Chapter 4.6 - May 2023: Wildfire, part II..

My name was grown from stones. The grey stones of the mountains.



It's exam day for all the students in town, and fire is the first thing on Oliver Freddys mind as he wakes up this morning... He has been a good student, and is pretty confident his exam will go well. He is still young, so maybe tonight he will set something on fire. Not the entire world, perhaps, but something a little more localized.. no, not the kitchen either... a bonfire in the backyard should do. ;)



He was the first one of everyone on the dorm to wake up, so he got to eat his breakfast in peace.. until Cody showed up. I'm trying to tell a story here, but even I don't know everything that happens behind the scenes.. It became one of the themes of this day, that whenever Cody was nearby, everyone showed disapproval of him, but I don't know what he has done to get this reaction from people...



Inge didn't mind him though. She thought it was nice to have a moment of togetherness eating breakfast, before she had to run off to her exam. At the end of her second year at university, the people she shares a dorm had in a way become her family away from family...



If the weather held up, maybe she could go fishing with Samantha later. She still thought about her since their meeting last month, and hoped she was doing alright. She had a feeling Samantha wasn't telling her everything. Well, it wasn't just a feeling. It was pretty obvious there was something Samantha hadn't told her. She was hoping to earn her trust and that she would eventually open up about whatever it was...



Oliver Freddys exam wasn't until after lunch, so he had plenty of time to relax and actually go fishing.. He hadn't fished around here before, so he didn't know where the best fishing spot was, but as Senior Lake was the biggest lake he knew (apart from the lake that gave the place it's name...), he thought it should be a good spot with plenty of fish.



He managed to catch a couple of ray-finned-fish before he ran out of bait and decided to call it quits. He wasn't happy about either catch and it looked like he considered throwing them out again as he held them up to gauge their weight and quality. They were only average quality fish, and of course he was hoping for something better. Not because he wanted to cook them, but because he wanted to gather the best possible scientific data. One day he would show those professors that always rejected his findings.. one day... He still kept the fish though, maybe something good could come out of them, and if not, atleast he would gain experience before the big find...



With plenty more time to kill he went over to the Coffee Shop (passing by a house known as "The Grey Junior house" on the way) 'to relax a little more reading a book about a day in the life of a plantsim...



Plantsims? The book was written as if plantsims was something that existed, and the foreword even suggested that with a high enough skill in science or by planting a certain special seed one could possibly even grow or create a plantsim.. Oliver Freddy dismissed the idea as fictional. It sounded like something his aunt Monica would come up with in one of her ramblings... It wasn't even pseudoscience, but he found it an entertaining read nonetheless. There's plenty of people around, sure, but they're not growing on trees...

In the foreground is Vuolle Onébegajávrre (Karoliinás father) talking to Ashley Corono about the legend of the three wildfires that is said to one day consume and end the town.. The legend is one that has been passed down through generations. It's origin is unclear, but archeologists and historians has so far concluded that it might stem from a forest fire that almost decimated the entire town somewhere between 800 and 900 CE.



Vuolle is then backed up by his wife Márjánna sharing the same legend, but Ashley (who is not a local) dismisses the entire thing as nonsense and doesn't want to hear more about it..



Flowers are much more effective than old legends steeped in dubious lore... I can only assume he's not to serious about this, given that his wife is also present...



Over by the art institute, Inge just passed her exam with flying colours. Hooray. ;) Inge is on her way over the entrance on the other side of the building to meet up with Samantha (who also passed her exam). It was clear to everyone that took part in the exam this morning that there was something different about Samantha today. It wasn't excactly what Inge had expected... Maybe Oliver Freddy was on to something when he would say that he could hear wolves howling whenever there was a full moon... Could it really be that Samantha was a.... ? How was that even possible? This was a level of being different that Inge hadn't seen before....
    Samantha was already seated by a desk in the back of the room when Inge entered. Inge tried to get eye contact, but Samantha was seemingly busy carefully laying out her pencils on the desk while waiting for the cue to open the exam papers...



Samanthas new appearance didn't make Inge any less curious and she still wanted to become better friends with her. Well, that and after they had connected so well just the other day, she couldn't just begin to ignore her.. Inge knew very well what it meant to be ignored, so she couldn't do that to anyone almost no matter how different they were.. So there was only one thing to do, to brave it and approach Samantha...

