LampPostInWinter - Oh gosh, you might get what you ask for, I get too attached to stories and often have trouble ending them. At the very least expect maybe sequels.
twin1 - Aw, thanks so much! Reviews like yours make my day! ^_^
skittletitz - My goal, to make Merle one of Caryl's most aggressive supporters.
Violeta27 - Hmm...you seem familiar...like I know you somehow...nope, the name isn't ringing a bell. *LOVES!*
Lilone1776 - I almost want to get to a point with the Lieutenant where he can literally go 'release the Merle' and Merle just goes berserk on things and people and places. (I just got an image of Merle as the Tasmanian Devil twirling about and slobbering...someone with some artistic ability must doodle this).
Surplus Imagination - I always like 'rest' chapters in stories. Can't always be excitement and plotfilled, even fictional characters need rest. I know, my Merle is horrid, I need to make him an even bigger bastard...sorry about the weak Merle. *cries* I'll try better! ^_^ Thanks for the review!
GG - I would like to think Sister Joan has much more sense then just forsaking her vows for Merle. I think Merle is just building up how much he thinks he can influence the woman.
SilverWolf84 - I think because the Lt. doesn't threaten Merle with bodily harm, he hasn't been added to the 'shit list' yet. Give him time though if Merle keeps hanging around the Lt.'s nuns. ^_^ Thanks for the review!
MollyMayhem84 - 'He's like the Steve Stifler of the Zombie Apocalypse ("fuckers, fuckers, fuckers!") except more dangerous.' Made me laugh so hard I had to run to the washroom because I was close to peeing. You pretty much summed Merle up using the best analogy anyone's ever made of anything ever.
AFishNamedSushi - I think Merle has enough sense to know when to stop being an ass before he gets a bolt fired up his bum. I still adamantly defend my decision to make Merle a halfway decent man. He's been through some shit too, just put up more of an asshole, thorny wall around himself then Daryl. The man is complex and I'm still trying to figure out what makes him tick as a character.
Brazen Hussy - An overexcited, over protective Cajun is the best cure for a overly horned up Merle. I stick by my decision to have Merle closely monitored. ^_^
So, I was having a convo with one of my lovely reviewers the other day that got me thinking about who I'd cast as the Lt...because a lot of you have been trying yourselves and it seemed like fun.
Anyways, why don't you kiddies try your hands at the casting game. It's kind of fun and blows, like, a whole afternoon. ^_^ Let me know what you've come up with, I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Chapter Thirty-One: Gêné
**Carol**
When she was young she had always wanted a large family. Not just large in the sense of three kids and both parents, but extended family as well; uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, all under one roof.
That was the vibe she had felt on the farm and it was how she was beginning to see the convent.
Everywhere she looked there were people trying to make themselves useful, people chatting, people interacting with other people, looking out for one another, offering each other warm smiles and kind words.
Carol knew something had shifted in her when she didn't see all of this with optimism, but dread. If she could take a lesson from their past history with 'safety' it was that it didn't last long. Walkers and men dashed their illusions of safety to the winds.
Heading towards the pump with a large watering can, Carol heaved a sigh at the sight of Annie chasing her beloved dog around, teaching it how to fetch, while Carl watched on like a prison guard, shifting back and forth with his hand on his 9mm.
After the barn Carol had dreams of Sophia. She wasn't doing anything or present as some kind of symbolism, but the dreams were always just like life. Just another day of doing the same old routine with Sophia at her side, they were vivid dreams of nothing, but they were bliss.
It hadn't rained yet, and while Carol and the nuns were hoping for rain to relieve the heatwave that seemed to have struck, they still had to water the garden. There couldn't be any hoping for rain and letting the freshly sown garden dry out tragically. The air was hot around her, smelling of the promise of rain, but humid and her skin was saved from extreme heat by the overcast sky that offered some form of shade from the sun.
Sophia would have loved a day like this, playing with Annie and Boo, laughing and teasing Carl about being so 'adult'.
She sniffled unaware that she had tears forming, just as a hand reached out to take hold of the handle of the watering can for her and jumped a little.
The Cajun Lieutenant stood there looking sheepish.
Quickly rubbing the mist from her eyes, Carol smiled nervously.
"Sorry," he said, "this is very awkward. I was going to offer to help you…but I didn't know you were…I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Carol replied, reaching out a strong hand to rub his upper arm. "I just miss my little girl on days like this."
