Chanel's Mixed Bag (female drabbles) Updated August 30

[Chanel_no5]

I grew tired of my other drabble thread. I might still update it now and then if I come up anything for the prompts, but... yeah. This one isn't ruled by a list of prompts, but rather random inspirations and experiments. It will all be female, because that's what I like, and for the time being it will likely be mostly Westworld, Borgen, some originals, maybe some other fandoms, who knows?  

Neither of these are completely new, as I'm currently (still) struggling a bit with life in general, a semi-writer's block, and a bunch of trades that are mostly long overdue. But as soon as things settle and I'm back in the saddle and catch up with my other writing, I'll be adding fresh, new material here as well. At that point I may also take requests, depending on what they are. I'll let you know when. Until then, have a couple of previously unposted drabbles (and outgrown drabbles). Comments are appreciated!  

 

Fandom: Westworld (pre-dating season 1, but with some minor spoilers for both season 1 and 2)
Sneezing character(s): Charlotte Hale
Reason: Cat allergies

 

 

 

 

 

”Ugh, what a disgusting animal,” the executive director of Delos said.

“If you kick my cat, I will turn down whatever business proposal you came here to present me with, so best not to,” Theresa replied calmly and sat down in one of the chairs on the deck. She gestured to the other one, inviting Charlotte to sit down, which she did after making a big scene out of brushing it free of cat hair.

The large black cat gave Charlotte a superior glare, then softly jumped up onto his mistress’s lap, curled into a pretzel, and began purring. Theresa stroked his shiny fur with long, firm strokes, giving Charlotte a curious (but neutral-looking) glance from the side.

The younger woman seemed decidedly uncomfortable. That was a first.

“I hate cats. And I fucking hate Copenhagen,” Charlotte muttered.

“Really?” Theresa said and reached for her cigarettes and the ashtray. “I thought you rather enjoyed this place. Easy access to drugs and sex.”

“I don’t know if you realised, but you just called yourself easy,” Charlotte smirked, and the older woman rolled her eyes.

“Just be aware that I’m not fucking you if I’m gonna work for you. We’re not going down that road again.”

“It always surprises me when corrupt people suddenly get morals. Besides, that didn’t bother you eight years ago, did it?”

“You have no idea what bothers me and what doesn’t, nor do you care, so either present your business proposal or get the fuck out of my home.”

“Mighty w-words…” Charlotte meant for it to sound mocking, but the momentary stutter made Theresa take a closer look and realise that Charlotte was actually trying her hardest not to sneeze. After a short struggle, she managed to fight off the sneeze, gave a light sniff, and picked up the sentence again. “Mighty words coming from someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” Theresa said musingly, exhaled a cloud of smoke and watched it disperse in the light sea breeze. “You do know that everything I’ve done has been to keep people safe, right?”

“Mmhmm, yes, I bet that’s what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night. But the coverups you’ve initiated…”

“What was it that you came for, exactly?” Theresa interrupted. “The deal Delos had with my father’s business is over.”

“I’m sure you’re aware of the progress of our research project nevertheless.”

“I thought it couldn’t be done.”

“It’s only a matter of time now. However, we have a problem. Ford has gathered all the raw data in the park, and we can’t reach it.”

Theresa laughed out loud.

“Well isn’t that inconvenient!”

Charlotte rubbed her nose, ignoring Theresa’s little display of schadenfreude.

“Which is where you come in. You know enough about the project that you can be trusted not to leak. No one in Westworld knows who you are. Go there as head of Quality Assurance, gather the data we need, and send it to Delos.” She rubbed her nose again and sniffled rather wetly before continuing. “We estimate the work, if we take it slow enough that no one gets suspicious, will take about five years all in all. Less if you notice any signs that Dr Ford is unravelling. You would of course get the usual home rotations that all staff have, and you will do the regular job as head of QA, but your real job is getting our fucking IP out of there. Whatever you make now in terms of salary, consider it doubled.”

If Theresa was impressed – and she was, a little bit, because she made a lot of money as it was – she didn’t let it show.

“And if I refuse?”

Charlotte leaned forward.

“You should be aware that your parents are in the system. They were very, very active visitors in the park. Accept my proposal, and you’ll get the raw data of their codes. Keep them out of the project, if that’s what you want. Or bring them back. I don’t give a shit. We would offer you a place there as well, but I seem to recall you’re not very fond of the idea of immorta-ahh… ahhISCHnggh!”

