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

[Morrison Whelan]

Morrison nodded and gave her a little smirk at her acceptance of the drink and handed one over to her. Oddly, she hadn't accepted a lite, which had nearly zero sugar, but that was fine with him; it was good to know that let herself live a little, even if she put her health at danger. You were practically putting your life at danger doing any little thing anyway, so it was perfectly all right to take chances. And if you didn't take chances, you would have the most monotonous, boring life and probably die at the same time as some insane daredevil. Die, death... There was that word. He opened his own beer and took a long drink to distract himself from death for the moment, before turning to look out at the ocean as Anna was.

He was a bit surprised that the water was so quiet out here. The wind at the park had been fierce and even here the sky was clouded and stormy, threatening rain. It was also a little humid, which annoyed the wolf ever so slightly, since he knew that by the end of the day he would practically limping on his stiff knees. Oh well, being outside would be worth it. He actually rather enjoyed the cold, no matter how foreboding it felt to other people. The chill of the air kept him alert and awake and sane.

”Want to go for a walk?”

He glanced over at the woman and gave her small smile. "That is why we're here," he told her, "you can't watch the see very well if you're sitting behind trees." He then moved to open the door and step out, but then a thought seemed to come to her and he turned to look at the human.

”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?”

"That could be fun," he shrugged, before finally pushing the door open and moving into the cold air. There very little wind, just as he had expected, so it made the air just that much warmer with the windchill no longer present. Morrison stretched his arms up at the sky, relieving them from there cramped position on the wheel before walking around to the left side of the car to let Anna out.

It was a short stroll to beach, since he had already parked very close, and once his feet touched rocky sand, a happy sigh left his lips. He hadn't been down here in moths. This small stretch of beach went for about a mile and was blocked off on either side by boulders. Not many people knew about this spot, but he did, having had years to scour the land around London. It only would have been better if there were no rocks in the sand and its grains were finer. Besides that, it was almost perfect.

Nonchalantly, he kicked off his shoes, bent down to pull of his socks then dropped his jacket down on the sand. The sand would wear on the leather a bit, but he didn't care; he could always get a new one. His toes now buried in the coarse sand, the wolf stared out at the grey water, rolling in then moving back out, as rhythmic as a heartbeat. He looked up, taking a sip of beer, and glanced over at Anna, shooting her a slight smile. "Let's go then," he said, moving over to her and walking off toward the farthest end of the beach.

[Teris]

Despite the sand and waves looking mostly unperturbed by the weather, Anna-Leigh was not subject to such kindness, the wind tearing at her clothes as they walked. She was a human, however, and quite proud to be so; she would not bend to the will of nature for her kind bent nature to their liking. They had wielded fire for heat and light for centuries, when their minds had been the most primal; trees and boulders cracked under their great machines and were made into whatever they so wish them to be; water was controlled by them and utilized not only to sustain themselves, but sometimes their machines. The only body of nature that humanity did not control completely was lapping gently at the sand speckled with a few medium to large sized rocks here and there. While Anna-Leigh felt bad for the hardships her kind had brought to this earth, she managed to marvel at the sea. The endless expanse of water to perfectly balanced.

It was in the depths and shallows of the water that was controlled by the moon and sun where life seemed to flourish in the most perfect ways. Everything was even and balanced. Despite the pollution humanity threw into the blue seas, She never seemed to be affected or belittled by it, our cruel acts being reflected onto us by poisoning the fish that the fishermen caught and in tern poisoning humanity in one of the ways never suspected; our food. Anna-Leigh noted the chain of events that twisted in a circle, and knew her kind would either turn vampire or werewolf or wipe themselves out in the next millenia or so. It was how her kind was, and it wasn't always good. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply in the salty air that seemed to also flourish and become fresh in the mere presence of one so pure. Anna-Leigh looked upon the ocean as another being. A mother both cruel and kind to the children that lived and died in her.

Her eyes turned downwards when Morrison kicked off his shoes, and with a smile on her features, she followed suit. Her toes curled into the slightly damp soil, wet from a previous rain. It didn't surprise her, they'd been having storms on and off all week. As they walked along the beach, Anna-Leigh tilted her head up, allowing her hair to be swept back in the cold weather as she gazed up at the churning clouds. In the distance, lightning cracked over the water, making it feel as if the whole earth had shuddered from the impact. Seconds later, the sound of thunder reached and rumbled. Anna-Leigh's eyes lit up, it was interesting to watch, definitely. Looking around, she spotted a large boulder, and gestured over to it before going over and sitting on it, folding her legs inwards as she watched over the waters. The storm raged on, cracking lightning bolts over the water which had picked up angrily, and sending the rumbling of competition between sky and water towards them.

Bringing a leg up, Anna-Leigh rested her chin on her knee, glancing over at Morrison, ”So, you had a son? What happened to him?” She asked, striking up conversation but realizing she may or may not be treading on unsteady grounds.

[Morrison Whelan]

Lightning flashed in the corner of Morrison's eye, making him look up to the horizon as thunder boomed overhead. Damned beautiful, nature was. And at the same time, she was a bitch. She didn't take kindly to those who dared defy her law, mostly humans it seemed, and she battered all with her hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, ect. And still, mortals remained as proud as ever with their 'conquering' of nature. They, we, should have learned by now that no matter how high, how strong we built, it could all be reduced to rubble in the end. It was better to work with nature than against. Wolves seemed to understand this best. Sure, they were the most proud of races, currently having control of the government, but they tried to work with natural law to an extent. That was perhaps a reason why London and the surrounding areas weren't built up with grandeur and why so much had been destroyed in the revolution. The collapsing of buildings was somewhat of a return to normalcy.

