Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He was everywhere. Between gentle currents of air flowing between the leaves of the trees, swirling reverently between blades of grass, taking shelter in the darker places of his garden. His voice whistled to his flowers and herbs, as well as every creature that took shelter in his grove.

It was his garden, a place to take care of the plants and animals that found their way inside. Even the weeds had a place there, as long as they did not take too much. The rabbits and spiders built around each other’s homes, and the sunflowers alongside him gazed longingly upon the radiant ball of life. So pretty…

It was his library, a meaning behind every petal of every flower. Every different combination of colors and petal arrangements had significance, at least to him. He mourned the loss of each of his plants, from the tallest trees to the smallest blades of grass. Every word was important in his library after all, and it was no small relief that new plants grew in place of the old.

Now, he spent a lot of time in his garden, but he was well aware of the outside. He enjoyed looking out at the rest of the world, the universe even, while physically protecting his beloved plants. He knew what humans were, and he paid no mind to them. In the end, they were no different from the rest of the animals, at least to him. In all of the thousands, even millions of years he had spent caring for his garden, humans had never entered his garden.

Until now.

She had walked in with an expression of awe, looking at the variety of flowers he cared for almost fanatically. She wasn't particularly special, though her pale golden hair caught his attention, reminding him of some of his flowers. Her clothes were strange, too. Strange blue leg-coverings opened near the bottom like some of his flowers did in full bloom, and her torso was covered in flowers. Not real ones, he could tell, but perhaps their likeness led her to his garden. She didn't even see him, all of her attention on the beauty of his garden, carefully touching the flowers and smelling them. 

He couldn't imagine why she would smell them, he had never seen any other animals do such a thing. It didn't seem to hurt the flowers, which was a relief, but he didn't quite understand why she was doing it.

So, of course, he asked.

“Why?”

She jumped, and for a moment he almost was worried she would run away, but instead she looked around. She wanted to see who was talking to her. How strange. He felt suddenly self-conscious about not having a ‘real’ shape that could be understood.

“Who's there?” the human asked, and in a moment of improvisation that he was very proud of, he became a ball. It was a very simple shape, so no one needed to think too hard about it. With much hesitation, he floated into her line of sight.

She stared at him, though she would have done so no matter where her eyes landed, and she became less tense.

“Ah, a spirit, then. No wonder I couldn't understand you! I'm sorry for walking into your garden,” she said, arms raised in a gesture of peace. How strange.

She couldn't understand him, which was somewhat upsetting. Language was a strange thing, and he only knew flowers. He slowly approached her until he was next to her. She watched him curiously as he jerked towards the flowers in an attempt to gesture to them.

“I'm not going to steal your flowers if that's what you're worried about, don't worry!” she said, a weak smile on her face revealing her nervousness. This would be difficult.

He formed an approximation of a nose that was much closer to a simple triangle and mimicked smelling one of the nearby flowers, turning back to her as the polygon sunk back into the void of his original circle shape.

A pause. Silence stretched through the garden.

Suddenly, she laughed , a strange but not unpleasant sound, and he couldn't tell if his plan had worked or not until the laughter started to die down.

“You, hehe, you wanted to know why I'm smelling the flowers? Has no one done that before? Not even little elves coming along and dancing in your strange garden?” She started laughing again, and he thought it was very strange. It would be too much effort to try and ask what an elf was, so he simply bobbed in affirmation. She laughed harder.

For a moment they stood there together, waiting for her laughter to dissipate. The whole situation was very confusing to both of them, he was sure, but it wasn't bad at all. It was actually very nice, looking past the poor communication efforts.

Finally, she answered. “Well, the smell is very nice. It adds to the beauty of the flowers, see? I couldn't describe the smell, though. It's just… nice. Can you... not smell things?” 

She almost looked sad for him, which was… thoughtful. He had never been pitied before. He began to see humans in a new light. The light of the sun instead of the light of his own eyes.

~~~

The human came by often, teaching him the names of the flowers he had been caring for. His shape had become more human as she taught him, smell and taste and touch being sewn into himself. It was so wonderful to experience his garden in its fullness.

Learning to speak the human’s words was a crucial and important first step, and he cherished every moment of it. She was so kind and patient with him, and he would not forget.

The experience of carefully picking a few of his roses (a name, something he was still trying to understand), the bright yellow petals swaying from the new movement, and giving them to the human was incredible. His teacher taught him so much, and it was such a joy to be able to properly interact with his plants! The amount of happiness he felt when he could feel the warmth of the sun was indescribable even to him, and he would hold the warmth close to him forever.

He was a bit sad to learn that humans couldn't taste feelings like he could, but she told him that it was fine, that it made him special and was only another part of who he was. She always knew how to make him feel better, but the taste of her unease would stick with him in his memory.

~~~

She had a child. The child never entered his garden, but he heard many stories of its growth. It was very different from his flowers.

Age had begun to take its toll on her appearance, and he had begun to meet her outside of his garden on her way in. It was only the beginning of its toll, but he knew it would grow and grasp her tighter, despite her reassurances. He had seen it before, on both plants and animals, but he could pretend. For both of them.

~~~

He still didn't know her name or what to call her other than his teacher or the human. He felt bad about it, but he thought it would be too personal to ask.

He wanted a name, too.

~~~

Her child had died. He watched it happen, in the strange white room. He remembered he hated the smell.

She told him it would be a happy event, and that he should come see, but her sorrow was bitter.

Her grandchild had died, too.

...He had an idea.

~~~

He was Basil, and she was Grandmother. His idea worked, and when he tasted Grandmother’s discomfort, he ignored it. It worked! He was Basil! Everything was okay.

~~~

The first few years were… uncomfortable. He couldn't do anything other than babble uselessly, unable to communicate anything properly. And, when he could move on his own, everything was too big! He couldn't move his fingers effectively, either. Grandmother laughed at him. Maybe it was a little funny...

Once he could hold things, Basil insisted on buying flower seeds to grow. When he dreamed, he could still access his garden, but there was something about doing it the human way that appealed to him. Feeling soil and plant matter under his hands (hands! a wonderful thing. he would have so many hands!), smelling and tasting things all the time was so fun!

Until he discovered pain. Pain was bad in a way he couldn't describe. It reminded him of sadness, in a way. He knew his plants could hurt people, but they had never hurt him before. They didn't want to hurt him , they understood he was taking care of them. He didn't understand pain until then. On that day, paper became his enemy.

It didn't last, but the memory of pain would.

~~~

Grandmother told him that sometimes humans hurt each other, too. Her sadness was bitter. What a terrible thing...

~~~

School was… something. Basil didn't want to talk to any of the humans. In a way, they were intimidating. He learned pain, and learned that humans could make pain, so if he avoided them and stayed with his flowers, then pain wouldn't be a problem, right?

It actually worked for a while, despite teachers (do they even deserve that title? Grandmother was a much better teacher. what significance do these ‘numbers’ have?) nudging him to make friends. He made sure to be polite, which wasn't too hard. Basil had always been gentle and polite to his flowers, so it couldn't be that hard to be nice to the children. He didn't really care enough to pay attention to all of them, though. He felt a bit guilty about that...

School dragged him along, and he longed to return to his flowers. He wanted to try growing fruit, since they all tasted so good! Maybe not a tree, though. Trees took a while to grow all the way, and he knew Grandmother was slowly worsening with her age. He wanted to share! She was so nice…

He would have to think about it more later.

~~~

Grandmother hired a caretaker. Polly.

Polly was very nice, but she didn't understand why he wanted to care for his flowers instead of making friends with the neighbors. She made good food, and respected his boundaries while attempting to get him to talk more. What was he supposed to say?

He was ashamed to admit that he resented Polly, just a little bit. He knew Grandmother hired her because she couldn't quite care for him anymore.

Concern wasn't something he enjoyed tasting all the time.

~~~

A girl watched him water his flowers today from across the street. She didn't say anything, but he could taste her curiosity and wonder. It made him proud that other people enjoyed looking at his flowers! He should tell Grandmother.

~~~

“I like your flowers!”

Basil almost jumped out of his skin, turning around. It was the girl, smiling at him. She was proud of herself for talking to him. This was a conversation now.

“Ah, um, thank you… I take very good care of them,” he said. No one other than Grandmother and Polly complimented his flowers before, and they were different from this girl.

“That must be hard! Do you do that all day?” she asked, looking at the patch of sunflowers he had been tending to.

“Well, I have school, but… when I'm not there, I guess I do? It's not that bad…” he answered, keeping an eye on the girl to make sure she didn't harm his flowers.

She hummed, as if thinking to herself. Basil shifted nervously. He thought he gave enough reassurance that he was just fine caring for his plants. What was she plotting?

Finally, she spoke. “Do you want to meet my friends? I think they would love your flowers!”

Basil blinked. “I, um…”

“I'll take that as a yes!” the girl interrupted, grabbing one of his hands and beginning to drag him off. “Oh yeah, I'm Aubrey! What's your name?”

“Wait-- oh, I'm Basil, um -- where are we going?” he asked, his small attempts at pulling away being ignored. He tried to shove down the idea of pain rising to the front of his mind.

“Oh, we're going to a super secret spot! It's where my friends are!” she looked back at him with a smile. He couldn't taste any malice…

“Look, see those bushes? We gotta walk through them to get to the spot,” she said, pointing ahead of her. To be honest, Basil hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings on the way there until then, and by then they had stopped.

“I’ll go first, but you gotta promise me you’ll follow right behind me, okay?” Aubrey asked, giving him a look he could only vaguely decipher.

He reluctantly nodded, and she disappeared into the bushes. Taking a deep breath, he followed her. The branches scratched at his arms, but it wasn't too bad. It was just dark, and it wasn't something he didn't already have experience with.

He missed his garden.

As he stepped out of the bushes, Aubrey stood waiting for him. She smiled, grabbing his hand again. This time, she led him calmly towards a group of people not too far away.

“Hey guys!” she called, waving at them. Basil couldn't help but wince at the volume. “I brought a new friend!”

A loud, incoherent shout was heard as one of the people stood up, dropped what they happened to be holding, and immediately fell down with another, more panicked shout that was somehow less comprehensible. Aubrey immediately started laughing, which confused Basil. That person might be hurt!

“Aubrey, Why are you laughing? Shouldn't we help them?” he asked, slightly cowering from her laughter. It was so loud… unfortunately, his request only seemed to make her laugh harder. She ended up sitting down and rolling on the grass because she was so overcome with amusement that it overwhelmed what emotions he would have tasted from the group. He was left standing there awkwardly, watching one of the people help the one who had fallen down.

As the group approached them, Basil took the time to actually see them instead of looking through them. He had a feeling he would be around them a lot …

The one who had fallen looked reasonably disheveled, a grin on his reddened face despite looking like he had just had a bike slammed into him. Now that they were closer, he could taste the boy’s thrill. Wasn't he in pain?

The first boy was being supported by a much taller boy who looked down at him with some exasperation. Basil could taste amusement, though the concern mixed in reassured Basil. That one was probably sane, then.

Next to the tall boy was a girl, a kind, amused smile on her face as she followed behind them. She was saying something, but he couldn't really make it out over Aubrey’s laughter. She was actually really calm about the whole thing, though he could taste a small bit of amusement from her. Her presence felt reassuring, though Basil didn't know why. It felt similar to Grandmother, but also different. It was… nice, actually.

In front of her was another boy who looked like he was trying to subtly sneak his way behind her, prevented hy hands on his shoulders that guided him forwards. He didn't show much emotion on his face at all, only showing the faintest hint of discomfort at being near the front of the group. Basil could see the moment he became resigned to his fate, letting the nice girl guide him forwards. Basil could sympathize. He had been dragged here against his will, too. 

A strange feeling accompanied Basil’s sympathy, but he decided to figure it out later.

Aubray had stood up at some point, taking his hand again as if she was worried he would try to run. It was understandable, but he didn't know where he would have ran to, so it felt unnecessary.

“This is Basil! He's the flower kid I told you guys about!” She said, waving at them again. A part of him was proud that she had told her friends about his flowers. How nice!

“Hello, it's nice to meet you!” he said, putting the warmth of recognition behind his voice. Grandmother told him the best way to be polite is to put genuine feelings behind it, after all!

“Isn't basil a drug?” the disheveled kid asked, a look of confusion replacing his grin. Basil almost choked.

“Kel!” the tall boy shot a disappointed look at the disheveled kid (Kel, another name). “You can't just say that!”

Aubrey nodded solemnly, adding “Yeah, Kel! You’re thinking of spinach!”

The tall kid (please someone tell him his name ) looked at Aubrey like she had grown a second head. “It’s not spinach… I've cooked with spinach before, it's not a drug-”

“What!? You mean Mari’s been giving you drug books this whole time!?” Kel interrupted in full seriousness, causing the nice girl (Mari, probably) to burst into giggles. The tall boy looked mortified. Even the quiet boy seemed amused, despite the lack of change in his expression.

“Mari would never do that to Hero!” Aubrey glared at Kel, before realizing that she had technically suggested that he made drugs. She immediately became apologetic. “Wait, I didn't know you used spinach! It must not be a drug, then!”

Basil suddenly found himself in a difficult situation. Did he let them continue to mistakenly accuse plants of being drugs, or did he tell them what it actually was? In the end, he held his peace as Mari spoke up in between her giggles.

“Shouldn't we introduce ourselves to Basil? I'm sure that if Hero used drugs in his cooking, we would know,” she said, barely containing the last of her laughter. “Kel, why don't you go first?”

“What?” Kel asked. He had stopped paying attention. Everyone stared at him for a moment before he finally realized what was happening. “Oh! I'm Kel! Sorry for calling you a drug!”

“It's fine, it was a little bit funny. You don't need to apologize!” Basil said, already worn out. He tried to ignore how this was only the first introduction.

“I don't? Cool!” Kel grinned. After a Look from Hero, he added, “I'll just apologize anyways! Cool people apologize.”

“Sure, Kel,” Aubrey said, an unimpressed look on her face. 

Before Kel could realize the sarcasm behind her statement, Hero cut in. “I'm Hero. It's nice to meet you, Basil!” he smiled, and Basil was once again reassured. This whole introduction was definitely… something, so far. It was a lot to take at once.

“My name is Mari, and this is Sunny,” Mari said, gesturing to the boy in front of her, who nodded. He looked at Basil with some suspicion, as if he was testing him somehow.

“If you don't mind, I would love to see your flowers sometime! I'm sure they're all beautiful,” Mari continued, her smile never faltering.

“Oh, I wouldn't mind at all! I think it's nice that people like my flowers…” he answered, and a part of him lit up when Sunny’s expression softened (it was a slight difference). He must have passed the test, then! A sense of relief washed over him.

Basil let out a soft exhale. He had friends now, for better or for worse.

