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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2014 1:40:06 GMT
Smoking is bad. For your lungs, for your kids. Santiago's tried to quit. He flicks the half-smoked cigarette to the ground before he pushes open the building's doors, tasting the smoke left on his own breath while he rides up the elevator, feeling the weight of exhaustion as he fumbles for keys, his eyes barely open as he shoulders open the door.
The creeping quiet with which he enters his own home is a habit now, careful that the keys don't clang too loudly when they drop, that the kitchen chair doesn't scrape when it's pushed back.
The sun has not yet risen, and he sits with his heavy head cradled in a palm, he sits still and tired a few minutes before he stands back up and puts a pot of coffee on. Deciding between sleep and his daughter isn't a choice any father should ever have to make, but he can stand an hour or two longer, he can at least see her off for school.
The smell of coffee brewing wafts through the apartment, the sunlight filters through the curtains.
@b
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2014 2:30:16 GMT
Briella has a little alarm that sits beside her bed that wakes her up in the mornings. She's naturally a heavy sleeper and it's the only thing that gets her to school. No mum to shake her away, no dad to wake her up either, it's just herself most mornings.
The alarm goes off, a shrill beep echoes off the walls of Briella's room and she tumbles out of bed and onto the floor. She tiredly makes one of her hands turn off the alarm and she slowly gets off the floor. She throws her covers onto her bed not caring to properly make it - no one is going to lecture her about it anyway - and stumbles into the kitchen. She's always hungry first thing in the morning, darned habits never stop after all.
She's pulling open the fridge in a tired daze when she realises she's not the only one in the kitchen. Her eyes dart towards to the other person sleepily, "...Daddy?" She rubs her eyes with a yawn to make sure she's not dreaming. [attr="class","tag"]@santiago [newclass=.tag]width: 300px; text-align: right; margin-top: -10px;[/newclass][newclass=.tag a]text-transform: uppercase; font: 12px courier new;[/newclass]
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2014 3:20:57 GMT
He isn't sure if the pounding is in his head or in the apartment until a sleepy girl stumbles into the kitchen. Santiago smiles, going unnoticed a few moments - moments he spends looking at Briella and thinking she looks older already, lamenting the way she seems to grow up between every glimpse he catches - before Briella turns and looks at him.
"Morning Bri." He says with that same drowsy smile as he stands up. He needs a shower, he feels like he's going to rub his grime off on Briella, but he carefully wraps her in his arms and kisses the top of her head.
@b
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2014 3:36:21 GMT
Her Dad's voice echoes through her ears and Briella wakes up. He's usually asleep when she's up, it's a surprise to see him up. She can't decide if it's a good one or a bad one though. She knows he works a lot, and at night too. She looks up at him, "Daddy, you should be sleep-" she yawns. "-ing. Go to bed." Her tone is serious, but it's also slightly tired. It's too early to be dealing with her Dad in her opinion. [attr="class","tag"]@santiago [newclass=.tag]width: 300px; text-align: right; margin-top: -10px;[/newclass][newclass=.tag a]text-transform: uppercase; font: 12px courier new;[/newclass]
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2014 4:39:17 GMT
He's glad to see Briella, he wants to pick her up and cradle her like a baby, but she's too old for that. He just strokes her hair fondly instead, admiring her, drinking in the sound of her voice and her drowsy eyes and soft skin because it'll all be different the next time he sees her.
She doesn't seem particularly excited to see him, but he pushes past the discouragement of the fact. "I will." He says. "I wanna see you off today. Do you want a ride to school?" If he could, he would do this every morning, cook her breakfast, pack her lunch, drop her off and kiss her goodbye like a father should.
@b
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2014 4:52:42 GMT
Briella moves to swat away her Dad's hand, she's not a dog after all. Being pet makes her feel like a kid, she's not a kid anymore. She passed that stage a long time ago in her mind. Briella is surprised at her Dad's offer. Her eyes go wide like plates and she turns her full attention on his face. "Well, um... su-"
Briella stops herself when it sinks in that there is something different about her Dad. Wait when did he have only one eye. In her head she freaks out a lot, but she tries to stay calm. "D-Daddy.. w-what happen to your... eye...?"
