#you come into my house. on a tuesday afternoon where I'm minding my own business

[catboyfever]

Tigger's Birthday - Rabbit/Tigger fluff

Heyy! It's been a minute! I've been a bit busy between work picking up, my own birthday which just passed (I wanted to post this rather before or just after my birthday which... didn't happen lol). But, I had this idea and I've been sitting on it for long enough. As you can probably tell at this point I'm a sucker for big gestures for someone you love, so that's what's going on here for the most part. There's some really sweet fluff at the end too though <3. Hope you enjoy!

Deep oranges and reds shine over the hundred acre wood. Rabbit walked alongside Tigger, chatting about the day's mishaps and adventures. 

“And when you got flung off that tree! I didn’t know you had the pipes on ya, Ra-Ra!” Tigger chuckled. 

Rabbit was predictably less enthusiastic about the situation, glaring at Tigger with his nose scrunched up. “Yes, in times of great peril you can do some fantastic things.” 

Tigger just continued to smile. “Well, who knows? Tomorrow might be nice and calm.” Rabbit nodded with a weary sigh. “Yes… yes tomorrow might be-” Something clicked in Rabbit’s mind that moment. He’d forgotten something incredibly important. 

“Tigger! Do you know what day tomorrow is!?” Rabbit shouted. 

Tigger scratched his head. “Uhhh… Tuesday?” 

Rabbit shook his head. “No!! Well, yes. But more importantly, it’s your birthday!” 

Tigger seemed just as surprised as Rabbit at the revelation. He hopped onto his tail and bounced around Rabbit in a circle, cheering excitedly. 

“Oh boy oh boy oh boy! I can’t believe I forgot!” Tigger said as he landed on his feet. 

“Well, what would you like to do tomorrow then?” Rabbit asked. 

Tigger rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Minutes passed, but still nothing came to him. Rabbit looked at him expectantly, a bit surprised he didn’t immediately rattle off a list of gifts he wanted. “Well… I actually don’t know! How about you surprise me, Ra-Ra?” Tigger suggested finally. 

“Surprise you…” Rabbit repeated. Tigger watched as Rabbit became lost in thought for a moment, thumping one of his feet. Tigger could practically see the steam coming out from his ears before they shot up as something finally came to him. 

“I have just the thing! You remember where we put on the play for Christopher Robin last Valentine’s Day, right?” Rabbit asked. 

Tigger nodded. “Course I do!” “Meet me there tomorrow evening at five o’clock sharp. Do not be late!” Rabbit then dashed off towards his house. 

Tigger watched his puffball tail go over the hill as he ran. “Alright, Bunny Boy! See ya then!” Tigger turned and began to bounce towards his house. His mind began to fill with thoughts of what Rabbit’s surprise could possibly be. A party of some sort, obviously. But he asked him to meet him at the stage… He wasn’t really the play type unless he was acting in one. 

Tigger tried to think of what Rabbit’s surprise could be all evening long until he went to sleep. The next day passed at a snail’s pace for Tigger. He hopped out of his house early, but as he tried each of his friend’s houses to pass the time they weren’t home. Now Tigger was truly puzzled. It would be pretty obvious of Rabbit to try and pull a surprise party considering they both just remembered his birthday was today. The afternoon crawled on. Tigger tried to entertain himself anyway possible. He played checkers against himself (and lost), played with every last doodad that he found in his closet and he swore he bounced the entirety of the hundred acre woods twice. Finally, the sun began to set and Tigger made his way towards the stage that Rabbit wanted to meet him at. 

As Tigger approached the stage he saw Rabbit standing in front of it dressed in a blue suit jacket with a white dress shirt beneath and a red bow tie. Curtains were set all around the perimeter of the stage, Tigger couldn’t see inside. 

“Good evening, Detective Tigger!” Rabbit called out to him. 

Tigger furrowed his brow in confusion before Rabbit tossed his hat and cloak to him. Tigger’s eyes lit up, immediately placing the cap on his head and fastening the cloak around his shoulders. 

“What’s all this, Ra-Ra?” Tigger asked. 

Rabbit shook his head. “Nope! No questions. It’ll spoil the surprise.” 

Rabbit clapped his hands and the curtains were drawn. Inside tables full of food were arranged around the stage. Sitting at each of them were Kanga, Roo, Eeyore, and Piglet, all dressed to the nines. Piglet was especially dressed up, wearing a tiny crown and robes. Pooh stood near the entrance with a coat hanging from his arm. Rabbit climbed the steps onto the stage. 

