Daryl Dixon (
dirtyredneck) wrote in
oasisnetwork2016-02-20 12:36 pm
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
02: Ground Rules (Backdated to the 19th)
[[ooc: Backdated to shortly after this mess with Newt gets resolved and they're back inside the Gates.]
All ya'll talking shit about how we all gotta work together 'cause we're stuck here together best listen the hell up. You want to work together? FINE. First you gotta to is tell the rest of us what hell you can do. No more fucking surprises like some seven foot leopard man!
The only way to pool our goddamn resources are if we know what the fuck they are! And if you can do shit like that, then it's a goddamn resource!
I don't care where the hell you picked to hole your asses up, but if you're gonna talk to me and everyone else about how we should kum-by-fucking-ya, then you best be offering up your skills so we can take full advantage of them.
And don't make runs outside the walls alone no more without telling someone where the hell you're gonna be so we know to keep an eye on you! Hell, I don't even go hunting without telling Glenn I'll be out! You got people to rely on so rely on them!
Fucking hell, people!
[Daryl's angry because he cares. And he hates that he cares.]
[[ooc: open to action if anyone wants to be near him while he's making this rant]]
All ya'll talking shit about how we all gotta work together 'cause we're stuck here together best listen the hell up. You want to work together? FINE. First you gotta to is tell the rest of us what hell you can do. No more fucking surprises like some seven foot leopard man!
The only way to pool our goddamn resources are if we know what the fuck they are! And if you can do shit like that, then it's a goddamn resource!
I don't care where the hell you picked to hole your asses up, but if you're gonna talk to me and everyone else about how we should kum-by-fucking-ya, then you best be offering up your skills so we can take full advantage of them.
And don't make runs outside the walls alone no more without telling someone where the hell you're gonna be so we know to keep an eye on you! Hell, I don't even go hunting without telling Glenn I'll be out! You got people to rely on so rely on them!
Fucking hell, people!
[Daryl's angry because he cares. And he hates that he cares.]
[[ooc: open to action if anyone wants to be near him while he's making this rant]]
no subject
It doesn't matter.
[Her tone is flat. Controlled, so she didn't let it show that she was becoming angry at the adults for so much fighting.]
You were made, you have powers and mannerisms that regular people don't understand. Even still, you're real.
[She felt an overwhelming surge of compassion for Castiel at that moment. Empathy wasn't something she ever had been able to possess before arriving here and now she couldn't control the emotion that putting herself in his shoes made her feel. Her head turned and she looked to Daryl. She was almost pleading with him now.]
Just as real as I am.
[She just wasn't sure if angels were scientifically able to exist.]
no subject
you moved your commentDaryl's gaze remained on Castiel's, but his body was shaking. Hard eyes blinking and unsure. Not at Castiel's words, but at Athena's.
(She'd been made. A doll or a puppet or something that was meant to look human but wasn't real. Turned real when she got here. Just starting to feel. Looked at Daryl like he was made of gold and the wings on his back weren't as dirty as the mountains he'd grown up in. Like they was as heavenly as the man he was holding claimed to be. Gave him hope when it was hard to hold onto. She was hurt by this. He'd hurt her. He didn't want to hurt her. He didn't know how not to. He wasn't worth what she was giving him with those eyes and that trust. All he was doing was tarnishing the light inside her.)
He sucked in a breath, hand tightening for a long moment before he broke the gaze and dropped his head. He stepped back, hand still fisted in Castiel's coat. It took him another few seconds to suck in a few breaths and relax his hand enough that he could unclench his fingers. Whether he liked it or not, he needed the physical connection of touching Cas on the chest. The literal, physical support. He was shaking too much.
When he did let his hand drop, he swayed just a bit. Drained from everything that had happened. Still, he was shaking his head. Trying to get moisture to a dry mouth as he croaked out his words.]
Didn't say he weren't real.
[Daryl's voice, though cracking some, was very gentle. Pleading almost. Trying to make his words as much as an apology as anything else.]
