Claire Titan
Dazzled
Human, Imprintee of Quil Ateara
Pity wock Qwil, for me for me!
Posts: 138
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Post by Claire Titan on Feb 14, 2009 21:05:46 GMT -5
[Post Breaking Dawn - Claire age 11]
Cloudless days were very unusual for Claire. She had woken up that morning at marveled at the sun as it shone proudly in the sky, unhidden by the cloud cover that usually marred its presence. She had dressed quickly and brushed her teeth, running to the kitchen to swallow something quick and easy before going in search of her friends. If they were lucky, they might get Quil to take them to the beach. However, her plans were soon crumbled when her mother waited for her with a full breakfast and the news that she'd be going to the Makah Rez; Tai would be picking her up shortly to take her to visit her grandparents who were starting to ask for her again. Her mood quickly inflated and she sat down, resigned to eat her pancakes that were not as awesome today as any other day for some reason.
It had been five years since Claire, indeed, had a daddy. Luckily for all those involved, it had been at a young enough age to make it easy for Claire to accept him. She had been wondering why everyone else had a daddy and she didn't, and to learn that she did have one had immediately stunted the teasing she was having from the girls in her class that still found things to ridicule about her til this very day. At the time of learning of her father's existence, her only regret was that Quil was not her daddy, but she was easily console by the fact that he would not go away.
Now that her mother was not in the kitchen, moderating her sugar intake and encouraging ladylike behavior, she dumping more syrup onto her pancakes, effectively drowning them. The females in her family tried their best to keep Claire in ribbons and bows, emphasizing dolls and other boring girly things, but Claire preferred to be outside with the guys, riding bikes and hiking. Quil's own interest in cars was slowly starting to catch on, and she despised anything glittery. She sat at the table, chugging milk in her jean shorts and her favorite green Super Mario Brothers t-shirt that Quil gave her.
Her grandparents were nice enough, though her grandmother was starting to support Rayen and Emily's take on manners and propriety and stuff. It was the drive there that was starting to worry her. There was nothing ever really the matter between her and Tai other than the normal disagreements between father and growing daughter, but she was starting to suspect something... off about him and her mother. It was totally out of her league to understand any of it, but the look on her mother's face sometimes bothered her. Boys were annoying and always tried to show her up, but things with adults were different. She knew that much. She wondered what her mom and dad talked about, and why it made her mom sad sometimes. Maybe it made him sad too.
The weirdness between her parents was slowly being conquered by the cheesy eggs that came with the pancakes, and forked another glob into her mouth
[daddy!]
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Post by Taiomah Keshawn on Feb 17, 2009 17:04:15 GMT -5
Tai couldn’t help but smile to himself as he set off from his parents’ house in Neah Bay, he was getting to see his little girl again! It had been a few years since he had learnt that he had a daughter and though they now saw each other relatively often with his and Rayen’s growing rekindled affection, he still got excited to spend time with Claire. They had their arguments, of course, usually about Quil, or boys, or his tendency to treat her like a five year old; but, overall, they were as affectionate as a father and daughter could be in the given situation. He turned the music up on his stereo and drove silently, humming along to himself good naturedly.
Between resurrecting some of the old sentiments between himself and Rayen and discovering his daughter’s existence, plus Doctor Chambers’ expert help, Tai had come on leaps and bounds compared to the state he was in when he first returned to the Reservation. It had taken him a long time to get over the bitterness that he had brought from Florida, especially with his dad hanging around the house, and it had taken longer still for him to get over the anger and betrayal he felt towards Rayen for keeping Claire a secret from him for so long. However, it had all been achieved and now he was actually enjoying life again, though there was a bit of awkwardness with Rayen as old feelings were beginning to resurface, but neither party were ready to admit what was happening.
