Sunday Snippet: Xanthic Flu

A quick break from discussing television to talk about the crazy weather in Ohio. Okay, make that the weird weather everywhere. If you're experiencing it, let me know. LOL

Finally watched The Abominable Bride and thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the back and forth and I'll leave it there so I don't spoil anything. But I'm looking forward to seeing a new season, whenever that might be.

Excited to have my shows return but also so busy I'm struggling to keep the dates straight. LOL Nothing like having a ton work to plow through. J I did catch the winter premiere of Teen Wolf and I'm glad to have that bit of crazy to look forward to each week, especially with a familiar face returning.

Tonight's post is from Xanthic Flu, which is very much a working title at the moment. It's a novella from another writing community prompt and my main characters are going to have a mix of horrible and happy. LOL

Here's the mini-blurb:

Rowan Buel and Fuller Beckett are competitive by nature, but when they contract the Xanthic flu—a nasty virus that turns the skin yellow—at the same time, it takes their game of one-ups-manship to the extreme. Isolated and quarantined together, they duo learns working together can actually be fun.

And a sneaky peek…

Rowan Buel dug down to the root of a banta tree. "Ha! I have my final sample. How many more do you have to get, Fuller?" She smirked, because he needed at least one and she knew where he could find it.

And knowing meant she'd win this round of their continuous game of one upping the other.

He grumbled under his breath. "Why do ask when you already know the answer?" He tossed his spade several feet away.

It landed tip down in the ground and Fuller walked ahead to pick it up. Rowan carefully bagged the root specimen along with some of the dirt and sealed the pouch. Rising, she stretched out the kinks in her back.

Fuller glanced over his shoulder. "You gonna show me where to find the silica root?" His lips twisted in a wry smile. "You know where to find it, don't you?"

Her shoulders slumped. "I hate it when you take the wind out of my sails." Stowing the precious sample in her backpack, she crossed the small distance to Fuller's side. "Now I can't give you all kinds of crap because you're holding up the progress." Jerking her head to one side, she started off in the direction of the silica bush.

Fuller snorted. "Why the hell would you want to be down here any longer than necessary?" He fell into step beside her.

Rowan lifted a shoulder. "It's kind of nice to be on solid ground. We don't get to head planetside very often." She enjoyed a nice break from flying sometimes.

Fuller frowned. "We're pilots. We're not supposed to be on solid ground." He spied the bush he needed to get his remaining sample from.

Rowan laughed. "I know, but you're not bitching because we can't fly. You're all pissed off because we had to do the grunt work for the lab geeks." Orders were orders and they didn't have the time to bring a full team down to collect the samples.

Fuller crouched down and started digging through the dirt. "Why did I let you talk me into taking that stupid field test training?" He cleared a nice chuck of debris and finally exposed the roots.

Rowan gave him a wide grin. "Because I would've had more qualifications than you if you hadn't taken the course with me." And she would've reminded him every chance she had. "But, hey, you didn't have to take the same class. You could've gone for the advanced emergency medical course instead." Hearing him try to pronounce the terms correctly would have been worth it.

Fuller snorted. "Right." He glanced over his shoulder again. "I could have practiced my bedside manner on you." A smirk twisted his lips before he went back to getting his sample.

Rowan kept her mouth shut and fanned her face. The thought of his hands on her always made her hot. And not because she had any experience with Fuller. She didn't. But the idea fueled her active imagination on a regular basis.

Fuller made a confused hum. "There's some kind of pouch on the root system." He shot her a sideways glance. "Wonder if I should take it back with us." He dug around in his pack to get another bag.

A loud buzzing sound acted as their only warning before a swarm of javla bugs descended from the trees above their heads. The stinging insects dive-bombed them to protect their progeny, still in larvae stage. Rowan dashed forward, swatting at the plethora of flying nightmares trying to jab any exposed skin they could find. Helping Fuller gather up his equipment, she followed when he made a mad run for the transport carrier. The horde gave chase and landed more than a few nasty welt-raising barbs on each before they cleared the hatch and got it sealed.

Fuller stumbled into the cockpit and fired up the engines. "Dammit! I'm covered in red bumps." He swiveled around. "Rowan? You good?"

She gasped for breath but slowly made her way to the second seat. "Compared to what?" Her fingers itched to scratch at the welts. "I'm breathing and not being chased, but good? Not so much." Focusing, she started the pre-flight checks.

By the time they'd finished and got airborne, she counted at least two dozen stings—and those were the ones she could see. When they cleared the atmosphere, she finally relaxed, trying to imagine how utterly stupid they looked making a frantic run to the carrier. Her lips twitched and a laugh escaped.

Fuller shot her a narrow-eyed gaze. "Glad you've found some humor. Care to share?" He set the autonav and leaned back, rubbing a patch of bumps on his forearm.

Rowan shook her head. "Just glad we didn't have the scan-cam operating. Can you imagine what we looked like?" Another bark of laughter rumbled in her chest.

Fuller's eyes widened. "Geez, you're right. The XO would've had a field day with the footage." He unlocked the seat and angled it around to face hers.

Rowan tilted her head to one side, studying him a moment before biting back more laughter. The entire side of face had a map of red bumps littered from chin to forehead.

Fuller quirked a brow. "You don't look much better." His knee nudged hers and she winced.

He'd hit a spot where she couldn't see the javla stings, but, holy hell, she sure did feel it.

Shoulders slumping, she resisted the urge to scratch. "I'll bet I've got more bumps than you do." Why not find the positive in the sucky situation?

Fuller rolled his eyes. "I'll take that action. When we get back, we'll do a full count." His fingertips scratched at his cheekbone.

Rowan smiled. "You're on. Get ready to lose."

Gotta admit, this one is fun to write so far. Still in the very early stages but the full story is outlined and ready to go.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye