1.02: The Woes of a Legacy Founder

Wolf: House?  Mulan, you had $1800.  That’s not a whole lot, especially for you Sims!  Your prices are nuts!  Just be glad you have a bed, a toilet, and a shower.

“Not even a fridge!?”

Wolf: Not quite enough for that yet.  But you have work tomorrow, so should have more than enough to get ya a fridge.

It was a rough night for Mulan.  Though Wolf had splurged a bit on the bed, the fact that she had no roof over her head was definitely a worry, especially for someone like her that had grown up in what almost amounted to a castle.

 

The next morning, wondering if she’d made a mistake by coming to Willow Creek, Mulan went out into the town again.  She needed food and had been so out of it, she’d just left without taking a shower.  So she found herself in front of the gym first.  And boy was she not happy…

 

After a shower, she ran down the street to the bar to grab a bowl of their stale, over-salted chips.  She ate with her head down definitely not in the mood for any kind of socialization.

 

After the less than satisfying ‘breakfast’, Mulan was feeling only marginally better.  She looked down at her watch and let out a yelp.  She was going to be late for work!  Panicking at the thought, she sped out of the bar and ran down the street.

 

Her first day of work was a whirlwind.  She was promoted that very night, no longer a simple Writing Assistant.  She was a Blogger.  And a blogger needed a computer, right?  So that computer that the add promised came home with her and she had made enough money to buy a cheap fridge and a desk and chair.  Immediately, she typed in her SimsMessenger screenname and password, logging on.  No one on her buddy list was on.  Disappointed, she shrugged and pulled up a game of Blickblock.

 

Wolf: You should totally call up that cutie Camron.  Invite him over.

“Invite him over?  Are you insane?!  My bed, shower, desk, and refrigerator are all out on the middle of my lawn!  I don’t even have a house!  There is no way I can invite him over!”

Wolf: What about that J guy?  He’s cute too, though I don’t know how he’d be for a husband…

“Husband!?” Mulan sputtered through an incoherent dribble of words.  “Just what is going on here?!”

Wolf: Wait, did I forget to mention all that?  You, my dear Mulan, are a Legacy founder.  I’m sure you’ve heard of that, right?

There was no answer.  Mulan just sat there, her jaw hanging open.

Wolf: Hm… perhaps I should have been more clear…  You ok, Mulan?  What’s that noise you’re making?

It was something between a gasp and trying to yell.  But nothing was actually coming out.  Finally, she just smacked her forehead down on the desk.  “Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know!  I have heard of these legacies… but I always thought they were a myth.  Look, I’ll do this on one condition: let me do it in my own time, my own way, ok?  I’ll do the best I can, follow whatever rules you have, but I get to pick my own guy and in my own time.  We clear on that?”

There was silence for a moment.  Wolf: Alright, you got a deal then.  But I make no promises about later generations.  If they start to stray, I’m putting the ka-bosh on that.

“Fair enough.”

And so, Mulan was left in some relative peace.  She played her game some more until her stomach rumbled.  She grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat on her bed, complementing this ‘deal’ she had made.

 

Once she had eaten, she made a note to herself that she needed a sink and a garbage can as soon as she could afford them.  Her refrigerator and the desk and chair had taken all the money she had made the day before.  She set the bowl down on her desk and hopped back on her computer.  As she brought up the word processor to possibly begin writing a story idea that had begun to pop into her head, there was a message.

 

Cowboy Sunrise82: Hey, this is Mulan, right?  Mulan Rampart?

WarriorWoman124: Um, yeah… this is.  Who’s this?

Cowboy Sunrise82: It’s Camron!  Sorry, I know this must seem a bit stalkerish… I looked you up through your phone number.  You don’t mind, do you?

WarriorWoman124: Oh wow!  No, that’s fine.  I forgot you could do that.  How are you?

Cowboy Sunrise82: I’m doing well.

Once again, Mulan lost herself in conversation with Camron.  But eventually, she was falling asleep at the keyboard.  ‘Sorry, Camron, I gotta get some sleep,’ she wrote.  ‘I’ll talk to you later, ok?’  She signed off and stood up, grinning.  She was still grinning as she climbed into bed.

