Phone Tag and House Cleaning (invitation)

"I'm glad we went too. I think next time we'll have to play 'kidnap the best friend' and drag Aishe out too."

Ana had just reached to insert her key in the ignition when Fallon asked about the ice cream parlor. "Actually, there's one over by the Library. The one around the corner from my apartment hasn't reopened for summer yet, and probably won't til the first of May. I don't know if they have -real- whipped cream, though; we'd have to ask!"

With a twist, Ana set her Jetta's ignition into action, and backed out of her spot. Fallon's sudden request for ice cream was a bit of a fun surprise, and Ana realized she hadn't had ice cream since Aishe's visit to her home so many weeks ago.

Thinking back upon her diet for the night - Chinese food, popcorn, and now ice cream - she knew she'd have to keep extra active over the next few days. Another thought occurred to her...

"Fallon? Does a human's diet affect the consistency or taste of their blood?"

It was so relaxing, sitting in Ana's car, though there was really no reason it shouldn't have been. Fallon was on top of the world these days, and doing nothing to risk falling off. No, she had finally learned how to enjoy life, and she was doing pretty well, she thought.

"That's okay, if they don't have real whip cream...I'll have to substitute extra butterscotch syrup if that's the case."

She giggled as she thought of all the gooey goodness she wanted to get on her ice cream, but then too, thought of Ana having to drive out of her way to get there.

"Or, if that's too far, we could probably stop at the store and get just as good..."

The rather sudden change in Fallon's eating habits would have had the woman questioning her her physical being, if she didn't already know there was no way she could ever get pregnant. There was obviously some other reason for her increasing hunger these days.

And funnily enough, she was non-plussed when Ana's own train of thought focused on feeding too, if just a little different type of food.

"A little I guess, though I may not be a big enough connoisseur, to really know. I think for the most part, since people eat such a wide variety of foods, that it all kind of blends together, and gives most blood a very similar taste. There are exceptions though...people who drink a lot of alcohol, or take drugs, had blood that I have gotten a bit high from. And I do notice some people have blood that is a little sweeter, but I'm not sure if that's because they've eaten a lot of sweets, or maybe they're diabetic...? I do stay away from very thin people, as I've found a lot of them have a week tasting blood, as if maybe by being anemic it lessens the richness of the blood? I should ask Cyrus when I see him next. He has been around so much longer than I have, I would think he would know, if anyone did."

Aside from the taste of the blood, Fallon noticed something else effected her when she fed. Strangers...strangers blood was never quite as fulfilling to her, as that of someone she knew. Though Ana was the only person she could compare to, in that category...well, and Tristan. She had known him a little before she fed from him.

"Your blood...is better, and I'm not just saying that to give you false compliments either. Cyrus' blood has an effect on me like no other, but your's is right up there...in the top five."

Fallon laughed.

"I'm sorry, but this whole conversation must sound so macabre. Why did you want to know?"

"It's not too far at all, Fallon, but let's see what we can find."

Ana listened intently to Fallon's explanations about blood and feeding. She knew she wasn't diabetic, and in fact had lost her freshman fifteen long before her junior year of college. She also wasn't a thin woman, by any stretch of the imagination. She was half tempted to ask Cyrus herself, but realized it might be odd for him to be questioned about such things from the friend of his lover.

She did have the courtesy and grace to blush when Fallon commented her own was in the top five of her preferred meal choices. "It doesn't sound macabre at all, Fallon. No different than women talking about their periods or their men or whatever. Though I'll be honest, I've never had a female friend I've felt comfortable enough with to broach either subject. And I just wanted to know," she said, blushing again at her pending response, "whether there was something I could do to help make my blood more palatable or something. Of course, now I remember how you told me I was 'so very sweet' so it very well may be a moot embellishment."

After Ana's explanation, Fallon could see where it would be a natural curiosity to know more about.

"I think your blood would be sweeter no matter what you ate, just because it's yours. In that way, I would have to say the flavor of a man's semen isn't always determined by what he eats either. I don't know if this is the case, but I'm thinking emotion may flavor a person some."

And while that may have sounded somewhat cryptic, it made all the sense in the world to Fallon.

