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rainbowfic2026-03-04 03:04 pm
paradoxcase) wrote in rainbowfic2026-03-04 03:04 pm
Warm Heart #8 [Tales from the Neighborhood]
Name: An Arrangement
Story: Tales From the Neighborhood
Plot Thread: Grant/Scott/William
Colors: Warm Heart #8: Courtesy
Styles and Supplies: Life Drawing, Silhouette, Gesso, Calendar Page (National Sons Day)
Word Count: 1928
Rating: PG
Warnings: Another trans character in here being misgendered because no one knows they are trans yet. I think it should probably be clear which character it is this time.
Characters: Scott Hanby, Grant Thomas, William Curtis, Cynthia and Sonya Hanby get a brief mention
Summary: The other leg of this trio forms.
It was lunchtime, and Scott was eating with Grant in the school courtyard, but as on many days lately, he was distracted. Over Grant’s shoulder, he could see William Curtis sitting at another table with two of his sisters, talking and laughing. Scott didn’t know the sisters well; they were both very pale, worse than Grant, even, one of them blond and the other dark-haired, but William’s sandy hair topped a much duskier complexion, and the contrast intrigued him. When William smiled, it did funny things to his stomach.
Grant had seen where he was looking, and turned to look in that direction. Scott ducked his head back down and focused on his food. Grant knew what he thought of William; they’d discussed him back when they hadn’t been so sure of their own relationship, and Grant had had a different name. But things were different now. He wasn’t going to trade Grant for William (or for anyone else), and couldn’t have them both. Probably William wasn’t interested, anyway.
But Grant seemed more amused than anything. “You still have a thing for him?” he asked. “I could introduce you if you wanted — he’s my cousin, on Dad G’s side, through both of his dads, actually.”
Scott blinked at him in surprise. “He has two dads too? Both married to his mom, like yours are?”
“Oh, no. His family has a much more traditional and wholesome structure to it. His parents got divorced and his mom remarried, so he has a dad, and a step-dad.” Grant smiled slightly at the private joke.
“And they’re brothers?” Scott squinted at William again.
“Yeah.” Grant was almost fully smiling now. “I don’t know all the dramatic details of that, it mostly all went down when I was very young. Maybe before I was born, actually.”
“Oh.” Scott looked down at his food again. “You don’t have to introduce me if you don’t want to. I’m not going to ditch you for him. He’s just nice to look at.”
“I think you’re being silly,” said Grant. “My mom didn’t ditch Dad J for Dad G, they all built a family together. No reason we can’t do what they did, instead of what William’s parents did.”
Scott looked up at him cautiously. “You’d really be ok with me dating him?”
“Sure. He’s a good guy, and he’s already family. Just, you know,” he shrugged, “do me the courtesy of letting me know what you’re up to. That’s all.”
Scott looked over at William again. “It’s probably a silly idea anyway,” he said. “Does he even date guys?”
Grant seemed to consider this. “You know, I don’t know, actually. I don’t think I’ve heard of him dating anyone, really. But you could always ask.” He looked curiously at Scott. “So, do you want to be introduced?”
“Yeah,” Scott decided. “I’d appreciate that.” New apprehension bubbled up within him, though, now that Grant had given him this permission. It was probably going to be for nothing, anyway.
“David’s not actually my dad,” William clarified, after he’d sat down with them at lunch the next day, at Grant’s invitation. “I mean, I guess maybe he is in a dumb biological way. But I never even met the guy. My mom kicked him out six months before I was born. I think Martin and Monica still see him sometimes, but I’m not sure he even knows I exist. Martin seems to like him, but well, if you knew Martin… that’s not really an endorsement.” He smiled at some private bit of humor. “My real dad is the guy who’s married to my mom.”
“So are your sisters like… actually your sisters?” Scott asked. “Or like, half-sisters? Step-sisters?”
