Dead Lies and Good-Byes (Mature) -- KEEP

[Teris]

Was it totally cliché for her to find that gnarled tree interestingly attractive to her mind? No, she was not a “tree humper, hugger”, whatever, but the formation of the tree, the way it leaned to the side, made her think of artwork. It seemed almost sad, though happy. A few fluttering leaves clung feebly to a branch, whipping around in the wind that came and went in strong blasts. It would twist and tug at the longer strands of her hair, as if angry at her and trying to rip the strands from her scalp. Obviously it didn’t work, though the late-teen found it troublesome and annoying whenever it came around and poked her in the eye. She blinked strongly when another piece stung momentarily, reaching up and plucking the string from her eye and tucking it behind her ear where it was just caught in the next wind and gently stung her cheek. Her eyes were still on the tree though. It reminded her of a veteran of war, you know, one of those really old ones where you wonder who they’ve managed to stay so long. Especially after seeing what they’ve seen, it would make one think that that would lesson their ambition to remain on this plane.

On the other hand, experiencing something so horrid could make a person stronger. As the saying goes, ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. If you asked her, surviving bomb explosions, bullet after bullet, disease, rats, mud, rot, etc, if the person hadn’t died by the end, they probably weren’t going to for a long while after-wards. Then there were those odd cases. Like that person in the paper a few years back. Fell thirty feet and only broke and arm. Doctors wondered and marvelled how he survived –no he was not a vampire or lycanthrope-, and eventually they let him leave the hospital basically the next day. Yet three weeks later, he gets a paper cut and almost dies of a staff infection! The ironic’ness of the situation is almost humorous.

She glanced up. The sky was dark and churning. Seagulls flapped against winds, plunging forward and then being driven back by a gust. She admired their persistence. If Anna-Leigh had been a seagull, she would have just squawked “Screw this!” and flew down to waddle. Probably would get places faster. Then again, there’s always that issue of being hit by a car… One of the seagulls made an odd squeaking noise before diving down slightly and plunging back up. In the gray clouds, the dive was both dramatic and beautiful. While Anna-Leigh didn’t particularly enjoy being pooped on from some random bomb, or having her french-fries stolen, she had to admit, these birds were beautiful, no matter how disgusting they were.

Distracted by a chirp, Anna-Leigh glanced again at the tree and found a tiny bluebird perching on one of the thinner twisted pieces of wood. It chirped again, tilting its head as if it were staring at her with its small black eye. She watched it back, a glimmer of a smile flickering in the corner of her lip. ”Hello there.” She said to it candidly. It chirped again, fluffing up its feathers and burying its beak into its chest slightly. ”It is chilly, isn’t it?” She commented, wrapping her coat tighter around her body and giving a small shiver now that she took notice to it and glancing around. The bird chirped once again, and she looked over at it to smile, glancing after it as it took off to do whatever. Probably find shelter out of the coming storm.

Glancing up, Anna-Leigh took notice of how the clouds were becoming visibly darker, it almost looked like it was night, despite the fact it was mid-day. She supposed the vampires would be happy today, they’d have longer time outside. Plus according to weather stations, this weather was supposed to keep up until 4:00pm tomorrow. Assuming it was about time she left, Anna-Leigh was pushed with the next strong gust of wind, as if it were trying to shove her out of the park. She frowned and turned to the gnarled tree, which was bending in the wind as if waving good-bye. It sprung mostly up –as straight up as it was ever going to get- when the gust calmed momentarily. Anna-Leigh’s eyes followed the passing wind, tracking it as it ruffled the dead grass like waves of a decaying, dead sea. ”I suppose I should be going, hm?” She said to no one in particular. As far as she was concerned, she was the only one here.

Giving a small wave bye to the tree, Anna-Leigh began slowly trudging back to the main road, taking her time as she stiffened periodically against the wind that was trying to make her fall flat on her face. A lower growl in her throat sounded, ”Stop it.” she muttered, as if the winds would listen. For a moment they did, almost as if surprised into submission, but then another battering gust came, making her lung forward before she reclaimed herself and turned to glare up at the clouds stubbornly before continuing her slow walk.


((OoC: Not to be picky, but I'd appreciate if whoever was responding would post at least once a week. Every two/three days would be ideal, but I don't want to be too picky xD))

[Morrison Whelan]

It came as no surprise that the park would be as cold and windy as ever. No matter what time of the year it was, somehow the place managed to stay in a constant winter. Perhaps it was just the fact that nearly every one of the trees in the park were dead, but Morrison couldn't help but feel that it was something more sinister. At the same time, it was likely that it was just the depression getting at him, making him look at everything that crossed him with a bitter thought. Not that anyone could blame him for being angry with the world at the moment.

He had just left Meadhbh's house, which he now sat in front of, staring forlornly out at the dismal scenery. Not much had been out of the their usual spot in the home, perhaps a few things had been shifted a few inches one way or another, but there hadn't been any noticeable changes until he got down the basement. That pile of rusted pipes he was used to finding down there had been completely switched around and it seemed that there had been less of them. The lock to the room that Meadhbh had used as a sort of bunker was gone, which was incredibly odd since he'd never known the woman to have had use of it in the recent century, and if she had thought that it could have been in use then she would have replaced the padlock.

Yet, what stuck out to him to most was what he'd found on the walls. Iivan had lent him a black-light (who knew why he'd had it) and Morrison had borrowed luminol from a coworker. He'd checked the wall closest to the stairs and just stopped there. Some cleaning agent (probably bleach) covered the brick to the halfway point, then you started to see the blood splatter... Needless to say, the wolf now owed Iivan a new black-light, having dropped and broken it on the concrete floor.

Now, the wolf wasn't sure what to for the rest of the day. Wallowing in grief and self pity didn't exactly sound fun, yet it was all he could think of. Maybe he would go out later drinking to numb himself up, he could even go to a strip club if he felt the urge to, not that it would help him in the slightest, his libido having been about negative the past few days. In the end he would probably just go back to his apartment and watch some good old horror flicks all night with a few bottles of whiskey to accompany him. It seemed a pathetic way to get over his depression, but dammit, it was working for him so far. Soon, Morrison might even be able to get back to work. Apparently, the interns that were being sent around to do his job for him weren't exactly doing the greatest.

