Over the din of the patrons of the Lair, they could hear Rico singing. If you wanted to call it that. "~Sing song of a piano man~ " "What is Trevor playing?" Tristan asked confused then tilted his head. "That. Is Rikki. Singing." Aja supplied brightly watching Tristan digest that news. "For the love of Zeus, Rico!" Trevor was yelling. "I think it's an animal dying." Tristan laughed as they started up the steps to the Lair. "Tiny Dragon! I love you!" Rico yelled out. "He's getting friendly with Trevor. We better move fast." "Oh. Just you wait. Yer next, I'd imagine." Aja laughed as they neared the door. "You ferget. We've been handling Rikki fer a while now, Love." she winked at him as she tugged the door open. "I thank you for that, by the way." Tristan said to her as they went inside.

Trevor came barreling over then relieved to see them both. "Mommy!" he was grinning as he said it then pointed at Rico as he came to a stop near Aja. "Make him stop. Please?" she pulled him into a hug and kissed his head. "Aja!" Rico called out from his place on the bar top. "Tristan! I love you guys!" "He's hit happy phase." Trevor related and Aja patted his shoulder. "I see this." She smiled. "We got "em." She watched Tristan stroll over to Rico. "Yeah." Trevor said watching the boys then looked at his mother. "He's been rambling about Mami." Aja nodded to that solemnly, she had expected as much. "Hey, we love you too, pal." He leaned against the bar. "Having fun?" "I'm having scotch!" Rico announced happily. "You want some?" "One for the road wouldn't hurt." Tristan smiled. "Go, get Tristan a drink. Albie's got his hands full." "On it." Trevor went back behind the bar. Rico slid off the bar top and Tristan tried holding him up. Rico looked at him funny. "You tryin to hug me?" Rico leaned back against the bar then leaned forward to look Tristan in the eye. Aja watched Trevor get the drinks as she stepped closer to the bar. "Nah. I'll leave the hugging to the ladies." He patted Rico's should. "Maybe we should find a table and talk a while. Play some cards." But Rico wasn't having any of that. "No cards. Played already." Rico turned back for the bar to grab his glass. "Wanna play darts. Tiny dragon took my darts." "Cause you hit Albie in the arse, ya moron." Trevor interjected making Aja laugh. Her kids tended to sound a lot like her when they got wound up about things. She held out her hand to Trevor. "Albie's all arse!" Rico yelled and she chuckled. "Give them to me." She smiled at Trevor who gave her a doubtful look. "We'll go to the back room. He'll be less of a hazard." "Thank you." Trevor said as he handed over the darts. Rico looked at Tristan and Aja then back to Tristan as if he was trying to figure out how the two wound up there together. He was about to ask something when he spied the darts. "Hey! Tiny dragon gave up the darts!" "Come on, Buddy." Tristan said and Rico waved him off. "I got it!" He put his hands out. "I got it...I'm the sexy minion stud!" "Oh dear god, not that again." Trevor sighed.

Aja watched as Rico did his impersonation of a weeble wobble heading towards the back room, Tristan following behind to make sure Rico didn't fall and crack his head open. Rico got distracted by seeing someone he knew off by the piano in the corner and Tristan tugged him back on the path to the back room. "Hey..hey!" Rico said swatting at Tristan. "No tugging the sexy minion stud!" that made Aja chuckle. "Boys, play nice or no darts." Rico tried to turn and look at her but stumbled making Tristan catch him. "Come on, Pal. Or Trevor's gonna kill you." "Tiny dragon loves me!" Rico protested. "I'm Uncle Rico!" He was swatting at Tristan as he tried to turn back for the bar. "Let's just play darts, Rick." Tristan said and glanced back at Aja wondering how she managed to deal with a drunken Rico. "Darts!" Rico pointed his finger to the ceiling as he grinned broadly. Aja followed along with the darts and the drinks. "Too bad this wasn't earlier, could've had dinner and a show." She quipped and Tristan looked back at her. "Funny, should make you go check on the fisher." He stepped into the back room with Rico. "Nope." Aja said as she followed them into the back room. "She'll either quit pouting or she won't. It's up to her. She wants to talk." Aja set the drinks down on the table and looked at Tristan. "She'll find me. Ain't like I'm hard to find." She wasn't going to coddle her sister the way Tristan seemed to think she should. They were going to have their arguments about things. The two of them would have to figure out how to make that ok.