As it was raining pretty heavily by the time their exam ended, Inge thought it best to invite her home to do Inges favore thing, to watch tv sitting on the couch, instead of going fishing. That was atleast one of the reasons Inge told herself to justify not going fishing alone with Samantha..



While Inge and Samantha is fast on their way to the De Anda Hall, its time for Oliver Freddy to put away the book about plantsims and head for his exam in the science building just across the road.. and maybe on the way he will get an answer to the question of whether it is most fruitful to run or walk through the rain.. what keeps you most dry? :P



Samantha would no doubt win that competion. Not only is she using an umbrella, she is also a much faster runner.. Inge has to struggle to keep up. Such power! Inge is impressed, but also a little intimidated by her new friend.



When they arrive at the dorm Samantha announces that she is hungry like a .. well, you know. Inge doesn't want to upset Samantha, so she immediately goes to prepare the best lunch meal she can make, a fine omelette with mushrooms..



All those hours spent watching the cooking channel on tv has paid off. Samantha really enjoys the meal in umm... her own way, and Inge gets her wish and Samantha accepts her as one of her best and most trusted friends.

I'll admit I'm not entirely comfortable with how Samanthas eating is portrayed here. If I were just writing without using screenshots, I wouldn't have described it as this animalistic, but then again, if this wasn't based on the sims universe I probably wouldn't even have werewolves in the first place...

After they are now both well fed, they can do what Inge wants to do. Watch tv and talk about homes and family...



While they are watching tv, Oliver Freddy returns home from his exam after having passed with flying colours as well (like he knew he would), and now finally is the time for him to arrange a bonfire party.. Rain or shine, though he hopes the rain will let up soon...



He's not going all out with the extravagant coloured lights and decorations like his girlfriend Inge did, but the juice keg is still there, along with a buffet table and the mandatory plastic cups.. now placed on a shelf instead of a table, so that people won't complain about the table being unaccessible when they want to eat because a plastic cup was in the way....



Samantha was of course also invited to the party, since she was already in the building and since she had made such good friends with Inge. After they had finished watching tv she decided to tell a joke at her own expense. She can do that, not sure if anyone else should. :P



Inge appreciates that Samantha is able to laugh at herself for being different, as well as appreciating that Samantha has enough trust in Inge to tell such a joke, and decides to give her a warm and friendly hug.



Guests should be arriving soon, so it's time for Oliver Freddy to light the fire and serve the food, hoping that the fire won't be put out by the rain...


It took a while for the rain to let up, and I think Oliver Freddy must have been worried about his party guests being hungry, because he had decided to order a pizza while everyone was still inside filling the hallway with random university slogan cheers.. :P



Inge had been in the dining room conversing and joking with Samantha when Debbie Richards joined the conversation.



Meanwhile the rain had come to an end, and Oliver Freddy had gotten a pretty decent bonfire going. Now the party could begin as intended.. ;)



Inge had gone outside to check out the bonfire, which left Samantha alone with Debbie. Samantha then wanted to say hi to Debbie in her own way, but Debbie wasn't to appreciative of this and now it was Samanthas turn to be put in her place...



This proved to be a pretty big wedge in the relationship between Samantha and Debbie, and Samantha would take to dislike Debbie for atleast the rest of the evening... Time to head outside and join the others watching the fire...



Now that Inge had become good friends with Samantha, she walked inside to greet Nicole and give her a second chance after she ditched them before the last time they tried to hang out..



Inges talking to Nicole was interrupted by Oliver Freddy finally deciding to serve the pizza and have everyone sit down to eat..



There was an empty seat next to Debbie, but Samantha sure as hell wasn't going to use that one!



Sitting next to Nicole, though she had her quirks, was much better...



Billy Jean Sparks was sitting on a table all alone as she confessed her interest in Jonathan Dirk.. and I don't know where the sandwich came from.. :P I didn't see Billy Jean try to make a move on him, though, nor did she cause a scene.. Maybe she is just a girl who thinks he is the one.... or maybe she just followed some strong advice, and remembered to always think twice... :P



After everyone had eaten it was time to gather around the and enjoy the warmth from the fire outside again. The rest of the party went by relatively peacefully, noone passed out on the lawn, the police didn't arrive to do a lousy job and contrary to what I had expected there wasn't a single streaker in sight... Almost a stark contrast to the party Inge threw earlier, but as long as everyone had a good time, that is what matters the most. ;)



Oliver Freddy wasn't done sciencing, and wanted to perform some tests on Debbie, which included testing her reflexes. Good catch! :P



..and then he went inside to study on the computer! Come on, man.. what are you doing? You're done for the semester, this has no purpose! ;)
"I'm just trying to get a head start for the next semester..."

