This evening actually turned out to be pretty fun by the end. True we got off on the wrong foot with all the arguing and shouting, but we somehow managed to restart everything properly thanks to mama's masterful negotiation skills. Uncle quickly stopped caring all about Lem the moment auntie Anna asked how the house was coming out. He and Issei then toured everyone around inside, whilst Lem and I sat back at the table.
"That asshole..." He glared at uncle from a distance, "Looking all proud of his so called "hard work"... Goddammit, if it wasn't for me buffing them the entire time, this house wouldn't even have the blueprints ready!"
"I'm worried about dad." I muttered, "He's still not back yet."
"Hah? Who the hell cares, the guy probably never even left the house and fell asleep on the couch or something."
"No, I made sure to search through the entire house." I worriedly replied, "He's nowhere to be seen."
"You called, sis?" Cene, who was seated right across from us asked.
"Nope, just chill and finish your plate, little man." Lem advised, "You gotta grow up big and strong, you know."
"But you didn't." He tilted his head.
"Yeah, and that's cause I never ate all my food." Lem chuckled, "So make sure to eat it all, got that?"
"Mn, I'm full."
"Alright then, for every meal you don't eat fully—I'll take a doll away!" He explained, "Let's see how you're gonna tell that story of yours without the main characters!"
Hearing this world ending threat, Cene immediately got to eating in spite of his satiated state. Guess that's the power of respect, he really admires Lem in that regard.
"But I guess you're right. We really ought to figure out where your old man is." He took a sip of his cup, "Otherwise our whole plan will fall through."
"That wasn't why I wanted to look for him." I muttered, "You perv."
"Your words don't work on me, I got a strength potion." He waved his cup in front of me, "With this, it's all sticks and stones!"
"The hell is that? Juice is now considered a strength potion?"
"Wrong~!" He sang a tune, "It's that—A bit of Cardina alcohol I snatched from the table while no one was looking."
"Eh? Alcohol?!" I gasped.
That's right, uncle Ed brought out alcohol for the adults to get everyone in a real festive mood! The bottles over there, right next to the meat! So Lem really took some from them, he really is a bandit at heart...
"Gimme some." I tried taking it from him.
"Nope." He pulled back, "You're underage."
"I'll be an adult in a few hours anyways, and besides, it's not like it's my first time trying alcohol." I pressed myself on him to snatch it.
Well, I'm technically not lying, at least not fully. Certainly, back when I just moved into Meil's house, we had a situation where he applied some medicinal alcohol to my mouth, but I don't remember much about that night. It was over a year ago, can you blame me? In any case, I've never tried the fun kind of alcohol, so I'd like to chain some first tonight while the chance is offered to me.
"When'd you try alcohol before?" He looked away, "Also, quit pressing your chest on me. There's not much to work with, but that doesn't mean I don't feel anything."
"You'll feel it in full later, so come on!" I finally took it from him, "A-ha! Gotcha!"
"Nel, don't-!"
Gulping, gulping, and before long... Fuahh, delicious! Or not, it kinda just tastes like water-AUGH! Oh, Gods, euch! The fuck is this!? People drink this out of their own volition!? It stings my throat like crazy! It has a tiny tinge of strawberry, but then it all gets drowned out by the overwhelming stinging sensation! Ack, the taste makes me wanna chuck it off a boat!
"Augh! Eugh! Water...!" I pleaded, "Gimme some water, now!"
"Here, calm down." He poured some out into the now empty cup, "You're supposed to slowly sip it over time, idiot. Not swig it like a champ."
"Gulp, gulp... Ahh, that's better!" I finally composed myself again, "But there's no way I'd be able to drag this stuff out. It's way too disgusting to do that. Here's your cup, by the way."
"Hell no, you already put your lips all over it. I'll get a new one." He sighed as he got up, "Seriously, what made you wanna try it in the first place..."
Ah, he's mad. I shouldn't have taken his drink, after all. I should apologize, truth is I just wanted to try and get at least a bit drunk. When he said it helps him not listen to what others say, I kinda got jealous. Just for tonight, I thought, it might be necessary.
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"Mama." I approached her, "Where's dad? He's been gone the entire evening."
"Your father, eh?" She admired Issei's house as she took a swig of that damned demon alcohol, "He's around, probably."
"You're not worried in the slightest?" I asked.
"It's not the first time he went off to do his own thing." She shrugged, "Like a stray cat, he'll come back soon enough when he gets hungry."
"How can you even say that about your husband..." I sighed.
She's way too lax for the situation. Then again, this is a supposed to be a relaxing situation in general, but I won't be able to rest easy until I know where everyone is. Since the party looks like it's only ramping up now that the adults went from just tipsy to full on drunk, it's safe to assume the house should be plenty empty. According to the plan, I should be excusing myself from the party to "go to sleep" in my room and wait for Lem to do the same soon after. Less than an hour left until then, this is kinda making me nervous now. Ah, but again, we might lose our chance if dad's in the house or something, so we need to make sure everyone's where we need them to be.
"You're really that worried about him?" She asked without even glancing at me, "Or is something else the matter?"
