i can't get the thought of swh + contagion out of my head...
A and B are hiding from someone. (maybe they were gathering evidence or secret intel, or maybe they're trespassing somewhere just for the hell of it, or maybe they're sneaking into some locked building past its opening hours.) in any case, they're not supposed to be there, and they'e going to be in big trouble if they get found out.
so when they hear footsteps approaching, they immediately duck into a nearby closet/side storage room. they just have to keep quiet until the person outside (the host, a security guard, an employee, etc. makes their rounds)...
except A is beginning to come down with an awful cold. the dustiness of the closet certainly isn't helping. the first time their breath hitches, B tenses—if A sneezes, they'll certainly be found. so B stops the sneeze in its tracks by pressing their index finger under A's nose.
A sniffles, their nose twitching, the sneeze evaporating in its tracks. crisis averted, for now... but their nose still tickles furiously.
it isn't long before their breath is starting to hitch again. this time, B presses their finger up to A's nose again, with enough pressure that they can feel the slight dampness against their finger.
"don't sneeze," B instructs.
"i can't h-help it," A mouths voicelessly, their breath hitching. "i... have to... hH... hAHH..."
this time, B—sensing impending disaster—pinches A's nose shut. A snaps forward with a messy,
"hAh'dXXtt!"
the sneeze is quiet, thankfully, but it still holds all the force it would've had if A had been able to let it out.
worse, A's nose is tickling even more now. they try and fail to communicate that the pressure of B's fingertips against their sinuses is more ticklish than relieving. soon, they're jerking forward with another: "hAHH'nNGxt!"
"you need to hold back," B admonishes. "i'm not about to risk getting caught."
"i'm trying... but it... hIHh... t-tickles so badly... hih... hiIh.... hiIIHhh..."
with the next sneeze, B clamps a hand over A's nose and mouth. A hits their hand with a spraying, "'TTSHHiish-!", which mists B's hand with thousands of droplets. their nose is openly running now.
the footsteps outside the door pause. B moves their index finger back under A's nose.
"what did i tell you?" they chastise. "if you sneeze again, we're going to be in serious trouble."
what follows is 2 minutes of intense ticklish torture A has ever experienced. they have to sneeze so badly, but every time they come close, B stops the sneeze in its tracks with a finger under their nose, or pinches their nose shut so the sneeze has no room to go anywhere.
"hhih... HIiih... hiiHHh...!!"
the tickle is almost unbearable, they need to sneeze so badly. on the other hand, B quiets them with little sympathy: "don't even think about it," they say. "i'm not going to let you sneeze."
after what seems like an eternity, the footsteps head off in the other direction. there's the sound of a heavy door shutting, and then they're alone again.
relieved, B lifts their cupped hand from A's mouth, seemingly forgetting that A's resolve was just seconds away from crumbling. meanwhile, A can't possibly hold back anymore. after minutes of denying themselves the relief their body so desperately needs, after every holdback and every false start fed directly into the itch in their sinuses, they can't take it anymore. A explodes forward with an absolutely drenching sneeze...
"HEHH'TCHHIIIIIew!!"
...directly onto B's face.
-
with all of those sneeze particles circulating in that small, cramped space... it's no wonder that B wakes up a few days later, sneezing their head off. 😌
Headcanon of mine is that Ada went to that First Aid class in church pre-s1, while the war was still raging (maybe early 1918?), bc she probably wanted to join the SWH or some other women’s organisation to also follow her brothers to the continent…. That’s the girl who chased rats with a revolver, you know, and I am pretty sure she was bored at home and annoyed with having stayed behind bc of being the only girl in her family.
