Under The Weather (Deep Blue Sea, Janice) Finished Dec 5 -23

[Chanel_no5]

On 4/25/2022 at 8:05 AM, Purplelily said:

I know I haven’t commented on the last few parts, but god this is amazing. I’m so curious about the plot too, I want to know how they’re going to fix this mess! And what’s going to happen to Susan! 
 

But poor Janice. She’s really going through it here! I’m glad they’re getting of the boat soon, hopefully she can be tucked into bed with warm clothes and soft tissues!

Thank you!!! ❤️ It does seem like the general interest in the fic wanes the longer I drag it out though so I will start wrapping it up, lol! 😅 Next chapter will be the uncomfortable ride back to the mainland (oh noes, crammed into a helicopter real close together... 😈 With a terribly itchy nose...) plus a ton of Janice caretaking by Jim. 😏 And the last will take place a year or two later, when procedures are through and consequences dealt. Jan won't be sick in that part, but struggle with allergies or something like that. She will be sneezy anyway, but she won't be anywhere near as miserable, it's gonna be more of a glimpse into how Jan normally is, happy and taking things in stride. ☺️

Hahahaha, oh yes, there it is, as always, the story's secret title... "Poor Janice"... 😂❤️ She's such a bad luck kinda girl. I know I'm the awful evil person writing this, but honestly I really want to wrap her into a warm blanket and put her to bed and hug her until she falls asleep! 🥺😭😍 

[Anonymace]

I’ve been guilty of lurking on this thread since the beginning (oops), but I just wanted to say I’ve loved every part ❤️ Your writing is phenomenal, and even though I’m not familiar with the original content, you’ve really captured my interest with this.  Excited to see the next few parts! You definitely still have my interest

[Chanel_no5]

  

On 4/27/2022 at 1:06 AM, Anonymace said:

I’ve been guilty of lurking on this thread since the beginning (oops), but I just wanted to say I’ve loved every part ❤️ Your writing is phenomenal, and even though I’m not familiar with the original content, you’ve really captured my interest with this.  Excited to see the next few parts! You definitely still have my interest

Thank you so much! ❤️ I'm so glad you enjoy the story. It means a lot to know that people are still following; sometimes when it seems like the interest is tapering off in a multi-chapter story you start wondering if it's the story or your writing or both that's gotten worse as the story goes on, and it can really tip the insecurity scale. 

It very much goes for this chapter in particular, since the leading lady was actually asleep for most of it...   But after everything else she's been through now, I simply didn't have the heart to throw her into a full-on fight with Susan. 

 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Chanel_no5
fixed quotes. I think. lol

[JayAnders]

Just chiming in to say that I hope you haven't abandoned this story. Dying to read the conclusion.

[Chanel_no5]

58 minutes ago, JayAnders said:

Just chiming in to say that I hope you haven't abandoned this story. Dying to read the conclusion.

Have definitely not abandoned it, just got some other projects that seemed shinier for a while, and I don't feel it's fair to the story to phone it in when I'm not feeling it. But I'm working on the next part as of right now, actually. I'm in the middle of some family issues that need to be sorted so I don't dare say exactly when it will be up, but it should be within a few days. (and I haven't forgotten about that other fic either.  )

Thanks for sticking with it.  

[rsquared906]

I love when you find a new hot actress to torture in multiple roles! Just chiming in to say interest is definitely not waning!

[Chanel_no5]

My dudes, allow me to present, at long last, a long time coming, the elusive, chapter nine!   Only one more to go now, and that one will be a "two years later"-type of chapter.  (She'll sneeze in that one too, I promise. But not from a cold.)

Fun thing, I actually wrote a fic about the whole "nasal spray making matters worse" side by side with this chapter and didn't even realise I was doing the same thing in two fics, until I was like "...wait, this sounds familiar" mid-the other one. hahaha! 

On 7/3/2022 at 8:06 AM, rsquared906 said:

I love when you find a new hot actress to torture in multiple roles! Just chiming in to say interest is definitely not waning!

Oh thank God, I'm so glad you think so, because I always feel so ridiculous and cheap when I write several different characters played by the same actress. I don't know why.   I will soon have access to a show from 2009 where she played a psychiatrist, so I expect there to be a fic or two about that character too, if the show isn't unwatchable and her character unwriteable (highly unlikely).  

 

ANYWAY, here we go!!!!!!  (Also, this was the absolute hardest chapter to write, so I'd really love to know what you think, because I dont know what I think about it, even...   )

***

 

When the rescue helicopter finally arrived, Janice had once more dozed off into a feverish half-slumber, leaning against Jim’s shoulder. The rain rapped forcefully at the windows and the wind howled, violent waves incessantly slamming against the structure. In the depths, deep below them, they could hear sporadic creaking and booming sounds, which wasn’t very reassuring. Apart from the occasional bouts of raspy coughing and congested sneezing from the petite blonde, there was really no sound inside this room, though, so everyone heard the roaring sound of rotor blades over the storm at the same time. Still some distance away, but it didn’t seem to matter; they were getting off this floating hell.

Shaking Janice awake, Jim studied her face closely. She was still very clearly feverish, with red spots glowing on each cheek, her eyes were glassy and tired, watery from the congestion, and her nose and lips were chapped and raw from the continuous brush of tissue paper. She endured his scrutiny for a few moments, then pulled away from him.

“Don’t,” she said.

“Don’t, what?” he asked.

“Don’t look at be like I’b dying.” She sniffled – well, more like snorted – and ran her knuckles under her sore nostrils, trying to quell the persistent itch before it emerged into yet another sneeze. This time she was successful.

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are,” she replied, and shook her head. “I probably look like it, but it’s just a cold.”

Jim suspected flu was more accurate, but he held his tongue. Whether it was the flu or a horrible cold exacerbated by stress and hangover, that didn’t matter right now. Jan was sick, and it was bad, and hearing the sound of the approaching helicopter truly felt like the cavalry was arriving. At long last.

Jim almost helped Janice put her raincoat on, but then thought better of it. If she really didn’t want him to look at her with the amount of concern he thought was appropriate, then she probably didn’t want to feel like he saw her as incapable of putting on her own clothes.

In fact, Janice was fully wrapped in the bright yellow raincoat before the others had put theirs halfway on. The others joined her by the door as soon as they were properly geared up – not that these raincoats would do much considering the intensity of the storm and the rain, but it was better than nothing at least.

Janice had to sneeze again. The urge struck her like a ton of bricks, it was impossible to fight it and too sudden to do anything than just give in and let it out, no time to even think of covering. She was so stuffed up that the sneezes – three in rapid succession – were completely mouth-based and therefore insanely wet.

