Maxis Taste Dare 21: Living With Cyd
It's only a short story (and I mean short!), because I've got a busy month coming up, but I had a lot of fun writing it, and thinking about these two as room mates. They're two of my favourite guys from the Sim Bin, and so I loved having an opportunity to use these two. Anyway! Less distractions, more bachelors. Enjoy!
Julien Cooke was drinking beer on his morning off from work. It was obviously the best way to spend a morning, even if it was a morning in the middle of a week. Ah, the life of being a bachelor. No woman on earth would let him get away with watching Bachelor Challenge with a couple of beers instead of searching through the papers for a job.
Cyd always took care of the rent, and the bills, even with his constant threats to kick Julien out.
A fight between two contestants was breaking out on the screen, and Julien's expression turned into a grin. This was entertainment. Not those boring quiz shows Cyd liked.
The front door opened and slammed, Cyd's footsteps carrying through to the living room, “Julien? You home?”
“No.” Julien called back, attention still glued to the television.
Since taking Julien in as his room mate, Cyd Roseland had become a man of all work and no play. Shopping, cooking, cleaning, working, taking care of Porthos and sleeping filled Cyd's time, and even with his constant prompting, Julien had never made the effort to help out.
“Are you drinking?” Cyd raised an eyebrow, glancing nervously at the bottles that decorated the floor and the table.
“Chill, Cyd. I can handle my drink.”
“It's not even noon! Did you take care of Porthos this morning?”
Julien didn't bother taking his attention off the television show he was watching, “We came to an understanding.”
“The understanding being if I'm not home, he doesn't get fed?” Cyd sighed, sitting down on the second sofa, watching Julien take another swig of his beer. The paper, folded over so that the job adverts were on display, hadn't been touched at all.
“You read my mind, Cyd.” Julien murmured, distracted. Cyd sighed again, irritated.
“If you want to carry on living here, Julien, you're going to have to start pulling your weight,” Cyd paused, “I also saw Natasha on my drive back, she was walking here.”
Julien's eyes widened, sitting up, “Was she with the Incredible Sulk?”
Cyd smiled, remembering one of the reasons he kept Julien around - his sense of humour. Moving to sit next to Julien, Cyd laughed, “If you mean Mole, John Mole, then no.”
“Oh, thank plumbbob,” Julien grinned, “I'm so glad we don't have to sit through another of Sulk's lectures. On how we can save the planet by recycling these bottles - he's right, Cyd. You should really clean up these bottles.
“But all of these bottles...they're yours. I don't even like beer.” Cyd rolled his eyes. The door opened again, and Cyd nodded once. Natasha had a key to the apartment, as she was here so often, and Cyd had reassured her she no longer needed to knock.
“Guys! It's me! 'Tasha!”
Gazing round the living room, Natasha noticed the room was messier than usual. She knew the apartment had been much cleaner before Julien moved in, and she really didn't understand why Cyd put up with him sometimes.
“Do you guys ever think about cleaning up this place?” Natasha asked, grinning.
“I've tried,” Cyd sighed, “I've honestly tried.”
“Trying's not good enough,” Julien laughed, “say, 'Tasha, did I mention how much prettier the room suddenly is?”
Natasha raised her eyebrows, a hint of a smile on her face, “You know, you two will never have girlfriends if you don't clean up this place.”
Cyd risked a look at Julien, before answering Natasha, “Yes. Girlfriends.”