Hansel completely forgot about the date and fell asleep disappointing Nathan who had dressed up and was waiting for him.
The next day when he woke up, he felt sick. He was incredibly pale and flushed, he couldn't even eat properly because he had no appetite. 'This must be from using so much magic yesterday.
Jamie was worried for his brother's health especially when he saw Hansel dressing up for work. "No, no, no," he told him. "You are going to stay in bed," he said.
"But I'll get fired and I'll have no money to feed you," Hansel said, he began feeling dizzy and nearly fell, but fortunately Jamie caught him before he could.
"You're not going to work today," he said. "You are not their only employee."
Hansel looks at him in a daze before slowly nodding.
Jamie smiled and lifted his older brother to his bed tucking him in. Hansel lay patiently yet quietly while Jamie went to look for the thermometer.
When he found it, he walked towards Hansel, who was now breathing heavily and even more flushed. This is the first time he's seen his brother sick. "Open up," he said gently.
Hansel opened his mouth and Jamie read his temperature. "Thirty-eight degrees," he muttered then looked at his brother, who was looking pitiful.
He hears his phone and takes it out of his pocket. It was Neil. "I'm going to get you something to eat so you will use your medicine," he said, picking up the call and entering the kitchen.
"Hello?" he said.
"Hey," Neil said.
"What is it, Neil?" Jamie asked taking out a bunch of stuff from the cupboard and fridge.
"You sound like you are busy," Neil said sounding a bit confused.
"Yeah, well my brother has a fever and I'm about to prepare something for him to eat before he takes his medicine," Jamie replied. "I'll call back when he's resting properly," he said.
~~~~
The phone hung up on Neil before he could say anything else, he was at home sitting on the couch. He looked over to his side. Nathan was looking at him intensely. "Hansel is sick," he said.
"I heard," Nathan replied. 'He should be able to heal himself from a mere fever,' he thought blankly.
"So you don't plan on visiting him?" Neil asked expectant.
"Why should I?" Nathan replied.
Neil was beyond disappointed in his twin. "You like him, don't you?" he asked and Nathan nodded dumbly. "Aren't you worried about him?" he asked. "Don't you want to visit him and be sure he is not dying or something?"
'Dying?' Nathan thought, his eyes widening. He got up and ran out of the house.
"Who just left the house?" the twins' mother, Alice, asked coming into the living room. She saw Neil sitting on the couch and was surprised. "I thought you went out," she said.
"Nope, Nathan recently got a crush," Neil said smirking.
"Okay," Alice replied, not seeming surprised.
"You don't sound surprised," Neil said sounding disappointed.
"I've always known about Nathan's crush on a boy for quite a while," Alice replied sitting down on the sofa. "He has several pictures of him on his phone... I got worried and wanted to confront this person, but then your brother stopped me," she said.
Neil sighed in relief. "Thank God you didn't, they are now together," he said.
Now his mom was surprised. "When did they get together?" she asked.
"Two days ago," Neil replied. "I think he confessed," he said.
"Oh, congratulations to him," she said.
"You are not as cheerful as I thought you would be."
Alice shrugged and they looked at each other for a while. Neil crossed his arms childishly. "Dad should come home soon so we can cry together," he said.
~~~~
Jamie was trying to force Hansel to each but failed. He was beginning to feel frustrated by his older brother's refusal of food.
"Come on, Hansel," he said trying not to sound frustrated and wearing a fake smile. "You need to eat before taking your medicine and get better," he said.
"I don't want to eat," Hansel replied turning his head to the left. "My mana stream is low... Damn you Golden Knight," he muttered that last part.
Jamie was confused. He laughed slightly. "What game are you talking about?" he asked, but Hansel didn't reply to him.
Jamie heard the doorbell ring and he dropped the bowl of soup. "Who could be coming here?" he said to himself and opened the door.
He saw Nathan there. "Oh," he said in surprise.
"I heard Hansel was sick," Nathan said blankly. "Can I see him?"
"Sure," Jamie replied letting him in. "I'm trying to get him to eat, but he refused to eat," he said.
"It sounds frustrating," Nathan replied. "I can help take care of him," he said.
"I'm not sure if you can take care of--" Jamie was saying when fell unconscious. Nathan's eyes were glowing and simply walked over Jamie's unconscious body.
He looked over to the side and he saw the brothers' parents' ghosts watching in fear. He ignores them, walks to Hansel's room, and sees him looking pitifully.
Hansel saw him. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Checking up on you," Nathan said and touched Hansel's head. "Your mana stream is nearly dry... It's even drier than it was before," he said.
"It's your fault," Hansel replied.
"You were the one who didn't want me to kill them," Nathan replied nonchalantly.
Hansel looks away. "Where is Jamie?" he asked.
"Sleeping," Nathan replied. He created a magic circle and pulled out some herbs. "I'm going to make a potion to help increase your mana stream," he said.
"What did you do to Jamie?" Hansel said angrily. Nathan felt a faint aura.
"Nothing," he replied. "You responded quite late by the way," he said. "Sleep," he commanded, "the medicine would soon be done."
Hansel said not happy with him, but he couldn't do anything but obey and fell asleep.