She's hesitant to bring it up, it doesn't look old. It can't have been old or she would've noticed a long time ago. It leaves her to wonder how he got it, did he get it from work? Is there a lot of violence with his work? She felt worry and fear build up in her stomach. "O-on second though, no ride. I'm going to school by myself."
Briella forcefully pulls herself away from her Dad's face and closes the fridge door - suddenly losing her appetite - and turns to go back to her room. She forces herself not to cry and she forces herself into believing this is all some sick nightmare because her Dad isn't some pirate with one eye. Her Dad has bright green hair just like her's and has two, working eyes. [attr="class","tag"]@santiago [newclass=.tag]width: 300px; text-align: right; margin-top: -10px;[/newclass][newclass=.tag a]text-transform: uppercase; font: 12px courier new;[/newclass]
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2014 5:32:30 GMT
She's a big girl - he just sighs softly and drops his hand. Santiago treats her like a baby still, sometimes - he knows, but it's hard coming to grips with how quickly she's growing up.
She looks like a child when her eyes go wide and she looks up at him. He's watching her too closely not to notice the little hitch, even before she says anything. He's so tired, and words seem like a clumsy pursuit, trying to fix it, the canyon between them that's always growing wider still. She tears from him and Santiago realizes what she's talking about.
He'd avoided making a big deal of it - he'd gotten it stitched up, the cosmetics didn't matter. Not to him, at least. Truthfully, he hadn't even considered what Briella would think, and as he hears her bedroom door shutting behind her, he realizes it. Now her father is not only some absent presence, but he's a one-eyed beast, a thug, a savage.
Sometimes he can't believe he'd ever had any part in Briella's inception. She's so sweet and delicate and he's anything but. Santiago presses a hand to his eye gently - it's tender, but the pain has ebbed to a dull throb he barely notices, the scarring is easing up. He follows with slow, defeated steps, stands outside her room.
He doesn't want to be a cruel father. He can be cruel, but not to Briella. He shuts his eyes and leans against the wall, rapping against her door gently. "Briella." A sigh - what does he even say? "I got hurt at work. I'm fine though... Can I come in?"
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2014 13:57:32 GMT
Briella slowly gets dressed once her door's closed. It's still sinking in that her Dad was hurt. He's always been the one constant thing in her life. She's always told herself how big and strong her Dad is, heck, it's been something she's just assumed really. Dad's are supposed to be strong, untouchable, right?
She attempts to shake the thoughts from her head - she needs to get ready for school - but it doesn't work. Her Dad's eye is engraved into her mind, raw and fresh. She knows she won't be able to forget about it.
She jumps at the sound of her Dad knocking on her door. She shoves her legs into her pants and does them up quickly before grabbing her sweater, pulling it on and zipping it up. She combs through her hair with her fingers as she makes her way to her sock drawer to find a pair of socks. "F-fine," she says as she does so. The drawer slides open and she distracts herself from her Dad with finding a pair of matching coloured socks.
[attr="class","tag"]@santiago [newclass=.tag]width: 300px; text-align: right; margin-top: -10px;[/newclass][newclass=.tag a]text-transform: uppercase; font: 12px courier new;[/newclass]
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2014 16:06:14 GMT
Nights, his entire job is to be intimidating. Ruthless and cold and violent. But if any part of him is gentle, it's the part dedicated to his daughter. Times like this, he couldn't bring himself to be imposing if he tried. He turns the knob and pushes open the door, but he lingers by the door, watching her digging around in a drawer for a few seconds. He doesn't go into her room very often - to clean or pick up laundry, neither of which he does as often as he should.
"Sorry." He doesn't use pet names, they always seem contrived and pitiful at times like this. She's not a little girl, he reminds himself. "I should have told you earlier. I didn't want to scare you."
He runs a hand through his hair, he feels like sweat and grime and blood. "Do you wanna do something this weekend?" It's a meager offer and the best attempt at reconciliation we can make.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2014 19:17:20 GMT
Briella pauses before grabbing a pair of socks and shutting the drawer closed with more force than she meant too. She sits down on the floor and pulls on her socks listening to her Dad speak. A frown finds it's way onto her lips as she stands, "You should've told me sooner! I wouldn't ... I wouldn't have been scared... I'm not a little kid anymore!"
