Phytoremediation

Lost in my reverie

Basil lay down in his bed. He smelled chicken broth being heated downstairs by Marc. Basil began to think back. Happier memories.

Sunny used to secretly play the piano when his sister wasn't practicing. Basil remembered the "song" they came up with. It was only a few notes they repeated over and over, but it sounded nice. He hummed the old tune.

Basil thought about Mari's old work on the piano. She was really harsh on herself for the smallest of mistakes... then again, Sunny was, too...

Must be something they inherited...

His daydreaming wandered towards all sorts of memories. He remembered Sunny's mom always squishing his face when he was younger and his dad's old burning barrel in the back of the house. It wasn't legal, but every October 1st, they'd celebrate there with a fire and watch the neighbours' fireworks.

Sunny's dad seemed cool. I wonder where he went...

Sunny kept showing up in his memories. Basil tried to think back to what he said.

There's no way he really said that... is there?

The clock said it was 1:30, so his answer might come after another hour or so.

"Basil! One of your friends is here!" Marc called upstairs.

In spite of it being an hour before school was supposed to end, someone was at the door.

Basil came down the stairs groggily. "Woah, Basil, you don't need to come down it's alright!" Marc said worriedly.

"It's alright, Marc..." Basil looked at the doorway, and there was exactly who he expected, Sunny.

Sunny's face looked flat as always, but the way he was blushing made it look like "我爱你" was plastered on his forehead. Basil immediately knew that he hadn't just dreamed up Sunny confessing his love.

"H-hey." Sunny stuttered out.

"Come in..." Basil said, feeling his face get flushed.

"Are you sure you're okay for this?" Marc asked with concern.

"I'm fine." answered Basil as he walked upstairs with Sunny behind him.

He led Sunny to his room, where they sat on the carpet in the middle of the floor.

"I'm- wow, your room is way bigger than your old one- I'm sorry if I made you feel weird with what I said at school... I didn't mean it like... well I did, but I mean- I'm just..." Sunny stumbled over his words, unlike his usual exact demeanour.

"It's okay, Sunny... I- I'm in love with you, too... if that's what you meant..." Basil said with his head down, with some shame.

"I was scared that you'd abandon me if I told you, so I wanted to just get away from you so I wouldn't have a crush on you anymore, but-" Basil was cut off by Sunny hugging him close.

"It's okay, Basil. I love you." Sunny whispered.

"I love you too, Sunny." Basil said as he began to cry quietly.

"I'll always be here for you now..." Sunny pet Basil's hair. He liked how the fluffy hair felt, so it was a win-win.

Basil sniffled as he hugged Sunny tightly. Finally, things were looking up for Basil.

As if on cue, a sound came from downstairs. Like the back door being opened. It didn't sit right with Basil.

A set of footsteps coming up the stairs confirmed his fears. They were more stomping than just stepping, though.

A familiar face burst through the door. "Hello, you two. I'm glad to see you're getting along well." Yuri said mockingly, "Your caretaker is quite the feebleminded one."

"Not this shit again, man." Sunny said disappointedly. "Just leave us alone, it's getting annoying."

Yuri laughed, "Cocky, aren't we? That will soon change." He punched Sunny in his eyepatch. "Stupid fuck."

Yuri looked back at the wall next to the door. Basil's gardening toolkit was next to the wall. "Same place as before." Yuri smiled and grabbed a pair of small shears.

"Let me help you out, Sunny. You always wanted that mole on your back removed." Yuri laughed as he brandished the shears. He pulled down the back of Sunny's shirt, ripping some fabric, and put the shears around a small mole on his upper back.

"Stop!" Basil could barely manage to call out before Yuri cut away the small mole without hesitation. Sunny squinted with pain and made a hissing sound.

"Sunny!" Basil tugged Sunny away from Yuri. His blood was going everywhere. "Oh god, are you okay?"

"Yeah. It does hurt that much, honestly." Sunny rubbed the back of his neck, which had been covered in blood, before standing up from his position on the floor. Police sirens came from the distance.

"How the fu-" Yuri said with confusion before Sunny tackled him, holding both hands over Yuri's wrists, stopping him from stabbing him.

He heard multiple people rushing up the stairs. Sunny purposely moved Yuri's hand in the path of the door before officers burst inside of the room, hitting Yuri's hand.

"FUCK OW, Jesus Christ!" Yuri exclaimed.

"Yuri Zigong, you're under arrest. Get off him, son. We finally caught the bastard." One officer said as another began to put handcuffs on him.

"Fucker put me in control right before my hand got crushed..." Yuri mumbled.

The man handcuffing him took notice. "Hey, Pete, we gotta get him to the hospital first. His hand's broken, look." He pointed to the red and swollen fingers and knuckles.

The officer, who had been called Pete, flicked Yuri's middle finger. Yuri loudly groaned in pain. "Yeah, looks like we'll have to take a pitstop before heading to the station. Good job, son," He addressed Sunny, "You caught a real monster today." He smiled from beneath his old-fashioned mustache.

"Uh... yeah. Thanks to you, too." Sunny said quietly.

"Up you get, asshole." The other officer helped Yuri up with his left, unbroken hand.

"Hey, son, you need a medic for that?" Officer Pete motioned to his own back.

"He just cut off, like, a mole or something, I think I'll be fine." Sunny said with a shrug.

"Alright, kid, just be careful with that." Officer Pete tipped his cap and left.

Sunny and Basil looked at each other, Sunny covered in sweat and blood. "That was a bit fucked up." Sunny said with an awkward laugh.

"Yeah... heh... um..." Basil looked shyly at his feet, "Sunny... I love you... um... can I kiss you?"

Sunny blushed, a mild pink, though it would be a deep red if he wasn't simultaneously bleeding. "Uh... sure, if y-you want to." Sunny stuttered shyly.

Basil leaned over to Sunny and kissed him on the cheek, before blushing deeply and covering his face. "Y-you should probably go home to shower real quick. You're covered in blood."

Sunny nodded and awkwardly rushed away. Gay fuckers.