Laura does not have a birthday.
More accurately, she has a creation date, but eve that she does not know.
She’s heard stories of most clones getting tattoos on their feet of creation dates. Laura has only the brand on her arm- X-23. Julian called her El the first time he saw it. She did not understand until he had her sit through a season of Stranger Things.
And Julian- Julian, her brother, Julian, her best friend, Julian, the Hellion who couldn’t be tamed- Julian is the first one to ask.
“When’s your birthday?” he asks, on a night neither of them can sleep and are instead swigging Mountain Dew straight from the bottle. Julian is playing Borderlands and Laura is watching.
“I do not know.” She says.
(He, of course, notices the change in her voice patterns. She only drops the contractions on the worst nights. He does not bother her about it.)
“How do you not know your birthday? You’ve got one, yeah?”
SHe gives him a half grin. “Even clones were created on a certain day, Julian.”
He flips her off. “You know what I mean. Do you remember it?”
“No.” She shrugs.
He loses himself in thought for a minute.
“You should take mine. October seventeenth have a nice ring to it, Kinney?”” He says.
Laura nearly spits out her Mountain Dew.
“But- that is your day. Not mine. WHy would i take-”
“Cause you’re my sister.” He says, giving her a smile. “You’re my age, and you’re my sister. And since you don’t know your birthday, that makes us twins. October seventeenth.”
“Are you sure?” She asks, still blown away that this boy- this boy, this stupid selfless boy, this boy that had given her a family- was giving her his birthday.
“Course!” He says, pausing his game.
“October seventeenth.” She says, trying it on her tongue.
“Our birthday.” He nods, affirmingly.
She crushes him into a hug, then. He holds her back.