Chapter Text
This truly was the worst. Like the complete worst . Clover thought to themself, laying in bed with several layers of blankets on them. It started last night with a mild cough and an upset stomach, only to be turned into a full blown cold by the morning. Martlet had a really important meeting over the construction of a brand new bridge connecting the monster settlements to more human cities. With her being the head of the project a lot of people were relying on her to get the job done. She was about to just skip the meeting entirely, until Ceroba urged her to go while she and Kanako stayed at her house to watch over the young human. Grateful for the help, she placed a large kiss right on Clover’s forehead as she promised to be back later that evening.
Laying in bed with nothing to do would have been even worse, but since monsters are unable to get the same disease as humans, due to their bodies being made up of magic, Kanako was able to stay in their room to keep Clover company. Sitting in front of the tv on the comfy rug, Kanako scrolled through channel after channel to find something for them both to watch. Finding nothing she moved on to the movies services to find something to rent, when her eyes lit up. “Hey Clover! Wanna watch Mew Mew princess cutie 3? Mom said we could rent a movie and I’ve been dying to watch it!” She called out excitedly, not paying attention to how Clover squirmed in their bed at the loud noise.
“Those movies are lame. Can’t you put on one of Uncle Starlo’s movies? He left a bunch here last time he was over.” The sick human replied with a raspy voice.
“Ugggg. Come on.” Kanako whined. “Just give it a shot?”
Pulling up the covers a bit more to try and stay warm, they rolled their eyes. “That’s what you said about the last two movies. And they both sucked.”
Kanako let out a fake gasp of shock. “Clover! My own cousin using such bad language.” Crossing her arms, shaking her head. “To think that I once saw you as a pure beacon of justice is now nothing more than bandit .” She stated loudly,
“You're being too loud, Kanako. Aunt Ceroba said you were supposed to help take care of me. And all you're doing is hurting my ears.” Clover whined, wanting nothing more to just sleep now, completely forgoing the cowboy movies. Grabbing the ends of the blanket Clover rolled around in them until they formed a cocoon of warmth.
Too bad for Clover, Kanko was not done yet. Letting a minute or two tick by as she waited for her chance. With a sly grin across her furry face, an interesting idea formed. Knowing the perfect way to have a bit of fun and to help their cousin out, she tip-toed her way across the floor. With Clover’s eyes closed and ignoring the world around them, it was the perfect opportunity to strike. At the head of the bed Kanako whispered out, “You wouldn’t be complaining if Frisk was the one taking care of you.”
Clover’s eyes shot open with a blush on their face. Of course right after Clover tried to ask Frisk out last time, Marlet and Starlo found out and proceeded to tell the rest of the family about their crush. The adults found it cute and encouraged them to try again while Kanako…used it to tease them endlessly .
Smiling at the look Clover made she continued on. “I bet if I called Frisk and told them you were sick, they would run all the way over here, just to take care of you.” The Kitsune monster said in a sing-song voice.
“No way!” Clover argued back, still in their make-shift cocoon. “Besides they're probably doing important ambassador stuff.”
“Uh-huh. So if I were to say…call them, you're saying they would not be over in a heartbeat?” To prove her point, she pulled out her cell-phone clicking a few buttons and put the phone screen right up to Clover’s face, with ‘Frisk’ on being shown on the contact list.
“You wouldn’t?” Clover asked, not sure if their cousin would really go through with this. Only to see her clawed finger reach to touch the call button.
“Wait!” They whisper yell, with their scratchy voice. “You have to ask Aunt Ceroba first and she would say no anyway. I’m sick so if Frisk comes over they could get sick too.” They say, trying to find any sort of excuse for her to not make the call. To their horror, Kanako was unfazed as she waved her hand nonchalantly.
“Don’t worry about it. I already asked Mom if they could come over and she said yes.” Clover glared at her, knowing she was completely lying. Standing up, Kanako pressed call. A few seconds passed when the line was picked up.
“Hey Frisk, you busy?” Clover pushed the blankets off and rushed to Kanko to take the phone from her. But in their current state, they were unable to get the phone and was easily pushed back with her hand pressed against their face. “Oh, great! Clover is really sick and I need some help watching them, so can you come over please? Awesome, see you soon!” ‘Click’ and with that, she ended the call.
“Why ( cough) would you do ( cough) that?!” Clover’s tirade was broken as they entered into a coughing fit. Wrapping an arm around their back, Kanako led the sick human back to their bed.
“Hey take it easy okay?” Helping to lift up the covers and tuck their cousin back into bed, Kanako moved to grab a nearby rag. Patting down the sweat from their brow and wiping away any sweat from their warm cheeks, she went to reassure them, now feeling a bit guilty about springing this up on them. “Frisk will be here soon alright. And before you say anything, they got off work early so it's a win win. Now you just close your eyes and rest okay?”
Yawning loudly and feeling exhausted from just getting out of bed, Clover could only offer up a “Kay” before drifting off to sleep.
It did not seem long until Clover opened their eyes again. Their vision is slightly blurry as they look around their room. Spotting Kanako sitting in front of their bedroom tv watching some show.
