by frankie (dup) » Tue Jan 02, 2018 7:58 am
“Happy birthday to you…”
The words were empty. No one was happy.
Aiden wondered briefly if he liked it that way.
Yes, he decided that he did. No one should be happy. Curtis was dead.
The cake in front of hadn’t had any candles placed on it, at Aiden’s request. He swallowed and waved his hand listlessly.
Dulcie forced a smile and monitored for Pollux to take the knife.
“I know we decided that since you’re the only one who can use a knife without chopping off your fingers, but remember, the cake isn’t an enemy. We want it to be edible.”
Pollux laughed. Humourlessly.
“Loren made this, right?”
“Right. Surprisingly sentimental, seemed honestly upset about Curtis. He always struck me as a bit gruff.”
Pollux nodded, biting his lip as he cut into the cake.
“Well, uh, happy birthday Aiden?”
“You don’t have to pretend, you know.”
Pollux was taken aback and nearly dropped the plate he was holding, instead gingerly setting it down in front of Aiden.
“Pretend what?”
Aiden bolted up from his seat and slammed his hands down on the table.
“You don't have to pretend that you're okay that Curtis is dead!”
Pollux had lunged across the table to stop everything from falling off, and he pulled it over to his end while Dulcie spoke, grasping one of Aiden’s hands in her own and rubbing the back.
“Aiden… it’s not okay that Curtis died. The way he died was terrible and I wouldn’t wish that on very many people. Not even my parents.”
She paused for a second and tugged at her shirt collar.
“Great, I made it about me now.”
She sighed.
“Look, what I'm saying is that… we’re all upset. I’m upset, you’re upset, Pollux is upset, Rico, Regina, Bryson, and even Loren! We’re in this together, Aiden. You don’t have to do this to yourself.”
She shook his hand, as if trying to rouse Aiden from a deep sleep.
“Now come on. Let yourself be happy.”
Aiden forced a smile. It was shaky and for one moment, he thought that Dulcie would never let go, but eventually she did.
Pollux set everything back down on the table and pushed the largest piece of cake to Aiden.
“Enjoy yourself, okay?”
Aiden nodded and bit down hard into the cake to avoid the choked sob he’d been holding back from escaping.
Aiden supposed that he enjoyed his birthday. He felt guilty, though.
The cake was wonderful. It reminded him of a violet in bloom. If how something tasted was determined by how pretty it looked, he thought that violets would be the most heavenly taste in earth. The cake tasted like that.
Aiden had missed just talking with the twins, so it was nice to have three hours to just enjoy eachother’s company.
“Curtis would enjoy this,” Aiden said, hardly thinking even as his hand made its way to one of the cake slices Pollux had pre-cut.
Everyone stopped and stared at Aiden. He froze, realizing what he’d just said.
“I’m just remembering him,” Aiden muttered.
“I’m not… trying to ruin the mood or anything.”
“Of course.”
They were silent for the next couple minutes until, finally, Pollux spoke.
“Um… hey, why can’t you trust trees?”
Aiden shrugged.
“I dunno. Why can’t you trust trees?”
“They’re shady.”
Pollux forced a smile at his own, terrible joke, while Dulcie rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder.
“Idiot,” she said, laughing quietly.
“Well,” Aiden said, standing up.
“This was really nice and all, but I’ve got to do some other stuff now.”
Dulcie glared. Not angrily, just… sad.
“Aiden, that’s not true and we both know it. Your schedule is free for a while yet, so sit back down and let us give you your presents.”
“I said I didn’t want presents.”
“I’m good at knowing when people are lying. Sit. Down.”
Aiden knew, to some degree, that he did want a gift or two. Except that was selfish. He didn’t deserve that, not after what he did.
Pollux presented him with a knife. At first, it didn’t look like much, but Pollux then asked if he could show Aiden something.
Curious, Aiden forked over the knife.
To his surprise (and guilty excitement) Pollux swapped the blade to a smaller one, then cycled to a wire stripper, key ring, and scissors.
“There are way more options than this,” Pollux said, eyes glinting with excitement. There are like, over thirty! There are some you probably won’t have to use, though.”
He swapped it to a corkscrew, presumably as an example.
“I doubt you’ll need this... I mean, I won’t judge if you do.”
Dulcie rolled her eyes.
“Never shoulda let Pollux take that. Doubt he’ll be giving it back in the foreseeable future.”
Pollux blushes and reset the knife, passing it across the table to Aiden.
“Sorry, I’ve just always these knives to be really interesting.”
He leaned back and grinned at Dulcie.
“Top that.”
Dulcie shrugged apathetically, reached behind her chair, and pulled a book out from a bag hanging there.
Smiling, she passed it across the table.
“Warriors of the Sky,” Aiden said, eyebrows raised.
The cover matched the title well enough. People- warriors, he supposed, dropped from a clear, perfect sky onto blackened ground.
He flipped it over, skimmed the back, then looked up, setting the book down.
“Thanks,” Aiden muttered.
It looked interesting. He’d have to read it once he got the time to.
There was a knock at the door.
“Are you guys just about finishing up?”
“Yeah, we’re pretty much done. Come in.”
Rico opened the door and smiled quietly at the two gifts Aiden had in front of him.
“Lovely.”
Aiden got to his feet.
“Aiden? Where are you going?”
He looked away.
“I told Rico I was going to practice a bit more with the fire thing.”
Aiden swallowed and started to walk faster as Dulcie and Pollux voiced their protests.
“Uh… Aiden? You said you guys would be done at six. Is there some confusion here or something?”
Dulcie responded before Aiden could get a word out.
“He said his schedule was free for a while! He said he talked to you about it and you gave him a few days off!”
Aiden looked down and he sped walked away, quickly tossing the door open.
He cast one last look at the room- Rico’s confused state, Pollux’s distraught expression , and Dulcie, caught somewhere in between angry and upset.
The door slammed shut and he jumped at the bang before making his way down the hallway.
“Aiden!”
Dammit.
He stopped walking and turned around to face Rico, who was jogging down the hallway towards him.
Why can’t anyone understand that I want to be alone?
“Aiden! There’s been some sort of mixup, I think, you can go back to Dulcie and Pollux, and you’ll try to get a spark going later. It’s not a big deal, really!”
Aiden frowned and rubbed his eyes.
“It wasn’t a mixup.”
He turned down the hallway, Rico shouting his name behind him.
Aiden cringed when he heard footsteps behind him, but didn’t turn around. Instead, he broke into a run.
I’m sorry. I don’t deserve a break.
my dms are open,
but im a
spoonie and i may not
respond promptly.
it's not personal.
especially hmu if
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about atla,
im autistic and its
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interest for like.
a bajillion years.
➤ they/it lesbian
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truther /lh
➤ please use
tonetags!
➤ feel free to ask for
my discord if we've
talked before
➤ help idk how to
make this pretty
