Yeah, I'm gonna keep going with this mistake. Whatcha gonna do?
After a delightful morning of butterfly catching, rabbit slaughtering, and a game of "Bury the Dead," ended early when they realized they were hungry and had no food on them, Webber and Wendy returned back to the camp, on the prowl for snacks to fill their bellies.
"You think I can eat 10 cookies at the same time, Wendy? I betcha I can do it." Webber said, keeping an eye out for the fridge.
"Chances are you would choke on them and die if you tried." She pointed out. "You should do 15 instead. Go big or go home, as Ms. Willow says."
"Yeah, that sounds like a way better idea! In fact, there she is right now!" He pointed at the titular pyromaniac, who was currently standing in the firepit, hunched over and engulfed in flames. It looked like she was muttering to herself about something.
"Hmm, I feel the sensation of heat, but no burning. Any objects attached to her receive the immunity. Would explain why her backpacks never get destroyed." Wilson muttered to himself, taking mental notes as he continued to test out what Willow was capable of. He had chosen to do so in the most Willow way possible, by jumping into the fire pit itself and lighting it, letting the flames engulf him. He was starting to see why Willow enjoyed this so much. Despite the fiery beginning, the flames felt oddly pleasing on the skin, like being licked all over by a Chester with a tongue made of warm blankets. It was nice.
"However, I have failed to replicate her ability to spontaneously create fires. I'm aware she only did so when under moments of heavy stress and anxiety, and hasn't started any fires that way in months, but if I could cause a self-induced panic attack, easy to achieve for me, I could-"
"Hiya Miss Willow!" He jumped a bit when someone randomly shouted behind him. He calmed down and let out a sigh of relief when he realized that it was just Webber and Wendy sneaking up on him. They looked like they wanted to ask something, and he had to stop himself from answering them right then and there. Since he was Willow, he had to make sure to act like her, in order to make sure the kids didn't become suspicious and start asking questions. He needed to dig deep, and say the kinds of things Willow would say. Things such as-
"Good day to you, children!" He said, failing spectacularly. Hopefully they didn't notice.
Wendy narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She had a keen sense for telling when someone was hiding something. And Willow right now was being very suspicious. She normally greeted them in a casual manner, sometimes referring to them affectionately as "twerps" or "squirts." Never would she greet them so formally, it was against her nature.
But for Wilson, however, that greeting fit him perfectly.
"Uhh, I mean, umm… How do you do, nerds?" She tried to say again, doing very badly at trying to hide her strange behaviour.
There were other things too. Her posture was unusually hunched, and her body language was skittish and nervous. Willow usually stood proud and tall (in spite of her shortness) and had an air of confidence around her on a good day. This was nothing like Willow.
Could it be? "Ms. Willow, have you been- "
Webber cut her off suddenly, rapidly providing his theory in a single breath. "Mr. Wilson, did you invent a body switching machine and switch bodies with Ms. Willow and are using her body to test out her fire immunity and are trying to hide the fact that you invented a body switching machine and switched bodies with Willow from us?!"
Wendy and Willow -or rather, Wilson in Willow's body- both stared flabbergasted at Webber, who just smiled cutely as he awaited a response. Wilson hemmed and hawed, trying to come up with an answer that could deflect or move the conversation away from the spider's 100% accurate guess.
"Actually- umm, you see- the thing is-" Willow-Wilson's eyes darted back and forth, biting her lip, hoping for any kind of excuse to suddenly descend from the sky like an angel. But nothing came, and he had to concede. "Sigh, yes, Webber, you are entirely correct, somehow."
"Whoopi! We got it right!" Webber jumped for joy. He turned to Wendy and asked her. "Wendy, what was your guess! Sorry for interrupting you, by the way. We got excited."
"Oh, umm, I thought Wilson had died and possesed Willow's body. But I would have been wrong, inevitably, so it wouldn't have mattered in the end."
"It's a good guess though." Wilson added. Wendy just gave him a look that said that she wanted him to get on with it, which comboed well with Webber's starry eyed look, wanting to hear about his creation. He really couldn't say no to those faces. "Anyway, yes, I have indeed built a body switching device. I know, it's hard to believe."
"That you could create it, yes. But flukes happen in life."
Wilson glared at Wendy. "Watch it, you. But that is all I'm willing to say. And I know what you will ask me soon, and the answer is nu… nyu… neeh-" What he said about not saying no was not hyperbole.
Webber capitalized on the opportunity presented to him. "Can we play with it?"
"Yes, yes you can. But, no one else can know of it, and you must switch back before sundown. Understood?"
"It depends, Mr. Wilson." Wendy, ever the schemer, inherited from her dear uncle, grasped on to the opportunity. "What are you willing to give us for not revealing your dark secret to the world?"
