Overworked (Westworld) FINISHED

[Chanel_no5]

***Note***

I fought my way through a writer's block that had me in tears, and I arrived at this. It's not much, but trust me, I felt like I had been through a mangler. Thanks @Reader and @Selene for pushing me forward.  

I hope to get a part 2 to this, but I may not get to it right away as I plan to get to work on some tradefics now that I made it through that fucking block.  

Let's go! 

***

Bernard had brushed his teeth and gotten ready for bed, but Theresa was still up, sitting on the couch and tapping on her tablet screen. She had dark circles around her eyes, and although it could have been the dimmed light, he thought she looked pale.

“Are you coming to bed?”

“In a bit. I’m just going over the diagnostics again, something doesn’t…” she interrupted herself with a sharp intake of air as her eyelids fluttered shut. She turned away from the tablet and let out a quick, wet “AESSHHoo!” before she continued; “…add up.”

“Bless you. I know, but it can wait until tomorrow. You’re overworking yourself over this glitch. We can simply contain the buggy software...”

“Yeah, I’ve seen how well that works,” Theresa scoffed as she kept reading through the diagnostics.  

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come on Bernard, you know as well as I do that last time your department tried to contain buggy software within the update, we had to pull twenty hosts, wipe them and reprogram them from scratch. It fucked up several narratives and cost a fortune.”

“We have better containment now, that was years ago.”

“Yeah, and you know what? We almost lost our jobs over it. You and I both.”

He was quiet for a few moments.

“You never told me that.”

“I managed to convince the board otherwise.” She looked up, and he saw how exhausted she was. “I may not manage to do so a second time.” She sniffled, then bent over her own lap and sneezed again, twice in a row this time. “Huh-EESCHoo! AEESSCHHoo! Ugh, for fuck’s sake…!”

Bernard, only too familiar with Theresa’s tendency to catch colds when she was under a lot of pressure, quickly put two and two together. He couldn’t be absolutely sure yet, but she definitely looked like she was coming down with something.

”Theresa.” His voice was soft as velvet. “Come to bed. We’ll go through that tomorrow, but right now, you need to sleep.”

She seemed torn between her body’s desperate need for rest, and her mind’s equally desperate need for a solution to the glitches in the update. Then her shoulders slumped as she relented.

“Alright. I’m coming.” She closed down the files and powered down the tablet, leaving it on the table. “I’ll just go brush my teeth…” she trailed off and took a couple of hitching breaths, then exhaled in a frustrated sigh. “… and I’ll be right there.”

“Okay.” He wanted to ask her if she was alright, even though everything about her clearly told him she wasn’t. But he knew she wasn’t about to admit to it – right now, she would blame everything on being tired, because she knew she could get away with it.

And did it really matter? Tomorrow she would either be more blatantly sick, or she would recover after a full night’s sleep. He doubted that she would kick it overnight, though, she had been running on empty for weeks and had almost no resilience left to fight off infections. Including light ones like colds.

Not that Theresa’s colds ever tended to be ‘light’.

She went to the bathroom, and less than a minute after she closed the door behind her, he heard another sneeze. This one was muffled, as if she was trying to keep quiet so he wouldn’t hear that she still battled that tickle. He smiled to himself. Theresa couldn’t sneeze silently if her life depended on it. It was actually adorable, how a woman used to being in total control could lose control so completely.

He turned off the lights in the living room area and went to bed.

***

Theresa entered the bedroom ten minutes later. In that time, he had heard another two sneezes, painstakingly muffled but far from soundless, and one quick, harsh, messy nose blow.

“Is it cold in here?” she asked when she climbed into bed. “I’m freezing.”

“Want me to warm you up?” he asked. “Come here.”

She rolled over and allowed him to wrap his arms around her. When he felt her skin against his, he got all the information he needed. She had a fever. It hardly came as a surprise, but still. This was the last thing Theresa wanted to deal with right now. 

He stroked her arm softly underneath the blanket.

“Better?”

“Mhm.”

“Good. Get some sleep, and we’ll deal with the glitches tomorrow.”

Theresa mumbled something and wiggled even closer, something he didn’t mind at all. He placed a kiss on her cheek, and Theresa smiled at the touch of his lips. She was just about to drift off to sleep when her nose began to tickle again. Her breath started to hitch desperately, and she began to move away.

“Oh no, you’re not going anywhere,” he mumbled. “Just sneeze.”

Theresa really didn’t have a choice but to do just that; the tickle was far too powerful to fight back.

“HAERSSHHHoo! Ugh, fuck me!”

“I would, but I think you need sleep more than you need that.”

“Bernie?”

“Mhm?”

“Shut up, will you?”

“Says the woman whose sneeze could wake the dead,” he replied jokingly.

“I could go back to my own place, if I’m disturbing you.” Theresa didn’t sound playful. She sounded tired and congested and not in the mood for jokes. He hugged her even tighter.

“Don’t even think about it. I want you exactly where you are.”

“Good, because I don’t want to move.” She yawned. “Don’t let me oversleep tomorrow. I mean it, Bernard. You won’t do me any favours by doing that.”

“Noted.” He gently pulled his fingers through her hair, and Theresa shivered with pleasure. “Go to sleep now, Tess.”

As she drifted off to sleep, he wondered if she was going to admit that she was getting sick. He doubted it. But that was a question for tomorrow.

When he joined her in sleep, Theresa’s immune defence was organising a counterstrike on the invading viruses. Whether she would admit it or not, her cold was only getting started, and it had yet to unleash its full fury on her.

Still asleep, Theresa began to sniffle. 

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Chanel_no5

[Reader]

You’re welcome! It was fun reasoning through what the issue was. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Girl, just step through the doors and say, “I’m back baby!” because you are! Congrats! I know this part was written for me. 

30 minutes ago, Chanel_no5 said:

Is it cold in here?” she asked when she climbed into bed. “I’m freezing.”

 

 

“Want me to warm you up?” he asked. “Come here.”

 

 

 She rolled over and allowed him to wrap his arms around her. When he felt her skin against his, he got all the information he needed. She had a fever. It hardly came as a surprise, but still. This was the last thing Theresa wanted to deal with right now. 

He stroked her arm softly underneath the blanket.

 

 

“Better?”

 

 

“Mhm.”

 

 

“Good. Get some sleep, and we’ll deal with the glitches tomorrow.”

 

 

 Theresa mumbled something and wiggled even closer, something he didn’t mind at all. He placed a kiss on her cheek, and Theresa smiled at the touch of his lips. She was just about to drift off to sleep when her nose began to tickle again. Her breath started to hitch desperately, and she began to move away.

 

 

 “Oh no, you’re not going anywhere,” he mumbled. “Just sneeze.”

 

 

 

 Hnngg!!!

Anyways, I hope part two comes to you!

[Selene]

So glad to see that you've managed to wrestle out of the grip of the writer's block! And with some great Theresa-sneezes too

14 hours ago, Chanel_no5 said:

She seemed torn between her body’s desperate need for rest, and her mind’s equally desperate need for a solution to the glitches in the update. Then her shoulders slumped as she relented

I loved this part where everything stops for a moment and she's hovering between the two options and how you've described the resolve through this great use of body language! 

