Point, Counterpoint: A Dialogue - Part 2

[starpollen]

Point, Counterpoint: A Dialogue - Part 2

The characters from this post make a reappearance.

===

“Eeh’SHHUu!”

“Bless you.”

“Thanks.”

(pause...)

(pause...)

“That’s it?”

“Huh?”

“Just one sneeze?"

*experimental sniff* “Looks like it.” 

“Wow.  How very... un-you.”

“Ha ha.”  

“Seriously.” 

“Babe - recent evidence aside - I am not always sneezing my head off.” 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Since I’ve known you, I don’t think I’ve seen you go one whole day without a sneezing fit.” 

“Well, no.  But, who does that?” 

“Does what?  Goes a day without sneezing?”

“Yeah.  Nobody does that.”

“I do.” 

“Well... you’re weird.” 

“And you are - hands down - the sneeziest person I’ve ever met.” 

“*chuckle* I think I’m the sneeziest person I’VE ever met.” 

“I don’t think I ever asked you all the things you’re allergic to.” 

“It’s a long list.” 

“So?  Let’s hear it.” 

“Um. *kgm*  Well... first off there’s the list of things I’m actually diagnosed as allergic to.  *snf* Then there’s the list of all the other things that make me sneeze.” 

“Two lists?” 

“Yeah. *snf*”

“Okay.  What’s the weirdest thing that makes you sneeze?  Diagnosed or not.” 

“Hmm... mint.” 

“Mint?”

“And lemons.” 

“You’re kidding.” 

“Nope. *snff*”

“Mint and lemons. Those are weird things.” 

“I mean, not, like, huge fits or anything.  Just one or two. There’s a lot of other things that are worse. *snff*rub*  Strong scents.  Don’t take me anywhere near Bath & Body Works. *snffff*”

“Why are you sniffling?” 

“*embarassed chuckle*  Even thinking about sneezing makes me want to do it. *pinch-rub*”

“Makes you want to do it.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Your nose is crinkling up like you’re about to.” 

“Nah. *sdrf*”

“Oh, you totally are.”

“I’m fine.”

“It’s twitching.” 

“Stop.” 

“And you’re blinking a lot.” 

“Babe...”

“Okay, okay.  Let’s go back to the list of diagnosed allergies.” 

“*sigh*  Do we have to do this now?”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.  It’s... making me... itchy.” 

“You’re definitely fidgeting more than you were ten minutes ago.  And you’re blushing.” 

“You’re kind of sadistic, you know that, right?”

“And that’s why you love me.” 

*kisss-kiss-kisssses...*

“...okay, back to the list.” 

“*groan*  Couldn’t we just do this *kisss* some more?”

“Later.  *kiss*  List. *kiss*  Go.” 

“Unghh fine.  Um, well... you know about the grass in summer.” 

“Oh yeah.  That was pretty spectacular.” 

“*light laugh*  I guess… okay... well... I guess we should just start at the beginning of the year.  I met you in early June so you missed the tree pollen explosions.”

“Explosions?”

“OH yeah.  This nose erupts *rub* violently *snf* from March to May.  Huge sneezes.  Some of my biggest, from tree pollen.” 

“Huh.  Go on.” 

“Then June.” 

“Right.” 

“Which will go through July.  Sometimes there’s a small reprieve in August just before the ragweed comes out. *snf-snffff*”

“What’s ragweed?”

“Oh god, the sperm of Satan.”

“Sperm? Of Satan?” 

“*hard rub*  You do know that pohh— hH! --pollen is basically flower sperm, right? *upward swipe*”

“It’s coming, isn’t it?”

“What?” 

“You’re so gonna sneeze.” 

“No.” 

“I bet ya, before we finish this list, you’re gonna sneeze.” 

“*hufff*  Not gonna happen.” 

“Aww, come on. That little nerve next to your nose is twitching.  Riiiiight here...” 

“I hate you.” 

“What does ragweed look like?” 

“...what?” 

“What. Does ragweed. Look like?”

“Ugly.” 

“*laughs* No seriously.” 

“You’ve got a phone. Google it.” 

(pause)

“Oh, you’re right.  It IS ugly.  Look.” 

“Stop. hH!--”

“Just looking at it makes you want to sneeze?” 

“You’re so f— HEH’kgtzzshhttt -HUH!’djzttt…”

“Ha!  I win!”

“Why am I even with you? *swipe*”

“Because you looooove me.” 

*kisssssses*

“hah!-SHIEEWW! ... sorry.”

“Bless you!”

“See what you’ve started? *snrfl*”

“Ok after ragweed...” 