With a heavy sigh, Morrison glanced down at his hand, in which was held Meadhbh's dog tags. He was glad that she had torn them off before being attacked, however gruesome he imagined that event, it gave him a little token to remember her by and it was a rather fair one at that. He'd been the one who suggested that she started wearing one, just in case she suffered an epileptic attack when she was not near him, which was more often than not. At least she had realized that where she was going (that sounded terrible...) she would not need the tags and leaving them behind would inform whoever found them that the woman was in trouble. Indeed, she had been in serious trouble, but now it was far too late to save her.

After a long, deep breath, Morrison started to push himself to his feet. His knees started to pop a bit in reaction to the cold wind (he was getting on it years, he could only expect his body to start breaking down) and he growled softly, even though he secretly reveled in the slight pain, it was better than the complete lack of emotion he was experiencing at the moment. With his eyes fixed on the ground, he didn't notice the woman coming down the sidewalk toward him until he had collided with her right after stepping off the front stairs.

"Sorry," he muttered to the woman, subconsciously noting her human smell.

The wolf moved back onto the steps so that she could pass and pushed the tags into his pocket. She looked happy, or at least content... That was an anomaly for the park, it being such a dreary, disheartening place. It angered him the tiniest bit, just enough to make the side of his lip pull back in a snarl, but there was not nearly enough rage there to act on it. Surprising, when you added the fact that he was practically starving, having not eaten real human flesh in nearly two weeks. Though Morrison was sure he could starve himself a little longer, it wasn't going to kill him... Not quite yet.

(( I promise I will reply frequently ^_^ ))

[Teris]

Anna-Leigh was staring up at the clouds, rather content with doing so, when she so suddenly collided with another being. “Sorry,” muttered their apology, completely in sync with her own apology that jumped quickly to her lips. When the being stepped back, she noted three things. One; it was still very windy, and she noted the wind ripping at his hair. Two; it was defiantly a male. Three; he was very displeased with something. Unless he was one of those people that enjoyed opposites, in which case that mildly sneering face meant he was over-joyed to have just bumped into her and he was, in fact, looking for someone to commune with on this fair afternoon. Since the after-noon was neither fair, nor did he begin talking really, she assumed he was just out-right PO'd about something or other. She gave him a small smile and was about to duck around him when some part of her caught the slight upturn of his lip.

She hadn't even visibly noticed it herself, but suddenly her body froze, over-come by the natural need to survive. God, sometimes survival instincts were very useful. Okay, so she was in danger. Her eyes flicked over the male's composure, inspecting him quickly. Defiantly not a vampire, which left human or werewolf. Unless another human was a freaky serial killer, she doubted that she'd feel exactly how she felt now, which made her lean closer to the 'werewolf' theory. She swallowed and took a step back, her legs aching to run. Good lot that would do if he actually turned out to be a werewolf though. Even if she managed to get away, he could still track her and meet her at her apartment. So she stood her ground, hands tightening nervously into fists.

Nobody enjoyed being eaten or mauled to death. Unless you were already dead, that is, in which case it probably wouldn't matter much since you wouldn't feel anything. Anna-Leigh had been planning to have some nice hot chocolate when she got home, and she still kind of wanted that. Made her wonder if plants felt this before they were picked or tore up by tractors. Or if cows felt this as they were drugged and pushed and prodded into the slaughter house. Maybe not -well, she didn't know about the plants-, because they were drugged so they didn't really know what was going on. She tightened her lips. No, she didn't want to be killed, not today. She wanted to go home, maybe cry a bit now, and have her fricken hot chocolate, curl up into a ball with a bunch of blankets, and doze off. That would just be peachy. First things first, though; getting away.

She smiled up at the male, having been immobile for the past three seconds or so of consuming fear. ”So... what brings you to the park on this horrid afternoon?” Maybe if she could calm him down, and he wasn't so angry, he might not kill her. Great plan! Keep going, keep going... ”It is quite dreary. Rather... dark and foreboding. Like something bad's going to happen.”'Yeah, like getting eaten, idiot,' she thought after speaking. Rambling on in a nervous, slightly higher voice, Anna-Leigh continued, ”I was just heading back on home for some nice, warm hot chocolate, though now I'm thinking I might not want to make some. I mean... why make some of the crappier powder stuff when you could just go to the chocolate shop and get one of their delicious melted hot chocolate, right?” Distraction, distraction, distraction, man, she was normally cooler then this. ”-perhaps you'd like to come along too?” WHAT!? Ask the creepy guy you just bumped into and suspect wants to eat you if he wants to join you for some freaking hot chocolate!? Are you nuts!? 'Obviously,'[/i] answered a small part in the back of her mind. She swallowed, ”I mean, more the merrier, right?” She added after that pause of panic-stricken realization, her voice higher now.

Wait, if they went to the chocolate place, then there'd be people, and eye-witnesses, right? He couldn't possibly kill you! 'Yay me for sub-conscious thinking!' ... 'Crap! He can still follow scents!'[/i] Anna-Leigh 0; Creepy Stranger-Guy 1. Maybe he'd get distracted from his down mood by the chocolate though, she thought hopefully. Maybe she could get him a couple of sandwiches so he wouldn't be hungry. There was an idea!

[Morrison Whelan]

Shut the fuck up... Was all Morrison could think, watching the young woman babble on like she did. Though it wasn't the noise shooting from her mouth that was the worst, it was what she said.

”So... what brings you to the park on this horrid afternoon?”

Horrid was a far too accurate word and the human didn't even know it. He should have stopped her right then, just scream and cut off anything else she had to say, but his throat was so dry that little more than a frustrated grunt passed his lips. Unfortunate for him since she continued to speak. At least her voice was pleasant enough, not too high pitched and squeaky... Still, it didn't help that her mouth kept running.

”It is quite dreary. Rather... dark and foreboding. Like something bad's going to happen."

