There was a brief lull in the conversation, which was broken after Evan took another swig and looked at Visuveus with an expression that made the ex-con jolt a little in his seat.
"So…" Evan slurred just a touch. "…have you been to see her at all since you got out?"
"…no, I haven't."
"Why not?!" Evan boomed as he banged both fists on the table.
'There it is!' Visuveus thought to himself as he cringed a bit. 'This is why I never did like going for drinks with this idiot – he can't hold his liquor! He's barely halfway through that bottle, and he's drunk – and it's a light beer!'
"How has it been this long without you going to see her?!"
"Evan… I couldn't get into the Hero Mausoleum even if I wanted to, considering the Alignment Ban. What do you think would happen if they caught me there, huh? Nisha would have me hauled back to prison quicker than you could say… back to prison."
Evan, who was clearly pissed off, slammed his fists on the tabletop once more, however after a brief pause, he sniffled. A few silent moments passed before he sniffled again and looked down at the table. Audible sobs could be heard, before looked up at Visuveus, now clearly crying, and the ex-con recoiled a touch.
"It's just not fair…" Evan said in a high-pitched voice. "…this damn system has been robbing you of shit your whole life!"
"…here we go…"
"But no, seriously… it all started when we were kids with the fucking 'randomised' aptitude selection… that shit was rigged because the Hero Body preferred me and felt I was the more 'wholesome' and 'family friendly' choice to become the leader of the Fifth Generation of Superheroes. Those bastards just thought blonde hair and blue eyes were more mar… marketable, so... so…"
Evan took another large swig of the beer, before smashing it back down on the table. Visuveus' gaze quickly shifted to the bottle, and he sat there wondering how it didn't shatter.
"…SO! SO THEY… they… hic… they decided to fuckin' ruin your life, and forced you to go down the path to become Fifth Generation League Head."
"It's not quite as simple as that, Evan."
"Yes it is!! They knew I was easier to control – to manipulate than you, so they made me their pawn and cast you to the fucking wolves! They marketed me and Zuzu—"
"Zuzu and I."
"…ye-yesh, Zuzu and I as this beautiful Superhero couple, which would destroy the evil Reaper and his League, bring peace, get married, have children… urp." Evan started weeping again, drying his eyes with his forearm. "Do you have any idea how fucking unhappy she was? Do you know how heart breaking it is watching somebody you love go through the motions every day because she's not able to be truly happy? When we found out her Powers were killing her, all she could think about was how she couldn't even spend her limited time with the… the man she truly… loved. Those fucking old men!"
Evan started banging on the table repeatedly, which prompted Visuveus to raise both his hands and try to calm the man down.
"Evan, Evan, look, it's okay! It happened! It's done! …besides, those old men all got what was coming to them, so just forget about it."
Evan let out a loud wail as he full on cried, before hiccupping and losing consciousness, slamming his head on the table and narrowly missing his food. Visuveus looked on at Evan and rolled his eyes with a grimace once again.
"…this is why this idiot should never drink." He groaned, before going back to eating his food.
There was silence in the booth for about ten minutes, before Evan suddenly snorted and shot up from the table, looking groggy as all hell. It looked like he had been asleep for hours, and he looked around.
"Damn… how long was I out for?" He suddenly looked at Visuveus, who had yet to look at him. "Dude! Your curfew! Ah, fuck!"
Evan grabbed his head like he was hungover, and shook his head slightly.
"Fuck…"
"I'm still safe, don't worry."
"Yeah? So I wasn't out for long?"
"I'm still eating, Evan. You've barely been out for ten minutes."
"Ah, I see." Evan said as he took a few deep breaths and rubbed his eyes. "You know Vi, I was being serious earlier… and I don't think I've ever apologised."
"Apologised? For what exactly?"
"…for having a hand in ruining your life. You were clearly the better Hero when we were kids, you and Zuzu were clearly the ones in love, and if anything, you were so good, you would have ended the Third Hero War so much quicker than I ever could have. You've just been taking hits almost two decades, and you've done nothing but what you've been expected to. You played the role of the villain, let us destroy the Soul Reaper in front of the world, and even served time under your own name… yet here you are, still taking hits when following the law exactly. If you had just drawn the long straw, none of this would have happened, so genuinely, I'm sorry, Vi."
"It's what is, Evan." Visuveus said with a shrug as he placed his cutlery down. "Those who were directly responsible for what ended up happening are buried in the ground, and I have the chance to move on and live my life according to my own terms for the first time in a long time. I really am trying, Evan. I really am, and as tough as this shit may be, I was the one who decided to make that promise, so I am the one who's going to keep it. It's going to be tough, but… I will succeed. So you really don't need to apologise, mate – you did nothing wrong."
Evan looked at Visuveus who smiled at him for the first time since they saw each other and nodded.
"Also, thank you for everything you've been doing for KK in my absence. I read all your letters and updates, and I really do appreciate it."
Evan could only nod as he sobbed once again. Visuveus sighed and let Evan cry in silence for a while.
"That's what Uncles and best friends are for, dude."
Visuveus just nodded before pulling out his wallet and taking a few notes out.
"This is my contribution towards the tip. I should probably get going soon, as a cab ride back to the bus stop from here is probably a long one."
Evan looked at Visuveus' wallet, and instantly noticed two things – first, it was the wallet he and Zura had gotten Visuveus for his birthday many years ago, and secondly, there was a worn yet still well taken care of picture of KK as a newborn in there. This caused Evan to actually beam at Visuveus with such a wide and warm smile, it actually looked like his face was glowing.
"…w-what is it?" Visuveus asked as he recoiled a bit.
"…let's go see her!"
"See her? I told you, I can't go to the Mausoleum."
"No no, let's go see KK!"
"Whoa now, what are you talking about? I definitely can't go see her! The guards at the Star Academy would not only try and take me out, but Nisha would use that as grounds to get me thrown into the deepest hole in the damn prison. No, I'm good."
Visuveus looked up to see Evan wasn't even listening. He was already putting the disguise back on, as if getting ready to go.
"Are you even listening to me, Evan?"
"Look, if you want to make it there to see her and back before curfew, we've gotta move now."
"So you weren't listening to me. This is breaking the rules of my parole and breaking the Law, and I'm not going."
"Who cares about the Law? Fuck the Law – she's your daughter!"
"Can you really say shit like that, Evan? You are SkyyStar, the Beacon of Hope, the Star of Justice – you literally are the Law, and your flagrant disregard for the Law is rather disconcerting!"
"Yeah? Well so is your rigid upholding of it!" Evan snapped back before taking a deep breath and looking at Visuveus. "Vi, I'm only gonna ask this once – do you want to see your daughter?"
"…I do." Visuveus eventually answered.
"Cool! Follow me to the roof, and we will get going."
"What about settling the bill and all that? Has your body processed the alcohol properly? How are we going to get there?"
Evan just turned around and walked out, and Visuveus followed suit after a short while and a long sigh. Once they were on the roof of the bar, Visuveus looked around as if he was trying to find something.
"So how are we supposed to… wait a minute!"
"Yup!" Evan beamed. "Just like when we were kids!"