The Elven Cloak. - (20 Parts/Complete)

[count tiszula]

Wonderful as ever; so many naughty sneezers, especially the narratrix in this instance. And on to London for a bravura finale. Though of course in real life Mr Bloom would return to his capital city and home, Canterbury......

[Vetinari]

Finally (it's only taken three years!) here is the end of The Elven Cloak. Thanks so much to those who have read and taken the time to comment. Thank goodness you are all so very patient. Here's to all of you and I hope you enjoy....

Part 20

Cate’s car seemed to crawl as it slid along the main street, finally pulling up outside the hotel. She thanked the driver gravely before sliding out and mounting the front steps. The decongestant was starting to wear off and she could feel the renewed thickening of her breathing and despite the mild discomfort that went with the feeling of congestion she felt a flicker of excitement at being able to return to Craig so much sooner than expected.

She slid the card into the lock and the door opened with a quiet click. Craig was on the bed reading and he looked up quizzically as she walked in.

“You’re early,” he tilted his head to one side.

“Yes, and I’ve got some time off,” her slightly thickened voice held a quiver of excitement and without thought she lifted her hand to her nose and rubbed her index finger lightly across the base of her nostrils, caught herself at it and looked half self-consciously towards the smiling man who had risen from the bed and was striding purposefully towards her.

Reaching her, he kissed her nose gently on the tip and then ran his lips over to the left side, around the rim of her nostril, feeling its shape beginning to flex and tremble with irritation as he laid his own nose against hers and kissed her lips.

“Now where were we? he crooned gently, sliding his hand round to cup her left buttock and lifting his other hand to run the tip of his finger around the edge of that already flaring nostril, watching eagerly and breathlessly as she lost control of her breathing and her head pitched forwards, exploding against his cheek.

*************************

Viggo crawled back to his room. He was mortified at Peter’s decision and at his own unprofessionalism. How could he have allowed something as minor as a cold to get in the way of a shoot? He wrapped his arms around himself and sat there a moment before determinedly making an effort towards pulling himself together. Groaning lightly he got back into his sweats, shivered into the bed and sat there miserably. A box of hankies stood beside his left hand and a fresh glass of water was on the table beside him.

Even now his nose wouldn’t give him a rest. It seemed to have reached a state of exquisite tickliness, prickling continually and yet not sufficiently irritated so as to allow him to sneeze.. As his breath hitched for the fifth time in as many minutes he raised his hankie-filled hands to chest height and found himself willing the sneeze to burst forth, but in a frenzy of frustration it slid away from him again, leaving him sighing. He lowered his hands once more.

An hour dragged by: An hour of nasal torture. Every few minutes it came, that intensification of the itching, high up in his nose and the horrible anticlimax as each time the feeling waned. He had long since given up raising the hankies, merely hanging there each time until the feeling diminished and then sighing deeply.

It came again and eyes closed he waited, enduring. He was hardly aware of the fact that the door had slid quietly open and Liv had stepped into the room bearing a bag filled with books and orange juice and all manner of things designed to help.

Abruptly the tickle escalated. He was in no way prepared and the sneeze burst from him, compact; intense “HRRASSHH!” His nostrils emptied half the built up contents from an hour of irritation onto his upper lip and he groaned aloud, groping for something to with which to clean himself. But before he could manage, he felt a soft hand grip his shoulder and found his nostrils gently enveloped in cool cloth. Liv cleaned his face gently then leaned in softly with a fresh handful of tissues exhorting him to blow. Gratefully he emptied his burgeoning sinuses into her left hand as she gently stroked his hair from his forehead with her right.

***************************************

“You know,” said Orly proudly as the plane began to level off at the top of its climb, “I think I’ve got the better of this cold now.” He sniffed loudly, emphasising the clearness of his nostrils by pressing on one and then the other, drawing his breath in loudly to emphasise the lack of congestion on both sides. “I must have a really good immune system,” he added, hearing Dom snuffling slightly and looking at me half scornfully with my indubitably rosy nose and cheeks. He settled back into his seat as the plane settled onto its trajectory and the air hostess began her round.

Orly watched her appreciatively. She was very pretty in her smart blue uniform, nicely curvaceous, her blonde hair tied back neatly. She reached us and leaned forwards smiling graciously. “Can I get you.....” she began when, suddenly and without warning, Orly pitched forwards with a massive “CHOOH!” and she flinched backwards, reflexes overcoming training as she was bathed in spray. Orly’s face was a picture of humiliation and misery as he apologetically tried to wipe down her bosom. Luckily she only laughed and said that it didn’t matter and Orly brightened again before whispering to me in a loud stage whisper “I wonder if she’s one of you!”

