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It was probably close to noon when Chosen landed back in the front yard of his house. Unusually late, for the standard of his other night excursions, but he felt that he needed it that time. Now, however, all he needed was some food. Thinking about it, he really craved some of that chocolate he'd brought from Stick City the other day.
Going in, everything was quiet. Almost too quiet. Not that he didn’t like it, but when living with Dark, quiet was nothing to be expected. On the contrary, it was something to be feared. Quiet only meant bad things when it came to his brother. Chosen narrowed his eyes suspiciously, carefully scanning every inch of the living room.
“Dark?” he called out, but received no response.
He started pacing around. Alright, this was enough; Dark could come out now.
Any time now.
Chosen wondered whether he’d gone out for something. But no, he never did that. Dark normally left behind something— some kind of hint that he went out. The door was left open, maybe something was broken or missing, stick, sometimes even a traditional messily scribbled note with his illegible cursive. It wasn’t so weird that he was starting to get worried, his mind racing to any possible worst case scenario his brother might have gotten himself into.
“Where are you?” He tried again, his attempt in vain.
He decided to return to his original goal as he went to the kitchen, still meticulously looking around for any sign of the little glitch his younger brother.
He leaned over the counter to grab his usual cup, but as soon as he touched it, the deafening noise of a horn echoed throughout the building. Chosen turned around baffled, but before he knew it, he was tackled from behind, tumbling to the floor.
“Happy Creation-day, Cho!” Dark shouted in his ear from next to him, grinning. “You took so long.”
Behind him, towards the opening to the living room, Chosen saw hanging bows and ribbons in all kinds of shapes and colors decorating the walls. From the ceiling was hanging a string of little flags, alternating between black and red. Generally, things that hadn’t and shouldn’t be there.
Chosen looked at him in disbelief. “It’s the fourth already?”
“Mhm.” Dark hummed with a nod. “It’s your birthday, sad boy; you can’t avoid it.” He stood up and offered a hand to the elder.
Chosen dismissed it and rose to his feet by himself, the initial surprise in his face having turned to a sorrowful expression. “I don’t celebrate my birthday.”
The other huffed. “Pfft, I know that. Why do you think I did all this?” He gestured vaguely to the living room. “I’m planning to make you.” One of his signature smirks was painted on his face as he grabbed Chosen’s arm and dragged him to the couch.
The older yanked his hand back forcefully, but not before he dragged Dark to the couch next to him. “I have nothing to celebrate on this day. You know it.”
“I do. But it doesn’t matter,” he said, dismissing Chosen’s opinion so casually like only Dark ever could. “It’s been years we’ve been staying together and you hadn’t even told me when your birthday was. Now that I know it, I’m taking matters into my own hands.”
The black hollowhead shook his head, staring right into Dark’s eyes fiercely. He opened his mouth a lot of times, pondering on his next words before finally settling on a simple: “Why?”
“Why not?”
“There is no point.”
“We celebrate my birthday.” Dark pointed out, rolling his eyes, as if his view was the only remotely correct stance on the matter.
Chosen balled his fists slightly. “That’s different,” he mumbled. What did he not get?
“How? It’s a birthday Cho! I know mine seems more important, —he flicked his hair back emphatically— but that doesn’t mean yours isn’t too.”
“You know why we celebrate your birthday? Because it was a good day, for cloud's sake!” The elder snapped, jumping off the couch, staring the red hollowhead down. “Mine wasn’t. Stop pretending you don’t get it.”
He turned his back to his brother, walking toward his room, left leg dragged behind his right with a low grit of his teeth. He brushed the back of his palm over his face that felt increasingly more humid and grabbed the door handle with the other.
A soft hand touched his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
“You just proved I was right for doing this.” He heard a soothing voice say, the sound of it so soft, he almost didn’t recognise the owner.
He turned around, surprise apparent on his face, even with his muted reactions. Dark grabbed his hand lightly and led him back to the living room. Chosen didn’t protest.
“What does this mean?” he asked, tempted by his brother’s lack of elaboration.
“You gotta understand something I understood ages ago.” Dark was still holding Chosen’s hand as he spoke. “You are you. Not him. You have nothing to do with him.”
Chosen looked at the floor, his voice quivering slightly “I just want to forget.” His grip tightened around Dark’s hand “I don’t want anything to do with that day.”
Dark sighed. “Someone once told me that I don’t need to follow anyone’s orders anymore. That I can choose what I want to do, despite what has happened.” The elder looked up at him. “Well that someone ought to start listening to his own advice.” he scoffed, giving a light smack to the other’s back.
Chosen… didn’t think he got it. Their cases were much different from one another.
Dark had the mission, the code Noogai had forced upon him. Even if he couldn’t get rid of it, even if he would always have to deal with his own mind being against him, Chosen could always remind him that he had nothing to do with their lives in the present. That he could act the way he wanted, regardless of what he had done.
Chosen was merely trying to forget, he wasn’t fighting. But the lingering thoughts, the memories of the terrific past of torture, of what he had done to him, where always there and as much as he tried, he couldn’t get rid of them. Why should he acknowledge the day all of this started? It would only amplify how much everything hurt, how much his memories, his own mind seemed to try to destroy him from the inside, just like-
Oh.
Now he got it.
He let out a sigh, feeling Dark’s eyes still pinned on him.
“So? Is the sad boy ready to move on and have some fun?” the red hollowhead teased.
Chosen gave him a small smile. “Just this once. Don’t even think about doing it again.”
“Oh, yeah! This is going to be awesome!” Dark jumped to his feet, ready to do cloud-knows-what for the celebration. However, his marching came to an abrupt stop as he felt a tug on his arm.
“Do you happen to have… y’know?” Chosen asked sheepishly, his face slightly flushed as he fidgeted with his thumbs.
The other grinned in immediate understanding. “Only a tiny little triple-tiered chocolate one from Stick City’s best bakery that I know you’re going to consume all by yourself.”
“Mute it,” the black hollowhead hissed and Dark fell into a laughing outburst. He placed an arm over the elder's shoulder.
“C’mon birthday boy, let’s get you your cake.”
Somehow, even a day like this could be enriched with this bittersweet taste, just like a three-tiered dark chocolate birthday cake.
And it didn't feel all so bad.