I Guess This Means I'm a Grown Up Now?

Alastor's expression instantaneously lit up the moment he heard his little girl's voice call out to him, his heart warming when he heard her call him 'Daddy', the term she'd always used for him since she was a wee pup. She slid gracefully into view and was greeted by a toothy smile from her sire, his long inky black waterfall of a tail waving back and forth off the end of his rump in a happy wag. Alastor stepped easily into the den, vigilantly noting the entrance was comfortably dire-sized so he didn't have to duck to enter. Of course he knew exactly why. Once inside, Alastor dipped his head down to receive his sweet daughter's affections, happily nuzzling his cheek back against hers with a happy murr. This was his first time truly getting to interact with Mariah since she and Malico had gotten back from their travels. Of course there had been a family reunion of sorts, and he saw her in her daily life around Elysium, but they hadn't had any father-daughter time since before she left. Alastor planned on correcting that post haste.

Taking a good look around her den, Alastor immediately noticed how everything screamed Mariah Mendacium. The space had been decorated in the eclectic tastes of his daughter, her wide range of passions and interests displayed in all corners of the den. Why, his smart crafty daughter had even gone so far as to smooth the walls of the cave with a mosaic of pebbles and mortar! Al was damned impressed! "'Isn't much'? Mariah, you've turned a cave into your own palace! I can't do half of the things you've done!" Alastor made a slow circuit around the den, inspecting each detail with the awe and wonder of a proud father looking over his child's handiwork. Ancients, his kids were so damn talented! As he roamed, Al's obsidian gaze returned to Mariah, seeing the bright smile on her face and the gleam of life in her argent eyes. She was a far cry from the forlorn pup he had stayed up at night with just to be her pillow and an ear for her to bend when she needed it. There had been a time during her childhood that Alastor had truly feared for her, worrying that the mental toll of her affliction might drive her to drastic measures. But seeing her here like this, happy and whole with the spark of life in her, it was enough to bring a tear to the dire brute's dark eyes.

So lost was he in his thoughts and reminiscing that Alastor almost missed when Mariah pointed out the gift he had on his back. Stygian eyes blinked a couple of times as the mind behind them snapped back to reality. Oh, right! "Oh this?" Alastor slid the canvas bag off of his back and turned it about, pretending like it was his first time seeing it. "It's just a little housewarming gift. It isn't much, but I'm happy with it." He grinned, teasing Mariah with her own words while he handed the gift over to her to unwrap. Once she had removed the wooden plaque from within, Alastor gave her some time to look over it and drink in what it was. "I wanted you to have a little piece of your family history with you always, so you can look at it and never doubt where you fit in for being you. I hope it'll work with the rest of your aesthetic." This was Alastor's way of showing Mariah that no matter what happened, no matter what doubts had ever clouded her mind or heart, she was his daughter. She was a Mendacium. And he was so proud of her for who she had become.

"Alastor Mendacium"