Scoggs, whose arm had been in the immediate spray zone, chuckled.

“Good thing I got my raincoat on,” he said and gave Janice a pat on a slender shoulder. “Bless you, Jan. I know how much I long for a hot shower and a warm bed, I bet that’s nothing compared to you.”

“Right dow, I’d settle for sobe decoggestadts,” she said. “I just wadt to be able to breathe.”

It took Scoggs two seconds to realise she said decongestants.

“Yeah, you sure sound like you need them,” he said, grinning. Janice rolled her watery eyes and looked away, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips and that was a relief to see. She was always the ray of sunshine out here, and Scoggs would hate for that light in her to go out from all the shit that had been thrown at her the past 24 hours or whatever it was. It felt like weeks or months.

“We’re gonna be fine, Jan,” he said in a lower voice.

“Yes, we are,” she agreed, but she sounded exhausted and sick and all in all like a woman who isn’t even on the same planet as ‘fine’. Still, she mustered a full smile and said; “thanks for getting the radio working.”

“Thanks for the batteries,” he replied. “Sorry about the embarrassment.”

The smile transformed into a smirk. It didn’t look entirely at home on Janice’s sweet face, but it certainly conveyed the message well.

“Desperate tibes, desperate beasures, right?”

“Right.”

Jim joined the rest of them, looking from one to the other.

“Everyone ready?”

A general murmur greeted him.

“Nobody said no,” he shrugged and opened the door, letting the full blast of the weather gods’ fury in.

***

The rain was so heavy that it felt like someone was pouring full buckets straight over her. Janice was shivering again – being warm seemed like the faded memory of a sweet dream – and just forced herself through.

The helicopter hovered above them and one of the rescuers lowered himself down on deck, looking at the tousled bunch of scientists and was (barely) professional enough to not shake his head.

“So, which one of you is first?” he called over the roar of the storm and the rotor blades.

Scoggs and Jim both nudged Janice, who, somewhat shyly, stepped forward. Even in the desperate situation, she felt the need to warn her rescuer that she was sick and probably contagious.

“If that’s a problem, it’s a problem for later,” he dismissed it and got her strapped into the harness. Janice looked upward for a moment, but got so much cold, sharp rain pricking her face that she looked down at her own chest instead. She could feel the rasp in her own breathing, it was like fishhooks in her throat and chest, and it constantly made her feel like she wanted to cough. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t breathe, it was just this constant irritation that she couldn’t cough away.

Brenda was hoisted up after her, and then Susan – Janice suspected that it was simple coincidence rather than any old norms of women first – then Preacher (with his parrot safely tucked underneath his shirt), Scoggs, and Carter in that order. Jim went last, and Janice understood why; he was taking on the responsibility and leadership that Susan had abandoned, but she wished he could have been next to her on this trip back, which promised to be beyond uncomfortable.

They were packed tightly together, as they were actually too many, something she wouldn’t have minded if she hadn’t been sick. Now that she was, she did mind. Not only did physical contact make her skin ache, but she didn’t have room to properly cover the sneezes and coughing fits that kept rippling through her body. Faced with the option of either sneezing on Susan or Brenda, she callously picked Susan. In her mind she justified it with the rationale that Susan already had the same thing.  The truth was, she felt a little bit vengeful.

Okay, maybe more than just a little bit.

“Stop that,” Susan growled after Janice had exploded with a whole fit of messy, spraying sneezes that she couldn’t fully cover.

“I would if I could,” Janice replied in a choked, whispery voice and sneezed again. “…uhh-djSCHugh! Oh God by dose itches… hehhh…”

Susan, equally squeezed between the others, couldn’t really turn away or shield herself from Janice either, gave her a death glare.

“If you sneeze on me again, I swear to God…”

“…ehhhGDSSHHew!”

“Eww, Jan…!”

“I cad’t help it,” Janice said and tried to rub her nose against her own shoulder but couldn’t really reach. “I’b sorry.”

She leaned her head back against whatever was behind her – it wasn’t anywhere near soft, but she didn’t care anymore – and made another attempt at breathing through her nose. It didn’t work. She was still too stuffed up, congestion blocking her upper airways like cement. Breathing through her mouth made her sore throat hurt even more, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She started coughing again, moaning in exhaustion as the fit rushed through her body, shaking her like a leaf in a storm as it went.

One of the two rescue staffers glanced at her, a concerned scowl on his face, then asked Jim:

“The blonde, how long has she coughed like that?”

“Since this morning, pretty much.”

“I’m gonna recommend all of you to get checked out by a doctor, but I definitely recommend that she does.”

“I don’t think we’ll have much luck convincing her; she wants to go home.”

He sighed.

“I’ll take a listen on her lungs when we get to the mainland, but either way my recommendation still stands.”

“I may agree with you, but I can’t force her,” Jim said. He glanced over at Janice, who was leaning back, looking exhausted and feverish, nose red and chapped and a light sheen of dampness underneath. Her eyes were closed, but as he looked at her, she opened her eyes and looked around, hazily, as if she wasn’t sure where she was, then their eyes met. And she smiled. As if she wasn’t miserably sick and being airlifted to safety off a sinking shark enclosure, probably out of a job and potentially facing research ethics complaints by association to Susan, she was still able to smile, and it looked genuine enough.

God, how he admired her.

He smiled back. Janice’s smile remained throughout the buildup of the next sneeze. Which misted the side of Susan’s neck.

“Ugh, Jan, I felt that!” Susan whined.

“I’b sorry, but I cad’t get by hands up high enough to cover… uhhhISSHHEW! Snrrff… hihh… hihIISSSHH!”

If Susan hadn’t been as stuck in place as Janice was, she might have jumped the other woman and strangled her with her bare hands at this point, but instead she resigned herself to her fate, jaws clenching and rolling her eyes with every sneeze that Janice sprayed her with.

Jim saw the fury smouldering in Susan’s eyes, and felt sorry for Janice being the target of that anger, but then he made eye contact with Janice again, and she gave him another smile, and then a tired wink.

Revenge, huh? He thought to himself and smirked. Wouldn’t have thought it of you, Jan, but you’ve deserved to exert some on Susan.

Janice couldn’t have agreed more.

***

When they finally landed and got out of the helicopter, Janice was so grateful she momentarily considered falling to her knees and kissing the pavement, but that seemed like the perfect way to pick up something far worse than a cold, so she didn’t.

It was stormy on the mainland too, but nowhere near as bad as it was out at sea. The rainfall was heavy, but not like having full gallons poured over you, and the wind was strong but it didn’t feel like it had evil intentions and a will of its own.

