It's 3:40 in the morning...I'm developing Vampire Syndrome (no, nothing to do with stupid Twilight or crap, I mean when you sleep all day and are awake at night, light starts hurting your eyes if you don't have much sunlight...THAT Vampire Syndrome.) But whatever, I'll be taking midnight shift on the ambulance anyway, might as well get use to it.

Back into the fray! Time to play with Daryl's mind!

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

The storm had left the prison yard full of mudpuddles and when Daryl came back from hunting he found Carl pouncing in them, splashing brown filthy water all over him. Daryl cracked a grin at him as he walked by, almost wishing he could join in, mudding had been one of his favorite stress relievers when he was a teenager and he missed the feel of the cool Georgia mud flinging up to smack into him as Merle tore through the fields while he hung on in the truck bed or vise versa. Mud...it must be a boy thing.

Daryl took the cleaned and skinned rabbit and squirrels into the kitchen where Carol was taking inventory of what he and Michonne had brought back yesterday.

"Thank, Daryl, just set them over there on that table," she directed when she saw the string of small game. He nodded and did as he was told, giving her a small smile as he walked back by on his way out. He liked Carol, she was one of the people in this group he managed not to get completely annoyed by, she kept to herself and did the jobs no one else seemed to want to do. She was a good woman, he could tell.

You know who else is a pretty good woman? his mind suddenly mused as he walked back out to the prison yard, Michonne.

Whoa, whoa! What are you talking about?

Come on, don't pretend you haven't been thinking about her all day.

I'm just trying to figure her out. It's nothin' more than that.

Mmhm, and next you'll be denying you loved that little massage you got last night.

Of course I did, I really needed it. Just because she was the one who did it don't mean nothin'.

Suit yourself...

"Hey, Daryl," Carl's voice interrupted his thoughts, "Mom said she could cut your hair this afternoon if you still want her to."

Daryl looked at Carl for a second before registering what he said.

"Oh, yeah, uh, thanks," he mumbled. At that moment, Michonne walked out from around the corner of the main building, patroling the fence line. She spotted the two of them and walked over and Daryl found his eyes locking on her hips again despite himself.

"Hey, you two," she said as she popped her hip to stand with her arms crossed, "Having fun in the mud."

"I am!" Carl made his point by jumping to the next puddle.

"You gonna join him, Daryl?" Michonne asked with a snarky grin.

Daryl didn't know what came over him, but he got a wicked idea in his head. He gave her a millisecond of warning by twitching the corner of his mouth before he jumped into the puddle at just the perfect angle to send chunks of mud and splashed of mucky water right over her.

He stood in the puddle, mid-shin deep in it, and smiled at her like a madman. Michonne simply stood there without even looking surprised, arms still crossed and hip still popped. A small glob of mud was sliding from her temple down her cheek as she stared him down.

"Think that's funny?" she asked him quietly.

"Hell yeah," he replied, not knowing where this boldness had come from.

"Then I'm sure you'll find this an absolute scream," Michonne stated a moment before she reached out and grabbed his shoulders, her leg swept out and caught him behind the knees, causing him to buckle and go down with her following right along. They both floundered in the large mud puddle and Daryl shook his shaggy hair out of his eyes and stared at her in disbelief.

"What the fuck!" he hollered, not really angry, just surprised.

Michonne didn't answer, couldn't answer, she was laughing so hard. Daryl felt something inside him flip at the sound of her laugh. It was hearty and higher pitched than her normal low toned speaking voice, her lips pulled back over her remarkably white teeth and her eyes squinted shut as she tossed her dread over her should.

"Oh man, Dixon, your face was priceless!" she said after she caught her breath.

Daryl growled and pushed himself back onto his feet, glad he had held the crossbow out of the mud, he didn't feel like cleaning it. He eyed her with amusement as she just sat in the mud and looked up at him, still grinning like crazy. He rolled his eyes and stuck out his uninjured hand for her to take, which she did, and he pulled her to her feet. The momentum of the pull made her collide into him slightly and he took a quick step away.

"Sorry," she said, "Overcompensated."

Daryl just gave her a nod and turned to go find something to change into, secretly smiling to himself as he walked with his back to her. The girl had spunk, he had to admit, she wasn't really as hard shelled as he thought she would be when he first saw her, chained walkers stumbling along behind her dark hooded figure.