"And then too, I could be a total aberration."

If Aishe got her wish, Fallon could compare notes with her as well. Though her life was still full of questions, at least Fallon no longer got frightened by them.

Ana's blood continued to keep her cheeks filled even as she smiled at the ongoing compliments. "Thank you for saying so, Fallon. And you're not an aberration; you're an amazing woman!"

They pulled into a spot outside the ice cream parlor near Ana's library. As she put the car in park and shut it off, she confessed in a whisper, "There's so many more questions about that that I want to ask you, but that's something for another time." Raising her voice a bit, she said, "I am ready for that ice cream now, though. Do you want to eat it here, or take it back to my place?"

Ana looked so cute, red cheeks and all. Fallon reached over and rubbed the side of her index knuckle along the warm skin.

"I'm only as amazing as my friends help me be...just as you are."

Unlatching her seat belt, Fallon sat forward, about to open the door, when she paused at something Ana said.

"Ana...why do you do that? If you have something to ask, or that you want to talk about, what's wrong with now? You may not have noticed, but I have an AWFUL memory. There is a good chance if you're hoping I'll remember to ask about it later, I'll forget."

Fallon gave Ana a funny frown.

"Let's take the ice cream back to your place, and maybe I won't forget then."

Getting out of the car, before Ana could answer, Fallon ran around to the other side of the car, and grabbed Ana's arm, pulling her along to the ice cream place. She kept repeating in her head...'more questions...more questions...more questions.'

Pulling open the door when she reached it, she ushered Ana inside and directly up to the counter, where she inspected the menu.

Ana felt like her skin was on fire with the sheer amount of blushing she was doing in Fallon's presence. It was a good feeling.

She was curious though why Fallon would want her to ask things when she thought of them. She would definately need to explain to Fallon that she had quite a few questions about vampirism, and that sitting in an ice cream parlor just wasn't the right place to be indulging in them.

Suddenly her door was open and she found herself dragged along behind Fallon, inside and to the counter. "I know what I want, so if you want I'll order it while you peruse?"

Ana stepped up to the counter. "Triple scoop tiramisu with peanut chips please, and a pint of Superman waterice. To go."

Superman waterice was a wonderful concoction of blue-raspberry, strawberry, and lemon waterices. Ana hadn't had its like in New York, and she enjoyed every spoonful.

Feeling like a child in an...ice cream store, Fallon was having a difficult time making up her mind. Finally she decided on the 'Build Your Own' sundae, with vanilla, and chocolate ice creams, butterscotch and marshmallow syrups, sprinkles, nuts, whip cream, and of course the cherry.

Watching the flurry of service before them, Fallon turned to Ana.

"What is Superman...waterice? Oh, and yes, mine's to go as well."

Having forgotten to tell the boy behind the counter when she ordered.

Before they had been there any time at all, they were both handed white bags with the store's logo on the front, and were headed back out the door to the car.

Questions...more questions...

"Want to ask me those questions now?"

"Water ice is a frozen treat made of water and flavor and sugar. It's called shaved ice in other places, like on the West Coast. You can try it if you want. It's a Northeast delicacy during the summer." Ana handed the cashier a twenty and took her change.

Ana climbed into the car with Fallon and asked her to hold her bag. As they were driving, Fallon reminded Ana she'd had questions. "Can we wait til we get back to the house? I'm not quite sure how I want to word them yet."

Ana wasn't sure how Fallon would react, and she also didn't want to put a burr in their wonderfully smooth night.

"Like a snow cone?" Fallon hadn't had a snow cone in years, but remembered she had liked them.

She took Ana's bag with her own, buckled in, and was looking forward to her sundae on the drive back to Ana's.

"Sure, we can wait, though you have me all kinds of curious now. I do hope you're not worried about anything you might say or ask of me. I'll tell you now, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you...and nothing you could ever say to me, would be off putting. I may need a bit to think about some things, before I could answer, but the days of me avoiding things is long gone...I hope."

And she believed that, heart and soul. Fallon still wasn't living the way she wanted without planning. Many of the things she did, were still habitually reactions to her past twenty eight years of conditioning. But more and more she was catching those things early on, and diverting her reactions to more positive, productive ones. Having Ana around her, being with her, supporting her, was part of the reason she was making such wonderful strides in this rebirth.

