Sweeter Things A Holiday Brings

[redshoerevenge]

WHO: Carl Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Enid, Mako Mori
WHERE:Nonah House
WHEN: December 29th
WHAT: New Years/Holiday presents from Mako and a present from Mako, Carl, and Enid to Daryl
WARNINGS: This is holiday shit, but giant monsters, giant robots, and zombies walkers from The Walking Dead could come up over like...hot cocoa and stuff? Hell if I know.

Mako Mori really hated keeping secrets from Daryl. It made her feel ridiculously terrible when all she wanted was to tell him everything, but doing that would have ruined the surprise. Well, that and she'd wanted to do this with both Enid and Carl present because they'd worked extremely hard on it just as much as she had. It was satisfying as hell when it was done and all the various pieces of their project came together. This was the same feeling she got when working on Gipsy, restoring her to better than new out of the damaged pieces she'd been given. The extra hours spent may have taken their toll here and there, but it was a good tired, an accomplished one that hummed in her bones, making her more than a little bouncy despite everything.

It probably did not help that all she wanted to do was drag Daryl from bed the instant it was finished, or that she dreamed of working on it many nights. Now? Now it was truly done.

Even with three showers, she still smelled like engine grease and metal, but that wasn't rare.

She'd sent texts out to Carl and Enid already, reeling them in for the reveal - and for their own presents - and sat out on the steps playing fetch with Carl's dog to run off some of his energy as she waited for Daryl to come home.

Comments

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl's return was announced first by the winging in of two very young and demanding ravens before the sound of his bike's engine cut across the air and he came into view around the bend in the road that led up to the house. Jackhammer and Nailgun flew down with loud protests at the dog barking at them while they came in to land on Mako's shoulders. They preferred Daryl's, but hers would do while he was on the bike. A fact that showed itself after he put the bike in their garage and walked back toward the house.

They were up off Mako's shoulders as fast as they'd gotten on and joining Daryl as he, in turn, greeted Tommy. The dog was training up nice to be a good bird dog, but winter coming as it had meant most of that was put on hold for other things. Whistle training was still on though and he responded to the one that meant 'heel' like a champ when Daryl gave it.

There was a smile a mile wide on Daryl's face as he approached the steps. For the pets and for Mako, both. Though unlike the small gaggle of animals they were caring for, Mako was greeted with a kiss on the forehead and then a shier, slower one on her lips.

Despite being drift partners and being inside each other's heads the way they were and knowing it was okay, Daryl was still getting used to the change in their relationship. It felt like it had gone from being everything to being more than everything somehow. And while he didn't hesitate to show affection with her, kissing on the lips was still something very new.

"You ain't been waiting out here for me have you? It's too cold for that."

[redshoerevenge]

Mako lavished the ravens with attention as usual and laughed when they took off again. Their intelligence would always fascinate her and she found them good companions, not that Tommy wasn't. He was as good at cuddling as he was as birding.

Daryl's smile was the very best part of her day, right along with the slower kiss she returned. It was new, yes, and very, very nice. Mako worked her way standing and her arms went around him for a moment as she leaned into him.

"Maybe a little," Mako said with a soft laugh as she buried her nose against his chest. It had the added effect of muffling her voice. The dogtags he'd left for her brushed a button or two as she moved.

"I'm not cold now."

[dirtyredneck]

"I am," he answered, his own arms settling around her waist as he held her close. Jackhammer, the leader of the twins decided this was too much extra affection and whapped Daryl in the cheek with his beak and cawed loudly. He laughed and dipped his head to press a kiss to the top of hers before loosening his hold and starting to move them inside, "Guess the little shits are cold, too. C'mon."

[redshoerevenge]

"And rude," Mako said, mock grumbling while she moved backwards toward the door as easily if she'd been facing it. "They both like their necks and chests rubbed. I have video evidence if they haven't stolen my phone and hidden it somewhere again."

She turned the knob and pushed the door open with a huff. It was much warmer in the house but just cool enough to grab a blanket and curl up. Mako had been in and out more often than not to bump it up any further.

[dirtyredneck]

"They'll get that when they earn it." Daryl declared as if it had any real value. They'd get their petting as soon as he got himself settled on the couch. Which would come after he drifted away from Mako into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and shrug his jacket off. The twins flapped off to take up spots on perches around the house and followed Daryl as he made it back to the living room. As soon as his feet were up, they were coming in for attention, landing on the arm rest and on his legs and he, of course, gave them what they wanted.

