5.3--Unsurprisingly Unconventional

Just like his mother, Harlan doesn't particularly care for crowds.  Unlike his mother, he does enjoy observing crowds, being the quasi-sociologist/scientist that he is.  The more he watches this group though, the more he just wants to leave.  Although different from his own methods, their way of coping with loneliness still hits far too close to home.


Not wanting to spoil Henri and Dafne's night with his morbid company, he tells them to go do whatever.  "I'll be fine once I get a few drinks in my system."  He assures them - and eventually they reluctantly do just and leave Harlan alone at the bar.

Harlan feels a light touch on his arm, bringing him out of his mild stupor.  "You look awfully sullen."  The woman says, tracing her fingers across his forearm and moving closer so her face is visible in the dank light.  "A man like you shouldn't be here alone."

Harlan places his hand gently over hers in an attempt to remove her hand politely, but she takes this gesture as something else entirely.  "We can go somewhere private."  She whispers seductively.  "I don't live too far from here."

Harlan tenses at her brazen proposition.  It would be so easy to go to her place, fuck, and pretend like he's forgetting about Cadence and finally moving on, but that isn't him.  No. He'll just let it fester until he can ignore the hurt completely, as usual.  "I'm not good company.  Trust me."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"  Her fingers continue to circle gently on his forearm.

"No."  This time Harlan grabs her hand and removes it from his arm.  He doesn't mean to appear so callous, but the actions does what he wants.  The woman finally walks away, throwing him a dirty look before pawing at some other man on the opposite side of the bar.

Following his own advice, Harlan orders a few drinks in the hopes of blurring out everything (for at least a little while).  He downs his last drink quickly, muttering how pathetic he is, before going to find the girls.  Hanging out alone is only making things worse.  And getting drunk is quickly becoming a bad idea.  He can already feel his stomach lurching slightly in protest to the alcohol entering his system.

He finds Dafne first.  She's on a couch by the dance floor watching her girlfriend seemingly flirt and dance with another woman.  Harlan can feel Dafne tense up a bit when Henri and this mysterious woman get touchy - but she isn't saying anything, and Harlan doesn't want to be the first to start the conversation.  So they sit in uncomfortable silence...

... that is until Henri approaches them a few minutes later.

"Babe, I'm leaving with Heather."  She says, throwing a backward glance toward her dance partner.

Dafne shrugs, trying to look unconcerned by the development.  "Be safe."

"I will.  See you both tomorrow."

Dafne doesn't respond beyond a nod, but Henri is clearly waiting for some sort of verbal goodbye.  Harlan glances between the two, uncomfortable in their silence, and decides to take one for the team. "Uh... yeah."  He smiles awkwardly. "See ya', Henri."

Henri appears to be as confused as Harlan for a moment.  "Dafne..."

"I'm fine.  Have fun."  Dafne interrupts with a placating smile.  She watches as Henri nods confusedly and then walks out of the club with other woman hand-in-hand.

Once they're gone, Dafne visibly relaxes.  "This place blows."  She smirks.  "Wanna leave?"


Her smile is hollow.  Harlan knows that look all too well.  He had the same one when he attempted to assure his family that he was moving to Redwood for job opportunities, not because he's a coward.   "Are you okay?"  He asks, his voice laced with concern.


"I just want to leave."  Dafne sounds defeated.


"All right."  Harlan frowns as he gingerly helps a slightly drunk Dafne up from the couch.  "Let's go."

Dafne heads straight for her room as soon as they step through the door.  Harlan figures she doesn't wish to talk, but just as he's getting into bed, he hears her fiddling around in the kitchen.


"Dafne?"  He asks confusedly.  "I'm not sure a drunk person should be messing around with a stove.  I would much rather not be killed via house explosion."


"I'm sober.  Believe me, I wish I was drunk."  She frowns.  "I'm making some macaroni and cheese. Are you hungry?"


