Mara jerked awake with a start. She had dreamed she was falling and in a split second her brain ran through the information. She'd been in a hammock, she'd fallen asleep and she was very high off the ground. She might actually be falling.

Once reality penetrated her sleep haze she realised she was in fact still in the hammock. Mara could feel something digging in to her back. She looked over her shoulder and saw a hand was curled into the back of her belt. The hand was scarred and dirty.

She looked up to meet the disgusted gaze of Daryl. "You snore and you move a lot in your sleep."

"But you didn't let me fall out."

Daryl snorted. "Ain't gonna lie, I considered it for a minute."

Mara decided the next time they were in a hammock and he fell asleep, instead of pouring her heart out about what an inherently good person he was, she was going to kick him in the ass. Mara may have been swayed to thinking Daryl was a good person but nothing could convince her he wasn't a bit of an asshole.

"C'mon, we're wastin' daylight."

Mara didn't bother pointing out it was dawn. She was as eager to get back to the prison as he was. She noticed Daryl's eyes were bloodshot and guessed that he hadn't gotten nearly as much sleep as she had.

Mara rolled up the hammock and Daryl moved to a lower branch to scan the area for spooks. Mara heard him whistle the all clear. Mara followed him down the trunk to find Daryl picking up the fuel can where he had left it. Apparently it was useful the spooks didn't really have any needs beyond a full stomach.

Daryl took the lead with his crossbow armed and ready. Mara followed in his wake. She had left her sword in its sheath. She had un-holstered her gun instead. At the moment she was more worried about the men with guns. The sword might be the perfect choice for spooks but for armed men, it was better to match fire with fire. Daryl had narrowed his eyes at her decision, seeming to remember her struggles with a crossbow all too clearly.

The remains of the fence cracked under their feet. It was barely more than toothpicks and splinters in the aftermath of the Spook stampede. They hugged the corners of the house, avoiding being in the eye line of any windows.

No sign of spooks today. Maybe the truck, the guns and the loud mouth men had been enough to attract a whole heap of them but the two people stalking the shadows slipped by unnoticed.

They snuck into the garage and were relieved to find the car untouched, still filled to the brim with supplies.

With no discussion they slid inside it and were off. There was something about being in a car that reminded Mara of life back home and when they found an open stretch of road with no abandoned cars Mara briefly indulged the fantasy that she was just on a road trip with a friend. Mara was taking some creative license with Daryl fitting the role of friend but she let herself enjoy it for a few minutes.

She was knocked out of her daydream by the car swerving dramatically on the road. "What the hell?" Mara cried.

Daryl looked startled and was blinking furiously in the front seat. Mara saw there was a fine trembling in his arms and realised that Daryl was exhausted. Dangerously so.

"Stop the car!" She said.

"I'm fine," Daryl snapped.

"Stop the car," Mara repeated but in a wholly different tone. It was a tone that tolerated no disagreement or disobedience. Daryl stopped the car and threw the handbrake on. It was an indication of how tired he was that he didn't argue or insult her.

Mara got out of the car and saw Daryl swap to the passenger seat without even getting out. Mara fixed him with a hard stare. "How long has it been since you've had a full night sleep?"

"While," Daryl mumbled, looking out the window. Mara knew what he wasn't saying. Between the Governor threatening to arrive at their doorstep any second and his suspicion of the new comers Daryl had spent more and more time on patrol and guarding. Getting a good night's rest didn't look like it was high on his list of priorities.

"Try and sleep a bit. I promise not to cut your throat in your sleep," she said dryly, turning the car on again.

Daryl rolled his eyes by way of response but he was soon fast asleep. Mara figured he couldn't be that apprehensive of her anymore.

This time Mara didn't feel the need to espouse what a wonderful person he was. Mara chalked that moment up to fatigued delirium and was glad Daryl had slept through it. She had touched him again, hadn't meant to do that but she had. Mara really had to curb whatever weird impulse made her do that because so far it had only gotten her into trouble. Daryl acted like a spatially aware kind of guy.

...

Daryl became aware of his surroundings slowly. The first thing he tuned into was the sound of voices.

"He looks less dangerous like that," said a voice that sounded annoyingly familiar.

"Almost sweet," another added. That one sounded like Carol but it couldn't be. Daryl was certain they couldn't be talking about him. No one had ever called him sweet in his entire life.

"I know. Poor thing just dropped right off."

He recognised that voice by how it set his teeth on edge. Mara! He cracked open an eye. He was still sitting in the car, his head was thrown back and he could tell from his dry mouth that he'd been sleeping with his mouth open.

Nearly everyone he knew was staring at him through the open car window like he was a zoo attraction.

"I'm going to kill y'all," he croaked out. He was weirded out when they all laughed. What happened to the days when his threat carried some weight? Carl was right there grinning along with them. Even the kids were making fun of him now?