“Hungry.” Clover says, feeling hunger gnaw at their tummy as they realized they had not eaten anything since last night. Still too tired to get out of bed to make themself something, they hoped that Kanako would hear them. Fortunately they did as their head turned and what Clover assumed was a nod, left the room only to return a few minutes later with a bowl. The figure went to their bed kneeling at their side. Scooping a spoonful of what Clover assumed to be chicken noodle soup, the other moved the spoon near their mouth. “Say ahhh.” Kanako says, as Clover takes the spoon into their mouth. The deliciously warm soup makes their body feel warm and fuzzy taking a bit of the cold feeling away. After taking their first mouthful the spoon is quickly brought back up against their mouth. And so the process repeats until the soup is completely gone.
Smacking their lips at finally having something in their stomach, Clover rubs their eyes, trying to see things clearly. As they do, Clover blinks a few more times and sees an angel right in front of them. Scratch that, they see Frisk , (which to them is pretty much the same in their eyes). Wait, did Frisk just spoon feed me…soup?! Oh gosh, we are not even dating, and we have already did that?! That's like…what couples do!
“Um..hi..Frisk.” They say nervously, trying to maintain their composure.
Smiling, Frisk set the bowl down at the end table. “Hi Clover. How are you feeling?”
“Oh uh, you know…sick.” Smooth move cowboy . Clover thought.
Frisk giggles at their response. Golly, they're cute . Clover thinks. “Well I hope the soup helped with that.”
Nodding Clover moved to sit up a bit. “Yeah it did. Thanks for…you know..” Clover can only hope Frisk thinks that their blush is just the heat of their body from being sick.
Tilting their head, Frisk’s brown hair falls to the side. “For what?” Frisk questions, acting confused.
“You know…”
“Know what? I don’t understand what you're thanking me for Clover.” They say, continuing to play ignorant.
“For feeding me.” The embarrassed cowboy mumbles.
Bringing a hand up to their ear, Frisk leans in close to Clover. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”
Huffing in indignation, Clover crossed their arms and pouted. “You know what I said.”
Shaking their head Frisk denied. “Nuh-uh, I couldn’t hear you. You were mumbling.”
“Frisk.” Clover whines.
“Clover.” Frisk responds sarcastically.
Sighing loudly in regret at what they were about to say, Clover gave in to their friend’s demands. “Thank you for feeding me.” They say flatly.
Beaming at Clover saying what they wanted to hear, Frisk pushes a finger on the other’s pouting cheek. “Anytime, partner .”
Although annoyed at having to fess up, Clover did not move from Frisk’s touch. “You're the worst, you know that.”
Nodding in agreement, Frisk removes their finger from Clover’s cheek and moves to grab a remote. To Clover’s shock, Frisk gets on top of the bed and sits next to Clover. With Clover under the covers and Frisk on top of them. “Frisk, I’m sick.”
“So?”
“So, you could get sick too, if you’re this close to me.”
Shrugging their shoulders without care, Frisk bumps their shoulder right next to the still sitting cowboy. “Then I guess if I get sick you’ll just have to take care of me.” Frisk smiles as they press play on some new anime that just came out.
Turing to look at Clover, Frisk nudged them. “You will, won’t you?”
Sighing at Frisk’s antics but taking it with stride, Clover could not deny their request. “Yes.”
“Atta Cowboy .”
Down Stairs
Kanko came down stairs unable to stifle her laughter after listening in on the two humans from behind the bedroom door. This quickly caught Ceroba’s attention as with a pointy claw, motioned for Kanako to come over. Seeing the serious face her mother was showing, she realized that the jig was up and a reckoning was about to occur. Walking from the livingroom to the open kitchen where Ceroba had the stove on making dinner, pointed right to a pulled out chair. Understanding there was no way out of the fox mom’s soon to be lecture, the young kitsune took a seat. “Now Kanako, do you want to explain to me why you did not ask for permission before inviting Frisk over?” The older stated, in a flat tone.
“Well you see, I um…just thought Clover could use the extra company?” Ceroba gave her an unimpressed look.
“It wouldn't have to do with Clover’s crush on them, would it?” Although phrased as a question was most certainly a clear statement.
“I, well…” Kanako filled with her fingers trying to find an excuse but quickly found her head wrapped in a tight furry headlock. Giving her daughter a noogie and messing with her hair Ceroba could not keep up the strict act up any longer. Laughing hard as her daughter tried in vain to escape her grasp.
“You little brat !” She said with a snort. “Pulling something like this, just to get the two closer.” Ceroba gave her a few more tussles with her hair before she let her daughter go. “You really are your fathers kid? He would have been proud.” Her smile then drifted from warm laughter to a reminiscent smile. Patting Kanako and giving one last playful ruffle of her hair, Cerboa returned back to the stove.
Kanako still remained on the chair, squirming a bit. “So, I’m not in trouble?”
“Well you did not ask persimmon and invited someone over to the house that is not even ours. But , you did help out your cousin with their romantic issue and you have been watching over them today, so I guess I can’t be too mad.” Breathing out a sigh of relief was short lived as a ladle covered in pasta sauce was pointed right at her nose. “But don’t think I don’t know you were also messing with your cousin. You owe them an apology later.”
Kanako offered no protest, accepting the punishment . “Yes mom.” Nodding, Cerboa returned back to stirring only to feel Kanako hug her from behind. “Love you mom.”
“Love you lots.” Ceroba said with a gentle smile.