He's Just a Baby

A Caregiver's Embrace

He felt a hand grasp his shoulder...but it wasn't cold like a walkers.

It was warm?

"Daryl?"

/:-:/:-:/:-:/:-:/:-:/:-:/:-:/:-:/:-:/:-:/:-:/

Daryl's eyes shot open instantly at the soft voice in front of him. It wasn't a walker like he had thought. No, that voice belonged to a person, a very specific person.

Looking up through the tears, Daryl made out the hazy figure of his companion standing above him.

Aaron.

His eyes started to pool with even more tears as he realized his predicament. Aaron had found him, he was safe. And yet he was acting like a complete baby.

But he couldn't help it; he was so scared.

He watched as Aaron's shadow bent down and shuffled in front of him. When he was close enough, Aaron's concerned face came into view.

"Daryl? Oh Daryl, what happened?"

Instead of giving a response however, all Daryl could do was shake and cry quietly, still overcome with millions of emotions.

"Hey there," Aaron spoke up again, much softer than before. Both of his arms went up to grasp Daryl's shoulders, resulting in a large flinch from the archer. "Just breath Daryl, you're alright."

Another loud crack of lightning erupted from the sky, and Daryl jumped.

"Daryl...? Are you feeling small right now?"

Daryl's breath hitched at the words of the caregiver. He knew deep down that he was plummeting deep into the headspace that he had so desperately pushed away...but he didn't want to. He tried to push away all of his fuzzy emotions and think logically about what was goin on, however the caregiving hormones of comfort spraying off of the other man made it very hard for him to do so.

He unconsciously leaned into Aaron's touch as he sniffled. He was soaked to the point that his hair was dripping water, but he could still smell the distinct odor of urine. He wondered if Aaron could smell it too.

"M' s-scared," he whimpered at last, his glossy eyes filling with more water. His voice sounded so weak and he hated it, but he couldn't help it; it was like his tongue wasn't working properly.

He heard Aaron let out a sound that was a mix of a sigh and a coo. "Well, it's a good thing I was outside then, hmm? You're gonna be alright as long as I'm here."

Daryl's eyes locked onto Aaron's and the archer could see nothing but worry and compassion in them. A caregiver's gaze always looked so warm and loving, and he'd never thought that a gaze like that would be directed at him.

"N-na' ma'?" he blubbered out, it getting harder and harder to speak by the second.

He watched as Aaron's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Why on earth would I be mad?"

Daryl's eyes simply dropped in response and he looked down sadly, watching as some of his tears fell and blended in with the falling rain.

The caregiver opened his mouth to speak, but a loud bang of thunder hit the sky again. The walkers groaned loudly outside the walls in response.

Daryl hiccupped a sob and, at the next bolt of lightning, scooched even closer to Aaron, although he didn't even notice.

"It's okay sweetheart," Aaron spoke in a sweet tone, finally falling deep into his caregiver headspace as he moved his arms from Daryl's shoulders to his waist, lifting the little to sit in his lap with ease.