florence 🖼️

she didn't even have to turn her head to know who it was, and yet she still did so. 

wilbur soot stood there in all of his fucking glory, hands in his pockets and a simple smirk on his face. 

phil cut her thoughts off. "fifteen dollars, is anyone-"

"twenty!" wilbur called out, before the man could even finish. he yelled numbers so casually, it made her blood boil. 

jared stepped up to the occasion as quickly as possible, a wavering worry in his tone. "twenty-five-"

phil sighed before they continued. "you boys don't get how this works-"

"thirty," wilbur called out once more. the simple look on his face made her sick to her core. 

everyone was shocked. everyone knew she hated wilbur- wilbur himself knew she hated him. and yet, he was bidding to have a sweet picnic with her. her anger was getting out of line, and all she could do was watch. 

"fourty!" jared yelled, contrasting wilbur's calm tone. she knew he did not have the money for a basket as small as hers. 

"jared- what are you doing?" she hit his arm, feeling the need to release her anger any way she could.

"do you seriously wanna go on a picnic with this guy?-" he turned back towards phil, "fifty!"

"seventy." 

holy shit. 

jared could feel his mouth quivering with hesitation. there was no way in hell he had more than fifty dollars, let alone seventy. "seventy-five-"

"ninety. ninety dollars." wilbur's grin was growing wider by the second as he casually rocked on his heels, anticipating jared's response. 

and yet, nothing. 

"ninety dollars, going once?" she looked at jared's empty pockets. "going twice?" then at wilbur's cockiness. "thrice?" 

she cursed under her breath as phil continued, "sold to the weirdly tall man!" 

he took his time in sauntering up to the stand, and both her and jared watched his every move. jared's stare was in humiliation, but hers was pure rage. 

when he was back to his spot behind the crowd, he caught her stare. in response, he waved, basket still in hand. she could've punched him in the face. 

the auction continued on, but she couldn't pay attention to a single bit of it through her cloud of anger. 

"hey, i'm sorry i couldn't win your basket," jared attempted to apologize, but the words were in through one ear and out the other. 

"why the hell would he do this?!" she yelled, face contorting and scrunching out of frustration. 

jared stared with wide eyes. "maybe he was hungry?"

"you aren't helping!" 

with that, wilbur walked right up to the two of them, perfectly isolating jared from their conversation. "that was fun."

"glad you enjoyed it," she spat, looking him up and down with pure disgust. 

"shall we?" he held his hand out, anticipating hers. yet, she only stared at him in disbelief. 

"shall we what?-" she scrunched her eyebrows, crossing her arms as to reject his hand. 

"shall we go?"

"go where?"

"god, sweetheart, i thought you were better than this," there he went again, making her feel fucking inferior to him. "person who buys the basket wins the company of the basket maker," he lifted his arm, "basket-" and then pointed to her, "basket maker-" and finally, pointed to jared, "and guy who didn't bring enough money."

"seriously, what- what do you gain from this?" she stammered, so full of her fit of anger. "do you think this is funny?"

"i think its great, and what i gain is lunch with you," he flashed a toothy grin at her, a perfect target for her knuckles. "c'mon."

jared held her back, however. "bye, wilbur." 

"aww, where are you going, joseph?" he spoke in a sing-song mocking tune.

"its jared. and you're the one whose going," he tried to sound as intimidating as possible, and yet there was no reaction. 

"not until my date is ready to go," he held up the basket for the thousandth time, as if it was a trophy. although, in his eyes, it probably was. "cmon, honey, i've got a blanket in my trunk if that's how you like it."

she was about to scream her lungs out at wilbur, but jared only looked down in defeat. "y'know, maybe he's right-"

"are you kidding me?"

"its town tradition! and you know he won't stop until you comply-"

wilbur cut in, "no, i won't."

"and he did spend ninety dollars on you," jared added, voice quiet as if surrendering. 

the boiling of her blood wasn't simmering down quick enough, and she screamed for the whole town to hear, "fine! fine, i'll have a stupid picnic with you!"

wilbur's only reaction was a lift of his eyebrows. he spoke in a low, quiet voice. "that's my girl."

even after a walk into the woods, she hadn't calmed down. the entire way, she walked with her arms crossed and her eyebrows knitted that when she finally relaxed them, it felt unnatural. 

"where do you wanna eat?" wilbur asked, genuinely considering her opinions. she didn't notice this, however. 

"i don't care," she responded angrily, only to receive on okay from wilbur. 

he walked down over to a small bridge over a tiny pond, setting the basket down. 

"where are you going? i'm not eating in the pond."

