SimLife:
Level: 1 [7/10 DP]
Money: $44,807
Maintenance: $48,960
Properties: Ramon's Grill, Penthouse Apartment
Staring at the negative balance between my current funds and my maintenance fee, due in less than five days, I considered holding off on buying new furniture. But I quickly banished the thought after running a brief estimation about how much I could make in a single night of servicing up to a hundred people at a time.
'I was already averaging 15,000 a night with just twenty-six seats.' Giving in to my greed, I opened the furniture tab and started looking at the options available to me. It took more willpower than I was expecting to ignore the more expensive pieces that came with unique bonuses and modifiers that could really take my profit min-maxing to the next level.
Instead, I focused solely on seating, which would give me the short-term benefit I needed to stay out of the red.
[Furniture: Dark Oak Longtable]x1
Cost: $ 10550
Maximum Number: 0/2
Seating: 10
Traits: None
[Furniture: Dark Oak Round Table]x5
Cost: $ 2,950
Maximum Numer: 0/10
Seating: 4
Traits: None
[Would you like to purchase: Dark Oak Round Table[x5], and Dark Oak Longtable[x1] for a total cost of : $35,750 Y/N]
I selected yes and watched my remaining funds dwindle to 9057 dollars, just enough to cover the ingredients for tonight's first round of customers. After that, I could reinvest the profits and continue business as usual.
'That should bring my total seating up to 56, which is only just over half of the hundred seats I'll eventually have.' I thought with a grin, almost salivating as I imagined what the daily report would look like at the end of the day.
"You know I've never heard of any spirit, or demon for that matter, that could summon furniture," Tiana commented as she walked back into the kitchen. "Is it because this is your place of power?"
"I have to admit that I don't really know what that is," I replied, hoping that Tiana would explain.
"Well, for spirits at least, they can't exist freely in the mortal world, so they have to bind themselves to a physical location where they can operate and utilize their powers. If they try to go outside of their territory, they're drastically weakened and have a very limited window before they must return or be banished back to the spirit realm." Tiana quickly summarized, likely leaving out several key details for time's sake.
Comparing what she had said to my own situation, I pursed my lips in thought, "There are some similarities, I guess, but I'm certainly not restricted to a single location. And I think as long as I legally own the location, I can turn it into my territory."
"Interesting, I wonder if all demons can do that," Tiana muttered.
I shook my head, "It's probably something unique to me, or at least my specific kind of demon.
"Oh, what are you, some fledgling demon lord?" Tiana joked as she knelt by the hearth and started stacking the firewood inside.
"No, just a Primordial Incubus," I answered casually while staring at Tiana, hoping to catch her reaction.
"A what?!" Tiana snapped as she stood up and whirled around, staring at me with dubious eyes, "Did you say incubus? Like the male version of a succubus? The sex demon who drains the life out of people by banging them to death?"
"Yes and no," I quickly answered with a grin, "My more powerful magic is fueled by sex, but I don't kill people to get it. Instead, I form a coven of thralls and grow stronger by fulfilling their needs and protecting them."
"Thralls?" Tiana repeated with narrowed eyes, "That's a little too close to sex slaves for my liking."
"Well, in reality, it's really no different from a marriage vow, both parties have to be conseting and the magic only works if we're both happy with the relationship," I explained, "There's also a lot of benefits for the person as well."
"Oh really?" Tiana asked, clearly not convinced, though there wasn't any fear in her voice anymore, which was a positive note.
I nodded and started listing them off while counting with my fingers, "Well, for starters, you become the most beautiful version of yourself, and I mean that in the literal sense. Turns out demon magic is a really good cosmetic; you also don't age. Also, did I mention the sex is pretty-"
"Alright, I get it, I get it, you didn't force Patty and Megan into anything that they clearly didn't want," Tiana interrupted me before I could get too graphic with the details, "Just don't go thinking that I'm gonna be next."
"Eh, I wouldn't bet on that if I were you," I warned before moving over to the countertop and waving my hand, buying a slew of ingredients from the system, "Unless you find me absolutely repulsive physically or personality-wise, you'll naturally start having intrusive thoughts."
Tiana scoffed, "If you think I'm that easy, you have another thing coming."
"It's not about you being easy or not," I corrected, "I'm pretty sure my magic makes me irresistibly attractive. Like a passive glamor or something."
Tiana paused, "So you can just seduce anyone you want, and they can't do anything about it? Isn't that borderline mind control?"
"Not really, if you completely despise me or aren't attracted to me physically, then the magic won't work. As for it being mind control, that isn't accurate either; you can always resist, I just find that most people don't like fighting their urges."
"Why are you telling me this?" Tiana asked, and I could feel her eyes bore into me.
"So you know the risk of working here with me," I answered honestly, "I know how motivated you are, you should focus on your dream, and if that means avoiding a serious relationship, then you should probably avoid staying around me."
Tiana was silent for a long moment before she responded, "You're not getting rid of me that easily."
"I would never get rid of you, T, I'd lose way too much-"
My sentence was cut off as my phone started to ring, though instead of putting down my knife, I summoned my Puppetter's hands and had them pick up the call for me, "Hello, I can't look at the phone. Who is this?"
"Did I call you at a bad time?" Ashe asked instantly, making me smile, "Just got my hands full for a moment, but what's up?"
"Well, good news and bad news," Ashe muttered, "Good news, I found a way to desalinate the field, turns out you just flush it with a shit ton of water. Bad news, I calculated the water bill if we flood the fields, and it's not a small number. There's also the small issue that when we wash away the salt, we're also washing away all the nutrients in the soil, putting us back at square one."
"So what are we gonna do?" I asked as I cleaned off my knife with the side of my finger.
"That's why I called you," Ashe answered, her voice softening slightly in what was clearly a vulnerable moment for her, "I'm fresh out of ideas, Ramon, you've gotten us this far. I'm just hoping you got a bit more of whatever magic you've been using."
I opened my mouth to respond when an idea suddenly crossed my mind, "Ashe, you're a genius."
"What? Why?" Ashe asked, confused, but it didn't dampen my grin in the slightest, "Okay, I've got an idea, but I'm gonna need you to trust me, and there's a chance that it doesn't work out the way I think it will but I-"
"Just spit it out already!" Ashe shouted, stopping my rambling, "I need you to put me on the deed to the farm."
"The deed to the farm?"
"Yes, it doesn't have to be full ownership or an equal share. I just need some legal stake in the business." I insisted, "I know it sounds dumb and risky but-"
"Alrigh I'll do it," Ashe answered before I could even finish trying to convince her, "It's sink or swim at this point. On the list of things I would do, putting you down as a co-owner of the farm is pretty low."
I grinned, feeling a growing confidence that everything would work out better than either of us thought possible, "Alright, I'll be over there this weekend. In the meantime, send me the water bill, and I'll cover it. Also, remind me to tell you about how I got our revenge on Northwest."
"Damn, I nearly forgot about that asshole, now I'm pissed all over again!" Ashe swore.
"Believe me, he got off way worse than we did, just wait until a few weeks from now, I bet it's gonna be all over the news."