Plan failed

Almost a little impatiently, Remy was waiting by the door for her parents to prepare themselves for going to the race that was happening that day. It wasn’t at all because she liked racing that much, even though she certainly had made them believe that that was the case. But she simply knew she would be able to see Arthur there, and that one little thing made her always want to go there. A smile was growing when they finally made a gesture that they were ready to leave, and Remiël quickly opened the door for them.

Her adoptive mother was, like always, dressed at her best. Because she had been from the upperring and she knew how to present herself. She had also tried to dress Remy up, many times, but somehow she was always able to mess up any outfit her mother put on her. So, eventually, she had just given up trying to get Remy to dress more properly, because either way, her clothes would always get dirt on them.

When father had eventually made the wagon ready, they all stepped on it, and drove down towards the racetracks. The reason why they were able to attend the race was mainly due to her mother still having a lot of friends who were from the upperring, and even though they now lived in the middlering, they were able to blend in perfectly. Or, at least her adoptive parents did. Remy always quickly sneaked away the moment they got there, making her way towards the stables, where she knew Arthur would be.

When she eventually found him, she smiled. But she didn’t want to casually walk up to him this time. He seemed rather busy with some horses, so she took a step back, hiding herself in the tackroom. Well, this would only be some kind of payback for him always joking around with her as well, even though they never seemed to get even. Quietly she waited, only every now and then sneaking her head around to the corner to see what he was doing. But somehow she had missed him leaving the stable, heading towards the tack room. So, when she wanted to look around the corner again, he was suddenly already coming around the corner, scaring her instead. She squealed for a moment, taking a step back and looking at him with big eyes, before she softly began to laugh while leaning against the wall. Her plan had failed so miserably. ”Boo!” She said, even though it was a bit late now.

Patience. Patience was not a word Remy was often familiar with, even though many people did actually find her energy to be very calming to be around. Besides, it did really matter in what kind of situation she found herself, but what showed to the outside, was certainly not always mirrored on the inside. And so, this became her downfall when she planned her surprise attack on Arthur. Not just that, but he had probably also spotted her before she went into the tack room to hide, because she had not been able to hear him coming.

The fact that she squealed a bit was a bit embarrassing, and therefore, she kept her hands in front of her mouth. Not only to hide the fact that squeal came from her mouth - though that was already pretty obvious - but also to hide the soft blush on her cheeks. However, like always, it didn’t take her too long to recover, and it actually made her laugh from the moment the shock left her body. Even adding a little ‘boo’ afterwards to show what her actual intention had been. Feeling a rush of excitement going through her when he laughed as well. He possibly never quite knew what it did to her, because she had always been so good at hiding it.

Her eyesight was very quickly taken away by the hat placed upon her head, pulled down far enough to cover almost her entire face. Taking a step back because of it, she placed herself against a wall before lifting back up the cap to see, softly laughing. ”My parents weren’t going to miss the race.” She explained, but they both knew Remiël’s parents were not that much into races. Her mother would only go to see Arthur’s mother, but she did not need to attend the races to do that, and her father always felt extremely uncomfortable surrounded by the upperclass people. ”And neither would I.” She continued, but even with this, they both knew she mostly came to see him. Remy never actually watched the races, after all. These were all lies. ”What were you doing?” She asked him, because she was more interested in that. And for a moment, she realized that she was still wearing his hat. Quickly she took it from her own head, holding it out in front of her skirt, maybe she was going to wait for an counter attack with it.

Remiël took every single opportunity to go out into the upper ring, but mainly to see Arthur. For other reasons, she wouldn’t really go there. After all, she had work to do in the middle ring, where she worked for her father. And besides, she wasn’t able to get further up all by herself because of where she lived. She could only go there with her mother when she was with Arthur’s mother. Which also meant that she was rarely ever alone with Arthur, except for when they were at the races and she sneaked away from her parents to see him. Like now.

Hearing that he was glad she was here always brought a smile onto her face, but she wasn’t entirely able to hide the soft hue on her cheeks. ”I think so, yes.” She told him, glad for the distraction as she shortly looked away into the direction of the door, to where the races were being held. Before she looked back at him into those beautiful green apple eyes. To her, his face was the most handsome she had ever seen. And if only he knew how much he was capable of sweeping her off her feet just by looking at her. She often needed to remind herself to say something, or otherwise, he might notice. So, she asked him what he was doing, while holding out his hat in front of her dress with a cheeky smile, already telling him with her eyes that she was planning to get back at him. But she didn’t think he minded that.

