#hope this does him justice & ya'll don't h8 me

[quileutedeity]

are you dumb? | q.a

summary: claire loves pocahontas, and it turns out quil might have a thing for her, too.  pairing: quil ateara x anastasia connor (OC) (I’m really shitty at reader inserts and absolutely hate writing ‘y/n’ so yes, there’s an oc for this lil one-shot. Pls love her, shes a soft bean.) a/n: unedited, roughly 3k. circa 2010, making claire 7 and quil 21 :) if you dig this, maybe consider sharing or dropping a comment! hope ya’ll enjoy! 

For a child, Disneyland is easily the happiest place on earth. It was truly exhilarating to see your favourite Disney characters come to life, to be able to interact with them, to experience their splendor. There were eight kingdoms inside the park, each revolving around a given slice of Disneyana. Fantasyland was obvious -- that one was for fairy tales, princes and princesses. Tomorrowland launches you into a more futuristic theme. New Orleans Square provides a more sophisticated feel, resembling that of the French Quarter, whereas popping over to Toon Town felt like you were stepping straight into a cartoon. 

A family trip for five ultimately turned into pack gathering of ten. Emily was more than excited to bring her nieces to the magic kingdom, but falling into her third trimester three weeks prior to when their flight was to leave, she was saddened to say she wouldn’t be able to go. Naturally, Samuel gave no second thought to staying home with his wife, and so five turned into three, leaving Quil scrambling at the last minute to find someone to supervise two eight year olds with him. He couldn’t handle Claire and her sister alone, not with the pair of them constantly going out of their way to have his heart fall out of his ass. 

They were little monsters.

Four days shy from departure, Quil had wrangled in each and every pack member with some bout of luck. Jacob had been the easiest; Renesmee had yet to leave the comfort of Washington, and Bella was more than willing to allow Jake to take her child out of the state for a week of adult-supervised fun. Truthfully, Quil knew that she complained to Jacob all the time about needing some quality time with Edward. Jacob never really thought much of it, given that they shared at least twelve hours a day to themselves. 

When Kim caught wind of the trip, she all but begged Jared to go. Not wanting to endure six days alone with his girlfriend, two brothers and their tag-along ‘children’, he managed to convince Embry and Paul to come, too. Surely they could make the most of the trip with a little harmless betting. 

And by then, it seemed pointless for the leftovers to even bother trying to evade the question. Seth nearly jumped up and down, unable to contain his excitement. Not much else was expected from the twenty year old, and Leah only came along because Seth promised to buy her mouse ears. None of them had ever stepped foot outside Washington themselves, not outside of their wolf forms, so they decided to view it as a family bonding experience. 

Sometime a week later, Quil sunk himself deeper in the hoard of blankets that covered the entirety of his bed, unwilling to move from the plush comfort of the mattress. Their flight had been tiring and long, and his abnormally large frame was not designed for the seats provided in economy. No one was willing to argue about sleeping arrangements when they landed and made it to the hotel, and so everyone had been divided.

Claire, her sister and Renesmee were roomed with Leah and Kim; Jared hadn’t been thrilled about spending an entire week sharing a room with Paul, given that he snored and would be the culprit behind a messy bathroom, but at least Seth would be able to provide some comedic relief. This left Quil with Embry and Jacob -- both of whom had been awake for over an hour, and were tired of waiting on their third party to rise. 

Frustrated and impatient, Jacob glanced over to the shared bathroom, and then the arrangement of glasses that were brought up during housekeeping. They definitely didn’t hold enough water in one, but with two he was certain he would have his friend up in no time. 

“What are you doing?” Inquired Embry when Jake stood from his seat and padded past him; he was playing online poker, attention otherwise distracted whilst he waited for Quil to rise. 

“Waking him up,” Jacob grunted, swiping two cups from the silver platter to fill with cold water from the bathroom faucet. He’s too damn lazy for his own good, Jacob thought. 

Embry was yanked from his trance as a loud, high pitched screeching suddenly filled the confinements of their room. His earthy hues cut to Jake, who stood over their friend with a fuming expression. 

“Dude, what the fuck!” Quil brought his voice down a few octaves, hand immediately moving to pinch his nose and squeeze his eyes shut. The bitterness of the water hadn’t been necessary, truthfully a simple smack to the forehead would’ve been enough. Five more minutes, please, just five more minutes --- 

“Get up.” 

His exhaustion began to trickle away from the edges of his foggy mind, slowly allowing him to gain more consciousness and awareness to his surroundings. “You’re worse than Claire.” 

“Get up.”

There it was. That goddamn birthright. That stupid frequency to his tone that was unwavering, and final. It wasn’t that it dropped, or picked up more bass -- it was completely undetectable to the human ear, but both Embry and Quil flinched under its preeminence. There was no use in trying to fight it.

So Quil begrudgingly abandoned his sheets, shouldering past Jacob to pluck his towel off the back of a chair before retreating into the bathroom. 

