Quoted By:
Basil stood awkwardly to the side, trying his best not to aggravate Kel. He was initially going to come in when Kel passed out, but…
Kel never did.
He wasn’t going to go to sleep before Sunny woke up, which Basil would like to say was very unhealthy, and not recommended. But, at least Kel finally let him in–reluctantly. Basil was trying to be as quiet and unnoticeable as possible, lest he gets kicked out.
“Sunny?” Kel suddenly spoke, the first time in a while. Basil found himself going forward, freezing when met with a harsh glare. Basil surrendered, stepping back.
“Is he waking up?” Aubrey said in a hushed tone, eyes wide. She was on the other side of Sunny’s bed, standing, unlike how Kel was sitting on a stool.
Sunny’s eyelids trembled, face scrunching up. They all waited with bated breath, hoping he was waking up. If he were asleep any longer, it’d mean he was really sick, and they’d have to take him to the hospital.
“Sunny, can you hear me? Are you okay?” Kel gently grasped Sunny’s hand, hopeful. Aubrey fidgeted in place, restless.
Finally, Sunny opened his eyes.
“You’re awake!” Kel beamed as if he wasn’t exhausted in the slightest. “I was worried you–”
“What…?” Sunny blinked a few more times, the epitome of confusion. Basil’s brows furrowed. He glanced at Aubrey and Kel and didn’t see any hesitance on their faces, only relief. Was Basil being crazy?
Why did he feel that something was off?
“I’m sorry about what happened.” Kel went straight to apologizing, his guilt weighing heavy on his chest. “I didn’t mean to get so emotional, and…” He trailed off, glancing away.
“You…” Sunny’s gaze slowly cleared, becoming more lucid.
And immediately, something went wrong.
“Y–You aren’t…” Sunny’s calm expression shifted drastically, a terrified look overtaking his features. “Where…who…?” Sunny saw his hand connected to Kel’s and–
Aubrey clamped her hands over her ears on instinct, the scream barely blocked out. Basil stood ridged, unprepared and unfamiliar to the sound.
Kel let go, leaning back in surprise and falling out of his chair, hitting the ground with a grunt. He quickly recovered and returned to Sunny’s side.
“Did you have a nightmare again?” Kel’s eyes glistened, reaching out his hand. It’s not anything he hadn’t done before. It was all familiar motions. Sunny’s been with them for almost two months now, having been saved in May. Kel’s gotten to know that Sunny needed physical contact to help ground him when waking up from a night terror.
Sunny stopped screaming after a while, putting a hand to his throat. He then burst into tears, shaking his head and scrambling away from Kel.
“S–Sunny! It’s okay, it’s me. He’s not here, I promise.” Kel tried his usual, general comfort, observing Sunny in case he accidentally hurt himself.
“Go away!” Sunny wailed loudly, and Basil’s stomach dropped.
That didn’t sound like Sunny.
None of the words he’d spoken thus far have sounded like him.
“We’re all here, see? He can’t get you when we’re all here. I promise it’s safe.” Kel continued his reassuring words, not entirely unused for Sunny’s outbursts. Though, strangely, something was different. Sunny had never been this loud before.
“Y–Yeah.” Aubrey tried to join and help. “See? We’re all here for you. If you need to talk about it, you totally can.” She was a bit awkward and stilted but nonetheless genuine.
Basil didn’t know how to say it. He didn’t know how to butt in. He shouldn’t. It’s not his place. He didn’t know Sunny as much as Kel did, right? So he had no right to say a word.
But…
Basil watched the way Sunny gripped his blanket tightly, wrapping it around himself, almost under it–hiding.
“Go away! Go away!” Sunny continued to shout, voice cracking. Aubrey backed away, jumping slightly. She flinched each time Sunny yelled. Basil did too. It was so unnatural.
“Do you want them to leave?” Sunny had never woken up with Aubrey and Basil around, so Kel assumed that was who Sunny was referring to.
“Where’s my brother!?” Sunny cried out, face hidden by the blanket. “Big brother!? Where are you!?” Sunny sobbed, visibly trembling.
And it was then, finally, that Kel understood.
“Big…brother?” Kel hiccupped. “W–Wait, Sunny, why are you–”
“No! STOP IT!” Sunny kicked at Kel’s outreached hand, face a mess of tears.
Basil couldn’t stop shaking.
What was happening?
Why was Sunny acting like that?
“D–Don’t you remember me?” Kel smiled, eyes jittering. “It’s me, Kel.”
“No!”
“I–I got you out of that place–”
“Help! Save me!”
