dadyl | 𝙿𝙴𝙽𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴 𝙸𝙽𝙱𝙾𝚇 ;

[ This would be the place where an enemy would wreck him. Gabe closes his eyes - an old reflex - but he doesn't flinch. He knew before he moved that Daryl wouldn't hurt him like this. It's gentle. So is what follows.

Gabe hums into the kiss, going up on his toes to deepen it. Pressing close. ]

Good.

[ He squeezes the back of Daryl's neck. ]

Think I need it to matter.

[ Good. So it isn't unwelcome, what that snarled little tangle of leftover feeling has made Daryl admit to. Accept, even. He'd been so sure when he'd said it in his other life, not just to Gabe but to Carol, too. He misses that clarity, that confidence. He's never been able to put what he feels to words before Hellburbia. Ever.

And it's still nearly impossible now so he just kisses Gabe again instead, his other arm snaking around his back to hold him close, palm settling on his spine. His thumb runs over Gabe's pulse, strokes the length of his throat.

It all feels like more than just a kiss and it has him a little lightheaded. ]

It does. You do.

[ It's the first time they've been like this in months and Daryl wonders if that's why he can feel his heart hammering against his ribcage, desperately awake. ]

[ Nothing in Hell feels simple. What's laid out between them hasn't been - and won't be, in the future. But for a moment - for a single, quiet moment - it feels like they could be. Gabe sighs into the kiss, holding loosely to Daryl's wrist and the back of his neck.

He can feel Daryl's pulse against his thumb. Drumming. ]

Good.

[ He presses his forehead to Daryl's, nuzzling against him. ]

I've got you.

[ It's really something, being held until his doubts go away, and Daryl sighs heavily when Gabe nuzzles him. They stay like that for so long, just breathing each other's air, that Dog eventually whines in confusion from where he's been standing just behind Daryl, waiting for what comes next.

He huffs out the softest laugh and turns to acknowledge Dog's impatient stare. He takes his hand off of Gabe's back just to wave him away and Dog goes, suddenly disinterested now that he's been excused. ]

Can we just... be, tonight? Like this?

[ It's something Gabe has said to him before and Daryl is almost aching for it now. Just the quiet company. Just this. Maybe he'll actually be able to get to sleep tonight, unlike the night before. ]

[ Gabe huffs at that, smiling faintly. They have an audience after all. But Dog doesn't seem bothered by it, and sometimes it's good just to have a break in the surface tension.

He squeezes Daryl's wrist briefly. ]

Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that.

[ Something quieter. ]

Good.

[ It's a very simple refrain between them but it's one that means a lot. Value judgement. Confirmation. Agreement. When Daryl finally moves to pull away from Gabe he takes hold of the hand holding his wrist and laces their fingers together, pulling him towards the room Daryl has only ever halfway claimed as his own. He might hate the hotel but his meagre possessions are all collected in that one bedroom. ]

Y'know what's crazy? I sleep better with you.

[ He sleeps deeper, he stays asleep longer. It's unbelievable to Daryl, who has spent nearly every night in his entire life alone. But it's true. ]

But maybe it's more to do with... what we usually do first.

[ They’re holding hands, Gabe thinks - oddly charmed by the fact. It’s not something he does often. And he goes easily, squeezing Daryl’s hand in his own. There’s no one here to see but Dog. ]

Endorphins are a great thing.

[ He smiles faintly. ]

But I always sleep better with somebody at my back. Somebody I trust.

[ Daryl smiles a little, shy even though he knows that Gabe can't see it, and he leaves his bedroom door open behind him. It's enough that Dog is trapped in the suite, Daryl doesn't want to close more doors on him than he has to. ]

Carol takes the other room some nights. But she's got her own suite to herself, too.

[ He supposes he's explaining the situation as it stands and giving Gabe the heads-up that they might not be alone the whole night. Daryl's watching his back, but Carol might be next door, too. He hasn't asked him how he feels about her since they'd all come back to themselves. He knows the whole thing has been complicated for the two of them, too.

But he feels like he's been awake for days so he just sits down on his bed heavily and starts to unlace his boots. ]

Dog's a great warnin' system. You'll never be safer.

[ So she's close by, then. Backup if they're attacked, if they find themselves facing something unexpected. Anything could happen in Hell - has happened in Hell. But it's easier to face it with people at his side. Gabe knows it's complicated - it's always going to be complicated, he thinks - but this is a step closer to something steadier.

And, he supposes, it's a warning that they might not be alone the whole time. That Carol might see them sharing space. Or react like he's a threat if he catches her unawares. Like Gabe supposes he would, if the situation were reversed and she wandered into his space.

It is what it is.

He hums, sitting down next to Daryl, and begins working his own boots off. ]

I'll bet. He must be nice to have around when it's cold, too.

[ Daryl toes his boots off once they've been loosened and then just flops back on his elbows on the bed, watching Gabe work at his, feeling some of the tension seeping out of his back and shoulders just from not being upright anymore. He hasn't felt safe enough to sleep since Nacho had brought him back. ]

Yeah. There were a couple of nights 'm not sure I woulda made it through without him.

