#sfswtor

“Lost my sneeze,” he groaned, scrubbing at his nose in dual irritations, frustrated.

“Ah, I see. My apologies, it looked… inevitable,” Wolf admitted, tugging his gloves off as he came to kneel on the bed, dropping them against rumpled bedding and leaning in to sweep a warm palm over Umbral’s forehead, then cheeks. “No fever, at least. Just a rotten cold?”

“Snkkt. Particularly so,” Umbral muttered, tipping his head into Wolf’s hand.

“You look tired,” Wolf said softly.

He couldn't mind it, in that gentle tone. “….I am.”

“I do wonder,” Wolf mused, sliding his hand down to cup Umbral’s cheek, to smooth along his cheekbone and into the increasingly sensitive inward slide towards his nose.

“Wonder?” Umbral repeated after a pause.

“If I couldn’t just…” there, his thumb just touched the side of his bridge and there was a ripple of undeniable irritation. Wolf smiled, no doubt watching Umbral’s nostrils flare. “That’s it, isn’t it? Just a little touch.”

“Iiiht’s something,” Umbral said, pushing into the touch in a silent prompting for more.

Wolf obliged, working his thumb over a little presumably-wrinkled spot of irritation. Because it was certainly an area that would be easier to provoke…. was… was being provoked…

“So quickly? You must be so very irritated, Umbral,” Wolf observed, stroking the length of his bridge with a firmness that soothed the area yet made it so much worse once it was gone.

Umbral’s breathing trembled, and his hands gripped the bedding for lack of being able to hold Wolf at this angle. He had that knowing smirk as Umbral inhaled again, stuttering uselessly. “Wolf.”

“Trust me,” Wolf soothed. “It’ll pay off. It always does, doesn’t it? Just work up the irritation… sometimes it takes a while, but sometimes…”

He moved, and before Umbral could even process the hand under his chin, yet bare seconds after he recognized the little scrape of nail to his septum, Umbrall started to pull away.

Between the weight of fatigue and Umbral’s distracted state, Wolf held him still, watching intently as he hitched, nostrils flaring, irritation mounting in pulsing, prickling waves that demanded—

“HhnGKKSST!” Watery eyes blinked, and his lip curled into a little snarl. “NNGYyeh—! HRIIESHHUu!”

“Blessings,” Wolf murmured from somewhere off to the side. A fresh handkerchief was located and pushed into Umbral’s hand. Wolf gave him a moment, just petting his hair, an uncharacteristic disaster, as was most of him. “You could have said it was like this, you know.”

“What could snkt was it to complain?” He tended his streaming eyes and tender nose, giving Wolf a look.

“I could have taken some of it home,” Wolf said. “Not everything I ever do is that top secret, especially given your position.”

“I think you’ll find me a b-biiht… snft distracting,” Umbral said dryly, applying pressure to hope to soothe himself long enough for a conversation.

“Only out of concern,” he said, setting aside any neatening of the messy white hair and instead just petting it. “What do you need?”

“A few hours’ solid rest would be divine,” Umbeal muttered.

“So little to ask, yet so hard to obtain?” Wolf said sympathetically. “If it were obtainable, I’d get my hands on it and bring it to you. Unfortunately—”

“NGSHHHIII-hnk!” Umbral swore softly after the half-stifle.

“Do try not to stifle,” Wolf reminded him gently; it never quite worked and often compounded the issue. The tired slump and closed eyes, the absence of his lover’s spark, worried him far more than any heatedly irate retorts; for better or worse he knew what to do when Umbral was angry, but the further moody slid into miserable gray apathy… What could he do for that?

“Couldn’t help it,” Umbral finally admitted, the grit of frustration edging his voice. “Getting congested.”

“Ah,” Wolf sighed. He should have remembered, if not realized from the blunting of his speech. Regardless, that was something he could do something about. “Hot shower, then? I might join you. Paperwork and office chairs do vile things to a man.”

Umbral laughed shortly, but it was genuine. “Now, now, you know no one is allowed to snk torture you other than me.”

“Noted.” He chuckled. “Let me strip first, we’ll see about going. Drink some water.”

“Mnnff. Very well.” It said a great deal that Wolf’s ‘fussing’ was so well tolerated. 

Umbral had always been more lenient with him than Wolf really felt made sense for a Sith, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t and wouldn’t continue to take advantage.

Stripped of his uniform from jacket to boots, he returned his attention to Umbral who had stripped himself to the waist. He didn’t look feverish so much as blearily, which was understandable considering he was three days into a very enthusiastic, highly symptomatic cold. If he wasn’t tired Wolf would have been taken aback at best; even Umbral had his limits.

He made sure Umbral made it to the shower without incident, probably with more attentiveness than Umbral necessarily cared for. But he didn’t argue, which was at least a mark to self awareness.

Umbral leaned against the bathroom counter, blinking tiredly as Wolf got the water running as hot as he saw fit. “You do realize the steam will be effective.”

“That’s the hope,” Wolf agreed.

“Very effective,” Umbral stressed with a congested attempt at a sniffle that did no good, one hand raising just to gently cup over his nose.

“That’s the hope,” Wolf repeated, turning to watch him. “Miserable thing with this, aren’t you?”

Umbral smirked, and despite everything, just like always, it made Wolf’s stomach do a little flip. He brushed his hair back with another heavily congested failure of a sniffle. “I have every right to be.”

“You do,” Wolf agreed. He reached an arm in to test the water, and beckoned. “Come now, let’s see if we can get you breathing properly again, shall we?”

Rare trepidation flitted across Umbral’s face, but he went along with it, squeezing Wolf’s shoulder briefly as he passed, as if the quick, tired smile would negate what he’d seen.

Wolf decided not to press, but to remember, glad to see Umbral had settled on the broad bench that claimed the back part of the shower. He wasn’t worried too much about getting clean, just chasing out the congestion for a while before it could get any worse.

It was evident in Umbral’s inhale, in the thick, stuffy sound and the light, irritated cough that followed by way of an ‘exhale’. The weight of it had him slumping back against the shower, head tipped up into the pattering spray.

While no doubt deliberately done, the fact remained that that was a questionable decision as Wolf watched, seeing all the telltale signs, the way his nostrils twitched and flared even as his breathing came a little smoother. Deeper breaths came through his mouth at first, then his nose.

“Ihh-tnn!” And the first hitch. The sound was irritated, a little weak be it from the exhaustion or just how desperately it was needed.  “H’hIIIH, H’iiIIH!”

“Come now, lover,” Wolf murmured, petting waterslick white hair. “You need—”

“HnNGKTH!” Umbral took a breath, coughed a little, and drew another gasping breath towards a more familiar, “NGYEesSHHU! h’hh-htNiihSH!”

“There we are, bless.” Wolf murmured. “Better?”

Umbral’s gaze was still hooded, eyes heavy and his jaw lax. Replying was beyond him, and there was a clear difference in what it truly meant to desperately need. 

“Hn’ttTCHHIIIshu!” a breath, harshly expanding his lungs, “NGK-tchiiIIHHSHeh! H-huuh! UHhh… USSHHEHHshiih!”

“I think I will preemptively give you all the blessings,” Wolf said, making a sympathetic sound at a final sneeze, forcefully tearing out of the tatters of Umbral’s control.

But then there was relieved silence, punctuated by a few light sniffles. Umbral leaned into Wolf with a tired sound, a nonverbal admittance to weakness he would allow no one else to hear.

An honor, though Wolf would rather it not be, that there was no vulnerability to be seen. He sighed, bending to kiss Umbral’s hair. “Did that help?”

“Snnfl… yes,” he murmured, rubbing his face with a tired sound, then delicately touching the skin of and around his nose, flushed with irritation.

“Does it hurt?” Wolf asked, without thinking as much as he should. Still, he didn’t take it back.

“It’s tender,” Umbral admitted without giving it any more consideration than Wolf had.

“Hm. We’ll see what we can do about that,” Wolf said, lips parted to speak before seeing irritation collapse the calmness of Umbral’s expression, reducing him to itchy desperation once more.

“NgyessHHUu! HESSHHIITCHEH!” Umbral scrubbed his face, then slowly sat back up, drawing a clear breath at last. “I think I would appreciate that.”

