Gillian Anderson & Etc. Drabbles

[Sapphire]

This may be of interest to just a handful of people here, but I thought I'd post anyway. I'm not really good at limiting Drabbles to 200 words or less, so these will likely be longish. Also, I'm not really sure why I got interested in writing about Anderson herself and not just her shows, but anyway, that's what happened. I haven't written anything fetishy in ages, which is probably reflected here. If anyone has ever watched any actual ComicCon footage on YouTube of G.A., you may notice that her attitude in the Q&A varies greatly from attentive and engaged to "why the fuck am I here?" (Or at least that's my take on it from having watched a few). Being that this is my fiction, I've decided to pretend that this was a session in which she actually cared! In saying that she seems cavalier and bored at times, I mean no disrespect because I'm a fan obviously, and it's understandable that her demeanor could vary depending on a lot of factors.

______________

Title: ColdCon

Gillian entered the room to applause and cheers. Smiling and waving, she walked to the front of the room and took a seat on a stool. The group gathered to spend the hour with her was smaller than normal -- only about 40-50 people - because this gathering was exclusive to those who had donated a significant sum of money to Gillian's charity of choice, SA-Yes.

As the cheering died down a bit, Gillian picked up a microphone from a small table to the left of the stool; the stool also held a glass of water and a box of tissues.

"Hello Everyone," Gillian said, her voice sounding raspy and congested, "I'd like to apologize for my voice this afternoon. I probably wouldn't normally even need a microphone for a room this size, but I'm losing my voice..." Hearing a question from the crowd, she trailed off, and then locating the speaking person in the crowd, she said, "Pardon me?"

"Are you getting a cold?"

"Am I getting a cold?" She laughed a little, " I think it's safe to say that I have a cold. I kind of just woke up this way, so I do hope you'll bear with me. I wouldn't miss this event for anything in the world, so I'm going to do my best to answer everyone's questions, but I can't guarantee that I won't cough or sneeze while I'm doing it. I hope that's alright."

The crowd murmured its agreement, and the woman who had asked about Gillian's cold in the first place called out, "Of course."

Gillian nodded graciously at the woman, "Thanks so much."

One of the handlers assigned to Gillian motioned that it was time to get started with the Q&A session, which was customary at ComicCons everywhere, even for the smaller charity events. After a lifetime of media interviews and fan events such as these, Gillian had developed stock answers to most questions she could be and had been asked. Still, she endeavored to make each individual fan feel special as though he or she was the only person who had ever asked any particular question.

As the first young woman stood up and made her way to the aisle to speak, Gillian turned to her right and drew out a tissue from the box beside her, placed there by the executive director of SA-Yes, who had a couple of hours ago asked Gillian what she could do to make her more comfortable during the afternoon's event. Gillian had started to say that there was nothing she needed, thanks, but then quickly reconsidered and requested a box of tissues, prefacing her request reflexively with, "if it wouldn't be too much trouble please..."

Gillian wiped at her nose with the tissue and smiled attentively at the woman, "Could you tell me your name?"

"Raven"

"Hi Raven. Nice to meet you. You look about the same age as my daughter Piper." Gillan pressed the tissue against her nose again.

"Ummm, I'm 19."

"Sure enough. Piper's 20, so you are about the same age. What's your question?"

"I was wondering what's your favorite episode of the Xfiles?"

Gillian heard the first few words of the question before being completely distracted. She barely had the chance to put the mike down on the stool between her legs (miraculously it didn't drop) in order to gasp and bury her face in the tissue she was already holding,

HUHuhPTTchhhEW

She immediately heard the audience break out in "bless yous" issuing from all parts of the room, including from the young lady Raven at the microphone. It took Gillian a moment to recover, as she took advantage of the noise from the crowd to blow her nose, stash the tissue in a pocket of her sweater, and grab another from the box. As the crowd's noise turned into a low murmur, she finished composing herself and turned her attention back to Raven.

"Excuse me for that. I don't think I've ever had so many people simultaneously say, 'bless you' to me, so thank you everyone," the crowd murmured some more, and Gillian heard someone in the back call out jokingly, "you're welcome." Then Gillian said, "Raven, I hate to say it, but I totally missed your question." Raven, Gillian, and the audience laughed, and when the laughter died down, Gillian added, "I think I gave you fair warning that I was probably going to sneeze, but I still apologize for interrupting."

"Well, you have a cold, so it's okay, Ms. Anderson."

"Oh, please call me Gillian."

"Okay, Gillian, what's your favorite episode of the Xfiles?"

[curlyq9393]

ahhhhhh! AHHHHHH! This is so cute! And your writing is lovely, so don't worry about that at all ☺️

[Sapphire]

ahhhhhh! AHHHHHH! This is so cute! And your writing is lovely, so don't worry about that at all ☺️

. Thanks curlyq. That means a lot to me, coming from you especially, since you are a beautiful writer. I woke up this morning feeling insecure about posting this because I've never shared any fetish fiction on the forum before. I've posted a lot but kept fiction in a notebook of my own that never saw the light of day. So thanks for encouraging me!

[zakandsara]

YES YES YES. This specific plot bunny doesn't seem like something I would necessarily be drawn to, but you nailed it and I love it. You really got her completely distinct/magical presence right, especially the dialog. This was amazing. So happy you decided to go for it!!! I'll be anxiously awaiting more (as I continue more of my own )

[Sapphire]

YES YES YES. This specific plot bunny doesn't seem like something I would necessarily be drawn to, but you nailed it and I love it. You really got her completely distinct/magical presence right, especially the dialog. This was amazing. So happy you decided to go for it!!! I'll be anxiously awaiting more (as I continue more of my own )

I am truly flattered by your kind words zakandsara. Thanks.

[Sapphire]

Fandom: The Fall

Title: B.K. -- Before Kiss -- The timing of this would be sometime before Stella kisses Reed --- Also, does G.A. Have blue eyes? I've seen write ups that say hazel and some that say green, so um, yeah, I'm not sure.

Professor Tanya Reed Smith raced to the Police Service's meeting room. She had experienced a challenging morning trying to get her children ready and off to school and then to make matters worse, she had been caught in traffic on the way over to the morning meeting. Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson herself had personally requested her attendance at this meeting. Reed was well aware that Gibson tightly orchestrated all parts of the investigation, including the morning meetings, and had little patience for latecomers, not to mention that Reed despised being one.

She heaved a sigh of relief as she opened the door to find that she had made it in time. She quickly sat in one of the last two vacant seats in the front of the room and poised her pen above her notebook page, as Gibson, leaning her back against a desk, arms folded across her chest, called the meeting to order.

