Return of the Tower Conqueror

Chapter 351

13 Days (II)

Cain sat by the poolside, shades and a hat lazily strewn across his face, straw-laced glass of coke and rum in his hand while the sun blared out its colors and warmth. He’d been enjoying the casual rest, one steeped in silence, as everyone else became a busybody with a thousand tiny chores, reminding him of very, very, very, very distant days of youth where he’d spend weeks grinding chores for a single night of raiding.

Right now, he felt like one of those gloriously privileged in the guild who got to be carried without doing any work. And... it felt good. Tweaking his toes, he stretched lazily and craned his head to the side, taking a sip of the drink through the straw, noticing that a newcomer was sitting on a chair next to his. Lana was observing him quantily and with a smile on her face, wearing a beautiful, red summer dress, her legs crossed, arms resting against her knees, head latched onto their palms.

The two stared at each other for a moment before Cain pulled back his lips from the straw and extended the glass toward Lana. The girl seemed surprised for a moment but reached to take it. Just as he was about to grasp it, Cain yanked it back and took another sip with a grin while Lana sighed and rolled her eyes.

“I’m old enough to drink, you know?” she said.

“The law.”

“I am the law, and I say no!”

“I let you have that, you know?” Lana smiled gingerly.

“I know,” Cain replied. “And I love you for it.”

“I am old enough to drink. No, I do drink.”

“Prolly shouldn’t be telling stuff like that to your old man,” Cain said.

“Mom said you’d be cool with it.”

“Mom lied.”

“She does that a lot, actually. She also said you were the coolest boy on the black back in the days.”

“Didn’t lie ‘bout that, though,” she crackled at his confidence. “The coolest, the handsomest, the cleverest, and the most charmin’ lad in town. How else, you think, I scored someone like your mom?”

“... she never tells much of herself from back then,” Lana inquired. “What was she like?”

“Like you, firefly,” Cain replied.

“Like me?”

“Aye. Loud, confident, yet kind and lovely beyond reprieve,” Lana’s grin widened. “There is one difference, though.”

“What?”

“Your mom didn’t drink.”

“Bullshit!” Lana fired off immediately, without hesitation.

“... no, seriously,” Cain said, his expression not changing, causing Lana to hesitate over whether it was a joke or not. “Do you want to know when your mom had her first drink?”

“Of course,” Lana nodded.

“You sure? The story might make you hate your favorite daddy, though.”

“... it’s... it’s from the ‘dark days’ as mom calls them, huh?”

“The darkest,” Cain said, taking a sip through the straw.

“I still wanna know,” she said.

“One night, I came home very late,” Cain said. “And your mom was waiting. She’d been crying, I reckon. Anyway, she asked me ‘why, C’? Why do you drink so much?’, and me, being the self-loathing jackass I was, told ‘er it was ‘cause it made me happy.”

“...”

“And so, she took the bottle from my hand, and took the first swig.”

“...”

“She did it to feel closer to me,” Cain’s voice mellowed. “Was a shit drinker, as you can imagine. But, yeah, that’s the story.”

“... man, you were bad,” Lana said.

“The worst.”

“You’re fairly decent now, though.”

“Oh, wow, thanks,” the two laughed for a moment before Lana stood up and walked over, pushing him further to the side of the chair and snuggling next to him. “I thought teenage girls were all about buildin’ walls around ‘em.”

“We are,” she said. “But, ever so often, we have to give our old men something. Otherwise, they’ll be sad.”

“I’m sorry, firefly.”

“For what?”

“For being a shit dad for a good chunk of your life,” Cain said. “All things considered, you turned out angelic.”

“... it’s funny,” Lana said. “I don’t remember you being a shit dad.”

“You don’t?”

“Nah,” she added. “Most of the memories I have of you are... are good. Like that time you snuck me out of school without mom’s knowledge and took me to the pool. Or that time you stayed up with me all night when I was sick. Or even the other time when I was too nervous to fall asleep before the school trip. At least, compared to stories I’ve heard... you were a good dad. Shit husband, though.”

“The shittiest.”

“And sis always says that you saved her,” Lana added. “That without you... she’d have gone mad. I can see it, though. She’s already a bit mad.”

“Hush,” Cain remaindered softly.

“I know why she’s mad, though,” Lana fought back. “That’s why I say. Look at her dad and what he did. And then look at you. All things considered, you could have been much worse.”

“... truth is, firefly,” Cain said, caressing her hair gently. “Mom shielded you from the darkest of me, took the brunt of it herself. I’ve come to learn that woman is tougher than anything in the world. That’s why you remember the best of me.”

“... you must be good to her, then, forever from now,” Lana said softly.

“The shittiest thing is that she doesn’t carry any malice.”

“How’s that shit? Isn’t it great?” she rolled over and glared at him directly.

“I can’t even just let ‘er beat me up to vent. I actually have to think hard. Men aren’t good at that.”

