It was hot. Way too hot. Sun kicked off the blanket and stumbled out of bed.
"Sun?" A tired voice called.
Blurry with sleep and whatever was ravaging his body had made him forget. He blinked at Bright "Hey, sorry. Forgot about you there," he gestured to the hallway that connected to the bathroom "Just gonna deal with something," he said.
Bright mumbled something in response then seemingly went back to sleep.
He flipped the light on and looked at himself in the mirror. A sweat broke out across his skin and the dampness was causing scales to form. Sun frowned at his hot golden gaze. He could NOT let Bright see him like this.
Fumbling for a towel to dry off, Sun popped a thermometer into his mouth. It beeped shortly after his quick pat down.
104.2
Oh that was Bad bad.
He shivered through a flush wave of heat in his body. His gaze flicked to the tub. It was way early in the morning but maybe Bright wouldn't notice if he cooled off a bit. Yeah. Yeah.
Bright woke up to Sun still missing. They didn't recall him ever leaving for the day.
Pushing aside their half of the blanket. Sun's side had still been crumpled next to them. That was definitely unusual.
They moved to the hall and spotted the bathroom with the door barely ajar. A vague memory pulled up in their mind of him motioning to area last night.
They knocked "Sun?"
A noise called back. Not a good noise at all. What if it was like last time?
Bright twisted the handle "I'm coming in," they said.
The bathroom was a sight. The curtain was torn off, Sun's clothes littered the wet floor, and the towel had been disregarded behind the toilet.
A long tail fin slapped the edge of the tub. Their eyes followed it up to the body that was sagging like a sand bag over the side. The fish whined a high noise at them.
Bright was frozen. This definitely wasn't how they were supposed to find out. Burning golden eyes pinned them to the spot. Red claws closed over the tub as Sun hoisted himself from the water. He tipped forward and landed wetly on the floor.
Their words came out in a squeak. The fish panted as it stayed where he had landed, rolling to his side and coiling into a ball. It was horrifying and-
Sun whined.
Kind of sad.
Bright stepped closer "S- Sun?"
The fish whined again. Claws shot out. They stumbled as one hand curled around their ankle. His touch was blazing hot. Bright yelped as Sun pulled them down. They tried pushing away the burning, gross, wet- oh god oh GOD
Fish Sun curled against them with a sigh. Bright tried to focus on their breathing but it was just all too much "S- Sun! Sun let me go."
He began to rumble. The purring would have been cute if they weren't about to have a panic attack "Sun!"
Bright planted a hand on his face to push him away. He released with a grumble. They scooched away from his grasp. Their shirt was wet and freezing. Sun sunk to the floor again from a shudder with his breathing still coming out huffed and short.
They stared at him. With a shaking hand, they touched one of the odd fins around his face. It felt weird. It also felt unbearably hot. Still shaking, they moved their hand to his forehead. Sun chirped as his gaze flicked to them. Golden eyes foggy and unfocused. Bright held their breath at the warmth radiating from him.
He was sick.
Sun whined and tried to grab their hand when it pulled away. Bright rubbed it against their soiled pajamas "You should have said something this morning. How am I supposed to help you like this?"
A wet slap from the tub.
Bright looked up. Sun's fin was still in the water. Carefully skirting around him, they made it to the bath water. They felt a chill as they touched it. That would explain why he was in it and why the bathroom was soaking wet. He must have been cooling off.
Their eyes flickered to where he was on the floor.
There was no way.
"Can you get back on your own?" They asked.
Sun whined.
That didn't answer the question.
There was absolutely no way. Bright tugged on Sun's gross scaly hands "Come on."
Sun pulled them down without even trying. The purring started again. This was going to be a long day.
An hour passed that consisted entirely of wrangling themselves from Sun, changing the water so that it was cold and fresh, struggling to drag him into the tub, and trying to not let him drag THEM into the tub.
Sun had sighed as the cool water filled the space around him.
Sun had changed in the time. His scales receded as much as it could with the persistent sweat caused by fever over his skin; his face shifted and formed familiar features, his eyes, his hair, his nose; everything inched back enough that Sun, the Sun Bright knew, had resurfaced. Bright looked him over "How are you feeling?"
He blinked tiredly at them. His mouth shifted as he mumbled out something but unintelligible as his head lolled to the side. Bright smiled "You've got a fever, you should rest up," they said.
Sun hummed as he leaned forward to rest his head against their shoulder. It was still hot but with the cold bath water it was mellowing out for him.
They carded their fingers in his hair. Red tipped fingers looped into their shirt "Cuddle with me," Sun grumbled. Bright yelled as Sun leaned back and pulled them into the tub again.
Bright could hear the sad clicks coming from the bathroom. They had left Sun alone so they could eat breakfast and figure out what exactly one would feed a sick person. Or at least a sick fish person. Could he eat human food in this other form? Was it safe for him?
A loud thump came from the bathroom. Bright put down a can of soup, immediately investigating what he had done now.
Sun whined from his spot on the floor, clawing the wet tiles to reach the soft carpet of the hall. Bright frowned "Sun you have to stay in the tub. You're running a fever," they said.
Sun let out a pathetic noise. His claws barely reached their ankle. They pulled back out of reach "I'm getting us food, you'll be fine,"
He frowned and let out a long lonesome sigh like the idea of just getting food was so majorly inconvenient.
Bright chuckled. They crouched down and, still fighting their fear, stroked his face "Do you want to move to the bed?" they said. A soft squeak came out from him. He turned his head to press into their palm as if his feverish scales seeking their cool skin. They petted his face for a moment.
Standing up, Bright sighed "Let's get you to bed."
Getting Sun into the bed as a Fish was easier said than done. It was worse than getting Sun into the tub because his scales were slippery on the wet tiles compared to the awkward drag on him on the carpet.
He shifted back again partially. Bright had started to figure that process out. Fish when wet, human when dry. Like H20 if the girls weren't pretty mermaids but rather a thing like Sun. That was a weird thought to have about your boyfriend.
The dryness of the carpet had changed him enough to have scale covered legs instead of his long tail. He stumbled, leaning heavily against Bright and wrapped his arms around them. He twisted them around and fell back. The duo plopped onto the mattress. Sun burned his warm face into their neck with a sigh.
"I'm starting to think you're faking this," Bright mumbled.
