many torterous minutes later, and the fit still hasn't let up. not even a fraction. every breath they manage to take has the effect of a bellows over burning coals, stoking the fire in their nose all over again. their nasal passages are all raw, red-hot nerve endings, irritated beyond all reason and screaming for relief, any sort of relief, dear god, j-juh... huh... just make it stohh-hop... hh!-hh!-hUHH...!
"ishiew! iishieww! ISHieww! IISCHH-ewwh! YISCHH!-YIISHH!-HYEHSSHHiwww!!"
they sway were they stand, thrown forward and off balance by the sudden force and intensity of that last triple, so unexpectedly loud and violent that for a moment they just stop, blinking and dazed, before the abominable itch comes roaring back and sinks its barbs in even deeper.
their nose absolutely panics then. they snap forward with such force that stars flash behind their eyelids, sneezes erupting, rapid-firing from their grimace-twisted mouth and gaping nostrils in a bombardment of sound:
"IEESCHH!!-IISSHH!!-IIESCH!!-ESSCHHUH!!-HUH'YIESHUH!!---'TCHU!' tchu! 'chu!... Y'IIESCHHIEWW!!"
that last one. it's the kind of sneeze that seems to involve every fiber in their body, starting from their toes and traveling upwards in a muscle-clenching, shuddering wave, bending them double into the pathetic, flimsy shield of one hand. one of theirs legs curl upward with the motion. it's a miracle they manage to remain standing. and speaking of miraculous...
they blink. dizzy. still bent forward, still with their damp palm hovering in front of their face. not daring to believe it just yet. but their breath doesn't immediately catch again. the storm actually appears to have passed?
their sigh of relief may be raspy and hindered somewhat by an impenetrable wall of congestion, but they'll take it. for the first time in what is probably hours they don't feel like they have to sneeze this exact second. they straighten and wipe their face with the dry side of their hand. right. time to try and get something done before that faint, cotton-y buzzing at the back of their nose once again develops into something less easy to ignore.
they recon they have about ten minutes.