A Hint of Bleu, a Waking the Dead ficlet for Chanel

[Vetinari]

Well Chanel, I hope this suits.

"Eve should be here already!" bellowed Boyd over his shoulder as he strode into the bedsit, Spencer Jordan following close upon his heels, and stared around him. There were thin greying curtains at the grubby window before which stood a cheap formica table with metal legs, two unmatched kitchen chairs placed optimistically in the narrow gaps at either side. A full ashtray overflowed onto the windowsill and there was a damp smell of rot in the air. The faded blue mattress of a futon lay half folded in the corner, its grey-white contents spilling out through a rip in the thin fabric. A meagre two bar electric fire stood on a hearth which had been long ago blocked up, and it was to one side of the chimney stack, in a recess until recently hidden behind a false wall that the body had been found.

A white clad figure knelt on the floor, her head and shoulders closeted inside the roughly made gap in the pink wallpaper. Boyd walked right up close behind the pathologist and tried to peer in through the narrow gap. "So, what have you got for us Eve?" There was a long silence followed by a rather squelching muffled sound, accompanied, Boyd noticed, by a slight jerk of the protruding buttocks. "Eve?" He said again.

The buttocks shifted and Eve's face came into sight. Her eyes looked slightly red, Boyd noticed. Then again, it was probably dusty behind there. That must be it, he thought, dismissing the idea that anything might be wrong. After all, there was never anything wrong with Eve. Dependable, that's what she was!

Eve pulled herself upright, leaving her mask firmly in place but pulling a head torch from her brow. Breathing carefully through her mouth she looked down at her white gloves hands. "It's mummified." She muttered.

"What was that?" Boyd looked irritated. "Speak up Eve!"

"The body is mummified." Eve said more loudly, cringing as she heard the congestion in her voice but Boyd just continued looking at her, shaking his head, seemingly oblivious.

"Is that all?" Boyd frowned.

"I'll have to go back to the lab to do extra tests," said Eve, choosing her words carefully. Back to her beautiful, clean, air conditioned lab where tree pollen existed only in her imagination and not, as now, seemingly trapped in the linings of her nasal passages. The very thought of the pollen seemed to trigger a shifting within her nasal passages and she could feel the itchy prickling sensation beginning to build once more. She gripped the torch in front of her, staring downwards and pretending to adjust the head band, fighting the urge to rip off the mask and rub her burning nose. "I have to go! I'll send in the team to finish up," she muttered making a run for the door and disappearing through it at top speed.

"What's eating her today?" Boyd asked, turning to Spencer with a puzzled expression. The other man merely shrugged and went over to peer in behind the wall as if looking for the answer there but the space was in darkness.

Eve sat in the car outside, a bunch of tissues clutched in her hand and a look of deep frustration welded between her eyebrows. The short walk to the car had, if anything caused an intensification of her problems. Within her nose she could feel a sensation like a million microscopic insects buzzing and fluttering and she sniffled desperately and rubbed her nose with her palm, a small circular movement which gave only a moment's relief before "Huh-IASSHHu!" she was overtaken by a sneeze. Another followed quickly on its heels Hit-CHHuu!" and a tear overflowed from each eye. She dashed them away quickly and caught a third wet sneeze in then palm of her hand, wiping it away with the bunch of paper hankies and mopping ineffectually at her eyes and nose before turning the key in the ignition, clicking the indicator downwards and pulling away, the damp tissues still clutched in her hand.

The carpark was quiet when she got back. Boyd's car wasn't back yet she noted with some relief. That was two less people to witness her continuing humiliation. Damn this hayfever! Normally she kept it carefully under control with highly effective prescription drugs but due to a miscalculation, today she had run out ... and it was a bank holiday. The emergency pharmacy was right on the other side of town and she knew from experience that there would be a queue. And of course Boyd, even when working on cold cases brooked no delays. She sighed deeply. Once inside, she would be able to wash her face which might cool down her burning eyes. She swiped at them tiredly with her fists and then surveyed herself briefly in the rear-view mirror. Swollen watery eyes and a nose with red rimmed nostrils due to continual rubbing. Very attractive Eve, she told herself, trying hard to keep her hands down but she couldn't resist rubbing her nose again, almost groaning with the sensation of relief that was temporarily hers. It was time though, to brave the outdoors again, even if only for a few moments. She pushed open the car door, rushed across the empty lot and stepped inside. Even that brief moment in the outdoors added to her torture. The pollen count must be so high today. As she mounted the stairs she could feel the urgent desire tugging at her nostrils. The hard walls mocked her even as her footfalls echoed loudly around the stairwell. I am not going to sneeze she thought. Not here and not now where the sound would be relayed throughout the entire building. She rubbed her nose again but the sneezes were on their way.