The drive to the Quileute Reservation, where Claire and her mother had been staying with Emily didn’t take long; only a few minutes later he pulled up outside the house, his truck rattling to a stop as he did so. Well, it didn’t rattle so much – his truck was what he has used the rest of his money on when he was completely infirmed – an ironic punishment to himself as he had thought he would never drive it. He pushed the door of his truck open and planted his cane on to the curb in order to support his weight as he jumped down and set his sites on the Uley’s front door. It still took him a while to get around, thanks to his own stubbornness at the beginning, but he did eventually reach the door, raising his free hand to rap on it.
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Claire Titan
Dazzled
Human, Imprintee of Quil Ateara
Pity wock Qwil, for me for me!
Posts: 138
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Post by Claire Titan on Feb 21, 2009 1:40:24 GMT -5
Discovering the limitation of how much food her mouth could handle, Claire was barely able to get a few drops of milk past her lips to help with the pancakes. The syrup, who had been her main ally, was now working against her and making it hard to chew and swallow. She was able to get a gulp of milk down, and was soon able to get through the huge bite of fluff in her mouth. Man, these were good. Instead of taking some more milk, she started stacking pieces of pancake to put them in her mouth again. Just as she was going to take her next 'bite', she heard the knock on the door. Her shoulders fell a bit, and she stood up to walk to the door.
A small piece of her still held on to the tiniest hope that it would be Quil on the other side. He would certainly save her from this, and she'd be able to play all day instead of being lectured on something boring. She flung the door open and smiled at her father, though not as widely and excited as it would have been. "Hey Daddy," she said, taking a step and giving him a hug. It hadn't been difficult to get close to him, it was understanding him that was the problem. Claire didn't understand why he didn't like Quil as much as she did, but it was the only thing that they discussed that fired her up. But hey, he always started it.
"Come have breakfast," she commanded, walking back to the table. "There's still a lot left." Rayen had obviously made enough for the two of them, but had conveniently timed her long shower to overlap with Tai's arrival.
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Post by Taiomah Keshawn on Mar 12, 2009 12:27:52 GMT -5
Tai grinned in response to his daughter’s beaming smile, already used to her sunny demeanour. He knew she was more than capable of turning it off at the drop of a hat, but he was also aware that he often heralded that himself by bringing up contentious subjects. Right now, though, he gave no thought to what those subjects might be, or how they could be – it was only breakfast, for goodness sake, they had until supper to argue. He hoped that there would be no arguments, but she was getting to the age where her rebellious streak was beginning to show. He didn’t want to lose her either to Quil or to normal teenage mutiny.
He wrapped his left arm around his daughter’s shoulders and raised his eyebrows at her, laughing as she commanded him to enter the house. “Yes boss!” he exclaimed through his gruff laughter, stepping up over the threshold of the Uleys’ front door. He sniffed the air as he pulled the door closed behind him and raised his eyebrows at Claire as he distinguished the delightful smell coming from the kitchen.
“Pancakes?” he asked, eagerly. “Yum… I love them…” He never got to eat them usually; they weren’t a food that his parents made up and any attempt he made usually ended up being stuck to the ceiling in some way or other. Without further ado, he began to stack his plate and his fork just as over-zealously as his daughter, stuffing his mouth full of fluff and syrup. “S’good.”
Yes, as the more part time of the parents, Tai managed to get away with a lot of childish behaviour. No doubt it probably drove Rayen crazy, but it was a way that he could be sure of connecting with his daughter. He had, after all, missed all of her early development, he was just trying to catch up.
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Claire Titan
Dazzled
Human, Imprintee of Quil Ateara
Pity wock Qwil, for me for me!
Posts: 138
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Post by Claire Titan on Mar 21, 2009 2:17:27 GMT -5
Pancakes made almost everything better. Her father's own appetite for them made her hope that he would be in a good enough mood for her to sway his decision. She wasn't very crafty and was just only discovering her powers of persuasion on people other than Quil, but this was important and she had to try. She continued stuffing her face in the manner she had been before, comfortable that Tai was doing the same. At least he showed appreciation for something that was worthwhile.
