"Lovely day, isn't it?"
Mari chimed, setting up the delicious shaved ice prepared for Omori, Aubrey, Kel, and Hero as soon as they come over. (Y/n), meanwhile, was shivering, teeth chattering just a bit. The snow lightly fell to the ground with a cold breeze blowing at their face.
"H-How..."
(Y/n) asked as they eyed Mari, who looked perfectly fine without any winter clothing's. Although the snow was pretty, it was very cold. At least, it seemed very cold to them.
"Ah, I'm not sure. My temperature must be keeping up with the weather!"
She replied as she looked at her own arm. (Y/n) leaned over a bit to look at her arm in curiosity. There were no goosebumps at all. They sighed, looking up at the sky as they stood up.
"I hope I'm not being too sensitive about this weather..."
"No worries! As soon as the group clears this area, we could head on somewhere else!"
(Y/n) sighed softly, moving over, shuffling under the picnic blanket as if it was a regular blanket. Mari laughed, laying down beside them.
"If I may ask, why didn't you go with the group?"
"I just preferred hanging with you..."
Mari smiled widely, looking off to the side a bit.
"I very much appreciate you wanting to be here with me~"
(Y/n) smiled, nodding as they slowly buried their head under the picnic blanket. As soon as they did so, their head throbbed, possibly a headache. Sighing as they closed their eyes, they were quickly pulled out from the spot under the picnic blanket.
"Heya, (Y/n)!"
Kel exclaimed, letting go of their arms.
"Kel! Don't pull them like that!"
Aubrey yelled, glaring at Kel.
"Sorry, sorry..."
Omori walked over to the cooler before walking, sitting on the picnic blanket. The others joined, Kel and Hero sitting down while Aubrey twirled.
"Really, Mari? Shaved ice in this weather?"
Hero asked, looking at a scoop of the ice he had picked up. Hero, Mari, and Kel were talking about the shaved ice, as well as the difference between Sno-cones. (Y/n) was taking in their conversation amused by the subject. However, their eyes lingered a bit on Mari, who was trying her best to answer Kel's question.
"Larger pieces of ice, huh? Is that why SNO-CONES are so much more expensive?"
Kel has asked as he tapped the empty cup above his mouth to get the last pieces of ice. Mari was still smiling widely, yet she seemed to be at a loss of words, glancing over a bit at (Y/n).
"I... I don't know, Kel! I can't really answer that one..."
The conversation seemed to end, as the others rested for a few moments before standing up, quickly focusing back on finding Basil, running off somewhere else.
"Stay safe..."
(Y/n) tried to call out, only for it to come into a faint whisper.
"Don't worry, (Y/n)! I'm sure they'll be alright. My little brother has been very brave lately!"
She chimed, looking up at the sky where the snow lightly fell. A sudden shiver went down (Y/n)'s spine, in which Mari seemed to notice.
"Come on, let's go for a walk~"
Mari called out, standing up at she held her hand out to them.
"Isn't it a bit dangerous? I mean... there's probably some creatures who want a fight if we ever come across them."
"There's always running! And if that doesn't work, we'll just think of a distraction. I'll be sure to protect you as well!"
(Y/n) blushed lightly, shaking their head as they held onto Mari's hand to stand up.
"I'll protect you too, you know..."
They mumbled through their chattering teeth as they suddenly felt colder than before. Mari smiled sweetly at their words, still holding (Y/n)'s hand as she quickly pulled them over to get out if the freezing biome. It felt all too quick as they were already at the Otherworld, by by the stairs outside near Captain Spaceboy's home.
"How did. Um... wait, why did I never question how we..."
(Y/n) was at a loss of words, but Mari teased them, not answering with a smirk towards them. They weren't sure why they didn't ask Mari the first time they suddenly went from one area to another, all while sitting down.
"The bunnies are so cute! I'm still a bit mad that this one leaf despised them..."
Mari said a loud, gaining (Y/n)'s attention who was watching people play on the playground.
"It might make sense of they were a cabbage... bunnies eat cabbages, right?"
(Y/n) asked, unsure about their knowledge of bunnies' food diet.
"Mhm! Or of they were a carrot~"
Mari added in, but quickly paused.
"...maybe rabbits do eat leaves. But I thought I heard that they are poisonous to rabbits..."
