend's temperament.

"Yes, sir." Ripp said, through a mouthful of pancakes.

"Sleeping better?"

"Oh, you could say that." Ripp said with a playful grin.

"How about the dreams?" Ripp's nightmares had been improving, but Johnny was, as always, concerned.

"The dreams are fucking amazing."

"Well, don't tell me about them until you eat your breakfast, or they won't come true." Johnny recited his mother's familiar advice. It was a typical Smith family proverb.

"Well, If that's how it is, I won't say a fucking word." Ripp sincerely doubted that Johnny would appreciate the dream as much as he had, anyway.

"I hope you two gluttons saved some of that for me."

Ophelia laughed as she entered the room to a grotesque display of bad table manners. They looked like two pigs at a trough.

She pulled out a chair and sat down between them.

"No worries, Phi. Johnny over there made enough pancakes for a fucking army."

"Hey, I can't help it. It always seems like enough batter until I start dropping it into the pan, and then I just get pancake after pancake after pancake. It's crazy." Johnny threw his hands into the air for emphasis. Ripp coughed out a mocking laugh.

"Yeah, that sounds really fucking traumatic."

"So tonight's the big night, isn't it?" Ophelia cut in. "Dinner with the Smiths. Just like old times."

"Except this time we were actually fucking invited, Phi." Ripp laughed. "We didn't just show up with Johnny on the bus and wait around until dinner, then act all fucking surprised and honoured to be asked to stay."

"I didn't do that."

"Well, I did. Every fucking day, if I could get away with it. I probably drove your mother fucking nuts, Johnny."

"Oh, I'm sure she didn't mind. You were just another one for her to take under her wing. If Mom didn't have someone to mother every hour of the day, she wouldn't know what to do with herself." Johnny rolled his eyes at the thought of his overly zealous mother. "I'm pretty sure she loved having you there, anyway, Ripp. She thought you were this charming young man." Johnny, again, rolled his eyes.

"I know! What a fucking scam artist." Ripp laughed, but his admiration towards Jenny had always been genuine, and he really was always on his best behaviour when he was around her.

"Well, you're nothing if not charming." Ophelia smirked. "Some other choice words come to mind too..."

They had been looking forward to this evening since the day that Jenny had called to invite them.

"Yeah, that sounds great, Mom. I'm sure they'll want to do that."

"Johnny, maybe Tank would like to come too..." Jenny said in that motherly tone that implied it was more than merely a suggestion.

"Mom, forget it! Tank is just lucky that I'm not over at his apartment right now, kicking the crap out of him."

"Johnny, that's not very nice." She scolded.

"Well, you heard what he did to Ripp, right? He deserves it!"

"Yes, Buck mentioned it, but we don't solve anything by treating violence with more violence, Johnny."

"Oh, Mom! I KNOW that, but I'm not inviting Tank, okay?!"

Jenny sighed in frustration at her disobedient child.

"Maybe I'll have to invite him myself, then."

It was Johnny's turn to sigh. She'd obviously planned to do that all along, but couldn't resist making Johnny feel guilty about not wanting to do it himself.

"Well, then I'm not coming." He said, flatly.

"Johnny, do you have to be so difficult? I'm trying to do the right thing here." Of course she was, Johnny thought. It was always about the "right" thing with his mother. As if she really gave a shit about Tank Grunt.

"Well, go ahead and invite him, Mom! It's not like I can stop you! It will be the most awkward evening of your life - I warn you!"

Jenny had ignored Johnny and proceeded to call and invite Tank. He seemed shocked, and more than a little reluctant, but he had said that he'd try his best to be there.

Jenny had spent the morning cleaning the house in preparation for the dinner, and had just picked up some groceries, when the phone rang. It was Pascal.

"Would you care for a little drop-in? We're passing by, so we thought we'd stop in for a visit."

Soon, Pascal and Vidcund arrived, with all of their children in tow.

"So you've heard about the General?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, it's been on the news." Pascal said. "It's a pretty high-profile case. I wouldn't be all that surprised it we were questioned."

"Us? What could we possibly have to do with this?" Jenny was shocked at such a suggestion.

"Well, they seem to be taking an alien spin on it." Pascal continued.

"The military is using his disappearance as more fuel for the fire in their case against the aliens. They are saying that General Grunt had to have been abducted."

"His disappearance isn't exactly great for us, is it?" Vidcund said. "You know, as a family that is supportive of the aliens, and, well, half comprised of aliens, we're under a lot of suspicion."

"Do you really think that, Vidcund?" Jenny asked.

