Sunday Snippet: The Xanthic Flu

Whew! My daughter's third prom is down and out of the way. She's the junior class president so I had chaperone duties and, wow, let me tell you… I ran my ass off last night. LOL And, of course, the weather ended up being a complete downer. Rainy and actually pretty chilly for the end of April. However, I think this year's dress is pretty much my favorite.

Anyway… while I'm putting my feet up, I'll dive into this week's television viewing. I Finished up Iron Fist and it didn't disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed Ward and Joy's conversation. I'll be really happy to see Davos taken down. I want to be sympathetic, but yeah, not really feeling it. Misty and Colleen need their own show. Just saying.

Caught the Classic Roswell episode, "Heat Wave" and it's one I really loved when it aired the first time. Still loved it this time around too.

Watched the Arrow Elseworlds episode. Quite enjoyed it even though it's the only one I've seen in the crossover event. I'll have to catch The Flash and Supergirl when they make it to a streaming platform. It really annoys me that full seasons aren't available on the network's app. Or at least keep the crossover on for the full season.

Also caught another episode of Murdoch Mysteries. Based on a little google fu, it looks like there will be another season, which makes me very happy.

Watched episode three of The Murders and I like where this show is going. I'm kind of happy to know why Nolan isn't a big fan of Paul in guns and gangs. I'm also glad to have a little more insight into Kate's relationship with her mom.

Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries is such a great spinoff. I really hope there ends up being another season of this one. The second episode had terrific chemistry between all of the characters and I'm such a fan of the secondary ones.

I have some things to discuss about Roswell, New Mexico's finale and I'll save those for later. Caught an episode of Painkiller Jane and it's one I like the first time around. Answers start revealing themselves about Jane's ability. I truly do wish this series had a second season if only for more of those.

Underbelly Razor's penultimate episode dropped some big moves and is titled the same. With one more episode left in this incarnation, I'm excited to see how things end for the women.

Watched a Midsomer Murders episode and, well, found it kind of odd. Then again, with fourteen seasons in front of it and several more to go, there has to be an odd one here and there, right?

Caught two more episodes of Peter Gunn and I don't remember seeing either of them previously. I'm such a fan of how Peter's group of friends and colleagues add so much to the show.

Okay… Roswell, New Mexico's season finale. Wow. Seriously. It's been a long time since a show gave me a gut-punch feeling and I'm not quite sure how I feel about having one. The episode had so much going on, but all the episodes usually do. The acting ended up being stellar, from, I'm not kidding, everyone. As for where things went? I'm honestly still working through how I feel. I'm thrilled there's a second season, which hopefully means a solution for the thing that happened. I haven't decided if I trust this showrunner yet. So far, I've loved everything from the characters to the plot points, even with the somewhat neglected Maria, and pulling a shock-value move makes me slightly twitchy, hence my inability to fully trust how things will play out. That said, you can bet my ass will glued to the screen when the second season premieres, so there's that. I might have more about the season overall on my sister blog Universes Altered.

And that's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from The Xanthic Plague (or Flu… I haven't quite decided yet), a novella that started with a writing community prompt of creating a scene or story where the characters are sick with a cold, the flu, something where all they can do is sit back and let others take care of them.

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…

Fuller backed out of the shower stall and grabbed his towel. "Shit. No way." He carried it with him into the changing area instead of drying off. "It'll just make me itch more."

Rowan groaned. "Wish I'd thought of that. I'm dying over here." Her arms braced against the locker and her head hung low between her shoulders.

She didn't have a stitch of clothing on.

Geez. Under better circumstances, I'd enjoy the terrific view.

But… her back had at least a dozen welts, standing in stark red contrast to her pale skin. His probably matched. Those damned bugs were relentless. She even had a couple of raised areas on her very nice ass.

Rowan heaved a sigh. "How many?" Her head rose and she angled to look back over her shoulder.

Fuller blinked and cleared his head. "Uh, what?" Hopefully, he'd kept his blatant staring hidden.

Rowan smirked. "Bites. How many bites do you have?" She reached inside the locker and yanked out a T-shirt.

Okay, he hadn't managed to keep his ogling under wraps.

He tossed his unused towel in his cubby. "Ones I can see? Twenty-two." His arms were covered and his neck had several on each side.

She checked him out. "Looks like you've got a line of them going up your ribs." She held up her right arm. "I got a string on my inner bicep." Sure enough, four welts dotted her skin in an almost straight path.

Fuller angled his back around. "Got three on my back on two on my shoulders." They itched like crazy, probably because they were talking about them.

Rowan snorted. "Did you count the three on your ass?" She raised an eyebrow.

Fuller snarked right back. "Did you count the two you have there?"

She groaned. "Dammit. That puts me at twenty-three. You've got me beat." Her face brightened. "You know, I think I'm okay with your win on this one." She gingerly dragged the T-shirt over her head.

Fuller rolled his eyes. "Figures you're all grace and goodness when I come out ahead with something that sucks ass." He dreaded putting clothes on and having the fabric chafe at the bites.

Rowan shimmied into a pair of fatigues then winced. "Shit. This is awful. I'm not even fully dressed and the itching is insane." She flexed her fingers but didn't scratch at the various bites covering her.

Fuller finished dressing and couldn't disagree. No way would they get much work done if they didn't find some kind of relief from the bug bites.

He left his shirt untucked and closed his locker. "I'm going to check in with Doc Ambrose in the infirmary. See if he's got anything to alleviate the itching." He glanced over his shoulder. "Wanna come with?"

She grimaced. "Not really, but I will. Haven't had clothes on for five minutes and I already want to strip back down to nothing." She fell into step beside him. "Something tells me the XO won't let us walk around naked."

Fuller snorted. "You've got a point." He leaned in closer and pitched his voice low. "Although, I wouldn't mind the view. Welts and all." He straightened and kept his gaze straight ahead.

Rowan carefully nudged him with her shoulder. "You say the sweetest things. I'd bet my next pay grade you'd have half the ship lined up to watch you pull a maintenance detail if you weren't wearing anything."

As far as compliments went, he'd take that one, especially coming from Rowan.

And she'd be about the only person he'd want to watch him work in the nude.

They think the worst is over… it's so not. LOL

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

ML Skye