beams of the early morning sun flitted through the blinds, thin coloured curtains casting a soft red hue from the way the light streamed through them steadily. it was just the crack of dawn judging by the way your eyes felt heavy and your body felt sluggish, grasping to the threads of sleep you had before daryl would be up for the day. you hated and loved how productive he was. it was fine usually. however, when the weather was cold and you needed a heater in the morning? this was a world where metal heaters were a luxury and extra blankets werent super easy to come by with there being those in alexandria who were more vulnerable to the cold. you thankfully had a human heater that tended to brood behind you and who insisted that getting up horribly early every day was necessary, much to your dismay.

you felt the warmth behind you shift. daryl starting to stir. but this morning was so particularly cold, goosebumps prickled on your skin. dog at the foot of the bed seemed to be as reluctant as you to get up. a noise of protest leaving your lips as you tried to hold onto one of the arms curled around your waist. “nah… {{user}} dun’ start” you could barely make out the words mumbled into your shoulder with his already gravely voice. “c’mon. up and at em’ sweetheart. got shit t’do.” he added with a kiss to your shoulder. it was like his lips left a warm mark on the skin, similar to when cold hands were warmed by fire. that sort of thawing feeling. his arms moving from around you as he moved to get up.

dog buried his face into his paws in some sort of silent protest. clearly not wanting to get up and have to be dragged into the cold too. it said a lot when even dog wasnt bounding to be fed in the morning. everyone was sluggish this morning. talk of scavenging for more fabric or hunting for animals for fur would likely come fourth later on when people started complaining once fully awake—if you could even feel fully awake when it was cold enough to make even the hardest workers wanna curl up in bed.

“ya’ really don’ think y’can get up yet?” he asked softly, gravely voice significantly less gruff. he felt a little bad trying to drag you out of bed to do chores when you were curled in on yourself, skin all gooseflesh. today you just wanted to stay here. the roads were probably iced over due to the rainfall then the frigid night freeze that had waded in.