But he ain't an angel. He cain't be.
no subject
Between Athena's empathy, and Glenn's doubt, Castiel found himself at the center of a storm of emotion and doubt. It was overwhelming. Even with Dean's strong, protective presence behind him, it made him falter just a little, his eyelids dropping and opening again, blinking twice in rapid succession. His expression transformed from stern and defiant to soft and urgent. Daryl's desperation - "He can't be" - touched him more than anything else. He was so very afraid. His life, such as it was, couldn't lead to this moment, because of what it would mean about the moments that came before. His Father had a lot to answer for.
So when Daryl wobbled, Castiel raised his hand very carefully to rest it against his elbow, ready to catch him if he fell. ]
I know why you struggle to believe it. You don't have to, not for my sake, but you should for the sake of your people. [ He tips his head again, very slightly forward, so that the deep furrowing of his brow only looks deeper, more sincere. ] This isn't how I wanted things to be. Dean... [ He glances over his shoulder. ] He deserves to be around people, even if you wish to exile me.
[ Because obviously that was a solution. But Castiel knows exile, Castiel deserves it, and that's why he brings it up as a possibility at all. ]
I can fight. I can heal. I can look after myself.
no subject
Daryl, walk away for now.
[He looked over at Athena with a smile then.]
We're really not saying he isn't real; we're just not sure what to make of what he's saying he is.
[Eyes went to Castiel then, and he tilted his head.]
Banishment isn't on the table. That's not how we do things. You have a friend that trusts you and whatever you are, you aren't a spy like Daryl thought. There's more to talk about, but not now. This isn't a place to be alone, anyway.
[He leans in to Daryl, his tone soft but firm; taking the reigns of leadership from his friend's hands for the moment.]
Daryl, let's go.
no subject
Exile.
That's not how we do things.
The words filtered through the mental fog and for a moment Daryl's mind reached back to another heated argument. When Rick told him he'd exiled Carol. He hadn't consulted anyone. Had just done it. They had the council then and Rick had just stepped back up, back in charge, and decided Carol was too dangerous.
That's not how we do things.
No, it wasn't. That had been a mistake on Rick's part. Daryl knew it then. Even as he knew now that Castiel's suggestion was stupid on top of stupid. He'd sooner beat the man into the ground (and he wasn't really up for it at the moment anyway) than leave him to fend for himself. No matter how strong or able to survive on his own he was. He wasn't going to just let someone go it alone if he could help it.
Daryl's eyes lifted from where they'd gone on unfocused on Athena. Moved to Castiel. To that imploring, pleading gaze. He stared for a long time, personally wounded by what he was being asked to believe. And he just couldn't.
He could let the man stay. He wasn't going to turn him out if he wasn't a spy. He wasn't going to stop him from trying to make the best of his life. He wasn't even going to stop him from trying to convince people of his delusions. But Daryl couldn't believe all that bullshit.
He swayed on his feet so his arm could drift away from Castiel's hand. When he turned on his heel, wearily sliding his knife into it's sheath, he lifted his other hand toward Athena and waved at her. Imploring her to follow him away from all of that. If she did, or didn't that was up to her. But he was asking.
Glenn had stepped up. He could deal with the talking for the rest of the day. Daryl was done with it.]
no subject
Have faith.
[The words are whispered to Castiel because she didn't want him to resign himself to a life of exile here. She knew that Daryl and Glenn would accept Castiel in time, and he just had to wait until that happened.
She tried smiling so Castiel would know she was on his side in this but it fell flat and she wound up pulling away so she could step back. Daryl had accepted her for what she was and she had faith that he would do the same for Castiel too. She believed so strongly in Daryl being a good leader that she was firm in her trust that he would be rational toward the supposed angel eventually.]
I'll come by the hotel to see you soon. Don't you dare think about exile again.
