I love you, idiot (Part 6/?)

[DogLover]

Ok, this is my first time actually letting anyone read one of my sneezefics, so try not to hate it too much. However, I do appreciate constructive criticism.

This fic is for Ruskie, who has promised me one in exchange. I would like to thank her for giving me an excuse to do this, it's been really fun so far.

Some background information: Chloe and Alek are both part of an ancient race called the Mai: part human, part cat goddess. They're about 16 and they're descendants of Beset, the Egyptian cat goddess, and they have all kinds of cool powers like enhanced senses, strength, speed and agility, retractable claws and just general awesomeness. Alek is Chloe's mentor because she's new at the whole Mai thing. Also, people are trying to kill her because she's the Uniter, which basically means there's an important prophesy about her. Alek is totally hot. I'm done.

This takes place sometime in the vicinity of episode 3 or 4. Sorry for the lack of sneezing, there will be more later, I promise.

***

Thwack!

Chloe winced as Alek's punch connected with her rib-cage. 

"Owww," Chloe glared at him. "Was it really necessary for it to be that hard?"

"Well, that's how you learn," Alek smirked. 

"Jerk," she muttered. 

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

Chloe threw a punch toward his nose as an answer, but missed and hit his shoulder instead. She laughed as she ducked under a roundhouse kick, straightened up with her fists protecting her face and landed one of her own on Alek's hipbone. Ouch. That one had probably hurt her more than him. 

As they continued sparring, Chloe went on autopilot, letting her natural instincts take over. Dodge. Punch. Slash. Duck. Double kick. Dodge again.

This close to him, she could see something she hadn't noticed before: Alek wasn't looking so hot. There were dark circles under his eyes and he was breathing harder than he should have been. What's up with him?

Distracted, Chloe let two more blows through her guard. 

"You'll have to do better than that," Alek smirked at  her. "Aren't  you trying not to get hiihh--hit?"

Chloe noticed him stutter but didn't say anything, focusing on beating the crap out of him for being a jerk. She was so intent on winning that she barely noticed his breath hitching.

"heh...hiiihh..."

Chloe aimed a kick at his chest and missed. 

"haaahhh..."

Another kick. Alek blocked it with his forearm and slashed at her head with the knife of his hand. Chloe ducked and--

"hehhhhh..."

--tried one more time for a roundhouse to Alek's chest. He raised his hands as if to block it--

"heh'kgsshhhh!" Alek raised his hands to his face instead of blocking the kick, which hit him with a solid thunk and knocked him backward ten feet into a wall.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked, now noticing that in addition to his general tired appearance her--mentor? friend? Whatever--also looked somewhat sniffly. 

"Impressive," Alek sprang up from where he'd been sprawled on the ground. "But how do you expect to beat anyone if you can't even get in a solid hit without feeling guilty?"

"I just thought...never mind."

***

After the embarrassing incident with the sneeze, Alek did his best to finish up Chloe's training quickly. He hadn't been a hundred percent since he'd watched Chloe's mother for her in the rain all night. Mai didn't get sick as easily as human's, but it was possible. Especially when said Mai hadn't been getting too much sleep lately for having to watch and train with a certain reckless Uniter who infuriatingly managed to look stunningly beautiful even when she was covered in sweat and dirt from the night's training.

Alek's train of thought was cut off by a tickle deep in his nose. Not again, he thought. He'd already embarrassed himself in front of Chloe once, he didn't need her getting suspicious. 

Distracted, Alek didn't notice that Chloe was saying something to him until she waved her hand in front of his face.

"Hey, you still here?"

"Sorry, what were you saying?" He squirmed a bit in discomfort as his nose itched to release another sneeze. However, Alek had no intention of embarrassing himself in front of Chloe again. 

"I was asking you if you're alright? You seem kind of tired..."

"I'm--hh'NKT!" Alek stifled the sneeze between his thumb and forefinger. "I'mb fine. Let's go."

Running across the rooftops with Chloe, Alek found himself wishing he didn't have first watch at her house that night. God, but he was tired. Sleep sounded good right now. Really good. But he wasn't going to say anything to Chloe or Jasmine or Valentina or anyone else. Just because he knew he was getting sick didn't mean he had to admit it to any of them. They would just make him stay home, which would be a waste of time he didn't have what with everything going on.