“I’ll get towels then,” Wolf said. “Just click off the water when you’re ready to come out. We’ll get you dry and into some clothes and back to bed.”

Umbral’s little smile made Wolf abruptly aware he was henning the man.

Before he could say something, anything in his own defense, Umbral took him by the hand and urged him close, the hand smoothing across his shoulders and leading an arm against his back. A kiss was pressed to his forehead and Umbral murmured roughly, “My thanks… I do appreciate your care.”

Wolf didn’t do shy. But he was… pleased in a softer sort of way. Akin, perhaps. “I could do no less. Now let me get you settled.”

“…how long will you be here?” Umbral asked.

“Until morning at the earliest,” Wolf said. “I’m off the clock for now.”

"Oh. Inner pocket of the robe, over the heart," Umbral said quickly. "Get it."

Beginning to look hazy, Agent N still did as he was told and fished out a handkerchief. Eyes squinted in equal parts suspicion and rapidly mounting irritation, he was forced to bury his nose in the cloth with a sharp gasp. "Hnxxt! h'h... hhehHNCH! hnxxCHHIH!"

"That's not going to do it," Umbral warned.

"Wh- h'NxCHST!" the agent gave him a confused look, but he was set to another little fit of unsatisfying stifles before he could ask his question. One after the other, attempted reflexively to stifle, presumably as usual.

That was, of course, the problem. "Just sneeze, Agent. Stifling is making it worse."

"Th-that's nahh... aesSHHT!"

"Better," he remarked. "But you have to let it out. My body will accept no less."

It was interesting, watching himself roll his eyes. It was a wicked indulgence to step up to him and walk him backwards to a cracked pillar, taking him by the chin. "You have no choice."

"That's riiiih-ridiculous," Agent N growled.

"And yet." He hoped he had the sly, insufferable grin the Agent tended to give him. For now, however, one gloved finger trailed down the side of his nose, with just enough pressure to-

"h'nTSCHEEH!" He'd ducked his head, some strands of white hair coming loose. He barely lifted it after, just enough to attempt a glower with faintly watery eyes and nostrils that flared with each breath.

Umbral smiled smugly. "That can't have been enough."

"Frackin- ESSHHIESSH! By th-the stars, Umbral- HEYESSHEH!" He groaned, sniffling and shaking his head. "I have never heard you sneeze, what by your Chaos was that?"

"Irritation is easily 'healed' if you get it early enough." Umbral smiled toothily, wondering if the too-sharp smile would have any effect on the man who it belonged to.

"...you waste power just so you don't sneeze-"

"Fit," he reminded him, idly smoothing the robe out.

"Fit in public? That's what this is about? De- ESSHEH! decorum?" he demanded.

"Evading a fit is almost as good as watching one," Umbral said.

His eyes narrowed, a little smirk on his lips. "Oh so you liked that."

Umbral leaned in, still very much in his personal space with a little grin and hunger in his eyes. "What of it?"

But he didn’t. And he hadn’t. And he probably wouldn’t, because he was… ashamed of his miscalculation, of getting cornered and having to hole up in the Tarisian ruins.

Another thick, irritated snuffle and he raked his hair back, his body on the knife’s edge of deciding whether or not he was going to sneeze or cough or just bother.

“Hkk.. Kiih… KSHNT!” Congestion tried to stifle him and made his head spin unpleasantly. Wolf sank down  in a drafty corner with an absolutely unwarranted shudder at a chill that shouldn’t be there this time of year.

Fever?

Nonsense, you don’t get fevers with a cold.

A voice that sounded an uncomfortable lot like Halenth reminded him that there were such things as secondary conditions. As he was not there, the intrusive thought was ignored.

N was distracted regardless, sniffling thickly and rubbing two fingers across the bridge of his nose in response. His eyes narrowed, watering with irritation, and he took a slow, shaky breath, testing. Then another, because he couldn’t help it. A third hitched high, broad chest expanding with it as his eyes began to close. 

“H’hh… eehh… ehhIIIH…. Ht—? Nhiih… h’hh-hh-hhehh!” N’s lips parted, another gasping breath drawn in, and his ‘reward’ was to finally — “h’hNGSSHHUu!”

Another hitch, “h’h— ESSSHHIH!” A stuttering breath, but the irritation demanded his undivided attention, “h’hh heSSH! ESSHHT! EhhKKTCHEH!”

Finally some of the congestion gave way, leaving him sniffling rapidly and already courting another tickle. He attended to that at once with a handkerchief.

Then he heard the snarl. A nexu, his mind supplied, familiar with the felinoid predators. What it was doing over here he didn’t know, nor did he intend to find out. His rifle still had a solid charge and he was hardly too ill to use it.

N considered his options and gathered his things up. He had to leave. There was simply no option but to go seek safety.

Another sniffle made his nose twitch, teeth clenched reflexively for an irritated little “TSCHiih!”

Shaking his head, he hesitantly put his helmet on with the faceplate lifted; given his current condition it was next to useless as a protection he could see out of. He headed down, listening for the predator; nexu were massive even excluding how much of them was tail. He wanted as little to do with them as possible.

Which probably meant putting this one down, and honestly he wasn’t sorry. He had a blaster pistol in his hand by the time he reached the bottom, spotting it at a gracious range and firing before it had fully turned to see him.

He loathed close shots, but at least this had been far enough from him to spare him the mess.

He also hated Taris in general, though that was largely for the Rakghouls. Fascinating in theory, horrifying in reality, and he had a high bar there to start with. Sniffling audibly, he coughed twice and shook his head. It was beyond time to get out of there.

His speeder wasn’t far, he just hadn’t tried to drag it into the crumbling ruins. Mounting it, he turned aside reflexively for a miserable, “hnkeESSNK-iih!”

Then he had to make it to the nearest outpost.

With his faceplate down.

And just pray to anyone listening he didn’t sneeze.

It became clear very, very quickly no one was listening today. N sniffled determinedly and tried to will the itching away. That didn’t work, but at least he had tried. It was something.

His body was set on betrayal. He squinted fiercely, breath hitching again, and again, and again. He sniffled repeatedly and locked in to his job. He fought to breathe evenly, to find his center, his calm.

A reflexive sniffle, but he rode out the rise and fall of irritation as he drove. There was something almost meditative about it.

Snff… h’hh….

No, none of… none of that.

He was acutely aware of his nose wrinkling up and grit his teeth. He was fine. He was fine. He was fine.

H’h-hhHT!

N gave his head a little shake, the sound dampening abilities of his helmet not protecting him from any internal sounds so much as making sure what was outside wasn’t overwhelming and what was inside never made it out, which was great until he was listening to his own hitching breaths coming more frequently, more intensely, the itching gaining ground despite his efforts and needling at the inflamed, vulnerable inner walls of his nasal passages.

His lips parted. Eyes threatened to close.

You could not sneeze with your eyes open.

He was driving, at considerable speed and there was no slowing down in time without ejecting himself from his seat.

“Hhh’EEIIH!” His chest expanded as dread washed over him.

Desperate, he let go of one side of the steering grips and placed a gloved palm on the center console, cybernetics flickering with a weak but immediate connection. His concentration was shot, he—

“IIhhEHH— eht!”

He shoved as much intent into the orders for it to continue along the path towards the nearest outpost as he could in the four desperately itchy, increasingly hitching seconds before his eyes slammed shut. “HnnGKKSHT! Eh!” 

He hadn’t swerved.

He wasn’t done.

“Hk-kSHIH! Ehh-NxxTCH! H’hhnGKT! NKT!”

Finally, the burning, needling itch retreated, not expended but at least letting him breathe. N blinked watery eyes rapidly and made an embarrassing sound thick with relief. He was pushing the edges of the path, but he was on it.

He hadn’t crashed despite the utter, unforgivable lapse in control.

…also the speeder was chirping data at him. Frakking hells.

His vision was somewhat obscured, hot breath having clouded the faceplate. Little more than a thought sent the signal from his brain through his cybernetics through the synched controls to his helmet. A soft hissing signaled it beginning to clear and the scent that normally didn’t bother him set his nostrils to twitching. His shoulders went tight, forbidding a shudder at the single, furious itching in the back of his right nostril — on his cybernetic’s side, because of course it was.

