No Love Lost - Chapter Two

[yakumtsaki]

Oranges
do not grow in the sea
neither is there love in Sevilla.
You in Dark and I the sun that’s hot,
loan me your parasol.




Exactly as he feared it would happen, Consort had gotten lost on his way to Patrizio’s place and was running late. All the streets around these neighborhoods looked exactly the same to him. He was starting to believe he had spent the last half hour wandering around in circles, and was ready to give up the search and try to make his way home, when he finally saw the garage Patrizio told him about; ‘garage’ was a generous term for what was essentially a long abandoned, decaying pile of bricks.



Even though the neighborhood Consort lived in was not much better than this one, he still couldn’t help but be slightly disgusted at the sight of the hideous buildings around him. As much as he was trying to control those ‘illusions of grandeur’, as his mother would call them, deep in his heart Consort believed that he was meant for better things. His latest failure had devastated him and tamed his ambition; feeling trapped and hopeless, he thought that having dinner with Patrizio, who seemed so high-spirited, was a better option than spending the night alone in his apartment.  



Walking towards what he assumed was Patrizio’s building, Consort’s thoughts turned to their earlier conversation in the diner. “You think you’re too good for the likes of us” Patrizio had said to him. He’d said it almost jokingly and Consort had been hearing that for years, not always in such a polite manner, but he still was disappointed, until that: “and you probably are”. Was this stranger able to truly understand him, to see everything that Consort saw in himself? And you probably are, he thought again and again, hearing Patrizio’s voice in his head as he walked up the stairs to the third floor.



A sudden wave of anxiety came over him as he knocked on the door. He could hear music coming from the apartment and made out Patrizio’s voice singing along. Patrizio had said he was horrible at singing, but Consort thought he sounded beautiful, even through a door.



“Hellooo!”, Patrizio exclaimed, violently swinging the door open. It was a wonder he didn’t cause a crack on the wall. He looked even more cheerful than he was this morning and Consort wondered if that was really his personality or if he had spent the day drinking. “Probably both”, he answered himself and couldn’t help but smile.



“Welcome to my humble abode, Consort, I think you will find it could not be any humblier-”

“It’s humbler”.

“Oh, not off to a great start here, Consort! As I hope you’ve realized, you’re half an hour late. Now I’m trying to be a gracious host regardless-”

“Well I got lost, it’s not my fault your ability to give directions begins and ends with the phrase right next to the garage, lad”.

“My directions were without fault, Consort-”

“Please stop saying my name in every sentence”.



“Complaints, complaints, while I slaved over this kitchen for you all day! Come on in already”.

“Patrizio, how drunk are you, exactly?” Consort asked while examining the tiny apartment.

“Not at all! Well, a little bit. I didn’t have what to do in the half hour I’ve been waiting for your highness to show up. Take a seat, dinner is served!”



“You like pasta, I hope”.

“I love pasta and I’m famished, I haven’t eaten since yesterday”, Consort said and actually meant it. The food smelled delicious and his hunger had overcome his lack of appetite.

“Oh are you trying to watch your figure? Cause trust me, there’s no need”, Patrizio said in a very matter-of-fact tone.

Consort felt his heart racing but tried his best to look calm. He wasn’t sure it was working as he said a simple “thank you”. He felt like his voice was trembling but it was just his nervousness making him think that. Or he dearly hoped so.



“Aren’t you hungry?” Consort asked, noticing that Patrizio had little food on his plate.

“Not really, I ate at work”, Patrizio lied. He actually hadn’t found time to eat today, but he wanted Consort to eat as much as wanted first. That's what his parents always told him was the nice thing to do when having guests over.

“So, what do you think?” he asked, trying to sound nonchalant. He had no idea why, but he cared about Consort’s opinion. He liked him, even though he was too pale and too thin and his ‘stiff upper lip’ manner was bound to irritate him at some point. But he was drawn to him in a way he couldn’t fully understand.

Consort was unlike anyone he’d ever met. On the surface he seemed soft-spoken and polite, but Patrizio could tell there was a pride and sharpness to him, and something cold and potentially cruel as well. He was interesting. From the moment he first laid eyes on him that morning, Patrizio had been intrigued.

“It’s excellent”, Consort answered through a mouth full of spaghetti. Patrizio noticed that even though he was eating incredibly fast, his movements were still measured and graceful. There was no sloppiness there, unlike him. He always ate like a barbarian.

He had barely touched his plate, instead closely monitoring Consort’s reactions to the food. “So you really do like it?” he asked again.

“I do, I do, it’s really good”, Consort replied, finishing his plate.

“Do you want seconds?”

“No thank you, I practically devoured it, I’m full. Aren’t you going to eat yours?”

