[hr][hr][center][h1][color=#00ff00]Jack Hudson[/color][/h1][img]https://s16.postimg.org/gjthyfpv9/image.png[/img][hr][color=00ff00][b]Location[/b][/color]: The Rec Center (Building 7)[/center][hr][hr]Jack was smiling--perpetually smiling, to be accurate. With Tatiana constantly in his arms, and the news she had shared with him, he didn't truly have a reason not to smile. He was concerned, of course--and perhaps a bit terrified and anxious--but overall, he was happy. Nothing worth having came easily, after all. [color=00ff00]"It's almost toe crushin' time?"[/color] Jack teased, grinning even wider. He wouldn't intentionally step on her feet, of course, but it was no big secret that he wasn't skilled when it came to dancing. There was a very good reason as to why he stuck with dances like the chicken dance--he was capable of them. 

But of course, when Tatiana mentioned wanting food, he nodded in turn. [color=00ff00]"You don't have to tell me twice,"[/color] he joked, beaming widely at her. [color=00ff00]"I've been dyin' to try what James's cooked up for us."[/color] He mimicked rubbing his tummy for a moment, chuckling a bit at his own obnoxious brand of humor. But even now, in his thirties, he still could eat like a teenage boy if he really tried. [color=00ff00]"Shall we, solovey?"[/color] Jack offered, ready to whisk off to the buffet table with his bride.

His stomach growled a bit and he blushed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. But hey, better than a belch, right?
[hr][hr][center][h1][color=#23D5B7]Beatrice Decker[/color][/h1][img]https://s23.postimg.org/t4mnxqxsr/Screen_Shot_2017-03-30_at_1.31.58_PM.png[/img][hr][color=#23D5B7][b]Location[/b][/color]: The Rec Center (Building 7)[/center][hr][hr]The more people arrived at the table, the more out of place Beatrice began to felt. She never was one for big social settings, preferring to have her own space--her personal bubble, so to speak. She grew up as the child sitting off alone in the foster home, away from the fights and the drama. Habits like that were hard to break and served to shape her personality well into adulthood. [color=#23D5B7]"Don't worry about it,"[/color] Beatrice replied to Ray's thanks for saving the seat. It was hardly like tons of people were vying to swoop in and steal it like vultures, so she hardly saw the point in the thanks. 

Niesha's speech about getting up after falling down nearly made her gag, of course. There was truth to Niesha's words--but honestly, the optimism made Beatrice feel sick. Optimism never did any good, in her experience--be a pessimist or a realist. Either way, it was hard to be disappointed. Hope only opened you up to pain, in her mind. Niesha's entire speech reeked of kitsch to her. However, she did enjoy the various stories about falling on one's ass--that she could appreciate it. 

[color=#23D5B7]"I'm fine,"[/color] Beatrice replied with a shrug. [color=#23D5B7]"And you, Kris?"[/color]
[hr][hr][center][h1][b][i][color=ff6600]Chlo[/color][color=fff79a]yan[/color][/i][/b][/h1][img]https://s1.postimg.org/m7wofr80f/choyan.gif[/img][/center][hr][center]Location: The Rec Center (Building 7) ---> The Medical Garden[/center][hr][hr]	Ryan cocked a brow at Chloe's question. He really didn't talk much about his time in prison. His brother had died there and well, the blame was on him for that one. Looking down at the blonde hair he kept wrapped around his index finger he closed his eyes before pushing the thoughts of Cyril out of his mind. That was one subject he was not talking about, to anyone... ever.

	Plastering on a grin as his eyes opened he leaned back in his chair and shrugged a bit. [color=fff79a]"Weird shit happening to me? Fuck, girl you know I'm the lord of the fuckin' dance. Shit didn't happen to me. I made shit happen,"[/color] he chuckled as he wiped his mouth. That wasn't a lie. Ryan was careful in prison but he had been a master manipulator. 

	[color=fff79a]"But man the shit I saw... tell ya what, Tobias looked fuckin' fugly with a capital F during the talent show."[/color]

	Chloe noticed the way he closed his eyes and looked down, wondering for a moment if perhaps he didn't feel like reminiscing about those days. That she could understand, but there always was a point where she felt a need to be able to talk to someone about it who just [i]got it.[/i] Sure, she could always talk to Riley about the things that happened, and the ways prison continued to shape her mind--but it just wasn't the same. 

	[color=ff6600]"Fucking hell, a talent show?"[/color] Chloe snorted. [color=ff6600]"I thought that type of shit didn't fly in max."[/color] She had only been held in minimum security for long periods of time, of course. They had a bit more freedom than those in max did, with the hacks always holding that over their heads. Those who pissed off the CO's were sent to max--and they never came back. [color=ff6600]"Let me guess, did you dance an Irish jig or something?"[/color] she asked, taking another sip of her drink. 

