Who hunts the nargles? (Daryl and Luna)

Daryl was patrolling the perimeter of the prison, checking the fence for gaps and poking a pole through the fence to kill off Walkers who had gotten too close to it. To be honest it was a boring job due to the fact that there were almost no Walkers here at the moment and the fence had just recently been reinforced so it wasn't breaking any time soon.

Sighing a little bit, he moved to the edge of the fence and stabbed another Walker with the pole.

Deciding that there wasn't enough Walkers around to be worried about attracting them with his voice, he continued to check the fence but sang a little a little bit to amuse himself,

"Ther' is a hous' in Ne'Orl'ins... they call te risin' sun..." he muttered to himself even as he stabbed yet another Walker through the eye, "It's bee' te ruin'a many a pour boy... an' lor' kno's I'm on'..."

He paused for a moment as he reached the back of the prison. Here there was a lovely view of a nearby lake that they had been scouting recently. Sitting down in one of the two lawn chairs they had set up, he pulled an beer out of the ice box between the two chairs. Opening the beer can, he paused for a moment before sipping it,

"Yer can com' si' dow' yer kno'."

Luna had decided that she needed to get out of the prison for a short while, after all she hated it in there, it was almost constantly cold, the beds were uncomfortable and everyone, although they were getting used to her mannerisms still thought that she was crazy and still mostly treated her that way as well. The only people she really spoke to there were Hershel, Rick, Sylar and Carl...

She had been walking around the wooded area outside of the prison and she had been trying to find something to occupy herself with.

Unfortunately there had been a few of those walkers and she had levitated them into the air so that they wouldn't bite her and she didn't have to kill them. Although she had been in the Order she still didn't like killing or hurting, even though she was told that these people were technically dead, it just felt wrong to her.

Humming to herself and skipping through the forest, her radish earrings jingling a little she paused as she saw one of the men from the prison sitting by the guard station they had set up. It wasn't much of a guard station, just a few chairs and an ice box, it wasn't very safe.

When he spoke to her and told her she could come and sit down, Luna hopped out from behind the tree and approached the other chair, before sitting down on the grass, cross legged in front of the other man, she believed was called Daryl.

"Well thank you very much." she stated with a wide smile "The grass does feel nice against my toes." Luna admitted as she wiggled her bare feet, as she had been walking around with no shoes since she left the prison.

"You have a very pretty singing voice Mr." Luna hummed, in her usual off with the fairies type of tone, as her thoughts turned to the man in front of her, she didn't really know him that well but she supposed he knew a lot about her from the other people.

Daryl hummed a little bit when the blonde girl from the prison showed up, surprisingly coming out of the woods on the opposite side of the fence to him, seeing as he was inside the fence. He had been sceptical of her claims of magic at first when they'd met but seeing her just appear on his side of the fence was yet another example of him being proven wrong on that front.

Although she did seem to have an aversion to killing Walkers, unlike her friend/guardian/lover or whatever he was. That Sylar guy had some weird ass powers but he used them to kill Walkers at a rate of knots. Rick and T-Dog were currently covering the guy's back as he cleared out yet another block of the prison,

"No' at all darlin'." he told her as he drank some more of his beer, a little annoyed that there was never going to be ice made by a machine again, to keep his beer cold. He blinked a little bit, "Yer've bee' runnin' aroun' withou' any shoes? Caref'l, yer nev'r kno' wha' kin'a sharp' shi' is underneat' te leav's."

He chuckled a little bit when she complimented his singing. Now he knew that she needed to have her hearing checked as well since his singing voice was absolutely terrible. He smirked a little bit but decided to answer her indirect question,

"Daryl Dix'n at yer servic'." he told her as he raised his can to her in greeting, "An' yer Luna Lov'goo'... I ain' touchin' no jok's abou' te nam' don' worry."

Luna looked up at the man and she couldn't help but smile, it was nice that they were talking, she often enjoyed making new friends and she always, when she did meet new people, tried to figure out what house they would be in if they went to Hogwarts. In only a few moments she knew what house Daryl would be in and the thought made her smile gently to herself;

"You know, I think if you lived in my world, you would have made a wonderful Gryffindor." she murmured softly as she rested her head on her hand, not really realising she had said anything out loud, it was just her own private musing.

Nodding her head she grinned brightly; "Of course, I enjoy it, it reminds me of being at home and being able to walk around the grasslands all day. It would be nice to be able to go back there some time. Although my adventures are far from over, and then there's the problem of keeping you guys safe." Luna trailed off and frowned softly up at a nearby cloud as her thoughts consumed her.

