You had forgotten, after living in the city for so long, how quiet the world could truly be. When there wasn't traffic, or sirens going off, when there wasn't entertainment coming from a tv set or a radio, when there wasn't anyone around or alive for miles. But staring out at the dark navy sky in front of you, as you sit up in the guard tower with your legs dangling off the edge, you realize just how silent the world seems now.
Not a sound louder than that of crickets chirping in the still humid summer night, and the easy breaths coming from yourself and the man sitting watch beside you.
The fields of long blowing grass stretches for miles and the blanket of darkness is lit only by the cresent moon hung high above. The Earth completely and utterly still.
"Gettin tired?" Daryl's voice shakes you from your gaze and thoughts. Even in the low and quiet voice he speaks in, it feels deafening in the quiet night air.
Looking over at the man who leans against one of the cement beams, his left leg dangling off the side like yours and his right pulled towards him as his arm wraps around his knee.
"No," You shake your head, brushing a stand of hair from your eyes and tuck it behind your ear. "I'm alright."
Daryl grunts lowly, nodding his head and looks back out at the vast darkness in front of the both you.
"I was just thinking," You say and Daryl looks back over in your direction.
"Bout what?"
How unsettling this constant silence that has engulfed the Earth is.
"How for being your guard tower watch partner, I don't know much about you." You tease instead, and smile softly as you watch his lips twitch as if he wants to smile too.
"Ye know enough." He replies, looking back out at the wilderness stretched in darkness.
"I know that you're stubborn and good with a crossbow." You point out, looking down at your feet as they swing back and forth.
"Ain't much more ta know." Daryl says with a shrug of his shoulders.
Rolling your eyes, you look over at the man who is purposefully ignoring your gaze. "There's more than just that to a person Daryl."
"Like what?"
You think for a moment, feeling as though you just won a free spin on a game show. If you could ask Daryl Dixon a single question, what would it be?
"What's your favorite color?"
It takes a moment for Daryl to finally look back over at you, as if the question takes a minute to soak in as he's surprised by the randomness of your inquiry. But slowly he does. His head turns and his blue eyes look to you with an eyebrow raised in confusion and you know he's wondering if you're serious.
"Pfft," Daryl says, shaking his head and an almost laugh escapes him. A low grumble from the back of his throat.
"I'm serious," You tell him, nudging his foot with your own.
"We're guard tower watch partners but I like to think we're also friends." Daryl looks over at you as you continue to speak. "And friends, know the small deep kind of things about each other."
"Like their favorite color?" Daryl asks you, his tone falt.
"Yes, like their favorite color. Its not that crazy of a question Dixon, colors can explain a lot about a person." You can't help the smile that spreads across your lips and you wonder if he can spot it in this darkness.
"I'll tell you mine." You say with a hopeful tune to your voice and he raises his eyebrows-- unimpressed-- but he also doesn't stop you.
"Orange." You tell him, and Daryl continues to watch you quietly. And just like right now, you can never tell what that man is thinking. His face kept stoic and straight and his bold blue eyes carefully giving nothing away.
"Orange like the flames of a fire?" Daryl asks, and your smile stays put as you realize he's listening and paying attention to your "silly" question and answer.
You shake your head, leaning your weight back on your palms. "No. Not that dark or fiery of an orange. A softer, gentler orange like that of a sunrise. The paler shade found in new spring flowers."
"When the sky is painted in a pale shade of orange as the sun is just rising up in the sky. The blue not there yet, allowing the soft glow of the orange to overtake the sky."
"When the flowers bloom and spring is just within sight. I love the gentle shade of orange because it makes me think and it makes me feel that new beginnings are on the horizon, you know?"
Daryl nods faintly, listening to you ramble onward.
"And it's just pretty."
Laughing softly at yourself, your gaze drifts over towards the redneck sitting beside you. His blue eyes looking intently at you, regarding you with what... You don't know.
The space between the two of you falls silent again and the silence of the world begins to seep back in. That is until Daryl Dixon speaks up, and his soothing southern voice cracks through the quiet void.
"Green"
His eyes are focused downward, as he plays with a string unraveling on his dark denim jeans. Nervously or uncomfortably toying with the thread.
A smile spreads across your lips again, "I should've guessed it was going to be green."
Daryl looks up at you, leaning his head back against the cement. His eyes looking to yours as to continue to smile. "Why?"
"Because green is the color that Mother Nature graced the Earth with. From the deepest evergreen that line the pine trees to the softest of new spring buds." You explain and Daryl doesn't looks away, not once.
"It makes sense, you're always engulfed in nature. Its the element you find the most peace in. Amongst the tall deep green trees, surrounded by the grass and branches with hundreds of tiny green leaves that the sun shines through."
Your shoulders shrug gently, "I don't know, it suits you."
It falls quiet again after that, but it doesn't return to the unnerving uncomfortable silence. This one is warm and although the air may be silent... Words are being shared in the quiet.
"I probably would've guessed blue." You say a few minutes later. Still sharing a locked gaze with Daryl.
"Why?"
"Because it's a calming color. A cool color like the vast sky or rippling stream. I don't know," You shrug your shoulders again. "Maybe I thought blue because of your eyes."
You smile softly to yourself, this time hoping he doesn't notice your sudden shy smile.
But as you sit there beside him, Daryl can't help but think about the real reason green holds its place as his favorite color. You may be on to something in the way that the woods and nature shares so many shades of green that he quite enjoys, but he knows deep down why green is his favorite.
You.
Your eyes. Orbs of a soft beautiful green. Something so simple, something so small in this world yet having this calming and breathtaking affect on him everytime he sees you. And now, as he walks in the shade of tall evergreen trees or through the tall summer grass his mind swings back to you. For the color of green will now forever remind him of you and those mesmerizing green eyes of yours.
A/N: Sweet, possibly fluffy one! But I like it!💚
