Russo

Cliff nods at the question, leaning against the trunk of the tree. “Yeah.” He knows how he’d feel if the tables were turned, and he was the one the branch got the better of. “If it helps, something similar happened to me before. I was on one of my usual runs, and the ends of the branch latched into the back of my shirt and wouldn’t let go. Took me a good five minutes to get out of it, but I’m pretty sure nobody saw my struggle.”

“Like someone took a meat hammer to his face, and then followed with a cheese grater.” Eli shrugged, he had it happen to him a few times, he was not without his hard learning curves. He had a nasty habit of biting off more than he could chew and then scrambling to fight his way out. He learned, a lot, constantly, and it made him a better fighter for it. But here, he needed to be careful. Being reckless would not be a learning experience so much as ten feet under. He had too much to do.

“I can imagine.” Cliff nods, recalling his own ventures. Not in the underground of the club but while he was in the service. He got into boxing during a time they weren’t fighting a war, before he was turned, and he had his fair share of both wins and losses. It was so long ago but he recalls how good it felt to come out the victor, so he knows just how the other male is feeling. “So anything to celebrate? Or is the drink as far as that goes?”

“As long as you’re alright. Work happens. I was only worried that you were hurt or something. I guess my mind wandered.”  Remy brought up her hands to hold his face gently between them, a smile on her face as she returned the kiss. It was a strange dynamic no doubt to anyone on the outside, but it worked out just fine in her eyes. “Well, I’m right here, daddy.” With a smirk she added, “Just means you’re going to have to put up with me a lot longer now.” It was said playfully though.

“I understand. It’s hard for it not to when you don’t know what’s going on.” It’d been some time since he’s heard her call him that, but it still affects him the same. “And that’s not a bad thing.” Now that he’s had some time to get used to the change in Remy, he can actually admire it. “It does look good on you.”

“No, he didn’t. He has been there for me through this even after all the horrible things i’ve done.” Remy was surprised no matter if he was a friend or not. She had done some terrible things and yet there he was. “It would have been worse if I hadn’t stayed. Maybe you guys all have other people you could have leaned on, but not my mom. My moms alone besides me and she helped me bury Charlie.”” She gave a shake of her head, remembering too late she hadn’t told him about that and moving on. It was something for another day then. She had already unloaded too much on him. “She doesn’t need to bury anyone else is all.” Remy felt safe wrapped in his arms; comfortable and at ease with the familiarity. “Thank you. I’m just glad you’re alright. You up and disappeared without saying anything.”

“Then it’s good she doesn’t have to.” Yes he’s curious and yes he wants to know, but it’s not something he’ll push her to talk about. Only when she’s comfortable to. “Yeah... I have a few people pissed off at me for that...” He runs a hand through her red hair, looking down at her. “I had to look into a possible lead on the murder cases. I get too wrapped up in my job and forget to say things. I apologize for that, but I’m back and while you’ve changed, you’re still my baby girl.” He kisses her again, a little deeper this time. “I wouldn’t have chosen this life for you either. I know what it is to live this life without given a choice, but it would have been worse to come back and find that you were gone.”

If she could drill into him the fact that he’s an amazing man in every which way, she would but that doesn’t seem quite possible. Shaking her head in bewilderment she answers him in an exasperated tone, “Are you kidding me? We’re all messed up, you a bit more so but I love that you are still a good man, even though you’ve been through hell and back and hell again. Most people let those hard times make them cold and hard-shelled but not you. You…you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met”. And she’s dead serious too, not a hint of humor in her voice or her face. She bites her bottom lip as he showers her with compliments, something that she’s not used to. If she was alive she would be bright red and blushing right now. She shakes her head as she has a problem accepting his kind words, “No, no I’m not. I’m nothing.” And that’s the bottom line, the one statement that she would use to describe herself and she believes through and through. Truth is, she hates who she is, but Cliff has always made it more bearable for her. “And truthfully I don’t deserve you because you’re….you. And I’m just me”, she continues.

