(no subject)

[cagedlamb]

The wrongness of her situation was immediately apparent.

She had woken up to Oliver whining that morning. The dog usually slept on her bed and never really made a fuss, so she reached out to him, half asleep, and found his head to be much bigger than she remembered. In her sleep filled haze, it confused her - and then she opened her eyes.

His head wasn't bigger, her hand was smaller.

It took her a moment to realize that no, what was happening wasn't a dream. Oliver seemed confused himself, and she had to practically pull herself out from under the big mutt, whose weight usually wasn't too big an issue. It wasn't really until she saw herself in the mirror that it began to truly sink in.

She had been looking forward to the day for a good week. She was going to see if she could have a good time with friends instead of spending another day alone. Instead, it appeared something had aged her down, and she felt panic rising up in her.

Leaving the bathroom, she did the only thing she could think to do - she went right to Booker's room and started knocking on the door. "Booker! Wake up!"

Comments

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Yeah, let's head out." Opening the door, Booker takes a few steps into the hall and waits so he can lock the door behind them. It's a habit he's had to develop here, he's never had anything worth stealing in his life, and now... Now he has Elizabeth. If there's anything worth his time to protect, it's her and now's no different than when he was taking her through Columbia. Just... smaller. But not a lot different.

Watching her with the dog, it makes him wonder. For whatever it's worth, he was almost a father. Maybe he even would have been good at it. Minus the drinking and the gambling, probably. And right on cue, a bolt of pain shoots through his head. He's almost got it figured out, what makes the pain come, not that he can stop himself from thinking things and as he watches the tiny figure of his hard-headed roommate, he realizes that he's in world a world of pain today.

[cagedlamb]

Oliver trotted easily beside Elizabeth. A part of her hoped they didn't bump into anyone she knew, because she was sure being seen with both Booker and the dog would send up warning bells. The entire situation was embarrassing, and she certainly wanted to try to keep it between them if they could.

Perhaps she'd simply say she fell ill. She'd think about it later. She glanced back at him just in time to notice a small grimace.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking a little worried.

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Just had a good night last night, paying for it a little this morning." He lies. He doesn't like it, but until he's got these headaches under control he doesn't want her worrying any more than she already does. Besides, it's... what the words the doc used, a process. A process to get at the memories and get rid of the headaches.

"Get a little food in me and I'll be fine at your command, ma'am." He tips an imaginary hat to her, vaguely remembering a time when he used to do that to the ladies. Been a long time since he had that kind of energy.

[cagedlamb]

Eiizabeth rolled her eyes a little. She had a feeling there was more to it than that (though that certainly didn't help), but she'd long since learned Booker had his secrets. It frustrated her sometimes, but she didn't push. It was already a trying sort of day.

"Where are we going to go eat?" she asked instead. She didn't really have any preference, she supposed, as long as they could sit outside with Oliver.

[wipeawaythedebt]

"We'll run and get you some clothes and then I was thinking we'd hit one of those bakeries or something. It's early enough, I bet they have things." And it'll give him a chance to put an order in for something special for later that day. He hears it's traditional. Cakes and things.

"Hel, we can stop by a market or something, get lunch, too. S'possed to be a nice day. I don't really have anything pressing to get to. Unless you don't wanna be seen with me that long?" She's got friends, he knows, he's checked some of them out on the sly and he's not so foolish as to think that spending the day with him is anything other than a second choice. Maybe she should be with them, instead of him.

[cagedlamb]

"I'm not going to be doing anything else," Elizabeth said, sounding a little glum at that. Still, she was aware it went both ways. It wasn't as though Booker had asked to be saddled with her and her problems. As she stepped outside of the apartment with Oliver following behind her, she added, "You don't need to stay with me all day too, you know. I know this is...really, really weird."

To say the least. And though the idea of being abandoned made her stomach twist a little, she didn't want to force the issue. It almost would be appropriate for her to be alone, given where she was when she was actually the age she was at.

[wipeawaythedebt]

"I'm not going to leave you unless you ask me to, Elizabeth." He still doesn't understand it, maybe he never will, but he's become somewhat fond of the girl. He worries about her, tries to look out for her, tries to keep his drinking and gambling to an extant where it won't harm her. Things he hasn't done since his wife died and he just didn't care about anything anymore, that was certain. He's seen her face down things no young woman should have to and she's impressed him almost every time.

Scared him, too, if he's honest.

Parked on the street is his car, beaten and worse for wear, but running and mostly clean. Opening the passenger door, he tries to give her a smile again. "You're stuck with the old man, guess."

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth nodded, not pushing her insistence she was fine alone beyond that. If he wanted to keep her company, she was glad to have it. Honestly, as much as it felt like things were ruined, she was glad to be doing anything. That she was doing it with someone she did consider a friend, - or something like it - made it all the better.

