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For the millionth time, Chosen cursed his older brother for not buying any medicine whatsoever. He understood that Victim wouldn’t dare to buy anything unnecessary since they had to go through Alan’s approval to spend any money or else it’s on their allowance but it was a horrible sensation to go out when you have a burning fever. But…Victim was sick at home, and considering all that he does for this admittedly dysfunctional family, it’d be outrageous to still let him go out for medicine when he’s all bedridden. And Second was out with his friends, and Chosen just did not trust Dark to go buy anything.
So here he was, his head burning and his thoughts scattered. It was a miracle he didn’t collapse on the way home(he had to walk there this time instead of flying, since summoning more heat to his hands made him feel even more sick). Knowing that Dark was probably tinkering with his projects too much to hear the doorbell, Chosen tiredly searched his pockets for the key and eventually unlocked the door, collapsing on the couch as soon as he was in.
Talk about horrible fevers. It took all of Chosen’s might to not just stay there and sleep the cold away and climb the stairs to Victim’s bedroom, but not without fetching a glass of cold water on the way. He should probably take some medicine himself later, Chosen noted, though in reality he was too struck by fever to bother to do so. Apparently his body is more able to take ten plus bullets and a whole fireball than a simple cold and fever.
As always, Victim had it worse than Chosen, since the elder was completely buried in blankets when Chosen opened his door. With that state, he could easily be mistaken as dead, and Chosen was sure that if it wasn’t for the fact that he knew from experience what someone truly dead looked like(a memory he did not want to recall), he would have mistaken Victim as a corpse.
“Hey,” Chosen sat down next to his brother, who clutched the sheets tighter around him. Then a thought came to Chosen, and a mischievous smile appeared on his face. “Mitsi and the mercenaries are visiting you to tell you to get better. You better for them.”
Just as Chosen predicted, Victim sat up with a start at that. “I thought I told you to not tell them!”
Chosen shrugged. “They deserve to know.” When Victim shot him a glare, Chosen relented. “Fine, I didn’t tell them anything. But do get better soon though. Or else they are going to find out. Here, I brought you medicine.”
Victim gave him a small nod. Then suddenly he reached out and patted Chosen’s head, his thumb stroking his forehead. His blue eyes—-the only trait that made the two distinguishable next to each other(not counting their different clothing wear choices, how Victim always dressed more formally and Chosen more casually)----narrowed when he pulled his hand(which was hot from the fever) away.
“You’re sick too. That fever’s just as bad as mine. This medicine should be yours.”
“Nah,” Chosen waved his brother off. “You’re exaggerating. It’s not nearly as bad.” As if on cue, his fever seemed to flare up and bite him, causing a severe headache that just nearly made Chosen pass out. He frowned when he saw Victim raise his eyebrow. “Get back to bed and take some medicine too, will you?”
“But what about Dark and Second?”
“They’re old enough to handle themselves.” Victim paused as he thought for a bit. “Maybe.” he added for good measure.
* * * * * * *
“Chosen?” Dark knocked on his brother’s door, only to hear a cough from inside. Dark frowned. Was Chosen sick too? He opened the door without bothering to ask permission(as always), and sure enough he saw Chosen equally bedridden as Victim, his hand on his forehead as he summoned more ice. When he saw Dark come in, he sighed before sitting up and moving to get off of the bed, only to get stopped by his brother midway.
“No need to do that when you’re sick, go back to bed.” With a raised eyebrow, Chosen reluctantly shrank back, but he was still sitting up, which caused Dark to push him back so he was lying.
“I’ll take care of everything now,” Dark stated confidently, which only earned him more questioning looks, which had him huff with annoyance. “What, think I can’t handle it?”
That seemed to be Chosen’s exact intention, but he didn’t say anything in response though, only stretching out a hand and waving Dark away. “In that case, go to Vic for the chores list.”
Again, Dark earned himself some questioning looks when he informed Victim about the matter. The eldest seemed to hesitate before writing him a whole list(Dark couldn’t help but frown at how long it went) and handing it to him, all while muttering something about “stupid cold.”
Dark took one look at the chores list. All relatively easy tasks, Dark hummed to himself confidently. Seems like Victim and Chosen can finally have one day of comfort in their lives, since Dark can handle all of these without problems(or at least, that’s what he believed). Actually, considering their horrible fevers, maybe not of comfort.
So, which task should Dark start off with?
* * * * * * *
Second waved goodbye to his friends, a smile on his face.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?” Yellow asked. “Blue’s cooking this time.” As tempting as that sounds, Second shook his head with a sad smile. “No, my brother is sick, so I have to hurry back to care for him.”
Red tilted his head in confusion. “Don’t you have multiple brothers? Can’t they just care for each other?”
Green nudged his younger brother. “No Red. It’s like if Yellow got sick, does that mean me and you can care for him? It would have to be Blue, right?”
“Oh,” Red’s eyes widened in understanding while Yellow huffed with annoyance and Blue uttered a small sigh. “What do you mean by you and Red can’t care for me?” Yellow questioned the second youngest, who just shrugged. “Blue’s always the better choice right?”
Before the two can argue any further, Second cut in. “Anyway, as you can see, I have to go care for Vic. He had a really bad fever last time I checked. Bye!” His friends waved back as Second skipped down the sidewalk. Luckily his house was only a few blocks away.
When Second unlocked the door, he was not expecting to find Dark looking at a piece of paper with intense concentration, a frown on his face. Regardless, Second sat down next to his brother, plopping his backpack on the nearby chair as he did so.
“Hey Dark,” Second greeted, leaning towards his brother to see what he was looking at. “What’s up?”
As expected, Dark pushed his younger sibling back, pocketing the paper as he did so. “I finished all of the chores except for cooking,” Second heard his brother mutter. “But…”
“You can’t cook?” Second finish for him, earning him a glare. If that was the case, Second should have brought some food from visiting his friends, though he supposes it’s too late for that now. But if Dark is doing the chores….
“Where’s Cho?” Second stood up, already heading for the stairs. He was stopped midway by Dark though.
“Shhh. He needs rest right now.” Seeing Second’s confused look, Dark elaborated. “Cho’s sick too.”
Oh. Oh no. Then does that mean Dark is going to handle everything for the next few days? Just the thought had a shiver run through Second. He really should have stayed with the color gang today. His heart sank even more when he watched Dark head back to the kitchen and turn on the stove.
“Don’t worry,” Dark said with a smile when he saw the worried expression on Second’s face. “Your older brother got this.”
“You might as well make me handle it,” Second commented as he turned off the stove when Dark searched for ingredients. “I’m about your age anyway.”
Unfortunately, Dark did not listen and turned the stove back on. “Don’t worry Sec,” he reassured again, but Second was already preparing himself for an explosion. He might as well equip the drawing tools already, Second thought as he headed towards their father’s office.
He’s going to need it to repair the house later. It’s only a number of times he needs to repair it until Victim and Chosen get over their sickness anyway.