"Pleased to meet you Daryl, I've never met someone called Daryl before." Luna laughed softly "People have been talking about me again I see I hope they have only told nice things, after all I have been told I am a terribly nice person...at least, I don't think I've done anything bad..." tapping her chin she trailed off again.

Tilting her head to one side she looked at the odd things that Daryl had been using to kill the zombies, one of them merely looked like a really long pole. They really did need some new and better weapons if they were going to live here, although the rate Sylar was going, the prison would be totally walker free soon.

"So what do you do?" Luna asked, with a soft quizzical frown on her brow.

Daryl was back to drinking his beer and just relaxing, this being one of the few times he ever got to relax now, and couldn't help but chuckle a little bit to himself. Leave it to him to only be able to relax when someone as talkative as Luna was sat beside him. When she said that he would have made a wonderful Gryffindor he paused for a moment before turning to her and asking a question that was now burning on the tip of his tongue,

"Tis migh' seem te be a lil' disrespec'f'l an' all but..." he paused before asking the question that had been bugging him, "Te fuc' is a Gryffind'r?"

He chuckled a little bit but nodded his head. He could definitely understand the joy that could be felt at just walking through nature, he had often done that when he was her age too. With and without hunting equipment,

"Got a poin' ther'." he admitted with a light hum as he looked out over the grass and woodland in front of them, through the fence, "Suc'a sham' te thin' kids won' be doin' tha' no mor' aft'r this yer kno'? Aft'r all, it ain' saf' no mor'."

"Yea' it's an 'meric'n nam' so yer migh' no'a heard abou' it befor'." he admitted before smirking a little bit, "Well I ain' heard nothin' bad abou' yer but tha' migh' jus' be cus I got tol' abou' yer by tha' Syl'r guy. He seems te really lik' yer."

Seeing her looking at his weapons, particularly the long pole, he took his crossbow off and set it down on the ground for her to look at at her leisure. Chuckling a little bit, he shrugged a little bit,

"Kee' te grou' saf' as bes' I can." he admitted before adding, "Oh an' I hun fer gam' te fee' us. I us'd te be a hunt'r befor' all this. Wha' abou' yer? Wha' do yer do?"

Luna blinked a little and she realised that yes she had said that out loud and she was a little bit embarrassed about it if she was honest, she didn't want Daryl to know the reasons why he was a Gryffindor but he would most likely ask when she told him. Biting her lip softly she merely shrugged it off, it was a nice compliment anyway he wouldn't be mad at her she was sure.

"Sorry, I should have explained. Gryffindor is one of the four houses in our magical school, Hogwarts, I am a Ravenclaw but I think you would make a great Gryffindor." she stated with a bright smile "Gryffindors are brave, pure of heart and would do anything for the safety of those they love...I can tell that you are all those things."

Smiling knowingly, Luna took out her wand and twirled it in her fingers;

"I plan on changing that before I leave, at least around the prison anyway, I know that Carl will appreciate it." she hummed softly "Besides the charms will also reduce the amount of gnomes that you have in the woods around here, I was bitten by one you know while I was walking but...Gnome saliva is highly beneficial."

As soon as she heard that Sylar liked her, Luna blushed softly and smiled shyly; "Really, you think so?"

The idea that Daryl was a hunter fitted well with the image that she had of him back in her world, she thought he would have made a great Dragon Tamer, he would work with Charlie Weasley out there in Romania and have a wonderful time taming the giant beasts and rehabilitating them in the wild.

"I thought you were something like that, that is why I thought you would be an excellent Dragon Keeper. I have just graduated from Hogwarts, and currently I am researching Magical Creatures and writing for my fathers magazine, The Quibbler. I enjoy it very much. I am currently trying to prove the existence of the Blibbering Humdinger..."

Daryl had heard from Carl that Luna had come from some kind of British children's book and, honestly, he had just nodded and told the boy that he believed him. Of course it had been a bit of a lie. Time travel and dimensional movement... that sounded somewhat plausible given that she had magic and Sylar could do all sorts of things with just his mind. But the books telling the story about her world exactly? That was a bit far fetched to him. That meant that some crazy British chick could see across world after all,

"Ah... so... wha' yer sayin' is tha' Gryffind'rs are te badass's of yer worl' huh?" he asked before smirking widely, "Swee'... wha' abou' yer... hous' is it? Rav'ncl'w. Wha' does tha' hous' mean abou' yer ten darlin'?"

