Ryker's Guide (Mild)

Dance Magic, Dance

Meriwa

Meri and Daryl had been partying hard for a couple of hours, causing Meri's feet to hurt from all their dancing. She was taking the opportunity to rest against King Vampire while Daryl grazed at the snack table for the millionth time. Knight Corp had put on a good spread, and they'd had one hell of a time distracting Daryl from all the food. The only thing that seemed to pull him away was dancing.

She swayed slightly on her feet, leading Carbry to wrap his arms around her and hold her close as he kissed her cheek. "You're drunk."

"Uh-huh." She shook her head, leaning into him when the action made her dizzy.

He didn't argue, just laughed as they watched Ryker trying to herd the cowboy away from the food and back to their little corner where everyone gave them a wide berth because they apparently considered King Carbry scary. Meriwa sighed, wishing that Timmy and Sam could be there to join in their fun, but they were busy taking care of their Urdu.

So, it was just Meri and her milkshakes tonight, which was honestly kind of fun.

Finally, after lots of animated gesturing and arguing from both men, Daryl nodded and allowed Ryker to guide him back over to them. When Daryl saw her, he grinned widely, making her laugh.

He was totally drunk.

Her cowboy gave her a stupid look as he said. "I'm back from my temporary release! Now, come dance with me."

Meri smiled herself as he grabbed her wrist gently and shot Car one of his devastating smirks before tugging Meri to him.

Daryl turned his grin on her. "Ryke doesn't let himself feel the music like we do. He doesn't get it."

Ryker snorted. "I think I prefer watching you dance, prisoner 42069."

Meri rolled her eyes even as she let D tug her to the dance floor. "But everyone stares at us."

"That's why it's fun!" D exclaimed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to him. Both he and Meri stumbled and ended up supporting each other on their way to the middle of the dance floor.

Almost immediately, D started dancing, and Meri laughed when he began grinding on her, casually draping one arm over her shoulder as he moved. She giggled before admonishing him. "Daryl! You're doing your stripper dance again. We said we weren't doing more stripper dancing."

"Nah." He continued to dance, pressing his body close and ignoring the stares from people. "We're just having fun. All King Vampire's people have sticks up their asses."

Still chuckling, Meri allowed him to spin her in some elaborate move she didn't know how her 'kind of' drunk feet allowed her to execute. However, the movement of the spinning made her even dizzier than before, and she ended up resting her head on D's shoulder as he held her close for a minute. He sighed contentedly and continued to move to the beat.

Her cowboy friend smelled so good, like sunlight and the farm, and she closed her eyes as the music shifted to some sort of slow dance. The two of them swayed for what felt like a long time, and Meri turned her suddenly heavy head to look over at Ryker and Car standing against the wall. She gave them a small smile feeling suddenly sleepy.

"'Scuse me, officer." Daryl said in her ear.

"Hmm."

"Nature calls. Maybe you should go stand with our mates for a while."

Meri yawned then nodded, giving Daryl one last squeeze before leaving him and wading slowly through the crowd and back to her mate and Ryke. Carbry held his arms open for her, and she collapsed into his embrace, breathing in his scent as she found herself half-dozing off.

Somehow, she mumbled. "Prisoner needed a bathroom break."

"Shit. Lost sight of him, Alesky."

Car snorted and kissed the top of Meriwa's head before replying. "Yeah because he's in the bathroom."

"I'm gonna go find him." She heard Ryker stirring, pushing himself off the wall fully intent on tracking down the peeing cowboy.

She could practically hear Car rolling his eyes as he said, "Nonsense. You're as drunk as they are. Let me do it. Here, you watch this one."

Before Meri knew what was happening, Car was releasing her, and she wobbled until she latched onto the nearest thing, which happened to be the asshole. After a moment, she opened her eyes only to meet Ryke's piercing glare.

"So, it is you, asshole."

He rolled his eyes but still supported her weight as he said. "Aren't you just a ray of sunshine?"

She huffed, resting her head on his shoulder. "You smell good."

He laughed, swaying a little with his own inebriation as he leaned more heavily against the wall. After a moment of hesitation, he slipped an arm around her waist. "And you smell like sweat and my cowboy."

She yawned. "We had to dance cause he loves dancing and you're not good at it."

Ryker laughed. "That's a fucking lie. Who do you think taught Daryl everything he knows?"

"Uh-huh. That's bullshit."

Ryker huffed in mock offense. "Yes-huh. I did! Did Car ever tell you about my life before Knight Corp?"

Meri shrugged, closing her eyes and feeling decidedly sleepy. "He said something about you being an immature asshole even before you began working for the company. Hey, you're warm."

When the realization dawned on her, she couldn't keep herself from nestling a little closer and breathing in his smell which reminded her so much of Daryl and something... more. Something uniquely Ryker.

The man seemed to tense next to her. A second later, he cleared his throat before saying, "So are you, Princess. Ah, there they are. King Vampire appears to have rescued my cowboy."

Meri wanted to open her eyes, wanted to watch Carbry and Daryl coming back, but she was so tired that she collapsed into unconsciousness, letting herself be supported by the surprisingly warm and cuddly asshole.