 

14 hours ago, Chanel_no5 said:

And did it really matter? Tomorrow she would either be more blatantly sick, or she would recover after a full night’s sleep. He doubted that she would kick it overnight, though, she had been running on empty for weeks and had almost no resilience left to fight off infections. Including light ones like colds.

Not that Theresa’s colds ever tended to be ‘light’.

This part was both very intimate and touching with some great insights into their relationship and how well he knows her already... AND it was so funny because of that afterthought in the last line I loved how it sounded like some kind of witty, snarky aside in a theatre play. 

14 hours ago, Chanel_no5 said:

He smiled to himself. Theresa couldn’t sneeze silently if her life depended on it. It was actually adorable, how a woman used to being in total control could lose control so completely.

I agree

And I could quote the entire second part for its cutness that had me melt and squee All of my fluff-buttons were pushed (and I loved it )

 

[Chanel_no5]

On ‎1‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 4:10 AM, Reader said:

You’re welcome! It was fun reasoning through what the issue was. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Girl, just step through the doors and say, “I’m back baby!” because you are! Congrats! I know this part was written for me. 

Haha, you were very helpful!   Never would have guessed Theresa could get the blues for no apparent reason.  

And yep, I thought you'd like that part!  

On ‎1‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 5:48 PM, Selene said:

So glad to see that you've managed to wrestle out of the grip of the writer's block!

It was such a relief! But I loved the suggestions you sent me over PM too, so I hope to use some of those in the future! Thank you so much!  

On ‎1‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 5:48 PM, Selene said:

And I could quote the entire second part for its cutness that had me melt and squee All of my fluff-buttons were pushed (and I loved it )

Yeaaaah, it tends to get fluffy when I write these two… I am so ridiculously in love with them I can't even....!

 

Next part will be up in a few days, so check in now and then. And since Theresa is going to blame it on allergies, I thought I'd throw some actual allergies at her in next part as well, because why not?   

 

[Shamaël]

On 1/7/2019 at 3:34 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

Not that Theresa’s colds ever tended to be ‘light’.

 I... liked that line.

Those two are so cute together, I just melted in front of your story (as usual...).

On 1/7/2019 at 3:34 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

Whether she would admit it or not, her cold was only getting started, and it had yet to unleash its full fury on her.

Oh yes please!!!!! I hope your writer's block is behind you now. 

[Chanel_no5]

9 hours ago, Aliena H. said:

 I... liked that line.

Those two are so cute together, I just melted in front of your story (as usual...).

Oh yes please!!!!! I hope your writer's block is behind you now. 

I... may have enjoyed writing that line, too...  

Thank you!   And oh yes, I very much hope the same thing. It seems to be! I got this part finished, realised there will be a third part to it, AND I got a whole chunk written for a tradefic I'm working on, so the block seems to be gone!  

 

Before I post this part, I just need to SQUEEE a bit over this woman's nose/profile!   GAH!   (and I'm not even that much of a nose girl. ) 

Alright, let's take it to the next part. Here there will also be allergies. 

***

She felt like she had just gone to sleep when Bernard gently shook her awake.

“You slept through two alarms,” he said. “Are you sure you don’t want to sleep in?”

Her entire being screamed at her to give in, for once give in and let someone else deal with the problems, but this was her responsibility, she couldn’t just walk away from it because she was tired.

“Yeah, I’m alright.” Her voice was so thick the words sounded contorted and strained, and behind the congestion, a feathery tickle grew more and more intense. She rubbed her nose with the heel of her hand, which turned out to be a mistake as it made the tickle even worse. She stopped the rubbing and cupped her hand over her mouth and nose just in time to catch a messy sneeze.

“ADJESCHOO!”

She gave Bernard a dark glare as she lowered her hand again.

“If you say anything other than ‘bless you’ now…” she said in a warning tone, challenging him to question her health.

Bernard sighed inwardly. His patience with her stubbornness was usually endless, but today, he too was stressed about the glitching hosts. If it had been bad enough to almost cost them their jobs once, he was certain she was correct that the board wouldn’t give them another chance. So they had more pressing issues to think about, and if Theresa didn’t want to admit that she was coming down with a cold, fine.

“Bless you,” he said pointedly and got up and started to get dressed, leaving Theresa sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing her temples.

When he was fully dressed, he turned to look at her. She was still sitting on the edge of the bed, looking like death warmed over, and his sympathy for her and his helplessness that he couldn’t do anything for her morphed together and formed a deep sense of frustration.

“I’m heading down to behaviour. See you there,” he said, and maybe it sounded a bit sharper than intended. Theresa stared hollow-eyed into the opposite wall, feeling exhausted and abandoned, and tried to will herself to start moving. Eventually she succeeded, but her movements felt slow and sluggish. She did not want to work today. Not at all.

***

“I’m just saying,” Elsie said, “there’s no need for any drastic measures, we can just contain the bug within the quarantine code. We’re doing that several times a week!”

Bernard’s head whipped up.

“What? You’ve been dealing with buggy code often?”

“Yeah? So? There’s never enough time to pull hosts and run complete diagnostics; especially not now with the new narratives added. Everyone does it at least a few times a week. What?”

Bernard groaned and took off his glasses so he could rub his eyes.

“Not a word about this to Theresa, okay?”

“I’m not scared of QA.”

“That’s not what I said. Just don’t tell Theresa. She’s going to explode.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Bernard, why is it always down to Theresa? If she tried a bit harder to actually do her job, this wouldn’t…”

“She is doing her job, Elsie,” he interrupted. “The things she does that you always take as a personal insult, that is her doing her job. Her job is to keep the different departments in check. Hold us accountable when we screw up.” He gave her an annoyed look. “Which we apparently do more often than I’m being notified of.”

Elsie was about to deliver a retort – it was possible that Bernard was comfortable being pushed around by his boss, but Elsie wasn’t going to take that from hers – but before she could, the glass door opened and Theresa entered.

A brief glance at the thundercloud that was the head of Quality Assurance was enough that Elsie would decide she was a little bit scared of QA after all. Theresa seemed to be ready to spit fire, but she ignored Elsie altogether and zeroed in on Bernard.

“Now tell me. How many of the hosts are out there with buggy software and a simple quarantine code around?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Theresa rolled her eyes, but before she could reply she was overtaken by a violent sneeze.

“AaaERSHHoo! Fuck!”

Elsie took a step back; Theresa’s inclination to let her sneezes out without covering left everyone else sitting ducks to whatever illness she had, and this looked like the prelude of a pretty nasty cold.  

“Bless you,” Bernard said absently. “You alright?” he continued, as if he hadn’t already seen her misery today.

“Allergies,” Theresa said curtly without making eye contact with either of them. Bernard didn’t question her blatant lie; he had known something along those lines would come up.

An alarm alerted them that something was up in the park, and both Theresa and Bernard took out their cell phones to check.

“We have a bunch of hosts stuck in a loop.” Theresa’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think that’s related to the bug?”

“Possibly, but unlikely,” Bernard replied, scrolling down to read the details.

“Alright, we’re going out there to take a look at it.”

When Bernard seemed hesitant, she put her hands on her hips.

“Is there a problem with that, Bernard?”