“Good evening, Mr. Rabbit! May I take your coat?” Pooh asked. 

Rabbit pondered for a moment and shook his head. “No, thank you, Pooh. The coat completes the outfit.” He said walking over towards the only empty table. 

“Well, well! Good evening, Mr. Detective! May I take your coat?” Pooh asked. 

Tigger shook his head. “Of course not! Do you have any idea how much detectivery stuff I have in here? It’s not for a civilian!” 

Pooh just chuckled. “Well, alright then. I guess my job’s done!” He said, pulling on the coat that he was holding. 

Tigger took his seat next to Rabbit. The food looked great from a distance but once he sat down Tigger realized it was… toy food? “Say, Ra-Ra, what’s goin’ on?” Tigger asked, holding up a plastic chicken leg. 

Piglet stood with a glass in hand and clinked it with his spoon, silencing the room. 

“Th-Thank you all for coming to the party! I, Piglet… uhm…” Piglet looked down towards the floorboards of the stage. “Line?” The floor opened up to reveal a disgruntled Gopher who hissed the line at Piglet before closing the hatch. “Oh, right, right.” Piglet cleared his throat before he continued. “I, Piglet, Rich Baron of the forest, am so happy to have you here for dinner. Before we all dig in, I want t-to propose a toast!” Suddenly, the curtains closed and the stage went pitch black. Just as quickly as they shut, the opened again and Piglet was nowhere to be seen. 

Everyone gasped, staring at the seat that Piglet had been standing on. 

“He’s just… gone?! Who did this?” Rabbit cried. “Oh just who could help us solve this whodunnit!?” He finished, flashing a grin at Tigger. 

Tigger leapt up onto the table. “Attention guests! This is now a crime scene. Nobody move!” “Oh my. Who could’ve done anything to poor little Piglet?” Kanga asked. 

“I bet it was Eeyore!” Roo shouted with a giggle. 

“I wouldn’t trust me either, can’t blame ya.” Eeyore said dejectedly. 

“Perhaps, Piglet just went to get dessert ready?” Pooh suggested. 

The curtains closed again. A spotlight illuminated the darkness, settling onto Piglet who was being hoisted up by his shirt with a hook. He was covered in flour which fell from him every time he moved. 

“My d-d-dear friends. Someone here is responsible for my disappearance, if you find out who did it, I will bestow upon you my… my…” Piglet looked towards the floorboards again. 

Gopher popped out again and shouted the line himself. “You’ll receive my untold riches and my undying gratitude!” 

Gopher closed the trapdoor with a slam. 

The spotlight dimmed and when the curtains were drawn, Piglet was gone once again. 

“First things first,  we gotta try and find a motive!” Tigger proclaimed. 

He studied the faces of his friends before approaching Kanga. 

“So, you were sitting right next to ‘im. What could you have gained from making our piggly little prince… disappear?” Tigger asked. 

Kanga shook her head. “Why, I couldn’t have done anything to Piglet! Besides, my seat is so close to yours. Wouldn’t it be hard for me to hide it?” 

“Well… What about that blackout? You coulda done it then!” 

On queue, the curtains fell again. When they opened, Kanga was gone next. 

“Ohh nooo! Mama!” Roo shouted, trying his best to act surprised. 

“What!? But I was sure it was her!” Tigger shouted. 

Tigger turned his eyes to Roo who was trying his hardest not to start giggling. 

“Ohh, now I see.” Tigger said as he pulled a magnifying glass from his cloak. “It was your idea all along! You got your Mama to do it, but she was sloppy. So to save yourself, you had to make her disappear! Well you shoulda thought twice before doing that under the watchful eye of Detective Tigger, Private-!” The curtains fell, rose, and Roo’s seat was empty before Tigger could finish his sentence. “… Ear.” Tigger finished. 

Tigger seemed a bit deflated, prompting Rabbit to inch away and knock on the floorboards. 

“Gopher, you’re going way too fast! Tigger is supposed to figure the mystery out, remember? How can he do that if he can’t question anyone?” Rabbit hissed. 

The trapdoor opened and Gopher smirked up at Rabbit. “Sorry, it’s just too fun pulling the trapdoors out from under everyone.” Tigger questioned Eeyore, Pooh, and even Rabbit, but one by one the curtains fell and they were gone. In the end, Tigger was left alone until the curtains fell for the final time. The spotlight fell on Tigger and Piglet descended from the rafters of the stage until he was above the downfallen detective. 