He looked at the wand a little bit warily, having heard some of the things that her magic could do from Sylar and from Carl,

"Righ'... I can guess tha' Syl'r woul' be abl' te kill off mos'a tem bu' clear te whol' area?" he asked with a blink before he lost her completely, "Wha'? Charm te kee' tem away? Huh... tha's new... an'... wha' te hec' is a gnom'?"

When she blushed about Sylar liking her he chuckled a little bit,

"Oh yea' tha' guy has go' it bad fer yer!" he teased her with a wink, "Was all he coul' tal' abou'."

When she mentioned that she thought he would be an excellent Dragon Keeper he had opened his mouth to tell her that he wouldn't be when he actually thought about it for a moment. A dragon keeper? As in actually DRAGONS,

"Well now... tha' doesn' soun' too bad te be hones'." he told her with a grin before listening to her talk about her own job. He hummed a little bit, "Well soun's lik' yer've go' a full plat' ther' to be sur'... busin'ss an' a job. No' te ment'n tryin' te be all scienc'-lik' an' convinc' peopl' of somethin' new. Soun's... big."

Luna couldn't help but giggle and nod, it was true that Gryffindors were very 'bad ass' and she was sure that if Daryl ever did join the house then he would have the funnest time that he had ever had causing trouble with the other years and making sure that they were pranked to the very fullest, never mind standing up to the horrible Slytherin bullies.

"Oh yes, you are very 'bad ass'." she giggled before smiling when he asked about her house "My house is the house of the wise, we are quick of wit and sharp of mind, not terribly good in a fight but a few of us are, like me." Luna winked with a soft grin on her lips at the thought of her many triumphant battles.

Nodding her head as Daryl asked about her being able to make a charm, Luna placed her wand on the floor and spun it;

"Indeed, I can make charms to repel them away so that they never even become interested in coming anywhere near here, because all noise, and all signs of movement wont be able to show through the other side of the charm so they wont see." Luna explained before frowning softly "Gnomes are magical creatures, they live in gardens and mess up plants, surely you've seen one?"

Unable to stop her bright blush, Luna diverted her gaze but inside it made her heart and stomach to funny flips inside although she didn't want to admit it; "Oh I see." she stated softly, a little goofy smile on her lips.

"You know I would love for you to come with me and see some real dragons but, if I brought you then everyone would want to come, and although I'm good, I'm not that good." she sighed softly "Oh it is very enjoyable, and it will be easy to convince people once I get a picture of it, and I have the picture, if you want to see."

Wiggling around in her little bag she tried to find her picture, her whole arm disappearing inside of it.

Daryl hardly knew Luna if he was honest. He really didn't know her all that well at all and yet he could tell that her calling him bad ass was going to go straight to his head. Chuckling a little bit, he couldn't help but feel his chest swell with pride. Heck if Luna, a virtual stranger, could see he was badass, then what must the others see in him? He couldn't help but laugh a little bit at his own little self-important moment there,

"Yer thin' so? Huh... Well than's Luna, ain' nev'r had someon' call me badass befor'." he admitted with a little grin before listening attentively as she explained more about her house, "Tat mak's a lo'a sens' te be hones' Luna. Yer hav' te be smar' te figur' ou' how te go throug' univers's an' all tha' aft'r all. An' yer witty from wha' I seen."

Again he watched the wand warily, not used to having something so potentially deadly being so close to him. After all, he had no idea what could set it off. What would happen if it misfired? Could it even misfire? He didn't want to find out,

"Ah tha' soun's lik' it'd be perfec' fer our nee's here. Te fuc'rs won' com' near us wit' somethin' lik' tha' helpin' us." he agreed before pausing and shaking his head, "Can' say I ev'r seen on'a tem gnom's... but I can see tha' lil Luna' go'a crus'!"

He had to admit that seeing real dragons was mighty tempting but the fact was that she had been right about the loyalty aspect. Daryl would never just leave the group to this world; not for all the badass Dragon-based adventures in the world. As soon as she tried to get her picture out though he freaked out a little bit,

"Wha' te fuc'?!" he asked frantically, "Wha te hec' happ'nd te yer han'?!"

