#he (and beth for the most part) are the only ones not on my shit list about this xjshdfnjkndks

[winterrsun]

Comfort

Reader x Daryl Dixon

Warnings: Smut, 18+ only

A/n: This is smut but it’s like the fluffiest sappiest smut, it’s meant to be really emotionally gratifying. Also I’ve really kinda half heartedly set it up for a part 2 where they reunite with the group and Rick…let me know if you think I should continue this!

Summary: after the prison fell, you and Daryl start to mourn what you’ve lost and find comfort in each other, both emotional and physical.

————————————————————————

The last couple of weeks had been such a blur. After the prison fell, you were thrown back into survival mode and all sense of security was gone. You never knew where your next meal would come from, or whether you were minutes away from death. You were grateful you’d gotten out in the company of Daryl and Beth; you’d always gotten along with both of them and Daryl was one of the most experienced survivalists. It was nice having Beth to talk to and relate to the experience as well, neither of you being natural outdoorsmen. Even if he was a grumpy ass most of the time, and she was still a bit of a bratty teenager at heart, you’d fast grown extremely reliant on both of them being around you.

You’d all found a small shack to hole up in for a couple of nights, you’d also found a stash of moonshine in the cupboard. Beth had been insistent on trying her first drink. It made you both amused and sad when you compared her experience to your teenage party years, so while Daryl disapproved you thought it was only fair to have your own little party. That’s how the three of you ended up on the living room floor, laughing your heads off.

“Really Y/N, you never been camping?!” Beth questioned incredulously.

“Yer even more a princess than I thought” scoffed Daryl.

“Yeah yeah,” you laughed, “well I suppose my whole life’s a big camping trip now.”

“Alright alright, my turn!” Daryl exclaimed. “I never… bin to a wedding”.

“You what?! Daryl that’s just sad” you said before taking a large swig of the homemade booze.

“Yeah, even I’ve been to a couple. Only other time I drank any liquor, daddy let me have a glass of champagne” said Beth.

“What part of my life was a fucking shit show before all this do you two not get” he grumbled.

You rubbed his arm, “alright we know, just teasing you” you smiled.

Beth’s giggles turned to hiccups, and she eventually lay her head down on the sofa and you realised she’d gone to sleep.

You nudged Daryl and nodded at Beth. He smiled at you, and pointed to the singular bedroom in the shack- suggesting you and he should move into the other room so as not to wake her.

The room was small; a double bed took up almost all the floor space, so you plopped yourself down on it. Daryl followed, carrying the bottle of moonshine with him. He took a sip before passing it to you, who did the same.

“She’ll be right” he gestured to the door, referring to Beth in the other room.

“I know” you replied, “we’ve all been there, she just needs to sleep it off.”

He nodded and you fell into an easy silence, both taking additional sips now and then. You grew pensive, and some of the thoughts you’d been mulling around for days started to come to the surface. The tipsy haze in your brain had your lips moving before you even knew you wanted to share what was on your mind.

“I don’t think I’ve said it,” you said, looking to Daryl, “but I’m so grateful for the two of you. The amount of times I’ve wondered what kind of state I’d be in if I was on my own…”

“Can’t be thinkin like that” he replied gently.

“I know. It’s just, it makes me mad to think about how quickly our circumstances changed. Things were so good Dar, they were finally all coming together. And then…..it’s just nothing in this world can ever really work can it?” You were rambling a little, but Daryl didn’t look like he was going to challenge you or tell you to be quiet. He just looked at you sadly.

“Do you think we’ll ever see any of them again?” You whispered to him. A tear escaped your eye and started to trickle down your cheek.

“I don’t know” he replied, and to your surprise he reached towards your face and softly wiped the tear of your cheek, “but I’m glad we’re here together too”.

He didn’t remove his hand from your face, in fact he gently cupped your chin. You leaned into it, while his head dipped closer to you and he planted a soft kiss on your lips. You closed your eyes and allowed the sweet sensation to wash over you.

When he pulled back away he looked unsure of himself, and mumbled a “sorry” to you.

You shook your head, placed your hands on his chest and leaned back toward him, kissing him more deeply this time. His tongue crept into your mouth and started to dance with yours.

Your hands drew up behind his neck as the two of you continued, and he reached for your waist, pulling you into his lap. The kiss grew needier as you straddled him; it wasn’t a need driven by pure sex and physical desire. It was like all the emotions you’d been feeling since the prison poured into your movements, and Daryl lapped them up and returned them with his own. You could’ve been hugging, or crying in each others arms, but instead you were kissing and writhing against each others bodies and it had the same cathartic effect.

You clung onto him as he pulled his lips away from yours briefly, to gently and slowly peel your dirty shirt up from your body. You allowed him to manoeuvre your arms overhead so he could take it off and toss it aside. He then reached around and unclasped your bra, and took a moment to stare at and admire the sight before him.

“You’re beautiful” he almost whispered, starting to run his hands over your breasts and grope them lightly. “I’m gonna take care of you Y/N, I promise”.

You were almost overwhelmed at this moment of pure bliss. You’d never thought there’d be anything sexual between you and Daryl. He was one of your best friends, with a bond like family. Sure he was hot. You’d notice his biceps peaking out of that winged vest and your heart might’ve quickened slightly every time you saw the way he gripped his motorbike handles. But you’d always just been friends.

Let alone the fact that you actually had a thing with his best friend. You and Rick had never defined whatever it was between you, but there was denying when he snuck into your cell nearly every night who you belonged to.

But Rick was gone. You didn’t know where, or if he was even alive, or if you’d ever see him again. It played on your mind every single day. You missed him so much more than all the others, longed for him. You were sick of it eating at you, and you just wanted to feel good for the first time in weeks.

You clawed at Daryl’s shirt, and he took a break from massaging your breasts to help you remove the black tee from his body. You pressed into him as your lips found his again and you relished the feeling of his skin against yours. It felt warm and unbelievably comforting. He began to rub circles on the small of your back and you arched into his touch.

“Daryl” you breathed against his mouth.

“What do you need baby?” He asked, pulling back and grabbing your face in both of his hands, eyes searching yours.

“You…I just need you” you said pleadingly.

Daryl shifted beneath you and lifted you up to flip you onto your back on the bed.

He slowly pulled your pants down and hovered over your torso, looking at your cotton panties. He dipped down and placed a soft kiss on your abdomen, creeping along your hip line. You hummed and wriggled at the tickling sensation, enjoying it. You felt a warmth envelop you from his touches. Then his fingers hooked into the elastic around your waist and pulled the fabric down from your body.

He ran his hand back up your leg, his eyes following the movements before he flitted them up to your face. You made eye contact and he sought the non verbal confirmation that you were okay. You bit your lip in anticipation as you gazed up at him, allowing yourself to be completely vulnerable under his touch. Now fully naked on the bed.

You gasped as his fingers found their way into your fold, and began to gently stroke around. You flinched slightly as he ran over your clit for the first time, and he placed a kiss back on your lips, then trailing down your neck. He began drawing circles around your sensitive nub at a steady but not too fast pace and he lifted his head back up to study your face again.

“So beautiful” he commented. You arched your back off the bed and moan softly. He picked up the pace a little and your pleasure increased.

“Daryl” you gasped, “I need more. I want all of you”.

He nodded, stroked your hair with his free hand before withdrawing them both to unbutton and remove his pants. You lowered your eyes and watched as he freed his sizeable cock from his underpants. You sat up and leaned forward, glancing up at him with doe eyes before attaching your lips to his member.

He groaned as you took him in your warm, wet mouth. You suckled and licked around it, playing with him while lubing him up for you. His hands found their way into your hair, loosely gripping it while you bobbed your head back and forth. He threw his head back and savoured the sensation.

After a little while you pulled away and he gently pushed your shoulder so you lay back on the bed. He braced himself over you and lined himself up, gazing down into your eyes.

“I’m so glad you’re here” he whispered, hovering outside your entrance. You nudged your head up to plant a kiss on his lips.

“Me too” you said softly.

Then he slowly thrust into you. It ached just a little on the way in, but you quickly adjusted to him. For the first time in weeks you felt whole, and human, and like you were capable of something other than simply just surviving as he sank inside you.

You tensed around him and wrapped your legs around his body, which he took as a signal to start pumping his hips in and out of you. Warmth filled your body, radiating from your core to chest at the feeling of connection and intimacy. To your surprise, tears prickled your eyes as you felt emotionally stimulated as much as physically. You squeezed your eyes shut and bit onto Daryl’s shoulder, allowing his warm skin to absorb the moan that left you.

“Don’t need to keep too quiet pretty girl” he said encouragingly. You smirked and let go, noting the love bite you’d left behind before moaning out into the room this time as his hips continued to pound into you.

He pulled out briefly and you were left feeling empty and disappointed, just for him to gently grab your thigh and push your leg back towards your face, hooked behind his arm. He pushed back in and you relished the new, deeper angle.

“Fuuuck, yesss” you hissed and he smirked down at you.

“Feels good baby?” He cooed before grind his hips in a particularly deep thrust and you nodded, moaning in reply.

He picked up the pace now and you felt the heat grow in your belly, driven more by lust at this point. Your climax was building, and it was as if Daryl could tell. He drove into you faster than before, angling his hips upwards to hit just the right spot.

“Dar! I’m gonna” you began-

“I know baby, let go” he soothed.

With an almost scream you came, it rippled through you in waves and he rode it out with you. In this moment nothing else mattered, not the situation you were in, the home you’d lost, the people you’d been seperated from. It was just bliss for a perfect moment.

As your pleasure subsided Daryl snapped his hips into a few more hard times before grunting himself and moving to pull out of you.

“Don’t!” You cried without thinking, holding his hips to yours with your small hands. You felt his dick pulsate inside you as he painted your walls with his cum. It was the last, comforting gesture you wanted to take from him tonight. The feeling of him filling you up as much he possibly could.

His sweaty forehead met yours as he stopped moving, and you felt his penis jerk inside you one last time before all was still. You panted together for a few seconds, before he slowly rolled over to lay next to you.

You felt his ejaculate trickle out of you onto the bed, and groaned at the mess, grinning at him.

He looked around and grabbed a throw blanket from the end of the bed, using it to roughly wipe up you and the linen beneath you. You both chuckled, and he tossed it aside before throwing an arm around you and pulling you towards him to lay your head on his chest.

With your head on his bare skin and listening to the sound of his heart beat and the sensation of his breath rise and fall, you closed your eyes and fell asleep. He planted once last kiss to the top of your head before doing the same.

You woke with a start to the sound of birds chirping and sunlight beginning to creep in through the window, neck stiff from the angle you slept at. You felt chilly and looked down to see goosebumps over your bare body. Not just yours, you noted the extra limbs tangled with yours and remembered the situation you were in. You smiled to yourself, knowing that the amazing night was a once off for you both.

Daryl had just started to stir at your movements on the bed, before you heard movements in the other room. A female voice groaning, before stomping quick footsteps and the sound of coughing and liquid splashing the metal sink. Beth had arisen, and was experiencing her first hangover. You almost would have giggled, except you realised you had to get dressed quick and decide how to explain the two of spending the night in a small room with one double bed.

You looked back at Daryl, now fully awake and judging by the expression on his face thinking the same thing you were.

“Well, back to reality” you whispered with a shrug.

He pulled you in for one last embrace, planting a kiss firmly to your lips before whispering back “thanks for last night beautiful”.

#Daryl Dixon #Daryl Dixon smut #Daryl x reader #Daryl x reader smut #Daryl Dixon x reader #daryl twd #twd Daryl #the walking dead #Daryl Dixon fic #darly Dixon x you

[unreliablesnake]

All of the girls you loved before (Simon "Ghost" Riley x reader)

Summary: Simon is moving into your place, but since he's away on a mission, you offer to pack his stuff in boxes. Too bad you find things that belong to his exes.

Note: Based on this Taylor Swift song. / It's around 700 words. / If you want to know when I post new stuff, follow @unreliablesnakefics and hit the get notifications button. I don't have a taglist.

Warnings: none, it's fluff.

Simon spent most of his time away from home, so when you agreed to move in with him–or rather he would move into your place far from Manchester–he wasn't all that surprised that you offered to pack his things while he was deployed with the help of his sister-in-law. He thought it was sweet, something nice he would somehow have to pay back for later.

As you were packing, it was Beth who first stumbled upon an object in Simon's closet that she innocently assumed was yours: a sexy set of lingerie. But it wasn't yours, you had never owned anything in that color. You didn't say much, only said a few words and threw it into an empty box.

Soon the box was half full of things that belonged to other women. Clothes, underwear, makeup, other beauty products, handwritten notes, and pictures as well. They were all memories of a life Simon had already left behind before you came into the picture.

You could tell that Beth was walking on eggshells around you, probably thinking you were upset about that certain box. In a way, she was right. Who wouldn't be? It just makes you wonder if these are old things, or new ones he hid from you on purpose.

A few days later Simon returned and you met at his apartment so you could show him all of the boxes that would be shipped to your place the next few days. He was grateful for all of the things you had done for him, and once his eyes fell on a sad lonely box with a question mark written on its top in the corner of the living room, he couldn't help but wonder what that was.

“What's with that box?” he asked, pointing at it.

You gulped, at the bottom of your heart feeling stupid for being a little insecure about this. “Well, those are… I'm not sure if that's your stuff, but I packed it nonetheless.”

“Why? What's in there?” he asked, already walking over to the box to open it. He took out a photo first, then his forearm disappeared between the cardboard walls as he checked the rest of the items. “Oh, shit. I'm sorry, I thought I threw away everything,” Simon told you as he stood up and walked over to you.

“It's okay.”

“No, it's not. These belong to my exes and shouldn't be here at all.”

“Si, it's okay,” you assured him with a smile as you placed a hand on his upper arm. “I know you're over them. But they were a part of your life once, you can't just magically erase them.” With a confused look on his face, Simon studied your face with interest. “Unless these got into your apartment after we got together–”

“They were here sooner,” he was quick to interrupt you.

You smiled as you watched him for a few seconds before going on. “Those relationships didn't work out, and those women made you the one I love so much now. If anything, I'm grateful for them.”

Simon stepped closer, standing toe to toe as he looked down at you, his lips curling into a smile. “I love you too, sweetheart,” he told you, his hands reaching out to wrap around yours. “I'll still throw these away. They shouldn't be around us.”

“Look, if there's anything you would like to keep, like a photo or something, just go ahead,” you said, although you weren't that confident on the inside.

He probably noticed because he pulled you into a hug and kissed the top of your head. “I don't need these. I only want to see your stuff in our place,” he mumbled into your hair.

#simon ghost riley #simon riley #simon riley x reader #simon ghost riley x reader #ghost #ghost x reader #modern warfare ii #modern warfare #call of duty #mw2

[bricknees]

it seemed a lot of people liked the brother-in-law merle headcanons and a couple of people like the idea of uncle merle, so... let's talk about how you and daryl make merle an uncle :)

─•~❉᯽❉~•──•~❉᯽❉~•──•~❉᯽❉~•─

• you get pregnant not long after the group settles in alexandria

• merle keeps his distance from you while you're pregnant

• your hormones are all over the place, you go from laughing to crying at the drop of a dime, and any time he opens his mouth around you, he's always saying the wrong thing

• daryl has to play mediator so that you don't kill him, even though sometimes daryl considers doing it himself

• like when merle mentioned how big you were getting during your second trimester... *sigh*

• you cried

• daryl snapped

• it was... not a good day

• so he stays away for the most part, asking daryl when he wants to know how you're doing. he occasionally brings you some snacks that he must have stolen from the pantry, but you're always too hungry to care about how he got them

• first time merle actually calls you his sister out loud is after you've given birth and he holds his niece for the first time

• "atta girl, baby sister. you did real good."

• he is BEAMIIIINNGGG

• his eyes are just a little wet because the air is dry, that's all...

• he had wanted a nephew so bad, but the second he sees her, his heart grows three times it's size

• he was convinced that dixons could only make boys, but here he is holding a little dixon girl, daryl's babygirl, and she's the most precious thing he's ever seen

• constant jokes about needing a paternity test

• "i'm just saying, that nose is lookin' more like mine than yours, maybe your girl slipped into the wrong bed one night-" "shut the hell up, merle"

• merle always gives you a little wink to show he's just being an ass and not actually accusing you of such a thing

• which daryl knows. it doesn't annoy him any less, though

• never allowed to babysit EVERRRR. if your daughter isn't with aunt carol or aunt maggie, then she's at the grimes house. merle always has choice words about it

• okay, well... he babysits a couple times. and your daughter was returned back each time covered in dirt. one time merle carries her up to the door with wet pant legs pulled up to her knees and bits of leaves still strewn in her hair

• "oh... you had a fun time with uncle merle, huh?" "damn right she did, mamas. taught 'er how to catch frogs. babydoll, tell yer mama what a frog says!" "bib-bit!" "she's learnin'."

• saying the name merle is too complicated for your daughter's limited articulation, so she just calls him 'unca' while she's learning to talk.

• when your daughter DOES start to articulate...

• "son of a bitch!" "bitch!" "ha! that was good! wait- nah, nah, don't say that- aw, shit..." "shit!" "no!"

• he refuses to own up to it

• "merle! why's my daughter cursin' like a fuckin' sailor?" "well, darleena, sounds to me like she's gettin' it from you!"

• he's the favorite uncle (after aaron - your daughter adores aaron)

• rick's lowkey offended by it and tries to subtly bribe your daughter into saying she likes him more

• "uncle dick!"

• ...

