Clifford "Cliff" Healey (dhampir_boy) wrote in vivavampvegas, @ 2010-08-23 01:04:00 |
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Current mood: | frustrated |
They Really Have to Stop Meeting Like This
Who: Cliff and Gypsie
Where: The Hospital
When: Wednesday, August 18th
Note: Directly after this scene.
The hospital was like a high school in some ways, news spread fast no matter WHERE you were. Cliff was doing his last candy-striper shift for the summer when he'd heard that his friend Joey had been admitted. Now, to be fair, while they went to the same high school, he didn't really get to know her until she was sick and admitted to the hospital two years back. Still, he considered her the sweetest person in the world and a dear friend, and to hear that she'd returned had him worried that she'd relapsed.
He practically rushed to the ER in purple scrubs with a name badge, clearly identifying him as a volunteer and looked utterly frantic. "What happened? Is she okay?" He asked one of the nurses, completely overlooking Gypsie in his panic.
It had only been a minute, but the lapse of time seemed endless since the doctors started working on Joey. Sitting there alone was starting to wear on the Slayer, and before she'd allow herself to bear anymore the teen got up to wander over to the nurses station for two reasons. One, to check on her friend's condition. And two, the girl had suddenly realized that Joey's father hadn't been contacted. Through all the drama and slaying she had neglected to make that call. Surely the man must be worried beyond belief by now having expected his daughter to have gotten home by now.
"Excuse me." Gypsie not paying attention to who was around, or even noticing Cliff, when she approached one of the nurses on duty.
Of course, the nurse at that station at the time (and old, snarky plump African-American woman) knew of both of their involvement's with Joey (she'd be terrible at her job if she didn't know such things, after all). She looked to Gypsie and then Cliff and puckered her full lips in annoyance, "Joey is getting a blood transfusion. We already have her information on hand, so we've contacted her father." This, she said for benefit of Gypsie, obviously, since Cliff would have known, otherwise.
That was the thing. Joey had such a bright optimistic personality that even though she'd only done the occasional check-up's in the last 11 months, even the STAFF remembered her from when she was a regular. "As for what HAPPENED to her… why don't you ask her?" She asked, pointedly looking at Gypsie. It was then that Cliff actually LOOKED at the woman standing not two feet from him.
"Thank you." Gypsie responded actually being polite to the nurse. And when the Slayer turned to glance at the guy standing near her who the nurse seemed to have spoken to at the same moment as her on Joey's condition, Gypsie frowned slightly. The teen turned then to walk back to sit back down nowhere in the mood to deal with Cliff. Wasn't like their last two encounters had gone anywhere near well.
Cliff arched an eyebrow at Angela the Nurse, to which she "mhmm'd" to and went back to work. Cliff had always been persistent however, and wouldn't let this one slide. Especially considering how gentle a creature Joey was. He followed after Gypsie and hovered over her after she sat down. "What happened?" For once, he wasn't being a dick. He was genuinely concerned.
Gypsie just glanced up and looked at him for a brief moment. If there past encounters hadn't included vampires the girl would have just brushed the guy off with the barest of an explanation. One that wouldn't have been anywhere near the truth. But he wouldn't be thinking she needed to be locked up if the truth was revealed, so Gypsie went with that. "Joey was attacked after she left the library." She told him with no trace of attitude the Slayer had previously given the guy. Gypsie was too tore down with worry for that.
"Oh," Cliff blinked. He could see that she was worried. Hell, he was worried. He nodded once. "Let me see what I can find out," and without another word, he ducked into the room where Joey currently was. A few minutes later, he reappeared with a smile on his face (clearly, Joey had done something to him), "She said that she wanted Jell-O… and that you shouldn't worry about her dad. She'll talk to him and it'll be fine."
"Jell-O?" Gypsie managed a half, breathy laugh hearing that. "I should have been there." That seemed to be the girl's tagline of the night. I should have been there. And in her view if she had been Joey wouldn't be in the position she was in now.
