Eevee never believed in true love.
It was a chemical defect of the human mind.
An emotion as useless as the rest of them. Happiness, despair, rage, love and every hue in between- what was the point? It clouds the mind like smog and corrupts the ability to be logical.
Or so she thought.
She jolted awake in the middle of the night, another fleeing nightmare slipping through her fingers as smoothly as sand. Warmth spread through her skin as air blew the loose hair of her head around.
"Ghost?" A deep voice rasped through her brain and fired shots of confused terror through her veins for a split second before realization calmed her rearing instincts.
"Sorry, bad dream."
"Same as the one from the farm?" The fact that he remembered that minuscule moment surprised her.
"Maybe, I don't remember either of them." She highly disliked how slippery her mind had been as of late. She was forgetting nightmares, soon she'll be the group moron.
"Thought you remembered everything." Daryl poked fun at her eidetic memory, letting out a small 'oof' when she jammed her elbow into his ribcage in revenge.
"Dreams are different. They're fluid, and can change faster than you can process them. It's like chasing the fog." Daryl hummed lowly and let out a low sigh on the top of her head again. "Why aren't you sleeping?"
"Well, someone was supposed to keep watch but fell asleep. Better to have what we don't need right?" Eevee fought down a blush despite knowing he couldn't see her in the darkness. His words echoed through her head, the ones she wasn't supposed to have.
If love kills then I'm happy to be a dead man walking...
"Did you fall back to sleep?" Eevee lightly jumped at his rumbling voice vibrating her brain.
"No, just thinking."
"Bout what?" The inky skies slipped quietly into a Prussian blue as the sun found the horizon. Soon the sun will be up.
"How to make a water pump from car parts and unused objects found inside a prison that will reach the river from inside the fence." The Dixon chuckled at her words, why was he expecting anything else other than some wild invention? This was Evenorra Jenner, brilliant genius extraordinaire.
"Why am I not surprised?" The brunette rolled her sleep glazed eyes before shivering at a heavy gust of wind, the fangs of the fading winter still giving it a biting edge. She tried to dig herself further into the biker's side, whining when she learned there was no further. Daryl responded by lazily scooping the woman from the concrete and depositing her between his legs as he curled over to drop his head into the curve of her neck.
"How long has it been since you properly slept?" His arms slipped around her stomach and waist as he softly hummed in thought. "Exactly. The sun won't be up for a few more hours, I'll make sure to stay awake this time."
"I'm fine." The woman snorted her disbelief and reached up to start gently running her fingers through his hair, humming out a laugh when she felt him start to relax and lean into her touch with a low growl of pleasure. Once she started to sway and lowly hum a tune it didn't take long for the man to pass out still wrapped around her like a human blanket. She watched the sky brighten hue by hue as she built on her humming to make a full lullaby.
"I'll swim and sail on savage seas
With never a fear of drowning
And gladly ride the waves of life
If you would marry me
No scorching sun nor freezing cold
Will stop me on my journey
If you will promise me your heart
And love me for eternity
My dearest one, my darling dear
Your mighty words astound me
But I've no need for mighty deeds
When I feel your arms around me
But I would bring you rings of gold
I'd even sing you poetry
And I would keep you from all harm
If you would stay beside me
I have no use for rings of gold
I care not for your poetry
I only want your hand to hold
I only want you near me
To love and kiss to sweetly hold
For the dancing and the dreaming
Through all life's sorrows
And delights
I'll keep your laugh inside me
I'll swim and sail a savage seas
With never a fear of drowning
I'd gladly ride the waves so white
And you will marry me!"
Boot clicked down the concrete hallway after a few hours of soft hums and swaying. Eevee knee it was Rick coming to tell Daryl and her that he was leaving on his run with Michonne and Carl- the boy was going simply because he needed out of the prison, Eevee had convinced the cop of that much. He turned the final corner and paused with surprise when he made out the shape of Daryl curled around little Eevee as if he were an oversized coat.