“Detective Tigger, do you know who was making your friends disappear?” Piglet asked. 

Tigger heaved a sigh. “I have no clue. I couldn’t get info outta anyone!” Piglet pointed at Tigger. “It was youuu! You are the one responsible!” He shouted ominously. 

Tigger gasped. “No… of course! It’s the perfect crime! How could I have figured it out if I was the one doing it?!” Tigger pondered further and suddenly realized. “Wait, even if I’m the one who did it, I figured it out. That means I get that reward, right?” Piglet giggled as he was finally lowered to the ground and wiped the flower off of himself. “Yup! Okay Gopher, now!” The center of the stage split in two and in its place, a platform rose up in its place. Standing on the platform were all of the guests who disappeared along with a towering birthday cake. The icing was decorated exactly like Tigger’s fur pattern.  Orange with black stripes all the way up to the smallest cake which resembled Tigger’s own bouncy tail. A single candle sat atop the great cake, burning brightly in the slowly darkening evening sky. Tigger’s eyes lit up as he gawked at the cake. 

“Happy Birthday, Tigger!” Everyone shouted. 

Tears welled up in Tigger’s eyes as he spoke. “Y-You guys, you didn’t have to go through all this trouble…” He sniffled. “But since ya did, let’s dig in!” 

“Not yet!” Rabbit shouted. “You have to blow out the candle and make a wish first!” Tigger hopped onto his tail, bounced high up to the tippy top of the cake, and blew out the candle. He landed square on his feet to the applause of his friends, and the cake was finally cut. Gopher and Owl talked about the reactions that they got from suddenly dropping the trapdoors out from everyone’s seats, Tigger explained his roundabout reasoning for each of the motives that he thought anyone would have and even Rabbit was please since they’d mostly stayed on script. 

Once the cake was gone and the sun was dipping further and further down the horizon, everyone began to return home one by one until Tigger and Rabbit left the stage together. Lightning bugs glittered around them as they walked down the moonlit paths of the woods. They returned to Rabbit’s house where Rabbit prepared some evening tea and settled down with Tigger in his recliner. It was a bit of a tight fit… Rabbit thought to himself about possibly looking into getting a loveseat since Tigger spent so much time at his house. 

“So, what did you wish for?” Rabbit asked Tigger, taking a sip of tea. 

“Oh, on my birthday cake? I didn’t wish for nothin’!” Tigger said. 

Rabbit set his cup down, staring at the tiger incredulously. “What? But it’s your birthday! You should wish for whatever you want! What about that big list from last year?” Tigger pulled Rabbit into a tight embrace, looking him right in the eyes with a warm smile. “What else could I wish for? I got everything I ever wanted right here.” Tigger could practically see the steam coming from Rabbit’s ears as his face immediately burned red. He pulled away from him with a huff. “Y-You… since when did you have such a way with words anyway?!” “Owl let me borrow some of his lovey dovey books, he said you like that sort of thing!” Tigger replied with a giggle. 

Tigger managed to coax the huffy rabbit back into another embrace. He ran the blunt edges of his claws down Rabbit’s back, making Rabbit shudder against him. “T-Tigger! What’re you-” He began, before Tigger silenced him with a kiss. 

Tigger let his claws make pathways down the small of Rabbit’s back as they kissed, keeping a gentle hold on the rabbit as the fire crackled in the fireplace. Tigger had meant what he said. Rabbit was always eager to do anything for him, he understood him on a level no one else did. Only someone like him would know exactly what to do for his birthday. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was. When Tigger finally pulled away, he dipped his head to give a teasing parting nip to Rabbit’s neck before letting the flustered bunny settle against his chest. 

“I-I don’t know what’s gotten into you today…” Rabbit finally said. 

Tigger chuckled. “Nothin’ at all, Bunny Boy.” Tigger didn’t give Rabbit much of a reprieve even as they began to drift off to sleep together on the cushy chair. His claws kept combing through Rabbit’s fur as he stroked his back, nipped his ears ever so gently until eventually, Rabbit’s breathing became slow and rhythmic. A rhythm that Tigger had grown intimately familiar with and had grown to be so comforting, he knew he wouldn’t be far behind him. But still, he willed his eyes to stay open for a bit longer. He wanted his birthday to last just a little longer. He gazed down at Rabbit’s face as he began to drift off. He had a smile on his face. A tired, but content smile with still just a tiny hint of red remaining in his cheeks. Tigger leaned down and kissed his forehead, yawning as he finally let himself fall asleep. 