“Why, do you want it?”, he laughed.

“Perhaps”, Consort replied with a smile.

“Well too bad, it’s mine”, Patrizio said, attacking his food. He was finished in less than two minutes.

“What a sight to behold”, Consort had commented before getting up.



“Consort, are you actually washing my dishes right now?”, he asked without turning around.

“Yes, it’s something people customarily do after eating, so they have clean dishes to eat from again someday”.

“I’m aware of that, lad, but why are you washing dishes that aren’t your own?”

“Well it’s only fair since you cooked. And I happen to like cleaning”.

“We could use enthusiasm like that down at the diner, you should apply”, Patrizio said with a sly smile, picturing Consort working in the diner. He would probably end up in jail for murdering a customer, he thought, letting out a small laugh.



“What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing, just a thought, move over, I’ll do the rest. Just go sit down, you look like death”.

“Well, I am a little tired”, Consort said, heading to the couch. He understated how tired he actually was because the truth of choosing dinner with a stranger over sleep seemed too pathetic.



Consort collapsed on the surprisingly comfortable couch, parts of which were held together by duct tape. He felt his body begging for sleep but his mind was completely awake and overflowing with anxiety. Patrizio was washing the dishes as noisily as he did in the diner while absentmindedly singing something. He was mumbling most words and Consort couldn’t tell which song it was.



“You’re good at singing”.

“What?”

“You’re good at singing, this morning you said you weren’t”.

“And I’m not, come on”, Patrizio replied in a self-deprecating tone, hiding the happiness he felt at Consort’s compliment.



“This couch is so comfortable”, Consort commented, momentarily closing his eyes before quickly opening them again. He feared his tiredness would finally overpower his will and he’d fall asleep on the spot.



“Thanks, I found it at the dumpster”.

“What?!”

“I’m kidding, I bought it from some people that were moving out” he laughed. “It's good to know there’s a limit to how much poverty you can handle”, he said, finishing up with the dishes. His tone sounded a little bitter to Consort.



“What do you mean?” Consort asked nervously. He was afraid he had somehow insulted Patrizio, which was the last thing he wanted to do.



Patrizio felt bad when he saw the look on Consort’s face.

“I mean-” he began, plopping himself on the couch beside him, “that I appreciate you trying not to show how horrible you think my apartment and this neighborhood are”.

“I think you have vastly misunderstood my circumstances. I live in an apartment much like this one, in a neighborhood just as bad”.

“Yeah mate, I didn’t think you were living in a palace on a dock worker’s wage”.

“Then?”

“Then, I can tell you want other things from your life. You’re not satisfied”.



Consort wasn’t sure what they were talking about now. He guarded himself before asking: “Are you?”



“No, not really”, Patrizio replied, looking intently into his eyes. They were silent for a few seconds. Consort was struggling to think of something to say until Patrizio thankfully broke the silence: “You have circles under your eyes, how tired are you?”

“Very”.

“And you still came here”.

“Yeah, I did”, Consort replied, avoiding Patrizio’s gaze.

“You can lie down here if you want, I’m pretty sturdy”. Patrizio’s heart stopped as he heard himself utter the words. Why did he have to drink that damn whiskey? He was ready to open his mouth again to pass it off as a joke when he saw Consort subtly move towards him.



Consort didn’t say anything as he rested his back against Patrizio. He didn't dare make the smallest movement and didn't think he would be able to, even if he wanted to. His body was frozen stiff. What he was doing made no logical sense to him. He had never been any good at human contact, much less physical; it always made him uncomfortable at best and terrified at worst. But this felt right somehow. Meeting Patrizio that morning felt as if someone had thrown him a life vest while he was drowning. He couldn’t bear the thought of returning to his empty apartment. As the back of his neck met Patrizio’s shoulder he thought that if he could lie there forever, he would, even though it was new and strange and unsettling.



They were silent again for a few moments. Patrizio wanted to put his arm around him but hesitated. Consort seemed completely lost in thought.
“Consort?”

Consort made a small sound in response.

“Are you alright?”

“I don’t know. It’s strange”.

“What is strange?” Patrizio asked, sounding more eager than he wanted to.

Consort had to muster every ounce of courage he had to answer. He took a deep breath. “It’s strange that I barely know you, and yet I’m already feeling miserable because I’ll have to leave soon”.
Patrizio felt an enormous wave of joy and relief at that answer; it was now or never. “Well, you don’t have to leave”, he said, finally feeling brave enough to touch him. He put his hand on Consort’s shoulder and felt it was all bone. “You really need to eat more”.
“I don’t-”, Consort began to answer when a soft knock on the door interrupted him.