“Monica’s my full sister,” said William. “I’ve known her since I was born. The other three are my dad’s kids with his first wife. So step-sisters, yeah, and also first cousins, because the family is weird like that.” He hesitated for a moment, and picked at his food. “Before Martin graduated, when there were six of us living in the house together, plus a few younger kids that my mom had with my dad, it was a little insane there. I guess it’s not much better now, but now it’s also just me versus the four of them, and they are all best friends forever and it’s just constant gossiping. Not that I’ve ever really been friends with Martin, but he did make it slightly less weird just by being there.”
“Ooh,” said Grant. “What’s the gossip?” Scott had to quirk his mouth at that a bit — Grant used to loathe gossip, too, and had categorized it as a ‘girl thing’ that he didn’t want anything to do with. But he’d mellowed out in so many ways since the potion and didn’t seem much bothered by things like that anymore.
“Currently?” William grinned. “At the moment, it’s all about how Lauren’s boyfriend is hot.”
“And is he?” asked Scott. “In your estimation.” He didn’t really know Lauren, not personally, but he had seen her around and knew that she was dating a boy with red hair and brown eyes. He wasn’t green, of course, and didn’t have any of Scott’s alien features that he knew weirded a lot of people out, but maybe if William was into him…
William pursed his lips and seemed to consider his answer for moment, looking around at the other tables. “Well… since it’s you asking. I didn’t expect to have an opinion, really, but he is, kind of. But even Jackie was saying so, and if she finds him attractive, I figure he must have like, managed to transcend gender somehow and be attractive to everyone.”
“I like that one,” said Grant. “I think I’m going to steal it. Transcend gender.”
“Oh!” said William, turning to him suddenly. “I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, I don’t actually think… well, if he does turn out to be a girl, Lauren is going to be really unhappy, but I don’t think the rest of us will be.” He laughed. “The other three would probably descend on him like a pack of vultures at that point.”
“Is everyone in your house bi?” Scott asked, amused.
“Well, Lauren isn’t, and Jackie isn’t normally, like I said. And me?” He shrugged. “I guess I don’t really know. Been thinking about it a little, though.”
Scott could feel Grant silently beaming encouragement to him, but kept his focus on William as he said, “Well, if you feel like talking about it, or, I guess,” he shrugged as nonchalantly as possible, “trying anything out, come by my place sometime.”
William narrowed his eyes and looked between the two of them. “You guys are dating, aren’t you?” He turned to Grant. “You’re just letting him do this?”
“He has permission,” said Grant. He put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “If you wanted to date him, too, I’d welcome you. It’d be the three of us, together.”
“Well, I’m not dating you,” said William. “You’re my cousin.”
Grant laughed a little. “I know,” he said. “It’d be like my parents, yeah? My dads aren’t married to each other, they’re both married to my mom. And they’re cousins, too, I believe.”
“Oh,” said William, a little taken aback. He looked back at Scott with a new kind of cautious consideration in his expression. “I guess… I’ll consider it.”
It had been a week since they’d talked to William that day, and they hadn’t really talked since then. Scott had seen him in classes, at lunch, with a sister or three, or another friend, but he had never come over to talk to Scott again. Maybe they’d scared him off, after all.
But one day when Scott was in the front yard, keeping and eye on Cynthia and Sonya as they played an elaborate game of tag, he looked up and found that William was standing on the sidewalk watching the girls and occasionally glancing over at Scott, seemingly indecisive.
Scott called over to him, and he seemed to make a decision, walking across the lawn, dodging the girls as they sprinted back and forth.
“Grant said you had the new SSX,” he said, by way of a greeting. “I was wondering if you’d be interested in playing?”
Scott grinned at him. “I’d love to,” he said, “but I’m on duty, currently.” He gestured to his little sisters. “At least until my Dad gets home, or they get tired. The telescope keeps getting broken, and then I get blamed for it.”
William laughed, and sat down on the bench beside him. “There’s a couple like that at my house, too,” he said, “but no telescope to worry about, and my dad doesn’t work very often.” He looked around. “Don’t you have another sibling who could do this?”
