false shepherd

His grins didn’t put any of her doubts to rest. In fact, his whole confident attitude had her believing already that she was going to lose this bet. She’d still fake her own confidence and reassurance regardless. “Are you suggesting we change the time limit till tomorrow night, then?” Sage jumped on his words, faking sincerity to make it seem like she really would be okay with changing the time. She only faked it for a moment, however, before her grin - which had shrunk - grew again.  “Cause we can totally do that too if you’re so confident in your abilities! Just say the word.”  

The suggestion earned a blink, and he pursed his lips. “Well, that wouldn’t be all too fair for you, though. It wouldn’t be much fun,” he countered, casually shrugging. “But if that’s what you wanna do, then...”

Considering the fact that she had no intention of telling him her name without the bet, and the fact that nowadays there wasn’t much to offer when it came to bets, she supposed the new arrangement definitely made things more interesting.  “No, I think that deal works perfectly. Though, I do have one thing to add aside from benefits of winning.” She added as a thought came to mind. “We need a time limit. Can’t go and give you weeks to try to seduce this guy, cause that just wouldn’t be fair. How about…a week? Just one, to try and bang this guard. That seems like more than enough time to me, given your extraordinary skills, no?” Her words near the end dripped with sarcasm as a smile took hold of her lips. She honestly thought a week was pushing it, if he had already been working an angle on this guy before this bet. How close was he? Could he complete the bet that night? With nothing better to do nowadays, would he focus on solely trying to nab this guard in his free time? She didn’t know, but she offered up the week nonetheless.

“One week? Boy, you really are underestimating me here, girly,” he grinned. If he were to have been honest with her, he’d have told her that he had no idea how to go about somehow winning his current target. He would have told her that there was something extremely different about this person - yet something that was all too familiar to him. But she was just a stranger whose name he didn’t even know, and he was hardly ever honest with his own brother. “It’s far more than enough time,” he easily lied, a smirk growing on his face as he watched her expression. “Just you wait, I’ll know that name by tomorrow afternoon.”

His description, though it helped her rule out some, didn’t lead her to any conclusions on who it was he was talking about. She’d just have to watch him and his guard interactions afterwards. Or she could just ask, which is what she’ll probably do. If she decides to take the bet, that is. She still hasn’t decided yet. “Hmmm, well. I’m warming up to this. Just a few last questions. Only thing you’re getting out of this if you win is a night with a cute guard, and holding this over your head for me if I win, correct? No other prizes?”

“Once you’re on the scale, there’s no place to go but up. Unless you’re her sister.”

“That is an extremely useful piece of information. Many thanks, Nora. But I’m curious now - if you’re her sister, does that mean you can only go down the scale, or you can only plateau?”

Chip looked at the card carefully, then at Rick’s face, wondering if he was lying. Card games were probably one of the few things in which he felt comfortable calling out other people, something he normally wouldn’t dare to do otherwise. Chip hated confrontation and would avoid it if at all possible - it was probably the reason he so often found himself in submissive roles even when he had something on his mind that actually mattered to him. Still, cards was fine, even if Rick still made him feel funny.

The lip bite was more of a distraction to Rick than any blushing could have been. He wasn’t distracted enough to not mark the action down as a tell, however. Had it been done in any other point of Chip’s turn, Rick would have let it go. But it happened just as the cards were selected, and choosing a wrong card was as good a reason as any to perform the act. The game had just started, however, and there were only three cards on the table. Rick decided to wait it out - to let the risk of lying escalate. 

Yeah… It’s interesting you say that. Back in college, I took pure, uncut coke and considering it was LA, that was like finding a fucking unicorn. Anyway, the euphoria felt was like no other. It was like… having a constant orgasm in my chest for five minutes straight. Maybe it was more, I don’t know, but I felt like I was on top of the fucking world and I didn’t think anything could ever beat that feeling.

A comment like that was begging for some sort of town slut remark, but Sage held back on that, keeping it in the back of her mind in case it had more use another time. Instead she zoned in on the bet, narrowing her eyes at his proposal. A bet involving a third party could have its up, and it could have its downs. She needed more details. “I’m interested. Elaborate.” She commanded, some part of her mind already running through the guards, aimlessly trying to figure out which one he could be talking about.

“He’s one of the younger ones - kind of awkward...a t least he was the times I talked to him. He’s pretty cute, actually,” he continued, tilting his head at her as he spoke. He furrowed his brow, the image of a blushing Chip popping into his head for a split second. A smile almost grew on Rick’s face. The thought was hastily shaken off as he blinked, clearing his head to refocus. “You doubt me, and I’m more than sure that I’ll do this. We’ll bet about it.”

While he was explaining his numbers, Sage could only nod along, a smirk on her lips that told that his explanation really didn’t change her mind on the subject. In reality, she made mental notes. Hunter. Runner. Soon a guard. “Seems like you’ve been making your way around. What are you trying to do? Hit one of every occupation?” She teased, making sure to keep her faux-disbelief over his words stick. “A bet?” For whatever reason, she didn’t think taking any bet with him would be a good idea. Especially considering what they were talking about at the moment. But she was intrigued, so she decided to press on. “What kind of bet?” 

“Hit multiple of every occupation, if they’re interesting enough.” This girl was someone Rick wanted to keep around, even if he didn’t know very much about her. In fact, the only accurate thing he knew so far was that she was young and pretty. But she was amusing, and Rick needed that. Someone to keep the air light when all others failed. He watched her for a moment, taking in her interest as a push forward - a push to continue. “What kind of bet? Well, the only kind we can have while zombies are lurking and I’m still kicking. How about a bet concerning how long it takes me to nab this guard?”

Yeah. Shit sure happened, alright. How would you describe how you felt?

Devastated, for one. Like my heart had been torn out of my chest and stomped on. But, if you can believe it, kind of relieved. Then...nothing, for a while. That was when I lost him - before the outbreak. If you meant while I was with him, then...higher than any drug could have ever taken me. He kept me grounded; made sure I took care of myself. He...made me feel like I was okay. 

Ugh, fuck me for feeling a little sentimental today.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. 

“Desert. You can’t really call them cities because a lot of the towns barely have things to do in them. Carson was a small place that maybe one movie theater and a couple bowling alleys. Suburbs are fancy, well that’s how I think they probably are and country is possible in Nevada but we didn’t live on any.”

"You can't live in a desert. That's why it's called a desert." Rick rolled his eyes, already tired of the conversation. “Suburbs aren’t fancy, it’s just a bunch of houses in one are. One would think you never left your house, not knowing all of this. You lived in Carson?”

“Where did you go? It all depends on where you go and how much you enjoy Nevada. A lot of people think it’s all about Vegas, they miss the little things. Nevada doesn’t really have suburbs. We do have bunny ranches.. Well we did. Do you know what a bunny ranch is?”

“No suburbs means no where to live, guy. You either lived in the city, the suburbs, or the country. Which were you?”