A/N: I know, I know, I haven't updated since January and back then I promised you a Lafayette chapter. So sorry, but Lafayette just isn't cooperating with me right now and I don't want to publish these terribly out of order. But I did promise you an Eliza interlude for Valentines day, so here we are. Alexander and Eliza's first meeting from her point of view.

Also, insensitive language of POC in the period typical way.

R&R!

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Eliza loved her family. She loved her mother and her sisters and brothers. But she especially loved her father.

Her father, who allowed her to ride his best horses, take long walks around the grounds and read nearly anything she wanted. Her father, who took her along in stead of the witty Angelica and the wild Peggy. Her father, who has allowed her to meet Benjamin Franklin and has even brought her along to meet General Washington in New York.

The only other women in the camp were the camp followers and the odd wife of an officer. Her fine dress was quite out of place among the rough spun cotton and wool of the solders' clothes and the tough white of the tents, drawing attention.

She followed closely behind father, returning the solders' curious looks.

The tent they entered was surprisingly large, and the light that shone through the white canvas made the inside look surprisingly light. There were two men inside, one a large man about father's age dressed in a general's uniform, the other a negro.

"General Washington," father said, giving a slight bow.

The large man looked up from his papers, face set in a serous mask. "General Schuyler, good to see you again." His dark eyes fell to Eliza. "And this must be your daughter."

"My middle daughter, Elizabeth," father introduced her.

She curtsied as mother had taught her, lowering her eyes as was appropriate.

General Washington chuckled slightly. "A pleasure to meet you, miss Schuyler."

"The honor's mine," Eliza replied quickly, glancing up at the tall man before her.

General Washington tuned to father. "We can leave the northern territories be for now, but we must prepare to defend from an attack in the north. The very northern Hudson should be fortified heavily and –"

The talk turned to the war, and while it interested Eliza, she was more interested in the ideological aspect of it more that the tactical. The negro offered her some watered down wine, which she accepted happily. She stood aside and watched the two Generals debate over strategy and what it meant to have a water dragon in the army's service.

Eventually the tent flap opened again, and in stepped a young man around Eliza's own age. His back was to her and she could only see his light auburn hair and thin shoulders as he held the tent flap up for someone else.

A dragon's head pushed inside, taking up almost double the space of General Washington. Its green color made it impossible to miss in the white-and-brown interior of the tent. Honestly, it looked like a giant snake to Eliza, with a ruff that bled from green to bright pink.

The man turned and bowed to General Washington. "Your Excellency."

His voice was sincerely respectful even if his manners were a little rough, and Eliza found that refreshing. So often the people father dealt with were just after something, pretending to be respectful and nice while silently cursing having to bow and scrape for something. She and her sisters tried to avoid artifice as much as possible, but they had noticed that artifice made the society work.

"Hamilton, good, you're here," General Washington said, and Eliza heard the affection bleed to his voice. He motioned for Hamilton to step closer, and Eliza could see his face more clearly. It was a nice face, with high cheek bones and a long, straight nose. But it were his eyes that caught Eliza's attention. They were the bluest blue that looked almost violet, and they sparkled with intelligence and hunger for life. Hamilton's whole attention was on Washington, and Eliza had a feeling if she ever had to bear the full weight of it, she'd forget herself. The General made the introductions.

Father gave Hamilton a look from head to toe, and Hamilton bore it admirably. Then he offered his hand, as if to a peer. "General Philip Schuyler."

Hamilton shook his hand firmly. "It's an honor to meet you, sir. Alexander Hamilton," he said, inclining his head respectfully. The he gestured to the dragon. "This is Calliope Hamilton."

How a dragon was named after the Muse of poetry and eloquence, she would never understand, Eliza thought. And to give it his family name too! They were quite an odd pair, the slight young man and the brightly colored dragon.

Calliope nodded to father. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir," it said with a beautiful, feminine voice. It was a voice Eliza would have expected from Ariadne or Andromeda or even Aphrodite, or, indeed, Calliope, and suddenly the dragon's name made much more sense. Then the green head turned to her, the eyes just as intense as Hamilton's, though at the moment more curious. It seemed to be expecting something.

"And my daughter, Elizabeth Schuyler," father introduced her.

Hastily, Eliza curtsied. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Hamilton and… Calliope?" She stumbled over the form of address, never having been this close to a dragon before, not even a native one.

And her proximity to the dragon just decreased, as Calliope pushed further into the tent and specifically towards her. Eliza stood still, not quite in fear, but more in shock. It seemed to inspect her from every angle it could, and it even sniffed her, before retreating to the doorway. There, it turned to Captain Hamilton. "Alexander, you may mate with this one, she'd give you strong eggs."

Eliza felt her face heat up, from surprise, pleasure and mortification. She had known dragons must have a large impact on who might and might not marry a dragon Captain, after all, a bond between a dragon and their Captain is supposedly breakable only in death, but marriage was supposed to be the same. So either the dragon accepted their Captain's bride, or the Captain simply didn't marry. But to have a dragon tell their Captain she would bear them strong children… well, simply the thought was indecent and made Eliza blush even more.

She glanced at Captain Hamilton, who himself was blushing, and smiled at him to try to calm him and tell him she didn't think Calliope's indecent comment reflected in any way on him.

He turned away, cheeks a little redder. "Calliope, we've talked about this," he started quietly, sounding exasperated, "I can't just – just mate with someone you feel is suitable. You'd have consider many other things, such as her family and her own feelings on such things." He tried to sound calm, but Eliza could hear the embarrassment in his voice as he patted the snout that could have eaten him whole. "And you'd have to consider what I can offer her. I didn't even pass the bar before the war, so even when it is over, I'll have no stable income. It would be a struggle to even feed you if you didn't know how to hunt for yourself."

Those were all good points, but Eliza wanted to point out only one of them was what mattered, and that was the potential bride's own opinion on the matter.

"What about – " Calliope started, just as quiet as Hamilton, though her higher voice carried better, but Captain Hamilton interrupted her.

"That is better saved for a worst case scenario, my sweet, not for me to get a wife I can't support," he said, inciting Eliza's curiosity.

"You know I'd share with you," complained Calliope.

"Which is why half of it is mine and half your, not three quarters mine and one quarter yours," Hamilton said with an air of finality, turning back to the Generals. "My apologies, Calliope doesn't yet quite understand human manners," he said, speaking more loudly again.

"She is excused," General Washington waived the apology aside. "Now Hamilton, do you have the reply from Philadelphia?"

"Yes Your Excellency," confirmed Captain Hamilton as he reached to his satchel and pulling out a letter. "I spoke with Henry Laurens, sir, and he said he was sorry about the decision, whatever that might be."

"I will read it later, then," said General Washington, a hint of resignation in his voice. "Hamilton, you're dismissed."

"Yes sir," Captain Hamilton said sharply, and with one last bow, pushed Calliope out of the tent on his way.

Returning home a week later, Eliza remembered Calliope better than Captain Hamilton, though his eyes remained firmly in the back of her mind.