Chapter Text
8:07 PM
It had been an incredibly long day. A day with ups and downs, fun times with friends, and absolutely plenty of stupid thoughts. Aubrey had been snuggling Mr. Plantegg in her bed for a little over an hour now, dwelling on what had happened earlier on in the day and the events of last night, and more importantly, dwelling on her feelings. Looking back on most of the time she spent with Basil, there was an unignorable emotion she felt, a VERY potent one. An emotion she convinced her childish self was gross and icky, but no matter how many times she told herself that, she just couldn’t ignore it - His cute face, his locks of golden hair, the crimson bridge that formed across his cheeks… That handsome flower on his head.
Every time she took a step closer to embracing the truth of the matter, she took two steps back and hugged Mr. Plantegg tighter in spite of her feelings. After all, Basil is her best friend, and it’s weird to love your best friend, right? Damn it… It was better for her to just fantasise about him in her head, because actually confronting those feelings was a whole different beast for the confused and lovestruck Gladiolus.
Then, it’s as if the devil appeared upon uttering his name. There Basil was, standing meek and frail across the room from her bed, right next to the ladder. Aubrey met his gaze for but a moment before breaking eye contact and retreating under her blanket like a small child hiding from a monster in a nightmare, hoping that he’d be gone the next time she looked over the comfy cotton shield.
But next time didn’t have a chance to arrive, as Basil gently pulled the covers off of Aubrey’s face.
“W-What the heck are you doing here B-Basil?! How did you even get in?” Aubrey exclaimed in an interrogating tone, redirecting her confused emotions as frustration toward Basil.
“U-Uhm… The door was open, so I let myself in… And it didn’t seem like anyone was home, so I figured I would check to see if you were alright after that- e-erm… Outburst?” He explained, hoping to quell Aubrey’s irritated manner.
“...Fine, I-I guess I’d feel better if you were here with me anyway…” She muttered, averting her gaze as if to stop her brain from short-circuiting by seeing his face.
“Are you… Feeling down, Aubrey…?” Basil asked with sincere concern, lowering his posture to approach her height by her bedside. She nodded reluctantly in response, reclusing further towards the wall, suffocating Mr. Plantegg in her emotional clutch.
“Oh…” He sighed. “I have an idea… We could, uhm… We could take care of Bun-Bun together!” Basil proposed, eyes lighting up with hope that his suggestion might cheer Aubrey up.
Aubrey hesitated to turn over to face Basil, but did so anyway. Basil brought up an excellent idea, better than he could even think. If Aubrey passed this opportunity up, she might not ever get the chance to spend a night with Basil this way ever again, home alone, just the two of them taking care of her favourite thing in the world. Considering the idea more and more, Aubrey’s pout gradually turned into a gleeful and excited grin with a starry look in her eyes.
“Yeah… Y-Yeah! That’s a great idea Basil! Let’s go let’s go let’s go!” She repeated in her excitement. Not waiting for a response, Aubrey took Basil’s hand in her own and practically jumped off the bed onto her feet, rushing to Bun-Bun’s little house nest. Even though the bunny’s little pen was right across the room from her bed, every step felt like its own little marathon with Basil’s hand secured in her grasp. As the two reached the adorable beast’s enclosure, Aubrey sacrificed the warm feeling of Basil’s palm for the ability to embrace little Bun-Bun. She swept the snowball off of her tiny feet and into her two hands.
“This is your first time meeting Bun-Bun, right? I mean, aside from hearing me talk about her!” Aubrey questioned, waiting for the golden opportunity to unleash Bun-Bun into Basil’s embrace.
“Yeah, she’s so cute!” Basil answered, moving in to get a good look at the white fluff ball.
“Right?” Aubrey responded in agreement. “Oh, it seems like she likes you! You should try holding her!” Aubrey asserted, pushing Bun-Bun closer to Basil’s face.
“O-Oh, I don’t know, I-I’ve never held a bunny before, haha…” Basil retreated, concerned with his inexperience.
“Oh c’mon, you just take your hands out and let her rest in them, it’s not hard! Try it! Please?” She implored, nudging Bun-Bun ever closer to Basil, tempting him to take his hands out to hold her.
“Alright then, I guess it can’t hurt to try!” Basil’s smile brightened, beckoning Aubrey to place Bun-Bun in his palms. Aubrey giggled with excitement as she let Bun-Bun hop into Basil’s hold, brushing their hands together for a moment. Initially, Basil was surprised by the sudden motion, but immediately warmed up to Bun-Bun.
“See? It’s easy, like taking care of a flower! You just have to be gentle and caring.” Aubrey reassured him, finally confident enough to look him in the eyes.
“Yeah…! This feels lovely…” Basil responded, his full focus on the creature in his hands.
“Eheheh, you two are a lot alike, you know!” He continued, poking fun at Aubrey.
“Really? Hmm… How?” She asked, after considering what he might’ve meant for a moment.
“Well, you’re both really cute!” He blurted out, unaware of what he just said as his attention was completely occupied by Bun-Bun.
Short circuit.
In an instant, Aubrey had to avert her gaze again, choosing to focus on Bun-Bun to not outburst with emotion. It was in that instant that she realised that all of her feelings, all of her emotions, every last icky and gross emotion she felt for Basil… Was absolutely, without a doubt, true. But in this moment, something strange happened. She didn’t feel gross or icky, she just felt… Right. Everything felt right, and as if the world had stopped breathing around her, she looked at Basil, and she stared into the photograph before her very eyes, except it wasn’t a photograph- It was real. Basil was really there, holding Bun-Bun and spending time with just her. She felt special, the dreary home around her had somehow turned into a magical meadow of wonder and beauty.
All she could think of was how much she truly loved him. And damn, did it feel good to love him.
Aubrey placed her hands underneath Basil’s, supporting them and propping Bun-Bun closer to her own face.
“Aubrey? What’s going on?” Basil asked, in his confusion.
“I… I want to hold her with y-you…” She mumbled under her breath with a vacant stare, like she was dreaming.
“O-Oh, sure!” He replied, feeling his cheeks burn hotter by the second.
9:52 PM
As usual, Aubrey was the first to fall asleep. Basil swore that she could pass out on command with how deep she could sleep almost instantly. While he was starting to retire to his exhaustion, Bun-Bun’s body was rubbing against his stomach, like a tiny, fluffy lung between Aubrey and Basil, Bun-Bun maintained a slow and bouncy respiratory movement that relaxed Basil to his core. This was the most special night he’s ever had in his life, and he’d give anything to relive this moment later. The idea presented itself to him not long after the thought, and he immediately reached for his camera to take a photo in secret. He extended his arm out, and tried his best to include both Bun-Bun and Aubrey beside him.
Click!
As soon as the photo came out, he hid it in one of his pockets and returned the camera back to its spot. He didn’t have to give himself much thought to decide that he wouldn’t include this photo in his album, for obvious reasons. Ultimately, he decided to keep it for himself as a personal photo. Of course, he’d give it a proper caption and date at home, but for now all that was on his mind was the feeling in his heart. The same feeling he’d get from Aubrey’s photographs, one that he was all too familiar with- Love. As Basil finally gave in to his tiredness, he wondered if he had already fallen asleep, and if all of this was just a lucid dream. Luckily for him, his photograph would be there to tell him otherwise.