Something I wrote up about 2 years ago, figured I would post it here.
Inspired by this image:
https://www.deviantart.com/chromamancer/art/Figure-Drawing-Class-769911497
An air of silence hung thick in the room, save for the gentle scribblings of pencils on paper. A handful of students sat in the spacious art studio, circling a podium as they often did for life drawing assignments; the only difference this time, was their subject. With the morning sun glinting off of her ruby scales, the dragon laid in the center of the room, her head held high with wings outstretched, and the rest of her body in a comfortable, yet regal pose. Despite being the model, and knowing she shouldn't move, she couldn't keep her tail from swaying slightly in its raised position, back and forth, pleased with her majestic expression.
The dragon didn't know if the silence was due to fear, or simply diligence, but she found it relaxing either way. Her eyes were closed, her mind focused on keeping still, relaxing with each deep, slow breath she took. She could smell the faint, pleasant scent of freshly sharpened pencils, and the musty odor of charcoal dust. A few students near her front, close to her dias, were scratching away with the stuff; she didn't mind much, her own home smelled quite similar.
However, during a period of deeper meditation, almost an hour into the session, one scent started to catch her attention. She cracked open one eye, and took in a tentative sniff. Nothing for a moment... And then, she felt her nose twinge, as she let the breath back out, her slow exhale turning into a soft snort. A couple students looked up, but the dragon had shut her eyes and had returned to her pose; the sound was not repeated.
Once she felt the coast was clear, the dragon let out the breath she had been holding, this time through her mouth. One eye scanned the far wall, looking at the windows... And there it was, one was open. Someone must have done it while she had been deep in thought, and now she was getting the scent, and accompanying tickles, of pollen. Her throat ran dry before she swallowed; though not many knew, she had a bad case of hayfever. Inside had been fine, as had travelling far above the ground, but now... The dragon could feel her nose twitch again, a jab of irritation flaring up deep in her nose, before fading again, leaving her snout uneasy.
As discretely as she could, the dragon wiggled her nose, blowing a huff of heated air through her nares. A glance at the clock told her the period would be over in just under fifteen minutes, and then she could take care of the tickle on her own. She steeled herself, deciding to try breathing less often, and more through her mouth than before.
It wasn't even a minute before several more ticklish jabs deep in her sinuses made her sniff involuntarily, and she froze, mortified. The tickle had easily doubled now, a slow burn in her left nostril, halfway down her snout, instead of intermittent itches. Her snout wobbled as she tried to scratch it, only to remind herself that she needed to keep her posture for the drawing project. Unable to move, she kept wiggling her nose, trying to get any relief she could from the action.
With ten minutes left to go, the dragon drew in her first uneven breath, as it caught from a particularly ticklish twinge in her left nostril. Her right had started to itch at this point too, making each nose-wiggle a gamble, soothing or irritating. The inhale was silent, but still made her form shudder slightly, and her wings drooped for just a moment, her mind wandering to the tickle. Her maw was cracked open, before she realized this and gently shut it, redoubling her efforts to resist the allergen.
She was not having much success, however. Every so often, her chest would shudder with a hitch, her nose flaring and twitching with tickles that ran in waves from her nares to her sinuses. Every minute she fought felt like an eternity. Her body desperately begged to let her sneeze, even just once, to relieve the itch for a couple minutes. She almost caved as a fearsome tickle blossomed between her eyes, her head tipping back and one, two, three silent hitches going in... but still she held on, a shuddering sigh being let out between her jaws. To the students, it seemed to be nothing more than boredom, as the period was going to end in a little over five minutes, and plenty were already mentally checked out.
The dragon held her breath once more, the intense tickle dying down. Still twitchy in her nares, she risked a gentle snort, and, feeling nothing, drew in another breath. The tickle flared briefly, and she thought she might be able to beat it, finally, but then it surged all down her septum in her left nostril. She felt the cold, pollen filled breath swirl through every crack in her nasal passage, a feathery tickle sweeping through her nose and leaving it aflame with stimulation. She panicked, knowing that sneezing was almost inevitable now, her whole snout twisting and twitching, nostrils flaring, and her jaws cracking open with a sharp huff; her lips curved upwards in a sneezy sneer, and with her next breath, her head tipped up, and back, her wings and tail drooping noticably. Eyes growing wide, she realized it was too late to stop, and gritted her teeth.
Her eyes scrunched shut only a few seconds later, and she shook silently, chest heaving, muscles tensing all over, a choked back "HhhNKXxx...!" of a stifle leaving her dizzy, returning as best she could to her pose. But immediately after, her irritated nares wrestled control for themselves, and she couldn't stop herself. A trail of snot slowly rolled down her muzzle, leaking from her left nostril, making her nose jump and wiggle. Her scaly snout tipped back once more with tickles, as she breathed in for another sneeze... She couldn't keep them back. "HH-NXxx...! Hh-hhhuh-NKXxxxx.....!!" With great effort she managed to stifle both explosions, her shaking more notable this time, as well as the sound of each sneeze. The dragon's nose throbbed from the fit of stifles, her head spinning while she fought her rebellious snout, but her allergies were still too much. Her eyes narrowed, mouth hanging open as the tickle persisted.
"...Hhhh.... H-hhhrrruhh..." Two hitches sounded from her maw, finally loud enough to draw attention, as her chest creaked and expanded. She wanted to warn, or try to turn away, but her hitches made speaking impossible, and she was surrounded on all sides by the students, who had started to look up. "...hhhuhhhff.... Hhhrrrruuuuhhhh~...." A sigh, and then another hitch, more intense than the last. Her head pulled back further, her limbs drooping more and more, as her nose burned with tickles, each breath fanning the flames.
