breath is bated

Chip Yates || 23 || Guard

[lucyacarson]

The girl nodded and her face softened.. “Yes, well Ezra and I started in Ithaca, New York. We had been at college at the time. Our car ran out of gas somewhere between there and West Virginia-that’s when we-I mean I met them.” She said quietly, unsure of why she had even been telling the stranger all this. 

Biting the inside of her cheek, she nodded again making a mental note of the name. “I see. Well I wouldn’t want to bother someone that high in command with a simple task like this anyway.” She said studying the man’s reaction. “Are you afraid of her?” She asked with a furrowed brow. “Yes I would but no not quiet. If you aren’t to busy do you mind showing me the way?”

[chip-yates]

“Wait, you’re with Ezra? Are you two, like, related or something? Or, like...y’know?” The new, potentially exciting bit of information was enough to pique his curiosity, but it also caused a little twist in his stomach - sometimes it felt like everyone else got to keep someone from their past that was important to them, but not Chip. He wasn’t the type to hold it against someone, though, and he listened to her intently. “Oh. Well, I’m glad you guys made it here, then.” He smiled, the corners of his lips twitching downward for a moment before he cast his eyes at the ground.

“No, not afraid, but, like...it’s not a great idea to bother her with small things. She’s real busy and all.“ He shrugged and nodded after a second. “Yeah, I don’t mind. It’s not a big deal. It’s, just, uh, this way.” He gestured, rather awkwardly, and began to walk, looking back at her. “I’m Chip, by the way. Like a potato chip.”

[chip-yates]

Go Fish || Chip & Rick

[xcaptainxmorgan]

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. 

His eyes traveled over to the deck of remaining cards. Of forty-two, there were only ten in play. That meant thirty-two different cards sitting on the sidelines were what decided the outcome of the game. Rick knew there were no threes in his hand, so he quickly reached for all his cards and picked them up to glance at them. He did it to make it look like he didn’t know exactly which card had been where. After glancing across them once, he took the middle one - an eight - and set it down. “One three.”

“What did you do before all this, Chip?” Small talk. Idle to most, but always a tool to Rick. Especially in a game that called for so much concentration on composure. If he could get Chip to ease up during a game of Bullshit, what else could he get the younger man to ease up to?

[chip-yates]

Chip was exceedingly glad that he hadn’t been caught in a lie on the first move. For the trash talk being exchanged, that would’ve been embarrassing, and he wanted Rick to think...well, he wasn’t sure what he exactly wanted Rick to think of him as. Maybe cooler than he was, except that sounded stupid when he even thought about it, and he shook his head imperceptibly at himself. How ridiculous. But still...

Watching Rick look at the cards, it was hard for Chip not to let his eyes linger on the other man’s face. It was hard not to - how did someone even stay so good looking in what could politely be described as the apocalypse? It was frustrating. Chip was so distracted, he barely noticed when Rick took a card and laid it down - one three. He frowned at himself, looking down at his own cards. Better not to take the risk.

“Two fours,” he announced carefully, actually telling the truth. He put the cards down, looking up at the question as he did so, unable to help himself from squinting slightly and wrinkling his nose. It was hard not to instinctively veer away from personal questions, even if they were relatively safe. “I just finished the police academy and was with Denver PD before everything...y’know. Went down, I guess. But yeah, was a cop for barely a few weeks before I wasn’t. You?”

[cassandra-o-vael-blog]

“I fixed about three rifles yesterday… who is Gordon again?” she asked with a yawn that she tried to cover up. “Sorry, been the night… and yeah everything needs to be kept properly, even if they seem like their okay, regular maintenance is still needed. Can you imagine if something just blows up because of lack of well.. maintaining?”

Without missing a beat Cassandra spoke “Steak… or fish, weird I know, but with me awake at nights, my breakfast is dinner and vice versa. But if I had to eat ‘breakfast’ then it would be pancakes. Blueberry ones… with beer. That holds memories” she said with a grin. “What about you? Anything you’re hoping the breakfast guys will serve?” 

