skittletitz - Hell yeah you loved that cat thing. It was a multi-coloured masterpiece. I'm hoping BAMF Carol shows up more before the end of this story.
Ms Q - I certainly hope he listens too. He doesn't seem like a stupid man, so I'm sure he did.
HGRHfan35 - Carol is really growing some cajones on the show. I hope she continues to kick ass right through the entirety of the show...to the end! Yeah!
Lilone1776 - Well, it's one thing saying go comfort her, it's another to see a man's hands all over her (in his mind they were bordering on octopus, I'm sure). We all know the Lt. has no romantic interest in Carol, but Daryl is just getting pissy about everything lately. Poor boy is confused and needs a hug.
ClaudiaHdzz23 - Well, thank you for the lovely review. Greetings from Canada!/Bien, gracias por la revisión encantadora. ¡Hola de Canadá! ^_^
GG - Rough times all around, huh? I'm hoping this lighter chapter makes everyone feel less bummed out about me offing Maggie. Also, the war is coming up fast, so this may be one last chance as happiness for many.
Dianaxoxo - I'm glad you liked her speech. And may your Easter bring you plenty o' chocolate bunnies. ^_^
AFishNamedSushi - I need more girl power in this story! Like a crapload more! Also, speaking of can't be drama all the time, please enjoy this lighter chapter filled with Daryl and Fay just doing stuff, you know? Thangs.
ldyjaydin - I agree! Soon!
Surplus Imagination - Thanks for your review!
zerogravityganja - Me too. He probably is a little proud deep, deep down somewhere too, though.
Supfan - I agree. And I'm honoured my fic is one of the first ones you head for when catching up. ^_^
alibabwa - Things are slowly untangling themselves, I hope. Thanks for the review!
Laura - Indeed! She's so strong and beautiful and gosh I love that woman!
So, as I've mentioned. Here's a chapter that's hopefully a little lighter, before we get to the heavy war and death and destruction ending that's coming up fast.
Chapter Fifty-Eight: Farouche
**The Lieutenant**
Stalking through the woods later that morning, they were on the trail of a quail, moving across the leafy forest floor, just him and Daryl.
Eyeing the scruffy man at his side, the Lieutenant tried hard to find a delicate way to verbally slap him upside the head.
Any other man he'd give him his basic drill instructor command of 'suck it up and deal with it princess', but if he confronted Daryl so outwardly he knew the man would probably kick the crap out of him. Such, it seemed, was the temper of the Dixon's.
"You know, I think Grace has been flirting with me lately," he said calmly, deciding to lead in to the scold gently.
Daryl eyed him quietly.
"Not sure what to do about that," he went on.
"Do whatever the hell you want," Daryl grunted
The Lieutenant followed the grumpy man for a moment in silence. The truth was he had noticed a little more playful flirtation coming from the former nun and normally a woman flirting with him was never left disappointed, but…well a nun was a different creature altogether. Hell, God could smote him dead for even thinking wicked thoughts about Grace, didn't matter if she had the cutest little ass he'd ever seen or a winning grin that could charm that snake in the garden of Eden down off his limb.
Hn, he never realized he actually knew about her ass until that moment. How long had he known that? Maybe he only recognized it because in those jeans she had taken to wearing it reminded him of a Georgia peach.
That thought shouldn't have made him salivate as much as it did.
What the hell was wrong with him?
Glancing up at the sky to ensure God wasn't watching him and his dirty thoughts, he hurried to catch up with Daryl, smirking at he cabri. "You know, I've been thinking about society and our new tribes, so to speak, and I've come to a conclusion."
"Keep it to yourself," Daryl replied.
"When have you ever known that to happen, couyon? And stop a being a little bitch, I'm trying to make conversation."
Daryl shot him a dark, almost murderous look. "Yeah? And I'm trying to hunt, you keep flapping your dumb Cajun mouth and you'll scare everything off for miles around."
"What are you going to do about Carol? That woman's hurt and she needs you."
"Carol doesn't need me, that woman's independent as all hell."
"She wants you then."
"Good for her."
Touching a hand to his chin, the Lieutenant rubbed it, "you know, I know you've been hit a lot in your life and I'd hate to add to the bruises and scars, but what the hell it's for a good cause." Reaching out he slapped Daryl upside the head, causing the fiery shorter man to spin on him.
"What the fuck?!" He snarled, shoving the Lieutenant up against a tree.
"Do you know what I did at the base before they shipped me over to Fallujah, couyon?" The Lieutenant demanded calmly, not concerned at all to be crammed between an angry Dixon and a tree. "I slapped troops into shape and I'm about three steps away from knocking your ass around this forest, getting it back into shape. You need to stop bitching and whining. Yes, everyone is poking their nose into your business, and yes I'm sure you're sick of it, but you know we only do this because we honestly care and love you and Carol. Now, you want to hurt her, that's fine, but you'll have to deal with the repercussions of having everyone else who loves her smack you around. This kind of behaviour towards someone you love is bullshit and you know it. You're not stupid, cabri, not by a long shot, but you need to wake up and realize that like it or not you care about her and you need her."
