Derlik had gone out of his way, was still going out of his way, to make up fr every horrible thing he had done to Kye. Every day was a chance to make up for wrongs Derlik felt could never be righted. All the good memories, every little laugh, and just simply enjoying each other's affection, the god to remember it all. He could never forget.
"I love you a lot, too." He knew… he knew Kye struggled with sadness. He couldn't hide it from his patreon. It hurt him so much to know Kye was trying to hide it, to force himself to be happy.
Kye knew this as well, but still tried nonetheless. He didn't really put Derlik at fault anymore. Not like he secretly used to. He really did love Derlik now. He was kind to him, gave him pretty much anything he could ever want. But due to keeping his memories… he always felt a sadness at not getting to say a proper goodbye to his mother. He always felt homesick despite having a new home. But that wasn't Derlik's fault. Sure, he was taken by force all those years ago, but it wasn't his fault that there were those few things Kye would never experience. He was Claimed. All Claimed would never have a normal life.
And that was okay. When Kye was in one of his moods however… it was a bit harder to remember.
Derlik fell quiet, carrying Kye into the bar. He didn't say a word as he at down, only speaking to order. He'd gotten Kye's favorite, of course, trying to help him genuinely cheer up.
"Things are okay…" No matter how much he tried, Derlik couldn't control the time period they ended up in. If he could, he'd have already taken Kye back for proper goodbyes.
Kye looked up at Derlik, giving him a soft smile. He would be able to tell that the boy was genuinely trying to cheer up now. "I know. I'm okay. We're here to celebrate, yeah?" he asked, watching the bartender. His brows raised a bit, easily recognising the drink they were making. A lemon drop cocktail… his favorite. It reminded him of the strange fruit he had eaten so many times in the forest. Sweet, but sour citrus. Despite the situation he was in upon first having it, Kye chose to remember it as the first time Derlik had comforted him when he had cried. And he still liked the fruit to this day.
"Yes, we are," Derlik agreed. It relieved him, to see how Kye was doing. He watched their drinks being made, smiling some as the vodka for his was being taken out. He was remembering that first time, Kye sat on his drink as he did his best not to fall in. Derlik having to help out the drunk boy, soon finding himself in the same boat. It'd been… nice. He'd done his best to take care of Kye, make sure he was okay. Even if he might have accidentally pushed him into the glass, he still made sure he didn't make the same mistake.
Kye smiled genuinely, having the same memory come to mind. Except it wasn't as great as Derlik chose to see it. He mostly remembered the first time seeing a modern city as being the good part. When his drink was finished, he happily took it in his hands and took a sip of it. "Did you want some, Blake?" he asked his friend good naturedly.
Blake shook his head. “I’m alright. But thank you.” Blake was…probably not legally allowed to drink at this point. At least in America.
"If you're worried about your age, don't be. I look… what, twelve? I think you'll be okay if you really wanted something," Kye offered again, trying to keep his voice down. The bartenders were still unclaimed humans so they would easily kick him out if they thought it through enough. But around this era, they were mostly concerned about the pay anyways.
Blake chuckled softly. “All right then. Why not.” They figured they might as well have some fun. After all, fuck America, right? Legally speaking, Blake was dead anyway.
(FUCK AMERICA WOOOOOO lmao)
"Anything sound good?" he asked, knowing Blake would be able to see the menu. His pocket was the type that didn't button or snap shut. It was only polite that way. "The plain alcohol's a bit much, so I'd suggest something with it mixed in," he added, speaking from obvious experience.
“Hmmm…why don’t you choose for me.” He suggested. “I don’t know all that much about alcohol anyway.”
Derlik smiled as he was handed his drink, taking a sip. Kye would know he, surprisingly, didn't take alcohol well. When it was going directly to one's entire system, it only took two drinks or so for you to lose your senses.
"They can always try some of my vodka," Derlik offered. The god always made sure people saw Kye as older than he was when they were drinking. Unless they were in certain bars- Derlik did have a few with Claimed bartenders, and they never made a fuss when Derlik and his son came in.
"I'd only try it if you've had alcohol before," Kye explained. He hummed a moment, before looking at something he thought looked nice. "Excuse me, can I get one of your alcoholic milkshakes? Any of them is fine," he asked politely. They were always sweetened and the alcohol kind of mellowed out with the rest of the ingredients.
Blake nodded. “Okay, thank you.” They said. It was a little strange, to be in a normal place like this while they were so small.
Derlik waited as the milkshake was made, chuckling some. He took another drink of his vodka, humming softly as he did. He'd need another one soon, and then the real fun would begin. Let's just hope Kye remembered to keep Blake out of Derlik's hands.
(Kye promised Serna he'd keep him safe, don't worry! :D)
In front of them now sat quite the large sized chocolate booze milkshake, dressed with whipped cream and cookie crumbs. Kye became giddy, getting on his knees to be a bit taller. He took the spoon placed in the cup, taking it and giving it to Blake to try.
Blake tried it carefully before a wide smile appeared on their face. “That’s good!” They said, smiling up at Kye.
Derlik smiled some as he watched.
"They've tried other alcohol," Derlik said, already dipping his finger towards his drink to make a drop float up. "Wanna try some vodka?" The god laughed some, resting his head on Kye's neck with a hum, his face flushing some. Perhaps he wouldn't need two drinks after all…
Kye let out a small sigh, giving his father's head a light pat. "Dad, you're drunk as hell," he said simply. He gave an apologetic smile to Blake before putting the spoon back and setting his dad's head gently on the table so he could get up. He stretched some, before taking Derlik's wallet from his pocket to pay. In cash of course. He then took the god's larger hands in his own. "Come on, we're going home now."
"Noooooo," Derlik said. He hadn't protested when Kye got up, but he didn't want to leave yet. "Ish-not time to gooooo… Only one drinks-so far!" The god giggled some, letting Kye pull at his hands a bit before shifting to get up. He looked at Kye with a lazy smile, then down to Blake.
"Awww…" the god said, voice soft, "Ish so smooooool…" Derlik giggled, moving to ruffle Blake's hair.
Blake tolerated Derlik messing with his hair, mostly amused by how the god was acting.
"Come on dad. Home. Now," Kye commanded, sounding more like the father figure than the person that was supposed to be the responsible adult. The boy placed a hand over his pocket in a protective manner. He knew what Derlik was like drunk, and usually needed to be babied in order to be kept in a good mood.
Derlik let out a soft whine when Kye hid Blake, standing then. He was a bit wobbly on his feet, but he still moved to pick Kye up.
"Fiiiineeeeeeeeeee… I'm driving." Derlik laughed some at his joke, his head coming back down to rest on Kye's shoulder. As long as he didn't feel like he was being looked down at, or someone was making fun of him, he was sober… enough, to not lose his shit.
"Dad, home," he said again, hoping Derlik didn't accidentally warp them into the middle of nowhere. Kye sighed, wanting to go home and just not do anything for the next little while.
