Watt's Pad

A WattPunk story by sacredlilac

The M peeked under his hot chocolate mug at the dew-ring it had made on the shiny wooden countertop. Concentrating hard with his tongue sticking out from the side of his mouth, he focused on picking up his mug and setting it back down in exactly the same spot. 

He glanced over at the big bartender, Watt, whose back was turned. The M dribbled a bit of the sticky goodness over the side to add more fun to his game.

The cocoa-ring probably only had t-minus two minutes before Watt swooped in with a wet cloth to clean up the mess.

Dillydallying like this was bound to get the M in trouble, but he was reluctant to leave Watt's Pad and go out to his shift. He loved his work, but the @FoodKart profile was hard duty for an M.

He'd barely recovered from the last brownie event – what was it about people and chocolate? – when the new taco story and recipe got uploaded and created a whole new buzz around it that he had to keep up with. Maybe it was time to admit he needed to call in another M to help.

He turned to search through the Pad to see who else was there. Letters were hunched over nursing drinks, or steaming bowls if they were lucky, from the small round tables near the door where he was to the sofa-like seats in the deepest recesses.

Since every Letter's main concern was rest and recovery so they could get back out there and keep the words flowing, few looked over like the M did when the soft whooshing of the doors heralded a returning colleague.

He forgot his own agenda of laying low when he saw a W dragging himself in. "Whoa, W, what happened, man?"

The Y and U sitting beside the M at the long counter twisted to see. It took a lot to make a letter look that haggard.

The W's points were dragging behind it. His tips were so far forward they occasionally brushed the ground as he shuffled towards a vacant table. Collapsing into a plush, deep purple chair, he let his tips hang limply over the back.

This time more eyeballs swung to the soft whooshing of the doors. A few gasps were heard when a Y came through, leaning on a wheelbarrow more to keep himself upright than to push along the barely conscious H it contained.

Quiet born of curiosity fell across the Pad.

An A came charging up from the back of the room. There wasn't a peep of protest from any Letter as the P's and Q's pushed aside chairs to make way for her angles.

Everyone minded the P's and Q's, especially in Watt's place, and no one would dare cross this A. She was not only First Letter, she was First Vowel. She could manage a whole multi-profile collaboration all by herself.

Arriving at the exhausted Letters' table, she checked the H's pulse. "Watt! He needs a hit!"

The large, hairy orange barkeep was already in the process of lifting the lid off a monstrous cistern that sat on its tripod of iron legs and bubbled and steamed behind the counter. He always knew who needed a bowl as soon as they hit the door.

The fragrant steam wafted around to all those nearby, perking them up with just that whiff. Watt's secret soup recipe had been known to revive the most worn out Letters and make them capable of performing magic with the words they created.

Watt ladled the restorative orange broth into a deep peacock blue bowl decorated in his signature orange Comic Sans W font that, for a reason none had been able to pinpoint, made the Letters work harder than any other.

Sliding the container carefully on the counter, Watt called out, "One bowl of Alphabet soup! More comin' for the rest of 'em."

The A followed Watt's nod. Approaching the glass doors were an A leaning on a T, an O, R and couple of E's.

Where was the N? This bunch always travelled with an N.

The previously curious silence stretched out uncomfortably thin.

"What happened out there, W?" asked the Y at the counter who was also long overdue for his shift. He hated being a Y. Mostly because he always seemed to get assigned to work for adverb-crazy newbies. He crossed his fingers every time he stepped from Watt's Pad that this would be the day he got assigned to @WattpadPoetry. He wouldn't mind adverbs there.

The W slid farther down in his seat. "@PsychologicalNovel was having a Question Fest collaboration with @crime and @The_Weekend_Write-In. The words were coming so fast. It was a Writing Frenzy. We almost couldn't keep up, and, and - there were lags!" The W hid his eyes and burst out into tears.

A collective, horrified gasp sounded through the Pad. One thing Letters prided themselves on was their speed and efficiency getting stories on the screen.

"Psha!" A J brushed his tip through the air and tipped his chair back. He boasted, "Do you remember that time @CoffeeCommunity and @flashfic had that '20 Stories in 20 Hours' event? Now that was hard core. We were slinging words left, right and centre..."

The J's words dried up as the A turned slowly towards him with a withering glare that made even the nearby Letters gulp nervously. "Then I'd expect empathy for your compatriot, not downplaying of the level of their ordeal."

The abashed J curled into himself and slunk off towards a table at the back.

