"Come on Aria, work with me here!" Father said, gulping down whiskey straight from the bottle. "I tried my best to make sure you kids got everything you needed, and you're saying I don't care about the family?!" he continued, his face flushed red as he hiccuped violently.
"If you really cared for us, you and my idiot siblings would be more cautious about who actually joins this organization! But, noooo. Anyone with even the slightest bit of tragedy in their lives gets to hop on board without a second thought," Aria complained, her face also red as she sipped on whiskey from a glass. "Letting the son of our enemy join our ranks, what an absolutely pathetic joke this is. I should have killed the damned Don myself. And Cindy, oh sweet Cindy... a stupid little half-elf that can't even finish a sentence without stuttering over half her words! Seriously, do you have a bloody speech impediment or something, woman?"
"N-no... I think?" Cindy said quietly.
"Oh, I'm an idiot now, sis?" Amy said, snarling.
"Damn, this is some good whiskey, pops. Where'd you get this shit from?" Ben commented.
"Okay, enough of this bickering!" Father yelled. "I just got back from vacation, for god's sake! I just wanted to chill, get drunk, and catch up with my children, but I come back to this shit show? Aria, if you think you're so smart, why don't you trying running this damn place?"
"Hm, maybe a change of leadership would be beneficial to this family," Aria said smugly. "You are getting up there in age, dear father. Perhaps... retirement is in order?" she said brazenly.
"Why, you little shit!" Father grumbled. "Ugh, calm down Father, calm down. Just be a good daddy and let her have it," he muttered to himself. "Alright, just level with me, sweetie. Just tell me what you want, so I can make you happy."
"I want those two dead, for starters," Aria said, pointing at Cindy and Kai. "Then, I would like for you to cut ties with the little witch you love so much. Then, we can clean up your mess, and eliminate The Don. There are so many threats in plain sight, but I'm the only one who sees them, apparently," Aria said, folding her arms.
"Now, there's no need to kill us, teacher," Cindy said with a nervous laugh.
"Would that really make you happy, my child?" Father asked, still gulping on his bottle of whiskey.
"Yes. I'd feel much more secure once we've dealt with our enemies."
"Listen sweetie, I get that you love us and wanna protect us, but we can't just go around killing people for the hell of it anymore. We're businessmen now, we gotta keep it professional. We only kill if there's a contract now, you know that. Besides, I kinda like the newbies here! Sure, they're a bit awkward, but I honestly don't sense any malice coming from them. Could you please just let this go, please?! How about this: I promise we'll be more selective of who we let in from now on! Hell, you can even be the one who chooses all of our new members!" Father pleaded.
"Hey, that's my job!"
"Shut up, Amy! What do ya say, dear? I'll even get you your favorite chocolates!"
"You've grown soft," Aria groaned. "Fine, those two things may live, if you all are so adamant about that."
"Yay, we get to live!" Cindy and Kai screamed, holding each other's hands with their fingers intertwined.
"Hallelujah! I definitely gotta go to church soon!" Cindy said, quickly knocking back the rest of her whiskey. "Refill, please!"
"Right away, miss," Shirley said, pouring more alcohol into the half-elf's glass.
"Count your blessings, you two. You're quite lucky that my father is so generous. I will be keeping a watchful eye, however. So, please be sure to never step out of line. I'll kill you without hesitation when you do."
When?
"Phew, glad that's settled!" Father said, relieved. "Since you wanna keep an eye on these cute little newbies, how about taking 'em to your next charity event?"
"Whatever," Aria scoffed, taking another shot of whiskey. "I expect twenty boxes of Diva's by tomorrow."
"You got it, baby girl. Wooo, I love a happy ending! Shirley, bring more fuckin' bottles in here! Hurry it up, would ya?" Father demanded. "We're drinking all night!"
"Yeah!" everyone cheered, except for Aria.
