"Bowhunter?" Sinclaire asked later when he was half asleep and they both had reason to be extremely relaxed.
"Mmmm?"
"Wake up!"
"I'm awake," he muttered. "What is it?"
"Why do you think Merle hates me?"
"Didn't know he did." Daryl said, pulling her closer and pressing his face against her hair. "Don't think he does. Go to sleep."
"Then you haven't been paying attention. He hates me."
"We really gotta talk about my brother in situations like this?"
"This isn't a situation. This is the denouement of a situation."
"Ya ain't gonna let it go are ya?"
"I don't think so. He's my best friend and he won't speak to me."
"Look ya know he's an asshole-"
"Not to me!"
"Not to you?" Daryl propped up on his elbow and looked at her incredulously. "He's a dick to everybody all the time and ya know it."
"He isn't as bad as he used to be."
"All right ya got me there. He'll get over it. It's probably got somethin' to do with Tiff. Merle don't talk about his feelins."
"Yes, and you're just an open book."
"Damn right. Feel like doin' some readin'?"
"Oh my. How suddenly smooth."
"Gotta be the weed."
"Has to be," Sinclaire agreed. "And I suppose if you won't indulge me in conversation you'll have to indulge me in other ways."
"That's it," Daryl murmured just before he kissed her. "I ain't never sayin' another word to ya."
Merle listened to the quiet chatter in the bar. He could hear more of what was going on with Glenn and Carrie than he wanted, but Lori crying was doing a good job of distracting him. The light that came through the cracks in the boarded up window caught Zeke's eyes and gave them a creepy glow.
"Go to sleep," Merle ordered.
Instead, Zeke climbed onto his chest and began kneading the front of his shirt.
"The fuck are ya doin'?"
The kitten curled into a ball and began to purr.
"Oh. Well, ya coulda done that without drawin' blood."
Zeke didn't acknowledge him.
"Shit. Expected better outta my first kid. Course I didn't expect to be layin' here talkin' to a damn cat neither. Let's just say it ain't shapin' up like I thought it would."
Zeke's flattened his ears back against his skull and Merle sighed.
"Is my pontificatin' irritatin' ya? Because ya can go fuck yerself."
Merle grunted in pained surprise when Zeke, very deliberately, stuck him in the gut with one claw.
"Well shit. Yer sure as hell the right cat fer Yank ain't ya? She's hard to get along with when she's sleepy too."
Since he didn't see the need to risk another open wound, Merle continued his dialogue in his head. Maybe he was just horny. Of course, if he was, he was shit out of luck. It wasn't like there was anyone likely to help him out. He couldn't even help himself out because he always thought about Sinclaire and thinking about Sinclaire made him think about Daryl and thinking about Daryl in moments like that was just about the worst thing ever.
When Merle woke up the next morning he walked down to the river to avoid the argument it looked like Rick and Lori were about to have. Merle didn't mind going toe-to-toe with anyone anytime, but he hated listening to other people argue. Probably a leftover from listening to his parent's rip each other to shreds almost daily. He didn't see Sinclaire until it was too late to turn around, but she only gave him a wave. She was talking to Sophia and the kid looked worried.
"What's wrong?" Merle asked before he thought better of it.
Sophia's mouth snapped shut and she looked down at her sneakers. Merle didn't take it personally. Kids didn't tend to like him much; he didn't tend to give them a reason to really.
"It's all right," Sinclaire said. "You can tell him.'
When all Sophia did was twist the hem of her tee shirt into a knot, SInclaire said, "She's worried about Carl. Have you noticed anything?"
Merle shook his head. Lately he hadn't noticed anything but how much he wanted to fuck his brother's girlfriend. Carl Grimes didn't exactly fit into that scope.
"Been kinda quiet," Merle said. "'Bout it I reckon."
He saw Sophia's lips move, but he wasn't close enough to hear her voice.
"He feels responsible for what happened to Shane," Sinclaire repeated. "And how Lori's been acting. And Rick. And the fact that they hate each other right now."
"That's a shitload of stuff for one kid to feel bad about," Merle said.
The shred of compassion that crept into the words gave Sophia the courage to say, "Last night he said we'd be better off without him."
"Somebody's seen him today right?" Sinclaire asked suddenly.
"I saw him at breakfast," Sophia said. "But then I came to talk to you."
Sinclaire looked at Merle. He shrugged.
"Didn't see him. Wasn't lookin' fer him though."
"I think we should," Sinclaire said. "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," she said when Sophia went pale. "But we should talk to him, you know?"
Merle followed her up to the bar because he knew that she was just bullshitting the kid. He hadn't seen Carl when he walked through the bar or down to the river. Where the hell else could the kid be?
"Hey," Sinclaire said to the general gathering of people at the fire. "Anyone seen Carl today?"
Conversation halted as everyone exchanged questioning looks. The blank faces that turned back to her sent Sinclaire's heart plummeting to the soles of her boots.
"I'm going to get Nate," she said.
"What ya want him fer?" Merle demanded.
"Was your specialty search and rescue?"
"No."
"Exactly. It wasn't mine either. Why don't you see if you can find Bowhunter?"
"Sure, cause it ain't like I might know what the fuck I'm doin'," Merle muttered as he scanned the camp for Daryl.
"He said he was going to the treehouse," Marie offered.
"Thanks."
Merle stomped through the woods. Maybe Carl would be with Daryl and it would be two birds with one stone. He could hold that over Nate's head too. With that thought to brighten his outlook, he climbed up into the treehouse.
"Well shit," he said in disappointment when Daryl was alone.
"Ya came lookin' fer me," Daryl said dryly. "Or did ya want Yank?"
"No, she's the one who sent me to get ya. Can't find Carl."
Daryl raised his eyebrows. "How hard ya'll look?"
"I came here," Merle pointed out. "He ain't in the camp or the bar. Everybody but ya was present and accounted fer."
Daryl rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Reckon it's cause of what happened with Shane?"
"Well if ya ain't just Sherlock Holmes all of a sudden. Yeah, that's what Sophia said."
"Poor kid."
"Ya gonna do somethin' about it or ya gonna sit here feelin' sorry about it?"
"Mind givin' me a second to think? What's got ya so fuckin' pissy anyway?"
"Bad night. Damn cat."
"Told he was a crazy motherfucker."
"He ain't neither. Zeke's a good cat."
"Ya just said..."
"Get yer ass in gear baby brother. We ain't gonna show Nate up if we're sittin' up here are we?"
