#OC Eshena

[sfblah]

💊 Eshena?

Holding a box of tissues on her lap, the goddess Eshena slouched on a bench and sighed. The warm sun made her feel a bit better, but there wasn’t much she could do to help her stuffy nose and aching head. Feeling yet another sneeze coming on, Eshena quickly grabbed a fresh tissue and doubled over with a strained “Heiishhoo!!”

The goddess loudly blew her nose, and she didn’t notice a rustling in the tree above her until she opened her eyes, finding herself face to face with one of her fellow deities. The goddess Ophine hung upside down by her legs from a branch, arms folded over her chest with a confident smile on her face. Eshena gasped and recoiled, scowling at her visitor as she began to recover.

“Maybe this is a bit self-serving, but bless you,” said Ophine with a smirk. Eshena rolled her eyes and blew her nose again.

“Got a cold?”

Eshena nodded dejectedly.

“How do we even catch colds, anyway? Shouldn’t we be above such things?”

Ophine shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Eshena. My symbol is a dandelion, and they always make me sneeze.”

Eshena groaned as Ophine began to chuckle.

“Ugh, leave me alone. You’re too happ… Too haah… Heh! Eht’Shooh!!!”

[sfblah]

Why not both?

Also if anyone cares about canon, this would take place between chapters 5 and 6.

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The Seat of Divinity was thought by most mortals to be a tranquil place. Poised gods and goddesses going about their business running the universe. Nothing could have been further from the truth, and only a select few would ever glimpse how truly chaotic the pantheon could be.

“Hih… Hehhh… HeiiShhooo!”

Goddess Eshena bobbed forward and sneezed powerfully into a tissue. She took a deep breath and loudly blew her nose, and then she sank back into her office chair with an inelegant snuffle. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Eshena nudged her glasses up onto her forehead and groaned before slumping forward and laying on top of her desk.

“I’m a goddess, dammit!” she moaned, her voice muffled by her folded forearms. “Why do I have to have a cold!?”

A sudden thud on her desk snapped her out of her moping, but what she saw when she looked up only made her feel worse. A fresh stack of prayers had been delivered right to her. Eshena nearly began to weep. She cupped her hands over her face and let out an agonized but muffled scream. Finally, the goddess pulled the first prayer from the stack with her left hand and simultaneously plucked a new tissue from the box on her desk with her right.

Eshena’s eyes glazed over as she read, focusing more on sniffling and sneezing her way through her supply of tissues. Eventually a particularly strong “HeiiSHOOOH!!!” made her head swim, and she let herself fall back into her chair for a moment to recuperate. Once Eshena regained her composure, she straightened up and took a moment to actually read the prayer in her hand, whispering it aloud as she scanned the contents.

“Greetings Goddess Eshena, my name is Jade Cobble.”

Eshena paused to sniff and wipe her nose on the back of her hand before continuing.

“I am a humble cleric of Ophine, but I believe a certain Jim Graves is a mutual acquaintance of ours, and I know he’s been struggling a bit to find his place. I was hoping that you might be able to help him better understand how he came to be in this world-”

Reflexively crumpling the prayer in disgust, Eshena collapsed back into her chair again.

“Ugh! Even when I’m sick this infuriating man still finds ways to bother me! If he wants to know how he died so badly, he can figure it out himsehh… Hehh! Hh-hheeh!”

Feeling another sneeze coming on, Eshena felt around on her desk for her tissue box. Her hand managed to find it, but to her dismay it was empty. With no other recourse, she grabbed Jade’s prayer with both hands and used it to smother a powerful “HeiighSHOOOO!!!”

Before even opening her eyes, Eshena took a deep breath and blew her nose into the paper. She lightly shook her head to alternate nostrils, unknowingly smearing ink all over her nose. Once she stopped and realized what she’d done, however, she felt rather embarrassed. Remorseful even, though she would surely never admit it. Blushing indignantly, Eshena rubbed her nose and tossed the damp prayer into the trash.

“Well… Um. N-not like I would have granted it anyway…”

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“Ah… Aahh… Aaahh-! Ack-CHYEEEW!!!”

Jade’s loud sneeze echoed around the temple, causing the bashful cleric to blush furiously and shrink away. A priestess approached her with a motherly smile and a tissue in hand.

“Oh my, Jade. That was quite a sneeze. Here,” she said, holding the tissue out between two fingers. Jade gratefully accepted it, continuing to blush.

“Thank you, Sister Priven. Excuse me.”

Jade sniffed, frowning at how suddenly congested she felt. Holding the tissue carefully under her nose, she took a deep breath and gave a long but soft blow.

“Are you feeling alright, Jade?” asked Sister Priven.

“I was a minute ago,” Jade replied, gently wiping her nose with the tissue. “But now I feel like I might be coming down with something…”

[sfblah]

💬 Eshena, Penny?

💬 How would your OC describe their own sneezes, in their own words?

Eshena: "Ugh! Why in the world would you ask me such a thing? It's dreadful! I'm a goddess, you know! I shouldn't have to put up with sneezing! But no, I'm allergic to dust, and I always catch a cold in the winter. My office gets dusty if I don't clean it, and if I do clean it then dust just goes everywhere anyway! This is so unfair. I need a vacation."

Penny: "I dunno, never really thought about it. Sneezin's kinda fun, I guess. Like it feels good to do a nice big one every now and then. Hay fever's a pain, though. Just gotta stay away from grass. Good thing it's not literally goddamn everywhere."

[sfblah]

Eshena: 🌸, 🔥, 📯?

Not gonna lie, I don’t have that much plotted out for Eshena. Still, I’ll do my best to answer these.

🌸 - developing a new allergy in adulthood? 

I’m honestly not sure how much Eshena can be said to actually have an adulthood, or a childhood, being a goddess and all. I suppose if she were to develop one now, she’d find it extremely annoying, and she wouldn’t be able to stop complaining about it. With a human lifespan she’d probably whine for a few months, but being a goddess I could see her bemoaning her “new” allergy for years.

🔥 - Being sneezed on by somebody else? 

She’d be extremely offended, though at the same time I’m positive she’s sneezed on others plenty of times. I figure within the pantheon all the other gods and goddesses think of her as the weird annoying one behind her back.

📯 - A sneezing fit that just isn’t stopping? 

Definitely more complaining. To the point where she’d go find other people to whine to even well after the fact. If it happened while she had a recently deceased human waiting for her, there’s a good chance she’d completely ignore them until she eventually manages to stop sneezing.