"It's four in the morning."  Dafne shrugs in response and continues cooking.  Harlan sighs - it's clear she's still bothered by whatever happened at the club.  It would be really shitty of him to leave her alone like this.  "I can eat."  He amends.

She fills two bowls and heads toward the dining table without a word.  Dafne catches Harlan watching her warily out of the corner of his eye.  He's going to ask eventually about what the hell is going on, so why not spill it all at once?  "Me and Henri are in an open relationship."  She blurts.

Harlan stops everything and turns toward Daf, who's obviously waiting for some type of reaction.  "Okay?" He says, urging her on.

Dafne takes the bait all too willingly.  "Henri and I... we've had this arrangement since we first started dating."  She starts. "She has commitment issues and I thought that I would rather have her this way, than not at all.  And I figured I could deal with it.  I mean, I get to sleep with other people and be with the person I love - the perfect settlement, right?"

Harlan offers a sympathetic smile in response when she looks at him briefly.  "I don't think I can do this anymore.  I still love Henri, but this relationship we have... it's getting toxic.  I get jealous, she confronts me about it, we fight, we make-up - over and over."

"You haven't talked to Henri about this."  Harlan feels like he's stating the obvious when Dafne smiles wryly and shakes her head.

"Not yet.  I'm just... not ready, I guess.  Henri is the longest relationship I've ever had and I care about her.  I don't think I'm completely prepared for what might happen when I tell her all of this."

Harlan rubs the back of his neck, feeling completely out of his element.  "You think she'll break up with you?"

Dafne shakes her head again, turning back to face Harlan. "I don't know."  She sighs. "But enough about me; what about you?"

"What about me?"  Harlan averts his gaze.

"I just spilled my guts - it's your turn.  You've been a sad-sack since you arrived here, so Harlan Harris... what are you hiding?"

Harlan contemplates just getting up and leaving the conversation, he knows Dafne won't push him again for answers if he does, but maybe it will help to talk about it for once.  Maybe.  "I had a bad break-up recently."  He admits. "My ex-fiancee cheated on me with a co-worker and I caught her in the act. Instead of dealing with it head on, I ran to Redwood."

"That's... rough.  Do you know what happened to her?"

"No and I don't care to know."  His statement is aggressive, much more than he anticipated, and Dafne throws her hands up dramatically in feigned offense.

Harlan stutters an apology, but she stops him.  "Don't worry about it.  I've been in the same situation as you before and I can tell you with complete confidence that you will get over it eventually. If it makes you feel any better, I am glad that you moved here."  She grins as she punches him lightly on the shoulder.

Harlan laughs.  "Yeah.  Me too."

They both head to their respective beds when the sun begins to shine through the kitchen window.  Before Harlan knows what's happening, Dafne pulls him into a light hug.  "Thanks for talking to me."

"Same."  Harlan mutters.  His cheeks flush at the sudden and unexpected intimate contact.  It's a friendly hug, of course, but the fact that she's in her underwear turns Harlan's thoughts to other things that he would much rather not be thinking after the conversation they just had.

Dafne pulls away and Harlan turns to leave, but Dafne pulls him back again.  "Before you go - I just want to give you some advice.  You know, from someone who has been through this.  Don't let whatever happened in the past hold you back from moving forward.  You'll find someone else when you're ready.  And she'll know your worth."

Harlan can feel the blood rushing to his cheeks again and coughs to hide his embarrassment that this will be the umpteenth time since moving here that she's managed to make him blush.  "Thanks... for the advice.  Can I return the favor?"

She nods, looking mildly uncomfortable.  "If things aren't working, then you need to say so."

"I know."  She relents.  "Easier said than done, right?"

Harlan smirks.  "I'm with you on that."

Harlan isn't sure when or if he'll ever be ready to put himself out there again, but Dafne's words resonate with him when he climbs into bed.

Maybe Dafne is right.  Perhaps he will find someone else someday.

