Work Text:
It felt like her head was about to split in two.
When she woke up this morning, Whisper had felt a slight pain in her head. It didn’t hurt too bad, and she could still move around, so she figured that with some hydration and advil, it would fade away.
Boy, was she wrong.
A few hours later, she was on the living room couch, clutching her aching head and groaning. Any sort of noise and bright light was too sensitive for her. The air conditioner, the sun that trickled through the small gap of the closed shades… none of that was helping.
To make matters worse, before she left the house to go get it, Tangle had been rambling excitedly about this new rhythm game that she pre-ordered, ChaoBand, which apparently came out today. It even came with a guitar controller.
Now Whisper had to disappoint her by saying that she couldn’t deal with any brightness or noise from the TV all because of some headache holding her back.
Some girlfriend she was.
The wolf’s heart sank lower, and her head ached more when she heard the sound of the front door opening.
“I’m home, Strawberry!” Tangle called happily, causing her to cover her ears. At any other time, she would find her energetic voice cute and endearing. But now, it was clawing at her brain.
She opened her right eye slightly as the lemur strolled into the room gleefully, bag in her hand.
“I’ve been waiting so long for this. This is gonna be sweet ,” Tangle said, rummaging through the bag and taking the game and guitar out. Then she turned to Whisper. “Oh! Do you wanna hop on the two player mode with-“
She stopped herself when she saw the sight of the wolf clenching at her head with a pained look on her face. She placed everything on a chair nearby and walked over to her.
“Whisp?” she said, voice softer than usual. “You good?”
“Migraine,” Whisper muttered. She gathered the strength to look up at her, expecting disappointment in Tangle’s eyes. Instead, she found concern.
“Aww, Whispy…” She knelt down to face her better. “Is there anything I can do for you? Can you move?”
Whisper tried to sit up, to not be a burden to Tangle. Unfortunately, the headache only worsened, causing her to wince.
“Woah there, don’t strain yourself,” Tangle told her, helping her slowly lie back down. “Stay there, alright? I’ll go get you some water.”
“…mhm.”
The lemur gave her a soft smile before heading to the kitchen.
Huh. When did she get a migraine today? Tangle asked herself as she opened the fridge. She seemed alright this morning. Maybe it started while I was out? Dang it, if only I’d been there…
Tangle shook her head and grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge. This wasn’t the time to put herself under the bus. Whisper needed her.
Closing the door gently, she strolled back into the living room to find Whisper pressing a pillow against her head.
“I don’t think that’s gonna help much, Whisp.”
All she got was a muffled grunt in response.
“C’mon, take that off…” She placed the bottle down and took the pillow out of her hands. “This is supposed to go under your head, not over your head, silly.”
An exhale come out of the wolf’s nose. Maybe that was indicating a laugh? Tangle couldn’t tell.
“Well, I got you your water,” she said, picking it up and handing it to her. “Drink it slowly, alright?”
“‘Kay. Thank you.”
As the lemur watched her girlfriend sip down her drink, she realized that she had NO idea how to handle migraines. She did hear from Jewel that hydration helps, hence why she got the water, but that was it.
“…one sec,” she said, stepping out of the room. She fished her phone out of her pocket, went to her internet browser and looked up “how to cure/relieve migraines.”
I dunno if I can make it go away, but I’m sure I can at least relieve the pain…
-
In the next fifteen minutes, Whisper had found the house completely dark, with no lights on. Tangle had placed a cold towel on her head. She also had a cup of ginger tea in her hands (it helps with headaches, apparently, Tangle had said). A blanket was wrapped around her to give her more comfort.
“Anything else I can do?” the lemur asked, standing by the couch.
There was one more thing that Whisper wanted, but she felt that it would be a little selfish. Not to mention Tangle had already put plenty of time and effort to take care of her. Even still…
“A-actually,” Whisper stammered, face turning red. “Could you, um, sit with me under the covers? Please?”
At that, Tangle wasted no time to lift the covers so she could tuck herself in along with Whisper. The wolf felt her partner’s tail pull her closer as she ran her fingers through her ponytail.
This sensation was very comforting, but she still couldn’t help but feel guilty.
“M’sorry, Poundcake,” she muttered, ears drooping. “I know you were really looking forward to ChaoBand, and I just…”
“Huh? Hey, no no no! None of that,” Tangle reassured her, kissing her cheek. “This is something that can’t be helped. And the game’s not going anywhere.”
She watched as Whisper’s ears slowly perked back up, and as her smile crept back onto her lips.
“Tell ya what, when we’re sure your migraine’s gone, we’ll hop on together,” she suggested, her voice still soft. “I’ve seen some footage online, and the game’s got some of your favorites on there.”
Whisper raised an eyebrow as she sipped her tea. “But there’s only one guitar controller…”
“Well, y’see,” Tangle started. “I may or may not have gotten another one individually.” She pointed at the shopping bag, and sure enough, there was another guitar controller in the packaging.
The lemur’s ear twitched as she heard Whisper’s tail brushing back and forth on the back of the couch. “I guess that’d be pretty fun…” she giggled.
“You’re gonna love it,” Tangle said, lightly squeezing her hand. “But for now, what matters most is you getting better. We can cuddle, I can get you some more water… whatever you need, just tell me. I’ll do anything I can to help.”
Whisper clung onto Tangle’s tail, which was wrapping around her under the covers. “…thanks, Poundcake.”
Her migraine was still there, but cuddling up with Tangle, her pain had been slightly relieved.