Sniffles

Impmon groaned and snuggled down into his futon, sniffling loudly. He felt absolutely horrid. The purple child-level couldn’t remember ever being sick before, and this first time was enough to convince him that he hated the feeling. How did Ai and Makoto put up with this? It was terrible!

Impmon sighed a bit at the thought of the twins. They were away on vacation, and would be there for the next week or so. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he’d contracted the cold two days ago, and would thus have to take care of himself while his tamers were away. He’d been stuck in the house since getting sick, which left him, not only miserable, but bored out of his mind. He could really only sum up the situation with two words.

‘This sucks.’ He coughed and then groaned as his head began to pound. It seemed like there was no end to what torture his cold could inflict. How could this possibly get any worse? His stomach decided to answer that question by growling loudly.

Now normally, he wouldn’t mind getting up to get food. However, in his current condition, moving was the last thing he wanted to do. He couldn’t even sit up without worrying about his head protesting through a combination of pain and dizziness. His body felt heavy too, like he was made of lead or some other heavy substance. For a few moments, the demonic Digimon contemplated the worth of getting to up find something to find something to eat before deciding against it. ‘I probably can’t even stand with my luck.’

Impmon could feel his eyelids growing heavy; his illness had left him rather tired for the last few days. Maybe he’d be well enough to stand up if he slept some more. Apparently, his body needed no other prompting, as he yawned and his eyes drifted closed. He curled up beneath the blanket, and drifted off moments later, falling into the sweet oblivion of sleep.

~*~

Impmon stirred as he felt something cool being placed on his forehead. It felt nice, considering how hot his body had been – he was sure he’d heard the twins’ mother describe such a symptom as a fever at some point. Slowly, he opened his eyes and blinked groggily, waiting for his blurry vision to come into focus. He was surprised by the sight that greeted his eyes moments later.

“Rena…mon…?” He cringed at the sound of his own voice – which sounded kind of like how imagined a toad would talk – as well as the pain the action caused his throat. When had Renamon gotten here anyway? Had he really been so out of it that he hadn’t heard her come in? He blinked as he felt the fox-like Digimon tucking his blanket around him, shushing him softly as she did.

“Don’t talk…I’m sure it’s hurting your throat.” She appeared concerned, Impmon realized. Had she been worried about him? “Nobody’s seen you at the park for a few days, so I came by to check on you. It seems that it’s a good thing I did.” After a few moments, she stood up, though her eyes didn’t leave Impmon’s form. “Are you hungry? I can make you something if you’d like.” She waited for Impmon to nod before heading towards the door. “Get some rest; I’ll be back in a bit.”

Impmon watched her go he looked up towards the ceiling, questions swirling around in his brain. He hadn’t exactly been expecting her to show up, much less take care of him. Then again, he was somewhat surprised that he was even LETTING her help him. He wrinkled his nose after a moment and dismissed it as feeling too poorly to argue with her. As he lay there waiting, he drifted into a light doze; he wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he was finally jolted into wakefulness again as Renamon returned. He immediately noticed the bowl she was holding, though he couldn’t smell whatever it was; his nose was too clogged up.

“Here; this should be easy enough for you to eat.” She knelt down next to the futon, and Impmon recognized the food as kayu; rice gruel. The purple Digimon wrinkled his nose, showing his apparent dislike for the food. He hated the stuff. Renamon apparently noted his displeasure and sighed a bit. “You probably shouldn’t eat much else right now; anything besides this will probably make you feel sicker.”

The demonic child-level debated for another moment before his empty stomach made the decision for him. He’d rather eat kayu for the rest of this life than starve, no matter how much he detested it. He sat up slowly, though Renamon still had to help him with the action, and took the bowl before starting to eat. His throat burned as he swallowed the food down, but he felt relieved nonetheless to have something in his stomach. Much to his confusion, he found that he really couldn’t taste his meal – perhaps it was another symptom of his cold?

Impmon could feel Renamon’s eyes on him as he ate. He glanced up, seeing that she was watching him with her usual calm expression; what was she thinking right now? He’d never been able to tell; she was impossible to read for the most part. It was kind of ironic, as he had a feeling that it was the exact opposite for her. She almost seemed to know when something was bothering him or when something was wrong. It could be frustrating at some points.

Once he’d finished eating, Renamon took the bowl from him and took the cloth off his forehead. She gently pressed her hand to it, checking his temperature; Impmon’s face probably would’ve flushed red if it weren’t for the fact that it had already taken on that color thanks to his fever. “Go to sleep; it’ll help you feel better.” She dunked the cloth in a bowl of cold water next to the purple Digimon’s futon before placing it back on his forehead. “If you wake up and need something, just ask. I’ll be right here.”

Impmon didn’t really want to go back to sleep – not yet anyway – but found that his body wasn’t giving him much of a choice. He hoped that his illness would hurry up and go away; sleeping all day wasn’t his idea of a good time. Maybe having Renamon here would make things less boring…if he could stay awake for a fair period of time anyway.

“You’re…gonna worry your tamer…if you stay here…too long…” Impmon licked his lips, cursing the dryness of his throat. Really, the sound of his voice was enough to annoy him at the moment. He stifled a yawn as he watched Renamon through tired emerald eyes, wishing he wasn’t confined to his futon. He made a mental note to do everything in his power to NEVER get sick again.

“I can call her later.” Renamon’s calm voice matched her demeanor as she tucked Impmon back under the blankets again. “She’ll understand. Now go to sleep.”

“I…t-thanks.” Impmon gave Renamon a somewhat embarrassed look through his already half-lidded eyes. Though he’d never admit it to anyone else – or even himself for that matter – Impmon was grateful that Renamon was here now. ‘I’ll have to…pay her back somehow…’ As he found himself falling asleep for at least the third time that day, Impmon heard Renamon move – perhaps to put the bowl he’d eaten out of away? His sleepy mind was confused when he felt a soft touch on his nose. It felt like one of Ai’s kisses, he realized drowsily.

Despite how poor he felt, a small, content smile managed to come to his face as he drifted off, and soon, he was once again fast asleep…