Peta2 - What is it about nuns and priests? Whenever I see a priest that's good looking, I'm all 'daymn'...but maybe that's just me and maybe I'm going to be next to you in the line up in hell (because if there's one thing I've learned from Supernatural it's that hell is waiting in a never ending line).
Brazen Hussy - God, I'd love to write smut and nothing but smut...too bad I'm horrible at smuttery.
Emerald Kitten - True story, I've panicked before when a ring got stuck. It's not a fun feeling...like, what the hell do you do? Cut it off? But how will the bolt cutters fit? What if soap fails? Maybe I'm crazy though...I do have voices...but that's normal right? Right? ^_^ Thanks for the review!
HGRHfan35 - Gah, stop tempting me with sweet and delicious sounding treats! Dang you! ^_^ You have a great weekend too, my friend!
skittletitz - Could you imagine the poor Lt.'s reaction if she ever did kiss him? He would blow a cow. (Oh God if anyone gets that AD reference I will love you forever...)
MollyMayhem84 - Man, I would judge the Old Missy so hard if she would pull a complete 180 and just go nuts with the sex, drugs and rock n' roll...no, she's going to have a bit of a rough road ahead, but I think she's got a pretty good support system there for her.
AFishNamedSushi - Look forward to Caryl no longer, for the time is nigh! WTH Spy? What is that? You're lame, Spy...*self hate* Anyways, thanks as always for the review!
GG - A chapter of Merle being cock blocked by nuns...hmm...? I think I can slip one in somewhere...but only because you're such a loyal reviewer and because I kind of want to see that as well. ^_^
Surplus Imagination - Actually, funny story, my cousin (when he was just a young boy) couldn't fall asleep unless his mom rubbed his feet. It was weird...but quirks are quirks. Personally, I'm not a huge foot person...to much smell and they're just...feet. I dunno...hands though...I dig hands. ^_^ (Another update from the TMI Bureau)
Anyways, sorry about that last Crapter, kids. I know...OC's are horrible and should be hated and I promise to kill them all off when everything's said and done...but to make up for it, here's a completely sweet and wonderful chapter that is full of Carol and Daryl and stuff and things.
Chapter Thirty-Six: Amoureux
**Carol**
Using the end of the head scarf she had made from an old habit to cover her nose, Carol approached the fire with a shovel full of walker bits scooped up from the grounds.
She nodded to Father O'Rourke who was tending the blaze just outside the walls of the convent in a clearing just through the broken back gate.
Tyreese and Sister Joan were stooped down by the wall, looking at the damage done by the walkers on the hinges of the gate, hoping to repair it for the time being until they could make a run into the nearest town for some cinder blocks to wall up the hole.
It was decided the back gate was just another point that needed guarding and wasn't really necessary.
Tossing the bits onto the fire, Carol hurried away, unable to stand the sight and smell of the sizzling corpses.
She could have volunteered to help out the nuns in the buildings, scrubbing away walker gack off the floors and walls and everywhere else the things had befouled with their bodies, but she felt better helping the others clear away the bodies.
Hopping over to help Herschel and Merle erect a piece of correlated sheet metal from the back of the storage shed over a broken window in the dorms, she smiled at Herschel and held it in place while him and Merle secured some random junk against it. They couldn't nail into the stone masonry of the wall, but it would provide better shelter than leaving the window wide open to mosquitoes and anything else that wanted to invade the building.
Deciding the men looked overheated under the Georgian sun, she took a break from scooping walker bits, heading for the kitchens to get a couple of tin mugs to get some cold well water for them.
At the pump's she found the Lieutenant and Mother Superior, huddled over the running water, head's bowed to an unseen task.
"It's hot out today," she greeted softly.
The Lieutenant spun around, tucking his right hand in his pocket quickly. "Yeah, looks like that rain we got didn't do much."
Eyeing the man suspiciously, Carol moved past him, heading for the pump, the Mother Superior helping her wordlessly.
"I'm going to get back and grab that walker." The Cajun explained sheepishly, moving off like a whipped dog.
Carol frowned at his retreat, but kept her head bowed to her work.
"Is he okay?" She asked finally.