Something bad already happened, he thought dismally, eyes drifting away from her and down to the concrete under his feet. It seemed his rage was ebbing away now, replaced by annoyance at her constant gibbering. If he could just ignore her then she would go away and he would have to rest of the day to... Fuck it, let's face it, he would do nothing the rest of the day, at least nothing even near constructive. Grief had dug out a hallow spot in his gut and the feeling of it urged him to let it grow, and consume him. That was self destructive in the least; he should be trying to fill that void with something.

If Iivan had been well and Jeena had not been so occupied with the other wolf, he would have spent the day with either of the two. Nessa was available, but he knew too well that the woman would only drag him further into depression, since it seemed she always managed to double his stress every time they met. Now, strangers were plenty and one must be willing to at least have a drink with him, for if he went bar crawling by himself, he had a feeling that he would end up passed out on the street by the end of the night.

This woman right in front of him at the moment was indeed available to talk with, yet she talked far too much... And there was a large amount of fear in her at having met him. Just one look had sent her panicky. It was a bit amusing, but irritating all the same. If Morrison had planned to eat her, wouldn't he have smacked her down when the bumped into one and another? Of course, no one could suffer the blabbering of a frightened human. Still, he somehow managed to keep a steady composure, even his lips relaxed out of their threatening curl.

”-perhaps you'd like to come along too? I mean, more the merrier, right?”

Morrison blinked, eyes moving back up to look at her. What a weird girl... Had that just been a fluke, or did she really mean it? He had to expect that it was the former by the way she stopped to gulp between sentences and the terrible way she tried to cover it up. Yet, he still took it as a formal invitation.

"Why the hell not?" he sighed, the smallest of smiles (though barely sincere) touching his mouth for a microsecond.

Certainly going out for... hot chocolate with this stranger (emphasis on strange) would pull his mind away from Meadhbh for a while, and maybe they would have good biscuits, wherever it was the human was talking about. With a sigh (he was sighing quite a bit lately, wasn't he?) the wolf pulled his hand from the pocket containing his friend's tags then held out his hand to the woman.

"Morrison Whelan," he said quietly, it was only polite to introduce yourself.

[Teris]

She still felt nervous, and hadn't noticed when his lip slowly curled down. She was rocking up and down on her heels and toes, hands tucked behind her back as she looked pretty much everywhere but at him. She was flushed, her cheeks a light pink, and her heart was thundering still in her chest. Clear signs of an over-dose on adrenaline. She curled her toes as she rocked back on her heels, and then came forward, leaning a bit on her toes. “Why the hell not.”[/color] She stopped her rocking, surprised he'd even responded. She basically just stared at him, glad her mouth didn't flop open. When he held a hand out, she just stared at it, still in a mild shock. So... she wasn't going to die today? Great! Which meant she could indulge in her hot chocolate! Wait, how was her sugar count doing...? Oh hell, who cares, the adrenaline probably ate it all up, right? 'Yeah, right.'[/i] responded her sarcastic mind. Okay, so maybe not, but she'd just been through quite a scare, she needed sugar.

She jumped slightly, realizing she'd left him hanging and she took his hand, shaking it lightly. ”Anna-Leigh Evers,” she introduced herself. His hand was warm, despite the cold weather. Perhaps he hadn't been outside so long. She gave him a small smile, her lips twitching slightly nervously at the corners. When they released each other, she pulled her hands behind her, slipping them into the back pocket of her jeans, and taking in a big intake of air. She huffed it all out slowly, and then looked around, trying to calm her jittery nerves. ”I guess... we should go then...” She said finally, rocking back on her heels again before looking up at him through her hair. A gust blew the hair from her face, and she felt exposed momentarily before flicking her head and allowing her hair to fall back down.

She sucked her lip ring into her mouth and ducked around him, pausing to turn to him, waiting for him to follow. Her lip fell from her mouth when she pulled her hands from her back pocket and rested them in the warm pockets of her jacket, crunching them into fists to keep warm. ”Comin'?” She asked with a small smile before beginning to walk. She walked in silence, though, keeping her head down and kicking pebbles with the toes of her shoes. A dead leaf fluttered across her path, and she jumped onto it, crushing it with her foot before continuing on as if she hadn't broken stride for anything. She ran her tongue on the inside of her teeth, wondering what it would be like to be a vampire and accidentally cutting your tongue on your fangs. That would suck.

Glancing up, she looked ahead, focusing on a bunch of buildings and a single tree along a sidewalk. She frowned, watching it bend to nature's will. ”Do you know a good flower shop that might sell trees?” She asked suddenly, looking up at the male. She paused, lifting her face up to the wind and smiling. The sweet smell of chocolate wafted towards them from across the road, and her eyes lit up, forgetting about the single, lonesome tree. ”There it is!” She exclaimed, grabbing his hand and pulling him at a run. There was a screech, and she skidded to a hault, pulling Morrison out of the way as a car flew by them. ”Oops.” This time glancing both ways, she pulled him across the street and into the chocolate shop, dropping his hand and tucking her cold fingers into her pockets.

The two were enveloped in the delicious smell of chocolate, all kinds. She smiled at the lady at the counter. ”Could we please get two of your extra rich hot chocolates please?” She asked before going and sitting down at a table. The chairs were metal, but strangely comfortable, as if they were designed to fit the person who sat in them. She slipped off her jacket, pulling down the shirt that had rid slightly passed her belly button. She glanced up at Morrison, waiting for him to sit. She watched him, her brown eyes roaming his face as if seeing him for the first time, and then the lady brought the hot chocolates over, and she picked hers up, taking a sip and smiling. ”They have the best hot chocolate in all of London if you ask me.” She said, revelling in the warm drink. They didn't even make it too hot for her, it was just right.

