RaphaeltheCowboy: I'm in season 10 just after Find Me. No spoilers were given. And let's just say, the manipulation tactic works very well for your first guess and becomes a huge part of the storyline later. Just wait. I think I'll be doing it all justice.
KEZZ 1: Thank you for the review! I'm really happy you have enjoyed the story thus far, even with all the darkness in it.
A little shorter than my chapters have been lately, but I think it surmised what I wanted to cover quite nicely.
Daryl kept Ania up in the suite for the rest of the day, refusing visitors until Carol came up with some food in the evening; the kittens had a litter box it didn't take them long to start using once the first one had the day they'd gotten there. Michonne and Rick had been made constables of the town and Rick and Carol came up to explain what had happened after they left. The four of them were the biggest players in the plan to possibly take over this place. Now more than ever Ani was convinced of the idea of taking Deanna out of power because she'd simply let her parents walk out of town. That was her idea of punishment. Daryl had been smoking at the open window, not wanting to leave Ania alone while she was sat up in bed, expected to stay there by him when they walked in.
"She might have said that we are equal to them in all ways, but I don't buy it," Rick told them as he finished telling them what happened after Daryl had carried Ani away.
It was seriously irritating, but there were too many thoughts in her head and they all convened at the back of her mind and crashed before she could get them out of her mouth. Too many emotions numbing her body. Whatever roadblock her thoughts were hitting were almost physical in how they felt, moving about her mind only to crash right at the back of her skull. This was the state she had not been in for over nine years now, not since she'd left home. And looking at Daryl, it was slowly eating him up inside that she couldn't vocalize her responses right now. Ani took the pad of paper and pen from the nightstand and began writing on it as she still couldn't just talk.
Essentially, she played us. She wants to make it seem like we are equal, thus giving you power. But it's probably because she wants to keep the two of you here, in town, where she can keep an eye on you. You're the best options because you're perceived as the most dangerous. Especially you, Rick. You literally ooze hostility at the drop of a dime. After today, stopping our people from attacking theirs, you showed them just what you're willing to do for them, for their people. She made it seem like that was the plan all along even though you acted on instinct.
Reading the paper, Rick looked at her with a questioning gaze before lowering his eyes and saying, "Yeah, I figured it was something like that."
"So, you're a cop again?" Daryl scoffed.
"Just tryin' it on for size," Rick answered, looking at Ani writing.
"So we're staying?" Carol asked.
"I think we can start sleeping in our own homes," Rick said, looking to Ani to see she was nodding her head in agreement. "Settle in."
"If we get comfortable here, we let our guard down—this place is gonna make us weak," Carol rebutted.
"Carl and Phia said that too. But it's not gonna happen."
We are not weak. There is no weakness in us, not anymore. We're way too damn strong, to be honest. We've worked our asses off to become fighters and damn decent shots. Most of us have killed, me more than anyone else. This place won't make us weak. We'll make IT strong. And if they don't see it our way, fuck them. We'll take it and force them to see it our way. After all, she did say the Communists won out.
Ani threw the note on the bed for Carol to read out loud with a chuckle at the end, "I suppose that could work."
"There you have it," Rick agreed. "We'll make it work. And if they can't make it...then we'll just take this place."
Daryl kept Ania in the bed the entire next day, letting her finish her work on her knives as well as just sleep and recover. He even let the kittens claw and climb their way onto the bed with them. When she told him good morning on the second day, he let her get up, taking her to the shower and helping her carefully wash her hair. Just holding her under the water, he apologized over and over again for not getting to her sooner, something he was worried she would blame him for. She simply told him how she thought no one was coming, how it was the basement all over again, and how she had never been more happy to be wrong. In fact, she apologized for doubting him, which honestly just made them both hold each other tighter as the water rained down on them. After that, she apologized for the bruise along the back of his neck, where she'd held him in an almost bone-crushing manner afterwards. He simply told her he knew he'd have a bruise, he just didn't care; she needed him and that's what he was there for. They stayed holding each other like that until the water started getting cold. Well, cold by Ani's standards.