"He's a little embarrassed," the woman replied. "I'm afraid he has my ring stuck on his finger."
Smiling a little, Carol took the full mugs in both hands, managing to balance four of them, the nun took two from her with a soft grin.
"How'd he manage that?"
"With the greatest of ease," the nun replied. "But mostly because he was being a smart mouth show off."
Carol laughed softly, moving slowly over the lawns so that she didn't lost a drop of water for the men.
"Serves him right," the woman went on as they rounded the corner of the church.
Handing off a mug of water to Glenn as she passed him and Maggie taking a break on the steps of the church from where they had been working on replacing the pews and such inside the building, she smiled at Maggie who refused the water with a small head shake, offering the young woman a gentle touch on her shoulder with her free hand.
Herschel and Merle were next.
They took the water gratefully, even Merle who gave her a small wink and a grin.
Carol wasn't sure what to make of him. She had always assumed he was half of Daryl's problems in life, but there were times when she felt that Merle truly cared about his brother. It was just that Merle was wrapped in a layer that was bitter and hard to take. She supposed it correct to say that he was an acquired taste. But also also felt sorry for him, he must have been through the same kind of hell Daryl had been through and it was horrible of her to outright hate him. Merle couldn't help the way he was anymore than Daryl could, it was just how they were raised and if there was good in Daryl there had to be good somewhere in Merle, though the older Dixon did seem better at hiding that good from the world.
Maybe it was like the soldiers who spent time in the foxholes together, how they forged a relationship that wasn't like any other.
With no more water, she split off company with the Mother Superior, heading back to the kitchen to get more mugs for more water for those in the infirmary. On her way towards the infirmary with the water, she spied Daryl knelt by a walker corpse under the peach tree and stopped.
"You okay?" She asked.
He glanced over his shoulder. "Yeah, the Cajun was fiddling around with this corpse, thought maybe it was important to him."
Carol knelt beside him, setting the water filled mugs in the grass to study the walker.
Smoothing a wrinkle in the sleeve, Daryl revealed a patch on the soldier's arm. It had two rifles that made up the cross hairs of a rifle sight, aimed at a black hooded skull. "That's his company, he's got the same patch on his sleeve."
"Think he knows him?"
"Hell if I know, but he was kneeling over him earlier. Took his dog tags."
"He collects them," Michonne purred from behind them.
Carol turned around to face the woman who had suddenly flanked them so quietly.
She stood with her arms crossed.
Handing her the mugs of water before the woman could disappear into the infirmary, Carol smiled a little at Michonne's strange look.
"Take some water to Andrea, have some if you want, I was on my way in there," she explained.
The woman nodded her thanks and left them.
Getting up as well, Carol figured she may as well get back to work, no sense sitting around when they had a lot to clean up.
"You wanna hang on a second?" Daryl stopped her.
She stood in her spot, towering over him and the corpse, before kneeling at his side again.
Daryl looked around almost cautiously, obviously nervous about something.
"I'm sorry about Merle," he said. "Riding your ass like he has been."
"He hasn't been bothering me," she said.
"I mean, you know, with those comments about us. About you being…mine," he shifted uncomfortably and looked everywhere but at her.
Carol smiled a little. "It's okay."
"I just didn't want you to think I was saying things to him," he went on, still very uncomfortable.
Daryl wasn't a talker and she understood this, but with her he always made the effort, it was just never on this subject.
"I wouldn't ever talk about you like that," he added quickly.
She nodded. "I know."
"Hell," he went on, "you're the only person around here I actually like."
"You like a lot more of these people then you'd ever say," she pointed out with a grin.
Reaching out he gently tapped her arm. "Come on, I want to give you something."
"Me?" She asked. "What is it?"
Rising to his feet, he helped her up, ducking his head and leading her without a word in the direction of the garden shed.
Carol followed him quietly.
Inside the garden shed had been mostly untouched by walkers, though she spotted a bright red piece of lingerie on the floor that looked like one of the men had something they needed to say about either a habit of theirs or a lady friend needed to get the thing back.
Daryl scooped it off the floor in mild confusion, before he realized what it was and tossed it onto the Lieutenant's cot. "That's not what I was going to give you," he muttered quickly, turning a little pink.
