The instant she breathed in the frigid night air, Jasmine sighed softly. There was so much empty space, as if it were endless, and thus she was thoroughly satisfied. The lack of claustrophobia allowed her to loosen up. Jasmine loved group sit-downs, but sometimes she needed a breather - she preferred the outdoors. She hoisted the rifle's strap up over her shoulder, and knelt, observing the disturbances that Daryl's boots had left. The distant flk of a match being lit hit the air, which caused her to curl her lip. The soft glow of a flame caught her attention, lingering by the treeline on the slope facing in her direction, before being snuffed out.
Jasmine quietly walked down the hill, careful as to where she put her feet. Her scarf swayed gracefully in the still night air, and her eyes scanned the surrounding nature scenery that was bathed in silver light from the moon. "I thought you didn't have any more cigarettes," she said, sounding rather similar to Carol. She couldn't help but take on her motherly mannerisms at times. "Carol will shove those up your ass if she catches you, y'know.." Daryl's frame straightened from where it had been leaning against the trunk of one of firs, a cloud of smoke lazily drifting from his lips. "Well, I'm not worried," Daryl replied, his gravely voice giving her some kind of odd comfort.
With all this talk of possibly losing some of the group, Jasmine was beginning to feel her worst fears slowly approaching like the tension of a summer night before a storm. The fresh air, kicking about with Daryl for the first time in a while - the little things gave her a bit more courage. The frozen ground was hard beneath her feet. Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, Jasmine shook her head as she was passed the cigarette. "Not tonight," she said softly. "Rick will end my existence."
Daryl still pressed, raising his brows in a smug look. She wanted to slap that expression right off his face. Wrinkling her nose, she gave in and took the cigarette from him, bringing it to her lips. As she inhaled, the familiar intoxicating burn seared her lungs. Once she knew her lungs were filled, Jasmine allowed the smoke to exit her lips, quickly caught by the wind and disappearing into the inky shadows. Jasmine then handed it back to Daryl, who took a quick drag and then allowed the cigarette to sit lazily in his mouth. "Are you taking the crow's nest tonight?" she inquired, gesturing with a gentle swoop of her head toward the resort. At the very top was the attic-like storage compartment, a single window and its seat, always armed with a sniper-rifle for quick kills.
Jasmine was glad that Sasha had found the silencers, given that the loud crack of a gun would echo through the hills like a dinner bell for the Walkers. The cold air began to nip at her skin. That's right, she hadn't brought her coat. Daryl leaned back against the tree and slid down, sitting down abruptly with an inaudible thump. Jasmine decided to follow in suit, and sat down on the cold, hard ground, looking up at the sky with Daryl. Silence filled the air. "I think that settin' traps further out could be a bad decision," Daryl suddenly admitted.
Jasmine blinked and turned her green eyes in his direction. "Really?"
"Hm.."
"I thought that you and Rick decided that together?"
"Wasn't what we agreed on before. I told him it might be a bad idea... Rick didn't listen. Guess he changed his mind."
Jasmine frowned and turned her eyes up toward the blank inky sky. "Hm.."
"I don't know... I just have a bad feelin'," Daryl finished, shifting and fiddling with the end of one of his arrows.
It was clear out. There were thin wisps of cloud here and there, but the stars shown just as bright as the moon. It was similar to the evening that Daryl had brought her to the original camp. Exhausted from carrying Jasmine all the way on his back, Daryl had set her down safely and fell back onto the log next to her, letting out a groan. Carol had tended to her, fussing over the archer's cuts and bruises not long after. Jasmine had been disoriented and confused, but allowed them to poke and prod and inspect her. She had needed stitches, and Daryl had been there next to her, gripping her arm to keep her still and distract her, covering her mouth to muffle her cries. She had squirmed, struggling to keep her voice down as the needle punctured her skin. Jasmine had bit down on Daryl's finger a few times, but he hadn't even flinched.
The green-eyed girl silently sat there as she reminisced, brows furrowed and her eyes upon the rolling hills. The thick swath of treetops in the distance were nothing but one big shadow, occasionally illuminated by the moon. The soothing rhythmic sound of Daryl's breathing brought her back to reality. Her eyes found themselves wandering back over to his shadowed face. "What was Alexandria like?" Jasmine inquired curiously.
In reaction, he turned his head to her to give her once-over, then back down to his arrow. "Safe, happy.. as close to perfect as things get," he answered, nodding softly. "Until the raid. It was flipped upside down, walkers got in... people were gettin' bit left, right, and center."
