Pagan Pollen - Secret Santa for SexualOddity

[LeadaAlexys52]

SexualOddity! So very honoured to be your secret santa this year! I have to say I had a really hard time with this. I restarted it about 4 times , which is why I'm sneaking it in just under the wire. I am not the best at writing allergies, but I hope I hit at least some of your buttons! I have to say playing with Sam is a lot of fun!

I have to give some credit to my partner for the general prompt for this story and letting me bounce ideas off of him!

Here it is! I hope you enjoy!

Pagan Pollen

Dean looked over at his brother, his forehead creased in concern. Sam was a mess. His eyes were red and tearing, his nose was equally red and chapped. Dean listened as Sam's breath started hitching again. Gearing up for another fit. It looked like torture. Sam's eyes were half closed, fluttering as the sneeze warred with itself as to whether or not it would let it's host have some relief.

H…H…Heh….Heh….heh-heh…H'utchshhh! E'chshhew! Hut'chsheew!

Finally Sam snapped forward letting the sneezes out. Dean sighed. It had been three days. Three days on this job, and Sam had been like this for two of them. They still had no idea what was setting him off. Sam had regular seasonal allergies, but they were never like this. He had them under tight control, and the medication he took did the trick. But right now, there was nothing that seemed to be helping. Even pumped full of Benadryl Sam was still being tortured.

"Oh gawd…not ag-huh agai-huh again…He'chew! Hut'chshhew! E'chshhew!" Dean couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright Sammy, we need to get you out of here. Come on." Dean got up and started moving towards his brother. Sam shook his head.

"Dno Deand, we habve to fidnish the djob."

"Sam, you can barely breath. The job can suck it."

"Deand, please! We're so close!"

"Come on Sammy,"

"Deand…" Sam tried to give Dean the eyes, but they were so watery there was no way he could pull it off. But even so, Dean knew Sam would not let him live it down if they left now. He sighed again.

"Alright Sammy, you win. But for now, you are staying here and taking it easy. Understand?" Dean said in his sternest voice possible. Sam nodded, and then his breath hitched again…and again….and again. Dean shook his head, grabbed his keys and went out the door. The sooner he could get this case over with, the sooner he could get Sammy out of here.

Three Days Earlier

"Hey Dean, I think I've found us a case." Sam said turning his laptop to show his brother.

"Really? Georgia?"

"Yea Dean, people die in Georgia too."

"Alright, so tell me about this case."

"So far, there have been two people have gone missing this year."

"This year?"

"Exactly. I've tracked the pattern back to 1998. Two people same time every year, one woman, one man…sound familiar?"

"Oh God, not another scarecrow?"

"Might be, or it could be just about any other something that works on a strict schedule."

"Well, guess we better get packed up. Meet you out front."

The boys had an uneventful drive to Woodland, Georgia. It was spring time and the route was actually a nice drive. When they were close they started to notice the enormous orchard groves that spread over the countryside. They got into town late, so they found a decent enough motel and crashed. That morning Sam woke with a few sneezes and was greeted with his allergy meds flying at his head.

"Bless you bitch."

"Thanks jerk." Sam was used to this. Specially in the spring, so he thought nothing of it. He took his meds and got up to get dressed.

It was late afternoon when Sam started to feel the annoying itch deep in his sinuses. He was at the library reading up on the people who disappeared over the years. The itch began to grow, but it wasn't enough to get him to sneeze. Right now it was just frustrating. Sam rubbed at his nose, but it didn't really help. He kept reading, but it was getting increasingly difficult to concentrate. He wished the itch would just resolve itself and let him get back to work. He sat back in his chair and breathed in deeply. He found that this sometimes helped move the itch along. His breath started to hitch. Short little gasps. The itch built, finally reached a peak and…

Huh…huh…Hu'etchshhew!

The sneeze was immensely satisfying, and Sam got on with his research. He was starting to think that the case was eerily similar to the Vanir they had dealt with a few years or so ago. The town was surrounded by orchards and farmland. Sam gathered up his notes. This time the sneeze came quickly, without warning.

He'Hetchshhew! Sam sighed. He couldn't figure out what - He'tchhew!He…he…he'tcheshsh! E'shtsh!

Sam swayed slightly. 'Well that was different,' he thought. Sam wasn't one for sneezing fits. At least not when he had taken his meds for the day. He shook his head lightly and left the library.

Dean had basically come to the same conclusion as Sam. This was some kind of pagan god that was accepting sacrifices to give some kind of benefit to the town. He couldn't for the life of him figure out what the benefit was. It was a farm town so it likely had something to do with crops. Dean pulled out his phone to call Sam, but just as he did, it started buzzing in his hand.

"Hey, what did you find?"

It's r-really similar to that scarecrow case a f-few years-s ago. Some k-huh-kind of pagan go-huh-god

"Dude, you ok, you sound kinda weird."

I'm f-fine. I-huh…huh…*snif* I found something interes-sting though. Turns out this town is one of the most productive farm towns in the s-huh-state.

"Hmm, maybe that's the benefit the sacrifices get. Good harvests or something."

Yea, could b-be huh…huh…huhh…

"Sam? What's going on?"

I-huh…I have to-huh…huh…He'tchhew! Hu'tshhhew! Hat'chew! I had to sneeze.

"Wow, bless you. You ok? You're not getting sick are you?"

I don't think so. I don't feel sick, just sneezing a lot.

"Ok then. Look, I'll come pick you up. We have to try and figure out how to kill this thing."