[Her tone was flat so that no one could tell the emotion that was under the surface. Her small hands tightened into fists as she backed away, keeping her eyes on Castiel. She knew Daryl was waiting for her so she turned and hurried over to him, her hand slipping in his to try and act as a form of comfort and security. There were things she could have told him but she recognized that he didn't want or need to talk right now. Words could come later once he had time to process everything that had just happened.]
no subject
He didn't retreat. Castiel held still and let Daryl pull away instead, before at last turning and walking back toward Dean. It was always strange to go through this. Some people believed, and others didn't, but often the situation didn't give them time to think about it, and they'd needed to face the reality in front of them.
Whether they come to believe or not doesn't matter. Dean is on his side; Dean, whom he moves to and reaches out - unexpectedly considering he's not much of a touchy feely sort of angel - to lay his hand on. It's shaking, just a little. The expression he shows the hunter is the same look that he'd given Dean just before flying away from him at the asylum, like he's about to run for the hills and never come back. His grip is a little too hard, a little too rough, craving reassurance. ]
Can we go?
no subject
Purgatory had done a number on his violent tendencies.
But finally Castiel turned back to him and the angel's expression, his wayward nerves, clashed against the edges of Dean's anger and for the first time he realized that his fingers had curled into fist. In comparison, Castiel's trembled just enough to be noticeable, the quiet weight of them on his shoulder enough to draw his attention closer. With a sharp exhale, Dean glanced over towards the backs of Daryl and his friend before he once more looked to Cas, subtle rage cracked across his features.
As long as i'm not taking you into exile, was the first thing Dean wanted to say. He hadn't missed an ounce of Cas' self-deprecation and the dwindling remnants of his anger told him to rub it in Castiel's face. But for some reason this had torn him up, had left him looking like a punished puppy crawling into hiding. Dean couldn't break him that much further and so he finally forced a sigh, his attention wholly on Castiel as he nodded back towards the hotel. ]
C'mon, might as well head back.
no subject
He was afraid, and he knew where he wanted to be--surrounded by trees, plants, life, insects, out in the forest where nothing (except you know, all the flesh eating zombies) could hurt him.
And so he responded automatically, since Dean was letting him hold on to his shoulder, and he took flight silently, took Dean with him, and vanished off the spot. His compass was off - had been since arriving here - so while they flew cleanly away, seeming to vanish instantly from where they were standing, there was no real aim to their landing, and they reappeared perhaps thirty yards beyond the gates, beyond where the thick forest pressed in around them. ]
Not the hotel, [ He insisted, wordlessly handing his blade across to Dean. He didn't want to have to stab anything right now, but that didn't mean that he didn't understand that stabbing things might be crucial. But as he passes the blade he falters: ] Is this... Is this okay? I can send you back if you like.
[ Actually he didn't know if he could, he might just as easily teleport Dean into the lake. ]
no subject
But really, all of that just meant that he was even more caught off guard when Cas flew them out of the scene, not even offering enough time to warn him. Granted, he'd been dragged along enough times by Cas now that he only vaguely minded the sudden stomach churning shift in gravity, that wasn't the point when he just wanted to know why they were here instead of somewhere else. Somewhere not amongst the trees and nature and-- oh. Right. Yeah. Okay. It made sense.
Dean's brow furrowed as Cas began to hand over the blade and while Dean took it, it did so with slight hesitation. ]
Yeah, it's- uh, great, Cas. [ He cleared his throat and grasped the hilt a little more tightly, confidently. ] It's fine, i'm sticking around. You don't get to be by yourself right now.
[ And while Dean tried to make that sound authoratative, he knew there was only so much sway he held over the situation. That didn't mean he wanted Cas to exile himself for both of them - not at all. He wanted to keep an eye on the angel for any number of reasons and so he stood taller, looked significantly harder to push over, and tried to be Cas' pillar this time around. ]
no subject
The hum of bees.
