Portobello Road

[RiversD]

Another one created for a Tumblr prompt (in this case gifting x flower crown x cafe). Some very mild mess, more wetness than anything.

Cassidy Milton is a receptionist and part-time witch hoping to open her own curio shop someday. Saul Kama has been her friend since high school and now works in a pet shop. This background isn't really necessary, but it's here if you want it.

 

 

"Coffee and cake outside has to be one of the great pleasures in life," Cassidy declared, closing her eyes and tilting her round-cheeked face into the sun. "I'm so glad the weather's finally right for it."

"Today was the first day I dared come out without a jacket," Saul confessed. He was sitting across the tiny café table from Cassidy, dressed in jeans and a faded Led Zeppelin t-shirt. "It feels good, even if my pocket capacity has been dramatically reduced."

She blew a raspberry at him and swished the long hem of her skirt. "Poor little boy. You'll have to invest in handbags like the rest of us pocket-bereft."

"That skirt has pockets."

"Only because I sewed them in myself. You could have extra pockets too if you applied yourself."

Saul snorted. "I feel like that path might end in blood. How was Portobello Road?"

Cassidy flicked a sheaf of dyed-gold hair back over her shoulder. "So crowded, but the market lives up to the hype. I found a couple of wax stamps that I'm pretty sure have some kind of enchantment on them, plus this little porcelain kitten that is too cute for words- oh! that reminds me!"

She dove into the largest of her many shopping bags, circled around her seat like a wreath of triumph. "I got you a present."

"Why does that make me nervous?"

"Relax, it isn't magical. I'm like, eighty-five percent sure."

Cassidy made sure that she could see Saul's face, before finally: "Da-da!"

She produced a circlet made of carefully woven flowers, with dozens of tiny white blossoms expertly framing larger bursts of dark pink and blue.

"Wow." Saul laughed out of pure surprise. Taking it from Cassidy's hand, he could feel that all the flowers in the crown were real. He could smell them, too, their perfume strong and fresh. "Did you make this?"

"No, there was a woman at the market selling them. She had regular bouquets and stuff too, but these looked more fun." Cassidy dipped back into the bag and pulled out a second crown, this one more heavily biased towards all shades of pink. "Put yours on, let's get a picture!"

Smiling, Saul complied. The circlet fit pretty comfortably, and he quite enjoyed the feeling of cool, soft petals resting against his forehead. The scent settled around him too, like an invisible field centred on the crown. Something about it was making his nose want to run, but that was alright.

He leaned in for a selfie with Cassidy. The roses in her crown dominated its scent-cloud. She smelled like citrus and Turkish delight.

"Ahh, don't we look great?"

Cassidy turned her phone to show him. He had to agree, though Cassidy looked far more natural in her flower crown, with her curtain of blonde curls and artfully flowing clothing underneath it. He couldn't say he looked bad though, even out of modesty. The flowers framed his face, and his darker colouring made a nice contrast to Cassidy's milk-and-roses complexion.

"We do."

Saul blinked. His eyes were starting to itch. That was less alright.

"Let's do a few more with the timer," Cassidy suggested. "We can pose with our drinks, then do a couple of silly ones."

"Just tell me where you want me."

A couple of photographs later, Saul was really feeling the effects of what, he was ready to admit, must be the flowers. He had started dabbing his eyes surreptitiously while Cassidy adjusted the camera and was struggling not to touch his nose at all times. It was itching furiously and he knew if he let himself rub it he would keep going until it was red enough to glow.

"That's so good! Okay, okay, I swear I'll shut up and finish my cake in a second, but- one more on selfie mode?"

Saul sipped his drink to soothe a suddenly-dry throat and nodded. He scooted his chair closer to Cassidy's as she did the same.

"Alright, lean in close!"

Saul hardly had to move, Cassidy did so much of the work. Her crown brushed against his as she settled into position and, a moment later, a prickling wave flowed up his nose, making him sniff reflexively then flinch, as a second, more powerful reflex took hold. He couldn't resist it, though he did his best to gasp a warning.

"Cass, I'm going to-"

"Smile!"

"hh'dSCHhh'ew!"

