#skysscript

“Hi, darli’g… umb… *sndrff!* I uh, *grmm!* I hope you’ve beed havi’g a good day. *snff!*

hh’I just wadted… to, ub… … *hsddrff* Oh, I just wadted- hihHH?? uUD’TSCHhiuh!!’tTDSCHHh-!! *snngk!* … Ugh, I… wadted to ask how… h-how you’re feeli’g, cuz- ihH-? aAAESSCHHIOO-!!!

… Sorry. *gsdf* Uh, I thigk I’ve cobe dowd with sobethi’g… dot dice. A’d… I just wadted to ward you. *sdrff* Id case. Sorry. But, it was great seei’g you… *sddrff* hoo… *sdrf!*

Ub, yeah. Have sobe vitabid C, if- if you cahh’d-AAASSCHHhioo!!! *sddrfh! ahemm!* ‘Scuse be, wow.

A’d, baybe thed, I’d… cobe dowd-eEY’ISSCHHIEWWw!!! *hsnrff!* -to your chest, a’d… ah-! I’d-! hUD’SSCHHH!!! Ah-! HaADZ’ESSCHHIEWWw!!! -ohh… *sdrf* … *sddrf, sDRFF!* Ugh. God. 

hhih-! *snnrff* A’d thed… I’d… *hsndrf* I’d cobe dowd to your… hhh’your stobach… heihh… ihH-? HURRUSSCHHIEWW!!! hihH?! Hrr’USSCHHiew!! … ugh. *snrfh* … *snrff!* A’d thed, I’d…

Jack is a sound designer and he falls super ill once the show opens. a thing goes wrong in the sound setup and here he is trying to give instructions to his assistant on how to fix it.

warning for mess | 525 words

content: messy snz, tissues, caretaking

warning for gratuitous mess, no plot except a guy looking for a handkerchief

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They were originally headed towards the back, in the direction of the tiny bathroom at the end of the hall, but something unspoken and exciting had them stumbling into the storage room. A was curling with another wrenching, allergic pair of sneezes, while B was gently moving back their hair, kissing along their neck up to the ear. A leaned their head back and chuckled breathlessly, putting out their hands to stop things from being shaken off the shelves.

“—haAAT’SCHIUH-!! huh-! hUTsz’CHIEWWh!! Oh mby gosh-“ A box of wooden utensils fell from the shelf, rattling onto the floor. B laughs and pauses. “You are not real,” A whispers. They put a hand on the side of B’s face. “A thing for sneezes?”

B smiles wide, going red in the face. Their head bows and they press their forehead into A’s shoulder. They feel the expanding of A’s chest as they draw a deep gasp, and the shudder of a sneeze more monstrous than the ones before, “—hhED’zZZSCHHIEWWw!!!” -aimed freely off to the side.

B’s fingers gripped the shelf as A’s back jerked against it, and a package of paper takeout containers tumbled to the floor.

“Jesus, bless you…”

“This caddot be saditary, *hsnff*” A muttered.

-

The warm dim lighting of the bedroom is delicious, a soothing break away from white fluorescents. He’s emptying his pockets, shedding his jacket, throwing a handful of crumpled sodden Kleenex into the trash. She’s up before he can take three shaky steps into the room. 

Pain sparks like pop rocks as he makes a murky attempt at clearing his throat. He turns his chin, eyes aching, vision blurring as he exhales some assuring words. He feels her hand on his shoulder, then her cool fingers against his temple. She says something, and he opens his mouth to disagree. Before he can, he’s consumed with the urge to sneeze again. And again. 

A dizziness hits him, and the room starts to move on an axis. Turning, before a hand steadies him by the shoulder.

Next door, there’s faint bass. While she gets him to sit, his attention shifts to focus on the fuzzy sound, similar but separate from the pounding in his feverish head. It’s too fast to keep up with. 

-

The other side of the bed was empty when he awoke. He made no sound - swamped with muck and fever, the world like a thick painting of greys and blues. And she wasn’t there on the other side of the bed, where she should’ve been. Curious. 

He heaved his sweating, aching form upright, facing the empty unlit bathroom. A streetlight in the window dotted yellow like a bright star. Dull pain swam in his head. A heavy combination of nasal congestion, and perhaps dehydration, and any number of things… Soreness in it all. Breathing, against a course of inflammation and mucus. 

“*snrk* …. *’grmm*…”

He found himself standing some moments later, in the upstairs hallway. In a checkpoint of sorts, head still swimming. He dragged his feet to the stairs, and descended them in slow steps, clinging to the railing.

A lamp was on in the living room.

“*sdrff!*” He stood at the bottom of the stairs, still holding onto the railing. The air was cooler downstairs - somehow making the streaming of his nose more apparent. “*sndrff*…”

There was a tissue box on the coffee table in front of the sofa. And on the sofa, there was a lump of blankets, and from the lump of blankets, came a peculiar sound. Slowly, he shuffled closer. 

The blanket pile groaned softly as he reached the sofa. From an opening in the fabric, her face peeked out, half-obscured with a rumpled tissue. Making the same strange muffled sounds as before, her body shuddered beneath the blankets, as she muffled sneeze after wet sneeze into the tissue in her palm.

“-d’eisschhiuh!!-isshhiuh!!-isschh!!- hh’Isschhiuh! -eisschh!!”

He sank down next to her on the sofa, not trusting his face not to burst with pain if he bent over. He pulled the tissue box nearer. His hand found her shoulder on top of the layered blankets as she sat in a dizzy interlude, panting through parted lips. Her head hung, causing her hair to fall into her face. Carefully, he lifted a hand and moved back the unruly strands.

Her face crumpled with a closed-eyed scowl as- “iyY’ISSCHhiuh!” another sneeze came, misting his hand. She lifted the damp tissue to sneeze again, over and over, intense and less smothered than before. “huUd’ISCHHh!! uht’ISSCHH!!-isschh!!-isschhioo!!” Suddenly, he turned away from her and let out a harsh, spraying sneeze, too quick to consider covering.

“hdt’zZZSCHHhioo-!!” He sniffled liquidly, and coughed, blinking teary eyes. She huffed an awful, wheezy shell of her laugh. The “Bless you” sounded worse. The urge was still strong, making his breath snag. She was pressing a tumbleweed of tissues into his hand, which he only had time to lift before a fierce second sneeze burst from him. A desperate exclamation, grazing his raw throat and soaking the layers of tissue. “haAD’TCHIEWWhh!!!” He pulled more to blow his nose, making a noise he could’ve compared to a brass solo in a sad andante. 

-

hi yes it’s me I’m back sorry I scared you why is the air purifier still off who opened the window. you?? okay it’s fine god your eyes are so gorgeous and puffy let’s close that fucker okay? bless you yes that’s for you, bless you bless you yes I’ll get the fan it’s hot as balls in here.

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