“I love you, Ra-Ra.” Tigger said. 

His eyes closed and he fell asleep with the goofiest smile on his face. In his sleep, his grip on Rabbit tightened, keeping him as close to him as he possibly could. 

[openly-journaling]

Tori: Sunday September 18th

I guess a little update on our situation.

Our own little house full of mice and needed tlc. We're only renting it of course. We've been catching mice occasionally and just got bit tonight. I am not normally an angry person, but while Bobby might feel bad about hurting the little rodents, I do not. Especially not after I've been bitten. Rodents are mean.

Now this is 2am in the morning so I suppose I should technically consider this into yesterday. It's fine though.

We're getting settled and our bitchy co worker was fired last Monday or Tuesday after bitching Aesop out in front of our manager because he answered a question regarding her.

Aesop acted maturely and ignored her. Our constant issues with that woman.

It began a couple weeks ago really. When we first joined the job it really wasn't so bad. At first she just kept talking to us and standing in our way of trying to work. So we'd quietly shove past her to keep working.

That Friday she brought her kid and got nearly no work done. We ignored them but the kid continued to slam doors extremely loudly and try to touch wet paint continuously. She was no longer allowed to work Fridays.

She claimed we went off on her but the most we did was snap with an 'yeah, okay, I get it.'

Then about a week ago she locked us out of an apartment we were cleaning and literally all we needed was water from the sink to fill a bucket with so we could mop. Manager had to come from across town to let us in (or was on her way anyway when the coworker finally unlocked the damn door) our snippy comment we couldn't hold back was 'now you open the door'

We had to rush to get this house finished (the one we're staying in now). Both of us talked to as though we were toddlers not to say anything to one another at all. We shrugged and said we'd just ignore her and the morning went fine. Afternoon not so much. The reason we were forced to rush was so we could move in (it's still being worked on though, and we don't mind.)

Anyway. Co worker one we'll just call her R and co worker two we'll call S

Aesop was painting and commented that S had gone to go grab another ladder or something. He wouldn't say why. He blanked out after a bit, forgetting R was in the room when our manager, "K" asked him a question. 'whats wrong with using this ladder?' and at the time way before, R had been hogging it (only now it was just so nicely set aside for our use and we actually didn't know because of how intently we began ignoring her). 'R said I couldn't use it' was the reply and R went wild calling us a lying bitch and a fucking toddler right in front of K.

Previously we asked if there was a ladder we could use. S looked around saying yes. There were supposed to be two. She asked R where it was, R said she 'put the other ladder away'

Aesop asked 'where is away?' and R did not answer. S later saw the ladder in Rs car. R bitched at us and said "Well you need to find a different ladder or I'm not painting this ceiling because she can't use this one right now something something blah blah blah." It was a whole rant.

S asked why R couldn't just let me use S's ladder and get the one out of her car and R's argument was that 'if I have to open my car I'm doing this and this' part which I didn't hear but knew was not acceptable for work. Her car was literally directly next to the house.

S said that it was all asinine and as soon as S left to go get some supplies and take her lunch, R just started texting and muttering under her breath about everyone being bitches and toddlers and on drugs. She was fired that night. Well.. apparently she quit just before hand but if she had not she'd have been fired. Of course she was crying by the end of it.

You can't just treat co workers that way. It's so unfair. And apparently she'd been stealing things from this business for quite some time.

Once this house is finished being painted, we go back to the apartment we'd been working on.

Sorry for this long update. Things are still slow, our lease is month to month because we still don't know if we're going to move to Minnesota considering how quickly we've gotten a job here. And how many more opportunities are here.

But we'll see whatever the future holds. Hopefully this won't further delay marriage but it has already delayed getting to visit our fiance this year. Hopefully we'll make Christmas.

[mearcatsreturns]

Im all for Abby and luka, but that clip from the season 9 ep where he’s drunk, is going through shit, and clearly overstepped and touched her when he shouldn’t , should not be in the same realm of all the other consensual stuff

Normally I’d delete this ask and move on, because I try not to answer anons that are Trying to Start Shit. But you’ve caught me in a mood, so congratulations!

