AN: This is it for me for the night. Long work day today and long days ahead so I'm only writing at night for a while. I did want to try to get you something out in the little bit of free time that I do have, though.
I'll give a little warning. This isn't too bad, I don't think at least, but I'm tired and my judgment may be a little clouded. Therefore I'll say that it may be a little explicit or something since it's something like Intro to Sex Ed with Alice. (Though this version of Alice is, perhaps, not exactly the same as the Alice we meet in Phantom Hearts…at least not yet…?) So…I don't know…do with that what you will and skip the chapter if you're feeling sensitive about sexual things.
I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think!
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Daryl wasn't really sure what they were supposed to do about the night before or if they were supposed to do anything at all. When he'd gotten in from watch he'd gone directly to bed but couldn't sleep. He was too busy fretting over what the hell had happened.
It almost seemed like a dream to him right now…like he wasn't even sure that it happened and he didn't have any concrete evidence that it had.
After all this time, had Carol really just come to him in the watch tower and been out of her clothes and offering herself up to him like that? He knew it was real, but his brain was arguing that it hadn't been, or that she hadn't meant to do it.
And what would everyone else say if they were to find out about it? Everyone knew about Maggie and Glenn, they'd known about them for a while, and of course Rick and Lori were married. But what would everyone say if they knew that Daryl had sex with Carol in the watch tower?
Since he wasn't sleeping, Daryl had gone to breakfast with the rest of them. He'd been kind of nervous that they would know what happened. He almost expected it to be something like a sixth sense. They'd smell it on him or on Carol or something and he'd be expected to answer for what the hell they'd done. Maybe they'd even be pissed off at him for having sex with Carol when he knew he wasn't the kind of person that was good enough for her.
No one had seemed to notice, though, or if they did they didn't say anything. Daryl wasn't sure how to act with Carol either. Was he supposed to act differently? He sure as shit wasn't going to be all like Glenn was with Maggie and assume that just because they'd had sex he had to follow her around like some damn little pup.
So he'd chosen not to say or do anything at all. Maybe he could read from her what the hell he was supposed to do…or maybe she'd do something and he could just sort of copy whatever the hell it was. But she hadn't acted any differently either. When he'd passed through the line she'd smiled at him the same soft smile that she usually did and offered him a plate…not even asking why the hell he wasn't sleeping or anything.
Daryl took his plate and made his way to the table, sitting down with T-Dog and Rick.
"Didn't you have watch last night, man?" T-Dog asked.
"Yeah, why?" Daryl asked, wondering if he'd been found out.
"Why the hell aren't you sleeping?" T-Dog asked. "Hell if I could stay up all night and bother coming down here just for some oatmeal."
Daryl chuckled a little, glad that it seemed that T-Dog hadn't detected anything about last night's occurrences.
"Just ain't tired," Daryl said. "Ain't got watch tonight, though, so I reckon I'll sleep then. What's the plan for the day?"
"Working on them generators," T-Dog said. "Pretty close to getting everything up and running, I think. Still think we need to make a run soon, though, see if we can't find some back ups in case those go out."
"Bad condition?" Rick asked.
"Well, not the best," T-Dog said. "Doesn't matter too much if they're just powering random stuff around the prison, but Alice wants to make sure that the ones we use to power the part where she's using those offices are dependable."
Daryl glanced in Rick's direction. By now it was pretty common knowledge that Lori probably wasn't going to have this baby normally, and Rick was putting his trust in the loud mouthed brunette and assuming that she would be able to pull off surgery in the prison. Daryl wasn't sure what he would have thought about it if he were Rick. She was supposed to be a doctor…but it wasn't like they had any real damn proof other than her word on the matter.
"We can set up a run to go out tomorrow," Rick said, paying far more attention to his plate than he had to. "I'll talk to Alice today. I know she wanted to try to find some more things while we were out. I'll see if we can't get a list. Daryl, maybe you and I could go out tomorrow morning?"
Rick glanced at Daryl and Daryl shrugged in response.
"Fine with me," Daryl responded. "Ain't like I had plans or nothin'."
