Fabula Obscrua

Known this all along - 2 - RSD

Known this all along

The same animals we've always been

Elloreah woke in a haze of dry mouth and confusion. The TV blared and she blinked at it, trying to make sense of the flickering images. She sat up as she realized it was some sort of wildlife documentary, focused on procreation.

She rubbed her face, mesmerized by the aggressive way the large cat mounted his mate. A flash of a memory of teeth on her own neck caused her to shudder, and she rubbed at the place.

She was sore. All over, as a matter of fact. She forced herself to her feet. Coffee, she needed coffee, she decided. After enough caffeine she might be able to recall exactly what had happened to the night before.

Stumbling into the kitchen, she found a clean glass and filled it with tap water. Drinking it, refilling it, and drinking again, she felt considerably less horrible. With that, she rinsed the pot and filled it, proud when she finally poured it in, she managed to get most of the liquid into the coffee maker. Four scoops of grounds, and then turned it on.

As she leaned against the counter, listening to the coffee percolate, she wondered over the previous evening. A bar, she'd gone to the bar. Since Sarah's illness, she frequented the old haunt more than she cared to admit to herself. She closed her eyes, and leaned her head against the cabinet.

And that's when she remembered. The man, the hazel eyed cowboy she'd noticed at the bar. Long legs and firm ass all wrapped up in too-tight wranglers. She just couldn't help herself. She groaned as her all too tasteful pickup line came back to her.

She'd sauntered up to him, and said simply. "Look, I know you find me attractive. I've seen you looking at my breasts. So, lets cut to the chase. We'll have a few more drinks, and if you're willing, got back to my place."

He'd been willing, and accommodating to her demands. She wanted to smile, to feel pleased with this little escapade. After all, it had been a great deal of fun at the time. But all she felt was empty, as she had for so many weeks now.

She'd relapsed into drinking. Two years, clean and sober. All for what? A chance to forget, to pretend for a night that some sweaty boy she'd found in a bar could even begin to replace... She stopped herself there, hugging her arms around herself.

Mingan. He'd reminded her of Mingan. Mingan, who had left soon after Sarah had returned home. Who had disappeared from her life again, just when she needed him most. Sure, Sarah was recovering, but Elloreah wasn't. She couldn't.

* * *

She made her way to Sarah's sprawling old house. Such was her routine these days. See Sarah, help out in any way she could, head home and wallow.

She found the woman doing surprisingly well, out in the garden, sitting on a bench as she watched little Liza playing. Elloreah couldn't help but smile as she made her way through the lush, fragrant garden.

"Nice to see you out," she called.

Sarah turned to her, and Elloreah's heart tightened just a little. When they'd first met, the woman had been in her early twenties, light, freckled skin tight and tanned, thick blonde hair always pulled back in a long, horsetail length braid, brown eyes sparkling. She was a cheery woman, optimistic, and always had been. Elloreah had loved her dearly, and still did.

Sarah had a motherly nature, and while by the time they'd met, Elloreah had seen far more of life than Sarah had yet, she still cared for Elloreah as she would any wayward wanderer. She became the surrogate mother Elloreah had never realized she needed, caring for her with a tenderness she'd never known.