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White Space.
Sunny hadn't been here in a long time.
The glowing white of his former safe place did not blind him.
Sunny found his cheek pressed up against a floor clearly made out of some soft material. There was no telling what exactly it was, but something about it felt safe. Comfortable.
Still laying down, he took some time to properly register his familiar surroundings. The temperature was rather pleasant.
Easy to be in, just exist.
Nothing could possibly go wrong.
A rustle to his right snapped him out of his trance. Naturally, Sunny quickly turned around in its direction.
And there. A white blanket lay close to him, with a large bump- meaning someone was inside it. And just then, a familiar face peeped out from the top.
Omori.
A pair of dull, black glass eyes stared coolly at him, set in a face as white as icing sugar.
They blinked.
This was the boy that Sunny had made in his image. He looked a little older than twelve now.
Omori's expression remained neutral. As always.
One would've thought that he was a white marble statue.
He did look pretty.
Sunny jumped a little when he felt something firmly grip onto his upper arm. Fingernails dug in, and it stung. The other boy's features were slightly furrowed now, grumbling an unspoken 'give me attention'.
Omori must've been lonely, now that so much time had passed. If anyone needed company for a while, it was him. And he was in no mood to pay attention to Sunny's wincing.
"Okay," sighed Sunny. "Fine."
Omori closed his eyes, and loosened his possessive grip. Tentatively, Sunny crawled into the blanket with his double.
Warm enveloped him as he did. It was the pleasant kind of warm, the kind that ran up your toes and wrapped around you, made you want to lay down peacefully forever.
Omori was turned away from him now, his back facing Sunny's front. He could hear his double's breathing right next to him.
"Hey," said Sunny, inching closer to him.
Omori turned towards him, and met his eyes. Before promptly shifting his glance away.
"Hey, yourself." muttered the other boy.
He's still mad, thought Sunny.
"How long have you been here?" he asked.
"Since we fought." replied the doppelganger. "Since you left me here."
And there was the guilt tripping.
Exactly what did he expect?
"I get it." Sunny said, finally.
The marble boy merely shook his head, sighed and turned away.
How to get him to talk?
Omori finally sighed. "Why did you come back?"
"To check on you."
"Is this it?"
"What?" asked Sunny.
"I said, is this it?" reiterated Omori.
"Well, not really...."
Omori once more turned towards him, and grabbed his upper arm. It didn't hurt this time.
He was moving down now.
Down, down.
To Sunny's fingers.
Now clasping them. Nestling them in his.
It did feel nice, holding hands with his doppelganger like this.
"Is this 'checking on me', Sunny?"
"Oh please. Handholding?"
Omori let out a snicker.
"You're funny. You're funny when you're not y'know. Trying to get rid of me."
"I thought we were over this. I don't need you."
A pause.
"I mean", continued Sunny. "I don't need you....anymore."
"Thank you for finally acknowledging my efforts." he said, harshly pulling away his hand. The loss of warmth felt brutal.
"Jesus Christ, Omori."
Well. This was harder than he thought.
Wait.
Maybe ask him?
"Hey," nudged Sunny.
"What?"
Sunny found himself withdrawing once more. Maybe it was best to leave Omori alone for a bit.
The fingers winding and squeezing again around his own told him something else, though.
He made eye contact with Omori, as if signalling him.
The marble boy said nothing. Only stared. In two pools of black ink, lay resentment and helplessness...with a good dollop of...adoration...?
Sunny felt his hand being squeezed once more.
Adoration. Old, stale adoration. Gone wrong and spoiled from years of being unseen- but adoration all the same.
His marble features crumpled once more.
"Who do you think you are," muttered Omori, "No Headspace, no cat....."
True. Both true.
"...no you. Nothing. Who do you think you are?" he finished, sourly.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't you dare 'I'm sorry' me, Sunny. You did this." He was raising his voice.
"That's exactly why you say sorry."
"Apology not accepted."
Omori was reminding him a bit of Aubrey now. But one couldn't blame him, could he?
One couldn't blame Aubrey for the way she acted after...well.
One couldn't blame anyone else in that situation, either.
Omori was certainly no exception.
But groveling at his feet wouldn't do either of them any good.
This visit was for closure, not regression. And certain forces would not be very kind to him if he regressed.
White Space was silent, like it always was. But that silence was different now. Rather than a familiar solitude, it was uncertainty. No way of knowing which path was forward.
No way of knowing what to say next.
"You got lonely, didn't you?" questioned Omori. "You're bored of your friends already. That's why you came to see me."
"They're still my friends."
"But are you bored of them?"
"No."
"Okay." said the marble boy, looking a little disappointed.
(He wants you back.)
A pause. Sunny felt Omori's fingers nestling around his again.
A pang of guilt shot through his heart, for the boy who he left behind.
"What do you want, Omori?" asked Sunny, gently.
Omori looked up into his eyes.
Black.
Just like Sunny's.
And yet it was not so.
Then down.
"I don't know." was the choked reply from the paler boy.
"Take your time to think."
It was clear that Omori was not used to this kind of question before.
And so Sunny waited.
Waited
waited
and waited.
For an answer.
Sunny felt something press up against him, and bury its face into his chest. Breaking the tense silence between them.
