Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to Chrysti, because I took her extreme bluntness and smashed it all into Rei's head. So, look, Chrysti! Rei is as blunt as you are! Yay! Oh, and I'm still peeved at Fear Factor. :P

Oh, and Amy Acker, whose portrayal of a drunken Fred on an episode of the series Angel provided MUCH of Chrysti's inspiration for Rei.

At least, in this chapter.

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Dinner was no longer an organized thing in Trillian's mind, something she would have to get used to. Sands didn't like schedules, so he ate whenever he felt like it. Rei liked to keep a pattern for Lina's sake. So, everyone just ate whenever they got hungry.

"Why don't you like him?" Rei asked for the twentieth time.

"He gets annoying."

"So?"

"So, it drives me crazy!"

"So?"

"So, I don't like to be driven crazy."

"You should give him a chance." Rei said, taking a sip of her water thoughtfully.

"I don't know...it's strange, I just...he seems to want to be left alone. That's all."

"He does."

"Okay, so how am I supposed to deal with that?"

"I don't know. You're the one that wants to hook up with him. I'm just his sister."

"Uh, actually, I don't want to hook up with him. That's why we're having this conversation, remember?" Trillian protested.

"Oh yeah. So?"

"Don't start with the 'so' thing again."

"Sorry."

This had been going on for a while.

"What do you like about him?"

Trillian stopped, thinking slowly.

"...He's...cute?" She guessed.

"Okay, that's a start. You think he's cute. That's reason enough to love him!"

"In whose book?"

"Well, in mine! Tell me the honest truth here, if some big, ugly fat guy with a great personality asked you to marry him, would you say yes?"

"I don't know, that's not a fair question!"

"Exactly! You'd say no. And...why?"

"Don't tell me what I'd do!"

"So you would marry him?"

"Who, Jeffrey or the fat guy?"

"I don't know, the fat guy."

"Probably not."

"Jeffrey?"

"Probably not." Trillian lied.

Rei sighed, having thought that she'd finally caught her.

"I'm not giving up on this, just know that." She said, finishing off her water.

"Uh-huh. So, hypothetically, say I married him. Then what? He can't see, I mean, he's never even seen my face."

"You think about the negative too much. Concentrate on the positive, Trill!" Rei said, exasperated.

"The fact that your brother has no eyes is a pretty big negative." Trillian reasoned.

"I guess. But don't put it like that, it still creeps me out." Rei said, shivering.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. But you'll marry him, then?" Rei asked hopefully.

"No!" Trillian said, disbelieving that someone could be this blunt.

"Okay, I'll drop it." Rei said, raising her hands defensively.

"Good. Look who's coming." Trillian said, looking over Rei's shoulder, out the patio door.

Rei turned her head to look in time to see Sands slide the door open.

"Oh, I thought I'd locked that. Damn." Trillian said, snapping.

"You're not funny, either." He said, sitting at the table.

"Really? That was my choice career, too. Stand-up comedian." Trillian said sarcastically.

"Children!" Rei said, widening her eyes warningly at Trillian, the only one who could see.

Trillian sighed, and leaned back against the counter.

"Did you ever finish my pibil?" Sands asked, his question directed at Rei.

"Yeah. It's in the fridge, do you want it now?" She asked.

"No." Sands said, and Trillian could just see him stumbling around the kitchen, trying to find the refrigerator in her mind's eye.

Rei shrugged, and glanced over to where Lina sat.

She was peering up at the TV set, her eyes glazed over, and the glow on her face bright.

"It's like a bloody hypnotizing machine."

"Yeah. You wanna keep her busy, just turn on the hypnotron." Trillian said, laughing.

"I guess. It can't be healthy, though." Rei said, tutting.

"I'm tired." Sands complained.

"Get over it." Trillian snapped.

"Fuck off." He snapped.

"Don't you wish." Trillian muttered.

She got the warning glare from Rei again, and shut up.

"I'm going to sleep." Sands said, putting his arms on the table and resting his head on them.

"Right there?" Trillian asked.

"I sure as hell ain't gonna sleep next to you again." Sands retorted.

"My thoughts exactly. So have fun sleeping on the couch."

"I'm not sleeping on the couch. I'm sleeping right here. Any more stupid comments you feel like you have to make before your pretty little head implodes?" He snapped.

"Will you guys stop?! It's going to give me a bleeding headache!" Rei howled.

Trillian sighed.

"I'm sorry. Not sure about His Highness, though." She said softly, the anger in her voice startling her.

No one responded. Trillian was grateful, and she bent down and opened a few cabinets. An unopened bottle of tequila, a quart of rum, and three shot glasses sat tucked away behind a roll of Styrofoam cups, and Trillian took them out.

"I don't know about you, but I need a drink." She said, setting them all down on the counter.

Rei looked at them, then over at her daughter.

"Hang on, I'm going to put Lina to bed first." She said, heading over to the living room.

Trillian took the stuff over to the table, setting it down with a clink. Sands lifted his head.

"Oh boy, for me too?" He said, mocking surprise.

"Sure." Trillian said awkwardly, then paused.

"You know, I'm sorry." She said, shaking her head.

"For what?" Sands asked.

"For being such a bitch. I'm not usually like that." She admitted.

"I'm sure it's not your fault. It seems like nothing ever is." Sands remarked, smiling faintly.

Trillian was taken aback for a second, but recovered quickly.

"I deserved that, I guess. But, seriously, I want to start over." She said.

"Hi. I'm lying in an alleyway, covered in blood."

"Maybe not that much over. But, hey anyway."

"Hello."

"Hola."

"Yo."

Sands waved.

"Okay, you win. Are we cool?"

"Sure, if it'll help you sleep tonight."

"God, hopefully this tequila will help me sleep tonight."

"You have tequila?"

