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“Wil? What are you doing out here?” Tommy asked, shoving his hands into his pockets while looking around the clearing.
“I had a date that you unfortunately interrupted.” Wilbur pouted, as he crossed his arms.
Tommy glanced around the small clearing again. “I don’t see anyone other than you.”
“That’s because you scared her off.”
“I would do nothing of the sort. Women love me and men envy me for how much women love me.”
Wilbur rolled his eyes at Tommy’s antics as he let his arms drop to his sides.
“I think you are just lonely and soothing yourself by pretending to draw in women.” Tommy replied, as a tiny rain cloud appeared above Wilbur’s head and a slight drizzle started to fall.
Wilbur glanced over to where Sally was hiding and saw her stifling a laugh. Wilbur rolled his eyes, thank goddess, that Tommy seemed to take that as a response to his little magic trick.
“I mean why not have her in the castle; it’s nicer there and no pesky rain clouds inside other than the one brought on by your mood but surely an actual woman would fix that.”
“We both know that I would still end up drenched with you around.” Wilbur jabbed with a light hearted glare.
Tommy shrugged. “I mean at least the chance of rain is lower inside.”
“For some reason I don’t think actually it is.”
The cloud over Wilbur’s head dissipates as Tommy wanders closer to the river and looks at the half-eaten meal on the blanket.
“You’ve even reached the point of denial that you are eating two sides of a meal. Wil, I think you need more help than I can provide. You need to see a professional.”
“I promise you, Tommy, there was a woman here.”
“Well, where is she now? I don’t see a woman here.”
“You spooked her off.”
Tommy looked between the river and the blanket and then back at the river before turning back to Wilbur with a solemn look on his face.
“Oh, Wilbur.” Tommy replied solemnly.
“What?” Wilbur replied, his brows furrowed in confusion.
“I know you wanted a woman but a fish? Wilbur have you really sunk that low?”
“What?” Wilbur replied, even more confused than before.
“I mean you, out by a river, not a fae woman in sight. There’s only fish here.” Tommy bent down near the water and looked back at Wilbur in mock shock followed by disappointment. “There’s only salmon in this river Wilbur. You could have done better. Surly there had to be better fish.”
Wilbur swore he heard a faint giggle from the direction Sally was hiding. Wilbur shook his head. The things people do for love. Tommy seemed to take Wilbur’s head shake as self-depreciation.
“Head up King, your crown is falling. I’m sure some woman will fall in love with you someday. For now, I will leave you with your salmon girlfriend. Just remember to use protection.”
Tommy walked back off from wherever he had come leaving Wilbur standing in the small clearing by the river. A few moments pass and Wilbur feels a hand on his arm. Wilbur looked in the direction of the arm and saw Sally’s smiling face.
“You know you almost got yourself caught.” Wilbur teased, turning to kiss Sally on the cheek.
“He was just so funny.”
“I doubt you would think that if you had to spend more time with him.”
“I don’t know, I think we would find common ground in teasing you.” Sally replied gently, shoving her elbow into Wilbur’s side.
“I think it’s for my benefit that you are worried about meeting my little brother.” Wilbur teased as he sat down.
“I’m not worried about meeting him.” Sally retorted with a sigh as she once again sat down across from Wilbur.
“Sure, and that is why you hid when you heard him coming close.” Wilbur teased.
Sally dramatically pouted and let her shoulder slump. “I’m not worried about meeting your brothers but meeting your little brother means meeting your dad who is the king and…” Sally trailed off waving her hand in circles in the air.
“I’ve already told you they will love you.” Wilbur soothed, reaching out to touch Sally’s hand.
“I know.” Sally sighed. "It's just… you're royalty."
"I've told you before that the titles mean nothing."
"I know. It's hard to break out of the mindset I was raised in. My mom always talked about how, despite how the King and his family acted, he was to be respected and revered."
“I know. That’s why I won’t force you to meet them.” Wilbur replied softly.
