Chapter Text
Sunny was walking along the sidewalk of Faraway, scratching slightly at his eyepatch where it was irritating his skin. He hadn't seen Aubrey yet, and he was rather nervous to. Everyone else he was kinda fine with, but Aubrey was......
He felt his heart beat a little faster when thinking of her. He's still surprised that she forgave him and Basil, but that's not why he was so nervous around her. Nor was it because of the big crush he has on her either, although that is kinda a part of it. No, he's nervous for a.....different reason. One he can't quite parse yet.
He thought back to when he first talked to Basil about his....odd, indescribable feelings. Basil smiled and made note of how Sunny had grown his hair out a bit since he last saw him, to the point where Sunny's hair now reached down to his shoulders. Basil pointing that out made Sunny nervous for some reason, and Basil had given him a reassuring hug, and some advice. And that advice was to talk to......
"Yo, nerd! What's up!" Kim had snuck up behind him and put her arm over his shoulder, startling him as she starts dragging him over towards the lakeside hangout. Woah woah woah, hey! Sunny struggles a bit, cursing his lack of physical strength as Kim finishes dragging him over, where the whole group of hooligans was waiting, sans Aubrey.
Sunny looks over at everyone with a clear irritated look on his face. "Ok, why am I here?"
Kim grins widely as she joins the rest of the hooligans. "Well, Basil said you needed to talk, yeah? About some stuff you've been feeling?" She points smugly and triumphantly at herself with her thumb. "We're all experts in those sorts of feelings! Hell, even Mikhael is good at this stuff." Mikhael gives Kim a shove, and Kim retaliates by slamming him down to the ground in spectacular fashion. Sunny is startled by the sudden violence, but the rest of the hooligans seem to not care all that much, including Mikhael. "So, go on! Talk!" Kim sits down on the ground, all the rest of the hooligans following suit, except for Mikhael who just lays there.
"Uhh.....I....." Sunny looks downwards, twiddling his fingers a bit as he looks up at the group. They all seem.....oddly.....patient? Like they've done this sort of thing before or something. Ugh, Sunny was having second thoughts about this, though. This is just....more people than he was expecting. The silence drags on a bit as Sunny is unable to get himself to say anything. He can hear Kim click her tongue as she walks up towards him.
"Damn, right, forgot how quiet you are. All right, nerd, let's go over here." She takes him by the arm again and drags him away from the group, sitting him down onto the dock and sitting next to him. She looks over towards him with a slight look of concern on her face. "Better?"
Sunny nods, then takes in a deep breath. If Basil says that he should trust her with this stuff, then he'll trust her. He lets out the deep breath as he starts to speak. "So......" Sunny clears his throat a little bit before continuing. "It's um........you know how Aubrey is......really pretty?" Aw hell, he probably should've worded that better. He frantically waves his hands around as he tries to correct himself. "No, wait I don't....I mean, yea she is but, I don't mean, uh..! I-I'm just really jealous!!! That's all!!!"
Kim can't help herself from snorting at Sunny's embarrassment but she at least has the courtesy to try and cover her mouth as she does so. She takes a moment to get her giggles out as Sunny looks down, blushing hard. "So, if I got this right, you wanna be pretty like Aubrey, right?" Sunny's lips thin as he nods once, very slightly. Kim flicks at Sunny's hair. "Is that why you're trying to grow your hair out like hers?" Sunny curls into himself and hides his face in his knees. Ugh, this feels so weird and embarrassing.
Kim hums to herself as she thinks. Now, what would be the best way to do this? After thinking for only a couple seconds, she stands up and claps as she looks downwards at Sunny. "Alright, if you wanna look pretty, then let's go and make you look pretty!" Before Sunny has a chance to say anything, Kim yells out to the hooligans. "EVERYONE! PREPARE FOR A MAKEOVER!" At that, all the hooligans dispersed very quickly while Sunny got up from where he was sitting. Kim starts walking, looking over towards Sunny as she does so. "Come on, let's walk and talk."