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Daryl had come to help T-Dog with the work that he was doing, but basically it boiled down to him standing around watching. T-Dog knew what he was doing and Daryl would have been more or less following instructions. He could tinker on cars and bikes pretty well, but he didn't know shit about some of the stuff that his friend was working on…and it looked like T-Dog wasn't too concerned with whether or not he helped. So Daryl stayed out of the way for the most part and handed T-Dog tools when he asked for them to feel like he was at least doing something besides wasting time.
"Yo T! How they hanging?" Alice announced, busting into the room. T-Dog didn't respond, but Daryl glanced in the woman's direction. Nearly every time she came into a room she seemed to feel the need to make some kind of big damn entrance.
Alice walked over and stood in front of Daryl, her hands on her hips and her head cocked to the side. She watched him for a minute until he started to grow uncomfortable under her gaze.
"What the fuck ya starin' at?" Daryl asked.
"I need you a minute," Alice said.
"What for?" Daryl asked.
"Need help with something…in my office," Alice said. "You fit the bill just about right."
Before Daryl could protest that he was busy or he just didn't feel like going and doing whatever the hell it was that she wanted done, Alice turned around and faced T-Dog who was still working and not paying them much attention at all.
"Can you spare him?" Alice asked. When T-Dog didn't answer, she raised her voice and it echoed through the room, bouncing off the concrete walls. "Yo! T! Can you spare Daryl?"
"Yeah, whatever," came T-Dog's flippant response.
Daryl sighed and got up from the piece of the floor that he was holding down. He followed Alice through the prison not speaking a word. As soon as they got to the offices that she now considered "hers", he let her lead him through the door.
Alice closed the door behind them and pointed at a chair that she'd drug in there.
"Have a seat," she said.
"What do ya need?" Daryl asked.
"Have a fucking seat," Alice said.
Daryl sighed and shook his head. He sat down.
"Gimme a cigarette," Alice said, holding out her hand.
Daryl sucked his teeth. Alice was a cigarette mooch.
"Why don't'cha find ya own damn cigarettes?" Daryl asked, taking out his pack and offering her one, plucking one out for himself.
They weren't easy to come by and often times the best he could do was rolling his own from tobacco that was sometimes stale and hopefully hadn't suffered any kind of "contamination" or "damage" during the time since this whole damn crisis had happened.
"I will…next time Rick lets me out of the gates on a run," Alice said. "Besides, it's not like it's good for you to smoke all of them. I'm helping your ass."
Daryl rolled his eyes.
"What the fuck ya want? I was busy," Daryl said.
"Oh yeah," Alice said, dragging a chair over to sit in front of him. "I saw how busy your ass was."
She paused a minute to light the cigarette she'd acquired.
"You and me need to have a little talk. Man to man," Alice said.
Daryl chuckled a little.
"Would, but'cha ain't no man," Daryl said.
Alice chuckled.
"No…you got me there. But I'll bet you the rest of that pack of cigarettes that I've gotten more pussy than you have," Alice said.
Daryl looked at her. Alice smiled.
"Now that I've got your attention…humor me. How many women…no…how many times have you had sex before, Daryl?" Alice asked.
"Fuck you!" Daryl spat. "I ain't talkin' 'bout this shit with you!"
Alice laughed.
"I'm guessing…counting last night…once? Twice? Maybe three?" Alice asked.
So Carol had told Alice about last night.
Daryl chose not to respond. He was considering just getting up and leaving the woman sitting there alone. It was obvious that she didn't really need his help and had only called him in to be a pain in the ass.
"Here's the deal, Daryl," Alice said. "Do you know why lesbian sex is so damn good?"
Daryl stared at her.
"Don't reckon it's too damn good at all," Daryl said. "Ain't even got all the fuckin' parts."
Alice chuckled and slapped him on the knee.
"See! That's what the hell I like about your ignorant ass!" Alice declared. "You're not afraid to show it!"
"You're a bitch," Daryl said.