Sally sighed as she slid her hand out of Wilbur’s and fell back into my grass. " It's not even that I don't want to meet them, I just need to work my way up to it."
"I know and you can take all the time you need. We have forever."
"But where to even start. You saw how I freaked out when I heard your brother approach."
Wilbur laughed.
Sally pushed herself up into a sitting position and lightheartedly glared at Wilbur.
"All right, all right," Wilbur replied, putting his hands up, "I understand, no laughing."
"There has to be something easier to do first." Sally hummed, leaning back on her hands and looking up into the blue sky in thought. "What if I bring along Funds next time?"
" You don't have to do that. You said he didn't like new people."
"But if I can get him to like you then me meeting someone like your little brother won't be a big deal because if my son can do it I can to."
"If you are sure about me meeting your son."
"I'm sure. Speaking of my son, I should probably go pick him up." Sally replied, picking herself off the ground and shaking off her skirt. "Do you need help cleaning up?"
"No, no, go run along and be with your son." Wilbur replied, starting to pack up the remnants of their picnic.
"I love you, Wilbur." Sally said, blowing a kiss to Wilbur.
"I love you too Sally. Remember, same time next week." Wilbur called after her as she briskly walked away, her skirt moving in the wind."
–
Wilbur smoothed out the quilt once again. Where was she? She was supposed to arrive half an hour ago and Wilbur was starting to worry that Sally decided not to show.
Now, Wilbur didn't think Sally was standing him up on purpose. Sally had mentioned bringing her son along one of the last times they had met and, if she was bringing him, getting the boy who Sally always described as timid to come along can't be easy.
"Fundy, wait up." Wilbur heard Sally's voice call from somewhere in the woods.
Wilbur was about to stand up when a small boy with orange fox ears ran into the clearing, stopping just short of Wilbur's blanket. The two didn't move but stared at each other.
"Do you want to see a magic trick?" Wilbur asked, trying to keep his voice at a whisper so he would keep the boy here long enough for Sally to appear.
The boy tilted his head as if confused at what Wilbur said before he nodded enthusiastically.
Wilbur slowly moved his hand so that it hovered over the grass. Wilbur focused on growing a flower. How the roots connected to a sprout, how the sprout grew and became the bud, and then the bud bloomed into a flower. When Wilbur was done there was a perfect white daisy resting just under his hand.
The boy was staring at the flower, his eyes full of wonder. Wilbur moved his hand to grasp the base of the stem and pulled the stem and flower away from the roots underground before holding the flower out to the body.
He looked between the flower and Wilbur nervously as if he was unsure what to do. Wilbur watches as Sally emerges into the clearing and Wilbur quietly begs her to stay quiet for just a moment longer. Sally’s son slowly reaches out for the flower and takes it from Wilbur's hand.
The boy turns to run away and runs straight into his mother's legs.
"You, okay?" Sally asks as she bends down to the boy's level.
"Mhm, mummy look, the man gave me a flower."
“Now, what do you say, Fundy?” Sally asks, turning Fundy back around to face Wilbur.
“I appre-appreci-” Fundy pauses and looks up at his mom for how to correctly pronounce the word.
“Appreciate.” Sally offers.
Fundy turns back to Wilbur. “I appreciate your kindness.”
“It was my pleasure.” Wilbur replies, offering Sally a cheeky smile.
Before Sally could reply Fundy was pulling on her sleeve.
“Mummy, mummy, look at the flower now.”
Sally took her son's hands in her own and looked at the flower.
“Y’know Funds, I wish someone would give me a flower as beautiful as this.” Sally replied lightheartedly, slightly glaring at Wilbur.
“I think you deserve something that is as beautiful as you are.” Wilbur interjects, with a smirk.
