Swept Away by Sweetness

02. Knee-High to a Grasshopper

Y/n had been known for a few things. Their love of sweet treats and music were the most commonly thought of, but another was of their height. It was a fact that often embarrassed them, but they weren't able to do anything about the fact that they were barely five feet tall. The guests would poke and prod at them while they valiantly attempted to reach shelves of laundry to no avail, but they'd always succumb to helping the poor soul eventually.

It was obvious that what Y/n lacked in height, Willy contained. Sure, he wasn't taller, or stronger, or quicker than most people, but when the bar to being taller than Y/n was as high as half a bookshelf, the assignment was extremely simple.

It didn't take long for Willy to realize how Y/n felt about their height, and on numerous occasions, he avoided asking questions about it. Whenever they required an item they couldn't reach, Willy would just reach over, swipe it off the shelf, and hand it to them.

As of the moment, Y/n was in the library—a place frequently visited by them and Noodle. Willy had run off with the little girl, leaving Y/n alone momentarily. "Y/n, me and Noodle are going to look at the fantastical-" he started, but was interrupted.

"Fantasy," Noodle corrected.

Willy glanced at her before turning back to Y/n, "Yes, fantasy. We're going to that section. If you need any help, please ask me!"

Y/n scoffed, "Yeah, yeah, I'm not that short," they rolled their eyes. Willy didn't mean to offend them and was about to apologize before being pulled away by Noodle. Y/n was used to the teasing and was just joking with him, but Willy wasn't very good at sarcasm.

Y/n roamed around aimlessly, brushing their fingertips along the rows of neatly displayed books. Occasionally, they'd pick out an interesting-looking one and skim through it.

They found themselves dancing with Cinderella in the hopes of catching a certain prince's eye one moment and sailing the seven seas alongside Captain Ahab in an attempt to capture a certain Moby-Dick the next. Another book, this time with a neatly bound but well-used burgundy cover, led down a rabbit hole and into dining with a mad hatter. They chuckled at how familiar the character was in comparison to a certain chocolatier they knew and loved.

Something about the thought of chocolate and a chapter about tea parties made an appetite rise in Y/n's stomach. Their hunger seemed to consume them from the inside out as they reminisced on the bread-and-butter Alice had remarked serving herself. They laid a hand on their rumbling belly before wandering into a section full to the brim with cookbooks. Each spine boasted words of comfort for the modern housewife and often contained bland recipes.

Unimpressed by the options, they slid into the seat of an empty table and waited for Noodle and Willy to eventually come around. They found the wait longer than expected and preoccupied themselves by tapping their feet and picking at the faded magenta fabric lining the seat of their chair.

"Everything alright here?" Y/n looked up to find the librarian at the other end of the table.

"Everything's fine, Dorothy. Just a bit bored," they shrugged.

Dorothy scoffed, "Bored? In a library? There's—"

"A whole world of possibilities," Y/n finished. "You haven't met him yet, but there's also a chocolatier who stole my little girl; he says that a lot too," they continued.

Dorothy quirked a brow, "Stolen? Chocolatier? Here I thought you weren't reading books," she said, collecting the stray novels Y/n had kept on the table.

"My imagination is just fine, thank you very much. And I'm not making them up," Y/n responded, fed up but still amused by the librarian's accusations.

"Whatever you say, dear. Besides, the best way to spend time in a library is to read," she gestured to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland—which Y/n had just been reading—for emphasis. "I'm sure something will catch your eye," she added. Once that was said and done, the woman left with the pile of books in her arms.

"Something will catch my eye, huh?" Y/n thought aloud, eyes glancing over the section once more. But this time, something did catch their eye. "Huh..." they cocked their head to the left as they stared at the peculiar book.

The minuscule blue thing stood out in the sea of reds and browns. Y/n was drawn closer and ended up right in front of its shelf. They reached up just to find the familiar situation of not quite grasping it. They carefully balanced on their tip-toes, but the endeavor was to no avail as their fingertips barely brushed the spine's bottom edge. As one last attempt, they jumped up just to find themselves at eye level with the book.

They gasped and looked down to find Willy grinning like a lunatic up at them, his arms wrapped around their midsection. Deciding not to put such an effort to waste, they hastily grabbed the book and asked, "Could you put me down, please?"

Willy obliged, setting them down with a pat on the head and a light kiss. Y/n tried their best not to blush as red as Willy's coat, but they could only last so long. "Thank you," they blurted out as Noodle arrived.

"Don't just disappear like that, Willy," Noodle panted.

"Well, Y/n needed my assistance, how could I not?" he responded innocently.

"'cause you're always staring at Y/n," Noodle rolled her eyes.

Willy blushed after being called out, but he didn't refute the statement. "What book are you looking at, Y/n?" he asked instead.

They looked down intently at the cover. A lacy red bookmark hung loosely from the spine. Overtop the pastel blue book were seven words in golden lettering, "A Guide to All Chocolates and Confections," they read aloud. "I thought you might like it, Willy."

He gently took the book from Y/n and smiled as he flipped through the pages. "These look delicious... no, better than delicious; they look scrumdiddlyumptious!" he exclaimed, pleased by the probably-made-up word. "I hope I'll be able to read all of this someday."

"Of course, you will," Y/n reassured. "And when you do—" they pointed at a drawing of a woman dressed in an apron in the book "—I'm sure you'll be a great housewife!"

"Hey! While I'd make for an excellent housewife, I think I'd be more of a factory owner," he smirked.

"Not if I have my way," Y/n said with a sing-songy tinge in their voice.

･ ─── °•*⁀➷  ꒦꒷♥꒷꒦  *ೃ༄ ─── ･

Suffice it to say, it didn't take long for Willy to own a factory. Whether he was a housewife or not, he still loved Y/n, but he always brought up in passing the idea of them being his "housewife". And how could you possibly hold a grudge against Willy?

~•~

1183 words

"Willy Wonka x (GN!short!) Reader—Requested by Pure_Jackass69 These are so fun to write! I'm working on more as we speak, but I have some school stuff going on so forgive me if it takes a bit.

Fun Fact of the Day: The invention of popping candy is attributed to the chemist William A. While working on a method to produce instant carbonation in powdered form for soda drinks, he inadvertently discovered the formula for creating popping candy.

Vote if you liked it, comment your thoughts, and I'll see you, dear readers, next chapter!"

- Coffee