Until another clap of thunder had torn through the air, startling Morrison out of a light daze, he hadn't realized that Anna had moved far ahead of him while he had just been standing in one place, staring transfixed at the blanket of water. A sheepish smile pulled on his lips and he followed after the woman, rubbing his arms which crawled with wanton need to transform. However much the storm excited him, he wasn't going to change; he simply didn't have the strength and he didn't want to end the day with Anna quite yet, since he imagined that as a wolf, he'd scare her away. He might just accidentally eat her as well; he was hungry....

One of the man's hands lifted to scratch at his thin beard as he moved after the human. He really did need a bit of 'grooming', though he wasn't quite sure what he looked like at the moment. For the last few days, he'd tried to stay away from mirrors, afraid that he might see weakness in his own eyes. Surely, he looked a little haunted, maybe even afraid, or maybe just plain mournful. Any of those was not a welcome sight, so he would happily neglect his own appearance for a while.

Morrison's eyes moved from the ocean to Anna and he saw her near a large boulder by the water, gesturing for him to sit with. He gave her an obliging nod and a smile, walking into the water so that he could come around right in front of the rock. The water around his bare feet felt freezing, but exhilarating all the same. He would've liked to go skinny dipping if he'd had some extra clothes or a towel, and had the woman not been there. She probably wouldn't appreciate him stripping naked right then, having only known him for the better part of an hour.

Once he came to the boulder, he took a seat beside the human, letting his legs hang off the edge instead of pulling his legs together as she had. He watched the water for a second, until Anna began to speaking, not at all surprised by her choice of topic.

”So, you had a son? What happened to him?”

Morrison thought for a moment, wondering how best to put it, as to not sound like too much of an ass. He'd been a drinker even back then, and quite an angry one. The kid had been conceived when he'd been very drunk, and though it hadn't been rape per say, the mother certainly hadn't enjoyed it. They'd been going out a few months prior, but once she realized she was a pregnant, and pregnant with a fucking werewolf, she'd left him to move to England. He had seen neither the boy or the woman since, though he suspected both were dead. None of this really bothered him anymore, since it'd been over 16 decades ago, but it made him cautious about choosing his sexual partners.

"I'm not sure what happened to him," he finally replied, rubbing at his knee, "his mother left me before he was even born, and I haven't seen either since. I'm sure she had the child, even though he was a wolf. She loved kids..." He shrugged, glancing down at his lap for a second, before looking back to Anna.

[Teris]

Small shrubs that had grown onto and around the rock scratched at her clothing, bending to the wind's power that seemed set on annoying her. Bringing her knees up, she wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees, eyes staring out over mad waters. Seagulls and albatross beat over-head, trying to get the better of the nature they were built to fly in. If you asked Anna-Leigh, they seemed to be failing, since they weren't really going anywhere against the wind. They squawked to each other, and she wondered why they didn't just dive down to the ground and take refuge by a tree or something. Either the birds weren't that smart, or Mother Nature had a different plan for them. She was tilting towards the theory that they were just idiots. Pretty birds, but they had brains the size of a grain, she swore to god. Bringing her brown eyes down from the amusing scene from above, Anna-Leigh looked over at Morrison when he spoke.

”I'm not sure what happened to him. His mother left me before he was even born, and I haven't seen either since. I'm sure she had the child, even though he was a wolf. She loved kids...” He trailed off then, his small speech cutting off as a shrug when he looked over at her. She stared back, her eyes not once faltering from his gaze before she glanced down at her knees, the formations of a blush itching to show itself on her cheeks.

”So how do you know it was going to be a boy? From the sounds of it, she didn't stick along long enough...” Okay, that was enough prying. She rubbed her arms, trying to create heat from the friction of her jacket against skin. She, instead, thought about her own thoughts on children. She wanted badly to have them. Later on in life, though, when she was, say, twenty or twenty-one. Maybe a bit later. It depended largely about whether or not she managed to get a better, more suited apartment in a not-so-bad part of the city. Her building was a dump, and far from the proper place to raise a child. Yes, she wanted a little giggly, squirming, screaming, pooping, sometimes disgusting ball of a human. Or a werewolf, or a vampire. She supposed she might find a good guy of any three species, so she shouldn't leave that all out. On the same token, though, she didn't think she'd want a vampire child; little teeth poking into her nipples, no thank you. What gender did she want? It didn't really matter -she'd love the kid no matter- though ever since she was 10, she'd wanted a baby girl. Typical. She cleared her throat, ”I think all women, some part in them, wants to be a mother and have a child. And like children. Sure, there are people who say they're absolutely against it, but who wouldn't want a warm, adorable little blanket-wrapped bundle of puking joy?” She asked, glancing back up at Morrison.

A grin crossed her face as she uncrossed her legs and jumped off the rock. Enough sitting, time to move around again. While her body had been all the more warm in that position, her legs felt cramped and sore. She jammed her hands deep into her pockets while her legs slowly adjusted to the cold wind. ”Did you ever want kids?” She asked him, lifting a leg until her foot was touching her bum as she stretched her thighs.

She had the urge to jog, she just wanted to go at a medium -not slow walking or fast sprinting- speed to just burn off a lot of the sugars that might cause her some problems later -she knew she shouldn't have drank that beer, but what the hey. Speaking of which, she still had some in the bottom of the bottle. Tilting her head back as she brought the opening to her lips, Anna-Leigh allowed the rest to enter her body, not pulling her lips from the bottle until the last bit was empty. ”Want to go for a jog?” She brought up casually.