"Good morning. To begin, I need everyone to turn off all mobile phones and any other devices that may interrupt our proceedings. Either switch them off entirely, or put them on silent mode."

Reed, along with everyone else, scurried to silence her mobile.

"I've called you here because Operation Musicman is at a critical juncture. We are at a crossroads so to speak. We know that the murders of Sarah Kay, Alice Parker Munro, and Fiona Gallagher are the work of a single killer, a serial killer," Gibson began.

As Gibson spoke, Reed noted, not for the first time, the intensity and intelligence in her blue eyes and the way her blonde hair provided a splash of color against the slate gray of the room. Only recently acquainted with the Detective Superintendent, as was the rest of the Belfast police department, Reed marveled at how easily she had been captivated by her presence. Reed sensed that no matter the subject being discussed, she would hang on every word that Gibson uttered, but in this case, like Gibson, Reed wanted nothing more than to end this sexual sadist's brutal killing spree, so she concentrated because lives depended on it.

In fact, her concentration level surprised her, given the lack of sleep she'd had the night before as well as her hectic arrival, and her attention was so directed that she was only slightly thrown off when she began to feel a light tickle in her nose. She rubbed at her nose once and continued her note taking. After several seconds, she paused in her notes and rubbed again.

By the third time she had raised her hand to rub at her nose, it had become apparent to Reed that this was a tickle that preceded a sneeze; under normal circumstances, Reed would have sneezed already and moved on. Instead, she found herself fighting the sneeze by biting her upper lip. Now, her concentration had definitely diminished.

"Dammit, Reed," she thought to herself, "you're a grown woman, mother of children, an accomplished pathologist, and you're anxious about sneezing during a meeting." Something about the situation made her regress to a version of her shy childhood self sitting in a classroom, trying to avoid all attention by shrinking herself into nothing. It didn't help that her sneezes had never been delicate. She could hear her mother's voice in her head, "can't you be just a little quieter Tanya?"

"This is ridiculous," Reed chastised herself again, " It seems you'd rather let your focus be derailed, even though there are lives at stake." Reed quit biting her lip; it wasn't working anyway and was only delaying the inevitable.

She heard Gibson's words,"For our killer, this is an addiction. He has to keep feeding it..." Reed inhaled sharply,

"Hekeshhhhiiieeww" She sneezed into her elbow; the sound seemed as though it reverberated around her, although she assumed that must be her self-consciousness, and when she opened her eyes, Gibson's steady gaze interlocked with hers for a brief second or two before sweeping the rest of the room again.

"Bless you," Gibson said with no real perceptible pause in her speech so that the words melded together with those that preceded and followed them -- words about the killer's addiction and the pleasure he gained from human pain incongruously surrounding a benevolent expression of sympathy for arguably, the smallest of human actions.

Reed's desire was to call out, "thank you," immediately, but she was unable to do so because she had gasped uncontrollably a second time and even went so far as to look up at a fluorescent light above to coax out her second sneeze. The sneeze didn't come though, and by then, it was too late to say anything in response to Gibson because too much time had elapsed. Reed was left sniffly and slightly frustrated for several minutes after, but at least, she was now able to focus back in on essential information.

When the meeting ended some twenty minutes later, Reed made a split-second decision to approach Gibson.

"Detective Superintendent Gibson?"

Stella turned to her, "Yes?"

"I want to say thank you"

One of Gibson's eyebrows raised slightly at her, but other than that, her expression remained unchanged.

"Sorry, that didn't come out right," Reed said, realizing that her three hours of sleep was likely catching up with her. "I mean that I had sneezed during the meeting, and you said 'bless you,' but I wasn't able to say thank you because I thought I was going to sneeze again. I feel terribly impolite, so I'm offering a much-belated thank you" Reed laughed, feeling foolish and regretting her decision to approach the detective with something so blatantly trivial. Fortunately, she remembered that she had reports to discuss with Stella as well that might help her save face. She was about to bring them up, when she noticed a smile playing about Stella's lips and a move to speak.

"You were the one doing the sneezing," Gibson said, "so I don't need you to take all the blame. Perhaps I'm the one who was impolite. I could have waited until you had recovered to say anything."

Reed returned her smile.

"Was it just a sneeze? You're not feeling under the weather, are you?" Gibson asked.

The question struck Reed as unexpectedly tender and nurturing,"No, just a sneeze," she replied, " I do have some pathology reports to discuss with you. When would be a good time?"

"Lunch at 1 in my office?"

"Yes, I'll be there," Reed said as the detective nodded and was then swept away by two other staff members to attend to other business. Reed watched her go with admiration and desire.

[zakandsara]

UHHHHHHHHH this is goddamn adorably brilliant and great.

[Sapphire]

Fandom: The Xfiles

Title: Killer Virus --- Apologies for inaccuracies and poetic license. I'm kind of new to the Xfiles

Dana Scully had been running on little besides adrenaline and a variety of caffeinated drinks for the last several weeks as she worked around the clock to help save the life of her partner, Fox Mulder, from an unidentified virus, in all probability extraterrestrial, that had left him unconscious in a hospital bed. Her investigation had taken her in and out of four different countries in less than a week; as a result of that and her terror at the prospect of losing Mulder, a scratchiness that had set into her throat days before had barely registered. Later, when it did register as a rawness and pain that occasionally made her wince when she swallowed, it hardly mattered to her nor did the aching head and joints, low-grade fever, sneezing and coughing that followed. Her thoughts remained with Mulder and his life-threatening situation with the exception of the brief moment she noted to herself that this particular strain of the common cold virus currently besieging her body was quite possibly the most virulent she had ever experienced. Continuing to work, she pushed past all the symptoms. Then when diligent research and dumb luck converged at 3 am one morning and pointed to Mulder's salvation, she had phoned Skinner who had returned her call a few hours later with the good news: her hunch had been correct, and Mulder had awakened. Giddy with relief, she boarded the next flight back to the U.S.

Now, she stepped out of the car to head to Mulder's front door. He wasn't expecting her, but she had been informed of his release from the hospital, his recovery miraculously quick once the antidote had been discovered. Her abject terror for him had receded during the flight back and had been replaced by a need -- a strong, insistent need to lay eyes on him, to see him conscious, whole, and safe, and to place her hand in his, to hold him, to press her body against his, to embrace him.

Midway up the walkway to Mulder's door, she scrambled through her coat pocket for a tissue that she was unable to retrieve before she bent over and sneezed violently toward the sidewalk.