"Morning, Officer." He softly smiled and tipped an imaginary hat towards her in a silent hello. "Heading out on your run?"
"Yeah, came to let you guys know so you can keep an eye on everyone. He asleep?" Eevee smirked and turned her head a fraction to check on the man draped over her shoulders.
"Yeah, we split shifts. Do you want me to wake him up?" Rick waved her offer away, he knew that the Dixon was running on fumes and needed as much sleep as possible.
"He's alright. As long as one of you knew, we'll be back by sundown."
"If not, burn the forest." They shared laughs at her similar joke from the farm. Rick said goodbye and vanished around the corner to go on his run with Carl and Michonne. A few minutes later, Daryl's soft snores stopped and Eevee knew he was awake despite his refusal to move.
"Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do." She heard Beth start to warm up her voice to sing to Judith like she usually does.
"Do-mi-so-do..."
"Isn't it pretty?" The blonde continues to sing her sentences to the baby, Eevee deciding to add in her own little commentary that the Greene couldn't hear.
"That's exceedingly simple. Do-mi-so-ti..."
"We're making music!" Eevee could feel as Daryl blew out quiet chuckles against her skin.
"What is the point? You're not making anything." She must've been loud enough because Beth's randomly sung sentences started to create a conversation with her own.
"Well, if it isn't anything, then why does it sound so good?"
"I suppose it's just interest... Do-mi-so-do... Devoid of substance or purpose, a hypothetical pattern... Do-mi-so-ti. For the satisfaction of bringing it to completion!"
"Sure!"
"Do-mi-so-ti... Interest without meaning? Solutions without problems?"
"And then you just add words. Here's what I have been working on:
Life and death and love and birth,
And peace and war on the planet Earth
Is there anything that's worth more
Than peace and love on the planet Earth?
Oh - Whooah, come on and sing it with me..."
"Sing?"
"The words relate to the key..."
"Key?"
"If it's a pattern,
If it's a pattern,
Then just repeat after me...
Life and death and love and birth-"
"Life and death and love and birth-"
"Now you sing mi-fa-mi-mi-fa-mi-ti-la!-"
"And peace and war on the planet Earth!" This piece they sang in beautifully harmonized unison.
"Yes, yes! That's it!"
"That's so easy."
"Yeah, but that's what's fun about it
You should write something, you should write a song!"
"About what?"
"Whatever you're thinking!"
"I guess we're already here,
I guess we already know
We've all got something to fear,
We've all got nowhere to go
I think you're all INSANE!
But I guess I am too...
Anybody would be if they were stuck on Earth with you."
"Hahaha yes! Life and death and love and birth and-"
"Life and death and love and birth and-" Maggie added her own snippet of song.
"Life and death and love and birth and
Peace and war on the planet Earth
Is there anything that's worth more?"
"Is there anything that's worth more?" The elder Greene added again.
"Is there anything that's worth more
Than peace and love on the planet Earth..." Eevee finished the song out. With the sun well over the horizon now, she knew that Glenn or Maggie would come to trade off their watch shifts. She started to slide forward but only got a few inches before the Dixon's arms tightened around her stomach to hold her prisoner as he growled lowly in dissent.
"Alley cat?" His response came in tiny grunts and growls as he tugged her closer while burying his face in her neck. "You're being really cuddly this morning."
"Ya say that like it's a bad thing." He purrs hotly.
"I never said it was, it's just not like you." Daryl hummed lowly and forced himself to sit upright and release the small woman. She was right it wasn't like him, but he couldn't find it in himself to care today. Eevee pushed to her feet and turned to hold out her hands in a silent offer to help him up. He accepted her offer but did most of the work anyways since she was only about half of him. Once he was on his feet and balanced he used her arms to tug her towards himself and leaned down to capture her smirking lips with his own.
"I should've known you were going to try something." Eevee mumbled after he let her go.
