iiregularhunters:

His smile felt a bit forced now, though it wasn’t really any fault of Rebecca’s. It just felt like… a lot? A lot that he was now suddenly in charge of that he hadn’t even been aware of.

Xav had been sad and now he wasn’t and it was because of Zach. Which meant that he, one Zach Wily, son of an abusive father and parent to a brother that he had barely managed to raise without a police record, was supposed to keep someone else happy. Zach Wily, the military disgrace who had been discharged after suffering ‘violent emotional trauma’ from just a little thing like having his leg blown off and being pinned out in the field for days, bodies of his (dead) comrades lying next to him, and all he could do was-

“Can I braid your hair one day?”

The small and innocent question had Zach blinking as he snapped back to the here and now. “Uh… maybe.” Making promises that he knew he couldn’t keep was something he wasn’t a fan of, and he wasn’t sure he would ever be seeing Rebecca.

This was. This was just too much. It wasn’t him. It wasn’t something that he could handle. Xav needed someone… different. Better. Stable.

“I, uh… I think I need to go.” Zach nodded as he straightened. “Just tell your dad that it was… nice meeting you.” Xav was still getting something ready upstairs, but Zach had no intention of sticking around long enough to find out what.

There was a faint clunking on the stairs in the background, and someone coming down the stairs.

Rebecca squinted up at Zach before wobbling and squeaking when her Dad patted her head from behind her. She hadn’t heard him approach, but she had been concentrating on listening to Zach.

“…?”

Xav crouched down and ruffled his daughter’s hair before speaking.

“Go on upstairs and play for a bit, okay? Be careful on the stairs.”

He stood up properly and gave Zach a small smile as Rebecca nodded and walked away, wobbling occasionally.

“She’s a curious one. Sorry for the delay. Ready to head out?”