[chip-yates]

“Gordon, the one with the red hair and the headband he refuses to take off, that one.” Chip shrugged, watching her carefully for a moment. “Well, you know better than I do. The police academy taught me how to take a gun apart, but not much more than that. And yeah, let’s not...I’d rather not have something blow up in my face. I agree.”

Raising an eyebrow, Chip couldn’t help but sound incredulous. “Like steak and eggs? But...fish? Alright, man, no judgment.” He tilted his head at pancakes and beer, still. “That sounds...weird. I don’t know if in a good way or bad way, but weird, yeah. And mine is, uh...” Chip frowned. It was hard to think of food he liked. “I like when we have strawberries and other fruit in the summer sometimes, I guess. Have you heard? The strawberries are supposed to e coming in soon!”

[ardenpaisley]

“I’m sorry, I know it’s disgusting but I thought it could lighten up the mood a bit. Besides, it’s not at all as gross as other things these days are. I didn’t shower for like months before I found this place, that if anything was gross.”

[chip-yates]

“Ew, right? Makes me glad I got lucky to have found this place when I did. I feel bad for all the people just getting here, y’know?”

[nolita-kom-sankru-blog]

Thank your teddy bear face.

Breakfast, then work. We actually have strawberries now. If only if we could mix them up in a blender and get a smoothie out of it because I’d kill for one and I don’t think I’m kidding. Anyway, do I, like, scare you or something?

[chip-yates]

“What? There’s strawberries?”

“What? No. I mean, not really. Not more than normal. It’s just a weird day, sorry.”

[oliverrmac]

“Ah…I hear ya.” Oliver sidestepped to let himself fall back at Chip’s side. There was no point in trying to stay ahead of the younger man if they were going to have a conversation. He stuffed his hands into his hoodie’s pockets to keep them from fidgeting, though he almost wanted to immediately pull them out again. “We could talk about somethin’ else,” he offered, shrugging and glancing back to their path. “Unless you wanna try and figure out what’s wrong. I’ve had that feelin’ before, y’know…I know it ain’t fun - but…might help to talk ‘bout it.”

[chip-yates]

Chip wanted to talk about something else, he really did, but he wasn’t sure what to say. His fingers twitched slightly, as if he wanted to work with something - a pack of colored pencils and a big sketchbook would’ve been great right then - but they grasped on air only. “Okay,” he said, unable to stop himself from frowning, though, as Oliver continued. “I...I don’t know what to talk about, though. It’s not anything that happened or didn’t happen. It just does.”

[liamhamsworth-blog]

[chip-yates]

thirdhemsworth:

Malibu. April 18th

[chip-yates]

Go Fish || Chip & Rick

[xcaptainxmorgan]

Rick’s eyes scanned his cards once before he set them face down on the table, each one’s location written into his memory. He lifted his gaze to Chip as the younger man spoke, the corner of his mouth lifting up in a smirk as he listened to the attempted trash talk. His fingers tapped against the first two cards in his hand as he watched for any signs of an early sign - maybe Chip didn’t have any twos, since Rick had been invited to start. Or maybe he had three of the four aces. Rick only had one, and luckily enough, at that. 

“I’m a quick learner,” he offered, referring back to Chip’s comment about tells. His hand went out to take the fourth card in his hand, the ace, before reaching over to set it on the center of the table. “Ace.” The smile on his face couldn’t be helped as his blues went back up to Chip’s face to wait for the next move. 

He tilted his head and furrowed his brow, the whole situation far more than amusing to him. The game, the atmosphere, the shade being thrown at him - they were all things he recognized from his life before the two years. Drunken arguments about which game to play, faded faces of the people he only ever saw once a month or not at all after a first encounter. He nearly frowned as he remembered how few friends he had - how few real friends he had. But the action was only mental. To him, it had been better to be surrounded by adaptable strangers than to constantly find himself with the same group - now, there wasn’t exactly much of a choice. 

“You talk big game for someone whose ass I’m gonna be kicking.”

[chip-yates]

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.

But funny in a good way. He thought.

“Alright, I...will let that pass.” Chip looked over the cards in his hand. He frowned. It was both easier and harder when there were more people to play this game with. Rick’ face was distracting, although theoretically, this should’ve been easier with less people to take the cards.