"You knew, don't act like ya didn't." She rolled her eyes and they moved down the hallway to meet Maggie halfway. Eevee handed her the rifle she took the night before and softly smiled at her with a small 'good morning'. Her bright eyes flicked between the two with a look of confused knowing- like she knew the answer to a question but the questions was stupid so the answer fucked up her whole state of being for a few seconds.
They continued their ways after their briefly awkward exchange and the couple moved down into the common room to see if breakfast had been made. Carol had whipped up a batch of powdered scrambled eggs and chopped up some of the canned ham to mix in for the flavor and extra protein.
"This is really good, Carol." Eevee mumbled around her mouthful of food, offering some to the wild animal of a man acting as her shadow. He held up a hand and shook his head, the natural scowl lifting into a smirk at her pouty face.
"Thanks, the rations are looking a little slim again, it'll last about another week or so." This caught their attention and pulled them from their bickering over him not eating.
"I'll see if I can catch anythin' out in the woods, maybe find a deer or some rabbits."
"Take Merle with you." Carol snapped as she flicked her gaze up towards the broody man on the catwalk again.
"He ain't gonna hurt ya." The look Carol gave him demanded he do it anyways.
"It'll be good for him to get out of this closed space anyways. You too." Eevee started so she skipped over the part of the conversation that lead to everyone at everyone else's throats. The Dixon snorted but let her skim over the arguments as she dropped her plate in a yellowed porcelain sink to be cleaned later.
"What 'bout you?" His pastel blue eyes slid down to look at the woman beside him while they walked towards the perch where their things had been left.
"I'm going to..." Eevee filed through the plethora of things she could potentially do for the day: make a water crank, make new weapons to use against the Governor, maybe help Beth with Judith, plan ways to clear the walkers from their yard so they can fix the gate. Endless possibilities.
"Come with me an' Merle. As long as you stop yer habit of runnin' off and gettin attacked or cut open." Eevee smirked at his taunt and scooped up her pilot jacket and weapons belts before answering him.
"I make no promises." The taller male snorted and they stopped at the common room to fetch Merle before the two Dixons followed Eevee across the cell block and out of the garage to find the feeder to the dog run. Merle insisted on taking the lead, his two counterparts letting him but kept a close eye on his skills and his actions.
Don't need to get lost in the woods simply because Merle Dixon wanted to show off.
As they tailed the man, Eevee still looped Daryl's words through her mind from the night before. She knew she couldn't bring it up because that would expose that she wasn't asleep at the time and was eavesdropping on a private conversation. But she also wanted to know if what he said was true or just spit out because he thought he wouldn't have to deal with any consequences.
If love kills then I'm happy to be a dead man walking...
More importantly, how did she feel about it? If he had said something like that to her face would she be able to reciprocate those words with the same truth?
She never believed in true love.
It was a chemical defect found in the losing side, right? A useless emotion that cut logic out of the equation and drove entire empires to ruin. A hardwired default in the human psyche, correct?
Now she wasn't so sure.
They had only gotten as far as the creek and she was already light years into her thoughts, rifling through the furthest echoes of her mind like someone looking for a lost sock in a drawer. There was no proper way across, so they would have to jump over it if they wanted to get into the trees before the walkers spotted them from the yard. Merle easily leapt the distance, swiftly followed by Daryl who then instantly turned and held out a hand towards Eevee.
The woman stood for a second at the edge of the creek, the winter months having dropped the levels enough that she wasn't afraid of slipping in and getting carried away. Daryl was firmly planted on the opposite half, one hand holding his crossbow as the other stretched out for her own hand to take and ensure she crossed safely. His features were always so naturally stern- but those eyes gave him away every time. She watched the pupils dilate as they locked on her. And it sent her heart racing to pump white-hot blood through her veins to trigger the riot of butterflies lying dormant in her stomach.
There are no safe paths in this part of the world. She was over the edge of the wild now. And in for all sorts of fun whenever she go.
Eevee never did believe in true love.
But now she held it by the hand.