#Lofty oompa loompa

[crosspunzel]

[shhtickerbook]

Thought I’d post a full of Lofty from my DNI banner! I love this silly little orange man

[roxygen22]

Is Lofty a member of the Wonka family or does he just like to keep things purely professional?

Lofty likes to *think* he keeps things purely professional, but he has a soft spot for Willy's kid(s). And by that, I mean he is less of a curmudgeon to them. He acts like he simply tolerates them but is secretly rather fond of them.

Now the gears are turning. Perhaps a Bean and Lofty story? I'm thinking Willy has to take a business call, so he asks Lofty to keep an eye on Bean. Chaos ensues. Y'all let me know if you want to see this!

Masterlist

[graintourette]

am i late for the hype

[incorrect-wonka-quotes]

Wonka: Lofty, you're my best friend.

Lofty: Best friend? BEST friend?! Bitch, I'm your only friend.

Lofty: I'M THE ONLY ONE CAPABLE OF TOLERATING YOUR DUMB ASS!

[violentlycookingcartoons]

Art skills 🎨

[pokesil22-art]

I finally finished this drawing jsjss

[emilythezeldafan]

one of my favourite crack headcanons is Wren (OC), Charlie and the oompa loompas having to haul ass and stopping the spoilt brats dying

you think Wren wears gloves for fashion? No it's for getting Veruca out the garbage

and can you even imagine Lofty being salty about this the whole time?

[mafaldaknows]

A wee rabbit hole 🐇🕳️😉💜🎩🍫💚🧡🤍

Instagram: socialistdogmom

X

X

Hugh Grant as “Lofty”

(and definitely not “humungo”)

[mceproductions]

Best of 2023 Movies #13: Wonka

Gene Wilder is hard to outdo. The best when it comes to him is to either homage or come extremely close.

Which out of all people, Timothee Chalamet managed to come extremely close with the prequel of how Willy Wonka rose up to become who he was known for.

Arriving in a European port town with only a hat, jacket, case, and a flair for the theatrical, Willy Wonka takes his late mom’s love of chocolate and desires to share it with others.

But getting a leg up in a town with 3 companies in a cartel that controls the supply plus a duo designed to bleed any traveler with legalese for all their worth would dampen any spirit.

Fortunately, Willy would meet a street orphan with a dream and a pickpocket who wanted comeuppance and would begin to see his fortunes turn setting the stage for a better way for everyone who dreamed.

It is refreshing to see another optimistic yarn from the creative team behind the Paddington movies that would take the gems of what made Gene Wilders iconic turn and give that a modern day look while keeping the prequel mindset.

There are songs, new ones that spell out Willy and his hopes, along with the villains and their desires to keep things as stats quo. Along with the classics that get used here.

Like mentioned, it is Chalamet and his homage of Gene Wilder that carries this. But also Hugh Grant and newcomer Callahan Lane that bring us the charm as Lofty the Oompa Loompa and Noodle.

Even the support players that would become Wonkas first staff have their own moments of whimsical joy.

Pure Charm coming out of a charming source.

SUM 22: Timothee Chalamet brings new pure imagination to Gene Wilders iconic role in a prequel that keeps the spirit and dreams upfront.

[violentlycookingcartoons]

Grumpy thing..

[roxygen22]

Lofty has officially made his debut into the "My Little Cocoa Bean" series:

Is Lofty a member of the Wonka family or does he just like to keep things purely professional?

Lofty likes to *think* he keeps things purely professional, but he has a soft spot for Willy's kid(s). And by that, I mean he is less of a curmudgeon to them. He acts like he simply tolerates them but is secretly rather fond of them.

Now the gears are turning. Perhaps a Bean and Lofty story? I'm thinking Willy has to take a business call, so he asks Lofty to keep an eye on Bean. Chaos ensues. Y'all let me know if you want to see this!