They had each gotten a quick check-up by the rescuers, and Janice declined further medical attention, as the rest of them had. Jim tried to convince her, coaxing her into going to the hospital and get checked out…

Janice grabbed Jim’s hands, hard, much harder than she looked capable of, and stared straight into his eyes until he fell completely silent and only looked back, pinned on that firm stare.

“I. Wadt. To Go. Hobe.”

“Jan, I really think you should…” he began, but Janice shook her head.

“Hobe. Dot degotiable… snrrrfff!”

“Not negotiable, huh?” he sighed.

“Eeehh…ISSSHHeeh-eeSSSHHew! Ugh… huh-RASSHHew!”

She sneezed so violently she nearly knocked herself over, and Jim chuckled in spite of himself and looped an arm around her slim waist.

“If you refuse medical attention, I’m going to come with you home and keep an eye on you. I don’t like that cough, and I don’t like that temperature.”

“Kndight id shiding arbour and the dabsel id distress,” she said pointedly, but she was smiling.

“I’m no knight, I’m a slightly pudgy middle-aged neuroscientist, and you’re no damsel in distress, you’re a brilliant but at the moment very sick marine biologist.”

She looked at him for several seconds. Then she said:

“I don’t think you’re that pudgy.”

“I said slightly.”

Their eyes met and while neither laughed, both smiled.

“I’m serious though, Jan. If you don’t want an ER doctor checking you, you’re gonna have to suck it up having me fussing over you.”

“Jib?” Oh she really needed to blow her nose. She forced herself to keep talking even though she heard herself how little sense she made. “I’d love to have you fussing over be. I didn’t say do to that, did I?”

Jim looked like he had been punched in the gut.

“Uh… no. Actually, you didn’t.”

Janice nodded. She looked horrible, yet never more beautiful.

“Let’s go.”

So he followed her home.

***

It was a very nice apartment. Small, but bright, walls in off-white, light pink, and peach. Stylish but not very expensive furniture. There was a massive fish tank along one wall of the small living room, and lots of green plants in the whole apartment. Nothing flowering, only green leaves. Jim wasn’t surprised; Janice had struck him as the kind of woman who was allergic to everything that blossomed.

Although the rain was still pounding on the windows, the colours and the soft lighting gave the apartment a gentle but bright and uplifting feeling. Jim couldn’t put his finger on it, but Janice would later tell him she always felt that regardless of what time of the day it was, in her apartment it always felt like sunrise. That was the feeling exactly. A fresh new day.

Janice walked straight in, kicked off her soaking wet shoes on the doormat so not to drag in half the ocean, and kept going into the bathroom right down the hall, tearing the cabinet open to reveal one of the most extensive medicine cabinets he’d ever seen. It seemed to be organised after symptoms – he saw cold and allergy remedies on the second shelf, below the shelf with lotions and salves for allergic rashes, dry skin, sunburn… and above the one with painkillers – Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Paracetamol, Midol – and various remedies for heartburn and nausea.

As Janice would later explain to him, she wasn’t intentionally trying to seem like someone out of the Princess And The Pea-fairytale, she really was. Some fifteen years into the future, she might rather be called one version of a ‘high maintenance’-type, but in her case it was unintentionally high maintenance. Jan was simply a sensitive girl, but she had chosen to embrace it, just grin and bear it. Even when it was inconvenient, embarrassing, even.

Right now, she dove into the supply of cold medicines, but while Jim could count at least a half-dozen medications and remedies she probably needed right now, the one thing that she was laser focused on was the nasal spray.

It made sense. Her sinuses were so completely blocked that it was nearly impossible to decipher her speech, and Janice was usually very articulate with a clear, soft voice that was pleasant to listen to. At the same time, he had a feeling that the added irritation from the spray alone would send her into a sneezing fit that was way worse than any of the ones she’d had before over the day.

“Jan,” he said. She stopped, spray halfway up to her face, and looked at him.

“Whaddh?”

He had never heard the word ‘what’ pronounced that way before. Yeah, she needed the decongestant. Desperately.

“Don’t overdo it,” he said. She rolled her eyes – and the impatience in that made him chuckle – and gave both nostrils a double dousing, sniffing it as deep into her sinuses as she could. Then she spluttered and coughed, eyes streaming with tears.

“Oh my G-… ahhh…!” Her tortured, deeply red, nostrils flared and she gasped for air before she launched into a sneezing fit that was truly spectacular by anyone’s standards.

“…hehhhRISSSSHHHHooo! EhhISSSHEW! ISSCHEW! Huhhh-ERSSSHHHooo!-oh GoDJIH-ERSSSCHHoo!!!”

“For the record, I think that’s overdoing it,” Jim said, and Janice tried to glare at him between the violent sneezes but couldn’t keep her eyes open long enough.

Jim took one of the hand towels and handed it to her.

“You probably need this…” he gently stroked her arm as Janice kept sneezing, but now into the soft terrycloth. “I don’t think there’s any tissue or handkerchief that can hold its own against that.”

He was right, but the decongestant and the sneezing fit combined had loosened up and expelled the congestion fairly efficiently, so once she got the outbursts under control and could blow her nose properly, her speech was fairly clear.

Her voice was still wavery and raspy, with a couple of octaves completely gone. But her n’s and m’s were back, at least for now.

“I think you were right,” she said as she gave her poor nose one last blow before giving the towel up for the laundry basket. “That was overdoing it.”

“At least I understand what you’re saying now,” he replied, and she chuckled, the chuckle turned into a cough, and she had to blow her nose again.

“Ugh, I’m so cold. I need a shower and some dry clothes,” Janice said, frowning, then her features softened as she touched Jim’s shirt. “You’re soaked through too.”

“I’ll be alright. Just need a blanket, and I can hang my clothes up somewhere to dry.”

“I think we can do better than that,” Janice said, left him standing there with a confused look on his face, and returned a minute later with a clean change of clothes.

“Should I be concerned that you have another man’s clothes here?” Jim asked. Janice laughed until she started coughing.

“If you’re that sensitive, go ahead and be concerned,” she said once she could catch her breath. “It’s my brother’s. We go diving together sometimes, and he waters my plants and feeds my fish when I’m working offshore.” She sniffled before continuing; “Connor leaves things behind wherever he goes, pretty much shedding items, which you should be grateful about right now because I don’t think my clothes fit you.”

Jim pictured himself trying to squeeze into Janice’s jeans, with low-cut waist and size extra-small, and chuckled.

“True, I couldn’t get into them.”

Janice smiled.

