oOo

After teaching Diana a proper stance when shooting immobile targets, they worked on her draw. Diana's arms were sore from that morning's training and she told Daryl that, since she didn't want him thinking she was a weak little weakling.

He advised that she should let her back muscles do most of the work, and put his hand flat between her shoulder blades, telling her to focus on those muscles as she drew the bowstring.

Then, he lowered her elbow, raised her bow arm and told her to focus on her breathing. It was incredibly hard to breathe normally once you're made aware of it and specially when someone was scrutinizing your every move from up close. At one point she deviated from her stance and Daryl rotated her gently by the hips to face him again.

Diana wasn't very keen on having people close to her face, it made her feel observed and judged, every flaw on her skin for the other person to see, it made her anxious. But after some time, when she realized he wasn't looking at her, but rather concentrating on the task at hand, the weight on her chest lifted and it became easier to breathe and focus.

Daryl supported her bow arm with one hand and with the other brought her draw arm down an inch, so that her hand rested under her jaw and the string sat comfortably against the tip of her nose.

"Better. When you breathe out, let go and don't move until the arrow's hit the target, get it?"

Diana nodded with a short glance at him. There was a nuance of nervousness in her that made her stomach turn, but she did as was told.

The arrow flew straight into the target she'd envisioned, imbedding itself in the tree trunk with a quiet sound inaudible over the noises of the forest itself. It disappeared exactly one second after, Diana counted, and she dropped her arm.

She jumped in place once and whooped and pumped her fist in the air with an excited "Fuck yeah!" And turned to Daryl, who had stepped back at her outburst, and held her hand high, a grin on her lips that was less smile and more a beam of sunshine.

"High five, oh gimme a high five!"

Daryl raised his hand to her, which Diana slapped repeatedly and forcefully in her joy.

She stopped once she noticed how obnoxiously loud she had been and cleared her throat, apologizing. She felt a flush on her cheeks and hoped it wasn't dark enough to be noticeable. She couldn't help it; she'd done it! Correctly and very professional-looking, might she add. The arrow had hit the exact spot she'd been aiming at, unlike the times she'd tried before, which goes to show that it had indeed been better to ask Daryl instead of 'just going for it' as Felix had suggested.

She took some deep breaths to slow her heartrate and will the blush away.

"Yeah, don't break your arm pattin' yourself on the back, I wanna see it again."

Diana saluted mockingly and dropped to her stance, mentally checking all the steps. She aimed, breathed out and let go of the string. That time, it was a bit off the intended target, but she was still satisfied.

Daryl nodded and pointed at a higher branch with a nest on it. "There, faster, under the nest."

She shot and missed, the arrow whizzed by its target and disappeared into the canopy. She let out a frustrated huff and frowned at Daryl, who shrugged.

"Can't hit 'em all. That pronged branch."

Shoot and miss.

"Fast, c'mon, that tree right there."

Shoot and miss.

"Ughh, what's wrong? Why am I messing everything up?" Diana wanted to curse at the bow and its almost taunting humming, at the risk of looking like a moron. Instead she crossed her arms and pursed her lips like a child throwing a tantrum.

Daryl fixed his blue gaze on her; he seemed amused by her annoyance, as if he'd anticipated it, and it irked Diana.

"You're doin' it back asswards 'cause you stopped thinkin'. It's not here yet," he said and tapped a finger to her forehead, "so you make mistakes when you don't think. I wanted you to know how it'd be if you went unprepared into a shitty situation; shootin' all over the place. Miss more than you hit."

"Oh," Diana breathed and uncrossed her arms. She looked at Daryl from under her lashes, embarrassed that she'd celebrated too soon. "So…"

"So you gotta go slow first, get the hang o' the business, and when you feel you can do that shit in your sleep, ya go faster. Gotta adapt to it."

"I guess... You uh- you mind if we take a break? My arms and my shoulders are killing me, might even be literally very soon."

Daryl nodded and Diana plopped herself down by the twin boulders, her back against the jagged surface. She wiggled until she found a less sharp spot. Her top half was covered by shade from the tree canopy. Her legs, outstretched and bare up to mid-thigh, soaked up the sunlight.

She took Daryl's crossbow, which was heavier than she thought it'd be, and her bow, and set them down on her other side so Daryl could sit next to her if he felt like it. She absentmindedly ripped out some grass and picked up the tallest blade of grass to play with. Head leaned back and eyes closed. It was heaven.

She heard Daryl grunt as he lowered himself onto the grass next to her. Her head lolled to the side and she peeked at him from the corner of her eye. The sheer blueness of the sky almost blinded her.