Daryl eyed him for a moment, before stepping back, releasing his hold on the Cajun.
"I think this would be a lot easier if you just kept your thoughts and opinions to yourself," the man growled. "I know I've been stupid, that I probably hurt her. I don't need you of all people telling me that I fucked up."
The Lieutenant shifted on his feet.
"I just…" the man paused, hesitating, "I just don't know how to…I'm not going to just crawl back on my belly like a snake, you know?"
"But you want her back, yeah?"
Daryl dipped his head once in confirmation. "I was...you know?"
"Scared. I get it. You don't want that hurt of losing her. But you realized pushing her away doesn't make you love her any less, yeah?"
Again Daryl dipped his head.
Eyeing an uggie approaching over Daryl's left shoulder, the Cajun nodded. "Alright, hold that thought." He wandered over and took out the uggie with his new knife, returning to Daryl with a smirk. "Okay, cabri, we'll figure something out together, yeah? Some kind of way for you to get back into that storage shed without having to belly crawl." Clapping a hand on the back of the man's neck firmly, the Lieutenant guided him in the direction of the Skunk Cabbage Creek. "Course, you may have to belly crawl…that woman seems more than a little pissed with you."
"Yeah," the man replied, before adding quickly, "so your nun is flirting, huh?"
"All signs point to yes and to be honest, I'm terrified."
"Because she's an ex-nun?"
"Because that woman makes men piss blood." At Daryl's curious look, the Cajun shrugged. "It's a terrible story, you're best never knowing..."
As they approached the creek, the youngest Dixon pulled to a stop, eyeing a bush of pretty white wild flowers.
The Lieutenant eyed the flowers with him, standing at the edge of the water, enjoying the forest for its beauty and peace.
"Hey, Fay, you got some kind of container on you?" Daryl asked.
"Uh…maybe, hang on, watch my back, cabri." The man knelt, dropped his rifle and his pack onto the ground. Digging through the seemingly bottomless pack, he came up with an old container of cashews that he kept in his pack for emergency situations and shook it. There were probably only about ten left in the bottom.
"Cashew?" He offered.
Daryl eyed the offered container. "No."
Downing all ten cashews, the Lieutenant chewed them idly, before spitting them out on the ground. "Ech! Zeerahb!" He had gotten a bitter one in the mix and it ruined the whole mouthful.
"Learn to chew, dumb ass," Daryl growled.
Spitting out the remains of the chewed cashews from his mouth, the Lieutenant handed the container over to Daryl who rinsed it in the creek.
Kneeling with Daryl by the rose bush, the Cajun leaned over and inhaled the scent of one of the flowers. It was a clean, floral scent, faint and sweet.
"Pretty little things, what are you doing with them?"
Using his knife, Daryl dug in the earth at the base of the plant carefully. "I'm taking it," he explained simply.
"Where?"
"Home."
The Lieutenant eyed the man for a moment, before shrugging. "Alright, I'm sure you have your reasons." He stood up. "I'll just watch your back then, yeah?"
Standing guard over the man as he dug at the rosebushes roots, the Lieutenant sniffed. "Hey, cabri?"
"What?"
"I've been thinking about Woodbury. When I go…thing is, I'm going make it back, I'm sure I will, but if I don't—"
"Don't be a dumb ass, Rick said we'll get you out and we will," Daryl snarled.
"Yeah, sure we will, but if something goes wrong, well there's this letter I wrote. See in the army they sometimes say to carry letters on you, you know something nice and personal to send home to the family, well I wrote one a few days ago, before Logistics. I want you to know if I don't make it out of Woodbury, that it's tucked away in my things."
"And? Who's it for?"
"Annie."
"No letter for Grace?" Daryl asked.
The Lieutenant shrugged. "What would I say? You were right and I was wrong? Sorry I got killed in Woodbury, but thanks for your concern?"
The youngest Dixon was silent, but the Lieutenant knew that wasn't an indication that he was ignoring him.
"Besides," he added, "something like that coming back to her if I'm dead serves no purpose other than to torment her further. The only reason I wrote one to Annie is to give her tips and tricks on how to hold a rifle, the girl won't use a pistol, but maybe something two handed might suit her better. Goddamned Disney movies teaching kids to shoot with both eyes open only proves to raise dumb kids who can't fire a rifle to save their life…figure she needs to know she has to sacrifice depth perception in order to line the shot up clean. Then she can open both eyes 'til doomsday for all I care."
"You're a real sentimental princess, aren't you?" Daryl demanded, pushing to his feet, the rose potted carefully in the cashew can, the lengths of its vines gathered in his hand.
"Well, I did put some things in there about staying away from boys, but…that's only because a good percentage of us are heartbreakers."
"Speak for yourself," Daryl replied. "I'm heading home to try to fix my mistakes, what are you planning on doing for that woman of yours?"
