Incarnadine

Mac tugs nervously at his collar and at his gloves. Elizabeth's father terrifies him. It's not just that Mr. Wallace is a tall and imposing man, with piercing eyes and a handlebar mustache that looks like he could beat a man to death with it.

"So," he says. "I am ... given to understand that my daughter is fond of you." He smiles.

And a smile that looks like it could kill a man on its own, Mac adds mentally. Mr. Wallace has something of a reputation as a man not to be crossed. I must be crazy. He looks at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth looks beautiful, of course. She also glares at her father. "Tată. You promised."

Mr. Wallace appears unmoved. (Mac tugs at his gloves again. He will need to change them soon.) "I give you to understand that she must be back before midnight."

Mac nods, wordlessly. He is afraid of what his voice might sound like if he spoke, and afraid of saying something that will get him killed and mounted on a pole as a warning to others. Possibly not in that order. Elizabeth takes his arm, and somehow he escorts her out to his car.

"I think you impressed him," she says, as they drive away, "with the stoic act and all." Mac only smiles wanly. After a moment, Elizabeth giggles. "You're just lucky I like the strong, silent type."

Mac glances over at Elizabeth, startled — and then laughs. The tension is broken. "So I shouldn't tell you all about my stamp collection," he says. "Good to know."

Elizabeth smiles at him. It reminds him, briefly, of Mr. Wallace's smile; but it looks better on Elizabeth, he thinks. She opens the glove compartment, pulling out a fresh pair of gloves.

---

This started out as a nanofic about how difficult social situations must be if your hands constantly drip red with blood. Especially hard to explain to prospective employers or dates: the employers might not be able to say anything due to anti-discrimination laws, but who would put up with —

Then Elizabeth leapt into my head as the answer to that question before the question was fully formed. If you still can't figure out who and what she is, your spoiler-hint is "Wallachia".

---

Edited 2008-12-12: changed the hint to something with a less, er, NSFW first hit on Google.