"Sneezes?" Obi-Wan quickly grabbed a few more tissues and let his hand hover in front of Qui-Gon's face. Flushed and tender, Qui-Gon's nose looked full and ticklish and desperately in need of some attention.
"huh, heh-here dey cuhhob�" Qui-Gon blinked, breath catching and nostrils flaring. He took a few more expectant breaths and his head drew back from the tissues just a little bit more with each breath. "huhCHUSSHhooo! hutssshhSHOOShhhsoo!"
"Bless you!" Obi-Wan caught the two strong sneezes in the tissues and immediately pressed them closer to Qui-Gon's nose.
"ahCHOOffffmm!" Another big sneeze forced Qui-Gon's nose deeper into the tissues. He snuffled thickly, inhaled through his mouth, and gave a great, loud honk of a blow. The action brought on another sneeze, a strong "huhYiSShhISHHOOO!!" that sounded as if it tickled Qui-Gon's nose even as he sneezed it out.
Obi-Wan kept the damp tissues at Qui-Gon's nose until he could fetch another handful of clean ones. He replaced the old ones quickly with new, dry tissues and let Qui-Gon fill those, too, with heavy nose blows. "Better?"
"I thig so�" Qui-Gon nodded uncertainly. He pressed his nose into the tissues and rubbed vigorously. "But I wouldn't put those away just yet." Nose red and twitchy, Qui-Gon pulled away from the damp tissues and sniffled thickly. "My nose is very full."
"Oh, I think the tissue box is going to stay by you all evening. Along with me." Obi-Wan grinned. "Unless I have to get you another box. Which, from the look of that nose of yours, is entirely possible."
"Ugh�" Qui-Gon sniffled again, the sound heavy and congested. "I caught a cold right in my nose. I suppose I ought to be grateful," he paused to sniffle, finger pressed under his nose, "it's only in my nose."
"It could be much worse," Obi-Wan agreed. He pulled a couple more tissues from the box and waited for Qui-Gon stop rubbing his index finger under his nose. Qui-Gon had a bad enough cold, that was true enough, but it made it much easier for Obi-Wan to fuss over him if all he needed to fetch were tissues and tea. Especially the tissues, Obi-Wan reminded himself as Qui-Gon's nostrils quivered with after a strong sniffle. "I don't think you'll be too miserable. Just sneezy and snuffly."
"So� sneehee�s-snee�" Qui-Gon's eyelids fought to stay open. He took in a breath through slightly parted lips. His head tipped back away from the tissues, his mouth opened a little more, and his nostrils flared. "huh�huh, uh,h'huttCHOO!" Qui-Gon aimed the strong, loud sneeze at the tissues, but didn't bury his nose into them just yet. He coaxed another big sneeze out his nose, "ehh�heh, heh! het! h-TCH-HOO!" and gave his head a little shake. Remaining still for a few more seconds, he sniffed over and over again, each time the sound becoming more wet and more tickly. When it looked as if the sneezes were building up, his nose running, eyes watering, and face twitching around his nose, Qui-Gon nodded in the direction of the tissues Obi-Wan held. As soon as the tissues were close enough, he buried his nose in deeply and took in soft, anticipatory breaths. The last one caught in his throat and was quickly followed by a pair of wet, muffled sniffles, which in turn were followed by a nice, strong 'huhchumphhsshuh."
"Bless, Qui." Obi-wan held the tissues in close over Qui-Gon's nose, the snuffly beginnings of another sneeze already started. He could hear Qui-Gon breathing unevenly and feel him rubbing his nose into the tissues.
"huh� huh, hufffCHooo, uffshoo!" One big sneeze followed almost immediately by a smaller one filled the tissues. Qui-Gon snuffled damply, opened his eyes for a second, then squeezed them shut as he got ready to sneeze again. This time he started with a little, muffled 'uhchuff!' Then, in quick succession, 'herrufffCHOO, hrufffSHOO, huhhuhHURrufffSSHOOOM!" The sneezes built in intensity and the last one was stronger, longer, louder and wetter than the rest. Qui-Gon gave a short, stuffy blow into the tissues and looked up at Obi-Wan pleadingly. "Deed to blow by doze�"
"Of course� just a second." Again, Obi-Wan kept the used tissues against Qui-Gon's nose as he reached for more clean ones. Carefully, he wrapped the tissues around Qui-Gon's nose then held them firmly right over Qui-Gon's nostrils. "All right, go on�"
Qui-Gon made a move to start clearing his nose, taking in cautious breath through his mouth and tensing slightly. All of a sudden, he froze. He blinked once, then once more, then snapped his eyes shut. "hmphCHUSSHumffffshisshizzzhsshnn!" Wet and messy, the sneeze turned into a gurgling nose blow. Qui-Gon drew back slightly, pressed his nose back into the next set of tissues Obi-Wan offered him to let out another gurgling blow that transformed itself into a heavy honking one.
"Blessings! You really are going to be spending the next few days with a tissue box." Obi-Wan smiled, wiping Qui-Gon's red, snuffly nose. He rubbed it when Qui-Gon's nose twitched. "Again?"