He kept a comfortable distance, which Diana appreciated. His knees were bent with his elbows resting on top and the yellow flower somehow found its way back into his mouth. The stem was shorter now and the petals grazed his lips whenever he chewed.

Diana followed the minute movements for a moment until they stopped abruptly and her eyes travelled up to Daryl's.

"What?" he asked around the flower, eyes squinting at her.

Her head snapped up and the sudden move made her neck crack painfully. She shook her head with a grimace and looked away, fighting off an embarrassed blush. "Nothing, sorry." She didn't mean to stare; it was just a bad habit. The constant apologizing, he already knew about.

Daryl stretched one leg out in front of him and the toe of her swinging foot hit his. Her heart thumped in a rage against her ribcage, making her breathing all kinds of irregular.

With a quick apology on her lips, Diana brought her legs up and rested her hands on her lap, now ripping the blade of grass to tiny shreds just to give them something to do. She hated being this flustered over nothing.

"Hey, uh, mind if I ask something?" She glanced sideways at him and saw his half-shrug. "What are you and Merle planning on doing? I mean, after you leave?"

"We ain't takin' you with if that's what you wanna ask." He took the head of the flower between his fingers and flicked it off to the side.

"No, nah, I wasn't-, I just think that this is a good place, you know? I mean, not permanently, obviously, but for the time being. Eventually, they'll all up and move on to someplace else, so why not wait it out?" She sat sideways to face him, one leg tucked under the other, and tilted her head to the side in curiosity.

"You don't think things gonna end soon?"

The change in topic confused her. "What?"

Daryl glanced at her. "You ain't thinking that this'll all blow over soon? Help is on the way, they findin' a cure, that sorta generic bullshit?"

"Well, to be honest, I hadn't really thought about it. I kinda just accepted that's the way it was. I mean, realistically, it doesn't really look like there's a coming back from this. Even if they found a cure, you know? What you wanna do about the geeks who've decayed beyond recognition, beyond normal body function? You can't really help 'em anymore, you know?"

"Huh, thought you'd have more hope than that, seem like the type."

Diana puffed a breath of laughter. "Don't get me wrong, I am hopeful. There's no going back but there's always a moving on. I hope we can kill all the dead and take care of the remaining living. That's all there is to it anymore. And once that's done, we can think of rebuilding society, a better one. I know shit was looking grim on this side of the ocean, but Switzerland wasn't that bad, you know? For one, they have- had a better grasp on the education system than you guys."

She cursed herself for selfishly talking so much without asking anything back and redeemed herself with a muttered, "What about you?"

One corner of Daryl's lips lifted in a cynical smile. "That part 'bout killing the dead seems about right to me. I'll worry about making it to the end of each day." Another glance at her. "I ain't got time to think about education systems and rebuilding shit."

"You should. Aspiring for a brighter future, that's what gives me hope."

"That's where you and I differ, Diana. You thinkin' the future gonna be better, I'm thinkin' this is the calm before the fucking storm."

Diana optimistically opposed to his way of thinking, even if his felt like the logical conclusion. Outwardly, she only nodded and sat facing forward again, her original question unanswered and forgotten.

After a peaceful silence filled only with the best tunes nature had to offer, Diana was startled out of a near slumber with Daryl standing up from her side. She blinked up at him, his form dark against the bright sky, and he offered her a hand up.

Since both pulled at the same time, the momentum caused her to stumble right into him, their joined hands hitting her in the stomach. She oofed and muttered an apology, not looking at him.

He bent down for her bow and offered it to her. "Your arms okay?"

She accepted it with a testing shrug and flexed an arm, feeling her shoulders almost creak in complaint and her biceps on the verge of a spasm. Yeah, that hurt, but it wouldn't stop her. "Still kinda sore, but I can keep going." She knew she shouldn't overdo it, but she had barely done anything yet. She didn't want to slack off and seem lazy.

"Keep practicin' that stance, perfect it. Pull with your back muscles, you let your arms do everythin' and they'll hurt like a sunovabitch."

They continued in silence. Diana did her stance, aimed and shot at the same tree slowly and repeatedly, leaving only tiny holes behind. She noticed a new arrow would only appear when the previous one had disappeared.

Daryl walked around, too full of energy to stand still. He kept an eye on her and gave out tips and corrected her when necessary while keeping alert to the forest. The area was secure, but guess you can never be too careful.

After what felt like the thousandth shot, Diana let her arms drop with a groan. "I can't do it anymore, I can't."

The bow had started growing heavy from holding it up for so long. Her fingertips were cold from lack of blood circulation and her muscles were twitching with the strain. Not even the bow's soothing vibrations were of any help. She'd gotten dangerously reckless in her driven stubbornness.