"Mara!" an angry voice snapped. "I told you to make up with the boy!"

Boy? Daryl was having trouble catching up but he felt indignant. Nathan was five years older than him at most.

"I did," Mara answered, not looking the least bit concerned at Nathan using his sergeant voice. "Besides it's not like I'm doing anything I wouldn't do to Yussuf." Yussuf nodded to support that.

"He's lucky he doesn't have a moustache drawn on his face, Sarge," Christina chimed in.

"She's right Sarge, they did do that to me!" Yussuf said.

"Fine but as long as the teasing is indiscriminate," Nathan said.

Rick held up his hand. "Hold on there. I don't think I understand what's goin' on."

"It's an Australian thing. You know we like you by how much we pick on you," Elias said.

"That doesn't sound right," Carl said, confused.

Nathan sighed, "It's a cultural thing."

"Yeah, don't be racist!" Yussuf said, crossing his arms and giving Carl a melodramatic stink eye that caused Carl to grin.

"I'm going to allow this because I have no delusions about how much you idiots actually listen to what I say but you stay sensible and don't compromise the work or our safety," Nathan instructed.

"I don't like where this is going," Rick said slowly. Daryl didn't either. The soldiers had identical smiles on their face and Daryl found it disconcerting. He was too tired and the situation wasn't life threatening enough to clear his head.

"Ok enough, we have work to do," Rick finally put his foot down. The group dissipated until it was just Mara standing there. She bent over and rested her arms on the window sill of the car looking Daryl in the eyes.

"Also? You snore."

So much for being a mother fucking hero.

It quickly became obvious what the Australians had all been hinting at.

A few days passed of quiet work before it all really started. Carl's hat went missing and reappeared on the roof beams of their common area. Daryl caught Yussuf patting Christine on the arm saying, "nice work, my little tree monkey," while Carl stared up aghast.

Somehow someone snuck some blue dye in to Elias' tea and it stained his teeth a hideous shade.

During work hours they were all business. They were putting in long hours mending holes in the prison walls and killing walkers. They were vigilant on their patrols. They took their share of the cooking and were responsible for the new pits circling the outside of the prison fence that were designed to capture walkers and prevent the Governor from driving close up to the prison except for the main route.

Daryl couldn't fault their work ethic at all but at the same time a prank war was raging. They never did anything dangerous it was just stupid shit that he would have pulled when he was a teenage boy but hell even he'd grown out of that.

He caught Carol hemming all Glenn's pants. He leaned against the cell bars. "Not you too?"

Carol looked up at him and smiled. "Yes, me too. You're not planning to dye someone's teeth yet?"

"It's stupid and a waste of time. We've got the Governor to worry about."

Carol sobered. 'Governor' was the universal safety word in the prison now. It was an instant way of snapping people out of the frivolity and getting them to talk seriously.

Carol nodded like she agreed with him but he could tell from the set of her mouth that it was a trap and she was going to say something that made this dumbass prank war seem alright.

"Listen to that," Carol requested.

"T'what?" Daryl asked.

"You hear Carl laughin'?"

"Yeah but..."

"You know what he sounds like?"

Daryl shrugged. He didn't know what the correct answer was and was sure Carol already had one in mind.

Carol patted his hand, one of the few people he trusted to touch him. "He sounds like a kid, Daryl."

Daryl screwed up his face. He knew where she was taking this now. "Life can't be just death and survival. There's gotta be fun."

"Fine but I still think it's dumb!"

Carol's smile was affectionate. "Noted." She returned to her needle and thread.

Daryl paused as he was leaving. "You should just sew the leg holes shut."

"'Atta boy," Carol said concentrating on her work.

Daryl ran down the stairs crossbow over his shoulder. He saw Nathan and Rick bent over one of the tables examining some maps.

"I can't believe you're allowin' this!" Daryl grumbled.

"They're not hurtin' anyone, Daryl," Rick said.

"They're hurtin' my sanity."

"No one has even tried to play a joke on you yet, Daryl."

Daryl supposed that was true. He hoped that most of them took him too seriously to want to demean him but he thought it was probably likely they were just scared of how explosive his reaction would be. He couldn't shake the feeling that Mara might be planning something to humiliate him.

"Don't you have guard duty?"

"Yeah," he pushed himself away from the table. He leant near Nathan's ear as he walked by. "Just so you know, you're the worst soldiers ever and I think what yer doin' is a violation of the Geneva convention."

"Probably true," Nathan agreed without looking up from the map. The sergeant was too used to his team's hijinks to care. Issues with discipline aside Nathan was a good influence on Rick. He had calmly endured Rick talking to someone that wasn't there and he'd turned his mind towards a project, gotten him focused. He had never made a snide comment about Rick's ability to lead.

Daryl had overheard Hershel thanking him and Nathan had simply said, "We don't punish people for post traumatic stress. You have all seen more hardship than any person should have to endure."

