Complications

Chapter Thirteen – Parents Weekend Part 2

Vidcund is sitting at an elegant dining table at Sim State's most popular restaurant downtown with the Beakers, following a second day filled with merriment and surprisingly enjoyable activities. A student waitress with bright red ponytails approaches the table, pulling out her pad of paper. "Are we all set to order, sir?" she states, staring down at Bjorn, who is staring intently at his menu next to Gundrun.

"Yes, I'll have the-hmm," Bjorn begins, stopping himself and squinting at the menu, "I'll have the salmon – no, wait! Is that imported?" he asks as Loki flashes him an aggravated glare from across the table, "Which ocean is it from?"

"Dad, it doesn't matter, just order something!" Loki hisses, showing his teeth.

"But I don't really feel like eating imported food," Bjorn explains as the waitress stands awkwardly next to the table, watching the squabble.

"What difference does it make? It all tastes the same!" Loki outbursts, struggling to control his volume.

"Honey, why don't you just get the lobster?" Gundrun suggests, holding onto her husband's hand.

"Because," Bjorn whines, "I ate that on the way here!" Loki huffs and crosses his arms, "Fine…I'll just have the lobster covered with chocolate in a bath of five-hundred-dollar scotch and could you possibly replace the eyes with cheese cubes?"

"Uh…okay," the waitress responds, quickly scribbling down this bizarre order, "Let me just check with the chef first."

The four sims watch as the waitress takes off across the room and disappears out of sight. "Yeah, she's not coming back," Loki mutters.

"Oh, she'll come back, sweetie," Gundrun speaks up nearby, "She was obviously hitting on your father. Any other waitress would've thrown us out after he made that request."

"So Vidcund, are you excited for round two of the tournament next weekend?" Bjorn wonders as the student sips his water from the other side of the table, "This could be the year Sim State goes all the way to the finals."

Vidcund nods. "Yeah, I guess," he answers, "but to tell you the truth, I don't know too much about our next competitor, Aurora Skies."

"Aurora Skies?" Bjorn repeats, beaming at this news, "Hey! That's where we're from."

"You're joking," Loki mumbles.

"No, sweetie," Gundrun chimes in, waving it off, "We used to live there when you were little. Don't you remember?"

"No," Loki grunts, "And something tells me I really don't want to."

Gundrun smiles and claps her hands in glee. "Oh! This is so exciting! Maybe you'll get to see some of your old classmates. I'm going to take so many pictures!"

"Uh, sir?" the waitress speaks up as she approaches Bjorn's side of the table, "The chef said he can cook your order, but he's going to have to use olives instead of cheese cubes. Is that alright?"

Bjorn brings his hand up to his chin in a deep ponder. "Hmm…that depends. Are the olives black or green?"

Loki throws his head back in his seat and rolls his eyes up at the ceiling. "Oh my God!" he cries.

…

Loki groans as he walks down the street back to his residence, Vidcund and his parents following close behind. "I can't believe we were there for three hours, and Dad still didn't order anything!" he cries, stopping under one of the street lights, "You guys are so embarrassing!"

"Now son, if I'm paying thirty-five simoleons for something, I expect the best possible quality," Bjorn argues as they approach Peanut Street. "There's nothing wrong with having high standards, that's why I started dating your mother."

"Aww!" Gundrun coos, grabbing onto her husband's arm, "And that's why I-hey, is that smoke?" Gundrun states, stopping in place and pointing at a blazing house in the distance.

"Oh God! That's my brothers' house!" Vidcund cries, taking off towards the inferno. Vidcund stops at the base of the front lawn, which is now covered in ash, his heart pounding a mile a minute. "PASCAL! LAZLO!" Vidcund shouts, his voice already giving out as he struggles to hold it together, "WHERE ARE YOU?!" he cries, "PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Vidcund pleads, breaking down into tears when Loki and his parents catch up to him.

Vidcund throws his arms around Loki and starts sobbing as Gundrun talks to the fire department on her phone. Loki's body stiffens as his stands in place, unsure of what to do with his hands. He finally settles on giving Vidcund a clumsy pat on the back.