Masterlist

[pokesil22-art]

Drew my favorite character again

[myheartissetinmotion]

just thinking about how the musical numbers in wonka are so much more fun when you think of them all as diegetic

(i’m gonna put a read more for courtesy but. please click it i put so much thought into this)

some of them are explicitly so-scrub scrub is stated to be the group’s work song, lofty says his own song and dance can’t be stopped once it starts, abacus cues the wash crew on beat as they work behind the scenes of the shop’s opening, etc. this doesn’t happen super often in musical movies nowadays, which adds to the whimsy of this one

in the original catcf book, the demise of each “bad kid” (and the ethics of that is a WHOLE different-and lengthy-post) gets a song from the oompa loompas, and all adaptations include those; the 2005 film is the only one to have no non-diegetic songs, while the 1971 film and west end/bway stage adaptation have loads. this prequel, however, seems to lean hard into the idea of wonka as a showman-but an earnest one-who brings not only a new taste but also a new sound to the Unnamed European City™️ that he turns upside down.

colin’s newfound confidence wins the day when barbara sees him singing and dancing on a table, which is apparently just the kind of adventure she was looking for. willy shows his plan to the wash crew by presenting it in a reprise of their song, like he’s speaking their language. it’s the sound of the newcomer’s siren song, not just the crowd, that draws the scheming cartel to their windows. there are so many interesting things revealed about the characters if you look at it that way

for a moment starts rather quietly, and noodle’s singing to herself; she doesn’t sing aloud to start, but then willy does, and he’s in perfect counterpoint to her melody that he’s barely even heard yet. then, by the end, she’s *really* singing, because she’s finally found someone who’ll listen. they literally invented siblingism i’m gonna cry

and don’t even get me started on sweet tooth. mat and paterson said in an interview that the cartel sort of stops being villainous the second the music starts, that their number is a seduction at its core, which is so damn true. the fact that it’s acknowledged as diegetic-the chief’s “why am i singing”, slugworth’s “let’s give him the big sell”, etc-means that this is something planned and practiced. there is so much comedy in that-scary powerful capitalists working on their fan choreography is a great image-but it also shows just how sinister they are. “conceal” rhymes with “deal”. they knew he’d say yes in the end. it was predetermined all along.

and a world of your own!! (this might not be a whole analysis paragraph i just wanted to say the way the pulse of the orchestration slowly builds starting at “chocolate bushes, chocolate trees” is so thrilling omg i felt like a kid again)

all this to say that i got sucked into this story for good upon hearing pure imagination for the first time in fourth grade and never looked back so it’s so neat that the prequel involves music in such a thoughtful way OKAY BYEEEEEEEE *mic drop*

[bellarose204]

Clara be like in the text messages : Tell them to "go kill themselves instead"

am i late for the hype

[andguesswhat]

I wanted someone cute for Willy to have for Christmas, that's all 🤷🏼‍♀️ Christmas fluff 🎄with chocolate balls 🍬 and a bit of icing ☃️

Willy Wonka and the thing called love

*

The thing was this: It wasn't that Willy had anything against love. He loved many things. Chocolate in every imaginable shape and color, he loved inventions in every imaginable form. He also loved people. His mother, for example. Noodle, of course... and the friends he had met at the laundry factory. In a way, he even loved Lofty, the grumpy Oompa Loompa.

But when it came to an intimate relationship with another person, things became difficult. It just never matched with the women who wanted to get to know him better. He really tried, but it hadn't worked. Instead, he had kind of accidentally kissed his best friend once. But of course that hadn't ended well either. The thought of how his best friend, who was no longer his best friend afterwards, had looked at him still made him blush to this very day.

He had long wondered why he couldn't just fall in love with a nice girl and be happy with her. He really had no explanation for it. Except that he had always been different, so he was probably different in love, too.

He had to accept that and had decided that love relationships probably just weren't his thing.

But everyone had needs, of course, and so did he. And because he didn't want to feel bad about it, one day he developed a chocolate all for himself that could satisfy these needs. He took all the ingredients he thought would work - traveling around the world he had found all kind of unusual fruits and plants - and formed them into a round purple chocolate ball in his small laboratory in the factory.

