Anything recognizable is the property of the appropriate owners. I do not make any claim to ownership, nor do I make any money from this.
Note: I have not seen past Season 4, Episode 9: After.
Daryl didn't bother to hide the wet cough he developed after his brush with hypothermia, well aware of how sound traveled in the concrete compound. Carol would have murdered him in his sleep if he had. Unfortunately, there wasn't much that she could do for him other than boil pine needles for him to stick head head over and inhale the fumes. It was only temporary relief from the thick mucus gradually drowning his lungs from the inside. So he coughed up a racket and was more than a little stir crazy considering Carol wouldn't let him back out in the woods until she was satisfied with his health.
Only he didn't seem to be getting better after the first week. If anything, he was worse. All of the coughing had taken its toll on his throat and he woke up one morning without even a scrap of a voice. It wasn't such a problem with Carol since she could usually read him like a second grader's book, but the others seemed to take great pleasure at being able to tease him without worrying about a scathing comeback. And now banned from even being in the yard by Carol, Daryl pouted silently. He didn't want to talk to anyone on the best of days and now he couldn't even tell anyone to fuck off. He would have gotten a notepad and pen, but it just wasn't worth the effort, plus Glenn would have delighted in teasing him over his childish penmanship.
So he wallowed in his misery alone in the cell he shared with Carol, waiting and wishing for all the things he would rather being doing, such as hunting, or even watch, or especially the short haired woman. A soft knock on the bars drew his attention from his brooding when she entered, holding something behind her back.
"Hey, Pookie." She maneuvered her hidden surprise away from his line of sight while she sat on the edge of the bed and felt his forehead with the back of her hand. "Feeling any better?"
He just shrugged noncommittally. His whole body ached and breathing burned deep in his lungs and every inhalation felt like someone was sitting on his chest. Add in the boredom and he was downright miserable. The only thing he didn't mind was the way Carol hovered around him when she could, anticipating his needs and soothing his discomfort. Daryl couldn't even remember his mother bothering to do much more than make sure he didn't suffocate in his sleep when sick. And it was rather nice to be the center of her attention without feeling like everyone was watching them. Outside of being ill, he wasn't really sure why she bothered with him, but the only reasonable explanation was she actually wanted to, so he took her affections at face value and just focused on enjoying it rather than overthinking everything.
"I got something that might help you feel better." She smiled brightly.
Of course his interest was peaked and he tried to look around her shoulder without expending much energy.
"I found it with some of the stuff for Jude when she's older." Carol pulled her surprise out from behind her back and held it out.
Daryl wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the unmistakable boxy red device she was holding out. The Speak & Spell looked brand new and the bright blue of the screen was imploring him to "SPELL A WORD." He was caught between feeling insulted by the toy and incredibly grateful that she understood some of his attitude and tried to do what she could to make it better. It cemented the assumption that she genuinely cared about him and he raised his arms to accept the gift. Immediately he punched in a series of letters.
"THANK YOU!" The machine momentarily startled both of them with its now foreignly sharp electronic voice.
Carol slapped her hand over the speaker to muffle the noise. "I have an idea." She got off the bed and dug through her original bag of tricks.
Triumphantly, she held up a nearly empty roll of duct tape and quickly tore off a piece the same size as the speaker cover. When she was satisfied, Daryl hit the 'speak' button again.
"THANK YOU." At least the sound wouldn't travel through the whole prison, waking everyone.
She smiled all the way to her eyes. "Figured you were tired of being talked at."
Daryl punched buttons furiously. "RICK GO AWAY." Snickering he typed again. "SHUT UP GLENN."
"FUCK OFF." He snickered childishly before coughing hard. "SHIT."
Carol couldn't help chuckling at his practicing his responses for when other people stopped by to check on him. "Can't have you unable to defend yourself."
The hunter would have glared, but he yawned instead, stuffing his fist in his mouth. She tutted and moved the electronic toy to the bedside table and powered it off. "You rest. You'll be back to normal soon."