~~~

He told Grandmother about his new friends. How Kel was loud and crazy, how Aubrey seemed to think things through a little more than Kel but also was emotionally volatile. How Hero barely managed to keep Kel, and by extension Aubrey, in check without even a little genuine anger. How Mari was kind, with enough of a playful side to make it feel real and put him at ease.

How Sunny managed to make him feel judged despite his silence and lack of a facial expression, and was it just him projecting his own feelings onto the human? Would that be rude? But he had never done that before, and the feeling of relief and happiness he had gotten when he passed the test… He couldn't possibly have tricked himself! 

No, it had to be something else. Sunny had to have some sort of great power to communicate so much with hardly any change in expression. He must be beyond language! So powerful to be able to be understood by Basil without words or symbolic gifts...

Or maybe, because Basil was able to taste emotion, it made it easier for him to understand Sunny. He was able to understand him perfectly, after all. Maybe he should hang around him more! After all, with his inhuman nature, there could be no room for miscommunication, right?

Grandmother laughed, an old, weary sound, and told him that he should spend more time with his new friends before jumping to conclusions. She was always so wise! He would do exactly that!

~~~

Hanging out with his friends was actually a lot of fun! They were all interesting in their own ways, and Basil made a note to himself to grow flowers for each of them!

They all visited his yard, and he was happy to see all of them had appreciated his flowers. Sunny may not have said anything, but Basil could taste his awe, presumably at the dedication to caring for his flowers. He would make sure to work extra hard on the flowers for his friends!

~~~

Mari said that they should all learn sign language together, saying it would help Sunny talk to them more. Basil instantly agreed, though he only vocalized it after everyone else had done so.

Tasting emotions was nice, sometimes, but Grandmother told him that sometimes emotions were personal. He didn't want to risk overstepping his boundaries with his new friends! Plus, he couldn't argue against learning a new way to use his hands.

~~~

Mari and Sunny gave him a pink flower clip for his hair. Mari told him that they had seen it during a trip to the store and thought of him and his flowers. They were so thoughtful! He would treasure it always.

~~~

Everyone visited Sunny’s house. They watched Mari play a song on the piano, and eventually Sunny joined in and played with her. The music was so pretty… Watching them work together was amazing!

The only thing that bothered him were the sharp spikes of distress and anger that came from Mari when she made a mistake. It had caught him by surprise, and he almost flinched away from her. He didn't expect such a strong feeling like that… He hoped she would find peace with the smaller mistakes. The mistakes made the performance special!

~~~

Basil had taken an interest in books. He couldn't taste the emotion behind the words on the pages, and had to turn the pages himself in order to see more of the story. It was so exciting, to guess or discover the emotion for himself!

It reminded him of the sign language lessons that Mari had been teaching sometimes. It made him realize that he had been relying on taste too much, just like Before Grandmother when he had relied on sight and sound alone.

He understood how foolish he was to believe that taste alone could let him truly understand Sunny. It was more than just taste. It was sight, looking and understanding Sunny like he could understand the words in his books.

Taste was still helpful, of course. He didn't think he could completely give up taste, anyways.

~~~

Grandmother told him it would help to pay attention to his other friends, because they were Sunny's friends too. If he understood his friends, he could understand him even more. She was so smart! Basil felt silly for not thinking of it sooner.

~~~

All of his friends’ flowers had begun to sprout. Basil was so excited for them to mature enough so that he could give them to everyone!

The timing was a little off, and he had planted the seeds much closer to autumn than he would have liked. He knew he had managed to grow plants successfully at worse times, but now it was more personal. He could still do it, though!

~~~

Everyone went stargazing together. It was so pretty! They all laid down in a circle on the grass, and Kel tried to make up his own constellations and point at them in the sky. Basil could actually tell what most of them were supposed to be, but he was pretty sure Kel had started making up stars at some point. 

Aubrey had called him out on it first, and Hero had to step in, saying that they could all make up their own constellations. Mari added on that technically, all constellations were made up, so it wouldn't hurt to make up a few more! 

Basil had a lot of fun drawing flowers in the stars, pointing them out to Sunny. He wore a flower clip that matched his own that night! It was very nice.

~~~

Basil hadn't thought much about Christmas before. It didn't really… matter to him Before. Not that he would ever tell his friends that!

Still, it surprised him when Aubrey stage-whispered for him to follow her while he was gardening. He looked around, before meeting her eyes and pointing at himself. He felt a little stupid when she nodded enthusiastically, motioning for him to hurry.

He followed her in silence, looking at his surroundings as they walked. They weren't going to their usual spot, so he was a little worried.

“Aubrey? Where are we goi-” he was cut off by her shushing him, turning her head and grinning as she put a finger to her lips. At least it was somewhat reassuring…

Basil heard Kel before he saw him. “Hey guys! You're so slow, Aubrey!”

“Shut up, Kel! I had to get Basil!” Aubrey retaliated. They made faces at each other, and Basil could see Mari and Hero standing behind Kel. Where was Sunny…?

“Okay guys, we're all here now, so there's no need to fight,” Hero said, an exasperated smile on his face. But Hero was wrong. Sunny wasn't here! Did they forget about him? But Mari was right there!

Mari must have seen his growing confusion, quickly adding, “Don't worry, Basil. This is a secret meeting, so Sunny can't find out. We’re going to surprise him for Christmas this year!” 

She was excited. They must have decided on something amazing!

“Lemme explain it to Basil, Mari!” Kel said, confidence plastered over his face. At Mari’s nod, he pumped his fist, hissing in victory. Aubrey gave him an annoyed look, but said nothing.

“Okay, so Sunny used to play this violin when he was little, right? And he wants to spend more time with Mari, since she's been practicing the piano a bunch.” A pause, and Basil took it as his cue to nod. 

“So, what if we all saved a bunch of money doing jobs around town, pooled it all together, and bought him a new violin? It would be so cool!” Kel finished, pride rolling off him in waves at explaining. Mari clapped and Hero gave him a thumbs up, which only made his smile grow bigger.

“Whoa… that sounds like a great idea, guys!” Basil said. It sounded like an amazing gift, and he was sure Sunny would love it! He was impressed. Grandmother was right about paying more attention to them. They knew Sunny so well!

Now he just had to find a job...

~~~

Basil had started rambling to Sunny, now. About his flowers, about the book he was reading, about how Grandmother seemed a little better today… He was such a good listener! He could taste when Sunny’s emotion changed from interest in his plants, to sympathy for Grandmother, to distaste for a particularly cruel character in his book.

It was different from talking to Grandmother. When he talked to her, she taught him new things, and told him how to do things better, or what would make someone else uncomfortable. She gave him wisdom.

Sunny, however, didn't teach him anything at all. He simply listened, nodding at all the right parts and paying attention to every word. Sometimes he even signed something when he felt particularly strong about something (it was very rare. He signed that he didn't want to interrupt the stories!). Sunny gave him affirmation. Sunny was his friend!

No, Sunny… was his best friend!

~~~

Basil rambled to Mari sometimes, too. She was so kind! She was very patient with him, and didn't seem bothered at all. He usually rambled about human things he was worried about doing properly (without phrasing it that way, of course), as well as questions like “What do you think best friends do together?” and “Can best friends give each other flowers?”

Her answers of “Well, that depends on what the friends like to do!” and “Of course they can! That would be very sweet,” were always given with a genuine smile that never failed to reassure Basil that his questions would be answered without discomfort. 

She always gave him such a knowing smile when she answered him, too. It was like she understood him, somehow. Basil couldn't help but admire her!

~~~

Winter, and by extension Christmas, was coming. Basil’s flowers were taking it as expected, but he had been giving special care of the ones for his friends. They would survive and bounce back stronger the next year!

Aubrey had taken him to more “secret meetings,” and they had been doing really well in terms of meeting their goal despite also working on school. Helping the man at FIX-IT sell flowers and other things had been paying well! (at least, to his knowledge. money was so weird…) Grandmother had even offered to lend some of her money in case they didn't reach their goal in time. He was excited to finally present the gift once the time came!

~~~

One week before Christmas, Basil visited his grove. It had done surprisingly well in his absence, perhaps even flourished. The sun shined brightly inside despite it normally being dimmed by winter, and each of his flowers bloomed. His grove had never been affected by the seasons, and the lifespan of his plants had always been longer than those outside his grove.

He felt bad for not visiting sooner. He had been so distracted by being human (to the best of his ability) he hadn't even thought he could return. The solution was surprisingly simple. He just needed to let his human body sleep!  

Before then, he had just laid down on his bed and let his mind wander. Now, he could visit his grove during the night. He had been away for so long… he was glad it had done well without him watching over it! 

Learning that controlling the functions of his human body was made easier with sleep was also an encouraging factor. It had felt admittedly tight around his mind. Now, it was much more loose and comfortable. He could feel his best when everyone gave the violin to Sunny together!

~~~

Christmas went so well! Basil almost regretted not paying much attention to it Before. But then, Before, he didn't have any friends!

Sunny had felt so happy when he opened his present, too! He could practice playing music with Mari. After hearing him play a few notes on the violin, Basil was sure they would play beautifully together!

