#summer 04

DJ: Everett...? Mm...crying? 

Ethan: I’ll get him this time. You keep sleeping. 

DJ: No, I *yawn* ...almost morning anyway. 

Ethan: You didn’t have to get up... What is that. 

DJ: Kitty!! Clever Specs--you wanted to be a mother too! 

Ethan: ...You really do want us to be evicted. I’m never letting you out unsupervised again. 

DJ: Leave her be, you big meanie! This little guy is adorable. I’m going to call him Chance. 

Ethan: As in, what’s the chance of our favourite landlady not noticing two illegal pets in here? Should I get Everett up now or leave him while we pack our things? 

"We want a show! We want a show!” 

Ethan: How about Peter?

DJ: Don't like it. No nickname potential.

Ethan: Um, Pete? Petey?

DJ: Yuck and double yuck. I like Maverick.

Ethan: I knew you were watching too many westerns. What kind of nickname potential does that offer?

DJ: Rick, obviously.

Ethan: Rick rhymes with ick.

DJ: So?

Ethan: So he'll get teased at school for being icky Ricky and it will be all our fault.

DJ: Okay, forget boy names for now. What if it's a girl?

Ethan: Well...how do you like the name Ellen?

DJ: Talk about being teased--that sounds like an old grandmother name.

Ethan: Oh. Okay.

DJ: Gavin?

Ethan: Taken by the kid upstairs. Also a boy's name...

DJ: No, I mean Gavin's out kicking the garbage can. That poor kid. Ginger told me he lost his job.

Ethan: Thank goodness.

DJ: I wish I knew what to do for those kids.

Ethan: We can't take them in. We barely have room for one of our own!

DJ: I know. But there must be something we can do to help them. They don't have anyone else.

Ethan: That's what social services is for.

Did you...

...just...

...take the last piece of cake?!?!

“I heard a rumour when I got back last night. Something about you firing my most recent recruit...?” 

“Hm, that useless boy? He couldn’t tell the right end of a lockpick if it poked him in the eye. I did you a favour: firing him before he got himself arrested.” 

“I could have trained him. He was highly malleable.” 

“You were off in Sim City. And malleable or not, he was all thumbs. You need to stop taking pity on these poor little orphan types. Good criminals they do not make.” 

“Oh sure. Tell me again about your little pet Hart. I’m getting tired of you stealing all of my new recruits, Armand.” 

“I will remind you that it was your idea to introduce Hart to me, and that he freely chose to quit working for you and come to me instead.” 

“Yeah, after you bribed him.” 

“It helped that I wasn’t taking 90 percent of his spoils too. You wanted to go small scale, Jessica, darling. Hart has bigger ambitions than that. He knows he can go much further with my mentorship.” 

“Which is why you have him living in a hole now? Had he stuck with me, he could have kept his luxury apartment.” 

“He never would have stayed with you. It was a challenge keeping him even under me. He’s good and he knows it, and the last thing I need in this city is competition. I have the disciplinary tactics that you lack and that are required to keep Hart in line.”

“What, tying up his wife on the railroad tracks or something? You’re such a cartoon villain.” 

“Dear me, nothing quite so crude as that. I do enjoy the odd moustache twirl now and then, but it takes a subtler hand than that to maintain control. And, whether you believe it or not, Hart is entirely under control. Why do you think I allowed him back on the bank jobs? In fact, I’m considering giving him another promotion. Especially seeing as my top cat burglar refuses to work for me again.” 

“I’m not interested in your town anymore. You can keep your monopoly and I’ll keep skimming off the top in Sim City. Much more fun--much less dangerous.” 

“I have always respected your methods, even if they are different from my own. I am honoured simply that you grace me with your presence now and again. Though I assume you didn’t come tonight to talk about a former protégé. There are many other things I know I would rather discuss...” 

Back at home, DJ took advantage of Everett’s playtime to squeeze in some time with her laptop. She used to dream of working as a media magnate, but now she’s content to submit a few freelance articles to local magazines. It gives her more time to keep up with her family, and all her friends, who keep calling... 

...and calling...

and...

Another bonus post about cats...storywise Specs had some midnight rendezvous with a random stray. Since that’s not actually possible in the game, however, she got together with the first stray cat that wandered by: Gladiator. (Specs looks like she’d rather wait for the next stray, thanks very much.) 

Ethan: Dump of a place. One day we’ll--

DJ: --be rich. Yes, dear, I know. In the meantime, the fancy park is not that far away, if you’d rather visit there. Last I checked, they weren’t charging admission. 

Ethan: Pfft, and be stared at by judgey socialite snobs the whole time? Hmph. “Our kind” doesn’t belong over there. I hate rich people... 

DJ: Then why on earth do you want to become one? Anyway, the playground here is much more fun, I think. The spring-riders have a little more give, so Everett can rock sideways too! And yes, I have compared to the fancy spring-riders over there, and not one Sim looked at me funny or asked me my annual income while we were there. 

Ethan: The trouble with you, DJ, is that you insist on seeing the good in everyone, even when there’s nothing good to see. 

DJ: And the trouble with you is that you think there’s only one way of being rich...you can’t even see the wealth right in front of your nose.