HA-AHHTESSHHHEWWW

She blew into a crumpled tissue and felt a momentary release of the tension that had been coursing through her for the last 24 hours as not just her sinuses, but her entire body, constantly vibrated on the cusp of a sneeze; the vibration, capable of continuing during and after she sneezed, made relief elusive, despite the prolific quantity of sneezing she had done. Squelching countless sneezes into near oblivion on the plane ride out of habitual politeness had done nothing to help the situation; it had wearied her enough that she now let herself be swept away by the wave of her symptoms without the slightest resistance.

She took the final steps on the walkway as well as the stairs with her mouth open and eyes squinted, and in front of Mulder's door, she covered her face with the tissue and threw herself forward into another sneeze.

HA-UUUPPTESSHHHEWW

She righted herself, and as she did so, the door opened before she could reach out to ring the doorbell.

"Scully!" Mulder said, "Bless you!"

Scully met Mulder's eyes and smiled, "Oh Mulder, you have no idea how good it is to see you."

Mulder returned her smile, touched her arm, and guided her inside the foyer of his home. Then, he started to pull her body toward his. Scully hesitated.

"Mulder, you should probably know that I'm battling a brutal cold."

"You don't think I've figured that out?" He pulled Scully's body toward his and wrapped his arms around her.

She tilted her head up to look him in the eyes, "Really? What gave it away?"

"Oh, I don't know. Greeting me with a sneeze? Clutching a tissue like it's a life raft? Your alluring husky voice? Do I need to go on?"

"Okay, okay," she said, her head resting against his chest, "I know I must be quite the sight to open the door to."

The truth was that when Mulder had opened the door, he had been struck again by how luminous Scully was. He found her so regardless of circumstance --- when they hunched over desks together, woke up together in yet another ratty motel off the interstate, ran breathlessly through the woods, through her cancer, and now appearing on his doorstep, pale and sneezy, with a chapped nose and lips --- still luminous through it all.

But he didn't think he could articulate all of these feelings properly, so he settled on a different response.

"I don't suppose you were any more of a sight than I was just a few days ago with my killer virus?" He led her to the couch where they sat down, side-by-side, their legs touching each other's.

"Look, you don't think I could let you catch a killer virus without finding one of my own to catch, do you?" Scully asked.

"Always trying to one-up me, aren't you?"

Scully nodded and pulled a wad of tissues out of her pocket. She smothered one huge sneeze into the tissues, that somewhere in the middle, transformed itself into something akin to two huge sneezes.

HAAAPChhHAAHHHChhhSHIEWW

"Bless you," Mulder said.

She laughed, "Oh Excuse me, Mulder, I have no idea what that was."

"I'd say it was a sneeze and a half. A 1.5 sneeze?"

"More like a 9.0 on the Richter scale," her laughter was interrupted as she sneezed once more, softer this time.

Haapshew

"Bless you again."

"Thanks. I'm sorry, Mulder. I've practically ingested a pharmacy's worth of cold medicine, but it hasn't helped. I seem to have no control at all."

"Hey, Scully, you know it's okay, right?" He took her hands in his, "what can I get for you to help you a little? Some soup? Hot tea?"

"I'm fine. It's just a cold. I think you should be resting Mulder, not tending to me. That virus you had put your body through so much."

"I'm better now. All the tests that were run on me, everything is coming up normal"

"It was a harrowing experience for you, Mulder, even if you weren't awake for most of it."

"It was harrowing for both of us. Thank you for saving me. I know I owe you my life."

Scully's eyes filled with tears, "I was so afraid of losing you,"

Mulder leaned in and kissed Scully's lips. She had been afraid of losing him, she had been afraid of losing him; he repeated the thought to himself.

"I'm here," he whispered. When her tears subsided and his heart stopped racing, he continued, "It's nothing in comparison, but let me take care of you and your cold tonight."

Scully nodded and rested her head against his chest.

"If it wouldn't be asking too much, I'd like both the soup and the tea."

[curlyq9393]

THIS IS SO PRECIOUS I CANNOT HANDLE IT. Don't worry about being a new X-Phile; you're a natural at it ☺️

[Sapphire]

THIS IS SO PRECIOUS I CANNOT HANDLE IT. Don't worry about being a new X-Phile; you're a natural at it ☺️

. Thank you so much! I'm glad I got into the show in time for the reboot. Actually, your fiction and zakandsara's got me watching more in depth.

UHHHHHHHHH this is goddamn adorably brilliant and great.

. I'm replying late, but thank you!

[Sapphire]

 

Prompts: Heartfelt apology and exhaustion

Fandom: The Fall (Stella & Reed) 

Stella lay on the couch in Reed's mortuary office, luxuriating in the first moment of stillness in a 14-hour day in which she had uncovered nothing and was no closer than she had been yesterday to apprehending the killer. 

At first, she just lay, letting her breathing slow, comforted by the sounds of Reed finishing tasks in the other room. After several moments, she drifted into sleep, and when Reed stepped into the doorway of her office, she smiled to herself as she caught sight of how peaceful Stella looked and even asleep, how captivating.

Reed glided to her computer in an attempt to make as little noise as possible and went about typing the autopsy report for the latest victim. Despite her desire not to wake Stella, she felt she had to finish the work in front of her. When Stella began to stir about 20 minutes later, Reed doubted it was due to her typing but probably because of an ambulance screeching past the mortuary. 

Stella's eyes opened blearily, and she blinked in Reed's direction, and then started to sit up. 

"I'm so sorry that woke you," Reed told her, "you shouldn't get up though. You need your rest."

Without replying, Stella got up anyway from the couch and walked over to join Reed behind her desk. 

"Is this the autopsy for last night's victim?" She asked. 

Reed nodded, "yes." 

"Anything of interest?"

"Yes," Reed scrolled down and pointed at the screen, "you should take a look at this paragraph." 

From her standing position, Stella leaned over next to Reed who was seated, to read the screen. Reed felt the silk of Stella's blouse brush against her arm and Stella's hair against her shoulder. Reed's body tingled with goosebumps, as she and Stella remained motionless next to one another for several seconds. 

In the next instant though, Stella took in a sharp deep breath that startled Reed who did not at first register what was happening but then reached the sudden conclusion that Stella was about to sneeze of all things. Stella bowed her head quickly into her left hand while keeping her right arm in place, resting against Reed's left arm. 

Hxxtnnmmsheww 

As Stella finished sneezing, her face hovered just above Reed's arm, which rested on the desk. Stella took a step back from the desk and removed her hand from her face. 

"I apologize," Stella said breathily, and Reed searched for something light, a joke of some sort, to break what she felt was Stella's unnecessarily serious and formal demeanor. She was about to resort to a default blessing but instead watched the blond detective superintendent struggle with the onset of more sneezing. 