Luna tilted her head to one side and she couldn't think of why nobody had called Daryl a bad ass before she thought that it was just so obvious that they would have to call him that. He wasn't anything else in her mind. Apart from all of those other things that she thought would make him a perfect candidate for the Gryffindor house.

When he complimented her she beamed and clasped her hands together in happiness; "Well thank you Daryl, nobody has called me that since I have gotten here, everybody thinks I am a little bit crazy...maybe I am but...all the best people are." she stated with a twinkling smile, her eyes knowingly locking onto him "But actually it was my mother who crafted this spell, not me, it is complicated to use though."

Placing her finger to Daryl's lips suddenly Luna shook her head;

"Please whatever you do don't tell Rick, I need a lot of time to prepare it and well he's very pushy." she stated with a rather sad look "He pushed me into stayed because of guilt and he will push me to do things I am not ready to do, although I'm powerful I'm still only 17, I can't do everything an older magic user can. So, I need just a bit longer, okay?" she smiled brightly.

Huffing and crossing her arms, she poked her tongue out playfully; "Can't be much of a hunter if you have never hunted a gnome, means you will never be able to find a Rumpled Horn Snorkblat..."

Unable to stop a little giggle she pulled her hand out and wriggled her fingers showing that she was totally fine.

"Don't worry Daryl! It's charmed, to be extended. It's bigger on the inside. You want to have a go?" she asked with a bright smile, offering the bag to Daryl in case he wanted to test it out and see just how it worked "I know that you don't really believe in magic but maybe you will if you try this out."

Daryl didn't like to admit it but the first thing a lot of people had called him was usually redneck. And while it might be true (his neck did catch the sun), that didn't mean he fit the stereotype that people thought he fitted into. To be honest he was a lot more productive than a lot of other southerners. After all, he was an actual hunter and not some fat trucker or someone just sitting around collecting benefits for pumping out retarded children,

"Well yer migh' be a bi' crazy but yer crazy in'a nic' way if yer are crazy at all. Te be hones' I'm crazy an' so is Ric' an' te oth'rs probably all are a bit too. T'sall good to me gir'." he told her with a smirk before pausing for a moment, "Yer don' say... She a smar' wom'n lik' yer ten yea'?"

He paused when she told him not to tell Rick because the man was pushy. To be honest he accepted that; Rick could be quite demanding after all,

"Well can yer blam' him fer wantin' te be a bit pushy sinc' yer can help his son hav'a norm'l lif'? But yer righ' so I won' tell him don' worry." he told her before sighing a little bit before nodding, "Sorry 'bout tha'. He gets a lil' bi' deserperat' at tim's I guess. Yer tak' as long as yer nee' te get tis thin' all don' yea'?"

He looked at her for a few moments,

"Yea' I ain' got no clue wha' te hell on'a tem is but it soun's lik' it'd be righ' up ther' with carebears on te lis'a thin's not te hunt." he joked a little bit before smirking a little bit, "Do tey ev'n exis' here do yer kno'?"

When she reveal that she was fine he relaxed a little bit with a small sigh of relief. He had not been expecting that to be honest and it probably had shown,

"Erm... yer alrigh', I lik' te be abl' te see tha' I'm all here." he told her with a chuckle as he politely declined using the thing that scared the crap out of him. He glanced down at the bag before shaking his head, "Yea' I saw yer arm do it an' tha's enough fer me..."

Luna smiled softly when she heard that they were all a little bit crazy, living in a world like this where everyone you loved was probably dead was a really good reason for people going a little bit crazy. She didn't like the idea that someone had been killed that Daryl was close to, but maybe it wasn't true, maybe it was just him being in a world like this without having lost someone.

Yet, even in her world where there wasn't this much destruction she had lost someone close to her so it wasn't looking good for her new friend.

"Oh yes she was a very smart witch, she created and crafted lots of spells that we use in school today, I could not be prouder!" she smiled brightly "I would have liked to have been a spell crafter but I think that my father is reluctant, me too I suppose."

Sighing softly Luna hugged her knees to her chest, she didn't really like it here but she couldn't just leave everyone on their own, that was why she was going to create this field so that they would all be safe when she and Sylar had to leave. Which would be soon after the baby was born.

"I know that he wants the best for everyone and so do I but...you know it seems like everyone is mean to us behind our backs sometimes, and we don't get much in return for what we do. It's like we're just being taken for a ride." she sighed softly and ran her hands through her hair "Sylar doesn't like doing something for nothing, so he gets angry, and I get angry when people are mean to us. Why would you want to help someone who is mean to you?"

