"Did you ever just watch the stars when you were a kid?" Rick had his face turned up to the sky, enjoying the view of the Milky Way as it crossed the night sky. It was a clear night and it seemed like every star was visible for a change.
Daryl shrugged, "I guess. Never really thought about doing it, but sometimes if I was outside on a nice night it was something to do."
Rick nodded, "I always wanted to have one of those fancy telescopes to look at everything, but Lori gave me one for my birthday a couple years ago and I could never figure out how to use it properly. Carl used to joke that I was scientifically illiterate."
"Went to a planetarium once, when I was in high school. Class field trip. It was cool, but I spent most of my time looking for trouble instead of the stars." Daryl shifted his weight, looking up at the sky. He liked Rick, and felt that the other man respected him, but every time they talked about their pasts he had the feeling that they had absolutely nothing in common. If they would have crossed paths before the world fell apart it would have been under very different circumstances and the outcome wouldn't have been friendship. Not with his law-breaking brother and Rick's law enforcement career. Lori had still been giving him dirty looks while accepting the food he had hunted for the group and Carl had been afraid of him at first.
"I probably would have done the same. Shane was always getting me into trouble when we were in high school. If I had guessed how we would have ended up back then, I think I would have seen myself visiting him in jail somewhere instead of working with him in the Sheriff's Department." Rick chuckled, "He would have made fun of me for wanting to know what the constellations were too."
"Have to know those things now. It's how they used to steer ships across the ocean and find their ways across the plains. Sometimes the old ways are the ones you can count on when everything else turns to shit." Daryl pointed up, "Like that big bright star there, isn't really a star. This time of year that should be Venus. Easy to find if you know what you need and it will help you find East just before dawn. Or that one up there," He turned and pointed again, "The brightest star in Ursa Minor is the North Star."
Rick was grinning at him when he looked back down from the sky, "Maybe we should have you teach a class. You did say you could teach me something about tracking a while back. Seems like a good thing to know."
Daryl shrugged. "Maybe. If people would listen I could try."
"People would listen, Daryl, we know that you have skills we could only hope to pick up from our hurried experiences. You would definitely have our full attention." Rick reached out and grasped Daryl's shoulder, squeezing briefly, "I have no doubts what-so-ever."