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Gale… the omen. “Hey, Wim.”
Wilheim paled. The avocado tree to the side of him seemed INCREDIBLY interesting. “So, Matern and I were looking at the cameras we all installed yesterday.” Wilheim could see every bug on the tree. “Mhm?”
“Yeah, we saw who was putting the flowers there!” Gale said enthusiastically. “What? Nooo…” Wilheim chuckled nervously. The shade of brown of the bark was so intriguing. “They had your hat! And a sword exactly like yours!” Gale continued. There was another question loading up, one that Wilheim was so ready to deny, but was he really ready to deny it?? “That's crazy.” Wilheim mumbled. He moved himself to see the other side of the tree, where it was a slightly lighter shade of rivetingly interesting brown. There was a few more obvious prompts from Gale, before he asked the question.
“So, we were thinking. Not many people wear a hat like yours, and have two swords like you. But you were with us when we were setting them up! So it couldn't have been you, cause you knew about them… right?” “Thats… yeah, so confusing.” Wilheim started inspecting the base of the tree, where the roots were meeting the ground. Gale looked down at him, hesitantly. “Are you- busy or something?” Wilheim looked up, cleared his throat and then stood again, plastering on a fake confident smile. “Busy? Pfft. No. Who's busy? Never met em!” He fake-laughed heartily at his stupid joke, before turning to look at Deimos with a terrified expression on his face, and then back to Gale with that same grin. Weird phenomena presented itself at the most opportune times. Gale was suddenly whisked away around 50 blocks, close to where Izar was, and Wilheim took this moment to slip away to Shining Manor, unknown to anyone nearby.
Only one person was nearby Shining Manor. Matern. Wilheim took a deep breath, straightened his jacket, and walked towards the barn, where she was lurking, and on second thoughts, removed his jacket and hung it on a post outside the barn. The waistcoat stayed on. He climbed the ladder, and knocked on the door. There was the sound of panicked rummaging from behind the door. “No one’s home!” Matern’s voice sounded shaky, as if she was nervous or anxious. He knocked again. “I said no one’s home!” She repeated, more shrilly. Wilheim leaned against the side of the door frame. “Are you ok?” There was a sigh. “I… no?”
“Can I come in?”
“Give me a sec, I need to get changed.” She sighed again and there was more movement, and then she opened the door, looking resigned. Without waiting for him to come in, she turned and sat on the sleeping bag and blanket, chin tucked over her knees. Wilheim swallowed.
“So- Gale and I were talking abou-” “About the cameras- yeah, I know.” She finished his sentence. Wilheim sat in the corner opposite her. “We were discussing whether the figure you saw was actually me and… It was.”
They were both silent for at least 20 seconds, with Matern burying her head between her knees, letting out a small groan. “Man, now I know how it feels when Gale bluescreens.” Wilheim chuckled, despite his entire body being SO tense. As the chuckles faded, Matern spoke again. “So what is it? What’s the joke?” Wilheim’s smile faded somewhat. “The- what?” Matern looked shyly at him. “What’s the catch? What- I don’t know, what do I have that you want?” Wilheim was baffled. “Your… uh, your trust and, um, affection, I guess.” “No, like, the punchline. Without the sentiment, or whatever.” Matern clarified, another look in her eyes, which Wilheim realised was concern, and just a small amount of fear. Fear of getting her heart broken, fear of trusting a human, fear of… well, him.
Wilheim got to his knees and shuffled forwards, and held out his hand. Matern hesitantly took hold of it, and Wilheim brought his other hand to clasp both of hers. “I promise. This is real.” The concern and fear slowly retreated in her eyes, and was replaced by a mystified, curious, excited sparkle. A smile crept in. “Really?” Wilheim nodded insistently. “So real.” Her smile grew. It was just so beautiful. Matern grabbed her hands back, and hugged her knees, burying her face in them again, a muffled squeal coming from her, and her feet tippy-tapped as she struggled to contain her emotions. Wilheim slowly rose to his feet, chuckling at her reaction. Matern jumped up, face scarlet, almost hopping to restrain her excitement. God, I just want to hug you right now. And kiss you. Her thoughts were running at a billion miles an hour, and she just wanted to hug and hold him and she was just so happy that he felt the same. He took Matern’s hand, and they went outside, looking for Gale, who had turned up at some point. They let go of each other briefly as they found Gale, which went as expected.
“Are you ok!?” Gale came running over, or as much as he could run. Matern fell on the ground, lightheaded, and started giggling to herself quietly, seeing Wilheim do the same. “What did he do to you??” Gale protested, staring at Wilheim, as Matern staggered back to her feet, leaning on Wilheim as she continued giggling. “Ask me tomorrow-” Matern swayed, and both her and Wilheim burst out laughing. Gale swatted her arm, uncertainty on his face. “So, what happened…?” Wilheim took her hand again, and Gale’s circuits shorted. “OH MY GODDD!”
After waiting a few minutes for Gale to stop hyperventilating, they chatted some more and Gale headed off to babysit some troublesome kids. With that, Wilheim picked Matern up off the ground, and carried her inside of Shining manor, for the sole reason of wanting to have her close to him. They couldn’t stop looking at each other.
They flopped in Wilheim’s room, and sighed in unison, and started laughing again. Lying on their sides, they looked into each other's eyes, red into purple, and talked about everything. From how Kian and Strawberry would interact, to how they’d tell Emissary, and how he’d protect her from the poachers asking her to return, all interspersed with the cheesiest, clumsy lines about how pretty and lovely she was.
After they’d run out of words, they just lay there, staring at each other, fighting the urge to look at each other’s lips. Wilheim took her hands and, removing her gloves, kissed them, making Matern squirm around and kick her legs. She giggled at her reaction, and sighed, and with a mischievous grin, lowered his hat over his eyes, and kissed him on his smooth cheek.
Wilheim felt his insides grow hot, feeling a rush of adrenaline and excitement as she kissed him, and he pulled her in close, holding her tight. I lov- His brain paused the thought. The words were right there. On the tip of his tongue. Too soon.
Not yet.
They fell asleep together, Matern nestled on his chest, curled up comfortably. Wilheim hadn’t known a happier day.