Phytoremediation

I'm not a flower, not a solar-powered calculator

Basil answered the phone, while he looked at Sunny's abnormal message.

Why would Sunny think that Hero would say something weird...

"Hey, Basil, are you okay?? I heard you got drugged!" Hero sounded concerned.

The benzodiazepine was still affecting Basil's thinking, leaving his mind hazy. Considering everything, though, Basil wasn't feeling that bad. No hangover made things very easy to deal with.

"I'm fine, Hero, I'm just glad Mikhael was there to help me and Sunny!" Basil wasn't sure why Hero seemed to have suddenly forgiven him, but it was a welcome change.

"Has Sunny done anything to you? Like trying to hurt you?" Hero asked seemingly out of nowhere.

Basil couldn't hide the confusion in his voice, "What? No, he hasn't!"

"If he does, call me, I'll make sure he doesn't try manipulating, threatening or hurting you ever again." Hero said with some sort of anger tinting his voice.

Hector's distant barks were heard over the receiver. Hector II being his "full name."

"He hasn't done any of that, Hero!" Basil protested. Sunny has never hurt him. Well, other than in self defense, when Basil was in a hysteric state, hurting Sunny while thinking he was helping him. Basil shook his head, feeling remorseful for how he hurt Sunny that day.

Hero raised his voice. "You don't have to cover for him, I know he forced to keep quiet about how he made you help cover up his murder! The fact your parents made you move so close to that psycho..." Hero trailed off, though his rage permeated through the phone.

"I-I swear, Sunny didn't force me to do anything..." Basil replied reticently.

Hero spoke loudly again, "He's manipulating you, Basil! Please, just listen to me! Look, I'm going to be in Nearburgh today, because I had plans way before to surprise him by taking him to this trampoline gym which is having a basketball event. If you need any help, I promise I can help."

"It's... I'm okay. Please believe me, Sunny is a sweet, kind person. He never meant to hurt anybody." Basil defended with a soft voice.

"Bull. Shit. He was jealous of Mari, and got... look, forget it, just tell me if you ever need help from him. I need to compose myself, I can't be all pissed off for the whole 2 hour drive to get there." Hero softened his tone, "I'll see you around, Basil."

"Have a good day, Hero. Tell Kel I said hi." Basil said with a small smile.

Basil shut his phone, and left his computer, heading downstairs.

Polly walked up to Basil, worry covering her face. "Are you positive you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Polly, don't worry!" Basil smiled.

"Okay, are you going out?" Polly asked, reading Basil with impressive accuracy.

"Yeah, I wanted to go see if Sunny was okay, and maybe go somewhere with him." Basil answered.

"Okay, I hope he's okay. He looked awful last night. That Maverick boy is very responsible!" Polly said with concern.

I guess he introduced himself as "The Maverick" to Polly too... of course.

"Yeah, he's a pretty good guy." Basil said as he put on his shoes. He'd give Mikhael this one, "I'm gonna go, now! Bye-bye, Polly!" Basil grinned as he left.

The road was pretty empty besides a few parked cars. It was the late morning, so pretty much everyone who could drive was at work.

Basil walked across the quiet streets, and went up to Sunny's door. Some yelling could be heard from inside.