He’s completely quiet as she talks about the good man he’s managed to stay after everything. He doesn’t even know how to respond to any of it because while he knows she’s right, he also knows he has his darker side. The issues he can’t control. Briefly his thoughts go to Sophia Greyson, how everything was fine and then in the middle of the night, he had a flashback, right back in the middle of a war battlefield. He then shakes his head and looks at Anastasia, watching her as he compliments her with things he truly feels and believes. “Don’t say that.” He looks at her just as incredulously because he’d have never guessed she feels that way about herself. “Don’t ever say that again.” 

Purgatory was a heaving sway of bodies and heat, and Eli, who had never been particularly the sort of club man, pushed his way through the crowd to the bar. People touched him, patted him, girls clung to him that he shook off, all happy that they won some money off of him. He was lightly bleeding, his hair damp from sweat, but mostly he wanted a drink. Leaning to the bar, he nodded to the bartender to gave him a drink, on her. Which was honestly well and good, because he wasn’t entirely sure what sort of month he was going to have. He pressed the glass to a blooming bruising before he drank it, smiling at the people who congratulated him. 

The officer is off duty for the night and has been sitting at the bar most of the night already. Just getting a refill on his glass, he glances over to the male coming up, smiling at the attention given. Cliff isn’t dumb. He’s lived in Hollow Grove from the beginning and knows enough of what’s going on below the establishment. The way he sees it, there are worse things than fighting and gambling. “What does the other guy look like?”, he asks after a drink of his own, giving a calm smile, clearly feeling some affects from his many drinks.

The vampire had been out on one of his vigorous runs, pushing himself hard to just keep going. It seems like an eternity since he’s been able to go running. He’s yet to fully show his return to town to everyone outside of a few people, and even his first day back at the station was rather low key so his fellow officers weren’t aware either. He comes to a stop for a rest when he hears the slight struggle, and by the time he gets to the source, the branch is simply torn off the tree and tossed away. Much to his amusement, it’s Colton and he’s already got a smile as the wolf notices him. “You got it handled.”

“That’s the one. I know he feels bad, but there wasn’t another choice. He just beat himself up about it because I said no when I realized what he was doing. I was going to accept the fact I wasn’t going to make it.” Remy wasn’t a fan of reliving the memories. Not when they were still that clear in her head. “After the fact though I wasn’t going to just not feed and basically lay down and die. It was different. So I made the decision to stay for my friends and my mom. I couldn’t do that to them. Or you for that matter.” She was hushed by the kiss, a gentle and happy reminder of something normal outside of all her chaos and something she hadn’t realized till then that she had missed a lot. It was a soft kiss in return before she could answer his questions. “Its been hard. Vince told me all this stuff about being different and how easy it is to lose your humanity after. That i had to decide if I was going to deal with that or not feed and actually die. I thought it wouldn’t be that bad, but it has been worse than I thought. I can only describe it like battling another half of myself. One whose a lot angrier and mean. I don’t regret killing the bookies that put me in this situation. I really don’t, and if that makes me a bad person then I guess I’m a bad person. They deserved it. But I shouldn’t have hurt the guy at the bar  or the guy at the library I fed on. I’ve killed three people in the short span that I have been this, and it scares the hell out of me because I don’t want to be this if I can’t still be me.”

“I’m not even angry at Vince. He was doing what he thought he needed to and I know he wouldn’t have wanted this for you.” But he’s more than angry at the bookies who made her walk out into the street and take her own life. His arms slip around her, her words of staying around for people like him making him feel both good and guilty. He shakes his head, speaking in a near whisper. “You didn’t have to stay for me. Yeah I’m glad you’re still here but I wouldn’t... I wouldn’t want this for you and certainly not in the way you were turned.” The kiss helps to further relax the situation but he can’t stand to see her so distraught over what she’s become and the things she’s done and his arms tighten a little more around her as pulls her in against him. “It’s going to be okay,” he says into her hair, kissing the top of her head. “You don’t have to do it alone.”