Laying back on the grass and looking up at the sky, she held out her finger for a lazy butterfly to land on for a few moments before it flew off again into the sky. It made her relax and calm a little bit because she had been angry at the fact that Daryl agreed that Rick would push her, she had hoped she would have been wrong.

Placing her bag on the floor again she smiled gently;

"It's funny that someone as bad ass as you is scared of putting his hand into a bag, but don't worry, I wont tell anyone." she giggled.

This world had changed the people in it and, for quite a lot of people, it wasn't for the better by any stretch of the imagination. A lot of people had gone crazy around the same time that the world itself seemed to have gone crazy. He sighed a little bit at the thought. Even before all this though he was pretty sure that he had gone a little bit crazy. Losing his mother had already started him down the road and this was just the straw that broke the camel's back and all that,

"Was?" he asked her, noticing the past tense before wincing a little bit at his own words, "Sorry 'bout tha'... I didn' mean to be blun' lik' tha'. Seems te me lik' she was a damn'd fin' wom'n who want'd te help a lo'a peopl'. She'd be prou'da yer work."

He could tell that she didn't like being here and to be honest he couldn't blame her. Daryl himself still disliked being with the group at times after all. To bring an outsider into the group... there was bound to be a lot of talk about the newcomer that was for damned sure,

"I ain' sayin' tha' wha' te group has been doin' an' sayin' is righ' in anyway but can yer consid'r this fer me pleas'?" he asked her before thinking, "Yer gods. Yer an' Syl'r that is. Yer hav' pow'rs te save thos' aroun' yer an' we don' hav' nothin' lik' that. They ask so much of yer because tey see yer lik' that... kin'a a big mantl' te be fillin' righ'?"

He watched her relax a little bit more and relaxed himself, finishing his can of beer and dropping it to the ground for him to take away some time later. Chuckling a little bit, he shook his head a little bit,

"Well sorry darlin' but I ain' nev'r seen shi' lik' that." he told her with a little grin, "I thin' that I can be scar'da somethin' that don' mak' no sens' te me don'cha thin' sug'r?"

He got another beer out before offering one to Luna,

"Yer ain' old enoug' te drink in tis country... but I don' thin' peopl' gunna min'."

When Daryl picked up on the fact that she had said was, instead of is, Luna couldn't help but sign softly she didn't really want to tell anyone this but she was angry with Rick because he had used the fact that Carl would lose his mother to make her stay. Of course he couldn't know what had happened between her and her mother but it was a bit of a low blow she had to admit, and she was sure that Daryl would agree.

"Yes, my mother died. One of her spells went horribly wrong and she exploded, all over me to be exact." she stated with a far away look "I don't think that I was the same after that happened, I don't believe anybody else would be of course...she was a brilliant witch and I want to be like her when I am older."

Shaking her head, Luna hugged her knees tighter to her, she could feel herself getting a little upset, her eyes were glazed over with a few tears;

"I am not a god, I'm just a girl, a girl who can do things others can't, if anybody had bothered to ask I've been through so much the past few years and I came away looking for fun and adventure. I can die just like you, just like Rick, just like Carl and in my world lots of my friends and family have died." she whispered softly "I'm not going to not help you, because I couldn't bare it if someone hurt and I could have stopped it..."

Sighing she looked up from her feet at Daryl; "But I'm not really that happy about it. I hate having to keep Sylar in line, and still getting next to nothing in return for it, because he would kill everyone here because of what they have said, and that includes Lori, without even thinking."

With a light smile she took the can and merely traced over it with her fingers;

"Thanks for the beer but I suppose I had better get going." Luna sighed, and handed it back to Daryl "Sorry for what I said, you can just forget it okay? I'm still going to be here for everyone, even though nobody is really here for me." she smiled lightly.

Daryl couldn't help but think about what it was like when his mother had died. It wasn't anyway as horrific as it had been for her of course. He couldn't think of anything worse than having your mother literally explode all over you and he wasn't sure that there was much worse than that. Of course you were bound to be a little bit unhinged after an event like that,

"I... I'm sorry to he'r that." he told her honestly before nodding slightly, "I'm sur' tha' yer on yer way te bein' jus' as brilliant as she was. I'm no' an exper' on this witc'craf' an' mag'c an' stuff bu' if it's relat'd te bein' a goo' pers'n then I kno' yer' already lik' her."