Right, well, as you wish...



People outside were still enjoying the bonfire, and Inge was thinking about the fishing trip with Samantha.. Now that it didn't rain, however, it was probably a little late for that now..



Even though Inge got out of bed after her boyfriend, she felt like she had been up since early morning, and decided to call it a night...



Oliver Freddy was also getting tired, but now that Inge had gone to bed he thought he could take his turn to bond with Samantha as well.



Or so I thought, because the next thing he does is pretty bold as he asks her for a DNA sample.. It appears that everything he does one way or another revolves around science.. I'm also surprised that Samantha actually lets him do it.. I would have imagined that she wouldn't just let her DNA get sampled like that, like she was some kind of object to be performed research upon...
I suppose Oliver Freddy being Inges boyfriend would automatically give him a few trust points...



Well, congratulations Oliver Freddy.. with this sample, maybe you can learn something about a Grey's anatomy.... He is a medical student after all, and if he can figure out something useful, it might be of benefit to the Greys too...



The party was coming to an end soon, and people were just about to leave when Samantha went inside to give Ruby Parks a last helping hand with juice keg.. and being very vocal about what she thought about Debbie..



That was pretty much the last of it. There were a few that didn't enjoy the party as much, but Ruby, Samantha and Debbie could all agree that atleast they had a good time. ;)






It was now only Jeffrey Dean and Che Justice still wanted to keep the fire going, but as Oliver Freddy has also joined his girlfriend in bed, I think its time this one ends here and we'll see them again tomorrow when they go back to Sunset Valley for summer...



Good night. ;)

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I can take all the blame, for the sake of my name Our blood on your hands, running hot in the veins They say: "Do yourself well and stay away from your family" - what!? Wildfire, part II: One with the mountain – Sonata Arctica

Chapter 4.1 - January 2023 - Full moon love II

The video for the music track mentioned below is out there on youtube, but it looks like it's blocked from being embedded on here, so I can only give the link.

Mari Boine - Gumppet Holvot (The wolves howl) (opens in new window).
Lyrics translated to english (taken from the artists web page):

I live, live from day to day live from day to day I wait and see I wait and see what comes next I wait and see what you are planning I live, live from day to day I talk, talk and talk Saying the same things again and again repeat and repeat repeat and repeat And the wolves howl as they always have and always will > and always will as they always have and always will I wait and see what are you plotting now wait and see what are you scheming I live, live from day to day I talk, talk and talk saying the same thing again and again chewing and chewing the same words While the wolves howl as they always have Always will

"Bye bye brother.. see you again in summer...then we'll go fishing together.. you know I didn't really mean it when I said you were weird..."



----- 

The journey takes them east, and then north to the small on the shores of Lake Onebega between the Appaloosian mountains to the west and the smaller Nimíipuu mountain range to the east.





Back to old grounds, and Oliver Freddy already wants to go on a date with Inge.. Inge is looking forward to returning to her art studies..




She just has to stop and show off with a wrench for a while.. Climbing the ranks of the social groups have given her a bit of a confidence boost and made her more confident about her inborn handiness skill. ;)



"See what I can do! I'm not a loser!"



Then after a while some of their other room-mates also return, from top left to bottom right: Jonathan Dirk (will he still have a crush on Inge?), Skip Taylor, Daniel Vaughn, Cody Eisenberg and Ayana Yuki.



Jonathan Dirk finds Oliver Freddy to talk about his expectations for the upcoming semester and studying, while Inge repeatedly engages Skip Taylor in the university slogan dance.



Inge goes outside to do something that, atleast up until now, have been pretty uncharacteristic of her, but something that her boyfriend has done several times.. to go dumpster diving. There are some hints of personal growth in her since her first semester at university.. Or atleast changes, because maybe dumpster diving can't excactly be filed under personal growth.. but she is being more courageous and dares to do things she previously didn't, and getting dirty in a dumpster is one of those things.. No more is she the shy and timid freshman that would cry over her own burnt waffles in the morning!



Well, mostly...



Oliver Freddy was inside reading a copy of Inges first published novel, "A miner's heart". A story of a copper mine in the far northern mountains, and a young hard headed miner falling in love with one of the entertainers working at one of the gambling houses downtown...



