The hell's all this talkin' shi'? (Merle and Chloe)

Merle had just come back from a successful hunt, having bagged a fully grown deer with only one shot from his crossbow. He had been proud of that and had made sure that he had rubbed it thoroughly in Daryl's face as they had made their way back to the camp.

He arrived at his tent, where he and Chloe were staying, with the deer and paused for a moment when he realised that she wasn't anywhere near their tent.

Passing the deer over to Daryl for safe keeping, Merle looked around the little campsite for Chloe before he caught sight of her sitting down with a pad and a pen. As he made his way towards her he noticed that she was sitting across from the chinaman, Glenn, and that they both seemed to be laughing a little bit.

He would be damned if he was losing his woman to some god-damned chinaman!

Coming up from behind Chloe, he covered her eyes with his hands and smirked as he whispered into her ear,

"Why hel'o ther' darlin'... fancy meetin' yer her'." he purred a little bit from behind her, glaring at Glenn over her shoulder when she wasn't looking,

"Yer weren' be the ten'... I got a lil' bit anxious an' all that." he commented before humming softly, "So wha' are yer doin'?"

Chloe had been sitting with Glenn and asking him some questions for her Walker behavioural programme, although she had to do some tweaking to the normal human template she was sure that she would be able to make accurate assumptions that would help the group in getting more accustomed to how to deal and get around the problem of Walkers by knowing how to stop attracting them.

Glenn as the runner for the group had seen his fair share of walker behaviour and was an amazing catch to interview to get some information, and boy did he have a vast wealth of information, and he was funny as well. All in all it had been a pleasant conversation, keeping her occupied while she tried to stop worrying about Merle.

"So Glenn, have you ever observed them doing anything...weirder than normal? You have never seen one of them explore human like speech patterns or actions like...trying to open doors via the handle? Trying to get into cars anything like they would have done when they were alive?" she asked with a soft smile on her lips as she sucked on the tip of her pen.

After a few stammering sounds Glenn began to articulate his answer, she felt really sorry for him he must have seen something bad to make him stammer before trying to say it. Walkers were horrible things even the idea of them, never mind seeing them.

"No, they don't do anything remotely human apart from eat, they do sometimes make sounds but they aren't like speech...more like animal sounds." he stated, with a little gulp afterwards as she leant forwards slightly to write the information down on the pad, she was wearing a v neck tshirt today because it had cap sleeves so she wouldn't burn.

When Merle placed his hands over her eyes Chloe giggled softly and she kissed one of his hands as he let go of her eyes;

"Hello there Merle, nice to see youre back safe." she whispered softly before smiling wider when he seemed to take an interest in what she was doing "Well Evangeline asked me to do a psychological and behavioural profile on the walkers so that everyone could understand them a little bit more, know what to do and what not to do for sure."

"Yeah she was just asking me some questions about what I've seen on my runs...nothing else honestly." Glenn added in a hurried tone.

"He's been a star I've got so much information." Chloe grinned widely.

Merle narrowed his eyes at Glenn even as the chinaman just looked in his direction, causing Glenn to lower his eyes slightly. Which proved to be a mistake since it meant that he was looking at Chloe, particularly her chest, again.

Glenn didn't know where to look but from the feeling of being glared at even more he could tell that it wasn't there.

Merle immediately hid his aggressive nature when she spoke to him and kissed his hand, her actions actually calming him down too (something Glenn should have been very happy about). He chuckled a little bit,

"Was ther' ev'r any doub' abou' me comin' bac' fer som' lovin' wit' mah girl?" he asked her with a grin as he nibbled on her earlobe, causing Glenn to blush and look away before Merle pulled back slightly and smirked a little bit, "Well so lon' as yer can tell me how'te kill'm bett'r I'll giv' it mah person'l bran'a approv'l."

He looked at Glenn with a blank explanation,

"An' why woul' ther' be anythin' else?" he 'joked' in a friendly tone but his eyes betrayed his meaning and Glenn gulped. Merle gave Chloe's shoulders a gentle squeeze, "Well don' ferge' yer'v got a massiv' researc' databas' in me yer kno'! I'd be happy te help!"

Was he jealous of this little shitstain of a chinaman? No! Of course he wasn't! He was much better than Glenn at everything that mattered so he had nothing to be jealous about... except that Chloe obviously disagreed with his assessment of their skills seeing as she had gone to Glenn for more information on Walkers. He gritted his teeth a little bit as he thought about it that way.

