I donât know what it was, maybe the rose, or my nose that day, or both, but I just *couldnât* sneeze a strong enough sneeze to get rid of the tickle! Holdbacks helped, but I was still desperate to sneeze harder!! đ€§đ€§đ€§
All you need to know is that scientist Ryan Gosling is on his spaceship and decides to investigate an alien material from his little alien buddy.
Disclaimer, I have read the book and not seen the movie. Contains mild mention of mess and cheesy snz tropes. 1.2k words.
I woke up with a jolt. For a second, I felt like Iâd recalled something important in my dreams, like a memory of my missing years on Earth. Back home, I would wake up from vivid dreams and briefly wonder if theyâd really happened. Now, if I remember my dreams, I have no clue whether they were events that occurred in the past or if they were tales that my brain created to fill in the gaps.Â
I couldnât recall any details, but I still felt anxious. Maybe some more research in the lab would help burn it off. Â
âYouâre awake,â Rocky hummed. He was sitting in almost the exact same place in his tunnel from when I fell asleep.Â
I greeted him back. âSort of,â I said, rubbing the grogginess from my eyes. It still weirded me out to have him there when I slept and woke. But weâd accepted each othersâ culture. âCultureâ was like playing a trump card for determining our living arrangements.Â
I rolled out of bed and floated towards the dorms. âCoffee,â I said to the open air. The robotic arm appeared and handed me a pouch of liquid. It was nice to have a routine, even if there was no morning out in space.Â
Once I got ready for the âday,â I headed up towards the lab, Rocky scuttling through the tunnels and pulling himself along with the rails. I had grabbed a chunk of xenonite from Rockyâs supply surplus downstairs. He assured me there was plenty to spare and that the materials cluttered in the bottom of my ship were only a fraction of his supply remaining on the Blip A.Â
Iâd messed with the xenonite when Rocky first came over, but I wanted to do some more testing. Maybe some other tools could make a dent in it, or I could gauge its influence on the stuff I did have. I gently pulled open a drawer, careful not to send any of the instruments floating in the cabin. They were always a pain to chase down and reorganize. I learned my lesson from the last time we left gravity.Â
âWhat is Grace doing, question?â Rocky asked.Â
âWell, I hit this stuff with a chisel last time and it didnât make a dent. But I wanted to see if there was anything else I could do with Earth materials to affect the xenonite.âÂ
Rocky paced side to side, pondering. âFire damage xenonite. Earth has fire.âÂ
I knew he was just trying to be helpful, but the suggestion was frustrating. I already figured that from the torches he used in assembling his rooms. The fact that the impossible material withstood anything I threw at it puzzled me.Â
âWhy sad face, question?â
âNo, Iâm not sad,â I shook my head. âIâm thinking. If I think really hard, sometimes it looks like Iâm frowning.â For an alien, he was very observant of human emotions.Â
Rocky clicked his claws together, his carapace lowering slightly as he relaxed. âUnderstand.âÂ
Xenonite was completely inert, but I could at least see how other materials interacted with this foreign one from a physical standpoint. I pulled out a pack of chalk and opened it, retrieving a stick. Simple calcium carbonate, a very familiar material.Â
I rubbed it across the surface. Xenonite was so smooth, it didnât cause any chunks to break off, instead leaving an incredibly fine layer across the material. When I rubbed my thumb across it, it left the surface completely unmarred, no trace of chalk remaining. With this xenonite stuff, chalkboards could make a comeback.Â
I rubbed my fingers together, trying to get rid of the chalk. And then I immediately remembered why that was a terrible idea in zero gravity. When I inhaled, the chalk dust floated up my nostrils. I coughed, waving a hand in front of my face to clear the powder away, but it was too late.Â
After months of breathing in ultra-purified ship air, the tiny particles from the chalk felt like an assault on my nostrils. On Earth, I was used to the air pollution, and a bit of chalk would have been unnoticeable. I didnât realize how sensitive my nose had become in space.Â
The itch to sneeze was unbearable, but I didnât want to deal with the⊠mess that might float around as a result. I gasped, fighting the urge.Â
âWhat is wrong, question?â Rocky asked, moving between his bars a bit frantically.Â
I shook my head slightly, unable to speak. I held up one finger to Rocky while keeping the other pressed against the underside of my nose.Â
Rocky remembered exactly what that one raised finger meant and slowed his pacing, still tilting forward in anticipation and puzzlement.Â