Fundy clumsily removes his hands and the flower from his mother’s hands and scrambles closer to Wilbur and his hands that are hovering just over the ground. Sally is not too far behind Fundy sitting on the ground in front of Wilbur. Wilbur reaches for the seed of the flower waiting in the ground to be given a reason to grow and calls it to him. He wills the stem to reach and pop out through the dirt. Wilbur wills the small bud that reaches out from the stem to bloom in a vibrant red.
Wilbur plucked the flower and held it out over Fundy’s head to Sally. “A rose for the beautiful woman.”
“I think I am more unique than a common rose.” Sally teased, twirling the rose in her hands with a smile.
“My mistake.” Wilbur replied, pulling an orange rose out from behind his back. “How about an orange rose instead?”
“Mummy, it matches your hair!” Fundy exclaimed pointing at the rose in Wilbur’s hand.
“I suppose it does.” Sally replied, reaching out and taking the rose.
“Mummy, you forgot the words.” Fundy said, in an attempted whisper.
“Oh, how could I forget.” Sally said dramatically, causing Fundy to giggle. “I appreciate your grand gesture, Wilbur.”
Fundy gasps and looks between Wilbur and Sally. “You know him, Mummy?”
“This is who I was bringing you out to meet.”
“The boy friend.” Fundy says very seriously.
“Yes, my boyfriend.”
Fundy carefully stands up and walks closer to where Wilbur is kneeling in the grass. “Mummy said that if I want to, I could tell you my name is Fundy.”
Wilbur felt the warmth of being given Fundy’s name and stared at the boy in shock. Sally had told him in the past that Fundy was shy and probably wouldn’t open up to Wilbur right away.
“Hello, Fundy. My name is Wilbur and it has been a pleasure to meet you.” Wilbur replied, reaching out slowly and ruffling Fundy’s hair causing the boy to giggle.
–
Wilbur paced back and forth in the clearing. Wilbur was nervous and was trying to find some calm in the ground beneath his feet and the trees towering above him but the feeling of being connected to everything around him was not the soothing force it once was. The wind seemed to shake his whole body and the grass crumpled under his feet instead of moving for his every step.
The trees all seemed to droop in mourning and the grass and flowers didn’t seem to reach for the sun as they had any other day. Wilbur shook his head and focused on just his steps and counting his breathing. He was sure that his anxiety was projecting onto the plants around him.
It had been a long time since he had worried about Sally deciding he was too eccentric and leaving. He had gotten used to her occasionally getting distracted and being late, with Fundy tagging along sometimes she was even later than she would be even on a day that their dates slipped her mind. Today she was running much later than she ever had before. Wilbur had started to worry that Sally may have gotten too anxious but normally those missed meetings had come with something whispered to him with the use of his true name.
Wilbur had gotten to the clearing with the midday sun shining down directly into the clearing and lighting it up so you could see every living creature that crawled on the ground. Time had ticked on since then and the light was fighting to be seen through the branches and trunks of trees that surrounded Wilbur. With time ticking on and the sun setting there was still not a word from Sally. Wilbur frowned and stopped his pacing to pack up everything he had brought to enjoy with Sally. With the sun dipping below the horizon Wilbur opted to walk home and dwell in his sadness and not just appear in his room like he would any other day. He hoped something had not gone wrong.
–
“Wilbur.” A small voice cried in Wilbur’s ear causing his whole body to warm up.
Wilbur glanced around, looking for whoever called his name but found no one in the castle garden.
“Wilbur,” The voice called again. “Mummy is gone, help.”
Wilbur’s heart clenched. He realized that he knew that voice, it was Fundy. Wilbur stood up quickly shoving his feet back into his shoes. It had been three days since he last heard from Sally, less than a day since they were supposed to meet, and now if Fundy was calling him, sounding terrified, something must have happened.
“Wilbur.” Fundy cried again, sounding even more distraught, as Wilbur stood up from the ground.
Wilbur took a deep breath and let the feeling of the ground devouring him take him to wherever Fundy was calling him from. Wilbur should have been less surprised about appearing in a seemingly normal looking living room, a couch, two bookshelves along the walls, and a rug obviously made for children to play on taking up the center of the room. Just off to the side of the mat was Fundy. The boy was curled up in a ball, his face pressed tightly into his knees.
