"Come on, Mari! Basil's all set up at the table!" Aubrey excitedly took Mari's hand and started trying to run ahead, but was held back by Mari, being brought to a stop.
"Oh, they have a picnic table set up by the pond now? That's adorable!" Mari giggled.
"Jeez, Mari, you're stronger than you look. You been lifting weights between playing your piano?" Kel commented. Sunny just rolled his eyes. Kel's lame jokes were endearing, but grating.
Mari waved her free hand, Aubrey still tugging away. "It's not that crazy, Kel, don't make a big deal about it!"
Aubrey seemed to not really notice the accidental sleight against her strength. She was too focused on trying to overpower Mari's strength.
"Alright, let's go." Sunny proceeded towards the trees that led to the pond. He heard what sounded like Aubrey tripping behind him.
"Warn me next time!" Aubrey complained.
Sunny continued, seeing the rising sun come over the treeline made the lake look a bright orange and pink. Sunny looked to Basil, who hadn't noticed him yet. His face looked as though it we're glowing. Sunny enjoyed looking at Basil. He was writing or drawing something.
His trance was broken by Kel loudly yelling to Basil. "Yo, dude! We're here! Mari, too!" Sunny looked to his left. Kel was waving wildly.
Basil was waving back, less intensely and erratically than Kel. Basil was wearing a short-sleeved purple shirt. It looked undeniably cute on him. Even a totally straight guy like Sunny could see it. Definitely straight.
Sunny approached the picnic table. The dew coming off the grass made an unusual smell. It was slightly gross smelling, but Sunny didn't care that much. He heard Aubrey blaming the scent on Kel, anyway.
"Hi, Basil. You look..." Sunny hesitated. How do you say this in a way that doesn't sound gay... "You look good today." D-. It's barely a passing grade, but you still did awful.
"Uh- um- thanks..!" Basil hesitantly accepted the compliment. Sunny sat down across from Basil to enjoy the view. In a straight way, apparently.
Mari sat next to Sunny. He glanced at Mari's face. Her eyes had an odd look. She was also looking at Basil, but he was the only one on the other side of the table, so it made sense.
"Whatcha writing, Basil?" Aubrey wandered and sat next to Basil.
Sunny glanced at Aubrey and then remembered that he hadn't even looked at the paper once since he sat down. He began looking at the page. Also, at Basil's hands. The writing was illegible when upside down.
"Ah, I'm practicing pinyin. The latin alphabet is kinda hard." Basil smiled as he showed his sheet.
"You drew the e's backwards." Mari said rather bluntly.
"O-Oh, did I? I-I better fix that." Basil said flushed with embarrassment.
Sunny glared at his sister for a moment before looking back to Basil. "It's alright, Basil. You got the b's and d's right. A lot of people have struggles with that."
"I-I guess. Thanks, Sunny. Mari was just looking out for me, though." Basil smiled. Sunny glanced at Mari and saw her putting her hand onto his head.
"Sunny is just great at seeing the best in people!" Mari ruffled his hair, annoying Sunny.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Sunny swatted her hand away.
"Mean!" Mari pouted, "Kiss it better!"
"What?" Sunny asked in confusion.
"Kiss it better! It hurt!" Mari pouted even more intensely.
"As if, Mari, you were holding up Aubrey with one hand, I didn't hurt you." Sunny said in an annoyed tone.
"Pweeease." She said in a dumb voice. Aubrey and Kel both laughed at the display.
"Quit being weird, Mari." Sunny rolled his eyes.
"Bu-" Mari was interrupted by Kel's usual loud demeanour.
"Hey, Hero, over here!" He yelled waving erratically again, standing up from his seat.
"I think he can see us from here, Kel." Basil patted Kel's arm. Sunny noticed Basil wiping his hand off. He's probably really sweaty.
Hero walked over with a bag. "Bought a couple things." He handed Kel a bottle of his weird off-brand Fanta. He then placed a Twix in front of Sunny. "Only one left. Share it with Basil, alright?"
"Of course I would. It's his favourite, after all." Sunny reasoned.
"Yeah. Not selfish like some other people in your family." Hero muttered.
"Ooo, can I have some?" Kel reached towards Sunny.
"There's only two bars, man. You got a pop already." Sunny said with an eye roll.
"Yeah, I was asking for... for uh... for Aubrey." Kel lied.
"I don't even like Twix!" Aubrey countered.
"What? Damn it!" Kel pounded the table once out of frustration.
Hero awkwardly stood next to Kel. "Uh, trade you spots." Hero didn't want to sit next to Mari, obviously.
"Why?" Kel asked cluelessly. Hero just scowled at him, prompting Kel to move.
"You're so immature, Hero." Mari rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, sure, Mari. Whatever lets you sleep at night." Hero was a bit mad. Sunny was a bit perplexed as he was under the impression that Hero was the one who chose to break it off. Why was he the angry one?
Basil spoke up, trying to calm the situation. "S-So, it's been a while since we were all in one place, huh?"
"For good reason." Hero replied. So much for a topic change.
"Hero, you said you'd be chill, dude." Kel complained as he sipped his soda.
"Look, I didn't think that stuck-up bitch would actually agree to show up!" Hero shouted, and stood up.
Aubrey stood up too, "Hey! Don't call Mari that!" Hero started to storm off, with Aubrey following him angrily.
"Hey, come back, Aubrey, calm down! It's okay!" Mari ran after the pair as quickly as she could. Sunny turned back to face the table.
"Hey, Basil, you got a new freckle on your wrist." Kel stated with a point.
"Oh, I guess I do..." Basil awkwardly looked at his wrist.
Kel chugged his Orange Joe.
YOU ARE READING
A Cage with No Key
Fanfiction- AU - Sunny has been making his way through school as Mari has started her success as a pianist, playing for national events and concerts. throughout it all, she hasn't moved out, though. She says it's for Sunny, but it couldn't be for him alone, o...