He sighs in frustration when his mind decides that, that someone is the woman with impossibly pink hair... and a girlfriend.

"Or maybe I'm just destined to be alone." He mutters.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The download link for Henrietta has been added to the RL uploads blog (she's in the side characters section) and I also linked to the creator of Dafne Muller.  I highly suggest checking out strawberrysims'/simsiverse's tumblr - she has some wonderful sims available.


In other news - I'm not happy with this chapter.  Like at all.  I had to replay a large portion of it and didn't feel like recreating some of the club scenes I had planned.  Oh well.  The point is it's finished and the story can move on from here (because I'm all caught up now - yuuuusssss).


:)

5.2--Deal With It

Harlan hears from Shalonda a couple of days later.  There's new samples coming in from Sunset Valley and Bridgeport over the course of the month; but until then, he's stuck milling around the house with nothing to do.  It doesn't help that Henrietta and Dafne are making out and loudly expressing their fondness for each other at all hours of the day... and night.


(The dreaded "hover hand[s]" makes a return.)

Public affection just reminds him of his very recent break-up.  No matter how frequently he dejectedly walks around the house, Henrietta and Dafne continue to suck face right in front of him.

However, his constant frowning is no match for Henrietta's.  She's a pro and, quite frankly, scares the shit out of him so he keeps his complaints to himself.

When Shalonda forwards some extraneous geological work his way, he takes it without hesitation.  At the very least, it'll get him out of the house for a few hours as well as earn him some much needed rent money.

Hoping to avoid the girls, he slips out of the house quietly, only to be confronted by his much more colorful roommate Dafne.

"Hey there, stranger! I've barely had a chance to introduce myself ... well, without Henri's presence, I mean." She laughs. "I hope you aren't leaving because of us."

Harlan feels the need to defend himself, or at the very least, make sure she's not offended.  Pissing off both of his landlords within the first week wouldn't be setting a very good precedent.  "No, um..." He frowns deeply when no words come to him.

Dafne laughs again, slapping his hands down playfully to combat his defensive posture.  "It's okay.  I'm not angry. Hell, if I were in your shoes; I'd leave too.  Well, no... actually, I would probably ask if everyone was down for a threesome." She smirks when Harlan simply stares at her, apparently satisfied with catching him off guard. "Henri is testing you." She finally admits. "You know, pushing boundaries and whatnot.  She does that with everyone.  And the best part is, I get to reap the benefits."

"Well I'm glad one of us is getting something out of it."

"You get something too!" She protests.  "Two sexy girls who kiss each other on a regular basis."

Harlan can't hide his blush and Dafne smiles as she reaches her hand out to touch his reddening cheek.  "You're adorable."

"Thanks, I guess."  He moves his head away slowly from her hand.

"I can push boundaries too." She whispers, letting her hand graze Harlan's arm.  Harlan laughs nervously at the sudden contact, not sure whether it would be entirely impolite just to move his arm away from her - but before he can make a final decision, Dafne drops her arm and smirks.  "And don't worry about Henri.  She's actually really nice.  Just give her time."

"Right.  Thanks... again."

"No problem." Dafne winks. "Let me know if you ever want to take me up on that threesome."

Harlan turns to leave abruptly, hoping that she won't catch the flush in his cheeks, but her quiet laughing as she enters the house tells him that he turned too late.  "Dammit." He mutters.  


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

Searching for space rocks turns out to be as boring as he thought it would be.  Having to chip off samples from a giant meteorite and dig around the site for anything else interesting is not the kind of freelance work Harlan imagined he would be doing when he moved to Redwood, but at least it paid well.

When he returns home, dirty and tired, he flops down on the couch unceremoniously only to be joined by Henrietta a few minutes later.


"So..." She starts, looking at him and smirking, "...you smell like you did something interesting while you were out."


Harlan frowns, sniffing his shirt and crinkling his nose in disgust when he realizes he smells like dust and sweat.  "Sorry.  I'll go take a shower."


