☂ 𝑳𝑶𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑺𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 || 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚡 𝙾𝙲 || 𝑩𝑲. 𝟑 ☂

22. YOU'RE OKAY

"Stanlito, for the last time, we are not lighting firecrackers in the lobby right now," chastised Tony, snatching the lighter from the boy's hand as the flame near the wick.

Stanley groaned, whipping his head around to face the older teen. "Ugh! Come on Uncle Tony! When will we ever find the perfect time to do this?"

Tony plopped his hand on top of the boy's head. "I hear you, kid, trust me I do, pero if anything else happens to this hotel I'll never hear the end of it from Diego. Plus, I'm pretty sure the whole place is sleeping—like you should be honestly. It's late as hell, man,"

The boy chuckled diabolically. "That's the point," he then winced when his uncle started to give him a head noogie. "Hey!"

"I respect your cojones, kid," nodded the Mexican teen in approval, grinning at the struggle the twelve-year-old gave him. "But you've done enough damage to this hotel for the day. How about we give this place a solid 24 hours to recover, eh?" he loosed his grip, allowing Stanley to burst out from it.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Stanley grumbled, rolling his eyes and adjusting his jacket before stopping suddenly when he noticed something at the hotel's entrance. "Uh... Is that Aunt Elaina?"

"Que que?" questioned Tony, turning and following the boy's line of sight.

Stumbling out of the revolving doors was Elaina, tripping a bit on the carpet. The girl began muttering to herself before spinning around on her heel and confronting the revolving door, followed by her kicking at it and missing the door completely. Once she recovered, she glared at it and stubbornly flicked it off for disrespecting her. 

The brunette then brought the empty bottle of Hennesy that she had tucked under her arm up to her lips, either not realizing it was done or forgetting that it was finished entirely. That's when she furrowed her brows at it accusingly and uncaringly tossed it over her shoulder.

Tony's brows shot up in muted surprise at the state she was in, eyeing her as she staggered up to the vacant front desk for support.

Stanley watched on too, his finger rising and pointing at the girl with an amused smirk. "Hehe, she's wasted," he snickered knowingly.

Tony nodded slowly. "Uh-huh. Sure looks like it..." he then scanned the lobby. "And that penedjo Five is nowhere in sight, huh? Weird," he commented to himself, giving Stanley a dismissive pat on the back when he confirmed his thoughts. "Alright, Stanlito, it's time to start heading to bed. It's late,"

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed the boy, trailing after his uncle who was already on his way toward Elaina. "That's not fair! I want to help too," he moaned.

The Mexican teen stopped, positioning his hands on his knees so he could bend down and face him. "Bed. Ahora. I promise we'll do something cool tomorrow, alright?" he informed Stan, patting his shoulder and turning over to see Elaina aggressively dinging the desk bell. "I just got to see what's going on with her,"

"Yeah, right. I bet you just want some alone time with your Estrellita," taunted Stanley in annoyance and hissing instantly when Tony smacked him upside his head.

Tony grinned cooly at him. "Goodnight," he annunciated, lightly pushing Stan toward the stairs. "I mean it! I'll be checking your room later to make sure you're in bed!"

"Man, really?!" whined Stanley, stomping away loudly to show his discontentment.

With a shake of his head, Tony veered his attention back to Elaina, supervising her as she continued to ring the bell. However, she was now bent over the desk with her upper half sprawled on top of the guest log with her hand sluggishly hitting it over and over.