†råñ§þårêñ† §ðµl ☾ || Daryl Dixon ♡
the walking dead — daryl dixon x black, female oc
The sun rays burned against my otherwise pale brown skin, seeping its light into my pores to bring more discoloration to my skin. Though, from what I could tell, it was some time past five o’clock, the sky was still as bright and as blue as it was in the afternoon. My vision was blurred as I rubbed at my eyes, squinting just so to be able to make out what I was seeing past the blinding yellow and high heat waves. I could make out a tuft of black hair walking next to longer black locks. “Glenn? Michonne?” At the beckoning of their names, the pair looks towards me and, what I assume, smiles in my direction, too. “Shinra!” Glenn happily exclaims, and I find myself smiling at the fact that I can recognize the people I’ve come to know as family even without being able to see. I’m soon able to make out their faces once we’re about ten feet apart. Glenn’s smile falters as he takes in my dazed appearance. “Shinra, where are your glasses?” I puff out an exaggerated sigh. “I lost them on my last run. I dunno what I’m gonna do.”
“Did you ask Rick if you could go out and search for them?” Michonne inquires about her newly snagged up boyfriend, placing a hand on her hip. “Yeah,” I groan, “But, he says it’s too far for me to go searching on my own—especially now that I can barely see—so I’ll have to wait.” Glenn’s face falls, “Wait…? You’re an important asset to our group! Without you going out on runs, we won’t get half of the supplies we usually would with you!” If my skin tone allowed me I’d be beet red at the flattery that my brother just frantically spat out. “Since when do we Rhee’s compliment each other?” I grin. “Since the world went to shit and compliments became hard to come by,” he chuckles.
“However,” Michonne began, “Glenn is right. You’re important to our group. Now that you can’t see, we’re in some deep shit.” Leave it up to Michonne to get back to the task at hand without a single laugh, I think with a slight grin. “We should go help her look, M,” Glenn suggests. My eyes grow wide and I shake my head. “Rick would have a fit; there’s no way he’d let us go just to find my glasses.” The two glance down at me. “Well, he’s going to have to. Those are the only glasses that have your prescription.” My eyes grow as wide as saucers at the realization. “Oh, man, I have to find my glasses.”
“So, where we goin’ n’ why?” The engine roared loudly as we drove past a couple of Walkers stalking out of the woods, a deer leg in the clenching jaws of the one on the right. Despite the world glaring like static right now, I’m fairly certain it looked like my third grade teacher, Mrs. Bluereguard. I shake my head at the thought and glance forward. “We’re going to the grocery store about ten minutes out, we’re looking for my glasses,” I reply crossing my arms. Currently, I was sat in the passenger seat of one of our older cars. Michonne, Glenn and Carol were seated in the back seats while Daryl opted to be the driver (per his request). “Ya lost yer glasses?” Daryl snorts. “Yeah, just like you lost your motorcycle,” I snap back. “Oh, that’s rich, Velma.” I roll my eyes. “I’m the comedian of the year, Streetrat.” Daryl flinches at that and only shifts his gaze my way for a few seconds before turning back to stare out into the empty road. “Yeah, well, whatever,” he mumbles. I couldn’t help but to feel the shift in atmosphere. I had said something I shouldn’t have, and, man, was that a shitty feeling.
The grocery store was a in-the-middle-of-nowhere Wal-Mart nearly fifteen minutes away from Alexandria. Surprisingly, the store was still intact. Stuck in time as if a whole ass pandemic hadn’t happened four years prior. We hopped out of the car, gathering our weapons and bags for supplies, before splitting up into groups of two: Carol, Michonne and Glenn; Daryl and I. Michonne and Carol pulled me to the side before we left to, hopefully, find my glasses successfully. “You need to apologize to Daryl,” Carol starts. Michonne nods in agreement. My eyes slit in a confused glare. “What?” Michonne sighs. “You might not know it but, Daryl cares a lot about what you think of him.” I blink slowly. “What?” Carol hits the side of my head with the open palm of her right hand. “You’re so blind even with glasses. Daryl is so transparent, you’d have to be ridiculously dense to not catch on.” I inhale. “W h a t…?” The pair shakes their heads in unison with heavy, exasperated sighs. “You’ll get it eventually—“ They pick up their things and began to walk away, “—just remember to apologize, Shinra.” Glenn scrambles after them.
It was dark and moldy and dusty. It took everything in me to not sneeze in the awkward quietness of Daryl’s company as he stalked around corners in front of me in a hunting-like stance. He held his bow (loaded and ready) in front of him despite the fact that we had done a sweep of this place a mere two days ago. It was only until I saw the blurred image of babies that I recognized where we were. “Here! This is it! This is where I dropped my glasses!” The brunette turns to me and I don’t have to look at him to know that his crystal eyes were cold. I smile sheepishly. “Sorry…I just wanna see again.” Daryl sighs but moves forward, refusing to utter a single word. Did I really hurt his feelings? I wonder as I follow close behind, hand holding tight to the hilt of my machete. That’s when something catches the light of the flashlight that I was shining down to the mud-ridden checkered floor. “My glasses,” I smile.
