Chapter Text
Basil wakes with a yawn, and panics a little when he looks around. It’s pitch black! He feels around, and finds brick. Oh, he’s back in the abandoned house.
“Cloudy?” He whispers fearfully.
“Mhm.” Sunny’s voice is right next to him, and a hand that feels just like his takes Basil’s, intertwining their fingers.
“C-can you help me get home? I can’t see.” Basil whispers.
“Mm.” Cloudy helps him to his feet, and starts walking. Basil stumbles a bit, resisting the leading a little, worried Cloudy might lead him right into a tree or something.
But they make it out, back to the park, where Basil can see street lights in the distance. Basil sighs in relief. “C-can we walk home together?” He asks Cloudy.
Cloudy tilts his head in confusion. “Why would I go anywhere? I told you I’d be with you forever.”
“I kn-know, but if you go home with me Polly’s probably going to see you, and you want to be kept a secret.” Basil tries to reason.
Cloudy blinks slowly in realization, and smiles. “She can’t see me. No one can. Don’t worry. I’m never leaving your side. Not even for a second.” There’s something very final about his words. It’s more than a promise.
It makes Basil shiver, but it also makes him smile. “Th-that’s good, then.” Basil squeezes his hand. “Then let’s go! That way we can sleep in a real bed.”
Cloudy nods, and Basil pulls him quickly along the familiar streets. It’s just like when they were kids— taking turns leading each other by the hand to wherever they wanted to go.
Polly nearly has a heart attack when Basil unlocks the door and comes in. She rushes at him, pulling him into a tight hug.
“Where have you been?! It’s nearly midnight!! I thought something had happened to you, or that you’d gotten kidnapped, or—“ She squeezes him tighter.
Basil’s never seen her like this. He always tried never to worry her, after all. He didn’t think she cared this much, though.
It makes him feel a lot better, actually. “I-I’m sorry, I was at a friend’s house and I fell asleep there. He doesn’t have a phone so I c-couldn’t call. I d-didn’t mean to make you worry.” He tells her honestly, because that’s essentially what happened, right? Kinda. It’s close enough.
She sighs and releases him. “It’s alright. Just try not to let it happen again. Tell your friend to wake you before it gets dark. And… you can bring him over too, if you want.” Polly tells him, a bit of hope in her voice.
Basil nods. “I’ll try.” He smiles.
Polly releases him and heats up dinner for him, which Basil happily eats. When she’s not looking, he tries to offer a bite to Cloudy, but he shakes his head. Basil takes his answer and finishes eating.
He prepares for bed with a bounce in his step. “Can you make my dreams whatever you want?” Basil whispers eagerly as he picks out pajamas.
“I can make your dreams whatever you want.” Cloudy responds blandly, just like his lookalike.
“Even better! Th-though… is it bad that I kind of want you to surprise me? Hehe. It’s b-been so long since a friend has done something for me.” Basil requests.
“I can do that.” Cloudy says simply.
“That’s great! …A-anyway, would you mind turning around or something? I know y-you want to stay by my side, but I need to get dressed.”
Cloudy turns around without complaint, and Basil quickly pulls on his pajamas. He’s happy, happier than he’s been in so long. “So you’re just with me anywhere and everywhere? E-every night?” He asks.
Cloudy nods. “Every night, every second.”
Basil giggles giddily, bouncing in place and lightly clapping his hands. It’s like a sleepover with his best friend every single night!! Even better than that actually, because he gets to go on adventures in his dreams!! It’s just like a fantasy book!! He’d definitely read one like this…
Basil pulls Cloudy into bed. “Is there anything else I should know about you?”
Cloudy gets settled in, snuggling up just like Sunny used to. “Mm… I can put better versions of other people in your dreams. Anyone you want.”
“Oh…” Basil pauses. “That sounds… nice. I-I’ll keep in mind, maybe. But I think I’d r-rather it be just us right now.”
“Me too.” Cloudy replies with ease. “You’re the only one I want to be with.”
Basil blushes and giggles more. “You’re so sweet… I don’t care where we go as long as it’s together.”
“Good.” Cloudy holds him tightly, pressed flush against him. There’s something about the way that holds him that feels like he’s trying to make sure he can’t wiggle away. It makes Basil smile, finding it cute how clingy his new best friend is. “I’m never letting you go.” Cloudy declares into his neck.
Basil’s heart flutters. It’s exactly what he’s always wanted Sunny to say to him, really… he’s just always tried to keep it a secret. “I-I don’t want you to.” He answers softly.
He’s starting to feel sleepy again. He feels so relaxed with Cloudy around, the exact opposite of how he felt before they met. It makes him excited. He gets to go have an adventure in his dreams twice in one day!