Well, it was better than being dragged everywhere. Sunny followed slowly behind Kim as she walked onwards, then slowed down to match Sunny's pace. She looked over at him as he nervously gripped the sides of his pants. He was gonna get a makeover? Like in those cheesy romance movies where the girls talk about boys and stuff? He always tended to fall asleep at those moments, so he doesn't really know what goes on in a makeover. His deep thoughts wondering what the hell was gonna happen were interrupted by Kim speaking up.
"Yo, so....dunno how far you thought about all this but...." Kim scratches her head. "what sort of thing are you wanting out of this?" Sunny gives her a questioning glance as she reiterates. "Like, you wanna be just, like, pretty lookin? Or you wanna be a girl, or what?" Sunny stops right in his tracks as Kim said that, Kim glancing back towards him. A girl? Sunny, be a girl? Is that....is that something he could do??? He's so lost in thought that he doesn't notice Kim until she snaps her fingers in his face, startling him. "Thinking about something, huh?" Sunny nods slowly. Kim thinks to herself a bit, then nods. "Alright, lemme try........"
Kim then flips her hair and points a finger gun at Sunny with a cocksure grin. "Well, lovely lady, you're lookin very pretty today." She can hardly keep herself from laughing from doing something so.....Mikhael like, but it seems to have had an effect on Sunny, who blushes hard and looks downwards as he grips his arm tightly. Kim smiles a bit more genuinely as she talks to Sunny. "So, does it feel nice to be called a girl?"
She nods.
Kim grins widely as she starts walking again. "Then come on, we're gonna make you the prettiest girl this side of Faraway!" Sunny follows, a little more excitement in her step as she starts imagining herself as a girl. Her heart beat fast, her face flushed with excitement! The possibilities just keep rushing through her head, and she can't stop herself from smiling. She never thought it would feel so.....good to be called a girl! She can hardly wait for the makeover! She follows Kim as they make their way to....wherever they're going, idle thoughts starting to dance through her head.
She tries to ignore the nervous, accusing thoughts starting to form in her mind.
- - -
Sunny and Kim walked into Charlene's house, Kim putting her finger to her lips as they both walked onwards towards Charlene's room. There, they found the hooligans with a wide variety of dresses, makeup, and accessories all over the floor. They were talking amongst themselves, but stopped when Sunny and Kim came in. Mikhael got up and started talking, much to Sunny's chagrin.
"Greetings, fellow practitioner of gender non-conformity! We have gathered here, for you, many items of which to find your true self, deep within!" He starts doing some ridiculous poses alongside Angel which Sunny rolls her eyes at. "Whether you are guy or girl, it matters not! True beauty is for any, and every gender!"
Vance leans over and brings his arm onto Mikhael's shoulder ,forcibly sitting him back down. "Calm down, man. You're gonna scare 'em." The group looks over and sees Sunny hiding behind Kim, peeking out behind her back. It was rather impressive, considering that Kim is about the same size as him. "So, d'ya have the talk Kim?"
Kim nods. "Girl."
"Gotcha." Vance clears all the stuff on the floor away in order to make a spot next to the bed, then grabs one of Charlene's chairs and places it there, patting the seat. "Go on, take a seat." Sunny tenatively brings herself over, sitting down and looking around at everyone. Vance then claps his hands, and almost as though they were well-trained soldiers, everyone started helping Sunny with her makeover. Vance was brushing her hair and showing her various accesories she might like, Mikhael got started on painting her nails black, and Charlene showed off their various hand-me-down dresses and skirts and such that she could wear. Angel had no experience with any makeup stuff, but he was able to act like a nurse, handing things to people when they needed it.
When all was said and done, Kim took Mikhael's hand mirror that he always keeps on him and hands it to Sunny so she can look at herself. She had decided she kinda liked how pigtails looked, and grabbed a light pink hairclip as an accessory. She didn't wear a full on dress, but the skirt she was wearing was nice and long and comfortable. And she really liked how her nails turned out, to be honest. She should've figured Mikhael was good at makeup. The last accessory she got, which she honestly only really got because it made her laugh, was a heart-shaped black eyepatch. She was bemused about how she looks like a combination of an anime magical girl and a pirate now.
