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cue movie night with the gang and everyone is just .. uncomfortably far apart
sunny stares at everyone for too long and they all notice but are to nervous to say anything until sunny scoots over to kel (easiest to approach) inch by inch until they're Right Next To Eachother
kel wordlessly, still staring at the tv, grabs sunny and just. puts him in his lap. sunny obviously flinches but he flinches into every contact i am projecting shhhhhhhhh
sunny, now entirely unabashed to physical affection with kel is constantly swapping between draping himself across him, sitting up straight and holding his hands/arms, and y'know, just generally fucking throwing himself into him. god this is so self indulgent but sunny is so easy to project on
everyone is actually Really Jealous But They Won't Say It--eventually kel gets overheated and a little uncomfortable and puts sunny next to him
kel, feeling a little bad: sorry sunny, i know you like contact but is just sitting by me okay?
sunny, fine with it: m-
basil, aubrey, and yes hero i am actually going to get to him: you fool. you utter buffoon.
aubrey's next! god i feel like they'd be really close physical affection wise if not for the Tough Guy Act she constantly has on. internally some of her little crush (honestly, i'm not gonna lie, i think she's one of those kids who had crushes on everyone in the friend group at one point but they either went away naturally or she just literally forced herself to stop. i especially LOVE the idea that she had a little adoration crush for mari--not like an actual pairing but she really looked up to her and wanted to be like her, there's a really cute comic for it lemme see if i can find it after this) on sunny still lingers when he's openly affectionate and she can't help but give in when he's literally giving her puppy (kitty) dog (cat) eyes
sunny is malnourished, small, and very easily carried. with this information i can infer that she absolutely carries him around like a cat if he's adorable enough and will hold him gently or carry him places if he's too tired (or again, adorable enough)
sunny ABSOLUTELY uses this to his advantage but not too often because then sunny gets talks abt his health because god he's way too light to be carried that easily and jesus christ sunny
basil and after this you're getting hurt/comfort with hero sorry not sorry
... do i even need to express why they'd be close affectionately?
with kel, aubrey and hero, after the truth is told, it's a little rough getting back into speaking terms and definitely pretty awkward. however with basil, not only did he keep the secret for him (and probably to his grave if he had to) and hide the actual cause of maris death himself, he's absolutely not anxious with affection with sunny because of the same reason as everyone else, he's just.. scared and not used to it. however, i don't doubt that he's super affectionate, he just has to be with the right people.
it's kind of funny, actually--neither sunny or basil really have the initiative to tell each other they want to be close, so it's just a mess of looking to eachother and then immediately averting eyes. they're utterly Hopeless.
in reality, neither of them are really the main person in telling eachother what they want, it's just sometimes they get fed up and do it themselves.
sunny is incredibly stubborn and basil is good at alluding to things he wants without directly saying it.
back to the movie senario. basil is sitting on the floor and sunny is sitting on the couch in between aubrey and kel, who are both a bit overheated and need a couple minutes before they can go back to cuddling. sunny, the little gremlin he is, is obviously very determined to cuddle with basil next.
basil knows this, and he's 10x as nervous. however, he also knows damn well sunny won't give in himself, the little bastard boy. aubrey and kel are both very amused.
sunny eventually stops trying to get away with looking at him and just stares him down. a battle of dominance.
eventually, basil looks back over and is met with very determined (stubborn) eyes. basil has been in this situation before and knows what it means--years of dissociation from trauma has lead him to this! their battle will be legendary, the-
oh. nevermind. after maybe 30 seconds of staring basil holds his arms out and averts his eyes. another win for sunny suzuki :)
basil and sunny's physical affection is probably as intimate as you can get while still being entirely platonic (there's no inherent ships in this hc) and it really shows. sure they've done this plenty of times while still little kids, but now it'd probably be best assumed that the two are dating. they aren't!
it's the funniest fucking thing too--they're both entirely oblivious. well, mostly. basil sees nothing wrong with it, but knows people get weird when it's too over the top. here he doesn't care though.
sunny gets pulled into basil's lap, and basil is radiating heat. basil's arms get wrapped around sunny and they lean into eachother and unlike the others their position never shifts. it's incredibly intimate looking and aubrey and kel can't help but stifle a couple laughs.
and about aubrey and kel picking up sunny like a kitten--sure, you vandalize private property and play basketball for a main hobby, but do you carry around fertilizer and dirt while battling the demons of your trauma?
basil is fucking RIPPED. actually, no he isn't. he's really, really strong, but it absolutely doesn't show. he's as scrawny as a twig but can absolutely hold his own in fights and is incredibly strong. therefore, he can sling sunny over his shoulder or in his arms like he's nothing (he is! he's so fucking malnourished!) and sunny can't help but enjoy it.
