Ryker's Guide (Mild)

Suspicious Minds

Daryl 

Daryl had known exactly what Meriwa had been trying to say and a small part of him felt awful for playing dumb as she struggled and gave up with her milkshake analogy. They had been friends since they met, for the supposed third time, somewhere between Hawaii and Meriwa dying. It had taken a little while for Meriwa to admit that before Ryker; she had met him first in a bar when her and Carbry had been broken up.

According to Meri, Carbry had appeared in time to prevent them from sleeping together and promptly removed that memory from Daryl's mind. Some small and petty part of his mind had not forgiven Carbry for that. The rich billionaire playboy vampire had always been an enigma to him that he kept his distance from. Daryl knew they were from two different worlds, and no matter how many centuries ago Carbry had been a poor little Irish child, he had still spent more time as a silver spoon, cake eating, white collar type that Daryl knew they had nothing similar.

Nothing other than the fact that they were friends with one another's mates. Daryl had remained merely aloof until Meriwa had told him a bit about the motel room and him having been brainwashed. And it was then that Daryl had begun to actually distrust the man. Not outright, and not blatantly, but he had also developed a strong friendship with Meriwa by that time and started to worry that Carbry was a bit controlling.

Then supposedly Meriwa and Sam had met him the night before he met Ryker, and though Meri had insisted it wasn't Carbry who messed with his mind, what had happened that night was a little unclear. Daryl had let it go as the world had gotten crazier, knowing that whatever else, there was no sign that Carbry was being abusive or toxic to Meriwa.

But he had watched.

It was one reason he disliked the assumption that whoever Carbry's security decided needed to be "protected" would get followed around, no matter what that person thought of it. Carbry had been nothing but kind to him, if only because he was Meriwa's friend and possibly because Daryl was an asset that nobody wanted to see in the hands of the bad people.

And at first, Ryker had shared his aloof distrust of Alesky. A formal relationship of worker and boss along with Ryker's dislike for anyone that tried to control him, meant that Daryl and Ryker had been together in being outsiders from the cult of Alesky.

Then things got worse and somewhere along the line, Daryl's mate had become a loyal employee to Alesky.

And then Meriwa had died and though Daryl didn't doubt Alesky's sincerity in the pain that he had gone through losing her, he lost any respect or trust for the playboy. Carbry's self-destructive spiral had stolen Ryker from Daryl, and though Daryl did his best to understand, he still could not forgive the man's selfish disregard for fostering the same self-destructive habits in Daryl's mate.

Daryl still struggled to decide if that kind of behaviour was even healthy for Meriwa. So with Meriwa back, and Carbry even more protective and clingy to her, Daryl really wasn't sure what to think about the man.

If it had been just him, he would have never spoken to Carbry Alesky again. But Ryker cared intensely for his boss, and Daryl cared deeply for Meriwa, leaving Daryl stuck having to play nice and be as polite and cautious as he could around the observant and intelligent vampire who could probably rip Daryl to pieces and make him disappear quicker than anyone realized he was missing.

Meriwa was a beautiful woman who Daryl probably could have fallen in love with, if Carbry had never interrupted them and Daryl had never met Ryker. He could tell that Ryker was attracted to her, despite his adorable insistence that she was a pain in the vampire's ass. And Daryl had noticed Meriwa checking out Ryker several times, neither of which really bothered him.

In fact, he had been a little turned on by the concept.

It had turned Daryl on to dance with Meriwa at the strip club, to the point that his doubts and caution around Alesky had disappeared and he had found his guard dropping with Alesky. Carbry was attractive, as attractive as Meriwa or Ryker was, and extremely charming, seemingly attentive. Daryl's guard dropped frequently if he wasn't careful, but his anger at the man for what had happened while Meriwa was dead re-surged and caused all the distrust to resurface.

Not that Daryl could talk to anyone about it. Ryker knew he didn't like Carbry but Daryl was afraid that if he pushed, he would lose the man, despite them working through most of their difficulties. And if Meriwa was happy with Alesky, he would not try to drive a wedge between them, it would be selfish.

But when Meriwa started her clumsy attempt at proposing a foursome, Daryl wasn't sure if she was talking from her own desire, or if Alesky had gotten greedy and pressured her into it.

So Daryl had played dumb, trying to draw out some sign or utterance that it was Carbry's idea and not hers. But when he had seen her get a look of pained defeat after rushing to the bathroom, he had felt like the biggest asshole in the world. Daryl knew Meriwa well enough to tell when something meant the world to her and she was failing to achieve it. She wore her heart on her sleeve and loved so purely; he knew that she would not have been as worked up as she was if it had been a manipulation from Carbry. He had wanted to pull her into a hug and tell her that whatever she wanted, he was game for.

Watching her walk away before he turned to wander down the street on his own, Daryl went over every last memory and interaction he had of Carbry and the two people he loved. It hurt to admit, but Daryl couldn't help but conclude that Carbry was sincere in his love for Meriwa, and possibly his deep affection for Ryker.

If nothing else, Daryl respected the man for the care he took of the two most important people in Daryl's life. He may never forgive the vampire for the brainwashing or for stealing Ryker from him during those difficult months, but if it made his mate and best friend happy, Daryl would agree to whatever Meriwa had in mind.

Besides, Alesky wasn't repulsive, and he seemed to like to cook delicious food, so Daryl could put up with a fun night with him. It wasn't like it was going to develop past some sort of swinger orgy situation for a night. Meriwa and Carbry were as committed to one another and in love as Daryl and Ryker were, so this would end up as a mere dalliance.

Daryl nodded to himself as he stepped into a cafe to grab a bite to eat, feeling the ever present rumble of his hunger remind him that he had not finished the meal with Meriwa and it was a few hours until supper yet.

Daryl would find a way to bring it up to Ryker, to see if his mate would even contemplate the idea of sharing one another with other people.