Ana shook her head at Fallon's likening water ice to a snowcone. "Not as granular. Much more fine. Kind of like the difference between regular sugar and confectioners'. Much better rainbow tongues," she said with a giggle.

"Well, I'm curious too, hence the questions. Both of us know only what we know of each other from that day we met at the restaurant at the Piazza. I want to ask where you came from, I mean, pre-vampire Fallon, but I figure," and she paused to make a turn, "that it could very well be painful to recall. I want to ask you about," and she paused again, pulling into the apartment's garage, "after you arrived in Nachton. Because something tells me you were still human when you came here. Or you might not have looked as... worn... as you had that first night. Not to mention eaten so little." Parking, she winked conspiratorially at Fallon. "My life is an open book for you. I want to learn more about the foundation that built the tower of strength that is Fallon Tierney." Smiling, she climbed out of the car and opened Fallon's door for her. "Madam."

While the water ice still had Fallon's interests piqued, she had moved her attentions onto what Ana said next.

She was shocked when Ana said she didn't know Fallon's background. For whatever reason, Fallon thought the two of them had already discussed that, ages ago. However, being that this was not the case, she appreciated Ana's discretion in not blurting all that out earlier.

"I'm sorry...I've wanted to ask you a lot of things too, but was afraid of putting you in the position of reliving painful memories as well. Though I can honestly tell you, my past is no longer painful."

Thinking a bit about where to start, Fallon waited until they pulled into the parking spot, then laughed when Ana opened the car door for her.

"And thank you madam, for your generosity tonight, as well as your courteous attentions."

Making a semi-big to do about getting out of the car, very stiff and formal like, Fallon relaxed into her own persona, once the car door was closed. Holding the two bags in one hand, and her purse on her shoulder, Fallon grabbed Ana around the waist with her free arm.

"Now, let's get inside where we can dig in to both the ice cream, and each other's pasts."

"Why should you be sorry? It hasn't been anything our friendship is predicated upon, I mean, knowing each other inside and out. And while some people are content not to know... Well I'm curious. You've changed significantly since we first met." She gave Fallon a warm smile. "Besides, I wouldn't ask you to speak about something you still found painful, unless you thought the sharing of that pain might help it go away."

Ana nodded graciously as Fallon stepped out of the car and made primp and proper movements. She reached for one of the two bags but was stymied by Fallon's stubbornness to carry both. Instead she concentrated on holding doors for her friend. "Ice cream digging sounds fun. Want a bowl for some water ice?"

Though she already knew everything Ana was saying, it was nice having some of it reconfirmed. It was also more than just nice that Ana was so receptive to Fallon, and ready to be there for her. Fallon could only hope she was being as good a friend.

"Maybe I'll try a bite of the water ice, but even now I'm wondering why I got such a huge sundae."

And giggling, she really did wonder how her eyes suddenly became so much bigger than her stomach. She was still craving the sweet treat, but knew darn well she'd never eat it all.

Once they made their way back into the apartment, Fallon unpacked the bags, and found spoons in Ana's drawers. Placing one next to Ana's treats, she didn't know which one her friend would be eating so she left them to her to decide. Fallon stuck her spoon in deep, and scooped out quite a mouthful.

"Ummmm...this is so good."

Walking over to the couch, she plopped down in the spot she had vacated earlier, and blushed as she realized she maybe should have waited for Ana to join her before she began eating.

"Ok...do you want the short or long versions of 'Fallon - the early years'?"

"Well," Ana said with a playful nudge, "It's not like you have to worry about putting on weight!"

Ana spooned two large tablespoons-full of the waterice into a bowl, and popped the lid from her tiramisu ice cream. Picking up the spoons Fallon'd left, she kicked her sneakers off towards the table before joining her on the empty cushions. She held the waterice bowl out to Fallon as if to say "here it is" and set it on the table. "Start wherever you want. I've got time!"