She had never had many interactions with the man, but Daryl seemed fond of him. Before they found Rick, Daryl and the Lieutenant seemed inseparable and that was saying a lot since Daryl didn't seem to tolerate many people.
Eyeing her, the man made a small sound in the back of his throat, before setting the watering can down. He gave her a crooked, almost impish grin and held out his arms.
Carol eyed his invitation with a wry, unsure smile.
He wriggled his arms. "I promise I won't try anything funny. But you need a hug and my Mamere always said to never let a lady cry in my presence without offering some consolation."
Not sure why, but Carol decided to take him up on his offer, shuffling into his embrace with an uneasy grin. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, if there was one thing she was beginning to understand it was that she could take care of herself if push came to shove, it was just his offer was so random.
Pressed against his chest, Carol noticed that the man smelled of the woods and musk, much like Daryl, only the musk scent was fainter and the woodsy scent on the Cajun was more spicy, like the leaves of the forest floor, then sweet like the air.
And he was right, she was beginning to feel better just hugging another human.
Pulling away, she beamed up at him.
"See?" He said, grinning crookedly at her. "Hugs are all powerful."
Carol laughed a little. "I guess you're right."
"Sometimes I am," he replied, picking up the watering can again.
Taking it from him gently, Carol looked him up and down. "Don't you have something better to be doing, Lieutenant?"
"Naw, well…I could be out hunting, but…I've been shamed by a turkey. Kind of…emasculated."
Standing at the pump, Carol filled the watering can, eyeing the Cajun as she did so. "Emasculated by a turkey, hm? Sounds serious."
"It is, yeah. It wouldn't be so bad if he had the nerve to insult me to my face, but his continued existence is an insult to my masculinity."
Squinting at him, Carol wasn't sure whether she should call him on his bullshit or just let him go on spinning his tale.
He helped her along by beaming widely. "I am, of course, lying through my teeth."
"I hope so."
"Half lying…actually. I'm waiting for the order to head to the prison, Rick and Daryl think they could use an extra pair of arms to load some things. I don't know the details, just that I have two arms and it'd be nice to get out."
Nodding, Carol picked up the can, hefting it and ambling back towards the garden, the Lieutenant behind her.
"Can I ask you something, ange?" The man inquired, catching up with her. "Something maybe you'd know as a bystander."
Setting down the can again to save her arms the wear and tear, Carol wiped her brow with her sleeve. "Bystander?"
"You were there the other morning when I…well I was," he laughed nervously. "I may have been a little drunk…"
"When you and the Mother Superior were in the kitchen?"
"Yeah…er…I may have brought up something wicked…and red…"
Carol nodded. "Right, the red and lacy thing, what about it?"
"Was she…she wasn't overly upset was she?"
"Did you speak with Mother Mena over—"
"No! Ah, I've been – here's the thing – the thing is…I've been—"
"Avoiding her?"
"No. No. I've been artistically manipulating my presence in relation to hers. But I wouldn't say avoiding."
"Seems to me you might need to apologize." Carol suggested.
"Oh, that upset, huh?" The Lieutenant sighed. "I suppose I was a bit of an ass."
"Not for that, I think you embarrassed her by bringing up the lingerie."
"I…how'd you know it was lingerie?" He demanded.
"She asked me to dispose of it this morning."
The Cajun puffed his chest out a bit. "So she didn't burn them…interesting…"
"Is it?"
"Well, to me it is. You still have it?"
"I tucked it in with the rags." Carol replied. "Thought it'd make a good tourniquet at the very least, if we needed one."
Rubbing a hand over his chin, the Lieutenant nodded. "Interesting…well, thank you for your time, ange." He paused. "You know, honeychild, if you ever need to hug someone again, you should try that Dixon boy, he looks like he could use one."
"Don't think I haven't tried," Carol replied.
"He is a bit feral, isn't he? Good enough man, but he's all hard edges and rough surfaces."
"Lafayette?"
The mere sound of the voice had the Cajun wincing like a boy expecting to be whipped.
Eyeing the Mother Superior as she approached them from the garden, Carol smiled and made to move off, leaving them to their business, but the woman stopped her with a gentle hand on her forearm.
"Just hang on a moment, please, Carol. I want to speak with you as well." The woman moved towards the towering soldier.
He offered her a smooth grin. "Well, aren't you the vision of—"
"Don't," the woman warned. "I understand why you got into the communion wine, the Lord knows with all you've been through you needed it, but honey, I can't abide you creeping into the dorms like a sneak-thief in the night to sleep outside my door. It's just not done."