After watching Chloe climb back through her window, Alek released the sneezes that had been bothering him on the way. "heh'shhggtttt! het'chshiuh! heh--he'MPTchuh!"

Alek settled into his spot on Chloe's roof. It was going to be a long four hours. 

***

To be continued...

***

Ok, I'm done posting and I'm absolutely terrified. Constructive criticism, please!

*runs and hides*

[ThatSneezyGirl]

Aw this is cute

[Strong_and_Wild]

I adore it! Thank you!! I'm still working on yours, but don't worry, itll be up before Christmas

[VividBubbles!]

Hmmmmmmmmmm.... constructive criticism you say? Now, why would you ask for that? This is absolutely brilliant! It's sooooo awesome and Alek is ADORABLE! I him sooooooo much! Hey, have you read The Mortal Instruments Series? If you have I would loooove a fic for Simon or Jace and if you haven't you neeeeed to read the books. They are awesome! I imagine Jace as the guy who plays Alek. Mmmmm. I'd even write you a story in return! Anyway, awesome story and I cannot wait for it to be continued!

BYE!

Edited December 23, 2011 by Bubbles!

[DogLover]

@smalltownbieber: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

@Ruskie: I'm so happy you like it! I was terrified about posting it in case you thought it was terrible... Really...

Yay, I can't wait for your fic *fantasizes about sneezy!Jace*

@Bubbles: Thanks so much! I have read The Mortal Instruments, actually this fic is my payment to Ruskie for a Jace fic, so we will both be very happy in the near future. I love him and Alek, they're the badass guys with supernatural powers that I feel a compulsive need to write denial fics about.

Question for a staff member: Can one of you change the title of this topic so it says Part 2 posted instead of Part 1? Thanks...

Sorry for the shortness, the next parts will be longer and have more sneezing, I promise!

***

Part 2:

"Alek? Alek!"

Alek jerked awake from where he was standing half asleep.

"Jasmbinde?" he asked a bit stuffily. Dammit. He hoped she wouldn't notice.

"Are you okay? You seem kind of..." Jasmine trailed off. "Well, it's not like you to fall asleep during your shift."

Shit. No such luck.

"I'mb fine," Alek reassured her sniffing discreetly to clear some of the congestion from his nose. Unfortunately, the sniff seemed to cause a tickle to take root deep in his sinuses. "I wasn't asleep, I was just thinking."

"How's that working out for you? The thinking thing, I mean," Jasmine teased her cousin.

"Oh, hilarious," Alek was not in the mood for taunts. He cringed as the tickle spread down to his left nostril.

"Well, since you're not in the mood for our usual witty banter I'm sending you home to sleep. You look tired." Jasmine sized up her cousin concernedly. He really had been overworking himself lately, and she suspected that his vigil over Chloe's mom in the rain had been pushing his luck a little too far.

"Alright, I'm off," Alek said as he took off running across the rooftops. Jasmine watched after him concernedly.

***

As soon as he was out of Jasmine's sight Alek stopped to deal with his increasingly tickly nose. The original tickle had now spread to his right nostril, causing his breath to hitch and his nose to twitch irritatedly, but for some reason the impending sneeze refused to come out.

"hehhh...hiihh...huuhh..." Alek froze in anticipation of the explosion, but the sneeze eluded him.

"hiiihhh..."

Sitting there with his breath hitching desperately, Alek was getting a bit pissed. God, why can't I just sneeze already?

Impatient, Alek tried running a finger along the edge of one nostril to coax out the sneeze. It was like hitting a button. Alek exploded into a fit of tickly, drawn out, congested sneezes.

"hehhh...hh'rrshchshttt! huh...uhh...huh'uhrr'SHUH! Het'chshiuh! haaahh...hah'KSHH'chuh! heh...ehhh...haahhh...HAH'KSHCHUHH! Ugh. Shit," Alek sniffled wetly. He allowed himself a few moments to collect himself before running the rest of the way home, fantasizing about tissues the entire way.

***

To be continued...

[VividBubbles!]