"Not with the noise he's making." Tristan said but Rico wasn't picking up on the deeper conversation. "Aja hides though." He said rambling in the way drunk people tend to. "Clan ain't found her yet. Stupid people." He kicked the chair. "We weren't talking about the clan, Rico." Tristan corrected, Aja glanced at the boys then went to shut the door, the noise level dropped dramatically. The only sound that was in the room now was the speaker which allowed a quieter volume of the music that played out in the bar area. "No clan. Bad clan." Rico said as he slumped into a chair with Tristan watching him curiously. "We won't let the clan get Aja now will we?" "Nope." Rico said a little more chipper. "We'd blast their balls off." That made him laugh. "Leave a big hole." If Aja took offense or was uneasy about the conversation, it didn't show. She settled into the chair near Rico and grinned at him. "So, you and the scotch been pals tonight?" "Scotch"mmmm Good scotch." Rico said with a dopey smile. Tristan grabbed his own glass of scotch and took a sip nodding in agreement. "I'll stick with the beer, Ricks." She gave them both a wink. "Wuss." Rico said and laughed. Tristan set his glass down and held out the darts to Rico. "Darts!" he took them with the enthusiasm of a kid at Christmas and eyed up the dart board from his chair giving Tristan the impression that's why Trevor had taken the darts in the first place. He leaned over and kissed Aja's cheek and she gave him a wink.

"Almost up the nose." he said as he sputtered. "Poor thing." Aja patted Tristan's back. "Supposed ta drink it, not breathe it." "Yeah, better to drink it." Rico repeated with a grin. "He keeps making me laugh." Tristan said as he peered at Rico. "Cause I am the sexy minion stud!" he gave a proud smile and flipped his hair back. Aja laughed. "That you are, Rico." Ajia said.

"Told you he was fun like this." Aja said as she leaned over to Tristan. "I hate to see him when he passes happy stage." Tristan commented quietly. "See?" Rico was saying to no one in particular. "And you are not the sexy minion stud." he gave a haughty sniff before he spied his drink on the table. "Scotch." Rico made a grab for his glass which took him two tries to successfully grab. "Next comes passed out." Aja supplied while watching Rico trying to grab his glass. "Which should be coming up pretty soon." "Then we should get him out of here?" Tristan suggested trying to think ahead. Truth was, he was having to relearn not only about the habits of his wife but also the ones of his boyhood friend. "No! Darts!" Rico protested as he got up, and made his way, albeit a little swayingly, to the dartboard. Ajia watched him, possibly amazed he was still able to walk. "He'll wind down. Not the first time I've had to come sit with him." Aja said lightly and quietly as she patted Tristan's arm. "Patience. He winds down eventually." Tristan looked at Aja then at Rico and Ajia. "I'm just worried about having to carry two passed out people up stairs." He motioned to Ajia who looked like she was dozing at the table. Rico made it back to the table and slumped back into his chair, his eyes unfocused as he looked at the dart board. Aja knew that look, and knew it wouldn't be long till he was ready to give up for the night. "Ok." He said to no one and half heartedly threw a dart towards the board. "Eh." Aja waved a hand towards her sister. "She don't weigh more than me. Shouldn't be too hard." she gave Tristan a grin to put him at ease. She knew this was a new experience for him. "Alright." He nodded then watched Rico. "Might be best ta put him on the couch downstairs tonight." Aja mused while watching Rico. "Just in case." "What about her?" "She's been stayin with the Sexy Minion Stud." Aja grinned with a half shrug. "That's me!" Rico raised his arm up as he called out, but it dropped back down to his lap pretty quickly. "Boss?" He muttered after a moment. "Yeah, Ricks?" "Don't tell Mami." "Not a chance." She reached over and patted his arm. "Not even if she tortures me." "Good." Rico mumbled before closing his eyes completely. Aja looked at Tristan who looked amazed at Rico's wind down. She just gave him a grin. "See?" "That was fast." he said finally. "Given how quick he went down, think he's been inta da scotch fer a while tonight." Aja contemplated as she picked up her own drink and took a quick swig before moving to get up. Tristan watched her before moving himself. "He started at the Arena tonight." The information he gave her made her nod. "And you? Tequila?" Aja asked Ajia wanting to get an idea of how far gone she was. "Beer." "Good." Aja nodded as she ruffled her sisters hair. "But ol Snookie Wookie there," she thumb jerked to Rico as she spoke. "Not much of a drinker of the hard stuff. He might get sick." "Alright. I'll keep an eye on him." Ajia said as she sat up. "He makes it on own, usually. Just don't let him think da bathtub is good fer sleepin. Last time he almost drown himself." Aja chuckled. "His foot hit the water and I think he just thought he was on the beach or something." She nudged Tristan. "Let's get him to the cart." "I can get him." he said. "Hey, Mr. Heroic. I've been takin care of my first mate fer a while. I'll help ya get him to the cart." "Get his feet then." Tristan said looking at her oddly. Aja gave Tristan a smile to ease the tension that had crept up during that exchange. She knew he wanted to help, but seemed to forget for a moment that she had been taking care of things without him for a very long time. She knew why he was that way. Twenty three years was a lot of time for things to change from the way he remembered them. "He'll stagger along. But I appreciate the idea." she tried for a reassuring smile but wasn't sure it did anything to make a dent in what his expression was conveying to her. "Yeah." it was a simple answer but she'd have to take it for now they had to get Rico home. She put an arm under his. "Come on, Buddy. Time ta go." "Time ta..goooo." Rico drawled. "Make the donuts." "Plenty of donuts tomorrow, Tinkerbell." Tristan said getting the other side of Rico. "Donuts goood." Rico babbled as they made their way to the door. "What kind should I bring?" "Bear ...paws." Rico answered Tristan then chuckled drunkenly. "Rawr." Ajia got the door for them, and they saw Trevor standing on the other side waiting for them. "I got the cart out back." he told them now opening the back door. "Nice going, Trev." Aja gave her son a smile. "Thank you, Kiddo." Ajia told Trevor. "Anytime, Short stack." Trevor grinned at Ajia. "He's gonna have quite the headache in the morning." Tristan said as they maneuvered out the back door. "Oh yeah. But he'll deal." Aja grinned as they got near the cart. "This ain't the worst he's ever been." "He's been worse?" Tristan raised a brow at that information, Aja only nodded as they put him in the cart. "There ya go, Buddy." "Da da daaaaaa!" Rico sang out. "Homeward Jeeves!" then he dissolved into giggles which got both Aja and Tristan grinning. "You bet, Ricks. Now we gotta get yer girlfriend out here..Keep ya in the cart." "Girlfriend." he grinned and Aja pushed his hair out of his eyes. Tristan watched that small interaction with a soft smile. It seemed that in his absence the pair had come to lean on each other. Not that they didn't act like siblings before his unfortunate demise, but that bond seemed to have gotten deeper with time. "Pretty girl.." Rico babbled. "Yes she is." Tristan answered him. Aja merely smiled as she tapped her foot waiting for her sister to get over to them. "Ready to go, Sis?" she asked Ajia keeping the impatience out of her voice. "Yeah." Ajia said getting in the back with Rico. "Just make sure he don't go rollin out of the cart." motions to Rico who was struggling to sit up now. "He won't fall out on my watch, Sis." Ajia said and Aja gave her a thumbs up as she went to the passenger seat. Aja gave a nod to Trevor who had been watching from the doorway. He nodded back with a smile to his mom then stepped back inside.

