Xxx
She gives him fair warning but it doesn't stop the perplexed and not quite disgusted look on his face when it happens.
"I can't help it" she gasps between huffs of laughter, "I don't know why I do it. Something about a release-" she's too close to laughing again, she has to stop talking.
He's stopped pulling the arrow out and its about halfway in, halfway out, and oh, jesus does it hurt.
"That shit ain't normal." He says, shaking his head, "I've been stuck with one of these bastards before and it hurts like a bitch." He looks away as soon as the words have escaped his mouth. Women are usually put off by how much he swears and he looks to the pavement, not wanting to see her smile turn to the judgmental face he's used to receiving. He looks back at her to find she's grinning a wide smile that reveals her sharp canines to him. Her very pink lips are emphasized by the grin somehow but the smile is most clear in her eyes. Her eyes seem huge, wide open, and combined with the arches of her eyebrows they make her look like she's always almost surprised. He finds himself staring for longer then he'd like, looking into those wide eyes which he's realizing in the sunlight are a very light brown, gold, green mix, like they can't decide what color they want to be. Her face is oddly perfect in shade, she's pale but she has rosy pink cheeks and her eyes are lined with- wait.
"You wearin makeup?" he blurts out at her suddenly, squinting, and behind him a few members of the group turn to look.
Lottie makes a face at him, half-amused, half-embarrassed, but the smile in her eyes doesn't go away.
"…yeah. I mean, I guess, like. No. Uh." She gives him a sheepish sort of smile and he huffs in disbelief.
"I just like wearing it, it makes me feel more comfortable, you know? And like. Just because the world has gone to shit doesn't mean I have to LOOK like it." He huffs an almost laugh at that one and misses the shocked expressions of the others of his group at the fact that he's talking to someone, almost laughing with someone. Lottie doesn't miss the looks, but she doesn't mention them. She simply reaches out and touches Daryl's arm for confirmation.
He looks annoyed at her at that, shakes her hand off his arm, his amused expression gone. "Why you keep touchin' me?"
She pulls her hand back quickly, her lips pulling down into a frown but he keeps staring at her expectantly. "Well?" She sighs bitterly, combing a hand through her bangs. She should have known better. Lie or tell the truth? Lie or-
"Don't lie, neither." It comes out just as harsh as the original question and her wide eyes look into his narrowed ones with obvious hurt. Hurt? She's hurt by him asking this? She's surprised at herself again. Maybe she's getting too excited from finding other living humans, she's letting herself relax too much. Why should she care? She doesn't even know him. Why does he care for that matter?
"Just checking to see if you were real." She murmurs and then gives a little smile like it's a joke and he squints at her again. "There's somethin' wrong with you." He grumbles but she can tell it's good-natured again and the smile retakes her face. How right he truly is though, she thinks.
He goes back to pulling the arrow out of her leg after that which sets her back into half giggles and hisses of pain. Once it's finally out she sighs and squeezes her eyes shut, lying back onto the bed of the truck, quickly feeling drained.
"Is it bleeding bad?" She asks tiredly. Daryl picks up her leg and stares at the underside of it for a moment before answering.
"Not too bad."
She makes a hmmm sound and he honestly doesn't know why he's still standing there, toying with the arrow in his hands. He wipes her blood off on his pants and chews at the inside of his cheek.
"Thanks for getting it out." She says softly, reopening her large eyes and sitting back up, beginning to root through her backpack for something.
"Yeah, well...didn't wanna waste the arrow." He mutters. It's true but he didn't have to help her get it out, and he still doesn't know why he's still standing here. Maybe he feels guilty for shooting her, he thinks. He glances at her.
She smiles at him anyways, like he just told her a joke, he rolls his eyes and looks away, then back again. "Why you keep smilin' like that?" It comes out too harsh but he can't take it back.
She pulls a big first aid kit out of her bag and then a little black pouch before replying, "You ask a lot of questions, Daryl. You're usually so quiet, what's gotten into you?" She doesn't make eye contact while she's saying it, instead focusing on getting things out of the first aid kit and for a moment he's sure he dreamed it but then she's looking back up at him, eyebrows raised expectantly in his direction.
"How you know all that?" He narrows his eyes at her. Is she someone he used to know who he's just not recognizing? He feels sure he's never seen her before, he thinks he would remember.
She gives a small smile again, then winces as she carefully lifts her leg onto the tailgate. "I'm attracted to people's personalities, not their appearance. So to tell if I'm attracted to a person, I have to be able to learn about them quickly."
He makes a face at her and she laughs when she glances at him before dabbing antibiotic ointment onto a cotton swab and cleaning out the gash on her leg.
"You sayin' you don't get attracted to people?" He's squinting at her again, toying with the arrow between his index fingers, feeling restless. What was he doing still standing here again?