[ After Leah had left, leaving Dog behind, but before Carol had arrived with Henry when she needed someone to watch after her son. Daryl still wonders if that gesture hadn't really been for him. ]

He'd keep my camp clear, let me know if there were walkers. Check snares for me. He had a lot of jobs.

[ As if on cue, Dog appears in the bedroom doorway and then invites himself up on the end on the bed. ]

Good partner to have.

[ It's hard to fight entirely alone. Gabe's done it, but it wore him down until there was only something brittle and sharp left inside of him. Something cruel, because he had no room to be anything else.

He pulls his boots off, rubbing absently at his heel. He smiles a little when Dog jumps up. ]

Hey, Dog. You gonna chill with us?

[ He notices Gabe rub at his foot and without comment, Daryl sits back up and reaches to take him behind the knee and just lifts that leg up onto the bed, planting Gabe's heel in his lap. He squeezes the arch of Gabe's foot with one hand and scratches Dog's ear with the other, terribly content. ]

Guess he feels the same way we do.

[ Daryl's massage moves up Gabe's calf from his foot, firm, sensual pressure, then his hand just falls away. ]

They said they wouldn't hurt him here. An' they better not.

[ Gabe stills, but he doesn't flinch or jerk away. Even now, in this place, his first instinct is to kick free whenever someone touches his feet. If they've got his feet, then they're trying to get him on the ground and that's never ended well. But it's not the first time Daryl's done this for him, in the end. He's got strong hands, a sure grip.

It feels good.

Gabe hums softly. He relaxes into it, inch by inch. And when it stops, he moves so he can press against Daryl, just a little.

Just a little. ]

They haven't hurt Dart.

[ He says it softly. ]

That's something, isn't it?

[ Daryl remembers the little dragon and he nods, hoping that yeah, maybe that does matter. Even if he has to imagine that something born here might have its own sort of resistance to Hell that Dog can't match. ]

I didn't even think it would work, when I told 'em what I wanted. But I missed him.

[ He lets Gabe lean against him and sighs, enjoying it for a few seconds before he rubs his hand over Gabe's back, pausing to squeeze the base of his neck. Daryl is fast remembering the gentle, unthreatening ways that Gabe asks to be touched without demanding anything from him. He'd almost forgotten how nice it is that he always gets to choose with him.

Dog puts his head down on his paws and Daryl presses his lips to Gabe's shoulder, then he moves back on the bed to lie down properly. ]

C'mere.

And now he's here.

[ Gabe isn't sure he believes in Hell handing out kindness, but he hopes - as much as he can - that no one fucks with Dog here. That there are lines.

And if there aren't, he hopes that at least Dog heals like the rest of them do.

He lets the moment stretch on for a bit, enjoying the closeness. Gentle touches, the way that Daryl squeezes his neck without fucking with the ports. And then he hums, and goes where he's asked to. He wants this closeness, he thinks. He wants something quiet in yet another aftermath, and so he lies down next to Daryl and presses close so he can run his fingers through Daryl's hair. ]

Thanks. For letting me borrow your shirt.

[ It hangs big on him, but it's soft. He likes it, he thinks. ]

[ Daryl's body practically thrums when Gabe presses close to him without hesitating and puts his hand straight into his hair. It soothes him in a way few other touches do and he rumbles a soft, pleased sound into the pillow they're resting on. It's easy to get both his arms around Gabe like this so he does, tightening his hold a little more every time those fingers card back through his hair.

God, this is nice. Daryl closes his eyes and swallows, trying to shut out the nerves that always show up whenever he's getting too content. ]

Yeah. Looks good on you.

[ But he blushes a little when he says it because it's actually true. He likes seeing Gabe dressed in his clothes, it turns out, and he has to stop himself from saying something stupid like 'you just keep it'. ]

Mhmm. Most things do.

[ It's said idly, as Gabe runs his fingers through Daryl's hair. As Daryl holds him close. There are times when Gabe can't stand to be held tightly, when the edge runs too close to the surface and he needs to move, but this -

This is good. Steadying rather than a trap, or a trick.

He settles, inch by inch. ]

Shit. Didn't realize how tired I was.

[ Daryl snorts at that and arches just a little more into the touch of Gabe's fingers in his hair. He'd been starting to wonder if they were going to ever be able to get back to this place with each other and now that it's happening, he's finally able to relax.

It's a deep sort of exhaustion that's come into him and before long, Daryl is sunk into the bed enough and against Gabe enough that it's hard to tell where either of them ends or begins. They're just a warm tangle of arms and legs and Daryl finally starts to drift off listening to Dog snore from the foot of the bed. ]

Mmm.

[ All is right for a long time.

Then he starts to dream.