Tristan got into the drivers seat and got them going down the alley way to the street. They rode along and he glanced over at Aja with a smile. She noticed him looking at her and perked a brow. "What?" she asked. "And over there is some lovely brick.."Rico muttered from behind them like a tour guide. "It hurts when you drop it on your toes.." "I was just thinking of the first night I saw you in there." Tristan answered. "Ya weren't quite that drunk." Aja motioned back to Rico. "Still needed help getting home." He winked at her. "Think he's gonna be alright?" "Yeah. Just been a rough couple days. He just needed to blow off some steam." "Ok." Tristan nodded. "And he's going fishing tomorrow?" "More than likely." "Got drunk and brooding back there." Tristan gave an amused chuckle at his own joke, Aja glanced back before lightly flicking Ajia in the head. "You brooding?" "Just have a lot on my mind." Ajia said with a wrinkling of her brow. "If it's about Mami, don't be stressing on it. Ya let me handle her. She's used ta gettin her way." Aja wasn't kidding about that. Mami was the queen of Avalon. Before that, the Princess. She was very used to having what she wanted when she wanted it. "It's not." Ajia protested sounding petulant, while looking at Rico with a frown. "No' Then what?" Aja twisted in her seat to be staring at her sister in the near dark of the yards as they approached Rico's house. "I guess it's mostly over what was said....Between you and Mami." "Which bit, kiddo?" Aja tilted her head, hoping that it wasn't about what Mami said, but she wasn't going to hold her breath. "Towards me." Ajia slumped down and Aja sighed internally.

Tristan turned off the engine to the ATV once they were outside Rico's house and listened to the sisters talking. He had thankfully missed the conversation in question.

