Coming Down With Something Special (Secret Santa for PetalsAndThorns)

[elizachoo]

Hi @PetalsAndThorns! I'm your Secret Santa. I'm really sorry this is late, there's been a lot of family stuff this holiday, but here is the first part at last! Unfortunately I don't know anything about any of your fandoms , so I wrote original, but I am trying to hew as closely to your preferences as I can, so hopefully it will be enjoyable for you still. 

This is just the first part, and it ends in sort of an odd place for now, because I need to go to bed and can't write any more tonight, but really wanted to post what I had so that you would have *something* at least. On the upside, since I haven't written the rest of it yet, feel free to let me know if there is anything you'd like to see (besides more sneezing, which I promise in the remaining parts).

 

Original characters: 

Bobby: thin, small, pale skin, slightly spiky messy looking dark hair. Kind of a Harry Potter look, but without the scar and older and more willowy. Mid-20s. Lives in Denver. Works at a bookstore.

Elliott: medium height and weight, bronze skin, short hair dyed platinum. Mid-20s. Lives in St. Louis. Paralegal.

Bobby and Elliott have been together about a year, all long distance, although they are considering making a move to one city or the other so they can live together. 

Synopsis:

One is coming down for a week's visit. One can't wait.

One has a long day of flying to get there. One has been working late every night to get it all done before vacation.

You know what's coming next. 

***
***
***

Elliott peered out at the gathering clouds, wishing they had thought to bring an umbrella, before turning up their collar and braving the cold walk to the train. Sure enough, before they'd made it half a block, an icy drizzle started to fall. "Ugh," they thought with a shiver, "one more day." One more day to dot the i's and cross the t's in the office, one more day to clean the apartment, but most importantly, one more day until Bobby came down from Denver.

***

Bobby looked down at the huge pile of clothes, gifts, and other purely necessary items beneath which he was certain lay a suitcase and a bed. He made a wry face and shook his head at himself as he picked up his phone and hit "Ell".

"Hey babe." He could hear the smile in Elliott's voice. "You ready for a week of awesomeness?"

"Oh. Hmm. I mean I thought I was going to be spending the week with you, but if you want to pass me off to someone awesome, I guess that's okay." 

"You know I can take you down without even blinking, right?" Elliott replied.

Bobby smirked. "I'm counting on it."

"I know you are, babe. So you all packed? Your flight leaves early, doesn't it?" 

"No. I mean, yes," Bobby corrected himself, "the flight is pretty early. It has to be to go from Denver to Chicago to St. Louis all in time for dinner tomorrow."

"But you're still staring at a pile of everything you own, trying to force it all into one suitcase using only the power of your mind?" 

"You know me so well. I guess I probably don't really need three blazers for a week, do I?"

"One, B. One will be plenty. Seriously, I know you want to go out and see everything, but it's not fancy stuff. Bring jeans and sweaters and stuff. Oh, and a raincoat or something, it's supposed to be rainy and cold pretty much all week," Elliott warned him.

"No white Christmas for us this year, then. That's all right, I'm bringing something special down with me when I come. We don't need snow or stars."

"Something special, hunh? Sounds like fun. I've got a surprise or two up my sleeve as well. But you won't be coming down at all if you don't finish packing soon.  

"That's hard to deny. Ok, I'll see you tomorrow. Love you, Ell."

"Love you too, babe. Can't wait to see you."

***

Boarding now. See you in a few hours!

Elliott smiled. Thanks. Text me when you leave Chicago? See you soon.

The smile faded from Elliott's face as they looked back down at the report in front of them. They had woken up that morning with a dull ache behind their eyes and it was beginning to throb from all the spreadsheets. They rubbed their face and rolled their neck, trying to banish the headache. Bobby was coming in a few hours, and they could not have a headache tonight. Tonight was for dinner, and cuddling, and well, other things that did not lend themselves to the phrase "I have a headache, honey". Elliott swallowed a couple of Advil as they told themself to focus. "Just a few more hours," they repeated. "Just a few more hours, and then no more spreadsheets for a whole week."

***

"Excuse me - sorry, I'm 13A." 

Bobby looked up from his phone to see a tall man in a suit waiting to get by him. "Oh, sorry!" he exclaimed as he slipped into the aisle to let the older man by. 

"Thanks." Bobby turned back to his phone, but the man was apparently feeling chatty today and continued on. "So, you on this plane all the way to Milwaukee, or are you getting off in Chicago?"

"Chicago," Bobby said, "but I'm headed to St. Louis from there. Kind of a tight connection, I'm glad we're boarding on time. How about you?"

"Chi - hnXXt - Chicago, too," the man said, stifling a sneeze. He pulled out a neatly ironed handkerchief and dabbed at his nose. "Excuse me."

"Bless you," Bobby said awkwardly. "So what takes you to Chicago?" He didn't really care, but he felt like he ought to say something instead of ending the conversation with a sneeze.

