Wait For Me | Wilbur Soot x Reader

Chapter 4

~

You later on discovered that the boy's name was Wilbur.

You lit a fire in your fireplace and threw in a bit of firewood to get it going. Wilbur sat huddled on your couch, shivering furiously, even though it wasn't that cold. You sat down on the other end of the couch to create a somewhat comfortable space between the two of you.

Wilbur didn't speak and neither did you. There wasn't much to say on your part - Wilbur was probably still trying to grasp the fact that he was in a completely different timeline. You cleared your throat, signalling to him that you thought the silence was too loud, and you could tell that he thought the same.

"So," you began.

"So," Wilbur pressed his lips together in a thin line.

"What's it like in your world?" you asked.

"It's pretty hard to explain, since you're from the past and you probably won't understand any of the terms I use," Wilbur explained.

"That's alright," you said.

"Well, there's a lot of buildings," he started. "A lot more than you're used to."

"I saw," you laughed lightly. "There's hardly any trees or grass. Just horseless carriages and black paths."

"Horseless carriages?" Wilbur snorted. "They're called cars. Vehicles that get us from point A to point B. As for the black paths, they're called roads. Cars drive on them."

"Wow, and that's only one part of your world?" you asked. "There's a lot I need to learn."

"It's not your fault," he shrugged. "If you do end up visiting my world again, you can just stick with me and I'll answer any questions you have."

"Oh, now that you mention it," you started, "would you like to have a tour of the place?"

"Yeah, why not?" Wilbur said. "It's not every day you visit a completely different timeline."

With a snort, you extinguished the fire with some dirt and slipped on your coat. Your umbrella had been on the floor when you came back, so you quickly cleaned the handle and opened it, stepping outside onto the porch. You jumped over the puddle and waited for Wilbur to do the same.

You weren't worried about the townspeople being suspicious of Wilbur. He looked like a traveller, after all. Many travellers passed through the town occasionally, which was good for business. They'd stop to get a drink at the pub, then buy too much than what's necessary at the convenience store to continue their travels. Otherwise, it was just people in the town trading continuously.

What you were worried about, however, was the townspeople wondering why you were sharing an umbrella with a supposed stranger. Hesitantly, you came up with a few lies in your head to use as an excuse. Shielding him from the rain would be a good excuse, but not quite the best one. You'd have to use it for now.

You walked down the gravelly road, the pebbles crunching underneath your feet. You had trouble holding the umbrella above both you and Wilbur's head, considering how tall he was. Wilbur noticed that you were struggling, so without a word, he took the umbrella from you and held it. In the corner of your eye, you noticed that he was smirking.

A series of relatively small buildings appeared in front of you, a larger gravelly path splitting apart two rows of buildings.

"This is the pub," you said, pointing to a small building with barely any windows. "It's the most popular place here, which is why I rarely go there."

"Not the talkative type?" Wilbur asked.

"I don't like the people here," you answered simply.

"I thought everyone loved living in small towns," Wilbur commented.

"Things are different here," you said. "I mean, we are in the past, after all."

"For a person in the past," Wilbur began, "you act a lot like a person in my time."

"Do I?"

"Your attitude and personality reflects a lot of those I know of," he elaborated.

"Interesting," you said. "I guess I don't have to worry too much about fitting in personality-wise."

Wilbur laughed and you continued the tour. You showed him the mill, the farm that you worked at, the butcher and every other store there was. Nobody questioned who Wilbur was, thankfully. Not many people were out, since it was the afternoon and most people were heading to the pub after a day of work.

"I guess it's my turn to show you my world?" Wilbur said.

"Yes," you nodded.

You headed back to the porch and you jumped through the puddle. Wilbur popped up beside you and he looked around.

"Wouldn't people see us jumping through the puddle?" he quizzed.

"Eh, trick of the light," you said.

Wilbur chuckled and he started showing you around. There were a lot of clothes shops, restaurants, cafés, and so on. He took you to the beach, which was probably your favourite spot that he showed you. You took your shoes off and felt the grains of sand underneath your feet.

You slowly moved toward the water and let it wash over your ankles. It'd be a pain getting the sand off later, but you weren't worried about that. There was a man sitting on the rocks, playing the guitar with a small hat of coins in front of him. A couple of people were standing around, watching him play.

"Hang on, I want to see this," you told Wilbur.

"Alright, I'll wait for you here," he said.

You walked toward the man with the guitar and listened to the piece he was playing.

Your first ever live performance.

The sound was clearer and less distorted, like it was on a gramophone. Wilbur joined you and gave you a dollar to place in the man's hat. The man tilted the hat on his head and smiled up at you before continuing to play his piece. Wilbur directed you away from the man so he could continue his tour.

"That was beautiful," you beamed. "I never knew music could sound so gorgeous."

"Have you never heard music?" Wilbur asked.

"No, I have," you said, "on my gramophone, that is. I've never heard it right in front of me."

"Ah, okay," Wilbur nodded. "I suppose not many people know how to play an instrument in your town?"

"Some do, but they're not that good," you told him.

Wilbur seemed amused at how easy it was for you to talk badly about the people that lived in the same town as you, but you couldn't care less. They deserved it.

It started getting late, so Wilbur suggested heading back to the puddle to drop you off. You were saddened by the thought of having to leave, but you knew you couldn't stay for long. There weren't many people out, so you didn't have to worry about someone seeing you jump into the puddle.

"Thanks for the tour," you said to Wilbur.

"You're welcome," he replied. "Thanks for showing me your town, too. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye!" you smiled.

With that, you hopped into the puddle and found yourself back in front of your porch.

Maybe life wasn't as monotonous as you thought it was.