stormy weather (dreamnotfound)

chapter 22 - desolate

I woke up to an abrupt yelling in my ear, followed by the covers being yanked off of me. The sun was pouring through the open blinds, creating a very unappealing environment to wake up in. I immediately shivered and stuffed my face into my pillow.

"Wake up, Davidson!" Wilbur called, standing up completely straight at the end of my bed and giving me a salute.

I scoffed and kicked my legs around. I wished he would've just forgotten about the trip like he has in the past. Today he seemed to have gotten his act together for once, and I was left to pay the price.

"Is this a fucking army training camp?" I shouted before chucking a pillow at him. I was surprised when he somehow caught it, and I buried my face in my hands as he ran towards me to whack me with it.

My yelling soon turned into fits of giggles as I grabbed another pillow and joined in on the fight. He jumped onto the bed beside me and smacked me across the face with the pillow, making me gasp and fight back a smile.

"Two can play that game," I laughed before smushing his face between two pillows. I took my chance to stand up and run across the room, taking one with me. He recovered quickly and launched one at me. I squealed as I toppled over, thankful the pillow cushioned my fall.

Dust surrounded us in the streaks of sunlight with every hit, causing me to cough and wheeze in-between laughter. He chased me towards the door and hit me a few times to stop me from opening it. My face was stuck in a permanent smile while we played, my past irritation having been wiped away with every strike of the pillow. I managed to crawl between his legs and run back to my bed, sweeping the covers over my head right after I chucked one last pillow at him.

"Alright, alright, you win," he laughed while I felt the end of the bed sink down as he sat. I pushed the covers down and pulled myself so I was sitting next to him. He reached over to ruffle my hair, making me scrunch up my nose in annoyment. I stood up and started picking up the pillows.

"Did that count as bonding time? Can we please not go fishing?" I asked as I placed a pillow under my arm, raising my eyebrows hopefully.

His smile got even bigger. "Nope. Everyone needs to know how to fish."

"What do you mean! I don't even eat fish!" I whined while plopping down on my bed.

He threw the pillows behind me, letting them hit the headboard and land in place at the top of the bed. Then he sat down next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I promise it'll be fun!"

I glared at his hand before swiping it off. "Fishing in the glaring sun, on a rickety boat, looking at the musty poop water all day? No thanks."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "We can talk about Fiona," he suggested as he nudged me in the side a bit.

"What! No! Gross." I stood up quickly from the bed and ran into my closet, shutting the door behind me. I listened to his laughter through the door as I started to rummage through my clothes.

-

"This smells like shit!" I exclaimed as I stared at the muddy pair of boots he tossed me, scrunching my face up to avoid the smell.

Wilbur lead me out to the garden behind the castle, the tall grass surrounding an extensive pond with a variety of fish inhabiting it. It was a pretty cloudy day for late spring, the sun's attempts at shining through the clouds was making it bright and overcast, forcing my eyes to stay squinted. I leaned over on the dock and peered into the murky water, a disgusted look plastered across my face while I stared at the repulsive glow it gave off.

He walked up and patted my back a few times, making me jump. "You're lucky I'm letting you use such language," he laughed, making me roll my eyes.

"Actually, please shut your asshole. You drop f bombs at every council meeting you attend, and don't even get me started on the amount of times you've cursed when you thought I wasn't around." He shut his mouth and held back a laugh while I crossed my arms disappointedly, shaking my head like my mother would.