((Once again, terribly sorry for taking so long to post... Assignments, life, death, blah. =D ))

[Morrison Whelan]

(( It's okay, your absence has left me plenty of time to kill many small animals. :3 ))

The slightest tinge of pink colored her cheeks as he finished speaking, indicating how slightly uncomfortable his story had made her. While he hadn't told the incident to many, those he did had the same sort of reaction. His was the sort of scandal that most would keep hidden, but he'd carried the weight of it for most of his life and it no longer bothered him to let others know of his folly; he'd been very young at the time anyway.

”So how do you know it was going to be a boy? From the sounds of it, she didn't stick along long enough...”

"She hadn't felt well, so she went to the doctor," he paused for a drink of his beer, now only half full, "the ultrasound was pretty conclusive." More quiet... Anna's eyes went a little blank as some sort of train of thought crossed her mind, pulling her out of the real world for a short while. Morrison tried not to let that sort of thing happen to him too much anymore; it brought up too many painful memories. He was sick of being reminded of the anguish in his past...

"...Sure,there are people who say they're absolutely against it, but who wouldn't want a warm, adorable little blanket-wrapped bundle of puking joy?”

The wolf shook his head softly, glancing away from her and grumbling under his breath, partly annoyed that she was talking so much and partly annoyed by what she said. Kids were too much fucking work, and it seemed rather cruel to bring another life into the world as it was now. It would be better if everyone suddenly became sterile and no more children were created; let the humans slowly die out and leave the world under the wolves control, as vampires would soon be gone without human blood, then wolves as they could not last on animal meat to long. It was how the world was going to turn out in the end; why not make it happen sooner?

”Did you ever want kids?”

The preemptive grin and the way she put in the past tense brought up a soft growl from the wolf. What did she know about him that gave her the right to assume that he didn't want kids anymore? Obviously he didn't, knowing how terrible of a father he'd be, but she still didn't have the right... And he couldn't stand how happy she could be. Morrison was far too moody to handle a 'happy' person; he'd much prefer to be yelled and swore at, at least then he'd be able to take out some of his aggression.

His eyes drifted up, watching Anna finish her beer, lips curved in a dangerous grimace. ”Want to go for a jog?”

Morrison couldn't take it anymore. "Would you just shut the fuck up?!" he screamed, swinging his bottle through the air and crashing in into the boulder he was still sitting on. "And can't you sit still for just two goddamn seconds?!" He was halfway to his feet, determined on strangling all that pep out of the human, but sharp pieces of glass had dug into his thigh, forcing him to sit back down. A frustrated yell escaped him and he pounded a fits into the rock, breaking the skin.

The pain in his leg and his hand were helping to ebb his anger the slightest bit, so was ignoring Anna at the moment. He kept his eyes trained on the sand beneath the boulder, hunched forward and breathing deep, fists clenched so tight that his short nails were painful against his palms. Calm down... he tried to tell himself, but another voice chimed in. Fuck calm, you deserve to set the whole world on fire for what happened to you. A bit drastic, but it perfectly described as he felt, so did the tears that had found their way down his cheeks.

[Teris]

”Would you just shut the fuck up?!” There was a loud crash as the bottle came down, shattering on the rock, and Anna-Leigh instantly went silent. ”And can’t you sit still for just two goddamn seconds?!” She froze, wincing when he suddenly rose, appearing as if he’d intended to beat her. Thankfully for her, glass jabbed into his leg and stopped him. The blood and the adrenaline that suddenly was pumping in her veins made her nauseous. Tears, of fear and of so suddenly being yelled at, sprung into his eyes, and she flinched again when he gave a sudden yell, slamming fists down onto the rock, creating more blood. Her face and eyes were adverted downwards, she couldn’t look at him.

His ragged breathing from anger and pain cut through her, and she shifted one foot, and then froze again, remembering being yelled at. She risked a single glance upwards and saw tears streaming down his face as well. Strange enough, she wanted to go to him and help him, but she couldn’t. She had a feeling that if she went a single step towards him, her life would end there. That feeling echoed through her, warning signals flashing through her body like sharp, painful knives. She bit her bottom lip, teeth clanging quietly on the piercings before she stopped doing that as well. Who knew what would make him blow up next? She didn’t want it to be something as little as her playing with a piercing. She wondered what pain he was going through that he would explode so hazardously. That didn’t matter right now, though. It was clear that whatever it was, she wasn’t going to be told it anytime soon, and she wasn’t willing to pry to get it.

She took in a deep breath, trying her hardest for it to not make any noise. Might as well start walking back home now, then maybe she’d get home by dinner. It was clear she shouldn’t be asking him for a ride back; and even if he said yes, would it be safe? ”Sorry…” She whispered, taking a small step back. ”Maybe I should go.” Her eyelids slid down slightly when she stared at the ground a moment, unmoving. Then she turned and began walking away.

Her arms wrapped tightly around her chest, and she was glad she’d worn a thicker jacket and jeans today. Glancing down at the bottle in her hands, she flung it to the ground, ignoring her inner impulse to turn around and pick it up. Who fricken cared if she littered? The world was going hell anyways. Despite her coat, she was shivering, and she resisted the urge to turn around and give Morrison one last glance before never turning back. Kicking a small pebble in the sand, she continued her way up to where he had parked the car, and walked past it, head down like a saddened puppy. She risked a side-glance at the car and bit her bottom lip, trying to resist the urge to just fall to the ground and cry. She didn't know why. Perhaps it was the shock of being so violently yelled at and seeing his display of anger, pain, hurt.

