Dr. Zaz Watson's Story

Dr. Zaz Watson woke late that day. Dreams again... He hated dreams, always of war, suffering and failure... At least he had something that was guaranteed to happen every night, order in the chaos of this town. He opened one bleary eye and blinked the sleep away. Red numbers declared it to be after noon. Zaz sighed. He was late, but it wasn't like he was ever on time anyways, anymore. They wouldn't notice, never did, the little blighters. He loved them nonetheless, though, and he would make sure they were okay. He fought the confines of his bed unwillingly and stood on the hard wooden floor. Same floor, same tiny apartment, day after day. Order... but some adventure was good.

Silently, as always, he showered and dressed. Plaid button-down, khakis, hiking boots, blues and browns. He used to wear more colors, but they just didn't appeal to him like they had before the war. On the way to the door, he swung on a tan coat and checked the pockets. Notebook: check. Wallet: check. Keys: check. Right where he left them all. One last stop by his desk for the small pistol he kept and he was out the door, headed for the park bench he so often inhabited.

It was a nice day, the sun shone and the birds sang, just like always. Boring, but expected. No bombs going off today. He walked along slowly, cane firmly held in his hand. War wound, never really healed. He walked along with dignity, but was oddly invisible, as always. Minutes later, he was on his bench in the park. The park was his home away from home, good view of the heart of the town, close to a diner if he ever got hungry, and plenty of fresh air to breathe. 'Bit nippy,' thought Zaz to himself, pulling his coat about him tighter. He observed everything about him. The diner was busier than usual. Jessica was there. She sat by the window with...

Basil... Basil Bartholomew... Watson forced himself to tear his eyes away from the beautiful face and observe the rest of the buildings.

"Uhh... Well, I ah... I've been there. I'm not exactly the sort to go into my own stories. Not anymore." Zaz kept his eyes fixed firmly on the pavement with the occasional glance about to make sure nothing was happening. "But I do... ah... I do appreciate the company..." It was true. Though it had been awhile, he used to be quite the social butterfly. That bird had already flown, however. "I've just not been much of a talker since the wa-- eh... N--nevermind. What's your story?"

"Heh... Guess we have more in common than we thought." A slight smile made an appearance, but he quickly snuffed it out. "I think I'd like to take you up on that drink," Watson stated. "Doctor Zaz Watson, pleased to meet you, Sele-- eh... What's your name?" He held out a hand to shake and tried to hide his mistake. He knew everyone in this town, and Selena needed a friend.

And, as much as he hated to admit it, so did he.

"Eh, no, your name is Selena Lopez... It's just that we had never met... and... ehm..." He stood and clutched his cane to his side. "Right, drink, diner..." Oh... Basil was in there. Zaz felt a blush burning on his ears, but tried his hardest to hide it. He wasn't ever going to have any chance with that man, so why bother? "Drink... Just you and me getting a drink... At the diner." Before he could screw up, he began to limp away towards the diner, keeping his eyes off of Basil in the window.

He nodded a curt "thank you" before fixing his tea the way he liked it. He was always up for some good tea, and this diner was the best place to get it. He stubbornly kept his back to Basil and eyes straight ahead, trying to draw no attention. Most of the inhabitants of this town knew him as "The Crazy Guy from the Park", and if Basil was one of them... Little did they know he did it for them, to make sure they were safe.

Zaz couldn't help but to overhear that voice thinking aloud. He listened intently, amazed at how brilliant the man was. He had always envied Basil, his sense of adventure called to Zaz's own, repressed as it was. He was a loner, like Zaz, and often spurned because he was different. A crazy, brilliant man and a crazy, neurotic war vet. Like that could ever happen.

As Basil petered off from his verbal thoughts, something hit Watson that he had noticed about the inhabitants. This could be his chance... If Walt Town was in danger, he would have no problem giving that information, and from what Basil was saying the foundations were definitely there. Yes. He would do it. With a small sigh and a poker face set firmly in place (easy to do from years at war), he put his tea back on the saucer and turned to face Basil. "Ehm, there's something else. You sort of touched on it when you were talking about family. How many step-mothers can live in one town, and why are they almost always the cruel sort?" He took the chance to get his first good look at Basil. Unruly black hair tousled down over his ears and forehead, and his brows arched enough to give him a severe look. The way his mouth moved when he talked, fast and precise, was fantastic, and... 'Whoah, Zaz,' he warned himself, 'don't blow your one chance.'

Jessica grinned and peered up from her own thoughts, "Well, Mr.Basil, don't you read the stories? Something that seems so innocent and perfect always has a dark, dusty secret behind it" Jessica was just teasing now, she knew he didn't like to be compared to the average 'inspector'. But somehow, what she said could get through to him, maybe he'd listen to her and make something of it.