• "... are you kiddin' me?" "don't know where she learned that from. must be a good judge'a character."

little bonus that doesn't have to do with uncle merle: it's really up to you, but i like to think that you and daryl would have agreed to name your daughter beth 🥺 you would have suggested the name, knowing that part of daryl never really healed after her death, and he would freeze. forgets how to breathe for a second as the memories wash over him. and then he would blink really fast as he feels his eyes start to water and he'd give you that soft little nod he does when he's trying not to cry. PLEASE- 😭

#twd #the walking dead #merle dixon #twd headcanons #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x female reader #uncle merle

[bredforloyalty]

alright now that i've watched it again, about fear no mort: how fascinating that most of morty's fear hole journey revolved around rick, so much so that an extended part of it was just a scenario in which rick's dead wife climbs to the top of his list of favorite people/reasons to live for and not only does he abandon morty but endangers the both of them. wild! morty third wheeling grumpily is wild (although i don't at all care about diane so that part of the episode was kind of soiled on first watch by me going "oh ://".. to be entirely honest. and i'm so mortypilled that if i could tweak the episode i would've put less grandpa in it lol and played it a bit more straight with focusing on morty but then again that's me and that would be a very different episode)

so, morty's afraid of rick not choosing him but also not choosing life, he's afraid of not being able to save rick and be someone he can depend on. it's an awful lot to take on, being the companion of someone who historically has not given much of a shit about himself and ended up hurting everyone around him with his callousness. it's a certain kind of selfishness, when you hate yourself and the world enough to turn inward and forget you have a responsibility to the people around you, and you forget there is a way out and forget the world does not abandon you, ever, only you can abandon yourself. and rick's only recently made some changes, it's a lot to look out for and care for someone (regardless if you intend to care or it was never a choice. and it wasn't) when they've been exceptionally cruel to you, when they don't think of you as capable of that or themselves as in need of that. morty's afraid of the very fact that he's committed, that he's got a mixture of affection and resentment and fear and a bunch of other things swirling inside him and it's all related to one man. he's terrified of what will happen if rick ever starts needing him and he's just not enough. fuck i loved that and thought it was delicious. eating the episode like an animal and licking all ten of my fingers after...

morty's also afraid of becoming his dad, who spent the majority of the previous seasons as a kind of doormat, who let his wife and father-in-law walk all over him, who didn't appreciate beth, who abandoned the family. maybeee even.. who didn't stick up for morty when a certain old man was taking advantage of him and breaking him down systematically. he fears humiliation and ostracism (typical teenage things, i was like that too and yet. not everyone is like that so it matters to me that i was very much like that too).. he's got so much shame, and although the settings are the school and the wider public for some of the fears, rick's role isn't exactly incidental in how morty functions outside of their relationship and who he's become. who has made him feel small and weak and stupid and who isolated him and prevented him from having the normal experiences all those other normal kids have? like sure it's not all rick but considering that by the end the fear is all about him, i feel like i can emphasize this. and sure rick's also the one who toughened him up (nothing scares him anymore, the school had to alert homeland security once, etc) but that's part of his fear too: rick's got his handprints all over him, he's everything, while rick's everything is not morty ((according to morty of course. little does he know.......))

anyway, the tragedy is that his worst fear does become reality, is his reality: rick didn't jump in after him. it's tragic because he perceives rick as someone who would never go as far for him as he would for rick, who could replace him, and by the end he accepts that. the fear is gone because being together is inevitable, there's nothing else to do but accept how they are and how vulnerable he is to rick. don't fear what you're destined to suffer!!! he's a loyal little dog! rick will never change and he's okay with that now. that's devotion, it's veiled by sci-fi bullshit and goofy jokes (and that terrible naked rap number that had me cringing uncontrollably hxsgvy) but it's devotion! except, to add to the tragedy while not really making it,, heavier, it's straight up untrue that rick could or would replace him. not jumping in the fear hole wasn't real evidence of how he feels, to morty it was just a representation of what he thinks is the worst of their relationship (the worst for him). we've been watching rick try and try and seeing the evidence of how he's changed all season, i think that makes it sadder that he's still not reassured the kid, that he still can't be honest or open enough to untangle the knot at the center of morty. that he tied

and yet, if i wasn't already reassured that rick's also committed, if not to morty personally then to the family and to making a continuous effort to improve, i would be reasured by how he didn't jump in at the end and instead took a picture of his grandson out of his wallet and pinned it to the 'went in the hole' board (lol). he had a picture in his wallet, god. he finally listened, he listened to morty who said it's not worth it, not even if diane is there, he chose not to immerse himself in his fears, his past and his wounds, and i would even say he chose not to go where morty couldn't follow. he chose his current reality and admitted morty is braver than him by pinning the picture, he wasn't condescending about morty running and jumping by himself. and most importantly, most cuckoo bananas of all, most 'kata is not going to be feeling well for a while' about the episode, when morty hugged him, he, for the first time!!, timidly started hugging back. and then morty immediately let go and pushed him away because he can't imagine a rick that hugs back, that loves him like he loves rick, he's so scared of the part of himself that wants to believe in that level of respect and care and reciprocation, the part that craves that. what the fuuuuck

rick's only recently started loosening his claws and thinking of how he could do right by his grandson and by others in general, it hasn't caught up with him yet that while morty does see him and does assess him accurately, he's not a mind reader and he's got insecurities and rick's at the center of them and well, you could say, you could say he should take responsibility for what he's done ('take responsibility' NOT in a canceling rick sanchez on twitter unless he repents for his grooming crimes way but in a waggling my eyebrows way forever and ever). ngl i wasn't super satisfied by the rest of the season as it was coming out but i'm excited to see where they take this, how these characters will develop further. and i was very happy to see an episode just about morty's side of the equation, i've been fed <3

#but mostly i want to see how they grow around each other. the minute it's implied they have to go their seperate ways to fulfill #themselves as individuals and find real pure happiness which they can only find somewhere else i kill myself immediately #^___^ <33 #rick and morty #rnm #i did draft this immediately after watching btw i just needed to be sure i won't change my mind on a second watch..... #kata.txt

[cultofdixon]

Lost in the dark, look for the light

Daryl Dixon • She/Her Pronouns • Eldest Greene Sister!Reader • Plenty of those lost people before Alexandria let them in. Daryl didn’t like the place but when you fell into that dark place after losing so much, he’d do anything to help • ANGST/SFW • TW: Grieving / Nightmares / Sleep Deprivation / Self Inflicted Pain / Scars / Depression

Requested by: Anon

Maggie had told her…about what happened to Beth. Even if the look in Daryl’s face wanted him to be the one to tell his partner, Maggie’s sister, Y/N…that she had lost her youngest sister only a few days after losing her father.

The shock that met her body lead Y/N to become numb, instead of heartbroken. Even if she was…

Without saying a word of response to the news, all Y/N did was take a hold of her now only little sister in her embrace. Holding her with a force that told Maggie that she was terrified and that letting her go may bring on the thoughts that she would disappear.

A trend seemed to continue

Bob had died before the news of Beth, and Tyreese died shortly after hers. It was a lot. Many held on a good front, Y/N included. Others grieved quicker than most…grieved in strange ways.

During the time of walking, Daryl strayed away to take a moment to fall apart…expecting to be alone with his tears and to draw the pain to focus on the burn he made from dragging his cigarette onto his hand. But the archer was slipping with his observation skills, as he didn’t know he was being followed and by Y/N of all people.

The woman didn’t say a word but made herself present as the archer looks up at her before diverting his attention away. Did she see what he did? Is what he thought and it was only confirmed by the way she knelt in front of his seated position, taking the hand he burned…gently brushing all of the ash away before pressing her lips gently against the burn. It wasn’t going to do much, except tell him that she was there and that she can’t lose him as well.

As the tears came on strong, Daryl carefully pulled Y/N into his embrace as her body laid against him holding onto his form for dear life. As he returned the same sense. But he couldn’t help but fell an overwhelming intense wave of worry for his girl laid in his embrace…she wasn’t speaking or doing anything to grieve…she’s there for everyone, and everyone is blind.

He shall not

“I don’t trust this place” Rick states his thought out to everyone as they approached the walls to said place named Alexandria.

Then the words left without a second thought…

“We need the walls to keep our remaining family alive” Y/N sighed feeling a weight return itself on her chest as she kept her composure and decided to stray her thought in his favor. “If this place turns in any direction, we’ll show it not to mess with us” she whispers the last part to Rick who couldn’t agree more.

This place definitely felt a bit more like the old world with the new infused into such. Like going for runs to find supplies and creating walls to keep the sickos outside. But how the old world worked in some ways still remained and that’s what feared some of the group, that these people don’t truly understand the horrors.

When Y/N was brought in for the interview, no one expected Maggie and Daryl to want to eavesdrop. Making the others question their actions but in a sense it’s within good reason.

“You’re Maggie’s sister”

“Yes, is it obvious?”

“In a sense, you didn’t want to leave her side or at least her leave yours…did you recently lose someone?”

This feels uncomfortably like therapy “What is it you want exactly, Ms…?”

“Deanna is fine, I just want to get to know the group my recruiters have been watching for some time now—-“

“You hired stalkers?”

“Recruiters—-“

“Listen here dollface, it’s the end of the world and my group has been through enough shit as it is. We’ve been FUCKED more than once so if you’re gonna try and sell me on this pitch perfect fever dream of a community you got that’s exactly like how the old world used to be with just a couple changes—-you’re gonna have to try harder and not interrogate to know what I used to be”

The door pushed open startling the two eavesdropping to move quickly out of the way of the eldest Greene stepping out. Rick took note of the stress written all over her face as he was about to pull her aside when she brushed passed him stepping out of the house completely.

Y/N found herself sitting on the steps while her gaze glued to the gate. She half expected to be followed out and she was, but the three standing at the door were conflicted on who to confront her and what happened.

“Daryl and Glenn don’t know how to whisper, and I know you’re with’em”

Glenn and Daryl froze while Maggie pushed through, but forced the two back inside before shutting the door to give the sisters some sense of privacy.

“Boss lady mad or something?”

“No she told me to tell yea she wants you to be with the runners.”

“She really handing out jobs?” Y/N scoffs leaning against the porch railing. “I don’t want to go back to the old world…” I’m having a hard time staying here

“Neither do I, frankly” Maggie laughs slightly as her face fell into sadness. “I think…I’m losing you.”

I’m tired Mags…that is all Y/N thought as she brought her arm around her sister’s shoulders bringing her close. “You’ll never lose me, Mags. I’m right here”

The first night spent in this new place was all under the same roof. They were given two houses, and discussion of the Rhees getting their own was in the air…but all felt safer at least for the first night to be together.

Daryl kept himself posted by the window that was by the crib where Judith slept peacefully. His mind was racing the entire time he was within the walls as he didn’t want to trust it, he knew his partner didn’t want to…but there was more to it and he’s worried even when Y/N brought herself to sit with him while Rick talked.

“Wanna step out after this?” Daryl whispers to Y/N as she nods before leaning against him.

After listening to Rick talk about Alexandria and if anything happened, they have each other and they’ll take it over if it comes to that. Or at least that’s the idea with his speech without straight up saying they’ll take the place over. The two slipped out before the lights turned off for everybody, leaving the two only using the moonlight and the few porch lights to light their path through Alexandria.

“Are you doing alright? After…yeah” Y/N wasn’t exactly ready herself to admit it and Daryl couldn’t help but worry for her.

“Best as I could, are you—-“

“Hey!”

The two stopped when Deanna and her husband Reg started to approach. Daryl is usually the one to step back but when he noticed Y/N, his very forward outgoing Y/N, started to step back to try and avoid them. He stepped forward covering her.

“Well isn’t it Daryl and Y/N, this is my husband Reg” Deanna smiles presenting her husband as he gave a gentle wave sensing the anxiety from the two unlike her wife. “What are you two do—-“

“Hun, I think they’re lookin’ for a relaxing evening alone just like we were”

“Oh, OH! My apologizes…I hope your run tomorrow with my son goes well, Y/N. Maybe you and Glenn can share some insight”

“Sure…” Y/N gave a small smile hoping she’d walk away and before she could even talk more, Daryl cut himself in.

“It’s getting late” Daryl states gently wrapping his arm around Y/N’s shoulders directing her back to the house as she didn’t say a word but gave him a thankful look.

When the two themselves turned in for the night, Daryl held Y/N close as she slept feeling her shake in her sleep which made him tighten his grasp on her. She used to do this back at the prison when they first started living there, instead of waking from her nightmares she just…shakes. Scared Daryl at first when he first saw this happening but learned that holding her closer to him would get her to relax eventually.

Even if right now it wasn’t working. Something was wrong.

“Have you heard about their run at all?” Daryl startled Maggie slightly out of her thoughts as she passed by noticing he was waiting on her porch.

“It’s just to get an idea of how they do things around here. Not an actual run that takes hours.” Maggie joins Daryl in the steps of her and Glenn’s place watching him anxiously grip onto his crossbow. “Daryl…do you have any idea of…what might be going on with my sister?”

That very question floats around in his mind as it was an obvious answer, she hasn’t had the time to process all of what happened by herself.

“You chain up walkers?” Y/N asks in disbelief as Aiden nods while he and Nicholas were looking for the walker that killed their friend.

“It killed our own. This shows—-“

“Shows what?” Glenn scoffs. “You’re just making it more dangerous for others”

“It’s just one walker, not like it’s gonna do anything—-“ Aiden was cut off by said walker, or hell a completely different one, making itself known by almost taking out the man.

When Noah tried to go over and take it out Nicolas stopped it because the two were determined to chain it back up. But the others weren’t going to let them.

“Can you—-fucking help” Aiden snaps toward one of the “newbies” as Tara went ahead but ended up getting stuck in the matter of she was trying not to let the thing bite her.

This was getting ridiculous.

Y/N immediately went in and ended the Walker which lead to Aiden pushing her away once the body hit the floor.

“The fuck is wrong with you?!”

“Hey!” Glenn tried to intervene when the two got face to face.

“What’s wrong with me?! You’re the one with brain fucking damage thinkin’ you can contain these sickos”

“IT KILLED OUR FRIEND! IT DESERVES—-“

“DESERVES WHAT?!” Y/N snaps getting up in his business as he stumbled to stand his ground. “They’re already fucking dead. They are just a risk for the living now. What is chaining it up gonna do? Scare off the rest? Teach it a lesson?” She suddenly pushed the man over making it level with the now dead dead walker. “It’s not a fucking person in need of a punishment anymore! You’re a fucking idiot for putting others at risk, especially yourself…you’re not cut out to survive outside the walls”

Aiden didn’t say a word of response as Y/N stood her ground while her hands shook with anger.

This is risky, dad. They aren’t—-

Some part of them is still there, sweetheart.

Dad seriously—

You saying…that’s not your mother anymore?

Y/N quickly stepped through the gates first wanting to find some place to hide but of course Aiden had enough.

“You guys need new gigs! Especially you!” Aiden grabs her shoulder forcing her to turn around as Glenn immediately stepped in between.

“Don’t pick a fight man”

“Pick a fight? She’s the one that fucking started this. You gotta learn to follow my lead.” He snaps pushing Glenn aside even if he tried to cut in between only knowing what’s next to happen.

“Don’t start—-“

“I’m protecting my fucking people.” Aiden glares at Y/N trying to use his height to his advantage. “Hell! You’re here because you failed to protect your own”

And without a second thought, Y/N punched him right in the center of his face with enough force to knock him on his ass. Completely tuning out the crowd around them as she towered over him.

“I’m doing my goddamn BEST.” Y/N snaps, not noticing the tears that spilled. “At least I kept those with me alive unlike you…risking everyone with your savior complex.”

“You fucking bi—-“ Aiden was cut off by Glenn cutting in between once more and this time he was about ready to stab a bitch if he had to. “Your people don’t belong here…especially you” he glares at Y/N noticing his mom watching as he quickly stepped away.

“Listen here! Rick’s people deserve to be here”

The rest of the speech didn’t pick up as Y/N did her best to step away even if the worried looks from Tara and Noah caught her eye while her brother in law tried talking to her to check on her. But nothing picked up as she completely pulled herself away leaving the crowd entirely.

Daryl had approached the commotion right when Y/N started to leave as he frowns noticing the tears immediately. He carefully blocked her way trying to get through to her but his words weren’t reaching, but grabbing her biceps gently did make her stop.

“Sunshine, what happened? Who hurt you, what can I do?”

“I got them killed” Y/N felt a pain in her chest as she started to try and pull away. “I don’t deserve to be here. I don’t…I…They’re dead because of me. The Governor, Terminus…the hospital…everyone. It’s my fault” she broke right before his eyes as it pained him, as if someone had stabbed him right through the chest. She’s been enduring all this loss of her family, their friends…by herself in muted silence.

“No…sunshine, none of it was your—-“

“…why couldn’t it have been me” Y/N whispered, feeling the tears continue to fall as part of her wanted to collapse in his arms and stay there…he wanted to hold her, keep her safe from everyone within the walls.

But she pulled away, hurting them both in a way.

The archer found himself sitting on either the porch or outside Y/N’s door since what happened. It’s been hours and eventually the next day, she hasn’t left that room. Maggie didn’t care about shadowing Deanna when Y/N was in this episode, she did the same as Daryl by staying as close as possible. Even if every fiber of her being wanted to make sure she wasn’t…Mm.

“You need anything?” Glenn whispers to Maggie who was sat beside Daryl who looked dressed for a trail recruiting run with Aaron while she was more comfortable.

“Can you get another glass of water? I’m gonna—“

“I’ll give it to her, long as yea…stay while I’m gone?” Daryl asks watching Maggie nod even if they both know she’ll be going to this party because Deanna is requesting all of Rick’s group to attend. Not everyone will.

After receiving the water from Glenn, Daryl quietly enters the room leaving a small gap for Maggie to listen in if Y/N said anything. Even if she currently laid in bed facing the blackout curtains with half the blanket off of her.