From his newfound perch on the boulders, Daryl motioned her over. She dragged herself to him, feeling beads of sweat roll down her neck into the fabric of her tank top.

"Turn around and sit down." He made a spinning motion with his finger. Diana hesitantly spun and plopped down cross-legged in front him, cautious to keep a good distance.

Feeling self-conscious of the stretchmarks streaking her inner thighs, she laid the bow on her lap and put her hands over it, rubbing them to help the blood flow.

"What's happening right now?" She wanted to look over her shoulder but the very move hurt her, so she stared straight ahead in – honestly? – slight apprehension.

"Shut up," he said softly and warned, "I'mma do somethin', just sit still."

"Uhh, oookay?" She dragged the word out, her heart already beating fast in anticipation and her shoulders even more tense.

Daryl swept her ponytail aside, over her shoulder. The feathery touch of the hair was enough to send a chill down her back and raise goosebumps all over her skin.

"I ain't gonna do anything bad, don't gotta be so nervous."

It wasn't fear she'd felt right then. Bad hormones, bad!

She cleared her throat. "Sorry."

After a second she felt the soft touch of a rough hand on her right shoulder. She immediately flinched and the hand was gone.

"Sorry," Diana whispered and Daryl hummed in response. "Keep going." She was curious now. Her insides were trembling like jelly, and her hands were gripping the limbs of the bow like a lifeline.

When he touched her shoulder again, she didn't let herself react, but she felt that tingly feeling in her scalp that made her close her eyes and suppress a shudder.

She thought her body would perhaps associate this with the unpleasant experience from the near past, but no. This was grounding, binding her to the present moment. Daryl's hands were gentle despite their roughness; it was completely different. It didn't raise any red flags in her mind, it was good.

Diana loved being touched, any form of desired physical contact and affection was a blessing to her. As Daryl's fingers started prodding and kneading the junction between her neck and shoulder, Diana could swear she was in Heaven. It was painful on her sore muscles, but the good kind of pain.

It felt like he was a rusty expert; his hands felt a little clumsy at times when the pressure wasn't equal throughout. She caught herself before almost commanding him to press harder.

Diana leaned her head away to give him more space to work with. She struggled with the urge to let down the straps covering the area just so he could have better access to her naked skin, but in her hazy thoughts, she realized that would've been a bit too forward.

She was left with a soreness only rest could completely heal and then Daryl moved on to her left shoulder. She complied by leaning her head the opposite way.

He applied the same technique. The same undulating movement that loosened the rigidness of the muscle. The pressing of rough fingers along the length of her shoulder to straighten out any kinks and swells. Over and over until he deemed it enough.

When he was done, he pushed her head down gently until the back of her neck was accessible to him. Diana's hands went limp on her lap when he began to stroke his thumbs up her neck, into her hairline and then back down along her spine. He finished by rubbing over the ridges of her shoulderblades.

It was divine. As his touch approached her hairline again, Diana felt a hummed moan rise up the back of her throat, which she repressed like her life depended on it. Why did her period have to make her so sensitive to every little thing?

Her skin felt tingly all over. Every stroke, even the slight breeze made the hairs on her body stand on end. Her eyes were closed, halfway to the back of her skull in delight, and she wished it could last forever.

And then, like all good things, it came to an end.

"That better?" The low voice and the sudden absence of his hands made Diana jump to attention. Her head snapped back up and she looked at him over her shoulder with only a slight wince.

"That felt good," she admitted and rolled her shoulders. Still a bit sore, but it was almost nothing in comparison. Her arms still had the worst of it, so she gave them a quick massage before pivoting to face Daryl. "Where'd you learn that?"

Daryl shrugged loosely and looked above her. "Picked it up someplace or 'nother."

Vague, but she didn't push. She contemplated reciprocating with the cócegas her brother and sister were so fond of. They always said she was better than mom, so that had to count for something.

The problem was that it wasn't just something casual you'd do to a practical stranger. It was intimate and required a certain closeness to the person. She didn't have that sort of familiarity with him. Then again, he had just given her a wicked massage that had taken her to Heaven and back, so screw it.

She swallowed her coyness and took a leap of courage by scooching backwards and patting the grass in front of her. "Sit here, I wanna show you something."

Daryl looked at her with equal parts interest and suspicion, but slid off the rock and sat in front of her. He mimicked her by crossing his legs.

"Okay, so this I'm gonna do, we call it cóceguinhas, which literally means 'little tickles', just 'cause we don't know what else to call it. Gimme your arm." She shimmied forward until their knees almost touched and grabbed him gently by the offered hand. She rested them on her knee, palm facing up.