Both of them stared off in space, possibly going down a rabbit hole in their minds. It wasn't long until Omori and the gang came by, resting for a bit before continuing downwards towards Basil's home. (Y/n) didn't seem to realize that they were suddenly in the middle of a path with trees around, close to Basil's home.
"I will never get tired of looking at the sky."
(Y/n) sighed in awe, still following Mari. Her fingers lightly squeezed (Y/n)'s hand, as it was still in her grip. The light blush that was on her face grew more, as she had finally moved away from the picnic spot, as well as hold their hand. (Y/n) finally focused on their surroundings as they ran up the stairs, passing by Captain Spaceboy's bed, through the door to the Junkyard.
"Why didn't we go the other way?"
(Y/n) asked. Mari looked over at them, to which they could now see how much she was blushing.
"So I could hold onto your hand a little more~"
A red blush immediately made it's way towards (Y/n)'s face, almost forgetting that she was holding onto them. They ran past the enemies, laughing a bit at the adrenaline of almost getting caught. Mari had let go of (Y/n)'s hand in order to climb the ladder they had stopped in front of. A small smile crept on (Y/n)'s lips as they climbed the ladder, reaching the top. The smile had slowly vanished, a surprised and awed emotion replacing it.
The sun, it seems. Very close. Infront was a couch. Thank goodness logic doesn't apply here, or else they probably would've burned.
"My eyes don't hurt at all."
(Y/n) said, still staring in awe. Mari giggled, softly pushing them over to sit on the couch.
"Have... have you seen this before?"
Mari nodded at (Y/n)'s question, sitting beside them on thr comfy couch.
"But not this close. I thought it would've been nice sitting closer with you..."
Her words softly escaped her lips, as leaned back against the couch. (Y/n) smiled, the blush still staying on their face.
"Really..?"
"Mhm!"
(Y/n) turned their head a bit to their right to look at Mari. Sure enough, she was giving off a loving look towards them. The sun seemed to leave a shine in Mari's eyes, which further strengthened the emotion in them.
"Am I worth looking at more than the sun..?"
(Y/n) joked, laughing lightly.
"Mhm!~"
(Y/n) shook their head, trying to resist the urge of having a huge grin on their face.
"I know this sounds selfish, but... I'm glad you chose to stay with me. Even if all I do is talk about life. The memories..."
"I felt drawn to you..."
(Y/n) said softly, looking towards the sun, finally leaning back against the couch with Mari.
"That... may sound a bit cheesy. But it's the truth."
Mari glanced down at her hands that laid on her lap, before letting out a soft laugh to herself. She moved her left hand, extending only her index and middle finger like legs. She lightly tread them off her legs as if they were walking. (Y/n)'s eyes looked over, slowly turning their head. They watched as her fingers slowly walked over to them, very slowly, taking their time.
They then stopped near (Y/n)'s hand, which was planted on the couch beside their leg. Glancing over at Mari, her eyes focused her own hand, as if waiting for something to happen. The soft smile stayed on her lips, the sun faintly shining in her eyes. (Y/n) moved their right hand slowly, turning their hand upwards as they slipped it under Mari's fingers, to which she unfolded the rest of her fingers. Glancing up, she still watched her own hand, as if in a trance.
(Y/n) looked back at their own hand, slowly stroking her finger joints lightly with their thumb. They were silent, holding each others hand as if they were fragile. The moment itself was fragile, however. The moment was beautiful. The sun, the golden flames dancing around.
The couch, a place to rest to admire the sun. Mari, the girl who gives them happiness. If anything, she could be compared to the sun. Bright, warm, and comforting. Showing light through the dark times.
Basil was right. A sunflower did suit Mari. Sunflowers face towards the sun. Everyone faced towards Mari. And Mari faced towards everyone.
"Mari..."
Her eyes looked up at (Y/n), coming in contact to (Y/n)'s eyes.
"You are the most amazing person I've ever met in my life..."
She smiled sweetly at them, scooting closer as her hand was still holding onto theirs. Leaning in, she placed a soft kiss on their forehead.
"It makes me happy that you think that about me..."
She responded softly, her eyes glistening in what appeared to be tears. She wiped them with the back of her hand before they could fall. (Y/n) gave her hand a light squeeze, watching as she leaned over, laying her head against their shoulder.
"I want... to stay here longer... with you..."
She mumbled, her eyes closed as (Y/n) let go of her hand to drape their arm around her shoulder. She snuggled closer, feeling (Y/n) lean their head against hers.
"Me too..."