Then it was time for them to head for the information meeting at the Student Union to pick up the books they would need for this semester..



Their first lecture isn't until tomorrow, so after having picked up their stuff, Inge goes to play on the arcade machines. Oliver Freddy wants to put some scientific data into context, so heads over to the institute of the technology to have a talk with the professors there.



The professors weren't to happy about the data he brought as they weren't relevant for their ongoing research project on the effects of woohoo on the brain (Seriously... that's what the pop-up said..:P) so they only rewarded him 21 simoleons for the effort.



Well, Oliver wasn't in it for the money, so that didn't faze him much, he was much more disappointed about not having the correct data – again... but since he learnt about their research project he got an idea. He already wanted to take Inge out on a date, but now he wanted to take it a step further.. also since he knew there would be a full moon out tonight. He thought he could already hear the wolves howling from the distant mountain tops..



..so he sends a message to his girlfriend, suggesting that they meet up at the coffee shop for some hot drinks, wink wink nudge nudge. :P



So they meet up at the café and Oliver Freddy being blessed with the inappropriate trait that stems from his grandpa doesn't shy away from giving flirtatious comments about getting their hair wet and skinny dipping in the lake.. yep, that's what he said... but it's a little to cold for that this early in the season, maybe, so they launch into the university cheer dance before they continue to talk about just that, the cold and the snow and end it with a passionate kiss. ;)



They head on over to the counter to order their coffee and tea, but it looks like the barista is in a weird mood or could do with some training, because she just walks away from the cash register to stand awkwardly at the other end... so they give up on ordering and Cora Sidwell moves over and wants to dance with Oliver Freddy. Inge is not to keen on that, so she gets inbetween them to introduce herself to this lady in pink clothes and hideous make-up... After this the barista seems to have gotten the idea to do what she is supposedly paid for and go stand by the cash register.. "..did these guys just want to order something...?"
Oliver Freddy entertains the girls by retelling a funny story he heard from his aunt Monica about a failed fishing experiment she did once in the small pond behind the Landgraab Research Facility in Sunset Valley. Cora laughs a little nervously while gauging Inges reaction.. "Hmm, are they a couple or..? Maybe I shouldn't have interfered..."



With the barista taking her job seriously for a moment they seize the opportunity to buy themselves some lunch, before sitting down and discussing the upcoming semester. Oliver Freddy wants to do an inkblot test on Inge again, as a purely scientific experiment of course, to see if she's got woohoo on her mind too... Not quite, as her associations were more in the line of asking to increase the royalty she gets from her publisher, dumspter diving and cooking breakfast. However, she does a bit of flirting too, before they move on to talk about the snow and cold weather again.. It always takes a while for them to adjust to the lower temperatures of the mountains after having migrated north from Sunset Valley. They discuss the weather for a while, when blam – suddenly the bathroom door behind them slams open and out comes a naked woman..



Its Jennifer Rockefeller of course. Who else? I don't know what to say about this anymore.. she has become more or less a naked running 'gag' of campus life.. it almost isn't funny anymore... :P But I'll give her that, this entrance was probably one of the best ones she ever did. It totally caught me by surprise that's for sure.. Inge and Oliver Freddy are totally unphazed, though.. Everybody must know about her streaking antics by now as nobody bats an eye.. Jennifer Rockefeller running around with nothing on is perfectly normal around here, it's what you should expect...



Though Inge seemed unaffected by the naked running woman, she jumped a little when she received a message on her phone... Unsure if the message would be a positive or a negative one, she went towards the corner to read it in privacy.. She shouted of joy when she saw that it was a party invitation from Jeffrey Dean – the same guy that mocked her and called her a loser during her freshman year.. The more self assured Inge was definately seeing an increased popularity among her peers. Now it wasn't just Oliver Freddy that got the party invitations, she got them too!



She wouldn't go to the party without her boyfriend, of course not. Like he always took her with him to the parties he was invited to, she would of course do the same. So off they went, past the ever nude Jennifer Rockefeller, now dancing next to the cafeteria counter. Oliver Freddy did his best to look away when they had to walk past Jennifer, but Inge thought it was hilarious and was excited about it. "Did you see that!?" she said when they left the cafeteria to get into his car and drive to Jeffreys party.



Inge immediately sat down to work on another sketch for a future painting, while Oliver Freddy did his best to make sure the other party guests (and the host) did their rounds on the juice keg, by far the most popular item at this party...



