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itsallsternutation · 1 year ago

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Hankies And Spice Make Everything Nice (2/?)

Part one can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/itsallsternutation/733912856588959744/a-beautiful-blossom-1-original-work-fenby?source=share

Sorry this took a bit. It takes surprisingly long to convert the stuff I write from a doc into the plain text here lol : )

If you liked this, be sure to like, comment, reblog, and all that jazz, and if you really liked it (which I'm guessing at least a few of you do) go tell me about it here on SFF too https://www.sneezefetishforum.com/topic/84545-bernis-burny-nose/

Anyway, without further ado…

Berni's Burny Nose Part 2: Hankies and Spice Make Everything Nice

The rest of the lecture wasn’t particularly eventful. That is, apart from a few more of the sneezes, sniffles, and blows that came from Berni’s poor nose. However, Sam’s big handkerchief and little smile helped her feel just a little better about each.

Sam was really starting to like Berni. She seemed nice and there was just something about her that made them smile. Besides, she seemed like someone who needed a friend and maybe Sam did too. Secretly, Berni was also really starting to like Sam too. Sam didn't know it but they were the first person Berni met who didn’t make her feel terrible about her sneezing. When the professor concluded his lecture and dismissed the class, Sam and Berni left the lecture hall together. However, before they left, Sam made sure to covertly grab a few extra tissues from a nearby box (with where they planned to take Berni, they had a feeling both of them might need a few tissues).

As the two exited the lecture hall, Berni’s tickly nose remembered it was still terribly allergic to ragweed with an intense “eh…EhgTISHEW! HehtCHOO! heugh…ehg-heh…Heeh-HIEH-HetSHOO!” and a congested snort. “Ugh fugk, I’b so sorry,” she said with a groan before blowing her nose.

“For what?” Sam asked inquisitively.

“For…being all snotty and for…egh…igh…gehg..KISHIOU! And for sneezing everywhere,” she explained stuffily.

“Bless you. Are your allergies somehow your fault?”

“Ndo,” Berni replied after a long pause, her stuffiness now reaching new heights due to fresh and extended exposure to the pollen outside.

“Then why apologize?”

“Because I feel bad aboud it…” she answered with another snort.

“You shouldn’t” Sam told her, “I bet all the stuffiness and itchiness make you feel bad enough.”

However, with this, Berni stopped dead in her tracks. When Sam realized she did, Sam stopped and turned around to wait for her. They initially thought Berni stopped because she needed to sneeze or blow her nose, but when they looked at her, they realized she was staring at them and looking freshly miserable.

��Why are…why are you doig thdis?” she asked softly, just above a whisper.

“Doing what?” Sam asked somewhat rhetorically, but also legitimately wanting to know what she felt was wrong.

“Givig mbe your hadkerchief, checkig if I’b okay, takig me to ludnch, blessig mbe…” she listed through the congestion in her nose, “Why are you beig so ndice to mbe even though I’b so igcky?”

“Because we seem like we might have a lot in common and you seemed like you needed someone to be nice to you. I know what that feels like to need that.”

Somewhat shocked and hesitant, Berni began walking with Sam again in silence. There was a long pause between the two before Berni asked, “Where are you eved takig me?” as she wiped her nose with Sam’s hanky, “idt’s not lidke I’ll be able to tasdte anythig with my ndose this blodked and once I startd sneezig again they’re just godda…shidt…AGSHIEW!...godda…ETGSCHEW!...godda tdry tdo CHOO! Hat-TISGHEW! Hik-TCHEW! Ughhhh,” she said with an extra congested groan as her nose became just as snotty and wet on the outside as it was on the inside. “They’re judst goig to kidk me oudt for sneezig all over everythidg.”

“Wow, bless you five times!” Sam interjected somewhat playfully before handing Berni one of the tissues they brought, “have you been around here much?”

Berni blew her nose hard, giving another wet gurgle which transformed into a congested honk before answering, “Ndot really,” in a slightly less congested voice. “My parents brought me here odnce when I was a kid and I rebeber thigkig the cabpus was pretty, thadt’s idt. With all the polled I’b nod sure it's so preddy aymbore.”

