as much as you enjoyed spring when the birds were chirping, *—sdrf!* the flowers were blooming, *snrgk—Hh!* there is always someone *—ebHh..* who seemed too overwhelmed with it. it should've been someone who's close to you, like your partner or a family member. *HhAEhh—!!* But instead... "—hHAegK'DZJSH-ieWw!! ...ubh, hyehH—! ogh, i losd id."
"...Gesundheit."
you could visibly see him leaning outside the obviously closed shut window, showering the grass with his nasty ectoplasm from the second floor to avoid 'ruining' your fine establishment, which was your office. It is where he could appear fully without needing to struggle hiding himself or even stifling to the pit of second death. The angry red tint painted on his nose was a good contrast to the rest of his blue hued translucent body, well, at least to you.
"*sdrgk-snrf!* AHh— hmngf, *aHEmb. cough.* Abpologies. I couldh'tHh—snrgk!—couldh't hold id bahgk." He replied, the rhythmic wet squelch came from him as he desperately rubbed his two itchy nostrils. Only for him to result in another hitching agony. "AehH-... *sdrrrfgk—!!* ughb. HhEh—!hyiEghH—... HhAEhH—!!! ... goh'd heaveds abovbe." His mumbles were clear as he tried to desperately shake off his remaining cold along with the pollen that keeps passing through his entire system.
You finally settled your eyes on him just to check, the palm of his heel had already met the great waterfall. His eyes were puffing red, not to mention the state of his poor sinuses that barely needs to function in the afterlife. Thick blobs of glowing mucus ran down from both nostrils as he— *snrgk! sDRGkkk!! ughb.* ...as he tried to sniffle it all back into his nasal passages. You glanced at your work one last time before standing up to walk towards the window, *eghh—...* opening it slightly to let just enough of pollen inside.
"O-oh, uhb, *sdrgk-snrf!* w-whad are yo—oUHh!! HyiEghh!! —hHg'kK!" It was clear the effects of your decision was imminent. "Helping you let it all out of your system." You said, knowing you couldn't exactly be heard due to all the hitching and how muffled his ears must be now. Both his nostrils flared desperately, as his hitches grew shorter, eager, and— "Hh-HeAHg'DZSJ—hiew!! aHGk'DTCH—ieww!!" The first two was denial, messy, yet he attempted to keep it contained despite them already leaking through his caged fingers. Now the second round— "HyEHh'NGTch!—nG'KTch!—NGk'TCHh—" Oh wow that's— "*sdrgk! snrfK...* —kHh!! hHREGh'DZSJh—ieGhh—!!! oghhh.. i'b so sorry—hHih-sRgk!" Not what you expected at all.
He slowly pulled away his drenched palms as it oozed warm ectoplasmic mucus through his fingers, his eyes watering due to half embarrassment and half relief. You shut the windows closed, "Did that relieve you in any way?" The ghost fumbled for his cravat before— *PBBBbbbfrhgg—!!!* blowing the leftover gunk into it. "*sdrGk—gh'mbh. ahEbmh.* umb, yes, preddy mbuch. thagk youHh!-*hmBh.*"
Now you can continue your work, for the next five minutes, mayhaps.
The lovely individual who commissioned The Birthday Party & The Cold asked me for a short sequel where Yuuri actually gets the chance to take care of Victor, so here it is. After Yuuri’s birthday party, Victor’s cold is still going strong, so Yuuri suggests that he take a dip in the hot springs on the Katsuki family property to try and ease his congestion.
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“Yuuri, I’b dyidg…” Victor rasps, draping his arms around Yuuri’s shoulders as Yuuri walks out of the kitchen. “Our love is magical edough to cure the cobbod cold, right? Snff.”
"I don’t think viruses are particularly responsive to love, Vitya.” Yuuri laughs, reaching backward to run his hands through Victor’s messy hair.
Two days after the birthday party, and three days into a hideous cold, Victor is no longer pretending to be healthy. He’s wandering aimlessly around the house wearing a face mask and a rumpled yukata, carrying a box of tissues under his arm and groaning dramatically whenever anyone is around to help lament his suffering.
This is a massive relief for Yuuri - during the birthday party that Victor had painstakingly arranged, he’d clearly been sick, but hadn’t been willing to admit to it until he was practically unconscious. The day afterward, he’d pretended to be fine during the brief periods of time he’d been awake, but had spent almost the whole day sleeping. The anxiety and guilt Yuuri felt had combined poorly with his hangover, and had made the day after his birthday a miserable one.
Today, though, Victor is clearly articulating his problems. Yuuri doesn’t have to guess how he’s doing - he knows. It’s so much easier this way - he’ll have to tell Victor that, at some point. Because he knows it’s easier for Victor to know what’s going on in his head, too.
Right now, though, he has to attend to Victor’s physical needs. He sounds like someone’s poured cement into his sinuses, and it’s hardened completely. Despite the desperately nasal pronunciation of just about every syllable, he can barely even sniffle - every attempt results in a pitiful squeak. He’s breathing through his mouth in short, painful puffs that are repeatedly interrupting with fits of ticklish coughs.
