2.12 Synchronized Screaming

Mick's Master Karaoke is tragically hit by a meteor, killing three raccoons nesting in its attic. Luckily, it was closed for the night, so there are no human injuries, and Finley is to write an upbeat article about the establishment that shall be built in its place.

Otis and Lyre Colby, sibling heirs to entrepreneurs' Genevieve and Christoff Colby's businesses around town, are happy to shed the chain-store image of Mick's in favor of a more 'local' flavored establishment. The only problem is, Otis wants to open a sports bar, while his sister wants a new and improved karaoke bar to replace the destroyed one.

"She has no business sense," Otis remarks, off the record. He and his sister are going to compromise over the contents of the new bar.

Once the rubble of Mick's is cleared, it's not long before a new building springs up and Colby's is open for business. Finley is sent to write a review.

Junpei DOES NOT want to be in any of the pictures!

Random Indiana Jones cosplayer tending the bar...

Otis and Lyre's opposite tastes have given the bar's decor a split personality, boasting posters of the Heavy Metal Titans of Doom in close proximity to a mounted fish.

"Come on," Finley teases, "just ONE picture?"

Junpei's camera shyness is incurable, but at least Finley talks him into trying the karaoke machine with her. 

[insert your favorite song lyrics]

 Then it's outside for some Sim Gnubb.

Red vs. Blue. 

Junpei's victory is a massacre.

It's like Watership Down out here.

Living halfway in the woods has its perks, such as nobody noticing when the twins practice magery behind their house.

"You want me to learn WHAT?"

"How to block a dryad's flora manipulation."

Finley groans. "If this is about what I think it's about..."

"Just humor me, okay?"

"Fine," Finley reluctantly plays along with the nonsense, if only to keep her mind busy, so it's less tempted to dwell on her various fears about Timmothy and their baby. It's becoming increasingly unlikely they'll be able to have any correspondence before the child is born.

Junpei casts with a fierceness and intensity that worries her.

After too much practice, Junpei is always weakened for a little while, and he likes to take walks in the woods to feel better.

The unusually high meteorite activity has been profitable for him. He sells these for quite a bit to the science center. He wonders sometimes what they could possibly want with so many...

While out scouring the woods for space rocks, Junpei spots Davy Cho playing guitar for tips... with no audience. Some non-careers are more profitable than others.

Once enough money is saved, the Archers have some work done on the house.

Mab approves of the addition of an entire second floor.

Mab's children slept in cribs in the living room. Her grandchild will have its own nursery.

Mab picked out the piratey toy chest.

"It feels so weird," Finley complains. "And I'm so fat..."

"I guess it'll be time soon," Junpei says.

And while he is talking about the baby, in the back of his mind, he knows the clock is ticking down for something else, too.

"Assistance?" the spirit asks, as if offering.

"I'm not in my room," Junpei says. First and foremost, he must remind himself not to become lost. "My mind is seeing this because this is the easiest thing for it to see."

The spirit grows concerned. "Loki, have you forgotten who you are again?"

"So... you're Cayenne?"

"There isn't much left of me," she answers.

"My name is Junpei. I'm one of your daughter's descendants."

"My Ceth?"

"Yes. She was my grandfather's grandmother."

The ghost creeps closer. "How are we speaking?"

"I called your spirit back together... but the effect is temporary. I can't make you a part of the living again. I, um. I'm not sure why I can do this, I think it's genetic."

"All magic has its place," she says. "You have a place."

"It's taken me a long time to find you. I need to ask you about Loki."

"His soul is damaged," she says. "Even at this distance, I am aware of his suffering."

"Why? Why are we like that? You and your twin, and me and mine?"

"When elfling souls came into existence, in such close proximity... it is just what happens. Adding magic into the mix only amplifies the consequences. It's why elves terminate rather than have twins. A small part of us is one and the same. We share part of the essence of our being. Since I am only a spirit now, I can see this in ways I couldn't when I was alive."

Junpei's eyebrows shoot up. "Elves do what?"

She gives the appearance of a kind smile. "Do you oppose such measures?"

"No, I'm just... surprised."

"Be very careful, Junpei. Your sway over spirits that should have returned their energy to the universe is tolerated by that universe only to a degree. Your intentions must not stray to selfish ones."

"My intention is to stop your brother from trying to, uh, destroy the world I think?"

