Faltering Fantasies (Wally Darling x Reader)

7. Perfectionism Personified

Reading the sheet over and over again was painfully boring. It was fun to watch the charismatic character interactions the first time or two, but memorizing it? That took all the charm out of the lines. And you only had a few verses. Imagine what it would be like for Julie, and she had the attention span of a toddler! To be fair though, you did have some of the most sophisticated lines in the whole play.

You traced your fingers along the smooth table top. It was made of wood, but unnaturally pretty. Each groove ran through as if it had been precisely embroidered there. So artificially appealing that it was sickening.

You drew your eyes away from it. Actually, everything in Sally's house was placed meticulously. Perfectly mirrored or symmetrical. Shutting your eyes didn't help the fact that you knew this was an altered version of something natural. Something about being so close to reality, but not making the cut, made you feel claustrophobic.

Everything in the neighborhood felt too good. Everything was-

"Y/n?" You heard your name from another room.

"Coming!" You hopped off the sun-shaped barstool and entered Sally's little theater. "I heard my name."

"Yes, yes. Now, do you know your lines?"

"Definitely."

"Serendipitous!" She walked up to you, proceeding to push you by the shoulders towards Julie.

"Alright, y/n, say your first line." Sally backed up to give you two some room.

"And who might you be?" You tried to sound natural, but it was a bit difficult with Julie grinning ear to ear.

"Julierella."

"A beautiful dress you have there, pity I haven't had the pleasure to meet you in the past."

"A very good friend of mine made it for me!" You heard Sally audibly groan at that.

"It's 'A friend of mine made it for me'," she grumbled.

"Oh, but Barnaby's a very good friend!" Julie retorted.

"Well 'Barnaby' isn't in this play!"

"Wait, so Barnaby doesn't exist?" Julie sounded genuinely broken-hearted. Her lips quivering.

"Oh, don't- uh, just keep it that way," Sally reassured.

"I actually came to meet the prince."

"Is that so?" She nodded in response. Seeing the ball of energy acting so humble almost made you jumble up your lines.

Keeping a straight course though, you continued, "Have you met him in the past?"

"Y/n, more direct!" You heard the background voice of Sally.

"Alright." You took a deep breath, "Have you met him in the past?" You repeated, sterner this time around.

"No, but it seems you have. Is he really worth meeting?"

"Oh, well the prince would certainly be a lucky man to marry someone with a wit like yours. Go on, before he stumbles upon a seemingly sophisticated counterfeit."

Julie grinned, "If you say so, y/n!" You decided not to question her adding your name to the script.

Sally applauded nonetheless. "Wonderful! Now, y/n, you'll also have to be the backup Reinsman if you don't mind."

"Do I have to memorize Wally's lines too?"

"No, no. You won't be an understudy, just stay by his side to make the scene more realistic."

"Oh, okay." Luckily she didn't seem to hear your incoherent mutters about how "realistic" a show with rainbow puppets could be.

You sat in the house and watched as they did the rest of the rehearsal. Eventually, Sally made you try on the Duchess' dress, and oh boy was it fancy. It was a fluffy floor length dress, but somehow managed to be comfortable. Though all of Sally's costumes had to be comfortable if you had to move elegantly on stage.

At some point Wally did indeed dress as a painter, and while Frank and Julie were the focal point of a scene, he was painting you in the background. You made small talk in the form of giggles and whispers. He wasn't actually painting you, but he still managed to blush whenever he had a chance to break eye contact.

Watching the play slowly come together made you much more giddy than you had expected. It was so serene that you hadn't even realized the incompleteness of the grand scheme of things.

How long would it take you to figure it out though?

~•~

709 words

"My theater kid past is shining! But seriously though, do you guys like this so far? I'd like some feedback and I'm feeling really lonely. Oh, and request stuff, Im gonna run out of ideas sooner or later. Welp, vote and comment your thoughts, and I'll see you next chapter!"

- Coffee