With this chocolate, he would lie down comfortably in the evening between his cotton candy clouds, gently push the ball between his lips and let it slowly melt in his mouth...

The chocolate became soft, spread velvety on his tongue, while the sweet taste of love and lust unfolded and began to flow through his body. The individual particles of chocolate dispersed in every cell... It tickled, his body began to tingle, his eyelids fluttered, he felt hands, he felt lips, he felt hot breath on his skin. His whole body was electrified by these sensations, so that Willy soon began to gasp and pant until he finally reared up --- and whoosh, like an incredible flash of icing - even though Willy unfortunately had already realized early in his teenage years that it didn't taste like icing - it shot through his body, through his lap and out of his body.

"Aaah!" his lustful moans echoed through the factory and Willy was far too blissful to be shocked about that.

Exhausted, he let his body fall back into the clouds and smiled happily.

He had found a solution to his problem. And it was wonderful.

He snuggled into the cloud, content and exhausted, his whole body still tingling slightly, as if he could still feel the caresses on his skin, the gentle kisses...

WAIT!!! WHAT?

His smile evaporated instantly and he straightened up in irritation, his eyes wide... hadn't he felt stubble on his skin, too?

He frowned.

But then something clicked in his brain, which it often did when something was bothering him, something was released that felt like liquid brain chocolate and covered everything which could be called anxiety with a soothing comfort and just like that the unsettling feeling was gone.

The stubble had probably just been a coincidence. Perhaps he simply needed to change something in his recipe. After all, the most important thing was that he had found the solution to his problem. Everything else would work itself out.

But as it was with problems, as soon as you solved one, the next one popped up.

Though it didn't look like a problem at first. Or rather, it looked far too attractive for one.

Shortly after his first attempt with the chocolate, a man came into his store, a young father with his two children to be precise. He was tall and handsome, his clothes were not expensive but not ragged either, from the rims under his eyes he seemed to work a lot or sleep badly, but that didn't seem to stop him from being affectionate towards his children and devoting all his attention to them.

Willy watched him furtively out of the corner of his eye. There was nothing wrong with looking at a good-looking man. Beauty was universal for Willy. There were so many beautiful things in the world, lying in a meadow of flowers in spring, feeling the snout of a giraffe in the palm of his hand, the breeze tickling your nose from snowy roofs. Of course, women could also be beautiful, so why not a man, this man?

With every step this man took through the store with his children, he was beaming more with joy. And if Willy was honest, it always made Willy particularly proud when he could bring out this childlike joy in adults.

When the man with those shining eyes then paid for the two big bags of sweets that his children had filled to the brim, and Willy thanked him for his purchase with a "Thank you, sir!", Willy's heart warmed even more when the man added in a very melt-in-the-mouth dark chocolate voice, "Thank you, for making this day a fairly lovely day."

Of course, there was nothing wrong with this encounter, but when Willy went back to his special purple chocolate balls in the evening and wanted to enjoy them between his clouds, this time after the chocolate had melted in his mouth again and he had felt all sorts of wonderful things, just before he exploded, he had the feeling that those same shining eyes were suddenly looking at him and whispering something to him. In this very melt-in-your-mouth dark chocolate voice.

"Aaahh!!!"

It hadn't stopped him from filling the halls with his loud moans again, in fact, if he was honest, he felt like it was even stronger this time and had almost shaken the cotton candy around him from it, but of course this couldn't go on like this. First the stubble and now this... !

He would have to change the recipe again.

Two days later, the man was back with his children.

"They fell in love with this store," he said, as if to apologize, and something in Willy's body vibrated again at the sonorous voice, so that he forgot to answer for a second.

"I'm glad they did," he finally managed to say, smiling a little nervously, because those shining eyes reminded him of the night he had splashed a lot of icing on that sight.

That evening, he decided to leave his chocolate balls alone for the time being. He didn't want anything else to go wrong. Besides, there were more important things to do: Christmas time was just around the corner and what could be more satisfying than sweetening Christmas for everyone from young to old?