He would also be eternally grateful for the camera he received, too. Now he could capture the best moments with his friends! Another gift from friends that he would cherish forever…

As he smiled among his friends, Basil decided that when the stars returned to dust as they were in the Beginning, his friends would be the gift he treasured the most.

~~~

His birthday, similarly to Christmas, was something Basil had completely overlooked. To be fair, it wasn't his actual birthday. He was beyond time, and therefore did not have one. His human body, however, was not beyond time and did have a birthday.

Of course, explaining to his friends that he had never celebrated his birthday before had been… tricky.

“You mean your grandma never threw you a party?! But that's like, Grandma 101!” Kel shouted, a look of horror and disbelief on his face.

“Kel, everyone's family is different. I don't know why she wouldn't at least give you a present, though…” Hero said, confusion and concern leaking into his tone as he trailed off.

“Oh, it's no big deal, really!” Basil tried to reassure everyone. “Grandmother just gets really sad around that time, and I didn't want to add on to anything.”

“Do you do anything special on your birthday?” Aubrey asked, curiosity blended with… understanding? Empathy? How strange…

“Well, me and Grandmother always visit the graveyard. She's never told me who it is we visit there, though…” Basil answered, and immediately tasted sadness from everyone else. 

“You don't have to be sad! It makes her feel better, and isn't that good enough of a present?” he tried. It was the truth, wasn't it? Solemn acceptance had a unique taste, and he understood it was a personal matter for Grandmother.

It only made them sadder. At least they had appreciation. What an odd mixture…

“Basil, that's so kind…” Mari said, a hint of amazement in her voice. Everyone stood in silence for a moment, in agreement with Mari. Basil didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, Sunny had perked up. Everyone turned to look at him, which made him shift in place for a moment.

‘What if we gave him a birthday party ourselves?’ he signed, looking between everyone hopefully.

“Good idea, Sunny!” Aubrey said as everyone’s expressions immediately lit up. Sunny visibly relaxed, creating a small burst of pride settling into contentment as his friends began to congratulate him on his idea.

In a blast of emotion, Basil could feel himself falling through the earth and into the vastness of the universe. Nothing could have ever prepared him for this moment. Time and space stretched before him into a long, thin string that began to twist and turn into a fractal shape. The stars were born and died before his eyes, and the universe collapsed around him, through him as he held The Sun in his hands and it burned-

“Hey Basil? Are you in there? Helloooo??” Kel asked, waving a hand in front of Basil’s face. He jumped back, startled.

“Oh, sorry… I must have zoned out. I was so touched! It's a wonderful idea!” Basil said, still gathering himself. It was… so much.

As he re-entered the conversation with his friends, a part of him wanted more .

~~~

Grandmother gave Basil a sad smile when he told her about the party. Her smile became more joyful when he said that he would still visit the graveyard with her, even though he didn't understand. It was personal, but it was something she was getting too old to do alone, and she needed to do it. He understood that much, at least.

Happiness and sorrow were such strange things...

~~~

Basil’s party was amazing! He didn't mention it, but he had never had cake until then. Nothing could have prepared him for the glory of a homemade cake. Plus, the photo album from Mari was an amazing gift that went perfectly with his camera! 

Basil also didn't want to admit he hadn't actually thought of a birthday wish. He really did have all he could want when he was with his friends!

He also had fun taking pictures after the group photos! Once the cake was eaten and the presents were opened, everyone went off to hang out outside of the kitchen area. Kel had a blast, stealing most of the party hats and putting as many as he could all over his head. Basil was honestly impressed at the amount of hats he had managed to put on!

Sunny had laid down on a couch, playing games on a handheld console, tuning out the world around him. Basil couldn't help but watch in fascination. He was so focused! So cool...

Later, Mari and Hero fallen asleep on a different couch together, to Kel's amusement. When Basil asked why it was funny, Aubrey pitched in and explained that Mari's dad might be upset if he found out they slept on the couch together. Apparently it was because they were "in love." Was that the strange, sweet emotion Basil had been tasting from them? He would investigate later. For now, he would continue to enjoy the party!

~~~

Polly had wished Basil a happy birthday. She was happy he had spent time with friends, and asked him how it went, and she was very nice to him. Maybe he shouldn’t resent her so much.

He should pay more attention to others, he supposed. He would work on it.

~~~

His grove looked very healthy that night! All of his plants were doing well, and the animals had been living harmoniously together. Even the sun shone a little brighter! How nice.

Basil had been thinking of taking Sunny to see his grove lately. He was sure Sunny would love his flowers, and he wanted to give him all of the ones that reminded him of their friendship! All the plants in his grove seemed to brighten up at the idea. They agreed with him!

Now that he thought about it, as he looked up at the light shining above him, perhaps his birthday wish was to hold The Sun in his hands, if only for a moment.

~~~

When the year had begun to grow warmer, Basil had been invited to sleep over at Sunny and Mari’s house. He could not begin to express how honored and grateful he had felt, because it was Sunny , his best friend ’ s house! And he was going to sleep there! With his other friends! It was so exciting!!

They hung out at the park first, which gave Basil an unplanned opportunity to interrogate Mari.

…He was a little nervous, actually. “Hey Mari, I was wondering…”

“Hm?” She smiled at him, and he was reassured.

“What is love?” he finished. There was a brief moment before a wild mixture of emotions hit him as she answered:

“Baby don't hurt me.”

They sat there. An unsteady wave of amusement drifted towards him, choked by tension. Seconds seemed to unfurl into hours, years, millenia as they sat there. Basil didn't understand, and he felt dumb.

“...Huh? Sorry, I don't…” he finally managed to get out.

To his surprise, Mari laughed. “Don't worry, it's fine! It's honestly my fault. It's from a song, I think you’d like it.” What a strange mix of emotions… he could taste that same bitter feeling he did when she made a mistake on her piano.

...Oh. “Oh, no! It's not your fault at all, I just didn't know the song. We could listen together at your house later if you want!” He said, relaxing when her mood brightened.

“Okay,” she said, “When we come back from the park, we’ll listen together. Until then, you wanted to know what love is?”

Basil nodded, and she sighed, the concoction of emotions shifting into fond exasperation.

“Well, there are different kinds of love. You love your friends, and they love you back. It's why you enjoy playing with them!” she said, and Basil nodded again. This made sense to him.

“And,” Mari continued, “There's the love you have for your family. Sunny and I love each other because we're siblings!”

Basil looked at Sunny, who had looked over at them when Mari said his name. They made eye contact for a brief moment before Basil quickly looked back towards Mari. She smiled, that smile of understanding , and she continued.

“Then there's a special kind of love. Two people care very deeply about each other, even more than best friends,” she said, her look of understanding never quite leaving her eyes.

“Ohh, so like you and Hero?” Basil asked, beginning to properly take in the new information.

Mari burst into laughter as Hero shouted “Huh? What?” from somewhere behind her. He stepped into view, confusion visible on his face. It only grew when Mari laughed harder at his arrival, and Basil decided to take her laughter as a yes. 

Love was confusing…

~~~

After they hung out at the park, everyone started doing their own things around the house. Mari talked to Hero about her piano recitals, while Kel excitedly rambled to Sunny about something Basil couldn't quite hear. Aubrey sat next to Basil on the couch before he could start drifting into his thoughts.

“Hey Basil! You've been having fun, right?” she asked, though she wasn't worried. Just starting a conversation, then.

“Oh, yeah, I've been having fun! I was just thinking,” he replied, fidgeting with the couch cushions.

Aubrey hummed, as if in thought. “Like, the secret project you've been working on?” Basil looked at her with surprise. Did everyone find out?

Noticing his shock, she quickly continued, “Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who noticed, but maybe Mari caught on, too. I don't think she'll tell anyone. I don't know what it is, but you want to surprise everyone, right?” He nodded, relieved that his surprise wasn't ruined.

“Well,” she continued, “If you need any help with whatever your surprise is, I promise I won't spoil it!” Ah. So that's what she wanted. How kind of her!

“Oh, that's really nice of you! I actually wouldn't mind… keeping secrets is hard. I'm just so excited to share it with everyone, so it makes sense to have at least one other person help keep it secret!” he said, “But… maybe we should talk about it later. You can visit my house, I don't think Polly or Grandmother would mind at all!”

“That's great! Thank you, Basil!” Aubrey said, gratitude and excitement blending together into something warm. It was nice!

Basil’s flowers were actually getting very close to when he was planning on showing them to his friends. He had put thought into each one he had chosen, too! He looked forward to explaining them to Aubrey. She seemed to like his flowers the most openly, though he was sure everyone else loved them too!

His musings were interrupted by an excited shout from Kel. “Hey guys! I'm gonna arm wrestle with Hero! Basil, you gotta take a picture of my victory!”

How confident. Basil felt bad that he had his doubts…

“Dude, there's no way you'll win. Hero’s so much stronger than you!” Aubrey retorted. It seemed like Basil wasn't the only one with doubts.

“I'm sure Kel will do great either way,” Mari pitched in as she walked into the living room, Hero behind her. “It's all for fun, right?”

“No!” Kel shouted, flexing in an exaggerated manner. “This is a fight of MEN!! There is no fun! Only victory!”

“Kel, you can still have fun in a fight of men…” Hero said, exasperated.

“Hm! You're right! But that doesn't mean I won't claim victory! ” Kel yelled, pointing at Hero dramatically. He was acting like he had already won…. Basil looked over at Sunny, who was watching with quiet amusement. They all knew how this one would end. Poor Kel...

~~~

His grove was flourishing that night. Birds sang their comedies to the leaves, critters in dark places listening intently in their shelter from the light. He sat in the grass, surrounded by life, and stared into the sky.

Sunny would love his grove, Basil was sure of it! He just needed to bring him there, somehow. But how? He had never taken anyone to his grove before.

Well, certainly not by sitting on his grass all night. He stood up (he started keeping a more human shape when he entered his grove) and went to leave. He would just have to bring Sunny there himself! Unless he didn't want to.

But Sunny would probably want to join him. Basil just needed to show him the way! But he couldn't do it as a human, he needed both his body and Sunny’s to stay asleep. So, no waking up then.

His solution was simple: Leave the grove, but stay asleep. It wasn’t very hard, really. He slipped easily through space, quickly finding himself in Sunny's house. Moving through the house as if in a dream, he looked down on his own sleeping human form.

His own shape mirrored it well, though he was not made of flesh. Basil was a shape in the dark, a vague approximation of his human body without the limitations of reality. He even added his own flair, more arms and hands and eyes and teeth in places that weren't on his human self. More hands to hold gently with care, more eyes to gaze with fondness, more teeth to smile with! But he would put them all away for now. He didn't want to overwhelm Sunny!

Basil turned his gaze over to Sunny’s sleeping form. How peaceful… He almost hated to disturb Sunny's sleep in any way, but he wouldn't stop now. Carefully, he gathered himself, slipping into the space of Sunny’s dreams.

It wasn't very much. Sunny must have not been dreaming, then. Basil saw him floating suspended, surrounded by the corpses of dreams which resembled patchwork skin, if skin happened to be the jumbled memories of the world, quietly murmuring words that were never meant to be understood. He stared into the not-quite darkness that surrounded them. Sunny still looked so peaceful…

Basil walked up, gently nudging him “awake” as he floated in the air. “Sunny, I want to show you something. If you don't mind, of course! I just think you would like it.”

Sunny looked at him, and it took a moment for him to recognize Basil in his shadowy form. He looked surprised, as if he didn't expect to be here with him, but he was not afraid. He gently floated down to where the floor would have been, and Basil offered his hand.

“Here, let me guide you there! I'm so excited to share this with you, Sunny!” he said, joy dancing across the lights where his eyes would normally be. Sunny nodded, taking his hand, and Basil was filled with warmth. Human touch, even in the sleeping world, was so wonderful!

It wasn't very long until they were surrounded by the familiar greenery that surrounded Basil’s grove. He pushed forwards just a little faster, making sure Sunny didn't feel too rushed. Soon enough, they stood in the center of the grove, and Basil watched as Sunny looked around in awe at the variety of flowers. The flowers’ colors were more vibrant, as if they wanted to look their best in front of the new visitor. The plants Basil knew Sunny was unfamiliar with seemed to sprout taller and closer to them as if to introduce themselves. How cute!

