could really use a strepsil

Hidden behind the tumbling water, tucked neatly into his den, Bancha sleeps quietly. As of late, since the turn of winter into spring, sleep had not been coming easily. Sneezes rip from his muzzle, forcing his head to shake away the snot that dribbles from his nostrils. His eyes are itchy and red, his lungs wheezing quietly. With the surge of spring and warmer weather, the trees and grass surroundings them had bloomed with massive outbursts of pollen. Pollen that apparently was bothering not just him, but others as well.

Over the crackle of his small fire that warms a clay kettle he’s crafted recently, he can hear someone slurping and sneezing just outside of his den. A floppy ear lifts first before his head as he tries to peer out through the falling water to see who it is. The figure is murky, but it looks to be his brother, Umeshu. Was Umeshu feeling the same affliction as he was?

With a sneeze that forces a ripple through his body, Bancha stands from his furs and wanders out to the hidden den’s opening. Peering out, his teal eyes confirm that it is indeed Umeshu. Bancha’s tail wags a few times as he lets out a calling bark to his brother. “Come, come,” he says over the rumble of the falls. “ I might have something for that in here,” Bancha smiles but it is soon interrupted by another sneeze that irritates him enough to duck his head and rub his face with his paw.

“Ugh,” Bancha groans, turning back into the den, hoping his brother will follow. Coming to sit beside the fire where the water has just begun to boil, he waits for Umeshu to come sit as well before starting to brew anything.

BANCHA