"I know that, Jenny! What do you think General Grunt was even doing in Strangetown to begin with?!"

"He's right, Jenny." Pascal added. "That is exactly what the military stationed him here for. He was more or less watching us."

"And the other abductions in this area." Vidcund explained. "There are more abductions in Strangetown per capita than any other town in this country. A large number of them being in our family."

"Well, I suppose I never really thought of it that way." Jenny said. "I was always more concerned with the Grunts as people. I didn't think like that."

"No, of course you didn't think like that, Jenny." Pascal said, kindly.

"I'm having those poor boys over for dinner tonight." She added. "They could use a nice family meal right now, I'm sure."

"The Grunt boys?" Vidcund made a face. "After the fight between the General and P.T., I find that surprising."

"Well, that was hardly the boys' fault, Vid." said Pascal. "And I doubt they even know much about the project, since the military is very confidential about it."

"Johnny and Jill have been friends with them since they moved here." Jenny said. "They're basically family. Buck is even staying with us right now."

They changed the topic when Jill and Buck entered the room, bringing Mint with them.

"Oh! He's so cute that I could just DIE!" Jill shrieked as she reached to pick up her cousin.

"Orion actually looks a little like Johnny, don't you think? He has that nose from Uncle Vid."

"Yeah, I see it." Buck said.

Buck observed the menagerie of alien sim children. When they were all in the same room, it was a sea of green, and more than a little overwhelming, but he liked it.

The Curious and Smith families were pretty serious about breeding.

Mint Curious, the eldest, was a real character. She was a little extreme, to say the least.

"Did you know that I am a MASTER of chess already? And I only JUST transitioned! Daddy plays with me ALL of the time. Any time I want him to!" She boasted.

"Wow, that's excellent!" Buck exclaimed. "I play chess sometimes too, but I'm not that good at it. I need more practice."

"I bet I could TOTALLY beat you!"

"Yes, you probably could."

"Ummm, who ARE you, anyway?! Are you my cousin too?"

"Errr, no... I'm Buck Grunt. I live down the room, or, well, I used to live down the road. Now I live here."

"You mean, you're actually NOT related to me?!"

"That's right."

"WOW! I thought EVERYONE in Strangetown was related to me."

Mint soon tired of talking to Buck, and moved on to her father.

"Daddy, can we GO now? I want to finish our game of CHESS!" Mint asked, loudly.

"Now, be patient, Mint." Pascal said, calmly. "Daddy is talking to Aunt Jenny, okay?"

"I want to go NOW!" She screamed.

"Sorry, Jen..."

"It's okay. I've seen a tantrum before, Pascal. Don't you remember what Johnny was like at that age?" They all laughed.

"Listen, Minty-girl. We'll go in a couple of minutes, okay?" He got up and danced her around on his feet to occupy her a little bit.

"Okay, Daddy!"

"So, how are things with Lazlo these days? Have you heard much from him?"

"Not so much. He's cut himself off a little, all holed up in his new place with Crystal, but he seems happy enough." Pascal said.

"Crystal..." Vidcund began. "She doesn't seem to have a lot of time for children. They never come to visit us."

"Really? Are you sure it's not something else?" Jenny had trouble comprehending that someone might not adore children like she did.

"No." Pascal said, quietly. "She doesn't seem to be fond of the kids." He didn't want to imply that it might also be because of the fact that they were green, but he'd certainly considered that this may be the case.

Jenny noticed that Jordan had picked up the kitten.

"Now Jordan! Play gentle with Pita, okay?"

"That's a good boy."

"Well, we really should be going." Pascal sighed. "You have the kids coming for dinner, and I'm sure you have lots to do before then."

"Oh, we don't mind you visiting, Pascal! Any time at all. You aren't in the way. We'd ask you to stay for dinner too, but it's going to be a tight fit as it is, even with the little fold-out table."

Vidcund smiled at the thought of someone other than himself sitting at that table.

They got to their feet and gathered the toddlers.

"Come on, Mint!" Pascal said. "You wanted to go, so don't start playing that game now, or we'll never get home to play chess."

"OKAY, Daddy!" She bellowed.

Jenny smiled at the sight of her younger brothers and their children. All her concerns about them being single parents had quickly faded after she had seen how well it had all worked out. And wasn't a single father the most typical family for a child of an abduction anyway? They, at least, had the equivalent of two fathers.

Being a father seemed to bring out the best in Vidcund too, and she was happy to see that he now had something to occupy his time. She hated when he wallowed in self pity.

He was so proud of his twins, she could tell. It wasn't his style to brag about them, or even talk about them all that much, but she could tell that he was proud because he always dressed them up as if for a special occasion.