Sunny let go of Basil's hand, and Basil almost moved to hold it again before realizing Sunny was crouching to get a closer look at the flowers. Basil watched, a quiet guilt chewing at him. How selfish of him, to try and take Sunny away from the flowers. They were why he had brought Sunny here, and he almost ruined it. At least Sunny was enjoying himself, touching some of the flowers with something akin to reverence.

They sat in the tranquil silence, a small breeze rustling grass and leaves. Basil sat next to Sunny, watching him look at his flowers.

“Y’know, Sunny, I'm really glad that I met you. I mean, I appreciate all of our other friends, too! But… you’re my best friend, Sunny,” he said, watching Sunny look at him to show he was listening.

“You're always so thoughtful, and you listen to me ramble on. Not that no one else listens, you just… You're the easiest to talk to. You're really nice, and you always have such wonderful ideas when you share them, Sunny! It’s always nice to see what you have to say...” Basil trailed off, looking at his best friend. He looked like he was about to say something. 

“It's okay, you can take your time!” Basil tried to reassure him.

“...Thank you…” Sunny said quietly. The silence that followed was actually very comfortable, letting Basil take in the spoken words.

He thanked him. Sunny thanked him. As the sun began to rise in the waking world, Basil turned and hugged him. He could hardly grasp his own feelings as the grove around them faded away into the waking world.

Basil didn't want to let go.

Chapter Text

He was awake. His arms were empty. Basil felt cold as he lay awake with his eyes closed, blind to the world around him as he wallowed in his own pitiful, selfish thoughts.

He continued to lie there, untempted by the smell of warm breakfast when it arrived. His body itched , a strange craving to hold something again, so Basil blindly grasped at his blankets instead. He resolved to continue pretending to be asleep until he rotted away. He would never recover from this despair.

A hand touched his form, carefully attempting to rouse him from his faux-sleep. Slowly, he opened his eyes, rising out of the eternal sludge of hopelessness he had crawled into. He hoped he wasn't coming off as hostile… he was just so sad .

All of his sadness melted away as he saw Sunny hovering over him, curiosity with a slight hint of concern flicking out to Basil. He had completely forgotten that Sunny was in the waking world too! He felt very silly.

“Oh, did I sleep in?” Basil said groggily, playing off of his despairful facade of sleep. “Sorry, Sunny… I don't usually sleep in so late.”

Sunny nodded, curiosity lingering as he waited for Basil to stand. He looked thoughtful as he watched him wriggle out of his cocoon of grief and blankets.

“Do you… have something on your mind, Sunny?” Basil asked, carefully choosing his words. He hadn’t quite figured out if he would explain what he really was to Sunny yet, nor had he thought of how he would even do so. Either way, now was not the time.

Sunny shook his head, but paused for a moment. He hesitantly nodded, and he seemed to think for a moment before signing, ‘I had a weird dream. It wasn't bad, though.’

“That's good, I think…” Basil trailed off, the smell of breakfast finally taking hold of him. “Breakfast smells good. I hope Kel didn't eat all of it already…”

“Not yet I haven't! You better hurry up, Basil!” Kel shouted from the dining room. Basil quickly got up and rushed in, his flesh screaming urgency.

Mari laughed from her place on the table. “I don't think I've ever seen you run so fast, Basil!” She said, and he relaxed. Mari and Hero wouldn't let Kel eat his food.

“Don't worry,” Hero reassured, “I made sure to make extra, so even if Kel managed to eat your serving, you would still get some.”

“Still, Kel, you shouldn't just eat Basil and Sunny’s food!” Aubrey chimed in, glaring at him without real malice. They must have been arguing about it earlier, then.

“You don't need to fight for my food, guys… if Kel really wants it, I wouldn't mind sharing some!” Basil said. He really didn't mind sharing with his friends. They were so kind to him!

“Really? You'd share with me?” Kel said, looking at Basil with disbelief. “But you're short. Doesn't that mean you need to eat more?”

“Really? I've never heard of that before…” Basil mused. It made sense, now that he thought about it. He still didn't mind sharing, though… “But, what about you, Kel? I thought you wanted me to share?”

“Well…” Kel and Hero shared a glance, speaking the language only siblings knew. “I changed my mind! I'll just take Aubrey’s when she's not looking!”

“Hey!” she shouted in protest. Hero sighed. It seemed their sibling language wasn't perfect.

As they began (or resumed?) their bickering, Basil accepted his plate and sat down. Sunny had already taken a seat next to Mari, lost in the dimension of Hero’s amazing cooking. There was no reaching him, now. Basil took his own seat, finally taking in an important realization as he began to eat.

Sunny would never abandon him.

~~~

“No way! You've been growing these for us?!” Aubrey gaped at his flowers, and Basil could tell she was barely keeping herself from touching the leaves and petals. She had followed through on coming to visit and looking at his surprise, and her genuine excitement felt nice to Basil.

“Yeah… I even picked them out based on their meanings, so they're even more special!” he said proudly.

“Whoa! I heard about flower language from Mari, but I didn’t know you knew about it too!” She said, amazed. “What do they mean?”

“Ah, well...  I was planning on explaining when I finally give them to everyone…”

“Ohh, because they're a surprise! Don't worry, Basil, I can wait. You don't need to tell me!” Aubrey reassured him. 

The two of them continued to chat, the conversation beginning to drift away from the flowers. As they spoke, Basil grew more confident in the likelihood of his friends appreciating his gift. 

The flowers would be ready soon. They just needed the right moment.

~~~

Fear was a strange emotion. Basil had tasted it before, passing strangers in the halls of school before a test or that time Kel spilled his Orange Joe at Sunny's house right before his dad came home. He had never really felt it himself, before. Maybe worry, but not true, paralyzing terror.

As the air was choked by the smell of fear , dark tendrils choking the minds of his friends as they stared in the direction of the lake, Basil finally understood.

Mari stood up, her bad knee forgotten as she ran and dove into the lake that had taken her brother. The lake that had taken Sunny .

Basil was ashamed. He couldn't do anything to save his best friend. After all, he couldn't swim, either. All he could do was stand, afraid.

He didn't know why the lake had taken Sunny. He hadn't been paying close enough attention to see why Sunny had fallen in. All he knew was that everyone else saw it happen, too.

Fear bubbled up from the silent, cold lake. The selfish, merciless, evil lake. The fear in Basil turned into anger, hatred of the selfish, so selfish lake that had taken Sunny away. He would disassemble each and every water molecule in that lake. He would tear it apart, make the water scream-

But Mari surfaced, pulling Sunny up with her, and everything dissipated into an unsteady relief. She had saved him. He was alive. She crawled onto the land, holding Sunny tight as though he would dissolve into water and slip through her fingers. They sat on the grass, and the second wave of relief when Sunny was breathing was almost euphoric. 

It was a spider. It happened to be on Sunny’s shoulder, startling him and making him jump into the water. Basil made up his mind to try to resolve Sunny's fears, so that nothing, even by accident, could snatch him away into the depths.

~~~

School had been much better ever since Basil had friends. As he walked home, he thought of how much more comfortable it was to know the people around him as opposed to shying away from them, leaving him to taste the emotions of strangers.

As he contemplated this, he noticed Mari walking alone, carrying something on her back. A warm, gentle feeling of joy surrounded her. As Basil came closer, he realized she had been carrying Sunny home with her on her back. How cute! He couldn't help but take a picture.

“Oh, hello Basil!” Mari said, giving a quick wave, “Sunny fell asleep, so I'm carrying him home.”

“Wow… You're so kind, Mari!” Basil told her, full of admiration. “Are you sure it's okay, though? Your bad knee…”

“Oh, don't worry! I just have to avoid putting too much weight on it,” Mari reassured, “It's not even that bad. It’s very sweet of you to care, though!”

“Ah, it's no problem! As long as you're sure,” Basil said, a warm feeling inside him.

“Of course I am! Unless…” Mari trailed off, a mischievous smirk on her face, “Are you offering to carry Sunny for me?”

“No! Maybe? Ah, well, I mean-” Basil sputtered incomprehensibly. Mari’s barely stifled giggles floated around him as he tried to unscramble his brain. Could he even carry Sunny with his human arms? Would Mari trust him to not drop Sunny? Was now even a good time?

His frantic thoughts were interrupted by Mari, who had composed herself just enough to speak. 

“It's okay, Basil! I'm just teasing!” she said, the joy of mischief settling into a more pure kindness. She had stopped walking at a cornet. “This is my street, so I guess we'll part ways. Have a safe trip home, Basil!”

“You too!” He managed to say, still trying to put his brain together. Suddenly, he remembered something. “Oh, wait! I wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh?” she turned her body to face him, and he steeled himself. It wasn't necessarily now or never, but there was no time like the present.

“Well, I've been preparing a surprise for everyone, and I was wondering if you would come over to my house tomorrow so I can give it to you?” Basil explained, “I mean, there's one for everyone, so if you could also tell everyone else… You don't have to! I just think it would be cool. If you, um, did that.”

“Don't worry, I can tell everyone about it! I'm excited, I'm sure your surprise will be wonderful!” Mari assured him, her smile growing warmer. She always knew how to make everyone feel better!

After that, they had parted ways, and Basil walked home with more confidence coursing through him. 

~~~

Basil showed off his sunflowers, first. Setting the stage to show that each of the flowers meant something, while opening up a part of himself to his friends.

Next, Mari’s flowers. Like the lilies of the valley keeping away spirits, her kindness and reassurances drove away clouds of doubt and fear. Basil saw it as fitting to give them to her!

Then, Hero’s flowers. Roses came in all sorts of different colors and meanings, like a word with many synonyms. Basil couldn't just pick one, so he planted a variety of them. Both the flower and the friend were universally loved in all their forms, after all!

Aubrey’s strong character and honesty strongly reminded Basil of the gladiolus. She was always true to herself, and held her moral ground with determination. Also, he had a feeling that she would appreciate the name “sword flower.”

Cacti, dense and prickly while still having flower blossoms, were a perfect fit for Kel! After all, he was pretty dense himself, if Basil was going to be honest. Plus, it wouldn't be too hard for him to take care of it when Basil gave it to him.

Basil had been less concerned with symbolism when choosing white tulips for Sunny. They simply… reminded him of his best friend, in a way he couldn't quite name. He didn't want to overthink his gift for Sunny, since it would probably take too much time. It was still cute, though! 

All of them gladly accepted their gifts, and Basil gave each of them tips on how to care for them and what to avoid. He was sure that they would still flourish under their new caretakers!

~~~

After Basil had given everyone their flowers, Mari had suggested that they all make flower crowns together. Basil had never done that before, but it sounded fun!

Mari had shown off her example, saying it wasn't the best, but Basil couldn't disagree more. It looked perfect! The strange feeling from her piano practices soured the air, and Basil wished she could see how amazing she was. She was kind to everyone, never failing to cheer anyone up but herself, and Basil didn't understand.

Still, even when Sunny and Kel had run off, him, Aubrey and Hero managed to keep her spirits up. The recital she and Sunny had started practicing for likely weighed on her mind, despite it being about half a year away. Sunny seemed to be fine, even excited for it, so Basil hoped that Mari would find a way to relax.

Also, everyone agreed that a flower crown seemed to suit Basil. It was nice, but he figured sticking with his flower clip would be more reasonable. But…

He wouldn't admit it, but he thought they suited Sunny much better.

~~~

As he lay down in his grove, Basil’s thoughts wandered. The gentle embrace of the grass underneath him calmed him as he considered the time with the lake more carefully. He had been meaning to think about it for a while, and as he thought, he reached an important conclusion.

Mari would do anything to protect Sunny. She had the sibling love, binding them together with something Basil didn't quite understand. Sunny was the youngest, the baby of the group, and so not only would Mari protect him, so would everyone else. But, Mari especially would.

Basil wanted to have a bond like Sunny and Mari had. If he did, maybe he could protect Sunny better. All he had done was stand, afraid and angry. He remembered Mari’s explanation of love, and he wondered.

Thinking back, Basil wondered if he could have done something. The water would have taken Sunny away forever, but if it had taken Basil, too… They could have been together forever.