Saul curled away from Cassidy as best he could, releasing the sneeze across his opposite shoulder. He still felt her jump against him and knew he would need to apologise, just as soon as his nose would let him breathe...

"ahd'ISSCHhew! huh...ahTCHhhew! suh- sorry."

He managed to sit up straight, sniffling as his nose really started to run. He heard a burst of laughter from Cassidy off to the side.

"Bless you, oh my gosh! Like, that happened right at the perfect moment. Wow."

Saul squinted over at her. She was right, though he wasn't sure "perfect" was the word he'd use. The camera had captured him in mid-sneeze, his top lip curling back and his eyes locked in a ridiculous half-squint.

"Del- delete that," he panted. He was still struggling to catch his breath, even with one hand now wedged beneath his nose, pushing back against the itch. It felt as though another sneeze was lurking just out of reach, waiting for its moment to pounce on him.

"Are you kidding? I'm going to be laughing at this for weeks, Saul."

Saul grimaced, partly at Cassidy's response, but mostly because he had realised that sniffing alone wasn't nearly enough to cope with the state of his nose right now. He took his hand away from the underside of his nose for a moment and reached for the tissues in his jacket pocket.

Except his jacket pocket wasn't there. His fingers moved uselessly against his t-shirt, and his brain immediately started to panic. Right, fewer pockets. He must have moved them to one of his jean pockets, but panic meant no memory of which. Please let it be the right-hand side... no. Only his keys and some gum, and he was going to sneeze right now-

"hh'dSSCHH'ew!"

Saul barely, barely managed to whip his arm back in time to catch the sneeze against his forearm, but it was wet and awkward, and his nose itched so badly that he didn't dare take pressure off it for a second...

"Yikes, bless you, dude. You need a tissue?"

No, I need time to get to my tissues, Saul thought, but he nodded.

"Okay, hang on, hang on... here!"

Cassidy pressed a travel tissue into Saul's free hand. As quickly as he dared, feeling his nostrils twitching restlessly against the bare skin of his arm, he gathered the tissue to his face and buried his nose in it.

"hhuh... ht'ISSCHew! ahdISSCH'ew! hh'DSCHH!"

"Bloody hell."

"Th-tha- aHDSCH'hew! Ow, f- hh'dsSCHhew! AHT'SCHHeW!"

The last couple of sneezes were heavy and disorienting, but they left a drained sort of calm in their wake. Saul pinched the tissue tightly around his now-stinging nose and blew gently, knowing he'd have to switch tissues before he could be done with this. Cassidy passed him another of hers and he blessed her in his heart.

"Bless you, I think?"

He choked half a laugh into his second tissue and reached into his left hand pocket to retrieve his own. His nose buzzed, hot and tingling.

"I don't even know. Sorry."

"Honestly, I'm impressed you're still on that chair. These things are not the most stable."

Saul could tell Cassidy was trying to deflect from his embarrassment. He tried to smile along, but a too-familiar need was blossoming in his nose again, and it was far more important that he get a tissue ready to receive this.

"Sorry... again..."

"Really?"

"hh- hah'dSCHHhew! Really."

"That's not good. What's going on?"

"I think-" I'm sure "-the flowers are making me sn- snf- sneeze."

"Saul! Why on Earth are you still wearing them?"

Saul felt Cassidy's hands tug at his flower crown, working on dislodging it from his head.

"I was too bu-busyhh...ahTCHHew! Ugh. Too busy sneezing."

"No kidding." Cassidy drew back from him, taking off her own crown. "Maybe I'd better keep both of these for myself."

"That's probably wise." Saul's consonants were all muddied with congestion, so he blew his nose again. "Sorry my nose hates your present."

"Please. The photos I did get are priceless."

"Oh no."

Cassidy was laughing again. Saul groaned.

"What's it going to cost to make sure that one never sees the light of day?"

 

 

 

 

[Hyacinth]

Loved this!!!

[sneezevibes]

This was so cute! Great writing! 

[RiversD]

Ah, thank you both! I really appreciate it!

[Tyko93]

Amazing!

[Icyfall]

This was very good thank you for sharing 

[Gemmia]

It was excellent ! Thanks for sharing ! Also the name "Saul" is very cool and cute (don't know why though...) ! You're so good at writing, keep going !