The archer quietly approached setting the glass on the nightstand before crouching enough to her level. He frowns as he couldn’t help but wonder what else is going on in her mind.

“‘M gonna go with Aaron to check around…find anythin’ or anyone” Daryl whispers tugging on the blanket to cover her, watching her curl up slightly. “Ain’t gonna go to the party, so I should be back in a few hours…please drink the water…” he mumbles a bit watching her eyes lock on him for a moment before he got up and started to head out.

“be safe…” Y/N managed out, leading Daryl to stop and contemplate leaving or not. He didn’t want her to do anything harmful when he was gone but he knew Maggie had already taken out everything in the room.

He did the extra curtesy of taking her knife off the nightstand closing to the door, taking it with him for safe keeping. If it came to a breach, Y/N will know what to do if she doesn’t have her knife.

One could hope she would fight if it came to it during this period.

“We’ll come and get yea if anything” Maggie reassures Daryl with Glenn nodding in agreement.

“We are going to the party because Deanna asked Maggie personally, but we won’t be out long”

“I should be back before then” Daryl states and went on his way out leaving the two to check Y/N one last time before closing the door quietly.

When night fell and the party was going on, Daryl found himself in Aaron’s residence after being invited in for dinner. He didn’t want to leave Y/N alone for much longer as he stared at his empty plate for a moment.

“You wanna bring a plate to your partner?” Eric offers with a smile watching the archer light up a bit.

The two knew about Y/N and what happened by the gates the other day, and they didn’t push Daryl to talk about it in any way. Only providing help in small ways, hence bringing home a plate of spaghetti.

Alexandria was lighting up slowly for the archer and he wishes to share that with his partner. At her own speed.

“Hey” Daryl kept his voice low entering the room when he noticed the light from her lantern was on. At least the one that was in the room. Y/N wasn’t laying down anymore but she still had a gloom radiating from her. “How long have yea been up?”

“Uhm. I don’t…know?”

“Think yea can eat?” Daryl asks showing off the wrapped plate as she looked up for it but given how he didn’t budge from his place, he wanted her to get up.

And for good smelling food? Y/N did exactly that.

The two sat in silence in the dining room as Daryl watched her eat like she hasn’t eaten in days…which was the case. He would refill her glass every time it emptied and he’d listen to her soft ‘thank you’ as that was the most interaction between the two. As Y/N finishes she kept everything neat even if she wasn’t a messy eater like Daryl, she just. Felt like everything would fall apart if she didn’t clean up after herself even if Daryl took care of the plate setting it in the sink.

After cleaning up, especially after Y/N’s bossiness started to return and told Daryl to wash the plate to return tomorrow, the two found themselves back in the bedroom as Y/N was already in loungewear and getting under the covers while Daryl took his clothes off going through the dresser to find sweats for him leaving himself shirtless. He pulled the covers carefully, getting underneath them and bringing himself close to Y/N.

As Daryl finally got comfortable, he brought his arm cautiously around his partner half expecting her to pull away. Instead Y/N brought her hand to his holding it.

“I’m not going anywhere, sunshine” Daryl whispers to her, not seeing the tears brim in her eyes when he said such.

“Promise…?”

“I promise” He pulled her close to his chest feeling her ease in his embrace.

The following days, Y/N came back out of the hole that her depression dug for her at her own pace with the help of Daryl and Maggie. Daryl would have her help with building the bike in Aaron’s garage so she wouldn’t have to work with Aiden or frankly any of the assholes within Alexandria. Some days she would go with Maggie in shadowing Deanna but mostly the times she’d spend in the makeshift library to learn more about the place with the blueprints there and a few documented journals by Reg that were placed there for those to read.

Before their lives in Alexandria changed, Y/N found herself sitting on the porch watching the people go by as she unconsciously traces every blemish, scar, beauty mark that graced her skin while she waited for Maggie to step out and join her on the steps. They weren’t going anywhere, just a moment between the two sisters.

That Y/N really needed…

“Beth would’ve loved this place”

A smile broke out on Maggie’s face out of remembrance and a little bit of sadness.

“Yeah…she would’ve.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t…entirely there for you when…yknow”

“You were lost, we all were…it just. Took a different form of light to bring yea back” Maggie smiles more as Y/N brought her arm around her shoulders bringing her in.

The eldest Greene looking down the street, not far but close enough to get a get a clear picture of the light that brought her out of her darkness.

Daryl Dixon

#cultofdixon #the walking dead #daryl dixon #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon fanfiction

[sheriffgrimes-archerdixon]

Harmful words

Warnings: arguments, shouting, cruel words

Request: hi!! I was wondering whether you could do one when Daryl snaps at the reader whom is like a daughter to him and she sees him as a father figure and they get into an argument that causes issues and he says things he regrets please? Thank you. (A/n this’ll be written during the prison era)

Someone better take my phone away from me the amount of sad twd drafts I’ve got saved is becoming concerning 😭🤣

“I’m sorry okay,”

Your words were weak and tired as Daryl stood in front of you, crossbow hung just over his shoulder “sorry isn’t going to cut it y/n. You could’ve been killed-“ “well I wasn’t.” Your words were harsh as you glared into his eyes “please stop treating me like a goddamn kid! I’m sick of it… you hear me? Sick of it! All of it!”

He looked at you a hurt expression lingering in his eyes “what the fuck y/n?”

“Stop treating me like your god damn daughter! I’m not your kid! I’m just someone you rely on since you can’t do shit yourself!” You yelled, you didn’t mean it. They were just words. Angry words that you couldn’t even comprehend as you failed to notice the growing anger and sadness forming on his face “you’re right.” He spoke disgust visible on his face as he began shaking his head “you aren’t my daughter,” he continued shaking his head “and I sure as hell ain’t your dad.”

His words caused your breath to hitch as you stared off into space your eyes full of sadness before you looked down, Daryl didn’t mean to be so harsh- regret immediately forming on his face. You didn’t think he would go that far, you were just angry and it upset you that he would even say something like that. You had gone on a run, a risky run at that but it wasn’t your fault you wanted to get things for the group but you knew Daryl was protective over you so it was most definitely a stupid decision. You knew it would cause an argument but didn’t the groups lives matter more than yours?

“I- I didn’t mean to say that y/n…” he spoke and your eyes flicked to him a saddened expression on your face “I’m not Merle, I’m more than capable of saving myself and not getting killed. Okay? Get off my back for once yeah? I just want to support the group! Don’t you get that? It isn’t just us anymore!” You raised your voice as Daryl’s breathing became heavier his eyes narrowing as a slight worry and sadness consumed his face but he didn’t say anything he just stayed quiet “we’ve got to support Rick! Beth! Carl! And Judith, she cannot live without baby formula! What do you expect me to do? Just sit around here on my ass all day when I can go and get supplies for everyone!” Your voice was raw with emotion anger in your eyes. You knew Daryl meant no harm, he was only protective over you but sometimes it felt overbearing- overwhelming- as if you were walking on eggshells whenever you went out. It was as if he didn’t believe you could protect yourself.

“I know damn well we need to go get supplies but that don’t mean you should go out there risking your life! We go in groups! Not as individuals!” He shouted, raising his voice his hands moving about a lot as he talked a lot of his emotions through his hands. “And I know you ain’t Merle but that isn’t the point! You’re the last part of me that I’ve got! I cant lose you as well if I lose you then what the hell is the point of living anymore, huh?” His words cut into your heart harshly and you closed your mouth, falling silent as you shook your head “haven’t got an answer because you know damn well if you weren’t here I’d be dead!” And that’s when you snapped walking up to him getting in his face “don’t patronise me. Don’t you dare. Don’t put your life in my hands…. Just don’t.”

Daryl wanted to say so much more his eyes full of pain but before he even could Glenn quickly moved in between the both of you “c’mon just stop this. There’s kids here. Stop shouting…” he said desperate as he held his hands out to you and Daryl as if trying to keep you both away from each other. “What’s happened?” Glenn spoke trying to sort everything out and you looked at Daryl who was now pacing back and forth “y/n goin’ on that supply run alone… could’ve gotten killed. Stupid decision.” He spat out and Glenn listened as you scoffed rolling your eyes. You loved Daryl a lot, he protected you when you couldn’t protect yourself but you didn’t want him not believing in the fact you could protect yourself.

Glenn went to say something but a different voice spoke up “I have to agree with Daryl on this one.” You looked at Rick as you frowned but he held his hand up to you telling you silently to remain quiet instead of inputting your opinion “if Carl had gone out there-“ “Carl is a kid. I am an adult.” You cut Rick off, an unimpressed look forming on the older man’s face “if Carl had gone out there I would’ve had the same reaction as Daryl. What you did was charitable, good work- yes, but risky as hell… what happened if you got bit, hm?” You remained silent as you stared down at the ground. Hearing it from another person made you realise that maybe you were being slightly too harsh. You sighed quietly as you ran a hand over your face,