His breath caught again, and he grit his teeth, furious with his lack of control so far. If he hadn’t managed to connect to the rudimentary ‘brains’ of his speeder… well. Perhaps better not to contemplate what had not occurred.

He had taken some questionable shortcuts along the way, but they were bringing him around the back route to an Imperial camp. From there, the roads would be safer and perhaps he could accept the need to be a bit more… lax.

As if he could help it.

“NxXTCH!” N sniffled, tensed, and barely grit his teeth in time to manage to stifle a desperately itchy triple down to nothing.

Of course it just made the situation worse, because he could feel it settling in to simmer ominously in his sinuses. Fine. Let it. As long as he could converse with any necessary locals… perhaps he could trade for some sort of… no. Not out here, they’d need any medicine they’d scrounged together.

N did stop, if briefly, to just breathe and sniffle and cough a bit. Finding a shadowed area to park, he got some water, blew his nose a few times, and braced himself for the trip back.

By the time he reached the shuttle, there was a fine tremor through his hands, a singular tell of how utterly spent he was. His head was pounding from at least a dozen congested stifles — he’d lost track at some point in the process of simultaneously chasing relief and exacerbating his headache — and that itch was still fiercely in place. He made it to the space station and considered finding a ride back to Imperial space.

Instead, he found a corner to settle with his speeder bike, leaning heavily into its cooling but still deliciously warm side. And he went for his comm. There were… people he could call. People who could make arrangements, but weren’t immediately available themselves despite Taris being right along the Hydian Way.

Actually, he could think of someone who was probably able to get to him at a fair speed, assuming he wasn’t running a hunt with a deadline…

I will never live this down. N sighed, swiping at his nose impatiently with a handkerchief clearly on his last legs. Another tight shiver sent a fine trembling through him and exhaustion tugged at him like a demanding child. When he closed his eyes, the ache and the heat and the itch and the weariness piled up and his shoulders slumped.

“Fine,” Cipher N whispered, and punched in the code for the Crimson Gale.

After a moment, the miniature hologram sprung to life, revealing the lithe figure of the Zabrak in question, head canted to the side, something sassy or goading ready to spring from his grinning mouth.

A beat passed and his grin faded into concern; he must have really looked awful, to be read so immediately, through a holo that wouldn’t have exposed the rawness edging his nostrils or the flush he suspected had risen to his face. He hadn’t even opened his mouth yet.

“You look like a bad hyperlane run, kid,” Zephyr said, voice utterly devoid of any sort of mocking. “Where are you?”

“Taris. Spacehh… ESHNKT!”  He ducked out of the holo’s recording range, wiped his nose, and came back fairly quickly. If the Zabrak had had eyebrows, he was positive they’d have been pulled together. “Excuse— nxXKKT! Frack, excuse me.”

“Hey Jitta, set us to Taris,” Zephyr said, not waiting for another word.

Not leaving it up for N to ask. Not making him ask.

“…thank you,” N whispered, closing his eyes.

“Hey, eyes open,” Zephyr snapped his fingers, demanding attention. “Let’s chat a while.”

It led to nothing, of course. Umbral swore softly, recovering his composure with a sharp sniff and brushing his finger under one eye since it was only the two of them. “Excuse me.”

“Of course,” Wolf said softly, reaching for him.

Umbral smiled in that calm fondness that warmed Wolf through, and moved to straddle his waist. “How’s that?”

“Good,” Wolf breathed.

“For someone about to be at my mercy, you’re taking a lot of control,” Umbral observed.

Wolf grinned, wide and shameless, all the emotion he refrained from at work, saved for his passionate Sith lover. “Anything I can get; I’ve always been an opportunist.”

“I like that about you,” Umbral admitted, picking up the brush once more and giving it a spin. “Now, shall I?”

“At your leisure,” Wolf said.

“Mmm.” He took Wolf’s chin in hand, considering. “I think you ought to deny yourself. Struggle, as I have.”

“Is that so?” Wolf twitched his nose and watched Umbral track the motion. Already like that, then? He could work with that. “As you desire.”

“Good boy,” Umbral teased, tipping his head up. “Flare, and hold still. No matter what.”

Wolf made a sound of agreement in the back of his throat, bracing himself even as he focused on holding his nostrils flared for him to ease the tip of the brush in. It was a ragged brush that would be causing immense irritation as sensitive as he was, slim enough to get into place to ensure it.

Because the truth was Wolf was almost certain now that he’d caught Umbral’s cold, but even if he hadn’t he was still sensitive after all the sneezing he’d done on their way back to Umbral’s apartment. When Umbral told him he’d struggle to hold back, he was right.

The first touch of the brush sent a shiver rolling through him, Wolf’s lips parting on a voiceless breath. He saw Umbral’s little smile, the anticipation, and vowed to do this right. He held still, but he should have guessed he didn’t need to worry in particular reminders; Umbral’s hand settled on the shoulder opposite of where he was busy with the brush, warm skin on skin as he applied warning pressure.

They locked eyes and Wolf wet his lips. He didn’t speak, didn’t dare; the bass reverberations of his own voice could be an inconvenience at times, and unfortunately might prematurely end the game.

“Don’t sniff,” Umbral warned quietly, and continued the cautious insertion.

Wolf fought his natural impulse to do exactly that as the brush dragged against sensitive nasal passages. He wrinkled his nose, unable to resist, and narrowing the space did him no favors. His lips parted on a panting exhale.

Umbral smirked. “Now, now. We both know you have such strong will, Wolf… you can do better than that.”

He didn’t reply — didn’t dare, blinking slowly instead.

“You’re doing well,” Umbral assured him. “Very well, Now, let me just….”

The bastard gave the brush a tortuously slow spin, tucked against the achingly sensitive inner wall. Despite his attempts to resist, Wolf gasped, chest inflating, once, twice, in expectant hitches.

Under the intensity of Umbral’s gaze, Wolf swallowed hard, shivering as he forced his body to still. It was less natural willpower and more Intelligence’s training, because a sniper could not very well miss a shot for a sneeze. He had, on two occasions early on, but that didn’t mean he didn’t finish the mission, didn’t get his target at all.

But he had his ‘target’ in his sights now. And my, did Umbral look pleased.

“Hold,” Umbral murmured, stopping the motion and just leaving the brush in place.

Wolf held very still, nostrils flaring in quick, furiously irritated motions despite his efforts to resist. He scarcely breathed for fear he’d tip right over the edge, lost in an uncontrolled fit. His willpower was being tested fiercely and Umbral looked so very smug about it.

It was just fuel to fight; if he was going to end up sneezing, Umbral would have to work for it.

“I do so love the light of defiance in your eyes,” Umbral murmured “So much the better here with me, mm? Or do you dare not talk yet?”

He knew better than to shake his head with the brush in place, and he wasn’t terribly sure about talking either. The best he could do was a watery squint, the corner of his mouth pulled to an approximation of a smile.

Umbral clearly approved. “It’s so intense, isn’t it? I envy that, a little. Snf. Watching’s not enough for me… but it is satisfying.”

So it was. They couldn’t have that, so it came down to if Wolf trusted his restraint… he braced himself, daring to talk. “Think you have the upper hand?”

“I know I do,” Umbral said. “But please, try to prove me wrong, if you can.”

Wolf sniffed sharply against the brush’s consistently irritating presence and took a deep, shaking breath. The irritation was immense.

A sniper does not miss a shot for a sneeze.

Brushing away the tears of irritation, he wrinkled his nose. “I think you’ve forgotten how much self control I have.”

Umbral could break it, they both knew it. But using the Force was cheating so far as Wolf was concerned and Umbral so much preferred to watch someone fall of their own doing.

“Show me then, Wolf,” Umbral purred, looming over him. “None of those pretty words. Show me.”

“You like my pretty words,” Wolf said, voice a little thick from the building irritation. He didn’t have long, especially if he was going to play with this a bit, but he’d do what he could.

He stretched hard, making a deep sound of relief when some of the tension left his back and letting Umbral watch before laying the back of his hand over his forehead, ostensibly so he wouldn’t touch. “It itches.”

“Oh does it?” Umbral grinned knowingly. “Tell me about it.”