She tried to crush the sneeze into a stifle, but it could at best be called a half-stifle. The corners of Theresa’s mouth twitched, but she managed to keep the smile from forming fully.

“That’s right, I don’t think we were meant to live forever.”

“Your father did, though. And he had many morally repulsive interests to live for. I think the name Cullen would be stained forever if that came out. Oh, I’m sorry.” She clearly wasn’t sorry. “Maybe you didn’t know.”

“I don’t want to know. He’s dead.”

“Depends how you look at it…” Charlotte said, then she rubbed her nose again. “Do you have to keep doing that?”

Theresa was about to ask what she meant, then realised that her slow caresses sent cat hair into the air, and the breeze carried them in Charlotte’s direction.

“I don’t have to, since you ask,” Theresa replied, but she showed no signs to stopping. “What’s it to you?”

As if she didn’t know. Theresa had suffered from allergies for many years, and she knew the symptoms only too well. The watery eyes, the itchy nose, the congestion, the sneezing… yeah, Charlotte Hale was definitely allergic to her cat.

“I’m allergic to that fucking critter,” Charlotte snapped, but if she was aiming for threatening, she failed spectacularly when the sentence ended in a desperate gasp. Her reddening nostrils flared as she took several hitching breaths before leaning into her cupped hands and giving in to the persistent allergic tickle.

“Hehh.. aaISSCH! NtSH! NGTSCH-ugh! HahhISSCHew! HehTSCHew!”

“Oh, I know,” Theresa replied with a self-satisfied smirk. “I just wanted to hear you admit it.”

“F-fuck y-youhh… huh…uhEESCHew!”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Theresa said, the smirk still in place. “We could go upstairs right now. Though of course then I won’t agree to the business proposal.” She shrugged. “Or job offer, rather.”

Charlotte sniffled thickly and started to get up from her chair.

“Think about my offer. But not too long. HehISSCHew! The new head of QA has to be on site in two weeks. If I don’t hear from you in 48 hours, I’m offering it to the next person on the list.” She tried to give Theresa an intimidating glare, but it was largely ruined by the tears welling up in her red rimmed eyes. She still maintained the effort. “And if so, whatever little family secrets you may want to keep under wraps, will come out eventually.”

“Noted.” Theresa said with a sigh and put the cigarette out. The cat seemed to take this as a signal that cuddle time was over, stood up, stretched, and elegantly jumped down from her lap. Theresa brushed the hair off her clothes, saw Charlotte flinch involuntarily and then launch into another rapid fit.

Theresa shook her head.

“Do you want an antihistamine?”

“I want to get the fuck out of here,” Charlotte hissed in a half-choked voice.

“Fine. I’ll let you know what I decide,” Theresa said dismissively, and rather than escorting the other woman out, she remained seated, staring out at the harbour where small fishing boats bobbed up and down on the waves.

Charlotte’s footsteps and accompanied sniffling vanished, a car started and drove off, and the blessed silence returned. But Theresa no longer felt relaxed. Too many unpleasant memories, of all kinds, tried to surface in her mind, and she forcefully pushed them aside, got up from her wicker chair and went to make herself a double whisky. It was only noon, but fuck that.

Despite her inner turmoil, she couldn’t help cracking a smile when the cat followed her, trilling eagerly.

“Good boy, Zorro. Let’s find you some tuna.”

Taking the job would of course mean leaving Zorro for months at a time, but she already worked irregular hours with long travels involved, and her neighbour was always happy to look after him.

She’d much rather not take it, let Delos sort out their own mess. But that would leave Theresa sorting out whatever mess her asshole father had created, maybe even having to meet the old bastard again if that fucking project succeeded, and that was not something she would be happy to do. Throwing away five years on that crap, fantastic.

But who knew? Maybe Westworld had its upside as well, even if she couldn’t imagine what that would possibly be.

***
 

Fandom: Borgen
Sneezing character(s): Birgitte Nyborg
Reason: Cold
Some mess warning!
 

“Oh God, I’m exhausted,” Birgitte sighed as she sank down in the couch next to Philip. He put an arm around her and pulled her closer, until she almost laid on him.

“Rough day?” he mumbled against her cheek. She nodded, reaching for the blanket that was draped over the couch armrest and draped it over herself instead.

“Yeah. And I’m so cold,” she replied, burying her face into his shoulder.

“Hmm… want me to get you warmed up?” he said, but he said it without much flirtation in his voice; he could sense just how tired she was and how heavily she leaned on him. That was never the beginning of anything sexual.