The A jabbed her point towards the M at the counter then at the steaming bowl. The Ms tips trembled and pressed together so closely he almost looked like an N.

He carefully he slid the soup off the counter using his lower point and brought it over.

He bobbed in a bow to the A on his approach, then squeaked in alarm when some of the hot liquid splashed on the H, who gave a weak cry of protest, but did raise his tips and crack an eye at his surroundings. More soup slopped onto the table as the M half-dropped the bowl in his haste to blot the soup on the Hs stem before the A could chastise him.

"Th-th-there you go, H. Feel better soon!" the M stammered and forced a smile, fearful eyes on the glowering A, before rushing back to his seat and tucking himself between the Y and U.

The A clicked her tongue and called, "He needs a spoon!"

The M jumped at her voice and looked around frantically.

Watt pointed at the spoon he had laid ready.

"Oh, uh, yeah." The M scampered over to deliver it.

The A frowned as she watched the M hurry back to his stool. He cast nervous glances at the A who was examining him closely.

"M, you're looking ratty around the edges. Why don't you go get re-inked?"

The M's eyes popped in surprise and his voice was heavy with hopeful disbelief. "Re-inked?"

The A nodded.

He leaped off his stool, nearly upsetting the table of Ss and Fs beside him in his haste to get to the door. He turned sideways to squeeze through the bunch of exhausted Letters that were entering.

"Make room! Make room! Think of other's needs. This could be you one day." The Ps & Qs shooed the Letters from the tables near the door for the newcomers who flopped down. More than one turned hopeful eyes to the grating sound of a porcelain bowl being lifted from Watt's stack behind the counter.

One of the Es coughed and picked up a discarded cup on the table. He peered inside, shrugged then knocked back the contents with a grimace. "Some Letter needs to go back for N. We could only find one wheelbarrow in a serial killer story on @crime. Oh, and that needs to be replaced, too, before a user notices."

A group of letters streaked by yelling, "On it!"

The A smiled, pleased.

"Tell us what happened," the A said, looking over her exhausted charges.

With firm tenderness, the A helped the H to sit up in his chair and started to spoon feed him.

"We were seriously under-lettered out there." The W squinted towards the door and back to the craziness they'd just experienced. "I've worked for some prolific authors, but these were in another realm altogether."

Watt prodded the Y and U from the counter to deliver the other bowls of soup. They carried them over, drooping their tips and sighing dramatically the whole way. At the table they looked sidelong at the A who paid them no mind.

"Weren't there enough letters assigned with you?" the A asked.

The W shook his head and slurped up some soup. "Nope. We couldn't even send some Letter for backup. Just us racing to keep up."

"Don't worry. We'll find out what happened. You've all earned a long round in the Pad and then the re-inkers. You served the Platform well today."

The W drooped in happiness this time and started to eat.

The opening doors had every eye looking over. The Letters that had rushed out were herding in a group that had their points and tips sheepishly low.

The A rose to her full height, and her point snapped-to with a zing. "Explain your-Letters."

The huddled group jostled around until finally a C was pushed forward, squeaking the floor with his curve.

"It was my fault. There was a big joke-fest that @humor was having with @CommunityInteractive. We just wanted to stop by for a visit on our way over, but then one joke led to another, and we were laughing so hard we lost track of time and..." The C's tip sagged low.

The A's eyes softened, and she nodded. "I've been distracted by a good event myself a time or two." She motioned to the exhausted letters in the chairs around her. "You've got to make it up those you let down today. They went above and beyond to keep the words up on the pages."

Tears leaked from the C's eyes and some Letter in the group behind him hiccoughed a sob out. "We're sorry. We really are."

The W raised his head from his soup and mumbled, "S'kay. But you lot are taking all of our shifts for the next month – at least!"

The group nodded eagerly. "Yes!" "Of course!" "No problem!"

The A flicked towards the door and the Ps and Qs began to drive them toward the door. "Alright, away with you. Back out there and go relieve some others."

She looked around the silent room. "D! R! Gather a crew and go check those profiles. Actually, it's been a whole week since a Wattpad-wide maintenance sweep for missing letters. Why don't you assemble a team and do that while you're out there?" They looked at each other and groaned. The A lowered her eyebrows ever-so slightly. "I know the writers are prolific and the readers voracious. They demand a lot of us to feed their need for words. I called on you because I know you can handle this."

The D and R perked up. Their curves puffed out with pride. "We're on it!" On their way to the door they grabbed Letters to fill out their crew.