She was about half-way down the long road that they had parked at the end of when there was another flash of lightning, followed quickly by the crack of thunder. There was a hissing sound in the distance, and glancing up, Anna-Leigh watched as the sheet of rain became closer and closer to her. ”Great. Just fucking great.” She didn't really want to turn around though. She had the choice between getting wet, cold, and possibly catching something; or death. She was going to take the rain happily with a smile on her face and a skip in her step. Okay, maybe not those two things, but she wasn't going to complain too much. She didn't even know why she felt so dejected. It wasn't like she knew him that well at all, so really his words shouldn't have affected her much at all. They had, though, and every step felt like spikes were shooting painful poison into her veins.

Coming to the end of the drive-way thing, she spotted a large boulder. Giving a sigh that accented her want to burst out into tears, she dropped her arms and made her way over to it. Jeans were so uncomfortable wet, and by now she was pretty much soaked. Rain dripped from her strands of hair, from her nose, from her lip rings, chin, eyelashes. She sat down on the rock and allowed herself to cry. Salty tears mixed in with the water pouring down her cheeks, and if it weren't for the way her face was scrunched up, trying to prevent herself from all-out bawling, then it wouldn't have even appeared that she were crying.

[Morrison Whelan]

"Sorry..."

The word barely registered in Morrison's head and he didn't turn his eyes to look at Anna, who had frozen in place. Her breathing had quickened and was more shallow, almost hiccuping in her resolution to keep from crying. This only worsened his anger toward her. Why should she have the right to be upset at his show of distress? It wasn't as if her tears were sympathetic toward him.

”Maybe I should go.”

The wolf turned his head to look up at her, already red eyes narrowed and daring her to stay where she was. For a moment, she was still, frozen by either fear or frustration. But when she started to walk away, Morrison moved his eyes down once more before curling his arms around his head, hiding himself from the storm outside him to concentrate on the one raging in his head. Perhaps it was only ten minutes, or even 20 before the rain came. The man finally lifted his head once the heavy drops of water started to pound against his back, drenching him within a minute. His tears were swallowed up and banished by the water that coursed down his face.

No longer did he feel the urge to maim or hurt, or cry. He just wanted to get home and rest, to make sure Anna got home safe. She didn't have a car of her own, then where would she be going? She wasn't seriously going to walk home from the beach, he didn't even know where she lived and was sure that it would be at least an hour's trek. And in this rain, it would be difficult.

Breathing with his mouth open, he reached down under his leg and yanked out the pieces of glass that had embedded themselves there. A soft hiss left his lips at the pain of the glass leaving his skin, but then there were only softly throbbing points on his leg, able to easily be ignored. His knuckles weren't even that bad, though they were annoyingly stiff as they had already started to crust over with scabs and if he curled his hands to tightly, the skin would start bleeding again. Slightly more relaxed and at least a bit composed, he made his way back down the beach to his car.

He found his leather jacket where he had left it, but it was no ruined by wind blown sand and rain; he'd have to get a brand new one now, unless he wanted to wear a faded, forever filthy looking coat. The jacket now in his arms, he went to his car and got in, dismissing the fact that he was getting everything wet with his rain soaked body. He could easily clean it up later as the seats were treated leather. Now he needed to find Anna. She couldn't be too far, not in such a small amount of time and in such weather. He turned to car around in the small cul-de-sac at the end of that road, before driving back toward the main road.

That is where he found the human, sitting down on a large rock, face turned into the rain. Morrison sighed deeply. He suddenly regretted lashing out at her, now that he saw the extent to which he had upset her. Again, he found no sense in her crying, but he would try to comfort her all the same. He left the car idling on the road then got out and walked around to lean down by Anna.

"Come on," he said quietly, as kindly as he could, "get up." Gently, trying not to seem aggressive in any way, the wolf lifted her up then coaxed her into the passenger seat of the car. After closing the door behind her, he got into the driver's seat, though he didn't take off in the car immediately. "Want me to take you home?" he asked her softly, not looking up to her, instead staring down at his lap. It was odd how fast the day had turned. Only about two hours ago, they had been sitting together, casually drinking hot chocolate. Now, the amount of stress he was feeling had shown through, and in one of the worst ways. He was sick of distancing people by being unable to keep his temper under control. Maybe if he could talk to her about what had happened... Though he really didn't want to go down that road right now, it was ridiculous how much he was crying lately.

[Teris]

Soon the tears began to fade, the rain mimicking what had once fallen down her cheeks. Despite the fact she was no longer shedding the tears, Anna-Leigh couldn't seem to untangle her expression from that of which she'd held while crying. It was probably from the fear she'd felt. She always seemed to cry uncontrollably when she became too frightened. She'd honestly thought he was going to kill her. What could have stopped him? They wouldn't have even found her body for a year maybe, and then Mane would be dead. Her parents wouldn't know what happened; no one would know but him. The thought of being unknown, of being wiped from the face if the planet had filled her so suddenly with dread, that she couldn't handle it. It was such a pansy, childish, normal reaction though. Anna-Leigh hated normality, yet she found herself being sucked into it every day.

Her ears hadn't picked up on the sound of his car door opening, or even the engine, before she was startled by Morrison's voice. ”Come on. Get up.” Strong and sturdy arms lifted her to her feet before she shakily stood. Her head was down, she didn't want to look at him. When she was in the warm car, she shifted slightly, uncomfortable with how soaked she was and the noise it made when she moved even the slightest bit on the leather seats. She grimaced, and when he got in on the driver's side, she flinched and stopped moving. The wetness made her skin itch and irritated as she sat still, waiting for him to begin to drive. He didn't. They sat there in the car in silence for a moment. ”Want me to take you home?” He asked her quietly.