Okay so maybe he was a little bit jealous of the chinaman but only because of the time he was spending with his girl,

"How many mor' quest'ns yer got fer Glenn?" he asked her innocently before staring at Glenn pointedly, "I'm sur' he has a LOT TE DO."

Glenn swallowed thickly and scratched the back of his head sheepishly,

"Well actually I'm kind of free for the next hour or two before my next run so..."

Merle was not happy.

Chloe smiled brightly when Merle told her that there was never any doubt of him coming back to be with her again, of course their relationship was highly sexual and she was beginning to wish that there was something else there, seeing Luna curling up with Daryl made her pine a little bit for someone who was going to do that to her.

Although Merle was sweet in his own ways, and she appreciated that he just showed his concerns in a different form to his brother.

"That's the idea, tell you how to better kill them, how to get around them without attracting their attention." she stated as she tapped her pen against her lips "Oh I'm sorry Merle I didn't think it was really your type of thing so I thought I'd ask Glenn seeing as you weren't here either, he was really interested in my work."

Smiling brightly at Glenn, Chloe was just glad someone was asking about her, whenever she was with Merle things got a little heated and they hadn't shared much about each other yet. Which was again bumming her out a little.

"Oh yeah, I mean to think you could make something so useful about Walkers...sounds pretty cool to me." he stated, averting his eyes from looking into her own to looking at her shoes.

With a little sigh Chloe leant her head against Merle's arm when he wrapped them around her shoulders, humming softly she looked down her list and she could tell that Merle wanted her to hurry up and finish but she couldn't understand why...

"Well I have quite a few questions left but if you had something planned for us I'm sure I could catch up with you tomorrow, right Glenn?" she asked with a soft smile "If you could keep a special eye on them while you're on your run today, that'd be great."

Looking up at Merle with her brows knitted in confusion, Chloe wondered what his rush was.

Merle didn't say it but every time he went out hunting he went out early in the morning, before she woke up, because it allowed him to say goodbye to her without her getting worried in front of him. It was bad enough to his actions caused her to worry but to see it beginning right in front of him... that was something that Merle wasn't sure he was strong enough to endure.

So instead, every morning, he kissed her on the lips and whispered to her that she should be safe for him as he would return to her as soon as he could,

"Well yer kno' now tha' if yer need anythin' relat'd te walk'rs or somethin' yer can ask me an' I'd lov' to help yer." he told her with a grin before it faded slightly. Glenn was really interest in her... 'work' was he? His fist clenched a little bit and gave Glenn a bone-chilling glare, "I'm sur' tha' he is very interest'd..."

Glenn swallowed thickly and Merle's eyes narrowed dangerously at the man again. It was almost like the chinaman had been thinking about her in such a way and was nervous about being caught out! And there he was, praising Chloe's work like that. Oh it was clear to Merle what Glenn wanted and he was going to make sure that Glenn never got it!

He gritted his teeth a little bit before relaxing slightly as she rested against him. Of course when she suggested that she cut short her interview he grimaced for about a second before he forced himself to smile. If he took her away then it was like admitting defeat almost but it was definitely like accepting weakness into himself.

And he was anything but weak.

"Ah... no it's cool yer don' hav' te cut it shor' becaus' of me." he reasoned, glaring at Glenn, wanting him to be the one to fuck it up so he wouldn't have to look the bad guy and not look stupid or weak.

Chloe was a little bit worried about Merle, he was acting really strangely...he never took this much of an interest in what she was doing and here he was being almost strangely protective over her and her interview with Glenn. It had been sort of cute and she wanted to be able to tell him that it wasn't cool to be making Glenn this nervous, he had been nothing short of amiable and friendly to her while they'd been talking.

"Alright then maybe I'll ask you some questions when we're all done here." she stated with a small smile on her lips before her brow furrowed and she crossed her arms across her chest "Yes he is very interested, its nice that someone IS interested in my work." she stated with a raised eyebrow at Merle and his tone when he spoke with Glenn.

Glenn seemed to be squirming under the glares that Merle was giving him, that had to be the only explanation for it...there was nothing else for him to be reacting that way about. It was just so irritating that Merle was acting like such a bloody child!

