Culpepper Pals: Winter 3: Holiday

[beanstalk_sims]

Index / Boolprop




I've nearly finished playing through winter, I really need to catch up with updates!

Last time, Tori began autumn by performing on the streets of Del Sol Valley for tips, where she bumped into Thorne Bailey. The pair of them shared a kiss in front of the paparazzi, agreeing it was good for publicity. Thorne later invited Tori out to talk about it, and expressed how much he enjoyed genuinely talking to her. Tori politely refused his romantic advances, saying she needed to do right by Venessa. Tori and Venessa split up that night, and Tori took up ice skating as a way of clearing her mind. Thorne turned up at Tori’s penthouse, but the pair of them agreed they couldn’t commit to one another at the moment, choosing to keep things casual despite the blossoming romance. Tori threw herself into work and socialising with her friends, though things came to a head at her Spooky Day party – she finally agreed to give a relationship with Thorne a go, feeling that his marriage meant the arrangement came with very little pressure. Towards the end of the season, Thorne revealed he’d left his wife and wanted Tori to move into his home in Del Sol Valley, for them to try and be a proper couple. Tori agreed to give it a go.






It's a gloomy start to the winter at the top of Del Sol Valley. And Venessa is just passing by, no agenda, no big deal. She might still be a tiny bit hung up on Tori. Maybe.

I finally renamed the house this season, but I wasn't very inspired - it isn't the Bailey-Moon Manor now, it's the Bailey-Holiday Manor. I really wish I could have come up with some better, but nothing came to mind.




Inside, far away from Venessa, Tori and Thorne are getting ready to head out.

"Tori, babe! You look amazing!"

She gave him a half-hearted smile, "I'm still not sure about this, Thorne."

He pulled her close.




"You know what the publicist said. Time to show the world Thorne and Tori."

"I know but...the Starlight Accolades? I'm not even sure I'm famous enough to get in, Thorne," she hesitated a moment, "Plus...Octavia will be there."

"I know," he said, quietly, "But try not to worry about it. Let's just go, with no agenda, and just have fun, right?"

"Okay."




"Hey look!" Tori grinned, "They cleaned your star!"

Thorne rolled his eyes, "I wish people would stop defacing it. I worked hard for that."




"Mr Bailey," Tori said, taking his hand, "I do believe we had our first kiss here."

"The first of many," Thorne laughed.

"Can you believe how different things are now? I still feel like I'm dreaming sometimes."

"I know what you mean."




"I know there's going to millions of photos of tonight, but let me grab one terrible phone photo of us before we face the paps."




"Right, let's do this." She said, offering him a rose.

"Such romance," Thorne laughed, taking the flower.




* * *








* * *




Eventually they were indoors, hidden from the paparazzi, but that didn't mean the scrutiny was over.

"Thorne, darling!" Judith Ward cried, not looking up from her phone, "I haven't seen you in public since your divorce!"

"Yeah, well, I've been kind of laying low," he said, curtly, sipping his cocktail.

She nodded, like she understood this, "Well done on the separation. I say it's always better to cut dead weights loose, darling."

Thorne didn't reply.




"That new lass of yours is quite something, isn't she?" Judith persisted, depite Thorne's silence, "Where on earth did you find her?"

"What do you mean, Judith?"

"Oh you know, darling. When you're as well known as we are, one has to be careful people aren't with us for the wrong reasons," Judith smirked, "I hear the young lady has high hopes for a career on the silver screen, but her acting credits are rather dismal. I do hope she's not using you for your fame, Thorne."

Thorne snorted, softly.




"Oh, Dirk Dreamer! I simply must say hello! Nice talking to you again, Thorne. Do be careful with that young actress."

Thorne again said nothing, choosing to let Judith continue smirking as she wandered off. She hadn't changed at all over the years he'd known her, still poking at the lives of those around her. It was best to ignore her, Thorne had learned that a while ago, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for her all the same.

She was probably lonely, wandering around that big empty house of hers on her own.




Having survived the press and Judith Ward, all that was left was the awards themselves.

And I was reminded that I should probably come back and stick more chairs on the lot sometime. At least Dustin Broke is sitting on the floor, usually they just crowd around in the back somewhere.




Neither Thorne nor Tori won anything that night, but one notable name did pick up an award - Octavia Moon.

"After everything that has happened in my life recently, winning this award means the world to me," Octavia beamed, "I'm so grateful for the love and support you've all given me!"

Not awkward for Tori or Thorne at all.




It's Monday morning!




It's a very relaxed morning.

Thorne starts it off with some guitar.




And then he spent some time helping Tori run through her lines.

She's scored her first TV role, a part in ZBB Apocalypse Rising.




When I paid attention to one of the others for a moment, when I went back to Thorne I found him outside posing for paparazzi.

Such a Thorne thing to do.




Summer is keeping on my toes, however, as she keeps exercising past the point of fatigue. She's refusing to slow down, despite her age.

Which is fine, but I end up sending her to bed straight after so she doesn't keel over from exhaustion. Jeez.




And Orange came home from school super happy.

That was it for Monday. A rather quiet day for them all, really.




Tuesday morning began with Bruno running away, which made everyone sad. Unfortunately Tori has an acting gig in like an hour, so the moodlet altering cocktails come out.

