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 Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2023 11:37 am
“All set,” Gideon replied with a cluck of his tongue and a wave of his phone between his fingers. That was one of the things he liked about the track. He could put as much or as little effort into literally any task and have just as good a time going all in as he did taking a more relaxed pace. He leaned back and threw his arm over the back of Ellian’s chair and folded a leg with one ankle propped on his knee. A handful of moments later and the trumpet blared the start of the race, and it was maybe sixty seconds after that a chime signaled the gates opening, and the horses took off.
This race was on the longer end of things, with the starting gate situated just off to the right of them for this event, and the finish line being situated immediately in front of them. Almost a full circuit around the track. These really were A+ seats, besides the sweltering summer sun pounding down on them. There were only a scattering of people around willing to brave the heat, so there wasn’t much impeding the view.
A big screen situated center field kept a close view of the contenders, the emcee rattled off current placements so quickly it was a wonder if anyone understood what he was saying. The horses seemed to move in waves. They kept a close pack, and when one overtook another it was a slow, steady sort of movement. None blitzed past another and stole the stage, so to speak.
But even a comparatively “long” race only took about sixty seconds. They were sitting close enough that Gideon could hear the thundering of hooves against dirt as the horses approached.
“Come on, Gingerwhiskey!” He cheered, arms in the air.
It always seemed like it was right at the end where the gaps between the horses started to become apparent. The two in the lead were very obviously in the lead, followed more steadily by third, fourth, fifth… And anything after that wasn’t relevant.
Gideon turned a lopsided smirk to the boy next to him, shoving an elbow into Ellian’s arm in good natured celebration. “Good race, Elle!"
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Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2023 11:40 am
Ah, these races still weren’t Ellian’s thing, but he couldn’t stop the wide-eyed expression of surprise at Red’s cheering on the competitors. Not that he knew this guy all that well, but Ellian wouldn’t have pegged him for the outburst of cheering type. It was a little infectious, so Ellie cheered too. The crowd around and the guy on the mic were enough to drown them out, anyway.
In the end, seeing Red’s dumb smirk was worth having spent the past fifteen minutes with him. Worth forgoing watching the race with his friends so he could watch it here instead.
And maybe it helped that he hadn’t lost, either.
“So you, like, actually know what you’re doing with all this, huh?” Ellian asked as he stared across the track and out toward the board in the field, where it listed in no uncertain terms the order the horses had come in at: 1: Third Tango, 2: Lickety Split, 3: Gingerwhiskey, ect. The first two were Ellian’s choices- and a lot of others’ choices as well, with odds off at less than one. It probably wasn’t surprising that they’d won and placed.
But that weird outlier Red had picked had come in third too, which Ellian was pretty sure was good for his Box? He didn’t completely get it, but he was pretty sure it was good for his companion.
Good for both of them, really.
“Yeah! It was a pretty good one, huh?” Probably the best one he’d seen all day… And not just because of the winning, though he’d be lying if he said that was a complete nonfactor. He liked those odds. His lips quirked up and he laughed as he dodged out of the way of Red’s prodding elbow. Elle. He didn’t hate it. And it was the second time Red had said his name, while Ellian still didn’t actually know his.
But how was he supposed to broach that subject now? “Hey, uh, I should probably… get back to my group, y’know?” Better to avoid it. “Thanks for the race and, uh, showing me how to do it better, I guess?”
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Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2023 11:41 am
“I’d say I’m just lucky, buuut why lie? That’s not the case. I know what I’m doing,” Gideon replied matter-of-factly, lifting his head as he straightened out the collar on his shirt in what he assumed was the most ultra-pretentious thing he could do in the moment. “Here, gimme your phone. I’ll put my number in. Text me your venmo and I’ll send you what you won off this race, yeah?”
He didn’t even wait for Ellian to hand him the device willingly before Gideon took it up in his hands and was tapping away, shamelessly poking through his contacts just to see if Elle already had his number… Gideon didn’t think it was impossible. He might have gotten it from Nat. Ellian already knew he was Feldspar and had nearly called him as such. …But the younger guy didn’t have anything that might be relayed to him, and as far as Gideon could recall, had never said his actual name.
Not a big deal. He’d been in plenty of very natural conversations where literally no one had uttered anyone else’s name. It wasn’t that strange.
But Gideon was seized by the notion that it wasn’t just an accident. “Hm…” He put his name and number in Ellian’s phone, and that could have literally been their entire interaction.
Just seemed like a bit of a missed opportunity not to jab Ellian a little for forgetting who he was. “It’s Gideon, by the way,” he said with a smirk, dashing any hope the younger man might have had of getting away with just peeking at the info he’d put into the phone. He passed the device back with a half-raise of his shoulders in silent shrug. “Good luck on the rest of your races, Ellian.”
“See ya around.” Gideon said with a wave tossed over his shoulder as he made his way back toward his seats in the Turf Club.
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