Flushed with delight to see them pull together, the A nodded in satisfaction. She knew some sites that didn't have such dedicated Letters.

Hours later, the A sat heavily in the chair just vacated by the W. The re-inkers had collected him along with the rest of the shift.

Watt personally delivered a bowl of Alphabet Soup to her. He squeezed his orange frame into the chair which groaned and splayed its legs out slightly.

She smiled her thanks and began to eat. The hot goodness flowed through her lines, and she felt her point peak up.

Watt rapped on the table. "Good work there, A." He inhaled to continue, but an X huffed loudly at a nearby table before he could speak. Watt winked at her. "Work ain't never done 'round here." He eased out of his chair and went back behind his bar.

The A continued to eat her soup.

The X's huffs turned into long, exaggerated sighs that got louder and louder. He draped himself over the table to the right. Shifted to the left. Dramatically flung himself back over his chair.

With a final sip, the A cleaned out her bowl. "Alright, X, I'm ready."

The X came over to her table. He leaned his chin on his tips and gazed at her.

"A, you're the superstar."

She raised one eyebrow.

"THE superstar."

The X sat back and crossed his tips. "I think Wattpad would shut down without you. Just from the profile names alone. @action @anime @adventure, that's not even all the ones that start with A. Then we get into all the others you're in like @BadassReads – you're there three times! @beauty @MythAndLegend and... and @WattpadCreepypasta and @TalesOfTheDeep...@mystery – ok, so not that one."

Fat tears overflowed the X's eyes. "So many profile names depend on you." His voice hitched. "Those are just the Ambassador led ones. I didn't even touch the Community profile names or profiles like @Ooorah. What would all the mothertroopers be shouting? Ooorh? No." He thumped face-first into the table.

She held her tongue and with the corner of her eye tracked the other Xs who had begun filtering over. This had been stewing for a long time now.

The X glanced at her then away. In a slight wail he said, "You can even make your own word. All by yourself!"

The X sat up. His lower lip trembled. "Maybe we'll go on strike."

A tall, proud T stood up from a nearby table. "We can't strike! Our purpose is to MAKE WORDS."

"But why?" whined an X.

A nearby group of Ws and Hs groaned. One banged his head on the table and mumbled, "No more! No more questions!"

Another T stepped up and raised its chin. "Do or do not. There is no try!"

The lead X squinted one eye. "You've been hanging out on @starwarsfans again, haven't you?"

The T flushed and looked skittishly side to side. "The baby yoda stories. I just can't resist!"

From the left, a clutch of small Cs wound their way through the crowd and cosied up to the Xs, who as a whole affected looks of distaste at the small letters curling around them but didn't shake them off.

"And where have you all been hanging around today?" the lead X asked.

"@CoffeeCommunity," purred one C. "It's so welcoming there."

"So much love," said another and rubbed her cheek on the lead X's arm.

An H ambled forward. In a slow drawl he said, "One of my authors on @nonfiction is a psychiatrist. He could probably help you Xs out. I could scour his stories..."

The A gave him a tiny head shake.

"Well, you know where to find me if you need me." He cleared his throat and strode off.

With a loud "Ha!" the X popped upright. "You're even there! You are in the word itself!"

"What word would that be?" the A asked.

"What word? What word? The word that gives us our reason for being. Wattpad, of course! What would it become without you? Wttpad. It just doesn't have any power. Wettpad? Yeah, that's just wrong."

He held out a tip to forestall the A answering. "Even profiles without you in the name need you. Like @humor. They need you to LAUGH! Otherwise they'd be LUGHing, and what the heck is that?"

The X huffed and crossed his limbs.

The A pushed her bowl away and leaned forward onto the table.

Her tip dipped slightly in a nod. "It's true some of us do more heavy lifting than others, but that is just how we're made. I'm a triangle. I'm one of the strongest shapes and pretty common in words."

She leaned forward, craning herself with her face tilted up until the X met her gaze. "It doesn't make the work you do any less important, X. After everything is said and done, we all rely on each other. None of us can do this by ourselves. A story of all 'A's' isn't much of a story. We need each other."

"There's no X in 'team'," the X replied morosely.

"True, but," the A drew out the word as a smile curled over her face, "In fact, so many stories wouldn't exist without you. Oh! See? You're there! You make us eXist! And you tell me you're not important?" She bumped him affectionately.

"Hmph! Alright, I'll give you that. But so many stories that depend on me? Yeah, right."