"Dude, if she can fight off leukemia, this should be a breeze for her," he replied before wincing, since he wasn't sure if that was general knowledge or not. Oh well. Heh. "She's a cool chick. She'll be okay," he said, trying to be comforting here. Hey, he'd done it before to countless other strangers, it shouldn't be different here, should it?
"What if no one would have been there to protect her?" Gypsie sighed. "She's all I've got left in this world. If anything would ever... " Gypsie sighed heavily then to keep her emotions in check. Thinking it had been one thing, but to actually speak the words. That was almost too much for Gypsie, but she be damned if she'd let anyone see her cry. An emotion she refused to let seep to the surface.
Cliff clenched his jaw then, finding himself getting irritated here, of all places, Joey's effect on him starting to wear off. "It should be no one's job to protect her. She should have been smart enough to leave before daybreak. The fact that she didn't is no one's fault but her own and YOU shouldn't blame yourself for that."
She wasn't going to let anyone put the blame on Joey for what happened. "Don't." Gypsie's jaw clenched as she kept herself from actually snapping at the guy. How was it that Cliff always seemed to manage to get a rise out of her. Intended or not. "Nothing said or done is going to change anything that happened." Them fighting on the subject wasn't going to change anything either. Didn't mean that Gypsie wasn't going to continue to feel responsible for what happened.
"My point is that YOU shouldn't feel guilty for what SHE did," he replied with a frustrated growl. God, what did she have to be so irritating? "I'm trying to be comforting and you're just throwing it back it me. Tell me. Why do I even BOTHER?" Talk about below the belt…
"Why do you bother?" Gypsie threw back at him with an expectant look. Why did he seem to try so hard to be helpful? Wasn't like Gypsie needed it or rather was accepting of help from others. The girl seemed obsessed with handling things as they came her way on her own.
Okay, so he stepped into that one, didn't he? "That's not the point!" He backtracked. "YOU are the one that shits on everything I do. *I* am BEYOND frustrated and *I* am leaving now. You can tell Joes that I love her, but she's an idiot."
"Why? Because I didn't have the courtesy of thanking you for interfering in a dangerous situation." Gypsie shot up to her feet then not able to bear any more of what Cliff was saying. "That's right. Walk away. Just like everyone else, when the times get tough turn and walk away." What had started out as a seemingly civil conversation had turned into a shouting match between the two teens.
"Jesus-fucking-Christ, would you listen to yourself for ONE fucking second. I'm not talking about the first thing we did together, I could give a SHIT about that. The fact that you can't accept that Joey makes her own decisions? Makes me want to STRANGLE you. The world does NOT rest on your shoulders, so stop acting like it does!"
"I'm not saying that Joey can't make her own decisions. She's not some invalid who needs constant taking care of! She's just not able to handle herself in such situations as she had found herself in early. Fuckin forgive me for caring enough to try and keep her safe." Gypsie was practically growling at the boy now. Rage surging through her that what came out of her mouth might not be making sense.
"God, that’s my POINT. You can’t keep her safe twenty-four seven! SHE’S responsible for being in that situation. YOU are not." He growled and threw his arms up in the air. "Are you always this thick!?"
That did it. Him saying she wasn't responsible for Joey. She was. Gypsie had taken on that responsibility to keep Joey protected. Having heard enough from him, Gypsie growled and lunged for the guy, hands going for his throat. And as her hands caught his throat, instead of tightening around the boy's neck to choke the life out of him, Gypsie found herself pulling Cliff toward her as her rage burned to something else. One moment she was wanting to strangle to boy, and then in the next instant the Slayer found herself kissing him fervently.
Cliff wrapped his arms around Gypsie’s waist and clenched her close to his body as he kissed her back harshly (Angela, the Nurse "mhmm'd" again as she passed, as if she expected as much from the two of them). All rational thought completely left his mind. He didn't think on the intense sexual attraction... or frankly any other emotions that she brought out of him, but... they'd have to come up for air eventually.