They'd make room for Mako when she came to curl up against him.

"Ain't heard much from you today," he said aloud, letting his mind brush against her thoughts. They were far less prominent than usual. "Newt said that would probably start to happen. Once we got used to it, we'd start to... fade I guess, from each other's minds. Be less uh... 'actively noticeable'. It's still a little weird."

[redshoerevenge]

Oh.

The birds making way for her was probably for the best because she deposited herself into his lap as soon as he finished that first sentence with a little noise. This was terrible. Surprises weren't supposed to feel like she was lying to him. Even the word made her uncomfortable.

"Oh no," she said quickly, her fingers against his lips for a brief moment before she dropped them. "No, that's not--" She cupped his face moments later, her eyes wide.

"It was going to be a surprise." And she kissed the tip of his nose in apology. "For the new year, for tonight, when Carl and Enid get home, from all of us."

It was all there for him to see, all the rush of thoughts, the immediate way her mind curled against his. There was the deep blue paint, the restored parts, the engine she and all of them had worked on getting the 1929 Henderson KJ 1300 Streamline motorcycle roadworthy. She had extended the seat and gotten it fully equipped with gear from 1929 as well, each piece restored by hand.

Mako's joy in it and the hope that he'd love it as much as she had loved restoring it with Carl and Enid had been there every moment as they worked. She dropped her forehead against his.

"There is no fading, none," she murmured. Not for them.

[dirtyredneck]

There was a sharp spike of hurt that jabbed through the Drift when those thoughts poured in. One Daryl couldn't prevent because even if it had been for the benefit of the kids, it still hurt that Mako had hidden anything from him on purpose. He knew it was possible. He even knew how to do it, technically, since he'd learned it from her when he was diving through her memories during the first week or back at the start of it all. When he'd been trying to actively learn as much as could about what was happening to them.

The hurt passed quickly, though. Swept away and buried by a swell of gratitude and happiness. He'd never had a real classic. Never thought it possible. Not even to the point of thinking of it. Though her dreams had been laced with the images of the three of them doing all that work, he'd thought they were just dreams she'd somehow picked up from him and just made her own while sleeping.

He didn't bother trying to speak aloud, overwhelmed in that moment, and let his eyes slide shut as his arms wrapped around her again and he let himself wander through the memories of her working with Carl and Enid. Reliving them as if he'd been a part of them himself.

[redshoerevenge]

Mako relaxed against him with a soft murmur. She wanted it to be perfect for him, every last nut and screw to the shade of the paints used in its original production. Something real, undeniably classic, something beautiful restored with only him in mind.

Her thoughts wound with his as he moved from memory to memory and in a way, this was part of the gift, too. Carl and Enid would come home and they would take it out, show it off, and tomorrow it would see the sunrise and the open road.

It needed the ride.

[itstheirworld]

When Mako texted her, she sent back a reply as quickly as can be the second she had noticed it. The effort wasn't good for much though as she not many minutes after she came through the front via portal and into the living room with Carl just behind her.

Her eyes fell on them cuddling there as she entered, which stopped in her tracks, making her look not quite shocked but surprised ... to see she was right about them.

A small intake of air escaped from her that cut into the silence of the room. The sound of it was adoring but also like maybe she knew she was walking in on something maybe she shouldn't have. It certainly felt like it.

[dirtyredneck]

The intake of air didn't quite cut through the memories they were sharing, even with Daryl's hearing being what it was. But Tommy's sudden excitement and rush from one side of the living room to the other, yapping in greeting and claws clacking on the hardwood with every bounce, certainly was.

Daryl broke away from Mako, pulling his head back, but keeping it down as he blushed furiously over being caught like that with her. And by the kids, too. He took a moment to try and get himself composed, pulled his arms out from around Mako (though he by no means tried to move her away from where she curled up against/on him) and reached out to reassure the ravens. One with each hand.

"Hey."

[redshoerevenge]

Mako didn't move much more than to lean and cheerfully wave a hello. There they were. That meant presents, though she couldn't quite make herself move just yet. Maybe in a bit. Her joy at the sheer opportunity to give her new family presents was incredibly apparent.

"You're here!"

If she was being honest, she hadn't done this sort of thing since she was very small. Gifts, family, both of which had nothing to do with Christmas. Dog, cat, birds, and the human element, were all present and accounted for and that was a present in itself, wasn't it?