Ruff Stuff (265 views)

Cliff’s Tee and jeans

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Fortunately, his mother always let him take Elvis out on long weekends when he spent the night at her house. It got Cliff out of the house for a few hours, plus it gave him some quality time to bond with Elvis. In the beginning Cliff would take his dog up to the trail he usually hiked, but he was older now, and preferred not to navigate the rough terrain. Cliff would never admit it but he was very, very paranoid when it came to Elvis’ safety. It went beyond the fact he didn’t want anything to happen to his pet. He loved his dog of course, would do anything for him, but he was also the last living piece of his father he had left... the last proof they were hunters, that the went out, that they hiked... and it scared Cliff.

Right now they were in the park, and playing fetch. Cliff grinned at his dog as he barked loudly, and launched the stick a few feet in the air. The stick flew and Elvis chased after it, leaving Cliff there to chill and run a hand through his hair.

It was nice not to deal with people. If he thought he was an outcast before, now that Logan had started that stupid #CliffTheDoof trend and Shyanne loved it, everyone called him a doof. Anyone popular, anyway. And the fact that it was all Logan’s fault pissed him off. Stupid housemate... but, at least like this, he was away from people and with his beloved dog.

When Elvis came back, he got distracted by someone approaching. Cliff turned to see Eloise approaching them and raised a brow. Well, Elvis sure liked her! So obviously she wasn’t a miserable person. He saw Eloise’s hand extended and reached out to shake it himself.

”Heya. Uh, private detective. I’m Cliff. This is Elvis. He’s pretty friendly.” He said, with a proud smile. Friendly to everyone except John... sounded about right. He turned back to Elouise. ”I guess my title is Dairy Queen Employee? Except that’s not something I like to brag about.”

Elvis seemed to like Elouise a lot and Cliff was feeling like the conversation was going well until she mentioned he wasn’t unknown. He knew that, but it was not something he wanted to be associated with still. Cliff exhaled at that and rolled his eyes. Great. What did this person know? Probably all about how Logan called him a doof and that Shyanne thought he was dating his cousin.

”No, no, don’t tell me. I really don’t want to know what you know about me. I know all about the crap they write.” He said. How was he supposed to make friends now? He was all over that stupid gossip page... and all over peoples rumors... lame. Though at least she seemed to have more interest in Elvis than the rumors, really. She wasn’t put off or insulting him or calling him a doof so she seemed pretty cool. ”Yeah, Elvis is well trained. He was my father’s hunting dog, so he’s got an amazing nose and an amazing speed when running! Though he’s a little older now, he still likes to pretend he’s the same age he always was.”

Affectionately, Cliff reached down and stroked Elvis behind the ear. The dog yawned, before he turned from Elouise and looked up at Cliff. Cliff gave the dog a warm smile that lit up his face – this dog really was his favorite creature in the world. If he had to name one thing he loved unconditionally, he’d say his dog. Of course, he did love his mother, but he was mad at her, and sometimes he felt like she didn’t love him. So he never said her. ”You must be a dog person, right? Elvis really warmed up to you right away. Sometimes he can be really judging. Can’t’cha, boy?”

Elvis barked again in response and then turned towards Elouise again. His tail was wagging slightly.

Cliff felt a little better when she said she wasn’t put off bu the rumors and that she was more on his side than she was on the perpetrators. It relieved him, though he knew these people existed, they were few and far between. Usually people who thought like that just... didn’t say anything.

”Well the popular crowd around here is really desperate for anything. And Logan’s just a loser.” He rolled his eyes at the thought though he looked down at Elvis, who was now whining for some action. He was about to go for the stick again, until Elouise suggested something odd, something... not bad, though. He appreciated that she was a dog person – cats were cool, but had always made Cliff nervous. There was something just... judgey about them that he didn’t understand.

”A job? Well, that depends if it’s legal.” Cliff said, laughing a little, though frankly he wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t. Who came up to someone and asked them to do something like that if it wasn’t sketchy? He would love to see this dog that Elouise talked about in person. ”Would you have us be sniffing out a certain person? I mean, as long as it’s not too taxing on him, I don’t mind.”