“The hosts caught in the loop are both animal and human. It’s… in a barn.”

Theresa only lost her composure for a split second. Bernard admired that ability of hers to keep a straight face, but he didn’t like giving her more bad news. He knew perfectly well that what was afflicting her at the moment was a cold and not allergies, but if she had to spend any prolonged time inside a barn, she would have an allergic reaction on top of this cold. As if she wasn’t miserable already, no matter how hard she tried not to show it.

“I can handle it,” Theresa replied.

“You don’t have to come if your allergies are already acting up,” Bernard said, using her own lie against her.

“I said, I can handle it, Mr Lowe,” she said, and he knew that when she really went into boss mode and used his last name like that, there was zero possibility to reason with her. “I want to see this for myself, before your techs decide to cover up their fuckups.”

“Yeah, none taken,” Elsie muttered under her breath.

“What’s that?” Theresa snapped.

“Nothing.”

“That was uncalled for, Theresa,” said Bernard.

“Was it? I have my doubts about that,” she replied with a side glance at Elsie. “I know your Behaviour techs are quite fond of their shortcuts and quick fixes.”

“I think you have us confused with the morons in Narrative,” Elsie shot back.

“Funny you should say that, because the way I recall it, it’s always in Behaviour we find the fuckups.”

“Maybe that’s because Narrative keeps sending all their fuckups to us when it doesn’t work.”

Bernard closed his eyes, envisioning a world where Elsie could accept authorities without talking back and where Theresa could let at least some things slide. But that world seemed to be even more implausible than what had gone into building Westworld, so he returned to the present, albeit with a tinge of regret.

Theresa was about to deliver a scathing remark which would no doubt fire up the argument further, but her nose intervened.

“HaaESSHH!”

She ran her knuckles under her irritated nostrils, back and forth, trying to extinguish the burning sensation before it culminated in a second sneeze, but she was unsuccessful.

“Hehh-ARSSHHoo!”

Elsie’s train of thought was efficiently derailed by Theresa’s sneezes, and that was probably a good thing, because that also derailed the argument before it could get too heated. Bernard thanked God for small favours. Theresa muttered a breathless curse and went through her pockets in search of tissues, sneezing again before she could get one out.

“HEH-AARGSSHHooo!”

Bernard blessed her but refrained from saying anything else, and while Theresa told herself that was exactly how she wanted it, she felt strangely disappointed. Not that she was going to show it.

“Alright, let’s have a look at our glitchers,” she said. Speaking made her throat hurt even more, but there was no way she was going to admit it. She refused to get sick again.

***

Some twenty minutes later, they arrived at Sweetwater. Theresa kept having to suppress an annoying, tickly cough and her headache had gotten much worse. For the first time she started to get fully aware of that faint, sick feeling, and she fought against it with all her might.

“It’s over here,” Bernard said. He had taken out his programming pad and looked ready to work on the problem. When he looked like that, Theresa could swear he didn’t see or hear anything but computer code.

“Huh-AEESCHoo!”

Hypothesis proven, Theresa thought to herself when Bernard didn’t acknowledge or seemingly even notice her sneeze. She rolled her eyes. Well, enough time in that dusty barn, and no one within earshot would fail to notice.

She steeled herself before following Bernard into the barn and the scene playing out there over and over.

***

“Mhmm…” Bernard mumbled to himself. “Oh, interesting…”

“Would you mind actually speaking out loud?” Theresa said, rubbing her eye with one hand. Now, this was allergies. She felt like the itch was inside her entire head, and it had steadily gotten worse while Bernard was running diagnostics on the hosts.

“Sorry. Let’s see this one more time,” he said, and then, to the hosts; “resume.”

Theresa took a step back and crossed her arms, less to maintain a defensive pose and more to keep herself from rubbing at her eyes and nose and make the throbbing, burning itch even worse than it already was. Her throat itched, but the persistent cough that kept escaping her was not a response to the itch. Much as she wanted to blame it on allergies, she knew it wasn’t that. Her allergies never made her cough.

She took yet another step back, this time without thinking of it, when the stable boy started to groom one of the horses while the two others got into a circle argument. It occurred to her that she had picked the worst spot possible to oversee the scene, as the dust and hairs from the brushing went straight in her direction. One of her hands wandered back up to her reddening nose as she sniffled, an at the same time thick and watery sniffle that made her wince in disgust. How the fuck could her body produce this much mucus in so little time? She was dripping!

“Aha,” Bernard said about something that Theresa had missed completely with her main focus being on her disobedient nose. “Freeze all motor functions.”

The hosts froze again. The dust from the final sweep with the brush lingered in the air before being dispersed by a light breeze that came in through the open door. That breeze could have been a godsend for Theresa, if it wasn’t for the fact that it only caused more dust to whirl up, and also brought a whiff of the pollen from whatever was growing out there in the desert.

Hot tears began to run down Theresa’s cheeks, but she barely noticed; she was too focused on keeping her nose from following her eyes’ example and just wash clear of all the irritants.

“See, what causes the loop here is…” Bernard began, this time speaking to Theresa, but before he could reveal the results of his diagnostics, Theresa’s shaky grasp on self-control was overthrown by her desperate need to sneeze.

“EeAARSCHHoo! AAEESSHHoo! AAERSCH! Hahh… ahhh… AERSSCHoo! Haaa-ASSCHoo! Oh, f-fuhh… hah… Ha-AESSHH! Fuck!”

She all but spat out the curse, then grabbed a couple of tissues and blew her nose hard, almost aggressively. It barely made the smallest difference before it filled up again and she was once again trying to breathe through a wall of liquid.

“Theresa,” Bernard said in his most reasonable voice, “this is getting ridiculous, and you know it.”

“The results, Bernard,” she demanded. “Give me the results.”

“Short answer; the loop has nothing to do with the buggy software but with a continuity error from Narrative. So go back to the mesa and take some antihistamines while I reset these and upload some narrative corrections.”

For a few moments it seemed like she was going to keep trying to work through her allergies, but eventually she decided that he was right; it was getting ridiculous, and there was nothing she could do here anyway.

“I’ll see you back at Behaviour later, then,” she said before she spun around and left the barn, scrubbing furiously at her irritated nose. Bernard watched her leave, slowly shaking his head, then went back to the programming pad.

 

 

 

Edited January 10, 2019 by Chanel_no5

[Reader]

I don’t know how we didn’t figure it out. We feel blue sometimes for no reason.  

Awww lots of hurt and just-out-of-reach comfort in this chapter. My poor Bernard! Hahahahahaha half kidding but seriously Theresa, why are you being so stubborn!! You’d better get this caretaking from Bernard. So I don’t know if you orchestrated this to happen, but I loved Elsie in this chapter. Excited for the next part! Oooo the eventual makeup is gonna be sooooo stinkin cute! 

[Shamaël]

On 1/10/2019 at 2:57 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

Bernard closed his eyes, envisioning a world where Elsie could accept authorities without talking back and where Theresa could let at least some things slide. But that world seemed to be even more implausible than what had gone into building Westworld, so he returned to the present, albeit with a tinge of regret.

That's possibly the best line ever written about Westworld. (Other than Theresa's sneezes, that is.)