With great effort she cracked open one eye, a final glimpse at the clock showing three minutes until the bell. Her mind wanted so desperately to hold on, to stop the sneeze and wait, that she did manage to remain still in her pre-sneeze expression for quite some time; Wings and tail held low in defeat, her snout craning skyward as the tickle teased mercilessly at her sensitive walls. It was long enough for the students to question if she'd manage to hold back or not, and a few let their guard down just a little early.
The dragon's limbs went limp as her maw opened wide, finally giving in to the awful teasing of her allergies, a throaty "HHHUUUuuuUuuUUHHhhh...~!" drawn in. Her eyes squeezed shut once more, the tip of her snout gleaming with small streaks of wetness, upturned to the sun, with rings around each nostril. Her chest expanded fully, lifting her a few inches taller on the dias, before the tickle proved too much. A final "HRUUHH!" sounded as she hitched again, before she exploded violently.
"HhhnzzhHHRRRUUuUUuUTTTCHSSHIIIEEeEWWWwWww!!!!.. EWww.. Www..." The sneeze echoed in the large room, and was amplified from the quiet of before. The dragon's whole body shook with the release, fully committed to the sneeze, the sound of utter relief mixing in with the expulsion of heated misty spray. The force of the wind was strong enough to knock several of the students flat on their backs, while others yelped and leapt out of the way. Art supplies, paper, easels, and chairs were blown every which way, all lightly coated in clear, slimy dragonsnot. Small specks of pollen could be seen mixed in as well, dotting the messy spray with yellow. Her head barely stopped before hitting the ground, and as she blinked sneezy tears from her eyes, she took in the chaos and the wide cone of snot visible on the floor with an embarrassed blush. She returned her head to its normal position and sniffled wetly, unsure if she should try to help or stay out of the way, before her nose twinged again, her hayfever not done with her yet.
Her jaw cracked open again, and her eyes closed, giving in to a breathy "H-hhhuuuUUHhhh!" that made her snout tip towards the roof. The inhale brought back the tickle at full force, making her chest shudder, and her nostrils quiver violently, too stimulated to sneeze, or even hitch, for many long moments, until...
"HHHYRRRASHIIIII-HHIIEEeEEeWWwWww!!!!"
The ruby dragoness splattered another booming sneeze to her left, the students around her wisely having backed up enough to not get caught in the second blast. Still, it scattered the furnishings of the room, knocking them over with a loud wooden clatter. Her shuddering form rolled over, long tail swiveling for balance, but the dias wasn't built for a dragon so close to the edge. It twisted and cracked, and with a startled yelp she was cast to the floor and was rolled onto her back. The tickle was forgotten for a moment, as she scrambled to her feet, still flushed redder than usual on her snout. "G-good'eess be, I-I..." Blinking at her stuffy voice, the dragon sniffled wetly, a resounding "SSSNNNRRRKKK~!" followed by a heavy sigh. "S-sorry... I-I couldn't help it..."
She reached up to rub her snout, holding her nose in her scratching claws as the class murmured around her, cautiously collecting what they could from the floor. Her nostrils were twitching again now that the shock of her fall had worn off; she scrubbed her nose against the rough scales of the back of her paw, to no avail. "I still... it i-ihh.. itches..." She warned, sniffling and huffing gently. She paced towards the back of the room, nearer to the windows, as the clock finally showed the end of period, and the bell rang. "You could probably leave the pieces here, if..." Her nose wiggled with tickles once more, making her breath catch. "Y-yuh... You know... W-wanted to dry them out? H-hehh..." Her head snaking backwards with each hitch, she unfurled a wing, pressing her snout against her warm membranes and sucking in another stuttering breath. "H-heeehhh... HhhhEEHhh! HHHYYUUTCHHBBPPLLLBBXXXXUUUH!!!! HUH-EESHIII-HEEEEEWWW!!" The dragon let out a tremendously wet sneeze, soaking her wing, before the second explosion splattered the mess all over her snout and neck. She froze in place, hearing several students stop in place to look, but not daring to show her face. It was a grueling few minutes while the class cleared out, fighting to not sneeze yet again and spread the mess further.
Once the class had gone, she peeked over the top of her wing, making sure the coast was clear, before pulling her wing back to her side. She sat, messy snout and all, for a few moments, regaining her lost composure, before walking to close the window that had caused her so much trouble. Latching it shut, she scrubbed her itchy nose harshly against her paw, sighing. She glanced at the clock, then cast her gaze down, to the sketches she had blasted by accident, settled against the wall.
Nodding to herself, the dragoness stretched her wings, sniffling, and suddenly recoiling as the motion stirred up wafts of charcoal dust, just enough tickle stirring to reignite her allergy, especially after being so close to the window. "N-nno... Nngghhh!" She rubbed against her paw furiously for a few seconds, only to realize it was making her nose even more itchy, squishing mess around inside her walls and stimulating her twitchy nares. With a resigned huff, her snout tipped back, eyes closing again, breath hitching deeply. "Hhhhuuuuuuhhh... hhHHUuuhhh!!" Her head never turned, giving into the sneeze fully now that she was alone. "HHUUHH!!! HUUUUUUHHH!!! HHHAAAA-TTCHHHSSSSIIIIIOOOOOOOWWWFFF!!!" The sneeze exploded from her mouth and nose, quite literally, a fireball flaring around her snout as it arced towards the ground. Her body shuddered, chest heaving up as her neck snapped down.
Blinking dizzily, she groaned and sniffed, surprised to feel most of the congestion gone. Though, the elation didn't last long once she looked up, noting the now-scorched artworks along the wall, covered in snot and soot. Her nostrils trailed smoke as she sighed, rolling her eyes.
As she left, a note dangled on the middle easel. In rough handwriting, from a hand far too big for the paper and pen, it read; "Redraw opportunity this Saturday, 11am. Keep windows locked."