“We don’t need another fight breaking out so please solve this quickly.” Rick spoke calmly but it was as if he was ordering the both of you to make up and as he and glenn left the room Daryl continued pacing back and forth whilst you stayed still. “I’m sorr-“ he started but you cut him off “no. I’m sorry. I should’ve been more careful. I was being an ass” you said softly as the archer smiled slightly at you his eyes growing softer as he walked closer to you wrapping an arm around you as he pulled you into his side as you hugged him tightly “forgive and forget?” He asked and you nodded your head “forgive and forget.”

~~~

You sat on the table in the prison eating some chocolate pudding from a small can, everyone else was eating some food and Daryl was holding Judith in his arms holding a bottle of milk to her lips as she drank, everyone else ate as much as they wanted to your attention soon turning towards Beth as she nudged you nodding towards Carl.

You looked towards the kid noticing how he was eyeing up the can of pudding in your hand, he had fruit but didn’t seem to be too interested in it. “Eat up,” Rick spoke quietly to Carl but you quickly stepped in “trade?” You questioned sliding the can of pudding over to the boy who’s face and demeanour immediately lit up as he began eating the pudding, you reached over getting the fruit as you began eating the canned fruit Rick nodding slightly at you in a silent way to say thank you and all you did was smile. They were family. You’d do anything for them.

As night drew closer, the sun going back into hiding you made your way to your cell climbing up onto your top bunk as you exhaled. You shared a room with Daryl- he slept on the bottom bunk and you slept on the top. As you laid down you felt a sudden vibration against the bottom of the bunk making you jump in fright a chuckle falling from Daryl’s lips as he stared up at the mattress “sorry,” he said and you let out a little laugh “it’s fine… you know you preach on about people not sneaking up on you yet you sneak up on us all the time.” You laughed out and a small smile remained on his lips “oh shut up,” he spoke playfully and you rolled onto your side as he continued talking to you, the sound of him talking easing you into a tired mindset as you began relaxing “you warm enough?” He suddenly asked and you hummed in affirmation “enough pillows? You can have mine if you want.” He offered. He did this every night and you always said no. “I’m fine, really.” You spoke and he sighed gently “alright..” he laid back down onto the hard bunk resting his arms under his head “sleep well…” he knew once you hadn’t responded that you were flat out and he smiled slightly,

“I love you sunshine.”

#twd #daryl dixon #x reader #daryl x sister reader #Daryl x daughter reader #comfort #the prison twd #prison #rick grimes #glenn rhee #mention of characters #twd imagines #judith grimes #xreader #yn x daryl dixon #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon twd #rick grimes twd

[crazylilad]

I'll do anything for you even if you won't love me back -Daryl Dixon X Y/N

Masterlist

Hey guys! So this is actually an idea I had when cleaning my room a couple nights ago and just now got to write it. I never really thought I would write one shots but I have a few in mind that might start coming out these next couple weeks!

Please make sure to reblog if you enjoy this little idea I had! It helps a ton!

This is set in early season 7 during Negan's first visit to Alexandria!

Word count: 1448

Daryl Dixon had spent days in that tiny cell with no way to tell how long it had been. He spent most of his time in his own, dark thoughts; most of the time he thought of Glenn and Abraham, how if he had killed Dwight -who was now in charge of feeding and taking care of Daryl- none of them would be in this mess.

When Dwight suddenly took Daryl out of his cage of cement and shoved him in the back of a truck, Daryl worried this would be the last time he would see anyone ever again.

His mind wandered to Y/N, the way she had begged Negan to take her instead of him, how she had pleaded in front of everyone for him. Y/N had never begged before, had never stooped to such a low standard, but for Daryl it seemed she would do anything.

They had spent many nights in the same bed, away from the rest of their family and enjoying early mornings in one another’s arms. Although Daryl didn’t actually live with Y/N, who decided to share a home with Enid that way the teen wasn’t having to live on her own, he was over there more often than not.

Y/N was nice like that, always sacrificing what she had for others. All those moments spent together, that time on the road when he had pushed her away after Beth… The hours she spent patching him up and kissing his worries away. She never left his side, always checking up on him and making sure he was okay even when he couldn’t do the same for him.

Those were only a few of the thousand reasons why Daryl loved her. 

He closed his eyes, tears brimming at the edges while he hoped Y/N was okay, that the nasty bruise one of the saviors had left her when she went to kill Negan was gone. 

His fists clenched when he realized where they were, the color from his face draining when Spencer opened Alexandria’s gate for Negan. Rick had tried to speak to Daryl but was quickly shut down, Negan threatening to cut off parts of Daryl. 

But Daryl didn’t care anymore.

“Where’s that chick with the badass pocket knife? Her face all screwed after Mark hit her?” Negan turned around, a smirk on his face when he saw Daryl’s deadly glare. “She’s your girl, yeah? What was her name- Y/N right? Now she was beautiful! In fact,” He paused. “I wouldn’t mind makin’ her one of my wives.”

Daryl wanted nothing more than to choke the devil in front of him. But, the more he thought about it, the more he realized… Where was Y/N?

He followed quietly as Negan and Rick took a stroll around Alexandria, Negan continuing to speak about Y/N in front of Daryl like he wouldn’t lash out any second. 

Soon enough they had reached Y/N’s place. Rick didn’t meet Daryl’s gaze when he walked in the small townhouse, Enid passing by with some balloons in her hands and a pale face.

Negan chuckled. “Did you decorate this shit show?” He pointed to the white love seat with shoe stains and blood on it. ��Now I know you didn’t think this was some nice pansy little chair!” Daryl didn’t give him a reaction.

That chair was something Y/N had forced him to keep, saying something about how even with the stains it was a gorgeous piece of furniture. He had to keep himself from snorting when he remembered the multiple dinners Enid and he had spent trying to convince her to get rid of it.

“Where’s her room?” Negan asked, whistling a tune as he raced up the stairs. Daryl’s heart nearly stopped.

“Neg-” Rick tried to stop him.

Dwight shoved Daryl up the stairs when he hesitated. Negan and Rick were already standing in the master bedroom, some saviors in Enid’s room taking whatever they wanted. 

“Where is she?” Negan asked Rick, who was too busy looking at the clean room. Daryl noticed there was a lack of weapons on their dresser and the bathroom was clean instead of having toiletries strewn on the counter.

Rick sighed, eyes glistening like he was holding in tears. “She- she didn’t make it back.”

Daryl’s heart stopped as he tried to think of what could’ve happened, why they could be hiding her away. Where are you, Y/N?

Negan whistled lowly. “Damn, the widow and her as well… how’d she die?”

A tear fell down Rick’s cheek. “She… she couldn’t take it all. Took her knife and-”

“Okay.” Negan stopped him. “I mean shit… in front of you all? With that stunt she pulled, I thought she would’ve greeted me with another knife, but instead she goes and offs herself? Now that sucks.”

Negan tossed one of the boxes that sat on their dresser to the floor and chuckled when pictures flew out, decorating the floor. 

Daryl swallowed when Negan bent and picked up the picture of Y/N and Daryl standing in their bathroom. Aaron had given Y/N a polaroid the night they had come to Alexandria and she had spent a lot of her time taking pictures of the group.

In this picture Y/N was in the deep green dress she had worn to Deanna’s welcoming party, the daisy Daryl had picked from someone’s garden in her hair. Daryl stood next to her, smiling down at her like she was the only thing that mattered in the world while she drunkenly leaned against his chest.

Negan whistled. “Damn. I- I see why you like her. Or, I’m sorry, liked her. I mean- Damn! She’s fine.” 

Negan dropped the picture on the floor before pulling out one of the dresser Drawers. There sat all of Daryl and Y/N’s undergarments. They were all neatly folded, much different from the mess the two always kept it in, each promising to take care of it one day but neither ever got to it.

Y/N preferred her clothes mused instead of folded neatly. “It’s easier to find what I want that way,” she would tell Daryl. 

Daryl’s eyes wandered the room, his eyes falling to the floor when he noticed a stray picture. This one was of their room, the piles of clothes that sat in the corner were there, the bathroom door was opened, showing their organized mess. Y/N’s jacket she rarely ever wore was hung up on a hanger on their closet door where Daryl had put it the day before Denise had died. And, if that wasn’t enough, in bright red sharpie, HERE was written across the picture.

This was just taken, Daryl realized. She’s still in the house.

His foot moved to cover the picture as carefully as he could, freezing when he saw something under the bed move. A small hand moved near his bare foot, and he pushed the picture toward it, grateful no one was paying attention to him. 

Negan continued to throw drawers onto the floor, making a mess. It wasn’t long after that saviors entered the room and began taking what they wanted. 

Daryl was tossed around, always moving about and helping the saviors load things into their trucks. When he came back in, a savior was Shoving Y/N’s jewelry box into Daryl’s hands. 

Daryl paused when one of the saviors cursed as he dropped something and moved to look under the bed for it.

Daryl’s heart raced and he hardly had time to think before he choked out a cough and fell toward the savior, making the man focus on keeping his balance. The savior pushed Daryl to the ground, cursing.

The jewlery box broke into multiple fragments next to him.

“Damn fool!” The savior yelled as he landed a swift kick to Daryl’s ribs. 

Daryl gasped as the kicks kept coming, now on his back as well. He could’ve sworn his gunshot wound reopened. His eyes fluttered and he noticed Y/N pull her gun out, already planning on blowing her cover. He made eye contact with her, noticing the fear in her eyes. For him.

Daryl knew, then and there, no matter what happened to them, even if he was nothing more than someone to warm her bed at night, he would do anything for you even if you won't love him back.

And while he didn’t know it, Y/N thought the same thing, silently vowing to protect Daryl even if she lost her own life. Because, whether he returned her feelings or not, Daryl Dixon was the man she loved more than anything else.

Prompt: I'll do anything for you even if you won't love me back

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@d1am0ndw0lfxd @eatinpeachs

#oneshot #twd fanfiction #twd daryl #twd #daryl #amc #thewalkingdead #Daryl x yn #yn #daryl dixon x reader #daryl x y/n #daryl fanfiction #the walking dead daryl #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl x reader #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon #daryl x oc #rick grimes #negan twd #daryl imagines

[sl33py-day]

Imposter AU with a twist Part 2!

Tw: Swearing, a bit of yandere Albedo, Your friend is a horrible person and gets slapped on the face with some Karma and Trauma.

A/n: I didn’t want to keep saying ‘Your friend’ so I named her Bethany and Beth. Also I feel like this blog is more of a crackfic blog since there’s barely any serious writing. But hey it’s fun to write. Someone wanted it and I hope I met the expectations

Day’s and weeks and a single month has passed since you descended to Teyvat from the bottomless pits of hell. People are still after your head, the pick me imposter still has not been visited by Karma, and you got a yandere, kinda. I’m saying kinda because Albedo is possessive of you and that’s all…..for now.

During the month of being in Minecraft survival mode some more characters believed you’re the OG creator. That and they just can’t handle your friend, who I shall name Bethany. Sorry to all Bethany’s but Imma steal your name real quick.

Diluc is a good example of not handling Bethany. He has told you that she would cry when a man, his brother and five other men, don’t pay attention to her. She would tell Childe to get her the most expensive gift and throw it away afterwards. He finds her annoying and one point he told you “If I had to choose between Kaeya and….the girl. I would choose Kaeya right away. That’s how annoying she is.”

Now here comes the fun part of this AU. The finding out that the imposter is the OG creator. Like I said the last part Karma is gonna slap her face sooner and later, well Karma not only slapped her but gave her the ultimate shoe slap, with a boot and high heel.

In the Imposter AU the only thing to tell from Imposter and Real apart was the golden child blood test thingy. There is one way where I feel like would be more funny and that is the ‘accident’ way.

The accident way is probably the most funniest way of people finding out that they fucked up. Imagine this, Your walking back to where ever the failed experiment is to give him the flowers he needed. But along the way your arm got scratched by a random branch. This y/n is clumsy they bump into things a lot and whenever they do they just rub off the pain until they or someone else tells them that they’re bleeding. So back to the branch thing, you got scratched by the lonely piece of wood and kept walking. Only to cross a certain traveler and they’re somehow flying food.

They cross paths, Aether doesn’t bother looking and has a place to be. Paimon on the other hand saw the gold shimmering blood and was like “Wait a MINUTE!”

“You there! Paimon has a very serious question!” Paimon yelled out but you kept on walking ignoring her as if she’s a ghost. That was until paimon told Aether and Aether is now chasing after you. Like I know I need my daily dose of adrenaline but why it gotta be like this?

While running Aether was yelling and Venti being the little shit he is heard it in the wind. Don’t ask me how that makes sense he’s the god of air. Now venti is in front of you and let’s skip a hour or two after.

Scratch that make one hour turn into 3 hours of no stop arguing. Not between you and the worshipers or overly simps but between you and Bethany.

Bethany Heard that people found you and wanted to see you uh turn the bye bye life light on. So she came in the most ugliest dress ever in the mind of y/n.

While being surrounded by the archons as they looked at you with disgust. You were on the ground with a sword against your neck. The archons believe that you put gold glitter on your arm to get the chance of stealing their graces spot? Does glitter even exist in Tevyat?

“You go to such lengths to steal our graces spotlight?!” Yelled Zhongli still having the pole arm against your neck. You are just sitting there on the floor slightly terrified because my god scary archons are more scarier then your mom.

“Sir, I didn’t even have a choice to look like that Beth Meth girl. It’s called Genes. GEN-NET-ICS.” You called out making everyone yell out insults. All of a sudden Bethany comes walking down as the people spread out like the sea. Everyone bowed and said praises.

“You really wearing that dress? It looks like something that Carella Deville would wear and honey that’s not necessarily a good thing” and that sent the lighter to the bomb.

“Well at least I have more things then you do. I would have an entire world after you are dead.” Beth’s sassy ass said as everyone is just wondering if you two know each other. Not only are you two fighting but Diluc and Aether are having to hold back Albedo so he doesn’t do….bad things.

Back to Beth with the meth fighting match. The light you started finally reached the bomb having Bethany spill everything she has done, on earth and Teyvat out loud. My god she did more stuff than you thought.

“You are always in the fucking way! Nothing I do to you ever works! I had to take money from you so your parents would hate you so you would feel shitty because of them. I spread rumors of you so people hated you. Hell I even practiced make up so people would believe you hit me!”

That’s not even the tip of the ice burg and yet many many people are in a state of shock that they are frozen in place. Oh and albedo? Ya Diluc and Aether are having a struggle. With the bomb being set off nothing is stopping Bethany to say anything and everything she has done to you. What are you doing? Letting her scream and yell since Karma is coming closer and closer.

“Then when I was Teleported here people said I was a god! They treated me better than you! I got the attention I wanted! No one was gonna try and steal the spotlight if they did I would just send someone to kill them. I have men at my fingertips so if someone insulted me or I found the person annoying I would send them to kill the person. Easy Peasy just make up a reason and they’ll do it.”

After she said that many people gasped and a few people yelled “Is that why my son/daughter went missing/were found dead?!” Yeah what a shocker now. The once looked up god is now the imposter and committed more crimes then the Fatui. She was about to say more but you stopped her.

“You did all that? Dear you’re worse than the American government and the Fatui combined. I’ll tell you why people were nice to me and not you.” You stood up with you hands behind your back. No one stopped you they wanted to see what would happen. “I’m genuinely nice to people and they do it back but some don’t. Take yourself for example, I was nice to you. I checked up on you everyday to make sure you where ok but you did all this instead.”

Bethany’s face was more redder then Diluc and a tomato together. She was furious that you came an ruined everything. She started to shout nonsense as you backed away slowly. She didn’t notice so she kept throwing insults after insults while you were all the way in the back with albedo.

Some hydro slimes and cryo slimes were walking around her as they were just doing Slime things. But one electro slime made a mistake of walking in front of her and, by accident or not, zapping her feet slightly. She let out a screech and hopped from one foot to another. Since the hydro slimes were walking around her they made the ground slightly wet. Thanks to the cryo slimes they made the slightly wet ground icy and slippery.

So while she was hopping she slipped on the ice. Fortunately or unfortunately you guys were by a cliff of some sort. I think you know what happened, she fell down but survived as the cliff wasn’t that high. So yay?

After she fell you stood there for a few minutes before saying “Ah, Karma did give her a punch in the face after all……But that seemed planed.” You looked at the slimes with a suspicious face. The hydro slime just turned around and walked away while the electro slime was like “oh this Leaf on the floor is so interesting wow” what is the cryo slime doing? Looking over the cliff where Bethany feel almost mocking her. “Haha bish you slipped” is what the cryo slime is probably thinking.

#Yandere genshin #yandere genshin x reader #yandere albedo #imposter sagau #Imposter AU #genshin impact sagau #Male reader #gender neutral reader #Karen #yandere SAGAU #Karma

[hazelhearts]

make-up

a/n: the long awaited part 2! i hope you all enjoy reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it!! also yes i used a girl in red song for a straight fic. i couldn't find any other song that really could help me write it so i'm sorry.

warnings/content: heartbreak, severe angst, alcohol mention, hookups, cheating, drinking

It was a bad idea

Calling you up

Was such a bad idea

'Cause now I'm even more lost

Everything from last night was a blur. Aaron had no idea where he had been, who he had been with, or why he was naked in a hotel bed. All he knew was that something had definitely happened, something that shouldn't have happened.

He rolled over to the other side of the bed, the scent of you overwhelming him. He didn't believe it at first. He moved his head away, slowly leaning back in to smell again. It was you.

You put your hands under my shirt

Undid my bra and said these words

"Darling, you're so pretty, it hurts"

The memories from the night before were coming back slowly. You remembered deciding to go out, drinking until you couldn't see straight, and then waking up in a hotel bed.

You barely looked at the guy next to you when you woke up, figuring it was some random guy from some random bar. Except, it wasn't just some random guy, was it?

As you thought back on it, the words he said to you were all to familiar. The way you felt, all to comfortable. The way he smelt, all too similar.

It was a bad idea

Calling you up

Was such a bad idea

I'm totally fucked

Aaron rolled over to check his phone, seeing near 50 missed calls from Beth. But that wasn't what caught his attention. No, that was your name right under hers listed as his last outgoing call.

As the pieces started to come together, Aaron realized just how fucked he was. Not only was he still not over you, he had just cheated on Beth with you.

"Idiot! What the fuck were you thinking?!" Aaron blinked and suddenly his phone was across the room, shattered.

"Shit."

It was a bad idea

Needing you so late

Was such a bad idea

'Cause I can't think straight

When you got to work, you automatically started searching for Aaron's car. You really didn't think you could face him if you were right about last night.

How could you have been so stupid? You were supposed to be using strangers to get over Aaron, not Aaron.

Your thoughts were running wild as you entered the elevator. The door began to close, but was then stopped by an arm. An arm that you really wished hadn't stopped it.

To bring you back home

Was such a bad idea

I need to be alone

Aaron nearly decided to take the stairs when the doors opened. Flight felt like the best option. But he knew he'd have to face what he did at some point. Better now than never, right?

