2.18 They know where you live.

"Please talk to me," Timmothy begs, for the third time.

Defeated by Finley's silence, he rests his forehead against the door.

Finley didn't open the door or she might have slammed it in his face. She peeked through the door's little window, and when she saw Timmothy, she immediately turned around and slumped back against it, holding it firmly closed.

It's also locked.

Timmothy also isn't the type to break into someone's house. But she didn't think he was the type to try to drown a child, either. 

He saw jail time for what he did to Reve, but he's already out. 

Finley refused to participate in or attend the trial.

"You hurt Reve," she finally manages to whine.

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

He does know. Sort of. She can feel it. He remembers but he can't reconcile. Reality isn't adding up. Disassociation is the only way he can deal with it. "Then you're even crazier than I said," Finley mumbles.

"Finley," he begins, plaintively, but no other words come. At least a minute passes.

"You told them your son used magic and is evil," she reminds him. She's speaking softly; he's straining to hear her. "You admitted to throwing him in the pool." At the time he was also insisting it wasn't his son, his son was somewhere else, replaced by a changeling or something.

"I would never hurt Reve." From the sound of his voice, Finley guesses Timmothy is crying.

"I don't want to see you again," Finley says. Her own voice is breaking, but she has to stay strong.  "I have to do what's best for our son."

"Don't do this. Let me make this right," he pleads.

He can't see her from this angle, but she shakes her head. How can he make this right, when she can't trust him? How can he make this right, when he isn't right? He loves her, and the rejection is breaking him, but love is not enough.

Junpei cautiously wanders in, the protective brother here to save her or whatever, but she doesn't want him to interfere so he doesn't. He pretends he's here to clean the sink. He's not fooling her and he knows he isn't and it doesn't matter.

"I love you and I wanted to help you," Finley sniffs. Hot tears stream down her cheeks as she remembers she told him she'd be there for him. She meant she'd see him through this, she'd make happy memories with him until he forgot about what happened outside Hidden Springs. "But you're sick, and I can't fix it, and I have to put Reve first." 

Could you tell him the truth? Finley hears Junpei's thoughts. If he knew you were a sorceress, maybe he'd rethink his fear of magic.

I thought maybe someday I could. She averts her eyes as Junpei wipes a tear from her face. Now I don't think so at all. And it doesn't change anything. I could handle it, if he flipped out and tried to do anything to me, I can take care of myself, but Reve... he was defenseless.

She could have used offensive magic to shake Timmothy off of her and jump in the pool to rescue Reve. That's what she would have had to do, if Rusty, Lyre and Garrett hadn't shown up. She's angry at herself now, for wasting those seconds. Those seconds could have been important.

Given the choice between standing on the Archers' doorstep for an eternity or leaving, going back to his apartment to some Finley-less life that has no meaning, Timmothy thought he would choose the doorstep.

But as the hour drags on, despair sets in, and Timmothy doesn't want to be out here in the open at all. He'd rather not be seen like this.

So he leaves. He's not sure if he's going back to his apartment, but he can't stay here.

Choosing the safety of her child above her love for his father was the best thing to do, so it's not the most difficult decision Finley's ever had to make, but it's the one that hurts.

 

Junpei is willing to hold her while she turns the fabric over his shoulder into a soaked salty mess, so Finley clings to him. Junpei isn't Timmothy... but Timmothy was never Junpei, either.

 

"I told you I'd be strong for us, and I wouldn't make you hear me cry..." 

 

"That was a long time ago. That's not a promise you need to worry about keeping."

 

Finley sits still for a while, grateful for the warm hug, while in her mind she can see Timmothy, dejected, alone, halfway across town by now, and far more in need of someone to pull him out of the dark place he's in. 

Leslie O'Dourke's first instinct is to tell Finley his troublesome little brother should not be his problem, but that's not what their parents would want, so it's not what Leslie says. "I... I'm so sorry. Do you want me to have him committed again or something?" 

"I don't want your pity," is the response. "I have a good support system. Your brother doesn't." Maybe it's just the phone, but something about the sound of his would-be sister-in-law's voice is forced and robotic. Her words are rehearsed, practiced, or she wouldn't be able to get them out at all. "You're his only family, Leslie. Just keep an eye on him. He needs someone to keep an eye on him."

"Finley, if he's harassing you at your door for hours, you need to call the police."

Finley doesn't want more people involved. 

What if someone actually believes Timmothy, one of these days? 

Reve is the least traumatized by the incident. Timmothy's demeanor changed so much, so quickly, Reve didn't even recognize him as his father. As far as Reve can understand, he was tossed in the pool by a stranger, and the sensation of drowning really sucked, but now that it's over it might as well have been a scraped elbow from a fall. Reve has forgotten about it and moved on.