He sighed a little bit. Was it wrong of him to actually come out and tell her the reason as to why the others in the group always looked to her to solve their problems? No, she deserved to know the reasons behind it all. But that didn't mean he couldn't be there to reassure her after delivering such news to her,

"I kno' yer ain' a god but tey don'. All tey see righ' now is a wom'n wit' pow'rs beyon' what they coul' ever dream'a of... I've been settin' em straigh' don' worry." he assured her before pausing and turning to look into her eyes, "Any moth'r woul' be proud of yer righ' now an' tha's how I kno' yer moth'r is proud'a yer."

Daryl didn't comment to the bit she said about Sylar being held back from killing them all. After all, what was there to say to finding out that someone infinitely more powerful than you was not only able to kill you with a thought but might also be inclined to do so if not held in check? When she got up to go, convinced that she had no one there for her, he knew that he had to act.

Doing something he had never really done since his mother had died... Daryl hugged Luna gently to himself,

"I'll be her' fer yer Luna." he told her gently, "No' cus I hav' te be or feel guilty... but becaus' I wan' te mak' yer feel bett'r. I kno' that yer deserv' bett'r tan tis aft'r all. An' I wan' te be yer should'r te cry on if yer ev'r nee' it."

Luna couldn't help but think that Daryl really was sorry to hear that her mother had died and she was sure that he related to her because someone close to him had died, in a world like this it wasn't much of a stretch to think something like that would have happened. Biting her lip softly she wanted to hold herself in check, this wasn't like her to behave like this.

What had happened to her usual light hearted self?

Maybe things were just getting her down more than normal today, that was why she had to get away to go on her walk and that was why she had said all those things to Daryl when really she hadn't meant to say them at all.

"But if they think that I'm a god, and that I am so powerful, why do they not respect me and be nice to me?" she asked with a frustrated sigh "The first thing I did was heal Hershel, then they wanted me to heal him completely, then they wanted me to help with Lori's birthing, now they're using Sylar to clear out the zombies and if they knew about what else I could do they'd ask me to do that! Can't they be contented with what we have already done and leave it at that?"

A little bit surprised when Daryl came and hugged her, Luna closed her eyes and hugged him back, it felt so good to have him reassure her and she wanted to make sure that he knew that she was happy that he had heard all of the dark things she had to say and still wanted to be around her regardless of the things she had said.

"Thank you Daryl." she whispered softly, curling her fingers in the back of his shirt to comfort herself "I don't mean to be so critical but, It was all bottled up inside of me I didn't want to believe what Sylar was saying but it all seems so true. Could you talk to Rick about it, I know that he will listen to you...it would mean a lot to me."

Biting her lip softly she merely held herself closely to Daryl and murmured; "I really am sorry, I never meant to say any of those mean things about the people you are close to, I don't know what came over me."

Daryl could understand a lot about Luna despite the fact that many in the group were insisting that she was inside and not to be fully trusted with anything. They were just showing how stupid and unaccepting they could be and he wasn't going to stand for that. Not to mention he was going to have to talk to Rick about easing up on this whole "save the group before anyone else" trip he was on at the moment.

If he really wanted their help why wasn't he pushing for everyone to be nice to them and treating them as best as they could?

He chuckled bitterly for a second,

"I ain' a religious man bu' ev'n I kno' tha's te firs' rul'a bein' a follow'r of a god." he told her with a shake of his head, "Yer god giv' yer lemons? Yer wan' tem te make it lemonad'. Bad thin's happ'n an' te god gets te blam'. Sam' reas'n I'm gunna do mah bes' te put a stop te their lil shi' lik' that."

He could tell that she was surprised that he was hugging her and, to be honest, so was he. Hugging was something that had been missing from his life for the longest of times. After all, only his mother had ever wanted to give him a hug and after that he hadn't really cared enough to even attempt to give anyone else a hug,

"It's alrigh'... I kno' I ain' too good at thes' hugs no mor'..." he told her with a faint smile even as he continued to try and comfort her, "It's alrigh', wha' yer said need'd to be said an' every wor'a it was totally on te mon'y so don't worry abou' it. I'll talk te Ric' an' the oth'rs too an' I promis' yer that I'll mak' them see thin's the righ' way."

He rubbed her back a little hesitantly, not sure if it was okay to do that, "It's alrigh'... a lo'a them had it comin'. An' jus' cus yer clos' te peopl', doesn't mean yer turn a blin' eye when they're actin' lik' asshol's."