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Five minutes later, Rei, Sands, and Trillian sat in a circle at the table, each with a shot glass.

"Let's play 'I Spy'." Rei said, grinning.

"Okay, I go first. I spy something very dark. Wait...no I don't." Sands said, raising an eyebrow.

"Fine, ruin my fun." Rei said, pouting.

"Okay, so...what do we do? I mean, I've never played a drinking game before." Trillian said, shrugging.

"You know the great thing about drinking games? You don't remember the end of them." Sands said, with a nod that complimented the huge smile on his face.

"And you would know, Jeffey." Rei said, blinking slowly.

"Duh." Was all he said.

"Okay, forget it. Do you know any by heart?" Trillian asked him hurriedly.

"I know a few. But none of them are any good." Sands said with a shrug.

"Why not?" Rei questioned.

"You need stuff for some of them. Like bathtubs. And ice. Stuff like that."

"Are you sure you're thinking of drinking games, Jeffrey?" Trillian giggled, then shut up quickly.

"That's not funny. And yes, I'm sure."

"Okay, I was just checking." Trillian said, a bit defensively.

"Wait, what about that Q&A thing? I've always liked that." Rei put in.

"Huh?" Sands said, confused.

"Where someone asks a question, and if the other person doesn't want to answer it, they have to drink a shot." Rei explained.

"Oh. Okay, that sounds alright." Trillian said, shrugging.

Sands nodded, obviously not happy with the fact that they weren't just...well...drinking.

"I'll go first. Trillian, would you, if you could, kill my big brother?" Rei asked, smiling at her.

Sands began to laugh.

"I think I know the answer to this question." He said, pulling a face.

"No. No, I wouldn't." Trillian said, shaking her head. Sands gaped.

"What?" He said, his voice containing only surprise, no sarcasm.

"You know I wouldn't. I can tolerate you just fine. So don't worry, I won't put a bullet through your heart while you sleep tonight." Trillian said blankly. Rei looked impressed, but only slightly.

"Okay, Jeffrey. My question to you. Do you wish someone else would have found you in that alley?" Trillian asked, the question that had been nagging at her mind for two days.

"No. If anyone were to take down a bunch of military bastards, drag me to Durango, and pick out my bullets with a pair of tweezers, I'd want it to be you. You know why?" Sands paused, waiting for a reply.

"No, why?" Rei cut in.

"I have no idea." Sands said, shrugging. "Two questions: Is it my turn, and can I have a drink?"

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An hour later, they were all smashed to a pulp. Well, all but Trillian, who attempted to stay sober as possible by filling her shot glass with just rum. Tequila was her poison, and she sure as hell wasn't going down without a fight. But the rum was quickly disappearing, and she could see the huge, ominous tequila-cloud hovering very near.

"Remember that time Mum hired that clown for my 6th birthday party and you decided to play sniper and shoot at it with a bb gun?" Rei said, laughing hysterically. "Then mom found you in the bushes, and you had to apologize for shooting him in the neck with a bb...and then...and then—" She had to pause to catch her breath before continuing, "—and when mom left, you hid somewhere else and did it again, and I found you? Then you gave me the gun, and you ran away! Then Mum found me, and thought I had done it the whole time, and you got off the hook? I had to apologize to the party, the clown, and you! I was so angry at you after that!" Rei said, snorting.

Sands was nodding, apparently wallowing in his nostalgia.

"Wait, how old were you?" Trillian asked disbelievingly.

"I don't know, probably about ten or so."

Rei nodded as well, then began her reminiscing again.

"And- and d'you remember? That one time?" she hiccupped. "You took that one girl out for a date? And she ditched you for someone else? You- you said that you'd never date another woman again!" She put a strong emphasis on the word 'woman', snickering.

Trillian spat her tequila across the table, clamping her hand over her mouth in shock.

"You...what?" She demanded.

"Nothing, it's nothing. Just...forget it." Sands said quickly, downing the tequila in his glass.

"And he didn't! Not for a whole sodding year!"

"Who did you go out with?" Trillian asked, her voice wracked with hysterical caution.

"Have you even been listenin' to me, Trill?" Rei slurred. "He did'n date anybody!"

"Okay...that's...that's enough." Sands said, reaching for the tequila bottle and knocking it over. Trillian picked it back upright, but it didn't spill, because it was mostly empty.

"E-...Except for-."

"Shut up, Rei!" Sands snarled, reaching desperately for the tequila bottle again.

"No, Jeffey!" Rei shot back, her voice uncharacteristically shrill. "I will not shu' up! Y-you think y'can always just-" she gestured wildly. "Push me around! I'm tired of it!"

She leaned towards Sands, taking a deep breath. "In case you've not noticed, I'm a big girl now, Jeffey! And you don't need to be watchin' over me now! Which, would be quite impossible anyways..."

Sands didn't move, and Trillian was deathly afraid that he would put a foot through her head. But he smiled, and then began to chuckle.

"Are you laughin' at me?" Rei demanded, her eyes rolling.

Sands just continued to laugh, and Trillian sighed in relief. Rei attempted to stand to her feet defensively, but wobbled and fell to the floor, causing Sands to laugh even harder.

Trillian jumped to her feet, only to see that Rei was out cold, snoring peacefully.

"She's out cold..." Trillian said, smiling. "Her skull must be pretty damn thick."

"It is. And I'm pretty sure there's nothing in it but pure, unadulterated air. That, and some skill with a gun." Sands said, still smiling faintly.

"Alright...I'm going to get her onto the couch...thank God she isn't some smelly, 800 pound lady." Trillian said, shaking her head. She dragged Rei over to the living room, making sure she didn't thunk against the step down too much.

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I hope you enjoyed! I'm off for a long weekend, so I'll update when I get back! Love you all alot!