The crispy crackle of the culinary work being done delights the only colorful thing in the entire kitchen, an older woman with a proud smile on her face.

The noise of stovetop magic isn't too much however, for the Matriarch to notice the arrival of her all-too-stealthy offspring, carrying his book and a pouch, filled with pencils of all colors.

"Ah! Good Morning my little Sunshine! How did you sleep?" She chirps brightly.

The young man's eyes meet his Mother's, giving a warm little smile, previously she wouldn't have known that was actually a very big thing for him to do, being so disconnected from her own son...And for so long too... Even now she is struggling to forgive herself for the neglect...

Well, enough muddling around in what could've been Charlene. Today is a new day!

With that in mind, she serves him a platter with bacon, eggs, and sausage. A standard American meal, but a healthy one, especially for a growing boy. Yes, you heard right, a growing boy. Ever since the move, her little Sunshine's actually been having a bit of growth on those bones, his sleeping habits have been trimmed down, AND he even goes outside quite often nowadays!

So proud. So very very proud.

It hasn't been easy though, not by a long shot. Her Sunny was never good at making friends to begin with due to his quiet nature, but this was compounded further when they moved here to the city.

She feels bad moving from Faraway, she really really does. It's made it that much harder for her baby boy. And she hates putting all of this on him, but what is she to do? She's a single Mom working a job that would definitely not support all of their needs if they were to keep the house.

If she ever sees that filthy coward of a husband...

She shakes off the angry ideas for now, she'll have time for morbid fantasies later.

Coming back to the moment however finds that her Son is currently staring at her with concern, with his eye...His one eye... Thus causing her to apologize, assuaging his worry over her.

He should never have to worry himself about her, never again.

She vows this on the great Lord above.

----------------------------------------

Soon enough, it's been a few hours later, breakfast has long since past, and so has the homeschooling, even now, she was helping him. Even through death.

He feels wetness drum up in his eyes, but quickly slams them shut, not allowing any leakage to escape.

Once that's over, he continues what he has been doing for the past few minutes now, - walking around downtown, feeling the money in his wallet burning with anticipation. Or at least imagining it so.

It's funny, with all the time he's been living here, rarely does he find himself a chance to explore the muted cityscape for himself, sure he's whizzed by structures whenever his Mom's driven him around, but this is different - just pacing himself as he goes along with an observant eye.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

So, with all the time in the world, he strolls around, cast in shades of black, grey, and pale skin. Searching for something, anything in the city that will alleviate his sense of emptiness.

Block by block, street by street, he finds himself in a darkened, shadowy little corner of the world, blanketed by skylines up above darkening this little part of town.

And in the darkness, he finds it, the only thing that is bright, the only thing that registers as colorful in his slanted perception of where he now lives.

A Hobbeez.

The glow from the windows spills out into the gloom of this place, where trash of all kinds come to stay, human trash included. He supposes it's fitting then he has found himself here, for if all trash is to be found at home here, this is obviously where he should stay. This is home now, trash among trash, deserving of each other.

He approaches the Hobbeez, excitement blooming in his gut like one of Basil's pretty flowers, as he approaches, it only blooms further, soaring up to the heavens.

He honestly can't believe it, a little bit of home, all the way out here in the big city!

He enters the light, as the door sensors kick in, taking his steps into a paradise away from home.

----------------------------------------

Grease, grease, and more grease.

Noise, noise, and more noise.

She didn't mind either really, it's just that those were the two most noteworthy things about bringing the entire gang to Gino's.

Kim had suggested it, so it's not like she knew just how much chaos adding a few extra members would bring. As Kel of course has accidentally started a mini basketball match in the middle of the (mostly) unoccupied restaraunt, Mikhael mostly trying to compensate for his lack of athletic ability, by going into a 40 minute tirade about how he'll still come on top in this 'inhibited battle for the ages!!!' - while still in the middle of the game. Honestly she wasn't quite sure who even taught him such big words, considering his complete lack of wit or originality.

Nevertheless they weren't the only ones causing problems, as Kim had decided to take up a new interest, not in a hobby or something related to her and her Brother's crippling sugar addiction, no, an interest in someone.

That someone being a certain blond employee in the gardening section of fix-it...

And she calls Aubrey soft just because she was happy to see and make up with her childhood best friend after four years! Seriously! The nerve!

Observing the two, she notes Basil's behavior, in that it seems he hasn't quite figured out yet why Kim is bothering to pay him any attention at all. She'll have to do something about that tomorrow, she lives at the flower boy's home after all.

For now however, she has a question for goofball over there.

"Kel!" She shouts over the noise, catching the younger brothers attention, as he now calls for a quick break. Mikhael tries treating his tiredness as nothing more than a bit of jumping around, but one look at him from anybody is enough to make even a monkey realize that the dude's totally whooped.

Stepping over, the future NBA star asks Aubrey what's up, her response causes him to blink a few times.

"Um... I mean yeah, from what he's been telling me over the phone, that seems to be the case. What are you thinking?" He asks.

"If he's going to be staying for a bit, we should find a way to celebrate his birthday, if, y'know, his Mom allows him to stay for that long. I say we save up for something for him, something he'll really appreciate besides...Well, y'know, Hero's forgiveness." She says the last part quiet than the rest, making sure only Kel could hear, after all - if a mood is going to be downed a bit, at least contain it to the people involved!

"Aubrey..." Kel starts, but visibly rethinks what he's trying to say, before trying again. "Aubrey, can I be honest?"

"Course. We're friends, aren't we?" She replies matter of factly.

"I have no idea if Hero's ever going to forgive him, or Basil for that matter. In fact, I haven't talked with him ever since he left for college again, he hasn't even been responsive to Mom, which is worrying her to death. I suspect she won't even be alive by the time he comes back, then we'll really have a problem." He lightens up a bit at the end, having added some humor made it a bit less difficult of a pill to swallow, although in this scenario, probably not by much.

The pinkette looks a bit downcast at this, giving a halfhearted chuckle as the meetup continues around them, further separating them from the rest.

"I'm not sure how to even respond to that." She sighs out, as her conversational partner speaks up.

"Respond to it when we get there, for now we're living in the present, I'll try giving Sunny's Mom a call to see if he can come down for the summer after we're done here. What are you gonna be doing after this?"

She thinks for a moment, before easily coming to the conclusion herself with a tired look in her eyes.

"I gotta catch some Z's, I did not sleep good last night."

"Ah, well sweet dreams then." He says, clicking his tounge while wagging two finger guns at her.

"Yeah yeah, go back to your game already, if you can, try to get hit in the face."

"I think there's a 'NOT' missing there somewhere."

"Oh trust me, there isn't." She chuckles, giving a good-natured grin to Kel's own.

Everything's gonna turn out alright, she hopes.