The whine of the water racing through the pipes broke the momentary silence. Jacob exhaled in defeat, collapsing backwards into his own bed with a hand threaded into his hair. He tried not to do that. He really did, but whenever his emotions elevated, it was hard to keep it at bay. 

Twenty-five minutes later, the boys are dressed and pulling shoes on when a trio of fists slam into the other side of their door, pounding incessantly until Embry finally yanked it open. He revealed Claire and her sister, wide eyed and bushy tailed, in front of an equally excited Renesmee. 

He let them run past him into the room, all three jumping onto the separate beds each of the boys occupied during the night, effectively ruining the sheets Jacob had just made. 

“Where’s …” Embry trailed off, divot between his brows deepened as he took a step forward to peer into the hall; Leah and Kim were slowly making their way towards the open door, sporting tired eyes and coffee trays in hand. “You look rough.” 

“Bite me,” barked Leah, shoving past his wide frame. 

Kim, albeit sleepy and still falling over, offered him a warm smile and held up her tray, “Black. Just how you like it.” 

None of their coffee orders changed over the years -- except Paul, who had come to the conclusion that caffeine fed his emotions negatively, and as a result ended up switching to tea, instead.

Embry took his coffee from the lot, dipping to press a swift kiss to the top of her head. “You’re the best,” he cheered, lifting the beverage to his nose. Yeah. Coffee was definitely what they needed to start their day. 

“Has anyone heard from Jared?” Kim wondered, handing Quil and Jacob their respective drinks. “I tried knocking on the room an hour ago, no one answered.” 

Jacob shook his head; typically, he wouldn’t have reason to worry, but they were in unfamiliar territory, and none of them knew what to expect. Quil slurped down his mocha, watching the gears in his best friend's head turn. He knew that look all too well.

“They’re fine, Jake,” he tried, but it was a futile effort. 

His words were dismissed quickly before Jacob launched himself away from the window and towards the beds, shoulders tight with stress. “One of you are gonna end up hurting yourself, and then you can’t go on any of the rides.” 

“Oh, c’mon!” Nessie whined, halting her movement entirely. “We’re supposed to be having fun.” 

“Fun is in the park,” he reminded her, helping Claire’s sister, Cicily, down from the bed. 

Claire hopped down, placing herself in front of Quil with an expectant look. “Quil.” Tiny hands moved to rest on her hips; she resembled Emily for a fleeting moment. “I want to go now. Please.” 

At least she used her manners. 

Claire was determined to visit all eight kingdoms. Originally, she didn’t have a preference on where in the park they started, but by the time lunch hour rolled around and they’d finally stopped for some ice cream, she was all but demanding they head over to Fantasyland next. 

“Should we go back to check on the boys?” Kim called from somewhere behind the boys, kids perched on their shoulders as they carried them from Toon Town. “It’s been a couple hours, Jared hasn’t texted me yet.” Her concern was warranted; Jacob was fussing over their absence, too. 

Quil looked sideways at Leah, who was quietly walking alongside him, licking her vanilla swirl cone. Apart from himself, she was the only one who hadn’t complained about the lack of rowdy and energy present -- he wondered if she was enjoying time away from Seth. This was a vacation of sorts, after all. 

“They’ll catch up when they’re rea -- ow!” growled Quil, wincing as Claire’s fingers yanked hard on a fistful of hair. “Ease up, Clairebear!” 

“Look!” She pointed to the general vicinity in front of them; there were hundreds of people, several rides and a handful of buildings -- what exactly was he supposed to be looking at? Quil didn’t even know. “Pocahontas!” 

And before Quil could even reach up to help, she was attempting to crawl her way down the length of his towering frame to the safety of the ground. He could practically feel her excitement radiating off her in waves. 

The Native princess was one that Claire was particularly fond of, and Quil speculated that was because she was the only princess who looked remotely close to his imprint and her sister. Just this past Halloween, she made a big fuss about going out with a one-armed dress and a blue necklace. Quil helped her pick the material, but had to get Jacob to weave it into a necklace and attach the pendant Quil found. His fingers were just too beefy to work with the string, and Jake had always been dexterous. 

Claire ran out towards the crowd, sending Quil into an immediate bout of panic as he tried to race after her, momentarily losing her bobbing head in the sea of children and parents. 

“Wow!” 

He narrowed his eyes in on where Claire’s voice came from, landing eyes on her as she stood next to the young woman dressed up; her dress was tailored to fit her frame perfectly, almost like a second glove, looking like a real life replica of the princess he watched at least once a day for nearly a year. Her necklace, however, definitely wasn’t handmade. 

The shifter waited nearby whilst she went on her thrilled tirade, bubbly voice drowning out the rest of the kids that stood close by and watched her in slight amazement. Sure, other little girls and boys were over the moon when they came across their favourite Disney character, but Claire? 

Claire damn near fell over. 