At first, it's shapeless. Formless. He's lost, or not-quite-lost, Dog is there but he's just out of sight. He feels like he's missing important things but he can't remember what they are. It isn't raining, but he's wet. Then he's soaked. Then he can't breathe and the rain has turned to a downpour thicker than any rain has ever been and the storm clouds he can't quite see through the water look just like her face--

--and that's when Daryl gasps himself awake like he really is being suffocated and starts trying to sit up in a blind panic. ]

[ Sleep comes quick. Exhaustion has a weight and it settles in him, and Gabe feels his breathing even out sooner than later. Daryl's warm and solid, and they've learned how to move around each other well enough to settle now. To let the tension slip away. Gabe sleeps like a dead man. There are no dreams.

Until, suddenly, something shifts. And he's awake - like being dosed in water - and reacting, even before his conscious mind can kick in. Something's changed, something's different. He needs to react. Gabe sits up, reaching instinctively for the knife at his side. ]

Daryl -

[ And then he stills. Reflex takes over. This isn't the first time he's woken up next to someone knotted up in a nightmare. Gabe knows there's a good chance he's going to get punched for this - Decker nearly broke his jaw once, in the middle of a screaming nightmare - but he reaches out to put his hand on Daryl's wrist and lowers his voice. Steadies it. ]

Hey. Hey, it's me. Focus on my voice. You know my voice. Can you do that for me?

[ Daryl hears Gabe say his name, he does recognize his voice, but he's furiously disoriented so he tries to jerk away. He had never stayed in his hotel room much before moving out to try and fortify a place in the weird suburbs with Carol, and for a terrifying few seconds, he has no idea where he is. Worse than that, he can't remember who he is. Two sets of memories smash together with the dream he'd just lurched out of and Daryl snatches hold of Gabe by his shirt collar just to steady himself.

There's still light coming through the open door from the hallway and Dog is looking at him in the dark. That, more than anything, helps Daryl orient himself in a time and place. ]

...Shit. [ He almost gulps out the word and exhales in a rush, heaving for breath like he's been holding it. It feels as though he has, like his drowning in the dream had been something sitting on his chest in real life. He feels cold all over, except where Gabe is holding onto his wrist. ]

Fuck, sorry. 'm sorry.

[ It's embarrassing enough to make him feel a little sick but Daryl's heartbeat is going a mile a minute. He tightens the grip he has on Gabe's collar like he's worried he might go somewhere. ]

Easy. It's okay, I've got you.

[ Slow and steady. Give them something to mirror. Gabe leans forward and presses his forehead to Daryl's, careful to slow his own breathing down even as he feels his heart pounding in his throat. Adrenaline up, instinct convinced there's a threat.

But there's not. It was just a nightmare, and now this is the aftermath. ]

Just breathe with me.

[ He hears it but it's hard to accept what Gabe's saying to him in the dark. That things are okay, that he's safe. Daryl can still feel the sensations of the dream, which feels as though it was much longer than it could have possibly been. He senses Gabe start to move close to him and he flinches from him a little, only pacified when their foreheads come together. It's like a Pavlovian response for Daryl - instantly he can feel his breath in his chest, he can catch and hold it, control it. He's alive and he isn't alone. ]

Fuck.

[ It's all he can think to say as he squeezes Gabe's shirt and then finally lets it go, wrinkled where he'd been gripping it. He lays his hand flat over Gabe's chest instead, feeling his heartbeat and trying to get out of his own head. It wasn't real. It was just a fucking dream. ]

Fuck, man. That one was new.

[ That little flinch twists deep. It hurts on some instinctive, soul-deep level. But Daryl doesn't push him away. He puts his hand flat over Gabe's chest and the moment doesn't lessen but it doesn't get any worse, either. Gabe closes his eyes, keeps his breathing steady. In, then hold it for the four count, exhale.

Patterns are good. Patterns keep the world sane.

He shifts so he can run his fingers through Daryl's hair. Slow, like before. ]

You okay?

[ His people have nightmares sometimes. Prior nearly brained himself waking into a dead run. Missy cut him once when he tried to shake her awake. Got him across the arm with one of the little blades she kept tucked against her wrist.

Instinct, again. Fight or flight. You weather it however you can. ]

[ Daryl tries to imitate Gabe's breathing, which is soft and controlled while his own is still shaking and unsteady. The dark still seems like a black hood but the room smells like Gabe and Dog and warm, sleep-soft bodies and he's dry. Safe.

It's the fingers in his hair that finally make him sigh and it comes out smooth, like a release. He nods against Gabe's forehead, slow and measured, and then he rubs the hand pressed to Gabe's chest in a slow, grateful circle. He's speechless for another long moment as he's hit with how glad he is that Gabe is with him. ]

Mhm.

[ His pulse is still jumping but he no longer feels the desperate need to punch something and run. He bites down on his lip, a wash of shame following up his moment of relief and affection. ]

Did I scare you?

No.

[ He keeps his voice low, and steady. Keeps running his fingers through Daryl's hair. It settles both of them, he thinks. Something tactile, something that's only ever been kind between them. ]

Startled me a bit, but we're okay.

[ It's not the first time he's woken up next to someone fighting with a nightmare. Won't be the last, either. ]

𝙿𝙴𝙽𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴 𝙸𝙽𝙱𝙾𝚇 ;

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)