July 28th, 2014 at 03:36am
Hunting:
This chapter left me feeling all kinds of feels!
It’s so funny how you’ve laid it out. It’s a moment that completely catches you by surprise, especially when you have Nora “wearing a belt of small dead squirrels, and two bush birds”. Not one part of it sounds appealing in the slightest. “My jeans were streaked with blood and fur, their little heads bobbing against my thighs with every step.” She’s out hunting with Daryl, and he’s made her his personal carrier. It doesn’t exactly scream GENTLEMAN! I like that about their relationship. Daryl isn’t going to become some whipped schoolboy, carrying her belongings and giving her pretty flowers. Nora’s on her own to survive, which is exactly the type I would imagine Daryl to look for in a woman. Individual. Not clingy.
Romance like somethin’ else, indeed.
So, you can imagine my surprise, when I’m all casual; reading through the hunting and light conversation about what’s going on back at camp. Dead squirrels. Dale’s petition. Daryl’s typical behaviour. And then BAM!
“Guess I jus’ like you, or somethin’.”
I loved the final line, and the ones leading up to it. He’s so awkward, and it’s funny, but adorable at the same time. When she’s trying to get him to hurry up and spit out what he is trying to say is just such a realistic conversation. It was difficult, and she was a little harsh, so I’m glad he actually said it.
Wonder what Nora’s dad woulda thought of him, or how Daryl would have acted around her dad.
And back to their usual, haha! Wouldn’t be much of a story to have them meshing so well together that they puke up rainbows. It’s the bickering, and then sweetness, and more bickering that keeps me interested in their relationship.
It takes a lot for me not to squeal at how young their relationship is. It’s been a long time since I was in the early stages of a relationship. You know, the ‘getting to know someone’ and the ‘first times’. Holding hands seems like such a small thing, but it really is kinda like a step. I wonder if Daryl has ever been in that kind of relationship before.
The conversation between the two is actually quite sad. Poor Nora, trying to crack a joke about what she would have looked in his eyes before the apocalypse, only to have Daryl not think it’s funny.
“Would jus’ look at ya, tryna think of somethin’ dumb ass to say. And ya’d jus’ be walkin’ right by me like I aint even there.”
This gives us a little insight into Daryl’s past. Sure, it’s not much, but it almost suggests that she is exactly the kind of girl he would have liked to get in a relationship with. Possibly even take home to meet his mum. He must have been shot down often enough that he’s now probably afraid to make any sudden movements. Like scaring away a deer.
I like knowing a little more about him