thoughts on prison era Daryl Dixon being obcessed with curly haired!reader...
Daryl doesn't really get it at first. he gets angry in his silent, grunting way everytime you get paired on runs 'cause you "waste time" looking for brushes and hair products. as in non-essential things one needs to survive. it was futile in his mind. vain, even. he thinks your hair's fine. what you see, however, is a matted mess that needs fixing quick before it gets to a point of no return.
he scoffs at the way your eyes glow when you get to the prison and learn you can finally have some type of running water.
the man is used to seeing you in braids or buns during the long runs you all had to go without full showers. there was constantly a frizzy, messy situation going on. especially when you need to run or fight. but it was normal, everyone's hair was a mess.
he is so used to it, however, that he has to do a double take the first time you shower at the prison with the hair products you gathered and somehow come out with actual defined curls. he didn’t know your hair did that.
from that moment on it's like he's hypnotized. he can't take his eyes off you. the way they the curls frame your face, the way they shine and reflect the beaming sunlight. the way they bounce when you work the farm or play with the kids.
he'll never admit it. and he'll keep bantering about how unnecessary it all is. but Daryl Dixon secretly loves the sweet smell of the products
he likes to watch you brush and style your hair after you shower. the consistency of the routine relaxing him.
he also finds himself having to fight the urge to play with the spring-like curls anytime he's seating close to you. he never tries to sit anywhere else tho.
but since good things never last, your products eventually get used up to their last drop. Daryl watches the light die in your eyes quietly. you don't complain, you don't make a big deal. you just accept that you were lucky to have had the chance to feel pretty again. to feel like yourself. and go back to your old messy hairdos.
of course you have a whole new set of stuff set outside your cell in a little cardbox like it was nothing in less then a couple weeks.
Daryl lives to watch you every week coming through his cell block all the way from yours to get to the showers. always at the same time. always droping one bottle or another.
eventually he finally gathers the courage to offer you to store "all your hair things" in his cell. rick assigned him one even tho he refused to sleep in it. he mainly kept his things in there and went in only if he wanted to be away from people's sights. luckily for him it was the closest to the bathroom. that way you didn't have to cary everything back and forward all around the prison.
he was totally very nonchalant about it. in his mumbling way, like it was no big deal. like he didn’t care if you said yes or no.
in reality he was freaking out as soon as the words left his mouth thinking you were going to say no; to think it was weird. only to feel the redness creep up his neck when you smiled wide at him and thanked him like he'd just saved your life from a walker.
he wasn't really sure why he cared so much. why he always seemed to go out of his way to make things easier for you. why his heart did a funny thing every time you waved at him or giggled at one of his quiet comments.
but he definitely did know why he got all red and barely able to utter a word when you enter his cell in a towel one day 'cause you forgot something and you thought he was out on a run.
Daryl had trouble falling asleep that night. plagued with visions of you standing there so calmly in a towel. in only a towel. like it was nothing. like it had been an accident, but wasn't really a problem. visions of you offering him a sweet giggle and awkward "sorry" like that was a totally normal thing to happen.
poor guy was so embarrassed about how he had lost his brain function and forgot what manners were. not even thinking to look away. he couldn’t look you in the eye for over a week. you thought it was sweet.
bonus:
Rick Grimmes goes into Daryl's cell to get something and sees your stuff literally everywhere. creams, sprays, hair ties, brushes, even a hair dryer.
Rick Grimmes calls Carol over who was just passing by.
Rick and Carol start a rumor.
first time writing for daryl. kinda nervous. also deep down i know i would be taking a knife to my hair rapunzel style eventually, no way around it. but let me self indulge please. i wanna be pretty in the apocalypse.
taglist: @httpslivz