After a moment, she nodded slowly, swallowing to clear her throat. ”Yes please,” were the words she whispered. It took a moment longer before the car was put into drive and they began heading for the city. Anna-Leigh lowered her eyes, focusing on her eyelashes which were clumped together. She blinked a few times until a water droplet trickled down from her hair line, falling down the side of her cheek. A sigh escaped her lips before she let her shoulders relax, allowed her body to relax and she tentatively allowed her head to rest against the back of the seat. Her eyes fluttered closed, not because she was tired, just because if a giant transport truck went crazy as they were passing and smashed into them and killed them, she wouldn't see. Funny how many scenarios can go through your mind about death when you think you've just had a close brush with it. Funny how the body absolutely refused to go without a fight.

”Thanks. ... For driving me back.” She said quietly, figuring she should thank him. She had seemed to have ticked him off pretty badly back there, the fact that he was giving her a ride was admirable. Should she even be in the car with him now? What if he tried to kill her again. Internally, she snapped at herself 'Stop being so damned childish. Can't you see he needs help? There's probably things he's seen that you couldn't even imagine. Put yourself in his shoes.'[/i] She sighed silently again, then brought her head up from the seat and looked over at him gently. What did she see? Her eyes showed her a face, tense with lines and wrinkles, cold steely eyes that covered a -probably- soft interior, a strong, supple body that had been accustomed to pains she couldn't imagine, wisdom, and pain; lots of pain. 'See? Immortals may be able to mostly escape death, but they can't escape life no matter how hard they try.'[/i] Whispered some part in her.

As they neared the city, Anna-Leigh quietly gave him the directions to her apartment, and soon they were parked outside. ”Thanks again.” She paused after unclicking her seat belt. ”Would you like to come in?” She asked.

[Morrison Whelan]

Tension seemed to follow Morrison around like the plague. It was very rare that anyone could be comfortable around him, if ever anymore. He was too much of a hard ass and would never willingly let his guard down. And when it was torn away, the only emotion he could ever show was anger; seething, vengeful, frustrated, guilty, anger. The worst part was that he knew that it wouldn't let up soon, for nothing could feel that void that Meadhbh had occupied. Only time would help him heal, and it could be decades before the giant rift of grief was only a shallow gash.

”Thanks. ... For driving me back.”

Morrison nodded softly in response, mouth shut tight so that he wouldn't say something to upset himself. Anna, he reminded himself, just focus on her. His eyes turned from the road for a moment to look over at the human. She was watching him as well, anxious understanding in her gaze. Quickly, the wolf focused back on the road, pulling the car over a little so that it wouldn't drive onto the shoulder and spin out. Find some way to help her, he thought, you're good at that.

A sad little smirk lit his lips at the thought. He was amazing at taking care of people, even with his callous personality. Meadhbh had first attested to that, how he had saved her form such a miserable life. And then he'd had Iivan to look after, when he got hurt or mangled, and most recently Nessa. That woman was a bit of a mystery to him, as he didn't know her real name, or if she had gone back on drugs. With any luck, she had managed to stay sober, however unlikely that seemed. Drugs were a huge part of her life, she couldn't just go cold turkey, that would completely fuck with the norm.

Back in the city, the wolf felt that he could relax a little. There were more people about and for some reason he found that his anger was much more civilized around crowds. Perhaps it was that so many humans around him reminded him of that part of him, instead of the wolf that would love to main every single one of them. Hopefully, Anna would be able to feel a bit more comfortable around him, now that he was more easily capable of being kind and not showing the stress that raged in him.

Following the directions that the human gave him, he got to her apartment quickly. Part of him was dreading having her leave. He would have to spend the rest of the day alone, since Iivan was with Jeena at her clinic and it was too far out of the way. He also needed to clean up his own apartment, which was devoid of company. A frown creased his mouth at the thought of being lonesome.

”Thanks again.”

Morrison glanced up at her after she had taken off her seat belt and a sigh was about to let itself be known when she spoke again.

”Would you like to come in?”

A soft, thankful smile lit up his expression and he nodded once. "Yeah," His voice was a little hoarse from shouting earlier but it didn't bother him, his throat feeling perfectly fine. Sighing finally, with relief, he unbuckled himself and turned off the car. For a moment, he sat there, relaxing himself, before he got up and out of the car to open Anna's door for her. Always the gentlemen he was.

With his vehicle locked up and safe, Morrison followed after the human to her building. It wasn't as nice a place as where the wolf lived, though his building really wasn't much better. The real difference was when they got inside. His and Iivan's apartment was very clean and minimally decorated, just because that was how Morrison liked to keep it. Anna's space on the other hand, was a little cluttered, and very personalized; bright colors and pictures on all walls. Normally, he would have balked at having to be in such a home, but right now it felt like a breath of fresh air from the usual surroundings and his own down attitude, and it was cozy.

"Where's your cat?" he asked casually, glancing over at Anna and pulling off his jacket. It wasn't that he could smell a little box or anything of the sort, it was just normal cat smell. He didn't care for animals much himself, unlike someone he'd rather not think about, but they did seem to like him. Perhaps it was how animalistic he was himself.

[Teris]

Inside her own apartment, Anna-Leigh felt slightly more comfortable. The familiar scents of herself, the lingering of the meal of bacon and eggs she’d made herself that morning, and of Mane; it all calmed her so much more then she had been earlier. This was her turf, and she was not prepared to be frightened on her turf. ”Where’s your cat?” Morrison asked as he pulled off his jacket. Before answering, she took the article of clothing from him and hung it up.

”Oh, I’m sure he’ll be around in a moment.” As if on cue, there was a ’Murp!’ as Mane rounded the corner and, just as he had when Tahmores had been over, stopped pretty much dead in his tracks and circled around the couch as if to say ‘you realize this is my house, right?’ Anna-Leigh chuckled and went over to the dark gray cat. ”He’s not too partial to strangers.” She explained as she stroked her hand down his back then picked him up. ”He still attacks my mom on occasion. I’ll just put him into my room for now.” She told the werewolf, carrying the complaining cat to her room.