Her hands smoothed along his shoulders to catch his upper arms as the teens found themselves caught up in the harsh, heated kiss. And as the need to breath became apparent, so did the realization of what was transpiring between herself and Cliff. Hit by it like a ton of bricks crashing down on her, Gypsie struggled to break herself free from the wrap of his arms around her as she pulled away from their kiss. Once free with a couple back steps taken, Gypsie looked at the boy wide eyed with disbelief and slight horror at letting herself get that caught up in her emotions. Then, with only the thought of getting away to try and deal, Gypsie made a quick turn on her heels to make a swift and speedy walk toward the doors to flee out into the night.
Wait. What just happened? Cliff blinked as Gypsie started to leave, idly wondering why every encounter they'd ever had resulted in one or the other walking in the opposite direction. He wasn't going to let that happen this time, thank you very much. With a determined frown, her stalked out after her and took a hold of her arm before she completely got away from him. Which might not have been very smart, hm? "Well now, that's not very nice!"
"Just let it go." Gypsie said when she found herself caught and had stopped in her tracks. She didn't, though, turn to face Cliff. She didn't want to look at him and have to face what had just happened between them. Didn't want to own up to what her real feelings were where Cliff was concerned. Feelings that had finally boiled over and had end with the pair kissing. Gypsie was hating herself for allowing that to happen.
It was just as well she hadn't turned to look, because his fangs elongated in irritation. That was one of the only things that gave away what he was if he lost his temper (well, that and the super-speed and strength and... blood drinking). "No," he growled back at her. "I say we do introductions. Hi. My name is Cliff and I can be a real asshole sometimes. What's YOUR name?"
Gypsie, now, did wrench her arm free from the guy's grasp to turn and face him as she felt anger swelling within her once more. "Why can't you just give it up! Leave me alone." And it was then that she saw what she had never expected to see. Fangs. The Slayer's hand went instinctively to the stake she kept concealed on her person. Something within her though kept the Slayer from using the piece of wood sharpened at one end on Cliff. "I could kill you right now." Gypsie said, though there was no trace of a threat in her voice. The teen really wasn't sure what to be thinking at the moment.
He snarled at her. He didn't particularly like being threatened. "Do that and they'll wheel me away in a body bag," he warned her, batting the stake away when he saw her hesitate. He wasn't taking his chances. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, by the way. That's really fucking nice," he seethed at her before retracting his fangs.
"Vote of confidence?" Was the guy really to be believed? "You think we're friends?" The teen questioned heatedly giving Cliff a slight shove back to his shoulders after the stake had been knocked from her hand. "You want introductions?" Shoving at his shoulders once more. Gypsie taking a step forward as the boy was pushed back another step. "My name is Gypsie and I kill things like you as a hobby." That wall that had threatened to collapse started to reinforce itself as rage whirled once more within her. Her anger and attitude served well to push people away. Keep her from getting close to anyone, thus saving her from the ultimate pain and suffering that would come with their loss.
"Things," he repeated, his lips curling in disgust. He'd never been called a 'thing' before. It actually... really hurt, although he tried to hide it. "I'm more human than you are, sweetheart." He took hold of her hands to stop her shoving him again. "Now why don't you go back inside and see how Joey is? I don't think I could stand to look at you right now." He let her go, and muttered: "I'm not a 'thing'".
As much as her words hurt him, his stung her just as painfully. Maybe just a little bit more as Gypsie felt all that rage that had built within her just evaporate. Had she lost all her humanity by becoming what her Watcher had tried training her to be. "Go and see how Joey is. Make sure she is okay, please." Gypsie couldn't face the girl now. Wasn't exactly fit company for anyone at the moment. The Slayer turned away from Cliff then, her stake forgotten about as she walked away into the night.
Cliff groaned, knowing that he'd said the wrong thing. Still, he wasn't going to apologize for it. Instead, he did as Gypsie asked and went back inside to check up on Joey. Unknowingly walking into another situation with a slayer that he hadn’t met yet. Luckily tonight was his last shift for the summer, hm? He doubted he could handle any more angst. Oh, wait. School was starting soon, wasn't it? Damn.