Fluffy Friday

I own nothing. Done to help Awerewolf on his path to recovery. Love you, bro, and I hope this makes you feel better!

--

"Achoo!"

The sound was accompanied by a jerk of motion from the boy in bed, sending several piled up tissue careening across the ivy room, landing on several different items, including a computer, TV, and bookshelf. Awerwolf sniffed, burrowing himself farther under his igloo of blankets.

"I told you not to work so hard! You got yourself sick, didn't you?" came a voice from downstairs, one that reminded Awerewolf of his uncle, bold but loving, and was accompanied by the sound of feet pounding up the stairs. The mauve door burst open as a snow leopard charged into his room, panda in tow, causing the sick male to cry out in shock, scrambling out of his bed to hide in the adjacent closet.

"Go away, go away, go away!" he muttered, hoping he would wake up.

The closet door was thrown open, animals standing menacingly tall in the doorway over the ill man. Awerewolf was certain it was over, he would never get to meet his e-sister, never get to go surfing again, never eat another meal.

And then they spoke.

"Get up. Merk sent us to take care of you, and we're not leaving until you're better," groused the leopard.

Awerewolf was speechless as it suddenly occurred to him how cartooned they appeared. His mind whirred into action, booting up slower than Windows98, as it dawned on him who was visiting him.

Tai Lung and Po.

"Now, Tai, he's not going to get any better if yell at him. I mean, people yelling at me only makes me feel worse. And besides, I like his stories, he's awesome! It's so cool that we get to look after a celebrity!" Po shouted, nearly bouncing around the room in excitement.

Tai Lung sighed in resignation, lifting the human up only to stop short of laying him on his bed at the sight of the multitude of tissues that coated the dirty blankets and sheets.

"Po?" he turned to face the panda that had finally stopped babbling about how cool it was to even see Awerewolf.

"Yeah, T- Woah! Your bed's a mess! I'll go get new sheets! And a trash can! And some soup!" Po shouted, continuing to list things he needed to get to improve Awerewolf's condition as he raced out of the room.

Tai Lung sighed, watching the doorway where Po had just stood longingly. This did not escape Awerewolf's notice, but he decided, given his current position, not to press the issue.

"So," Awerwolf began, drawing the word out to last several seconds before he continued, "Merk sent you? She's that worried about m-m-Achoo!"

Greenish-yellow snot coated the front of Tai Lung's tall form, drawing an exasperated groan from the leopard.

"Yes, she is. I opted to go just to get away from her incessant complaining about how she was so worried about you, she thought you were sick for too long, and was worried you were going to die. In all honesty, I think if it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have come, and this," he nodded toward his snot-logged fur, causing Awerewolf to blush shamefully. "this is why."

Po bounded back into the room, pulling the entire mass of sheets, pillows, and tissues off the bed in one, fell swoop before tossing the mess into a hamper. Running out of the room, he returned a moment later with new sheets, a pillow, and several blankets that were skillfully thrown onto the bed, a flick of his wrist resulting in a wrinkleless set up.

"Wow," breathed Awerewolf as Tai Lung tucked him into bed, touching a furred paw to his forehead before retracting it in shock.

"You have a fever," he stated, a sarcastic glare forming on Awerewolf's face as if to say 'no duh?'

Po called from downstairs for Tai Lung to help him with the soup, and the leopard was half way down the stairs before the flick of his tail even registered in Awerewolf's mind.

"Wow," whispered Awerewolf, feeling his heavy eyelids droop. "Merk wasn't kidding when she promised to send me a Po. Wonder where Tai Lung came from, though."

He closed his eyes for only a moment.

--

Opening tired eyes, Awerewolf came face-to-face with Po, who then declared, "He's awake!"

"Finally," groused Tai Lung, picking up a tray from a corner table of the room.

Placing it on a stand, legs of the small table on either side of Awerewolf's lap, Po propped his back up on several freshly washed pillows. The aromas wafting from the soup drew a hungry growl from Awerewolf's empty stomach, Po beaming with pride as he offered, "My newest recipe! It's got tons of herbs that I brought with me all the way from China! I call it Instant Remedy Soup! What do you think?"