"No, no, no, I'm just saying that I can't see someone for the first time, know nothing about them and think 'oh god they're good looking!' I have to know about them. About who they are. Personality is what attracts me. Are they smart? Funny? Clever? Interesting? Do they stutter when they're nervous? Are they optimistic? Or realistic? All that kind of thing."
And oh, Daryl thinks, just oh. Because of course this girl that is somehow giving him these stupid fucking butterfly feelings in the pit of his gut is attracted to "personality", which probably makes him the ugliest living person on the planet. Well, his brother might be uglier, if he's still living that is.
She laughs suddenly and reaches out again, touching his neck this time with her small, soft hands and he looks up at her, maybe irritated, maybe confused.
"I'll stop touching you if it really bothers you." She says, in a voice so soft that it's like a whisper, and then she moves her hand away from his neck and continues cleaning out her cut, hissing and huffing quiet laughs at the pain before wrapping it up with gauze.
He watches her unzip the little black pouch and really, he has no idea why he's just standing there at the foot of the truck, watching her go about cleaning her wounds as though it's normal. He commands himself to walk back to his motorcycle without saying a word to her but his body doesn't comply, he's still there at the end of the tailgate, pretending to inspect his bolt when Rick walks up to the truck.
She's reading the label on a little bottle and then sticking a freshly unwrapped needle in the top of it when he appears at the side of the truck. Lottie glances at him and gives a very small, shy smile but says nothing and quickly looks back at the needle.
"How's it goin?" Rick asks in his easy going voice and Daryl suddenly feels jealous of Rick. Of Rick's personality, no less, but Lottie is looking at him and not Rick and Daryl glances back at her confused before answering Rick for her, somehow feeling like it's what he's supposed to do. "Fine, just got it out and cleaned."
Rick nods his head in approval and Lottie is smiling as she taps the needle out. "What's that?" Rick asks, completely curious and Lottie looks to Daryl again but he has no fucking idea what's in the poker or why she has it so he just raises an eyebrow and shrugs at her and she finally looks to Rick.
"Its basically a tetanus shot, to make sure I don't get infected from the arrow or anything." Rick smiles at her and Daryl looks away quickly, suddenly feeling annoyed.
"Where'd you learn to do that?" Lottie gives a little huff of laughter and says, "School, of course. I'm-or I used to be- a registered nurse." Rick gives her a look like he's just noticed her for the first time and Daryl feels himself getting irritated, feels himself getting ready to turn and leave, go back to his bike, go hunting, pace around the cars, scavenging - anything. There's suddenly a hand on his chest and he looks back. Lottie is still looking at Rick but her hand is on Daryl's chest, as though it's normal, as though it's just resting there. He considers moving away but doesn't, wants to see how long she'll leave it there.
"That's interesting, uh-sorry, I don't know I ever got your name?" Rick says suddenly and Lottie smiles shyly back, her hand still on Daryl's chest. "Loretta, but most people call me Lottie."
Rick smiles back and nods, "Alright, Lottie. You being a nurse is…well, we'll call it a miracle really. You don't realize how useful people like you are until the end of the world happens and no one knows how to even handle a fever on their own. Lottie, I need to go talk it over with the rest of the group, but I think it would be great for everyone if you joined us. There's strength in numbers and we could definitely use your skills. In fact, a member of our group cut his arm earlier when a herd of walkers passed by, I'd really appreciate it if you took a look at him for me." He puts his hand on her sweater clad arm and gives her a pleading look. Daryl feels his blood begin to boil. Why's he touching her?
Lottie's hand slides down Daryl's chest and attaches to his arm instead, he narrows his eyes at her.
"I'll be glad to take a look at your friend once I'm all done here. Send him over to me in about ten, fifteen minutes maybe?"
Rick nods and pats her shoulder before he walks away, raising an eyebrow at Daryl as he goes. Daryl backs up from the truck at that look, her hand sliding down his arm as he moves away and then grabbing onto his hand. He frowns and stares at her.
"Don't leave." She says quietly, a small pout forming on her face.
He frowns back at her. "Why not? Don't got no reason to stay over here." He takes another step back and she hops off the truck to keep him from going and only then does he realize-
"Shit, you sure you a nurse? You look like you're in the fifth grade." She shoots him a dirty look but simply says, "Oh, come on, you're not that much taller than me." Daryl snorts at that because, he's probably a foot taller than the woman.
"What are you four feet?" He finds himself joking with her. When was the last time he even smiled at someone? Not since his brother left, he thinks, and not for a long while even before that.
Lottie pouts harder. She's 4'11 and a half but she's not about to admit that.
"I am five feet tall, thank you!"
The way her accent pulls tall into something that sounds more like "toll" makes Daryl smirk.