Scott shook his head. “No one else is old enough to be deemed ‘responsible’. Arguably Casey might be, but… he’s always off at LuLu anyway, or Rodney’s, and I think Dad is too smart to actually trust him with anything. So watching them is my job. There is also a baby-sitter, but she’s usually fully occupied with the actual baby and toddler.” He looked over apologetically. “Sorry, I know my house is full of annoying little kids. Grant loves them, he’s only got one younger brother who’s basically Casey’s age and not really a kid anymore, but I think most people are more normal about it.”
“Nah, it’s ok,” said William. “Not that there is any lack of kids at our house, but I don’t mind them.” He chewed a fingernail. “I’ve always thought it would be great to have a family like this, you know. Two parents, four or five kids who all grew up together… the six of us, I mean, me and Martin and my sisters, not the younger children, we all spent a large part of our lives in broken families and then got shoved together and told we were all siblings, now. And I mean, we’re all good friends now, except for Martin, I guess, and my dad is great. But I didn’t actually grow up with him, or three of my sisters, and it’s a little strange. You know?”
“I guess I wouldn’t, really,” said Scott, “but yeah, it seems like it’d be strange.” He huffed a small laugh. “I guess what we talked about before wouldn’t really make your family situation any simpler, would it?”
“Oh,” said William, suddenly. “I didn’t mean— I mean, I don’t know. I used to sort of dream about how one day I’d get married to a girl, and we’d be together forever, and have a bunch of kids and a family like yours. But I think you could still have that kind of family with three people, right?” He looked over at Scott cautiously, again. “I guess kids would be less simple, maybe. But it’s not like there is a girl I’d want to marry, and—” He ducked his head. “I had sort of gotten used to thinking of you as taken, and I wasn’t that sure of my feelings about guys anyway. But I’ve been thinking about it more, and now I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Scott held his breath, but William seemed to be done speaking. Hesitantly, he ventured, “Is that a ‘yes’ then? To Grant’s proposal?”
William looked back up at him, nervously, and said, “Yeah, I think so.”
Scott grinned at him. But the moment was shattered by the sound of Sonya barreling into the telescope.
Gesso Notes
Rodney's Hideout: Rodney's Hideout is a bar lot that I generally always turn into the gay bar, and that is the purpose it serves in this neighborhood, too. It's been mentioned before, but hasn't been named until now. Eventually I do want to write a story about the guy who was the first one to own it, who was Robert's uncle.
Sim Notes
William Curtis is actually Edith Curtis's third child with her cheating ex-husband (remember her?). This is his portrait as an adult:
He has two full siblings who are Edith's older children with her ex-husband, Martin and Monica Curtis:
(William isn't actually that much lighter-skinned than these siblings - it's largely an illusion created by the fact that he's blond.) Monica is mostly irrelevant as far as future stories go, but there's some in the very distant future that involve Martin.
By the way, this is Edith's cheating ex-husband:
There will eventually be a story about what happened to him after Edith divorced him.
So, as Edith's child, William's real dad who is actually his step-dad is Alex Upsnott from the original story about Edith. Grant's Dad G is was actually originally named Upsnott and has close relatives in that part of the family tree (although he's a bit older than either of William's dads).
William's other sisters are the children of Alex and Bonnie, who were mentioned briefly but not properly introduced before:
Jacqueline Bishop:
(Who is the shortest person in the entire neighborhood)
Melanie Bishop:
(Whose hair is actually dyed in this picture, naturally (and in this story) it's black)
Lauren Bishop:
I'll save the introduction of Lauren's boyfriend for a later story. These three wind up in a complex lesbian drama that won't get told for a while due to prompt availability, but there are some hints of what's to come in this piece.
Scott's sister Cynthia actually turned out completely human looking. Here's her teen portrait:
Sonya did not escape the alien genes:
Sonya has another story involving the telescope in the distant future (I promise it's not about being abducted by aliens, haha).
I have created a family tree for these guys (and for several other sets of sims, because I figure things are starting to get complicated) and put them into the Tales From the Neighborhood post on my blog here. I'll add more as it seems appropriate. Currently the other trees are one of Michael, Stephen and Theo's confusing poly family (missing four other mostly irrelevant siblings) and the Thomas family that Grant, Garrett, Benjamin and Victor are all part of (including just the people who have been mentioned in the Grant/Scott/William stories and the Singularity story).
