Just a sniffle (BBC Worst Witch, Hecate Hardbroom)

[Teacups]

*This is Ada Cackle/Hecate Hardbroom. It's a kids show about a school but there's no kids in the fic, I watch wholly for the 100% not-canon-but-almost lesbians who run the school they're great*

 

The office is warm, after a long day in the cold of the castle (they manage to heat individual rooms but the corridors are always cold in the winter). The fire is going nicely, Pendle’s warm and purring against Ada’s knee, her sweater is one of the warmer ones and one of her softest, and the book she’s got open is a good one. Hecate’s sat opposite doing some marking, hair down, still in her work clothes but quite a bit more relaxed now. Ada takes the time to watch her as she mutters rudely at the essay she’s reading. Hecate’s got a cold and every now and then her breath will hitch with a tickle, sharp inhalations that make her red nostrils flare. Her nose has been slowly reddening all day, Ada noticed a couple of times when they passed in the corridor, and at lunch Hecate had been stiffling sneezes every few minutes. Only Ada noticed probably, the tightening of Hecate’s mouth, her eyes squinting, a tiny jerk, and then a sharp sniff, not very noticeable to those who haven’t been observing her sneezing for years. As Ada watches now she can see the tell-tale signs that Hecate is losing the battle with her nose – she has to rub at her nostrils as another sharp hitch turns into a violent gasp in. She does fight it off this time, and Ada reads a page of her book just listening to the gasping, uneven breathing happening across from her.  

 

“hnnnn...ktch!”  

 

“Bless you, my dear,” Ada says, calmly, not looking up. She can feel her smile turning into a grin, though, like she’s not nearly seventy years old. “Have you caught a slight cold?” 

 

“Go a... heh... a-away,” Hecate mutters, breath audible. Ada wants to look, soon; to watch Hecate’s chest heave with the impending sneezes, to watch her twitchy nostils, her face scrunching up, to catch her sneezes. For now, though, she’s content to listen, to tease. “hnnkxxxt!” 

 

“Gesundheit,” Ada says. “There are some tissues-” 

 

“I’m fi...ih ihhh hiii... nnnnTChxkkT!” 

 

Ada nods. She reads another page. Hecate turns the page of the essay.  

 

“nngt! ishnnnnkt! Hnnnckt! Hhxt!”  

 

Ada looks up just a tiny bit, so she can see Hecate out of the corner of her eye. Hecate’s glances over to see if she’s observed before pulling out a crumpled handful of tissues and pressing them gently to her nostrils. Even the slight touch must irritate her – her nostrils flare wide and her eyes slam shut, she pushes the tissues hard against her nose and gasps violently.  

 

“hnnnxt! Nnnckt...xxkt! Oh... shhnnnkt!”  

 

Ada waits for the sneezes to die down, for Hecate to hide the tissues and go back to her marking, then gets up and makes sure she passes close enough to stir the air around Hecate. No one at Cackle’s is allergic to cats (or they have been cured), but when Hecate gets a cold, anything will irritate her nose, including cat hair. Especially if, say, someone had been stroking their cat for an hour or so by the fire and their clothing is covered in it and they waft that dander near her.  

 

“Ada,” Hecate chides.  

 

“Yes my love? I thought perhaps some tea,” Ada says.  

 

“fin..de,” Hecate says, throwing the last of the essays onto the stack beside her. She’s holding her nostrils shut. Ada smiles and gets the tissues from the mantlepiece, pulling out plenty. She perches herself on the arm of Hecate’s chair and nudges her hand aside, wrapping her nose in a thick layer of tissues. Hecate’s breath heaves. “Gonna... hate you.” 

 

“Yes, dear,” Ada says, agreeably. “Come now. You’ll feel better for some sneezing.” 

 

“Hih... maybe,” Hecate admits. “hhiii... oh, it’s... ih...hiiieeeraaashoo! Errghhhshooo!”  

 

Ada adjusts the tissues slightly to better catch the long, wet sneezes. Hecate sniffs, rubbing her nose into the tissues, not blowing yet. Ada knows that the fit is just going to get bigger, the sneezes growing in intensity until Hecate is done. She rests a hand on Hecate’s shoulder.  