Out of courtesy, Stella removed herself several steps further from Reed's desk, and Reed observed her stand with watery eyes and open mouth, gazing at the fluorescent light on the ceiling, her left hand resting on her hip and her right arm and elbow poised near her face. Reed scanned her desk for tissues but remembered that she had run out earlier that day. She opened one of her desk drawers to retrieve a new box and began to open it. In the meantime, Stella finally drew in a fast loud breath and sneezed repeatedly. 

HehCHIIIssshhheww
HedTCHhhiiiissshhh

Having opened the tissue box, Reed grabbed several tissues, walked over to Stella, and wordlessly pressed them into her palm. Stella nodded at her, her mouth open, caught between sneezes; when the next pair hit her, she bowed forward into the tissues Reed had provided. Reed, who had returned to her desk chair, sat patiently, alternately glancing at her unfinished report and at the blonde woman, giving her the time and space she needed right then and for the next few minutes. 

"Take your time," Reed said offhandedly to her, without thinking much. 

HaEHHChhhiiiieeww
HaEhhhChhhisssheeww

Stella remained bowed down for several seconds after the last set of sneezes and then rose back up tentatively, her face still partially obscured by the tissues. She seemed to be testing whether she was finished or not. Then, she looked toward Reed. 

"Excuse me," she said, clearing her throat, her voice husky. 

Reed couldn't recall seeing Stella sneeze once before, let alone this many times. 

"I think you're coming down with a cold Stella?"  Reed's voice was soft and gentle, her words part question, part statement. 

Stella shook her head in denial, which Reed expected, but then surprised her by saying, 

"No, aller--"she spoke shakily,"allergies" before sneezing again into the tissue. 

HaEhhhchiiiiewww

"Bless you," Reed offered the blessing she hadn't managed earlier.

"Thank you," Stella said, "I spent twelve hours total today with the search team dredging the lake and then combing through the woods for evidence or for a body or for anything, but .... Nothing..." Stella trailed off, and then blew her nose softly into the tissues she was still holding.

"You must be so exhausted," Reed said.

"I am," Stella admitted, "but I still should have thought to have kept my distance from you tonight because something outside set off my allergies, and I've been sneezing on and off all day during the search. I'm so sorry." 

"For sneezing? Don't be," Reed replied. 

Stella nodded, "it isn't so much the sneezing itself as the way I sneezed all over you that I feel positive warrants an apology." 

"Truly you didn't sneeze on me at all. You did such an expert job of holding it in that I'm surprised you didn't hurt yourself,"

Stella laughed softly, "I thought I'd ruptured something for a moment, but I think I'm intact." 

"You needn't have gone to all that trouble," Reed told her, "I'm a pathologist and mother. I've endured far worse than a sneeze from you. It wouldn't even phase me." 

Stella smiled,"in my defense, I had stopped sneezing in the last couple hours, so I thought it was subsiding." 

"You know what would really make it subside?" 

"What?" 

"The antihistamines I have in my desk drawer," Reed said. 

"Do you have some, or are you just toying with me?" 

"No, I do have them. I'm no stranger to allergies myself," Reed said, before reaching into her desk drawer, and pulling out a box of medication and handing it to her.

"I don't want to take your entire box from you," Stella said. 

"You'll be out in the woods again bright and early tomorrow, ummm, I mean today though, won't you?" Reed asked, glancing at the clock on the wall. 

"Yes" 

"Go ahead and take the box. I'll be inside the office all day, and I have to pick up some stuff for the kids, so I'll have to stop at the store after work anyway." 

Stella hesitated another moment, "Okay, thanks. I do appreciate it." 

 

[Xsneezelover3932]

How did I not see this before!?! Loved it!!! Stella with allergies is so cute!!! Thanks! 

[Sapphire]

On June 6, 2016 at 2:04 PM, Xsneezelover3932 said:

How did I not see this before!?! Loved it!!! Stella with allergies is so cute!!! Thanks! 

Thanks for your comment! Trying to carve out time for some additional stuff.

[Sapphire]

So I know that this is super long and not exactly a Drabble, but I don't think it's decent enough to deserve its own thread. So whatever, I'm putting it here.

edited to say that I  made up some staff for the purposes of this story

Title: Mostly Human

"We will be dredging the lake again today for the murder weapon." 

Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson trained a cool, level gaze on the man standing in front of her. He, in turn, shriveled, hunched, and averted his eyes, first to the ground, and then to the portion of the twenty or so staff members seated furthest from Stella. Finally, he spoke. 

"Ma'am, we had a contractor out dredging for three hours yesterday, and we didn't turn up anything." 

He advanced the slides forward to photos of workers and machinery at the lake, swept his arm toward the screen as if to prove his point and recovered from his slouching posture to look at Stella directly. 

"That's not sufficient time," she told him.

She felt anger rise up inside her and pushed it down instantly, reflexively so that those in the room saw nothing but impassive composure. She was too new to the leadership of this team; she could sense that reacting right now to the slightest hint of a challenge from staff would cause her to lose even the tenuous hold she now possessed on those around her. Staying calm while everyone else lost their shit? Of that, she was a master, her skill honed while standing still throughout childhood as the adult chaos swirled and funneled around her. 

But in this particular moment, she did not need to exercise her consummate skill for long. Her anger was displaced by a quick stabbing prickle in her nose that blossomed and spread.

With little warning and no choice in the matter, she drew in a long jagged breath and exerted considerable effort to stifle a sneeze into the palm of one hand. 

Haiiinnxxtttchhh

She pulled away her hand. As she regained her breath, she listened to a murmur issue from the room. She crossed her legs, leaned back more comfortably in the wooden chair and let the murmur subside. Above the murmur as it died down, her staff member's voice, uncertain,

"Gesundheit ma'am." 

Stella noted that this acknowledgment sounded almost like a question. She supposed she'd made him nervous.

"Pardon me," she said, matter-of-factly,  and then repeated, with more emphasis, "three hours is not enough time." 

Impatient on the inside, she masked it, awaiting what she was sure would be more opposition from this particular staff member Arthur Foy and thinking vaguely about starting up on one of her customary bouts of sneezing. This was certainly not a convenient time. And although she didn't sneeze often, when she did, she never stopped with just one. Nor could she sneeze consecutively and get it all over with quickly. No, that would be too uncomplicated, and an absence of complications seemed to be a blissful state reserved for lives other than her own.  

Arthur returned to where he had been in his objections to Stella's plan.

"The contractors reported that for a lake of that size, three hours was enough time to search its entirety," he told her. 

"They're mistaken," Stella said, barely getting the two words out before she felt an intense tickle, practically a pinch, on one side of her nose. It made her left eye squint involuntarily, and she rushed her forearm up to cover her face. 
 