"Always am," Alice said. "I'll tell you why, Daryl…it's so damn good because there's nothing like a woman to know what the hell to do to make a woman's body feel good. You see…we don't have to figure out what all the bells and whistles are. We already know. All we've got to figure out is what's your favorite combination."
"Gotta point here or ya just skippin' down memory lane?" Daryl asked.
Alice smiled at him again. She finished the cigarette in her hand and crushed the butt out on the floor with her shoe before looking at him again and leaning toward him a little.
"Do you like Carol?" Alice asked. "Or am I just wasting my time? Because if I'm wasting my fucking time with you I could go and get on shit and let you do whatever the hell it is you do."
Daryl narrowed his eyes at the woman.
"Because she really cares about you, Daryl," Alice said. "I've already had that in my life…the really caring about someone…the really giving a shit about every damn little thing about them…and I won't get that again. No matter how damn much I ever cared about her, there'd always be that one piece that I couldn't offer her…and she deserves that piece. But…if you're not man enough to give it to her then I'll sure as shit give what I can to take the place of it. Up to you."
Daryl looked at Alice. He didn't know if he was man enough to give Carol what the hell Alice was proposing. He cared about her…he cared about her more than he really had cared about anyone. He cared about his brother…who may or may not be alive somewhere…but caring about Carol had been different. She was a whole different kind of person, and it was something he didn't entirely understand.
He would have argued, though, if he'd cared to argue with this woman, that he wasn't good enough for Carol. He stopped himself though, because he certainly wasn't going to tell some skinny ass little brunette that he wasn't man enough to beat her out on something.
"What the fuck ya gotta say?" Daryl asked.
"So you're going to listen?" Alice asked.
Daryl nodded his head slightly.
"I'ma listen," he said. "Ain't sayin' I'ma pay ya a damn bit a' attention if I think ya blowin' hot air out'cha ass, but I'ma listen."
Alice smiled and sat back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest.
"How many times have you had sex before?" Alice asked.
"How many times have you had sex before?" Daryl countered.
Alice smiled and raised her eyebrows at him. She blew out a breath and looked at the ceiling.
"Hell, I don't know…" she said. "I don't think I can count that high."
"Pretty damn cocky," Daryl said.
Alice shook her head.
"It's not being cocky if it's true," Alice said. "I had a steady partner for almost sixteen years…give her take a few bumps in the road…if you're good at what you do then you tend you build up your numbers quickly."
Daryl sat back and propped his foot over his knee, refusing to say anything else. He had told her he'd listen, but he didn't say shit about talking. She apparently got the message.
"OK," Alice said. "Here's the thing. When you're dealing with women there are two things you have to pay attention to. They're separate and they're connected. You've got to pay attention to how she fucking feels emotionally AND how she fucking feels physically. Thing is that they're like a great big knot, though, because one directly affects the other. And right now…big boy…you're fucking up on both of them."
Daryl brought his thumb to his mouth and nipped at the skin there, spitting out a little piece of it before tipping his head to the side.
"We can't cover all this shit in one damn day, though," Alice said. She shook her head like she was having some kind of talk with herself. "So let's hit some basics. Emotionally…well…here are the fucking cliff notes. If you care about her, you've got to figure out how the hell to tell her that. Now I'm not expecting you to know any sonnets and you don't have to tell her that her eyes are like the sun, but you better fucking improvise. A woman wants to know she's fucking special and she's one damn beautiful ass creature."
Daryl thought that Carol was special. She was special to him and he imagined that she was special to any damn body that knew her and had half a brain. He thought she was beautiful too. That wasn't going to be a problem at all…not to think it. He wasn't so sure how he felt about trying to say it, though. He tipped his head in the other direction and gave the woman a little nod, curious to see where the hell she was going with this shit.
"Now…physically…" Alice said. She sighed. "Well, you're going to have to schedule some fucking lessons for that shit because we don't have enough time left to cover all the secrets…but we'll go with the basics. How the fuck would you like it if I sandpapered the hell out of your dick?"
Daryl sat up and almost choked on his own spit.
"What the fuck is your problem?" He spat.