He invented little snowmen covered in powdered sugar, he invented little gingerbread houses that tasted like a cozy evening in front of the fireplace, and he invented little reindeer cookies that blew the cold wind of a snowy landscape around your nose.

On the first of December, the father and his two children came back to the store.

"I've decided that they can choose a little chocolate every day until Christmas. They deserve some little joy every day."

Willy felt a lot of emotions when he heard that. It was a real whirlwind. First of all, why hadn't he come up with this fantastic idea? Every child should be able to sweeten their time until Christmas with a small piece of chocolate every day. Secondly, his heart skipped a beat at the thought that the man would now come into his store every day, and he didn't really want that at all. Or maybe he did? And thirdly, his heart became very sad because he was beginning to wonder where the mother of these children was and the sad look on the face of the lovely man who wanted to be so brave when he said those words gave him a lot of clues.

But Willy now had 24 days ahead of him where he would see this man, so perhaps some things could be found out.

And so it was.

Every time the man came into the store, Willy dropped everything, shot up to the two children, whose names were Max and Thea, by the way, and who were sweet as sugar, had them open a little box with a small chocolate, and while the children played in the store, Willy sat down with the man for a few minutes in a little sofa corner made of rainbow liquorice, slipped him a piece of his favorite chocolate, put his head in his hands and listened to him attentively.

The lovely man's name was Arthur and at the very back, in the most convoluted corner of his brain, Willy thought of the sound he had made when he was lying in his cotton candy cloud and the purple ball had brought him to climax, and that it had almost sounded like that name.

Arthur worked in a newspaper factory and the mother of his children – as Willy had feared - sadly already died, Willy's heart sank when he heard this, she had left them in the spring and this would be the first Christmas without their mother. Despite the amount of work Arthur had, he wanted to be there for his children as much as he could. Fortunately, he still had the grandparents to look after them, but it wasn't easy.

Willy took his word for it and he made a mental note to himself that he absolutely had to invent something for these children so that they would have a nice Christmas despite everything.

Willy really liked Arthur. Arthur was not only very likeable, but also very educated and, above all, very funny. His sadness just didn't really allow it yet, Willy could tell. In any way, as well as they got on, Willy was sure that they would become really good friends.

And so the few minutes of conversation soon turned into half an hour a day, during which the children played in the store and Arthur and he had time to talk about everything. Because Arthur was also very curious to find out everything about Willy and Willy liked the way Arthur looked at him when he told him something from his life. It left a feeling of sugar coated fireworks exploding in him.

Every day Willy could hardly wait to see Arthur again and it made him want to jump with joy to see that Arthur's disposition was getting a little better every day. And though the circles around his eyes didn't get any smaller, his smile widened unmistakably.

But then one day the children came into the store without him and with their grandparents instead.

"Is everything okay?" Willy asked worriedly.

"Yes, yes, he just needs some rest," replied the grandmother, somewhat sternly but kindly. "Working every day, then the children... Every day they come here to the store. Sometimes he just takes on too much. We'll take over the visits from now on."

Willy nodded sadly and felt a little bad at the same time. He shouldn't have extended their conversation like that. Maybe Arthur had just been friendly and hadn't wanted to offend him.

Something in Willy's heart suddenly hurt a lot. Of course he wanted Arthur to rest... but did that mean he would maybe never see him again?

Lost in thought, he handed the children their daily chocolate. He had been so looking forward to showing Arthur his latest creation. But maybe Arthur needed something else this time...

"Wait a minute, please..."

Willy quickly ran into his study. This time he wanted to give Arthur a chocolate to cheer him up and give him energy. He opened the drawer in which he kept his latest creations, pulled out the cheering-up-energy-chocolate, slipped it into a small bag, hurried back to the children and grandparents and handed them the bag.

"Please give this to Arthur with my best wishes."

"Today's chocolate was extra delicious, Willy, thank you very much!" beamed Thea at him and tugged at his coat. And Max said, "No, it was extra, extra delicious today."