"And where'd ya get that stupid accent, anyways?"
She grins at him when she notices Rick hailing her over to the little group, standing in a circle in front of the RV. She sighs wearily and suddenly rubs her head against Daryl's shoulder like a cat. He had hardly even acknowledged that she was still holding onto his hand as well. He looks down at her and considers shoving her off but realizes that for some reason, he doesn't really want to. He chews on the inside of his cheek a little more but then she wraps her small arm around his bicep and he walks her over to the group once again feeling like this is just what he's supposed to be doing right now. He tries to shake off the thought but the feeling doesn't fade. She feels familiar to him somehow.
He pushes that thought out of his head. Stupid, mushy, bullshit. Just some dumb girl, anyways. He has the urge to shrug her off him but he settles for glaring at Rick instead. Rick doesn't seem to notice so he glares at Shane afterwards.
"Alright everyone, here she is." Rick says, smiling and holding a hand out like he expects Lottie to come introduce herself to the class. Lottie doesn't. She stays tucked slightly behind Daryl, holding onto his arm, comfortable with knowing he's real when she can't be sure about the rest of them. About any of them, honestly. Rick seems like he doesn't know what to do with his arm when she doesn't go stand beneath it so he awkwardly points to her for a moment before saying "Uh, anyways, this is Lottie. She's a nurse and like I said before I think she'd be more than useful to have around. She was the one who found Sophia, when me and Daryl came up on them Lottie was walking her back to the highway. Giving her a place in the group is something that I think would be good for all of us, but I want to extend the invitation purely for the fact that she saved Sophia." Sophia's mother held her close at this, she still looked like she was going to explode into tears at any moment. Lottie frowns, she can't even imagine what the woman must have been going through while her daughter was in the forest.
Another man to Rick's right and Sophia's left spoke up then. Fairly tall, bulkier build, muscular, equal to Rick? Co-leader of the group? Also a cop, holster for his gun, short hair, stern expression, "man in charge" kind of attitude. Rick is a sheriff, this guy is a cop. Her brain whirs around and she strains to hear what he's saying over it.
"All I mean is we don't know that she can pull her weight, Rick. Just because she can clean up a cut doesn't mean that she's useful or that we should put ourselves at risk to help her. Anyone can clean out a wound."
Lottie isn't sure if she should feel annoyed or hurt by his distrust so she says nothing, simply stares at him. Daryl's annoyed by it though, obvious in the reddening of his face and his muscles tensing beneath her fingers. She looks up at him.
"You won't be sayin' that when you get your stupid ass shot." Daryl shoots out quickly.
"What's it to you, redneck!?" Shane fires back.
Lottie watches with mild interest as the two begin firing insults at each other until Rick eventually breaks it up.
"Lottie, I hate to ask this, I don't think its anyone's favorite subject, but have you killed a walker before?"
Lottie stares at him for a moment, opens her mouth slightly but then looks up to Daryl who nods at her like it's safe for her to answer this and she nods back to him, feeling reassured. He doesn't realize how much help he's been to her already. When she looks back to Rick she can't help but notice the looks that the rest of the group are shooting each other at her and Daryl's interaction and her mouth slides into a small slant.
"I assume by walkers, you mean the undead, and yes, I've killed….more than a few. I've killed… I want to say nearly 200 now." Daryl peers down at her like he just found her attached to him suddenly there. The rest of the group gapes at her like she's gone insane. Well. Like they've found out that she's gone insane. She shudders at that thought.
"You gotta be kiddin' me." Shane says, shaking his head.
Lottie frowns at him.
"Uh, well," Rick shakes his head just once in disbelief, "considering she was out there in the forest by herself, I think she can pull her own weight. What do you think?"
Shane snorts and seems like he's about to say something particularly distasteful when Daryl all but growls at him, his hands curled tightly into fists at his sides. The group is staring at him now.
"You know, Dixon, I thought you were an antisocial little redneck but I guess as soon as a piece of ass comes into the picture you get more whipped than a horse in a stable, don't ya?" Daryl surges forward like he's going to punch him and it knocks Lottie off balance, forcing her weight onto her hurt leg and she lets out a squeak before falling onto the ground. Daryl stops his movement and looks down, the whole group is watching him intently, even Rick.
Daryl looks a little lost at first, like he's not sure if he should bend down and see if she's okay or if he should storm off somewhere. His foot is angled towards his bike, he's itching to walk away from this whole damn thing... but then she looks up to him with her stupidly big eyes and she gives him a sheepish, little smile like "whoops, clumsy me" and Daryl bends down and pulls her back up, letting her latch back onto his arm. He turns to look at Shane and then at Rick.
"She's stayin'." is his final word on the matter, and then he walks her back to the bed of the pickup truck, her hand still grasping onto his arm.