Forget-Me-Not

Orion's Choice

Books were piled high on the table where Orion had fallen asleep. Lucy sighed and walked into the study. The Mistress had allowed him to use her study for research, but Lucy wished that she would at least tell him to clean up after himself. She put the books back onto the shelves quietly and debated whether she should wake him up. She had woken him before, but now she thought that it might be best to just leave him. A giggle outside the door caught her attention.

Lucy caught a look at the maids' faces before they covered their mouths in surprise and quickly walked away. It wasn't like Lucy didn't understand the girls' reaction. Orion was pleasant to look at, and he acted exactly like a prince or knight in a fairy tale. Emily seemed to treat him with a mixture of indifference and pity.

The cover story that Lucy and The Mistress had come up with for him was that he was a relative of The Mistress who would be staying with them for a while. Ally and Mary didn't really seem to care much, but Emily had noticed that The Mistress often treated Orion with thinly-veiled disdain. Lucy wished that The Mistress would hide it better. Emily was the only one who had been suspicious of them from the beginning. She may even side with Orion out of spite.

Lucy stopped cleaning as an idea popped into her head. Perhaps they were going about this the wrong way; Emily fit the image of a fairy tale heroine more than Lucy did. If anything, Lucy was far more of an anti-hero. What if Lucy could set up Orion and Emily? Then she could get rid of two potential dangers at the same time. Orion could go home to his planet, and Emily could go with him. Even if they stayed on Earth, they wouldn't be a threat to Lucy's plans.

Lucy smiled to herself and finished putting the books on the shelves. She'd have to see what The Mistress thought of it first, but this could be promising. As she turned to leave, she noticed that Orion's eyes had opened.

She put on a fake smile and said, "Good morning, sir. There is breakfast in the dining room waiting for you."

"Do you hate me?"

Orion's question threw her, and she dropped her smile. He just silently watched her as he waited for an answer. She quickly gathered herself.

"No, sir," Lucy replied quickly and smiled again.

"Don't do that. You pretend like everything is okay when it's not. I may not be from your world, but that does not make me stupid."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Your smile is even more false than the one you wore for the ball," Orion explained and stood up. "I'm not asking for much. Just... give me a chance to let me get to know the real you."

Lucy dropped her smile and thought about what he said. If Lucy did show him the real her, it would probably scare him right back to his planet. Lucy smirked and turned back to Orion.

"As you wish," Lucy said, expecting him to back off, but instead he beamed at her with a radiant smile.

Lucy scowled back at him and left the study. Hopefully, Orion would just turn out to be a minor annoyance, but Lucy didn't like his attitude.

The Mistress was out by the garden, enjoying the morning sunrise. As she saw Lucy's look of annoyance, she let out a small bark of laughter. Lucy checked to make sure the other maids were out of sight before she pulled up a chair.

"Enjoying the company of our prince?" The Mistress asked quietly and took a sip of her tea.

Lucy answered with a glare and said, "I think we need to scare him off or set him up with someone."

The Mistress almost choked on her tea and asked, "Do you have someone in mind?"

"Emily. She's already suspicious of us, so I think it'd be a two birds/ one stone thing."

The Mistress looked thoughtful and said, "That could work. Perhaps we can arrange for them to have some quality time together."

Lucy nodded and stood up as she heard the door open and close. Orion stepped out and walked toward them.

"Do you have any plans for today?"

"Well, where do you want to go?" The Mistress asked and put her cup down. "Past? Future? Perhaps somewhere your kind's ships have never been?"

"I want to learn more about this planet. I would like to meet your world's most romantic poet."

"Why are you both looking at me? Stop that!" Lucy ordered uncomfortably.

The Mistress smiled and replied, "You're the one from this world. You should know the answer to that one."

"I majored in science as you well know. I wasn't really one for poetry."

"Surely you must at least know of one poet," Orion said, and Lucy glared at him.

Lucy thought for a second, and a name sprang into her mind. "Lord Byron. But you knew that already." Lucy turned to see The Mistress sporting a Cheshire grin.

"I was curious to see what your answer would be," The Mistress replied nonchalantly and got out of her chair. She started walking out to the woods, and Lucy jogged to catch up to her.

"Are you sure about this?" she whispered to The Mistress.

"Yes, what's the harm in letting the boy have some fun?"

Lucy watched The Mistress as she opened the doors of the TARDIS. Clearly, she had some sort of plan, and Lucy would just have to wait and see it play out. D'Artagnan greeted Lucy as she walked inside and took a seat. Orion looked around the TARDIS with interest as he entered. The doors shut behind him, and they were ready for their next adventure.