She was about half way through when the beeper started going off, and she closed her eyes in frustrated embarrassment. And this is what happens if your pancreas fails you. Stupid diabetes. She regretfully put her hot chocolate down and reached for the small device attached to her hip, constantly monitoring her blood. Reaching around into a compartment in her coat, Anna-Leigh drew out another vial-thing of the insulin and replaced the old one with new stuff, making sure the right amount was injected into her blood stream so she didn't pass out or go into seizures or something. She'd been pretty good about monitoring this stuff since an incident a few months ago. Finishing with that, she tucked her shirt back down, covering the small packet. She stared at the hot chocolate, calling and tantalizing her, the steam curling as if it were a finger beckoning. She sighed and pushed it towards Morrison, ”Here, you can have the rest of mine if you want, I'm not allowed any more.” She gave him a meek smile before pulling her wallet out of her pocket and paying for the drinks before sitting back down.

[Morrison Whelan]

”Anna-Leigh Evers,”

"Interesting name," Morrison thought, watching her silently. It certainly fit her personality, he could tell even though he had barely known her for more than a few minutes. Her anxiousness tainted who she really was a bit; he was sure she would talk less if she weren't so jittery... or maybe she would talk even more if she felt more comfortable. He just had to hope that it wasn't the latter. It was too much noise after being alone and quiet for the last few days. Scaring her more could keep her from speaking, since he now knew he could too easily frighten her, he'd done so just with a look, not even an intentional one. Lucky for her, he wasn't planning to do so any time soon, there was too much conflict in violence in his life at the moment.

”I guess... we should go then...” Her hair was flipped away from her face but she immediately tilted her head so that it fell back into place. It only furthered his impression of her being incredibly uncomfortable. And the way she played with that lip ring... He had a sudden urge to reach forward and yank it right out of her skin then it passed just as fast.

”Comin'?”

Morrison nodded in response and waited until she was a few meters away before following slowly after (well, slow considering his long legs). It took him a second to realize that she had finally stopped talking, but now she was kicking up and stepping upon things on the path, creating nearly as much noise as she had with her mouth. This human had far, far too much energy. "Chase her," the wolf in his head muttered, wanting so badly to shut the woman up. Yet he didn't listen at all. Wolf-Morry was being an ass lately (more than the more human Morry usually was) and gave very bad advice that was based on very little logic and mostly animal instinct. Those kind of comments were a hell of thing to ignore, especially when he felt so damn hungry.

The sentence the human muttered when passing a lonesome little tree didn't register with Morrison, he was busy looking at the ground and tracing his fingers over the ridges and indents of the dog-tags in his pocket, as if he were trying to memorize the feel. But at her: ”There it is!” and the grabbing of his hand, pulling him directly into oncoming traffic, he let out a startled "Hey!" and stumbled back, even as Anna started moving back from the cars, his hand still tightly in hers. Thankfully, she didn't make the same mistake twice and looked for the cars coming before half-yanking him across the street to a cozy looking shop.

Inside the store, the delicious smell of chocolate and sugar greeted him, pulling the smallest of smiles out of him. Now, if only they had biscuits... He spotted the case of sweets and cookies a mere second later and upon approaching the counter, grabbed one for himself before tossing a pound note on the counter, unsure of what denomination it was, but not really caring even if it had been a 50. He'd gotten his biscuit anyway, and a biscuit was worth an unimagined amount of money to him. When their hot chocolate arrived, it made the cookie even better, for now he could dip it into the hot liquid and make it nice and soft.

”They have the best hot chocolate in all of London if you ask me.”

The wolf nodded softly in agreement, pulling a long sip from his own cup. Really, Meadhbh had made better hot chocolate, she'd spent years perfecting it for him. It was a great shame he would never taste it again... His mood was dampened a little by this remembrance of his friend so he took a huge gulp of his drink and turned his eyes up to Anna's smiling face, and whose upper lip was covered in froth. It was a rather adorable look on her, like she had a mustache. Yet he had to wonder why he did find it so 'cute'. He only looked about ten years older than her, even though he was a ten times her age, and he had nearly the same sort of mindset as her (meaning, not one of an old man), so why should he think of her as a child? Why should he think of all humans as children? "Because one hasn't bested you in a fight in a long long time," the wolf reminded him.

Beeping suddenly started to emit from her hip and her eyes shut, cheeks flushing pink with chagrin. He turned his eyes to his hot chocolate as she started to fumble under her jacket, not wanting to look like he was trying to pry into what she was doing. He finished the last bite of his cookie and looked up to see that she was finished with whatever business she had been taking care of.

”Here, you can have the rest of mine if you want, I'm not allowed any more.”

A shot her a soft, apologetic smile then took the cup and poured it into what little remained of his own cocoa. Sipping at his renewed supply of hot chocolate, he watched her get up to pay. Once she sat back down, the wolf placed the cup on the table and glanced up at her eyes. "Diabetes?" he asked quietly, though he knew the answer would be something affirmative (it was sure to be more than a simple 'yes'). He'd had a friend with diabetes and had had to wear that same sort of monitor, or whatever. Morrison vaguely wondered where he'd be now, probably dead, having been human last time he'd checked.

[Teris]

”Diabetes?” He asked her, and she shrugged. ”Mmhhmm.” It wasn't the “sickness” that bothered her, though. Rather when people found out and treated her like she was going to die any moment or something. It was just annoying when someone took pity on you for something that you've lived with for your whole life. The only part that really bothered her about it was that she had to watch what she ate. Which sucked 'cause she loved to eat. Anything really, she didn't exactly have a personal preference. Unless it was something like a dessert compared to a steak, though. She'd probably go for the dessert. If she was allowed that day of course. How many times she'd just shrugged it off, though, and had to be especially careful the next day she couldn't count though. It's not like a bit of sugar ever killed anyone. Well, it probably has once or twice in cases like hers, but oh well. She wasn't going to die of a sugar overdose, she wanted to go out in style. All in all, she was glad he didn't pry into it.

She watched him sip the hot chocolate, her eyes glazing over slightly. Then she noticed the beard, and remembered that one late-night shift she'd had with that one werewolf. Speaking of which, ”You are a werewolf, right?” She asked suddenly, looking up at him. ”I mean it's that or a human.” She shrugged, placing her elbows onto the table and her chin into her hands. Then she dropped them and leaned forward so her arm was against the table, holding her up slightly as she ran her finger in circles on the hard surface. She drew her lip ring into her mouth again, sucking on it as if thinking then gently bit it. Getting a piercing was probably one of her better ideas in life, she thought. It certainly entertained her.

