Who You Share it With (Willy Wonka x reader)

06. The Laundry

It took you a moment to adjust to the new, but painfully familiar, environment. The dim yellow lighting, the open vats all spewing out burning steam, the rags thrown about in an organized chaos. Shelves up to the ceiling chock-full of all the same white stacks of neatly folded clothing.

"Whoa!" The first thing you heard upon entering was a yell as someone slid down the laundry chute. They landed with a thump on top of the yet-to-be-washed clothes, causing a little puff of dust to rise from it.

It was Willy, disheveled and confused, but still Willy. "Ah, you must be Mr. Wonka."

"Who are you?" Willy heaved, still in a daze.

"Abacus Crunch, chartered accountant." You'd known Abacus for a while. Ever since he got stuck here he'd be the first to greet others who fell into the same trap. He sort of took over. With a voice of reason and head full of busy but ordered wisdom, it was no wonder. "At least, I was. Now, uh—"

"He runs the place," Piper interrupted, taking the lead, "and you best do what he says or you'll answer to me." If you were to describe her nature, it would be something of a brick; strong, reliable, and a forward part of the grand scheme of things. Though, she was a bit quick to the point when it came to newcomers. She grabbed Willy's hand and easily helped him out of the basket. "Piper Benz, plumber by trade."

"This is Miss Lottie Bell." Abacus introduced.

You were able to make out the faintest, "Hi," from Lottie as she did a little nervous wave.

"She don't talk much," Piper mentioned. It was so odd to you. You vividly remembered the first day you saw her, she spoke with a smile and sounded as if she could go on about the most mundane thing for hours. But then, after being pushed to her fate, she just ceased talking. Nobody believed you, not even Noodle. Though, Noodle was pretty cynical in the first place, not that you could blame her.

"And I'm Larry Chucklesworth!" Larry declared, coming out of nowhere and interrupting your thoughts. His bowtie spun just as he finished, "Comedian."

"Oh, and this is y/n," Abacus mentioned, catching sight of you. Willy stared at you and gave a little nod. You imagined that if he wasn't so concerned he would've tipped his hat to you.

"So, they got all of you too, did they?" The man in question muttered.

"I'm afraid so," Abacus replied and Lottie nodded, "We each of us found ourselves in need of a cheap place to stay, and neglected to read the small print."

"One moment of stupidity, followed by endless regret," Piper explained, sounding as if she was about to cry for the first time you'd ever heard. Willy stared at all of you in remorse, probably not even believing the truth of it all.

"Sounds like my third marriage, ha!" You and Willy both stared at Larry with hidden disappointment and an inward sigh. "I'm sorry, I do that a lot."

"He does."

"A lot," Piper finished.

"Don't be too hard on him," you said, "but seriously, you should tone it down."

"I've only been married once, and it didn't work out."

Willy completely ignored Larry and started looking around, frantically. "There's gotta be some way outta here."

"You don't think we've tried?" Piper asked, as Willy started up the stairs. "There are bars on the windows and there's a dog at the door." The still hopeful man stopped in his tracks and looked down to listen.

"And even if you could get out, that contract is watertight."

Piper went on, "If you're not here at roll call, Mrs. Scrubitt will call the police, they'll bring you right back, and she'll charge you a thousand for the inconvenience."

Bleacher's dog barked, "Ah!" Willy yelped.

"Alright, everybody, back to work. Come along, Mr. Wonka." Abacus insisted. The two of you followed him. "You come with me and y/n." Abacus dragged a cart through the dark hall. "You're in here. On suds." The tunnel soon clouded with a thick foggy steam.

"Whoa," Willy whispered. Once the fog cleared it revealed a giant room with a monstrous pile of clothes, huge laundry bags, and a large basin of scalding water.

You and Willy neared Abacus as he explained to the new recruit,

"First you pick up the apparel,
and you stick it in a barrel scrub, scrub."

He stuck some clothing from the pile into a vat and handed Willy a stick to stir the clothes around. While he did that, you carefully pulled more in.

"Then you take it to the mangle,
and you turn a giant handle,
scrub, scrub."

The others turned the shirts in the mangle until nearly all the water was pressed out. Piper did two at a time with all of her strength and gusto. You and Willy, on the other hand, were still working on your pile of clothing. It took a bit longer with how inexperienced he was.

"Then it's hung up really high,
until it's nearly dry,
scrub, scrub."

They hung the clothes and then pulled on the ropes they hung on to move them up to the ceiling.

"But when we sing this song,
the day don't seem so long,
scrub, scrub."

"It's still long though," Larry added as they all plucked the clothes from the ceiling.

Because of how slow and tired Willy was getting you decided to switch jobs. Him throwing the clothes in and taking them out.

"Got to press out all the creases,
from the dresses and chemises,
rub, rub."

Somehow, the basement managed to get even hotter. A sign that the others had started ironing. You and Willy were working as fast as possible, losing daylight all the same.

"Gotta fold 'em like they told us,
or they'll scold us and withhold our
grub, grub."

You heard Bleacher's distant ear piercing whistle. "Come on," you said, grabbing Willy's arm and leading him to roll call.

"We all signed the dotted line,
so we gotta do our time,"

"Scrub, scrub."

"Scrub, scrub."

You all stood in a single file line facing forwards. Scrubitt and Bleacher came down, and you scowled at their words.

"And if you don't agree..."

"See clause five."

"Section 7A."

"Paragraph 22."

"Part D."

"Which says..."

"Scrub, scrub!"

"Scrub, scrub!"

"Scrub, scrub!"

"Scrub, scrub!"

~•~

1078 words

"Longest one yet! Wrote this on my phone and on this end the music is sort of on the fritz, so please tell me if it's working! Vote if you liked it, comment your thoughts, and I'll see you next chapter!"

- Coffee