"Hmm…B7," Yang guesses, "Miss," Ruby responds, earning a grunt in return, "...E…2?" "Dammit!" "Hahaha! I told you, Ms. Doubtfire! You! Can't! Beat me! I'm the best! I am the very powerful! Witness the true greatness shining upon you!" The two sisters share a laugh after the display of dumbassery from the young girl. "Oh, calm down, Ms. Braggart," Yang replies, cleaning up the game, "You won a couple of board games. So what? Any joe schmoe could get lucky twice." "Uh huh. Keep finding different ways of coping with the fact that you're getting your butt kicked by your little sister." "Alright, big shot. Gloves are off now. Which game's next?" Ruby takes a moment to think of her options, but she's soon interrupted as her father suddenly swoops her up in the air, causing her to squeal in joy as he turns her about before setting her down on her feet and kneeling down to her level. "I've got a game for ya," he says, looking her in the eyes and poking her nose, "It's single player, though. So Yang can't join in, unfortunately. It's called 'brush your teeth and head on up to bed'. Patent pending." "Awww." "I know, I know. But you've already been up half an hour past your bedtime. You've gotta go to bed at some point, Rubes." "5 more minutes?" "In another lifetime maybe." "Pleeease?" "Ruby." Yang chuckles at the back and forth before deciding to go with ol' reliable. "Don't worry, Ruby. Tomorrow's gonna be much better anyways. We'll get to play more with more time in our arsonal?" "Yaaay!" Ruby rejoices with Tai turning to her with a feigned look of disapproval of the plan, "And how do you plan to make good on that promise, young lady?" "Come on, she's a kid," Yang replies, "She's gotta have some fun." "You're half right. She's still a kid. So she needs to be in bed at the appropriate time or everything falls out of whack." "Ok, ok, how's about this: we play three quarters past her bedtime." "...Ten minutes." "Two and a half quarters." "Twelve minutes and you only do half the dishes from now on." "Two quarters and I take care of dinner every visit." "...Alright, deal." Ruby rejoices from the compromise, not knowing that that's practically the same deal that they've had for the past few months. "Ok, but that's tomorrow. This is tonight." "Ok, ok." Ruby then latches onto Yang's waist, embracing her in a warm hug, which Yang reciprocates. She then ruffles her little sister's hair before poking her sides, earning cute giggles in response. "Alright, see ya tomorrow, sis. Don't destroy the place while I'm gone." "No promises," Ruby replies with a grin, "Guess that's all I'm gonna get. Whatever. Shoo, ya little rascal." Yang scoots the girl away with her giggling in response before heading upstairs to her bathroom, leaving Tai and Yang to their own conversation. "Ok, serious time," Tai says, turning to his daughter and folding his arms, "Are you ok?" "I'm good. Honest. This stopped meaning as much as it did after the first visit. Her smile does a lot, y'know?" "Yeah. I know what you mean there. But I just wanna make sure. If…she's making you uncomfortable in any way-..." "Dad, I'm fine. I swear. Just a matter of getting her off my ass at times." "Yuuup. And speaking of which-..." He pulls out his phone, looking at the time. He then recoils as he receives his answer. "9:38. That's gonna be a fun conversation at this time of night. Want me to chaufer?" "Nah. Not like she'll have the balls to do anything to me. Or even care enough to really make a big deal out of it. Plus, you've still got a rowdy little monster to tend to." "Yeah, guess you're right. Ok, stay safe, sweetheart. I love you." "Love you, too." They embrace each other in a hug with Tai kissing the top of Yang's head before they separate and Yang heads out the front door. As she rides home on her bike, Yang, just so happens to spot her favorite Mexican restaurant. And just as suspiciously, she suddenly develops a craving for a meal of some sort. 