Coming out, she flushed slightly, realizing the slightly messy state her apartment was in. In her rush for work last night, she’d pretty much changed in the living room, and her pajamas were still there, on the floor. Picking them up, she tossed them into the hamper in the bathroom. ”Uhm… I’m going to change into some dry clothes, if you want, I can throw yours into the dryer.” She paused, realizing the state that would put him in, and looked around. ”I have a house coat around you could wear until they’re dry…” Returning to the bathroom, she brought out a fairly long, soft, white house coat she absolutely loved wearing after getting out of the shower. It was perfect to curl up in on the couch with something nice and warm to drink. ”I’ll leave it beside the sink for you.” She told him, disappearing into her own room to change.

She hung her wet clothes in her closet so they wouldn’t go musty while drying, and got out some panties, a new pair of jeans, bra, and tee-shirt. Once all of those were on, she used an old towel to try and dry her hair some more, following which she ran a comb through it. All finished up and feeling nice, Anna-Leigh came out of her bedroom, brushing off her sides as if there was some cat fur on them- which there probably was, since in his defiance, Mane had lain on her clothes with a highly unimpressed expression on his face. He was such a drama queen.

”So, would you like some tea, coffee, sandwich…?” She asked, twisting her lip ring with her tongue.

((Yeah, if Morrison did get changed, you can God-Mod Anna-Leigh to say she put his clothes into the dryer/ whatever, lol. I just didn’t want to say that he did if he didn’t xP ))

[Morrison Whelan]

Morrison was slightly surprised that the cat didn't come up to him and at least sniffed him, but there always the most suspicious of cats. Smart animal, really, for while the wolf wasn't actually going to eat a cat at that moment, he was tempted to; he was so fucking hungry. But he was good at hiding it. And at Anna's telling him that she would put the cat in her room, he nodded softly in agreement, not wanting to be attack by the animal and attack back. That would probably ruin his short-lived relationship with the woman.

"Uhm… I’m going to change into some dry clothes, if you want, I can throw yours into the dryer.”

He turned from looking around the living room to see Anna coming out of the bedroom. His mouth opened to reply, until he realized why she had paused. Honestly, he wouldn't have minded walking around naked in a stranger's house, but the woman was probably much more modest than he.

”I have a house coat around you could wear until they’re dry… I'll leave it beside the sink for you.”

"That would be wonderful," he nodded, smiling softly, a hand drifting down his now damp shirt. His jeans were feeling very uncomfortable and starting to chafe against his thighs; they'd be raw and sore before long.

As the woman went to change, he wandered around the living room for a bit, taking in the feel of the space and the smell. Comfortable was what he felt, very homey. He wished his own apartment was this cozy, but alas he had no styling sense so he was destined to forever stick to a palette of grays, black, and sometimes blue so that he wouldn't accidentally clash anything. The upside was that the colors were easy to keep clean.

”So, would you like some tea, coffee, sandwich…?”

The wolf turned to see that Anna had gotten into new, though slightly furry clothes. Great, now she'd smell like cat the rest of the night... He shrugged it off, it wouldn't tempt him too much, especially if he did get something to eat. "I suppose you don't have any biscuits? Though, tea would be fine as well." With a slight smile, he turned to the bathroom, walking slightly awkward with the wet denim rubbing against his skin.

Once in the bathroom, Morrison immediately stripped down, very uncomfortable in his wet clothes. He dropped them outside of the door for Anna to get before ducking back into the room. For a moment, he stared at the house coat, unsure as to if he really wanted to wear it. With a sigh, he pulled it over his head then just stared at himself in the mirror. Yes, he did look incredibly silly, he'd even like to fancy that he filled out the coat with his own muscular chest than Anna's. The wolf snorted slightly at the thought then pulled off the coat. Instead, he went for wrapping a towel tightly around his waist, preferring to go bare chested than looking... odd.

Walking back into the living room, Anna's house coat in hand, Morrison felt a little warmer as he was starting to dry off. Soon his clothes would be ready to wear again soon, as he could hear them tumbling in the dryer. Though for now he felt alright in his towel. "The coat doesn't really work for me," he smirked softly, holding it out to Anna as she walked out of the laundry room. Vaguely, he wondered if she would be uncomfortable with him as he was, easily able to accidentally flash her, but then he realized that he didn't care.

[Teris]

”I suppose you don't have any biscuits? Though, some tea would be fine as well.”

Anna-Leigh smiled to herself lightly, ”I'll see what I can do.” She called as she made her way into the kitchen. There was some chicken salad that needed to be used up, so grabbed about eight slices of bread, she made a few sandwiches and cut them into triangles and placed on a plate. If he didn't want any, she certainly did. Her food-making paused only when he opened the door, and she grabbed his wet clothing and tossed them into the drier for thirty minutes. Returning to the kitchen, she found a box of assorted cookies, containing oreos, chocolate chip, and mackidamian (I have a feeling I butchered that spelling, and in case I forget to spell check on proboards, sorry xP !) cookies. She didn't have any tea biscuits or anything, but she thought he might enjoy these all the same. Hmm... crackers and cheese? Sure, she had about a minute or so more to kill while Morrison got himself situated. It took only a short while to cut up some cheese, then all she had to do was grab a box of crackers and carry all of the stuff to the living room table while waiting for the water to finish boiling.

Just as Morrison was coming from the bathroom, Anna-Leigh was coming from the laundry room, and stopped dead in her tracks as she caught sight of Morrison's attire. A blush came to her cheeks before she pushed it down and pretended to act callous about the whole situation. ”The coat doesn't really work for me.”

