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An upbeat song plays in the store speakers as Basil pushes his shopping cart down the aisle. He hums to the tune of the speakers as he leisurely scans through the shopping list items in his hand and mentally notes the last few things they need when a tug on his jacket pulls his attention away.
He turns to see Sunny standing right next to him with an expectant look on his face as he points to the plushy aisle next to them again. No matter how many times they went shopping together, Sunny would repeatedly- without fail- end up buying more of the plush toys. And even played dirty whenever Basil refused by using his puppy eyes against him.
But not this time. Basil declared, steeling himself. Their bedroom was almost completely filled with plush toys. Sunny’s old stuffed animals combined with the many new ones they bought together were all piled onto their bed and looked like a small hill had sprouted from their mattress. Any more and Basil was afraid it might just fall over and suffocate them in their sleep. He shivers thinking about it. What an embarrassing way to die.
"I don't think we have any space for them, Starlight," Basil says, looking at all the various shapes and designs on all the toys. Some of them were giant but many of them looked to be made for shelf decor judging by their small size. One of them even looked to be no bigger than his hand.
It’ll probably be okay if Sunny buys one, right? He thinks, already throwing his original plan out the window. Future Basil can deal with the aftermath later.
"Okay, but we're only getting one." Basil compromises, picking a tiny white rabbit out of the pile that was small enough to function as a key chain. Sunny pouts at his words and shakes his head adamantly. He always bought them in groups of two or three so Basil half expected that reaction. But he wasn’t going to back down either.
"Come on! You can pick whichever one you like." He tries again, putting the rabbit down when it was clear that Sunny didn’t want it. He watches Sunny stare at him for a moment with clear contemplation in his eyes and then at the shelf. The whole ordeal lasted for a few long seconds before he finally relented with a quiet sigh and picked out a small spikey blue animal.
After placing the plush animal into the cart, they continued shopping without any more interruptions. While walking through the diary aisle, he wondered whether they still had milk left back home. It wasn’t on the shopping list but Sunny had a habit of drinking it like water. I need to savor it before the inevitable descent of the lactase in my body deteriorates. Sunny had told him with a blank expression on his face.
Basil mumbled silently as he weighed his options, staring at the many gallons of milk in the clear glass door fridge. After some thought, he grabbed a jug and placed it into their cart, failing to notice Sunny slip past him. A little more milk couldn’t hurt. He could always help Sunny finish it before it expires.
Basil turns around, expecting to see Sunny next to him, and instead sees him rushing out of an aisle with one of his hands behind his back. Suspicious, Basil crosses his arms and watches Sunny walk slowly towards him with his head down like a child getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar. “What’s that in your hand?” He asks.
Sunny grimaces, avoiding eye contact as he slowly reveals a familiar looking plush in his hand, the only difference in design was the striking red and black color scheme. ‘I didn’t want him to get lonely so I got him a friend,’ Sunny signs, hugging the stuffed animal close to his chest.
Why does he have to use his cuteness against me?! Basil despairs, internally clutching his hand to his chest at the display. Then again, Sunny didn’t have to do much for Basil to bend over backward for him. All he needed to do was ask and Basil would gladly give the world to him. And Sunny looked so earnest too when talking about giving the plush company.
With his mind made up, he reaches his hand out towards the stuffed animal in Sunny's hand. Intending to put it into their cart and therefore not expecting the sudden squeak that escaped Sunny’s mouth as he quickly backed away from the stretched out hand.
“I-I promise to pay for it!” Sunny blurts out, his voice breaking at the start of his sentence from the growing panic rising inside him as he spoke. “I can also pay for the entire grocery too!” He adds, maneuvering so that their shopping cart stands between them as a shield from any grabby hands.
“Love!” Basil hisses out, interrupting Sunny from his increasingly unintelligible rant. “Don’t worry, I was going to pay for it.” He reassures, smiling softly when Sunny only looks at him in surprise.
‘Really?’ Sunny questions, loosening the tight hold on the poor stuffed animal. He didn’t look convinced but his body slowly relaxed when he didn’t sense anything amiss.
“When have I ever denied you anything?” Basil teases. He reached his hand out to cup his cheek, and this time, Sunny didn’t flinch as he gently rubbed his thumb against the cool skin.
Sunny faintly laughs as he leans into the touch and places one of his hands over it in a comforting grasp. He looks up at Basil and grins smugly at him. “You should. What if I made you spend all your money on me?”
“I know you wouldn’t.”
The pure conviction in his voice causes Sunny’s eyes to soften and he presses a kiss against the palm of Basil’s hand before slowly pulling it away. “When did you learn to be so smooth?” Sunny asks, turning to place the stuffed animal clutched in his hand into the cart.
Basil laughs nervously, “You don’t want to know.”
Sunny rolls his eyes jokingly but doesn’t press for answers. Instead, he lifts the gallon of milk in the shopping cart back into the store fridge and pushes the cart toward the direction of the cash register.
“We don’t need any milk?” Basil asks as he follows alongside Sunny.
Sunny shakes his head. ‘I bought it yesterday after hanging out with Aubrey, remember?’
“I wasn’t sure…” Basil says sheepishly.