[i]	The only thing Jace could bring himself to do at the moment was nod his head. "Thank you for letting me know, sir." 
	He took a deep breath and held it in for as long as he could before slowly releasing it, trying to regain his composure before walking into the bedroom. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. As the oldest of the two, Jace believed he would have been the one to die first and considering how reckless he was, he thought he would have died in a careless fashion well before Basil's days had ended. If he was given the chance, Jace would trade places with him in a heartbeat. Basil was a kindred soul who would never hurt a fly and if anyone deserved to be in his place, it was Jace. The good always died too young. Life was cruel like that, and he never could figure out why.
	He rapped his knuckles on the door once before peeking his head inside the room. "Basil?" When he noticed his appearance, he walked into the room and made his way over to the bed. With difficulty, he managed to plaster a fake smile onto his expression. "I'm sorry I'm late. I got held back a bit." A short silence fell over them as he reached into a pant's pocket and pulled out a pack of gumdrops that had a small bow wrapped around it that was made out of a thinly cut piece of old blue fabric. "I got these for you. Thought I might surprise you with it."
[/i]