3.7 Go Away

Elias dotes over Azuma constantly. He's often the first one to feed him, change his diapers, and play with him in the mornings and late at night. 

Right now he's on one of his breaks from writing, or writer's block as he tells Tatum, and paints the days away. He claims that creating something else could give him ideas on how to continue his latest stories, so Tatum tries not to bother him. She starts using the inventing station at the science lab to give him more space. 

Today is a special day for Lu! He's just passed his GED and has invited both Kaira and Tatum to come. Elias is suspicious- why would his girlfriend bother to show up just for a certificate ceremony for a 'friend'?, so he comes along too. 

Truth be told, he'd still rather be painting... 

The ceremony is done in conjunction with the actual graduation of this year's senior class, so Tatum runs into some familiar faces. 

Hasan Lumiere! 

He looks at the baby in her arms with alarm. The future seems to happen to Tatum earlier than it does to him... he can't imagine already having a kid by Tatum's age! 

Neither can Kaira. She passes by Elias without so much as a cursory glance, causing Elias's face to shrivel with displeasure. 

How can she just ignore me like this? So rude! 

While the two sisters chat, Elias slinks away. This has been a total waste of time. 

"So you're living with Uncle Quartz now?" Tatum asks, confused. 

"Yes she is," Quartz smoothly interjects, "Want to explain why, or should I tell her how you humiliated your best friend?" his tone is sardonic and his smile amused. Tatum is just uncomfortable. 

Kaira glowers at her uncle. "I still think Janel is overreacting..." 

"...what did you do?" 

Kaira sighs. She tells her sister how Janel brought a guy home and she called him "trailer trash". The man did not take kindly to this and called her a "pampered princess", leading to Kaira insulting his home town, his family, and his "dumb face". 

"I was pretty drunk," she admits, "But I stand by it." 

Tatum facepalms. 

Kaira initially looks annoyed when Lu sweeps her into a big hug, but returns it happily. 

"How've you been? Travelling the world?" she asks her imaginary friend. 

"Well, around the bayou..." 

Kaira sighs. "Still so classless..." 

Kaira fills him in on her sister's life. 

"Her boyfriend is such a tool," she snickers. 

"LOL." 

The young couple use the precious few hours of Azuma's nap to clean the house. 

Once they're done, Elias checks his phone. His text to Tiffanie about his next tattoo is still on "sent". 

Is she ignoring me? I was just trying to give her some business! No matter. He'll go to the tattoo parlor himself when he gets the chance. 

"Hey, can you help me with the laundry?" Tatum asks, her hands full with dishes. 

Elias sighs. He just wants to have a cup of coffee and relax. 

"Fine. But I really want to work on my book..." 

He eventually gets his cup of coffee. 

And is struck with an idea for his novel! 

He churns out a few paragraphs...

And gets stuck. Some gaming, to clear his head... 

Tatum comes out to only half the laundry put away. 

She runs inside the main house to check the bathroom for more dirty clothes. 

"Elias? I thought you were working?" 

"Stop nagging me! I was just taking a break!" 

She winces, "Sorry..." 

"I'm going to bed..." 

Tatum plays with her son before bedtime. 

"Good night, Azuma..." 

He gives her a gummy smile. 

***

Yes, because it's been such a long time since we saw Lucky last. 

He's here to sell these toads! 

The cashier listens to Lu prattle on about their weight, length, age, yadda, yadda, yadda... 

Looks like he'll do. 

"Hey. Kid. I'll buy these for a lot more than you're asking if you'll do one thing for me." 

Lu's all ears. 

Drink an untested potion? 

Lu would really rather not...but that money is really tempting. 

Well. Here goes nothing! 

"Hey, is this supposed to happen?"

"Just get lost." 

"Hey, what about my money-"

Lucky poofs away before he can finish his sentence. 

Good riddance. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: A bit short, but lots of stuff happens next chapter! 

Elias has been working on a book this entire time, but since writing stresses sims out, I have him take a lot of breaks. In game, Tatum's sales are actually pretty good. 

Some trivia about Azuma's name- it's a coincidence, but Azuma is the last name of Kiyohiko Azuma, the man who wrote Yotsuba, a manga I really enjoyed reading years ago. It's still on-going, someday I might get back into reading it. The name itself means "East". Since Elias is an author, he might have decided to name his son after one.