“Well, I’m not from around here, but both my parents went to college here and they told me a few stories and brought me on a few tours. I think I might know a place that can get you some of your consonants back.”

“If idt’s a pharmacy thed idt wod’t be mbuch help. I’b already godt some shidty over the coudter mbedicine that dosed’t work, so unless you cad getd me the prescribtion I’ve beed tryig to get forever thed you might as well just take me badk to my dorb.”

“Nope, though I don’t think getting you an appointment with an allergist would be that difficult. I’m just taking you to a place I think might be able to clear you up a little.”

“Where? HEGSHIEW!” Berni asked before sneezing so suddenly and so snottily she was left unable to cover and got just a little bit on Sam’s fall flannel shirt. “Oh mby god. I-I-I’b so so sorry. I-did’t mead to…to...HIGSHEW! HIT-TISHEW!” she stammered in apology. In that moment, she seemed like she was ready to burst into tears, but her tears were of course interrupted by a duplet of sneezes.

Fearing that Berni’s complete absorption in her allergic misery might cause her to fall, Sam quickly outstretched their arm and used it to support her. “It’s okay. I’m okay. It’s all okay,” they reassured her, “Are you okay?”

Berni stopped for a moment and looked up at Sam with a watery, pitiful look in her eyes. Then, she threw her arms around Sam, thrusted herself into their arms, and burst into tears with a weeping “Ndo!”

Taken aback by Berni’s embrace, there was little Sam could do but hug her back and try to comfort her: “What’s wrong Berni? You can tell me. I won’t judge you.”

“I haven’t been healthy in forever! I can’t even remember what it feels like anymore!” Berni moaned, “I h…hehhhh…Eggghhh…Egh-TSHIEW! I hate all my shitty hayfever for making me so gross!” she lamented, carefully directing her sneeze away from Sam’s shirt, but not completely sparing it from her spray, “I hate all the ragweed for making me so allergic TCHEW! I hate all the pollen for making me so itchy ah-ASHEE! I hate all my snot for making everyone hate me HISCH! I hate all my friends for avoiding me because I sneeze all the time AKSHIEW! I hate Japan for making me so sensitive ASHOO! And I hate my parents for taking me there! And most of all, I ESHEW! HATE! KISHA! MY! Ehht-SHIEW! DISGUSTING KASHEW! SNEEZING!”

“I…I am so sorry. I am so sorry that you feel so miserable,” Sam said with tears in their eyes as they hugged Berni tighter. Berni tried to struggle and pull herself away to stop her snot from getting on Sam’s shirt, but they kept their hug strong. “I am so sorry that it has been so hard for you to feel good about anything, and I am so sorry that everyone hates you for something you can’t control.” Sam told Berni, sniffling from their tears as they wiped away Berni’s snot with their sleeve despite her protests. “I would do anything in the world to make you feel better, and that’s why I’m bringing you out here,” Sam continued. “When my Dad went to college here, he would always go with my mom to this dumpling place where they served these spicy dumplings. When they brought me here, I was sick with a cold and so stuffy, but when I had the dumplings, all the spice cleared me up and I felt better, so here’s what we’re gonna do,” they explained. “We’re gonna go to that dumpling restaurant and you and you’re gonna feel a whole lot better. They’re gonna make both of us sneeze a lot, but they’ll do so much to clear you up. I don’t know how long the relief will last, but it’s the least I can do.”

There was a long silence between the two, and Sam was just about to ask Berni if she was okay again before she quietly asked, “Are they good?”

“They’re amazing,” Sam said, finally wiping tears from their own eyes.

Berni slowly broke away from the hug, but she looked like she felt a lot better. “Okay,” she said, her face slowly breaking into a little smile, “let’s go get some.” This was only Sam’s second time seeing Berni’s smile. Maybe if they had seen it in a vacuum, they wouldn’t have appreciated it that much, but they knew enough now to know it was the most beautiful thing in the world. It was a simple smile with a myriad of simple messages like “I feel better”, “I’m not hurting anymore”, and “thank you”. It took Sam a moment to recollect himself after witnessing this thing of beauty, but not too long. After all, they weren’t finished helping her yet. “Okay,” they reassured her, “It should be just around the corner.”

