Not a Fan (Wilbur Soot)

By Accident

"Rori, what if..." Wilbur set down his mug, making his way closer to Rori. "Do you think what you're seeing could actually be your voice?" He asked.

The look on her face was impossible to read- a poker face that would occasionally break to a narrowed brow before going blank again. Wilbur reached out, gently resting his hand on her shoulder before choosing to hold her cheek in the palm of his hand instead.

"But... I never thought..." She started, her eyes flicking back and forth with each word she spoke, as though she were searching for answers in colors he could never see. 

"It's just, you seem to only get distracted by the color when you're talking. I'm not positive, but I also think that the same potential buzzing noise that was upstairs wouldn't be audible downstairs." Wilbur shrugged, tracing his thumb over her cheek.

"It's my voice." Rori said quietly. Wilbur could tell she was more so talking to herself than to him at this point. "There's no way..." She trailed off, setting down her plate on the counter and taking a step away from him.

"Here, how about you sit down and-"

"Oh my god, it's my voice!" She exclaimed, a quick laugh passing through her lips before her same quizzical expression returned. She stepped further away, pacing back and forth in the limited kitchen space.

"This is... good, yeah?" Wilbur questioned cautiously, keeping his hand suspended in the air between them.

"Good? Wil, this is- this is-" She paused again, another laugh escaping her. This one was much louder and caused her to bring her hand up to cover her mouth. Wilbur couldn't fight off his own smile, watching her begging to bounce in place from sheer excitement.

"Aurora." Wilbur said, continuing to hold his hand out to her. She was fully bouncing in place at this point, keeping her hand over her mouth as more muffled laughs snuck out.

"Wilbur." She answered. He admired the way her gaze flicked to the side, realizing it meant she was tracking the sight of her own voice.

"You got your voice back." Wilbur grinned, beginning to laugh as well when Rori's infectious laughter bounced off the walls of her flat.

Rori took him by surprise when she, quite literally, jumped into his arms. He adjusted his grip around her thighs, lifting her to a height more comfortable for each of them. She brought her face directly in front of his, leaning forward to kiss his cheek over and over.

He couldn't even get out any words, laughter filling the air, so much so that he couldn't tell whose laugh belonged to who anymore.

It almost felt like a defense mechanism- like how you can't do anything but laugh when being tickled. He really wasn't used to having his cheeks kissed, but that seemed like it wasn't going to be the case anymore.

"Rori- Rori!" Wilbur called out as a form of surrender, attempting to tilt his face away from her lips. She accepted his white flag, running her hands across his back until each hand was resting on his shoulders.

"It's back, Wil. I don't think you understand the magnitude of this moment! My voice is back!" She emphasized, attempting to shake his shoulders from her place in his arms.

"Paint it." Wilbur said before he even really thought through his proposal. Her smile began to fade, a look of curiosity taking its place.

"Paint it?" She repeated, tilting her head to the side. One of her curls fell over her shoulder as she did this, making Wilbur notice the specs of white and teal paint still in her hair from the previous night. He adjusted the way he was holding her again, supporting both her legs with one arm so he could pick at the paint in her hair.