'Well, if I'm gonna be late, might as well be hella late,' she thinks to herself as she stops at the restaurant. After parking her bike, she places her keys in her pocket before heading inside the building, taking in the wonderous scent of the Mexican environment. She then steps forward to the hostess, who's already ready for her. "Hi, there, Yang," she greets with a beaming smile, "Hey, Beth," Yang greets back, "A bit late to go out of your way to come here, isn't it?" "I'm just coming from my dad's, actually. Then I saw that this place was still open, so…y'know…what the hell? Can never go wrong with Mexican, right?" "You just wanna piss your mom off, don't you?" "Heh. No getting past you, Bethine." "Yeah, I figured. Well, you're gonna have to wait a little bit. About…five…ten minutes?" "Oh, please, take your time. I am in no rush at all." They share a chuckle before Yang takes a seat in the waiting area, pulling out her phone and scrolling away. And after half an hour of waiting, Yang's finally met with Beth's presence, garnering her attention. "Oh, hey, there," she greets after removing an earbud, "Hey. Just wanted to let you know that a table's finally ready." "Really? Wow. That was quick. You've got a fat tip in your future, young lady." "Wow. That's a first." "Don't get used to it. It isn't exactly my treat tonight." She reaches into her purse and pulls out a wallet before opening it, revealing her mother's picture. Beth brings a hand to her mouth, gasping and chuckling at the absurdity at hand. Yang then brings a finger to her lips, shushing her as she takes a hundred dollar bill from the wallet and pushes it into Beth's pocket in her jeans. Beth, not objecting to the gift, zips her lips before leading Yang to her table. "Alright, what'll ya have?" Beth questions as she prepared to jot down the order, "Hmm," Yang replies, looking at the menu and browsing, "I'll just have the supreme nachos, the grand chimichanga dinner, and…let's go with a fajita plate to really seal the deal." "Sprites?" "Sprites." "Alright, we'll have that out for ya in a jiff." "Awesome. Take your time. No rush." Beth closes her notepad and heads off, leaving Yang to her own endeavors again. And aside from the constant dispensing of her beverage, Yang doesn't see much of the hostess. That is until nearly an hour later when she finally receives her food. "Ok, here's your fajitas, your chimichanga dinner, your cheesy supreme nachos, and just for good measure another Sprite for ya." "Oh, you spoil me, Beth." "Only the best for our guests. And if you're wondering about the time, I took the liberty of telling the cooks to really make the order special by not having it that high on their priorities. Such an order takes precise measurements, y'know?" "You are just a delight." "I do what I can. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to yell." "Good to know. Thanks." Beth then steps away as Yang takes a few bites of her nachos and a few drinks of her drink. And after about fifteen more minutes of being on her phone, she ignores the abundance of text messages she's getting and takes a look at her percentage, which shows a decent thirty percent. Which should be more than enough to get her home with her music. "Hey," Beth says, approaching her table, noticing she's barely touched her food, "Everything alright?" "Yeah. I'm actually about to head home. Any way I can get to-go boxes and cups for these?" "Comin' right up." She then goes to retrieve the boxes, cups, and bag. Once she returns, Yang packs up her food and drinks before reaching inside her mother's wallet and presenting eight more hundred dollar bills. "One for everyone in the establishment," she says, placing the wallet back into her purse, "Thanks again." "No, no. Thank you. Greatest customer ever. Tell your mom I said hi." "Got it. Night." "Night, Yang. Drive safe." Yang collects her barings before stepping out of the establishment and heading home. After parking her bike, she grabs her food and walks up to the front door, retrieving her keys and mentally preparing for the upcoming hellfire that awaits her on the other side. After unlocking the door, she steps inside and closes it, taking a breath. '5, 4, 3, 2,' "It's late," she hears Raven's voice say in the living room, "Where were you?" "With dad, remember?" Yang replies, not even looking at her as she heads into the kitchen, "You should've been here at 9:15. It's damn near midnight. I'm not gonna ask again. Tell me where you were." "Out." "Yang, I'm not in the mood. Where the hell were you? And why weren't you answering me?" Yang doesn't even acknowledge her. She just stores her food in the fridge. Not content with being ignored, Raven stands up from the couch and heads into the kitchen, blocking the exit. "Answer me!" she snaps, "What, a girl can't just enjoy the late night drives like everyone else?" Yang replies, overflowing with smarm, unphased by her mother's tone, "Yang Xiao Long, I asked you a fucking question! Answer it! Your ass is here before 9:30! That's the rule here! Why are you just getting here at fucking midnight?!" "Oh, doth my ears deceive me? Is the same mouth preaching punctuality bullshit to me right now attached to the same woman who couldn't find it in her busy schedule to spend a second with her own daughter for the