Haaiiiinnnggxxtch 

She heard her staff, Arthur included, react, but she struggled through a second sneeze right after the first

HaAhhnnxxttchhheww

She sniffed, collected herself quickly, and was ready to continue where she left off even before the rustling voices in the room had quieted, and for the second time, she felt mild anger well up toward her staff. So much work to get done, a serial killer at large, women's lives hanging in the balance, and here she was having to wait  for adult professionals to refocus their attention.

 If she was lucky, she considered, she would sneeze three times.  But the strength of that last uncomfortable sensation suggested she wasn't going to be all that lucky. 

Stella raised her voice above the waning sound in the room. She looked at Arthur.

"On previous cases I've worked, I've encountered lakes of similar sizes that were searched three to four times longer and that yielded positive results."

Arthur stared blankly at her.

"I'd like you to find new contractors this morning who can be out this afternoon to do the job correctly for however long it takes. I'll be present at the site to supervise." 

"Yes ma'am," he said, "anything further?"

"No, nothing further, Arthur, thank you for the update," Stella glanced around the room and saw the petite red-head she was looking for sitting far at the back of the room, "I'd like to hear from Danielle Ferrington now."

Slightly congested at this point, Stella sniffled and immediately felt the return of the pinching tickly feeling. She calculated that she had ample time, while Dani walked to the front of the room, to silence a few sneezes unobtrusively. She inhaled and moved to bury her face in her shoulder, but for a brief second, the tickling lessened and then receded; she relaxed,only to be caught off guard when the sneeze was suddenly imminent again. Unable to measure her breathing, she felt and heard the sneeze tear through her nose and throat and fill the room with sound.

HAAAAiiiiPPPPcccchhhhEEEWWW
There now, that was fairly obnoxious, albeit inevitable, she thought as she brought down her arm from her in front of her face. The room was abuzz with noise, and she heard so many "bless yous" that she wasn't even sure exactly whom they were coming from. Oddly enough, she thought, she actually felt a touch embarrassed,  but time was too scarce for such silliness, and her irritation supplanted the embarrassment. She was hardly grateful for the myriad bless yous and the room's prolonged reaction, so she chose an apology instead of thanks. 

"Excuse me for that," she said to everyone, sweeping the room with her green eyes, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, and ending with a glance at Danielle who stood wide-eyed in front of the room. She also saw Professor Tanya Reed-Smith enter the room and recalled that she had said she needed to arrive late to the meeting. 

She decided finally to address the situation head on. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid I'm going to continue sneezing for a while longer, and it's likely to get worse before it gets better." Her congestion was increasing and interfering with her words, and she wished she had stashed tissues somewhere in her jacket, "We have a tremendous amount of work to get done this morning, so I'm going to ask that all of you do your best to overlook me. While I do appreciate everyone's attention, we are just so hard pressed for time right now that I'm sure that ignoring me is the best possible route at the moment." 

She turned her attention to Dani.

"Good morning, Dani," she said, "Would you provide me with information about the officers in the field and the surveillance you and they have been conducting?" 

"Yes, ma'am," Dani said, "right now, we have 24-hour surveillance on the houses of four possible suspects." 

"We're conducting surveillance on four different houses simultaneously?" 

"Yes, ma'am." 

"Have cameras been installed..." Stella did not finish her sentence and instead sneezed. Having informed the room that she would continue sneezing, she no longer cared to suppress them. 

Haaaeeeppcchhheeeww

Haaaeeepppchiiiisheewww

"God Bless You, Ma'am," Dani said, and then quickly reddened, "I er ..."

Stella nodded but held up one finger in Dani's direction as if to request a moment and struggled through a third sneeze.

HaaaaaaaEEPPPCHIISSHEEW

Stella sniffled several times and felt a desperate desire for tissues. She took in Dani's blushing face. 

"Ma'am I'm terribly sorry for saying that to you." 

Stella's empathy, rather than anger, was at last stirred in the face of Dani's obvious discomfort over her harmless, reflexive response, one that Stella herself used; and Stella grew even more aware of the hypocrisy of being so annoyed over interruptions that she herself was the cause of. 

"It's just something I've always said, and I do it without really thinking sometimes. I won't do it again," Dani told her. 

Stella softened and relented.

"It's fine, Dani. I've always said it myself too. Thank you." She sniffed strongly and her breath hitched, as though she would sneeze again. She considered the danger of another sneeze without a tissue, and she pushed her fist against her nose. 

Stella realized now that it was pointless to try to continue the meeting as though nothing were happening, and that minimizing how distracting she was when in the midst of one of these sneezing fits had been impossible from the start. In her peripheral vision, she saw the approach of Professor Tanya Reed-Smith. 

"I thought you could use these," Reed held out many tissues, and when Stella opened her hand to accept them, Reed pressed them there and then turned to go back to her seat. 

Quite angelic Stella thought of Reed's gesture, as she hastily unfolded the tissues and brought them to her face.

HAAAPchhhissshh   HAAAPPchiiiiSHEEEWWW 

Stella sneezed hard into the tissues and blew her nose. The room was still much quieter than before she had told her staff to ignore her, but she did hear several voices calling out "Bless you" or "Gesundheit" from around the room, including Reed and Dani. 

"Thank you," she said from behind the tissue bouquet. She finished wiping at her nose and gave up on the meeting entirely." 

"I apologize for interrupting this way. I realize how difficult it is to ignore me. This should subside in fifteen or twenty minutes, so let's take a short break and reconvene at 9:30" she said, looking at her watch. 

As the people in the room stood up and scattered, Stella stood up and bent forward into the tissues.

Haaaehhhpppshheeew

She slipped out the least used door in the room and retreated to the privacy of her office and the tissue box on her desk. She grabbed it and perched on the side of her cot that she had not had the time to fold away that morning. She held tissues, both hands hovering in front of her, and stared up at the fluorescent lighting in her office, hoping to hasten the end of the fit. She gasped and sneezed several more times. 
Haaaehhhchhissheeww

Haaehhhppsheeew

HaaEEHHppsheew

HaaapppChhhishheeww

Heeeppchhhiiiieeeewww

She blew her nose again and tried to steady her breathing. She wondered if she might be finished. Too soon to tell, she thought. She'd have to sit here for longer to be sure, although if this sneezing fit was true to form, it would stop almost as abruptly as it had started. 

She blew her nose some more and heard a tentative voice at her door.

"Stella?" 

"Yes?"  It was Professor Reed Smith.

"Is it alright if I come in?" 

"Yes, of course," Stella said. 

Reed stepped in and came across the office toward her. 