Meeting up with Rick downstairs, he asked Ani if she was up for a trip outside the wall with him, Daryl and Carol. While they were out, they were going to be discussing how to arm themselves just in case shit hit the fan, but he could see what little color Ani had drain from her face as he spoke. He then offered to let her stay back, but as soon as the offer was even began, her hand clasped around Daryl's arm tightly. Even Daryl was giving Rick a dark look, which immediately made him back off. After what had happened, it became clear neither was willing to leave each other's side any time soon, though Rick did notice they each had one of the bracelets around their left wrists.
"Alright, my bad. I get it," he said sheepishly as he went to get Carol.
Meeting at the fence, the four left under the pretense of gun training with Carol. Only Rick and Carol carried guns, though; Ani and Daryl carried their crossbows. As the gate opened, Ani remembered that her parents had been exiled and balked just slightly. The very real possibility that they were out there, just waiting to take their shot at any of the members of her group, made her wish they would just close the gate and leave it closed for good. It made her look towards the gate where the incident had happened only to see Merle and Abraham talking quietly by the spot, both of them noticing her and giving her a nod.
"Hey," Daryl said, bringing a hand to rest on her hip and stepping into her side. "It's gonna be okay. They ain't out there and they ain't in here. They're gone, or they're dead. Ain't no in between. I'll keep you safe, baby girl. I promise."
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she sighed out, she opened them and nodded her head, trying to feign confidence as she followed the three into the woods. Her grip on her crossbow was harder than normal and she didn't bother to pretend she didn't have it ready if something so much as moved within her line of sight. Rick lead them to a small shack with a ton of junk in front of it, a few walkers already having been slain in the area. They could hear another, but it was off in the distance, the kittens already hiding in the bush and quiet at a hand signal from Ani she'd worked with them on on the road.
"I don't see it, but it's close," Daryl told them, going back over to Ania's side. "There's just one of 'em."
"We won't be here long," Rick said before looking to Carol. "So what do you think?"
"We go in when it's empty," she responded.
"How is that? It's locked up at night," Rick stated.
"The window. There's just a latch. I can leave it open," Carol said, knowing it would be that easy.
"How t'e hell did t'ese people savive?" Ani spat.
"They haven't had to know what it's like. I think you're the first they've seen of what can happen," Carol explained. "And a lot of them still don't believe it had nothing to do with you thanks to Pete."
"What's that asshole been sayin'?" Daryl asked.
"Nothing true, brother," Rick said, trying to calm the man down who was quicker to anger than ever. "We'll set it all right."
"What's he sayin'?!" Daryl growled once more.
"That she's unstable and they were defending themselves," Carol sighed. "Some of those who were there, some aren't sure what they saw, so it's being spread to cause doubt. But there are several others who are standing with our group that saw exactly what happened and how T—he attacked out of no where when her back was turned, including Deanna."
"I'm gonna fuckin' kill 'im," Ani snarled, overly pissed at him. "Behaviya's sketchy as fuck, too."
"What do you mean?" Rick asked.
"Way 'e poked t'e bear, sayin' t'eir names, provokin' me. Guy's go' a screw or two loose in a bad way. Likes makin' people squirm."
"Alright," Rick said with a nod. "I'll keep an eye on him. But, seriously, a latch?" he asked Carol incredulously.
"Yup," Carol said, one eyebrow raising with a half-smile on her face as she shrugged a shoulder. "Just a simple latch."
"What if one of those pricks shuts it?" Daryl asked, not wanting to have to draw this out any longer than necessary.
"Wait a couple of days, leave it open again," Carol suggested as the rustling of the walker sounded again.
"It's gettin' closer," Daryl said, walking away to check if he could see it yet.
"The sooner we get this done, the better," Rick stated. "Right now, they're not watching us. Not worrying about meetings like this. We may need the guns, we may not."
"We need t'e fuckin' guns, Rick!" Ani growled at him. "Don' care which way it goes, we need t'e fuckin' guns."
"Alright, I get it. I do. I mean, seriously. They're the luckiest damn people I ever met," Rick stated while shaking his head, disbelief plainly written all over his features. "And they just keep gettin' luckier."
"How's that?" Daryl asked.
"We're here now, with a leader that actually knows what she's doin'," Rick said while sending a soft, reassuring smile to Ani.
"Don' know 'bou' t'at righ' now," Ani admitted. "Righ' now, I jus' wanna close t'e damn gates and neva open 'em again."