"Huuuh…. Ahhhh…"

She fought the feeling, trying not to breathe through her nose, scurrying up the stairs almost falling in her haste

"HUH-RAASSSHew!" the enormous sound burst from her, echoing loudly and from the landing above she heard a stifled laugh. Someone called out "Bless you!" and her face flushed deeply as she rushed through the exit and into the lavatory. " Heh -ISSShhuh! Haah–TSSShuh! Ah -ESShhhuh!" the sneezes burst from her and she tried to contain their increasing wetness, grabbing first a tissue from her pocket and then with increasing desperation with toilet tissue. Eventually she groaned to a halt and took a deep shaky breath, standing there with her eyes shut, her hands still steepled over her face and tears running down her through her fingers.

"Goodness are you OK?" Grace's voice, though gentle as usual, sounded shocked, but not as shocked as Eve was when she realised she was not alone. She swung round to the mirror and quickly tried to clean the wetness from her face feeling deeply agitated. "You should go home Eve. You look awful."

Thanks for that, she thought. Just what I need to hear .... but she bit back the retort, knowing that Grace's intentions were surely good, as they usually were. "I'm OK," she lied thickly, "It's only allergies." Well that part was truthful at least, though goodness knows this felt worse than any cold she had ever had. She pushed the tap and water gushed into the basin and she splashed her face with it, enjoying the wonderful coolness and the feeling once more of relief. "I'll be fine once I've had a shower and get into the lab," she assured the older woman, hoping against hope that it would be true. Grace only looked at her doubtfully as she edged past and walked along the corridor to the door of her personal domain.

TBC?

[Chanel_no5]

Uh... hotness overload!

That was just fantastic! Wow... delicious!

TBC?

Oh my God, yes please!!!?

Ahem. Now that I have gotten myself a little bit back together again, I can speak in full sentences instead of just with smileys. Hehe. It was incredible, so well written. Do you watch it yourself? I especially loved how true you were to characters. I love it when Boyd gets his temper tantrum, how Spence just tags along, and I adore Grace, she's so sweet and kind.

Ah, that was apparently all the coherent things I could write... I'm back to the drooling smileys again...

[count tiszula]

Mmm...Tara Fitzgerald....and her buttocks....

I expect that in the next part she will explain to some confidant[e] just how the pointiness of her lovely nose combines with its squidginess to expedite lots of allergic materiel to her sneezy spots, with hilarious consequences......

[NoV]

“HUH-RAASSSHew!” the enormous sound burst from her, echoing loudly and from the landing above she heard a stifled laugh. Someone called out ”Bless you!” and her face flushed deeply as she rushed through the exit and into the lavatory. ” Heh -ISSShhuh! Haah–TSSShuh! Ah -ESShhhuh!” the sneezes burst from her and she tried to contain their increasing wetness, grabbing first a tissue from her pocket and then with increasing desperation with toilet tissue. Eventually she groaned to a halt and took a deep shaky breath, standing there with her eyes shut, her hands still steepled over her face and tears running down her through her fingers.

Have never watched the show and have no idea what the characters look like, but damn, I know good sneezing when I read it!

[Chanel_no5]

Have never watched the show and have no idea what the characters look like

Eve

[NoV]

Have never watched the show and have no idea what the characters look like

Eve

Aha - I see what you mean

[High on Lullabies]

I have absolutely no interest in Waking the Dead whatsoever, the only thing I know about it is that Trevor Eve is in it However, that didn't in any way stop me from enjoying the story very much indeed! The sneezing is beautifully described and I'm sure Chanel is absolutely correct to say you had the characters down just right.

