Au naturel (Antiviral) - 1/3

[Anonymouse]

Syd gets sick without intending to and ends up spending an afternoon at work with Michelle. I’m thinking part one of three fairly short parts? This is for sneezyholmes, thanks for the fic dear, so glad you’re a fan of the movie. <3

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It hit him like an eighteen wheeler sometime that afternoon, though he’d felt the beginnings of it that morning, with a sore throat that could not be soothed by lozenges or a cup of that cinnamon apple tea someone brought in to share with the rest of the clinic. Syd was so used to planning his illnesses it was always a shock when his body got the jump on him. He spent the first few hours of the day staring at the clock and rubbing his face with his hands, hazily cognizant of the persistent, thrumming irritation between his eyes and around his nostrils. The entire sales team showed up but they were otherwise short-staffed, so around noon, Dorian asked Syd to do some clerical work. He suspected it had something to do with the customer that complained when Syd was ill at work a few months ago.

The behind-the-scenes stuff was dull, nothing like the cat and mouse game he played every day, and anything in the archives and collections that wasn’t from Hannah didn’t interest him. But he wasn’t in the mood to interact with customers right now, and he much preferred the company of several thousand vials of celebrity fluids to other people.

Unfortunately other departments brought their own set of irritating characters.

“Look who’s on the other side of the counter,” said Mercer, approaching with Topp, no doubt to exchange their wares before their lunch breaks. “We were wondering where you got to.”

Syd looked up from filing, his nose red from wiping it constantly. The garbage can under the counter was already overflowing with tissues. Granted it was pretty full before he got there, with someone’s Venti cup and an empty plastic sandwich box taking up most of the space.

“Heading out?” Syd asked. He couldn’t have sounded any more disinterested and he made no effort to hide it.

“As a matter of fact, I have a lunch date with a very important client,” said Topp.

“I’m just going for sushi,” said Mercer, “if you’d like to come.”

“No thanks. What can I get you gentlemen?”

He was eager to get this little exchange over with, especially since he could feel his nose starting to run, accompanied by that uncomfortable sensation of having to sneeze. It seemed to surface every now and then, more frequently over the course of the day, never quite accumulating enough power to advance much further than a smattering of tickly gasps. But now it was gaining traction at an alarming rate, and he was barely prepared for the double that stuttered out. “eh’pt’CHH!-hptt’ch!”

He got the tissues up too late for the first but managed to catch second one, staggering a bit from the force of it. Sniffling, he blinked at the wall, trying to decide if he was finished or not.

“Salud,” said Topp, and Syd turned his head just enough to narrow his eyes at him over the tissues.

“-ehh’kDSCHHeuw!”

Mercer was muttering something quick and secretive to Topp when Syd recovered. Both men stopped talking and looked at him when they realized they had his attention.

"Are you quite alright?"

Syd sniffled, his nose crinkling slightly behind the tissues. "Just a tickle."

“We’ll just leave these with you, then,” said Topp, and both men placed their briefcases on the counter. “You can put them away at your leisure. We’ll come back when you’ve composed yourself, because I’ve got a list longer than your arm and I have to get to this appointment.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Syd said. Anything to get them to leave.

“Want us to bring anything back for you?”

His nostrils flared slightly, with a mixture of impatience and physical irritation, and shook his head with blatant annoyance. “I’m good, thanks.”

They were talking amongst themselves as they left like a pair of meddling biddies. When they got bored with their celebrities they liked to discuss their co-workers' miserable lives.

As soon as the door closed Syd allowed his eyes to close. Turning his back to the security camera, he released the weakening mental hold he had on the sneeze. His nostrils flared freely and he took a deep breath, letting his head tilt back a bit as he prepared the tissues. Despite bothering him mercelessly all day, the tickle never seemed to want to progress once he decided he would like to sneeze after all. It teased him for a good fifteen seconds before a blessed sneeze rushed out - “eh’kschhhu!” - drenching the only dry spot left in the crumpled tissue ball. He disposed of the soggy mess before gathering a few more, pressing them to his nose in time to smother another unsatisfying pair. “‘mffshh! huh... ehhffKSCHHu!”

“My goodness,” came a voice from behind him, and he could feel the blood rush to his face.

“I’m sorry, I meant to say bless you,” Michelle said when he didn’t respond. “Heard you’re not feeling too well.”

He would bet his ReadyFace console that Topp and Mercer disclosed the state of his health to her as they were leaving. His eyes narrowed, part annoyance and part unrelieved irritation. “I’be… hih… hh-h’ihkGSCHHhh!”

“If you were going to say ‘fine,’ I’m going to smack you.”

He sniffled but didn’t humor her with a response.

“Alright, grumpy.” Michelle put on a pout, retreating to the computer in the corner. “I have an Excel file to tackle. If you need me, I’m over here.”

Leaning his elbows on the counter, he lifted his gaze to the clock on the far wall, counting down the hours until he could go home and sleep.

Edited August 19, 2014 by anonymouse

[SneezyHolmes]

OH. MY. GOD. THIS. O0O I love it! Continuing yes? Lol now i'm gonna have to up my writing skills next chapter~ xD

[Kshu]

I like this, and the title lol

[SterlingSilver]

I am REALLY enjoying this Anony~

The irritation, the perfect encapsulation of Syd's personality (among others), the description of his illness~~ unff <33

It's all lovely~! I do hope you continue! <33