A missing pet ad was put out for Bruno before she left for work.










She gained a fame star for her performance, taking her up to three stars, and an award nomination. Perhaps next time she'll be the one picking up a Starlight Accolade.

I think she needs one for her aspiration, so fingers crossed!




Back home, Orange is realising fame can buy you all the emotions you want.

Actually, I emptied Tori's inventory of them - I think they come in the post - and I also cashed in Summer's aspiration reward points for a bunch. They're useful for Tori's acting gigs. The family miiiiight have slightly too many now though!




Tori and Thorne are the only two awake, they have the house to themselves more or less - so naturally they're in the bedroom, having a pillow fight.




"Are you surrendering?" Tori grinned.

"Yes! Yes! I surrender!"




"I'm so glad you're here, Tori. Living with you has been the most fun I've had in years."




Bruno came home!

Now let's make a massive fuss over him so he doesn't run off again <3




Wednesday began with Thorne burning breakfast.

And the paparazzi catching the whole thing on camera.




Summer and Tori ate it anyway, without complaining.

The paparazzi didn't care about that, funnily enough.






In fact, Thorne and Tori spent most of Wednesday with cameras pointed at them.




Thorne let out a sigh and slouched once the photographer said they had what they needed and made their exit.

"Sometimes I wish our whole world wasn't on display."

"I know," Tori replied, "It is kind of exhausting. I know we have to do damage control after the divorce...but it's nonstop."

"I'm just glad Orange isn't here. I wish I could provide him with a normal childhood."






Orange, for the most part, is doing his best to have a normal childhood.

He brought Bonnie Vatore home from school with him, and now the two of them are really good friends. And he's working on a school project, same as any other kid in the save.




Thursday morning, and today Thorne made coffee while Summer made breakfast. She's just better at it.




Winter isn't really obvious in the valley, so Thorne and Tori head to the slopes of Mt Komorebi for some snowday fun.

"Alright, get your posts done now, because once we hit the slopes we're going no phones for a few hours. It's the least we deserve."




"You ready?"

"You bet!"






"How adventurous are you feeling?"

Thorne raised an eyebrow, "What did you have in mind?"

"Skiing."






It went about as well as expected.




"Right, we'll take a selfie for simstagram...but also one for just me and you, right?"






The top one may be cuter, but the bottom one is far more "them" !

They have both on display in the dressing room attached to their bedroom.






After a morning in the snow, the afternoon was fairly uneventful.




Orange brought Bonnie Vatore home with him again <3




That evening, Tori and Thorne got dressed up & fired up the drone all ready for a party.






Sim!Sam turned up to work the bar! Well, 'work' the bar...she mostly hung out with Bruno.

Which is fine because for some reason, none of the guests showed up.




Orange and Bonnie became BFFs though. That was pretty cute.




...the fireworks over the city are to commemorate this dud of a party, right?




An evening spent working on school projects it is!






Friday morning, and Tori is on set bright and early.

Her second TV role!




The day slipped away really quickly, and before long night had settled in and Thorne had come home from work.

"Hey, how was your day?"

"Really good actually. And yours?"

"Long."




"I think I just prefer being home with you, to be honest," Thorne laughed, "I feel like I can be the real me here."

Tori smiled, "I love you, Thorne. I'm glad I make you happy."

"It's more than that."




"This feels...more real. Than any relationship I've had in the past."

"Thorne..."




"I'm just really glad I have you, Tori. I'm so glad we gave this a real try."

* * *




Saturday morning arrives, and so does a puppet theatre.

Orange puts on a little show for Bonnie.




Thorne doesn't even seem mildly bothered that the house is absolutely full of children.

Maybe he's pretending not to notice them.




These two <3

Orange decided he likes photography based on taking these selfies <3






Saturday night, Thorne and Tori left Orange home with Summer and head out to Windenburg for the night.

In the middle of a blizzard, but it's warm enough inside the club at least.




Tori found Johnny Zest hanging out at the bar, but Tania was nowhere in sight. Tori and Tania are pretty close, but Johnny has never really hung out with Tori before.

"So you and Tania got married without inviting any of us...how is married life?"




"It's been great so far, I adore Tania..."




"...I kind of wish she wasn't so drawn to danger, you know?" Johnny shrugged, smiling, "But nothing is perfect, right?"

Tori nodded, thinking about Thorne and the way the paparazzi seemed drawn to them both. They were a hot topic of gossip, ever since news broke about Thorne's divorce. But Tori could put up with all of that for Thorne.




Thorne wasn't having a great night so far.

He'd wanted to dance and spend time with Tori...and instead he had a crowd of onlookers. It was only a matter of time until someone pulled out a camera.




I've never seen Thorne get bored of attention before.




Luckily, Tori noticed.

"Come on," she grinned, steering him through the crowd by his shoulders.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."




"Hey, Thorne, there's no paparazzi in this closet. No cameras at all actually."

Thorne smirked, "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Come check out the inside with me."

"Such romance." He laughed, taking her hand, and following her into the closet.




And that was it for winter with these guys! I really enjoy playing Tori and Thorne <3

We're almost halfway through winter now! See you next time, when we visit the Bell family.