Story: Tales From the Neighborhood
Plot Thread: Grant/Scott/William
Colors: Warm Heart #8: Courtesy
Styles and Supplies: Life Drawing, Silhouette, Gesso, Calendar Page (National Sons Day)
Word Count: 1928
Rating: PG
Warnings: Another trans character in here being misgendered because no one knows they are trans yet. I think it should probably be clear which character it is this time.
Characters: Scott Hanby, Grant Thomas, William Curtis, Cynthia and Sonya Hanby get a brief mention
Summary: The other leg of this trio forms.
It was lunchtime, and Scott was eating with Grant in the school courtyard, but as on many days lately, he was distracted. Over Grant’s shoulder, he could see William Curtis sitting at another table with two of his sisters, talking and laughing. Scott didn’t know the sisters well; they were both very pale, worse than Grant, even, one of them blond and the other dark-haired, but William’s sandy hair topped a much duskier complexion, and the contrast intrigued him. When William smiled, it did funny things to his stomach.
Grant had seen where he was looking, and turned to look in that direction. Scott ducked his head back down and focused on his food. Grant knew what he thought of William; they’d discussed him back when they hadn’t been so sure of their own relationship, and Grant had had a different name. But things were different now. He wasn’t going to trade Grant for William (or for anyone else), and couldn’t have them both. Probably William wasn’t interested, anyway.
But Grant seemed more amused than anything. “You still have a thing for him?” he asked. “I could introduce you if you wanted — he’s my cousin, on Dad G’s side, through both of his dads, actually.”
Scott blinked at him in surprise. “He has two dads too? Both married to his mom, like yours are?”
“Oh, no. His family has a much more traditional and wholesome structure to it. His parents got divorced and his mom remarried, so he has a dad, and a step-dad.” Grant smiled slightly at the private joke.
“And they’re brothers?” Scott squinted at William again.
“Yeah.” Grant was almost fully smiling now. “I don’t know all the dramatic details of that, it mostly all went down when I was very young. Maybe before I was born, actually.”
“Oh.” Scott looked down at his food again. “You don’t have to introduce me if you don’t want to. I’m not going to ditch you for him. He’s just nice to look at.”
“I think you’re being silly,” said Grant. “My mom didn’t ditch Dad J for Dad G, they all built a family together. No reason we can’t do what they did, instead of what William’s parents did.”
Scott looked up at him cautiously. “You’d really be ok with me dating him?”
“Sure. He’s a good guy, and he’s already family. Just, you know,” he shrugged, “do me the courtesy of letting me know what you’re up to. That’s all.”
Scott looked over at William again. “It’s probably a silly idea anyway,” he said. “Does he even date guys?”
Grant seemed to consider this. “You know, I don’t know, actually. I don’t think I’ve heard of him dating anyone, really. But you could always ask.” He looked curiously at Scott. “So, do you want to be introduced?”
“Yeah,” Scott decided. “I’d appreciate that.” New apprehension bubbled up within him, though, now that Grant had given him this permission. It was probably going to be for nothing, anyway.
“David’s not actually my dad,” William clarified, after he’d sat down with them at lunch the next day, at Grant’s invitation. “I mean, I guess maybe he is in a dumb biological way. But I never even met the guy. My mom kicked him out six months before I was born. I think Martin and Monica still see him sometimes, but I’m not sure he even knows I exist. Martin seems to like him, but well, if you knew Martin… that’s not really an endorsement.” He smiled at some private bit of humor. “My real dad is the guy who’s married to my mom.”
“So are your sisters like… actually your sisters?” Scott asked. “Or like, half-sisters? Step-sisters?”
“Monica’s my full sister,” said William. “I’ve known her since I was born. The other three are my dad’s kids with his first wife. So step-sisters, yeah, and also first cousins, because the family is weird like that.” He hesitated for a moment, and picked at his food. “Before Martin graduated, when there were six of us living in the house together, plus a few younger kids that my mom had with my dad, it was a little insane there. I guess it’s not much better now, but now it’s also just me versus the four of them, and they are all best friends forever and it’s just constant gossiping. Not that I’ve ever really been friends with Martin, but he did make it slightly less weird just by being there.”
