#earl sutton

I imagine he would have been a lot like Beth and would have sang modern songs instead of cryptic nursery rhymes.

Summary: Alden and Carl are both apprenticing as blacksmiths at Earl's shop in Hilltop, finding comfort in staying late and working on their own projects, bonding over not much else, except Enid.

Notes: Kinda jumbling around the timeline here. Post-whisperer era, Alnid exists

Word Count: 620

A/N: this is just a little imagine type piece i wrote, if this is well-recieved i might write more in this format, it was really enjoyable to write with no real end goal, but rather to play around with a scenario. -404 ~

They'd stayed late again, Earl had left many hours beforehand, and neither of the boys knew what time it was. On nights like these, Alden was usually the first of the pair to depart, leaving Carl to potter around alone for however long he wished. But tonight, they wrapped up around the same time. They usually kept to themselves in this setting, working alongside each other but never questioning what the other was doing. That's not to say they weren't friends, they got along excellently in a social setting, but they mutually understood the boundaries set at work. They both used the place as somewhere to unload and mindlessly do the job they enjoyed, conversation would make it redundant.

A routine had been established, they had their own space, their own equipment, and the handful of phrases that were acceptable to use during a late-night session. Alden would work at the storefront, tinkering with pieces of scrap metal, Carl would stay out back, enclosed in a corner, usually sitting on a bench doing a task secretively. They'd cross paths to remove their tools from the shelf which they all resided, but apart from that there was no physical indication the other was in the shop, only the knowing reassurance that they just were.

Alden was usually the one to initiate the nightly, short-lived small talk, only when Carl was in his physical presence. "Stayin' late tonight?" "Think so, you?" "Yeah, got stuff to do." "Work? Or a project?" "Project, seeing what kind of rings and stuff I can make with that scrap metal Earl left." "Oh, that's cool. For Enid?" "Yeah, she says the rings she steals from the dead hardly ever fit her, I told her she'd have more success taking a less morbid approach to jewellery shopping, but she insists it'd feel immoral to get them from an old world shop. Hopefully she'll let me give her some fitting, handmade ones." "God, I can just hear her saying that. She does it with their pockets too! She'll clear them out and find something she likes, get so excited, and act so stunned that she found it, like she's the luckiest person alive! As if she couldn't have just raided any old house and found ten of the same thing."

They'd both laugh.

After an exchange like that, Carl would wish him luck, Alden would tell him not to stay too late that night. By the time the last sentence was finished, they'd both be out of sight.

~

Although they were decently close, they both got a majority of their information about each other through Enid. She'd tell Alden how awesome Carl was, she'd talk to Alden every time she got back from reading comics in the forest with him, telling him how it was nice to have a friend like that. She'd talk about his family too, walking him through her plans to go back to Alexandria with Carl when he next went back, because she really missed Judith. Alden soaked up the information.

Enid would tell Carl how happy she was with Alden, and how she had a gut feeling he was the man she'd be with forever. She'd tell him how there were still people out to get him, because he was once a saviour, and how it scared her, especially after it once got him badly injured. Carl would agree with her, and tell her that he's happy for her, that she's made a good decision choosing him.

Enid was happy she didn't have to worry about Alden seeing Carl as a threat to their relationship. Even though if he did, she'd definitely see the concern as justifiable. She was also happy that she didn't have to worry about Carl becoming threatened by Alden's position in her life, she was grateful that he was nothing but happy for her.

~

Earl and Mary died and Connie is missing

There’s only 4 episodes left this season

Yumiko: Yeah, no.

Later ...

Earl: Screw that. I'm Earl Sutton, blacksmith that keeps Hilltop running and Imma build me some mothereffin' catapults.

Also Earl: And Imma make Daryl a morningstar weapon. Just because.

THE WALKING DEAD ↳ 10.11 ‘Morning Star’ x ‘ 11.05 ‘Out of the Ashes’