Elvis nuzzled against Cliff’s hand, and Cliff scratched the dog’s ear, waiting for a response.

Cliff took the card and examined it, turning it between his fingers. It looked pretty legit, and she seemed like she wasn’t going to get him arrested or something. Cliff glanced down at his dog again. Elvis was comfortably staring over at Elouise, sniffing her, looking for attention.

”Soooo... you said you paid for this. How much are we talking? Like dog treats for Elvis, or money for me, or both?” Cliff asked. Hey, what could he say – he had his priorities in order! The money was the thing that made the ultimate decision... right? ”I guess you take orders from the yellow pages and stuff? Elvis and I gotta sniff out the profits, first!”

Well that sounded simple enough. Cliff nodded along to her explanation and watched as Elvis nuzzled into Elouise’s hand. He trusted his dog’s judgement – if his dog hated someone immediately, or crowded, Cliff tried to get as far away from them as possible. If Elvis loved them, like he loved Elouise right now, then obviously there was nothing off about her. Elvis would have picked up on it.

”Okay, so, the money we make fluctuates? And how are you planning to divide this up? 50/50?” He was curious why she needed help though if she was apparently so good at her craft. Well, if she wanted a bigger cut the fifty, Cliff might want to excuse himself from the deal. He was greedy, after all, and could definitely use half of whatever Elvis helped Elouise find!

Cliff didn’t know if he really liked the idea of not knowing how much he’d be getting. He guessed any money was good money, though. It wasn’t like it’d really be hard work and if it did turn out to be hard work he could just quit whenever. His job was so crappy he would do literally anything to get out of having to go in.

”Okay, so if you’re going to decide the reward when you get a client, are you just going to call me up to make arrangements? Otherwise, how am I going to know when you actually need Elvis and I?” Cliff scratched Elvis’ ear as the dog shifted from Elouise to nuzzle against his owner’s hand. He blinked his beady eyes at Elouise, happily wagging his tail and looking from Elouise to the stick on the ground. ”I can sleep on it, but how am I going to know when you’re gonna pay me? Oh, and are we gonna arrange the pay before we find... whatever it is we’re looking for?”

”I don’t ever check my email though. But I can give you my number if you want it,” Cliff said. Even though this wasn’t all worked out yet, what was the harm in giving her his number so she could call him and he could pick up some extra cash to get by? If she was one of those annoying people who constantly texted him, he could just delete her number.

When she said this was her business and got all serious, Cliff was put off. What did he care if this was her livelihood? How old was she? And if this was her livelihood why was she unable to just do it by herself, why did she need a dog with a good sniffer to help? He wanted to roll his eyes and walk away but the prospect of getting paid easy money was too enticing to throw away. ”Okay, okay. I’m not annoying. Why are you acting all snooty when you’re the one who approached me in the first place? If you’re so paranoid I’m gonna get impatient then you should just call this off.”

Elvis trotted back over to the two, with the stick in his hand, holding it proudly in his teeth. Cliff tried to grab it but was met with resistance, and he laughed as Elvis tried to win tug-of-war. Eventually Cliff won and launched the stick farther away. He looked back at Elouise. ”Do you not have a job or something?”

Cliff rose his eyebrows over at Elouise as she spoke, still looking unimpressed. He didn’t get the point of having a job if you had to rely on other people to do it – and if she was enlisting him she couldn’t be that good, right? He didn’t know. She probably would waste his time and Elvis’ and then he’d just be super bored afterwards with no money to show for it.

But not knowing if this would work out was a thrill itself. Cliff didn’t like things to be too predictable anyways and he liked surprises. A lot. So as he watched Elvis trot to Elouise’s side and get pet again, causing a serene expression to cross the older woman, Cliff huffed and folded his arms.

”If you’re a private investigator why don’t you have a pact with the police to borrow their dogs. But... whatever. I can give you my number if you want. Elvis could use more excitement in his life. Couldn’t you, boy?”

Elvis barked in response, excited at the prospect of hanging out with this woman again, most likely. Cliff pulled out his phone and opened his number, displaying it to Elouise. ”Only ‘cause Elvis likes you, and Elvis is picky with people. Like me.”