5.8 Two Dimensions

Once the commotion has died down, no pun intended, Izalee visits to meet baby Apollo.

"Cid almost made it long enough to see you," Izalee comments wistfully.

Molly has a lot of annoying questions about witches, including 'is my daughter one?'

"Her abilities will likely remain dormant without training."

"Oh." Molly mulls over what that means."Does that mean she's in danger?"

"I won't live long enough to train her, and Orazia is not here. You will just have to hope for the best."

"Um. Okay..." Molly frowns. "That's not much of an answer."

Izalee fireproofs some stuff before she leaves.

 We all mourn in our own ways.

Though already too deep in the criminal organization to even think about walking out of it, Molly responds positively to her second legit commission ever, this time for Danza. Their plain floors could use a bit of color.

Danza is not too busy tonight.

A woman in a long dress approaches the Ceth fangirl at the bubble bar. Molly recognizes the woman in the dress as Alia Ziggfield, a former model and current wife of David Ziggfield.

 Under the guise of working on different angles of her painting, Molly inches closer to the women, listening in on their conversation. The 'Ceth fangirl' is actually a scientist in the medical field, and Alia is here to discuss business with her. Alia is unhappy with the unprofessional attitude she has been greeted with, but this scientist is the only 'qualified person' within a reasonable distance. It all seems pretty boring, until Molly overhears the name 'Doctor Lau-Landgraab'.

"Related to Todd Lau-Landgraab?" Molly seats herself near the doctor once it seems clear Alia is about to storm off.

"That's my husband!" the doctor says proudly. Enough bubbles make almost anyone forthcoming. "If you need money for your research, date a Landgraab... ha ha."

"There really are no redeemable qualities about me," Todd butts in, staring pointedly at Molly before flashing a smile to his wife. "It's all about the money."

"Nonsense," the wife giggles. "I always demand perfection. And you. Are. Perfect."

Molly hasn't taken her eyes off Todd since he showed up. Perfect? she thinks. This is the dweebiest dweeb I have ever seen. "So. You're the guy. What do you do?"

"Do? What a dull, rude question. I can tell you're from Starlight Shores."

Molly shrugs, not apologizing. "Must be my accent."

"Molly Robins, if I'm not mistaken."

"You know my name?"

"I do. Congratulations, by the way... I hear the baby is a girl."

Molly glares.

Todd smiles. "Annie, why don't you order us some food? Not bubbles. We came for dinner with the Lady Ziggfield and it seems like she's getting impatient."

"Oh, sure," Annie Lau-Landgraab sighs wearily and hops off of her stool, balancing on one foot for a moment. Molly expects her to crash to the ground in a bubble daze, but Annie's physical prowess is such that she does not. Annie does a little spin on her toes and traipses off.

Todd turns back to Molly, finding himself standing as her aggressive posture intensifies the second his wife leaves. "I didn't think I needed to warn you lot not to harass my wife."

"Does she know?"

"About what?"

"Your magic? How you're blackmailing us?"

"No and no, and you won't be telling her."

"Can I see your fairy?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"If she's not here, how can she protect you?"

"I didn't say she wasn't here."

Molly glances around.

"Good luck finding a speck of light in a place like this." Todd studies Molly's face. "You can't seriously be thinking of causing a problem for me, little girl."

"You're causing a problem for me."

"If you were anything but human, Vera would have gotten rid of you for threatening me."

"If you're not allowed to fuck with humans, you've made a pretty serious mistake."

"I'm not, but who's to stop me?" Certainly not the fairy told to protect him. "And I don't need Vera's help to deal with normies."

Molly feels lightheaded. Then her nose begins to run, and the drippings freeze. Her insides clench up, and her outsides clench up. She's dizzy. It hurts.

Todd grabs her face and flicks off the icicles. "Gross," he tells her, and those are the last words she hears before she faints.

When she pulls out of the haze, she finds she's been sat up, led to the bar and given a strong drink. Sims crowd around her, asking if she's okay. The robotic bartender's perfectly round eyes focus on Molly's every movement. Someone says they knew the conspiracy about paint fumes being bad to inhale was right, and someone else says to give 'the poor girl' her space.

"I'm... I'm alright," Molly says.

"I called paramedics but they are not here yet," Ani the bot informs her, before turning back to cleaning her workspace.

The Lau-Landgraabs are nowhere in sight, though Alia Ziggfield is still loitering around.