“Oh I wouldn’t say that, exactly…”

Jim was tired too, and as a result he didn’t pick up on the sultry invitation behind the words. He was too concerned about her, about how long she had been soaked through every layer of clothing and freezing cold on top of her illness, and now he ran his fingers through her wet blonde hair and gave her forehead a kiss. Her skin was hot, but she was shivering.

“Go,” he said softly. “Go take a shower. Get warm.”

“You need to get warm too,” Janice replied. 

“I’ll be fine, Jan,” he said. “You shower first.”

Janice looked at him for a long time, biting her lip, and then she said;

“Join me.”

Jim did a double take. This time he picked up on the invitation – then again, this time it had not been subtle.

“In the shower?”

She nodded. Her eyes glittered with tired amusement.

“Don’t pretend it’s not what you want. It’s what I want.”

“We don’t have to do anything tonight...”

“Yes we do.” Her eyes had a seriousness beneath that amusement, a deep undercurrent that drew him in. “We do,” she repeated, and took his hand and led him into the bathroom.

***

Under the circumstances, they cemented their new relationship well during that shower, but afterwards, they were both exhausted and Janice couldn’t stop coughing. She blamed the steam in the shower and the… exercise… which may have been true, but Jim suspected she was just allowing the illness to overtake her. There was nothing to fight it back for – she was home safe, far away from sharks and other monsters such as mad scientists – and the faster she let it loose, the faster it would run its course. Suppressing things was rarely a good thing, and it wasn’t in Janice’s nature either.

Jim put on her brother’s clothes – a bit tight around his waist, but much better than Janice’s jeans would have been – and put Janice to bed, ordering her to rest while he fixed some soup.

He expected her to object, or maybe question his cooking abilities (that would have been an immediate response from any of his ex-wives), but Jan just obediently (gratefully, even) pulled the blankets over her and took a paperback novel from the bedside table and began reading.

Jim took one look at the way her eyes kept closing and her head bobbing slightly forward only to snap back and her eyes being forced open again, and thought she would probably be asleep by the time he came back. He wanted to let her sleep, but she hadn’t eaten anything since this morning and she needed some sustenance to fight off this army of viruses, so he’d have to wake her.

***

She was indeed asleep when he came back with some soup, the book dangerously close to falling out of her hand and down onto the floor, so before it could do that, he took it away and put it back on the bedside table. Next to it he placed the bowl of soup and a glass of water, plus an Aspirin. Then he said down on the edge of the bed and gently stroked her hair.

Janice remained asleep for almost a full minute of him just caressing her hair and cheek, which only proved how tired she was, but then she came to and opened her eyes.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” she replied. “I fell asleep.”

“I noticed.”

She giggled, then turned away and coughed.

“Oh man… I’m so sorry.”

“I think we’ve been over this already. You don’t need to apologise for being sick. It’s not your fault and you’re the one being miserable.”

Janice nodded. He had said this several times, she had even said so herself, to Susan, but it didn’t really sink in until now. It wasn’t her fault. When this realisation fully sank in, a heavy burden that she hadn’t even been aware of that she carried suddenly lifted.

“Here, I made some chicken soup.”

Janice took the bowl more to be polite than anything else, because she was too tired to feel much like eating, but after swallowing one spoonful of the rich, flavourful soup, flavourful enough that she could still taste it, she realised how hungry she was.

The shower - and the things they had done while in it, lovely, lovely things – had done its part in warming her up, but the soup did the final bit. She felt so much better. If it was the calories or the warmth, she had no idea and didn’t care either, but it felt like her immune system was recharged, got some well-deserved rest and new supplies to continue the fight. Boosting the morale among the troops, so to speak.

“Thank you,” she said as she put the bowl onto the bedside table. “I needed that.”

“And now you need to sleep,” he said.

“Now I’m not as tired.”

She smiled and moved a bit to the side, inviting him into the bed with her. Jim hesitated for a moment, and Janice rolled her eyes.

“You didn’t really think you were sleeping on the couch after what we did in the shower, did you?”

He chuckled and slid in underneath the covers.

“I don’t think I’m virile enough for a second round tonight though,” he said in an apologetic tone. Janice laughed, then turned her head and coughed into her pillow.

“I think that can wait until tomorrow. But I need the company. I think I would go insane if I had to be alone after today.”

“Same here,” he admitted, making himself comfortable. “I guess at best we’re both out of a job now.”

“Just as well. I think I’m done with medical research, that’s for sure. I decided on the way back that I’m going back to marine biology without any of the research elements.” She coughed again, and shook her head. “Ugh, can you hand me the tissues, I’m gonna sneeze again…”

He gave her the whole box, which she placed on her stomach and then took several tissues and sneezed into the loose wad, heavy, exhausted, raspy sneezes that sounded like they clawed their way out.

“Oh my God,” she groaned once the fit subsided, and blew her nose softly before discarding the tissues. On the floor, not quite a neat way, but she’d pick them up tomorrow.

“Bless you,” Jim said, kissing her cheek. “So what does that line of work really entail?”

“Well, I used to work at the Aquarium for a few years, did you know that?”

“No. Did you like it?”

“I did. Taking care of the marine life and study their environment is so interesting, you learn something new every day. Maybe not useful for mankind’s needs, but interesting for yourself. And I know people don’t think it’s possible, but you do develop bonds with marine animals. Sometimes I would teach school classes on field trips, too. That was fun.” She looked into the distance and a vague smile played on her lips. “You know, we scientists are at heart still children ourselves. It’s enthusiasm and curiosity that drives us.” She sighed. “I feel that’s what I want to go back to after what happened out there. Reclaim the happiness of exploration.”

Jim knew it was probably too soon, but it came from his heart before he could stop it:

“I love you, Jan.”

She didn’t seem surprised. Satisfied, but not surprised. Perhaps it was a woman’s intuition. She already knew.

“I love you too.” She kissed him, deeply, no longer apologising about the potential contagion – at this point it was useless. Then resting her head on his chest, feeling the calming beat of his heart, she mumbled:

“What about you?”

“Well, if I’m not blacklisted by the medical community…”

“You won’t be. Everyone can testify that you didn’t know what Susan was up to.”

“Just being cautious.”

“No, you were being pessimistic.”

He chuckled and ran his fingers through her hair.

“Maybe I was. Anyway, I still work on how the proteins in the brain behave during certain dementia-related diseases, I guess I’ll go back to that research.”

Janice slowly sat up.

“No more sharks?” she said playfully.

“No more sharks,” he said with emphasis, leaned over her and kissed her. Janice put her hands behind his neck and gently pulled him down on top of her.

As it turned out, neither of them was too tired for a second round that night.

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Chanel_no5

[sneezemeister]

Wow! I know you said this was a hard chapter to write for you, but this was amazing!