Yea, o-ok He'etchew! I'll see you in a bit

The boys spent the rest of the night trying to figure out how to kill the pagan god. Sam sneezed his way through most of it, but kept working away. He was starting to get really frustrated though. The itch in his nose was constant now. Every so often it would intensify and send him into a fit, then it would back off, but never be really gone.

"Seriously, can't we just s-stake it with some ev-evergreen like he…he…damn it!-like the last one?" Sam said rubbing at his hitching nose.

"I don't know Sam, when we figure out who it's masquerading as I'll let you know." Dean replied in a surly voice. He was frustrated too. He was worried about Sam. He didn't think his brother was sick, but there was obviously something going on. His allergies were bad, but they had never been this bad. He glanced up at Sam, who had been pacing the room, but had paused. Eye's closed, breath hitching, shoulders tense, Sam was caught in limbo.

He…hee…*sigh*….Hu…HU…Hu'tcheww! E'shhhew! Ha'tchew! Finally the sneeze burst out of him. Dean sighed and turned back to the computer screen.

It took a few more hours for them to figure out that the god had a shrine dedicated to it in the middle of the oldest orchard. It was some kind of harvest god that made crops grow well and made for high yield. Dean had to leave Sam behind because he could barely take two steps without sneezing. Sam was beyond annoyed now. He watched Dean go through watery eyes.

'This sucks' he thought as the itch in his nose flared again. It started deep, clawing its way up all through his sinuses then sat there, teasing him. Making his breath hitch over and over, then backing off just enough, then redoubling it's efforts without any relief. Sam scrubbed at his nose in a desperate attempt to either get the sneeze out, or make the itch stop.

He…he…hu…hu….*dear god just let me sneeze already!* He…he…He…HE….He'shhchheww! He'chew! E'shhheww! Hu'tchew! Sam groaned and prayed for Dean to come back soon.

Dean made it back a little worse for wear. Dean had never had allergies and was always grateful not to have to go through what Sam did. But this particular god, as it turns out, creates good harvests by increasing the pollen production in an area. More pollen, more chances for fruit to grow, more chances to create allergic reactions in people. Dean managed to destroy the shrine and kill the god with evergreen(turns out that worked too), but for the first time in his life he got to experience what Sam has lived with all his life. It was not fun to say the least. When he got back to the motel Dean dragged his brother into the car and put some good distance between them and Woodland, Georgia.

"Sam," Dean said not looking at his brother.

"Hu'tchew!, Yea Dean?"

"I'm sorry I ever made fun of you for your allergies. You're a hero for not giving up and lying in bed all day in the spring."

"Uh…ok…thanks Dean."

"Don't mention it. Hu'tchhh!"

The End

[SexualOddity]

*Excited squeals*

Hello Secret Santa! I'm sorry this gave you such a hard time, but I love the way it turned out, and I'm so grateful that you stuck with it even after four re-writes.

• The PREMISE. It makes perfect sense. More pollen to create more crops... but also worse allergies. Kudos to your partner!

• I actually really love that it isn't anything supernatural that is causing the flare up in Sam's symptoms. It's still pollen, just more of it, so it's really just an extension of his existing allergies. I'm not even sure why I like that so much. I guess it's because one of my favourite things about allergies is the fact that they're pretty much permanent, as opposed to a cold that will go away, so when I read an allergy story I can think about all of the other times that the person will have encountered that allergen. It's like each fic comes with lots of extra bonus fics in my head. So I like that it feels as though I'm also getting an insight into what Sam would feel like in Spring anyway (albeit to a lesser extent).

• Related to the above, I liked seeing Sam's morning sneezes (and Dean throwing the allergy medication at him - perfect) and imagining that this is how he regularly wakes up.

• I think my actual number one favourite thing was seeing Sam's symptoms develop slowly. I'm not a massive fan of sickfics, but I do like to read about the very start of illnesses, especially when the person slowly begins to realise that something is up. I've not often be able to experience something similar when reading an allergy fic - but you totally pulled it off here and I loved it - it's like the best of both worlds.

• The whole scene in the library where Sam really wants to sneeze and is trying to coax it out - yum! I love it when someone wants to sneeze and tries to make it happen/is grateful when the sneeze finally hits.

• Sam continuing to work while allergic and sneezing all the time is super hot

• Ohhhhh man, the phone call. And Dean noticing something is wrong. And Sam describing himself as 'sneezing a lot'. Wow. You pressed so many buttons right there.

Thank you again for this. I really enjoyed it

[Anilkex]

Good lord, the constant stutters...

'This sucks' he thought as the itch in his nose flared again. It started deep, clawing its way up all through his sinuses then sat there, teasing him. Making his breath hitch over and over, then backing off just enough, then redoubling it's efforts without any relief. Sam scrubbed at his nose in a desperate attempt to either get the sneeze out, or make the itch stop.

There's that fine line between spelling it out and just describing it. You put both in this story, and it works great. Sometimes it's nice to have a blueprint to what you imagine it sounds like, and other times it's nice to use your own imagination with provided guidelines.

Yum!

[AngelEyes]

"Deand…" Sam tried to give Dean the eyes, but they were so watery there was no way he could pull it off.

Those eyes would definitely still get me!!!

That morning Sam woke with a few sneezes and was greeted with his allergy meds flying at his head.
"Bless you bitch."
"Thanks jerk."

I love this! It's so perfectly "them".

Awesome story!

[27jj]

Gahhh I can't believe how much good stuff I've been missing. Poor allergic Sammy<3