~!~ cherry chan ~!~ (seresa) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-03-20 17:12:00 |
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Entry tags: | # past / backstory, bode coldiron, cherry chan |
Who: Cherry Chan & Bishop Coldiron
Where: The Dog Park
When: Backdated to June 2017
What: Investigating the new girl.
A dull day within the walls of the Dog Park just wasn’t something that happened, but today there was more of a stir, buzz about new faces showing up. With the patched members of course the most notable thing was that one of those faces belonged to a woman, one who near as the rumor mill was spreading was real likely to find herself the newest camp bitch. Bishop wasn’t real concerned with that information, he spent time with the bitches, but it wasn’t like he made it his damn job to greet and get to know every single one. No, he was more interested in simply finding out who she might be, it wasn’t his job to worry about security (he left that to Vic), but he did like to know the people he was sharing space with -- even if he only let those same people get to know the bits and pieces of himself he felt like sharing. The Chaplain heard shouts from around the bonfire, a good sign that things were picking up for the night. Someone sneezing around this place seemed like a cause for celebration, so new blood, well, that got the place going like nothing else. His first glimpse of the new faces, namely the new woman, was from across the large gathering space. Despite his goal not being to get to know the woman in any romantic way, Bishop noted that the rumor mill hadn’t been lying about her looks. She was without a doubt the kind of woman that stopped you in your tracks. With a chuckle to himself, Bishop realized that he would undoubtedly be changing his stance on trying to get some one on one time with her -- if the rumors about her decision to join the ranks of the bitches was in fact true. Which he didn’t know if it was or not, so he kept any kind of wandering his mind wanted to do to a minimum as he finally found himself within greeting distance of her. “So, I hear you’re sticking around,” Bishop drawled, charming smile turning up his mouth. “But, I’ve yet to hear from the rumor mill if you’ve got a name or not.” He thought he had heard that she was going by Cherry, but again, he didn’t like to put a lot of faith in the camp gossips, or some of the other patches. She turned to face the man, a jar of moonshine in her hand and a confident smile that still managed to show her nerves. Bob and Dan had wanted them to hit the road early that morning with the rest of their group once they got within sniffing distance of Austin, where rumors claimed still had some kind of thriving city to it. They'd made it there all right, but it hadn't taken more than an hour before their group had found themselves surrounded by a pack of disheveled men armed with nail bats and pieces of glass. They thought they'd be able to fend them off when their tires had been shot out by more dirty men, who then opened fire. Their supplies had already been running low, but the men managed to still take all they had before the noise attracted some nearby zombies. Dan had been bit fighting them off; by the time the bikers showed up, he'd been in the process of turning, going quicker than she'd even thought was possible. After that, the rest had felt like a blur: one of the men shot Dan, of course, before hauling her onto the back of his bike after she'd agreed that she didn't have anywhere safe to go. They had taken them all to this place, somewhere called the Dog Park, and when someone had asked whether she'd like to stay, it hadn't taken much consideration before she said yes. "I guess so, until I figure out something better." From the look of the party around the bonfire, though, this place wouldn't be too bad. "My name's Charisse." At 5'8" she wasn't used to having to look up so far to meet a man's eyes, but she was without the heels she'd loved before the zombies came and the man in front of her must have been over a half foot taller. "But no one's called me anything other than Cherry ever since I started high school." Bishop laughed. “Don’t sound so excited about the prospect of staying here,” he drawled, his tone teasing. His blue eyes were intently focused on her as she gave him her name and explained she doesn’t go by it. “Do you think you’ll find something better, Cherry?” now he had an eyebrow cocked, curiosity written across his features. “Or do you have plans to go looking for somewhere better when this place ain’t exciting anymore?” Shortly after he asked his question, Bishop realized he failed to give his own name, so with an apologetic smile he added. “Fuck, I’m Bishop by the way.” She smiled too, unable to resist returning the charming expression he was currently giving her. "I've barely seen much of Austin besides the block they found us on and the city y'all have built out here, so for all I know there might