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"He's my dad, and he's not home. Must there be more of a reason for me to want to know where he is?" I asked, trying my best not to sound suspicious, "Either way, it's technically my fault he missed the party, so maybe we should go look for him or something?"
"Like I said, he'll be fine. You're forgetting your father's natural habitat is the vast expanse outside." She chuckled, "That being the case, you just reminded me of something."
"Oh yeah, what is it?" I smiled back.
"You're grounded."
"Eh!?"
"Don't "Eh!?" me, missy." She finally craned her head to look at me, "You think I didn't see you and Lem drinking that alcohol just now?"
Crap, she saw us! Dammit, but the tables are so far away from here, how did she...!?
"D-Don't punish Lem, please." I gave up, "I took it from him, but he's over the legal drinking age, so he's allowed to."
"He told you that?" She paused for a sec before sighing, "That kid, he really is trying way too hard to impress you."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Nel, remember that time he asked you to buy the boys some beer?" She asked.
"Yeah, it was so damned hot out that day..."
"That was his first time drinking it, or so Lune said."
"Eh?" I furrowed my brows, "I'm... not following?"
"He told me this later, but the kid didn't know how to drink properly." She elaborated, "Trying to swig it like it's juice, making weird faces once the bittersweet aftertaste kicked in, these are tiny things kids just don't realize that we adults pick up. He looked surprised when you actually brought him the beer, didn't he?"
"He... did." I looked down.
So he never drank beer before that? Now that I think about it, I guess his face did look kind of squeamish as he grabbed hold of the bottle. Heh, what a loser, why would he even ask for it if he never tried it before? Is he stupid?
"Lemmy's been trying super hard to get everyone to like him." Mama continued, "Hearing his words when he was shouting at Ed really put it into perspective, but I guess he just really wants to look cool in front of you."
"...And Cene?" I raised an Eyebrow.
"Mn, more or less." She took another sip, "Because for the rest of us, he'll probably never see us again for the rest of his life if he messes up, but he'll be seeing you almost every day when you get back home. Boys have this tendency of trying to show off in front of the girls they like."
"Mama, you're drunk." I giggled, "I told you, we're not like that."
"Mn, you're right, looks like mama's been drinking a bit too much." She laughed, "It was a slip of the tongue. Maybe I gave away too much."
Gah, still teasing us even now. I didn't know she was like this when she got drunk. How annoying, but I guess it helped clear some things up.
"I'm gonna go look for dad once more." I pointed to the table where Lem and Cene were sitting at, "And maybe even get those two to help out."
"Nel." Mama reached out.
"Yeah?"
"...Nevermind." She turned back around, "Mistakes shape a person, that's what Lune said."
"You started talking in riddles now?" I buzzed around her with a wry smirk, "You really should lay off the booze, you know?"
"...Now that I look at it, you kids underestimate us adults quite a lot." She smirked, "It's one thing not to know that we know everything that's going on with you, but then you rub it in our faces. It hurts, you know?"
So she's so drunk that she doesn't even know what she's talking about anymore. How boring, and here I thought she had something important to say. Adults know everything that's going on, yeah right, then how come no ones said anything about the bet Lem and I arranged? Heh, you drunkards should just continue on your own merry way and leave us out of it.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I already told you that your father noticed it was Lemmy's first time drinking beer, right?" She added, "But right now, I'm noticing out of the corner of my Eye that Lemmy's already taking his third cup of the night."
"Eh? He is!?" I swung my head around to see him shakily pouring from the bottle of alcohol on the table as Cene innocently watched on, "That idiot...!"
"No, I'm not mad. He IS over 17, so he can drink to his heart's content." She smiled, "But did you ever think there might be a reason behind why he's drinking so much?"
Ah, well duh, he must be anxious about tonight, but I can't tell her that.
"I doubt it's sorrow." I tried not giving a concrete answer.
"No." She shook her head before giggling, "Ah, sorry, this stuff really tastes bad, does it? I'm surprised he can stomach three even. Whatever's weighing on his mind must be really scary, huh?
"Y-Yeah, maybe." I turned around, "Then, I'm going back. Don't drink too much."
"Yep. Moderation is key in these things, after all!" She raised her cup high with a wide grin.
She's totally gone off the deep end. I kinda don't like mama when she's drunk, it's honestly kinda scary. Also, what's with the way she said those last few parts. She sounded like she was pointing them at me more than anything. Adults know more than what they let on, huh? I sure hope not...
"Lem, you prick! Stop drinking so much, mama saw you, you know!?" I took the drink from him and spilled it on the grass below.
"A-Ah, my bravery~" He whimpered.
"Bravery? Get yourself together man!" I shook him up, "Are you even gonna be awake for another hour at this rate? Mom said she can barely drink one and yet here you are on your third!"
"Huh? One?" He tilted his head, "Nel, you seriously weren't paying attention? Your mom's been doing nothing but pouring cups upon cups of this stuff all evening..."
Mom, she was... what? Looking back at the house, I inspected mom a bit closely. Her cheeks are bright Red, and although her back is turned, I see her wiping tears off her Eyes. For some reason, the phrase she said kept popping up into my head endlessly—"Now that I look at it, you kids underestimate us adults quite a lot."