"Work," replied the man as he returned the handkerchief to his pocket with a sniff. "Three days before Christmas, and they decide they need me at headquarters in person for tomorrow's meetings. Can you believe it?"

"Uh, no," murmured Bobby.

"And on top of that - haTCHtt - I think I'm coming down with something. Just in time for the holidays. Again. Last year it was my stepdaughter who brought a stomach bug home from school." He pulled the handkerchief back out, sniffling. "The year before that my ex-wife dropped my kids off for Christmas with the flu, so of course by the time she picked them up four days later they were perfectly fine and the rest of us were stuck in bed for New Year's. And three years ago my wife's boss sneezed in the punch at the company party and gave everyone - ahh...hahh...haahhh... HAAHHchoo! - his nasty cold. So I guess this year's it's my turn to be the Christmas giver, hunh?" He laughed a little too loudly at his own joke as he blew his nose.

[PetalsAndThorns]

Oooooooooh. This is looking lovely~. I'm excited about what you're setting up. I love having a gender neutral main character. I rarely see that on the forum, and it's exciting to see it here. ^^ I'm super excited to read what you have coming up next! 

 

"You know me so well. I guess I probably don't really need three blazers for a week, do I?"

I like this hint at Bobby's tendency toward being formal. It sounds like having extra blazers and the ability to dress to the nine's is something that gives Bobby confidence and makes him comfortable. It will be interesting to see how he handles getting sick (assuming that happens ;P ) with only one day's worth of formal wear. 

"So I guess this year's it's my turn to be the Christmas giver, hunh?"

XD Enter walking plague.

I'm looking forward to their reunion when it comes. Thank you for writing this! : ) I'm looking forward to reading more when it comes. ^^

(I'm sorry if any of my comments sound jumbled or repetitive. It is long past sleep o'clock here, and my brain is not at 100, but I wanted to comment with the writing still fresh in my mind. ^^)

[elizachoo]

Yay! I'm so glad you like it! 

I was actually thinking of Bobby as more the sort of person who packs totally unnecessary things because he's so excited he can't contain it, and actually more of a turtleneck sweater kind of guy, but maybe I'll play around with the formal thing. 

I will try to get a next installment out as quickly as I can!

[PetalsAndThorns]

Oh, I like that as well~! The excited puppy dog kind of feel is sweet. ^^ I'm excited to see their dynamic when they meet, and what you have in store for them. Thank you again for writing this.

[elizachoo]

Well, it's long overdue, and it's not much, and there's not even any actual sneezing yet, but here's a teensy something more on this story just to say I haven't forgotten. The next part is underway so with any luck it won't take another two months!  

***

“Merry Christmas to you too, babe,” Elliott pulled away unwillingly from Bobby’s kiss. “Come on, we’ll have plenty of time for more, but that officer has been giving me the evil eye for the past ten minutes and already threatened to give me a ticket once, I want to get out of here.”

“Deal,” Bobby agreed, swinging his bags into the trunk and closing it with a thud. 

“How was work today?” he asked as he buckled in. “And how glad are you to be off for awhile?” 

“Ugh,” Elliott groaned. “So glad. I had the worst headache all afternoon, too.” Bobby frowned and reached a hand over to Elliott’s hair. “I’m sorry, hon. How are you feeling now?”

Elliott smiled as they batted Bobby’s hand away. “I’m driving, you loon. Keep your hands to yourself.” They glanced over and caught the concern in Bobby’s eyes. “I’m ok, babe. Seriously, I came home and took a quick nap, and I’m a whole new person now. Thank God, right? Who has time to be sick this week?” 

Bobby returned their smile. “Right,” he said. But even as he said it, he couldn’t help but think of his seatmate to Chicago. They had barely been on the plane for three hours, but in that time the man’s symptoms had grown impressively. When they first boarded he hardly would have known the man was sick, but by the time they landed, plague guy had long since abandoned his soaked handkerchief and was only half-heartedly covering his sneezes at all. Bobby had opted for orange juice on the second flight as insurance, hoping very much that this was not just closing the barn door after the horse had snorted off into the night. He’d just have to make sure it wasn’t, he decided. Mind over matter, right?

***

Sniff. 

A large dragonfly had landed on Bobby’s nose and was now tickling the tip of it with one wing as if to say, “Hello, friend! Want to play?”

“What is your problem?” Bobby muttered, twitching his nose. He swung his hand up and caught the dragonfly; unfortunately, he also hit himself in the nose as he did so.

The action was enough to wake Bobby from his dream. Eyes still closed, he kneaded his nose with his fist. There was, of course, no dragonfly in his hand now, and yet the tickle in his nose persisted.

Sniff.

 

[ellwren]

Just found this, and it's really good!

 

[queenie]

So cute! They’re both backed into such corners here. 

[Gingersneeze]

Adorable! Can’t wait for the next part!