Henri shrugs.  "I deal with un-showered patients and bedpans on a daily basis, remember?"  Harlan chuckles as he gets up from the couch, hoping to make his way toward the shower - but Henri's hand on his shoulder stops him.  "Wait. Sit. I wanted to talk with you."


His curiosity rising, Harlan sits back down and waits for Henri to continue.  "I'm not normally one to notice, or even care, when people are bothered by what I do - but I, uh..." She fidgets, turning to face Harlan; "You seem like a nice enough person and I apologize-" Henri grimaces as she emphasizes the word, "-if I made you uncomfortable."

Harlan quirks his brow and smiles.  "What brought this on?"

"Dafne.  She wields guilt like no other and she told me that she thinks you might be distressed because of something that happened recently."

"She's perceptive too, apparently."  Its Harlan's turn to fidget.  The room suddenly feels suffocating and he wouldn't mind leaving it... immediately.

"Do you... want to talk or whatever?"  Henri has never proficient at this sort of thing.  Anytime her sisters, or even Dafne, came to her with their issues - she would find a partially nice way to say 'get over it' and that would be that. But somehow that seems callous in this situation and she's surprised to find that she actually cares enough not to be deemed so by Harlan.

"Nah."  Harlan shakes his head as he gets up from the couch.  "Thanks for the offer, but I'd rather keep this to myself for the time being."

Henri furrows her brow as she contemplates forcing it out of him - she may not be good at this, but she can tell when someone needs to vent - but nods instead.  "Well - you have two people here if you ever feel like not being annoyingly mysterious."

Harlan laughs. "Noted."

Harlan finishes his shower and joins the girls in the dining room for dinner.  To be entirely honest, he was debating just going straight to his room, but his name being mentioned not so casually in the kitchen piqued his curiosity.  He instantly regrets his decision when both women turn their attention to him once they are all seated at the table.

"We're taking you out." Henrietta announces. "Tomorrow night we are all going to that new club in town."

"Clubbing isn't really my thing." Harlan frowns.

Dafne laughs quietly to herself when Henri dons her determined look.  She knows that look well. "Just go with it."  She whispers to Harlan.  "Trust me - when Henri has decided something, she won't give up until everyone else is on board."

Not one to give up either, Harlan continues trying to talk Henrietta out of it. "You'll be embarrassed by my poor dancing skills."  His excuses are getting worse and worse the longer this conversation goes on and he can't help laughing at Henri's growing grimace and Dafne's incognito chuckling.

"Don't care." Henri says, getting up from the table and effectually ending his rambling. "You're going with us whether you want to or not."

Dafne laughs openly once Henri leaves.  "She never loses an argument.  You lasted a long time though. Very commendable."

"She cheated." Harlan scoffs jokingly. "Dropping the argument isn't the same as finishing it."

"To be fair, your counterpoints were getting pretty ridiculous.  She saved you from further humiliation."

Harlan smirks. "Maybe I should thank her then."

"Yes. Maybe you should."

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


So my hiatus from my legacy is due mostly in part to both my lack of motivation and the fact that my life is a poorly written soap opera right now.  I swear, if there is some sort of deity, they really like fucking with me.


Anyway - Harlan's generation is shaping up to be a fun one.  I've been playing around with his story and character for the last couple of weeks and I can say with complete confidence, assuming everything plays out accordingly, that his life is partially eff'd.

Good luck buddy.

On a side note: Henri's tattoos glitched and stopped showing up for some reason, so just pretend she still has  her badass ink.  *imagination!*

5.1--Time Skip

** This chapter takes place 13-15 years'ish after the previous chapter.  Due to glitches (explanation is after the jump), I had to age Harlan up and move him.  So, without further ado, here is the start of Generation 5.

Harlan is nervous to meet his new landlord.  When sifting through vacancies in Redwood Harbor, Henrietta's small place seemed the perfect fit for his meager budget and was willing to take him in as soon as he made the long trip from Meadow Glen.  However, she wasn't exactly the most accommodating person when he spoke to her on the phone - anytime he asked about the place, she simply stated that he could either take it or leave it.  He took it.