This bit in particularly made me melt a little inside:

As she mounted the stairs she could feel the urgent desire tugging at her nostrils. The hard walls mocked her even as her footfalls echoed loudly around the stairwell. I am not going to sneeze she thought. Not here and not now where the sound would be relayed throughout the entire building. She rubbed her nose again but the sneezes were on their way.

[TheCakeIsAlive]

Oooh... another piece of wonderful Vetinari-writing. Absolutely love the descriptions. How you torture your poor character (to which I have absolutely no objection at all really ). Great story.

[Vetinari]

Good grief, was it really that long?

Sorry Chanel.

Still another little scene here .....

Like so many other things in the building outside of Eve’s lab, the shower room was showing signs of age. The rather grubby curtain had turned from white to yellowish grey and the the only seating was a short slatted bench in the corner to the right of the cubicle. Closing the door carefully behind her, she flicked the lightswitch and hung her towel and some clean scrubs carefully behind the door, before slumping onto the seat and closing her hot prickly eyes. Lifting both hands to her face, she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyelids and rubbed hard. Although she knew the relief was temporary, it felt fantastic and despite knowing it would make her eyes redder than ever, she was beyond caring what she looked like. She sat there for a few moments, trying to summon up the energy to remove her outdoor clothes and get into the shower but so irritated were her sinuses, that even the slight vibration of her hands on either side was enough to set off the prickliness in her nostrils again. Swiftly she slid her hands down her face until they were steepled over her nose and mouth and she hung there, her breathing shallow and jerky as she waited for the sneezes she knew were on the way.

“ AaaTCHHew!” the sound echoed loudly in the small space and immediately she could feel liquid running inside her nose, intensifying the urgency of the tickle deep in her sinuses. She sniffed the moisture back, the sound shockingly wet, the action triggering once more the urge to sneeze. The sensation was intense and persistent, there was another fit on the way she could tell. At least, she thought with relief, she was somewhere private this time. She felt her breath quicken, she inhaled once, twice...

There was a loud banging on the door and to Eve’s horror, she heard Boyd’s voice. ”Are you alright in there Eve?”

There was no time to take any preventative measure, no time even to grab her towel to muffle the sound and despite the fact that she knew it was hopeless, she took the only course of action she could, burying her face in her sleeve and trying to stifle.

"HmpGNT! .... ugh!” A muted groan escaped her but the incredible irritation didn’t let up for a second.

"HmpSCHHHi!" She tried to hold her breath, held her arm tightly over her face trying to quell the tickle but the sensation in her nostrils was burning, inexorable. She shut her eyes tightly and an allergic tear overflowed from her eye and slid down her cheek as she inhaled raggedly and the sneezes burst from her explosively, "Heh- SSSHHH! Huh-IiSCHew! Har-AASSHHOO!”

There was a sudden silence followed by a scuffling from outside the door.

“Eve?” It was Boyd’s voice again.

Eve carefully took a deep shaky breath through her mouth and let it go slowly before replying reluctantly. “Yes?”

“Are you OK?”

What kind of a damn fool question was that? “I’m fine,” she called out, wincing at the congested sound of her own voice.

“If you’re ill you should go home.” Boyd sounded concerned now and Eve tried to pull herself together and replied more firmly, “I’ll be fine once I’ve had a shower.”

“Sure?”

“Sure!”

She heard his footsteps clicking away along the corridor and without delay stripped off her clothes and threw them into a plastic bag which she twisted round, roughly sealing it. Switching on the shower she stepped underneath its relieving cascade. The water sluiced over her and she began to relax as she pictured the tiny grains of pollen being washed away, running down over her body and down the drain. She let the flood play over her face and hair and the scalding downpour enveloped her in steam. Breathing deeply she felt the steam enter her sinuses, felt another sneeze on the way, and this time she welcomed it, knowing that this time it would bring only relief.

[Chanel_no5]

Oohhh... uh... :dribble:

Yum. Oh God I love this so, so much, it's perfect! Thank you so much!! Poor Eve, how I would love to give her some comfort... eh, sort of.

What kind of a damn fool question was that?

Man, I loved that!!