Chapter Text
“You again,” Julie said, taking a seat next to the stranger that had been in her thoughts for the past year.
The faire was as crowded as a normal year, if not more. Seats were hard to find, so Julie had jumped at the chance when she saw the seat next to the man open up. She took a bite of the thin slice of “steak on a stake”, as it had been cleverly named.
He put a hand over his mouth chewing the…sausage, she saw in his other hand. Her eyes drifted down to his outfit. The man had an off-white shirt with billowing sleeves, complete with a beautifully embroidered blue vest on top, that held stiff, extending past his shoulders a bit. His pants were blue, too, a common theme, with light brown boots that were laced around his leg.
“Sorry, have we met?” He asked.
Julie stuck out her hand. “Julie, I bought you a beer last year, you did the hammer thing, it was really impressive how many times you rang the bell.”
He tilted his head to the side, eyes moving back and forth as he tried to remember her. He didn’t seem to.
“S- sorry, I’ll-” She moved to leave but he grabbed her hand.
His mouth opened, but nothing came out for a moment. “I’m Luke. Think I could buy you a beer in exchange for that last one, princess?”
She giggled. “As long as you’re not on the clock,” Julie joked. It was a very common mistake to think that patrons, guests, were actually workers and vice versa. There was no real way to tell, other than what a person was wearing, and well, that could be hard.
“Haha,” He laughed. “Not this weekend, no,” and they sat and talked, finishing their lunches and getting to know each other.
They spent the rest of the faire wandering around together, having fun, having a few drinks, and enjoying each other's company.
“I’ve gotta stay and help with cleanup, but I can walk you to your car?” Luke asked as 8 pm rolled around and the faire closed.
“Sure,” she smiled, and they walked to the gate, but it was quiet now, knowing that they’d have to leave each other.
They dragged out the time, and luckily Julie had parked fairly far away in the massive lot. But eventually, they were there.
“So-” Julie and Luke said at the same time.
“You go,” Luke said, grinning.
She pulled out her phone from her purse. “Could I get your number? I had a wonderful time, and I’d love to connect outside of here.”
“That’s actually what I was about to ask!” He said, and she quickly opened up her messages app.
He typed his number in, and Julie texted the number, hearing a quiet ping from the pouch on his belt.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you-”
“Nah, I totally get it!” He grinned, and then slipped into a bow. “Fare thee well, fair princess.”
She curtsied. “And you, kind sir.”
Neither of them wanted to walk away, but finally, he stepped away, and Julie watched his handsome retreating form. When he disappeared, back into the faire, she got into her car, went home, and cried when she realized that tickets were sold out for the rest of the season.
~
“Wanna talk about it?” Alex asked as Luke stepped back into the faire grounds, handing him a trash bag.
“You make a move with Willie, and then we can talk.” Alex’s face turned five shades of red, and that was the end of the conversation.
It would be a lie if Luke said that Julie wasn’t on his mind for the rest of the season. Every joust, every day, he looked for her. But she never showed.
He thought about texting her, but no, he figured she would text.
~
And so another year passed with no contact being made.
But then a text appeared on her phone in May.
Carrie: Wanna work at the Faire this year? Auditions are happening soon. www.renfaire123.com
Julie: Sure? I’ve never done it before, but hey, can’t hurt to try right?
Carrie: Especially if you know who is working too, right?
Julie: Oh shut up!
Carrie’s teasing had been relentless over the past year. Carrie, like many of Julie’s friends, had worked at the Faire at some point in their life, and because of this, knew Luke.
So, she signed up. She showed up at the faire a few weeks later, resume in hand. She rode with Carrie and Flynn, saving some gas.
“Ready?” Carrie said, leading her to the jousting arena.
Julie sighed. “As I’ll ever be.”
They took a seat in the stands, along with some 200 odd people. A woman and a man stepped out of the crowd and everyone stopped talking.
“Hello, everyone!” The woman said. “We’re so happy that you all have come to try out this year for the renaissance festival!” Everyone cheered, and then the man spoke.
“For our newbies, hello! I’m Paul, and this is Lex, we are the creative faces behind all of this,” He gestured to the track behind them and the shops behind that. “We are changing the script up this year, so we don’t quite have roles yet, but in a moment we are gonna split up. If you don’t want any major role, just helping out at the faire, whether that’s working a food booth or info desk, that sort of stuff, you’re gonna find Flynn, who’s over by the bridge in the back, you probably walked by their table on the way in.”
