Title: Eleven Drabbles
Author Notes: Written for cowboyguy’s birthday in 2017
1.
“Please let me stay with you in bed? I promise I’ll make you feel better!”
Remus lifted his head from the tissues and gave Sirius a look of disbelief.
“I’ll get you hot chocolate from the kitchens to soothe your throat. I’ll sit still and let you snuggle against me until your chills go away. I’ll give you a whole stack of my super soft handkerchiefs.”
Remus did not look convinced yet.
“I’ll read that book out loud to you until you fall asleep. How’s that?”
Slowly, Remus smiled. “That’s a good start.” Then he dropped his face back into the handful of tissues and fired off a few more sneezes.
2.
“C’mon, Dean. You’ve gotta get up.”
Dean had pushed himself through so many injuries and illnesses. He was still alive after so many impossible situations. He had always put the hunt before everything. But Dean had always wondered about his breaking point. How much would it take before he gave up, gave in, and just needed a Goddamn break already? Maybe this was it. Maybe this flu had finally broken his will?
Cracking one eye open, he saw Sam standing by his bed. His voice had sounded urgent, but his face showed nothing but worry about his brother.
That was enough to make Dean haul his sick self out of bed.
3.
“You can’t sneeze now!” Finn hissed, glancing down the corridor again for any signs of Stormtroopers.
“I d-d-don’t think either of us g-get a suh-say,” Poe replied, scrubbing his hand back and forth beneath his nose without stop. “That gas they f-flooded the corri-corridor with d-did a n-num-numbuh-number on my nuh-nose.” He scrubbed harder, but his nose still twitched with the need to sneeze. “F-Fih-Finn?”
Exasperated, Finn grabbed Poe around the shoulders and pulled him close. Poe’s face met Finn’s chest without a second to lose.
“huh-shmmphhhhhh!”
It was far from quiet, and Finn’s heart raced, sure they would be found immediately. They should run, but that would mean letting go.
4.
Sam stared at the fire then down at the book in his hands. “I don’t think I can. It’s a book…”
“It’s a cursed book, Sammy. We have to do to get rid of it now.”
Sam glanced down, uncertain. All he wanted to do was curl up and read. Dean didn’t appreciate books. He couldn’t understand. “Okay… but how about I read it first?” He started to open it.
“No! The last person who read it died.” Dean snatched it and tossed it into the flames.
Sam moaned in pain and coughed as the smoke blew into his face.
“First bookstore we pass, I’ll buy you a dozen uncursed books.”
5.
Spike considered his options. On the one hand, it would serve Xander right if he caught Spike’s cold from sleeping in the same room. Spike had no choice but to sneeze freely; it wasn’t his fault Xander was right there in front of him. On the other hand, Spike felt miserable and couldn’t stop sneezing and Xander was really the only person who could fix that.
Spike decided that, even more than killing the slayer, what he really wanted was to blow his nose. So he strained against the chains enough to kick the bed until Xander woke up.
“Wha…?” Xander looked confused and annoyed.
“Get be a tissue, whelb. Hah-hahh-DIHShhhhhhhh!”
6.
“You brobised.”
“I know.”
All Sam had to do was look in the direction of the fields zooming by outside the window and his nose tickled fiercely. “ihhhh… ihhhh-Hipptchhhhhhh! Sniff! You sniff brobised.”
“I know, Sam.”
“Buh… but we’re… ihhh-hihhhPTSchhhhh! still here. Sniff!”
“I’m so sorry. But Bobby said there was no one else who could go after this werewolf.”
“ihh-HIHTchhhhhh! ihhhChihhhh! ihhhTchhhhh! Sniff! But… you brobised we’d dever cub back to Teddessee id the sbrig. Sniff! I’b dot sure I cad trust you agaid. ”
Dean winced, visibly hurt.
“Guess I’ll just have to teab ub with Garth frub dow od.”
Dean glanced to the side, seeing Sam’s teasing smile.
7.
Even with Bucky’s arms wrapped tight around him, Steve shivered violently. Ever since getting out of the ice, he hadn’t felt completely warm, but he was willing to let Bucky help him try.
“I’m sorry.” Bucky pulled his metal arm away. “Is my touch too cold now?”
Steve snuggled closer against Bucky’s chest. Everything had changed. But being held like this felt like it had back in the days when they’d huddled together for warmth on missions. In fact, it felt like it had even before Steve had taken the serum and Bucky had taken care of him.
“Your touch is perfect. Don’t you stop.” Those strong arms squeezed him tighter.
8.
Dean stood in front of the motel bathroom mirror, his mouth wide open and tongue hanging out.
“You gonna fill me in on this new shaving technique?” Sam asked, finishing up and wiping a towel across his chin to catch any lingering shaving cream.
Dean shook his head. “Throat hurts when I swallow. I’m coming down with something.”
Sam examined what he could see of Dean’s throat and then took a look at the rest of his brother. Dean didn’t look pale or flushed. He didn’t look tired or manic. His nose didn’t look twitchy. His forehead didn’t look damp with perspiration.
“Nice try, Dean, but we’re getting on that airplane.”
9.
“Brought you some herbal tea,” Tara said, settling on the bed, skirt spreading out around her. “Think you can sit up to drink?”
Willow looked up adoringly. She gathered her strength and pushed against the blankets and pillows until she was more or less upright. No sooner had she done so, however, than she swayed back and pitched forward. “heh-chooohh!”
“Oh. Here…” Tara pulled a tissue from the box and dabbed at Willow’s nose for her. She threaded her fingers through Willow’s red hair and swept it back from her face. And she held the teacup out once again.
“Thank you, baby.” As she sipped, Tara folded herself against Willow’s side.
10.
“It’s a right up… aheah-ahead hahhKIHTschhhhh! And then it’s another ten miles down the road until we get to the exihhh… exit ihhhhh ihhhh hahhKIHHHTchhhhhh! for the interstate.” Sam paused to fold the road map and grab a tissue. As he wiped his nose, he heard Dean chuckling softly. “Care to share what’s so… fun-funny? Hahh-KIHHTchhhhh!”
Dean shrugged his amusement away. “You’re so good at this now. I remember when you caught a head cold and buried yourself under the covers for days until you stopped sneezing. You’re turning out to be quite the hunter.”
Sam smiled. They’d see how much of a hunter Dean was when he caught this cold.
11.
“huhh-Shushhhhh! hehhShuhhh! Huh huhh h’ptshhhhhhhh!”
Finn started to speak, but Poe held up a finger, signaling that more were on their way. His mouth hung open expectantly and his nostrils flared. His eyes remained closed.
“huhhh… huhhhIHShhhhhh! H’SHuhhhh! hehhhShushhhhh! Heh heh hehhh hehhhShehhhhhh!”
“Poe, I—“
“huhSHIHHH! huhhShuhhh! Ihhhh huhh-TSchhhhhh! Huhhh huhhh HUHDAHSHH! Ahhhh… sniff sniff!”
Finn waited for a moment to be sure it was indeed over. When no more sneezed came, he asked, “Are you sure you’re done after only eleven sneezes?”
Poe nodded. He brought a handkerchief out of one pocket and wiped it against his streaming, sniffly nose. “Yeah, I thidk I’b fidished… for dow at least…”