...Basil really liked that idea. Maybe if something tried to take Sunny away again, he would think about it more seriously.

~~~

On the first day of summer, everyone went to the beach. A place with much bigger water, stretching wide and threatening to take away anyone who stepped too close. Perhaps it wasn't a threat anymore. An invitation.

Not today, though.

Kel and Hero bravely swam through the great water as Aubrey and Mari chatted away, all of them having just finished eating Basil’s home-grown watermelons. The girls’ words were lost on Basil, and he didn't mind. He sat on a beach chair under an umbrella, still putting on sunscreen while Sunny, who had already put on sunscreen, kept him company in comfortable silence. Sunburns were always cruel to him, and because both Polly and Grandmother reminded him to be careful, he would feel both pain and guilt if he was burned.

Eventually, Basil paused in applying his sunscreen. He was sure he had gotten everywhere he could, but that left his back. It didn't help that he was sure he didn't get it quite as good as the rest of him. He shifted uncomfortably in place. He didn't want to ask Sunny, it would be selfish, but…

“Hey, S-Sunny? I was wondering, um…” Sunny looked at him, and Basil tasted patience and calm. It would be fine.

“If you could… get my back? Uh, s-sunscreened? If that's okay, you don't have to! I just, I can't get it very well myself,” he asked, and a cold grip held his human innards as he watched Sunny.

The grip didn't last long, as Sunny nodded, standing up. Basil made a point to not watch Sunny, facing away and standing stiffly. He stared straight ahead, watching Kel splash at Hero in his peripheral vision while Sunny began to apply the sunscreen. It would be selfish if he paid any attention to Sunny's hands on his back.

Mari waved, dragging his attention to her as she gave him a thumbs-up and a wink. Basil quickly returned to staring at the horizon, no less stiff than before.

Once Sunny had finished, Basil quietly thanked him, taking his seat and staring at the umbrella above him. He was just waiting for the sunscreen to soak in properly! Sunny's concern drifted towards him, but they both said nothing. Ah, comfortable silence.

Suddenly, Kel ran over to them, still soaking wet from the ocean water. “Guys, hear me out. What if we buried Sunny in the sand?”

“Not completely!” Hero added from behind Kel, who nodded enthusiastically. “Just until we get under his head.”

Sunny himself actually seemed thoughtful, genuinely considering the idea. If Sunny thought so, then Basil didn't really see any reason not to, but…

“Why Sunny specifically?” Basil asked.

“Well, Aubrey would probably throw sand at me, Mari wants her summer tan, Hero wants to hang out with Mari, I wanna bury someone in sand so it can't be me, and you would blend in with the sand and we would forget about you!” Kel listed off, counting on his fingers. He grinned, oblivious to the somewhat dark implications he had just thrown into the air.

“Oh…” That was… A bit off-putting. Hero gave an uncomfortable look between Basil and Kel but said nothing. 

Before the tension could grow to a noticeable level, Sunny stood up and nodded, indicating that he agreed to be buried in the sand. Kel’s smile somehow managed to grow bigger, and soon enough, Basil and Kel worked together to dig a hole large enough to fit Sunny.

They took breaks every once in a while, since digging in the hot sun became tiresome surprisingly quickly. When Hero had recovered from swimming, he joined in the digging, making the process much faster.

Once they had begun piling the sand back into the hole, now occupied by Sunny, Mari called over to them.

“Hey everyone! Me and Aubrey came up with an idea together. Mind if we come over?” she said, already beginning to stand up.

“Of course!” Hero said, despite Kel making an exaggerated face of disgust as he mouthed something along the lines of “Aubrey idea” to Basil behind Hero’s back. He didn't think he would ever understand what went on between the two of them, so he decided to instead pay attention to Mari and Aubrey. They sat down nearby on the sand, excitement and hopefulness blending in a way that had Basil’s curiosity peaked.

“So, we’ve been talking about it, and we think that it would be a lot of fun to build a treehouse during the summer!” Mari explained.

“Yeah, Mari was talking about how one of the trees in her backyard would be a really good place to build a treehouse, and I think if we all work together we could finish before summer ends!” Aubrey added, grinning proudly.

“Whoa! That actually sounds pretty cool! I'm impressed,” Kel said, “I didn't know you could come up with good ideas, Aubrey!”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Aubrey shouted. Basil couldn't help but be reminded of the phrase “If looks could kill” as she glared at Kel, who gave a feigned look of ignorance.

“It's a wonderful idea, guys. I think my dad should be able to help with construction!” Hero cut in, successfully diffusing the budding conflict.

As everyone began to plan their construction of the treehouse, Basil turned his attention back to Sunny. He resumed piling the sand onto his best friend, who glanced at him briefly. Sunny was listening to everyone plotting together, but Basil figured he could just be filled in later. It felt like it was just him and Sunny, together on the beach. It was… amazing .

Once Sunny was sufficiently buried, Basil decided he would keep him company. Spending time with him… it was absolute bliss .

It may have been selfish, but he silently wished he could feel this way forever.

~~~

Basil, once again, had forgotten about birthdays. The concept had stayed with him, of course, but he hadn't really connected that everyone has a birthday until Mari invited him to come to Sunny's birthday party.

Basil hadn't visited their house recently except to work on the treehouse, so it was a bit exciting to visit again!

Once he had arrived, he remembered something else he had forgotten. Mari had recently adopted a kitten, Mewo.

Unfortunately, Mewo didn't like Basil very much. She was protective of her humans and didn't trust him at all. She knew exactly what he was, easily seeing through his fleshy human form, and didn't seem thrilled to have him nearby. Cats were always weird like that...

Despite her constant staring, Basil still did his best to have fun. It was surprisingly easy, since as she was also restricted to her physical form, she couldn't do much to get him to leave. Also, Mari’s kind attempts to reassure Mewo also helped. 

Still, she wouldn't let him near Sunny for very long, rubbing up against his friend and stealing away his attention. Even when Sunny opened his presents, Mewo gave him kitty cuddles in the large box. It was very cute, but Basil didn't get to spend a lot of time with Sunny.

He would have to visit Sunny in his dreams instead, he supposed.

~~~

Visiting Sunny’s dreams was something Basil had never done before.

Ever since first taking Sunny to his grove, Basil had occasionally come over to try again, only to instead find Sunny in a dream of his own. He hadn't managed to catch Sunny in a dreamless sleep since their sleepover. He had never really stepped into Sunny’s dreams uninvited, since he figured it must feel invasive.

This time, however, he wanted to try.

It was just like visiting someone's house on their birthday uninvited, when Basil thought about it. His visit would be just a fun little surprise for his best friend!

As Basil slipped inside Sunny's dream, he looked around. An expansive library of thoughts and memories surrounded him, and he saw Sunny sitting at a table. A huge yellow cat with a long body twisted its form around the shelves and the table, and Sunny petted it with a content expression.

On the one hand, it was very cute, and Basil felt warm and fuzzy while he watched. On the other hand, cats just seemed to be out to prevent him from spending time with Sunny. He felt very conflicted as he watched Sunny relax and lie down face-first in the yellow cat’s fur. The cat turned its head upside-down to look at Basil, winking at him. It was taunting him!

Well, two could play at that game! Basil’s form shifted, stretching out and splitting apart like taffy stretched too thin. One piece kept the shape of his human guise, while the other twisted into itself, appearing similar to a fleshy towel being wrung out. It quickly unfolded into Sunny’s shape, though it had the same spiteful expression thay Basil’s form did.

It wasn't very difficult to split himself and take Sunny’s shape, but it couldn't hold a candle to the real Sunny. It was more like another set of limbs than a person. Also, he imagined it would look horrifying if Sunny actually watched his transformation instead of being completely unaware. 

Basil gave his most intimidating glare to the cat, holding eye-contact with it in his human form and laying upside-down. His Sunny form then laid face first on his human stomach and, in a move that was supposed to resemble an affectionate head pat, karate-chopped his human form in the neck.

So. His spite-fueled plan wasn't very effective, as evidenced by the cat’s laughter. What was more embarrassing was the fact that the laughter made Sunny look up from the fur, confusion on his face. It only grew as he saw “himself” lying face first on Basil’s stomach, one hand karate-chopping Basil in the neck.

“Ah- Sunny!” Basil yelped, his voice coming from both mouths as he frantically attempted to return to only having his human shape. “Please don't look! I wasn't thinking, I don't- I'm sorry!”

Basil continued to throw out barely coherent apologies as he shifted, frantically absorbing his Sunny form into the rest of him like shoving a plastic bag into a sock. He didn't dare to look at Sunny, already tasting the confusion spiked with horror. He couldn't believe he would do something like that, in front of Sunny no less! He hoped Sunny didn't think less of him…

When he was finally in one humanoid piece, he carefully looked back at Sunny. A feeling of relief poured over him as he saw the big yellow cat had covered his best friend's eyes with its paws, though he wasn't sure how much Sunny had seen. The cat’s expression hadn’t changed at all, though it still conveyed the message of “Leave now before I disembowel you for traumatizing a child” very effectively. 

Basil knew he wasn’t wanted, so he reluctantly crawled out of Sunny’s dream. If you asked him, he definitely did not sulk and wallow in self-pity in his grove for the rest of the night.  He wished cats were nicer to him…

~~~

After weeks of pouring hard work into the treehouse, it was finally finished.

Working on it hadn't been too bad, making fake plants with Aubrey and chatting about the little things. Things like the rain, the bugs, the easy parts of life that made everyone smile. Except for Hero, when it came to the bugs.

When he thought about it, Hero's encounters with spiders and bugs were Basil's only taste of paralyzing fear aside from the incident at the lake. Mari thought it was funny and harmless, though, so it was fine. Basil knew that if something bad ever happened because of it, Mari would fix it!

Hero had proudly announced the treehouse’s completion, and Mari brought out a plate of cookies to celebrate. Sunny had helped her bake them since it was a hot day, and Basil felt honored that he would be allowed to have some of them.

For a few weeks after Sunny's birthday, he had often given Basil weird looks accompanied by a whole soup of emotions, most notably concern and self-doubt. Basil felt horrible . Eventually the looks had stopped, meaning Sunny had likely forgotten about the dream, but Basil’s guilt lingered. 

It probably wasn't fully intended as such, but for Basil’s peace of mind, he interpreted the cookies as a sign of forgiveness. Even though Sunny likely didn't realize that the Basil in his dream was very much real, he would still take comfort in the gift. Mari’s cookies were baked with love, and Sunny added a new level to that feeling.

Basil wondered if his friends felt it, too.

~~~

The Captain Spaceboy comics fascinated Basil.

A book of pictures telling an immaculate story with a wonderful blend of images and words… The very idea amazed him! It was a fair trade of knowledge between him and Sunny.

As he read the newest volume, he saw Sunny reading the book he had recommended to him. It made him feel warm to see his best friend enjoy something he liked too!

Basil had already finished reading the new volume, and he was very glad that the previous volume’s cliffhanger had been resolved. He was worried that Spaceboy would succumb to the icy wasteland, surrounded by the unfeeling stares of the snow angels. Instead, his crew saved him just in time, and his body was warmed both by the starship’s heating system and the friendship shared between him and his crewmates. It was cheesy, but it was a relief after the stress of Space Pirate Bro’s fall into insanity, leading to him luring Spaceboy into the frozen wastes and leaving him to freeze, alone. Basil could really understand how Sunny had gotten so invested in the series!

Now, as Basil pretended to reread the volume, he had lost himself in thought. Summer was already almost over, and with school also came the recital that Sunny and Mari were practicing for. Time felt so much faster when he looked back at the past, though looking at his photos reminded him of the true depth of past moments that memories alone couldn't quite give. Until he was human, time had no meaning to him at all, so it was strange to think about.

School had become something Basil walked through with ease, though he still didn't see its importance. It passed the time, but Basil would much rather spend that time watering his plants. Still, it would be nice to be around more people. Polly had been encouraging him to open up to other people since he was comfortable around his friends, so it wouldn't hurt to field-test it.

Basil was excited for the recital, too. He was worried, though. Recently, the strange feeling that Mari had during practices had decreased in frequency, but its strength had grown. Furthermore, it seemed to also take root in Sunny. Hero, Kel and Aubrey didn't seem to notice, which was understandable. They didn't visit during her practices nearly as often as Basil did, nor could they taste emotions. Still, it left Basil to wonder about the nature of this emotion alone. He would have asked Grandmother, but she had been slowly becoming more physically weak with age, and he didn't quite trust Polly enough to ask her about it. She was nice, but she didn't understand him like Grandmother did.

He would just have to stick with being there during their practices, hoping it would give him a clue. Plus, he figured it wouldn't really be a problem after the recital, anyways.

