[The surprise Daryl'd felt at Merle's little speech is nothing compared to the surprise of his fist actually making contact with the side of his brother's face. It makes him stumble a bit; he'd been ready to move out of the way of a responding punch, not for it to actually follow through. In fact, he's stunned enough that he doesn't immediately start swinging away, only opens and closes his fist a few times until he can feel his fingers again.
The stuff Merle's saying is all trash talk- goading him, he knows, he's been dealing with it all his life- but fuck if it doesn't crawl right up under his skin anyway. It straight pisses him off even though it's nothing new and sure as hell isn't the worst he's ever heard. Still, fuming but with a mind to keep Merle from winning and getting more of a rise out of him than he already has, he's making a pretty valiant effort not to keep right on swinging, even though he really, really wants to...
And then Merle steps into his space (because no one knows how to push his fucking buttons like his brother does) and his resolve to keep this from going any further all but evaporates. Nostrils flaring, his voice is low and carries a definite warning tone:]
Get outta my face, man. [And he gives him a hard shove, when he doesn't back off. Keep testing him...]
X____X
The stuff Merle's saying is all trash talk- goading him, he knows, he's been dealing with it all his life- but fuck if it doesn't crawl right up under his skin anyway. It straight pisses him off even though it's nothing new and sure as hell isn't the worst he's ever heard. Still, fuming but with a mind to keep Merle from winning and getting more of a rise out of him than he already has, he's making a pretty valiant effort not to keep right on swinging, even though he really, really wants to...
And then Merle steps into his space (because no one knows how to push his fucking buttons like his brother does) and his resolve to keep this from going any further all but evaporates. Nostrils flaring, his voice is low and carries a definite warning tone:]
Get outta my face, man. [And he gives him a hard shove, when he doesn't back off. Keep testing him...]