7.2 New Direction

Graduation Day dawned crisp and clear.

Then, right before the ceremony, the clouds opened up, turning the melting snow into slush.

The graduation ceremony was mercifully inside.

At least both of the graduates had a lot to brag about.

EdmundGraduate

VictoriaGraduate

Joy Reacher walked alongside Edmund. He had to admit that he enjoyed the company. They both had a wry appreciation for the pomp and circumstance that Victoria didn’t share.

Her favorite part was the end. Free at last!

By evening, the rain had abated. Aunt Abby took time out of her busy promotion schedule for her latest moving to meet the new graduates at The Round Table for a dinner celebration.

“I’m not as young as I used to be,” Abby admitted, “but there are some interesting roles for old ladies!”

Everyone brought their orders outside and shuffled to find places to sit down.

Edmund asked Joy to join them. “Mom has something planned at home,” she admitted, but she couldn’t help but smile at Edmund’s disappointment. “I can drop by for a little while, at least.”

Edmund at down, and his family immediately crowded in around him. “This didn’t work out quite the way I intended,” he told Joy apologetically.

Joy laughed. “It’s all right. I have to leave anyway.”

Edmund watched her back as she left.

“I can’t believe my kids are adults already!” Andria exclaimed.

“I am so proud of you,” Dylan told Victoria. “You’ve grown up into an amazing young woman. I am proud to be your father.”

“Wow, Dad,” Victoria said. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Feel the burn!” Winston interrupted.

“Firecracker shrimp, just the way I like it!”

Sawyer ate alone.

As they finished their meal, the chef sidled nervously up to Andria. “Are you Andria Sword Sample? The fae activist?” she asked. “You’ve done so much for us. Could I have your autograph?”

“I’ve done so much?” Andria said. “Really?”

“Because of you, the Fae Council is letting us come out of hiding. Thank you so much.”

The chef wasn’t the only fae who showed up at the restaurant.

“Are you… are you a fairy?” Edmund whispered.

The winged woman laughed “Some people call us that,” she agreed. “It’s as good a name as any.”

“I’d love to get some pointers on how to make people do your bidding,” Gamora said to Aunt Abby.

“Why do you think I can help you with that?” Abby asked.

“Well, you ARE a successful actress,” Gamora said.

“I don’t think acting works the way you think it does….”

“Oh, my stomach!” moaned one of the restaurant guests. “Is there a doctor in the house?”

Sawyer sighed. “I never get a day off of this job.”

“Here, hold still. This won’t hurt a bit.”

“Hey man, are you sure? Oh, wait that does feel better!” He grabbed Sawyer’s hand and shook it vigorously. “Thank you! Thank you!”

Sawyer cooly extracted his hand and shook off the other man’s sweat. “You’re lucky I was here. Gutbusteritis can have serious consequences.”

“This is for making amazing babies,” Andria said, and she swept Dylan off his feet.

“I think it’s time to go home, Dylan murmured.

So they did.

It snowed in the night, and in the morning it was clear that Spring would be pushed off again.

“This winter just goes on and on,” Victoria complained to Edmund. “It’s even too cold for safe diving.”

“This last cold snap doesn’t seem fair,” Edmund admitted. “Even the family weather manipulator can’t handle something like this.”

“Wait, I just had an amazing idea!” Victoria cried. “Let’s get out of Avalon and go someplace warmer! We’re adults now. We can make our own airline reservations. Let’s just go!”

“Take a vacation?” Edmund said thoughtfully. “I admit it never occurred to me.”

“Will you come with me?” Victoria asked.

“I would love to see a tropical climate myself,” Edmund admitted. “Of course. And you know Winston will never forgive you if he can’t come too.”

“I’ll talk to him. He’s going to a culinary magnet school. I’m sure we can make some kind of arrangement.”

Within hours, she was on the computer, making airline reservations.

Off to sunny Isla Paradiso!

———-

I was pretty sure that Victoria’s birthday was on the first or second day of spring, just when the snow had all melted. Then there was some gap in time before I played the game again, and we were back to snow covered landscapes. Not sure what was up with that. It’s likely that some of the Options settings for season length got tinkered while I was messing around with game mods, but usually the game keeps you in the season you already have.

So, the result is that Avalon gets an unseasonably long winter, and I get to try out NRaas Traveler!

Joy Reacher was included in the group that I sent to The Round Table to have dinner, but for some reason she didn’t actually stay to eat. Sigh.

The game created a fairy paparazzo, which kind of fed into Andria’s storyline, so I went with it. She did kind of get hit with the ugly stick, though. Then again, I really really enjoy all the different kinds of faces my gene pool produces.

Oh, and Andria and Dylan are all over each other autonomously, as you’ll notice. I only take shots of half of their shenanigans. It’s so adorable.

3 thoughts on “7.2 New Direction

  1. Oh, I love autonomous sim romance, especially when it’s my playables. Victoria gets to take a vacation to Isla Paradiso?! This is going to be awesome! Congratulations to Edmund and Joy! It was fun to see Abby again, and she’s really aged since I remember her last.

  2. Graduations are always so busy with everyone getting together! The weather worked well into the story, but that is a really weird thing for the game to do. It’s like Groundhog Day!

    I love when the autonomous interactions are fun. Dylan certainly has an appreciation for his wife considering how much he’s checking her out in that last picture of them.

  3. Ah, a vacation – this is going to be interesting! Isla Paradiso is a lovely neighborhood (I’m sure you already know that, though), and maybe Vicky will want to stay there? It would suit her character…

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