~~~

Basil had been invited to watch Sunny and Mari practice again.

Watching Sunny play the violin, combined with Mari’s elegant notes from the piano, was a beautiful thing to listen to. Their duet amazed Basil, filling him with peace and admiration.

That feeling … he had tried taking pictures of them practicing, hoping that they would somehow convince Mari that their music was beautiful, that their mistakes gave it a special magic that perfection couldn't ever match. It put her at ease, but the feeling never went away. It couldn't even erase that emotion, that sickness from Sunny.

A part of Basil worried it would take them away to somewhere Basil couldn't follow. It was impossible, Basil knew, but… the idea still scared him. He could follow, but could everyone else? Could any thing else?

He didn't want to find out. As long as they made it past the recital, everything would be okay.

~~~

On the day of the recital, Basil visited Sunny’s house.

He was going to ride with Mari and Sunny in their car, and he wanted to be early so they didn't have to wait for him. He was very excited, absolutely certain that the culmination of their practices would be wonderful! He had even brought his camera, hoping to get a good shot on their duet together. As he opened their door (unlocked, they were expecting him to come over after all!), he paused.

Something was wrong. The air was stained with anger . Sunny’s parents weren't home. The only people that would be in the house would be Mari and Sunny.

But that couldn't be right. Basil had never seen them fight, never seen Mari or Sunny get so angry . What was more worrying was that someone's anger was merely a shell around fear .

Something was very wrong.

Basil quickly ran inside, closing the door behind him and going up to look through the doorway. Someone was yelling. Mari's voice was yelling.

Sunny's violin lay shattered at the bottom of the stairs. Looking up, Mari and Sunny's faces were obscured by the lighting, but the anger-- no, betrayal -- hit Basil like a punch to the face. 

Sunny's violin was broken. Mari blamed Sunny. Mari was wrong. Sunny would never do that.

Sunny would never break his violin, his gift that everyone had spent so much time saving up to buy for him.

Sunny was afraid, and Basil could only watch as Mari fell down the stairs, knowing that Sunny would never push her. Sunny didn't push her. Basil knew this, and it was true.

A sickening crunch , and the air was still. As Sunny ran down the stairs, the anger was gone. Something else was in the air.

Sunny was afraid, and Basil needed to save him.

Sunny would tell everyone that he pushed Mari, even though he didn't. Nobody would forgive him, nobody would understand that Sunny could not push her. Basil needed to stop him, needed to save him, somehow.

They had both gone up the stairs together, watching Mari’s still form on her bed. Sunny was so kind, trying to give her peace. He would never push Mari. Never, never ever.

Basil didn't know when he understood that Mari was gone. The thing on her bed wasn't Mari anymore. What he did know was that Sunny understood, too. 

Basil had an idea.

Clearing his throat, he began to tell Sunny his instructions. Everything would be okay.

Chapter Text

Mari was not having a good day.

No, actually, that was an understatement. Mari doubted there were nearly enough words in any language to convey how bad of a day she was having.

After all, she was dead . She deserved to be upset about that. It did not help that she was stuck watching Sunny and Basil (when did he get here?) carry her body upstairs, putting on her bed as if she was merely asleep.

Mari had a lot of feelings about that. She was still trying to process the whole ordeal of being dead.

Honestly, dying was like dumping a bucket of cold water on her. Her anger was gone, only replaced by horror. She could barely even grasp at any of her thoughts about the whole death thing, so she held onto all she could. The cold, hard facts, playing out in front of her like a twisted movie.

She wished it wasn't real, listening to Sunny's quiet sobs and Basil's reassurances that “everything was okay.” Like hell it was! Mari was dead ! Was Basil blind?!

He wasn't blind. He was horrible .

Whispering instructions to Sunny, who Mari was certain had basically shut down, Basil was framing her death as suicide . 

This whole day was horrible, and Mari needed a break to carefully put all of these new horrible pieces into neat little boxes of hell. Too much was happening to her, happening to everyone , and she couldn't take it.

As she watched Basil tie her jump rope around the branch of Sunny's favorite tree, Mari felt something cold inside her. Not anger, not something she could really name off the top of her head. It was just… cold.

She really was dead , huh?

…

...Mari needed a minute. Maybe a week. Definitely a week.

~~~

So it turns out, a lot can happen in a week. A lot of things that needed to be sorted into their hell-boxes.

With a sigh, Mari stared up at the ceiling, floating on her back next to Sunny’s sleeping form, where her bed used to be. Did she even have a back anymore? What was she?

She didn't look human anymore, for one thing. When she looked at herself in the mirror, floating(? She's still figuring things out, being dead sucks and she could not stress that enough.) behind Sunny, they were both startled. Afraid, if only for a moment.

Something stared back at them.

Words could not convey the amount of emotional distress it caused Mari when she learned that dying had somehow made her spirit look like an off-brand Pac-Man ghost made of hair. It didn't help when she learned why .

It was really more of a theory, if she was being honest. She didn't know enough about being dead to know for sure , but either way, the why was unpleasant. 

It had taken a while to put together, but Mari's new “body” very much resembled what her hanging body might have looked like in the dark. Something she was certain Sunny had seen.

Any attempt to look like herself only made things worse . Her body was somewhat normal, but her limbs hung limply tangled in stringy hair. Her face reminded her of a horrific combination of a skull and an anglerfish, and it made her shudder to look at in the mirror.

What really drove the final nail in the coffin (Ha!) was the fact that Sunny could see her, too. That fact led Mari to try to change her appearance, but that obviously made things worse.

Sunny…

Honestly, the whole thing going on with her younger brother was, to put it bluntly, completely awful. After all, it really was her own fault. She had pushed Sunny too hard, and he had, in a more literal sense, pushed back. It was an accident, and Mari didn't care what anyone said about it. If the world really had to blame someone, it was her.

Watching Sunny waste away from his own guilt, unable to console him, to tell him that it wasn't his fault, was horrible .

Watching everyone fall apart made it infinitely worse. She wasn’t ready to deal with that yet. What could she even do? The only one who could see her was Sunny.

No, that wasn’t true… Basil could see her, too.

Mari had a lot of feelings about Basil. She really, really didn’t want to hate him. But… If he didn't step in, Sunny would have come clean. There would still be consequences, but at least everyone would know .

Hero would know.

...She was glad Hero couldn't see her now.

It was selfish. Mari was selfish. Selfish for pushing Sunny too hard. Selfish for being grateful that only Sunny and Basil could see her.

She didn't want to be selfish anymore.

Still, Mari wasn't done sorting things out yet, though. Maybe it was another tally on the selfish board, but if she didn't untangle her thoughts, she would be unable to move forward. She couldn't at least try to fix things, to the best of her ability, without understanding what the hell happened.

It was hard to ground herself emotionally now that she couldn't breathe. It was a little bit funny when Mari didn't think about it too hard.

All she had to do was get the order of events straight, and then she could decide what to do next. She doubted Sunny would mind if she didn't follow behind him for a little while.

~~~

So.

Mari was dead. Easy, simple, everyone knew that. The funeral sucked. She should have thought ahead and made a mixtape to play at her funeral. 

Basil guided Sunny into hanging her body in her backyard. Only the three of them knew that, which was horrible but Mari was moving on.

Mari's dad was not convinced and actually put the pieces together using critical thinking skills. On the one hand, she was glad to see someone using their head! On the other hand, now her parents are divorced and her dad took her cat with him.

Also, the tree she was hung from was cut down and Sunny was unofficially disowned. She would deal with that later, because hey what the hell.

Sunny had all but shut down. The only emotions he had shown since the accident were fear and sadness, everything else being buried by a mask. Basil had obviously noticed, and had visited a few times.

Watching Sunny look at the photos in Basil’s album was awful. He recognized everyone, but most of the events shown in the photos were unfamiliar to him.

One day, when Basil had come over, Sunny had taken Basil's album and locked himself in the bathroom. He had scribbled out every photo in black marker. As he scribbled, there was something wrong with him, Mari knew.

It didn't feel like it was Sunny anymore. It was someone else.

Basil had caught on to this too, getting over the shock of (not) Sunny vandalizing his photo album surprisingly quickly. The next day when he had tried to come over, nobody opened the door for Basil.

On the one hand, Mari understood completely as to why Sunny and Not Sunny wouldn't open the door for him. Honestly, she was pretty sure she wouldn't open the door for Basil either!

On the other hand, Mari had no idea what Basil was anymore, which was something Mari was going to save for a different internal rant because what in the actual hell .

Now, Sunny didn't open the door for anyone anymore. It didn't do much against Basil, much to Mari’s confusion and horror. She really, really hoped that Sunny would get enough courage to leave the house soon, but…

She had a bad feeling that he wouldn't leave for a while.

~~~

Basil. Oh, Basil.

Mari had a lot of feelings about Basil.

Basil was obviously some kind of nightmare creature that had somehow integrated itself into human society. This was obvious when something taking the vague humanoid shape of Basil attempted to communicate with Sunny in the middle of the night. The thing also made strange hissing and clicking noises at her when she was close to Sunny. Sometimes it even raised long, twisted arms with great clawed hands that twitched, as if they itched to tear her apart. Rude.

The unfortunate part about it's hostility was the fact that because of her appearance, she had decided to follow behind Sunny instead of next to or in front of him. It was so obvious that her appearance made him afraid that she could taste it (Mari consciously chose to not think about that), but she couldn't just leave him alone. Especially if it was alone with whatever Basil was.

Unfortunately, because she was almost always behind Sunny, it looked to him like Basil was making disturbing and threatening noises and gestures towards him . And then Basil had the audacity to act all confused and worried when Sunny trembled in fear!

Mari was certain that Sunny was only able to calm down because of her. She had learned very quickly that not only could she speak, she had kept her voice. At least she had something that could help Sunny somehow, which was a huge relief.

Mari couldn't actually tell it was Basil at first. When she looked closely, its head had the silhouette of Basil’s, and it had a white flower clip where its hair would be, if she could distinguish any real features on its body. 

Well, any features aside from the sharp, white teeth that came around one shoulder and down to where his naval would be if his body didn't blend and merge with the dark below that point. And the six twisted arms with huge clawed hands with eyes on the backs of each of them. The two eyes on its head, exactly where they should be but always staring at something (usually Sunny). And the four long spikes, two of each coming out of its back like a very poor imitation of wings. And just everything , really, he would basically be unrecognizable if you took away the flower and changed the shape of his head. 

Whatever he was hoping to achieve by looking like something out of the darker reaches of her mind, it probably wasn't “terrify Sunny out of his mind and traumatize him more than he already was.” It was almost funny how spectacularly he was failing that.

Mari had only caught on to it being Basil because it kept trying to bring Sunny flowers, trying to make a peace offering to him. After all, they all knew the truth, and Basil had made it worse. There was also the whole him being a literal nightmare creature thing, too. Mari couldn't exactly judge , considering her own appearance (which she was still very upset about).

In fact, when she had realized that the thing that kept appearing in her house was Basil , she had to double-check that Basil was still alive. He was still alive, so that left astral projection (which Mari doubted altered one’s appearance so heavily ) and “nightmare creature.” Honestly, it was probably both.

Now, all of that aside, what in the actual hell did Basil want with Sunny? Honestly, the idea that some kind of eldritch horror had a little kid crush on her younger brother would have been funny if it wasn't horrible and real . In fact, a very qualified scientist backed up by multiple sources could tell Mari “Hey, you're gonna die and find out that the kid that has an obvious crush on your younger brother is probably Cthulhu’s 3rd cousin,” she would laugh and raise an eyebrow because that would be completely ridiculous. Except now it was horrible and real!