“Ooh,” said Grant. “What’s the gossip?” Scott had to quirk his mouth at that a bit — Grant used to loathe gossip, too, and had categorized it as a ‘girl thing’ that he didn’t want anything to do with. But he’d mellowed out in so many ways since the potion and didn’t seem much bothered by things like that anymore.
“Currently?” William grinned. “At the moment, it’s all about how Lauren’s boyfriend is hot.”
“And is he?” asked Scott. “In your estimation.” He didn’t really know Lauren, not personally, but he had seen her around and knew that she was dating a boy with red hair and brown eyes. He wasn’t green, of course, and didn’t have any of Scott’s alien features that he knew weirded a lot of people out, but maybe if William was into him…
William pursed his lips and seemed to consider his answer for moment, looking around at the other tables. “Well… since it’s you asking. I didn’t expect to have an opinion, really, but he is, kind of. But even Jackie was saying so, and if she finds him attractive, I figure he must have like, managed to transcend gender somehow and be attractive to everyone.”
“I like that one,” said Grant. “I think I’m going to steal it. Transcend gender.”
“Oh!” said William, turning to him suddenly. “I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, I don’t actually think… well, if he does turn out to be a girl, Lauren is going to be really unhappy, but I don’t think the rest of us will be.” He laughed. “The other three would probably descend on him like a pack of vultures at that point.”
“Is everyone in your house bi?” Scott asked, amused.
“Well, Lauren isn’t, and Jackie isn’t normally, like I said. And me?” He shrugged. “I guess I don’t really know. Been thinking about it a little, though.”
Scott could feel Grant silently beaming encouragement to him, but kept his focus on William as he said, “Well, if you feel like talking about it, or, I guess,” he shrugged as nonchalantly as possible, “trying anything out, come by my place sometime.”
William narrowed his eyes and looked between the two of them. “You guys are dating, aren’t you?” He turned to Grant. “You’re just letting him do this?”
“He has permission,” said Grant. He put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “If you wanted to date him, too, I’d welcome you. It’d be the three of us, together.”
“Well, I’m not dating you,” said William. “You’re my cousin.”
Grant laughed a little. “I know,” he said. “It’d be like my parents, yeah? My dads aren’t married to each other, they’re both married to my mom. And they’re cousins, too, I believe.”
“Oh,” said William, a little taken aback. He looked back at Scott with a new kind of cautious consideration in his expression. “I guess… I’ll consider it.”
It had been a week since they’d talked to William that day, and they hadn’t really talked since then. Scott had seen him in classes, at lunch, with a sister or three, or another friend, but he had never come over to talk to Scott again. Maybe they’d scared him off, after all.
But one day when Scott was in the front yard, keeping and eye on Cynthia and Sonya as they played an elaborate game of tag, he looked up and found that William was standing on the sidewalk watching the girls and occasionally glancing over at Scott, seemingly indecisive.
Scott called over to him, and he seemed to make a decision, walking across the lawn, dodging the girls as they sprinted back and forth.
“Grant said you had the new SSX,” he said, by way of a greeting. “I was wondering if you’d be interested in playing?”
Scott grinned at him. “I’d love to,” he said, “but I’m on duty, currently.” He gestured to his little sisters. “At least until my Dad gets home, or they get tired. The telescope keeps getting broken, and then I get blamed for it.”
William laughed, and sat down on the bench beside him. “There’s a couple like that at my house, too,” he said, “but no telescope to worry about, and my dad doesn’t work very often.” He looked around. “Don’t you have another sibling who could do this?”
Scott shook his head. “No one else is old enough to be deemed ‘responsible’. Arguably Casey might be, but… he’s always off at LuLu anyway, or Rodney’s, and I think Dad is too smart to actually trust him with anything. So watching them is my job. There is also a baby-sitter, but she’s usually fully occupied with the actual baby and toddler.” He looked over apologetically. “Sorry, I know my house is full of annoying little kids. Grant loves them, he’s only got one younger brother who’s basically Casey’s age and not really a kid anymore, but I think most people are more normal about it.”
