A Brief Interlude (Jonah & Lily, M)

[Skylacticon]

Just some fluff. Hope you’re having a good day~

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🪴📰🐿️👒🪟

 

“You know, this might have been not the best idea.”

 

“What, do you not like it?” Lily said, tapping the brush against the rim of the small bottle. 

 

“No, it- it’s stunning so far, but, now I can’t…” Jonah trailed off, his gaze wandering. Lily held up Jonah’s left hand, her smaller fingers underneath his soft, warm palm. 

 

“Hold still.”

 

Jonah laughed softly, a deep, breathy sound. A tiny grin pulled at Lily’s focused expression.

 

Jonah’s long eyelashes fluttered above his cheeks as he gazed down at his nails, and the forest-themed design Lily had been working on. His dark hair was tied back in a loose bun, some shorter strands hanging near his face. As he continued to watch, his eyes narrowed slightly. He stretched his upper lip down, and then scrunched up his nose.

 

“What are you painting? *snff*”

 

“It’s a squirrel.”

 

“Oh, that’s a tail,” Jonah said smoothly, emphasizing the more innocent discovery.

 

“Shut up,” Lily huffed, dipping the brush in the nail polish. “I’m not finished.”

 

“He looks lovely,” Jonah said softly.

 

His nose wouldn’t stop twitching now. He raised his head a little as his nose began to run, wondering if the fumes were aggravating things in his restless sinuses. As he turned his head to the side, the fresher air - emphasis on fresher - was a bit helpful, but his still tingly nasal membranes weren’t having it. 

 

“Lil,” he breathed. Something she responded to that both worked as a nickname and term of endearment. “I think I’m… *akm* sorry, I think I’m gonna sneehze…”

 

Lily glanced up. Jonah sniffled softly, his gaze gently out of focus and blinking. With both his hands still out in front of him, he ducked his head to the side and sneezed.

 

“hhuhHt’EESSCHHIEWW!!! … *snnrff* ohh…” It thankfully wasn’t that wet, but didn’t help the increasingly drippy situation. In fact, the stuffiness wasn’t helpful at all, only causing the itch to spike. “Jesus, pardon me.”

 

“Bless you,” Lily said, quickly putting the brush back into the bottle of nail polish. She set it back down and reached to pull a tissue from the box on the coffee table. 

 

But once she held it - she realized she wasn’t sure what she expected him to do, what with the drying woodland creatures on his fingertips and all. Jonah was sniffing thickly, raising the back of his wrist to rub his sensitive nose. He also seemed unsure, lifting his manicured fingers. They smelled quite strongly of the polish’s fumes, not making putting them anywhere near his itchy face a wise option.

 

A few seconds passed, as Lily hesitated. Jonah peeked at her, and blinked downward shyly. He still had to sneeze.

 

“hh…. hUHt’EESSCHHhh-!!” A sudden, harsh one, that he managed to direct away from her again. Although, it was considerably messier, the spray glistening under the lamplight. He sniffled liquidly afterward, and coughed lightly. “Oh, my goodness. I’m sorry. *sndrff!*”

 

“Bless you, love.”

 

Jonah blinked a few times, his eyes having gotten teary. He sniffled wetly, and exhaled, still looking faintly sneezy. “Could you, um…” he began softly, shyly, eyeing the tissue in her hands. “Cuz I can’t really, without… messing it up. Or, unless…”

 

“Yeah, one sec.” Lily found herself folding the tissue in half then into a neat square.  She gently leaned forward and gently dabbed under his drippy nose. He gave a light sniff, his sensitive nostrils tensing. “Sorry,” she breathed, trying to be careful.

 

“Oh, it’s fine, thanks… wait…” Jonah’s pink nostrils were fully flaring now, and he was blinking, his teary gaze shifting upward. “I’m- hold on-“ he choked out. Jonah pivoted on the floor, turning his body away from Lily.  “heHd’ISSCHHiuhh-!!” 

 

Harsh, and abrupt, causing him to fold slightly. His left hand pinned his right forearm to the ground to try and steady himself as he jerked forward, but in doing so, the nails of his middle and ring finger scraped against the floor. He sniffled a couple of times wetly, and let out a sigh. 