“You’ve got a b-brush,” a breath, regain control, “in my nose, actively attempting to induce me. I think it’d be stranger if it wasn’t itching.”

“And yet you’re still not sneezing,” he observed, giving the brush a slow twist.

It was hard to say how much ‘letting’ Wolf could do with the urgent, immediate need to sniffle against the irritant, to wrinkle his nose and hitch his breath towards what should have been inevitable. A second hitch, audibly so and with a clear edge of need. He needed to sneeze.

He took another high, desperate breath and held it, eyes at half mast.

A shaky exhale and Umbral’s smug expression turned grudgingly impressed. “Really?”

Wolf sniffled sharply, smirking. “Really. Even though it’s absolutely  snf. It j-just fills my sinuses, Umbral, gods this itchy snf cold you’ve given me.”

Umbral shifted his weight slightly, unnecessarily, and Wolf filed it away; he’d liked something about that… but what was it and how could he replicate it?

“So you do admit you’re ill,” Umbral observed, grinning.

“I admit you got me sick,” Wolf said.

“You weren’t precisely careful,” Umbral said.

“It was a calculated risk. I— h’hEEH!” Wolf dropped his hand to hover over his mouth in a loose fist without obscuring Umbral’s view too badly. The feeling teased at him, nostrils flaring, and he wrinkled his nose up with blatant irritation. Once it felt somewhat more under control, he shifted a little, hips rolling with the motion until Umbral locked in his legs and placed a broad hand across one of his hips, effectively pinning him in place. Not so much as a touch of the Force, just his bigger size and weight working all too well with gravity.

Umbral grinned, gold eyes bright and hungry. “You were saying?”

Wolf’s lips parted on a quiet pant, so much louder in the stillness of the room. He inhaled and immediately jerked up with a gasping breath. His eyes slammed shut, only dimly aware of the rapid rise and fall of his chest as he fought between the want to drag this out further and the desperate need to just sneeze already. He’d been pushing himself up against his limits for too long. Control was a slippery thing now, starting to slip through his fingers. In a last ditch effort, he curled his fingers around his nose, applying pressure that bordered on painful.

He sniffled raggedly, nose squirming uneasily in his grip with the relentless itching.

“Give in, love; it’s obvious you’re at the end of your tether,” Umbral said.

Wolf made a negative sound, thick with the applied pressure. He wasn’t quite sure he’d live up to it, though.

“Well. Let me help,” Umbral said, dragging the brush out with a little flick at the rim of one nostril.

The first false start was immediate and he was left panting. “Umbral,” he groaned, giving his head a little shake. “I… you’re going to-to make me… HEH!”

“Oh I know,” he purred. “That’s what I snf want.”

It was more of a struggle to keep his eyes open than it was after two days without rest. At least then he had caffa to fall back on if he had to, or a stim if it was on a mission and he really had to be alert. Now? Nothing. He was a single misstep from the fit he could feel welling in his sinuses. The immense, nearly unbearable itching…

“H’hh… h’hht-HEH!” Wolf shifted, hypersensitive to the slide of the bedding beneath him… the pillows behind him… Umbral over him.

“Tsk. No need to suffer so.” Umbral’s voice was soft and far more soothing than a Sith had any right to be as he slipped his hand into place, pushing Wolf’s own aside.

His thumb made a broad sweep along Wolf’s cheekbone just below the cybernetic implant, and kept going, slowing over the side of his nose and making it nearly to the top before Wolf broke under the stimulation.

“IkkTSHIIIH-chTSSHIiih!” Wolf let Umbral gather him up, past the point of fighting it. “hiitschiih! essssshhii! HnnGSHHIiihTCH-eeh!”

It was only after he got past what felt like only the first part of a much longer fit, that he realized Umbral had been bracing him. Wolf smiled wryly, sniffing sharply, and tipped his head into Umbral’s hand as he carded his fingers back through loose black hair. “That was snf cheating, you know.”

“That suggests we had rules,” Umbral said, shifting his weight to rub his wrist against his nose.

Wolf arched a brow. “Almost?”

“Perhaps.” He sniffed. “You’re not done, though. I know better.”

“It’s waiting to sneak up and steal my composure,” Wolf said. “That sort of cold.”

“I’m not sure what to think of the implication that a virus is conspiring against you,” Umbral admitted, sniffing twice. He wet his lips, stare growing distant for a moment before the feeling apparently left him. “Damn.”

“That whole show for nothing,” Wolf said, tsking. “And I was so good.”

“You were very good,” Umbral agreed. “I just… just don’t thiiiink….”

“You’re overthinking— nkSHHT!” Ah, there it was. “ktCHIiih! ihhhshiiishu! Ooone m—” 

“No, I’m quite sure that was three,” Umbral said, canting his head to the side as Wolf sneezed twice more, sharp and forceful, trying to just purge the irritation and failing. “And that’s five… six… seeeevehhh… NGSHHYeeehh—ESSSHHCHU!”

Wolf startled, blinking watery eyes at him. “Bless you, finally.”

Umbral groaned in a fashion wholly inappropriate for mixed company. Fortunately it was only Wolf. 

“Little gods, that was good,” Umbral sighed, relieved. “Well. That worked. A shame to have lost track of your fit, though.”

“You have no need to count my sneezes,” Wolf said flatly. “And frankly I think you stole the rest of mine.”

“…well. I think I can make that up to you,” Umbral said.

Wolf grinned, catching his lover’s hand as it crept up his side. “You don’t say.”

“I think you should enjoy my enjoyment,” Umbral said with the sort of wicked grin that still sent a thrill up Wolf’s spine. “Reap the rewards of your hard work.”

Wolf stretched out on the bed. “Then you get to do all the work.”

Umbral considered his suddenly much more lively, much more talkative, intentionally distracting partner and sighed. “Wolf, tell me truthfully. Did you have any intention whatsoever of telling me you were ill?”

Whatever gods listened to Sith, help him now because it was very clear Wolf had not been paying that close attention to himself. “Please tell me you did actually know.”

“I’ve been out a lot, I thought…” Wolf started, almost sheepishly.

“…it genuinely never crossed your mind, my dear Cipher, that you could possibly have caught this nonsense from me when we had… time together earlier in the week?” Umbral asked incredulously.

“I don’t generally catch things from you,” Wolf defended, though a brush rose to his cheeks. “I’m fine, inconvenienced at best. You, I am concerned with.”

“What’s there to be concerned with?” Umbral said. “And if you dare say my dignity I warn you that I don’t know if I’ll kiss you or shake you.”

“It says something that you thought of that first,” Wolf said, sniffing. He allowed himself to rub at the bridge of his nose and down to the tip now that he’d acknowledged the irritation. But he was watching Umbral still, observing. “I said no such thing—”

“And you will not,” Umbral said firmly.

“But I’m allowed to be concerned,” Wolf continued. “I will monitor my condition. Report on it, should it help in some way. But there’s nothing to worry about at this time… unless you’ve been less than honest about how hard it’s hitting you?”

“I do find it of interest that you went from sneezing a great deal, to not at all,” Umbral said.

“Disappointed?” Wolf asked slyly. “Or jealous, perhaps? You’ve settled a great deal yourself.”

“I have my ways,” Umbral said dryly.

“Until I go to induce you and you utterly lose the battle to that little piece of cord,” Wolf said.

“I can’t help but notice you seem pleased,” Umbral said, allowing the detour — for now.

“What can I say? Watching a man of great power lose control in a way that isn’t inherently dangerous is… appealing,” Wolf said, shrugging. “I’ve told you as much before.”

“I hadn’t realized that counted,” Umbral said.

“I hadn’t expected it to,” Wolf said, shrugging. He shifted his weight and the metal strips on his shoulder bands caught the light coming in through the blinds and glinted.

The tickle moved rapidly from the back of Umbral’s mind to the forefront, blazing a trail in immense irritation through his sinuses, filling his nose with irresistible itching.

Stifling really wasn’t an actual option, not between his general inability and how strong the reaction was. Instead, he found the handkerchief he’d had and buried his face in its folds with a heavily irritated double. It jerked him forward enough that he felt Wolf’s hand on his shoulder, bracing himself against the sudden motion. 

