>>3690304When you crack open the door to your apartment you see the lights remain off, so you assume Polka is still asleep. This is proven false almost immediately when you turn to lock the door, as a fast moving weight collides with your back. Almost immediately two arms wrap around your torso and you feel the brush of a fluffy tail against your leg. You stand there in silence for a moment or two patting Polka's arm with your free hand before she utters her first few words of the day in an especially dry sounding whisper.
"I missed you."
Turning to face Polka, you can see her features dimly using what light shines through the covered window nearby. Her hair is ruffled and her braid is undone. She's still in her sleeping clothes, and she seems just a bit unsteady on her feet, her tail lazily swaying back and forth with her body. Her fennec ears are drooping, though at the slightest sound they twitch slightly, likely due to how sensitive they are right now. Taking a moment to look you over, she notices that you have a few different plastic bags in one arm. Wordlessly you usher her over to a seat at the kitchen table before taking one yourself, making sure not to turn on the lights or make any loud noises to worsen her headache.
"I'll take care of you today, alright? Just let me do everything until you feel better." you say in the lowest voice you can.
Polka squirms slightly in her seat, apparently a bit embarrassed at how helpless she it at the moment. Seizing this moment, you set the first part of your plan into action by setting down some pain medication and a canned drink in front of Polka. She has a bad habit of not restocking her supplies after a low pressure day, so she never ends up having the things which help her feel better. Today you decided to do that for her, getting her some medicine and one of her favorite drinks to keep her hydrated.
Polka's eyes move back and forth between the drink and the pill bottle, before grabbing the drink and looking it over.
"This one…you can't get this near here. Did you go all the way to-"
You nod and explain that was part of the reason you were gone for a while.
Polka blushes slightly before cracking the can open and taking a sip. She smiles slightly before eyeing the pill pottle, at which point her smile deepens. She grabs both the bottle and the can before taking a seat in your lap facing you.
"You did say you'd do everything for me today, right?", Polka whispers into your ear before lightly shaking the bottle.
She unscrews the top and places a pill in your hand and then rolls her tongue out of her mouth, staring at you all the while. Getting the message, you place the pill on the center of her tongue (trying not to linger lest you be distracted by the heat of her breath) after which she retracts her tongue and hands you the can. Bringing it to her lips, you gingerly tip the can back as you watch the muscles of her neck flex as she downs the pill. Not wanting the moment to end, Polka holds your hand in place as she continues drinking a while longer. She giggles to herself as she wipes a stray drop off her face.
Already feeling like your plan to improve Polka's mood is going fantastically, you decide to move onto stage two. Polka has trouble eating when she's under the weather, as her migraines come with a bit of nausea. So the solution for this is so grab her something she enjoys that isn't too much for an unsteady stomach. You know the perfect thing, especially because she's mentioned it onstream. You set the box in front of her and wait for the realization to hit her as she opens the package.
"This is that really great salmon sushi!" She exclaims, before cupping her own ears in response to her volume. "That's on a whole other end of town from where you needed to be to get the drink…"
Polka looks guilty momentarily before you stroke her cheek. That brightens her mood again and she leans into the caress with her face, nuzzling your hand as a few stray strands of her hair pass over your hand due to her movement. She then busies herself with the sushi, and you hope to yourself that you bought enough. One a good day Polka can put away ten plates of this stuff, something she's quite embarrassed about. She has you feed her the last piece (mumbling something about "you should get to enjoy this too, you know") and then smiles contentedly.
