Any other circumstances he'd tease, croon out that she'd never said anything sweeter to him than that. Not a complete idiot. But he's not, either. He'd know what this was-- the broad strokes of it-- if he came by, he just wouldn't know who.
Merle, for all his bravado and his bullshit, he pays attention. She told him she was with family before and she ain't now, it's not rocket science figuring out what she means. The guesses he makes are the usual ones, but he's not ruling out something weirder.
He's seen plenty.
But he's not teasing her. This is about the closest he comes to unequivocal kindness. Family, that's maybe the one thing that means anything to Merle. He gets that. He's sorry to see anyone lose it if they had it.
"That's all of 'em?"
Okay, maybe too blunt and businesslike to be kind, but he wants to know, genuinely. If she's got more folks still out there-- well, that, he understands. And something of it shows in his tone, a little gentler, none of the mocking that's pretty much hardwired into his words.
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Merle, for all his bravado and his bullshit, he pays attention. She told him she was with family before and she ain't now, it's not rocket science figuring out what she means. The guesses he makes are the usual ones, but he's not ruling out something weirder.
He's seen plenty.
But he's not teasing her. This is about the closest he comes to unequivocal kindness. Family, that's maybe the one thing that means anything to Merle. He gets that. He's sorry to see anyone lose it if they had it.
"That's all of 'em?"
Okay, maybe too blunt and businesslike to be kind, but he wants to know, genuinely. If she's got more folks still out there-- well, that, he understands. And something of it shows in his tone, a little gentler, none of the mocking that's pretty much hardwired into his words.