Daryl bends down and picks them up before swiftly turning towards me. I had thought he was going to hand them to me but he just stared down at the glasses that he held by the edge of its right arm. “Daryl…?” I question. He slowly looks up at me. “D’you—umm…d’you really think that?” I raise an eyebrow in confusion. “Think what?” He looks at me for a while before turning back around. “Never mind. Forget it. Let’s jus’ find the others,” he grumbles. I stare at his back as we begin to walk again, completely disregarding the fact that he never handed me my glasses. Were the girls right? I hook my hand around his arm, the bare flesh sweaty and hot. “Daryl, please, tell me what’s wrong. What is it that you wanna know?” He shrugs off my hand. “‘S nothin’, Shinra.” I cut my eyes at him in annoyance before quickly picking up my pace and side stepping in front of him.
His pale blue eyes glisten and his cheeks were flushed a peach-like pink. There was another emotion other than just fear and anger on his face—the only two expressions that I’ve come to associate with Daryl. He looked sad…. I hadn’t seen him like this since Merle died…or maybe when the prison was blown into a distant memory…? “Daryl…are you okay…?” I was at a loss for words. Before I could think of something more clever to say, the sentence had already slipped from my tongue. His gaze was downcast and he looked even more lost than my own jumbled thoughts. After moments of unbearable silence he finally looks up at me, and it was obvious that he was hurting. “No.” His voice was rough and broken. I could barely recognize it. My gaze softens at his response but, before I could get the chance to reply, I hear Glenn beckoning my name. “Hey, Shinra, did you find your glasses?” I turn around and pull together the ghost of a reassuring smile, “Yeah, Daryl’s hanging onto them for me.” Michonne and Carol show up not too much later. “We should get going, then. We were able to gather a bit more supplies.” I nod in agreement. “Okay, let’s go.” By the time that I turn around again Daryl is already walking away. Well, what the hell was that all about?
Days have gone by and it was as if Daryl was avoiding me. I hadn’t seen him since he had handed me my glasses once we had returned to Alexandria without a word. I had to corner him somehow in some way, shape or form. It had taken me a while to figure out but the best time to approach him was when he was working on his motorcycle. At least once a week he was at Rick’s house tinkering away at the vehicle he had recently gotten back from another group of survivors. (Either that or he was working on his bow).
It was some time late afternoon that I had decided to go on a walk and spotted him in front of Rick’s garage. Autumn was beginning to kick in and there were a few fallen leaves that had graced his hair and shoulders as he sat squatted in front of his bike. His bow sat next to him in a protective manner. He shivers as a particularly cold breeze whips by. “Now is a good a’ time as any Shinra.” I jump slightly at the sudden voice in my ear. I turn to the right of me to spot Michonne stalking towards the house. She winks at me as she climbs up the steps and slips through the slightly cracked front door. I sigh and stuff my hands into the pockets of my oversized jean jacket. My steps are light as I stroll towards him, curiously watching his concentrated glare. I tower over him for a little while before sitting down across from him. “Y’know, you can’t avoid me forever, Daryl.” The brunette doesn’t acknowledge my words nor my presence for several minutes causing a heavy sigh to slip through my lips. I had begun coming to a stand, ready to leave and confront him another day, when he grips my hand tightly. “I’m sorry…please, don’t go.” I blink. This Daryl Dixon was way too out of character for my liking. It was beginning to freak me out.
“You’re really starting to scare me, Dixon. If there’s something wrong, ya gotta tell me.” Still he refuses to meet my gaze but his lips do part to speak. “D’ya mean it when you called me a streetrat? ‘S that what you really think a’ me?” His voice was rough and distressed but soft and hesitant. Nothing at all like the Daryl I know. My heart clenches in guilt. “Fucking hell, Daryl, of course not. That’s not what I think of you at all. It was just a joke. Geez, I—you should’ve told me you felt like this sooner, asshole.” I raise my hand to rest at the nape of his neck and I caress the skin there. I feel him tense at the intimate touch and, eventually, looks up at me. “No, what I think of you is that you’re misunderstood…as someone who’s never really known what family is, you’re finally learning when everything is a shit show.” I inch closer and place my hands on his hips. His eyes grow wide and his jaw goes slack. “I think that you’re truly important to this impromptu group of ours…without you I’m sure we would’ve starved years ago, and that Rick would’ve lost his way in how to lead without your input.” I slip my hands under his shirt and trail the past-healed scars of his abusive past along his tattooed back. I feel him tremble under my fingertips, his own hands gripping tight to my arms. He gasps. “I think that you’re a survivor. I think that you’re a fighter. And I think that you are strong. And I will never think of you as anything less. I’m sorry that I made it seem as if I did and hurt your feelings.”
And he kisses me. As inexperienced as I can guess that he is, his lips move sloppily against my own. But I don’t mind. His lips are chapped and soft. And he tastes of cherries and yesterday’s roasted squirrel. It was comforting. Something that I’ve come to know in this clusterfuck. When I pull away I feel a wet sensation on my cheek. I smile slightly and kiss at the few tears that he sheds. “Don’t doubt for a second that I can’t see right through you…you have such a transparent soul, Dixon.”