"Yeah, that's what I told Deanna, too," Rick told her. "You've got this."
"They've got footlockers just full of 9 millimeter autos, Rugers, Kel-Tecs. Just tossed in there. They don't use them. They're never gonna know they're gone," Carol assured them.
"Someone's got one now, right?" Daryl said, indicating the fact that Rick had tried, and failed, at concealing a weapon in this junk heap and it was now disappeared.
"Listen, the others, we want them to try," Rick told them.
"The two of you too," Carol added.
"So we keep it quiet," Rick continued. "Just us. Here it comes," he said with a nod in the direction of the oncoming walker.
"I got it," Daryl said, picking up his crossbow.
"Wait," Carol said, raising her gun and firing several rounds before finally killing the walker. "We said we were takin' me out shooting," she explained. "I couldn't go back with a full mag."
"Smart t'inkin', Cars," Ani complimented.
"Lucky he came by," Daryl agreed.
"We should get back," Rick said, noticing Ani's eyes starting to dart around. As they started walking away, he told Carol, "You'll pull the latch. We'll pick our moment. Us? We don't need to be lucky."
Daryl stopped by the walker, both him and Ani looking at it confused. "What the hell is that?" he asked. "Is that a W?"
"Duh," Ani said, earning her an unamused look from Daryl. "No way a knowin' wha' i' means, t'ough."
"You guys go back," Daryl said. "I'm gonna take Ania and see if we can't do some huntin'."
"Alright," Rick said, noticing that Ani nuzzled closer to Daryl when he'd stood and grabbed her hand. "Try to be back by tonight. Don't know what's out in these woods."
They'd been walking for a while before they heard the first twig snap, and then the tell tale sound of footfalls followed by another snapping twig. Ania immediately went for a tree, moving behind it and crouching low to take aim. Daryl stood in front of the tree, out of her firing range, but still in a way that kept her mostly hidden from view. He'd be damned if he was going to let anyone hurt her again. Catty was sitting in the crook of her leg while Bobby was hissing in front of her; while she'd left them at the house when she and Daryl went for a walk, Bobby had become quite protective when she came back hurt. How he knew she was hurt was beyond her, but it was funny watching him hiss and swipe at Rick, Carol, and later Abraham and Sasha, for coming too close to her.
"Come out," Daryl said while keeping his bow trained on where the noise was coming from. "Now!"
Aaron came out with his hands up, causing both Daryl and Ani to drop their bows, Ani stepping out from behind the tree, but only up to Daryl's back as the kittens followed. "You guys can tell the difference between walkers and humans by sound?" Ani only nodded as Daryl stared at the man; while she could speak to the group, she was still in bad enough shape she didn't want to talk to others. "That's impressive," Aaron said. "Can you tell the difference between a good guy and a bad guy? Rick doesn't seem to be an expert at that."
"There ain't much of a difference no more," Daryl told him.
"Is that how you feel about your people?" Aaron countered.
"Why you followin' us?" Daryl growled out.
"I didn't know I was," Aaron said honestly. "I came out here to hunt rabbits. I know why the two of you are out here. Mind if I join you?"
Daryl stared at him for a moment before glancing back at Ani, who shrugged. He turned around and grabbed her hand as he walked off, throwing behind him, "Keep up. And keep quiet."
They'd been walking for a while before Ani nudged Daryl's arm and pointed at something. There was a clear indentation of a hoof that had Daryl looking for more before they heard a horse snicker. Going towards the noise, Ani gasped at the beautiful black mare in front of them. She was happily munching away on the long grass the field had to offer as they came to a stop just inside the tree line. Ani made a motion to the kittens, who began climbing one of the nearby trees, making Ani at them with pride and Daryl scoff at how happy she was they'd learned two simple commands; hide and climb.
"I've been trying to catch him for months," Aaron informed them, making Ani look at him weirdly. "Bring him inside. His name's Buttons. One of the kids saw him run by the gate a while back. Thought he looked like a buttons. I haven't seen him for a while. I was afraid it was too late," he said, grabbing his pack and producing a rope. Ani tapped Daryl on the arm, making him look at her before she pointed to the rope as Aaron spoke up again, "Every time Eric or I come close, he gets spooked."
