#snez

Nick's head pounded. Not just his temples, but something deep behind his eyes and under the surface of his nose.

He sniffled, shifting in the embrace of the comfortable mattress beneath him. The bedding felt too fine to belong to him, the pillows too luxurious, the sheets too soft.

So.

Not in his bed. Staggeringly hungover. But even if he listened closely, he could not make out the sound of another person breathing or shifting behind him. Alone in a strange bed.

Nick opened his eyes and sat up slowly. Immediately, the smell of an unfamiliar perfume wafted up from his neck and took hold in his nose. He sniffled. "Ah'SCHEH!"

Somewhere in the hall, muffled footsteps might have sounded.

Nick sniffled again and looked around. His head rang with the aftershock of his sneeze, amd it took a moment for the room to make sense. But make sense it did, eventually, just as its owner came striding in.

Jay appeared as though by magic, though the door had opened for him just as it would for any other man, cool and sparkling in the morning sun streaming through the windows. "Good morning, old sport. How are you feeling?"

He asked with a conspiratorial wink. Something must have happened. Nick squinted, inhaling another rush of perfume. "Aht'SCHT! Ak'SCHT!"

Gatsby gave him a knowing look as he settled down into an armchair. "Alright, old sport?"

"Guh..." Nick sniffled, pulling experimentally at his collar, which only wafted up more of the smell. "Ghk—!" This sneeze didn't quite go off. He wrinkled his nose. "What happened?"

"I'm not surprised you don't remember," Jay said, somehow managing to sparkle in a way that suggested he and Nick were in on some joke together. "Miss Baker had another engagement last night and had to leave early; do you remember that?"

"Ekh!" Another half-sneeze rattled Nick's frame. He did remember that, and he'd been rather sorry about it for some reason. Had they argued? "Uh, yes, I do."

"Well," said Jay, spreading his hands out expansively, "it seems another little lady took a shine to you after that." Nick stiffened, and Jay quickly shook his head. "Now you were a perfect gentleman, of course."

Nick sighed in relief, which turned out to be a mistake. "EK'SCHH!"

"But this little lady was rather fond of you," Jay continued, smoothly drawing a handkerchief out of his breast pocket and passing it to Nick. "She kept findinf a way to pour drinks into you."

"Oh." Nick dabbed at his nose with the handkerchief. Blurry memories surfaced, snatches of brown hair, a blue dress, hot lips on his neck. "And you're sure I..." He broke off helplessly, with an inquiring look.

"A perfect gentleman," Jay said calmly. "You can ask anyone."

Nick nodded, which moved his collar across his neck. What *was* that smell? Peonies, maybe? "AHK'TSCHHH!" He doubled forward, shaking his head. "KT'SCHHT! HH'KSCHT!" Locks of pomaded hair fell intohis face, scratching at his cheeks and the irritated skin of his nose. "HK'TSHT!" Gasping, he pressed Jay's handkerchief to his face.

"Oh!" said Jay, two degrees less cooler than Nick had ever seen him. The startled expression faded so quickly he might have inagined it. "She sprayed you with a bit of her perfume so you'd have something to remember her by."

"M-more —Hhhheehhh... h'ksht!— It w-was more—" Nick rubbed furiously at his nose, but nothing helped. "More than a bit! ET'SCHHT! Was I l-like thhhhh-is last n-ehhhh-ight? Hkshkk!"

"Well," Jay said, now a bit sheepish. It was just as fleeting. "She had gotten rather a lot of drinks into you by that point. I had you put to bed."

"AKH'sch!"

"It seems to me like we need to get that shirt off you," Jay said. "Hold on a moment. I'll have someone bring you a spare." Getting up with ease, he stepped into the hall.

Nick wiped his streaming face with his palm, stroking down the bridge of his nose, which burned. When that failed to soothe any of the merciless, teasing itch, he pressed down with his fingertips, which only coaxed a few more miserable half-sneezes out of him: "Hkxt! Iksht!"

"Take that off," Jay saod, stepping back into the room.

Nick started on his buttons, wary of wafting up more of the scent. "I must apologize, Jay; I can't believe I... Well... Ek'tSHT!"

"Oh, no apologies," Jay said with all his easy charm. "At least not until we've gotten that nose of yours taken care of."

"Oh, it's —KH'SCHT!— taken care of all right." Nick pulled his shirt down with a huff, but couldn't make himself simply ball it up and throw it somewhere. Instinct made him shake out the fabric, which filled the room with the scent of peonies. "HEK'SCHUH! EKH'KSHT!"

"Never mind that, old sport!" Gatsby got to his feet and took the shirt from him, folding it with military precision. A soft knock sounded at the door. Setting Nick's shirt aside, Gatsby got up and, after a brief conversation, reappeared with a new shirt. "Try this one," he said, passing it over to Nick.

Unable to help himself, Nick lifted it to his nose and gave it a congested sniff.

"What do you think?" Jay asked, smiling. "Is your nose satisifed?"

Nick slipped the short over his shoulders and began to button it. "I don't think my nose will be satisfied until I go to my deathbed without ever having smelled another penny in my life."

He had expected Jay to laugh, but Jay only nodded thoughtfully. "I'll remember that for future flower arrangements."