“I’m gonna sneeze,” she said, but she was just too tired to move, so she sneezed into his shirt. “HepTSCHuh HeEESCHuh!”

“Bless…”

“Huh-ISSchuh! Sniff… huhESCHugh!”

“… you, wow. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She sounded like she was half-asleep. “Just a tickle.”

“Uh-huh. How did that vote go?”

“Hmmm?” she tried to raise her head from his shoulder but didn’t get far; it seemed like too much work.

"Didn't you take a vote on that integration bill today?"

“Oh. Yeah. We won with two… uhESSHHuh! AH-EESCHoo! God… two votes.”

“Birgitte?”

“Mmm..?”

“You’re coming down with a cold.”

“No, I just got something in my n-nose.. huhh… eiiGTSSCHuh! Oohh… NkTSCHooh”

“Honey, after all those sneezes you cannot possibly have anything left in your nose,” he said playfully and kissed her hair. “Which I can tell. Because you’ve gotten all the snot onto my shirt.”

“No I haven’t,” she began, lifting her head, “yes, I have. Ugh, I’m sorry, that’s gross.”

“Birgitte…” he caressed her cheek. “You know I really don’t mind. But we should get you to bed.”

She nodded, then gasped for air and sneezed again, this time turning her head away from him. He cupped her chin and turned her face back to him, giving her a light kiss.

“Poor sweetie. Do you have a fever?”

“Don’t think so.”

“But I think so.”

“I’m not getting sick, Philip. I’m just tired. And my nose tickles.”

She rubbed her nose with one hand, sniffling thickly.

“If you say so… alright honey, let’s go to bed… oh my God,” he chuckled as he saw her eyes taking on that distant, hazy sneezy look again, “you really can’t stop, can you?”

“I’m f-fine… ehh… ehhhEEAAchoo!” That one was less wet, but it tore at her throat with painful determination.

“Alright, come on. We’re going to bed, and we’ll see tomorrow what happens with that not-cold."

"Fine. But I'm not sick." 

"Tell me that tomorrow. If you still have a voice then."

She rolled her eyes, but inwardly, she was pretty sure he was right.

 

Fandom: Westworld
Sneezing character(s): Theresa Cullen 
Reason: Pollen allergies
 

Theresa woke up coughing, but that in itself was nothing unusual; she smoked far too much and was only too aware of it. She had quit and taken it up again more times than she could count. It hurt her pride to admit that she was addicted to anything, moreso anything that damaged her health, but there it was.

When she coughed herself into a sneezing fit instead, that’s when she started to suspect this wasn’t just the repercussions of her bad habit. What time of year was it again? When you worked and lived in these confined spaces it was hard to keep track of the days and weeks and months. Was it allergy season already?

Yeah, had to be. She would sneeze pretty frequently from a cold too, but not these breathless, helpless, endless morning attacks. Holy fuck, if she managed to get a full breath in between these sneezes she’d consider herself lucky. It tickled so much, and she was mad at herself for not being able to get back in control.

The first series of sneezes were violent, aggressive-sounding, but as she grew more and more exhausted and out of breath, she didn’t have the energy to put any of her anger into them any longer. She was vaguely aware that Bernard got out of bed, but most of her attention was fixated on the dreadful itch in her eyes and sinuses.

Suddenly, his hand was on her shoulder and he sat down next to her, handing her a bunch of tissues.

“You’re not going to asphyxiate, are you?” His tone was light, but underneath was a deeper layer of concern. The asphyxiation thing was a joke, but he couldn’t remember seeing her this afflicted before.

“I hope dot,” Theresa sniffled. 

"Allergy season already?" 

"Seebs like it."

"Stay put. I'll go find you some antihistamines," he said, giving her a light kiss on the forehead before getting out of bed and quickly getting dressed. "I'll be right back."

"Thank you."

 

Edited December 16, 2019 by Chanel_no5

[crazygirl22]

These are so great. Can't wait for more. 😍

Also I really hope you'll be doing better soon! (I know how hard it can be to struggle with life)
Sending hope and strength to you ✌️

[Chanel_no5]

On 8/31/2019 at 7:37 PM, crazygirl22 said:

These are so great. Can't wait for more. 😍

Also I really hope you'll be doing better soon! (I know how hard it can be to struggle with life)
Sending hope and strength to you ✌️

Thank you my dear.   I too hope things will start looking up soon. All I want is some stability right now. But I hope I can at least get fully back into writing again. Thank you so much!  