"Heh. Okay, Omori."
He hugged the annoying, marble-white creature, who (not so) fiercely crushed him back in its twig arms. Sunny petted the back of his head, comforting him.
What am I doing, for fuck's sake, thought Sunny. He's me.
Omori was now resting the side of his head on his chest.
"What now?" he asked.
"Dunno. We just do this."
"Like you and Basil?" spat Omori, full of venom.
"Don't talk about Basil like that." shot back Sunny.
"Never get why you liked him, honestly."
"Well, I like him. So just...live with that, I guess."
"Is that what you came here for?" accused Omori. "To rub your precious little sunflower in my face?"
"Omori, that's not what I-"
"Just keep pouring the salt in my wounds, Dreamer."
"What Basil and I have—"
"Keep pouring."
"—is special—"
"Keeeeep pouring."
"—and you wouldn't get it." finished Sunny. "He was here first."
Fucking hell, Omori.
“What do you mean, 'he was here first'?"
"I pushed him out."
"So that fucko's going to room with me?" snarled Omori, "This is our space! Ours!”
Sunny's ears were beginning to hurt a little.
'Ours'?
"Not 'rooming'." clarified Sunny, "Don't get so defensive."
"Okay. Sorry."
"You seem to..."
"To what?"
"You're not really feeling it, are you?"
"Fuck if I am." grunted Omori.
A pause.
"Omori?" Sunny said.
"Yeah."
"Can you do something for me?"
"Okay."
Omori looked up at him with pleadingly expectant eyes.
"Don't talk shit about Basil."
At those very words, the boy's eyes darkened, and he gritted his teeth. Not an easy job, it seemed.
"Fine." he agreed, reluctantly. "I'll do it. For you."
Sunny hugged him tighter still, and carded his fingers through Omori's smooth, black hair.
It was straighter than his own, and had grown longer. Softer, too.
Was this really Sunny's own creation? Or had Omori’s hair gotten softer over time?
Out of the corner of his eye, there was a rather interesting sight. The tip of Omori's ear, flushed a crimson red.
The little shit was blushing.
He's me, thought Sunny, he's me for fuck's sake, stop fucking petting him-
Sunny, in fact, did not stop petting him.
"So," began Omori. "Is the hug my reward for not tearing flower-boy apart right now?"
"No."
Was there no fixing things with Omori?
Sunny looked into the other boy's eyes, who returned the look rather lovingly.
This wasn't a kids' show. Issues like this couldn't be solved with the power of friendship, tying up loose ends into pretty bows.
"You could always come back to White Space with me."
"I can't be here forever, Omori."
"What do you need them for? You have me."
"I can't let you keep me holed up inside forever."
Omori scoffed. "'Holed up inside'? Sunny, all of that was for your own good."
"For my own good?"
“You needed me more than anything else.”
“I don’t. Not anymore.”
.
"I-it’’s okay if it’s hard to get over that.”
A pause.
Omori was thinking for a bit, shifting this way and that in Sunny's embrace.
“What we had was special too, Sunny. And you don’t understand that.”
"I'm sorry I left you out in the dust." said Sunny, into his double's hair. "I am."
"Hahaha. Yeah. You're just gonna do it again."
A pause.
Omori buried his face into Sunny's chest once more.
"Just what were you thinking, fuckwad?" he asked, muffled.
"Well. I thought we resolved it. After the fight. I thought you were over it."
Omori looked up.
"Fucking spare me. A hug? And you thought you could just throw me away? Like a reject?" interrogated Omori. "Like I'm used up?"
"I thought you wouldn't min—"
"Well, face it. You have a whole person in your head right now, and if you dismiss me again, I will fucking end you."
"Who taught you how to swear, Aubrey?"
"I've got standards."
"So you don't like Aubrey?"
"It's because you made me prefer Basil, you f-"
Sunny clapped a hand over Omori's mouth before he could finish that sentence. And there was the blush again.
A pause.
Releasing Omori's face, Sunny could now see the flushed face in front of him in full glory. He looked like a lovestruck cat.
Cute. Very cute.
Sunny let out a sigh. Of course he could spend time with Omori, too. Idiot, idiot, idiot.
And once more, Omori squeezed his torso.
"Missed you." murmured Omori.
"Love you, too."
Sunny was surprised at the words that just came out of him. No hesitation, nothing.
I love you, too?
He let out a deep sigh.
Okay. He'd live with this.
"So....all good?" asked Sunny.
"We'll see."
"Okay."
"You'll be coming back, right?"
"Yeah," agreed Sunny. "Of course."
"I could kiss you."
"What?!" Now it was Sunny's turn to flush. Omori let out a raucous cackle.
"Fucking don't, you're me!" exclaimed Sunny.
Omori rolled his eyes.
"Oh, so now I'm you? When I joke around?"
"Well, you are me, but well, it's....it's..." Sunny's voice trailed off.
"It's what?"
"It's complicated."
A pause.
Sunny noticed the laptop in front of them.
"What do you do on that laptop anyway?"
"Nothing." said Omori, a little too quickly.
Silence.
Sunny promised himself he'd come back to visit.
If this was closure, he'd take it.
"So," began Sunny. "What do you want to do?"