Her eyes looked up to his hair, and she tilted her head to the side. ”Not to seem like a creeper, but when's the last time you got a hair cut? Not saying that you look like you need a hair cut, just that I work late at the hair salon on Broadgate, and I was just wondering if you wanted to stop by sometime. It gets awful boring at night there.” She shrugged, ”I mean until a vampire comes in. Lucky for me it's generally considered common curtsey to not eat the person who's making you look nice.” She shrugged again, a small grin on her lips.

”So, whatcha say?” Could she really say she wanted him to stop by because she thought he was kinda cute? Inwardly, she frowned. That's what she thought about the last guy -Tahmores- she'd spoken to. Well, technically the last guy she'd spoken with was Plushi, but he was kind of gay and though he did look good, he just didn't appeal to her that much. Why pursue something you couldn't have, right? ”I mean, I work until, like, twelve, so if you were hungry, we could catch something to eat after.” Yeah, sure ask him out on a date, commented her sarcastic side. She inwardly rolled her eyes. She wasn't asking him out on a date, she was wondering if he wanted to help entertain her. 'Well rawr. ... Whatever you tell yourself.'[/i] she flushed slightly in frustration at herself. What was she getting all worked up about anyways? It's not like he'd say “sure!”

She shrugged, acting like it was no big deal while sucking her lip ring back into her mouth to fiddle with her tongue subconsciously.

[Morrison Whelan]

Ah ha, of course he was right. Diabetes... It would have sucked if he'd had diabetes, that would mean he wouldn't be able to indulge in his biscuits and alcohol, namely whiskey, that he enjoyed so regularly. It was clear that she felt the same sort of distress toward her restricted diet, her eyes even going a bit blank as she watched him drink the coco. Then her gaze shifted to his rather unkempt beard. Morrison lifted a hand to his chin, scratching at the thick stubble distractedly.

”You are a werewolf, right? I mean it's that or a human.”

The wolf smiled softly and nodded. "Very good," he said quietly, dropping his hand back to hold his mug. He looked down at his hot chocolate for a moment and finished it off. When he set the cup back down and looked up to Anna, he found her leaning forward with her arms on the table, a bit to close to him for comfort. He fell back into his chair and relaxed, just to get back from her the slightest bit.

”Not to seem like a creeper, but when's the last time you got a hair cut? ... So, whatcha say? I mean, I work until, like, twelve, so if you were hungry, we could catch something to eat after.”

There was the slightest bit of eagerness in the woman's voice and he could tell what that look in her eyes meant. "I suppose I do need a haircut," he shrugged, pushing his empty mug away from him. He still felt very hungry, but ignored the feeling, it was neither the time nor the place for it. And he really, actually, did need someone to fix his hair. He'd let his facial hair become a little unruly and his hair had grown out about an inch too long for his liking. Why depression made you so self neglecting, he had no idea.

"So, sure, I'd like to visit your... salon, sometime," he shrugged once again, though the tiniest smile curled his lips. Morrison was having a hard time mustering any sort of 'happy' facial expression. Not really surprising when you considered the past few days he'd had. Still, it was odd that Anna hadn't mentioned anything, since it seemed that she was a generally happy person, and generally happy people commented when other people weren't 'happy' like they were. At least he felt better now than completely depressed, he almost felt content. Almost.

"Oh," he muttered, "and thanks for taking me here. It really means a lot to me..." He trailed off and let the first genuine smile find its way onto his face. That twist in his lips felt... nice. Better than frowning and looking so very bitter. His eyes drifted down to his lap, and he took in a deep breath. It was great to have someone to talk with, even if they did most the talking, and even if he wasn't the best listener. He hadn't been with her for more than maybe 30 minutes and he felt like she could become a good friend. An annoying one perhaps, but a close one... She was a rather kind human and didn't have too many drawbacks. Not like most of the humans he had ever met.

[Teris]

”I suppose I do need a haircut. So, sure, I’d like to visit your… salon, sometime.” She gave a small smile and nodded, looking down at the table and scratching the metal as if she could actually dent it. It kind of looked like wrought iron, so she highly doubted anything would actually happen to it unless she brought a hammer to it –or something. At least it was kind of a start. Not like she needed a man in her life, she had Mane after all. He was plenty company. Right? Her eye caught the flash of her wrist band. Currently it was black with silver threads decorating it in an array of designs such as stars and hearts and skulls. She tugged at it with her fingers before adjusting the choke necklace around her neck so the small pendant dangling off it was centered down her collar bone.

”Oh, and thanks for taking me here. It means a lot to me…” Then he smiled, and she dipped her head in a small nod, like “no problem”. The two were lapsed into a silence for the moment, and she glanced around, gently nibbling on one of her lip piercings.

”What’s a werewolf doing out on a day like this anyways? Hunting down vamps or something? I haven’t seen many today, but I wouldn’t doubt they’re lurking around in the alley ways or something.” She turned her head to look out the window, her eyes dark with slight trouble. Silly vampires, why did they have to attack humans sometimes? True, werewolves did it too, but because werewolves were generally at the higher ranks, it was vampire attacks that one heard of more often. Who was really innocent though? Humans were no better some of the time. She’d, personally, never killed anyone, and she never planned to. Ever. Everyone, everything has a heart beat and life, it wasn’t her right to take that away, it was their mothers’. Her lips twitched lightly in a smile at that thought.

She turned her eyes back on him, travelling down to the top of his stomach –about as low as her eyes could get seeing as they were sitting at a table-, then back up to his eyes. She wondered if he’d ever killed anyone. Probably, he seemed tough, somewhat uncaring, mad, angry, hurt, whatever one would wish to call it. It was almost as if there was this steel covering his eyes, keeping him from everyone else around him. Made her curious about his story, but she didn’t wish to pry. He’d been rather annoyed with her not too long ago; she wasn’t going to push his buttons right now. Her left eyebrow quirked slightly, as if she were looking at him questioningly. Which she was, she was still wondering how many lives had shed their blood to death on him. What a morbid thought. Completely reasonable, though, if you asked her. Why wouldn’t she want to know something like that about the person she was –had been- sipping hot chocolate with?

