Party Favors

Summary: Though recovering from a cold, Amber still wants to attend Hildegard's party. James ends up helping her to get prepared, much to her dismay.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Sofia the First." :D

A/N: So here's a random little story from me after quite a long week… Feels good to exercise my creative side. Hope you enjoy it.

"ACHOO!"

James made a face as Amber sniffled and whined in frustration. He laughed. "You okay, Amber?"

The blonde girl pouted from her spot in her bed. She'd been sick with a cold for the last two days. Though it wasn't that serious, Baileywick had insisted she stay in bed. She was getting antsy and wanted nothing more than to get out of the castle for a while. "I wish I could stop sneezing," she complained, her voice distorted due to her current state.

"Yeah, I know. You scared the servants earlier when they came in to clean your room." He snickered when she shot him a look. "But seriously, are you feeling any better?"

"Sort of, but I just…ju—ah, achoo!" She sighed as she dabbed her nose with her handkerchief and shook her head. "Ugh…"

James smiled at her. "I guess I'd better let you get some rest, huh?"

"No! Don't leave me." She grabbed her brother's arm before he could leave. "Sofia is spending the night with Vivian, and I'm so bored being cooped up in here."

The prince raised an eyebrow at his sister. "Is that your way of saying that you want my company?" he asked, humored by her actions.

"I guess…" She grinned when he shrugged and hopped onto her bed, though he moved to the farther side. "Afraid you'll catch my cold?"

"Nah," he said playfully, "this side just has better pillows."

Amber rolled her eyes and yawned. She then glanced at her bedside table and gasped, picking up a scroll. "Oh, no! I forgot! I so completely forgot!" She whined and read over the scroll.

James blinked in confusion. "What is it, Amber?"

"Hildegard's having a season-changing party tonight, and I was invited. Oh, I've been so busy sneezing that I completely forgot about it." She sighed, tossing the scroll to the floor. "I guess I can't go anyway. Even if I tried, Baileywick would probably just send me back to bed."

The prince pondered the girl's dilemma before smiling mischievously. "Not if you can convince him that you're better."

She blinked at him. "What do you have in mind?"

A few minutes later…

"This is not going to work, James," Amber grumbled as her brother dumped her small bag of beauty products onto her bed.

"You want to go to the party, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

James grinned. "Then you have to look well enough to Baileywick to go, so stop complaining and trust me!" He picked up a palette with numerous colored circles within. "Now…where exactly do these things go again?"

Amber groaned. "I might as well just give it up. If you can't even tell the difference between eye shadows and blush, I'm as good as stuck in this bed anyway."

He rolled his eyes as he selected a small brush from the little pile of products. "Relax, Amber. I can figure it out…I think." He selected a pale pink color with the tip of the brush and held it up to Amber's face.

She squirmed a little as he drew the brush over her eyelid. "Do you even know what you're doing?"

"Not really," he admitted with a grin. "But since the brush thingy is so little, I figure it's more for eyes than for cheeks, right?"

"For once, you're right." She smiled as he gave her a disappointed look. "I'm kidding."

After he finished with her eyelids, James picked up a round object from the pile. He opened it and blinked in surprise at the large puffy item sitting in the center. James picked it up and realized it was a pouf for what appeared to be powder.

Amber watched him in a bit of a worried way, realizing what he'd just discovered. "Maybe we should skip that," she suggested.

"No, I think I know what to do!" He grinned and lifted the pouf up, patting the powder onto Amber's face. He then laughed at the outcome.

"What?!" she whined, feeling as though she needed to sneeze again due to all of the powder.

"You look like a ghost!"

"JAMES!" She reached up and began wiping the powder away before sneezing again. "Ugh, I give up. It's not worth it. And it's not like Hildy isn't going to have another season-changing party in a few months anyway."

"Are you sure? I thought the ghostly-pale look was working for you," her brother teased with a smile. He shrugged at her look of dismay. "I'm kidding, Amber. Are you sure you don't want to try to go?"

"Yeah… Besides, if I'm just going to sneeze all night, it wouldn't be much fun anyway." She yawned and started gathering her beauty products, placing them back into the bag. "Thanks for trying, James."

"Any time!"

"No, never again," she retaliated with a smirk. "You're horrible at makeup. But thanks for trying."

He grinned. "You're welcome." He then gasped when an idea came to him. "Hey! Just because you can't go to the party doesn't mean we can't do something fun."

She blinked as she snapped her beauty bag together and put it on her table. "What did you have in mind?"

Baileywick stopped by Amber's room about half an hour later, intent on checking on the princess. He raised his hand to knock on her door but stopped when he heard laughing. Curious, he quietly opened the door to peek inside.

Amber was still in bed, as he'd hoped she'd be, and she was seemingly laughing at a puppet show James was putting on. The twins looked like they were truly having fun and getting some bonding time.

The steward smiled, deciding she seemed better. Opting against checking on her for the umpteenth time that day, and realizing she seemed happy and content at the moment, Baileywick hummed a little song to himself as he moved on to the next important item on the list: overseeing the baking of the king's jiggly wiggly pudding.

The end