Virus.snz

“HiiHcHst…!”

Ishmael stifled a harsh sneeze between her index finger and thumb.

“Bless you.” Ellie responded next to her. The two of them were alone on the bus, as the rest were still eating their lunch. Ellie and Ishmael had returned earlier mostly to get away from the noise.

Ishmael sniffed, brushing loose hair from her face, “Thanks…”

“Are you alright, Ish? The brief time I’ve been sitting here you’ve been sneezing your damn head off… It’s not Church, is it?” Ellie asked, pointing down at her cat, who just continued staring at his owner.

“No… I don’t think so…” Ishmael sighed, “I swear, if I caught something…”

Ishmael was one of the few Sinners on the bus that got sick rather frequently.

“Ih’CHst!... Guh…” she sneezed again, a small, thin trail of snot visible between her two fingers.

“Bless you. Do you need a tissue?”

Ishmael tried to hide her wet fingers, “Yeah, please?”

Ellie reached into the inner pocket of her oversized coat and pulled out a travel packet of tissues, handing it to Ishmael.

She turned the packet around in her hands to find the small tab to open it. By the looks of it, it was an un-opened pack. She opened the tab, pulled out a tissue, and promptly blew her nose, audible congestion being loosened.

“You can keep it if you need it, Ish.”

Ishmael was now moving the soaked, wadded up tissue between her nostrils, occasionally lifting the tip of her nose with it, “Are you sure…?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I have a few more in my room, don’t worry about it.”

“HiHCHt!” she sneezed again, trying to cover it with her soiled tissue.

“Bless you.”

“Thanks…” she sniffed harshly, “I usually have my own but… I ran out… And I’ve been out for a solid few weeks…”

Ellie exhaled audibly through her nose, “Yeah. They don’t fuckin’ have any packs in the supply closet in the Backdoor.” She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder towards the direction of the Backdoor. “Like, I’m glad that this company supplies us with utilities, rooms, all that shit in general… But yet, they don’t give us tissues to carry around? They supply us with boxes for our room, which is nice, but we spend most of our time here in the front of the bus or outside. Y’know… Traveling? Do they expect us to carry a box around on top of the shit we carry into battle??” Ellie motioned to her Messenger sword and Ishmael’s mace.

Ishmael stifled a laugh, “Dunno… Maybe they do, I wouldn’t be surprised honestly. Even back in the Nest of District 21– when I had that office job? I had to bring most of the stuff for my desk from home, which I guess that’s pretty normal since it was just an office job… HIIH’CHtt– ‘ChXT– H-hiH’CHIhh!”

“Damn, bless you.”

Ishmael sniffled hard, “Thank you… Do you think it’s something we should ask Faust about?”

Ellie sighed, “I dunno. It’s… Honestly probably not a big deal to her, but it’s just one of those small things that feels it could have an easy fix. I mean, y’know, we have technology on the bus that allows for Tick-Tock to pull out different versions of ourselves from different realities…”

Ishmael sniffed, “But not… Tissue packets… I think it’s kind of a valid thing for you to bring up to her, especially since she recruited you knowing that you don’t like germs. I’m very much the same way, but it never got to the point that I wore a mask on a daily basis.”

Ellie scrunched her face, “Yeah that’s fair… I mean it is kind of crazy when a few of you guys come up to me asking me for a tissue… Not that I mind it– I’m OK with that, I just hate that that’s something you guys have to consider, y’know?”

“Ih’CHT! Yeah… I’ve had some of the others ask me a few times… Mostly Rodya.”

“Bless you. Most of the people on this bus have come up to me asking me for one. Pretty sure I’ve seen a few of you guys ask Ryoshu, too. Maybe Yi Sang.”

Ishmael pulled out another tissue and blew her nose softly, “I think we ask you because we know you always have some.”

“Which, I do… Cuz y’know… District 23 Backstreets kind of does that to you… Also… Having a dad as a doctor.”

Ishmael continued to blow her nose, “It just sucks, because I just… Forget, honestly. Which is my fault, but when we stop at a convenience store, my first thought isn’t ‘I need to get some tissues’, my first thought is usually ‘What snacks am I going to get?’ or occasionally ‘I hope the bathroom doesn’t have a dead guy in it.’ …H–Hih… Urgh… I lost that one…” 

“It’s kind of worse if you’re me because I’m very fucking picky with my brand,” Ellie pointed to the tissue packet that rested on Ishmael’s lap, “If it’s not 3-ply I’m not buying it. I’m like that with hand sanitizer, too. I was also like that with my face masks when I’d wear them.”

“Seriously?” Ishmael continued dabbing at her nose, which was now visibly and audibly running. It looked like she was getting worse by the minute.

“Yeah, Ish. I’m not gonna carry around cheap-ass paper that’s going to make me wanna tear my damn nose off. I kind of like having an actual nose, I don’t want a prosthetic.”

“HiHt’ChST…. HIH’TCHST…!! Urgh…”

“Are you gonna be OK? Do you need me to get someone?”

“No, I’m alright… Although I think I’m gonna go lay down… I’m kind of starting to get a headache, also. I don’t want to leave you alone, but…”

“Don’t worry about it, lady, I’m sure the others are bound to come back pretty soon. I’ll tell Teach if she asks.”

Ishmael took the pack of tissues on her lap and held it in her hand, still rubbing her nose with a used one, and stood up, “Thanks…”

“Do you need, like… I ‘unno a humidifier or something? I have one in my room if you wanna borrow that.” “No, I’m pretty sure there’s another one in the supply closet…”

“... Yeah there’s a few of those, actually.”

“...But not tissues for us to carry around…”