"Well, I'll leave you two boys to play inspector, alright? Catch up with me if you discover anything Mr.Basil, I'm so interested" Jessica said, rising from her seat and giving them both a sweet smile as she patted Toby on the head and collected her things. It was true, she was very interested in what Basil had to say, all this detective stuff, although it confused her a little. "Taraa" she cooed, then standing and turning as she began to leave them, giving a quick, small twitch of her fingers as a wave.

Once she had gotten back to her flat, Jessica peeled off her coat and threw it down on the bed, soon followed by herself with a slight sigh of relief as her body hit the soft mattress. "Oh Rodger, I think our friend Mr.Basil is truly onto something.." she began, speaking to the picture of her husband that was positioned on the mantelpiece above the fireplace in her bedroom, "I'd really wish he would tell me what he was thinking, instead of just mumbling to himself" she said, pulling herself up and pacing around her room, tapping her chin lightly as she pondered on her thoughts.

(Let me just mention, school, homework and general exhaustion has stopped me from posting and I am so sorry)

Basil turned to Zaz Watson when he spoke up, listening to him and tilting his head slightly before nodding gently. The man was right. All of the step-mothers in this town had been known to be, 'Evil'. He looked back to Jessica when she spoke of reading stories and the stereotypical plot line. "This isn't a fairytale Miss Rabbit." He commented dryly, though scratched his chin. "But for once, I agree with you..." He looked up to Jessica when she mentioned leaving and letting himself and the other man to 'play inspector'. He narrowed his eyes a little. He knew it was an attempt to annoy him, and didn't want to let it work, but somehow it did...

He waved a dismissive hand to her as she called 'Taraa', still looking down to his newspaper before looking up quickly. "This town has a tendancy to dramatise things when people go into a relationship. True love and all that load of nonsense..." He blinked a couple of times before looking round to Zaz. "What else have you picked up about town, Mr. Watson?" He asked, picking up his tea and drinking some before tilting his head slightly at the man. Since he actually found a person around town who wasn't thinking it was the best place in the world, he might as well see what else he could come up with.

He'd never really gotten around to talking to Watson before. Of course, he knew everyone in this town, their past and the way they acted. However, he didn't really know them all that well. Watson especially. What with Basil usually going around trying to solve crimes and such, and he... well, he... sitting on his bench, I guess.

((It's fine Kitkit, I completely understand, I'm getting a lot of school work too :/))

"Oh, um, well..." Watson glanced to the ceiling in thought. This opportunity was bittersweet. The last time he had done his best to get involved and help, one of his charges had died, his son dissappeared, thought to be dead, and the royal family fell into chaos, starvation, and suffering.... Dare he attempt to do again after all that? All these years after the war between son and uncle and he blamed himself. If he had been there, if he hadn't lost that kid, the king would have lived and the family would have never been put through that horrendous time. The scars were still raw after all these years, and he had left to save their dignity. No one had noticed.

Either way, Basil was asking for answers that Zaz had. The harm that a bit of information could give if he wasn't involved couldn't be nearly as much as the damage he had done by his sheer lack of humility. "Our government is a bit off. Royal families that rule well together, loads of princesses, all sweet and demure and able to sing, and every family has one prince, usually by the name Charming. Who names their son Charming?" He continued to ponder the trends he had noticed. "Every morning, the birds sing the exact same song at the exact same time in the exact same place. Bit much to be a coincidence, in my eyes. Uhm, there's the grass, no matter what the season it's always green, even in winter under the snow." He looked to Basil to see how he was doing discretely as he sipped his tea, watching his pensive face carefully for any sign of emotion.

After Scott finished up with his business with the principal. He left the office. He hadn't thought about what Kida had said. It made sense. He would be getting ready for work when they would be leaving the school. Oh well it didn't really bother him that much. He left the school and slolwly made his way back to his house. He normally went through the park to get home and thats what he planned to do. As he made his way through he park he stopped at the sound of a cat meowing. Scott looked around no body was in his immediate vacinity. Only a few people talking at a nearby cafe. He recognized one of the people to be Doc Watson. Scott usually saw him at his park bench in the park.

He Heard the soft meowing again. This time he looked up a nearby tree. There was akitten stuck about 3o feet up. "How did you get up there?" Scott said to the cat. He began to slowly climb the tree to get the cat. After a short bit he was scaling the tree with frightful ease. Scott had forgotten how much he loved climbing trees. After a few minutes Scott reached the cat. He reached out and grabbed the frightened kitten. While clutching the kitten close to his body he managed to scale down the tree in mere seconds. He was pretty good at climbing. It was something that he was just naturally good at. He held the kitten in front of him as it began to purr. "You are almost more trouble than you are worth." He said with a chuckle.

Basil nodded along gently to what he said, holding his chin between his thumb and forefinger, thinking carefully. "It's very much like a fairytale..." He blinked a couple of times, mindlessly scratching the head of his dog. "...It's just very deceitful." He said carefully, shaking his head a little and then retying his scarf, purely to keep his hands busy. "But Watson, what you've missed, which takes place in most of the town is the way the town is run. I mean, who actually runs this town? I don't see any mayor. And yet, there seems to be very little scandals and disagreements around here. It's as if we're forced to follow some unknown rules." Basil carefully picked up his tea and looked over to Watson. "It's just suspicious if you ask me..." He commented, sighing gently.

