tarotgal

I plagiarized my own fic (No. 25 of And Then the Sneezing Began) to get me started on this one.

Vernal Equinox Versus Sam

It sneaks up on him.

“huhEXXSHH!”

It comes out of nowhere.

“hIXXSHHoo! Ughhh.”

Dean rolls over in bed to look at Sam. “What’s wrong with you?”

“h-h-hETXCHh!” Sam sniffs and muffles a small fit of tickly coughs into the blankets.

Dean props himself up on an elbow and feels a soft breeze wafting through the motel room, and that’s when he realizes he’s made a mistake.

“ETXCHhew!”

Dean gets out of bed and slides the window shut like he should have done last night, but it’s already too late.

Sam’s tousled head emerges from underneath the covers. “Was that op—hhETXCHh! open all night?”

“Yeah, I forgot.”

Sam buries his face in the blankets again. “hh-h-… HETXCHH! God.”

“Can I get you anything?” Dean asks.

“Breakfast,” Sam mumbles, rolling onto his back and pressing the heels of his hands into his smarting eyes as the sneezing backs off for a minute.

“The seasonal allergies special?”

Sam sniffs and nods.

Dean heads to the bathroom for the antihistamines.

Sam pushes himself upright and sits with his legs bent out in front of him, head bowed, fingers massaging the bridge of his nose and breathing through his mouth. He looks up when Dean rattles the pills at him.

“You should keep these within arm’s reach at all times, starting now,” Dean says, handing them over.

“Don’t normally need them first thi— htchhh! first thing in the morning.”

“Sounds like should get them in you sooner rather than later today.”

Sam does exactly that while Dean goes back to the bathroom for the tissues, then comes back and drops the box on the nightstand.

“Also arm’s reach,” Dean suggests.

Sam sniffles and kneads his sinuses again. He’s so stuffed up already.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just— KXSHhhew! itchy. Ugh, god.”

“You’ve been awake for two minutes. Pace yourself.”

Sam’s eyes flicker shut and he takes a deep hitching breath in. “hhrRXHSHHoo! h-h-h-huhEXXSHH!”

Dean shakes his head and goes to get some coffee started.

“hehXXSHhhoo!”

“I gotta hand it to you.”

Sam sniffles. “What?”

“You’re consistent. First day of spring, every year, like clockwork. No matter where we are, no matter if we’ve lost track of what day it is, we always know when it’s the first day of spring.”

“hhHRUHSHHoo! Ughhh.” Sam sniffs, rubs his fingers against his scratchy throat. “Happy to be of service.”

Dean watches as Sam rips a handful of tissues from the box, then leans back against the pillows as his eyes lose focus again.

“ERRXHhew! …hehTXCHHh! h… huhEXXSSHhew!”

“Sam.”

Sam blows his nose for a second, then ducks into the sleeve of his shirt. “KXSHhhew! haRXSHh!”

“I got the memo, it’s spring, you’re allergic. Knock it off.”

“Sure,” Sam says, breathless. He grabs more tissues. “hhEXXSSHhh!”

Sam blows his nose again. Dean heads to the sink to fill the coffee pot. He comes back and Sam’s sniffling softly, aiming a few coughs into his sleeve.

“You good?” Dean asks.

Sam scrubs a tissue at his nose and drops his head back against the headboard with a sigh. “Yeah, I think so. For now.”

“So, that’s it? I tell you to knock it off and you do?”

“Guess so,” Sam says. He coughs a couple more times.

“Huh,” Dean says. “Should’ve thought of that sooner.”

“Shut up,” Sam says, and then just to stick it to Dean—“huh-CHSHhew!”

“You ready for actual breakfast now?”

Sam presses a knuckle into his forehead, and for a second he looks itchy again, bleary-eyed, like maybe he’s spoken too soon. It’s still the first day of spring, after all. But he sniffles and blows his nose one last time.

“Yeah,” he says. “Breakfast sounds good.”

***

End