Aubrey rushed to Kel, grasping his arm. “I don’t think this is a good idea–”
Kel shoved Aubrey off. “It’s fine! It’s just like when I saved him! I just have to remind him of who I am and it’ll be okay!” Kel turned back to Sunny, grasping the fabric of his hoodie. “T–The basketball memory. I tried to dunk a basketball and fell flat on my face, getting a nosebleed. You laughed at me, and I made you promise not to tell anyone.”
Sunny did not respond, continuing to cry out.
Kel didn’t become discouraged. “There was also that time when we were playing hopscotch, remember? And–and we both tried to go at the same time, only to knock each other over. You started to cry, and I got really panicked. I tried getting you to stop before Mari found us.” Kel was smiling brightly, hopefully. He looked confident.
Aubrey had faith in him. He said it worked before, right? So why wouldn’t it work again?
“I told you this in the hospital–you forgot me then too. But it’s okay! I understand that waking up from terrible dreams and memories can be disorienting.” Kel spoke so reassuringly, so patiently. “I got you out of that place. You don’t have to worry about Hero. You don’t have to call him big–you don’t have to call him that anymore.”
Sunny revealed his face from under the covers, staring up at Kel with wide eyes. Kel looked back, not moving, once again letting Sunny reach out to him first.
Basil’s legs were rooted to the ground. His mind was screaming at him, and his stomach had sunken completely.
The expression on Sunny’s face…
“Kel–” Basil spoke up, quiet, fearful.
And he was interrupted by a heart-wrenching wail.
Sunny shook his head rapidly, horror clear in his eyes. “No! No! Where’s my brother!? I want to go home! Take me home! I’m scared!”
Basil’s breathing was shallow. That wasn’t Sunny. That wasn’t Sunny. Something happened–something horrible was happening–
“H–Huh?” Kel watched Sunny’s actions, heard his strange tone of voice, his loud words, and couldn’t fathom it. “Sunny, it’s me. I’m Kel. You remember, right? I–I don’t get it.” Kel stepped forward, smile falling.
“I don’t! Bring me back home!”
Exhaustion.
“B–But you remembered me before. Do you need more memories? I–I can talk about other stuff! I can tell you about what we’ve been doing recently!”
“I don’t like it! I want my brother!”
Stress.
“You remembered last time. I–I don’t get it. Why are you looking at me like that? Sunny, it’s me. It’s Kel. You really don’t remember me? After everything? After all the time we spent together?”
“No! I don’t know! I only know my big brother! Please, please take me home! I’m scared…”
Panic.
“I…I…”
It was all too much to bear.
“N–No! You remember me! I know you do!” Kel lurched forward, grabbing onto Sunny and pulling him forward, their eyes meeting. “Look at me! You recognize my face, don’t you!? My voice? I–I saved you, Sunny! You don’t have to act like this!”
Sunny didn’t speak, lips pressed together, face completely pale. His eyes were wide, darting around Kel’s face. There was not a flicker of recognition. Instead, the only emotion conveyed was fright. He had frozen up completely, trembling to a worrying extent.
“Kel!” Aubrey tried pulling him back, almost crying at the look on Sunny’s face. “Kel, you’re scaring him!”
“I’m not! Sunny wouldn’t be scared of me!” Kel rejected the notion, undeterred by Aubrey’s pulling. He shook her off, continuing to hold Sunny up. “You have to remember me! I know you remember me!” Kel couldn’t even smile, unaware of the tears falling down his face.
Sunny didn’t respond. He remained still, unmoving. Completely petrified.
“Kel!” Basil finally came forward. “Stop it! Let go of him!” Basil ignored his own despair, helping Aubrey to pull Kel away. His mouth formed a grimace, trying to pry Kel’s hand off of Sunny’s arm.
“Get off of me!” Kel snarled, beginning to shield Sunny with his body. “He’s afraid of you guys, not me! He trusts me! He knows me!”
“Snap out of it, Kel!” Aubrey said, heart racing. “You need to let go of him! You’re making things worse!” She had to be harsh. She had to get through to him.
“Shut up! You don’t know anything! I know how to help him! Sunny needs me!”
Basil saw Sunny’s state.
Sunny’s eyes.
…
He had to stop this now.
And…the words…it didn’t matter if they were true or not. It was the only thing that worked last time. It would make Aubrey furious, but he needed to say it. He needed to say it before something really terrible happened.
He needed to say it before Kel did something he’d regret.
“You’re acting like Hero!”
“Basil!” Aubrey snapped after a genuine gasp, glaring harshly.
“L–Like…Hero…?”
