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After a successful day of fighting crime and foiling Carl and the Dark Master's plans, Yin was heading off to the flower store. She couldn't imagine what was in store for her without squealing with excitement. She had applied for a new job there, and they let her work there.
The flower store was one of Yin's favorite places to be. Every flower in stock was so extravagantly girly and colorful, she almost pitied the entire male population. She and her friends hung out here when they didn't have anything to do. Not only that, it was so close to the dojo that Master Yo just let her work there. Even better was that she could be paid a lot of money, about $100 per month.
Yin arrived at the flower store and put on her uniform, which was a pink and purple flowery apron. She had been assigned to man the cash register, and she did as she was told. It was about 5 PM (the store closed at 7 PM), so no one would be coming in anytime soon, so she started practicing her magic. She kinetically levitated some fresh wildflowers as well as a cloth, and started wrapping the flowers into a bouquet.
She was almost finished when an itch crawled up her nose. It must have been the flowers' scent, because she had to sneeze. She put down the bouquet and turned off her powers, bringing up her arm to sneeze on. "Ahhh... Ahhh...! AHHHH-Cheeeeeeeeww!"
She sneezed, but the force of the sneeze blew her arm out of her face. She blinked, sniffled and resumed her magic, putting the flowers on a stand. She accomplished her task, but her nose itched again. "Ahhh! Chiooooooo!"
Yin bent down as she sneezed forcefully. She stood back up, but her nose still itched. She put a finger under her nose. "Ahhh... oh, my..."
What was making her sneeze so much? It couldn't be the flowers themselves, she wasn't that close to them. As she tried to hold back her next sneeze, a tear shed from her eye and landed on her arm. She noticed it and gasped. It was an allergic tear. "Ahhh...! I think I've... Ahhh! Become... Ahhh! Aller... Aller... ETCHEEEEEEWWW!"
A third sneeze escaped as she kinetically blew some roses from the stand labelled "Pre-Bouquet Flowers." She recovered in time to pick them up with her magic. "This can't be tr... ahhh... ATCHEEEEEEWWWW! True. I can't... Ehhhh... ETCHIOOOOO! ATCHIOOOOO! Be... ATCHEEEEEEW! AllergiIIITCHEEEEEW! Allergic to... to... Ahhh... Ahhh... AHHH! TCHEEEEEEEW! PolleEEEETCHEEEEEEW! Pollen..."
She really didn't think she could be. But it was very clear that she was, indeed, allergic to pollen. She wasn't even trying to smell the flowers. As she sneezed, her magic kept turning off, but she managed to collect all of the roses and put them back in the stand. Just then, she needed to sneeze again. Unsurprisingly, it was going to be a big one. Hopefully, it would be big enough to be her last.
"Ehhhh... Ahhhh... EEEEEEHHHHHH! EEEEETCHOOOOOOOOOOO!!" She sneezed yet again, but her nose still itched and begged for more. She ran into the bathroom and flicked on the light switch. The light shined in her eyes, and since she was in a private area, she allowed the resulting sneezes to run wild. "ETCHEEEEEEEEW! HATCHEEEEEEEW! Ahhh... ATCHIOOOOOOO!"
After the third sneeze, she snapped her finger to her perpetually itchy nose and rubbed it as she took a few strips of toilet paper. There were no tissues in this bathroom, so she had to resort to the closest alternative she could find. She prepared for her next sneeze, as the scent of the flowers filled the entire store. "Heeeeh... Aaaaah! EEEEH! AAAAAACHIIIOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
She sneezed into the toilet paper and then blew loudly, which prevented the next sneeze from coming out. She balled up the used toilet paper and dropped it in the toilet before flushing it down. She left the bathroom and went back to the cash register. Hopefully, she had calmed down her allergies a little bit.
She sat down at the register, continuing to wait for customers, when that familiar itch returned to her nose. Her finger immediately pressed under her nose. The urge to sneeze weakened slightly, but there were flowers all over the building, causing the urge to linger at her nostrils. "Aaaahhhh... No..."