And pretty too.

Ugh! Stop it.

Come on, think about it. The way she sways when she walks, those big brown eyes you just can't seem to look at for too long before getting weak in the knees, those big pouty lips...

Ok, you can stop now...

That skin the color of melted dark chocolate that probably tastes just as good...

Fuckin' stop it!

Daryl shook his head, not knowing exactly where this was all coming from! There was no way he could ever be attracted to her, they were at opposite ends of every spectrum imaginable!

Daryl found Lori dragging Carl by the ear towards his room, she was speckled with mud and Daryl had a feeling the boy's mud jumping had gone too far...

"Daryl, sorry, you're gonn have to get someone else to cut your hair," she stated as she walked by with Carl, "I have to give my son a talking too."

Daryl nodded in understanding and gave Carl a wink of encouragement.

"I can do it for you," the voice made him spin around and clutch his chest.

"Geez, why does it seem you're always right behind me?" he snapped.

"Well sometimes it's true, I am," she replied simply, "But mostly...you're paranoid. Now, come on out to the alley, well get you trimmed up, Shaggy."

Daryl grabbed the scissors from the table where Lori had left them and followed Michonne out to the alleyway between the buildings. Michonne had grabbed a chair along the way and she set it down and motioned for him to take it. He hesitantly handed the scissors to her, the fact that they were alone in the rarely used alleyway and she had sharp ass scissors in her hands and could easily stick them in his jugular at any given moment made him a little nervous.

"It's a hair cut, not a guillotine," Michonne joked when she saw his face. "I promise, I won't even nick you if I can help it."

Daryl sniffed, obviously not amused or comforted, but sat down backwards on the chair, his arms and chin rested on the back of it.

"Got a towel or something to catch it in?" Michonne asked, "It's gonna go down your shirt."

Daryl groaned and simply pulled his shirt over his head, tossed it aside, and returned his chin to his arm. He didn't know why he suddenly didn't care if she saw the scars, maybe because she already knew about them so it didn't matter anymore. He just hoped she wouldn't ask about them again.

He felt the cold metal of the scissors on the back of his neck and he tensed up, but the first snip occured without bloodshed so he relaxed a little bit, and a little more, and a little more with each clip. Soon he relaxed completely and just started following her orders to turn his head, raise his chin, etc.

"Ta da!" Michonne proclaimed with one last tiny snip. "I think I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself."

Daryl was about to make a smart ass remark but it got lost on the way from his brain to his mouth when he felt her long, thin fingers thread into his hair. His eyes drooped closed as her fingers twisted in his significantly shorter, much choppier cut and he let out a long sigh of satifaction. He would never admit it to anyone, but he had always been a fan of girl who grabbed him by the hair during sex or...anytime, it was one one of those things that drove him crazy. That thought brought him back to earth and he reached up to bat her hands away.

"Alright, alright," he said snippishly, standing up and pushing the chair away.

"I just wanted to see how good a job I did," Michonne defended, she didn't look at all embarressed or ashamed of her actions and Daryl didn't even know what he was so bothered about. He simply drug his own hand through his new do and smiled slightly.

"Forgot how good it feel short," he stated.

"Looks good too," Michonne said, matter-of-factly, eyeing him with a little half smile.

Daryl squinted at her oddly before bending over to grab his shirt from the ground. He pulled it on and he almost swore he saw a flash of diappointment in Michonne's dark eyes...but no way had he actually seen that. Not possible. Not him.

"Thanks for the snip," he said with a nod, he shouldered his crossbow once again and walked past her towards the guard tower that he would take up duty in within ten minutes.

"Hey, Daryl," Michonne said from behind him. He paused and looked over his shoulder. She almost looked like was about to say something before she hesitated and then shook her head sadly, her eyes met his and she gave him a friendly grin, "Have fun on watch."

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

So, they're getting closer. Taking it easy for now. Promise, they will be mutually attracted soon enough! Let me know your thoughts, further ideas (thanks to lucifergotosea for the haircut idea!), and opinions! Seriously, I love input guys!

Push that little review button down there! It's an awesome button!