I assume this is in response to me reblogging my Luby gifset that has that scene. First of all, I worked hard on that set and I’m proud of it. But you are under no obligation to engage with my content. You can block that post if it bothers you (seriously, the postblock extension on xkit is amazing), or if you realize that I’m going to create a lot of content for my OTP and reblog even more, you are welcome to unfollow me.

Now, to your point: that’s bullshit. You’re obviously free to interpret that scene in that way, but it’s a very narrow interpretation. I clearly interpret it differently. Obviously he’s an idiot in season 9 and all over the place; the narrative is clear about that and I don’t dispute it. But to say Luka touching Abby on the arm is non-consensual? Was Abby kissing him in the ambulance bay in 7.03 non-consensual? She was upset and in a bad place, she didn’t know if he was single, etc. But no, no one thinks that, because that’s absolute shit. If you follow that logic, making any sort of romantic (or even friendly affectionate) overture would be non-consensual. It’s great when people and characters ask if they can kiss another person or character! But...that hardly ever happens on TV, especially ER. 

That brings me to the next issue. ER is FULL of moments like that. Lots of characters overstep boundaries. The narrative rarely addresses that. And fandom is hella selective about it. IMO, one of the most egregious violations of boundaries is Sandy outing Kerry at work. It was both dangerous for Kerry and not Sandy’s place. But does fandom talk about that much? No. Or how about when Mark BROKE THE LAW and found Jeanie’s confidential medical records? Are you going into other people’s inboxes going off about every time someone overstepped boundaries? Probably not. Which makes me question the “I’m all for Abby and Luka” bit of your ask. 

Listen, you don’t need to like them! No one is obligated to like a thing! However, one of the things I’ve noticed as the fandom on tumblr has grown is how myopic it is. I invite everyone to ask themselves why they like the things and characters they like. If, without fail, you stan white, American characters and either ignore or hate on non-American and non-white characters, I truly urge you to examine that. I’m not going to make any assumptions about anyone based on character and trope preferences, because I know very few of you in a personal way. That said, I’ve absolutely noticed how little love the characters who aren’t white get relative to even, say, Romano (who is canonically a misogynist, racist, and homophobe). Peter gets the most love, and even then he seems to usually appear in fandom to orbit Twink John Carter. 

As a final point (for now), I question why you actually came into my inbox with this. You know I ship Luka/Abby, it’s not some big secret. I’m not going to agree with you on that, and I doubt I’ll change your mind. I might have been more amenable to a discussion if you hadn’t come on anon. But when you hide behind anon and have no skin in  the game, it’s clear you’re just fishing for trouble. As I said, I normally delete asks like that. This isn’t my first fandom rodeo, but for a long time, the ER fandom didn’t have anon asshats pulling this. I will absolutely turn off anon if I get more asks in this vein. I behave courteously in fandom (I tag well, don’t put hate in pro tags, and I don’t send anons), and I expect the same respect. So truly, if you--or anyone--want to have a discussion about consent in fandom, feel free to send me a message off anon or in DMs. But I’m a big fan of curating my fandom experience, so I will delete and block any further anons trying to start shit.

[willymywonkers]

A Trip into the Factory

Summary: Maude gets invited into the factory for the first time in years. Chaos and fluff ensues.

A/N: This really is an excuse for me to try and write Wonka a little better. It's not too great I'll admit that, but I'm still getting used to writing him, lmaoooo.

It was a typical Tuesday afternoon for Maude, which mainly included grading assignments and checking over the kids work.

However, there was one thing different about this Tuesday. Charlie invited her over to the factory for dinner.

Usually she'd be happy to visit the Buckets, the only set back here was actually going into the factory.

Ever since Wonka and her reunited, things had been a little rocky. Maude was always busy with her students, and tried to creating some order in her schedule. Will was busy mentoring Charlie around the factory. There wasn't any time for them to really connect.

"Sure, I think she would thoroughly enjoy the factory, heh." Willy said, trying very hard to seem confident.

"And, when you're done, we can have dinner with my family." Charlie smiled with excitement.

"Yeah." Will gulped, slightly.

This was one of Willy Wonka's rare moments where he was uncertain. Usually, he knew exactly how people would react when entering the factory, but Maude was a different story. She helped sculpt every room when it was first built.

Willy had planned on asking Maude to move in with him before she got married. Being business partners was one thing, but being actually together was another. He knew from the start on why he didn't like her husband. Even during the wedding, Willy tried to be supportive of her. Hell, he even made especially for her a dozen chocolate roses. His feelings for her never really went away. He just wanted her to be happy.

