Archive of Our Own ^beta

Pippia groaned, blinking at the light emanating from outside, not ready to face anything at all today. Judging by the tint, she had finally been able to sleep a longer stretch of time, but she didn't feel much better for it.

Raising an arm, she battled her unkempt hair that kept tickling her face and getting into her eyes, before she re-adjusted the wrap around her upper body.

Both her torso and her flipper were packed in multiple layers against losing her inner heat while she was keeping it still. All her scales were limp, and after she had spend much of the night and half the day tossing and turning, her scales were even stacked wrongly at multiple places.

All in all, Philippia Pearlstar felt thoroughly uncomfortable, miserable, unkempt and sorry for herself. Closing her eyes and leaning her head back, she just wished for time to pass until she felt better.

Suddenly, there was a solid hand softly touching her upper arm.

She hadn't even felt her approach, and felt disinclined to open her eyes again.

“Hello?” Her voice scratched and she could hear it lacked life. She didn't care.

Her guest (could she call them a guest under this circumstances?) squeezed her arm slightly.

“It's me. I missed you at the meeting and I heard you were too ill to come, so…”

“…so you came to me instead. But you needn't miss it on my account. I'm just resting and I'm not good company at the moment.”

“I want to be here, Pipkin.”

Any small movement Hecatia made brought a gentle cool swish to her hot cheeks, and eased her discomfort a little.

Pippia slowly opened her eyes again, and the hand on her arm remained. Her friend was unusually tactile, and Pippia adored her for it.

“What can I do to help?“ Hecatia broke the short silence, and what she said made Pippia melt a little.

“I'm not sure, actually. I'm keeping warm and have eaten a bit and everything…“ Cranky, Pippia battled again at her blonde tendrils wafting about her head.

Her friend hummed softly.

Then, with attentively controlled movements, she began parting her friend's hair and carefully started to put it into several braids for ease of keeping them orderly.

Very grateful and awash with nostalgia, Pippia enjoyed the quiet way her friend went about it.

Hecatia finished flipping the last one through to a secure knot, and Pippia could see that she too felt a little wistful.

“Thank you, Hexie.”

“You're welcome. You do feel better now?”

“Yes, very much. I mean, I could do with a good scratch-down, but the hair feels wonderful.”

She hadn't meant anything by it, but her friend gave her a thoughtful glance.

“I can help you with your tail, too.”

Pippia's insides jolted in multiple ways. Searching into black eyes, feeling hesitant. It had been many years since they had been that… intimate. Doing each other's hair was one thing, but this…

Hecatia just stayed where she was, observing. A little blush had crept up her chin bones, but she looked oddly bold, nonetheless.

Pippia nodded, and unravelled most of her wrappings, taking care to keep her sensitive tail fin firmly tucked into her funnel to keep it warm.

Eyes half-lidded, she felt nimble fingers stroking down her tail carefully. For a moment, Pippia felt exposed, wished her friend hadn't offered. All the more because their rekindled friendship was still fresh. Through they moved in leaps and bounds, there still had been years they had been apart.

Then she swallowed, annoyed with herself. Exactly because she felt more comfortable helping than being helped, she wanted to give Hecatia the chance to do the same. And it wasn't as if she felt uncomfortable doing any of this with Hexie.

Smiling at her friend, Pippia laid her aching head back, while Hecatia carefully and slowly put a fingernail beneath wedged scales, plopping them back into place and smoothing them down.

Among all that she felt ill, this small matter brought Pippia palpable relief, one niggling little pain less she didn't even know had been there.

Exhausted, she leaned back and smiled at her friend.

Hecatia, as if feeling it, looked up from a particularly tricky spot low at Pippia's tail cradled on her lap, her dark eyes deep holes that pulled Pippia in for a moment, before Hecatia resumed her care.

The next time their eyes met, both smiled, and Pippia, despite being ill, throat scratchy, scales itchy and fins a little cold, felt utterly loved and cared for.

“Thank you, Hexie. I'm glad we're friends again.”

“You're quite welcome, Pipkin.”

I love you too, my best friend.