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The sounds of a sad trumpet could be heard coming from Vodka and Daiwa Scarlet’s room.
Vodka, sitting upright in her bed with the heaviest blankets she could find over her legs, dropped her newest addition to her used tissue collection to the pile forming in, up, and out of the trash bin at her side. She groaned for the thousandth time, and looked across the room at her girlfriend with a pathetic stare.
“Man, this sucks ass,” the dark-haired mare whined, devoid of all the usual energy in her voice. “Why’d I have to get sick…?”
“You’re going to be fine, you big baby,” Scarlet said with arms crossed. “Just give me a second to finish this.”
The redhead stood by her dresser, stirring an instant miso soup packet into a thermos. Her hands moved quickly and shook slightly with irritation. She breathed in the scent of the soup through her facemask and pushed back the urge to take a sip of it herself- for good health, of course.
“Okay, done. Here,” said Scarlet. She gently handed off the mug to her roommate, and added, “Take small sips, don’t rush it.”
Vodka blew a few puffs of air to cool the soup off before taking a long draw of the broth. “I’m feeling better already,” the mare breathed out. “Thanks, Scarlet.”
“You’ve barely eaten anything today, Vodka. I know it’s not much, but I figured it’s better than nothing,” Scarlet said, tugging at her facemask. “If you spill it, you’re cleaning it up.”
The remark’s lack of bite died under the weight of the miserable air in the room. Scarlet simply stood by the bedside, watching her girlfriend slowly work through the soup, and thinking about how today had gone.
Truth be told, Daiwa Scarlet was just as upset as Vodka was. They had a race coming up soon- both of them in the same one for the first time in a season- and now Scarlet was going to have to pray and hope that whatever Vodka had caught wasn’t infectious. Them sharing a dorm room was going to make it harder to avoid getting sick herself, however.
Scarlet sat down on a desk chair and tried not to look the other mare in the eye. She couldn’t bear to see her roommate (and girlfriend) in such a sorry state. She was taking charge of making sure her rival would return to good health sooner rather than later. If anyone asked, though, this was out of the kindness of her model student heart and nothing more.
Vodka sighed into the thermos. “I really hope this goes away soon. Don’t wanna feel like my head’s gonna explode anymore.”
“Like I said, you’re gonna be fine,” Scarlet reminded her. “Just finish the soup, and get some rest.”
“I’ve been stuck in bed all day, the last thing I wanna do is sleep even more.”
“You know you’re in no condition to be doing anything else right now. Don’t be stupid.”
Vodka’s head hung even lower, and Scarlet felt the pangs of regret strike her. She was really trying her best to keep up the usual banter, but Vodka was in such a bad condition that everything came off as mean-spirited.
The room went quiet as the sick uma slowly drank as much of the miso soup as she could stomach. When she was done, she handed the thermos back to Scarlet and stared at the blankets for a while. The warmth of the soup was spreading throughout her limbs, and for a moment she felt her muscles relax at the sensation. Breathing got a little easier, though it still felt like her nose was stuffed with cotton.
“Can you grab me more tissues?” Vodka muttered. “I think I’m gonna need ‘em.”
This was going to be the fourth packet Vodka had burned through today alone. Scarlet was glad to have the stash in the closet come in handy; the redhead dug through a pile of clothes and tossed one towards Vodka.
The packet struck the sick uma in the face with a light thump. “Ow,” she protested, more out of reaction than pain. “Nice aim.”
As Vodka tried to settle herself under the sheets, Scarlet took a seat in one of the desk chairs. She looks so miserable, she pondered. I wish there was more I could do than just feed her and give her my pity.
She stared at her girlfriend for a while and breathed in the silence. Surely Vodka was just about to turn the corner and start getting better. She wasn’t coughing every few seconds like she was yesterday, and the fever seemed to have broken a couple of hours ago. She just needed rest. A long one, at that.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by Vodka calling to her. “Huh? Sorry, what did you say?”
Vodka was looking at her with a quizzical expression. “I said, why are you even helping me so much? Y’know, aside from being my girlfriend and all that now.”
Scarlet scoffed but had to take a minute to think about that. It was kind of her duty as a romantic partner to take care of the other half, but that wasn’t the answer that Vodka was looking for.
“Does it matter?” Scarlet answered.
The dark-haired mare nodded. “I mean, kinda. We’ve only been together for like… a couple of weeks, I think? Imagine trying to tell me last year that I’d be babysat by the one girl I thought I hated the most, haha.”
It was funny when put into perspective, Scarlet thought to herself. Had she been shown this as her future a couple months ago, she would have played it off as a really stupid joke. “Yeah, it’s still taking some getting used to,” she admitted. “But… it’s not like I’d just let you suffer, you know?”
She shifted forward in her chair. “The thing is, we’re still rivals. And the last thing I want is to have my wins over you come with a caveat. I want to beat you at your best. I can’t say that I did if you’re still recovering from being sick- or worse, you can’t show up at all.”
Scarlet held back a laugh. “That sounds really stupid when I say it out loud. Still pretending like we hate each other…”
“Makes sense to me,” Vodka agreed. “Honestly… I’d probably do the same. But mostly because seeing you sad and stuff makes me sad. If that makes sense.”
“...yeah, there’s that too.”
Small laughs pushed the tension away. How strange to be hopelessly in love with the person driving you forward, they thought.
After a moment of lighter silence, Vodka put on a weak smile and asked, “Do you wanna give me a kiss goodnight?”
“Eugh! Fat chance,” Scarlet recoiled, face scrunching up in disgust. “As if I’d give you an easy way to get me sick too. Besides, I have to get to training. I’m already running late as it is.”
“Boo. Not even gonna read me a bedtime story?”
“Oh my goddesses, Vodka, do I look like your mom? You dummy.”
Vodka laughed, coughed, and finished laughing. Even the world’s worst sickness couldn’t stop her from teasing her girlfriend. She could feel the heaviness of sleep calling her, though…
Just as Scarlet opened up the door to leave, Vodka reached a hand out to her. “Hey. I love you.”
She could see that brilliant smile of Scarlet’s behind the mask. “I love you too,” Scarlet said. “Now get some sleep, okay?” And the door soon clicked shut behind her.
Vodka laid her head back down and closed her eyes. For the few minutes she was still awake, she would hold onto those words- they warmed her up more than any soup could.