	[color=fff79a]"Fuck no, I just laughed at the fuckers who did. But yeah, for most it doesn't but I was E Block, dubbed Emerald City. Fucking pet project to see if they changed shit if we could be rehabilitated better. More rules but more freedom. Still, didn't matter. Same shit show different channel but hey, at least we got kept away from the rest of the blocks, so was simpler. Like living in a small drug down instead of downtown Detroit,"[/color] he laughed thinking back on it. It really was a shit show, both the talent and the whole idea. 

	Chloe nodded a bit. There had always been those with stars in their eyes, attempting to push through some reform or the other. But looking at the man sitting next to her, she figured their attempts at rehabilitation hadn't paid off in the long run. Same criminals, same stories it seemed. Nothing changed. [color=ff6600]"Emerald City? That's the stupidest name I've ever heard,"[/color] Chloe commented, rolling her eyes a bit. [color=ff6600]"We never named our units like that--there was the ghetto, the suburbs, Spanish Harlem....Hospice, too, for the old bitches doing life."[/color]

	Ryan smirked as he shoveled some more food into his mouth and nodded. Taking a long gulp of some water he chuckled. [color=fff79a]"Ain't it the damn truth. And Em city damn sure wasn't Kansas. We had the worst of the worst and we got away with more shit than anyone. Fuck, we had a riot and the worst anyone got was a few weeks in solitude, not even the hole."[/color]

	Finishing off her drink, Chloe gave Ryan a bit of a quizzical expression. They hadn't had the hole down in min, though she had heard some stories about it. Solitary was what the hacks tended to use the most. [color=ff6600]"A fucking riot?"[/color] she asked, a bit incredulous. The only prison riot she had ever been in was sparked by the walkers. [color=ff6600]"Man, you must have had a real pussy running the place. Bet you got away with murder too, didn't you?"[/color] she joked. [color=ff6600]"If we so much as even tried to beat someone, it was off to max."[/color]

	Ryan slowly stopped the shoveling of his food, the fork sitting there in mid shovel as the words hit him. [i][color=ff6600]"Bet you got away with murder too, didn't you?"[/color][/i] Setting it down he pushed his chair back as his face went from joking to gloom rather quickly. [color=fff79a]"Yeah..."[/color] he half mumbled as he stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets before starting to walk off. His thumb rubbing across the hair around his finger as his feet went one by one in front of him towards the door. 

	She had never quite seen Ryan like this before. He was usually joking around and laughing, doing his best to find a way to win her affections. Hell, the man stopped touching his food, and the look on his face was sullen, to say the least. Running back over her words, she abandoned her food at the table, hurrying after him. She might not have loved him the way he wanted her to, but he was her best friend. If he needed something, she'd be there--as long as Riley didn't need her more. 

	[color=ff6600]"Hey, man..."[/color] Chloe began, but she wasn't exactly sure what to say. [color=ff6600]"Do you wanna go someplace and talk about...whatever this is? Or we don't have to talk, if you don't want to."[/color] She realized her question was a bit redundant, but she knew Ryan loved open spaces as much as she did. With people either on guard duty or at the wedding reception, it'd be easy to find some solitude, she figured. 

	Ryan looked over towards Chloe as he pushed open the door to the Rec Center and nodded a bit, he didn't say anything at first but the look on his face told a story. His eyes were misting and welling up, this was not the manipulative jovial Ryan everyone was used to seeing. Stepping out into the the snow and cold he pulled his pack of smokes out and lit one up as he glanced around. Looking down at his finger, his thumb rolling over the braid of hair that was there. [color=fff79a]"Wish you coulda known Cyril..."[/color] he said quietly before he started walking away from the center and down the street. 

	Chloe nodded, slipping an arm around Ryan's back as best as she could. He was a good seven inches taller than she was, making it difficult for her, and she stood ever so slightly on her toes to accomplish the task. She'd never heard him mention Cyril before, to the extent that she wasn't sure who he was--but she imagined that he was a fellow inmate. Inmates grew close--it was just the way things were. [color=ff6600]"Yeah? I'm sure I would've liked him,"[/color] Chloe said kindly, walking with him down the street.

	Ryan slipped his arm over Chloe's shoulder and kept walking, offering her the smoke with his other hand. [color=fff79a]"I know ya woulda. Cyril was amazin'. Best little brother a guy could ever have.... he deserved better than a piss ant like me,"[/color] Ryan said kicking a rock across the snow slush as they walked. Shaking his head he fiddled with the cross around his neck. 

