Ash sighed and popped another cough drop into her mouth as she snuggled closer into her blankets. Singing was half of her claim to fame, and when something threatened her voice, she took it seriously. Sh wasn't going to push this cold. Luckily Moon understood, and gave her full time off to recover. So here she was, laying on her couch and binging all of everything in her Netflix queue. A knock at the door interrupted the sound, and Ash hit the pause to go check it. Opening the door, she was greeted by Meena, her close friend and partner in rhyme. "Meena? What's up?"
"I have gifts from everyone at the theater. They would have all come, but we didn't want to crowd you. I…I volunteered."
"Awesome."
"Also I was the only one who could carry this-" she grunted and hauled a giant pot from the side of the doorway "-by myself."
"Frozen Hell what is that?"
"This is Rosita's homemade chicken soup. Unfortunately, I think she made it for 35 piglets, not one porcupine."
"No kidding! I could go swimming in that thing. Could you put it in the corner of the kitchen?"
"You got it."
Ash followed her in, partially to offer her meager assistance in case something went wrong, and partially to keep herself from spoiling the surprise of what everyone else brought. "So, what's next?" Ash asked, sounding like a kid on Christmas. Meena noticed and smiled to herself as she walked back to the car.
"From Johnny, we have a bag of industrial-strength cough drops-"
"Nice.
"-from Puerto Rico."
"Ho boy. Maybe if I'm going to go get my leg cut off."
"Gunter gave you this disco ball."
"Why?"
"We don't know. Maybe you could fit it into your apartment somewhere."
"Why not. I'll try."
"Mr. Moon gave you this plushie."
"Really."
"He said that's what you'd say, so he told me to tell you it's a plushie of the common cold virus."
"Better."
"And also this lighter."
"Now we're talking."
"Eddie got you these scented candles."
"Yeah?"
"I think he was confused by the whole 'Rocker Girl' thing, so half of them smell like Vanilla and such, and half of them smell like 'Angst'."
"Well that will be interesting."
"I held my breath all the way over."
"Should I even ask what Mike offered?"
"The comforting words, 'Suck it up Pointy.'"
"Ah, good 'ole Mike. So kind. So thoughtful. And did you come with something?"
"Of course." Removing a cooler from the back seat that Ash could comfortably lay in, Meena opened it to reveal it stocked to the brim with-
"Ice cream! Oh, you're a saint Meena."
"I remember getting a cold once. My throat hurt all the time, and only ice cream helped. I didn't know what flavor you liked, so I got all of the classics I could find. Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, and such."
"Fantastic."
Ash just stood there, staring at the cooler. She looked like she was contemplating something.
"Uh, Ash?"
"Hey Meena, what's your favorite movie?"
"Huh? Well, I'd say The Secret Life of Walter Mitty."
"Excellent. I've never heard of it."
"Uh…"
"Want to come watch it with me? And help me eat this large amount of ice cream?"
"Uh, sure. Yeah! Yeah I'd love to. Let me just tell my parents I'll be late."
"Sweet."
Ash totally didn't cry at any part. Shut up.
