Allies (Complete May 15)

[Guest]

I love this, thanks so much for posting it! I'm an absolute sucker for sneezy professors and this is very well-written. You really get a sense of him trying to keep it together and professional, and just having to give up. And the relationship between Mark and Bethany is really nice, and they're good characters with a bit of depth to them.

On 27/04/2018 at 4:35 AM, matilda3948 said:

“Good afternoon,” he said. “First, I have to apologize because I’m a little under the weather today but we’ll press on. Who would like to open conversation with comments from the article I assigned for this week?”

I particularly love this - it just sounds exactly spot on - realising he can't expect people not to notice, but not wanting to invite pity or make a big deal of it. 

[queenie]

Oh, this is incredible! I love the gentle banter. Mark is so miserable!

[matilda3948]

Thank you all so sooooo much for the comments! I'm really glad so many people enjoyed this story. I might come back to these characters again; I know sneezy professors is something lots of us enjoy  

 

Mark shut his bedroom door behind him and slumped down on the side of his bed. He seemed to be feeling worse as the evening wore on. The medicine had taken the edge off his headache, but the runny nose, congestion, and near constant urge to sneeze seemed to be getting more persistent. He changed into sweats and grabbed a pair of socks. As he was walking back to the living room he heard Bethany sneeze three times in the kitchen.

ahhktshhew! AhhTsshheew! AhhKTSHHHEEW!

He picked up the tissue box from the table and came into the kitchen looking concerned.

“Bless you.” He held the box out to her and she took a tissue to blow her nose, then she went to the sink to wash her hands. “I hope you’re not catching this cold from me,” he said. Bethany looked confused for a moment before she broke down laughing.

“Oh, the sneezes! No, that’s how you know the grits are done. If the cook hasn’t sneezed then there’s not enough pepper in them yet.”

“Sounds like a highly refined system,” Mark said with a sniffle.

“Three generations can’t be wrong. Now go sit. I’ll fix you a bowl and be in in a minute.”

He collapsed back on the couch with a slight cough. The fire had caught nicely and the room was warm and comfortable. Mark flipped through a few television stations and settled on a hockey game. Bethany came in with two soup bowls full of grits and sat down cross legged at the other end of the sofa. She’d finally shed her coat and looked more comfortable.

“Here you go,” she said, handing Mark a bowl. Truth be told, he was a little nervous he wasn’t going to like it and then would face the prospect of either choking it down or hurting her feelings. He was so congested he couldn’t smell much but brought a spoon up to his mouth and blew the steam off. Mark braced himself and took a bite. Even with his cold he could taste the richness of the butter and cheese balancing the spice of the pepper. He moaned with appreciation.

“Oh my God, this is so good,” he said. Bethany was pleased and took a bite as well.

“Next time I’ll make a batch of crawfish to go with them. Seemed like a little much for your first time—especially since you aren’t feeling well.”

“What are crawfish anyway?” he asked around another mouthful.

“Like a cross between a shrimp and an underwater cockroach. You boil them and peel them as you eat, suck all the good stuff from their heads,” she said. Mark just stared at her making Bethany blush.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, sorry. That was probably more than you wanted to know. Things are just…different in the south. I forget how weird I sound to most people.” Mark desperately wanted to reassure her that she wasn’t weird, that he knew it must be difficult to get used to such a radically different culture, but his breath caught suddenly in his throat and he hastily raised an arm to avoid sneezing on her.

HuhhSNGSCHHeew! HUH’SNTSHHeew!

“Oh, bless you! Here.” Bethany took his bowl and then handed him a fistful of tissues. Mark turned away and cleaned himself up, embarrassed by the outburst.

“I’b so sorry,” he sniffled. “They just snduck up od me.” He rolled his eyes when he heard how ridiculous he sounded and gave his nose a good blow, figuring if Bethany wasn’t grossed out by him at this point he didn’t have much else to hide.

“Hang on a sec,” she said getting up from the sofa. When she came back she had one of the paper shopping bags and set it down at his feet for a makeshift trash can.

“Thags. You’d have made a great nurse,” he said.

“Nah, blood grosses me out.”

“But you’ll suck the heads off crawfish?”

“That’s not gross; that’s just delicious,” Bethany said, scraping her bowl clean with her spoon. Mark finished his at about the same time.

“Well, I’m inclined to trust you after that amazing meal,” he said.

“I’m glad you liked it.” She tilted her head and looked him over as he took another handful of tissues and blew his nose before choking back a cough. Bethany knew he felt worse than he was letting on. The skin around his nose was red and his skin had that sickly pale look to it. “Can I do anything for you?” she asked. He shrugged.

“You’ve beed great. I’d have come home, gone to bed without eating anything or taking any medicine if you hadn’t helped me.”