Inge had gone down into the basement and found the ping pong table where she played a match with Daniel Vaughn. Both her and Oliver Freddy was being sensible and staying away from the juice this early in the semester..



Oliver Freddy had gone out into the garage to see what was there. Looking up at the sky on his way, he got the idea to ask Inge to watch the stars (and the moon..)..



So he walked back inside to look for Inge. He couldn't find her anywhere in the rooms on the first floor, but someone had seen her go downstairs where he found her in the bathroom..



Of course Inge said she would be more than happy to watch the stars with him, so happily he walked back up the stairs to go outside. ;) Unfortunately though, Inge got a little anxious at all the people that had congregated on top of the stairs in the meantime, impatiently tapping their foot and waiting for their turn to go to the juice keg. It reminded her a little to much of her junior high school days when she would sometimes hide in a toilet stall during breaks to avoid getting bullied by some of the older pupils... so all Oliver Freddy got to do was to stand outside waiting in the cold..



When the passage had cleared and she finally made it out there, it was Oliver Freddys turn to use the bathroom.. She apologized to him for being late and said she got anxious again. Oliver Freddy understood, he knew what it was like to get anxious from time to time, though for completely different reasons. Strangely enough, perhaps, he had avoided getting bullied when he was in school, as everyone thought of him as pretty strong and brave. His father is the towns prison warden after, all, but what nobody knew back then was that he carried another secret.. Just like his mother Ranveig, his aunt Monica and eventually his younger cousin Lise Veronica, he would begin to sometimes hear voices..

It started out when he was a child, and they were pretty mild at first, just 'ordinary' commands.. "Look at that flower!".. "Look at that painting!".."Go sit in that chair!", but as he got older they got gradually worse... "Did you hear that painting? It's talking to you!"... "The painting hates you!".. and so on. The voices could sometimes be really nasty and eventually started to use all kinds of foul language... Walking though the hallways to get to class could sometimes be a nightmare with the voices blending in with the chatter from everyone else he was passing on the way... it took a lot of strength to keep a straight face and pretend nothing was happening...

People always said about him that he was brave and determined.... if only they knew.. and it was this bravery, among other things, that piqued Inges interest, how he just waded through the crowds of the hallways like it was, apparently, nothing.. and finally, after watching him from a distance from her seat in the school bus, she finally found the courage to send him a text message when she got home to ask him on a date.. and the rest you, perhaps, already know.. ;)




So... with her boyfriend using the bathroom, Inge walked up to a room on the second floor to watch her favorite channel on tv, the cooking channel...



Toilet visits could sometimes be related to setbacks for both of them, but Oliver Freddy hadn't given up on his thought of romance under the moonlight. He had to go for it tonight. ;) He thought as well that it would probably be good for Inge to pull herself away from the tv every once in a while, so he found her in the bedroom upstairs and turned on his charm to the maximum level to woo her before they would go home.. Well, that was his original idea, but seeing how well it worked, why not make an even more daring suggestion...



Inge was taken aback by what he just said, but oh so exciting.. Of course, it made her a little nervous too, and before she could fully commit, she had to get some emotions out of the way.. She had never done this before.. what if someone found out and walked in on them? What would they say? What would they think?



..but she trusted her boyfriend and followed him to another bedroom next door... besides, she thought that everyone downstairs were probably still to preoccupied with the juice keg to walk upstairs and notice.. right..?



Well, it's now or never... ;)



"You ready?"



Laughter, applause and bed noises. :P



Love and magic happened that night as the moon hang shining bright high up in the sky..



"...and you only wanted to hold hands, didn't you...?" / "...why do I keep thinking about garden gnomes....?"
Oh my, looks like they did it with the door open.. someone must have heard that...



Yup, I think this guy that showed up shortly afterwards knows what just happened. ;)



Inspired by the act or whatever it was, the random guy that almost walked in on them walks down the stairs and decides to run around streaking.. while Oliver Freddy and Inge sit down together on a couch just outside the room..
Inge is getting a little anxious again now, and thinks its time they head back home before more people notice.. besides, her first lecture starts early tomorrow morning, and she wants to make sure she gets enough sleep. Oliver Freddy agrees, they want to be good, sensible students.. and it's only the beginning of the semester... they can hopefully do some more wild partying once they have finished their exams before summer.. and what they already did was pretty wild anyway..



So they get into his car and drive back home to their dorm under the beautiful night sky to find their own bed and go to sleep...



Good night and see you again tomorrow! ;)



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