kaiarquette

[kaiarquette]

"I have been up way too long last night trying to get Florence to bed, I'm too tired to play this game," Kai said. "Can you just tell me what it is that you want?"

"Now come on Kai...." Came the whined sound of the girls voice. "Are you really going to say no to me? Look at this face. It's just too cute and adorable to say no to. Plus you love me. Don't pretend you don't." Lulu attempted to coerce the man, hopping herself up onto his desk to take a seat. "I never knew you to be so cruel."

@kaiarquette

[kaiarquette]

"Honestly, I hate to say it, but with my mother, I fear that even if you were her biological daughter, you'd still be made a pawn. Being older now, I look back, and I'm pretty sure that she was always jealous of you. Probably because in the end she knew you would always be a threat to her in her world. You always had a knack for fashion and everything like that, she had to marry to be in that world."

"Maybe but I did have to have a long-lost relative come and reveal a massive family secret and then offer me a place to stay to escape that," Octavia pointed out, "I might still be here otherwise. And when we were kids, I was just second-rate. Everything I did pissed them off and made me a useless pawn."

[kaiarquette]

"Sometimes, but it's mostly when it gets dangerous here, and then I remember I don't think running to France escapes that," he said. "Plus, I like it here, we made a good life here. We have our careers, our family. You have Frank, I have Octavia here. The rest of our friends. Maybe we should try traveling back to France more in the coming years, maybe some places in America you've never been to."

"It's why we moved away from them in the first place, because we wanted to forget what living under them was like and be able to carve out our own life together. I wouldn't say it's a bad thing that you've managed to put it to the back of your mind for a time." She pointed out softly. "Is moving back to France something you've thought about?" At the mention of America, Clara gave a little wave of her hand. "I'm settled here. I have my friends and my family. That's all I ever needed. I think surely you have figured out by now, that I would move anywhere you asked, as long as it was with you."

[kaiarquette]

"Yeah, but you were always so good at not letting them make you a pawn in their plans," he said. "I always admired that. I don't know how you did it, especially when we were kids."

"None of that," Octavia brushed off what he said, "You were a victim of them just as much as I was. You were the favourite so it was different but it still wasn't good," she replied, "There was only so much you could have done and you definitely should not have ignored your anxiety. That's not how you handle that."

[kaiarquette]

"Since I moved here, it was part of the reason Clara and I left France," he replied. "It was how he let me leave, but he also threatened to try and take me down with him if I ever reported it. Either way, I won't let him make your life hell again. I should've been a better brother growing up, I should've just ignored my anxiety and my own issues and stuck up for you. I'm not going to be that guy who's too scared to do anything again."

Tav stared, eyes wide, "What?!" she exclaimed and then threw her hand over her mouth as she realised how loud she had been. She leaned in closer to him, "Kai, how long have you known about this?"

[kaiarquette]

Kai nodded lightly in response to Clara's advice. "Yeah, I'd like that," Kai replied. "Sometimes being away from them makes me forget how they can be. Then makes me upset that they're the reason I left France and home, and then I can't imagine how you feel being so far away from America too."

Clara placed a hand over Kai's. "Love, nothing you have been thinking could possibly be dumb, especially not after everything you were put through." What they were both put through in fact, in their own ways. "Well..." Clara mused when he mentioned his concerns, clearly running through their options in her head. "Perhaps we can put them on a no contact list there. Make sure that the only people who can pick her up are us and her Godparents." She suggested because they were their inner circle, the people they trusted with the life of their daughter. "It doesn't fix things but it'll at least be some form of extra comfort."

[kaiarquette]

"No, because she would've been making a scene," Kai replied. "I just... it's dumb," he sighed. "I just was nervous that maybe it would set off some type of chain reaction and I would go to nursery to find out that Florence was gone because my Mum picked her up or something. It's stupid, I know."

When Kai mentioned his mother, Clara's expression seemed to darken. After everything, she knew what a sensitive subject that was for her husband. "Oh?" She moved closer to him. "Did anything happen?"

[kaiarquette]

"He's been, or was maybe, I don't know if he's still doing it since I found out, but he's been embezzling money from the firm back in France. It's the biggest reason I left."

"What could you say that would stop him? I mean, he can't and won't take me anywhere but he could still make my life hell," Tav pointed out, "How could he lose everything?" she asked, confused.

[kaiarquette]

"That's probably more likely," he replied with a light laugh. He nodded at her final question. "She saw my mother while she was in France working."

