I
When she arrives with her trunk and her straw hat pressed down on her blonde curls to shield her from the sun that burns gloriously in a cerulean sky, he is crossing the boardwalk next to one of the tents, a clipboard under his arm. At the sound of the engines stilling, he looks towards her, curious, and she starts, as though his look has sent a spark flaring through her.
As she and the other new girl – Gladys, who chatters away mindlessly like a jackdaw – stand on the grass before the huts, he comes over, smiling. "Are you our new VADs?"
"Yes, we are." Gladys answers for her, and Elizabeth just nods.
"You're very welcome to Hospital 25A," he says, his eyes fixed on Elizabeth. She looks down, fighting the advance of a blush across her cheekbones. It's not as though she hasn't seen handsome men before; they used to frequent the ballerinas' lounge after a show, talking to the girls with the more loose morals, wooing them with gifts and sweet words. But this feels so different; his smile, whilst edging on flirtatious, is deeper than anyone's she's ever seen, and there are things behind his dark eyes that she can't put her finger on, but they strike a chord somewhere inside her.
"Thank you very much," Gladys says, and then there's a nurse in a blue uniform coming towards them, her dark hair severely pinned back under a cap.
"Hello, I'm Nurse Trevelyan," she says. "If you'd like to follow me?"
Elizabeth picks up her trunk, heavy with the weight of her uniform and practise shoes and begins to follow Nurse Trevelyan. Gladys begins to talk again, and Elizabeth looks over her shoulder.
Their eyes meet, and he smiles again, less flirtatious this time, more real, before turning and going into one of the tents.
A/N Important! This is a little 4 + 1 kind of fic that I just wrote yesterday morning. It's kind of in my 'Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On' verse, but the timeline is bit different. I'm just going to warn you now. Also, The Curlymop and I have set up a Crimson Field forum called 'Of Poppies and Pairings,' for discussions, prompts, etc. (Also, Curly had the genius idea of having a topic for what people would like to happen to Sister Quayle, if you have any hate for her that you haven't spent yet!) So I'd love to see you all over there! :) N xxx