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“Cho. Cho, wake up. C’mon Cho, it’s morning, wake up~”
Chosen groaned. It was too early for this, and his bed was warm. Why get up…?
“Wake up, ya sleepyhead!” Chosen was rudely shook around.
“Why’re you like this…” he managed, opening his eyes to get a look at the idiot who’d so unjustly woke him up. As per usual, it was Dark, sitting in bed next to him.
“Chosen. Guess what day it is.”
It...it was 2024...right?
“It’s October 2nd, you know what that means!”
Chosen stared blankly at him for a moment before it clicked. “Oh...happy bir’day.”
As soon as he sat up, Dark pulled him in for a kiss (Oh. Chosen liked that. Chosen liked that a lot, actually) and then continued blabbing about his plans for the day.
“A while back Orange and I decided to hold a truce today and not tear each other to pieces, so we’re both gonna celebrate in that one funny block game those kids like and maybe not stab each other to death this time.”
“M-hm.” They’d headed downstairs and Chosen was busy making a bowl of suspiciously cardboard-tasting cereal. He was pretty sure it was just actual cardboard. “So you ‘n Sec are gonna be nice to each other for once?”
“No promises!” Dark poured his own bowl of cereal-flavored cardboard and rested his head on Chosen’s shoulder. (Dark was like a mini furnace. It was always fun to watch a new doctor get really concerned whenever they learned his average body temperature was, like, 104 degrees or something.)
“You are actually the worst, Dark. I hope you know that.”
Chosen wouldn’t have it any other way.
*~*~*~*~*
Second paced by the Wi-Fi signal. He’d been waiting there for about ten minutes now, and he knew he was early, but he just couldn’t contain himself.
And who could blame him? Chosen had a stupid real job and was too tired and busy most of the time to visit or be visited, and...honestly, Sec didn’t really care if he didn’t see Dark that much, because he was really mean. Sec was also mean back but that was only because the red hollow-head deserved it.
Suddenly, the icon expanded, revealing a glowing white portal that lead to the Outernet. Second instantly recognized who came out of the portal first.
“Cho-Cho~!” he exclaimed, tackling his older brother in a hug.
“Ow- hey Sec. Happy birthday.” A brief pause. “Cursors, you’re almost as tall as me. How’d I let that happen?”
Soon after, Dark came from the portal. Second stuck his tongue out at him. He stuck it out back.
Sec grabbed Cho’s hand and led him to the already-open storage folder. “C’mon! We have the world set up, the others are already there.”
“Okay, okay, give us a moment to think, you silly goose!” Chosen managed through a breathless laugh. It was simple, but Sec loved seeing his brother happy.
As opposed to the calm, breezeless desktop, the Nether was dry and unbearable, heat from the massive lava lakes trapped in its cavernous structure.
They made it to the nether portal quickly, and were swiftly greeted by the rest of the group.
From there, the day faded into a watercolor blur of fuzzy memories.
They made way too many cakes and had to run around and punch each other just to lower their hunger enough to eat them all.
They presented meaningless, worthless items in the flashiest and most over-dramatic ways possible in an attempt to outdo eachother.
They messed around with copper armor and golems and torches and shelves and all the new, exciting mechanics that they held.
Yellow taught Dark how to build a redstone door. He then proceeded to accidentally (maybe on purpose, that was still being investigated) learn how to suffocate people to death with said door.
Chosen and Second built a house together, their building styles surprisingly similar to one another. The only difference was that Cho preferred to use older blocks instead of the newer ones.
(The house they built reminded Sec of his first house. Cho said it looked like his first, too.)
They all ran through a trial chamber severely undergeared and only died a few hundred times because somebody (Red) thought it would be funny to drink an ominous bottle beforehand.
It was worth it, though, when Purple got a mace and a Breach IV enchantment and did three-quarters of Dark’s healthbar with a single hit. Everyone else tried and couldn’t do that much damage. Purple refused to reveal their secret.
At last, the sun began to fall on the final few hours of the day. The rest of the color gang left was already heading to the PC, but Sec decided to stay behind a bit with Chosen and Dark.
The setting sun painted the petals of the cherry trees around them a fiery orange color, the contrast of shadows and light stronger than during the soft touch of day’s embrace.
“Y’know, Orange,” Dark started, leaning on a cherry log, “I hate to admit it, but you aren’t bad company when you’re not trying to rip my guts out.”
Sec giggled. “I’d say the same for you, but I’m not stooping to your level.”
“Cursors, how is a kid like you so petty?”
“I’m not a kid! I’ve been legally able to drink for a whole year now.”
Dark narrowed his eyes. “...you’re lying. There’s no way that’s possible. You’re not that old.”
Then Chosen walked up to them, exchanging a bunch of gestures with Dark that roughly translated to “I found a nice place to sit were we can be all lovey-dovey” or something sappy like that. He turned to Sec.
“It was nice seeing you again. You should visit more often.” Chosen pulled his younger brother into a hug. “I hope your birthday was alright. Sorry we didn’t bring any gifts, it kinda slipped my mind.”
“No, it’s fine, it was a nice birthday! Hanging out with you guys is a great gift.” A beat of silence. “Love you, Cho-Cho.”
“Love you too, Sec.”
And with that, he headed back towards the nether portal, but not before getting one last look at the other two.
Chosen and Dark were sitting on a cliff, legs dangling off the edge, holding hands, probably talking about some silly couple stuff.
(Second remembered when he first learned about that. He was upset. Confused. He didn’t understand. He didn’t get why Chosen would let himself get stuck with someone like Dark.)
(Cho had told him people were complicated. Feelings were complicated. Sec didn’t get it at the time. Even now, he doesn’t get it. He probably never will. But, if they’re both truly happy…)
(He’s fine with not understanding.)
(The people in his life are enjoying it to the fullest.)
(Second wouldn’t have it any other way.)