Commentary Crew One Shots (Memeulous, Imallexx, WillNe etc)

Will is an Idiot (1/?) - George x Will

Will was bored. He got bored very easily, but especially here and now, with a bustle of boring looking people around him, and the smell of books, and the uncomfortable chair reserved for him. He ran his hands through his hair again. Will felt the acute sense of wanting this thing to be over as quickly as possible. It was the opening event for the book tour for some up and coming author. They apparently shared the same agent - though Will could be labelled as a "social media influencer" a complete juxtaposition to some stuffy, probably 50 year-old author, who had released this book.

What was it called again? Will looked at the free copy he had been handed on the way in. "The Quiet Beyond" sounded a bit noncey if you asked him, but he guessed most books were. Will hadn't opened a book in years, too busy, too easily distracted.

So here he sat, bored out of his skull in some dusty function room. Posters of the book were everywhere, with the tagline "silence is golden" plastered on everything from the cover to the banners to the free pins they were handing out at the welcoming desk. Well, at least they had included wine for the evening, the little plastic glasses were everywhere, being sipped by every discerning book person around.

Will inwardly groaned, why did he even need an agent anyway? And why had they sent him here. Surely his pal James Marriot, the fucking linguist, would have been better off networking at a publication event than the great WillNE. He briefly closed his eyes and wished for something to just start already. One more minute and he'd feel obligated to go socialise.

When his eyes re-opened Will was startled that he'd gained a neighbour. One seat to his right, on the edge of the row, a young man now sat. He looked perhaps even younger than Will, with nice curly blonde hair, and a few freckles on his pale skin.

"Sorry if I startled you." the stranger laughed, "I just wanted a quick break from all the milling around." he gestured to the clumps of literature nerds stood around the room.

Will laughed too, managing to modulate it to fit the atmosphere of the room. "I hate these things." he said, finally having found a sympathiser.

"Me too." The stranger sighed. "But I guess they're necessary."

Will shrugged. "I wouldn't really know. This is my first one. It doesn't seem like it cracks up to much though, does it?"

"I mean the company leaves much to be desired." The humour in the other man's face made Will relax, he turned more fully to his new neighbour.

"I'm going to perceive that as though you weren't including me in that generalisation." Will raised an eyebrow, trying to sound affronted.

"Why of course not." The stranger said. "You seem to be exactly the sort of person to bore me at these events." His eyes twinkled.

Will stuck his hand out, "Will."

"George."

"Nice to meet you, George. Now, what's a nice lad like you doing in a stuffy place like this?"

"Work." George hid a smile. Will wished he hadn't. "I guess my agents thought I ought to be here for some reason."

"Same!" Will cried, exasperated, "I haven't read a book since year eleven, and even then I just googled the ending."

George laughed, "Wow."

"I still got an A, though." Will made an effort to point out.

"Impressive." George responded. "I got a B in English. I was shit at spelling"

Will nodded sympathetically, "Well, we can't all be literary geniuses like me and the author of this book." He gestured to the posters.

George found it funnier than Will had anticipated. When he eventually stopped chuckling, Will acted offended. "Are you saying I'm not up to scratch with the great writer of The Quiet Beyond?"