Smalltalk: A Short Story from Fortune & Romance

[sevenskellington]

Warnings: Robot sexytimes (as always!)



There was a secret side of Servo that could be called confident and assertive, but Nina was the only one who got to see it.

Though she saw it quite often.



He said he didn’t get flashes of memory anymore, but they had to be tapping into something subconsciously, in the same way she’d got him to start remembering the first time.



“Why do they have so many of these statues?” he asked.



“That’s the Gray Woman of Sim City, the demi-watcher who protects children or whatever,” she said, yawning so that it came out as more of a murmur. “I don’t know why she’s here; they usually put her in nurseries and stuff.” She left it to him to readjust her so she wasn’t exposed to the elements; he was still fully energized.



“No wonder I’m not familiar with her.”



“She always scared me when I was a kid. I used to have nightmares about her coming to take me away in a creepy van.”





“A van?”





“Maybe I was conflating her with those stranger danger PSAs.”



“Have you ever seen a demi-watcher?”



It took her a second to realize why he was asking that. “My therapist, but I’m still not sure if that was real or a hallucination. And Dina’s seen some weird stuff too, like clowns and bunnies, but only when things got really bad for her.”

“I never received any supernatural aid at my lowest point; I used to think it wasn’t even possible for me to see them.”

“But you saw the Grim Reaper.”

He nodded. “Apparently Death doesn’t discriminate.”



The music from next-door filled the brief silence; Nina didn’t have anything constructive to say to that. She noticed he was touching his non-existent belly again. “Are you still hurting from the other night?”

“No. Just thinking about it.”

“Do you think it’s something serious? I didn’t break you again, did I?”

“I’ve had phantom pains since before I met you. It’s probably just something Circe did to me. It doesn’t happen very often.” He paused and his voice got quiet and delicate. “And...honestly...I don’t really mind it. It makes me feel more real.”

“You are real.”



“We should probably get back to the party.” He sat up, turning away from her and towards the house. The music had switched from a haunting wail to something more upbeat (but still waily).

She sighed at the abrupt change of subject. “I don’t know if I can walk anymore in these shoes Dina made me wear.”



“I’d be happy to keep you off your feet for the rest of the night, Nina.” He would have smirked if he could. “But we’d surely miss out on some great small talk.”

“Like observations about the strange weather we’ve been having? And everyone bragging about their kids?”

“And all the extraverts instructing us in the proper way to have to a good time.”

The familiarity surprised her. “Have you been to a lot of parties?”

“Mr. Big used to have them all the time. I served as bartender, caterer, waiter, and janitor. And sometimes...the guests would even ask me to dance.”



He offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet. “As a joke, but I figured that was as close to a woman...(or man)... as I was ever going to get, so I considered it the highlight of my life.”



“But this is this better.”



A/N:

Just a short extra scene to help me get back in the swing of things.

Comments

[hafiseazale.livejournal.com]

Woohoo, F&R update! I so loved it!

[onesimmore.livejournal.com]

Once again, you've wowed me with your scenes and your writing! Loved it!

[krolowa-francji.livejournal.com]

Sheesh, having such a morose figure in nurseries would definitely be disconcerting for kids. No wonder Nina had nightmares about it!
I really like the idea of the NPCs being 'demi-watchers'. The way I understand it, you suggest they're like... folk legends of the Sim World? It would make a lot of sense if they were perceived as this. And I suppose that in a world where magic is a political issue, folk legends get treated more seriously.

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Yes, they're like folk legends/saints. So sims could keep icons of them around and ask for help from them and such. (maybe there's a Feast of the Social Bunny day or something?)

[ms-norrington.livejournal.com]

What a lovely little excerpt. I really like Servo and Nina.

[inferiarecoming.livejournal.com]

I really liked this, especially as it involved the grey lady. I'm really loving how you're incorporating all the little aspects of the Sims game into your story - it's flowing really well and makes sense! I hope you don't mind a quick WCIF - do you know where I can get that mini Grey Lady statue, the on in Nina's bedroom?

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's a really interesting statue and her story is pretty relevant to the mythology of the sim world.

The mini statue can be found on insim here:
http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,107491.0.html

[tov01.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was about to ask the same thing myself.

[inferiarecoming.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[tov01.livejournal.com]

Yay, an update! :D

[annek2.livejournal.com]

This was really lovely <3

[holleyb76.livejournal.com]

No need to apologize about the length. A F&R update is awesome, no matter what the size. I do hope it worked in motivating you though.
I am also enjoying the obscure Sim things you add to your story. The religious, political and social world you have created from aspects from All the Sims games is great.
I like seeing more of Nina and Servo's private times together. It is always the quiet ones that have the hottest woohoo ;)
Poor Servo not feeling like he is "real"
Great updat Skell, can't wait to see more.

[potentiallyfate.livejournal.com]

I don't blame Nina in the slightest for being creeped out by the statue.

mostly because I watch too much doctor who, and I SAW WHAT YOU DID AT THE END WITH IT.

[(Anonymous)]

Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead.

[potentiallyfate.livejournal.com]

THIS WAS NOT OKAY ANON. D:

[thewalking-sims.livejournal.com]

Servo always makes my heart melt! Great update :-)

[simmedy.livejournal.com]

That nightmare sequence was pretty damn scary! Sympathies for Nina.

[sleepsims.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say thank you for this story. It's the only sims story I've ever really been able to get into and I can see how much effort you've put into writing it all. It is a really captivating story and it has made me nostalgic for the sims 2!