Reve does, however, pick up on his mother's emotional turmoil.

She walks up to the nursery to play with him, only to watch him curl up in a ball and position toys as a barrier around himself.

"He was fine until I got home," she surmises.

"Yeah," Junpei admits. "I don't think he's specifically attuned to you, though. He just picks up on whomever's around him."

"I'm making him uncomfortable." Finley clenches her fists at her sides. "I hate this."

Finley decides best way to deal with this isn't to avoid the toddler, but to spend more time with him, accept that it's not the end of the world and not wallow in self-pity. "If anyone else tries to hurt you, I won't hesitate again," she promises. "I'll kick their ass."

More spoiled toddler spam. 

Spam spam spam.

Two Archers playing with magic.

Junpei told Finley not to worry about Reve's silly little teleportation ability, but Junpei does wonder about it. Reve has stopped getting upset when his toys vanish, because he's taught himself to pull the toys right back to him.

With Timmothy out of their lives except for messages left on Finley's voicemail—messages that came daily, then weekly, then less—the expected changes to the Archers' lives don't happen. Finley stops thinking about getting her own place away from her twin and their elderly mother. It's probably better for Reve if he grows up here with them around.

 Reve falls asleep, slumped against Junpei's left arm. The cooking channel is super boring.

The cooking channel gives Junpei some ideas.

Some bad ideas?

Finley follows Reisa and some other people from the office out to the pub after work. She hoped being out with friends would help keep her mind off of Timmothy, but the opposite thing happens when they run into Garrett Antig telling Cheri Vanderburg about the attempted-child-drowning incident.

It's been a while since it happened, but it was the most dramatic thing to happen in town for quite a while, so Finley may not hear the end of it any time soon.

"We were up on the second story, and suddenly Lyre looks out the window and she sees you being held back, and at first she thinks you're just playing around, but then she saw the kid in the water, so-"

Cut to Finley looking annoyed and Garrett hastily changing the subject.

From left to right: Lewis Colby, Lewis and Lyre's daughter Sonia, Reisa (really happy she doesn't have any of those smelly toddlers to take care of), Reisa's husband Dennis Chesterfield (looking grey these days), Cheri Vanderburg (Cheri Grayson until Kelley Vanderburg became the mayor and thus 2000% more attractive to her), Cheri and Kelley's daughter Thisbe...

Finley, Garrett, Jerome Shue (Star Shue's son), Parley Colby (little Sonia's twin sister), Otis Colby (being a good in-law and hanging out with Lewis and his nieces while Lyre is who knows where doing who knows what for her chi).

Jerome isn't normally this grumpy of a bartender, but this place isn't normally toddler-central.

Jerome's sister, Elly, also works here.

Office women gossiping!!!!! Lewis could not have picked a worse night to be here. And to make everything extra horrible and weird, Cheri's younger sister Cari, the one in the blue shirt, spends most of the evening hitting on him.

The one with glasses is Rusty Menon's wife, some woman with a forgettable name who didn't grow up in Hidden Springs, and the one next to Finley is Minzi Cho, who has had a rough day and waits patiently for their order of drinks. Finley is the only one who won't drink—a detail which causes Cari to scoff and say "she thinks she's too good for us."

Reisa gives Cari an unamused stare, to put the younger woman in her place.

The mayor's wife begs to be interviewed.

Finley excuses herself to the bathroom to change clothes. With magic.

So she looks marginally less silly dancing with Reisa later on.

A one... a two...

And, success! The portal to nowhere has been extinguished.

Now nobody can accidentally fall into it.

"Purple dust?" Junpei mumbles, examining the thin layer of residue on his fingertips. It appeared when he crushed the vortex. He smiles, bemused, and instinctively shakes it off his hand.

"Looks like you had a fairy messing with your spell," an unexpected voice answers him. "They do that."

It's hard to sneak up on a well-aware psychic, but when you do, it's hilarious!

"...And that's how I lost my hearing," Loki narrates.

"You!" Junpei accuses, eyes wide. 

"Yes hello! You're looking well! I have been meaning to thank you, for assisting Chet in Setra. Those are just words, though, so I have a gift."

Junpei backs away, suspicious.

Loki does his best to appear confused and hurt by Junpei's reactions, but he's not fooling anyone. "It's something you want..."

"There's nothing I want," Junpei argues. "From you."

"Really? You're aware I have amazing powers, right? I could tell you anything. I could tell you about your nephew's teleporting toys trick. But what you want to know, is..."

Loki leans over to whisper. Reluctantly, Junpei listens.

"W-why would I want to know that?" Junpei stutters, once Loki has told him how to find Moonlight Falls without all of the convoluted mathematics they were forced to rely on before.

Loki chirps out a short, deranged laugh. "You're serious?"

