Twisted Choices

Hero's Birthday Special

It's a certain white-eyed boy's birthday. Enjoy!
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Hero was in his training attire, cleaning the barrel of his rifle with a gun oil soaked towel. He was at the base's shooting range, and was cleaning his rifle up after a round of practice fire. The shooting range was fairly empty save for him and a few other soldiers sharpening their skills in their free time. He chose a lane far from them though, wanting a bit of privacy and alone time.

Unbeknownst to him, on the other end of the range was Steve, staring at him as he went about his day. The lieutenant general was attempting to memorize his friend's routine and schedule, a self-issued assignment. It was Wednesday, four days away from the general's birthday. He had found out about the date from King Bergensten, who expressed his own concern for celebrating his adoptive brother's birthday.

He and the king spoke about him one night. King Bergensten explained how they celebrated his birthday back when Markus was still king. They were all busy, and Hero was a workaholic, so they didn't put too much effort into his birthday. He admitted to struggling to find a time where they were all free to celebrate. Even if they could, it was not for long either. Eventually Hero proposed to not celebrate it, not wanting to burden them. When King Bergensten looked back, he regretted agreeing to it.

Now Steve and King Bergensten were planning to celebrate it once again. Luckily the latter remembered the date after all these years. Steve had asked to be in-charge for the shift arrangement for the week. Hero had let him do it with a raised brow, knowing well enough that Steve loathed paperwork. However, so did he so he gladly handed over the work.

Steve had arranged it so Hero would be free on the 29th of September, a Sunday. If Hero suspected anything, he didn't say so. Steve then went about following the man, ensuring he doesn't somehow give himself errands on Sunday. At the moment he was watching what Hero did with his free-time, and so far he gathered that all the general did was training, paperwork, training and even more training.

Steve was somewhat impressed by the man's fitness. He had asked to join him do his morning laps some time ago, and the man agreed, usually doing it alone. Steve had assumed the Swede would do rounds around the football-field sized practice field like normal people would but no, he had to do more than five rounds around the castle walls. Steve knew it was more than five rounds but he forgot the actual number since he slowed down and eventually gave up.

Steve perked up from his thoughts when he saw his general move from leaning against the wall. He placed the cleaning towel down next to the ammo then readied his rifle again. Steve studied his perfect stance and posture, and marveled at the fact that Hero foregone earplugs when shooting. It was impressive, since Hero had complained to him many times of his sensitive hearing yet he still was able to shoot at close-range without flinching from the sound.

He watched as the Swede execute his next round in a short burst of bullets. When he was done he extended a hand and the target paper shot into his hand. Steve could see multiple holes from where he stood, in two areas of the target. A few at the centre of its chest and multiple to its head. He watched Hero study it for a bit before rolling his eyes and setting it aside.

-

It was Saturday, and this time it was Steve's off-day. He arranged for it to be so, so that he could run down the palace market and buy some things for the following day's celebration. He was on his blood bay Cleveland, Arrow, as he rode through the market. He had chosen to wear civilian clothes for the day, but had his pistol sheathed on his belt for safety. His horse attracted attention, people staring at Arrow's crimson metallic sheen.

The horse was loving the attention, raising his head and wiggling his nose happily. Steve rolled his eyes, making sure they didn't falter. He wanted to get this quick and over with so he could go about preparations. He stopped near where he wanted to go and hitched Arrow to a post. He patted his horse on the neck and whispered for him to behave before leaving with a bag of emeralds.