Following my latest post, here's a little taste of what I envision InstaGerm would be like:
The first few times Rosie signed into InstaGerm she felt really awkward. Over time, it became like a second nature. With every session, she felt more and more comfortable being her avatar, which she named "anosebyanyothername". She first thought of choosing a name like "rosenose" or something, but decided to get a little more creative. When it came to her sneezes, she chose not to upload her own. Users had the option to either upload audio samples of their own sneezes or choose from a variety of existing ones on the site. That choice could be changed at any time and some people liked to experiment with different kinds of sneezes. Rosie was pretty pleased with the ones she chose. Even though her avatar's sneezes didn't sound like her actual ones, they still felt real. After all, that was the whole point - everything felt real. Same goes for her avatar's appearances, though she assumed other people's avatars didn't resemble the way they looked IRL either. It didn't matter much. She liked the way she looked and the way she felt when she was online and that's all she cared about.
Signing in, Rosie found herself back at the apartment where her avatar lived. It was much nicer than Rosie's actual apartment, but she preferred not to dwell on that too much. The whole point of the site was for her to feel comfortable being who she was and liking what she liked, even if that meant doing so online. Having a nice apartment was just one of the many perks the site had. There was a half empty box of tissues on the table, a reminder of her previous sessions. She could've chosen to "reset" the apartment for each new session, but she liked the memories. The place was a mess, but it was a mess she was fond of. She was dressed in her favorite set of "sick day" clothes: A pair of pink sweatpants, an oversized gray sweatshirt over a simple white shirt and a pair of fuzzy slippers with plain socks. No need for fancy dresses to impress Alexa, whom Rosie knew was on her way.
Alexa, who was known as "infectmeyes", was a woman with whom Rosie had lots of fun sessions before. The two of them knew each other well enough to use their first names, though that was all they knew about each other's life in the real world. While Rosie often preferred to be instantly sick upon signing in, Alexa liked a more personal touch. There were times when she waited for Rosie to infect her, but not this time. She told Rosie that this time she will be taking the bullet train, an in-world means of transportation where people could get infected. Rosie didn't mind the fact that Alexa will be meeting her after getting sick from someone else. It wasn't personal, just another way for them to keep things fresh and not repetitive.
Then, Rosie felt it - the familiar tickle. Her nasal passages were already filled with thick mucus just dying to get out.
"Hu Pshooo!" she misted the air in front of her with uncovered spray. The sensation was incredible. She didn't particularly like sneezing IRL, but this was different. While sneezing and being sick IRL made her feel embarrassed, doing so on the site made her feel free. It was part of the huge appeal germaphobes with a kink for sick sneezes had for this site. Both Rosie and Alexa shared that trait, Alexa even more so than Rosie. IRL, Alexa wouldn't be caught dead near sick people, but online she was a downright contagion fanatic.
"Ha A Pshooo!" Rosie sneezed again. She grabbed a couple of tissues from the box on the table and blew her nose, relishing the sensation of filling them with her snot.
"Ha... Ha..." the tickle returned. She waited excitedly for the sneeze to come out, knowing how good it would feel.
"Hi Pshooo!" as always, the sneeze delivered.
"Haap Shoo, E Pshooo, Hep Ishooo!" droplets of spray landed on her sweatshirt, turning into visible memories for future sessions.
Sniffling, Rosie sat down on the couch. There was a blanket on it, big enough to cover both her and Alexa. Later they might move to the bed, but for now that was enough.
"Hue Ishooo!" Rosie could hear Alexa sneezing in the hallway.
"Cobe id" she called, saving Alexa the need to knock.
"Hey there, sicko. It's beed a bidute" Alexa smiled as she walked in. "Did you biss be"?
"He A Pshooo! There's your adswer" Rosie said and they both laughed, which led to Alexa coughing a bit.
"A chest cold this tibe?" Rosie asked.
"It's bostly id by He Ishooo! dose" Alexa replied. "Baybe later you could rub Vicks od by dose add chest"?
"Hu I Pshooo! With pleasure" Rosie said before grabbing a tissue from the box she placed on her lap.
"Dod't use that. I have a surprise for you" Alexa showed Rosie a pair of white handkerchiefs.
"I thought you liked it whed we were throwig used tissues od each other" Rosie sniffled.
"Of course I did *sniffle*. This is just sobethig dew I wadted to try" said Alexa. "A way to spice thigs up a bit".
"Cobe over here add show be how it's dode thed" said Rosie.
Alexa took off her coat, scarf and boots before joining Rosie on the couch under the blanket. She then placed a handkerchief on Rosie's red nose and gave her the other handkerchief to hold. Gently, she guided Rosie's hand to put the handkerchief on her own nose, which was just as red.
"Od the coudt of ode" she said and they blew each other's noses.
"A girl cad get used to this" Rosie said before the tickle in her nose took over once again: "He E Pshooo"!
"Ha Ishooo!" Alexa's nose wasn't too far behind.
"You're dot dode yet" Rosie noticed that Alexa still had a sneezy expression on her face.
"I Shooo, Hu Ishooo!" the sneezes were girly but powerful. Rosie sometimes wondered if those were Alexa's real sneezes, but she never asked. That might be rude.
"Ode bore?" Rosie brought the handkerchief to Alexa's nose, inviting her to sneeze into the soft fabric.
"He Ishooo!" Alexa didn't need to be told twice.
"Ha Pshooo! Bad, that felt good" Rosie said with a thick sniffle.
They had pretty much given up on blessing each other a long time ago. Sneezes were so natural and frequent that it felt kinda pointless.
"I'b goig to get byself a glass of oradge juice" Rosie got up from the couch. "Do you wadt ode too"?
"Yes please. Fluids are ibportadt whed dealig with a cold" Alexa sniffled. "Add also whed havig fud" she winked.
"Cobig right up" Rosie smiled.