He explained what he had been doing, and she softly nodded, as she was making sure that he knew she was listening. Even though, in the meantime, she was still showing him that same mischievous smile, as if she was waiting for the right moment. But then, he managed to startle her again, by telling her he would introduce her to those clients. ”What? Me?” She asked, because she didn’t think they would even be interested in meeting her. It wasn’t like she was anyone special, as she kept reminding herself in many of such situations. ”I.. I don’t think they would..” Remy started blurting out, without actually being able to explain it further. Showing a little bit of fear. But her knowing him, she would know he would drag her along still. Because her fears didn’t make any sense. There was probably nothing they wouldn’t like about her.

Like always, Arthur didn’t seem to pay much attention to her little protests as he quickly took her hand while carrying the saddle over his other arm, so Remy had very little choice but to follow him toward his clients. Being social wasn’t really that much of a problem here, because she could certainly be quite social, but somehow, the young woman always managed to stumble over her words when Arthur was around in social situations. In those moments she often found it hard to hide the fact that she only had eyes for him, feeling like everyone would be able to see right through her.

When they finally reached the clients and Arthur placed the saddle over the stand, Remy took this chance to release herself from his grip and take a step back, folding her hands over each other in front of her dress. Watching the men as they started to notice her standing there - slightly shyish - behind the enthusiastic young man who started to introduce her to them. Her dark eyes flickered a few times between them and Arthur before she gave them a soft bow through her knees, something she usually did when she was meeting new people and had no idea what else to do. Yet, when she finally managed to replay his words inside her own head, she gave him a soft smile, because he called her a dear friend. Remy had to suppress a chuckle from his almost slip-up and it actually took her a lot of strength to suppress of color rising to her cheek as well, but when her eyes went back to the other people in the room she felt like she needed to say at least something, or else they might notice.

”I.. I, well.. “ She started, and just like she expected, she began to stumble over her words. Luckily enough though, she was saved when they started talking back to her. ”Nice to meet you,” One of the men said, to which she nodded and quickly responded. ”Likewise.” She said before he continued. ”Darleston.. I think I may have heard that name before.. Doesn’t your father own a smithy in- give me a moment to think.. The middle ring, right?” He began asking, after which she nodded again. ”Oh yes sir, that’s right.” She added before flickering her eyes back to Arthur, almost begging him to save her from this excruciating conversation. Not that these men seemed to look down on her that much, but they were most certainly staring at her.

Remy did not quite mind her position in life, and living inside the middle ring with her adoptive parents wasn’t such a bad thing either. They often managed to visit certain places within the upper ring, mainly because her mother had such a close friendship with Arthur’s mother. She was very well aware that they still lived a relatively comfortable life compared to other people living within the same ring, but she also tried her best to help those other people as much as she could. Did she like the system they had within the city? No, certainly not, but she was still rather good at hiding it, far better than she was at hiding her feelings for Arthur.

When Arthur stepped in to save her, she showed him a little smile to let him know she certainly appreciated his words, telling those men that her father was the best in the whole city, and that they all got their equipment from him, which wasn’t a lie. What she didn’t realize, however, was that she was once again staring at him a little longer than she originally intended. But that stare eventually got interrupted by a hand on his shoulder, and quickly, Remiël looked away at his father standing behind him, reaffirming his son’s words. He even added a little wink in her direction, which made it more difficult for her to hide the color on her cheeks, mainly because she felt like he had seen the way she looked at his son. Though, maybe it was simply because he liked having her around, given that she was almost a regular guest at their house.

Either way, Remy tried to move her attention away as quickly as she could, so she could hopefully get rid of the color flushing her cheeks. And when Frederick told Arthur to go and see if everything was ready for the race to start, she followed him. Only looking back when she heard one of the clients say her name. ”It was certainly nice meeting you, Remiël.” He said, with a strange smile on his face, to which she gave him a quick smile in return before she focused her attention back on Arthur, slightly quickening the pace until he said something, folding her hands behind her back as she found out that she had been holding his hat this entire time.

”No, it wasn’t.” She admitted, shortly looking back over her shoulder, finding out that the man was still smiling at her before they turned the corner. ”But did you notice that one man who kept staring at me?” Remy continued, speaking her mind before she even realized the question. In a way, that man had been staring at her in the same way she wanted Arthur to look at her. However, when she finally realized what she had asked him, she quickly tried to find a way to distract him from answering, taking his hat and pulling the same prank he pulled on her. Blinding his vision while she spun around behind his back, running away from him towards one of the rooms where they were keeping the saddles, seeing one of the closets standing wide open. Swiftly she climbed in it and closed the door behind her, using the slight crack as a way to spy on him while he would try to find her.