What It Means To Be Brothers

Of the Mind

     Allen gasped, sitting up in his bed fast enough to make him dizzy, and wildly glanced about the room. After a moment of panic he realized where he was and flopped back down with a groan. He lay on his bed trying to reassure himself of his whereabouts. A quick glance to the side confirmed that he was indeed in his room of the apartment that he lived in.
He sighed and rubbed his face, just a dream, he thought to himself, just a dream, just a dream, just a......
nightmare. He sat up once more, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, and tried to get his bearings. He was startled when his door suddenly flung open and quickly opened his eyes and glanced up to see Matt standing in the doorway, looking just as disheveled as he felt. Matt gave him a knowing look and asked, "nightmare?"
Allen was tempted to say no or so what? It's just a dream. But after that particular dream he couldn't find in him to say such, instead he nodded silently in confirmation.
     ".....Me too..." Matt admitted, stare going down to the floor. After a moment Matt walked over to the bed and plopped down beside Allen. Allen couldn't help it anymore he turned to Matt and told him about his dream, about watching Matt die. The whole time Matt just stared at him, his empty look changing to one of curiosity and concern.
     "I had the same dream," he said after Allen was finished, "except we were here.... And you were the one who-........"
     Allen felt no shame in giving his brother a hug right then, after all it wasn't everyday you saw someone so strong so sad, Matt gave him a light hug back. "So..... Twin thing?..." he asked, unable to come up with another explanation of how they had, had the same dream. Matt nodded, "yeah, probably...."
      Letting go of his brother Allen thought a moment, first off why would they dream of each other dying in the first place? Secondly, he realized he was very hungry, having accidentally skipped eating the evening before.
     "Say Matt...."
     "Hmm?....."
     "Wanna get somethin' to eat?..."
     "......Sure."
     So they got up and Matt went into the living room to wait for Allen as he got dressed, Matt having fallen asleep still in his uniform, and when he came back out they decide to head downtown to a small breakfast place. As they went out the door Allen fervently told Matt all about how they actually had a vegan menu and that he should try it.
To which Matt rolled his eyes and declined, like every other time his brother tried to get him to eat something vegan, and reminded him to check if something had any kind of nut before eating it. To heck with that, first thing he was grabbing was a pound of bacon and pancakes, doused in maple syrup of course.
     They didn't forget their dreams, but living in reality seemed much more appealing. Especially when they eventually got kicked out of the restaurant for having a maple syrup war.