[Chanel_no5]

17 hours ago, sneezemeister said:

Wow! I know you said this was a hard chapter to write for you, but this was amazing!

Thank you so much, that's so good to hear!!! Huge relief.  I had so many things to pack into this chapter and oh God, I felt like I wasn't making any sense after a while!  

 

[JayAnders]

Very good penultimate chapter. So cathartic for Jan to get her vengeance on Susan.

Another interesting note: early versions of the script mention Janice having a brother. Not sure if that was a coincidence or a result of fine research, but either way it's a nice detail to include.

[Chanel_no5]

4 minutes ago, JayAnders said:

Very good penultimate chapter. So cathartic for Jan to get her vengeance on Susan.

Another interesting note: early versions of the script mention Janice having a brother. Not sure if that was a coincidence or a result of fine research, but either way it's a nice detail to include.

Thank you so much!! I felt she needed a little revenge session, if she was going to suffer then so should Susan!  

I... actually did not know that.    It just felt right (I needed a reason for Jan to have clothes Jim could wear, and if I wanted her to have fish she obviously needed someone to feed them when she was working, and after my little sob story about her grandmother I wanted to add something positive about her family.   How was it mentioned in the script? 

[JayAnders]

It's mentioned very briefly at the beginning when Janice gives Franklin a tour around the facility. After Brenda turns on the music in her tower, a dialogue from Janice reads:

JANICE
My brother, the sadist, who
naturally went on to become a
periodontist, cranked up that song
every morning, 6 A.M., weekends
and holidays. Called it his
Seattle state of mind.

It's a small, incidental detail that doesn't add much to the script, so I'm not surprised they ended up taking it out. Her last name in this script is different too: Salgado instead of Higgins, suggesting the character may have originally been Latino.

[Chanel_no5]

Hahaha, that's awesome! Well, in my version her brother isn't a sadist.   It's more than enough that the writer of this story is. (  ) But he was probably annoying. As all siblings are.  

Yeah, probably good they changed her name too, I don't think Jacqueline could've played Latina. She is... a teeensy bit too "British isles-ancestry" for that to work.  But then again I wouldn't have thought she could play a man either but she has apparently done that very well on stage, so. 

[rsquared906]

Omg, so good and not confusing or too much at all!! Though she probably should get checked out at some point... Also excellent allergy foreshadowing!

[Chanel_no5]

 

8 hours ago, rsquared906 said:

Omg, so good and not confusing or too much at all!! Though she probably should get checked out at some point... Also excellent allergy foreshadowing!

Thank you so much!!! Oh, I think she probably agreed to a checkup once she'd had a hot (in more ways than one) shower, something to eat, and good night's sleep in her own bed. I think after that ordeal, would you rather sit in the waiting room at an ER, waiting to be seen, or go home?  I know I'd rather go home.   Hehe. I'm glad you liked it!  

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by Chanel_no5

[Purplelily]

Oh. My. God. Poor Janice!!! She’s so precious I can’t. I hope she gets checked out, and then rests for a few days! I don’t normally like straight romance, but Jim is so loving towards her and it’s adorable. I’ve completely fallen in love with these characters. I can’t wait to read the last chapter!

[Chanel_no5]

3 hours ago, Purplelily said:

Oh. My. God. Poor Janice!!! She’s so precious I can’t. I hope she gets checked out, and then rests for a few days! I don’t normally like straight romance, but Jim is so loving towards her and it’s adorable. I’ve completely fallen in love with these characters. I can’t wait to read the last chapter!

I promise, in the last chapter she won't be "poor Janice". She'll be allergic, but that's a breeze compared to what she went through in the story so far. And she'll be nervous about confronting Susan again, but Susan can't abuse her any more. Jan has gone through her hell now, I promise.  

She really is precious.   And yeah, straight romance isn't really my thing either normally. I use it when there's a canon straight pairing that works, but for most part I'm not interested in the romance at all, I just want the sneezy lady's story.  I don't think I've ever felt so genuinely bad for a character before, though, the poor girl. And she somehow still manages to smile. I write her as this vulnerable, weak little thing but honestly, she's way more resilient and tougher than I am. 

[Chanel_no5]

You guys, you're probably not going to believe it, I don't believe it, but I finally finished this story.     Okay, it takes place about a year later, which is actually less time than it took me to write this part, holy shit. So yeah, here's me wrapping it up with probably the weakest chapter of the entire fic BUT I FUCKING FINISHED IT!! 

It started as a drabble and turned into this monster of over 26k words. 🤷‍♀️ 

So yeah, you've waited over a year for the last part, and here it finally is.  

***

 

One year later

 

“Jan,” Jim said, knocking on the bathroom door. “Are you ready? The trial begins in two hours so we need to leave.”

“One minute,” Janice replied, grabbing the sink with both hands and stared into the bathroom mirror, at her own reflection, willing herself to get it together.

She was so nervous about testifying in this trial that she’d been nauseous for days, every nerve-ending almost crackling with nervous energy.

Calm down, she told herself. You’re only going in there to tell them what happened last year. What Susan did. That’s all. And it’s fair, because she violated ethics directives and caused an event that put the general public at risk.

She took a swig straight from the Pepto-Bismol bottle.

“You got through that hell day on Aquatica, you can get through this day too.”

She stepped out of the bathroom and Jim stood there, grinning.

“Are you talking to yourself?”

“Of course.” She winked at him. “That’s the only way I can get an intelligent, measured answer in this house.”

“Hey!”

She walked past him and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. Janice laughed out loud, put her arms around his neck, and gave him a kiss.

“It’s been a year almost to the day,” he said. “And it’s traumatic to talk about it. Will you be alright?”

She nodded.

“I’ll be fine. Once this is over with, we can move on and leave it behind us. But the only way to get past it is to get through it, right?”

He sighed and nodded.

“Yeah.”

She tilted her head to the side.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Yes. I’m just… I’m about to testify against my colleague. Susan was always a difficult person to work with, but I never thought she could go that far.”

Janice stroked his cheek with the back of one hand.

“I love you. And we’re doing this together.”

Then she turned away and sneezed.

“Bless you,” Jim said. It was a phrase he uttered often nowadays, and never in the religious meaning. Janice hadn’t caught a cold as bad as the one she’d suffered through during the incident last year, but she’d managed to catch three mild head colds since then, and then there was her numerous mild but sneezy allergies to add to it. Her sneezing wasn’t an unusual occurrence at all, but it still seemed to him like she had been sneezing more than her non-sick/non-allergic usual the past couple of days.

“Thank you.”

He put a hand on her forehead. Janice looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“What are you doing?”