“And if you’d like to joust, be a squire, King, Queen, there’s gonna be a dozen other named roles, you’re gonna head over to Luke, and then those of you that are under the age of 20, you’re just gonna hang out here for a moment. So - unnecessary recap, ensemble roles over to the bridge to Flynn. Named roles,” Lex looked around, “Ah! There’s Luke! So, named roles, y’all are gonna start walking to the stables over there,” she pointed to the left, where Luke was emerging from a stable. “And then those of you who are in the under 20 age range, y’all are gonna vibe here.”
“And… go!” Paul said, and people moved. A decent number of people moved to the ensemble table, and Julie stood, conflicted.
“If you play the princess you might get to kiss Luuuuke,” Carrie teased, walking past her to where Luke and other people were.
Julie sighed, made a decision, and followed behind Carrie.
She looked back. “Wow, there’s a decent number of kids here?”
“Yeah,” Carrie said, “15-18 work admissions, and 18-20 work replacements, for whatever needs doing.”
“Okay, cool!”
They chatted amongst themselves, waiting for something to happen.
“Hi, folks!” Luke shouted, standing on the fence that blocked off the jousting arena from the stands. “I’m gonna need, uh,” He looked down at his hand. “Okay, if you’re trying out for a fem-presenting role, can you sit in this section?” He pointed to the stands in front of him, stepping over a few posts. “And then masc-presenting here,” he gestured at another section. “And uh,” He looked at his hand again. “Other people who don’t fit into those things- thatsnotmebeingnotinclusiveijustknowthatnon-binaryisn'tanumbrellaterm,” he rushed out.
There were laughs as people moved, and Julie watched as he jumped down with grace, joining the masc-presenting section, as Luke had put it.
Minutes passed, and then Flynn ran down, jumping onto the fence.
She caught her breath before she spoke. “Hello friends, I’m Flynn, I manage the actors and things. Thank you, Luke. Y'all are gonna walk over to my table, section by section, and we’re gonna get you signed up, I’ll collect resumes, and then you folks will be getting an email in about a week with times to come back. Today’s mostly about figuring out interest and the young kids, and before you ask me why this isn’t just a form, ask the boomers,” they said, gesturing to Lex and Paul who were talking to the teens.
“Okay! So, if y'all who do present either way would follow me!” She said, gracefully hopping down, and a group of people followed them.
It didn’t take long, and soon Julie had all the forms filled out and was leaving. She was sad she hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Luke.
“Hey, princess.”
Speak of the devil , she thought, and he shall appear.
The man was leaning against a stall, and the sweatshirt he had been wearing before was gone and those arms… Her thoughts drifted off.
“You never came back,” Luke said, taking her arm, and pulling her out of her thoughts.
“Oh, it was sold out, I cried for like-”
“You didn’t text me.”
“-was waiting for you.” She mumbled shyly, and he let out the loudest laugh. “What?”
“I-” He spoke between laughs, “was waiting for you to text me ! But, you’re working this year?”
Julie picked at a nail. “Yeah, Carrie pushed me into it.”
“You’re friends with Caroline?” He said, astonished, as they passed the gates into the parking lot.
“Yep,” She let him lead her to his car, mindlessly getting in.
“Dude! She’s an amazing jouster!”
Julie laughed. “Wait- are you taking me home?”
“Flynn didn’t tell you? She asked me to give you a ride cause they’ve got admin stuff to do.”
Julie cussed under her breath. Flynn knew what they were doing. No doubt that Carrie was in on it, too.
Julie suddenly became hyper-aware of everything Luke did. Placing the key in the ignition, turning the car on, his hand on the back of her seat as he backed out.
There were a few bumpy, unpaved roads before they were on the highway, and then Luke got a call.
“Do you mind?” He asked, before accepting it.
Julie shook her head. “Go ahead.”
A voice echoed in the speakers. “Luke!”
“Hey, Alex, what's up? I’m driving Jules home right now,” he said.
“Oh, uh…”
“Dude,” Luke said. “She doesn’t care. Something happen with Willie?”
“Nah, it’s about the faire.”
Julie tuned into the conversation, keeping her eyes out the window, staring at the trees as they passed.
Alex took the silence as an answer to keep talking. “They wanna cast you, Carrie, Nick, and Willie as knights.”
“Lex isn’t looking at newbies?” Luke asked, confused.
“Nope. Apparently, the season’s getting split into two casts. Sat is one plot and Sun’s another. Something like a Maid Marian-style plot, and then your run of the mill ‘competing for someone’s hand’,” Alex said.
“I can’t believe Nick’s getting cast as a knight. His skills lie in sword fighting, not all the javelin style shit,” Luke remarked.
Alex huffed. “I don’t know man, just figured I’d tell you. Gotta go, Willie’s coming over soon.”
“Oooooh-”
“Shut up!” Alex said, and the call ended.
Julie rolled her eyes. Boys .
“Take a right in 500 feet,” the navigation said.