On 1/10/2019 at 2:57 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

Elsie’s train of thought was efficiently derailed by Theresa’s sneezes, and that was probably a good thing, because that also derailed the argument before it could get too heated. Bernard thanked God for small favours.

... Okay, that one's not bad either. I love your fetishy writing, but above all I just love your writing.

[Chanel_no5]

On ‎1‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 9:25 PM, Reader said:

I don’t know how we didn’t figure it out. We feel blue sometimes for no reason.  

Awww lots of hurt and just-out-of-reach comfort in this chapter. My poor Bernard! Hahahahahaha half kidding but seriously Theresa, why are you being so stubborn!! You’d better get this caretaking from Bernard. So I don’t know if you orchestrated this to happen, but I loved Elsie in this chapter. Excited for the next part! Oooo the eventual makeup is gonna be sooooo stinkin cute! 

Yeah, it's true, but yet... Theresa doesn't seem like the type of person to feel blue for no reason. Although she is a woman and she is still within the age span where hormones mess up your mood regularly. So, maybe that was just Theresa with PMS.   Hahaha, I agree, I actually feel more sorry for Bernard there! There is going to be tension leading up to a fight in the next chapter... but then there will be the makeup and oh yeah that's gonna be cute!   As for Elsie, she orchestrated herself in this. She was very decisive with how to act. Juuuust like the rest of them.  

On ‎1‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 10:07 PM, Aliena H. said:

... Okay, that one's not bad either. I love your fetishy writing, but above all I just love your writing.

Thank you so, so much for those kind words. You have no idea how much that means to hear. Thank you!  

Next part will be up either during the weekend or early next week, if nothing unexpected happens.  

 

[Selene]

On 1/10/2019 at 2:57 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

(and I'm not even that much of a nose girl. )

Her nose has the power to turn anybody into a nose person. I mean.. LOOK AT IT Also, she crinkles her nose in the most adorable way and has this little.. hmm.. dimple at the columella of her nose (I looked that up, basically the dividing part between her nostrils, I hope that this is the right term for it ^^) 

 

On 1/10/2019 at 2:57 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

When he was fully dressed, he turned to look at her. She was still sitting on the edge of the bed, looking like death warmed over, and his sympathy for her and his helplessness that he couldn’t do anything for her morphed together and formed a deep sense of frustration.

And the plot thickens! I love how you slowly build up tension, with her being sick and feeling like death warmed over, and him having all of these conflicting emotions with worry over Theresa and the bug and their jobs, which result in this angry frustration once helplessness is added to the mix.

 

On 1/10/2019 at 2:57 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

Elsie was about to deliver a retort – it was possible that Bernard was comfortable being pushed around by his boss, but Elsie wasn’t going to take that from hers – but before she could, the glass door opened and Theresa entered.

A brief glance at the thundercloud that was the head of Quality Assurance was enough that Elsie would decide she was a little bit scared of QA after all.

This made me laugh out loud! I understand why Elsie's being scared - even I am scared and I'm just an innocent reader, enjoying to get to watch Theresa's struggle and suffering... erm... work. The conversation between Elsie and Bernard was also great - my drama senses are tingling more and more.

 

On 1/10/2019 at 2:57 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

“You don’t have to come if your allergies are already acting up,” Bernard said, using her own lie against her.

Ahhh Bernard, you're always so clever and smooth!   😎

On 1/10/2019 at 2:57 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

Theresa was about to deliver a scathing remark which would no doubt fire up the argument further, but her nose intervened.

I know this was a good thing because it ended their argument, but it was also a pretty hot thing! A person of authority being interrupted when they're gearing up to go into full-blown boss and rant mode, but are then interrupted by something as small as a sneeze is such a super sexy trope (well... not really THAT small in Theresa's case, but you know what I mean)   Especially since her sneezes grew more intense and desperate each time. And I loved that you had a pattern of three sneezes. For some reason I find that three-sneeze pattern extra hot

On 1/10/2019 at 2:57 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

Bernard blessed her but refrained from saying anything else, and while Theresa told herself that was exactly how she wanted it, she felt strangely disappointed.

Awww... poor Theresa! She knows that she has to face a barn and allergies on top of her cold and now she doesn't even get her comfort from Bernard. I understand why he would stick to just bless her, but I still felt sorry for Theresa at that point. I could go on to quote the entire barn-scene because it was very intense and although I don't suffer from allergies, my eyes itched because you've described her agony and discomfort so beautifully.

My favourite part in the allergy-barn-scene was this because it was just such an intense, almost cinematic image:

On 1/10/2019 at 2:57 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

The hosts froze again. The dust from the final sweep with the brush lingered in the air before being dispersed by a light breeze that came in through the open door.

 

[Chanel_no5]

Okay, I've been stuck in the writer's block again (also I've been sick, and my horse needs more attention, and stuff keeps happening), but now I'm finally getting some writing done.   This part is a bit angsty…. but for the next part we'll get the makeup. Thank you so, so much to everybody who likes to read it, and especially those of you who comment. It means the world to me, it really does.  

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 11:53 PM, Selene said:

Her nose has the power to turn anybody into a nose person. I mean.. LOOK AT IT

But EXACTLY!!!   (Even vanillas are going crazy over her profile. Seriously. I think it's adorable. )

 

***

Forty-five minutes after taking the antihistamine, Theresa had to admit to herself that she might be getting sick. Had it all been allergies, she would feel fine half an hour after taking her meds. Drowsy, but fine. As it was, the infernal itching was gone, as was the swelling and watering of her eyes. But she was still left with a heavy congestion, which felt like it filled her entire sinuses, and her throat felt dry and sore. Her nose still tickled, as well, even if it wasn’t that same urgent, allergy-typical “I have to sneeze now”-kind of itch anymore.

And her headache had reached an eye-watering level that was almost too much to take. With a deep, congested sigh, she poured a glass of water and dropped an Alka-Seltzer into it, wincing at the fizzing sound.

You know your headache is bad when that fizz makes it worse.

She downed it in one go, then blew her nose as hard as she could, tossed away the used tissue, and left her quarters to head down to Behaviour.

***

Bernard and Elsie were in the midst of an animated discussion when she arrived. They spoke over the head of a female host who sat there staring straight ahead. Theresa knew the hosts weren’t real, and it was easier to stick to that when they were turned off like this, but when they were on, she had a really hard time thinking of them as things rather than people. Which was one of the main reasons she avoided going into the park if she didn’t have to. It was creepy. The whole concept was.

Neither her lover nor his apprentice noticed her arrival, so Theresa stood there, arms crossed, listening to the back-and-forth. She noticed that Bernard was pretty worked up. It was something she hadn’t expected from the man who seemed to be very comfortable with soft-spoken reasoning.

“Two hundred?” he exclaimed now. “Not a word about that to Theresa!”

“Too late,” Theresa said, and at the sound of her voice, they both spun around. Bernard looked shame-faced, Elsie defiant. “Two hundred hosts? That many?” She glared at them. “And why were you planning on keeping that kind of information from me, Mr Lowe?”

While he was fumbling for words, Theresa walked up to Elsie and took the programming pad from her.