"Not�sniff-sniff! not yet," Qui-Gon answered, nose a-twitch from the sniffs. "I can feel them though� snffsniff� few more in there." He sniffed a few more times, the sound again approaching tickly, wet sniffles. When no sneezes came, Qui-Gon leaned back against the couch cushions and sighed. He smiled when Obi-Wan reached up to stroke his hair. "You're an attentive padawan."
"I am. At least when it comes to my master I am." Returning the smile, Obi-Wan brushed the hair off Qui-Gon's face with his fingers. "I suppose I do pay attention to other things, but not the way I pay attention to you."
"Lhuh-lucky master." Qui-Gon's smile wavered though he leaned into the petting. "Especially since� since, snffsnff�sniffff!" Sniffles tickled Qui-Gon's nose once more and his nostrils twitched madly. "Since I sniff seem snffsnff�to nee-need it�"
Obi-Wan's fingers kept petting Qui-Gon's hair even while his nose twitched like crazy with the sniffles. He pulled Qui-Gon closer, first letting his mate rub his nose into the shoulder of Obi-Wan's tunic. The sniffles became more intense and convinced Obi-Wan to pull out yet another handful of tissues from the box. Using one tissue, he gripped Qui-Gon's nose loosely and coaxed Qui-Gon to work his sniffing, twitching nose back and forth in the tissue.
"sniffniff! oh, need �sneeze�" A vigorous nose rub led to a frown on Qui-Gon's face. His eyebrows drew together as he drew slowly from the tissue. Again, he let the tickle build with a series of sniffles, gasps and nose-twitches, all without covering his nose. The first few sneezes were sudden and strong, 'hahhCHOO! CHOOO! hurrCHooo, kerCHOOSH!" Before each sneeze, Qui-Gon reared his head back, as if gathering up strength to release the forceful 'chooo!' of his sneezes. The last one left him snuffling wetly, the unmistakable sneezy look still on his face. "Sdill bore," he murmured and looked grateful as Obi-Wan caught the 'heeeYISSSH!' that flew out, its only warning the scrunching up of Qui-Gon's face.
"Bless, Qui." Obi-Wan wiped Qui-Gon's nose after the sudden, wet sneeze. Taking up the handful of clean tissues, he held them to Qui-Gon's nose and waited for the rest of the fit. As Qui-Gon's breath wavered and his eyes flittered shut, Obi-Wan stroked Qui-Gon's arm gently with his free hand. Qui-Gon really was in need of attention � he had come down with a terribly stuffy, tickly nose cold, the kind that would have Qui-Gon sneezing and blowing his nose into tissue after tissue. "More?"
Qui-Gon nodded shakily. "heh�heh�hehssshumpfff!! humphffSHOO! huh, hrrufffshooshuhh�" Despite muffling them into the tissues and into Obi-Wan's hand, Qui-Gon's sneezes didn't lack intensity. A series of quick, wet 'tsssh!' sneezes tickled their way out of his nose less powerfully, a half dozen of them with little wet sniffs after each one. The final sneeze made up for the tiny ones in power � a huge, wet 'HurrrEISSSHEEE!' that threw Qui-Gon forward and led to another series of wet, burbling nose blows.
+
"huh� huh� huh-huhCHushmm! huhCH-mmshoo!" Qui-Gon muffled his sneezes into a thick stack of tissues. He had grabbed at least a dozen from the box when he first felt the tickles starting and now he held all of them to his nose to soften to force and volume of his sneezes. "oh� oh, ahh, hahuh�" Lowering his tissues slightly, Qui-Gon snuffled at the tickle in his nose. "huh�huhhuh, huhCHUHhumffshoo!" He caught the sneeze, both hands holding the tissues over nose and mouth.
"Big sneezes?" Obi-Wan asked, placing two more boxes of tissues on the nightstand.
Qui-Gon nodded. So many of the sneezes from his cold were big ones that started out with tickly nose-twitches and ended with full honking blows. His nose already felt tender and sensitive, despite it being only his first full evening of sneezes from the cold. "Can feel another nice big one coming,' he murmured, tissues again clamping to his nose as a tickle traveled down from his sinuses to the base of his nostrils. Qui-Gon raised his head a fraction. He half-closed his eyes and wriggled his nose around in the tissues. Both actions seemed to help the sneeze along, for in a few seconds, he was taking in little gasps and frowning hard. "huh�huh, hupt!" Suddenly, the feeling intensified and Qui-Gon's itchy nose quivered. "errufffCHOO-Ch'HOOM! ahh� huh, hurUFFSHOO-SHOO!" Two sets of doubles rushed out and his nose itched and twitched as they did, making Qui-Gon rub his nose vigorously into the tissues afterward. He kept both hands pressed to the side of his nose and rubbed up and down until the itch faded and he could blow strongly.
"Nice and big." Obi-Wan took the wad of used tissues away from Qui-Gon; he used a clean, dry tissue to gently rub under Qui-Gon's nose. "Not one, however."
A ticklishly wet sniffle interrupted the nuzzle Qui-Gon gave to Obi-Wan's hand. He waited for a tissue to cover his nose, and then he nuzzled in closer with his sniffly nose. "Too sniff! much tickle sniffsniff! for one, snffsnff... one sneeze."