God, you update so quick! Ugh. I wish I was like you. I get one bit of inspiration for one story and then it goes away and I'm left with 1/4 of a story and frustration. Again, ugh! Anyway, I CAN'T WAIT TILL THE NEXT UPDATE!!! Hurry! And tell Ruskie to hurry too! I neeeeed a Mortal Instruments fic! SOON!

BYE!

Edited December 23, 2011 by Bubbles!

[Strong_and_Wild]

ahhhh you make me fee so bad about not having yours done! having just a little trouble getting into Jaces head but no worries! your writing style is just perfect, you capture Alek sooo well.

[jezebel215]

this is yummy :-) more alek please

[Akahana]

OHMAIGOD I love this... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He sound's so adorable! <33 PLEASE continue!

[Ciuty80]

this one hooked me TOTALLY!!! O_O

this is my crab!!!

PLEASE continue soon!

[DogLover]

I guess no staff members noticed my last request, so I'll ask again (god, not being able to just PM you guys is annoying). Can one of you change the title of this topic so it says Part 3 posted instead of Part 1? Thanks.

Now onto replies:

@Bubbles!: I'm only updating this quick because I'm on vacation for Hannukah (in Israel we have vacation during Jewish holidays, not Christian ones) so I have pretty much nothing to do. Also, I love torturing Alek, which makes it easy to write.

@Ruskie: Thanks so much! Don't worry about taking your time, the reason I had to request a fic in the first place instead of writing one is that I couldn't manage to write Jace for the life of me.

@Jezebel215: Thanks! More sick!Alek is on the way...

@Akahana: Thanks so much! It's far too easy for me to continue this, torturing Alek is just too much fun...

@Ciuty80: Yeah, it's hooked me too, I feel like I have to keep writing or I'll go insane... And, um, what crab? Am I missing something...?

Okay, enough of my chatting, here's part 3:

***

Part 3:

Alek was not happy when he woke up. For one thing, he wasn't thrilled to be waking up at all. His bed felt soooo comfortable and warm that he just wanted to sleep forever. For another, his head felt like someone had stuffed it with goo overnight. His nose was completely blocked and he felt the beginnings of a sinus headache forming under his eyes. 

Alek steeled himself and sat up, instantly regretting it when his muscles complained bitterly and his head took the shift in position as an excuse to throb painfully. The movement also caused the congestion in his sinuses to shift, provoking a miserable, stuffed up sneeze. 

"hehh...heh'KGTCHshsshhh!" Alek snapped forward in bed, letting out a sound that could, if it came from a less dignified person, be considered a whimper.

Come on, get up, he mentally ordered himself. It's just a cold. Humans deal with them all the time. You can too.

Alek dragged himself out of bed through sheer force of will, grabbed a long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of jeans and padded off to the bathroom, hoping he didn't meet Jasmine or Valentina in the hall before he had a chance to collect himself and put together his facade.

Luckily he made it to the bathroom without meeting anyone. Locking the door behind him, Alek examined his reflection in the mirror and was shocked to see how terrible he looked. His eyes were over-bright (probably a fever, as if he didn't have enough to deal with), with dark circles under them, and his nose was dripping onto his upper lip. But more than that was his general appearance of being sick. Alek usually held himself upright, alert to any danger that might be coming his way. Now he looked about as alert as someone in a coma. 

After grabbing some toilet tissue to wipe his nose with, Alek slowly undressed, shivering when the cold air hit his feverish body.

Stepping into the shower, Alek paused to sneeze messily into the crook of his arm. 

"huh'KGXX'shgttt!" Alek recoiled when he saw the mess he'd made of his right arm. Ugh, that's disgusting.

Alek turned on the water and stood under it shivering after washing his arm off. The hot water helped his aching muscles a bit and the steam helped loosen some of his congestion. However, this loosening gave birth to another tickle that played around his swollen sinuses.

"huuhhh...huh'KGSH'shuh! heh'KSHUH! Ugh..." he sniffled wetly, wincing when his head pulsed with pain again.

Alek stayed in the shower longer than was probably necessary, dreading getting out into the cold air of the bathroom. Finally he forced himself out of the shower onto the cold tiles of the bathroom floor, which made him sneeze again. 