Wilbur knelt down so he was on the same level as the child before he spoke. “Hey Funs.”
Fundy looked up and at the same moment he spotted Wilbur threw himself into his arms.
Fundy sobbed into Wilbur’s sweater as Wilbur ran his hand through the little boy’s hair.
“It’s going to be okay.” Wilbur whispered, into Fundy’s hair.
Once Fundy’s crying died down, Wilbur shifted them so Fundy was sitting in his lap.
Wilbur gently brushed Fundy’s orange bangs out of his eyes. “Do you wanna tell me what happened?”
Fundy looked as if he was about to cry and Wilbur worried that maybe he made a mistake asking as he held the boy a bit closer.
“Mummy’s gone.” Fundy answered, his bottom lip quivering as if he was about to cry again.
“Do you know where she went?”
Fundy shook his head. “No. She go see you and never come back.”
Wilbur schooled his expression to hide his worry. Sally never made it to him so something must have happened.
“Were you alone all that time, Funds?”
“No, a friend was here before I went sleep.”
“Where is the friend?” Wilbur asked, hoping maybe he could find someone to ask what is going on.
“Gone.”
“Gone?”
“She leave when I sleep.” Fundy replied, as he started to play with the buttons on Wilbur’s jacket.
Wilbur pursed his lips and held in a sigh as he tried to figure out a solution. He couldn’t go look for Sally and stay here with Fundy. There had to be something he could do. Sure, he could probably leave Fundy with someone in town but he didn’t want to leave the young boy who had become his son over the last few months with some random stranger. Wilbur rubbed Fundy’s back as he ran though his options.
He couldn’t just leave Fundy here by himself but at the same time he couldn’t take Fundy with him. Wilbur thought to his family and how maybe they could help. Wilbur didn’t want to exactly explain to anyone what was going on when something had to have happened to Sally. Phil and Techno would both need an explanation before Wilbur ran off. Niki wouldn’t appreciate randomly having a child deposited in her care.
That only left one option. Wilbur sighed. He wished he could just deposit it with one of the other three. He really didn’t want to leave his boy with Tommy but Tommy was the only one who was free and Wilbur could possibly just deposit Fundy in his care.
“Do you want to go meet you uncle, Funds?”
Fundy pouted as he messed with Wilbur’s buttons. “I want my mum.”
“If you spend time with your uncle, I can look for your mum.”
Fundy made a noise of disapproval and buried his face into Wilbur's sweater.
Wilbur sighed. “What if I told you that you could play hide and seek with your uncle?” Wilbur bargained with a smirk.
Tommy was going to hate him for this but the hopefulness on Fundy’s face as he pulled his face out of Wilbur’s sweater would make up for it.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Okay.” Fundy replied, as he put his thumb in his mouth.
Wilbur felt a little bad for Tommy as he whisked Fundy into the castle. Last time Wilbur had played hide and seek with Fundy the boy was missing for hours. In the end Sally had to lure the boy out using candy. Wilbur was honestly just glad the boy had agreed to come along with him.
Wilbur appeared in Tommy’s room causing the other to jump.
“What the fuck Wilbur! Have you never heard of fucking knocking?” Tommy asked, pushing away from his desk and turning around to face Wilbur.
“I didn’t really have the option.” Wilbur replied, shifting Fundy in his arms.
“Wilbur,” Tommy replied, staring at Fundy,” Why do you have a child in your arms. Please tell me you didn’t kidnap him.”
“I didn’t. I just need you to watch him for a little.”
“This is Tommy, Fundy.” Wilbur whispers as he sets Fundy on the ground.
“Tommy?” Fundy whispered clinging onto Wilbur’s jacket. “Hide and Seek?”
“Hide and Seek.” Wilbur replied.