No one told Mari that dying would suck this much, but in hindsight, she hadn't really asked. Or thought about it, actually. She doubted that thinking about it would have prepared her for becoming a Pac-Man ghost made of hair or discovering that Basil was probably made of nightmares or something.

Before letting that train of thought go any further, Mari turned her thoughts over to Not Sunny. That was definitely a problem that she would have to address at some point. 

Later. She would deal with that later . Maybe when she had calmed down from her internal rant about Basil.

~~~

It was nighttime.

Nothing good happened at night, not since the accident. Mari knew for a fact that her and Basil were much more terrifying at night, at least in appearances. The best she could hope for was that Sunny slept through the night without waking up to face them.

She had caught Basil staring at Sunny as he slept a few times, sometimes even in the middle of reaching out. She always screamed, and it was all she could do to keep him away . If she was unlucky, it would wake Sunny up.

She hoped that didn't happen as she floated her way back to her house.

She had felt ridiculous when she remembered that she wasn't “bound to the site of her death” or anything like that, and had the last few hours of the day floating around (haunting?) Hero’s house.

It hurt to watch. Because no one except Sunny and Basil could see her, they couldn't hear her, either. She wondered if her words would even soothe Hero, or if they would push him deeper into his grief. Not that she could find out anyway…

As she left, Mari told herself that it wasn't selfish to not solve problems she knew she couldn't. She didn't believe herself. She was glad her house was right next to Hero's for… many reasons that night.

Reluctantly shoving her thoughts about Hero (and Kel, how selfish of her to forget Kel -), Mari hurried forward, through the walls and into the darkness of her home.

Basil loomed in the darkness, staring down and reaching down to Sunny. Again. He was doing it again . She shouldn't have left.

His eyes turned to her, surprised. He paused, staring at her, as if he had no idea what was so wrong about what was happening.

“You know what I'm going to do. Leave , and we don't have to wake him up. Do not touch him,” Mari told him, anger and guilt bleeding into her voice.

Basil looked at her like he thought she was stupid . “ Do. Not. Touch him. ” She repeated, more firmly. 

There was a moment where nothing changed. Everything was still. The ghostly echo of her voice died out.

Basil lunged. Mari screamed.

He hadn't lunged towards Mari, like she thought he would. No, he lunged towards Sunny . It was as if he was trying to crawl into his head, and it reminded Mari of Mewo trying to crawl into a particularly narrow box. Was he trying to possess Sunny, to use him as a meat shield and hold him in front of her like some kind of prize ?

Unacceptable.

Mari doubted she could pull him out, not without hands, so as she watched Basil disappear, she could only think of one thing. She had to follow him.

Whispering a quiet apology, she hoped with all of her being that it didn't hurt as she followed behind Basil.

~~~+~~+~~~

WELCOME TO WHITE SPACE.

YOU HAVE LIVED HERE FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN REMEMBER.

~~~

To be fair, Omori couldn't remember very much. He could have lived somewhere else previously, but it didn't really matter. He had his sketchbook, his laptop, and Mewo.

Right. Reluctantly, he sat up. Mewo lay comfortably next to his blanket, and half-crawled over to her and began to pet her. So soft… 

She was his only roommate, aside from the Red Hands. They were okay. 

As Omori continued to pet Mewo, he looked up at the lightbulb. He was doing a great job. Sunny was still safe, at least in his mind.

He frowned. Something and Stranger were out of his control, only existing in the waking world. It frustrated him. He couldn't just bury them away like he did Abbi.

Who was Abbi? It didn't matter anymore. What did she know, anyway?

Humphrey hadn't taken Abbi’s banishment very well, but at least The Oldest was smart enough to not say anything. Omori knew how to do his job well enough. Protect Sunny. It was very simple on paper.

As Omori was lost in thought, Mewo startled, startling Omori in turn. They froze, and Omori’s gaze wandered up to the lightbulb.

It was glowing very brightly. Something was wrong.

Sunny wasn't even awake, so it probably wasn't Stranger. Stranger was usually the one who caused problems, so it probably wasn't Something, either. Unless something had changed. 

Something fell nearby.

Slightly annoyed at how Something and something were the same word, Omori stood up. It was in Headspace, whatever it was. He had hoped he wouldn't need to use the shiny knife anymore. Sunny didn't like it when he sealed Abbi away, as deep as he could push her.

Oh well.

Dodging the hands and taking the knife wasn't too hard. Once he had the knife, he let the Red Hands guide him back to his blanket-room. They were just looking out for him, after all. It would really suck if he got lost.

The door stood, waiting for him. It was always nice when the door was there. It was always a pain to have to cut out his own exit.

Opening the door, Omori was surprised to see his three... {Friends.} friends playing cards together. The Favorite watched over them, looking at Omori and saying nothing. 

Aubrey looked up first, running over to him. {She’s happy to see you.} He knew that. She was tolerable, and he liked her. {Hmm.}

“Hi Omori! We were hoping you would come by soon. Wanna play cards with us?” she asked. He enjoyed card games very much, actually. He was more interested in the shapes and colors than the gameplay though. The spades were obviously the best and superior to every other symbol in every way.

 {You just like pointy things.} If he only liked things for the pointy, he would like the diamonds. {Good point.}

He nodded, looking behind her. It looked like she had run through her previous card game. Kel spoke up from behind her, obviously upset.

“Dangit Aubrey, you messed up all the cards!” he shouted, commencing the argument he had already heard bits and pieces of before. {It's your own fault we had to reset so many times!} Well how was he supposed to know that it was a friendly discussion the first time?

Turning his attention back to the cards, Omori wondered. Couldn't they just start over? Actually, wasn't he supposed to be fixing something? He had no time for cards. He needed to overcome the obstacle of friendship. {It's not that bad… Be nice to them. It's the least we can do.}

…Maybe just one round of cards, after everyone settled down. {Thank you.}

~~~

After the game of cards, in which Omori somehow managed to effortlessly destroy Kel, {Why focus on him?} his group had stepped into the Vast Forest. Hero was keeping up his valiant efforts of being the peacekeeper, which was appreciated.

Something was different.

Heading south, because there was nothing to fear except crippling guilt, {That's not how it goes.} Omori reached the playground. Looking around, his eyes landed on something. Something. Stranger. Sitting on a picnic blanket wearing pastel colors. What in the actual hell. 

{No, that's Mari and Basil!} 

No. No they're not. No way.

{But they clearly are! They're our friends, too!} 

He should get them out. They don't belong here.

{No, we can't. Not again. Please…}

…Fine. Now that he thought about it, he could make this work.

~~~

Mari was really nice, actually. {I told you.} Yeah, yeah.

She was… warm. Omori had no idea how else to put it. It was nice. Mari was nice. She was familiar, and made him feel safe. 

A weight of understanding had settled inside him.

{She probably won't leave the picnic blanket. It… yeah. Yeah.} Very eloquent.

The food at her picnic was something that intrigued Omori. Food was a concept that he didn't quite understand, but appreciated nonetheless. Sharing food was a display of strong friendship, too. {Yeah! It shows you care.} Maybe, but it wouldn't stop him from still having most of it. 

{She never runs out though?} Irrelevant.

The only thing that bugged at Omori was the way that she looked at him. {She's worried about you.} Why would she be worried about him? He was doing a fantastic job.

{I had to explain friendship to you so you would stop stabbing everyone. Please stop making me remind you because then I remind myself and it makes me sad.} Correction: he was doing his best.

Now, on the other hand. Basil.

Omori had a lot of thoughts about Basil. The most prominent was that he was definitely, 100% Stranger. 

{No! Basil is nice!} What proof did Sunny have? Omori had a whole list of reasons on how “Basil” was definitely Stranger. 

{He has a flower crown and it makes him look really friendly. And he is friendly! He's our friend!} Suspicious. {No!!} That wasn't even good proof anyways.

{Then where's your proof?} It was in the lightbulb. {Oh. Well, I can't see the proof so I'm not convinced.} That was inconvenient, but after weighing the pros and cons, Omori decided he would have to accept that. He could work around Sunny if he needed to.

Returning his attention to his picnic with friends and Basil- {He's a friend! We just went over this!} Fine. With friends including Basil, he… forgot what he was going to do. Hero made food too, now that he thought about it. A very respectable profession that he could not comprehend but appreciated nonetheless. Good for him. {Good for him.}

What were they doing? {Oh, they want to visit Basil’s house.}

Two things. One, no the hell they weren’t. Two, he has a house?? Omori just lived in a tree stump with everyone else. That's unfair. Undeserved favoritism.

{Well, it was improvised. I didn't really… expect Basil to be here? You don't even like him anyways, so at least he hasn’t moved into the stump with you. Also, come on! It’s an adventure!} No. Hard pass. Omori wanted to adventure literally anywhere else.

“Omori? Hellooo~?” Mari was speaking to him. He had been arguing with Sunny and had zoned out. {Whoops.} Whoops indeed.

Omori looked over to her from his seated position on the blanket, tilting his head in acknowledgement. She smiled, seeming to relax.

“Would you like to visit Basil’s house? I'm going to sit this one out, but everyone else would like to go,” She told him. She was smart, she wasn’t coming with them.

Omori shook his head. He knew exactly where they could all go instead because he didn’t want to think about what Basil’s house would look like. “Oasis.”

Mari’s face turned to one of confusion, before lighting up as if she had remembered where he was talking about. She was new, so it didn’t make much sense, but Omori would work with it. “What a good idea! You could show Basil the train!”

“Oh, a train? I’ve never ridden one before… I’m sure my house can wait, then.” Basil smiled, too. Suspicious. {He’s just smiling.} Very suspicious.

Everyone said their agreements, and Omori guided his friends minus mari plus basil {...} to the train station. He was lucky there hadn’t been another reset, or he wouldn’t still have his pass. In fact, his friends wouldn’t even know what the Oasis was. 

{Yeah, I bet you’re glad you learned to not stab them .} He wouldn’t let it go, would he? {It was really upsetting! It still makes me really upset when I think about it!} Then don’t think about it. It wasn’t that hard, Omori was really good at not thinking about things.

{Maybe it should be harder to remember previous resets...} Omori thought that was an amazing idea. They should work on that later.

The train ride was nice. Everything was okay. Basil spent a lot of time looking out the windows. When Omori tried to look through, it was only darkness. Something looked back through the windows.

Omori didn’t look through the windows anymore.

Wandering around Orange Oasis was nice. Hero had to physically restrain Kel from eating sand, letting him and Aubrey eat sand unopposed. Somehow, Mari had set up a picnic waiting for them despite not actually having come with them. It was honestly very comforting. Omori wasn’t sure if he could survive being near Basil without Mari nearby to bring balance to the universe. {There’s no convincing you, is there?} Nope.

They had done a lot of exploring, talking to the various residents. The dinosaur bones added to the atmosphere or sugary sweet landscapes. Even fruit had its place here. It was the Orange Oasis, after all. The lack of oragnes was disappointing, though.

Eventually, Omori and his three friends plus Basil sat in a circle next to a telescope. They had been looking at the constellations for a while, and were taking a minute to relax. Basil and Aubrey were looking through Basil’s photo album together, while Hero was making sure Kel didn’t try to eat any more sand. Omori ignored the glances that Basil had been throwing at him. He would not join him.

Omori had to admit, though, the photo album was pretty nice. Seeing everyone happy together was interesting, and filled him with a warmth that reminded him of Mari’s presence. It was nice.

They had begun to stand up to go meet up with Mari again when a photo had fallen out of Basil’s album. A cold feeling filled the air, and Omori watched Basil carefully pick up the photo.

“Oh, it must have been loose. I should make sure all of my photos are secure!” he said. He looked at the photo, and his expression changed. He was confused. Fear began to creep around him.

“Did I take this photo…? No, I couldn’t have… This can’t be right!” he said. Something was wrong. Something was here . Omori stood up, walking over to Basil. He felt Sunny begin to fade, retreating deeper into their mind.

Basil looked at him, holding the photograph. “Mari, she’s-” Omori shoved him, cutting him off. He pushed him deep, feeling the darkness open up around them. Basil-- no, Stranger-- struggled, and Omori shoved harder. It needed to leave. It needed to leave and be gone and buried forever .

It needed to die.

The darkness unfolded before him, horrible and twisted images stretching and distorting before him as they dove deeper. A hand grabbed him, pulling him away from Stranger before he could take his knife, and-

He was in White Space. A Red Hand had brought him back here. He stared down at the knife still in his hands. It was still clean.

But Stranger was still buried deep, where it belonged.

Omori needed a break. He felt the knife pierce through him, and everything began to slip away…

~~~

Sunny woke up. The sun was out, and he was alone. It had been this way for as long as he could remember.

