Chapter Text
Ravi couldn’t believe his eyes. He found the cure! He told himself to be cautiously optimistic, which is hard for him to do. From his time at the CDC, he encountered numerous false hopes that stifled his pre-celebrations.
He took a long moment thinking of how he’d approach Liv with the news. Lately, Liv was down after about her ex-fiancée’s engagement. It crushed her seeing the love of her life move on, while she still held on to the possibility that things would go back as they were before the dreaded zombie boat party.
Ravi did not want to crush the hope she had been clinging to and decided to test it without telling her. He knew it was ethically wrong; however, he convinced himself by saying ‘Whatever she doesn't know won’t hurt her’.
“Liv! Time for the checkup” Ravi called for Liv as she was closing one of the cadavers. He injected her with the cure and searched for any signs of change.
“What?” Liv noticed the intensity in his eyes.
“N-Nothing” he looked away then changed the subject to something else.
He continued with the check-up and couldn't tear away his eyes from her. As he feared, the cure did not work. He could feel tears welling up; feeling frustration at himself and despair for Liv.
‘Maybe it needs more time’ he tried to remain hopeful and continued observing Liv for a week and there was no change in her heartbeat rate, eating habits or anything.
After facing a roadblock in his quest for a cure, Ravi decided to not be sidetracked. He has been planning on something for a while and was waiting for the right moment. Now the event has started and it was his last chance. He threw caution to the wind and approached Liv.
“As your boss, I order you to stop working and join me”
Before Liv opened her mouth to turn him down he cut her off.
“--I promise I’ll have you back by 8 so you can go back to watching your movies. Promise!” he scrunched his nose as he gives her pleading puppy eyes.
“Where to, boss? “ Liv asked.
“Well. You did say I should suggest something whimsical. This is it” He pulled out a classic rogue cosplay costume. “There’s a comic convention 2 hours away”. He remembers specifically Liv saying she liked Rogue when she used to watch the animated television series.
“Wait! Where you measuring me the other day for this?”
Ravi nodded profusely then took out his costume to show her.
“Who are you supposed to be?” Liv couldn’t guess when she saw a jester’s costume and a giant mallet.
“Genderbend Harley Quinn ofcourse!” He responded.
She mulled it over in her head and decided a few hours would not hurt from her schedule of sulking and wishing her life away. She needed a distraction and thought that she owed it to her 13 year old self that spent her life studying instead of enjoying the things she liked. Also if she said no, she knew Ravi would have convinced her. He had a way of doing so.
“Ok” She agreed and enjoyed Ravi’s reaction to her accepting his invitation. They agreed to change outside the police precinct to avoid Clive and their coworkers weirded out looks. Ravi suggested changing on the way, but Liv wanted to do her makeup right. They went over to Liv’s apartment for the makeup.
“I was about to say nice apartment till this moment” Ravi was referring to the mess that is her room.
Liv rummaged through it and finally found her makeup. She added a bronzer to give herself some color, while Ravi painted his face white, and got ready in 5 minutes wearing his full costume and waiting for her in the living room.
Liv was done with the makeup thinking that she accomplished looking normal-ish. She wondered why she did not put the time and effort to look “Alive”, but she did not want to admit that part of her gave up on the notion being cured. She has known from the very start that she was dead and it cannot be reversed…
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Liv heard a loud scream and ran into the living room to find Peyton holding her key chain in a defensive pose and Ravi cowering behind the sofa trying to explain who he is.
“He’s a friend!” Liv yelled placing herself between them.
“What the hell are you wearing?” the first question Peyton asked after calming herself
“I—I’m Rogue from Xmen”
“I honestly don’t get you” Peyton shook her head and went to her room not wanting to know more about what’s going on.
“You look ready. Shall we go?” Ravi was halfway through the door fearing of getting stabbed with a door key again.
“Sure am, Sugar” Liv answered with a southern accent as she left with her purse and doggie bag of brains.
Walking into the convention was like getting sucked into a nostalgic world of what her mother called distractions. Liv lost track of time and Ravi had to remind her about the curfew.
"If we leave now, I can get you back before your shows starts"
"No! The fun is just starting! Also I cannot miss the cosplay competition. You should win!" Liv refused going back to her routine.
"Will win!" Ravi teased. Seeing her excitement and smile sparked something inside him. He caught himself gazing at her, then immediately dropping his head to forcefully stop himself. "--You know I'm a bit famished. We can grab your food from the car and eat at a fast food joint near the car park. Its way cheaper from what they are serving here"
Liv forgot about her hunger and agreed to Ravi's plan. Ravi ordered a burger and Liv ordered noodles then added the brains quickly before anyone realized. When Liv bit into one of the brains, she spat it out instantaneously .
"What's wrong?" Ravi questioned as he dared to hope that the cure had finally worked.
“I don’t know. The taste of it... Wait! I can taste it, Ravi! I forgot to add the hot sauce!"
Ravi reached for Liv and removed her costume's wig to see her hair color has returned to its original color.
"Oh my god" Ravi exclaimed "It worked"
Liv got up then went over to Ravi's side and gave him the most earnest hug as she continuously thanked him. She started to cry admiting that she has lost hope.
"Don't cry! You're making me cry" he wiped his tears and ruined his Harley Quinn makeup "There goes my chances of winning"
"The contest! It's going to start soon!" Liv exclaimed
"Who gives a rat ass about that now! Liv I have to be honest with you. Maybe the cure is temporary, but that means we are close!"
Liv took a while to process Ravi's words. This feeling might go away in seconds and she thought of the thing she wanted most "Peanut butter"