"Think about it, X. Something really important for existence. Something you're a part of. Something that is nearly Wattpad-wide."

"Now you're joking. Wattpad-wide? And I'm a part of it?"

The A sat, waiting. The rest of the letters slowly drifted over, squeezing into chairs together or clustering in little groups, except the L's who chose to lean long against the wall as usual.

The X crossed and uncrossed his tips, opened his mouth multiple times.

"Fine! Tell me! But I just don't see how entire stories are dependent on me, and how I'm just about everywhere on Wattpad as you claim."

The A leaned back. A slow smile unfurled across her face. "Alright, besides how important you are to our eXistence, what is one of the things that humans love the most?"

"Breathing."

"Nope. That's one thing they don't think about much until they can't. Try again. Something that drives them."

"Food."

"Hmmm, yeah, they do love eating. But this will even make them go without food."

The X shifted his jaw back and forth as he thought.

An S broke out into guffaws and writhed around on the floor snake-like. "Oh ho ho ho ho! That's rich!"

X cocked himself to the side. "Money?"

A shook her head and inspected her point.

"Give me a hint at least?"

"Hmmm, @WattpadAfterDark wouldn't exist without it," the A said.

The X's chewed on their lips and looked between each other, shrugging their ignorance of this important way they served the platform.

A nearby D suddenly started to guffaw. "I got it! I got it! How about @DangerousLove? That's a good one that needs you, X!" She stressed the letter's name.

The A clapped and the D dropped a curtsy. "Excellent! Anyone else clued in and knows an example?"

"@Romance?" piped up a shy K. "I mean not all the romance stories, but for a lot of them."

A G cleared his throat and adjusted his bow tie. In an authoritative voice he said, "All the romance profiles, actually. @NARomance and @YARomance. Or even @WattpadHistoricalRomance? I mean, it's not always so blatant but it's definitely often part of the initial spark between characters."

"Ahhhh..." said one of the C's loving up to the X's. "@Cupid? I mean, it's not big in all the stories but the Cupid After Dark reading list wouldn't exist without it."

An F jumped up and down waving his bars. "No! No! I have two that I swear you X's drive so many of the stories there I'm surprised you haven't figured it out by now." Every Letter waited as the E paused for dramatic effect. "@WattpadVampires and @Werewolf!"

Several Letters groaned and exchanged knowing looks when they clued in. Others chuckled and nodded. The copious amount of stories those authors produced ensured almost every letter had done at least one shift there.

"Quality examples!" A Z high-fived the F.

The G stepped forward to hold the floor for his expertise again. "I find more profiles have it outright or definitely undercurrents than you might expect. Even when not explicitly stated, it is a major character motivation in a wide array of stories from @adventure to @WattpadRiverdale. Even, ahem," the G cleared his throat and pulled at his bow tie, "Some of the @WattpadPunkFiction and @WattpadPotterverse stories are quite, ahem, you might find them... stimulating. The Drarry stories, for example, so very popular." He blushed from one tip to the other.

A R pushed her way through to the front of the crowd. "I worked this one story on @WattpadHornsAndHalos...whooo! It was hot! I mean, H-O-T hot!" The R fanned herself. "So good!"

"Oh, yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Several letters looked over in surprise at a the V who'd spoken. She shrugged. "What? I've been working @childrensfiction and I need something steamy to cure me of the toothache all those sweet stories are giving me." She winked at the R and gave a little wiggle. "Tell me what story it is later so I can check it out."

The R waggled her eyebrows and nodded.

The mouth of an X that had a C twining herself around him formed an O. "Do you mean...?"

The other Xs turned to him, trying to ascertain what he had grasped. They watched as the C began to nuzzle up under his axis, crooning "Mmmm..." as she went. One by one they took on the same surprised look when it dawned on them.

The lead X's eyebrows lowered in confusion. "I still have no idea. Why is it so clear to everyone else?"

An S sidled up an E who went almost everywhere with her. "Hey, A, I think we can handle this. Can we take the X here for a walk? There's a story on @music. It's a throwback to that big Salt-N-Pepa hit. It'll explain exactly what he needs to know. Then maybe we'll take him on a little Wattpad tour of exactly how the Xs are needed all over damn place."

In the back of the room, a chorus of letters began to sing at the top of their voices and gyrate against each other, "Let's talk about you and me! All the good things, and the bad things, that may be. Let's talk about-"

The S and E linked arms with the X and lead him out to broaden his horizons.

Behind the bar, Watt smiled and began to stir the Alphabet Soup.