He hoped it would stay that way.

Chapter Text

Mewo was concerned.

Her two humans had been taken away from her, so of course she was worried. She knew what the small one had done. Such a terrible thing to happen to both of them, and she couldn’t even be there for either of them. Or, at least in the waking world... She couldn’t even know what was happening to them in reality. The most she could do was visit the small one’s dreams, and even then, what she had seen there was… upsetting. 

The small one had done… something to himself. Mewo was neither old enough nor knowledgeable enough to know exactly what, but the most she could say was that he had split apart. She was sure the humans had some science word for it, but she didn't know what it could be.

There were now two small ones, at least in his (their?) mind. The first one and the... colorless one.

When she spent time with the first one, he was much more talkative than she had seen in reality. Perhaps being in the shell of his dreams gave him strength, or a feeling of safety? She had only seen him speak to the colorless one, however.

The colorless one was much quieter. He reminded her of the great piano that the kind one had spent much time playing, at least in appearance. Mewo would have described him as hollow if she hadn't been there to watch him seal one of his Guardians away. The hatred in his eyes was only a veil over fear . 

He had so much emotion inside, and nowhere to put it in the waking world. Unless she was wrong, which she very much hoped she was, the small one had hidden himself away into his mind. He was trying to paint over the inky darkness that had stained the canvas of his imagination, and there was only so much he could do…

If only the father hadn't taken her away from him. She could have offered more support to him.

In fact, speaking of the father, he was… a mess. Since apparently he was the Very Unofficial new human, Mewo spent her time in the waking world offering him her comforts. The stench of guilt and anger hinted with an underlying disbelief (which she did not know if it was directed at himself or the small one) never seemed to leave the small apartment they now shared. After all, he was no fool. He knew the truth. It was why he had left, and taken Mewo with him. While she would much rather give comfort to the children in the waking world, she would still give the father her presence. It wasn’t much, but she knew it helped him.

When things had been normal, the father often disappeared to his work. A teacher, or so Mewo had heard. However, now he had been making calls, staying home in the small apartment he now lived in. Sometimes, on bad days, he took cans of disgusting beverages from the fridge.

They lived on the ground floor. Mewo didn’t wonder why.

Perhaps the most conflicting part of being separated from her two (now 3?) humans was that the tall one, the one who had fallen, had learned how to enter the mind of the small one. On the one hand, this was good! Mewo had a better idea of what was happening over there now that she had arrived. On the other hand, it was much worse than she had originally thought.

On the third, and quite frankly abhorrent hand, Basil. Oh, Basil .

She knew that was what he called himself, and she had so many feelings about him. Mostly a protective rage, if she had to name it.

Mewo knew full well that his intentions were not harmful or malicious. That did not mean she liked his intentions in the first place, nor did it mean that his intentions made his actions benevolent or good in any way. No, she was right in thinking that he would be trouble the moment she saw him. And to think he was trying to find sanctuary in the mind of the small one… it disgusted her.

She hated not being able to do anything about it. She would have to continue taking her frustrations out on the couch.

~~~+~~+~~~

Loquacious Cat hadn’t had visitors in a long time, actually.

Well, visitors was a loose term. If you counted all of the people that shared his living space, he would have tons of visitors! Herosaurus was cool. Loquacious wishes he had more confidence in himself. Everyone would love him because he was so cool!

There was also the truth, but that was a whole other can of tables.

In fact, ever since the truth moved in, Black Space had become much larger than it originally was. Not that Loquacious would complain, it was just much more unpleasant now. The truth had taken its toll on everyone else, too. It would probably keep the Dreamer away for a while, which was sad. The Dreamer was his favorite visitor! And his only visitor, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that the truth was very, very, very upsetting to look at and think about and be around and it was bad. 

No, actually the point was visitors. He had a new visitor, actually! Not Dreamer though! He didn’t know their name, but the world around him said it was Stranger. Then it immediately corrected itself and said Basil. Both were very weird names, but Loquacious wouldn’t judge! He would just go with Stranger-Basil! Well, Stranger-Basil hadn’t really said anything to him yet, but Loquacious hadn’t said anything to Stranger-Basil, so it was understandable. 

“Hello maybe-possibly-hopefully-potential friend!” He greeted, “I don't know how you got here, but you look really cool! You're very friend-shaped, and I want to be friends with you!”

Stranger-Basil jumped, looking around until their eyes landed on Loquacious.  “Ah, um… hello! That's very nice of you. Do you know where I am?”

“Oh, that's easy!” Loquacious replied, “You're in Black Space! If you wanna be more specific, you're in the Disco Area, which is my most favorite spot to hang out! There's a lot more though, you could find anything here! Almost anything. I would know! I've been here for… basically ever!”

Stranger-Basil gave him an odd look. “Well, that's very nice of you, but… Do you know where the exit is?”

There is no exit. Not for him.

“Oh, you can't really leave Black Space. That's not how it works! You gotta have really special permission to leave from the Dreamer himself!” Loquacious explained, “Also, Dreamer doesn't visit very often anymore. I don't blame him. The place has… degraded and it is Bad. Bad bad horrible tears you apart.”

Deeper. Deeper. Push him deeper.

“Oh, but I know the Dreamer! He's my best friend!” Stranger-Basil told him, “So, he should come rescue me, right?”

“Really? Really really? Best friends? That's so cool!” Loquacious said, “Wow, best friends with the Dreamer… Of course he'll come back for you!”

If he wants to be here so badly, then fine.

“You think so?”

“I know so! Dreamer carees about all of his friends very much, so his best friend friend should be no exception n!”

I will make him hurt, just as he has hurt us.

“How long do you think it will take? I'm already starting to miss him, but it feels like he's all around me…”

“Hmmmmmmrn, I dunnno! But, while you'ree here, I could give you the Gran dT ourrrr re!”

Just as he made Something, a searing brand against our mind.

“Really? Well, I don't mind. You've been really nice to me, Loquacious .”

“Every every every every every every It's no problem! No problem at all! I'm sure we will be good frieend s,                              !”

Welcome to Black Space. You're going to be here for a very long time.

~~~+~~+~~~

Randall Suzuki woke up. He was really starting to hate waking up more than usual.

Not that he hated being awake, or alive, but it was always the nightmares that woke him. His wife's face, his son (He disowned him, he wasn't thinking -) standing in his sister’s blood, splinters from the violin piercing his flesh, and all he could do was yell . Yell at all of them , and did they really even deserve it? He didn't know, which only made the nightmare worse. And they always woke him up. Every time, without fail.

Mewo lay on top of him, purring gently. At least there was something good left in his life.

He was going to have to resume functioning soon. He couldn't keep calling in a college substitute for his classes forever. He still needed to change his name, to distance himself from everything that fell apart. Would changing his name even help? Maybe not, but it would be harder to connect him to… everything.

He just… wasn't motivated. Nothing was really working for him since he had effectively shut down, which he needed to stop. Being shut down was more exhausting than it should be.

He was really pathetic . He couldn't even be a teacher right, let alone a husband, a father .  At least he was still a teacher.

Mewo was lying on top of him. He couldn't move. He was effectively stuck with his own thoughts, refusing to disturb the only piece of joy left in the shambles of his life.

What would he even do today? He didn't think he would finally put himself together. Maybe he would just go back to sleep, and try another half-assed attempt at being functional after Mewo gets off of him.

If he got up later , after falling asleep, he might have the nightmare again. But, if he got up now , he would disturb Mewo and harm the growing trust between them.

...Go back to sleep it is, then.

~~~

Randall found himself in a great, white landscape. Shapes of hills and trees and birds were only revealed by their gray shadows, and there was no sound apart from a soft, static wind. This was definitely new. 

Mari stood alone, her back turned to him, a white dress flowing in the breeze. Unharmed. Not hanging lifelessly from the tree that took so long to cut down. This was also very new.

She spoke to him, never turning her face to him, her voice showing no signs of pain or anger or hatred. It was almost alien , to hear her actual voice. “Good morning, Dad. I hope work hasn't been too much for you?”

Honestly, he didn't know what to say. “Uh, yeah. Teaching’s fine, I guess. How, uh, how are you doing?”

“Oh, I'm doing pretty well! I guess it's just a little stressful at home. I'm worried about Sunny,” She answered, and it felt so surreal . “He’s not eating enough, I think. And he's not getting enough sleep. I think I pushed him a little too hard, and I guess it's weighing on me a bit, y'know?”

Randall was speechless. Mari never showed concern for Sunny in his dreams. It was always anger, at Sunny for killing her and at Randall for letting it happen. For not stopping him . Now, Mari was worried, and saying it was her fault?

“I want to be there for him,” Mari continued, “But it's hard. Mom has been avoiding him, and he doesn't go outside anymore. I understand why you can't help him, but watching you waste away… I can't bear it.”

Before he could ask what she meant, she finally turned her head to look at him. She gave him a sad smile, and he couldn't help but feel relieved that it wasn't the usual nightmarish twist of pain he was more familiar with.

“Please,” she said, “Take care of yourself.”

~~~

Randall woke up, cold and thirsty. Mewo looked down at him, meowing softly at him. With a groan, he sat up, a feeling of peace settled around him. It was… nice.

Today, he was going to do better. He was getting tired of staying home, anyway.

~~~+~~+~~~

Basil looked down at the pages of his photo album, carefully turning each page and looking down at the scribbles that covered his photos.

Omori had done this. Basil knew, and he didn't understand. Maybe he was angry at him. Basil could understand that.

Omori had stared at him when he scribbled out his photos. He was so empty , and yet so full.

Basil forgave him. They were best friends, after all.

Basil considered Black Space. Loquacious had been very kind to him, but that said nothing of the environment itself. It choked him, smothering him in the taste of fear and pain .

Omori had put him there, plunging the knife into Basil’s form. He was so afraid . Or was that Sunny? Basil wasn't able to tell.

Basil forgave him. Even best friends had their fights.

Polly had been concerned. He had been sleeping more often, entering Sunny’s mind and home at every opportunity. She asked if he was feeling okay, told him he could talk to her, said that Mari’s death had hurt everyone. She did not understand. He had to protect Sunny. He still had to.

Entering Sunny’s mind was difficult, at times. Something tried it's best to keep him away, taking Mari’s voice (and on some days, her appearance) and shouting, screaming, clawing at him. It could not stop him every time, but the hate and anger that it gave was as familiar as it was bitter and unsettling.

When he could get in, he found that he always entered Headspace by default. He always managed to wander around, hiding in the shadows and watching Omori from afar.

Sometimes Omori caught him. Sometimes he fell down by himself. Either way, he was always returned to Black Space, with Loquacious asking why he would leave him, how Headspace was doing, what Omori was doing.

Omori was trying to save him. Sunny was actually trying to save him. They were best friends, so of course they would save each other!

But he always had to wake up. The ink of the marker glistened mockingly at him in the light.

~~~

School was meaningless. Sunny didn't come anymore, and although Basil had seen Kel wandering around, Hero seemed to have disappeared. It didn't matter.

Aubrey still spent time with him, talking to him, spending time with him. She was going to dye her hair, soon, and she wanted to visit his house after she was done. She was excited, and it was nice. Basil could still taste the underlying grief and hurt, but it was good to see her doing better.

The funeral hadn't treated her well. Basil remembered that.

It would be less time fighting back against Something, but Basil would never forget what Aubrey had done for him. He owed her much, and a visit would do them both good, he thought.

Grandmother would be proud of him.