<5> The door creaked open softly, and Summer tiptoed in as quietly as she could manage. The undersized shorts were irritating beyond measure, and the skin-tight tank top was proving exceptionally unpleasant to her chilled, hardened nipples. At least the air was warmer indoors. The soft flicker of the gnomevision streaked across the floor from the nearest entryway, making her certain that her father was awake and waiting to see if she'd show up. The placement of the entryway made it impossible to walk up the stairs without breaching line of sight of the couch, and all Summer could do was creep as slowly as possible in hopes that Rainier wasn't so alert. The disheveled warrior sat upright on the couch with a half-empty mug of ale on the table next to him. The summer evening was plenty warm enough that he wore only a different pair of boxers than he'd been wearing that morning, but nothing else. The sight had been a common one since Summer had been little, and it was a sight that wasn't entirely unwelcome to the young elf. "You're home early," Rainier rumbled softly without even turning his head in her direction. "No fun?" Summer let out a quiet, shaky exhale as she tried to compose herself. "Nah, just a bunch of jerks." "Their loss," he added before taking a swig from his ale. "How about you? No plans?" she returned unexpectedly. "Nope. Friend stopped by earlier. Didn't stay long." [i]Is he talking about his 'date'?[/i] "Gotcha. That's too bad." "Mmh," he grunted in soft agreement before taking another swig. Amid the drink, Summer began to walk toward the stairs once more, but Rainier suddenly drew his mug back and added, "Hitting the hay?" This tore Summer's spirits right in half. Sure, the elf was sneaky (maybe), quiet (debatable), and perhaps a little misleading (okay, sure), but the one person she could never lie to was her father. "Not yet...." Rainier reached over with a brawny hand and patted the seat next to him softly. "Come sit for a bit. Tell me about the party." Summer couldn't bring herself to say no. The lithe elf slowly came into the light of the GV, and with an exhausted sigh her half-covered rump plopped itself onto the couch. "It was okay. Lot of people, but kinda boring." The human warrior turned slowly to look at his daughter more properly, quietly inspecting her undersized garb. "I doubt the end was boring." Blood rushed to the blood elf's cheeks. "It wasn't." Rainier inhaled deeply and let out his exhale over the span of several seconds. "Hmm. Burnt blasting powder, ocean spray... another of Lysia's, then," he stated more than asked. Summer nodded silently. "And I know the smell of fireweed. Lots of it." Another, much slower nod. His piercing eyes practically begged for her to look up at him, and eventually she did for just a fleeting second before looking back to the floor. "But you haven't used it all." Summer began to tremble softly, but said nothing. "Show it to me." A glimpse of the elf's eyes showed her to be on the verge of tears. She reached for her lumpy pack and pulled out her last box of fireweed. Nestled next to it were two remaining rolling papers. Summer dared not open her eyes, even when she felt her father touch the box. It wasn't until she heard the crinkle of paper that she opened her eyes. Summer almost could've died of shock when she visibly saw her father seal a small cigarette of fireweed, pull a lighter from a drawer next to the couch, and light it. "No...." Rainier took a particularly long draw from the cigarette and blew several sharp smoke rings into the air, then softly closed the box. "Problem?" he rumbled before taking another hit. Summer's bedraggled ponytail swung from side to side. "N-no, Dad, sir. I, just... I didn't know you smoked that stuff." "You never asked," he returned before gently offering the cigarette to her. The elf hesitated briefly before accepting the roll and taking a small draw, though she was still quite stoned from before. "Well yeah, but, I guess I dunno why you always forbade me from doing it?" "'Cause it's illegal. And you have it hard enough as is," the warrior stated simply. "Last thing you need is a record." It was true, as much as she hated the thought, the Horde was still the enemy in peoples' eyes. She couldn't help her heritage. "So... do you think it's bad?" "Nah. Tobacco and beer are worse." He gently reached out and received the fireweed cigarette again before taking another draw. "I figured you'd find out Rowan's secret eventually." "I didn't say anything about Uncle Rowan." "You didn't have to. If I use it too, where do you think I get it?" Well that made a lot of sense. "I didn't think you two got along." "He acts like we don't. But we do. I have a lot of respect for him. He took the path of a pacifist." Summer smiled a bit at this and gently rested her head against her father's shoulder. "I'm... sorry I didn't tell you everything, Daddy. Are you mad at me?" Rainier shook his head without hesitation. "No, Summer. You didn't get caught, hurt, or pregnant." This prompted the elf to giggle. "I'm not a floozy, dad." "I know. I didn't say, or mean to imply, that you were," he returned evenly. "I'm actually quite proud of you." This was something Summer didn't hear every day. Her glowing green eyes scanned her father's face inquisitively. "Really?" It was Rainier's turn to blush just a little. "Yeah. You've always been a damn good kid. You're the fiercest warrior I've ever trained, and you've [i]mostly[/i] kept your nose clean. You're smart, you have true friends, and you've handled living in Stormwind so well." "Daddy..." Summer returned and felt tears return to her eyes. Her scantily clad body flattened itself against her father as she gave him a weak hug from the side. Rainier quietly leaned into the embrace and finally showed the faintest hint of a smile. "It amazes me whenever you call me that. I never used to think I would ever hear that moniker in reference to me." The lithe blood elf began to sniffle gently. "You earned it... you've always been there for me." "Just as I have always thought of you as my true daughter," he added as he draped a tender arm around Summer. Summer happily fell into his embrace, her body slowly flopping forward in a moment of heavenly bliss. Almost as if she were floating on a cloud, her protective father caught her mid-flop and eased her tenderly down upon his lap instead. It had been more than a decade since she had last truly cuddled her father, but in that moment it felt almost second nature to nuzzle into his lap and push herself against him all the more. The fireweed had intensified the onset of lethargy, and almost the second her head hit his lap, her heavy eyelids began to fall shut.