"Have another." Ping poured more whiskey into the now empty cup.
"Yes, sir." Dylan responded. The two clinked glasses and once again emptied them in one go. Having drunk two cups already in the span of about five minutes, Dylan was starting to feel a little more than tipsy yet Ping was completely fine.
"What do you think of Sherry?" Ping asked.
Sherry, at the mention of the love of his life, a warm smile surfaced on Dylan's flushed face. "I think she's a saint. Kinder than anyone else, braver than anyone else, and more beautiful than anyone else. She may be clumsy at times, stupid even but that just makes her all the more loveable."
Ping nodded at Dylan's list. His daughter was indeed kind, she was brave and she was beautiful, just like her mother. 'Seems like this brat has a good pair of eyes.' Ping thought to himself, his impression of Dylan raising significantly.
"If someone were to ever try to hurt Sherry, what would you do?" Ping asked, refilling the empty glasses once again.
Dylan's eyes flashed with a dangerous glint. Murderous intent accumulated over the years started to leak out of his body. "I will ensure that they'll regret everything they did. Whatever they do to Sherry, I'll repay them tenfold."
Ping could feel the dreadful blood thirst leaking out of Dylan's body. It sent shivers down his spine and instinctively, he raised his guard up against Dylan. Noticing this, Fir rubbed against Dylan's cheek and chirped loudly.
"Lyn, you idiot! Killing intent, reel back your killing intent!" He ordered.
"Killing intent? Alright, alright. You're so fussy, Fir." Dylan complained but did as told anyways. Once he concealed his aura, Ping started to relax and breathe easy again. However, the raised guard did not lower back down.
"Cheers." The two touched glasses again. It was already their third cup. By now, Dylan was completely red, his vision fuzzy and body wobbly. Ping was only slightly red.
"*Hic*" Dylan hiccupped. He giggled and covered his mouth with one hand. "That was rude of me. Sorry about that, *hic*. Sorry again."
"It's okay. It's a natural bodily function." Ping replied. After a pause, he continued to probe Dylan even further. "How do you feel about Sherry?"
Dylan giggled like an innocent child. He drunkenly rested his head on his arm and answered. "When I think of her, my heart gets warm and fuzzy and when I see her cry, my heart feels like it's getting ripped apart. I like to make her smile, to hear her laugh and make her happy. I think this feeling is called love."
'As expected.' Ping thought to himself.
"You love her, but does she love you? What if she doesn't?"
Dylan frowned, looking as if even the thought of it pained his heart. "Sherry not loving me…It hurts my heart. I don't like it." Tears accumulated in Dylan's eyes. His lips quivered and face distorted with sorrow. Soon the tears fell down his face and onto the table. "I don't want her to not love me. I want her to look at me and tell me she loves me as much as I love her."
At his sudden tears, Ping could not help but to freeze. This, wasn't the difference too big? As a skilled and experienced businessman, Ping was quite adept at judging people. From their two meetings, he could tell that Dylan was a mature and composed individual. He seemed rather expressive but in reality, his heart concealed his true emotions. It was difficult to tell if he was telling the truth and if he was truly happy or not, even for Ping.
That was why Ping decided to get Dylan drunk, because in doing so, Dylan would become significantly more relaxed, enabling Ping to see through him. Only, Ping didn't expect that he would get drunk that easily and that once drunk, his childish and overly emotional self would get exposed, taking reign of Dylan.
"Don't cry, Lyn. Don't cry." Fir chirped. He wiped Dylan's tears with his wings but because of his panic, his control over his temperature was a little wonky, resulting in the tears freezing on his feathers. At this, Fir froze and took a deep breath, regaining control and continued to comfort Dylan. "Sherry loves you, she loves you a lot. Don't worry. Besides, she doesn't have anyone else she loves. If she doesn't love you, you can just charm her into loving you."
"Really?" Dylan asked out loud, his teary eyes and flushed face looked really cute, but Fir wasn't Sherry so he wasn't affected by it.
"Really." Fir chirped back.
Dylan smiled brightly. "You're right. If she doesn't love me, I can just woo her until she does."
Dylan's words remind Ping of a certain someone and that irked him. He frowned. "Hmm, so if she doesn't like you, you're going to pester her until she does? You'll force her to like you?"
"No!" Dylan yelled. He looked upset, angry even. "If I do that, she won't ever like me. I won't do anything she doesn't like."
"Then if she likes someone else, you'll give up?"
Tears welled up in Dylan's eyes again but he nodded. "I'll be sad but, she'll be happy and that's all that matters."
"…Drink another." Ping said as he poured more alcohol into the cups. Dylan obediently drank it all in one gulp. Looking at his pitiful expression, Ping found himself softening. "You don't have to worry, she doesn't like anyone else."
Ping saw the way she looked when she spoke of him. She looked exactly like her mother when she was young. Bashful and shy, concealing her love yet showcasing it for all to see at the same time. This Dylan was also the same. He was so foolishly honest and simple when it came to Sherry.
As expected, Dylan instantly cheered up. "Really?"
"Yes, really." Ping nodded.
"I'm so happy." Dylan laughed. "When you're happy, you have to celebrate. Would you like some snacks, Uncle?"
"Snacks? What kind of snacks?" Ping looked up and down Dylan. He didn't see any snacks and his pockets didn't look big enough for them.
"Drinking snacks of course." Dylan grinned. "I have some Kraken on me."
Kraken, that was a legendary monster that lived in the sea. It wasn't real. Ping realised that Dylan was drunk to the point of being delusional. He slightly smirked and decided played along.
"Lyn! You can't bring out the Kraken meat!" Fir chirped in a panic. He knew that Dylan was losing his final bits of rationality and self control. It was up to him to make sure he didn't do anything wrong.
"Fir, don't want to eat?" Dylan's eyes drooped and he looked so downcast that Fir's heart could not help but to ache.
"No, no. Of course I do, I love Lyn's food the most!"
Dylan's lips widened to show his perfectly straight and white teeth. "Then I'll give you some right now."
He chanted the magic words and a black hole opened up in front of him, shaking Ping to the core. Ping rubbed his eyes, wandering if he was drunk. But before he could even rationalise it, Dylan suddenly stuck his hand into the hole!
"Ah, hey, wait! That's dangerous!" Ping warned.
Dylan merely shot a handsome smile at him. "I'll take it out now."
Dylan took his arm out of the hole, his hand carrying a plate of fried Kraken. It was fried to perfection, golden brown and still steaming.
"You, what, that, how?" Ping stuttered, his jaws dropping from shock.
-----
Sherry: Hmm?! I feel something going on.
An: What's wrong, Shi Ming?
Sherry: I don't know. Somehow I feel like I'm missing out on something, something really cute.
An: Don't be silly, c'mon, we got to shop.
Sherry: No~, I feel like Dylan is being really cute right now!