After being isolated from the world for over 15 years, it really took a toll on how he interacted with others.

Meanwhile, Maude was dealing with her own worries. She looked at herself in the mirror, constantly overthinking.

She needed to leave in about 30 minutes, and that wasn't enough time either. Maude rummaged through her closet desperately searching for something to wear. Eventually, she found a brown dress that was casual enough to wear without looking completely overdressed.

She slipped on some heels and grabbed her coat before heading out the door. She was lucky the factory was walking distance from her house, but when the gates opened, she was extremely hesitant to go inside.

'Come on, Maude. Don't be pathetic.' She thought as her hand was just inches away from the door.

She bit her lip, tapping her gloved fist against the cold steel door.

Suddenly, there was a click and the door swung open. Maude stepped back, surprised a little at the sudden opening of the door.

Wonka stood just a little bit outside the door. He smiled, greeting Maude at the door.

"Heh, welcome, Maude." Will flashed a big smile at her.

She smiled back, taking off her coat. "It's quite warm in here, Will."

"Ah yes. It's because of my oompa loompas. They just can't stand the cold."

Maude tilted her head at Will. "Right, and what are oompa loompas again?"

Charlie had told her about these 'oompa loompas' but she wasn't entirely sure about what they are.

"Oh, well, they're my workers. They were directly imported from Loopmaland." Will explained as the two walked down the large hall.

"Loopmaland? I've never heard of that place before." Maude seemed to look even more confused.

"Well, I discovered it while I was searching the world of exotic candy." Will hummed.

Maude couldn't help, but be amazed at the amount of things Will had done throughout the years. Maude felt that she didn't really accomplish anything. After she left Ron, she mostly did boring adult stuff. When she worked in the factory, Maude felt unique and carefree. Will would listen to all her ideas for different kinds of mixtures. She remembered a time where she felt happy being in the factory, because it almost was a sanctuary to her.

The hallway began to get slimmer and slimmer. Soon enough Maude and Willy crouched down to get to the very small door at the end of the hallway.

"I don't remember the chocolate room being this small." Maude joked, trying not to hit her head on the suddenly short ceiling.

Willy shook his head. "It's not. Just watch."

Just as he turned the key, a whole world was opened up for Maude. Her eyes widened. Her lips parted at the view.

It was meadows of gorgeous green grass, and luscious chocolate river that flowed throughout the factory.

There was buttercups at her feet, and a jelly pumpkin on her right.

Maude felt overwhelmed with joy. "You did all this?" Her voice was below a whisper.

Willy smiled wide. "Yeah, I did."

Maude turned to Willy, smiling dreamily at him. "Wow.." Her body suddenly when limp, as she passed out in a sudden trance.

Willy panicked, catching her before she hit the ground. "Maude? Maude!!"

She snapped out of her trance. "Yes? Yes! I'm awake."

Will took a deep breath. "Heh, good. I was worried that I killed ya there."

Maude chuckled, blushing slightly by the way Wonka was holding her.

Wonka seemed to noticed it too. He cleared his throat. "Well, let's get a move on. There's lots of things I wanna show you."

He set Maude back down on her feet. She chuckled nervously, still amazed at the view.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of low drumming. A purple sea horse shaped boat pulled up right next to Willy and Maude.

"Hop on board!" Willy stepped onto the boat, with Maude following behind.

The Oompa Loompas seemed to be chattering amongst themselves and chuckling.

"What are they laughing about?" Maude chuckled.

He laughed nervously. "Surely, it's from all those doggone coca beans. They're a bit of a handful."

Maude smiled. "They seem quite lovely. I think I got a report from Charlie, talking about living with the Oompa Loompas. It was incredibly-"

"Weird?" Willy interrupted.

"Yeah, but, a good kind of weird." Maude chuckled. "You're a great mentor."

Willy's smile faltered slightly. "Well, I have to get him prepared to run this factory. There's not a lot of people I could trust to hold the secret recipes, and keep them secret."

"Right."

"I guess the only other person would be you."

Maude's expression shifted from happiness to a bit of sadness. She attempted to smile. "Thank you, Will."

She stared blankly for a few seconds. She began to remember Ron's horrid yelling.

"You'll always be in his shadow, Maude. Don't you want your own factory? He stole most of your ideas, Maude. A few of his would be nothing."

