(Hey there! I’m trying to get past my writer’s block and get back to posting.)
You couldn’t call it death for someone who was already dead, could you? In the end, it didn’t really matter. Cycl0n3’s loss hit the Sample family like a ton of bricks. Everyone did their best to cope in their own way.
Shanni lost herself in Zahra’s best friend Fabian’s younger brother, Richard Branch.
(Yes, they’re brothers. Ida Branch has a dark skin tone, while Mr. Branch — whose name I forgot — had a light one. Here we see the non-subtlety of Sims 3 skin tone genetics.)
He was one heck of a kisser.
He also turned out to be one scary dude. There they were, making sweet nothings at each other in the hallway of the Branch house, when he suddenly started screaming at her. Something about ants. And aliens. Hoooboy. Shanni just stood there and took it, too frightened to say anything.
And he was holding his baby brother at the time.
At last, he stormed off, talking loudly to himself. Shanni got out of there right quick. She wanted comfort, but not that much.
(I failed to get the really good pictures of Richard ranting to himself. He did in fact go off at her in a dangerous-looking way in the middle of flirting. I’m guessing he’s Hotheaded, and he’s definitely Insane.)
(Also, it’s probably not obvious, but this scene happened in the old Frio house where our story began. The majority of the Branch clan has moved in here. Their father died of old age, and Fabian, the eldest, is also living elsewhere, with a roommate I think. So I think think Ida Branch and the three younger brothers Richard, Connor, and Tyrone are all living here together. Mamma Branch didn’t make no girls.)
Lance and Layla clung to each other. Life was short, and they were in their golden years. Zahra’s loss was just a grim picture of what they faced too.
(Spontaneous affection between Sims is so cute. Lance and Layla can’t get enough of each other these days.)
Everyone wanted to be there for Charles.
(This is Lance, tapping his foot, waiting for Adjo to finish playing with Charles so he can have a turn.)
And they tried to be there for Zahra, but she didn’t want to talk about it. She threw herself into her work, climbing the promotion ladder at the science center with alarming speed. After the first couple of nights, she never let any of her family see her cry.
Late at night, she whispered to Charles about his father.
Charles, as little as he was, seemed to understand.