The group of assassins continued to enjoy the evening, devoid of any further drama. Cindy and Kai started to open up more, relieved that Aria was no longer out to kill them.
"Sooo, your name isn't really Father, is it?" Cindy asked drunkenly, knocking back her twentieth drink of the evening. "What's like, your reeeal name?"
"Damn, you kids can really knock 'em back, can't ya, Gahaha! As for my name... J-just call me Father, please," the ogre said, shyly.
"Come on, old man, spill the beans! What's your real name?" Kai chimed in.
"Name! Name! Name!" Cindy and Kai chanted in unison.
"Come on pops, now you're acting all shy," Ben said. "Just tell them your name... Jim," he whispered softly, grinning from ear to ear.
"Ben, you motherfucker! Grounded, you're grounded, you traitor!" Father cried. "Such an uncool name," he continued, hanging his head down.
"Jim... that's like, a really cool name, actually," Cindy said.
"Huh? You really mean it, sweet Cindy?" Father asked.
"Uh, yeah. How tall are you, by the way? You're like, really, really tall. I didn't know ogres could be that huge!" the half-elf said, profusely slurring her words.
"Hm, last time I checked, I was about... ten feet, I think."
"Gimme... gimme a piggyback ride," Cindy demanded.
"Huh? A... piggyback ride?" Father questioned.
"Yeah... It's like, not fair at all that you get to be so tall! Like, share some height with me, old man!"
"Yeah, make Cindy feel tall too, ya big jerk!" Amy yelled.
"Yeah, carry her to the game room, pops. I suddenly feel like kicking your ass in Immortal Kombat," Ben said, swigging liquor from his glass.
"Immortal Kombat? I think I'm the greatest player ever in that game," Cindy said.
"Huh, you are? Then what the fuck are we waiting for? To the game room!" Father yelled, picking up Cindy and placing her on his back.
"Wheee, I'm the tallest person ever now!" Cindy exclaimed with laughter.
"Um, sir. It's getting pretty late. May I retire for the evening?" Shirley asked.
"Huh, you were still here, Shirley? Yeah, you can leave. Let's gooo!" Father screamed, taking off in a hurry with the half-elf on his back. Ben and Kai followed right behind them.
"Looks like they hit it off with daddy right away," Amy said, grinning while sitting next to her sister.
"Indeed..." Aria replied.
"Oh, come on, sis. Stop acting like a fucking brat, already. You were getting along just fine with those two this morning. I know you like them too, so just cut the bravado, dammit! Can I have my loving and kind sister back, please?" Amy pleaded. "It's just us sisters in the room now, so... talk to me, bitch."
"You're right," Aria chuckled. "I-I'm just worried about our family. When Kai told me who his father was, I just lost it. All I could think about was eliminating the threat, and I could not be convinced otherwise. Even now, I'd still prefer those two dead, just to reassure our safety. But, you are right. Cindy and Kai... are good people," she muttered.
"Finally, she speaks!" Amy exclaimed, locking arms with her sister. "But, you couldn't kill them though, right? You were out cold once me and Ben showed up... what happened to you, sis?"
"I... I had another nightmare," Aria explained anxiously. "It was... like I was reliving that time again," her voice croaked with tears in her eyes.
"Oh, come here," Amy said, hugging her sister. "Sis, you need to start taking your medication again."
"I don't want to," Aria said. "Sure, the nightmares stop, but that rubbish makes me feel like a zombie with every waking moment. The insomnia is quite annoying as well. Besides... I was relatively fine before today."
"How about I just knock you out every time you're feeling tired?" Amy grinned. "Seriously though, let's just talk to daddy later. I'm sure there's other medicine he can find for you."
"I'm not sure..."
"Why not? You don't trust me anymore? How about daddy, the man who saved your life; can't trust him, either?"
After a long pause with Aria thinking things over, the curly haired woman just sighed, and finally gave in to her little sister's pestering. "Fine, we can talk about it," she said, giving Amy a wry smile.
