Pleasantly Strange - Chapter 1
The deafening sound of the impact had woken all of Strangetown. Smoke and debris rose from the deep crater that had been left behind, but as it cleared, the flying saucer soon came into view.
Right by the edge of the crater there was a house - or really, it was more like a mansion - and two lone figures stood outside it, watching the destruction below.
"Well, that was close." Circe Beaker smirked, seemingly delighted at the concept of their near-death experience.
Loki was not quite as amused.
"That's not funny."
"You need to get yourself a sense of humour, Loki. Imagine the irony of us being killed by one of the Curious brothers' flying buddies. I bet they would like that, don't you think?"
Loki kept scowling. "I bet they would. And I bet they're running over here right now to investigate. I'm going down there before they do."
Circe raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"For anything that might still be intact!" Loki was exasperated. Circe had never quite shared his interest in machinery. She was more into... biological experimentation. "I'm not letting them get the alien technology all to themselves. Oh, Pascal would like that, wouldn't he? You just...," he waved a hand at her, then started down the hill, "...wait here."
"Look for survivors!" Circe called after him, still grinning a little to herself.
What Loki actually found, none of them had expected.
Twenty minutes later he struggled back up to the mansion, and from his heavy breathing it was easy to tell he was carrying some extra weight. "Circe! Circe, come help me!"
Circe ran back outside, thoroughly surprised to see her husband carry the body of what appeared to be a sim woman in a red dress.
"Help me get her inside," Loki panted, and together they carried her up the stairs and gently laid her down on the stone floor in the entranceway.
"I found her in the wreckage," Loki said, wiping his brow. "She's knocked out cold, got some bruises and cuts... but otherwise she seems okay."
Circe stared at the woman on the floor. "What the hell was she doing in an alien spaceship?"
Loki shook his head. "I don't know. I found the body of an alien too, but he was dead. Now, before you say anything - no, I'm not getting his body for you to examine."
"But-" Circe protested, but Loki cut her off, ignoring the deadly glare she was giving him.
"The Curiouses! They'll be there by now, and when they find his body they'll be satisfied. If they hadn't found any body, they'd start asking questions... maybe even come up here to have a look themselves. They might find out about her. But as it is, no one knows she is here..."
Loki's plan began to dawn on Circe. "...And no one will look for her, because who would expect to find a sim in an alien ship?"
"A female sim, at that," Loki added.
"So what do we do with her?"
"I'm sure we can find a use for her." Circe glanced towards the laboratory area, her smirk returning to her lips. "Perhaps Nervous would like some company? I suppose it can get sort of lonely down there sometimes..."
Loki grinned. "I'll get the ladder."
When the ladder was dropped into his pit, Nervous immediately got up and stood steadily in the middle of the room, mentally bracing himself for whatever was to come. But Circe was not there to get him. Not this time.
"Now, Nervous, you be a good boy and help Loki get the extra bed down here, and I'll just tidy up a little bit..." Circe began to shuffle around furniture, but Nervous didn't move.
"What was that noise?" he asked quietly.
Circe didn't reply immediately, then she looked up at him, her nasty little smile in place. "You've got a roommate." They could hear Loki moving about above, dragging some metal object across the floor. "Now. Go help Loki," Circe repeated, her voice icy. Nervous did as he was told.
A little while later, everything was in place and Loki and Circe had successfully managed to get the unconcious woman down the ladder, albeit awkwardly. They got her out of her clothes and into new ones and into bed while she remained still and oblivious, and then Circe gave her a quick check-over.
"She's fine," Circe told Loki as she climbed back up the ladder. "A good bump on the head, probably a concussion, but nothing terminal."
Nervous had stayed in the background the whole time, not saying a word. Now he finally dared having a closer look. Cautiously, he approached the bed, trying to get a peek at the woman lying there...
Loki dragged the ladder back up, watching Nervous' slow movement towards the bed. "Behave yourself, Nervous," he called down. "She's injured. Needs her rest, you know."
Nervous still said nothing. He looked up at Loki, who was grinning at him in a way he wasn't entirely sure how to interpret, but he was sure he didn't like it one bit. Whatever Loki was implying, he had no intention of doing it. He'd cause no more harm to this woman.
She was in enough trouble as it was.
Nervous would not wish upon anyone the things that he had gone through, and he felt bad for this unsuspecting sim, the Beakers' new victim.
But as he pulled off his shirt and got ready to get back into bed, Nervous paused and watched the sleeping female for a little while longer, and felt a twinge of something that he thought was maybe a little like that feeling called 'happiness'. Circe was right, it did get lonely down there. At least now he would have someone to talk to.