“Nah, it’s ok,” said William. “Not that there is any lack of kids at our house, but I don’t mind them.” He chewed a fingernail. “I’ve always thought it would be great to have a family like this, you know. Two parents, four or five kids who all grew up together… the six of us, I mean, me and Martin and my sisters, not the younger children, we all spent a large part of our lives in broken families and then got shoved together and told we were all siblings, now. And I mean, we’re all good friends now, except for Martin, I guess, and my dad is great. But I didn’t actually grow up with him, or three of my sisters, and it’s a little strange. You know?”
“I guess I wouldn’t, really,” said Scott, “but yeah, it seems like it’d be strange.” He huffed a small laugh. “I guess what we talked about before wouldn’t really make your family situation any simpler, would it?”
“Oh,” said William, suddenly. “I didn’t mean— I mean, I don’t know. I used to sort of dream about how one day I’d get married to a girl, and we’d be together forever, and have a bunch of kids and a family like yours. But I think you could still have that kind of family with three people, right?” He looked over at Scott cautiously, again. “I guess kids would be less simple, maybe. But it’s not like there is a girl I’d want to marry, and—” He ducked his head. “I had sort of gotten used to thinking of you as taken, and I wasn’t that sure of my feelings about guys anyway. But I’ve been thinking about it more, and now I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Scott held his breath, but William seemed to be done speaking. Hesitantly, he ventured, “Is that a ‘yes’ then? To Grant’s proposal?”
William looked back up at him, nervously, and said, “Yeah, I think so.”
Scott grinned at him. But the moment was shattered by the sound of Sonya barreling into the telescope.
Gesso Notes
Rodney's Hideout: Rodney's Hideout is a bar lot that I generally always turn into the gay bar, and that is the purpose it serves in this neighborhood, too. It's been mentioned before, but hasn't been named until now. Eventually I do want to write a story about the guy who was the first one to own it, who was Robert's uncle.
Sim Notes
William Curtis is actually Edith Curtis's third child with her cheating ex-husband (remember her?). This is his portrait as an adult:
He has two full siblings who are Edith's older children with her ex-husband, Martin and Monica Curtis:
(William isn't actually that much lighter-skinned than these siblings - it's largely an illusion created by the fact that he's blond.) Monica is mostly irrelevant as far as future stories go, but there's some in the very distant future that involve Martin.
By the way, this is Edith's cheating ex-husband:
There will eventually be a story about what happened to him after Edith divorced him.
So, as Edith's child, William's real dad who is actually his step-dad is Alex Upsnott from the original story about Edith. Grant's Dad G is was actually originally named Upsnott and has close relatives in that part of the family tree (although he's a bit older than either of William's dads).
William's other sisters are the children of Alex and Bonnie, who were mentioned briefly but not properly introduced before:
Jacqueline Bishop:
(Who is the shortest person in the entire neighborhood)
Melanie Bishop:
(Whose hair is actually dyed in this picture, naturally (and in this story) it's black)
Lauren Bishop:
I'll save the introduction of Lauren's boyfriend for a later story. These three wind up in a complex lesbian drama that won't get told for a while due to prompt availability, but there are some hints of what's to come in this piece.
Scott's sister Cynthia actually turned out completely human looking. Here's her teen portrait:
Sonya did not escape the alien genes:
Sonya has another story involving the telescope in the distant future (I promise it's not about being abducted by aliens, haha).
I have created a family tree for these guys (and for several other sets of sims, because I figure things are starting to get complicated) and put them into the Tales From the Neighborhood post on my blog here. I'll add more as it seems appropriate. Currently the other trees are one of Michael, Stephen and Theo's confusing poly family (missing four other mostly irrelevant siblings) and the Thomas family that Grant, Garrett, Benjamin and Victor are all part of (including just the people who have been mentioned in the Grant/Scott/William stories and the Singularity story).