Willy laughed delightedly. He had become really fond of Arthur's children by now.

Fondly he waved goodbye to them.

He waved and waved until they were out of sight, and Arthur got lost in thoughts again. He was thinking of Arthur. He thought of Arthur, how he would hopefully feel better again after eating the chocolate. Thought of Arthur eating that chocolate. Biting into it. Biting into the purple chocolate ball..

Willy's smile froze.

What? Wait?? Purple?

Oh, no, that couldn't be true!

He didn't have....!

He ran into his study, hastily pulled open the drawer and there he saw it: he had given the grandparents the wrong chocolate! He had given them the purple ball instead of the pink one! The pink one was still in the drawer!

That couldn't be true!

Oh no, oh no!

He looked out of the window but the children and grandparents were long gone.

Willy sank into his chair in despair. He would die of shame! How could this have happened to him? He felt like crying. He didn't want to lose Arthur as a friend! What would he think of him now? Why did that have to happen?

Frustrated, he lay down on the cot in his study, put his arms around his legs, and didn't show his face in the store all day, even after Noodle's request.

The next day, he still didn't want to get up, his mind still thinking the most terrible thoughts it could think of.

In the afternoon Noodle told him that Max and Thea had asked about him and were very sad that he hadn't been there. But Willy really couldn't face them after what he had done to their father!

"What happened, Willy?"

Noodle was really worried now, and he didn't want her to be. "I did something bad." He really couldn't explain it any further. "Don't you sometimes wish you were different, so you'd be less different from everyone else?"

Noodle thought about it, then shook her head. "Since I met you, not really, no." She sat down next to him on the cot and hugged him. "You're the epitome of how being different can be something magical, something beautiful, something endearing. I don't want you to think that's bad."

Willy looked at Noodle. He wished she was right. He thought of all the beautiful things they had experienced. Of all the people they made happy.

And then something clicked in his brain, because whenever something made him too sad for too long, there was a little explosion of chocolate bits in his brain, like a wake-up call that told him: he couldn't just lie here and mope around forever, he had to do something!

"I'm going to invent a new chocolate, Noodle. There are so many children at Christmas without parents, I want them all to feel loved, to remember this love without being sad. With a tear in their eye, but with joy in their heart, you know?"

Noodle hugged Willy and gave him a big squeeze. "Do that, Willy. I couldn't wish for anything more beautiful for Christmas."

So Willy sat down at his little chocolate inventing machine and started experimenting. If he had already messed things up with their father, then at least he wanted to do something really good for the children.

*

The store had long since closed when Willy was still experimenting. He somehow didn't succeed. Something was still missing. Exhausted and tired, he looked at the bubbling tubes when he suddenly heard a knock on the door downstairs in the store.

He went down to check.

Arthur was standing in front of the door.

Willy's heart sank, so afraid was he of this encounter, but he opened the door carefully nonetheless.

Arthur took off his snow-covered cap and smiled at him lovingly. "I'm sorry to show up here like this... but I... I still saw light…. "

Willy was very glad that Arthur didn't seem to be mad at him, he was adorable as ever. He looked happy. A little nervous, but happier than he had ever seen him before.

Willy hoped that it meant, he hadn't even tried the chocolate.

"Yes, I'm still experimenting a bit. When something doesn't work, something is missing, I sometimes can't stop."

Arthur smiled at him curiously. "Can I watch?"

Willy turned dark red.

He didn't know why. It wasn't anything illegal what he was doing. But somehow Arthur's question felt so intimate.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Arthur was now uncomfortable, too.

Willy tried to pull himself together, his concerns about whatever were ridiculous. "No, no, of course you can ... watch. Come in."

Willy closed the door behind Arthur and went up the stairs, Arthur following him.

"Thanks for your chocolate, by the way..."

Willy's eyes widened and he quickened his pace. He didn't want to hear anything about that but Arthur unfortunately kept talking.

"I don't know if it was the chocolate and just the fact that you had it brought to me..."

Willy went hot and cold, his steps quickening even more.