"No it's fine. I'll just resume it tomorrow when Glenn's been on his run if that's okay?" she asked Glenn with a soft smile, before getting up and giving him a small hug "Thank you so much for all of your help, and good luck for later on if I don't see you before hand okay?"

Standing back up from her crouched hugging position she stared pointedly at Merle for a few seconds before sighing;

"I'm going back to the tent."

Turning on her heels she walked swiftly towards their tent a few minutes away the other side of the camp.

Merle was glad that it seemed that they were moving away from having Glenn here even though it appeared to be because she had caught him glaring at the annoying little chink. He scowled at Glenn when he was sure she wasn't looking. He was sure this was his fault somehow, the dirty little bastard had gone too far! He gritted his teeth slightly, Glenn was someone he had never seen himself getting along with and, surprise surprise, he was perfectly correct!

Grinning a little bit when she suggested that he answer some questions when they were all done here, he nodded to her with a smirk,

"Soun's lik' we got ourselv's a nic lil' plan ther' darlin'." he agreed with her, giving Glenn a smug little look before his smiles and grins fell a little bit when she seemed to have caught onto the hostility he had been sending towards Glenn, "I'm interest'd in yer wor' too yer kno'... yer jus' decid'd befor' tha' it woul'n be my kin'a thin'."

Glenn breathe a sigh of relief and gave Chloe a quick hug, aware that because of that hug Merle was going to be glaring at him harder than ever before. If it were possible to die from glares alone then Glenn would be dead right now and Merle a murderer. Glenn quickly made his excuses and left Merle and Chloe alone.

Merle was supremely glad that Glenn was gone.

Smug little Asian fucker that he was.

He stared back at Chloe before following after her in mild confusion,

"Wha' was te fif'y foo' star' for Chlo'?" he asked her as he caught up with her, "Wha'd I do?"

Chloe was sure that Merle had been doing something to Glenn when she wasn't watching, he had been so uncomfortable when Merle had appeared and he wasn't before he had gotten there. It was just so irritating that she had been trying to make friends and do one of her other friends a favour and then Merle had come in like an asshole and ruined everything that she had been doing!

What was even more irritating was the fact that he didn't even seem to know what he had done wrong! Or he was waiting for her to tell him what she had seen him do wrong so that he could adjust his reply accordingly.

"Oh you know what you did Merle!" she squeaked out when he caught up with her, not even moving her gaze to look at him, she fixed it on the tent in front of her so that she wouldn't have to be angered even more by looking at his face "I was just sitting there with Glenn happily then as soon as you come over its tension fucking city, and I caught you glaring at him! He didn't do anything wrong, he was being nice to me!"

Opening the flap to the tent she tried to shut Merle out and she sat with her back to the tent door, her arms folded across her chest as she tried to stop herself from being in such a big huff. It was annoying but it was just her letting out her frustration and upset about all the other things that were missing in this pairing.

"I was having fun talking about my work, seeing as you are always too busy hunting, or drinking, or hanging out with Daryl or having sex with me or doing other stuff with me to actually ask me anything about myself." she hissed softly, flipping through her book with venom, almost tearing some of the pages out.

Merle had to admit that he hadn't really thought his plan out properly.

Hence why she was now pissed at him for putting the bastard chinaman in his place. Was he supposed to be sorry that he had put the fucker down? Was he supposed to beg for forgiveness for making sure that the little slant-eyed pervert didn't get a good long look at Chloe's breasts? No there was nothing wrong with the way he had acted and if the spineless little bastard had all but run away by the end then all the better!

Of course he knew what he had done. He had protected her honour from one of those grabby Asian guys before it could escalate. That was what he had done! He paused for a moment as they both stared straight towards the tent,

"Well te lil' fuck'r was starin' at yer breas's!" he growled out defensively to try and defend his actions, "He was bein' a lil perver' is wha' he was doin' Chlo'! An' all I did was put a stop to it an' all tha'."

Seeing that a more tender touch was required, he sighed a little bit before moving into the tent, sitting behind her. Wrapping his arms around her in a hug, he held her tightly to him to keep her from getting too excited about it and hitting him with a flail of limbs. He sighed a little bit as he hugged her close,

"Well I was lookin' te mak' mor' tim' yer kno'?" he asked with a little sigh before shaking his head a bit more, "But I guess yer not wantin' tha' from me no?"

