Not a Fan (Wilbur Soot)

Rori

"That's chocolate chip guy." Her friend said with a smile that made Wilbur melt. "Wilbur." She repeated, testing out the name with a small nod. Now Wilbur was truly melting, completely slouched down in his seat. He desperately replayed her saying his name over and over again, never getting enough.

An incoming call from Niki interrupted the video. 

Wilbur blinked hard at his screen for a moment, feeling his phone's vibrations traveling through his fingers and up his forearm. With one more blink, he clicked the small green answer button, Niki's smiling face filling his screen immediately. He barely even noticed her face shift to a giggle as he was focused on his flushed complexion in the corner of the video call. 

"So I'm guessing you watched my stream with Rori?" Niki's question rang with light-hearted chuckles. 

"Rori." Wilbur repeated, trailing a hand through his unkempt hair. He had been trying desperately to remember what Niki said her name was, unsuccessful until now. He didn't even realize he was smiling until Niki pointed it out. 

"You two are going to be impossible to be around, huh? Can't even stop smiling just thinking about her." Niki teased, pulling the phone close to her face as if she was inspecting him. 

"I-I actually didn't get to see the stream with Rori." Wilbur started, fighting off the smile as he casually used her name like they were friends. He still couldn't believe she was real, that she had a name. "I just saw bits and pieces that I was tagged in on Twitter." He half-lied, knowing he had been searching for them more than he was sent. 

"But I'm guessing you did see the part where she serenaded your photo on my shelf?"  Niki's amusement was clear in her words. Despite teasing Wilbur for his perpetual smile, hers hadn't left her face either. 

"Mhm." Wilbur hummed, closing his eyes as he leaned his head against the headrest on his seat. He opened his eyes slowly, listening to Niki's laugh while watching the rain fall on his sunroof. Wilbur mindlessly reached up and wrote 'rory' in the condensation fogging the glass. 

"What did you just do?" Niki asked, making Wilbur suddenly aware of his slightly cringe action. Without a word he flipped his camera and pointed it up at the fog. Niki squinted for a moment as the camera slowly focused on the name he had written. 

"You misspelled it you idiot." Niki scoffed with a laugh. "It's r-o-r-i !" She emphasized the final letter. Wilbur was thankful the camera was flipped when an embarrassed rosy hue covered his cheeks. He sloppily ran his warm palm over the cool, wet glass, removing any remnant of her name. 

"Well she pronounced my name Wil-ber and not Wil-buh and you didn't correct her." Wilbur scoffed back, readjusting his phone against his steering wheel. He actually found it cute the way her accent found it's way into his name. He loved the way she said it, it made him feel like he was hearing it for the first time. 

"You both are such dorks. Why are you in your car anyway?" Niki asked, pivoting the conversation. 

Wilbur looked at his surroundings, suddenly aware of the blaring heat coming at him in full force, the seatbelt that was pinning him in place, the fog covering all the windows and not just his sunroof. He turned off the heat and cracked a few windows, the cool air and smell of rain flowing into his car with the wind that pushed rouge droplets against his forearm. 

"I don't know." He stuttered, continuing to look around. "I think I was going to go to your place." He admitted, returning his gaze to the phone. He was met with Niki's face portraying a quizzical expression. 

"I wanted to see her before she left." Wilbur confessed, his hand returning to it's position in his hair, his fingers tangled in brunette curls. 

"Well, that ship sailed like an hour ago." Niki smiled, the confusion leaving her face.