Hi all - thanks for encouraging me to continue this. I'm weaving it in with Merle and Beth connect, so for the full effect read both!

Good Hair Day

Clearing the tombs took days of hard work. They worked in shifts of three; first Daryl, Merle and Maggie then Glen, Rick and Carol. The corpses piled up as they methodically made their way forward and secured the cleared areas with blockades. Cellblock B was the first that they tackled, and once it was empty they found lots of cells, an office, and a purpose room. Carol inspected the room gleefully. There was a cushioned metal chair set into the floor and the back wall was set with a sink and cabinets. There were mirrors on two walls and a large hand mirror on the counter. A cylindrical glass container contained blue fluid and combs. Carol turned, a wide smile on her face. In one hand she held a battery operated set of hair clippers, in the other a pair of barber scissors. "Haircut time", she announced with victory gleaming on her face.

The message was circulated that haircuts would commence for all the next day. Carol had always cut Ed and Sophia's hair, and while not an expert, was relatively skillful with scissors. She set up a chair in the kitchen in a place that gave good light and found an old sheet to use for a drape. First up was Rick. She wetted her fingers and ran it through his curly hair. "How do you want it?" she asked. Rick smiled. "Honestly I couldn't care less," he laughed, tickled for once to answer a trivial question. She smiled and tilted his chin up, looking at his face. His eyes were so blue and he had a fine jaw. How could Lori have ever cheated on him?

She trimmed his brown curls and looked at his beard. "Do you want to keep this?" she asked. "Easier than shavin'", he replied. She trimmed his beard closely and shaped it with a razor. She rubbed his neck for a few minutes and he sighed deeply, dropping his head and closing his eyes. Then pulled the drape off. She showed him his reflection in the mirror and he laughed. "I live," he joked and kissed her on the cheek on the way out.

She worked her way down the line. Carl was easy, straight bangs and trim all around. Michonne just widened her eyes in dissent making Carol laugh. Maggie and Beth were the picky ones. Carol struggled to trim Beth's exactly as she wanted it around her face, and Maggie was insistent that hers be shortened but kept flippy with layers. She finished theirs with a neck rub and the girls followed Rick's lead, kissing her when she finished.

Hershel enjoyed the ministrations the most. He declined a ponytail trim but allowed her to comb his hair thoroughly. He asked for a beard trim so she combed it and trimmed it to his specifications. He sat with his eyes closed enjoying the luxury. She gave him an extra long neck rub and planted a kiss on his cheek when she was done. It felt so good to give her family these simple pleasures.

Carol sighed. Glen and the Dixon brothers were left and all were all out on watch. 'What joy is to come', she thought. Merle barreled into the kitchen first, looking for dinner. "Dinner's almost ready," said Carol, motioning to the chair. "It's your turn." Merle grinned like a wolf and sat down in the chair. Carol wetted her fingers and worked them through his scalp to even out the cropped hair. He leaned back to connect his eyes with hers and moaned in pleasure. "Man could get used to that", he said huskily, running his tongue around his mouth. Carol looked at him steadily. "Do you just want a trim Merle?" she sighed. "Yeah", he drawled slowly, "I shore could use a little trim," gazing at Beth who had appeared in the doorway. Beth blushed and walked to the stove to check on dinner. Merle laughed.

Carol pulled out the clippers and started to buzz cut him. "Be nice Merle", she cautioned, "or I'll tell people that you have curly hair." Merle snorted, noticing Glen in the doorway. "That one's easy," he said. "Just put a rice bowl on his head and trim around th'edge!" Merle laughed at his own joke heartily. Glen bristled, "Fuck you Merle!"

Merle turned his attention back to Carol who was standing in front of him to get the front of his scalp. He looked at her breasts hanging in front of his face. "Thems perkier than what I remember at the quarry. Get a little closer and I'll trick or treat, darlin'", he said, clearly enjoying the audience. He continued, intentionally looking at Daryl who was now in the doorway. "Show ya what yer missin with my little brother." Daryl was about to reply when Carol whipped the sheet off Merle's shoulders. He looked at her in surprise. "I heard they was neck rubs," he complained. Carol snapped the drape to get rid of the loose hair and said dismissively, "You're done. Stay classy Merle". He stood up and grumbled something under his breath as he brushed past her.

Glen stepped up and she finished trimming his straight black hair in minutes then rubbed the knots out of his neck. "Thanks Carol, feels great," he said, kissing her on the cheek like the others. Daryl looked at her like a caged animal and sidled in the doorway. She swept up the hair on the floor, ignoring him. Gradually he put his crossbow down and made his way to the chair. She threw the sheet over her shoulders and he bristled.

