One year after the true end, Sunny returns to Faraway Town.
A late addition to #anotherSTweek! ~11k words of wholesome sunkel silliness.
(i’ve had this series drafted for a while, but everything feels bad & i just. didn’t have it in me to post. but i do think there’s value in taking respite in escapism, so... sunkels, come get ur serotonin! i'll be dropping an update every day for the next week.)
Day 1: Waiting
There’s only four days until Sunny comes home. To Kel, it feels more like four years.
It’s been a whole month since Kel last made the trek out to Sunny’s new place in the Glittering Harbor. (Of course he’d like to visit more! But it’s kind of a haul. You have to take a bus to a train and then transfer to a different train, and then walk three-quarters of a mile just to get on another bus. Unless you’re Aubrey, in which case you bike the whole way from the station while acting like everyone else is a total sucker for dropping a buck fifty in bus fare.)
Unfortunately, Kel was never very good at waiting. He used up a whole life’s worth of patience in the four years he spent moping around Sunny’s porch, talking to a door like a total loser.
Fortunately, Sunny’s getting better at texting.
Kel whips out his phone and checks the forecast for the millionth time today. It still looks good. Clear skies and temps in the high 80s, with humidity that’ll make it feel like the low 90s. Which sounds good to Kel! But Sunny never liked the heat.
…It’ll probably be fine? They’ll just have to spend his whole visit splashing around in the lake.
Kel taps out a few quick texts.
[dont forget 2 pack ur bathing suit!!!!!! gna b HOTTT!!!!!!! ☀️🔥🌶🍳🥵🥵🥵]
[but if u do forget its cool u can just borrow one of mine!!!!! hehe]
[....or basils lol. i think 4 u my swim shorts might be swim Pants]
Not even a minute later, his phone buzzes. It’s Sunny.
[🐳]
Warmth builds in Kel’s chest. Every time Sunny takes the time to look his way, it makes Kel feel ten feet tall. He stifles a whoop and picks up his pace, loping down the sidewalk in long, bounding strides before hooking a right toward home.
A year ago, if you tried to tell Kel that Sunny was gonna start answering his texts—not just eventually, but promptly!—Kel would’ve laughed in your face. Even six months ago, it would’ve been hard to believe. To be totally honest, for a few weeks after Sunny moved away, it looked like he was just gonna disappear again.
But Sunny’s trying. He’s trying really hard!! He’s careful with other people’s feelings in a way he never used to be. He looks at the people around him and actually tries to figure out what they want, even if he is still kinda bad at it. Probably ‘cause he used to be such a brat.
…Okay, so maybe he’s still kind of a brat. But that’s part of his charm! And it definitely feels different than it used to. It’s like Sunny’s… a little less careless, or something. More thoughtful. Less selfish. And every so often, he’ll open his mouth and say something so incisive—so unnervingly emotionally attuned—that he almost sounds like Mari.
Aw, man. Kel misses him so bad.
He can’t help himself. As soon as he’s scrambled upstairs and into his room, he pulls up AIM and hits Video Call.
###
Sunny picks up on the third ring. That’s new, too. Sunny never used to pick up when anyone called. He looks a little flushed, like the call took him by surprise.
Kel beams at him. Sunny parries with a disapproving glare.
“I know!!!” Kel laughs. It’s true. They both know that Sunny hates phone calls. “I’ll just be a minute, I swear. I’m just too hyped to type, y’know? And I guess I kinda wanted to hear your voice.”
Sunny quirks an eyebrow.
“Pfff. Okay, but you know what I mean, though.”
Sunny tilts his head, conceding the point.
“And it’s been, like, a million years!!!!”
The obvious lie finally pries Sunny’s mouth open. “...Four weeks.”
“Since we came to see you, sure. But since you came here? C’mon, dude! That’s way bigger!!!”
Sunny’s mouth tugs down. Oh, Kel realizes. He’s nervous.
“Not in, like, a scary way!” he rushes to explain. “Just, like… you know. I know the Harbor is home now, too. But this is, like, home home. This is where it all happened!!”
Sunny’s face darkens.
Shit. “Not like— I just mean!! All the times we swam in the lake, or… snuck out to go to Hobbeez, or got our butts kicked for taking the last slice of watermelon. The good times, dude! This is where the magic happened!! We’re, like, getting the band back together!!”
Sunny takes a moment to consider that. “Basil said they’re closing Hobbeez.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me!” When Kel saw the notice, he was ready to set up a lemonade stand, or a petition or whatever. But Pedro said the sale had already gone through. It was up to the new owners to decide what to do with it. “Anyway, that’s all the more reason to get psyched! We gotta give it a proper goodbye!!”
“A viking funeral,” Sunny says sagely.
“Yeah!! Wait—no. We can’t set it on fire. Were you gonna set it on fire?”
Sunny shrugs one shoulder.
“Pffww— Sunny!!! You can’t set the strip mall on fire!!! That’s where I get my groceries!!!”
“It’s not like it’s hard.”
“I don’t mean literally!! I just mean—” But that’s when he notices a familiar gleam in Sunny’s eye. That’s the one that means he’s laughing at you, not with you. “Sunnyyyyy!!!” Kel flops back on his bed. “You’re messing with me!!!”
Sunny grins wickedly. “Guess you’ll have to wait and see.”
(i tend to get squirrelly about 'self-promotion' etc so I can't promise to do the social media thing for every update, but u can always find the latest on ao3!)