"How's the sneezing?" Reed, not asking permission, sat down next to her on the cot.

"I think it's dying down now actually," she said, but then, she was made to seem a liar by a sudden quick sneeze.

MMMppshhewww She turned as far from Reed as she could and smothered the sneeze into a tissue. 

"Bless you. Am I allowed to say that?" 

Stella laughed. "Of course. Thanks." 

"Is there anything I can get for you at all?" 

"No thank you. I'm fine," Stella said. 

"Are you coming down with something, do you think?" She felt Reed studying her face, her eyes. 

"No, believe it or not, I just occasionally sneeze this way, always have. It's infrequent but never convenient. I was hoping to get through the meeting because I figured that sneezing should be fairly uneventful compared to the serial killer we have on our hands," Stella blew quietly into a new tissue she had retrieved from the box. 

Reed continued looking at her and then smiled,"Ahhh, but Stella, don't you know that nothing about you is uneventful?" 

Stella smiled. Was that true? "I was indeed an event of sorts at the meeting." 

"Have you considered making an appointment with an allergist?" Reed asked. 

Reed wasn't the first person to suggest an allergist to her. She had sometimes had attacks in front of previous lovers, even once in the bedroom, and they invariably suggested an allergist, whom she couldn't be bothered to see. She had even once had an appointment set up, but her busy schedule and the intensity with which a case consumed her entire being, had postponed the appointment until it was altogether forgotten. Given the work she did and the murders of so many young women, the occasional sneezing jag mattered so little in the grand scheme of the universe. 

"Perhaps I might," Stella said. 

"I know someone in the area. I'll get his card for you as soon as I can." 

Stella nodded, "I think I've finished now. Truly." 

"It seems so." Reed said, "you know, Stella, the staff is adjusting to you, and I doubt that you can get them all to like you, but I think that their reaction to you earlier is an indication that they're largely supportive of you. I think they want to take your lead and work their hardest for you." 

"I hope you're right." 

"Oh I'm sure I am. I mean, yeah, it's only sneezing, but frankly, I was sitting out there, and there was a lot of concern from everyone in the room about your sneezing and whether you were okay. In fact, Dorothy Flynn is the one who gave me the tissues to give to you." 

"Dorothy? Really? I thought she couldn't stand me." 

"Well, maybe you should reevaluate that thought." 

"It's almost 9:30. We should get back to the conference room." 

Reed got up and left her office. Stella collected herself and brought with her the box of tissues just in case. 

As she took her place in the chair at the head of the meeting room, she spoke to her staff,

"Before we get back to where we left off, I wanted to let all of you know that I'm perfectly fine, although I do very much appreciate your concern for me. We're still in the stage of bonding together as a team and getting to know one another. The sneezing is just part of your introduction to me, obviously not one of my best sides, but I sneeze a lot, and it will likely continue to happen from time to time, so I hope you'll bear with me when it does. My plan is to get to know all of you much much better and for all of us to work productively together and with open communication, so if you have any concerns about anything, please come into my office at any time. No appointment necessary. With that being said, I'd like to continue where we left off with Dani." 

The rest of the meeting was as uneventful as she had wished for earlier and as productive as she had hoped. At the end, she breezed out the door to go back to her office. Two staff members were left behind chatting in the room.

"She's not kidding when she says she sneezes a lot, is she?"

"Oh no, definitely not." 

"I kind of liked it though." 

"Liked it?"

"Well yeah, it made her seem a touch more human, didn't it?"

"True, true, even the Ice Queen has to sneeze sometimes." 

The two men exited the room, continuing their discussion. 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . . . . . . .

 

[Winged]

I haven't seen The Fall but I definitely enjoy Gillian Anderson, and I've read enough drabbles around the forum to know what's going on. This was super lovely!! I really really like when a character has no idea why they're sneezing but they're just kind of resigned to the fact that it's just going to keep happening. Also the conversation about going to see an allergist? Super cute and thoughtful of Reed. If you're looking for ideas, maybe a follow-up drabble where Stella goes to see said allergist?  

[Sapphire]

5 minutes ago, Winged said:

I haven't seen The Fall but I definitely enjoy Gillian Anderson, and I've read enough drabbles around the forum to know what's going on. This was super lovely!! I really really like when a character has no idea why they're sneezing but they're just kind of resigned to the fact that it's just going to keep happening. Also the conversation about going to see an allergist? Super cute and thoughtful of Reed. If you're looking for ideas, maybe a follow-up drabble where Stella goes to see said allergist?  

Oooohhh I like that idea of sending Stella to the allergist. Thanks so much for the kind words. I'm eagerly awaiting season 3 of the fall to hit Netflix in the U.S. In the meantime, I discovered that I've been living under a rock because there is this thing called american horror story that I've only just begun to watch.

[zakandsara]

You're so great. I love this SO much. The characterizations are on point for everyone, and the way you write is marvelous. The situation is also amazing. I'd adore more of these, or a continuation, or really anything you'd write, because I haven't disliked anything yet.  

[Sapphire]

On Sunday, July 31, 2016 at 4:15 PM, zakandsara said:

You're so great. I love this SO much. The characterizations are on point for everyone, and the way you write is marvelous. The situation is also amazing. I'd adore more of these, or a continuation, or really anything you'd write, because I haven't disliked anything yet.  

Awww thanks, I really appreciate that you took the time to comment. 

[Xsneezelover3932]

LOVED this!!!! Thank you so much for the amazing update! 

[Bruyere]

On 7/26/2016 at 9:38 PM, Sapphire said:

"I think it's dying down now actually," she said, but then, she was made to seem a liar by a sudden quick sneeze.

Aw, poor Stella.

On 7/26/2016 at 9:38 PM, Sapphire said:

"Well yeah, it made her seem a touch more human, didn't it?"

"True, true, even the Ice Queen has to sneeze sometimes." 

Ha! I can imagine this to be true.

[Sapphire]

3 hours ago, Bruyere said:

Aw, poor Stella.

Ha! I can imagine this to be true.

☺☺

[Sapphire]

This is where I'm imagining Scully as a habitual but thoughtful proponent of saying bless you. but never an obnoxious and annoying compulsive blesser; I'm also imagining Mulder as blessing-agnostic until partnering with Scully when he gradually undergoes a conversion. I have some continued  scenarios in mind but not a lot of writing time.  Sorry if this isn't yor thing!

 

Blessing

Given their line of work, Scully had seen every bodily fluid and bodily function, human, parasitic, and alien, across the board. For this reason, Mulder was always surprised that she would spare any attention for something as commonplace as a cough or sneeze.

