3.11 Dialogue

Though Tatum has insisted that all the things related to raising Azuma is her responsibility, Lu sometimes chips in on the clean up involved. 

"Thanks for getting the laundry..." Tatum feels bad that he's been doing so much around the house lately. 

"You can thank me by playing co-op on my new video game," Lucky's smile turns playful. 

How could she say no to that? 

"I got this game on sale!" Lu brags about his discount skills, "Half price!" 

"Hey, haven't we been this way before?" their characters have to solve a complex maze to get to the first boss. 

"Probably." 

"No, Lucky, you can't talk it out of killing us-" 

Lucky's character is incinerated. Game over. 

Tatum looks at him, waiting for an answer. "...I thought negotiation is always a good tactic?" 

"Not in this kind of video game, there isn't even a dialogue option!" 

Lucky looks away sheepishly. "I've never played a video game before, I didn't realize it worked like that..." 

"Aw...I can teach you later. And kick your ass." 

But not now. 

Her son needs her now. 

While waiting for the milk formula to heat up, Tatum answers a call from her mother. 

"Sure, I'd love to visit!"

Tatum makes sure Azuma uses the potty before they leave. 

Then it's off to her mother's house. 

Tatum's surprised to see her mother look so much...older. It never feels like that much time has passed since her last visit. 

They let the toddlers play together. 

Francine doesn't seem too interested in her nephew. She's still a little shy. 

"Play with Ba-ba?" Azuma offers, holding out his toy. She just giggles and chews on her fingers. 

"It takes her a while to warm up to strangers," Dot explains. 

"That's alright, Azuma plays by himself a lot anyways..." it sounds sad, now that she says it out loud. 

"Come, I'll make us some tea." Dot makes her way to the kitchen. Tatum follows. 

Meanwhile, at the tattoo parlor... 

It's a busy day. 

Some fool has brought their antsy dog! 

Luckily for them, Lu loves dogs. He speaks to the canine in happy, soothing tones and rubs his belly. He goes from antsy to relaxed in minutes. 

It's only after the dog fully calms down that Lucky gets his tattoo. 

"Hold still," Tiffanie commands. 

"Sorry, it's my first tattoo..." 

"First time's always the hardest," she says with a small smile. 

The dog follows the nice human to the basement. He wants more belly rubs! 

Tiffanie wipes Lucky's upper arm. "It's finished." 

He peers down. Not bad... 

He got an anchor. He doesn't tell Tiffanie this, but it represents his tether to this world. The one he didn't know he had, before... 

Before it was taken from him. 

"It looks great. I can tell you put a lot of care into your work. Thank you."

Tiffanie smiles brightly at him. "No problem. And if you ever want to call...for any reason...please do so." She gives him her business card. It's not every day she sees a cute guy from out of town. 

By the time he gets home, it's too cold for him to wear sleeves that show off his tattoo to Tatum. 

"You sift through garbage for work?" Lucky is surprised to find out the reason Tatum has band-aids on her hands. 

"It's a necessity. I could buy the scrap, but it would cost much more than I can afford." 

Dumpster diving to save money? Lucky will keep that in mind. 

While Tatum is working, Lu offers to babysit. 

"There, there," he comforts unconvincingly. He's great with adult sims...but toddlers don't have the same kinds of personality traits adults do. He finds them a bit hard to read. 

Tatum's work is interrupted by a whiny call from Elias. 

"You get Azuma this weekend!" she puts an end to his ranting, "Good bye." 

When she isn't working or dealing with her annoying ex, Tatum is usually with her son. She tries to impart the importance of science to him, but he always stares at her curiously and uncomprehendingly when she uses big words. 

The night before Azuma's due to stay at Elias's, Lu and Tatum get an unexpected invitation. Kaira wants to have a dinner party. 

"Uncle Quartz didn't have any pets the last time I came here," she murmurs once they come inside. 

Kaira swears. As some sort of "lesson", Quartz has left her with Carmen and Marcus to babysit tonight. 

She's not able to handle babysitting and making the elaborate dinner she planned. Two hours later, Tatum is more than ready to leave. 

"Should we just go?" Lu asks her in a whisper. 

She nods tiredly. She needs to sleep. 

"Wait! Don't go! I'll hurry up!" Kaira pleads. She's desperate for adult interaction. 

The pair can't stay. "It's late and I have to bring Azuma over to Elias's early in the morning... maybe next time?" 

"Lucky, you could stay-" 

They're already out the door. 

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AN: Aaaand all caught up! Phew. Kaira invited the household over for a party. No one else showed up and she took care of Carmen all night, then suddenly started making dinner. Weird. 

Kaira lives with Quartz and his family. Their house is tiny so I'm not sure where any of them sleep.