“C-can you wake me up at six in the morning? I need to w-water my plants.” Basil mumbles his request. Even if it’d be nice to sleep all day, he couldn’t just abandon his plants! They were his only friends besides Kel and Cloudy. They needed him.
“Mhm.” Cloudy agreed.
Basil smiled more, and wrapped his arms around his best friend, drifting into sleep.
—
Basil awakes in the dream world to the sound of carnival music. They’re in the flower field again, but now a short bit away is the entrance to a fairgrounds. Basil can see the Ferris wheel in the distance, and smell the cotton candy.
Basil gets up from his bed, Cloudy following right behind him. “This is j-just like when we were eight, remember? The carnival came a-and we went together with everyone. We shared a funnel cake, and we rode the Ferris wheel— though that was before you became scared o-of heights.” Basil beamed.
“Mhm. That’s what I was going for.” Cloudy says neutrally, though Basil can hear the slight tilt in his voice that Sunny always gets when he’s pleased with himself.
“This is great!” Basil cheers, grabbing Cloudy’s hand. He hadn’t gotten to really go on any vacations since everything fell apart.
Cloudy grabs Basil’s camera from the bedside table, which now had an attached strap for easier carrying. “Here. Let’s make our first new memories here.”
Basil pauses. The pain that this camera and the photo album have held for him… maybe… maybe it’s time he started trying to heal from it. He has all the time in the world, here with Cloudy. He nods, and tucks his camera away for later.
Holding hands, they walk into the carnival. It’s completely empty, but it sounds just like a real one, though toned down for the sake of both their senses’. There’s these strange flower-infested vaguely humanoid grey figures placed where any employee would normally go. When the two best friends approach the ticket counter, they’re given matching armbands and let in without paying money or doing any kind of socializing. It’s a massive relief.
Excited by the fact that this carnival is perfect for the two of them, Basil tugs Cloudy around excitedly, and is followed without complaint by his mindscape protector.
The first stop is the nearest food stand— though Basil loved going to the carnival last time, there was one part of it that sucked, and he’s willing to bet it’s fixed here.
Basil runs up and looks at the menu, gasping in delight. He’s right! Everything they serve is completely vegetarian! No oil made with animal fat, no gelatin, no animal meats! The whole menu is kind of catered to him, actually. And the ‘employee’ instantly knows what he wants to order.
Basil is handed a bag of five cinnamon churros and a cup of strawberry sauce.
“This is the best place I’ve ever been to.” Basil says with utter awe.
They find a place to sit and eat, which is easy because they’re the only real people here.
“C-can you not eat, or—“ Basil asks, biting into his first churro.
“I can in this world.” Cloudy answers.
Basil looks between the churro he’s already bitten into and his new best friend. Y’know. Cloudy. The one who looks and acts exactly like the boy he’s been crushing on since he was six.
Shyly, Basil offers the churro to Cloudy.
Cloudy blinks, and his ears go a little red. “Ah…” He seems to understand Basil’s intentions. He bites into the churro Basil is holding, and then they both look away, bashful. It’s far from the first time they’ve eaten from the same food growing up together, but it’s definitely the first time they’ve both seen it as an indirect kiss.
Basil and Cloudy keep sharing the churros and strawberry sauce, comfortably silent. If they keep exchanging indirect kisses throughout it, well, that’s a secret between best friends. Basil snaps a picture of Cloudy taking a bite from his churro the second time, wanting to immortalize his bashful face and cutely red ears.
Once they’ve finished their food, Basil has his eye on the carnival games.
“W-we didn’t have to pay for food or admission so it’s pr-probably free…” He mumbles to Cloudy. “On a scale o-of one to ten how rigged are they?”
“0. But they require skill. It’s no fun if there’s no effort.” Cloudy answers honestly. It’s a very Sunny-like answer— he used to talk the same way about video games all the time. It’s no wonder the better version of Sunny would be just as passionate about making sure games in Basil’s dreams were balanced enough to be fun.
“Haha, you’re right. Let’s try, then.” Basil tries to feel confident. After all, it was just Cloudy. He wouldn’t judge him if he messed up.
They approached a shooting game. Basil was less confident about this one. He’d never really held anything like the fake gun they had, even if it wasn’t really dangerous and only shot paintballs. After all, he wasn’t really the fighting type. When he was a kid and there was a fight, he was more likely to grab Sunny if he was nearby and hide somewhere safe with him.
Maybe that’s why Aubrey continued to beat him up two entire years after he ‘destroyed’ his own photo album.
Basil took the gun and tried a shot, but the kickback was too much, and he missed by a mile. “A-ah!”
