Chapter 1: First Time for Everything
Blearily opening her crusty eyes to the dark and somewhat arid light permeating through her blinds, Fizzlepop stifled a groan. Not for the sake of sounding grouchy in the morning or waking anypony else, no. Rather, because her throat was so sore that such action as making sound with her throat muscles was simply more trouble than it was worth.
While her entire body felt sore, nothing compared to the soreness that wracked her throat, not even the stuffy muzzle she found herself waking with. She tried to sniffle, but found that she was completely congested and simply could not breathe through anything other than her mouth. Frustrated, tired, and most of all, sore, she tried to open her mouth and catch her breath, however the tickling sensation that assaulted her lungs instantly turned to a hacking cough that only served to make everything she felt a hundred times worse.
Yep, she was definitely sick.
"Why?" She whimpered, rolling over ever so slowly.
Her barely open eyes read the time on the clock beside her bed, finding that it was already nearing ten in the morning. Feeling utterly exhausted and filled with contempt for her pitiful situation, Fizzlepop forced herself out of bed and over toward her shower. She managed to make it into the bathroom before another coughing fit seized her, and nearly made her cry at the searing pain in her throat.
Hastily turning the shower on, she did her best to wash herself and prepare for her day, but it became very apparent very quickly that she had no energy to move with any sort of haste. She sluggishly washed her mane and coat, and before she knew it, thirty minutes had passed. When she finally got out of the shower and dried off, the clock on her nightstand very nearly read eleven.
"Oh no... I'm gonna be late." She mumbled, her voice a nasally parody of it's usual tone.
Fizzlepop hastily slipped her hoodie on and made her way down the stairs and out the door of her apartment. As usual, she ensured to close and lock the door behind her, and made her way into town. The warm early summer rays of sunlight beamed down on her as she walked, bringing a pleasant warmth to everything around her. Normally, she would find the sensation as uplifting and gentle as everypony else, however, with the fever she now sported, she found herself uncomfortably warm within a matter of minutes.
Maybe I should've ditched the hoodie today... it's so warm...
Luck was on her side, though, and before she could work up an uncomfortable sweat, she spotted James as he sat at the Sugarcube Corner café, just under one of the umbrellas set out for breakfast dining. He easily spotted her as she approached, and quickly waved, a smile exploding on his face as he got out of his seat to greet her.
Swallowing nervously- a painful endeavor in of itself- Fizzlepop picked up her pace just a smidge to meet James at the entrance.
"Fizzy!" James called, his voice full of mirth and excitement.
"Morning... James!" Fizzlepop replied, struggling not to cough.
James immediately noticed the different tone of her voice, and as they reached each other, he also quickly noticed the bags under her bloodshot eyes. All the same, he kneeled down in front of her and pulled her into a hug; a gesture that she practically melted into.
"You okay? You don't sound so good." James intoned, as he pulled away enough to look at her in the eyes.
Fizzlepop sniffled slightly, "I, uh... I'm alright. Just a little stuffy." She lied.
James, having barely understood her due to just how stuffy she was, frowned at the obvious lie, "Fizzy, you sound like you're completely congested," He worriedly asserted, before pressing his hand against her forehead, "And you're burning up. Hun, you're sick." He surmised.
"I-I'm not... that sick..." Fizzlepop tried, in vain, to deny, "I'm just... a...a a-ACHOO" She sneezed, barely turning away in time to avoid sneezing on James.
Putting on his most sympathetic smile as Fizzlepop sniffled, James gently rubbed her wither, "Fizzy, you're sick as a dog. You need to rest." He instructed.
Hanging her head in shame, Fizzlepop stared at the ground, "I just... didn't want to miss our date." She muttered.
His heart melting all the while, James softly cupped her cheek with his hand, his thumb stroking lovingly just below her ear. It took her a moment, but eventually she looked up at him with eyes that barely held back tears.
"Fizzy, honey... that really means a lot to me, but I don't want you to be out here all miserable when you're sick. You need to get your rest so you can feel better. Thank you for caring so much, but I'd much rather just let you rest in bed than ask you to be out here feeling like death." James offered, his eyes full of warmth and kindness.
Fizzlepop nodded sadly, "A-alright... I'll go home then." She replied, her ears splaying flat against her head.
As she turned to make the journey back home, she quickly picked up on the sound of footsteps beside her. Having become very well acquainted with the sound of James' footsteps over the last few months, she didn't even need to look to know that he was walking beside her. She paused mid-step, looking up to him with confusion written all over her face.
"What?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Where are you going?" Fizzlepop asked with a sniffle.
"I was just about to do this-" James replied, before leaning down and scooping Fizzlepop off of the ground. Her forelegs flailed for a moment as he swiftly flipped her into a cradle in his arms, her big beautiful eyes staring up at him in shock as her cheeks noticeably darkened.
"Wh-but... J-James." She bleated, nervously glancing around at the ponies still walking to and fro around them.
"Now, let's get you home." James happily proclaimed, stepping off toward her house, uncaring for her weak protests.
"James, p-put me down!" Fizzlepop ordered, her cheeks positively burning in embarrassment.
Uncaring for her plight, or maybe even taking some small amount of amusement from how obviously bashful she was about being carried, James continued on without heeding her pleas. Try as she might, she could not convince him to place her down on the ground, and she found her physical strength so reduced from her sickness that she simply had no chance of forcing her way out of his arms. Desperately trying to save face in some way, she thought as quickly as her mind could, and came up with something of a deterrent to get her human to put her back down.
