We Never Get Time Alone Like This

"Hehe. Sorry." Mari placed down her cards. Four aces. Omori's hand was nothing. Mari bet everything on this gambit, and it paid off. Even if she felt a little bad crushing Omori for the 3rd game in a row.
The two siblings were playing a game of cards in Neighbor's Room, with Big Yellow Cat watching over them like always. This was unusual, as they always had 4 others with them at this moment. Kel, Aubrey, Basil, and Hero were nowhere to be found.
At all. They'd been missing for about a day and a half now. Nobody at the playground saw them. This would be cause for concern. Omori and Mari would search for them from the highest peaks to the lowest caverns. They were their best friends in the world. If anything happened to them, it would be a disaster. Mari wanted to get off her blanket and start looking for them right that instant.
But Omori stood firm with her arm in his hand, stopping her. He...didn't want to. He lead her back to Neighbor's Room and they started playing games, just the two of them. Mari felt it odd...but felt it would be fine for now. Their friends were probably together, Hero would look after them at the least.

Omori let out a sigh at losing the game. The third one in a row. And as her prize, Mari once again told him "Come sit over here." And he listened.
Her little brother moved over to her on his knees and hands, cuddling up next to her side. She was sitting against the lone tree that grew in Neighbor's Room, and wrapped a protective arm around him, aiding him in his newfound effort to snuggle against her side.
How his sweet little face changed just a bit to signify contentedness made her heart flutter. It was such a small gesture, but spoke volumes for a boy as quiet as Omori. She set the side of her head against the top of his.
"We never get time like this anymore." Mari's arm that was wrapped around him found its way to his wrist, and soon his hand. "There's always at least one of our friends with us.." Mari continued after thinking a little more. "Kel dragging one of us around, Aubrey wanting something, Basil trying to show you flowers or pictures, Hero bringing a new recipe...someone always gets between us." She took a deep breath and exhaled, feeling like she let out something more negative than she realized. "I miss them...and I know we should be looking for them..." She squeezed his hand. "But I'm glad we have a moment like this together. It's rare that we ever get to be alone. So...maybe we can wait a little longer." For the first time in a while, Omori responded. She felt him squeeze her hand back. And nuzzle his face against her side. Omori closed his eyes...and stayed very, very still. Mari hummed her favorite tune into his ear. A song she couldn't ever forget. Despite everything, Omori relaxed when she recited it to him.
Seconds creeped into minutes. Minutes dragged on. Time slowed to a crawl. Every moment worth cherishing. This is how it was always meant to be.
Always.

...

Mari woke up with a yawn. Omori was still asleep. Her arm was numb and hurt a little. She moved it slowly out of Omori's grasp as to not wake him. Thankfully her little brother was always a heavy sleeper. Heavy enough that she was able to safely extract herself from his side without disturbing his gentle rest. Mari gave him a kiss on his forehead. Her face brightened into a smile upon seeing his sleepy little face. It always made a joy blossom in her heart seeing him like this. So cute. So perfect. Her little brother. She loved him too dearly.
A picnic. She didn't bring her blanket in here, or basket. She managed to carefully sneak out of Neighbor's Room and up the stairs, past the snake by the exit and giving a smile and wave to Big Yellow Cat, who's gaze still fell on the sleeping figure of Omori. She whispered "Look after him while I'm gone" and crawled through the tree stump. It was always a tight squeeze, but she managed this time.

"Atten-hut!" Mari heard the moment she was within earshot of the playground. Berly had gathered up all of the kids and they stood in line.
"Berly! Are you setting up another game of hide and seek? I'm sorry to say I won't be able to join." She had a little brother to tend to.
"Nope, not today." Berly huffed. "Some of our friends are missing, so we're setting up a search and rescue mission!" She declared proudly.
Mari blinked, and noticed that Berly had a bunch of posters with...drawings of dubious quality depicting their friends.
It slipped her mind for a moment, but their friends were missing. "Thanks, Berly. Just promise me none of you will end up missing, too." Mari warned them. There were a few kids that seemed pretty invested in this, and others not so much. Mari wasn't sure they'd go very far.
"Aye, aye, Mari!" Berly stood to attention to give a soldier like salute, which in turn caused her to drop all the drawings. "Shoot!"
Mari wanted to help, but she was in a bit of a rush. She left the kids and a grumble grumbling Berly to handle that, and rolled up her picnic blanket and picked up the basket. This was a short distraction, but hopefully Omori was still snoozing away under the tree. This should be a surprise! Not that she has any gifts or anything to go with it. Struggling to get her items through the entrance to Neighbor's Room without falling, she squeezed her way in.

Big Yellow Cat glanced back at her as if to greet her before looking back at Omori. Still sleeping exactly as she left him. Good, that gave her time to set up. Mari set the blanket down, and started to move some of the items away. Spare jacks, cards from their game, a toy here to over there, and the space was set for her picnic blanket. Perfect. The playground was too loud for them to have a picnic in peace without someone disturbing them. Here they could have a nice, quiet picnic together. Her little brother would like that. She remembers those times he'd ask her for one and she'd turn him down-
-and she'd tell him they would later. Now was the time to make it all up to him. She set out a few sandwiches, onigiri the way he liked, sushi, that perfectly roast chicken she found in a dump, some bread with condiments in case they wanted more sandwiches, and her special cookies sure to win his heart. But she hid those cookies where Omori wouldn't see them right away. That could be her special surprise.
And now, she waits for him to wake up naturally. She was excited of course, but she didn't want to disturb his sleep.
And...looking at his sleeping face was fun in its own way. What could he be dreaming of? Otherworld? Orange Oasis? Their friends? Or maybe her?