Carol laughed. "I didn't think it was."
Glancing at her, he knelt by his little pile of things and began going through them.
Eyeing him, she moved to the cot and picked up the red negligee, holding it to her. It would have been too big, but she could easily fit it. Red was her favourite colour…
When Daryl stood up, she tossed the thing aside and eased onto the cot watching him approach, his hand gripping something tightly.
He looked like a little boy as he opened it for her to see a wooden rose in his palm. There was a hole bored into it and a piece of leather sinew strung through it.
"I…thought you'd like this." He said.
She eyed the two inch wide rose for an entire minute it was so delicate looking, she couldn't imagine Daryl's big, rough hands making something so perfect. She looked up at him. "For me? Why?"
"Thought it might be a nice reminder of how things used to be," he said.
Taking the rose from him, she slipped it over her head and beamed up at him. "I love it, thank you."
Daryl nodded and took a step back, before rocking right back into his original spot. He seemed to be having a war with himself as he stood over her on the cot, before he reached up and set his hand on her cheek, cupping her face gingerly.
He dragged a calloused thumb over her cheekbone.
She leaned into his touch with a small grin, her own hand coming up to rest over his, keeping it there before he could get skittish and dance out of her reach again.
"I just want you to be happy," he confessed.
Carol pulled him down onto the bed beside her, leaning against him. He accepted this invasion of his personal space, because it was something that he was used to with her by now.
"No one's ever truly happy," she pointed out.
"Yeah, well, you deserve to come closer to it more than anyone."
She wrapped her arms around him tightly, nuzzling her head under his chin. "Just keep coming back to us safely," she said.
His arms tightened around her.
Smiling wickedly against his throat, Carol purred, "this cot is kind of comfy…we should test it out. You know, for durability."
Daryl scoffed. "Alright."
Carol laughed, pulling away from him to find his face dead serious. Pursing her lips, she slowly eased back onto the cot, resting her head on the pillow.
Rubbing his chin scruff, Daryl contemplated the situation, before carefully crawling over top of Carol, shielding her from being crushed with his arms on either side of her.
Beneath him Carol wasn't sure just how they got to this point, it went from him giving her a rose to him suddenly agreeing to fool around. She wasn't complaining, just curious for future reference.
He hovered over her for a moment, nose just barely brushing hers.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
Her response was to push up to press a soft, sure kiss to his lips.
Daryl tensed for a moment, but she persisted, not giving him a chance to chase her off.
It paid off in the end as he suddenly relaxed against her mouth, moving his, tilting his head to deepen the kiss.
Almost like floodgates had been opened in the man, she found herself swept up in a full-fledged passionate kiss, almost unable to keep up with the tidal currents that threatened to drown her.
Slipping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down and closer to her so that he pressed her against the bed with his strong, hard body.
Kissing Daryl Dixon was like coming home. It was comfort and security and Carol could have easily forgot about the walkers and the Governor's people and the hell they had all gone through, just by wrapping herself up in his arms and kissing him.
"Aw yeah, baby bro, get on up in there!" Merle's voice broke the moment, loud and right by their heads.
Daryl immediately scrambled away from her, sitting on the very end of the bed.
Propping herself up on her elbows, Carol eyed Merle at the doorway who was grinning broadly at her.
The Lieutenant's head poked in the open door. "Sorry about that," he said, still tugging and fiddling with the ring on his pinkie finger.
Over top of the Cajun's head Rick peeked in. "Yeah, sorry. We were looking for Daryl."
"Come on, peepshow's over." The Lieutenant said, ushering Merle out and closing the door behind the three intruding men.
Feeling the moment ruined beyond repair, Carol offered Daryl a small grin and stood up. "We should get back to work anyways," she offered, leaning down and pressing a small kiss to his temple.
He nodded, catching her hand and giving it a small squeeze, holding her back for a moment.
"You could be mine," he said nervously, "you know, if you wanted me."
Carol beamed at him. "Of course I do." Leaning down she pressed a quick kiss to his mouth, resting her forehead against his.
He gave her a shy, quick grin. "I'm probably going to be a pain in your ass."
"Bring it on," she replied. "I've had worse."
The Cajun Dialect
Amoureux – In love.