"J-James, please put me down. I-I don't want you to get sick too." She offered, her farce of concern for his well-being working wonders for her real motive of just getting out of the embarrassing situation.
Unfortunately for her, James was quite easily able to pick up on her fibbing, and simply raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her, his pace never slowing.
"Now I think we both know by now that I can't get pony colds, Fizzy. Besides, I want to take care of you. You push yourself too hard sometimes and you don't rest as much as you should. It's high time we fixed that a bit, don'tcha think?" James rebutted, a loving smile on his face as he spoke.
Try as she might, Fizzlepop found that she simply couldn't refute his claims. She knew she'd been had, and with a resigned sigh of acceptance, she ceased her struggles in his arms and simply let him carry her.
"Ugh... Fine... do you have to carry me though?" She inquired, pointedly ignoring the looks of nearby ponies as they observed the pair, adoring smiles on their faces.
James shook his head, "Nope. You're sick and from now until you're better, I'm not letting you lift a hoof. Is me taking care of you really so bad?" He asked, giving his best attempt at puppy dog eyes.
Fizzlepop held his gaze for almost a full minute, trying her absolute best to not cave. Finally, just as James rounded the corner of the street leading to her apartment, she failed to his charms and let out a sigh,
"Fine..." She muttered, crossing her forelegs across her chest.
James snickered at her pouting while he reached her front door. Fizzlepop only managed to fish her key out of her hoodie pocket before James snatched it out of her hooves and unlocked the door, surprising her with his strength as he held her entire body comfortably with one arm. With that done, he easily brought her inside and closed the door behind them and carried her up the stairs to her room.
Pushing the door open with his back, James swiftly brought Fizzlepop into her room and laid her back down on her bed. As always, he was so gentle with her that she could've sworn she was being softly levitated by a unicorn. Once she was down on the mattress, looking up to him as her forelegs curled over her chest, she found him looking at her expectantly.
"What?" She asked.
"Hoodie off. You're gonna be too warm in that thing." James instructed, much like a parent speaking with their child.
While nudity was the norm for ponies, it certainly wasn't for Fizzlepop. At least, not for quite some time. While she found herself instantly blushing up a storm, she complied without any further protest and got to her haunches. She managed to get the hoodie off and hoof it over to James, to which he swiftly deposited it into the laundry hamper.
With that accomplished, he walked back over to the bed and gently pushed her back over until she laid down on her side. He made sure she had a pillow under her head just before she laid down fully, and swiftly pulled her bedsheets over her barrel. The fabric felt soothing and strangely welcome, as if she were already falling back asleep within seconds of hitting the hay, so to speak.
With the mulberry mare before him now snuggled up in bed, James stood upright and smiled down at her, "Alright, now I'm gonna go make you some soup. You got any good books in here?" He asked.
Fizzlepop nodded toward the bookcase at the other side of the room, "I've been reading some Daring Do recently..." She weakly replied.
James playfully raised an eyebrow, "Daring Do, huh? Didn't think she was your style." He teased.
Fizzlepop tried to snort, but with how congested she was, all she could do was wheeze. James gave her a sympathetic smile at her pitiful state and made his way over to the kitchen.
"Alright, you just hold tight. I'll be back in about ten minutes with the soup and the book, and we can read some of it together. Sound good?" He asked, as he reached the kitchen.
"Sounds... great." Fizzlepop murmured.
The ten minutes went by swiftly, and as the smell of boiling tomatoes filled the air, Fizzlepop found herself lovingly gazing at her human as he diligently prepared her food. He soon turned off the burner and poured the soup into a bowl, ensuring to bring a spoon and grab a Daring Do book as he returned.
Gently setting the soup on the nightstand beside the bed, James crawled onto the other side, laying down beside her with his back supported by the headboard. As the book was fairly worn, it was easy for him to flip to the page Fizzlepop had bookmarked and begin reading while also scooping up some soup with his free hand. He gingerly brought the spoon to her lips, and with a small blow to cool the soup, she swallowed back the tomato-y goodness.
James continued to feed and read aloud for nearly an hour before he noticed Fizzlepop's soup was all gone and she was repeatedly nodding off beside him. He smiled down at her, placing the bookmark in its new place as he set the book down on the nightstand beside the empty bowl of soup. Leaning over his marefriend in such a way just so happened to give her the perfect opportunity to kiss his neck as she wrapped a foreleg around his back.
If the gentle act of affection wasn't enough, the pleading look in her eyes certainly held James' attention as he looked down at the mulberry unicorn.
"Can you... hold me?" She asked, her voice a timid shell of it's usual strength.
His heart absolutely melting, James leaned down and lovingly kissed her, "Absolutely." He answered.
Without another word, James fenagled his way under the covers and wrapped his arms around Fizzlepop, pulling her against his chest as he rested his cheek against the back of her neck. She gently cooed as he gave her a tiny squeeze of affection, before closing her eyes and quickly drifting off to sleep.
Even though he'd only been awake for a few hours, James found that a morning nap with the mare held in his arms was just so appealing that he couldn't resist, and fell asleep soon after she did.
Author's Note
Hey guys! Happy 4th to all my fellow Americans! So this was the winner of the monthly one-shot poll I did for my Patreon this month. I hope you guys like it. I know that while technically this isn't a true one shot since it's part of a series, I just had to do this one cause I had the idea and it was too cute to not write about. I had a lot of fun with this one and I hope you guys did too.
If you'd like to vote on the next one shot, please consider supporting me on Patreon!
http://patreon.com/user?u=4398966