...

Mari felt her smile start to hurt. She decided to hold it in case Sunny opened his eyes suddenly, but it was stuck on her face. Mari rubbed her cheeks to soothe the genuine pain she felt. Ouch...ouchie, ouch. Please, Omori...please wake up soon...
Not too long after that he answered her plea for help and fluttered his eyelids open. Mari made sure to call out to him before he went back to sleep.
"Omori! Rise and shine!" She raised her voice from gentle to rousing which drew Omori's attention. She felt a little guilty when he looked over to where she used to be only to find he was alone. At least until he looked over at her and saw the picnic spread out before him.
There was barely a change on his face, but Mari still felt a story to it. He was happy. Her big sis intuition told her that, and it was rarely ever wrong.
"I know you've wanted to have a picnic with me for a while, so I set this all up!" Mari spread her arms out to signify all the food.
Omori slowly got up and moved over, taking his usual spot next to her and the picnic basket. She made sure to keep it clear of food and easy to move to. She beamed an even brighter smile at him as he sat down, ignoring her protesting cheeks. "Do you like it?" Omori nodded, picking up a riceball.
"Awww~" Mari acted like he gave her the warmest praise she'd heard in weeks. "Thank you, Omori! I made it the best I could since it was all for you."
Omori gently nibbled at bits of food he picked up. Mari took a sandwich for herself. She wasn't originally going to have much since it was for Omori, but he wouldn't be able to eat all this himself. Especially the roast chicken, still in pristine condition.
"Omori!" She caught his attention before he could pick up something else. "Here's a....surprise!" She pulled the cookies from behind the picnic basket into Omori's view. It wasn't as dramatic as them being inside a container or present, but Mari worked with what she had. The way Omori's eyes widened at the cookies and he obviously leaned towards them told her volumes. "Hehe. Here you go. They're all for you" She handed one to him. She baked extra love into this batch, and she knew that would make all the difference. As for herself, she finished up her sandwich.
"I've been thinking." Mari threw out there. Omori didn't budge. "Why don't we ever have time like this? It always feels like something happens to prevent it." Mari thought back. "Our friends, adventures, it's almost like we never have time for each other." Don't they? "So after we find our friends...why don't we just make time for this? Tell them that we can handle ourselves, and go on adventures together."
I would be so grand! They could go to Otherworld and see the stars! Bug hunting in Pyrefly! See the sights at Orange Oasis and all the treats and games there. Maybe encourage him to face his fears and visit that newly constructed casino hotel she heard about. She's always just sitting at the picnic blanket and waiting for them. It got just a bit lonely. Sure there were always passerby's to talk to, and Basil waited with her sometimes, but...but...?
...
"Little brother?" Mari's voice shifted in tone just a little bit. Omori looked into her mystified eyes.
"I...I want to go on an adventure with you. Sitting at the picnic blanket and waiting for everyone gets lonely sometimes. And I worry about you a lot." A lot more than she can bear sometimes. "You're always in danger out there...getting into fights, getting hurt...I just feel a bit useless here sometimes."
At that, Mari felt Omori move to her side. He nudged against her, and spoke for the first time that day.
"It's...comforting." He mumbled. "Knowing...you'll always be there..." Omori's voice found the words to let go.
Mari blinked. And blinked again. Those words processed through her head. And she felt a bit silly.
"Of course." She waved those thoughts away. "I'll always be there for you, no matter what." An energy flowed through her. "At this picnic blanket. I'll always have it out for you to come back to, warm food ready." She took his hands gently between hers. "And whenever you want to tell me anything, I'll always have an ear ready for my dear little brother. All it costs is your love!" Mari gave him a warm smile.
The faintest traces of a smile could have been forming on Omori, or maybe that's what she saw. She chose to believe it was there.
...
"Hehe, sorry." She realized how down she had brought the conversation earlier. "How about another cookie?" She picked one up and almost forced it into his mouth. If there was a smile forming on his face, it was certainly crushed by that gesture. Especially when she kept feeding him like this...Omori kept his eyes from glancing at Big Yellow Cat, already knowing the grin he must be sporting seeing these two playing like this.

...

It was perfectly quiet in Neighbor's Room. It never got dark in here, but the lighting was gentle enough on the eyes that sleep was easy to achieve. Mari and Omori were laying on the ground towards each other, Mari hugging him to herself. She rested her head against his, feeling his soft breaths against her chest. Omori could feel hers, too. It was a little odd, but a feeling they could get used to if it meant being this close.
Today was full of when was the last time we did this feelings. It feels like a lifetime ago when they slept like this. Omori stopped having nightmares at some point and she never had to comfort him over them. She missed this feeling of being a protective big sister. It made her feel warm.
"Goodnight, Omori." Mari whispered into him, closing her eyes. Today was a special day. She hoped they got more time like this in the future...
...
...
She saw it at the tree in the corner of Neighbor's Room. Big Yellow Cat was staring at it, too. But there was nothing to be done about it. It was here because Sunny wanted it to be. He wanted to be hurt. He always did.
"Please..." Mari begged, tears rapidly forming down her eyes. "Not right now...I-I'm not ready to-"
But her words woke Omori up with a start, right out of her grasp. And saw it.
Something staring right at him with nothing in its eye but pure malice, swaying in the breeze-

Like a frail illusion, the dream was over. As if it never happened.