"Look -" Henrietta says nervously. "The room you'll be staying in, well... I got this place from my grandmother when she passed on and um, let's just say she had a penchant for colors. If the rest of the house is any indication."  She waves her arms around, drawing attention to the brightly colored walls behind her. "I haven't had the time or the funds to repaint this monstrosity."


Harlan shrugs.  At this point, he doesn't much care.  The trip from Meadow Glen has left him tired and aching to simply fall into next available bed.  Henrietta looks mildly relieved at his apparent nonchalance and escorts him into his new room.

"It's very uh..." Harlan smirks as he takes in the state of the room.


"... Pink, I know." Henrietta frowns.  "And you'll be the tenth person this week to decline taking the damn room because it's too small, or too pink, or too - whatever other excuse you can come up with." 

Harlan doesn't let her waver long in her dejection. "I'll take it." He says resolutely.


"What? Really?" She looks cautiously surprised, but also exhausted.  Henrietta obviously can't believe her luck might be changing.


"It's not like I really have a choice. I can deal with a nauseatingly pink, tiny room for the rent you're charging."

"Thank the Watcher." Henrietta smiles.  "If I had to show one more person around this place only to be rejected, I was seriously going to punch something - or someone."


"Why have people been turning this place down?  The room isn't that bad."


Henrietta shrugs.  "It's probably also partly my fault.  After the first couple of let downs, I started getting a bit - frustrated with perspective renters."


Harlan nods, remembering when he first spoke to her on the phone and via email and how short she had been with him.  He would have turned down her offer too if he hadn't been in a rush and so dirt poor.


Henrietta laughs when Harlan simply nods in agreement.  "All right.  There's a few ground rules."  She says, sternly when the silence begins to delve into awkward territory.  "One, no parties without my or my girlfriends permission."


"Girlfriend?" Harlan perks his eyebrows.


Henrietta crosses her arms, defiantly. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Harlan backtracks, embarrassed that his reaction was obviously being misconstrued. "No, of course not.  There just wasn't any indication in the advertisement that there was going to be three people living here."


"Well, there is."  Henrietta resumes. "Two, you're more than welcome to bring guests here, just please be mindful of the hours.  I have to get up early for work most days.  Lastly, I don't like nosy renters.  I won't get into your business, so please extend that same courtesy to us."


"Understood."


"Good. Then, I guess the room is yours."  Henrietta smiles, shaking Harlan's hand.  "And Dafne will most likely be in later on today.  She'll be glad the room is taken finally."

Henrietta leaves him in his new space to unpack his belongings, but taking his stuff out of his suitcases proves to be too daunting for the time being.  Instead, he shoves all of his stuff near the dresser and laughs when he realizes how out of place his things look in his very colorful surroundings.  He kicked off his shoes tiredly and made his way to the bed, staring at its foreign sheets and oddly yellow frame.  It creaked loudly as he got into it, making him miss his shitty bed back home and the memories of spending time with her in it.  He shakes his head, forcing the memories to fade, before finally giving in to his exhaustion and drifting off to sleep.

Harlan is awaken just a few hours later from the incessant ringing of his phone.  He turns it off, but whoever is calling apparently can't take a hint.  Reluctantly, he answers it only to be barraged by his cousins voice.


"Harlan!" Shalonda says with exasperation. "Pick up your damn phone!"


Harlan laughs. "I'm here Lonnie."


"Yeah, you are." She scoffs. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming into town this week?"


"I didn't know I was.  Things just... sort of worked out that way."


"Right. Well I'm taking you out to dinner."


"Lonnie -" Harlan yawns unexpectedly. "-I'm still exhausted from the trip here.  I don't know how entertaining my company will be."


"I'm not taking no for an answer.  There's a bistro in the West District.  Meet me there in a couple of hours."