He looks across toward Dean a moment later, and lowers his hand from his shoulder a second after that, only just realizing that he's still holding on. ]
Could we... [ A hopeful note in his voice. Like he's totally forgotten why they're out here in the first place. You know. All that posturing stuff and exile. He's so rude. ] Could we take the forest back to the hotel?
no subject
Uh- okay. Okay.
[ Tipping his head gently, looking at Cas like he'd forgotten just how careful he needed to be sometimes, Dean eased his voice along. ] What part are we bringing back?
no subject
Right at Peace. Straight on past Passion--
[ He stops, spins on his heel and goes back the other way, stopping again beside the big red flower. ] Passion.
[ He looks up again at the sky, and bites his lip for a moment, looking a little disappointed, a little lost, before pivoting back around again, not quite one hundred and eighty degrees. He steps away into the brush once more, and then barks with muted angelic delight: ] Hot Lips. Here you are.
[ A pinkish, slightly peachy flower with thick, viscous petals spread wide in the shape of puckered lips. A bee is crawling along the petal's edge, and Castiel comes over to crouch beside it. Up in the canopy above them is a low hum from his nest, loud enough that even Dean can hear them. ]
no subject
It's all he can do to keep from shaking Cas until he somehow finds a way into his brain but for now all Dean does is wait, taking the occasional step forward and then one more, handing lifting outstretched. ]
Cas. Cas. The hell are you doing?
no subject
He reaches forward and catches the bee in mid-air, and then ever so gently places it on the back of his hand, raising it up where he can see it crawling toward him. ]
One little drone, blindly doing what he's told, until he's eaten by a bird or simply drops down dead from exhaustion, only to be replaced by another; an endless supply of workers serving unwritten rules with no idea why.
[ The little bee takes off, and flies up into the canopy. ]
Don't you envy them? They've never had free will, so they can't... [ Trailing off, now. ]
no subject
So they can't fuck it up- yeah, great. Good for them.
[ But he can't really care about the damn bees, even if Cas wants him to. If Cas wants to bring them along then fine, whatever - that's not the point. There's nothing there in all of that for him, though he knows what it is to follow someone blindly. Dean just doesn't see it staring him in the face when he looks at the little annoying bugs.
Instead, he sees it when he looks at the angel. ]
I am not replacing you. Doesn't that count for something, here? Or are you forgetting that part just to make this work to your advantage. [ He was trying to be stern, trying to get Castiel's attention, but he faltered within the span of seconds, his voice wavering worriedly as he moved in at Cas' side. Dean somehow wished he could make this feel better but he didn't know how when he couldn't figure out where it had all gone wrong. ]
Look- Cas. I'm kinda feelin' like I missed something back there, you're gonna have to clue me in.
no subject
And yes, he was trying to ditch Dean. Sort of. He was trying to throw him to those people - his people, who actually liked him - and make a break for it, because Dean would be better off surrounded by human beings. But at the same time it's not even remotely what he wants to do: he's just afraid, afraid for himself, afraid for Dean, but mostly afraid for a world with him in it. ]
If we try to fix this world too, [ He said, shakily, ] What's to stop us making things even worse than they already are? I break-- [ He grimaces. ] --I break everything I touch, Dean. Everything.
no subject
He couldn't take any of it back. ]
Did you break me? Huh? Did you? [ It's the first thing he can think of to say, his mind still reeling back to the moment he was dragged from Hell. It felt like eons ago but it still counted for something, right? But it was just as likely that Cas would come up with some part of that he'd screwed up too and what could Dean say to that. ]
I get it, okay. You know I do. Freaking out, thinking you can't make any of this right. But Cas, you can't skip out on me here. I need you. Your help, your screwups, all of it. And I know, you don't want to fuck it up, I know you. But you're not gonna break this.
no subject
One choice, just like that one, could have changed their entire path for the better.