“Hey, I was…” Elsie began. Theresa gave her a dark look, challenging her to finish that sentence. The younger woman didn’t, but her facial expression was one of pure hostility.

“If you still want to have your job by the end of this week, you go and do something that’s actually within your authorisation level,” Theresa said, and she would have sounded more threatening if her voice hadn’t cracked at the last word. She cleared her throat loudly before continuing. “This is now a matter of park security.”

Elsie, knowing that she was one of the best programmers they had and that Theresa’s security bullshit was, well, bullshit, visibly bit back a retort, gave a curt nod, and left.

Which left the two department heads alone, save for one glitching host and the elephant in the room. Theresa pulled up data on the programming pad, saying nothing. This was Bernard’s fuckup, she wasn’t going to be the first to speak.

“Tess,” he said after a few moments of silence. Theresa held up a hand without looking up from the pad.

“Down here, I’m Theresa or Miss Cullen, and trying to sweet-talk me won’t help your case right now.”

Bernard raised his eyebrows.

“My case?”

Theresa put the pad down. It contained no surprises, at least not to her eye, but she wasn’t as skilled to read code as the actual programmers. Naturally.

She felt feverish, her headache was only marginally better, and deep within her right nostril, a feathery tickle threatened to erupt in a sneeze. But for the time being, she had work to do, and she was fucking furious about this whole situation she was currently in.

“Yes, Mr Lowe. I’d like to know why you, as head of your department, try this hard to keep vital information about the hosts functionality from me. It’s not your job to diagnose park safety concerns, if I may remind you, it’s mine.”

The tickle kept getting worse the longer she spoke, but she pushed on, barely making it through what she wanted to say before the sneeze decided it was done playing, and attacked her full force. She had nothing to put up against it.

“HeARSSHH!”

She turned her head away from Bernard at the very last moment, sneezing harshly to the side. Some of the spray rained down on the quiet host, sitting there with a vacant stare.

Bernard gave her a look that was impossible to read.

“We’re still not entirely sure if contagious illnesses can spread to this generation of hosts, so you might want to avoid doing that,” he said dryly. “For park safety reasons, I mean.”

Theresa had a testy ‘fuck you’ on her tongue, but if she spat that out this would either turn into a shouting match – which her sore throat begged her to avoid – or she would have to storm out in order to get the last word, which significantly would delay the work that needed to be done here. And denying that she was coming down with something in the first place was starting to seem ridiculous. She couldn’t blame it on allergies when she was thoroughly doped up on antihistamines.

“Duly noted,” she said instead. “Now, fill me in on the topic you and Miss Hughes discussed when I came in. And then,” she continued, her sharp blue eyes narrowing as they met his brown, “I’d like an explanation as to why you planned not to tell me.”

Bernard steadily met her gaze.

“You’ll get one.”

Theresa pursed her lips.

“Good.”

Neither wanted to break eye contact first, and it might very well have turned into a staring contest, if Theresa’s progressively worse cold hadn’t taken command once again.

“HaEESCHHoo!”

For a moment it seemed like Bernard was going to ignore the sneeze altogether, but he relented enough to bless her. Theresa in turn relented enough to thank him. Then they looked at each other during another long, awkward silence before Theresa threw her hands out in an impatient gesture.

“Well?”

“Right.” Bernard motioned for her to come closer as he pulled up data. Theresa sneezed again, this time using the back of her hand as a rather poor shield. Before he could bless her, Theresa turned back to him with a quick, congested sniffle.

“What am I looking at?” she asked. This close, Bernard could tell that her fever was higher than it had been this morning. He had to resist putting a hand on her forehead to feel how hot she was, and then stroke her hair while pulling her close, and…

“Bernard, would you mind focusing?” Her voice had fallen half an octave since earlier, and now sounded quite rough. But the tone was still firm. Besides, part of him was still annoyed with her for acting like she was the only one who was serious about park safety protocols.

“I thought you had trouble focusing. With all that sneezing.” He regretted the words even as he spoke them, and before Theresa could respond, he carried on, pointing to the screen. “Here is the buggy code. You’ll see that it’s present in hosts at random.”

“So it’s a virus,” Theresa said, sniffling again.

“That’s not possible,” he replied. “If it were a virus, it would be in all the software when we do updates, not just show up in random hosts like this.”

“Unless it comes from outside and spreads between individual hosts.”

“Yes,” Bernard said patiently, “but we don’t get input from outside. All updates come from us at the mesa.”

“And you’re sure about that? I wouldn’t be,” Theresa said, interrupting herself with a cough mid-sentence. “Ugh, fuck,” she muttered under her breath and sniffled before continuing. “I wouldn’t put it past some at corporate. There are people on the Board who are itching to replace Ford. Sabotaging hosts at random would be the first step to call for removal on grounds of…”

“He’s the founder of this place,” Bernard said. “They can’t replace him.”

Theresa gave him a condescendingly sympathetic look that he didn’t like at all.

“Bernie, you’re being naïve. They own this place. If he founded it or not is none of their concern. When has creative skill ever been more powerful than money?”

The question was left hanging in the air. Bernard sighed and shook his head.

“Whose side are you on, then?” he asked.

“I wasn’t aware we were taking sides.”

“We’re obviously taking sides if your people want to overthrow my people.”

“They’re not my people, Bernie. I do agree with them that Ford has been acting… strange, lately, and don’t look at me like that, I know you’ve noticed it too. I’ve seen it in the way you look at him sometimes. But I have no proof that he’s causing danger to the guests or employees. In my honest opinion, that’s something I could picture certain Board members doing, but not Ford. Not this far, at least.”

“I think you could be an asset at Narrative,” Bernard said, peeling away one layer of the sarcasm before he spoke, but Theresa could still hear it clearly.

“You think I’m making this shit up? I’ve been a Delos employee for a long time. I’ve worked on several of their projects. I know how they operate. They never go straight in, they create smokescreens from behind the scenes.”

“They?” Bernard said. He was still pulling data to show her. “Are you talking about the Board, or specific people on it?”

“I can assure you that if the entire Board was behind that agenda, we wouldn’t be around long enough to even have this discussion,” Theresa said.

“Charlotte Hale, then,” Bernard said, and Theresa twitched at the name. “I see.”

“Not her alone,” Theresa said. “Even she can’t pull these things off without support.”

“Probably not, but she’s the one that concerns you the most,” he said. “Why is it that every time her name comes up, you act like…”

“I do not,” Theresa snapped before he could finish the sentence. He gave her a curious glance, observing the blush starting to blossom on her cheeks. It could be the fever, of course, but somehow he didn’t believe it. He had a pretty good idea what this was about.

“Tell me something,” he said, handing her the pad so she could view the last of the information he had found. He sat down on one of the chairs, taking a good look at her. Her cheeks were flushed, the rest of her face was pale, apart from the deep pink around her nostrils and dark circles around her eyes. She looked tired, sick and embarrassed, and normally he wouldn’t push her like this, but he was also tired of her attitude.

“What?” she snapped.

That attitude. The idea that she was entitled to any information she wanted, but refused to give out any on her own. At least that was what he told himself he was angry about, but, at this particular moment, he was simply jealous.

“Is it a habit of yours? Picking someone easily accessible at each workplace to sleep with?”