”They’re quite troublesome creatures.” She commented, after being silent for so long in her not-so-subtle scrutinizing; then she looked away out the window again. She was waiting to see if one would make themselves apparent. She knew they’d be out today what with how dark it was. If she were a vampire, she wouldn’t pass off what would be a perfect day of roaming for anything really. ”I had to complain about one trying to get me to let him drink my blood. Is it possible for vampires to get drunk off of drunken blood? Because I think he was drunk. Anyways, a few police –werewolves- came over and escorted him away from the salon. It was kind of freaky, but…” she shrugged, ”It was my choice to work the night shift.” She smiled, though it was a slightly bitter smile, showing off the tips of her teeth a little.

When her smile fell, she zoned out, staring at the sidewalk outside the window. Eventually she snapped out of it and turned to look at him. She gave him a small smile and began tearing apart a napkin slowly. Twisting it in her fingers and tugging it, slowly making a small pile of napkin bits.

[Morrison Whelan]

”What’s a werewolf doing out on a day like this anyways? Hunting down vamps or something? I haven’t seen many today, but I wouldn’t doubt they’re lurking around in the alley ways or something.”

Slowly, Morrison turned his eyes away from Anna's face to look down at the table. Fucking vampires... He would be hunting one, wanted to be hunting one. Meadhbh's house had stunk of leech, if only he'd known the scent or had someway to figure out who it had been. Unfortunately, unless he happened to bump into the vampire, he would probably never find the murderer. It only made his feeling of guilt and helplessness deeper, more painful. And why the hell had she had to bring that sort of thing up? Of course she had no idea, but perhaps she would notice his distress and change the subject or just stop talking.

She didn't, continuing with, ”They’re quite troublesome creatures.” Then she told about an unruly vampire in her salon. He hoped vampires didn't frequent the place too often, it would stink. What if one worked there? He supposed he'd just have to deal with it.

His eyes drifted up to her for a moment then turned back down at the metal table surface, grimacing moodily. He dropped a hand to his pocket and pulled out the dog-tags before placing them on the table to run his fingers over the ridged metal surfaces. The tags gave him a little bit of comfort, as if it were a little tangible piece of Meadhbh. A soft, relieved sigh left his lips and he slowly lifted her eyes to Anna once again. What would she be thinking of him right now? She seemed very spacey, disconnected with the world, and didn't want to acknowledge the negative moods of others. He'd know that this wasn't true if he'd kept his gaze on her earlier and saw the slightest frown on her lips and crease in her brows.

Thinking of something different to talk about, Morrison kept playing with the tags on their chain between his fingers. "So," he muttered softly, gaze wandering around the room for inspiration. "How long've you lived in London?" Not the greatest question, but he thought it could spark some sort of conversation, at least a better one than the previous, about vamps.

(( Argh, the shortness! ))

[Teris]

The sound of metal gently clanking against metal caused Anna-Leigh to glance over at Morrison and onto the table where she spotted a few dog tags. Her eyebrows created a faint line between them as she gave them a questioning glance. Then it all dawned on her. His dog died. That or ran away, otherwise he wouldn't have been acting so remorseful. If Mane ran away or died, she'd be very depressed, probably cry for days and then after wards just act to upset at the world that she might just mirror his own emotions right now. Her eyes turned soft when she glanced up at his, full of sympathy. Now probably wasn't the time to bring up his loss, though, not so soon into his grieving. If they turned friends or something, she might question him about it later. It wasn't good to hold so many negative emotions in at a time, it tainted a person. Plus if he was already tainted or guilty for whomever he'd possibly killed, then it would definitely be better if he got this off his chest.

”So, how long have you lived in London?” He asked suddenly. Obviously he wanted to stay far away from the topic of those dog tags.
”Oh, pretty much my whole life. Though mostly outside the city in small towns. I've actually live in the city for about a year now.” She shrugged. ”One moment.” She was a bit parched, so, getting up, she ordered a glass of water and sat down with it, sipping through the straw and squeezing the lemon on the side into it. The juices fell down in milky waves with small chunks, and she stirred it in with the straw and took another sip, enjoying the sour taste. ”How long have you lived here?” She asked, since it was only polite to reflect such a question. It was kind of like “hey, how's your day been?” it was only proper to answer “great, and yours?” or “absolutely crappy, yours?” at least something along those lines.

It wasn't until she was probably ten seconds into doing it that Anna-Leigh realized she had her lip piercing in her mouth again and was gently nibbling on it. She seemed to have this fixation as soon as the thing had healed after she'd gotten it. Oh well, it's not like it bothered her, and he didn't seem all too annoyed by it, so she didn't bother to stop. The metal was hard -as most metals are- and she enjoyed sticking her tongue in and out of the small loop and moving it around. The quiet clicking it made on her teeth sounded oddly comforting to her, and she enjoyed it, despite the amount of times her mother had told her to stop -whenever she visited the woman and her father- because it was going to “ruing her teeth”. She didn't think it would ruin her teeth, so she always did it -except when she was visiting her parents on holidays.

After a few moments of silence after his answer, she turned to him, reaching her arms behind to gently nudge on her jacket. ”So, do you have another destination in mind? Or do you wish to stay here?” She asked, suddenly becoming bored with the scenery.

((lol, dittos here, maybe if they go somewhere different there'll be more to talk about xD ))

[Morrison Whelan]

(( Sounds like a plan, Stan, and I will make Anna accept his plan, for, Stan, you need more to reply to. ^_ ^ ))

”Oh, pretty much my whole life. Though mostly outside the city in small towns. I've actually live in the city for about a year now.”

Morrison nodded softly, as if in knowing. Most people were either born here and stayed for the rest of their lives, or left as soon as they could. He'd known very few people who had actually moved to England on their own accord, seeing as it wasn't exactly the ideal to be anymore. The government was going to shit and death and violence was a daily, public, occurrence. The only reason he had come over to London form Ireland was because he had wanted to get help from the wolves that were much more numerous in Great Britain.