Patrizio didn’t say anything as he swiftly got up to answer the door. Consort stretched back, and, feeling more relaxed after that last exchange, gave him a sardonic smile: “It seems someone is popular”.

Patrizio smiled back but Consort noticed that he looked troubled. The smile immediately faded from his face.



“Are you expecting someone?”

“No, no, I’m not”, Patrizio hurriedly assured him, his eyes quickly searching the apartment. He seemed worried as he opened the door.



“Afternoon, darling”, the woman standing at the doorway said sweetly.



“Hello, Isabella”.

Comments

[chocomilkbag.livejournal.com]

i'm so excited for chapter 3! i think the edits were good, in stories ft. premades, I think clarifying backstories becomes much more important than with original characters, since we all have our own ideas about them coming in. i agree that consort is better fleshed out now; with fortune and romance sims especially it's really easy to make them arbitrarily ruthless or adulterous or whatever. i liked reading the wavering about the accountant and then the resentment towards the spoilt young employees giving him new resolve, it felt realistic. i also liked that you didn't do the obvious romeo-and-juliet thing, and that he knew they were dating and didn't really gaf, since the expected thing is the opposite.

we got a bit of patrizio's POV at the end there which made me wonder, is it primarily going to be from consort's POV or are you going to switch off? it doesn't matter much either way, i was jw. the instant connection thing is so cute, although right now it seems that patrizio has a better grasp on consort than vice versa? i'm not sure if that is the case though.

i really like this story already and im so glad people are writing stories about premades in 2016!! esp not another caliente-goth-lothario-pleasant melodrama (and i say this as someone who not only plays that arc, but loves it). i read a bunch earlier this year and i wanted to say things about them but obviously was not going to comment on a 5+ year old post, lol.

sorry this is so long and still not especially insightful. i just really like to comment on stories in general.

[yakumtsaki.livejournal.com]

Hi! First of all thank you so much for the kind words and for taking the time to leave this thoughtful comment <3 Its really helpful to me to see what other people think of the story, especially since it's my first time writing a sim story and I have no idea what I'm doing lol.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the edits! The importance of giving Consort a little bit of a backstory became apparent to me when I was re-reading the original version, because, exactly as you said, I wanted to avoid presenting him as being "ambitious by nature". So I thought that hinting at him growing up in an unloving environment and seeking his sense of self-worth through other accomplishments would help humanize him. I'm gonna develop this more in the upcoming chapters and maybe do a flashback to him as a child.

Old Consort's work troubles were really difficult to write, and 'realistic' was exactly what I was going for, so I'm so happy to see that it translated haha. Him knowing about Juliette and Romeo and the edits about his thoughts on his grandchildren I thought were important to show that he's an involved parental figure and he knows them well, even though he works all day.

The POV is something that I'm still working on and I wish I could make those transitions between characters more gracefully. The third chapter is gonna be pretty much equally divided between the two as they work through the fallout of the dinner. As for the rest of the story, Consort remains our protagonist so his POV is the main one, but some chapters are gonna be more Patrizio-heavy. I'm also planning a Patrizio-Isabella flashback that's gonna be from her POV.

Pat does have a better grasp on Consort than vice-versa, that was intentional and I'm so glad you noticed! I'm gonna explore this dynamic more in the upcoming updates, but my main idea is that Consort is a) completely isolated b) devoid of social skills c) incredibly focused on himself. So he doesn't really see Pat as a whole person yet, if that makes sense, but more like just someone he met who has a different outlook on life and can help him/cheer him up. Pat on the other hand is way more empathetic and really observes and thinks about everything that Consort says or does. Consort thinks about what Pat says as well, but only as they relate to himself.

I love the pleasantview arc as well but yea, I don't think we need another story about it. The pain of wanting to comment on old stories is very real lol. Thank you again for your comment, it really motivated me, chapter 3 is coming later today!

[chocomilkbag.livejournal.com]

No problem! Like I said, it's super gratifying to be able to comment on a sim story while it's actually happening. But I'm glad it was helpful!

I am super excited to see Consort as a child lol. I think him being very family oriented is consistent, he could've pawned off the kids to any of the million other Capps otherwise, and humanising as well. I really liked the Tybalt anecdotes.

I think the transitions were fine! It's a hard thing to do anyway but I didn't notice anything awkward about it. CAN'T WAIT to see Isabella's lol, especially with Consort shading her even in the present day! This is kind of an aside but I'm interested in the relationship between Contessa and Consort as well, especially since he referenced her so fondly in chapter 1.

The way you explained the Patrizio/Consort dynamic makes a lot of sense! I think it'll be really interesting to watch develop!

So glad chapter 3 will be up soon! You can probably expect more lengthy comments from me later today lmao, but I will try not to be too tedious.