"het'TSCHUUH!" he sneezed openly, aiming it at the floor. He dried himself off as quickly as possible so he could get into his warm clothes. He paused to blow his nose productively twice more before opening the bathroom door. Stopping to reconsider, he grabbed the roll of toilet tissue from next to the sink. If this morning was any indication, he was going to need it. 

Alek stopped by his room to grab a sweatshirt for warmth on his way to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Alek," Valentina greeted him from where she was standing next to the counter. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Ummmm, not that hungry," Alek mumbled.

"Really," Valentina was surprised. Usually she worried that Alek would bankrupt the San Francisco pride with the amount of food he ate. 

"Yeah, I'll just have some coffee," Alek said, wincing at how hoarse he sounded. He cleared his throat. "Do we have any clean mugs or did Jasmine 'forget' to wash the dishes again?"

"Actually, you forgot this time. I had to do them for you when I got back," Jasmine walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, right, sorry," Alek muttered distractedly. Another sneeze was building in his sinuses, but Jasmine was already suspicious and he'd be damned if he was going to let it out in front of her. "You know, I think I'll just take it with me," he said quickly, cringing in annoyance when the vibration of his speech caused the tickle in his nose to progress further than he had thought would be possible without letting himself sneeze. Still, he was not going to let it out.

Alek made himself coffee as fast was humanly possible (faster, even, considering he wasn't human), poured it into a thermos, grabbed his backpack and practically ran out the door, leaving Jasmine and Valentina staring after him.

***

Alek barely made it out of the building and earshot of the two female Mai before he erupted into a fit of harsh, congested sneezes, that snapped him forward at the waist. 

"hh'KGTschchchtt! hek'CHSHSH! hhk'GNXXttt! huh'rrschchuh!" Alek blearily opened his eyes, moaning as his head gave another throb. He pulled the toilet tissue out of his backpack and blew his to clear out the congestion produced by the sneezes. He dropped the crumpled, used squares in a nearby trash can and examined the roll. It already looked sadly depleted.

Sighing, Alek shouldered his backpack and made his way to school. 

***

TBC...

The next part features sneezy, sniffly Alek in class trying not to look sick...

[Ciuty80]

@Ciuty80: Yeah, it's hooked me too, I feel like I have to keep writing or I'll go insane... And, um, what crab? Am I missing something...?

just means that this story is exactly what i LIKE!^^

UUUWWAAHHHH very nice update!!! :drool:

and i´m looking forward to the next update with

sneezy, sniffly Alek in class trying not to look sick...

Edited December 24, 2011 by Ciuty80

[VividBubbles!]

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's all I have to say. You exploded my brain. I hope you're happy.

BYE!

[DogLover]

Umm, okay, I know the title says part 1, but it's part 4 by now and I can't change it 'cause I'm still new around here and can't join the writers' group.

@Ciuty: Oh, okay. I thought I was missing some sort of private joke on the crab thing... Anyway, hope you like the next part.

@Bubbles!: Yay! This is my favorite kind of comment! I hope you've managed to fix your brain by now so you can read the update

And now onto:

***

Part 4:

Jasmine and Valentina watched, somewhat surprised, as Alek practically ran out of the apartment, door slamming shut behind him.

"What was that?" Valentina wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Jasmine answered, perplexed. "Something's up with him. When I spelled him at Chloe's house last night I could have sworn he was asleep."

"On watch?" Valentina looked angry. "That's not like him."

"He denied it, but he didn't look so good. He sneezed," Jasmine remembered. "He tried to get away before so I wouldn't know but I heard him on the next roof over. Maybe he's sick?"

"Maybe... You should get going."

"Alright. Bye, mom."

***

Sitting in her first period history class, the first thing Jasmine noticed was Alek sitting at his desk, looking tired. As she watched, he sniffed and swiped at his increasingly pinkish nose with a scrap of toilet tissue.

Yeah, definitely sick, Jasmine thought to herself.

Alek blearily lifted his head and scanned the room as though looking for something. His over-bright eyes found Jasmine.

You okay? Jasmine mouthed, making eye contact.

He nodded, looking down at his hands which were folded around a crumpled piece of toilet tissue.

Yeah, right. She'd known Alek since they were kids, she could tell when he was sick. And when he was lying.