She got Oliver into the back seat before closing the door and sliding onto the seat. It felt strangely over-sized compared to how it usually was.

"I'm looking forward to it," she said, honestly, not wanting him for a moment thinking she didn't appreciate what he was doing.

[wipeawaythedebt]

Booker tries to make the day as good as he can, relying on what he's seen since coming to this place, vague memories of his own youth and a few questions asked of confused bakers behind Elizabeth's back. He doesn't think he's been a great success, but he knows he wasn't a complete failure at least. At least he hopes. His head pounds enough all day that he's not sure he remembers it all by the end, but he knows they've accomplished something if only by the amount of crap he carries back up to the apartment once they're home.

There's enough clothes to get Elizabeth through the next week at least, the remains of a picnic in a basket bought just for the occasion. He makes the mistake of taking her to the bookstore and telling her to get whatever she wants and for good measure he gets a new chew toy for Oliver, too. And when everything's been dragged up and dropped on the floor somewhere, they're just in time for the delivery of the cake, complete with candles, balloons and her name on top.

Now there's some documentary on the television, something about the US passing a law against alcohol that he doesn't quite believe, and they're sitting on the battered sofa together while he tries to figure out why he feels so... happy. It certainly isn't like him and as much as his head hurts right now he knows he should be miserable, but for now he just feels good.

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth had expected the day to be tolerable at best. Not because she was spending it with Booker, but because the entire situation dampened her mood considerably. And yet -

The day had been good. She still preferred being normal, but she also realized she would have never done what she had if she'd been normal. So maybe it wasn't all bad.

(She wished she'd turn normal now, though.)

It wasn't to be, though. And instead of a night out, she found herself curled up on the couch with him, full from the meal and the surprise cake (which she admittedly almost cried at, but in a good way - her very first birthday cake). Oliver was hogging most of the couch, with his big head in her lap, so she was sitting pretty close to Booker. It was mostly companionable silence for a little while, but she suddenly felt the need to say something.

"Thank you," she said, shyly petting Oliver's head instead of looking at Booker as she spoke. "For the entire day. I had a nice time."

[wipeawaythedebt]

He grunts in place of an answer because he doesn't really know what else he can say. He did it for her, because no kid that looks that sweet should have such a rough day, especially on her birthday. He did it because he cares for Elizabeth, in his own mystifying way. And maybe, he did it a little for him, too. He's been in that therapy thing long enough to know that his wife and child's death has him all kinds of messed up and as much as it literally hurts to think about, taking care of Elizabeth seems to make it better. A little.

It's one of the things he doesn't think about too hard.

"You doing okay? Need anything else?"

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth just smiled at the question, shaking her head. She was actually exhausted, and the very idea of doing anything else wasn't really anything she was interested in. No, she was almost surprised how okay she was where she was, just having a quiet night. It wasn't exactly what she had planned, but -

It certainly could have been worse.

"I don't think there's anything else you could do," she said, sounding a little amused. It was sweet.

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Good." For more than one reason he's glad she's settled for the night. He though chasing after her in Columbia had been exhausting, the kid version was almost more so. But it made him feel good that he'd managed to pull this off. Like maybe he wasn't a complete failure when it comes to taking care of her. I makes him feel... happy.

"Hopefully you'll wake up in a day or two all back to normal." Not that he minds her like this. It's a little window he thinks, into what she was like when she was this age. Makes him wonder what his own kid would have been like - assuming of course he can ever have that thought without his head pounding.

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth had to stifle a yawn as he spoke. She didn't know if it was because of her switch in age or not, but she was losing steam a lot earlier than she usually did.

"You'll have to call my work tomorrow if I'm not normal," she reminded him, peering up. She would not ask of him such a thing unless she had to. It was a must. "I don't think they'd believe I was turned into a child."

[wipeawaythedebt]

"No problem." He's got no idea what he'll say, he works for himself and he's his own boss but he's sure he'll think of something. "Maybe I'll just tell them I've kidnapped you until they pay a ransom. Maybe we can make some money out of this." Not his best joke, but then this is hardly something to joke over. On the other hand, she's a damn cute button of a kid. And surprisingly less stubborn and willful, too.

[cagedlamb]

"Let's not alarm people. That would be a terrible idea," she said, with a loud, childish sort of sigh, stretching a little. "And you'll probably only end up in jail and it'd be your own fault. I might not even help you because it was such a bad idea."

Except she would, probably.

[wipeawaythedebt]

"I guess, figure your lockpicking skills wouldn't do very well against the locks in the local police station."

He raised his arm when Elizabeth stretched, moving it to the back of the sofa so she could have a little more room if she needed it. "You doing okay? You can stretch out if you want." He feels like he's been asking her that all day, but he's out of other options. Nothing like this has ever happened to him and he's got no idea how she's really feeling about this thing that's happened.