"Ania wants to do it," Daryl said, taking the rope from Aaron.
"Have you done this before?" he asked the woman.
"She did it with our group," Daryl answered for her. "But they weren't out there that long. The longer they're out there, the more they become what they really are. But she's got a way with 'em. Think it's 'cause they know she's different." Ani tapped Daryl again and gestured for them to go around on opposite sides while she went to the horse. "Wants us to keep an eye out for walkers while she gets the horse. Might get spooked if they come up."
The men waited for Ani to start her slow approach toward the horse. It was still eating away as she approached and quietly said, "Hey there, darlin'. We jus' wanna get ya somewhere safe. Ya belonged ta someone once. Now ya jus' ya own. Can still be ya own, but safe. Safe place for ya foal?"
She had just gotten the rope around the horse's neck and had begun the process of trying to lead the horse when a twig snapped and walkers began coming up more than what the guys could handle. Acting on instinct and quickly, Ani pulled the rope tight around the horse and grabbed a fistful of its mane, using it to lead the horse back the way they came from rather than bolting a random direction. Even in the horse's frightened state, it must have realized what she was doing because it followed her rather easily, although it didn't stop or slow down for quite some time. Ani ended up having to hold onto it's mane and use that to do running jumps just so she didn't fall down until they ran close enough to a tree for her to launch herself up onto the thing's back.
When the mare finally calmed down and Ani could release her death grip on her mane, she managed to pull the girl to a halt. Rather than climbing down, she laid on the thing's neck and started humming to it while stroking it's neck. When another walker came into the area, she simply redirected the horse, not allowing the animal to make the offending creature into a big deal and simply changing their course. It took a while, but eventually she was able to make her way back to the same clearing they had originally been, her still riding the horse, but it with it's head raised much more confidently and not as spooked by their approach. Daryl and Aaron were standing there, Aaron with a look of wonder while Daryl was just a bit miffed.
"Hell you been?" he growled at her.
"Here and there, avoidin' walkas and calmin' Buttons down."
"Okay, how?" Aaron asked.
"Ya men," Ani said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper before she cleared it and leaned back into the horse's mane, trying again a little louder now that Aaron was hidden from view. "Ya men."
"I don't understand," he said.
"Buttons is gonna have a Stubbons," Ani said, as if that explained everything, since it did to her.
"It's a mare," Daryl realized, taking the rope Ania tossed at him and gently leading them all back to the wall. "And she's pregnant. How the hell'd you get up there? This thing's taller than you."
"Grabbed 'er mane and used a tree and t'e speed she was goin' ta launch up on 'er. And I didn' wanna get down and have 'er spook again."
"You ride horses regularly?" Aaron asked.
"No, I ride with Daryl."
"I ride bikes," he clarified, happy that her she was speaking again and slowly becoming occupied with something other than what had happened at the gate.
"I take it you don't mean 10-speeds," Aaron chuckled. "I know you feel like outsiders. It's not your faults, you know. Eric and I, we're still looked at as outsiders in a lot of ways. We've heard our fair share of well meaning, but hilariously offensive, things from some otherwise very nice men and women, though the..."
"Don't," Daryl warned, checking Ania to see she didn't understand why he'd stopped Aaron. "Just don't."
Aaron looked at Daryl before his eyes only flitted towards Ani before he shook his head, "Right. Um, well, people are people. The more afraid they get, the more stupid they get," he told them, continuing what he had meant to say, but leaving out the bit about the Parkers. "Fear shrinks the brain. They're afraid of the three of us for different reasons. They're less scared of me because they know me. It gets less and less every day. So, let them get to know you," he told them. "You should go to Deanna's party tonight."
"So t'ey can look at me like a freak or in pity? Nah, thanks, t'ough," Ani told him, though still bent down.
"I got nothin' to prove," Daryl said in agreement as the gate came into view. "I've met a lot of bad people out here doin' a lot of bad shit. They weren't afraid of nothin'."
"Yeah, they were," Aaron denied as they walked through the gates, the woman manning the gate congratulating them on their success.
