A/N: This was my first CatCF fic I've ever written, and it's accompanied with an AU. I hope you enjoy this.
Lapse of Judgment
-3-
If Willy Wonka is being completely honest with himself(and he always is, 100%), he sometimes has lapses in judgment. Sometimes he has candy ideas that nobody seems to like, including the Oompa Loompas, which is unfortunate. Other times, he overestimates his dear Oompas' durability, which is even more unfortunate(he's ruined many an Oompa friendship).
However, this lapse of judgment has him thoroughly and utterly stuck.
While having his semi-annual haircut, he discovered a strand of silver hair hanging off of his shoulder. As he and his Oompa barber stared into the blinding whiteness of it, Wonka realized something:
He needed to find an heir.
Not just one heir, though. More than one. Five at the most. That would be enough to run everything consecutively, and still be able to run individual things. Yes, he would get a few heirs.
He had his Oompas search the orphanages for children who looked like they needed a pick-me-up, a better environment and outlook. They searched night and day…
And then they discovered Augustus Gloop.
Augustus was stationed in a Bavarian(Wonka stiffened at the name of the country) orphanage. He was very porky, a wide stomach and thick, meaty skin. Both of his parents were dead, his father from a butcher accident and his mother from overeating from grief. He was found in his house crying over his mother's dead body.
Wonka felt for the little(in height) German boy. He had only known his mother for four years. He couldn't imagine having her disappear forever after twelve.
Next, they discover Veruca Salt.
Veruca was dropped off in front of a girls' home in London, England after a tragic bankruptcy in her family's nut business. Apparently, her mother gambled away all of their money in a casino while drunk, ywhich thoroughly murdered their business. Her father, now completely poor and therefore unable to take care of his daughter, used the last of the cash he had on hand to situate her in a place where she would be looked after until he could properly care for her again.
Veruca was nine and a half when she first arrived. She'll be twelve soon.
Wonka feels very bad for the little girl. He's heard of the Salts before, they were just under him in terms of popularity and prosperity. He couldn't imagine losing that much money in one night, nor having to part from his beloved Oompa Loompas.
They manage to consecutively find Violet Beauregarde and Mike Teavee, respectively.
Violet Beauregarde just turned ten a month ago. She got into a terrible car accident with her father, who unfortunately didn't make it. Her mother, for reasons unknown, left her at an orphanage in Atlanta, Georgia, and hasn't come back for her since.
Mike Teavee, age nine, is a different story. The only information he has in his records, besides name, age, and birthday, is that he just showed up at the orphanage in Denver, Colorado one day with two bags, one full of two changes of clothes, a pair of Chuck Taylors, and a toothbrush; the other filled with various video games, chargers, a laptop, and a smartphone.
Both of these stories confuse Wonka. Why did Violet's mother abandon her? Why haven't Mike's parents gone looking for him? Well, no matter, he'd be taking these kids under his wing anyway.
The search for the fifth child seemed to be futile, so Wonka decided he would find them on the way back to the factory.
He makes arrangements and sets the coordinates in his elevator, and leaves in the evening.
Augustus is fairly easy to convince, given that he has heard of the man and loves what he does and the things he makes. Wonka suspects that he'd eat them for every meal if he still could. Wonka instructed Augustus to get his things and invited him into his elevator. The chubby ginger boy can barely speak English, so Wonka engages him in a conversation about which Wonka Bar flavor is the best in fluent German as they fly to London.
Veruca is a little harder to convince. The young British brunette still holds on to the hope that her father could come back for her, regardless of the fact that Mr. Salt has been off the radar for a year now. He loves her, she says, he'll come back for her. He gets her to compromise with him: if she comes with him, he'll work on finding her father. She complies, and totes two suitcases and a small purse-sized bag to the elevator. Veruca and Augustus share a quick greeting, and they're off to Georgia.
Getting Violet to agree is extremely difficult. She, like Veruca, is entirely convinced that her mother will return for her someday. Unlike Veruca, she doesn't have an actual reason for why she believes this. She just does. She refuses to go with Wonka twice until he brings up an interesting point: if Violet's mother wanted to come back for her, why hasn't she? Violet opens her mouth to retort, and closes it slowly without uttering a word. Wonka proposes his offer once more, and, with a huff, the blonde storms off to collect her things, which sit in a rolling royal purple backpack. She begrudgingly follows him to his elevator, and they take off towards Colorado. Augustus and Veruca both try to exchange greetings with her, but Violet just turns away, making Veruca pout and Augustus frown.
Mike agrees a little too easily for Wonka's liking. Actually, 'agrees' is a bit of a stretch. They find the small brunette boy leaning against the orphanage's exterior. Mike takes one look at the glass elevator and the four people standing within and raises an eyebrow. This reaction baffles Wonka, seeing as the previous reactions had been shock(Veruca), excitement(Augustus), or disbelief(Violet). Shaking this off, Wonka proposes his offer to Mike, who doesn't even protest or hesitate before going to grab his meager belongings and situating himself in the elevator. Wonka follows him, and the other four stare at Mike in disbelief and confusion until he impatiently asks if they're even going to go. Wonka snaps into action, and they're off once again.
