-Sunstruck- [Sunflower + Multiship Omori Fanfic]

-Summer Died When You Left-

Early morning sunshine drifted adaze over the room, casting cool shadows and orangey hues into the fine weave of the blanket atop Sunny's makeshift bed on the couch. 

A washing machine whirled nearby, hastily scrambled clothes rumbling over each other in damp bundles. Occasionally, Sunny could catch the sound of Polly humming cheerfully underneath the rumbling purr of the washing machine. The entire house smelled like grass in the woods after it rained, since Basil had already watered the majority of his indoor plants and tended to them before Sunny, a late sleeper, woke up. Sunny stepped into the room to see Basil finishing up snipping dead leaves and flowers off of a neglected looking plant that still had a store tag attached. Basil suddenly caught eye of Sunny and jumped at first with a pitched yelp, fumbling with his sheers before straightening himself up awkwardly and setting them down on the nightstand beside his camera.

"AH- Ah-! Hi, Sunny!"  Basil said, glowing with an embarrassed humor to his surprise. "I'm glad to see you up!"

Sunny shook his head, slumping down to sit on Basil's bed, observing the plant. It seemed to be some sort of tulip, the attached tag immediately confirming Sunny's suspicions. It was a bundle of red, white, and yellow tulips, to be exact. The flowers were still all tightly curled up though, hidden by bright green buds as if they were blankets. Basil glanced back at Sunny with a smile, his teal blue eyes warm and bubbly in the sunshine.

" I hope I didn't wake you."  Basil murmured, settling onto the bed beside Sunny.

"No, you didn't wake me. Why do you ask?"  Sunny asked.

"Ah.. I.. er.."  Basil suddenly was stumbling a bit,  "I stopped by when you were sleeping, and the blanket was falling off, so I helped put it back on, and kind of just.. sat there for a bit thinking.. It sounds creepy though, now that I say it.."

"I mean, not that much. What were you thinking of?"

"Ah- Just about our friendship and all the stuff we've done over the years really."  Basil smiled softly, reaching over and grabbing his camera, holding it gently.  "We've.. made a lot of memories."

Sunny nodded, a tiny smile blossoming on his fair-toned face. The sunshine stained his skin with warm yellowed red highlights, filtering through flecks of dust in the air around Basil and Sunny. Basil set the camera down, briefly pausing to brush off some of the dust before turning back to Sunny. The two stared at each other warmly for a bit, before tightly hugging and standing up.

"So.. do you.. uh- wanna-"
Basil fumbled with his camera, awkwardly staring at a plant bob up and down in the breeze by an open window.
"...Go.. do something?"

Basil's eyes flicked back to Sunny nervously, watching him give a single blank nod.

"Nice!!"
Basil felt his face bloom into a flowery smile.
"Oh! Erm-!! What do.. you want to do?"

Sunny shrugged.

"We caaan..! Um-.. Go... water my plants together! Oh, wait- that'd probably be pretty boring for you, wouldn't it-?"

"No."
Sunny said plainly,
"That'd be fine."

Basil felt his nerves sinking in, making his brain so fidgety and flighty. Ah, why was Sunny so hard to read?! Would it actually be fine, or was he just saying that to be nice..??

Sunny's eyes met with Basil's, as if he could already tell what he was thinking.
"Really, I mean it."

Basil stopped fumbling with the camera, bridging his hand to his chest and fumbling with his shirt.
"Nice."
Basil smiled.

———

As the sun drew the sky into a gradual shift into oranges and pinks, Basil looked over and brushed the dirt off of his clothes as he watched Sunny turning a pot over in his hands.

Everything felt delicate, sincere, and utterly silent in the symphony of rising crickets and quieting birdsong. A slight breeze flew through Basil's hair, lifting it up and rushing through it cooly. Basil stood up from the tiny grove of lettuce and tomatoes he had been tending to, brushing his hands off and instinctively putting a hand into his pocket. He felt himself warm when he felt the bracelet, having almost forgotten he had it with him. It felt like an extention of himself.

It.. made him feel good.

"You know... this bracelet you got me for my birthday awhile back..."
Basil started,
"I tried planting a sunflower field around the bracelet once.. with those seeds you got me for my birthday way back. I even was going to plant one right in the center of it.."

"You still had those seeds?"
Sunny said, tilting his head to look back at Basil with slight curiosity.

"Heh! Eh- I was worried.. I'd never ACTUALLY taken care of sunflowers all by myself before, and... by then I was running out of time to plant them. It seemed right, at the moment."

"Huh,"

What did that mean? Basil turned his eyes away from Sunny, awkwardly fiddling with the bracelet and the tips of his fingers.

"I'd hoped you liked them. I know they mean a lot to you, and that you always kind of saw a sort of ideal you in sunflowers."

"Mm. It's more than that."

"Mm?"
Sunny inclined.

"Sunflowers- that is. I always saw them as the ideal version of myself, but.. after you... left.. I realized it might've been a bit more than that."

"How so?"

"I realized that they reminded me of my ideal self,, with.. you."

Sunny's lips parted, slightly agape as though he were taken off-guard. He regarded Basil softly.

"They made me feel like how I felt when I was with you."
Basil admitted,
"I felt happier, and better. I felt like I was whole in a way I couldn't even begin to express. Like I was the best version of myself that I could ever be, always so happy and looking up to the sunshine around me. I felt better."

Sunny nodded, turning back to himself as though in thought.

"It didn't really turn out though.."
Basil confessed,
"The flowers, that is."

"What happened?"

"I always ended up overwatering them accidentally, heh-"
Basil turned his eyes to the ground, suddenly overwhelmed. Delicate, thick tears rolled down his soft face.
"Er- Sorry- they were just plants, it's just-"

Suddenly Basil looked up to see Sunny standing in front of him, his starkly pale hand placed on Basil's shoulder as Sunny's vaguely emotional face caught him off guard. He seemed.. bothered.
"They weren't just plants. They meant something to you, and you cared about them."

"Eh- y-.."
Basil's breath caught in his throat as he turned his gaze back to the ground beneath their feet and placed a hand on Sunny's.
"..yeah. You're right.. I just... I feel like I failed-.."

Sunny leaned into Basil, eyes strangely softened and delicate.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there... for everything, really."

"It's fine."

"No,"
Sunny paused, leaning in to loosely wrap his arms around Basil,
"It's not."

Basil felt his heart ache, melting into Sunny's arms as the sunshine slowly scattered over them in a dying sunset pink. He felt like roses were blooming across his chest, warm soft petals against Sunny's shirt. Basil lifted his hand up slowly and softly touched Sunny's face, gently gliding it over the patch over Sunny's eye.

"I'm sorry too."

"I.. Let's go home, Basil."

Sunny touched Basil's hand carefully, before pulling away and beginning to walk away. He looked so rose tinted in the pink glow of the sky. His silky face especially.

-end-