His eyes followed her as she stood to get herself lemon water, but he looked down when she started to approach again, not wanting to seem creepy, or anything. He only looked back up at her when she asked how long he'd lived here. The wolf tilted his head for a moment, twisting the small chain in his hands, thinking. "Mm, 164 years," he smiled softly, wondering how Anna would take this. He was old, even for a werewolf and he knew that most humans could never imagine how it would be to live so long. When he'd been younger, maybe 50, he had dreaded the fact of such a long life, but now he found that he enjoyed it greatly. A long life meant a bounty of opportunities and gave you a better chance to understand who you were. Most mortals never even got close to realizing who they were, even on their death bed. Poor bastards...

The soft clinking of metal on Anna's teeth pulled him out of his thoughts and he watched her for a moment. He couldn't understand how she could understand how she could bare to have that thing in her lip, personally it would have driven him crazy and he probably would have bitten it off, or broken a tooth on it, due to his teeth grinding habit. Though he had to admit that it was rather entertaining to watch her play with it, the way she sucked it into her mouth then let it pop back out, how she stuck her tongue through the ring.

”So, do you have another destination in mind? Or do you wish to stay here?”

"Let's go somewhere else," he shrugged, pushing the small tags into his pocket again, "how about..." He paused, catching himself from suggesting a bar, that was the only place else he wanted to be, but he didn't really want to put Anna in that sort of atmosphere, he didn't believe that it would suit her. "How about the beach? I'm tired of the city and I know this one spot that's perfect." He smiled at her acceptance then stood, shrugging his bomber jacket forward so that he could zip it up.

After stepping out of the cafe he turned up the sidewalk toward his car. He hadn't wanted to park near Meadhbh's house, because... Well, just because. He wasn't quite sure why he hadn't parked closer, it just hadn't felt right for some reason. Shaking his head, he pushed the thoughts of his friend out his mind, warding off any tears or general sadness that would have liked to take him. With a deep sigh, Morrison unlocked his car and opened the passenger side door for Anna before moving to the other side and getting in himself.

[Teris]

When he suggested the beach, Anna-Leigh gave him an odd glance, but then shrugged. Why not? ”I'd be tired of the city if I spent the last 160 some-odd years in it too.” She commented, getting up and buttoning up her jacket. What a strange, old, werewolf. Really old. She didn't know anything living could even exist that long. Sure, vampires lived a long time, but she didn't really count them as “living”. As they stepped outside, Anna-Leigh pulled her coat closer around her body, trying to contain as much body heat as possible when they transferred into such different temperatures. The cool wind whipped at her, feeling colder against her skin with its brutality. ”I suppose it is a pleasant day to go to the beach.” Despite the words chosen, the remark failed to sound sarcastic as they made their way a small distance to Morrison's car.

Anna-Leigh noted her as-of-late tendency of fraternizing with male werewolves and going places with them completely trustingly. ... What? I said she noted it, not that she cared. (( xD ))

She gave a small curtsey with a light smile on her lips when he opened the door for her, and got in, closing the door beside her as he made his way to his door. The car dipped the slightest bit as he got in after her, on the driver's side. Reaching around, she pulled her seat belt forward until it wrapped partly around her body, and clicked it into the seat belt holder thing. She never really knew what that little device was called, did anyone except mechanics, really? She inwardly shrugged, doubting it was knowledge that would kill her if she didn't know. It was a fairly nice car. Hell, it could have been just better then shit and she would have thought it nice -it wasn't like she had a car of her own that she could brag about. Nope, she hadn't enough money quite yet to get one, and she didn't plan on getting one until she eventually moved out of the city as her plan for the future called.

As they took off through the crowded city, inching through traffic before finally hitting a break, then slamming right back into the traffic -slowly making their way from the city-, Anna-Leigh remained silent. It wasn't that there wasn't anything to talk about, just that she enjoyed the current silence. The sounds of the traffic around them, and the quiet growling of the car as it vibrated its way over the road. Well, the small bumps caused it to vibrate slightly. Anna-Leigh remembered when she was younger and her parents used to drive late at night. She always found it easier to fall asleep in, possibly because of the movement, it lulled her to sleep easier. Just thinking about it made her want to dose off. She hadn't gotten seven hours of sleep since she'd started working the late shifts. It wasn't that she couldn't sleep most of the day, but she just didn't want to spend the day sleeping when at night her roaming was confined due to vampires. She yawned, her tongue curling slightly before she rapidly blinked her eyes to get rid of the desires to sleep. She flicked her tongue over her bottom lip, liking the light touching of her two lip piercings.

”So, were you born a werewolf, or were you... changed.” She questioned. She figured it wouldn't be too painful a question to ask, since if he was changed, he might have gotten over it by now, or if he were born one, it shouldn't have any reason to bother him. Especially since werewolves were now basically considered top of the ladder social standing wise. She watched him from the corner of her eye, inspecting his face again. How can he still look young!? After a few moments of silence following his answer, she just had to blurt it out: ”I'm sorry, I just can't see how you still look like that. 160 years old!?” She breathed out and leaned back into her seat, not realizing she'd been leaning forward, her body facing him. ”I mean... How does that work. Everything's supposed to age, isn't it. I mean it's cool and all, my brain just doesn't understand it all.” She chuckled the last bit, her eyes focused on him. ”Have you ever changed a person?” She asked suddenly.

Her eyes flicked out the window for the briefest of moments, and she noticed the beach nearing them -or them nearing it- as they drove along.

[Morrison Whelan]

The car felt hot stuffy once Morrison had turned on the car engine. It was odd really, it being only slightly above freezing outside, and it wasn't so much that he felt flushed, as he might have been if he was particularly attracted to the human, it was more like he was wearing a winter jacket in the middle of summer. However, he knew that Anna would be incredibly cold if he left any of the windows open while they drove, so he settled for switching on the air conditioning on his side, aiming it so the cool air hit his chest. That seemed to help him a bit, now he was merely uncomfortably warm and he felt he could breath well and not feeling half-suffocated by heat.