“Your resistance is down,” Wolf observed, petting his hair when he trailed off to unsteady breathing. “Are you—”

“NghSHHUSH!” Umbral chuckled at Wolf’s somewhat startled sound. “Pardon me, I think so.”

Wolf clicked his tongue, shifting back to sit on Umbral’s knees. Even their height difference didn’t really justify the position, but Umbral was strong and the chair was heavy and secure beneath them. They both savored the closeness.

Wolf stroked his cheek with a fond smile. “I should change, if I’m staying.”

Umbral’s hands found their way to his hips. “You’re staying.”

“Yes, sir.” Wolf chuckled. “May I change, then?”

“As you like.” 

When Wolf slipped away and vanished into the master bedroom, Umbral sat back, frowning as he considered what had transpired. There was no way In Chaos’ darkness that Wolf really hadn’t known that he was sick. He hadn’t been so busy to be unaware, surely not. However, he had neither confirmed he intended to lie, nor had he confirmed he didn’t know. Umbral, in his somewhat off kilter state, had assumed.

He’d put words in his mouth. Wolf didn’t have to lie, he didn’t have to do anything. It was an unforgivable slip, to give him that much wiggle room about an important topic. His saving grace was that it was neither a dire topic, nor was this a professional matter. He wasn’t dealing with Cipher N. He was dealing with Wolf. His lover.

It burned, but it certainly wasn’t beyond salvage. However, if Wolf was of a mind to be tricky about it, he’d need to gather his wits about him. He loved and loathed his cleverness. Generally it was pleasing but in times like this…

Umbral grunted, getting to his feet and sniffing sharply at the needling itch in his sinuses where there would be no easy rubbing it out. He applied a touch of healing energy instead and gave it a token rub. Which was a mistake. Sensitive skin protested the rough treatment and his breath caught.

Umbral grunted, getting to his feet and sniffing sharply at the needling itch in his sinuses where there would be no easy rubbing it out. He applied a touch of healing energy instead and gave it a token rub. Which… was a mistake. Sensitive skin protested the rough treatment and his breath caught.

He wavered a little, the adjacent symptoms coming on fast: repetitive sniffles with increasing sharpness, the all-over prickle on the sensitive skin around his nostrils and the tip of his nose and how they flared without his permission. He had a brief thought that maybe he should have sat back down before he dipped into his robe in increasingly desperate hope that he’d find — a yes, a backup handkerchief. Wonderful because he was fairly sure that he was going to… to…

“H’hhuuh… h’hhh… hheeehhuuh…..” A hand raised reflexively as he felt the sneeze tease at him. Frustrated, Umbral tapped at the side of his nose, hopeful that direct stimulation might — “heEAAHHhh!”

And nothing.

Umbral growled softly in frustration, squeezing the tip of his nose as if that would offer any permanent recourse — it did help, briefly, but the moment he released his hold, the feeling returned in full. His breath caught again, a ridiculously high and needlessly dramatic gasp that almost felt like it would finally lead to a sneeze.

It didn’t, but it had certainly felt like it.

“Umbral?” Wolf appeared from the bedroom, no doubt having heard this ridiculous ongoing performance. For a moment he just admired him, lean muscle on display. His frame was too broad to pass as lithe, but he really was slender considering that. All compact muscle that was under such control, it scarcely flexed as he walked back to Umbral. Only when Wolf reached him, when he crossed his arms over his chest, did they flex.

Umbral smiled despite his situation, smiling. “Tired of waiting?”

Wolf shrugged, shoving his hair behind his ear impatiently. At Umbral’s request, he’d grown it out just a bit longer, a few inches past his nape,  and was still adjusting to it in private, though he hid such tells of newness on the clock, Umbral was sure. He wondered what Wolf saw, staring at him in silence, that earned that soft, not quite amused but definitely indulgent smile. Sympathetic, as well. In ways he should have pressed, but—

“H’h! EHH!” His body tensed in preparation for yet another sneeze that didn’t come.

“I think,” Wolf said, crossing the small distance between them, “you need another go with that cord. Unless you think I can persuade you into it.”

Umbral laughed breathlessly. “I don’t think mere conversation would be enough this time…”

“Who said anything about conversation?” Wolf asked, blue eyes keen and knowing, waiting for a predicted reaction. “I meant inducing me first. See how much you can stand someone else getting relief when you’re not.”

He rewarded him with the reaction he was no doubt hoping for, a short little breath in anticipation, a slight widening of eyes. He was sure they had done their part, gleaming in anticipation, the pupils dilated in a pleasure response. A smile curved Wolf’s lips and he knew he’d succeeded. It made Umbral smile as well. “Well, if you’re offering…”

“It’s your call if you want me to fight it, of course,” Wolf mused. With that, he turned back towards the bedroom, heading that way with a lazy saunter that very much showed off some of the raw physical appeal. He didn’t look back, and Umbral was too pleased at his confidence to even begin to be upset at the presumption. Really, presuming his lover would come take him up on that generous offer was merely sense.

And they knew each other well; no public masks stood between them, no political ranks dividing them. It was Umbral and his Wolf now, no more and no less.

Umbral followed him to the bedroom, admiring the mellow lighting that was unlikely to set him off as was — but could of course be brought to a much brighter gleam that would. Well, perhaps. He was… very stuck.

“How do you want me?” Wolf asked, glancing back over his shoulder. He stood by the bed, examining a sleek black case of Umbral’s preferred tools. Sleek brushes with varying bristle types and shapes were generally the go-to, but there were vials of powder and a few other treats that might be of use. Tonight, though…

“On your back,” Umbral decided. “But at a comfortable angle, use the pillows.”

Of which there were many, of varying stiffness and fullness, to be used alone or in combination. Wolf was well familiar and began sorting through them for the ones he wanted. Bigger ones that would fully support the width of his shoulders, firmer to successfully prop him up.

While he settled, Umbral took the kit with a thoughtful hum, tracing the brushes with a fingertip. No powder, not if Wolf really was sick. Something far more temporary but just as effective… he chose a thin, flexible brush with long, ragged bristles, and glanced aside at Wolf before twirling it in his fingers.

Wolf chuckled. “That should do.”

“I thought it might.” Umbral set the case aside, eyeing his lover’s recline on the bed. “Comfortable?”

“And sturdy, I assure you,” Wolf said, his grin turning teasing. “Well, barring anything particularly acrobatic—”

“You use the Force a time or two during sex and you get called ‘acrobatic’,” Umbral said. “I’ll show you acrobatic.”

“Senator’s landing pad, last year, at the gala, you had me half over it,” Wolf retorted at once.

“And it got your adrenaline junkie heart pounding,” Umbral said smugly.

“That’s besides the point.”

“How about this, then — it was not acrobatic,” Umbral said. “It was gymnastic.”

“Don’t be pedantic, you know what I meant.” Wolf looked so very unimpressed Umbral had to laugh. 

“Agree to disagree,” Umbral said smoothly as he turned the brush in his fingers. Nodding to himself, he paused to glance at Wolf, stripped down to sleep pants and largely on display. “…would you rather I change?”

“Unless this is about to be some sort of mock interrogation,  yes,” Wolf admitted.

“You need to say these things.” He set the brush aside and went after his gloves first. This pair were long, reaching under his robe sleeves and mere inches from his elbows. Today had been about appearances and intimidation, so he’d leaned into a more classic Dark Lord styling; a black tunic and pants, both tight, a requirement to have the pants tucked into his knee high boots, black and shined with runes embossed down the outer sides in a golden red. He wore a much looser robe over it, but deliberately so — loose enough to hold things, to make him a harder target,  and of course to flow dramatically as he moved.

No helmet, not with a cold like this, and Wolf had already taken his hair down. All in all getting out of the layer close to skin was the hardest part. He felt faintly chilled as he laid himself bare, but unfortunately it didn’t help with anything. 

Wolf held a hand up, grinning. “The pants stay.”

Umbral laughed, shaking his head. “So be it. With that settled… let’s take care of you.”

When his sinuses settled from their persistent rebellion, the rest of Umbral’s senses filtered in. His hair tie must have been removed, because Wolf was free to sift his hand through Umbral’s long white hair without having to fool with it. Wolf was perched on the arm of the chair beside him, and Umbral folded his handkerchief to lay over his thigh so he could look up at him.

