Happy Birthday Gigs!

Doing a quick early post for ya with the birthday fic -- mostly because I also cut to the chase and just posted it to AO3 right away this year. XD But you get a proper DW post too for it -- hope you like!

Little Family of Horrors

"No."

"Oh, come on, Vincent."

"Nope."

"Nothing's going to happen! She's not going to hurt you!"

"Nuh-uh."

"Vincent, I swear on our dearest father's soul that Audrey is not going to take a snap at you."

". . .I'm, uh, flattered you think my soul is good enough to swear by?"

Lorina and Vincent both jumped. "What - Dad!" Lorina said, leaning around Vincent to look at him. "I thought you were still in the lab."

"I had to take a break - it's hot in there today," Victor said, mopping the sweat off his brow. He nodded at the pair before him. "So, the usual argument?"

Lorina huffed, holding up her favorite potted plant. "Yes. Dad, tell Vincent that Audrey is perfectly safe."

"Dad, tell Lorina that I think I'm justified in not trusting any plant with teeth," Vincent promptly shot back, folding his arms.

"She's part Venus flytrap! Of course she's going to have teeth!" Lorina petted the top of Audrey's bulbous "flower," making it wiggle. "But that doesn't mean she's going to take off a finger."

"I can't take that risk! I mean, look - I know Uncle Richard could probably build me a new one that was better than the original," Vincent allowed, circling his wrist. "But do you know how long it would take me to get used to it? To do anything with it? Most importantly, to play the piano again? I don't want to have to start over on my favorite hobby on the off chance that your little monstrosity decides it wants to sample human flesh!"

"You're just a wimp who doesn't appreciate proper SCIENCE when he sees it!" Lorina shoved the startled plant in his face. "Touch it!"

"Hey, hey!" Victor insinuated himself between them as Vincent backed up. "Enough of that! Lorina, we do not call your brother names. Vincent, we do not call your sister's Inventions 'monstrosities.'" He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The whole house is tired of this argument between you two. I need to know why it keeps coming up."

There was a moment of silence. Then, in a rather shakier voice than before, Lorina said, "I just want to know why my own twin brother doesn't trust me enough to know I wouldn't make anything that would hurt somebody."

"What - I - I don't-" Vincent stammered - then sighed, letting his head fall to his chest. "I - I'm sorry," he mumbled, rubbing his arm with his eyes on his shoes. "I didn't realize you were taking it that hard. And I didn't mean - I know you wouldn't intentionally make anything that would hurt us. And I know she hasn't hurt you. But - I can't help but worry. The piano means the world to me, and just the idea that one bad moment might mean I'd lose it. . ." He flexed his fingers. "Wouldn't you feel the same way about something that could stop you from tending your plants?"

Lorina's expression softened. "Yeah, I would," she admitted, cradling Audrey against her chest. "All right, I'll stop pestering you about it. Just - be open to giving her a chance? When you're ready?"

"I'll try," Vincent promised. "Honestly, it's not so much her doing anything deliberately as much as -- well. Which one of us got Dad's natural 'grace?'"

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Dad, but - when's the last time you petted Audrey?"

". . .touchè."

Inspiration for this one was me abruptly remembering that fic you did with Victor and Lorina a while back where they were working together to make the perfect fertilizer, and realizing as a result I hadn't done much with the Secundus kids, particularly the Van Dort twins, in a while. So here we are! Obviously Audrey is intended to be the same sort of creature as Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors, just genuinely more friendly, less verbal, and without a taste for blood. I'd intended for it to be funnier, but about the time Victor broke up the argument I realized that Lorina would probably be genuinely hurt by her own brother insisting something she made was that dangerous, so it ended up sort of angsty/heartfelt instead. But I managed a few jokes! :p

Again, hope you enjoy! And thanks for helping me keep "Scenes From Secundus" going for a little bit longer!

