As far as Terri and Terry knew, their body wasn't built to support two heads. Their dicephalism had been an unusual surprise (they refused to call it a birth defect), but they managed to live as normally as possible for quite a long time compared to other dicephali. Although as they had gotten older, the strain of having two heads had caught up to them
""Terry, could you give me a back rub? I'm feeling really sore," Terri said, reaching his own hand behind his back
Terry chuckled in amusement. "Well, you're going to have to stand us up for that
Terri nodded and heaved himself out of the armchair that they'd been napping in. "Gah… we're not as young as we used to be," Terri groaned
"We're only forty-one, Terri," Terry said. "Our dad lived to be ninety."
"Yeah, but I feel old…" Terri closed his eye as he felt his brother's hand rub firm but gentle circles on their lower back. "Ah… just right." Terri glanced slyly up at Terry.
"Maybe after this, you could rub something else of ours."
Terry blushed and let his hands drop to his side. "Our hearts aren't up for that and you know it," he said. "We might have two of them but they still have to work overtime for us." He eased themself back into the chair, leaning his head back
"Yeah… but you know it's been a long time since we've done that together," Terri said, entwining his fingers with Terry's
"And that could very well be the /last/ thing we do," Terry snapped. "You know what happens to old hearts when they get excited."
"Oh, so if I rub one out I'll drop dead right away?" Terri said. A silence descended over the room as a lump rose in Terry's throat. "I… don't talk about dying." He could feel tears welling in his eye and clamped his lips shut, afraid he would start crying if he opened them
"I'm sorry, Terry."
Terry did nothing but squint in an effort to hold his tears in
"I was just kidding. I didn't mean to make you cry," Terri said, nuzzling Terry's neck
"I love you," Terry managed to blurt out.
"I love you too, Terry."
Terry drew in a shaky breath and rested his chin on Terri's head. "I hope you die first, so you won't ha…have to go through me dying," he said.
"Th… thank you," Terri said, tilting his head up and pressing his lips against Terry's mouth. "I hope the same thing for you, too," he whispered, holding back his own tears and squeezing Terry's hand in a silent gesture of "I love you"