	Chloe listened, taking a drag from the cigarette as Ryan offered it. She understood the entire bad sibling complex--she had been shitty to Riley growing up, doing nothing when their parents kicked her out. She had been complicit in it all. [color=ff6600]"Hey, don't beat yourself up. You're not a piss ant--a fuckboy, maybe. Everyone's shit to their siblings. Hell, I was a bitch to Riley. Didn't say shit when she got kicked out." [/color]

	What came over Ryan was anyone's guess but Chloe's words made Ryan yell. Like actually yell, it wasn't something he did often. Hell even when tearing into Richard his voice tended to grow cold, not hot. But right then, there was a livid fire in the Irishmans eyes. Turning he grabbed Chloe by the shoulders and pulled her close, glaring at her as a few tears slipped down his cheeks. [color=fff79a]"You have no fuckin' clue. Don't beat meself up? Fuck that, I deserve to used as Walker bait for the shit I did to Cyril. There is a special place in hell for me! You may have been shit to Riley but at least she's still breathing. Make sure you keep it that way!"[/color]

	Letting her go he turned on his heels and stormed off down the road, his fists balling up as he shoved them into his pockets. God he needed something to clam him down. Passing the medical garden greenhouse he fiddled with the key in his pocket, thinking of everything that was in there and just what he could do with it now.

	To say she didn't know the entire story of what happened to Ryan's brother was an understatement, but the pieces had slowly started to fall into place. But for Chloe, with Ryan grabbing her and yelling in her face, tears pouring down his, she felt a sense of terror. She'd fucked up. If she hadn't asked him that question, this wouldn't be happening. As he walked away, her natural instinct was to find someplace to hide and cry until the tears ran dry. 

	But this was on her. He was clearly in pain, and as much as her flight instinct was kicking in, she couldn't justify it. [color=ff6600]"I don't get it. I don't. Riley's the only sibling I ever gave a shit about. But whatever you're planning on going in there for, it'll only get you a bullet in the head from Ash. And goddamnit, I am [i]not[/i] letting you punish yourself like this."[/color]

	Slowly Ryan pulled out the key to the medical garden green house and looked down at it, it would be simple enough and not like many kept track of things, a leaf here, a stem there, no one would notice if he only took bits and pieces here and there. Even if they did he was wondering if it really mattered right then. Staring blankly at the key his eyes wandered to the hair around his finger. [color=fff79a]"If you knew what I done you'd pull the trigger,"[/color] he said in a hoarse whisper. 

	She shook her head, holding her hand out for the key. [color=ff6600]"Whatever shit you did, I don't care,"[/color] she stated, looking at his eyes. [color=ff6600]"I don't give a damn what it was, even if it was the darkest shit I've ever heard. I don't want you to die. And I doubt Cyril'd want this for you either."[/color] She paused for a moment, her hand still extended, waiting for the key to the medical garden. [color=ff6600]"And if I have to beat you silly and drag you home tonight, I fucking will."[/color] 
[hr][hr][center][b][i][h1][color=f26522]Ga[/color][color=00ccff]vi[/color][/h1][/i][/b][img]https://media.giphy.com/media/dcgVA3govjOTe/giphy.gif[/img][hr]Location: West of Newnan[/center][hr][hr]	Gavin smirked and reached over to tug on Ravi's beard. [color=f26522]"Keep growin' that bear on yer face and in a few years you could take his place. Ravi Claus!"[/color] Gavin laughed as he kept trudging through the snow. Ravi, meanwhile, was frantically fixing his beard. He was rather protective of it, to the extent his old roommate used to put glitter in it and call it Princess Sparkles. But of course, there wasn't much he could do to keep the snowfall off of it. 

	[color=00ccff]"Well, Ravi Claus may just put you on the naughty list for terrorizing my beloved beard,"[/color] Ravi sniffled, before cracking his composure and snickering a bit. [color=00ccff]"I used to have it insured, you know, against laboratory accidents."[/color]

	That actually made Gavin stop in his tracks and gawk at Ravi. His mouth hung there slightly agape for a while before he rubbed the back of his head and whistled slightly. [color=f26522]"You... insured that damn thing?!?!"[/color] he asked, half thinking he was hearing things before he busted out laughing, holding his side as he fell back in the snow. 