Quick Round-Up Of Sunday

As quick as I can manage, anyway -- Valice Multiverse queue was a surprise big one tonight, and I'm running behind:

-->Hiked up to one of the local grocery stories around noon to get some gum and my Dad's birthday card (his birthday's on Friday); this also allowed me to get in my exercise early, before another round of thunderstorms rolled through this afternoon. (On the plus side, it's MUCH nicer outside now -- I've got the windows open, and I don't think I'll need the AC to sleep tonight! Fingers crossed, anyway)

-->Watched a bunch of YouTube vids throughout the day, including:

A) Helloween's latest Secret of Mana 2 set -- the gang has had a temporary blast into the past thanks to a time-displaced ancient city (Duran had the pleasure of seeing his father set off on a doomed quest to defeat the Dragon Emperor), then managed to kick the ass of the final God-Beast, a spooky three-faced demon thing! Unfortunately, they realized too late this has all powered up the Mana Sword, which is currently in the hands of the bad guys. So NOW they've got to rush off and get to Koren and whoever's serving as his minions currently before he can wreak some real havoc!

B) OXBox's Show of the Week, which discussed such things as the new Sinking City Lovecraftian game coming out (strengths are a good investigation system and atmosphere, weaknesses are ropey combat), and what people want to see from them regarding Bloodlines and the upcoming sequel (the gang seems open to doing "Masquerade Mondays," and there was even talk of doing a charity livestream of the original game to benefit a blood center! So that would be nice. :) )

C) An OXBox list of the weirdest things adapted into video game form, which included the Book of Enoch (related to the Bible); the Home Improvement and The Office TV shows; and of course our favorite creepy Burger King mascot! They only mentioned Sneak King in the video, though -- must not have heard about the other ones Kevin played. :p

D) LGR's review of Island Living -- which can be summed up basically as "for what you get in it, this really should have been a Game Pack, with the appropriate price." Which I can't really contest -- though maybe I'm biased as I was expecting a game pack in the first place, with a vacation island world instead of a residential one. (And I still consider it a shame that we only have TWO places to vacation. . .)

E) The latest "Gallery Builds" video from The Sim Supply, featuring an arcade someone made where the building is HIS FACE (and it's a damn good likeness too! XD), a museum shaped like Abraham Lincoln sitting on a toilet (XD), another underground museum with a shockingly good copy of "Girl With A Pearl Earring" done on the top in terrain paints (O.O), another museum about the Hayin peoples, which was really nicely put together, and another mini-town on a single lot, which I always find very cool. People are truly amazing builders, I swear.

F) A build from Semaj himself in Sulani -- an oil rig. XD Yeah, he wanted to do something goofy and totally out of place in the tropical paradise, so he designed an oil rig house, with lots of catwalks, labs, sparse quarters, an office -- and a home movie theater because he needed something to fill the space. XD Came out really well, I gotta say -- I was impressed with the whole aesthetic. And it does look really funny from the map screen. XD

G) And an announcement video from Deli about some custom content SHE helped design, with the help of creator Grimcookies -- some new items for ladies to wear. Some nice things in there, including a sports bra and a great pair of jeans. I'll have to check it out when the items are released next week.

-->Wrote some more on "Secundus 2" -- the gang is wrapping up their picnic, and Doc and Clara are being soppy. And Victor and Alice are being reminded they're soppy quite a bit themselves. XD Ah, I love writing my fave characters being all cute together. . .

-->Played some Sims 4 -- my quick vanilla test with the Pancakes went fine, and my mods did not throw up any errors yet, so full speed ahead! The McFlys had a very successful Egg Day, Douglas got some more Voidcritter cards, and Marlene managed to max her two remaining skills! So the next time we play, I'm growing her up to child, yay~ Looking forward to it!

-->And I got some fudge from my parents, which they picked up on their anniversary travels. Ate about half today, will probably finish it off tomorrow. :)

Okay, yeah, DEFINITELY running behind now -- at least it's a short week this week! Just gotta throw up an answer to a comment, then hitting the sheets. Night all!