“You’ve been sneezing a lot the past couple of days, just making sure you don’t have a fever.”

“I’m fine, Jim. It’s probably just nerves.”

“You sneeze from being nervous?”

She laughed.

“Are you kidding me? You should have seen me at the university, every exam, every presentation, every test, I was sneezing for days in advance. It got better as I got older, I guess some life experience made me less nervous in general, but testifying in a trial, yeah, I’m not surprised I’m all stuffed up and tickly.”

Jim sighed.

“Just promise you tell me if you feel like you’re getting sick, okay?”

She nodded.

“I will.”

The bright smile on her face was even more reassuring than the words, so Jim let it slide, and they left for court.

***

Susan was stripped of any and all of her authority, sitting in court in a cheap suit, her hair tied back with a hairclip. There were some grey streaks in it.

Janice’s greatest fear about testifying was having to look Susan in the eyes, but throughout her testimony, Susan had only stared down at her hands, properly folded on the table in front of her. She wore a pouty expression on her face, but she didn’t look up.

Until Janice left the witness stand. She’d managed to keep her unruly nose under control the whole time, but as she stepped down, she pulled a tissue out of her pocket and quickly got it up to her face, sneezing into it several times as quietly as she could.  

Susan looked up then, glaring at Janice.

“Don’t worry, Dr Susie, I’m not contagious.” Despite blushing, Janice couldn’t stop herself from giving a snide little remark as she walked past her.

When the court adjourned after the testimonies, Jim and Janice were getting ready to leave. They weren’t interested in staying for the whole thing. They had done their duty, now they only wanted to leave Susan behind.

Susan, however, caught up with them outside. Her lawyer hovered nearby, ready to step in if she did anything that could be interpreted as witness intimidation, but she just looked at them, shaking her head.

“All the lives we could have saved if you hadn’t betrayed me out there… they’re on you. Not me.” Then she sighed when Janice wiped at her runny nose with the used tissue. “Oh here we go again, enjoying the attention that your constant illnesses give you. Still the damsel in distress. Good thing Jim is still up for playing the knight in shining armour.”

“I don’t think anyone wanted the research to fail, but what you did was reckless and dangerous,” Janice said. “And I don’t understand where this hostility towards me even came from. I thought we used to get along well before…”

“Before Jim came,” Susan said. “Yes. We did. And then you started running around him like a lovesick puppy.”

“I never noticed you had an interest in me in all the time we worked together,” Jim said, “so why didn’t you say something before, if that’s the case?”

“It wasn’t you I wanted, Jim,” Susan said impatiently. “It was Jan. I wanted Jan, but the moment you set foot out there she only had eyes for you!”

Jim fell silent. Janice stared at her with open mouth.

“What? I remember that time when we went barhopping with the rest of the crew and you kissed me on the dancefloor, but I only thought you’d had too much to drink. I had no idea you were serious.”

“Forget it,” Susan said, and her cheeks were flaming red. She already regretted spilling her secret.

“So you had a crush on me and proceeded to degrade and mock me every chance you got? What kind of relationship did you expect would come of that?”

“I said forget it, Jan!”

“No, I really want to know. Even if I had been interested, wouldn’t I still have been this ‘sickly damsel in distress’, that you keep calling me? Would that have been acceptable if I’d been a damsel in distress if you got to be the knight, Susan? Or would I still have been an inconvenience because I can catch a cold from simply opening the freezer?”

Janice didn’t even sound angry, she only sounded surprised.

By now Susan was so red in the face it looked like she would explode, and her lawyer quietly took her arm and began steering her away from her former colleagues.

“That was… a surprise,” Jim said. Janice shook her head.

“Completely out of left field,” she said. They watched as Susan and her lawyer walked back towards the courtroom. Susan didn’t turn around even once.

Janice thought that was probably for the best.

“Did she really kiss you?” Jim asked.

“Yes, but she kissed Brenda and Dianne too. I just thought she was drunk and that was how she behaves when she’s drunk.”

“Did you kiss her back?”

“You sound way too excited about that prospect,” Janice joked, elbowing him in the sternum. He made an exaggerated oof-sound, then put an arm around her, caressing her shoulder. Janice smiled.

“Here’s the thing, Jim, I don’t kiss anyone I’m not in love with. I don’t judge those who like to kiss and fool around, but it’s not for me. And I kind of… um… was in love with you already back then.”

“Oh. I see.”

“I do wonder though, if I had responded to it, if she still would have gotten so annoyed with me for getting sick.”

“I don’t think Susan knew that herself. She just wanted something and couldn’t have it. Someone had to suffer for that. I’m sorry that was you.”

“Right now I’m mostly surprised; I really thought she was into Carter, certainly not me,” Janice said and shook her head, then she rubbed her nose and sniffled. “Either way, we’re done with Susan now.”

“Yes we are.”

“Do you want to go somewhere and have lunch? I’m starving. I couldn’t eat any breakfast, I was too nervous about t-this… uhh..ISSHEEW! HAH-iiiSSCHHuh! Ugh, ‘scuse me, my nose… ahhhISSSSH! Itches!”

“Bless you. Lunch it is,” Jim agreed.

Janice folded the used tissue and blew her nose, which seemed to calm down the sneezing, but she was sniffling persistently the whole drive to the restaurant, and she kept scrubbing at her nose until it had taken on a rather cheerful pink shade and a crease was clearly visible across its bridge.

When they were seated in the restaurant and had placed their orders, Janice took out the now very well-used tissue and stifled two sneezes into the damp paper. She wasn’t very good at stifling, so the effort made her whole face scrunch up in discomfort.

“Jesus, Jan, just let them out, that’s gotta hurt,” Jim muttered and handed her a couple of clean napkins. She took them, then looked at the snotty Kleenex, wondering what to do with it, and then put it back in her pocket with a slight grimace of disgust.

“You sure you’re not coming down with something?”

“I’m sure, Jim,” she said, giving him one of her trademark bright smiles that could convince him of anything and everything she wanted to convince him of. “It’s either still lingering nervous reaction or allergies. Something’s always blooming here, and I’m allergic to everything. I’m just a bit sniffly, other than that, I feel fine.”

Her eyes glittered as her smile broadened even more.

“Better than fine, now that Susan is heading for prison.”

He chuckled and put his hand over hers.

“Well, you certainly don’t look sick, at least. You look radiant. Better than ever. Testifying to put Susan in prison certainly becomes you.”

She laughed.

“Should we order champagne to celebrate?” he asked, and her smile vanished.

“I don’t think this something to celebrate. If the project had succeeded, many people would have been saved.”

“Yes,” he sighed. “You’re right. For what it’s worth, I do believe science will find a cure sooner or later.”