 

[Chanel_no5]

So, this is another drabble I found when going through my hard drive. 

Fandom: Westworld
Sneezing character(s): Theresa. Of course. From Elsie's POV this time, and yeah, in my head, Elsie could play the part of sneaky fetishist.  
Reason: Cold.

***

She very rarely comes down here, which is both a relief and a shame. A relief because she’s one scary bitch. So strict and by-the-book. A shame because she’s also so, very, hot. I probably wouldn’t get any work done ever if she was here all the time.

I actually really hate the bitch. But that doesn’t mean I don’t take a few moments to admire her shapely legs or gorgeous hour-glass figure. Or her beautiful nose.

When she comes down this morning, with one of the higher-ups in tow, it’s clear that she’s fighting a monster cold, and she’s losing. She’s not sniffling, or coughing, but you can tell from a mile away that she has been sneezing and blowing her nose at least since yesterday, probably longer. Her lovely nose is a deeply irritated shade of pink, and despite her makeup, her complexion is ashen, and she just looks… sick. Rundown. Exhausted.

And pissed off, but that’s like second nature for Theresa.

She doesn’t pay any attention to me, and I’m just sitting by the table anyway, tapping at my programming pad to find the breach in the host’s software, but losing all interest in it when she walks in.

“What is this, Bernard?” she asks, pointing to the fucked-up host that my boss is currently examining.

She crosses her arms, and I can see about three quarter of her profile from my reasonably safe position. Bernard begins to speak, and she listens, but with increasing impatience. At first I think it’s just her usual annoyance, but then she turns slightly towards my direction, holds up a hand as a makeshift shield hiding her face (and the oncoming sneeze) from him – and more importantly, the Board member she has with her - which involuntarily gives me almost a perfect view when she rocks forward, shoulders shuddering, and sneezes, takes a single sharp breath and then sneezes again. The lamplight illuminates her from behind, and I can see the spray.

She turns back, muttering an excuse that's mostly aimed at the Board member, makes a gesture to let Bernard know to keep talking, and maybe a minute goes by. Then I can see a fluttering, sneezy look creep into her face little by little, and she takes obvious care to regulate her breathing, holding her breath for a few seconds, exhaling, taking a couple of very measured and careful breaths, then tensing up again, holding it in. It’s a delicious will she-won’t she situation, but in the end she will. She has to. The cold is much stronger.

She slowly turns to the side again, teetering on the edge for a few glorious, torture-filled seconds, and then snaps forward, a much more full-bodied sneeze this time.

“HehEERSCHH! Excuse me-yEESCHHoo!”

But she’s not done. She sneezes again, a full-on explosion of glittering spray, each droplet illuminated. At this point she realises she’s not going to get herself back under control yet, and cups a hand over her mouth and quivering nose, muffling the noise and semi-containing the spray. She sneezes three more times, one more helpless than the next. Tears smudge her eye makeup ever so slightly.

“Oh God, this fucking cold is killing me,” she mutters thickly, mostly to herself, and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand before turning back to them. When they take up the conversation (Bernard doesn't seem fazed, but the Board member has put some safety distance to her, good on him) I see her discreetly wipe her hand on her clothes. Then, when Bernard hands over the tablet so she can view the host programming for herself, she takes it with the hand she has just sneezed into.

Okay, this woman and her desperate sneezes are sexy as fuck, but I think I’ll do best at getting some hand sanitizer. Then I remember the massive amount of spray that she unleashed in my direction, and I grudgingly accept that I'll probably catch her hell cold anyway. 

Fuck. 

 

[Chanel_no5]

So this is something I never thought I'd write... wait. I feel like I always start with that whenever I write a new fandom. Oh well. I've been watching the second season of Castle Rock and I've watched the first six episodes and I've been ugly crying throughout. No, I managed to keep mysef together through the first episode. Then it went south. Anyway, great season so far, and as a diehard Stephen King fan, I never thought I'd write a sneezefic about Annie Wilkes, but Lizzy Caplan's Annie is adorable, in a tragic and psychotic way. Don't ask, watch the show. I plan on writing Nadia as well, as soon as time and inspiration coincide.

I didn't really get a fetishy buzz from this, tbh, but it was fun writing anyway. 

Fandom: Castle Rock season 2
Sneezing character(s): Annie Wilkes
Reason: Allergies 

“NktSH! NktSCH! Tschew! HEH-nTSSH! NKTSHew! Heh-ISSCHEW-ISSCHEW-huh-ISSSHHoo!!”