Tentatively lifting the spoon to his lips, Awerewolf slurped several sips of the soup before tossing the spoon aside and lifting the entire bowl to his face, downing the broth as Po's grin widened and, out of the corner of his eye, Awerewolf saw Tai Lung smiling lustfully at Po, who remained oblivious as ever.

As he finished his soup, Awerewolf wondered, 'Are they together, or not? I wonder if all those fan fictions about them are true.'

Placing the bowl back on the table, Awerewolf inquired, "Hey, do you guys have, y'know, girlfriends, or something?"

Tai Lung glared, and if looks could kill… well, Awerewolf was very glad they couldn't. Po, on the other proverbial hand, simply smiled, and replied, "Nope! In all honesty, I'm not into girls. But the Jade Palace is cool with that, and Merk is real awesome about it, so I've got no problems!"

And with that, he bound off, shouting something dessert.

"Listen, you," growled Tai Lung, pressing his face impossibly close to Awerewolf's. "I've got dibs on the panda, so don't go getting any cute ideas. He's mine, you understand?"

Nodding fearfully, Awerewolf asked, "So you two are together?"

The angry express fell to one of despair as the leopard replied, walking out of the room, "It's none of your damn business."

'So they're not together, but they want to be. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me,' Awerewolf sighed as Po passed Tai Lung in the hall on his way back to his room.

Shutting the door behind him, Po seated himself next to Awerewolf and smiled at him. Awerewolf loved how cute and naïve Po could be, and understood why Tai Lung would want to protect that. Hell, he couldn't do Kung Fu or anything like that and he wanted to protect the panda.

"Hey, Po, can I ask you something?" Awerewolf questioned, ignoring his aching head as Po laughed jovially.

"You just did, but you can ask something else," he replied, grin unfaltering.

"What do you think of Tai Lung?"

Po froze.

Slowly, he opened his mouth, expression frightened as he answered, "I…like him, like a lot, but, I mean, he's Tai Lung, hottest cat on Earth, and I'm just a…a…"

"Big, fat panda?" offered Awerewolf, watching Po nod sullenly. "Well, maybe he doesn't see it like that. Maybe he might even think it's cute and is too afraid to admit that he lo…lo…Achoo!"

The tray flew up, the blankets shot out, Po was smacked in the chest with a stray elbow, and Awerewolf felt his eyes watering as he glanced up at Po apologetically. Po returned the look as if to say 'it's beyond your control.'

"I don't think Tai could ever love someone like me. I mean, look at me. I don't look like his type. He's hot, I'm not," Po muttered, picking up the mess left from Awerewolf's sneeze.

"Now, Po, do you really believe that, if you love someone, you're going to care how they look? When did you get that superficial?" Awerewolf admonished.

Po looked stunned, gaping at the human as Tai Lung returned with a fresh box of tissues. As he placed it on the desk, Awerewolf motioned at him to Po, mouthing, "Go! Tell him! Now, before you regret it!"

"Um, Tai?" Po began, shuffling over to the leopard.

"Yes, Po?" Tai Lung replied, turning around.

And Po made his move. Gripping Tai Lung's powerful shoulders, he slammed their muzzles together, eyes closing as Tai Lung's bulged. A deep, heart wrenching fear gripped the panda that he had just made the worst mistake of his life when, out of the blue, he felt something warm and wet along his lips and realized that the impossible was happening.

Tai Lung was kissing him back.

Pulling away, he whispered against the snow leopard's cheek, "I love you."

Tai Lung smiled.

Po saw it out of the corner of his eye and felt it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. That, of course was eclipsed by the beauty he felt when he heard the words that dripped from Tai Lung's lips.

"I love you, too."

The moment was perfect. The sun was filtering through the window, dancing on their fur, casting graceful shadows on the wall and then-

"Achoo!"

The two animals glanced over at the sick human, feeling their faces burn with blushes.

Awerewolf smirked as he instructed, "Don't mind me! Just pick up where you left off!"

The two looked at each other, picked up several pillows, and attacked, feathers flying everywhere.

Of course, several days later, Awerewolf was the one taking care of the sick panda and leopard.