a/n: requested by an anon on tumblr: "Daryl doing something romantic for Jesus. But nothing ooc. Something that everyone thinks is like not romantic at all but Daryl knows Paul will love it because it's so… well… Daryl I guess". if you'd like to see anything yourself, hmu at user thatsmygvn!
Jesus kept all of his bandanas inside the top left drawer of his dresser in the Barrington House, folded neatly and displayed according to color and weight - a habit from Before that he couldn't shake.
Even if he typically wore the same ones day in and day out, he liked having the variety.
He also liked the fact that Daryl picked up another one every time he went out with Aaron on a run.
Daryl, of course, shrugged it off. "Ain't no such thing as too many," he always insisted, which was true. With Judith getting bigger every day - and with Maggie getting bigger every day - the extra squares were almost invaluable, but it didn't exactly explain why he came back with so many and why he only gave them to Jesus.
There were some that were practical - thick and dark, heavy enough to provide real weight to keep brain matter and blood of the dead from spraying onto his face - but some that were as tacky as they could be - tie dye patterns, rainbow paisley print, and could easily blow away in a breeze. He even had some that weren't large enough to be full bandanas but instead were strips and squares of cloths ripped from the sleeves of shirts (which Daryl, again, shrugged off because "it wasn't like he had any use for them"), and in these he had everything from denim to canvas to leather.
He supposed he could quilt together the ones he knew he'd never actually wear, because them just sitting in a drawer wasn't doing anyone any good but giving them away felt like an affront to Daryl, so for now he gathered them with exasperated smiles every time Daryl threw one onto his bed, and every morning he eyed them all before picking one of his usuals.