Phytoremediation

Two's company, tea's a crowd

Basil and Sunny moved into the tea parlour. It looked like its decor had been unchanged since its days as an opium den.

"I'll go order, you find a seat, what kind of tea did you want?" Sunny asked while moving towards the front counter.

"Oh, um... I'll just have... if they have spearmint tea, I'll have that. Otherwise, just green is fine." Basil answered.

Sunny did finger guns and clicked his tongue, making Basil giggle. While he moved to find a seat, he realized that The Maverick did that.

Oh god, it's rubbing off on him.

Basil groaned internally before sitting down at a nearby table. An old-fashioned ashtray was on the table, thankfully clean and not filled with smelly cigarette butts like most ashtrays.

There was an interesting pattern on the table itself. It was a foreign flower Basil didn't recognize. It looked similar to a lily, but the petals were a different shape. It wasn't a picture, though, so for all Basil knew, the artist might've just sucked.

Basil made a quiet pair of hums as a way to laugh to himself. Sunny walked over to the table.

"Where's the tea?" Basil asked.

"They come over to take our order. We just needed to come to the front or whatever." Sunny said. He handed Basil a menu that listed various appetizers and desserts to eat with the tea.

"I'm paying for everything, by the way, Sunny." Basil mentioned as he read over the menu. He wanted to make sure Sunny wouldn't try paying for them.

I keep getting given all this money, might as well put it to use...

"Y-you don't have to..." Sunny weakly protested. He didn't bring money, so he silently prayed that Basil wouldn't change his mind.

"My mom's like, the definition of bourgeois, I'm not gonna make you pay for shit, babe." Basil giggled.

Sunny sighed with relief, internally. Thank god. "Okay, but I'll still buy you presents and stuff without your money." He tried to sound reluctant.

"I lo-" Basil was quickly interrupted by an older woman coming over to the table in traditional clothes.

"You little boys? Little boys not allow here, okay?" She spoke with an obvious Laotian accent.

"Oh, no, no, we're 16! So, um, can we get a-" Basil was stopped by the old lady talking over him.

"Oh, okay, sorry, waitress come out now." She bowed and left. The clearly foreign woman wearing traditional Chinese clothes made Sunny crack up a bit after she left the table.

"What was that about?" Basil said half-laughing at the unusual encounter.

Sunny shrugged, covering his mouth as he giggled to himself. Another lady came over suddenly in not-so-traditional clothing. The only similarity between this 20-something and the older woman's outfit was their old-school hairpins.

Her clothing was in the national colours of China, and it showed a lot more skin than a normal work uniform. She bent down to the level of the two boys sitting, showing her cleavage. "What can I get you boys?" She winked.

"Uh-uhm, I-I just want a green tea." Basil put a hand over the side of his face to block his view of her clearly displayed breasts.

Sunny was less put off by it and decided to order what Basil actually wanted since he forgot about the spearmint tea. "Spearmint tea, thanks." He struggled to maintain eye contact. In his defense, she was making quite the effort to have them seen.

"Right away, cuties!" She winked again before standing up and turning around, sashaying away. Swaying her hips side to side with a near-comical amount of swinging.

She purposely walked around the way Basil had been looking to avoid line of sight with her non-eye appendages.

Basil made an "Eep!" sound before turning back to Sunny. "What kind of place is this?" He asked Sunny, as though he knew the place any better than Basil did.

"They definitely act like authentic den girls." Sunny shrugged.

Basil recalled the whole "opium den" angle. Den girls were practically prostitutes that would work for the opium den for opium instead of money. They would wear clothes like those, which made Basil understand.

He wondered for a moment why the older woman hadn't worn similar clothes before being grateful that she hadn't.

"You okay, Basil? It's fine if you look, it's hard not to, heh." Sunny joked.

Basil shook his head. "Can we go somewhere else after getting the tea?"

Sunny's face fell to one of slight sadness. "Are you okay, Basil?"

"It's nothing, I just don't really like this place..." Basil averted his eyes. A sudden familiar sashaying approached from where he was averting them.

He closed his eyes as the girl came back to their table. "Here is your green tea, hon, and here is your spearmint tea, cutie." He could practically hear her winking.

"Do either of you need sugar? Milk? Something else?" Basil felt a hand on his cheek. He shut his eyes even tighter. "Shy boys are always the cutest." She made an off-putting laugh.

"Sugar is fine, thanks." Sunny answered for Basil.

"Pfft, alright, maybe next time when you aren't with your friend."

Basil heard her walking away. He opened his eyes slowly. "Are you okay?" Sunny asked.

"I'm fine. Thanks for getting my tea." Basil whispered.

"It's alright."

The two drank tea in silence for a few moments. Sunny felt very worried about Basil. His expression showed very clearly that he was worried... clearly, if you can understand how to tell the difference between his near identical facial expressions.

Basil wondered how his face looked. He probably looked like a nervous wreck. Basil realized his hair was slightly stuck together from the day before and blushed as he remembered.

Sunny noticed and snickered.

"Shut up..!" Basil said with annoyance.

"Love you, Basil." Sunny smiled his perfect adorable smile. His cheeks would always squish upwards when he'd smile with a closed mouth. It made Basil smile back.

"I love you too."