Junpei stares at him. "What have you seen?"

"I don't see the future." Not without help. "I see the past. And it's a forever-loop. History recycles itself. How-ever, I know you're isolated here. And should you ever need to speak to other mages, or escape this oppressive environment, now you can."

"Oppressive environment might be going a bit far..."

"We shall see."

"There is a dryad colony, in the forest," Junpei points out. "We're hardly the only magic users around."

"Those dryads despise humans."

"Accalia—"

"Helped you?" Loki interrupts. "Do you think that was out of the kindness of her heart?"

"...I would have helped... if someone came to me with that problem."

"You should leave this place. For Reve's sake, if not yours."

"What do you know about my nephew?"

"Guess!"

Junpei is silent.

Loki t'sks, disappointed. "You're not any fun, Junpei."

Junpei shrugs. He wonders if Loki is carefully hiding those obtrusive ears, or if he took a knife to them.

"I know your nephew is telepathic, and it will cause him pain. I also know your nephew ingested fairy dust, which has been lingering around your portal since it was interfered with. Fairy dust takes a few months to get out of the system. At which point, he will lose this teleportation ability that's put you all in such a tizzy. Larkspur's dust takes things where they need to go. That's all."

Junpei scowls a bit. "Are fairies here often?"

"Welllll..."

"Well? Well what?"

"Larkspur was just checking on you. He did save your life." Loki pauses, then tries to make his point again, "Doesn't that scare you? They know where you live."

"I'm wondering if I can fix this with a vacuum cleaner," Junpei answers.

Loki seems disappointed. "If you change your mind..."

"The last time I showed up at that place unannounced, I lost a kidney. Got a replacement, but still. Bad day. Now to be honest, I'm more paranoid about you knowing where we live."

"Sorry. There's no hiding from me."

"Maybe. But if you try to take the—"

"The artifact?" Loki glances at the gemstones on the shelves. Only one of them is glowing bright, and levitating. "I guess you aren't powerful enough to influence it to change shape."

"I... what?"

"I'm not here to take it. It wouldn't do me any good, given what Chet has done."

"I don't know what that means. Why are you here?"

"You're Cayenne's descendants. I love you. I'm only here to wish you well." And if they lived in a supernatural community, he'd have an easier time keeping an eye on them. "Oh, uh, a heads up. Winter in these mountains will look different soon."

Junpei stares blankly. "What do you mean?"

"I still have goals," Loki tells him, his tone laced with warning. "I only regret that in my corrupted state, they became so distorted."

Junpei is quiet for a moment, waiting for the meaning to unfold. He clears his thoughts, and listens, trying to get some psychic vibe from the intruder. "You've lost the homicidal edge... but... what are you trying to change now?"

"I'm conducting some research. Ultimately, in one of these time loops, I am going to free us."

Without warning, a circle of light erupts around Loki, followed by a sharp static crackle.

And just like that, he's not there anymore.

Finley calls as soon as she can get a second free from the person she's interviewing.

She wants to make sure nothing important startled her neurotic twin.

"I... uh, some of the food in the fridge went bad and I freaked out. Sorry."

"Spellbook?" Finley questions

"Nothing so boring," Junpei answers. "It's a curry recipe."

"Ah. Very dangerous."

Junpei doesn't look up from the pages. "What would you think, if someone said 'winter in these mountains will look different'?"

Finley strokes Reve's hair. "It's already winter, and everything looks fine."

She's right. Nothing changes with the seasons in Hidden Springs, except for the temperature. Even that change is slight...

A few days after Loki's visit, the clouds become more numerous, and dark.

And then they fall.

___________________________________________________________
Etc.: Why did everyone show up at the pub with a toddler on their arm... sigh!

I had to cheat and use maxmotives to stop all the toddlers from screaming. Their parents refuse to feed them, and while this isn't a glitch so much as it is poor game design, I treat it like it's a glitch I'm allowed to fix.

Social bunny goals continue to be met with Finley visiting neighbors and friends, going to venues, having people over to the house, etc. Gardening and cooking responsibilities still mostly fall to Junpei (Mab rolled some wishes to skill gardening, so I allowed that). Recently achieved hot & sour soup since Junpei rolled a wish to grow ingredients for that. He ate it, belched fire and received a -20 negative moodlet for his troubles.

Speaking of randomized negative moodlets, I got this pop-up notification: "Finley was interviewing a source and got a little too pushy. The source got angry and slapped Finley across the face, in front of the whole office. How embarrassing!"

In other news, I decided to install Seasons.

I already have a no-aliens mod, a homework from home mod, a mod that destroys the attraction system, a mod to keep it from being dark all the time in winter, and a 65 clothing overrides for females mod. If you could link me to any more mods to help me cope with Seasons, that'd be kind.