|Cleave| Daryl D. x Male Reader

Passions

You followed Daryl through the greenery until you ended up at a small trap. Daryl knelt down and untied the rabbit from the snare. He then hooked it onto a strap hanging on his shoulder. He bent down again and remade the trap.

"How many traps are out here?" You asked, putting your hands in your pockets. You looked around the area, not knowing what else to do. 

"Dunno. I just know where they are." He shrugged and stood back up. His face rested in its regular, hardened expression. You were beginning to wonder if this man knew what emotions were. Perhaps his face didn't know it had muscles that could move. 

"You have 'em memorized? I'm impressed." You bumped your shoulder against his and he glared at you. You raised an eyebrow in confusion. Meeting someone who didn't enjoy the occasional compliment was certainly a rare sight. 

"It ain't hard to mem'rize an area, dumbass." He muttered the last word, but you still caught it. You frowned at the insult. 'What a jerk.'

"Wouldn't it be more difficult out here? Everything lookin' the same an' all." You wondered aloud.

"Quiet." Daryl suddenly hissed. You stopped walking. There was the slightest sound of a small creature scampering through the fallen leaves. Daryl slowly pulled out his knife and crouched. He ambled through the low hanging branches before his arm slung the weapon forward. He held his arm at his side and stood up. He walked to his defeated target and crouched down. He pulled the knife from a small rabbit before grabbing the mammal and attaching it to his strap, wiping his knife off with his pant leg before putting it away.

"Soooo." You spoke. Daryl stood up and kept his eyes on his game. "Did ya really need me out here? Seems like you got this down." The other man turned his gaze to you, his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, y're on walker lookout." He muttered, continuing walking to the next trap.

"We don't get walkers up 'ere." The corner of your lip curled into a smirk. He let out an annoyed sigh.

"Okay? Godda problem being 'ere? Go back to camp." He waved his hand as if to shoo you away. You rolled your eyes.

"Ne'er said I had a problem with it." You sped up to walk next to him. You soon arrived at the next trap and Daryl repeated his earlier process.

Walking to each of the trap locations was easy. Daryl continued repeating the tasks of removing the animals from the traps and setting the traps to their previous untouched states. You were beginning to wonder how he didn't get become bored of the monotonous occupation of obtaining the small creatures. [At this point I'm just making up words] On your way back to camp, you decided to pester your partner a bit more.

"What was the argument 'bout?" He looked at you with a puzzled look, urging you to present further context. "Between you an' Merle." His jaw clenched, piquing your curiosity.

"It don't matter." He pushed a branch from in front of him and the sight of the camp's emptiness was now in front of you, presented in all its glory.

"I'll see ya later, Daryl." You gave him a smile. He nodded, the cold look still occupying his face.

"Yeah." He replied. He walked off, leaving you to your own business. You decided to walk to the main area of your camp, hoping there was someone there to socialize with. Your eyes spotted Carol first. She was sitting in a small chair as she watched her daughter, Sophia, and Carl play around. You pulled a chair closer to the woman and sat down.

"Hey, Carol. How are ya?" You asked and looked to her. She shrugged. Not much of a talker today.

"Tired." She looked to you and gave a small smile. You nodded, agreeing with her. Who knew how tiring it would be to stumble around the forest for an hour or two?

"Where were you? I didn't see you around." Carol asked, squinting her eyes from the sun.

"Oh, I was with Daryl." You looked to the boy and girl in front of you playing with each other. They were crouched down looking at something―most likely a bug.

"Really? Doing what?" The older woman questioned, obviously intrigued.

"Huntin'." You sighed. "Well, he was doin' all the huntin' I was on walker watch." The woman beside you snorted, giving you a skeptical glance.

"I thought we didn't have any walkers up here."

"Yeah, we don't."

"Maybe he likes your company." She suggested. Your head turned to her, an eyebrow raised.

"Whad'you mean?" Your tone was filled with confusion. The thought of Daryl―of all people―wanting to be around you was strange to hear. Basing your compatibility from earlier interactions, thinking he hated your presence would be an educated guess. "I doubt he wants anythin' to do with me.

"You know he doesn't have many friends 'round here, maybe he's trying to get some." You nodded as she spoke, not quite believing the reasoning. 

"I guess. But he's got Merle."

"You know them, they don't get along very well. He's loyal to his brother, but they're definitely not buddy-buddy with each other. Besides, I think you'd be a good influence for him; you're nice and helpful." You smiled at her, grateful for the compliment. Truthfully, she was correct about their relationship. They act like an old married couple that surprises everyone at the family reunion when they say they're still together. 

"True. I'm just such a great guy." You bent your wrist as you placed your fingertips against your chest, closing your eyes and pointing your nose upward. Carol chuckled at your antics. She shook her head as a smile found its place on her lips. "Say, have you seen my ma anywhere? I wanna checkup on 'er."

"Oh, I'm sure she's just fine. I saw her down by the quarry with the rest of the ladies." She said.

"Alright, thank you." You stood up and popped your back. You started walking to the lake, turning and waving a goodbye to your good friend. She smiled and waved back. You whistled a simple tune and slipped your thumbs into the belt loops of your pants.

It must've been around noon, the hot air being evident. You could feel sweat gathering on your brow and above your upper lip. You couldn't wait for summer to hide away and its sibling, fall, to reveal itself. Thinking about the spectrum of colors made you hopeful. That was another reason why living in the middle of nowhere was so nice. Hope of getting through another day, knowing that you would live through the horrid conditions in the world. How depressing it is to think of what's happening. To think of the world going to shit. But you couldn't focus on that now, not when it was too peaceful to think of such things. 

Your mother stood at the edge of the water along with Andrea and Jacqui. This was one of those rare situations that you're glad she is a social butterfly. At least she was happy. That made you smile as you walked up behind her. You placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump slightly.

"Hey, Momma. Hello, ladies." You nodded to the other women. They returned the greeting. Your mother placed her hand atop your hand resting on her shoulder. 

"While you were gone, Y/n, I saw this beautiful swallowtail." She spoke in her usual gentle tone. 

"Really? Were you able to tell which one?" 

"Yes, it was a tiger swallowtail. I wish I had a camera so I could show you its beauty. It had the most pleasing yellow wings and the black stripes really lived up to its name. I had forgotten the blue on the bottom of their wings, truly magnificent. Did you know that females can be completely black? I'd love to see one of those flying about." She gained a far-off look as she spoke more. The women standing beside her stared with wide eyes. 

"Well, M/n, you really know your bugs." Jacqui chuckled. Your mother nodded. 

"It was a hobby of mine, studying insects. During the summer of my senior year, I studied all day and night about them." She sighed. "That seems so long ago. I blinked and now I'm an old woman with two children." She laughed. The other women laughed along with her. She was right. You remembered when you were a young child. Where did the years go?