With tears in her eyes, she grabbed onto the woman’s hand and squeezed tightly. The cast member dropped down to her level, using her thumb to gently wipe the child's cheek, and then offered a dazzling smile. 

“Woah, hey,” Quil stepped in with a nervous laugh, uneasy about how his imprint had gone into a full blown cry. “Whatsa matter, Clairebear?”

“I-I’m … just s-so … happy!” She managed between hiccups, swiping the back of her hand over her eyes to clear them -- a useless effort, the tears continued to fall. “You’re the prettiest princess I’ve ever seen!” 

Pocahontas, or .. rather the woman playing her, was definitely taken off guard by the young girls passion. Truthfully, she picked this particular character due to her own personal ties to her own Native history. The longer she listened to Claire cry, the more aware she became that the child in front of her resembled much of herself as she grew up; suddenly, she understood her overwhelming emotions and dove into consoling her. 

“Hey, now,” Ana was always good with kids. There was something about her that made them feel welcome, and safe. It was why she fought so hard to become a cast member to pay her way through school. Becoming an early childhood educator was a dream, one she was two years away from achieving. Ana gripped tightly onto the girls hand, touching her chin tenderly. “I’m so happy!” 

“W-Why?” 

Ana giggled, only aware of the man towering over them from the outline of his shadow, and continued, “Because you’re here, silly! Today’s the most special day!” 

Claire’s large brown orbs gazed up at Ana for two heartbeats before her lips broke out into a wide smile. This kept the tears at bay for now. 

“I’m sorry about this,” Quil huffed in a forced laugh, meeting the cast members eyes for the first time. Hazel, the green more vibrant with the sun shining in them, soft and kind. Taken off guard, he stumbled over his next words, “She’s uh … not usually this … emotional. You have really nice eyes.” He just had to get it out there.

Ana blinked, surveying his frame for any sign of insincerity prior to a light dust of colour rushing to her cheeks. “Thank you. And don't worry about it, I’ve had some kids throw up on me.” 

His brows disappeared into his hairline, lip pulling upwards in the corner trying to imagine the pretty woman in front of him covered in chunks; definitely not the most appealing thought, or sight, but her indifference was slightly humorous to him.  

“People just love you that much, huh?” 

Playing along, she nodded matter-of-factly, “Yes, sir, they do.” 

Claire, whilst only eight and naive, could see the way her princess swayed and leaned towards Quil; was she thrilled the attention had moved from her? No. But, Claire asked Quil all the time if he had a girlfriend, even pointed out pretty girls when they drove to the beach and asked if he thought they were pretty, too. Of course, he said yes to the majority, most of the time to appease her, but there was some truth behind it. 

He’s had a handful over the last few years, though none ever seemed to last. Or want to, rather. Not being able to pull them into his real life was what hindered them the most. Most girls hated how withdrawn he could be, disliked his secrecy, some couldn’t stand his brothers -- one had even pointed out that he was more willing and eager to spend time with Claire, over themselves. 

Guilty. 

Spending time with Claire was pretty much all he did. With her in school now, they did see each other less; it didn’t bother him if he went a couple days with only a phone call. He mostly wanted to check in and make sure his favourite human bean was happy, and seldom ever turned down an opportunity to see her. 

So, he babysat. A lot. And after a lot of discussion and consideration, Claire was encouraged to refer to Quil and his brothers as her ‘uncles’. It came naturally, which was no surprise to everyone. 

Embry did ask if the imprint bond made things hard. Quil admitted that he wished every day he had imprinted on someone his own age like the rest, but now could not see his life without Claire present. With or without the bond, she was easily one of the coolest kids he’d ever met. She only recently learned how to ride her bike, and Quil was already excited to teach her how to drive. 

The conversation progressed quickly; they shared tid-bits between each other, basics. She did snicker at his name, something he usually would’ve given her grief for but he decided that the way it rolled off her tongue made up for it. The pair didn’t realize the group had moved on, though Ana was suddenly very aware of the lingering eyes that waited patiently until she was finished. 

“I’m done at seven,” she started, taking a step back to pull herself from his bubble, “And I’m gonna eat my bodyweight in soft serve. You wanna join me?” 

Definitely. The shifter nodded quickly, pulling his phone out from his rear pocket to create a new contact; he took her number, promising to message her sometime after she was finished -- he wasn’t sure if the others would be upset with him, but if all else failed, he knew Embry would supervise Claire for him in his absence. 

Claire was the one who might have the biggest problem, but it was a surprise when her eyes lit up and she clapped excitedly. 

“You’re going to see the princess again?” 

Quil wanted to laugh, but nodded instead. “I want to. If that’s cool with you? I can come back and stay for the movie night --” 

“No!” Claire yelled quickly, abruptly cutting him off. “You have to go.” 

He thought about her kind smile and patient eyes, two features he never would have paid mind to as a teen. But as he entered adulthood, Quil found himself appreciating little things he typically never did. 

“I have to?” 

“She’s a princess, are you dumb?”