Ryker's Guide (Mild)

Theatrical Apologies

Meri scrunched her eyes closed and left her own drink and popcorn in the cupholders of her seat. Sure it was her seat, but she abandoned it in favor of the safety of her best friend's lap.

Daryl chuckled as he welcomed her into his embrace before whispering. "If you hate horror movies, then why'd you pick this one?"

She shook her head, burying her face in his chest. "Cause it's fun and it's your apology for me breaking into your house and seeing you and Ryke naked." When she felt a little braver and decided to chance a look at the screen, she found a violent scene punctuated by a jump scare where the villain, a crazed murderer, suddenly popped out of a darkened corner.

Meriwa flinched and looked away again, prompting Daryl to laugh before speaking quietly. "You know, you are pretty much an assassin, Mer. You've seen things way worse than this."

"But...the music and the cinematography and stuff. Way scarier."

He laughed again as Meri squirmed closer, distracting herself with her desire to snack on something. "I need my gummy worms, D."

Snorting, the cowboy reached into the cup holder between their two seats for her box of candy. Luckily, there was a lull in on-screen violence, probably exposition of the plot or whatever, and Mer finally looked up to find a non-scary scene playing. Smiling to herself, she began happily shoveling candy into her mouth while resting her head on Daryl's shoulder.

She loved Daryl. Deeply.

She'd given up on the whole foursome thing a while ago, but she still loved Daryl ferociously, even if he just wanted to be friends. He was a good man, and they just sort of understood each other. She felt at home with him, happy and comfortable, and she was pretty sure the cowboy felt the same way because he totally wouldn't hang out with her if he didn't enjoy her company at least a little bit.

Naturally, she nestled closer, enjoying his presence and warmth before sighing in satisfaction. As she felt the heat of her friend at her back, though, Meri realized just how chilly it was in the theater. She hadn't even brought a sweater or anything. Grinning, Mer ate another gummy worm then called on her goddess to help her teleport her favorite throw blanket from the living room. It would be fine to use magic in public like this, of course. It was far too dark in the theater for anyone to notice the manifestation of a blanket.

D jumped beneath her when she suddenly started spreading a random blanket over both of them, but Mer ignored his surprise and sighed happily as the tense music began approaching a crescendo again while one of the main characters wandered away from the group, undoubtedly to be killed.

Meriwa wouldn't wash the pink blanket but once every two or three weeks cause she liked when it smelled like her and Car and couch cuddling. Feeling safer and ready for the next gory scene, she clung to the cowboy and squirmed in his lap, mentally preparing for the worst as the sounds of an on-screen violent struggle began. Closing her eyes tightly, Meri focused on her friend. She felt D's heartbeat and smelled his rugged and natural scent mingling with the smell of Carbry's love and home, which was wafting from her blanket. Smiling faintly, Mer nestled closer while mayhem reigned on screen.

That's when she felt it...well, felt him. At first, she thought Daryl's phone was poking her or something, but then she realized that the cowboy was hard and his erection was pressing painfully into her hip.

He cursed before whispering in her ear. "I'm sorry, Mer. I...have to pee. It happens sometimes."

Although her initial reaction was to blush at his predicament, she didn't have a reason to doubt what he said. Penises were weird and she didn't have one, and as she grappled with her embarrassment over the situation, she quickly moved to return to her own seat until a particularly violent attack on screen sent her right back into his lap.

After a brief moment, D's voice was strained as he spoke quietly. "It's alright. If it doesn't bother you, you can stay."

She frowned and turned away from the screen as the cowboy held her close. "But you have to pee."

He shook his head before resting his chin on the top of her head. "I can hold it. My best friend needs me. You owe me a gummy worm, though."

Meri wiggled to grab the gummy worm box, ignoring the hardness of Daryl's erection as she dumped a small pile of candy into his palm, making him laugh. He deserved more than the one gummy worm that was agreed upon. And, yeah, their current situation was kind of awkward, but it didn't seem to bother Daryl. He'd already kind of, sort of rejected her proposal, but they were friends. They'd been in awkward situations before. Besides, his lap was really comfortable, especially as the stupid main character was eviscerated on screen, leading the audience to flinch in disgust.

Yeah. For sure, Daryl's lap was totally the best spot to be right then.