"oh, dangit i thought you would've loved having your sandwich with a duck," he mocked, spreading out the blanket over the wood of the bridge. "calm it down, sweetheart."

his voice was just so smooth and so cocky that she clenched her fists, her anger boiling into frustration. 

when he finally smoothened the blanket out, he gestured her to sit first. with a roll of her eyes, she hesitantly sat down as he followed suit. 

he opened up the basket, peering into it carefully. "i don't think i'd even consider eating anything in here."

"that's because i didn't make it for you, i made it for jared," she retorted, shoes swinging out over the water. 

"and joseph would've eaten this?" he held up a plastic container, looking at it like he was testing whether a dollar bill was real or fake. 

"yes, he would've, actually."

with that, wilbur eyed her suspiciously, but ultimately grabbed a fork. the moment he tasted the food, he held back a grimace. all of this just to outdo jared. 

"and jared also wouldn't fall for that."

"oh, come on!" wilbur groaned, unchewed food still in his mouth. it elicited a small giggle from her, and the sound was worth everything to him. he held a glance at her smile, eyes focused on her mouth. 

it seemed like she had calmed down, based off the way she stared at him with the remnants of laughter on her lips. he looked back at her with a rarely genuine expression.

"wilbur?" she spoke, after a beat. "why'd you do it?"

he blinked at her hesitantly. "do what?"

"you know, outbid jared." she spoke, rolling her eyes. this time, it was playful. "ninety dollars is a lot."

"and-" he broke eye contact with her, feeling nervous for the first time in their exchange. "and the ninety dollars was just a price i had to pay to get here."

she leaned in closer. "but why did you wanna get here?"

"okay, all of a sudden im starving," he packed the little containers back into the basket, still avoiding her gaze. 

"hey. answer me, weirdly tall man," she put her hand on his to stop him from packing up, and the mere feeling of it made his breath hitch. 

"c'mon, you want pizza?" he tried to distract himself, but he could feel her stare. "what do you think of pepperoni?"

"wilbur, answer the question-"

"its not my fault that you tricked me into eating that- that stuff-" he tried to change the topic, beginning to stutter out of embarrassment. "and now i want some real food."

"you're not gonna answer, are you?"

"please? i know a really great pizza place-" it was almost like bargaining. "you'll love it. trust me."

"fine."

1.4k || 12.18.23 || masterlist here!

"wilbur!" her excitement is palpable and he can feel her smile through the phone. if he closed his eyes hard enough, he was sure he'd able to see it in his head. "i thought you were never gonna call."

"you know i always do. even if a little late, i'm always there for ya." he says with a smile leaning back onto the wall with another sigh. he had to stand close to the booth as not to stretch the cable too much - lest it accidentally disconnect their call as it was prone to do. "listen, sugar, i've only got four minutes today, alright? i just wanted to call to hear your pretty voice and to let you know that i'm doin' jus' fine. i know how ya like to worry."

"four minutes?" she pouted, and he could feel his heart sink in his chest. "yesterday we had almost twenty!" her rotary phone cable was long enough to reach from her bedside table to her bed where she laid on her stomach with her feet in the air and her head propped up on her hand.

"i know, sugar, i know. i am just.. busier today than i am yesterday." the lie slips out his mouth so easily, and she's never the wiser. "one of my coworkers din't show so i've got ta pick up his slack." another lie. "and before ya say it, i won't overwork myself."

"you always know what i'm gonna say!" she laughs and her head falls as she sighs. "wilbur, d'ya think your boss will give ya a day off this weekend and you can take the bus up here to the city? it's been a bit since i last saw ya."

"sure thing, sugar. i'll call ya tomorrow to let ya know what he says." he bites his lip, cursing himself for his inability to keep shut. he doesn't have a boss to ask for time off. he's going to have to scrounge around the city for some measly quarters to call her for less than five minutes. and there definitely will be no bus ride.

"okay!" she laughs, "okay. i'll be waiting for your call then."

the terrain wasn't too challenging, which he was grateful for. it was just one long road past greener pastures filled with animals - much unlike his own.

he wasn't .. poor, per say. he was a lot luckier than a lot of the townsfolk. he had a roof over his head (though not warm), and if he tried hard enough he would be able to have at least one meal a day. he didn't have a steady source of income, nor was his farm flourishing as it once had. he had a tiny plot of fertile ground and he used it to grow his own measly vegetables.

once a week he'd head over to the neighboring town to visit his friend who would provide him with a warm bed and a shower for a day. he couldn't stay at techno's long though - wilbur loved his friend and appreciated everything the other had done for him, but he refused to take handouts.

he was able to visit techno the night before and was able to wash up and clean up his nicer clothing before he'd see her.