"... You're very lucky the two of you are adorable. The center chest in my tent has cookies hidden in it. It has a false bottom, just make sure to put everything back in its place when you're done. But this is all I'm willing to give. Is that a deal?"
"Hmm, let me discuss it with my colleague." Wendy and Webber turned around and huddled closely, whispering to each other.
"Is this fair, Wendy? This seems kinda rude?" Webber, ever the sweetheart, was unsure.
"True, but we have the right as children to blackmail whoever we want, whenever we want. Ms. Willow taught me that."
"Mmm, Ms. Willow is smart… Okay, we agree with this!"
The two children turned back, Wilson waiting for them, arms crossed and looking impatient. The most 'Willow' look he could ever hope to achieve. "Alright, we agree to your offer."
"Good. The machine is in the forest, third pond to the right. Press the center button while you're both in the chairs to activate the machine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some science I need to return to. Run along."
"Thank you!" The two children ran off in the direction he was pointing, clearly ready to cause trouble. He couldn't help but smile while shaking his head. They reminded him of himself when he was a little tyke, trying to loophole and talk his way out of or into trouble. It never ended well for him, but he was fine when they did it, and he was perfectly fine letting them get away with it. Now, for the next experiment. Gunpowder.
"Ugh, stupid not-fireproof hands. Guess that's out of the question for today." Willow grumbled to herself, still hissing in pain. She had tried to start a fire, for current fun, and for the potential, future fun with gunpowder. But to her utter horror, she had burned Wilson's scrawny hand. It was such an unnatural feeling to her, pain caused by her favorite flames. How the hell did Wilson live like this?
Oh, right, because fire was her thing, and not a universal fact of everyone's existence. She had to take note of that, especially for her current situation, using the distinctly "not impervious to flames" Wilson's body. At the very least she could still have some fun with what she was about to do.
And what she needed for that, she could see as she peeked her head out of a bush. The explosive substance's chest. Or, as she preferred to call it, the boom chest. And sitting right next to it, keeping guard against any pyromaniacal pranksters who wanted to toy around with the contents, was Ms. Wickerbottom, engrossed in a book and humming an unidentifiable tune. She would never let Willow near that chest. But the local scientist, on the other hand…
She needed to do her best Wilson impersonation if she wanted to succeed in her quest. She knew Wilson well. He was a giant, nerdy dork. Styled himself a gentleman, which, fine, he did a fairly decent job at being one. He had a fairly refined and formal way of speaking, whenever he wasn't being weird. He also loved his hair and beard more than anything in the world, next to science.
Yeah, she could do this. She took a deep, cleansing breath, stood up from her hiding bush, and approached Ms. Wickerbottom with a confident stride. Then she remembered who she technically was, slouched her back and adopted a more nervous smile. Yeah, that was more like Wilson. Now, for the trademark Wilson greeting.
"Good day to you, Ms. Wickerbottom!"
The librarian looked up from her book to see Wilson walking up to her, waving hello at her with a big smile on his face. Odd, she thought he was off working on some unusual project of his he had been rambling about for days. "A good day to you too, Wilson. Do you need anything from here? How is your little creation going?"
The scientist froze in place. "What creation? What do you know!... I mean, yes! My creation of… clandestine nature. Yeah."
She raised an eyebrow at that. Wilson had already told her that the invention was supposed to be a surprise. That was quite the overreaction on just a simple prodding question, especially since the last time she had tried to ask, he had simply waved off the question in a casual manner. "Yes, the creation you've been chattering about. To reiterate, do you need anything from here?"
"Ah, yes! Why I am here. I humbly request from you that I take a sample of your finest gunpowder. For purely sciency usage, of course, nothing else, nothing regarding fire. Hehe." He darted his eyes back and forth, looking very nervous. His behaviour was becoming increasingly suspicious to the librarian.
"Hmmm." She narrowed her eyes, glaring accusatory holes into the scientist. "... Alright then, you may grab whatever you need."
"Yes!- I mean, thank you, Ms. Wickerbottom! I assure you, nothing will go wrong at all."
Wilson dove for the box, opening and digging through its contents, letting out a bunch of barely constrained giggles. He pulled out a handful of gunpowder, closed the chest, and then ran off into the woods again, now giggling like a madman.
Once Wilson disappeared, the librarian stood up from her seat, leaving her book on the log. "Well then, Ms. Willow, I believe there's something you're hiding from me. And it has something to do with Wilson's little invention. Now, where did he say he was working on it?"
She remembered back to this morning, Wilson telling her to avoid the ponds in the woods for the time being. That was where she would start.