Chloe couldn't believe that Merle was being so goddamn crude about what had happened between her and Glenn. There had been nothing like that! He was not looking at her breasts she was sure of it and even if he had been looking at her breasts didn't Merle trust her not to be able to turn him down if something did happen between the two of them!

She was interested in Merle and Merle alone but after this she was so unsure about anything to do with the man, he was being so protective when really all he had done with her was have sex with her until both of them almost passed out.

"Oh for gods sake Merle!" she yelled "So what if he was staring at my breasts?! He wasn't! Its so bloody irritating you obviously don't trust me to handle the situation, you don't trust me to do the right thing!"

Now that he wrapped himself around her arms Chloe had no choice but to sit there and fume without flailing her arms around in a way to explore her anger further, to get it to the next level. Honestly she had wanted that she had wanted more but the way he had acted made her feel so bad that she didn't know any more.

"Oh yeah I bet you fucking were." she growled "Your life is so busy you can't just ask me a few questions now and then, well let me make your life a bit easier. The time you used to have sex with me is all freed up now Merle."

Directing her eyes at the floor her anger was turning to upset as she realised that she was terribly angry at Merle for really just having a sexual relationship with her, although she supposed that she had walked into that one. He wasn't an emotional type of guy. Sniffling a little bit, she would wipe at her watery eyes but he was holding her arms down.

Merle knew that Chloe would be able to turn Glenn down if he had ever hit on her and he knew that she was capable of making it known that she didn't like the little chinaman looking at her breasts. But that wasn't the point. The point was that he was right there with her and yet he had gone ahead and looked there anyway. That was inexcusable to Merle and he would not apologise for the way he treated the little fucker for it.

So it was all about the trust element for her was it? Well he knew that he had to reassure her about that because he did trust her, he trusted her completely,

"I trus' yer to do the righ' thin' but I ain' abou' te jus' sit ther' as it happ'ns to yer." he told her firmly, "I mean I ain' jus' gunna stan' ther' and no' reac' at all te the way he's lookin' at yer ev'n though I trus' yer. I don' trus' tha' fuck'r."

Hugging her close to him, Merle tried to enjoy the closeness he had with her even if she was now as stiff as a board in his arms. She definitely was not in the mood for the hug but he knew he had to give her some more reassurance and this physical method would be something that would make it feel better he hoped.

It always worked when she did it for him anyway.

When she banned him from having sex with her he winced a little bit but the reaction was a lot less than it would have been if he only wanted a physical relationship,

"Tha's alrigh'... I don' jus' wan' a physical relat'nship wit' yer, I wan' te hav' a good, stron' relat'nship wit' yer instead." he told her honestly, but quietly, not used to conveying his feelings, "I've wan'd it fer awhil' now I jus'... din' kno' how to do it. I ain' goo' wit' feelin's an' stuff... henc' the way I act'd I guess."

Reached down, Merle took a tissue from a small box that had some left in and wiped away her tears gently, kissing her cheek as he did so.

Chloe to be honest hadn't noticed the fact that Glenn was perving at her because she had been working, he could have done it and she would not have known any difference but she trusted Glenn not to because he had never had the reputation for that sort of thing. Merle told her that he had looked though, even if it was only a swift look she missed.

It was obvious he wasn't going to move on that point and she accepted that, it was nice that he was looking out for her.

"I know now that you trust me but, how am I supposed to be secure in that fact if you've never told me before and I just assume?" she asked with a small sigh "I was working so I might not have noticed if he looked or not but honestly Merle I don't care, you shouldn't care that much. You told him off so just let it be."

She was still very upset and she didn't really want to hug Merle but she rested her head on his shoulder because it was easier than craning her neck and hurting it, although, it made her nuzzle herself against his neck. Comforted by his strong arms and his scent.

When he said he wanted something that wasn't just a physical relationship with her, Chloe sighed in a frustrated manner and shook her head;

"God Merle why didn't you just say so?" she asked as he dabbed at her tears with the tissue "You know all this time I've been getting so wound up by the fact you didn't seem to really want to do anything with me but sexual stuff...I know you're not good with feelings but you could have at least hinted...anything..."

Now she was just a little disappointed and upset, and she wanted some distance now she had calmed down; "Will you let me go, I want to lie down on the bed." she stated softly "Don't go though, youre still in bad books."