"I am dismayed to see what's become of my brother." The sadness she's obviously feeling seeps into Junpei's bones as well. "It was never fair to ask him to trust the process."

"The what?"

"Our reason for being."

"We have a reason?"

"Our magic was introduced to our world for a reason. Yes. But because of it, he suffers."

"I feel like everything Chet tried to show me was an Aesop about how violence really is the answer." Junpei's remark receives no response, so he asks, "Do you know how to get through to him, with words?"

"Words? Yes... words... and letters." Her image wavers. "He means well."

"Letters?" Junpei pries.

"We had a game. The last letter of one sentence would be the first letter of the next. I thought I was clever, coming up with games, but maybe he was just humoring me."

"Games about letters." Junpei frowns. This is going nowhere.

"If I could respond correctly... if I could play the game... he knew I was real."

"Real," Junpei repeats, doubtfully.

"Tell your sister to ask him if it's the third letter or the second letter which is five."

"I don't understand."

"I know how he thinks. I know what he'll think of. And I want you to not get killed. Please?" 

She says more, but coherency is at a premium, with ghosts, and Junpei can't make out the rest of what his ancestor is trying to tell him.

It was light out when Junpei first entered the spirit realm. What has seemed like minutes finding his way has been hours.

His actions haven't gone unnoticed.

It takes Mab all of ten freaked-out seconds to realize Junpei isn't dead. He's just... cloaked in the energy she'd normally associate with the dead.

Junpei snaps out of it. "Gyah! Why?!" 

Why is everything in his life an insane cryptic mess?

"Why what?" Mab's demanding question startles her son, as he's coming out of the trance.

"Uh! Hiii... nothing."

"Nothing? Nothing sure was looking weird to me. I am a medium. I know when something weird is going on in my house."

"Sorry."

"What the hell was that!"

"I don't know," Junpei walks towards the door, hoping to exit this conversation before he can upset his mother even worse. "I was dead once. Part of me must remember how to go back to that place."

"Well... well could you not?" Mab sputters.

A Sunday afternoon at the disco tech. Reisa may be married to an older man, but Reisa herself still enjoys the young persons' scene.

"My brother's going to propose to Lyre Colby," she gossips. "I saw the ring he bought for her. It. Was. Insanely. Huge. I guess it's got to be, if you're going after a girl with money..."

"Going after the money must be a family trait of yours."

"Very funny."

Why buy toys for the baby's room when you can win them from a claw machine?

Speaking of which!

Time for some synchronized screaming.

The less said about how this feels for either twin, the better.

"Hospitaaaal! Naaaooooww!"

"I can't drive like this!" Junpei cries.

After what is a terrible time at the hospital, Finley brings home a son. 

His name is Reve.

In the morning, Junpei finds his sister staring into space, thinking about Timmothy. Finley has the feeling she'll spend more time sleeping in this rocking chair than she will in her own bed downstairs. "I was going to call him Quenby, if he was a girl," she says distantly. "It means 'from the Queen's manor'."

"Queen Mab?"

"Yep."

Junpei frowns, not sure if he likes the idea of names having meanings.

Finley is quiet until the silence begins to ring in her ears. "Junpei?"

"...Yes?"

"I'm glad you're here with me."

After some time, Finley's apprehensive feelings about her son lessen, allowing her to grow fond of him.

Reve is far from the sweetest baby; he screams a lot and scowls a lot. But he also looks at the world with wonder and curiosity. Everything is an amazing learning experience for him, from grabbing at the pink strands in his mother's hair to watching shadows play across the walls. Reve is constantly bombarded with mundane things he's never seen before.

"You are kind of cute," Finley tells him, before kissing his forehead and placing him in his crib for the afternoon sleep.

Pregnancy was uncomfortable. Now that it's over, Finley has taken up jogging to enjoy her rediscovered mobility.



_________________________
 Etc.: hey Junpei could you not

Credits to Melissa for the new sports bar. I changed it up a little, edited the color scheme and added a karaoke machine and some other stuff. Melissa was kind enough to share the original somewhere in the challenge thread on MTS, if you'd like to snag a copy for your own game.

Reve is a French word for dream, but only if you add a circumflex over the first E. In English, reve is an archaic infinitive meaning to rob or to plunder. According to the Internets the English name Reve is a variant of the name Reave, which basically means "bailiff" (so, at the time of origin, someone of high position in a king's administration).