"Do you want it the way it was at the quarry?" she asked, remembering that how short the top was. Daryl's eyes shifted. "Longer," he replied. She dampened his hair and tried to work the comb through the knots, which turned out to be an involved job. Finally she had all the knots out and looked at the ends. My god he's as hard on his hair as he is his clothes, she thought. There were sticks and leaves and spots where it had obviously been snagged and torn. She had a hard time trying to find any discernable pattern from his previous haircut. She must have sighed because he bristled and barked "Well?"

She silently started, deciding on a pattern and giving him the mirror to monitor her progress. "Not so goddamned short", he snapped when she got close to his limit. He didn't mind Carol touching him but he didn't like sittin here on display like some circus freak, everybody starin at him. She had him check out the front and back and he nodded in assent. She started on his beard, trimming it close to his face. Then she pulled out a razor and started straightening up the lines - as long as he was sitting for it she might as well go all the way. He humphed when he looked in the mirror, which she took for approval.

Finally, she pulled the scissors out, time for nose hairs. "Get them fucking scissors out my face," he protested, backing up in the chair. She looked at him like she would a complaining child. "You need to do it all," she said. He glared at her. "Y'aint stickin' them things in my nose," he said huffily. She crossed her arms. "Well maybe you need it," she countered. He glared at her. "Aint nobody lookin' up my nose," he snorted. She crossed her arms. "I look up your nose every day," she said. He shifted uncomfortably in the chair. He was reaching his limit and was about ready to run to the woods. "Aint nuthin wrong with it," he warned.

Carol stood in front of him, arms crossed in front of her midsection. "I'm shorter than you and I'm with you all the time," she said finally. "What exactly do you think I see every day?" Daryl glowered at her. Beth turned, still stirring the stew. "It's true," she assured Daryl. "All of us that are shorter than you look right up your nose." She gave him a sweet smile. Merle guffawed.

Daryl stood up abruptly and swiped the scissors out of Carol's hand in one angry motion. He grabbed the mirror and stalked off to the restroom. About 10 minutes later he emerged, passages clear. "Perfect," Carol beamed at him. He swore under his breath and went to his cell to await dinner.

That night people began bedding down and extinguishing lights. Carol finished up in the kitchen and moved into the cellblock. She padded up the stairs to Daryl's cell and found him sitting in a chair repairing a hole in the knife sheath he regularly wore on his belt. He looked up to see her there. "Hey," he said. She leaned against the doorframe. "I came to inspect my work," she smiled. She studied him. "Looks pretty snazzy I think." He softly snorted, dropping his eyes briefly. "Something missing though," she continued.

He raised his eyebrows at her in question. She smiled. "You missed the neck rub. Standard part of a haircut." He half smiled at her. "Not where I got mine done," he sniffed, thinking back to the plastic chair in a garage where the guy's sister gave haircuts either for five bucks or meth. Carol looked at him smugly. "I saw your hair then," she said. "I think you went to a butcher shop instead." He laughed.

She entered the room and positioned herself behind the chair. She gently laid her hands on his shoulders. His shirt was worn and soft, muscles firm underneath. She had learned that to touch him you had to move gradually. He twitched and she gave it a few seconds before she moved her hands to his neck. She started to work the muscles, which knotted and rose under her fingers. She leaned forward and said in a teasing tone, "You're supposed to relax." Daryl blew a breath full of air out of his lungs and consciously dropped his shoulders. He concentrated on breathing slowly, glaring at the floor.

She started high, working at the base of his skull then moving down to knead the sides of his neck. Tight doesn't even describe this she thought. She had him tilt his head one way then the next and rubbed the cords of his neck to lengthen them. She grunted as she dug in, finally making some progress. Then she worked her way to where his neck met his shoulders. "Relax," she ordered and he concentrated on dropping his shoulders again. She pushed into the knots, rubbing them into submission. "Am I hurting you?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "No," he said. She moved back to where she had started and followed her original course to make sure all the worst knots were gone. She smiled when she noticed that he had dropped his head forward and his eyes were closed.

She couldn't help herself from widening her hands out to work the firm muscles that connected his shoulders to his neck. He felt so good under her hands and she wanted to rub every part of him. She realized that she was panting and that she was really hot downstairs. It would be so easy to slide her hands under the shirt and run her nails across his chest. She fantasized about throwing him on the bed and mounting him. Oh Carol, you've got to get out of here now, she said to herself. She mentally shook herself and gently slapped her hands on his shoulders. "If you want any more than that you have to buy me dinner," she joked.

He raised his head and opened his eyes sleepily. Once he had settled into it he had marveled at the feel of her hands on him. He'd never had a massage before. As she worked her way down he had just wanted her to keep going. Blood had pumped into his groin as she tenderly worked his shoulders. He thought about her leaning her chest into him and sliding her hands into the front of his pants. Then it was over.

Carol moved towards the door and called airily over her shoulder, "I'll take a rain check on the kiss." She smiled widely at him then moved down the stairs. Later that night the air in the cellblock was punctuated with the stifled moans of each of them pleasuring themselves to what the massage could have been.

Maybe a little smuttay...more to come :)