The next morning, Mulan woke up later than normal.  It was her day off, after all.  So she decided to just laze about in bed for a bit longer.  The fact that she was still in the middle of a field didn’t seem to faze her as much this morning.

 

She finally roused herself and stretched.  Some inspiration struck her and she hopped on the computer to finish that story she had started the day before.  It was a children’s story based on the stories that her parents had always told her as a child.  Of course, she altered it just a bit.  It had always annoyed her to no end how the hero of a story was always the man and he had to rescue the ‘damsel’.  And so, the Warrior Princess was born.  Before she knew it, she was done!  She printed it out to go back and reread it, then settled on her bed to read through it.

 

She was fairly happy with it.  But she hopped back onto her computer in order to make a few changes.  As she did so, a message window popped up.  She frowned at the screen.  It wasn’t Camron’s screenname this time.

 

LadiesMan58: Hello beautiful.  How are you today?

WarriorWoman124: I’m fine… who is this?

LadiesMan58: It’s J, of course.  I was wondering, wanna meet me for drinks a bit later?

 

Mulan hesitated a moment.  Then she shrugged.  What harm could it do?

WarriorWoman124: Sure, why not.  Meet ya there in two hours?

LadiesMan58: Sounds great, doll.  See ya there.

He signed off.  Mulan stared at the screen with a bemused expression.  “Doll?” she muttered.  She sighed.  J wasn’t a bad guy but some of his habits were a bit annoying.  But it was just a drink.  She got up and hopped into the shower.  But as she stepped out… naked as the day she was born, she turned her head and went bright red, letting out a surprised shriek.

 

As Camron stood there, a blank expression on his face, Mulan ran behind her little bathroom wall to change her clothes.  She leaned against the bathroom door, her face flaming.  She really hoped Camron would just keep on walking.  Instead, she heard her name being hailed. Swallowing, she slunk out from behind her hiding place, her head hanging down.

 

“Um… hi,” she finally ventured, looking up.  She wasn’t sure which was worse right now, the fact that he had just seen her in all her glory… or that he was standing next to all she owned in the whole world, out in a field, in the middle of a lovely, but otherwise empty lot.

He just looked at her, then looked around.

 

“So uh… guess it really isn’t much, huh?”

She winced.  “I am really sorry about that… look, I… I was embarrassed.  I should have been honest.  I just…”

“Look, I get it, I do.  I’m crashing on someone’s couch as it is.  But you coulda told me.”

She looked down at the ground again, ashamed.

 

“Look, Mulan, I like you… a lot, but… I don’t know, guess it makes sense, the reason you keep putting off hanging out.”  He looked around again, his expression somewhere between sad and rueful.  “I uh… I should head to work.  I was on my way to work and took a detour to see if I couldn’t track ya down.  I guess… I’ll catch ya later.”

 

Mulan raised a hand, wanting to stop him, but he was already striding away.

---

The next week or so passed in a bit of a haze.  Her heart was heavy with guilt.  She hadn’t heard a word from Camron since that night.  She spent it mostly writing blindly, reading, and spending her nights tossing and turning.

 

Work was going well.  She’d gotten two more promotions since she became a blogger.  It was her day off again.  It was hard to believe a full week had passed.  She’d run the gamut from guilt to anger to sadness and back again.  That morning, she woke up determined.  She showered, ate a cup of yogurt, then picked up her phone.  Her hands shook a little as she dialed the number.  The phone rang once, twice, three times… she sighed in dismay even as she heard a click and the familiar voice, “Hello.”

“Camron!  Please don’t hang up!” she begged.  “Look, I know I screwed up.  I want to try to fix things.  Would you like to come over?”

 

There was a heavy pause.  “Alright.  Give me about an hour, then I’ll be over, ok?”

Mulan paced around her lot, feeling nervous, hoping he’d show up.  When she saw him, she approached him tentatively.  “Hi…”

“Hi yourself,” he returned.  She was glad to see there was at least a small smile on his face, even if he looked a bit guarded.

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