“Let’s hope so, and let’s hope it will be done right,” Janice said. “But I think today we’ll go with water rather than champagne.”

She looked back at Jim and raised her eyebrows at his adoring gaze. “What?”

“I love you. You are the best thing that ever happened to me.”

She shook her head, grinning.

“Oh shut up, since you’re paying for lunch, you’re just happy I’m not as expensive as your second ex-wife.”

He made an exaggerated eyeroll.

“Just promise me you’ll never marry me,” he said, and Janice laughed. This was a running joke between them. “Really, I have two ex-wives, one worse than the one before her.”

“Yes, but were any of them like me?” Janice teased.

“Not even close. Which is the main reason they’re ex-wives.”

“So you finally developed some good taste.” She shrugged. “Well, except when it comes to clothes.”

“You are not going to complain about my suit, are you?” he grunted.

“No, no, the suit is great. It suits you.”

“Hilarious, Jan.” But he did chuckle.

“But the tie though? Really?”

“What’s wrong with my tie? You didn’t say anything this morning. If it’s so bad, why did you let me go to court wearing it?”

He heard how anxious he sounded and cut himself off with a throat-clearing. At this point Janice was laughing heartily, drawing looks from the other guests and not caring one bit.

“But you were so proud of the fact that you even had a tie, I didn’t have the heart to shoot you down over the fact that it has tiny surfboards on it!”

“Surfboards? That’s what they are?” He looked down at his tie, squinting, and Janice laughed even harder.

“Sounds like you need glasses, too,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Well, so what if it has surfboards? We’re in California, right?”

Janice just made a gesture with both hands as if saying ‘I give up’.

“Yes, we’re in California, where surfboards and courtrooms go hand in hand.”

“Are you being sarcastic now?”

“Nope.” Janice gave him a sunny smile.

“Because I sense sarcasm.”

“Maybe a little bit of sarcasm,” she admitted gleefully as the waitress placed her food in front of her. “Thank you.”

Jim raised his water glass in a mock toast.

“To surfboards and courtrooms!”

Janice raised her own glass in response.

“I love you, Jim.” She winked at him. “But I’m gonna pick your ties from now on, marriage or no marriage.”

“I think I can live with that.”

“You’d better,” Janice said, but her breath began hitching before she’d finished the sentence, and she scrambled to get the napkins Jim had handed her up to her face to cover a particularly tickly double-sneeze.

"AaaDJISH-iSSHHoo! Oh my God..."

“Bless you. Are you…”

“… sure it’s not a cold, yes honey, I’m still sure. Do you want proof of my physical vitality when we get home?”

“Ah, is that what we’re calling it now?”

“That’s what we’re calling it now.”

“Well, I do love physical proof.”

“That’s what I thought.”

***

 

Their bedroom was slowly filling with a silvery morning light, chasing away the shadows little by little as the day approached. The sun had not yet risen, and Jim was sprawled out on his back in bed, snoring loudly. Yesterday had been an intense day and they had wrapped it up with some very intense lovemaking before falling asleep in each other’s arms, exhausted but happy.

“Hih-ntSH!”

Jim stirred and opened his eyes at the sound of the delicate sneeze coming from the doorway.

Janice smiled, a little sheepishly, as she climbed back into bed and gave Jim a kiss that tasted of mint.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you, it caught me off-guard,” she murmured and kissed him again, climbing up on top of him with a playful smile, “… buuuut since you’re up now anyway…”

He chuckled into the kiss, putting his arms around her.

“Good morning, succubus,” he joked, and Janice laughed softly, laughter almost turning into a purr when he kissed her neck.

“Succubus, huh? So now I’m your demon mistress?”

“…demon, this early you most certainly are… mistress, yes, hopefully… never marry me, Jan.” He returned to the old joke between them while slowly running his fingers through her short blonde hair. “Even if I beg you to, and I will.” He ran his fingers down her back. “I’d be a fool not to...”

He realised that Janice wasn’t playing along, she had withdrawn a little, and there was a small, slightly nervous smile playing on her lips, like the glitter of sunshine on gentle waves. She looked away, biting her lip, then looked back at him, and now she wasn’t smiling at all, she only seemed nervous. Before he could ask her what was wrong, she took a deep breath.

“I think I’m pregnant.”

Jim froze, staring up at her in surprise. Janice had an expression that really was a non-expression, carefully maintaining neutrality while monitoring his reaction, uncertain how he’d take it.

They had never talked about having children. It wasn’t that either of them didn’t want children, but neither wanted to rush the other. Janice had said she thought she was pregnant, but he had learned to trust her intuition. If she thought she was, she most likely was.

Jim resumed tracing his fingers down her back, softly, affectionately. Soothingly.

“Jan… how do you feel about Paris for our honeymoon?”

Janice's eyes lit up in equal parts relief and joy. She beamed at him, leaning in for another kiss, much softer, much gentler, and he put his arms around her and held her tight.

“Anywhere you want to go, we’ll go,” he whispered. “Paris, Venice, London, Sydney, anywhere.”

“I don’t care where we go,” she replied, proving just how different she was to any of his former wives, “I just want to be with you.” She put her forehead against his, looking deep into his eyes. “I love you, Jim.”

“I love you too.”

Janice, still in his arms, turned to the side, away from him and sneezed three times, one right after the other, then she sniffled, shook her head, and curled up in his arms like a kitten.

“Bless you,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said with a congested sigh. “I’m pretty sure that’s why I’m sneezing so much. Pregnancy hormones.”

He chuckled and ran his fingers through her hair again.

“Allergic to yourself now, then.”

“Oh my God, I am!” Janice groaned, burying her face against his chest. Then she looked up at him and laughed. “Oh well, one year ago I was nearly eaten by a shark, I feel like it would be ungrateful to complain about some nausea and a bit of sneezing.”

It was more than just a bit of sneezing, at least with her usual allergies taken into account, but that was Janice in a nutshell. She would always find something positive in everything.  

“I hope the baby inherits your sunny disposition,” Jim said.

“I hope the baby inherits your immune system,” Janice replied, and then she turned away and sneezed again.

“I would have to agree with you on that,” Jim said. When she turned back to him, he cupped her face in both hands and gave her a very thorough kiss, so intense that when he broke it off, she was out of breath.

“Oh wow…!” she gasped, her cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling. “That was…”

She didn’t get any further before he kissed her again, and Janice rolled over on her back and pulled him down on top of her.

As the sun rose above the deep blue sea, they made love again, unsure what the future would bring but knowing they’d face it together.