Pascal was an excellent father. That didn't surprise Jenny at all. Pascal had always been a very patient and thoughtful boy, and those traits had carried over into his adult life. If anyone could hope to control Mint Curious, it would be him.

Mint obviously took a large part of her personality from her unseen pollinator, but she was a lot like Pascal too. She was simply voracious in her consumption of knowledge.

Jenny was just overjoyed to see her family growing in leaps and bounds like it had been, and it was so nice to see that her family continued to carry on her husband's work. These children would be very important to his project, and by being born into the Curious family, they would be insured a proper upbringing to prepare them for their duty as alien sims.

Once Pacal and Vidcund managed to get the children out the door, Jenny returned to her business of getting ready for dinner.

After her uncles left, Jill dragged Buck into the bathroom with her. She pulled out a pair of scissors and some makeup.

"What's that for?" Buck asked.

"We're going to cut my hair." Buck's eyes widened in shock.

"We are?!" He repeated it again. "WE are?"

"Well, actually, you're going to cut it. I'm just going to tell you what to do." She handed the scissors over to him with a smile.

"I don't know Jill... what if your Mom gets mad?" Buck was uneasy about doing something to upset Jill's parents. It would be bad enough if it was his own parents, but he was a guest in the their home.

"I already asked her and she said it was fine!" Jill stressed, though it was a lie. "You're good at this sort of thing, Buck! You'll do a better job than they would at the salon. C'mon! It'll be fun!"

"Well... I suppose so, Jill." Buck was actually really excited at the the thought of being able to cut someone's hair. Especially Jill's hair. He did have to agree that it would be fun.

He took the scissors and began his work. After some time, when half of Jill's hair littered the floor, and he'd also styled her hair and applied her makeup for her, he stood back to survey his work.

"Wow. You look so much older, Jill."

"Perfect." Jill smiled.

"The cab is here!" Johnny yelled.

"I'm ready." Ophelia was heading for the door. "Where's Ripp?"

"Ripp!" Johnny barked. "Are you coming, or what?!"

"Yeah, hold on, Johnny! Keep your pants on!"

Upstairs, Ripp was in the bathroom, washing down the last of his painkillers with a glass of water.

It wouldn't be good on his empty stomach, but he'd be eating soon anyway. He would risk it.

Ripp finally followed behind them, and they made their way to the cab.

"I'm thinking a berry pie would be nice, Buck." P.T. said as he mixed up the pie crust. "Your brothers like that, right? Who doesn't like berries?" There weren't many people in the entire galaxy that didn't like berries, as far as P.T. was concerned.

"Yeah, they love pie." Buck couldn't really remember the last time the Grunts would have eaten pie together, but he was sure it would have been remembered fondly by both Tank and Ripp.

"Here - do you want to finish mixing this, while I get the filling out of the fridge?" Buck smiled and took the bowl from P.T.'s well-worn old green hands.

"How are your brothers doing?" P.T. asked, as Buck finished up with the crust.

"Well, as you know, they reacted pretty badly at first." He recalled the day that he had told then, and when he had received the call from Johnny. Ripp's face nearly beaten in, and Tank hardly aware of the fact that he'd even done it.

"I'd like to be able to say that things have improved, and I think they have, slightly, but I'm not too sure..." He paused.

"I suppose it would be best if we didn't discuss it directly." P.T. remarked. "Unless they want to."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much." Buck said, thoughtfully. "We have to deal with it sometime."

"That looks excellent." P.T. said as he approved of Buck's skill at forming the pie crust. "You're catching on quite well."

"Thank you."

Buck put the pie into the pre-heated oven, carefully making sure that the heat didn't escape. He thought about baking, and about coping with hardships, and decided that they were very similar things. They both seemed impossible to do at first, but they were manageable if you broke them down into small steps.

Soon, it was ready, and Buck set it on the counter. A perfect berry pie.

"I couldn't have done a better job myself, Buck." P.T. smiled. Buck found himself swept up into a hug by the old alien.

"Thank you." He said.

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Jill yelled, as she sprinted to the open it.

Jenny had done a serious double take when Jill had come out of her room with a new haircut, makeup, and a pretty dress on, but she hadn't completely freaked out. Jill was relieved that it wouldn't be a big issue. Like she needed that tonight, of all nights.

Johnny was the first one to come in through the door. "Hey, Sis!" He hugged her. "What have you done to yourself now?" He flicked her hair.

"Ummm, It's called a haircut, Johnny!" She huffed. "Like you can talk, there, Mr. Blown with the Wind!"

