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“Sorry about your face,” she gestured broadly, “and everything.”
Rick touched the side of his face gingerly, but shrugged, “It’s okay, I should have made more noise on my approach but I forgot that you had such a punch. Lucky you didn’t shoot me, right?”
“True, but there’s always next time.” Carol smiled and put her hands up, “Kidding, I swear.” She liked that their relationship wasn’t quite as fragile as it had been after Terminus, but she was still cautious when teasing him. He didn’t always know when it was a tease, or when she was being serious; Daryl sometimes had that same problem.
He hooked his thumbs into his belt and gave her a saucy grin though, “You’d better be.” They continued walking toward the house the group had all been staying in, Carol with her serene smile and Rick with his watchful posture. They waved to a few people who were out of their porches, and no one seemed to have noticed their initial exchange. “So, do you have the need to greet many people in Alexandria with a fist?”
“Not many. Ever wonder how long it will take for us to get as soft as the people inside these walls? If those walls fell I bet we could count on one hand the number of people here able to defend themselves, and one of them is out there with Daryl,” she waved to Eric as they passed his home, “and one is injured.”
Rick nodded, “Agreed. We won’t get soft though. We won’t let that happen.” He gave her a quick glance, and grinned again, “Even if you do insist on dressing like the president of the local PTA.”