Chapter 5:
In which William meets his pint-sized match.
(This one is going to be a little longer. Set just a little bit after he and Elizabeth made up in 'Lost,' This scene is partially inspired by a scene in Kate and Leopold, and partially inspired by Captain Hook. *tee hee!*)
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William silently but eagerly marched into the recreational room. His evening was going swimmingly so far. Strangley enough, after his spat with Elizabeth the two of them had begun to grow closer. Before, she was just a resource to him, a way to adapt to the 21st century. But now he fou d himself caring for his eccentric companion. Just a little, mind. Eventually he came to look forward to when she would come home from work, and the quiet evenings he spent with her. However, he and Elizabeth were not alone tonight, and his good mood deflated a bit.
"Hello!"
William paused at the source of this greeting, from a voice that was both very small and very squeaky. It was a little girl, no older than seven, with dark skin, a round face, large brown eyes, and black hair that was seperated in several braids with blue ribbons. Her rather scrawny figure sat cross-legged upon the sofa next to Elizabeth. He not-so-discreetly raised one eyebrow at the woman, who understood this unspoken question.
"Oh! William, this is Zacara. Her parents have to work late tonight, so she's hanging out over here until they get back. Zacara, this is William."
The scientist gestured her hands back and forth from the pair, and the child switched her head in each direction that the woman directed.
Meanwhile, William simply stared down his nose at her. The soldier was not particularly fond of children, and certainly no little children loved Tavington! He had very little patience, and very little experience with them as well. Unfortunately, this endeavor required both. He was sure to survive, as long as Elizabeth kept her far away from--
The scientist jumped in her skin, as she did every time her cell phone loudly disrupted the quiet that she was accustomed to.
"Sorry, hold on just a minute." Elizabeth excused herself and skipped out. William sighed, making his way into the kitchen for water. He somehow made eye contact with their guest, who gratefully remained silent for now. And yet, to him anyway, she appeared to be staring into his soul, her gaze was so focused. She said nothing, nothing all, just stared up at him. He came back and reluctantly plopped down on the couch on the far side away from her. He caught her continuing to stare, from the corner of her eye before shyly turning away.
"Yes?"
The seemingly shy girl squirmed in her seat at the unexpected demand, hesitating before she opened her mouth.
"Are you Doctor Elizabeth's boyfriend?"
"I--" He cut himself short at the curious phrase the girl used. Boy... friend?
"I am not a boy, child. And... well, it's not really any of your business is it?" His surly response stemmed from a desire to hide his confusion at her question. It didn't really matter, she was just a stupid girl.
Again she scrutinized him, it lasted for several minutes and it made the hardened soldier surprisingly uncomfortable despite how much he tried to ignore her. He sighed impatiently and jerked his upper body towards her.
"Well, what is it now?" This time his tone held a sharp impatience and irritation that made her flinch and gaze up at him fearfully. Nevertheless, he coldly gazed back for an answer. The small figure sort of backed into the very corner of her seat and protectively held herself.
"...You have a really scary face..." The child cautiously pronounced each syllable with a now timid voice. The features on William's face softened, he felt the desire to kick himself. After all, the child was no threat to him. Why, he was four times her height and three times her weight! Of course she was apprehensive of him, as well!
With a great realization, Tavington anxiously glanced back at the doorway, crouching at the edge of his seat. The former officer has just recently fixed the problems that he had caused, the last thing he wanted was for Elizabeth to walk in and witness him with a frightened child! How could he be so stupid? Thankfully the woman has not returned yet. He sighed with relief, then regarded the sensitive mass next to him.
"I'm sorry." He forced his voice to lower to a soft murmur. "You don't have to be afraid of me, I'm just--" He sighed. The girl remained silent, staring down and her fingers anxiously, obbsessively twiddled together. That was exactly what Elizabeth did when anxiety overpowered her. She did that when he unleashed his temper on her as well. William glanced downward himself, feeling even more uncomfortable.
It was then that he noticed the piece of paper on the seat next to her. It was a drawing-- likely hers, judging from the crude and simple nature of the design. Really, it was a somewhat impressive creation for a seven-year-old, for he was clearly able to recognize the figure. A horse. His mouth twitched upwards into a tiny smile, barely visible.
"This is very good ah... What was your name again?"
"Zacara." She obediently answered, her voice a barely audible monotone. William carefully nodded. He sat back against his seat and began his attempt to coax her out of her shell, being careful to keep his voice soft. It came easily to him now; when he first started living with Elizabeth she scared easily and he had to approach her just as cautiously.
"I used to ride horses, back in ah... well, my old life. Several different breeds, all manner of shapes, sizes and colors. I started when I was a boy, perhaps just a little older than you." At this, Zacara perked her head up. Icy blue eyes met warm brown and the child's face turned away just as quickly as it appeared. He continued.
"My first horse was a mare. I forget what breed she was. Her name was Andromeda. Beautiful horse, pure black all over... except for one front leg. She was a very sweet creature, she always demanded my affections when I came into the barn." And indeed he came there often, to get away from his father's own explosive temper. He shoved the more unpleasant memories back down.
"She demanded treats from me as well. Apples were her favorite. If I did not give her at least one apple a day, she would refuse to let me on her back!" Tavington heard a soft set of giggling and he watched the scrawny figure relax and even scoot closer to him.
"Do you still have any horses?"
"Oh, no. No. I don't. have any land, or money for that matter." The child's soldiers sagged.
"Oh, that's too bad. You could get a small one and keep it in your apartment!" Zacara exclaimed, throwing up her arms.
