All of that changed when Joaquin agreed to be 'roomies' with the girl living at the top of the hill. Sergio had been right to be suspicious - she was a watched sim, a Dynasty sim, and he had unwittingly been enlisted as a 'helper'.
So now, instead of sipping coffee in an office surrounded by the soothing halogen light and computer screens, he had his hands in the dirt and the harsh UV-Rays of the sun on his back.
Granted, using the funds that he and Joaquin had brought in, the makeshift shack was easily demolished and replaced with a rather grand-looking suburban house (a replication of NelcaRed's Moneybags Traditional Mansion). It was only half furnished, as funds had come close to running out, but neither did it spare any expense on the areas that were furnished.
The lower floor contained a kitchen/small dining area, an entryway and a study, a living room and a bathroom. The empty rooms were set aside to be an eventual dining room, perhaps an art studio and a larger study.
While the upper floor featured three bedrooms, Iris' featuring an ensuite bathroom. A basement was added a bit later on with a gym (mainly upon Sergio's insistence).
The house was a lot nicer than Sergio had expected, so he couldn't complain too much.
Still, being forced to quit his job in favour of fishing and digging in the dirt - well, if you'd asked him a few years ago where he thought his life was heading, this wouldn't have been his reply.
"So I get to work my butt off so that you can have eternal life? Is that the idea?" he'd asked, too bemused to think she was actually being serious.
"Err, well, when you put it that way, it sounds…bad," Iris replied. "I have requirements I have to meet. At the moment, I'm going to focus on my skills and my career, so I don't really have time to work on fishing or gardening. I expect to pick up those tasks where you left off a bit…later."
"Right. And what about Joey?" asked Sergio. So far he'd been tasked with cooking, maintenance, gardening, fishing, and…pollinating (whatever that meant). Joaquin, on the other hand.
"I'm going to work," he said. "I know I was going to be the next biggest DJ in town, but I've decided to actually get serious about making music…classical music, since someone's got to help pay the bills."
"You're joking, right?" asked Sergio.
But it appeared Joaquin wasn't joking.
That very afternoon, he and Iris both picked up a violin for the first time.
And Sergio was almost grateful to be able to run down to the ocean to…fish…for a while. The situation really didn't seem fair to him, but he was a watched sim now, which seemed to mean that he didn't get much choice in the matter, anyways.
As taking over the homebound responsibilities of preparing to prepare Ambrosia would require a lot of work and leave no time for a career, Sergio was forced to quit his job. This also meant that while Iris and Joaquin were busy at work, Sergio had a lot of time on his hands. He needed to source the base plants for Death Flowers, one of which was cherries. Which didn't grow in many places, but the neighbourhood of Cacti Casa was one of the places they did grow. And so it was decided that until he could harvest the cherries or take cutting from plants (whichever came soonest), the Cacti Casa was where he would hang out while the other two were at work.
And, while he was here, he could essentially do whatever he pleased with his time. Once J invited him in to hang out, this meant he could work out to his active heart's content.
He also found himself spending quite a bit of time chilling with J. The two had a lot in common. In addition to their shared interest in fitness, J was a rather experienced 'pollinator', and he was more than happy to give Sergio the low down on what the duty entailed. He was a lot more enthusiastic about the position than Sergio was inclined to be.
"Don't the women get mad? Shouldn't they have a say in whether or not they want to have children with me? I've always been a bit of a feminist, and well…Hang on, wait a minute, you have how many children? You know I hate children, right?"
J laughed. "Ah, Sergio, my friend, you have so much to learn."
"Evidently," Sergio sighed.
"I do really appreciate all the trouble you're going through for this, Serge," said Iris one morning over breakfast. "I know you didn't really want to get into this and it wasn't really your idea, but I am grateful."
"Uhhhh, thanks," Sergio nodded. He was starting to think this maybe wouldn't be so bad after all.
Amidst the fishing and the gardening and the cooking and the household repairs, it did seem like Iris and her Watcher wanted to make sure he still had time for some of the things he was interested in. (I was spending a lot of time with just him and, to be honest, I kinda felt sorry for him having to work so hard all the time).
Sergio briefly switched his aspiration to Bodybuilder. He was strictly told he wouldn't be permitted to complete the aspiration, but as long as he didn't reach level 10 fitness skill, it would be fine for him to work on the other goals. This of course meant a trip to the gym in Willow Creek. Iris, of course, needed to meet a few new sims and get working on some of her friendships for her own aspiration, so she and Joaquin decided to tag along.
While she was out and about, Gavin Richards told her about this great festival that was going on to celebrate La Dia del los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. One thing Iris hadn't quite settled on yet was what her ten special items to contribute to the Dynasty museum would be. Unconcerned with fiscal greatness or glory, she thought collecting the skulls associated with this festival would be an excellent contribution to the family Museum - showcasing instead her colourful personality and friendliness to all the sims in the neighbourhood.
Everything else associated with becoming an Immortal was moving right along about as well as could be expected. Career wise, she and Joaquin were getting on famously. Being in the same career, they had the same work hours and work requirements, which mean they spent a lot of time together. Though they usually just focussed on the tasks at hand, sometimes this also meant they got to focus on one another.
Early on, they worked a lot for little pay, and didn't often have time for activities other than those that were work-related.
"Hobbies" and "Work" became nearly synonymous.
But that didn't mean their relationship wasn't developing into something perhaps a little bit stronger than friendship after all.
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