it's a funny mix of things, seeing a 16 year old being held in place by what looks like the most passive, anxious flower boy you'll ever meet.
hero... i can't really get in his head. i understand his thought process and i can relate with the grief and loss, but, i don't really have one good perception of him. also some content creators hurt my perception of him and.. aaaaaaa
but i feel like.. our wants for post good ending and what would actually happen are two different things. i want hero to forgive sunny and basil quickly and continue to be everyone's older brother figure, but he'd probably be much more cold in the beginning.
of course, everyone is, even basil to an extent. kel tries to make conversation but it never gets too much farther than small talk. occasionally, aubrey will call him. basil is half distant half incredibly close.
and hero is even worse.
because of the uh, Incident, moving plans are delayed, just slightly. the buyers are fine with it and sunny stays a little longer to heal. he's frequently invited to hero & kel's--for dinner or just a simple hangout. sunny's mom is super busy and isn't home much anyway so she's fine with it
but hero is cold. he stays in his room a decent amount of the visit, and comes out on occasion to say hi. he doesn't cook yet, that's an Important Character Development i'm getting to
sunny isn't one to initiate conversation, hell, he's barely one to talk. still though, he tries. just a little bit.
he tries his best with his questions to make sure they can't strike a nerve, but it's hard. sometimes he overprepares his questions in his head so much he ends up spiraling, staring at his plate of food, mouth open, making a sound which catches everyone's attention but he never elaborates on.
after hero finishes eating, he puts up his plate and immediately goes back to his room. sunny snaps out of his spiral.
eventually, they warm back up, just slightly. sunny is glad for this because he couldn't confront hero if he tried. he'd probably end up having a panic attack.
sunny is really good at reading body language, and it's even easier with hero because he's never been good at hiding it. his shoulders will clench with tension he doesnt realize is there, and he'll constantly look like he's on the verge of saying something; anything.
however, maybe a month after the confession, they all get reunited. sunny has to leave officially in two days and everyone gets together again for a dinner and hangout at kel & hero's.
hero looks tired; sunny has seen it before, years ago. he stayed up. but although he's sluggish, he looks.. less tense. sunny supposes it could be because he's not the only one there anymore, but he waves to sunny with a pretty genuine smile. he doesn't sit 3 chairs away from him, and ..
"hey! uh, sunny, do you think you'd want to help me out with dinner?"
sunny, contrary to popular belief, isn't a bad cook. nowhere near hero's skill or anything but he's actually really decent at following instructions if they're clear enough and even improvisation.
sunny and hero work together very well. sunny is wordless, following hero's instruction and the two don't get in the way of eachother whatsoever.
sunny is content. hero is calm.
hero was never a super openly affectionate person. with mari, sure, but that was different. after she died, he became even less affectionate. he loathed touch from anyone who didn't know him, anyone who was too close to him, it made him super uncomfortable.
yet here he is, sitting in a chair close to the couch with his now mended friend group.
sunny approaches. he's cuddled with everyone, now. all except hero.
hero looks over, a very slight expression of suprise, or, maybe closer to apprehension on his face.
he smiles lightly, and scoots over, patting an empty spot on the chair.
slowly, nervously, sunny sits down. he keeps his arms to himself, and he finds his shoes very interesting.
hero pulls his arm around him, delicately. sunny thankfully doesn't flinch, and.. after a few moments, leans onto hero.
they say nothing and finish the movie, and soon after, sunny falls asleep.
hero swears he sees a figure with long hair in the distance, wiping tears from their eyes, smiling. they mouth something.
"thank you for keeping your promise."
it's the final day, and everyone is around sunny. after saying his goodbyes, giving his number, his address, and something called a discord, whatever that meant, he turns to hero.
sunny hands him an envelope, written on the front saying "Do not open until I have left"
sunny turns around, and looks back, waving. tears are pricking at his good eye and he finally smiles after the events of the hospital.
after he eventually becomes just a tiny speck in the distance, hero looks back to the envelope.
everyone is curious, and kel speaks for them. "what'cha got there, bro?"
he sits on the sidewalk, and everyone does the same. it's not unlike the order from when they met aubrey.
inside the letter, says;
"Hi, Hero. I'm really hoping you listened to me and didn't read this until I left. It's okay if you didn't, though. I'm not mad.
I'm just going to get straight to the point. After we watched that movie and I got back home, sitting on my nightstand was a recipe for something. You probably know what I'm talking about already.
I know for certain I didn't put this here on my nightstand and I doubt mom did either, she hates cooking. I have no idea why she would've done it.
I find that kind of odd, don't you?
Anyway, I won't keep you. Thank you for being such a good big brother figure to me, Hero.. take care of this."
a delicately preserved piece of paper sat in the envelope, soft handwriting that could only belong to mari detailing how to make "chef mari's famous cookies".
he couldn't help but cry.