Molly insists she's alright and she'll finish her painting after the drink. She sits there a while, and most of the crowd loses interest in her and disperses, but Estella and Trevor Stout-Porter hover nearby. Eventually Estella sits down and orders a drink too.

Of course, to Molly they aren't Trevor and Estella. To Molly, they're guy-in-a-checkered-tie and chick-with-cute-eyeshadow.

"Landgraab is not a nice person," Estella whispers, not looking at Molly directly. "It's lucky you chose to snap at him in a public place. You could have been hurt."

"I miss my Daddy," Molly whimpers, because it's the first thing that comes to mind and she hasn't recovered from the attack yet. Her brain is swimming in odd sensations and now booze.

Estella lowers her voice more, "I saw Veracity. She didn't seem concerned with you."

"Stel," Trevor hisses from behind them. When Molly glances at him, she notices he's actually shaking. He can't wait to get out of here. Estella exits the building with him, leaving Molly to wonder who they were and what they know about all this.

She sits there for a long time, holding the drink glass steady even though it's empty. I saw Veracity. She didn't seem concerned with you. The frightened, bewildered look on Molly's face fades. If you were anything but human, Vera would have gotten rid of you for threatening me. Molly delicately drags her fingers through her hair, using the thick black locks as a shield to hide half of her face in as she smiles.

It's just a thought.

Molly stays to finish her painting.

She calls it 'Two Dimensions'.

"How did the commission go?" Dysen asks cheerfully. The first thing he does when he gets home from work is check the nursery, and he can usually find both his daughter and wife in here.

"Excellent," Molly replies distantly. "It's always a breath of fresh air to have my art appreciated."

"What did you paint?"

"Take me back to Danza for a date this weekend and you can see," she says, smiling playfully.

Apollo grows into an adventurous toddler, eager to explore every corner of the house.

She has Ben's dark green eyes.

Much to little Polly's delight, Molly fills the house with more and more toys.

Some toys are new, like the rocking horse.

Some toys are old, like the drums taken from Ceth's childhood bedroom across town.

Some toys are not meant to be played with... like the one still in its box, displayed on the stereo.

Dolls, teddies, plastic reptiles, music boxes... Molly loves it all.

Oh, and 'the General' brought home a shrew.

Dysen hasn't named it yet.
 

General Zod is a very happy kitty.

Outside of the forgeries she creates in an underground studio across town, Molly's artistic pursuits fall by the wayside for a while, as she'd much rather be playing with her daughter.

Molly would like to have another child, but of course, Dysen would say no.

Because of Todd Lau-Landgraab.

She's thought a lot about that night she ran into Todd at Danza, and she thinks about it again now as she nuzzles Polly's bangs. Todd Lau-Landgraab is a waste of space, Molly has decided, and no amount of reconsidering has changed her opinion in the slightest.

It's only a matter of time before she finds a way to be rid of him.

Poor neat sim Carlos is in a losing battle to keep the floor uncluttered.

"Ceth... hi... it's been such a long time," Guadalupe Giordano shyly greets the singer when they happen to encounter each other in a coffee shop.

"How dare you speak to me, you ignorant piece of trash?" Ceth does not try to hide her feelings.

After the 'berate ignorance' interaction, Ceth follows up with a 'petty jab' and a 'point out flaws'.

Guadalupe tries to say she's a very different person than the one Ceth remembers, and they have no reason for animosity, but Ceth is having none of it.

It's been a while since Ceth assaulted anyone! Too long!

Guadalupe still has the coward trait. After the slap, she pisses herself in fear.

Ceth runs away.

Ceth visits Izzy for lunch, like nothing even happened.

"Carlos, what's your star sign?"

Carlos suspects Lela forgot his birthday again and is trying to be stealthy about it.

Molly has been too lazy to mod out alien abductions, and regrets it every time she plays this game...

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Etc.: When Seth died in front of Molly she got the -50 moodlet, even though nobody else in the room did. I then tried to pick up Seth's urn and move it, but it disappeared on me, so I'll be annoyed if it's just invisible and Seth's ghost decides to haunt us. (So far so good.)

Oh, and, after Ceth assaulted Guadalupe and declared her a nemesis, the game sent Ceth to deliver Guadalupe a cheer up sing-o-gram...

Ceth delivered it on the side of the road, in the rain.