Shalonda hangs up before Harlan can protest further.

Harlan shows up to the bistro early.  The longer he's there, the more he regrets coming at all.  He loves hanging out with his cousin, but he hates how brunt she can be, something that she apparently inherited from her father Gideon.  He just hopes that she doesn't ask any questions about his intentions for moving.  She believed him over the phone when he said that she convinced him that his scientific skills were needed in Redwood, but he was terrible lying to her face - and she often took advantage of that.

Before he can sneak away, however, Shalonda is there and ushering him to the nearest table after snatching a couple of menus from the waiter.  They eat their dinner and after the normal catch up conversation, he can tell she's dying to ask him something.


"What is Lonnie?"  He asks.  "Your stare down is starting to freak me out."


She laughs, shaking her head. "I'm too obvious.  I just wanted to talk to you about the work we're doing here.  If you're still interested that is?"


Harlan releases a sigh of relief.  So, she hadn't been told about his situation with his ex-fiancee yet. "Yeah."  Harlan says, breaking himself out of his own reverie. "I'm still interested."

"I've been talking you up at the Science Facility." She says excitedly, jumping right into the conversation. "However, there's no stable positions right now.  You can do lab tech stuff on a freelance basis until an actual job opens up."


Harlan shrugs. "I prefer to be freelance.  As long as I'm getting paid, I don't much care for anything else."


"Good.  I can't discuss specifics in public, but there's been widespread missing persons cases popping up in surrounding areas.  It hasn't hit us here in Redwood, thankfully, but the cities are really feeling it and they're sending out evidence to neighboring labs in the hopes that someone will find something new."

Harlan doesn't share his cousins fascination with the morbid, but he does enjoy a challenge.  "Has anyone found anything at all yet?"


Shalonda shakes her head, sadly.  "No.  Not yet."


"Right.  Well I'll give it a try." He smirks.  "Maybe my overwhelming genius will crack the case."


"Your ego is the only things that's overwhelming."  She laughs. "Welcome to the team."

"Thanks." Harlan smiles.  "Listen, I'm really tired.  I think I'm going to head in early tonight, but I'll call you tomorrow or something."

Before Harlan can leave, Shalonda blurts; "I heard about you and Cadence. Um, Lachlan and your mother both called worried when you said you were leaving so abruptly."


Lachlan rubs his temples.  Of course she knew - how could he ever think that his family wouldn't talk about his private life behind his back.  Lachlan, for sure, could never keep a secret. "Well tell them that I'm fine.  I'm sure hearing it from someone besides myself will get them to stop asking about it all the time."


Shalonda nods.  "I will. And Harlan?"


"Yeah."


"I'm here if you need to talk."


Harlan smiles.  "Thanks."

 Harlan returns home to find his two new roommates fast asleep.  He enters his room and shrugs off his clothing.  "First day down." He mutters before crawling back into his bed and falling asleep as well. 


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angst, angst, angst, angst... angst.


As the title of this chapter implies, this is a major time skip.  Due to game borkage, I wasn't able to use any of the legacy saves I had stashed and had to remake Harlan's generation.  Instead of replaying/rebuilding what I had in Meadow Glen, I decided it would be best just to get to the next generation and sum up what happened previously.  So don't worry - Lachlan, Lily, Logan, Ellis, Dasia, Duncan, Cedric, and Harper will either make an appearance or have their story arc's finished in some manner via Harlan's retelling of events.


Also, rule breaking.  Rule breaking EVERYWHERE.  The game spawned Harlan in the Congreve household while I was setting Redwood up and I decided to keep it.  *shrug* Story  > Rules in this case.


Dafne Muller (Henrietta's girlfriend and Harlan's second roomie), who will make an appearance later because I accidentally deleted her pictures, is a sim that was made for me by the lovely strawberrysims.  She's adorable and I love her.  Thanks so much Barney, if you ever read this. : )