He wasn't one to notice such things, normally, or to care that much about them either, but he was getting more and more socialized by the people he was surrounded by and so it felt natural to ask. "Something wrong? You've been quieter than usual."
Aaron looked at Daryl, his right eyebrow quirked, "Really? You're quiet all the time and you're going to complain when I have a morning where I'm not chatty?"
Daryl shrugged, "I guess. Just seemed like something was bothering you." He looked away, his eyes following the flight of a large bird into the trees.
Aaron sighed but was silent for another few minutes, until it started feeling uncomfortable. "Alright. Something happened, last night." He took a deep breath and glanced at Daryl, who was still looking carefully away from him. "Eric wants to come back out on recruiting runs and we had a fight about it last night."
Daryl nodded, "Makes sense."
"What makes sense? That I'm quiet, that we had a fight or that he wants to come back out here?" He didn't want to be angry at his new recruiting partner, but it was getting to be a close thing when Daryl shrugged again.
"All of it." Daryl glanced at Aaron quickly before looking away again. "I'm not trying to be flippant, but it does make sense. You had a fight, which doesn't happen often so it makes sense that you are still thinking about it this morning. It makes sense that he'd want to be back out here too; doesn't he worry about you when you're out here with me? If something happened he wouldn't find out for days or possibly longer. You had a fight because you want to protect him, but he wants to be able to do the same, and since you can't have it both ways it can't be resolved."
Aaron was silent again, thinking. "So, you want to be a relationship counselor? That was some pretty good insight."
Daryl scoffed, "Not funny. I just want the two of you to work this out so I don't end up in the middle of it all."
"I know, I just don't know what to do yet."
"Maybe that's the problem. You can't do it yourself; you can't make the decision of whether or not he'll be out here again all on your own. Because if you do, you'll be disrespecting Eric and what he needs." Daryl hesitated again, "You know, if he did come back out here with you, it isn't as though I would have to quit. You don't have to be limited to only two recruiters, and we all have different ways of viewing people. Didn't he have insights that you needed before you found my group? We could have another vehicle for bringing people back too, if we found more than a few."
Aaron nodded slowly, "Alright, maybe I've been blind to some of the possibilities. I just-" He took a deep breath before continuing. "I just don't want him to get hurt again."
"I'd bet that he knows that already. Maybe you should think about those possibilities and see what he has to say when we get back later." Daryl hefted his bow, "I want to check out that trail we marked last week, maybe go on foot for a bit. I'll call if I find anything." He swung a leg over the motorcycle, and started the engine before Aaron had a chance to reply.