Chapter 12 - Meeko
This one is something I wrote while in a cold/allergy induced haze. It's probably a little OOC for the DB, but I had fun writing it so why not post it?
Everything hurt. Her arms, her legs, her lungs, her head, so much that Serana was seriously beginning to question her devotion to the woman walking in front of her.
Eyes narrowed, the vampire glared tiredly into the back of the Dragonborn past the rim of her hood, strolling in the middle of the cobblestone road ahead of her without a single trouble in the world.
Meanwhile, Serana was melting in the relentless glow of the sun.
At least she was given some shred of relief, when the branches of the trees looming overhead blocked the rays with their clusters of leaves, but even in the safety of the shade she felt unfairly drained and wanting nothing more than to collapse and maybe lay face-down on the ground for a little while.
While their mission was certainly an important one, Serana couldn't help but whine about her companion's completely normal travel plan. Rest at night, walk during the day, that's how mortals worked. Serana was not a mortal.
Serana wished they at least had a horse, so that she wouldn't have to do the work herself, but the Dragonborn insisted that they never lasted a single day and buying one would be a waste of septims.
Maybe you should say something, then. It's not like she ever gets much resting done when its dark. Serana mused to herself, red eyes downcast to watch her own boots treading slowly over the road below her. It wouldn't hurt to ask. I'm sure she'd be reasonable.
So absorbed within her own thoughts, the vampire didn't notice that the woman in front of her had stopped, but it was swiftly brought to her attention when she crashed right into the Dragonborn, causing the both of them to stumble.
"Ah! Serana," The woman breathed in surprise, not sounding nearly as annoyed as the vampire was feeling at the moment. The Dragonborn twisted around to catch Serana, who in her fatigued gloom, had continued to sway forward.
She would have let herself keep falling; the ground looked like a much better option than forcing herself to stay on her feet any longer.
"Why did you stop?" The vampire grumbled, leaning heavily to the right, and so the Dragonborn kept her hands planted on Serana's shoulders.
Though her vision was a little blurry, Serana saw a small smile on the Dragonborn's lips.
"I thought I saw a dog." The woman answered in an almost sing-song voice, a sort of happiness that the vampire had never seen before sparkling in her amber eyes.
Any other day, Serana would have been warmed head-to-aching-toe at such a pleasant feeling radiating off the normally stoic mortal, but right now all she could offer was a weary sigh.
"You.. stopped.. because...you thought you saw a dog?" Serana returned, blinking sluggishly back at the smiling woman.
The Dragonborn nodded in reply, eyes darting to the side, somewhere past the disoriented vampire, and her expression lit up even further.
"Oh, there he is!" The mortal woman declared, abandoning Serana to step behind her.
The vampire tilted in response to her absence, but now curious of the woman's current source of fascination, she caught herself and stood straight.
Serana turned on her heel to see the Dragonborn crouching, balanced on the toes of her feet to be eye-level with a ragged-looking, brown dog that stood half-way in the forest brush at the edge of the road.
Carefully, the mortal stretched her arm outward to invite it closer, which the dog responded to by timidly approaching.
"Hey there," The Dragonborn greeted the mutt in a soft voice, her friendly tone and the gentle touch of her hand brushing one of its ears making the dog's tail wag.
Serana quirked a brow, shaking her head briefly. What the hell was going on? She was treating this mongrel with the tenderness of a mother.
I am not jealous of a dog. The Volkihar vampire insisted to herself fiercely, standing in the same place the woman had left her and observing as the Dragonborn lifted her other hand to the dog's head to stroke it.
"Oh, it looks like you have a collar," The mortal woman spoke, and Serana squinted at the mess of hair that the dog possessed, only able to see it for herself when the Dragonborn slipped her slender fingers beneath it. A sloppy scrawl of letters were carved into the notched scrap of leather, "Meeko." The Dragonborn read it aloud for her.
Meeko? What a weird name. Serana commented inwardly, feeling herself slouch. Gods, I'm so tired.
She focused on the Dragonborn again, who went on petting the dog, but now her eyes appeared slightly.. watery? Was she crying? Over the dog? What?
The vampire raised her knuckles to her mouth, muffling her words behind them as she tried not to chuckle. Laughing right now would probably hurt more than it was worth. "Are you crying?"
The Dragonborn unhanded Meeko, using one of her forearms to wipe furiously at her eyes.
"No." She retorted quickly, rising from her crouch and tilting her chin upward, away from the dog. She blinked rapidly, tears starting to spill over her eyelashes and onto her cheeks.
Are you sure? Was what Serana had been planning to ask, her lips parted and ready to speak the words, but the mortal woman sneezed abruptly before she could.
The vampire was left speechless for a couple of seconds, before a wide smile began forming on her mouth, and she barked with laughter.
It hurt, her lungs straining against her ribcage and expending whatever precious energy she did have, but Serana was too delighted to care.
The Dragonborn glared briefly at her, a stream of tears now almost to her chin, before sneezing again. She tried backing away from Meeko, but the dog followed, and the vampire was able to piece together was what happening.
"You're allergic to dogs?" Serana asked breathlessly between her gradually calming laughter, one of her arms cradling her smarting torso.
The Dragonborn cupped a hand over her nose, facing Serana with her brows furrowed.
"Yes," She admitted tearfully, a defeated look crossing the parts of her face that the vampire could see. "I love them, but their fur..." Her eyes snapped shut as she sneezed once more.
Oh, this was just too cute. And too perfect for Serana to pass up the opportunity of teasing her about it.
"That is just, tragic." The vampire lamented, coming to her side, where Meeko stood awaiting more attention at their feet. Serana lowered to a crouch, and the dog was more than happy to let her thread her fingers through his tangled pelt in place of the Dragonborn.
The mortal put some distance between herself and Meeko, watching as Serana cooed to the dog and smoothed out his fur until his tail was swaying back and forth vigorously. Smugly, the vampire turned to her.
The Dragonborn wiped at her eyes again, looking more like a sad puppy than Meeko could ever hope to accomplish.
"You're so mean." She told Serana.
"Are you actually crying now?" The vampire shot back, her smirk growing sharper.
"You're so mean." The Dragonborn repeated.