It only took a few more steps before the restaurant came into view. The smell of spices and cooking lingered in the air outside. The restaurant was fairly small, and it was surrounded by a bunch of other restaurants, including a pizza place, a hibachi grill, a poke place, and a coffee shop. There was also a pharmacy at the other side of the block, but Berni said herself that there wasn’t much they could do for her there without a prescription. None of them seemed busy, as these places normally got most of their traction during dinner and on weekends. On top of the restaurant before them, there was a large sign reading “Hot Dumplings!”

“Sign seems a little on the n…neh-neh-NehSHOO!” Berni said before being interrupted by a particularly wet sneeze, “Sorry, I guess the spice is getting to me already.”

“Bless you,” Sam said with a sniff, the spice starting to get to them too, “Why do you feel like you need to apologize whenever you…hih..Hishew! Sneeze?”

“Because I always feel bad about it,” Berni justified before taking out Sam’s hanky to blow her newly leaking nose.

“You shouldn’t,” Sam told her as they reached for the handkerchief Berni had given them. “It’s normal. No one’s a perfect little doll that never does anything gross,” they reasoned as they blew their nose in the cute blue hanky.

“I bet you’re never gross,” Berni remarked as the two walked into the restaurant.

“Hah, believe me, you wouldn’t be saying that if you’ve ever seen me sick. You should see me at the peak of flu season.”

Not wanting to alarm anyone with their sneezes, handkerchiefs, and their discussion of colds and flu, the two decided to drop the subject as they entered the restaurant.

They were the only ones inside, apart from a man behind the register and a cook lurking in the back. “Three dumplings of each kind, water, and a side of white rice please.” Sam ordered.

“I’ll have the same thing he’s…he’s…HEHSHIEW! Heh-ESHIEW! AhtSHIEW!” Berni attempted to order before letting out three extra productive sneezes into Sam’s soiled handkerchief and looking absolutely mortified.

“Uh…please forgive her. It’s allergy season for her and she’s not quite used to the pollen around here yet –ah-Ah-ACHOO!” Sam lied before sneezing into Berni’s handkerchief.

The cashier did not look particularly pleased, but he seemed more eager to get things over with. “Okay. I’m assuming both of you will be having your food to go. Will that be together and will you be paying cash or card?” he asked flatly.

Berni seemed embarrassed, but Sam quickly took control of the situation with a, “Card please,” and quickly removed a debit card from their wallet. It took Berni a moment to realize Sam was about to pay for her meal, but when she did, she quickly rummaged through her bag looking for her own wallet and tried to tell Sam, “Don’t worry. I-I-I can pay for my own food.”

“It’s okay,” Sam reassured, “It’s my treat, remember?”

The cashier only groaned, clearly annoyed both by Sam and Berni’s saccharine display and by what he perceived as their potential to contaminate the restaurant. “Just swipe your card right here, wait way over there, and we’ll get you your food as fast as humanly possible.”

Ignoring this remark, Sam swiped their card, left a particularly large tip to make up for stoking fears of contamination, and gave a warm “thank you.”

“Whatever,” the cashier muttered in response before passing the order sheet back to the employee in the kitchen.”

Sam and Berni both waited at the other side of the restaurant, breathing in the smells of spices in the air and occasionally sneezing, dripping, and blowing into their handkerchiefs. It didn’t take long for their order to come out, and when it did, they quickly took their meals to a picnic table just outside the restaurant. “Wow this is working really well,” Berni told Z through her newly runny nose, “Everything smells so good and I feel so clear. And we haven’t even…Het-TISHOO! We haven’t even eaten anything.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet. Hih-Ishoo!” Sam said with a particularly runny sneeze.

The two sat down, opened their to-go containers, and began to dig in. The dumplings were just as wonderful as Sam remembered and Berni seemed to love them, but it wasn’t long before the sneezing started. Fortunately, both had their handkerchiefs and some tissues ready to nurse their noses.