As the teacher walked into class, five minutes late, Alek stifled a sneeze into the remains of the roll of toilet tissue.

"hhr'NGXXT!"

Well, dammit, he thought, looking at the empty roll of toilet tissue, the last scrap of it having just been destroyed by his sneeze. To his annoyance, he felt his nose still tickling, apparently unsatisfied that it was done expelling microscopic life-forms from his body.

"heh'GNXXT! hiihh...hih'KTSCH'huh!" he stifled two sneezes by pinching his nose between his thumb and his forefinger, or tried to anyway as the second one escaped. He sniffled wetly behind his hand, hoping that no one would notice.

However, his hopes were unfulfilled as Jasmine examined him with a critical, practiced eye from where she was sitting two rows behind him. Her cousin really did look terrible, with those dark circles under his eyes and his nose slowly reddening as the class went on. And were his eyes looking a bit glassy? If he had a fever and had come to school anyway, she was going to kill him.

"heh'KSHchttt! uh'TCHSHSH! heh...heh'KTCHH'huh!" she watched as Alek sneezed into his sleeve. Taking pity on him, Jasmine dug a travel-pack of tissues out of her backpack and threw it with unerring aim at the back of his head.

What the...? Alek bent over in his chair to pick up whatever had hit him in the back of the head. When he saw what it was he was far from complaining, especially as bending over had shifted the congestion in his sinuses, provoking another sneeze.

"hehhh...heh'KNGXT'chttt!"

"Is there a problem, Mr. Petrov?" the teacher stopped in the middle of his lecture to look at him.

"Uh, no sir," Alek replied, flushing a bit as some of his classmates turned to stare at him.

The teacher looked as though he might press the issue, but seemed to decide against it and returned to what he had been saying before the interruption. Jasmine saw Alek slump in relief.

I'll talk to him after class, Jasmine decided.

***

True to her word, Jasmine caught up with Alek in the hall outside the classroom.

"Alek!"

Alek turned around. "Yes, Jasmine?"

"You're sick," Jasmine stated. "Don't even try to deny it."

"I'm perfectly fine, Jasmine," Alek sniffed again, undermining his point. Another sneeze was playing around his sinuses, and he was definitely not going to let it out after the mess he'd made in the classroom.

"Oh, really? Then what was all that sneezing and sniffling in class?" Jasmine appeared to have followed the train of his thoughts.

"Um, I dond't kndow," the congestion from the held-back sneeze starting to clog his sinuses again. "Allergies, maybe?"

"It's not spring yet, so it can't be your over sensitive nose," Jasmine mused. Alek had gotten hayfever around the time he transformed. Valentina had said that sometimes the enhanced sense of smell caused allergic reactions in Mai. "What, you think there was a dog in class?" The other Mai had always found it hilarious that Alek was highly allergic to dogs.

"I dunno," Alek said quickly. "I gotta go." He turned again and disappeared as fast as only he could.

"Alek?" Jasmine called after him. He's so lying. He's sick.

***

Alek barely made it to the men's room before exploding into a harsh fit of sneezing.

"hah'EHKG'nxttt! heh'CKG'shuh! hh'KNXX'gttt! heh'MPTchuh!" Alek bent in half at the waist, groaning as trying (and failing) to stifle the last one made pain shoot through his head like bullet. And he still wasn't done.

"hhr'SHCKGttt! hep'TSCHIUUH! huuhhh...uuhhh...huh'CKGGXXKSHggttt!" Alek moaned as the sneezes scraped up his throat, which was rapidly becoming sore. If nothing until then had proved he was sick, the last sneeze would have, forceful and wet and utterly unlike his contained, polite allergy sneezes.

Alek examined himself in the mirror again. Well, I look like crap, he admitted to himself. The dark circles were still there, his eyes still over-bright, everything the same as it had been in the bathroom with the addition of a raw, red nose and flushed cheeks. And another addition that, thank God, was invisible: his throat, which was definitely starting to feel raw and scratchy.

He was interrupted in his musings by another impending sneeze.

"hiihhh...hih'CKGchuh!" The sneeze scraped at his raw throat, causing a coughing fit that lasted well over a minute. Shit, that's new.

Pausing only to grab another roll of toilet tissue to replace the one that he'd used up, Alek exited the bathroom and made his miserable way to class.