She was halfway through her glass of milk when she decided that she just had to ask. She didn't realize that there may be a better way of asking, so this was the only way she could express her reluctance to go to the Makah Rez. "Hey, daddy," she said after swallowing a large chunk of pancake. "Do we have to go to today?" Her voice pleaded with him, and she was not able hide the whiny noise that accompanied anything she didn't want to do. "I mean, the sun is actually out today," she continued, this time rambling and trying to get her point across before he interrupted her, "and I really wanna play outside." She looked at him imploringly, bouncing slightly in her chair, itching to include Quil in her argument but restraining herself. "Can we go tomorrow, plleeaaassee?"
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Post by Taiomah Keshawn on May 17, 2009 10:58:29 GMT -5
Those were some good pancakes that Rayen had served up for Claire this morning, and Tai couldn’t restrain himself from reaching forward to pull another couple on to his plate. He still ate like a teenager despite his advancing years that were bringing him ever closer to the big three-oh, besides next to Quil he ate like a ballerina. He licked his lips as he chewed down the last remnants of his original pancakes, simultaneously squashing the new ones down into the pool of syrup on his plate. However, before he got the opportunity to enjoy the last few mouthfuls of his unexpected meal, Claire began to voice her ideas of the plans for the day.
“Claire,” he said, softly, though with a firm voice. He set his fork down, his mouth and lips now free from the sweetness of the syrup so that he could address her concerns properly. He guessed he sort of understood why she wanted to play outside so badly that day. His parents weren’t exactly the epitome of laugh-a-minute grandparents and for a young kid the Makah Reservation might as well have been on the other side of the country. Add that to the fact that it was actually sunny and warm outside, well… he couldn’t blame her, but similarly he couldn’t just give in to her demands. “Your Granny and Grandpa have been looking forward to seeing you…”
He resisted the urge to look to the side door for Rayen to come save the day. He didn’t like playing the bad guy, he knew that he wasn’t too good at it from the little arguments that he and his daughter had, but he supposed if he had to do it… However, this was not the only reason that he was resisting sneaking looks back at the kitchen door, and the very reason gave him some indication of why Rayen might be laying low. He couldn’t pretend that they were just friends anymore, had they ever been, really? It was more complicated now, though. The poor kid had been forced to get accustomed to belonging to a broken home, but now she seemed to be coping well. That wasn’t something that he was eager to change at the drop of a hat. He pushed his plate away, appetite dissuaded by sobering thoughts, which he attempted to keep from his face.
“And I think your mom may want to do something with you tomorrow. Come on, Short Stuff, we’ve had this planned for a long time now. How about I get you an ice cream on the way over?... Just don’t tell your mother… or your grandmother.”
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Claire Titan
Dazzled
Human, Imprintee of Quil Ateara
Pity wock Qwil, for me for me!
Posts: 138
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Post by Claire Titan on Dec 1, 2009 12:12:37 GMT -5
The way Tai said her name alerted Claire that she was not going to like his response. It was almost the same tone of voice he used when he was trying to be strict like her mom. He wasn't good at it, but he tried all the time. She couldn't help herself when a little frown appeared on her brow, and she stabbed her pancakes when her father reminded her that her grandparents were expecting her today. "I know," she said defeatedly. "But how come we have to go today?" She looked out the window and saw the filtering rays of sunshine smile on the landscape, and she rested her head on a propped elbow. "You know it's gonna rain tomorrow." Claire was a long way from being a meteorologist, but she knew her land well.
Her father's continuing argument had little power over her. She didn't want to go. "Mom and I do stuff every day," she responded, unable to hide the connotation due to sheer inexperience. Tai had been around for only a few years, but Claire had openly accepted him and loved him very much. It may not be the moment to bring it up, but it bothered her that he wasn't around more. She loved him and wanted to see him every day like the other kids saw their dads. "Why can't you just spend the day here with me?" There was always something strange between Quil and Tai when they were around each other that only bothered Claire for a few seconds before she was distracted, but she would take them over the Makah Rez.
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