You're safe with me | Schlattbur/Schlatt x Wilbur | smplive

Chapter 2

The chatter of town is loud enough that it'll drown out all thoughts and questions, but I didn't run into a single person while jogging towards my station. Only soft wind and drizzle kissed my bare wrist, and when I looked down at them I noticed my pastel yellow sweater had turned into white cloth, and leather, which was slightly oversized on me. The mass amount of detail put into this game was amazing. It was sensory. I noticed how even though every piece of cloth smells earthy, like a forest after it rains, the air smelled of spices, and morning dew, a subtle, but sweet scent I knew all too well. It was the same fragrance everything had when I first joined the game. It wasn't addicting, but it was comforting. It was a piece of me and my ideal life. Though vcd really is just an excuse for me to live out those ideals, and still be able to make money. Money was only the cherry on top, but I still had to work for it. Work was the reason why I was here now. To perform my shift at the bakery with Traves. I should probably hurry then.

So I sprinted until I almost tripped over my own feet, and could feel amused eyes burning into my back, followed by hushed chuckles, and comments. I could hear my leather sandals slap against the rocky path that made up a makeshift road to each shop, and every step seemed to follow the rhythm of my pulse that was throbbing in my head. But soon enough, I had arrived at the bakery and felt a small blue box materialize in my hands with a flash of white as I stepped inside. That let me know I had arrived on time. I opened the box, with little effort, and a crooked smile painted on my face, as I watched a stream of water like substance flow into my veins, as a small tab in the top corner of my vision appeared that showed a small amount of progress going up on my xp bar.

"Wilbur! I was worried you weren't going to show up," I heard a familiar voice call from behind me, "Nice one, you almost missed that 25 XP!" I almost let out a small laugh, at Traves's seemingly permanent enthusiasm, as I turned around to see him looking the same as always. Curly black hair, that nearly covered up a pair of round, topaz and cream-colored dog ears, that were perked up in an eager like manner, and dark brown eyes that were sparkling with innocence and purity. He too had on an outfit of white cloth, and leather, but his was much bigger on him, covering up his hands entirely, even with the sleeves rolled up a bit.
"Well I'm here now, aren't I? All that matters now is work," I replied cheerfully, with a genuine smile at the end of my sentence. Traves simply hummed and nodded in agreement, already taking rye flour from the ingredient counter, that would be used to make rye bread for lower-level players who couldn't afford Manchet. Making food was pretty easy in vr. It was just like normal cooking, but things don't take as long to mix and bake, even though wooden spoons and fire lit ovens were much worse technologically than what you would use normally. As we fell into our usual routine, I let Traves combine most of the ingredients, and put them in the oven, while I took them out, and checked them off as ready to sell. Everything was peaceful, and the energy was high, yet calm.

It was like any other hour of my shift when Ty walked through the door with a wooden basket in his right hand, and a list in his left. He was out of breath and had on a pink sweater, which was odd for anyone in the game to have. Pigment was expensive, which was why most people wore white, and design patterns were limited, so it had to have been loomed by him, or one of his friends. I wonder if Schlatt made it? I thought to myself for a second before shaking my head. That's ridiculous! Someone of his status wouldn't loom his own clothes, much less, loom for others. It made no sense to be thinking about Schlatt anyways. Ty was here, and he needed something. My only purpose is to serve Ty and continue my job, so I just need to act like I always do.

    "Hey Ty, how are you? What would you like to purchase this fine evening?" I called out to him with a friendly smile, and tone, after I got myself together. "I'm doing great, just need to buy uh..." he shuffled his papers around awkwardly
mid-sentence, trying his best not to keep me waiting, "manchet! I need one loaf of manchet and a bucket of whole milk." I raised one eyebrow while staring straight at him, the rest of my body half turned to the right, until he realized his mistake. "Oh uh, I guess you don't even sell milk, right? Haha..." I almost instantly felt bad for him after hearing his saddened tone. "Ted has a stand, remember? He's right next to me in front of the dairy parlor," I reminded him, hoping to cheer him up a bit. "Yes, Ted, right! Thanks for reminding me, Wilbur. I've been out of it all day, it's just kind of hard to think I guess," he responded shyly, with a small smile. "It's my pleasure," I told him
half-jokingly, bowing my head. To that, Ty simply smiled.

    Since everything had been resolved, I went ahead and picked up the last loaf of manchet we had on the counter. "Trav! Can you make some more manchet? We're out," I called out to him from across the room. "Can't," he yelled back, "we're all out of wheat." I sighed quietly to myself. I really didn't want to go down to the fields this late at night, but there weren't really any other options. I'll worry about that later though. Right now, I need to give Ty his manchet. "Here you go, that'll be €13," I told him while giving him the loaf of warm bread in my hands. "Thank you, Wilbur!" He called from over his shoulder, already running towards the dairy parlor, from the moment he had tossed the colored currency at me.

    I took my time fixing my hair and putting away the money I had earned today before I knew I couldn't procrastinate any longer. It was already sunset, and it was a long walk to the fields. If you're wondering, because of popular demand carriages were added to the game, but they cost 10 Schlatt Coins. 10! I've been grinding since the update, and I've just barely managed to get 1. So I was forced to walk, and that would take time. We needed wheat though, so with a grudge, I yelled to Traves. "Trav! I'm going to go get some wheat from the fields, so you need to run the whole shop while I'm gone. Is that alright with you?"
I looked over at him to make sure he was paying attention and was met with his warm brown eyes, and a nod. "Yeah, that's cool. Try to be safe while you're out though, it's looking kinda spooky right now." I gave him a smile, and a thumbs-up, and with that, we exchanged farewells before I was off running towards the wheat fields, which just so happened to be near Schlatt's rumored home.

    The whole town was eerily empty at night, and slowly blended into tall grass, and paths made by other players of flattened vegetation. I almost jumped at the sound of a crow flying off of a cedar tree, as it was the only sound I'd heard in a while aside from the mesmerizingly annoying and repetitive sound of cicadas and crickets. The smell here was very different from the sweet scent of town. Everything had this sharp aura and reeked of juniper, and tree sap. But soon enough, I saw a line of street lamps flicker on from beside me. I had crossed over into the Nature Kingdom. This meant the crop farms were nearby. So I picked up my previous pace, which had fallen into a heavy, and slow jog, and began to sprint across the endless grass poking at my shins and ankles like sewing needles. Then like a starved man seeing a 5-course meal, I gasped in awe at the sight of what I had searched for all this time. Wheat.

    I was about to run into the farm with my twine basket, and collect all the wheat I could when I had a strange sense that someone was watching me. Or more like a group of people. It was unsettling and unexplainable. But instead of running, or calling for help, I just shrugged it off, and kept walking towards the farm, and everything was fine for a while. It was just me, a tall and lanky British boy by himself in the middle of an empty field at night. Nothing could go wrong, right? As soon as my thought finished, they attacked.