Wolf brushed the curtain of loose hair back from his face. “Bit of a cold, that.”

“A bit,” Umbral conceded, much to Wolf’s apparent amusement. “Thank you.”

“Well someone has to keep an eye on you,” Wolf said with a little disdainful sniff.

Or perhaps not. Keen eyes saw the faint twitch of Wolf’s nostrils, the first outward signs of inward need. He recalled all too clearly how irritated he’d been. And how he had had to just let it happen, not inclined to fight it  with only his lover in company.

Perhaps especially so; he was well aware of and quite adept at pushing Umbral’s buttons. If it wasn’t the one not insignificant bit of concern rolling through him he would have pounced on it. And he still might, once he knew the truth of it. It depended a great deal on how Wolf was actually feeling, not what he felt like owning up to.

…two of a kind, he supposed.

“You worry me when you’re quiet this long.” Wolf said quietly, and it didn’t quite conceal the roughened edges to his voice.

“Pick a topic, I’ll monologue for you,” Umbral offered, watching closely, monitoring the faint twitchiness beginning to creep into Wolf’s expression. Did he not realize…?

“Anything?” Wolf hummed very briefly before stopping, and Umbral highly suspected the bass vibrations hadn’t agreed  with him. “But I could ask you something you don’t like.”

“Then it’ll be a rant, instead,” Umbral said easily. “I don’t mind.”

“Then let's hear how you feel — how you’ve been feeling — the past few days,” Wolf challenged lightly, his little smile curving his lips. It was an easy way to get information he desired, and wouldn’t bother him.

It would, however, very likely bother Umbral himself and they both knew it. He wanted to be unamused, at the least, but had to admit it was clever. “So smart, are we?”

“I’m a Cipher, Umbral, I deal in information,” he pointed out. “And it is still what I am conditioned to seek off the clock. How else am I to obtain such information? You’re not generally forthcoming.”

“And what, pray tell, do you need it for?” Umbral asked, admiring how much more emotive he was off the clock. What he allowed himself to be, in Umbral’s presence.

“I think I’m the one asking the questions hm? That will wait.” He said it not with the arrogance of a Sith or the impeccable confidence of the Imperial Agent he was, but with a little smile at the corners of his mouth and a knowing look in his eye.

It had no right to be charming.

“Clinical, then?” He assumed.

“The way you like it,” Wolf corrected with that same knowing look, and a lazy smile. “Enjoy it.”

“I’m not certain it’s nearly that simple,” he admitted, sniffing quietly. No congestion at this point, maybe he’d get lucky.

“Very few things in life worth doing are simple, in my experience,” Wolf said. “That makes it no less worth doing.”

“I’m still wondering why, when this isn’t within your… snf tastes….?” Umbral let it linger, curious as to what purpose he could possibly have for it.

Wolf echoed his sniff but seemed intent on ignoring the irritation  “It is not, no. However I have my reasons. You’re a Sith not a psychic; I didn’t intend for it to be easy to follow. Now if you would, my lord?”

How he made that sound like an endearment, Umbral wasn’t sure. Still, he smiled and decided to indulge the strange request. “It’s the irritation, I think, that’s the worst of it. It feels like I’ve needed to sneeze since I got up.”

“Even when you already have?” Wolf shifted his weight, slinking down into the chair and maneuvering to straddle Umbral’s lap. “You did alright after Darth Imperius…”

He made a sweeping motion towards Umbral, who pressed back against the chair, sniffing reflexively at the mention of that little trick Imperius had pulled and the way the reminder sent echoing irritation in his sinuses. 

Wolf smiled, not sorry in the least. “No?”

“Menace,” he managed, sniffing again. As he’d already pointed out, he’d felt incessantly sneezy; he’d just learned to soothe it, or at least put it off, to deal with later if he had to.

“You do look like you need to sneeze,” Wolf mused. “Your illusions are faltering.”

“You don’t seem to mind,” Umbral said, intrigued by the fact.

“I’m a sniper, Umbral, I specialize in observation,” Wolf said, leaning in and resting their foreheads together.

“I suppose a voyeur and a hedonist are a good match, aren’t they?” Umbral said. “You need to move.”

Blessedly, Wolf did so, immediately and without question. Something in his tone had tipped the man off that he was serious. Which was very good, because the last thing he needed was a concussion on top of—

“NxXTTTSHN! NGSSHHHEH!” It was barely restrained, and once he felt Wolf anchor himself more surely, he didn’t bother, seeking even a moment of reprieve. “nGSTCHIISHU! ESSHHIHTSCHU! Htn— h’hh… damn it all.”

“Lost it?” Wolf said sympathetically, and smiled a little at the bleary glower he was treated to. “If you need assistance…”

“For the simple price of hearing me say s-so?” Umbral said; he could tell what mood his lover was in, and that sort of impishness sounded right.

“No one ever said you weren’t quick on the uptake,” Wolf said. “So?”

Once, he might have balked, before he knew better. When his role as a Sith had meant more than just being a man indulging his lover, and when he had mistakenly assumed they wouldn’t cross paths again unless he willed it.

(Or how much he would will it.)

“I believe,” Umbral said, pausing with a catch of breath. They both waited, but nothing came of it. He rubbed at his bridge for a moment, then continued, “I believe I am in need… of your assistance.”

There was that gleam in familiar blue eyes, that satisfaction and pleasure Wolf took from it. How could he not give that much, to one who asked so little? 

Wolf resettled, idly brushing long strands of white hair back. “Stuck, or it stopped?”

“Does it matter?” Umbral asked curiously. “I itch, Wolf. I expect you to do something about that.”

“Would you like a light?” Wolf offered, a hand straying to his belt; neither of them having changed, Wolf had full access to the daily contents of his utility belt.

Umbral hummed and broke off to sniff. “No, something with more… flexibility.”

Wolf got into another compartment for a heavy spool of the wire he used to secure things or, on occasion, people, and got his cutters out to snip a nice long length of it. He held it up for Umbral’s inspection. “Does this suit?”

Umbral would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a thrill at his intentions. Just who was indulging who now? “I think that will do fine.”

“Relax, then,” Wolf said quietly, “let me help.”

Umbral settled into the chair, wrinkling his nose with a sharp sniff. Wolf touched just under his chin and he obediently tipped his face up. Whatever Wolf read in his expression made him grin.

It took approximately and literally a fraction of a second to realize this was not going to work.  Or rather, it was working too soon and too well. He took a startled, staggered breath at how the itching had positively ignited as soon as Wolf had gotten the cord to any measurable depth. His breath hitched again, high and desperate, and he reflexively pulled Wolf against him and out of the way of a thunderous, “h’hngeSHHHIiishUu!”

He heard a startled curse escape from Wolf, but didn’t release him as all the irritation he’d been resisting seemed to pile up on him, demanding relief at last. He trusted Wolf’s skills a great deal, but didn’t want to risk throwing him off at a bad angle as he just— “nggSHHIH!” —kept— “h’hAESSSHT!” —sneezing— “heEEEIISHHHah! Well then.”

Quiet laughter assured him Wolf was alright, if squished, and he got a real embrace for his trouble. “Such a cold you have. Perhaps something hot to drink, after all that?”

Umbral’s arms slid down to Wolf’s waist and held him there. “Not yet.”

“No?” Wolf pet his hair and Umbral leaned into it encouragingly. “It wouldn’t take long.”

“Not yet,” he insisted. “Stay with me.”

Umbral watched him smile and knew he’d won that much, which was good because his thoughts were a bit scrambled. There was something…. Something he’d meant to do, or check… it escaped him now. White brows furrowed in thought, up until Wolf cupped his cheek and ran a thumb from between them and arching over one.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Wolf asked curiously. “You’re going to give yourself wrinkles.”

“Have you ever met a Sith who cares about—“ He paused and they met eyes with a somewhat amused smile between them. “My late master doesn’t count, she’s dead.”

“Zash?” 

“For all intents and purposes, also dead,” he pointed out.

“So what I’m hearing is, vanity leads to death, not the Dark Side,” Wolf said with an admirably straight face. “There’s a new motto for you: macabre, but at least we’re not vain.”