Mulder himself had usually ignored anybody who sneezed around him. Often, he was preoccupied;  it took one heck of a violent sneeze to register for him at times, even if he was a profiler attuned to details. Also, he assumed that saying nothing was probably the most polite action, but when the situation seemed to demand some kind of verbalization, he would mumble a gruff gesundheit as his father used to do. Then, he met Scully. 

Scully almost always said "Bless You," and on occasion, "God Bless You." She said it so that you felt like she and you were the only two in the room and that nothing she or anyone else was doing could ever be more important that the fact that you had just sneezed. She blessed most people most of the time, and it was somehow endearing in her where it might otherwise be annoying in someone else. It worked to their advantage during allergy season in their line of work when even just a kind or attentive word or two could go a long way to creating rapport with a witness and getting the person to talk. She didn't just use the words strategically though; she also blessed the sniffly young cashier who turned crimson and apologized when she had been unable to turn away from their merchandise before an unexpected sneeze. "So sorry, umm, Bad allergies" the girl blurted out hastily before Scully got her to relax with a sympathetic "bless you."

Sometimes when an icy silence hung between him and Scully because of an intense disagreement over a case, Mulder hoped he would have to sneeze. Rationally, it was a silly desire that he wouldn't admit to anyone, and just barely admitted to himself, yet he knew a sneeze would melt the silence between them earlier than usual.  He had gotten his wish several times; it all depended on the time of year and the caprice of his nose. He was so sure that a sneeze would be beneficial in these circumstances that he had once considered faking a sneeze but knew he wouldn't be able to pull it off convincingly. 

He recalled a time he and Scully had worked at desks facing each other for almost an entire morning, she, refusing to speak or look at him, and he, not sure how to soften her stance toward him. Suddenly after far too long of Scully's ignoring him, he felt a light tickle, a hint of a sneeze but something that he could easily brush away, probably permanently, by pressing his fingers to his upper lip or his nose. Instead he did the opposite. He looked up toward the lighting on the ceiling to try to amplify the tickle and sniffled. For a second, he thought he was about to lose the sensation entirely, but then just as quickly, it reversed, and the tickle magnified. He gasped and threw himself forward into his elbow. 

HaaaReeeshhh 

The sneeze came out louder than usual, maybe from the coaxing by the light. As he opened his eyes, he saw Scully looking up at him from her notes. And then the tickle was still there; strange, he thought, as his breath hitched again, 

HaaaaReeshhhooo

"Oh... bless you Mulder," she said, the sweet care of her tone and voice enveloping him again, after the many hours of silence. He sighed and relaxed into it. 

"Thank you. Excuse me, that was loud. I probably startled you," he said to try to keep the conversation going and not to lapse back into stony silence. 

"No, not at all. You're ... you're  fine," she said. 

He looked at her with a slight smirk, "No?"

"Well, it was kind of loud, but I'm not that startled. I heard some sniffling coming from your corner, so I was prepared." 

Despite her anger at him, she was attuned to sounds of sniffling from his corner. He let that sink in. 

"How do you know I wasn't sobbing in despair over the words we exchanged this morning?" 

Scully smiled at him, "we've been working together in a small office for a while Mulder. You know how you breathe a certain way just before you sneeze?" 

No, he didn't know that. At all. Not about himself. 

"Sure," he said. 

"Well, that's what I heard. Anyway, I'm going upstairs to grab some lunch and bring it back down here. What can I get for you?"

As she left the office for lunch, he realized that what he didn't know about himself, he knew about her. And he was ok with that.  The slight squint of her blue eyes, just perceptible but only if you were paying attention, a small quick touch to the tip of her nose with two fingers, not really a rub, more like a  downward pressing, and then a sort of look that passed across her features a second before she breathed deeply and involuntarily, as though she seemed to be apologizing in advance for sneezing but not at all with words--  he'd catalogued it all in his mind. To know this about her -- it seemed only right. 

 

[Sapphire]

this is separate from the previous one:

"Something in here is bothering me," Scully said. 

"Really? Let me guess. The dampness and cramped quarters? The tomb-like chill? The fact that these top of the line FBI-issued flashlights barely penetrate the darkness?" 

Mulder was partially hunched over next to Scully in a crevice deep within some godforsaken cave in Kentucky. The narrow fissure provided just enough space for both of them to creep facing forward, each one's shoulder pressed firmly against the other's. 

Scully sighed, "No, I mean something's bothering my sinuses. You don't feel it?" Scully raised her flashlight to illuminate the top of the crevice just above their heads as though the answer lie up there. 

"Feel what?" 

"Itching inside my ears and sort of a cross between an itch and a burn in my nose, eyes, and the roof of mouth," Scully said. 

Mulder shone the flashlight toward the cave wall on Scully's side, "No, I don't feel anything," he said. 

They both kept inching forward. Within the tiny space, Scully raised her arm and hand just barely and bowed forward close to her hand in order to rub her nose over and over. 

"You know you might actually be able to scrape your nose right off your face if you keep that up," Mulder told her. He could just see the roll of her eyes at him in the dark, and her cheeks looked kind of flushed, which was paradoxical given the low temperature. His mind moved from jokes toward the possibility of toxins implanted in the space -- by whom? He wasn't sure, but just because he did not feel anything yet, that didn't mean it wasn't going to sink into both of them. 

"Um Scully, do you want to turn around and go back?" 

He heard another sigh from behind the hand now rubbing practically her entire face. 

"Mulder we're already at least twenty minutes in. It might take just as long to go back as to go forward and without the proof we need," Scully said. 

Mulder had received a credible tip about the existence of an alien graveyard that had brought them to their current position. 

"I know, but what if there is something toxic in here? We don't need to add our human corpses to the alien cemetery." 

"It's some sort of naturally-occurring allergen -- probably fungus. I'm glad you're not sensitive to it. At least one of us needs to be functioning at 100% right now." 

"Okay, so you're sure? Because we could turn back, and then, I'll go back through myself," Mulder suggested. 
"No, you need backup." Scully's voice was definitive. 

They continued forward accompanied by the only sound other than their breathing - a drip drip from somewhere within the cave. 

Scully broke the silence after a minute, "It's definitely an allergen. I'm going to sneeze." Her voice turned breathy on the last syllable.

"You're allowed," Mulder said, "hope it helps." He watched her struggle toward a sneeze, starting to inhale, then stopping, then starting again. Within a small space between gasps, she spoke disjointedly. 

"Your permission," she told him, "has little to do with it right now." 

Finally, she took in two more erratic breaths, and jerked forward into her left hand, the only one available. 

Hnnnxxicht  Her sneeze was compressed into a tiny squelched sound. 