“Ah’jddsshtt!-jddzzscht!!-ZZDSCHttt! 

“Bless you.  You said tree pollen makes you have huge - violent - sneezes.  I’ve seen that grass makes you sneeze, like, for-EV-er.  What about ragweed?”

“Ughh... can’t you just wait to find out?”

“I like hearing your perspective.” 

“ah’SHHeeuu!.. Fuck. Pass me the tissues.” 

“Here.” 

*shhhhhhhhtt* 

“Ragweed sneezes?” 

“They tease.” 

“Tease?” 

“Yeah. *scrubbing nose with tissue*  It depends on the pollen count, but... *snfff*... unless it’s super high… *pinch-rub*... I itch like mad all day and have, like, a million false starts.  It’s this constant feeling like I’m gonna sneeze any second... but it takes forever to actually happen. *knuckle rub* It’s horrible.”

“Ok so spring, summer, fall.  But winter is okay, right?” 

“Not always.” 

“What, you’re allergic to snow?” 

“*chuckle*  No. But there’s dust and dust mites and mold and sometimes just cold air.” 

“Wow.” 

“Yeah ih- he’ISHoo!  it’s annoying. *sshhhht*” 

“*passes another tissue*  Bless.  Are you prone to colds?”

“*nods*  Every year. Like clockwork. *ssshhhhh*” 

“Clockwork.”

“Yeah.  We don’t even need a calendar.  *embarassed laugh*  My nose will do it for us.”

“What about animals?  My cousin is crazy allergic to cats.” 

“Oh god, cahh-- kzt’Shh!-KH’ssh!-KHSSHHT!”

“Cats too?”

“Cats make me snhuh—heeze in these little ticklish runs and I get s-hH!-- so ... hH!- kshh!-k’ssht!-k’GSSHHtt!...  ugh, out of breath.  Tiny, unrelieving *scrubbingnostrils* fuck-all sneezes *hardsnfl* that don’t do anything to get rid of the tickle and just. Won’t. Stop.  And my eyes are streaming and I’m sneezing my head off and it’ll go on for, like, an hour after I’m away from the fucking cat...”

“Damn.  Ok.  No cats.” 

“Please. Heh!-- R’AHSHuu!!!... *shhhhht*  Ahh. *upward swipe*” 

“You’re so unbelievably adorable.” 

“What, because talking about sneezing makes me hH!-... sneeze?... EeH’SSHHUu!... gahh.” 

“Yes *kissss* And how your nose flushes this cute shade of pink.” 

“Agh, don’t poke at it *snff*  I was having a perfectly sneeze-free afternoon before all this.”

“You’re so sensitive.” 

“My nose is. *wrinkle-wriggle*” 

“I love it.” 

“I love you.” *kissss*

“...perfume and cologne?”

“AEHGK’SHOO!”

“I guess that’s my answer *chuckle*”

“Strong scents, remember? *snff-SNFL*”

“Mm.  So you never really stop sneezing, huh.” 

“*sssshhhh*  Do you want me to?  *pinch-wipe*” 

“No.” 

“ hep-TSSHiioouu--… haht!-SHIEEW!”

“Mmmm sooo sexy... *kiss*kisssss*  You know... I bet the bedroom is verrry dusty...” 

“You’re truly evil, you know that? *scrubbing with tissues in hard circles*” 

“But you love me anyway.” 

“God knows why *snf*”

“Let’s go see if we can find a reason...” 

“ahH-SHHOOOoo!...  Okay.”

Edited February 18, 2021 by starpollen

[starpollen]

I'm curious what people picture when you read these pieces.  Environment/surroundings, genders, heights, looks, etc.  I mean, I obviously have a certain movie playing in my head.   If you're willing to share yours, I'd be interested.   

[Tassielli]

This is my favorite thing. The just talking about it thing. I am in love with this. 
 

thank you. 

[Missxxch]

I love this! So hot.
As someone who likes male sneezing, I picture a man, tall, dark and handsome!

[starpollen]

1 hour ago, Missxxch said:

I love this! So hot.
As someone who likes male sneezing, I picture a man, tall, dark and handsome!

Nice!  Who is the other character?  ☺️

[Usagi]

Nice! Just like the way you wrote it honestly!

[Coffee Mug]

So haaawt!!! Wow! I love the description of all the allergies and how many sneezes and how it happens, when it’s the worse and all while the crazy itch and allergies are going on! This is like a major combo! 
I picture a guy, dark hair, quite tall, quite big nose all red and itchy, fidgeting with a scrambled almost useless tissue. The other part is a female, obviously teasing him to her pleasure but I can’t create a picture on her.. huh 🤔 

Anyways thank you for this absolute GEM! 