Kel was successfully pulled away, having gone slack the moment the words echoed out. Sunny remained on the bed, pale and shivering, arms moving up to hug himself. His mouth was moving, as if speaking to someone.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Basil’s eyes watered, and he lowered his head. “I didn’t know what else to say. You weren’t listening, Kel.”
Kel’s gaze was unfocused, and for a moment, both Aubrey and Basil wondered if he would run away again.
Instead, his legs buckled. He fell.
Aubrey and Basil helped him to sit, not letting him get hurt. Kel sat on the floor, expression blank.
“Back up. I’ll deal with you later.” Aubrey glared at Basil, eyes alight with rage. Then, she snapped her fingers and pointed away. Basil nodded, standing up and stepping back. He walked, ready to return to his previous spot. He didn’t know if he regretted what he said–especially when it successfully got Kel to calm down.
Lack of sleep wasn’t a pretty look on anyone. Emotional regulation quickly went out the window. And paired with stress, fear, anger…
Basil wasn’t surprised. He probably would’ve acted the same. Still, seeing Sunny in such distress made him upset. He was angry at Kel, even if he understood.
“B…Basil…?”
Basil froze. His eyes widened significantly, rigidly turning his head toward Sunny’s direction. Sunny stared back.
“H–How are you here…? Did they take you too…?”
Basil couldn’t understand.
Why was Sunny recognizing him, but not Kel?
…
Basil looked down at himself.
…
He put a hand to his hair.
…
Oh.
Oh.
“C–Can you tell me where my big brother is? I’m scared.” Large water droplets fell from Sunny’s eyes. It was completely unnerving every time he spoke. The way the words came smoothly, fluently, and in that high pitched tone…
Basil hated that the pieces were coming together.
“Sunny…” Basil stepped forward. He shouldn’t. He definitely shouldn’t. But Aubrey was busy with Kel, and Sunny was just sitting there, terrified and shaking, crying so pitifully. How could Basil not help?
“You look really tall…did you drink lots of milk?” Sunny mumbled, head tilted up. Basil cautiously took his seat beside Sunny, freezing up when Sunny scooted closer to him, latching onto his arm.
“I–I guess…?” Basil’s voice cracked. He had no clue what to do. Sunny hadn’t been this willingly close to him in almost a decade. He glanced up, seeing Aubrey looking back at him with wide eyes.
“Your voice is deeper too. Did anyone else come here with you?” Sunny continued to stare up at Basil, attention focused solely on him. “Like Mari? Or Aubrey? Or Kel?”
Aubrey’s eyes watered, completely distraught.
“From…the dream world?” Basil asked, hoping to communicate what was happening to Aubrey.
“Yeah? Where else would you come from?” Sunny’s brows furrowed.
Basil began to cry.
“Why are you crying? Do you miss home?”
Basil lowered his head.
This wasn’t…it…
…
A part of him was happy–a part of himself he hated. Basil's dreams over the years…a part of Sunny must remember them if this was the result. Of course, Sunny didn’t…act like this in the dreams, but…the comfort level was an indicator, right?
If Sunny was like this because of…Basil’s suspicion, then that meant through the years, Sunny found comfort in his dreams. Comfort with Basil.
So Basil hadn’t been useless. It wasn’t only Kel who helped, right? Sunny needed him too…right?
…
Basil had to distract himself. He felt his happiness grow and immediately snuffed it out. Not right now. It wasn’t the time. It wasn’t fair. This moment, what was happening–it was horrible.
Why did Sunny become like this?
How could this happen?
“I miss home too. I–I miss my big brother.” And once again, Sunny was brought to tears. “I want…my big brother…”
“I’m sorry,” Basil said. “I’m so sorry.”
Whatever Hero did to make Sunny like this…
“Why? You didn’t do anything.”
Kel was looking at them.
“I’m sorry,” Basil repeated.
“You…” Sunny suddenly reached for his throat. “Sore…” He looked confused. “I don’t want to talk…”
“Then don’t talk.” Please don’t talk. Basil couldn’t bear to hear it any longer.
“Okay.” Sunny easily agreed, then proceeded to open his mouth again. “My big brother says to use my words, but that’s only for him. I won’t talk to anyone else anymore.” He then put a hand over his mouth, brows furrowing. “Oh…I’m not supposed to talk to anyone else…it’s dangerous.” His eyes trailed over to Kel.
“He told you to use your words?” Basil felt nauseous. “He said to…only talk to him?” Why was he asking questions he didn’t want to know the answer to? Why was he asking when he knew the answer?