	At first, Ravi thought that Gavin was stopped in amazement and awe, realizing one man's dedication to his facial hair. But at the laughter, Ravi's cheeks burned a bit red. [color=00ccff]"Accidents happen!"[/color] Ravi insisted. [color=00ccff]"Besides, my face would look [i]naked[/i] without the old girl. I don't need to look this attractive, yes, but I do quite enjoy looking damn fine when I can. Beard's part of the package."[/color] 

	Gavin couldn't stop laughing. Didn't matter he was rolling around in the snow holding his mid section, he was sweating from laughing so hard. Somewhere between the guffaws and the chuckles and the out right out bursts he poked more fun at Ravi. [color=f26522]"What da hell does insurance do for a beard? They give ya a facial toupe? Emergency beard plugs? Oh, I know, super glue!"[/color]

	Ravi rolled his eyes, glancing down at his friend like a parent looks at a child. Only difference was, of course, his cheeks were still burning red. [color=00ccff]"It's more complicated than that, mate!"[/color] Ravi insisted, but it nearly came out as a whine. [color=00ccff]"It's to pay for microneedling--essentially tells your body that there is damage in the area of the beard, so it grows in hair more quickly there. Or perhaps a hormone therapy solution. Anything to keep the old girl from looking shabby."[/color]

	Gavin slowly worked his way to his knees and eventually his feet but he was still cracking up, tears rolling down his face; his cheeks were killing him from laughing so hard. [color=f26522]"You brits, I swear. Jesus Christ on a cracker, how much that shit run ya a month to keep yer facial beaver in tact?"[/color]

	Glancing back at his friend, Ravi made an exasperated face. [color=00ccff]"It's rude to discuss finances, Gavin!"[/color] he exclaimed, a bit appalled that his lovely beard had been referred to as a beaver. [color=00ccff]"Perhaps you're just jealous,"[/color] Ravi sniffed, tilting his head up comically as to put his nose in the air. [color=00ccff]"Texas just isn't a good environment for facial hair, I suppose."[/color]

	Gavin gawked towards Ravi and spit on the ground. [color=f26522]"Taxas has done produced some of da best facial hair in history! Hell America be known for some of the best beards ever! Nelson! Burnside! Witman! And ya can't say the name Abraham Lincoln without thinking of dat damn facial fur! You ain't been to a Mustachery until you been to one in the Great State of Texas! Naw, none of that pretty trimmed boy look, no, real men! With real beards! Hard beards that woman loved!"[/color]

	Ravi shook his head slightly, beaming. [color=00ccff]"Once this all blows over, you can take me to one of your finest Mustacheries. And I bet you, they'll understand the importance of beard insurance!"[/color] Ravi boasted, stroking his beard again. It was usually an unconscious gesture, but this time, it was on practice to accent his point. [color=00ccff]"Train hard, my young padawan, and you can one day have such a fine beard as I."[/color]

	Gavin rolled his eyes a bit and kept on his way, trudging back through the snow as the kept growing closer to where the sound had come from. It was growing darker, he hoped they would reach somewhere, anywhere before night fell. Making camp in the middle of the snow wasn't the best idea but then again, Gavin hadn't thought about that before they headed out. He was an American damn it. [i]We don't think, we do![/i] [color=f26522]"Yeah, yeah, and one day you'll have beautiful silky curls like me man!"[/color]

	Ravi chuckled a bit, walking a little closer to Gavin the darker it got. He figured that the man had no idea where they were going, and he had been keeping an eye out for anything that screamed shelter. [color=00ccff]"I suppose this is what women mean when they say men don't ask for directions..."[/color]

	[color=f26522]"Now don't cha be worrin' yer pretty lil' beard a'out a thang! I gots this!"[/color] he said as he pushed through the snow. It was a few more minutes before they broke the tree line and hit an actual road. There were tracks in it leading north. [color=f26522]"Ha! Sees there! I told ya I knews where we weres goin!"[/color]

	Ravi rolled his eyes in response, though his cold limbs were thankful for the discovery of a road. Shelter couldn't be too far off now, he figured. [color=00ccff]"Brilliant! You found an unmarked road. My confidence in you is now 75%."[/color]

	Patting Ravi hard on the back a few times he winked at hetero-life-mate and chuckled. [color=f26522]"David slew Goliath with worse odds dan that! I'll take it!"[/color] he laughed with a broad grin before turning and heading north up the road. There were few things that got the man down, always seeming to slip back into that happy place eventually. Granted the day had started out with the darker side of him one wouldn't know it by the way he was acting. Hell the way he was acting it was like he had just found the golden ticket and was on his way to Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory, even had a little skip in his step now that they were on a road that the snow was at least part way packed down and easier to walk on. 

	Coughing, Ravi feigned being a little more fragile than he actually was. [color=00ccff]"But you have slain me, dear friend! Goodbye, cruel world! Goodbye!"[/color] He stumbled even slightly for effect, which was easy to mimic, given that they had been trudging through the snow for what felt like hours now. However, he couldn't keep up his own act, giggling a bit as his friend skipped a bit in his gait, reminding him of a school girl. [color=00ccff]"Though, David...if that's what your name is now...Could you slay Goliath a little [i]quicker?[/i] I'm starting to wish I had four jumpers on at the moment."[/color]