***

TBC...

Anyway, hoping for feedback on this one, I wasn't entirely satisfied with it... Oh, well.

[pinknose]

Fantastical! Keep going pleeeease

[VividBubbles!]

You weren't entirely satisfied? What about me?! I need more of this! MORE, MORE, MORE, MORE! Otherwise, I'll go through Alek deprivation. You do not want to see me with Alek deprivation. Hey, and whatever happened with Ruskie and her Jace story? UPDATE SOON!

BYE!

[Strong_and_Wild]

Holy............Way to fry my brain, I adore you, your first part is almost finished here....hopefully it's to your liking.

[Ciuty80]

very nice update!!!

please EVEN MOAAAARRRRR!!

[obsessed]

Changed, sorry for the delay:)

[DogLover]

@pinknose: Yay, new word to use when I'm FanGirling! "fantastical" *giggles*

@Bubbles!: Okay, here's more *backs away slowly*. Just kidding!

I hope you haven't gone into Alek deprivation yet...

@Ruskie: Nooooooooo! If your brain's fried you won't be able to write sneezy!Jace for me! Unfry it! Now!

@Ciuty80: Yay, I got the exploding smiley! Now if only I could remember how to do that one... Anyway, here's EVEN MOAAAARRRRR!

@obsessed: Thanks! Now, if only I could get validated so I could join the writers' group and do it myself... Not that I'm hinting or anything. Just kidding!

And now, I give you:

***

Part 5:

Alek's next class passed much the same way as the first. So did the next one, and the one after that, until it just felt like an endless cycle of congested, headachey, sore-throated, sneezy misery. And yet, Alek still wasn't going to admit he was sick. To anyone.

***

"You okay, Alek?" Adam, a basketball teammate of his, asked concernedly.

"I'mb finde," Alek assured him. "Jusd allergies--heh'CKGG'chshsh!"

"Oh," Adam was reassured. Alek's hayfever was legendarily bad. "Catch you later."

Walking away, it occurred to Adam that the beginning of winter wasn't hayfever season.

***

"Is everything alright, Mr. Petrov?" Alek's chemistry teacher noticed the blonde boy looking a bit pale and red-nosed.

"Yes, I'mb jusd finde," he replied stuffily.

"If you say so," she said doubtfully, returning to her attention to the rest of the class.

Alek stifled two sneezes into his wrist.

***

"hek'ggttt! heh'mmpttt! hh'NXT'chuh!" Alek attempted to stifle three sneezes, the last one escaping him despite his efforts.

"Hey, Alek."

Alek looked up to see Paul standing in front of him.

"Whadt do you wandt?" he snapped.

"I have a question," Paul was undeterred. "Can Mai get sick?"

"heh'SHGggttt!" Alek sneezed forcefully into the crook of his elbow, shot him a disdainful look and walked away.

"Well, that answers that question," Paul said to himself.

***

"Alek?" a female voice asked.

Can't you leave me alone already?! Alek thought, infuriated. He'd thought his tough-guy rep would be enough to keep girls away when he obviously wanted to eat lunch alone.

"Whatd do you--oh," Alek looked up to see Chloe standing next to him.

"Are you--"

"If you value my saditdy, dond't ask if I'mb okay," Alek interrupted. "Thatd's all people have beed askgigg mbe all day. Hodestdly, you'd thigk they'd ndever seed a guy with allergies before."

"It's fairly obvious that you don't have allergies, my friend," Chloe bantered. "It's the beginning of winter, so no hayfever. And speaking of fever, it's pretty obvious you're running one. Why'd you even come to school today?"

"I'mb dot sigck!--" Alek was interrupted by a fit of coughing.

"Yeah, that's very convincing."

"I'mb fide, alright?" Alek said hoarsely.

"If you could actually say the word 'fine', that sentence would have been much more convincing," Chloe smirked.

"Oh, hilarious," he replied, still hoarse.

"It would also be more convincing if you were actually eating something," Chloe went on, ignoring his last comment.

"I'mb dot hudgry."

"Which pretty much proves my point. How long have you been sick?"

"I'mb dot--hehh--sick--hek'GNXXT!" Alek suppressed a moan. All the stifling was not doing wonders for his headache.