Unfortunately for me, it seemed like I might not have a choice in the sneezing matter. I pinched my nose, but if anything, the forceful touch antagonized it. I doubt being gentler would have made a difference, though. âHihh-! H-HEHânNGHXX-guh!âÂ
Rocky hummed a follow-up question, still concerned.Â
I blinked back tears. I guess the little guy had never heard me sneeze before. It certainly wasnât something an Eridian would need to do, with their bodies designed to be completely self-contained.Â
âItâs called a sneeze,â I answered. And it was the least satisfying sneeze Iâd ever experienced in my entire life. Now my nose was itchy and leaky and stuffy. âNothingâs wrong, humans do it automatically to get irritants out of their nose.âÂ
âChalk is irritant!â He put it together now. âBut you hold nose closed, question?âÂ
He had a good point. It defeated the purpose, and I probably wouldnât get anywhere like this.Â
âB-because,â I stammered. My breath caught as the urge to sneeze started to overpower me. I glanced around the room, looking for a cloth or tissues, but everything was stowed away. Curse my foresight to be tidy. I couldnât even remember where the Kimwipes were kept. âNoses have⊠haâEHâhNGCH! Hehâmpch!â I wasnât giving up yet.Â
âNoses have mucus inside to protect it. And I donât want it to g-gehh.. get all over my lab.âÂ
Darn, this was getting really annoying. I could feel another one building. There would probably be something useful in the storage bins, or I could start tearing apart drawers, but I could barely focus through the hitching.
Rocky pondered the information. âNose hold isnât working,â he observed. Again, helpful.Â
âHehhâmNGXt!â The itch in my nose was starting to go from mildly irritating to almost burning, which was even more uncomfortable. It seems like I might not have a choice at this point. I dropped my hand and quickly raised the neckline of my jumpsuit, pressing it tightly over my nose. âOh godâŠheh HyihhâCSHhuh! HhâEHCHhmph! HehâŠngGCHOO!âÂ
Ugh. I kept the collar against my face, sniffling thickly. Not very dignified, but it did a pretty good job at containment.Â
âNoses are strange. They smell and make humans explode. Weird.âÂ
I rolled my eyes, then blinked. âHYEHâZCHHioo!â I might have to keep the makeshift mask over my nose until the ship cycled out the air.Â
âYou know, on Earth, the polite thing to say when someone sneezes is âbless you.ââ Another bit of human culture for him to analyze and question. I pushed off the lab bench in search of some Kleenex.Â
Every time I try uploading a clip here, it doesn't go through, but I'm trying again! Let's see if it works. đ€ (It was removed from Tiktok, and I haven't gotten around to making a new YouTube channel yet đ )
Breathy holdbacks and huge, wet, desperate sneezes! đł Full clip will be posted for free in a couple of days at the links in my bio. â€ïž
I've decided to offer some of my clips at a slightly lower price going forward; this is not a reflection on the value of my content, but a gift to everyone who supports me. I genuinely enjoy creating content, and I do so to share it with you! I realize that times are tough right now, especially with the holidays coming up. I love being able to create content and bring some fantasies to life, so if I can give that to a few more people, I want to do that. đ
Wishing all of you a safe and joyful holiday season! Get lots of rest, stay hydrated, do something to make someone else smile, and do something just for you, you deserve it too. đ
A potentially silly wav idea: a sneezing while hiding scenario but with the exaggerated buildups. Maybe kinda goofy, but I think it could be really cute.
Iâve been keeping this ask in my inbox for a long time, ahaha. I recorded another swh scenario intended to answer this, but I didnât feel that the buildups were all that vocalized and that its strength could be highlighted elsewhere.
Anyway, thank you @sfblah! I hope this has some of the elements you wanted :)
Scenario:
Itâs nearly midnight. Long past sunset; pitch black settled in hours ago. Hiking around here earlier today (in the daylight, mind you), I must have dropped one of my airpods. The location pings around a familyâs farm, and sneaking around at night is never a good idea.
I wouldnât even have been here if I wasnât so stupid. I should have felt it come out of my ear, now Iâm stuck searching before it dies. If I donât look now, it will run out of battery and stop sending out a signal. If only I felt it!! Instead, I didnât even notice I lost it until I went to listen to my nightly audiobook.
Well, here I am. I think itâs somewhere near the greenhouse, maybe right outside it? I remember cutting through the yard this morning. Letâs see-
No! Someone just turned a light on inside! I need to hide, oh my god, where do I hide? Iâll open up the greenhouse, there have to be places to shove myself into! No time to thinkâŠ