".. you.. fittin’ in alright?" is bad at small talk, but tries. elbows moving to knees, hunching in on himself as he adjusts sitting form. "with the others?"
his jaw works, tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth with a slight nod … georgia’s just 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 this. trees as far as the eyes can see and 𝘩eat unlike any other. there’s hotter places, but none
it's fucking disgustingly hot out—— an absolutely miserable look on her face until he taps at her boot. hair stuck to skin, sweat drenched as alicia tosses a nearby stick into the fire. “ don't worry, ” she replies, hand instinctively moving
as consistent as theirs. times like these he thinks about the refuge of air conditioners and cold water, [ his trailer, a fan. ] —and immediately shuts those thoughts down, shaking his head slow.
gets back up … napkin clenched tightly in hand, unconsciously making a fist. [ always, always, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 prepared for the worst. ] ".. if they bite you.. you turn into one of 'em."
𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵, he wants to bite back —— but doesn’t. has already used all his snark earlier, when his adrenaline was still high and his mind was still thinking the worst … now he just 𝑠norts,
⠀ ⠀ "my, ⠀ what gave me away? ⠀ my clean clothes or my cheerful personality?" ⠀ probably neither. ⠀ this planet was half forgotten for a reason, ⠀ he imagined, ⠀ and it had more to do with its inhabitants
eyes falling down to the stiff corpse with an indifferent shrug. "—as dead as it gets." which is to say he’s smashed the things head in so hard there’s no more of it 𝑙eft. and if it somehow miraculously
daryl, quite frankly, is too stunned to speak. stands before this pink——clad 𝑏rick of a being and watches - 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘥 - as his arm is practically mended anew. thinks to himself,
⠀⠀
⠀⠀“ thank you. ” ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ words come out whispered, rushed even. ⠀⠀ although biolight has never failed him, a part of niran’s heart &̲ mind repeated like a mantra; ⠀⠀ ⠀ 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 ..
⠀⠀
𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵, twisting his healed appendage this—way—and—that, slowly. 𝘪’𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦. .. it takes him a full minute of silent inspection before his gaze flickers back to stranger’s
years of bitterness and solitude don’t hold a candle to her, really. he 𝘩esitates, sure ——— but within moments his own arm wraps around her shoulder, much looser - but still tight, squeezing once in return.
itching hands hover over the box, gaze flittering ’tween extended gift ’nd the ghost of a curl on his lips. ger own twitches ’fore grasping it in her palms, ’nines glittering underneath the sun ’nd her own optimism.
there isn’t much he wouldn’t do for her. for anyone in their family, yes, but for 𝘩𝘦𝘳 … ——carol told him once that it’s natural to have favorites. and for her and beth, he’d climb to the * mo͟o͟n.