entirety of her adolescence?! Is that really what's going on here?!" "Don't you take that tone of voice with me! I'm your mother!" "Could've fooled me, Ms. I-take-the-family-out-of-'family-business'!" "Well, I'm here now! So as long as that fact remains, you do what I say when I say if you wanna keep living under my fucking roof!" "Yeah, your fucking roof that's in dad's name! Yup! Your fucking roof that you don't spend a damn dime on! Right, right! It just bothers the shit outta you whenever you don't have control over every little thing, doesn't it?!" Raven takes a few steps forward, folding her arms as she gets inches away from her daughter's unperturbed face. She then says in a low tone, "No. What bugs me is someone who doesn't know their place in environments that don't typically favor them because of some self-righteous phase they're going through. And once you've seen your fair share of the same routine of someone being stupid and shooting their mouth off at someone who's more than willing to pop it back in place, you tend to find it getting a bit old after a while. Now, what you will do is head to your room. Then tomorrow, once whatever this is that's making you delude yourself into thinking that you're hot shit wears off, you will apologize to me. And I'm not gonna hear another word outta you. Do I make myself clear?" Yang clasps her hands behind her back, giving her mother the most nonchalant look she can muster before matching her tone with, "Or what? What exactly is gonna happen if I don't make that little fantasy of yours a reality? See, I'm not one of your little subjects. Once you've run into enough bullies who push you for their own pleasures, you tend to find out they're just pussies who can't stand being pushed back. So…I'm pushing back. Whatcha gonna do about it?...Pussy?" She punctuates her point, bringing her hand to her mother's shoulder and shoving her. Raven closes her eyes, taking a breath before chuckling to herself as she looks into her daughter's eyes, which are now slowly shifting from lilac to their blood red shade. "Ok," she says, "You're your own person. Do whatever you wanna do." She then steps aside, allowing her daughter to leave the kitchen. Yang gives her a smug smirk before accepting her invitation, being sure to bump into her shoulder in passing. But just when she makes contact with her, Raven grabs her daughter by her hair and yanks her back to face her. Yang, anticipating the maneuver, shifts her body towards her mother before delivering a powerful headbutt to her lip, causing her to stumble back to the fridge. Yang glares daggers at her, daring her to make another move. Raven brings two fingers to her lip, wiping away the blood from it before darting at Yang. Yang, again, evades her mother's maneuver, managing to pin her against the wall before kneeing her in her stomach. Raven then grabs onto her leg and trips the other, causing Yang to fall to the floor. She then mounts her daughter, attempting a punch to her jaw, which Yang dodges and counters with a punch of her own, switching their positions and wrapping her hands around Raven's throat. Raven brings her hands to Yang's arms, digging her nails into her skin. Yang withstands the piercing for a bit before finally giving in and releasing her grip. Raven then manages her foot between them and kicks Yang back against a nearby cabinet. She then sits up and the pair just sit in their current positions, breathless and scowling at each other. "I fucking hate you," Yang declares, making her way back to her feet, "I hate you right back, you conceited little bitch." "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree in that regard, huh?" "I wish you were never born." "I wish Ruby was spared the burden of being birthed by you." Silence. Raven can only recoil at that last statement. Even Yang's surprised by the phrase. She never wanted her sister to be involved in this in any way. It just slipped out. But the damage has been done. And that damage is made abundantly clear as what Yang sees next shocks her to her core. Raven's…tearing up. And without another word, she steps out of the kitchen and rushes upstairs. Moments later, Yang hears her bedroom door slam shut. And after moments of coming to terms with what just happened, Yang goes to the fridge and fetches herself a cup of Sprite before heading to the living room and turning on the TV after sitting on the couch. She decides to camp there for the night both because of laziness and because her room is right next to Raven's and she's not nearly in the mindset to deal with being anywhere near her. Maybe that'll change tomorrow.