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The sun came up over an expectant Castle of Nations.
Karl stood at attention in his usual spot, his limbs stiff from the morning dew and a night of waiting on the hill for Rachel. She’d been a no-show tonight, and he had to ignore the bitter little spot inside of him that missed seeing her. It’d already been a week since her last visit, and he could never quite tell when she was going to come. He’d wound up practicing a tricky sonata late into the morning before rushing to his spot.
He was not looking forward to this day, and Rachel’s absence last night had only increased his anxiety.
Today was the Castle of Nation’s Pirate Day, where humans came to the park dressed up in flimsy pirate costumes in the attempt to get money off their entrance tickets. Children would be running around in no time, flinging their cheap foam swords around and knocking him repeatedly in the eye. Others would dig pirate hooks—ill fitted over their stubby little fingers—into his arm and into each other. Either way, the pirate section would be absolutely filled with customers today, and Karl wouldn’t have any chance at rest.
Things were going to severely test his patience.
At least, he thought that until he saw her come in.
At first he couldn’t believe it. Rachel didn’t visit the park by day; she came by night, so that she could speak with him and help him practice his violin. But this had to be her, even in the different clothing. She had the same curly red hair, now pulled back by a bandana, and the same sharp, intelligent eyes. Looped earrings glinted against the scarlet curls. A white blouse hugged her figure, and its collar was flipped up at the top. Another bandana served as a belt at her waist, complimenting tight black pants that disappeared into leather boots.
She grinned broadly as she sauntered up to him. “Hey, Karl,” she murmured under her breath as she dodged a particularly playful child. “Like my outfit?”
Of course, Karl couldn’t respond—he was on statue duty for the day—but he couldn’t help but admire every piece of her costume. As much as he hated pirates, she…she pulled it off.
Really well.
Rachel seemed to understand that much, and her grin broadened. “I thought so,” she smirked, brushing dust off his jacket and hat. “See you tonight, for violin practice?”
He struggled not to say anything, but the place where his heart would have been was jumping like crazy. He managed to get out a little hum in the back of his throat in agreement, and she smirked some more. The word “tease” came to his mind in description, but he couldn’t quite remember what it meant.
“Good,” she replied, letting her fingers trail ever so slightly down his shoulder before pulling away. “I’ll see you around, Karl.”
Standing there for the rest of the day was torture, but it was a different kind of torture than he had expected, and he found himself almost…enjoying it.
Later that night, she was still dressed as a pirate, albeit with a violin. After several minutes of unfocused practice, he couldn’t help but choke out a few words.
“You should…you should, erm, dress like that more often.”
“Hm?” Rachel glanced up at him with an unreadable look in her eyes.
“I mean, uh, it…it looks good on you.”
“Does it now?” Rachel smiled up at him, the moonlight catching her hair and softening it.
“Yeah,” he replied in a soft murmur. “It really does.”