She heard a bell ring as she continued to fight her sneeze. She looked up, and through her tearing eyes she saw a green blur. Her vision returned to normal as she met a familiar person. "Lena?"
"Hey, Yin," Lena greeted her. "So you work here now?"
"Ahhh... Yeah. What can I... Aaaah... get you?"
"Do you have any goldenrod? I love those, they smell great."
Just hearing the word "goldenrod" caused Yin to lose control. Her finger remained under her nose as she approached a flower stand and started looking for some of the yellow flowers. She saw a bouquet of goldenrod and picked it up, causing her nose to twitch painfully. She really had to sneeze, but she couldn't; she had a customer. Luckily, it was one of her closest friends, so releasing a sneeze couldn't hurt. Still, her finger remained under her nose as she gave the flowers to Lena.
"Thanks... Yin, are you okay?" Lena raised an eyebrow as she saw Yin's eyes flowing with allergic tears. Her finger slipped off her nose and she aimed her head at the floor to avoid spraying Lena.
"HEEEEEEEEEEETCHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW!!" Yin released her sneeze, which was so large and loud that her ears rang. Lena gasped in surprise. She had seen Yin sneeze before, but never like that. Yin felt another sneeze coming, and allowed it to escape from her. "Haaaaaatchiooooooooooo!"
"Sorry, Lena... I'm fine." Yin's finger snapped back to her nose as she spoke and reassured her friend.
"Wow, bless you. Are you allergic to flowers or something?"
"Well..." Yin blushed a bit. "A little bit, yeah. The flowers are really... *sniff* getting to me."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Lena placed a couple of dollar bills on the counter. "I'll go, then. See you tomorrow."
Yin sighed with relief as Lena left the store with her flowers. The pink bunny removed her finger and sniffled gently, but she regretted that in seconds. When she sniffled, the scent of the flowers along with some stray clouds of goldenrod pollen filled her nose. Without warning, she sneezed again. "ATCHEEEEEEW! HETCHIIIIOOOOOO! CHOOOOOOOOOO! Haaaah... Aaaaah!"
Determined to keep from sneezing again, she took a massive sniff, but a goldenrod flower forced toward her nose and tickled her left nostril, filling it with pollen that immediately caused her to sneeze again. "AAAAHHHH! CHEEEWCHEEEEWCHOOOOOOOOO! HETCHEEEEW-HETCHEEEEEEW! Heeeeh... AAAAAAHHHHH! ACHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
Yin sneezed repeatedly even when all of the pollen had rushed out of her nose. She regretted getting a job here. If she had known she was allergic to flowers, she would never have asked for a job here. Since her allergies were so strong, she knew that she should never come here again until she got some medication, and took it regularly enough for the allergies to almost disappear. Yet she didn't bring any medication, nor did she have any of the like. She was pretty much in trouble.
Fortunately, she looked at the clock and realized that it was six-fifty-five. Hopefully, she could keep going for another five minutes. To ensure that, she breathed through her mouth, and if she needed to sniffle, she put a hand over her nose, lest any pollen be sucked in with her sniff. It wasn't much help, but it was worth a try, and she was able to stop several sneezes before even one came out. She tried not to pay attention to the flowers as she watched the sun set until it eventually disappeared.
At that point, she heard a whistle blow and she looked at the clock. It had reached seven. Quitting time. "Oh, thank good... aaaaah.... ness... AHHHH!"
She took off her apron and headed for the door, preparing to release a final sneeze before going home. She took a couple of sniffles to draw it out, then regretted that. "AAAAAAAATCHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
She released the sneeze, bending her body forwards, and then rubbed her finger under her nose as she opened the door and began her walk home. She was going to have to tell her boss that she would be quitting tomorrow, so as not to let her allergies give her any more trouble.
"I know that feel, Yin. I'm allergic to flowers and pollen myself," Lumpy said, and then rubbed his nose on his hand. "I know exactly how that feels."
THE END