"Y/N..." You shook your head, unwilling to even look him in the eyes.

"Y/N, we have to talk about this." The doors shut as he began speaking, starting their way up the floors.

"I have no idea what you're talking about sir." He pushed the emergency stop button. Of course he did. That was his thing.

"Aaron, I can't do this right now." You felt his eyes on you, unwavering.

"Well we don't always get what we want, do we?" At that, you looked up. The glare you gave him was one of the most terrifying glares he had ever seen.

"We slept together. So what? It was a mistake. You're in love with Beth, and I'm just a bad idea. Does that about cover it?" Aaron seemed almost hurt by your words, his face finally softening from the hard exterior you'd seen over the past few months.

"No, no you've got it all wrong. You weren't a mistake. Cheating on Beth was wrong. Calling you when I was drunk was wrong. But you'll never be wrong sweetheart." You swore your heart stopped beating as the term of endearment left his mouth.

"You can't call me that Aaron. You're in a relationship, remember?" You had returned to facing the floor at some point. Honestly, you didn't have much control of your body right now so you weren't all that sure.

"Yes, I remember." That was it. This conversation was done. You began reaching for the emergency stop button, intent on turning in the resignation papers that you had filled out that were sitting in your drawer.

Aaron's hand grabbed yours without hesitation, bringing it between the two of you. His other hand moved to your chin, slowly lifting it up so you were looking at him. You were surprised to see that his face was one of love and need.

"I remember, but Beth doesn't mean anything to me. I wanted her to mean something, but she wasn't you. I want you. Not Beth, not some other random woman, just you." Your face finally softened, seeing nothing but honesty in his eyes.

"So do I. But you have to break up with Beth." You don't think you'd ever smiled so wide in you life.

"Consider it done sweetheart." He leaned in, sealing his promise with a passionate kiss.

I can't get enough

-

taglist form

@lavendersnow @angelmather1

#aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x beth clemmons #aaron hotchner angst #aaron hotchner x reader angst #aaron hotchner fluff #aaron hotchner x reader fluff #aaron hotchner blurb #criminal minds #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds blurb #tw alcohol #criminal minds x reader angst #my writing

[fraudulent-cheese]

Think you would change any of the finalists of any of the seasons? Think you mentioned a Pahkitew redo or something, would that be a part of it?

OH BOY THAT IS. A QUESTION IN A HALF

I'll start off by giving my opinion on all the finalists of each season!

TDI: Honestly, i wouldn't change it. Both Gwen and Owen are pretty relevant characters, they're fun as the finalists and it makes sense they'd make it that far tbh. I wouldn't swap them out for anyone else this season outside of maybe Leshawna if her elimination wasn't so cheap? That or change it to be like "oh yeah we should make them stay in this nice resort instead of that shitty summer camp" as motivation for nominating someone during Haute-Campture. Idk. Id be more in favor of finalist Leshawna if Fresh TV, you know, gave her more relevance outside of being Gwen's bestie towards the end? And just gave her character depth? Or an arc on her own? But she's the only other candidate in my eyes

TDA: I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN: THE FINALISTS SHOULD'VE BEEN LINDSAY AND HAROLD. why was Duncan a finalist. Literally why. What does he do that's interesting enough to justify keeping him for the ENTIRE SEASON. If you wanted to do the Courtney list plotthread, just introduce it earlier on in the season and kick Duncan then! Or better yet, make one of the early rejoins be Courtney instead and have Duncan get eliminated pre-merge and Izzy come back post-merge! Im less against finalist Beth, but her character's plotlines aren't compelling to me at all this season :/

Lindsay on the other hand has a full character arc this season of coming into her own and trying her hand at leadership, has a rivalry with Courtney, and she still keeps her character throughout! And honestly i just think Harold's an entertaining character and him making it further than Duncan for at least one season would've been great!

TDWT: As the season is written? I wouldn't change the finalists at all. Heather and Alejandro are the most important characters of the season outside of the Love Triangle and Cody + Sierra and if you want my opinion, none of them should've been finalists. Now, if you do rewrite the season, i'd say Courtney (or even Eva if you make her rejoin mid season) deserved at least to reach the final three. Don't have much to say here.

ROTI: JO. OMG JO. JO SHOULD'VE BEEN A FINALIST. Again, i've made a post about this earlier (which i CANNOT FIND. WHY) But Jo should've been a finalist! They didn't need to give Lightning a vilain arc in the last two episodes just because! Im not super against Cameron being a finalist, but i don't like Lightning being one. Granted you could argue for different characters making for good finalists if you're going to rewrite the entire season (Anne Maria maybe? Or Zoey)

TDAS: Oh boy, TDAS. Sweet, sweet TDAS. Listen. Listen. In an alternate universe where Total Drama is a good show, Mike and Zoey could be good finalists. Unfortunately for them there is a large, looming Courtney-shaped shadow over that idea, made even worse by how both Zoey and Mike were used throughout the season.

Yeah if you couldn't tell by now, Courtney 101% SHOULD have been a finalist! TDAS should've been her season! It's the only season where she makes it past Duncan! She's a strong competitor, a compeling character, she's been put through shit the entire series, hell she could have interesting interactions with all the cast members! But no, Sundae Muddy Sunday happened instead.

As for possible finalists? Lindsay. And Jo. Yeah look if they're not gonna be finalists in earlier seasons you may as well make them finalists here. You could still make an argument for Zoey if the season were rewritten, but otherwise yeah this is probably the worst season for canon finalists :(

TDPI: Honestly with the direction they took, im... fine, with Sky and Shawn being the finalists. They're relevant characters, they have the more important arcs and outside of Scarlett and Jasmine, some of the most competent characters, enough to get here.

I'll take this as an opportunity to say i haven't landed yet on finalists for my PI rewrite? I know for a fact i want Sammy to be one, but im unsure about the other. All i know is that i don't think it'll be Shawn or Sky.

TD2023 S1: Nothing wrong with Bowie and Priya as finalists i'll be real! Priya might be a bit predictable, but it opened up alot of avenues for different things to be explored within her character (that the show never took rip), and she honestly deserved to get far for this cast's first season. As for Bowie, he's pretty relevant all throughout the season and seeing a more antagonistic character make it to final two is really nice to see! No complaints!

TD2023 S2: ALL OF THE COMPLAINTS! ALL OF THEM! The final 3 kind of sucks this season because every option has at least one gapping flaw in it due to the writing over the season: Wayne is barely a character for half the season and only gets interesting moments before the finale, Caleb has the most dragged out and annoying romance subplot in all of TD (not just because it was boring and artificial but because it dragged down and arguably ruined one of the most interestin characters of it's cast) and Julia's just magically gotten amazing at everything, INCLUDING playing the game because these teenagers just keep! beliving her! and telling her things! for some reason! Urghhh

If i had to rewrite the season entirely i'd have an MK vs Raj final 2. You'd get the antag/vilain rep for a finalist position, and hopefully a more interesting character than Wayne (fuck you Raj's more interesting of the two by default.) Maybe Scary Girl could be a 3rd curveball option. Nichelle or Axel if they were given actual arcs. And characters. Whatever.

Sorry for ending this post on such a sour note! i just really don't like reboot season 2 everytime i think about anything outside of the Finale or Mkulia!

#Mozzaskrella #tdpi rewrite #i am saving the scary girl final 3 idea for my Scariya S2 rewrite AU btw. Love the idea #tdi #tda #tdwt #roti #tdas #tdpi #td 2023 #td gwen #td owen #td lindsay #td harold #td jo #td bowie #td priya #td mk #td raj #only tagging the characters i talk about positively #string cheesing

[thesupreme316]

Any wrestler with face paint, painting the reader face like their for a match like Darby Allin and his skull face paint?

SORRY FOR THEE DELAYYY

Pairing(s): Darby Allin x Fem!Reader, Jeff Hardy x Fem!Reader, Finn Balor x Fem!Reader, Tama Tonga x Fem!Reader, Ricky Starks x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 817

Supreme Speaks: i had fun writing this cause jeffery is back and my heart is full (i hope he is healthy and everything is going great in his life). thank you to @hookerforhook for being so patient and allowing me to write your request. Also I hope everyone is doing well and please remember that you are loved and appreciated.

Warnings: slightly proofread, gifs are not mine, i repeat gifs ARE NOT MINE

Taglist (if you wanna be a part of it, lemme know):  @hookerforhook  @hooks-martin @sheinthatfandom @wwenhlimagines @triscillal

Jeff Hardy: (MY FIRST WRESTLING CRUSH AND FELLOW CAROLINIAN)

IS VERY EXCITED TO HELP YOU

Typically with him, he would allow you to pick out the colors

“I like those colors too darling” (I will always love this man)

Will dedicate some looks to you and your favorite color

When you said you wanted to start painting your face, Jeff immediately bought the supplies and gave you tips

“Okay this brand is the best with brushes, but if you want to use your fingers use this brand” (again I love this man)

Will coordinate looks with you

As you do your first look, he will look at you with love and admiration (he feels honored that you wanted to start wearing faceprint)

Believes that faceprint shouldn’t have structure, just do what you want aka abstract

Jeff will ensure that your faceprint looks good, even if you don’t think so

Will only fix it up if you want him to, not a second before

“Of course sweetheart, I’ll help you” (I can just hear that beautiful country accent in my head)

Will post your face paints on his instagram/twitter

Darby Allin:

This man would be excited internally, but would not allow you to see it

On the outside: Oh cool, yeah I’ll help you

On the inside: WE ARE SO GETTING MARRIED

Will show you how to achieve the iconic look

After failing a couple of times, you just asked Darby to paint your face

I CAN TELL THAT THIS MAN WOULD BE SO GENTLE WITH YOUR FACE (pause)

Like you wouldn’t even feel his fingertips that’s how gentle he is (again pause)

Darby would talk you through what he’s doing 

“Okay I’m going to apply the stitches around your mouth…stop moving…no you’re not ticklish, you’re just childish”

I feel like for him he would use brushes especially around your ear

Will give you the proper tools to take off the remaining faceprint, even though most of it will be in the ring after your match

Darby would be the one to take aesthetic photos with you

And would constantly reference your face paint as his “most perfect look ever”

Finn Balor:

THIS MAN WOULD BE HELLA EXCITED

Definitely would ask you to do something comic book inspired

Venom, Spiderman, Carnage, Spawn, etc.

“DO GWEN STACY”

“WHY ARE YOU YELLING?!”

Would giggle as he puts on your face and bodypaint on (or as the makeup artist does)

Like Jeff, he would definitely give you recommendations for brands of paints

Has many makeup wipes on standby incase you don’t like any of the looks

Definitely would do a throwback look to his Demon era

Tbh, I think Finn would also give you the arm decorations that he uses as well

Expects you to have an alter ego as well

Wants to do a couple look if you guys can or in a match

Everyone lost their shit when you and Finn stood across the ring from Edge and Beth Phoenix 

Tama Tonga:

Although he doesn’t do faceprint anymore, I had to include my husband

He kept his face paint simple tbh

When you asked for inspiration or advice he simply said

“Do what your heart desires”

“Who are you? Bob Ross?”

“A Tongan Bob Ross….yes”

Would definitely do his past face paints on you

Doesn’t want you to talk as it breaks his concentration and makes him giggle

Tama would definitely reminiscence with his brother about the days they use to put on the faceprint

He would bring back his face paint just to match with you for one match/night

Everyone would lose their shit on twitter and take it as a sign of the old G.O.D coming back

“Nah I’m just supporting my girl”

Bonus** Ricky Starks: (cause of that one time he painted his face to mimic Darby)*

THIS MAN WOULD BE CACKLING

Long story short, you wanted to poke fun at your opponent who wears faceprint (Abadon, Rosemary)

This man would grab the nearest makeup artist and ask them to do an “inspired” look

“I don’t know you would make this look good…it looks like they got dressed in the dark”

Would post progress photos to his story

Gives you tips on how to mock your opponent

When your look was finished, man STRAIGHT UP CACKLED

“I’m surprised that you actually look very cute yet scary”

Would definitely pinch your cheeks to tease you

But then gets upset that the paint ended up on his fingers

….would definitely take credit for the work….

#aew #all elite wrestling #aew imagine #njpw #njpw imagine #wwe #wwe imagine #tama tonga #tama tonga imagine #ricky starks #ricky starks imagine #finn balor #finn balor imagine #darby allin #darby allin imagine #jeff hardy #jeff hardy imagine

[latestparis-style]

My sister and I made French toast from a recipe in a fanfiction. And we took a lot of pictures.

Welcome to the LatestParis_Kitchen.

For the last year or so, my sister and I have made a fun hobby of reading the most bizarre Phantom of the Opera fanfictions we can find. Out loud, tossing the phone back and forth to each other by chapter. Neither of us read it beforehand, and it's a 10/10 experience.

There's a POTO fanfic on Wattpad by the name "Angel In Hell". It's by user: momenttodebruh. Read the fic. It's the epitome of the perfect, unhinged Y/n fic. With loads of iconic lines. My sister and I quote this fic like it's a popular TV show. Seriously, it got to the point where my mother repeated one of lines because we said it so often. This fic is (intentionally or not) hilarious and a masterpiece.

In the fic, the protagonist, a Y/N my sister and I dubbed "Bitch", makes her "famous French toast™" to impress the manager into hiring her as a chef at the opera house.

The best part?

The recipe is followable with exact quantities given.

Here are screenshots from the fic:

I refined it to this recipe:

You know, just in case you're a freak who wants to try this.

My sister, Beth, and I have joked about "Bitch's famous French toast™" every time we make regular French toast, and today is the day we decide if her recipe would make us hire her.

Beth can make a mean French toast, so let's see how Bitch's famous recipe measures up.

Here's all the ingredients. We are following this shit as closely as possible, so no half batch. 6 eggs and all.

We thought we would only need four slices of bread. God were we mistaken.

Just as a side note, Beth and I were doing this while our parents were out to dinner, so we're on a time crunch. Sorry for any blurriness in the photos!

Here's the 6 eggs. This is the least gross looking photo I managed to take. Also, Beth is method acting, look at the Victorian lace on those sleeves.

MAY I PRESENT THE TEASPOON OF THE ONLY SEASONING! CINNAMON Y'ALL!

We added the vanilla extract here too, but I believe it didn't change much.

Okay, so we used our four slices only to discover that there was half the batter left. Beth suggested we make it to freeze. She has much more hope in Bitch's Famous French Toast than I do, but I agreed. We were drenching these slices, so maybe you could get more out of this recipe.

haha, this is where shit hits the fan, or egg hits the pan? Anyway, the house started to get a little smoky. Our house has smoke detectors connected to the alarm system, so if they go off, the firetrucks are coming. We burnt about half the French toast, so I took the smoke detectors off the walls. Then the alarm started... beeping? It wasn't blaring, thank God, but I'd never heard it beep before, so Beth opened all the windows to air out the house, and I had to awkwardly call my dad like: "heh, we made French toast, so if you get a call, don't let the fire trucks come. oops."

Only after that did I realize that the alarm was beeping because I took the smoke detectors off the walls.

So I put those back on.

We were simultaneously laughing our asses off while flipping out about the possibility of firefighters coming to our house because of a fanfic. It was fun. Certainly intensified this experience.

And in the end we had...

A strangely eggy, flavorless stack of "Bitch's Famous French Toast"

Some of them were very burnt, but that's down to Beth and me. Y/N doesn't hold any blame.

Look at all that toast (eight fucking slices) and keep in mind that Firmin canonically eats the entire stack. And, AND! It was so good, in the next chapter, he call for it to be served to the whole opera house.

Beth quote: "It really just tasted like eggs. The cinnamon didn't do much, but because the egg soaked into the bread so much, it had this strange, bizarre custardy quality?"

Her rating: 4/10

I, as a person with celiac disease, had to make it on gluten-free bread. It's worse that way: 3/10

After eating, uh, some of the French toast and freezing the rest for a moment of hungry desperation, we sat on the couch to collect ourselves. I started typing up this post, when our upstairs TV miraculously turns on (it turns on with any change in the room's lights, and it's extremely annoying).

What is it playing?

KITCHEN FUCKING NIGHTMARES

Which, in fairness, we had been watching earlier. Gordon Ramsay was speaking to our souls while we sat on that couch.

Side note, please don't take this as us hating on this fic. It was our single biggest inspiration while writing "A Girl's Desire" and we genuinely adore it for all it's worth.

If the author sees this, I will be starstruck.

#phantom of the opera #fanfiction #poto #erik destler #wattpad #fanfic #phantom of the opera fanfiction #phantom of the opera fanfic #gaston leroux #erik poto #poto musical

[reiderwriter]

Hello!!If you were part of the writers on criminal minds,what would you have done differently when it came to the romantic relationships of it all and whats your opinion on some of the ships?Which would you erase and which are your favorites?I'm willing to read as much details and analysis you are willing to give on this lmao😂I loved the analysis on Reids sexual evolution season by season and am really curious on what you think on the ships like Reid and JJ,Reid Lila,Reid and Maeve,Reid and Elle😂Personally I would have created a diffrent character as a love interest for him all together.

This is practically an essay so I'm just going to apologise in advance of this. I'm not going to say I'd change much because the end product we got is my favorite show for a reason but yes, here is me talking about all the romantic relationships I can think of in CM and my opinions on them!

(Spoilers for season 1-15 of CM, CME, and season 8 of NCIS - yeah that's how long this post is).

Reid Ships

I think Reid ships are the ones most people have issues with in Criminal Minds so I'm going to start here with personal headcanons and my personal highlights. It's going to become clear that my biggest pet peeve in CM is when the writers want to give the characters a love interest and then just gender-bend their personalities, so let's start with Maeve and Spencer.

I've already talked at length in other posts about how I think the Maeve/ Zugzwang plotline wasn't my favorite. It was some amazing acting from MGG and Beth Reisgraf, but personally, I think it suffered from "serialized cop drama" plot line status. This show airs week after week with another case to solve in 45 minutes and they don't have the time or the format to pause through moments that in a standard drama would be very impactful.

To go on a slight tangent, that is partially why the relationships between the main cast are usually the only ones developed very well over extended arcs (I'll return to this when I talk about Jeid).

So, when you're trying to have an emotionally resonant moment, and you only have a handful of cold opens and one full episode to do it, you're going to have to make the characters motivations, personalities and back stories mesh in a way that makes you think: "holy shit they're perfect together."

Maeve and Spencer aren't that. I hate to use this term, but Maeve is like a manic pixie dream girl for Spencer? She's written as if she's too good to be true, which is why we're supposed to feel so sad when she dies. But they also tried to make her a complex character and didn't have the time to really do it, which is why we're given a back story that makes no fucking sense (as Spencer's DOCTOR no less) and some hints that she probably doesn't feel the same way as Spencer does for her (fiancé she never told him about etc.)

When Spencer's character starts evolving in later seasons to being more than just a genius, but a genius with trauma, they pull a similar stunt with Cat Adams/ Max

The show runner Erica Messer did mention that the Maeve plotline was always designed to be a three act plot: she's introduced, Spencer is in love with her, she dies. But, in my opinion, we didn't get enough of an introduction to her for me to feel really all that bad about it? They banked a lot on the audiences attachment to Reid, so when you feel bad about Maeve's death it's all about Reid - why do bad things keep happening to HIM, I wonder how HE will get through it - when she is the one who was just murdered. Those kind of dynamics always kind of throw me in romantic relationships.

