New Neighbors

While taking out the trash, Triston notices some new people unlocking and entering apartment 2A. He and Maize had seen the previous tenants move out a week prior.

When Triston mentioned seeing them, Maize suggested they go over and welcome their new neighbors.

"Interesting taste," Maize muttered under her breath.
"I think it's pretty cool!" Triston replied.

They met one of their new neighbors, Malcolm Kelley. He told them his twin sister, Maggie, was out to grab a coffee from the plaza. "But I expect she'll be back soon."

Triston couldn't help but ask, "Do you know what happened to the tenants that lived here before you? We weren't particularly close, but we had no clue they were moving." Maize shot him a look, as if to say, This is not appropriate conversation.
"From what I gathered, there was a divorce. A pretty messy one, from what I could tell," Malcolm informed them.

Triston laughed and replied, "Well that explains all the fights we've been hearing lately. The walls aren't that thin, and we could hear them across the hall!" He went on to reenact what they had heard a time before. Maize blushed, and shot Triston another warning look. Malcolm didn't seem bothered by the conversation though.

After getting to know each other a bit more, Malcolm offered a tour of the apartment.
"Maggie doesn't really like me in her room, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I showed it to you. She's very proud of it." Maize raised an eyebrow at him, quizzically.
"You'll see why," he responded. First he showed them their very small kitchen. "Neither of us cook much, so the size of it worked out fine. We'd rather have space for other things."

"And of course you've seen the main living room. We haven't totally unpacked this room yet, plus we're waiting for the next flea market to buy more furniture. I'm hoping for a nice desk."

"Dude, that is so cool!" Triston said, pointing to the bathroom door before nudging Maize in the side. "Why can't we have something like that, Maze?" She offered a polite smile in return, and simply said, "Very creative."
"Yeah, those signs were Maggie's idea. She's the more creative one of the two of us. We may be twins, but we are very different. She's the one to blame for all the mess," Malcolm chuckled.

"And this is the bathroom. I got to design this room - I prefer things more simple."

Malcolm showed them through the kitchen to the door within it, and opened it up for them to see his bedroom. Maize was shocked to see how simple and elegant it was, especially for a man's room. She spotted a briefcase on Malcolm's dresser and asked, "Are you a business man, Malcolm?"
"Yes, actually I am! That's why we moved here. We were sharing a small apartment in the Arts Quarter - really run down, see - when I got a promotion and we were able to afford this apartment."
"Why do you live with your sister?" Triston asked, abruptly. Maize felt herself get annoyed.
Malcolm laughed. "Oh, right. Yeah, it seems weird. But Maggie has lived in the Arts Quarter for a while now, trying to make it as an artist. She was just about to get evicted when I got transferred from Newcrest. She needed helped financially so I just moved in with her. It's been working fine ever since, so yeah..."
Triston wanted to ask if it was awkward when he brought girls over but his ribs were getting sore from getting nudges from Maize so often that he decided that would be a question for another time.

"So this is Maggie's room," Malcolm said, opening the door. "Warning: you may need sunglasses."
The small group stepped inside and Maize gaped. She's never seen a more vibrant, colorful room in her life. She actually kind of liked it.
"Wow, I would kill for that wardrobe," she commented. Malcolm chuckled.
"Yeah, in clothing she is lacking not."

"Her desk drives me bonkers," Malcolm went on. "She does her work here, and her makeup. Plus she keeps almost all her knick-knacks here." He sighed, "Anyway, that's the tour. We better get out of here before she comes back home."

It wasn't long after Maize and Triston had sat back down on the couch when a girl with vibrant, wild pink hair came in the front door. "Malcolm, who's this?" she called, as she kicked off her shoes.
"This is Triston and Maize. They live across the hall!"
Maggie came over and greeted them, "Nice to meet, y'all!" She smelled like coffee and cigarettes.

Triston suggested they head to the Waterside Warble bar down the street for some drinks, and to get to know each other better.

Once there, Triston immediately ordered a shot, while Maize told the siblings some interesting facts about the place.

Not much longer, Triston ordered a round of drinks for the group. They all got to chatting, and after her first drink, Maize began to open up more to her new neighbors. Her charismatic side was finally beginning to show.

Maize informs them that Triston is a professional athlete, and then tells them the story that she kicked his ass at basketball.

Not twenty minutes later, and Triston is double fisting...

...and performing some karaoke on his own.

Malcolm orders the next round of drinks, but Maize tells him she's cutting Triston off.

As they chat and enjoy their drinks, Maize thinks she catches Maggie checking out Triston.

Maggie looks away quickly, her face expressionless.

When Maize's not looking, Maggie watches Triston as he walks to the bathroom.

A while later, the whole group is feeling good, and they're all in the mood for karaoke!

Triston is surprised by Maggie's lovely singing voice.

And Malcolm and Maize rock out.

After their song is done, Malcolm and Maize come to see the end of the others' performance. Triston doesn't look too happy to see them.

Maggie flushes pink, and Triston hides his annoyance.

Triston invites the neighbors back to their place for dinner. While Maize is cooking, it appears that he checks Maggie out.

There isn't enough seating for everyone, but Maggie assures them it's fine.

After dinner, the girls chat and the boys get to know each other better.

Maize cleans up after dinner, and thinks to herself. I'm being ridiculous. Triston loves me - he's not interested in any other girls.
Just then, the doorbell rings. It's a delivery. In is carted a large box, addressed to Triston Isaacs.

It's workout equipment.

"Triston! What is this?! I thought we had decided no on any big purchases right now!"
Triston is taken aback, and Malcolm feels very awkward and uncomfortable.

Malcolm is shocked as Maize continues to yell at Triston.

Maggie knows when it's time to leave, and Malcolm follows quickly after her. Triston calls a feeble, "Goodnight!" But Maize isn't done with him yet.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Triston Isaacs."
"C'mon, it wasn't that expensive and I got it in a color that matches the apartment-"
"That's your excuse!?" Maize snaps, cutting him off. "It 'matches the apartment'!?"

"You better pray to the Sim gods, Isaacs, that when I log into our bank account, I don't see a number less than one-thousand simoleons!" Maize stomps over to the computer, and types furiously as she navigates to their bank's website.

She is outraged by what she sees. "Are you f---ing kidding me."

Triston stews in the kitchen, before storming over to Maize.

"I have a right to make a purchase with my money, Maize! Besides, I'm the only one with a job in this household. I bought this to improve my work performance to bring in more money, so don't go blaming me!"

"How dare you? I paint and I write daily. I've sold plenty of paintings, and I've published a book. I work just as hard as you do, Triston," Maize tells him, angrily. "I hope you like the couch, because you're going to be sleeping on it!"

Maize stormed off to the bedroom, slammed the door and locked it, leaving Triston to sleep in his everyday clothes. It was their first big fight, and the first time not sleeping in the same bed since moving into the apartment.