Basil blinked a couple of times at Watson, tilting his head slightly. It crossed his mind as to why nobody had ever introduced Watson to himself, or the other way around. The other man was also involved in trying to protect his country, or in Basil's case going for a chase, and he'd seen Zaz down at the police station a couple of times. However, whilst Basil was mixing chemicals together and matching DNA, Zaz seemed to just talk to the fellow police officers about his opinion, trying to help out in any way possible. He was an honourable man. But Basil often just didn't talk to people who were honourable. He put his focus into fellons, trying to get them to become imprisoned for good. "I do not believe we've officially introduced ourselves." He said formally, holding out his hand. "B. Basil."

***

Miss Bianca blinked a couple of times when Kida brought up going with Scot and then gently shook his head. "No no no! I mean, two hands are better than one, aren't they?" she said quickly with a smile, quickly pulling herself forwards and clipping their arms back together again, smiling to the girl.

It wasn't like she had anything against Scott. She was sure that Scott was a very sweet, very nice boy, and she would like to get to know him more. However, at this current point, her focal point was upon Kida, and she wanted to keep it like that. After all, she did seem to want to spend more time with the other girl, even if it meant helping to speed up the work she did. She didn't mind anyway, she felt like she wanted to help.

"So, Miss Kida." Miss Bianca said with a grin, tugging her along down the hallway happily. "What kinds of things will I be able to do as a member of staff? It surely does sound exciting, I must say." She said with a grin, leaning into Kida slightly as they walked along, side by side.

Watson looked at the suddenly extended hand with surprise. He tried to hide it the best as he could as he squared his shoulders and accepted firmly. "Watson. Doctor Zaz Watson." He held Basil's hand for a moment and released with a curt nod, eyes shifting to the floor on their own accord. He stood abruptly and winced before snagging his cane which leaned against his table. With his unoccupied hand he moved a chair to Basil's and sat, bringing his tea with him. "I've always watched as much as I could, and I'm sort of new to this whole 'involvement' concept," he murmured with a vague gesture to his leg. He decided it was best to leave his past out of it, no need to mention war and royal advising. Basil was good at reading, but Zaz was sure he wasn't that good, no one was.

((I'm gonna see if anyone's still around :D))

Basil tilted his head and blinked a couple of times at the way that Watson moved from one table to the other, concentrating though not clearly showing it through his expression. "Involvement? Ha. I rarely see you involved in anything, sitting on that bench of yours that might as well have your name engraved within it." He commented. He honestly never thought he was being rude when he came out with comments like this. A lot of the time, he was just saying the truth and what ran through his head. Almost like what Simon Cowell would be like. "Though watching is always a helpful aspect. I'm more often than not one to watch myself. My involvements are never personal issues, but a job that captures my interest." Basil carefully scratched at his chin, taking more of his coffee and swishing it around a little before narrowing his eyes slightly and looking to Zaz' cane.

"How did you do it?" Basil asked, gesturing to his leg and the cane. It was a simple question and it didn't occur to him that he may not wish to discuss it. It was one of those things that he would not take personally himself and therefore wouldn't expect others to take personally either. "Something you did before you became a people watcher?"

***

Miss Bianca's face lit up, unable to help herself as she burst into giggles at the thought of a 'check up' done by Kida. She almost jumped onto the bed and then sat up quickly to bat her hair down and straighten it out.

"A check up done by one of the finest nurses around, yes?" She asked, tittering a little as she looked to the stethoscope with curiosity. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had a check up done. The last one, she was told to have perfect health. And even after plenty of offers from members of her family and such, she denied it, telling them that there were some people who needed medical treatment much more than she did.

"What would I need to do Miss Kida? Lift up my shirt, yes?" She asked curiously, before realising that she was wearing a dress... She wondered how they'd make it around that one. She wouldn't mind having to take it off, if it was a check up. So long as nobody would come in and see her like that.

(I was waiting for this to come back up! Brilliant!)

"Damn my leg," the veteran growled under his breath. Watson hid the pang of anger and guilt at Basil's questions, resisting the urge to bellow something he'd regret. Bless Selena for interrupting him. With a curt nod and a sigh he accepted silently. He sipped a moment, trying to think of a way to dodge the question and insult. Perhaps he'd have been better off just observing, already he was tired of this involvement.

With another sigh, Zaz turned his grey eyes to the man before him, irritation masked. "I was in a war, long time ago," he answered simply, leaving out the full story. It wasn't something he tended to discuss, even with himself. He hated those memories, that failure, and he'd never trusted anyone since. His trust and cockiness had led to the downfall of the family he was bound to protect. Sure, it repaired in time, but not with any help from him. None at all...