“You are way over the line now,” she said, her eyes shooting daggers.

“I’m over the line, huh?” he huffed. “You’ve been sleeping with the executive director, but you still don’t view yourself as one of them.”

“What I have and haven’t done in the past is none of your business, Mr Lowe. At the moment, we have to get this fucking problem solved.”

“It can be solved easily. By containing the code in quarantine, like we’ve done in the past. I’m starting to wonder if you sent us out on a wild goose chase here.”

Theresa nodded scornfully.

“Yeah, sure, I would go to all these lengths to ensure park safety, while feeling like I’m about to pass out from this fucking fever, just to play games with you.” Her voice was growing thicker and wavier as she talked. “Fuck you, Bernard,” she finished, with barely any voice left at all, and turned to leave. “Save your own fucking job, I’m done with you. AERRSHHoo!”

She practically spat out the sneeze, this time making no attempt, even a symbolic one, to cover it. Bernard might have taken it as done on purpose, but it wasn’t; it wasn’t a natural reflex for Theresa to cover, and when she was this upset, the concept was so far back in her mind that it never occurred to her at all.

Bernard took off his glasses, tossed them on the table next to the pad they had been reading from, and rubbed his temples. He was getting a headache of his own now, thanks to this woman and her intrigues.

Elsie knocked on the glass door.

“Not now, Elsie,” he said.

“Yes, now,” she insisted as she stepped inside. “I was running some remote diagnostics on the hosts we’ve put the quarantine code into…”

“I seem to recall Theresa telling you to stay out of this,” he said tiredly. But to be honest, what Theresa said was the last thing he wanted to bother with right now.

“Yes, I know, but hear me out. I hate to say it, but she might be onto something.”

“No, Elsie. Theresa…” but he still felt too much for her to tell Elsie she was a traitor. “… made a mistake.”

“That’s what I thought too, so I decided to get all the data from the affected hosts since the first time they glitched, just so I could throw it in her face…”

Bernard couldn’t help smiling a little. That sounded like Elsie, alright. Her strongest motivation was spite against Theresa.

“… but this actually seems to be spreading between hosts like a virus. It’s like they’re infected, but the disease hasn’t bloomed yet, you know?”

“Because we quarantined it.” Bernard felt like he was just repeating himself now.

“Yeah, no, what if it’s staying dormant for now, awaiting an activation code? It may seem harmless to us now because it’s not actually meant to do any harm yet. Maybe it’s supposed to spread to all hosts before it’s activated?”

Bernard gaped at her.

“Exactly,” Elsie said, slamming a programming pad down in front of him with a triumphant smile. “And take a look at this!”

She plopped down on one of the chairs next to him, waiting for him to get his glasses and look at her findings.

“The first host got this particular bug six months ago.”

“Yep. And remember what happened six months ago?” Elsie seemed very pleased with herself.

“We caught those guests trying to download the software from a host!”

“Bingo! So, either the device they used was infected with something unbeknownst to them, or that was the actual purpose of the interference.”

“Great job, Elsie.”

“I take it I still have my job, then?” She grinned.

“No doubt. Okay, make a schedule to bring in these hosts and clean them up. Try to make it so it disturbs the narratives as little as possible, but be sure to clean them completely.”

“Will do.” Elsie stood, about to leave, then she turned back, almost hesitantly. “Bernard. Theresa was right. I hate her attitude, but we wouldn’t have found this if she hadn’t been a bitch about it.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying you two should kiss and make up.”

He frowned.

“Not literally,” Elsie clarified, proving to him that she thankfully wasn’t aware of their affair. “But I was standing right over there, so I saw the fight you had. And it wasn’t actually her mistake this time. It was ours.”

“Got it,” Bernard said, looking down at the programming pad instead of meeting her eye. “I’ll speak to her. Later.”

Elsie nodded and left, softly closing the glass door behind her rather than slamming it the way Theresa had.

***

[Reader]

Whoa you did that! This is a new side to them, but I enjoyed the back and forth. The angst was nicely built up as well! Loved Elsie again in this chapter. The meat of the story came together very well with figuring out the hosts’ problem. 

Theresa called Bernard, Bernie. She can’t help herself even when she’s mad 😄

Can you believe some of the stuff Bernie said?? I understood some of his frustration though and it was very attractive when he was steadily regarding her. 😍

Theresa’s so sick and Bernard was so cute trying to fight his urge.

 

[Chanel_no5]

@Reader, thank you so much for your unwavering and always encouraging support, it’s thanks to you that we now have the final part. 😉 Which is also why you got a bit of a treat in it...  

Also shout-out to those of you who usually drop a comment or interact with me over PM, it really means the world to me! @Selene and @Aliena H. I hope you guys will like this final part! 

 

 

 

Theresa sat curled up on the couch, where she had built herself a little ‘sick-nest’ of pillows and warm blankets. Despite the blankets, and the hot tea she was drinking, she was shivering from fever. She hadn’t yet surrendered to the point where she’d get the actual thermometer to check, but she was damn sure it was bad. She took a sip of the tea, hot and sweetened with honey to soothe her sore throat. She wasn’t sure if it really did.

She felt whipped. Whipped by her job, by this fucking cold, by the way Bernard so callously had accused her of being a shallow bed-hopper.

Theresa wasn’t the melancholy type at all – “get your shit together and get the job done” was more her philosophy in life – but Bernard had really managed to hurt her on a core level. It wasn’t even the words themselves but how completely unexpected they had been. She had always seen him as one of the least judgmental people in the world.

The annoying tickle in her nose flared up again, and she let out a tired moan. It just never stopped! Every time she sneezed, the tickle only went away for a couple of minutes before returning, stinging the tender lining of her nasal passages until her tortured body couldn’t fight the need to sneeze. Over and over.

“HeeRASSCHuuh! Oh fuck, that hurt,” she muttered, snatched a couple of tissues and blew her nose loudly. It felt like it did nothing to rid her of either the tickle or the congestion.

There was a knock on her door. She ignored it. If Bernard thought he had anything to do with her after today, he was sorely mistaken.

The knocking stopped, and she got a text message instead.

Please let me in. It’s going to seem strange if I stand here all night, banging on your door.

She snorted and sent a reply.

Then don’t stand there all night. Problem solved.

She usually wasn’t this petty, in fact, she scoffed at people who were, but she’d just had enough. She was just about to turn her phone off, yet another petty move that she couldn’t keep herself from making, when she got another text. It said:

I brought you soup.

As if soup can make anything better. Fuck that man and his peace offerings, Theresa thought, but it didn’t matter what she thought, but what she felt. And what she felt when reading this text was a warm, fuzzy, longing feeling. She missed him. While part of her wanted to stay proud and lonely, a bigger part wanted to give in, settle this, make amends. His words had hurt her, but they had both been under a lot of pressure, not just today but for a long time.

Besides, Theresa had lost both friends and lovers in the past because she was too pig-headed to apologise and to accept apologies. She simply wasn’t interested in sob stories and second chances, one strike and you were out. Maybe it was because the cold momentarily had softened her, or maybe it was just something that came with age, but she started to question if that was really how she wanted to live her life from now on. Before Bernard, there hadn’t been anyone she had truly valued that much, she was indifferent to most people who came and went in her life. No, not indifferent, but not deeply invested.