~x~
After helping Ania get off the horse, he left it with Aaron and the other woman and took her back to the house. After a taking a quick shower, he left Ania to take one herself and walked out onto the porch. The sun was setting low in the horizon as he smoked his cigarette, thinking about what Aaron had said. He'd put decent enough clothes on, his vest over a black button up shirt he'd left open at the collar and a clean, fresh pair of loose fitting black jeans, but he felt completely out of place. When Ani came out a short while later, wearing something similar to him, her t-shirt traded for a black silk blouse with dark blue skinny jeans, her vest and boots completing the ensemble even with the gruesome wound on her head. She looked absolutely stunning standing there in the fading light of day, hair still damp and flat on her head before it would dry out and puff out, reminding him very much of the horse's mane from earlier.
"Wha'?" she asked as he stared at her, extremely self-conscious as she turned her head to the left and looked down.
"Don't," he said, going to her and lifting her face to look her in the eye. "You're fuckin' gorgeous and this?" he said, gingerly touching the side of her head, "You look even more gorgeous to me."
"Shu' it," she said, blushing and slightly pushing him away, only for him to hold onto her and pull her into him, giving her a sweet lingering kiss.
"Ready to go?" he asked her, pulling back and leaning his chin on her head as the darkness of night settled in.
"I guess," she agreed as they made their way to the house.
Getting there, though, upon hearing everyone inside and seeing the shadows, all they could do was stand next to a tree. Daryl pulled Ania back against his chest, feeling how she was starting to shake, though as she wrapped her arms around his, he couldn't tell if it was nerves or the cold. They watched Sasha walk up to the door and knock, turning around before it opened, but not getting away quick enough, she was forced to enter. Ania took a shuttered breath in before turning in his arms.
"I can'."
"Yeah," he said, pulling her to his side and keeping his arm securely around her shoulder.
Neither of them could enter that house. They didn't belong there. They were the freaks of society, on opposite ends, even before the times had gone to hell. Daryl had been an outcast all his life for being abused and the behaviors he had learned to exhibit to cope while Ania had been for her mind and her age. Knowing that Pete would be there made Ani freeze in her tracks while Daryl had never once been to a gathering like that and just couldn't bring himself to go in there and be uncomfortable. The added worry over Ania being targeted or ostracized because of her parents just added to the reason he just took her away from that place. She let him lead her back to their house, her hand entwined with the hand on her shoulder while she held him with her other arm around the middle.
As they passed by one of the houses, a light went on, making them slow their pace as Aaron came out and said, "Daryl, Ani, hey."
"Thought you were going to that party over there?" Daryl asked.
"Oh, no, I was never going to go," Aaron told them. "Eric's ankle, thank God."
"Then why the hell you tell us to go?"
"I said try. You did," Aaron replied. "It's a thought that counts thing."
"Alright," he said, turning them to walk away.
"Hey, why don't you both come in? Have some dinner?" he suggested. "Come on, it's some pretty serious spaghetti."
"Spagheddi?" Ani asked, suddenly perking up, her voice towards him louder than it had been in the day as she looked at him, a grin spreading on her face.
"Yeah. I might say it's the best, but then, it is the apocalypse," he told her.
Ani didn't let Daryl decide, dragging him up the steps and into the house, "I love spagheddi. Favorite meal a all."
"Yeah, I know, you're birthday you wouldn't shut up about it and how you made it every year," Daryl gruffed out, though following her inside anyways because, to be honest, he was pretty hungry too.
"May I ask," Eric started, seeing how Ani didn't have a bandage, but a leaf taped to her head.
"Woolly lamb's ear," she stated. "Speeds up t'e recovary a cuts. Go' some ot'a herbs unda i' ta help wit' t'e pain and swellin' and infection."
"You know all that?" Eric asked.
"Me papa was a genuine apothecary. Could grow ya a mighdy fine herb garden 'ere in town," she suggested as Daryl dropped a huge pile of spaghetti onto her plate. "Jesus, D! Ya t'ink I'm a pig?"
"Think you should shut your mouth and eat," he told her with a smile. "Said it was your favorite."
Ani just chuckled, looking up at the confused expression the others gave them over the interaction, "Sometimes me head says I want somet'in' bu' me body is quick ta reject i'. He's jus' meanin' for me ta eat 'fore me body changes its mind i' wants a propa meal."
"I can't imagine what that is like," Eric said honestly.