"But ... when I ate the chocolate, I thought…”

Oh, no, this couldn’t be happening!

“- of you."

Just at that moment, Willy pushed open the door to his study and said a little too loudly and nervously, "Here we are!"

Arthur stepped in and looked around in astonishment. “Wow, this is... amazing!”

Here in Willy’s study were the most colorful vials and ingredients up to the ceiling. And although it was a laboratory, it didn't look like a laboratory, but had the charm of a cozy witch's cottage.

Once Arthur had got over the initial amazement, Willy pointed to a chair on the wall. "You can take that... And sit next to me, if you want."

But when Arthur sat down right behind him, Willy thought that he would have preferred Arthur to sit against the wall.

It was kind of nice to have him so close, but it also made Willy so incredibly nervous.

He tried to concentrate, looked at the vials… and got lost in time and space.

... and I thought of you.

What was he going to do again?

"What's missing?" he heard Arthur's soft voice say next to him.

"Huh?" Willy turned to him and looked into the most incredibly gentle eyes.

"You said, something was still missing?"

For a small second Willy closed his eyes, he didn’t want to get so lost in those eyes, in that man. He opened his eyes again and looked fixedly at the vials.

"Well, ... the joy is there," Willy said almost absently, "the sadness is there... but... "

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Arthur slowly raise his hand. The next second Willy could feel Arthur’s thumb on the back of his neck, gently stroking the area at his hairline.

"Maybe love is missing," Arthur whispered softly and Willy immediately began to tremble.

This couldn't be right! This wasn't right! What was Arthur doing? But instead of stopping, Arthur just kept stroking him, speaking to him in that soft, loving voice.

"Shh, it's okay, Willy.”

Nothing was okay! He wasn't okay, and apparently neither was Arthur!

Arthur’s hand was now stroking his cheek. Willy felt bad, really bad.

"I'm so sorry I jinxed yo too, now, with that chocolate,” he stuttered. “I swapped them by mistake. I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry..."

Arthur took now both hands and hold Willy’s face, his look almost sternly but his voice still soft. "Stop, Willy, stop."

Willy bit his lower lip and tried not to say anything, just looked into Arthur's eyes that were so gently looking at him and made him feel things he had never felt before.

"My father died young, when I was still very small,” Arthur said. “My mother brought me up with her friend Maria. They were happy together, really happy. And I had the two most wonderful mothers one could wish for. My mother told me, ´If you someday realise you are like me, don’t tell anyone. But if you find the right one, show him your feelings. Don't let the chance pass.´”

Willy’s heart hammered while he tried to process these words.

“Every day we would stop at the window of your store for awhile." Arthur continued softly. "And while the children looked at the display in the window, I would secretly watch you. Your kind nature, your pure, shy smiles. It was only two days, Willy, but I missed you so much. And when I ate the chocolate, I felt you, Willy."

Willy’s mind got dizzy.

He really wanted to believe Arthur, really, but...

Arthur ran his fingers through Willy’s hair and it felt so good, but...

Arthur's lips approached his. He wanted to kiss them so badly, but...

Arthur smelled so good too, he wanted to put his nose in his hair but...

"Can I kiss you?" whispered Arthur softly.

"Okay," Willy replied in a daze, "but -"

But by then, Arthur had already placed his lips on Willy's and it was such a beautiful feeling that Willy's concerns all flew off in a whoosh. Something like this could not be wrong.

His whole body exploded with joy as he finally let all his feelings run free. He hungrily kissed Arthur back, he felt Arthur, Arthur was so beautiful, so lovable, he wanted to crawl into him, he felt so good with him, he was on the sweetest cloud ever.

And speaking of clouds, soon Willy pulled Arthur by the hand into the factory, pulled a few levers so that his cotton candy clouds floated down and pulled Arthur onto one. All his doubts were dissolved, he tugged at Arthur's clothes as much as Arthur tugged at his. He wanted to feel everything, kiss everything.