"Funny how you keep contradicting yourself every time you say that," Chloe smirked again. "Seriously, just admit that you're sick. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I dod't wadt to sit aroudd at hombe all day--"

"--Aha! You admitted you're sick!--"

"--especially dot with everythidg thad's goigg od. I dod't have tibe to be sigck."

"So, what, you think going to school and not getting enough sleep because you're on my roof all night is gonna make you get better faster? Come on, I heard you coughing just now. You're getting worse. If you don't give yourself any rest this little cold of yours could turn into something nasty."

Alek just sat there, coughing occasionally into his hands. Eventually he looked up. "You dode?"

"What?"

"Talkidg. I kdnow perfegdly well thad I'mb--hh'CKGshh!--thad I'mb sick. That doesd't mbead I cad't--hehh--cah--heh'GCK'shuh!--cad't deal with it od mby owd. Codtrary to whad you seeb to believe, I do--hih'CKK'gshsh!--I do kdnow how. It's just thad mby way of takidg care of mbyself doesd't--hehh--doesd't idvolve--hehh'KGXXttt!--doesd't idvolve sittidg aroudd at hobe all day like add idvalid," Alek finished with a liquid sniff.

"Right. And if we get in fight--which we will, being us--you can't stop coughing and sneezing long enough to get a full sentence out."

"Thad's dot--heh'ishsh!--dot true."

"And what was that just now?"

"Shud ub."

"Okay then," Chloe sighed, defeated. "I can tell when I'm not wanted."

"Really? Doesd't seeb like it."

"Just don't blame me when you end up in the hospital with pneumonia!" Chloe called over her shoulder as she walked away, leaving Alek alone with his uneaten food and his headache.

***

TBC...

[pinknose]

soooooo cute!! please keep going! (and going and going and going and going)

[VividBubbles!]

YAY YAY YAY! You gave me more Alek! I love you sooooooo much! This is sooooooooooo adorable! I cannot wait until the next update!

BYE!

[flower]

Haven't commented yet, but I am really liking this. I love the denying being sick thing and the concern others show the sickie. Also LOVE the stuffy, congested talk. Can't wait for more, thanks!

[Strong_and_Wild]

First off: ahfkjfkajs This is GLORIOUS how I love you so. I do believe you could write anything my dear, second of all, I post the first, tiny bit of the Jace fic, I figure its pretty rough, but its there

[DogLover]

First of all, thanks to the staff member (obsessed?) who changed the title of the post.

@pinknose: Okay, I've kept going Glad you like it!

@Bubbles!: I love you tooooooo! Here's more Alek for you...

@flower: Yay! I'm glad you like it, and I'm happy to know I'm not the only one who's into stuffytalk.

@Ruskie: You posted your Jace fic! I'm reeeeeaally happy! And while I appreciate the compliment, I can't write anything, as evidenced by the fact that I can't write Jace. Oh well, you can do that, so no problem

Ok, heads-up: there is actual plot and stuff in this one aside from all the sniffling and sneezing. I mean, I managed to write five parts completely devoid of plot, so now I'm writing some. The plot part is only starting now, and will be continued later.

Also, this features an extremely painful injury that I wrote from experience: what happens to Alek actually happened to me in an outdoor martial arts sparring match (one of the few times I've really hated having hayfever). Suffice to say, ooowwwwww.

One last thing before I actually post the story: yeah, yeah, I know the Jackals don't come in until episode 7, shut up. I couldn't resist, okay?

***

Part 6:

Alek somehow made it through the rest of his classes. Barely, but he hadn't passed out in any of them, so that counted, right?

As the bell rang signaling the end his last class, Alek forced himself out of his seat, up to the front of the classroom, out the door, through the hallway and out of the school building, where he leaned against the wall to watch for Chloe so he could shadow her on her way to work, fully aware of the fact that a two-minute walk out of school should not leave him so winded.

A brisk wind had started up, causing Alek to shiver a little and tickling his nose, which was so sensitive after a day of sneezing, blowing and nose-rubbing that it didn't take much to set it off.