The two were about halfway between their meals, both sneezing up a storm and blowing their noses before Berni tried to say something: “These are so…heh..these are so good AGSHOO! HIESHOO! ESHOO! ATCHEW! They’re really good at clearing up my nose too. Thank you so much.”

“No pro..pro…Choo! Hachew! Hishoo! Achew Hi-CHEW!” Sam replied.

“Don’t worry, you don’t need to finish that. Bless you sweetie. And, I guess bless you for the couple thousand times before that,” Berni replied with a giggle and a “HEESHOO!”

“Whooh, excuse me.” Sam said as they wiped their nose with Berni’s blue hanky. “Hey, not only do you not sound congested anymore, but you didn’t apologize for being sneezy!”

Berni immediately blushed with embarrassment on top of her allergies, and covered her face in her hands, but Sam tried to reassure her: “No no no, that’s good. It means you’re not feeling as self conscious as you were before. Etchoo!” they explained, “you even blessed me and joked about my sneezing.”

Berni slowly brought her hands down from her still-flushed face before quietly saying “I didn’t mean to…”

“No no, Ashew!” Sam interrupted, “it means you’re not feeling as nervous and self-conscious about it. That’s good.”

Berni seemed too shocked to know how to respond, so she did so with a simple “umm…bless you,” before turning back to her food. Both Sam and Berni then focused most of their attention on finishing their meals, each letting out a few drippy, wet sneezes every few bites, before Berni broke the silence again towards the end of her meal:

“What do you even like about my sneezes? Yours are so much quieter and cuter. Mine are always so icky and loud and snotty HIEH-TSHIEW! Wow, that was a strong one.”

“I like them for the same reason I like snowflakes” Sam explained, “Even though each one is less than a second, each is its own unique little work of art. Besides, I like how strong and forceful they are. Each one shows how sensitive, passionate, and unique you are.”

“By ‘passionate’ and 'sensitive', do you mean ‘allergic’? AKSHOO!” Berni asked. “You must want to be an English major or something.”

“That I do. My main plan is to get my degree, become a travel writer after college so that I can travel the world and get some writing experience at the same time, then either write the great American novel or get picked up by some big studio or publisher or something.” Sam recounted

“That’s cool. I don’t really like traveling that much because it messes with my allergies, but it’s good you can make it part of your job,” Berni told Sam, “My parents both wanted me to go here so I can go to medical school, but I’ve always been really good at programming, I even won some prizes for it back when I was in high school. If I can get my allergies under control and get a coding job that I can work remotely for, then maybe I’ll try to give traveling another chance.”

By this point, the two had finished their dumplings and their sneezing was starting to die down, so Sam decided to start cleaning up: “Well Berni, it was wonderful to meet you and I had a really nice time, but I think both of us should start heading back to the dorms and preparing for our next classes, especially before your nose starts getting stuffed up again.”

“Okay, but can you walk me back to my dorm before we say goodbye?” Berni asked, showing Sam her cute little smile. Unable to refuse Berni, Sam obliged. The two cleaned up, threw away their trash, and began their walk back to Berni’s dorm. As they began their walk, both Berni and Sam sneezed often, still recovering from the spice, but by the end of their walk, their sneezing had been replaced by animated conversation.

“...So you’ve lived here in the South your whole life?” Sam asked.

“Yep. In a smaller town about an hour southeast of here,” Berni replied.

“Have you ever visited Japan?”

“I...I don’t really want to talk about Japan. Um…where are you from? I don’t think I ever asked you.”

“Oh, I’m one of “day-um yankees” that burned this place down a hundred and fifty years ago?”

“Ooh, what part of the north are you from? Are you from New York?”

“What, you think every Jewish guy is from New York?”

“What?...n-n-no I-”

“Relax, I’m just messing with you. My family’s from Boston.”

“Oh, cool. I played Fallout 4 a bunch, so I know a little bit about what Boston looks like,” Berni explained, “Why aren’t you going to learn writing at an Ivy League or something? If you got into here you could definitely get into them, and I bet they have way better departments.”