For the first 10 minutes or so, both of them were silent. This was perfectly fine with the wolf. He enjoyed the quite, and the purr of the road underneath the wheels and the hum of the engine kept his mind company. And he was able to concentrate on driving safely. Most of the time when he was with someone else in the car that he had to worry about, he exceeded the speed limit, took turns too sharply, and just generally drove somewhat erratically. This became obvious once Anna started speaking. His foot pressed harder on the accelerator, pushing the car too fast and when he tried to slow down, his steering started to go so he sped up again.


”So, were you born a werewolf, or were you... changed.”

"I was born one," he replied, glancing over at the woman, "my mum was a werewolf. I never knew how she managed not to bite my dad, but she died even before he did. Having wolves for kids and a human for a husband must have been too stressful." He was a little shocked at himself when he had finished speaking. Not so much for talking about his family, with which he had completely come to terms with, but for how much he had said. In the past few days he hadn't been able to string together that many words without having to stop for breath. Lately, his throat had started becoming uncooperative when he spoke, as if mere verbal contact was pulling up those emotions that he wasn't wanting to feel anymore. Somehow, Anna managed to put him at ease. He was thankful, though he wasn't going to admit it.

The next minutes were again shrouded in silence, surprising, knowing how much the human liked to speak. But clearly, the quite was too much for her and she said suddenly, ”I'm sorry, I just can't see how you still look like that. 160 years old!?”

A smirk crept onto Morrison's lips and he looked over the woman, who was leaned forward eagerly, facing him. Then she began to lean back, speaking quieter. ”I mean... How does that work. Everything's supposed to age, isn't it. I mean it's cool and all, my brain just doesn't understand it all.”

"200 actually," he corrected her, smiling softly, "I lived in Ireland for 36 years. And I have aged, you just can't tell very well."

”Have you ever changed a person?”

The question caught for a second. Had he changed anyone? He was sure he hadn't, he tried to never let his prey live. Mostly because he only killed to eat, but he also thought that it would be too much of a traumatic experience to let anyone go through. Meadhbh surely hadn't enjoyed her own transformation... And being born as a wolf was completely different. "I don't think so," he finally replied, slowly, "I only kill for food, so those people never live... I did have a son when I still lived in Ireland, but that's different."

The scenery had changed now; the beach was in sight. There wasn't any parking near the place he wanted to go, so he drove as far as he could down a main road before turning onto a sandy path and parking at the end of it. The ocean was visible from where they sat, through a thin row of trees. It looked rather peaceful out there, despite the cold. He shut off the car then twisted around in his chair to grab a couple of beers out of the backseat. "Want one?" he asked Anna, holding the bottles up, "I might have a lite one if you prefer." She might think him crazy for carrying around booze in his car, but he always liked to be prepared. Of course, he didn't drink it while he drove, that was just stupid, but sometimes he liked to have a little alcohol when he reached his destination. And beer was so weak that it barely affected him at all.

[Teris]

”I don't think so. I only kill for food, so those people never live... I did have a son when I still lived in Ireland, but that's different.” She gave the 200 and some-odd year old werewolf a side-glance, one eyebrow raised. She wondered what side-effect eating people gave someone. She'd heard of diseases in the mind that could occur from doing something like that; it'd been proven in cannibals. Perhaps it was different for werewolves and vampires, though. It had only been a documentary on humans, after all. ”Oh, I’m sure they taste just like chicken.” She commented in a mildly monotonous voice, despite her inner worry.

When they reached the beach, Anna-Leigh was surprised to find the parking lot completely filled up. Okay, so people were insane now a-days. Well, sure, they were there as well, but she never claimed to be sane, and surely 200 years frayed the mind a bit. Despite the lack of parking spaces, though, it didn’t seem to faze the werewolf in the slightest. They merely turned down a deserted sand pathway and made their way to the end where Morrison parked the car. After a few seconds, he reached around in the back, and she moved slightly when his arm brushed her side, craning her neck to see what he was getting. She heard the clanking of glass bottles against each other, and she wondered how she hadn’t noticed the noise as they drove. When he turned back, he had a beer in his hand, ”Want one? I might have a lite one if you prefer.” She laughed, ”I probably shouldn’t, but sure.” She gave him a teasing wink as she took the beer in his hand, popping off the lid and taking a small swig.

Once he had his beer and they were sitting watching as waves rolled in –or at least that’s what she was doing-, Anna-Leigh gave a sigh. It was a content sigh, not annoyed or angry, just content and happy. ”I’m going to have to live off of, like, celery and water or something tomorrow.” She commented with a chuckle, knowing it was a terrible idea for her to be having this much sugar when she’d already been brushing off her diabetes for basically the whole day. Today was one of those days, where she was just kind of like ‘eh’ and take a bite of a doughnut, sipping chocolate milk while a whole table of treats waited for her just behind her. Already she could feel her face getting slightly warmer, and her tongue slightly drier. Maybe that’s why she was tired earlier. Surely she’d added enough insulin, though she knew it wasn’t a good idea to abuse the stuff. She didn’t want to end up hospitalized or something. Eyes flashing in annoyance that her body couldn’t handle what other people couldn’t, she took another sip.

”Want to go for a walk?” She asked, kind of wanting to get out and about. Sure, it was cold outside, but that didn’t mean she should contain herself in a car. She felt contained, and wanted to roam and chat. Or just roam. She’d never really been to the beach here. Her mother always told her to never swim in the ocean since people dumped crap into it and she didn’t want to get sick –or something like that. She kind of wanted to go swimming, though. She eyed the water, which rolled up to lap the sand just beyond the trees. It appeared to be enticing her forward. There was no way in hell she was swimming in that right now, it was probably far below freezing. ”Hey, after-wards wanna go to a pool or something? I kind of have the urge to go swimming. Surely there’s one around somewhere, right?”

((If he agrees to go for a walk, she'll follow him, lol, I don't want you to feel that you have to RP Morrison standing there waiting for her to get out for hours xP))