"Maybe, or there is a very good chance she'll take after her Daddy." Clara pointed out with a warm smile on her face. "Though knowing our luck she won't want to be like either of us and she'll want to be like her cool fashion designer auntie." Clara finished with a laugh, knowing already that Octavia was bound to be a huge influence on the little girl. "Whatever she chooses though, I want it to be something she loves. Beyond that, I really don't care what job she takes. Thankfully we don't have to worry about that for a few years yet though." She sighed happily, wanting to cherish the younger years for a long while yet. "Were you worried about her?" Clara asked after a moment, wondering why he'd come out of work early. "Oh? I didn't know she was dropping around."

[kaiarquette]

"He won't come here," Kai said. "Not if I have any say in it." Kai hated that he knew what he knew, and he hated that it could come to it, because if they found him to be involved enough, even though all he did was know of what his father had done, it might not be the best for his own job, but if it was his job verses his sister and daughter, he would choose them every time. Kai was confident that he'd be okay, but the both of them knew that he father had a tendency of bringing them down with him if he could. "Not unless he wants to lose everything."

"No, she looked as surprised as I did," Tav replied, "I'm pretty sure she thought I was dead or something," she added with a dry laugh. She shook her head and reached his hand across the table, "Kai, I know. I know you didn't. I know you wouldn't. I didn't tell them anything about you either or Florence," she explained, "I just... I needed to talk to someone who understands. I don't know how to feel about it. What if she tells our father and he comes here? I don't want to see him again."

[kaiarquette]

"Who knows, maybe one day she'll grow up to be an auror just like her mother, if she wants, and you'll spend a bunch of time with her," Kai said. "Although, don't know if I can take more worry than I already get from you." That was half joking, he did worry often about Clara, but if Florence wanted to become one, he wouldn't deny her. As much as Kai loved his own job, he didn't exactly choose it for himself. "I left work early to just work from home with her. I talked with Octavia today about her trip to France."

"Work is not as enjoyable when I know I have this to come home to." Clara spoke with a warm smile as she dropped her bag down and moved across the room to greet Kai, pressing a kiss to his lips and smiling down at the little girl he was currently cradling on his chest. "You two look content."

[kaiarquette]

TYLER BLACKBURN (1986)

[kaiarquette]

closed starter - kai & clara ( @claraarquette )

"Hi," Kai said, when he saw Clara come on, holding Florence who was sleeping on his chest on the couch, some papers in his hand as he was reviewing them. He had come home early from the office after his conversation with Octavia, bringing some stuff to work on at home instead. He knew that, a lot of it was anxiety that somehow since his mother had seen Octavia, that she was going to just pop up from out of no where to take Florence, even though he knew that he had something against his father that would keep that from ever happening. "How was work?"

[kaiarquette]

Kai's heart dropped lightly. "Like to the fashion show, or to like stalk you?" he asked, a slight panicked look on his face. "I swear I didn't tell her that you were in France. I haven't even really spoken to her or papa since Florence was born."

"My trip was... eye-opening," Octavia replied, smiling grimly, "The fashion was great, the job was great. Some of my pieces ended up in the show," she paused, "But your mother showed up," she added after a moment. No point in dragging it out. She needed to talk to somebody about it and Kai was the only one who would really understand.

[kaiarquette]

end

"Not if you have great dental hygiene," she pointed out with a snort. "I know you're a dad and it's all part of the job to be worried about those sorts of things but, come on– where's your sense of adventure? Take the risk of getting a cavity," Val teased.

[kaiarquette]

"Brilliant? I'm not entirely sure I would call it brilliant. It seems like a cavity waiting to happen," Kai replied with a laugh.

"I could have but this ratio is going to be just perfect– I can sense it," Val insisted passionately with a grin. "Well I mean... yes. Syrup is notorious for being sticky," she nodded. "But I don't eat this all with my hands like a savage or something so it's fine. And you wash it all down with some hot coffee and it's simply brilliant."

[kaiarquette]

"How could I ever forget?" Kai said, giving her a light kiss. "Work is nothing if it came down to the two of you and that."

"I am aware." She spoke with humour in her voice when he explained that he struggled to find the balance. "You're a bit of a workaholic but I also kind of love how focused you are." It had always been a positive attribute, even if he did take it a little far sometimes. "Just remember what you have to come home to." She murmured softly, because Clara knew that Kai would never be able to resist their daughter and would never want to let her down.