His blue eyes squinted at her, which made her more nervous than she normally would be. Her hand subconsciously twitched under his and she became painfully aware of the touch.

She thought it was fun, what they were doing. A moment sealed in a bubble, away from everything else. It made sense to her. Even risking acting like children hiding away from the world made up for the fact that this was genuinely enjoyable to her. She didn't know if Daryl thought the same, for all she knew, he just thought this was foolish and saw her as a burden. That just about brought her mood down a bit, but she ignored it and carried on.

He had nice arms, Diana observed, they had scars here and there, the tanned skin was soft if not slightly clammy with sweat and the fine blonde hairs glistened in the sunlight. Not to mention how toned they were, but she was not going to even venture into those thoughts. She might be innocent, but she wasn't all that innocent, know what I mean?

She glanced from his concentrated blue gaze down to his wrist. She put her fingernails at the ready, over the lines of his veins, feeling the deep pulse rise up against her tips. Then, agonizingly slow, she raked her nails up his arm, softly. She applied only the slightest amount of pressure to leave very faint red lines on his skin.

At the same time, she leaned forward against her legs to reach him better. The bow on her lap touched the skin of her stomach when her top rode up. The thrilling sensation right under the surface of her skin only heightened with it.

Diana heard the smallest intake of breath from Daryl and felt his hand twitch in hers. She smiled in satisfaction and looked up. "Feels nice, right?"

She saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed and nodded minutely. She raked her nails back down towards his wrist, adding a bit more stroke from the pads of her fingers to ease the pressure and add that tingle from skin on skin contact. When she reached the root of his hand, she kept going and used the tip of her forefinger to draw a spiral on his palm, going inward and inward until she stopped at the center.

She didn't know how he felt about it, but to her, it was almost electrifying. Something about the innocence of the act made it so alluring. To touch and be touched, however harmlessly, always left her wanting more.

Another glance at Daryl, and his half-closed eyes proved that he was enjoying it as well.

Diana stroked up and down the length of each of his fingers, her touch always delicate and made for longing. When she was done with the hand, she returned to the line of his pulse and used her fingernails once again to graze up the sensitive skin of his inner forearm. Instead of stopping at the elbow, she rotated his arm and continued upwards, over the swell of the bicep and then back down over tanned skin and protruding veins until she reached the back of his hand.

She repeated it once more, even slower than before. Then she returned his hand to his lap and rested her own hands on her knees. Her actions made her slightly self-conscious now that the daze was over.

Gone was the electricity under her skin and anxiety bubbled up inside her in its stead. Why wasn't he saying anything?

Daryl was looking at her, but his eyes were completely unfocused. When Diana called out his name, he startled, cleared his throat and stood up.

Diana leaned back to look up at him and took the hand he extended to her. She thought that oughta be a good sign, but he always did that.

"Let's go," he murmured. He picked up his bow and gave her hers.

Had she embarrassed him? Had she done something wrong? She'd crossed a line, hadn't she? She'd gone and goofed up their small, growing amity, like the human incarnation of bad-decision-making she was.

"You didn't like it?" Diana asked, avoiding stepping on a fern and plucking a daisy from its natural garden, intent on destroying it with her fidgeting. She glanced sideways at Daryl and hung the bow from her shoulder. Her fingers started picking the petals off the flower one by one.

He held a low hanging branch out of the way and allowed her to step through first. Then he said, "It ain't nothin'."

Well, that didn't help ease her anxiety at all, it only made it worse. "Yeah, probably 'none of my business'." She threw the naked yellow-capped stem at her feet and stepped over it.

To be fair, it was uncool of her to be on the offensive about something so small, but she needed to know if she'd done something wrong. If it was her unintentional fault she could apologize for it and make it better. She knew how important communication was, especially since she fucked up on that aspect so often.

"What you want me to say, huh?" he hissed between his teeth.

So, that was a bit of an overreaction. She would've understood it if it didn't involve her, but she literally had been the cause of it, so it really was her business.

Diana spoke around the lump in her throat, "I just wanna know if I did something wrong, you know? What did I do?"

Daryl stopped in his tracks. The light floating down from the canopy made his light brown hair seem golden and the blue of his eyes could've easily rivalled the cornflower of the sky. His hands fidgeted with the strap of his cross and he narrowed his eyes at her before looking away.

He swayed his weight from foot to foot and brought a hand to rub the back of his neck.

Diana wasn't sure if the red on his ears was really there or was merely a trick from the light. "I don't mean anything bad by it, you know?" she started softly, "I just know people like it when I do that. I had a classmate that always put her hand on my lap during class for that. The others asked us if we were lesbians all the time, but she wasn't really my type."

