016 ❖ The Greatest Twist Yet

[noluckduck]

[Phone]

[Oh, damn, you can almost hear Clover breathing into the receiver.] Mother of shit.

I just looked at the goddamn calendar.

[Whatever this is about, it must be serious. She sounds absolutely mindblown.]






My birthday was last motherfuckin' week.

Thanks a bunch, Mayfield! Lovin' my time here, ya know?! God, fuck this town.

Comments

[kinship]

[There's no reply on the phone, but about twenty minutes later there would be a knock at Clover's front door. Opening it would reveal Cain with two balloons (don't ask where he got them from), a huge chocolate cake (stolen from his brother) and a small wrapped box.]

Happy Birthday, Clover!

[noluckduck]

[... Oh.

This would be pretty awesome as its own, isolated occurrence, but together with the last time they talked - the conversation is still fresh in Clover's mind - it makes her eyes wrinkle just a little bit more than they normally would.]

Oh, f... Dude, thanks. How're ya even holdin' all that?

[kinship]

[As far as he is concerned, that conversation is a thing of the past and they are as good friends as ever they were. He's got the balloons tied around his wrist, the cake balanced on his forearms and the present securely gripped in one hand.]

No feat is too difficult when celebrating a friend's birthday... though I might drop it if you don't take it soon.

[noluckduck]

[In all honesty, Clover is starting to find Cain weirder and weirder.

But honesty can wait. She takes the cake in one hand and the present in the other.]

Well, damn, you're flatterin' me today.

[kinship]

[Alas, his weirdness is not hidden for long.]

Don't you think birthdays should be celebrated properly?

[noluckduck]

I dunno, it's weird doin' it here.

[kinship]

I can see why, though we do still age here so it makes sense to mark the passing of that time.

[noluckduck]

Ehh, somebody on the phone said... apparently agin' here doesn't count, or somethin'.

[kinship]

That can't be true, I've seen people changing from seventeen to eighteen and being moved to a position of parental responsibility.

[noluckduck]

Nah, I mean, when ya go back home.

[kinship]

Ah. No, I think you're right, I've not heard of anyone even remembering their time here in Mayfield.

[noluckduck]

That'd be weird, anyway. And pretty pointless.

[kinship]

You think it would be pointless to remember the new friends you've made?

[noluckduck]

I-- [SHIT] I didn't mean that!

[kinship]

Then what did you mean?

[noluckduck]

I meant... Hell, who'd even believe ya, if ya tried to tell 'em about Mayfield?

[kinship]

I can't argue with you on that... and there's a lot I might want to forget, but if it came at the cost of forgetting the good things as well?

[He'd never do it. Not because of the good things, but because of the knowledge he'd gathered here.]

[noluckduck]

Look... [How to say this without making Cain flip out again?] I'm not sayin' there haven't been any good things about bein' here, but... I'd much rather be home, y'know?

[kinship]

I can't blame you for that. [Even if he doesn't share those sentiments.] But what if we found a way to return home and still remember everything that happened here?

[noluckduck]

That'd be cool, I guess.

[kinship]

That's what I'm hoping to work towards, but... that's a bit of a heavy discussion for your birthday, why don't you open your present?

[It's a massive box of candy.]

[noluckduck]

[Oh, yeah, that's a thing, isn't it? She'll just shrug and open it now!]

Whoa! Where d'ya even get this much candy?!

[kinship]

This is only a fraction of what's in my house, my brother hoards it.

[Seriously, they have cupboards full of the stuff.]

[noluckduck]

Damn, do ya two just eat this stuff all day?

[kinship]

Not me, I can't stand candy, but Abel will gorge himself on it constantly if he's allowed.