Fluttershy sniffled occasionally as she stood outside. She appeared to be blushing, but she was holding a tissue in her right hoof, and her nose was slightly runny. At the beginning of the day, her nose had been stuffed up, so she figured that she needed to go outside and get some fresh air. However, not long after she left her house, her nose started running slightly. This mainly caused her to sniffle a lot, with an occasional small drop of mucus oozing out of one of her nostrils before getting sucked up back to where it came from.
Lumpy, who had been walking by and minding his own business, noticed that she wasn't looking like herself. He decided to walk up to her and ask about her condition.
"Hey, Fluttershy," Lumpy said. "You don't look so good."
"Hmm?" Fluttershy turned her head to look at Lumpy, and then spoke in a congested-sounding voice. "Oh. Hi, Lubpy. I'b dot feeling so well..."
Before she could say any more, her nose started to itch, seemingly for no reason but because she was sick. Her reddened nostrils began to flare up in irritation as a sneeze began to build up.
"Ah... Haaah..." Fluttershy inhaled twice as she tilted her neck back. Lumpy could only look on in curiosity, as if he didn't know what was going on. By the time he had figured out what was going to happen, however, he was too late.
"...chu."
Fluttershy released a quiet, barely audible sneeze that almost sounded fake. However, she had briefly forgotten about the tissue that she had been holding, and a small amount of spray escaped from her mouth and nose. By the time she had recovered from the sneeze, she saw a thin layer of saliva covering Lumpy's nose. To her own embarrassment, she realized that she had sprayed him, and he simply stood where he was with a shocked expression on his face.
Fluttershy sniffled again and wiped her slightly runny nose on the tissue that she had been holding. "Sorry, Lubpy. I thig I have a code."
Lumpy wanted to respond, but before he could get a word out, his nose suddenly twitched. He could see the end of his snout turning a bright red as his nostrils flared up, and a couple small drops of mucus began to ooze out. He would have sniffled or rubbed his nose, but he was too late to do either of those things. He, too, was going to sneeze, but Fluttershy didn't seem to get the message.
"Lubpy?" she asked.
"Ah..." Lumpy inhaled, tilting his neck back. "Aaahhh..." He inhaled again as his snout continued to twitch and his nostrils continued to flare up. "AAAAAHHHHH..." With a final inhale, Lumpy turned away from Fluttershy as he tilted his head and neck as far back as his body would allow him to. At this point, Fluttershy's eyes widened as she realized what was going to happen, but she couldn't do anything, as she was too late.
"CHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
Lumpy jerked his neck forwards as he sneezed loudly. He could feel a small amount of mucus spurting out of his nostrils from the force of the sneeze. A second later, he recovered and turned back to Fluttershy, blushing at her in embarrassment. He sniffled and rubbed his nose on his left forefinger, as he would almost always do after he sneezed.
"Bless you," Fluttershy said, politely.
"Aw, darn it. I thig I have wud, too," Lumpy said, with his voice also sounding congested due to his newly-caught cold.
"I'b so sorry, Lubpy," Fluttershy apologized, even though she had already done that before Lumpy had to sneeze. "I just... couldn't helb it, and I guess I forgot to cover by bouth."
"You dow what? It's all right," Lumpy said. "I've had a code before, and I've been sdeezed od before. I dow how it feels."
Fluttershy sniffled again and decided that she had spent enough time outside. She started to head home, but turned toward Lumpy.
"Um, Lubpy?" she asked. "I'b godda go hobe to get sobe rest. I thig I'll be okay, but I dod't dow about you..."
Lumpy couldn't think of anything to say. Instead of responding, he just sniffled again.
"But if you'd like to cobe to by house ad keep be cobpady, I guess I dod't see why dot..."
"Yeah, sure," Lumpy responded and started to walk her home. Along the way, he sighed to himself. He didn't know what was worse - being with a sick friend, or being sick himself. But as unhappy as he was that Fluttershy had infected him with her cold, he was glad that she was kind enough to let him rest at her house.
Stories Worth Wiping Your A** With
Whether you're making a deposit at the stank bank, dropping a return at the squat shop, or conducting a brown business meeting, these perfectly timed tales provide the literary fragrance your privacy deserves. F
