#cordemente

So I wrote one! Thank you for giving me a spark of inspiration!

Imagine Doc sitting on a concrete floor, with his back against a nearby debris. He is covered with blood, so much blood that dyed his navy tactical suit into deeper shade of black. There lay a cold body of a recruit, who is certainly not a nameless but no one would know who they are unless their dog tag miraculously turns up somewhere.

"You know you can't save them all." A gravelly sigh holds Doc's attention for a second. He notices a looming shadow in front of him and a light tinge of yellow in his peripheral vision allows him to guess who this could be.

"The bullet hit his artery on the neck. Of course it was a slim chance." Doc disregards the notion of impossibility and inserts his adamant conviction. He wipes off the sprayed burgundy on his glove, which ends up being a messy smudge.

"Come on. Let's clean you up."

"Go ahead. I’ll leave after you." Doc doesn't even look at the hand that Lion reaches out for a support.

"Gustave, this isn’t the best place to space out." Lion insists. He digs his hands under Doc's arms to give the man a lift.

"Leave me be." Doc pushes the other away and mutters something about his personal bubble being breached.

"You can't stay here!" Lion tries again with more force this time.

"Why do you even care?" Doc growls and holds Lion's wrist down, but his arms are already weak from the feverish attempt to save the injured recruit. They thrash and wriggle while exchanging profanities at one another, which doesnt last long when Doc's already tired knees buckle in. Lion welcomes the other man in an embrace and tightens the hold, determined to not let go.

"Why do you even care?" Doc jerks back, refusing to melt in human contact that warms his fatigued body, "Why do you care now?"

"Because I didn't care before," Lion crinkles his nose at the smell of dried blood, "Because I didn't know that you are the kind of fool who wants to be there for everybody while you are just a man. A man trying to do God's work." Ferocious rocking slows down into gentle sways as Doc stops himself to listen.

"Call me a heretic, then." Doc scoffs to hide a wobble in his voice.

"No. I'd still have you as a fool," Lion leans on a wall while pulling Doc closer, "A valiant, stubborn and rash fool who says yes when everybody says no. You are an aspiration that I failed to achieve back then." The silent tranquility envelopes the closed space between them; only then they notice the rustles of fabric as they readjust to find better comfort in each other’s arms. The scent of sweat exuding their essence, the mild and regular thump from their chests. The longing gaze they share is an open invitation for intimacy, and for Doc to understand the sincerity in Lion’s words. 

“How long are you going to hold me like this?” Doc leans in wearily. 

Truck hadn’t told anybody outside his team yet. Wasn’t really sure about the best way to go about it, and it wasn’t something he was eager to do exactly. The decision that had seemed clear and right when he was home had started to take on a murky quality since he’d been back on base, back with the other folks--blood relations aside--he was closest to in the world. But he didn’t have to tell everybody at once; he could, and should, start with the people who knew him best. The people who deserved to hear it from him, not as second or third hand gossip, and the longer he waited, the more likely the news was to get out ahead of him. He found Jay outside the infirmary.

“I’ve known about that for ages. Maybe not the details, but the first time we met we talked about how he’d loved somebody and that it fucked him up when he died. Maybe he didnae use those words, but still. It’s never been a secret. Learnin’ more about how it happened doesnae change much, just gives it more definition.

TWD Starter Sentences 

“Curse of being a medic, huh?” Lara smiles, but the action is marred in sadness. She rocks back in her office chair and looks to Jay, her face a question. She isn’t sure what’s made him suddenly open up out of nowhere, but she has absolutely no desire to dissuade him either. 

!!

What a stubborn human being that man is, Truck thinks fondly. Stubborn, but in ways that make him loyal and reliable. Make him a good team member in battle, somebody Truck will always be grateful to have by his side. Somebody he’ll always be glad to rely on.

And he knows that’s the kind of person Jay wants to be. He’s got an ideal for himself he tries to live up to, and he succeeds where a lot of people fail. He is everything he tries so hard to be. But that’s what makes it hard. Watching Jay fight to be better, more loyal, to save more people but all the time never really feel like he’s enough. Because there was one he couldn’t save, and it’s a loss that’s always going to weigh on him. So, Jay supports him in the field, and Truck supports Jay everywhere else, determined to get him to a place where he can be proud of everything he’s accomplished. Help him have a life, even if he doesn’t think he’s capable of that.