Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Goodness, you just now finished ordering?"
Nikolai stood behind the two, an amused look on his sleepy face. There was a tint of red barely coloring his cheeks, that and his slightly snappier comments the only sign that he was buzzed.
"Uncle Nikki!" Aysun beamed and spun around to smile at him. She got on her tippy-toes and pointed upward at the hanging sign, as if she could touch it. "We're gonna get that one! It's got chocolate and ice cream!"
"Dear me, I already gained five pounds hearing that." Nikolai grimaced as he stared up at the sign.

"I'm not drunk, I'm buzzed. There's a difference, mind you." Nikolai hissed at Leon as he crossed his arms. "If I were drunk she wouldn't understand a word I'd say. You of all people should know that, dearie." he said with an unamused quirk of his eyebrow. He vaguely remembers doing so because he's usually blacked out, but the Sin frequently switched to his native language when drunk.
Nikolai looked back at the counter when he heard a bell ring and saw one of the employees with the ice cream. Aysun hopped up and down as she tried to get hers from them.

Aysun gaped at the enormous plate of ice cream in her hands. It was as big as her head! No, bigger! It was like they melted an entire chocolate bar over all that ice cream, too!
She wandered over to her seat and looked up at it. She'd have spilled her ice cream if Nikolai hadn't helped her on. After telling him her thanks, she licked her lips and took a large bite of the cold sugar. Her eyes sparkled and her face lit up like the Fourth of July. "It's really good!" she giggled then looked at Nikolai, recalling that he didn't get any ice cream. Getting another scoopful, she held it out for him. "Try some." she offered.
Nikolai hand one arm folded on the table and the other propped up limply against his face, but not holding it up. He glanced over when the ice cream was offered and looked from the bite to the girl. "I thought I was supposed to eat worms?" he mused then leaned towards Leon. "I did~" he whispered with a coy smile, tequila on his breath.
By the time he leaned back, he noticed Aysun sweatdropping. "I'm sorry." she said in a barely audible tone.
"Hmm? What was that, dearie?" Nikolai asked as he leaned in closer to hear, enjoying the moment.
The girl looked down. "I'm sorry." she said clearly.
Grinning, the Sin put a hand on her head and stroked away some of the stray strands that stuck out. "Quite all right, dearie, but keep that bite for yourself. I'm not too hungry." He took his hand back to hold his chin and chuckled to himself, "Humility dear will be glad I did her job for her."

"My, my. Such language." Nikolai purred then put a hand on Leon's. "Ah-ah, dearie. I don't need that." he assured then folded his arms on the table. "I came here because that's what families do, isn't it? They at least sit at the table together?"
"Uh-huh." Aysun agreed, spoon jutting out from between her lips. "My family did that sometimes, but we didn't get to do it a lot. I saw it a lot on TV, though."
Nikolai looked at Aysun then back at Leon. "Point made." he grinned lazily. Trust him, he would've loved to stay in the car or drink more alcohol, maybe both at the same time, but he also knew how much these petty moments meant to the both of them. Goodness, how tiring it was to be considerate.

Aysun beamed. "I wanna do all of that!" she said.
"Perhaps some day, dearie." Nikolai said before smirking at her. "So you're going to school, are you? Are you excited?"
At the question, Aysun sank a little in her seat. "Not really." she mumbled. "I'm scared that people will be mean to me. Uncle Leon said he'd protect me." Even with that reassurance she felt nervous.
Nikolai only grinned. "Nonsense, dearie! We'll pick out your cutest outfit tonight. All of the boys will love you~!"
The little girl wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ewwww! But boys have cooties!" she whined.
"Yes, but they have their uses too." countered the Sin.

Nikolai fixed Leon with a look. Of course he'd be that kind of father. "If there's one thing I learned in my youth, dearie, it's that if you don't want enemies, you make allies. And lots of them." He turned to Aysun. "Boys, dearie, will do whatever you want of them if they like you." His lime green eyes flickered to the melting ice cream. "Like buy you ice cream."
Aysun's eyes widened. "Really?!" she gasped, almost dropping her spoon as she slammed her tiny fists on the table in amazement.
"Your father bought you ice cream, didn't he? And he's a man."
Aysun giggled as the point was made, but a perplexed expression came when a thought occurred. "But you're a man too, right, Uncle Nikki? Do I get ice cream?"
"Nice try, dearie, but I helped buy your clothes. I did my time." the Sin pointed out.

"Oh hush, darling. I'm teaching her how to keep boys from being mean to her, not what I teach in class. Besides, girls only start being mean in junior high when hormones take over." the Sin shrugged.