Aja sighed heavily. Yeah, she knew that part of the conversation was coming back at some point. She had just hoped it wouldn't be tonight while Rico was around.

"Alright. Should've been a bit easier, but makes what I said no less true." Aja started. "And with Mami, you have to give her facts. About the entire thing. Not just single things out." Mami took Aja years to learn to navigate to where the woman wouldn't bowl her over in her quest to have things her way. Ajia seemed to want everything right now. While Aja understood the wanting things now sentiment, her sister had to learn that just because you wanted something, didn't mean you were going to get it. "It's something you learn in time. How to deal with her." "It's not that...Everything you said about me was true, but." Ajia took a deep breath. "What she said...about me, and Rico. How I'm trying to seduce him." she drew her knees up to her chest. "It hurt." "Cause you made it personal. Not professional." Aja reminded her. "This is her baby boy you're talking about." "Not a baby." Rico protested drunkenly, Aja reached over and smoothed his hair. "Yes. Not a baby." Aja smiled before looking back to Ajia who was frowning. "I never wanted to come across that way." "Next time you go thinking you need to say something to her, run it past me first. Save yerself the brooding." "It's just made me think." "About?" Aja prompted for further information on the thought process. "Everything.." She shook her head a little. "I'm being a total jackass to Rico and I'm not being smart at all."

Aja looked over at Tristan and gave him a little wink before looked back at her sister. "Lucky fer you, Sexy Minion Stud is an easy going guy. He's put up with me fer a long time. He's used to crazy." "Da da daaaaa!" Rico called out slurringly in his sleep. "I just don't want to push his limits." "There's something about first step is admitting you have a problem." Aja thought about then gave up on the exact wording as she continued. "At least you know you have something to work on. Better than not at all." Ajia looked over at Rico confused then at Aja. "I don't want to try your patience either." "I'll just knock you out ya get too annoying." Aja said with a big grin at Ajia. "Mama said knock you out.." Rico mutter sang making Aja grin. He always seem to like to sing when he drank too much. Something Aja found highly amusing over the years. "I'm holding you to that." "Yeah." Aja paused then nodded to Rico. "Oh. If you mention song lyrics, and he knows them...he'll sing. Well. More like muttering. But it's way fun." Aja grinned watching Ajia get the idea and smile. "Think he does it sober?" "Only once in a while. Drunk" All the time." "I'll remember that." "Fun fact about Rico that I might've kinda sorta never told him that he does." Aja said lightly and Ajia giggled. "I remember you..." Rico mutter sang another lyric making the girls laugh. Aja nudged Tristan then. "Come on, let's get him on the couch. Let em get some sleep." "I don't wanna go to school." Rico protested being moved. "I know buddy." Aja said softly as she put one of his arms around her neck. Tristan took the other side. "Don't worry, they're having recess all day Rico." Ajia said as she moved to the door to hold it open. "Recess good...with pie." "Oh yeah, he makes stuff up too." Aja informed them both. "Pie is good, Rico." Tristan patted Rico's shoulder. "I can tell." Ajia said watching Rico. "Mmmmmm. Pie." "Yes. Pie, buddy." Aja shook her head, grinning at him. "What kind Rico' " "Lemon...pie...fluffy stuff." "Lemon meringue." Aja supplied the name for him and Tristan started to stand. "We're gonna leave you with Ajia now." He said and Rico's brow's furrowed. "Ajia's not pie." Rico protested sounding annoyed. "Pretty." "I know, she is." Tristan laughed and ruffled his hair. "Night Rico." "See ya tomorrow night, buddy." "Morrow...yep."

Aja waved to Ajia who had taken a place near Rico to keep watch and headed outside with Tristan. "Fishing and beer tomorrow?" Tristan asked as they headed out of Rico's place and headed back to their own. "Who' Us?" Aja asked confused. "We're going fishin" Since when?" "That's what you said he does on hang over days." Tristan said motioning back to Rico's place. "That's what he does." She laughed. "He uses the time to think. He comes by after fishing." "Then guess what we know what?s for dinner then." Tristan grinned. "Yeah." "Ahh." "Maria cooks it outside cause she doesn't want the smell going through the house. But she practically drags the whole kitchen outside." Aja smiled as they got closer to the house. "It's kinda funny." "Think we should warn her?" Tristan asked and Aja gave him a look. "Nope. That's the fun part." "Devious." he said as he draped his arm around her shoulder. "I love it." "Stick with me, Kid. I'll catch ya up on how things go 'round here. I got all the hook ups."

They walked into the house to get ready for the next day.