be something else for me." Looking for a new place would likely be more trouble than she wanted, though, especially after the ordeal she'd just had that day. "Never say never, but this place is looking plenty exciting already." Her eyes were on his as she spoke, trying her best to shut out the noise that was already building from the others around the bonfire. "How long you been out here, Bishop?" “There really ain't, not unless you like living under the thumb of someone else,” Bishop doesn't bother to contain his dislike of the Capitol run shelters and their rules. “Out here is where you’ll find the most freedom,” he continued, one hand sweeping over camp to indicate what he was talking about. Switching gears quickly, Bishop thought back to the moment he had set foot in Austin. “Been in the city over a year, and been out here a couple of months.” There’s a pause before he added. “How long you been in the city?” And without asking if she wanted to move, Bishop began moving towards the outskirts of the bonfire where the noise was less and the distractions fewer. If Cherry chose to follow him was entirely up to her, and he wouldn't be put out if she took that as an opportunity to escape his company. Cherry did consider staying, turning her head to look at the party that was obviously just starting to get going around the bonfire, but she liked the man's smile and his teasing. It was a nice lift after the day she'd had. So she followed after him, speaking as they walked. "This is my first day here, if you'll believe it. It took us a long while to get here from Michigan, what with all the abandoned cars and everything on the highways down this way, but we made it." She didn't bring up the man and the others she'd lost, or the hardships they'd seen along the way. Pausing far enough away from the commotion, Bishop turned and studied her. She really was pretty in that way that could easily grab anyone's attention, but that wasn't why he was laser focused on her. No, he was looking for any signs of grief, because Cherry kept saying “we”, but near as Bishop knew she had been picked up alone or near enough. Everyone that had been brought in that day had been, near as he knew anyway. “Look, I ain't meaning to pry, but you keep saying we,” Bishop paused, motioning for Cherry to take a seat in the vacant lawn chair opposite the one he fully intended on claiming as his. “So correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you mighta had one hell of a day already?” The man was perceptive, and Cherry less so; his sudden question threw her and she was quiet for a moment, wondering just how much she wanted to share. She guessed she was probably still in shock about the whole thing. It was hard to not think Dan was gonna come round the corner and tell Bishop off for talking to his woman. "I didn't come to Austin alone," she told him finally, after what felt like hours but must have just been a handful of minutes. Her voice was still steady, but her eyes dropped to the handle of his lawn chair instead of staying on his face. "I was with the others who got brought in this morning, but we lost Dan when y'all found us. I think it was your leader, the one who shot him." She shook her head slightly. "He was turning, so I don't exactly blame him for doing it." For a long moment Bishop wondered if he had hit a nerve she wasn't prepared to talk about just yet, but after the silence had seemed to drag on for a bit, Cherry spoke up. With an intent expression, he kept his blue eyes focused on her and listened as she told her story. In some ways it wasn't an unfamiliar one, most people had lost someone - but her loss was fresh and he had sympathy for her in that respect. “I'm real sorry ‘bout that darlin’,” he drawled. In truth he had heard rumblings about them having to put someone down, but Bishop hadn't been fully aware if the man had been connected to this group or not. “I know it don't make it better, but they saved him from fully becoming one of those things, so in some ways it was a kindness what he did…” Didn't make it better, but at least she had been spared the horror of watching a friend turn. "I know. There wouldn't have been a point in letting him get that far." She gave a wry smile, her gaze still anywhere but on Bishop's face. "He was lost the moment it started, I think." Bishop nodded. “Not unless you like watching a person suffer,” he remarked frankly, not necessarily prone to sugarcoating his words. “Unless a person is immune, most people are,” Bishop continued, though his tone held more sympathy now. If her reaction was any indication Bishop would wager a guess she was involved with the man, though she hadn't come right out and said anything of that sort - at least not yet. A sudden twist of sadness hit her then and she closed her eyes, willing it away. Losing Dan hurt like hell, worse than the time she herself had been bitten. It was a fresh wound that hadn't yet started to heal over, but she knew that if she