Basil gets Lost in Ikea (An OMORI fanfiction)

Things are looking up for this flower boy!

Basil groaned as he stretched his arms above his head, limbs aching from the uncomfortable position he had fallen asleep in. It had taken a while for him to drift off to sleep in that closet. The confined space of it left him to position himself in an awkward stance, and he feared he might need to fall asleep standing upright like a horse or something. That thought was quite unpleasant, to say the least. After shifting his body around for some time, he managed to find a slightly comfortable place at the bottom of the wardrobe, curled up into a ball. The sides of it pressed against his lanky arms and it was difficult to relax but the weariness from the past day was able to get him some shut-eye.

The flower boy scanned the horizon and tensed up in irritation. He was getting really sick of this! The initial shock from his situation had worn off and now he was just left with this stuck feeling. He felt like a bird trapped in a cage. He yearned to fly out and take in the fresh air of the outside world, but alas, he was forced to remain in this prison of endless furniture displays.

After his brief morning stretch, basil's legs began to move, and before he could really think about it, he was roaming the Infinite Ikea once again. After all, there was nothing else he could do here. His only options to survive were to keep moving, and maybe some higher being would bless him and allow him to escape this hellhole. Basil was never very religious, but he was willing to accept just about anything by now. He would be very appreciative if God or whoever was up there decided to finally save him after all these years of empty prayers.

As Basil's mind began to trail off into some rather negative thoughts, he felt something unexpectedly hit his right foot. The blond glanced down at the unknown object, and for a moment, he believed that the lord above could hear his inner thoughts because right below his weary body was a bag full of supplies. Canned food, snacks, water, bandages, you name it. There were just enough supplies to last him for the next few days. Unfortunately for him, his excitement from the newly obtained supplies didn't last long. His hopeful eyes glanced away from the bag and instead focused on the deceased body next to it.

It was a man. A man with cuts and bruises just about everywhere on his body. The expression on his pale face was petrifying, and Basil couldn't stand to look at it for more than a second. The flower boy just stood there, body unmoving like a deer in headlights. How had this happened? Basil asked himself that question, yet he already knew the answer. If he isn't careful, then he could end up like that poor man on the floor...

Basil frowned as he turned back to the bag of supplies and questioned his actions. Would it be wrong to take this? The man wouldn't be needing it anymore, but it felt disrespectful in a way. Then again, it would help him out a lot. Basil hadn't eaten in a considerable amount of time, and he was getting hungry. Surely the man wouldn't mind? Wait a minute, Basil was sure he wouldn't mind. He was literally dead. He didn't know why he was debating himself about this.

The blond bit his lip as he picked up the bag and slung it over his shoulder. He put the clock he had been carrying with him inside of it and forced himself to look ahead, away from the deceased man. He whispered his thanks and proceeded to move forward, hesitant steps turning into hurried ones. Now that he knew the true nature of the workers, he needed to find a place to hide for when the night eventually came. His lip quivered as the face of that poor man crept into his mind over and over again, yet he pushed on.

Despite how terrible of a sight that was to behold, it did give Basil a vital piece of information; he wasn't the only human there. The body of that man was proof that more people were wandering around, and it gave Basil a guilty sense of relief. Maybe if he encountered any of them he could ask to tag along. Having more people by his side would surely make things easier for him. Things like food and water would need to be equally rationed but having company would make those things worth it.

As Basil was on the verge of getting lost in his thoughts, he felt a familiar rumbling in his stomach and concluded that he needed to eat something before he continued onwards. He spotted a dining set up a few steps away from him and strolled over to it so that he could take a break from walking. He sat down in one of the wooden chairs and opened the bag. He pulled out a container of saltine crackers but paused before he could dig in. Something like this would make him feel even thirstier than he already is, and he didn't want to waste the one cantine of water in the bag, so he stored the crackers for later and opted for something else.

A ziplock bag of cookies lay untouched at the bottom of the bag. Basil's mouth watered as he reached down to pick it up. He grabbed a cookie from out of the bag and lifted it to his mouth, taking a small bite to savor the sweet treat. The taste of store-bought crumbs and chocolate chips brought a smile to his face. They weren't as good as the delicious cookies that Polly would bake for him every now and then, but they were still pretty good.

Although things were still hard, Basil was proud of himself for the progress that he made. All he needed right now was to find a comfortable place to settle for the night and a steady source of food and water. The desire to look for other people burned brightly in his heart, but he knew that without proper preparation, the chances of him lasting out there were very slim. He's been lucky to get this far by himself and in order to drag that luck out as far as he possibly could, he needed to look out for himself.

And so, Basil continued to munch on his cookies while planning his next move. The memories of his friends back in Faraway Town occupied his mind as he swung his legs back and forth, finishing his snack and occasionally glancing around at the furniture that took up his field of vision. Making a temporary settlement shouldn't be too hard considering he's practically surrounded by supplies. He may not be the strongest, so lifting objects and moving them around might give him a difficult time but he's always had a knack for crafts so making something simple would probably work well for him.

Perseverance swelled within the flower boy's heart, and he determined that once he's finally prepared himself, he'll find an exit and make it back home.