She gave a small smirk of her own, ”Ah, so on top of being a crazy werewolf, you're also a cocky asshole.” She lightly teased him as she tossed the housecoat into the laundry room and made her way back to the kitchen to dip the tea bags into the steaming water waiting in cups on the counter. She stirred the flavour from the leaves in with a spoon before carrying the cups into the living room where Morrison waited. She placed the two mugs onto the coffee table-thing before sitting down on the couch. Her hand patted the cushion beside her, offering a place to sit, and then grabbing a small triangle of a chicken salad sandwich.

There was a scratch in the distance, followed by an insistant 'meow'. Mane, complaining, like usual. Not much of a surprise. She gave her eyes a slight roll before taking another bite of her sandwich. ”Dig in.” She commented around her food. A little rude, but oh well. She choked slightly when his towel moved slightly; not showing anything, but it still was pretty bad. She glanced away, the faintest of flushes on her cheek bones. Finishing her triangle of a sandwich, she settled back into the couch, bringing her legs up and folding them contempuously as she eyed him slightly. He was well built, and half-naked, it was easy to tell this. She looked away again; it would be better for her if she just ignored the fact that there was an attractive half-naked guy on her couch right now. It was difficult, but possible.

”So...” She coughed then looked over at him. ”How do you enjoy... London.” Je-sus, after this little charade, she was going boyfriend hunting, this problem really needed to be fixed. She took a deep in take of breath, and allowed her elbows to rest on the back of the couch casually as she shifted to crouch slightly on her heels.

[Morrison Whelan]

Morrison grinned softly at the blush that crept over Anna's face. She tried to cover it up her body's reaction with: ”Ah, so on top of being a crazy werewolf, you're also a cocky asshole.” This helped to push down the rouge on her cheeks, but she still looked a little flush and he could faintly hear her elevated heartbeat as well as smell a rise of adrenaline in her blood. Her bashful arousal amused him.

"Only the cockiest, darling," he told her quietly, grin falling to a little smirk.

He watched her now as she went into the kitchen to get tea, and readjusted his towel to make sure it was as secure as possible. The smell of the hot drinks was rather calming, but at the same time almost revolting as the scent of herbs in the air contradicted with his need for fresh meat. At least she had cookies, and they looked incredibly appetizing. However, he would completely ignore the chicken salad sandwiches, which looked absolutely revolting. Not in his wildest dreams could he ever imagine eating cold, cooked, white meat, nor could he understand its appeal to humans. They were such an odd race. From time to time, he wished that he had been born human, just to know what it was like to be mortal, but most of the time he was incredibly thankful to have the step up on other wolves, being as he was a born wolf.

At Anna's patting the cushion beside her, offering him a seat, Morrison moved over to her, holding a hand on his towel to keep it still. Sitting down, the wolf was careful not let anything show, which wasn't too difficult as the towel was long enough. His eyes were concentrated on the food on the coffee table, as it, the cookies at least, looked quite appetizing. He had already started leaning forward when the woman told him to 'Dig in'. He did obligingly, picking up a macadamia nut cookie and stuffing it into his mouth. Almost immediately, he choked on it, hearing Anna do the same, and he noticed that his leg felt a little colder. He glanced down to see that his towel had slipped to the side and revealed most of his thigh, almost slipping off. Quickly, as to not flash Anna, he pulled the cloth back up to cover himself.

The man felt an urge to chuckle at the way the human blushed again, less this time, even though she soon looked back to him, watching him out of the corner of her eye, studying him. Morrison simply watched her back, leaning back into the couch cushion, nibbling on his biscuit and holding a hand to the towel to keep it from slipping off. It was nearly as if he were teasing her, 'dressed' the way he was, and he almost felt bad for it, as he wasn't trying to, it was merely the fact that he didn't care about being nude. Personally, he thought people were too bashful when it came to being naked. So what if you were able to see everything? It wasn't harming anyone... hopefully. The only reason humans (and wolves) wore clothes anyway was to keep warm, so why not lounge around nude inside? t was incredibly liberating and comfortable to not have to worry about what you were wearing.

Nonetheless, Morrison would keep himself in his towel, trying to be as modest as possible as to not offend Anna's sensibilities. Not that she was being particularly prudent herself, with the way she sat so that her chest was pressed out in front of her. The wolf merely shrugged it off, being used to such subtle advances.

”So... How do you enjoy... London.”

He smiled slightly, finishing up his cookie then reaching for another one, this time making sure his towel didn't slip off his lap. "It's a little dreary," he sighed, turning the biscuit in his hand, "but you come to appreciate it." Morrison shrugged, taking a large bite of his cookie, and stared off at a far wall for a few moments, before looking back to Anna. "You think you could style my hair this evening? It really is in desperate need of attention." He smiled at her, then glanced down at his lap for reassurance that he was still hiding everything. A haircut would feel rather nice, especially if she could trim his beard; it was getting a bit too warm as the hair was growing longer.

[Teris]

”It’s a little dreary, but you come to appreciate it.” The werewolf answered her question. He took a bite of his cookie, and for the next few moments, the two stared off into space. Anna-Leigh’s mind was wandering on the things she’d have to do later that day. Shower, eat dinner, dress, get off to work. On the way home she’d have to get some more cat food for Mane, and maybe she’d even pick up some of that canned stuff he loved so much but rarely got. She felt eyes on her, and turned to look at Morrison just as he began speaking. ”You think you could style my hair this evening? It really is in desperate need of attention.” He told her, and then glanced down. Her eyes involuntarily followed him, but then darted back before she could be caught in the act.