If anyone else had said the things Bernard had said today, she would have shrugged it off. Hurtful comments stung her as much as they did other people, she wasn’t made of stone, but unlike many people, she could move past them with relative ease. If those things had come out of Lee Sizemore’s mouth, she would have laughed out loud, genuinely amused because that fucking moron didn’t know a thing. When they came from Bernard, she couldn’t decide whether to viciously attack, or to break down in tears. She still hadn’t decided course of action on that.

Theresa. At least take the soup. You need to eat.

That was true. She did.

She got up from the couch, sneezing twice without covering, and went to open the door. Bernard stood there with a bag with a large soup container, looking sheepish. He cleared his throat.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” She wasn’t sure where to go from here. “Are you still expecting an invitation, or is food delivery enough interaction?” She tried not to sound too harsh, but bitterness kept trying to take over.

“I was hoping for the first option.”

She pushed the door open enough to let him in.

“If you’re hoping for an apology, I…”

“I’m the one who should apologise,” he interrupted as he put the soup down on the counter. “Regarding the glitch, you were right. I sent Elsie and a team of techs to pull back and wipe the affected hosts. You’ll have my report by tomorrow afternoon.”

Theresa hadn’t expected it to be sorted that quickly, so she had to take a moment to process the information.

“Alright,” she said meekly. Her throat felt raw and prickly, and she began to cough. Bernard gave her a concerned glance, but she waved it off, little by little getting herself back under control.

 “And the things I said regarding you and Charlotte Hale…” he paused, staring down at the table as if he wasn’t comfortable maintaining eye contact. “That was over the line.”

“Yeah, it was. It really fucking hurt,” she said.

“I know,” he said hoarsely. “I don’t know why I said it. It’s none of my business who you’ve had relationships with.”

Theresa, despite how angry and hurt she had been, couldn’t stand to see him so crushed.

“Bernie…” she put a hand on his arm. She wasn’t sure, but she thought he was trembling a little. “I kept it a secret because I’m ashamed of how easily she duped me. It wasn’t a relationship, it was a destructive spiral of abuse. I can promise you I don’t ‘pick out someone to fuck’ at every job I have.” A sudden smirk played on her lips as their eyes met and the whole truth dawned on her. “So you can stop being jealous.”

Bernard huffed.

“You think I’m jealous?”

Theresa didn’t buy this act for a moment. She had seen that kind of manly pride before. Not from him, admittedly, but she knew it when she saw it. She cupped his face in her hands.

“I know you are. You’re not the only one with observational skills, mister.”

She leaned in for a kiss, but before their lips met, she gasped and backed away.

“What…?” Bernard began, then chuckled as he saw the sneezy expression on her face. “Oh.”

“D-don’t la-… ahh... laugh… ah-AESCHoo! HaESSCH! Huh… aERSCHHuh! Oh for fuck’s sake,” she sniffled. “This is shaping up to be one of the worst colds I’ve had in… HEASSCHoo! In a long time.”

“Bless you.” He gently grabbed her and turned her towards him, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. “Yes, you are definitely getting worse.” He kissed her again, deeper this time. “I can tell from kissing you. Your mouth is hot.”

“I’ve heard that from you before, and that time it was a compliment,” Theresa said. She wasn’t smiling, but there was a bit of a sparkle in her eyes. The atmosphere between them had warmed up considerably, it was no longer as tense as it had been only a minute ago.

“I’ll compliment you all you like, but let’s eat first.” He took out the soup container and Theresa smiled sardonically.

“Chicken soup, I presume?”

Bernard chuckled.

“Actually, I picked tomato, because I know you prefer that. It won’t help with your cold the way chicken soup would, of course…”

Theresa gave his bicep a light swat.

“Oh, listen to you, still buying into the myth about the magical p-properties… hehh… eeASSCHoo! Of chicken soup.”

She rubbed her nose, which by now had taken on a dark pink shade.

“Bless you.” He regarded her solemnly. “Tess… Theresa…”

“In here you can say Tess. I just realised I call you Bernie in public sometimes. Maybe I should be more careful about that.”

“I have been called Bernie by co-workers from time to time before. I don’t think anyone would think anything of it. Me calling you Tess in public might spark some interest, though.”

“Indeed.” Theresa cocked her head to the side. “You were saying?”

“Just that I really feel bad about today.”

“I know you do. I forgive you. This time. But if I ever hear that kind of crap from you again, we’re over. Got it?”

“Believe me, I do.”

He seemed weary and remorseful.

“You know, considering some of the things you said, maybe you’re the one with a fever,” she said jokingly and put her hand on his forehead, then her smile faded. “Oh, Bernie…” she sighed. “That’s a fever, alright.”

“What?” He sounded surprised. “Your hands are cold, that’s all. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but when you have a fever, your hands get really cold.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“But true. Bad blood circulation.” He smiled and placed a light kiss on her flushed cheek. “I’m fine, Tess. It’s you I’m worried about.”

Theresa wasn’t convinced, but Bernard had already dismissed the topic, and went to heat up the soup and pick out bowls and spoons. He even made them each a cheese sandwich, and then carried all of it into the living room area, where Theresa had spent all afternoon.

Theresa had to bite her tongue not to tell him to let her carry some of the load or he’d end up dropping something, but she didn’t want to nag right now. The atmosphere was much better, but it was fragile.

Either way he didn’t drop anything, so any nagging on her part would have been unnecessary. She went to join him, trying and failing to suppress a sudden urge to huddle up close like some clingy school girl. He was so warm and comfy, and she was freezing.

“I still think you have a fever,” she mumbled against his neck. “I’m sorry if I got you sick.”

“I’m not sick, Tess,” he said soothingly and stroked her hair. She looked up at him, and this close she could see the tired lines around his eyes, eyes that had lost a bit of their usual shine. And yes, she could see some redness around his nostrils. It was always more obvious on her skin – Danish skin couldn’t tell any lies no matter how much you begged it to – but it sure as hell was visible on his too. And his voice was a bit thick, as well.

“I’ll remember you said that.”

“I’m sure you will,” he chuckled. “I’m fine. I’m only tired.”

Theresa rolled her eyes.

“And you can roll your eyes all you like, I… heh…” he trailed off, leaned away from her, and sneezed a restrained, quick sneeze into the crook of his arm. “Heh-uTSCHu!”

“Bless you.” Theresa sounded amused. “As impressive as it is, the sheer amount of times you’ve dodged my colds… I guess you finally ran out of luck, huh?”

It was Bernard’s turn to roll his eyes. He gave a somewhat liquid sniffle, then went back to his food with no further comment.

With Theresa watching him like a hawk, he wasn’t going to admit that he might be feeling a bit under the weather. But mostly, he just felt a bit uncomfortable, it wasn’t like he was actually feeling sick. Besides, one sneeze didn’t mean anything.

“Stubborn man,” Theresa muttered, but she patted his knee in a friendly way. Before he could reply, Theresa took several hitching breaths, building up to a sneeze… that abandoned her right on the edge. “Ugh, I hate when that happens,” she said, and almost as if on cue, Bernard repeated his turning away, leaning into his sleeve-movement.