"Well, at least you haven't grown up too much, Jill." He teased.

Jill quickly directed her attention away from her annoying brother, and onwards to more appealing subjects.

Far, far more appealing subjects.

"Hi Ripp - Hi Ophelia." She quickly added the second greating to avoid drawing too much attention to the first. She already felt herself blushing, and she hoped that it wasn't too noticeable to Ripp.

"Oh hey, Jill!" Ripp smiled. "How are you?" Well, she certainly grew up well, he thought to himself.

Time seemed to slow down considerably for Jill, as she took in everything that Ripp Grunt had to offer.

Was it possible that he had become twice as hot since the last time she had seen him? It seemed to be the case. He looked different and new. More chiselled and rugged, with the manly facial hair. And the hair. Oh, the hair.

Jill felt herself burning all over.

She mumbled out something that she hoped passed for a coherent reply, and then moved away from him before she made a fool of herself.

"Tank didn't come with you?" Jenny asked, disapprovingly, as she went up to see Johnny.

"No, I already told you, Mom!" Johnny whined. "He's not going to want to be here!"

"Actually..." Ripp began.

"Tank said that he'd was going to drop over here on his own. He had another ride."

"Oh, that's great." Jenny smiled.

"You spoke to Tank?!" Johnny exclaimed in disbelief. Ripp hadn't told him anything about that, and this frustrated Johnny to no end. How could he just forget to mention something like that?

"Yeah, we talked... exchanged some words..." Ripp said, as casually as if it happened every day.

"How did that go?" Ophelia asked, hesitantly. She was silently hoping that it had gone better than her own conversation with Tank.

"Oh, it was okay." Ripp languidly drifted away from the topic.

"By the way, Jenny, I must say that you look very nice tonight." Ripp added.

"Why, thank you, Ripp!" Jenny smiled, while Johnny tried to keep himself from giving Ripp a good smack in the mouth. Sure, Ripp was just being nice, but did he have to take it that far? Flirting with someone's mother was not something Johnny imagined that a sensible person would do.

"Well, come on in and see the twins!" Jenny gestured towards the floor where the babies were playing with Jill's dollhouse.

"Oh, they're just precious!" Ophelia beamed. "They're gorgeous, Mrs. Smith."

"Please, Ophelia. Call me Jenny."

"Aren't they sweet, Ripp?" Ophelia smiled.

"Yeah... they're cute." He obviously wasn't mustering enough enthusiasm for Ophelia, so he went on to speak to Jolene directly.

"That must be a pretty f-" He corrected himself. "-fine tasting little doll you have there. Do you like the shoes better than the other parts?"

"Ripp, you don't talk to them like they're adults!" Ophelia chided.

"Why not? I'm sure they get sick of hearing all that f-funny baby talk all day long."

Ophelia sighed, but smiled at Ripp's efforts to avoid cursing around the babies. Well, it was probably mostly for Jenny's sake, but it was still nice to see that he given it some thought.

Johnny strode by and scooped up Jolene. "What a little sweetheart!" He exclaimed. "She looks just like her old man!"

Jill picked up Jordan and they all marveled at the twins for a while, making comparisons and predictions. Jenny smiled. It was so nice to see all of her children in one room again, and her other "children" too.

It was a beautiful sight to behold. The most beautiful thing there was, in Jenny's mind.

"Wheeeee! You like that, don't you?" Johnny dangled Jolene upside down, and she squealed with delight.

Jenny looked forward to seeing Johnny as a father. She knew that he'd make an excellent parent, if he didn't let his frustration get the better of him. She was sure that he'd learn to cope with it, once he stepped into that role. When he grew up.

There was a knock on the door, and Jenny turned to let Tank inside.

"I hope I'm not too late." He said, as he surveyed the room. "We lost track of the time."

Ripp went to greet him.

"Did Frances drop you off?" He snickered.

"Yeah, we went into Sim City today, so we were out for a drive anyway." Tank said, with utmost sincerity, ignoring Ripp's greasy smirk.

"Oh, out cruising together? How nice..." Tank stared into Ripp's gleeful, bemusing face. What the hell was he getting on with?

"It's so nice to see you two boys getting along so well." Jenny smiled with her most motherly of smiles. "Johnny might be able to learn a thing or two."

Ripp and Tank both smiled, quite proud of themselves for obtaining this motherly approval.

"Now, who's hungry?" She chirped.

(Continue to Chapter 17 (part 2)...)

A/N: I broke this chapter into two parts, because it was too large to post as one. This also allows me to actually get the first half out while I finish up the second half.