He didn't argue, eyelids already heavy and he hated how hard he slept. Hours later, Carol crawled into bed and spooned up behind the bigger man before he became aware of being touched. And his mutenois body betrayed him by melting back against her cool form. Some nights, she would trace patterns on his skin with her fingers and other nights he couldn't stop coughing as she soothingly rubbed his back. Eventually this sickness would have to give up, Daryl reminded himself, already planning all the things he wanted to do, including Carol. The anticipation made him all the more eager to regain his health so he could finally consummate their relationship. But he was also terrified. Dixon had imagined being with Carol plenty of times, sure, but he had never considered it a real possibly. Now he had nothing to do but think about how she would feel against him, touching all the places he hadn't had contact in years, if ever.
Daryl fretted about all the ways he could disappoint Carol as she fell asleep behind him, her hand tucked possessively over his waist. He didn't know the first thing about kissing a proper lady like her but he knew he wanted to try and he knew the steely silver haired woman would be patient. Hell, if he asked right, she might even just show him exactly what she wanted, then all he had to do was follow directions. It wasn't necessarily in his nature to follow orders, but the reward of potentially pleasing Carol made him determined. So he endured the misery of the illness, ecstatic when his lungs started feeling a little less crackly and the bottle of honey the petite woman had procured for him soothed his throat and his voice returned. The aches faded from his joints and he worked out lightly on the narrow patch of floor to regain some of his strength faster.
From what he'd heard echoing through the prison, the storm had eventually passed and the snow was melting again. Fresh meat was low, but they had plenty of dried, smoked, and salted meat, so he could easily justify taking one more day to recover. He just wanted to enjoy one day with Carol without feeling like hammered shit. As he stood up from completing a set of pushups, Daryl brushed off his hands and hopped to catch the bar across the top of the doorway for pull-ups. The first few reps were done in silence, but soon he grunted on each pull, feeling the strain in his muscles. Just 3 more and he would stretch for a moment before expecting Carol back for the evening after dinner. But before he could finish, the short haired woman came turning automatically into the cell only to collide with Daryl's chest.
"Oh goodness, you startled me." Carol pressed her hand over her racing heart and took a step back. No one else had really come back to the cell block yet so he still had his shirt off and a fine layer of sweat reflected in the lantern light.
He dropped to the floor and flexed his hands. "Hey, thought you'd be a while."
"I finished up early." She shrugged and tried not to notice how low his pants had slid on his hips and the fine cut of his abs. "Wanted to spend some time with you before you went back to work."
Daryl's heart tripped over itself for a moment. "I was thinkin' tha same thing." He let the corner of his mouth turn up in as much of a smile as he ever gave and was rewarded by Carol's smile widening.
"What did you have in mind?" She asked slyly.
For half a moment, he almost chickened out, but there wasn't time for wasting any more, knowing any day could be their last. "I was thinkin' maybe ya tell me exactly how I can please ya."
Both eyebrows went up at his blatant flirting. Sure they had technically been sleeping together for a couple of weeks, but he was usually so skittish any time she flirted with him. "Oh really? You don't want to figure it out on your own?"
He shook his head. "Nah, no time ta waste anymore." Watching her contemplate his offer as her eyes slowly drifted down his torso was intoxicating. There was no doubt all the times he thought he had caught her sneaking peeks at his bare arms and he couldn't resist flexing just a little bit for her.
"Well," Carol looked up at him from under her eyelashes. "I suppose you could start with a kiss."
If that wasn't a dare, he didn't know what was, so he swallowed down his insecurity and bent forward to brush his lips over hers. It was chaste and fleeting, but hopefully the first of many. "What next?"
The short haired woman just looked surprised for a moment, never having expected him to just kiss her on request. "I think I need another one."
Daryl of course compiled, applying a little more pressure and he was rewarded by the smaller woman swaying towards him when he pulled back. The dazed look on her face was priceless and he wondered that if all it took was a couple of kisses, how would she look after he did half of what he imagined. Taking initiative, the hunter bent down again and Carol leaned into his chest, delicate fingers brushing under his ribs. Their third kiss lasted longer and he carefully followed along when she parted her lips. Movement further down the cell block made him pause, pulling a tiny whine from Carol's throat that went straight to his groin like electricity.