 

“Anoth... ahhHHH shAAH!” Hecate almost shouts the sneeze, thrown forwards. “HarSHHA!”  

 

“Oh, bless, those sound violent.” 

 

“Very ih... itchy! IHH!” Hecate’s breath hitches hard and she quivers on the verge of a sneeze for a long moment before lunging forwards with a truly violent “gaAASHUUUGHHH!”  

 

“Gracious,” Ada says, admiringly, rubbing the nostrils in her tissues before replacing them with a new handful. As she draws away Hecate’s head’s drawn back in a rushed inhalation, she freezes at the apex, gripping the arm of her chair and Ada’s knee, nostrils wide and trembling, mouth gaping. Ada gets the new tissues in place just as Hecate jerks forward.  

 

“HarrRRGHSHAH! Oh.... haa...haaarrr... SHOO!” 

 

“This is quite a fit,” Ada says, rubbing Hecate’s shoulder. “Are you alright, dear?” 

 

“Yes, it is ju...uhhh! USHOO! Oh. Just a cold, AdaAAHHHSHH!” Hecate starts hitching again, breath sharp. Her eyes are damp, Ada can feel dampness beginning to sink through the tissues too but she doesn’t want to pull them away yes. “HeemmPPHHH! MmmMMPPHSHOOO! HhhAAARSHOOO! Ish, ish-ish... ishhoooOOOOOH!” 

 

“Bless you. Let me switch these tissues,” Ada says, pulling away.  

 

“HHARGHH!” Hecate sneezes, thrown forwards. “HHHAAAGHH!”  

 

“Oh, goodness,” Ada says, hurrying to get the new tissues in place.  

 

“HHAARSH! HhhAAAUGH! HAash! HASH... ish-ishiihshiiiIIHHHHH....” Hecate gasps, chest still heaving. “haaa....” 

 

Ada finally gets the tissues up and Hecate manages to blow her nose, getting rid of the impending sneeze and come congestion. Ada gives her more tissues to blow again and she finally sits back, looking a little worse for wear. Her nose is very red, now, and her hair’s a froth around her. She has lovely hair. Ada strokes it back from her forehead, tucking it behind an ear. 

 

“Bless you,” Ada says.  

 

“Damn you,” Hecate says, but she smiles up at Ada, hand rubbing Ada’s knee. “Did you enjoy that?” 

 

“Not if it was unpleasant for you,” Ada says, which is nothing but the truth. She does enjoy Hecate’s sneezes, but she also worries, until Hecate can assure her all is well.  

 

“As I said, there is nothing amiss. My sneezes are always violent, especially when people decide to exacerbate the situation with cat hair,” Hecate says, narrowing her eyes in an affectionate glare.  

 

“I’ll make you some tea. It’s a shame that even magic cannot cure a cold, and that stopping the sneezes makes things worse.” 

 

“Yes,” Hecate says, very dry. “I’m sure you find it a great shame.” 

 

Ada laughs as she putters around with the tea things, Pendle and Morgana both winding around her ankles purring thinking they’re getting fed. Hecate’s gone back to marking, it looks like she only has two essays left. Which is good, as Ada can hear that her nose is still tickling.  

[PropertyofCora]

Well this was a wonderful surprise!!  I love them so much, this is the best thing ever to come on here and find, thank you!!!!  Hecate's itchy torment and Ada's pleasure in it-- and ahh catching her sneezes.  I'm weak.  Please write more of them, this was so great!!

[Teacups]

On 5/27/2019 at 5:07 AM, PropertyofCora said:

Well this was a wonderful surprise!!  I love them so much, this is the best thing ever to come on here and find, thank you!!!!  Hecate's itchy torment and Ada's pleasure in it-- and ahh catching her sneezes.  I'm weak.  Please write more of them, this was so great!!

thank you  you may have noticed I'm not around here much, taking nearly a year to reply to your nice comment.... Sorry. There having just been some new episodes of the show I'm once more obsessed with this ship so maybe  I'll write some more sneezes 

[MiraKarat]

I’m so in love with them!! Thank you so much!😍