If she had a working heart, it would be practically beating out of her chest at this point. She can’t handle it, it’s all way too much. Does he still not see? Is he so blinded by his work and his other worries that he just doesn’t care enough to pay more attention? She tries not to give in to her biggest desire as he makes it perfectly clear to her what he means by making it up to her and stands her ground, knowing perfectly well that it wouldn’t take away her pain of loving a man who doesn’t love her. Discarding her cigarette into the half full ashtray that’s standing on the windowsill, she slaps his hand away and turns back to face him head on, “No! Not okay! You know what your problem is, Cliff? You think you can just come and go as you please but it doesn’t work that way, okay? Not when you have people here who love and care about you more than anything in this long, pathetic life!”. She stops as soon as she realizes that she’s said too much but it’s hard to stop in the heat of the moment. She wants him to feel bad, wants him to understand that it’s not just whatever to her, not when it comes to him.

Cliff is fast in pulling his hand back when it’s slapped and even takes a step back as she turns the way she does. All he can do is listen as she tells him about himself, and each word just makes his stomach drop more and more. It’s only when she talks about people loving him that he looks at her in a confused manner. Does she love him? He’s further silenced as she continues her rant, letting things fall from her lips that he knows she would have never allow to do so otherwise. Things that she’s apparently been harboring for quite some time. He just stares at her, so many questions of his own rising up to mind, his eyes not leaving her even as she tries to shove him away.

Remy figured she should have known her questions would be nothing in comparison to his. Oddly it felt like letting him down almost. The nickname always managed to give her butterflies and warm her heart; like knowing she was with someone safe. “It doesn’t matter, they’re dead,” she responded with a sigh. “At least….I got into some trouble at Purgatory and long story short a group of bookies compelled me to walk into the road. I was hit and my friend Vince happened to be around. He gave me his blood hoping I would heal before I died from the injuries, but it didn’t happen. So, here I am.” She frowned, placing her hands over his. “It’s really good to see you, but I wish I didn’t have to give you such horrible news like that.”

“No, it does matter...” He trails off with a light, frustrated growl and reluctantly listens to the summary of what the girl went through. “Vince. As in Vincent Nygaard?” But he can’t even be mad about that because the older vampire was only trying to help, and if anything, at least she didn’t die to the point of needing to be buried. Still, it’s upsetting that she wasn’t turned on her own accord. He lets out a soft sigh, her hands on top of his own helping him to calm down some. “It is good to see you.” He leans in what little he needs to, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. “How has this been for you? Are you okay?”

@officercliffrusso

Still in his police uniform, it’s obvious that Cliff hasn’t been home yet but he didn’t really plan to be either. Among the rare few he wanted to see after his long absence, Remy is one of them but he didn’t have the chance until after his shift. It’s easy enough for him to slip into her apartment unheard or seen, and he stands there waiting for her as he can hear her in her room. But already he can tell that something is off. He startles her but by that point, he’s already too concerned to even crack a smile, yet at the same time, just the sight of her is enough to keep him from reacting much. At least for now. He takes her into his arms the moment she’s come in for an embrace, hugging her tightly though he’s starting to pick up on the signs. Her general demeanor is different. He can’t hear her heart beating, and she lacks the warmth she once had. Ignoring what she’s saying, full blown concern in his features, both hands are at both sides of her cool face and he’s looking deep into her eyes. “Baby girl... What’s going on? What...?” He can’t seem to figure out what question to go for, his head all over the place upon learning she’s not the same as she was, but he’s bordering on being mad and devastated. “...Who did this to you?”

She’s angry at him but she’s even angrier at herself for developing feelings for a man who is obviously flawed in so many ways and probably doesn’t even know how to love another human being, at least not in the romantic way. He looks lost for words and this angers Anastasia even further, although she also can’t help but feel sorry for him because he looks spent and tired, even though vampires don’t really get tired. She appreciates his heartfelt apology but it’s not enough. No, she needs more, needs him to show her that he still cares about her even when he was able to leave, just like that. Shaking her head, she notices that he’s taken a step towards her, afraid that if he comes any closer she will have no choice but to give in and accept his apology. “No! No! Damn you!”, she talks in hard voice, one that even surprises her and retreats into the apartment, slightly hoping that he will follow her in but also knowing that if he left that would probably be for the best. Walking over to the open kitchen window, she picks up a pack of cigarettes and quickly lights one, taking a long drag in order to calm her nerves a little.