I'm going to be clear, I do not ship Cat Adams and Reid either and I have pretty much no opinion on Max other than that if she were real I'd probably avoid her (teachers who hate teaching and blame the kids are weird! And I'm a teacher so I can say that I think lol).

Cat Adams is girl-Reid if he had a villain arc. She's 100% again there to push Reid's character development, and she's used as an action rather than a character. Max is the same. In season 15, with the entire team at a crossroads, they have to allow Reid two outs: one villain arc where he gives into his lust for Cat Adams, and one happy ending where he gets to start something with someone who is totally normal and a way out of the BAU the way Savannah was for Morgan. But it can't be as easy for Reid, and that's why we're left with the Cat/Max dilemma because he is really attracted to Cat, despite the fact that she was threatening to end the lives of members of Max's family.

By the end of the show, Reid had been actively on the team the most out of all the cast members (bar Penelope, but she wasn't out on cases first hand, so there's not as much emotional baggage there for her). He can't have an easy exit, so I kind of view this "love triangle" bullshit as a metaphor for Spencer choosing a normal life vs a continuation with the BAU.

Which is why I think that if CME continues, I think we're unlikely to see or hear from Max, because that means he's picked the BAU.

Okay now, not to sound like a broken record but, Jeid:

Before Truth or Dare, there is one single suggestion of Jeid being a possibility and it's a suggestion, from Gideon of all people, in season 1. It is CRAZY to me that after thirteen seasons they just decided to develop that one plotline again because jesus CHRIST.

My main problem with Jeid is that, actually, I think it had a lot of potential. Like I said, serialized dramas only have time to develop relationships between their main cast members, which is why we end up with a pseudo-found-family vibe no matter who happens to be on the team at any given point. A lot of similar dramas go down the route of coworker/ team mate relationships (think Ziva and DiNozzo in NCIS or Mulder and Scully in The X Files).

There was absolutely the potential for an opposites attract relationship with Jeid, but I think the minute they abandoned that after that small dialogue we got something WAY FUCKING BETTER. Their friendship is entirely underrated, Spencer regularly babysits her kid, she comforts him after Emily "dies," enough for them to have arguments about it after the fact. Your honor they are SIBLINGS. That is UNCLE SPENCER. Not your future step-dad.

When they decided to commit to JJ and Will, they should've stuck to it, and as a big fan of the Season 7 finale + Hit and Run it is very shitty seeing them trying to retcon both of these characters amazing developments and growth over 14 seasons and have them regress to shit tier versions of their Season 1 selves.

"But Kacie, there must be some Spencer relationships you like," I hear you ask. And there ARE:

Lila Archer is a great foil for Spencer. She has a happy, glamorous life until their paths cross, and then we can assume from dialogue in season 6 that she continues having a pretty fucking glamorous life after everything goes down. I don't think Spencer works best with characters that are traumatised or overly smart the way he is, because he needs something to return to after the cases that switch off that part of him, to help him forget the horrifying shit he sees on the job.

So Lila Archer was kind of a great love interest.

Another one that I'm so annoyed they didn't explore more is Austin. She's the bartender in the Season 4 Episode "52 Pickup" that is charmed by Spencer's card tricks. She is never mentioned again, but they had a great chemistry, she was quick on her feet and managed to spot the unsub first, and she was a really great foil for Spencer as well; it was a street smarts/ book smarts kind of dynamic. If they'd carried that character forward and had her reappear a few times, it could've been a great romantic plot.

I will just quickly note that the reason we most likely didn't see many romantic plots for Reid was because Matthew Gray Gubler didn't like the idea of giving him a romantic plotline, stating that there were so many more interesting things to do with the character - and he's right!

I'm a fanfiction writer, and the allure of characters like Spencer Reid is they are mostly romantic clean slates - you can write whatever you want for them within reason without having to disregard canon relationships. This is why similarly, Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Venom, and young "Marauders" fanfictions are pretty popular here imo too - canon compliance isn't disregarded, the reader is just written in. So I don't think I'd change a thing for Spencer to be honest (apart from maybe not kill Maeve off and give her the actual villain arc, but I say that so regularly I'm beginning to sound like a broken record).

Also I'll just quickly mention Elle because you mentioned her - outside of fanfiction there are literally zero hints (imo) of a thing between Elle and Reid lmao there's more of a case to be made for Elle and Morgan, but for some reason, writers and fans alike don't like committing to giving Morgan more than simply platonic connections. THEY SHOULD!! THE MAN IS SEXY AS HELL!!!!!!! GIVE ME A MORGAN WHO IS REGULARLY FUCKING!

Hotchner Ships

Speaking of characters that have a long time where they are single! Aaron Hotchner is another fandom favorite to write self-insert fanfiction for, because of the gap between Haley Hotchner's death in 100, and the introduction of Beth in season 7.

In general, I like the way Hotch's relationships play out on screen. Let's start with Haley:

You can tell that the writers really enjoyed the dynamic between work Hotch and home Hotch, because they played on it so much across the four first seasons. The very first time he is introduced he's in his bedroom picking out baby names with his childhood sweetheart, so any further scenes of him being more stern or serious are always in contrast with that introduction. It's a cold open to his character that immediately let's you know that there is more going on in his world than just the BAU, and he is the only member of the season one team that has that.

Then, they really LOVE taking that shit away from him. I'm not going to go into detail here about how fucking wack the time line is for Criminal Minds, but it is stupid and that's important here because:

I think Haley's reasons for divorcing Hotch are stupid.

She says that she married a man who was a prosecutor, not a man that was an FBI Profiler but realistically by the time of their divorce, he'd been in the BAU like 10 years. They rely more on the audiences sense of time (we're two years in, so they've all been on the team two years etc) to push this character motivation off. And for a while it makes sense that they were separated, until the events of 100. But also: in sickness and in health, for better and for worse, you literally signed up for whatever the FUCK happened, that's what a marriage vow IS.

Now I'm a sucker for the angst of 100,but would it not have felt 10x more emotionally disgusting if Hotch and Haley were talking about reuniting? If they had never celebrated in the first place, and had just finished working through their marital issues when Foyet comes back into their lives and Haley has to be whisked away again? Yes. Yes it would.

There's an episode in season 9 that really pisses me off, and it's the one that Hotch passes out from an old tear in his Foyet stab wounds and he goes into surgery and talks with Haley and Foyet in heaven while watching the rest of his life after the events of 100 on a cinema screen. It's cliché and also has no pay-off because it doesn't change the way he views his relationships after that, and it's not like he's at a crossroads at that point, so it means nothing to the audience except as a remembrance of an issue and an episode so far in the past that it feels like flogging a dead horse. They do this twice, btw, and this is the more successful use of this plot (the first time they do it to Elle in Season 1/2 during the events of The Wicker King - she talks to the father we didn't even know was dead, who died decades ago in an unrelated time. Not to keep bringing NCIS up, but I think the only time I've seen it done well is whenever Gibbs kept seeing Mike Franks in the diner scenes). They do not out enough effort into these plots to achieve the emotional resonance they are aiming for in my personal opinion.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think this could've been the beginning of the era where Gibson was having a lot of issues with the cast, because it just felt like they didn't want to use him in the on-location shoots for a while lmao. Anyway, all that to say, Haley should've stayed dead, and not come back as a stupid phantom.

After the dust has settled on Haley and Hotchner though, we get Hotchner and Beth:

This is going to be a short note, because I actually really like the relationship between these two characters. They have the very slow cold-open build up that Maeve and Spencer get, but there's a lot more and a lot less to Beth's character that makes the dynamic between them really enjoyable to watch.

We're once again treated to the out-of-work Hotchner that had been missing since Season 4 (his in between scenes with Jack are cute but there's always the tragedy hanging over them). Beth is running a marathon in honor of her dad, Hotch is doing something similar for the FBI Triathalon, they train together the tension builds, they start dating. Now obviously it wasn't the purpose or aim of this character introduction to build to tragedy, and I think they just genuinely wanted to show a happy Hotchner again, but its still a valid criticism of the weird voyeuristic Maeve build-up that they literally succeeded a more sympathetic and audience engaging late minor-recurring-character EARLIER THAN THE MAEVE ARC.

I'll shut up now, but yeah, I like Hotch and Beth.

Penelope Ships

This post is getting ridiculously long, so much so that I'm even contemplating adding a fucking word count, but let's continue and dive in to my next issue.

Penelope's romantic life is used as a punch-line for the first 11 seasons and I HATE it.

There is no easy short to say this, but I despise Kevin. He is stupid, and a joke, and I hate him and I am SO HAPPY that she dumped him. They made her really pathetic about him for a few episodes, and then he kept fucking coming back too which was even worse.

Kevin is literally male Garcia but with all the worst attributes. He's clingy, and needy, and he may be smart but in a very "incel" way. In my opinion, Kevin is less a fully fledged character and more a joke line/ convenient plot point for when they need more tech analyst work. The best moment in the Kevin/Penelope arc is during the The Gathering, where she really lays into him and tells him off for being jealous of her ukelele instructor AFTER THEY'D BROKEN UP.

Penelope deserved so much better than what they gave her romantically in these seasons. First, her date tried to kill her, her boyfriend was a joke, etc. She never gets the serious romantic plotline that her other teammates do (Hotch/Haley, Spencer/Maeve, Derek/Savannah, JJ/Will, Emily/being a big old lesbian etc). Penelope is really great levity for the rest of the cast because she is happy and she is positive and she is unapologetic in her positivity. It's annoying that they don't let her be more than that in the romantic relationships they give he during these seasons.

Then Luke Alvez is introduced and there is some hope! Galvez truther's please, rise they are so adorable.

Anyone involved in the writing of CME - what the hell was that? Now I haven't seen it myself, to be completely fair, but I know enough to ask the question - really what the HELL was that?

Tl;dr Penelope's sexuality and romantic relationships should not be used as punchlines.

The Aversion to Homosexuality

This is just a general note, but the writers originally did plan to have Emily Prentiss be gay - amazing, great, it's a completely different time now, please let her have a gay awakening soon. It was obviously scrapped early in, but there's a lot of subtext that can be interpreted in that way.

They did commit with Tara, and she gets a gf in CME, so I want to see some Temily in the future if we do get more CM seasons.

So just so you know, everytime I mention Emily flirting with someone in my fic, assume it's a woman if you aren't already, lmao.

(They did also talk about making Reid bisexual as well, which would've also been great, but again, I don't think we're ever getting any more romantic plotlines from Reid).

Other Characters

Here's just a rating and short mention for all the other character couples I can think of in Criminal Minds, because this is already thesis length lmao:

Morgan + Savannah - 8.5/10, no notes, really just the gender bent love interest but done right.

Alex Blake + Husband - 7/10, solid couple, very much enjoyed when they started bringing in the people in established relationships again lmao.

Kate Callahan + Husband - 5/10, same as above but I wasn't as attached to her character rip.

Matt + Kirsty - 10/10 really no notes, I too would be called a breeder if I managed to lock that man down, damn.

Rossi + His 3 Ex-Wives - Make total sense for his character, very enjoyable to me, love that he has a nice moment with most of them again throughout the series, not going to rate it lol.

Rossi + Strauss - 3.5/10 - Last ditch attempt to make Strauss a sympathetic character, but I felt more attached to her growth after being called out by Derek rather than the effect that her death had on Rossi.

Gideon + the friend of his who is murdered by that Frank guy at the end of season 2 - stupid, worst way to go out, made no sense for the character, but I know Mandy Patinkin wanted OUT and honestly, anything for you Inigo Montoya.

Why I think Criminal Minds is Better Without Romance

Generally, I really do agree with Matthew Gray Gubler when he said that there were more interesting things to explore with these characters than their romantic attachments. It does frustrate me to no end that they focused on some of them more than others, and that post Henry, most of JJ's big moments are tied to motherhood and being a mother/ wife, but that change in her character is still amazing and leads her to a lot of growth (not mentioning Truth or Dare again, sorry it doesn't exist at this point in the post)(also I didn't have much time to mention Will and JJ, but I do love them).

Their best moments are the ones we get of them together as a team, saving people and putting away murderers for life, it's a perfect Found Family!!!

Also, no more romance = Spencer Reid can be mine. In conclusion, I am delusional. Thank you for reading this far.

#reiderreplies #reiderthoughts #spencer reid #criminal minds #aaron hotchner #penelope garcia #derek morgan #tara lewis #emily prentiss #jennifer jareau #alex blake #matt simmons #maeve donovan #cat adams #david rossi #Lila Archer #Bro I talk about so many fucking characters in this post #I'm sorry #The tags are a bit stupid #But I guess they're all relevant? #elle greenaway

[thesoftboiledegg]

The "nerdy" store at the bigger mall never has Rick and Morty merchandise--I found a DVD there once, but that's it--and yesterday was no exception. I did find a cardboard cutout of Sersi, my favorite Eternal:

Am I the only one who liked Eternals? I think Marvel just marketed it badly.

I usually don't have much luck at Hot Topic, either. They sell bags of tiny figurines from other shows, and I always wondered why Rick and Morty didn't get in on that. Turns out, Adult Swim finally discovered that market!

When I first saw the characters on the back, I thought "Oh, cool, we're finally catching up to season five." Then I found a surprise: Crow Witch Rick!!

I wanted that little guy so badly, but the figurines are packaged so that you don't know what you get until you open one. I thought "He has a pointy hat, so maybe I'll be able to feel that inside the bag." I've heard of people using a similar method to find rare hockey cards.

But nope...no luck. Maybe I'll be able to find an opened one on eBay.

Also, it's funny how they're making "Rickdependence Spray" merchandise like that isn't the worst episode in the series. Admittedly, I did laugh at Morty's "dirty little doggy" line. But it wasn't worth it!

Hopefully, this means that more Crow Witch Rick merchandise is on the way because I would buy all of it.

Hot Topic also had another underutilized character: Philip J. Fry.

Futurama is weirdly under-marketed. The series has enough of a cult following that it seems like a cash cow, but merchandise is rare. I've always thought that Futurama is strangely underrated in general even though it's aired on two major networks and has one of the most famous cartoonists in the world behind it.

On to Spencer's. They didn't have Pickle Rick OR the Rick and Morty cube. Pathetic! But they did have a new wallet that looked like an old TV set, which is pretty clever.

GIF of the changing image:

Today, it was time for a trip to the other mall. As always, I gave Box Lunch a little tip. Someone else requested the "will to live!" I don't think the mall can help them with that one.

In the food court, I spotted a man wearing a Rick and Morty shirt. I said "Hey, your shirt is awesome! Can I get a picture?" He said "Yeah, sure." When I asked him where he got it, he said "Burlington."

So Burlington sells demonic Rick and Morty merchandise now? That's news to me.

The pile of Rick and Morty Funko Pops greeted me at one of the "nerdy" stores, but they're still slowly thinning out. I guess nobody wants the huge Snowball.

Similarly, I posted about this poor Froopyland Beth months ago, and she's still here. Nobody wants her!

And to make matters worse, there's an identical Froopyland Beth in a different part of the store who's lived there for months, too. They even lowered the price!

The store also has two identical King of Shit Rick Funko Pops, each with a different location and price.

Don't want either of those? You can buy Rick in his ship if you're willing to reach to the top shelf.

Look at him go!

THIS Spencer's location didn't let me down. Pickle Rick and the Rick and Morty cube were squeezed onto a shelf, albeit with a bat blocking the view.

They also had a couple of new shirts. I love the vibrant colors.

And a handful of comics in a different "nerdy" store.

No comics for me, thanks. Not unless they release a Crow Witch Rick one--and how has that not happened yet? Seems like an obvious way to expand on plotlines from the series.

Anyway, it'll probably never happen, but my dream is to get a Crow Rick figurine in this style. Maybe I'll hire someone to design and 3D print one.

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #morty smith #hot topic #spencer's #futurama #roundup #funko pops

[havin-fun-imagining-twd]

I don’t hate you

When - 40ish minutes after The first Christmas ‘without,’ Part 2. You were unable to successfully nap. And the turkey is still not ready to eat, but there are cookies!

What - there are cookies!, skimming stones, yearning, forgiveness (working on it), reconciliation, healing, found-family and a slow burn Daryl x You at Christmastime, y’all. You spend time with Rick to remind yourself that you don’t hate him.

Genre - found family fluff and slow burning

Perspective - You 2nd person, Daryl 3rd Person

Pronouns - neutral they/them

TWs? - some language, some anger, and Carl looks at mushrooms growing on a tree stump eww

Which stories should I have read first? - A fu--in’ great Christmas, The first Christmas ‘without’ Part 1 and 2. Like a traditional Sunday dinner will help you know what they’re talking about while y’all are eating cookies. There’s reference to souls stripped bare.  Then, read every other chapter!

How much time will I need to read it, troublemaker? - 25 minutes? It depends :D

Do you have a Masterlist? - there are two for The Slowpoke Series, the main one here in publishing order (recommended), and this one here in chronological order if you prefer!

      40ish minutes later

Him

............................

“Who got the most?”

Y/N turns from their spot on the ground facing the lake and subtly does that hand gesture thing that means they were finishing up a prayer. “Beth, then Glenn, Mags and me tied for third, Carl came in fourth. Oh, and Glenn was trying to convince us to do a chicken swim at some point while we’re here.”

He hums, smiles (on the inside) at the memory, then wonders how would he have done if he joined the rock-skipping contest?

You know what, why wonder? He’s gonna try skimming stones right now.

“Careful about gettin’ too close to me, Daryl, I’m almost done eating a spoonful of peanut butter.” They hold up the spoon with the extra long handle and wave it a little in warning.

“Nasty.”

Y/N shakes their head and winks. “Delicious.”

Confused at himself as to why he suddenly feels shy, he picks up a smooth-ish rock and looks sideways at his friend and tries to digest all the damn butterflies in his stomach. “Shoulder still good after pelting rocks?”

They nod and take the spoon out of their mouth to confirm, “Very. Not to brag, but I haven’t grieved it up in a over a month.”

He rounds his arm, throws—aw, shit, the only thing it did was go ploosh. Well, that was embarrassing, fuck.

“That was the warm-up, try again,” Y/N chuckles.

He grabs another, flings it.

Ha, that’s right! Three skips, motherfucker!

Take that, you fucking lake.

As his friend bursts out laughing, he becomes aware that he said the lake thing out loud.

Cheeks flaming up like a burner on a gas stove, he holds back a snort and deadpans, “I’m here to entertain,” as he reaches down to find another rock that was flat enough for skipping. He peeks behind him. “Gonna join?”

A pretend whine detailing how they “just got comfy, exceptin’ the fact that my butt is an ice pop,” comes before they stand up and grab a stone of their own. With a twist to the side to fling their rock onto the lake, they naturally mimic his “‘Take that, ya fuckin’ lake,’” as they throw. Their rock makes two big skips and one little one.

That they’re smiling makes him smile. He wonders if they saw him smiling like an idiot when they waved at him from over on the rock when they were sitting with Glenn. He then wonders if they were smiling back…