“Whoa, bless you! You alright, Anne?” Nadia asked without looking up from the file she was filling in. “You’ve been sneezing a lot today.”

“I’m not sick, Doctor H,” Annie said, terrified that she might be accused of coming to work in the hospital while being contagious. “I’m just allergic!”

“You know, I could almost tell,” Nadia replied jokingly, looking up, with a bit of a smile. When Annie didn’t seem to understand, she dropped the playful irony altogether. “You’ve been scrubbing at your eyes a lot, too, they're all red and watery. And either way, full-on sneezing fits like that are a pretty common symptom of allergies. Ragweed?”

“Don’t know.” Annie replied, calmer now that she realised she wasn’t at risk of being shunned due to the uncontrollable fits. She took a couple of tissues and blew her nose, more to get rid of the persistent, overwhelmingly strong itch than to get rid of the watery flow that her nose kept producing. “I’ve never had a test to find out.”

“Well, it sounds pretty bad.” Nadia closed the file and put it in the heap. “Want me to have a quick listen to your lungs? Ragweed allergies have a nasty habit of causing asthma flares.”

“No, I’m f-fihhh… fine… hihhh... ehhh... nKTSHew! HEIISSSHHoo!”

“Hm… I think fine might be one hell of a stretch, but it certainly sounds like it’s mostly from the upper respiratory system,” Nadia said. “What are you taking for it?”

“Oh… just Claritin.”

“I’ll get you something stronger.” She stood.

“No, that’s not necessary, I can… I… c-cahh… ahh-nkTSH! TSChew! HihTSSHEW! Can work through it.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Anne, but you can't. You can’t do anything in that condition. I’m surprised you even managed to get here this morning without crashing your car.”

“Don’t send me home,” Annie said, eyes widening in something akin to fear. “I need the money.”

Nadia frowned, and while she didn’t think she seemed like she was about to lash out, Annie shied back as if she expected her to. Nadia couldn’t help but wondering what in the world this woman had been through in life. But frankly, she had more than enough with her own, and while Anne did a good job as a nurse, she was… odd. Nadia wasn’t in the mood to deal with odd right now.

“I’m just saying, you need something that actually works on those symptoms. I want you to try a nose spray and eye drops in addition to the Claritin, because alone, it clearly doesn’t do much.”

“It does. You should see me without it.”

Nadia regarded her closely.

“I hope you’re kidding right now.”

Annie didn’t answer. Nadia pursed her lips.

“Come on. We’re going to find something that works for you.”

She took the box of tissues that she kept on her desk at all times, and handed it to the nurse.

“And until we figure it out, take these.” 

Annie clutched the tissues close to her chest and looked down, embarrassed but grateful at the same time. 

"Thanks," she whispered. 

 

Edited December 14, 2019 by Chanel_no5

[Chanel_no5]

So there were actually a whole bunch of sneezing-while-hiding opportunities in the final episode, but of course I went and played with the scene BEFORE those. Go figure. I don't know. I modified a scene where Pop Merrill interrogates Annie Wilkes about whether or not she's who she says she is, and not one of the cult members from Marsten's House. So. Since it took place in a dusty basement, this seemed to fit, and since Annie had quite a few messy moments and seemed to be too upset to really care, I thought it would be in character for her to wipe her nose with her sleeve or just let it drip. Meaning yeah, there's some non-graphic mess in here. 

Fandom: Castle Rock season 2
Sneezing character(s): Anne Ingalls aka Annie Wilkes
Reason: Dust allergies

 

“You seem awfully calm, considering what’s going on in this town,” Pop said. Annie gave him a condescending glare and wiped her nose with the sleeve of her plaid shirt.

“I don’t care about your cockadoodie town! Besides, for all I know, this could all be happening in my head, but I know one thing for sure, I know my daughter is somewhere in that house and I’m going to get her, so just give me a gun and I’ll be out of your ha-ISSSHHoo! Hair!”

She had been getting up from the chair, reaching for the pile of guns behind Pop, and when the unexpected sneeze crept up on her she had no time to turn away or cover, ending up sneezing openly and losing her balance a bit in the process.  

“Sit down,” Pop said, placing two fingers in her chest and giving her a light push backwards. Annie half-sat, half-fell back in the chair and sneezed again, wiping her runny nose with her sleeve again. It hardly ruined the shirt; it was stained with both blood, dirt and grease already.