His eyes drop, and while he's afraid still, Dean's words are a little reassuring. Just like back at the lake, he was needed, no matter what he had to say about it. He held still, tense, and considered putting up a fight just because he could, but then his attention returned to the bee on his hand. It vibrated its wings, then took off, rising up toward the nest above them. ]
You should stay here until I secure the nest. They won't be very happy. [ As though they weren't having a serious conversation. ]
no subject
[ Deat shot the word back angrily, glowering sharply at the sudden turn again in the conversation. Cas was the one who always wanted to talk about things, so of course, the second it's about him, the conversation seemed to have every right to move how he chose it to. Which was altogether not fair, because it seemed as soon as Dean was roped into talking about things he didn't want to talk about, Cas swerved the momentum away and turned it onto something else. In this case it was bees, but Dean didn't care - it could've been about anything and he would've been just as pissed.
Moving the rest of the way over, Dean makes a grab for Cas' coat, giving him a significant tug or two to focus his attention back on him and drag it away from the bees. They were talking about this now. Right now. And not only when Cas wanted to. ]
We're talking first, then you can hang with the bees. Got it? I'm not letting this one go just because you want it to.
no subject
Still, for a second Cas keeps trying to look at the bee, before Dean gives him a second shake to get his attention down again. He stares, clearly unsettled, but not trying to pull away. ]
I... I understand.
[ That expression like he sure did want to run like hell. ]
Dean, I... I didn't want to endanger your relationship with these people. They may not be your people, but they're human, some of them. If they're afraid of me, and they have every reason to be...
no subject
[ Dean slowly lets Cas go, but he doesn't give him back his space, taking up all his room if only to make a point that he isn't going anywhere. And even then, there's no way he's letting Cas make that decision on his own - he doesn't get to push him away when he's mostly sane, not if there's an ounce of his own personal say in it.
Especially when Dean can't help but see a lack of relationships wherever he goes. It's not like he knows how to make friends, how to play well with others, and it's all he can do to play nice for at least a little while. Cas isn't the only one who destroys everything he touches and Dean knows for a fact that he shouldn't be around others. Not just because he doesn't even know how to play nice, but because he can't keep people safe when they're too damn close. He tried that for awhile, failed miserably at it, and let it all go. And after that, there's only one thing and he knows and it's-- ]
You're family, Cas. It doesn't matter who they are or what they think of you- you come first. And don't you tell me that I should care more about them because that doesn't have anything to do with you. Right now it's you and me, that's all I know. You got it?
no subject
[ He spat the word out very suddenly. It was a shattered sounding word, like it was cutting right into his heart to get it out. He looked at Dean with a sort of hurt desperation. ]
After everything I did to you? Lying, going behind your back, the way I condemned Sam without even knowing him--the people I killed; the angels. I let loose a scourge that was one small gesture away from enslaving humanity as a food source. I'm a terrible angel, Dean. If I can't even protect humanity from myself, what right do I have to try and protect you?
I don't deserve your compassion.
[ Family, really? Is he really family? How can that be true? He's so self deprecating at the moment that he doesn't believe he deserves that either. ]
All I've ever done is put you in more danger.
no subject
But we're still family.
[ The word holds a certain amount of triumph to Dean, like if he says it enough times that maybe Cas will be able to pick up on the significance behind it. Maybe he'll be able to see just how much it means to Dean and won't be so inclined to brush it aside and cling once again to his self deprecation. ]
The things you've screwed up- they don't take that away. Don't suddenly mean i'm gonna give up on you because hell, I tried that too and it didn't make anything better. The only way I see us getting through anything anymore is if you quit trying to put yourself on the outside.
no subject
Maybe he's a glutton for punishment too.
And he'd accept that if not for the 'You're family' thing. It's unendingly meaningful. What Dean wouldn't do for his family, and what Castiel hadn't tried to do for his. Family, to a Winchester, meant fighting right up to the bitter end for them. How long had he wanted to be a part of that, looking in from the outside? And now it was just being offered to him like this, meaningful and intent. ]
I'll stay inside the walls, [ He says, softly, but he means more than just the physical ones. ] I... I'll stay with you.
(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)