“Don’t drag your entire gender into this,” she elbowed him gently. “You aren’t good at it. Not ‘men’.”

“Oh? Are you saying this from experience?”

“... really? We’re really doing this?” she rolled her eyes.

“What? A dad can’t be interested in his daughter’s love life?”

“No, it’s creepy.”

“In general or--”

“Would it hurt less if I said ‘in general’?”

“Hurt more you having to ask that, though...”

“Mom gives way to you too much, it seems,” she scoffed. “Sis was right. It’s up to us to reel you back in.”

“... speaking of good people,” Cain suddenly said. “Let’s not sell you short either.”

“H-huh?”

“You suddenly got an older sister you were told to love and treat as one,” Cain said. “And being an angel that you are... you never thought twice about it.”

“Why would I?” Lana asked. “Senna’s the coolest. In fact, she’s like a slightly less unhinged version of you.”

“... what?”

“Yeah. Every time I go out, I can feel her shadowing me. She refuses to admit it, of course,” Lana sighed. “But I know she’s there.”

“Good girl.”

“Ugh... see what I mean? Sometimes I wonder whether she’s actually adopted or whether you had some fling a long while ago with another woman.”

“For all my charms, your daddy was never much of a player, I’m afraid,” Cain said. “Turns out, when you find your soulmate early on, there’s very little reason to have flings.”

“Ugh, soulmate? What are you? A thirteen year old girl?”

“That’s sexist.”

“As someone who was a very cliche thirteen year old girl, it’s not. So, how long are you staying?”

“I ain’t leaving.”

“Suuuure.”

“Okay, ouch.”

“It’s fine, dad,” she grinned. “You’re like those dads in TV shows when the kid is like ‘my dad’s gone ‘cause he’s working for CIA and shit’ except you actually do do some crazy stuff. And, most importantly, you always come back.”

“Haaah, you’ve all grown up,” Cain said, taking a sip of the drink, realizing he was finished. “But I’m not done being a dad, you know?”

“You’ll never stop being one, I imagine,” she said. “Even when I’m sixty, celebrating my grandkid’s birthday or something, you’re gonna bust in and go ‘anyone called for a daddy’ or some other stupid thing where, for everyone in that room, you’ll be beyond ancient. You’ll always find a way to embarrass us, true dad’s style.”

“You’ll never be sixty, firefly,” Cain said, hugging her tightly. “You’ll always stay that nine-year-old girl with a squeaky voice who’d go ‘hey daddy, can we eat icecream?’ and ‘hey daddy, look, I drew you and mommy!’.”

“Ho ho, Lana, what is this that I spy?” the young girl suddenly seemed to grow wings as she sprinted out of Cain’s embrace, shooting to her feet. Cain looked over and saw Senna standing with a wide grin, staring at the two.

“Nothing, just--just, uh, came to chat with the old man,” Lana mumbled.

“Yeah, looked like a great chat,” Senna chuckled and walked over.

“It’s funny, the cycle,” Cain sighed as he made himself another rum and coke drink. “I tease everyone, nobody gives a shit. And yet, there are all these little relationships between everyone where people do give a shit. Why am I an exception?”

“’cause you’re old,” Senna and Lana replied at the same time. “Why... why are you here? Didn’t you go out with mom or something?”

“We did. Came back, too. I get it, though,” she sighed, patting Lana’s head gently. “For some ungodly reason... space between his arms feels impenetrable. The safest of safe havens. Don’t tell him, though,” the two whispered, not knowing that Cain was hearing everything. However, some times ought to stay between the sisters, he knew--and thus didn’t react, nor would he ever bring it up. “He’s already an egomaniac.”

“... you feel it too? It’s so... strange,” Lana sighed. “I don’t get it.”

“He’s our dad,” Senna whispered. “And, despite his faults, he’d do anything for us. Hard to find that elsewhere in the world. Bonus is, he, actually, can do anything and everything for us. Anyway, dad, wanna come inside? Mom’s making lunch.”

“I need a good cry first, since you interrupted my favorite daddy-daughter time,” Cain said, hiding his expression under the hat. “Tell your mom so.”

“Sure, sure, sure,” both Lana and Senna groaned, rolling their eyes as though they’d practiced it for years. “Hurry up though. Mom’s gotten really good, actually. So we might just eat all of it.”

“Hope you do. You both look like unhealthy sticks, walking around. Layer on some meat on those bones, will ya’?”

“...” the vanished, leaving behind the sounds of audible groans. A moment later, Cain felt the weight appear on his right shoulder as Te’gha left the inventory.

“Great Te’gha will never get it,” the cat said. “How someone like a stupid human you... got so lucky.”

“... I’ll never get it either,” Cain said, his voice cracking softly. “It’s one of those miracles in life that... just are. And thus we let them be, lest they vanish.”

“...” Te’gha said nothing, merely walking over and lying onto Cain’s chest, turning silent and ignorant to the lump in the throat, basking in the warmth of the sun and the beautiful beat of an overwhelmed heart.

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