For me the plane ride was an ecstasy of tickliness and air conditioning hitching. The dry cool air dried out my nostrils and the virus worked hard to replace the moisture. Sneeze followed sneeze, each with a slow trickling build up, “aa...huh.....CHOO!, .......ah......ah....sniff......ah...CHOOO!” The two young men watched me with seeming amusement. They knew only too well what it meant as I squirmed in my seat between them. Finally Dominic put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me towards him. I continued to sneeze comfortably into his chest, his shirt gradually dampening from the onslaught which seemed to bother him not at all. Occasionally he sniffled himself and at one point sneezed twice, muffling the sound deliciously into the back of my neck.

The flight came to an end, descending in circles into Heathrow, touching down lightly onto the tarmac and we exited into the terminal. As I walked I could feel Dom’s hand in the small of my back in a way that seemed pleasantly possessive. To the boys it was obviously normal, a glamorous attendant was waiting and she ushered us into a private lounge to await the arrival of our car which seemingly had been delayed. To me, looking at it all with new eyes the situation seemed somehow unreal, so different from the usual airport horrors, the milling hoards of half drunken, badly shaven men and tired looking women. Here were faces both unfamiliar and illustrious where men in wonderfully tailored suits, clutched tumblers of amber liquid as they brushed shoulders with the likes of Grace Jones, resplendent in leopardskin, a tower of black and gold.

Even amongst that company my nose remained triumphantly irritated. As I stood there glancing around me I could feel liquid running towards the tip of my nose and being sniffled back upwards over and over until the itch was enormous and I could barely breathe. Finally overcome I sneezed wetly into my right hand, sniffling back the moisture that threatened to overflow and surreptitiously wiping away the remaining dampness with my fingers. Almost simultaneously I heard Orly’s exclamation from beside me “Johnny!” Whirling round I saw the gorgeous cheekbones of Johhny Depp descended upon us as he shook hands enthusiastically with Orly and then held out his hand to me.

Epilogue

“Cut!” The frustration in Lasse Hallströms voice was clear though his face showed both resignation and sympathy.

“Sorry,” Johnny, lying wet on the river bank, shivered and groaned as his nose itched crazily again and he twisted away from Juliette Binoche, arms still entangled around her and sneezed heavily into the air. Closing his eyes tiredly, his muttered “Excuse me,” sounded markedly congested, his voice more gravelly than usual.

Juliette, lying beside him, her own throat beginning to be ominously sore only smiled gently at him and entwined him in her arms more firmly, holding his warm face against her shoulder as unseen his nose dribbled into the mud.

[Kiwifruit]

PERFECT ending! (Though still sad it's over ) I love the epilogue too; what an awesome note to end a fic on xD This has been one of the best (not to mention the first!) fics I've read on the forum; you are one heck of a writer! Thank you so much for sharing this incredible story with us

[doggo]

Omg, I love the epilogue! What a fantastic fic! I am sad that it's over yet happy to see the delicious finishing touches. This fic is such a classic. Thank you.

[VoOs]

What a delicious ending. And the epilogue...

Johnnyyy...

[count tiszula]

Ah! La contagion continue! [And there is room for several sequels]. An excellently sneezy conclusion, especially on the part of the narratrix, and a fitting homage to the eternal sneeze.

Or perhaps, die ewig-niesige.....

[SweaterWeather]

Has it really been 3 years!? lol thx so much for writing this!

It was great and the ending was just, awesome

[ooo]

Oh! This fic! I remember discovering this in my very early days on this forum and absolutely loving it. How lovely to see it again!

Very nice ending, and a delicious epilogue. Yum yum yum. Thank you!

[scarlett_ohara2]

Very nice ending, and a delicious epilogue. Yum yum yum. Thank you!

My thoughts exactly. I remember starting to read this a few months ago and thinking wistfully that if only Johnny had been in LOTR, maybe he could've got in on it too... so the ending was perfect. Great job!

[The Sneezster]

Absolutely gorgeous, my dear. Thank you for writing this and continuing it, and for the very satisfying ending.

[ichixshiro14]

Oh my word, that was simply delish I liked the ending too, I only wish I got to see more Johnny sneezes

[Ezmac_45]

I loved the contagion it was perfecto!

[LeadaAlexys52]

i feel very late to the party but I just have to say.... THAT WAS AMAZING!!!! You chose the best characters for this and it was sooo exciting and amusing and HOT!!! Gahhh!! Can't handle the awesome!

[Ezmac_45]

Everything was great about this story, the sneezes, contagion...wonderful <3

[fraggle]

Another one behind the times, but just wanted to say that this was awesome. Glad I got to read it in one go though, the waiting might've just killed me!

[Vetinari]

Thank you so much for bringing this back up the story board. I really appreciate your comments.

[stargazer]

Don't know how I missed this years ago. So glad I finally found it.

[smmoct3]

This entire story is AMAZINGGGGGGGG. I am seriously blown away at how great this is!