That can’t be comfortable, but there’s an easy solution on the Katsuki property.
“Vitya, do you want to take a dip in the onsen? It’ll loosen up your congestion.”
Midway through Yuuri’s sentence, Victor starts blowing his nose, which means he hadn’t heard a single thing that Yuuri said. Yuuri repeats it while Victor rubs his ear. He quickly moves from his ear to his nose, which is flaring as if he’s about to sneeze - but nothing happens, despite pinching it and rubbing it to try and coax the sneeze out.
“That mbight help,” he says, folding his used tissue into a neat square, then plucking another from the box to blow his dripping, swollen nose. “You’ll have to come in with mbe though. I’b too tired to trust myself not to fall asleep in the water.”
“You just want to see me naked,” says Yuuri with a smirk.
After a small coughing fit, Victor says, “you say that like it’s a bad thing.”
~`~`~
An hour later, they’ve showered and entered the onsen. Despite the warmth of the water, Victor is still shivering, prompting Yuuri to wrap his arms around his husband to try and warm him up.
Despite the steam drifting off of the water, every breath Victor tries to take is loud and labored. His nose, which is bright red and flecked with scraps of dead white skin, is glistening with a combination of hot spring water and mucus. He tilts his head back and rests it on Yuuri’s chest.
As he breathes in the steam, his sniffles start to get a little wetter and looser, and his nostrils start to flare. He scrubs at the understand of his nose, muttering “itchy…” to himself.
Damn it. Yuuri hadn’t thought of this. While the steam will likely make Victor less congested, it’s probably going to make him sneeze, too. If those sneezes are spraying will mean some annoying clean-up before they open the hot spring to the public in the morning, but Yuuri is more concerned with Victor’s comfort. Yesterday, he’s said that sneezing hurt his throat and gave him a headache - today, he’s been too stuffed up to do it much. Is this going to hurt, or is it going to be a relief?
It’s too late to go back now. Victor takes a sharp breath, then jackknives forward in a violent “HEHSHIEW!” that leaves him coughing and sputtering into a curled fist. He blows his nose into his hands, then fires another sneeze - “AHEH-KIEW!” into the crook of his elbow. He frowns at whatever he expelled, then wipes it off into the handkerchief he’d brought with him.
Then, Victor sniffles like he’s trying to absorb the whole hot spring into his sinus cavity, then leans back onto Yuuri’s chest, whimpering. “That hurt…” he groans, massaging the bridge of his nose.
“I’m sorry,” says Yuuri, kissing Victor’s damp forehead. “Are you are least a little bit less congested?”
“Mm…a little, but it’s still…hhehh…ehhh? Heehh?” His breath hitches, and he waves in front of his face with his hands, as if that will coax out the sneeze. “Ehheh? Huhehhh…Heh…oh mby god Yuuri mby nose is on fire—hhehhhh….HEHCHOO! ASHOO! HEKCHH!! HACHHIIH!! EH-HEHHKKCH!”
After a seemingly endless volley of sneezes that leave Victor limp and shaking, he grabs the handkerchief and blows out what looks like all the liquids in his entire body. Yuuri hands him the water bottle they’d brought to avoid dehydration, and Victor drinks the whole thing in under a minute.
“It’s very possible I burst a blood vessel from all of that sneezing, but at least I can breath through my nose now,” Victor says in a scratchy, drained voice. “Thank you, kotyonok. SNIFFF! You’re too good to me. Snff…snnff…hhhechhiew! Ugh…I guess I’ll probably keep sneezing as long as I’m in here—eshiew!hhECHIEW!”
Yuuri grabs the handkerchief, dips it into the onsen and cleans the mess off of Victor’s face, hugging him from behind the whole time. “Poor Vitya,” he says. “That sounds so uncomfortable. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help you feel better, okay?”
“Don’t worry, I will. After all I did to arrange your birthday party, I’m more than happy to let you reciprocate by taking care of me—ashhiew!”
This is exactly what Yuuri wanted to hear.
you know what’s cool? when a character knows they’re going to be exposed to something they’re allergic to, actually remembers to take medicine ahead of time, and feels good about that decision. like maybe they don’t always have the executive functioning ability to plan ahead like this, but this time, they did it. only...it doesn’t work.
the moment they walk into the house full of cats or outside into the pollinated air, their palate and nose start itching. itching turns to dripping, and they’re don’t have anything to blow their nose on because they thought their medicine would work. their nose starts getting stuffy and their eyes start to itch, and pretty soon the itch in their nose intensifies and they just start launching sneezes into the crook of their elbow and hoping that things don’t get too messy. now their eyes are swimming with tears and their whole face feels like it’s on fire and they’re breathing hard as they gear up for yet another sneeze.
someone offers them tissues and they couldn’t be more grateful - but they’re also super annoyed to be in this situation. why didn’t the antihistamines work?