In truth, Ana could have stayed awake all night listening to Fallon talk, just spending time with her friend. She had a brief imaginative flash of Fallon, Aishe and herself on side-by-side seats in a small movie theatre, gabbing over a plate of assorted treats and snacks. Shaking her head, she focused again on the teacher before her and got comfortable with her ice cream.

The hour was late, but not too late for Fallon. As it was, she normally would have been just now been thinking about finishing up her class, and leaving school soon.

Wiggling a little against the couch cushions, Fallon felt cozy, and after swallowing another bite, began to reveal the details of her life, pre-Nachton.

"I grew up in Oregon...a little town along the coast. Thinking back on it now, it was a very pretty place. I just never really got the chance to appreciate it. My 'father' never was around, and my mother wasn't either, for that matter. Though she did manage to make an appearance now and then to smack us around a little, and remind us she really was our mother."

Not much bitterness crept into Fallon's words at all. It had been a long time since she had experienced her childhood, and so much of the memories had been pushed deep. So instead of pain or bitterness, her words were more detached, as if she were reading the story of some stranger.

"I've two older sisters, or did have at one time. I've not seen either one in...close to fifteen years. I've a younger brother, who was living in Texas as recently as...five years ago? But I don't expect to see or hear from any of them again. We all seem to have left Oregon with a similar thought...that part of our lives was over. We were never close, and there wouldn't be any purpose to trying to establish a connection now."

Her sisters Fallon didn't think about once they left home. Occasionally she hoped her brother was happy. For the most part she didn't think of him at all.

"I left home to go to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, after getting a small scholarship. I worked as a waitress though, to pay for most of my tuition. I did have a small student loan, but made sure to pay that off while I was married."

Another bite of sundae, and Fallon smiled again at Ana.

"Feel free to jump in at any time you feel yourself nodding off."

Ana had just gotten her spoon into the last lump of almost-melted tiramisu ice cream when Fallon mentioned nodding off. "Nod off? This is better than a soap opera! Er, well, not that I've ever really -watched- a soap opera," she confessed with a wink as she put her empty container on the table. "I actually kind of envy you your siblings. My older sister died when I was three from an allergic reaction to peanuts. So, siblingness is pretty much a mystery to me. You and Aishe are the closest things to sisters that I have."

Ana leaned over to the coffee table and picked up the little bowl of Superman waterice. She used her spoon to quietly remove the now-melted liquid from the bowl. Showing the purpley-brown tint of her tongue to Fallon, she set it back on the table. "If you want anything, let me know. But don't let me stop you!"

If Ana could find something of interest in Fallon's tale, she guessed it was worth the telling.

The sibling issue Fallon might have understood, if her sisters and brother had been true siblings. But they weren't. She did frown slightly, hearing Ana's sister died so young, but knowing at her age Ana probably wouldn't have suffered much in the way of grief, she didn't comment. She agreed and nodded at the similar thought she had just had about Ana and Aishe. Snickering at Ana's tongue, she took another bite of sundae, shook her head no to the offer of anything else, and went back to her story.

"So...while I was working, and going to school, I met this guy. Ted." Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, she paused only seconds. "He seemed perfect. He was so attentive, and seemed so suave, I was taken in immediately and before I barely knew his middle name we were married.

Then the real fun began."

Shifting in her seat just a little, Fallon took her last bite and put the left over sundae on the table next to Ana's empty tiramisu bowl, and crossed her legs in front of her, while sitting sideways on the couch.

"We weren't married any time at all, when he started telling me to do things. Not asking, or even politely suggesting...demanding. And then on the occasion I might forget to comply, he began reminding me by yelling at me, slapping me...then hitting me. What they say about people who are abused was true in my case. Since I had grown up around both verbal and physical abuse, once the initial shock of getting it from him wore off, it became as if I was due it.

I couldn't just leave...at first I didn't even think about it. He told me he would come after me, and I know he would have. He even threatened my brother a few times, but quit when I didn't react. And because I had bills to pay, as well as still taking care of my brother financially, I stuck it out.

When I finally was out from under any financial obligation, I began planning my 'escape', pretty much as I had done when I left home. By that time I had come to realize Ted wouldn't come after me at all...he was too damn lazy. And once I had saved up some money, carefully hiding it away, I got in my car while he was at work, and just left."