“EISSSHHoo! What are we waiting for? For them to come get us? Hih-EESSHHoo! Because if that’s the plan, I’ve got a better one. Hah-ISSSSHEW!”

“Yeah? What’s that plan, lady? You gonna sneeze on them until they surrender?” Abdi said with a scoff.

“Heh-ISSSHHHoo! You give me a gun and I’m gonna kill every dang ihhyEESHHoo! dirty bird trying to stop me from saving my girl!”

She was sniffling wetly and scrubbing at her irritated nose in between each sneeze, but she wasn’t going to let that minor interruption keeping her from saying what she had to say. In fact, she was only getting started, but before she could keep lecturing, Pop turned to his son. 

“Give her a fucking gun,” Pop said.

“You think that’s a good idea?” Abdi sounded astonished.

“You think it’s a better idea to have her with you when you try to get out of here unnoticed? I don’t know what your fucking problem is, Ingalls, but you’re on your own,” Pop said and tossed her a shotgun.

“My problem is that I’m allergic to dust, meaning if you cleaned this place once in a while, I wouldn’t be sneezing my heEAAASSHHHoo! Head off,” Annie said pointedly, took the shotgun and walked towards the other end of the basement where they had entered.

“She’s gonna blow her fucking brains out,” Abdi said with a sigh.

“Jumbled up as her brains are, it wouldn’t be a great loss.”

“I heard that,” Annie’s congested voice said from the far end of the room. It sounded more like a watery growl than the fervent, high-pitched babbling she had displayed this afternoon. “I may be messed up in the head, but I know how to do one thing right, and that’s what I’m gonna keep doing until the bitter end. I’m gonna protect my daughter. And if you want to hide down here like a bunch of fudging cowards, you can go right ahead.”

She tilted her head back and then snapped forward with another wet, itchy sneeze, the fine mist clearly visible in the lamplight. Wiping her nose with her sleeve once more, Anne Ingalls, aka Annie Wilkes, pushed the back door open and vanished, heading in the direction of Marsten House. 

 

[Chanel_no5]

Fandom: Original
Reason: Allergies
Note: Quick little drabble I wrote last night to get the creative juices flowing after struggling for a while. I don’t know who these ladies are or if they’re on an event or in a workplace or whatever. All I know is that they’ve been friends a long time, and one of them has allergies. But I don't need to know more. ^^

***

After hours of insisting that it's no big deal, she can handle it, she’s fine, no her allergies aren’t that bad… she finally makes it to the bathroom, and does what she has been longing to do for several hours.

Rubs her eyes and her nose, furiously.

She has gotten itchier and itchier as the allergic reaction progressed and while she knows perfectly well that rubbing will only make matters worse, she absolutely can’t stop herself. She rubs until she has smeared out what was left of her eye makeup – waterproof mascara, yeah, maybe, but not tearproof – and her eyes are swollen and red and feel like she’s gotten sand in them.

At that point she has started sneezing, too. Normally a very dainty and discreet sneezer, Olivia is too tired and too, well, itchy, to bother. Besides, she’s alone. So she just grabs a handful of paper towels and sneezes several times, one louder and more uncontrollable than the other, the sound bouncing off the tiled walls, amplified to many times their actual volume.

When she’s finally stopped, she looks up to see Carmen standing there, tapping her foot and crossing her arms.

“So much for ‘I can handle it’, huh?”

“I can handle it,” Olivia replies, wincing only inwardly at how stuffed up she sounds. And then she swirls around, away from Carmen, and sneezes again.

“Bless you. Wow. I’ve seen you a bit sniffly from those flowers before, but that’s a full-on allergy attack.”

“Really? What tipped you off?” Olivia says, and the sarcasm is laid on thick as bricks. Carmen only chuckles.

“All that sneezing, for one. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you sneeze that much.”

“And you weren’t supposed to see it this time either,” Olivia snaps, scrubbing at her irritated nose with the coarse paper towels, making the tender skin even more irritated.

“Look, I know you like to think you’re superwoman, but you and I have known each other for how long? Decades? If you can’t let your guard down around me, when can you?” Carmen says calmly. “Just stop.” She holds out her hand, grabbing her old friend’s arm. “Let’s go find you some allergy meds. And something a little bit softer on your poor nose.”

Olivia nods. It feels good to let somebody else take charge for once.

 

[tenderwarrior]

I'm so glad you're back! I love your drabbles. 

[silentdreamer789]

On 9/5/2020 at 12:18 AM, tenderwarrior said:

I'm so glad you're back! I love your drabbles. 

I second this!