Maude would always refuse to steal from Will. Ron would call her a coward. Still, this torment would go on for hours, until she resigned.

The boat began to diverge into a dark tunnel. Maude's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the Oompa Loompas drumming as it began to get faster and faster.

"Can they see where they're going?" Maude said, as she turned to Willy.

"Hehe, no." Will chuckled. "There's no telling where they're going."

Maude's face turned pale as she held on to the side of the boat.

The boat suddenly took sharp dive right into the tunnel. The boat looped and turned as chocolate splashed its sides. Maude suddenly had her arms around Wonka's, holding onto dear life. Will looked over at her a little surprised. In most situations, Will despised human contact. Here, he was just amused. Even when he was a little boy, he hates when adults touched his hair, or even when they lightly tapped his shoulder. However, he was very loose when it came to Maude. She didn't appreciate close contact either, but in very few moments, Maude would casually touch his hand accidentally. She would always say sorry, but it was strange because Will didn't mind it. It was an odd connection between the two. They really just couldn't explain it.

Maude was still holding onto Will as the boat came to a stop. She sighed in relief, but quickly let go of Will.

"Sorry." Maude muttered.

Will gulped. "No matter. Let's continue."

The boat had stopped in front of the experimentation room, a place where Maude was quite familiar with.

"The experiments room. I'm pretty sure you know this one, heh." Will said, hoping off the boat.

Maude looked around, admiring the enormous amounts of lab equipment, as well as different kinds of experiments. "Oh, wow. It's gotten quite modernized."

"You're darn right. I've testing out a ton of new candy, but sometimes it's so hard to focus on one." Willy turned towards a big machine. He turned it on and out came a single stick of gum.

"This piece, right here, is a full 3 course dinner all in itself."

Maude picked up the stick of gum, and simply looked at it.

"I wouldn't eat it. There's still a few things wrong with the mixture."

"I see, and what seems to be wrong with it." Maude carefully set the stick back down.

"Well, it's ok, once it gets to the end. It's the blueberry pie that does it. I've tried it on like 20 Oompa Loompas, and each one ended up like a giant blueberry."

"Do you think it's because you made the mixture of the pie too strong?" Maude examined the sample closely, just before sticking it in her mouth.

"Yeah, well." Will's eyes widened as she stuck the gum in her mouth. "Just spit it out once it gets too sweet."

The flavors were very incredible, however it didn't mask the faint blueberry aftertaste that plagued each flavor. Once it got a but too sweet, she immediately spat it out.

Will looked at her with a bit of disgust. He kept a bit of a distance from her. After a few moments, nothing happened.

"I think I know the problem. The blueberry pie mixture is too strong. It masks all the other flavors with a sweet aftertaste." Maude put the gum in the nearest trash can. "If you eliminate that strong aftertaste, then I believe the gum should be just fine."

Willy's expression turned from disgust to ecstatic in a matter of seconds. He grabbed Maude by the hand, and shook it vigorously. "Maude, you're a genius. Absolutely incredible. I don't get why I didn't think of that sooner."

Maude smiled slightly. "This is just like old times. Remember when we were experimenting with those fizzy lifting bubbles? We flew so high. We almost lost our heads."

"Yeah, haha. I remember." Will nodded, still holding onto Maude's hand.

"I remember Ron being so worried." Maude laughed.

Willy's smile soon faded. "Yeah, him."

Hearing that name again really made Will's blood boil. He had an idea what was happening with Maude and Ron. Will had really hoped Maude would choose candy making over Ron, because that's what made her happy.

His gloved hand had a tight hold on Maude's. "It's really weird, heh."

"What is?" Maude asked.

"Being here with you. I just would've figured you'd always be with me, making candy in the factory."

"Well, I'm here right now."

"That's not what I mean."

Maude tilted her head up at him, a little confused. They looking into each other's eyes for a moment. His gorgeous purple eyes burrow deep into her dark chocolate ones.

He leaned in, giving Maude a tiny peck on the lips. It was quick and painless. Still, it made Maude go red as a cherry.

Willy giggled, wiping the tiny kiss off his lips.

"W-wow.." Maude muttered. "That was unexpected." She blinked for a few moments, promptly pinching herself, before even realizing what had happened.

"Heh, I've always wanted to try that." Will said, smiling wide. "Kissing is so weird."

"But it's a good kind of weird." Maude chuckled, as she pulled Will into another kiss.

This was so much better than she could've imagined.