Ryker's Guide (Mild)

Shower Time

Meri huffed and returned her weapons to the rack before nodding to Shiloh who offered her a smile then headed off to the showers. The workout had been good, but it hadn't been enough. It was never enough. With a grunt, Meri took a long pull from her water bottle then grabbed her towel and dabbed her face. She should probably shower then head home and get ready to go to the movies, but with Car gone she was feeling particularly antsy, especially since Daryl and Ryke had kind of shot down her sort of foursome idea.

She'd tried reading, hiking, watching TV, and sparring with Knight Corp people. Nothing was working to distract her. The problem was actually really simple. Their friends didn't want to be with her and Car romantically, which was fine. They could go on being best friends and be perfectly happy. She just needed to get over her attraction and realize that fact.

After angrily tossing her towel back to the bench, she then checked her phone to find Daryl hadn't texted her back even after she'd invited him to the movies that night.

Dick.

He'd promised to text her to arrange a meet up time and stuff, but he was ghosting her. Sure, he didn't want the foursome thing. That was fine. Yet he could at least be a good BFF. Snorting in disgust, she slipped her phone into the back pocket of her sweaty workout pants and used her godessness to teleport herself to Daryl and Ryke's apartment.

Time for the cowboy to answer for his being a jerk.

When she arrived in their home, she looked curiously around the loft-style space which was decorated with objects that formed a strange mishmash of Daryl and Ryker's personalities. But she'd been here enough that she felt at home.

She saw lots of their junk, Daryl's messy drafting table in the office-area and Ryke's sparse and almost militaristic kitchen decor, but what she didn't see was her cowboy. With her annoyance mounting, Meriwa was about to call out to her wayward friend to see if he was even home when she realized she heard the shower running.

Sighing when she realized the fact that the cowboy had been completely ignoring her in favor of a stupid shower, she stalked over to the fridge and grabbed an ice pack from the freezer then rubbed it over her sweaty neck. Daryl totally should have showered earlier. They were going to miss the 7:00 pm showing at this rate. Rolling her eyes, she closed the freezer door and opened the fridge before pulling out a soda. After placing the ice pack down so she could crack the drink open, she took a huge gulp of whatever drink she'd grabbed. She couldn't restrain her faint smile at the thought that her mate would snub his nose at her choice of drink, but she'd never been one to let anyone tell her what to do. King Vampire would get over it. Just as she was returning the ice pack to her sweaty head, Mer heard the shower cut off.

She cast a glance at the clock on the wall. They were definitely going to be late. Although, she probably shouldn't have sparred and gotten sweaty so close to the movie showing either. So it technically wasn't only Daryl's fault they'd either be late or miss the movie completely. Sniffing out of annoyance, Meriwa hopped onto a barstool and grabbed an apple from the large bowl of fruit sitting on the island. She'd just wait for the jerk to get out there then fuss at him for being a terrible friend then force him to rush and get ready.

Mer had just taken a huge bite of apple and was chewing thoughtfully when the bathroom door opened.

What she'd expected to see was Daryl in a towel looking annoyed when he realized that she'd invaded their home. What she hadn't expected to see was a naked Daryl and a naked Ryker, neither of whom seemed to notice her presence because they were too busy with each other.

Meriwa stared, mouth agape as she found herself unable to move while she watched her friend laugh and slide his hands down Ryker's toned chest, mumbling something about how they should have dried off first. In response to the sight, Meri breathed in sharply, forgetting she had a mouthful of apple. Immediately, the fruit lodged itself in her throat. Unable to take in oxygen, she started coughing and gagging, which caused her to panic.

"Ah, fuck! Meri?! What the actual fuck!" Ryker was yelling, but she couldn't really look at him as she doubled over, salivating now as her body tried to dislodge the apple clogging her windpipe.

"She's choking!" It was Daryl who then rushed to her side and started patting her back with his flattened palm.

When that didn't work, he yanked her off the stool and positioned himself behind her, preparing to do the Heimlich but giving her one last good smack with his hand. For whatever reason, that hit worked, and the piece of apple flew from her mouth. Meri then started gasping, greedily sucking in air while Daryl spoke in her ear as he supported her limp frame.

When she finally could speak, she asked. "What, D?"

"I said, 'Are you ok, Mer?'." He asked, sounding slightly panicked. His words led her to turn around and look at him only for her to realize that he was still naked, holding her tightly in his arms. She blushed and looked away as Ryke, with a towel now wrapped around his waist, handed another towel to Daryl.

"Fine." As she spoke, she forced her way out of his arms and stood on trembling legs looking at Ryker.

"Any reason you broke into our apartment?" Ryke scowled at her, and her blush deepend as she ignored his nearly nude body and cast her eyes to a random piece of department store art hanging on the wall. At least that art was safe to look at. It wasn't a dripping wet and smoking hot and muscular dude who she was maybe, kind of, a little attracted to.

Meri's response was mumbled and nearly inaudible. "Daryl ignored me. I thought..." Her embarrassment caused her to trail off.

"Ah, shit. The movie." When she chanced a glance back at the cowboy, she found Daryl now wrapped in a towel too. "I'm sorry, Mer. I-"

She looked down at her feet and shuffled them absently as she spoke. "Don't apologize, D. It's totally fine. I didn't mean to cause another morning wood incident or whatever. Took you months to not be weird around me. Anyway, this was my fault. If I had realized it was you two...that you were...well, I would have gone home. Totally my fault. Completely my fault. Don't apologize. I'm sorry-"

Ryke snorted, sounding supremely irked by her when he cut off her rant. "You're rambling in my kitchen and sweating all over the place, zombie princess. Don't you know about boundaries?"

Her blush deepened, and she hung her head in shame. "I know. I'm sorry. I gotta remember I can't just...Anyway, I...ok. Raincheck on the movie."

When she looked up, Daryl was frowning at her. "Mer, you're shaking. You literally just choked. Chill out. It's alright."

"Can goddesses even choke to death?" Ryker asked, and Meri's cheeks burned deeper. She still couldn't look him in the eye.

Daryl's blue-eyed gaze narrowed as he turned and glared at the other man. "You're not helping, Ryke." When the cowboy turned back to her, he offered her a gentle yet concerned smile. "Mer, for real. Sit down and relax for a minute. I'm worried about you."

"I'm fine, really." Meri offered him the best smile she could muster. "Gonna head home now. I need a shower myself. We can do a movie later. Sorry, guys. Ok, bye." Before he could protest, she transported herself to the safety of her own apartment.

Cheeks painfully warm, she raced to her and Car's bed and dove under the blankets, letting the residual smell of her mate comfort her. If she hadn't already died once and been resurrected as an immortal, she'd probably have died of embarrassment. What a way to ruin the evening. Ah, and she'd left them to clean up the gross apple bits. But there wasn't a way in hell she'd go back to their place tonight