"heh...heh'ISH'huh! hih'KTCH'shsh! heh...heh'ESH'shuh!" he sneezed openly at the ground, too tired to stifle. Straightening up, he saw that he'd almost missed Chloe and Amy walking out of school and quickly climbed up onto the rooftops to follow them.

Keeping up with the two girls was harder than usual. He got tired out after two blocks and once while jumping he nearly missed the next building because of a sneeze. Still, he wasn't stopping. Or passing out. That had to count for something. He hoped.

He was so lost in a feverish, congested haze that he almost didn't notice the guy stalking the two girls until it was too late.

Alek went on autopilot, only one thought in his congested head: protect Chloe.

"Chloe!" he yelled as loud as he could, which, considering that his throat felt like it had been sandpapered, wasn't all that loud. As she turned, Alek threw himself off the roof, executing a graceful flip before landing in a crouch between Chloe and her attacker. He heard Amy scream, as though it came from a hundred miles away.

Straightening up out of his crouch, Alek felt an itch deep in his sinuses. No, not now! I can't!

Alek heard Chloe come and stand next to him. "What is it, Alek?" she sounded somewhat freaked out.

"Wh--ahhh--What do you mean?" Alek asked, confused as to what she meant and distracted by his disobedient nose.

"That guy! What is he?!" Chloe jerked her chin towards the attacker. The first impression Alek had gotten was of a thug; tall, heavily muscled and just generally huge. However, now that she pointed it out he saw something he'd missed: the long, pointed canines.

"Shit! Shitshitshit!"

"He's shit?"

"No, he's a Jackal!" And I'm allergic to dogs. After he'd transformed Alek had found out that the type of dog he was most allergic to was the supernatural kind.

"Why is that bad?"

"Le--hehh--let's just say that dow we're goidg to f--ahh--fide out whether it's possible for be to sdeeze by h-heh-head off add fight at the sabe tibe," Alek said apprehensively. Just being in the general vicinity of one of those things had his nose tickling, let alone how close he had to get during a fight.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that, but let's try to figure out a plan before he--"

"H--hiihh--here's the--huhh--plad. We kill it. Without--huh--dyigg."

"Good plan." Chloe swallowed as the Jackal started advancing.

"heh'CKG'shshsh!" Alek's nose got the better of him.

"What's--" Chloe was cut off as the Jackal leaped the rest of the distance between them and made a grab at her head.

As Chloe dodged and started to engage the Jackal, Alek made a flying leap at its back and gave it two hard kicks, landing on his feet just in time to erupt into another sneeze.

"haahh'KTCCHH'shshshsh!"

"Alek?" Chloe managed to say in between punching, kicking, dodging and whatever else it was she was doing.

"hek'chuh! chuuh! heh'ISH'shuh! ish'shuh!"

Alek looked up blearily just in time to see a huge fist heading for his face at high speed. Faster than thought he jumped up and somersaulted over the Jackal, sneezing all the way.

"heh'ISHH! ISH! ISH! ish'SHUH! TCHUH!"

He heard Chloe calling his name, but the sneezes were coming so fast it was all he could do to breathe in between them. Which was probably why he didn't notice the Jackal reaching out and grabbing his arm until it was too late.

With a sickening crack, Alek's shoulder was pulled upward and out of it's socket. He crumpled bonelessly to the ground, his face a tight mask of pain which instantly dissolved in the face of another sneeze.

"heh'CKG'shuuhh!" Alek bit back a scream as the motion jarred his shoulder. Distantly, he could hear Chloe and--Jasmine?--fighting off the Jackal. He wanted to get up and help but he couldn't move from where he was lying except to sneeze over and over and over.

"hek'chuh! hek'CHUH! TCHUH! het'CHUH! heehhh! heshhuuh! heh'ISH! ISH! ISH! hh'TCHH! TCHH! uh'TSHSH! heh'ESHH! ESHH!"

He felt like screaming in agony with every sneeze, but managed not to. Barely.

Then, suddenly, miraculously, almost all the pain was gone as Jasmine popped his shoulder back into place.

"Jasmine?" he whimpered.

"You're an idiot."

"Tha'sss," Alek slurred, sinking into unconsciousness.

"I love you, idiot," he heard Chloe say. And then everything was black.

***

Mwahahaha, cliffhanger (sort of). Will be continued soon...