“Eh, my parents tried to sell me on the fancy New England schools, but they just weren’t for me. They were all too stuck up and pretentious. I like it here better. Everyone’s smart here, but no one’s an ass about it. Besides, this is one of the “Ivy Leagues of the South”, so maybe I am at an Ivy League,” Sam mused.

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Berni said, “How many times did you rehearse that?”

“Eh, I had to give a similar spiel to all my Uncles and Aunts about why I didn’t want to go where they went. I’m glad you liked it, because they sure didn’t…” Sam and Berni had become fast friends like it was nothing. Pretty soon, the two had arrived at Berni’s dorm, which Sam noted just so happened to be a few floors up from theirs. They were ready to leave and say goodbye, but just before they did, they realized there was still one last thing they needed to do: “Oh, I almost forgot, here’s your hanky back. Sorry I used a little bit. You’ll have to tell me where you got it sometime because I swear this thing is so damn cute. I’m gonna order like five of them for myself,” they said as they offered Berni the handkerchief she had given them.

“Oh no, you can keep it. I’ve got plenty,” Berni told them. “Do you mind if I keep yours though? It’s got all my snot on it, but I love how big it is. It’s perfect for my big sneezes and blows.”

“Of course,” Sam said, “maybe we can swap more hankies some time.”

“You know what, before you go, I’ve got plenty of time left before my next class. Do you wanna see my hanky collection in my dorm room?” Berni asked.

“Of course,” Sam replied.

Berni removed the key to her dorm from her pocket as she dabbed her nose with her new (albeit now quite grubby) hanky. Unfortunately, she then opened the dorm to reveal it was not as empty as either assumed. Inside was a tall, lanky, redheaded girl rummaging through a dresser whom Sam immediately recognized as Lottie.

Berni was visibly startled by Lottie’s unexpected presence in the room. She immediately moved to try to hide her handkerchief, but Lottie turned around before she could hide it. However, when Lottie turned around, it was not Berni she addressed, but Sam, “Oh, hi Sam, it’s good to see you again,” she said flirtatiously, “I see you’ve already met my roommate…”

“Hi Lottie. Turns out that me and Berni sit next to each other in Latin. I thought the lecture was honestly really boring, but I sat next to Berni and she helped keep me awake through it, so we went to go get some lunch together,” Sam explained as Berni began to frantically wipe her dripping nose with her handkerchief.

“Oh, great,” Lottie said with positivity quickly fading from her voice. “Ew, gross. Where did you get that thing? It looks like a napkin you took out of a restaurant and contaminated with all your wet goop.” Clearly deeply shaken by Lottie’s insults to Sam’s handkerchief, Berni tried to step back behind Sam to hide, but her hiding place was given away by a pair of hastily muffled

“Hrppshh! Hmpffshh!”’s

“Oh, great, now you’re sneezing everywhere. Way to kill a girl’s appetite before lunch Miss Snot Factory.”

“Hey, she has allergies. Allergies suck. She can’t just not be allergic.” Sam told Lottie.

“Yeah, but the least she can do is try to hold it in or take it somewhere else?”

“Hold it in? She can’t hold it in! And where else would she take it? This is her dorm room.”

“What’s a cute boy like you doing with her,” Lottie said, changing the subject as she moved uncomfortably close to Sam.

“Lottie, they’re non-binary,” Berni said through her handkerchief.

“No, it’s okay. I’m okay with boy,” Sam reassured, “But to you Lottie, I’d prefer to just be Sam.”

There was a long uncomfortable silence before Lottie picked up her backpack, slung it over her shoulder, exited the dorm room with a nonchalant, “Okay,” and slammed the door.

“I…I’m sorry for that,” Berni told Sam.

“For what?”

“She’s just been like that to me since I got here. Never to anyone else. Just…to me,” Berni explained dejectedly.

There was a long pause before Sam told her “You’ve dealt with enough for today. How about you show me your hanky collection.”

“Okay,” Berni said, becoming noticeably happier and giving Sam another momentary glimpse of her wonderful smile.

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