"Why is she suddenly my woman?" The Cajun demanded as Daryl spun him around forcibly and gently stuffed the rose in his pack. "I don't recall giving any indication that she was even remotely close to being mine. Besides, I don't think they like it when you refer to them as 'yours' like you own them."
"Don't be a pussy," Daryl snarled, giving him an almost playful shove forwards.
Staggering, the Lieutenant caught himself against a tree and scowled. "I'm just saying she's not mine by any means."
"Good, I'll be sure and tell Merle that," Daryl replied. "He's been looking for a good lay for weeks now."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Merle can turn the charm on when he really wants to…"
"Hey, cabri? What's that supposed to mean?" The Lieutenant demanded as Daryl pushed past him.
..-~-..
..-~-..
The sounds of snarling and scuffling broke over the silence of the forest as they were winding up their hunt, a couple of game birds slung on Daryl's back.
Heading home, they stumbled across a group of five uggies digging at the ground, one of the uggies actually stuck half inside a fox hole, her ass in the air.
They were so wound up in getting at whatever was in the hole, that they didn't notice the two men approaching them calmly, weapons raised.
Exchanging a quick, curious glance with each other, Daryl whistled shrilly, catching the attention of the nearest one, it turned on them gnashing teeth and salivating for their flesh.
Shooting a bolt in its head as the others caught on to easier prey, Daryl loaded his crossbow as the Lieutenant fired on two others who approached. Raising his crossbow, Daryl fired on the fourth, leaving the one in the hole to continue fighting with the earth.
It was only then that the men realized the stupid uggie was stuck.
"Dumb ass got herself stuck," Daryl pointed out as they approached it, weapons raised.
Sticking out his leg carefully, the Lieutenant gave the thing a kick in the ass, hoping that would get it in gear so they could put it down.
It was obviously trapped, one free arm clawing at the ground, the other somewhere inside the hole.
"We can't just leave it there," the Lieutenant pointed out.
"Go ahead and give her a hand then," Daryl said. "I'm sure she'd be grateful for it."
Eyeing the cabri warily, the Cajun sighed. "Fine, hold my rifle, let me get a grip on the putin." Handing off his rifle, he positioned himself behind the uggie. "Be ready to put her down in case she grabs me, yeah?"
"I got your back."
Sniffing in the rotting flesh scent of the thing with a grimace, the Lieutenant gripped it hard and tugged.
Nothing happened.
"It's really wedged in there," he mused, moving his feet apart and preparing to really wrench on the thing.
"Yeah, well best hurry those gunshots might draw more here."
"Sure, I'll just grease up the hole and she'll pop right out." The Lieutenant bitched, tugging hard on the uggie's flailing arm. It tore off in his hands and he flopped back on his ass. "Ech, these things are nasty…"
"Keep at it, you almost got her. And watch the goddamned rose bush!"
"Thanks for the motivational speech, cabri. I was just about to give up." Grabbing the uggie by her hips, the Lieutenant yanked as hard as he could until both of them flew backwards. Finding himself underneath a wailing, gasping bitch of an uggie with a torn and nasty looking face, the Cajun grimaced. "Shoot her!" With his hands around her neck, keeping her teeth from his face, he winced as Daryl rammed his combat knife into her temple from the side, blackened blood gushing out onto his face.
Collapsing under her, the Lieutenant frowned through the gack covering his cheeks and forehead.
"Guess you found yourself a woman, huh Cajun?" Daryl inquired, kicking idly at her feet tangled with his.
"Yeah, well it's always the ones you don't want who throw themselves at you."
"How's the rose bush?" Daryl asked.
"Oh fuck your rose bush, couyon, how's my ass more like…fell on a goddamn rock…" shoving the uggie off him, he rolled to his feet and shed his pack so Daryl could check on the roses in it, moving towards the hole to see what the uggies were after.
"Watch yourself, numb nuts," Daryl pointed out casually.
Approaching the hole carefully, the Cajun knelt to peer inside it, the uggie had dug it pretty wide open, but it looked like the thing had twisted itself up in the roots of the tree.
From out of the darkness of the hole a low keening sound came and it didn't sound friendly.
"Think it's a fox…"
"Well, don't provoke it."
"I just saved its life, I'm not a threat. I just want to make sure it's okay in there."
"It doesn't know that and I'm sure it's fine."
Pulling a face, the Lieutenant was about to climb to his feet when a black and grey striped head shot out of the darkness, followed by a fat body.
"Jesus! Fuck-badger!" The Cajun exclaimed hopping out of reach of the hole enough to cause the thing to hurry back inside the safety of its home.
Behind him Daryl chuckled. "You jack ass, I told you to be careful."
"Goddamn thing nearly tore my face off," the Lieutenant said, keeping one eye on the hole and the other on his pack. Kneeling, he quickly slipped it on, taking his rifle off Daryl. "Let's get back home before I get torn to shreds. Heard those badger salud's can be nasty little pricks."
"You mean those fuck-badgers?" Daryl inquired.
"What'd I say?"
The Cajun Dialect
Farouche – Wild, feral.