What she was really shocked about, though, was her smile. She was never one for smiling, and always hated whenever people told her she needs to smile more, but now she genuinely can't stop herself. Honestly, it freaked her out a little bit, but that was thankfully washed away by how good it felt to look so......pretty.
She jumped when someone knocked on the door, mesmerized as she was by her reflection. Kim walked up and opened the door a crack, scoffing when she sees who it was. "Damn, flower boy, you sure took your time huh? We already finished everything up." Oh. Oh Basil was here! Here! Right now! Sunny felt an intense rush of nervousness, her stomach dropping as the door opened up, Basil looking rather apologetic.
"Hah, sorry Kim! Miss Polly and Rowan just really needed my help today." Basil glanced his way over towards Sunny, who was bunching up her fists in her skirt and looking away from Basil, in a vain hope that he doesn't see her. She hears Basil walk up to Sunny, who shyly looks over towards him, dreading what sort of things he would have to say. Instead, she just sees his smile, that reassuring smile that he always does. "Wow, Sunny! You look so pretty! I like your twintails!"
Sunny flushes and looks downwards, her fists still full of nervous energy. "Um...th-thanks." Basil settles down next to her and gives her a hug, which surprises her. He comes out of the hug with his hands on her shoulders, smiling brightly.
"I'm glad you told me about this stuff, Sunny. And...I think you're very brave for doing so." Sunny chuckles at that, and Basil chuckles back as he hugs her again, Sunny hugging back this time. "So....do you think you'll tell everyone?"
Sunny jolts at the idea, the movement causing Basil to come out of the hug with a look of concern on his face. Sunny looks downwards again. "I.....want to. But what if......." She shakes her head. She's dealt with these thoughts before, back then, and she still has trouble believing her friends want her around sometimes. But.....
She feels her heart harden with resolve, though the nervousness is still there as she looks at Basil. "It......I want to tell one person first. Then, I think...I'll be able to tell everyone else easier." Basil nods as Sunny whispers into his ear who she wants to tell first. A bit of nervousness comes across Basil's face, plain as day, but he still gets on his feet and nods.
- - -
Hero felt a bit of confusion as Basil told him there was a surprise at the lakefront, but honestly the fact that Basil was willing to talk with him still felt like a miracle, so he figured that any time he could get with the kid was worth whatever was gonna happen there. He walked along behind Basil, taking in the sights, while Basil keeps glancing behind him to make sure Hero is still there. As the two of them reach the secret hideout, Hero can see the hooligans standing around in a circle on the docks.
"So, Basil....does this surprise have to do with your new group of friends?" Basil shakes his head as he waves to everyone, everyone waving back as they disperse the circle, showing Sunny looking nervously down as she holds her arm. Basil walks up and puts his hand on her shoulder with a small smile as he turns towards Hero, who looks quite a bit surprised.
"Sunny....she wanted to tell you first. After she...figured stuff out."
Hero felt himself tear up as his heart filled up with warmth, his hand covering his mouth in a vain attempt to hide how happy he felt hearing that. Him? She wanted to tell him first? Hero shakes his head a little as he sees Sunny still looking nervous. Gotta reassure her quick! He clears his throat as he walks over towards Sunny and bends down towards her, putting his hand on her other shoulder. "Sunny, it.....wow. I......it means a lot to me that you would trust me like this." He smiles widely. "It really does. And....and I'm glad that you're taking these steps to make yourself happier. And I think.....I know, that....Mari would be happy too."
Sunny trembles a bit, and then starts sniffling as she leans into Hero, hugging him tightly, the worries and fears she felt falling from her eyes. Both Hero and Basil hugged her closely, giving her reassurances while the hooligans gave their own as well. Soon, Sunny lifts herself from the hug as Hero and Basil give her a bright smile. She smiles back slightly. Things would probably be very different from now on, but right now, she feels.......whole.