"Sure ya can," she responded. "Eva go for one las' bite a t'at pumpkin pie on Turkey Day ta find ya 'bout ta puke if ya swallow it?"
"Actually, I've done that several times," Aaron laughed as they all began to eat.
It was silent for the most part, aside from mostly Daryl's sloppy eating. Ani had to admit, she didn't have the best table manners anymore, her elbows propped on the table as she twirled the noodles around her fork and took giant bites. But at least she wasn't shoveling it in her mouth like Daryl, slurping down whatever noodles he couldn't get in via shovel. Ani couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips nor the warmth of her gaze towards the man she called hers, completely missing the looks Aaron and Eric were giving them with knowing smiles of their own.
"Thanks," Daryl said as he finished off his plate, noticing that Ani had finished most of hers, but was just staring at him with that look she gave him that made him blush. "What?"
"Love you," was his response, making him blush and tell her to stop.
"Mmm," Eric said, turning to Daryl as he sat next to him; his broken ankle had made it to where Ani sat at the head of the table with Aaron beside her, Daryl between she and him so he could prop his leg in the seat beside Aaron. "When you're out there, if you happen to be in a store or something. Mrs. Neudermyer is really looking for a pasta maker."
"Wha' for? Ya don' need a pasta maka ta make pasta. If ya go' t'e ingredients, ya can make i' wit' ya own two hands. T'at's how i' used ta be done," Ani pointed out.
"Well, we're all just trying to get her to shut up about it," Eric admitted, even though Ani was still confused as to why he had brought it up. "I mean, we have crates of dried pasta in here, but she wants to make her own or something. I really think she just wants something to talk about, so...if you see one, out on your travels...it would go a long way to..." Eric must have finally realized they had no idea what he was talking about as he looked up at their confused expressions and Aaron's pointed look. "I thought it was done. You didn't ask them already?"
"Ask us what?" Daryl asked.
Aaron led them to a door off the side of the kitchen and out into a garage that was chalk full of various parts. "When I got the place, they had the frames and some parts and equipment. Whoever lived here built them, bikes and 4-wheelers."
"It's a lot of parts for one of each," Daryl said.
Aaron scoffed before explaining, "Whenever I came across any parts out there, I brought them back. I didn't know what I'd need. I always thought I'd learn how to do it, but I get the feeling, you already know what to do with them. And the thing is, you're going to need them."
"Why?" Daryl asked as he looked around.
"I told Deanna not to give you jobs, because I think I have one for the two of you. I'd like you to join me as Alexandria's recruiters. I don't want Eric risking his life out there anymore, not when he's untrained, like you said Ani."
"You want us riskin' ours, though?" Daryl surmised as Ani walked over to the frame of the 4-wheeler, taking the tarp off of it and revealing a gutted engine.
"Yeah, because you know what you're doing," he countered. "You're both good out there, but neither of you belong out there. I know it's had getting used to people getting used to you. And I understand right now you both need to be out there sometimes. So do I. But the main reason I want you to help me recruit is because you both do know the difference between a good person and a bad person."
Daryl uncovered the bike frame and thought about the request, looking over to Ania who just shrugged her shoulders. Chewing his lip he nodded his head, "Well, we got nothin' else to do. Thanks."
"Yeah," Aaron said.
"We'll get you some rabbits," Daryl told Aaron before pulling Ania through the house and back home.
"T'ink t'ey go' t'e guns ye'?" Ani asked him.
"Dunno. Think we really need 'em?"
"Dunno. I wan' one, bu' for one reason and one reason only," she said, making him pull her into his side and wrap his arm around her shoulder.
Hers came up around his waist as her head rested on his shoulder. They walked in silence, watching as Bobby and Catty bound down the street, Merle and Sophia sitting on the steps of the porch, a few of the others beginning to return too. They were given a few weird looks as to where they'd gone, but no one asked them any questions. They were just happy that Ani was up and around and talking again.
"I have a question for you," Rosita asked a little later when everyone was hanging out on the porches of the houses.
"Wha's t'at?" Ani replied, shifting Daryl's poncho around her as he dropped it down on top of her, heading inside for a moment.
"How are both you and Eugene be autistic? And Abraham's brother? You're all completely different."