“I have two two’s,” Chip said after a moment, ignoring the jibe with a grin. He selected two cards - a two and a three - and bit his lip lightly. Putting the cards face-down, he looked over at Rick, hoping that maybe he could throw the other man off by lying with his first move. Then again, Chip had never been a good liar, even in cards.

[lucyacarson]

Biting the inside of her cheek she nodded dismissing the man’s second apology. He seemed sincere enough yet the girl could seem to care less about the tired guard.“Yes, my people like you know my group.” She said carefully, selecting the right words. “I lead them here from over by I don’t know-the West Virginia area I believe.” She paused briefly trying to piece together where exactly they had met. “Brooke?” Kate asked raising an eyebrow. “I’m assuming that’s a person.” She said quietly and tapped touched the scar on her head nervously. “Would you know anyone beside this Brooke that would have any idea as to what happened to them?” She asked with a small sigh as concern began to cross her face. What if they didn’t make it? “Dinnertime? You mean in the kitchen? No I haven’t been able to, I was just able to leave the infirmary area not to long ago. ” 

[chip-yates]

“West Virginia?” Chip’s eyes widened slightly as he tried to remember where it was on a map. Geography hadn’t been his favorite subject, along with all the others. “Wow, that’s a long way...it’s by New York, isn’t it?”

Oh. She hadn’t met Brooke yet. The thought was almost amusing, but Chip was too intimidated by Brooke to find it funny. “Yeah, she’s in charge. I bet she knows what’s happened to them, but she’s probably busy. She has to watch out for her dad when she’s not watching out for the rest of us, but she always knows what’s up.” It didn’t seem like much, but Chip didn’t exactly want to find Brooke out. He could, however, show this lady to the kitchens. “Yeah, you wanna go check? We could see if they’re there. Do you know where it is? I can show you.”

[ardenpaisley]

“Wrong again, Mr. You’ve been a good sport though, can’t deny that. The answer is that he needed his bone and marrow.”

[chip-yates]

“Wait, huh? I don’t - oh!”

“Wait - that’s totally gross!”

[matthew-oshea]

Matt nodded his head, though he was perfectly content with the food they had. He’d be lying if he said the opportunity to mix some things up during meals didn’t excite him slightly. “Some new things could go over well, yeah. Put people in a better mood.” Matt let out a breath from his nose, laughing lightly. “I dunno what would even be on the TV. I doubt there are any stations left even if we did have one.” He listened to Chip talk, nodding. “I’m sure you’re still good at it,” he replied, figuring it was a normal thing to reassure someone when they were doubting themselves. “You should get one of the runners to keep an eye out for some.” The next question, however, made him pause, licking his lips. “Erm, I guess… sleep? I don’t… take a lot of free time, so. I’m either out here or sleeping. Keeps me busy.” He let out the fact that it kept his mind from wandering, too. And that was the most dangerous thing to Matt. Reliving the past. Because the past was the past. He wasn’t getting it back.

[chip-yates]

“We could make up our own tv, yeah? Shakespeare and shit, y’know?” Chip grinned. “I mean, you look like you’d be a good actor. You and Nora, prob’ly.” Merely shrugging at the other’s reassurances, he reached up to scratch at the stubble on his jaw. “They got enough to look out for, I bet. Can’t be wasting time on colored pencils when there’s food and medicine out there.” At Matt’s pause, Chip tilted his head slightly. He too liked to sleep, but only very often when he was in a peculiar mood. “Doesn’t sound like much fun, though. I mean, it’s not like plants can talk back, right?”

Then, suddenly, something occurred to him. “Hey, you like parties?”

[cassandra-o-vael-blog]

Sighing she straightened her back and tried to look a little bit more respectable. “Yes I thought that figure was you on the walls. Im usually the night mech, so you probably just saw me fixing something last night.” She mused. “Are you heading to breakfast? Maybe we can find something to eat before everyone finishes the food up.” with a small smile she pointed her head towards the breakfast area, they could always talk on the way.