"The problem ain't you. It was nice, alright? First time."

"Oh, okay then." She looked around, embarrassed at the personal confession. Not having expected it. "Wait, first time what?"

"Gotta spell it all out for you, yeah?" He started walking away, stepping over an overturned log and ploughing through the greenery.

Diana leaped over the log with sure-footed dexterity and jogged downhill to meet up. "If you don't mind," she joked and smiled lopsided.

Daryl gave her a quick look and sighed. "You damn nosy." He looked at her again, saw her expectant expression and whispered, "You're a fucking stranger, man."

"I'm not gonna tell anyone, you know? People have told me I'm a great listener." She tugged on her ears and smirked. Daryl didn't look impressed, so she sobered up. "Okay, for real now, don't feel pressured to tell me anything, it's your life, your secrets. I'm just interested, to be honest. You're an interesting person," she said surprisingly and embarrassingly earnest, which earned her a scoff.

"Ain't met many people, then."

Diana shook her head. "Ay, believe me, I've met everyone and their freaking genitals. I know what I'm talking about."

Daryl breathed out in disbelief and furrowed his brow. "The hell?"

"When you go through a couple hundred people whose hobby is reading the newspaper or drinking coffee with their neighbors, you begin to crave meeting someone with a bit more substance." She shrugged to herself. "To be fair, most of them were over sixty, so… Not much they can do with a healing hip or heavy dementia."

"The hell you goin' on about?"

"Past patients, but I strayed from the point, sorry." She did a rewind gesture with her hands, much like the first time they'd met. "Totally your choice; tell me, don't tell me. But if you don't wanna go there, you gotta say it outright, 'cause, like you said, I'm annoying and persistent. Annoyingly persistent or persistently annoying, though, that's the million-franc question."

"If I tell you, you'll zip it?"

"And lock it. Maybe. Temporarily. Not likely. Worth a try?" Diana shrugged sheepishly, palms facing up. She knew how to take no for an answer, but she'd never gotten this much talk out of Daryl.

She knew she had one of those faces that people trusted. Along with being a good listener, she was constantly told that. It came to be very useful in her line of work.

Having Daryl, who was closed off to anything and anyone, tell her something about himself that probably no one else knew was proof of her dexterity, not to mention a privilege. She would keep true to her word, though, and not divulge anything to anyone, not even her siblings.

"Ya see Merle, he ain't exactly the coddling type," he started. "Always been like that. Takes after our ma and fuckin' old man. They never… been the type for that kinda shit."

Diana hummed in acknowledgement and thought.

What a fucking conundrum.

She felt sorry for him, but she knew it was an absolute no-no to show her pity. Should she admonish his parents' behavior? She knew nothing about them and they were most likely dead, so it would probably be insulting to him, no?

Fuck, now she was reminded on why she avoided talking to people about loaded subjects. Comfort really wasn't her thing.

She went for a different approach. She glanced at him, breathed deeply and said, "That sucks a whole fucking lot, I gotta say that. You know, luckily, I'm a… I'm a very touchy-feely person, so I can stock you up on that to make up for it." She felt too warm as soon as she said it but she didn't take it back.

Growing up with loving parents that weren't afraid to show their fondness through hugs and kisses and general skinship was something that everyone deserved. Diana loved that, she thrived on it. Drown her in physical affection and she'd be a happy woman. To know that someone she knew was a stranger to that kind of love was nothing short of shocking to her.

She could fix that.

She may not know Daryl very well - and she may have been ready to rip his face off in anger not a day before - but she had two weeks' time left with him. In that time, she'd be sure to treat him with the same amount of care she did any of her close friends. Like she did to Glenn.

If Daryl didn't want it, she'd stop. She wouldn't want to impose on him or make it seem like harassment. Though, judging by the way he'd reacted to her 'little tickles', Diana was almost certain that he would have little to no objection.


if you haven't noticed by now, Diana has very little idea about social cues and propriety, it's one of her issues, she's oblivious about that stuff. it's not bad writing, guys i swear, it's her personality.

i was thinking, if Daryl were to tell something about his childhood, he wouldn't go about it in detail, just the gist of it so the other person got the idea, and that's what i portrayed here. Diana is trustworthy, but people don't just walk up to her and tell her their life story, but since Daryl is starting to trust her, he's gonna slowly open up to her. don't worry, though, i'm not gonna rush it. stuff like this takes time and patience, and neither of them are the spill-your-guts-out kind of person, and i have to take that into count.

please leave a comment. tell me your thoughts, i'd really appreciate it