"And t'erein lies t'e misconception society's laid out, t'at we're all t'e same. We're no'. Ya see Eugene ova t'ere? He's consida'd 'mildly' autistic, meanin' 'is symptoms aren' life-debilitatin' and 'e could prolly learn ta live a liddle less cowadly if 'e only gave 'imself t'e chance. Me? I'm bot' ADHD and autistic. Me symptoms are sometimes worse t'an ot'a's 'cause t'ey intalap wit' each ot'a. T'e anxiety, t'e depression, t'e anga, t'e emotional outbursts, t'e hyperfocusin'. And t'ere's so much different, too. Constantly bein' enagetic, constantly bein' able ta sense everyt'in' 'round me. I don' rightly know how ta explain i' when i' comes ta me. I jus' have a lot a shite t'at can happen in a short amount a time 'cause me brain's buzzin' wit' bees but I'm drownin' unda wata. And William, 'e would fall unda t'e category a 'severely' autistic, needin' ta do t'ings a set way or else 'e'd break down, not bein' able ta handle noises and people. Now, I say 'mildly' and 'severely' wit' quotes 'cause it's not a scale, not really, not like, 'scale a one ta ten type t'ing," she explained as Daryl came back out and sat behind her, Eugene and Abraham listening to her as well. "It's more like when ya step on a scale ta weigh yaself at a docta's office. Ya step on and ya godda slide t'e t'ingy jus' righ' 'til ya ge' ta t'e propa weight. Neurodiversity is 'xactly like t'at. T'e various t'ings t'at fall unda t'e cloud t'at is bein' a versie all have t'at weight-scale type, individual placement on t'e spectrum. No two versies are t'e same, even if t'ey have t'e same symptoms and behavias. We're no more similar t'an ya and I are, Rose, or ya and Abe, or Abe and Merle, so on and so fort'. Everyone is different, and t'at's t'e same for versies."
"Never thought of it that way," Rosita admitted.
"'Cause ya neva had ta," Ani told her with a shrug.
"I suppose not."
~x~
The next day found Ani, Daryl, Carol, and Rick outside the walls for more gun training, Bobby trudging along behind them while Catty laid across Ani's shoulders. Carol had her bag with her, the same one she'd brought out the day before, only this time, it was hiding what they needed. She pulled four different pistols out of it, Ani immediately grabbing and stashing one in her own pack. Carol then held them out to the guys.
"Take your pick," she told them.
"Look, I get why Ania needs one, but I've been thinkin'. Do we really need these?" Daryl asked. "I mean, things go bad, yeah, sure. We do what we gotta do, but it's like you said. We don't need these for that."
"Right now we don't," Carol countered.
"I dunno," Ani said. "I mean, I could preddy well take everyone out easily. T'ere's no one wit' any kind a trainin' ta stop me if I wanted ta."
"Yeah, man. You told us to try. I'm good," he told the pair.
Rick took a pistol of his own while Carol kept the other two, saying she would return one of them to the armory when she could. They returned to Alexandria and went their separate ways, Carol going to the armory to turn in the pistol she had checked out while Rick went on patrol. Ani and Daryl went off on their own, just wandering around a little as they lazed around. Daryl kicked Catty off Ania's shoulder and wrapped his arm around her again. It felt like he was keeping her sheltered, protected, when he had her pressed against his side, her arm bent up so she could hold his hand, entwining their fingers as she held tightly to him. He couldn't get enough of it, and neither could she.
While Ani normally didn't like being or feeling small, snuggled up to Daryl's side like this as they walked, it was a godsend. She was still unable to stop the way she was talking and the slight tremor she got every time he left her alone. Feeling so small under the weight of his arm, so protected tucked into his side, she felt truly loved. And he kept whispering to her every night, and she was barely able to hear the voices of her parents over his, even though they were still there at the moment. Can' blame me for that, she thought ruefully as they walked, knowing that the voices had cropped up due to the attack and the loss of her hair. Daryl was doing everything in his power to make her feel safe, even not caring that she'd grabbed a gun. He knew it was just for if they came back. If she had ever doubted this man's intentions, she had been a major fucking idiot.
Pulling him to a stop as they reached the porch of their house, she kissed him deeply, "I love ya. Neva forge' t'at. Neva."
"I won't. Love you too," he told her, lowering his head for another kiss before dragging her inside.