Her fever was starting to wain, and the warmth was slowly returning to a comfortable level.

She felt safe...

She was happy.

Well, except for that horrid stuff she had stuffed down her throat...

~~~

"Come on, it's not that bad! Just take it!" Fries was holding Puffball closely, trying to stick an eyedropper full of dewormer into her mouth, yet the little puffling was having none of it, squealing out and turning her head away. It was hard enough to get her to take her pills, but the liquid medicine was even worse, as she completely despised the taste.

With a grunt, Fries managed to shove the eyedropper into Puffball's maw, squeezing the bulb and injecting the medicine into her mouth, and hopefully down her throat. "There you go! That oughta-" Within seconds, the little pink puffball retched and spat all the liquid back up, the pasty white formula splattering across Fries's box, and even partially getting on his mouth.

The potato snack grimaced, shutting his eyes and wiping himself off with a towel, while Puffball simply cried out for some actual good sustenance. Ever since Fries had switched her over to the puffling formula, rather than normal dairy milk, she had been gaining weight again, and was overall much more perky and active than before. Fries reached over to the side table for her bottle of warm water, stirring in the formula, which gave the liquid an opalescent sheen, before popping the top back on and offering it to the puffling. Puffball squeaked and instantly latched on, suckling the nutritious liquid up greedily.

-

Days passed, and as Puffball regained her strength, her true personality began to show. She was quite strong-willed, seeming to demand her food with a shrill squeak, and even had begun to nip at Fries's hands when he was taking too long to prepare her next meal. On top of that, she was starting to gain mobility, being able to scoot her way around in his arms and on the couch, making giving her any sort of oral medicine nearly impossible.

Luckily for Fries, however, she had just gotten the okay from the doctor to stop taking them.

Yet despite her impatient, ornery nature, she truly was sweet inside, cuddling up to Fries and seemingly purring after her meals, making soft cooing sounds as she slept. Every morning, when she woke up from her small bed in Fries's bedside drawer, she would softly squeak out to him, seemingly greeting him as he awoke. 

The two's bond only grew stronger as the weeks went on, with Puffball slowly starting to mature from a hapless infant to an energetic little puffling. Her yearling coat was beginning to come in, with a soft, fluffy down insulating her beneath her usual thin, silky fur. Her eyes were beginning to develop, and although they were still covered, she could seemingly wiggle and partially open them. She had begun to try some solid foods as well, with Fries offering her applesauce and mashed potatoes, which despite Fries's discomfort, she ravenously devoured.

And most exciting of all, she was beginning to develop her flight. At this time, Puffball could only hover an inch or so off the ground before falling back down with a soft thud, but she loved every second of being in the air. As a result of her tendency briefly take flight, Fries had to completely fall-proof his apartment, leaving blankets and pillows at the base of every chair and countertop, just in case she decided to jump off of one and try to take flight.

The two of them sat together, watching the news on TV, when Fries's phone rang. With a grunt, he pulled it out of his box and flipped it open, pressing the screen to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, this is your boss. Why haven't you shown up for work? It's been three weeks!"

Fries's eyes widened. He had been so preoccupied with Puffball that he had completely forgotten his work.

"I uhh...I've been dealing with some uh...family responsibilities."

"Well, you're gonna have a lot more time to do that now, since you're being replaced."

The voice on the other end seemed annoyed, yet Fries was surprised at the announcement.

"Really?"

"Yeah, some green jello-lookin kid. Seems nice but, I dunno, something about him tells me he might not be the best worker. Anyway, just wanted to let you know to not worry about your job anymore. See ya."

Fries sighed and closed his phone, popping it back into his box before looking down at Puffball.

"Green jello kid? Huh sounds famili- oh....."

~~~Author's Notes~~~

Our little puff is getting better! Hopefully next chapter we can see her really start to blossom

also I feel bad for everyone at Fries's old job. Their new employee sounds...interesting.

This is a bit of a shorter chapter, I don't really have much else to say here.

See y'all next time!

-Fire