OC Pride Month 2024 | TWD OC | Daryl x Fem!OC
( Late submission because I was on vacation Teehee )
OC Pride Challenge (Day 4): Trans
Make something for an oc that is trans!
Yvonne Tawnie : The Song
Daryl set down the final scavenged bag from his share by the entrance of the pharmacy. It was a small building with four shelves, a register counter, and a small pharmacy at the back. This was nothing; it should have taken them no more than 30 minutes. In and out. But Yvonne was still in the pharmacy after an hour.
Daryl was more patient than usual, understanding she was looking for something important. He glanced up from the bag and watched her, moving medicines and containers around on the shelves of the pharmacy. It looked like she was reading every word on the bottles, she was in her own world.
Yvonne was complex, and he didn’t know what to think of her, but she was just as determined as he was to find Sophia, so there was a kind of mutual understanding between them. When he first laid eyes on her in Atlanta, he didn’t think much of her. She looked like some college girl who shouldn’t have lasted more than a week. To his surprise, here she was standing metaphorically side-by-side with him.
He continued to watch her. He’d moved closer and was now in the first lane of shelves. Normally, he would have scoffed at her and expected that she’d need to be pampered like some princess, but she spent more time trying to help the group, so much that even he found himself leaning on her from time to time. That was the only reason he was standing there, patiently watching her search.
At the other end of the pharmacy, Yvonne was so focused on finding her HRT meds that Daryl’s gaze had gone unnoticed. She examined every bottle and collected anything that would work, from her own prescription to a common menopause prescription. She divided the general medicine for the group into a plastic bag and her personal medicine went into her backpack. She suspected that at least one person from the group had an idea about her identity, but she wanted to avoid any questions from those who were in the dark.
“If you’re lookin’ for anything stronger than an old person’s pain pill, you’re probably outta luck.” Daryl’s voice caused her to jump; she was far too focused. “Places like this don’t got the good stuff.”
Yvonne turned her head in his direction, realizing he assumed she was looking for prescription drugs to abuse. She was not above using pills to get through the night, but today, her attention was solely on her HRT. She didn’t know what to say; she wanted to keep anything unnecessary to herself. She wasn’t at college with people from all over the East Coast anymore. Daryl was a country boy whose brother was a described bigot.
Could she take him on if he found out what she was looking for and decided to make an example of her?
While things had never been easy for her, the world used to have a glass barrier that prevented most people from attacking her out of disgust, confusion, or ignorance. That was no longer the case, and she was now face-to-face with her own presumptions about how Daryl would respond. She didn’t trust him any more than she trusted her ability to protect herself against him.
“Nah, I’m not looking for anything like that. I’m looking for my prescription from before everything fell.”
But maybe she was wrong?
“I’m transgender.”
The words came out and she immediately wanted to shove them back deep inside herself. She was too comfortable with the group and had started to wonder if maybe she could tell them about herself.
“Meaning if I’m not careful and collect as much of my prescription as I can find, I’ll probably end up as handsome as you. I could probably grow a better beard, too.” Despite the joke, her face showed just how nervous she was about coming out to him.
While she confessed, Daryl walked from the aisle to the doorway and leaned against the frame. His expression didn’t change. He may have been a country boy, but he wasn’t an idiot. He understood what she was saying; he didn’t need any context outside of “I’m transgender.” His brother had quite a few opinions about a person like her. He’d heard his share of rants while the pair watched TV or heard about the very political subject on the radio.
But he had never met someone like that.
“Listen, I get that being on the outskirts of society is fine to some people, but I prefer to be smack dab in the middle of the safe bubble of fitting in.” She expected him to respond right away, and when he didn’t, she started to ramble.
He just watched as she set the bottle in her hand back down on the shelf. The comment about society got an amused sigh out of him.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but there ain’t no society left. You can fit in just by not being one of those biters out there.” Daryl gestured towards the front of the store. “You’re worried about something that don’t matter no more.”
Maybe he was right, but it was her own life she took a chance on, not his. She took a deep breath, turned away from the shelf, and headed for the same doorway Daryl leaned against. She stood against the opposite side of him, so the two were face-to-face. They stood at the same height, so she could look in his eyes easily, even when his eyes darted away from her gaze and then back.
“Right now, we may be a bunch of people camping in the woods trying to survive one more day together, but one day, society is going to come back, rebuild, or whatever happens after something like this.” She said, explaining her mindset a bit more.
Every time he averted his gaze, she moved her head to meet it. It wasn’t successful every time, but finally, he stopped and just looked at her straight on.
“It may not look like it from where you’re standing, but you and I both stood on the outside of society before shit hit the fan. But for you, when shit hit the wall, it just showed how strong and capable you are. When everyone who pushed you on the outside fell, you stayed standing and even offered some of them a hand. You went from lurking on the outside to being a vital part of whatever is going to happen next.” Her words showed just how much she observed him.
For the first time since standing across from him, she averted her eyes. Something Daryl picked up on immediately.
“If every person I met knew about that part of me, it may not matter what I bring to the table. I could end up on the outside watching the world pass me by. They may not know how to react to me, and that confusion could turn into anger and scorn.” She said, the words flowing out like a broken faucet. “Just like before the end of the world.”
With that, she finally looked up and met his gaze. He could see the thin line of moisture hugging her bottom eyelid. He didn’t respond, and just stared into her eyes because there was nothing he could do to change the outcome of what had already happened.
“So, if you happen to see either of these meds or any menopause meds, please keep me in mind and grab them.” She held up two bottles, both required for her transition.
She gave him a few moments to look, which he did. After some time had passed and with nothing left to say, she stepped away from the doorway, going in the opposite direction of the pharmacy. After only a single step, Daryl reached out and grabbed her right wrist. She snapped her head around, looking at him as if afraid of what he was about to do or say.
“I didn’t get a good look at this one.” He raised her arm up just a bit.
He held her wrist as he read the bottle again. Once he was done, he looked up at her face. They stood there in silence, just staring at each other. It was so quiet that she feared he might hear her heart thumping against her chest. She wanted to know what he was thinking, but the words were stuck in her throat.
His grip on her wrist loosened until her hand fell to her side. He didn’t say anything and just walked past her. She didn’t dare watch him as he walked away, instead just stared at the place he had walked away from. She heard the sound of him rustling with the bags, and then the door opening and closing. She finally looked towards the door, seeing Daryl’s frame as a blur beyond the dirty glass.
Outside of the store, Daryl put the bags inside the back seat of the driver’s side. Once the car door was closed, he turned towards the storefront, expecting Yvonne to come out any moment. While he waited, he realized he had been gripping the same hand that he used to grab Yvonne’s wrist so tight it started to hurt. He immediately loosened his grip, which came at the perfect moment because Yvonne came walking out of the front door.
“Ready?” He asked, opening the car door on his side.
“Sure am.” She responded, doing the same.
For a moment before sliding into the car, they looked up at each other. Their mutual eye contact caught them off guard, not expecting the other to be doing the same. Neither said anything and got in the car.
Not even their sharpened knives could cut through the awkward silence in the car during the ride home.