[chip-yates]

“Oh, was it you fixin’ Gordon’s rifle? Heard it’s been broken for like a week now. Real important stuff to keep in good repair, yeah.” Chip watched her carefully. He liked to talk, but he himself wasn’t outgoing, but it was an odd sort of surprise that he had finally got the nerve - or the right situation, to talk to her now. He usually didn’t. “Uh, breakfast. Sure.” Already making plans to give his food away, he began to listen to her directions, walking slowly. “What’s your favorite thing to eat at breakfast?” he asked idly.

[nora-prescott]

“It’s fine Chip, honestly,” Nora assured him, even though it wasn’t. There was no way she would get to her post in time and now she was going to go most of the day without something to eat. She glanced back to the kitchens, knowing that going back would mean more time that she was late. “I have to head out. I already overslept and I need to get out there before someone starts screaming.”

[chip-yates]

Chip knew it wasn’t really okay or at least he felt like it. He knew how strict the patrols could be sometimes, and how Nora probably wouldn’t get to eat something before she left. “Nor - I mean, I’m really sorry, it’s all my fault, you could just tell them that maybe, and, or I could go out and cover you for a little, I guess and that wouldn’t be a big deal hopefully...”

His words were jumbled, and he had to stop to pause. To think and make sense. Unfortunately, though, he didn’t know quite what to say, and he looked at Nora for something - assurance, directions, anger - it didn’t matter to him.

[oliverrmac]

“Ah, uh…yea, yeah, sure.” He nodded, stepping back in the direction he had been headed. There went his plans of thinking to himself - but if anyone were to interrupt them, he was glad it had been Chip. Oliver felt he could still have his own time, even with the guard around. Though he felt that this time things would be different, seeing as he couldn’t seem to keep himself from wondering if the younger man was alright. He turned after speaking, lagging compared to how he had been walking earlier so that Chip wouldn’t be left behind. “What’s up, kiddo?”

[chip-yates]

Chip followed at Oliver’s heels practically, wishing he were a little more awake for this. Or for something. He wasn’t sure what. He rubbed a hand through his already disheveled hair, frowning for half a second at something Oliver said that triggered some flash of memory he couldn’t quite place.

“Sorry, I’m just...I don’t feel good today. But I’m not sick, and nothing happened today, but...” He sighed. Maybe this hadn’t been a great idea after all, but he trusted Oliver.

“I don’t know, and it bothers me.”

[lucyacarson]

Kate had been exploring the town-after all it had been nearly two days since she had been brought into the safe haven, when her interest shifted toward the wall. Her blue eyes gazed up, looking at it when she felt her body slightly shift and the side where the bullet had been became sore. Annoyed, she narrowed her eyes at man and took a deep breath. “It’s fine. Just don’t do it again.” She sighed, pivoting to leave until curiosity got the best of her. “And no-I was just looking around. Looking for my people, actually. No one will tell me anything about them.” She bit her lip. “Have you seen them-they would have came two days or so ago?”

[chip-yates]

Chip shrank slightly at her expression, but curiosity overwhelmed his immediate urge to retreat - new people were something of an oddity; not rare enough to be immediately obvious, but Chip enjoyed getting to know some of them, and they all carried stories of the outside.

“Sorry,” he apologized again, rubbing the back of his head. Chip listened to her. “Your...your people? I haven’t heard much about the new guys. I’m sure Brooke’s taking care of them, though,” he tried to reassure her. “Have you checked at dinnertime? Everyone’s usually there.”

[nolita-kom-sankru-blog]

If you were anyone else, your ass would black ‘n blue. Actually, no, it’d just be on the ground. Luckily for you, it’s you. Good mornin’, porkchop.

[chip-yates]

“Wow, uh, I believe that too. Surprised I’m not on my ass right now, heh.”

He began to fidget nervously, rapidly. “Uh, morning. You got the morning shift today? Or were you just, like, getting breakfast?”

[christinaxgalloway-deactivated2]

“A party? Now someone is talking. I remember lots, it was one of my favorite things to do for my friends.”

[chip-yates]

“Sooo...would you be down for, like, helping me plan one? Brooke said I could, but I realized, I’d never thrown any parties before all this.”