"Whoa! What happened here?" Pascal's voice rings out behind them as the eldest Curious brother stares up at the flames. "Oh yeah…I think I left the toaster oven on," he states as Lazlo stands next to him with Stinky in his arms.

"Pascal?" Vidcund sniffs, staring up slightly at the sound of his brother's voice. Loki sighs longingly as Vidcund lets go of him and squeezes his brothers into a hug. "Thank God! I thought I lost you guys forever!"

"Well, you would've, but the microwave ate all of the toilet paper yesterday, so we had to make an emergency run," Pascal explains, holding up a plastic bag of toiletries, "But even if we didn't, you know the rule: In the event of a fire, save little bro first, and get the hell out of there."

Vidcund nods, a small smile forming on his face. "Right," he states.

Twenty minutes later, the trio of brothers watch as a group of Sim State's top firefighters hose down the blazing building. Pascal sighs as he spots several of their burned-up belongings. "Well, what are we going to do now?" Pascal laments, "We have no place to go."

"Yeah…that's a shame," Loki speaks up next to them, his parents still standing nearby, "Well, I'm sure you guys will figure it out-"

"Loki!" Gundrun barks, grabbing her son by the shoulder before he can wander off to his own residence, "Your friends need your help now more than ever," she says, "I thought we raised you better than that."

Loki's face falls. "Well obviously you didn't," he mutters as Gundrun turns to the Curious brothers.

"Don't worry, boys. All of you can stay with Loki," she offers as Loki's eyes widen in terror behind him, "-Even your little skunk friend," Gundrun adds, giving Stinky a gentle pat on the head.

"No, no, no!" Loki complains, waving his hands in front of his torso, "It's one thing having you guys live with me, but a wild animal? Now that's just asking for trouble!" he cries as Stinky jumps over to Pascal's arms.

Vidcund looks over at Stinky, then up at Lazlo, who looks as though he is about to cry. "Sorry Loki, but we're a package deal," he states firmly, "You have to take all of us."

"Fine!" Loki caves, rolling his eyes, "But you better keep that thing out of my room!" he exclaims, pointing towards Pascal, who is still holding the skunk in his arms.

"Alright," Vidcund nods, "I promise Stinky won't set a paw in your room."

Loki sighs and crosses his arms with a glare, "I wasn't talking about the skunk, Vid," he remarks as he huffs past them towards his residence.

"He likes me!" Pascal chimes, hugging Stinky once more before following Loki into their new home. Pascal whistles as he steps into the foyer. "Wow! Look at this place!" he awes, "It looks almost exactly the same as this morning!" he beams.

"Uh…don't you mean yesterday morning?" Loki speaks up, raising an eyebrow at Pascal's comment as he stands near the kitchen island.

"Right. Of course I did!" Pascal quickly corrects, giving a nervous laugh before shifting his eyes from side to side. He anxiously taps his fingertips against the marble countertop, "So, what's for dinner?"

…

Five hours later, after salvaging the last of the Curious brothers' belongings and replacing any damaged essentials, Bjorn and Gundrun are standing in the doorway, preparing to say goodbye to their son as Parents Weekend officially comes to an end.

"Mom, Dad," Loki acknowledges, letting out a sigh as he hangs onto the side of the door with his palm, "it was a real-"

"Pleasure?" Gundrun chimes, flashing her biggest smile at him.

"Yeah…that's not the word I was thinking of…" Loki mutters behind the door, "Anyway, please get out of here before you embarrass me in more ways you couldn't possibly understand."

"Aww! I love you too, sweetie!" Gundrun beams, tearing up as she throws her arms around her son. She kisses him a few times on the cheek, "Have fun with your friends!" she says, before looking over at the living room, where all three of the Curious brothers are waving goodbye to them. She waves back and lowers her voice to a whisper, "Say, that Vidcund is pretty cute," she comments.

Loki's face flushes bright red. "Get out of here, Mom!" he yells at full volume.

Moments later, Gundrun and Bjorn are taking off down the front path, suitcases in hand. Loki gives them one final wave goodbye before sticking his head back out the door. "Oh! And I'm still not dumping Circe!" he yells as the pair get into their car and drive off into the night.