Only when Arthur crawled down to his lap and suddenly did things that no one had ever done for Willy before, Willy's excitement was mixed with a little nervousness. "You don't... You don't have to..." he gasped, while Arthur lay between his legs, ignored his words and continued, making Willy gasp even more. Willy tried again. "It doesn't taste like..." Oh my god, he didn't know what to do, it all felt so good, he was floating without floating chocolate, but..., but... "It doesn't taste like..." and then it shot out of him, he couldn't help it, "... icing!" he gasped desperately, but by then it had already happened and it was too late.

Before Willy could even think straight again, Arthur had crawled up to him and smiled lovingly at him. "I know. But if you love the person you get it from, believe me, it's as good."

Willy looked at Arthur completely mesmerized, still a little incredulous but deeply relieved.

"Ok, I might try that, too, then?" he said with a smirk, still out of breath, his curiosity slowly taking over.

But when he was about to lean down, Arthur stopped him and looked at him, slightly embarrassed. "Uhm, I’ve already… uhm, the cotton candy was so soft... then the sight of you... it all felt so good, you looked so beautiful. …” He sighed. “I'm afraid my icing might have landed already on your candy floss. I'm so sorry that I have stained it."

Willy chuckled. "Don’t worry. Have you tried the candy floss though? It tastes like cherry mint."

He plucked off a bit of the absorbent cotton and held it out to Arthur. But instead of taking it with his fingers, Arthur grabbed Willy's wrist and tasted the cotton candy right off his fingers, licking them clean.

It made Willy feel all kinds of feelings. It triggered every imaginable fantasy in him, he had a thousand ideas of all the things he wanted to try with Arthur and he was sure that one would be more beautiful than the other.

He cuddled up to Arthur.

"All of this is ... awesome!"

Arthur pressed a gentle kiss to his lips and Willy tasted the cherry mint. "Yes, it is, I agree."

"Will you stay with me?"

"As long as you want."

*

The days until Christmas flew by like a dream.

Willy added the missing ingredient of love to the Christmas chocolate and it turned out exactly as he had hoped. On Christmas Day, they distributed them to all the orphanages in the city and gave them to anyone else who wanted and needed them.

In the evening, they had a wonderful, big Christmas feast. Everyone was there, Noodle, Noodle's mother, Lofty, Albacus, Lottie, Piper, Larry, all with family and friends, and of course Arthur with his children.

They ate festively, laughed, sang and danced, it was a magically wonderful night.

When all the friends had happily and contentedly made their way home and Thea and Max were put to bed in their newly built beds of soft marshmallow, Willy and Arthur made themselves once more comfortable on the cotton candy clouds.

Arthur took Willy's hands in his and caressed them.

"I didn't think I'd have such a magical Christmas, I couldn't be happier. Thank you, Willy."

Willy's nose crinkled automatically at these words, he smiled happily, leaned over and kissed Arthur. He was surely the happiest man in the whole world.

"I couldn't be happier either."

If it weren't for the tingling sensation.

And all these endless possibilities of things that were running through Willy's head.

"But?"

"Huh?" Willy couldn't even concentrate on whether Arthur meant ‘but’ or ‘butt’, he was tingling so much.

"You look like there is a ‘but’ to your sentence."

"Nooo, there's not a `but´ to my sentence,” and added quietly more to himself, “at most a ‘butt’.”

Arthur looked at him questioningly.

“There are just so many things I'd like to try out with you,” Willy admitted a little embarrassed but added hopefully, “Would you be up for it?"

"Sure, always. What is it?"

"For example…” Willy took a deep breath, squinting his eyes. “I'd love to bathe in liquid chocolate with you, would you like that?"

He was more than relieved to see Arthur smiling at him curiously. "That sounds delicious. I would love to try that."

The way Arthur had answered, though, Willy knew Arthur didn't understand when Willy wanted to try it, that he didn't want to wait any longer, so he simply held out his hand and started singing softly,

"Come... with... me…”

And Arthur took his hand and let Willy guide him.

*

*** Merry Christmas ***