His turn, so he hurls another one out there and gets—four skips? Hell yeah!

“Four? Nice!” they praise. Already prepped with another rock, they take their turn and toss out there, getting two short hops. With a shrug and a smile, they tell him, “You could give Rick a run for his money, he’s good at this.” Y/N then wipes the dirt off their fingers and looks out at the water, tucking their hands under their scarf to warm up. “Did you notice that asshole’s ambidextrous?”

Which came out…not at all how they sound when they’re joking around. “You feelin’ any better than before?”

There’s a longer pause before they respond, “Y-yeah, I think so.”

“Quarter.”

Y/N makes a little huff and, sorry, that shit still makes Daryl smile on the inside. He unbuttons the pocket of his coat and pulls out his new nicotine gum. Let’s see if the stuff works… “Want me to kick his ass for ya?” he grunts (as a joke), poking out a piece from the foil packet.

Y/N lightly elbows him. Their eyes look brighter. “One of these days I might could say yes—you’d best be mindful of those offers, sunshine.”

He pops the gum into his mouth and shrugs. “I can kick his ass, no problem.”

“Ain’t saying you can’t.” Good, they’re close to giggling, he can tell.

“That ambidextrous thing, though,” he mumbles, “that coulda complicated stuff, thanks for the heads up.”

“Nah, Shane always bested him, you’d do fine.”

“Shane bested me, too, so, I dunno.” He chews the gum and few times and adds, “So did you, for that matter. You even fought T-Dog off unt—”

—ohhh shit. Okay, that was intended as an honest observation, the way they’d been able to fend off more than one person like that was badass and impressive as fuck, but reminding them of that night was brainless as fuck. The imaginary knee that hasn’t kicked his balls in something like two months shows up and knees him good.

That night, most of the group, in one way or another, had helped to either take Y/N’s weapons away, physically restrain them, or talk ’em down.

Then they’d left, which was huge for them. Huge for everyone. It didn’t last long, he’s damn grateful for it, like, they’d even told Carl it was temporary. But still. Them leaving ‘their’ Carl was big.

And he gets one final knee to his danglers when his friend makes light of it. “But together, y’all conquered, and a good time was had by all.”

Always with the making light, this one, even when they’re clearly trying to swallow so they don’t cry, and smiling even though it’s not fooling anyone. Such as right this damn minute. Well done, Daryl.

He can’t seem to grab the right words to smack into a sentence, what’s the protocol for this?

Also, why are they smiling at him? And pointing a spoon at him?

“Uh-oh, dude, if you’re fixing to get all awkward and apologetic or uncomfortable around me, I’ll go scoop more peanut butter onto this spoon and chase you with it.”

Hands up in surrender, he catches himself cracking up. “I’ll go get the jar right now, slowpoke, where’s it at?”

With another head shake and a giggle, they lightly cup their hand on his upper arm. “Alright, s’go back, Dary-bear. Carol, T-Dog and Beth were making a surprise, let’s see if it’s ready yet.”

............................

You

............................

New baking secret learned today: baking cookies on a piece of tinfoil on top of a woodstove is somewhat tricky and requires flipping, however, it makes the room smell heavenly! They weren’t ready when you and Daryl poked your heads in, but after you and Lori came back from doing laundry, the water department building was toasty warm and smelled like a bakery.

Another secret you learned about two hours ago, unrelated to baking, is to not forget to push the front seats back when napping in the truck. This way, when you roll over in your sleep, you don’t fall into the wedge between the backseat and the floor; your nap was very short (nonexistant), and the mp3 ran out of charge anyway.

Back to the cookies, they were made with farina, corn starch, applesauce from those little sealed cups, some of the sugar rations, other stuff. You started bouncing as soon as you took your first bite. You’re still bouncing at your spot by the window where you’re doing your shoulder PT while nibbling on one.

Lori is cranking up the little rainproof crank radio with the plugs and charging ports (and flashlight!) in it. It’s got a little solar arm out to speed up the process, but all told, it’s not very efficient.

And there’s no turkey ready for consumption just yet, but there are cookies.

“Lore, want another?”

“I want more than just another,” she muses under her breath. “I’m gonna stick with the two I already ate. I might take a walk around the lake to get way from them, in fact,” she laughs. “The mp3 is almost at four bars.”

The nod you make in response that the music player is almost ready doesn’t match the uneasy look on your face. You can feel your facial muscles not cooperating to make you look relaxed and chill.

Best change the subject: “It is Christmas Day, it’s a requirement to eat too many cookies. Besides, you can relax the willpower a little when you’ve got a baby in there. Oh! I’m gonna find the Frog and Toad story about the cookies and read it to your belly!” you babble.

Her hand briefly rubs along her very tiny bump. Crazy that she was able to feel them moving two or three weeks ago, it was so early! “People are already beginning to…” she pauses, then shifts closer to you. “You know how Hershel doesn’t want to be treated as delicate? How you don’t like needing help or admitting when you need to take it easy?”

“That’s never happened ever,” you deadpan, which makes her smile.

“As the months go on, I’m going to need more help, and, and attention, whether I want it or not. So before that, I-I don’t want to accept any special treatment. You understand.”

Munch, munch, munch. You chew slowly in an attempt to make a point. “It’s a cookie.”

“No special treatment. And I’m just so…” Her eyes shut for a moment. She opens them and looks embarrassed. “Oh, Y/N, I’m just so hungry,” she softly confesses. “All the time. At the house, there was an old box of baking soda in the closet.” She opens her eyes and appears embarrassed. “I almost tossed it into the toilet to stop myself from eating it. I had to give it to Carol. That’s what I’ve started craving, it’s — anyway, I’m pretty certain I’ll lose it and pig out in front of everyone one of these days. And we’ve already been far too,” a pause to find the right word, “humbled enough around each other.”

“And she draws the line at eatin’ a third cookie, ladies and gentleman,” you poke fun while pausing your PT to book it over to the med bag for the vitamin supplements. Lori tends to get nauseated when she takes them, but craving baking soda, something non-nutritive? An extra vitamin can’t hurt. “Just a sec, that’s the cute name for this new cookie recipe. Why, we should oughta make ‘special treatments’ every Christmas henceforth!”

“Yo, why are we saying ‘henceforth?’” Glenn calls over with his mouth full.

“I named the cookie special treatments and said we’ll have to make ’em every Christmas henceforth.”

“What does that even mean? That name sucks, dude.”

True. Rude. “Well, what grand name do you got?”

“The ‘water departments.’”

“Eesh, y’all stink at names,” is all T-Dog will deign to say as he paces around doing a little food dance of his own while he savors every bite. “How about: the ‘apocalyptic masterpi’—nah, that won’t work, this ain’t the Apocalypse, it was just an outbreak of a novel or mutated disease, most likely a viral one,” he narrates to himself. That’s what all the news stations had been reporting before they went out. Dr. Jenner had seemed to echo that hypothesis, you guess.

Maggie starts chuckling to herself over “The water treatments, is that a better name?”

“The, um, special departments…” is Beth’s contribution, and the lengthy “special water department treatments,” is what Carl giggles from the floor where he and Beth are laying, staring at out the window while they indoor cloud-watch.

“The water department specials?” Lori offers, accepting the vitamins from you and quickly taking them down with some leftover coffee.

In terms of the other choices, that was pretty solid. Sounds more like a civic tax discount, but, “Yeah, I’d eat those.”

Glenn’s grinning wide. “Now we have something to serve with our trademarked drink.”

Trademarked drink? “Hold up, you mean ‘The CDC?’ Or did we go with the ‘Dr. Jenn—no, not that name, I’m deletin’ it,” you mutter.

Glenn hesitates, “‘The CDC’ is an okay name.”

“I guess,” you start to think, but catch eyes with T-Dog. “Teddy, you remember how Glenn drained his so quick?”

“And all that wine, and how he felt the following morning, yes I do.”

Maggie starts laughing. She’s heard the story quite a few times. You grin at her as you lean against the windowsill by Lori and say, “How about we rename the drink ‘The Glenn?’ That sounds cool.”

The namesake seems cool with it. “Oh heck yes! You know why that name sounds cool?”

“’Cause he is the coolest,” you drawl, as cheerful as you’d felt this morning when you all prepped for making sure Christmas would still feel relatively normal, especially for Carl.

The cheerfulness goes *poof* when you hear Lori calmly tell you in your ear, “It’s charged up, honey.”

You turn.

Look.

She’s holding out the mp3 player and new(ish) earbuds you just been gifted.

To explain: back closer to when it happened, it was how she’d help you to spend time with Rick, how you could stay calm but still reestablish your bond with him. That’s why you brought it up to him earlier, you’d figured it was a good idea…

Lori also knows that during that big fight with Glenn you’d had about a month back, when he name-called you ‘Nurse Ratched,’ you’d taken that very personally. It hit as if he were saying you’d lost yourself the way Shane had, like your conscience had become deformed. Whenever you fight with Glenn about Hershel, you kinda might could still be scared that others see you as a cruel, unfeeling ticking time-bomb.

Back to your music-listening with Rick, a plus was that it gave you full leave to get some of your aggression out via (playfully?) insulting his taste in rockabilly.

Your eldest sister had just about every genre on her old mp3 she gave you; hard rock, screamer, Motown, Gregorian chants, big band, P&W, R&B, Bollywood, reggae, classical, musicals, pop, Latin, Korean—you name it, she had it. She also added music and made playlists for friends and family. Including rockabilly for her good friend’s husband/stepbrother’s best friend.

Which isn’t so bad, it’s just mildly entertaining how into it Rick is compared to stuff like Zeppelin or Jimi or Cash. In his defense, he can’t help but bounce along to Britney, though.

Right, you have to answer Lori, don’t you?

“I don’t want to” is what untactfully hops out of your mouth. You were supposed to be subtle about it, Y/N.

“Honey.”

“I’m meant, um, I’m good now. I don’t need to.” It’s too late, stop trying.

“Maybe he needs you to,” she gently hints.

Needs you to? Did Rick—Rick noticed that you’d gotten angry about him again, didn’t he? That asshole always notices.

“Lori, he’s the resident atheist, he’s not gonna wanna sit though me playin’ Christmas carols, anyways, you know how he gets about God stuff.”

She still holds out the music player.

Fine. Mindful that you are on the grumpy side after your failed attempt at a nap, you accept the mp3 from her hand and put your hat back on. But before you bust out there to listen to music with (say it, Y/N) your brother, you first call out the door, “Daryl, can I have my coat back?”

As much as you don’t want to take off Daryl’s poncho, you’d like your other, deceased brother’s coat back on.

Either to remind Rick of him or because you feel more grounded in that old coat because it still smells like Shane and home a little bit, you aren’t clear.

............................

      1 minute later

............................

Daryl’s letting you keep the poncho on, he says he’s comfortable in just his leather jacket for now. In thanks, you impulsively took your scarf off and flopped it around his neck (you were worried that he’d get cold in just the jacket. It’s darned chilly out.)

You feel better that you can keep his poncho on. Safer, you guess.

Is that silly? It’s not like it’s armor. 

And why would you need armor in the first place?

............................

Him

............................

He figured he could keep watch while he and Maggie were about to start guard duty, anyway. It was regular guard duty, by the way; the group stopped being on edge about Y/N being unaccompanied around Rick the second week after their brother was killed, it hadn’t taken long.

And it’s not like he’s gonna stand over them, he’ll just be nearby. No big deal. He’s just — it’s not the weird, nice feeling in his chest this time exactly, it’s more of that damn invisible string thing happening again. When it happens, it feels right to be a little closer to Y/N, make sure they’re safe, he guesses. And seeing them wearing his clothes makes him wanna stand taller, so he turned down his poncho even though he’s kinda cold.

Right, um, anyway, walkers had a way of sneaking up on people, never mind that other living people could be a way bigger threat to his two distracted friends listening to music and staring out at the lake. So, he’ll keep an eye on them.

There are some bolts he needs to sterilize and sharpen, anyway.

............................

     1 more minute later

You

............................

Sleeping bag in hand so your butts won’t get too cold, you silently walk with Rick around the edge of the lake as to be in view of the little building. You get to the water’s edge and flop the sleeping bag on the mossy part near the bank. The water’s frozen over just a bit.

Through your yawn, you state, “You get one Ronnie Dawson song and Yakety Yak, then it’s carols, Rick.”

He catches your yawn and stretches as he replies, “Sounds good.”

You both sit and silently look out at the water. But it’s in your periphery that you notice you aren’t quite alone. With a glance first at Rick, you turn and stare openly for a moment because you’re slightly annoyed.

Is he the babysitter or something? That he’s whittling the points of his bolts isn’t fooling you.

Murmuring to Rick in a light, self-deprecating tease, “Daryl’s our warden this time,” you hold out one earbud for him and gesture toward where your favorite redneck is loitering.

“It’s not like that,” Rick murmurs back.

What you’d probably describe as a knowing smile spreads across your face. “Is it not?”

“No.”

You nudge him softly with your arm as what anger remains inside you is carried off in the breeze. “Not even a little, though?”

“Go on, troublemaker, let’s listen to some music,” he ribs in response. “And believe it or not, I wouldn’t mind carols. It’s been a fuckin’ great Christmas.”

Your mouth falls open because, first off, Rick doesn’t cuss. Second off (is that a term?), that’s the exact phrase Daryl said earlier. Your cheeks heat again and you’re smiling like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. “Did my punk repeat something he should oughtn’t have?”

His eyes crinkle and he chuckles, “I ‘might could’ have overheard you and Daryl with him around the fire earlier.”

“Well, now your son is one quarter richer.”

“We’ll have to put it in the bank, save it up for college.”

Once he’s got the earbud in his ear and he gets comfortable, you click play. It’s the live version of one of his favorites. The opening lyrics “Gimme the downbeat, maestro!” bleat out, and, per usual, Rick cannot help but jive along (and snap off-rhythm). It’s very cute.

He mouths along with the lyrics, too, knows them all. Two and a half minutes later, you feel up to joining him in singing along to final words, “Hear me? Whoa! Action packed!”

The next song is equally bouncy and old, so much that you drowsily check to see if your boots turned into saddle shoes.

Your fatigue is briefly overcome when ‘Toxic’ starts to play. Rick snorts and starts to giggle like a little kid while you mouth every lyric (you don’t actually know the exact lyrics, just what they sound like, you feel?) and grooving along to the tempo. His off-rhythm snapping comes back with a vengeance until the song ends.

The Christmas carols finally start after, and your sleepiness returns and goes into overdrive. You lean against the rock behind you. Rick does, too. The sun is shining enough to keep you cozy, the music is softer.

Ricks yawns and stretches again. When the instrumental version of Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel plays, your eyelids are sinking…

............................

Him

............................

Are they both asleep?

Shit, look at that. Both just snoozing, like, right there.

How long’ve they been like that? Damn, it’s a good thing he’s out here keeping watch—keeping watch in general, not specifically on them.

But yeah, might as well let them cop some Z’s.

............................

    ? minutes later?

You

............................

A familiar tune that you haven’t heard in over three months stirs you very awake. You’ve been avoiding it on purpose, why is it playing? Make it stop, make it stop, make it st—

—You pull the earbud out and sit up with a sharp inhale.

“Kiddo, you okay?” He only uses ‘kiddo,’ when he’s feeling protective.

“Yeah, um, ain’t nothing, it, it j-just got to be too much noise,” you make up on the spot. It sounded casual enough, right? You blink the grogginess away and blindly stare at the clouds as you rest your arms on your knees.

“I saw you were still out, figured that one would help you stay asleep. Your family’s song.”

“You’d think we was making commission, how often Mama or the girls or Shane played it over the years.”

“Shane listened to that song for everything. Insomnia, break-ups, failed tests, rough calls, arrests he didn’t feel right about. In fact he,” his voice gets softer. “He played that song almost nonstop, absolutely nothing else other than that for three whole weeks after your dad passed.”

“Mama replayed her Boyz 2 Men cassette durin’ that.” You were very young when that happened, but that’s the most vivid memory you have. That and the smell of all the casseroles neighbors and such brought over.

“I still remember the streaky sounds the CD player would make when he’d hit the back button. It was something, he ended up not being able to stand the song for four months after.”

“Imagine that,” you mumble. You’ve got the ‘22’ pendant between your fingers again. “Well, Shane was a drama-king,” you joke.  

“In his defense, so am I,” Rick almost sounds nervous to joke back.

“At least you’re more Shakespearean than he was. Stronger moral backbone, too.” Fuck it, you’ll speak honestly. You loved him, you would’ve killed and would’ve been killed for him, and you pray that he’s resting in peace, but you know what Shane’s faults were.

“Shakespearean?” Rick repeats.

“Yeah, Shane sounded like a hillbilly compared to you, the way you always talk good and give speeches.”

A groan follows you comment about ‘speeches,’ but then he gets a mischievous look on his face. “I talk ‘good?’”

Aw man, you walked straight into that one. Your mildly British accent comes back out. “Oh, I do beg your pardon, I meant to say that you speak well.”

He gets brave enough to use Shane’s old nickname for you. “Weirdo.”

You don’t mind, you gave him an old nickname, too. “Pork-chop.”

The quiet tinkling of the pendant’s loop running over the small links in the chain as you pull it back and forth, back and forth, fills the silence that follows. It’s an okay silence, too. You’re glad that Lori convinced you to do this today, you think, as you snuggle deeper into your coat and inhale deeply—wait.

You sniff again.

Again.

Your stomach drops to the ground.

Crap. “D-did Daryl smoke in this?”

“Barely. You know how he’s been doing short little spurts, less than a minute. Hey, Y/N, why are you taking the jacket off? It’s cold out.”

“Just checkin’ something.” The chill doesn’t bother you as you press the collar to your nose and sniff. Cigarettes. Daryl. Wood-smoke.

You try sniffing the back of the collar. Daryl. Wood-smoke.

You check the shoulders. Wood-smoke.

Finally, when you try lower down on the coat, you relax and hug it in relief.

Shane’s scent isn’t all gone yet, neither is the faintest hint of Mama’s perfume that would always linger on things she wore.

A few tears well up and flow out as you feel your pulse going down.

“Does it still smell like him?” Rick wonders very quietly.

“Mmhm,” you mumble, your cheek resting against the soft, fluffy, very worn lining. You bury your face in the fluff and breathe in again.

“Y/N, I wish th—” he stops abruptly and doesn’t finish his thought.

There’s a lump in your throat you try to swallow away.

The sounds of geese flying overhead fill the air. A gentle, cold breeze picks up and you could swear you get a whiff of peanut butter. You start to feel cold again.

From the little building, laughter reaches your ears. Carl, Beth, Glenn. Lori and T-Dog’s voices you think you hear, too.

“Wanna wear it for a while, Ricky? It’s a good coat,” leaves your mouth.

He doesn’t seem to know how/what to reply, so you decide for him and hand it over. Doing that thing where someone looks at another but not in their eyes, he unzips his coat and trades with you.

Oo, his jacket is warm! You begin to unzip the hoodie you have on, quickly remove the poncho underneath, then just as fast zip your hoodie back on and bundle into Rick’s coat before all the body warmth on it disappears in the wintry chill.

His coat also has a fuzzy lining around the neck so you rub your cheek on it. You can imagine Daryl asking “What are ya, a cat?” and it makes you grin.

Rick’s got the music player in his hand, but you see him peering at you — in the eyes, this time. “Why did you switch coats with him today?”

You’re mid-shrug when you notice how you’re hugging the poncho to yourself like a blankie. “I was shiverin’ this morning and he offered.”

“That was kind of him.” It’s unclear to you whether or not he’s teasing you about it (he never has), but either way, this is good. You’re really glad you’re doing this.

“It was,” you answer simply, feeling at peace.

“So, what are we listening to next? I’ll put carols back on?”

“Can you replay the song, Rick?”

“The Zeppelin one?”

You nod. “You can pick which version.”

“Um, sure, of cour—sorry, there are versions?”