The hunter stepped back, drawing the smaller along with him until they were both within the threshold of the cell. He then reached over her shoulder and unhooked the sheet, letting it fall between them and the rest of the world. But as much as he wanted to touch her, he resolutely kept his arms at his side until she tiptoed to reach his mouth. Her lips were as chapped as his, but softer than anything he could remember and feeling her small breasts pressed against his chest was heaven. Carol grew more bold, squeezing his sides and letting her hands slide down to his hips, frustrated at the lack of reciprocation from the taller man before remembering the rules of the game.
"I want you to touch me." Carol whispered against his lips, trembling in anticipation.
"Where?" Daryl wanted explicit directions.
"Anywhere." The steely silver haired woman breathed. "Everywhere."
"But where should I start?" He definitely enjoyed teasing her like this, hoping he wasn't overstepping some rule he didn't know.
She whined in frustration, squeezing her thighs together. "Your hands - my - just my, please?" Giving up on words, Carol grabbed his hands and directed them around her ribcage, encouraging an embrace.
Daryl paid close attention to the feel of her in his arms, the way he could completely surround her with his arms and she seemed to melt against him, more than happy to be there. He wasn't sure how he got so lucky, but there was no way he was going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Then Carol went back to standing flat but still chased his mouth, ending up dragging her lips across the bottom of his jaw, making the hunter groan at the sensation, wanting more. She smiled wickedly and mouthed down his throat.
"Do that." Carol commanded and Daryl was more than happy to comply.
He rubbed his scruffy cheek along her smooth one before mouthing down the column of her neck. The hunter thought she tasted like sunshine and life, her pulse hammering under his lips. Daryl upped the ante by darting the tip of his tongue out to catch the salt of her skin, rewarded with a shudder sliding down the smaller woman's spine. When he pulled back to look at her, Carol's pupils were blown and her lips were parted so he indulged in kissing her again, brushing his tongue over her lip. She retaliated by nipping at his bottom lip with a sparkle in her eye.
"More of that." The short haired woman instructed, reaching up to brush a lock of hair out of his strikingly blue eyes and run her fingers through his hair.
Her nails lightly scratching over his scalp made goosebumps run down his arms and he wondered why he had waited so long. Daryl took her request to heart and added little nibbles to his exploration of her neck and shoulders, never so pleased that she always seemed to wear tank tops. His beard made her skin flush and one particularly firm nip let a red mark on her collarbone that stirred him more than the light tugging on his hair so he darkened it with small sucks, returning several times until he was satisfied the mark would remain. Carol's knees were shaking and her breaths came in little pants broken up by the occasional whimper.
The short haired woman let her hands roam freely across his bare skin, indulging all the fantasies she'd had about feeling his arms, practically swooning in disbelief. She wondered just how far she could take it. "Take off my shirt."
"Yes Ma'am." Daryl agreed, tracing his calloused fingers down her back to the hem of her shirt and lifted it up over her head, skimming his rough hands over her sides and along her arms until she was free.
Carol let her arms come to a rest over his shoulders as he dropped the unwanted tank to the floor, leaving her in just her pants and a simple cotton bra. But where their skin touched felt like fire to the younger man as he held her hips closer, barely resisting grinding against her until she indicated otherwise. Fortunately, she made her inclination clear by rocking her hips into his, rubbing her clothed breasts against his chest.
"Think we should lay down?" She suggested breathlessly.
"Definitely." Daryl didn't want to let her go, but the bed would make what he hoped was going to happen much easier. Not that he didn't plan on having her up against a wall at some point.
They disengaged just long enough for the smaller woman to hurriedly kick off her boots and flop back on the bunk. He kicked off his own heavy footwear and prowled to the narrow bed, crawling over her prone form, drinking in the sight of her chest heaving and rubbing his face between her breasts. She scratched her nails down his back and even though he felt her dance over his scars, he loved it, stretching like a cat, tasting every bit of skin he could until Carol was whimpering and writhing underneath him. Daryl sucked one last mark into her skin above where her her belt sat, inhaling the musky scent of her arousal, muffled by her clothes.