Cloudy was neutral to his failure, and silently let Basil recover, holding his hands out for the gun.
Basil gave it to him eagerly, embarrassed and wanting to get rid of the fake weapon.
Cloudy took the gun, and properly looked down the sight, closing one eye and aiming cooly. He looked serious as could be, and it made Basil blush a little, swooning to himself.
BANG!
…
Cloudy missed even worse than Basil. It wasn’t even on the target. Basil tried not to laugh at Cloudy’s deadpan, totally done expression.
The flower-infested grey humanoid gave them a tiny pastel green bunny keychain with a pink flower on its ear as a participation prize.
“Aw.” Basil pouted. “At least this is cute.” He took out his camera and attached the bunny keychain to his camera strap. “L-let’s try something else.”
The next game they found was a strength testing game. Cloudy pointed to a sunflower flower crown hanging on display and then to Basil, silently declaring his intent to win it for Basil. Basil’s face went a bit red, again, heart fluttering in his chest. Cloudy stepped up to plate and grabbed the mallet, swinging as hard as he possibly could onto the platform.
The little meter barely moved towards the bell. He got a little white cat keychain in compensation for his efforts.
Basil tried not to laugh and attached it to his camera next to the bunny while Cloudy took his turn pouting.
“Let me give it a try.” Basil took the mallet, took in a deep breath, and SMASHED the platform with all his might! The meter shut up like a bullet and struck the bell so hard it popped off and went sailing into oblivion, turning into a little star like Team Rocket in the anime Sunny and him used to watch all the time.
Basil laughed a little, very pleased with himself. He guessed carrying around fifty pound bags of potting soil and fertilizer was good for something, at least!
He turned to Cloudy eagerly, as if to say ‘did you see that?!’ He found Cloudy staring at him with a bright red face and giving a shy thumbs up. Basil dropped the mallet and took a picture as fast as he could. Then he turned back to the ‘employee’, who handed him two prizes for his jackpot— the sunflower crown and a matching white tulip crown. Basil put the white tulip crown on and put the sunflower one on Cloudy’s perfect cloud-white hair.
“There. Now we’ll have a piece of each other wherever we go.” Basil beamed.
Basil was practically bouncing in excitement now. He really was having so much fun! If he could win this game, they could win others! So Basil took his best friend’s hand and dragged him along, wanting to try every single game in this dream carnival!
The other games went much better for Cloudy— almost seeming tailored to him. The first time, he won a giant cat plushie and gave it to Basil. Basil hugged it happily, giggling to himself. Last time they were here, Hero had won every stuffed animal he could to give to Mari. Of course, she gave them all to Sunny, but Basil still found the whole thing romantic, and it’d been a long standing fantasy for Sunny to win him a mountain of prizes somewhere, even though he knew logically that it was unrealistic.
Of course… “Uh… is there any way we can put this somewhere? I like it a lot, b-but…” Basil laughed nervously. The plush was huge, and if this continued, he wouldn’t be able to carry them all.
Cloudy nodded, and took from his pocket a small pair of one-handed pruning shears. Cutting into the air, he created a line, and pulled it open to reveal their bed back in the meadow. Basil smiled gratefully and dropped the giant Mewo-looking plush back onto their bed.
Now everything was perfect. Basil beamed, and attached himself to Cloudy’s arm, hugging it affectionately. Cloudy smiled, and peeled his arm away, before bringing Basil into a proper hug.
“…I’m so happy you’re happy.” He mumbles.
“I’ve never been happier. This is a dream come true.” Basil replies sweetly, hugging him tightly.
“…I can’t wait to see your reaction to everything else I have planned.” Cloudy says softly.
They stayed hugging for quite a while.
Finally, they moved apart and kept going with the games. By the end, They had a literal pile of stuffed animals waiting back at home, and the sun had set completely, exposing an endless sky of stars.
“I think I’m ready to go home.” Basil yawned. “But can we come back someday? There’s still a couple things here I want to do.”
“Mhm.” Cloudy cut open a portal back to their meadow again, and, to Basil’s utter surprise, picked the blond boy up bridal style. Basil was spooked at first, but soon smiled bashfully and laid his head on Cloudy’s shoulder.
And so Cloudy carried him to bed, fulfilling another unrealistic fantasy of Basil’s. They cuddled up in bed with all of their new stuffed animals, looking up at the night sky.
“The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?” Cloudy whispers in the utmost softest voice.
Basil’s heart stops for a second, and he can’t keep the giant smile off his face. He turns to Cloudy and holds him tightly, starting to drift off despite himself. “See you tomorrow, Cloudy.” He responds in kind.