A/N I wrote this for the TWD story cubes. Here's the cubes I had to use. Magic wand, Hand, Teepee, Light bulb, Keyhole, Happy face, Fire, Alien, then… I guess I got a rainbow? Dusty-Cookie thought maybe it was someone peeing on a gummy bear, so we'll go with that, too. This is written from RM's POV. My OC from Beautiful Tragedy.
I plop down right on Daryl's head after numerous failed attempts to wake him. "Double D's, fuck-a-doodle-doo and wake the shit up!"
"You best get off me right now!"
"Or what?"
He grunts, shoving me.
"You're like Oscar the Grouch. Smelly and grumpy."
"I smell? When's the last time you had a wash?"
"Do you even know what a wash is? Wake up. You know the dumpy Savior leader ain't gonna be happy if he has to wait too long on us."
Daryl rubs the sleep from his eyes. "What do you waste your time with Negan for? You know how many good people died because of that asshole?"
"Look, if I could wave some magic wand and make all this shit go away, I would. We ain't never gonna agree so just drop it. Now, get up, or I'm going to throw your knife in the creek." I've never seen Daryl snap at me before but he loses his shit. "Sorry, damn, bite my head off. You used to be so much fun when we were younger."
He swipes it from my hand. "Well, some of us had to grow up."
"I know things aren't always strippers and rainbows, but that's no reason to be in a fucking shit mood all the time."
"I ain't in a shit mood all the time. You got no right touchin' my things."
"It's just a fucking knife!"
"It's all I got left of her!"
His tone frightens me as I take a step away from him.
Daryl's eyebrows push upward as it chokes him up. "I didn't mean to raise my voice."
I've never seen Daryl like this before. Merle used to do some pretty fucked up shit to him, but Daryl looks so distraught right now. "Did Negan… kill her?" Daryl tells me about some degenerate police officer that shot this girl Beth in the head. How it fucked him up, and he wasn't sure if he'd come back from it or not. "You will come back from it. Just takes time is all."
"You don't know shit."
"I know about losing someone." I met Daryl when he was given a job as a mechanic at Madsen's motorcycle shop. Madsen was fucking everything to me until I lost him a few years ago. I didn't want to tell Daryl because I knew it would upset him. Madsen was something stable in his life because Merle was too high on meth to give a shit.
"I'm sorry, RM. Madsen was a good guy."
"I'm sorry about Beth."
"I'm sure Madsen is lookin' out for her," he smiles.
Fuck, my eyes are sweaty. I look away from him before I do something stupid like cry.
"Let me take a piss first and we'll go."
I cover our small fire with some of the surrounding dirt when I realize Daryl didn't leave camp to take care of his business. "Way to go, dingus! There's an entire forest but you drain your radiator right on my gummy bears."
"I know," he snickers. "Come on now."
The walk back to Sanctuary starts to become shorter every time because a part of me really misses it at Alexandria. Maybe it's also because they have electricity there. The only thing a lightbulb in Sanctuary does is collect dust. Or they're used as target practice.
Negan paces back and forth in front of Sanctuary's gates. He's made quite a rut in the dirt from it, and that's even after his attempts to kick the dirt back in place. He must be embarrassed by it.
It doesn't matter how many times I leave and come back, I'm still nervous about these exchanges. I don't know what is going to come from Negan's mouth to rile up Daryl. Luckily, this one ends peacefully. I wait until Daryl is in the distance before I approach Negan.
"Pfff, you have fun with Darylina and the fuck around gang?"
Heh, Merle used to call Daryl Darylina. "Yeah, come to think of it, I'm going back with him-" The wind is knocked out of me when I'm yanked back against the dumpy fuck.
Worn leather sleeves wrap tightly around me. "I fucking hate it when you leave," he murmurs.
I wish this side of him wasn't reserved just for me. That when Daryl's people talk about what a monster Negan is, they could see that there is so much more. Negan would do anything to protect his people. Though, to be fair, it took me a long time to realize that. I used to cringe at whatever poor fuck's innards would still be wound around Lucille when he got home. He might have done unspeakable things, but he's always had a reason. Always for the greater good. Never for pleasure. I tuck myself away against his shirt until this embrace takes a turn to chubsville. "Gross! Get your teepee off me!"
"Come on, bitch. Little Negan missed you."
"I'm sure the second I left your rusty lock pick was all up in the first keyhole it could find."
"It ain't that small," he frowns.
"My point exactly."
He fishes something out of the inside of his jacket. "Maybe you'll change your mind when you see what I got you." Hanging off his fingers are a pair of alien stockings.
"Get the fuck out of here!" I snatch these beauties from his hand. They're so fucking cute! "Fuck you, dumpy."
His lip coils upward. "Fuck you, too, bitch."