Daryl had decided then that the sergeant was maybe a man worth listening to and worth a little trust. Even if he led a team of lunatics. Over the last few days the Australians had moved in from the common area into cells of their own. They used bedding they had scrounged up from the prison to attach to the front of all the cells, creating an illusion of privacy.

He strode across the lawn to where he had spotted Mara standing on top of the over turned bus. He kinda wanted to shoot her with his crossbow. Not anywhere lethal, maybe in the thigh. Sometimes he could see why people suggested he was prone to overreacting.

"I hope you're having fun," he snarled at her.

"Not really, Maggie and Beth hid my underwear," Mara said.

Daryl opened his mouth to reply then shut it with a snap as what she said registered. He could feel a blush creeping up his neck.

Mara kept scanning the area casually.

"I ain't wana know 'bout that," Daryl said, running an uncomfortable hand through his hair and wondering why he had even initiated a conversation.

"Was there anything in particular you wanted to discuss, Daryl? You are more talkative than usual."

"Just get it over with," Daryl blurted out. "Whatever you're plannin', just do it already."

Mara looked confused. "I'm not planning anything, Daryl."

Daryl scoffed. "Right."

Mara smiled "Daryl, I'm not joking. You're not the target of any master plans."

Daryl narrowed his eyes at her. She didn't even twitch. Was she being genuine or was she just that good at bluffing? Why did he find it so hard to get an accurate read on this girl?

"Besides I don't want you to shoot me with your crossbow or anything!"

If Daryl didn't know any better he would have thought that was a knowing look. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Christ, it's hot out here," Mara complained. She stretched her arms above her head. Her shirt road up to reveal a tiny sliver of flesh and the button to her pants. Daryl's eyes went to the button and unbidden the comment about underwear flashed in his head. He blushed again and turned to stare at the walkers lazily banging at the fence. Luckily Mara didn't notice.

"How about I get us some water? Might cool down your paranoia," Mara patted his shoulder as she went by and swung down from the bus.

Daryl watched her walk away with a sway in her hips. Yeah, she definitely was planning something.

...

Christine stopped Mara as she went by.

"So what are you planning?"

"Nothing!"

"Seriously? Who are you?" Christine demanded.

"I can't do anything to Daryl. He'd hate it."

"Everyone hates it!"

"No," Mara corrected. "Everyone takes it as a joke. Daryl will take it personally. I think he's sensitive."

Christine looked at Mara like she was mental? "Have we met the same Daryl? That dude is rough. He's a hard ass."

Mara shrugged in a non committal way. She just knew that after seeing the wounded look on his face the first time she was determined to never be the one to put it back on his face. She didn't know much about Daryl but he didn't like people making fun of him. The car was one thing, everyone just happened to be milling around when they'd pulled up and he had legitimately looked cute zonked out like that.

Not that she would ever tell him that.

Christine was looking at her suspiciously. "Do you like Dixon or something?" she asked abruptly.

Mara's eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious?"

"I'm not the only one who thinks you do."

"Who else thinks that?" Mara asked sceptical that anyone had discussed anything.

"Everyone."

"What! Not everyone surely?"

"Well not everyone," Christine conceded but Mara didn't get a chance to relax. "Everyone but Nathan and Rick. Can't imagine they'd encourage sending you two off alone if they thought you were going to distract him with sex."

Mara groaned. "This is ridiculous! Why would anyone think I like Daryl?"

"You're nice to him."

"I'm nothing but mean to him," Mara countered.

"Yeah but there's mean and then there's mean flirty."

"You think I flirt with the red neck with the crossbow who occasionally rocks the squirrel necklace?"

"Yeah, there's no accounting for taste at the end of the world. You know he probably likes you too."

"I sincerely doubt it," Mara protested. She paused for a second. "Why? Did he say something about me?"

Christine's knowing look made Mara hate herself for asking.

"Mara, there are two things you should know. One, your new boyfriend hardly talks and two, when he does I just don't care." She started walking away.

"He's not my boyfriend," Mara shouted at her retreating back.

Mara winced at the thought that Daryl might have heard that. She could feel his eyes burning in to the back of her and it made her uncomfortable. He had such a piercing gaze... she really needed to find her underwear.

AN: I hope you enjoyed. I tried to show a light hearted side to life at the prison since they've all had this goal of creating a more well-rounded life.

On a completely unrelated note, had a surreal experience yesterday. Australians joke with foreigners about how there are kangaroos just travelling the streets (we're a hilarious bunch, didn't you know), which is usually untrue but on my drive to work traffic nearly stopped because a pack of ten were just casually hopping down the main road. Thought it was a cool moment.

Anywho, as always I'd love some reviews from the gorgeous people who are following this story. What you like, what you don't like, what you'd like to see more of... you can tell me with just a quick click of that review button.

MD 666