She eyed the facial hair that had grown a bit out-of-whack in the time it had been left uncared for, and his scraggly hair. She gave him a smile and nodded, ”Sure. In fact, I have some of my stuff here, so I could cut it now and gel it and what not.” Her form rose and brushed a few bread crumbs from her front. Mentally, she added vacuuming to her list of things to do. ”I’ll just go get them now.” Were her words as she was disappearing into the laundry room. Hanging on a hook was the dark green throw that covered the patients and stopped them from becoming covered in hair and beside it a small purse-like thing that held the items she’d need. Grabbing the two, she quickly rinsed her hands off into the basin off to the side, and checked the time on the clothes. About another ten minutes and she could come back.

”Your clothes are almost finished.” If she were actually paying attention to her words, maybe she would have caught the hint of relief in her tone. Carrying the stuff into the kitchen area, she placed the stuff onto the table, and pulled out a chair for whenever he was ready to have his hair cut. Coming back to the couch, she sat down across from him, and a light smile pulled at her lips. ”At least your hair is still a bit damp; it’ll make wetting your hair easier.” She laughed, then grabbed for a cookie of her own. Chocolate chip, one of her favourites; it was a pity that more often then naught, the store bought chocolate chip cookies lost a majority of their appeal to her due to their dry nature. Her teeth bit into it in a small nibbling motion until the snack was gone.

Her tongue flicked over her lips, bringing into her mouth the remaining cookie crumbs before she stood. ”Well? Shall we?” Legs carrying her over to the table, she took into her hands the green throw and waved it in the air to get it out of its folded state.

Allowing him to get adjusted into the chair, Anna-Leigh went to the kitchen and filled the small spray bottle up with water to wet his hair. The briefest flash of a thought crossed her mind as she wondered whether or not he had an aversion to water; like some dogs did for getting squirted in the muzzle for doing something wrong. The thought, however, was quickly discharged. Morrison was not a dog; he was a person, maybe not a human, but defiantly a person. She brought the spray bottle over with her and placed it on the table before wrapping the green cloth around the werewolf. Her fingers slipped between the cloth and the skin of his neck, making sure it wasn’t too tight, and then she began preparing her tools or the trade.

”So, how do you want your facial hair trimmed? Or do you want it completely shaved off?” She asked, beginning the process of wetting his hair. The thankfulness that he was a guy was something probably no one but other hair dressers would understand; generally they were easier to care for since they generally had less hair. Sure, there was the odd girl who had a cut similar to Anna-Leigh’s, where it was just a little short, or there was the girls with really thin hair, or the guys with really thick, long hair. It was just the general ratio, and Morrison’s hair looked like it would be pretty easy on her.

She began trimming the back of his head with the pair of scissors, getting rid of split-ends, and gently combing out tiny knots that had probably formed in the rough weather earlier that day.

[Morrison Whelan]

”Sure. In fact, I have some of my stuff here, so I could cut it now and gel it and what not.”

Morrison nodded in agreement as Anna stood, brushing herself off, and watched her move off to get her supplies. Once she was out of the room, he got up himself, as he was sure that his towel would fall off as soon as he got to his feet. The cloth did start to slip, but he caught before it got past the middle of his hips. His knees were distracting him with their usual stiffness during rain, and it was absolutely pouring outside now; he could hear it pounding relentlessly on the building outside. It would have helped if he had been moving around more earlier, but the driving around and sitting around with Anna couldn't have really been avoided. Perhaps she had some aspirin around somewhere, which might make him feel the slightest bit better.

”Your clothes are almost finished.”

The sentence was almost sighed, clearly demonstrating how relieved she would be for him to be fully clothed again. He had the thought that he should stay in his towel, just to make her more uncomfortable, but then he remembered how he had upset her earlier and her didn't want a repeat of that. Clothes would be nice to wear anyway; he wouldn't have to be so conscious about something falling off. As she sat down, he was slightly aware of her lower vantage point and wondered if she could see anything... Probably not, for it wasn't as if she was laying on the floor under him. Then, he watched her lean over to get another cookie. The wolf started bending down to get one for himself, yet he stopped himself when his towel began to slip down his back so he stood straight again, ignoring the delicious biscuits.

”At least your hair is still a bit damp; it’ll make wetting your hair easier.”

Morrison made a bit of a face, lifting a hand to his damp hair. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd had a shower, it could be as much as a week ago. It made him a little embarrassed to let the woman touch his hair, not that he should be, as he was sure she had lots of clients that came in with filthy hair. And it wasn't as if he had kept up the best impression around her anyway; a greasy head of hair wouldn't hurt her feelings toward him.

After a small laugh, the human stood up, licking the crumbs from her lips and saying: ”Well? Shall we?” The wolf nodded and moved to the chair that Anna had set up for him. His towel had shifted a little while sitting, riding up his legs, but once she draped the green smock over him, he didn't worry about it, and wouldn't have to until he stood back up.

Once her hands moved to his neck and his skull, he flinched softly. The wolf knew better than most how fragile the head and throat were and was incredibly wary of letting anything around his own. For a while, he knew that he would be very conscious of where Anna's hands and the scissors would be going and how close they came to his skin. Hopefully, he would at least not try to move away from her and cause the woman to jab him in the face or something, which he could easily see happening as he had quite violent reactions when startled.

”So, how do you want your facial hair trimmed? Or do you want it completely shaved off?”

"Hmm," Morrison mumbled softly, scratchy at his chin. It had been years and years since he'd last had his beard completely shaved off and it was time for a change. Besides, it would be mostly grown back by the morning if he didn't like how he looked without the thick stubble. "Let's shave it off," he smiled, turning his head slightly to look at her out of the corner of his eye. His shifted his head forward again as he felt the scissors against the back of his head, trying to avoid being cut, however irrational that thought was.