1.7 Invitations

Rain or shine, sleet or...not sleet... Pale Vamp will give her audience! everything! she's! got!!! 

She's also broke as hell. That's a pretty good motivator. 

With one good gig under her belt, she's much more confident in asking Des for another one. 

There's no gig, but a simfest! That very same night! 

She can even afford a set now! Wow! 

She found a pretty good compromise between her bright colours and Marc's preference for black. 

She's dazzling. 

She cheers on the next performer, an elderly magician. Even when his deck of cards spills all over the stage, Damaris cheers for him. Everyone needs a fan! 

"You won. Here's the prize money." Des is cold, tired, and bored. He just wants to go home. 

Damaris still insists on tearfully thanking "all the little people" for getting her this far. 

"Just take the money and go," Des rolls his eyes. 

"I'll never forget you all!" 

When Damaris gets home, she grins apologetically at Dot. 

"I didn't mean to stay out so long. But I won a spectacular prize!" she pulls out the wad of cash, and gives a part of it to Dot. "Here, your allowance. I can afford a sitter now, you should go out with your friends and have some fun!" 

Dot frowns at the money, "But...I like being here. Pancho's no trouble, and Aloiso's pretty quiet." She snuggles her youngest brother. 

"Friends are important, Dot! High school is for meeting people and enjoying school, not looking after your siblings all the time! Trust me, you'll absolutely regret it if you don't get out a bit." 

Dot rolls her eyes, "No need to be dramatic. I have friends at school, I'm not some shut in." 

"Then go out sometime! Have fun!" 

Dot sighs, "I'll try..." 

The next day instead of going home right away, Dot sits outside to do her homework. Not what her mom meant, but her friends are all busy. 

Dot squints at her science homework. She took biology because it didn't seem as mathematics heavy as physics or as complicated as chemistry, but the equations in front of her seem to mock her. 

She erases an incorrect answer and tries again.

Meanwhile...

Damaris finishes another tip session, and gets dressed more warmly. She looks up at the theatre, and pauses. 

When was the last time she saw a movie? Or just went out for fun? 

When she can't remember anything after Pancho's birth, she makes a beeline for the park. She'll have to run into someone there. 

Very unexpectedly, the first person she sees is DeAndre. 

"DeAndre! It's been so long! How are you?" 

DeAndre smiles at her, his discomfort at their last face-to-face conversation long forgotten, "Hey! I'm doing really good, I just got married!" he proudly shows her his wedding ring. 

"Wow! Congratulations!" 

"Quartz has told all of his friends about you," Damaris informs him when he asks about his son, "Thanks for sending him those videos of you performing. He shows them to everyone." 

DeAndre laughs, "Don't sweat it. I'm glad he likes them." 

"Hey, listen, since I'm back in town permanently now, send Quartz my way sometime. My wife would love to meet him, and I want to make up for lost time." 

"That sounds great! I'm sure Quartz would love that."  

After the two have caught up with each other, Damaris can't resist giving DeAndre a performance. He's not the only one moving up in the music world! 

She attracts a small audience. DeAndre's cat stares questioningly at this mad-woman, whose sounds and body movements seem frightening and aggressive. Why do these humans not fight her? Leo does not understand. 

Damaris feels inspired to catch up with someone else. 

"Sorry for coming so last minute," Damaris apologises shyly. 

"Well it was...unexpected. But it's nice to see you. How've you been?" 

She decides to put off mentioning Pancho just for a little bit. 

While Damaris showers, Marc prepares dinner. He frowns. Isn't this how it went with Amy? She'd come over, have fun, he would make dinner then suddenly it was, "What are we, Marc?", "Why don't you want to meet my friends?", "Do you wanna move in together?" 

"Hey, smells nice," Damaris says as she walks into the kitchen. 

"I only made enough for me," Marc says bluntly, moving quickly to the other counter. 

Damaris cringes. Not the atmosphere she was hoping for to tell him life-changing news... 

When he finishes preparing his 4-serving "one person" dinner, Damaris blocks his path. 

"Look, Marc," he tenses up. He knows what this tone of voice leads to. 