“She uploaded the remastered version, the mandolin cover, a live recording from YouTube.”

The poncho, you finally pull back over your head and wear it properly this time, over everything else instead of under. “I feel like an old-timey gunslinger in this.”

With a quiet chuckle, Rick nods. He click, click, clicks through the mp3 for the song. “Of course she made a playlist of only this one.”

A smile forms on your lips. Yeah, your eldest sister made a playlist of only Going to California, with three versions in a row repeated three times. It was for (her step)Mama and (stepbrother) Shane.

He hands you the earbud you’d torn off. You thank him and place it back into your right ear.

The gentle strumming of the guitar starts to play.

Clouds pass overhead as the song washes over you. Three months, you haven’t listened to it. Barely touched Zeppelin entirely, Shane enjoyed them too much.

The mandolin soon joins the guitar’s pretty, soft melody. You don’t feel sick to your stomach this time.

Robert Plant’s voice begins to sing those silly, nonsensical lyrics. Man, you’ve missed this song.

You hear Rick make a shaky inhale, so turn to look. He’s all bleary-eyed, same as you.

“I don’t know why, but something about the tune gets me going,” he hushes.

A sob forms in your throat, so you nudge him with your foot and tease, “Drama-king.” You scoot closer to him. He scoots closer to you.

“Are we okay?” you hear him ask.

“’Course we are. We have been. It was just the holiday gettin’ to me earlier.” And you aren’t just saying it, you mean it. “We’re family.”

Rick swallows and rubs the scruff on his jaw. His eyes are now completely bloodshot. “So was he,” he whispers.

The sob moved up when you heard him repeat the exact three words you’d said to him that bad, bad night. Four simple phrases, nothing fancy or profoundly heartbreaking. But the first one, “So was he,” you dunno, but it hit him like kryptonite, so you learned.

Like, obviously there’s more to it, but no, you’re not gonna delve back down; what’s done is done.

Forgiveness, in it’s fullest sense (which means your anger has gotta go) is something you’re working on, therefore accepting the past and not living in it is important. And for Rick, your brother, he’s in desperate need of forgiving himself.

Though, because of that night, instead of saying ‘I love you,’ as true as those words are, when things are hard, you have a temporary, different way of wording them with him…

“Rick? I don’t hate you.” It’s a false equivalent, you know, but it’s what needs to be used as the translation for the time being

His breath hitches. Rick turns his head away and tugs at his hair for a moment before turning back. “Y/N? I don’t hate you, either.”

You wipe your eyes and say it again. “I don’t hate you at all.”

He smiles a little while staring at the lake. “Good, ’cause I don’t hate you at all, either.”

............................

Him

............................

Nice, they’re sitting close. Good sign. And good cookie, hot damn. Carol snuck some more out and was sharing them. “Thanks for not makin’ them peanut butter,” he remembers to tell her. Shit, a crumb fell out of his mouth when he said that. Damn.

“They would’ve come out so much better if we did, pookie, just letting you know.”

“Yeah, T-Dog reminded me.”

“He’s, um…” What’s she smiling all shy about? “He’s actually making peanut butter ones outside over the fire right now.”

He turns to look. Oh yeah, check it out. T-Dog’s got the flat pan thing balanced over the makeshift grill. “Nasty.”

“Better stay downwind,” is her suggestion. She’s smirking only a little.

He did not expect to become such good friends with Carol, of all people, but he’s real happy it turned out this way. Definitely didn’t expect to become friends with T-Dog, neither. Hell, at first, he couldn’t imagine becoming friends and getting close enough for that damn invisible string to tug every so often with Y/N.

Didn’t expect to stay with or get close to any of the people here, to be honest. It was the last idea in his head that he was gonna stay, and that they’d want him to stick around.

“Would you like another, Daryl?”

“Hell yeah.”

She pulls out a napkin-wrapped small bundle from her coat pocket and hands him two more. He shoves a whole one in his mouth, it’s so damn nice to have a fresh cookie.

From the corner of his eye, he sees Baby Spice Beth by the fire, waving to them from beside T-Dog as he calls over, “Carol! I think it’s go-time for our turkey!”

Beth’s teeny little voice shouts what he thinks is “I got all the fixin’s ready!”

He’s not at all ready for Y/N and Rick to suddenly start shouting, handguns out, “T-Dog, we’re coming!” and “Beth, get Carl and Lori and run to the Hyundai and hide, we’ll get you when it’s safe! T-Dog, find Hershel!”

From the other side, Maggie then shouted something like, “Is Beth hurt? What’s goin’ on?”

What the hell?

............................

You

............................

Today is just full of lessons, ain’t it?

Turns out that you and Rick having music playing loudly in one ear leads to the two of you, upon hearing raised voices but not hearing what they were saying, to immediately assume the worst and jump into action. You’d both thought your people were being attacked or overrun...

A minor ruckus ensued, it’s, um, it’s fine now.

Hershel was amused. You heard him sigh all the way from where he was, then watched as he waved his hand with the yellow walkie in it and continued ambling along on his constitutional around the lake. It’s good that he’s keeping his scarf over his mouth and nose to warm the air while he’s out and about.

Carol told you both that you and Rick looked “kinda cool” when you’d leapt up together and started making for the completely imagined emergency. “It was like one of those movies with the sheriff and the rookie.”

You, obviously, were quick to coo “Aw Rick, you looked like a rookie!”

It was good to see him smiling. When you’d heard the shouts, he’d gone from normal to sweaty in the approximate 10 or so seconds worth of time it took for y’all to get up-in-arms and ready to bust some heads → to becoming some sort of emotion in between embarrassed, confused, and annoyed at having reacted so strongly.

Not that you still won’t occasionally refer to Rick as ‘dicktator,’ but that man is constantly on-alert because he genuinely wants the group safe and protected. He took all responsibility upon himself that bad, bad night. And no matter your opinion on it, the other people in your group rolled with it; you don’t control their choices.

They concluded that it was safer together (which it is, and you’d have it no other way) and they openly accepted those really shitty terms and conditions Rick laid out (which you did not and aren’t pretending to).

You’re pretty sure Rick’s still concerned about the group splitting, or that the group was still “broken,” as Dale had said just over three months ago (which reminds you that you still haven’t done the kaddish thing for him yet today!).

Truly, that stopped being an issue over two months ago. It was only after his initial dick-tator speech and when you were still postal that your people had been flight risks.

The group isn’t broken. It took only like a week for you to calm down, therefore for the group to calm down, but Rick can’t…forgive himself, therefore thinks he can’t ‘fail,’ even in appearance, after having done what he did.

He’ll get there.

While he’s off with Lori and trying to process that today is a good day and he can rest, you took a guard shift early to relieve Maggie. Carl is beside you, just to hang. He’s of course got his deputy hat on, with his little pistol out.

“You’ve got the safety on, baby?”

After a playful whine, he reminds you “Not a baby.”

“Hey. I changed your diapers, you’ll always be a baby to me. Punk,” you correct yourself.

“The safety’s on.���

And you know he hasn’t fired it since two days ago so his gun is still fully loaded minus three rounds. When was the barrel last cleaned and oiled, though? “And you took it apart and cleaned it with your dad earlier, right?”

“Yeah.”

Why did that sound uneasy?

You turn to get a good look at him.

He’s still maintaining proper gun handling, but his head is stooped.

Timidly, he calls your name. “Are you sad about Uncle Shane today?”

“I was. I-I still am, a little,” you confess. Lying isn’t your thing, and besides, that boy notices things the way Daryl does. With a lift of your shoulder, you concede “I miss all of them, just like you do.”

Him and Lori were crying a little yesterday night about Evie (Lori’s sister, Carl’s auntie). After New Year’s last year, she’d secured leave for her first Christmas at home in like four years. When Lori remembered that this was supposed to be the first Christmas with Evie again, she crumpled. Carl, too. “It’s normal that around special days like Christmas, one can feel a stronger sense of loss.”

“But it’s different with Shane!” he blurts out. Wiping his nose, he then starts to shuffle one foot around the twigs and acorns and dried leaves on the ground.

“I know, bud,” you sigh.

He sniffs and starts to pace. You rub your thumb along Dale’s big watch on your wrist and wish there was more you could do to make things better. For stuff like this, it just takes time. Some days are simply gonna be not-so-good. You send up some prayers and ask what to do, then you worry: your nephew didn’t start to feel scared of Rick again, did he?

You’d hoped that was just a one-off thing from that bad, bad night. “Carl, did you feel unsafe around him today or yesterday?”

You have to turn to see him shaking his head. “Sometimes, when he’s angry,” he quietly admits. “But not today. It was, um, it was when I saw…” He sniffs again and runs his sneaker over an acorn. “It’s just that you were playing with the necklace a lot yesterday and today. Then I overheard you talking with Mom earlier…” His little mouth twists and his brows knit close. “Was it okay that I gave Dad the picture with him and Shane and us?”

“Yes.”

“Did it hurt your feelings?”

“Not one bit, I was proud of you.”

Now he’s staring at his shoes. “Are you angry at dad again, Y/N?”

Deep breath. “I was for a short while.”

He gives a little nod and looks down, then back into your eyes, mouth still twisted as if he’s nervous about your answer. “Did you hate him again today?”

“No. I didn’t hate him today, I ain’t truly hated him in a long time.” You shrug. “Today, I simply remembered what it was like to.”

“I know he’s…not a bad man,” he says more cautiously than he should be.

“He’s a great one and a good one. And I don’t hate him, I love him.”

A shy smile twists his mouth and he relaxes his grip on his gun.

Ew, but now he’s staring at some type of orangey, shiny, fairly large fungus. Funguses? Fungi? Whatev.

Grossed-out and wondering how you hadn’t noticed them until now, you automatically guide him back from it just in case of, you don’t know, um…spores (that’s a thing, right? Mushrooms are just so creepy).

But a sudden flashback to the way you’d been holding Carl so he wouldn’t get any closer to that buck—right before they both got shot—causes you to flinch and let go of his shoulders.

“Y/N?”

“Sorry, just went back to that day with the buck, kiddo, my bad,” you mumble. “Hey, if um, if you go get your mama, she might will know what that one’s called.” Lori’s the resident mushroom expert. Back in the before-times, you’d thought it was a disgusting unusual hobby. Joke’s on you, now. It’s a great skill to have when civilization collapses.

“They look cool.” His face lights up. “Wanna bet if we can eat those?”

“Ew, I’m bettin’ no way.”

“I’m betting yes way.”

You squint at him. “What’s the bet?”

“If I lose, I’ll give you one of my puddings.”

“High stakes, then. And I would give you what’s left in my can of Crazy-Cheez, but I don’t anticipate havin’ to. Are you sure you wanna bet the pudding, baby?”

What’s that mischievous look he’s making for? “I can’t wear your boyfriend’s poncho instead?”

Oh, that’s why. “Sure, yeah, totally — now since when are he and me behavin’ romantic, punk?”

“Well, why are you wearing his poncho? And he was wearing Shane’s co—”

“—My coat, not Shane’s. Daryl and I switched for funsies, how’s that?”

“Y/N, are you still scared of dating?”

Good Moses, kid. “I’m cautious and careful. Now, go get your mama, a puddin’ cup, and a spoon, please, ya punk-ass.”

“Pretty sure you owe a quarter for that,” he teases, holstering his pistol. He takes a few steps to head back, but turns around. “Don’t you like him?”

“I like everybody here.”

He huffs in a way not dissimilar to how you tend to. “You know what I mean.”

“I guess I don’t hate him. Happy?”

When you watch the punk-ass raise his eyebrows, redden, and start to giggle, you smile, confused, because: what just happened that you’re missing?

Well, whatever it was, Carl wags his fingers and scurries off to the little water department building, so, you shrug and get back to your guard duty. You chuckle despite the good/scared sensation in your stomach.

Sometimes, you get a tugging sensation from your chest toward that darn mangy hick, ever since that day he’d almost gotten himself killed trying to find Sophia. Other times, it’s just your standard butterflies. But every so often, it’s a good/secure/safe/nervous feeling in your gut.

Peeking back through the trees to make sure nobody is looking in your direction, you wrap the poncho tighter around yourself and you happily swing back and forth, grateful for the temporary peace and solitude. Your people are healthy, together, and happy…they’ve begun teasing you about you and Daryl…you get to wear his poncho…you can listen to Going to California again…

Tipping your head skyward, you whisper, “Thank you.”

Then it hits you: Carl noticed two and a half months ago how you (and his dad) started saying “I don’t hate you,” instead of “I love you” to each other…

Good Moses, and you just told him that…you didn’t hate…Daryl.

Oh my.

Ohh my.

Oh, poop, that punk-ass! That wasn’t what you meant, you love that mangy hick the way you love everybody here!

“Carl!”

............................................

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[janfraiser]

I was bored in the car today and @lesbiansayaishii was nice to me in the tags of my pinned moodboard, so elle, this is for you ❤️ this also marks the first thing I've properly written for the Ivy AU, and it's intentionally not the start of the story but more in the middle, because I wanted to make my brain think about other parts of the story. Thank you elle for giving me an excuse to flex my muse 🖤💞💗

Background/Context, Connor went to Mayo after s3, and Ava didn't ask him to stay, nor did she tell him when she realized she was pregnant from their one night stand. He comes back as head of the emergency department around four years later, and... you can probably fill in the blankssss

Connor is reviewing patient charts in his mercifully private office when the phone on his desk starts ringing. He eyes it for a moment, pretty sure it’s no one he wants to talk to. But he doesn’t get to foist it off now, now that he’s the one in charge, so he picks up the phone with a groan.

“Rhodes.”

“Dr. Rhodes, it’s Beth in the OR with Dr. Bekker,” says the surgery tech. “You’re on speaker.”

Not the most headache-inducing call he could’ve gotten, then. “Thanks, Beth. Ava?” It’s been a rocky few weeks since he’d suddenly learned that she had a daughter— that he had a daughter— but getting closer again, even just by arguing and pestering each other with every spare minute of their shifts, means he’s falling back into the familiar patterns from before his years at the Mayo Clinic, including using her first name.

“Connor, what’s the weather doing right now?”

He blinks. “Huh?”

“I know we’re supposed to be getting a winter storm,” she continues, “but last I heard it wasn’t getting bad until tonight. Only, now Ivy’s daycare is saying they’re closing early because the roads might be dangerous as early as this afternoon.”

Connor scrubs a hand over his face. “Oh, shit, the ER’s probably gonna get flooded.”

“Connor,” Ava says, exasperation audible even over the phone, “I’m currently elbow-deep in the chest cavity of a man in late-stage heart failure. I cannot leave this patient on the table for the half-hour minimum it would take for me to drive out to the daycare and check Ivy out. She can play quietly in the doctor’s lounge up here, she knows how to do that, but I need you to go pick her up.”

“Uh.” He pauses for a moment as his brain tries to catch up. “What?”

“I know you’re working too, but you’ve got a little more flexibility than I do at the moment,” Ava continues. “I’ll call ahead and tell them you’re cleared to sign her out, can you come get my car keys so you’ll have her car seat with you?”

“Hang on.” Connor’s hand flexes on the arm of his office chair. “A week ago you were saying you weren’t even ready for me to meet her yet, and now you want me to go pick her up from school? The hell do I know about entertaining children?”

“You don’t have to entertain anyone,” Ava huffs, “as long as you can buckle a seatbelt, you’ll be fine. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate."

"That makes me feel so much better," he says drily.

"Look, if I spend any more time begging you right now my patient is going to end up with brain damage. Car keys are in my locker; the combination is Ivy's birthday. Beth, hang up on him, please."

Sure enough, the call ends abruptly, leaving Connor to stand there and wonder what he'd expected.

"I don't know her goddamn birthday," he says aloud to no one.

On a hunch he boots up his desktop to open the hospital's L&D records from 2018, and punching in Ava's surname he finds a file from late in the fall. 11-06-18. Got it.

Sure enough, that combination opens the locker, and Connor grabs the car keys from the magnet hook inside the door. He vaguely remembers the name of the daycare, so he punches that into google maps, and even with the snow starting to fall, the drive doesn't hit twenty minutes. When he enters the lobby of the place, the woman at the front desk nods when he awkwardly gives his name.

"Dr. Bekker gave us a call, you're on the approved guardian list," she says. "We appreciate you working with our unpredictable winter schedule; the kids are in the main playroom and their belongings are in the cubbies with their names."

"Got it," Connor says, finding the small cubby with Ivy's name on it. There's a purple coat on one hook and a blue, floral-patterned backpack on the other, and he crosses his fingers and hopes there's nothing else he needs to grab, because he's not exactly sure the three-year-old will tell him. He makes his way into the playroom, scanning the small crowd of children, and a familiar face stares back at him, blonde pigtails bouncing as she crosses the room.

"You're Doctor Rhodes," she says a picture book clutched in one hand. "You work with Mummy." There's a pause, and then she adds, "hi," as if just remembering how to use greetings.

"Yep, that's me," he agrees. It feels insanely weird to have this small child referring to him with his full title, but everything about interacting with her feels insanely weird-- he's going to let Ava tell her what to call him, and all that. "Hey, Ivy, your mom is really busy right now, but because of the snow the nice people here are worried it might not be safe for you to stay all afternoon like usual. So I have your normal car, with your car seat, and we're gonna go back to the hospital. Sound alright?"

"Mhm," Ivy agrees. "I have my coloring books." And then she instantly reaches up for his hand, and he takes hers reflexively, but it brings him a moment's pause when he looks down at her and realizes this is effectively the first time he's held his daughter's hand. But he doesn't really have the time to pause and sit with that, especially with an inquisitive toddler staring up at him, so instead he leads her out of the room and to the car.

"Coloring books sound great."

In the car, Ivy talks a little about friends from her Pre-K, but mostly she looks out the window and dances to the random radio station Connor had turned on. They park in the hospital parking lot, and when Connor lifts Ivy out of her car seat, she wraps her arms around his neck. "It's cold!"

"We'll be inside soon," he tells her, picking her backpack up from the floor of the car. But after he shuts the door and locks the car, he hesitates, looking from Ivy's sneakers to the slushy puddles on the sidewalk. "Um... do you want me to carry you like this?"

"Yeah!" She rests her head on his shoulder. "Your beard is funny."

He chuckles as he begins to walk toward the hospital. "Funny?"

"It's soft. Soft like a fuzzy bear."

"Oh, yeah?" He grins at her. "I thought you weren't supposed to pet bears. Do bears like people?"

"No!" Ivy giggles, leaning back to give him a toothy smile. Connor adjusts his grip to account for the change in her center of gravity. "Bears don't live with people, silly. I got stuffed animals."

"Oh, I see," he says, adopting an air of seriousness. "You're the expert, then."

Ivy certainly agrees with that assessment, and she tells him all about her stuffed animals and their names as they make their way through the hospital. Really, Connor could put her down now that they're out of the weather, but he feels happily warm with her clinging to him so tightly. Yeah, it's a little freaky to meet a tiny alien of a human who's half made of him when she's already her own tiny person, but Ivy is so immediately trusting and bubbly that he can't help but love her. He can lose his shit on his own time; if a toddler wants to hug him, he's gonna hug her back.

"Here we go." Connor sets Ivy on the couch in the CT doctor's lounge, and she eagerly opens up her backpack and pulls out coloring books and crayons. "Your mom will come see you when she's done with surgery."

"Thanks." Ivy quickly opens the coloring book and holds out a crayon to him. "Here. Color."

He takes the crayon, a little surprised. Technically, he really should get back to the trauma floor, but... surely Ava will be out of the OR sooner rather than later. He can stay with Ivy for a little while later.

"Okay," he agrees, sitting on the floor to reach where she has the coloring book on the couch. "What... what color do we start with?"

#chicago med #ava bekker #connor rhodes #chicago med au #chicago med fic #ivy au #my aus #this got long but domestic fluff is my weakness #crockettstiddies #im so tired i might try to tag this better tmrw