Tavington's eyebrows quirked, amused at the shy girl's sudden burst of energy.
"Oh?"
"Yeah! That's what I tried to tell my dad when I asked if we could get one, but he still said no." Her dark eyes shifted down woefully at the end of her sad admittance.
"Well I will certainly consider that possibility, but I am fairly certain that Elizabeth will not allow me to keep a pony here." At this, the girl giggled again.
"You sound funny!" William snorted.
"How so?"
"Just the way you talk. And you say all those big words, like Doctor Elizabeth!"
William leaned farther back, until he was practically lying on top of the couch, with one arm propping up the back of his head.
"The important question remains: Has 'Doctor Elizabeth' tried to teach you any of them? She likes to teach, at times."
"Yup! She's really cool, and I wanna be like her when I grow up."
Now it was Tavington's turn to scrutinize her. Several paralleles between Zacara's and Elizabeth's behaviors came to mind.
"You are already well on your way, I believe."
The pair came to reach a sort of quiet agreement. Zacara would color and William would watch a recording of a theatrical production on PBS. It was a strange opera to be sure, about Cats of all things! Not really his idea of entertainment, yet he had trouble tearing himself away from the mesmerizing performances. Nearly an hour passed, and Elizabeth has not returned. Very strange of her to leave without any notice, but perhaps something simply came up. Both heads perked up when the doorknob clicked and turned. However, he could tell from the very loud and off-key singing that it was not her!
"...Saaaayyin, 'Wrrrap your legs rooooo-uund me, dig iiinn with your 'eels!
For the closeeer we ge'ht ohhh, the be'er it feels!
The birds, they was singing--"
William marched to the door in determination and interrupted Tarleton, deftly opening the door. Although the redhead, clearly drunk as a skunk, seemed to be leaning against the door and so he was knocked onto his arse on Elizabeth's wooden floor.
"Owwww!..." Tarleton whined. "Oh, Will! Will, William, Willy Willy... Willy Will." He began to laugh right there on the cold floor, causing William to roll his eyes.
"Don' youuu know it's--" More barking laughter overtook the inebriated dragoon. "It's bad luhck t' stop a man whil' 'e's singing!"
"Irrevelant. You can't recite that song here, there is a child present!" Tavington hissed, only it caused more hullabaloo from the smaller officer.
"Ohhhh, I seee! A child. Erm, yes. Is it yours?"
Tavington ignored this question and several of Tarleton's other drunken mumblings, at least the few that were coherent. Although the redhead's attempts at getting off the floor were unsuccessful, the larger officer refused to help him up. So he eventually lost consciousness altogether, Zacara cautiously went over to investigate, but trailed just behind William and hid behind his left calf.
"What's wrong with him?"
Tavington glanced down at her behind his shoulder.
"He had too much to drink."
"I drink too much juice sometimes, but I never act like that!"
Despite himself, Tavington's breath released in puffs of amusement at a child's innocence. The Colonel, for no reason at all, felt like being nice and put Tarleton to bed. Zacara followed and watched the greencoat's sleeping form for a moment with Tavington.
"His red hair is really pretty. Do you think he would mind if I played with it?"
William widened his eyes and crouched down so that she was eye level with him.
"You mean, you'd like to brush it, and braid it, and decorate it with a set of glistening pink ribbons?" He asked her with mock excitement mounting in his voice.
"Yes? Can I? Pleeaaase??"
William couldn't help laughing at the image he pictured. Tarleton would certainly mind. Very much. An evil smirk spread across his face.
"I'm sure he would be more than happy to oblidge. I'll get his hairbrush."
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"William?"
"Hmm?..."
"Time to go to bed, man."
William opened his eyes to the white ceiling and Elizabeth partially leaning over her. The soldier sat up on the leather surface and stretched his aching muscles.
"Ohhhh... What time is it?"
"Only 9:00. But I guess Zacara must have worn you out! I'm sorry for leaving you, an emergency kind of came up at work and it tooI hope wasn't too much of a handful."
William shook his head.
"Oh, I held my own. Has she gone back to her parents?"
"Yeah. She clearly enjoyed herself while you were asleep though." She nodded towards him, particularly his head. The dragoon already took a wild guess as to what she was referring to, but he still groaned when he felt his hair. Instead of being in its normal plait, he found that his chocolate tresses were constricted into two tight braids down the sides of his head. He also felt the silky texture of ribbons braided in. Wonderful.
"She simply couldn't resist... I suppose it serves me right. You know we did the same thing to Tarleton when he came home!"
Elizabeth's full lips twisted into a childlike grin.
"So I heard. Zacara had a lot to say about you."
William apprehensively regarded the shorter woman. But her face was still lit up. All good things then.
"I'm getting ready to go to bed, I'll have to wake up early tomorrow..." Elizabeth grumbled to herself. "But before I do that, I have something for you."
"Oh?"
"Yeah!" The scientist's face lit up again with childlike excitement. From behind her back she revealed a piece of paper, carefully held at the corner between her fingers.
"Zacara made it, and wanted me to give it to you when you woke up."
William carefully took it, and Elizabeth disappeared to the bathroom. The soldier flipped it over to reveal a drawing of a horse, a black one with one leg left white. On top of it was a crude figure of a boy with brown hair-- him, he presumed-- holding a red apple. William's lips lifted into a smile before he could stop himself. So he carefully but the art on a desk in his room. He would store it somewhere safe later. For now, he had to release his hair from its undignified prison!