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Sage shifted his weight in a somewhat uncomfortable manner when both the girl and the dog stared at him curiously. He gave the girl a curt nod in response to her thanks, though he did eye the weapon wearily until she put it away. Only then did he put his own away. He frowed slightly in response to her question though, looking down at the baby and smoothing her hair out gently. "Dead," he said bluntly, not wanting to get into how she'd been killed, and was probably a zombie out there somewhere by now. He hoped he never saw her though...it was bad enough to have stumbled upon her half eaten corpse, he didn't want to have to decapitate her if she tried to attack him or Liz. He moved to let the girl past him though, confident she wasn't a threat.
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Tempe glanced up from the corpse to his face, a somewhat neutral expression on her face. Not perturbed, or surprised. She gave a faint nod- it was the answer she expected. Some sort of condolence for him got lost halfway to her mouth, an old instinct. One she had lost in months of fighting for herself. She cleared her throat softly and figured she would attempt civility. "Sorry for your loss." She said lightly, dipping her head slightly and then turning her gaze back down to the zombie. She quietly rolled it over with her foot, so she didn't have to see it staring upward. The woman glanced toward the doorway, her curiousity holding her in place, but her wariness tensing the muscles of her legs. It was hard enough keeping herself and a dog alive, so how did he manage? "I hate to pry, but... how do you do it?" She added, glancing at him again. Edited at February 25, 2024 09:11 PM by Widow Valley Farms
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Sage glanced back over at the girl when she spoke up again, gaze softening slightly. He nodded his thanks after a moment and shifted lizzie to one hip so he could move to scoop up the bag of food. Or, rather, the food that the girl had left. He figured starting another fight now just wasn't worth it. He slung it over his shoulder and let out a sort of bitter laugh in response to her next comment. "I don't eat, I don't sleep, and I hope to god I don't have to make the decision to decapitate my wife because she's trying to eat my daughter," he told her, moving his dagger to a more comfortable position and then over at Lizzie, who was eyeing the dog curiously. A soft smile moved over his features for a moment before the old man look, as he liked to call it, took its place again and he let out a weary sigh. "I guess I'll...see you around," he added lamely, more of a wuestion than anything. If she was planning on staying....he wasn't sure he should do the same. But he wasn't sure where else to go either. Maybe staying where he at least knew she wouldn't try to kill him would be best. He wasn't sure.
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Temperance watched his expression soften quietly, shifting slightly on her feet as he stooped to pick up his bag. She felt a faint twinge of guilt kick in somewhere around the crown her skull, but she said nothing, simply keeping her thumbs settled in the belt loops of her jeans. A look of faint surprise flitted across the girl's face at his laugh. It was strange to hear someone laugh after so long. A small, faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Sounds like normal parenthood. Minus the whole cannibalism part." She offered quietly, maybe an attempt at humor. Lucifer was still staring at the baby in utter curiosity, faintly wagging his tail when he realized he had been recognized. Tempe took in the moment, and then smile it caused on the father's face. It caused her to look him over, head to toe and then back again. He was young, when he smiled. Very young. She tilted her head as he spoke. That was one way to end a conversation. She thought for a moment, feeling she was overstaying her welcome already. "Hold on." The words came from her before she stopped them, and she almost surprised herself with it. She paused for a few moments, her teeth worrying faintly at her lower lip. "You could use some help, right? You said it yourself. You don't eat. You don't sleep." She started, almost confusing herself with her own words. "I can help you. We can... form a partnership, of sorts." She offered tentatively.
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Sage sort of grunted in agreement with the girl's first comment, and then wrinkled his nose slightly in response to her joke, or what seemed to be an attempt at a joke. It wasn't incredibly funny, but it wasn't bad either...maybe he'd just given up on humor a ways back. "Yeah, that doesn't help much," he mused, glancing back down at Liz, who by then had already tried to chew on a finger of his. He didn't really mind it, of course, so he looked back to the girl when she spoke up again, admittedly quite surprised at her offer. He sort of stared at her for a few secomds, obviously just...shocked. Normally people were trying to kill him, not make friends. But...she made sense. And he did sort of trust her...if she'd wanted to hurt either he or Liz she'd have done it already. So after a moment he sort of nodded slowly with a sigh. "Yeah...that might...it could be helpful. For both of us," he agreed. "There's a cave just north of here I've been staying in...it's big enough for all of us, and easy to climb to, but most of the zombies can't climb enough to get to us," he told her. "So unles you have a better place..." he sort of trailed off with a shrug, not sure why he was offering the place they'd been staying at...his home really...but it made sense.
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Tempe quietly ran her tongue over her lips as she waited for a response, feeling strange. It would be nice to have company. Even if one of that number would be a four-month-old, it would still be nice. She let out a soft breath when he agreed, offering him a faint smile and a nod. "I don't. So, lead the way, I guess. Unless I can help you carry anything?" She offered, readjusting her satchel on her back and reaching down to stroke Lucifer.
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Sage nodded when she mentioned that she didn't have elsewhere to go, and nodded his head in the direction of the door. "it's that way," he said. "Maybe a fifteen minutes walk." He shrugged in response to her next comment and offered her the bag. "You can throw the food in there. We'll be sharing anyway," he mused. She didn't have a bag like that, from what he could tell .. so she may as well put it all in one spot. He wandered out the door then, hefting Liz over to his other arm and checking outside of the store before sliding out, keeping on the shadows as he always did.
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"Got it." Tempe said lightly, taking the bag from him gently and switching food from the small satchel on her back to his somewhat large bag. She slung it over her back afterward, gesturing to the door. "Lead the way, Captain." She said lightly, following him as he slipped into the street. Lucifer stayed tightly at her heels, keeping next to her as she followed him through the shadows.
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Sage nodded in response to her comment, though he was somewhat distracted looking for zombies that might be in their path. He slid through the shadows silently, honestly sort of thankful that he'd had practice wandering around quietly while he still had a home. Of course, he'd been trying to hide from his father, and that wasn't exactly a fond memory, but it did serve him well now, he supposed. He reached the cave soon enough, and he slid into it after climbing up for a minute. He pulled the hanging ivy to the side so the girl and dog could get in....it was hard to see otherwise, which was definitely good. Once they were in, he settled himself down on the blankets in the corner, letting Lizzie chill in his lap and she looked around.
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Tempe crept after him, glancing about slightly. She wasn't as good as he was at the whole creeping through shadows thing- stealth- but she liked to consider herself pretty good otherwise. Half her awareness was on her surroundings, the other half on the man in front of her. She still had a few questions, but those were best asked in a safer place. Luckily, it really wasn't that far to the cave. She bit her lip as she watched him climb the relatively steep slope, then blew out a breath. The girl stopped and scooped up her somewhat medium-large dog, keeping him secured against her body with one arm as she climbed. He sat, licking his lips in a somewhat confused manner, but he stayed still, waiting to be deposited. It wasn't far, so she made it quickly, releasing him gently when they made it up. She seemed somewhat out of breath, but not as much as you might think. She followed the father in his cave, Lucifer following her once again. She glanced around lightly, stretching and settling herself on the opposite side of the floor with Lucifer right beside her. "What's her name?" She asked curiously, watching the baby with a faint smile.
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