"...there's no easy way to say this. Our lives are going to be enmeshed forever-," 

"What? Forever?? What are you talking about!? This is just-just a fling! You can't say stuff like that!" 

"-well, I can. We have a son, Marc. I dropped off the radar because I was pregnant. He's yours. Look, I have photos-," 

"-Stop right there. A baby? Are you serious? How do I even know he's mine?" 

"I haven't been with anyone since you, and I wasn't with anyone before that could be the dad..." 

"Yeah, right." 

Damaris can't stop the hurt from showing on her face, "I wouldn't lie about something this serious. I could have a DNA test run, if you really doubt it..." 

"Sure. Go run your test. Trap me in a relationship. That's all you wanted, right? Someone to play house with?" 

Damaris pulls her clothes on. 

"I don't need this, from you or anyone. I can "play house" all by myself. See you around, you poser. You'll never find someone like me." 

Marc scoffs. He's fine with that. 

After she's slammed the door loudly, he wonders... is he really a father? 

No. Can't be. It's just impossible. 

Still, maybe it's time for him to move again. Start fresh somewhere else. Already too much drama here. 

Dot comes home later that night and relieves the baby sitter. She still hasn't finished her homework. 

But the next day after school is looking up. She calls her father. 

"We're having a birthday party for Quartz and Aloiso! You should come." 

"I'm sorry, Dot. I'm on a business trip right now. Tell them happy birthday for me though, ok?" 

She can't hide her disappointment, "...ok. How's the trip going?" 

They chat for a few minutes longer until Wei has to go to a meeting. She sighs. Her father is in Twinbrook less and less these days. 

Still, there's the birthday party to look forward to! Her little brothers are growing up! 

The party is, once again, at the fire department. Dot kicks off the party with a discounted sale for her latest album. 

DeAndre, though, gets the CD for free. 

"Thanks! This is great," he beams. "Now where's Quartz? I have something to give him, too." 

She looks around, "Huh, I just saw him..." 

Aloiso pipes up, "He went outside. He said he wanted to 'warm up his voice' for the happy birthday song." He punctuates the end of his sentence with an eye roll. 

Quartz refuses to let the start of his teen years be anything less than spectacular. He has a reputation to uphold! 

 "Quartz?" DeAndre's voice calls out, "Where are you? You need to blow out your candles!"

"Cooooming~" he is perfectly on key.

Quartz is invited to spend the night at DeAndre's house. 

Quartz is unsurprised, but very impressed, to find that his father's living room is already larger than most of his mother's house. 

His wife, Chase, suggests a game of foosball to break the ice. 

"I haven't got around to decorating around here yet. Any suggestions?" she asks her step-son. 

Quartz looks around, then grins, "You have a karaoke machine?" 

DeAndre approves, "Yeah! Then our guests can sing at our parties..." 

"I wanted to make this place more homey. Right now it has this... vacation mansion vibe," Chase sighs. Like Quartz, she also grew up in a comparatively small home in the swamp. DeAndre's gigantic house spooks her a little. 

"I know! It's awesome," Quartz says, now taking advantage of Chase's distraction. He scores a goal. 

"Now Quartz," her tone becomes motherly, "That's not really....sporting." 

"You sound like my sister..." 

"Sounds like your sister has the right idea," DeAndre comments, shooting the ball into his and Quartz's own goal, "Now we're all even." 

"Hmmph, you guys aren't any fun," Quartz pouts. 

"I'm sure the pool outside will change your mind," DeAndre jokes. 

"Hmm, suddenly I agree." 

DeAndre laughs, "Suddenly, huh?" 

"It is a nice pool," Chase agrees. 

Quartz could get used to living here. 

Back home, Dot is having a very different kind of night. 

Why can't she spend the night at her dad's? 

It just doesn't seem fair.

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AN: :( 

Finally tracked down DeAndre! His night shifts made him very...elusive. Since he's an elder, he retired in-game. 

I actually wanted Damaris to go steady with Marc and have her last child with him, despite my earlier intention for her to have children with different partners, but he rejected the relationship. I forgot that he has the commitment issues trait! Poor Damaris.