He basked in the self satisfaction of having reduced the usually well collected woman to such baser instinct. Maybe he shouldn't have been so worried when they obviously had no trouble reading each other in bed or out of it. But something about being told what to do and following through for the reward of being with her was incomparably better than anything he had ever experienced with a woman. Daryl wanted her to be able to tell him anything she wanted and to be the one to satisfy her in any way she needed.
"Belt, Daryl." Carol fumbled for the offending accessory and between the two of them they got her pants open.
Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room to get the last of their clothes off in the narrow bunk and Daryl hopped out, sliding her trousers down her legs, then rubbed his hands back up her shins but she stopped him by catching his hands. "Yours too."
He didn't even stop to think about how self conscious he was about being naked and how his scars contrasted against his skin. Carol was looking at him with such desire that he wasn't even worried about overthinking anything any more and shucked pants and boxers together. The short haired woman followed suit, over any thoughts of foreplay in favor of finally, finally consummating their relationship. Once she had rid herself of bra and panties, she ran her hands over her belly and cupped her breasts, beconning the younger man with a crooked finger.
The hunter slid over the naked woman gracefully, pausing just long enough to press a kiss to her navel, before pressing his body along hers to kiss her mouth. Carol clutched the bigger man closer, throwing her head back so he could trail his mouth along her collarbone. She slipped her legs to either side of his hips, rubbing her heel up the back of his leg and opening herself to him. Daryl moaned as his cock rubbed against her hot center, finding her moist and willing, but he didn't presume to press into her without her instruction.
Carol scraped her nails down his back again all the way to his compact hips and grabbed twin handfuls of his ass before hissing in his ear. "I need you."
"Oh god, Carol." The hunter knew he wasn't going to last long, but he hoped he would be able to make up for it later, once they had taken the edge off. And if her squirming was anything to go by, she wasn't much better off than he was.
They angled their hips in order to join completely and they let out identical groans as he bottomed out. He felt like she was squeezing the consciousness out of him through his cock as all of his senses tunneled until all he could feel was Carol. She was wrapped around him, physically and irrevocably around his heart, a beacon of hope and shining goodness that he had never hoped to even look upon, let alone touch. Daryl knew he was ruined for anyone else and he would spend every moment making sure she was healthy and comfortable, no matter the cost. He would walk into a herd if it meant she was safe, and he put that commitment into every roll of his hips and each kiss he pressed to her sweet mouth.
The short haired woman had never felt so cared for in her life. Even if she died tomorrow, she would go a happy woman, finally understanding what could be so special between two people to make them do crazy things. There was nothing she wouldn't do to see him healthy and happy and she was full to bursting with love for the rough man. She thanked any diety that bothered to listen for the precious gift of being with the hunter. Only, far too soon, she could feel her muscles drawing tighter, quivering against his muscular form, meeting every thrust eagerly until she was shoved unceremoniously over the precipice. Her blissful cry sent a surge of primal pride through the bowman and he followed her over, hips stuttering against hers before stilling completely.
They didn't move, letting their heartbeats slow and their breaths even as Daryl felt boneless and hoped he wasn't crushing the smaller woman. But Carol just hummed happily, gently running her hands up his broad back in languid strokes, the sweat slowly drying on their skin. Eventually, the hunter made himself lift his head enough to check on the steely silver haired woman only to find her smiling contentedly. She blinked slowly and ran her fingers through his hair before leaning up enough to kiss him gently, half afraid that he would pull away despite everything. Daryl didn't, however, decision made that he completely belonged to her and would only ever leave her by her explicit order.
"Hey Pookie." Carol brushed her fingers over his cheek and he nuzzled into her palm.
He felt settled in a way he hadn't before, like everything since storming out of the prison was just to get him to that point, where he knew where he finally belonged. "Hey yerself."
"You alright?" She still wanted to make sure he wasn't having a silent internal crisis.
"Never better." Daryl couldn't stop the smile reaching his eyes with the truth.
Carol grinned in returned and wriggled comfortably underneath him. "Good, because I don't want you going anywhere."
The hunter kissed her gently, sweeping the tip of his tongue across her lips before licking into her mouth, a lot more confidently that he had felt before. "Yer wish is my command." He promised. Anything she wanted, he would die to provide.