Alice leaned up then, raising her eyebrow and smirking at him.
"Oh?" She asked, shaking her head a little. "You don't think you'd like that?"
"Ya got some serious fuckin' problems, lady!" Daryl said.
Alice made an annoyed face at him.
"Then don't ever, ever fuck a woman dry…or even semi dry…and rough," Alice said. "In fact just never fuck a woman dry…and if you're going to fuck her rough, make sure she's in on that shit. Otherwise, it's about the same damn thing as sandpapering your dick and no damn woman's going to appreciate that shit."
Daryl stared at her.
"Your little pal is number one to you when you're getting off," Alice continued. "If he's happy, you're happy. For a woman, though, he's about the last damn part of the equation…really…he can be a complete afterthought. That's why the hell we don't even have to have "all the pieces," Alice said, air quoting the last part. "Keep Mr. Midnight there in the fucking stall until it's time for his ass to come out."
Daryl wasn't really sure what was happening to him right now. He'd been trapped in an office with a woman who he was suddenly regretting not having shot when he had the damn chance to shoot her in the woods. Now she was sitting in a chair across from him apparently thinking that she could teach his ass something.
"Pay attention to everything with a woman. Some women like some shit more than others…it's your job to figure out what the hell she likes and what she doesn't like, and if all else fails then you man up and ask her," Alice said. "Do you know what a clit is?"
"Course I fuckin' know what a clit is!" Daryl growled. He did know what a clit was…he'd heard Merle run his damn mouth about them.
Alice frowned at him.
"Well, if you don't know where the hell to find one…by all damn means…ask about that too. I'll spare you the visuals. If you know where to find it, learn to pay it some serious fucking attention. That shit is every bit as important to a woman as your little friend is to you, and you wouldn't like it one damn bit if Mr. Midnight got ignored the whole damn time you were fucking," Alice said.
Daryl growled a little at her and shifted in the seat.
"We 'bout done with this shit or ya just gonna keep runnin' ya fuckin' face?" Daryl asked.
Alice reached over and patted him on the leg and he moved his leg quickly.
"Just remember…special, beautiful, clit, wetter is better. When you've got that shit covered, you've got the basics…and when you've got the basics, you can let your fine little friend out to play," Alice said.
Alice stood up then. She looked down at Daryl sitting in the chair and she sighed.
"Be good to her Daryl, if you care at all. She's worth it…and if you're good to her…she'll be good to you," Alice said.
"Why the fuck ya even talk about shit with her?" Daryl asked. "Thought'cha fuckin' liked her ass anyway."
Alice smiled at him again and put her hand on her hip, still hovering over him somewhat.
"I do like her," Alice said. "And I'm her friend. The two go real fucking great together in a relationship. Thing is, though, no matter how damn much you might like somebody, you always know when they don't really feel the same way about you…and it takes something out of it. So I'm trying to give your sorry ass the chance to give her what she wants…but I'll be right there if you can't fucking handle it. Don't you worry about that."
Daryl stood up now, pushing Alice back a little as he gained his feet.
"Did'ja just bring me here to run ya mouth or ya got a legitimate fuckin' issue?" Daryl asked.
Alice shrugged.
"I just wanted a cigarette," she said.
Daryl shook his head at her a little.
"We fuckin' done here?" He asked.
Alice nodded.
"We're as done as you want to be," Alice said.
Daryl started out the door.
"Daryl!" Alice called.
Daryl turned around and waited to see what the hell she wanted now.
"Let me know if you want to know what the hell comes in lesson two," Alice said. She turned then and walked deeper into the office area, her back to Daryl.
Daryl rolled his eyes, even though she couldn't see him. He didn't like the idea of taking advice on fucking from this woman. He didn't even know if anything else was supposed to happen with Carol again or if last night had been some kind of one time fluke.
On the other hand, if he was going to try to talk to Carol about this shit and see if they were going to ever do that again together, it might not hurt to think about what the hell the woman had said. If she was full of shit…at least he couldn't really see where he'd lose anything.
Daryl left the room letting the heavy office door swing closed behind him.