It’s not that he doesn’t expect her to react to his moving closer, but it’s the tone she uses that has him stopping and even recoiling some. Cliff watches her, and even though it’s not an appropriate moment, he can’t help but notice that small silk robe. How she’s trying so hard to keep herself covered in it and yet it still manages to show more skin than she’d like to. For a moment he’s just lost in it, lost in the way how she’s always so beautiful, no matter the setting or the situation, even now she’s so pissed off at him, not at all put together cosmetically like she so often is. It’s just... her. He almost accepts that she doesn’t want to see or speak to him, or so he thinks, and a step is nearly taken to go back to his own apartment... but he can’t. Leaving her like this, especially when he’s already left once, doesn’t sit well with him and it’s intriguing to him that she’s acting like this. He recalls the music festival, how she seemed to have been moving in close.... Why did he not realize what she might have been doing? He never once thought that being the job was a bad thing, but seeing her so obviously hurt, smoking shaky hand and all, it tells him it’s just another one of his flaws. But still... why is she taking this so personally? It doesn’t matter. He won’t leave her like this.

Taking the remote, Anastasia starts flipping through the channels, pretty sure that she won’t be able to find anything of particular interest to fill her lonely night. And then she hears it, something that sounds like a very soft knock. At first she thinks she’s hearing things mostly due to the fact that the knock is barely audible but when it comes again she slowly makes her way over to the door wondering who could be knocking on her door at this hour. Looking through the peephole she freezes in her tracks, it’s the last person she thought she’d ever see again in her immortal life. Counting to three in her head to calm herself down, she opens the door slowly with the intent of telling him to get lost and to leave her alone. But once the door is opened and his face is starring back at her, she has lost all ability to speak. So,  making sure the silky robe is wrapped securely around her nearly naked body, she waits for him to say something, anything. Her eyes are full of pain and hurt as she tries desperately to hide how much his leaving has hurt her.

As the moments pass, Cliff is about convinced that she’s not home. At least until his senses pick up on movement inside the apartment. No matter how much he’s dreading this, he doesn’t move. He doesn’t step away or even budge from where he’s standing. He waits, and as those soft footsteps near the door, his eyes start to shift up, a little quicker as the door is unlocked. His light brown eyes meet hers and lock solidly, facial features softening even more. It hurts to see that she’s obviously been affected by his sudden departure and absence, and he wants so badly to take her into his arms to ease that. But he knows it won’t be so easy and he can’t blame her for that. But what does he say? Plenty. But where does he start? “Anastasia... I’m sorry...”  It’s the first thing that comes out, but he means it with everything in him, following it up with a move to step forward, closer to her. 

Against All Odds

It came just as unexpectedly for him as it did for her. Leaving Monster Jam so soon. So sudden and with no explanation. He wanted so badly to spend the rest of the night with her but Cliff Russo has always been the job, whether soldier or police officer. Suspicious activity had him following what he’d been so sure to be a lead, all this time off the grid, watching and waiting and yet to come up empty handed. At least he’d been smart enough to check in with the police department, let them know he didn’t just bail on them. He, however, neglected to fill in Anastasia on his whereabouts and as he finally makes his way home, it’s the only thing on his mind. He was a good husband once, considerate about everything he could be, but since then it’s almost as though he’s developed an attention deficit disorder and such thoughtful gestures are often forgotten. Cliff doesn’t even stop by his own apartment first, knowing he’s got a lot of explaining to do and it’ll likely be a long night. But he owes it to her, no matter how much she may hate him now. He comes to a slow stop in front of her door, staring at it for a long moment before only a quiet knock is given against the door. Though his heart hasn’t budged in quite some time, he’s so sure he can feel the undead organ beating hard in his chest, his stomach twisting as he waits for an answer... If she’ll answer.

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