 

“Bless you,” Lily slid nearer to him, viewing him from the side, and put a hand on his shoulder. As she reached out to gently wipe his nose in a few gentle pinches with the tissue, he blinked down at his left hand.

 

“Thank you, *snff* - Oh no, the squirrel,” he muttered sadly, his palm facing up with his fingers curled. A good smudge had been made across the squirrel that Lily had been painting, atop the deep green base coat of polish. A sad sight, but not unfixable.

 

“Nooo, the poor guy,” Lily cooed, taking Jonah’s left hand to look more closely. 

 

“It’s like he got hit by a bus,” Jonah looked up at Lily with an apologetic smile, his laugh lines creasing gently.

 

“Oh, Jonah,” Lily’s mouth twitched with slight amusement at the sad metaphor. She put her hand on his back and rubbed gently. “Is your right hand dry? It’s been a few minutes, I think it should be okay.”

 

“Is it?” Jonah lifted his right hand to check. 

 

“Let me see.” Jonah watched as Lily’s hands held up both of his, her breath softly warming the backs of his fingers. Lightly, she touched the polished nails on his right hand. “Yeah, I think it’s just about dry. If you want, just let me clean off the squirrel, and we can take a break.”

 

Jonah’s expression seemed to shift adorably, softening as he gave her his left hand to remove the scratched-up polish. He rested his chin on top of his forearm, which was rested on top of his folded knees. Lily doused a cotton ball with acetone and twisted the cap back on the bottle.

 

“A break?” he repeated softly.

 

“A brief interlude,” Lily rephrased. The cotton ball was cold as she pressed it to his fingernail and easily wiped off the fresh polish. 

 

Jonah’s nose gave a slight twitch, as the acetone fumes reached his sensitive nostrils. It was the kind of scent that might have been weirdly appealing, but on this warm, sunny, July afternoon, it stung and made his nose itch madly. He raised the back of his right forearm and pressed it against his wriggling nose.

 

“I know, just give me a second…” Lily finished removing the polish on his ring finger, and lowered his hand. “Done.”

 

Jonah drew back his hand, and glanced at the two blank fingernails. “I miss him already,” he said quietly, reaching for a tissue.

 

“Who, the squirrel?”

 

Lily grinned with endearment as Jonah raised the folded tissue over the lower half of his face. His eyes met hers for a second, and crinkled with something both humorous and sentimental. Then they averted, as he turned slightly to blow his nose. Lily tossed the used cotton ball in the waste bin, and tightened the lids of the nail polish bottles, grouping them together.

 

“eh’dDSCHHhioo!!” With his freshly painted fingernails right up against his face, Jonah couldn’t help but breathe in the lingering fumes. “hEHt’ISSCHHIEWw!! *sdrf* hh- EH’TDSCHHIEWW!! …agh…”

 

“Bless youuu,” Lily reached out a hand to rub his back again.

 

He gave his nose another gentle blow, and wiped it with the tissue, revealing rounded nostrils that were slightly more red in hue. “Oh, *snff!*”

 

“You okay?”

 

“Yeah, I think so, *snrff!*” Jonah raised a curled index finger to wipe his teary eyes and sniffed. “The smell is just…” he paused a bit, as if stuck for a word. “The only thing coming to me right now is the word spicy,” he muttered, and laughed, his eyes narrowing and blinking. Lily felt a tug of empathy at the notion that he was sensitive enough to feel the scent in his eyes.

 

“The nail polish?”

 

“Well- that, and the remover,” he replied croakily.

 

“That’s why we’re taking a break,” Lily breathed. As she got to her feet, she put a hand on the side of Jonah’s face and kissed him on the forehead.

 

“So you’ll paint me a new squirrel?” he asked, still sitting on the ground.

 

“Of course, honey.” 

 

“And some more leaves?”

 

“As many as you want.”

 

-

[Today’s song rec: ‘Abstract (Psychopomp)’ by Hozier 🤎]

[marzipan]

This is really sweet! I love how tender they are with each other! Also - excellent song recommendation. 😊

[Skylacticon]

@marzipan Thanks!