let herself dwell on it, it'd be all too damned easy to fall into the grief. So she shoved it aside as best as she could and opened her eyes again, this time lifting them up to meet Bishop's. "So you say this place is exciting, huh?" she asked, doing her best to pad her voice with the confidence she lacked. Letting a grin spread across his face, he meet Cherry’s gaze when she finally opened her eyes again and nodded. “It is, though I suppose that depends on what you’d deem exciting, darlin’,” he drawled, more than happy to switch gears and move away from the grim topic they had been discussing before. “Do you want a tour, or did they give you one already?” Bishop questioned, unsure exactly how much of the welcome wagon had been ushered out for her since her arrival. "I have to admit I wasn't exactly in the right state of mind for listening, earlier." Cherry wasn't sure how well she'd be able to pay attention now, either, but walking around would likely do more for her troubled mind than sitting still, nice company or not. "I wouldn't mind hearing your version of a tour, too. You seem like you're pretty familiar with the place, so I'd like to hear what you think I ought to keep an eye out for. You know, while I'm still trying to figure out if I can find anything better." Bishop laughed. “You could say that,” being one of the first seven meant he knew this place inside and out, had seen this place literally built up from the ground to what it was now. “And I'm probably better company too.” He wasn’t sure if Cherry had received a tour from one of the prospects, but either way Bishop stood by his remark that he was better company, and as he stood up from his chair he held his arm out to her in a gentlemanly manner. She took it with a smile, stepping away and unable to resist one more teasing shot at him. "I don't know about that… That leader of yours looks like a real charming man." “Trust me, darlin’, once I'm done giving you this tour you'll be convinced there ain't a better place in Austin than this right here, or a more charming man.” Bishop would stand by that statement to his dying day. The Dog Park was a one of a kind place, A group of strangers that had turned into a family, something you couldn’t say about every shelter within Austin. "You sure got a lot of confidence, don't you, Bishop?" It's not a complaint, not by any definition of the word. She's always liked that kind of attitude in a man; for all the light teasing she'd just given him about Rodeo, for all she really wasn't looking to replace Dan any time soon, she'd agreed to stay at the Dog Park because the men who reigned over the place seemed like her kind of people. Bishop wasn't an exception to that. Bishop laughed. “Confidence is something I've got in spades, darlin’,” said with his trademark smirk and with a charming drawl, it was obvious he was a man who didn't lack for confidence or much else really. “And you don't really seem to be lacking any yourself.” If her good natured ribbing earlier was any sigh, Bishop would guess that Cherry was a self-assured kind of woman. A fact that intrigued him even more than the sheer fact that she was stunning. Though, if he was putting the pieces together well, he was assuming the man they lost was her guy - so she probably wasn't looking to go replacing him anytime soon. Still, that didn't mean Bishop couldn't flirt a little. "Sounds like you know how to read people." Shitty day or not, Cherry wasn't the kind of woman to balk at asking for what she wanted, and that wasn't going to stop now. She figured it was her best way to survive in this new place, especially if she was going to be living here from now on. "Y'all always have these kinds of parties?" she added, nodding her head in the direction of the bonfire as they walked back towards the center of the camp. Tapping the patch on his cut, Bishop smiled. “Wouldn't be the Chaplain if I didn't have a knack for reading people,” and then he glanced back over his shoulder at the bonfire. “That? Nah, that ain't a party,” Bishop began. “That’s just a normal day in the Dog Park.” Their parties were something to write home about, epic on a level most couldn't even imagine anymore in this decaying world. “Perks of not having to follow the Capitol’s rules, means we can do whatever the hell we want.” And they did just that, without fear of repercussions. "Just a normal day?" she echoed, glancing at the bonfire again. There was a note of amusement in her voice, even approval; despite the chill she'd feigned earlier when he'd first asked about her, and the heaviness of Dan's death, the Dog Park was looking better and better. At least she'd had the good luck to meet people who lived here, instead of worse. "Sounds like my kind of people," she allowed, allowing her gaze to move to Bishop's face briefly as they continued to walk. “Normal as they come,” he confirmed with a nod. Their lifestyle out here wasn't for everyone, but he had a feeling she was going to fit in just