Needing to stretch her legs, Fallon turned so her back was against the couch, kicked off her shoes, and put her crossed her feet on the edge of the coffee table. Smiling, she remembered how scared she had been, and yet how she pushed herself to make it to Nachton.

"I told myself I would drive until I had a sign, and that would be where I would make a new life. I had hardly passed the 'Entering Nachton' sign, when the car got a flat. And that is how I came to be in Nachton."

Ana realized Fallon's home life could not have been too fulfilling if she'd just left home to escape. Ana could barely begin to imagine that, having only ever truly escaped a situation that, in her mind was nowhere near as outright contrary to imagination, just once.

She did continue to listen though... She'd known Fallon had held information back about herself, but she never imagined the depth... And to find out that her husband had been abusing her, mentally, physically... Who knew how else? Ana wasn't going to ask. It made her hands curl into fists a few times.

She scooted across the couch and gave Fallon a big hug, wrapping her arms around her friend. "I'm so very sorry you had to endure that, Fallon. But I'm also so glad that you're away from that now, with so much a better person..." She leaned back and smiled ruefully. "You'll forgive me if I don't truly consider ... that previous creature ... a man. He doesn't even deserve the title, the honor, of being called 'Fallon Tierney's Husband.'" Ana nodded with finality, then gave her friend another strong hug.

"I can see now where you got so much of your strength... So many women unfortunately bow under the pressures of ... that treatment ... I'm glad you did drive away, and I am glad your car decided to go flat outside Nachton."

She stood and said, "Give me a moment to clean up our bowls and spoons, then pee, and I'll be right back." Squeezing Fallon's hand, she carried the dishes, containers, and spoons into the kitchen. "Did you want me to save your sundae?" she called from the little room. Just in case, she put it in a small Gladware container and put it in the (woefully empty) freezer.

Exiting the kitchen, she hopped over to the bathroom and, closing the door behind her, went about her business. Washing her hands when she was done, she returned to the couch with a flop and a sigh. Flicking her hair behind her head, she said, "Okay, I'm good."

Not only did she accept the hugs, but she returned them as heartily. Not that she needed them for her past, but she wanted them for her present, and future.

She also didn't dispute anything Ana had to say about Ted.

"At least I'll truly never need to worry about him again...recently he was shot and killed in a freak hunting accident. Though I'm sure he was probably drunk off his ass, I was just relieved to hear he wouldn't be terrorizing any other women in his life time."

Fallon toyed with tellin Ana about the ability she had come to realize she had, and how she felt her life leading up to Nachton had contributed to it. But Ana took that time to go about removing the ice cream things, and doing her bathroom duties, so Fallon contented herself with relaxing on the couch.

"Well then...that brings you up to a few months back.

Once I got to Nachton, and knew I would be staying, I started looking for a job. One night, after not much luck in that department, I was out being a tourist at the marina. In fact, I was actually in the tourist center, looking at fish, or something, when this guy came in.

He was an okay looking guy, but was acting really strangely, so I decided to leave. And then he put his hand under my hair and spoke to me. I don't remember what he said, but it didn't matter. He had come to terrorize me, and he was succeeding."

Fallon smiled a slightly odd smile, and continued.

"Self preservation must have kicked in at some point then, because I remember running, from him, and the tourist center...as fast as I could. Then, not totally unexpected, I lost my footing and fell onto the asphalt parking lot...and I was so close to my car too.

He didn't waste any time, and even if I hadn't fallen, I'm fairly sure he would have got to me before I reached any safety."


She paused again, but this time to take notice that she was still more effected by this part of her life then anything previously. That surprised her, as she thought she had gotten beyond all this too.

"Panos...his name was Panos, and he kidnapped me...forced me to drive him home...locked me up in his home...and he says he was overcome with thirst, which led to my demise. He says he thought to keep me as a familiar, but in taking care of my torn up knee...I scraped the shit out of it when I fell...he couldn't contain himself and his bite became more than he intended. I guess I do have to thank him though, for not just letting me die, though at first I never would have."

And had Panos not turned her, she never would have met Cyrus, or Ana, or Aishe, nor become part of Anantya.

Fallon paused to collect her thoughts.