Wilbur and Gulliver's First Meeting

-5-

A few more hours pass, and before Wilbur knows it, dinner is ready. He is alerted through the radio, with Orville's voice telling him to come into the kitchen. It only occurs to him now that neither him nor Gulliver have eaten anything for most of the day. He glances at Gulliver, who is still in bed next to him, lying on his back and covered with the blankets.

"Come on, Gully." Wilbur announces. "It's time for dinner."

"Really? Can't I just wait five more minutes?" Gulliver pleads. "I'm so cozy here...how about you bring me dinner in bed?"

"Gulliver, no. We don't allow that here. Now come with me into the kitchen, or I'm gonna eat without you."

Luckily, this seems to convince Gulliver. The sailor reluctantly agrees, and he slowly gets himself out of bed.

"Alright, good." Wilbur replies. "You can follow me."

He walks out of his room and down the hallway, with Gulliver following suit. When they reach the kitchen, the door is closed. Wilbur opens it without even knocking. Orville is standing behind the counter, making sure the food is ready.

"Hello there, you two!" Orville exclaims as they walk inside. "Take your seats at the table. Now, Gulliver, I hope you like pasta. I went the easy route for cooking tonight."

"Oh, that's totally fine!" Gulliver assures him. "I'll eat pretty much anything."

"Well, that's good to hear. Just wait one second...I'll bring you the food."

Wilbur is surprised at Orville's initiative, since his brother had both cooked the food and set the entire table. It's as if they're at a restaurant or something. He and Gulliver sit down at the table, taking seats next to each other.

A minute later, Orville gives each of them a steaming hot plate of pasta. It is spaghetti in marinara sauce that is sprinkled with little bits of cheese. The two wait to start eating until Orville has taken a seat with his own food.

The pasta isn't the best Wilbur has ever eaten, but he doesn't think it's that bad. After all, he knows he can only set the bar so high with his own brother's cooking. He occasionally glances at Gulliver, who is shoveling it into his mouth. He had worried a bit at first about the sailor's table manners, but he is relieved to see that he was wrong. Although Gulliver is eating quickly, he keeps his napkin in his lap and doesn't spill his food.

The three have a brief discussion at the table, but they mostly focus on eating their food. Wilbur suddenly feels a bit guilty for not feeding Gulliver earlier. He knows that was his responsibility, and he had failed to deliver. However, when he brings it up to apologize, Gulliver expresses no concern. The sailor puts the blame on himself, mentioning that he had simply forgotten to eat lunch.

...

Gulliver finishes his dinner first, followed by Wilbur. Orville, though, still has half his plate left. He is twirling the spaghetti like Wilbur has seen folks do in fancy restaurants.

"You guys can leave, you know," he tells them. "I'll stay here and finish."

"Orville, please...you don't have to." Wilbur replies. "I'll help you clean up the kitchen."

"Wilbur, I insist. I want you to spend time with your lover tonight. Although tomorrow night, you're doing all the dishes."

"All right, fine. That's a deal." Wilbur stands up from his chair. "Come on, Gulliver."

The two slowly leave the kitchen, waving goodbye to Orville. Wilbur wonders if Gulliver will bring up the 'lover' thing Orville had said, but the sailor doesn't do so. They head back to Wilbur's room, and Gulliver immediately climbs back into bed.