 

THE END (  )

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Chanel_no5

[KungFuKok]

I said this almost two years ago, and I’ll say it again: it’s very impressive what you managed to do with these characters from a movie that was at best, surface level dumb fun. I enjoy all of your work, but this is definitely my favorite, great job. 

[Chanel_no5]

11 hours ago, KungFuKok said:

I said this almost two years ago, and I’ll say it again: it’s very impressive what you managed to do with these characters from a movie that was at best, surface level dumb fun. I enjoy all of your work, but this is definitely my favorite, great job. 

Surface level? IT WAS A DEEP MOVIE!!  It's even in the title!    Seriously though, I know what you mean. I re-watched it the other day to get back into the characters, and it was actually better than I remembered it. I mean, it's very flawed/inaccurate and silly in many ways, but honestly I think it has aged better than many other 90s movies. They could have kept a few of the deleted scenes in though, would have made more sense in general. 

Thank you so much! I didn't intend for it to be more than a drabble initially but I had so much fun with it. I wish I had been a bit faster, I know how annoying it is to readers to follow along with a plot if updates take too long, but I also wanted to enjoy the writing process instead of rushing to produce. I loved how many things from the original movie (and deleted scenes) I could use and tweak and twist into something different, it was a surprisingly fun project, and I'm very glad you enjoyed reading it! 

 

[Purplelily]

I forgot how much I absolutely adore Janice! I loved the plot twist about Susan having a crush on her. Susan definitely handled that in the worst way possible. Janice is so sweet, I’m sure she wouldn’t have been mean or anything about it. 
 

I almost never like straight pairings, but I’m okay with it here. I’m just happy that Janice has someone to take care of her now! And I also am not a huge fan of kids or pregnancy in fics, but Janice is such a mother! She’s going to love the heck out of her child and I’m down for that. 
 

This was such a wonderful ending! I’m so happy you came back to it! I need to reread the whole thing now 😊

[Chanel_no5]

On 12/8/2023 at 8:53 AM, Purplelily said:

I forgot how much I absolutely adore Janice! I loved the plot twist about Susan having a crush on her. Susan definitely handled that in the worst way possible. Janice is so sweet, I’m sure she wouldn’t have been mean or anything about it. 
 

I almost never like straight pairings, but I’m okay with it here. I’m just happy that Janice has someone to take care of her now! And I also am not a huge fan of kids or pregnancy in fics, but Janice is such a mother! She’s going to love the heck out of her child and I’m down for that. 
 

This was such a wonderful ending! I’m so happy you came back to it! I need to reread the whole thing now 😊

I am so glad you liked it, thank you so much!! I'm honestly shocked that I actually finished it, I intended to but I am so bad at finishing longterm projects. Hahaha, yeah, Susan didn't really handle that well at all, I guess she sensed she'd be rejected (albeit in the nicest, gentlest possible way) so she unleashed the whole rejection onto Janice first.

Same here, to be honest, in some cases the straight pairing works so I'll go with them, but most of the time I prefer the F/F pairing. I agree on the kids/pregnancy thing too, not my thing at all, but her telling Jim she was pregnant was in one of the deleted scenes and I thought it would be a nice way to wrap up the story, give her something that she would want as a bit of an apology for what I put her through in the fic, hahaha! I have imagined a whole future for her; they're going to have twins, the twins do indeed inherit her playful, sunny temper AND Jim's immune system, the pregnancy - contrary to most - actually makes her allergies a little bit better afterwards, doesn't cure all of even most of them but some things that she used to be allergic to doesn't bother her anymore. Also, since she and the rest of the scientists from the project are interviewed in the media after the trial and stuff, it turns out that she's a natural in front of the camera, and she ends up getting a job hosting a TV show teaching children (and their parents) about the ocean and marine wildlife. Susan is tormented by having to watch this in prison because many of her fellow inmates who have children like to watch it, hehe. 

Thank you so much! It was such a wild ride for me and I'm really happy that others wanted to come along for it!  

[Chanel_no5]

Sorry for bumping my own fic, I just have a question; does anyone want more of this character? 😳🥺 I've been watching the movie again when writing/ finishing this fic, and could definitely think of more scenarios with her, either following the movie plot, or not. 😇😏 (any specific scenario you want to see, PM me, because I'm mainly focused on just keeping her out of the shark's mouth.. 😅)

I personally think she's so fucking cute I kinda want to cry, but she's not among my true favourite characters, so if I'm gonna write more of her I need to know if others actually want to read it before I put my time and effort into writing it, so, yeah.  Want more of this cutie in the future, let me know. 😉

 

[JayAnders]

Ah, just saw that you finally finished this one! I thought it would never come... Congrats!

I loved it of course, as always, and I do agree that Susan crushing on Jan was a nice twist! Perfectly in line with her character I think... Also loved the incorporation of plot elements from the film (in this case the deleted bed scene). Makes for a nice and satisfying spin on things.

I'm always down for more of this blonde cutie! Not sure of what scenarios or stuff you had in mind, but I'm down for anything! Only if the inspiration strikes for you, of course!

[Chanel_no5]

On 12/17/2023 at 5:32 PM, JayAnders said:

Ah, just saw that you finally finished this one! I thought it would never come... Congrats!

I loved it of course, as always, and I do agree that Susan crushing on Jan was a nice twist! Perfectly in line with her character I think... Also loved the incorporation of plot elements from the film (in this case the deleted bed scene). Makes for a nice and satisfying spin on things.

I'm always down for more of this blonde cutie! Not sure of what scenarios or stuff you had in mind, but I'm down for anything! Only if the inspiration strikes for you, of course!

Thank you, I'm very glad you liked it! Hahaha, yes! I finally finished it!     I always aimed to finish it but I have to be into something to work on it, and, well... got around to re-watch the movie and that was the kick in the ass I needed!   It actually took me a while to work out the twist about Susan having a crush on Jan, eventually I had to sit down and really ask myself if Susan wasn't unnecessarily grouchy over Jan being sick, since I had already stated that Jan always gets sick. Shouldn't be a surprise to Susan and not bother her as much, or Jan would have been almost scared of the prospect of getting sick around Susan. But then I thought, well, Jan is making googly eyes at Jim and he seems to respond to it, maybe THAT'S what bothers Susan.   I loved how many things from the movie and deleted scenes that I could actually use in a different way, it was so much fun reassembling the whole plot, haha! 

Awesome, then I know if inspiration strikes that someone will want to read it.   Probably won't go off on a novella-length fic like this one even if that's the case, buuuuut then again, last time I said that, look what happened.   I don't kill off any characters, so in the case that I do have time and inspiration coincide to write it, the story will take place prior to the movie events or go in another alternate universe-direction.