A Pirate's Life for Me

Chapter 15: No One's Slick Like Gaston

Finding Nora could potentially be a bit of a problem. Oliver did have a wide net of Cast Members to ask around, but he didn't want to seem like a stalker. Seriously, he didn't want to stalk her. He wanted to meet her and be honest about who he was—Gaston. And if she didn't like that, then fine, though he wasn't exactly sure why she wouldn't be if she knew Levi. But at least he was going to try and, even if she wasn't interested, maybe eventually she'd come around. Yes, he'd been type cast as Gaston, but that didn't make him a barbarian. And he didn't want to be around people who didn't want him around, nor did he want Nora to have to be around people she didn't want to be around.

But he did like Nora. Flirting with her was fun. And maybe she was with Levi, or interested in him, but hey, that didn't mean he couldn't hang out with her (if she wanted to hang out with him, that is). Maybe she'd like him more without the padded muscle. She always did seem intrigue whenever he met the little princesses. All girls were, after all.

So his search continued. On his days off, and after he got off of work, he'd hang around the Magic Kingdom, looking for her. She came by so often that he doubted it would take long to spot her.

It only ended up taking a week of waiting. He found her in Adventureland (ew), standing in front of the giant golden camel statue, letting it spit on her. She was playing with a few kids, the sight of it shoving his plan into nonexistence as she jumped from puddle to puddle, screaming with delight and telling a fantastical story about how the Genie had turned Abu into the camel and he was trying to take revenge.

Oliver stood, breathless, almost deciding against talking to her. It was one of those magical Disney moments that should go uninterrupted. So he waited it out as she went through an entire mission of finding gems on the ground with them, hoping finding Genie's special gem would bring him there to free Abu.

"Found them!" a little boy said, his sister bumping into him as he came to a sudden halt.

"Awesome." Nora put her hands on her hips. "We have to wait until the park closes for Genie to show up though."

"Why?"

"He's off helping the sultan with something. Super important stuff. I'm sure he'll find the gem and realize Abu isn't very happy and find a different camel to put there in the morning. A real camel."

"Perfect," the girl said.

Their parents called, signaling the end of their water fun. Nora waved pleasantly before beginning her trek further into Adventureland. Oliver hurried to catch up, trying to figure out the best thing to say. Normally he just knew.

This was Nora. And he didn't know her well, but he knew she wasn't impressed with flirty pickup lines or attractive looks. But he could just talk to her like a normal human being, as if she hadn't just been super sexy playing with all the kids.

He hadn't been expecting to start sweating as he caught up to her. "Hey, Nora."

Her eyes flashed to him, suspicious.

"I know. Stranger danger." He made sure not to get closer. "I've actually met you before. I'm not trying to be weird. I actually know Gaston."

As her eyes roamed over his face, recognition dawned. He ignored the awkwardness of it all.

"My name's Oliver," he continued, not knowing what else to do. "I was hanging out in the park today and saw you playing with those kids and figured I'd say hi. But if you're busy..."

She stopped walking. "Prove it."

"Well..." He cleared his throat. "When we first met, it was raining. My meet and greet was cancelled, but I felt like I should go talk to at least one guest before going backstage. I went into my tavern and there you were, sitting all alone, looking a bit down in the dumps. So Gaston flirted with you," he wanted to be clear that he, as Oliver, hadn't been flirting with her, "and you got a free cinnamon roll." And it'd made his day. "And you didn't ever come visit me and told me the other day that I'm the one who got you doing meet and greets."