"Well, I would have crept into your bed, but I thought you'd notice a six-four man folding himself up beside you," the Cajun replied with little chuckle.
The woman blinked up at him.
"That…came out a little more…intimate then I meant…" he corrected, he eyed the ground for a long, awkward moment, before peeking up at the nun. "English is my second language, so...that's my excuse."
Folding her arms, the Mother Superior huffed a little. "We're running low on food, Lieutenant." The woman commanded. "What are you going to do to keep our bellies full?"
Like a whipped dog, the Cajun bowed his head. "I'm…going to have to tell Rick I have to hunt today and can't go with them…I guess."
"Can't hunt standing around here chatting, can you?"
Feeling like the woman was being a little hard on the Lieutenant, Carol offered him a small, comforting smile as he slunk by her. He returned it with a quick wink.
All pity she felt for the man stopped when he spun in his heel halfway across the lawns from them and shouted back. "Maybe I'll sort through the rag bin before I head out…in case I need one, yeah?"
Carol bit her bottom lip to keep from grinning at the Mother Superior's confused look.
"That man will always be an odd duck," the woman stated with a sigh. "Carol, honey, I was hoping I could ask a favour of you and yours."
"Of course, we're kind of taking up your space and eating your food, I think a favour is the least we can offer."
"It's not that we mind in the least, Carol, but with more mouths to feed, I'm just thinking if this goes on any longer, we should plant more garden while we have the time, just in case. Maybe expand the plot out further, see if any of your group will be willing to go out and find us more seeds to plant. In addition to that, while they're out if they can find any canning supplies. Sealing lids, paraffin wax, jars, things of that nature, we can make a lot more canned goods for the winter." Touching a hand to her chin, the woman seemed to run through a mental list. "Recipe books too, for canning. I've heard meat can be preserved, but we've never done it here."
"Well, when we finish up with the garden, maybe we'll sit down and write out a list. The group's usually pretty good if we hand them a list, Glenn's a wiz-kind when it comes to finding things."
"Wonderful, thank you, honey."
..-~-..
..-~-..
She was watching Rick and the others get ready to head to the prison for their supplies, Judith squirming in her arms.
Formula was already running low, but thankfully it was put on the list that her and the Mother Superior had compiled for tomorrow's supply run that Glenn vowed to make for them.
Carol didn't like asking him, the poor man needed a break more than anyone after what he went through at Woodbury, but he stalwartly offered, saying he liked doing the simple things again. To everyone's shock, Michonne offered to go with him. Carol assumed it had something to do with the woman's restless nature. Since she settled at the convent with Andrea she paced the wall, then haunted the grounds and finally paced the wall some more.
This was all before Michonne volunteered with go along with the Lieutenant hunting for something to eat.
The woman was either coming around or bored stiff.
Or maybe she realized that the food the nuns had been bringing her on the wall had to come from somewhere and had the decency to offer help where it was needed.
A form sidled up beside her, silent as the stars and Carol glanced over to find Daryl standing perfectly parallel to her, facing Rick and the others climbing into the vehicles.
Turning her eyes back on the trucks being loaded with passengers, Carol felt a rough hand brush against her elbow. It gripped her quickly, before dropping away.
Carol glanced back over to find him nodding once to her, she returned the nod with a small smile. Since the incident the other night they had been avoiding each other, but she was glad he came back around to her, because she had no idea how to approach him after the fool she made of herself.
"Ain't you gonna kiss your woman goodbye?" Merle's gruff voice demanded from behind them.
Everyone loading the trucks stopped and looked over in their direction.
Daryl winced and side stepped away from Carol quickly, his face turning a little pink.
"Fuck off, Merle." He replied quickly, moving towards the trucks.
Behind her Daryl's brother laughed and called out, "what? I'm not supposed to talk about it in public? Shit…just trying to give you a few pointers, baby bro!"
Glancing behind her she spied Merle's beaming grin and felt her own face grow a little hot.
"Learn some tact, you backwoods asshole," Glenn snarled from the bed of the truck where he was folding a tarp.
"Fuck you, Hop Sing," Merle growled, moving off in the direction of the church.
Thoroughly embarrassed, Carol decided to maintain her dignity and headed off for the dorms quickly, feeling a few lingering eyes on her back.
The Cajun Dialect
Gêné – Shy, easily embarrassed.