“Fundy smiled and took off giggling before Wilbur could even blink.
Wilbur stood up and smoothed out his clothing.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t have anywhere else to take him. I couldn’t take him with me to look for Sally. If you end up not being able to find him don’t worry, I’ll find him when I get back.” Wilbur explained.
“Wilbur what the fuck.”
“His mom is missing and I have to find her I’ll explain later.” Wilbur replied as he let the wind kick up around him and reappeared in his and Sally’s normal meeting spot.
Wilbur looked up at the sky and the grey clouds that slowly drifted across the sky and turned everything that fell under their shadow into a muted shade of the normal vibrant colors. Wilbur Glanced around the clearing hoping maybe Sally was waiting for him. Wilbur knew that there was no reason for her to come out here and not go home but he hoped that there was a chance she had.
Wilbur sighed and made his way over to the fallen log where he had first met Sally. Wilbur kneeled next to the trunk and reached into it to pull out the brown engraved box the two had hidden inside of it. Other times when Wilbur and Sally could not meet, they had taken to leaving letters or small gifts inside the box. Wilbur was disappointed to find nothing in the box. Wilbur slid the box back into its hiding spot before getting up and dusting the dirt off of his pants.
Wilbur sighed as he walked along the path that he knew Sally took to meet him. Wilbur glanced to the sides of the path. After a bit Wilbur had taken notice the lack of animals that would have normally been scurrying along the path and the lack of birds in the trees and once, he noticed the lack of animals he noticed the silence of the forest that added to his fear that something was wrong.
Wilbur walked to an area where the left side of the path ran next to a river for a moment and let his eyes drift over the water looking for some trinket Sally might have dropped and that's where he saw it.
A mass of bright orange water lilies floating down the river. Wilbur felt the air leave his lungs and felt the silence absorb him more than it already had. It was as if his heart stopped.
Normally he wouldn’t think twice about flowers floating on the water. These were different. He could tell. The flowers were her. They had been her. Wilbur forced air into his lungs as he watched the flowers float barely moving on the water.
Wilbur wasn’t sure what he was to do next but he did know one thing. He needed to return to Fundy. Wilbur let the wind spin around him as his knees buckled and he reached out to grab one of the water lilies but only found air.
Wilbur knees hit the hard wooden floor as soon as he reappeared in Tommy’s room.
“Wil! Are you okay?” Tommy asked, immediately dropping to the floor next to Wilbur.
“She’s gone.” Wilbur whispered.
Tommy opens his mouth as if to speak but is cut off by the sound of little footsteps running into the room.
“Wilbur! Look what I found!” Fundy cheered, as he plopped himself on the ground in front of Wilbur.
Wilbur went to put a small fake smile on for the boy but found himself actually smiling when he sees the barely held together crown of dandelions on the boy’s head.
“What did you find, Funds?”
“Flowers! I made a crown! Mummy taught me how. She said you do better.” Fundy said messing with the bundle of dandelions he still held in his hands.
Tommy huffed as if he wanted to protest how well Wilbur could make flower crowns.
“Really?” Wilbur asked, as he shifted the crown so it sat better on Fundy’s head.
“Mhm, she tolds me to ask my dad to make me one.” Fundy replied, holding out the dandelions to Wilbur.
“Dad?” Tommy made a noise of confusion and Wilbur knew he was going to have to explain this all sooner rather than later.
“How about we go outside and I’ll make you a really nice one.” Wilbur suggested.
“Ok!” Fundy replied, quickly getting up and running over to the door to see if Wilbur was following.
“Go ahead, I’ll be right behind you.” Wilbur reasured.
Fundy took off running again, his footsteps echoing down the halls.
“Dad?” Tommy asked again.
“It’s complicated, I’ll explain later.” Wilbur replied as he hoisted himself off the ground with a ground before following where Fundy had gone.
“You can’t just fucking say that and leave.”
“I can and I did.” Wilbur shouted back as he continued to walk away.