Umbral swatted his thigh. “I said nothing about vanity as a whole.”

“Ah, my mistake.” Wolf made a little sound in the back of his throat as Umral steadily squeezed his thigh — never past to point of pleasure, and by now he knew how Wolf liked his deep pressure — holding it until he gave in and shifted. “Umbral.”

He would never tire of that low rumble of Wolf’s voice, the heat in his eyes. Fire burned blue, if you got it hot enough, and his lover was perfect evidence of the fact. “Yes?”

“Devious thing,” Wolf purred, leaning in a little, claiming his space.

Umbral must have recognized the irritated little tic up on the right side of his bridge for what it was faster than Wolf felt it, because Wolf startled when he gently urged him back, in part to keep from smacking heads, but very much also because he wanted to watch. It wasn’t like Wolf got much warning —

“HeHIIiih!”

— oh? A hitch. A deliciously desperate hitch that shook for the depths of irritation it heralded. He’d been doing the same the whole time outside, but outside there had been rain.

“H’htt-nih… iiiiHH…” Wolf turned aside, expression gone hazy and a little bit frustrated as it teased him.

Which did beg the question, Umbral thought, reaching to apply the teasing pressure to where his own nose had wrinkled, sensitive. Why is he still sneezing?

Wolf didn’t try to fight it, turning aside in profile. His nostrils twitched, fully irritated, and he ducked as much into his arm as he could without sacrificing Umbral’s ability to watch. Such an indulgent thing, his lover.

“Hihschiih! Iishhiich! Ihiii… iKKSHTchiih!” Wolf sniffled tentatively, then straightened. “So sorry, I didn’t—”

“Feel it coming on?” Umbral said smoothly. They locked eyes and he held his gaze with sheer intensity, burning gold meeting startled blue. “I suppose you wouldn’t, since that wasn’t environmental. Was it?”

Wolf considered the odds they could make it back through this labyrinthine hell house before whatever it was caught up. The odds that they could fight efficiently in these narrow halls and small rooms without compromising the room’s infrastructure. Dismayed but determined, his eyes skipped back to the nearest room, an abandoned study. “This way.”

“Wh—” To his credit, once Umbral caught on he went along with it, obediently easing the door on his side closed while Wolf got the other side closed. “Are you serious?”

“There was scarcely room to draw your saber and you surely know what snf happens shooting at close range. Fine, if it’s some sort of feral beast but if it’s of a monstrous nature….” Ugh. It itched. Unthinking, Wolf raised a hand to pinch at his nose, working the tip between his fingers.

Or rather, that was the plan. Instead he was viscerally reminded that he hadn’t gotten off the clingy, somewhat matted dust off his fingers  and his breath caught in an immediate high, audibly desperate waver.

Umbral glanced back at him incredulously and with uncalled for amusement. “Really?”

Wolf wiped his hand off on his pants at once, feeling his nostrils twitching, no doubt visibly. He took a quieter, no less shaky breath in, broad chest expanding immediately after with an irresistible hitch. “I-iiiihh…”

“Really,” Umbral decided, coming to stand in front of him. “None of that, dear, we don’t want to draw attention.”

Wolf made a rude gesture, then went back to trying not to give in to some of the worst itching he’d suffered that wasn’t Umbral inducing him. He breathed slowly through his mouth, fists clenched, but he could feel the heavy irritation had settled in. The damages had been done and with an inhalant there wasn’t much you could do to settle without getting it out of your system.

Just the one, just one sneeze, he thought desperately, knowing damn well that was a lie. It wouldn’t be one, not with any sort of restraint to muffle himself but fracking hells did he want it, and badly. He sniffed, and was achingly aware of how stuffy, how dusty it was in this small room with its horrible attempt at ventilation.

“Wolf,” Umbral said, removing a handkerchief from his pocket and waving it at him like the flag of Wolf’s pending surrender. His smile softened, more knowing than teasing. “Come here, then.”

Wolf blinked watery eyes, went to speak — inhaling reflexively — and squeaked on the sharpness of the inhale he took instead.

Three steps and Umbral was there, gently cupping the handkerchief over Wolf’s face, keeping him from having to hold it and possibly inhale more dust if he hadn’t gotten it all off.

The touch of the cloth, soft but still abrasive against his sensitized nostrils, tipped him past bearing and it was definitely not ‘a’ sneeze.

“HiIIH! HI’ntCHH! N’xXGKT! HGNKTSH!” He gasped, making a wildly desperate little sound as Umbral gave his nose a firm rub through the cloth. “H’hEESSHHT!”

“Shh, come now. All that for a bit of dust?” Umbral asked.

Wolf took a sharp, testing breath, and foolishly assumed its clarity meant he was safe to talk.

With that deep rumble of a voice he’d been blessed with vibrating his palate with every word. He got as far as, “you know damn w-well—” before the itching resurged and he ducked away on reflex with a decidedly unstifled, “h’hiiIKKkSHHHUu!”

Umbral made a soft sound and was watching him with heat when he managed to get the tears of irritation swept from his eyes and cheeks.

Wolf sniffled, the sound a little thick, and gave his lover an arch look. “So help me if you even think about making out here—”

“I prefer you to be induced in more… controlled methods,” Umbral said, watching him for a moment before offering the handkerchief. “Here. I think you’ll be needing—”

“ESHHIIIH!” Wolf had scarcely put it back to his face before sneezing again, and straightened. “Ngh. The beasts?”

“What, the corpses?” Umbral waved dismissively without explanation that really didn’t matter. “They’ve been dealt with. Come, let’s get out of here.”

Wolf didn’t move right away, gaze slowly losing focus. Knowing that whatever it was was gone, he finally let himself have a relieving, “iikKKSHT-chiISHIIH! ngGH’KKSHHCHIH!”

“Force, bless you,” Umbral said, moving the small distance between them to place a hand between Wolf’s shoulderblades. “A bit better?”

“It helped,” Wolf said, leaning into him just a bit.

“Mm. Not like getting home and getting a shower,” Umbral decided.

“N-no not like that,” Wolf agreed, scrubbing at his nose briefly with the handkerchief.

Umbral pursed his lips, then started to steer him out the other door; closer to the entry, closer to the next speeder taxi station, closer to home.

Wolf sniffed, surreptitiously watching the moment Umbral clearly recognized the sound for what it was, that tiny, brief close of eyes that another man might call prayerful. That dreadfully familiar heady sweetness permeating the air… he took a slow, deep breath and it caught in a quiet, undeniable hitch. As they were as alone as they were getting here, he raised a hand, just above his heart, in a loose almost-fist. As if the impulse were strong enough to overcome his usual hesitation.

Umbral had seen the situation often enough to know what was coming, and the poor man was definitely too far gone to question it now. Not that Wolf was faking it — he was just giving in to it, instead of wrestling it into submission. All too easy when that scent had been inhaled, sharp and deep and inescapable. It wouldn’t take long. In fact, he’d barely had the idle thought that oh, I felt that before another staggered hitch and he was- he-   “hhh… h’t-TSHHIih!”

“Wolf,” Umbral said, voice dropping to a delightfully growled rumble.

“My apologies,” Wolf said with far less sincerity than he hoped it sounded like. “The rain… sniiih… iih!” He turned away, but only in profile. Enough to be polite, but not enough to prevent Umbral from watching. “ihtSCHIH! Snf…hh. That scent…”

“I’m aware,” Umbral muttered, briefly rubbing at the tip of his incessantly itchy nose.

All the more so, Wolf knew, when he had to think about it. Had to hear someone else sneezing without getting relief himself. Clearly that wasn’t quite enough yet. Still, they claimed an air taxi when it was clear.

An invisible hand took him by the belt and steered him to the back seat with Umbral. Perhaps consequences were coming sooner than he’d anticipated.

Umbral settled into the car, shifting a little to be able to maneuver better. He wasn’t planning to do anything, but if he needed to get out, he was going to make sure he hadn’t pinned himself in needlessly. Once satisfied, he put his shoulders back, long hair rustling in the damn breeze. Almost but not quite enough to make him shiver, it still had a tangible effect on his lover.