fine. That was, if she decided to stick around - which Bishop was about ready to bet money on. “Then you’ll fit in just fine,” Bishop replied with smile, while her gaze was quick, he had yet to take his eyes off of her as they moved through the camp. As he wove them through rows of trailers, he pointed out the important tents to her and gave her the rundown of rules with each of them. Bishop stopping the longest at his own moonshine set up, showing it off like some kind of proud dad - after all not every camp could claim to have their own access to booze. (Cherry found it more impressive than she said aloud.) Finally though, after he had shown her every last important inch of the camp, Bishop asked the question that had been on his mind since pointing out various homes of the different Dog Park residence. “They set you up with a place to stay I'm assuming?” He wasn't trying to get at anything, nor find an opening to invite her back to his place. She had been in Austin a day, had lost someone she loved, even he wasn't so inconsiderate as to disregard that simply because she was stunning and he wondered what kind of company she was like in a more intimate setting. “And if the answer is yes, did he show you where it was?” "I think he has me rooming with one of the other girls, someone named Demi? But he did mention that it was a possibility she wouldn't be coming back to her tent. Whatever that means." Cherry smirked, though, contradicting the naivety of her words. Shitty day or not, grief or not, she wasn't a saint and she knew the implication without question. She didn't think she'd mind a tent to herself that night, either. "He mentioned where I'd find it, but I wouldn't mind if you took me there, too." Quirking up an eyebrow, Bishop wasn't buying for one minute that Cherry was that naive - but he chose to play along. “Probably means she’ll be keeping a bed warm,” he answered with a ghost of his trademark smirk. While he was almost certain she hadn't meant her words as any kind of come on, he himself was not a saint and since she had given him an opening he wasn't against taking it. “It really would be the gentlemanly thing to do,” he began, holding out his arm as if he really was a gentleman and not the rough around the edges Kentucky boy that he was. Once she looped her arm through his, Bishop began leading her in the direction of Demi’s tent. He wouldn't force his company upon her, but since Cherry had offered he wasn't about to go passing up on the opportunity either. There was something about her that made him want to spend more time getting to know her, and not just because she was the newest face around the park. "So that's how things work around here?" she asked, stealing a glance up at his face as they walked. It'd been explained to her, too, in a kind of gingerly manner, since they'd known she'd lost her man that same day. They'd also mentioned contributing to their society in other ways, like getting a job sewing patches or working with the resources lady, but things like that had never been something she'd been interested in. And if she got to spend her days in the company of an endless parade of good looking men, well. Gloom and grief and loneliness aside.... There were worse ways to distract yourself as long as she truly was able to call the shots about her comfort. Blue eyes met hers and Bishop nodded, a silent confirmation that that was how things worked. None of the girls were forced into it, the decision always being theirs, but the option was given to them. Though from the way Cherry was talking it sounded as if the Dogs had had the decency not to proposition her, at least not yet. “For some that’s how it works, yeah,” he answered. “But there’s other ways someone can contribute to the society we’ve built up out here.” Ways he was sure had already been mentioned to her, so he wasn't going to spew them all at her again. It didn't take long for them to arrive at the tent she would be sharing. She turned to face him, her arm still in his and her hand settling lightly on his waist. "Thanks for the company," she said, unable to help a smile as she tilted her head up to meet his eyes. He'd been a very nice distraction indeed, just as she'd hoped. "I guess I'll probably be seeing you around, right?" “Nah, I should be thanking you,” He remarked, his free hand just barely resting on her hip. “You're the best damn company I've had in days,” Bishop paused, smiling down at her. “The prettiest too.” He wasn't going to push his flirting further than that, after all he was well aware she had just lost her man today. “Right, you’ll definitely be seeing me around, darlin’.” Cherry had always been a woman comfortable with praise and attention; his compliment caused her to smile broader than she'd had all day, and for that alone she was grateful to him. "Good night, then," she said. On a whim, she leaned up to brush a kiss against his cheek before she turned to duck into the tent that would be her new home. |