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"A zombie outbreak warning has been issued in your area. For your safety, we strongly recommend staying indoors, boarding your windows, and barricading your doors. Keep an eye out for signs of infection in your loved ones, and be prepared to handle the situation if it happens."
The message sounds from the TV in a robotic, uncanny voice, backed only by the static hum of the device's internals.
It's an ironic warning, really. Edd's already barricaded everything, as suggested, but he's also currently sitting on the couch next to a zombified version of his boyfriend.
There's something off about Tord's infection, though, that's the reason he doesn't see himself as being in any danger at all. Really, Edd's keeping themselves inside more out of concern for Tord's safety than his own - other people aren't going to understand.
Tord is... Conscious. Aware. In fact, he hasn't shown any of the usual zombie instincts at all. Watching the news broadcast earlier, he had made a comment about how barbaric it seemed.
His voice is a little strained, and talking is a bit of a struggle, but he's there. Not a living corpse operating on instinct, but actually there. And neither of them really knows why.
"How long is this gonna last?" Tord grumbles, awkwardly hugging his own legs. He almost sounds guilty, flinching as the TV's artificial voice continues to rattle off its zombie warning procedures.
He scoots closer to Edd, leaning against him a little and resting his head against his shoulder.
"You're really cold," Edd mumbles.
"Yeah, that's why I got closer," Tord replies. He fiddles awkwardly with his hands. His movements are a little clumsy, like he doesn't quite have a firm grasp on his motor skills.
Edd drapes an arm around him, pulling him even closer and adjusting the blanket he has on his lap to cover the both of them.
"Are you sure you want me this close?" Tord asks quietly. "I mean, I could still be a threat-"
"Nonsense," Edd interrupts him. "You've given me no reason to think so."
It's almost uncomfortable how different he is from the other zombies Edd's encountered. For one thing, they usually reek of death, but Tord just kind of smells like nothing, which would probably actually be more unsettling were it anyone else. He assumes there's something more supernatural going on with Tord, but given their current situation, he doesn't exactly have much of an ability to try and investigate further.
Also apparent, of course, beyond his eerily sterile scent and coldness to the touch, is his total lack of a heartbeat. That's the thing that bothers Edd the most - it's distinctly wrong in a way that activates the "panic" part of his brain - at least, at first. He's calmed down now to the point that he isn't instinctively jumping out of his seat as Tord rests against him, but it still makes him uneasy.
He brushes Tord's hair out of his eyes - well, eye, singular. They should probably cover that socket. For one thing, it's just uncomfortable to look at it, but it's also an accident waiting to happen.
"Stay here," he says suddenly as he stands from where he's seated.
"I'm not going anywhere," Tord mutters. Right. It's difficult for him to walk - his body is a lot weaker in this state.
"I know," Edd corrects himself quickly. "Sorry. I'll be right back."
He walks into the kitchen, digging around in the cabinets until he finds the disorganized mess of first aid equipment stashed away. He sifts through it until he finds a roll of bandages, grabbing them alongside a pair of scissors and some tape, and quickly hurrying back to the living room.
"I'm just gonna cover up your missing eye," Edd says quietly as he starts to unwind the roll of bandages, carefully wrapping them around the left side of Tord's head and over the empty socket. Once he's done, he tapes off the end to secure the bandages to the best of his ability. It's not perfect, but it'll do.
"There we go," he says, putting the leftover stuff off to the side. "That works."
"Thanks, I guess," Tord says quietly, looking down. "I don't like this. Not at all."
"The zombie thing? Neither do I." Edd sighs. "I mean, I'm glad to see you, and I'm glad you're not mindlessly trying to kill me, but..."
"You're scared of me." Tord finishes.
"No!" Edd immediately blurts out, before catching himself and clearing his throat. "No, not at all," he says after collecting himself. "If anything, I'm scared of others being scared of you and hurting you."
Tord doesn't reply, nor does he look up from his lap. It's an uncomfortable silence.
"Tord, I promise you, I'm not scared of you at all." Edd says, pulling Tord close to him once again and resituating the blanket around them. "I swear on my life. And my emergency cola stash. That way you know I'm serious."
Tord makes a little sound that might be a laugh. Edd can't really tell. He's choosing to assume it's a laugh. Maybe it's a sigh of annoyance at his bad joke. No, surely it's a laugh.
"Even after all… This chaos outside is over, am I still gonna be stuck like this?" Tord finally says after what is definitely a sigh this time.
Edd can't answer that. He wishes he could, but he can't.
"I don't know," he says. "I'm sorry."
He knows Tord wasn't really expecting an answer, but he still feels obligated to apologize anyways.
Fuck, he hates having to see him this way. Weakened by decomposition, his voice strained and quiet, his single eye glazed and dull. Despite his mind being as sharp as ever, it's hard to ignore his body is struggling to keep up with it.
At the same time, he's scared of the after. Would a cure for whatever this is restore Tord to life properly, or send him back to death? Edd can't bear the thought of losing him. He wants to simply push the thought out of his mind, but it's hard not to think about it when looking at the slightly green-tinted, sickly-looking, cold, half-alive version of Tord who's pressed up against him now.
...His heart physically hurts.
The silence is actually a bit comforting, in a strange way. Everything Tord says sounds painfully forced, unusually raspy and difficult to make out. It just makes Edd feel bad when he has to ask him something. He's not sure if he actually is in pain, but it certainly doesn't sound good.
To try to take his mind off his racing thoughts, he leans down to kiss Tord, clearly taking him by surprise. Tord kisses back, though - or at least, tries to. It's actually kind of cute.
Edd pulls away a moment later before laughing awkwardly. "Sorry. I was spiraling in my thoughts and needed to pull myself out of it."
"Don't worry so much about me," Tord mumbles, burying his face into Edd's chest, holding onto him as tightly as he can.
"I have to," Edd says, petting Tord's hair gently. "Otherwise you'd run off on some quest to find the cure for whatever this is and get yourself killed. You're safer here."
Tord doesn't argue with that. Instead, he just nestles himself a bit closer to Edd.
…Edd doesn't really mind the cold, now that he thinks about it.