requested by anon on tumblr! prompts were "grinding" and "first kiss" :) hmu on tumblr if you want a drabble or ficlet written! link is in my bio, or you can just go to thatsmygvn haha
"Did you play video games before?"
Of all the questions he could have asked, Daryl was not expecting that one.
They were one week into a two-week long run, surrounded by at least a half dozen walkers. Daryl's quiver was running alarmingly low and at least half of Jesus's many knives were embedded in the skulls of the fallen dead, but still more came.
And yet Jesus continued.
"Taking down all the dead makes me feel like," and he paused for a second, breath coming in short as he kicked down a pair of walkers before burying his heel in one of their skulls and his blade in the other's, before finishing, "I'm grinding for some massive boss level or something."
As Daryl took out the final walker, he turned to look at Jesus, an incredulous look on his face. "The fuck are you going on about?"
Jesus snorted. "Well, I guess that answers my question," he muttered to himself. Then he shrugged, smiling at Daryl. "If you know you're going to go against a hard boss, you take out as many smaller enemies as you possibly can as many times as you can so you can level up faster."
"Uh huh," Daryl muttered, collecting his bolts from the corpses at his feet and wiping the gray matter off as best he could. "So who do you reckon the big boss is?" he asked.
Pocketing his knives, Jesus's grin dimmed. They both knew the answer to the question - Negan, with his never ending army, ever-present body guards, and supply of weapons; Negan with an impenetrable compound and a system where he is always in the know.
They fell into an uncomfortable silence as they replaced their weapons and surveyed the dead around them.
Then, with all the resolution of a true fighter, Jesus bounded forward, cupped his hands on either side of Daryl's jaw, and kissed the shorter man. It lasted for only a second before it was over and Jesus pulled away, turning around only a split second later.
"We're going up against the Boss soon," Jesus said. "I don't want to have any regrets when we do."
