🌻🍉A Home for Flowers🍉🌻

~ BASIL!

#omori

"...Not sure if i want to 'smell' omori, to be honest..."

...
Polly shifts her attention to her.

"Sorry, i don't think we've properly met. I'm Polly.
Are you a new friend of him?"

Basil vacantly stares at some point far away from the house.

...when they're done.

"Are you feeling well, Basil?"
After a pause, Basil nods.

...

Even she can tell he's lying. He's keeping her in the dark, like with Natsuki.
"If there's anything i can do to help, please let me know, okay?"
Basil: "hmm-hmm..."

Polly puts up her best smile for him.
...

...
Polly hastily cleans him back up, looking as good as he probably can be.

"...I see." Her tone has a great sense of concern to it.
"So sorry to hear that, Basil. We'll get you a new plant, don't worry. Please, relax... count to ten..."
Basil follows suit, and looks a little clearer..

He quietly shakes his head.

Come to think of it, wasn't there a photo album he had earlier in the dream world? He'll probably have filled them with just more pleasant memories from a better time.

Wonder if it's also here.

...

...
"Wait, i-i-i mean-"
Polly: "Sorry for the holdup! Let me patch things up."
Polly diligently cleans up the dirt with a cloth, combing out the gunk out of his hair and wipes the dust off his clothes.

"So what happened, Basil. It's okay if you don't want to talk about it... Just relax first, ok?"

...
He doesn't want to be another burden for someone. Not again... It's all he's been for his entire life.

He resumes eye contact.
"I'm... please, I'm not worth it, Natsuki...."
He blurts out an intrusive thought. It's better to push her away now than be disappointed later, right?
Wait...

Basil shrugs.

"No.. It happened before... I n-need to stop being reckless..."

His self-hatred is only swelling up even more. They had a decent conversation, and he just /had/ to ruin it because he couldn't stay sane for a few seconds.

Negative thoughts fill his mind. He avoids eye contact.
...

//Apologies for my slow responses...

...
He sits gently on the sofa, gazing to the side of the floor.

She can only imagine this isn't the first time something like this happened.
He's just so tired of it all.

...
"You two can sit on the couch. Please, I'll be with you two in the moment..."

She hurries off to the hallway, leaving the two alone for the moment.
Basil puts the plant on a nearby closet, where it instantly falls apart.
He sighs, making his way to the sofa.
He looks utterly miserable...

...
It's only a matter of time.

The door slowly creaks open, revealing Polly.
"Oh my goodness! Basil! Please, come in... Are you okay? I'll get the first-aid kit and a wet cloth..."
She's stopped in her tracks by the other person at the door.

"Is this a friend of yours, Basil?"
He nods...

Basil gives her a little nod, sweat visible on his forehead.
Combined with the dirtied trousers and his outburst earlier, he knows his words aren't convincing in the slightest.

He doesn't want her to start prying and prodding at what's really bothering him, but if they keep hanging around...

...
He nods to her question, finally ringing the doorbell.
The shadow swiftly darts from the kitchen to the door.

"Y-you're not, don't worry..."

He hopes she'll not freak out to her pink hair, matching that of the delinquent that gave them so much trouble.

He waits patiently.

...

"I do have g-glue... at home.

I j-just break stuff a lot... I'm c-clumsy...."
He says with another sigh, holding the mess of shards and flowers in his hand. It's a miracle he didn't cut himself yet.

It's a tall order to get that mess fixed, but maybe... he can just do it?
...

With nervous steps he arrives at the door.

He gazes back at her with a slow tilt of his head, with dull cloudy eyes.

He really isn't feeling good, but he's putting on quite a defense. Maybe she'll just wait it out. If given a close enough friend, he'll spill his worries to her eventually...

...

Thankfully for him, his home is now in view.
"M-my home... t-there..."
It's unsurprisingly surrounded by plants and flowers of all kinds. A shadow is visible through the window. Could that be his mom...?
"L-let's go."
He looks like an absolute nervous wreck right now.

...
"Yes, yes, b-b-b-but we need glue to st-stick the p-p-pieces together..."
His walking pace turns into a hurried walk. He doesn't feel calm at all. Her prodding into him makes him feel anxious, holding onto the broken pot for dear life.

"You-you don't h-have an-any, d-do you?"

....

"But I am.. hm..." He mumbles the rest of his sentence.
Even he has trouble ignoring it. Compared to anyone else here, he's a complete disaster.
"..."
He averts his gaze. He doesn't like talking about it. It makes him feel even more exposed and vulnerable than he usually is.

...

...
Of Faraway Town. He sluggishly makes his way alongside her, trailing a bit behind as if expecting her to take the lead.

He really looks pale, but regardless.... he appreciates that she's here to support him.

...
"A-appreciate the offer, Na-natsuki... bu-but it needs glu-e..."
His mind can barely stammer out.
He's barely holding on by a tightrope. Anything sudden, and he'll fly in a panic attack.

"Let's go home... thank you..."

He joins her side, wandering towards his home through the cozy streets...

"Y-yes, sure..."
He mumbles, looking at her with blank eyes.

In reality, he's desperately trying not to freak out by not thinking about anything. The broken pot, a nearby tree, Natsuki, anything will do.
If he focuses on that, he can't dwell on anything unpleasant and unravel again.
...

...
"Ah! I'll try, Natsuki... I'll go slowly... onwards to my house.
Hope nothing bad happens..."
His words are mumbled and slow, as if he's slipping into a trance.

He takes a sluggish walk towards his home, barely paying attention to anything while vacantly gazing ahead.

...
"I can walk... don't worry..."
He says wobbling back to his feet holding the loose remains of his purchase.
"I can glue it together, and the plant will be fine, uh... everything is going to be okay... be okay..."
He says, repeating himself as he sluggishly takes a few steps...

Basil nods despite all evidence proving otherwise. He's an absolute wreck, but quickly his mask slips back on and forces a smile back on his dirtied face.

It's almost as if he's ashamed of his own suffering. He looks worse than ever.
...

"Wow... tastes so -urk- good...!"

He forces a smile on his face after eating it, trying to look as polite as possible.

It's not convincing in the slightest, making him feel nauseous.

He takes a small bite of the fruit...

A painful grimace. Whereas the scent was first at a safe distance, now it's right into his mouth.

Oof. That's not pleasant, at all.

He desperately pretends to enjoy it.

...
Only when the 'pot' is loosely reassembled does he face Natsuki.

"T-this happens so o-often... I'm just wo-worthless..."

He rubs his bloodshot eyes, hands stained with soil, grime, and tears. He's making quite a miserable scene to his own dismay.

But he can't help it.

...
More tortured sobbing from him.
"S-sorry..."
He slowly rises back up, hair dirtied with grime.
"I know... I'm so-s u-useless..."
He weeps and desperately tries to put the pieces of the pot back together, putting the soil back in with the dislodged, bruised plant.
"S-sorry plant..."
...