They're back in England, several miles from the factory, when Veruca points their attentions to a crumbling little shack on the outskirts of town. It seems to be falling in on itself. There is a small figure standing in front of it. Wonka directs his elevator off course and steers it toward the crumbling mass.
The elevator stops in front of the broken fence. There's a boy kneeling in front of the crumbling house with his back to them. Wonka approaches him slowly, and the boy turns around and takes a step back. Wonka introduces himself to the small brunette. The boy says he knows who Wonka is and introduces himself as Charlie Bucket. Violet, who has just shown up with the other kids on her tail, asks where his parents are. Charlie says nothing, just points to the falling-in-on-itself house in front of them. Everyone seems to deflate at that. Wonka extends a hand to Charlie and softly proposes his offer. After a full minute of silence, Charlie agrees, taking his hand and allowing the man to lead him to his elevator. All the kids pile in, and they head back to the factory.
It isn't until Wonka has all the kids in beds and asleep that he silently celebrates. His plan has worked; his legacy will live on!
However, it isn't until the week is halfway over that Wonka realizes that he actually has no experience with kids, and maybe he should've thought this plan through a little better.
Augustus isn't too terrible to handle. He's polite enough, and quiet, since he barely knows English. Wonka doesn't have a problem with that.
He has a problem with the eating.
Augustus eats way too much to be normal. He has to be kept under close watch in the Chocolate Room, especially since he almost fell in the Chocolate River. Augustus will eat anything you put in front of him, which makes breakfast, lunch and dinner easy with him, which Wonka is thankful for. Augustus isn't unmanageable by any means, he's just a glutton, which Wonka can handle.
Violet is easier to handle than Wonka initially thought. She's a tomboy, taking to the Sports and Recreations Room quickly. She's competitive, always making bets with the other kids and winning them almost instantly. She likes gum, evident by the fact that she would snap the offending confection whenever she could.
And by the fact that she immediately snatched a piece of still-being-tested Three Course Meal gum from Wonka's hand when he was showing it to them.
He'd snatched it back, of course. He wasn't going to allow one of his new heiresses to turn herself into a blueberry when he could stop it. He promised her that when he was sure it was safe, she could have the first piece, and she was placated.
That's not Violet's only flaw. She's also very rude and brash, always goading Veruca and Mike into verbal(fortunate, yet not) tiffs, winning most of them with the former and barely scraping by with the latter. Wonka can handle this, too.
Veruca turns out to be harder to handle than Wonka hoped. She's girly, always worrying about her appearance. She's needy, always asking for something. She's demanding, getting louder at every refusal. She's sneaky, and Wonka finds himself with a little less money by the end of the week.
However, that's not all Veruca is.
She's sweet, displaying proper etiquette at all times. She's intelligent, given she already has an idea of how Wonka can earn that money back. She loves animals, and whenever they visit the Nut Room or the Egg Room, she fawns over the squirrels and the geese(she's named all of them). She's trilingual, fluent in English, Spanish and Russian.
Sometimes, Wonka can handle her, and sometimes, he can't.
Wonka couldn't handle Mike from the start.
The best way to describe Mike is: an enigma. Mike is quiet, pensive, intelligent, and tolerable. Mike is loud, rude, brash, and difficult. Mike is all of these things at the same time. He won't let anyone get close to him, and he'll lash out at anyone who tries. He prefers to escape into his electronics, and, on more than one occasion, Wonka has had to stop him from making that expression a reality(he'd ban Mike from the Television Room, but the boy has already proven that it won't solve anything).
But Mike isn't always terrible, and as the days progress, his layers slowly unravel.
He sits in the Chocolate Room and eats candy(never chocolate) with Augustus. He gets into friendly altercations(electronic and physical) with Violet. He lets Veruca introduce him to her animal friends, and(on special occasions) allows her to paint his nails(black or dark red, but he's starting to add orange and green to the mix). He sits and talks quietly with Charlie, which benefits both of them. He's not always rude to Wonka, and helps him with his new Television Chocolate project.
Charlie is, perhaps, the easiest to handle, but that could be because his parents just died. However, after a week, Wonka realizes that it's just how Charlie is. He's quiet, pensive, and innocent, maybe a little too innocent. And Wonka urges him to interact with the other kids and some of the Oompa Loompas. Charlie mostly talks to Mike or Wonka, though he seems to be warming up to Augustus, Violet and Veruca just fine. He also interacts with the Oompas, which they enjoy.
So, in the end, Wonka was right. This idea, though it had its hiccups, was one of his best. Except…
What happens when they're teenagers? Young adults?
Oh, boy...
I hope you liked this. Reviews are welcome!