InsaneJournal

Who: Jesus Rovia & Daryl Dixon
When: Backdated: Early January
Where: A Farmer's Market
What: Finally Randomly Meeting
Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly
Status: Complete

The crazy happenings in Orange County never really phased Jesus too much, with the exception of the potentially dangerous monster attacks, but he had to admit that he had been glad when New Years rolled around and things had finally gone back to normal. Jesus didn’t mind the snow so much, but having grown up in California, it just wasn’t something he was used to even now and much preferred being able to wear a lighter jacket when he went out opposed to the heavier winter one he’d been wearing occasionally for the last few weeks.

And a light weight, brown leather jacket was what he was currently wearing as he wandered around the various stalls of the Farmer’s Market. Under the jacket he wore the t-shirt Jace had gotten him for Christmas, which read “You Need Jesus” across the front. Obviously only people who knew his name would understand why it was funny and everyone else would probably think he was some crazy bible thumper or something, but he didn’t really care because he had thought the shirt was hilarious and appreciated his boyfriend’s sense of humor.

Hands in the pockets of his jacket, Jesus continued wandering around the stalls, not really looking for anything in particular when his gaze landed on a familiar face a few stalls over.

“Daryl?” He called as he got closer to the other man who he really only knew in the dreams, but had wanted to meet in real life for awhile now.

Hearing his name, Daryl’s head snapped up, looking for the source. He expected to see Eliot or someone he knew, and it took a moment to hone in on Jesus. Recognising him, after that few seconds, he nodded and gave a smile of recognition.

“Oh, hey,” he said as he made his way over to where Jesus was. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person.” It was a little weird from Daryl’s point of view, knowing he was in Jesus’ dreams, but Jesus wasn’t in his dreams. Yet.

Jesus hadn’t been sure if Daryl was going to recognize him or not considering he had yet to appear in Daryl’s dreams and icons on the net were pretty small. “Hey! Small world, both of us being here,” He said, glad that Daryl had actually recognized him and while he knew this was probably a little awkward for the other man, it could have been a lot more awkward if he’d thought Jesus was just some random guy who somehow knew his name. “I hope this isn’t too weird, but when I saw you I couldn’t not say hello finally.” He smirked a little.

“No, it’s fine,” Daryl said, smiling back. He had really only recognised Jesus because of his hair. The icons on the network were small, but provided enough of a likeness that Daryl had been quick to piece it together and identify Jesus.

“I mean, definitely awkward, but,” Daryl shrugged. No point in pretending it wasn’t awkward to meet someone who shared your dreams. Jesus was a bit ahead of Daryl in the timeline, which just made it even more weird. Daryl really didn’t know how long it would be, dreamwise, before he met Jesus. “I mean, it’s not too terrible.”

Jesus smiled and nodded, “Well I’m glad that I’m not too terrible.” He knew that Daryl’s dreams took place when their group was still at the prison so it would still be some time before they made their way to Alexandria, which would lead them to eventually running into him. Of course part of him hoped it didn’t take too long, because he was curious as to what Daryl would make of their first meeting. He had tried to steal Rick and Daryl’s stash after all. Sure it had all been because of Negan, but in the end they were all in the same boat there. “So, do you come to the farmer’s market often?” The Daryl in the dreams probably wouldn’t be caught dead in a farmer’s market so it was interesting to see the other man in this setting.

Dream Daryl absolutely would not be caught dead in a Farmer’s Market. Not that such a thing even existed anymore in that reality. Almost everything resembling a normal, functional society was a thing of the past in a world where the dead rose and shuffled through the streets.

”I try to come out regularly,” he admitted. “Sometimes I pick up things for the restaurant.” Speaking of the restaurant, he’d need to invite Jesus to come in sometime.

Daryl working in a restaurant was such a strange thing for Jesus to hear considering how Daryl was in the dreams. After all, in the dreams the extent of Daryl’s cooking ability was probably roasting small animals over a fire. “That makes sense. You probably want to use a lot of fresh and organic stuff there.” He was sure that the stuff from the Farmer’s Market were probably a lot more fresh than shipments of food ordered for the restaurant. “Looking for anything in particular today?”

Daryl shook his head. “I like to just look and see what catches my attention. Whether it’s spices or dishes or decor.” He had picked up plenty of decorations for the restaurant at the markets he went to. “It’s a good place to get seasonal items. You should come down sometime, have a meal on the house.”

Jesus nodded, “I’ll definitely come check it out. I’m always looking for new places to take my boyfriend.” Jesus and Jace didn’t go out a lot, but when they did, Jesus thought it might be nice to go somewhere besides the diner near the gym or a bar. Besides, he was very curious about the sort of restaurant that Daryl ran, “If I leave him in charge of our dates then nine times out of ten it’s diner food. Not that I don’t like diner food, but it can get boring after awhile.”

Daryl gave a little laugh to that. “Yeah, no. There’s nothing wrong with diner food. Sometimes diners have the best food. But it’s a different genre than what I serve,” he said. “Come see me, you won’t be disappointed.”

The entire conversation didn’t need to be about food, though. That was Daryl’s business, and the reason he was at the market was for his restaurant, but still. There were plenty of other topics. “Tell me about your boyfriend. He’s not from our fucked up dream world, is he?”

Jesus shook his head, “No, he’s not from our dream world, but he is a dreamer. His name is Jace.” Sometimes Jesus still couldn’t quite believe that he and Jace actually ended up together in the end. He’d be lying if he said that there hadn’t been a part of him that had expected Jace to choose the other guy over him, but here they were almost a year later, “He dreams about fighting demons and things. He fights demons, I fight off zombies; we’re made for each other apparently,” He smirked, “And we work together at the Wayne Gym actually.

“Oh, that’s cool. Julian works with me at the restaurant. We didn’t set out to have a personal relationship, but it just sort of happened.” And Daryl wasn’t going to look back. He was of the opinion that Julian was the best thing that ever happened to him, and he wasn’t going to question that. “He’s not from our zombie apocalypse either.”

Jesus was actually a little surprised to hear that Daryl also had a boyfriend cause in their dreams Daryl never really showed a romantic interest in anyone, but he was glad to hear that in the real world Daryl had found someone, “That’s great. Same with Jace and I, but I’m glad it did happen.” He smiled, thinking about Jace, “Hey, so I should let you get back to looking for things for the restaurant, but we should definitely get a drink sometime; maybe bring our boyfriends along as well.” It would be nice to get a chance to actually hang out.

“I’d like that,” Daryl nodded. He wanted to talk to Jesus more, in a less hectic setting. He wanted to know more about the future of his dreams, and their relationship within the dreams. That would wait though. He had some shopping to do, and he needed to get back to the restaurant before opening.

“I’ll be in touch.” He nodded again, offered a smile, and headed off.