Charles lay in a pastel pink bathtub, his eyes closed as the brown bubbles floated about him, the smell of chocolate hitting his nose. Wonka's specialty candy bubble bath soap had always been his favorite of all the inventions; he opened his eyes slowly and watched the bubbles change from brown to red, the smell of raspberry's now filling the air. His eyes traveled across the walls, Wonkas flavored nursery wallpaper covering the room, and then slowly up to the ceiling as he released a sigh.

Mr. Wonka has been acting strangely for the past few weeks, it's not unusual for Wonka to be strange, but this was a different kind of strange, dipping his head, not talking much (The strangest of all since Wonka would usually never shut up), loss of weight and excessive hours in the bathroom. Charles tried not to let it get to him, he was probably just suffering from a slight stomach flu was all, but he could not help it, Charles has always been a bit of a worry wart, especially for people he deeply cared about, and if there was anyone in the world he cared about it was Mr. Wonka

Wonka had taken him from a nightmare of a life and introduced him to a world of majesty and imagination, he taught him everything there was to know about beauty and creativity, he took him under his wing and allowed him to flourish and discover himself in a dream world of his own creation. But Wonka was more than just a kindly mentor to Charlie, he was his idol, his best friend, his… Everything.

Charlie brought his eyes back down to the bubbles, they were now turquoise and a blueberry scent filled the air. Charlie scooped up the bubbles and gently rubbed them across his face. His feelings for Mr. Wonka were far from new to him, he'd fallen for him since the day he arrived at the gates, ticket in hand, his unique way of viewing the world, his vocabulary, his ingenious inventions, his good looks, Yes, Charles was trapped like a fish on a hook since the very first day. He knew this was a thing called homosexuality, and from what he remembers about it, it is apparently a sickness, Charles used to worry about this a lot when he was a child, but years of being confined in the factory amongst the friendly Oompa Loompas and his mentor had made this worry wither away, he lived in a different world now, what the outside considered odd was not a concern anymore.

Despite this, he could not bring himself to talk about it with anyone, for a part of him still feared he would be treated like a circus freak. No, best keep it to himself, even in this world of wonder some things may not be acceptable, after all, to this day Wonka still surprised him every day, what an odd man he was.

The bubbles surrounding Charles body became magenta as the scent of bubblegum filled the air, there was a knock on the door, moments later Wonkas voice rose amongst the bubblegum paradise.

"Come along Charles, leave some for the fishes will you? We've got work to do lad"

Charles signed as he heard footsteps away from his bathroom door, he grabbed the sides of the tub and rose himself into a sitting position, he pulled the drain from the tub just as the bubbles began to turn orange, as the water swept away the faint smell of tangerines still lingered in the air and on Charles soft body. He stepped from the tub and onto the baby blue tile floor, he reached the mirror and began to brush his teeth with Wonkas jawbreaker flavored toothpaste, this was another favorite of Charles, he just found the irony hilarious.

When he finished he began to run a brush through his hair as he made his way to the wardrobe, as he finished brushing his hair he picked his outfit for the day, a red and white striped tuxedo jacket with long, twisted tails, a bright lime green dress shirt, and lemon yellow dress pants, a powder pink top hat, finally, he finished the whole outfit off with an aquamarine bowtie.

He then hurried out the door, his still damp hair leaving a wet spot on the back of his tuxedo jacket, as he ran down the colorful hallways the Oompa Loompas greeted him in a cheerful manner, and to each one of them Charlie tipped his hat and gave a sweet smile. He knew most of them by name at this point and was even close friends with some of them. He finally made his way to the correct room and flung the door open.

"Sorry I'm late Mr. Wonka, got a little carried away with my bath I suppose, I hope I've not missed much..."

The mentor turned from a huge vat of sickly sweet smelling liquid and smiled at Charles

"No worries dear boy, cleanliness is purity, and besides you've not missed a thing, I've just been boiling the Snozzberry extract."

Charles made his way to the vat and stuck his head in, watching the black tar-like liquid sputter and squirt as it boiled, he smiled, exposing his gapped front teeth, a look of pure joy spread across his face

"Oh Mr. Wonka! It's coming along beautifully! I think this is going to be our best batch yet!"

Wonka smiled and laughed lightly, he loved to see his apprentice in such a good mood, he reached out and put an arm around his shoulder, affectionately pulling him against his warm chest, he nuzzled his nose against Charles damp hair, he could smell the bubble soap on him.

Charles gasped at the rare affection from his mentor, last time he'd touched him like that was when he was a child, Wonka had a sudden realization of what he was doing, and quickly released Charles and put his hands behind his back, a blush spreading across his face, he cleared he throat.

"I'm, I'm sorry about that Charles, that was uncalled for, I lost my composure"

"Oh no Mr. Wonka, I don't mind, a little affection from you once in a while actually feels… pretty nice…"

There was an awkward silence for what seemed like forever, before Wonka cleared his throat again and clapped his hands together loud enough to make Charles jump

"Whelp, lets get to work shall we!"

Wonka grabbed a broom and handed it to Charles, Charles stared at him in confusion

"What's this for Mr. Wonka?"

"Well to mix the extract of course"

"But why with a broom sir?"

"To make sure this batch sweeps our customers off their feet"

Charlie snorted and rolled his eyes, he stuck the broom into the batch and began to stir, Wonkas Methods were very odd indeed and did not make sense most of the time, but for some reason they worked, so who was he to argue with him.