“Huh-ETSCHuh!”

“Bless you. So now you’re stealing my sneeze.”

He sniffled, blinked away some tears in the corners of his eyes and replied:

“I can assure you that was my own. I felt it all the way.”

Theresa let out a brief, cough-interrupted laugh and handed him the tissue box.

“You sound like you could use some of these.”

“And you sound like you’re enjoying this,” he replied sourly, but took a tissue from the offered box.

“Well, I’m sorry you’re getting sick, but I enjoy being right.”

Bernard shook his head, then angled his body away from Theresa and softly blew his nose.

“Excuse me,” he mumbled as he turned back. At first, Theresa didn’t understand what the hell he apologised for, but then she realised that unlike her, Bernard was a bit embarrassed by the whole thing. Theresa didn’t like being sick, but she didn’t think it was embarrassing – it wasn’t like she could help it anyway, so being embarrassed was pointless.

Bernard, however, was a different personality type, and frankly, she believed he was embarrassed because he thought he was supposed to take care of her and therefore couldn’t be weak himself.

Mister Knight In Shining Armour.

But even if she thought the idea was a bit silly, she also thought it was sweet. Maybe simply because it was Bernard, and it was somehow so typical of him.

“Let’s go to bed instead of sitting here and competing in misery,” she said. “No, leave it,” she said when he made a move to collect the dishes. “Cleaning crew takes care of it tomorrow.” She took his hands in hers and pulled him up in standing position.

“I wonder if they’re ever suspicious… they do after all change our bedsheets,” Bernard mused out loud, something he almost never did. He usually kept his musings internal, which even more highlighted the fact that something unusual was going on today.

“I think the cleaning crews at this place have far more interesting things to gossip about than two boring middle-aged staff members sleeping together,” Theresa said as they made their way through the apartment and into her bedroom. “Sorry to state the obvious, but we’re not really the ‘it crowd’.”

“Thank God,” he said with emphasis, and Theresa smiled.

“Yeah. As long as it doesn’t reach the higher-ups…” she cut herself off. Bernard assumed she was about to sneeze, but she didn’t. She simply didn’t finish the sentence.

“… you’re talking about the Charlotte Hale aspect,” he said, and Theresa startled at the name again and glared at him. “I’m not bringing her up to embarrass you. But she is the problem, isn’t she? Not the Board as a whole?”

Theresa reluctantly nodded.  

“Honestly, I don’t think the Board gives a fuck if I have relationships with anyone here. They’re strict, but not completely merciless. They know it happens. As long as it’s not glaringly obvious, and as long as I do my job, they couldn’t care less. Hale, on the other hand…” she shuddered. “If she as much as suspected that I was seeing someone here, and that I was happy… she would take that away from me in a heartbeat, just for the fun of it.”

Bernard sat down on the bed. He seemed like he didn’t quite believe her.

“I’m not joking, Bernie. She likes to play. And she never plays fair.”

She looked him straight in the eye, holding the stare until she felt he got the point. Or rather, until the irritating tickle in her nose returned, and she doubled over with a harsh, painful sneeze.

“AERSSCHoo!”

“Bless you.” He cleared his throat. “So that’s really why we’re keeping it secret, is it? To make sure she doesn’t try to interfere?”

For someone with a pretty impressive fever, he’s thinking fast, Theresa thought.

“Yes.”

“Did you plan to let me know?”

“Did you plan to let me know the full scale of the host glitching today?”

“Different thing,” Bernard said and coughed into his sleeve. When he looked back at her, Theresa had put her hands on her hips, assuming the authoritative pose he had taught her himself. “No, I didn’t. I didn’t think you needed to know the extent of the disaster.”

“Bernie, I’m the one hired to diagnose what is a disaster,” she reminded him. “You can’t withhold vital parts of my job from me just because you think I’m sick and should be pitied. You’re not protecting me or the park by doing so.”

He lowered his head.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Hale. But honestly, I didn’t want to taint what you and I have by talking about her.” Her upper lip curled as if she had tasted something vile. In a way, Bernard supposed she had.

It had been a long day, and all he wanted now was to take the woman he loved in his arms, pull the covers and a few extra warm blankets over them, and go to sleep. When their eyes met, he saw the same wish mirrored in Theresa’s glassy eyes, and a moment later she voiced it out loud as well.

“Are we going to discuss these things any further, or can we just agree we acted like two fucking morons today, and go to bed?” she asked. Her voice sounded completely drenched and cracked by the cold, but she spoke with determination.

“Agreed,” he said and Theresa finally joined him in bed. He was freezing, but Theresa’s feverish body was wonderfully hot to the touch. And, he supposed, if he was too, he repaid her the favour. If they were going to burn with fever, at least they did it together.

 

Edited March 7, 2019 by Chanel_no5

[Reader]

WHAT A TREAT!!! Bernard was just so devilishly...I-I mean deliciously cute!!! I loved how shy he was about the whole thing!! 

And such a tease you are!!  Those small hints!!

You’re the queen of banter!! And your writing is so clever!! 

Thank you for thinking of me!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[Shamaël]

I'm so terribly late in commenting on the forum!!! Life is crazy and I have the feeling I don't have time for fanfic anymore (whether it's writing or reading it)... But I enjoyed that last part soooo much!!!!!

On 2/21/2019 at 12:51 PM, Chanel_no5 said:

“I’m saying you two should kiss and make up.”

That made me giggle quite stupidly.

Your description of Theresa's symptoms in the beginning of the last part are perfect. I'd like to quote every bit of it but it would be too much.

On 3/6/2019 at 1:59 PM, Chanel_no5 said:

Then don’t stand there all night. Problem solved.

 She always responds soooo well to kindness... (BTW, I love text fics.)

On 3/6/2019 at 1:59 PM, Chanel_no5 said:

“What…?” Bernard began, then chuckled as he saw the sneezy expression on her face. “Oh.”

“D-don’t la-… ahh... laugh… ah-AESCHoo! HaESSCH! Huh… aERSCHHuh! Oh for fuck’s sake,” she sniffled. “This is shaping up to be one of the worst colds I’ve had in… HEASSCHoo! In a long time.”

 That's me after I read that line. Please let me recover. (Interrupted kisses? Oh my God.)

On 3/6/2019 at 1:59 PM, Chanel_no5 said:

“And you can roll your eyes all you like, I… heh…” he trailed off, leaned away from her, and sneezed a restrained, quick sneeze into the crook of his arm. “Heh-uTSCHu!”

Okay, I see now, you wanted me dead, right? 

On 3/6/2019 at 1:59 PM, Chanel_no5 said:

Before he could reply, Theresa took several hitching breaths, building up to a sneeze… that abandoned her right on the edge. “Ugh, I hate when that happens,” she said, and almost as if on cue, Bernard repeated his turning away, leaning into his sleeve-movement.

“Huh-ETSCHuh!”

“Bless you. So now you’re stealing my sneeze.”

He sniffled, blinked away some tears in the corners of his eyes and replied:

“I can assure you that was my own. I felt it all the way.”

Perfect. Just perfect.

Thanks for this lovely story and sorry I didn't react sooner to the last parts... I hope you write something else anytime soon because I love your fics!