“Hiiih!” An audible hitching breath and Wolf made a tiny sound that trailed directly into another sneeze. It clearly afforded him no relief, to guess from the unfocused look in his normally alert blue eyes. Another breath, a rare and soundless hitch, led to a more forceful release. “H’hnGSHiih!”

As frustrated as Umbral felt, as much as he could feel that same ominous tickling and none of the relief, as stupidly suggestible as he was, he still felt a mingling of amusement and empathy for Wolf as he straightened at last, blinking with a decisive sniff.

“May whoever listens to Imperials bless you,” Umbral said, an echo of another time, and tucked a bit of hair that had escaped its tail back behind his ear with a gloved fingertip. When Wolf let himself lean into the brief touch, he couldn’t help a small smile, voice dropping low. “You’re maddening, you know that.”

“Your tastes are hardly m-my… ESSHIH!” Wolf blinked with uncharacteristically visible startlement at both the suddenness and the force of it. “…pardon me.”

“I beg to differ, my tastes are precisely that,” Umbral said, gold eyes gleaming. “As you know.”

“You may be in luck,” Wolf said cautiously, a hand raising and very carefully feeling along his bridge.

Umbral arched a brow. “Again?”

“I think… I thiiink so?” He shook his head as if he could just shake the feeling loose.

The anticipation of it made Umbral’s skin prickle with excitement, the moment before a lightning strike and just as brilliant.

Then Umbral realized his own irritation had been left to grow unchecked far too late to even begin to stop it, and gasped far too loudly with too much need and desperation. Without even the time to finish the thought that he’d been careless, he flinched into a reflexive attempt at a stifle, a harsh sort of ‘hnxxgschhu!’ that was nowhere near enough. Another gasp and another “hnngSTCHHIH!” and— “NGHSSHIISCHU! Ngh, Force, excuse me.”

“Bless.”

For a bizarre moment he thought Wolf was going to hug him — not unwelcome but very bizarre timing — only to have a gloved hand dip boldly into his inner pocket and produce his handkerchief. Wolf had the audacity to smile, the cloth dangling from his fingertips.

When Umbral didn’t take it right away, he arched a brow. “I think you need this.”

“Oh do you?” Umbral attempted to channel his annoyance with the whole thing into his voice and might have failed a bit from the sparkle in those expressive blue eyes. It was harder to maintain with that, and even more so as Wolf’s smile spread. Force, but the man was even more handsome when his passions shined through.

“Very sure,” he said. “You look so irritated.”

“I do not,” Umbral said at once. He’d have felt if his Force illusion had faltered and it most certainly had not.

“You do,” he insisted, still so close.

To his immense frustration, Umbral sniffed at the same irritation that, while not seen, was unquestionably felt. Softly, but that close Wolf had to have heard. “What part of my appearance makes you think I-I…”

He pressed his lips shut, jaw tight against an urge as irresistible as a yawn. The need to sneeze didn’t creep up on him so much as washed over him like an ominous wave. With no Sith present to be concerned with, he attempted to cleanse the irritation with Force healing. He was making progress when a look of startled irritation cut through Wolf’s smile and he pulled back.

Umbral couldn’t have looked away even if he wanted to, that moment of weakness, the vulnerability, the way his eyes squinted hazily and the startled parting of lips as he took in a sharp breath. The way his nose wrinkled just below his cybernetic implant, twitching just slightly around the tip.

Wolf jerked back with an audible gasp. “Hiitschiih! Ihhshiish! B-blast- ihkksht-chiih!”

An honest blessing was on Umbral’s tongue, impressed and concerned both, but he didn’t get the chance to say so. “Eeehh… ESSHHIISHU!”

His handkerchief hit his shielding hand and he took it gratefully to sneeze twice more and wait anxiously to see if he would be further assaulted by his cold-ridden senses. But no, it seemed the trio was enough, for now. Sniffing softly, he looked back to Wolf. “Are you alright?”

“You’ve come down with a cold that can stagger a Darth and you’re asking me?” Wolf asked incredulously.

“Precisely so,” Umbral said. “I’m a bit under the weather, it’s expected. You?”

“The seal on this air taxi is lacking, some of the damp air is coming in.” Wolf said with an exasperated gesture to the door.

“…I sense no such thing,” Umbral said, frowning. It felt honest, but it didn’t feel true, and he’d gotten good at reading Wolf.

“Oh I don’t feel the wind,” Wolf said dryly, aggressively scrubbing at his nose with his knuckles. “But I can most certainly tell the...th-the effects— ntt’SCHIIH! Ngh. Do pardon me.”

It felt reasonable. It felt honest. It still didn’t feel true. Maybe that was part of the problem, but it wasn’t all of it. He wasn’t so sick that he couldn’t trust his sense of Wolf’s well being. “Of course.”

“Oh not that tone,” Wolf sighed. “I’m fine, Umbral. I’m not so sweet I’ll melt.”

“I did not take a tone with you,” Umbral said. “I just thought—”

The air taxi bobbed to a gentle stop and they locked eyes.

Wolf smiled. “Well. Out we go, hm?”

Umbral swore softly and got out, rounding the car on the landing pad of his building and coming up beside Wolf. The need to touch him was intense, and he allowed himself to brush his fingers over one shoulder blade. It wasn’t enough, not nearly, but it was something and it helped. When Wolf shuddered, Umbral flattened his hand over the same space. He felt the deep inhale, the stuttering hitch, and stayed near for the rather ridiculous yet very appealing sneezes. Sharper than usual, with more force behind them, actually bending the man forward almost enough to make him take a step.

Wolf managed a heavy sniffle that twisted concern and arousal into a troubling knot. “Ugh. So sorry, I don’t know why it’s hitting so hard.”

Suspicion wound around Umbral, the voice of reason whispering exactly why he would be “suddenly” having such issues. It was immediately important to get him in out of the rain, more so than usual, even. They’d had more than one dalliance where they both came back drenched from a warm summer rain but this…

No. “Let’s get inside.”

“Umbrahhhlll— h’tCHHISSHUH!” Whatever he’d been planning to say in disagreement was swallowed up in the abrupt and forceful sneeze. So many truly emphatic releases in such a short period of time seemed to tire him a bit, in the least making him more agreeable.

“Come along,” Umbral said quietly, but didn’t force him to try to move before he’d unlocked his knees. Once he had, Wolf moved well enough on his own, sniffing periodically with lingering irritation, and it was starting to get to Umbral. The irritated sound echoed in his sinuses, reminding him that he very much itched, and hadn’t gotten proper relief himself. A single sneeze was no more than a test drive for the riot going on in his sinuses and it would have to be addressed soon, or it was going to force it.

But he would damn well make it to his apartment first.

Once they were in the elevator, Umbral slid his hand up Wolf’s spine. He kept it open, flush to the base of his neck and made sure not to grab and send the wrong signal. Wolf didn’t need to be treated gently, nor was he always treated gently even by Umbral himself. But he knew too well that if he signaled roughness he would lose the agreeableness that was there between them now, and he didn’t dare.

Despite his best efforts, Umbral was sniffing a bit to stave off the irritation, bargaining with himself if he could go just a little longer, just a bit and he’d let it happen.

Why in all the Corellian hells was his apartment so high up? Sometimes he very much regretted not being on the ground floor.

“Is Killia’s old place really so terrible?” Wolf asked, practically reading his mind.

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “I’d never rest there for the lingering aura of the horrors performed there. She was vile, even for a Sith.”

“I remember,” he said. “It was so much worse for you.”

“I could sense it clearly,” he pointed out, briefly pressing the back of his hand to his nose. It bought him another moment. “The depths of depravity she indulged in… she and Grathan got along too well.”

Wolf wrinkled his nose in distaste. “I wouldn’t say so, but the world owes Wrath a debt for ridding us of that mad man.”

“Agreed. Even a Sith m-must have standards,” Umbral said, wrinkling his nose with a sharp sniff. He eyed the floor count and made a tiny sound when they reached his floor.

Almost…

To his surprise, Wolf snagged his other wrist as the doors opened and tugged him into the hall before stepping ahead and placing gloved fingertips on the sensor. His fuzzy aura flickered, and the door opened. Normally, Umbral would call him out on ‘showing off’ but he could only be grateful, because he very much needed to sneeze.