Hello again, everyone! In light of the holidays, I thought I'd post up a one-shot with your favorite TWD pair! I've been wanting to write this little blip for a long time, but I've been busy with a bit of a chaos, so I do apologize for the wait. Let me delay you guys no more and I hope you enjoy this little piece!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Walking Dead. I'm not making money off of this stuff, so don't sue me, please!

Falling Embers
a Necessary Nouns story-verse one-shot

She shifted uncomfortably beneath the thin covers inside the tent. A warm body was pressed against hers and it snorted contentedly. Marlie sighed quietly and stared up at the tent's canvas ceiling while fidgeting again.

"Hey," muttered Daryl beside her as he rolled over to face the young woman. "You alright?"

Marlie sat up and ran her delicate fingers through her knotted curls. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she shook her head.

"Bad dreams?" asked the hunter sleepily, propping himself up onto his elbows.

"No. I think it's stress," Marlie said quietly, although there was a good chance that at least half of the camp was awake, too.

Daryl frowned and nonchalantly peeked through the small holes in the tent's wall, created by the hunter himself when boredom took over and his arrow was the only thing to really occupy his mind during long days of healing and resting. The wound at his side had a faint pulse in it, each pound sending flashes of pain up his abdomen, but he was slowly recovering. He was glad, at least, that he could sleep relatively soundly through the night, unlike a certain someone attempting to rest beside him. "We could go for a walk," he whispered.

Brows wrinkled, Marlie asserted, "You're still recuperating. I don't think walking is in your best interest." She leaned over and planted a light kiss on the man's forehead, sighing as she fell back onto her small pillow.

"Come on," he said as he carefully crawled to the front of the tent, unzipped the fabric door, and slid out, taking care to grab his crossbow.

Did he completely ignore what I just said? Marlie wondered. Shaking her head at the persistent hunter now standing outside, the woman crept out after him. There was a kink in her neck from the rather uncomfortable bed within the tent, so she rolled her shoulder and stretched until it smoothed away the knot. "Don't come crying to me if your side hurts, because this was all your idea."

Daryl gave a sarcastic, half-ass salute to Marlie before heading out towards a moonlit field, crossbow slung over his shoulder.

She'd be lying if she said it wasn't beautiful. The moon was high in the cloudless sky and nearly full, casting the whole property in an unearthly blue glow. It was so bright that she could see everything around her. Daryl at her side, the Greene's house to the right, the camp behind her, the stables, the forest, everything. Nothing evaded Marlie's sight as long as it was washed in moonbeams.

Not even the flashes of green-yellow flickering off to the left.

"Let's go this way," Marlie advised, turning away from Daryl to walk elsewhere.

"So ya like my walkin' plan then?"

She smirked. "You've had better ones, but a little leisurely stroll won't kill us. Well, maybe you," Marlie joked, looking down at Daryl's bandaged, shirtless side, "but that'd be your own fault."

Daryl smiled. "I'll keep that in mind when I'm writhin' in pain in the grass."

"You do that."

"So where are we goin'? I thought I was in charge of this expedition?"

Marlie shook her head, grinning all the while. "Nah. The chicks are always in charge for…everything."

The hunter snorted and continued onward, finally noticing the little blips of greenish light just a few yards ahead.

"And to answer your other question, we're going right here." Marlie stopped in her tracks and smiled over at Daryl, who halted beside her.

For a moment, the world was still and expressionless, but then the air around the pair lit up with falling embers that blinked and faded before returning strong again.

"Bugs?"

"Fireflies," informed Marlie, reaching out to poke one before it hovered away.

It was the perfect place to see them. The warm weather kept them active, the open field allowed one another to see each other's light, and the lack of predators kept the group large and strong. There were few natural sights that could best the synchronizing of the lightning bugs.

Marlie glanced over at the hunter and smiled happily at the sight of him completely enthralled in the bugs. Gently grabbing his hand, she sat him down beside her and together, they lay down in the tall grass to observe the insects above.

"I ain't usually a bug-watcher," Daryl muttered. He lifted his bandaged head, quickly looking around the field for any sign of walkers before resting it back onto the soft ground.

"That makes two of us, but you can't go wrong with lightning bugs."

One flashed in front of the Daryl's blue eyes, casting his face in a yellow hue, and then disappeared from sight. With a half-smile, he replied, "Guess not."

A long time past with the couple simply staring up at the fluttering little electric bugs, at peace with their observations and the hushed, sleeping world around them. Daryl kept one eye on the tree line, allowing no walker to go unnoticed, but luckily, there were no geeks to ruin the peace.

Meanwhile, Marlie's mind was alight like wildfire. Memories of her lost family, thoughts of the walker apocalypse and images of the incident at the creek with Daryl all send her brain whirling. Frankly, it was ruining her enjoyment with the fireflies and Daryl.

Almost on cue, the hunter rolled over and pecked Marlie's cheek softly before lying back onto the cool grass. He smiled at himself and crossed his arms over his strong chest.

Suddenly, her mind was clear. Like an antibody to a virus, Daryl's kiss destroyed every bad thought in the woman's head, eating away at them and leaving behind crystal clear space where only the hunter remained. It was exactly what she needed then and as much as she craved more, Marlie restrained herself and focused on the lovely sight around them. "I'm glad we came out here."

Daryl smirked. "And you almost didn't."

"Because you're hurt and you shouldn't be wandering around," Marlie retorted. "But this time, it was a good idea." Hesitantly, she added, "Thanks."

"Thank you. I ain't usually a big fan of bugs, but it's quiet out here. Almost forgot what that sounds like." A firefly landed onto Daryl's nose then, tickling it before he sputtered, startled, and shoed it away.

Marlie giggled at the hunter's mild panic attack, sighing happily at the change of mood, which had been growing solemn again.

"Damn thing coulda gone up my nose," mumbled Daryl, frowning.

"Thank god that didn't happen," she prayed sarcastically. "You would have looked like a radioactive Rudolph!" Marlie snorted, her body shaking with giggles.

Daryl continued to frown until the contagious laughter caught up with him and he, too, snickered in the presence of a hundred fireflies, which all flashed and blinked circles around the two until they yawned with undying sleepiness.

And as Marlie crawled into the tent and pressed her warm body against Daryl's, she sighed serenely with the knowledge that she'd sleep soundly tonight. A final kiss good night from Daryl locked in that fact tightly and the pair drifted off with the image of embers falling in the moonlit field outside.

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