She licks her bottom lip before digging her teeth into it. She would've been surprised, shocked, but not scared. Or maybe just a little. She'd be less scared and more fearful, or are those things the same? She doesn't know. She walks towards her door, and her Dad. She still needs to pack her lunch, brush her teeth and then her hair and then get to school on time.
Briella pauses for a second at her Dad's offer though. She glances at him for a moment, surprised before a little grin breaks out on her face. "Sure, yeah!" For a second, she wonders if they'll actually do anything. She thinks that she should start planning, but she'll think of something during school. For now, she walks past her Dad and goes towards the bathroom to brush her teeth. [attr="class","tag"]@santiago, idk what im doin [newclass=.tag]width: 300px; text-align: right; margin-top: -10px;[/newclass][newclass=.tag a]text-transform: uppercase; font: 12px courier new;[/newclass]
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2014 3:19:04 GMT
He smiles softly. "I know, I know." His voice is chiding himself because he always forgets. He steps aside to make way for Briella. Part of him wants to keep her home and spend the day together, but he's tired and he's always hoping she'll finish school and do well. He brings up a hand to massage his temple, feeling his head starting to pound, feeling sleep pressing into him. "What's done is done." Santiago murmurs, almost to himself.
"Alright," He smiles brightly against the headache. He's just glad that she still wants to spend time with him at all, and he's living in constant fear of the day that she won't. "Anywhere you want." He promises.
"You sure you don't want a ride?"
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2014 4:03:48 GMT
Briella rushes through brushing her teeth. Dentists say three minutes, but that's too long to spend in front of a dumb bathroom mirror. She brushes for about a minute and a half - or so she thinks - before rinsing and brushing through her hair quickly. She doesn't have a lot of knots, short hair is easy to manage which is something she enjoys about her hair, aside from the colour.
She steps out of the bathroom and makes her way to the kitchen to pack her lunch with a smile. Anywhere she wants, she wonders if they can go to the amusement park. She hasn't been there in a while, or ever. She doesn't really remember.
She picks up her bag on the way and leans it on a wall to take out her lunchbox. She packs a juice box, a sandwich she made last night, a banana, and a handful of little candies that she'll share with the kids in her class she likes. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'll be okay by myself!"
Briella shoves her lunch box back into her bag and zips it up before dragging it to the door so she can get her jacket and shoes on. "You should go to sleep Daddy," she says as she pulls on her boots. He's supposed to be sleeping by now, he's going to be tired when he goes to work later. She'd bet ten dollars on it! Though she doesn't have ten dollars to be, so she won't. [attr="class","tag"]@santiago [newclass=.tag]width: 300px; text-align: right; margin-top: -10px;[/newclass][newclass=.tag a]text-transform: uppercase; font: 12px courier new;[/newclass]
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2014 16:58:20 GMT
He follows her to the kitchen, still lingering in doorways, a sentimental observer. He feels a swell of pride, that his girl is so mature and independent, but it's undercut by the shame of knowing she's grown up too fast - because of him.
He has to bite back a yawn - as if his body is agreeing with her. "I will." He says assuredly, and before she can rush out the door he moves in front of her. The collar of her jacket is twisted, he straightens it. He smooths her hair and smiles down at her. "I'll see you tonight." Santiago pulls her into a quick hug. He'll be just woken up and heading to work then. "Have a good day, princess."
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2014 21:16:10 GMT
"Good."
The word slips out of her lips as she zips up her jacket and as her dad fixes her collar. She glances up at him with a little smile on her face before reaching to grab and put on her backpack. She makes her key is still on her bag - it is as always - before making her way to the door. She unlocks it and opens it before turning to wave at her Dad. "I will! See you later, Daddy!" She says it with a smile on her face before exiting the apartment and going to start her - dumb - day at school. [attr="class","tag"]//thread done, wooo [newclass=.tag]width: 300px; text-align: right; margin-top: -10px;[/newclass][newclass=.tag a]text-transform: uppercase; font: 12px courier new;[/newclass]
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head admin
with 187 posts
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Post by MESSENGER on Jan 29, 2014 19:54:04 GMT
[attr="class","temps"]GOOD JOB LAIKA and SHUT UP each receive 2 nectar for completing a thread.
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