“It’s hard settling in a new city where you don’t know anyone. Helps to have a friend or two,” she said.

“You’re homesick aren’t you?” Mark asked.

“That obvious?”

“You’ve made similar comments a few times.”

“I’ve had a hard time adjusting,” Bethany admitted. “I had family and friends and a life there.”

“Well, now you have at least one friend here,” Mark said. She smiled and hummed in agreement. Mark sniffled wetly and rubbed his nose against the back of his wrist. “Admittedly, kind of a drippy, sneezy mess of a friend at the heh ehh at the moment…” his voice trailed off and he grabbed a few tissues. His head tilted back slightly and his breath hitched audibly as a crawling itch spread through his sinuses and down the length of his nose.

huh uhh HuhhGIHHHtsschhhew! ehh Huh…

“Bless you.”

HuhhSNGSCHHeew!

“Bless you again.”

“Ugh. Thags. Huh ehh…” Mark’s breathing immediately grew deep and choppy again. “I thihhuh—I think this is uh…” He wanted to tell her this was likely to be one of those sneezing fits that carried on for a while. That when he had a bad cold he’d sometimes get hit with drawn out and tiring attacks that would make the one he suffered through earlier that evening look like nothing.

HUH’SNTSHHeew!

He immediately blew his nose and then pinched his nose shut to try and get through a full sentence.

“This one’s gonna go on for a while,” he said in a stuffy voice. “I cad feel it’s one of those—hehuhh’NGKtschh! GNT’Shh! Sorry. I’b not going to stop for a while.”

“You poor thing,” Bethany said getting up. Mark expected her to leave (he couldn’t blame her) but she simply went and got a second box of tissues and put them on the table before giving his shoulder a squeeze and then settling back into the corner of the sofa.

huhngtSHHeew!

“Bless.” He nodded and blew his nose. Mark’s nostrils flared and he sniffled every couple of seconds until another sneeze finally came tumbling out. “You ever keep count?” Bethany asked.

“No.”

“I think we should”

uhhKTshhhew!

“Bless you. That has to be at least number 5,” Bethany said. Mark huffed a slight laugh before his breath began to hitch again. Bethany turned the volume up on the hockey game and seemed perfectly content to sit there while Mark sniffled and sneezed his way through the evening. In fact, the only indication that she was even paying attention to the sneezes that kept convulsing through his nose was an occasional “bless you,” little sound of sympathy, or an update on the count. When he hit twelve, she asked if there was anything they could do to make it stop.

“Just have to wait it out,” he said. “It’s just ann—huhIHH…annoying…HuhhKtschhew!,” he added.

“You sound worse than me during allergy season,” she said with a laugh.

Eventually Mark settled into a slower rhythm, sneezing only about once a minute or so. After about three minutes with no sneezes, Bethany raised an eyebrow in question.

“Don’t jinx it,” he said with a smile. A few minutes later he finally seemed to relax. “Okay. Think I’m done for now.”

“Want to take a guess?”

“Felt like at least two hundred,” Mark said, sinking down deeper into the sofa. He covered his mouth and yawned. The sneezing fit had taken the last of his energy. He felt heavy and slightly lightheaded.

“Close,” Bethany said. “Twenty seven.”

“God, that’s ridiculous,” Mark said through another yawn. Bethany got up and came up to his end of the sofa, reaching down and taking the glasses off his face before folding the arms back and setting them on the coffee table within his reach.

“Stretch out and get some sleep,” she said. After turning down the television volume she reached over and put her fingers on his forehead. “Your fever’s down,” she said quietly. “I’m going to let myself out and I’ll call you in the morning to see how you’re doing.” Mark was already drifting off but he fought to drag his heavy eyelids open for just a few more seconds.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” he said.

“Happy to. Feel better,” she whispered.

[AngelEyes]

5 hours ago, matilda3948 said:

“Thags. You’d have made a great nurse,” he said.

“Nah, blood grosses me out.”

“But you’ll suck the heads off crawfish?”

“That’s not gross; that’s just delicious,”

LOL!

 

5 hours ago, matilda3948 said:

“Ugh. Thags. Huh ehh…” Mark’s breathing immediately grew deep and choppy again. “I thihhuh—I think this is uh…” He wanted to tell her this was likely to be one of those sneezing fits that carried on for a while. That when he had a bad cold he’d sometimes get hit with drawn out and tiring attacks that would make the one he suffered through earlier that evening look like nothing.

Mmmmm

 

5 hours ago, matilda3948 said:

“Close,” Bethany said. “Twenty seven.”

“God, that’s ridiculous,” Mark said through another yawn.

Poor baby.

[elements]

Squeeeeee!!!! These two are just SO darn cute!!!

[M214186]

That really was great

[Anmeroth]

This story is super cute, I'm so glad I found it!!