Chapter 334 Fathers and Sons (2/2)

”Yeah.”

”But you two ain't even married yet.”

”Eh, it's not as though we haven't talked about it,” Lino said, taking a sip. ”It's just a ceremony, in the end. We can have it whenever we want.”

”... wow. You really are serious.” Eggor said, taking a sip as well. ”If that's the case, the fuck for are we drinking this goddamn wine? We ought to be getting piss-drunk, not drinking this piss.”

”So you're gonna take out your special stash?” Lino mumbled as a glimmer of greed flashed through his eyes.

”Ugh,” Eggor coughed angrily. ”This was your plan all along, huh? Fine, fine. You lil' bastard.” Eggor took out two, hand-sized, transparent bottles full of strange, mist-surging liquid. Lino quickly grabbed at one, chilly feeling spreading throughout his entire arm.

”You know, I've been aiming for this thing for like twenty years now,” Lino commented, his eyes shining. ”Ever since I saw you and Ella drinkin' it that one time you lot thought I was sleeping.”

”... you didn't lie to me just 'cause you wanted to drink this, right?” Eggor quizzed, squinting his eyes. ”'Cause that would have been a new damn low even for you.”

”Nah,” Lino shook his head, slowly uncapping the bottle as milky-white mist streamed out slowly like smoke. ”I may be a bastard, but even I wouldn't lie about that. I mean, I said we've been trying, but we only did it like three times since we decided to have a kid. We were kinda rushing back here.”

”... kid's a big responsibility, Lino,” Eggor warned. ”Are you sure you can afford another one on your shoulders right now?”

”... when, then?” Lino asked back. ”It will never get easier, and you know it. Wait till it's over? Who knows how long will that take and whether I'll even live to see it. And you should have seen Hannah's face light up when I told her,” Lino's lips curled up into a warm smile. ”It was like if all the stars fell from the sky and into her eyes.”

”... yeah,” Eggor chuckled faintly. ”They really have ability to look beyond beautiful at times. Perhaps this warning comes late, but that's how they get ya' son; they figure out you're weak to those looks of theirs, and when they start lookin' at ya' like that, you know they want something.”

”... psh, Hannah's been lookin' at me for years now, old man,” Lino scoffed. ”Where was your golden advice back then?”

”Ha ha ha,” both of them laughed for a moment as they took a sip of the strange liquid; it broke into pure air inside Lino's mouth, chilling his whole being to the point where he audibly moaned lowly, causing Eggor to curse at him under his breath. ”You're gonna have to fight alone for a while, then.”

”... eh, it's a double victory for me,” Lino shrugged. ”I get a kid, and I don't get to watch the woman I love being beaten black and blue trying to fight my battles. Though, if you ever tell her that, I will literally have to kill you, 'cause she will literally kill me.”

”... you really don't want her fighting by your side?” Eggor asked.

”... I do,” Lino sighed. ”I really do. Whenever I know she's there, I feel invincible. But, still... I don't know. A part of me just wants to take her and protect her from everything. Never let her lose as much as a single hair, let alone get bruised and scarred.”

”... preachin' to the choir,” Eggor mumbled. ”You have it easy lad. At the very least, you're strong enough to protect her. What 'bout me? All along, I would sit in the damn shadows and watch the love of my life take on the world alone. One time, ha ha, I created this full-body suit of armor, and it was so goddamn fuckin' ugly even goddamn toads wouldn't wear it, and 'cause I told her it would make me feel better about her fightin', she wore it -- she wore the damn thing for like a month. It made her look like a giant piece of metallic turd. But, hah... she still wore it.”

”... in a way, I'm sure they feel the same pains we do,” Lino said, taking another sip and letting it seep into every part of his body. ”Ella fought so your weak, crafting-ass wouldn't, and I'm sure every time I'm doing one of the many insane things I do, Hannah too feels like locking me up inside a cage where I can't get hurt. They fight their own fight in regards to us, and we fight our own in regards to them.”

”... I still can't believe you're going to be a dad,” Eggor said, suddenly smiling warmly. ”It still feels like yesterday when you crawled into my backyard and asked to wipe my ass in exchange for me letting you go.”

”... ha ha ha, yeah, yeah, that does sound like something I'd say.” Lino laughed.

”A scrawny brat's grown up into a man,” Eggor said, his thick beard trembling slightly. ”I'm proud of ya'. And Ella, well, sheesh, she adores you. In her eyes, you're some kind of a miracle.”

”... thank you.” Lino replied lowly, his voice cracking slightly. ”I wouldn't have made it without you two, you know?”

”... you woulda'.”

”Nah,” Lino shook his head. ”I would have died a long-ass time ago, becoming one of the many nameless graves in the middle of nowhere. I'm here because you two had... have hearts the size of this entire world. And no matter what happens, what anyone says, or what future brings us, to me you'll always be the slightly quirky mother and father, and I'll be the seemingly ungrateful son who is secretly willing to lay down his life for you two.”

”... we don't need your life kiddo,” Eggor said. ”What we need you is to keep drinkin'. I ain't opened my treasure to watch you piss it away.”

”Your kid's the luckiest bastard in the world,” Lino said as the two clanked their bottles together. ”Well, second luckiest. After mine after all. I mean, he's gonna have the coolest dad, the best mom, the over-protective, over-powered grandma, and a granddad who's gonna craft 'im a crib that can fly for his first birthday. Fuck, now I kinda don't want a kid. That little bastard's gonna have everything I want.”

”... you're a weird little man.” Eggor grumbled, both of them already flushed red in their cheeks, clearly drunk.

”Oh, fuck off, you oversized bear. Everyone's 'little man' compared to you.”

”.....” meanwhile, Hannah and Ella were standing quite literally next to the table, listening in on the conversation, yet the two sitting seemed none the wiser. Hannah's cheeks were as red as blood, while Ella could barely contain a smile on her face. Little baby boy in her arms sucked at his thumb, suddenly pointing at Eggor and exclaiming, ”Dad!!” the old man, however, would have to wait for a few weeks still to hear it... and remember it.