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Being sick was nothing new to Thomas. He was often ill in his childhood, be it seasonal allergies or a stronger virus. His mother would make him chicken noodles soup, and after a few days he would be fine. However, that was when he was home. Now he was trapped amongst giants, which was certainly less than ideal. He had felt the cold coming when his head got foggy during sword practice.
“Keep your chin up, Thomas.” Roman instructed. “Feet shoulder width apart, arm steady.”
Thomas tried to follow Roman’s directions, but slowly his arm began to sink.
“...Thomas?” Roman asked, frowning as Thomas’ energy dwindled. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Thomas assured him, rubbing at his eyes. “It’s just a cold.”
“...what’s a cold?”
“You guys don’t get colds?” Thomas raised an eyebrow.
“Well, we get cold, but…” Roman picked Thomas up, eyes widening. “Thomas, you’re not cold at all!”
“Yeah, I might be getting a fever.” Thomas explained, feeling a shiver coming on. Roman rushed to the other room, desperate for help.
“Thomas is cursed!” Roman declared to his brothers.
“What? Cursed?” Logan looked up from his book. Virgil came over to see what the commotion was about as well.
“He keeps shivering but he’s all warm.” Roman explained, holding Thomas out so the others could feel.
“That’s weird…” Virgil muttered, watching as Logan put his finger out to touch Thomas’ skin.
“I’m not cursed, I’m just sick.” Thomas explained, giving a slight cough.
“He might be dying.” Logan murmured.
“No, no, I’m not dying.” Thomas quickly assured them, but it seems as though they weren’t listening.
“How long do we have?” Roman asked, looking heartbroken.
“Ohhhhh Patton’s gonna be crushed.” Virgil’s fingers dug through his hair nervously. “We should run away, he never needs to know.”
“Thomas, we are going to do whatever you want tomorrow, alright?” Roman smiled half-heartedly down at the human, clearly expecting the human to only have a few days left. “I...I just want you to be happy.”
“Aw, Roman, that’s really sweet of you, but-” Thomas’ explanation was cut off by another cough, making all three giants wince.
“What’s going on?” A fourth voice entered the room, causing Roman to quickly hide Thomas behind his back.
“Patton!” Roman gasped slightly. “You startled us.” Virgil tried to hide his own anxiety, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. Logan pointedly looked anywhere other than at Patton.
“You’re hiding something.” Patton realized.
“Whaaaat?” Roman gave an anxious laugh. “Us? Hiding something?”
“Where’s Thomas?” Patton glanced at the tabletop, then at Roman’s hands still behind his back. Roman sighed, slowly bringing Thomas around to the front.
“He’s unwell.” Logan explained, watching as Thomas gave another sniffle.
“What?” Patton slowly took Thomas into his own hands, looking down at the human with worry. “What’s wrong?”
“He’s… you know…” Virgil drew his finger across his neck, looking forlorn.
“What?!” Tears sprung from Patton’s eyes as he hugged Thomas close. “When? Why? What’s happening?”
“Cursed, I think.” Roman nodded solemnly. “But rest assured I will be seeking vengeance!”
“I’M NOT DYING!” Thomas pushed away from Patton’s chest.
“W-what?” Patton blubbered, pulling the human out enough to look down at him.
“Patton, you know me better than anyone.” Thomas said exasperatedly. “Does it look like I’m dying?”
“But...you’re so warm. ” Patton bit his lip. “And you seem so tired.”
“Yes, that’s what being sick means.” Thomas explained. “It’s when a human gets a disease that saps their energy, but it goes away after a few days.”
“So it’s just a minor curse?” Roman clarified.
“I...yes. It’s a minor curse.” Thomas sighed, realizing that’s how they would best understand.
“But a few days? ” Virgil’s eyes widened. “How do you survive if you’re weak for so long?”
“Well, usually other people look after you.” Thomas shrugged. “And usually I’m not in a realm where everything outside is bigger and trying to kill me.”
“We can help look after you!” Patton offered, eager to save his tiny friend. “What do we need to do?”
“I mean, not much.” Thomas shrugged. “I just need to sleep it off mostly, drink lots of fluids, that sort of stuff.”
This was apparently the wrong directions to give. The giants put him to bed on Virgil’s mattress, surrounded by the mass amount of blankets. Every half hour or so one of them would come in, asking if he felt any better and dropping off another thimble of water for him. Still, their misguided efforts were helpful. The bed was very comfortable and Thomas fell asleep easily. He awoke to the sound of another of the giant’s entrances.
“Are you feeling better today?” Logan asked, coming in with the customary thimble and noticing Thomas was awake. “You’ve been asleep for half a day.”
“Wow.” Thomas looked surprised, gratefully taking the water. “Yeah, I guess I just really did need to sleep it off.” He took a long sip, then yelled in the direction of the door. “You guys can come in.”
Three heads poked sheepishly through the doorway.
“Sorry kiddo, we didn’t want to overwhelm you.” Patton admitted.
“Are you alright?” Roman asked, coming closer. “That was an awful long time to be asleep.”
“Yes, I’m actually feeling much better.” Thomas nodded, finishing off the water.
“Oh thank goodness.” Virgil let out a sigh of relief. “Don’t you dare scare us like that again.”