"That was a sneeze Scully?" 

"Last I checked," she said removing her hand from her face where it had been rather dangerously clamped. 

"You're going to hurt yourself with that." 

"I'm not sure if you would know much about this, Mulder, but I was trying to be considerate, since we're pretty much stacked on top of each other right now," Scully said. 

"Well, I would find it considerate for you to consider yourself the next time. Will there be a next time?" Mulder eyed her in his peripheral vision to see if she had found any relief at all. 

"Maybe, maybe not," she said, swiping her hand down her face once more. 

Another minute of creeping ahead, and Scully spoke, "Yeah, next time is a given." 

"The sneezing?"

"Mmmmhmmm" Scully said, already beginning a cycle of alternating shallow and deeper breaths. 

Mulder took the moment to advise her again, "I'll be fine if you just sneeze your regular old normal sneeze like you always do. I've survived much worse, and I don't think I can handle watching you hold it in like that again. Too painful." 

Scully didn't reply, more like she couldn't, which was probably for the best since she wasn't a big fan of his unsolicited advice. Mulder had reached the point where he felt like pounding her back or calling on the sneeze gods and goddesses to help her when at last, she plunged forward with a sneeze. 
HaaaEhhhhPPPsshhewww

Mulder was happy to hear an amplified and echoing version of her regular old normal sneeze; his advice was tacitly accepted. 

HaaaEhhhPPPchiiishewww

Mulder observed her second and then a third sneeze 

HaaaEhhhPPPshhieww 

She straightened up as much as she could in the small space; she sniffed and wiped at her streaming eyes. 

"You were not kidding when you said something was bothering you Scully. I've never seen you like this." Mulder said. 

"I don't think I've been like this before," Scully said. 

TBC...

[Xsneezelover3932]

Oh my!!!! Those were amazing!!! Really liked the first one, and how they each know exactly how the other sounds just before they sneeze. 

And that second one! Holy cow! I am in love with it!! So freaking adorable! I would love to read more. You are an excellent writer! 

[Xsneezelover3932]

On 3/31/2018 at 1:26 PM, Sapphire said:

this is separate from the previous one:

"Something in here is bothering me," Scully said. 

"Really? Let me guess. The dampness and cramped quarters? The tomb-like chill? The fact that these top of the line FBI-issued flashlights barely penetrate the darkness?" 

Mulder was partially hunched over next to Scully in a crevice deep within some godforsaken cave in Kentucky. The narrow fissure provided just enough space for both of them to creep facing forward, each one's shoulder pressed firmly against the other's. 

Scully sighed, "No, I mean something's bothering my sinuses. You don't feel it?" Scully raised her flashlight to illuminate the top of the crevice just above their heads as though the answer lie up there. 

"Feel what?" 

"Itching inside my ears and sort of a cross between an itch and a burn in my nose, eyes, and the roof of mouth," Scully said. 

Mulder shone the flashlight toward the cave wall on Scully's side, "No, I don't feel anything," he said. 

They both kept inching forward. Within the tiny space, Scully raised her arm and hand just barely and bowed forward close to her hand in order to rub her nose over and over. 

"You know you might actually be able to scrape your nose right off your face if you keep that up," Mulder told her. He could just see the roll of her eyes at him in the dark, and her cheeks looked kind of flushed, which was paradoxical given the low temperature. His mind moved from jokes toward the possibility of toxins implanted in the space -- by whom? He wasn't sure, but just because he did not feel anything yet, that didn't mean it wasn't going to sink into both of them. 

"Um Scully, do you want to turn around and go back?" 

He heard another sigh from behind the hand now rubbing practically her entire face. 

"Mulder we're already at least twenty minutes in. It might take just as long to go back as to go forward and without the proof we need," Scully said. 

Mulder had received a credible tip about the existence of an alien graveyard that had brought them to their current position. 

"I know, but what if there is something toxic in here? We don't need to add our human corpses to the alien cemetery." 

"It's some sort of naturally-occurring allergen -- probably fungus. I'm glad you're not sensitive to it. At least one of us needs to be functioning at 100% right now." 

"Okay, so you're sure? Because we could turn back, and then, I'll go back through myself," Mulder suggested. 
"No, you need backup." Scully's voice was definitive. 

They continued forward accompanied by the only sound other than their breathing - a drip drip from somewhere within the cave. 

Scully broke the silence after a minute, "It's definitely an allergen. I'm going to sneeze." Her voice turned breathy on the last syllable.

"You're allowed," Mulder said, "hope it helps." He watched her struggle toward a sneeze, starting to inhale, then stopping, then starting again. Within a small space between gasps, she spoke disjointedly. 

"Your permission," she told him, "has little to do with it right now." 

Finally, she took in two more erratic breaths, and jerked forward into her left hand, the only one available. 

Hnnnxxicht  Her sneeze was compressed into a tiny squelched sound. 

"That was a sneeze Scully?" 

"Last I checked," she said removing her hand from her face where it had been rather dangerously clamped. 

"You're going to hurt yourself with that." 

"I'm not sure if you would know much about this, Mulder, but I was trying to be considerate, since we're pretty much stacked on top of each other right now," Scully said. 

"Well, I would find it considerate for you to consider yourself the next time. Will there be a next time?" Mulder eyed her in his peripheral vision to see if she had found any relief at all. 

"Maybe, maybe not," she said, swiping her hand down her face once more. 

Another minute of creeping ahead, and Scully spoke, "Yeah, next time is a given." 

"The sneezing?"

"Mmmmhmmm" Scully said, already beginning a cycle of alternating shallow and deeper breaths. 

Mulder took the moment to advise her again, "I'll be fine if you just sneeze your regular old normal sneeze like you always do. I've survived much worse, and I don't think I can handle watching you hold it in like that again. Too painful." 

Scully didn't reply, more like she couldn't, which was probably for the best since she wasn't a big fan of his unsolicited advice. Mulder had reached the point where he felt like pounding her back or calling on the sneeze gods and goddesses to help her when at last, she plunged forward with a sneeze. 
HaaaEhhhhPPPsshhewww

Mulder was happy to hear an amplified and echoing version of her regular old normal sneeze; his advice was tacitly accepted. 

HaaaEhhhPPPchiiishewww

Mulder observed her second and then a third sneeze 

HaaaEhhhPPPshhieww 

She straightened up as much as she could in the small space; she sniffed and wiped at her streaming eyes. 

"You were not kidding when you said something was bothering you Scully. I've never seen you like this." Mulder said. 

"I don't think I've been like this before," Scully said. 

TBC...

Sapphire, I hope you will continue this one! It’s SO good!!! I’ve read it about 100 times!!