[anna]

Holy shittttttt

[Demosthenes]

Damn, this is sooo good.  Thank you!!

[Skylacticon]

Ahh!! So good, as always. 

[rockbell]

Absolutely love this! I love their dynamic so much.

As for who I picture....🤔 ...from what I read of both part 1 and 2,  the one with a sensitive nose is a man. I picture him on the taller end, somewhere around 6 foot, a little above or a little below and masculine - but not in the same way as your other character Tommy. In my head, he gives me 'bad boy' vibes (like the kinda stereotypical leather jacket and flannel kind lol) due to his own snark and in the sense that he's confident in himself, but he's also kind-hearted (or maybe he's just that way towards his s/o?). As for your other character, because of the spunky attitude and the teasing, I picture this character as a girl. I don't picture anything specific for her looks, but she is someone who can stand up for herself with some sass. And for whatever reason in my head, she can go from wearing cute floral dresses to combat boots and a leather jacket (she has range lol). In regard to height, I picture her around 5 foot to 5'3", mainly because I love the juxtaposition of being tiny and having attitude. Especially when their partner is taller than them, but they're the ones keeping them on their toes.

This was a total ramble but it was a lot of fun!

Edited February 21, 2021 by rockbell

[PennyLane]

On 2/16/2021 at 9:40 PM, starpollen said:

I'm curious what people picture when you read these pieces.  Environment/surroundings, genders, heights, looks, etc.  I mean, I obviously have a certain movie playing in my head.   If you're willing to share yours, I'd be interested.   

Aha, so it's kinda embarrassing, but I definitely picture myself as the sneeze-loving-sadistic-teasing partner. As for the sneezer, I see a tall, muscular, fluffy hair red head, with dark glasses. Also the sneezer has a megawatt smile they're always wearing between sneezes cause they love to watch their partner's reaction. Thank you for writing this!! I absolutely adore it!!!❤❤

[sneezyfeather338]

Holy crap that made me melt!😍🥰😘

[brownsasha11]

Can’t believe I am just finding this. Well written as usual @starpollen. Using your usual style of writing and characters. I am thinking of Asher Maddox and Keene R. Thorn from Drive: A Sci-Fi Romance and Draven Phoenix and Alyc from Bad Form: Sapien Saga.

[Hyacinth]

This. Was. Amazing. How have I been on this site for years and never discovered this or the original?? Starpollen, you are my queen.

I picture the sneezing character as a guy. In general, I'm attracted to short king bros, which are conventionally attractive, shorter guys that are a touch fratty (no more than a touch) and into sports/gaming. But for whatever reason, I am picturing an average height, slightly heavy dork. And I am loving him. He has sandy short hair in the generic guy cut that isn't any specific style. Kinda pale with flushed cheeks (and nose ofc). He definitely games and is really into game of thrones and lord of the rings. I think his name is Mark. Or similar vibes to Mark. Kevin? 

The other character is his girlfriend. Idc about her. Mark 😍

[Tyko93]

Even without anything beyond dialogue and a few small gestures by the characters, you still managed to make my brain paint an image of what was happening.  All the expressions on their faces as they talked to each other.  It was wonderful.  Great job!

[Hyacinth]

Coming back to say please please please write a part 3 where he ran into a cat 

[Gemmia]

I can’t believe I discovered that one year later ! This is so good and I didn’t know there was a part 2 ! I really hope she will do a part 3 because this is the best dialogue I’ve ever read !

[A57]

I’m glad this story is getting the recognition it deserves- I frequently visit these stories and am reminded of your OC Tommy each time. I would love another installment of this… (and maybe some Tommy and Hayley too??) 😌😌

 

[Imgonnasneeze]

I think I read this a long time ago but never said anything. Super good though!! I read it with the sneezer as a female, and the other person is sort of this mystery figure I guess. Probably also a female, but I have never though about them so much. I guess I just defaulted to female, which is interesting because I usually consider myself as being into males as well. I will have to reread imagining the sneezer as a male and see how it is. 

[Privatedancer]

I just watched Love is Blind for the first time and pictured this conversation between 2 people dating and getting to know each other early on

[Icyfall]

This was very interesting thank you for sharing 

[Shastalaska]

This was absolutely amazing, something about not being told who the characters are just felt so immersive and lovely. I loved this so much, and I can't wait to see more!

[AntheaHolmes]

As 🔥 as the first story. Amazing! 

[mmmunSeong]

This and part one is one of my most favorite works to come back and read all the time ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ the dialogue is just so good. I really just like imagining two blank slate characters hahaha