Not a Fan (Wilbur Soot)

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"Actually, I have a good question. What color is your voice? I know I'm green, Tom was red, and Toby was yellow. You never said what yours was though." Wilbur continued to smile while Aurora's face fell flat.

Damn it. Why did he have to ask that? Why did he have to remind her? 

"Pass." She spoke quickly, looking over to the exit. They must be close to their building, she could probably walk home at this point. It must've been after midnight too. She made her own schedule, so waking up early wasn't a necessity per se, but she didn't want to make a habit of staying up late. Plus, she was had no idea how to bounce back from that.

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't know I shouldn't ask that." Wilbur's voice was so sweet and hurt, swimming across the empty space between them like a desperate plea. 

"Don't worry about it." Aurora sighed, facing Wilbur again. Her lips pressed together in a thin line as she took another sip of tea. The flavorless tea came to her lips in a nearly cold splash. The fries were strange too. If it weren't for Wilbur, she probably would've never come into this place, maybe that was for the  best. 

"Um, it's getting pretty late. Do you work tomorrow?" Wilbur asked, already grabbing his jacket off the bench. It wasn't that she wanted to leave Wilbur, it was- well, she didn't really know. The music wasn't too loud, Wilbur's company was nice, the conversation was flowing until... that. 

"Yeah, sorry." Aurora was beginning to feel guilty. It really wasn't his fault for asking. It used to be one of her favorite questions. Everything was different now. 

"Don't apologize, really. I'm pretty tired myself- long day with the guys." Wilbur slid to the edge of the booth, waving to the bartender from before. The man, Rob, seemed nice enough. A bit rough around the edges, but he seemed to have a good heart.

"You two ready for the check or to start drinking?" His dark teal voice echoed across the empty lounge as he walked over. 

"Can you put it on my tab? We're heading out." Wilbur walked to meet him in the center of the room. Aurora stood, walking over to look at the shame wall once more, hoping to find some of the happiness she felt earlier when seeing the embarrassing photos of Wilbur. 

"Again? Really?" Wilbur sighed, walking back to the booth to retrieve his jacket before meeting Aurora at the wall. 

"I want to frame this one." She smiled, pointing to a different photo of Wilbur. In this one there were two men around him, each with drunken grins and rosy cheeks, giving the camera a thumbs up. Wilbur was fully slouched back in a chair, the large white hat sitting crooked on his head. The photo had a note written on the top in black sharpie, 'Wilbur after Lovejoy's first concert'. 

"Yeah, on my death bed." Wilbur scoffed. He laid the same jacket around her shoulders, his arm lingering a bit as he lowered it to his side. 

"I mean it, I want to frame that. Or I could put it on my fridge. You know, like a proud mom framing her son's report card." Aurora smiled, the feeling of dread from before already melting away. 

"Did- Did you just refer to me as your son?" Wilbur asked, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "You realize I'm like, two years older than you, right?" 

"You can go ahead and take that love. I'm sure he'll replace it with a new one after his show next week." Rob called out, clearly eavesdropping from behind the bar. 

"No, she cannot!" Wilbur emphasized. He reached out and grabbed Aurora's hand that was reaching for the photo. 

"Come on!" She pleaded through a laugh, following Wilbur to the door as he pulled her along.