His eyes turned up to look at the dark canvas above and Jasmine nodded, understanding. Everybody in the group knew all too well how quickly things could go south when a walker was introduced within a community. Since day one, Jasmine couldn't remove the image of a little boy tearing into his mother like a savage, hungry animal. The blood, the cries - these thoughts all bounced off the walls of her mind like a whistle traveling through a cavern. Daryl finished his cigarette and used the tip of his arrow to create a divot in the frozen earth. He snuffed the smoldering ember out and then scuffed dirt over his stubbed smoke.
Jasmine decided to stand, swinging the rifle over her shoulder and then looking off toward the clearing at the base of the hill. "You know, you should tell Rick how you feel.." she told Daryl. She turned her head to him with a frown upon her face. He simply glanced up at her, a fairly sharp glare in his eyes. "You shouldn't have to keep your opinion to yourself..."
Daryl turned his gaze down and shook his head slowly. Finally, he said, "My opinion don't mean nothin'. Rick has made decisions just fine without me around.." The archer looked up at her, his jaw set.
Jasmine's frustration caused her to grip the strap of her gun a bit tighter. He was always so passive and vague. He always just brushed everything off, and he hardly ever spoke about how he felt. Jasmine wasn't sure whether he felt anything. "Don't talk like that. I hate how you always just slink off into the shadows like some sort of wounded animal, acting as if nothing matters," she began. She pivoted and turned, pacing slowly away as she spoke, gesturing with her hands. "Everyone has noticed how you've withdrawn yourself. You're becoming a stranger and we all hate it!" She turned on her heels to face him, still looking up at her with his unrelenting gaze.
Jasmine could see it in his eyes- he was beginning to become displeased with her rambling. "Everyone wants you here, everybody cares about you Daryl. You can go on thinking you don't matter as much as you'd like, but I've heard what people say about you. Carol is practically up every night until you come back to the lodge, and she tells me things Daryl..." Jasmine looked down at him, swinging her outstretched hand in a gesture toward the resort as she spoke about Carol. Jasmine began to feel her frustration turning into anger. Her blood was beginning to boil and heart was pounding, to a point where it caused her chest to ache. Daryl simply looked up at her, calculating.. her emotions were beginning to run wild. "You act as if everything is fine up in your head, but you can't bear to think about what happened. It kills you every day," she continued. "Ever since what happened to Beth, you've been isolating yourself and its scaring Carol. You-"
Daryl finally stood to his feet and strode forward. He was up in her face in an instant. "What else do you think you know about me, huh?" he yelled. "You have only been with us for maybe two months and you think you have everyone figured out?"
Jasmine clenched her teeth. "I've have taken the time to listen to others and be a part of this group. I'm not the one leaving for the whole day, all alone, without warning!" Daryl opened his mouth to speak, but was cut short as she continued.
"How about whenever you don't have to be out there? Or when you take your fucking bike?" Jasmine snapped. "I don't know where you go, but we somehow always end up one man short."
"You -"
"You aren't made of stone, Daryl!" Jasmine came closer, as if challenging him to continue to attempt to prove her wrong. Bracing her shoulders, she kept her head up in order to make herself look more brave than she really was.
"You need to learn t' stop sticking your nose where it don't belong!" Daryl snarled, stepping forward and nudging against her, causing her to stumble back a few steps. Jasmine stood her ground as he attempted to make himself look more threatening. His voice dropped, his frigid grey-blue eyes cutting into her. "I don't need no prissy bitch like you tellin' me what to do, and no one else here does either!"
"Hey!" Stirring due to the commotion, Rick and Carol both appeared up on the front porch of the resort. The leader had his left hand placed on his gun as he jogged over to the two. Jasmine curled her lip and swung, but Rick pushed his way between the two. Daryl had prepared himself for impact, ready for a fight, but was brought to a halt by Rick's strong hand.
"I don't know what's goin' on here, but this needs to stop," he stressed, his eyes flickering nervously from one to the other. "Your voices could draw attention to this place and we could end up in a bad situation." Carol finally found her way over, and scuttled up beside Daryl.
As soon as she reached over to touch his forearm, the archer angrily pulled away and stormed away from the others, up to the resort.
[Author's Note:] Damn, that was intense. Their first argument in a long while. Poor Jasmine, she just doesn't understand. The threat of hitting her is strong here, yet he doesn't get a chance to show that he has the balls to do it. It's actually quite funny. Do you think he would have struck Jasmine? Honestly, in my opinion, I don't think I could ever see that happening. It would hurt both Jasmine and Daryl (even if they aren't completely on good terms).
Thank you for reading! Enjoy~
